Lunzygras

Happy Lunzygras.... belated.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:24:00 +0000

Hello Loyal Seven!!

You ARE still here, right? right?? tap, tap... is this thing on?

I just celebrated my big 4-0 so it feels like a good time to wipe off the dust and cobwebs from my little slice of the Interwebz. And technically Lunzygras DOES last the entire month of April.... so I'm timely. kinda.

I have just spent a long, exhausting ride on the crazy train. Our rental went up for sale as a short sale, we found a great house to buy, had a nightmare loan process, moved finally, blah blah blah. total cray cray. BigDaddy and I went to Maui to celebrate our 10th anniversary and my 40th birthday. alone. as in no little people with us for EIGHT splendid nights. Don't feel too badly for them, they got to hang out in CA with all the grandparents and get spoiled rotten.

It was wonderful for us to re-connect and recharge our much depleted batteries. To say we were spent would be a huge understatement. Maui was key. and wonderful. and I want to be there... like now.

Me going out to Snuba/Huka in Makena Beach Reef!

Maaaauuuii......Oh Lawdy.... Maui was wonderful. just what the doctor ordered. I instantly found myself in my happy place and yes, that happy place included adult beverages. We had a great time and this was our first vacation EVER that BigDaddy didn't work. for reals. So that was a huge bonus!

The trip was amazing for so many reasons, but for me, it had a lot to do with me trying to be a bit more adventurous. busting out of my comfort zone. I tried Huka/Snuba, jumped off rocks into an underwater cave, and we took back roads -- no cell service or guard railings. And it felt good. I was totally in the zone-- enjoying my Flow. { My full trip report can be viewed here on Trip Advisor if you are interested in all the deets.}

So 40. yeah. I thought I should be feeling all weird and you know, OLD. But I l.o.v.e. my birthday. like so much so, that I turned it into a named, month-long event. And the vacationing didn't stop after Maui.

Aries Girls Rock!

One of my BFFs has her birthday 10 days after mine and threw a full-on, killer event.... complete with a hotel room block, pub crawl and party bus. And a Sober Coach to keep track of us! Thanks Steph! :D So off to SoCal I went. It's hard work being a travel bunny but somehow I mustered up the energy to make it happen. I met up with another girlfriend in LA who had also flown in. The weekend with my girls felt like playing hokey. A Non-Mom, Non-Wife, Not-responsible-for-anyone-else-period weekend. I laughed so hard my stomach ached for a few days. I did Jell-O shots and danced on a moving bus with black-out windows thankfully we had the stripper pole to hold on to! and I danced, danced, danced. Can you say Bliss?

But something kicked in. I swear something changed. Maybe it was that I had finally had the chance to slow down in Maui and then be completely ready to Bring It in CA. I wasn't escaping, I was whooping it up. Whatever the case, I soaked it in. relished the moments. appreciated my time with these amazing people that were a part of my life. And I found my Lunzyness.

More coming soon! pinky promise!

Besitos,

Lunzy

lovenotes

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:06:00 +0000

"You are the greatest mom in the whole world." from Sassy.

A few days ago I was in my room getting ready for the day. BigBoy was in the hall, hanging out on the stairs doing who knows what.

"Mom. I have you, Daddy and Sis for my family. I'm the luckiest boy in the world!"

Wait, what??

"I'm just so lucky."

Later that night I fell asleep with Sass. She's been sick all week and wanted to cuddle. She then wrapped her arms around me, grabbed my thumb with her entire hand and she fell asleep like that. I soaked it all in.

My munchkins catch me off guard sometimes. and I love it. These kids. Dear God, they drive me crazy. but how sweet it is when they openly dish out their pure love. These beautiful little moments of bliss that pass between the hustle and bustle of day-to-day. THIS makes it all worth it.

What was your little moment of munchkin bliss?

Don't call it a comeback

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:20:00 +0000

Our new 'hood! and a boat I would really, really like to own. (Mt. Rainer, WA)

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest!

Yes, it's true... we actually made it back to the West Coast! Same timezone as 90% of our family, same STATE as my sister and BFF from high school. AND we're just a two- hour, direct flight to the grandparents. All six of them.

I still miss Virginia, but if we were going to leave the Kinda Country and my Village People, THIS is the place to do it for. and we ended up in the PNW Kinda Country. I've learned I'm now a total country mouse. I know, right? and we've found our little slice of semi-rural heaven in the PNW. No Mennonites or horse buggies, but we have geoducks and driftwood. We're not nestled in between the the Blue Ridge and Allenghenies, but we do have views the Cascades and Olympics. I'm not surrounded by rolling hills of yellowed winter grass, but I have moss. lots and lots of moss. and it's pretty amazing. like GORGEOUS. I'm surrounded in total gorgeousness.

I can't believe we've been living here for eight months already! That really blows me a way. Five sentence recap: BigDaddy loves his new job, co-workers are awesome and his team is pretty fantastic. The munchkins are enjoying school and making friends. We found a trainer for Sass and she's become quite the equestrienne. BigBoy is a Wolf Scout. and get this... I have a J.O.B.

The time I spent on this little ol' blog and my neglected Twitter account has paid off. I get to work with one of my favorite people AND get paid. Booyah! So when people have asked me why I haven't been blogging, I guess it's because I haven't felt the need to. It kept me company while BigDaddy was traveling so much. but then he was home. Then we embarked on our new diets (totally glulten free for BigBoy and me) and that seemed totally all consuming. then we moved, and then.... I was working. and ultimately, The Plan worked. I started my blog to make sure my skills weren't rusty, that I had enough up-to-date knowledge that I wasn't totally left behind saying a "Twittering What?" Mission Accomplished!

But I miss my little space. I miss my Loyal Seven. and I feel like I have some stories to tell, some info to share, and some documentation I need to... well, document. So this is the place and it seems like this is the right time again. It IS actually lunzygras right now (the month of April) so grab your beads and cocktails and join me cuz I've miss YOU too!

Meditating with plastic bins

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Mon, 23 May 2011 18:31:00 +0000

Our lives have been put on hold yet again..... scheduling conflicts, delayed action, blah, blah, blah. basically what it boils down to is the Universe is playing this horrible mean trick on me. again. I'm a planner. plain and simple. and when I can't plan, MamaBear ain't happy.

I envision being "One with Nature" or bending into a Lotus Pose as I strike a gong or quietly calming my thoughts to bring forth a stillness to my mind.... illuminate my understanding. but that doesn't work too well for a controlling, Type A, Aries girl when her life is in flux. yeaaaah, not so much. I had to dig into my inner Lunzy-ness. I decided to clean.

wait, what?! yes, clean. But I actually like to clean. and iron. seriously, ask my bridesmaids about me ironing all their sashes on the morn of my Big Day. I'm not claiming to be a great housekeeper, this is still your same, good ol' lunzy. I just don't usually get a quiet, easy-going day to enjoy it. the calm. quiet. the instant satisfaction. you read that right. instant satisfaction. and that's just what this girl needed, pronto!

Apparently one of the crazy, southern tornadoes trickled into the munchkins' rooms. Disaster Zone.... times 10. so I channeled up my negative, bitter-chick energy into getting the kids room cleaned up, purged, and organized. It's really a good thing we don't have a Container Store anywhere near the Kinda Country. As it is, Target has enough pretty plastic to woo me into a bright pink and turquoise stupor. Plastic tubs, bins and crates all neatly lined up with the contents packed. floors swept and vacuumed. closets purged, banishing ill fitting garments. There. Control over something. the act of just simplifying. organizing. making things tidy, it calmed me. I was able to get something done at a time when I feel like I'm just treading water. Maybe I didn't quite illuminate my understanding, but I did manage to focus on being productive.

so all the Little People and American Girls have a home, though we haven't figured out where ours will be. The LEGO bricks are temporarily contained and content, even if my nerves aren't. The Goodwill bags are packed and ready to be transported, however our moving boxes are still TBD. The task is complete, for now anyway, and though it isn't yoga, it will work. Now, where did I put that gong...

Diving in!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:16:00 +0000

Ready to dive in! :)

I’ve been wanting to jump back into my bloggy world for a while now. It’s time, really. And it’s so NOT the time. My mammoth to do-list is staring at me. Well, that is, if I had actually written it all down in a to-do list I’m sure this is what it would be doing to me. Staring at me. Mouth all hanging open and shaking its head. Geez Lunzy, you still haven’t gotten your crap together? To which I would reply. Nope, still no dice.

And so tonight, on a night when I got the hat-trick of evening wake-ups and it’s still only 2:30 a.m., it felt like the time was right. Time for a lunzygras homecoming. I’m just gonna jump in and feel the love. I need you my Loyal Seven (you are still out there right?!) You make me laugh. You hear me when my voice gets all high pitched and I’m entering into the Crazy Mama Zone. And you tell me it’s okay to go grab my bottle of tequila and hide in the closet/cardboard box for a Mommy Time Out.

My brain is swollen from an possible major life change. Again. My kids have Spring Fever in the worst way (a.k.a. they are being total twerps.) We did a huge dietary change for BigBoy and me and we are now gluten free, among other things—so my meal planning and cooking from scratch is also going through a topsy turvy. The house we moved into last summer still isn’t totally unpacked and I might be packing things up once again in the next month. So really, is it worth it?

But life isn’t a big pity party. You didn’t expect that one did you? I’m overwhelmed, but what’s new about that really? And yes, we might be moving. Again, what else is new? And my kids are difficult. See previous note…. But life is good. For reals.

BigDaddy has been home with us and I have to tell you, after he learned Mama Bear’s House Rules, it’s been really nice to have him involved with the family stuff so much. And after figuring out some dietary issues for me and Munchkin #1, I’m feeling pretty fantastic. I’m working out regularly, lost more than 10 pounds and have ridiculous amounts of energy. We also bought bikes. Bikes! The entire family is able to go on a ride together, which rocks my world. And it’s Spring in the Valley. After we sneeze and clear away all the yellow pollen, it’s Gawgeous. Pops of bright green and every color of the rainbow. See? Good stuff. No pity parties.

So here I am world. Warts, weeds and unpacked boxes. I’m rusty and I need to find my mojo again, but I’m diving in. No promises how often I’ll come around and it will be absolutely totally erratic. But then again, what else is new?

Besitos,
Lunzy

keep on truckin'

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:08:00 +0000

I need to get my groove going. I feel like it's slooowly happening, but I want it now. N.O.W. New house, new schedules, new munchkin activities, new responsibilities. We still aren't unpacked from the move, and I'm not sure when that might actually happen. BigDaddy is in season so making breakfast for dinner, again, is an option. My meal plans are barely getting made, much less followed. Back to school, with our additional post-move duties, is throwing me for a loop. Doesn't this all sound familiar? ;) Like last year-at-this-time familiar?

But I also know this too shall pass. At some point, maybe late Fall, we will be more settled into our house, have our routine down, and be a semi well-oiled machine. And that's okay. At some point we WILL get there. or not. But I haven't been blogging, haven't been working out, haven't been doing much planning in general. So this is my feeble attempt to get the ball rolling...

Back to School came and went without a hitch. Nothing like last year's beyond embarrassing sob-fest at Kinder Open House or first day sniffles after the bus left. I knew BigBoy was excited to get back to school and I was in heaven with his teacher and class. All good fuzzy feelings. Sassy started preschool this past week and this Mama has three whole munchkin-free mornings, which will soon be totally filled up with errands and volunteering and fund-raising planning.... but get this. I miss them. It's the Mom double-edged sword. You can't wait to have some free time and then you feel all weird cuz your shadows are missing. Don't even get me started about next year when Sassy is jumping on that school bus with Bigboy-- I can already feel the waterworks are swelling up.

I worked out yesterday, one of my super easy, beginner videos. But I did it. I took the first step and struggled through it with my pitiful self. I even hopped on Mr. Snarky and logged into wii fit. Even after our eatingpalooza from camp, moving, and vacay, I'm down a bit! I'll take it! But I'm uncomfortable in my own skin right now. When I'm grabbing the comfy yoga/gaucho pants as soon as they are clean, I know I'm due for a change.

I also have some updates to blog about. Remember when I was on my Know Your Farmer Tour and I committed to buying better, local food? I am proud to say I am now the owner of an upright freezer filled with Polyface beef, chicken and a turkey. I'm putting my money where my mouth is! Now that we are home, I'm visiting our favorite farm stand again and I love it. I'm just sad that it feels like we missed most of the summer season. We still have apples to pick. can. not. wait. but Fall just isn't the same for yummy fresh produce.

So there you have it, my blog brain dump. I'm hoping to get on here more regularly, I feel better when I do and my mama brain feels a bit more useful. Ta ta for now.

Just call me Gidget

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:05:00 +0000

Lunzy aka Surf Diva.

Look at me, look at me! I'm a guest blogger on the San Diego Convention and Visitor's Bureau!

Many months ago I posted a comment on their blog and was randomly selected as a winner for a free group surf lesson. For your reading pleasure, I bring you Lunzy a la San Diego ConVis:

As some of you know, I won a group surf lesson with Surf Diva via the San Diego Convention and Visitor’s Bureau website. Surf lessons? Me? BWAHAHA! But in the spirit of Embracing the Crazy this summer (it’s been a doozy!) I did just that. I took the challenge and just went for it.

My family and I take an annual trip to San Diego every year as part of a family reunion on my husband’s side. We are both native Californians, attended SDSU and lived in San Diego for some time, so it’s a great time catching up with family and friends. We now live with our two munchkins (ages 6 & 4) in what I call the “Kinda Country”, in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Kinda the antithesis of San Diego. After I won the free lesson I decided to add that to our agenda for this year’s Big Fat Summer Vacation.

Now saying your going to take a surf lesson and doing the actual lesson were two totally different things. {Read more on ConVis...}

BFSV-TwiTour (Port Angeles, Forks & La Push, WA)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:51:00 +0000

Sorry for the loooongest trip recap ever! BigDaddy's preseason always, always kicks my booty more than I think it will. But essentially I become a single parent for a few weeks, he is gone before we get up and home after we are all asleep. And our laundry multiplies like rabbits. and the double bonus this year... one laptop is sick and our other went with BigDaddy, so I was stuck with the baby netbook and a 2 inch screen to feed my facebook addiction.

Without further ado, The Big Fat Summer Vacation continues....After the San Juans and Nikki's we headed onto our last ferry ride of the trip. Off to Port Angeles (via Port Townsend) and the official start of Twi-Tour! Woot, Woot!

We took the early ferry over since we didn't want to chance something going wrong and running out of time. We were jamming a lot of action into one day. PA with a meal at Bella Italia (of course!) and a showing of Eclipse, then heading out to La Push that same night. Thankfully it got dark so late we would have lots of light still into the early evening.

We found ourselves with ample time, too much actually. Stuck in PA waiting for 4 p.m. I totally spaced on checking out Bella Italia's info and didn't realize that it didn't open until 4. uuugh! We could still make the early showing of Eclipse if we hurried since they were right by each other. We ended up hanging out on the beach for a bit, eating fudge and other snacks from one of the little village shops. I also found a used book at one of the official Twilight Sites book store--- totally didn't realize it, but a super cool store and bought Omnivore's Dilemma (you know, light vacation type reading...)

Port Angeles' Lincoln Theater.

Finally at 3:40 it dawned on us that we should have made reservations. ouch! BigDaddy pokes his head in and asks if that's going to be a problem. No worries, they insist it won't be an issue since they won't be very busy. BAHAHAHA. No, they weren't busy, however they asked if anyone else had reservations, sat them first and we were stuck waiting in line. the.slowest.service.evah.

On my date with Eddie; Mushroom Ravioli and a Coke.

I wish I could say it was great fun. a perfect start to the TwiTour. or even awesome food. or how about a friendly, smiling staff. nope. no chance. juat "okay" food, HORRIBLY slow service (we had to go to the later show and race to it) and overpriced. Our server seemed completely annoyed that she had our table, and actually seemed completely annoyed that she had to be a waitress in general. when I ordered the Portabella Ravioli and a Coke. I said something like "I'm sure nobody orders that" or something to that effect, I got the courtesy laugh and "yeah... and everyone says that too."

Oh no she didn't.

Don't piss MamaBear off Missy. At this point BigDaddy and I are brainstorming how we can make her life miserable. Calling non-stop and asking for her to make a reservation for Cullen. Ask her to hold my doll and pose for picture. Ask her if vampires ever come in. stuff like that. Made us feel better at least. Everyone was visibly miffed and we should have taken notes from the family that sat down next to us. Mom asked the hostess what the quickest thing would be to order and then ordered 5 spaghetti and meatball meals two seconds later. They were done and gone before we even finished our bread.

We chocked it up to a restaurant with bad management and bailed to see Eclipse. Apparently Eclipse was considered a family-friendly movie by some and we were in the company of toddlers. Toddlers?! Seriously people??? I was praying this was not how the rest of the trip would be. We moved seats to be as far from them as possible and enjoyed the show.

So long PA, off to La Push!

I woke up before BigDaddy and didn’t know what to expect since we arrived at La Push the night before and it was dark. really, really dark. I stared out into black nothingness. And we were totally off-grid. No cell service, no TV, no wireless, no in-room phone, no nada. A little creepy when you are supposedly in the land of Native American Werewolves.

I braced myself as I pulled open the blinds that covered our huge ocean view windows. I almost fell over. Huge, twisted tree trunks strewn about, followed by a now familiar log-lined rock beach with a distance view of rocky boulders and a forested cliff. I seriously felt like I woke up inside New Moon. To say La Push is beautiful, would be a huge disservice. It’s breathtaking. This was our big splurge hotel for the trip. (Quileute Resort on the Quileute Nation Reservation) Totally worth it.

La Push. Right outside our cabin.

I felt like should be meditating here, not thinking about werewolves. Especially after I took a beach stroll and hung out with a bald eagle for a bit. I let BigDaddy sleep in, but come on, this is the epicenter of our TwiTour, Twilight Mecca!! we needed to get our day started.

BigDaddy is 6'7". these are some big, HUGE, trees.

Per Nikki's advice, we drove through Forks the night before since it was only a few minutes down 101 past the La Push exit. We hadn’t had dinner so we stopped at Forks’ Outfitters and Thriftway (it's one HUGE store) and grabbed some staples to keep in our room, bought some souvenirs (the cheapest place in town for Twilight stuff,) took a few “Welcome to Forks” shots, got the lay of the land and headed out to The Rez.

Ta-da! We made it!!

The day was overcast, misty and a bit rainy. Perfect Twilight in Forks weather! (Non-Twihards: Forks was chosen as the setting since it gets the most non-sunny days in the continental US)

I knew I wanted to eat breakfast at the Forks Coffee Shop, the local greasy spoon diner. Best choice EVER. It was the total antithesis to our “Twilight Meal” in Port Angeles. Lots of fellow Twilighters (and their husbands/boyfriends/dads) mixed in with friendly locals. Our waitress, who had worked there for over 30 years, rocked and made us feel totally welcome. Friendly service, generous portions, and strong coffee. Our kind of place! We brought out Eddie and she cracked up. Next thing we hear is “Hey, Buzz. Saw! C’mere!” She turns to me and says “This is OUR Edward” Oh good lord, the town’s “talent” who thinks he represents Edward in Forks. BigDaddy and I exchanged that what-in-the-world-is-coming-down-the-aisle- look. Correct that, the local talent that looks EXACTLY like Rob Pattinson. No, maybe cuter. He liked Eddie too and we took a bunch of fun photos (for a tip, of course.)

Buzzsaw and Eddie hanging out at Forks Coffee Shop.

Twilight Fever had been released and you could start to feel the energy. People started asking Buzzsaw for photos, people wanted to take OUR photos with Eddie, people wanted photos with Eddie and everyone is talking to each other between trips to the bathroom. As we pay our bill, our waitress makes sure we take a picture with Eddie and a “werewolf tooth” she found on the beach. I heart Forks!

Evidence of The Dawg. eww.

We head over to the visitor center for our Forks Tour Map and to take shots of Bella’s red truck. We signed the guest book and got to stick a pin to represent where we live. The first visitors from the the Kinda Country! Holla!

Representin' the Kinda Country!

After driving by the town’s official “Twilight, The Book landmarks” (they didn’t film the movies here) we dropped off post cards at the Forks post office, and called it a day. But not without a stop by Dazzled by Twilight on Main Street, a retail store devoted to Twilight and all things vampire/werewolf. Merchandised products galore under a twinkle-lit “forest” I grabbed a few magnets as we bought most of our Forks/Twilight souvenirs the night before.

The Cullen House- actually Miller Tree Inn B & B.

Daddy C-- where are you?? swoon.


Eddie hanging out in his tree at Bella's House.

Heading back to The Rez.

We headed back to La Push and spot an official looking sign for smoked salmon. We decide to turn off and check it out. We are definitely on the reservation. The sad little neighborhood is covered with trash and the run down track homes are total dumps. Where in the world is this smoked salmon place?? Oh. We see a hand spray painted sign announcing “smoked fish” for sale at this residence. It could be the best smoked salmon in the world, but we would never know. The house is piled with junk and the windows are all covered in tribal paintings. We do a slow roll and get the heck out.

We get back to our place and realize we can do the trail hike through the Olympic National Forest to Second Beach during low tide. Can I keep saying amazing, breathtaking and gorgeous without sounding like a broken record? Because really, this entire area is just that. And then some.

Searching for mountain lions in the Olympic National Park.


First peek at Second Beach. Pinch me!!

sigh...

I try to imagine where the Quileutes would be cliff diving because in reality, they don’t do that here. But it’s so easy to envision Jacob hanging out at the beach with his pack brothers. The tide pools meet up with a huge stretch of sandy beach. We pair up with another couple on the walk back and after chatting for a while, find out they are staying in the cabin next to us, but are non-Twilighters. Wait, WHAT?! They took a few shots with Eddie in the forest for their daughter and we make plans to meet up later for a bonfire. We head back out to "town" for dinner at Pacific Pizza (another friendly, local place that has fun with the Twilight crowd.) We met up with our new friends and enjoyed a gorgeous/amazing/breathtaking sunset as we enjoyed drinks and s’mores. A girl could get used to this.

shhh... don't tell anyone that Eddie crossed the treaty line!

I can't even begin to explain how fun our Twi-Tour was. We laughed the entire time. BigDaddy was such a great partner for this trip, totally into it and let me completely geek-out in TwiMom mode. What more could a girl want??

At this point, after a week, I was informed by Nana that my children haven’t had time to miss us since they are in cousin heaven. Roger that, but right back at ya kiddos! MamaBear was pretty happy in the land of Vamps and Wolves. Did we really have to go back home??

BFSV- San Juan Islands and my BFF!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:32:00 +0000

BFFs at Deception Pass Bridge.
Finally getting some more free time..... Big Fat Summer Vacation recap continues:

We headed out north from Seattle to the San Juan Islands.  I had never been there, had never even heard of the area until my BFF from high school, Nikki, moved there with her family years ago.  As you may remember, Nikki was the person who kicked the TwiTour into gear.  She's the one who many months ago suggested the trip-- post Snowpocalypse, when I was a newbie TwiMom.  

It had been about 13 years since we’ve seen each other, not that you would know from seeing us together.  You would think we just saw each other the week before. It was easy, natural and above all fun. I couldn't believe how much I missed her until I was right there with her again.  It’s like a piece of me was back in place. And her husband Matt was wonderful and her kids!  FIVE of 'em!  All awesomely awesome and funny and chock full of personality.

We arrived the day before, crossed over to Fidalgo Island from mainland Washington and passed through the bountiful Skagit County (about 2 hours total from Seattle.)  It’s easy to see why so much grows here.  And did I mention how Gawgeous it is? Anacortes is north Puget Sound and the eastern base of the San Juan Islands (you take ferries to all the islands from Anacortes.)  

After getting settled in and eating an d’lish dinner (yeah! Finally a home-cooked meal and LOTS of fresh berries) we headed over to Deception Pass Bridge and took a little tour of the area.  Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. We stopped by Rosario Beach to get a lesson in Sea Glass Collecting 101.  She gave us the island tour and it was easy to see why they loved the area so much.

Eddie found some sea glass at Rosario Beach.

Our first full day we took off with Nikki (thanks Matt for taking one for the team!)and head out to the San Juans on a ferry to Orcas Island.  The views are spectacular, of course, and the sun made it’s appearance the second we drove off the ferry. We were so lucky and had great weather the entire trip. First we stopped at Eastsound and walked around the super-cute village and grabbed a bite at Rose's Bakery & Cafe.  Unbeknownst to BigDaddy and I, a foodie stop.  As we drove up to Mt. Constitution we had killer views of the islands and surrounding area. Nikki had told us this would be one of the best vantage points for viewing the entire area.  She did not lie.

Awesome view atop Mt. Constitution.  (Hi Shauna in the background!) 

We stopped over at Doe Bay for some more great views.  There's a resort there and some chairs to sit in while you enjoy the view.  I look over at BigDaddy and say "Oh hey! Get Edward out!!"  A woman next to me with her son just stared at me.  When she saw the doll she cracked up.  Apparently she thought Edward was a real person, only DEAD, and that we were about to bust out an urn to spread ashes!  Never a dull moment with Eddie!

Eddie and I, sans ashes.
 Our time there was so easy and relaxed.  We were with good friends and just enjoyed being there.... the fun stuff was a bonus.  Nikki and Matt are providing their kids with the most amazing childhood… walks to beaches, wooded trails, searching for sea glass, spotting Bald Eagles and looking for Orcas. So what do you do for a vacation??  

The next day we had her crew with us and went digging for clams (and looking for seaglass) and came back with a full bounty.  Nikki went to work making the butter wine sauce. YUM! We also went to Guemes Island (a super quick ferry ride) to find more seaglass.  They're pretty obessed with their seaglass hunting if you hadn't noticed, but for good reason.  It's addicting I tell ya!

Adding Claming Superstars to our resumes.

Eddie raking for clams.

Clams, clams and more clams. and wine. and butter. and bread. jealous??

Nikki and Matt are providing their kids with the most amazing childhood… walks to beaches, wooded trails, searching for sea glass, spotting Bald Eagles and looking for Orcas. So what do you do for a vacation??  

Unfortunately, the moment I was dreading came to be.  We had to say goodbye to our friends. sniff, sniff.  We had a blast and I really tried to soak in every moment with Nik.  I've already checked out flights from DC back to Seattle.  Lylas girlfriend!;)

Up Next: Twilight Tour. Squeal!!

BFSV-Seattle Area

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:13:00 +0000

Can you see him sparkle??
After our Get out of Dodge as fast as you can driving on Day 1, we found ourselves in a place with non-stop construction and non-stop bad driving-- Welcome to Portland, Oregon!  It took us hooooouuurs to get to Seattle from Eugene due to the plethora of construction sites and accidents and throw in a bunch of horrible drivers to the mix and it was stop-n-go.  The only things that saved Portland from the wrath of Lunzy were Voodoo Doughnuts and Rick's Wild Seafood food cart.  I will forgive you this time Portland, but next time, you watch out.   (go ahead and click on those links and see the tastiness you're missing out on...)

We finally made it to Renton, WA--- home of Jimi Hendrix and our friend Ken (AKA the only guy in the greater Seattle area that doesn't drink coffee)  It was wonderful seeing him again and Ken has got to be one of the nicest guys evah.  Not only was his bachelor pad MamaBear friendly (sans the coffee--- grrrr) he had a Twilight themed welcome gift for me!!  Squeal!  We headed out for some dinner and drinks, with Eddie in tow of course.... The Rock for foodstuff and then A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub for cocktails and pool.  

Eddie hanging with the boys at The Rock.
sidenote: I have to tell you, BigDaddy put some major blinders on me during this trip.  He didn't tell me how much a single thing was costing. We used our profit from summer camp craziness and I had no idea what we made and he wasn't going to tell me anything til we got home.  This was probably the first time in the entire time we've been together that I wasn't freaking out about money, especially during a trip.  We decided to just not worry about it and basically just eat where we wanted and do what we wanted (within in reason of course, a girl can't completely change her stripes...)  I was happy to relinquish the money hat to BigDaddy for a while and just enjoy the trip.

Saturday morning we decided to head out to Bainbridge Island via the WA Ferry System for brunch. Where are you McDreamy??  Ken made reservations at Cafe Nola. Holy Yum!  I ordered the Crab Eggs Benedict covered in Hollandaise sauce, which guarantees BigDaddy won't take a single bite.  But thankfully he always shares with me, because I decided after trying his dish, that my new life mission in life is to recreate this creamy polenta. You hear that Cafe Nola??  I'm hooking up the East Side with creamy polenta! I had never had creamy polenta, but I could have ordered a side dish, or two, of just the creamy polenta and been in my happy place forever more.

Eddie enjoying the "raw meal" and Purple Haze.
We strolled about and then headed out via Bremerton Island. Say that 10 times fast.  On our way back home we paid homage to Mr. James Marshall Hendrix and then hung out at Casa de Ken for a bit before sushi night. Oh Sushi, how I've missed you...  We facebooked a request for good, but not crazy expensive, sushi in Seattle and my sister found the place I Love Sushi (Lake Union) via Yelp and Chowhound. For reals? The place is called I Love Sushi?? But the reviews were all pretty positive, it was on the water and casual.  Plus we got a last minute reservation for the sushi bar. score!  I have to admit, though I Love Sushi sounds like it should be located in a mall food court, the place rocked!  Super yummy sushi, friendly waitstaff and sushi chef and prices were okay-- not dirt cheap but not too pricey.  Good work Sis!  I went to bed in my sushi coma and let the boys chatter into the night...

Up Next: The San Juan Islands! 

adventures in contact paper

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:01:00 +0000

me, there behind the lemonade dispenser.

here I am! here I am! see.... over here, behind the boxes and stuck to the contact paper. with dust bunnies in my hair.

what a difference a week makes. last monday we had just arrived at my mom's and were still on vacation in CA just finishing up our Big Fat Summer Vacation. this monday I'm overwhelmed with the amount of boxes and general crap in our new house. and trying to figure out just where it's all going to go.

I have some drafts of posts from our trip, but haven't pieced it all together. I really, truly thought I was going to post every other day or so, but then I got to play DD for BigDaddy and his college buddy and then I spent time with my high school BFF after 13 years. and we both talk. a lot. so there really wasn't much time then either. and then we started the TwiTour and stayed at LaPush and went off grid, literally. no tv, phone, internet, cell service. nada. and then reality, and the boxes, hit me smack in the face. so here I am at 5 a.m. finally writing, and only because the Cranky Older-Than-Dirt Cat has been meowing non-stop all morning while the rest of the house sleeps. good times...

I'm hoping to clear some more space this week and then try to slowly start our "normal life" stuff. HA! Whatever THAT means.... and get my posts all organized and up. And yes, yours too Suzz! pinky promise! gotta run right now and get ready for Mommy and Me Pony Camp. yep, you read that correctly. Pony Camp. Mommy and Me. Good Lord, the things we do for our offspring! So Ye-haw, and so long buckaroos.... is that cowgirlie enough?? lunzy is out.

BFSV- driving, driving, driving.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:50:00 +0000

Good morning from the Great Northwest! And still no coffee in the house. sigh.

We're currently on Leg Two of our Big Fat Summer Vacation (BFSV) -- the "mom and dad need a cocktail and the munchkins need to have some quality time with Nana and Grandpa" part of the trip. If you have read blog for even two minutes, you know a) I heart Twilight and b) we are going on a TwiTour to Forks and La Push as part of this trip. Squeals and claps…

We decided to crash and burn the first day with driving non-stop from the LA area to Oregon. A 16- hour day of driving fun. We'd rather get most of it out of the way at the start and then be able to meander our way back home. We shot for Eugene, OR as our stopping point, aggressive yes. But really, when you don’t have two munchkins in the car with you the time literally flew by. Speaking of the munchkins. BigBoy wanted to make this adults only trip start off as guilt ridden as possible. The night before, I was putting him down for bed and he started crying, “Mommy don’t leave me! Take me with you! I’m going to miss you too much!” Gee thanks, kiddo. Sassy on the other hand was all about Nana. No Mommy for nuthin. “I want Nana!”Gee thanks, kiddo.

So we headed out in one of my in-laws’ cars (thanks Memaw and Pepaw!) and hit the road. Just me and BigDaddy… and Edward. Yes Edward, the Roaming Vampire (the Roaming Gnome’s second cousin, once removed) is making the trip. When he heard we were heading to Forks, he begged to come along. He batted his golden eyes, sparkled a bit and I was a goner.

It's a bit surreal that we won’t have the kids for such a long time. It was also strange that I was driving through my old stomping grounds without a clue as to where I was. I didn’t spend a ton of time as a driver in my home town. I finished high school and got the heck out, eventually moving farther and farther south and then farther and farther east. So it dawned on me that I really didn’t know my way around as a driver. This gave me a new view on LA, a totally different perspective. We made a large sweep from the East and headed north (via the 210) We eventually made our way to the Grapevine. Time for a little lunzy siesta. Travel Tip: don’t let your husband listen to Ray Charles as you nap. The musical horns eerily mimic the cries of children. Kid. You. Not. I woke up in a panic to my non-existent crying babes. Sigh.

(Warning: dusting off my soap box for the next section)

As we traveled north on the 5, I realized my older, wiser, tree high-fiving self was totally checking out the farm crops and wondering how much Monsanto ruled the land. BigDaddy and I were trying to identify what was growing and wondering what the politics were behind the produce. You could tell something was up as signs were sprinkled about saying “congress made dust bowl” and something about no water, no crops. We also saw a big beef farm right next to a corn field and quite a bit of brown water. Eeew. The entire region was used for farming and we saw quite a few fields with migrant workers…. I don’t even want to think about their working environment. It was beyond hot and dusty and just miserable. But this is cheap food, people. Acres and acres. We stared at the cows and BigDaddy said to me “I can’t wait to get our Polyface Beef!” Proud MamaBear moment!

Okay happy thoughts….

We needed a booty break and decided Bakersfield, CA would be a gorgeous location for some photo ops. Okay, not really. It’s kind of the armpit of CA, but they had an IHOP! Done deal. Edward joined us to keep appearances for the whole “human” thing.

There’s not a whole lot to mention about traveling up the 5, other than food, shocker right? We stopped at the Olive Pit in Corning, CA due to the power of their multiple billboards along the highway. “Olive Tasting Bar!” sealed the deal and we made a detour. We were hoping for more of a dive, but it was actually really nice! We also hit In-N-Out, of course!

Driving, driving and more driving.

We made it to Cottage Grove, OR (just south of Eugene) about 9:30 PM and crashed for the night. Edward sat on my nightstand and watched over me while I slept. It’s sweet in a creepy, stalker kind of way, right? Nonetheless, I crashed with Eddie by my side and sweet dreams of Forks...

Over the hump.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:10:00 +0000

Not a moving box in sight!

Hello Loyal Seven! [insert group hug here] I can’t believe we made it over the hump! The last month has been beyond crazy, even for us. But I kept repeating my mantra Embrace the crazy, embrace the crazy. Plus, I stole a few glances at the manifestation pom-pom for good measure. But it worked! It really worked!! We made it!

The end of the school year had its usual chaotic schedule. We have another field trip AND a class picnic AND a Field Day?! WTH? Additionally, June gave us a trip back home to Hell-A, (which included a big birthday bash for BigDaddy with his childhood friends, and the kids’ first trip to Disneyland) BigDaddy taking off for a week to work a camp, and then returning back home the night before our own week o’ camp. What did I miss…. Oh yeah, we MOVED in the time between camp and leaving for our Big Fat Summer Vacation. And we can’t forget the biggest.event.of.the.year. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Midnight Premiere was shoved into the mix during camp too. We really should be committed to the funny farm because trying to do all this, in the amount of time we had, was certifiably insane in the membrane.

Luckily I am surrounded with my village. They rock. And they pack and they move our crap across town and they watch my babes and feed them dinner when I need to hightail it up to a triple feature premiere all dressed in black and drenched in body shimmer…. but I digress. My village. This was the first time we did a local (read non-interstate move) and we had HELP. On both sides. They kept me sane, gave me pep talks and used their brain cells when I ran out of my own. I heart my village. I heart them even more when I am asked if they can be referred to as The Village People. Can you see that I’ve found my peeps?

So we made it over the hump! My world of moving boxes and totally disorganized cabinets is on hold and for now, it doesn’t exist. I'm on vacation. We spent last week in San Diego with BigDaddy’s extended family for the annual family reunion. Of course I will bring you all the nuts and bolts of the trip, but get this…. I have actual WRITING ASSIGNMENTS I have to work on about the trip. You better hop on the crazy train now before I become amazingly famous and don’t reply back to personal emails. I’ll let you on the 411 soon, but for now, I'll just babble a bit about cloudy skies and holding court bay-side.

This year the weather decided to make it a bit more exciting. I mean really, 70 degrees and sunny everyday is pretty boring. Who wants that? Well, um, me. We had just left triple digits and humidity back home in the Kinda Country, so boring ol’ 70 and sunny sounded pretty darn perfect. But it wasn’t to be. We had June Gloom way into July. Now, don’t get me wrong, being on vacation in San Diego in and of itself, I’ll take, but some sunshine would have helped the cause a bit, mainly the wow-my-body-is-really- really-white cause.

Thankfully it got a bit warmer and we managed to do some fun stuff outside. But really, the kids could care less. Sun? We don’t need no stinkin sun! Sand? Check. Pool? Check. Cousins to entertain me 24/7? Check. Grandparents to buy me whatever my little heart desires? BIG check. Throw in a trip to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World and we have a rockin’ munchkin summer vacation.

The sun decided to warm things up a bit, and showed up on the last few days of our trip. I got to do my most favorite activity: kick it bayside and visit with lots of my friends while our children played. We ended up with a jam-packed trip that you will read about in all its glory, with photos too. Pinky promise. I even have a surprise guest who will be shaking things up a bit on our vacay. He's already way more popular on this trip than moi. sigh. story of my life.

That's it for now as I need to run and find some coffee. How's that one? We chose to stay with the one guy in Seattle who doesn't drink coffee. Seriously?? First San Diego without sun and now I get Seattle with no morning coffee. Vacations can be so brutal but I guess I just have to muster through...

Wordless Wednesday: Finally.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:13:00 +0000

Eclipse triple feature with my fellow Twi-Moms.

Total Eclipse of the non-beating heart.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:53:00 +0000

***quickie post. You Loyal Seven know I just HAVE to talk about the Eclipse Premiere!***

Back in November I harassed my friends to no end about going to the New Moon midnight premiere. "Really guys?? A midnight showing for that?? And you have on matching shirts?! Bwwahaha!"

And then a month later, I saw the light. The beautiful sparkly Twilight. I converted. I became one of them, a Twilighter, and found my sisterhood. Excuse me while I take a bite of this lovely piece of humble pie...

Tonight is the night many of us have been waiting for. The midnight premiere of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. [insert teenybopper-esque squealing and clapping and a little jumping] Not only will I be attending the premiere, my group is seeing a triple feature with Twilight and New Moon beforehand. We have our matching t-shirts it wasn't planned, pinky promise, and I'm the purveyor of Volturi body shimmer (see photo-- long skinny box on the right side; Thanks R.B.!). I really can't make this stuff up.

surprise New Moon goody box from one of BigDaddy's friends!

Tonight, I gladly trade my world of feuding munchkins for feuding vampires and werewolves, to join my sistas in a dark movie theater for more than six hours. I'm excited to be a part of this world-wide phenomenon. To be in the not-so-secret-club of Twilighters or Fanpires, Twi-Moms, Twi-Hards, Cullenists... and to get out of the house and to have an interest is something that is completely about ME and my quieros. To be given permission to wear matching t-shirts, black nail polish and Volturi body shimmer and say this is gonna be the best.night.EVAH! and then I'll giggle with my girlfriends and say "I totally <3 Edward!!" [insert more squealing, clapping, and jumping.]

gone fishin'

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:52:00 +0000

Sassy's ready for her 1st trip to Disneyland!

Time for a little bloggie break again. My plate is pretty full... CA trips, BigDaddy working camps, BigDaddy's own camp, moving, having two munchkins full time while flying solo.... and I'm melting. it's.just.so.hot.

I keep feeling guilty that I'm not getting to lunzygras at all these days. So to stop the guilt, I'm giving myself a Get Out of Jail Free card. again. But do not fear, I have so much on my plate that includes FUN stuff too that I will absolutely have to blog about. One week from today I will have gone to the Eclipse midnight premiere (triple feature thankyouverymuch) eeeeeck! And soon we will be doing the Family Olympics again in CA. And then....drum roll please..... Twilight Tour 2010. eeeeeck! And I already have some fun stuff planned for the travel blogposts.

I don't have a garden at all this year, sniff, sniff. It's too hot to really go anywhere, and my house is half filled with packed moving boxes. I've got a million phone calls to make, emails to send, stuff to mail. sigh. So Loyal Seven, know that I will be back, but just not too often right now.

Kinda Country contracts

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:08:00 +0000

photo courtesy of: flickr via corey olsen

I've mentioned in passing that we are moving. Well, we are. At least I think we are.

You see, in the Kinda Country things are done on hand shakes, on your word, through promises. It's still a hard concept for me, the CYA Queen of paperwork. I personally give my word and follow through, pinky promise. But I've been burned too many times to count on the flip side and document e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, scan all papers, etc. We were told last summer that our faculty/staff house rental is on the chopping block to make more space for student housing. No time-line, no promises, no nuthin. So we've been softly looking at buying a house and keeping an eye open for a possible rental. And there, one day, in all it's glory the Rental Sign appeared on a house we saw last year-- a few months before we found out we couldn't be here long term. of course. But it became available again and we jumped on it. And it's ours. Kinda.

The current renters trashed the place, so our walk through was a bit gnarly and we need to do another walk-through after it's cleaned up. We were told it would be ours, but we haven't signed a thing. However, BigBoy came home from school last week and informed me that we will be living near one of the school's second grade teachers. He knows this because the teacher TOLD HIM. Wait, what?!

To recap for you. We haven't signed anything, haven't notified anyone here and don't have anything official in any sense of the word. But word on the street is out. So it must be true. My friend and I were discussing this and she started to laugh. She's a foreigner here too, btw. They are getting their kitchen remodeled and spending a ton on new cabinets. They look gorgeous but she realized that she too, had nothing in writing from the cabinet guy. No details, no contracts. Just a handshake. But if he were to leave them high and dry, EVERYONE would know. So that in itself is your insurance for your verbal contract.

So we think we are all set. We are looking at a July 1 date, which means we are about 4 weeks out. minus one week for a CA trip, and another for BigDaddy's camp week, and another for his travel camp week. So I'm giving our 30-Day notice today, but have yet to sign anything. Is it any wonder this Kinda City Girl is a stress ball of nerves and up at 4 AM? Again? Long term this will be a great thing for our family, short term? Well um, let's just say I'm loading up on boxes and tequila.

We know our farmers.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Me and my peeps!

I'm not sure how I can top the great day we had on Monday! BigDaddy came home the night before he was due to surprise me for our anniversary. (fyi: surprise visit in the middle of the night = wife heart attack) But sweet nonetheless.

I had planned to take the kids to one of my Happy Places with some friends. Polyface Farm. If you are learning about the Slow Food Movement, saw Food Inc, read Omnivores Dilemma or Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, you've crossed paths with Polyface. The Salatins (And Wendy, their PR Queen) are so friendly and I just love visiting. We went there on one of our "homeschool field trips" last fall and wanted to return in the spring/early summer to try and catch some baby animals. Since BigDaddy came home early, we got to go as a family. Hooray!

It's vital for kids to learn where food comes from, and the difference between feeding your body junk and good, nutritious food. I won't lie and say we eat healthy all the time, but I do try to follow an 80/20 rule of good vs. junk. And we are in the process of eating better and better each day. It's a slow, on-going process, but a process of moving in the right direction. When the munchkins know we are eating a steak, they know it's from a cow-- not just the meat section in the grocery store. They know what vegetables look like, even if they know they don't like them. We try to reinforce the the source of our food, be it an animal or a plant. I want them excited about food, and knowledgeable about food. I still cringe at Jamie Oliver's food quiz in an elementary class where the kids didn't know what vegetables looked like.

One of my farmers! Me and Joel Salatin from last Novemeber.

So back to our day. After frolicking about the farm with baby bunnies and chicks, we grabbed our lunches and I met the crew at Polyface and learned all about ordering. Yep, you heard me, ORDERING. I mentioned we were upping our game. I'm not sure what or how much or how this is going to work, but I got the form, talked to Daniel (Joel Salatin's son) and told them I'm ordering. Now my food not only has a face (and a happy one at that), but a farmer. He knows me. Knows my name and he knows I'm supposed to make this step. Creating some peer pressure for myself will force me to eat better. Lame, I know. But when other people know what I'm up to, I'm accountable, not only to you, My Loyal Seven, but to my farmer too.

I highly encourage you to meet someone, anyone, in your area that you can buy a food product from. The Farmers' Market. A local farm. A U-Pick berry patch. Find out about the person behind the product. I'm embarking on a Know Your Farmer Tour with a friend. Challenging ourselves to not only buy local, eat organic when possible, but to also talk to the farmers whose hard work created what we get to eat. So get out there, Loyal Seven, and talk to some farmers! Tell me about it after your done. Gimme names, products, locations...

Spring Pickins

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Wed, 26 May 2010 08:36:00 +0000

Sassy Sous-Chef

This is one of my favorite food times of the year. Everyone is getting excited and planing their gardens, farmer's markets are open again, road side produce stands are back and fresh strawberries are ready for the pickin! I loove fresh, ripe strawberries and we are lucky enough to have a local, patch about 10 minutes away from us. I snuck away for a little Me-Time last week while the munchkins were both in school and managed to pick just over 12 pounds. Nothing crazy, but enough that I needed to find something else to do with them in addition to eating them non-stop. I started feeling a little like Bubba from Forest Gump. Fresh strawberries... frozen strawberries... strawberry banana muffins... strawberry panzanella... strawberry jam... strawberry smoothies...strawberry pancakes...

Being in the Kinda Country offers us quite a few of Pick-Your-Own options, but this patch, Hilberts {Nazarene Church Road, west of Dayton, VA,(540) 879-2595}, is also spray free-- not the norm. This is my second season visiting and I will return every spring. I love that is so close and I love getting to know our area farmers. Last year BigBoy was covered from head to toe in mud and Farmer Gary hosed him off for me. This year he said he wished he had a long sleeve shirt to give me cause my arms were allergic to something in the patch. Real People and Real Food. Can it get any better than that?

As Farmer Gary rang me up, we chatted about spraying techniques and he told me about his friend who transports tomatoes and strawberries up from Florida. The friend told him how he is in charge of ripening them up before they get to Costco, Walmart, Kroger, etc. The fruit gets picked green and they get gassed along the way at various points to ensure they get ripe just in time for unloading. um, yum? I gave him a big Thank You for providing us with a spray- free patch and let him know how much we appreciate it. I brought my loot home and couldn't keep Sassy out of the fridge. She figured out that since I picked them, she didn't need me to worry about washing them (it had just rained- prewashed!), and she was grabbing strawberries all. day. long.

The strawberries were amazing, ruby red and sooo sweet. None of us could really stop eating them. I ended up freezing most of them and I made one batch of strawberry banana muffins, one of my favorites. I briefly thought about making Strawberry Panzanella again. but eating an entire dish like this (which I would totally do) probably isn't the smartest thing to do pre-summer. I'm going back later this week to pick some more and hope to do a batch of strawberry ice cream. YUUUUUUM!

I tweaked the recipe since the berries were so sweet already. I almost always cut back on the amount of sugar, but for this I subbed out some of the butter, and subbed some regular flour for whole wheat. I made a batch each way and couldn't tell the difference by much. The munchkins gave them four thumbs up, so it's a keeper! You could also play around with using molasses in place of the sugar or agave nectar. I used molasses last year when I was obsessed with molasses, and they were super tasty, but totally spaced on it this time around. What do you like to do with strawberries? Any recipes to share??

yuuuuuummy!

Strawberry Banana Muffins (adapted from joyofbaking.com)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup unsweetened, organic applesauce
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 - 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position rack in center of oven. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter or a vegetable spray.

In a small saucepan melt the butter. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the brown sugar, applesauce, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter to the brown sugar mixture and stir to combine.

In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins

Meal Planning Monday 5/24

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:03:00 +0000

Lemon-scented Quinoa Salad. yuuum!

Last week I gave you our summer meal plan template so I thought I'd follow up with my actual plan for the next two weeks. We're moving yet again, in about 6 weeks (more on that later!) so I really want to use up what we already have on hand in the freezer. If you are new to meal planning, step 1 is to shop in your freezer and pantry. See what you already have to work with, then from there you can check out sales and fill in your blanks. Right now, I've been so spacey and our schedule has gotten all wonky, that I haven't been using coupons/sales at all. But that's okay, MamaBear's brain can only handle so much. And Grey's season finale kinda fried what little space I had! Crazy episode! Weren't you just on edge?!? Meredith is so bad ass I love it...And Cristina! Holla! What was I talking about again? Oh meal planning...

So to keep it real for The Loyal Seven, and to keep me accountable, here you go. Is this not the most boring blog post evah? gotta do whatcha gotta do.

Monday (Meatless)--
Crock Pot Split Pea Soup fresh homemade bread, and watermelon. I'm cheating a little and tossing in hamhocks and I'll probably use chicken broth instead of plain water. I need to use the hocks up from the freezer.
Beans, rice and cheese. tortillas and fruit. I swear the munchkins could eat this every night. simple and yummy!

Tuesday (Pasta)
Turkey Bolognese w/ spinach salad. double batch to have dinner ready another week.
Dinner at KCBFF's!

Wednesday (Fish)
fish tacos, beans and/or rice, applesauce. Most likely I'll bake the fish instead of frying though.
Baked wild Salmon, lemon quinoa salad.

Thursday (Meat Dish)
Sassy has her preschool dinner picnic. Need to figure out what I'm bringing...
Boardwalk Italian Beef Sandwiches, green salad.

Friday (Pizza)
30 min. dough, BBQ chicken and Pepperoni/Olive Need side. both weeks.

Saturday (open)
Baked wings, veggies and dip. I have a ton of frozen, organic wings that I got on cheapy cheap, but I'm not sure what to do with them. Any ideas or recipes??
Turkey burgers based on this recipe. Need side.

Sunday (Poultry)
Crock pot turkey legs, mashed potatoes
Crock pot "roasted" whole, organic chicken.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program with tales of gashing my forehead and sparkly vampire love.

Summer meal plan, take 1

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Somehow I missed Spring. We were in an allergy infested stupor and now we've been seeing hot and humid. when we got back from our NYC trip, it was in the 80s. at night. hot, sticky and just plain ol' icky. Time to start meal planning again, and time to switch to our lighter, summer (no oven if possible) recipes. I can 't use my old stand-bys of soup and chili. What's an overwhelmed, not really into cooking right now, momma to do? Plan. Boooo! I know. Boring, but it really does help you stop staring into the fridge at 5 and wondering what to make. So, I've come up with a general template for us and I'm going to go from there. We've changed our habits again, so some of my old faithfuls have been tossed out. I decided to have my template and use the meals that we gravitate towards anyway. Then I can build from there.

Barbie Oven. That's a reg. sized cookie sheet. nice, huh?

So Summer Meal Plan, Take 1:

Sunday: crockpot roasted chicken or chicken soup (or um... Fried Chicken from IGA in a pinch)

Monday: Meatless- smoothies and eggs/ burritos/ beans, rice and cheese/ grilled cheese/big salad/eggplant Parmesan try: Falafel and Cucumber Sauce

Tuesday: Pasta- turkey Bolognese/ chicken spaghetti/ creamy sausage, kale, ( I also add beans)/ kid pasta/ mac & cheese/Pasta "garbage" Salad (toss everything that needs to get eaten into the bowl!)

Wednesday: Fish- wild Salmon patties (from Costco) /stir fry/tilapia in pimento sauce/tacos/BBQ-baked

Thursday: Meat- crockpot/WW parmesan turkey meatloaf/turkey burgers/beef broccoli

Friday: Pizza try: 30 min. dough

Saturday: Grill out/New recipe/leftovers

Sides:

Salad

Quinoa

Cous cous

Bean salad

Coleslaw

Veggies and dip

Fresh fruit

Brown rice

cheese

edamame

Batchcook:

Bread- wheat and French

Pizza dough

Pizza sauce

Beans

Brown rice

Chicken

Pancakes/waffles/scones/muffins

I would love for you to comment with suggestions for recipes or commit to doing a meal plan if you haven't before. Even if you just commit to doing one more homemade meal per week, you are taking a step in the right direction. I'm also trying not to use any convenience items (season packets, processed foods, etc). Also, our Barbie Oven takes forever to heat up and then the kitchen is roasting (have I mentioned we don't have any a/c yet. And when we do, it's only a window unit) so I want to keep it to a minimum. Oh yeah, and our microwave broke. Actually it.caught.on.fire. really. flames shooting out the inside wall. I can't make this stuff up. The toaster oven has been my BFF lately. And my beloved new non-stick pan--- I'll tell you all about this later this week. It rocks my world. Yes, a non-stick pan. who knew??

BTW, I keep most of my recipes online at delicious.com under sassyaztec if anyone is interested. Go here to see .

Mommy Down!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:23:00 +0000

Exhibit A- Evil Cabinet Corner

Recently my FB status read:

not sure if I'm more embarrassed that I whacked my head and unbeknownst to me, had the elementary school staff on the phone, or that they were so concerned that they sent the cops over to check up on me (this was after I called them back to let them know it was me and yes, I was okay) #OnlyInTheKindaCountry

Looking for my cardboard box to crawl in.

I wasn't paying attention, hit my head on the corner of an upper cabinet door and literally, was knocked off my feet. total collapsation, followed by big, HUGE, sobs of anguish. Sassy was wide-eyed with concern. Between sobbing and checking for how much blood I was dealing with, I rallied a few "Mommy's okay! Mommy's okay!" I finally regained my senses and then came the realization that the phone was on "talk." O.M.G. I had to call back and fess up. They most likely had call waiting and what in the world did it sound like on the other end? I can't even imagine. Um hi.... I think I just was on the phone with you when I hurt myself...

After the confessions from the school staff that they weren't sure if they should call for help, I assured them all was well. But that's not enough in the Kinda Country. Nooosiree. As I'm retelling my saga in full detail to BigDaddy, because OF COURSE he was out of town when this happened, I look out the window to see our local town police pull up. for reals?

Mr. Officer was called by the school to check on me. Of course. I can't imagine this happening to me if we lived in CA still. But here, of course they would check up to see if I was okay. After discussing the events with local friends, we dissected each part. Who the staffer was at the school, who she is related to, and whether or not she had me on speaker. Who the officer was, whose husband works with him and the realization that he's the "new guy" (probably has been on staff for years, but didn't grow up here.) Then we did a play-by-play how it WAS a good thing they sent someone out, because what if someone had broken in and was making me call back to say I was okay, and BigDaddy wasn't even in town. Yes, good thing they are looking out for this MamaBear. As Mr. Officer and I mentioned, "This is why we live here." Indeed.

BigBoy in the Big Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:04:00 +0000

I took the train up from VA to NYC over a year and a half ago, for a Sister Trip for the holidays. BigBoy was not happy. "'Why don't I get to go?" I explained to him how much walking you need to do, you have to listen and pay attention and little kids just can't go. I decided on the fly that 6 was the magic age. I really thought he'd forget and something else would be the most important thing ever, taking its place. nope. no dice. at his 5th birthday: "When I'm six I get to go to New York with Mom!" And then of course at 6, he remembered. He cashed in and I had to pay up on my year and half old promise.

BigBoy and I took a long weekend trip to NYC. Imagine if you will, being trapped with Buddy the Elf. really.

Spin around continuously in the revolving door. check.
Pick up nasty things from the street and play with them. check.
Jump up and down and clap due to an approaching subway. check.
Say "Thank you" and give the courtesy wave to taxis stopped at the crosswalk. check.
Dragging legs and complaining it's.just.so.much.walking. (after getting off the subway). check.

I was waiting for him to start pouring maple syrup on his spaghetti.

For some reason he is in love with the Statue of Liberty. I think this is what sparked his interest in NYC in the first place. So of course, SOL was a must do. We also managed to fit in seeing Little Airplane Studios, Lion King /Times Square and Central Park. We used a double decker bus tour that you can hop on and off all over the city. Not my first choice, but I realized after the fact, that it totally fit the bill. Squeeze in your various trips on the subway, rides in glass elevators, ice creams a la Mr. Softie, hot dogs, petting a mounted police horse, cab rides and you have yourself a fabulous 6 year old trip to NYC!

I also realized how country lovin' my kids are. BigBoy was excited about everything. and overwhelmed. But he truly shined at Central Park. He ran "off hand" and couldn't wait to climb all the boulders. He was beyond happy and totally in his element again. He listened to me again. Paid attention to his environment again. He was in control of his world again. It was nice to have him back for a fleeting moment.

BigBoy in his NYC Happy Place

But I was also proud MamaBear. He was polite and independent. Ordering for himself in the cafes and always saying thank you and please. I'm also here to proclaim that New Yorkers aren't mean and nasty or unfriendly. They ARE impatient, but luckily we were doing things during the week and off rush-hour times. People smiled a lot at him, helped him and engaged him in conversation. They were NICE. and helpful. pinkie promise!

The trip was a fantastic experience for him and at the end of the day, all the hyperventilating and shvitzing I did worrying about BigBoy being taxi-road kill was totally worth it. He won't remember mom freaking out about him not holding my hand on the sidewalk. or pulling him back after leaning over too far at the subway platform. or telling him over and over not to touch ANYTHING. What he will remember is seeing Lady Liberty for the first time. or how awestruck he was seeing the "animals" at the Lion King. or how the Mr. Softee guy flipped his ice cream cone upside down before handing it to him and both of them cracking up together. or how fun it was climbing the rocks at Central Park. or the coolness factor of riding up 20 floors the glass elevator in the middle of a Times Square hotel. THAT makes it worth it.

I'm not so sure I could handle another trip like this anytime soon, but I'm happy we were able to pull it off. Thanks Aunt Bebe and Mr. Andrew for your hospitality!! Now Sassy wants to know when SHE gets to go to NYC, just girls, and see Lion King too. sigh. I need another cupcake.

What we did:
Amtrak train, Northeast Lines
Little Airplane Studios, South Street Seaport (tours on T/Th at 11 & 4) Ask for Robbie- he's fabulous!
Times Square & Midtown (near Aunt Bebe's work)
Mr. Softee (YUUUUUM!)

City Sights NY Double Decker Tour Bus, all around town + Statue of Liberty Ferry
Tour ride south to Battery Park
Statue of Liberty unless you get there at the crack of dawn, it WILL take you all.day.long.
Tour ride north back to Gramercy

Central Park, hopped on tour bus for a quick ride south
Lion King, Times Square
Cool Elevator Ride, Marriott Marquis (they have bathrooms here!)
Pax Foods for a quick bite
Subway ride to Gramercy

Walked with my sis to sugar Sweet sunshine (BEST cupcake evah!) a must-do on MY list. ;)
Madison Square Park. Note: they have a cool art installation going on, statues are located on top of random buildings all over the area. We had a lot of fun finding them.
Penn Station, Home!

The Tree High-Fiver

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:22:00 +0000

Photo credit: flickr Fellowship of the Rich

My friend, The Holy Roller, calls me the "Tree High-Fiver." She is on the board at church, goes to church CONVENTIONS even, so of course I have to refer to her as The Holy Roller (THR). Anyway, THR claims that I'm not so crunchy after all -- that I'm not a Tree Hugger. I know, gasp! right? That I'm more of a Tree High-Fiver. I think she's actually right. I like to do things that "help the Earth" or are "eco-friendly" but I'm not ultra-passionate and I'm not trying to go off-grid or anything. I'm just slightly crispy, rather than crunchy. I'm also not a vegetarian, I don't buy all organic food , I'm not a hardcore locavore and I haven't boycotted Wally World. But I DO follow the dirty dozen, try not to buy many processed foods and am slowly learning to make more things from scratch.

Last week Food, Inc was on PBS. (You can still watch it online for free til Thursday, April 29!) I've been wanting to see this movie for a while now, but missed it in the theater and it wasn't exactly the big New Release that would be carried in Red Box. PBS to the rescue. I knew all about the content-- how our food chain is screwed. I knew it was not going to be easy to watch. I also knew I needed BigDaddy to watch it with me. It would be vital to our next baby step and we needed to be on the same page. It WAS difficult to watch, not because of graphic pics (though there were some), but because I was disgusted that we put our trust into the government to provide us with good, clean, healthy food and they can't/won't do anything to ensure that it actually happens.

I'd love to say that it converted me into a Tree Hugger. It didn't. Yes, it's great to "Save the Earth" be an "Eco-Warrior," what have you... but selfishly, this is about me and my family being safe and healthy. I'm more of a Femivore in training, if anything. I take notes from THR ;) This movie helped me realize that I now need to be my family's own food monitor. And we are at the point where we need to up the ante.

I know some of you are rolling your eyes. Oh Great! Yet ANOTHER thing I need to worry about and feel guilty I'm not doing. But it's not about that. It IS about taking action to improve the food we eat at home. one step at a time. If you are part of my Loyal Seven, you know this has been a process for me and my family. I've been talking about overhauling our lifestyle since the start of this blog. And even longer than that off-line. It's totally doable, but it does take time. and effort. Do what you can and go from there. You can't do everything overnight. We don't want you to get all frustrated and end up hiding in the closet with tequila shots, do we?

So, I'm at a cross-roads once again. I need to start buying all organic meat. This will in turn be more money, so we will need to eat less meat. Plus, I don't know how to cook a lot of vegetarian meals, and we will need to eat more meatless options due to buying less meat. I need to figure all that out. Plus, we've been extra busy and eating easier, faster (less healthy) meals lately. Mama Bear is out of practice. I haven't been doing meal plans or making sure we're eating complete, nourishing meals. And of course we haven't planted our garden yet. And my house is a wreck as usual. And BigDaddy is recruiting. Does this sound familiar or what?

What can I do now? What's my next step? Visit the local butcher shop that carries local, organic meat. Doesn't sound like a big deal does it? but it's not a part of my routine. It's an unknown. I don't do well with the up-start to a commitment. After I give our tree a high-five, maybe I can talk it into holding my hand and going with me.

Back in the saddle.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Spector) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:03:00 +0000

Has it really been over a week since I posted? I feel like I need to take a big deep sigh, do a yoga marathon and drink lot and lots of mama cocktails.

My seedlings have died. The house is a wreck. The garden beds have yet to be turned. I need to get my hair cut. and Sassy's. and BigBoy's. I haven't planted any flowers. The new picnic table is still waiting to be sealed..... the to-do list is mammoth. My energy is sapped. I'm officially fried.

Also fried. ooopsies.

I was a co-chair for Sassy's preschool spring fundraiser-- a Bazaar event with lots of vendors, silent auction, raffle, etc. It was me and one other mom doing the lion's share of the work. This was the first time we'd ever done this as a school and we were making it up as we went along. I was quickly reminded of why I left special events many moons ago. Oh, and BigDaddy was in Spring Season-- gone every night for practice and most weekends. Insane.

But we made it! The event was a great success, I made a Kinda Country BFF in the process and BigDaddy is d-o-n-e. for now anyway. The hardest part was being totally out of sync. Dinners were fly by the moment. Exercising went out the window and laundry was basically for the undies. But you do whatcha gotta do and keep going.

grateful SOMETHING lived. The Eggheads from Easter. Hooray for grass!

So on my to-do list is to get a to-do list going once again. start working out again. planning meals again. having a selection of clean clothes again. seeing the counter tops of my kitchen again. you get the picture. Back to "normal" HA! whatever that means. Normal for us anyway. We've still got a lot on our plates, but the immediate biggies are done. I have lots to report on (including being an official "blogger" for an eco-campaign focus group thingy! go me!) I have some ideas of things to change on here. and we have lots and lots of gardening to do. like, um, replant my seedlings. oops. I'll be taking a few more days off from lunzygras and focusing on getting our lives back into shape. If you want some garden/spring tid bits, check these posts from last April:

What I learned

We are family. A trip to my happy place: Boxerwood Gardens

Quinoa and Canvas
A Ruckus Among Us

That's it for now. BigDaddy just became my hero again and offered to take Sassy to work if I either a) took a nap or b) power cleaned. Decisions, decisions...