T I R E D . . . but anyway . . .

The thing about brewing a kid in your mid-section is that it takes all the extra energy you had floating around and crumbles it up in a little ball and throws it in the incinerator. BUT that is neither here nor there, and when I can rally to write something useful, I WILL!

I was sort of destroyed on the big day, which means I was a very bad friend and missed the opening party for the Thank You Stamford event at the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery, but the artists who made the cut are on display until September 4th. The show is made up of Stamford artists, local grown talent - which makes it right up my alley. The really exciting bit for me is that my partner in crime for last October's Cans and Cocktails charity event, the man behind We Can't Stop, is one of the masterminds on display. He's a crazy talented guy - and I'm sure he's in good company. Check him out!

In other news, I couldn't help but notice that the Holiday Inn just off Grove has changed hands. All the green turned brown and it's now got a big fat Sheraton Hotel logo front and center. Kinda interesting!

In other, other news, my friends and I went to Zaza's the other day. I had high hopes for the decor and the food - and I wasn't disappointed. I like the black/white/red sophisticated vibe. I like the comfy, central bench seating. The glass wall and the slate of outdoor seating was charming. I ordered a house salad and the California pizza, and both were tremendous. Just typing California pizza makes me start to drool again...avocado, lime, arugula, shrimp...ridiculous.

However, as cute and friendly as our waiter was, there's a lot of room for improvement. I arrived first, and when he asked if I'd like bread while I waited, I said no thanks. Minutes later, there was the bread. Alrighty. When my friends arrived, we all ordered salads, but only two came out at first. Our waiter asked if we'd like the dressing on the side when he took the order (not even our request), and we said yes...which somehow translated into dressed salad with a bowl of extra dressing. Uhh...what? Then maybe 15 minutes later came another salad - after we'd said don't worry about it - we'll split these two. The third salad amazingly did have the dressing on the side. But the pizzas made everything better with their universally acknowledged fabulousness. Yum, yum, yum.

Well, that's about all I can muster...but I'll be back, citizens!

What's the Deal with UBS?

We've been hearing for some time that UBS might be shuffling employee to NYC and then that yes indeed they are officially moving employees out of Stamford. The building is still full of UBS employees (for now), and there's some small comfort in knowing their lease runs to 2015, but that will be here sooner than you think.

So why exactly are they thinking of leaving altogether? The New York Times quotes one landlord who has spoken with UBS as saying "They just can’t hire the bankers and traders they need."

But are we really the problem?

There's a great article on the topic on Dealbreaker that says:

The bank, which has not been doing too hot of late, seems to believe that leaving Stamford would be a panacea for all its woes which, according to UBS, boil down to no one wanting to work in Connecticut (rather than no one wanting to work at a place that doesn’t pay and yells at you when you ask if this month’s check will clear).

In addition, what leaves me scratching my head is how the "we can't hire new talent argument" jibes with the FINS article noting that "UBS will slow its investment bank hiring as it responds to weakened business conditions" and that the company is "responding to the 'challenging environment' and will refrain from 'mass recruiting.'" Huh?! Kinda odd that UBS is breaking up with us because we're not giving it something it doesn't want anyway. That plus several sources indicate that UBS will be eliminating hundreds or even thousands of jobs.

So I wonder if we're a convenient excuse for other company failings and those of the economy. Hope they stay, but if they go, hope they know why they're really leaving.

Arbor Eat 'Em

Our loverly friends TK and EL invited us out with their son to catch a little bluegrass music at the Bartlett Arboretum. Despite my Southern roots, I've never been big on bluegrass, but we had a fabulous time. You can bring a picnic, take in a little nature and enjoy some live music for a reasonable price: $10/person and less if you're a member (for evening events) and only $6/person for daytime.

It's hard to find activities that entertain both adults and kids, but this one did the trick. There were tons of children playing frisbee and taking death defying leaps off rocks while the adults chilled out and admired the sincere commitment to bluegrass demonstrated by that one guy's 3 foot long beard - wow!

Bartlett has a nice set of summer concerts set up for the season. You can enjoy the event Sunday mornings from 10-11am until August 7th or Sunday evenings from 5-7pm.

Prefer a little refreshment? They also feature summer cocktail event in the veggie garden on July 21st as well as a tropical garden event on August 18th.

Saturday Self Soothing

Today was rough, and I needed a night out. So my husband and I treated ourselves to dinner and a movie. Gotta get in as many dates as we can before the bambino comes on the scene!

It was a lover-ly evening that started out at Capriccio Cafe. I had the crab cake salad. Apparently, avocado is a mood enhancer. It certainly doesn't hurt to serve it up with succulent crab, tomatoes, corn and seasonal leafy greens. Light fare outside in the afternoon sun is perfection.

We then ventured down to the theater on Summer to see Horrible Bosses. I needed a little comic relief, and it scratched exactly that itch. Charlie Day has some sort of comedic Midas touch. Even watching him freak out singing to The Ting Tings is funny.

It was definitely a pick-me-up, and made me feel better. Feel free to copy my recipe for swinging your mood back into the right direction.

(photo from deshaunicus, flickr.com)

If I Had A Hammer...

I'd go see him! Don't forget that your favorite Taco Bell spokesrapper, MC Hammer, is in YOUR backyard TOMORROW! Did all your dreams just come true? He's won 3 Grammys, he's sold 20 million albums (ok, maybe not recently...), and he's spent decades being too legit to quit. If that doesn't get you out the do', I don't know what will. He's here for Alive @ 5 and you can see him at Columbus Park for $10 starting at 5pm.

I couldn't bring myself to say "hey, John Tesh is coming" - but he did - as part of a very cool new summer event here in Stamford. There are four weeks of jazz at the same Columbus Park concert stage on:

- July 13, featuring Marion Meadows
- July 20, featuring Joyce DiCamillo and Maydie Myles
- July 27, featuring the amazing Roberta Flack and Ralph MacDonald with Dennis Collins & Friends

All shows are underway at 6:30pm; admission is free for all but the legendary Ms. Flack, whose show will run you ten bucks.

In other news, my husband and I are expecting our first child in December - just found out we'll be parents to a baby boy - so that's cool!