November 25: Is This Midlife Crisis?

My tomorrow self will do a 7 minute workout. I even paid for and downloaded the app.

My today self drank a fuzzy navel. Seriously. Who over the age of 24 drinks a fuzzy navel?

This girl.

Santa...I can explain....

The Refreshments - Banditos

November 24: Regression

I heard this on the radio tonight. I sang every single word. With relish.

When the song ended, I turned down the volume, glanced over my shoulder and saw my daughter with round eyes just shaking her head. 

Great White - Once Bitten Twice Shy

November 23: Mark Ruffalo Indulgence

True confession time:

This weekend I've watched both Begin Again and Just Like Heaven.

I have a bit of a Mark Ruffalo fetish.

True. He'd come up to my nose if we hugged. And true. He's happily married to a fantastic woman. Oh, and a famous actor whom I'll never meet.

But I think we could really be something special.

Begin Again was fantastic, by the way. 

The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends

November 22: Food Services

Yesterday I spoke about using The Grateful Chef for a side dish for my Thanksgiving feast. I love this local chef who pulls together a few main dishes and sides each week. 

You order what appeals and go pick it up from her kitchen. I've ordered from her in the past and will certainly be doing so more often.

Her service is the difference between a pizza delivery and a beautiful dinner on a busy weeknight after work. I do my best to have my menu planned for the week. Consistently once or twice per week, I stumble and we end up at Noodles & Company or having food delivered.

Now that I've opened the door to having someone else prepare a (healthy) meal for me, I'm noticing more and more options out there.

Food services in general intrigue me. Facebook continues to prompt me to try Plated, Blue Apron and HelloFresh.

Part of me thinks that my own menu planning and purchases through my coop (which I adore) are my best bet. The other part of me wants to try out their dishes to expand my standard menu and to create ease of planning.

We live in a fast food nation. It's neat to see healthy choices trending. I'm curious if it will be a fad, or become a standard implement of our living.

Tracy Chapman - The Promise

November 21: Tday Menu Planning

Thanksgiving is less than a week away!

Aria and I have been staying home on Thanksgiving the past few years. I tend to work the Friday after, and that keeps us close to our nest.

To compensate, and ensure we are plush with turkey, we host a post-Thanksgiving feast at our home with local friends who have become our family.

I brine my turkey in an apple cider / herb mix for a day or two prior to our feast. We have the traditional items always. Our traditional includes turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, plain corn for Aria, green bean casserole for me, rolls, cranberries (sometimes from the can, sometimes I make them), apple pie, pumpkin pie, and sometimes pecan pie (or tassies, if you speak tassie). 

Lately I've been throwing in roasted Brussels sprout dishes because they are just yummo, and a sweet potato dish of some sort. 

This year, I'm serving a few appetizers for everyone to snack on while things bake.

This one has me excited (I'm getting these from The Grateful Chef) - totally cheating but how could I resist??:

Halved, cored seckel pears filled with a homemade herbed goat cheese, wrapped with bacon, drizzled with olive oil and cinnamon pear balsamic vinegar and then baked.

Yes, please?

 

Do you have special traditions for the holiday? I'd love to snag a few new recipes to try out. My shopping list is longer than my arm, and I love it.

Meg Hutchinson - I'd Like to Know

November 20: HallowChrist

What happens when you visit a Junk Jubilee (antiques and crafts fair) and purchase a vintage Santa plastic lawn ornament, but you also still have your home decorated for Halloween because you really haven't gotten around to tearing down one season to put up the next?

This, people, is HallowChrist.

Louis Prima - Jump, Jive An' Wail

November 19: Vivid Dream

Do you remember your dreams?

I often do, and they are generally nutty and representative of my peripheral life. 

For example, during summer, my dreams including hosting large parties on my patio and my friends wearing potted pepper plants around their necks with the peppers all red and festive, like edible necklaces. And yes, we do make salsa and other items from their necklaces.

Last night, I was listening to the Civil Wars (To Whom It May Concern) before bed. I think it carried into my dream.

I was an extra on a movie set. During a break from filming, I was wandering around the set and came across an adorable little boy playing with a toy. I knelt down and had some banter with him.

Then I looked up and his daddy was there. I have memories of green eyes, dark blond hair, and a smile that could light up the night, even on the winter solstice. 

I've had my share of bad dreams. I've lived my share of bad dreams.

This was not one of those dreams. This was finding home in a dream.

I think my heart is ready. I woke up longing for something that wasn't real but could not have been anything but real.

I am going to term it possibility. I'm also re-adding The Civil Wars to my playlist. This song deserves another spin.

The Civil Wars - To Whom It May Concern

November 18: Shine

I don't know if it's the alignment of the stars, the onset of the winter blues, or simply personal across the board, but it feels the world is out of whack right now.

I have several close friends going through some horrific life events.

A person shot themselves to death at a local Wells Fargo location today.

Social media threats continue to bring terror into a local high school.

I needed some peace tonight and to focus on good things.

This song fit the bill, when coupled with snuggling my gal.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Shine

November 17: Drive-by Shootings

There were 3 drive-by shootings in the Des Moines metro area this morning, with two injuries resulting and a bevy of school closings and lock downs. The shootings were preceded with social media threats (via Yik Yak) on Sunday. This kind of event both saddens and angers me.

Do you know the thing I actually find the most interesting about this all? The social media component. Some idiot gets angry and decides to hurt others. But they don't just do it anymore. They have to talk about it first. Online.

I think this is at once an opportunity and horrific.

The opportunity? Can you imagine if the Columbine kids had posted to social media rather than filming home videos to their parents? Or if Adam Lanza had posted something prior to ravaging Sandy Hook? Is there a cry for help in posting something socially? Or just insanity? Or ego? Does it matter? They are putting out a message that says “deal with me – I mean it.” I appreciate the heads up. Ideally they could be caught and helped. They are screaming, “help me” even if they don’t know it.

The horrific? Way too many things to even think through, beyond the brutal killing of others. No wonder we have so much more fear in our diets anymore. Forget surprise incidents. We now can anticipate terror. We can dwell on it. Make it bigger than it needs to be. We can ruminate on “what ifs” that feel more real than general fears, because they come with actual threats that may or may not happen.

At the end of the day, every day, I choose love. Even when someone chooses his gun and rage. 

Eddie Vedder - No More

November 16: Listening to Inconvenient Voices

There are people that can make my heart smile simply by breathing in my presence.

You know the ones. They come into a room and you feel good simply laying eyes upon them. They don’t need to say anything special. They don’t need to do anything special. They simply are special to you.

I am graced with several of these people (and one cat even) in my world. They all exude warmth. I bathe in it.

Then there are those who repel me. People who, no matter what is probably their best intentions cannot get it right with me.

I hear their voices and I cringe. They make my shoulders try to touch my ears when I’m around them. I become the very worst version of me in their presence.

I've been reflecting on this lately. I strive to be an inclusive person who doesn't judge. It honestly bothers me when I find myself pushing someone away unless well deserved.

I can test out Einstein's definition of insanity with these people. I try again and again to like them. To include them. To welcome them into my heart and life.

I wonder if this is how we become abuse victims? We take our natural impulse and force it down. We want to feel certain ways and so we justify the negative away. We don’t trust our instincts.

Our instincts can also be incredibly inconvenient. In life, we are closest to our family and dearest friends. We also sometimes shouldn't be.

Even when the voice is inconvenient.

Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill

November 15: E E

i carry your heart with me - E E Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)  

Circe Link - Blue Bird Tattoo

November 14: My Favorite "But", Courtesy of Neruda

If You Forget Me - Pablo Neruda

I want you to know
one thing. 

You know how this is: 
if I look 
at the crystal moon, at the red branch 
of the slow autumn at my window, 
if I touch 
near the fire 
the impalpable ash 
or the wrinkled body of the log, 
everything carries me to you, 
as if everything that exists, 
aromas, light, metals, 
were little boats 
that sail 
toward those isles of yours that wait for me. 

Well, now, 
if little by little you stop loving me 
I shall stop loving you little by little. 

If suddenly 
you forget me 
do not look for me, 
for I shall already have forgotten you. 

If you think it long and mad, 
the wind of banners 
that passes through my life, 
and you decide 
to leave me at the shore 
of the heart where I have roots, 
remember 
that on that day, 
at that hour, 
I shall lift my arms 
and my roots will set off 
to seek another land. 

But 
if each day, 
each hour, 
you feel that you are destined for me 
with implacable sweetness, 
if each day a flower 
climbs up to your lips to seek me, 
ah my love, ah my own, 
in me all that fire is repeated, 
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten, 
my love feeds on your love, beloved, 
and as long as you live it will be in your arms 
without leaving mine. 

The Black Keys - Howlin' For You

November 13: Storypeople

Are you familiar with Brian Andreas's Storypeople?

Go ahead - introduce yourself! 

Storypeople

Brian is from Decorah, Iowa. He is an artist, but it's his "stories" that get me every time.

I have many favorites. This is one of them. It's called No Words.


I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that.

- Brian Andreas

Paperweight - Joshua Radin & Schuyler Fisk

November 12: Animals

 ANIMALS by Frank O'Hara
                
                
       Have you forgotten what we were like then
       when we were still first rate
       and the day came fat with an apple in its mouth
      
       it's no use worrying about Time
       but we did have a few tricks up our sleeves
       and turned some sharp corners
      
       the whole pasture looked like our meal
       we didn't need speedometers
       we could manage cocktails out of ice and water
      
       I wouldn't want to be faster
       or greener than now if you were with me O you
       were the best of all my days

Fleetwood Mac - The Chain

November 11: Poetry

I'm behind. I'm really behind.

I got busy living and forgot about blogging.

So to catch up, and because I simply love poetry, I"m going to do a poetry slam.

Poems poem poems until we're caught up!

Are you in?

This particular gem is by Yeats. William Butler Yeats.

Excess and eccentricity. My favorite.

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven - W.B. Yeats

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. 

The Cure - Just Like Heaven

November 10: Beeps

My coffee pot beeps at me twice in the morning.

The first beep is to signal that the coffee has been brewed and is ready! This beep is one of the happiest sounds I know.

The second beep is to signal that two hours have passed, and the coffee pot is automatically turning itself off.

The beeps are identical, but evoke incredibly different feelings. The second beep is so much sadder.

I've had songs do that to me in life also. They can be tied to different people, feelings or memories as time evolves. Sometimes a song can bring a smile or a crying fest worthy of a hormonal teen suffering her very first heartbreak. 

I saw someone in passing yesterday who used to own all kinds of music in my world.

It turns out he doesn't anymore.

It was like the coffee pot beep. Both joyous and sad at once. 

Bittersweet.

Big Head Todd & The Monsters - Bittersweet

November 9: Constant Companion

When you have a few cats, you have a constant companion.

You never sleep alone.

You never go to the bathroom alone.

You turn around and trip over a cat. Every. Single. Time.

It's equivalent to having a toddler, actually.

I was snuggled on the couch tonight watching Definitely, Maybe (pretty adorable) with one of my constant companion's, Pye the pixie bob.

This is Pye's smiley face. Honest.

Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People

November 8: Lazy Saturday

Today was a million little things. 

Sweeping rakes off the patio while dancing to Louis. 

Doing four loads of laundry with much help from kitties.

Watching Big Hero 6 with a monster bucket of popcorn and a little girl who can eat the monster bucket of popcorn without my assistance.

Buying chocolate covered everything at Trader Joe's. 

Reading. Reading. Reading.

I just finished The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure. It was outstanding.

I'm now diving into Katherine Neville's The Eight. 

I love a good mental escape. Today has brought many of them.

I caught a cotton candy sunset while leaving the movie theater. Just after 5. Sigh.

Long winter nights call for great escapes.

How about a little Key West Intermezzo - John Mellencamp style?

November 7: Gnocchi + Book Club

Book club strikes again!

This week we tried out a cooking class with a marvelous Italian import, Alessandra. Alessandra is a gem.

She taught us how to make gnocchi.

She also toasted with us while drinking wine and called us all "bella." 

One of our very best book clubs. Certainly the most delicious.

Pieta Brown & Amos Lee - Do You Know

November 4: Election

It’s very rare that I write or say anything political. I strive to be more inclusive than judgmental, as it has been my experience that judgment only distances me from others. I also have always learned more about myself from surrounding myself by those who have different opinions, beliefs and life experiences than my own.

That said, living in Iowa where we have a Senate seat on the line this election and as a registered Independent voter, I have been essentially water boarded with political ads, people knocking on the door and a mailbox filled with hatred for months. I have not watched TV or listened to the radio for months. The amount of money spent on the two main candidates for this Senate position is criminal.

I am incredibly disenfranchised with politics (and citizenship) in our country. We have lost our ability to debate. We slander. We make threats. We blatantly lie to scare people into voting a certain way (and they believe it because they don’t research facts or always vote down the party line). We judge. We preach fear. We have control issues as a result.

We take stances that push us apart politically, generally based upon the most divisional topics we can muster. Abortion. Guns. Religious extremists. Ebola (for the love of all that is holy). We see the bait dangled and take it time and again, rather than delving deeper to learn the proficiency of our would-be representative or the genuine basis of a candidate’s platform (and if their platform represents their values or another’s funded agenda).

I feel the de-evolution of our nation occurring and I am watching us actively assist in that process. As a woman, it seems both my wellbeing and my equality are (yet again) at risk this election. We the people have a long way to go. One step forward would be welcome.

Tomorrow is a new day. Perhaps I’ll even turn on the radio on my drive into work! I hope you have survived the political season with your faith intact. Mine has been shaken.

And now, some music that cures all.

Beck - Loser

November 3: Just Because

I have no Cure on my playlist yet. I don't know how it could be October and there is no Cure here. We must remedy this immediately.

Side note: For a very long time (from teen through early 20s), I wanted to name my daughter Elise. It was due to Beethoven and The Cure's Letter to Elise.  

The Cure - Just Like Heaven

November 2: Brunching With Friends

After the swim party, we had four of Aria's besties over for a sleepover.

This was her first big slumber party. The girls ate buckets of popcorn, talked, watched movies, told scary stories (but not too scary), were perfect.

I made the girls a brunch feast. We had a carrot cake this year (Aria's current fave) and a fruit bouquet from Edible Arrangements. I also made overnight French toast, a hashbrown/ham/egg casserole, and a bazillion pounds of bacon.

It was the perfect wrap-up to her birthday celebration!

I have so many fond memories of slumber parties in my own youth.

Giggling non-stop. Parents yelling down the stairs. Giggling some more.

Hall and Oats were played at one particular sleepover I remember so, so vividly.

Here's a remake of the song I recall. Mixing the old with the new. Love.

The Bird and The Bee - Private Eyes

November 1: Party

Today we hosted a party for Aria's 11th birthday. It's not over yet. There are 5 little girlies crashed out in my living room. I'll make them a monster brunch before they head home tomorrow.

Birthday parties are sort of my thing! Let's recap Aria's parties thus far. 

Indulge me, will you? 

Birthday #1 

A quiet affair. We had a Chuck E. Cheese party with a few of Aria's cousins who also had October birthdays. First birthdays are far more about family than the birthday girl, who really doesn't "get" what is going on!

Birthday #2 

This one makes my heart smile. We did a Little Mermaid theme that year - and had lots of little ones over to run wild!

This is Aria tucked amongst her presents. She so got the concept that birthdays were a good thing!

My favorite memory of Aria's second birthday is her dinner. I asked Aria what she wanted for a special birthday dinner. Her response? And remember - she was turning 2.

Chicken and stuffed artichokes!

Birthday #3 

Now we are cooking with Crisco! 

Aria, like every other small girl, adored Dora! 

So we hosted a party with a Dora-esque theme. The kids had to go through three treasure-hunt activities to get their cake. And custom made party hats.

Birthday #4

Horses were a big love for Aria at 4. What do you do when your girl loves horses?

You rent out a barn with ponies.

And have BBQ catered in, along with a giant cake!

Throw in a pinata (which sort of makes you feel like the Godfather)!

Take one of your very best photos ever!

And feed all the horses bags and bags of carrots. It was such a wonderful party!!

Birthday #5

Mad science! This guy called himself Dr. Lightening. He was a science geek from Iowa State, and he did wonderful experiments with the kids!

Making ice cream was a favorite!

Aria requested chocolate cake with raspberries. Be still my heart.

Birthday #6

Quieter this year, but no less wonderful. We rented space at Glazed Expressions, our local pottery making store. Scooby Doo was the theme that year. It was perfect for Ms. A.

Birthday #7

One of my very favorite parties. Fairy. Tea. Party.

We staged the event so our fairies would earn their wings (and tutu skirts and and and). This was the pre-party spread!

To earn their wings, the kids had to do various activities. I got to be Fairy Godmother. This was ring around the rosie. 

The fairy party introduced an instant classic: The pinata cake! This was not on purpose. My little mushroom (it was a cupcake form but I ended up goofing it all up) caved in. I improvised rather than starting from scratch, filling in the center with M&Ms. The pinata cake was born and has been a birthday tradition since! I also lost a few eye lashes to that center flair candle.

One more from #7 - the fairy mosh pit. Total and complete success.

Birthday #8

Mad Scientists, unite! This was our invite:

We did a large variety of experiments, including the creation of glow in the dark slime, snow, a variety of exploding baggies and balloons, and mentos with soda.

It was a hit! And yes, we had a volcano (pinata) cake!

Birthday #9

The ultimate birthday party. Harry Potter. 

This party had a project plan spread over months of preparation, a budget spreadsheet, scripts for the professors the day of, and so many personal touches I cannot even recall them all.

It was epic.

All students lined up to shop Diagon Alley first. We had robes, wands, spell books, quills, owls, cats or toads, cauldrons, and Gringott's where they got their (chocolate) coins. 

Then students lined up to be sorted into their houses:

We made scarves for all the kids (but didn't put any into Slytherin). We also used a walkie talkie to have the sorting hat talk as it sorted!

Each house had varying class schedules. For Transfiguration, we had a balloon artist! Yes, that is Crookshanks!

Care of magical creatures was creating a castle to house sneazles (our chinchillas):

We also had potions:

Divination:

Quidditch tryouts to catch the snitch:

Defense against the dark arts:

And, of course, a feast complete with chocolate frogs!

Whew. I will never, ever, top this party. I won't even pretend to try.

Birthday #10

A hodgepodge. Kids came in costumes, which was super fun! 

We did mad science experiments (including making cotton candy, slime, etc). We also did traditional things like bobbing for apples, and ended the night with a treasure hunt around the neighborhood.

Our feast was pretty nifty, also! Mummy dogs, vampire pillows (pizza bites), (boneless) bat wings, caramel dip/apples, veggies, witches brooms dipped in the chocolate fountain, ghost nutter butters, Halloween oreos (just because) and an orange punch confection.

And yes, there was a pinata cake!

Whew! That catches us up to today.

Birthday #11

My easiest party ever. The kids are bigger. They are louder. They are...bigger. Aria loves to invite lots of friends over for her parties, and my home simply couldn't take another big party.

The solution?

We rented a swimming pool!

Aria invited many friends. They swam. They ate pizza. They ate a sheet cake I didn't even bake. Because I baked Aria's special birthday cake for tomorrow morning....

Bonus this year! Instead of gifts, Aria has asked for Animal Rescue League donations!

Success!

Thanks for sharing the birthday journey with me. It's been such a privilege to raise this little girl. How can we not celebrate her?

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are