Celebrity Corner

Folks, I lead a glamorous life.  Recently I wrote about celebrities spotted about town (here and here), and since my friends say I have a real knack for spotting barely-celebs in particular, I've decided to make my celebrity sightings a regular topic.  Welcome to Celebrity Corner.

This week, I have several sightings to report.  I know, I know, three sightings in two weeks, and you spend most of your time between preschool and work?  Let's just say, I'm very good at what I do.  And I'll let you in on some of my celebrity-spotting secrets, so you can try them at home.  Three telltale signs that a person is "somebody": #1 they walk around like they own the joint, wherever it may be, and/or #2 they look around with a furtive glance, kind of like a scared animal (paranoid someone is staring at them, which I am), and/or #3 they make deadlock eye contact with you, daring you to look at them.  I'm not sure if they're trying to get your attention or figure out if you have recognized them.  For #3, this is often an F-lister.  Once you see one of these three red flags, it's time to furiously rack your brain for who the person might resemble.

For my three celebrity sightings in the past two weeks, I had one of each type.

Oh and another helpful tip.  Once you think someone might be "somebody," start intently eavesdropping on their conversation for clues and/or get going on your iPhone for background research.  Sadly, this might be to the detriment of whatever friend/person you are actually spending time with, but if they are really a friend, they will know how important this is to you, and will be equally interested in your research.

#1: The type who owns the joint
Last week, my husband and I went out for date night.  We usually stay close to home, but this time we ventured out to Sugar Fish in Studio City, which is a real hot spot these days.  We arrived at 5:45, which you may know promises an evening filled with senior citizens and/or families.  We were not disappointed.  Soon after we were seated, a youngish guy shows up in a white t-shirt and jeans with two kids in tow.  The guy seats his kids and starts milling about, striking up conversation with a waiter, walking back and forth in the middle of the restaurant, that sort of thing.  I vaguely think, this guy looks like Cyclops from X-Men.  Quick Google search, and I recall his name is James Marsden.  Then, time for the eavesdropping, I hear him introduce his children and confirm it is him.  In the process, I learned some background on James Marsden, and there is quite a juicy tale about his marriage and children, if you're interested in that type of thing.  Also if you're wondering, James Marsden might be 5'10" on a good day, as reported on IMDB, and his arms were a little thin.  My husband weighed in that he's had a lot of ripped photo shoots lately, and you have to be pretty thin for your abs to look really ripped.

Pictured two days later at the Studio City Farmers Market

#2: The scared animal
A couple weeks ago, I went to New Orleans for a bankruptcy conference.  Stop now, don't be jealous.  Actually, it was a fun trip and was a dual purpose work trip slash birthday celebration.  So there we are, on a Delta flight out of LAX.  As long as you're not flying Southwest, you pretty much have an 80% chance of seeing a celebrity while traveling in and out of LAX.  Hot tip: check first class as you board the plane, that's where you'll see them, and they board first (Score for you!).  My sister and I hit our seats very close to first class, and we start to see some buzzing from other passengers walking through the first class section.  We hear something like "it's the Captain," quite cryptic and titillating.  We imagine it's some athlete we won't recognize, but we're hopeful.  Four hours later, we reach New Orleans and people start going for their bags.  And who pops out of Seat 4A, giving that furtive scared animal look, but Angela Bassett.  (Hence "the Captain" to our old ears.)  Quick IMDB search confirms she's on the show American Horror Story which films in New Orleans.  Ms. Bassett was quite short and not rail thin, probably as you would imagine.

Stella getting her groove back

#3: F-lister with direct eye contact
And finally, today.  So I'm out to lunch with a couple of co-workers, in a stripmall in Encino.  I must say, my defenses are a bit down when I'm at stripmalls in Encino, but in actuality that's where I get my F-list sightings.  So we're sitting at lunch, and through the front window, I see a petite blond crossing the parking lot, bee-lining to the salad spot next door.  It's literally called "Chop Stop" and only does salads.  I bet it's a regular hot spot for famous ladies.  I immediately know that it's Kendra from Girls Next Door, and later, Kendra on Top.  She is probably 50 feet away, and keep in mind she is in the parking lot, and I am a few tables in at the restaurant looking through the front glass, but I swear she was making dead eye contact with me.  She was a hot mess, in a messy top bun, her typically frown-y scowl, pretty frumpy attire.  After leaving the lunch spot, we glanced in at Chop Stop (from which she had not yet emerged).  Again, I am looking through the glass at the door, and she is 20 feet away, all the way across the restaurant, but dead eye contact staring at me.  Kendra came out of the Chop Stop a few minutes later and got in the passenger side of a car.  Of course Kendra from Girls Next Door and Kendra on Top has a chauffeur.  Mental note: need chauffeur.

Imagine this dead eye contact being made at you from 50 feet

Overheard around the house

I'm realizing more and more we have two full-blown kids at this house.  The "baby" (who we still refer to as the baby... hmmm maybe time to stop doing that) turns 2 years old this week.  I don't know when "toddler" ends and "child" begins, but we've reached it for sure.  Life used to be about entertaining Camille with more advanced activities, like coloring or books, while Natalie experimented with toys and grunted.  We operated in separate worlds, which took a lot more effort and twice as many stimulating activities.

Now, they are developing a little relationship, and they happily play together more like peers.  I think the change relates to Natalie's ability to talk and, more importantly, follow directions.  Most importantly, Camille's directions.  Here are some episodes I've observed in the last few days:

(1) RIGHT NOW: Camille has built a "birdie nest" in the family room consisting of blankets and stuffed animals on the floor.  She has declared it naptime for both of them.  She's laying on a pillow humming a song, and every few minutes, calls out "Natalie, lay down!  It's naptime!" and Natalie yells"Ok Eel!"

(2) 10 MINUTES AGO: Camille declared she had to go potty and started heading toward the bathroom.  She instructed Natalie to come with her, and of course Natalie happily trailed along.  From the bathroom, I overheard: "Natalie, I have a boyfriend at school.  He is a boy at school and his name is Eli."  Silly me.  In recent years I had heard other 4 and 5 year olds mention boyfriends and girlfriends, which I thought was fairly creepy, and I'd been feeling a bit smug that Camille hadn't gotten involved in that whole game.  But apparently she's just hiding it from me and telling her sister about it instead.

(3) THIS MORNING: This morning, around 8:00am (I know, late!) I hear Camille in her room.  "Mommy, I'm up!"  Then, from Natalie's room (her door is closed, and she is in her crib), I hear "Me too, Mommy!"  Then Camille "Natalie, come in here!  Natalie!" And Natalie responds, urgently, "Ok Eel! Coming!"  From her crib.  Behind a closed door.  Natalie often acts with a sense of urgency like Camille's going to drop her if she doesn't move fast enough.  Smart girl.

(4) LAST WEEK: Last week, Natalie got a princess horse set for her birthday, and she and Camille have fought over the blue princess since the minute it came out of the box.  Yesterday, Camille was busily coloring, which is the one activity Natalie doesn't care as much about.  Camille can color for hours, and not surprisingly, Natalie can only last about 10 minutes.  I guess that's how long you can scribble in circles before it starts to get old.  After some time coloring, Natalie was getting really desperate for Camille's attention, saying "Eel, play!  Eel, play!"  When it was clear that Camille was too busy coloring to play, Natalie went over to the toy area, fished out the blue princess, marched over to Camille and said "Eel, blue pri-cess, I got first."  Clearly baiting a fight from her sister to get some attention.  I must say nice skills, Natalie, nice skills.

Fall Finds

There is a morning chill around here and it's starting to feel like Fall!  I'm doing some Fall window shopping...

1.  Carryall purse

Gosh just think of all the kid paraphernalia you could hide in this bad boy, cracker crumbs and all, and still look like a million bucks!

Tory Burch Robinson Tote

2.  Sweater jacket

I believe sweater jackets are a new thing, or maybe I've just never noticed them before.  I've never owned one, but I think the sweater jacket may be the perfect alternative to the cardigan I typically carry all the time in case it gets chilly.

Jacquard Sweater Jacket from Anthropologie

3.  Cashmere drape

Another variation on the sweater jacket but less structured.  I just love the cabling and the rich color.  So cozy!

Ribbed Drape by Autumn Cashmere

4.  The crossbody

Not really fall-related, but a new style of purse has emerged: the crossbody.  It's for gals on the go who only want to bring a phone, a credit card, a $20, maybe one key.  I definitely carry way too much stuff around and have been trying to lighten my load.  So this is on my radar now.  (It won't fit any diapers with all my stuff in it, so I might need to get a second one for Natalie to haul her own...)

Five on Friday

TGIF!  Wow this week has hit me like a ton of bricks.  Just the thought of thinking of 5 things for Friday makes my head hurt.  But, I am nothing if not a determined SOB, so here we go for our linkup with Darci at The Good Life for Five on Friday!

[ONE] Farm Time
We have official pumpkin patch plans, people!  On Sunday, the family will be bundling up for a foggy morning over at Underwood Farms.  Look out goats, Natalie's a-comin'!

[TWO] Columbus Day

Nothing like a three-day weekend, y'all.  It's very possible I will have to do work on Monday, or at least be plugged in for things that come up, but I still love me a good 3 consecutive days off.  Oddly enough, Camille's preschool - which takes vacation days like nobody's business - has a regular school day.  My number one goal is to get to the gym, and I think I can make that happen at the very least.

[THREE] Boots, Baby

Today was downright chilly and I was thrilled to sport my brand-new fall boots.  That is all.

[FOUR] Playoff Baseball

I don't mind a little baseball once in awhile.  The hubby likes it, he doesn't make me watch it too often, and the Dodgers are in the playoffs so okay I'll watch a few games.  This is what I tell myself earlier this week.  Then I see the Pirates playing the Cardinals, okay fine.  But now Detroit and someone else are still playing??  So apparently while I thought we were down to the playoffs, like 4 teams left, there are actually multiple playoffs still going, to get to other playoffs, and we are truly mid-season baseball and I'm dragged in.  Oh well...

[FIVE] Vons Grocery Delivery

And now I'd like to vent on one more thing, which I think is not the point of 5 on Friday but whatevs.  I get my groceries delivered by Vons, which sounds like such a shameful hoity-toity thing, but really if you buy baby wipes you get free delivery!  So, it's not more expensive than going to the store.  The problem, I've discovered, is that they are inevitably out of one to two items, and it's completely random and unpredictable.  But, more often than not, it seems like they are out of the one thing I need.  Like, the chicken that is the main ingredient in the dinner entree.  This week, no salmon, so my husband had to make a post-work run to the store.  Darn you, Vons!

Francie is my friend

Well, friends, there is a God.  The very same day I was blogging about my G-list celebrity sightings (let's face it, Fortune Feimster - who?), I full on interacted with a real celebrity.  It all went down when I took Camille to a gymnastics class.  I didn't know this beforehand, but apparently kids go there for gymnastics, and moms go there to hang out and socialize.  The gymnastics happens out on the floor, and all the moms sit in rows of chairs on the other side of the room, gabbing away about homework and school projects.  Amazing what qualifies as gossip when you're a mom, but there you have it.  

So there I am, chilling with the gals, when it starts to dawn on me that the mom sitting next to me talking about ditching cable in favor of Apple TV plus Hulu looks really familiar.  Turns out, it was Francie from Alias.  She looked a lot like Francie and talked a lot like Francie, but since it's been about 10 years I wasn't so sure.  Of course once I got home, I confirmed it on the Internets by looking up some of the personal details she dropped in the conversation.  Yes I memorized picayune details from the conversation for later research and that is stalking, but it's also just darn good legwork, people.  

And now, a warning to all of my plain old friends reading this blog.  Camille will probably keep going to the gymnastics class, and Francie and I will probably become really good friends.  And no I won't introduce you, and yes I will pretend I don't know you if I'm out with her.

Celebrity spotter

Let me just say up front - I live for celebrity sightings.  To me, a huge perk of living in Los Angeles is all of the celebrities milling about town, doing their business.  When I spot them, I go into spy mode and start loud whispering the person's name and direction on the clock face to whoever will listen.  (Like this: "Cameron Diaz, twelve o'clock, Cameron Diaz, twelve o'clock!  That's right people, Cameron Diaz was once walking straight at me at the Studio City Farmers' Market.)  However, since we moved to the Valley and my outings mainly involve driving to preschool and work and the occasional after-school activity, I don't see many celebrities these days.

Which is why I am happy to report that I brushed elbows with a couple celebrities recently.  First, I saw this gal at the Maroon 5 concert on Sunday night.  I will not be surprised if you scrunch up your nose and say "who the H is that" but she is a stand-up comedian and regular on Chelsea Lately and therefore a celebrity in my book:

Fortune Feimster

Yesterday, my sister had a celebrity sighting at her neighborhood Ralphs, one that was much more exciting than Fortune Feimster and therefore newsworthy.  She spotted him in the meat aisle, slinging some meat into his cart:

Josh Holloway (Sawyer from Lost)

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend recap

Happy Monday to you!  I hope you had a super October weekend.  We had a fun weekend of soccer and BBQing with the family.  I volunteered on the soccer field before Camille's game, meaning I spent 5 hours at soccer at Saturday and I may officially be a soccer mom.  

Last night, we went a little crazy and stayed out until 11pm on a school night!  We went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Kelly Clarkson and Maroon 5 in concert.  I've only been there once and never at night, and it was amazing!  It's an outdoor amphitheater, near the 101 freeway but you feel like you're in the trees.  It was 70 degrees out and such a beautiful night to be outside.

Today I'm a little tired.  And so I leave you with this:

A Million Little Pieces

Do you remember that book A Million Little Pieces, and how the author claimed it was an autobiography based on his alcohol and drug addictions, and Oprah rocketed him to fame with her extra special Book Club, and then it turned out he was lying about it and wasn't really the cool former junkie/felon he pretended to be?

I do too.  That book was published 10 years ago.  Do you feel old now?  You're welcome.

But seriously, ever since having children, I feel like my brain is in a million little pieces.  No hard drugs here, just falling apart au naturel.  It's like I can't get my brain to actually focus, ever.  It feels like the neurons in my brain no longer fire how they used to, and I can't think of words I need to use and feel just a little dazed all the time.  

It's hard to pinpoint when it started, but I think it's pretty safe to say it was the year of sleep deprivation that came with a newborn, and then the second year with the second newborn finally put me over the edge.  I'll admit, I'm kind of spazzy and high-strung to start with, but I think the number of times I freak out in a given week over "losing" my car keys (which are always sitting somewhere in the house) has grown exponentially.  Then, there are moments when I get really spazzy, and I probably shouldn't be on the road let alone caring for two small children.  Like the times I'm driving along, and then get a jolt of panic, and look up in the rear view mirror to confirm that, yes, I do have two children in the backseat and I didn't just accidentally leave one at home.  Sometimes a little screaming in the backseat is helpful to know everyone is present and accounted for.

Sure, it's no big deal when you're doing Playdoh molds or building a birdie nest out of pillows.  Probably having a whacked out brain makes that stuff a little more fun for everyone.  But, then there are the times when I'm supposed to be really concentrating or problem solving (like um, lots of hours at work) and my inner voice starts yelling at myself that I need to snap out of it and focus and stay on track.  

Oh that's the other fun thing.  Along with my brain being fried, I feel like I have a much louder inner monologue that is super annoying.  The voice in my head is constantly lecturing me, about how I'm running 5 minutes late, if only I had left 5 minutes earlier, oh look at the clock now maybe I won't be as late, oh shit I am going to be late still.  (A friend of my sister's purposefully sets her car clock hours and minutes off, so she won't know how late she is.  It's true, once you're in the car, there's nothing you can do about it anyway.  Might be worth trying.)  Or sometimes the voice is consoling me, like when I say something weird in passing to a parent in preschool and I feel all self-conscious about it, but I just need to calm down because that parent was probably half-listening to me anyway.  I swear this wasn't so bad before kids, either.  It's like the years of being with little babies who can't speak and having one-sided conversations out-loud with myself have spawned a crazy voice in my head.

The little voice also likes to sing a lot, and I think I make it worse by watching The Voice.  I get about 4 hours of singing from the tv, which gives the little voice in my head all kinds of material to work from all week long.

My theory is that I have entered a state called "mom-brain" and that a lot of us suffer from it and don't really talk about it.  Is this a fog that lifts as some point, or can I do some mental exercises to shake it?  Like maybe a little Sudoku or a crossword puzzle every morning to get the neurons going?

Wednesday Plans

Hey, did you hear?  The government is shut down.  If you need me, I'll be speeding in my car and parking on the red.  Oh what's that, it's the federal government?  Ok I'll smuggle in some drugs instead.

I guess that means no one's working on my passport, boo.

My DVR

I'm a pretty big tv person and I look forward to unwinding in front of the tv most nights.  Here's what I'm watching these days:

- The Voice - I pretty much watch this on my own, since my husband can't take too much singing at a time.  I can't really blame him, two hours of singing a night is a bit much, and the judge banter is fairly annoying.  I just love the singing - they're so good!  So, I end up watching pieces of the The Voice all week long.  Sometimes I'll pick a favorite contestant, and a lot of the time I'm fast-forwarding country singing (is it me, or was there A LOT of that last season?).

- New Girl - A lot of people I've talked to find this show too annoying to watch, but I don't get it!  I think it's hilarious!  This is one 30-minutes that goes by way too fast.

- Homeland - We've only watched the first season because Showtime is taking forever to release the other seasons, but we loved this show.  It's hard to believe the same characters are still going in Season 4 (mainly Damian Lewis) so I'm kind of worried that Seasons 2 and 3 are going to get repetitive.

- Castle - Some network has been running Castle episodes 24/7 so we decided to try it out.  I don't really like the actors but it's a fairly entertaining show.  Kind of like CSI meets Psych.

- Psych - Also one of our favorite shows.  We love the actors and everything about it.  Has it started again this fall?

- Damages - I'm not sure if this show is taping any more seasons, but I'm including it on the list since it's one of my all-time faves.

- The Blacklist - I haven't seen the Blacklist yet, but I'm hearing too much good stuff about it to ignore it any longer.  Will be trying it out this week!

Party Planning

Welcome, readers!  Natalie's second birthday is just around the corner, so today I'm thinking about party planning.

I feel like I have evolved as a party planner and have a lot of wisdom to share.  My wisdom is this: bouncy houses are amazing, and the Costco sheet cake is God's gift to moms.

Before having kids, throwing a party meant picking up booze from BevMo and getting some new CDs.  For really fancy parties, sometimes I cooked, and I used the oven and all the burners on the stovetop at the same time.  No decorating to speak of, except maybe filling a vase with flowers and throwing on a tablecloth.

Then, Camille's first birthday rolled around.  I can't remember how it started, but somehow everything snowballed and I found myself up for hours at night scouring the web for party planning ideas.  I blame Etsy for making a lot of this research possible.  I was completely stressed out about what crafty decorations I was going to make, what adorable theme we'd have, how the theme would look 20 years later in pictures and whether I would live in infamy as a rad mom.  The more you love your child, the more decorations you painstakingly make by hand, right?  And talk about the peer pressure.  At one point, another mom mentioned that they were having a farm party for her daughter's first birthday, complete with hay bales, a live petting zoo, and a hayride for 100 people.  A neighbor down the street had a choo-choo train making laps around the block.  The me today would have been impressed for sure and maybe had a quick thought about how birthdays are a marathon and not a sprint, and no kid remembers the first one.  But back then, these little tidbits almost sent new-mom me over the edge.

So back to Camille's birthday.  We ended up with a "zoo animal" theme.  I spent days making ribbon pom-pom centerpieces (which I still have on display in the living room, 3+ years later, because I can't bring myself to disassemble what took so much effort to build) and labeling animal cookies boxes with "Happy birthday" stickers, and then after completing those projects, I fell off the wagon and finished things off with Domino's Pizza, Costco cake, and some balloons from the grocery store.

Here's a picture of the pom-poms and animal cookies:

pom poms and animal cookies

the birthday girl

Despite my failure at decorating the perfect party, it was a terrific day, thanks to great guests and beautiful weather.  It was then and there that I realized elaborate party planning is for the birds.  At Camille's second birthday party, we discovered the awesomeness that is the bouncy house, rounding out my current party repertoire.

Costco sheet cake at second birthday

 Third birthday bounce house

I don't mean any of this to judge people with actual party planning skills.  I have been to so many lovely parties, that were planned to the smallest detail, and I have been thoroughly impressed.  One Minnie Mouse-themed birthday party was so adorable that it completely sealed the deal for me that I can never accomplish an awesomely decorated party and am right to stop trying.

And so Natalie, if your second birthday involves a Costco cake and bounce house, and maybe one Dora balloon, and we call it a Dora party, I still love you!

Recent Reads

I can admit when I'm wrong.  Last week I mentioned that I've been reading the Book Thief for months and basically just slogging through it to finish, not because I was really into it but because when I buy something on Kindle, I stick with it dammit.  The narration is a bit quirky, the plot is pretty vague and moves really slowly, so I didn't really get what the hype was about.  Well, I finally finished and all I can say is Wow!  I highly recommend it, basically for the last 25% of the book, and if you don't ugly-cry your eyes out by the end, then your heart is made of stone.

Of course, after Book Thief put me through the wringer, I turned to Stori Telling for a pick-me-up.  Yes, the tori in Stori stands for Tori Spelling, and I read her "autobiography."  I know what you're thinking but please don't get all judgey.  Not a bad book really, pretty much what you'd expect to hear from her and decently written.  But let me save you the trouble of reading it and give you the summary.  She was cast on 90210 because of who her father was, and then she has fought against who she is trying to prove herself in acting over the last 15 years.  Surprise!  The biggest disappointment -- not a whole lot of 90210 dirt (oh c'mon!) except she says that she hooked up with Brian Austin Green throughout the filming of 90210, but it was on and off and he never admitted to anyone that he was seeing her, so he was basically ashamed of it.  Ouch, T.

Next up, The Racketeer by John Grisham, just because my brain put in another time off request.

So What! Wednesday

Hello readers and welcome back to another week of So What! Wednesday.  Linking up to Shannon @ Life After I Dew...

This week, I'm saying so what if...

- I lost my watch at the gym and they didn't have it in the lost and found, so I get to buy a new watch and I'm kind of excited about it.

- I saw part of an E! True Hollywood about Saved by the Bell at the gym (a, notice how I dropped the fact that I went to the gym again to impress you; and b, yes it was the same gym trip I talked about on Monday, I didn't actually go again) and it kind of made me want to read Dustin Diamond's Behind the Bell tell-all.  Then I read reviews and found out it was a terrible book, so I'm reading Stori Telling instead.  Yes I'm embarrassed but it's actually pretty good.

- I'm super happy that the Voice is back and glad that Shakira is gone.  Seems like a nice person and all but the show made her very stressed out.  Looking forward to some Xtina drama, too.  She started out nice on night one, but she'll be competing with and one-upping her own mentees soon enough.  Never choose to be on her team, folks, she's your own worst enemy.

- I've researched the Redbox subscription service and decided to stick with Netflix and pay an extra $8 a month.  It pretty much comes down to laziness.  I'd rather have my Place Beyond the Pines disc arrive in the mail and collect dust for 3 weeks until I'm good and ready to watch, versus driving out to Redbox twice in a 24-hour period (once to rent and once to return) every time I want to watch a movie.  Also Redbox has no "watch instantly" tv shows so that pretty much seals the deal.

Mom-Cooking

Once I was in a cooking club.  Actually, two cooking clubs, and one of them kind of broke up and re-formed, so I guess three cooking clubs.  The group of gals got together about once a month, and the host that month would plan the menu for an entire meal (entree, sides, dessert, wine of course) and get the groceries ahead of time, and the whole group would cook and enjoy a meal together.  I remember a particularly good autumn-themed meal involving butternut squash soup and a fruit crisp.  We made sushi, we hand-made gnocchi, we whipped up a Thanksgiving dinner or two.  There was nothing we couldn't do.  Sure, there were times when the cooking part took 3 hours and we were eating dinner at 11pm on a weeknight (cah-razy!), and maybe the Thanksgiving turkey was a little bit raw because we didn't realize that a turkey takes more than a few hours to cook, but it was always a fun, super delicious time.

Fast-forward to today.  These days, I'm mom-cooking.  Mom-cooking is about getting food on the table before someone melts down.  Forget about leisurely strolls through the grocery store or meals that take longer than 30 minutes to prepare.  Select only one dish that requires multiple steps or you're really in for it.  I used to watch a fun little show called Ready Set Cook in which two teams (the Red Tomatoes and the Green Peppers) had to whip up a meal in 20 minutes with $10 to buy ingredients, plus they could use what was in the pantry.  Little did my tween-self know I'd later end up starring on that show every night.

The food itself ends up being pretty repetitive, roast chicken happens at least once a week (cooked by me or El Pollo Loco, because they're fast and they give out stickers), quesadillas are a go-to if I didn't plan ahead, and there are a lot of mashed potatoes and sticky rice being cooked these days.

It's been a few years of mom-cooking now, so it's about time to own that this is how cooking goes now and find a way to enjoy it more.  Plus I have some Facebook friends (you know who you are) who constantly post about delicious dinners they cook for their family and I feel like a huge slacker.  Time will still be a factor, so a wise friend has suggested that I plan each night's meal in advance (she does it on Sundays) and double recipes to have more leftovers.  Cooking on the weekend and freezing meals for the week would help, and I'm eyeing the slow cooker as a way to mix things up but keep the active cooking time to a minimum.

How about you, any secrets to weeknight cooking for kids?

Last Days of Summer

Summer is officially over, and I guess it's true because we've finally dipped below 80 degrees around here.  We celebrated the last days of summer by being outside most of the weekend.  Some of the highlights:

- Camille had her first AYSO soccer game.  The girls were all decked out in their black and red uniforms, which was very cute.  We met up with Camille's best friend, saw an old friend from mommy and me days, and a bunch of family came out to cheer her on. Camille's favorite part of soccer was posing for pictures before soccer actually started.

Side note: Are your children camera divas too?  Natalie still looks away just when I pick up the camera phone, but Camille gives me tons of poses like she's Tyra Banks.  Soccer itself was a little rough, since sometimes we have a hard time adjusting to new things, but I'm sure it will improve once we get used to it and obviously incorporate a little bribery like post-soccer ice cream.

- Date night!  We drove about 0.5 miles away for our night out, and "dinner and a movie" involved popcorn, Sprite, and terrible Crunch bites (do not ever get those!) for dinner, and seats with a two-seat gap in between us because the handicap area was the only spot left in the theater, and it was absolutely terrific.  We saw The Way Way Back starring Steve Carrell, Toni Collette and a bunch of other funny people.  We see about 4 movies a year in the theater, so we've upped the standard for what we'll see - it has to be 70 or more on Rotten Tomatoes, preferably with lots of action or special effects (otherwise we might as well watch it at home).  Nothing exactly fit the bill, but The Way Way Back got great reviews.  Really sweet movie, we highly recommend it.  Meanwhile, on our way out of the mall, we walked past the new Buffalo Wild Wings, and literally hundreds of people inside the restaurant and crowded up at the windows outside were glued to the tvs.  And all the 100 tvs were playing exactly the same thing.  It was super eerie.  I guess a fight was on and the rest of the world cared?  Didn't get the memo I guess.

- Zoo time.  We have a zoo pass, and since things had cooled off a little, we headed there via an In N Out lunch stop.  The LA Zoo is one of the best deals in LA for families.  We try to go a couple times a month, and the girls love the new reptile and insect house. They have little glass cubbies for each creature and you have to search to find the scorpion or whatnot, which is hugely fun.  Speaking of our love for picture-posing, the girls always pose at the metal snake near the exhibit and Sunday was no exception. 

Camille insisted on posing with a cupped hand against her face (?) and of course Natalie tried to copy

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Five on Friday

TGIF!  I don't know about you, but this week has gone by pretty quickly in our house. There is so much going on now with school, after-school activities that the days go by pretty quickly.  Today we're linking up with Darci at The Good Life for Five on Friday!

[ONE] Soccer time
Camille starts her first AYSO season this Saturday.  Since she's 4, it's kind of a peewee version and they only have 7 or 8 Saturday "games" (which will be very casual, teams assigned new each Saturday) and no weekday practices.  Of course we geared up, as required by AYSO, and our uniform/shin guards/shoes were $50, which is fairly hefty considering it will be worn 7 or 8 times.  I guess this is how it goes with sports?  The soccer outfit will be landing in the dress-up clothes box for sure.

[TWO] Minnie Mouse is singing in my head
My mother-in-law gave the girls an awesome Minnie Mouse soundtrack, which they listen to in the car and love.  Camille taught "Choo Choo Express" to kids at school yesterday. Only problem is, I have it stuck in my head now.  "If fun and fashion are what you seek, you're always welcome, at Minnie's Bow-tique."

[THREE] Halloween (again)
I don't know about you, but Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  Ever since I can remember, that night of dressing up, staying out late, and generally going crazy on sugar has been a real highlight of the year for me.  Often involving throwing up at the end of the night.  A real rage-r for a 7 year old, know what I mean?  Now with the kids, I get to relive it all over again and I am loving it.

[FOUR] The gym
Man oh man, do I need to go to the gym.  I used to do a lot more stroller walking or light jogging, but as the kids are growing up, they're not as into it.  So, I joined an awesome new gym near us about 6 months ago.  The problem is, I never go!  Here's how bad it is - I went about 3 weeks ago, and left my watch on an exercise machine.  I've been without a watch for 3 weeks, which has been so annoying, but my lazy buns won't even fit in a workout to retrieve the watch.  Help!

[FIVE] Atomic fireballs
Speaking of the gym, and my addiction to CVS (see Wednesday's post), and my love for Halloween candy, you will not be surprised to learn I've rediscovered atomic fireballs.  A whole bag, only 99 cents!  Now I have a couple each day when I'm sitting at my desk. Love them!

Go forth and enjoy an awesome weekend!

Portland Getaway, Part 2

Hello readers!  I hear far off screaming coming from the bathroom.  This must mean it's bathtime, which often is Mommy Time!  Dad takes over on bathtimes and it is a real treat. Back to the screaming... I don't know about you, but years ago I would have gone running to check on things.  Back in the days of one child.  Why is she shrieking?  Has she hit her head?  Is my husband handling the situation?  Girl, I was crazy! Now I know, the sounds of screaming means everyone is still alive.  It's all good.

Back to me-time... Let's pick up where we left off on the Portland wrap-up.  After lunch on Saturday, we headed for Old Town Portland (basically downtown) for our bicycle tour. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about biking around Portland and basically whether we'd be smushed like pancakes.  But, turns out Portland is super bike-friendly, and the streets are pretty dead on a Saturday afternoon.  So, we strapped on our flattering rental helmets and took to the streets.  It was so refreshing to be out on a bicycle, enjoying the summer day.  Our tourguide Sarah was amazing too.  If you're in Portland and in the mood for a bike tour, look them up!  

Halfway through the tour, we pitstopped at Powell's Books.  Powell's Books used to be a "must-see" in Portland, and it probably still is.  It's a mecca of used books, with an awesome selection and great prices.  However, I find we don't purchase books much anymore, what with the library as one of our fun new destinations (for kids books) and the library e-book system or Kindle for me.  Still, I am a typical consumer so I had to buy something, and I picked up a book about dogs for Camille.  Camille is fascinated by dogs, I think partly because we are very emphatically never getting one.  She is particularly interested in which ones are the "bad" dogs, so of course we've been reading up on rottweilers and doberman pinschers first.

After the bike tour, we meandered back to the hotel, stopping in at the Craft Museum (small but cute) and the Pioneer Place mall.  I picked up a train whistle for Natalie at the Made in Oregon store and some Briggitine Monks of Amity fudge for the family, which is a Portland staple.  I'm guessing that place is filled with pretty pudgy monks based on how delicious their fudge is.

Got back to the hotel, and fancied up for our big night on the town.  We headed up to the rooftop bar at the hotel (called Departure - great views of Portland but pretty packed) for a pre-dinner drink and appetizer.  Then we were off to dinner at smallwares.  smallwares (little s, get it Straight) recently won some "best in Portland" awards and the chef is supposedly on the newest season of Top Chef.  It's located on the eastern side of the river, so we had to take a cab, which just seemed like a shame considering Portland's superb public transportation.  Anyhoo, dinner was excellent. We had a miss dish or two (I'd avoid beef with plums - not bad, but everything else was so much better) and dessert was a snooze (miso sorbet or some creative non-chocolate choice), but on the whole, the flavors were strong and really tasty.  Would highly recommend it!

After dinner, since we're all old ladies and it was 10:00pm, we headed back to the hotel for the night.  We did have an early flight and planned to leave the hotel at 5:15am so the thought of being sick/hungover wasn't so appealing.  However, we did bust out like party animals and picked up some awesome churros at a Latino Festival happening in Pioneer Square, across the street from our hotel.  My husband and I had just had a lively discussion the week before about whether a churro is ever actually as good as you think it's going to be.  I can tell you, this one was:

Me, with churro

Flight out, got home by 10:00am and still got in a fun day with the kiddos!

All in all, a great weekend!  I highly recommend planning a getaway if you can.  Poo poo to guilt, take care of you sometimes!

So What! Wednesday

Hello readers and welcome back to another week of So What! Wednesday.  Linking up to Shannon @ Life After I Dew...

So what if...
- I can't bring myself to quit Netflix even though some months we only watch one movie. That darn Netflix has somehow gotten into my head that it's necessary to hang on to it just in case someday I might possibly want to watch a movie and want to have it sitting on my countertop waiting rather than going down the block to a Redbox.

- Going to Portland gave me a little urge to toss everything and move to a new city, probably not Portland but maybe Seattle, Denver, Austin.  Basically, something western, pretty hip, good for kids, but not LA. Main problem is my husband has a job and it's not in any of those other cities :)

- I'm thinking about hiding some Facebook friends from my news updates because they talk about their kids too much.

- I set a Goodreads goal to read 12 books this year but I've been stuck on the Book Thief for about 6 months.  I'm not totally into it, but it has such a high rating on Goodreads, plus I sunk some $$ into buying it for the Kindle, and so I carry on...

- I think I'm addicted to CVS.  At work, we moved office buildings at the beginning of August.  The new place has a much better location in terms of retail and dining.  Bed Bath Beyond next door, CVS across the street, etc.  So every lunch break, I find myself crossing the street to CVS looking for some "essential" - a Diet Coke, a little bargain in their 75% off summer sale, an Essie nail polish (CVS carries Essie now, say what??).

Happy Wednesday everyone, hope you have a great day!

Portland getaway, Part 1

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a good weekend.  Me, I spent the weekend gallivanting around Portland like it was Spring Break Cancun.  Well, not exactly, but it felt totally cah-razy to be kid-less for 48 hours.

As I mentioned in my Friday Five on Friday, I went on a girls weekend trip with my sister and our best friend from high school.  We all have one or two kids under 5 and were looking forward to a fun getaway together for the first time in 8 or 9 years.  It was a great time and I got home on Sunday at 10am so still got in some quality family time this weekend it.  I should do this more often!

My sister and I on the plane (right before we joint-read US Weekly)

The weekend started out with a lively ride in from the airport on the MAX train.  Boy oh boy, Portland really has this public transportation thing figured out.  We carried on our bags, so we breezed right off of the plane on onto the MAX train in no time at all.  It was a gorgeous afternoon in Portland, and we cruised by some familiar sights (Lloyd Center Mall, undergoing construction; the Rose Garden) over the bridge into Portland.  I lived in Portland for 3 months during a summer in college and it was fun to be back and see familiar things.

We arrived to our destination, which was the Nines Hotel across from Pioneer Square. It turned out to be a fantastic hotel for the group.  First, the rooms have 2 queen beds (which is nice when sharing beds with friends) and are very spacious.  Second, it was conveniently located right in the middle of downtown, walking distance to a lot of shopping and activities (more on that later).  Third, it's a fairly hipster place (kind of like a W Hotel) and while I am not a hipster, it was a nice change from our typical family-friendly accommodations.  Look, when I am on vacation without the kids, I don't want to be staying with other people's kids!

The first night, we walked up Morrison to get a bite to eat.  We stopped in at the conceirge's two recommendations, both of which had an hour and a half wait.  I have become a real curmudgeon since having kids, but I have no idea who waits around for dinner, for an hour and a half, starting at 8pm!  Vampires, I think.  Instead, we headed to a non-descript Mexican joint that had room.  Can't remember the name, it was completely fine and not something I would highly recommend.

Saturday was our main day in Portland, and we really wanted to make the most of it. Even without our little alarm clocks present, we all woke up early (I cannot sleep in anymore, darnit!) and went for a stroll along Tom McCall Waterfront Park.  This walking strip along the Willamette is to me the highlight of Portland.  You have a wonderful view of the downtown buildings, the wide sparkling river and the bridges spanning across the city.  At one point, we passed an office building with huge windows right out on the water, and I thought for a split second that I needed to move to Portland and have that view every single day.  Then I remembered that it's gray and rainy in Portland for 6000 days a year. (Side note, I overheard a couple on the flight back saying that they were thinking about moving to Portland from Santa Barbara, and they went up for the weekend to visit the city for the first time ever and really experience it.  The weekend it was 80 degrees and gorgeous, which they must take for granted in Santa Barbara.  Ummm, I hope you visit again in January, people!)  On our long walk, we discussed live with children, our hopes and dreams, all of that good stuff.  It is always good to catch up with girlfriends and hear about their lives and attempts to juggle everything.

River view, standing on one of the bridges

The long walk ended at SW 10th and Alder, one of the spots in Portland where food trucks congregate in a city block.  There must have been a hundred food trucks in that one place, which is incredibly wonderful for pedestrians but makes you wonder what the local restaurants think of it.  There were so many mouth-watering choices but I knew I had to have thai food, because a) I love thai food and b) I never get good thai food in my neighborhood.  We shared an amazing lunch from Sawasdee Thai that was one of the culinary highlights of the trip.  I have no idea how they prepare such delicious food from a 10x10 truck, but they did it, and I loved it.  We had Pad Thai and Pad See Ew (I swear this is not the first time I've had thai, I just love the basics) - amazing.

Well, I am going to pause on the recap here and leave you in suspense for a day or two. Did they make it home?  Were they eaten by wild bears?  Stay tuned to find out!

Five on Friday

TGIF, people!  I don't know about you, but after our first full week back to school, we are... tired.  Our little ladies will be sleeping in tomorrow!

Speaking of TGIF, today we're linking up with Darci at The Good Life for Five on Friday!

[ONE] Girls' Weekend - woot woot!
Our days are full with getting ready in the mornings, shuttling to school, going to work, getting dinner on the table, etc, and it's hard for a girl to squeeze in any extra "me" time. As in, I went out to dinner with two friends once in the last month and that was a big-time, super rare Mommy's Night out in our house.  So, one of my best girlfriends from high school (and mom of two) suggested that we plan a girls weekend, along with my sister (mom of one).  I was nervous at first... how would the girls survive for a weekend without me?  But, of course this is me being paranoid and forgetting that they have their wonderful daddy.  Don't you love mom guilt/anxiety.  So, we committed to doing it months ago, for sometime mid-September.  Around August planning stalled out, and I admit I was slightly relieved at not having to abandon my poor children who would be scarred forever by my absence.  But us mommies stuck to our very self-centered plans, and low and behold, here we are with plane tickets and hotel reservations for Portland Oregon!

[TWO] Diet Coke
I've managed this blog for 4 days now but have yet to discuss my undying love for Diet Coke (and more so for Diet Dr. Pepper, but sadly it is hard to find in public).  I feel like I've been living a lie.  So here it is - I have a nice tall Diet Coke with lunch and it is a sweet, sweet treat.  The carbonation hitting your lips, the fizz as it goes down, yeah that's the stuff.  Sometimes I even get a refill.

[THREE] Halloween
Has everyone else already figured out their kids' Halloween costumes?  I saw Halloween decor out in spades at CVS yesterday and started having heart palpitations about being behind.  Natalie, the little sister, will no doubt be wearing Camille's 2-year old costume - a very adorable little pink and purple butterfly outfit that neither Camille nor Natalie will recognize (that's the beauty of hand-me-downs at this age - no one remembers the first time something was worn).  My mom saved an Alice in Wonderland dress that I used to wear and gave it to Camille, so that might be Camille's costume.  I'm also eyeing this awesome spider getup from Pottery Barn, partly to buck the whole "Princess" thing (sure, Alice is not a recognized princess, but I feel like she has Tier Two princess status as a Disney heroine, so it's just one step removed from being Ariel with exposed midriff):

[FOUR] Disney Princesses
And, while we're on the topic, I don't know how I feel about the Disney Princesses.  You girl moms know what I'm talking about.  Both Camille and Natalie are very aware of the princesses and own a lot of princess gear.  It's pretty hard to avoid it, and to be honest, when you're making conversation with a 3 or 4 year old girl, one topic that is sure to get a lively discussion going is which Disney princess is their favorite one today.  But of course, they are ridiculously stereotypical and anti-feminist and I should banish Disney princess memorabilia of any kind.  At least Camille favors Pocahontas and Mulan.

[FIVE] The ant problem
Well, this is going to be super interesting to everyone.  We have an ant problem going on at home.  It's very weird.  We're talking a couple of random ants found in weird places, all throughout the day.  This morning at breakfast, Camille caught two scooting across the kitchen floor with her perfect 4 year old vision.  I found one yesterday high up in the kitchen window sill, and a couple on a bathroom floor.  We've been homeowners for 4 years and I haven't yet really rolled up my sleeves and committed to a real house project.  But, here it is.  I am declaring war on the ants.  This weekend will be super exciting, y'all.

Happy Friday everyone! 

Shop Til You Drop (the Online Version)

Does anyone remember that old show "Shop Til You Drop"?  It followed "Supermarket Sweep" in the most amazing after-school line-up a tween could ever dream of.  Oh how my sister and I lived for that thrilling hour of consumer mayhem.  "When you stand at the checkout and hear that beep, think of the fun you could have on *audience chimes in* SUPERMARKET SWEEP!"

Well, these days, shopping til you drop involves me, my laptop, and some sketchy reality show playing in the background.  You name it, I buy it online.  My daughter's crayons are down to their nubby ends?  I can buy those puppies at Amazon (Puh-rime shipping, people!) and they'll arrive in no time.  Of course we do our fair share of Target outings, but to be honest, we often do it so the kids can get out and play with other people's toys and I don't always go with a list.

Lately I've been thinking about refreshing the old wardrobe.  My closet is filled with oversized post-pregnancy clothes, ridiculously tight and short pre-pregnancy wear (has my ribcage really grown that much?), and things I can actually wear, which is a very small percentage.

Determined to get my sexy back, I turned to Old Navy online shopping (after receiving countless email ads for 125% off and finally deciding, ok Old Navy, you can GIVE me your clothes!).  Friends, this was the decision of a lifetime.  I found the cutest tops, such as this number which I now own in 3 colors:

This casual yet elegant blouse (I think I was hooked by the model's "take no prisoners" pose, and the top ended up being just as sassy in person):

And, over at The Gap, I snagged this cozy number:

Happy back to school shopping, moms!

SO WHAT! Wednesday

I'm linking up with Shannon for So What Wednesday!  I've been reading other bloggers' SWW posts for awhile now, and I have to admit, wanting to participate myself is 23% of the reason I started this blog.  For SWW, every week on... (drum roll)... WEDNESDAYS, you list all of the things you are saying "so what" to this week, which basically means admitting all of the things you are secretly thinking and kind of feel guilty about.

This week I'm saying So What If:

- After 34 years of not eating breakfast (except while pregnant), I now eat breakfast!  Of course that is because I am the sad person eating the pancake or waffle bits that the kids have left behind.  Sometimes they leave syrup too (*score*).

- Camille had the last 3 weeks off school, which seemed long and exhausting at times, and now that they are both in school this week, I miss them.  And I'm sure the next break will feel like that all over again.

- At approximately 10:00am, I started thinking about abandoning my home-packed lunch, and mulling over what I should get for lunch instead.  I think I have a problem.

- I can't decide if Orange is the New Black is too porn-y for me.

- Every night, I rack my brain for whether I know the phrase "[name of the day] Night Football."  See, I swear there used to only be Monday Night Football, something I could count on, then Sunday Night Football came out of nowhere, and now I live in fear every night of the week.  It's not like my husband has to watch football every night, but I never know what games "matter" to him until they conflict with the Bachelorette or some other such trash I'm addicted to.  Why do I care at this moment?  Big Brother is on the line, people.

- My birthday party planning for the kids is in serious decline.  I used to get all Pinterest-y and make decorations, print custom invitations, mix special punch and *prepare* food myself.  Now, we're pretty much down to renting a bounce house and picking up Costco cake.  But that's the beautiful simplicity of youth.  Bouncing and cake, that's a good time.

Happy Wednesday!

Firsts

First day of school, y'all!! 

This is also my first post as a blogger.  You may notice off the bat that I sound Texan, what with my "y'all" and double exclamation point.  I have to tell you, I am not the least bit Texan.  However, I have followed several mommy bloggers for awhile now (you know, when you happen upon someone's blog and they sound super cool, like someone you could really be friends with, so you bookmark their page, except that you found them randomly and so by definition you're actually just stalking them), and they're all from Texas.  Meaning, they say such things as "First day of school, y'all!" and talk about college football and baby football outfits.  I don't know how I fell in with a gang of Texans, but they are quite endearing and make me think this is how all blogs should sound.  I will do my best to shake the Texan drawl, but you have to admit it's pretty catchy, right?

Anyway, back to the first day of school.  Today Camille started her first day of her last year of pre-school, and Natalie started her first day of her first year of pre-school.  Sadly, we are lacking the chalkboard sign stating this, but I tell you I worked on it for days and days and just could not get the words to fit.  Trying to get the school year off to a good start, I set my alarm for 2 hours before we needed to leave the house, but of course we were still hustling a bit trying to get dressed, eat, and assemble the different bags for lunch, back-up clothes, back-up back-up clothes, etc. I don't know about you, but I am amazed at how accomplished I feel at 8:45am when we sit loaded in the car, ready to pull out of the garage.  You would think I've just finished a 5k.

The ride to school was pretty exciting and I'm not even being sarcastic.  We listened to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse about 5 times in a row, and if that doesn't pump you up for a first day at school, I don't know what would.  Camille was thrilled to escort Natalie to her new classroom and promised to visit her later in the day (which she did).  Natalie is the youngest in her class but it was like she was an old pro.  It was like she was 3, maybe even 3 and a half.  Camille and I played with her a few minutes, until Natalie walked away to play with a toy across the room, waving over her shoulder and saying "Bye bye, wuv you" like she knew we needed to hear it in order to leave her to her business.  So, we left, not a single tear shed, and Camille went to her classroom full of her little besties.

After school, we went for a first-day treat at Yogurtland.  I'm still not so sure this was a great idea, because I think I may have planted a seed that afterschool pickup=Yogurtland time, but they had a blast so I'll take the heat later:

All in all, a terrific first day.