Cheeseburger in Paradise

I took this on the way to the airport as we were getting ready to leave Florida. Harper was so worn out from the week, she fell asleep mid-burger. I think she actually took another bite when she finally woke up.

The Inherent Consequences of Blueberry Donuts

I pretty much ate my way through my hometown last week. It was glorious! For whatever reason (namely a large and vibrant Italian community -seriously the greater Y-town area has literally 189 Italian festivals per year), Youngstown has some of the best food in the world. I feasted on pasta and Italian greens and wings and hot chips and Handles ice cream... But my favorite indulgence is always blueberry donuts from White House Fruit Farms. 

These things are a gift from God himself. I literally ate half a dozen over the course of a couple days. Consequently, despite the fact that I made myself go on two pretty decent runs while I was away, my pants were a little snug by the end of the trip (totally worth it, by the way). 

What are some of your favorite hometown foods?

Mmmm...Donut

What powdered donut?

TMI

I've been out of commission the last couple days. On Sunday night, I ate a prepackaged salad from a reputable grocery store and came down with the worst case of food poisoning ever in the history of the world. Seriously. It was borderline catastrophic.

I'm pretty much back to normal now and I can sit back and reflect on how utterly absurd the whole situation was.

First of all, I was eating the salad in an attempt to be healthy. My husband had two delicious looking pieces of pizza for dinner. Me? I thought to myself, that pizza looks good, but I'm going to have this salad instead. Look at me being all disciplined! Yeah. That worked out well. Next time, I'm having the pizza.

Secondly, my husband says funny things in times of crisis. Case in point...it's the middle of the night. I'm laying in bed curled up in a ball trying to understand what I did to bring the full wrath of God upon me. In an attempt to comfort me (I think), Rob leans over, gives me a hug and says "Do you think you're pregnant? Because it's ok if you are." Now some of you may remember that I had major morning 24 hour sickness that lasted the whole time I was pregnant with Harper. I can see why Rob might think that I was pregnant again. But let me assure you, I will come up with a much better way to share the happy news when and if I do get pregnant again.

Thirdly, I blame the Reese's Pieces. Approximately 2 hours before I got sick, Rob and Harper ran to the drugstore for some contact solution and brought back a bag of Reese's Pieces for a treat. Never before in the history of our family have we ever had Reese's Pieces in the house. This is significant because the last time I ate Reese's Pieces was literally 20 years ago. I was playing at a friend's house, ate some Reese's Pieces, and puked for no reason. I wasn't a pukey kid. It was totally out of the blue and that's probably why I remember it. I never ate Reese's Pieces again until this past Sunday. As I grabbed a couple pieces of candy, I instantly remembered that time 20 years ago and thought it was funny that I had such a strong association with Reese's Pieces and puke. Little did I know what was in store for me mere hours later. Coincidence or trigger? Either way, it was weird.

My Hangout?

We've lived in Nashville for almost 3 years now and it still doesn't feel completely like home. One thing that's definitely preventing it from feeling more like home is that I can't find my hangout. You know what I mean - that go-to neighborhood restaurant that always hits the spot and feels like an extension of your own personal clubhouse.

I had lots of hangouts in Cincinnati (Christy's and Arthur's for example), but I just haven't found that kind of place here in Nashville. Now granted, I go out significantly less than I used to (thanks to you know who *cough* Harper *cough*), but after 3 years of looking I still haven't found my hangout.

This place is starting to come close, though. The kiddo and I had dinner at McNamara's Irish Pub tonight. 

The fish and chips was pretty darn good. 

And you just can't go wrong with one of these...

Although we didn't stay long enough to hear the live music tonight, that's definitely a selling point in my book too. Now I don't want to jinx it, but McNamara's, you and I might be on the verge of something special here.

Winning

Kids Night at Chick-fil-a is awesome. Harper eats ALL of her dinner (which was free with the purchase of my meal), gets a balloon animal (she actually got a pink guitar), and thinks I'm the best mom ever (I know because she told me)!

A Couple Things

1. These are popping up in my front yard. In February! Bring on the warmer weather. I'm ready to go to the zoo and the swimming pool for that matter!

2. My husband is pretty darn good at his job. And he looks pretty good in his uniform. Just sayin'.

3. Where are my girl scout cookies? I'm giving the little girl in my neighborhood until the end of this weekend, then I'm coming after her... But not like this. 

4. This stuff is awesome. Try it. You'll like it.

Quality Time

The last couple days have been fun. Lot's of quality hang-out time with the kiddo.

On Christmas Eve, I had to drop into the lab for a little bit. Apparently, cells do not recognize Christmas as an official holiday. Harper came too. She's a good helper!

Last night, we went out to dinner with some friends and Harper tried her first piece of sushi.

She didn't love it, but she didn't spit it out. Well done. 

While I don't have a picture of this next one, I hope you will be able to picture it in your head. Harper got an umbrella for Christmas. Of all the things she got, I think she likes the umbrella the best. She's been  taking it everywhere with her. She even sleeps with it. Last night, as I was trying to get her ready for bed, she grabbed the umbrella and started singing this song over and over again. "Let's get this party started! Put this umbrella on your head and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle!" Classic Harper.

Little Things and Big Things

This is the first Thanksgiving since we've been married that we are spending at home with just our immediate family. I have to tell you, it's nice.

We all slept in this morning and now we're up and around doing little things that make us happy.

Harper is helping Rob change the oil in one of the cars. I opened the door to the garage and found both of them under the car - Harper using Rob as a pillow. Excuse the bad cell phone pics.

And as for me, I just indulged the OCD side of my personality by scrubbing my kitchen in preparation for the mess that I am about to make. I'm actually cooking this year. Well, kind of. I got a honey baked ham. But I am making several sides as well as an apple pie. It counts.

We're not huge turkey fans, so we're doing ham instead. Yesterday, I was talking to Harper about what we were going to eat today and she said "And we're eating turkey too." I said, no we're just having ham. She got kind of upset (read threw a fit in the back of the car) that we were deviating from the turkey scenario that she has been hearing about for the last 3 weeks. So, being the ninja mom that I am, I made a quick stop at the store and got her some turkey lunch meat. If my kid wants turkey on Thanksgiving, than she will have turkey!

I have a lot to be thankful for. I hope that you can enjoy the little things as well as the big things today. Happy Thanksgiving.

Cotton Candy

We went to a baseball game with some friends last night. I think the highlight of the night was watching Harper's first experience with cotton candy.

Oh the anticipation...

A cautions first bite...

Blue teeth? Check.

Getting more daring...

100% commitment

I wonder where she learned that technique...

Living Dangerously

We're making brownies tonight! This is the first time that Harper got to help. Dad chipped in by taking some cell phone pictures to document the event.

Yeah, I let my kid lick the spoon. Even in the midst of a nation-wide egg recall. We live dangerously around here. (Don't worry, those eggs have been in our fridge long enough to be completely excluded from the recall.)

Bits and Pieces

I haven't had much to say lately. No real reason. But, here are some bits and pieces of things floating around in my head at the moment.

• Cashews grow on trees. I took these pictures a couple years ago on a trip to St. Lucia.

The tree produces these fruits. The top part is called the cashew apple (apparently you can eat it, but I haven't tried it). The bottom part is the business end. One cashew nut is encased in a double shell that contains anacardic acid - a potent skin irritant that's related to the toxin found in poison ivy. No wonder they're so expensive. You only get one nut per fruit and you have to do battle with a skin irritant to get it.

• As I was tucking Harper into bed last night, I said "Where did my baby go?" She responded with "Mom, I'm growing up." But the way that she said it made it sound more like "Mom, seriously. We've been through this before. I'm growing up and you're just going to have to come to terms with it. Now, shut my light off so I can get some sleep. I have a big day tomorrow."
• I found a job that's very tempting to apply for. I've been contemplating it for a week now. I keep seeing references to this particular university in random places. I think it's a sign.

Farmer's Market

Thursday is quickly becoming my new favorite day of the week. This is mainly because of the weekly farmer's market that sets up in the courtyard where I work. I love it!

You can get all kinds of locally grown fruits and vegetables.

I stock up on tomatoes every week. Last week I tried some yellow and purple heirloom tomatoes. This week, I just went with some good old fashion red ones.

Once I muster up the courage, I'm going to get some of these blackberries and make a cobbler.

The market has lots of other things too.

Like flowers...

There are also booths where you can get fresh herbs, organic meat, and goat cheese. While I haven't tried that stuff yet, I have been getting milk and bread. The milk is awesome - no hormones, no antibiotics. The bread is fantastic too.

Two thumbs up to my university for hosting such a great farmer's market.

Weekend Update

We packed a lot into this weekend. Here's the recap.

1. On Friday after work, I decided that Harper and I both deserved a cupcake. So after I picked her up, we went to Gigi's. I let Harper pick out which cupcake she wanted and, surprise surprise, she picked the one entitled Miss Princess. I chose the much more sensible carrot cake one.

2. On Saturday, I thought we should take advantage of the slightly cooler temperature (high of only 90 instead of 98) and go to the zoo. It was great. Harper had her very first carousel ride. She picked the zebra to ride on.

Then we headed over to the lorikeet exhibit. This exhibit is cool because you enter into their enclosure and can feed them nectar out of a little cup. Harper loved it.

3. Sunday reminded me that my daughter is every bit of 2 years old. The highlight of the day came when I went outside to take the garbage out. Harper must have been trying to open the door to come with me. But instead of turning the doorknob, she turned the lock. When I realized I was locked out, I called to her and she came to the door. In the nicest voice I could muster, I asked her to unlock it and let me in. She wiggled the doorknob and locked and unlocked the deadbolt for a good 5 minutes before she actually unlocked the door. I didn't know whether to hug her or beat her when I got in the house. Even though we've tried to instill a strict "no door touching" policy, I think we will be hiding key in the garage. It's never a dull around here.

After "the incident", we all needed to take it down a notch so I decided to fold some laundry. Harper is a good helper. It's her job to find all of the socks and put them in a pile. I'm guessing that a normal 2 year old would pull the socks out of the basket and throw them in a haphazard pile on the floor. Not my kid. She carefully removes each sock and places them one on top of each other. She definitely got a healthy dose of my OCD.

Not Good

This is some scary information...

Via: Online Schools

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Kind Of

Uggggg! Totally did not set my alarm last night and overslept this morning. Not a huge deal because I have an awesome job where I don't have a particular time that I have to be there in the morning. But still, my morning routine was obliterated. I am a creature of habit and when my habits are disrupted, I am disrupted. Luckily, I have a cool baby that puts things in perspective and sings songs to me in the car to brighten my day.

On a completely unrelated note... Does anyone else remember Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds? Why can't you get them anymore? They totally rocked! I did a quick google search and found this website that is devoted to helping people locate the rare establishment that still serves them. Sadly, none in my area. Oh well.

Tortellini, Pretend Burps, and Bottom Lips

I'm working on getting all of the pictures and video of Harper's birthday party together. It's a big job. In the meantime, here's a video from lunch yesterday. Lord help me.

Happy Birthday, Rob!

A couple things for today:

• I think the french onion dip that I ate last night (the same french onion dip that has been in my fridge for maybe 2 weeks) has taken on some hallucinogenic properties. After eating it, I had the weirdest, most vivid dreams last night.
• I am going to my first spinning class tonight. I'm oddly looking forward to it despite the fact that I may die.
• Today is my husband's birthday! He's a pretty ok guy. He does all kinds of things like...

changing every single one of Harper's diapers in the hospital

and changing the timing belt on my car in our little one car garage during a snow storm

and making cute babies that have his eyes

and this kind of stuff too.

Happy birthday, babe. I love you!

Hot Pockets

Earlier this week, I made the horrible decision to eat Hot Pockets for lunch. Never again will I repeat this mistake. However, the silver lining was that my friend reminded me of this hilarious bit that Jim Gaffigan does about Hot Pockets.

Conjoined Banana Twins

Last night Harper and I wanted a snack. So, I decided to cut up a banana. On the outside, this banana looked like all the other bananas except that maybe it was a little bigger. But, when I cut into it, I realized that we had something special! It was a conjoined twin banana - 2 bananas that were fused together! I knew it was a conjoined twin because it had 2 seed clusters (I have no idea if that's what you call them, but it works). I took a picture to show you!

I went online and found that twin bananas are fairly common. Here are some more pronounced examples.

Pretty cool! I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for more conjoined fruit and vegetables. I know. I have such an exciting life. You're jealous, aren't you?