January, so far

January. My intentions were good, but Jesus Christ on a bicycle, the month is fair whipping by and I have written little more than shopping lists and thank you notes. Two thousand and seven. One more year (and some months) and I will be sixty flippin’ years old. Sixty. I need to practice saying that because it doesn’t exactly trip sweetly off my tongue. Since there’s nothing that can be done about it except celebrate the achievement of each year, I’ll try not to ponder the task of aging too terribly much.

It's been cold here. Cold enough for this to happen when an irrigation system goes off in the wee, dark hours of early morning. That's frozen stuff...ice...in Topanga. Don't tell Kim and Jenny (who are flying in from London on Friday and love the warmth of Southern California in January). They'll only be here for a couple of days en route to Auckland and Oz. Please weather god, make it warmer, if only for the few days they're here





































Here's how the month has played out so far, weather and otherwise.

New Year's Eve (seasonably chilly)

Good times had at Neal and Andrea's with the added bonus of a 45-minute concert by party guest Rob Rio. Wow. Just wow.

Hal & Barbie Come to Dinner (rain...well, it misted for a couple of minutes and was cool enough for a fire)

While I know Barbie, who catered to the stars in her former life (and by god can this woman cook) and has at least 10 FULL sets of FANCY china (you know...Limoges, Villeroy & Boch, Pillivuyt, Sevres (sans accent and need I say any more?) and hauls it all out for her extraordinarily posh dinner parties, couldn't give a rat's ass what I serve her dinner on (as long as she doesn't have to cook it), every time she comes to dinner I do murmur and hover over my dish selection (limited) and ultimately haul out the everyday china (which I am replacing this month). Cost Plus here I come. I also fuss over exactly what I'm going to serve and this time drove a polar opposite route of fussy to a recipe that Jamie Oliver describes as Jamaican casual (suits my dinnerware). It's basically a lamb stew with a caribbean influence.I had to have this fabulous couple over before the tree was stripped of its Christmas gauderie. A nice Jewish girl, nothing makes Barbie's heart trip quicker than an Xmas tree in full flourish. She pretended to not notice the downturned, dry-needled branches, parched to the point of danger and only commented on the beautiful, old-fashioned decorations and the tinsel. I think I'm the only gal she knows who uses tinsel. Personally, I think a tree without tinsel is just a little too smug for its own good. Get with the tack, people, get with the tack. Sheesh, stop taking your Christmas trees so seriously. Colored lights and tinsel. It's the only way to go.


























Lakers game (boiling hot)
Friends Gene and Marcia took us to a Laker's vs. Dallas Mavericks game on the 7th and what a game it was. We first had dinner downtown (like grownups!) at Zucca's.
Then headed over to our posh box in the sky to watch the game. Lakers won it in the final seconds of the game.




















Then it was wee Sophie's First Birthday on the 1oth. (still pretty hot)
We all gathered to celebrate her first year. Still hard to even imagine there was life before Sophie. She's got that BIG a personality. For dinner, she had her usual and chewed it amazingly well (considering she has only two tiny pearls of bottom teeth )...chunks of avocado, halved fresh blueberries, tiny pieces of cheese, bread and butter in teenie bits, tiny pieces of chicken, a handful of peas and then for a finale, a cupcake. Being a second baby, this day was celebrated with little pomp. A Ralph's cupcake was put in front of her, at which she turned up her little nose. Even though her big sister can't bear cake (it's true) Lottie couldn't understand Sophie's indifference to the cupcake and so smeared some icing on her lips. Baby S was duly disgusted.

Before Cupcake














After First Bite of Cupcake (all adults secretly delighted at her visible disgust with cheap, nasty aquamarine icing)
















So now it's bitterly (not in the way of Fargo, but still...) cold, the wind is blowing, there are Red Flag warnings (high fire danger) and while we're praying for rain, we're also hoping it will be fair and mild for Kim and Jenny's short visit.

Next weekend, Betsy & Lee are having a dinner party for all of us (K & J included). Mexican food and muchas margaritas. OLE!