Easter deliciousness.

So I don't have a ton of photos but this past Easter, I must say that I pretty much outdid myself. It took literally weeks of me writing to do lists and schedules in order to execute the day perfectly, and a handful of edits to the menu, the schedule, the time of day, the decor, the placement of my dinner table, and so on and so forth.

I also have to thank Pinterest for not only being a place that provided menu and decoration ideas for me, but also a place to organize them. If I was scouring the internet for easy but interesting side dishes and found one, I pinned it. If I found a delightful drink (um, lavender lemonade anyone?) then I pinned it, to keep it safe and sound in the otherwise wild, woolly and dark wilderness that is the internet. I didn't have to print out recipes only to lose them the day before the event. It all worked out.

I wanted to share the aspects of my little party that were most interesting in case it could help to inspire anyone else wanting to do something special one sunny afternoon. God, I sound like a snob. Move over Gwyneth Paltrow! AJCTA is the new Goop!

But seriously folks, the recipes I am sharing were all easy peasy (except for squeezing 19 large lemons) and since some could be made/assembled the day before, there was only about 30 minutes of OH FUCK GET THE CARROTS IN THE PAN DAMMIT STIR THE POTATOES DAD GET IN HERE AND CARVE MY FUCKING HAM JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL. For an affair that started at 3pm and lasted past 11pm, only 30 minutes of clusterfuck in my miniscule kitchen is pretty good.  Now if only I had filled those three water pitchers before dinner was ready for the table!

We had eleven of our close friends and family over and thanks to the Honey Baked Ham I got, I could focus my attention more on the sides, the drinks, the conversation.

Here are the flowers I arranged the morning of.

Originally these two little guys were going to go in birdcages like my centerpiece below, but by this time I was really getting into it and they no longer fit inside with the cage closed, so I said screw it and kept them out. I'm glad I did too, because they framed my punch bowl perfectly.





I'm secretly insanely proud of myself for pulling this off. Not because it's OMG 100% perfect but because it is exactly what I had in mind in my head.

Ah, here is my table. I was so, so happy with how it turned out, from using thrift store knives to hide the fact that I lost two of my own sometime in the past five years, to using mason jars for wine and water glasses to avoid a boatload of hand washing later on. People were to select a crane they liked and then sit wherever it was, but that was essentially abandoned when I shooed my father in law out of Todd's chair and basically everyone just said screw it and sat where they wanted. But I got my wish, and Todd and I sat on the ends and I felt like a medieval lady cheersing my husband and yes, I did indeed shout "Huzzah!" when we all sat down.

That was my seat and that was my crane and I have no idea where she is anymore. Oh, well. I have 2275849767 sheets of origami paper left over. I will make more.

One course that deserves a photo is the one of Caesar salad served in parmesan cups. The parmesan cups took me three hours to perfect. I had to cancel my plans to attend a Saturday Easter party to work on my menu and my God I'm so glad I did. I would have been up til midnight doing these.

One reason I'm so delighted with them, aside from how kick ass cool they are, is that I took the recipe and after two failed batches, I figured out the problem, corrected it, and vastly improved the end result because of it. More on that when I get to the recipes.

Here is my darling girl plucking an Easter egg from the calm hand of Buddha in our yard. She loved putting rocks in his hands every day. My little Buddhist, offering the world to Buddha.

Buddha Buddha Buddha.

So! Here is what the darling internet offered me by way of drinks and side dishes.

Lavender Lemonade

4 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
6 tbsp dried lavender (I found mine at Cost Plus)
4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used 19 large)
8 cups water
3 slices lemon

Over medium heat, combine 4 cups water and the sugar, boiling until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in honey and lavendar and cover to steep, about 15 minutes. Strain the lavender.

In a large punch bowl, combine lemon juice, lavender mixture and the 8 cups water. If you'd like, per the recipe I used, you can add a single drop of blue food dye and a single drop of red food dye to make it come out a violet color, but honestly the natural color of the punch was a gorgeous lemony, dusky pink hue and I didn't have the heart to ruin it with dye.

Now, using either a muffin tin or, as in my case, 3 plastic Solo cups, make three extra large ice cubes. I filled my cups about a third or so of the way up, then I placed a lemon slice on top of the water and froze them overnight. The effect is charming and the function is necessary. God, there I go sounding like a snob again.



Herbed Shrimp Dip

Oh, thank you Martha Stewart. This stuff was.... Well, it was AMAZING. I think someone may have licked the bowl clean, it was so good.

1lb small peeled and deveined frozen shrimp
1 cup low fat sour cream
1 cup light mayo
4 scallions, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup FINELY chopped parsley - and I mean fine
2 tsp lemon zest plus 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Crostini slices

Using a steamer basket, steam shrimp until opaque and firm, tossing once or twice to ensure even cooking. Immediately transfer to a collander and run under cold water. If you live in the desert like I do and cold tap water is a laughable fantasy, then put some ice cubes in there and continue to run under the "cold" tap. Pat the shrimp dry and finely chop. This takes some time.

In a large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients (save for the crostini) and refrigerate dip until chilled or up to two days (I chilled mine overnight). Serve garnished withs callions if you want, and alongside some freshly baked crostini. Holy crap, was that stuff good.

Parmesan Caesar Cups

Listen up, honey. I was going to link you to the recipe I used but as I said before, it took me three hours of labor to figure out that that chick's ideas were bogus. So here is what you do.

Preheat your oven to 300 and to help pass the time, and if it's past 5pm, get a cocktail. Get a block of parmesan and finely grate it. Grate a huge pile of it. What? Like you won't use the leftovers, if there are any?

Now, get out a cookie sheet and a muffin tin. Place parchment paper on your cookie sheet and make large, thin circles with your cheese, about 5" in diameter. I only did two at a time. Bake about 3-4 minutes, checking frequently, until cheese is bubbly and melty but not browned at all. Remove immediately.

Flip your muffin pan over. Eureka! It took me two hours' worth of shoddy attempts putting the Parmesan rounds IN the muffin pan, before realizing I needed to flip that shit over. Aren't I smart? A college degree ain't much, folks.

Now, gently, gently, use a spatula to remove a cheese round and drape carefully over a muffin cup, lightly (I SAID LIGHTLY) pressing it around it. Do this with the second round and now you will see why I did just two at a time: you don't want these bad boys touching each other IN THE SLIGHTEST because they will melt and harden together and then you will risk breaking them once they're out of the oven.

Put the muffin tin in the oven and bake about 5 minutes. Even if they aren't a golden color, don't let that deceive you. They will most certainly harden once they're on your countertop.

Now, remove the cups from the pan and place gently (I SAID GENTLY), overturned onto a papertowl.

Repeat all that six times.

You can do this the night before and honestly, why wouldn't you? This shit is time consuming. You can do it  a few days in advance too, and refrigerate them, but honestly that just ups the chances of bumping them and breaking them. I put mine on top of my fridge and prayed to Jesus.

When you're ready to serve these, finely chop washed romaine leaves and toss with Caesar dressing. Add cracked black pepper and carefully (I SAID CAREFULLY) spoon into the cups.

Look, I know this seems time consuming, but just remember! I saved you two hours of frustration while Everybody Loves Raymond plays in the background the entire time! Frustration on TV, frustration in your kitchen, all gone. Plus, the effect is mind blowing and it really ups the specialness of your dinner.


Now, these next two recipes I found on Delish.com. I just want to give credit where it's due.

Honey Glazed Carrots
serves 12 - 13

3lbs baby carrots
1 cup water
1/4 cup honey (at least - at the end of the OH GOD WHY half hour I wasn't satisfied with the coating's texture and I added an additional squeeze or two more)
2 tbsp butter
salt to taste
3 tbsp lemon juice
freshly ground pepper to taste
6 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Combine carrots, water, honey, butter and salt in a large skillet. Bring to simmer over medium high heat. Cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring often, until the liquid is a syrupy glaze, about 5 minutes.* Stir in lemon juice and pepper, sprinkle with parlsey and serve.

*At this point, and solely due to time constraints, I added a slurry of about a tbsp cornstarch and about as much water.


Roasted Baby Potatoes and Green Beans
serves 12 -- 13

4.5lb baby red potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half, lengthwise. Yes, lengthwise. Nearly all potatoes have a longer, thinner side.
2lb green beans, trimmed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
6 tbsp blue cheese crumbles
6 tbsp finely chopped scallions or, in my case, dried chives


Position rack in lower third of oven, if it's not already there due to your giant ass ham that you just reheated. Preheat to 450.

Toss potatoes and green beans in a large bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Since I essentially had to more than triple this recipe (and should have quadrupled it to be frank, not a lick of this stuff was left over), I first tossed the potatoes and then the green beans.

Spread evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring once or twice until the potatoes are tender and the green beans are tender and browned in spots, about 30 minutes.

Whisk the remaining 3 tbsp oil, vinegar and mustard in a large bowl. Stir in cheese and scallions or chives.

Remove and plate the veggies, and then pour the dressing on top, tossing gently to coat. SO GOOD.


I hope one, or all, of these recipes can be of use to any of you. Trust me when I say they are all 100% delicious and, save for perhaps the Parmesan cups, extremely easy and laid back. Ok, squeezing 19 lemons was intense too, but DELICIOUS.

Corned Beef with Cabbage and Potatoes

Welp, after two years of using this particular recipe from Cook's Illustrated, and after two years of very positive feedback each time I make it (after all it's not just for St. Patrick's Day), I have decided to post the recipe here. I strongly urge all corned beef fans to give it a try. Like, do it!

Corned Beef with Cabbage and Potatoes
serves 6 - 8

1 4-5lb corned beef brisket
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
4 cups water
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 tsp whole allspice
3 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tbsp minced fresh)
3 tbsp butter
1.5lb small red potatoes
9 carrots, halved crosswise
1 head cabbage, cut into 8 2" wedges
Salt and pepper to taste


Can you believe I wrote that ingredient list out from memory? Like I don't even have the recipe in front of me. GOD JIL YOU ARE TOO COOL.

Preheat oven to 300. In a Dutch oven (my 5 quart just baaaarely housed all the ingredients), combine the brisket, broth and water, chopped carrots, onion, spices and bay leaves. Cover and place in the oven to cook for 4.5 - 5 hours, until a fork can slip easily in and out of the meat. Try not to salivate at that point (impossible).

Remove meat and place in a 9x13 casserole dish. Strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl, and discard the veggies. Pour one cup of cooking liquid over meat and cover tightly with foil. Return the rest of the liquid to your Dutch oven and bring to a low boil. Add your potatoes and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until they're tender. Now, add your halved carrots and cabbage on top of the potatoes, cover and cook for an additional 15 minutes. You want to make sure that any outer cabbage leaves are easily pierced by a fork.

Plate veggies on a large serving dish. Starting at a corner of the brisket, slice the beef, cutting against the grain. Nestle the meat on top of the vegetables and season with pepper and salt, if you so desire.

DEVOUR! This stuff is SO, SO good Todd will request it on random weekends. Like, wifey, for the love of God please make that corned beef.

I really hope you give this version a try. Don't wait til next St. Patrick's Day, either.

Camp.

This past holiday weekend, we went camping for a couple of nights to celebrate a friend's birthday. The weather was gorgeous and we were able to enjoy the run of the mill camping activities like a good long hike with the dogs, and a sunset beer up on a high ridge, overlooking the gorgeous hills, nooks and crannies that are hallmarks of the area. And we saw a lot of deer poop!

I had been really looking forward to that hike, but I have to say that some serious enjoyment went down when I holed up in our tent, cozied up under blankets to protect against the buffeting wind, with a glass of wine and a magazine. Todd, Ryan and Dwayne set up chairs and put up numerous targets against the high hill across the wash, and did some "plinking" which, for those who do not know, is shooting a small caliber gun at small targets, like cans. So they sat there, shooting the breeze, smoking cigars and drinking beers and shooting cans. Every man's dream, right?

They were so thoroughly enjoying themselves that I had to take some photos. But if you recall, I was seriously enjoying myself, so like heck I was moving out of that tent. But luckily, the breeze came to my rescue, blew up the tent's fly and I was able to snap some shots. Check out these good ol' boys.

Can't you just smell the cigar smoke, wafting on the breeze and through your monitor?

Can't you hear the little ping ping of Todd's .22 rifle Winchester thingie (I think that was it), and the subsequent bellows of triumph when they'd send those cans flying off the rock?

Can't you just imagine the high pitched wining sounds from an over-eager German shepherd who so desperately wanted to chase every single stupid bullet because OMG CHASING THINGS and never mind being third smartest dog breed?

Christmas is OVER.

I said this two days after Christmas when all the decorative clutter finally drove me off my own little fiscal cliff. I dragged out our Christmas storage bins and got rid of everything but the chili wreath, the ornaments hanging off the deer head, and the Christmas tree itself. Man, did that feel good.

I said it again yesterday when I single-handedly removed all the ornaments and strands of lights (I think there were 10 or 12), shook out my fabulous tree skirt and had Todd drag the poor bastard out of the house, sweeping merrily behind it the whole way.

And I said it again, inwardly, to myself this morning as I stepped on the scale and saw the Van Damage. It's not as bad as it could be, certainly not as bad as it was the first time I stepped on it and it was off balance and I almost fell over.  But it was enough to further strengthen my resolve to go mostly Paleo for the month of January. Well, January 4th to February 4th (I was on vacation until yesterday, people! I had to have one more night of pasta!).

What does that mean? Well, it means no dairy, and that's where part of the "mostly" Paleo comes in. I still intend to enjoy a Greek yogurt every morning because 14g protein for 110 - 130 calories and zero fat is just too good to pass up.  Secondly, if I want some parmesan, a hard cheese and therefore not as OMG EVIL for you, then I'm going to have a little parmesan.

What I am doing that is Paleo is avoiding white potatoes, breads, pastas, rice, grains in general and for the most part avoid corn as well. But another way I'm editing it is allowing myself peas and lentils because in my opinion those bad boys are super foods: high in carbs, yes, but also high in protein and fiber. SO WHATEVER.

Oh, and one more thing: I am totally having my wine on the weekends. Screw you Paleo! If cavemen knew about pinot grigio they would have never hit the Iron Age. They'd be all, "Why? This stuff comes in boxes, that's all I need." And now everyone gasps and goes "I thought she minored in history!"

My working out also went to practically a standstill. I think I can count the jogs I did on one hand for the past two and a half weeks. I'd like to get back into the swing of things and maybe get some yoga classes into my weekly workouts so I can get some good stretches for my damn plantar fasciitis (quit running you say? Perish the thought!).

So, yeah. Christmas is OVER. We had an absolutely amazing Christmas and holiday season and it was lovely with all the cookies and brie and escargots and champagne and Bailey's in my Christmas morning tea, and sleeping in and staying up late and laying around watching Cinderella in my plantar fasciitis boot with Alexandra instead of biking or running, and parties and dinners and eating ribeye for an appetizer.

But now it's sort of nice thinking of yoga and jogs with Patton, walks with Alex and her new tricycle, big decadent salads and club soda with lime. Cavemen did have club soda with lime, right?

A Winter Road.

We recently spent a riotous weekend up on Mt. Lemmon in a cute cabin right outside of Summerhaven. We got through the sheriff blockade by the skins of our teeth, too, and Dave and Gneiss almost didn't get up later that Friday evening. After 10 minutes of waiting for us to check our stupid cell phones to verify that they were coming to stay for the weekend in the rental, finally the sheriff just rolled his eyes and said "Just go."

It stormed like crazy all of Saturday but Sunday was a glorious sun-soaked winter wonderland. The roads were perfectly cleared but at one point we drove through a cloud (I was slightly hungover and just kept saying "We're in a cloud, Todd. We're in a cloud"), and suddenly the landscape took on a spooky, haunting quality.

Dude, bro, we're in a cloud.

I loved the streams of melting snow running down the windshield.

The sun is trying to burn through.  Some streams of melted snow may or may not look like sperm attempting to reach the egg. I hope I didn't ruin it for you.

A cloud, man.

Christmas Happened.

I've been chomping at the bit to get our house in the Christmas spirit and yesterday it finally happened. Our plan was to get a tree, FINALLY (she says only ten days into December). Todd's folks dropped in to join us so first, we needed to load up on a delicious breakfast. Can I just say, pork chops and eggs are God's gift? Because damn they are so good. Even Alexandra got in on the fun when dada taught her how to gnaw on a pork chop bone.

Get it girl! You are so your mama's daughter! She really went to town on her food. She ate all of Todd's eggs plus one of the ones we got for her, two strips of bacon, one of Todd's sausages, and half a piece of toast. Oh, then she started clamoring for grandma's pork chop, and then Todd's, and then he was like, dude, just take this, and boom, that photo happened.

Anyways, we went to Home Depot and I am officially a fan of noble firs. Noble fir. That looks like the name of a font or something. But I digress. Noble firs! So beautiful, so regal, and not itchy and stabby like a douglas fir! Amazing. We found a super wet and springy tree that was so heavy and full of water that I could hardly pull it into an upright position, and took it home where we decorated the hell out of it while Alexandra pulled down the cookie ornaments and ate them.

BOOM goes the dynamite! Look at that thing! It's massive and gorgeous, just like me. I had gotten a box of 50 ornaments from Target, plus another little kit with smaller ornaments, and I am glad I did because this tree is so big, we wouldn't have had enough to go around (literally). Oh, and please direct your attention to that utterly badass and beautiful tree skirt THAT I MADE BY MYSELF.

You see how blurry that picture is? It's because I was trembling with excitement over finally getting to display the fruits of my labor from over two months ago. I literally jumped up and down up and down when we brought the tree inside because I was so goddamn excited about that tree skirt.

All that decorating took it out of us, so when the pizzas came, I made some pretty delicious, and pretty pretty, Christmas gimlets.

WHAT

THE

HELL

Yeah, that right there is a masterpiece, a holiday explosion of deliciousness and visual perfection. Ignore the shapeless twist, OKAY? I WAS EXCITED. AND HUNGRY. Focus instead on the jolly red sugar rim, the evergreen glow of the vodka concoction, and the base of red which miraculously didn't muddle up the green but instead settled beautifully on the bottom, like a cat in front of a fire. By the way, Bingley slept with us all last night and NEVER CATERWAULED. Mind blown? Yes. Yes it is.

Holidays!

So I'm starting to get a little restless for the holidays to arrive. I am a December baby, after all, so there is just a natural joy that comes out of me the closer we get to Christmas. Holidays always delight me and tickle my fancy, at least until January 2nd when in a fit of rage I tear all the holiday decorations down, box them up, vacuum and sweep and mop and pretend like all that shit never even happened. Anyways, I'm excited this year for a lot of reasons.

Thanks to the godless pit of Pinterest, I found an easy although extremely time consuming DIY tree skirt that I am really eager to try. I just had to Google this and since I currently can't access Pinterest, that's what I found. Originally I had seen a red and white striped ruffled tree skit, but now I'm sort of going apeshit over that all white one in the first photo. WHAT SHALL I DO. First I have to buy a crappy tree skirt to cover, then I have to stand in front of fabrics for approximately 45 minutes going "But this one.. Okay, no this one. BUT WAIT."

Anyways, it's little things like this that get me, slowly but surely, 110% amped up for the holidays. I also want to make a pumpkin cheesecake to bring to my mom's for Thanksgiving (if she'll let me), and of course make my super fun holiday cookies that I can now make with my adorable daughter. Then there's the matter of how I want to decorate the house. Contemporary? Classic? I don't know! We recently painted the living room a pale, pale icy shade of blue, called Glistening Moonlight and it is sort of nudging me to do a more modern take on Christmas decorations. When I told Todd this, and that it makes me want to dump out all our current Christmas decorations, the fellow Spartan in him said HELL YES (we hate clutter and we hate storing a bunch of crap - the idea of tossing out three huge bins worth of shit excited him). But then, I love a traditional looking tree. It's warm and inviting and nostalgic.

But I have to choose something because we're doing another Christmas Eve open house this year. Last year it almost killed me because I stupidly decided to make it from 11am to 5pm and then serve a lamb dinner to our families. After everyone left at like 10:30pm I realized I was coming down with a sore throat and cold and I wanted to burn down the entire house. But THIS YEAR it's going to be shorter and I'm not cooking a single goddamn thing. Todd and I, plus a few friends, will enjoy dinner after everyone leaves, and dinner is going to be a couple of gourmet frozen lasagnas from Roma Imports, a restaurant/deli/mart that is only Tucson's most raddest Italian restaurant/deli/mart. I'll also be getting all the nibbles from there as well; antipastos, stuffed mushrooms, mini mozzarellas, roasted pepper slices, bread, etc. I'm excited because this year I will actually be sitting around and eating stuff and talking with  my loved ones instead of praying for death in the kitchen.

And then, perhaps most important of all, Alexandra will be old enough to see that something super cool is happening. We'll bake together, wrap daddy's presents together, decorate the tree, that she will just end up shredding, together, and best off all I get to spoil the stuffing out of her. I have SO many things I want to get her. We already got her a Little Tykes plastic picnic table set, but she adores it so much we have to bring it inside the house more often than just keep it outside, so I want to get her a little table and chairs set for her room. Tea parties are a new thing she loves, so little miss needs a home base to have these petite fetes. And I want to get her a little tricycle. And a bunch of Disney princess dolls. And maybe a dress up set for her so she can be Belle or Rapunzel or Aurora. And a huge wooden swingset and mini jungle gym for the backyard. And a pony. And a castle.

I'm so excited to share Christmas with my little love bug. It's going to be absolutely magical.

Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve, Todd and I hosted an open house and then had a family dinner afterwards.

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking either. But I have been planning, anticipating and dreaming of it for the past four months. And in a quick hot minute, it was all over, Todd and I were left dazed and alone wondering what the hell happened.

On account of it all, I got quite sick, we're all still exhausted, and in retaliation, I tore off all of our Christmas decorations and had Todd trash the tree this morning, only 24 hours after I staggered, sick and dehydrated, out of bed on Christmas morning to lay on the sofa and wonder what the hell happened.

The party was lovely. We saw tons of our friends, family and loved ones. I put out a great spread, on time like I had planned, every couple of hours. I cooked a good dinner of lamb, potatoes and green beans, an hour after schedule because I apparently forgot that I also have a child who needs to be bathed, read to and put to bed, but still, we all had a good time, Christmas was utterly celebrated.

But I did too much. I made Todd do too much. Alexandra fell ill the day before, I stupidly forged ahead and therefore she did too much as well. She's a great kiddo, and rallies when she's ill. But I didn't anticipate her hanging off me while I tried to put food out, shrieking "mama! mama! mama!" as I tried to flip bacon, pull out phyllo pockets, check the temperature of the lamb (using two temperature gauges, one of which would tell me 70 degrees, the other telling me 385).

Here's how I hope it went:

Here's how it felt:

Anyways, I would like to have posted about my fabulous phyllo treats (another time) or simply how marvelous everything was, but I thought I would take the humble road and be honest. When you host a holiday event it's hard, sweaty and goes by far faster than the host/ess would like. But to try two events is just fool hardy, and now I know better.

Next year it's fast food burritos and a box of wine.

Holiday Season.

Here is Alexandra just before we departed for Thanksgiving feast at my parents':

I really have no images to show you from the awesome five day Thanksgiving holiday. Well, I do, but they're all of Alexandra after I put her in this outrageously adorable pig tails (see above). And Amber took photos of Alexandra and her one year old son James in the bathtub but those are naked pictures and while I fully intend to show those naked pictures to Alex and James when they are 16 and embarrassed beyond belief, I think I'll do them one favor and keep them off the Internet.

But the reason there are no pictures is because I was too busy utterly enjoying myself. Thanksgiving was spent with my family and some friends, and the day after was spent with Todd's family and more friends. It was just as a holiday kick off should be: good food, great people, nice weather. We saw a baby rattlesnake at my parents' house too! Happy holidays to you too, little guy! Poor bastard was so cold and so scared he couldn't even rattle.

Anyways, the excitement is just beginning. Now coming up is my favorite holiday of the entire year: my birthday! No, no, no, I'm kidding. It's Christmas. Of course it's Christmas! The majority of folks love Christmas most of all so that should come as no surprise (and now that I'm a couple years passed 30 it should come as no surprise that my birthday most certainly is NOT my favorite holiday).

This month is jam packed full of wonderful things: Craft parties, a family photo session with my dear friend Allison, a trip to the mountains with some friends, our open house party and, naturally, the Christmas holiday itself, to name a few. And of course, there's the planning for all these awesome adventures. It's daunting but it's awesome.

I'm not a fan of the limbo-like state of the planning phase. Planning our wedding over the course of our 11 month engagement was like being on pins and needles the entire time. Of course it made the actual event that more awesome, so there's a silver lining to every cloud. But right now, this month coming up ahead, with all its wonders and its endless planning and prepping and shopping-for, basically feels like one massive celebration. I've already gotten quite a few things already, and it's going to be so much fun putting them together.

So if my posts become less frequent, please forgive me. I fully intend to keep posting at least daily, but as Thanksgiving proved, I kept thinking about blogging, without actually doing it. I was too busy having fun.

To everyone out there, I hope your holiday season is just as much of a celebration for you, whether it's jam packed like mine or serene and blissful. Happy holidays! Or, as they'd say on Cakewrecks, Happy Hole Days!

Halloween, Part 2.

I know I already did a Halloween post, but since today is the actual holiday, and since we carved pumpkins with our pal Pete on Friday, I wanted to celebrate a little more. 

Here's Pete's:

Pete's pumpkin is an awesome skull he carved out of an enormous pumpkin that had a soft spot on the bottom, which had to be hollowed out, which of course turned into a lot of jokes about sphincters. Anyways, I never have quite enough courage to do outline-style faces like he did. Or to make rear ends on pumpkins.

Here's mine:

I was really at a loss; originally I wanted to attempt Van Gogh's Starry Night, or at least a portion of it, until I stared in horror for five minutes at the painting online, realizing there was no way in hell I could manage it, even the castle and just one star whorl. So in a nod to the southwest I did something super cliche, outmatched in clicheness by only Kokopelli. And then I screwed up the nose, made him look like Snoopy mixed with a draft horse, and I also effed up  my moon. But whatever, it still reads as coyote howling at sickle moon from the street.

Then there's Mr. Showboat's Todd's:

He did this wicked awesome kitty face and no, he didn't use a stencil. No, he didn't use a kit. No, he didn't get the idea online. He thought it up, did a quick sketch on paper, drew it on the pumpkin with a sharpie and got to work. I mean, would you just look at that? The whiskers, the nose, the fangs and the open mouth, the latter a perfect space through which a candle flame can be seen, like a fiery little tongue. The eyes, the ears, it's all genius. And he didn't use a damn stencil. No fair? Yep, I feel the same way: no fair. Oh, and also super jealous.

Here's the three of us, or shall I say, the two point five of us that evening. Obviously we carved pumpkins between sips of cocktails and beers. But we had an absolute blast and it's turning into a fun little tradition to have Pete over, eat grub, drink alcohol (except for when I'm pregnant, then I just watch them drink) and carve some pumpkins.

Happy Halloween! Stay safe tonight, everyone, and that includes avoiding chocolate O.D.s (impossible!)

Halloween.

Last year, Alexandra was about six months old when Halloween rolled around. We never dressed her up and took her for a photo shoot and we just stayed home. It was boring. This year, however, we completely redeemed ourselves. We got a babysitter (no toddler costume though, Alex is still too young to get into it), we got costumes, and we got our party on.

I went as the Black Swan. The costume took me some time as far as hunting down a suitable, affordable corset/tutu combo, then more time and labor adjusting it to meet Black Swan/Jil standards (feathers for swan standards, covering my ass for my standards). But I'll be honest, it was the makeup that gave me the most anxiety. I really wanted to do it myself, but I also didn't want to mess it up, get frustrated and cry. Which could happen. But I persevered:

I'm a lefty so the right eye was the easiest for me. I started with that one, obviously.

The (vodka) pause that refreshes! Notice how pale I am? Baby powder. Loads and loads of baby powder. My bronzer brush will never be quite the same.

Presto! This is after I applied lavender powder to set the eyeliner, and just before I re-did my black lines for some definition. Notice the lack of uniformity when it comes to the application of baby powder to the face.

Goofballs.

My bestie Kendra went as Joan from Mad Men and was already costumed up when it came time to powder my chest, back and arms with more baby powder. So I was draped in a sheet and she put my bathrobe on backwards which kept reminding me of Van Helsing's autopsy scene in Dracula: Dead and Loving It. In a good way!

All right, we're ready to go!

Oh God, I contemplated posting one of these super lame pose shots. I somehow forgot that I weight more than 90lbs and won't look as ballerina-ish as Natalie Portman did. Anyways, here is my costume in full. It took a lot of time and money but I am very proud of how it turned out. I was the best Black Swan out there!

Ah, here we go! Black Swan, Santa's Cutie, Naked Chef, Joan and Peg Bundy!

Now for the men, because we're all 8th graders deep down and immediately segregate according to gender identification whenever we hang out: Sherlock, Al Bundy (four touchdowns in a single game!), WWII soldier and Alex DeLarge from Clockwork Orange. You gotta hand it to Pete, who went as Alex: for a last minute costume, he sure is creepy as hell.

Look at that dapper dad! We made his cravat from an old bed sheet. Poor thing left his Sherlock hat at home so he just looked like himself but from the past, because he's sophisticated that way.


And, for your viewing pleasure, I have a final shot of my makeup, at 2am, lipstick half gone, sobriety and good thinking completely out the window:

I just didn't want the night to end. We had so much fun. It was such a joy getting out with our friends. We spend a LOT of time at home because we're always so tired and because parenting is a full time job, so it was such a blast getting out of the house, out on the town for an evening with our dearest friends.

Happy Halloween to all!