Art

DC is one of the world's great museum towns, housing the Smithsonian's eclectic collection. Tom and I got a kick out of this painting, which is on display at the National Gallery. Not sure why, but for some reason it really resonated with us. Great art reminds us that there are moments that transcend time.....such as the love of a pug and its human.

NY State of Mind

I recently came back from NY and DC, one of those rare trips where the stars align and everything goes according to plan.  

Things got off to a great start day one of my trip.  I was upgraded to business class (without asking), our plane circled Manhattan twice before landing (I had the perfect seat to take in the view), and at the Waldorf, I hit the jackpot and was upgraded to the towers (the ultimate NY crib) - all harbingers of things to come. Here are a few of the NY highlights:

• Seeing South Pacific at Lincoln Centre with my good friend Bob. Not only did we go backstage and meet the cast, but Bob's  friend Loretta let us go onstage after the show was over. Loretta is starring as Bloody Mary, after being discovered by the Director in her native Hawaii.  I love it when good things happen to good people. Tom is really enjoying my many renditions of "Some Enchanted Evening", and plans to send Bob a special thank you.
• A behind the scenes tour of the Today Show, courtesy of Natalie Morales, who is humble, beautiful and a pleasure to work with.
• A girls night out with Suzanne and Ellen, good for the soul and better than years of therapy. We went to PDT - a secret little club that can only be accessed through a telephone booth in a hot dog shop. 

New York, you really are one of the world's great cities. 

Art

Living with a photographer can be quite daunting. For years I avoided cameras, knowing my best would never be good enough.

Funny thing about life, sometimes you have hidden talents without even knowing it. By fluke I realized that I have a knack for accidentally taking photos with my blackberry. It's actually a gift, who knew that I would capture the essence of life without even knowing it.

So from time to time I plan to share my new art form with you.  Take this image for example, I like to call it "Janice looks at life and laughs in its face".

My New Mantra

Simplicity.

• KISS - keep it simple stupid

• The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.--Hans Hofmann
  

Pug Love

I knew something was seriously wrong, when I came home from work and Maggie wasn't at the door waiting to greet me.  Tex was there, happy pug face and wagging tail, but where was Maggie?

My heart was pounding as I went to look for baby girl, something had to be seriously wrong for her not to be front and centre, eager to tell me about her day. I found her sleeping in the living room, she seemed a little confused when I gently woke her.  I tried to assure myself that everything was okay, after all, we all have days when we're a little off.

I started to get scared when we had to wake her up the next morning. You see Maggie is a keener, always the first to wake up, run to the door, jump right in. It wasn't until we used the magic word, and asked her if she wanted cheese, that we realized she was having trouble hearing. You see Maggie is something of a cheese connoisseur, and can even tell the difference between Brie, Cheddar and Blue - you say cheese, and Magster goes a little crazy.

According to the vet, Maggie may be loosing her hearing. She does have a mild ear infection, but the Dr feels it isn't severe enough to impact her ability to hear. This week we're taking her in to have her ear flushed out, but who knows if it will help.

This is really hard for both Tom and I, as we tend to live in denial, convincing ourselves the pugs aren't getting older.  It's so much easier to pretend that our precious babies will always be with us.

Don't worry baby girl, we'll be your ears.