Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout

Today Chad and I embarked on a major undertaking and went through our clothes and came up with seven garbage bags to get rid of. I'd say we went through our closets , but our (or at least my) clothes situation is so out of control that much of what I own never makes it to a closet. I consider clothes that are sitting in a laundry basket instead of on the dining room table as "put away." (In my defense, we do have very small closets, but I can only spread that defense so far). I've always loved clothes, and owned many more than I need. As with so many of my behaviors and attitudes, my approach to clothes was heavily influenced by my mother. I've always lived with her quantity over quality clothes philosophy. Simply put, I love having lots of cheap clothes. Okay, the clothes don't have to be cheap, and as I get older, I have been discovering the pleasures of clothes made with quality fabrics. But I really love shopping for clothes (now also via the internet), ...

The world doesn't need any more documentation of how amazing Neil Patrick Harris is in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," but since Chad and I were lucky enough to see "Hedwig" recently on Broadway, (just one day before he--that is NPH, not Chad--won a Tony for his performance) I feel morally obligated to try and convey how awesome not only NPH but the whole experience was.  We saw "Hedwig" at the Belasco in New York. So I'll start with my most obvious observation first: NPH is unbelievably talented. Seeing him in person playing Hedwig was an incredible thrill. He's a true triple-threat who brought Hedwig to life with passion, humor, and sensuality. I'm especially impressed as NPH is only a couple of years younger than I am and I can't imagine giving such a physically demanding  performance night after night, sometimes two shows a day. The squats alone would kill me. Oh, and did I mention he's incredibly sexy? When he strips down...

Things I learned from our recent vacation in New York: Manhattans are better in Manhattan, or at least the Manhattans at Jacob's Pickles are awesome. (And getting to have their biscuits after 1:00 a.m. is heavenly). Always try to make Chad wear sunscreen. Apparently, it's very important for New Yorkers to be able to buy fruit late at night (thank the Heavens, because it allowed me to get strawberries at 1:00 a.m.) Chad and I can run a 10K together (even if Chad has to run much of it backwards to slow him down). Chad and I can still both sleep in a double bed (I thought we left those days behind us in college).  We can walk over 9 miles in one day. It was a pretty great way to experience the city, once we made it out of the crowds of people in Times Square without having a meltdown. And I can talk straight for about 5 miles, especially with some wine in me. We didn't exactly walk this route but this is a map of our hotel to the teenaged-staff comedy club Supe...