How much is too much?

Throughout my life, entertaining at home has been a cherished tradition, for dear friends and new acquaintances. From London, Boston, New York, Chicago, San Diego to Palm Springs, I've always enjoyed hosting parties, dinners and intimate cocktail parties. Despite over 25 years of experience at it, I still struggle at one key component: how much food to serve. 

I suffer from what I call Italian Guilt. I loosely define it as the shame of running out of food, or even worse--what would someone say if I didn't have enough of a spread. Of course, in truth, noone in my social circle would truly be that judgmental, but being of Italian heritage, even the thought of embarrassment is enough to motivate me to bring out more food than can be consumed. 

But how much is too much? Take for instance, a normal dinner party. Before dinner, I usually serve cocktails, and have some snacky things on the coffee table. Cashews. Pistachios. Almonds. Cheese. Crackers. Salami. Is that enough? Well maybe some grapes for good measure. Oh and how about some sliced veggies? A few hot hors d'oeuvres as well? What if someone can't make it until dinner is served? The realization that I've gone too far usually happens sometime between when I squeeze it all on the table, and when my guests protest at the thought of anything further.

I truly enjoy entertaining, I just wish I could shed this Italian Guilt, even after 25 years of doing it.

Happy St Patrick's Day

I'm not Irish, but I enjoy celebrating St Patrick's Day every year. Mind you when I say "celebrate" it doesn't quite have the same meaning as when I was in college. Now those were celebrations....but that's another day's blog post I'm afraid. I recently had a guest on my radio show who claimed he was a leprechaun. Technically I suppose he meant he was a descendent of a leprechaun, but either way one doesn't often meet a leprechaun. I'm not an investigative journalist, my radio program is purely for light entertainment, so I went along with it.

Despite my skepticism, it turned out to be a decent segment, just in time for St Patrick's Day. During the interview we had a live caller from Ireland who happened to see the "on air" tweet for Blog Talk Radio and actually phoned in to speak with a real life leprechaun. She just wanted to be able to say she "spoke" with a leprechaun, and didn't have much to say. Apparently he has his share of photo ops with folks wherever he goes. I was disappointed that he couldn't produce any magic, nor could he produce any tales of finding s pot of gold. But he was full of funny stories, none the less. It may come as a complete surprise to you, but he also sells t-shirts and buttons about his magical Irish heritage.

After the interview, my magical guest with the brogue sent me a lucky four leaf clover charm as a way of saying thanks. I'll carry it around in my pocket this St Patrick's Day and see what good luck comes my way. Well that and maybe some green beer too. 

An Evening at Palm Springs Air Museum

I love living in Palm Springs. There is so much to see and plenty to do. One hidden gem is the Palm Springs Air Museum, located adjacent to the Palm Springs International Airport. I was there to attend a private dinner party held in the museum hangar, in the midst of the most beautiful warbird aircraft, light dramatically in the desert night. The San Jacinto Mountainscape was the perfect backdrop for these works of art that once liberated Europe. The air museum boasts one of the world's largest collections of flyable WWII aircraft and Warbirds. Their mission is "to educate and honor World War II combat aircraft and the role the pilots and American citizens had in achieving this great victory."

If you have the opportunity to visit this museum, do so--it is quite impressive. It's a great place to take your dad, uncle or any veteran. Last night I toured the Bob Hope war exhibit within the air museum, which was really cool. Learn more about this fun museum from their website.

Life in the Wild West...sort of

I've lived in Palm Springs so long now that I've grown accustomed to the surroundings. Cactus plants, aloe, palm trees, tumbleweeds, olive trees, and smoke trees, all used to seem foreign to me. When I would see these things they never phased me. Until recently...I was visiting Smoke Tree Ranch and came across this old wagon. It made me feel like I was living in the Wild Wild West. Well at an historic ranch anyway. Smoke Tree Ranch dates back to the 1930's and has operated as a resort now for more than 60 years. I love places like this. They still have the old wild west charm, character that makes you feel as though you are living in the wild west. I didn't set out to write a plug post for the Smoke Tree Ranch, but I have to admit, I am smitten with the place. I've driven past it for well over a decade and never thought much about it, but I'm happy that spending time there brought a smile to my face.

I'll take it...

I just saw this week's weather forecast for Palm Springs. The nice warm weather is returning after a few days of a cold snap. It sure is nice to see mid 80's in the forecast...although it looks like it will be climbing as high as 96 on Friday...wow, March sure is early to hit high 90's. Mind you, there is a 10% chance of rain, so that means a wispy cloud will float overhead and dry up before any precipitation could even think to sprinkle on our fair desert sands. We'll see how it shakes out but I'm just glad I can re-pack my sweaters again until next January.

Miss Piggy and Kermit

Since I was a kid, I've loved Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. Their on again, off again relationship was always such fun. Miss Piggy, aggressive and pushy is always pursuing poor shy Kermit. It's not easy being green. Both are lovable and memorable. Maybe that's why I was so excited to see these collectable figures at Memento Gift Shop the other day. I don't normally buy things like this but they are so cute...and they made me smile. Which one do you prefer, Kermit or Miss Piggy?

Are you a Wine Aux?

Are you a ‘Wine Aux’?
The definition is: “A lover of wine who uses a glass”.  Well, that’s the definition according to this popular t-shirt at Memento Gift Shop in Palm Springs. I do love wine...so much so that we have not one but two wine cellars, both of which are brimming with wine. So I suppose that means I should buy one of these t-shirts!

My solution for dry hands...Crabtree & Evenlyn

OK I admit it. I have dry hands. In fact super dry hands. It's my own fault. Party because I'm germaphobic, and partly because I don't want to catch a cold or some stomach flu. So I wash my hands many times throughout the day. Right or wrong it is what I do. I don't use those alcohol-based hand sanitizers much, just regular hot water and soap. The next result is my hands dry out. However I found a great skin care lotion that works a charm on my dry hands. 

Crabtree & Evelyn has a line of "Ultra-Moisturising Hand Therapy" in a tube. They have lots of scents, but I like the Avocado, Olive & Basil variety. According to their website, it is infused with macadamia nut oil, shea butter, avocado butter, and basil and olive extracts. Lucky for me, I know just the place to get some. Memento Gift Shop in the heart of downtown Palm Springs is the exclusive retailer in downtown Palm Springs for the entire Crabtree & Evelyn line. If you have dry hands, check out their hand therapy lotion. They have lots of other scents, like Orange, Lavendar, etc. Your hands will thank you.
This isn't a paid post, just my own opinion and experience in solving dry hand issues.