Sarah Littman, Local Writer, on GMA- and Link to a Cute Animated Short

I just have to share Sarah Littman's blog post about her appearance on Good Morning America. Sara is a local writer and blogger. She and her son were on GMA because their Story Corps (that booth, you know, where you go in and interview someone you know?) interview was chosen out of tens of thousands to be a) included in a book about Moms and b) animated as part of a series of shorts to be shown on the PBS show POV.

Sarah's Story Corps interview is great because her motherly love, and the directness of her endearing son, are things we rarely have time to see in the busy-ness of everyday life.

Her blog post contains the GMA clip (after an annoying ad, sorry) and the inside scoop on appearing on the show. Or, just watch the GMA clip below. The clip features Sarah and her son Josh, shows part of their animated short, and also has the guy who runs Story Corps talking about the project.

If you want to see Sarah and Josh's entire 3.5 minute animated short, go to the Story Corps page. (Oh geez I just watched the whole short- totally worth the 3.5 minutes! I laughed out loud at the Claudia part.)




Sorry the grammar in this post- or is it the syntax?- is a bit off, but I don't really have the time or inclination to worry about it! Click here to read more.

John C. Reilly All Over Stamford/Old Greenwich...

... which I think is pretty cool!

My friend saw JCR in Binney Park last Friday (4 days ago). Her son toddled up to him and nearly stole his sandwich.

Cook and Craft, a cookware store in Old Greenwich, tweeted that same day that JCR and Tilda Swinton strolled by their store.

I also hear reports that JCR was at Tigin in Stamford over the past few days, so keep your eyes peeled, people!

Send me your sightings at stamfordtalk (at) gmail (dot) com.
I don't know if I'd get spammed if I wrote out my whole email, but that's how I see the internet folk doin' it. Click here to read more.

SMNC: Antique Car Show and Baby Sheep

Last weekend the baby and I went to Stamford Museum and Nature Center so the husband could put the final touches on his iPhone app, Brix Builder. There was an antique car show going on (Model Ts to Mustangs Antique and Classic Car Show), so I tried to get there early since parking at Easter was a total mess.

I was not excited about the car show... UNTIL I GOT THERE AND SAW A REALLY COOL CORVETTE AND REMEMBERED THAT I LOVE CARS!!! I don't love cars like I love horses, or football, or babies, but I do like cars. Parking was fine, fortunately.

The baby and I didn't spend too much time with the cars, because he does not like cars as much as he likes dogs, plus the cars were in the hot sun. It was hot even at 11 am.

Instead, baby/toddler and I headed over to the playground, which was unsuccessful because
1) he's too little for the equipment
2) he kept trying to eat sticks and bark off the ground
3) he's really fast, so I had to chase him around so he wouldn't fall down the hill or bonk his head on one of many large rocks (see photo)
4) he's a good walker, but there were tree roots and rocks that made the terrain an unstable surface for a new walker and
5) it was hot and there were bugs.



So we headed over to the barn to see if we could spot some baby animals! There were over 15 baby sheep and boy were they cute! A volunteer brought one over to we could pet it, and of course some ADULTS crowded around, so my baby/toddler couldn't get close. Oh well.

We really like SMNC for quick outings. We paid 100 bucks for a family membership, which is totally worth it when you have an active kid who needs to get out of the house. Or should I say, when you are a parent who needs to get out of the house because you have a very active kid. Click here to read more.

Stalking "We Need to Talk About Kevin" Movie

I'm not sure how much movie stalking I'm going to be doing now that I have a baby and job, but I gave it the ole college try yesterday on the way home from work. (I was actually on the way home to NAP before picking up the kid, because my allergies are exhausting me.)

My 15 minutes of stalking didn't yield anything, but I made the first steps into infiltrating the cast and crew. I can't reveal my methods, obviously, but they rely heavily on my natural charm, which was hampered by my inability to talk because of an insanely sore throat. I need to get better, fast, if I hope to watch any filming or spot any stars.

Here's what I DID learn:
1. The base camp is NOT where the filming is happening. In fact, I couldn't seem to locate the set.
2. You need to dress properly to stalk a movie. You are NOT going to fit in in a patterned shirt or skirt. You need to wear JEANS and a dark shirt, and have your cell phone out a lot, or hooked to your belt.
3. Start with the older guys. They'll be the most helpful to you. Wait- am I revealing too much?

I better go before I ruin my cover.

Also, to facilitate my recon, I learned that this kid Ezra Miller, in photo above, is one of the stars. It's very important to know faces if you expect to follow the clues that eventually lead you to get to watch, oh, say, DeNiro film a scene in Stamford.

Read about the movie here.

The base camp is at Wright Tech- what an ugly building!- and the set is- well, I have no idea.

Last night I dreamt I saw Tilda Swinton driving back to the set in the same little blue car I saw her and John C. Reilly in on Tuesday. Although this time, it was a bright blue Mini rather than a steel blue Subaru Outback. Click here to read more.

Stupid Tree Allergies!!!

Is anyone else DYING here?
I literally have no voice as of last night.
I cannot talk.
THIS IS NOT CONVENIENT ON SO MANY LEVELS!!!

I am allergic to everything (trees, grasses, dust, mold, cats, pollen) except dogs- and I'm even slightly allergic to dogs!

Weather.com told me that tree allergies were "VERY HIGH" the past couple days, like in the RED ZONE, at the top of the chart, so I think I can confidently blame the STUPID TREES for my feeling absolutely awful since Wednesday. Today and tomorrow they are "HIGH," then back up to very high Monday and Tuesday. Fantastic.

I got shots several years ago that helped- I did not have problems like this that I recall for the past two years- but maybe I need to get shots again. Claritin, Nasacort and echinacea tea not helping much. Calling allergist today.

I just need some people to tell me how awful they are feeling right now so I can feel like I can have company in this misery I'm in. Just tell me your allergies are REALLY BAD right now too.

Also, tell me who your allergist is and if you LOVE THEM.

Oh. The baby has also had a yucky cough and runny nose since Thursday, so I bet the poor kid is cursed with allergies too. Fortunately he seems to be feeling a bit better after starting antibiotics Monday- AGAIN- for his ears. I think his runny nose is from allergies, but I think it gunked up his ears. Either that, or the antibiotics for the ear infection he had two weeks ago didn't work. Click here to read more.

Actual Star Sighting in Stamford: John C. Reilly!

As my husband and I were driving back from a wedding anniversary dinner at Market (very good!) I saw a guy in a teeny Subaru with his wife and kid in the Bull's Head shopping center.
Me: "I think that's a famous person." I gave him a good stare to be sure (because the other day I thought I saw Montel Williams at Donut Delite on High Ridge and turned out I was wrong) and added excitedly, "That's definitely a famous person! You know, the guy with the curly hair, and big nose? Renee Zellweger killed him in Chicago?"

My husband peered to look and said, "Oh yeah, I know that person. Why is he driving that crappy car?"

Me: "Maybe he's in town filming that Kevin movie?"

I immediately logged on facebook via my iPhone and some helpful people confirmed that the name of the actor is John C. Reilly, and he's filming "We Need to Talk about Kevin" in Stamford. You'll spot some "Base Camp: Kevin" signs around town- I saw one today on W. Broad St. near the hospital. Or somewhere. My life is sort of a blur as I'm constantly exhausted. It was somewhere, that sign, today.

Gotta run take care of the tired, ear-infected, coughing, fussing kid. He's a dear, really, just not when he's reached the end of the night and is fighting sleep. Click here to read more.

Sorta Family-Friendly Kosciusko Park

I'm not gonna check my spelling of the park, I am THAT confident in my innate spelling ability.

Baby Q and I visited Kosciusko Park for the first time in my 8 ish years in Stamford. We went to a baby friend's first birthday party, which was held under the pavilion, which they reserved. Good for us, because the sun was hot- BAD for all of the other people who didn't have much access to shade. That's one of the negatives of Kosciusko- not too much shade. The other families and groups of friends- and the park was starting to fill up with revelers at 3:30 as we left- had to sit at picnic tables in the sun.

On the positive side, the park has a nice trail for walking along the water and a nice playground. The park is ridiculously close to downtown Stamford, a good 5 minutes closer to me than Cove (which is pretty much the best park in Stamford if you ask me). The park is just a few minutes' drive from the train station- go south on Wash Blvd and keep going, and you'll hit the park- I had no idea it was that easy.

On the negative side, the park is pretty small, and your kid could pretty easily tumble into the water (I think- I did not dare let my kamikaze kid go anywhere near the shore). There is a big baseball field, and I'm not sure what else, as I stuck to our party area. The park is not great for a young but fast walker like mine, as there are glass shards and bottle tops lying around the edges of the pavilion. I pretty much could not take my eyes off him for a second, but what else is new.

Our one little incident was a rowdy dude trying to take a picnic table out of the pavilion, one that had some of our stuff on it, which was sort of odd. I figure he had to have been drinking. His friends reigned him in- much appreciated!

I declare Kosciusko sorta family-friendly, mostly because it's just nowhere near as good as Cove. Click here to read more.

Toddlers Love Thai!

Well, I barely survived another work week. The pollen is killing me.

On a higher note, I declare Little Buddha to be both baby-friendly AND toddler-friendly.

Last fall when the kid was 6 months or so, we ate lunch there amongst the office crowd, and the staff did not bat an eye. Tonight, I ordered a side dish of veggies for the kid to accompany homemade meatloaf and yobaby yogurt, two of the few food items I can count on him eating. The baby- well, toddler now- nibbled on the carrots, which is more than he's ever done with ANY other veggie in his 13 months of life... and then... HE ATE A TON OF BROCCOLI FLORETS OUT OF MY HUSBAND'S BEEF WITH BROCCOLI.

THE KID- ATE- BROCCOLI.

You go, Little Buddha! And as usual, my green curry went so great with a beer. Now baby's in bed with a full tummy, and I'm getting blog time!

I did have to painstakingly rip up the broccoli into teeny florets because they weren't that soft, but a mom will do anything to feed her baby right, so that was nothin'. And now I know if I douse broccoli in something good, he'll eat it.

Feeding a toddler is hard. Suddenly they refuse to eat that easy pureed baby food, and you have to scramble to figure out what they WILL eat. And you HAVE to get food in them, or they won't sleep. My kid will eat ground beef and turkey like it's candy, and he will let us spoon feed him yogurt, although tonight he insisted on trying to feed it to himself, which was very, very messy.

Tomorrow I'm going to try steamed broccoli florets with peanut sauce. I bought 3 toddler/kid food books this weekend. I'm going to try to find some more easy recipes, because I detest cooking. And his meals have to also work for my husband and me, because I am NOT making any more food than I absolutely have to. I HATE COOKING. There is so much else I'd rather be doing. So- MUCH- else. Click here to read more.

NFL Draft and Stamford's Vlad Ducasse

Geez Louise.
A line in an Advocate article, about the UMass tackle from Stamford High being drafted by the Jets, caught my attention:

Ducasse, who said he met with Jets officials in Stamford as recently as last week, bounced around a conference room with about 50 people at Morton's Steakhouse, holding a long embrace with his older brother, MacArthur, who was sent to Stamford from Haiti with Ducasse seven years ago by their father.

Geez Louise. Sent to Stamford by their father! Can you even imagine. I wonder who took care of him- I assume he stayed with family. And obviously some people from Stamford High gave support:

The most emotional moment of the evening came when Ducasse shared a bear hug with his high school coach, Kevin Jones, who served as a father figure and mentor to the player, who arrived in Stamford not knowing much English, and even less about football.

It is really amazing what a person can do with the right support system. Ducasse's dad made a tough decision to send his son away to a place with more opportunity, and it seems like his son's talent, drive, and determination took over from there. But there must have been a lot of people caring about him along the way, because a teenager can't do it alone.

In many respects, Ducasse's story is as compelling as Michael Oher's, the subject of the movie "The Blind Side." Ducasse was discovered at Stamford High School because he stood out in the hallways and was encouraged by friends to try out for the football team. During his first year at the school, his grade point average went from a 2.7 to a 3.8.

A cool story, and I hope to read more.
There are some great pics you can look at with the article. It looks like Ducasse's Dad was there for the draft, so I wonder if he came up to the US later?

I haven't seen the movie Blind Side, but I read the book when it came out and loved it. Click here to read more.

"Kevin" Movie Filming Downtown?

I hear there are yellow movie signs for Base Camp downtown! I myself drive a work-daycare-home circuit with the occasional jaunt to a restaurant with easy parking (read: not downtown), so I have NOT seen these signs!
My source says the movie is labeled "Kevin" and there is sign on Wash Blvd near the park, and a Base Camp sign somewhere on West Broad. If anyone knows some scoop, please tell!
Maybe baby and I will stalk the park set if it sounds interesting. Or maybe baby and I will just go somewhere else and post some fake yellow signs with another random word.

Look for signs like the one above- but that one's from a couple years ago, the DeNiro movie I think. Click here to read more.

Advocate Dishing Just the Dirt I Want

I don't mean to be a gossipy jerk, but I kind of like that the Advocate has two gigantic photos of the officer who was just suspended for punching a woman in the face last summer.

I like that they went there.

People want to know who this guy is, and the Advocate is letting us know. I appreciate that, because from many of the earlier newspaper articles, he sounded like an aggressive guy that you'd want to avoid. Thank you, Advocate, for making that easier! If that's not the job of a local paper, I don't know what is. DISH IT.

You know "The Dish" column in the paper, with local celeb sightings? Well, I love that column, but the giant photos of that officer are good dish too.

I don't mean to be mean. No one is perfect, and I hope that officer is getting the help he needs to do a better job in the future. Being a cop is hard, but that's no excuse for lashing out in a tough situation. Click here to read more.

Advocate on Coalhouse!

Innnnteresting!
Melanie Barnard just reviewed Coalhouse Pizza in today's Advocate. It's worth a read for some ideas of what to try on your next visit.

I can't really agree that Coalhouse is "often with a line outside," but then again, I don't ever get to go out to lunch during the work week, so maybe there are hordes of diners out in Bull's Head at noon.

Melanie emphasizes the wide variety of types of food that Coalhouse has, which for me is a good point since my husband and I have different food tastes. We haven't gone there often enough for me to have tried much, though, except the pizza and salad, so it might be some months before I can give an opinion on any weirder food options.

Also, I really cannot afford to eat out like I used to. Daycare breaks the BANK, man! I am so not joking!!!!



Click here to read more.

Bull's Head's Got Ya Covered

First of all, why is it called Bull's Head? No time to research now if I hope to actually post something... I was home with sick baby today so feel justified in ignoring him for a few minutes to blog!

Recently we are loving Bull's Head for the food options. Last week I got Tabouli Grill for lunch two days in a row. Their Greek salad is so fantastic, huge and healthy, and I love the addition of the sweet (but spicy?) peppers. (I'm from rural Virginia, I don't know what those peppers are called.)

We also like Coalhouse Pizza, because although I am not SUPER in love with the pizza, there is a great selection of unusual pizzas and I like their salads a lot. And hey, any pizza is pizza, afterall, so I'm not even sure why I'm complaining. I think because the crispy crust is a little hard to share with the baby, maybe. Although he's crazy for the meatballs on the meatball pizza!

I now love Hawley-Lane shoes not just for my comfortable old lady shoes, but for a good selection of kids' shoes.

I'm about to visit Zen Spa and Nails, because my other nail place doesn't have the made-famous-by-Rihanna yellow that I need. It's not florescent, it's straight up yellow.

And I am a huge fan of the newsstand/convenience store, because the people who run it are always nice to me, unlike the one of Bedford St.

And Kaleidoscope Kids has those adorable Angel Dear blankie friends that are so soft and lovable- great baby shower gift.

And Sal's Pastries if you need something sweet!

OK, off to enjoy our Coalhouse Pizza takeout, since I'm still not sure baby is feeling awesome enough to hold it together in a restaurant, although in general he's a fantastic dining companion. Click here to read more.