Merry HOLIDAYS from the most Fantastic Jewelers in the World!!

The New York Times...

...has ruined my day!

Somewhere in the NYTimes is a profile on my boss... why did this happen right before Chritsmas. Today i should be at a funeral but instead i have to count his pennies and slash his zero's. 

back later...

Sailing the High Drifts

So much SNOW...

it's so wonderful here in the city.. the streets are clear but the tree's are still dusted with natures powdered sugar, the sugar like ice glistened a blinding sun today.

i'm so exhausted with shopping and working that i can't think of a single coherent thought to write about at length right now. i spent most of the day running errands and wrapping more presents for Mrs. B and Mr. S... i also got some personal shopping in as well; books, shirts, scarves etc. The Holiday Market at Union Sq was bustling with last minute shoppers and newly weds taking an evening stroll.. by the way... today was with out a doubt (besides scientific law) the shortest DAY ever! at two pm the sun was almost gone. That is one of the worst things about winter.. no SUN! but i do LOVE MY SNOW!!

Snow, snow, gently drifting to the ground, 
For when winter comes, snow will come as well,
Snow is the messenger of winter,
From skiing to toboganning to making snowballs.

Snow, snow gently drifting to the ground,
Falling in the form of unique white snowflakes,
A pure natural blanket,
Sparkling under the sun.

Snow, snow, gently drifting to the ground
TREASURE THIS GIFT BEFORE IT MELTS! !


   

NY Blitz Blizzard

SNOW!

The flakes swim through the air as if they were sea monkeys in a child's fish tank. As the day opened i sat polishing the silver and putting away the fine bone china from the night before. Mr. S's party went off without a hitch, albeit with the grace and etiquette that i endowed upon it. When i arrived from the office i was happy to find the caterer in the kitchen basting the goose and stirring the soup. A staff containing three other service personnel were cleaning the living room and counting the glasses. With the smell of all things holiday in the air i set about checking the place settings, starting with the recounting the glasses...[LESSON: the glasses can number up to five and are placed so that the smaller ones are in front. The water goblet is placed directly above the knives. Just to the right goes a champagne flute; In front of these are placed a red and/or white wine glass and a sherry glass.] Moving onto the centerpiece, i took a seat and began to inspect, [these chairs are the most comfortable pieces of furniture i have ever sat in while eating, covered in cream damask silk from England and tufted in the back] i just want to melt into them in the same fashion as the snow does on the streets outside... Gold vases spewing fresh white roses and violet calla lilies; they are placed wrong, thus i then spent 25 minutes realigning them all with the crease in the table cloth and spacing them one salad plate width apart.

Mrs. B, in her classic black sleeveless dinner dress, and her 23 carat emerald necklace which sparkles like the turrets of Oz; gracefully floats around the dinning room complimenting my color choices and then whisks away to the parlor (probably to sneak a cigarette). Johnathan, the chef for the night, is now slicing the bread and basting it with olive oil and crackling some pepper over them. Around the kitchen i see nothing but the perfection of what will be the evening, the silver is shinning the crystal is sparkling and.. and... JENNY! Blonde and beautiful she might be, but who on gods green (and polluted) earth uses the double oven door as a mirror, her lipstick [red as blood] has now been blotted onto 4 paper towels and still looks trashy..

YET! By the end of the night everything was a success... i'll fill you all in on Monday, when i can breathe?

Role Model...

In the proper fashion i wrapped Christmas presents all day long... for my boss. 

Let us call him "MR. S"

Every year Mr. S, purchases a truck load of presents for his four sons, his wife and his four grandchildren. He does NOT purchase any for his daughters in law and his one grandson (he's an infant). I trudged out into the cold to buy "GENERIC" wrapping paper (they're Jewish but celebrate Christmas instead).. Five stores later i still hadn't come across Mr. S's choice of paper. As i was getting myself a latte i saw in the window of Duane Read exactly what i'd been looking for. I spent $15 dollars and came back to the office. 

I just cleaned off the remains of all the paper and stacked all the gifts in size order (a MUST for Mr. S) and am now trying to relax my stiff back from those horrible chairs. 

I would like to point out that the presents look perfect... so perfect that even Bree Van de Kamp would be proud... oh Bree where are you when i need you.. dinner still isn't ready because i haven't been home to check on the caterers... Mrs. B (Mr. S's wife) is a magazine publisher and is far from able to cook with her busy schedule. Most nights she does cook for the three of them (herself, Mr. S and young Master B-S) but tonight with the whole family coming over there isn't enough time in the minute to prepare and plate and decorate for them. So i ask you again BREE where are You?? (please don't be dead after the plane hit the house)

Back story on Bree:

Born in December of 1962, Bree Hodge is a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (she is Presbyterian), the conservative Republican widow of Rex Van de Kamp, ex-wife of Orson Hodge. She lives at 4354 Wisteria Lane | Fairview, Eagle State USA. She has one daughter Danielle who is married and has a son. She also has one gay son Andrew who is engaged to a doctor. 

Bree is one of the most fantastic characters i have ever come across. Besides her rare faults she is by far a fantastic role model. Yet a bit naive at times.

All in all... i still have an entire day ahead of me that doesn't include SLEEP.

Life Lesson...

Due to circumstances not yet known, a beloved employee of our company is newly single. As tears stream down her face all i can do is stand and stare. The relations that exist in our office a very tight. Coming from a comforting and loving family i myself wanted to hug her and tell her that all will be well. She's boarding the jet in 2 hours to fly home for the holidays, one less person in tow; for what sake though.
As we age and as we grow as people our perceptions of the world and the people in it change. We stop liking pickles and start drinking coffee. Our favorite color jumps from primary blue to dock blue with a tint of smokey grey. Cheesey crushes blossom into infatuation and then into true love. Smiles stay smiles but the smirk portray's devious idea's or uneasy shyness.
As i watch her get into the town car, black as night and idling in the icy wind, she turns to us and waves, a tear frozen to her cheek...

All for the sake of what... LOVE?

Once upon a Time...

Many years ago, when i was just six months old i spent most my days in the arms of my grandfather. At fifty-five years old, he was a stout man with a honorable handshake and loving smile. Every morning he would call my mother and ask her to bring me over; he would hold me and rock me and sing Greek lullabies to me. Diapers... that was my grandmothers job, which she then put to my godmother. 

As i look back now at old photo's and ancient home video's from the 80's i cry, i cry because my grandfather is gone, he died in 1985. He didn't hold me when i hid from my father; he didn't teach me to roast the Easter lamb, he didn't see me graduate high school and he didn't kiss me goodnight when the closet monsters hunted me. Then again if he hadn't passed away, i most likely wouldn't be the man i am now. I'd be Better.