backstage at the photo shoot

Backstage at the photo shoot during the cupcake carnage.

We did Sloane's first birthday photos today (a month early but at least the pix will be ready in time to send cards and stuff, right?) with Jodi from A Yummy Life. She's amazing. Even helped pick out some photo-worthy clothing options for photo-worthy-clothing challenged me.

Sloane was insanely good. Tolerated five costume changes without a fuss including headgear, in spite of the fact that she hadn't had a nap all day. Impressive! Tagg was really good too, courtesy of the balloons, and the bribe of a potential cupcake at the end of the shoot. He owed me one. Apparently he hit a little girl at the park today and got timeout. Finally starting to figure out that the "timeout" rule applies to everyone, not just his sister!

I bought a few outfits for the photos, brought every single headwear, headband, flower thing I could find, and bought a little bouquet of flowers, balloons and a dozen over-priced jumbo cupcakes for the photos. All totally worth it! I can't wait to see the final outcome!

ten years today...

I found out I had cancer 10 years ago today. I think. Would you ever think that you wouldn't remember the exact day you got that call? I didn't. But I don't. I can't remember if it was the 11th or the 13th. I remember the day I found out I was cancer-free. August 13th, 2001. But the day I was diagnosed is just some random day in the middle of April.

The day I found out, I was at work at Huddleston Malone Design. I'd had my colonoscopy a few days before and I'd been having this nagging feeling that something was definitely not right for a few months. I even signed up for AFLAC cancer insurance about 3 days before I got tested. (Let me just say, I hadn't even paid a premium and thought if anything came of the test, they would pull the pre-existing condition card. They never did. As a matter of fact, AFLAC paid every claim with no grumping, groaning, hassle or anything. It was amazing and it saved us while I was going through treatment! I am a HUGE fan of the duck! Until he started making fun of Japan...but I still love the insurance!)

So the phone rang that spring day, and I answered, and the doctor's office said, "The polyps tested positive for cancer. Can you visit a colorectal surgeon this afternoon?" Are you shitting me? You just told me I have cancer over the phone. While I'm at work?! I don't know a better way to do it, but that sucked.

"Sure," I said. And then I went to a meeting. I'm serious. Because, you know, nothing had changed after that phone call and if I just pretended life was fine, it would be fine. I didn't even call Scott or my family and tell them. Denial, anyone? About halfway through the meeting I had to leave and I called Scott and told him and then tried to navigate the drive home through tears and shock and stuff.

I mean, what the hell! I was supposed to be getting married in a few months. So, with chemo and stuff I'd be skinny but bald? Not good! And let's not forget...this is CANCER. The big C. When you do the whole "till death do you part" business during the ceremony, you don't already want to have cancer in the mix. Tragic.

Ten years ago today might be the worst day ever. I'm glad it's all working out so that every day since is pretty much the best day ever.

shoe fetish

As evidenced by he fact that I own a pair of zebra striped, real hair, peep toe pumps, I have a small problem with shoes. And boots. And running shoes. And flip flops. I love them. I don’t know why, can’t explain it, but I love them. So I buy them, and lots of them. Luckily, I’m not super picky about brands. Apparently I’m a quantity over quality gal. Why buy 500 dollar Manolos when I can by like 5 pairs of Jessica Simpson or Skechers for the same price, hmmm? I know the answer, shoe snobs, I’m just too…uh, thrifty to go for the good stuff!. Yeah, so here’s my shoe closet.  

And my boot closet (you may remember this from the blog about Hoarding Hoarders. I wonder if it would look better if the shoes were on racks or something.)

And my flip-flop cubby. And my cool shoes I don’t really wear but can’t give away closet.

If I wore a pair a day, I could probably go for about 4 months and never wear the same pair twice.

So, I realize now that I am passing on my shoe addiction to my children (if it’s the only one, whew! but poor Sloane has no hope. Unless she totally rebels and just wears Toms and Converse her whole life.)

The sliver Nike "go-fast" shoes and
Woody cowboy boots and Reef flops like daddy's
are part of the donation.

I packed up about 25 pairs of 0-12 month little boy shoes in a basket, put a bow on it and delivered it to Michelle as a “Welcome, baby Finn” gift. Sure they’re used but that’s probably like 300 bucks worth of shoes! I wish someone had done that for me. Last week, bundled up 20+ pairs of 12-24 month shoes - another 300 bucks - and gave them away. Good hell! I never knew that kid shoes were such an investment

Some days I look at all the shoes and go…well, kid, it’s your college or my retirement. We’ll see!

first, first birthday

Aunt Tiff had a little one-year-old fiesta at her house. This was technically for Harper since her birthday was a few days passed. We didn't feel too badly about the belated celebration as the birthday girl was actually in California enjoying SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, the beach and 70 degree weather. Not too shabby for a first birthday!

Harper was kind enough to let Sloane share in her b-day festivities. They are just 5 weeks apart so it's kind of a joint celebration no matter how you slice it. So how do the girls party? Diapers? Check. Baby bundt cakes? Check. Tubby immediately after? Check.

We didn't get pictures but Harper slapped Sloane on her diaper bum leaving a big red velvet cake handprint. Classic. Both girls stood up on the table and at one point Harper was dancing. Becky said, "I hope this is the last time time my daughter does a naked table dance." Amen sister! I can only imagine the hijinks the cousin-twins get up to in years to come!

the sunday-snowday bbq

Roger, Sonal and Jenn enjoying the sun on
Jenn & Chris' deck at the new house.

We headed up to Park City on Sunday for a long overdue barbecue with our friends. They have 4 boys between them, age 7 to 14 months so we all fit right in. I still have no idea how people do it with more than one or two kids. Seriously, we had SIX under the age of seven, pretty close to what Scott's family, and it was nuts. Pushing, screaming, running, fighting over toys, let's not even talk about the after-dinner clean up under the dining room table. Impressive. Crazy but impressive! The weather decided to help us out...by snowing all weekend. Fortunately, the weather cleared up right when we arrived so we got the best of both worlds. Snowballs, sunshine... and burgers on the grill outside!

 

Tagg was a big fan of the snow. Even after he lost his shoes in a snow bank, he still ran around for a few minutes in his socks. 

Sloane and her first boyfriends...Will's pushing her
around the kitchen on a bike and Tyler is keeping an eye out.

Will finally got the foam hammer away from Sloane after she had beaten everyone including the dog with it. Poor Will already had a fat lip when we got there (hazard of being a new walker) so we were happy he was in charge of the weapon for change.

How cute are these two kids?! Four months apart. Apparently Will already has lots of girlfriend's but Sloane's not one to give up without a fight! We had a great time and all of us were very happy to start the festivities at 3 in the afternoon so we could get kids to bed at a reasonable time. That's good times when you're parenting!

a pinch of salt...

Eggs n cheese!

My lovely sister gave me a very cool gift for my birthday. I didn't realize exactly how cool it was until today. We went to a cooking class at Lugano, a charming Italian restaurant in Salt Lake that idolizes local, organic food and the art of dining. We were there with about 5 other people - a small class apparently - and had no idea what to expect. The theme was "spring produce" which was made a little challenging since it had been snowing for about a week and was dumping snow the whole time we were there. Still, there was a counter full of fresh greens and cheese and eggs, a full compliment of wine and espresso to start the meal. Off to a good start! 

Asparagus flan? Sounds gross. Looks yummy.
Verdict: WAS yummy!

The asparagus flan, finished version.
The blue cheese crumble in the bottom
was the over-the-top moment.

We made asparagus flan. Disgusting, right? That's what I thought! A. I do not like flan. B. How could nasty flan be made better with chunks of asparagus? I have to say, I was happily surprised by the outcome...it was like a little fluffy omelet with a little hit of bleu cheese melted on the top. I am now a flan fan.

Then Chef Greg whipped up some appies (he must have heard my stomach growling) - bruschetta with grilled  asparagus and braised greens and mascarpone cheese. So yummy! Hard to eat but delish! By now I was starting to realize that the key to good cooking is as follows: fresh, good ingredients, a really kick-ass knife, garlic, good olive oil and salt. And then more garlic.

Speaking of olive oil, that was the first thing we did. Tasted olive oil. Yep. He passed around two BOWLS of different olive oils, one from California and one from Spain and we dipped a spoon and took a slurp. Of olive oil. I can honestly say that I never, EVER thought I would eat straight olive oil off a spoon. But it was interesting, like wine tasting interesting, where you can actually taste different intensity, finishes, spices, and so on. Don't worry. I'm not about to start serving straight olive oils at any dinner parties.

We also made a roasted beet salad. For the record, I do not like beets. I pretty much hate them. They looked beautiful going into this salad, which also had fresh basil and blue cheese. The finished product? Looked like a work of art. Still smelled like canned beets. I ate some of the yellow ones and they were pretty good. There was a woman at our class from Costa Rica and she said that she had grown up on boiled, pureed beets and hated them. This dish changed her mind. I'm not all the way there, but close.

We made a citrus/clementine salad with grilled shrimp which was amazingly simply yet delicious. My favorite dish of the day, followed closely by (never thought I would say this) the flan!

Overall, a very cool experience which I would love to do again. My only critique is that I wish the attendees had been more engaged, with the cooking and each other. There were about 3 of us from my generation, the rest were more like my parents. Most of them were feverishly taking notes, on what I'm not sure. All very cool people but I didn't feel like we got warmed up before the cooking started and so the conversation during the meal was a little stunted. No matter what, we had a ball. Highly recommend it! We are starting to plan our next class or wine pairing dinner now. Want in?

Happy cooking! 

 

21

It's been three weeks since I savored my last beloved Diet Coke. I also gave up coffee just because it seemed like the caffeine version of a slippery slope. I still drink tea but can fool myself into believing that's super healthy. No more morning trips to Starbucks to spend 5 bucks on a Venti Skinny Sugar Free Vanilla Latte with 3 pumps of syrup so it's not so sweet - with a big straw. Somehow I always ended up behind the asshat who ordered 8 coffees through the drive-up, or in the line that was 8 cars deep...and still I would wait for the over-priced, still fattening no matter how you order it coffee. Way to go, branding!



 
On days when I didn't have time or money for my latte I would swing through McDonald's to get a Diet Coke - 32 oz of morning caffeinated love. Someday, someone will find out exactly why McDonald's Diet Coke so much better than everyone else's. And then I'd have another one for lunch. And maybe a little canned soda in some yawner afternoon meeting. That's a damn lot of caffeine in one day! And let's just think, I've been a Coke junkie since I was 13 when I used to get a glass bottle out of the teacher's lounge at my junior high every single morning. I figured out the Pepsi AM thing before Pepsi did. But somewhere in my 30s I decided to make the shift from regular to Diet because "they" said you could lose 5 pounds easy by making that shift. Apparently, "they" were wrong. Diet Coke makes you fatter. http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20050613/drink-more-diet-soda-gain-more-weight

So today I hit my 21st day of no Diet Coke. I did have one coffee but I figure that's not so bad. At least it's not the all-chemical soda with aspertame that is apparently making my hair and nails not grow, giving me gas, and could someday give me facial ticks because it's eating away my brain! How many people have ever told you about the "coke ate the penny" story? My dad told me that a million times I think and yet, according to Snopes, it's all false. But still, have you read some of these studies about how detrimental soda and its ingredients can be? Yipe, yipe, yipe!

Don't get me wrong, I still crave it every once in awhile but I think "they" might be right...if you kick something for 3 weeks, you've got it kicked. Bring on the iced tea (thanks, mom and dad). I'm off the sauce. At least the Diet Coke kind.