NY Times Reviews Aria

Rather, Patricia Brooks reviews Aria, the year or two old Italian resto in the shadow of Trump Tower. She gave it an OK, which I'd agree with based on our one visit there. My risotto was OK.

I will say, the ample space between tables might make Aria baby-friendly, but it's a pretty upscale setting. However, with the state of the economy, I'd say babies should be pretty welcome in any restaurant these days if it means their parents are spending money.

And let me tell you, the moms will probably order a glass of wine, and then a second. Click here to read more.

Maple Syrup and Baby Turtles: Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Winter!

When I went to SMNC 2 summers ago, pre-baby, I mostly looked at the animals outdoors. I went last week when my sister and her kids were in town, and I feel like I finally really got to enjoy the place. It was really cold, and there was still some snow on the ground. We walked around and looked at the llamas and sheep and horses, but we also spent time in a few indoor places I hadn't bothered to look at before.

1. The turtles and scary snakes house! For a Saturday in winter, it wasn't too crowded, I think because we got there after 3 pm. It was so cool. There were baby turtles, and big lizards... and it was nice and toasty.
2. The maple syrup house! From outdoors, it looked closed, but the maple syrup boiler was steaming away. We got samples of syrup and a pleasant speech about syrup from the not-hard-on-the-eyes maple maker.
3. Gift shop. I didn't make it to that part. Had to feed baby in car.
4. Museum. My sister and the kids went to the actual museum at the top of the hill and they liked it.

I highly recommend Stamford Museum and Nature Center for a visit, year-round.

This post is not too exciting, but with a full time job, other blog, and baby- oh and husband and friends- and a major sleep deficit- I think I need to lower my standards a tad.

The SMNC has a maple syrup event this weekend:

Our Annual First County Bank Maple Sugar Sunday event is just around the corner – this Sunday, March 7, at Stamford Museum & Nature Center from 11 am to 3 pm.

Visitors will be able to see a wide range of techniques used to create maple syrup including colonial and modern methods. Games, crafts, face painting and story telling are just some of the fun activities planned for this annual festival! Visitors will even get a chance to taste sugar on snow – a sweet maple treat! Our famous pancake brunch will also return to the Bendel Mansion (main building) featuring our own fresh maple syrup! We will also have a “chef showdown” featuring local chefs Frank Daniele(Frank & Julio’s Complete Event Planning) and Robin Selden (Marcia Selden Catering) going head to head in a maple themed cooking challenge! Visitors will have a chance to sample their creations and vote for their favorite. Click here to read more.

Vinny's Backyard BBQ Cooks Beef Perfectly

You should read that as a headline: "News Flash! Vinny's Backyard BBQ Perfectly Cooks Beef to Different Degrees of Doneness for Three People!"

I am serious. My father-in-law, the beef connoisseur, said the beef in his steak sandwich was done perfectly: medium-rare. I asked for my burger medium well, and it was so. The mother-in-law wanted her burger medium- it was so! And the husband, as always, liked his ribs.

There is something wonderfully reassuring about a place where you can go and get a decent burger with good fries. The place is baby-friendly but not overrun with kids, the bar is huge, lots of TV with sports on... I love the place. Granted, the food is not diet food, but... it's enjoyable.

Vinny's is pretty much the extent of our eating out these days, although we do plenty of delivery food when my "meal planning" falls through: Thai Chi, Republic Grill, Michelina's, Kit's Thai Kitchen, Little Buddha, and occasionally Pearl East.

My baby, right now, is licking his reflection in the mahogany end table. That's funny. Click here to read more.

Visit Stamford on the Cheap- for Haiti!

Malerie, author of Stamford on the Cheap, will give $5 to Save the Children Haiti for every comment on her post. I think that is awesome. Please stop by and comment, then take a gander at the rest of the site! Click here to read more.

Aggressive Driving Knows No Age Demographic

Of all the people to blow through a stop light and nearly rear-end me, I did NOT expect it to be a gray-haired lady in a Saturn! I KNOW she saw me! I drive a huge white car! Yet after I came to a full stop and pulled into the intersection, there she was, right on my butt!

"Jesus Christ!" I said out loud to myself and the baby (who's now almost walking, and right now, crawling under his Leapfrog Learning Table).

All I could think was, that lady has gotta be a Stamford native to be driving that confidently. She tailgated me up to the stoplight, looking irritated that I was driving near the speed limit, then roared off toward the Merritt.

It kinda shook me up. Now I don't know who I'm safe with.

But you know who drives worse? Men in minivans. Men in minivans, with no kids in the car. Click here to read more.

El Charrito Filmed By TLC Tues!

Cool! More TV coverage for Stamford! The taco truck on Richmond Hill (you know, in front of Beamers), will be filmed around noon Tuesday. From El Charrito's Facebook page:

I also wanted to let everyone know that El Charrito was chosen to be
on a tv show as the top 10 best street food vendors world wide. This
show is going to be aired on TLC channel. We will begin shooting the
show on Dec29th I believe.

That's awesome. I'll surely try to do a drive-by of the scene. If you can go and show support, especially if you have eaten there before, you really should, and please report back to me!

I've been once, last summer- actually, a year and a half ago- and it was delicious. Click here to read more.

Show Me Some Snow!

I went to the grocery last night at 8pm and was surprised it wasn't packed. Was everyone at holiday parties, or is CT scoffing at the coming storm?

I'm pretty pumped for baby's first snowstorm. I do wish we had some clothing for him, but I've been in denial that winter is here. Maybe I can dress him warmly and wrap a trash bag around him to let him enjoy the snow? We shall see.

All I have left to do to prepare is gas up the car. You know, in case heat in the house dies and we're forced to live in our car for a day or two. Or whatever. Click here to read more.

My Photos of Stamford's Movie Sets for "Everybody's Fine"

Hee hee! This Advocate article features the owners of the home that was one of the 3 movie sets I stalked last spring. (The movie is "Everybody's Fine" with Robert DeNiro, Kate Beckinsale and Drew Barrymore, out in theaters now.)

At the first set, up in North Stamford, I met the location manager and security guy. That was this big beautiful white house.

And here were the signs and trucks I followed to get there:













The article features the second set, in Shippan, where I befriended some policemen and said howdy again to the same security guy. It's just a regular house.










The third set, I ran into the location manager, then one of the same policemen, and got to watch DeNiro work. And actually, that third set I didn't stalk. I was picking my mom up at the train station and happened to glance up and see the location manager. He was horrified to see me but begrudgingly let me know where they were filming (bus area).

These aren't pics of DeNiro. I am WAY TOO SUBTLE for that. These are the policemen and the guy walking in the dark sweatshirt is the location manager, Paul. (Geez, I just remembered his name. I am GOOD with names.)










The Shippan set was totally boring. I stood in the road for two hours, talking to the policemen between "quiet on the set"s- except the set was inside the house, but we still had to be quiet. There were a lot of people wearing black shirts and striding around importantly. But this boring two hours were what got me to know enough people to get close enough to watch DeNiro the third time.


And actually, before all this, I saw them filming on Wash Blvd. There was a car on a flatbed being filmed as it rode. I didn't see who was in the car, and the photo I snapped managed to get the flatbed truck, but not the car! But that was when I got my taste of movie glamour, and there was no looking back.

See? There's the flatbed. To the right, out of the photo, would be the actual car I was trying to photograph and failed, because there's only so much photography you can do while driving PAST something.

Click here to read more.

Stamford is NOT Drive-Thru Friendly...

Is that why we're all so damn thin?

The kid fell asleep in the car on the way home from the pediatrician. I was starving but knew we had no food in the house. GREAT! I'll have a little adventure and go thru the Burger King Drive Thru up on High Ridge! That seemed like a "Typical Stay at Home Mom" thing to do, so since I go back to work in January, I figured I'd have that SAHM experience with a nice helping of fries. I had no cash, so I hit the ATM for a twenty, then went to turn into the Burger King. I got a little nervous when it didn't say "Drive Thru" under "Burger King," but I figured EVERY fast food place has a drive thru, or else what's the point. I pulled in. NO DRIVE THRU.

This was very disappointing. I wracked my brain- where else could I get food without exiting my car?

I know there is a drive thru McD's off of exit 9 (right? That's a drive thru right, or isn't it? Now I'm doubting myself.) and I know there's a Drive Thru Dunkin Donuts (exit 6) and Donut Delite (exit 9/Glenbrook). However, I didn't feel like driving that far across town to that McD's, nor did I want donuts or bagels. I wanted fries. And ketchup. And, either a burger or chicken- I hadn't decided.

Instead, I drove home, where I made the risky move of removing the baby from the car. Fortunately he stayed asleep and gave me time to boil some soba noodles and put peanut butter on them. (Delicious.) He's still sleeping, so I'm getting time to blog. All in all this worked out for the best because I got blogging time AND healthier food, but I had gotten excited for junk food. I still wish I had that fast food option for times when the baby falls asleep in the car at an inopportune time. Click here to read more.

Bone Marrow Registry Sunday/Monday

The husband of a good friend and fellow Stamfordite is hosting a bone marrow registration drive over the next few days. One of their best friends has leukemia, so they are hoping for a match. The Monday registration site is on Harbor Drive in Stamford, so I hope some readers can take time out of their day to go and get a cheek swab! Thanks in advance for considering, and please pass the word on, especially if you know anyone who works down there.

Here is part of a note from my friend's husband:

Bone marrow transplants are used as therapy for a variety of serious conditions, including leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease and other deficiencies of the blood and enzymes.

Although statistically, the chances that you will ultimately be asked to provide a transplant are low (about one in a thousand), if you are a match for somebody, you will almost certainly save their life.

The sample process is a simple cheek swab which takes seconds to complete. Indeed, it will take you longer to fill out the paperwork. If you are someday contacted to donate bone marrow, the donation process has never been easier. The vast majority of donors (about 80%) can use a PAINLESS non-surgical outpatient process similar to donating plasma.

The particulars of the two registry drives are as follows:

Sunday, December 6, 2009, 8:00am – 12:15pm
Norwalk, CT
Congregation Beth El
109 East Avenue, “Garden” Room
Norwalk, CT 06851

Monday, December 7, 2009, 11:30am – 5:00pm
Stamford, CT
CRT Capital Group LLC
262 Harbor Drive, Second Floor
Stamford, CT 06902
CONTACT: Duncan at dyin@hdam.com or (203) 856-8148
Directions can be found on company website crtllc.com Click here to read more.

Tiger Woods Home Price vs. Stamford Prices

"Authorities were called to Tiger Woods' 2.4 million dollar home..."
"Tiger Woods pulled out of the driveway of his 2.4 million dollar home..."

I can't tell you how many times I've heard his home price quoted in the news reports. I guess they're thinking that's pricey, but I look at the mansion, and I think, "That's it?!?" That might seem like a crazy reaction to someone in a more isolated area, but I'm telling you, I can't find a decent 3 bedroom in Stamford for under 550,000, so a mansion at 5 times the price, on a lake in Florida, seems like a REALLY GOOD DEAL. Is he in a really crappy part of Florida or something?

Also, is anyone else surprised the 911 caller didn't scream at some point, "Oh my god, it's Tiger Woods!" I'm impressed by that person's discretion.

I tell ya, it's a weird story overall. I don't really buy his wife smashing out the back window of the Escalade to save him, because I don't even think the side of the car was blocked by the tree. Why would she haul him ALL THE WAY out the back, over the center row of seats, if she could just get him out a side window.

Whatever happened was pretty bad, whether Tiger and Elin had a fight, or he just hit the tree as he was running to CVS for Baby Tylenol at 2:30 am, or he was having one of those Ambien sleep-walking episodes... hitting your neighbor's tree stinks no matter who you are. Click here to read more.

Stamford Hates Leaves

I get it, leaf-collecting truck, you are backing up!!! And have been doing so for the last 10 minutes! But guess what! My baby is sleeping!!!

OK, there. I just had to get that out. (Oh, and now they are using a LEAF BLOWER to get what the BEEPING TRUCK missed. Right outside my baby's window.) I mean, I'm glad they are taking the leaves out of the road, because the leaves cause the cars speeding up and down my residential road to careen dangerously close me as they roar around the leaf piles.

Oh, it is quite a symphony of machines outside the window right now. Thank God for "Ocean Waves" on repeat on the baby's CD player.

Aaaaand now the leaf truck is speeding past my house with leaves in its plow.

Every year. Every year, this leaf craziness impresses me. Aaaaand now I hear the baby stirring. Beep, beep, beep. The war on leaves. Because leaves, I guess, are evil.
Click here to read more.

Thankful For... Stamford Edition

I am thankful for...

--the lactation consultants at Stamford Hospital, and the mother's group they run on Wednesdays and Fridays
--the Stamford Police, who I think do a really good job, even if I mostly just see them directing traffic around annoying construction sites
--Vinny's Backyard BBQ, for being so baby-friendly, yet always having plenty of wine and thin crust pizza
--Stamford Museum and Nature Center for being free on Wednesdays, and for having such cool exhibits
--Bellini's awesome, if pricy, baby furniture
--the baby section of Bed Bath and Beyond
--Beldotti's Bakery and DiMare Pastry Shop, for making great cookies so easily available to me
--Mrs. Green's, for carrying kooky organic stuff, so I don't have to drive to Whole Foods Greenwich
--Tully Health Center Walk In Clinic
--new blog, Stamford 411, by the Advocate staff

What about you? What Stamford stuff are you thankful for? What did I forget?

I'll go back later and add more links, but for now, I hear the baby fussing! Click here to read more.