songbird's crazy world

I'm thinking this is a "no". 

What a nice surprise! I got the Casey necklace -- two delicate pendants with pretty pink stones. The MacKenzie necklace -- an orange and teal necklace, very bright, summer colors. Fergie earrings -- light blue, orange and ibory.  Very large but lightweight.  Very weekend. The Alana ring.  Pretty mint stone.  But I've got very small hands, the ring may not work for me.

I tried all of the Ipsy products except the sunscreen.  Liked the BB cream, it's smooth on the skin and blends well.  The lip balm was soothing.  Don't know why they call it "tinted", though, as it doesn't leave any color on your lips.  Knew Id love the eye shadow, I've used bare minerals before.  Used the bronzed sparingly, and it wasn't as dark as I feared.  Pity the customer service sucks.

Cancelled my Ipsy subscription today. Is anyone surprised? Products were decent, I liked the eye shadow and the lip balm. Customer service sucked. What happened to me in July happens to a substantial number of customers every month. Every. Single. Month. Not good service, not my cup of tea. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Restaurant Week in NYC, there are all sorts of specials to encourage you to dine out. And so we found ourselves having lunch at a lovely bistro on John Street. Outside it's a hot summer day, but inside it's dark and cool, lovely dark wood bar, panelling, furniture. The rooms are long and narrow. Very charming. The menu is French but not frou-frou. Lots of hearty meals, even at lunch. I ordered from the special "Restaurant Week" prix fixe menu. You get an appetizer, entree and dessert. Portions are smaller than the normal menu and choices are limited, but you can have an excellent lunch for a reasonable price. I had a duck appetizer. It was slow cooked to the consistency of a pate, and was served with garlicky toasted bread. Very nice. Main course was steak with bernaise sauce, frites and salad. The steak was served medium rare, as I requested, and was so tender and juicy... The potatoes were cut shoestring style and fried to an incredible crispnes

So Becca moved out of her student apartment over the weekend. Her furniture is now stored in a unit at a public storage facility. She's already talking about finding a roommate and getting another apartment. I usually prefer to give my money to organized charities, but last week I gave $2 to a woman who was very likely an addict. She earned it through sheer audacity. A group of us were standing, waiting for the train, and she walked up to one man and told him she'd just gotten her period "real bad" and had no money for tampons. I like having the word "consultant" as part of my job title. And I'm still enjoying lower Manhattan. But the commute is killing me. Yesterday was Eid, a Muslim holiday. There were a lot of men gathered at the mosque when Becca and I drove past it on our way to the train. Becca had no idea that the large house behind the fence had become a mosque. The mosque is next door to a Hindu temple, and on the same street a

Still in search of decent Financial District lunch spots, I came across this place on Broadway. Like most of the places around here, it's a counter service restaurant with a limited menu and a handful of tables. And it's relatively inexpensive. I ordered a Bento box and was satisfied with my meal. I had chicken teriyaki over white rice served with Gyoza, California roll and a side salad. The fish was fresh, the chicken tender and flavorful, the dumpling light and delicate. Portions were a bit small but satisfying. Small issues. The Bento box comes with a choice of California roll or salmon nigiri, bit no one asked me for my preference. When I asked for a paper menu to take with me, the cashier had no clue where to find one. I found it myself. And the utensils and condiments are located in front of the cashier!s station, which is fine if you're buying repackaged sushi, but if you have to wait for your order it becomes very inconvenient. It's a bit of

Disappointed with my IPSY experience, and already satisfied with my Wantable experience vis a vis the accessories box, I ordered the Wantable cosmetics box just a few days ago.  It arrived the same day as my IPSY box.  In some ways it's unfair to compare the two.  IPSY costs $10 and provides sample sizes.  Wantable is $36 and send full sized products. Wantable also gives you a receipt telling you what you receive and how to use it.  Nice touch. I got Liberty Republic Spellbound Nail Lauer Belladonna,  Glam Natural Lip Cream Love Affair, Ofra Bright Addiction Eye Shadow in Ocean Blue, and Vincent Longo Dew Drop Blush in Desert Rose. All of the products look fun as useful.

So when I came home yoday, there it was.   My IPSY glam bag.  A cute pink bag. Inside I found 5 items. 1.  A sample size pur- lisle sunscreen.   SPF 30.  Worth a try. 2.  A sample size derma e BB creme.  Light tint.  SPF 25.  I want to try a BB creme, so this is very welcome. 3.  Bare Minerals eye shadow.  Two shades.  It's not a full sized compact.   The shades are passion and muse.  I've liked other Bare Minerals products.   This will be used. 4.  Pixie tinted brilliance balm in Unique Pink.    It's a pale pink.  Pretty. 5. Pop Beauty Sunkist ed Bronzer in Secret Sunshine.   Looks a little dark for my complexion.  But I'm willing to give it a try. Worth the $10?  Clearly yes. Worth the aggravation? Nope.

A very emotional day yesterday. Every American who was old enough to be aware of his or her surroundings in 2001 has a 9/11 story. The shock, the fear, the horror of that day is indelibly imprinted on our collective consciousness, and each of us adds his or her experiences to our memory and understanding of that day. I'd spent most of my career working in lower Manhattan or Jersey City, but in September of 2001 I was fortunate to be with a Long Island based law firm, and with no court appearances scheduled in the city that day, my plan was to go to my office and focus on paperwork. I was driving to work, I had the radio on, and Scott Shannon was interviewing a man who had just seen an airplane hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. During the interview, the witness suddenly exclaimed that a second plane hit the other tower. I think I knew in that moment that the world had changed, and not for the better. I watched the rest of the morning's events unfold o

Oh my.

The Ipsy bag was apparently delivered to my house today. I've got weekend plans, won't be home until Sunday. The big reveal happens Sunday night. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The fearless glam bag has made its way to my local post office. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I know, I know, I'm obsessing. DHL says that they're ready to transport the package to the USPS. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My Ipsy bag made it as far as Secaucus, NJ. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

DHL reports the bag left their facility in Maryland this morning. Any bets on how long it will take to travel from Maryland to Long Island. Theater of the absurd indeed. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Got so fed up with IPSY . . . Emailed DHL to ask why the tracking information hasn't updated in almost a week. Did IPSY even give them a package to deliver? So now the website has been updated. Package arrived at DHL in Maryland on July 18 but was not processed until the 22nd. The comedy of errors continues.

DHL website hasn't been updated Marketing lesson #1. Don't piss off the consumer. Especially in this day and age of social media. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Earlier this summer my sister bought a hibiscus plant.  It sits in a pot on the front porch.   I suppose she'll bring it into the house when the weather gets cool in the fall. It reminds us all of that first trip we took to Disneyworld -- me, my sisters and Jen (age 7 1/2) and Becca (just turned 6), and we stayed at the Poly.  There were hibiscus all over the resort. The one on our porch has bloomed every single day this summer.

Sooner or later, you knew here would be a business lunch. Well, we wound up at Harry's Steak and Cafe. Harry's has been a Wall Street fixture since forever. Slightly below street level, the restaurant is decorated in dark wood, with wine bottles on the wall. Real steak house feel. Service was quiet and efficient, though I was perturbed that no one offered us a refill on our soft drinks. Our party stuck to salads and sandwiches. I had the steak sandwich -- tender slices of steak and melted mozzarella on a hero roll, served with handmade potato chips. Expertly prepared and very tasty. Would definitely order this again. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Just got an email asking me to review the July bag.

Good to know I've received 20 IPSY points for my aggravation. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The trend in fast-food Mexican is "build your own". You pick your ingredients and they assemble your tacos or burrito according to your instructions. There are several chains that follow this formula. The first time I encountered it was at a Chipotle on Long Island. I was hooked. I hadn't been to a Chipotle in awhile. There's a really good mom-and-pop near Drew's house, we go there often. And there's no Chipotle in Jersey City, so we had to satisfy our cravings at Salsarita's -- a similar chain. In fact, the joke was that Salsarita's was a poor substitute for Chipolte. So I was excited to see a Chipolte just a short walk from my new office. Sad to say, the bloom is off the rose. I mean, the food was good, but nothing to rave about. I had a steak bowl -- rice, black beans, tomatoes, corn, cheese, sour cream and guacamole. Too much guacamole, my steak was swimming in it. It was a very large portion, and I couldn't finish it.

OK, I admit it. I'm a fraud. One of the biggest cultural phenomena of the 70's, and I was not a part of it. Monty Python's Flying Circus was cerebral, intellectual slapstick, silly and intelligent all at once. And raunchy. Very, very raunchy. Show ran for 45 episodes on the BBC from 1969 through 1974, and spawned comedy albums, movies and even a Broadway musical. But on Sunday . . . Well, the surviving Pythons did a live show in the UK. It was broadcast around the world. Here in the US you had to go to a movie theater to see the satellite feed. So Drew and I found ourselves in the multiplex Sunday afternoon. OMG it was a funny show! Wish I'd discovered them back in the day ... - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

DHL site is back up, but hasn't updated since Wednesday evening. It's Sunday night. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Fun evening.  They lost the game.  But at least there were fireworks.

DHL site is down, package cannot be tracked. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Another Fulton Street find: GRK Fast food Greek style. Simple concept, the specialize in gyros -- they spell it "yeero" so you won't mispronounce it. Pick "sandwich" or "platter", pick your yeero meat , pick your tzaziki, and add a side if you ordered a platter, and you're done. I chose a platter, with beef and lamb yeero, brown rice and traditional tzaziki . The food was served in a square tray - a nicely seasoned portion of meat in one corner, brown rice in the next, followed by salad (shredded lettuce and chopped tomato in a vinegarette -- too heavy on the vinegar), grilled pita bread, and a small dollop of tzaziki. Next time I'll order extra tzaziki. They also serve fresh and frozen Greek yogurt. I just might give that a try, too. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

In a way, the existence of Facebook and similar social media sites has made it easier to deal with the difficult moments in our lives. Yesterday I saw one of my cousins on Facebook, talking about being upset and needing to lean on friends and family. A short time later, another cousin, from the same branch of the family, was also posting about being upset. So by the time I received not one, but two voice mail messages from other members of that part of the family ... Well, when I returned my cousin's call, I was already prepared for the bad news. My father was the youngest of five children. His oldest sister was 14 when he was born. He became an uncle for the very first time at the age of 8. Eventually the family would grow, and my father could claim 11 nieces and nephews. But now there are only 10. My cousin Adrienne, the eldest of my first cousins, the one who was just 8 years younger than my father, passed away Friday after a long illness. She was 79. She l

I have a Dunkin Donuts app on my phone, I am very fond of their coffee (my usual order is a small French vanilla with cream), and their donuts and muffins. (but not their bagels ...) We all celebrated when a Dunkin Donuts opened up near our offices in Jersey City, and cried when a partial building collapse took our favorite coffee shop away. No such issues here in the Financial District, where there are many Dunkin Donuts stores. The one closest to my office is on Fulton Street. It's got free WiFi, but only a handful of tables. If you stop in just before 9:00 on a weekday morning, you will be greeted by a long but fast-moving line. Very efficient service, the coffee is hot and the pastries are fresh. What more could you want? - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Two emails from Ipsy yesterday. One was system-generated -- a NEW tracking code. This one works, sort of. Shows DHL got the shipping information July 16. Not the package itself, just the shipping information. That's it. It hasn't updated. Today is the 19th. Second email, from an honest-to-goodness customer service rep. I'll paraphrase. "We had a major shipping disaster. Sorry. It you don't get your bag by July 26, we will send you another bag." - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Remember how last summer Drew and I flew down to Florida? We rented a truck, loaded it up with his father's furniture, etc., and drove up I 95 all the way to New York. Well, this year Drew gets to do that again -- in reverse. We have friends who are moving to Florida. They're renting a truck and moving themselves. They asked Drew to help. They're leaving in about 3 weeks. Drew will fly home from Florida about a week later. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I've been curious about this place from the first time I spotted the guy in the bagel costume dancing on the sidewalk. Typical bagel place, they serve bagels and breakfast sandwiches in the morning, and cold cuts and salads at lunchtime. Bagels here are hand rolled, soft and chewy inside but with a shiny, crunchy crust. My "everything" bagel had a decent amount of toppings, and with just the right amount of the vegetable cream cheese (which had a nice ratio of vegetables to cream cheese). Definitely the real deal, not like those imitation bagels they sell at the Dunkin Donuts across the street. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So tonight I got a system-generated email advising that I now have tracking information, but that it may take up to 48 hours for the link to be activated  .I have NOT received a response to the emails I sent to customer service.  And no, the link isn't active yet. I know, this is not an earth-shattering problem.  the sun will rise and set tomorrow regardless of what happens with my Ipsy bag. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't be peeved.  I paid for that bag 10 days ago and still don't have it. A company markets a subscription bag like Ipsy to attract customers.  Give them samples at a bargain price in hopes they will stick around and buy more product from your company, and in this internet age you want them to share positive experiences on social media.  One of the hooks Ipsy uses is a waiting list, but you can skip the wait if you link your Ipsy account to your Facebook and YouTube accounts. Smart plan, unless it backfires. Customers buy these subscription

Just discovered another new lunch spot: Melt Shop. As the name suggests, it's all about cheese. Melted cheese. As a first timer, I stuck with a "classic". Gooey American cheese on perfectly toasted bread. Very nice. The menu is somewhat limited, with all of the sandwiches built around melted cheese. You can get bacon, or chicken, or a burger. You can get sides like tater tots or tomato soup. Their freestyle Coke machine was a bit disappointing -- no Dr. Pepper. But I will survive. Another great find in the Financial District. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The waiting is the hardest part... - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Want soup but don't feel like dealing with Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi"? Go to Hale and Hearty. Trust me, the food is worth waiting in that long line. Although the place also serves salads and sandwiches, the star of the show is definitely the soup. There are far too many varieties to choose from, including daily specials. Soup is served with your choice of oyster crackers or bread, though you can also order a soup and sandwich combo. My favorite is tomato basil over rice. There isn't much of a seating area at this location (other locations are larger), but even during a busy lunch hour I was able to find a seat. Looking forward to my next bowl of soup. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So last month I subscribed to Ipsy.  For $10 a month, you get a bag of cosmetics.    My first bag arrived June 15, and with one notable exception, I liked all the products.  It's like getting a gift, half the fun of the subscription is unwrapping the products and seeing what they picked out for you. I was looking forward to the July bag.  And that's why I am not happy right now. Lat month's bag arrived June 15.  Today is July 15, and I haven't gotten so much as a tracking code. The money for this month's bag was deducted July 7.  It's customary to deduct the cost of an item when you're ready to ship it, so I was curious why my bag hadn't shipped. I went to the Ipsy website. Ipsy is obviously having a major shipping problem, several others posted messages on the site asking where their bags are. More annoying?  Even though they haven't generated a shipping code, when I signed into my account, I got a message about what was in the bag -- de

After my recent chicken teriyaki disappointment, I was really hoping to find good Asian cuisine. Couldn't find a Chinese place (I will have to keep looking!), but as I walked down Maiden Lane ... Thai. Yes, Thai. You order at the cashier's station, then wait for the kitchen to cook it to order. Although there is a small seating area, most people do take-out. I had Pad Thai with chicken, and it was perfect. Not heavy or greasy, not overly spiced or sauced. Just rice noodles, tofu, scallions, turnip, peanut and chicken in a delicate sauce. Heaven. Of course I will be back. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Spending more time in the city can lead to...um...interesting encounters. Case in point, the young man on the subway.  Tall, 20-something, looked just like Tom Cruise in Risky Business except he was actually wearing pants. It's 8:30 in the morning, so crowded on the 2 train you can barely move, and this yutz is leaning up against a pole that's meant for passengers to use as a handhold.  I have no place else to hold on, and you really don't want to find out what will happen if I have to ride the subway without being able to hold onto something... So as soon as he moves away from the pole to allow someone to walk past him, I grab onto the pole.  And he has the nerve to say to me "I was leaning against that, but fine..." -- just as four other hands reach out to take hold of the pole. Or how about the woman who got off the train at 34th St. even though it wasn't her stop, because she had to get out of the way of others who were getting off the train.she

Long Island has been fairly interesting of late. Last weekend. ..I was alone in the car,  driving along the Seaford - Oyster Bay Expressway, when I spotted it. A "Hello Kitty" car. Seriously. Pink sedan decorated all over with images of the cartoon feline, as well as hearts and the words "Hello Kitty".  License plate "H Kitty2". The driver had a pink pillow tucked between her head and the headrest. I would have loved to capture the image on camera.  But as I was alone in the car ... Well, at least I was able to photograph this license plate for my Disney - loving friends.