http://climate.weather.com/articles/recycle021508.htm

I found this great article on recycling and was amazed at how we (Americans) compare to others in our recycling efforts. For information on recycling tricky items, just click on the Earth 911 link.

Wild Hibiscus Mojito

I love my hibiscus tea from Argo Tea, especially iced in the Summer, and recently came across this recipe that I cannot wait to try very soon (when I'm no longer eating for two). Now we just have to figure this syrup thing out.

WILD HIBISCUS MOJITO

The best cocktail for hot summer afternoons. Originally conceived by Jocelyn Etherington 2007

3 oz white rum
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 ½ oz Wild Hibiscus Syrup
2 chopped Wild Hibiscus Flowers
2 halved lime wheels
2 Stems mint
Soda water

fill a high ball glass with crushed ice
Muddle in 1-2 stems of mint, lime wheels and chopped Hibiscus
Add Rum, syrup & lime juice to shaker with ice shake for 10 seconds & strain ½ into the glass
Top with soda water
Garnish with mint tip, makes 2 Mojito's

Elsa and I love our pasta. We probably own every variety of Barilla there is, but it is no longer our fav. after trying this homemade fettuccine . It was so good that I ran back and bought a ton more. Thanks Abe's.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

I know that it's actually not a holiday, but at least it gives us an excuse to have fun on a Monday!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 Jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
Salt to taste

Method

1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin.

2 Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, Jalapeño peppers, sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.

Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.

Makes 3 cups.

On a more positive note, I decided to go with this instead. I will be so glad to have it later and wear forever instead of just 2 months. It's a good thing I finally did it. I went back to look at the yellow and noticed that the green is now gone.

I tried to order what could (possibly) be my last maternity purchase, got an order confirmation then this message below. POOR!

That top is almost sold out and will no longer be available.
Our physical inventory and online inventory occasionally
do not match up as they are not connected electronically.
Those online updates are done once or twice a week.
We are so sorry, but that top is available ONLY
in large.  Our online inventory should be updated
very soon.

bronze goddess

I was just talking to my good friend about facial products and while I am giving up my Estee Lauder Fruiton for a while, I did have to splurge on the Bronze Goddess in celebration of Spring. I love it and it seems to last forever. It's not too shimmery for me and actually looks like I got some sun.

green week

Happy Green Week! The weather this week has made it easy to make a few changes. We have had the windows open and used no heat. I love it and wish it could be 70 and breezy every day. We have been grilling instead of cooking inside and our t.v watching is very minimal.

We started making more of an effort last Fall. For one thing, we switched to more environmentally friendly detergents, hand soap and cleaning products. These changes are sometimes difficult for N as he is somewhat of a germ-o-phobe. I often find that he uses obscene amounts of the cleaning products (defeating the purpose a little).

He has also been known to throw clothing away if he felt it was compromised in the cleanliness dept. - not so green. I, however, retrieved it and took it straight to the dry cleaners also not so green, but better than filling the earth with trash.

In order to make up for some of his not- so- green habits, he did replace the light bulbs in our house, we did away with saran wrap and plastic bags. He also bought me the supplies to grow my own tea leaves. We'll see how this goes.

This one did seem a bit crazy to me, but I managed to adjust, we don't use the dryer nearly as much. My main reason was not to conserve energy, but to conserve our clothing. I am picky about socks and it seemed as though mine were getting thinner after one season and they weren't cheap ones. After throwing too many away, I started hanging them to dry and eventually did this with many other things. It's amazing how much the dryer wears the fabric because I have noticed a huge difference.

I know we have a long way to go, but I do feel a lot less wasteful and have saved money.

frown face

Ok so maybe I am more like Poshe, in some ways anyway (mean face, see post below). As Elsa and I were crossing the street, a blue Accord came to a screeching halt at the pedestrian cross/ stop sign. I looked and gave him one of my frown faces, it's just a reaction and I can't really help myself. It was a bad one too. We proceeded into our class and took our place on the floor. My usual friend wasn't there so I felt a bit thrown off. Just as I was about to forget the near miss incident, who should I see entering the class, yes it was Mr., "why stop at a stop sign when children are walking", he was bringing his son to our class. When I gave the look I didn't see a kid in the back and didn't recognize him, but apparently the mom couldn't make it so it was this guy instead. In order to avoid a possible confrontation, I had to just keep the look up and appear as though that's how I look all the time, it's ridiculous I know. He was in the wrong and I should have been open to letting telling him so. However, I have to keep in mind that I sometimes tend to over-react and perhaps expect more from people than I should, so I kept a somewhat unfriendly face throughout the class which could have backfired on so many levels. First off - since my usual friend was gone I probably prevented myself from making new friends. The other moms have always seemed very friendly and open to conversation. Today would have been a chance to talk to someone different. Now they are probably a bit frightened by me. They could be sympathetic and dismiss it as a distracted pregnant mom, but apparently no on can tell that I am. I am 6 months and have gained quite a bit, but I guess I just look a little more curvy. Lastly, the frown face actually did bring my mood down and prevented me from having as much fun as usual. So while the initial frown face was worth it and necessary, maintaining the attitude throughout the class was probably not necessary in the end.

Over the weekend, I heard a song that reminded of something from a long time ago. I finally remembered it was from this movie, Dance Til Dawn. When I was in Jr. High, I was obsessed with this movie. I taped it (VHS) and watched it over and over again after school. Now I have to see it again. At the time, I thought it was ridiculous so it should be a good laugh now.

so me

I just saw this on one of my favorite sites (Tres Poshe Preppy) and had to make one of my own, so here it is!

So me!

So me!


So not me!

So me!

So me!

So me!

So me!

So not me!


So me!

So not me!

So me!


So not me!

So me!

So not me!

So me!

So not me!

So me!

So not me!


So me!

So NOT me!




So me!


So not me!


So me!

So me!

So NOT me!

So me!

So not me!

pineapple coconut

I have been wishing we were going on vacation and missing our vacation from last Spring. I found this Haagen-Dazs pineapple coconut ice cream. It made my day! I also have the Edy's Limited Edition Mango in the freezer. I can't decide which one I like better.

hello squirrel

I've been working on the photo albums and came across this photo from last May. It seems like our yard is a long way from this right now, but this squirrel sure is curious. I'm also so sad to report that none of my plants made it through the winter in our house. I had to get rid of three huge palms and two gorgeous ferns.

no secrets

I have no secrets, apparently. For starters, I share all of my treats with Elsa, however, she has not grasped the concept of moderation AT ALL. For every Mint Milano, coffee drink and cheese fry that I eat, there are many carrots, blueberries and salads. When N spotted my hidden Mint Milanos, he started to question it until I gave him the look. I was hiding them for a very good reason. Elsa would try to make them her lunch instead of having 1 or 2 as a treat, so I am putting the kibosh on her chocolate intake for a while until she develops healthier eating habits. I know this sounds harsh, but she is getting ridiculous and will not touch a thing on her plate if it doesn't look acceptable to her.

I'm thinking I need to set more boundaries around here. There are 1 or 2 mornings per week that we don't have somewhere to be so I get to poke along and take my shower after N leaves. This means 22 minutes of Backyardigans or Miss Spider's Sunny Patch for E. We have an agreement, she stays put while I shower. This is what I came up with after the pack 'n' play no longer worked. Lately, she has been ignoring our agreement and wondering in for a good chat while I'm in the shower. I didn't think too much about it until out of the blue, she decided to give N a detailed description , luckily she didn't see too much. I can't really escape her. She wonders in while I dress, we take every bathroom break together and apparently she pays too much attention to detail and has also shared with him the color of my underwear. I need to create some distance before she is scarred for life.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's day. I always get neat little presents that are a total surprise. He just had to deal with Christmas and my b-day so I'm pretty sure he's had enough of the gift giving by February 14th. I always stress out trying to reciprocate. N does not get excited about it and I never know what to get him. I am making crispy crab cakes with mango salsa, spiced tomato glaze and cilantro-avocado emulsion. It takes an hour to prep so I'm sure I will be going crazy before the night is over, but it's the least I can do. I'm also making an appetizer so they can hang out and eat while I cook. I just hope we don't end up ordering take-out.

car service or vacation?

I know this sounds crazy, but I love getting my car serviced. I had to spend about 2 hours there yesterday, it's so great and I'll tell you why. First, they have this very open, enormous lounge with tons of magazines, People, Elle, InStyle, Time and many more. Then, there's the fancy toy selection. An awesome little kitchen with a picnic table, a Thomas the Train station and a little wooden car frame with all the gadgets to start, roll the windows etc. Elsa is busy the entire time and feels like she's on a playdate. My favorite though is the Starbucks, cokes, muffins, danish, doughnuts and popcorn selection. They kind of force feed us and it's so fantastic. The very cheerful attendant makes sure we have what we need and I have the best time talking to her. She remembers me coming in when I first became pregnant with E, but we didn't actually start talking until about 2 years ago. I leave there feeling like I just had coffee (and breakfast) with a friend. The only part I don't love is paying for the service. I feel very uneasy about no longer having a warranty.

Then I got to meet my fantastic friend for a movie while N and E did some shopping. It worked out well for me!

the not yet perfected Bicerin

I have declared today a snow day since our activity for the day was rescheduled and the roads are not that great. I was wondering what we could plan to do since I was not prepared for this. I knew we'd be ok when E made me laugh right away with her crazy get-up this morning. It consisted of a tiara that I brought back from my beauty pageant girls' night in (so much fun!), her stick pony and new valentine jewelry and handbag that she received in the mail from Grandma yesterday. I also forgot to add that she insisted on wearing the only pink pants she has - way too short yoga pants.

So far it's been, not too shabby -

I actually got to watch some of the Today Show which I love! Heidi Klum is adorable and looked fantastic in her skinny black pants, there was a blue man (didn't see what that was about) and I'm very surprised at what Americans are doing only 85 times per year!

Then -

decided to break the no-caffeine rule for preg. women and made my own Bicerin (beech-err-een). I'm sure it was no match to the real Caffe al Bicerin version, but it definitely hit the spot for me. Apparently the ingredients are often duplicated in the U.S, but it's the technique of just the right esspresso, chocolate and whipped sweetened cream (not the supermarket version) that is hard to perfect. The layers all hold their own space but come together with each energizing sip. I did not master that, but it worked for now. I'm very, very, very excited to enjoy the real thing with my lovely Italian friend (S) one day soon (and by soon I could mean more than a year, but I'll get there).

a little Italian treat

We decided to pretend that it's not freezing out and after working on our Valentine cards, we headed off for an Italian treat....gelato. Today we went with the tiramisu. It definitely hit the spot, but we're still counting the days for our favorites to arrive, mango and pomegranate.

I cannot believe that it's already Wednesday, it feels like the week just started. In about 5 weeks we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Last time almost everyone we knew called on that day to find out and I didn't even expect anyone to remember. We will share this information again, but not the name. This drove everyone crazy last time, including us as we also received so many calls when someone thought they had it figured out. It's not that we don't want to share. It is fun to have a surprise (other than having a new person here), but it's also good not to hear everyone's opinion on the choice until after the fact. This time we are having a hard time and cannot decide on either name. I did feel the need to buy this and E was completely with me here. I barely looked at it and she was grabbing it from the shelf. We'll see, we may be exchanging it for a frog version, but I get the feeling that we'll be needing more pink around here.

cabin fever

This winter weather is getting old! I like the idea of snow and winter, but this is enough for me. My new suede (very stacked heel) oxfords have only left the house a few times due to the ice and snow. At least N felt bad enough for me to offer up Red Lobster ( he tries to avoid it). Sure we may have have been surrounded by others who came in sweat pants, but we had fun. The food was fantastic and so was the service. I had a feast of crab and lobster and I left nothing behind, except shells of course.

winter fun

Last week was not so positive for my family (my beloved grandfather passed) so we're trying to schedule some fun in order to move forward. I just made reservations here.... http://www.carnivalechicago.com/
and cannot wait to check it out.

Luckily E (usually) appreciates our not so family oriented restaurant choices. She became the focus of everyone around us at Blue Water Grill when she joyfully shared our lobster. We proved them wrong as I'm pretty sure they weren't exactly thrilled when they saw that our party of 3 included one under 3. The only real melt down was one time at Pierrot Gourmet, but luckily we were seated outside and her dad quickly whisked her away in the stroller while I finished my fondue in peace. Anyway, I feel like we'll become the pizza hut family once we have 2 to deal with so we're trying to pack in the fun places before time runs out. At least now we can take turns fielding the requests for whatever is in the bottom of the diaper bag while the other one cleans up the spill etc. Maybe we'll go back to organizing an early dinner for the tots and sneaking in our favorite take-outs w/drinks (lots of drinks) while they sleep soundly in their little beds. We did this a few days ago and forgot to destroy one small piece of the evidents. I had to deal with many questions about where the container came from, what was in it and how we got it here.

all girl

I am pretty girlie but not too flashy, I wear make-up and jewelry, but it's subtle. When I use lip gloss, it's just a quick swish/swirl, then I put it away. My daughter, however, has really picked up on all this stuff. From the time she was about 15 months old, she has been trying to wear my shoes and it just keeps progressing. Last week she finally convinced me to buy her a lip gloss of her own. She had been eying them for sometime and she chose a pink cotton candy Lip Smacker. She was literally giggling with happiness as we walked to the car.

We had more errands that day and she made her way through very slowly as we had to keep stopping for her to remove the cap and reapply about every 10 seconds. It has a very subtle scent yet I can always smell it in our house now.

Her 3 must haves before we leave the house: pink mermaid sea-shell phone, cotton candy lip smacker and the new pink sunglasses that she ended up with after spending about 5 minutes with her dad in a store.

The pink mermaid phone has proved to be a useful tool for venting. I was vacuuming and needed her to sit as she tends to sidle up and I almost bump into her. We had a disagreement about this and when I finished, I found her on the pink mermaid phone telling Aunt Brooke that I was mean. It cracked me up, but I tried not to let her know that I had heard any of this.

french fry buffet

Tonight I wanted to make a French fry buffet with seasoned fries, lattice and one other kind also with little chipotle chicken sandwiches. I guess it doesn't seem manly enough because when I ran it by N, his response was, "it's Friday night, you shouldn't cook".

Maybe he did really feel this way, but I have been slacking lately on dinner so he's probably ready for something decent. The French fries will have to wait. Maybe this menu would be appreciated more by my girlfriends with a viewing of something from my new Audrey Hepburn movie collection ( gift from Mom).

This kind of dinner choice may explain why I've gained 10lbs in my first trimester. Luckily I bought the Bella Band and still wear my regular jeans. It's not perfect, but has really saved me. I am not only leaving my jeans unbuttoned, but this last week completely unzipped. I'm not sure how much longer this abuse can go on. Monday morning will be a challenge as I have to dress appropriately for our class and be prepared to sit on the floor, jump up, lean over etc. The band has been known to slip and this kind of activity in tight pants could very well lead to a big split in the center. E is used to these incidents, but the other tots could be traumatized by the things that happen to me. My o.b Dr. has already seen a glimpse of this as my last visit from my first pregnancy resulted in just that, a split in my pants as I was trying to scoot back on the table for one last heart beat check. I did head back to work that day, but left my coat on.

regular clothes

Even though I'm 3 mos. pregnant, I still keep running into regular clothes that I have to have. I won't be able to wear them until at least 2009, but here are two of the latest.......

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod89705231





http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod89422231