The Chocolate and The Cheese

The last forty eight hours have been the kind of serendipitous summer time that I dream about all through January and February.  Perfect temperatures, light wind, sun and a casual, laid-back schedule.  It all started with a lazy afternoon outdoors.  The Little Lady chased bubbles, then we laid out our blankets and read our books.  LL read hers and I read mine.  At one point she looked at me and said, "Your book good mama?"  Seriously, this kid just keeps getting better and better. The next morning we had an impromptu coffee date with some friends.  We sat out on the patio and chatted while the kids ran around and entertained each other.  Besides that one window licking incident, the coffee was great and the pastries delicious.  After, we walked a few blocks to a new, great park.  Let the kids run off some of the sugar they had just ingested before walking back and heading home.  Then to cap it all off the LL and I went to a BBQ with some old friends of mine and she was just

Nap time is usually reserved for a mash up of cleaning, organizing, eating, blogging, surfing the web and trying to relax as much as possible before the Little Lady wakes up.  With our house going on the market tomorrow my house is the cleanest it has ever been.  Literally.  I feel like we're living in a model home.  Kind of like Michael and George Michael Bluth from Arrested Development .  It's equal parts nice and annoying.  Nice having a super clean home and annoying that I have to keep it show ready all.the.time. The best part of having a show ready house?  I have nothing more to do during nap time than blog, eat and watch Angel .  Because bad TV at nap time is the best way to relax.  Well, maybe just if you're living in a model home.

Potty training is an exercise of patience, control and humor on the part of the child, the parents and any other innocent bystander that gets caught in the way.  Luckily for us the Little Lady has done quite well for a wee person of her age.  We try to minimize and downplay accidents and have the mantra, " Pee and poop go in the potty.  Pee and poop go in the potty. "  (Imagine us swaying back and forth while clapping our hands.  Oh, the kinds of adults our kids reduce us to.) So the other week a friend of ours came to stay with us and accidentally got some paint on her arm as she was helping me paint our back porch.  The LL was quite concerned and asked if she had an accident and if she was ok and if she needed a bandaid or a kiss to make it feel better.  Our friend replied, no, she was fine and then asked if the LL ever had accidents. "Yes, I have accidents.  I pee myself." Spoken in a kind of sad, matter of fact voice.  Like she was discussing the war in Afg

Here in Minnesota we have something known as, "The Minnesota Goodbye."  Approximately an hour before you actually leave you announce that you're leaving, proceed to say goodbye to everyone in the room; individually, chat for a few minutes, gather your belongings and then, finally depart.  It's annoying, expected and a hard trap not to fall into. Parents of toddlers have a similar dance that they play, every time they are about to leave some place; especially if the location is particularly fun. "Five more minutes Sally, five more minutes and then we're leaving." The amount of time is really quite arbitrary.  Sally doesn't know what five minutes is and thus it is really up to the parent to decide how much longer they're going to stay.  But without that initial warning all hell can go loose in an instant. "Two more minutes Sally.  Yes, I know you don't want to leave, but everyone is leaving too." The parent talks a bit more, g

Hello good peeps!  It's currently 79 degrees in sunny Minneapolis and I think it's high time I shared my favorite summer drinks with you.  Whether you are chilling on a patio, sipping around a campfire or simply sitting in front of your A/C, here are five tasty, cool, refreshing drinks for your  pleasure.  What about you?  What do you imbibe in the summer? Moscow Mule :  I had this for the first time at the beginning of summer and it is just about perfect.  Ginger beer (not ginger ale), vodka and lime come together to form the most refreshing drink you can have on a patio.  Sweet, spicy, with a nice little kick. Surly's Cynic Ale :  A light colored ale with a nice kick at the end.  I could drink pints and pints of this brew.  It's the ideal beer for a back yard BBQ. Arnold Palmer :  Part tart lemonade, part sweet iced tea.  Love this combination in the summer time, especially in the afternoons!  Nothing like a little caffeine kick to get you through the rest of a

I took the Little Lady to her first ballgame today.  It was a blast and she outdid her two year old self and sat/walked around/was tantrum free all the way through the middle of the eighth inning.  Seriously, I know adults that can't do that.  One of the reasons (I think) that she was so well behaved is that I fed her for almost three hours straight.  I pulled out all of those "special treats" that I usually reserve for bribes, long car rides or special occasions.  You know, like fruit snacks, cookies, cotton candy, ice cream cones.  All in one sitting. So it got me thinking. When I go out, whether it's a fun night out with my girls, a date with the Mr. or simply treating myself to something nice I tend to feel justified in "splurging" a little bit.  Mostly calorically.  I'll have that piece of dessert.  I'll order the deep fried asparagus (because it's still vegetables!).  Or a latte and a cookie.  Completely unnecessary, but it's a trea

Apparently getting your house ready to put on the market it time consuming and stressful.  Who knew?  The last two weeks of afternoons have been spent tidying, cleaning, organizing and then reorganizing.  The house was looking in tip-top shape; and then we had house guests.  I'm hoping to return it to it's former glory in the next twenty-four hours.  Wish me luck. I thought I would start a new little series I'm calling, "Tales of a Two Year Old" in which I highlight the hilarious, ridiculous and often adorable/infuriating aspects of the Little Lady.  We'll start off with this amusing little story. Up until this week we could not, for the life of us, get the LL to count past the number three.  It was always one, two, three, two ...  Then all of a sudden it was one, two, three, four, five, six, seven !  Huzzah!  What I say does sink into that cute little head of hers!  So the Mr. still hadn't heard this new found skill, so I was prepping her one morning

I just spent the last six days at a cabin in the northern part of Minnesota, on a lake, with my in-laws.  I'm not really sure what end is up, what food I have in my fridge or where dinner is coming from.  Also, on a side note, why does my house always smell a little funky after being gone a few days?  Does it always smell that way?  But I digress.  Here is my Five Things Friday list for this week, a look at five things that are perfectly acceptable to do on vacation; but are not advisable for the other weeks in your year.  Happy Friday everyone! Opening a beer anytime before noon.  Generally not advisable if you work outside the home, or if you are the primary caregiver to a small child.  After noon; 12:00 and one second, however, are all acceptable times to crack one open, if you want my opinion. Wearing your swimsuit from sunrise to sunset.  I would say that most days I would find it a little bit ranky to be wearing your suit all day, but there is something deliciously vaca