done in a day

it was a great day NOT to be in the office, with a rare rainstorm drenching southern california. and since the teen was scheduled for a doctor's appointment smack dab in the middle of the morning, i got to play hooky and relive my SAHM glory days. heh.

i spent a lovely morning with the bean, playing and laughing, and when MIL arrived to relieve me, i sped off to pick up the teen from school, squeeze in a quick trip to the library, and head down to the doctor's office. depending on how you look at it, we either lucked out or got totally fucked as we arrived right on time and found that the appointment wasn't at 10:30 but at 12:30. oy.

not wanting to go all the way back home for a mere 45-ish minutes before having to head back to kaiser, we decided to kill time at barnes & noble. and after perusing a stack of magazines together, the two of us wandered the aisles for a bit and giggled at this display of libros en español.

we got through the appointment and with the time mix-up, i was bummed to realize that i had just enough time to walk the teen upstairs, give the bean a hug and kiss, grab a bag i'd packed that morning, and scurry back out to the car for the next stop. i had a 3:00 appointment to meet a new client looking for wedding invitations in pasadena, and i arrived at our designated meeting spot right on time.

i peeked around at the few occupied tables and observed several folks hanging out and sipping warm drinks alone, plus one table with three people sitting at it, enjoying a sandwich. i sat down with an iced mocha and these:

then took a seat at a table in the corner with my snacks and snapped a few pictures of the café.

i sat there for a while, sipping my drink and checking e-mails, and happened to overhear the conversation at the table of three. after i realized that they were discussing the wedding industry's penchant for overcharging unsuspecting folks for every aspect of their big day, i waved sheepishly and introduced myself. heh. awwwwwkward.

luckily, we got over that super comfy moment quickly as we got down to business, and i displayed my wares and samples of paper, ribbon, and other assorted paraphernalia. we chatted for about an hour, narrowing it down to the design and layouts they wanted, and then they left.

i had another 45 minutes before i was due at my next stop - a volunteer gig at the local mothers' club. these quickie volunteer missions are called "done in a day," or DIADs. it was their back-to-school night and i, along with about a dozen or so fellow junior league members, had volunteered to do the cooking and serving for the barbecue.

that's right. we were barbecuing. in the rain. whee!

after a couple of circles, trying to find the place, i finally parked on the street and ran through the pouring rain into the building.

it was really nice in there - modern, clean, efficient.

i joined my fellow leaguers in a meeting room and got debriefed on the agenda for the evening.

the league president had brought an armful of cheerful red tees, adorned with the club logo. dressed in a light sweater, i knew i'd end up sweating my ass off, and i happily accepted one and put it on immediately.

i decided to join the group designated to prep, set up, and serve, and we wasted no time in jumping right in and getting started. i grabbed a knife and cutting board and helped slice a bunch of tomatoes - this was my kind of "work."

after we'd done all we could do, i figured it would be both helpful and beneficial to go outside and join the grilling team. as i'd predicted, i was a sweaty ass monkey and the cool air was a nice change from the stuffiness of the building.

our fearless leader volunteered to test out the doneness of the meat. after all, we didn't want to send anything out that would result in a family ralphing session. not exactly the kind of bonding time we were trying to help promote.

the families lined up and stampeded the buffet line. they were all happy and grateful for the yummy dinner, and adults and kids alike were quite appreciative of the eats.

they wandered into the different classrooms and all over the building to set up picnics and enjoy their meals.

and after everyone had had their fill, we got a chance to partake in some of the grub that we'd been drooling over for the last couple of hours.

i really enjoyed my first DIAD, working with and meeting a handful of seasoned members. there was only one other provisional member there besides me, and we both had a great time. it was a quick and rewarding three hours, and i can't wait to hang out more with these ladies.

oh, by the way - i was both excited and embarrassed to learn that one of the members present reads my li'l ol' blog. ha! i asked her how she'd found me and all she said was "there was a rumor going around that one of the newbies is a blogger, and we wanted to see what you'd said about us!" heh.

bussssssted! [waving to league lurkers]

the great american pastime

i really don't have a whole lot to talk about today.

so instead, i'll share some fun pictures of the bean enjoying some "pizz-bah," as she puts it.

first, a close inspection.

well, and maybe a tentative taste.

mmmmmm. finger lickin' good, even.

she watched a little baseball as she ate.

the meat was yanked off, so she could concentrate on gnawing on the crust.

juice break!

more baseball.

the end.

betrayal

sharp.

stinging.

ugly.

it's what i'm left with after a brief e-mail exchange with my mother, who'd just returned from a lovely vacation to a mailbox that, among the junk mail and monthly statements, contained a seemingly innocent envelope. inside was an invitation to a party, a celebration of a marriage that had managed to withstand the test of time - fifty years' worth. and the guests of honor?

her aunt and chester. yup. him.

i felt a ridiculously irrational pang as i questioned the timing of the mailing, looked at the calendar, and realized that i had received no such invitation. unreasonable because, well, what on earth would make me believe that i would be included in such a gathering? despite the fact that i'd been the victim, i felt shunned, an outsider, someone of no consequence. mom was just as shocked and disgusted as i was. and still am. and for both of us, that envelope reopened an awful wound that we'd both hoped had scabbed over months ago.

i've run into this aunt once or twice in the year-plus since dropping the [apparently insignificant] bombshell on her (and the rest of the family). and you've read about the couple of run-ins i've had with other folks who were a part of the ugliness that went down. the betrayal i feel stems from the fact that my family - the ones who were so supportive and seemingly shocked and disgusted by what they'd learned - continues to include these people in their lives and seems to have simply forgotten all of what happened.

now, i know you're thinking, "well, what, does she expect them to just cut family out of their lives?" and i guess maybe that does sound pretty crazy and absurd on my part. but i can't forget how it felt to endure their questions, stammering out responses, forced to recall memories i'd tried so hard to forget of that summer so long ago. i think of how sympathetic and shocked and outraged they all were, and how i'd felt so close to them for the first time in a very long time. the same folks who were at the bean's birthday bash only two weeks ago, a few of them present at FSIL's bridal shower just last week. i have such a knot in my stomach at this moment as i think about it.

i've felt this way for a while now, knowing that they all (well, nearly all - at least one member is still sticking to her guns and avoiding them at all costs) still welcome each other into their homes. seeing or hearing of their presence at various family gatherings. i just feel like coming out and laying my long-buried shame and pain out for all to see and pick apart and question and cast doubt upon was for nothing. nothing!

then i hear that they're not only attending this farce of a blowout, but getting together to honor the couple with some sort of surprise. as if nothing had happened. granted, i don't actually know the specifics - maybe they felt trapped and felt that they couldn't decline, or perhaps they really just feel that enough time has passed and support for those other folks is warranted. who knows? it's obviously much easier to forgive and forget when one is not directly affected by something that [my mother and] i felt was such a huge revelation.

either way, it hurts.

dammit all to hell.

mommy in da houuuuuse

i am dead tired. i stumbled into the office this morning after working like a dog on an invitation order, but i'm pretty stoked that i managed to finish them all last night. the bean was none too pleased at my attention being focused on anything but her and did everything she could to get my attention.

she knows she's not supposed to be anywhere near that stove. she pushed a package of diapers across the living room floor- "moooooooommy! hot!" she teased me. oy, that child.

that's a new development, too. i've now transitioned from the oh-so-proper "mum" i used to be to the super endearing "mommy." i always think "mommy" is just so sweet, especially when spoken from the lips of a loving toddler (even when she's doing something particularly naughty). plus, she's so affectionate - she loves to choose the moments when she's accidentally smacked me in the face or spilled something on the floor to run over, wrap her little arms around my leg/neck/arm/whatever she can reach, close her eyes, and murmur "luh you, mommy."

how on earth am i ever going to discipline this child when she pushes all the right buttons at just the right time?

and she's a total sponge these days, too. you can't say anything without her parroting you with a big ass grin. i was bitching and moaning over a really attractive pimple on my lip the other day, and she came over, held my face in her hands, and inspected the offending blemish closely. then she let go, pointed one chubby little finger at my face, and shouted "pim-poh!"

greeeeeeat. she's repeated this little process quite a few times over the last few days. stupid skin, anyway. doesn't it know i'm 38, not 14?? ugh.

i know that the bride and groom want to keep the details of these pretty invitations under wraps until the guests have them in their hot little hands, so i can't post pictures yet. but i just love these wedding band stamps that i used on the RSVP envelopes - aren't they cute??

ah, i love all the little details. but then again, you knew that already.

random, random, ice cream and cake!

man, mornings are madness at the wan house. it's a mad rush to get both me and the hub in and out of the shower and ready to go before MIL arrives to hang out with the bean. and when the teen is home, it's even crazier. plus, with the cooler fall weather finally in effect (which i LOVE), the female wardrobe in the house is rather limited - with the exception of the bean, who's got a seemingly endless supply of cute clothes and is always quite stylish. the teen and i find ourselves scurrying back and forth between our two closets, looking for something decent to wear. blech.

i was trying to get some stuff done in the kitchen this morning before heading off to work and realized that the bean had gone very quiet. i peeked over and didn't see her in any of her usual spots, and then i rounded the corner and found her:

poor baby. she woke up rather early this morning and must've gotten cold - she rarely snuggles up in a blanket, even at night. she usually kicks it off and i replace it about a dozen times, because when i touch her, the skin on her little arms is always ice-cold.

i forgot to mention that i started my monday off with a nice little treat, mostly because i'd forgotten to make the coffee the night before. i swung into starbucks and noticed this sign as i walked in:

this dude was parked in the middle of the store, flagging down bleary-eyed monday morning worker bees as we staggered in for our caffeine fix. and since i'd managed to get there in between the crowds, i stopped at his little table to take the taste test.

i have to admit, i don't really know shit about coffee. i couldn't really tell the difference between their regular brewed coffee and the new instant via ready-brew stuff they were hawking. and to be perfectly honest, both of the little sample cups i was handed to taste were horrid. then again, i'm more of a "lots o'syrup, lots o'cream" coffee kinda girl, so there. but i managed to identify which was which, and i walked away with a coupon for a free drink.

of course, the coupon is for a free brewed coffee, so we'll see if i even end up using it. heh. i got in line for my usual (grande iced nonfat upside-down caramel macchiato, remember?) and eyed more of their marketing paraphernalia.

last night, the hub was out for a dinner meeting, which he has every wednesday. this usually leaves me free to have dinner with MIL. we scooped up the girls, headed to the mall to run a couple of errands, and found ourselves at this OG spot:

oh, yes. but i'd managed to forget both my camera and my phone at home, so i've got no pictures to share. i didn't order anything particularly exciting anyway, but i did quite enjoy my breakfast-for-dinner plate of hotcakes and bacon. mmmmm. and because the bean was super fidgety, we decided to take our yummy dessert to-go. hello, hot fudge cake.

this, of course, led me to sing and dance for the rest of the evening: "ice cream and cake! do the ice cream and cake!"

i'm seriously four years old.

deceptively delicious, wan's way

it seems that the bean is also going to continue the tradition of celebrating her birthday all month long. three birthday princesses in one house - i'm starting to feel sorry for the hub in a big way.

yesterday, a trip to the mailbox yielded a ginormous stack of bills (boo) and a fun, unexpected box addressed to both girls (yay!). the teen ripped the box open to reveal a birthday card for me, a bag of sweet treats for her, and a third bag, addressed to the bean. we left it untouched and brought it home to the bean right away.

she's definitely her mother's daughter, because she zeroed in on the card first:

inspected it carefully, front and back:

exclaimed, "mouuuuuushhhh!" and gave it a big kiss.

and then she pulled the tissue paper out of the bag to reveal this adorable little handmade monkey, created with lots of love by her auntie, my cousin/MOH r.

isn't it adorable? i never knew cousin r had such domestic skillz in her. well, okay, maybe i did, but it's pretty cool to receive tangible evidence of 'em. hee!

speaking of domestic skillz, i made dinner for the first time in quite a while. you see, we'd had so much leftover pulled pork and sliced bbq brisket from the bean's birthday bash that the hub and i ate it pretty much all week long. with the teen at her dad's, i got a nice little rest from the kitchen, and i was actually pretty happy to stand in front of the stove and create something from scratch again after the long break.

the bean seems to have developed quite the taste for soup. while on our cruise, she'd enjoyed my cup of cream of wild mushroom soup, and MIL likes to pick up a bowl of broccoli cheese soup from nearby coco's for her. she loves that stuff. can't seem to get enough of it.

and while i was unsuccessful at finding a copycat recipe for that exact soup, i did find another broccoli cheese soup recipe that looked and sounded easy enough. so i decided it would make a lovely dinner on a cool soCA autumn evening.

i melted butter and whisked in some flour to make the roux:

poured in a couple of cups of fat-free half-and-half:

stirred in two cups of vegetable broth:

and let it simmer and thicken for about 20 minutes.

next, i tossed in some fresh broccoli, a shredded carrot, and some sauteéd chopped onion.

when the broccoli was tender, i scooped it out and pureéd it up and then poured it back into the soup. i tossed in handfuls of shredded cheddar and stirred it until it melted, making the soup even thicker and heartier.

damn, a renegade floret. i'd already tossed the food processor (well, okay, the baby food maker, if you want to get technical about it) into the sink, so i just left it.

the true test:

and she loved it! whee! what a great way to sneak in some fresh veggies in her tummy. she ate the entire serving i gave her, and then plopped into my lap as the hub and i had ours a little later and enjoyed a bit more. awesome.

nothing wrong with being sneaky, right? it's all for her own good, anyway.

such a foodie wan-nabe

so i recently participated in a fun fall gift exchange with some of the ladies on the nest's cooking board. with the help of elfster, we all put in our names and let the system do the name drawing for us and set a deadline of october 3rd to send out our little care packages. of course, in typical wan style, i procrastinated till the very last minute to get mine out.

my own elf, however, was much more on the ball. about a week before the deadline, i picked up our mail and was excited to find a box waiting for me. i ripped the top open right away and totally grinned when i saw what was inside.

i LOVE how i've been gifted that vosges mo's bacon bar from several people in the last few months. it's awesome. and my elf's timing couldn't be better - just a few days before i received this, the hub and i were discussing how nice it was that the weather was finally getting more fall-like. of course, since food is always on the front burner of my mind, i said "oooh, we can make a lot of soup!" heh. thank you to my elf, jerriesgirl!

and then i realized that i needed to get going on picking up items for my own gift exchange recipient. after asking a couple of anonymous questions, i clicked on the amazon store link that contained a bunch of items that she was eyeing. i was all ready to pull the trigger on the order (which would also make it a lot easier for my lazy ass, because i could just have it shipped straight to my draw) until i realized that each item was coming from different vendors - which resulted in shipping charges that cost more than the items themselves! eff that noise.

i ended up picking up a few things from local shops and packed and shipped the box myself. i made this little card and tossed it in.

hopefully she's received it by now, and is pleased with it. i had to make a couple of substitutions - she'd wanted some rose water for baking, but i couldn't find any. but i did manage to find some rose extract, which i figured she could dilute and make her own rose water. i hope.

i recently signed up to be a foodbuzz featured publisher, and have been enjoying the e-mails and stories and links i've been receiving from them. one e-mail a couple of weeks ago offered up some freebie cards, and while i didn't really know if i'd use them, i placed my order anyway. hey, i rarely pass up free shit. and last week, this appeared in the mailbox:

they're SO cute. i seriously don't know if i'll ever have a need for them, but they're adorable. the little case is plastic and the perfect size for slipping into my bag, and the cards themselves are super cute. the backs are adorned with beautiful photos of food and drink:

haha! is that awesome, or what?