i believe

...in miracles.

remember my friend ricci?  i wrote about her here and here.  as i've been doing ever since i heard that she was ailing, i've sent prayers and thought good thoughts and checked her facebook page for updates on the regular.  she's actually been on my mind more than usual over the last few days.

and now i know why.  thanks to a late-night e-mail from lilcee, i'm teary and full of new hope for her.  turns out that her physical condition is stable enough that her family's begun preparing to bring her home to care for her full time.  and even more wonderful - she's been verbally responsive to her husband, mom and sister on three separate occasions.

while she's still got a long, hard road ahead, this is amazing, positive news.  baby steps!

keep on truckin', girl.  you've got a lot of people pulling for you, and i can't wait to hear even more good news!

goodbye, grandma murf

on friday, the hub's great-grandmother gave up the fight and moved on to a happier place.  one where she didn't have to take pills or walk with a cane or be bothered by anyone trying to make her do something she didn't want to do.

without getting all religious and stuff on you, i'm picturing her standing straight and tall and healthy, greeting other folks she loved who passed on before she did.  and at 97 years old, i'm thinking there's quite a crowd there to greet her.  it's such a cliche, i know, but while those of us who she left behind are sad that she's gone, we're also happy that she doesn't have to be unhappy anymore.  i'm also hopeful that with her passing comes healing, forgiveness or, if nothing else, a clean break for a handful of folks who were linked through her.

the bean was so funny when it came to her great-great grandma.  she called her "grandma murf," and GGM often didn't have her hearing aids in and didn't hear her anyway.  and every time we watch "monsters, inc." she always says "look!  it's grandma murf!"  i doubt GGM's vanity would've appreciated the comparison:

i snicker when i remember how GGM was the only one who kicked up a fuss when we decided not to share the bean's name until she was born.  she would wheedle and whine, and i would always have to repress an evil grin as she pouted.  mean, i know.  but it was funny.  and she sure loved the bean a lot. she always wanted to sit next to her at the table, and if she wasn't, whoever was blocking her view would always have to shift a bit so that she could keep an eye on her. 

it was also really entertaining to hear her say "oh my goodness, that's a lot of food!" when her dinner plate was put in front of her...and then she would slowly but surely eat every bite.  and then ask for dessert.  and grab a snack on her way to her room "to take with her pill."  heh.

she was quite a lady, with a pretty colorful past.  and it'll be sad not to see her grubbin' down at the thanksgiving table this year.  rest in peace, you funny, feisty ol'firecracker.  i know you'll be up there having a blast, maybe with a cocktail in hand, till we see you again.

not anytime soon, but you know.

every little bit helps

so i have two things to share with you.  don't kill me, but both are fundraisers for causes that are near and dear to my heart.  you can click "close window" now, or maybe you'll be moved to help. i won't judge either way.

first:  my friend ricci is still comatose.  her family continues to pray hard for a miracle, and friends have been organizing one fundraiser after another to help them out.  i still check her facebook page for updates, and the only news has been that she's breathing on her own and that her vitals are strong.  she's also been moved to a different facility that's closer to her home.  i hope that's helpful for her husband and children, to have her nearby.

i read a post on her wall about a 5.3-mile run/walk in san pedro on labor day, across the vincent thomas bridge.  that's quite a bit longer than the 5K i was originally training for, but that's okay.  a group of her friends started a facebook page to organize a team to do this race in ricci's honor and raise money to donate to the family.  i'll admit that it took me a few minutes to mull it over before i decided to commit to the run.  after all, i'm just barely on week 3 of training for 3ish miles, and now it's almost double that.

eek.  i'd like to think that ricci is laughing her ass off at the idea of ME doing something as physical as running.  heh.  and while it's too late to sign up for the team, it's definitely not too late for donations.  my race fee is covered, and 100% of any donations i'm able to collect will go straight to ricci and her family.  interested in helping out?  drop me an email.

the other fundraiser is also for something i've talked about recently.  remember last week's peanut butter pie?  well, this time, food bloggers are joining forces and auctioning off all sorts of stuff to raise money and help jennifer perillo not only with words of support and prayers, but with cold hard cash.  in the wake of her loss, she's facing a pretty shitty situation - no widow's benefits from social security, staggering health insurance costs for her and her two daughters - you get it. 

while i don't really have a whole lot to offer, i thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.  and the only thing i could think of to auction off is probably pretty obvious:

no, not the bean, silly.  just the cookies.  a dozen of 'em.  you pick the theme and the colors (of course, not limited to what i've posted above), and i'll make 'em for you.

• bidding starts at $20.  i make delicious cookies that are super cute, so it's totally worth the money - and it's for a really good cause.
• leave me a comment with your bid.  i'll need a way to contact you, so if you don't want to leave your e-mail address in the comment, you can send it to me directly.  but definitely post a comment with your bid amount, so others can see it.
• the auction will end on wednesday, august 31, 2011 at 5:00PM, PST.
• you'll need to claim your prize anytime between now and december 31, 2011.  because my cookies are so scrumptious, i'm sure you won't lag.
• every penny of your winning bid will go directly to #afundforjennie, via the bloggers without borders paypal account.
• if you want to skip the auction and just send in a donation, here's an easy peasy link, via paypal:

and hey, thanks for reading.  even more thanks for your support.

oh, and if you should happen to be in the san pedro area on labor day - well, uh...i sure wouldn't turn up my nose at a fun sign or a high five or something.  i'm warning you now, though:  i won't be cute - i'll have just trudged across the bridge and back for 5.3 miles.  ya dig?

such a tiny gesture of support

is it really bizarre to mourn for someone you never met?

i suppose maybe to some, it would be.  although when you hear sad stories that could pretty much happen to anyone, it's hard not to take that situation and turn it around in your head and imagine yourself going through something similar.  well, for me, anyway.

so when i read a tweet from justjenn about baking a pie in honor of a food blogger, i clicked on the link she posted.  it took about half a second after reading that story to pull out the simple ingredients in order to bake the pie the next morning. 

although i'd not seen nor heard of her before, jennifer perillo is pretty well-known in the foodie world.  and last weekend, the unthinkable happened:  her husband passed away quite unexpectedly from a heart attack.  in the heartbreaking post she published just days after, she included the recipe for a peanut butter pie that he'd loved.  for those who had been asking her how they could help, she asked them to make the pie on friday and share it with loved ones. 

since friday was my mom's birthday and we were taking her out to dinner to celebrate, it was the perfect time to make something delicious.  although i sure didn't want to put a downer on the evening, so i kept the backstory of the pie to myself.  but i gotta say - as i whipped the ingredients together, i was emotional as i reflected on my own life and how easily the happiness that we take for granted could be snatched away in an instant, just like that.  yikes.

the recipe called for a simple crust made with crushed chocolate cookies and butter.  for me, that meant oreos. 

the recipe makes enough to serve 10+ people.  since there were only going to be six of us for dinner, i halved the recipe and made mini, individually-sized pies.  not wanting to cart dishes around, i was happy to have an excuse to finally use these little tins, which had been languishing in my cupboard for ages.

on top of the crust went melted chocolate and chopped peanuts.  next time i make this, though, i'll make the layer of chocolate a bit thinner.  unthinkable, i know - but it made the pies a little challenging to eat.  you'll see what i mean in a minute.

i topped the peanut butter cream mixture with a drizzle of chocolate and more peanuts, mostly because they looked too plain without it.

even after i'd filled those tins as much as i possibly could, i still had a whole lotta leftover filling.  so i did what any of you would do - made more crust and prepped a bigger pan.  after all, i couldn't let all that gooey goodness go to waste.

when it was time to go, i filled a cooler with ice and then individually wrapped them with wax paper AND foil.  and because i'm just crazy like that, i ziploc-ed the mini pies for the drive down to manhattan beach. 

and yay - they survived the trip!

except that when we tried to scoop bites of pie out, the thick layer of chocolate had hardened so much that the crust was impenetrable.  seriously, it was hard as a rock!  i was slightly mortified until i popped that sucker out of the tin whole and found that it was easier to use my hands and just take bites out of it, kind of like a cookie.  i was too afraid that trying to cut it with the spoon would only result in flinging chunks of goo-covered crust across the room.  no bueno.

i think the cream needed more time to set in a cold fridge, though.  it was super creamy, which made for a pretty messy dessert plate (and fingers!).  but i can see why jennifer's mikey loved it so - it's magically delicious.

it was a happy birthday indeed.  i love my mom, and it was nice to share this love-filled treat with her and my stepdad, plus the hub and my girls.

i'm sending jennifer and her own girls a lot of love and strength as they go through this awful, tough, sad time of mourning.  i'm proud to have joined the blogging community in their show of support for one of their own, and i hope that this small gesture, made by so many, will be of some comfort to her. 

and now i'm going to schedule a full physical for the hub.  and me, too.  it sure can't hurt.  gotta make sure we stay healthy for our family - and each other.

a friend in need

it's been almost five weeks now since my friend fell into a coma a day after giving birth to a healthy baby boy.  she's been on my mind constantly ever since, and i've been checking her facebook page several times a day for news.

sadly, there is none.  each passing day turns into another week of her husband and three children having to live without her presence and love and smile.  it just breaks my heart, and i can't stop thinking of her daughters, only 9 and 2, and her sweet newborn son.  i've not met her husband, but remember from what she told me that they've been together for a long time, and only married for a few years.  the days have got to be so bittersweet for him - taking care of those kids, trying to keep a normal routine for them, and staying at his wife's side as much as possible.

i actually hadn't been in contact with her much in the last year or so.  the last time i traded an e-mail with her was when i was helping my cousin r find a day-of wedding coordinator - and of course, my first thought was ricci.  and she gleefully informed me that she wasn't taking on any more weddings as she was hoping to be pregnant soon.  i was so happy for her when i found out that she'd been successful.  she was also the one who rushed to tell me about the jonas brothers' free concert on easter sunday last year - and then managed to score tickets for me and the teen to join her and her girls.  i'm sad to admit that i haven't seen her since that day, especially as she was so instrumental in the planning of the beautiful baby shower thrown for me by the SFAMily.

now, you know i'm not typically one to post real names or do any hard-core soliciting via this blog.  it's just not my thing.  but in this case, i feel compelled to share the websites that have been created in an effort to share their story and get as much help for the family as possible.  prayers and good thoughts are always wonderful, and i'm sure they're appreciated.  but if you feel so inclined, this family needs all the material help they can get.  here is one of the links that takes you to a paypal account set up for monetary donations.  ricci's employer created this site, also set up for paypal donations.  her family has created a blog to share their thoughts and as much information about ricci's condition as they feel comfortable with.  and lastly, friends and family set up a registry on diapers.com for anyone who wants to help with supplies for the baby.

oh, ricci.  please wake up so that you can be with the family who needs and loves you so much.

take nothing for granted

on the heels of that afternoon spent listening and talking to matt logelin, awful news trickled in from the grapevine about a friend i hadn't really been in touch with recently.

i knew she was expecting again, with a baby boy who was joining two big sisters.  and a couple of days ago, he was born - beautiful and healthy.  her facebook posts were joyful and exuberant, filled with all the excitement of a new baby.

but then the posts turned somber.  it turns out that the very next day, she suffered a brain hemorrhage and is currently in a coma.  my god.  i'm numb just typing those words.  apparently, the doctors have reported that she's been somewhat responsive and that things are looking good, but she's still not out of it yet.

i haven't been able to stop thinking about her and her family since i heard.  i keep blinking back tears and checking her facebook page in hopes of an update.  she's so beautiful and loved, and her husband and kids need her so much.

hug your loved ones today, and if you're so inclined, think good thoughts for my friend.