Super Bowl Sunday means one thing to me: football season is almost over!  This year we hosted a small party at our house and since I’m not your regular Martha Stewart, there was no time to get out the camera while cooking, cleaning, and re-configuring our living room and dining room!  Now we have a lot of leftovers: meatballs, wings, deviled eggs & brats. There’s hardly ever such a surplus of junk food in our house and the temptation is hard to resist now that our guests are gone and no one else can see what we are eating! Earlier on Sunday, I couldn’t resist photographing this golden bowl of Cape Cod potato chips. I spared us all a shot of the Cool Ranch Doritos. Those little specs of flavor don’t look so visually appealing, but even I can’t resist  that blue bag once a year.

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints! I hope you enjoyed SuperBowl XLIV, the game &/or the commercials and now I’m wondering… what’s your favorite game day indulgence?

I’ve been trying to convince myself it’s ok to leave the big camera behind and only travel with the point and shoot. Last weekend I did a fair amount of traveling, so it was easy to force myself to pack light. I started Sunday in NYC with a quick trip to the Museum of Modern Art (Tim Burton exhibit was so jam packed at 11am we just gave up) and wrapped up the day with dinner at the wonderful mill that is home to Simon Pearce in Quechee Vermont. By then I was so tired I forgot my camera so I can’t share photos of the lovely retail shop, glass blowing studio or the beautiful icy waterfall… but I do have a few photos from the museum!This is Gabriel Orozco’s “mobile matrix,” featuring a whale skeleton covered in the graphite of 6,000 mechanical pencil leads. and a few photos from the “what was good design? MoMA’s Message 1944-56.” I’m a big Eames fan and there’s so many other pieces in this exhibit that I’d love to have in my home!

Surprise! Yesterday we had 1-2″ of snow and it came right during the morning rush hour. Apparently the weathermen were unable to predict this weather and it stuck around long enough to sock me with a 2.5 hour commute to work.  My daily drive is 35 miles one way.  It’s been a tough week and I’m trying to focus on our vacation in less than a month.  We’ll be staying with my great aunt and uncle in Ninole. They have a wonderful home right on the the Big Island Coastline. I’ll definitely be taking more photos when we visit.  On this blustery winter day, it already looks very inviting!

Work has been so busy lately, I haven’t had much time/energy to shoot or edit anything new… I’ve been sorting through photos to put on a digital photo frame and when I came across these squirrels from a trip to Canada I thought I thought we could all use a break from my usual posts about food!  There are lots of small critters in the Canadian Rockies and some of them are used to tourists, so they can be down-right outgoing if they think you have something to eat. We met these fellows at a rest stop along the road to Maligne Lake outside of Jasper.  I was sorting through some photos from our 2008 trip to the Rockies and if you haven’t been to this part of Canada, put it on your list. It’s just spectacular. When I get back to more travel blogging I’ll revisit the photos from this trip. I felt like every view was breathtaking!  Never heard of Maligne Lake?  Here it is in all its glory, even on a gray rainy day!If you watch web soup, you’ll get the reference to this blog title.

Last weekend it was back to Big Apple.  Between seeing Jersey Boys and dinner at BLT Steak, we decided to do some shopping.  Dylan’s Candy Bar was a complete zoo at 5pm on a Saturday, but the very prospect of so much sugar is positively intoxicating!  Julie and I had fun cramming all kind of gummy and sour candies into sectioned boxes for my niece and nephew.  How about a staircase made of sweets or artwork composed with jelly beans!?

Until yesterday I forgot about my photos from Greenport, Long Island. It was foggy/soggy May weekend. After digging up Burke’s birthday shot, I found a few more I wanted to share. This Goorin Bros hat first found its way onto D’s head during Jo and Pete’s Christmas party. D seemed to take to it quite naturally, so I thought this fedora would make a perfect gift when he switched jobs last March.And here are two All-Stars on the shell & stone filled shoreline.
M’s Chuck Taylors and D’s more modern take by John Varvados for Converse.  The classics are always in style!

It’s Paul Cezanne’s birthday, but who cares?  I’ve got two dear friends who I’m sure are celebrating in style today! 
First up: Burke.  His wit is razor-sharp and among other things, B has introduced me to Austin, Texas (one seriously awesome city) and Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste (enough said).  This photo was taken on the shores of Greenport Long Island, dark & stormy in hand. And E, who I’m sure is this blog’s most faithful follower. Even in the age of Google Analytics: there are some days I’m convinced no one’s reading this, but E always proves me wrong. I’m no Anthony DeCarlo, but I can guarantee this was the very first shot after she put on her wedding dress this past June.

Our neighbor just put his house on the market…again. It’s not your typical cookie-cutter home, but I still miss the slate roof. It broke my heart to hear the roofers carelessly throwing the slate onto the ground. Sunday was the first open house and there was some brisk traffic all afternoon long.  What’s so great about Morningside? Well, right now there are bare trees and lots of dirty snow banks, but in the summer… there are glorious long days, with late sunsets and plenty of time to walk along Morningside Drive. You can even even try your luck with a fishing pole! 

In 2009, a record number of my friends had a baby (or two, in the case of Jo & Pete), and it’s always a struggle for me to figure out children’s gifts.  This past Christmas, Felix Doolittle’s new Junior WordplayMedallions  were just the ticket.   In a shrinking world of handwritten correspondence, Mr. Doolittle’s stationery shop constantly inspires me to send more snail mail. These circular labels feature his signature watercolor illustrations and can be customized as bookplates or simply used for staking your claim on any other worthwhile worldly possession!  They’re are printed on premium paper and the luxe feel makes you want to save it for something special.  

I keep hearing about the prolonged cold snap devastating Florida citrus growers, so I was surprised to see navel oranges on sale for $.99/lb! I like to cut them up in advance for a quick weekday breakfast. Over the past month, I’ve been favoring the fancier Cara Cara. It’s not a variety you’ll see year-round. I’m in love with the sweet taste and the beautiful color. You can see why their labels proudly proclaim, pink is the new orange. They look like a small pink grapefruit, but they’re not tart at all.I’ve been wanting a satsuma orange for weeks.  Something about the one leaf draws me in.  During my childhood trips to Hawaii, I remember Japanese homes displaying a mandarin orange on top of two mochi rice cakes. Kagami Mochi is a traditional New Year’s decoration, but I swear I used to see it other times of the year…