Elmo = Love

One of my favorite little people in the world, Miss LKC is in love with a red furry muppet named Elmo. I've seen her with her Elmo doll. It's love, kids. Pure 17 month old love. Elmo is one very lucky boy creature.

Do you know anything about Elmo? I mean, beyond that he's the sweet and silly red character on Sesame Street. I thought that if I'm going to be a good Auntie to Miss LKC, I better know about this man creature she loves.

So, the other night, I crawled into bed with my iPad Mini (Thank you, Santa's Elves) and downloaded Being Elmo. It's a documentary on the the life of the puppeteer behind Elmo, Kevin Clash. It's a fabulous story. Most of which just made me want to be a puppeteer when I grow up. (If you know me, you know that I love putting voices to furry things or inanimate objects - it's a little crush I have.) They show you how the puppets are made and the life behind the scenes. They talk about Elmo's "soul" and what he exemplifies on Sesame Street. Once I heard that Elmo was created just to "love", I knew why Miss LKC's heart melted when she met him. She's full of love too, so those two together is like one giant, furry love force!

Now, when I go back to Phoenix to see Miss LKC, I'll have all sorts of stuff to talk to her about. She may just want to climb all over her swing set and say "ice" and "hi" but I think once I get her started there may be no end to our Elmo chat.

Wanna see the trailer to the film? It's below.

Smitten Kitchen Chicken

My very good friend since 3rd grade, C and I always do a Christmas lunch. It's usually 3 hours long - longer if we have to pop into a nearby store. This year it was C's idea to meet at the Phoenix Art Museum and see the exhibit on 1920's fashion - Modern Spirit.

Dresses, sequins, feathers, beading, tiny t-strap shoes, a little flapper, a lot of low waists, and everything feminine. We oooooed and aaaaaahhed over it all and each forced ourselves to pick the one dress we would have worn if we had lived in the 20s. Ah - the horror of only picking one . . . BUT we both succeeded and left happy with our choices.

I am digressing here.

The point to all this is after the dresses and after our 2+ hour lunch, C gave me my Christmas gift (wrapped in darling paper of course). It was the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman. Score! Have you heard of it? Click here to go to Deb's website. Deb is hilarious and started cooking in her tiny 2x4 NYC apartment. She then started the blog, Smitten Kitchen and to make a long story short had to quit her day job to keep the blog alive! I highly recommend her. Her blog. Her cookbook. Her recipes.

Here's the book C gave me:

Last night I tried to make Flat Roasted Chicken:

The part of the recipe that was the trickiest was cutting out the backbone of the chicken. I totally felt like a surgeon with shears! Kinda fun and kinda creepy.

Mine came out looking like this. I was pleased. The flavor was awesome and it was pretty easy. I'll try it again to see if I can crisp it up a bit more - like the Colonol does! Overall, a great chicken!

Thanks C for the book, the 3 hours of fun at the Museum and everything in between. XOXO

Close to my heart

I had to stop into Frances, my favorite Phoenix store when I was home over the holiday. It was on my "Must List" - right after "must eat machaca burro".

Frances if full of surprises and I guess that's why I love it so much. You never know what you're going to find. It may be a pair of the most perfect red shoes you've ever needed or it may just be the most hilarious birthday card for your Dad or it may be a sweet two sided locket that you can't live without.

That locket is what I found on my last visit. I had to have it because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. When I got home, I did exactly that.

Miss E & Mr P

Penny

Now I wear this locket almost everyday. It helps me feel Miss E & Mr P close to my heart even though they are 3000 miles away. Penny is usually sitting right next to me during the day, but a little closer never hurt.

I love lockets. This one is very untraditional but I think there is something so special about wearing someone (furry or non-furry!) so close to your heart.

'Da Bears

Husband and I went to our first Hershey Bear hockey game this weekend. Neither of us know a thing about hockey. I blame that on being from the desert. Kinda like I blame my deep desire to fly home just for a machaca burro.  I digress . . .

We had a great time at the game. We both really enjoyed watching live hockey. We were slightly disappointed that no fights broke out. Maybe it was a New Year's Resolution by the players to be on their best behavior. I hope they forget that resolution by the time we go back though as we were promised a nail biter!

The arena was beautiful. The people were nice and the beer was flowing. And at the end of the night, we got to try some paraphernalia on.  It was an A+ night!

Bear Face

Puck Head

The Claw!

Found!

My cousin, J and her super great fiancé, N came to visit us in Lancaster, PA for New Years. They are getting married in July and J has been on the hunt for her perfect wedding dress. She has looked at a few bridal shops, ordered a couple to try on at home and went to chat with a seamstress about having one made. Nothing she'd seen had been quiet perfect. Yet.

The first morning that J & N were here, J and I decided to totally change our plans and we asked the boys to drop us off at In White, a bridal salon not far from my house. (Boys were totally confused as we had plans but easily found comfort in a beer or two.) We knew this place was going to be great when the saleswoman offered us each a glass of wine while we shopped. J and I went through the dresses, she tried a few on and what do you know, she walked out in one and we said:

I love it!

I love it too!!

I really love it!!!

This is how I pictured you. I think I might cry.

Don't cry. Have another sip of wine.

I'm all out, can I have your glass?



Ladies and Gentleman, J has found the perfect dress!!! As her fiancé said, "I think the dress found J" (how cute is that?).

Here's the happy bride after the purchase:

Here's the happy bride and her MOH celebrating with the dress:

SIDE NOTE : Moms, don't worry the dress was only in the bar for the photo, it left right afterwards for safe keeping!!

I was so honored to be there for the big moment. I never dreamed I would accompany someone, let alone one of my favorite people in the world, as she found the dress of her dreams. What a wonderful experience. I can't wait to show you all pictures of J in July. She will be a stunning bride! I might cry again just thinking about it.

Little Bakers

One of my favorite memories of Christmas Day was giving Miss E an East Bake Oven and then baking with her and Mr. P. I just loved my EBO and I knew Miss E would love her's too as she loves putting on her apron and is a major help in the kitchen!

After gift opening, we embarked on making red velvet cupcakes that looked like this:

Ours turned out looking like this:

But, when you have two kids as excited as this, it doesn't matter what the cupcakes look like:

Oh, we had so much fun. I can't wait to fly back and bake a cake with the Little Rascals.

If you are as big a fan of the EBO as I, then click here and enjoy a read on the EBO history!

New Year List

It's that time of year again: Resolution Time!!!

Many people dread making New Year Resolutions and say they never make them because they never follow through with them. I am looking forward to spending today making lists of what 2013 is going to bring to me. 2012 brought so much change - big change - that I am ready to sit down and take a look back at it all. The New Year is such a nice time to focus and really think about who you are now, what you want to be in the future and how you're going to make that change.

I don't think it's cliche at all. If we didn't have this time a good portion of us would never sit down and focus on ourselves. It such a healthy thing to do as daily life can get so hectic and you can easily find yourself just going through a routine because you haven't taken the time to sit and be quiet and think about you.

I encourage everyone to do this and while you're at it, make a list of what you love about yourself. Sometimes we forget to congratulate ourselves on all the positive aspects of our life that we have worked so hard to attain. That list might even be more difficult to make but so worth it.

I'm heading off to my favorite coffee shop today and for one full hour I'll be making my list. For every change I want to make, I also am going to list something that I've done that I'm proud of or makes me happy about myself. I hope you're able to find that time this week to do the same. Maybe in 6 months, I'll check back in on that list and see where I'm at or maybe I won't and just be happy with myself that I've taken the time to think about me.