The Chocolate and The Cheese

Too often we give/receive gifts that are less than memorable. Clothing, magazine subscriptions, mis-directed knick-knacks/art, unnecessary appliances; it's the reason why retailers now automatically hand out gift receipts. It's also the reason why the gift card industry has boomed over the last few years. Gift card sales in 2007 were over $97 billion. The number is only expected to rise. I hate giving gift cards, I feel like I don't put any time or thought into it, there's no personal touch, nothing to say, "I care." I have to admit though, a gift card to a well-thought store or restaurant can be better than a table runner and matching place mats with cartoon angels on it, I'm just saying. Then there are those gifts that are memorable, in a good way! The gifts that when you open it make you smile, gasp, shake your head and sincerely utter, "You shouldn't have." The gifts that make you realize that the giver really put some time an

Raise a glass! There's a lot that we have to give Thanks for.

Since today is the day before the one day where people, I hope, stop and think about all of the things they are Thankful for I thought that I would share some of the reasons that I am so very Thankful this season, in no particular order. I think as our world becomes more and more commercialized and marketed and as everyone gets more and mored tuned into the hype, celebrations like Thanksgiving are needed. Being thankful for the things that you have doesn't have anything to do with politics, religion, sex, age or color. When I'm feeling particularly stressed or out of focus I do like to write down those things that I'm thankful for, sometimes it can help make everything else a little easier to bear. My health. A hardworking, caring, thoughtful husband. A healthy, happy and charismatic daughter. A loving, supporting family. The internet. A strong, fun, amazing group of friends. A warm and welcoming place to call home. Food to feed myself, my family and my friends. A blog w

...I have a To-Do list about a mile long. I love lists, they keep me on track, and when I want to procrastinate I can always write another list. They make me feel productive. But today, I've written all the lists I can write. What I really need to do is set out and start checking things off. Two major ones that need to accomplished; bake three pies, pack for our upcoming camping trip. Camping trip you say? In Minnesota at the end of November? Are you crazy? Well, yes, if we were planning on camping here then we would be a little crazy. But no, instead we decided to hop on a plane and fly three and a half hours to go camping at a place with a little more sunshine. Arizona! Sedona, to be exact. We've never seen the Grand Canyon, had a few frequent flier miles left so we decided to get the heck out of Dodge. After last year and almost six weeks of over-stimulation, over-scheduling, over-eating and over-tiredness we decided that from now on Thanksgiving was going to be

Since the day is so grey and dreary here I thought I'd ponder on some Summer love. After a wet, soggy October; November has been a delightful month. In the fifties some days and more sun than we'll probably see again until May. April if we're lucky. Looking back to this past Summer there are so many favorite moments. BBQ's in the backyard with friends. Trips to the country. Days spent at the zoo. Afternoon wades in the pool. Drinking wine outside, watching the world go by. I would have to say that my favorite memory, by far, of this summer wasn't really one, specific day. It was more a bunch of days that ran together. LN's face as she giggled on the swing, her first intake of breath as the swing fell back in a graceful arch. The way her legs pump so hard to run to the next slide. The way she, not so gracefully, flips her body over to slide down on her belly. The way she laughs as she passes over the swing bridge, marveling on how much taller she i

That's right people, I've officially had over seventy posts. I like to look at that number, it makes me feel like I've accomplished something. Stay tuned for post number ninety-five, it will have an announcement about post number one hundred that will be very special indeed! So this weekend is blissfully un-scheduled. Which is good seeing as we leave on Wednesday for the Grand Canyon Camping Trip, and have yet to figure out if our gear will fit in one checked bag and three carry-ons. Wish us luck, I'm interested to see how it all pans out. The Mr. and I are headed to the gym tomorrow morning and then he and LN are going to have a Daddy/Daughter Date. Not sure what they're up to yet, but I'm so happy when they have some extra one-on-one time to bond. Does my heart (and head) good! Maybe we'll try and hit up the MCAD Student Art Sale . We go every year but this year we don't really have a NEED of anything. However, it's always fun to look!

Found this via Anything Said . Pretty sure the Reebok will get a LOT of feedback on this one. What do you think?

Bear with me as I try and feel my way through this post. It's a little new for me to put my own photos on here, it seems a little more personal. Like I can talk about my house and what I do, but if I show you a picture it's like you're all really here . Yesterday was not one of my finest. The little lady and I were in a funk. Usually we have a nice little jive goin' on, and yesterday it just wasn't happening. So those cookies? Yeah, didn't happen. Dinner? LN ate a banana and a cereal bar. It was the only thing that stopped the whining. That delicious sounding Cheese Bread? I didn't have bread, mayo or enough cheese. So I decided to bake a loaf a bread and make mayo. The mayo deserves a whole post in and of itself. So the Mr. put the lady down for bed and I got into the kitchen. First up, bread dough. There's something that you all should know first. I'm a major stress baker. In college it would be 3am and I'm baking a cake beca

I'm going to try something different on this here blog tomorrow, and I think it might turn into something. Then again, it might not. Those of you who know me in real life know that I love, LOVE to cook and bake. And to a slightly lesser degree I also love to take pictures. So I decided that I am going to document the meal I'm making for dinner tomorrow night. Step-by-step with pictures. We'll see how it goes. Here's the menu: Mom's Secret Chili, Vegetarian Style Garlic Cheese Bread Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread (because I couldn't decide!) Giant Ginger Cookies The little lady and I are going to be making the cookies this afternoon. I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures of her covered, head to toe, in flour. Always a sight. If we're lucky there will be minimal mess on the floor and on me. Ha! Why would I even jinx myself like that? So that's the plan. Stay tuned tomorrow as I document the first part of the meal tonight. Like I said, I

The wonders of Target never cease to amaze, I go in for toothbrushes, but walk around in a daze. There are belts and booties, bananas and beans. Rice cookers, rain gear, and paper in reams. Toothpaste and face wash, mirrors and dolls. Target is nice, but Super Target has it all. Get in and get out. But what can I do? My bill should have cost me only a buck or two. Instead I wander, I browse and I roam. And I buy, buy, buy more than I should ever, ever take home. But it was on sale! I tell myself with glee. Who doesn't need a candle That smells like green tea? Oh Target, you make me so outrageously poor! So maybe if you weren't so handy, so cheap and so fun. I'd spend less money on my daily Target run.

So this weekend the Mr's identical twin, The Clone, is coming into town. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Mathematics at the University of California, Irvine. He and his lovely wife, Mrs. Clone, have lived in CA for longer than the Mr. and I have been married. Before that the four of us were all living in our small college town in Central Minnesota. When The Clone comes to town things get a little crazy. The Mr. becomes like a boy again and there's much yelling, jumping, geeking and crazy scheming that go on. One has to mentally prepare for it. Not to mention the extra familial responsibilities that come with having out-of-town family in town. I'm started to get exhausted just thinking about it. In honor of The Clone coming to town I thought that I would tell a little story from the past. A story of love, intrigue, humor and ... Well, not really, but it's a good story nonetheless. Enjoy. Back in the day MP used to work at a sweet, little coffee shop that

I've been think a lot this month about how people interact with each other. Mothers/Children, Husbands/Wives, Friends, Coworkers, Families. All are different kinds of dances that we as humans must learn the steps to. Unfortunately the steps can change without any warning. Going into the holiday season this year I wanted to be more mindful of my place within all of these situations. I want to be able to waltz from one location to another, stopping to do a two step or jitterbug as necessary. I would like to be able to smooth away the stress/frustration that the holiday season seems to bring to so many. I know that all of the family commitments, financial burdens, over eating and over scheduling makes me cranky. This year I would like to avoid those missteps, those trip-ups and go about spreading cheer and happiness. Starting yesterday I want to try and do one good deed a day. Something that will help someone, cheer someone or simply make their day go a little smoother. Not

Monday I decided to make White Chicken Enchiladas for dinner. I had found the recipe on The Pioneer Woman's website and it started my stomach grumbling. In a good way, a very good way! I started a grocery list of the things I needed to pick up; sour cream, shredded cheese, green chilies, a whole cut-up chicken. Wha? I'm a meat eater that likes her meat unrecognizable from the animal. No bones, skin, eyes, feathers or organs. I spent a year in China and after seeing every animal come to the table whole, with all of their parts intact I don't need to see them that way any more. So a whole cut-up chicken? Doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it's not something that I would normally buy, because there are just too many parts that I wouldn't want to deal with. But I digress. So we head out to the store and pick up the ingredients and then some and I set out to make dinner. I throw the chicken in a stock pot, cover with water and let it simmer for thi

Today has been a day already and it's only 2pm. That said I'm going to give you the list of the Five Things that I could use right now. Don't be surprised if you're underwhelmed. I'm a simple girl after all. Diet Coke : Just one can please. I've drank all of the coffee I could possibly drink today but am still in need of a caffeine pick up. Why don't they have Diet Coke delivery services? A sleeping child : Or at least one that sleeps more than thirty minutes at a time. Seriously you're not even two and when do you expect mama to get all of this stuff done? Fingernail clipper : I resorted to clipping off a broken nail with a scissors because I could not for the life of me find one in the house. We used to have four, now I can find none. Where would they go? Roku Digital Player: I could stream all of the Dora and bad television I wanted from Netflix with one of these bad boys. Must remember to put on my Christmas list. A plan for dinner : Ser

I had a long albeit fun packed weekend. The family and I had an amazing Indian Summer morning on Saturday walking along the Mississippi River and downtown Minneapolis. We had a lot of fun and the little lady was plum tuckered out by the time we made it back home. Sunday I co-hosted a baby shower for a dear friend of mine so the house was full of lady chatter and laughter. It was a great morning. As I was sitting down last night to catch up on the final episode of Project Runway and read my blogs I thought that maybe the rest of you would like to know what I'm reading. So here is my first blog roll, blogs you may or may not of heard of, by people I've never met and in real life (IRL) friends but either way should check out! Yes and Yes : My IRL friend Sarah Von has a fabulous blog about saying yes in your life and all things fun and inspiring. She is just as fun, interesting and amazing IRL it's no wonder her blog is so popular! They Are So Cute When They Are Sleeping

To say that this has been a long week would be an understatement. Although the last two days have been beautiful here and the promise of a gorgeous weekend is upon us I've been in a bit of a funk. The kid and I spend a lot of time in the car, driving to friends houses and the store, going shopping and generally just trying to get out of the house. For some reason the radio receptor in my car no longer works (and we're too lazy to fix it right now) so LN and I are stuck to listening to CDs. Not really a big deal, we have a six CD changer so we have the potential for some variety. The trouble is that I really am lazy and rarely switch the CDs out. So we've been listening to the same CDs since last Spring. Really. I decided it was time for a change. Since the little lady decided to be a peach and take a nice nap today I started to play with iTunes and make us a new car mix (or two if I have time!) So instead of boring you with our weekend plans I'd like to give yo

I have some beef with you today. Well, not all of you, but what I see is becoming an altogether too large portion. I'd like to talk to you a little big about tolerance. This isn't going to be a lecture taken straight from a Respect and Tolerance 101 class. You're smarter than that, or at least I'm hoping beyond hope that you're smarter than that. There are so many topics that I'd like to touch on today, but let's just focus a moment on the issue of Marriage. Now, I'm a happily married woman. I found a wonderful, caring partner and am thankful that he felt enough of the same to publicly and solemnly declare our relationship official. You see, that's kind of how I feel about Marriage. It's a declaration to the community that two people are pledging to care and love each other. The government? Religion? Really don't have a huge part of it. But yet, so many of you take it so personally when two people of the same sex want to spend the

The theme for this Wordless Wednesday post is Tired. Like, I need a coffee the size of my head tired (Thanks Emmy!) Do you think I conveyed the topic adequately?

I think a lot about online personalities. You might remember that when I first started writing this blog I had an ' Identity Crisis ' of sorts. Really truly I'm still not sure how I would define myself in this space, and I'm completely ok with that. In fact, I really, really like it. It's kind of liberating to just come here five days a week and say whatever the h*ll I want to say. There are a lot of times that I would like to say something In Real Life (IRL), then decide that it's not worth the trouble to explain myself. Thank goodness I have all of you inter-friends and this blog! Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, blogs, message boards, forums...all of these places require us to have some sort of online personality. Nobody likes to read comments from the person that simply says, "Great post." Really? Are you an android? It's difficult to put yourself out there online in a way that accurately defines who you are as a person. I know that online I am mu

I am seriously not a fan of Daylight Savings Time . Even less now that I am a mom than I was before. Living in the upper portion of the US, Daylight Savings time means that at 5:00pm tonight it will be dark. Like dark, dark. Like, I don't want to leave the house and it's freaking cold dark. Not only that but I have to go around the house and find all of our clocks and inevitably I forget one and that is the ONE clock that I look at when I'm running late and now think that I have an extra hour. Suck. (Note, this story happened to me this morning. Stupid oven clock, why do I always forget to change you?) Not to mention that sleep patterns are greatly messed up. Poor LN was so tired last night. At 7:00 her body thought it was 8:00, an hour past her bed time. Then this morning she was up at 6:00. Way too early for the Mr. and I but perfectly normal for her. She should be adjusted by the week end, but it's a rough couple of days until she does. The Mr. and I sl