That's Me

If you read the blog and you don't actually know me, that's my picture, finally posted in the profile. It was taken in Sicily this past summer; I was three months pregnant and having a morning coffee on the patio, where we ate every meal. C and I were often the first two up in the morning.

I'd like to feel that happy all the time, so I figured it was worth posting for inspiration to get back to that state as often as possible.

The Spelling Bee

Have you ever watched the National Spelling Bee? It is remarkable to see the kids at work. So many of them have studied so hard for years; this year's winner had a bit of a family legacy with his sister in the Bee three times. His name is Sameer Mishra. His repeats of the word were great, with slightly childlike emphasis but teenage bravado.

My favorite...

Are they any alternate pronunciations?

Can you repeat the word?

Can I have the full etymology, please?

And the origin was?

Can you use it in a sentence?

"Bobby saved a recipe for a risotto with taleggio and pine nuts."

(Well, that sounds delicious; I even tried to look one up, to no avail. I actually spelled taleggio without looking at the TV. Knew it was a cheese.)

He won on the word "guerdon". Do you know what it means? I'll put the answer in comments.

Introducing Dinner Surprise

I'm going to introduce a "special" here on LoveMomWorkLife....Dinner Surprise. I think it will become a recurring regular on the menu. Tee-hee.

How do you shop for groceries? Do you go once a week, every day, somewhere in-between? Same store all the time or multiple stops?

If you are like us, you frequent three different stores for groceries. In our case, Stew Leonard's is the "big shop" for the week, then every few weeks I hit Trader Joe's, and then peppered in amongst those visits are pit-stops at our local DeCicco's. If you are paying attention, you can deduce we appreciate fresh food and like to cook.

(Which is why, again, we had to redo our kitchen and give us a place to cook we could both fit in without bumping into each other. Yes, yes, I know...I swear I will post the renovation soon. The kitchen is not done yet, though.)

We don't create a weekly menu when we shop, or go to the store with a list (unless we're out of some staples). Whatever is in season or on sale or we're inspired by, we buy. Then we just figure out what to make with what as the week goes by.

Tonight's Dinner Surprise ingredients:

• chicken breast from Stew's
• green and yellow squash
• onion
• salt & pepper
• chicken broth
• fresh chopped basil (a little)
• fresh chopped parsley (more)
• lemon

How to make it, from memory: Chop onion, saute in olive oil until starting to brown (use higher heat to get there fast); add chicken breast, cut into chunks and sprinkled with s&p. Add a little broth, just to cover the bottom, barely. Add the squash, also cut into chunks. Add more broth. Bring it up to a bubble. While you do that, add in the chopped herbs, and the juice of half a lemon. Add more pepper. Serve with couscous.

Verdict: Thumbs up from both C and O, barely any leftovers. I think I should have added more lemon juice just before serving.

My Hair is Falling Out

Not a euphemism for stress...though I suppose it could be.

I've hit that point post-baby where I have decided to nurse G less due to work (and life). We are down to two times a day, about 12 hours apart. She seems perfectly fine with it and honestly, I am still surprised I did as well as I did with it this time around.

So when the nursing stops, things begin to revert back to normal.
This means I kind of go back to a normal bra size (God only knows what it will be this time), and my hair falls out. My shower is clogged. Yuck.

I don't have the best hair to begin with. When I am pregnant it's a bonus, as my hair always seems thicker and healthier than when I am not. (Don't get any ideas, grandparents...you're only getting two out of us.)

Thank goodness for ponytail season, I suppose.

Last time, my feet grew. I swear. Ask my mother-in-law's family...I think I gave away about 15-20 pairs of shoes. So sad. Really....this was a travesty for me.

Wish me luck on the transformation! In the meantime, I will still be stuffing myself into whatever fits.

Start to the Day

G woke up in a fuss at 5:15am. Poor little thing has a cold and her nose is stuffy.

C said when he walked in she was trying to get at her nose...as if something was in it, or she was actually trying to take it off her face. You've got to love the fact that they still have so much to figure out.

Anyhow...poor Mama, I stayed up until it was time to take a shower, just trying to get her to sleep. Way too much to do today. At least she's back to sleep. Zzzzz....

Are you reading?

I just changed the "comment" option on this thing...anyone should be able to comment now if you've been reading and are feeling so inclined.

My bad, I think I had the wrong setting. Live and learn.

The Post-Baby Body Blues: Follow-Up

So I was crabbing about getting a dress for this wedding this weekend because of my current state of being, right?

So I did go to Loehmann's, found something that a woman next to me told me looked great on me, and bought it. Got home. Had a shoe issue. Damn. It was kind of gold brocade-ish (that sounds a lot uglier than it was) and my gold sandals were just not going to work...too party-girl and the dress was more tailored. ARgggHhh.

Do I go back and get the navy one that had sequined stripes on it (very cute but these descriptions are not doing justice, here) but I was concerned was a little short? I mean, my legs are good, I can wear something shorter...but should I? Am I too....old?

I checked anthro online (as always...and thanks for the reminder, P...we really do have to meet!) but everything they have right now didn't seem dressy enough for a night wedding.

Yesterday, crabbing to the nabes, and one of them says, hey, I have all these dresses in the closet. And then grabs a handful later to show me. Take them home last night...SCORE! Really pretty black feminine tailored in a very cool elegant fabric. She has great style so I feel extraordinarily triumphant. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Problem solved.

Question...at what age should a woman stop wearing miniskirts?
Does it matter casual or formal?
Does the occasion play a role?

What do you think?