For my birthday this past week, I worked late and didn't get home 'til after 8PM. My husband had prepared a feast for me, including homemade gazpacho (not pictured), a delicious fish dish of his own creation, steamed green chard and pine nut cous cous. All of this, lovingly prepared in a 90+ degree kitchen with no A/C.

Tonight. I downloaded my first song. Ever. Off of the Internet. (Legally, of course. Paid for via itunes. I don't steal music.)

I've always smugly said "I don't download" when asked the types of music I get from the Internet. Or, when I read the New York Magazine "Look Book" or some such other "real person interview" where they ask "What's the last song you downloaded?" I was always just daring someone to interview me just so I could say "I don't download. I buy CDs." But, tonight I caved...

(Disclaimer: I wrote this on a much colder day, before my Internet went down... now that it's back up, of course it's 60 degrees in January in NYC. Oh well, I'm going to post it anyway.)

Living in the northeast gives me an opportunity to remember some of the most exciting winter days of my youth... snow days. Growing up in the deep south, these wondrous days occurred once a year, on average. And they always included a complicated dance... from the weather person braving the cold as he/she reported from main street, to the scroll across the bottom of the television screen announcing school closings, to the rush to buy bread and milk before the storm set in and in effect, stranded everyone at home. Snow days were a true event.

A friend recently said something to the effect that she wasn't sure if Saturdays were very brunch-ish. A group of us were getting together and a Sunday date wasn't working, so that's where the question of whether Saturday was appropriate for brunch or not came up. I piped up and said that Saturday was absolutely perfect for brunch, just as much as Sunday... perhaps even more so. It got me thinking. I love brunch. It's one of my favorite things to do in the city. But, are there truly "rules for brunch"?

Read on for my non-official, merely observational, rules for brunch. (And of course, brunch being the leisurely activity it is, you certainly don't need to follow them.)

So, about two months ago I ran my mouth about a fish market article I read in New York Magazine, and how fish from grocery stores will never compare to fish from actual fish markets. I balked at that, and so I promised a fish taste off, not unlike the Pepsi Challenge of years ago. Well, I finally did it and this is what I found.

A few weeks ago, I was riding back from the airport with a smiley happy cab driver who had a Phil Collins CD on repeat throughout the drive. He was singing along the entire time and seemed pretty blissful about it. I, on the other hand, was experiencing an extreme case of self-dislike as I sung along in my head to every single line of “Groovy Kind of Love.” I couldn’t help it, the words popped into my head as Phil (and my driver) crooned them from the front seat. Why, why, WHY must I know every word to this song, even though I haven’t heard it in years?

Last night I came across an interesting article in New York Magazine. After reading the cover story about the insanity of celebrity culture, I turned the page to learn about the relative insanity of the New York City fish trade.

Just wanted to tell all Londoners that we're thinking of you and praying for you during this terrible time. We here in New York City and in the U.S. stand with and support you.

If you're anything like me, you often eat lunch at your desk and spend a little time visiting all of your favorite "news" sites. And, if you're like me, the fluffier the content, the better. What are your favorites?

Mine, besides Gutsy, of course, include (in some particular order), the following: Page Six, Gawker, Gothamist, E Online Gossip, Curbed, New York Times Real Estate.

From SummerStage to Celebrate Brooklyn to the Bryant Park Film Festival, free summer events are hands-down one of the best reasons not to flee this city in the summer. Though it's barely spring, the annual anticipation of "who's going to be on the lineup" is mounting. And, the first list has been posted...

Caught another great show last night at the Mercury Lounge (one of my fave NYC venues, despite the often-rude bouncers) from Denver quartet DeVotchka. Gorgeous, tragic-sounding-at-times, often-aching-beautiful music with an Eastern European flair. Each band member plays multiple instruments including an accordion, a trumpet and a tuba. I'm no music reviewer but...