Archive | September, 2012

wine night fight night

30 Sep

this past thursday, we were the guests of our friends demian and lauren at scardello cheese store for a “showdown of the wine reps”.

the concept was this: the store has terrific wine reps that visit the store and thought it would be a good idea to pair them against each other.  a bit of a throwdown, you could say.  so 3 reps brought 4 bottles of their best wines and scardello paired them with some outstanding cheese.  each rep told us the story of the vineyard and the wine and we – along with about 30 other people – got to vote after each of the 4 rounds.  the winner was crowned with a hat of wine corks.

what a fun evening.  got me thinking how fun this would be to do at home.  have three couples over who each bring their favorite bottle of red, white and sparkling.  we have to sell our wine to the other couples and then there is an overall winner.  the only problem with that is that we’d all vote for our own wine.  that could be an issue…

maybe i need to think about this a minute.  any thoughts?

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leaving behind vs. being left: deep thoughts

25 Sep

throughout your whole life you will have people leave you.  think about friends/family that have left you in their various ways.  move.  death. argument.

throughout your whole life you will leave people.  you get married.  job transfer. want to explore.  many reasons.

so is it harder being the leaver or being left?  i think being left for sure… at first.  when you’re left, your standing there with a void that is hard to fill.  memories flood your brain and tears well up in your eyes.  you feel abandoned and that hardens you just a little bit.  maybe around the edges.  

the leaver is excited and looking forward to a new challenge and surroundings.  they are nervous, maybe, but they buck up and put on their badge of courage and lift their chin up.  don’t get me wrong.  the leaver is sad.  deeply sad.  but also pre-occupied.

that is when it becomes hard for the leaver – later.  after normalcy sets in and they realize that their family and friends are far away and their home town is…no longer their home town.  it is hard to answer the question “where are you from?”  this applies obviously if the leaver is just moving.

i have been the leaver many, many times in my life.  as far as i remember (being old enough to have significant memories that is.)  in third grade i left boston and my friends like karen hughes and billy pine.  billy had a pool and the school bus stop was on the corner by his house.  on hot days i remember lingering in front of billy’s driveway hoping he’d say “wanna go swimming?” which he always asked and i always sprinted home and got my suit on.   after my freshman year, i left grand blanc michigan and a tennis team i worked so hard to be on. i left my best friends heather day and wendy gifford and a ton of friends from my youth group at church.  i remember going to the OLOL dark dance hall and grooving to “erotic city” by prince.   after my sophomore year, i left milwaukee and my best friend amy bloomberg whose mom invented shrinky dinks and was the mayor of our town and amy continued to vacation with me and my family after we moved.  after college, i left home and moved downtown.  i had the time of my life with best friends kerri antles, sean, mark, dana larrabee, connie and all my work buddies from three different jobs.  when i was 34 i left chicago and moved to dallas and now at 42, i’m leaving again.

this time i leave with the full knowledge that friendships are life long and grow, even if we’re apart.  maybe even more so.  the visits become more real and fun catching up and digging in.  and never lose touch. we’re too old to lose friends.  right?

i haven’t been left very many times.  i’ve been left by death by my grandma and my dad.  both hurt a lot.  i’ve been left by my brother who has chosen to not want to have anything to do with me and hasn’t for two years now.  hurt.

what do you think?  harder to be left or be the leaver?  do you ever think about stuff like this?

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cool pics

23 Sep

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slumming it in michigan

23 Sep

extremely successful trip to michigan. and it’s fall. can’t beat michigan in the fall. can you? i’d like to see you try!

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go together: chunky sweaters & monsters

17 Sep

it was 82 degrees in dallas today and so out came the sweaters… and the uggs.  it was obviously a chilly fall day in the big d.

this is hands down my favorite two quarters (Q3 & Q4) of the year.  i would happily give up summer entirely for constant fall and winter.  here are some things i love about fall.

and fall wouldn’t be fall without being a little spooky.  i’m as tough as they come and nothing really scares me.  but i like the speed of scaryness that rolls like the munsters.  herman would always scare me when he’d stomp his feet but make me laugh when he would laugh.

please check out the cool sweaters – i found most on etsy.

and the recipes for the pumpkin & maple macaroni and cheese, pumpkin pancakes, cheesecake and caramel pumpkin pot de creme.

oh.  and there is one more thing that goes great with chunky sweaters, pumpkin cheesecake and an episode of the munsters…

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lyrical sunday: we live

16 Sep

on september 25th, my dad will have been gone 7 years.  

hardest for me to believe (and i’ve always thought this) is that a living, breathing human being who was such an integral part of my life is just…gone.  never to be spoken to again.

maybe some of you know how i feel.  every single day, i think about my dad.  either it is remembering the funny line from the movie “wedding crashers” (she’s a stage 5 clinger!) that he laughed at or feeling his hands as they got so soft from the chemo or a james taylor song on the radio.

but around this time of year, i reflect on something that many people and maybe not so many know about.  how to hold someone’s hand as they bravely die.  as their body shuts down.  i remember september 24th, 7 years ago now, sleeping on the couch next to my dad’s bed at night watching his chest go up and down in the night.  i would hold my cell phone up and shine it across the room just to make sure he would know i was there.

for today, i want to share with you some lyrics that have always meant a lot to me.  i swear i need to engrave them somewhere so every morning i remember this.  in a world of a very shallow focus of “keeping up with the jones” these are great words to remember.

There’s a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost her son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be the last time she’d trade with him for a little more time
(so she could say she loved him one last time)
And hold him tight
But with life we never know when we’re coming up to the end of the road
So what do we do then
With tragedy around the bend

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

There’s a man who waits for the tests to
See if the cancer had spread yet
And now he asks why did I wait to live ’til it was time to die
If I could have the time back, how I’d live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well, this is your story and it all depends
So don’t let it become true
Get out and do what we were meant to do

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day
Is a gift somehow, someway
And get our heads up out of this darkness
And spark this new mindset and start on with life cuz it ain’t gone yet
And tragedy’s a reminder to take off the blinders and wake up
(to live the life)
We’re supposed to take up
(moving forward)
With all our heads up
Cuz life is worth living

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

 -superchick (look the song up!)

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this week: vegas, paris, chicago & cinci!

14 Sep

this has been a crazy week. glad to be unwinding with a little cab franc and this 60 degree weather in dallas.

so this week was interesting in the way of travel and photos. kinda cool to get the photos i got messaged to me. oh, i love technology!

i was in vegas for a chevy meeting, ROF was in columbus, ohio and naperville, il (hello? i grew up here!) and my sister katie was in cincinnati where my grandma lived and my mom grew up. very very near and dear to my heart. lastly, d, a great friend of ours, is in paris (my ultimate dream location which i’ve never been) and he has been sending me snaps all week.

so, these were the photos i got and took this week.

while i was waiting wednesday morning for a friend to go to a meeting with, i saw this. a dude in his robe and baseball cap holding an elevator and hanging out. what happens in vegas … goes on a blog, dude.

this was our house in naperville. i got this from ROF who was there for a couple of days. i lived in this house from the summer before my sophomore year in high school until i moved downtown chicago when i was 23 years old. my family then moved on to dallas when i was 25. so this house brings back so-many-memories. i can tear up thinking of them. thanks, ROF.

this snap was sent by my sister, katie. she was in cincinnati and this was my grandparents condo on erie avenue in hyde park right across from the hyde park country club where they were founding members. this also brings back so many many memories. i can remember what the condo smelled like – leather and just baked mini bran muffins (my grandma was a stickler about maintaining her weight) i remember the bottom drawer of her dresser in her bedroom (2 twin beds – one for her, one for grandpa) that held plastic bangles of all shapes, sizes and colors. i used to put those on up to my elbow. the other thing i used to do – which is really funny – is when i got a little older, like that awkward middle school age, was read the dirty parts of her “romance” novels. note, they weren’t today’s standard of “dirty” they were super tame but…hello…granny!!

lastly, d really came through for me on texting pictures of paris.

i hope i get to experience this city. i may have it all built up in my head but i’m a very passionate person – about life, love, work, family, art etc… and this (TO ME) is the city that personifies that to me. everything about it is passionate – right down to the food, the sidewalk cafes – everything. thanks d for letting me live vicariously through you for the week!

that’s it for now folks. have a great weekend!

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snail mail is back!

10 Sep

yes, we all love email, we love our computers, social media and apps.  however, don’t we all love getting something real cool in the mail?  it is so “in” now to sign up for these very hip monthly “gift” subscriptions.  it makes coming home from work and sorting through all the junk mail and bills…fun.  because there is a little something-something of awesome in the pile for you.

this is also a great gift idea.  it’s the gift that keeps on giving.  and it is so much more now than just a wine or fruit of the month club.  

before we talk about that – i can not mention snail mail without talking about my awesome husband.  he masters the art of sending postcards.  he sends me postcards from every where he goes – even when we are together.  and he sends them to my office.  it is such a huge grin that comes on my face when i get back from vacation and get the mail and i see a postcard peeking out of the stack of ad age and auto news subscriptions.

but more than that, he sends them to my mom, sister, his sister and various friends and family around the county.  so cool.

back to the gifts

so in addition to postcards and letters from loved ones, why not sign up with one of these companies to send you some goods?   my sister said to my mom this weekend, when she questioned the money my sister spent on one of these, ” I’M SINGLE AND IF I WANT TO GET A GREAT PACKAGE OF STUFF IN THE MAIL I’M GONNA DO IT!”  ok!

birchbox: a fun, hip beauty box that sends you samples of great products (and some full size ones too) for $10 a month.  i get this one and like it a lot.

lost crates: “crates” or boxes that are curated (a fave word of mine) by bloggers, companies and fun people.  you can take a test to discover what kind of box you should receive.  art, food, design – anything.  check out this website!

giftlit.com:  this is a monthly delivery site for book lovers.  super cool.  especially if you’re a foodie.  they have monthly kids books, chick lit – lots!

here is popsugar’s monthly box.  for $35 a month, you get full-size goodies.  katie loved her first installment this month which is on the website.  i think this would be a great gift for a daughter (hint hint), sister, best friend.  but probably not your husband.

then… there is whimsey box.  for you DIY folks, force yourself to do a simple project every month with everything you need delivered to your doorstep. make easy projects like the one above and be proud that you did it yourself.

there is a great website resource for you in amazing clubs.com.  there is the bacon of the month club, peanut butter of the month club and so much more.  i know the perfect person to give the bacon of the month club to!

lastly, if you like to try out healthy snacks, there is yumvelope.  this is a little sack of goodness coming to you monthly.

hope you found these as fun as i think they are.  please let me know if you sign up for any of them!

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sunday poetic musings

9 Sep

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change is in the air

3 Sep

by now you may have learned that ROF and i are moving…

it’s bittersweet. 

i’ve always embraced change but at the same time there is something in me that wants consistency and same-ness. there is comfort in what you know vs. the fear that comes with what you don’t.  however, i’ve discovered that fear dissipates as soon as you push past it.  then it becomes something that you know.


home is where the heart is and my heart is with ROF.  i gave my mom a sign that says on it “home is where your mom is” and that is true as well.  at least it was true for 39 of my 42 years.  however, having said that… i still do love our home.   and while i’m excited for change, i’m sad to be saying good-bye to a home that i love.  but it’s just a home, right?

i bonded with my sister in this home.  we bought it together 4 years ago and we had a lot of fun.  neither of us planned on it being our “forever house” – obviously – but at the time, we were single and looking to decorate.  and we loved to entertain.  i will forever look back on this time together with great fondness and memories.  then the house became ROF & my house!

the entertaining continues….   if i thought katie and i threw some parties, ROF and i really threw some parties.  all kinds.  small dinner parties, bigger bashes.  one of my favorite was ROF’s 40th birthday surprise party.  they opened an old bottle of tequila and things got fun from there – especially the fun with the cake designed to look just like… max.

another real memorable party was my mom’s 70th birthday party.  we had over 50 people here at our house, a band in the back yard, a mobile burger  unit in the back yard, homemade sangria and a special cake.  we had a blast and mom was so surprised.

i got engaged, married and lived happily ever after in this home.  we had an unbelievable wedding weekend in dallas followed by a brunch at our house with many of our friends and family members.  i’ll always cherish that time with ROF and all the people special to us.

i can’t wait to make new memories in our new place, in our new city.  i hope those memories have to do with first snows, cabin trips with card games and good ole mid-western fun.  but we’ll never forget the fun we had here.  whomever you are that gets this house…you’re lucky.  we all loved it!

if you are interested in this house – click here

 

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killer guacamole: killer weekend

2 Sep

we were blessed to be able to spend some quality time with some very good friends of ours this weekend at their beautiful lake house and with their beautiful daughter.

kelly made her killer guacamole…

in which i deeply regretted only having a few scoops before taking a lazy nap and waking up to it being devoured by the men of the house.  sigh.

i’m sure you’re looking for a recipe – but who needs it?  here are the ingredients (going from memory here, folks)

avocados (about 1 per person)

bunch of cilantro

red onion

jalapeño (or go hotter, if you dare)

sour cream

sriracha sauce (don’t tell anyone about this – this is the secret punch)

lime juice

first the chopping – chop up a handful of red onion nice and fine.  

next, chop up the jalapeño

then, pull the stems off the leaves of cilantro

cut avocado in half (either way) and scoop with a big spoon it out of the shell.  pop a knife in the hard core and twist the core out of the other half.  scoop that half out and put in bowl.  squeeze with lime to keep from browning.  mash together like crazy insane person.

add the cilantro and onion and mix up.

now give a squirt of sriracha sauce.  if you are not familiar with this – taste it first.  it will burn the crap out of your mouth, but mixed in with the avocado, it goes quite nice.

very last step, stir in a dollop of sour cream.  this makes it creamy.

oh, one more step – season.  get out the salt and pepper and put a little in and taste and repeat until you love it.

tip – if you screw something up – kelly says just add another avocado!

serve with BLUE chips (the best) and anything else you want!

thanks kelly & paul.  had a great labor day weekend with you two and soph!

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