Conversation #16

Me: What's so funny?

Him: I'm listening to the radio. They're talking about a study on NPR that was done on raising kids. They say that taking care of kids ranks even with vacuuming in terms of enjoyment.

Me: Uh oh, I've never been a big fan of vacuuming.

I've Just Been Busy

It's been hard to focus on actually getting a post finished. I think I have four different ones started right now. I just get side-tracked easily. I've been doing a lot of web searches for free baby clothes patterns. The last three weeks have been filled with cutting, pinning, and sewing all sorts of tiny things. I've been lucky to get to do everything in both boy and girl versions, which makes it even more fun. (I can't post the boy versions though because they are a gift).

Here are a few of the adorable tiny things I've made lately.

Baby diaper covers. Pattern here.

Newborn baby pants. Pattern here.

Baby kimono shoes. Pattern here (though I added a slight modification with the addition of some 1/4 inch elastic around the top for a better fit).

I have probably made 15 other bibs, but only two with this pattern.
The others are just the regular snap behind the head shape with this pattern.
I'll probably share those in a different post.

He Loves Me

I told Nathan a week ago that I had gotten him a Valentine's Day gift "just in case he wanted a heads up so he could start thinking what to get me." I offered up the idea of getting me a cookie bouquet, but after he researched it, he said "no way was he paying $70 for some awful cookies." Instead, he had decided he was going to make me Valentine cookies, macarons, in fact.

I thought he was crazy to tackle something so daunting as his first ever attempt at making cookies, but he was set on it. I had gotten a cookbook on macarons from my mom for my birthday, so I handed the book over last week. He studied up every night, made his grocery list and did the shopping for them last weekend. He had originally planned to make them on Sunday, but we couldn't find almond flour and powdered egg whites, so they took another day to locate.

Each night Nathan continued to study the recipe and directions, while our kitchen counters have been covered in all of the preparations since Sunday. He tackled the lemon almond cream filling on Tuesday night, accidentally making a double batch (good thing it's tasty on all sorts of things) and using every bowl in the kitchen.

His plan was to make the cookies on Wednesday night, but then he had to work late, so they became the Valentine's evening project. Last night he came home early from work, had his snack, and got down to work.

He mixed and scraped vanilla beans, blended and even added food coloring to make them pink.

Then he had to pipe it out into disks and bake it in the oven at multiple temperatures. Once the cookies cooled, he still had to pipe in the filling. Overall the whole macaron making process was a multi-hour project, but the finished product was delicious!

Nathan was disappointed that some of the cookies ran together in the oven and didn't look perfect, but I loved them all.

The Chair

Recently I tackled painting the flowered armchair we had in the spare bedroom that is now the nursery. The flowers were just too much, but Nathan didn't want to replace it. Since the chair is not worth getting reupholstered (and I couldn't face doing that chair again myself), I read online that you can paint upholstered chairs, so I thought I'd give that a shot.

Before

After

It took a LOT of fabric medium (the stuff you mix with the paint to make it less crunchy) and even more time, but I don't hate how it turned out. It feels a bit like vinyl though not quite that bad. It's not perfect, and I don't know that I'd tackle that again, but I think the chair will work for now. (Plus, if Nathan hates it than I can convince him that we should get a new chair, so I'll win either way).

In it's spot. This nursery is definitely cozy, aka super small.

Here are a couple of pictures of the nursery in progress, but almost done. I still have a few pictures to hang up, and Nathan is going to put shelves up along the top of the room (on the walls with windows) for books and stuffed animals. Once those are done, I'll make sure to share the full view.

Just a Minute: January 2013

reading…I just reread Cloud Atlas; I feel like I got a lot more out of it the second time. Though I wouldn't say it's a favorite, I am still so impressed by the author's creativity and ability to write five widely different stories that all tie together. It's such a unique novel that it is totally worth a read. I am now in the middle of The Weird Sisters. Really enjoying it. My mother-in-law suggested it because it's about three grown sisters who move back in to their parents' house in Columbus. My sister-in-law said it sounds like hell.

watching…Downton Abbey was heartbreaking this week (ages ago now). I just knew things were going too well to last.

listening...to Harbour Lights by A Silent Film. Lovely music, not sure where I first heard it.

sewing...I am ankle deep in making bibs. Some I've made for friends who are having babies, but I've also made our little one quite a few. It's a pretty relaxing way to wind down after work, especially since most of the time reading just puts me right to sleep.

White half, what white half?

baking…I've been making cookies about once a week to give to the neighbors. I totally recommend Oatmeal Carmelitas, by the way. The lemon sugar cookies were also pretty tasty though I thought they were the best straight out of the oven. For the last two weeks of January I was craving a Black and White Cookie, but that's the kind of thing you come across in a random bakery and that whole time I did not. I finally caved and made some last week, and then wouldn't you know I found them in two different places (mine were pretty good anyway though).

 

Tipsy Laird Trifle-delicious!

celebrating...Our third annual Burns Night was a success. It took me a couple of days to fully recuperate but it was worth it. I never seem to take pictures during the actual dinner. I wish I had because I made a fancy tower of haggis, neeps, and tatties with a scotch cream sauce. Mine looked a bit like this only better.

Mine had the haggis on the bottom,
then the potatoes, then the turnips.

Getting Ready

For the past couple of years, we've been throwing a Burns' Night celebration. I have never really thought about how much preparation one takes, but this weekend I made a list of all I did so far and what is to come, and I was incredibly surprised to see how long it was.

And the party's not even until next weekend, so I haven't even started preparing any of the six courses!

My sister, Emily, designed the invitation, menu, and poem layouts for me!

Here's some of my fancy party preparations from last weekend:

Sort out soup tureen and ladle for first course
Iron and fold napkins
Wash and iron tablecloths
Iron flags
Make table runner and iron
Find Nathan's kilt and wool socks
Count out silverware settings
Polish all silver
Order haggis and oatcakes
Buy Scotch
Place order for pork shoulder
Print menus and Ode to Haggis
Write Immortal Memory Address
Order centerpiece
Write shopping list

Amazingly, I still had plenty of time to finish a book, paint the armchair for the baby's room, make cookies, go out for a lovely Chinese dinner with my husband, and make scones too! I never feel this organized.

Sometime this week I will:

Buy groceries/supplies
Whip honey butter (tonight or tomorrow night)
Prepare Angel Food Cake (Wednesday or Thursday night)
Make Vanilla Custard Sauce (prob Wednesday night)
Make Chocolate Scotch Cake (prob Thursday night)
Mix up the Drambuie Vinaigrette (Friday night)
Boil and mash turnips (Friday night)
Boil and mash potatoes (Friday nights)
Pick up the pork shoulder (Friday on the way home from work)
Season pork shoulder for overnight marination (Friday night)
Clean the house (I've assigned this one to Nathan)

It Might Not Be Rocket Science, But It Sure Feels Like It

Anyone who has created a wedding registry will probably initially think that creating a baby registry is pretty much the same thing. How hard can it be, right? You just fill up the list with ideas of things that people can buy, only this time, you're not going to be the one breaking in that new bathtub or outfit...it's going to be the tiny new arrival.

However, when it comes right down to it, putting items on a baby registry (for a first child, anyway) is a bit like trying to set up a laboratory when you're in marketing. I should get some test tubes, right? Scientists use test tubes, don't they?

Anyway, I've been populating our baby registry on Amazon with lots of suggestions from other new moms, from Amazon itself, and from a few stabs in the dark. It feels like EVERYthing requires extensive thought and research though. There's no such thing as even a simple bathtub. Do you want it to be collapsible? What shape? Will you use in mainly in the tub or in the sink? AHHH.

Clothes haven't really made the registry much because that's the hardest thing to predict. First of all, I have no idea how big she's going to be, then I have no idea how many people will go for new born sizes versus 0-3 months or higher. I feel like I'll just leave that open, at least for now.

Except....

Except for the new line from Gap featuring Beatrix Potter's original Peter Rabbit. As the child of a librarian who was also a little obsessed with Beatrix, I am in love with all of these comfy looking outfits. I love how subtle the references are too. I pretty much want everything. How cute is that hat? That sale is making my promise not to buy anymore baby clothes really, really hard to keep.

Don't Trade Up

Moment in David Rakoff's last dance

Here is the simplest lesson you taught me: Don’t trade up. 

In terms of three-word volumes, it ranks right up there with “It gets better.” Like that more famous line, it starts out as a bit of simple, practical instruction — don’t back out of a social engagement just because a snazzier offer came along — and broadens out into an entire perspective on how to live. Don’t grade friendships on a hierarchical scale. Don’t value people based on some external indicator of status. Don’t take a competitive view of your social life. There are very few rules I carry around with me every day. Don’t trade up is one of them, and I truly can’t tell you how many seemingly complicated situations it resolved into clarity and fairness.

from the feature on David Rakoff in The Lives They Lived, this month's New York Times, which celebrates the lives of those who died in 2012.

The Cookie Fairy

One of my goals on my life list was to take cookies to a nursing home, but when I tried that last year, I was told in no uncertain terms that they couldn't accept strange food from strange people because that was a health risk to their patients. I'll still try to meet that goal sometime, but it becomes a bigger goal because I'm going to have to make friends with someone at a nursing home in order to bring them cookies personally (that's still allowed).

In the meantime though, I wanted to do something nice that was related to this goal. A few of our neighbors are older (one just turned 92!), so I thought it would be fun to make a batch of cookies each week (or month, I'm not going to be a stickler about how often I do it) so that I could take a few to the neighbors.

This weekend I made some Oatmeal Carmelitas (though I used more chocolate chips and more nuts than this recipe), which are pretty much the best cookie bar ever invented. You should definitely make a batch tonight. SO GOOD.

I wrapped them up in individual largish servings and dropped them off with a handful of neighbors. It's pretty hard to walk quietly up a wooden staircase when you're six months pregnant, so I'm not sure this Cookie Fairy went completely undetected, but it was nice to think of their pleasure upon discovering their cookies as I munched on the remaining cookie bars.

Type A

I have this habit of tackling projects in a way that makes them somewhat less than relaxing for the average person. Case in point, at the after-Christmas fabric sales, I purchased enough 70% off Christmas fabric to make 60 napkins (no joke). I definitely got a little carried away.

Most people (and even myself sometimes) would put at least half of the fabric away to tackle at some point in the future, but not me, not this project. Last year I made about 12 napkins and cut out the fabric to make 6 more. Those six sat unhemmed for a whole year, so I knew (especially with baby on the way) that if I didn't cut and hem all of these napkins while I was in the napkin-making groove, they would never see the light of day.

Thus, I spent an entire weekend (and New Year's Day) pinning, hemming, and watching L&O marathons, while Nathan went running, swimming, and cleaned our bathroom so thoroughly he even took shelves out to wash them. He very sweetly never mentioned how ridiculous my endeavor was or how molded to my ass the couch cushion was becoming. Seriously, never. Not even once, though I'd be willing to place money on it that the thought crossed his mind a time or two.

I did take some cooking breaks and manage to put away the Christmas decorations as well, so it was not entirely a one project weekend. As silly as these napkins are, it feels pretty satisfying to see that tower of finished ones sitting in my sewing room (only 16 more to hem)!

Still, I probably should get around to sending out our holiday cards, which I usually tackle between Christmas and New Year's.

Happy 2013!

Just a Minute: December Edition

reading…Reading is slow going for me now that I'm well into the pregnancy. I barely get a few pages in before I am completely snoozing. One book that has managed to keep me awake longer than most is The Chaperone. It's set in the '20's and is a story about silent film star, Louise Brooks and her chaperone from Kansas.

watching…Saw 5 Year Engagement and Silver Linings Playbook while my sister was here. I really enjoyed both. Silver Linings Playbook was one of the few movies I actually watched in the theater this year, and it was totally worth paying full price to see it. Quirky and at times super awkward, it was a really good story without being too sentimental, so I think even Nathan would have enjoyed it.

listening...to Christmas Time in New Orleans by Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday and reliving our warm weather Christmas last year in Savannah, especially after our atrocious slog home through snowstorm Euclid (really, we're naming snowstorms now?). There's really nothing like Billie Holiday to get you in the seasonal spirit.

sewing...Now that my Christmas projects are either done or too little, too late, I can tackle all the cute little baby things I want to start making. Perhaps this, and this, and this, and maybe even these. 

baking…Well, just before Christmas I made some Orange Oatmeal quick bread, some Chocolate Scotcheroos (minus the sugar, still completely delicious), English Toffee, and Sugar Cookies. This weekend, I made a batch of super gooey brownies for my neighbor's 92nd birthday and homemade Honey French Bread. I think I might start being the "cookie fairy" for all the neighbors once a week, since one batch should easily cover everyone-hope no one is making a New Year's Resolution against sweets.

making...We are slowly but surely getting the baby's room ready. I'm collecting art for the walls, planning shelving to go around the top of the room, getting supplies to paint our armchair so it matches (Am I crazy?-I'll keep you posted. I think that's going to be an early 2013 project), cleaning out what used to be the craft closet, and buying tiny dresses to fill the newly empty craft closet.

Then and Now in Florence

I first experienced Florence ten years ago as a junior in college. My apologies to Nathan and Dean because I might have mentioned that fact a time or two on the trip. Or twenty.

Over the course of this trip, I had the particularly funny thought of the two versions of me in Italy. College me stayed up 'til all hours, drank liters of wine, went to sketchy Euro-trash disco-techs, got kissed by a gypsy, and bought a shirt with only strings to hold it on my body. Grown-up me was 20 weeks pregnant, so fell asleep nearly every time I sat still for longer than 5 minutes, had exactly 3 sips of wine the entire trip, went to sketchy public restrooms, got kissed by my husband (if I forced him), and bought baby clothes.

Fiesole, 2002

Fiesole, 2012

I'm not sure college me would be impressed by grown-up me's Italy trip, but I'm still pretty satisfied with this version of Italy (and myself) anyway. And I'll tell you, a grown-up salary let me eat a hell of a lot better than my Writing Center income.

Conversation #15

Me: (sewing on the couch) Ow, ow, ow. I just stabbed myself in the baby with a pin.
Him: (reading the paper) Hmm. So what kind of mattress do we have for the crib? This article says some are dangerous.
Me: I don't know. Go look.

Him: Ours is a Colgate, so it doesn't have any tris.
Me: Is that good?
Him: Yes, it says they can cause cancer.
Me: Oh yikes. Aww, you're such a good daddy, making sure our baby is safe.
Him: And you're stabbing her with pins...

Day 12: You Walk, I'll Take the Bus

Our last day in Italy dawned brightly much to our continued surprise. Our plans for the day included a visit to Fiesole, a small town above Florence. Dean and Nathan were happy to walk the few miles up, but I decided I would catch the bus and meet them at the top. While I waited, I wandered around the main square, did a little shopping, and found a little park with some good views. Before long, Nathan and Dean arrived to explore a bit before we found a hidden overlook to admire and stopped for some nibbles at a nearby bakery.

Back in Florence, Dean took us to the Palazzo della Mercato to go to the San Lorenzo Market. Filled with jealousy to have such a great place nearby where he can buy produce, cheese, fish and other delicious things, we bought some olives, dried fruit, and then (cue the angels) we made the greatest decision ever.

One of fishmonger stalls featured two guys cleaning, chopping and frying freshly caught fish and calamari to order. Nathan loves calamari, so I insisted we have a snack. We placed an order that one of the men quickly tossed in flour and popped in the fryer. They even gave us free glasses of white wine while we waited at the little counter. When our order was ready, he quickly salted it and handed it over. It was the tenderest, most delicious stuff I can ever remember having. I will dream of those delicious little creatures, I'm sure.

You'd think this was the high food point of the day, but nay it only got better from there. Luckily we split the calamari among the three of us because next Dean took us to his favorite panini place. With no visible signage, it is so lucky he ever discovered it because there we had some truly amazing sammies. I will probably dream of those too.

After lunch, Nathan and Dean had an aperitif back at our hotel before we determined to go see the Boboli Garden. Not surprisingly with our Italian luck, we arrived at 10 after 3, mere moments after the last entrance ticket sold (they stop at 3). We tried one more garden but arrived there at 3:30, just as the ticket seller placed her chiuso sign on the counter. Sigh. It took some adjusting but Nathan and Dean decided to find a path on the shores of the Arno to walk.

A long walk as the sun set along the Arno and Nathan's mood recovered. Dean suggested we wait for Sarah to meet up with us at a nearby bar in the courtyard of a building that used to be a jail but has since been remade into condos. We had some drinks and enjoyed the evening.

When Sarah arrived, we were off to enjoy a meal at Trattoria Cibreo, a renowned restaurant run by Chef Picchi that features reimagined traditional Tuscan and Florentine dishes. We ordered lots of delicious dishes so that we could try a little bit of everything. Pâté, risotto, zuppas, crostini, polenta, rabbit, chocolate mousse, panna cotta, and some other tasty dishes that I can't quite recall, all chosen from our handwritten menus and described in lovely Italian-inflected English by our friendly waiter.

Sated, we toddled through the streets of Florence in a slight drizzle. We said arrivederci to Dean and Sarah and then to the Duomo. It was a pretty amazing trip, but both of us were pretty anxious to get back to our routine, our bed, and our cats. I guess now we're adventurous for a limited time only before we require a recharge.

No separate post is really even required for the flight home because it went so smoothly and was uneventful (even my flight meal was pretty great) except for one of my bathrooms being out of order, which I thoroughly did not appreciate.

Day 11: To Firenze

Our Italy trip nearly over, we took our trusty Fiat back to the Florence airport and caught a bus into the city. We checked into our hotel (Hotel Paris, a slightly worn old palazzo a couple of blocks from the Duomo) and headed to find some panini for lunch. Much to Dean's later dismay, we went to the same slightly expensive panini place we had eaten at on our previous Florence visit. They were really delicious though-on crunchy, crusty fresh bread.

We went for a walk to the Ponte Veccio, walking along the Arno while we ate, and then up to Piazzale Michelangelo to get the loveliest views of the city. After a small rest in front of San Miniato al Monte, we headed back down the hill to meet up with Dean next to the Uffizi.

Dean took us to see the impressive Stanford building which is a lovely palazzo that still houses the descendants of its original owners on the top floor. My favorite part of the evening, however, was getting to visit Dean's host family for a homemade Italian dinner of crostini with freshly pressed olive oil, pasta arribiata, and tiramisu. The olives that the oil came from had been picked just a week before from the family's own olive trees by the whole family (and Dean and Sarah), so the olive oil had not yet mellowed like the stuff we're used to having in the States. Fresh olive oil is neon green and has a very peppery, almost prickly taste. It was very different, but excellent. Dean's host parents were very friendly and welcoming, even though only Filomena spoke English.

After stuffing ourselves, we headed back to Sarah's apartment to play Euchre for an hour or two before we returned to the Palazzo Paris to have a frustrating shower with a handheld showerhead attached lower than shoulder height which also wouldn't stay upright until I rigged it to the curtain bar with a hair tie before hitting our twin beds. Oh, Hotel Paris, you made me never want to leave.