Running update.

I know I mentioned that I signed up to run the Marine Corps Historic Half marathon.  And that I started training.  But have I stressed enough that I am not a runner?  At all.  Some days, I want to be a runner, which in my mind means someone who truly enjoys running.  Really, I do.  Because so many friends run and love it.  And my dad runs, and Charlie runs--that makes an impression, right?  But most days, it's still the same:  when I run, my mind screams at me the entire first ten or so minutes, telling me to stop.  I sort of think this means I'm not meant to be a runner.

But I signed up for this race.  And I'm the kind of goal-oriented person that a training schedule really speaks to.  So I've been running, running, running.  It's week three and I can now go a bit over 5 miles.  I just have to ignore my inner monologue the first mile or two.  It's going well enough that I believe I will run and finish the race come mid May.  But I still don't know if that will make me a runner.  And I'm pretty sure that without a goal, I might give it all up.  So I emailed my good friend the following:

"As my only other non running friend who occasionally runs, thought you would appreciate this:  I did 5 miles the other day.  On my own (i.e. w/o Charlie shaming me into not stopping).  And w/o the ipod!!  But don't get me wrong, I still don't like it.

Wanna do the Army 10 miler?  Sign up is April 1st while you are away so we'd have to plan ahead (the race is Sun Oct 24th)."

Harmless enough, right?  Hmmph.  In return I get this:

"Dear Sender,
Thank you for your email, but I fear it has been sent in error. It was obviously meant for a person who thinks running is a good idea, and not merely something to be done to justify eating an extra Krispy Kreme donut. Or perhaps for someone who feels she should be prepared in case the latter half of the fight or flight instinct kicks in, and not someone who'd rather take a shooting class to better prepare her for the former half of said instinct.

In any case, I wish you the best of luck in finding a willing partner for your endeavors. Should you come to realize the error of your ways, please let me know so we can have a latte together at an open cafe and watch the insane masses jog by.

With best regards,
A sane person"

I laughed very hard and told her I was sharing.  I think I have just found a new goal!

p.s.  We had a lot of birthdays this past week.  Two were ours--Max turned 7 and Will turned 2, so we had two school celebrations, two day-of dinner celebrations, and one family party over the weekend.  We also squeezed in a family friend's birthday party.  We will not be quantifying the aggregate calorie intake.    

Birthday planning.

We are doing something different this year for the boys' combined birthday party.  Usually, we invite friends from all circles to come over to the house to celebrate.  It's great fun seeing everyone and the boys really love it.  They usually invite friends from school, preschool, the neighborhood, our play groups, as well as friends from their former day care...it's usually quite a group!  But this year, it's not really an option because our yard is a soggy marsh from all of the snow and recent rains.  And because we always rely on outdoor space for the kids to run around and play, we thought it best not to do it here in the spring.

Instead, the plan is to do a smaller party at a gym with each boy inviting a handful of classmates, along with other close family friends.  And we'll hold off throwing a big party until summer when our yard will hopefully dry out enough to set up some outdoor games.

So with that settled, I have discovered that I'm at a bit of a loss because there is very little to do in the way of planning for their party.  Usually we pick a theme and I go from there.  But since we're having it at a Little Gym location, the facility has their own format and timeline.  And there is a smallish room for food and cake after the gym play.  "Small" doesn't really work for the kind of food spread my family usually puts out at a party so I guess we'll go the pizza route?  But I'd still like to put out something for the grown ups to nibble on.  And I know I'll still do cake.  But can I fit in the dessert bar?  I think the boys might not know it's their birthday if there are no cut-out cookies.  And cake pops.  But we'd have to transport all of that, along with the kidlets.  Hmmmm.  Again, at a complete loss....

But I did send out the invitations.  I made three sets.  One for each of the older boys to give to their classmates and a combined one to give to family friends.  I was so excited when I saw this mini bunting card on How About Orange because I knew it would be perfect for my, er, I mean, the boys' non-themed-party party.  Because I'll tell you what.  Even if we're not doing any of the 5 (or 12) themes we started brainstorming about (think of how ahead we are for next year!), there will be bunting somewhere somehow in that little room.  My poor husband.

Happy Friday!

Happy weekend + more cake-mix bars.

Just a quick post to say hello.  I know it was a light week for me blogging-wise.  But for good reason!  I had so much to do before Charlie and I headed out for a quick getaway.  My parents were nice enough to watch the boys so we could take some time to ourselves--such a blessing, I know.  Even if I did overly obsess (yup, again) on having things just so when leaving the boys in anyone else's care. 

I also wanted to share our new favorite way to prepare the cake-mix bars.  These are ridiculously good.  Follow the recipe but add in two handfuls each of dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.  You also might want to squeeze in some extra tummy crunches and salad intake.

  

I hope you had a nice weekend too--I feel quite restored after ours.

Digging out and black bean soup.

It finally stopped snowing in the late afternoon yesterday and Charlie spent hours trying to dig us out.  But until a plow comes through our neighborhood, I don't think we'll get beyond our driveway.  I'm having flashbacks to 1996 when my roommates and I were snowed in for days.  Of course, back then it was a welcome diversion from law school classes.  

The boys weren't sure what to make of all the snow--they were a bit lost because they couldn't just run and play.  But they did enjoy scaling the snowy mountains created by displaced snow as Charlie shoveled and shoveled.   

As for me, I stayed mostly inside and could not resist making a big pot of a favorite cold weather comfort--black bean soup.  I still had a meaty ham bone in the freezer from our Christmas dinner so it was a perfect choice.  Here's my recipe that I turn to when I forget to soak the beans overnight.    

Black Bean Soup

     adapted greatly from versions I found on SimplyRecipes and AllRecipes

Ingredients

• 1 lb black beans, picked through and rinsed
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 6 cups water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ham bone (or 1lb smoked ham hock or shank, in which case you won't need the additional meat below)
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 1 celery rib, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 Tbl cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped ham or shredded cooked chicken
• 3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

Garnish

• sour cream
• shredded cheddar cheese
• hot sauce 

Directions

• Place beans, water, ham bone, broth, bay leaves, baking soda, and salt in a heavy, thick-bottomed pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer.  Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally (if you are not using a heavy-bottomed pot, you'll need to stir often).
• Remove bay leaves and ham bone from pot and cut ham meat away from the bone into small, bite-sized pieces and set aside.
• Remove about two cups of bean mixture and place in a blender.  Keep uncovered for a few minutes to allow mixture to sightly cool, then cover and puree beans until smooth, holding blender lid down.  Or (this is what I do) place the two cups of bean mixture into a bowl and puree until smooth using an immersion blender.  Place back into pot.
• Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium to medium high until the oil is hot but not smoking.  Add onions, celery, sweet potato, carrot, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and softened, about 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium, add the cumin, chili powder, garlic, and chopped tomato, cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add onion mixture to the bean pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 30 additional minutes, adding in reserved meat from ham bone and chopped ham/shredded chicken (if using) for the last 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and add 3 Tbsp lime juice (optional but I love the addition of fresh lime juice) and salt to taste.
• Serve with garnishes. Makes 8 cups, serving approximately 6 (for our family of two adults and 3 children, it is enough for a hearty dinner plus lunch the next day).

Enjoy!

Six more weeks of winter.

Both Max and Leo came home from school today to report that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.  I cannot say I'm surprised.  Lately, winter is always in the forecast. 

Last weekend, the "one to two" inches turned out to be two to three times that.  The older boys did not mind; perfecting your snow-angel technique is some serious stuff.

Poor Will had to sit out this particular evolution as he was fighting a cold.  The next day, the weather warmed up considerably and the boys took out beach gear to build snow castles.  They then asked when it would be warm enough to actually go to the beach. 

I tried to do my part in coaxing Spring along with some wishful dressing (and you thought I was kidding about polka dots).

It obviously did not work.  More snow is in the forecast tonight and tomorrow.  And another storm is brewing for the weekend, potentially rivaling the blizzard we saw before Christmas.  I am trying to live in the moment here and appreciate this atypical number of snow days.  But it's hard.  And it's exhausting.  I am speaking of the on/off/hermetically sealing of wiggly children into Gortex merry-go-round.  It's also messy.  I think I'd be more okay with this if our home had a mud room.  And I don't mean mud tracked into rooms--that we have lots of.  Stay warm out there!

Quickie upcycled craft, winetag.

We live in a neighborhood filled with great families.  The kind of folks you would choose to live by if you could, somehow, choose your neighbors.  (And by the way, I know I'm constantly gushing on and on about my family, my in-laws, my friends, my folks, now this...but, sorry, nice people abound in my life.  And it's good because it makes me try to be a better person to deserve them.)

It is not at all uncommon for the phone to ring on Saturday morning with a casual invite from this or that household, asking if we are free for supper later that day.  Somehow the invite always seems to fall on a day that I could especially use a night off from cooking. "Bring the kids" they'll say, knowing that a babysitter can wreck our solo-income budget. 

We try to reciprocate hosting but are way, way, behind.  And because I know our various neighbors well enough to know (and appreciate) that they will continue to have us over many more times before we could ever settle the score, I wanted to have some wine tags ready--we try to at least bring over some decent wine...and a dessert, too, if I'm allowed.

I found some hang tags in my stash of things to upcycle--I think they came off of some flip flops from last year.  I thought they were super cute so I mod podged some decorative paper to the backs and brushed on a few layers of chalkboard paint on the fronts.  There.  Done.  Quick, easy, no fuss allowed--just like these neighborhood dinners.  And as an added bonus, the tag can be wiped clean and reused by our neighbors when they're inevitably invited up the street...

 

Resolutions.

I don't usually make official New Year's resolutions.  But this year I thought I'd make a few.

1.  Get into better cardio shape.  This will hopefully happen from running training because I signed up for the Marine Corps half marathon.  I am not a runner by any means.  In truth, I sort of dislike it.  But my friend Hallie, who is a triathelete, says she'll come in from California to run it with me.  And Charlie and another good friend run it every year--so there should be plenty of hands on deck to drag me over the finish.  I really need to get going on, okay start, my training.

2.  Bring in some pretty.  This goes beyond my appearance--though considering the surprised reaction I got from some folks on New Year's Eve when I actually brushed my hair and put on a dress, maybe I should start there.  But really I'm talking about my surroundings.  It's nice to live in pretty spaces so I am determined to finally finish decorating our master bedroom and the boys' rooms.  There are so many great design blogs out there for inspiration.  One I like everything about is Little Green Notebook.

3.  Finding time to sew for myself.  All of the refashion tutorials out there are making me crazy.  I want to try this, this, and this, plus loads more.  I cannot donate a single ill fitting blouse or stained tee because I have a ton of ideas in my mind!  Also, just about every item I'm swooning over in the Anthropologie catalogue has a handmade-looking embellishment to it...so I want to try some "inspired" pieces--that sounds better than knock-off, I think.   I can only hope my homesewn garments will look better than the drop waisted tank dress I made in 11th grade home ec--if I recall correctly, it was a hot pink cotton print with mini yellow flowers.  It was passable but only because I wore it with my best Forenza belt.  I really wish I'd kept that belt--it is very on trend right now.  Though isn't there a rule that if a trend laps you, you're too old to wear it again?  I need to check that.  Happy Friday!



2009 Christmas card.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be a bit more consistent with my blogging.  And to stay focused on one of the main reasons I began this blog--to try to document this special time in my life where I get to stay home to raise my family and be a full-time homemaker the way I want to do it...the way it feels right for me to do it.  And by that I mean having at least a little time here and there to do more of what I truly love for, and often with, my family, like cook, sew, and craft.  I know that when I had to balance those interests with working outside the home on top of family duties, I didn't get to do them nearly as much.   

The end of my two-year sabbatical from my job is quickly approaching, so there are some decisions we need to make.  But I'm not quite ready to face them yet.  So what better way to make time stand still a bit longer than to look at all the lovely Christmas and holiday cards we received this year.  I've spent the better part of the morning cleaning the house and putting away holiday decorations.  But I paused for a bit as I took down the cards.

I love holiday cards--especially ones with photos.  We display them through out the season and then I move them to fabric memo boards that Charlie made for me in the basement, where we can enjoy them for another year...little hands love to take down the cards to study faces, which may explain this less than tidy display. 

After that, they get placed, grouped by family, in a photo box for safe keeping.  I love to flip through them to see how everyone's children are growing up (too quickly if you ask me).

Here is our family card this year, done on Scrapblog.  Since I'm not the best about keeping up with my scrapbooking, as a compromise, I like to write a snippet in our cards of what the boys are up to.  I hope to present each of our children, someday in the far future, with a collection of Christmas cards that chronicles much of their childhood quirks.  I'll dig around for our cards from prior years and post those too--I try to do a different theme each year.  This year I came up with playing off an instruction manual of sorts...I'm starting to run out of ideas!  (click on the thumbnail to enlarge)...

     

I hope you're having a wonderful start to 2010--just three more weeks or so until I naturally write the correct year when I'm dating something! 

 

p.s. I do love how the holidays live on a bit in blogland with everyone's show and tell debrief, don't you?  And if you in fact don't, you might want to skip my next few posts as I'm sure that's what I'll be up to too :)...

A keepsake quilt.

I've wanted to make a special Christmas quilt for my mother-in-law for a very long time.  I actually bought the fabric for it when I was pregnant with Will two years ago.  Since she is a mother of all boys (and her two boys have all boys!), we have a lot in common.  Specifically, I know what it's like to live in a house where the majority of the occupants don't get all worked up by the nice linens and other whatnots that adorn their home.  It's a big deal when my MIL or I visit the other's house because when we haul out our pretty kitchen and bath towels, for once, someone else notices.  So I wanted to give her something pretty.

I also wanted to make her a quilt because, quite simply, it's hard to express just how grateful I am to the woman who gave me my husband, and in turn, my family.   

So this year, when a blizzard came to town the weekend before Christmas, I decided not to freak and fret over the snowed-in weekend and no-go errand runs.  Rather, I tallied up the suddenly free hours from two rescheduled Christmas parties and had a crazy thought.  While the older boys played outside until they were blue... 

I found my stash of fabrics...

and cut and sewed and ripped out stitches and cursed and sewed some more...

I decided on a crazy quilt because I didn't have time to plan any blocks.  Morgan's quilt for her newest little one, over on One More Moore, provided the inspiration for the design.  I just cut the fat quarters into 2 1/2 inch strips, then sewed three different strip patterns together.  I then cut the pieces into 6 1/2 inch square blocks and pieced them together, alternating their orientation.  I originally planned to make the quilt the size of a throw, but Charlie convinced me that that's basically a useless size for snuggling on the couch because throws can keep a full-sized man's upper or lower body warm, but not both.  Noted.  So, to increase the size, I added a border of white and made some blocks for the corners.  It was all done on the fly and I'm sorry that there are no pictures of that--sort of short on time as it was--but here is the finished quilt top.

I continued to de-stash by piecing two fabrics together for the backing and used some store-bought tape for the binding--which I sort of hate but whatever.  I almost went through the roof when I came up four inches short of completing the binding.  Seriously, four inches.  And in case it's not obvious, that is when the cursing occurred.

Luckily, after my in laws arrived on the 22nd, I was able to pop into Joanne's to pick up another pack of binding to covertly finish the quilt after everyone went to bed on Christmas Eve.

Here is a shot of the backing.  You can see that I just quilted in the ditch--practicing free-motion quilting is on this year's to-learn list as I have no idea how some of you do such a lovely job of it!  I used organic cotton batting and made sure to prewash my fabric, but not the batting, so that when I washed the completed quilt, it would get all wrinkly and yummy. 

In the corner, I placed a little poem that Charlie helped me write.  To print it on fabric, I ironed white cotton fabric onto freezer paper, then cut it down to 8 1/2 x 11 inches so it would feed into our ink jet printer.  I printed the wording directly onto the fabric and heat set it with my iron.  Before turning it into a patch for the back of the quilt, I prewashed it to check for color-fastness.  I was very happy to find it held up perfectly in the wash. 

My mother-in-law absolutely loved the quilt and I was so happy we could be with her the year we gave it to her!  This was the largest quilt I've made to date...before this attempt, I'd only made a handful of baby quilts.  But now I think I'd like to make quilts for the boys' beds.  And I fully intend to give myself more than a few days to do it!

ETA:  I'm linking up to Kimba's DIY day here.

ETA:  I'm linking up to Kimba's DIY day here.

Let's do flowers.

I've mentioned that I do special event flower design on the side.  It started about six years ago when my good friend Caryn and I did the flowers for a family wedding.  More friends followed...then referrals...and now, we get a manageable stream of clients from various forum postings and word of mouth. 

I love flowers and always have.  Even back when I had a grocery budget of only $20 a week, I would spend $5 of it on flowers.  One might think that a "floral designer" would only fill her home with the most exotic flowers.  Think again.  I don't have time (or the funds) to go to the flower market and make up an elaborate arrangement every week--but I do try to always have fresh flowers in our home.

So I thought I'd start a fairly regular post on how you can take even the most pedestrian of blooms--straight from your grocer--and turn them into something special.  I didn't think of this until after I put this week's arrangement together, but from now on I'll take pictures of the process so I can give pointers and how tos.

This week, I resisted the temptation to do an overly fall-themed arrangement...as I'll be doing that for our Thanksgiving centerpiece.  Instead, I chose cushion poms in a fresh green and paired them with white alstromeria.  This way, the arrangement will transition nicely when I begin hanging Christmas decorations this weekend.  I cut the blooms fairly short to make the arrangement appear quite full and just nestled the poms here and there--it couldn't be simpler.  The best advice I can give you if you're unsure of how to arrange flowers is don't fight nature!  As one bride put it, "the flowers should not look stressed." 

It really only takes a few extra minutes to set out and maintain a fresh bouquet of flowers--but the instant impact it makes on your space is immeasurable.  And as for cost, this arrangement came in at $9 and the hardy blooms I've chosen will last 10-14 days with proper care...and set out on my foyer table, it reclaims my entryway and asserts "do not pile mail/hats/or any decapitated toy parts here"--can't beat that.

Be sure to check back for a regular series on flowers.