Bride Running Gear

A friend is running the Boston Marathon with her fiancé and then getting married in Boston later that day. Girls Craft Night with wine and some yummy food and this is what we came up with!!

Stencils
Freezer Paper
Acrylic Glitter Paint
Sequins Ribbon
Fabric Blingy flowers

Simple basting stitch and button knots were the only sewing skills necessary!

OCD

Some have found my method of eating M & M's entertaining so I thought I should document it for posterity!

A few FAQ's-

1. - first separate by color
2. - put them 2 by 2 in a line
3. - eat any odd man out first
4. - proceed to eat them 2 by 2, largest line first...until you are left with only 2 of the least represented even numbered color

-yes, that is a "sharing size" bag and it sits in my desk drawer.  It usually lasts for about 2 weeks or 3 really bad afternoons

Sound Credits:
-"All The Pretty Girls"- Fun.
-Glenn- hard at work!

The end!

Bread Crumbs & Seasonings

I was shocked when I saw the exhaustive list of things I couldn't even pronounce on my bread crumb tin (check out the long list on the label).

So, I dumped them out and made my own.

I save leftover ends of bread or 1/2 loaves in the freezer to reheat and eat with olive oil, salt and pepper. It's a good tide you over snack while you are cooking. I buy a lot of ciabatta type breads from Central Market and Whole Foods so I always seem to have bread around that won't keep very long. My body would not like if I downed a loaf of bread with dinner even though my mouth might think it's a good idea.




What you need-

4 C day old breads cubed
1/4 C good parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp of Italian Seasoning and a food processor

I put mine back in the canister and put the canister in a zip lock back and put them in the freezer since there are no preservatives in the mix.  I need breadcrumbs that are toasted and not toasted, depending on the recipe so I left these raw and will toast them if needed as I go.

I have found several alternatives to seasoning mixes for fajita's, tacos and salad dressing.  It's so simple, cheaper and better for you.  You would be surprised how many things have MSG in them. 

Is Santa Real?

I am overly emotional these days.  The Sandy Hook Elementary School children and teachers are ever present in my mind and I cry at the drop of a hat.  I haven't even watched a moment of news coverage on the tragedy, other than what was on in the airport or restaurant screens while we were in Arizona.  I didn't talk about it with my friends because our own beautiful children were running around with their keen ears reminding us, every moment, how devastating it could be to lose something so precious.  So, when I received this today, after a weekend of The Polar Express and the first Christmas that Trevor has really grasped and believed in Santa Claus, I cried at my desk.  Good thing I invested in some great waterproof mascara this holiday season.

Believe.  Believe that, at this moment in time, my life is good and that the world has more to offer than heartache.

Cookie Fandango

Being a mom isn't my most interesting feature...

Click HERE for "Being a mom isn't my most interesting feature" article

"Me" before becoming "Mom" in France

Dear Ms. Meadow Stallings,

I should really just type the words "thank you" and have that be enough. The focus and clarity of your words are impressive.  For the sake of anyone else who finds comfort in community, I will share why your words were validating for me.

Four years of fertility treatments, obsessive, compulsive, hell bent on perfection, postpartum depression, debilitating fear of loss, anxiety and a total loss of ability to feel excitement is how I would summarize myself before and after becoming a mother.  There was also love and joy but I could not fully appreciate it.  Today, 3 years & 9 months after getting exactly what I said I would have died for, I am finally alive again.  I finally realized that trying to be the perfect mother to my son turned me into someone who wasn't interesting, had no real identity, wasn't happy and (the very worst part) did not like or (even worse) love, myself!

Since this realization I have spent most of my “me” time running.  It is something that I know I am good at.  Running brings me a tremendous amount of peace and satisfaction.  I run Half Marathons because I love that particular distance.  It is just far enough to always affirm that I can do anything…if I can just get through the last 20 minutes.  Running gives me the gift of a love for my body.  This is not something that comes to me easily.  Running clears the negative thoughts out of my head. I also have the most amazing community of women who champion everything “me” (not just the Mom part of me).  Some of these friends have children and some do not.  The thing I value the most is that there is no competition or judgment among our group of “moms”.  We all parent differently and value our differences.  This dynamic gives an amazing safety net of love and support when we feel that we are failing as mothers.  Let’s face it, we are always hardest on ourselves.  Every time I put myself down in front of my best friend (which is often); she says “don’t talk about my friend that way”.  That is a huge hug from love in the form of words.  I have a thirst for solving problems/puzzles (fulfilled by my job), understanding politics (fulfilled by my inquisitive partner in parenting) and the state of the human existence outside of my upper middle class urban bubble (inspired by my friends who carry the torch for Human Rights). 

I want my son to look at me when he is 25 and see me at that moment as a woman that he respects and admires, not just the Mom I was when he was my singular focus.  He will see a woman whose opinions matter and this will shape his understanding of the world. I want him to seek out those things that he will come to value in his partner.  He won't be searching for the perfect "mother" when he seeks a partner in life.  He should be searching for a person who is intelligent, self-confident, capable, loving and selfish. Yes, she should be selfish.  I hope she will be selfish, like his mother, and know that energy spent being the very best "you" that you can be is the best gift you can give your partner...and, ultimately, your child. 

Pasta Night 2

 

Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli & Pancetta

Recipe HERE

 

This recipe was good, although while putting it all together it looked bland.  It turned out to be far from bland because pancetta from Central Market has a lot of pepper in it and yummy saltiness.  It just seemed like it needed a "sauce".  After putting it all together we transferred it to a bowl and used 1/2 cup of Chicken stock to deglaze the skillet and about 2 Tbs. of 1/2 & 1/2 with salt and pepper.  Whisked on medium high heat and adding 1/2 cup Parmigiana creates a very light sauce.  Voila!  Another Pasta Night tackled.  Summer Sun Pasta is still the victor, until next week...when we will see if Summer Sun stays on top or not.

Stop this train....

I blinked and something happened between yesterday and today. Trevor walked up to his white board and started "writing". I heard him say "T. R. E. V. O. R". When I looked over he was actually writing his name. He did it over and over. I helped him with his "E's" but other than that it was all him! I am really impressed!

Then he wanted to take his Cars book to bed so that he could read to himself. Awesome! He has memorized the book, not quite a real reader yet but it is a great first step in confidence in reading.

We had a bit of a rough evening since he got tired of my 4 mile run about 2.5 miles in but that seems like a lifetime ago, now!!

Double 15 Dominos- for 3.5 year olds

I'm not an early childhood development expert, which is a testament to an undergraduate degree not being worth more than the paper it's printed on since I majored in Early Childhood Development! But, being home bound and working with a boy who loves to dump out a mess, counting and colors...I made up this game and it is awesome!! and let's face it, we never have enough party guests to use Double 15 Dominos.

1.  I spread out all the dominos facing up.
2.  Asked Trevor which color dots we would "eye spy" first.
3.  Counted the dots for that color and started hunting for purple sixes.
4.  The first color picked will yield 16 dominos. Next color 15 and so on. That is another opportunity to count and is a fun feeling of accomplishment.
5.   Keep going until they are all put back away in the box. So, you also get a mess cleaned up while you are at it.

I did have to play some zone defense and say, "I see some in this area" in the beginning to help him stay enganged rather than frustrated.

 

 

Summer Sun Pasta