Caught my eye

Tonight as I sit at work (shhhh) trying to pass the time, I find myself searching etsy for cute things. Here are some that I love.














http://www.etsy.com/listing/79307964/custom-personalized-name-backpack-zipper













http://www.etsy.com/listing/57401355/you-are-my-sunshine-11x14-fine-art-print?ref=af_you_favitem



http://www.etsy.com/listing/78640252/stephen-joseph-snack-sac-lunch-box?utm_source=OpenGraph&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share



http://www.etsy.com/listing/77787184/buy-2-get-1-free-grasshopper-headband?ref=sr_gallery_28&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=head+wrap&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_noautofacet=1&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade%2Fchildren


What has interested you lately?

Spring

Luke's birthday is on the first day of spring, and ever since he was born, I've had such a love of all things spring. I remember coming home from the hospital with newborn Luke, and seeing that all of the tulips in my garden had bloomed while he and I were in the hospital.

The past few years I lost my enthusiasm for planting bulbs in the fall, but without fail, every March those gorgeous tulips grow and bloom and make me happy.

Last week I decided that since the tulips were almost on their way out, I needed to add more color to our front yard. So far I've been to http://www.pikenursery.com twice, a small local nursery once, and Home Depot twice in search of the perfect plants, flowers, seeds, and vegetables.

Yesterday the family and I headed out after breakfast and started weeding, laying mulch, planting flowers, and at times, riding bikes. There is so much still to do, but my petunias and marigolds have been planted by our mailbox, as well as a few special surprises (ok, I'll tell you...I planted dill, cilantro, and lavender seeds there too; I was thinking it would be nice to smell them each time I pull into the driveway) that I hope do well in that partially shady spot. I also planted cucumbers and red and yellow peppers in one of our garden boxes, and put basil and dill in pots. My mint (three types, what was I thinking?), oregano, and parsley survived the harsh winter, so those are ready to be used.

Today Ava and I made another pit stop and I picked up salvia and beautiful purple blue hydrangeas. Still on my list are organic tomatoes, either plants or seeds, and more cucumbers.

Next weekend we have our last big job, moving our bigger/deeper garden box to a sunnier spot. Because the bottom is made of weed cloth, we have to remove the dirt before moving it, which involves lots of shoveling and wheelbarrowing. The goal is to plant carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, onions, and white potatoes in that box.

I can't wait for all the new additions to our garden to start blooming, and to harvest vegetables this summer!

Fa la la la blah

No matter how hard I try, I just can't get into the holiday spirit this year. Even my usual tricks are not working; holiday music, shopping, and baking are just not doing it for me. I really want to enjoy the season, especially since it's the baby's first, but I just feel so blah about the whole thing.

We got back from Orlando last Sunday, and the weather there was perfect, which made coming back to our dreary (albeit moderate) weather depressing. I want the sun to shine all year long, I never want to be hot or cold, and I want to feel the breeze every day too. The weather here is gray and it has been drizzling off and on for days, so we've not felt like doing much (ok, anything) outdoors.

I picked up the last two Christmas presents today, for my husband. We still have quite a bit of wrapping to do and since I'm not good at it, I don't enjoy it and therefore leave it for the very last minute.

We've been trying to go for a walk every Sunday right after breakfast, so tomorrow I assume we'll do that. We're having a really low-key holiday this year as most of my extended family is not coming into town until a few days after Christmas. On Christmas Eve it will be the five of us for tapas, and Christmas Day we'll have my mom and her husband over for a late afternoon dinner. The whole meal is comprised of items I've never made before. I watched Jamie Oliver make a rib roast on Martha Stewart's show a few weeks ago and it looked really great and relatively easy. It uses a horseradish rub, and I am all about horseradish. To accompany the roast I'll have roasted root vegetables and scalloped potatoes, as well as steamed asparagus. For dessert I'm making another Jamie dish, a carrot cake with lime mascarpone icing. Yum!

My husband and I decided not to exchange gifts this year, instead we're doing stocking stuffers only. This week a package arrived from Sephora, which made me wonder what exactly his definition of stocking stuffer is. Hopefully we're on the same page so that neither one of us is disappointed on Christmas morning.

New Store Excitement

Imagine my surprise when I drove up to the new Target on the corner of Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road, and saw that it was big enough for a parking garage. Since I shop at night a lot, I actually don't like that (kinda creepy) but there is also above ground parking. The coolest feature of this two level store is that there is an escalator for shopping carts, so that when you're leaving the store to head out to the garage and do not want to take the elevator, you place your shopping cart on the cart escalator and it goes right down next to you. It doesn't take much to excite me, apparently, because I stood there for a good minute watching other people test out the cart escalator. And then, even though I didn't have enough items to necessitate a shopping cart, I ran and grabbed one just so I could watch it ride downstairs.

I was wondering if the fact that the store was new would mean not as many clearance items, but that was not the case at all. The Halloween clearance however was picked over and the only type of candy I was able to get was Reeces Pieces. I did pick up a really nice fall door hanger to replace the one a mouse in our slab basement ate over the winter. I wish I knew why my husband still puts things in the slab basement knowing that there are sometimes rodent visitors that stop by and eat through anything they can find. I also picked up a pair of leggings for the baby for $2.48. I'm not sure what made them part of the Halloween clearance since they were black with pink, green, and orange polka dots, but I was happy to get them for such a low price. Disposable clothing for the kids can be a good thing sometimes, especially now that we're not planning on any more little ones.

There was a Kmart in the shopping center across from the new Target, and it was advertised as undergoing renovations. I almost stepped foot in there a few weeks ago (first time) because Martha Stewart stuff was on deep clearance, but for some reason or another I didn't. A few days a go the Kmart sign was removed and in its place went a Sears sign. Normally I wouldn't get excited about Sears, but they will have a full line of Lands' End products. I buy a lot of LE for the kids and my husband and always end up having to run to the mall to return whatever doesn't fit, so having a stand alone Sears store close to school will save me lots of time.

I've been thinking about what other stores I'd like to see go up and all I could think of was a drive thru Starbucks on my side of town. There's not much over here other than a Bruster's and a couple of chain pizza places. A girl can dream, right?

Here comes the shop part

I'm in shopping overdrive lately, between Halloween, the baby's upcoming christening, my son's birthday party, and the holidays. I took the morning off from the bigger kids and went to Town Center Mall today in search of an outfit for me to wear to the baby's christening in two weeks.

This is the first time I've been to Macy's since Martha Stewart's line was introduced, so I spent some time looking over all of the kitchen products. I must be cheap because even the 50% off Halloween items were more than I wanted to pay. I did get a beautiful skirt for cheap and an equally beautiful top for major coin, but it looks great together so it was worth it.

Macy's has a new gimmick where they give you $10 in Macy's Money for every $100 you spend. This certificate is not issued at the register, but at certain spots around the store, which meant waiting in another line to receive the Macy's Money. There were a zillion exclusions, some of which I realized before I started shopping and others I didn't. I decided that instead of putting the $10 towards a big purchase I was going to hunt for a real bargain, like a $10.50 item that the kids or I really needed. Off I went to the infant section looking for something that would work. Fifteen minutes and one poopy diaper later, I found a 4 piece outfit with leggings, a long sleeved bodysuit t shirt, socks, and a bib all in pink and brown polka dots, my personal favorite right now. Perfect! Except, it was $9.98. I searched for another few minutes for something small to add to my purchase and came up empty, so I decided I'd just buy one more of the outfits in a different pattern. I'd still spend $10, but rationalized that it was a steal for 8 pieces of cute clothing and accessories.

Did I mention there were lots of exclusions? Yes, I believe I did except I probably didn't mention that Everyday Values, like the outfits I picked out, were part of the long list of exclusions. I probably didn't mention it because I didn't realize it. I left the items on the counter and stormed off, thinking I'd find something in the kitchen section. By then I was in such a bad mood that I decided to just go back another day when I had a clear list of what I really needed (Socks, I realized on the way home--the boys always need socks).


I was so looking forward to a Chai Latte, but by the time I got to Starbucks, the baby was protesting the stroller, so I put her in the sling. Unfortunately she's too grabby right now for me to risk holding a hot cup with her within hand's reach, so I had to pass. Next we headed to Sears to return a bunch of Lands' End stuff and look for some replacements. I do love most of their children's clothes and was able to find some good bargains on basics that all the kids need. The guy who checked me out was not the sharpest knife in the drawer so it took him oh, about double the time it would have taken someone else and he made two major mistakes that required he void the transaction and start over again. By this time the baby and I were hungry and cranky so when a little old lady came up to the register, forcing my not sharp guy to stop what he was doing completely, and asked for help with curtains, I was pissed. Even more so when she reached for the baby's hand, the one that contains the thumb she sucks. I'm sure my head was spinning when I told the sweet old lady "DO NOT TOUCH MY BABY'S HAND, please." At least I added the please to show that I'm a polite bitch, right? Then I scandalized everyone in Sears by nursing on a sofa right in the middle of the furniture department. What's up with people *still being so shocked by a nursing woman?

I came home to find my most recent order from A Touch of Whimsy--beautiful invitations to the christening and family informals that are too cute. Gina is great--I only ordered on Tuesday and had the items by Saturday. Go check her site out, you'll love the products and be hooked like me.

Top Chef Finale

Not only do I love to cook, but I also love watching other people cook and therefore, the reality show cooking competitions are right up my alley. I can't wait for the winner of Next Food Network Star to debut her show (should be this month, I think)!

I've watched all three seasons of Top Chef, and I'm generally not very surprised by the finale or the winner. But last night, I thought for a few minutes that Dale just might pull out a win. It was only in the last 4 or 5 weeks that I realized I was pulling for him. He was witty and honest and his food usually looked great. So Hung winning was very anticlimactic. I'm looking forward to the reunion show next week.

Now I'll have to admit that I like a lot of reality tv. This year I've watched Amazing Race, which is my absolute favorite, Survivor, Project Runway, Big Brother, and all of the sleazy Flavor Flav shows, in addition to the ones mentioned above. Grey's Anatomy is the non reality show I watch on a regular basis. We finally got Tivo last week and seriously, it's changed my life. I can't believe how quickly I can get through a 60 minute show. Being efficient is high on my list of things I love, so Tivo helps me achieve that goal.

I recorded a yoga show from FitTv, and I'm learning the routine and doing it as often as I can throughout the week. Getting to the gym is hard for me right now for various reasons so I'm walking in the park and doing yoga at home until we can get back to the Y.

This weekend there's not much going on. Our big excitement on the weekends is the Saturday morning trip to Whole Foods, where we eat our way through the store as we taste just about every sample they offer. We find it impossible not to spend a million dollars there each week, and then on the way home we stop at Trader Joe's for another half mil of items we can't get at WF. It's nuts, really, but worth it in the long run, I hope.

Why CookShopLove?

Clearly I'm stealing a cute title idea from Elizabeth Gilbert. When reading her book, I thought a lot about three words I'd use to describe my life.

The cook part should be fairly obvious. When I moved into my first adult home, I was a pretty lame cook. The first time I tried to roast a chicken I forgot to take the innards out and so when my husband came home from work he walked in to a smoke filled kitchen. In tears, I told him to just throw the stupid chicken out, and I felt pretty foolish when he pointed out that the bag of stuff had to be removed before cooking the chicken. Times sure have changed; it's not rare for me to make an involved new recipe with multiple ingredients for a weeknight dinner all while helping my 9 year old with his homework, reading a book to my 4 year old, or nursing my 3 month old! I credit the change with good cookbooks, friends who enjoy cooking and eating as much as I do, and Food Network.

Shopping is obvious too. I do love to shop. Always have and probably always will. I can't think of anything I don't love to shop for except bedding (too many choices and they're all boring). Lately I've spent most of my time in Gap and Borders, buying clothes for everyone and birthday gifts for children whose parties my kids have been invited to.

On to the love. As I mentioned above, I am the mother of three children. My oldest will turn 10 next month. I am planning a huge surprise party for him, and since I love to plan and entertain as much as I love to cook and shop, I'm in my element.

My second child is 4½. We celebrated his half birthday with a small celebration that included a dairy free, egg free cake thanks to the carpool teacher who, when he told her it was his half birthday, said "Are you going to have half a cake tonight?". Thanks a LOT, Mrs. I! I didn't realize until it was too late that we had no milk or eggs, and my husband was out of town so there was no way I was dragging three kids and my tired self to the grocery store.

My daughter was born at the end of June and is so sweet. I absolutely love having babies. She nurses well, sleeps even better, and smiles all day long. What more can you ask for?