Two Chicks Nest

Reflections on the Vancouver Riot

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:35:00 +0000

As you probably heard, on Wednesday night there was a riot in Vancouver at the end of game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. That night, the news was reporting that this was the act of a few hooligans. By the next morning, politicians were blaming anarchists. There was also talk of how these people were not "real Vancouverites" and that this these were punks from the suburbs. I understand that Vancouverites don't want to be associated with this bad behavior, but what makes people who live within the city limits morally superior to those living in the suburbs? Drunk dudes jacked up on testosterone live in all postal/zip codes. Here's an interesting analysis about sports riots, which highlights that sports and riots, unfortunately, often go hand in hand.

(image source)

One thing that really struck me as I watched the news that night was how many people were in the crowd taking cell phone photos and video. Were these good citizens who wanted to help the police later identify the offenders or were they just swept up in the thrill of being in the midst of a major news story? It was hard to tell when reporters stopped bystanders to ask "Why are you here?" and they were getting answers like "Oh, I don't know how to get out of here" followed by crowds gathering around, waving at the camera and calling friends on their cell phone yelling "I'm on TV!" Did some people stay despite police orders to disperse because they felt like they were on reality TV? Lots of photos and video have been posted on the internet and the police are using this information, so I suppose that's helpful. But it also seems like the photo takers were egging the vandals on with their presence. As cars burned, people were seen posing in front of them and even jumping on top of them. If no one was watching, would they be doing all of this? In the future, do the police want us getting in their way with our camera phones so that we can collect evidence for them or do they want us to obey orders and leave the area when they say to? I think they're giving the public very mixed messages right now.

I also think we'd benefit from talking about what makes people get swept up in something like this. A lot of the rioters were teenage boys, like this son of a doctor, Olympic hopeful, who is attending university on a water polo scholarship. Are they "bad seeds" or are some people just more susceptible to get swept up in mob mentality? Watching a bunch of guys swarm another guy and kick the crap out of him on TV got me thinking that while riots, fortunately, are not daily occurrences, sexual and physical assault is. Our sons and brothers and neighbors may never be in a crowd breaking the windows of department stores, but they may find themselves at a party where their friends are taking advantage of a drunk girl. Will they get swept up in the mob mentality then too? We're probably doing ourselves a disservice by blaming bad behavior on the boogie men from the suburbs or saying that bad guys are only "other" people. This seems like a great teachable moment, especially for young people, about how to guard against getting swept up in the moment.

Pink Dot

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Wed, 25 May 2011 02:08:00 +0000

I keep meaning to post about our belated honeymoon, selling our first place, and the big upcoming move back to the U.S., but alas, I've been busy with all those things and neglecting the old blog.

But I came across this amazing ad for the Pink Dot campaign in Singapore and just had to stop by to share it with you.

According to their Facebook page, "Pink Dot Sg is a non-profit movement started by a group of individuals who care deeply about the place that LGBT Singaporeans call home. It is a group for everyone, straight and gay, who support the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to love. With openness and acceptance, we hope to bring LGBT Singaporeans closer to their family and friends."

If you like this, go "like" the campaign on Facebook!

Tweet tweet

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 03:33:00 +0000

I like this, though I think "Google before you re-tweet" would be even more useful to keep random rumors about the queen's death in check.

(source)

This is all to say that while I have been a bad blogger, I've been a mad tweeter! I guess I can only manage about 140 characters at a time. And with that said, this post is over.

It's Women's History Month

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:35:00 +0000

I came across this on the Microaggressions blog, which you should really check out if you haven't already. This film seems particularly fitting, since it's Women's History Month, as a reminder of how much women and girls still put up with and how far we have to go. I also see it as a celebration of women's every day survival and strength.

Walking Home

This is an experimental piece about women ritually facing street harassment as they walk home. Shot in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, it mixes 16mm film, video, poetry and music in an effort to honor and reclaim our voice, name and humanity in the public sphere. This is for the walkers, talkers and those who say nothing.

Questions about Santa

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:41:00 +0000

One of my Facebook friends posted something about a kid who doesn't believe in Santa telling her (school aged) kid that Santa isn't real and how she wished that parents would teach their kids not to ruin it for others. My first thought was that kids are going to tell other kids all kind of things that go against your beliefs or that you don't want them to know. Then I thought of another friend who specifically did not tell her kid to believe in Santa because she didn't want to lie to him or ask him to believe in something that she knew not to be true. What are your thoughts on this?

(image source)

This got me thinking about Santa and Christmas and how it might be confusing to Christian kids to have their parents telling them, on the one hand, about something they believe to be true (the story of the birth of Jesus), while on the other hand telling them something that they don't actually believe (a big fat man in a red suit is going to come down the chimney and leave you presents if you are good). What do you think? I asked this on Twitter earlier today and got some great answers from how this was indeed confusing for one girl who found out in church that there was no Santa to how one mom is emphasizing that Santa is a fictional representation of Saint Nicholas. If you tweeted me about this earlier, I'd love for you to expand on them in the comments, but I don't want to "out" anyone who doesn't want to share publicly :) I'd also love to hear what others think about this.

(image source)

And what about for non-Christian families? Do you celebrate Christmas even if you aren't Christian? I was raised Catholic, but no longer consider myself Catholic, yet I still celebrate Christmas. Anyone else?

I have more Santa related questions, maybe because I am procrastinating on work I should be doing and thinking about this stuff is a fun diversion. Did you believe in Santa? If you did, when did you learn that he wasn't actually what your parents said he was? Where you devastated? What will you tell your kids about Santa (if anything)?

And now for something really festive!

(image source)

Here's one of many online galleries of children being terrorized by Santa. I can't get enough of this stuff. Maybe that means I'll be getting coal in my stocking this year.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday commercials

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 03:59:00 +0000

This is my favourite holiday commercial of the season!

What's yours? Share it here!

This is what unconditional love looks like

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 06:21:00 +0000

Whoa, it's been a while! Last time I posted it was about anti-gay bullying. Well, I'm back to share this amazing blog post that someone else wrote that also relates to bullying, but more importantly to what being a fierce-parent-who-loves-her-kid-with-all-her-might-no-matter-what-anyone-else-says-dammit looks like. Here's the teaser:

My Son is Gay

Or he’s not. I don’t care. He is still my son. And he is 5. And I am his mother. And if you have a problem with anything mentioned above, I don’t want to know you.

I have gone back and forth on whether I wanted to post something more in-depth about my sweet boy and his choice of Halloween costume. Or more specifically, the reactions to it. I figure if I’m still irked by it a few days later, I may as well go ahead and post my thoughts.

Okay, now go to Nerdy Apple Bottom's blog and read the rest. I'll wait for you.

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This is what unconditional love looks like. I wish more parents didn't care about what other people think, but rather about how to raise a child who feels loved and is a good person. Isn't that what this is all about? The other mothers clucking about this kid's costume choice? They were trying to shame mom and son into being "normal". Nerdy Apple Bottom calls them on their crap and names this behavior. Bullying! Parents bullying other parents and children!

This gets me thinking about how much hardcore gendering happens with kids. I was in Pilates class and there were posters on the wall for little kids dance classes. One was of a girl in a pink tutu for the ballet class and the other was called Stomp Boyz or something and had three boys posing like tough guys. What is your son (hypothetical or not) wanted to take the ballet class? What's the sign telling you? No boys allowed! Boys go to Stomp Boyz. Duh. What if your daughter wants to stomp? She can't because it's for boyz. Duh. It's ridiculous. If boys do girl thing people will think they are weird. OMG! And this seems to even be true for babies. Why do parents freak out when someone calls their baby girl a boy or vice versa? It's a baby, a person, your child. As long as no one is mistaking your baby for a donut or a kangaroo, who fucking cares?

Don't let the bullies get to you. And for god's sake, don't be a gender bully.

It's not just bullying

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:09:00 +0000

Children are killing themselves.

Seth Walsh, age 13, hung himself.

Billy Lucas, age 15, hung himself.

Asher Brown, age 13, shot himself.

Tyler Clementi, age 18, jumped off a bridge.

Raymond Chase, age 19, hung himself.

That's 5 suicides in three weeks!

Why is this happening? The media is all over the bullying story. But pointing the finger at the classmates of these boys lets the rest of us off the hook, doesn't it? Dr. Phil was on CNN talking to Anderson Cooper about how any teenager who was taped in an intimate encounter would be humiliated. Really, Dr. Phil? An 18 year old boy making out with an 18 year girl and being filmed would be so humiliated that he'd jump off a bridge? I find this argument really bizarre.

There's some context here that is being totally overlooked by the media. It's called homophobia and it's not just something that one person does to another. Our entire society is complicit in this. Every time a government official or their staff attacks a gay person as "Satan's representative" or says that gay people must die, this has harmful implications. When church leaders condemn gay people, they are assaulting us. Just this weekend, after those 5 suicides of young gay men in the past three weeks, the Mormon Apostle was warning parents of the "wickedness that might threaten your family circle." He wasn't talking about bullying. He was talking about gayness.

What does it feel like to be a gay child who hears these types of messages?

And what is the Catholic church busy doing? Why sending out 800,000 anti-gay DVDs. What would Jesus do? From what I recall from my many years in Catholic school and multiple readings of the Bible, he condemned church leaders and was friends with Mary Magdalene and other people that the church despised. Yet plenty of Christian religious leaders persecute gay people in the name of Jesus.

Of course, bullying is bad. Of course, we need to teach kids not to behave this way towards their peers. But why should they think and act in any other way when they live in a world that is blatantly homophobic? Queer youth are not just being bullied by their peers as the media would have you believe. They are being bullied by society. The homophobia dripping from the lips of church leaders and politicians alike is killing children and we are all complicit when we ignore the relationship.

Dan Savage's It Gets Better Campaign is an important counterpoint to all the homophobic rhetoric, but it's not enough. Yes, kids absolutely need some good armor as they try to weather the storm into adulthood, but what they really need is for the wind to be taken out of the storm. Every adult who feels sick to their stomach at the thought of those dead children needs to actively fight every day against homophobia or there will be more dead children.

Ooh, the beloved bakeries

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 23:36:00 +0000

Here's a really random story for you. Back when we were planning the wedding, S. and I went to a wedding fair where we met Nina of Tartlets who would end up making our cake. The thing that caught my attention about Nina's booth was that she had a sign that said "Stockholm, Toronto, Vancouver". I was happy to discover that not only was she Swedish, but she also knew how to make the traditional Swedish Princess Tårta and had actually made it for her own wedding. Fast forward through the wedding and to the 2010 Winter Olympics. S. and I decided to go to our very first hockey game to see the women's Sweden vs. Slovakia game. There we ran into Nina who we hadn't seen since the wedding. We told her that we were planning a trip to Sweden and she told me to email her for suggestions. I was especially interested to know what bakeries a Swedish baker would recommend. She gave me a list and told me that her favorite bakery in Stockholm is Vete-Katten. On our first day in Stockholm we went there because we have our priorities in order.

My mouth is watering. Now we hadn't even made it through one pastry when I heard a voice say something like "Oh my gosh" in English. I obviously assumed that someone recognized someone else because there was no way in hell that anyone in Stockholm would recognize me. But it was Nina and she'd spotted us! Small world, wouldn't you say? I think we went back at least two other times before we left the country. It was delicious. Go there if you visit Stockholm!

Oh and since we are talking about bakeries, I'll tell you another Swedish bakery story. I actually have a lot of them, but this will be the last one, I promise. When my mom was in her early 20s, she worked in a bakery in Stockholm called Konditori Gateau. She loved this job (obviously!) and worked there until I was born. Hmm, this probably explains a lot about me. Anyway, she knew that the owner had sold the very successful bakery, but then learned that there was a chain of bakeries in Stockholm called Gateau. She wondered if they were in any way related, so we decided to go check it out, naturally. She talked to the women at the counter and they confirmed that the original shop had been bought by the current owners. Then we proceeded to buy bags of pastries, you know, for research, to see if the old recipes were still being used. Mom thinks they are.

Mom at Gateau.

Did I mention that I gained 5 lbs on this vacation. It was totally worth it! And of course, you lose the beloved pastry pounds immediately when you stop eating 2-3 pastries a day. Mmm, those were good times.

Healthy Yummy Mac n Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 04:36:00 +0000

Autumn calls for comfort food, don't you think? Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods. Tonight we made a healthy version that was too delicious not to share. The best part is that there's butternut squash hidden inside, which gives it a nice orange color, oh and nutrients and stuff.

Macaroni and Cheese (Adapted from The Food You Crave)

16 oz elbow macaroni
20 oz frozen butternut squash
2 c low fat milk
1 1/3 c grated extra sharp cheddar
2/3 c grated Monterey Jack
1/2 c part skim ricotta
1 t salt
1/8 t cayenne pepper
2 t Dijon mustard
2 T dry bread crumbs
2 T Parmesan
1 t olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and place in the baking dish.

Put the squash and milk in a saucepan and cook over low heat. When the squash softens use an immersion blender to blend the squash and milk together. Turn up the heat to medium and cook until the mixture is almost simmering, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the cheddar, Jack cheese, ricotta, salt, cayenne, and mustard. Pour this over the macaroni and stir to combine.

Mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil in a small bowl and then sprinkle over the macaroni and cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, then broil for 3 additional minutes to brown the top.

Serves 8.
Calories: 390
Fat: 11g
Protein: 18g
Carbohydrates: 56g
Fiber: 3.5g

Vaxholm

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 04:10:00 +0000

Tonight my darling wife is at her very first Swedish class! Isn't that just the cutest thing ever? ...which reminds me that I haven't finished my posts about Sweden.

I told you a bit about Stockholm, about the suburb where I grew up, Midsummer, and our stay in the little town of Grisslehamn. Well, the last few days of our stay in Sweden, S. and I went to Vaxholm, which is Stockholm's archipelago.

We stayed at the Waxholm hotel.

We had dinner at the hotel and watched the boats come in with passengers from the city.

Here's what it looked like at around 11:30pm from our balcony.

The following day we did some sight seeing at the Vaxholm Castle.

Afterwards it was fika (snack) time.

The next day we took a boat back to Stockholm.

Vaxholm was lovely, quaint, romantic, and a wonderful way to end an amazing trip.

Everybody has a story

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 03:17:00 +0000

I've been watching a lot of great documentaries lately that have been featured on PBS's POV. I want to share some great shorts that were produced by StoryCorps.

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 30,000 interviews from more than 60,000 participants.

Blanca Alvarez and her husband risked crossing the border to immigrate into the U.S. and then struggled to make ends meet. They hoped to shelter their children from these harsh realities, but Blanca's daughter Connie reveals how much children can really see of their parents' lives—and the inspiration they draw from their struggles.

Joshua Littman, a 12-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome, interviews his mother, Sarah. Joshua's unique questions and Sarah's loving, unguarded answers reveal a beautiful relationship that reminds us of the best—and the most challenging—parts of being a parent.

Danny Perasa and his wife, Annie, came to StoryCorps to recount their twenty-seven-year romance. As they remember their life together from their first date to Danny's final days with terminal cancer, these remarkable Brooklynites personify the eloquence, grace, and poetry that can be found in the voices of everyday people when we take the time to listen.

Listen to more StoryCorps stories here.

Reflections on Wife=Mother

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:12:00 +0000

Oh boy, did I call it! August was an incredibly busy, productive, rewarding, exhausting, wonderful month. Lots of workworkwork and traveltraveltravel (together) and a little bit of friends, family, and awesome work colleagues thrown into the mix for good measure. Anyway, I've definitely not had time to blog and barely any time to read other peoples blogs. However, I can across a couple of posts yesterday that I want to talk about.

Both A Practical Wedding and Bowie Bride wrote about how married women get bombarded with questions about when they are gonna have babies pretty much as soon as they make it back up the aisle. Now this hasn't been my experience and I think that's interesting. I'm not saying that NO ONE has asked us about this, but it's certainly not a popular topic of conversation. And to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about that. Yes, I agree that it's irritating for opposite-sex couples to constantly have pressure that they need to hurry up and "start a family." As Meg says over at APW, I’m sorry, what’s getting married? Just chopped liver? Just a prelude to getting knocked up? It makes me livid. Every time I hear someone use the phrase, ‘Start a family,’ I want to snap, “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought that’s what I just did. You know, when I got married?” So what does it mean when same-sex couples don't get asked about "starting a family." Some may say this means that same-sex couples are lucky. Nobody is getting all up in our business. But I don't think this is because we are already regarded as a family. Maybe it actually means that people don't want us to start a family. I don't know because I haven't been asking, "Hey, so how come you aren't asking us about when we are going to have children?"

So whaddaya think? Same-sex married folks, do people incessantly ask you about when you are gonna have kids already? Non same-sex married folks, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts too.

Taking a deep breath

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:54:00 +0000

July has been really busy. Work has been kicking my butt in a good way since I got back from Sweden. I have lots of good things on my plate, but I have to admit that I am feeling pretty stressed. It doesn't help that I am about to embark on a couple of weeks of work related travel. Seminars! Presentations! Networking! Some of this travel is going to bring me back to Southern California. I'll have a chance to see family and friends in addition to all the work stuff. The idea of juggling all of this is making me feel anxious. I reminded myself to give myself permission to have fun and not over extend myself any more than I already am. I don't have to go to every interesting talk that's being offered. I need to chill the f*@% out and enjoy this opportunity. I also need to make sure to not burn myself out before I get back to Vancouver because I am going to have to hit the ground running upon my return and keep going until mid-September. So the plan is to do all the presentations, roundtables, and meeting running that I promised I'd do, but then go easy. Just because something promises to be intellectually stimulating does not mean that I have to go and do it. JUST SAY NO!

What do you do to maintain your sanity when your world seems to be imploding with possibility? Seriously, I want to know. So far I've cuddled with my wife, made an appointment for a pedicure, and given myself permission to not add anything new to my schedule. And now I am going to make a to-do list.

Recipe Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:17:00 +0000

I ran across this pretty thing on Johannab.se. She's a Swedish designer and I love her blog. You can translate it into English when you visit the blog. Anyway, back to my latest object of desire. Check out this new Moleskine recipe journal.

Pretty.

Moleskine has a whole new line of "Passion" journals including Wellness, Wine, Book, Film, and Music Journals. I want them all, which is kind of ridiculous. But I just love journals and the promise that they hold, like if you have one, suddenly your life will be more organized and just all around better. The only journal I currently have going is keeping track of my body fat/muscle mass, which is a nice little motivator. Am I alone here or are there any other journal lovers out there? Do you use journals to organize your life?

P.S. This is obviously not a paid endorsement of any kind. No one pays me to babble on my blog.

Out in the country

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:42:00 +0000

Our second week in Sweden was spent the way that a lot of Swedes spend the summer. We headed out of Stockholm to the country. When I was a kid we used to go to my mom's best friend's parents sommarstuga (summer cottage). I wanted to recreate that experience so I used Google to find a place for us to stay. That led us to a little town called Grisslehamn (population 277).

We stayed at a B&B, but rather than rent a room, we rented a small cottage.

Here's the cottage. See how small it is! And no bathroom. Shared bathrooms were at the main house. It's actually pretty uncommon to find private bathrooms at places like this.

While our accomodations were not exactly 5-star, it was lovely and luxurious in it's own way. These are all photos I took with my iPhone while lying in a recliner reading and napping in the sun.

Breakfast was served in the main house's dining room every morning.

Visiting a tiny town is so relaxing. This was the view from one of the local restaurants where we had dinner twice. Yeah, I said dinner. That's how light it was at 8pm.

We found a used bookstore where I bought some Astrid Lindgren books that I used to read as a kid.

And we spent a lot of time wandering around enjoying nature.

Now the only down side with all that lovely nature was the myggor (mosquitos). That's not a Livestong bracelet that I'm wearing.That's a mosquito repellent band.

We also spent a lot of time eating.

The bakery.

The ice cream shop.

This is mjukglass which is soft ice cream. It's so much better than softserve. Yes, I ordered it in Swedish!

Visiting Grisslehamn was so incredibly relaxing. I'm so glad that we stumbled upon this little town!

Brunch Party

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:09:00 +0000

I love a good dinner party, but I've been really itching to throw a brunch party on our patio. This morning we hosted a few friends and it was lovely. We chose dishes that we could prep ahead of time because I did not want to be chained to the stove and away from our guests.
The night before we made Blueberry Streusel Muffins and prepared the Vegetable Cheese Strata and Peach French Toast Bake which sat in the fridge overnight and went in the oven in the morning. Both the strata and french toast were from The Food You Crave cookbook that my friend T of Words and Home gave us as a wedding shower gift. I adore that cookbook! The nice thing about it is that the recipes are healthy versions of, uh, food you crave. For example, the Peach French Toast Bake is only 254 calories per serving. Never mind that I served it with whipped cream and maple syrup ;)

Peach French Toast Bake (adapted from The Food You Crave)

1 large baguette (about 8 oz)

4 large eggs

4 egg whites

1 c nonfat milk

1 t vanilla extract

5 c fresh sliced peaches (frozen are okay too, but thaw them first)

2 T packed brown sugar

1/4 t ground cinnamon

Coat a 9x13" baking pan or 2 round 9" baking pans with cooking spray. Cut the baguette into 1/2" thick slices and arrange in a single layer in the pan.

Whisk together the whole eggs, egg whites, milk, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Pour this over the bread in the pan. Scatter the peach slices evenly over the bread and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Uncover and bake until slightly puffed and the bread is golden brown for about 40 minutes. Serves 6.

This morning we made the Rosemary Potatoes and Lemonade with Mint. We also served up an Eton Mess, which we just whipped up after the main brunch was served.

I will most definitely be making the lemonade again. I got the recipe from the August 2010 issue of In Style magazine of all places.

Lemonade with mint (adapted from In Style)

6 fresh lemons, juiced

3/4 c agave nectar

6 mint leaves

60 oz sparkling water

ice cubes

Mix and serve.

Outstanding in the Field

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:13:00 +0000

Last night S. and I celebrated our anniversary with 158 strangers in the middle of a field on a farm in the city.

Have you heard of Outstanding in the Field? They describe themselves as "a roving culinary adventure – literally a restaurant without walls." They travel from city to city (mostly in the U.S.) and commission a local chef to use local products to prepare a feast for the diners who sit at one long table and share a family-style dinner.

But before we got to chow down, we went on a tour of the farm.

After meeting some chickens and bees and community gardens we picked up our plates and headed to the table.

Here's the menu:

Passed appetizers included grilled Qualicum Bay scallops, chilled English pea soup with ricotta custard, and some cured meats paired with my favourite type of wine, Gewurtztraminer.

Part of the fun is not having any idea what's going to be served before getting to the table.

The first dish they brought out was a salad with vegetables from the farm. It doesn't sound exciting, but just look at it. It was exciting. It was accompanied by Pinot Gris.

Just a few of the random strangers we dined with.

Next up, slow smoked Nass River sockeye salmon with warba nugget potato and green bean salad and charred onion vinaigrette. And Pinot Noir. So good!

Obviously, the wine is catching up with me at this point as indicated by the photo below. I forgot to take a Pepcid AC to combat the redness. And what's happening with my hair? Oh well. Check out the field instead!

See the tents and the smoke. That's where our dinner was cooking.

The next course was fire roasted ribs of prime beef with sauteed UBC farm greens and horseradish creme paired with Cabernet Syrah.

Since I'm a pescetarian, I didn't eat the meat, but I'd alerted them to my food restriction when I ordered our tickets. I had no idea what the substitution would be so I was quite pleased when they brought me Ling Cod. No plate of sides for this gal!

Dessert was Eton Mess. This may have actually been my favourite part of the evening. Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, lemon pound cake, cream, and meringue. I had seconds.

It was an amazing, beautiful evening. The food was delicious, the service was excellent, and we met some really lovely people.

Two Years

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:04:00 +0000

Two years ago:

We got married!

You may now kiss the bride.

Our second year of married life involved a lot of this:

Plus this:

S. and I went to Vegas for her birthday and I arranged for her two best friends to meet us there. She was so surprised! I booked a room with two queen beds so that we could all share. When she checked in she requested a king. When she saw her surprise, she had to go back downstairs to request a different room. Oops. I'm sure that hotel reception thought we were crazy, but they were really nice about it.

We celebrated American Thanksgiving with our binational friends.

For Christmas, we went on a family cruise to celebrate Grandpa's 90th and Nana's 88th birthdays. Here's my wife exploring a career as a cruise ship entertainer.

In February, my wife learned that she was a giant hockey fan.

In March we got to see our best friend perform in the Paralympic opening ceremony. And as if that wasn't enough S. showed up to the opening ceremony with my mom, who she flew up to surprise me for my birthday!

We trained for a 10k together. We've done a great job making exercise a regular part of our lives this year.

And then, of course, last month we took our first trip together to Sweden.

It's been a great year! I'm so lucky to be married to my favourite person in the world!

Midsommar

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:36:00 +0000

Midsummer is a big deal in Sweden. I made it a point to be there during the latter part of June for precisely that reason.

Here's an old photo of me with my mom's best friend's mom, who was like my surrogate Swedish grandma when I was little.

One of the big Midsummer traditions is for folks to dance around the midsommarstång (midsummer pole), like the one in the old photo above. Here are some of those people dressed up in traditional garb.

Look at them go!

I couldn't get over how much this guy looked like George W Bush, which made watching him dance all that more entertaining.

Here's a little girl with a crown of flowers, which you see a lot during Midsummer.

And here's me when I was a little girl with my own flower crown.

The real fun begins when everyone gets up and dances around the midsummer pole together. I remembered all of the songs from when I was a kid. Can you guess what this song is about?

Midsummer in Sweden from Two Chicks Nest on Vimeo.

And here's one more.

Midsummer in Sweden from Two Chicks Nest on Vimeo.

After the outing, we headed back to our friend's house for a Midsummer feast.

Stockholm beer, gravad lax (cured salmon), new potatoes, herring, hard boiled eggs with caviar, watermelon and feta (this is a delicious combination, by the way), and prince korv (sausage). I tasted the prince korv, which is the first time I've had meat in I don't know how long. It was as good as I remember.

Dessert: Snaps and strawberry cake.

Here's a snaps song (called a snapsvisa). I wasn't familiar with it since I never drank snaps as a child.

Snaps song from Two Chicks Nest on Vimeo.

The old neighborhood

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:01:00 +0000

Before moving to the U.S., we lived in Bergshamra, which is a suburb of Stockholm. My mom's best friend, Inga Lena still lives there and we were able to use her friend's guest apartment for about $33/day. This saved us a lot of money compared to if we'd gotten a hotel room in Stockholm! Bergshamra is only about 10 minutes to Stockholm on the Tunnelbana (subway). The place was really adorable with a galley kitchen, a nice bathroom, and room enough for my mom, wife, and me to sleep comfortably.

Inga Lena stocked the kitchen for us with coffee, milk, juice, and knäckebröd (below)

(image source)

She also supplied us with linens, towels, and flowers that she picked in a field by her house.

Bergshamra is really lovely. We spent some time hanging out at Kafé Sjöstugan by the lake where we had pastries and coffee.

Adorable, no?

Here's the view from inside.

Here's Mom on the dock. There are tables and chairs out there too.

Here's a map of the area

There's a pretty castle in the forest near where we used to live called Ulriksdal.

Here's an old photo of my brother and me out by the castle in the winter.

Here's a shot of the gardens at the castle.

There was a cool outdoor lifestyle exhibition called Sommar Salongen going on about "gardens, living, wedding, food, and ecology". Unfortunately, they were closed for Midsummer when we were there.

Here's one of the exhibits. Pretty.

We also swung by the old apartment where we lived back in the day.

Here's an old photo of me on my first bike behind our apartment. It had training wheels.

Something is missing from this post. Oh, I know, a gratuitous food shot. Here's a good Bergshamra photo: dinner at Inga Lena's place!

Mmm, herring, new potatoes (not pictured), cheese, and bread. That's better.

Sweden: A quick overview of the gorgeous capital city

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:02:00 +0000

I've been in Sweden for the past two weeks and now that I'm back, I have so much to share! I'm not really sure how many parts this series will have. I'd like to show you the lovely city of Stockholm with it's gorgeous sites and architecture, the lovely countryside where we stayed in a little cottage, and the beautiful archipelago. I also want to share all the fantastic food that we indulged in and Midsummer, which is one of Sweden's biggest holidays. I'd also like to talk about differences that I noticed between Sweden and North America (like lots of men wear red pants in Sweden and sodas tastes better). Oh, I also want to show you my souvenirs :) And if I can muster the energy, I'd like to reflect on what it was like to go back to the city of my birth and early childhood after 27 years. Surviving jetlag is another relevant topic. So, where do I begin? How about if I start by just showing you some pretty pictures of Stockholm?

If you ever visit Stockholm, you have to visit Gamla Stan (aka Old Town), which dates back to the 13th century.

We ate lunch at Cafe Kaffekoppen in Stortorget (below). When I went downstairs to use the washroom, there was another dining room where everyone was eating by candle light...in the middle of the day!

Here's me and my mom.

This is the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet).

I just love the architecture of the city.

Here's where I lived when I was a baby. There's a Bikram yoga studio and a sushi restaurant downstairs now.

Here's what it looked like from the inside 30-something years ago :)

How awesome is the fireplace?

So what should I blog about next? Probably food.

I graduated!

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 04:14:00 +0000

Tonight was my last swimming class. I complained after the first class that it was hard and that I wasn't sure I liked swimming. But you know what? It totally grew on me. I used to take swimming classes at the Y when I was a kid so swimming class totally made me feel like I was 9 years old again. Fun times!

And I guess I did pretty well. Excuse me while I brag for a few moments. Earlier this week we did a timed swim. I swam 325m in 10 minutes, while the guys in my class swam 200m. That felt pretty damn good :) Then tonight I got my "report card" and my teacher promoted me to the Advanced class. She also put stickers on the report card, which only made it that much cooler. How long has it been since I've gotten stickers on an evaluation? I'd been planning to do the Intermediate class again, but I guess it's good to be pushed into the deep end, so to speak. I expect to struggle in the Advanced class, but that's how you grow, right?

What I'm most proud of is that I went down the slide at the pool tonight. I was scared at first, but I ended up doing it three times because it was fun. When do we stop being fearless little daredevils and become scaredy cat adults? Anyway, I guess the point is to take a deep breath every once and a while and do something that feels scary. I'm glad that I did :) I took a picture of the slide just for you.

Oh and speaking of challenging myself, I think I'm going to train for a triathlon. But first I need to buy a bike. Any advice on this? I haven't owned a bike since I was a child.

Attention queer parents

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:48:00 +0000

This morning I got an email from my internet buddy, Coastinganon, who is looking for a little advice for a gift for her friend. I'm posting it below with her permission with the hope that some of you lovely folks can weigh in to provide some suggestions since I, unfortunately, don't have any. I don't have any same-sex couple friends or neighbors that are trying to conceive or who have kids, which is actually kind of a bummer. So that's where you (hopefully) come in, internetz.

Hi there...I saw your recent post on your summer reading list and I was hoping you could help me. Our good friends and neighbors who were married last year are about to start their first round of attempts at starting their family. Leslie is going to be the first to try and her birthday is coming up. I have been wanting to get her a book and I was hoping maybe you could recommend something for her to read. She hasn't conceived yet as far as I know, so I am warry of getting her a what-to-do-now-that-you're-pregnant book, but I also know they have already made the decision to have children, so I want to steer away from any books that focus on that part of the decision making process. Do you know of anything that would be appropriate that would fit between the we-are-thinking-of-having-a-baby and the we-are-already-pregnant stages?

Thanks so much.

So, what say you, dear readers? Does anyone have any recommendations? If so, please let us know!

Vacation Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Two Chicks Nest) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:22:00 +0000

I'm getting ready to go on a two week vacation. Lucky me! The thing I'm having the hardest thing with is deciding what books to bring. I never really thought I needed an e-book reader, until now. So here's my pile.

The Fiction: It seems like one should read fiction on vacation so I am planning to read these two.

The 19th Wife is half historical fiction and half present day fiction telling the story of the 19th wife of Brigham Young and the 19th wife of a member of a breakaway Mormon sect. I've started reading it already and it's really interesting. I think it'll be a great plane read.

My wife picked up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire from Costco. She's a very fast reader, so I am sure I'll also have these to read by the time we arrive at our destination.

The Non-Fiction: I love non-fiction, although maybe it's too academic for vacation? I picked all these up at the library.

And Baby Makes More: Known Donors, Queer Parents, and Our Unexpected Families.

Lesbian Motherhood: Stories of Becoming

Who's Your Daddy and Other Writings on Queer Parenting

The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined All Women

Mama, PhD: Women Write About Motherhood and Academic Life

Sense a theme? Now I am not promising that babies are in our future, but this is how I approach things. I study them. I started reading "The Mommy Myth" and it's pretty depressing, but also really interesting to understand how the concept of motherhood gets sold to us and why.

Speaking of depressing, "Mama, PhD" is not uplifting. I am afraid that it'll be harder having a baby/child as an academic than as a lesbian. Put them both together and...and I don't know. These two topics don't seem to overlap, at least not in my pile o'books. I'm kind of bummed that most of the authors in "Mama, PhD" seem to be Caucasian, heterosexually married women. I was hoping for a little more demographic diversity.

So what are you reading this summer? What has your favorite vacation read been? And what about e-book readers? Do you have one? Do you love it?