Ed, My Palm Tree

When shopping in Ikea, my heart was caught by this little guy - a palm tree I've named Ed. He's so cute, and currently only about four feet tall. I have housed him in a black (uber chic) trash can also from Ikea. He reminds me of my friend Harriet, who had two huge palm trees in her kitchen in Richmond (I was about 5 years old), and I thought it was so cool that trees grew inside her house.

But me and my roomate Steeners were getting confused about the origins of Ed and his fellow palm trees. Where did they come from? After wiking it, I've learned the Coconut Palm or Cocos nucifera as they say, is considered a large palm capable of growing up to 30 meters high. So Ed has quite a bit of growing up to do. He is growing out of the actually inner stone or "endocarp" as they say, which used to be covered by coir fibers which created the mesocarp husk.


But when not decorating kitchens and living rooms, what are the industrial purposes of Ed's family? Apparently palm leaves can be burned and used to make lime powder which is then used to cover horse pee pee spots (i'm sure it has some other uses too). Hawaiians used to hollow out coconut palms to make small canoes. And if you beat two halves of the inner stone together you get the sound of horse hooves (a la Monty Python).

Two Culinary Facts:
1) Coconut is a dry fruit and has the white "meat" inside is approx 90% saturated fat.
2) Coconut WATER is the stuff inside a coconut when you crack it open. Coconut MILK is made by mixing warm water with the white meat inside the inner stone.

On a different note, me and Steeners had a wonderful day walking around Brooklyn Heights. We ate ice cream and at one point walked along the high way because we were a bit lost. We covered dumbo, brooklyn heights, and park slope.

Photoshop!

This is an image of Cal's homeland, a small island in "way north" Scotland.
I took an image of Jackson Hole, WY - and killed it off. but i learned a lot. although i don't know what those little straight lines along the middle and sides.

Don't bag it!

I have of late found myself saying "please don't bag it" or "i have my own." Last year, me and my dear roommate Steeners had enough plastic bags thrown in our entry way closet to recreate the famous The Red Balloon scene, but instead of red balloons, we'd parachute up with white Jubilee (our grocery store) shopping bags.

Now I run around with my laptop, Avi stuff, and school books in a Saltbox Bag. It's so cute, and the durable canvas is easily washable so I don't have to rip out my Tide Stain Pen if I drip some coffee, tea, asian food sauce, or lotion on it. (well maybe i don't have a tide stain pen but if i did...)

So I encourage everyone to stop bagging it, and take your own big ass bag to the grocery store. Sure, the women at Target may give you a look of death when you pull out your own bag, but if you have friendly Chinese women at your grocery store, they too may just comment on how cute your bag is.

Pimp My Lamp

Today I didn't have work because it's Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish Calendar new year. So I went to return a lamp base at Target at the Atlantic Avenue stop in Brooklyn. I set up teh lamp in my room and thought "it looks a bit dull, how to fix that..."

Then I looked at the glitter, paints, and markers I recently purchased and thought "ah ha! I will make my white lamp glitter like the sensation of a thousand fiery multi colored suns!" The result as you can see was alternative at best, and left my living room floor looking like dwarfs had recently celebrated mardi gras.

Cal Disclaimer

It has been suggested (especially by one rather loud source) that my lack of mentioning my boyfriend Cal on this little blog directly correlates to me not thinking/regarding him as an important part of my life. Actually, I was just slightly freaked by all the pics he had on his open site, so I didn't link to it. I don't know where my crazy fear stems from exactly; I read plenty of people's blogs who have images of their kids, their homes, etc. posted and no crazies stalk them.

Anyways, CAL's BLOG is now up to my little silly security standards, so please contact him if you want a looksie.

Baby Gifts

For those of you who don't know me, let me start with a disclaimer: I'm not having one anytime soon and I don't have any abnormal obsession with the little people, but this post is about babies. More importantly, their accesories.

Today me and Avi went to select a present at the chic baby boutique Giggle (top image is store front), where the mother had created a registry longer than every Christmas list I've ever made. Seeing that our gift was coming a few days after the birth, the rest of the office had already overtaken the baby wish list, leaving me and Avi to putter about the store. Poking at sock monkeys and staring at baby nutrition books, we would have looked more at home in the Lucky Cheng's dressing room.

A rather cold woman directed us to a smooth, mod, bomber leather inspired baby chair (if Neo had rocked the leather in his pod before knowing the truth, he would have had one of these); apparently the sandalwood egg was a "baby lounger" - good for up to two year olds. Strap the kid in and they kinda bounce, all the while looking good.

But what really got me going in this store (besides the woman who said I looked too young to be pregnant - after she asked if I was), was a stroller. Unlike the Chevy suburban proportioned monstrosities which always nick the back of my leg in the Starbucks line, this one had such a sexy design I was actually drawn to it. If Apple made a stroller - this would be it. The Stokke Xplory Complete - a multi stage, dare I suggest sexy, and quite compact little number.

And then I looked at the price tag - $1000. Yes, that is a "1" with three "0", one thousand dollars. In Asia women tie babies to their backs with fabric scraps and here in Manhattan - crazy couples pull out a grand to push their bundle in style. For that type of money I could find a dog that pulls the baby in a cart, or an illegal immigrant who will hold it for those first "stages" of growth. (what are the stages anyways?)

But this store - it had more stuff than I could imagine: monitors, stools, TONS of baby books, frames, quilts, soft toys, hard toys, mini wood funiture, sun nets for strollers, strollers, clothes, bibs, etc. I'm telling you - Nicole Richie is going to have a hay day matching outfits, stroller covers, baby hats, toys, etc when she goes out with Joel Jr.