are things complicated yet?

The best part about throwing a baby shower is all of the tiny, leftover, food I get to eat the day after

My very dear friend Kristi is having her first baby, a girl, in a couple of weeks. Her due date is right about what Charlotte's was and it's going to be such fun to have the two girls just a year apart. I hosted a small baby shower for her on Saturday.

Did you know if you already have two girls it's SO EASY to decorate for a baby shower? I just wandered upstairs and took all of their things to redistribute downstairs for the party. There were about ten guests, which is about the perfect sized shower in my book. I can serve coffee and use my china, there are enough places to sit and ten people don't dirty many dishes. It was an afternoon event, so I didn't serve a meal, but there were sweet and savory things to snack on, plus some punch and coffee.

***

Here is my front door. I hung a wee, fancy dress from a bit of grosgrain ribbon leftover from my wedding and I tied a bow on a rocking horse and set those out front. Simple and totally free. (My favorite kind of decoration.) 

I put food in the dining room and drinks in the breakfast area. This worked out pretty well since guests refilled their drinks more often than their plates. The punch bowl was my great-grandmother's, the table cloth was my other great-grandmother's (it's a really soft, pearly pink and I have used it for a TON of baby-girl showers) (It is also a bitch to iron. I mean, I IRONED THAT and it still looks all wrinkled). The carafe kept the coffee piping hot for several hours after the shower ended. (I totally love that stupid carafe.)

I got to use my tea cups for the first time EVER. Of course, it makes sense that only two people drank coffee but whatever they looked pretty on the table.

I put some spoons for the coffee in a Peter Rabbit cup that belongs to Claire. It's part of a set with a bowl and plate. I've never let her play with them/use them because obviously they would be broken by now, several times over. Maybe when she's older. The sterling was (also) my great-grandmother's but that's not her monogram so it either belongs to a previous generation's relative or she was a very good silver thief. 

I bought these at Target last week and thought they were darling.

Surprise! The baby is going to be named Emme! These are chipboard letters (from Hobby Lobby, $2 or $3 each) that I wrapped with tulle. The tulle came in 25-yard lengths on a spool (for $2.50/each) and was about 6" wide. I started with the idea of wrapping letters in yarn (as seen everywhere on Pinterest and Jess did one also), but yarn felt too rustic for a pretty baby shower. I was pleased with them and Kristi took them home for the baby's room. I think this was about a $10 project and it helps if the baby's name is short. ("Charlotte" would have been more spendy.)

I made a lot of paper circle garlands, which might be one of the top-five ideas Elizabeth has brought into my life.

I hung those suckers EVERYWHERE. Oh, while we're here, let's do a House Tour: Living Room! I mean, it's all clean, I crammed the toys in another room and it looks all normal and very grown-up. (FOR ONCE.) I mean, there's not even any laundry on the sofa! This is fancy!

Living room, looking towards the front door and dining room.

Here's the view if you turn the camera to the right: kitchen. (Also, garlands.)

Aaaaand, if you keep turning the camera right you'll get to the breakfast room and my wrinkly pink tablecloth. (Seriously, I did iron that.)

Living room with picture wall, which you've all seen before. There is nothing baby shower about this picture except the total absence of toys, which pleases me a great deal. 

Other blank wall, which I am still deciding what to do with. I am thinking two or three dark, floating shelves. Maybe. Only if I can figure out how to do that without giving my credit card number to Pottery Barn.

I had this yellow scale as a baby. My grandmother sent it to my parents in California with instructions to weigh me every week and report back so she could keep track of me. It doesn't work any more, but I think it's cute. It usually lives in Claire's room.

In the dining room, I stuck a bunch of books and a rainbow stacker toy on the buffet . This was a totally last-minute idea, minutes before guests arrived but I kind of like it. Also? FREEEEEEE.

This is my sink with my new faucet. I am including this photo only because there are no dishes, yogurt containers, half-eaten bowls of cereal or other crap on the counter and it's a once-in-a-year shot and I wanted to remember it. (What you cannot see is that the garbage disposal broke about an hour before the party, right after I'd crammed sixty strawberries worth of tops and hulls into it.) My amaryllis plants from November are still back there, not blooming of course, but I kind of like how their big leaves fill up the space with green. They are also impossible to kill and that helps.

Oh, back to baby shower things. More garlands. Wheeeeee!

Okay, food. For a 2p shower for ten women, I knew I didn't need a ton of food. I always, always, always serve too much food and it took a LOT of willpower to scale it back for this. For a long time I figured I'd wing it a few days before (TERRIBLE IDEA) but then Annie's Eats rescued me with a wee baby shower menu that was PERFECT. This was just the right amount of food.

I augmented and adapted Annie's menu, but it was perfect. I would totally do this entire menu again.

Strawberry Hibiscus-Tea Lemonade

This was a GIGANTIC PAIN IN THE ASS to make. It was also EXTREMELY DELICIOUS OMG YUMMY. It requires a lot of strawberries, so I might only make it again in the summer when they are super cheap. I used the Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger for the hibiscus tea part and I added a little more simple syrup than the recipe called for. Leftovers were very good with a splash of vodka.

Coffee

Strawberry Cupcakes

I did a really good job with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream this time. It's a notoriously tricky recipe, so I made it on Thursday and gave myself plenty of time in case I screwed it up, but I didn't! (Look, I made it my bitch, okay? I OWNED that SMB recipe last week.) I refrigerated it for two days and then then just whipped it back into buttercream on Saturday. It appeared SUPER curdled for about ten minutes and then got all silky and smoother like it was supposed to.Next time, I'll make two batches of buttercream, because I really like cupcakes with a giant, tall, swirl of frosting and these didn't have enough. 

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies that I bought at Costco.

Mini-quiches that I bought at Costco

Vegetables with Dip in Baguette Cups

These were very twee and fancy crudites. They ended up looking great, but they were kind of a pain to make. It took me a few slices to figure out what angle to cut the bread so it turned out properly, and I ended up with a ton of discarded bread (which we fed to the ducks today). I filled them with sour cream I had mixed with powdered Hidden Valley Ranch mix. People seemed to like them. They were certainly cute.

Cucumber Bites with Herbed Cheese

I sliced a peeled cucumber with a corrugated slicer-thing. Scooped out a little indent in the seeds. Filled with Boursin mixed with some whipping cream (to thin it out). Piped with a pastry bag and star tip. So simple. Everyone commented on them. Made them in advance.

  

This is a white table cloth that I bought at Walmart a few years ago, with a bright pink length of a tulle-ish material on top. I bought it at IKEA for a few bucks. I think it's supposed to be a window sheer? Maybe? Whatever it is, it made for a super table runner for less than $5.

And that is the end of the linkapalooza Baby Shower review. I am off to eat the rest of the mini quiches now. YUM.

Double take, 7 months

Oh my goodness, I am really tired of talking about Advent activities so, uh, I'm not going to talk about that today.

Here are Charlotte (top) and Claire (bottom) both at about the same age (seven-ish months) and wearing the same footie pajamas. While they don't look quite as identical as they did when they were newborns the similarities are still pretty significant (well, at least I think they are.) 

Again with the same pajamas/different kid. Claire is the top one, Charlotte the bottom two. Claire's face looks longer and Charlotte's more full but they pretty much have the same hair and eyes.

That last one is a pretty weird picture of her, and I wouldn't even say it's a terribly good capture of her face or expression but you can see her eyes nicely and that's why I included it. A lot of people tell me, unprompted, that they look a lot alike, now but especially as babies. I have to say, Charlotte looks a lot more like Claire in my brain than these pictures illustrate and I wonder if it's because I don't have photos that are really the same shot/different baby to tell the proper story or if, in my head, I see more similarities because I'm the mom? Huh.

At this point Claire could have cared less about solid foods and Charlotte is all "MOAR PLZ." (Seriously, she'll eat anything. She's like a goat.) The only way to get Claire to sleep was to nurse her and Charlotte just sort of...falls asleep in our arms. They both started sleeping through the night at about the same time, also both incredibly unreliable about how often they perform this feat of baby strength. Charlotte has a tooth and Claire had two at this point, so I'm sure we have another week of Hellacious Baby Teething coming up soon. Woo.

(Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas are easy, overnight, painless teeth for my baby, Love, A'Dell).

These cheeks! I love them. (Charlotte.)

The Christmas Eating

December 23, Cookie Day, up to 50 guests including littles, open house

We will have my parents in town plus lots and lots of friends and their kids. It's a cookie decorating and hot cocoa party. My plan is to serve coffee and cocoa with a crap-ton of add-ins to customize your drink. I'm also going to do one specialty cocktail. (Yum! Specialty cocktail!)

Drinks

Coffee, served in a giant urn/coffeepot thing my mom has. It makes like fifty cups of coffee at one time! Awesome. I will not have to make pot upon pot of coffee.

Cocoa, served in my slick thermal carafe I got last Christmas. It doesn't hold a whole lot so I will probably have to make pot upon pot of cocoa. Actually, no. I just decided to buy another carafe to make this problem go away because I have actually been stressing about it quite a bit. (Yes, I'm the kind of person that stresses about cocoa at a cookie party, WHAT?) What if people want cocoa but they have to wait? Oh no! Nobody will have cocoa and that is the frakking POINT of the party! I know, I'm insane. (I got a red one.)

Cocoa and Coffee toppings/mix-ins (I plan to have five or six "recipes" set up for guidance on how to combine and mix/match for those that are intimidated by DIY cocoa.)(Although really, what kind of person is intimidated by DIY cocoa?)

Peppermint Schnapps

Butterscotch Schnapps

Scotch

Bailey's

Vodka

Soft peppermint sticks

Crushed Candy Canes

Mini Marshmallows

Big Marshmallows (These are the ones I like.)

Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Peppermint Whipped Cream

Crushed Toffee Bits

Crushed Butterfinger

Mini M&Ms

Sprinkles

Red Hots

Crushed peanuts/pecans (Whatever the ice cream topping mix is made of.)

Something else savory I haven't identified yet. (Nutella? Peanut Butter? Reese's?)

Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Dark Cocoa Powder for sprinkling. (I need to get some slick little sprinkling can type things.)

Cream, Sugar, Splenda (More for the coffee but if someone wants to sweeten their cocoa then...okaaay.)

Gingerbread Martinis (Am planning to simply make a pitcher of them and perhaps when they are gone, they are gone. Not sure I feel like cocktail mixing during the party. I also have six darling coupe glasses that I never use and these would be perfect for that.)

Apple Juice (For the kids that won't drink cocoa) (Perhaps in a pitcher, perhaps juice boxes for simplicity. Haven't decided yet.)

Sweets

Fudge (From a box. Because that's how we make it around here.)

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies with icing in a variety of shades and sprinkles in a variety of shapes/colors.

Espresso Crinkles

Double Chocolate Biscotti

Chai Shortbread

Something else I haven't decided on yet. Maybe two somethings. Ideas? I want little finger food type candies or baked goods.

Snacks (not sweet)

Chex Mix

A version of vegetables and a dip that is not as boring to look at, eat or think about as vegetables and a dip. (Still noodling on this one.)

Some kind of sandwichy pinwheel roll up things. Perhaps catered because that sounds like something I don't want to make.

Dinner that evening, after the party people go home

HA HA NO I AM NOT COOKING AFTER ALL OF THAT ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Black Bean Soup (From a kit at Central Market. Already made and sitting in a gallon bag in my freezer.)

Bison Chili (My mom is making this and bringing.) (Thank you, Mom!)

Add-ins, for both:

Sour Cream

Green Onions

Diced Tomatoes

Diced Purple Onions

Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Grated Monterry Jack Cheese

Crushed Tortilla Chips

Cilantro

Diced Avocado 

Cornbread with butter and honey (Local honey! Local, $13 honey that I have to keep in the fridge or the ants will get it, which is so gross and disgusting, I know.) (It is amazing honey.)

Dessert: Um, cookies? DUH.

December 24, Christmas Eve, 10 people (Including Claire and Charlotte and let's be honest, they do not really count when setting a formal table.) (Especially Charlotte.)

Snacks

A variety of cheeses and crackers (Will definitely include: Havarti, Gouda and something really, really stinky.)

Baked Brie

Antipasti Platter: Salami, Roasted Red Pepper, Kalamatas, Prosciutto, etc.

Maybe something else, if I feel like or if someone else makes it.

Dinner

Dry Brined Beef Tenderloin (You bet your ass I'm making it again. I already have the meat in the freezer.)

Mashed Potatoes (Uncomplicated, I can make and freeze them in advance.)

Mac and Cheese (Need a recipe for this. Holly Burns' mother, I am casting my eyes in a hopeful manner in your general direction.)

2 vegetables (I am thinking roasted asparagus and a salad but I am open to your suggestions about favorite holiday vegetable preparations.)

Rolls and Butter (I am thinking about making the rolls, because I am obviously high and feel there is not enough to do.) (Also am thinking about a fancy compound herbed butter. Recipes, anyone?)

Wine. Lots and lots and lots of wine.

December 25, Christmas Day

Breakfast Casserole that I made last year because holy hell was that DELICIOUS. Same tweaks/adds: 

Added a red bell pepper, used a mix of monterrey jack and sharp cheddar, used chorizo instead of regular breakfast sausage and only 8 eggs instead of 12. I served it with flour tortillas, sour cream and hatch chile salsa.

Cheese Grits (My grandmother makes them.)

Cinnamon Rolls (I'm going to make PW's again, even though I was kind of MEH about them last year. They tasted good I just wanted them bigger and fatter, so I'll make that adjustment when putting them together. Will make and freeze well in advance.) (Which means that, uh, I should make some cinnamon rolls tomorrow, CRAP.)

Bloody Mary Bar (I completely failed on this last year so I am determined to make it happen this year.) 

Mimosas (Champaaaaaagne!)

Coffee

Rest of the Day, Lunch and Snacks

Leftovers. Holy cow the leftovers will be AWESOME. Also? I am so OVER dishes by this point. Someone take me to a movie. No, seriously, someone watch my kids so I can finally go to a movie for the first time in seven months.

Dinner

Since we had our big meal the day before on Christmas Eve we'll do a simple dinner tonight. My guess is that it will be something like lasagna, tamales or maybe even more leftovers.

Things that have happened since last week: My Little Pony, thumb-sucking, crawling, Christmas

1. We are now in possession of three My Little Ponies. I liked My Little Pony a lot as a kid and at Thanksgiving Claire's Grandma arrived with a little set of them. These have long manes and tails and brushes and clippies and even a little mirror (for the ponies...to admire themselves?). It's always surprising to me to see toys I enjoyed as a child still a hit for my kids. I mean, I know I'm being marketed to with the high and mighty emotion of Nostalgia but I don't actually care. My Little Pony is kind of awesome.

2. The Christmas tree is up and decorated. We did this on Tuesday, before we left for the Thanksgiving holiday. I wanted the tree up when we got home. I had such a lovely evening planned where we would listen to Christmas music, open a nice bottle of champagne and then order pizza for dinner. It kind of worked out that way. I forgot to chill the champagne, so we made do with vodka-cranberry cocktails and Claire wasn't feeling well so it was not quite as dreamy and lovely and perfect as I had in my head. Chris and I tried to hang ornaments in a neat and orderly fashion and Claire pretty much kept taking them off into other rooms and waving them around or taking a pine cone and saying, "Hey! Look! This my purse!" 

3. I planted some amaryllis and paperwhites. One of them is almost blooming, which makes it quite the intellectually-advanced amaryllis as the box promised me it would be at least eight to ten weeks.

4. Claire is sick. Claire coughed in her sister's face a whole bunch and now Charlotte is sick. And then, through the magical process of germ osmosis, Chris is sick. I remain unscathed.

5. Claire has started sucking her thumb. Yeah. At three-years-old  she all of a sudden just started sucking her thumb, ALL THE DAMN TIME. I have traced the source of the problem to a child called Lynlee at her preschool. Lynlee is always sucking her thumb at drop off and pick up and I'm certain she does it all day at preschool too. A little internet sleuthing has told me that a kid starting to suck her thumb at this age isn't all that unusual and it's not really actually physically harmful until her permanent teeth start to come in but GOD is it an annoying, gross habit. I freaking hate it. First of all, she knows it's wrong. SHE KNOWS.  

She has taken to putting herself in time out under the dining room table so she can lay there and SUCK HER THUMB. (Can I pause here to say that it is actually a little funny when your kid tries to outsmart you? She will be all, "I"m not doing anything in here! I'm just laying!" and I am all, "Kid, I am a little bit smarter than you.") It is also probably what gave her this terrible cold, which gave Charlotte the cold, which gave Chris the cold. Putting your fingers in your mouth that often, as a person that visits Walmart, the playground, preschool and Chick-fil-A? EGHHHHHHH DISGUSTING. If you had a thumb-sucker and you successfully quashed the habit please speak up and tell me how to copy you.

6. I bought thirty-five pounds of laundry detergent. Look, it cut the price per load by 45% (from 34-cents to 19-cents) and it's not like it will expire or spoil or there will be a day where I just don't do laundry any more. (This is how I know I'm not cool and I'm a really dorky mom-type-person.)

7. Thanksgiving happened.

8. I am almost embarrassed to tell you this but I just started using Instagram. 

9. I made some chocolate chip cookies and I was out of vanilla extract so I used a half teaspoon of orange extract and....well....you should do that the next time you make chocolate chip cookies. YUM. I was also very responsible and I froze half the dough so I can eat cookie dough straight from the freezer make cookies later.

10. Charlotte is doing a crawling/scooting thing. She's not too fast (yet) but she can get across a room to get something if she wants it. She started doing this at the exact same time Claire did (to the week). Charlotte also has her first tooth and I can feel the next three starting to poke through.

11. I ordered my Christmas cards and a few copies of a 2011 photobook from Blurb, all in the same evening because I had some promo codes. When I was finished I had spent about $200 (GAH GAH GAH) but I did feel like I'd won at the internet for the evening.

12. This is turning into a Charlotte Update post, but seriously, she has had a big week or two! We stopped swaddling her and after a few rough nights she's okay with it. She's sleeping better and longer unswaddled, which we suspected she might. She is turning some major developmental corners these days with the sitting, crawling, teeth and sleeping and her personality is also starting to come through. She legit laughs at us and has favorite toys and preferences and quirks. I was rocking her this morning and I found myself thinking that this little-baby age of 6-months, where they aren't as helpless as newborns (she can now locate and put her own binky back in her mouth at night), but are still wee babies is one of my favorite ages. (Other favorite ages: 18 months, 24 months.)

13. Since I started running at the Y a few days a week I have lost a three pants sizes but only four total pounds. The four pounds part kind of bugs me (really? FOUR?? I can't even get up to an even FIVE?), but my jenas are literally falling off my body so I am calling this a win.

A sliver and a chunk

I resigned from my job a while ago, for all of the usual reasons a person resigns from her job. After having been employed for ten years, and spending thousands and thousands of hours in a cubicle, it has been weird to suddenly...not.

There is a big chunk of my professional life that I do not miss. I do not miss the never-ending juggle, that part where everyone gets where they need to be every day, with all of the things and lunches and papers and backpacks that we all need to make it to dinner time when we finally come back together as a family. I do not miss feeling rushed and pressed for time, constantly, ohmygod CONSTANTLY. I don't miss feeling tired all the time. I do not miss Sunday night phone calls from VPs, about trivial matters that can wait for Monday. I do not miss working in the evening, on weekends, and in my sleep. I do not miss the rigid schedule and the ever-present fear of failing the schedule: missing daycare pick up, missing a meeting, missing nap linens, missing deliverables. I do not miss finding something to wear in the morning that doesn't require ironing. I do not miss the nutritional disaster that was my diet, simply because I didn't have time to think about it in advance. I do not miss never working out, because, again, there was no time. I do not miss how everything was a power struggle with the clock: there never felt like there was enough time to do everything and so, obviously, not everything got the attention I wanted to give. Whether it was simply reality or my own time management failures, I do not miss the ever-present awareness of Not Enough Time To Do It All. Everyone (kids, husband, office, kitchen floor, laundry, etc) got enough attention, perhaps more than enough to thrive but not nearly the amount that I wanted to give, and that was terribly difficult for me to be aware of.

I do not miss all of...that.

There is a sliver of my professional life that I do miss, that I think about often and wish I could have. It is the part where I was doing something I liked, something I was good at, something that was plain old fun. It is the part where I kick ass and take names, negotiate the hell out of something or make something right for a customer or a client. It was cooking up something clever or problem-solving or brilliant. It was feeling smart and intelligent and valued, even for simple things that come easy to me. It is the feeling of managing a global team from my inbox, all working towards the same goal, and closing out each day with a delightful list of Items Completed. It is power stilettos and dry-clean-only clothes and a commute by myself with time to hear my own thoughts. It is a paycheck with bright and shiny health insurance. It is a hot cup of coffee on my desk and something that is Mine, All Mine and I don't have to share it with my kids or my husband and goddamit, I am GOOD at it. People LIKE ME. These things are only a sliver, but I do think about them.

I miss that sliver.

And that's probably all I'll ever have to say on the topic.

Advent Calendar Activities! (I am a little too excited about this.)

(Elizabeth and I basically write the same posts these days, just so you know.)

After I saw both Elizabeth and Emily blog their Advent activities last December I KNEW it was something I really wanted to do with Claire. Last year she had just turned two and was a little young for the whole thing. I was also pregnant and cranky and tired and coming up with a bunch of ideas for Advent was BEYOND the grasp of my mental abilities at that point. Hell, we were lucky presents made it under the tree. (Thank you, Amazon Prime.)

This year is The Year that our firstborn is old enough to have it figured out and old enough to take out in public and enjoy her reactions and responses to Christmas. She is three and has such a better grasp on concepts that go beyond, "When is my next snacking opportunity?" She understands Santa (well, kind of, she has him sort of confused with the idea of birthday parties), she is excited about the tree, she yelped with glee when I found the Christmas cookie cutters. Emily has the point exactly right: the Advent Activities are about making a to do list, keeping ME in line and giving us an opportunity to create our own family traditions and memories. It also make for attractive bait to incent good behavior.

I could not possibly be more excited about this. I mean, you guys saw my cute Etsy muslin bag advent calendar, right? SO CUTE. I can't wait to put little notes in each one and hang them up. I think I'm going to blog the whole thing, just to make sure I really copy Emily and Elizabeth as authentically as possible (in a non-creepy stalker way, of course).

Here is this year's list, my FIRST year's list, not in the correct order. I'll have to look closely at the calendar to make sure activities match up with show times and our availabilities, but this is pretty much the list.

***

1. Christmas Tea at The Ashton Hotel with my best friend. NO CHILDREN. (For me.) Decorate a gingerbread house (for Claire/Chris.) (Charlotte will probably get to take a nap. Maybe in a holiday onesie.)

2. Make cinnamon applesauce ornaments.

3. Make plaster of paris handprint ornaments.

4. Go ice skating. (Well...TRY ice skating. Claire and I will try, Chris and Charlotte will watch. We'll see if Claire picks it up/enjoys it.)

5. Drive around with hot chocolate and look at Christmas lights.

6. Choose and buy toys for a needy child, from both Charlotte and Claire, (Claire will do the picking out) and donate to my holiday toy charity of choice, Toys for Tots (organized and run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.)

7. Wrap gifts. (Claire can "help" with this.) 

8. Make Christmas Cookies. (And then freeze them.)

9. Decorate Christmas cookies with friends. (After defrosting them.) (Also known as Cooke Day.)

10. Go see the trains at Northpark Mall. Maybe visit Santa, but probably not as the line will probably be long and then Claire will flip out when it's finally her turn.

11. Turn on Christmas music, decorate the tree, order pizza and drink wine. Watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation after the kids go to bed.

12, 13, 14, 15: Open a present. I have a handful of Christmas books for Claire that will be best enjoyed through the month of December and as Elizabeth has pointed out, gifts are appreciated MUCH MORE on December 12 than alongside thirty other gifts on December 25. She'll get some books and Christmas PJs and Christmas socks for these. (Claire really likes socks these days, for some reason.) For one of these days I will add an activity for myself: Get Fancy Pedicure at Fancy Spa. ALOOOOONE.

16. Put up the Christmas lights in the yard.

17. Some kind of volunteer something. I very much want to take Claire to do something that fits into the "giving back" category that is beyond "buy something and drop it in a box" (which we have on here once with Toys for Tots and we've already donated several cans to her school's food drive and will probably do so again) but I have yet to identify the specific activity. Suggestions for an adult and 3-year-old on this one?

18. Buy poinsettias and garland and decorate the house. Probably make some paper ornaments to hang on the garland.

19. Attend a local Christmas concert. Probably a church or the high school.

20. Make a gift for someone else (probably her teacher). (I am realizing there is a lot of PROBABLY in this list.)

21. Go see The Polar Express at one of the Pajama Parties at the Omni/IMAX in downtown Ft Worth. 

22. If I can come to terms with the cost (or find discounted tickets...maybe) go tubing at SNOW! at the Gaylord Texan. Hey, we are in Texas. We have to PAY to play in the snow here. I'm worried this will be a thing that we think she'll love and then we'll spend a crap-ton of money and she'll be like, "I HATE THIS." Kids. SIGH.

23. Go see The Nutcracker. I am pretty sure Chris will go with me if I ask him, but I am pretty sure he'd rather I just take Jennie instead. (Hey, Jennie! Want to, um, go see The Nutcracker with me?)

24. Trans-Siberian Orchestra with Chris. Babysitter for Claire and Charlotte, though I'll have to spin this a little bit better to get Claire excited about it.

Things I have bought recently (okay, A LOT of things) (CHRISTMAS THINGS!)

I always like hearing about things that people are buying because it makes me wonder if I should be buying those things too. Sometimes I think I SHOULD be buying them. After all, if some other person has gone to the trouble of researching it and if Jennie has ten of this t-shirt then I probably need at least one. There's something to be said for the research and good taste of others.

Thusly, it occurs to me that I have been on a bit of a shopping spree lately, all in the name of Christmas. I've been decorating the house with things I've been considering buying for months, but now that I've got people coming over for parties and gift-opening and eating there's a new sense of urgency to hurry up and frame that shit and stick it on the wall.

I have never really gone all-in on Christmas decor, mostly because I don't like to spend money on it and partly because I think so much of is is so godawful ugly and tacky, but this year in this new house I wanted to get a few more things to make it feel extra Christmas-y. I really don't have much beyond the tree, ornaments and stockings. Actually...that might be it. Last year was Christmas Lite and this year will be Christmas Regular. (It is my hope to never venture into Christmas Extra Bold.)

So. The Things.

This year I really wanted some Christmas pillows for the sofa. My sofa is brown with brown pillows and Elizabeth has been talking a lot this year about how her living room used to be So Very Brown and I realized there was no reason I had to keep using the brown pillows that came with my brown sofa. I am an adult, I am allowed to buy new pillows that aren't brown.

It only took me six years to get to this idea and I'm still just doing SEASONAL pillows and not regular everyday pillows. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Classic Tidings Poinsettia Pillow from Target

I can't find this on their website so it might be in stores only, which is so annoying. (Or, maybe their website really does suck that much, which I think it does. Does ANYONE shop there? They make it SO DIFFICULT.) Anyway, I saw this pillow in a catalog that came in the mail I knew I really wanted it which is super rare for me as I never want anything right away. I must hem and haw and ponder and think and consider.

I sourced one at my local store and I've had it for a week or two. It's made of a synthetic material that is SIMILAR to felt but not actually felt. It LOOKS like felt the first three or four times you get close. It's some kind of polyester, but fuzzy and kind of oddly plasticky on the reverse side. It's not unpleasant, but it's not high quality. It is probably worth about $9.99 and not $19.99 but I do like the way it looks, all red and pretty and flowery.

Painted Holly Branch Pillow Cover from Pottery Barn

I just got this today and I like it. It's 16" x 26" which felt BIG to me, maybe too big for a sofa pillow but it's really not. I like that it's not square so it's kind of different. I am in love with the pattern. I had to get the insert from Amazon and it's not here yet, so I can't say that I am looking at the final product on my sofa but I'm pretty sure it will be great.

12" Merrie Pillow from Crate and Barrel

I have wanted this pillow for the past three years and every year I ask for it and every year nobody buys it for me and this year I said To Hell With That and I bought myself the pillow. It's 12", which is rather small but it's so cute. This is not the kind of pillow you take a nap on, rather it's a pretty pillow that you prop up on OTHER pillows but really it is so, so, so cute, did I mention that it is cute?

A whole bunch of glass ball ornaments from Crate and Barrel

This is the kind of thing I have wanted for years but I did not want to buy CRAPPY glass ornaments with irregular color or dull color or ugly color. I also did not want ornaments that would break easily or looked cheap or flimsy or had seams in them. I took a chance on these, having not seen them in person, and I have to say they are pretty sweet. I like them! I got a few of each in red, gold, green, purple and hot pink. I have not decided if I will put them on a tree or pile them up in a big bowl or hang them from my chandelier but I like them. For $3 each I like them a lot and I think they will last me many years if I can keep the small hands away from them.

16 x 20 Mae Chevrette Print

(SIDEBAR: Okay, so I had a really big fight with Paypal last month. Like, a BIG BIG BIG fight. A fight where I declared, several times, that I was never going to use Paypal, ever again. Then I realized that meant I could never use Etsy again and I was okay with it because, really, it was a VERY BIG fight. But then I found things on Etsy I wanted and I really, really wanted those things so I amended my vow to "I will never use Paypal to ACCEPT MONEY FROM OTHERS ever again. Ever. Ever ever ever." I can use Etsy for buying but that's about it. I realize this is not the most staunch or impressive or even results-getting consumer position but...look, I really like Etsy. Shut up.)

This is ALSO something I have wanted for months (today's theme!) and I finally bought it. This will go in my bathroom. I love the colors and the sentiment. This artist has some other really fantastic prints and I'm considering one or two more.

 

Advent Calendar

I realllllly wanted an Advent Calendar this year that I could string up like bunting and I also loved the idea of each date being a separate item to open and enjoy, rather than a pocket-style Advent calendar. I don't have a lot of extra wall space in my living room, so a bunting-style version works best for me.

I looked high and low on Etsy and this type of thing varies in price dramatically. I even found a version for $112. Yes, ONE HUNDRED TWELVE AMERICAN DOLLARS. (I did not purchase that one.) Instead, I found this darling version with stamped muslin bags. It's exactly what I wanted and cost $25 which is just a little north of what I figured it might cost to DIY. I can put little notes with the activity for the day in there and if I want I can put a tiny present in some of them too. I'm really looking forward to doing this with Claire and I'm planning on hanging it with a fat, red, satiny ribbon.

Julia Child Print

I just really liked it.

Reindeer Stocking from Pottery Barn Kids

I bought this for Charlotte, because I liked how sweet and cute the reindeer was. I got it today and the stocking is sort of fluffy and stuffed in places, to give it a 3D look. This isn't in the description and I don't really like it. Chris likes it, so maybe I would consider keeping it if they hadn't embroidered the name all the way through the top of the stocking.

So, PBK will be getting a call about that tomorrow. Can nothing be easy with their embroidery department?

 

Red Cardinal Mugs, 10-ounce

I scored eight of these suckers for $4 each at TJ Maxx/Homegoods, after pining for them at Macy's where the 16-ounce set was $70, for only four!

Source: macys.com via A'Dell on Pinterest

 

 

Costco evergreen, apple and hydrangea wreath

To be delivered 12/5! This is going to look kick-ass on my door.

That's all I've bought lately, but I think it's QUITE ENOUGH for one week. What did YOU buy this week that I might need to copy? I am on the hunt for Christmas books for kids, kids Christmas pajamas for not $35, and a cheap-ish, non-shedding way to decorate the stairs and mantle (no live greenery or fake greenery).

Sometimes

Sometimes the constant chatter and questions from her are overwhelming and her sweet voice turns to nails on a chalkboard and I feel like I might shatter if I don't get sixty seconds of silence.

Sometimes the baby laughs at me when I've done nothing in particular and I am overcome with what a simple, glorious gift my children are.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, not with the children, but with all of the other things I need and want to do in addition to the children. The children are not so hard, it's the other stuff that eats at my soul. I sometimes feel the slight edge of a panic attack coming on, a stupid panic attack about Things To Do that includes dumb and not-life-changing things like "schedule 6-month portraits." 

Sometimes I get it all done and feel like I've conquered the world and I wonder what in the hell I was thinking yesterday. This isn't THAT difficult.

Sometimes I make a crappy dinner. A dinner that was poorly planned or a dinner that I forgot to defrost at a reasonable hour or a dinner that was new and maybe just kind of sucks. Spending time cooking a meal that isn't all that tasty is SUCH a disappointing way to spend the evening.

Sometimes I make a great dinner. I planned and I shopped and when I cook and it all comes together just as it should, I wonder why in the hell don't I plan meals more often. If I THINK about dinner, BEFORE dinner, dinner works out. AMAZING. 

Sometimes I miss my job and I wonder what it would be like to work with two kids and gosh, all that extra money and health insurance sure would be nice and so would all of the time aloooooooone at my desk every day.

Sometimes we ride bikes and roll around on the floor and giggle and talk about things in our world and I wonder why I'd ever want to spend my time making PowerPoint presentations.

Sometimes I let the diapers go one day too long and then I find myself in a situation with only one clean diaper left and a pile of diapers to wash and I think, "Dammit I hate these f'ing cloth diapers."

Sometimes I get into a serious groove and the diapers are always clean and it's never a pain to wash them and I think I am pretty good at this hippie mom thing. 

Sometimes I go run at the Y and I love it. I walk on the treadmill and catch up on emails and Twitter and the news. I run and then I walk and I push the incline up and down and up up up no that's too far doooooown. I feel pretty awesome after thirty or forty minutes. After two months of this, I am seeing significant positive changes in both mind and body.

Sometimes I skip the Y. I decide to run errands or hang out in my pajamas or finish my cup of coffee FOR ONCE OMG. At the end of the day, I always wish I had gone to the Y.

Sometimes I don't do the dishes, all day long, because I hate them and I know Chris will help me do them when he gets home, which is so unfair as I should just do them since I'm a SAHM now and I had ALL DAY to do the dishes but dudes. I hate the dishes.

Sometimes the baby wakes up from her nap and the way she looks at me when I rescue her from the crib makes me wonder why on earth I ever pondered the question of whether I wanted two children or just the one.

Sometimes I think about what college and retiring (will people actually DO THAT when we are old?) and health insurance cost and I freak the flip out and think we should eat beans for dinner for six months. 

Sometimes I open the Amazon app on my iPad and I go on a big shopping spree. (Of very fun things like...bibs. And gifts for other people.)

Sometimes I think I have a really cute picture of the girls, but upon closer inspection someone is yakking.

(Someone is alllllways yakking around here. There's no sometimes about that one.)

How do YOU play the Credit Card Game?

For as long as we've been married we have put most of our recurrent monthly expenses on one credit card, paid it every month and collected the miles, all with a very smug feeling. You know that feeling I'm talking about, right?

HAAAAA, WE GOT ALL THESE MILES AND DIDN'T PAY ANY INTEREST ON ANYTHING, JOKE'S ON THEM! WOO! FREE TRIP TO MAUI!

When, really, the joke is not on the credit card company it is on the poor merchants that we inflicted our $4 transactions on (that they pay a 2-5% fee for), all in the name of gathering 4 Aadvantage miles when I buy a salted caramel mocha. But, you know, that's the game and we all play it. We've parlayed this method into at least six round-trip tickets to Maui.

Jennie and I were recently talking about this game we all play as adults (seriously, the Game of Life from Milton-Bradley has nothing on Credit Card Points and Reward Strategies For First World Grown-Ups).

We have been with the Citi Aadvantage card for years and I've been unhappy for awhile. Most of this ire comes from the fact that American Airlines keeps changing the redemption structure for flights (requiring more miles for the same flight) but Citi is not offering any more miles per dollar spent. So, in effect, our program loses value year after year. I am also not that pleased about being tied to just ONE company. I mean, what if American decided tomorrow to radically change the Aadvantage program? I would be BEYOND pissed off and have a stack of miles that are actually worth nothing because, let's face it, they're just made up currency. I also really dislike American Airlines and I haaaaate feeling tied to a brand and company that I have no faith in or enthusiasm for. Why bother investing ourselves further?

So, I thought I'd ask you guys. What are your credit card reward and point program(s) of choice? How do you earn the most and where do you feel like you get a lot of value for your effort, fees and trouble? I would like to stay in the travel category, but get points/rewards that I can use with multiple vendors/carriers. But, I'm not opposed to other cards/systems like Amazon where I can just get STUFF. (My brother has that card and likes it pretty okay.) Cash back programs are interesting but I'm not sure they actually pay out the same in relative value. Or, are you the kind of person that has several cards and ways to earn? Does that actually work out for you?

What kind of rewards are YOU actually getting? What is the most efficient way to earn? And, the fees! Which fee is more "worth" it? Which vendor has the most availability and ease to actually USE the reward? (Hint: It is not American Airlines, I'll tell you that.) There are just a crap-ton of ways to structure this financial chore these days.

I am not interested in playing any "Join now and get a million points!" games where I have to open ten accounts and then close them. No, no, no. I just want to find a card or a program where I get maximum rewards/earnings on things I would actually buy. 

Tell it to me straight: How do you tackle this in your house and what are you getting for your efforts?

Claire's first day of preschool

Claire's first day of preschool was today. I feel kind of stupid using that phrase, "first day of preschool," as she has been in a combination of day care and Montessori daycare/preschool since January of 2009 but, whatever. I resigned from my cubicle job, I am a SAHM now, I signed her up for preschool. She needs the interaction with kids her own age, I'm kind of anti-social anyway and I'm terrible at making mom friends just for the sake of making mom friends. (Feels so FAKEY FAKE.)

Also, I am reading this book about how to handle a three-year-old monster child and there is a part of the book that says something like, 

"Our best advice is to hire someone else to deal with the three-year-old for a few hours a day or week. This sounds like a cop-out. And yet, it remains our best advice."

A whole series of books on child development and the authors can reduce three-year-old managing advice to, "Take her somewhere else and leave her." OKAY! Sounds like a good plan to me, as yesterday she made me angrier than she'd ever been able to before. (If I was strong enough, I think my hand would have actually gone through that drywall in the hallway when I slammed my palm into it.) So, yes, I will GLADLY ship her off to someone else for a few hours and then have a lovely morning with the child that doesn't talk back to me.

It's two days a week, four hours a day. Really, to a lady that is used to up to 12 hours per day of child care? Four hours, two days a week really isn't all that much. I am kind of annoyed that it ends at 1p and not something more reasonable like 3p.

Long way to get to the idea that today was her first day. She was very excited. New lunchbox, new backpack, expectations of friends and a playground and a teacher. It was all very cute. School! We got to the parking lot, I put her backpack on and we started walking towards the classroom. I was thinking about how she really did look cute and like such a big girl and her curly, crazy hair was even clipped up neatly. I resolved to take a picture of her next to her classroom. First day of "school" and all.

That's the moment she located the only 1'x1' patch of mud in the entire parking lot and slipped on it. She managed to end up covered in mud from her ankles to her elbows. Mud on her bottom, on her legs, on her dress. Mud caked on her pink Converse shoes.

SIGH.

I had a change of clothes with me, THANKFULLY. We trooped into the church with another family behind us and the little boy said something like, "Mommy! She has poop all over her!" I said something like, "Oh, no she doesn't! She fell in mud!" but I am not sure the other mom heard me. (She definitely heard the part about the poop.) We found a restroom. I changed her clothes and cleaned her up. The entire time she was talking about how she "has a lot of poop on me!" I had visions of her telling the teachers about how she had poop all over her legs. I kept telling her, "No, honey, it was mud, you fell in some MUD." I was really hoping the MUD part would stick in her head and not the POOP part. I did a pretty good job with the cleanup but her shoes were soaking wet after I'd rinsed off the mud. 

I delivered my child to her teacher, in socks, ten minutes late and in quite the fluster about all the "poooooop!" on her legs. 

We did not take a picture.