L'amour for Flor

I got an email from Flor today and instantly fell in love with their newest pattern:


Ooohh, paisley!

My brain is turning trying to figure out where I can incorporate that into our house. The master bathroom? A new runner for the front hall? That's about all I can come up with since we have used Flor carpet tiles in several rooms already...

In the kitchen:



In my daughter's bathroom:



And last year, we used Flor tiles to completely cover up the ugly tile floor in Clean Fresh Hubby's music studio:


(I am not accountable for the state of this room... I was just thankful to actually be able to SEE the floor in order to get a picture of it!)

What I love about the Flor product is how easy they are to maintain. Stains clean up super easy (given I have cream tiles in the kitchen by the sink and they still look decent, even after two years, is a big testament to their durability!). They are easy to vacuum. And in the case of the studio project, they are super easy to install. I covered that entire floor myself in about two hours.

Best of all, they are made from recycled materials and if you get tired of them or want to mix it up a bit, you can send the tiles back to Flor for recycling. Great design and eco-friendly to boot... it doesn't get much better than that!

If you want to drool over the gazillion patterns available, check out the Flor Web site.

Read more...

Wine Wednesday: Layer Cake Shiraz

I was a bad girl this weekend. Too much alcohol, too many bad-for-me foods, too many late nights.

It started Thursday night, when some girlfriends and I met up for a much-needed Girls Night Out. We hadn't gotten together in awhile, so there was a lot for us to catch up on. About three margaritas and a beer's worth of catching up. Probably didn't get to bed till midnight, only to be awakened by my daughter at 6 a.m. Cost for this evening: a raging headache and case of heartburn from too many margaritas.

Friday night hubby and I parked it on the couch, ordered Thai food and watched "Couples Retreat." I had very low expectations for this movie, so was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be decent. One particular scene actually had us both in tears it was so funny! Still recovering from my Thursday night, I konked out right after the movie.

Saturday night was dinner at our friends' house. I alone consumed a beer, almost an entire bottle of wine and two chocolate martinis. Dinner was a recipe out of the Paula Deen cookbook, so I don't even need to go into any other detail as the woman isn't known for her health food! Left their house around 11 p.m., drunk as a skunk. Cost for this evening: another splitting headache and an even worse case of heartburn thanks to the booze and rich foods.

Pretty worthless all day Sunday, as one might expect. Which pisses me off since I did it to myself. I'm getting too old to suffer a hangover, especially when I have a toddler that does not relent, even when mommy's head feels like it might explode.

Needless to say, I have been back on track this week. But I would remiss if I didn’t talk about one of the wines I enjoyed over the weekend. I mean heck, if it was good enough to down a bottle, it has to be good, right?

Layer Cake Shiraz



My apologies that I don’t have a personal picture – since we were at friend’s house, I felt a little weird whipping out the camera so I could have documentation for my blog. But let me just say, this wine was phenomenal! Very rich, very smooth, it went down (a little too) easy.

This particular wine is from Australia, so given how much I enjoyed it and how much I have been enjoying my New Zealand varietals, I think I might have a new favorite region for wine producers. This area is definitely on my radar now when I’m in the wine department shopping!

Cost was about $17.99 for a bottle and worth every penny. And with such a cute label, this would also be a great wine to bring to a party or give as a hostess gift.

Read more...

Success!

Many thanks to Veronica at Another Suburban Mom for sending me a different recipe to try in my quest for the perfect candied pecan. Today's nuts taste worlds better than the ones I made earlier this week!

They look better too. See:



Of course, I made a full batch. The picture above is my afternoon snack... yum! These are by no means healthy, but I figure if putting them on a salad helps me to enjoy greens that much more, than they are worth the few extra calories!

Here's the recipe I used:

1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 pound pecan halves
1 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1.Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Grease one baking sheet.

2.In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

3.Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.

4.Bake at 250 degrees F for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

I recommend letting them cool a bit before popping one in your mouth. Someone was a bit overexcited to try them and scalded the roof of her mouth. It was worth it though!

Enjoy!

Read more...

Various ramblings on a Friday

My daughter has a friend from school over today and the distraction has been heaven. I now understand why my friends are always so eager to invite my daughter over for play dates… it is amazing how much you get done when there isn’t a toddler pulling on your leg! I’ve gotten the entire house cleaned (bathrooms included) with absolutely no interruption, and now I actually have time to sit down at the computer and do a little work and web surfing. I told Clean Fresh Hubby to forget having a baby; I think we just need to adopt another four-year-old girl!

We are in dire of need of groceries, so pulling together lunch for the girls (one that I wouldn’t cringe about if the other little girl told her mom what she ate!) was tough. Thankfully there was a box of mac and cheese lurking in the back of the pantry. And for dessert, a couple of Thin Mint cookies that hubby hid in the freezer. My daughter of course wolfed these right down; the other girl didn’t like them, so I had to eat them for her. Darn! One lone applesauce in the fridge was a welcome substitute treat for her, so everyone is back upstairs playing happily.

Time now to make a grocery list and start thinking about my daughter’s fourth birthday party, which is fast approaching. I’m usually more on the ball about parties; for some reason this year, it has snuck up on me!

Her party is in two weeks and no invitations have gone out, no gifts bought, no planning done. We keep it to a family party, so at least I won’t be monkeying with goody bags, games and all that, but this year, the invite list has grown now that my family from Ohio will be making the trek over. That adds four people, plus we’ve invited some close friends as well, so I’m looking at dinner for 30 people. Yikes!

Usually I make all the food from scratch (last year was lasagna and homemade pizzas). But this year, I think I’m gonna have to phone it in and order pizzas or some other sort of takeout. I’m not sure my tiny kitchen (or me) can pull off a large-scale dinner party this year. Caving to takeout goes against the grain of me, but I’m woman enough to admit defeat!

Next weekend we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary, then her party is the following weekend, which means this weekend is my time to get all the party planning logistics figured out and under way. Wish me luck!

Read more...

Awww, nuts!

I am totally addicted to these:



Love, love, love them on a salad, but I have found myself dipping into the bag for an afternoon snack as well. And at $3.99 a bag, they're a little pricey considering the amount you get, so I am on a mission to recreate their yumminess at home.

First off, I bought an 8-lb bag of pecan halves at Costco for about $7.50. Already loving the cost savings! Then a quick internet search trying to find a decent sounding recipe for candy-coated nuts.

Found a recipe that seemed simple enough, so I decided to give it a go.

Basically, all it involved was combining a cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 teaspoon of milk and one teaspoon cinnamon in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and add in one teaspoon vanilla extract and two cups of pecans.

I followed the directions and layed the finished product out on a sheet of wax paper to cool. I sprinkled a little kosher salt on one half just to experiment, since I do love me some salty and sweet...



Once cooled, I did the taste test. No good, dang it! The flavor was good, but the nuts were still chewy. Trader Joe's nuts (hee, hee!) are crispy. So I decided to throw them in the oven for a few minutes to see if I could toast them. Bad idea!

Now I have a big block of nuts, all glued together by the sugar. And while they are a little crispier, they are still not what I was hoping for.



So back to the drawing board on this one. If anyone has a tried and true recipe for candied nuts, I'd sure love to hear it. In the meantime, I will continue to pay my $3.99 for a bag of tasty nuts!

Read more...

Wine Wednesday: Monogamy is bad

Shopping at Target last week, I noticed this wine near the Valentine's display:



Okay, so I'm a sucker for a cute label and an obvious marketing ploy. And speaking of things that suck... wow, this wine.

I'm not dissing "monogamy" the concept, but let me tell you, Monogamy the wine? Awful. Seriously, stay away from Monogamy. It is bad.

I've got my eye out at the liquor store for a bottle of Polygamy. I'll keep you posted.

Read more...

Super easy dinner

Tonight was one of those nights where a salad just wasn't going to cut it for dinner. I needed something along the lines of, well, junk. After all, a girl can't exist on healthy food alone, right? Right?

Trader Joe's to the rescue. While shopping there last week, they did a demo of a quick and easy Enchilada Bake, so I pulled out the recipe card and decided to give it a whirl.

I believe it took me all of five minutes to throw this dinner together. Served up with some tortilla chips and it totally satisfied my need for some bad girl food. Ooey gooey and mexican. Doesn't get much better than that.



Basically, all you do is heat up a jar of enchilada sauce, mix in a can of white chicken chunks (break them up with a spoon), and a can of sliced olives. Heat this up and once bubbling, add in half a bag of tortilla chips. Break up the chips with your spoon and stir them into the enchilada sauce mix. Once everything is coated, top it with several handfuls of cheddar cheese, then cover the pan to allow the cheese to melt and the chips to soften (about three minutes).

Done.

I served it up with some tortilla chips on the side to give it some crunch. I think next time I might add in a can of Rotel tomatoes, but other than that, this was a super quick and easy dinner with ingredients I already had on hand. Gotta love that!

Read more...

Diet? What diet?

Clean Fresh Hubby took the day off of work today so that he could spend some quality time with our little peanut. After he made breakfast this morning (I could soooo get used to that!), they took off to visit his grandmother, then went shopping for Valentine's Day. She was appropriately spoiled with a trip to Disney Store, while I was appropriately spoiled with this:



Godiva.

Yes, the presentation is impressive, but what's inside the box is even better:



That little bag behind the box? Chocolate-covered strawberries. My absolute favorite. I would've taken a picture of them, but there was only one left. I was busy this afternoon (smile!).

All diets are off when it comes to chocolate.

Happy early Valentine's Day!

Read more...

Not feeling the love

I spent last night frantically assembling a slew of valentines for my daughter to bring to her class party today. My daughter cannot write her name yet, so I had to sign each one, insert the little tattoo into the ridiculously small slots on each card, and then seal them with the heart stickers provided.

And the whole time I was doing this, I wondered: when did Valentine’s Day become such a big deal for the four and under crowd?

* Here’s where I need to interject before continuing on with this post. I am participating in the “Thanks, Not Cranks” challenge (which you can read about on Another Suburban Mom’s blog). I’ve done fairly well, but will blow all progress with the rest of this post. You’ve been warned. Major crank fest will now continue…

In no particular order, here are my other beefs:

• While perusing the myriad of valentine card choices at Target, I noticed that they come in boxes of 16 or 32. I needed 20. And of course, my daughter chose a pattern that only came in a box of 16, which meant I had to buy two boxes. What a racket, Disney!

• My daughter was so excited with her “Wizards of Waverly Place” valentines, believing they were all for her. So trying to explain to her that “no, these are for your kids at school” just about sent her over the edge. Note to self: work on concepts of sharing, giving, etc.

• Walking into school today, her eyes grew huge, while my heart sank. What kid wouldn’t be excited to see a spread of cupcakes, cookies, candy and fruit punch? And what mom isn’t thinking about the price that will be paid for such an incredible sugar high? Can I pick her up after she’s crashed?

I’m sure she’ll have a blast at the party this afternoon. And I’m sure for the teachers, having a Valentine’s Day party helps break up the monotony of a regular school day. But other than all the sweets, my daughter could care less about the valentine cards, didn’t quite understand the concept of why we were doing this, and doesn’t want to give away “her” cards.

Perhaps age four is a little too young to introduce all the nuances of Valentine’s Day?

My last gripe and then I’m done, I promise.

I remember being in grade school and handing out valentines. Back in those days, we didn’t just sign our name on the “from” line and give one to every person in the class. Oh no. We gave valentines to the kids we wanted to give valentines to. So there was always that slight feeling of anticipation mixed with dread to see how many cards would end up in your box. With that aspect eliminated by giving one to everybody in the class, what is the point of handing the cards out in the first place?

So there are my cranks for the day. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for a holiday celebrating romance, and I plan to do it up right with Clean Fresh Hubby. Because I love him. And isn’t that the whole point behind this holiday?

I will now switch my “Cranks, Not Thanks” bracelet to the other wrist and begin again.

Read more...

Wine Wednesday: Meet my friend, Kim

Up until recently (this summer to be exact), I have been a strict red wine drinker. Since the only white I had ever tried was a chardonnay, I believed I did not like any white wine (I know, a terrible over generalization!).

Then last June, we went to a BBQ at a friend's house and I was introduced to my new love, Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.



Oh my god.

This wine has the best grapefruit undertone, is so refreshing and goes down a little too smoothly. Seriously. I was hooked immediately and was happy to find it at my local Costco for a reasonable $12.99 per bottle (at the grocery store, this bad boy runs at $19.99).

Perhaps I would be better off if it was a little more pricey. Then I wouldn't go through it like it was water. And that is my problem. This stuff goes down so easily that I can plow through a bottle like it is no one's business. I've actually had to wean myself off of it (this wine was the reason why I established my New Year's resolution of no more drinking during the week!).

I'm better now... when at Costco, I limit myself to buying one bottle at a time (previously, I'd walk out with at least three). And I limit myself to two glasses in one sitting. I know, ridiculous, but try it. I guarantee you'll be hooked as well.

And then you'll want to join me in my 12-step Kim Crawford recovery program!

Read more...

If we're being honest...

This weekend, after a couple bottles of wine, Clean Fresh Hubby and I started talking about kids and the possibility of having another. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but we both admitted that if we were being 100% honest, the only driving factor to having another child would be because our daughter talks so frequently about wanting a baby brother or baby sister.

As a parent, you want to be able to give your child everything. And if we choose not to have another baby, there is a small part of me that will feel like a failure, that we could've given her everything, but chose not to.

It is something I have been struggling with and I was relieved last night to hear hubby talk about the same struggle.

If we have another baby, I know we'll get through. And I know I'd love that baby just as much as I love my daughter. But the thought of going through it all again, of putting my life back on hold for another two years, scares me.

Sigh. To be continued, I'm sure.

Read more...

Me versus the playroom

For the past several weeks, I have dedicated my Friday mornings to getting the house cleaned up. Even the bathrooms. Shocking, I know! But I've found (and most of you smart people probably already know this) that by cleaning every week, the house isn't as much a disaster as it is if I wait, oh say, a month.

But there is one room in our house that no matter how frequently I clean it, it almost immediately reverts back to its "natural" state.

Behold, my daughter's playroom:



Do not adjust your screen. That is indeed an image of a room in utter disarray. And you might not believe it, but I spared you the worst of it. The Barbie side of the room, which in its current state, might make you weep openly at your computer. No matter how many times I clean it - or ask her to - it promptly becomes an unorganized black hole in a matter of hours.

I don't even know how she can stand to be in there when it is in that state. I have to wear shoes when I walk in (which goes against our "no shoes in the house" policy) because you never know what you might step on. Many a foot has been impailed by princess jewelry, stray Barbie attire and miscellaneous Polly Pocket crap.

As you can see, my daughter is not lacking for things to play with. This room is the very reason I will be begging family NOT to buy a single toy for her birthday next month. Clothes, yes. Shoes, please. Barbie paraphenalia, not unless you want to see my head start rotating before the cake is even served.

Personally, I would prefer to play in a room that looks like this:



Organized, tidy, everything in its place and easy to find. Lovely...

As I type, I can hear the walls heaving and I sense that the room is revolting from its recent cleaning.

Sigh, it is a daily battle and one I fear I am losing.

Read more...

National Wear Red Day

Today is National Wear Red Day, something established by the American Heart Association to raise awareness about heart disease in women. I’ll admit that heart disease is something I’ve thought very little about in the past. But in January, my mom suffered a series of strokes.

Ironically, my mom doesn’t fit the “typical” profile of a woman with heart disease. She’s a vegetarian (been so for 20 years). Not overweight. Not a smoker. Exercises regularly. In our family, she’s the one who is always dispensing healthy lifestyle advice. Always up on the latest health information. So for her to be the one lying in a hospital bed, looking frail and vulnerable, was quite a shock for our family.

The cause of her strokes was related to undiagnosed high blood pressure. She is now on a host of medications and thankfully the prognosis for her recovery is good. Mobility is slowly returning and her attitude toward the process has not only been amazing, but inspiring. She has made such strides in just one month that her blood pressure medication dosage has already been reduced and her therapy sessions reduced from twice a week to just once a week.

If you have a family history of heart disease, I strongly urge you to establish a relationship with a doctor you feel comfortable with. My mom never went to the doctor because she felt she was leading a healthy lifestyle, so she didn't see the point. Of course, out of necessity, she now has a doctor that she is seeing regularly, but had she been going in for a yearly checkup prior to her strokes, her high blood pressure could've been detected early and the strokes possibly prevented.

Consider these statistics:

• Heart disease is the # 1 killer of American women.
• 1 in every 3 women dies of heart disease.
• Nearly two-thirds of American women who die suddenly of a heart attack had no prior symptoms.
• Americans can lower their risk of heart disease by as much as 82% just by leading a healthy lifestyle.
• 1 in 5 females in the U.S. have some form of heart disease.
• A woman dies from heart disease every 34 seconds.
• Heart disease claims more women’s lives than the next 8 causes of deaths combined . . . including breast cancer.

There is much we can do to take control of our health. The AHA lays it out in 7 simple steps:

1. Get active
2. Eat better
3. Lose weight
4. Control cholesterol
5. Manage blood pressure
6. Reduce blood sugar
7. Stop smoking

For some people, this list might seem intimidating, but even starting with one and working your way through over time is a start.

This is a very serious topic and one most women - especially those of us in our 30's who might feel we're invincible - should take note of. For more information on heart disease, the warning signs and steps you can take to reduce your risk, please visit the American Heart Association's Web site.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to wear red today!

Read more...

Oxycontin, washed down with Jack D

A girlfriend (and fellow mom) sent this to me last night and lord, did it crack me up! The timing was perfect since I had just had a crazy day at work, gotten home and the child was nagging, err, asking me for a zillion things all at once, the dog was whining to go out and a sink full of dishes was about to take over the kitchen. My head was literally on the verge of exploding, so it was the perfect time to be introduced to the "mother's cure."

Enjoy!

Read more...

Independence

Lately my daughter has taken it upon herself to get dressed in the morning, picking out every detail of what she will wear, right on down to the underwear. Which is fine by me as it does help to shave some time off our morning routine. No more holding up various dresses and asking “how about this?” to which I am usually greeted with a loud and resounding “nooooo.”

While most everything she owns pretty much goes together, there are times when her fashion choices are a bit, how shall I say? Unique.

Take this morning’s outfit for school:

• Kelly green T-shirt with sequined shamrock
• Silver and cream tutu skirt
• Brown tights with pink polka dots
• Princess socks over the brown tights
• Hot pink hoodie sweatshirt

I really should’ve taken a picture. I’m sure her teachers will be looking at her today wondering what the heck I was thinking dressing my daughter this way. I hope she proudly tells them that she picked out this ensemble herself!

At the office, I was mentioning this latest burst of independence to some women in the elevator and they both looked at me and said, “Well you don’t let her go out like that, do you?”

Um, yes? What’s the saying? “Pick your battles wisely?”

I am dealing with a very headstrong (almost) four year old. We’ve got the mother/daughter role down pretty pat. Daddy is the hero, mommy is the boss. And she and I butt heads. A lot. So why would I choose to fight her over something as simple as the clothes she picks out when I know we’ll have bigger fish to fry in the evening over more important things like eating dinner, going potty and brushing her teeth?

In my opinion, as long as she is dressed suitably for the weather (I did make her pick out tights this morning), why should I start arguing with her over whether or not everything matches? Doing so would take away the sense of accomplishment and pride she so visibly feels in “doing it myself” and I most certainly do not want to quell her growing independence and self-sufficiency.

Granted, I will most assuredly have an opinion on what she wears out the door when she is in high school!

Read more...

Tis the season and other ramblings

Last week, it was double ear infections for my daughter. Good times! Then this morning I awoke expecting to see an elephant sitting on my chest, because what else could be causing this horrible constriction? No elephant, just a lot of snot. If I could hock a really great loogie right now, I'd probably feel 100 times better. But I never mastered the art of loogie-hocking, so instead I choose to lay in the bed with my laptop, daughter and a cup of tea.

On a positive note, I did get a full nights sleep last night... no interruptions from the peanut, which is a huge relief. We're going through a "scared of the dark" phase, so for the past week or so, I get a 1 a.m. visit from a little robed munchkin who is talking about crazy shadows in her room. No matter how many times we demonstrate what a shadow is and how there is nothing to be afraid of, it doesn't seem to matter. I am going to have to blame Disney for this new-found fear... it appears to have developed shortly after we went to see "The Princess and The Frog." Damn shadow man in that movie! He sends shadows out to capture the frogs, so I'm sure that is where this originated.

In other news (since this is shaping up to be a rambling post), we had to go to a birthday party yesterday for the 3 year old daughter of relatively new friends. It was especially strange that they invited us, since it was a family party and we were the only non-family members there. Plus we've known these friends for less than a year, but have been invited to parties for both of their kids. But, the food was good and I enjoyed a couple glasses of wine, so I really can't complain.

My daughter, who has been pretty much potty-trained for the past year, decided to have an accident at this party (I believe she was enjoying the festivities too much to take the time to potty). She did make it to the bathroom, but the floodgates opened before she could get the undies and tights off. Thankfully the giant turd made it into the bowl in time. I was called on the scene for damage control, so after flushing above-mentioned turd down the drain, I proceeded to use handfuls of toilet paper to wipe up the pee puddle on the floor. I don't like cleaning the floor around my own toilet at home, so to be doing so at someone else's house is pure disgusting. Especially when a short and curly floated by. Ewwwwww.

Moving on...

A quick stop at grandma's since they live close to where the party was, and we were home for the night. Settled in and watched "The Grammy's." I haven't watched a music awards show in quite some time as I am very out of touch with what is current musically. But I did enjoy several performances last night, notably Lady Antebellum, Dave Matthews Band, and the Black-Eyed Peas. I'm not sure who decided to pair Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks together, but lord it was horrible. Taylor Swift's voice cannot compete with the grittiness of Steve Nicks (really, who could? Other than Lindsay Buckingham of course!). And I'm not a fan of rap, but I did find myself laughing out loud during the Eminem performance (I don't know the names of the other performers)... it was pretty much silence because the censors were having a field day muting out the obscenities. Didn't leave much for the at-home audience to listen to!

Well, time to check my work email, since I'm technically "working from home" today, then pull together breakfast for the peanut (yes, I blogged before feeding my child. I am a sick individual!). Wish me luck with the elephant.

Read more...