NEW YORK, NEW YORK IT’S A HELLUVA TOWN THIS ‘N EVERY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!

New York, New York it’s a HELLUVA town! Just like Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Jules Munshin sung in the 1944 classic movie “On the town” …well actually they sang it was a ‘wonderful town’ since they had to ‘clean up’ the lyrics for the movie version…times sure have changed eh!

For those of you who’ve not seen this gem on TCM as I have since clearly I was not a glimmer in any one’s eye or plans for centuries to come …it’s the story of 3 sailors on shore leave in New York City circa World War Two times. I’m reminded of it cause Wednesday marked the start of Fleet Week in NYC and I was lucky enough to see the parade of ships thanks to shooting a Better TV segment that morning (which by the way you can watch this Tuesday so check local listings for some summer backyard cleaning tips!).

But as serendipity would have it, following the shoot with Better’s host Audra Lowe, my always terrific bud both on and off the set, we went down to Battery Park and found a restaurant right on the Hudson at Wagner Park called Gigino’s where Doug and I planted ourselves with vino in hand to watch and toast the ships, sailors ‘n US Navy in general passing by.  It was truly an amazing sight seeing historic clippers and battleships complete with sailors lining the edges waving and appreciative folks like myself waving back, taking photos for keeping us safe….

Like many of my shore mates, it made me proud to be an American as did our taking a stroll afterwards

and seeing the soon to be completed Freedom Tower…

WOW… No matter how much time has gone by since that tragic day: September 11, 2001 or  whether you are hundreds of yards away or simply hear the date it does and should evoke an incredibly array of emotions.  Wow, again…So as we start this unofficial summer kick-off and more importantly  Memorial Day Weekend honoring those whom have given their time, soul and life for our country, I repeat “New York, New York it’s a a helluva town” and wonderful too…. Spread the glove!

SCUZZA ME THAT ‘S AMORE: MOONSTRUCK IN LEWES, DE

WOW! Where does the time go? I can’t believe it’s May 7th and in two days my baby boy is going to be 18….yikes…pictures to follow!! Today, though i’m finally getting back on the bloggin trail having been quite remiss due to an incredibly busy/whirlwindy kind of month…So let’s see, where doth this accidental one’s month retrospective start….

In Lewes, Deleware where on a unusually warm April Day my loving matey and I set sail on the Cape May/Lewes ferry with bubbly in hand to help calm the somewhat choppy Delaware Bay seas Arrrrrr  We were on our way there for a few reasons:  1) we love Lewes.  2) we love Lewes 3) we love Lewes  It’s a quaint town that unless you take the ferry from Cape May might never stumble upon as it seems to be the forgotten sister to better known ReHoboth Beach, DE.  Lewe’s main street, Second Street,  is about 1/2 mile long but on it you’ll find just about everything one needs/wants…A great Mexican restaurant -Agave, a continental one- The Buttery; a fab jewelry store: Chatelaine’s and Doug and my fave place TOUCH OF ITALY http://www.touchofitaly.com/ which is owned by Joe and Bob the Builder (not to be confused with Bob of Nickolodeon fame!).  It’s a spot where we have spent much wine (and no that is NOT a typo!) and time.

We discovered it a couple of months ago as we were walking along Second Street and spotted what looked like those good ole fashion Italian delis you saw in The Sopranos, Moonstruck (one of my top ten movie faves)

or imagine in Italy.

So we went inside and if our eyes could eat we would have devoured everything in sight …Italian cheeses hanging from the ceiling, fresh mozz in the case, an array of heart don’t fail me after eating those fatty, yummy italian meats and sausages, marinated artichoke hearts on stems, seafood salad complete with squid that had their tentacles in tact (love them!), authentic Italian desserts and on and on..

Mama Mia…That’s Amore! Yum!!!

But our delight and surprise didn’t stop there when out of the corner of my eye I saw folks sitting at tables eating these incredible italian sandwiches and brick oven pizzas that i would soon forget watching my girlish figure for! And, it got even better:  set in the far back corner of this cozy epicurean oasis I saw a bar… now that’s amore!

Doug and I immediately planted ourselves on two stools and per Henry’s suggestion (Henry runs the place and I am thinking of kidnapping him to take care of us) we ordered what he considered to be the best white wine in the world; a true antipast,  meatballs, then a bottle of red wine and 3 hours, 3 pounds, one major buzz and one pair of early anniversary diamond and sapphire earrings later  from my amore D we exito-d.  Now you know why we love, love, love Lewes. Spread the glove!

“ME TARZAN, YOU JANE” MEET WE HOUSEWIVES :)

As the legendary  comediene Phyllis Diller once said, “Housework can’t kill you, but why take a chance?” Brilliant words indeed.  And, it’s how i approach the level of attention I give to it which in part led me  to embracing and admitting that i am an accidental housewife vs. Martha Stewart or Suzie Home-maker. I’m all about doing just enough to keep my son from starvation; my home looking terrif with minimal upkeep; health inspectors away and lest we not overlook: my sanity and manicure in tact.   That’s why whenever I discover something that also saves me time, money and the environment it’s a tri-fecta and I’m all over it…

Which leads to a new carpet that my buds at Carpet One Floor & Home sent me to try out.  It’s called Tigressa…love the name-somehow conjures up images of ‘me Tarzan you Jane’ lying on the carpet getting wild…or in their case lyin on a Leopard skin:

Okay well maybe that’s a stretch , must be my imagination going wild with a mild case of heat stroke courtesy of the record-breaking warm weather here in the NorthEast!  So forgive my di-gressa from Tigressa  

Lots of companies send me products to try out, and having worked with Carpet One a few years back and their commitment to Breast Cancer Awareness, I was happy to oblige when Terri Daniels, their head public relations guru, all around terrif person and fellow Dirty Martini lover reached out to me.  That, and two other reasons:

1. I am a humongous slob and notorious/repeat red wine spiller…another reason for my ‘accidental’ moniker!  And, why God created my favorite carpet cleaning service Stanley Steemer whom i now have on speed dial!

2. I am thinking of refinishing my basement and want to be sure I put in carpet that looks good, is soft on my feetsies, durable, affordable and mega stain resistant for my many ‘accidental’ spills…( a reason i am thinking of drinking only clear libations …long live my ‘Tini LOL!)

And, dare I say Tigressa is the besta:

• Looks terrif-love it’s black since it doesn’t show most any dirt or stain!
• Soft on my feet and comfy to lie on solo or …
• Passed the Accidental Spill Test: Though i didn’t do this accidentally, I did spill my fave dirty tini on the rug and to my delight it pooled up making it a housewifely dream to blot and quickly clean up.   That also means moisture won’t get trapped below and possibly cause mold to grow–major sanity saving plus!  
  

  OMG! There goes another accidental housewifely spill!!!

  

  Look mom! No gloves required...Love that! Back to 'tini time!

• And, just in case that glass of red leaves a  mark, Tigress comes with  a Lifetime Stain Warrantee (20 years) which means they’ll replace it gratis…love that!
• Oh one more thing too–it’s eco-friendly!

So my friends, if you’re in the market to do some Spring Freshening of your floors that is also terrif if you’ve got messy kiddies (duh! is their any any other kind) and pets,  visit a Carpet One store (www.carpetone.com/tigressa), take your shoes off, spill some water (or wine if you have your sippy to go cup but don’t tell ‘em i told you to!) and see all the 1000 colors and textures Tigressa’s avail in…Not to mention it’s on sale now….BTW, imagining yourself as Tarzan ‘n Jane will be your call…of the wild. Meow!  Spread the glove!

LOVE THE STAIN YOUR WITH ‘n Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Julie Roberts….

Happy Valentine’s Day all! ‘Tis wonderful that love is in the air and wanted to share this piece as I do every V-day! 

So whether it’s your first date, love of your life, one of the millions who pop the ‘will you marry’ question, dine alone or have been there done that for some time, Valentine’s Day can muster the romantic in you from sip to sleep.  Here are a few simple ways to deal with those heartfelt  ‘accidental’ stains that unlike love are not what we want to last! And BTW, if you haven’t seen the flick “Valentine’s Day” rent, DVR or Netflix it…it’s got all the peeps that make for good eye candy for any age and dreaming of happily ever after V-day including Ashton Kutcher, Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane (my personal fave Grey’s Anatomy studly guy!), Patrick Dempsey (second to Eric:) Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Anne Hathaway, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, Shirley McClaine and on and on

• LIPSTICK:  With all that lip locking, there is bound to be some lipstick ending up on your man’s collar.  Don’t regret those kisses, put a dollop of non-gel shaving cream on those hot lip marks, dab and rinse with club soda or water.  Continue but now go ‘au natural’!
• CHOCOLATE:  As Forest Gump said so eloquently, “I ‘m not a smart man . . . but I know what love is” .  He also said that  his momma believed “life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/quotes ! So now that your sweetie’s satisfied your sweet tooth and you’ve consumed that whole heart shaped box of love i.e. chocolates, you also got what you didn’t expect:  a glob on that sexy white silk blouse..  So grab some clear hand sanitizer, squeeze some on and dab out  the stain with a towel or micro-fiber cloth and switch to popcorn!  Tide to Go is also terrif in a pinch! 
• STRAWBERRIES:  Nothing says “I Love You” like chocolate covered strawberries  but no one likes a strawberry stain.  Remove any access strawberry from the article of clothing with a spoon or knife, then  as your  touching up your doo, take aim with your aerosol can of hairspray and spritz the stain to remove.
• SWEAT STAINS:  Valentine’s Day is one of the most popular days to ‘pop’ the big question as in ‘will you marry me’.  But, alas, your nerves from popping the big question, or being the one being popped to can cause one to sweat.  Here’s an easy RX!  Just get out a big bowl,  pour in enough warm water to cover the stain, and hand crush 2-6 aspirin tablets into the bowl.  Once dissolved, put your white machine washable dress or tee shirt into it and let sit 2-4 hours.  No problemo if you get distracted calling all your loved ones to announce the big news and leave it overnight!  Then launder par usual.  Your nerves and shirt will feel and look better in the morning!
• RED WINE:  If you spill some red wine maybe that will teach you to go for  the white wine!  That’s right, first run some cool water through the stain , then a bit of salt to help life and finish with some white wine.  Then for the rest of the eve, switch to clear libations to avoid any further mishaps! 
• LOVE STAINS:  You want of course to be safe and use proper protection and precautions but if some of the love escapes ‘accidentally’ or prematurely onto your white sheets or boxers,  just use some hydrogen peroxide which is a natural bleaching agent so don’t use it on anything dark.  Then throw it in the laundry and go back to kissing for a bit! REMEMBER: never use hot water to soak or wash the stain, as hot water will help set a majority of protein-based stains. 
  • BONUS TIP:  Dealing with a creaky bed and don’t want to your neighbors or worse your kiddies hearing every intimate detail, sprinkle baby powder in all the joints so they don’t rub and make noise.  Also put on some romantic music and blast just in case! 

Spread the glove…safely and smartly please

SNOWING DOWN ‘N PLAYING IT FORWARD!

Been an unexpected lazy kinda day here in the Northeast…Significant snowfall’s are good for making us slow down from our normal craziness since the news media give us a pass, reporting from every precinct how ‘snow has blanketed the area’ and that roads are trecherous as they place that all-telling yardstick in the snow to prove just how deep it us.    Nope, today we didn’t have to rush to do our  nine million errands, shuttle our kiddies here, there and everywhere, order pizza for din din so they didn’t starve nor worry about making ourselves look coiffed ‘n relaxed for our Saturday night out.

So where am i leading with this…hmmm…to an email i received a few hours ago from Kevin or “oh capitain” as i call him aka my manager and good bud . And, I wanted to share it with you since it seemed to compliment the unexpected lazy kinda day we had that gave us or at least moi cause to pause.  As Kevin said ,”this is good stuff” particularly as we dig into 2012 and outta the snow or whatever else you may be stuck in…Happy Saturday!  And, please be sure to do #40 and Spread the glove!

2012 HANDBOOK 

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2011 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree….

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:
40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did.

GUY IS I…GO BLUE!

Happy Ides of January! Watching my fave home football team the NY Giants who are leading the game against Green Bay Packers 20-10 at halftime.  Go Blue!! Can’t remember the last time I sat and watched them though I love football and dare I say I throw a mean spiral Nope usually if i’m watching TV on a Sunday I’m watching golf since I think I’ve shared my son’s an aspiring PGA golf professional now at the ripe ole age of 17!  But today it’s beer, nachos, buffalo wings and moi as a couch potato daring anyone who wants to try and take control of my remote… NOT happening.  So this is what guys feel like LOL! K g0tta go half time’s over…time to twist off another brewsky, eat unhealthy, lie horizontal and root for Big Blue!  Spread the glove!

POOP, PEE ‘N PET ‘TINIS!

Happy Friday all!  Hard to believe we were getting ready for the ball to drop a mere 6 days ago! Oh well time she flies….

I may have mentioned that I’m doing another segment with my two fave gals Kathie Lee ‘n Hoda on the TODAY SHOW Tuesday.  The segment’s called Pet Peeves and has to do with how the oohs and aahs of how cute that little kitty or puppy were when you lost your mind and brought one home for your kiddies during the holidays  has now gone to RRRR’s and what was I thinking as poop, pee,  hair and odors rule your roost.  Well, this accidental housewife is here to help you get rid of the ick, stink and save your sanity ‘n manicure. So as i prep for the show where I’m gonna use some new mani-friendly things that you probably have handy in your kitchen or bathroom, I wanted to share a couple of pix.  The first is my idea of a perfectly potty trained kitty who may be on their 9th life, holding their breath to find their litter box.  And, the second is why I am seriously considering coming back as a doggie in my next life–imagine being able to have a free tini 24/7 curbside!  Spread the glove!

See Spot. See spot woof down these 'tinis!

OMG! I've gotta stop drinking so much water!

KIM KARDASHIAN BANGS ‘N BOOTY ‘N BANZAI WATER PARKS

As the saying often goes “One Picture Worth a Thousand Words” .  Well maybe not always a 1000 but pictures can say a lot.  So as we begin to try and stick to our New Year’s Resolutions now all of  four days old , I thought the link below might help put some perspective on expectation vs. reality whether we’re trying to loose that muffin top, get a booty like Kim Kardashian (or at least her new bangs!),  find Mr. or Mrs. Right or simply organize our closet so we can find our spring clothes before the winter thaw.  And, for those of you without resolutions, I envy you but still think you’ll enjoy these pix courtesy of  STUMBLE UPON.

PLEASE let moi know which pix u liked best or if you have a fun expectation vs. reality pix to share!  BTW think my fave was the ‘tickling pets’ and the Pool slide…And, sorry about the comments on the bottom of the link-I tried to edit them out but was unable.  Spread the glove!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/19uAvj/pleated-jeans.com/2011/07/20/expectations-vs-reality-17-pics/

LEWES, BREWS ‘N HOLIDAY REVUES!

WOW! Can u believe the holidays are over?  I can’t say that they came and went and I wasn’t in the moment.  Nope for the first time in eons I actually can look back and not quote John Lennon about ‘life’s what’s happening when you’re busy making plans”. . . I made plans and I was living them! That’s not to say I didn’t work a bit, stress a bit and not take as much time as Sir D might have preferred though he tempted and spoiled me in far too many ways for which I am mucho grateful…but overall I chilled and cheered (perhaps a tad too much) my way through the holidays!

And,  it all started with my Mary Tyler Moore tour of NYC (DEC. 5) following the gig with Kathie Lee ‘n Hoda on the Today Show—And BTW, yours truly is back with my fave gals next Tuesday, January 10^th to share tips n’ tricks for those of us who got suckered into getting our kiddies a new pet and now are paying our doo…n cleaning it too!

But that’s another day’s blog to share…For a few more brief moments before my dinner needs to be on the table, another load of laundry done and my head hits the pillow so I can be up with the roosters to insure my son is not late for school, I am still in holiday happy mode.  And, I wanted to share  a few pix with all of ye from Crossing the Delaware via Ferry in Biz Mode to tourin’ n tastin’ D Beer at Dogfish Head Brewery to D hospitality n oh so charmin’  Inn at Cove Bay in Lewes, DE to the incredible ‘n yummy Holiday eve courtesy of chef extraordinaire Peter Kelly at X2o n his incredibly talented bro Ned Kelly…And, last but far from least –to D’man SSD Tank ye mucho xoxo!  

Please, please NOTE! I’d love to see your pix too so please share here at LiveFromHysteriaLane, tweet or FB me! Happy New Year all! Spread the glove  

FERRY BIZ-ZY

 

WINING N DINING IN DELAWARE

TAKIN CONTROL AT DOGFISH HEAD BREWERY, Lewes DE

TAH -DAH MY VERY OWN DOGFISH BREW! oops,makes u see sideways LOL!

 

D'ELF

NJOYIN 12 NITES W/UBER TALENTED NED KELLEY/X20-Photo by D'man

MMMUMS THE WORD AT X20-What a Hoot!

BOTTOM’S UP!

I think it may be time for some early  New Year’s resolutions and a vacation from partying LOL!  My Ode to the Commode up next!  Stay tuned…Spread the glove! 

Bottom's Up!