Dogs Eat Dog Food

Alpo just came out with a brilliant commercial with the smart tag line - "Get that dog some Alpo."

Confession: for years I have made my dogs their "food." Brown rice mixed with ground meat. My oldest dog had some health issue and for some reason I thought home cooked was better than can. But you know what? I'm an idiot. My dogs actually seem to like canned food better than home cooked. I even tried to make them home cooked biscuits because they are so picky about their treats. Well, no more doggie yoga or gourmet for Roxy and Kayleigh. I may not get them Alpo, but I think Newman's Own makes a great can of chow.

My "Star" Trainer

In an effort to add more cardio to my fitness routine (hence, lose some weight), I started going to an advanced step class at my gym. I used to do step a lot and thought I was ok. But once I tried the advanced class I realized I was entering a new zone. The instructor had a cult-following. The girls would get there 15-minutes before class. Stake out their "positions" and guard them furiously.

Amy - the instructor - had her favorites. Some had nick names, others were just loyal followers. As I got into the swing of the classes I started to finally "get" her routines, her style and the fandom that followed. Then this week I went online and bought an advanced step video for the days I couldn't get to class. I found a video that looked good - Amy Bento Advanced Step 3 and it came yesterday. When I opened the package I was surprised. The Amy Bento in the video is the same "Amy" who teaches my Saturday morning class.

And those rabid followers in the class? A bunch of them are on her video! I actually find it really inspiring. Amy is in amazing shape and the women in the class are all athletic and toned. So maybe if I stick with it, so will I....

Amy's web site is here

Boston Bests

I've been to Boston a lot. My sister has lived there since she went to college and never came back. We've done lots of fun things and visited lots of fun places. And we've eaten at amazing restaurants.

We had dinner with Julia Child at L'Espalier. And we ate $300 worth of Sushi at O Ya.

My new favorite (and hers) is Drink. A lovely little bar around the corner from her apartment that would turn me into a daily/nightly imbiber in no time. They don't have a menu or specialty drink. Instead, they ask you what you like to drink and using home made bitters, herbs and even carefully crafted ice cubes designed for specific glasses and drinks, they create drinks just for you.

My sister's current favorite is a green blazer. Chartreuse set on fire, poured between two hot mugs until some of the alchol burns off and then poured into a charming little glass warm but not hot. And when you sip it, it warms you inside out. Just one and I was giggling on the floor.

A must visit.
Drink Here

Stump "Best in Show"

I am a dog freak. I greet every dog I see when I walk down the street. And almost always I know what breed it is. Last night at the Westminster Dog Show, a 10-year-old Sussex Spaniel was the winner. Never knew this breed. It was clearly the crowd favorite. It had a great story. And it's tail never stopped wagging.

I went to Westminster about 12-years ago when I was working for Grey. They had the pedigree account and I got tickets to stand at the individual breed contests and after the best of breed was selected, I interviewed the winners to find out what they feed their dogs. It was fascinating. Back stage was like a side-show. Dogs in curlers, dogs upside down. And the people were even more bizarre than some of the dogs. It was quite an event.

The year I went a Clumber Spaniel won. Its trick: it could hold three tennis balls in its mouth. I'd never seen or heard of the dog in my life, but just the next month we went to LA to visit my in-laws and stopped by a friend's house who had --- you guessed it, a clumber spaniel.

What amazed me most about Stump, last night's winner, was that he is 10-years old. That's how old my dogs are now. I doubt they'd get best in anything unless it was snoring or sleeping. Still, according to this article TEXT, Stump does a lot of sleeping as well.

This was one of the first years I actually "picked" the winner.

Poor Michael Phelps

Sorry it's taken 3-days to get this post up. But as a result of the delay, I have more to say.

While I don't really feel sorry for Michael Phelps, I do think the media attention on the poor kid doing a bong hit is way over done. But I also think that's partly his fault. He sold out.

After winning big - and I watched every single one of his wins - the guy snatched up EVERY endorsement deal offered. Kellogg's made sense. Some of the others, not so much. So who drops him immediately? Kellogg's. His image is no longer right for cereal boxes. But Subway stays with him.

Who wins in this pr war? The kid is clearly contrite. He knows he messed up (Mom, I was gonna use another word there, but I thought about my promised - see previous post). His apology was sincere. And if there's one thing I've learned over the past 6-months, is that you have to respond immediately to media questions, no ducking allowed.

My sister had the best response, he should do anti-drug PSA's. But I wonder, will it really ring true? What did he lose? He lost money. Is that the message we want to send today?

ps - full disclosure, I was known to take a bong hit or 2 back in the day...it is NOT going to help his lung capacity.