All Things Fancy

An Anniversary Preview

2011-02-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

Micah and I are celebrating our four-year wedding anniversary this month. The four year traditional gift is linen or silk, so that inspired Micah to commission a local artist, Sloane Merrick to create a custom piece for my currently-being-renovated office. Sloane is dating someone I have grown up with my whole life so we are still getting to know her, but from what we do know, we adore her and her work. She definitely has some fancy pieces in her gallery of work, so please, take a minute and visit her site by clicking here. We are still quite a ways away from our custom piece of art being completed as we are only in the discussion / ideas phase, but of course I will post a picture once it is complete. I can hardly wait!

Heart Shaped Scones for your Valentine

2011-02-05T13:46:00.003-06:00

My friend Jessica taunted me by only TELLING me about some delicious cranberry and hazelnut scones that she made at her house (which I can't get to because of the snow!), AND she wouldn't even give me the recipe because she wants me to try them first. So, it got me thinking about scones and I wanted to make some as equally delicious as the ones Jess described. I searched on my epicurious app and well, I happened to have all the ingredients to make Glazed Raspberry Heart Scones. When you only have slightly less than 1/3 cup sugar, it is hard to find any baked good to make. (I was also out of raspberry jam and substituted with strawberry.) These were fabulous and pretty. Once they came out of the oven I forgot completely about the glaze, but now I figure it was a few less calories I needed to consume this morning. With the jam and the sugar already in the dough, they are plenty sweet without the glaze, but I'm sure the glaze would have made them so much prettier. I also froze half the dough. Since it is only Micah and I eating them, I figured we didn't need to each consume a few tablespoons of butter and half cup each of whipping cream! With the dough I was freezing, I added about 1/4-1/2 tsp. almond extract. I wish I had thought of it before I baked the first half, but alas, I did not. So, the almond is added to the next batch, and I did taste that dough - and WOW, it is going to be amazing! These are reasonably simple to make but they look so complex (in a fancy, delicate way), and they are absolutely delicious. Please note that never once do I say they are healthy. This is a far cry from my raw desserts.

Glazed Raspberry Heart Scones
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons whipping cream
1/3 cup (about) raspberry jam (do not use seedless)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon rose water (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles fine meal. Gradually add 1 cup cream, mixing until dough comes together. Turn dough out onto sheet of foil; pat to 1/2-inch thickness. Using 3-inch heart-shaped or round cookie cutter, cut out scones. Gather scraps; pat to 1/2-inch thickness and cut out additional scones. Using floured knife, start at point of each heart and cut horizontally halfway through scones; fill with 1 generous teaspoon jam (jam will show at edges). Transfer to baking sheet. Bake scones until brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool scones until slightly warm.
Meanwhile, mix powdered sugar, remaining 3 tablespoons cream, and rose water in bowl to blend. Spread glaze over scones. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Bon Appétit
February 2005

The Snowpocolypse

2011-02-01T14:24:00.003-06:00

Oklahoma has been hit by a snow storm that apparently is so severe we haven't seen one like it in 100 years! The proof is my backyard. The railroad tie you see peeking out is about my waist level, and the snow is almost there! It does make for a wonderful week of being snowed in with my husband and baby though. Daisy is quite enjoying snow for her snacks.

And this all brings me to my "fancy find" I want to share. There is a good chance you already know about the iphone and ipad app, Epicurious, but if you don't, well, you need to download it. The app is free and it has tons of recipes and is updated often so it fits with holiday planning or specialialty categories like cocktails even. For valentines day they have sinful desserts and chocolate dessert categories as well as romantic dinner recipes. Since we were anticipating the great snow, I did have to meal plan and grocery shop yesterday and here is my menu for the next week + (the snow is expected to last one week):

Winter Vegetable Soup and Artisan bread

Roast Turkey and Winter Vegetables

Tuscan Turkey Soupy Noodles

Black Beans and Rice

Chicken with balsamic roasted brussell sprouts

Chicken Ceasar Salad

Curried Lentil Soup

Braised Chicken with Dates and Morrocon Spices

Homemade Hummus

Roasted tomatoes with mozzerella

Can you tell I love my veggies roasted? I am sure if they are amazing I will share the full recipe here, but until then, download Epicurious!

The Newest Members of the Family

2011-01-17T14:21:00.006-06:00

There are two new family members since December - one is a fish and the other (and more importantly) a nephew - so, no, I am still NOT pregnant. So, for the fish ...Micah and I went to a Christmas party where they had a white elephant gift exchange. I took home a goldfish and a bag of fish-fry. I thought I was a winner since I knew Daisy would love having a pet at home, even if it wasn't pettable or make any sound. Sure enough, she was thrilled until the next morning when it died and she saw me dispose of it in the toilet. As my brother Eric would say, I have a cold heart, so I didn't think Daisy would be attached or know what was happening. Well, she cried right after and waved at the toilet and all day said "bye - bye fish". And when I mean all day, I mean all day, at random times, and especially whenever we passed by the bathroom. So, that night, Micah surprised Daisy and I by coming home with a new fish - a beta, and one we named "brother". We were tossing around names, and we said "brother" and it was the first name Daisy repeated, so it was decided - she has a "Brother". Every day Daisy still likes to go feed brother, kiss the bowl, say "hi" to brother, hug the bowl, give Brother a nickel or penny, and point at his nose and eyes. Some might say this is torture that I have not given the girl a dog, but I say it is teaching her patience and gratitude! (or really I just don't want the added responsibility or mess or expense)

The other family member, not to be second to Brother in the slightest - is our new precious nephew born to Micah's sister Sarah and her partner Justin. They had quite the labor and delivery story, which has given us a new appreciation for the miracle of birth and the knowledge and tools of modern medicine which certainly saved both Sarah and her sweet baby boy, Hero's lives. We are thrilled he is here and that they are both now healthy and on the road to recovery, and of course the more cousins and kids, the merrier!

I bet you wish you worked with me

2011-01-17T13:55:00.004-06:00

I realize how late this is, but I think I should save my breath on apologizing for the delays between postings because, well, I just get to it when I can and who needs more guilt in their life? So, with that said, I do think after reading this, you will wish you worked with me and here is why... I made peppermint patties for our co-worker's Christmas gifts. The recipe is from the November issue of Family Fun - a magazine I found in my doctor's office.

Ingredients:
2 tblspn plus 1 teaspoon water
1 tblspn light corn syrup
1 tspn fresh lemon juice
1 tspn peppermint extract
1 1lb box confectioner's sugar (3 3/4 cup)
1 tblspn shortening
10-12 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
6 hard mint candies crushed in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together the water, corn syrup, lemon juice, and extract. Then sift in half the sugar. Add the shortening and beat on medium, then slowly sift in the remaining sugar until the mix is well combined.

2. Knead the mixture into a ball (it will be very stiff, add 1/2 tspn water to make workable if necessary). Use the bottom of a glass pie plate to apply firm even pressure to flatten the ball between sheets of waxed paper into a circle about 9 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. Lay the waxed paper- covered disk on a cookie sheet and freeze until it's firm - about 15 minutes.

3. Place the frozen disk on a cutting surface and remove and reserve the waxed paper. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment. With a small round cutter, cut out circles from the disk, then place them on the cookie sheet. Gather the scraps into a ball and use the pie plate and waxed paper to flatten it again and cut more circles until the entire disk is used up. Freeze the circles for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, melt, the chocolate in the top of a double broiler over barely simmering water. Coat the patties one at a time; balance each on a form and dip it, then shake off any excess chocolate before returning the coated patty to the parchment. Sprinkle each patty with a bit of crushed mint candy. Add more chocolate to the double boiler as necessary until all the patties are coated.

5. Harden the finished patties in the fridge for at least an hour, and preferably overnight. Store them in an airtight container int he fridge, layered between sheets of waxed paper, for up to one month. Makes 5 dozen (approx, depends on the size circle you cut).

Tip - I used two cookie sheets and would rotate them in and out of the freezer during the chocolate dipping stage. If they would get too warm or room temp, they would tend to fall apart a bit in the chocolate. So, I tried to only dip them if they were still pretty cold from the freezer.

Greyere, Caramelized Onions and Apple Pizzas

2010-11-01T14:28:00.004-05:00

I know, sounds terrible right? Wrong! It is delicious. When I saw this recipe (where? I don't remember) I thought it was either going to be wonderful or horrible and I am glad to say it is wonderful. I am also glad the author did not include "beans" in the recipe title or I probably would have skipped it over completely. So, since I do think it is wonderful, I am sharing the recipe with you. I tore this out of a magazine but don't remember which one so I can't cite the author- my apologies to the chef.

4 tsp olive oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 medium red apples, halved, cored and thinly sliced
2 cans white beans (I used great northern), drained and rinsed
2 tbspn fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled (or 2 tsp fresh)
4 whole wheat tortillas (8-in)
2 cups shredded Gruyere (or Swiss if you can't find Gruyere)
1/4 c chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 450
2. In a large skillet, warm 2 tsp oil over medium heat. Add onions and toss to coat. Add 3/4 cup water, bring to a boil, and cook 5 min. longer.
3. Add apple slices and cook until apples are crisp-tender, onions are golden, and liquid has evaporated, 7-10 min.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mash beans with remaining oil (I didn't do that), lemon juice, salt, rosemary, and 3 tblspn water (I also didn't add the water)
5. place tortillas on 2 large baking sheets. Spread bean paste evenly over tortillas. Top with the onion-apple mixture, cheese and then pecans.
6. Bake about 5 min. until pizzas are piping hot and cheese has melted. Serve hot.

per pizza - 648 cal, 24 g fat, 36 g protein, 14 g fiber

Fancy that for dinner tonight!

Gluten Free! Why? Because Life Isn't Complicated Enough.

2010-10-20T17:00:00.005-05:00

So, I thought on my next grocery rendezvous that I would try some gluten free recipes for the next couple weeks, just to see if it made a difference in how I felt or possibly Daisy (more in how Daisy's diapers smelled to be honest). Notice, I don't mention Micah because he is not eating at home right now because he is filming a movie. Notice also that I am doing this experiment while Micah is not eating what I am making at home!

I have heard many a time that gluten free baked goods are akin to rubber. Well, my first gluten free baked good was actually quite delicious and Micah happened to sample it and never knew it was gluten free. The taste of the batter on these Pumpkin Spice Muffins was quite gross and tasted like flax seed, but baked, they were great. So, I thought I would share the recipe with you! I got the base of the recipe from Glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com but some of the ingredients were too expensive to purchase for just a trial run at this, so I made a few modifications. So, here is what I did:

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan w/ paper liners.

2 & 1/3 c gluten free baking mix
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground flax seed
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I ended up adding a dash more at the end, along with the ginger)
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix the above till combined
Add in
1 & 1/3 c. packed brown sugar (I didn't say this was completely healthy)
1 cup pumpkin puree (or most of the can like I did)
1/3 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 tsp lemon juice
mix all together

Then add 1/2 cup almond milk (I ended up adding a little more than 1/2 cup)

Beat until incorporated. You can stir in nuts, raisins, chocolates...I did none of those. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack to keep the bottoms from getting soggy. You can wrap and freeze to keep for later but they do take a while to defrost or re-heat if you do that. I prefer the method of cook as many as you will eat that day and then save the batter. Hope you enjoy!

Daisy and Ellen

2010-10-10T13:18:00.003-05:00

So, I still like to watch Ellen most days and I set the tivo to record it. What can I say, she makes me laugh!? Daisy has also seemed to pick up on Ellen being a happy time and whenever she hears the theme song start to come on, she starts dancing. So, here is a quick video montage of her reaction to the start of the Ellen show.

Daydreamer

2010-09-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

So, my friend and fabulous photographer, Brenda Horan, just posted a link to this web-site and well, it is so fancy and creative that I too wanted to share it with anyone who reads this blog. This is such an inspired and creative mom! I love what she has done with her imagination. The picture above, titled "Gone Fishing," is just one of many scenes she has put her daughter in. You should definitely look at this blog here.

A Life Update (no, we're not pregnant)

2010-09-20T11:20:00.000-05:00

So, I was talking to a friend who lives in another state a couple weeks ago, and shockingly she does not have a facebook account to keep up with life there, so I thought for her sake and anyone else, I would give a brief update. So here goes...

I recently completed two sprint traithlons! The second one, my mom competed with me and I am proud to say we both finished. I think that will be one memory I will cherish forever!

Us before the race around 5:30am!

Micah may be changing jobs in the next couple months - to what? We don't know either.

Daisy is a full-on toddler!!! She is running her legs and her mouth quite frequently. Definitely has a will of her own, LOVES being around mommy, goes to Mom's Day Out Pre-school twice a week and generally just has so much personality! She loves to play with toilet plungers (we try not to let her when we see her with it), she still loves to snuggle any and all stuffed animals, and as much fun as she can be, she can also be a challenge with that spirited personality of hers. I am still reading parenting books, trying to find a "Growing Kids God's Way Class" and desperately praying at least once a week on how to be a better parent!

The Newman side of the family all went on vacation in the first part of August to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. It was SO fun for all the cousins to play together. They loved it, and we loved it.

Micah's parents moved up from Texas to Bartlesville, OK so they are much closer and his sister moved to Frisco, TX with her fiance and they are expecting a baby! (Yeah! Another cousin for Daisy!)

We feel blessed in life with great friends, family close by, lots of love and all the physical necessities, plus some (including a new washer and dryer that Daisy likes to sit and watch run since it has a window in the front)! Thanks for reading my blog and being a part of our lives.

The Updated Home Exterior

2010-09-18T10:57:00.007-05:00

So, I feel I must apologize now to all people who feel that stone and wood should never be painted (my in-laws included), because well, I paint them. Remember this:

Well, this time I painted stone. We had a darker, 70's style and tone stone - of which there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! However, for my personal taste, I felt it was a bit dark and cold in feeling and made our house feel somewhat squaty in stature. So, here is the before and after.

I really LOVE the way the new color shows off all of Micah's hard work on the lawn (and hopefully one year some really great landscaping to go along with that), and I also still love the new accent color which is my front door. I am undecided on keeping my flower boxes the accent color though versus changing them to the trim (cappucino) color instead and letting the flowers next spring inside the boxes be the color. But, I was too done with painting to re-do them. So, I will just decide next spring! Next project - re-doing my office and making it a bit more feminine since I do spend so much time in here now that I work from home!

Bedazzled Pacis

2010-08-20T10:09:00.001-05:00

So, we had Daisy's one-year photo shoot today with the marvelous Brenda Horan of Brenda Horan Photography and Daisy skipped her afternoon nap. I knew it was going to be a doozy of a shoot because of that and for some reason every time, and I mean EVERY time we have had a photo shoot with her it has been a bad nap day. I am pretty sure Brenda thinks we have a very unruly child (and she isn't altogether wrong in that idea when it comes to naps either). So, anyway, I thought we might need a paci. As sad as it is to have a photo shoot with a paci in the mouth and at ONE YEAR old (hence my blogging absence - birthday party, photo shoot, sprint triathlong training and vacation pics soon to be caught up), I thought I might be that desperate to use a paci. In an attempt to make the paci a little more fancy for the photos, I bedazzled it. No, I unfortunately do not own a bedazzler, but I do own a hot glue gun and some fake diamonds! So, check out Daisy's new bling for her grill!

Livin' the Fancy Life

2010-08-18T22:06:00.003-05:00

Apparently appreciating all things fancy must run in the family. This is my brother on a work trip; he was staying at a luxurious TBN home. He specifically asked if he would make my blog for this and well, it doesn't get much fancier than this so the answer was a resounding "YES!". I now only regret not talking to him in a French accent the whole time he was there to add that extra umph of Fancy because I am not sure there was enough.

My New Door

2010-07-16T15:13:00.005-05:00

We recently had the house painted (pics coming soon) and my FAVORITE part is the door. I picked a beautiful persimmon color and I absolutely love it. Normally, I have such a hard time picking out paint colors, so I was thrilled it worked without having to sample multiple colors to find the right one. I also hinted at a craft project in a previous post I was starting on, and here is the finished product! It was my front door decoration!

Instead of making a wreath, which was a little too intimidating and expensive for me, I painted a "B" in the house color and then added some pearlized paint on top, and then used my especiality of crafting - a hot glue gun! I am quite pleased with the finished product. It really was so simple too - just picked out a hydrangea flower, and some green berry looking sprays that I liked, tore them apart, and then glued the sections on in the places I liked them best. It was done in an hour (not including the painting part which had to dry of course). I like the unique factor that most doors don't have an initial but rather a traditional wreath, and I think it turned out pretty too! The light color on the persimmon door is a strong contrast, and it being close to the house-color still makes it seem tied-in too. Hope you enjoy as much as I do, and now you can easily recognize my house if you are ever coming by!

Why I Started This Blog

2010-07-05T11:40:00.000-05:00

Remember the cute headband post from a few days ago? Well, that same friend, Brenda Horan, just posted a link to this site that sells the MOST FANCY AND AMAZING BABY SHOES I HAVE EVER SEEN. I could easily spend all my money buying these, so since that is the case I probably won't buy any because I wouldn't be able to stop. It's like those chips, you can't have just one. It is these kinds of "fancy" things that make my heart smile and why I started this blog; well, these shoes and imagining my most beautiful daughter wearing them.

Speaking of my most beautiful daughter. One of my biggest struggles as a mom was the whole sleep issue. Having watched the babywise DVDs and read numerous books on the subject of baby sleep, I thought I understood everything I needed to do to get my daughter to sleep well from the get-go. Turns out, the books just don't give room for the babies that have to grow into loving to sleep and learning to nap, which was the case with my little flower. I fortunately found another mommy-blog that was also a "baby-wise mom" and her baby didn't learn to nap longer than 45 minutes until 13 months old. Reading that blog was so comforting because after trying cry-it-out a couple times and various other less extreme methods, nothing worked. Well, I am proud to say that Daisy is doing significantly better on her naps, and it is now more the norm for her to take 1.5 hour naps than the 45 minute naps. If she wakes up at 45 minutes, most of the time she is able to put herself back to sleep. Tonight, when I laid her down still awake, she flipped over onto her stomach grabbed her bear and put her butt in the air as fast as she could, looked at me and then just calmly closed her eyes as if she couldn't wait to go to sleep. It was such a great moment for me. So, for any other moms out there struggling wtih sleep issues, your baby can learn to sleep and sometimes they just have to grow into it!

Born Shopper

2010-07-03T20:30:00.007-05:00

We discovered today, at Home Depot of all places, that Daisy is a born shopper! Well, at least she is born to push a cart. So, for your viewing pleasure, here is the video proof.

Also, I started a new craft! Here is a hint of a picture. Any guesses as to what this will be?

A Fancy Headband

2010-07-01T19:54:00.003-05:00

My fashionable and sweet friend, Brenda Horan (also stellar photographer), recently wore this headband to a baby sip-n-see. If you haven't heard of a sip-n-see, it is such a fancy party that it deserves it's own post but it is basically a post-baby baby shower, usually just drinks are served (and by drinks I mean some sort of Southern cocktail).

You can get the headband here.

Seared Tuna Steaks with Wasabi Butter Sauce

2010-06-21T21:03:00.003-05:00

Yes, that was dinner the other night. MMM, it was so delicious with capital "m's". I salt and peppered the raw steaks, and then using a cast-iron grill pan, I seared the tuna on both sides, about 2 min. total per side (I like them nice and rare in the middle). The recipe for the Wasabi-Butter sauce can be found here. I served it alongside a bitter green salad of baby arugula and romain with mango, sesame seeds and chives. It was delicious! In case you make this at home and you don't think it was as good as I claim, you may have to forgive me because it was my first meal coming off a week-long diet cleanse! This was a surprisingly simple dinner but it looks oh-so-fancy! Bon apetite!

The Finished Nursery

2010-06-09T20:06:00.005-05:00

You thought I was finished blogging? No, just taking a sebatical! Those are needed every once in a while.

I never posted pics of the finished nursery, mostly because it wasn't finished until, oh this last week! The bedding was finished around 6 months, the window valance around Daisy's 7.5 month birthday, and the painting I commissioned at 7.5 months, well that was completed this last week. So, it is finally complete!

This is the great wall of photos. I have a baby photo of each Micah and I, and then a variety of pictures of Daisy. I spray painted all the frames orange and hung pink ribbon vertically down the wall to line up the photos. I painted the changing table to match the crib.
My mom found the armouir and Micah and I picked out the chair both pieces from Sunshine Furniture. Side table from Ikea. Daisy loves the lamp from Grandma Barnard because it is sparkly.

I don't think I could love the window treatments or the chandelier more. Two of my favorite features in the room.

The flower balls I made in honor of my wedding, and the recently completed painting by Mrs. Judy McIntosh. It is from the verse Isaiah 60:1 which was the verse we used at her dedication.

All in all, I love it! Lots of work from me, my mom (bedding and curtains), Judy McIntosh, and of course Micah to assemble it all!

Daisy Cupcakes!!!

2010-02-23T13:59:00.005-06:00

Yes, this is a pan to make cupcakes in the shape of Daisys! I saw this at William's Sonoma and I couldn't resist. These will be the most perfectly suited, and fancy cupcakes for my little girl! I am planning on breaking these out for her one year birthday which is only 5 months away!!! Ahh, she is over half a year old already!!!!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-16T21:49:00.002-06:00

Micah is working on a feature film at the moment, so our time together is about 1.5 hours each evening until we both collapse in bed around 10:00pm. (I know, we are party animals!) So, knowing he wouldn't want a full dinner and that we would be too tired for much, and that we didn't have a babysitter, we had a small celebration of our big love, and no, not big love as in multiple wives. There is just me, and I am pretty sure he would say that I am plenty to handle. Micah had flowers delivered for Daisy and I on Saturday, and on Valentine's evening I tried surprising him with heart shaped brownies with raspberry whipping cream (so it would be pink), steamed artichoke and sparkling French limonade. I say "tried" because I didn't have it all ready when he walked in because it happened to coincide with bath, dinner and bed-time for Daisy, so it was still sitting on the counter when he came home. Oh well, it was the effort that night! After, Daisy was finally alseep, I served it candlelight picnic style to step-up the romance a bit. It was a small celebration, but still a wonderful evening and a good nod in a busy schedule to something so incredibly important - Love. I do love my husband very much.

Everytime I have tried (4 times) to include pictures on this post, it crashes, so since it is already so far after Valentine's Day, this is going up without the pics of our picnic or heart-shaped brownies.

To make the heart shaped brownies, I made them in a pan, then cut out a square portion and stamped the square with the cookie cutter. For the raspberry whipping cream, I added some of the Torani Raspberry Flavored syrup and a little sugar to whipping cream. It was really delicious and I don't usually like fruit and chocolate together (unless it is strawberries)! However, If you have never tried a steamed artichoke, I would highly recommend you make that, serve alongside some lemon butter for dipping- mmmm I think I want celebrate Valentine's all over again!

My First Pair of Heels

2010-02-08T14:48:00.001-06:00

So, you already know Daisy has her first LBD (Little Black Dress), well, now she also has her first pair of high-heels. There is hardly anything fancier than plush heels for babies (well, maybe the rinestone studded pacifiers) who can't even walk yet. I couldn't resist. They were an early Valentine's Day present from her daddy. I think he will have to take her out on a date with them soon. (pic will follow of that for sure!)

6 Months Old!

2010-02-05T20:12:00.006-06:00

Daisy is half a year already!!! She laughs, babbles, has two teeth, army crawls, splashes, sits up on her own, loves eating green peas and also refuses to nap. She is so much fun and sometimes so exhausting too. Our friend Brenda Horan took some great 6 month photos of her and they are so incredibly fancy so of course I have to share.

Cream of Roasted Tomato Soup

2010-02-05T20:06:00.003-06:00

Tonight's dinner was a Cream of Roasted Tomato Soup and it was delicous! So, I thought I should share the recipe! (click here) It really does only serve two so if you are feeding more than 2 people, or even just one of my brother Jordan, and you want more, you will need to double this recipe. The first time I made this, I served it alongside smoked gouda grilled cheese sandwiches. I probably wouldn't do Gouda next time, but grilled cheese of any sort is delicious with this. This soup has alot of texture, and you can really taste all the layers from the wine, to the cream, to the tomatoes of course. Hope you like it!

I'm Back with Ribbons and Bows!

2010-01-29T12:07:00.004-06:00

Well, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue blogging, but since I kept thinking about it, and with Micah's encouragement, I decided I would go ahead and start blogging again. They may be more sparse than before I had a baby and a new business, (especially this next month as I am basically a single mom because of Micah's work schedule), but I will be blogging. So, to start off my return, I thought I would share a few new fancy hair accessories I have made for Daisy. Lucky for Kinsley, Daisy's friend who is 8 weeks younger, she will also be getting matching ones! Tutorial coming soon, but for now, here are the finished products.

I call this the Aunt Jemima T-shirt Headband- she has one in white too.

Ellen

2009-11-13T09:10:00.003-06:00

So, now that I work part time, I have discovered the joy that is The Ellen Show. Everyone knows dance is a huge part of my past, and how much I love playing games, so it really is the perfect show for me (not to mention when she gives away cars, or pays bills, or gives money to people in need it kinda makes me want to cry which is really embarrasing to cry during a talk show). I think Daisy might like the show too (or maybe she just likes to be diaperless):

You might be asking why she is diaperless, and that is because I was in the middle of changing her diaper but her bloomers were in need of a good rinse in the sink, so while I did that, I let her lay on a blanket in the living room. So then she peed.

Done?

2009-11-03T09:51:00.005-06:00

I have had a hard time blogging lately, in case you couldn't tell. While there are things I think are exciting and many yummy recipes (like last nights seared tuna steaks with a ginger cream sauce and steamed artichoke), adorable moments with Daisy (ie: recent pumpkin patch visit and zebra halloween costume), etc. I am just not sure I am committed to telling the internet about all of it. So, forgive me as I take some more time to stare at my daughter and decide. You can stare at her in the meantime too.

Garden and Gun

2009-10-02T10:31:00.004-05:00

If you are wondering where I have been, well I was in Europe. Yes, I wrote that correctly, EUROPE. I went to Switzerland and Austria as Micah was the best man in a wedding there recently. So, of course many posts coming on the trip and all the fanciness there, but first, before I left, I encountered this magazine in Whole Foods:

I don't have the words. I took a picture on my phone because I didn't think anyone would believe me that this magazine existed and I was sure I was not going to see anything like this in Europe. So when I wanted to be reminded of what it was like to live in America, well, I just looked at this photo. (okay, in truth, it never came to that. I didn't look at this once but I knew I had the option.)

A Fancy Dress for a Fancy Little Lady

2009-09-18T13:44:00.000-05:00

My brother's girlfriend gave us this dress for Daisy and I was so excited to dress her up in it. It finally (sort of) fits, so we went to a baby shower with her all dressed up! Congratulations Jody, we can't wait to meet your little girl!

A little something

2009-09-16T13:33:00.000-05:00

I recently picked up this black head-band and thought I would share it with you. I think this is a fun accessory, super cheap and adds just a little fanciness to any outfit. You can find it at Forever 21 for about $4!

And when I say "recently picked -up" I mean my husband sent me on a surprise shopping spree to Kansas City with my friend Liz, while he and Liz's husband watched Daisy all day.

Yes, I took those pictures on a white burp cloth which I realize is the complete opposite of fancy, but hey, did I mention how my husband sent me on a shopping spree?

A Dedication Gift

2009-09-14T13:49:00.000-05:00

Micah's mother gave us a really sweet and sentimental gift for Daisy's dedication, Little Visits with God. It is a devotional book that she used to read to Micah and his siblings when they were growing up. This book is such a special treasure and I am looking forward to reading it to Daisy her future siblings too.

Notice the coffee stain? I will likely be adding my own to this book as well.

Daisy's Couture Dedication Outfit

2009-09-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

We had Daisy's dedication at church over Labor Day weekend. An event for which all my in-laws generously came in to town. I couldn't decide what to dress her in for the occasion and considering I had just started working again, I didn't have time to really go shopping. So, I got it in my head that an all white tutu would be just precious for the occasion and that was something I could make! I was struggling with what else she should wear to go with the tutu and a friend of mine offered her daughters dedication outfit, unfortunately, it was already out on loan, and a couple months too big for Daisy, so while I didn't borrow it, it gave me an idea of what to do for the rest of Daisy's outfit- add huge white satin ribbon bows to each shoulder on a white onesie! Well, I think the outfit turned out just precious and I made it in one day working on it on and off throughout visiting with my husband's family. What do you think?

So, if you want to make this tutu, here are some simple directions:
1. Get a piece of elastic, I used 1/2in. Measure the width around you want the tutu to be, and cut to that size. Sew the two ends together to make the circle.
2. I purchased 1.5 yards of white tulle and probably only used about 1 yard of it, but I wasn't sure how much I would need. I cut the tulle in about 1-2 inch wide pieces and about 8 inches long and then I tied, as in a knot, around the elastic with the knot on the outside.
3. Tie and tie some more strips of the tulle, squishing them together tighter and tighter until the tutu is about the thickness you want!
4. I then tied a half-inch ribbon into a bow and hand sewed that on the to the front of the tutu.

For the onesie, I used 1.5 inch satin ribbon and tied it in two equal size bows and sewed them so that they wouldn't come undone. Then I sewed those on to each shoulder, and tacked the looped part of the bow down on the front and back of each shoulder (so it wouldn't get in her face).

To dress your child in something like this, it will require two people, and a video tutorial so that you will have to figure out on your own! (really, each time it took Micah and I together to get the tutu on and off)

Once Upon A Friday- my first blog post ever

2009-09-09T15:38:00.000-05:00

Years ago, when it was really cool, I started a myspace page. I have since closed it, but that was my first place where I wrote a "blog" entry. My husband reminded me of it today when he wanted me to tell my in-laws this story that I wrote, so I thought I would share it with you too. It is a personal and funny story taken from my life from about three years ago, and it is probably one of the most un-fancy days ever!:

Once Upon A Friday
Current mood: amused
Category: Blogging

Once Upon A Friday, is a true story taken from a day in the life of none other than myself, Cheryl Newman. I preface the story with that, because otherwise it may be a bit too unbelievable to believe that anyone could have a day quite like mine was on the 12 of May, in the year 2006.

It all started at 1:30am that Friday morning; well really I suppose the trauma you could say actually happened around 9:00pm the evening before, when my mother first steped on a 50 year old, rusty nail from a floor board on my brother's new-to-him house, but my story begins at 1:30am. My dad woke me up. Part of the disorientation I experienced at this point was because I have temporarily re-located to our upstairs gameroom for a bedroom, as my 96 year-old great grandmother has taken over my bedroom. As most 1:30 am wake-up calls are, it was an emergency, "Cheryl, can you please take your mom to the emergency room." So naturally, I jumped out of bed and got dressed. After 20 minutes of trying to figure out which hospital to go to so that insurance would cover it, we just decided to go the one downtown (a good 25 min. drive from our house). The hospital story has some elements to it that do add to the insanity of the Friday but pale in comparison to the ones coming up, so for the sake of brevity (which I realize I have already lost), I will pass over the details of my mom not removing her hand from her bottom so the nurse could give her a shot, but instead asking if she could just talk because it was much more enjoyable than the alternative. We left the hospital around 3:30am about which time the anesthetic began wearing off for my mom. So we went to WalGreens to fill her pain medication prescription and antibiotics. While there I decided to do a little grocery shopping as Great Grandma gets cranky if she does not have protien in the mornings and we were currently out of eggs, milk and bacon. "Taint funny McGee," is the phrase we are currently hearing, while she shakes the longest pointer finger in the world, if things aren't quite how Grandma thinks they should be (including her breakfast). We are still trying to figure out where the name "McGee" came from and who decided a proper usage for the word "taint" could be followed by "funny McGee" versus the dictionary definition of: "(tnt) v. To affect with or as if with a disease. "

One prescription hydrocodone pill later, we made it home. By the time we made it home, the pain was unbearable, and putting her swollen and infected foot below her head was not an option. We tried hopping, tossed around the idea of sleeping in the car, and finally arrived on a combination of a crab walk/scoot with her right leg in the air to get my mom into the house. Twenty minutes into our neighbors thinking I am dragging my drunk or dead mother into the house, she made it to the doorstep, (and please picture this) she lay on the floor, lifted her arms up to me and asked me to drag her to a couch. (we tried taking a picture to commemorate the event, but all I got were pictures of her on the floor) Another pain pill later and almost a call to an ambulance to come manage pain, I decided to wake my dad at 6:00am to help me.

By now you are probably wondering where my dad has been; well, being the responsible and thoughtful daughter that I am, and my father turning 50 in March, not to mention his incredible digestive wonders we often hear/smell, I scheduled a colonoscopy for my dad and it happened to be that Friday. So, all Thursday and through the night to Friday, he was relegated to staying close to a toilet due to the laxitives they had him on for the procedure. 6:00am I went to bed for about 4 hours to be woken up by a phone call from my brother, panicked about my mom and to check and see if the infection had spread (I thought he had information or news that developed in my short nap, but everything was fine). Too late, I was up now for the long day. Well, then my grandma appeared fully dressed for the day wearing her nightgown, blue gingham pants underneath and then she somehow found my closet and borrowed a white polo shirt of mine to wear on top of her nightgown, no bra necessary. I let her alone in her new outfit and made her the protein filled breakfast I had purchased at 4:30am. Just before my dad and younger brother were to leave for the hospital, my grandma shat her pants. We keep her in adult diapers for such occasions as these, but nonetheless, it is always messy. To spare myself from dry-heaving and anyone that reads this rediculously long blog, I won't go into detail, except to say that cleaning her up was followed by giving her a shower. That sounds reasonably harmless, except for the fact that my childhood allergy is still strong. When I was very young I told my parents, in all sincerity, "I am allergic to gross things," of which cleaning a great grandmother's dirty diaper is one. My allergic reaction this time was unfortunatly seasless dry-heaving.

So, finally a break, mom is asleep, Grandma is clean, and then a phone call. Jordan let my dad drive himself to the hospital and now the hospital won't start the procedure until someone is waiting there with my dad. Our housekeeper was at the house so I felt comfortable she could handle any certain emergencies while I drove my brother downtown to drop him off. Since I obviously was not going to make it into the office today, I decided I should take advantage of the time and exercise. I jumped on the trampoline, ran around the block and came inside to check on everyone, jump on the trampoline, run around the block and check on everyone, repeat, and repeat again for 40 minutes. (jumping is good for the lymphatic system, and also to make you appear crazy to the barely English speaking housekeeper.) Shortly after that, mom summoned me for a bucket, the pain pills finally hit her stomach and they were not settling well. She didn't want me to be there for that, so in consideration of my allergy, I assured her it was no problem to run away at that moment. I went to hide. I hid, by myself, upstairs in my new makeshift bedroom for 10 minutes. On my way down the stairs I meet my brother who had just returned from the hospital with my groggy father, asking me if I can clean throw-up because he will dry-heave. I politely gave him his turn at it.

The rest of the evening had minor events in it, enough that it was in line with handicapped day, in a nutshell they included my father arguing with me in his sleep (twice) and not remembering it, my grandma in 30 second to 2 minute intervals, informing me of my father still asleep on the couch and trying to take him to a bed that she did not know the location of, intermitent moans from my mom, making dinner, and me leaving town on my scheduled trip to see Micah's brother graduate from OU. I fortunately have a kind and selfless girlfriend who was willing to take a shift with my disabled family, so I left town and drove with my boyfriend to Norman. It didn't take long before I was laughing at the day and then falling asleep in the car. Before I catch you laughing, let me say, "taint funny McGee."

My husband is 32!

2009-09-08T13:21:00.001-05:00

Micah turned 32 on September 1st. (I realize some of these posts are a little out of order- but hey, I'm a new mom and get to these things when I can!) Here is his daughter giving him his first ever present from her (dirty diapers not counted):

It was a framed photo for him to keep in his office of this picture:

We celebrated with margaritas and dinner downtown at El Guapo on his actual birthday, and then when his family came in town they babysat and gave us a night out! We played golf together and went to a sports bar and grille for dinner and to watch the first OU game of the season. I love him and look forward to spending the rest of our days and birthdays together!

Some New Books

2009-09-07T15:17:00.003-05:00

I recently finished a book recommended to me by a dear friend of mine, In A Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson. Great writer is he not but there were a few really great thoughts I walked away with after reading it. While the main point of the book is to no longer let obstacles be what hold you back in life, but rather use them as a springboard for progress and consider them an opportunity; I think what I came away with was the reminder of just how big my God is. Most of my readers actually know me personally so it comes as no surprise that I am a Christian, as in someone who believes in Jesus as God. If you know me, you also know that while I have truly had a blessed and incredible young life filled with amazing people, memories, experiences and opportunities, no life, including mine, has been without its share of disappointments and limitations. However, those disappointments and limitations should not necessarily be a reflection that my God is limited but possibly rather that my faith, my response to life, freedom of choice and action by others has been the reason for those disappointments or limitations. So, to share a few quotes with you of what is sticking out to me after reading this book. This quote is from a section where he talks about, "the way we grow up spiritually is by becoming more and more like a little child."

"We internalize limits. We grow up and grow old. What is worse, we become small people with a small God. I think part of Neos is training the limitlessness of youth. Regaining the idea that we have been created by a limitless God to have limitless dreams and imaginations."

Mark also includes this quite by Dorothy Sayers.
'The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused Him of being a bore- on the contrary; they thought Him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround Him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him 'meek and mild' and recommended Him as a fitting household pet for curates and pious old ladies."

My God is not tame, He is not mild, He is not limited; what would happen in my life or your life if we truly understood that idea and removed the limitations we have put on ourselves and on God?

Now for a complete switch, here the book I am about to start reading, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. While it is an Oprah book club recommendation, I don't go to Oprah's church. I did just hear it is the largest church in the US. Have any of you "attended"? (attended is in quotes because I believe it is all online).

Back to Fanciness

2009-09-04T09:45:00.004-05:00

So, I know my blog has taken a bit of a detour into the personal realm and less on fancy things, so with the help of fellow blogger, Kristena of Thimbly Things, she found some new fanciness for me to post about and well, I wanted to share it with you. I love etsy because it shows people's creativity, and this is such classy, delicate and pretty way to use lace. Here is my favorite piece of The White Owl collection:

Precious

2009-08-28T14:49:00.000-05:00

Precious!
Nuff said.

I forgot to Drain the Grease!

2009-08-27T13:42:00.001-05:00

I was once again inspired to make a delicious dish by The Pioneer Woman- coq-au-vin. This was going to be my come back dish- my come back from, "I just had a baby I shouldn't have to cook anything fancy for a few weeks." The flavor of this dish is truly exquisite and I would highly recommend anyone making this dish (I did use baby portabello mushrooms instead of white). I didn't take pictures of how mine turned out and I wish I would have just for you readers because well, I forgot to drain the grease. So, I had to let the dish settle and cool, and then drain as much of the grease as I could before we could eat it! When done properly, the picture above shows you what it should look like, and here is the recipe. Like I said, you should make this one, just remember that all important step of draining the grease!

Also, in all fairness to my "come back", I am not all the way back. Micah is almost home from work and I have not done anything for dinner but am instead blogging and he will be leaving to play softball. Guess it is a fancy powerbar for dinner tonight!

A fancy Island

2009-08-26T17:33:00.002-05:00

So, my talented family, including my husband (Second Assistant Director), my brother (writer and director), and father (executive producer), have been working on a children's DVD series for about 9 years now, Pahappahooey Island. I think we released the first episodes around 2000 to television, but in the last year, we created two new episodes and added a character voiced by Joyce Meyer. Yes, the same Joyce Meyer you know who sounds like a man (as in her voice is that deep), and has an incredible ministry that reaches millions worldwide EVERY day. Well, the first of these two new DVD's, What About Me!?, was released in Wal-Marts yesterday around the U.S.!

As you can probably tell from the title, this DVD teaches the valuable lesson of sharing, playing together and thinking of others instead of yourself all the time. So, if you have a child, or know of a child between the ages of 3-30, you should definitely go out and buy this DVD! (please pass the word on too!!!) For more on the series, visit the web-site www.pikids.tv.

An Update On Becoming a Parent

2009-08-05T15:56:00.005-05:00

It broke- the post-partum baby blues are fading! I hesitate to say this too quickly and jinx myself, but the past two days I have felt much closer to normal. There is definitely still some adjustment to a new way of life happening (to a slower yet somehow more sleep deprived state), talking mostly to an infant who doesn't talk back and of course still healing physically, but overall, I feel I a close to being back to myself. It helps that with each day we learn a little bit more about Daisy, and our efforts at a routine are starting to pay off as well.

I do have new sympathy and understanding for other moms and their partners, and especially any mom that goes through baby blues or post-partum depression. It truthfully is hard to admit that you are struggling with that when everyone else is so happy and excited for you. I started taking lots of Omega 3 Oils, probiotics, made as much of a mental decision as I could to work on my attitude so that it wouldn't affect Daisy, and listened to praise and worship music. My mom reminded me of the verse, "put on a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness...", scripture works! Now, I just need to help Micah recover from having to take care of two dependant people!

Feel free to continue praying for us, but I did want to give an update that we are doing better! Below are a few more pictures of us as a new family! Happy two week birthday Daisy!!!

Two days after coming home from the hospital, we took a trip to our backyard.
Micah is a very doting and loving father.

She likes to praise Jesus too; and all on her own.

On Becoming a Parent

2009-07-29T20:00:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, a week ago today, I officially became a mom. I had been anxious for this day for the past few weeks wondering when she was ever going to come. I knew I was standing at the precipice of a huge life change yet I didn't know when my life would truly change forever- it is like riding a roller coaster in the dark, you know you are climbing the really steep part slowly but you don't know when the bottom is about to drop out from under you. I can't describe the feeling of seeing our daughter for the first time. When they placed her on my stomach right after being born and she let out her first cry I was completely overcome with surprise, joy, excitement, awe at how beautiful she is, love for my husband, and of course hormones. There really is no other moment in life like that moment. I loved the visitors who came to the hospital as I wanted everyone to see our new beautiful baby, and there was also a measure of assurance and back-up at the hospital because of the staff- I knew they could take care of me and I knew they could take care of Daisy. Going home...that is a different story.

After two nights and three days in the hospital, we were released to go home. We made the 2 minute drive after taking 5 minutes to make sure Daisy was in her car seat correctly - really we could have walked home (well, at least Micah could have while holding Daisy). Micah drove like an old lady, of his own admission, to our house and we unpacked our new baby and all the gear and gifts we had with us at the hospital. Daisy started crying shortly after getting home so we put her down for her first nap in her crib, made our way to the living room, had a champaign toast to becoming a family of three, and then we both cried. We were all the sudden overwhelmed with the responsibility and the mostly unknown and small known of what lay ahead. This feeling continued to evolve with each cry from Daisy that we would hear over the next couple days to what I now can define as feeling a lack of confidence. Regardless of the dozen or so books I read while pregnant on parenting, it was as if I hadn't read a single one, I didn't know how to feed her, didn't know why she was crying, didn't know how to organize my life anymore, didn't know how to put her on a schedule even though I had printed multiple and brought them to the hospital, I just didn't know how to be a parent. We had lots of visitors over the next couple days, family in from out of town, my own healing and recovery still to be had, and not to mention once again the crazy amount of hormones that go through a woman post-partum. Those added to the reflux episodes, one in which Daisy was choking, and unexplained evening and afternoon of crying, and also trying to figure out a schedule for all of us led to me feeling completely inadequate, in over my head, and un-confident as a parent. It is easy now for me to see how "baby blues" are very common. I am still a little weepy when I try to talk about my feelings over becoming a parent. Fortunately, I am not alone in this; I know these same sentiments have been shared by many a new parent, and my husband has had his own moments where he feels similarly, Micah has also shouldered a couple of the more difficult crying episodes where I had not felt capable of easing her discomfort.
I did cut out dairy over the last 48 - 72 hours (the days are running together still a bit), as well as tomatoes, onions, garlic, citrus, strawberries, eggs, peanuts and a few of the other known foods to cause issues with reflux and gas in babies. Since then, it has made a huge difference. Daisy doesn't have unexplainable crying episodes, the schedule is getting a little more defined, we have a happy and content baby, and Daddy and I grow in confidence with each successful feeding, wake and nap time. It looks like it will be a bland diet for me for a while, but it makes such a difference in both mine and Daisy's day. Micah and I also spent some time praying together, re-reading On Becoming Baby Wise the parenting method we personally chose to follow, and developing a little more of a plan for how to shape our days as a threesome. I know I am still hormonal, I know the rollercoaster has taken off and my life will never be the same again and I know I have a great partner in Micah to help me on the journey. I think in the next couple weeks there will still be moments where I will not feel confident in what I am doing, where I will feel overwhelmed by the change that has taken over my life (and only by something that weighs a little over 6 pounds,) but I also know that parenthood has joys unspeakable in our future. It is going to be something for me to work at to find a new life rhythym, to have confidence in God working in me and God working in Micah to know that we are prepared and have what it takes to take care of Daisy and shape her into the person God has destined her to be. I was warned by a few new moms that the post-partum period can be intense, and it is without a doubt - it is everything you think it would be and more.

Our Little Flower is Here

2009-07-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

Daisy Renee Barnard was born on July 22nd, weighing in at 7 pounds and 5 ounces, and 19.5 inches long. She was surprisingly petite in my mind as I was expecting an 8 pounder since both myself and Micah weighed in at over 8 lbs at birth. By the time we left the hospital, she was just a slight 6 pounds 13 ounces. Really, I can't get over how tiny she is!

A Friendly Reminder

2009-07-28T15:28:00.000-05:00

Micah and I have been purchasing one large piece of meat at Sam's and then cutting it into individual steaks. Well, he tends to cut them a little large for me, so I have him cook about half of mine at a time. So, with the remainder steak we had ready to be grilled one night I decided to make the classic black and blue salad. So, this is just a friendly reminder of what an incredible taste confection the following can be:

Grilled Steak
blue cheese or some other soft, pungent cheese
roasted red onions and Brussels sprouts
lettuce
tomatoes
herbs (basil in my case)
Balsamic Vinaigrette

So, my friendly reminder is to make this salad at least once this summer!

Grilled Gruyere and Zucchini Sandwiches with Smoky Pesto

2009-07-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

From a useless amount of airline miles (useless meaning I can't get a flight out of them for years to come), I have instead used them for magazine subscriptions including Food and Wine (and my guilty pleasure- Entertainment). I recently cut out this recipe from Food and Wine and it was SO wonderful I had to share it.

1 cup packed basil leaves
1 large garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. hot smoked paprika
3 tblspns. olive oil, plus more for brushing
salt
one 8-oz zucchini, cut into 4 lengthwise slices
2 English Muffins, split
4 oz. Gruyere or Appenzeller cheese cut into 8 thin slices (I used Chevre' as I was out of Gruyere)

In a mini food processor, combine basil, garlic, and paprika and process until finely chopped. With the machine on, gradually pour in 3 tblspns. of olive oil until blended. Season the pesto with salt.

Light a grill (or use the indoor stove kind like I did). Brush the zucchini slices with olive oil and season with salt. Grill over high heat until nicely charred and just tender, about 2 minutes per side. Cute each zucchini slice in half crosswise.

Grill the English muffins, cut side down over low heat until just soft, about 30 seconds. Turn and grill until the muffins start to brown, about 1 minute. Spread the cut sides of the muffins with the pesto, then layer 2 zucchini pieces, and top with cheese. I ate open-faced, but you can close the sandwiches and grill again until the cheese melts too which is how the original recipe says to do it.

MMMM, good! It is also a fancy sandwich if you ask me; I think it would be great for picnics or when doing brunch with friends. (I served alongside a mozzarella caprice salad)

What is Your Guess?

2009-07-24T16:12:00.000-05:00

So, today is my official due date. Since, I am writing this in advance and not in real time, I more just wanted to schedule a post to go up on our actual due date. So, what do you think- is she here yet? Do I still look like this?

(me at 36 weeks)

A Fancy Gift

2009-07-23T15:58:00.001-05:00

So, these kinds of finds are really much more why I decided to start this blog in the first place than the recipes or random notes I now post. When I was looking for gifts for the hostesses for one of my baby showers, I came across these extra fancy dish gloves. I couldn't resist, and got these, along with an aromatherapy scented dish gel for each of them.

I realize dishes are incredibly un-fancy, but I thought this could make them a little more fun to do. It is all about the every day, mundane things that we can find fancy that make life that much more enjoyable!

A Failed Nursery Decoration Project

2009-07-20T14:44:00.001-05:00

A friend gave me the great idea of using an old window pane as a wall decoration in the nursery. It really was a great idea that I was excited about, but I failed to execute it very well, and it has now turned into hours of work, three cans of spray paint, scrap-book paper, and well finally trash. The idea was to use it as a unique picture frame, but when I purchased the window I was not sure exactly how I was going to use it so I probably didn't pick out the right one. So, I cleaned, sanded, scraped old paint, iron/glued on fake sides to hide the metal, rope and cracked wood on the sides (I needed to pick one that would hang the opposite way), spray painted it orange, and then after realizing that the age was still going to show through the orange, I decided to buy the crackle spray paint that would make it look purposefully aged, so the natural flaws would blend in instead of look as if I had tried to cover them up with the orange. Well, the crackle spray paint ended up turning out like white splotches and didn't crackle at all. So, basically, project is over, I am trashing this whole thing and I have moved on!

I have now decided to do this:I pulled this out of an Anthropologie catalogue along time ago and was going to do this in my living room but looks like the nursery gets it first. So, now I need to find some ornate picture frames (garage sale next weekend anyone?), spray paint those orange (yes, I will have to buy a new can!), and hang them on pink ribbons so I am still accomplishing my pink and orange combo with pictures. I have a baby picture of Micah and myself that I want to frame in the nursery, and then of course some of our sweet baby girl once she arrives. I am looking for 5 frames all together so if anyone has any good ideas of where to get some, let me know! Don't you agree that this picture is frame worthy!?!

Yes, it is my dear, sweet husband Micah!

Fellafels and Salad

2009-07-18T14:32:00.000-05:00

I randomly picked up a box of Falafel mix at the grocery store in an effort to get a couple somewhat healthy but also very quick-to-make meals. I made the baked version instead of frying them, and made a Greek yogurt sauce to accompany them and it turned out quite good. I also made a quick Greek salad to go along with it and used the same yogurt sauce as the salad dressing. So, if you need a quick meal, pick up one of the falafel boxes at the grocery store. I honestly don't remember what I put in the yogurt sauce (I think it included onions, mint, lemon and garlic), but a recipe for one was on the falafel box to get you started. So, not necessarily fancy, but still reasonably healthy and definitely quick!

What I have been working on this summer

2009-07-16T13:36:00.000-05:00

It has been a summer of growing and firsts- growing a baby, growing a garden, and yes a first for both! I have a very bizarre back-yard. It is a giant hill that is so impractical for any use, other than to hide us from the neighbors up top, that we let it become completely overgrown and it is a free-for-all. However, there is a lower tier, separated by rail-road ties (I know you are thinking of how beautiful that must look), that has been quite useful this year. With the help of Heather, we weeded the lower tier, and planted, yellow & green zucchini, onions, tomatoes, red peppers, jalapeno peppers, watermelon, lettuce, rosemary, basil and cilantro. I have been able to harvest quite a bit of the lettuce and herbs, but so far only one zucchini, and none of the others have produced yet. I have been a little impeded from giving it the true TLC it deserves due to growing a child at the same time which my pain tolerance doesn't really allow me to consistently weed the garden, fertilize, etc. As always, my husband has been a huge help and has watered, and once even weeded better than I ever did in that section. So, I thought I would show you a few before and afters.

Corn and Summer Vegetable Saute'

2009-07-14T13:54:00.001-05:00

While at a recent doctor's appointment, I was leafing through their magazines and discovered a link to this - 20 fast and delicious summer meals. I wrote down a couple of the summer recipes and have enjoyed each one of them, so I thought I would share one of the new favorites with you. I happened to have my father and brother-in-law staying with us at the time too, and they both seemed to enjoy it. Especially for my brother-in-law, I think it was the most vegetables he may have eaten in the past year!

1 tblspn oil (coconut or olive is what I use)
1/2 c. chopped green onions (approx. 4)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 c. sliced okra (I couldn't find this at 3 stores, so I substituted with green beans)
1 c. shopped red bell pepper
1 finely chopped / seeded jalapeno
1 c. corn (2 ears)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 c. cilantro
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for 1 min. Add okra, saute 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add bell pepper and jalapeno; cook 5 minutes. Add corn, cook 5 minutes, stir in beans, cook 2 more minutes. Stir in cilantro, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

I added chicken to make this a little more hearty (and because some people are skeptical of calling anything a meal if it is vegetarian.). The recipe also mentions shrimp would be a good addition, but we happen to not really eat shrimp. I also served with a side of lemon-y cous-cous as I was also a little unsure about serving this to company without a grain or side-dish and I happened to have that on-hand. Enjoy!

It's a bird, a plane, a rash, a family, a firework, a pregnant lady

2009-07-13T16:27:00.000-05:00

Our July 4th celebration was a lot of fun this year, but also a secret! Both Micah and I, as well as our dear friends, Jessica & Curtis (and their two kids) wanted a small, uncomplicated celebration. So, we combined our uncomplicated wishes, and came up with a great way to relax! We didn't tell anyone else of our plans so it could stay low-key (and because we were sneaking into Jessica's parent's house). I put on a bikini for the first time since pregnant, and we all went swimming, grilled out, and enjoyed each other's company while watching a variety of fire-works shows.

You might be asking what the title of this post has anything to do with the above description, well, here are some photos that will help fill in the gaps. (birds was just to get the quote started and I am sure there were plenty in Tulsa that day)

I had been craving some jalapeno poppers, the kind wrapped in bacon with cream cheese, and when I saw them recently published here on the Pioneer Woman blog, I knew I was making them for the 4th. Well, apparently with my super sensitive pregnant skin, cutting the jalapenos burned my poor hands and I developed this terrible rash that truly freaked me out for a couple of days until I was able to guess that most likely the burns, blisters and marks had to be from cutting over a dozen jalapenos. And here is what it still looks like, over a week later:(I have been hiding my hands in embarrassment ever since. A day later when it showed up, we were almost convinced I had preeclampsia and were on our way to the ER. Glad we didn't go after all just to be turned away for cutting a few too many jalapenos!)

While blogging, the TV is on in the background and we are half-watching a show on France and they were interviewing a photographer. He said the art of photography is , "showing life as it is, reflecting the world in which you live." If that is the case, I live in a world filled with beautiful children and families:

So, the plane part of the title comes in with this picture. I think I could double for the plane that landed in the Hudson Bay a couple months ago. Okay, just kidding, I know I am not that big, but still, wow!Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, enjoyed the freedom we have, and is grateful for our armed forces, and God's favor which has been upon America.

Officially Full Term!

2009-07-12T14:15:00.003-05:00

I am officially Full-Term; it is safe for Daisy to arrive now! Unfortunately, she and I are showing no signs of being ready, or her actually being here anytime soon. So, I am trying to be patient, and make myself think of still needing to wait at least 2 more weeks before it is time for her to arrive. Granted, the nursery still isn't finished yet, so I could still use a little time to complete that project, but I am not entirely sure that is going to happen regardless of when she arrives.

Photos taken by Brenda Horan

A Fancy Shower

2009-06-28T18:52:00.006-05:00

I had my second and final baby shower last weekend and it was so beautiful! I had a marvelous time, and was so incredibly blessed and showered with many useful baby gifts. The shower was decorated in the colors of the nursery - green, pink and orange. They had pink punch that everyone was drinking out of baby bottles (with a straw, not sucking through a nipple), delicious brunch food, and great decorations. So, here are some pics from the event.

The beautiful centerpieces, bottle with punch, and the tablecloths

were all in the colors.

Soon-to-be grandma (still working on what her name will be), and good

friend, Liz watching as I begin opening gifts.

A close-up of Micah and I's baby pictures which were hanging from

the food table's centerpiece.

Grandma "Suzu" (my mom), and I with some adorable baby hats

made by Gigi Graham.

The food table.

Look at the cute tablecloths! I have such great friends, and network of support from my church too that they would all come.

I was definitely standing by the food- it was so good! The centerpiece

decoration was a spray painted branch in orange, with baby picture of Micah and I, and baby accessories hanging from it, like bibs, spoons, teething rings, pacifiers...

It was such a fun morning, and an incredibly memorable event and welcome to the world for Daisy. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and for all the amazing and helpful gifts! This is one loved little girl that is about to be born.

Daisy's Coming Home Outfit

2009-06-19T11:24:00.003-05:00

I finally picked it out. Micah and I went to Wal-Mart last night for a few random things and for the first time I let myself wander around the baby clothes. I saw the cutest little red and white dress so I couldn't resist (not to mention it was $3)! I decided this is what I am going to pack to bring to the hospital to bring Daisy home in- it is cotton, summery, girly, good for photos, has a bow and ruffles to make it a little fancy, and I would think comfortable. So, here it is:

Now, I am just looking forward to seeing Daisy in it!

"Asking Our Kids to be a mini Jesus"

2009-06-09T13:44:00.002-05:00

In light of our impending start to parenthood, my husband sent this blog entry to me. It is a blog entry from Stuff Christians Like. You can read more funny, witty, interesting, entries here, but I have also copied this specific entry below:

A lady I work with once enlightened me, “You just wait until you have kids.” I’m not sure what she thought would magically happen the instant I became a father, but it didn’t (apparently). I know this because at the time she uttered her prophetic words to me, I already had two kids… precisely twice as many as she had.

My guess is she thought having kids would make me more wise, more mature, more patient… more something. She had an expectation about what parenthood would change about life. A lot of Christians do too. And it’s not insignificant:

We think the birth of our children will reveal to us the very face of God.

While you might not use those exact words, at some point, someone in your Christian circle of friends has said one of the following things to you:

“I really didn’t know God until I had kids.”

“When I became a father, I finally understood how hard it was for God to send Christ to the cross.”

“Being a mother—witnessing the miracle of life—radically changed my understanding of God’s love.”

There’s a million ways to express “Kids = Big Faith.” And if you’re single or childless, there has to be a part of you that thinks, “Fantastic! The missing link in my faith is having a kid. I have zero kids and zero prospects. I’ll just be over here with my small, incomplete faith. Awesome.”

Good news. It’s not true. Bad news? It also is. On some level, having a kid can show you God’s miraculous love. Some Bible verses support this notion that having a kid puts faith into a unique context. “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11) That verse makes more sense if you’re seeing it unfold in your own child’s life.

However, we also way over-amplify what we expect our children to do for our faith. I personally have (many times) essentially said to my children, “OK, dad had a really bad day at work. Tonight I need you to show me God’s perfect and true love. I know you’re only two, but Daddy needs you to reconnect him in his relationship with Yahweh. Is that cool with you? You’re drooling. I’ll accept that as an emphatic yes.”

Those nights typically also coincide with the times my kids try to break me down like little terrorists. Fits are thrown, fights erupt, demands are made. The most menial tasks incite battle cries: “I do myself, I do myself!” One would assume applying the toothpaste to your child’s toothbrush when they want to do it themselves is not a cry-worthy, scream-inducing offense, but you’d be gravely mistaken.

Does God show up in parenthood? I sure hope so. Are kids a walking, talking daily reminder of Jesus? Not always. And if you go into parenthood expecting that, you’ll be sorely disappointed… or at the bare minimum, covered with pink bubble gum-flavored princess toothpaste.

A Quick Punctuation Apology

2009-06-05T16:36:00.002-05:00

So, in the last four posts, please ignore missing words, duplicate wording, or random and incorrect punctuation. That is all because I created those late at night, my computer was working slowly, was super tired...so, all that to say I did not proof read a SINGLE one until today and I noticed all the many errors. So, I realize it is terribly un-fancy, but please ignore those and just remember the frills that are on my heart for you and this blog.

Handmade Gifts

2009-06-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

There were a few gifts from the shower that were hand-made, so I feel they deserve a special mention; especially since I dream of being crafty but just don't usually have the . My friend, co-worker's wife, and fellow blogger, Kristena Derrick is queen of home-made cuteness and she once again proved her royalty. She crocheted black booties, made a fabric daisy on a onesie, and sewed three adorable denim reversible bibs! Visit her blog to see all the creative things she creates by clicking here. But, here is a taste of her creations:

Not to be outdone, by any means, my mother-in-law had the genius creative idea of making "Daisy's First Little Black Dress." My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are both very fashion conscious which I love about them. Well, her creation was met with plenty of "oohs and ahhs" at this creation. She hand-made this out of black satin, and created matching black satin bloomers too. She purchased the pink shrug to go with it to break up the black in case it was too much black; but really, it was just so adorable and unbelievably thoughtful too. She has actually been thinking about turning this into a business, and I am already ready to order some for friends. So, if any of you are interested in getting a baby's first "little black dress" just let me know and I will be happy to arrange that for you! I have already decided that Daisy will wear this for Dane and Megan's wedding in September when we go to Europe.
Excuse the poor image quality, not sure how Micah takes such great pictures, mine always turn out a bit funny.

One more shower coming up! I will be sure to post pictures from that one too! Thanks to all my friends and family who have been so generous in their time, creativity and support for me and my growing family!

My First Baby Shower!

2009-06-03T07:13:00.000-05:00

I had my very first baby shower this past weekend! It was sooo wonderful; our friends worked so hard to make it a beautiful and memorable event for us. We truly were so spoiled by everyone with the generous gifts too. We of course got lots of girly outfits because they are so hard to resist buying and we got a few of the items we really need too. I have one more shower later in June and then that's it! The rest is up to us!
Some of the decorations and desserts. They also had onesies for people to sign and write funny messages on. The cakes were from Ludgers; one said Daisy Barnard, and the others had her initials. Yummy!

Yes, this onesie says "ipood", not "ipod"! Too funny.

Mom and Dad to be! notice the big posters on my side on the garage? They used those for the invitations too. The colors were pink and black; even the black dog had a pink ribbon!
They had some beer to give a "man section" to the party, however, it was quickly girlified by the ribbon that was added that says, "it's a girl!"
Notice all the pink, white and chocolate colored desserts? Everything was in those colors! Really, it was beautiful!

32 weeks!

2009-06-02T09:00:00.001-05:00

Well, I have made it to 32 weeks, and now only a little over 7 weeks left! I thought I would give you a quick snapshot of what me at 32 weeks looks like. Don't scream, well, actually feel free since most likely I am not next to you, just don't tell me you did.

Memorial Day Weekend Visitors!

2009-05-31T18:36:00.004-05:00

During Memorial Day two of my best friends from Belhaven College came to visit me so they could see me while I am huge and pregnant; it really is quite the spectacle! I am 32 weeks pregnant, and due to back pain, I am pretty limited in how much I can do, so it was a mild weekend (especially considering the fun and crazy times we had together in college). It was a true testament to being at a new stage in life - the married with kids stage! We had a great time catching up, relaxing, eating good food, and looking at all sorts of adorable baby stuff! So, here are some pictures from the weekend.
This is a blurry picture of the steak dinner we made, with grilled asparagus, salad and wine. MMM, delicious!
This is Jerremy's reaction to the Renaissance Fair of Muskogee. Okay, not really, we didn't take them there, we just told them all about it.
This is to show you my largely protruding belly and how funny I look sometimes. We picked out two movies and watched both of them in one night! Traitor and Man From Snowy River- odd combination, I know.
The friends - Kendra, me and Aimee! Thanks for visiting girls! You're the best.
Another dinner at home in the back yard. We made fajitas with guacamole, green tomatilla salsa, grilled pineapple...Wow, so good. Maybe one of these days I will get around to posting recipes for all the yummy food we made! I know you want them.

My Belly After Eating

2009-05-27T13:36:00.002-05:00

In case you have ever wondered what a pregnant belly looks like from the mother's perspective, here is a picture. I also wanted to show this because it seems I can't keep food off my belly when I eat. I have figured out that this is because I have to lean so far forward at an angle to get my face over a table or else rest my plate on my stomach in order to prevent crumbs from landing there. So, this is after eating a sandwich, and yes, we were in such a hurry that I ate in the car. At least I wasn't driving!

Nursery Inspiration

2009-05-20T18:21:00.004-05:00

So, I saw these two ideas online throughout the past week +. I am considering these for the nursery somewhere, maybe?
For this one, I loved the paint on the walls! I am thinking of maybe using stenciling on an armoire instead of the wall though just for the sake of time, space, and the busy factor in the room.Since we decided on the name, Daisy Renee, these felt flowers would be so cute! I like the little light that beams out in the center too. Maybe above the changing table, but this might also be one of those projects that there is a good chance I won't quite get around to!

Micah and I visited his family this past weekend and made a trip to Ikea where we purchased a chandelier! He installed it last night and well, I LOVE IT! I will be posting a picture soon. It is so girly, and such a perfect centerpiece to what will be the nursery; although it does remind me how low our ceilings are. If you have read this blog for very long, you know I love chandeliers and this is the first one I have ever owned, I am sure it won't be my last though!

I also decided on painting one wall, so that project will probably be completed this weekend with the help of some fabulous college girlfriends who are coming to visit me! So, many more projects and pictures coming soon!

Lamb Burgers with feta Sauce and Cucumbers

2009-05-18T09:46:00.000-05:00

So, the wonderful meal I made on the evening of my new embarrasing moment- Lamb burgers with feta sauce and cucumbers, it was also delicious! So, I thought I would recommend at least the dinner portion of that evening, if not the bonfire. I served this with a light summer strawberry/orange feta salad with poppyseed dressing.
1.5 lbs lamb
2 tspn. curry powder
3 scallions, thinly sliced
course salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 oz. feta cheese
2 tblspn plain yogurt
8 slices country bread, toasted if desired- yes I did desire
1 kirby cucumber, cut lengthwise into ribbons with a vegetable peeler

In a medium bowl, combine lamb, curry powder, and 2 sliced scallions. Season generously with salt and pepper. Mix gently with a fork and form into 4 oval patties to fit on the bread, and about 1 in. thick.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season patties with salt and pepper. Cook until browned and just cooked through, 4-6 min. per side. (reduce heat if browning to quickly, or grill outside over fire)
Meanwhile in a small bowl, mix feta, yogurt, and remaining scallions, mashing cheese gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper
Spread for slices of bread with feta mixture, top with cucumbers, lamb patties, and remaining bread.

Picture taken with my phone, so not that great! Sorry!

A New Embarrasing Moment

2009-05-16T09:31:00.000-05:00

I am not one of those people that has had the luxury of walking through life without embarrassing moments. Whether it is accidentally flipping my school uniform skirt over my head in drama class in high school, peeing the bed in college, or any other number of stories. Well, I have recently added a new one, and surprisingly, this one is not pregnancy related. I made lamb burgers with cucumber and feta sauce for dinner for Micah and I one night (I told you, I like lamb all the sudden!). It was a pretty evening, so I suggested that while I make dinner, Micah create a fire in the fire-pit in the backyard. We sat outside for a couple of hours, eating, talking, and enjoying a nice date night at home together.

The Fire Culprit

Then knowing what we had coming up that weekend we decided to go to Target and run a quick errand. So, here is where it gets embarrassing...
I mentioned to Micah that we probably smelled like smoke, but he brushed it off and said it wasn't too big a deal. So, at Target we are shopping and an employee was helping us when all the sudden she asked, "do you smell fire? I think something is burning." We shyly admitted she was just smelling us and that we had been at a bonfire. We quickly left the area, and then Micah went to try on a pair of jeans while I looked at maternity clothes. He called me on my phone to come look, so I quickly gave him the "nah, not that great", and started to walk away when I heard the four attendants at the dressing room start asking what was burning. They were so concerned they were checking their walkie-talkies for fire, asked if they thought someone was smoking in the dressing rooms...I quickly backed away and called Micah. Micah picked up the phone by responding, "I hear every word." I told him we were leaving, our smell was causing panic to break out at Target! I walked to get basil, and on my way happened to pass the hairspray aisle, and I will admit, I sprayed hairspray on my clothes to try and lessen the smell. I don't think it helped. We quit shopping at that point and quickly checked out with our few items. We couldn't stop laughing on our way out- I was mortified we smelled so bad that multiple employees were contemplating calling the fire department, but fortunately, no one did and the false alarm of a fire at target from two smelly customers was averted! I made us take all our clothes off in the laundry room before walking into our house when we got back, so fortunately, our home never smelled quite that bad!

Sweet Onions Stuffed with Lamb

2009-05-14T09:03:00.000-05:00

In the past year I have discovered lamb. It is healthy (at least according to Jordan Rubin), and it has it's own unique flavor. I recently found a recipe for Sweet Onions Stuffed with Spiced Lamb and had to try it. It was really good when I first made it, but I wouldn't recommend for left-overs (could be pregnant taste talking there though too). So, here is how you make it, courtesy of Food and Wine Magazine with my adjustments:
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 c. dried apricots
2 tspn. finely grated lemon zest
6 medium sweet onions, 10 oz. each, unpeeled
4 tblspns butter
1 lb ground lamb
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
salt and pepper
6 tblspns finely chopped mint
6 tblspns finely chopped parsley
4 tblspns coarse dry bread crumbs
1/2 c. water

Preheat oven to 400
In a small sauce pan, combine chicken stock, apricots, and lemon zest and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until the apricots are plump and the liquid is reduced to a few tablespoons - about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the top third off of each onion; reserve the tops. Using a melon baller (or a spoon like me), remove the center of each onion, leaving a two-layer shell. Coarsely chop the centers. Trim off the root ends and stand the onions upright in a medium baking dish.

Here is Micah helping me with this step (he is a big onion crier!)

In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the chopped onions and cook until soft, about 12 min. Add the lamb and cinnamon, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat until the lamb is cooked through and any liquid has been evaporated- about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the apricots and the chopped mint and parsley.
Spoon the lamb filling into the onion shells, packing it tightly and mounding it over the onions. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, and dot with the remaining butter.
Set the onion tops beside the stuffed onions and add the water to the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 20 min. longer, until the onion shells are tender and the tops are golden.
Let the onions rest for 10 min. then sprinkle with remaining mint and parsley. Transfer to plates and serve!

I made cous-cous as the side, and it was a perfect accompaniment, and the 5 min. it takes to make that, helped make up for this more labor intensive main dish. All in all, yummy and if I say so myself, quite fancy too.

Indian Dal and New Patio Furniture

2009-05-12T20:42:00.005-05:00

I promised I would make the Indian feast posted on another blog, and I have made or eaten most of the dishes since, so I thought I would share the experience - it was delicious! We have also been looking for patio furniture so we can enjoy our backyard in the spring (although it has been raining constantly so far). So, as I made dinner, Micah set up our new patio set, poured some wine, lit a candle and set the table for us! The dinner was great, but the company and thoughtfulness of my husband was the best. The recipe for the yellow indian dal can be found here.

Nursery Update

2009-05-05T13:24:00.004-05:00

So, I went to the manufacturer of the polka dot fabric I really liked, and while there I found a different fabric that I love! So, I am switching. Here is the new nursery fabric (yes, it is silk). It will only be used on the bed skirt and then as trim in other places, the solid fabrics you see with this will be used for bumper, curtains, etc. and that is made of cotton and polyester so it is more washable.

My parents also bought us an armoire over the weekend for the nursery. It is unlike any you have seen in that is has 4 colors on it and is a very whimsical shape. I have not 100% decided if I will leave it all colorful or if I will end up painting it to match the crib I have picked out. But, I am just happy that decisions have been made! That makes me feel a little better about only being 12 weeks away from my due date! I will post pics of the armoire soon.

I need some ideas on window treatments. Anyone have suggestions?

Pregnancy Sense of Humor

2009-04-27T13:52:00.004-05:00

I enjoy reading the Dooce blog, because while often inappropriate, she also has a great sense of humor and sarcasm, which when related to physical pregnancy symptoms, I relate quite well to. She is 5 weeks ahead of me, so it also gives me a little preparation for what is ahead. Here is one of her latest comments and unfortunately, one I can already understand- I really am ready to go pantless by the end of the day: Every morning before we go upstairs for breakfast I take a look around and figure out what I'm going to need for the day. Because SO HELP ME GOD, I am only going to climb those stairs once. This means that Jon spends a good portion of his day retrieving things for me from the basement. He's very good about not complaining about this act of service, although once after bringing me a pair of pants he dared to ask why I just didn't put them on first thing in the morning. And I was all, dude, may you never have to experience a state of being that makes PUTTING ON PANTS such a loathsome set of contortions that you would seriously consider going grocery shopping in your panties.

I took a picture about two weeks ago of me wearing a pair of shoes that I could no longer put on myself. I haven't quite managed to download that picture to my computer to share it with you, but know it is coming. They are a favorite pair of mine, but alas, I need a partner to buckle them. I think this event may occur in the life of pregnant women to give them a refresher of the best methods of putting shoes on other humans, since I will be dressing my daughters feet for a while until she learns the skills.

How Well do you Know ...

2009-04-22T12:14:00.001-05:00

Remember this picture?
Here is what it looks like normally.
We are holding a little game I ordered at Christmas time for a stocking stuffer for Micah and I - How Well Do You Know Your Wife / Husband. I thought it might be funny and enlightening as well as continue to foster discussion. We have of course made a game of it with point systems, but all in the name of fun (obviously, look at our smiles). Here are some sample questions:
What is his mother's phone number?
What side does she part her hair on?
Your Husband has used a dictionary in the last 7 days. True or False?
What is Your Wife's favorite flavor of ice-cream?
If he/she found $50 on the street, would he/she (a) look around for who could have dropped it and return it. (b) pocket it quickly (c) look for the closest store to buy a gift for you.

I honestly can't remember who is winning this game right now, but I do think it is about time we pull it back out again and answer a few more questions. I will let you know who wins the next round.

Breakfast

2009-04-21T11:24:00.004-05:00

I have been so bored with breakfast lately. Mostly because I don't like to get up early in order to make something really delicious. And while Micah is a great help in the kitchen, without specific instructions, he either doesn't make it (and doesn't eat), or he makes exactly what I made the day before - which I appreciate, but this girl or rather these girls (as I currently am two), prefer a little variety. So, I was so excited to stumble upon the the Smitten Kitchen blog. And just look at this page of breakfast idea s! I still might not get up early enough to make any of these, but at least I have inspiration.

She takes great pictures too! Here is a sampling:

I Won!

2009-04-20T15:01:00.003-05:00

I won the competition, we are officially having a girl!!! So, in the next few weeks I will order the fabric for the nursery, and furniture and hopefully get it somewhat assembled! Of course, I will post pictures.

But, this is about the competition. I won the coin toss and the guess, so I get to pick out the first outfit we are purchasing for our daughter. Here is one that was suggested to me this morning:

Any other ideas? Of course it should be something fancy!

If the Baby is a Girl

2009-04-20T09:01:00.000-05:00

If the baby is a girl, these are the nursery colors I am considering. I am in my third trimester which seems totally crazy! Especially since I don't have anything done on the nursery at all.

Color by COLOURlovers

(you can create your own color inspirations here)

My mom has graciously offered to sew the baby bedding so I get to pick out the fabrics! Here are some of the fabric options I am looking at, however, these were all REALLY expensive so I am looking for something similar but maybe not so crazy in the pricing.

Any suggestions or advice?

Pictures of Micah

2009-04-16T10:36:00.005-05:00

So, remember how a long, long time ago I said I wanted to take more photos of Micah and photos of Micah and I in the last few months of it just being the two of us. (I also said I would get journals and I never did that) Well, I did take some photos, not quite every day as I intended, but some great ones nonetheless, and they truly capture an every-day feel I think! So, enjoy:

He had a love affair with his i-phone. I am really jealous alot.

He is always ready to protect me!

We have matching sweatshirts and we wanted to model them for you.

Raw "Baked Macaroni and Cheese"

2009-04-16T10:08:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago I tried a new dinner - raw macaroni and cheese. The sauce is SOOO good, but extremely rich so I give you caution on how much you put on the noodles as I put too much on at first. This is really a little more like spaghetti and cheese, since there isn't really a raw way to make thick and short macaroni noodles, that I know of anyway.

It maybe doesn't look that pretty, but I promise it tastes really good! Also, this is a really bad picture. My apologies.

Noodles:
Process 4-5 squash through spiral slicer to create long noodles, roughly chop, toss with a bit of salt and let sit for 30-45 minutes.

Cashew Cheese Sauce (blend all ingredients in a Vita-Mix or high-powered blender)

1 3/4 cups cashews, soaked 1-2 hours
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 nutritional yeast
1/4 medium shallot
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (I know, I too thought that was strange)
pinch cayenne
pinch turmeric
1/2 clove garlic
black pepper to taste

Assembly:
Make the noodles first and let sit to the side while you make the cheese sauce. Mix noodles and cashew cheese sauce in a bowl and then spread into a casserole pan. (Optional: top with finely chopped walnuts and extra chili powder or paprika). Place in bottom of dehydrator at 115 degreees for 1--2 hours to warm before serving. Serves 4

While preparing meals at home is often more nutritious (especially when raw!), and cheaper, this is the one big hazard: DISHES!

Thankfully, I have a very helpful husband. (no, these dishes are not just from the macaroni and cheese so don't be too scared)

Black-bean Tostadas with Corn Relish

2009-04-10T15:14:00.006-05:00

I used to subscribe to Martha Stewarts, Food magazine which is where I got this recipe. It is another Micah favorite, and also overall reasonably healthy. So, here is how you make it:

In the morning:
1. Mix the juice of 2 limes with 2-3 thinly sliced scallions, 10 oz. frozen corn kernels, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt. Toss to combine and refrigerate throughout the day.
2. Mince 1 jalepeno (you can rib and seed first, depending on how spicy you like it), and mix with 1 pint of grape tomatoes that have been halved. Cover and refridgerate.

At dinnertime:
1. Preheat over to 475 F. Arrange 4 tortillas across 2 different baking sheets (they won't all fit on one, which is why there is 2). Brush both sides of the tortillas with olive oil.
2. Sprinkle the tortillas with 1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained first), top with the tomato and jalapeno mix, and sprinkle approx. 2 oz. of shredded (not sliced) Monterey Jack cheese over each one.

3. Bake until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Rotate sheets 1/2 way through baking.
4. While baking, pit, peel and dice one avocado. Toss with the corn mixture.
5. Serve the warm tostadas topped with the corn relish and enjoy!

Ingredients list:
2 limes
2-3 scallions
1 package 10 oz. frozen corn kernels
3 tblspns olive oil
1 jalapeno
1 pint grape tomatoes
8 oz. Monterey Jack
4 tortillas (flour)
1 can black beans
1 avocado

Newly Organized Closet

2009-04-10T14:43:00.004-05:00

In my nesting stage, I wanted to re-organize some closets, and get rid of more clutter. So, I moved all the gift supplies (wrapping paper, bows, tissue paper, bags, actual gifts...) to the study instead of one of the bedroom closets. Then I put Micah and I's old photo albums on a very top shelf in the bedroom closet where these supplies used to be, since I don't access those all too often. Here is the result:

I used the clothing rack as my new ribbon rack so I can see displayed the various ribbons available for making presents pretty! Micah will soon be adding some dowel rods so I can also hang the curling ribbon spools. And here was the first present I wrapped after newly organizing the closet!

Congratulations to Montana and Leslie on their wedding!

Big Girl in a Little Tub

2009-04-10T14:37:00.003-05:00

My doctor recently told me I need to take it a little easier. I had been experiencing some pain on the right side of my growing baby bump that wasn't going away after days and days. While no other disconcerting symptoms accompanied it, so it didn't seem too critical, it was bothersome nonetheless. So, I took a break as best I can, which apparently meant working until 7:00pm most evenings, (once 9:00pm), and cutting out shopping for nursery bedding last Saturday. My doctor recommended I take a warm bath to see if it would help relax whatever was going on. So, I gave it a try and it made me think of Chris Farley's SNL character saying "fat guy in a little coat", only instead it was "big girl in a little tub." My bath lasted maybe 4 minutes. In order to get the right side of my belly in the water, I had to lay on my side which left the other side exposed to the cold air (in comparison), if I laid down on my back, my belly was sticking out above the water, so I tried leaning over my legs until they fell asleep and my back was too cold and well, I gave up. So, lesson learned- unless you have a jacuzzi tub, it is really hard to get a pregnant belly submerged. Obviously, no pictures to accompany this post!

Competition

2009-04-01T14:13:00.006-05:00

My husband is a notorious competitor, he can turn anything into a competition. So, to honor that personality trait, I devised a way we could make deciding the gender a competition as well. We had some house guests a couple weeks ago, and they helped us with the initial coin toss, to keep things fair.

(Dane tossing the official coin while I look on)

We have been unable to tell the gender of the baby because our dear child keeps it legs in the way. Yes, I asked if I could sit-up, do the truffle shuffle, would the doctor shake my belly (which he did) I ate a piece of cake and coffee before going in for the last ultrasound and still our child is relaxed enough or just modest enough to stay covered. I was distraught enough I told Micah I was already ready to dish out spankings (relax, not really). So, when we do find out, hopefully April 20th, we plan to make the announcement on who has won the competition. Back to competing. I guessed "heads".

Which means I could pick whether or not I thought the baby was a boy or girl. Micah had to automatically then, take the opposite. I picked girl, so he represents boy. So, when we do finally find out, whoever represents the actual gender of our baby gets to purchase the first outfit for the baby, or pick-out the coming home outfit for the hospital. We each want to win, not because we care about the gender of our baby, but like I said, we like to compete.

Tomato, Bean and Basil Salad

2009-04-01T14:01:00.004-05:00

I tried a new salad out the other day. I have a recipe book that has only recipes with 4 ingredients. When you only have 4 ingredients, it is pretty sure to be a quick and easy one. This is also reasonably healthy and tasty- it passed the husband test. We go home for lunch quite often since our office is so close to our house (lucky, I know), so I threw this together one day:

11 oz. cherry tomatoes halved
1 can of mixed beans or in my case, I used light red kidney beans
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup basil loosely shredded

Drain the beans, and mix with the tomato halves. In a small sauce pan, put the olive oil and 2/3 of the basil in with the oil, heat over low until the basil begins to turn a darker green (about 1-2 min). Then pour the oil and basil into the tomatoes and beans and mix well. (you can let it refridgerate for about 30 min. to let the flavors combine if you have the time). Top with the remaining basil, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Voila, a fancy feast!
(and that is my attempt at a fancy picture too)

The Living Kitchen

2009-03-25T12:51:00.003-05:00

When my in-laws were in town a couple weeks ago, I picked up the March Tulsa People magazine. They had an article about a farm / restaurant that I am really interested in visiting so I thought I would share it with any other local Tulsans that didn't read the article. There is a 7 acre farm in Bristow, OK that during the summer and fall months, they host home-made dinners with locally raised or grown ingredients. You get a tour of the farm, and meet other diners as you all sit at one of two long communal tables, and former Seattle chef, Lisa Becklund prepares a feast!
There are different dinner themes from Native American to Lavendar Fest, to Garlic Dreams, however, the dinners are only on specific evenings so you must make a reservation and their web-site says they book quickly. But to give you an idea of what the night may include...a refreshing spritzer upon arrival to sip on during the tour of the farm, a starter soup, followed by a salad, a refreshing ice to cleanse the palate, a main course, and of course a desert, not to mention tastings of locally produced wines! I am so excited to try this out, and think this will be my post-baby dinner celebration with my husband! You can visit their web-site by clicking here, or to read the article that was in the Tulsa People magazine, just click on the title of this post. This certainly sounds like a fancy evening to me!

Shoelala, The Men's Store for Fancy Shoes

2009-03-24T09:14:00.005-05:00

In an episode of The Office (not last week, but the week before), Michael has all these great ideas, including The Golden Ticket offer which gives the customer a 10% discount if they happen to receive the "golden ticket" in their next paper shipment. He also mentions one of his other great ideas, "Shoelala", a store for fancy men's shoes so you can buy for all those special occasions in a man's life, like the birth of a child, wedding...I was so proud because Michael Scott actually used the word "fancy" too! So, I searched around at different shoe stores online to see if I was a purchaser for Shoelala, what I would stock at a Fancy Men's Shoe Store. Here is what I found.
These are the fancy occasions I would suggest they be worn to starting on the top row going from left to right:
1. Summer or spring garden parties as well as the occasional illustrated Easter sermon.
2. Your wedding, or any time you must go to a government office - they will take you seriously if you wear these.
3. Prom or your wedding reception.
4. These are your fancy, around the house slippers.
5. One for every work day + 1 bonus pair that is great for those important meetings.
6. For those footloose moments where you just have to dance. (the heel is not removable)
7. ORU Graduation to really show your school spirit.
8. Your first child's birth- comfortable, stylish, wipeable, and they will blend-in.
9. For any time you meet the emperor in his new clothes.

I wish I could find that specific clip from the episode, but since I can't, here is a link to watch the full episode.

Fancy Schmancy!

Fancy Feline's

2009-03-19T14:27:00.004-05:00

I think it is relatively stereotyped that cats are the fancy animals out of the animal kingdom (with maybe the exception of well-groomed poodles). From their food being called "Fancy Feast", to the bedazzled accessories that can be worn by the felines or their owners, they certainly seem to have cornered the market on "fancy", for animals anyway. (If in doubt, just look to the left.)
Well, my brother shared the most exciting new development in fancy feline wear with me this morning and I couldn't help but pass it along to any of you cat owners. What is this new fanciness you ask? Well, what if I told you, you could purchase your darling family pet a beautiful new wig to give your animal the lustrous hair you always dreamed they could have!? I know, you would purchase one right away wouldn't you? Well, now you can. Here is a sampling:

They come in "Bashful Blond," "Electric Blue", "Silver Fox", and my personal favorite "Pink Passion." Just click here to visit the site to see the glory and fancy for yourself. Please make sure you read the descriptions of each wig, and of course the info on the model- all of it is most satisfying. Enjoy and please do send me pictures of your fancy felines in their new hair-dos! (Be forewarned they are on back order right now so you may have to wait a few weeks!)

Beach Music

2009-03-18T10:10:00.004-05:00

I wish I had come up with this title on my own as it means I may have written the beautiful novel of the same name, but I didn't. Instead, Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides and an assundry of other books, wrote it. So, let me just say that this book is beautifully written. It is the type of book that you read just to be moved by the beauty of the way the author arranges language. The story of course is itself good too, takes place in Italy and in South Carolina, and it discusses World War II, and Vietnam all in the context of one individuals life and how he was affected by his parents generation, his generation and how he in turn is raising his daughter. So, just to give you a little flavor of his writing ability, here are some quotes from the book for you to enjoy...

"She made my bloodstream feel like the place that the gods had to find before they could discover fire." (I am sure I do that to Micah too, so maybe that line was written about me?)

"The Class of 1966 was entering an America that was newly hallucinatory and disfigured. The whole country seemed to have turned inward upon itself and all the old certainties seemed marginal and hollow, and that tangy confidence of a nation accustomed to strutting turned hesitant almost overnight. As our footsteps echoed across the stage, this class entered a country that was traveling incognito even to itself. We would become part of the first American generation of this century to wage war on each other. The Vietnam War would be the only foreign war ever fought on American soil. All were free to choose sides. Bystanders were ridiculed and not tolerated. There were no survivors in the sixties, only casualties and prisoners of war and veterans who cried out in the dark."

"He was a tall man, built like a heron and with the face of a spooked herbivore, and vaguely off-balance."

"In the language of my church I could approach the alter of God with words like flung roses sustaining me. Without faith so long, I could hear my church singing me love songs as the priest stepped closer to my mother. The words were winged and feathered, drifting like Paracletes around me. This mother, this holy earth, this basilica that once had housed me."

That is it for now, and probably hardly even the best phrases in the book. In fact, my favorite line I can't find, but something along the lines of "her eyes held the terror of a thousand birds released to flight." So, if you enjoy reading for the sake of beauty than this is a beautifully written book to read. Be forewarned, it is probably rated PG-13 at least for language and some adult situations between the wars and well, men and women too. Also, it is melodramatic (as you can tell from the writing style above), so just be prepared to give some license there. Click on the picture for Amazon reviews or to purchase. No, I am not paid for recommending this book!

Raw Steak and Potatoes

2009-03-13T18:02:00.004-05:00

No, not raw steak as in beef, but rather, mushroom steaks! Had you fooled didn't I? Well, as you will see in the pictures, I decided last minute instead to use button portobelo mushrooms instead of the large caps. Don't ask me why because I don't remember now why I did that. But, it was all raw, and it was delicious and filling and a hearty meal that any mid-western man or woman would enjoy!

This was the first time I had made these mashed potatoes, but they turned out sooo creamy and delicious. They are made from jicama root and cashews. My husband didn't know what jicama was when he went to the store for me, so for those of you who also might not know what it looks like...

The one thing I did make slightly different than the recipe book, is while I made the stuffing mix, I marinated the mushroom caps in a little Nama Shoyu sauce to give them a little more salt / meat flavor and soften them slightly. If you have a dehydrator, I would put them in there with the Nama Shoyu, stuff them and then return to the dehydrator.

I took pictures of the recipes from my books this time because I did not create these, nor did I tweak these to make them a little more uniquely a "Cheryl Barnard Raw Recipe" (other than the above marinating). So, below are the recipes in their completely original state!

So, if you fancy raw food, or steak and potatoes, give these a try. We brought the left-overs to some friends who are doing raw food for 30 days on a cleanse. They decided to make them themselves now too, so this is easy enough for beginners to make and tasty enough for people who don't usually eat raw food. If you can't see the recipes clearly enough and you really want to make one of these, let me know and I can type it out for you in some really fancy font to make it extra special.

One More!

2009-03-10T21:12:00.005-05:00

In case anyone was wondering, our sweet little baby on the way was definitely a surprise for us and about a year earlier than we were originally planning!

Micah felt the baby kick on Sunday too! We hope to find out boy or girl on March 23rd.

Half Way to the Birthday!!!

2009-03-10T20:57:00.005-05:00

Well, I am officially 20 weeks, which means half-way to our baby's birthday! I thought I would do a fun photo shoot to commemorate this first milestone for our family. Here are some of my favorite shots, proudly showing my growing belly!

BTW- the cupcakes are cut in half since it is the half-birthday, but don't worry, I ate a whole cupcake in celebration! The cupcakes are from Cupcakez on Mingo in Tulsa.
Mmmm deliciousness and fanciness abound there!

Anniversary Dinner Salad Picture Found!

2009-03-09T10:28:00.005-05:00

I found one! I forgot I took a picture of the roasted asparagus salad I made for our anniversary dinner (two posts down), so here it is. I realize this is a little anti-climactic of a post, but for those who appreciate pictures of food...

Please keep in mind I took this picture with my phone

BTW- the dressing was:
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1/2 clove garlic
approx. 1/2 tsp. grainy mustard
dried oregano to taste

Just a tease to keep you coming back- I have two new yummy raw recipes I have recently tried that I will be posting soon, and I started clearing the way for a garden which I am soooo excited about! Plus, I will be sharing some great lines from a fantastic novel I just completed and some of my favorite new Micah photos.

Oh so fancy!
(remember, I am trying out some sign-off lines?)

Surprise!

2009-03-05T10:27:00.005-06:00

Micah wanted to surprise me for our anniversary this year and he planned a trip all by himself and didn't tell me where we were going. I knew he was missing the mountains badly so I was preparing to go to some winter-wonderland, when the day before leaving he told me we needed to go shopping for a maternity swimsuit! I then figured we might be going to see Lindsey Weyer, my childhood best friend, and her husband Jack who live less than a mile from the beach in Jacksonville, Florida and that is exactly where we went!

Micah tried surfing for the first time ever, and he made a valiant effort. It wasn't the greatest of conditions, so we will have to try again sometime soon, and hopefully then I can do it too.

I had great hang-out time with Lindsey, so good to see her again!

Since it was our anniversary, we wanted a picture to commemorate it and show the growing belly! I did get royally sunburned, but it was well worth it.
Yeah for anniversaries and great friends! On our way back the flights were continually overbooked too, so we ended up with $700 in vouchers to use on our next vacation. Now we are thinking of going to the winter-wonderland I mentioned and go skiing after the baby arrives.

Anniversary Dinner

2009-03-05T09:33:00.006-06:00

As you know, Micah and I recently celebrated our two-year anniversary, so I thought I would share our anniversary meal. Micah had started to feel sick and he was working 12+ hour days on a film shoot for three weeks in a row, including Saturdays, so we knew it would be a quiet night at home. So, I borrowed a recipe idea from a friend, Christa Baca for easy home-made calzones (check out her blog here). I bedazzled the calzone a little bit more by adding hearts to the crust in honor of our anniversary, and I also made a delicious Italian salad with roasted asparagus.

I won't lie and tell you I made the dough from scratch, but rather I got the dough near the crescent rolls and cinnamon rolls and just unrolled that flat, filled with sauce, cheese and toppings and folded it back over and pinched the sides together. I baked according the instructions on the roll. It was so simple and delicious! (thanks Christa for the idea!).

The salad was also super easy, but I unfortunately wolfed it down so fast I didn't take a picture:

To roast the asparagus, you wash and then trim the bottom ends. Lay on a baking sheet and generously salt and pepper and dot with butter. Roast in a 400 degree oven, tossing once, for about 10-15 minutes (depending on how thick the spears are). Then add on top of the salad!
I also made croutons that night since Micah really likes them and I don't typically buy them (why add unnecessary carbs to a salad!?). Cut up the heel of a loaf of bread, toss in a bag with about 1 tblspn. olive oil, salt, garlic powder and really any seasonings you want depending what salad you are making. I put them on the same pan as the asparagus and just pulled them out a bit early and voila- delicious homemade croutons!
The rest of the salad was capers, feta cheese, green olives, grape tomatoes, red onion, field greens and mushrooms.

To finish the evening was our favorite dessert that I made from scratch- Creme Brulee and then we un-romantically watched one of our favorite tv-shows before finally sleeping in separate beds (like I said, he was sick and coughing all night; little baby and I need sleep!).
The creme brulee recipe is surprisingly simple, and oh, so delicious! But you do need to make it the day before so it has time to cool in the fridge and then make the crust the day of. Here is the recipe:

1 quart whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar (I added a little more)
1 tblspn vanilla
pinch salt
8 egg yolks
dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 4 ingredients in a heavy saucepan and warm slowly over low heat until the cream is scalded (180-185 degrees), stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, beat yolks in stainless steel bowl until lemon colored. Very slowly pour hot cream into yolks; do not beat or mixture will foam.
Pour into a 6-8 cup baking dish or individual 6oz. ramekins. Place in a larger baking pan. Fill pan with hot water so water comes halfway up the custard container(s). Bake until knife inserted 1 inch from the edge of custard comes out clean (center will be soft) about 25-30 min. Remove custard from water bath and allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat broiler. Sift brown sugar to depth of 1/4 inch evenly over top of custard. Place custard under broiler 6-8 inches from heat. Watch carefully as sugar will melt in 1-2min. Do not let it burn. When sugar is melted, return immediately to refrigerator to stop the cooking. Serve very col. Crust will hold up for 4-6 hours.

To add a little romance to the evening, I did light our stone fireplace wall with small tea-light candles, moved the roses he gave me to our table, and I had Teitur playing in the background (Teitur is the artist that we danced our first dance as a married couple at our reception, "One and Only" was the song). So, despite the sickness and an evening in, we still managed to celebrate that remarkable day.

Blogging Indian

2009-02-25T13:25:00.002-06:00

On occasion I check out http://www.adinnerparty.blogspot.com . Well, today I was not disappointed! She gave some fabulous recipes for a Vegetarian Indian Feast that I think sound divine. The funny thing is she starts out saying when she has guests over she usually cooks something with meat, I have recently realized that I tend to cook vegetarian when people come over; not purposefully vegetarian as if to portray that I am against meat, but rather I find the dishes to be a little more exotic and flavorful as vegetarian dishes tend to rely more on interesting spices, shapes and color than when you depend on meat to the be the main thing. Anyway, the Indian Feast menu included:
Mango with spicy salt and sugar
Chutney and goat cheese with aloo paratha
Yellow dal
Indian baked rice
Indian spiced cauliflower and potatoes
Raita
Chai tea

She has yummy looking photos too (not that you would eat the photos themselves, but rather the food in the photos). I plan to make these dishes very soon and will let you know how they turn out. Anyone have a good recipe for homemade Chai Tea?

2 Years Ago Today

2009-02-24T14:54:00.005-06:00

This is where I was two years ago today! Thanks Micah for loving me, even when you make me gain weight! (okay so maybe that is the baby's fault, but you still have a part in that too!) I love you babe and look forward to the rest of our lives together. ALL.

Valentine's Day Surprise Revealed

2009-02-24T14:41:00.005-06:00

So, I mentioned I would tell you all later what my small surprise was for Micah on Valentine's Day and that long-awaited promise has finally come! It ended up being sadly anti-climactic, and we had a guest in town with us for Valentine's and Micah invited over my brother and his girlfriend. While I LOVE company, I was not necessarily expecting a small party on Valentine's Day, but I went ahead as planned. When I finally told Micah my plan shortly after he told me everyone was coming over, he said "oh, you don't need to do that," to which I replied in a more than slight deflated way, "I went to three grocery stores today for this; it is happening."
I surprised him with what was going to be wine for him (sparking juice for me and baby), cheese, fruit and cracker tray and chocolate fondue with an assortment of deserts and fruits, accompanied by a lovely fire and tea-light candles all over fireplace wall.

Well, I think only me and our out-of-town guest ate the fondue, so I can't entirely say it was well worth the effort as a Valentine's surprise for my valentine, but it is the thought that counts right? Let me tell you too- it was fancy! I had sheep cheese, a specially aged cheddar, and a fig and almond cake for the cheese platter, and then lemon and almond mini biscotis, angel food cake, strawberries, and bananas for the fondue platter. Hopefully my anniversary food will go over a little better.

Homemade

2009-02-18T10:02:00.004-06:00

I recently discovered this web-site that I thought I would share with you today. If you are a crafty person (like I dream of being but am not quite), you can list your items for sale on this web-site. The website is http://www.etsy.com/ and they have really creative, unique, beautiful, and often fancy items; everything from bath products, baby products, dresses, buttons...

Here is one I was particularly amazed at.

Please don't mistake my amazement as a willingness to purchase, as unfortunately the image of the Indian on the bust removes that possibility for me (along with the price-tag), but I think it is a brave creation.

My Latest Blog Inspirations

2009-02-13T15:35:00.009-06:00

Micah is working all day tomorrow, so we won't be doing anything big for Valentine's Day, at least that he knows of (insert wink here)! In case he reads this, I can't spill the secret just yet. But, I did want to share some fancy ideas with you in the meantime from ideas I gathered and have since evolved in my own head from other fun blogs I like to frequent.

The above are meant to be gift tags, but I thought if they were made a bit larger you could make custom door tags as a gift to your sweetheart. They could contain secret codes which I won't try to make up here, or they could be rather straight to the point "yes, I am in the mood." (That kind of message serves almost as "coupon" too which could be seen as an extra valentine's bonus!)
I recently posted about my ruffled panties as a toddler, to which one of my friends just mailed me a pair of ruffly panties in homage. She is also the friend that knows that "panty" is one of my least favorite words, up there with "convergys". (don't ask me what that is, I just see it on a building and I don't like it). But, these panties are adorable. I don't actually know what they were intended to be, but I thought they would be a great drawer sache' if filled with potpouri for an intimates drawer and would be a perfect gift to girlfriends on Valentine's day.
Okay, so I am now done talking about Valentine's day and am just completely on blog inspirations. A local artist in Tulsa handstitched stuffed felt in various shapes (birds and hearts mostly) onto small painted canvas'. The pic above is similar as is the pic below which comes from my dear friend and fellow-blogger- Kristena.
I have been struggling to come up with art for the hall-bathroom so I decided I would do something similar to these and the canvas idea. I first am going to re-paint the bathroom to a gray before I work on any of the art. So, pics will be forthcoming when I actually get around to this project. For my last blog inspiration (and I need your input on this one!)...

I am almost at the half-way pregnancy point! Or I will be in about 2 weeks. This was her half-way point photo. Any ideas for me? I have been taking pictures every month in the same place and in the same outfit to show the progression of growth, but I would also like to take some fun ones like this at different landmarks like the half-way point, when we find out boy or girl, some with Micah... So, any ideas?

Fancy that!
(thanks to Crista Bacca for the log-off line)

A New Look

2009-02-12T10:51:00.006-06:00

I have to resist the temptation to use the word "fancy" in every title for my blog postings, but as you can see I did today! My brother also commented that I should work on some sign-off phrase, so stick around and after a while let me know your favorite.

I recently cut my hair and dyed it dark. To save money while we are trying to make major progress paying off our car and of course save up for baby furniture and items, as well as reduce the amount of chemicals I use on a daily/ monthly basis I am not bleach blonde anymore. In fact, that hair color only lasted for about 6 weeks total, and I loved most every minute of that blondness. Anyway, my hair is dark, with bangs, and well, pretty different than before. I like it for the most part, but I do think I will go back blonde post baby.

My hair inspiration was Jessica Alba. I am not really a fan of her as an actress, but her hair was cute.

Along with my new hair look, I have another recent change. Instead of looking just extra tubby from the holidays that just passed, I am finally starting to look a little more prego! I am not enough to where anyone that does not know my current state, asks me if I am pregnant or "how far along are you!?" or is randomly touching my belly, but I know I will be there before long. I will be trading in one discomfort for the other- looking chubby to stranger belly touches.

Make it a fancy day!

New Blog Inspiration

2009-02-04T16:42:00.006-06:00

I read other people's blogs (which is why I started one) and a recent one I was directed to by a Ms. Heather, gave me two inspirations that I am turning into my own:

1. My first inspiration is from this blog posting- the author writes a letter to her daughter every month, and this was her 60th "newsletter" (or her daughter's fifth birthday). I was inspired by this because I thought it was such a neat way to say all the things you internalize about your children that they probably never realize until they are parents themselves. In the past few days I have been thinking that I really need some sort of book right now that tells the stories of how I told our coming child's grandparents that he/she was on the way, and how me and "Daddy" (in quotes because we aren't quite used to it yet) felt when we found out we were pregnant which was hyperventilating for me - on second thought, maybe I will leave that part out. So, I think I am going to start this and write a little note or letter to my soon-to-be child. And, not to be neglected- possibly my husband as well. It is only fair that after a lifetime together, he should have books telling of my constant adoration, admiration and love for him too- although he doesn't read books so that might be a waste of time. I will have to think on that one.

2. Micah and I don't take enough pictures together. In fact we have been really bad about it lately in spite of the fact that we bought a new fancy camera. So, since this is our anniversary month, I am going to make a point of taking a new photo of him or us together every day at least through the end of February. Since this site is dedicated to the everyday things I find fancy, I think I will take this month to fancy my husband, who is with me everyday. (please don't get mad at me for not taking photos from this Friday to Monday though as I am on a business trip and will be separated from him). Of course, I will share these pictures with you too - you may also see a huge belly in some of them.

A "new to me" TV stand

2009-02-04T15:57:00.005-06:00

Micah smartly purchased a HD television and stand before ever meeting me knowing that one day when he got married, purchasing that impractical of an item may just not be possible. (fortunately, it is paid off now). The television was sitting on a black and metal three tier stand, which was fine but it also showed all the cables and chords and dust. But then I was inspired by a piece of furniture I saw at Forever 21 that was a bright blue lacquer painted table with ornate details and so began the hunt. I found this 1920's buffet on Craig's List for $50. It was missing some handles and trim work and was also not completely even anymore.

It used to be three long drawers extending the length of the piece until I passed it off to my grandfather. He replaced and repaired some of the original wood, and he also made the middle cupboards, and the sides 3 skinny drawers on each. I then had a really hard time finding the right paint color (of which it still isn't perfect in my opinion), and replaced the handles with some glass ones from Lowe's. And, now I have a statement piece for our living room! It really is one of the first things people comment on whenever they come over, and if we weren't so lazy, the drawers would be a great place to hide the clutter of multiple remotes.

Since this project, I have decided I really like the look of painted wood and now that I am going to be planning a nursery soon, I may start looking on Craig's list again for some paintable items!

Purse Hangers

2009-02-03T09:53:00.004-06:00

So, I was looking for some fancy inspiration and Bridget came to the rescue. She recently picked up a purse hanger! You keep this item in your purse and when you go to restaurants, cafes, bars, public restrooms, etc. you set the decorative part on the top of the table, and hang your purse on the bottom hook. This marvelous invention keeps your items from resting on the dirty floors and also keeps it close to you. I was really mad last time I picked my purse up and the bottom was soaking wet- apparently the inventor must have had a similar experience.

They come in a variety of colors and styles, but here was one picture I found online. You can find them in a variety of stores too. So, enjoy clean purses everyone! I wouldn't really recommend this for any males, so sorry if you are a male reader.

A Fancy Excuse

2009-01-28T18:15:00.003-06:00

I don't know how to imbed videos into my blog, so I am giving you a link to view this one. I hope it sheds some light on this terrifying condition that seems to be sweeping the nation. Click here to view the video on the contagious obesity virus (it has already affected Jessica Simpson apparently).

Didn't quite get around to it

2009-01-23T09:27:00.003-06:00

Okay, so maybe I was too ambitious in my double post day announcement yesterday as you could see the second post didn't quite make it up, but here it is!!! I know that means you are really anxious to see it. Today's post is about something truly fancy- Fancy Nancy.

My dad bought me this GREAT book for Christmas. It is obviously meant for little girls, around 8 years old, but knowing my affinity for fancy things it also suited me quite well. If you have any little girls in your life, I would highly recommend this book! Here is one of my favorite parts, be sure to read the page on top right.

It says, "My family and I like to eat with our pinkies up and call eachother 'darling'."

Here is me demonstrating the pinky finger in my fancy robe after I had read the fancy book.

This books comes with lace, a crown, stickers, hair pins with butterflies and many other fun items!