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Heatwave

Published on June 20, 2012, by in Life.

I had another title in mind for this post but if my husband saw it he’d be horrified at how distinctly unladylike it would have been so I went for something much milder. I’m pretty sure it hit 100 degrees today, enough to give my poor little iPhone temporary heat stroke. Sure enough, our air conditioning is out. We have no choice but to make the most of the situation so we broke out the fans and the sparkly!

If you are going to be uncomfortable you may as well drink cheap sparkling wine out of beautiful glasses (Larabee Dot™ Fete Saucers, Set of 4). Stay cool!

 

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The Great House Hunt

Published on June 20, 2012, by in Home.
My husband and I have spent about 2 years in our current home. We are renters, renting a beautiful townhouse in a great location… but about 6 months ago we decided that when our lease was up on June 30th we would need a home to call our own. What sparked this decision? Well her name is Halle, the stray pup that won our hearts. Halle is a beautiful (giant, energetic) black lab puppy and she needs to run, so she needs a real yard. So acquiring a dog, coupled with some lousy landlords and my husband’s need to be not attached to another house and we were off on our search for a single family home.

Halle

As soon as we uttered the words out loud “We are looking to buy a house” our friends and family can out of the woodwork with good and not-so-good advice. As total novices we were very realistic about our lack of knowledge, so we tried to take in as much as we could from anyone who seemed to have an ounce of sense. Of course, when you do anything for the first time you are bound to make some mistakes. So after looking at 75+ houses, here are a couple of the pieces of advice were really good, and, for fun, I gave us a grade on how we did.
1. “Be patient, wait for your house.” Grade: B
We tried really hard on this one, but with our lease expiring June 30th and too many animals to fit into a temporary apartment, we did a little bit of panicking. In total, so far, we have put offers on four homes. I stand by those decisions, but there were two or three more houses that we ALMOST put offers on that I now look back and say “OMG what were we thinking!?”
2. “Don’t get emotionally attached to any house.” Grade: C
How are you supposed to like a house enough to offer to buy it, and yet not be too attached? If you are willing to spend several hundred thousand dollars on something you aren’t attached to… well you just aren’t like me. Only once did we get so attached to home and that not getting it was absolutely heart breaking. It was a tough, necessary lesson.
3. “If you want to buy around here you have to raise your budget” Grade: B
I was ready to spend more the whole time. Luckily, my frugal husband couldn’t stomach the idea of spending the amount of money I had in mind. We started with a budget in mind and yes, to stay in our area and get what we wanted we have had to go up a bit. But we didn’t concede until we had exhausted all possibilities in our budget. I’m pretty proud of us on this one.
4. “Don’t pay attention to cosmetic things.” Grade: A
My dear husband and I have stuck with the mantra “you can change anything except lot size and location.” That has helped us overlook some very weird things, including a mural of an old man watching some kids skinny dipping in a bathroom, a refrigerator that was set into a wall… about 10 inches above the floor… and a house with a room for each Rainbow Bright character.

Remember: you can change ALMOST anything about a house.

So, overall we’ve done okay but we are still working at the home buying process, so I will keep you posted.
Anyone have any great closing advice?
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Sailabration

Published on June 19, 2012, by in Life.

This year marks the bicentennial of the start of the War of 1812. As most Baltimoreans know, (or I hope they know) their city played a significant role in the war in the Battle of Baltimore. The British, all full of themselves after rolling through D.C., failed in their attempts to take Baltimore through a combined land/sea assault. Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became our national anthem during this battle; inspired by the sight of the American flag flying high over Ft. McHenry after the long night’s assault by British forces.

Star-Spangled Banner at Ft. McHenry (photo courtesy of the National Park Service)

Baltimore is marking the bicentennial with events all throughout the year and one of the coolest happenings is Sailabration. Kind of a silly name (even worse is the full name of Star Spangled Sailabration!) but it’s a week full of neat stuff like tall ships and naval vessels from around the world, Blue Angels and other super cool planes, concerts, and more. Events like Sailabration are a part of what makes city living the greatest.

I decided to check out the Sailabration festivities on Saturday and it was just a perfect day. Sunny, clear, breezy- a day that practically screamed “Go outside and enjoy me!” The Inner Harbor, that bastion of tourism, was packed. I’m not a fan of crowds and was quickly getting irritated by the masses of people around me whose whole goal in life seemed to be to prevent me from going forward. Then I caught sight of the first tall ship and my irritation melted away. Tall ships are just cool. Part of it is the historic aspect but I’m not quite sure what exactly makes them so special for me. I just love them. The Inner Harbor was hosting several of the ships (more were docked in other areas of Baltimore) including ones from Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, and of course our very own Constellation who is permanently berthed in Baltimore. (If ships are “she” I guess I can use “who” there…)

The Constellation, flanked by the visiting Brazilian ship on the photo’s left and the Indonesian ship on the right

As we slowly walked along the waterfront the coolness factor jumped up several notches as an F-18 Super Hornet screamed overhead. As a veteran, I know very embarrassingly little about things like fighter jets but I do know this: they are awesome. Throughout the day we were treated to aerial maneuvers by various planes and every time we would just stop and stare in joy. I can be a cynical hardass sometimes, (“Not you!” I can hear my friends mockingly shout) but seeing the cool ships and hearing the thunderous roar of the planes (and the occasional boom of the Constellation’s cannons) combined with the absolutely beautiful day made me nearly giddy. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

The Baltimore Aquarium on the left with some Canadian naval vessels docked alongside.

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Planning Power

Published on June 18, 2012, by in Food.

I’ve had pretty bad luck with food lately. Late last year, I visited a nutritionist to see what I should/shouldn’t be eating. She put me on a strict gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free diet, which was a complete shock to my little food world. Practically all I ate was dairy, gluten, and soy as a newly un-vegetarian — how could she expect me to live without any of it?

After three months, (I survived) I felt better but still wasn’t sure what the culprit was. I was allowed to reintroduce cheese, and ever since have pretty much been eating whatever I want (except soy – that one’s just a bit suspicious, so I figured I was better off without).

Now I have a new challenge.

After taking a bunch of interesting tests, I’ve found out that I have SIBO. And the main cure for SIBO is diet, along with a combination of herbs or antibiotics. According to SIBO’s website, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is the most effective for helping people get their gut back into shape (I wish it worked for the outside as well as the in – I could sure use some abs this summer!). So I geared myself up, all ready to try this new diet, which I read was similar to the Paleo diet all the kids are talking about these days.

I got about 3 days into it before my nutritionist turned the tables on me and suggested I go on the FODMAPs diet instead. “Oh boy, what fresh hell does THIS acronym stand for?” I thought. Luckily, FODMAP seems similar enough to what I’d originally deprived myself of (i.e. gluten, dairy, soy), but it does throw in some weird rules here and there just to mess with me. Honey is now out. Onion and garlic are kicked out of the party too. How can I live without them??

So in the spirit of gearing up, I checked out some blogs for recipe inspiration. I found a couple here, here, and here, and a fun printable page of allowable foods here. Armed with  this was a good start, but I knew I also needed to get a little Type-A with my meal planning. Which is surprising. (Ask the rest of Gen*HER – on a scale from chill to OCD, I’m much closer to the chill end). So here’s what I came up with – a form that could list all of my meals, recipes, and ingredients for the week, as well as tell me if I was getting enough protein/veg thrown in there.

Front side – meals for the week

Rear side – recipes and ingredients

Here’s the PDF - GenHER_Food_Plan if you want to download it and print it out double-sided. Even if you don’t have some crazy diet you suddenly have to stick to, it might be helpful in getting all your food stuffs ready for your week!

Wish me luck for the next 30 – 60 days. As my mom said – At least I can still have wine!

 

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TGIF

Published on June 15, 2012, by in Fashion, Reviews.

Yeah! It’s Friday! I hope everyone has something to look forward to this weekend. 7 For All Mankind is offering up to 50% off on some of their jeans during their summer sale. I’m a fan of their slim straight jean shown here:

Slim Straight Jean from 7 For All Mankind

I have this style in white and really like it because they are slim without being skinny and the pockets are nondescript so you’re not advertising what brand you’re wearing for everyone to see. The length is perfect for showing off footwear as they are cropped. For a petite person like myself this means you can wear them without going to the tailor and you won’t look like you are wearing pants that are meant to be cropped. For taller people the shorter length looks fresh and summer-y. Tuck into boots this fall and winter, and this style will be wearable year round.

Update:
Since I wrote this post I decided to wear my white slim straight jeans today and I was brave enough to take pictures of myself and post them. This is a big move on my part because of concerns about privacy and the Internet. Anyhow, these are some pics of the jeans taken in my bathroom. I realized after I took the pics and uploaded them that I could have managed to take a picture of myself elsewhere- next time the scenery will be better. I’m looking a little wrinkly because I’ve been running around so be kind :)

I know, I know, I’m one hot momma. These jeans are a 26 for reference. I’m wearing essie nail polish – geranium on my fingers and essie nail polish – off the shoulder with essie nail polish – shine of the times for top coat.

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Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Published on June 13, 2012, by in Food.

I’m a phenomenal baker.

I say that laughing to myself because on HGTV’s show “Design Star” last night the same guy who professed to being a “phenomenal muralist” got kicked off for designing a crappy mural… but I digress. I’m a competent baker. I love to bake, people eat my baked goods, and I’ve done a lot of baking and so I’m pretty good at figuring out why things turn out great or not so great. I’m not going to sit here and regurgitate recipes to you, they are already written down elsewhere. What I am going to do is give you some of my step-by-step pictures and the little tweaks I made along the way. Hopefully you will gain some confidence after seeing my experience to try it out yourself!

The recipe: Lemon Ricotta Cookies

This recipe was sent to me by E during her pregnancy and I finally got around to making them for the first time a couple months ago (by the time I got to it E’s son was old enough to eat cookies. I know I’m so on top of things). The first time I made these they were AMAZING. Light, fluffy, lemony- a perfect cool light cookie for a summer party.

So, I started this time by assembling my ingredients. A few notes:

1) The recipe calls for unsalted butter- I happen to have it, but if I didn’t I would have used salted and left the salt out of the recipe. But, if you bake a lot buy some unsalted butter. Butter freezes well, so keep it in the freezer until you need it.
2) Always use “whole milk” dairy products in baking, lower fat products have too much water and will mess you up,

All the stuff you need to make cookie magic

Alright, time to get started!

Step 1 Putting the dry stuff together- easy peasey.

Flour, baking soda, etc.

Step 2 In the mixing bowl- combine butter and sugar until fluffy.

AH! Let’s talk about sugar. This recipe calls for 2 cups but that seems like a ton to me. So I cut my sugar to 1.25 cups. Don’t worry, at the end you drench the cookies in a glaze (more sugar). Trust me, cutting the sugar actually makes these cookies better.

Not a ton of sugar.

Step 3 Add the eggs. My eggs are brown because I know a guy with a chicken. White eggs work exactly the same.

Step 4 Dealing with the lemon. Okay, because I got married two years ago and people like to give you funny things for your wedding I do happen to own a lemon zester, and it did come in handy here. However, since I really hope most people don’t have a zester, you can do this with a regular cheese grater, or even with a knife. The point is to GENTLY scrape the lemon until you see white (usually one scrape, two at most), then move on to a different area of a lemon. Once your lemon looks all zestless, roll it on the counter to loosen the juices and cut it open. This recipe takes pretty much all the juice from the lemon, I wouldn’t bother measuring 3 tablespoons. Unless your lemon is soccer ball sized or something…

Zesty, no?

Step 5 Mix it all up….then stir in the dry ingredients.

Dough, boy!

Bada bing- you got yer dough.

A note on baking surfaces: I do not own wonderful baking sheets. I have yet to find wonderful baking sheets even though I have tried (I’m not spending $50 on a baking sheet). As a result, I do all my baking on pizza stones. Pros: even baking, near impossible to burn. Cons: heavy, smaller. If you have a tendency to burn things I urge you to pick up a pizza stone and try one out. I got mine for scones (which are my favorite thing to bake) and now I just use them for everything. Also- I always bake on parchment paper. It too helps with the evenness.

This is a pizza stone. You don’t wash a pizza stone, just scrape and wipe clean after each use. Added bonus.

Step 6 Where I messed up.

This is the step where you take two spoons and scoop the dough onto the stone or baking sheet. I got a little antsy and scooped mine way too big (see below). They probably should have been half that size. Scooping the cookies too big wasn’t a horrible error, people would still like these cookies, but they did end up a bit heavier (the oven temp and cook time were not right for this size of cookie). The first time I made this recipe I made the cookies smaller and they were perfect, so I say stick to small cookies… dollops of dough about the size of a tealight candle.

THESE COOKIES ARE TOO BIG.

Yum, cookies.

Final Step

The last thing you do in this recipe is combine powdered sugar and lemon juice and glaze the cookies. I did that the first time and it was delicious, but I skipped it this time because my cookies had turned out more like biscuits. If this happens to you my suggestion is to slice the cookie in half and fill it with strawberries and whipped cream (like a lemon strawberry shortcake).

Lessons Learned: Keep it small, stupid. Big cookies are so hard to get the bake time right on. My goal with future cookies is to keep them small and even in size.

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think!

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Snack Attack: Smudgies

Published on June 13, 2012, by in Food.

A week or so ago I came across this recipe Healthy Snack: Smudgies and I have been smitten ever since. My husband and I love ice cream and when I read the smudgie recipe for the first time I was mildly put out that there was any comparison to real ice cream. Well, let me tell you, a frozen smudgie really does have the satisfaction of biting into a cold ice cream sandwich. Not only does this recipe fool me into not eating ice cream, it’s turned into a great option when all the bananas seem to ripen at the same time. My enthusiasm for this recipe has not diminished and I keep kicking myself for forgetting to pick up some Nutella every time I’m in the grocery store- I think the nutella option will be a delightful variation.

To compose this blog post about the smudgies I had to find the article that first gave me the recipe and when I found it I realized I hadn’t looked beyond the first paragraph and picture when I made them for the first time. Being a thorough blogger, I read the article this time and laughed when I saw that I am not making smudgies according to the recipe. So, to make an already quick recipe that much quicker you can just swipe some peanut butter on two grahams, slice some bananas on top, put it together as a sandwich, wrap in tinfoil, freeze and call it done, just like I do.

My smudgies ready to go in the freezer.

It’s my opinion that there is never a wrong time to eat a smudgie. I’ve even assured myself that a smudgie is fit for breakfast because there’s protein in peanut butter. Pregnant E would have been all over smudgies. Enjoy!

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Fish Out of Water, Episode 1: The Dance Recital

Published on June 12, 2012, by in Life.

This will be the first episode in a series of posts where I will do or experience something completely out of my element. My friend inspired me with his idea of “Heather Goes to Comic-Con,” something I would ordinarily never, ever undertake. But since Comic-Con is a few months away I thought I’d dip my toe into some milder adventures first. Which brings us to…. the dance recital.

Let me get a few things out of the way first. I don’t dance, have never taken dance lessons, and never as a little girl dreamed of myself as a prima ballerina (Kentucky Derby winning jockey was where it was at) and I wasn’t really a frilly girl, into sparkles and tulle and rainbows. I’m also not a kid person. I like kids as individuals but don’t awww and coo and think everything generic kids do is the most adorable thing ever. If you want cute, give me a kitten or puppy any day. So basically the idea of going to a dance recital full of precious kids in tutus and glitter seemed kind of like torture. However, as you may know, my esteemed blogging colleague (and supa dupa friend) Jessie owns a dance academy and has been slaving for months getting her students ready for their recital. I wanted to show my support so I bought my ticket and steeled myself to get through an hour of kids lumbering away through their routines and try not to get irritated by their parents gasps and oohs and ahhs over every misstep their precious darlings made. So you see I had the right attitude, anyway.

I arrived at the Howard County Center for the Arts, ready to endure the next hour for the sake of friendship. The theme of the recital was “That’s Entertainment” and the pieces were inspired by movies and musicals. The lights dimmed, the music cued, and the first dancers came out onto the stage. They were costumed as chimney sweeps (complete with brooms) and danced to a song from “Mary Poppins”. They were great. I loved it. Wait, what? Did I just say that? What’s happening to me?

It continued. Two tiny girls came out (in tutus) and haltingly did their dance, eyes glued on the teacher offstage giving them their cues. They were adorable. What’s wrong with me?? The talent assault continued dance after dance, battering away at my hard, crusty, snarky shell to find the hidden, apparently sparkle loving, and gooey center. I was entranced. There were a variety of dances with girls ranging from the tiny ones (3? 4? I can’t tell how old kids are!) to a beautiful ballet duet by adult dancers. The choreography was great, the music was good, and the girls smiled, smiled, smiled through tap and ballet and maybe other dance styles I can’t identify. Except in one piece taken from “Tron” where the teenaged tap dancer glowered and attituded (yes, attituded, she made that a verb) her way through the number. It was (for me) easily the most powerful piece in the show and I loved it. I didn’t know tap could be angry! Fantastic.

So in the end I thoroughly enjoyed myself and plan to go to all future recitals. I was rather amazed how quickly I had been won over by the dancers. I guess it was a combination of the talent of the students, the talent of the teachers, the fun (and occasional panic) I could see onstage, the beautiful costumes, the music, and just the whole atmosphere. The moral of the story is try or experience new things, even if you think they’re not your things. You might be surprised by the outcome.

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Film Review: Miss Representation

Published on June 11, 2012, by in Reviews.

A couple of weeks ago I found myself lured out into torrential downpours to catch a viewing of the documentary Miss Representation. Since it was about the (mostly horrifying) way women are represented in various forms of media, I wasn’t expecting a very feel-good movie night. My female friend and I teased my boyfriend that he better brace himself and we readied ourselves with wine and popcorn from the concession stand.

The documentary outlines various avenues of media – newspapers, magazines, tabloids, television shows, movies, etc. and presents clip after clip of instances where women are blatantly mistreated for public consumption. Female politicians are critiqued by news pundits solely upon their appearance, news anchorwomen are shown in increasingly skimpy outfits demonstrating ridiculous scenarios, women are screaming and hitting each other on reality shows, tabloids scream over a celeb’s latest 10 lb. weight gain … I think you get my point. It doesn’t take many minutes into the film before you feel awful. And outraged.

The film is chock full of scary statistics of the percentage of women who make up the United States vs. how many of them are actually represented in Congress, in media networks, and making media. The main message of the movie is pretty simple and straightforward – in order to achieve equality in message, women have to become involved, get their stories out into the world, and have equal representation. It’s just not happening right now in the volume it needs to.

Miss Representation Trailer

Coming from a world of comic books, I can directly relate to this. Last year, statistics came out involving the percentage of women vs. men working in the comics industry. Naturally, whenever numbers like this come out there is a huge backlash that screams, “women aren’t as widely represented in these industries because women can’t do it/won’t do it/don’t want to be involved”. Bullshit.

I know I’m definitely guilty of being lazy when it comes to taking a more active role in women’s issues. Only recently have I felt comfortable with just embracing the term Feminist because I was tired of all the criticism it would get thrown my way. “Sexism is over” “You should be a humanist, not a feminist” “Stop being such a man-hater”.

taken from movieberry.com

So, in my own little way, I vow to get more involved. I signed up for the Miss Representation mailing list, which outlines 5 things you can do right now to help:

  1. Tell 5 people about the film and share one thing you learned from watching it.
  2. Parents- watch TV and films with your children.  Raise questions like “What if that character had been a girl instead?”
  3. Remember your actions influence others. Mothers, aunts and loved ones- don’t downgrade or judge yourself by your looks. Fathers, uncles and loved ones—treat women around you with respect.  Remember children in your life are watching and learning from you.
  4. Use your consumer power. Stop buying tabloid magazines and watching shows that degrade women. Go see movies that are written and directed by women (especially on opening weekend to boost the box office ratings). Avoid products that resort to sexism in their advertising.
  5. Mentor others! It’s as easy as taking a young woman to lunch. Start by having open and honest conversations with a young person in your life.

I really don’t think it’s too much to ask. Go women, go! Woo!

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Cheers! It’s Friday!

Published on June 8, 2012, by in Fashion, Home, Life.

I couldn’t help but share that Lord & Taylor is holding a friends and family sale this weekend- 25% off almost everything with the code FRIENDS. My pick is the Larabee Dot™ Fete Saucers, Set of 4 (if I were a better blogger I’d include a picture of the actual glasses in this post but I couldn’t figure that out so you get the Lord & Taylor logo instead). These saucers make bargain bubbly taste more expensive and when you are not imbibing you can use them to jazz up your dessert. I bought a set during the last friends and family and have been delighted with them- so much so that I’m tempted to get a second set- I feel very Downton Abbey, Great Gatsby-ish when I use them. Style the glasses with a fresh manicure, an obscenely large cocktail ring and call it a party!

lord & taylor

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