212gretchen's Profile

When I lived in Berlin, I went without AC because no one had it and no one needed it, except for about 3 days a year, so it was easy to abstain. And to feel righteous about it...

But a summer in New York without AC is awful! Awful, it's awful. Just awful. My father grew up in a pre-AC Bronx tenement. They sometimes slept on the roof (not advisable these days-- nor are there now enough roofs for all the people who would need to sleep there. Nor do I recommend that anyone sleep with an open window that could allow a limber person to get inside their apartment. It happens every year, with sometimes tragic consequences.)

I try to keep AC to a minimum, I agree that people get hooked and take it too far, but being hot, wet, tired and sweaty for 3-4 months is too much for me.

Our daughter was born last November in NYC. The two items in heaviest rotation were two hand-me-downs-- one was a bearsuit that she wore every day for months when we went outside for walks, the other was a patagonia fleece wintersuit (with hood) that served the same function when the bearsuit got a little snug. The hood is key-- stays on the head under all conditions, and keeps cold air from going down the body. These were NOT those puffy baby snowsuits-- which have no on purpose that I can discern. But for a baby who went on walks every day (even in wind and snow-- and who has had only one cold since she's been born!)-- the warm fabric wintersuit was super-useful.

I get linen bedding from Belgian Huis-- on line. It is very plain and beautiful. It's also pricey, even on sale. But I have lovely brown linen pillowcases that I've washed twice a month for two years and they are still in great shape.

beautiful Ostalgie (nostalgia for the east), yes. But the design is about as historically accurate as the great gatsby. That said, I'd kill for that apartment.

a hand blender. I use it every week in the wintertime for soup; in the summer for shakes, and I understand that if you have a baby it's even more valuable.

Since mine has a little bowl attachment, it also gets used as a mini food processor for chopping nuts and garlic.

Ferral cats are an introduced species-- they will reproduce with abandon, destroy nests and kill all the birds they find, and generally screw up your local ecosystem. Spay them if you can, before you end up with a very un-cute problem.

Flou does have a velcro-attached slip cover for the headboard and frame. I just vacuum it every week and get the whole thing dry-cleaned once a year. My cat doesn't scratch the sofa, and she doesn't scratch the bed. My bed actually has less surface area than my sofa, come to think of it. At any rate, I think a carpet in the bedroom is far more prone to collecting dirt, dust, mold and mites than a well-maintained upholstered bed. The upholstered bed works for me. (plus, I have different slipcolors for different moods-- although the real reason I got the flou bed is the storage... but that's a whole 'nother post.)

not so sure I'd want to walk in and see the bather's flesh squooshed up against the sides of this thing.

@ art--

first time I ever had goat was in the early 80s at Wellie's Cool Spot in Grand Cayman-- did you happen to see it when you were there?

under the counter on a shelf.