Monday, October 22, 2012

One Time I Paid Eighteen Dollars for a Few Baby Carrots.

Crazy right? I know it's crazy now that some time has passed but during the ordeal I was so overwhelmed that I thought I was getting a deal... Kind of...

Here is what happened. Me and my dear friends Sarah and Megan were on the cusp of our twenty year friendaversary. Holy smokes we have been friends for a long time and friendships like that deserve first class celebration. What to do? Since we're not quite at the place where we can travel to Europe (children, and babies, and like mortgages and all that) we decided to go out for a super swanky fancy pants dinner. We decided on GE, Graham Elliot's restaurant because he is a judge on Master Chef and Sarah and I both watch that show. This is the kind of place where the prices aren't on line and you can't get in without a reservation, and they want you to check your coat. This place is fancy.

What amazing friends. How blessed I am to have them in my life.
We're excited, we're dressed up, we're childless! We check our coats even though I feel weird about it (since I made my coat) and get our menu. There are no prices on the menu and the menu isn't really a menu. Turns out when you dine at GE you get served eight little courses (you can also add on eight tiny glasses of wine which would have sent me to another planet so we opted out of the wine). We do go for the eight courses, though, because we're in the mood for adventure and because we want to feel special, and because this guy is on television, he must know what he's doing.

Yuzza?
The first course comes out and I can barely swallow it, then the second comes out and it's okay, then comes the clam course. Oh Lord save me! I'm not a big seafood fan and I'm super picky about textures. I force myself to eat the fried shrimps but brave Megan decides to go for the raw oyster with the weird foam. She bravely tips it to her lips and then... sits there unmoving for what seemes a really long time... It was scary. Finally Sarah says in a loud whisper "We aren't judging you! Spit it out!" which she does. The courses continue, some okay, a few good, and some horrifying. I ate the fish and was plesantly surprised. Here's the thing, though, we were so desperate that this be worth it; that the meal be amazing that we were going nuts over the things we sort of liked. And, I was fine with it, until they brought us celery mousse. I like mousse when it's chocolate. When it's flavored with celery salt and has raw celery in it, then I don't like it.

Cauliflower?
When the courses comes out they have to explain them to you (good thing as one of the courses had a pinecone on it you were not suppose to eat, it was for "aroma"). Finally they bring out the dessert. YES! I love dessert. And the waiter says smugly "zis iz our deconstructed carrot cake".  I look upon a plate that has some baby carrots strewn on it and a few crumbs. There is no cake. I pop one of the carrots in my mouth and I taste... raw carrot... In the words of my dear friend Susie, "WHAT THE HEE HAW?!" And the words that burst out of my mouth are, "This is stupid!" to which we all laugh (too raucously for this sophisticated place).




Some of those are rock. Your not suppose to eat the rocks.

"No Megan! Don't do it!!

????????????
It reminded me of "The Emperors New Clothes". Every one pretending that it's amazing because every one is saying it's amazing but really we all know that a big juicy steak or plate of wonderful pasta would be better. Megan put it perfectly when she said, "This is the most amusing meal I've ever had." Truth Megan, truth. What did we pay for the most amusing meal? $160 a person. If you do the math that means "ze deconstructed carrot cake" was $18! The next time we pay that kind of money for food we better be in Europe.

Seriously though, it was fantastic memories. One more wonderful thing to add to twenty years. And the best part of the night was the very end. When the mattre d slipped our coats back on us and Sarah despaired as we left, "my coat is made of sweatshirt! Now he knows now he knows!" I laughed so hard I peed a little. Totally worth it people, totally worth it.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A Bedroom Tour... Pinterest Wednesdays.

This week's Pinterest Wednesdays is brought to you by my bedroom remodel and a whole lot of elbow grease.  A while back I decided I was sick of my old room and it was time to freshen it up. I started collecting bird and flower prints and obtained a dresser and an armoire. Both pieces of furniture needed some real help. I sanded them, primed and painted them and then inspired by this pin I stenciled birds on the front.  

Finally I found the perfect bedding (at Target no less) and it was time to bring new life to my sad little room. I LOVE it. I couldn't be happier. It reminds me of a small vintage french room. I love how the furniture matches and the prints pull the entire room together. It truly is amazing how much more relaxing and what a retreat it is now. I even make the bed, almost every day!!!!!

This is a closeup of my new sheets and a vintage pillow case.
A girl needs flowers on her sheets.

This is a closeup of pillow cases I embroidered from a vintage transfer.

My nightstand


The armoire which houses Brian's clothes and our television.
All behind doors, imagine that.

A phone and candle nook.

My dresser.


My beautiful new bedding and wonderful thrifted flower prints.
The bird prints are from this etsy shop.



Monday, October 15, 2012

One Time I lost a Cross Country Race.

Truth be told I only ever came in last once (though I was close many times) and, this is not that story. This is a story of a time I lost a cross country race to my slightly younger sister. For a brief period of time we were both in Cross Country at the same time. I loved it, she hated it (well I think she hated it I'm not entirely sure but since she didn't sign up again the following year I'm assuming she hated it). I worked really hard and she was faster then me. Whatever, no big deal.
photo courtesy of photosbygoad.com 

Except, this one race when for some reason we were actually running really closely to each other. There was a very well-meaning woman cheering from the sidelines and she was saying to me "GO GO! DON'T LET YOUR YOUNGER SISTER BEAT YOU!!!" Then to my sister she was saying "GO ON YOU CAN DO IT! CATCH YOU SISTER!" Really?! Lady we can both hear what your saying! It irritated me. Not because I didn't want my sister to beat me, it irritated me that she thought that turning us against each other would actually work in making us better. Honestly, I think it slowed me down. Courtney caught me and, if memory serves, I think I puffed out "good job...keep...up...kick...it...in..." then nearly died.

I'm proud that I said those things but what I wish I had done was to drop back grab her hand and say "Come on let's finish this race together!" That actually sums up my only regret from High School. Not in that moment but in all the moments I could have said to her "Come on to this movie with me and my friends." or "Come on let's hang out." I wish I had said to her back in those days that "we should do life together". Instead, I was very territorial. I didn't want to share my friends, or clothes, or anything. My insecurities got the best of me and clouded my vision as to who God had placed right in my very home. Not saying we hated each other, we didn't. But, she would have benefited from being allowed a bigger place in my life and social circle. I would have benefited too.

We've moved on and are extremely close. I've apologized to her and our only regret now is that we're separated by so much distance. What an ironic twist of fate that I wish we could be together and we can't. It saddens me that so many grown women are still experiencing walls built between them and they're siblings. It saddens me to see sisters torn apart. It crushes my heart that women allow their insecurities and society to create such an atmosphere of competition between them and other women that they completely miss out on doing life together.

We allow our minds to be overtaken with thoughts on "who's thinner", "who's more successful", "who nursed their children", "who gave birth with no drugs..." God created women to need the companionship and love of other women. Not just of our own mother's and sisters but those of our sisters in christ too. Let's not allow satan to scream at us from the sidelines. His intentions are not to improve our race. We can't allow him to trick us into trying to prove we're better then each other. Instead let's embrace each other. Let's grab hands in front of his shocked eyes and run to the finish line as one.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Am I Really Old Enough to Have a Six Year Old?

Alas, it seems I am. SuperH turned 6 and we celebrated with a football birthday party. Which, I'm assuming, is much easier to throw together then a Donkey Kong birthday party (his second choice).

I'm always behind the ball (I didn't even notice the pun until my edit read through lol) when it comes to these types of parties and surprisingly Pinterest was no help. However, I do think it ended up being a nice day. He was surrounded by wonderful adults who love him so much and friends of all different ages; which I love because it reminds me of my childhood birthdays surrounded by aunts uncles and cousins.

I made him the Ohio State pj's.
He wore them for two straight days.





I was pretty proud of the cake and the goal post made of cupcakes.

SuperH insisted on putting the bow on whenever there was a photo.


I forgot to get pics of the football themed games. I wrapped hula hoops in red and grey duct tape (the color of The Ohio State) and taped them together to run through. We also set up Brutus (the mascot) and threw small footballs at him. The rest was easy as kids just know how to play


.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Pinterest Wednesdays.



Most of you have, I'm sure, discovered the glories that await on Pinterest. If you haven't, I'm sorry for you, definitely check it out. If your wondering what it is, the best way I can describe it is a super fancy fun way to organize your internet bookmarks with pictures. It's mostly fashion, home decor, recipes, and crafty projects. It's fabulous. However, with such a wealth of ideas out there I often wonder when I "pin" something if it is actually going to turn out, bake up, clean, be as easy... as the pinner claims. With that in mind and inspired by my friend Beki who once did an entire month of cooking and serving all recipes she had pinned on Pinterest I bring you "Pinterest Wednesdays". Where I will share with you something I did inspired by Pinterest and whether or not it was a flop. It could be any ol' thing as long as it was initially inspired by something on Pinterest.

Today I bring you: APPLE PIE BREAKFAST.  The original post and recipe can be found on this blog here. This was sort of a baked oatmeal in the slow cooker kind of thing. Plus you use Irish oats. Does any thing sound better then Irish Oats on a cold fall morning? I was excited (yes I get excited about things like Irish oats). However, the actual directions instruct you to cook if for four to six hours and to stir every hour! Who only sleeps for four hours? Or were you suppose to eat breakfast four hours after you wake up? That's crazy! And, who is going to get up and stir them every hour? Slow cookers are suppose to be more convenient not less so. There were instructions for if you were going to leave them with out stirring but with the warning that they might be mushy. I went for it any way.
The cast of ingredients.

The end result? Meh. Not bad, not great all in all pretty disappointing (which is what I've heard about that "eggless cookie dough" floating around on Pinterest too by the way). It needed more sweet, we had to add quite a bit of sugar after and it needed something crunchy like pecans or walnuts. It wasn't bad after I doctored it up but I feel like if I have to do a lot of doctoring then the original pin is sort of a fail. I will say that the apples I used were sour (great baking apples) and maybe that makes a big difference.

Before it cooked all night.
I was so disappointed that I scoured the internet for another Irish oatmeal crock pot recipe and tried that one out this morning. It was pretty good much better then the first one. I think I just need to try making the oatmeal on the stove the old fashioned way. But oh man the idea of waking up to hot oats just keeps me wondering if there is a good recipe out there (that cooks long enough for me to actually sleep).
How I felt eating "apple pie breakfast"

Because, I don't want to leave you newbies on a sour note (much like our oatmeal ha ha) I did want to mention this pin claiming to have the remedy to night time coughing for your children. After a nearly sleepless night of listening to SuperH cough his head off I was willing to try anything. This woman claimed that if you rubbed eucalyptus oil on the soles of their feet then covered with socks they would sleep without coughing. I read in the comments that several people used Vicks this way (beware if your child is asthmatic apparently Vicks can screw with that) as the first ingredient is eucalyptus and that's what I had on hand so that is what I tried. It totally worked!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!! We all slept. Seriously people why did I not know about this before now?



Any way, what great successes have you had from Pinterest? Any amazing failures or things to avoid?

Monday, October 1, 2012

Now I Can Sing in the Rain.

It's done!!! And, it didn't even take that long. Or at least taking it one step at a time made it seem all very manageable. It fits and it's so girly and pretty and I am really really pleased with how it turned out. I was going for something in my childhood memory and it must have worked because, I was babysitting a three year old little girl one day, and when I tried part of it on she lay her hand over her heart and gasped!

As soon as I finished it the weather turned unseasonably warm and very sunny and clear. Oh well, I'm wearing it any way.

I used a pattern from the Indy company "Favorite Little Things." I loved how there weren't a million pattern pieces and it went together really well, but I thought the directions were kind of sparse. I didn't really have any problems but if you were new to sewing I think it may have been a bit mystifying.

I ordered these rain boots online. They're Sperry and were super on sale. Even after shipping and handling they were cheaper then any I'd found in stores. Brian thinks their ridiculously pink and bright but I think that's really smart because I'll be easier to spot on a gloomy rainy day.

Singing is the sun dappled shade.
Just singing in the shade.

Do you see the tiny bird sitting on the
bike seat?
I'm so happy with it. It's such a wonderful thing to finish a bigger project and to be happy with it. Sewing isn't always like that, makes me super grateful when it does all work the way I pictured it in my head. Ranger seems to like it as well. I think he knows that it makes our walks a priority, even in rainy weather.
Closeup of the super soft flannel lining.

Here she is being displayed
on Ol' Gertie.