Who's on the controls?

I feel like I'm getting sick which is total BULLSHIT. I don't have time. Really. I have so many sewing projects to get done, I'm leaving in four days to go to my Father's house for a week, I am meeting a good friend in DC, along with my Sistsers-in-law, and she is coming back with me to stay with us during my birthday week.

C'mon body! Oh, and I have a lot of improv things I want to be doing but don't have the time for right now.

Anyway anyway.

Fusca Designs

I want the small, comic bookshelf for our guest room. I have emailed Cancun to see if I can get one. I might have to re-try my email in Spanish if I don't get a response.

LOOK AT THESE CHAIRS! Amazing. I want one.

Don't see "Valkyrie". It's a pile of shit, as we all suspected. I will watch anything with Eddie Izzard in it, but he did not have a fighting chance of making that Hollywood-version of Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on Hitler any better. Tom Cruise should stick to "Mission Impossible". That's what he's good at. Oh, and he was good in "Magnolia" and "Tropic Thunder" (because he's basically playing himself).

Moving on. I've got a small fever people and have to sort through my entire wardrobe today to bring what I don't want to what my friend and co-improvisor calls "the fat-girl thrift store". I'm excited to sell some shit.

Okee dokee. I have piles of cool fabric that need my attention. PILES in my living room.

Off I go to try to be productive. I wish you luck doing the same.

Window Boxes, Clive Owen, Rainy Days and Ashtrays!

So further along the road more domestic, I am finally painting our window boxes. Yeah... remember that project from [cough] ago? Well, I caulked 'em. (Not an easy task, I discovered. Looks easy - isn't.) And now I'm painting them white. I'm HOPING to get the second coat of paint on tomorrow so they can dry by Saturday so I can put herbs and flowers in them then.

... We'll see. You know my track record.

I have turned my kitchen into a painting war-zone. Clive Owen was underneath one of my boxes so I gave him a paintbrush-kiss. He is extremely attractive. A friend of mine called him, "The best looking caveman" which may be part of his appeal. He's attractive enough that I don't even care to analyze it -I just know what I know. Smooch to C.O.

So.
I have also set up a couple of ashtrays with supplies from my local hardware store (where I went today with blood smeared on my face without knowing it this morning. The check out girls were suspicious of me... I wonder why. A cut on my thumb later turned out to be the source.) ANYWAY. I bought two small metal buckets and put desert sand in them and topped them with some seashells that I brought back from the Outer Banks a couple of years ago. We are going to be having people over for BBQ's this Summer and a lot of my friends smoke and I hate having our ground/steps littered with butts. So here is a practical, cheap, and friendly solution.

I also bought these magazine storage containers from Solutions.com which I highly recommend. I sort through them once a year and throw out mags that I don't want amymore, but this way I can reference them, see which mag I'm looking at through the clear plastic, and have them stored in an attractive, dust-free way.

Are you aware of African Rooibos tea? I'm sure most of you are - it's been a big hit in the U.S. for a long time. But I'm just mentioning it, because it's vanilla flavored (sometimes), decaffeinated, and filled antioxidants if you're into that sort of thing. It's dee-lish, as my family would say.

Ok! Off to sew and do some dishes before improv rehearsal. Ciao!

How to have an odor-free home with cats!

After many, MANY years of having at least one feline my husband and I (who now have three, thank you) have figured out a fabulous way to keep the litter box area clean, organized and relatively odor-free! As a plumber once said while working in our bathroom, "You have 3 cats? You'd never know it! Believe me, some of the places I've been... you KNOW it."

I am a crazy cat lady, for sure, but I like to maximize the "cat" and keep the "crazy" to a minimum, at least when it pertains to felines.

We use Arm & Hammer Odor Alert or Arm & Hammer Multiple Cats litter (I prefer Odor Alert even with 3 cats, but that's me) mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with Cedarific Natural Litter. It is a very odor-absorbent combo and the Cedarific helps cut down on the amount of dust from the A&H litter, which is still considerable. We use Arm & Hammer Litter Deodorizer for a topical solution to smell when we have guests over or it's 3am and you just want it to GO AWAY.

I also buy vanilla scented car deodorizers and hang one about every month or two in the room with the litter boxes. It helps a lot! We live in a 1200 sq. foot apartment in New York City and I prefer smelling something refreshing as I walk past the hall closet with our two large litter boxes. We use Cats Rule litter boxes because we have 3, large, male cats.

Scoop every day. There is no way around this with multiple cats unless you have a house with a basement. Make sure at last once every three months you change ALL the cat litter out so there is no urine soaked litter that will make it smell exponentially horrible each time they use it.

And make sure the boxes have plenty of room for the cats to access it. You want to make it as attractive and user-friendly for them as possible. Don't put it/them in a high-traffic area. Cats are suspicious animals and they, like us, don't like to do their business while there are a bunch of people watching or nearby. Privacy is key.

Those are my nuggets of wisdom! Enjoy your clean, fresh-smelling cat home!

Feral Cat Shelter

I am always look for ways to better shelter the feral cats in our neighborhood without it taking over the backyard. There are kittens out there now and I have a plastic storage bin with a hole poorly cut in it and old newspapers lining it. I've seen the kittens use it in a pinch, but I haven't perfected how to really keep them warm and dry. It looks like, according to this website, that straw is the way to go.

Now you will see how much of a city girl when I ask: Where does one buy straw? Never seen it! Home Depot? There's one nearby... I will check it out.

In the mean time, if you have stray or feral cats nearby, you might want to check out this organization and their advice on caring for feral cat colonies.

Alley Cat Allies - Feral Cat Shelters

Spay and Stay - Cat Shelter

Looks like along with my yet unfinished window boxes (I know, I KNOW) I have more work to do!

http://www.spayandstay.org/wintershelter.htm

Maritime Lobby - too bad it's not a bar.

There is a Maritime bar, of course. But it doesn't look like the lobby. I went there with a good friend of mine after improv practice the other night and we walked into the lobby and I started drooling. I thought it was the bar! Then we walked into the bar, which is very nice, and was like, "oh, nevermind".

Sigh.
Life is so hard.
The Maritime bar has a great outdoor space and some lovely drinks. We had a fabulous time... but man would I like to chill in this lobby. Maybe one day I'll just bring Pinot Grigio in a flask and sit there.

And can anyone else see the man in this tree root? He caught my eye on the way to the subway the other day...

Jaws shower curtain! Edgar Allen Poe action figure!

I love this and have a friend who is very much into sharks.

Read The Chum Slick!

And I wanted to get this shower curtain for him until I realized he has shower doors. Boo.

But it's still cool.

I also like this Smurfette coin purse and key chain! Love that Smurfette!

And, because I'm a geek, I love the Andy Warhol Inspiration Set.

Oh - and an Edgar Allen Poe action figure. LOL. Too funny.

Yes, I've been given THIS twice.

All junk I don't need! But love... and maybe you "need" it?

Are my cats ModKats?

Well, first of all, if they want to be ModKats, they are going to all have to get jobs, because these things are expensive!

ModKat Litter Boxes!

And secondly, they are going to have to learn to get in there.

ModKat Instructional Video!

As you might know by now, I'm a crazy cat lady. We have three very large, male cats and one of them doesn't always *realize* his butt is hanging out of the litter box. So this would be a good solution to his problem... if he can fit in there.

Not bad tho!

Oh, and welcome, Summer! Great things are in store for this Summer and I'm looking forward to all of them.