My first holiday with H and his family was one I'll never forget. It was Thanksgiving 2001 and we traveled to Arizona to spend a few days. It's where I learned that my spouses family is REALLY into games too. True, I had a taste of it on a ski trip we had taken a few years previous. But, I had chalked all those games of domino's and Monopoly up to the fact that it was freezing and snowy outside and not everyone wanted to be a ski bunny 24/7. What else was there to do but raid the rented chalet's game closet, right?! Me? No, I'm not much a of a game person myself. I'm an only child. We don't 'do' games that well. Every Christmas I would get board games for gifts and look at my relatives like they had three heads. "Thanks so much! Who the hell is going to play this with me? My four … [Read more...]
Our Deep, Dark and Dank Secret
Enter the unfinished part of our basement and you will find a colossal mess. It's a maze of soon to be used baby gear, tools, random household objects and where many things go to die. It's also the place you can typically find my husband if you cannot find him anywhere else in the house. When all attempts to call him go unheard all you have to do is descend the steps, open the partly broken door and there he is in all his hidden attempt at a man-cave glory. Typically, there is only the eerie glow of the computer screen and the blinking lights of the router to light the way. All else is encased in darkness. Here you will find H pouring through his emails, downloading such classic tunes as Vanilla Ice's 'Ice, Ice, Baby' from iTunes and reading page after page of Fantasy Sports … [Read more...]
Coffee Grinder- You Are My Secret Shame
It's not Starbucks. It's not the actual coffee maker. It's not the even the lovely and glossy beans themselves per say. It is my coffee grinder. Oh sweet, grinder, that I cannot live without. Your black sleek design and single push button mechanism makes my day after what happened during the kitchen remodeling. Our "new" cabinets were mounted up on the wall, but the contractors that had originally built the house placed a bad piece of dry wall causing everything to fall down and in the process breaking a few of my kitchen appliances, we replaced everything but we couldn't find the same coffee machine so we bought a coffee maker and grinder. Every day. When I paid the bargain price of $14.99 for you six years ago (and still going strong!) you were considered an unnecessary item and … [Read more...]
Destined to be Together- Isaac Mizrahi and Me
Recession... blah, blah, blah....we all know it's really here. Gas prices, while declining are still high. We are eating out less. We are all looking for ways to cut corners whether it's using the new grocery store's amazing coupons ($20 off $50 or more!!! OH MY!) or cutting back on our latte runs, most of us are feeling the pinch. We do what we can with what we have and make do without, right?And I'm going to speak for most of us, we all L-O-V-E a bargain. I am a bargain shopper myself. Nothing excites me more than delving into real sales racks and finding that golden ticket of a find. That time I scored a full Ralph Lauren bed set for $69.99 at the actual outlet? Back when outlets were still the real deal? Spectacular! I still have the comforter over 10 years later locked in a closet … [Read more...]
A Bit of a Bikini Rant
After I had my suspicious mole last summer I was told by some that the bikini would be no more. At least for me. I balked at this. When the comment was quickly followed by the classic, "Besides you are a Mom now. You don't want to be one of those Moms who you see at the pool wearing a bikini...."Excuse me what?! I wanted to breathe fire.While I may not have the body I did when I was 24, I have spent a fare share of my time at the gym toning and cardioing my butt off well into my 30's and not just because I want to look swimsuit ready but because I like how I feel after a good episode of sweating. I refuse to go up a size with each child. Yes, I had a child and my body changed but I'm still a size six! I'm proud of that fact. Quite frankly I don't feel comfortable in a one piece. I'm long … [Read more...]
Strawberry Shortcake – The Nudist
As a kid, I grew up in the Ocean State. Ah, lil' Rhody with it's four hundred miles of beaches. Bet you didn't know that the smallest state in the country could boast so much coastline. We certainly had our pick of the beaches and of all those sandy strips my parents often chose the one that you actually had to strip at. That's right, a nude beach. Moonstone to be exact and I'm not trying to be funny.Now a nature reserve for the piping plover or some such bird, Moonstone was a nude beach into the early 80's. As a small kid I didn't notice much of anything in the way of awkwardness I rather liked the whole no sand in the bathing britches factor and I was literally free to run around and play all day. Minus the fact that there were often few other children to play with it wasn't a bad beach. … [Read more...]
Overheards
Scene: Our kitchen last night. H & I are cleaning up from dinner.Me: Ugh... I don't know what is wrong with me. It's maddening. I hit this wall at this time every night (6:14-19 p.m. I swear it is that accurate) and I just feel so awful no matter what I do.H: mumbling under his breath as he puts something away in the fridge. Snorts with laughter to himself.Me: What? What was that you just said?! I didn't hear you....H: Nothing! I didn't say anything. (smirks)Me: No, you did! I heard something. What was it you said?! Tell me or I swear that dirty steak knife sitting in the sink will be used.H: OK...(sighing) I just said, "It's when you take your bitch pill..."Me: WHAT?! That is not funny!!! (giving him an Elaine Bennis shove)H: I know. It's like one of those things that seems funny in … [Read more...]
Oh Just a Tad Nervous
I'm a wee bit nervous today. OK, maybe more like A LOT nervous. Today is the day we get to hear this bean's heartbeat for the first time and this day always fills me with some fear. I get all excited when we first make the appointment but as the day draws closer I find myself almost not wanting to go in fear that all we will hear is silence. That the anxious feeling I possess will overtake the room and be palpable as it spreads to everyone else in the room. I tell myself that all the miserable sick of the past few weeks is a sign that things are going just swimmingly and I have no reason to worry but the fear persists.So today we know. I'm glad I'm not going alone. H will be there to hold my hand and that makes it better even when I just think about it.Want something a bit more … [Read more...]
What is Pink and Squishy and Family-Friendly? BARBAPAPA!
Sure you have your Cabbage Patch Kids, The Golden Books, your Strawberry Shortcake, throw in some Winnie the Pooh or Where the Wild Things Are and you have yourself many childhood favorites. All things many of us look back on with happy nostalgia. However, it was while I was visiting Paris during my pregnancy that I discovered a toy in a French department store that brought back much of my childhood to me. It was Barbapapa! I knew instantly I had to have him. Excited and in utter disbelief (this toy is still popular?!) I had him rung up at the register and brought him home to await the arrival of my daughter, T.D. That and Holzspielzeug für Kinder are my favorite toys I bought for my daughter. As a kid Saturday morning cartoons dawned early in my house. Barbapapa (the cartoon is based … [Read more...]
How The Washington Post Peed in My Coffee
There I was, sitting at the kitchen table, not fully awake but trying to read the Sunday paper before all two year old hell broke loose in my house and sipping some coffee when I saw it. By it, I mean, the front page article in The Washington Post's Outlook section, 'We Scream, We Swoon, How Dumb Can We Get?', by Charlotte Allen.Ugh.Read it now. Get back to me.Are you angry? Or do you just feel "dim" as Allen puts it and you don't quite understand all the fuss?Why is an article such as this the one that gets the front page? Why an article about how women will always lag behind men, are the worst drivers, love romance novels and are only smart enough to remember where the berries are, the type of piece that ends up on the front page?Reading Allen's piece I not only got angry but I started … [Read more...]