Peaches

Does anyone out there know how to buy a good peach? I have been waiting all year to enjoy this soft summer fruit. But, I am so frustrated and going broke from buying what I think are good peaches, but turn out to be mealy when I bite into them. What a disappointment.

I read online that very ripe peaches taste the sweetest and have the most juice. They are soft, and look dimpled and withered a bit on the outside. I also read that the peel should pull away very easily from the flesh and they should melt in your mouth rather than need to be chewed. This is my fantasy. More than chocolate..I need a good peach!

I thought I was picking them just fine. First, there's the smell test. Hmmm. They smell deliciously yummy. Then the touch and feel..not too hard, not too soft. I even went to the local farm stand, thinking maybe that would solve it. No luck. The farm stands are just as bad as the grocery stores.

The interesting thing is that my one-year-old daughter, Natalie knows the difference between the good peaches and the not-so-good ones. When it comes to broccoli and peaches, not in that combination, she knows her food. She can suckle fruit down with the best of us but she is the first to shake her head, "no" if she thinks it isn't quite right (or ripe). I experienced this behavior the other day. I began eating an amazingly ripe peach, the juice dribbling out of my mouth and down my chin with every bite. Natalie refused to let me finish it, she enjoyed it with me as we stood in the kitchen less than 2 steps away from the refridgerator. She was in my arms, as I stood there. I didn't want to move, I was so entrenched in the satisfacton of this delicatable treat. I had to savor every minute of it. The next day, I was planning to give Natalie a bite of a another peach that came from a different batch (the good ones were gone) and before I could even taste it, her head was shaking from side to side.

The next time I head to the store, I think Natalie will be my peach picker. If she says no, then we won't buy them. Even with something fruity, the good ones are hard to find. I just hope she remembers this rule of thumb in the future.

Is Brazil for Children?

With the rainy weather we've been having in NY, my hair is like a Chia pet that keeps growing.

Today, I decided to get rid of the frizz once and for all, or at least for a few months. My stylist told me about a treatment called the Brazilian Keratin Treatment. It's a product that gets brushed on each strand of your hair while its dry and then it's ironed with a flat iron over and over about 10 times for each section in order to lock in the product. You need to leave the product on for 3-4 days before you can wash it out. If you get your hair wet during this time, you must dry it quickly and straighten it again. It's only day 1 so I can't wait to see how it turns out. Right now, it feels like someone left a heavy, soapy conditioner in my hair.

For a mom with a one-year-old, anything I can do to save time is a Godsend. If this service allows me to cut down styling time and jump out of the shower and go, it doesn't matter what I had to do to get there.

When my stylist first mentioned the Keratin treatment, I refused it before she could even explain what it was, "there's no way that I am going to put any straightening product in my hair."

Even though it does take 2 hours to dry, I enjoy having thick, coarse, wavy hair. It's tranformable and bounces and flips with curl at the end after a beauty-salon blowout. Straightening would destroy that. I didn't even give her a chance to tell me about the product.

That same weekend, I attended a baby shower and during the party, I overheard three girls talking about the Keratin treatment. Why is that the moment I hear about something new, I hear it again an average of three times over the course of a few days? Was I not paying attention before? Is it that I'm now aware of it? Or, is it a karmic moment taking place?

I proceed to ask question after question to these women and when the baby shower is over, I call the salon for an appointment. After three hours of this treatment, I'm told that I can't wash it out for 3 days. I cannot get it wet. But the worst is that I can't clip it up or put it in a pony tail. I remind my stylist that I have a 13 month old at home who loves to tug on hair if its not tied back. "You need to keep it straight," he re-confirms. "And, keep your hair away from your child's mouth too." Keep it away from her mouth but don't clip it back? Clearly, this stylist is in his 20's and has never been around a young child. All they ever do is put stuff in their mouth. I leave the salon a little poorer but richer in experience. It's day 2.

My daughter hasn't tried to eat my ends yet and I'm half way to seeing the results.

One Year Ago

It's hard to believe (actually kind of surreal) that 12 months ago I was a single, manhattan career woman living large in the city with a huge group of like-minded singletons. My identity was virtually made up of the following:
--great apartment in Manhattan
--lucrative Senior VP position for a major PR firm
--summers in the hamptons
--vacations around the globe
--Parties, charity events, ie. lots of glitz and glam
--brushing elbows, exchanging hugs and/or signing endorsement deals with those one may only hear about through entertainment magazines, television, sporting events and movies
--And, it would go without saying.....knows how to party with the best of them

So, less than 10 months later....who would have thought I would take a ride of a lifetime? Well, actually, it was expected that I may be on to bigger things the following year, but doubtfully nobody who knew me (including myself) anticipated that bigger would mean what it did:

Month 1: A random call from someone I went on one date with 3 years ago
Month 2: Instant Boyfriend!??
Month 3: Instant Engagement!?
Month 4: Date is Set. We are having a destination wedding (why makes things easy)?
Month 5: Wait! What? Dogs are included (and we are not talking yorkies! Try Lab and St. Bernard)
Month 6: The end of the wonderful career, success and money. Bye-bye job. :- (
Month 7: You want me to move to Brooklyn? Isn't that in another country?
Month 8: Planning, showers, stress....what just happened?
Month 9: We get hitched. Not once, but twice!
Month 10: Honeymoon. I'm Pregnant?

What a ride. Wasn't I just single a few months ago? I haven't even told everyone I know that I met someone.