Go Go Lydia

Here is Lydia wearing a dress she received from our friend Victoria. She looks like a blast past, from circa 1967.

I really should...

...get around to writing something. It's been too long. Yada, yada. I haven't even posted about Lydia Violet's first birthday! So, to tide you over, I've posted the obligatory, covered in icing photo. At least I got it up before she turned 13 months.

There's been too much going on around here to blog about it. When we catch our breath. I'll be back. It shouldn't be too long... but in the meantime, don't hold yours.

Two takes. Which do you prefer?

Feist sings 1-2-3-4.

Original:


Seame Street:

What to do...

Starting to think about LoVE's cake for her first birthday next weekend. What's good for pictures? Darker cake. But she's a pukey kid, so I don't want to give her chocolate. Carrot cake? But not with too many bits in it. She'll eat almost anything taste-wise, but she's got some texture issues. Carrot cake with baby food instead of shreaded carrots? Hmmm. Maybe.

If there were an award, she'd win it.

I just need to take a moment to toot our baby's horn. I realize I say this at the risk of it coming back to haunt me at some point, but knock on wood, etc.

So, on to my point: Our little girl is the coolest kid. Period. Full stop. End of sentence.

Allow me to explain: We just got back from watching the fireworks. We power-napped LoVE around dinner time so she would be able to check them out. But honestly, we weren't sure what to expect. Would the noise freak her out? Would she be too tired to take it? But we were ready to give it a go and if she wasn't into it we could easily leave, right? Well, what were we worried about folks? She loved it. (Though she did sleep through a Howitzer at the evening parade last summer, so I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised.)

We got a perfect spot on a neighborhood side street. She sat quietly while we waited for the show to begin and when it did she sat on my hip (while Dima and our friend Jen alternately covered her ears) completely entranced by the pyrotechnical display. She wasn't tense. She didn't jump. She just sat back and enjoyed. At one point she even—literally—oohed and ahhed while she reached out and tried to grab the shimmery lights.

After it was over... and the finale was stupendous... we got in the car and she proceeded to sleep the all the way to our exit, where she woke up and pleasantly cooed until we put her in bed. Then she immediately fell asleep.

Who could ask for a better night? Happy 4th of July! Lydia Violet, you rock! Love, Mama & Papa.

Surprise! It's Customer Satisfaction.

So last night, after a long day, we decided to order a pizza from Papa John's. We do this every so often. And now it's even easier, since you can use their online ordering system. It allows you to create the most complex of pizza's. Gone are the days of this:. "No, that's black olives on half. No. No green peppers. No. No. Grrrr. OK. Let's start over..." So far, for us, it's been error free.

This system even let's you add your tip to your payment. So, now, when the doorbell rings, you say, "Hi. Thanks. Have a good night," and your done. No more digging around for spare dollars. And no more telling the driver that they can just give you back $2 and keep the change as they slowly dig through their wad of money waiting for you to tell them to keep ALL the change.

Well last night we ordered online again: Large/Spicy Italian Sausage/Onions/Mushrooms. By the time the pizza arrived we were extra hungry, so you can imagine my disappointment and frustration to open the box and find that it had not been cut. As in, it was just a big, solid, round pizza. No slices. Luckily we have a pizza cutter so it was quickly rectified. But... what if we hadn't? We'd have ended up cutting it with a knife and it would have ruined the pizza. So, I called... I ended up speaking to a befuddled employee that was really no help. She only offered up that she would be sure to cut it next time. O-K.

So I turned to the feedback forms on www.papajohns.com and I got the requisite autoresponder saying, "we're sorry you were dissatisfied and we'll do better next time." What was surprising and refreshing was that within 20 minutes of that, I got an email from a real person. The official Franchise Area Supervisor:

I am sorry that your experience at our Wheaton location was less than perfect. We are constantly striving to deliver the best customer service and the best pizza possible. Sometimes we fall short of our goals, but we try to use each misstep as an opportunity to improve.

I have called the store to follow up, making sure that we cut each pizza and check the orders before they are delivered.

Thank you for your business. If I can ever be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me directly so that I can immediately address any of your concerns.

—[Franchise Area Supervisor]

Granted it seems a little form letter-ish but it noted my specific problem in detail. And mind you, this was 9:30 p.m. Wow, I say. Wow. And I emailed him right back to tell him so.

Feelin' Nostalgic...

Look at this tiny little girl. She was so quite and skinny those first few weeks. Now she's almost one and she's certainly neither quite or skinny. Where did the time go?

Lilly: The World Map Master

Yes, little Lilly is amazing. She's almost two. She doesn't know it yet but we're working on this with 11.5 month old Lydia. She's bound to know just as many countries and their capitals too by the time she's two.

Just kidding.

Enjoy.

I just got my invite to Spoonflower.com! This cool little beta site allows you design and buy custom fabric printed on demand. You can create and upload your own textile designs and print only what you need with no minimum order. But, because the list of users is limited to a small group of passionate crafters... for now, you have to be invited. I requested an invitation a few weeks ago with no hope, really, that I would actually get one. But I did! I'm so excited. Now I just need to sort through all my ideas and upload something. What to do first?! Home decor fabric? Or should that kid of mine be wearing clothes made of custom printed fabric first? Decisions. Decisions.

It was a scorcher...

This weekend was hot. And we were out in it. Doin' stuff. Gardening. Raking. Watering. But Miss Lydia V. was just chillin'. After a nap we filled up her new WaterWheel Play Table and she went to town—splashing, dunking, dipping and sipping. It was a huge hit. I highly recommend it.

La La La...

She's a little Myna bird our Lydia. We skipped the doe, ray, me, fa, so and went straight to La la la.

Barefoot and in the Kitchen

My latest culinary adventure is again thanks to Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. Last night I made her Chicken Picatta—my first. Quite delicious from the chicken standpoint. The sauce ended up being CRAZY, lemony-tart. Not sure if it was supposed to be that tart, or if not, what I did to make it so much more tart than it was supposed to be. No matter though, despite the mess I made on the counter dipping flattened chicken in flour, egg and then bread crumbs, I will make this again. I think I might come up with my own sauce though. I'm thinking garlic, cilantro, lime... mmmmm.

Doodle 4 Google

A middle schooler named Grace Moon won Google's 2008 Doodle 4 Google competition. Doodle 4 Google is a competition where K-12 students are invited to reinvent Google's homepage logo. This year ked U.S. kids were asked to doodle around the theme "What if...?" Grace described her entry, above, as:

Up in the Clouds: My doodle, "Up in the Clouds," expresses a world in the sky. This new world is clean and fresh, and people are social and enlightened. Every person here is treated as family no matter who they are. The bright sun heats this ideal place with warmth, love, and brightens everyone's day.

Sounds like a place I'd like to live.

Check out all the Doodle 4 Google finalists.

I wish I had been successful...

... at teaching myself to crochet when I was on maternity leave. Because if I had been I would make this:

You can buy the PDF crochet pattern for this ridiculously adorable capelet by leila & ben on etsy.com. I think I need to find a crochet class. Hmmmm.

baby... I mean tea cosy?

I've been meaning to post this for a while now. Our good friend Rosie Bee came to visit for Christmas and New Years and when she left she took one of LoVE's fleecey pairs of pajamas with her. She said she had a tea pot that matched it perfectly and she thought she could make a tea cosy out of it. Well, clearly she did. That's it, above. Cute as a button.

Magic with Virtual Pause and Record Buttons

I stumbled across this little gem today reading a new blog: Serious About Camo. (Yes, I found him on Twitter.) He recently posted about this service: Mixwit / Create and Share Mixtapes.

This is so cool! Remember the days? The magic you could create with the pause and record buttons on your little boom box? How many times did you bare your soul in a mix tape? I can't even count. And I still have them all. (I actually just found a whole box and considered transfering them to CD or playlist in iTunes... but you know it just wouldn't be the same.) Well, now you can apply modern-day technology to that old nostalgia. Reveal your deepest and most private thoughts and emotions to a friend, a lover, a crush in a mix and then share it with the world on Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, etc.

Have fun...

(Thanks to shortbeatnik, whom I borrowed the above mixtape from so I could provide you with an excellent example. )

you might as well give up now...

...because Lydia Violet is going to win the Parents magazine cover-model search. But, if you must try, only to have your fragile hopes most certainly dashed, you can enter your cute (but surely not AS cute) and photogenic kid at www.parents.com.

Mother's Day Feats

Last Saturday, during a break in the rain, we had all the local mother's in our family over for a feast. What fun! It gave me an excuse to cook, which I love, and helped me meet a goal. For the first time in my life I hosted a party where I wasn't running around at the last second, frantic, and not nearly ready for anyone to arrive, let alone be entertained. The house was clean, the food was prepped and either finished or ready to be finished off for serving. Amazing!

As I'm writing this now I'm wishing I took pictures! Not just of the food but of the day. It was most excellent. So, I guess, though we weren't rushed or stressed we did fall down on the job there. (Aside from all the tender family moments, my food staging was superb and it's a shame we didn't capture it. Just kidding!)

We served:

• Crud d'ete
• Olives
• Various cheeses with Simply Enjoy brand Apricot & Jalapeño and Balsamic Onion jams. Simply delicious!
  
• A variation on the Barefoot Contessa's Curried Couscous that is becoming a cookout/party standard (Thanks, Nati!).
• Organic Simply Enjoy hot dogs for the boys and their dad, my brother.
  
• Latin Pork with Lime Marinade from this random medical Web site. No matter it's origin though, it was SCRUMPTIOUS, so we can feel good about it being good for us too. Dima grilled it to perfection, as always.
  
• Spice rubbed chicken (our secret: McCormick's Season All. Basic and tasty, it let's your sides be the star.) with avocado salsa (I actually forgot to put this out. Whoops!).

Now, for the rest of this and the avocado salsa above, I need to give props to The Domestic Goddess and her minions at Everyday Food. I got a subscription for Christmas from my aunt in-law and I love it, love it, love it! Every single recipe was delicious and easy. You can't beat that with a stick!

• Cucumber-Carrot Bites - yummy little bites of hollowed out English cucumber stuffed with grated carrots in a sour cream/vinegar sauce. They were billed as after-school snacks. Whatever! I ate them on the weekend and am still eating the leftover carrots as a side salad.
  
• Mini Corn Cakes with Scallions - these were super cute and tasty. A little cayenne pepper gave them a bite that was balanced nicely with... more sour cream.
  
• Two-pea Pasta with Ricotta and Tarragon - This was delish and easy to prepare. The key is not over cooking the peas so they stay nice and bright green. Next time I think I'll try basil instead of tarragon.
• Honey roasted baby carrots - again, quick, easy and divine.
  

For desert, we offered up a strawberry-orange ice cream (see recipe at the bottom of this post)—a variation on my constantly morphing ice cream recipe: avocado banana and ginger pumpkin—with my sister in-law, Carey's, fabulous fudge brownies. What an excellent way to finish off the meal and an excellent day. Yeah for moms! They rock! A point I especially appreciate now that I am one.

Strawberry-Orange Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

1 1/2 cups of fresh strawberries
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cups light cream
1 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange extract
a dash of salt

Throw everything in the blender and process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to freeze. Blend a few more seconds before pouring into the ice cream maker just to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Follow your ice cream maker's instructions for freezing.

Meme: Excerpt from a book I'm reading

I peaked in on twitter today to see a former colleague, Cara, at hack Artist, tag various blogger/twitter friends with a meme.

What you say? Twitter? Tagged? Meme? Never you mind. If you're extra curious you can check out those links but here's all you really need to know... Even though I wasn't officially invited by being tagged myself, I've decided to participate in the exercise. I'm supposed to:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Well, I just started reading C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian for the tenthish time. (I'm a HUGE fan of The Chronicles of Narnia—the first books I read without pictures.) And, I'm reading it aloud to my 10 month old. Yes, I'm interested in slowly losing my mind. Yes, I was totally influenced by Hollywood advertising. The good in this is that said advertising prompted me to stick my nose in a book rather than buy cheap plastic toys or a kiddie meal at a fast food restaurant. Which reminds me also: Who else hates the Hollywood versions of the latest made-into-a-movie literary classic? I believe their called movie tie-ins. For me they've always smacked of: the only way you can get people to read a book is to make a movie out of it. They steal people's imaginations by providing them with "characters" to focus on. (Kudos to J.K. Rowling for never allowing them to slap Daniel Radcliffe's face on any of her books.) And they make people think that you can get the same transporting experience that reading a book provides by watching the movie. I hate, hate, hate that. I like watching movies, I just hate that. It always prompts me to go to the library or the nearest used bookstore to get a version of the book from before it was ruined by Hollywood's PR machine. Hmmmm. So, there's good in that too. Uh, maybe I've got the wrong idea about Hollywood advertising.

Anyway. Where were we? Ah, page 123, where Susan says to Lucy:

I'm dead tired. Do let's get out of this wretched wood into the open as quick as we can. And none of us except you saw anything.

Now since I just started reading this again last night, at a 10 month old's pace at that, page 123 is about 121 pages ahead of where I am right now. So, I don't have much to say about the predicament that Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy have clearly gotten themselves into, AGAIN, in the wretched wood. What I can say is that I certainly know how Susan feels. And I ask, when will the older siblings learn? If they'd just listen to Lucy the first time around, pretty much every time, they'd save themselves a heap of trouble.

Now for step #5, like my friend Cara, I'm going to tag some of the people I enjoy on Twitter AND in other realms of the Internet:

chris_bailey also of BaileyWorkPlay.com (Whom is a testament to the smallness of this here Internet.)

writer.baker.musicmaker (Who is a master at all of her chosen endeavors.)

Scott Edward Anderson also of The Green Skeptic and another former colleague (Whom Cara already tagged, but I'm tagging him again. Am I breaking the rules? This is my first time.)

Dinosaur Mom (Whom I wish was on Twitter. Hmmm. Maybe she is.)

Expat with the Elephants (Because I know she'll appreciate this type of thing and give us an excellent post to boot.)

What are YOU reading? I last devoured The Time Traveler's Wife and am now looking for something I can finish quicker than reading Prince Caspian to a 10 month old.

If the shoe fits...

Well, mine doesn't anymore. I never believed it could be true but I think my left foot DID get bigger when I was pregnant. And is it possible? But I think my right foot got smaller.

I just bought a pair of Women's Converse® One Star® Skimmers in Glitter, which are ridiculously cute/cool. Normally a 10, I ended up buying a 9 1/2 because when trying them on in Target the 10 was flying off my right foot while the 9 1/2 on my left seemed to fit OK. But now my poor left foot is suffering. Out of the store, my big toe is smashed up against the end of the shoe and more than once I've checked to make sure I bought two shoes of the same size. (Yep. 9 ½. 9 ½.) The only explanation is that post-pregnancy my feet are two different sizes. (I really should go check on one of those foot-measuring devices to be sure.) I'm actually considering buying a second pair so I can have a good fit. 9 ½ for the right. 10 for the left. Crazy. But maybe worth it, because they're oh, so cute.