Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 369

Bad Manners Case File: The Little Dogs Who Liked to Bark

 

 

 
You already have met one of my dogs: Sticky. She's the one who behaved so badly on an airplane a few weeks ago that other passengers were practically weeping.

But when I was telling the story about the yapping and the whining and the snuffling, there was one little detail I forgot to mention: my second dog. Meet Larry.

 Larry is a barker, too. In fact, when we got him a year ago, we probably would have named him Barky, except for the fact that one of my oldest friends once had a dog named Barky who ate a pencil and died. Although this untimely death happened thirty years ago or so, my friend is still healing.

So, Larry. The problem with Larry (and Sticky) used to be that they would stand on the back of the sofa and look out the window and bark at passersby on the sidewalk. This was when we lived in Northern California and was, by the way, the only bad thing about living there. Otherwise, it's paradise.

 A good thing about moving to New York City was that Larry and Sticky moved to an apartment, on the ninth floor, where they can't see anything to bark at if they look out the windows. (They can kind of see one corner of Alec Baldwin's apartment, in the next building, if they stand right at the edge of the window and press their faces to the glass and crane their necks to look up a few floors. But they haven't shown a real interest.)

 For months, everything seemed quiet…until the other day when I ran into my next-door neighbor in the elevator. She's a really great neighbor, who gave us welcome flowers at Thanksgiving and a scented candle at Christmastime, and so I said, "Hi, how are you?"

And she said, in a very polite way, "Do you know your dogs really miss you when you're not home?"

 

 

What was she talking about?

 "When you're not home," she continued, "they stand at the door and bark and cry, pretty much the whole time you are gone."

I was shocked. I apologized. I felt terrible. Her apartment is connected to my apartment by one (relatively thin) plaster wall, so when Sticky and Larry stand there and bark, it must sound really loud.

  "Yes, " my neighbor agreed, but not at all in a mean way, which made me feel even worse.

 So here's my new two-part plan. Before I leave the apartment, I zip Larry into his travel crate (with his favorite stuffed animal) and put the crate in my office and close the door.

 Part 2:  Since Sticky has a huge amount of anxiety about her travel crate, I let her run loose, but just in the back half of the apartment, where the only things on the other side of the walls are the elevator shaft, the recyclables bin and the building's service elevator.

I don't know for sure if the plan  is working, because when I'm not home, I obviously can't hear if they're barking. But when I return, things seem…quiet. A side benefit is that crating Larry prevents him from running around and peeing on the legs of sofas and chairs —maybe because in the crate, he doesn't feel he's been left behind with the responsibility to defend (or mark) his territory.

But like many etiquette dilemmas, this is one that you can't necessarily solve in an instant. Situations evolve. Do you think I'm doing enough to address the barking problem?

Should I ask my neighbor if things are quiet enough now, or should I wait for her to approach me, if there's still a problem?

And…what should I do if Larry and Sticky evolutionally adapt to the new situation, and return to their barking ways?

(Photos courtesy of Quittner family archives)

 

It's New York Fashion Week Fall 2011: Follow Me To Your Front Row Seat

 

Greetings my fashionistas, style-conscious and all around chic readers (yes, I'm talking to YOU)--today officially kicks off New York Fashion Week Fall 2011 at Lincoln Center!

 

 

 

It's our first chance to see all of the amazing clothes and trends that will be hitting the stores and the streets this coming fall/winter. And although you might not have a ticket to the shows...you do have ME!

 

I will be sharing you all the fun and fabulous things I see right here at RealSimple.com AND for all the up-to-the-second dish you should follow me on Twitter @MissJulee and @Real_Simple.

 

"See" you at the shows! 

 

How "smart" is a smart phone?

A friend of mine recently confessed that she was embarrassed by her cellphone, a Motorola Razr she got in 2006, because it doesn't do much more than make calls and send text messages. She can't use it to surf the internet, check into Foursquare, update her status on Facebook or take useable photos.

Why hasn't she upgraded? Because  it costs her approximately $5 a month.

Compare that to my iPhone 4 which, if I were buying it today, would cost $199 with a 2-year contract. Plus, at minimum, I would have to sign up for a service plan ($39.99/month), data plan ($15) and texting ($20). Meaning, while she is spending $60 a YEAR for her cellphone, I could be spending $75 a month for my "smart" phone.

While I love my iPhone, I can't help be wondering if I really need to be spending the money. Or, could I be spending it more wisely?

When I started this post, I had dreams of getting rid of my cellphone, or trading in my monhtly payments for a 3G iPad and a $25 monthly fee. But looking through the AT&T and Verizon Wireless web sites, the least expensive plans are $40 a month, with texting for an additonal $5 a month.

Making me think my plan to downgrade my smartphone to save money may not be as smart as it seems.

How about you? Are you hooked in with your smart phone, or are you kicking it old school like my friend?

"Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama And The Power Of Style" By Kate Betts

 

Fashion editors, critics and bloggers alike have been all abuzz regarding a star beyond the silver screen...our First Lady Michelle Obama. And thanks to her popularity, innate (and often accessible---she wore H&M on the Today Show this morning) sense of style, celebrated and sometimes controversial wardrobe choices---and a new book entitled "Everyday Icon" by Kate Betts, Michelle has become the talk of this town and every town.

 

 

 

 

Betts is a contributing editor at Time magazine, a columnist at The Daily Beast and has graced the mastheads and pages of the world's most influential fashion magazines. With that said, it's no surprise that a powerful woman like herself would be drawn to and study, arguably the most powerful woman in the world, our First Lady.

 

 

 

The book is a wonderfully informative and entertaining look into Michelle's world (mother, wife, activist, philanthropist, super woman, etc) and closet (J.Crew to McQueen). In short...it's a MUST-read!

 

Although Michelle is top of mind at the moment, there have been many first ladies who have inspired us to wear a hat, slip on a little black dress, don a bold color, or dare I say....bare your arms in a sleeveless blouse or dress.

 

 So, in celebration of the unique and inspiring styles of our present First Lady and of her trendsetting predecessors I wanted to share the following gallery Betts posted on her Daily Beast column today.

 

 

Click HERE to view the gallery

 

Which First Lady do you think has the most style?

 

 

Product We Love: UnHampered Laundry Basket

Every so often a product comes along that leads you to say "Why didn't I think of that?". This is definitely one of those products.

 

It comes from Quirky, a "social product development" company. They help the average person who has a brilliant product idea get their item into production. Read more about the company here.

 

 

Looks like a normal laundry basket, right? Until it folds into this:

 

 

And you can store it in between your washer and dryer (or whatever little nook you can find) like this:

 

 

It's called the UnHampered Collapsible Laundry Basket and was designed by Barbara Miles from Austin, Texas. It's in production now and you can order one for yourself for $25. Visit Quirky to learn more.

 

What's your favorite space-saving item in your home?

Related:

Our Favorite Problem-Solving Products

Real Simple Solutions Cleaning and Laundry Organizing Products

6 Stain-Busters That Really Work

Half Broke Horses, Chapters 1 Through 3

I'm completely immersed in Half Broke Horses and had to restrain myself from reading ahead and finishing the whole thing this weekend. It certainly has that Little-House-on-the-Prairie-for-grownups vibe; I loved that the family started out living in a dugout, just like Laura Ingalls Wilder did in On the Banks of Plum Creek. I was a huge fan of those books as a kid—anyone else?

Jeannette Walls definitely has a gift for telling a good story. Lily makes a fantastic character; it's nice to see such a strong female figure at a time when women were expected to be submissive and ladylike and the only three jobs available to them were "a nurse, a secretary, or a teacher." I admired her spunk and wish that I could only be half as confident, bold, and fearless as she was. I consider myself to be fairly independent, but spending 28 days traveling alone on horseback through the desert, with barely more than a toothbrush, canteen, and bedroll on her back, at just 15 years old?? Though times are obviously different now, it really made me think about how sheltered and insulated my life has been. And then moving to Chicago—having never even seen a real city before—with nowhere to live, no job, no friends, and no connections—made me admire her even more. Clearly, I need to take more risks in my life! Do you feel that you're a risk-taker like Lily—someone who just gets up and goes and trusts that everything will work out? Or do you tend to play it safe?

While Lily's father had the most impact on her life and was a great role model in many ways, he was a source of frustration. I started out really liking him; he seemed intelligent, down-to-earth, and let Lily be Lily, and I was definitely sympathetic to his speech impediment and limp and the mocking he endured. I loved a lot of the common sense advice he gave her: If you're going to risk your life, do it for a Purpose; In order to get along with someone, figure out what they want, and make them think you can help them get it; etc. But as the book went on, it became clear that for all the common-sense ideas he had, he could get obsessed with them (I loved the title of his book-in-progress, A Ghoti Out of Water—ha!) and that he had a lot of impractical, foolish ideas, too. When he pulled Lily out of school and used her tuition to buy Great Danes, I was horrified; it was obvious that his hare-brained schemes and selfish ambitions were in danger of bringing her and the entire family down. Luckily, Lily escaped without too much damage—at least for now—but I worry about what impact he'll have on her life later in the story. What do you think of Lily's father—do his positive qualities outweigh the negative ones? Will his influence ultimately help or hinder her?

The end of Chapter 3 is quite a turning point. While I suspected that Lily's relationship with "huckster" Ted would end in heartbreak (the line "Maybe it was because I was missing Minnie and I needed someone in my life, but I fell hard for that fellow" seemed to foreshadow a bad end), I didn't think she'd actually marry him, and I certainly didn't think he would already be married with three children! As smart and savvy as Lily was, I guess there are some things, like a charming, worldly suitor, that no woman can resist. I'm sure we've all been there ourselves or had plenty of intelligent, attractive friends who end up falling for the wrong guy. It's practically a rite of passage. I'm proud of Lily for seeing through Ted's excuses and not feeling sorry for him when she confronts him, though I was a bit surprised she was able to restrain herself when she follows him to his apartment and meets his wife. I initially thought that if the same thing happened to me, I would have lost it right there and burst into the apartment screaming, but on second thought, I think I would have been so shocked that I would have needed time alone to process everything and figure out how I wanted to handle it. I don't think I would have been as noble as Lily and thought about how making a scene would affect the wife and children. How do you think you would have reacted if you were in Lily's place? 

Jeannette did a great job of drawing me into Lily's world. There were a few times, though, when it would pop into my head—"But wait, this isn't an autobiography—did this really happen? How much of this is factual, and how much is fiction?" I admit, this happens to me occasionally when I read biographies or based-on-a-true-story movies (most recently, with The Social Network). I tend to get a little overanalytical instead of just going with the flow of the story. Did that happen with anyone else?

For the rest of the book, I'm going to let myself get sucked into a great story and cast any doubts about what's real and what isn't aside. Next week, we'll be diving into sections 4 through 6. I can't wait to get back to the book and find out what happens next to our spunky hero Lily. Hope you're enjoying it as much as I am—tell me what you think in the comments below!

Can My Garden Possibly Survive This Winter? The Case of the Umbrella Pine

Right now there are just so many things to worry about. Troubling me this week, in no particular order:

• If I take Extra-Strength Non-Drowsy Sudafed for five days in a row, will my liver explode?

• Is my 15-year-old son ever going to find a job for this summer?

• Will the Romanian Parliament really pass a bill that fines witches if their predictions don't come true? Is this really the kind of world we live in?

• What if I forget Valentine's Day? It just keeps getting closer and closer.

And so on. But I think the thing that is really waking me up at 5:20 every morning is the umbrella pine that I planted next to my driveway two summers ago. Right now it is about five feet tall and is more than 70 percent covered in snow. Correction: It is covered in snow, and ice, then more snow on top of that, then some snow with a bit of gravel from the driveway thrown in, then another little layer of cleanish snow, and then a big thick coat of ice on top. A layer of ice so smooth and so thick, in fact, that it looks like something from an animated movie. Ice Age, maybe.

Anyway, I put a lot of faith and trust in this umbrella pine when I planted it two years ago. And now, from what I can see, it looks like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. The few branches that I can see above the snow/ice combo are tilted down at an unnatural 45 degree angle. I'm no horticulturalist, but from what I can gather I think pine branches are supposed to angle up, not down. At this point, after the spanking Mother Nature has given the greater New York area this winter, it is much too late to try to dig the branches out, due to the whole ice situation. Besides, a few weeks ago I tried digging out the boxwoods in the front of my house, and I think I may have done more harm than good. And let me tell you, those boxwoods weren't cheap. But we're not going to dwell on that.

What I really want to know is: Can one lonely youngish umbrella pine withstand weeks and weeks of ice and snow nearly covering it completely and forcing its branches into an unnatural 45 degree angle situation, and emerge in springtime as a happy, healthy tree on the way to a long, productive adulthood? Or do I need to factor an umbrella pine replacement (not to mention six boxwoods!) into the spring gardening budget?

Are you reading this via an e-mail or RSS feed? If you wish to comment, please click here.

My Top 5 Songs For Cleaning House

I took a walk this morning to the local farmers' market and was so pleased to see daffodils, tulips and signs of spring all around me there. The weather is still cold (high 40s) but the sky is bright blue, the sun is shining and the air is refreshingly crisp. It put me in the mood for spring and to organize and clean my house. Then I started to think about when I would schedule for spring cleaning and decided on Saturday, March 19th. That is my day to clean under the bed, vacuum above all of the doors and in mysterious corners, scrub and wash my balcony, and organize my laundry room and pantry room. Now to figure out how to motivate myself to do it! :)

Do you plan a day each spring to give your home a good cleaning?

Usually I don't set a date aside but this year I've decided to schedule it in so that other things don't get in the way. A clean, functioning home will support me better than one that is cluttered, disorganized and in need of a good scrubbing so March 19 (and 20th, I may need an extra day) will be my cleaning weekend. It's also when general repairs will be made (I'll commission my husband for that, ha ha) and when I'll pack away winter bedding and clothes and pull out the spring/summer things.

My birthday is on Monday, March 21st so I figure it's also a good way to start a new year for me as well, to enter a new "age" with a home that feels positive and has good energy.

And now... my question. What are your top 5 songs to clean house by? Here are mine. I thought this would be a fun post and hopefully inspire you to get your home in order AND listen to some good tunes while you do it!

1.N-Trance & The Bee Gees - Staying Alive

2. Aerosmith & Run DMC - Walk This Way

3. Loved Stoned - Justin Timberlake

4. Shock the Monkey - Peter Gabriel

5. We Are The People - Empire of the Sun - Save this for when you are nearly finished and waiting for your floors to dry. :)

In addition to the tunes above, I love listening to 80s music (always motivating) and R&B from artists like Ne-Yo and Michael Jackson.

Now it's YOUR TURN! What do you clean to???

(images: holly becker)

You Can Now Opt Out of Receiving the Yellow Pages

When was the last time you used a phone book to look up the the phone number or address of a business? Chances are it's been awhile, yet you probably still receive a new copy like clockwork every year. But now you can opt out of getting one to cut down on waste.

 

 

Simply visit YellowPagesOptOut.com to register and select which directories you want to receive and which ones you'd prefer not to get.

 

What other steps have you taken to reduce the amount of paper in your home?

 

Related:

How to Recycle Anything

New Uses for Plastic Bags

Systems for Managing Your Mail

(photo by jamiesrabbits on flickr)

5 Sweet Gift Ideas for Valentine's Day

Everyone deserves a little treat on Valentine's Day. Upgrade from Hershey's kisses and candy conversation hearts with these delicious finds sure to please anyone you're sweet on.

 

 
Prince Charming Cookies, $58.50, at elenis.com
A perfectly adorable gift for the prince in your life, these hand-iced sugar cookies are charming indeed.

(image: elenis.com)

 

 

 

Hot Chocolate & Linzer Cookies, $32 at sarabeth.com
Sarabeth's is one of my favorite bakeries in New York (the jams alone are to die for), so this package of all-natural hot chocolate and raspberry-filled cookies is sure to be a winner.

(image: sarabeth.com)

 
 

Heart S'Mores, $48 at deandeluca.com
Who doesn't love a classic childhood s'more? These little heart-shaped bites provide an elegant spin on the campfire dessert.

(image: deandeluca.com)

 

 

Chocolate Ganache Valentine's Box, $29 for 9 at mariebelle.com
Packaged in a bright red box, these mouthwateringly-flavored chocolates from MarieBelle are printed with colorful, whimsical designs—a girl with heart-shaped balloons, a boy blowing heart bubbles, Cinderella and her slipper, and more. (See all the designs and their flavors here.)
(image: mariebelle.com)


 

Karolina Petit French Macarons, $28 for 12 at chocolate.com
French macarons—delicate, airy cookies with cream or jam sandwiched inside—are all the rage these days. Your Valentine will fall in love with them.

(image: chocolate.com)