Happy Mother's Day!
50% of women say their moms are their best friends (Newsweek).

We celebrated my best friend's day on Friday with my Nanny too. The three of us walked around the stores near my apartment and of course ate a lot. It was the first time my Nanny saw my place and she really enjoyed her visit.

This is my Nanny trying out the ladder to my lofted bed in my tiny studio haha, she's too cute!



For a present, I bought my mother a canvas painting by Alice Dalton Brown. I think it will blend perfectly into its surroundings at her home in Connecticut, which overlooks the Long Island Sound :) She had liked a larger painting by Brown, but it was too big for her wall space and detracted from the actual view. This one is large too (22x37) but not as much so.

Whatcha think? The version I got her isn't a print but on a canvas and it doesn't have the signiture part on the bottom.

Crash
I saw an advanced screening of Crash on Tuesday. Despite the title and poster, it is not a horror movie, but a powerful and intense social drama with a great ensemble (Don Cheadle, Ryan Phillippe, Sandra Bullock, Thandie Newton, Matt Dillon, Ludacris and Brandon Fraser).

It takes place in LA and shows the lives of many separate people of different wealth, occupation and race and how at some point they "crash" into one another during a period of 36 hours. I personally enjoy movies where seemingly unrelated people are later weaved together.

Crash unflinchingly deals with racial tolerance in contemporary America and the different stereotypes and fears people have, even towards their own cultures. At times these fears and prejudices are handled with humor and shock. It was weird being at a theater and hearing other audience members laugh at racial and ethnic slurs, but then I realized most of it was awkward laughter and other times the script actually is able to poke fun really skillfully to reveal tensions.

The film was written and directed by Paul Haggis, who wrote the Best Picture Million Dollar Baby. His new film effort is incredibly well-acted, especially by Don Cheadle, which comes as no surprise. It was also interesting seeing actors and actresses like Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon in unfamiliar roles and playing a bitch and racist. Tony Danza actually has a brief cameo, playing an actor who wants a black co star to act in a scene like he was more "black."

Overall, this was a powerful film and shows that there is no black or white but a lot of gray are in between. Crash opens this Friday, May 6.

Review: Accidents Will Happen, Paul Haggis's thrilling, provocative Crash spins a great cast into moral collisions. New York Magazine

Yeah, but can they flush and put down the seat?


A Burmese cat named 'Doogal' is seen in this combo picture as it sits on a toilet in Sydney on May 3, 2005. Doogal's owner, Jo Lapidge, invented a toilet training system for cats called the 'Litter-Kwitter.' Lapidge said she was inspired by the cat 'Mr Jinks' in the Hollywood film 'Meet the Fockers,' and invented the toilet training system. (REUTERS) (read more).

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

Strangers in the Night
On Jane Street under pink magnolia trees:
Friend: You ever wonder how many times we have walked around this island?
Me: In Super Size Me it says the average New Yorker walks about 9 to 13 miles a day, that's 2,500/3,000 steps.
Friend: Really?
Me: So it said.
Friend: You ever think about if we've passed a future boyfriend or husband with all the people we pass in those "3,000" steps a day?
Me: Not really, I'm usually thinking if one day I'll be living in one of the beautiful apartments that I pass. Like the ones with built in bookshelves that you can see through the windows when their curtains are up. Or one with beautiful stone walk-up steps. Will it have a view of the Hudson--
Friend: or the East river?
Both: *sigh*
Me: ha ha, I'm such a romantic.
Friend: (laughs) Practical. The apartment will probably be around longer than a lover.
Me: Especially if it's rent control.

Sample Sale
I happened upon a sample sale today near my apartment and impulsively bought a gold sparkly clutch handbag. It's like the photo on the right but in gold. Although, I almost bought the pink one, but I figured I already own a lot of pink stuff, which I guess would have then matched the pink clutch... but I bought the gold one so no matter. I think it will be a fun summer night bag. I'm not used to having a bag without a strap though, so after the price I just paid, I better not leave it on a bar counter.

Before I entered the sample sale, I said to my friend, do not let me buy another purse cuz that's the last thing I need. Yeah, so much for that. When we were leaving she goes, 'oh yeah, I wasn't supposed to let you buy a purse.' lol

Check out the designer, Susan Natoli's website, www.susannatoli.com