Miraculously all the water in our yard drained in 24 hours. Monday I was able to get out there and clean it up and when I was done it went from this…

to this. But other friends were not so lucky, our pals Stacie and Aly lost two big trees. Apparently a healthy looking tree can have its own kind of cancer where it looks sturdy on the outside but is actually hollow on the inside. Their seemingly green leafy trees were actually filled with sawdust rather than solid oak and they both came crashing down. The tree first fell at 2am. They heard the cracking, Stacie ran downstairs to see what had happened, she flicked on the backyard light and she said it was like a scene from Jurassic Park, the fallen tree looked like a huge monster mangled and strewn all over her yard. Fortunately it slid between the neighbors houses breaking a fence but not much else.

The second tree fell twelve hours later at 2:00 in the afternoon. It fell across the street crashing into her neighbors fence. Again they were lucky in that it missed their neighbor’s house but Stacie said the trauma and fear of seeing them crash was overwhelming. Both of them are  pretty cool-headed but she started screaming and crying when she realized a big gust was bringing it down and she had a complete flashback to the second tower falling on 9/11. She ran into her neighbor’s yard to tell her to get out of the way, grabbed her neighbor and the two of them held onto each other and sobbed as branches and leaves fell all around them.

The yards are almost clean now that it’s Wednesday. When things calm down a bit, I am calling a tree guy to come have our enormous oak checked, though I’m sure I’ll also get busy and forget until the next storm.

Our backyard at 8:30 am. The driveway.

The basement flooded but David was a total champ with the shop vac. One branch fell off our big tree. It was scary to hear it rattling down and not know where it was going to land. It eventually came crashing down past the kitchen window. I screamed but it didn’t do any damage other than crush a few shrubs. Now the sun is coming out. Perhaps we can have dinner at the beach club?

The bottled water aisle at Super Shop and Stop in Clifton, Friday August 26th around 1:30pm.

Why does the fact that Jonah Hill has lost so much weight  feel weird to me? I know it’s a good thing and I’m totally on board with being healthy, naturally I don’t want him to suffer the same fate as John Belushi and or Chris Farley. But there’s something about it that makes me uncomfortable. Even weirder, at at the same time Jennifer Hudson’s SELF magazine cover feels like victory—but when I look at Jonah, I feel badly for him. My first thought was okay so he had to, his weight was keeping him from roles, his weight was dangerous. Yet, it doesn’t feel like a triumph to see him so gaunt on the cover of New York Magazine with Brad Pitt. I mean despite all my teenage Monday nights at Weight Watcher meetings, in some unfortunate way it still feels like capitulation. Is it me? Or is there something true to my odd wish that he remain as big and as authentic as he was when I first met him in Superbad?

Now that our weekend plans to Amagansett are scrapped in favor of hunkering down at home in landlocked Montclair, I am about to hit the store for provisions.

WNYC has a nice concise list of supplies that I’m taking with me to Costco in about 20 minutes. But before we leave I want to share a tip that I heard from a mom who was in Baton Rouge when Katrina struck. In addition to water, batteries, three-days worth of wholesome canned food, cash, gas and pet food buy yourself a couple of packages of Jell-O pudding. It does not need to be refrigerated and when you are in your house, windows closed with no AC or fans to speak of, Jell-o Pudding tastes cold (relatively speaking here) and it becomes an unexpected treat that has the charm and feel-good surprise of a eating a Dairy Queen ice cream even if you are eating it in total darkness in your basement and for a brief while everything will feel better if not normal.

May peace and pudding be with you on Sunday.

Every year we go to Rockport, Massachusetts where David grew up for our summer vacation. Its not always easy trying to “vacation” in your home town and this trip was especially poignant because Tony is gone. It has only been two months since David’s dad died and it was naive to think we’d “get away” and all that, we stopped calling it a vacation and started calling it our “big important trip” and as big important trips go it was wonderful. Really. We got much too tan. Ate our weight in lobster and I really never need to see an ice cream cone again.

Row 1: Cottage; pirate ship ride and getting buried at Front Beach.

Row 2: Canobie Park Lake amusement park in NH, jewels at Todd Farm antique market in Rowley, Dashiell sporting his purchases

Row 3: Conrad aboard the Formidable, a pirate ghost ship

Row 4: Dashy got to use the loo at the Country Store and we got to check out their candy supply!

Row 5: Weird gold diggers on Front Beach

Row 6: Dashy on Cape Ann Whale Watch

Row 7: Rock climbing at Andrews Point

Row 8: Halibut State Park

Row 9: More rock climbing

Row 10: Even More rock climbing and a miniature Stonehenge at Halibut State Park

Row 11: Aboard Uncle Dammon and Aunt Abbe’s boat we named “Cookies and Beer”

Row 12: David looking v. salty, sunset at the Lobster Pool

Since I’ve been back working at cnp I’ve bumped into a number of old friends and the ones with kids and are extremely interested in what’s it like to live in New Jersey. “No!” “Really?” they say when I admit that traded our Brooklyn apartment for a backyard in the burbs. The Long Island raised 16-year-old in me still winces when I utter the words “New Jersey” but the 41-year old me is happy to evangelize about our town because it’s the real thing when it comes to happy grown-up compromises (decent commute, diverse population, good food). But I know Montclair is not for everyone. If you’re tired of mooching off friends with summer houses and are ready for a house all your own I have a fool-proof strategy to house hunting. Do diligence: visit the schools, brace yourself for the taxes and then check out the basements of every house you visit. Underneath all the well-appointed sun rooms and granite kitchens lies the soul of the family, even the town itself.

When David and I first started househunting we looked in a variety of New York suburbs within decent commuting distance to the city. All of the basements were a sea of Berber carpets and flat screen TVs, Stairmasters and efficiently labeled boxes of holiday decorations. They were roomy, comfortable and immaculate to the point that they looked unused. But when we started to look in Montclair we realized something was stirring beneath the surface. We’d go to check out the furnace and find a vast collection of comic books as well as a substantial and important wine collection; or complex model trains, or a photography studio; or a yoga studio; or a wood shop; or a potters wheel and kiln; or a radio and podcast station; or a huge computer server. Who were these people? And why were they moving? I found myself thinking I didn’t want to buy their house, I wanted them to stay in town so that I could hang out with them in their basements. These folks became my suburban mentors and they dispelled the myth that creativity and risk taking is the price for more closet space.

Our basement is a work in progress. It’s essentially David’s mancave where he paints, tinkers and plays Heroscape with the boys, but frankly I don’t even really know what’s going on down there, the only thing I do know is that it’s more than just laundry.

Introducing “Cat’s Galore!” Conrad’s new furniture line inspired cats and cardboard. His first creation is the “cat table”.

How did you come up with idea? “Before I made a cat just out of recylcling and then I thought how can I make this more useful and really do something with it.”

What do will you use it for? “Well you can put whatever you want on it, like I put my marbles, chess trophy, bunny that dad gave me and cool Pokemon boxes. It’s a good size.The right size for playing marbles, but too small for Pokemon games.  It’s also good because its sturdy.”

What was the toughest decision? “Deciding if it should have a cloth or not.”

Why did you choose the cloth? “Because I thought it would be more fancier, but it also means you are never getting the cloth back I’m keeping the cloth forever, its taped on.”

What are you planning on making next: “A cat fortress. It’s not for people, it’s for cats.”

You know dad is allergic to cats? “Yeah. I’m also making little cat guys. He won’t be allergic to them.”

Its muggy hot not sunny hot and this weather makes me not want to wear sunblock let alone makeup (I know no block is bad and I try to sit in the shade!). But while writing a beauty story for Self I was chatting with Emily Kate Warren, a wonderful makeup artist in NYC and we were talking about lipcolor that lasts really, after long-work days in AC and yucky humid days around town. Her suggestion: Tarte LipSurgence Lip Luster, $24. It goes on with the ease and of a pencil, has the shine of a balm and the rich pigment of a stain that really lasts. It’s a find, especially now. Plus its paraben, petrochemical and phthalets-free.

My other makeup discovery happened by chance at the Beach Club. Dashiell jumped into the three-feet and scraped his chin on the bottom of the pool. Ouch! He came out bleeding and I hustled him over the lifeguard for the first aid kit. While she fixed him up I couldn’t help but notice her insanely lustrous lashes. I was dying with curiosity and asked, “How can you keep your lashes so lush all day if you have to jump in the pool?” Apparently, lifeguards know their waterproof mascara and she told me she swears by Dior DiorShow BlackOut Waterproof Mascara, $24. And now I do too.

I’m done with big projects. Going to work during the week. Trying not to eat too much ice cream and suddenly last night I was bored. Until David found this PonPon Video on BoingBoing.

Video Link