Living without air conditioning

(from the Oriental Pavilion in Prospect Park, Brooklyn)

It's the last weekend in July and I'm surviving without air conditioning. Yes, the month of August is upon us, but I have some serious survival skills.

1) It could not be colder in my office if I asked it to be. I leave a THICK cardigan w/ a high neck at my desk and my pashmina is perpetually in my sachel so that I don't freeze at work.

2) Iced Coffee. Need I say more?

3) Fans. I have a ceiling fan and a fan in each of my two windows. It really isn't that bad when you keep drinking water and take frequent showers.

4) Training. Growing up in NOLA and spending my summers from age 12-19 outside at the zoo, babysitting and taking ballet classes taught me how to cope with heat and humidity.

5) Pomegranate mocktails. Alcohol in this heat is not a good idea. It dehydrates you and heats up your body. Instead, take a shot of pomegranate juice in a tall glass filled with ice, add seltzer water and a wedge of lemon and you're set. Mmmm.

6) Last resorts. If it's really miserable, there's always the air conditioned apartment of a boyfriend.

7) Getting the hell out of town. We'll be doing this again in a couple weeks. Another retreat to New Hampshire. When the weather cools a bit and she's totally settled, I'll go visit Katy B.

All in all, I'm hanging in there. I'm listening to Cat Power: "The Greatest" and I have some reading in French to do. There's watermelon chilling in the fridge along with some chopped radishes. Dinner will be a light pasta dish with feta and peas. Delish. I went to the Met yesterday with RJ to revisit the Susan Sontag exhibition. I'll hang out with Mademoiselle Giff tomorrow morning for laundry and movies, then hopefully I will be done with the French reading and can go see a French film with Rebecca. Monday is dinner chez RJ. Tuesday is a summer wine tasting with Leah and others.

Monday is also my parents' 30th wedding anniversary. So wonderful. I hope I can celebrate as successful a marriage as theirs someday. Here's to mom and dad!