actually, this is our room at the muse hotel on 46th street in new york. we managed not to set off any alarms by lighting our menorah. for the most part, changes like that are for the better in new york -- it's a real difference, being out in a pub in the evening, now that no one can smoke in the bars or restaurants. it makes it a LOT more fun to do.

ben and i switch off nights for giving gifts during hanukkah, and my gift -- returning to the hotel after seeing boy george in taboo on broadway -- was a bottle of origins "ginger cloud" lotion, which i have been mad for ever since smelling it on my boss's hands. i am supremely picky about smelly stuff and skin stuff, but this is magnificent. and you know how, in life, certain smells remind you of certain times and places? the smell of this lotion is always going to be times square, broadway, and boy george for me. mmmmmmmm! what beautiful things.