a99kitten's Musings

This really is a heartbreaking song. Great voice.

And good for her for realizing she is better than that! Begging is for stoopid suckers!

I love the movie Pretty Woman. It’s sweet, romantic, fun, true love wins in the end,etc, etc. Yes, it is also about a “working girl” but we like to gloss over that little part.

But let’s talk about the fun clothes! I got to have a shopping experience similar to that. It really is a rush. My old boss was wealthy. After working for him for a couple years he went through a rough divorce. I handled all of the correspondence between him and his wife, the lawyers, the nannies/kids situations, etc. This was in addition to all actual hedge fun daytime business and job I had. Once it was basically over, he said to me one day BEFORE the market closed (unheard of!) let’s go to the city and I’ll take you shopping. Umm..ok!

He had 2 Ferraris (yes early 90s) and we drove up in the black convertible. I thought by shopping he meant we went to a store, bought me something and leave. We started at Wilkes Bashford. he said pick out whatever I wanted. Anything. The shop girls instantly assumed I was the mistress. Great. But whatever. They were VERY helpful. Moved onto Ralph Lauren, then TSE Cashmere, then Northbeach Leather and then a pair of diamond studs. I saw the AMEX bills come in later. Just south of $50k. In one afternoon. On me! Quite an obscene…and profane amount of money :) I can’t imagine any man will ever spend anywhere near that much on me in my lifetime again. I make my own money so whatever. Not really about the money anyway. But it was fun. Very fun. :)

Word got out at work and one of the analysts who had asked me out previously made a rude comment in a staff meeting. It upset me. I told my boss why I was upset. He (the analyst) was yelled at and almost fired. He (the analyst) assumed the reason I said no to a date was because I was “doing” the boss. No pal – I said no because you were the stereotypical New York Wall Street douchebag and I had less than no interest in you. And I refused to allow it to take away from the fun of the shopping trip!

My husband still says to this day he (my old boss) ruined me for all men forever. That no man could live up to the super nice, rich guy thing my boss showed me existed…even if very rare. The guy who did something very nice for someone to show appreciation and express affinity for their help, loyalty, etc. And it’s not the dollar amount. But more the fact that someone was willing to take me for an entire afternoon, which was completely against character (to leave the office during market hours!) and do something that will make someone smile, laugh and so very crazy and unexpected. That makes them smile. That’s pretty cool. And it’s a shame that my husband is probably right that most people would  not do that, even if they could, without expecting something in return.

I think I still have a pair of cool shoes from Wilkes Bashford, and a couple crocodile belts from Ralph Lauren and a leather trench from North Beach Leather. Plus separately, I bought a brown, polka dot halter dress almost identical to the one she wears at the polo match. I love that dress!

I will always remember that shopping trip as a super fun trip with a super nice guy. Proof that the nice guy DOES exist….or maybe he was the only one..

My dogs are great :) But the 4 people that read this blog already know that :) And while they are the same breed, and even related, they have very different personalities.

Storm is feeling better and better now. He has Cushings and I’ve been trying to get his medication dosage to the right levels for months now. I think we did it. His energy levels are definitely back to normal. Now, this doesn’t mean he won’t be a lazy little fur-sausage when given the chance! He has always been more of a couch potato than his brother.

Yesterday husband took Angelus to Squaw Valley with him so he could get some off-leash snow play up on the mountain and meet some other buds. There was an Earth Day event up there so Angelus got to meet a porcupine! Apparently he was *very* excited and wanted to play with him. I doubt the porcupine felt the same way :) He only takes Angelus because it’s difficult to control both at the same time in such an environment and husband is not up to that. Plus Storm has been fairly unenergetic for the past 9 months or so due to his illness so not up to the task.

But yesterday, I had left for a hike and husband was loading Angelus up and Storm jumped in the truck like “nuh-uh – you are not leaving me!” So he called me and I doubled back a bit to meet him and get Storm. So Storm went on my hike with me. And he was a little trekker. Storm used to be like this all the time on long hikes and I was very happy to see him return to it! Head down so he walks like a wolf and trek, trek, trek, must finish the  mission, must get to where we are going. This is why he would have made a great lead sled dog. Just point him in the direction and he just goes. No stopping.  No dilly-dallying. Unless woodland critters are involved that is ;) But then when he gets home, he is just as happy to rest wherever I am.

On the other hand, Angelus has a more Buellerian outlook on life. Life moves pretty fast and you need to slow down and sniff around or you might miss good stuff :) Angelus just wants to be outside, enjoying himself all the time. Doesn’t have to be crazy running around or climbing mountains goat-style (in fact he says uphills kinda suck), just outside, sniffing, saying hi to other buddies, peeing on trees or just lying on top of a snowhill and looking around.

Funny how they each have different strictly-husky traits. And then each has other traits that are definitely not “husky-like”. If you put them together, they would form a perfect stereotypical husky. But then they wouldn’t be Angelus and Storm.

Love my boys. :)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100424/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_enforcement

I haven’t read too much about this law other than a couple news articles, but this makes me go huh?:

“The legislation, sent to the Republican governor by the GOP-led Legislature, makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It also requires local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants; allows lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws; and makes it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.”

So, a bill needed to be enacted that makes it a crime to be in the country illegally. Umm…? Isn’t it already a crime when it’s illegal?

And there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with anything they are trying to do here. In my opinion.

The Federal government has long dragged its heels in doing anything about a real problem that exists. Is this the right answer? I don’t know. I don’t live on the border in Arizona and have it effect my life on a daily basis. But here in California, we do have plenty. And in SoCal it’s a lot bigger problem. And since a majority of the people that do live there (in AZ) and deal with it daily want something done, it’s the State’s right, and responsibility, to do something.

And this:

“It’s going to change our lives,” said Emilio Almodovar, a 13-year-old American citizen from Phoenix. “We can’t walk to school any more. We can’t be in the streets anymore without the pigs thinking we’re illegal immigrants.”

Guess what you little brat? Thinking like that causes huge problems too. I don’t think a majority of the people who complain about immigration complain about the nice, quiet family down the street who just don’t have green cards. They are complaining about thugs, hoodlums, welfare cases, etc.  So calling the police pigs leads me to believe you have done something illegal already – so you should just be sent to boot camp now. 

I have no idea what the intricacies of the law are. I have no idea if this will solve any problems. But something has to be done about the volume of illegal immigration. And it’s very easy to live up North or in the East where you don’t have to deal with this as much and say how it’s unfair, illegal, unconstitutional, hate-mongering, racial profiling, wrong, etc, etc, etc, when YOU don’t have to deal with it in your yard.

I’m very much for making this a priority. Something has to be done to control immigration and legal entry/stays in this country. That shouldn’t be a dirty word or unthinkable.  If you come enter this country illegally, you are committing a crime. That seems very black and white to me. Will it be easy to tackle and fix? I’m sure not by a long shot. And it will not please everyone. But nothing does.  But someone has to start.

Just sayin...

This is a very cute shoe….

I have more than 1 outfit these would be perfect for. I am waiting to see if any of the wait-listed shoes I signed up for at the Rock & Republic sale today go through. Probably not :( Totally not fair by the way since I was on that site at exactly the second the sale started. Boo :(

These might make me feel better though ;)

I’ve been wanting a pink Chanel flap since I was about 20ish? But I always scoffed at the price for a purse. It is absolutely ridiculous. I actually still believe this but sometimes you have to do ridiculous things :)

My husband would blow out a few brain cells if I paid this much for a purse. Well…pretty much anything really. But sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do. And I know he would never buy something like this for me as a gift. So it will need to be a gift to myself! And he can spend his money on surf boards and Porsches.

I doubt most men would though. Unless they are wealthy enough that the cost of this is comparable to buying a $100 item. Men just cannot lay out the $$$ for things they don’t understand. They just don’t understand that women like pretty things. This is why he has such a hard time buying jewelry for me. He sees it as a waste of money. I pointed out that jewelry is like boobs. I don’t understand the male fascination with boobs but it’s there. Men don’t understand girls’ fascination with sparkly things. But it’s there. So imagine the horror about spending so much on a purse! “You can buy a perfectly acceptable purse at Nordstrom or The Gap for like $50!” Sure I *could*. And then I point out that he is not a professional surfer and does not need 6 surf boards collecting dust in the garage….

But I do understand it’s ridiculousness. It is *just* a purse. And there are many other useful things to spend money like that on. But if you went through life thinking that way all the time with no indulgences, well….you would be Scrooge McDuck.

Back to the house that Coco built…They sell out of these bags in the Chanel boutiques every year. And buying them on the secondary market is hard since the Chinese have perfected the fake. And even if you find an excellent used one, it’s still in the thousands of dollars price range. Which is now my argument FOR the purchase instead of against it. It goes UP in value, so it’s like an investment. Like buying gold coins or stock in a blue chip company. The retail pricing has consistently gone up over the years. And you can always sell it on the secondary market if you want to.

And really, this bag is a classic that you will keep forever. Sure, I should probably invest in black if I were to buy one. But that’s just not me. The black is very pretty and if I could have 2, I would get one in black. But my first will be in pink.

There are different shades of pink depending on the year. The baby pink is my absolute favorite but very hard to find as it’s from a few years ago. The rose is also very nice and that is easier to find right now. When I went to the Chanel store in The Wynn in Vegas, they were sold out. They had the jersey one in a light orchid color but that was the only color in this style they had in stock. Boo :( I should go up to the store in SF and see what they have but my guess is not much more. This one is very rare and GREAT shades of pink:

le sigh...

Just not sure if it’s too big. It is the classic 2.55. I *think* I want the bag 1 size smaller than this one. BUT…maybe not. They did not make this color in the smaller bag so maybe I’d give up the smaller size for this most perfect color. And it’s not like it’s a huge hobo or anything!

I’ve been checking eBay (you can get them authenticated by The Purse Forum with good pictures) and Portero. You can’t buy Chanel retail online. They don’t sell online and don’t allow the stores that carry them to sell them online. So if you can’t find one in a boutique, you are limited to the secondary market. Which is OK actually. If you find one in pristine condition, it’s like buying a car a year or 2 old. The person who paid sticker took the off-the-lot hit for you but you are still getting a great car :)

Maybe one day I will pull the trigger :)

Ok, this clip rules! I love Jane Lynch. I don’t watch Glee but I think I might start just to watch her. She is so awesome in everything I see her in. I even like her so much in those commercials with Julia-Louise Dreyfus hocking some frozen food brand that I actually watch the ad instead of fast-forwarding through it!

I also really loved Madonna’s Vogue (and of course the magazine ;) ) I’m not into her new stuff very much. But Vogue is a forever classic for me. It also reminded me of a very funny night (to me anyway and this is MY blog!)…

I went to an art benefit – black tie soiree (I was wearing what my friend called my Jessica Rabbit dress, although black and not red, hiiigh heels (loved that dress!) years and years ago with my boyfriend at the time and another couple of best friends. We were the only people there who were under the ago of 40 (which at that time was like almost in the coffin to us!) so we had our own table. We mingled the requisite amount but mostly kept ourselves amused.

The event was held in a castle – at least a home built to look like a castle high up in the hills out here. Rumor was it was built using stones brought over from a real castle in England but I have no idea. Good story though. Very cool place to hold events, that’s for sure. It was raining, thundering and lightning out which is very unusual for Northern California in the summer. But it definitely added to the castle/black tie event vibe!

They had a mingling/dinner/after dinner band playing but then a DJ started after that. And the DJ played the lounge and jazz stuff appropriate for everyone’s attire but then played Vogue! So the 4 of us got up and started (well, as best we could anyway) Vogueing/Madonna’s moves from this video. Everyone else stopped and watched up and clapped when we were done. And we of course ended with our hands around our face like the video and we did strike a pose! I’m sure we looked GOOOOOFY but we laughed and laughed and it pretty much made the entire the night. Definitely made it memorable as I still remember it and giggle to myself. A good memory to hold on to.

But Jane here does it better – watch the video!

I am liking this bag as a summer bag for dresses but also beach/pool days! It’s big enough to throw in my Kindle, sunglasses with case, sunscreen and flip flops.

And *perfect* color combo for a summer bag. The thick white (or yellow!)  braided leather is a nice contrast to the straw look. I am not really a fan of straw bags that look like you bought them at the drug store or by the side of the road in Mexico. This fixes that with the braided leather and gold hardware.

Liking it very much….hmmm…

Michael Kors Braided Grommet Straw Shoulder Tote

Or with yellow??

Saw the Travel Channel’s show on the Jucy Lucy. Apparently, this burger is a Minnesota specialty. I guess several places there lay claim to inventing it but the place that seems like the original (Matt’s) started it due to a customer wanting cheese in between 2 patties and it was so yummy, the put up on their menu ASAP and misspelled juicy.)

I love cheeseburgers. LOVE them. I don’t eat them too often but aim to enjoy them fully when I do. So when I saw this show advertised I had to watch it. And after watching it, had to try making them. Watching the show, they simply use 2 pre-made burger patties and put a slice of American cheese (more melty than other cheeses) and kind squish the patties around the sides to seal them into 1 patty. And then season with salt and pepper and they cook on their fry/grill.  Seems simple.

The other restaurant that claims they invented it use thicker patties and 4 slices of cheese. That seemed a bit too much for me. I’m sure delicious but simply too much food.

Now you can find many variations of this recipe, also all claiming to be original, online. They have various spices, sauces, additions to the burger meat mixture. But I decided to keep it fairly simple for my first try.

I bought the lowest fat ground beef. And American cheese. The mixture I used was a combo of 2 recipes:

1.5 lbs ground beef (used the 96% lean to balance the heart attack factor!)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 slices American cheese

This is for 4 servings/burgers.

Combine ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and pepper in a large bowl. Mix well. Form 8 thin patties. Each about the size of a slice of of cheese.

Pre-skooshing

Cut each slice of cheese into 4 equal pieces and stack the pieces in the middle of a patty and put another patty on top. Tightly pinch edges together to tightly seal the cheese within the meat. I skooshed (I am totally TMing this word) them together. Do this to create 4 complete burgers/patties.

Post-skooshing

Preheat a cast-iron or other heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Cook burgers until well browned, about 4 minutes(ish) on each side. Turn the burgers and prick the top of each to allow steam to escape – remember the cheese is HOT and melty inside.

If you bite into it and burn yourself – you will need to sue yourself…so remember, this could get pricey…

You need to cook these more medium to get the cheese fully melted and delicious. So no rare or medium rare burgers here. The melty delish cheese will make up for it :)

It’s cold, windy and cloudy today so I went partial-white trash dinner and paired these with tater tots but then fancified abit with a Blanc de Blancs from the Cupcake Vineyards. I saw the name of this place in some Wine newsletter and have been searching for it locally since pre-Christmas. I mean really? How perfect for me – Cupcake Vineyards? :)  Finally found it in a store a few weeks ago! It very delicious, especially for the price. And the bubly went very well with the burgers. As it does with anything :) http://www.cupcakevineyard.com/

If you like burgers like I do, I recommend trying these. Although I would probably use 2 pieces of cheese (per burger.) But I LOVE cheese :) And I used no other condiments. They aren’t difficult and they are delish. The funny thing is they remind me of a burger McDonald’s used to sell a loooong time ago. The Cheddar Melt. I LOVED those. Like LOVED them. It was a burger patty with melty Cheddar cheese (sauce?) on top. I was addicted. Probably a good thing they stopped selling them but now I have these….uh-oh :)

UPDATE: Made the 2 leftover burgers tonight and added another piece of cheese on top. HOLY HELL. This change made this burger my absolute favorite yumminess! Rule: Don’t skimp on the cheese. :)

http://cbs2.com/local/infant.attacked.dog.2.1622472.html

Every single thing about this story pisses me off. This dumb bitch already had 2 kids taken away by Child Protective Services so she just went ahead and popped out another. Clearly she already deserved Mother of the Year so why not.

The dogs should not be euthanized. Probably taken away from owner, but my guess is this wasn’t “an attack” so much as the dogs playing with the baby that was down on their own level. When I sit on the floor with my dogs, who are so far away from savage with people my Beware of Dog sign outside is a joke, they will rough house with me. When you get down on the same level as dogs, this happens. But expecting these stupid skanks to know that is a too much to ask, I know.

So why the hell did you leave your baby sleeping in his bucket, with no adult monitoring at all? On the floor, in the other room from where you were. Oh right, your Mother of the Year qualities.

And this line from the CPS chick:  “I think what we try to do is be reasonable. Because people make mistakes,” Deporto said.

Ummm…she apparently makes a LOT of mistakes if she has already lost 2 kids. So what does she need to do to have it deemed criminal/negligence and not a “mistake”? Set the kids on fire? Sell them to pedophiles?

We need a damn license or permit for every damn thing in the world. But not parenthood. All sorts of assclowns can keep breeding and then we get more of these stories. Awesome.