Celebrate, Reminisce, and look forward.....

Another year has gone by and its time again to celebrate the anniversary of my birth…but I am not writing about that to get lots of birthday emails and facebook posts…..

I am writing because my birthday is the one day a year when it really hits me that time is passing quickly, and so much has changed from my childhood…

Just yesterday I had an in-your-face reminder that time has flown by. 
..I was treating myself to a Starbucks coffee on my way into work. I ordered my concoction (Grande Skim Latte), and moved over to the pick up counter to wait for my much needed wake up beverage. While standing there I used my time to check out my fellow coffee worshippers, I spotted a guy that I thought was my age in the line waiting to order. He looked very Fairfield County to me, and reminded me of the good old days;classic and preppy. He was very tall , wearing wide wale corduroys , a button down shirt, and he had salt and pepper hair which confirmed that he was my vintage.  He was also very nice looking with a wedding ring.

I guess I was staring a little too long in my coffee deprived state, and he stared back and all of a sudden he said “Judy?”.. And we both realized we were “old” friends from college days,  barely recognizing each other even though we had spent every day together for years?! That’s what aging does..it changes you on the outside but you still feel the same on the inside.

It was this reunion that got me thinking about all the everyday things/habits that are no longer around( or minimally available) from my youth, or what my kids think are the “old fashioned days”. 

Here’s just a brief list..some you may know, and some thankfully you can still get at the Vermont Country store as nostalgia items.
Please check out the list and let me know others I’ve forgotten.. (For the under 30 readers I am including brief explanations):
• Yellow lined legal pads
• Phone booths
• Records ( 45’s and albums)
• The Milkman( and the gray metal milk boxes we placed outside our door w/our order)
• Simple Ice cream choices ( Vanilla,Chocolate, Strawberry, Coffee (in New England), and maybe an exotic flavor like Butter Pecan or Peppermint Stick
• Paper boys ( they rang your door once a month to get paid in person and have a conversation—usually neighborhood kids)
• Gas stations with attendants to pump your gas ( OK, this still happens in New Jersey, and in the full serve lane, but it use to be for everyone and they checked your oil ..)
• Junket ( a delicious “instant” pudding mix that you quick cooked)
• Pepsi longneck glass bottles ( still available at the Vermont Country Store)
• Breck shampoo ( my mother and her friends got their hair washed once a week at the beauty parlor, and Breck shampoo was one of few shampoos available in stores that the kids used)
• Black and white TV (it made everything look dramatic, and sometimes drab so color TV is definitely an improvement)
• Only Single movie theatres( no multiplexes)
• Penny candy (waxed drinks, red hot dollars, and they really cost just pennies)
• Family car trips for any vacation
• Sweatpants and sweatshirts worn only for athletics ,or on the beach, or boat
• Dressing in nice clothes for the theatre and rare airplane trips

While it’s fun to reminisce and reconnect with the past, it makes me wonder if all the new technology and updated versions of things on my list have really improved the quality of our lives?

But as I said at the beginning of this, my birthday is coming so I am going to get into celebration mode, and enjoy all my birthday wishes on Facebook and via email, and continue to embrace all things au courant:

Latest iPhone have-to-have App: HopStop—This FREE app provides step by step directions around NYC whether you are traveling by taxi, car, bus, subway, or walking. If you have an iPhone 4 you can even text the directions. The latest app version also includes diversion info for CT and NJ scheduled transit… for non-iPhone users there is also similar functionality at: http://www.hopstop.com
Yours truly,
The Urbane Suburbanite

Inagural News from the front....

Hello and welcome to my first post….I am calling myself the Urbane Suburbanite because I did grow up and now live in the suburbs ( Fairfield County) , but I spent 12 years living in Manhattan… and now my friends/ relatives in the ‘burbs think I am sooo citified in my sensibilities and talk too fast… but my city friends think I am a country hick from the boonies of Connecticut!? 

..So I am stuck in the middle…a hybrid or an Urbane Suburbanite.  As such, there are things I want to share because when I tell my friends these info goodies they always appreciate them.  So here goes, this week:

Latest iPhone have-to-have App:  Are you a broadway theatre buff and count on getting your tickets from the TKTS booth?  Well, now you don’t have to rush into the city to see what’s on the board at all 3 of their locations. There’s an App for that! 

It’s called “TKTS” at the iPhone App store and it gives real time access to what tickets are available for what % discount at their 3 locations…

One drawback: you can’t purchase the tickets online but you can see them here 30 minutes before the booth opens…and it’s FREE  

Must see Movie:  “Race to Nowhere”-the pressure to excel in high school to get into to a "good” college,  to get a “good” job is  The Race to Nowhere  and the message is: it needs to  change and slow down.

This documentary is timely, relevant, and well done with real life examples from across the country about the current state of our education systems and how it affects kids---the stress and pressure has physical effects on kids , the teachers and administrators are frustrated, and the parents  are looking for innovative ways to change the established approaches to education.

This film was created and directed by a concerned parent turned filmmaker, Vicki Abeles. For more information and a screening near you check out the website:

These are just a few bytes. Many more to come. Stay tuned….

And finally:

If you live in the ’burbs: Have a nice day!

If you live in the city: Have a nice day!  response: Are you talking to me? (with a heavy sarcastic tone)

Yours truly,

The Urbane Suburbanite 

( keep those ideas and comments coming...)