Niecy & Niece

This isn't what Niecy wore today, but she did wear a curvy red dress.
She has made housework glamorous--and unearthed the emotional issues behind it.

Went to Samsung Experience in the Time Warner Center today to see Niecy Nash, who was  there to unveil the results of a survey Samsung did with NPD Group, about how women and men feel about the division of housework.

Niecy 
She was very pretty, but I expected that, having watched Clean House. She had on a cherry satin dress and lovely high, high heels! She has three children, a sparkling engagement ring, and a son [a fourth child] coming into her household with her new man.

I kind of stumbled upon the show when channel-surfing one night a couple of years ago, and grew to really like it. As I told Niecy today, I love how she looks under the surface for the emotional issues buried in the clutter. It's really fascinating, kind of like dust mop meets shrink. And I admire the on-camera team she works with, and the show's neat format.

I could kick myself, b/c I somehow left my yellow notepad and folder there [still hope to retrieve it]. Had jotted some good quotes from Niecy Nash about the domestic division of labor and from Gail Conroy, Director, Samsung marketing communications, who has three children and commented on how great it was that the new Samsung washer can hold 31 bath towels at once. Handy, I guess, for someone who lets the laundry pile up or has a lot of shower-takers in the house.

We press/blog people had a chance to have one-on-one Q&As with Niecy. So I asked her a little about how we can change the boys growing up now, so that they can be better about doing chores. We can do that, she said, but noted that sometimes single mothers tend to dote on the boys and not make them do their share because they want to take care of them [maybe to make up for the absence of grown man in the household]?

Then we got to the heart of it. Someone you know may or may not have mentioned that she is very frustrated with the division of labor in her home.

Again, I wish I had my notes for the exact quote. But it was something along the lines of, Well, if  he doesn't want to do his half, he can pay to have it done. Intriguing idea--housekeeper/maid to the rescue.

Check this link for the survey results: http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20101013006931/en/“Choreography”-Helps-Families-Couples-Sync-Household-Chores.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fabulous food, again from Bouchon Bakery, right in the Time Warner Center. I had 1/2 ham-and-Brie sandwich and 1/2 pork with pickles. Then, the famous Nutter Butter sandwich cookie interpretation. Yum. Here's the link: http://www.bouchonbakery.com/visitUs.php.

Niece
My niece Leah was there, too. She's a blogger [webdirectny] and is starting her own agency http://www.craftmediany.com/. She grew up in Maine and is my Mary Tyler Moore, my That Girl--young and chic and beautiful, and living on her own on the Upper West Side.

After the event, we walked through the park to her new apartment, on Columbus Avenue and 78th Street, right across from the Museum of Natural History, and not too far from Shake Shack. It was the first time I saw the place, and I loved it. She made butternut squash soup with a squash from her mom's garden in Maine, all while I was looking over her business website. Before I knew it, she was chopping onions and peeling garlic, cubing and seeding squash, sauteing them, adding broth and herbs. Gosh, it smelled so good. She lives well--she even went for a run in Central Park this morning!

Spending the afternoon at Leah's made me remember how it felt to be single, to have your own place, to be able to focus on taking care of yourself--your health, your exercise, your eating, your reading, your goals, without being so stressed out taking care of everyone else. [I realize as I write this, though, that many, many spouses/parents don't lose sight of taking care of themselves no matter how crazy their lives get. Most of my friends and family are that way--sometimes it feels like it's just me who dropped the ball.]

On the way home, I stopped at a health-food store on Eighth Avenue and bought my own butternut squash [though not from a Maine garden], onion, garlic and veggie broth and made my own butternut squash soup. I have to say it was really good. H. loved it. I want to get back to cooking healthfully more often. I really used to do that, before the tree fell and etc. Thank you, Leah, for inspiring me. 

Learned some good lessons today from both Niecy and niece.

Good night.