Total Health Tuesday and another Wee Holiday

Here is a quick pic of what I am working on today. Tonight starts the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the holiday of Trees. It is one that most people don't really celebrate at all, but then again most people don't observe Groundhog Day either! It actually has a few things in common with groundhog day as it celebrates the moment when trees begin to wake from their winter slumber. It is all about nature, planting, and tasting new fruits and nuts. If you ask me it is just perfect for a young family to "dig" into (pun intended). There is a small ceremony that accompanies eating, and so I made these placemats with the service printed right on it.

I used my 2006 issued Mountaincow to create the design and then printed it to a PDF. Printing to a PDF is something anyone can do even if you don't own adobe--just download a PDF printer. The PDF can, in turn, be sent out for printing without worry that the colors and fonts will shift. It is also great if the other receiver isn't using an obscure program from 2006! I sent it over to the fabulous Bruno at Minute Man Olivette to blow them up to placemat size, and he got them to me that very day for less than a dollar each! I think it would be great to use the idea for all sorts of secular ideas too--I think we need some monogrammed ones STAT!

I have a lot to do to set the rest of the table, including those sweet succulents (there are many more)!

Because I do want to hold myself accountable to the total health, here is a quick note about that: I have made it one month with virtually no added sugar, though I've had lots from fruit and milk! I only had white flour once, and it was an accident. In the end I lost about four pounds, though most of them were in the beginning, with the last few weeks being pretty stagnant. I did indulge a lot more than I usually would in nut butters, Irish Butter, and whole cheese. My thought is that it was a good thing to do and I will keep it up but I am going back to weight watchers after many years. My new card will read 35 pounds more than the last (do they even still have those)? As they would say in my hometown of Memphis, " I'm scared Y'all!"

Spring in Our Steps or 6 More Weeks In Boots?

I have always intended to use this blog to show our clever crafts and fun celebrations. It just never happened for 6 years. I realize that I may never be able to do this all in chronological order. So, I am just gong to start here. This was our sweet breakfast this morning (and I do mean "sweet"). After having only small amounts of sugar all month, my kids should be pretty buzzed today.

Here is what the table looked like in the middle of the night. I set it after returning home from a Super Bowl party and before watching Downton!

In the morning I added these groundhog peanuts to Nabisco pinwheels.

I served pancakes and packed lunches. The groundhog cookies in the little bags are made from fudge-covered oreos, almond slivers,and candy eyes and noses. They were on Dixie Delights several years ago I made the whole pack and gave them to friends so we won't be tempted by having them in the house. I used edible ink to make the face on the whole wheat finger sandwiches.

My centerpiece is what is left of a beautiful terrarium given to me by a friend as a hostess gift long ago. The succulents died recently. We are replanting them later this week, but in the meantime, it made a perfect spot for this little paper groundhog.

The tablescape will stay up until dinner when we have winter squash stew and spring mix salad. See what I did there?! It looks like it is six more weeks after all--stay warm!

Friendly Friday: The Nod

If you are not watching Blackish, you need to start. It is as good as Modern Family, New Girl and the Mindy Project (all tops in my book). This week we caught a re-run where the family was talking about "the nod."  Its spot on with my idea of saying hello (except you know I am white Jewish lady but I think its universal)

This week I have not done a great job with my resolution to say hello first.  I ran into the grandmother of the boy for whom I styled the bar mitzvah.   I have seen her several times since, but she <i>never</i> remembers me.  I didn't have time to go through the whole thing, but then we ended up seated next to each other.  The whole time she kept staring at me, obviously trying to figure it out.  I could have solved the mystery and been polite in approximately 30 second.  I really regret that I didn't do it. Similarly, I was meeting a colleague at my old work to talk business (more on that later).  I used to work exclusively in the Family Court; if our meeting had been there it would have been like  old-home week, with me high-fiving everyone (okay, maybe I am just imagining that part).   Anyhow, we met at the Civil Courts Building, where nobody knows me.  Like nobody--even with a bar card in my hand, they made me go through the metal detector and take off my shoes.  And I was sock-less.  Sock-less with a half-worn off pedicure when I saw another attorney I know.  I should have owned it, but instead I kept my head down and prayed he didn't see me.  Probably no harm done, but it still would have been nice to be nice!  Next week is a great time to try again!      

Throwback Thursday: I am turning One and my parents bought me a new house!

I am feeling great because my pictures are organized through 2008! Okay, that doesn't sound so great, but it is a massive improvement. In July of 2008 we celebrated the 1st birthday of the "baby." At the time she was an actual baby, so I guess I don't technically need to put that in "quotes." We moved into our new house exactly one month before the big day, so we figured that we would have a combined house warming and birthday party. I was getting a wee bit better about photographing event details, though still pretty bad at it at this point. We went with a preppy blue and green motif. The invitations had a sweet pic of A and a quote that said, "I am turning One, and my parents bought me a new house!" I included a pic of our house the day of the party for reference. It was too hot to landscape until the following fall, but I wanted you to see because the cake was made to resemble the house. Of course, she had her own smash cake too. Since it was an afternoon open house, we served a buffet of fruit with fruit dip, a cheese board, and crudites. I am not sure but we probably also had caprese skewers because I was really into those at the time! As you can see I have a pic of the buffet before it was fully set-up (nothing I can do now!). We also served punch that could be spiked or virgin and beer and wine. There were precious blue napkins with green writing with the address and blue ones with her name in green writing. Of course, no picture exists! On the way out the door there were brownies with a note that said, "it was sweet of you to come to my new home." Finally the best detail and show-stopper was that she stood up, took her first steps and walked around the room. She is an aspiring actress; I think it may work because her sense of timing is,and has always been, spot-on!!!

Workforce Wednesday: Why I am not going to be a stylist

Part of the process of deciding what I want to do for a career is sometimes ruling things out. One such thing was event styling. I could spend days writing about this subject as I am genuinely excited by it, but I won't (at least not today). Since I was a teen I was interested in executing events from exquisite invitation through a delicious meal right down to a clever favor that ties it all together. My mother actually encouraged me to go into culinary arts or hospitality, telling me that I would make a great television chef (which was not really a thing during my childhood except for Julia Childs and Graham Kerr). I thought I was too smart and besides who wanted to see a slightly chubby Jewish girl cooking and throwing parties for her friends? Well, actually apparently everybody (I love you Ina--you are my spirit animal)! Anywho...after become a social working lawyer, I always had this itch to try events. So I did, and I realized that I didn't love it. I didn't even like it. It took my passion and made it a job; a job with horrible pay and even worse hours (nights and weekends) no less. So, I am over it. But sometimes I can't help myself. I am not even being paid for this, but on Saturday I am pitching ideas for a Paris themed Bat Mitzvah. Ooh La La!

Total Health Tuesday: Back in the Saddle

When I was younger and having a particularly thin moment, I took a few spin classes. This was 1999 and I think Spinning was a brand-new concept. I went to a studio where the equipment bore more resemblance to traditional bikes than the computerized bikes in studios today. To set the scene the owner would dim the lights, burn candles and incense, and spin Dave Mathews Band. All that, plus the sweating and up and down motion, reminded me of you-know-what (my serious college boyfriend was a big fan of DMB--sorry honey).

Fast forward 16 years: my husband spins all the time while I haven't done it in years, even though now it is ubiquitous. As a part of my total health initiative (and to support our school), I bought a spot in a spin class for a fundraiser at my kids school. The candles and incense have been replaced by carefully timed LED lights while spin bikes have evolved immensely. They are basically computers with tiny butt holders on which to sit. I was pretty bad at it, but made my way through the class and am even encouraged to do it again.

But the next day I was so sore. Not in my legs. Like, you know, in an area that once again made me think of you-know-what. I actually goggled the terms "spinning and crotch." You should do this. It is pretty hilarious, unless it happens to you, in which case it is considerably less funny.

Next time, I will take a gel seat and the padded pants, but I am up for it again!

PS--I still haven't had refined sugar or white flour. I am not sure what the benefits are but I thought I would give it a full month and then begin counting calories!

Come to Order Monday: The Mudroom Cubbies

I have been working my way from the back of my house towards the front; I've already organized our laundry and mudroom bath. Today, I attacked the mudroom itself. Strangely, guests often tell me they are envious of my mudroom and the cubbies therein. It is ironic, because I used to think that simply having cubbies would make us organized. Truth be told, however, they are actually a big source of clutter. This is an area that requires a lot of weekly cleaning in addition to a big switch-over each season for changing clothing and activity needs.

Here is how they looked Monday Morning:

There are four of us; the last cubby is meant to be kept completely empty for guests. At this moment it was housing a bunch of random crap. Though I have been using cloth bags since the late 90's, I often forget then and come home with bags that later need to be recycled. My collection of plastic bags often fills the guest cubby along with items that need to go to Goodwill and goodness knows what else! Here, the other cubbies were overflowing with various coats and accoutrements. We keep vacillating between jacket and parka weather every other day, so we have left everything out. The kids also use their cubbies as "storage" for trinkets they bring home from birthday parties and school (though I have repeatedly asked them not to). You'll notice I also had some kid art on the exterior of the cubbies. My girls' sweet "days of creation" charts were there, but I moved them to another area of our home that is designated as a gallery for their work. Next I took everything out of the cubbies, organized the items on the top shelf into baskets, removed superfluous items, and wound up with this:

That will work for a few weeks, when I will have to do it again!