Date Night? What's That?

WARNING: This post is pretty long. And somewhat sappy. Read at your own risk!

Date night? What's that?

No, really. What is that?

It's been well over a year (for obvious reasons) since hubs and I had a real date -- you know, the kind without kids? The kind that takes some level of planning? The kind that reminds you that you're a couple and not just parents?

Ya.

I decided it was time to make it happen.

I started planning about 3 weeks ago. I knew I wanted to have a special date night with the husband, and I knew I wanted it to be a surprise, and I knew it was going to take some serious time and planning. So the first thing I did was line up babysitters. Yes, plural, as in more than one. It was sort of a prerequisite for us. It would be the first time we'd leave both kids with someone other than one of us, and we had already talked long and hard about this over the past several months. We knew we wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the kids with ANY one person -- yes, we're overly cautious and probably somewhat OCD. But that's how we roll. So anyway, I lined up the babysitters, who happened to be my mom, my sister and my wonderfully sweet niece (more of a playmate for LO than a babysitter, of course). We figured out a night that would work for them and I began my planning.

I'll fast-forward through the weeks of preparations and just get down to the big day, which happened to be this past Friday. Hubs left for work, as usual, in his blue jeans and golf shirt (casual Fridays at his office). Once he left, I busted out the makings of my not-quite-famous-but-should-be Chocolate Caramel Brownies. They are so incredibly awesome that I can't even share the recipe here. Aren't I awful? Anywho. There's a little background here. Hubs and I used to work at the same building (but for two different companies) back in 2005. The quick, boring story is I noticed him and wanted to "woo" him. We had some mutual friends, who happened to work in the same area as he did. So I'd whip up some of these delicious brownies and use them as an excuse to head over his way and talk with him (you may recall I mentioned my stopping by his desk to drop off my latest and greatest baked goods in this post). So I guess you could say I tried to woo him with my chocolate caramel brownies. The nice thing? It worked!!

So okay, back home, it's Friday morning, hubs has left for work. I get started making my brownies. I also make some handmade note cards while the brownies are baking. I write a cute little note to jog his memory about our early days of baked goods, cut the brownies and put 'em in a tupperware container, topped with a bow. Then I put the container in a small brown shipping box with some blue polka-dot (or as LO says, "coca-dot") tissue paper. I seal the box with shipping tape and put his name on the front in bold, black letters. Then I load up the kids in the car.

On the way to his office, we stop at Sonic and I grab a gift card. Suffice it to say there's another story from our early beginnings involving Sonic. I grab another handmade note card and write a little quip reminding him of that Sonic trip, then tape the gift card to the back of the note and put it in the envelope.

We hit the road again and drive to hubs' office building. I took the box inside and left it with the security guard, asking him to please let hubs know there's a package waiting for him, then darted out the door to keep from being spotted.

Then we drove over to where hubs parked his car. I unlocked it and put the Sonic note card on his seat, where I expected he would find it when he left during his lunch hour to run some errands. The kids and I then headed to Costco for some errands of our own.

Hubs called me not long after we left his office to tell me he received a mysterious package at the office... and called me out on my incredible awesomeness. ;) While we were talking, he was walking out to his car to run some errands, so we were still on the call when he found the note with the Sonic gift card. He laughed (it was a funny thing that happened that night at Sonic during our early courtship) and asked if I wanted to meet him for ice cream. Considering it was only 11am, I didn't have any food for the kids, and I was not going to let them eat ice cream for lunch, I declined. Honestly, I had a TON of other stuff to do to prepare for our date night and needed to get to it! But he of course was already on his way to meet us at Costco. We ended up doing some quick shipping at Costco and had a yummy (and CHEAP!) lunch together (pizza for him and LO, a chicken Caesar salad for me and a bottle for Chase!).

After lunch, I headed back home while he went back to work. Once I arrived at the house, I started working on a few more little projects. One was quick and easy: a "mixed CD" created from a playlist of songs that we listened to while we were dating, including the song we played for our first dance at our wedding reception). Then on to my next project: I happen to still have a PST (for you non-computery-educated folks, this is a file that stores emails in Outlook) from 2005 when hubs and I started our initial courtship. I had been reading through them for the week or so leading up to our date night (was looking for inspiration for the date, but also enjoying the walk down memory lane) and decided on a fun little game. I chose random comments from these emails and printed them on little cards along with the date written and which one of us wrote them. The "game" would be to read through them after dinner and try to have hubs guess which one of us wrote them. Some were funny, some were inside jokes, some were heartfelt and sweet. So I printed those little cards and put the kids down for naps. I needed to make another run to hubs' office, so I called my mom to come over and sit at the house while the kids napped so I could run out real quick.

The plan was to leave hubs a note (this one was a note card, that folds, and you write inside it, instead of just a one-sided note card like the earlier two notes -- this will matter later in the story) with directions to where I wanted him to meet me. I also brought a pair of shorts for him and two different pairs of sandals to choose from (it was SO hot that day and our date was going to be pretty laid back and not at all "froofy").

I drove to his office again and found his car. I placed the sandals on the passenger seat, set his shorts on top, the note card on top of the shorts, and his sunglasses by the note. I also put the CD in his CD player and queued it up to start playing "our song" when he started the car. For the record, the note basically said something like this:

Forget another boring night at home as parents...
it's OUR TURN to have some fun as a couple!
Meet me at 117 W. Blahblah Street.
I've left you a change of clothes so you'll be more comfortable.
And enjoy the music during your drive!"

I also wrote driving directions inside the card. It was as simple as turn right, then turn right, the destination is on the left. An easy 10 minute drive from his office.

After leaving everything placed perfectly in his car, I headed back home to shower and get ready. Of course hubs decided around 4pm he was done for the day and was gonna head home. I basically asked him to please do me the favor of staying at work until 4:45pm, and don't ask questions (our dinner reservations were for 5:30pm). Lucky for me, he complied. Whew! I finished up the last little things I needed to do, gave my mom and sister their "instructions" for keeping LO and Chase, and hit the road.

On my way to the restaurant, hubs texted that he was leaving (it was almost 5pm). A few minutes later he texted again and said "You are just full of surprises..." I figured he found everything in the car and was heading to meet me.

YAY! It worked!!!

I arrived at the restaurant at 5:10pm and sat down at our table. I gave the waitress a card that I wanted her to bring to hubs at the same time that she brought me the bill at the end of our evening. Totally random, but I also brought a box of Kraft macaroni & cheese. It was the first "meal" (if you call it that) I cooked for him. I thought about asking the kitchen to whip it up and serve it to him instead of whatever entree he orders, but decided I didn't want to inconvenience the kitchen staff so I didn't. No big.

So I sat. And waited. And watched for hubs. It was 5:27pm and I got a call from hubs. He basically asked me for directions coming from a different way than what I wrote in the card. I thought it was weird, especially since it was so simple, but I gave him the info and he informed me it would be closer to 6pm before he arrived. I tried to hide my disappointment, said it was okay and I would see him when he got there.

Oddly enough, I got a text a few minutes later from my mom telling me that hubs was on his way. Whaa?? That's weird. How would she know? So I called her. And couldn't believe what happened.

My sweet, adorable, loving, handsome, kind, thoughtful husband? Wow. He got to his car after work, saw the note card, heard the music and headed HOME. To our house. Not to the restaurant. But to our house. On the opposite side of creation as the restaurant where I was. Waiting. For him.

Turns out he opened the envelope and saw the note card. He turned it over, thinking it was another single-sided note like the earlier ones. Of course, it wasn't. But it did have a lovely picture of us on the front, and nothing on the back. So he heard the music, saw the cute card and thought I was sweet for doing that. Never mind the fact that there's a pair of shorts and two pairs of sandals on the seat next to him. Really. Just go ahead and drive home. It's cool. I'll wait.

I'll cut him some slack. He did feel absolutely awful when he got home and my mom and sister were there, and I wasn't. The look on my mom's face told him he had done something VERY wrong. He quickly changed into his shorts and sandals and hit the road to meet me. Luckily he was only about 20 minutes late. :)

Anywho, we had a nice dinner at a lovely restaurant. We talked. We held hands. It was wonderful. When they brought me the check, they brought him the card I left for him. It had his favorite picture of us on the front and my heartfelt sentiments written inside. I'll spare you the sappiness...

After dinner, we walked down to a nearby park and sat on a bench swing together, enjoying the beautiful evening around us. I busted out the little cards with our email sayings on them and we relived some of those memories. It was very sweet! Then we headed home to our sweet kids and to relieve our babysitting staff. :)

I'm happy to say that hubs was surprised with everything I had done and thought it was so sweet of me. It was fun to show him it's possible to have a fun night out together without the kids, and that the kids could in fact survive a few hours without us... ;)

Freebies!

Okay, I am absolutely miserable! Why, you ask? Because I have been eating out at restaurants for lunch and dinner for an entire week!

I like to go out to eat, and never really thought I'd tire of it. But guess what?! I DID!

The reason for all of this dining out is simple: freebies! I've signed up for a variety of "birthday clubs" at several restaurants and I've been cashing in like a fiend these past few days.

Some examples? Let me tell you...

• One FREE scoop of ice cream from Baskin-Robbins
• $5 off any order at McAlisters Deli
• FREE gourmet burger from Red Robin
• FREE dessert from Logan's Roadhouse
• FREE dessert from LongHorn Steakhouse
• FREE buffet from Ryan's

If any of these restaurants are in your neighborhood, you should consider signing up for their Birthday Clubs or eClubs. You'll get an occasional email from them about specials n' stuff, but you'll also get some awesome freebies for your birthday!

YUM!

Romance Isn't Dead!

Okay, so yesterday I had taken LO on a walk around the neighborhood -- it was such a gorgeous 70 degrees out! It was about 4:30 PM and, of course, I hadn't even showered for the day so I was total grunge. Not surprisingly, by the time we returned to the house, hubs was already home from work. We sat outside with LO for a spell, then I came inside to make a work-related phone call in peace and quiet.

Fast-forward about 20 minutes later. I was about to start making some jambalaya for dinner, when hubs said, "Stop!" I looked at him rather inquisitively, said I was planning to start dinner before jumping in the shower. He said to go ahead and take a shower and I said okay!

I heard him closing a door over in the "west wing" of our humble home, so I proceeded to head toward the bathroom for a much-needed shower.

Next thing I know, there's a knock at our front door.

"Hubs? Can you get that?," I hollered across the house. No response.

"Hubs?"

Slightly irritated that my mission to take a shower was stalled, I yelled again, "HUBS?! Can you get that??"

Since I still received no response, I went to the door (side note: I was in fact still fully dressed at this point), checked through the 'peep hole' and what--or better yet--whom did I see??

IT WAS HUBS!!!

He was standing at our front door, a dozen roses in hand, patiently waiting for me to answer the door and ask me out for dinner!

Can you believe it!?

I sure couldn't.

It was the sweetest thing! Check out the beautiful flowers he gave me:


If you look closely, you can see a beautiful little heart with "We Luv U" written in crayon attached to the vase. Hubs and LO decorated it themselves!


These flowers are just gorgeous!!!


So, hubs had arranged my wonderful mom to come over to keep LO while we went out for a nice, romantic dinner. Guess where we went!? Outback Steakhouse! One of my favorite places that we hardly ever go to.

Can you say, "Bloomin Onion'?" That's what I'm talkin' about!!


And don't get me started on the bread, the delicious salad and the fabulous veggies & baked potato I had for dinner! DE-LISH!!!

Needless to say, I'm SO incredibly smitten with my amazing husband! Romance is alive!!!

PLEASE Wash Hands Before Serving Food!

For those of you who have been around long enough to remember my first post, today's post is eerily similar to that experience.

On Saturday, hubs, LO and I joined our good friends, D and H and their son C for a trip to the zoo, about an hour and a half away. The plan was to do the zoo during the day, leave around 5pm to hit a local restaurant for dinner, then return to the zoo around 6:30 or so for their "Lights Before Christmas" spectacular! All in all it was a great day, the kiddos had fun, and we got to see a lot of animals, take pictures, etc. The downside? That tiny little hour and a half that we left the zoo for dinner.

We decided to visit a nearby Applebee's that was only about a 5 minute drive from the zoo. I'm going to do a bullet-point play-by-play of this experience because, honestly, it's the easiest way I can think of to share this disastrous event.

• We arrive and the restaurant is right close to EMPTY. The hostess--who couldn't be more than 12 years old--doesn't even look in our direction when she says, "Welcome to Applebee's. How many?" I respond by telling her we have 4 adults and will need 2 highchairs. She gets another 12-year-old to come over for assistance with this seemingly difficult task and the two of them pour over the seating chart (in an empty restaurant, mind you) for what could not have been less than 7 minutes. We all sat down at the entrance and waited. It was like an act of congress to find us a table. They asked if we wanted a table or booth... I'm sorry, did you not hear that we'd need 2 highchairs? Where would you put 2 highchairs at a booth?? So we opted for a table.
• They took us to a tiny table, with one side of it against a wall, so we had 3 sides to fit 6 people. Genius. Oh, and the table was located at the intersection of A) the bathrooms, B) the computer/register thingy the wait staff uses, C) the kitchen and D) the carryout order entrance. Two people almost knocked me over while I was getting LO's highchair ready. Then hubs took LO and H took C to the bathrooms to change diapers. D and I were getting situated when literally 2 different waiters stopped by and tried to take one of our chairs. "We have FOUR MORE PEOPLE joining us!" I snapped both times. A waitress came by to take our drink orders and I said (pointing to the empty chair next to me), "We'll have 2 waters." She walked away!! I stared at D and said, "I guess you and H can share our waters with us!" Unbelievable. After about 3 more people tripped on one of the highchairs at the end of our table, D got up and went to tell the hostess to move us--this table wasn't gonna work. I picked up all of our menus, waters, silverware, highchairs, etc. and moved them to our new table (the same size as the current one, but in a slightly better location and pulled away from the wall so we had all 4 sides to work with).
• Hubs, LO, H and C returned from the bathrooms and we all got situated. Hubs and D both mentioned that one of the waiters had gone into the men's room, was in there for awhile (gross!), and LEFT WITHOUT WASHING HIS HANDS!!!! I was disgusted.
• The waitress came by to take our orders. H asked what comes on the salad (she's also a vegetarian) and when bacon wasn't listed, she ordered her salad, her husband D ordered his meal, then the waitress came to hubs and I. I asked how much a side item was, she said it depended on which one you order. I said I was going to order 3 different ones (since I don't eat meat entrees anymore) and she said she'd have to go find out. Rather than delay putting our order in, I just ordered my mashed potatoes and steamed veggies and some fries (for LO). Hubs wanted an appetizer sampler. He asked to substitute one of the items and she said he couldn't. I piped in and asked, "He can't change out the spinach dip for cheese queso??" To which she responded, "Oh, sure, you can do that." Alrighty then! So our order was finally in. Whew!
• H's salad comes out--covered in bacon. She had to send it back. They brought another one out later but didn't bring the extra plate she had requested. She asked for it again. It never came.
• Literally 45 minutes after we ordered (you know, back before the restaurant started to fill up with customers), they FINALLY brought D and H's food. Hubs and I just waited until they finally brought ours out several minutes later. As soon as the waiter left from dropping off my food, hubs said, "You are NOT eating any of those potatoes on the right side of your plate. The guy that was in the bathroom that didn't wash his hands brought those out and his thumb was IN YOUR POTATOES. Sure enough, there was a freakin' THUMB PRINT plain as day in my potatoes. My steamed veggies? COLD. Hubs' appetizer sampler? COLD. The cheese queso had a nasty film over the top and it was obvious that platter had been sitting out for at least 10 minutes before it was brought out. We were NOT having a good dining experience.
• The waitress came over to ask if there was anything we needed... Hubs was obviously QUITE irritated but told her he wasn't going to deal with her about it; he'd talk to a manager before we leave. So what did she do? Send the manager over. He asked what the problem was. Again, hubs wasn't going to get into it with him at this point (we were still hoping to salvage our meal and NOT embarrass our friends D and H). I simply mentioned the cold veggies and the guy got incredibly defensive! He said, "I'm not trying to argue with you ma'am... blah, blah, blah." So he took the veggies and was going to bring me a new order.
• A few minutes go by. I hand LO a celery stick I pulled from hubs' sampler. I glance at her a few seconds later and immediately pull that celery stick out of her hand. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! There was a HAIR on the celery stick!!!!! Hubs looked as though he threw up in his mouth, then immediately grabbed the appetizer platter, my plate of potatoes (which I had already decided NOT to eat for obvious reasons) and went storming over to the bar where the manager was standing. Luckily I had my back to the bar so I couldn't see the "scene" hubs was making. I was actually quite proud of him though. Normally I want to hide under the table when he gets into that "mode" but this time he handled the situation VERY well, especially considering everything we'd just been through.
• The manager of course comped our meals (really? seriously? we didn't even eat a single bite!!!!!), and while D and H finished their dinners (somehow theirs managed to come out just fine), hubs and I left and headed to the Wendy's drive-thru before heading back to the zoo to meet our friends for the lights show.

As you can imagine, it was NOT a good dining experience. I know for SURE we will NEVER be back at that particular restaurant; but now I'm afraid to ever eat in ANY Applebee's establishment. I mean, is not washing hands part of their wait staff training program? ((gag)) I don't know if hubs and I have a huge bullseye on each of our heads or what, but we seem to have experiences like this on an almost DAILY basis in one form or another. I seriously cannot believe how bad "customer service" has become these days. It's atrocious. I'd much rather stay in and cook food for my family that I know is safe and delicious!

Such a Shame!

Last night, hubs and I went out for dinner at a local Italian restaurant to celebrate our 3rd anniversary a few days early. It was just the two of us, and I was really looking forward to a quiet, intimate, romantic dinner for two.

Unfortunately that wasn't what we were in for.

The restaurant wasn't very busy when we arrived. We obviously needed a table for two. Where'd they put us? In a huge 6-person booth. Nice, huh? The added bonus was that the booth was right under a speaker that was blaring music (and not the quiet, romantic kind) throughout our entire meal. We were sitting mere inches from each other, and yet we had to almost yell to hear each other above the noise. Lovely.

Our waitress was a scary lady. Hubs made the comment during dinner that he thought she could totally kick his butt. I agreed.

As you may recall, I've gone vegetarian. So dining out has become a slight challenge. It's really not too bad, though. I just have to ask a few more questions, find out if entrees can be ordered without chicken or beef, etc. And that's exactly what I did. I ordered a bow-tie pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms in a garlic cream sauce, minus the chicken, of course. Hubs had the lasagna. I also ordered a Caesar salad for us to share.

Now, one of my favorite things about Italian restaurants? The Bread! So I was anticipating its arrival as soon as we arrived. No bread. Then we ordered. It still didn't come. Our salad arrived. Still no bread. When the waitress dropped the salad off, she said she'd bring out bread with our entree.

What!?

I don't know about you, but when my entree arrives, I want to eat it. But the 20 minutes or so I'm sitting around waiting for said entree? I'd enjoy some bread! Is that so wrong?

Our entrees are delivered by someone other than our waitress. Several minutes later our waitress walks by and we ask her for some bread, which she finally brings after a few minutes.

Ugh.

Nice, romantic, quiet dinner with hubs with at least mediocre service? Not at all what we got!

The biggest problem I had was that when our check arrived, I immediately looked to see if we were charged the full amount for my pasta. And, of course, we were! Why is that? It clearly states on the menu that chicken can be added to any pasta dish for $6. So why is it I was charged the full amount for a chicken dish without the chicken?! I mean, why not give a $2 discount or something just to make an effort!?

I was irritated enough to at least want to kindly make my point to the restaurant manager as we were leaving. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single soul anywhere near the exit door. No manager, no hostess, no waitress. No one to say, "Thank you for coming! Have a great night! Come back and see us!" It was really irritating that I couldn't share a simple comment with anyone. However, when I got home I promptly sent an email via the restaurant's website to share my feedback.

Overall it wasn't a bad night--it certainly was nice to spend some alone time with hubs. Maybe I'll give us an anniversary dinner "do-over" and cook dinner for us here at home one night. That way I can control the music, candlelight, and the quality of the food and service.

Bread Bowl Update!!!

Okay, people. Hubs, LO and I made plans today to have lunch at--you guessed it!--Panera! That bread bowl craving just won't go away (No, I'm not pregnant! I feel I have to clarify that every time I use the word "craving.")! Anywho, what did anal-retentive me do before we met there? I called ahead. And asked if they had bread bowls.

"Panera, this is So-and-So."

"Hi, I was calling to see if you guys have any bread bowls?"

"Huh?"

"Um, I was wanting to know if you guys have bread bowls." (At this point I feel like she's thinking I'm calling to ask her if her refrigerator is running...)

"Oh, ya, we've got... uh, four, I think. How many do you need?" (I think she thought I was wanting to purchase just the bread bowls. Like they were bagels or something.)

"I'm sorry, I was just calling because I've tried twice in two days at two different locations to get a bread bowl and they were out. I'm wondering if I come up there for lunch if you'll have bread bowls."

"Oh, ya, I think we've got plenty.... (trails off a bit)."

"Um, okay. Uh, thanks."

"When are you coming for lunch?"

"Huh? Oh, my husband and I will probably meet there around 12:30."

"2:30?"

"No, 12:30."

"1:30?"

"No, 12:30."

"Oh, 12:30. Okay. I'll go ahead and set two aside for you just in case."

"Great. Thanks."

I proceeded to tell hubs this story when I called him from the car on our way to Panera. His response? Ya, we're not eating those two bread bowls she set aside. Really, I'm sure there's no spit in them! I laughed. They'd never do that.

Would they?

Oh, well. It didn't matter. We got there, hubs ordered 2 broccoli-cheddar bread bowls and we were SET! I was so excited I devoured the crap out of that bread bowl. YUM!

What to Eat?

My little baby girl will be 13 months old in just a few days. It's so hard to believe how quickly she's growing up! I have to say one of my most favorite things about her growing up is the increased number of activities she can participate in--just like mommy and daddy. Walking, of course, was the biggest first milestone she reached. Now, if only I could get her to keep her shoes on, she'd actually get to walk around when we're outside! Silly thing! Another big milestone was the transition to "grown-up" food. This has been awesome in one sense, but extremely frustrating in another.

If you know anything about me yet, it's that I love to cook (and bake, of course!). But I'm having a hard time finding things to cook that hubs and I will enjoy but also that LO will eat, too! She is sooooooooo picky! First of all, the girl straight up refuses to eat meat. Any kind of meat. All kinds of meat. If meat somehow manages to sneak into her mouth, those little fingers will go in after it and get it out--pronto! Ugh. She also isn't a big fan of pasta, which both hubs and I could eat our weight in on any given day. So what will the little one eat? Corn. LOTS of corn. Green beans. Mashed potatoes. Sweet potatoes (like they're goin' out of style!). Bread--but only sometimes if she's in the "mood" for it. One thing she could eat her massive 20 lbs. worth of weight in?

Gerber Lil' Crunchies.
Anyway, finding things that LO will eat is only half of the battle. The other question is whether or not it's healthy for her! See, I don't want to start her out this young with the bad habits I've got (cake, anyone?). I want to feed her healthy food and snacks. But it's so hard sometimes to know what the "right" things are that I should be choosing. Like, just because it has a Gerber label on it, does that mean it's the right choice for LO? I dunno.

I was surfing for info on this earlier this week and I found what looks like a great little book:

I haven't purchased it (yet), but it looks like this will be a great addition to my library! I mean, who would've known that Spaghetti O's are healthier than the ol' blue box of mac & cheese? Certainly not me! Would you believe I've been feeding LO Kraft mac & cheese since she started eating "grownup" food?! Ugh. I mean, really, it shouldn't be that hard. But this book looks like it'll be really helpful in choosing the right things to feed LO for snacks, when we're eating out, or even what to cook at home.

The best part? There's also a version of this book for adults. Guess I'll be adding two books to my library!

Pork Gone Bad

Last night's dinner was a disaster. Ugh. I'm really trying SO hard to only use the ingredients I have on hand. I'll admit I did make a quick grocery run on Wednesday but it was only for milk and a few Gerber foods for LO.

So I was scrounging around in the freezer yesterday and found some pork ribs seasoned with a BBQ rub. If I recall correctly, I had purchased them a few months ago, kept them in the fridge a day or two, then plopped them in the freezer (prior to the expiration date). So they've probably been in the freezer for about two months. And I'm not one of those people that take meat out of it's original packaging and put it in special freezer-safe wrap or what-not. I just throw it in the freezer in the same packaging it came home from the store in.

Now I figured I'd call my fabulous sister to get tips on cooking these ribs since her and her husband make totally killer ribs! She said they typically season them, wrap them in foil like 4 times, then bake them at 250 degrees for a few hours. That way, all they do is toss them on the grill for a quick few minutes and voila! Perfect, delicious, fall-off-the-bone ribs!

Well, I had put the ribs back in the fridge about two days ago to defrost. After talking with my sister, I got them out of the fridge and prepared to put them in several wraps of foil. When I punctured the packaging, I almost gagged at the smell. Is pork supposed to smell funny? I dunno. I googled it. People said it wasn't unusual for pork to have a funky smell. One guy recommended rinsing it. Okay.

So I get over it, wrap it all up in foil and throw it in the oven at 250 degrees. Sweet.

About two hours later, I went to check on them. I opened the oven and suddenly was hit with the smell of... fish? Is that fish that I smell? Gag. It was at that point when I decided this pork would not be part of our dinner. It would be meeting our outside trash can in 3... 2... 1. Done.

Now, what can I make instead? I had some ground beef half-frozen in the fridge, but making meatloaf would take over an hour (note it's about 5pm at this time--hubs is due home any minute), I was too lazy to make meatballs with spaghetti, and nothing else sounded easy or good. I figured I could have hubs throw some beef hot dogs on the grill, but that totally didn't sound good, either.

So what did we do for dinner last night? My solution was the frozen pizza I found buried in the freezer. Whew!

Not really what I had in mind, but it worked!

And I'm happy to say that we've spent ZERO DOLLARS on eating out this entire week! And with the exception of my $13.97 shopping spree at Blooms on Wednesday, we've spent NOTHING on groceries!

Note to self: My shopping list is growing very long since we haven't done any shopping this week. I'm afraid when I do return to the grocery store next week, my total spending will be DOUBLE what it usually is... Who's great idea was this again?

Food Challenge

I'm trying something new this week. I told hubs that we're not going to eat out or buy groceries all week. It was just a weird whim that hit me yesterday (note: several days after my most recent grocery run) and I thought it would be a fun (and money-saving) challenge. I even gave hubs an advanced warning that I can't promise that what I'll be throwing on the table by Saturday will actually be a) edible and b) food.

I realized a drawback of my ingenious plan today. This means no lunch dates with daddy! Granted he was extremely busy at work today and wouldn't have had time to meet us, but I had gotten up early and was showered and dressed by 9:00 AM (believe it or not!) since we had a play date here at the house. So after LO's nap, our afternoon was W-I-D-E open. But, alas, we made do with some leftovers from yesterday (and threw out the leftovers from last week---eeew!). Dinner was a yummy chicken noodle casserole and I even found a strawberry Jell-O cheesecake mix in the cupboard, so dessert was a nice (and delicious!) surprise!

I have no clue what we'll be eating the rest of the week. And I'm really missing the idea of having lunch with hubs. But it still seems like a fun challenge. I can see just how creative I can be in the kitchen. And just how far hubs is willing to go to be nice and say, "Mmmm, honey! This blackened barbecue pork biscuit and bean pudding really IS good!" LOL! :)

LO's 1st Birthday Party

Okay, folks! Here it is! The long-awaited, much-anticipated post all about LO's first birthday party! :) Sorry it took so long to put this together! I just wanted to be sure to capture all of the highlights of the planning, party, etc.

So let's start with the invitation. I chose the "Hugs & Stitches" theme, but didn't want to send a generic invite where I fill out all of the lines inside for Who/What/Date/Time, etc. I wanted something a bit more personal. So here's the standard invite that can be purchased in the theme:

I enlisted the fabulous design services of my incredible sister-in-law (she's getting married in September--check out her blog!), and this is what she came up with. It was absolutely fantastic and perfect! This is the outside of the invite...

Sooooo cute, right? Well, check out the inside (some info has been removed for obvious reasons):

The invitation couldn't have been more perfect for this party! Now let's move on to the BIG DAY! LO was absolutely hilarious when I came home with a bunch of balloons--I think 13 in all! She was in heaven! We could've just called it a day after letting her play with those balloons (and tangle them up like crazy--thanks to Gramma and Grandpa for untangling them!).

It wouldn't be a party if we didn't grab a pic of the food. Yes, the food.

Here's a pic of the cake. A good friend of mine manages the bakery at our local Bi-Lo and she let me get all crazy about how I wanted the cake. As with all things, everything wasn't perfect with this party. The cake was one of those things. I had an image in mind of what I wanted, and I described it (and even drew it out) quite well! Unfortunately, they decided to make the cake look exactly like the napkin... who wants a gigantic napkin-cake!? Whatever. It wasn't as pretty as I was expecting, but it sure was delicious. It was a white cake with raspberry filling and yummy buttercream frosting. YUM-LISH!

Here's a picture of LO's smash cake. Isn't it cute? This one was a yellow cake with buttercream frosting.

Here's LO and me (yes, that's my hand!) as everyone is singing "Happy Birthday!" to her. I was worried she'd get embarrassed or super-shy with everyone staring at her and singing. But, no! This little girl is quite the entertainer! She was just eating it up!

Hmmm... Her first thoughts of cake were a bit perplexing. She wasn't quite sure about it at first, but definitely got the hang of eating such yummy cake!

Here she is enjoying the cake. Notice that adorable pic on the TV in the background? Oh, yes. That was the dreaded video presentation that was the thorn in my side the day before (and day of!) her birthday!

When LO was done with her cake, she made sure to let everyone know it! She has this adorable(?) way of clinching her jaw, making fists and squealing when she's frustrated or angry or upset or doesn't get her way. Am pretty sure it's adorable right now, but it will probably get old at some point. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure she gets this trait from her mommy's side...

LO really wasn't that interested in the opening of presents. I was surprised!

Of course, I made a novice mommy error in opening the biggest (and what ended up the most engaging) toy FIRST. It was electronic, had lights and sounds and everything. She was engulfed in this toy the entire time so mommy ended up opening all of her gifts. Fun.

Here she is playing with a stuffed piggy she got from a dear friend of mine. She loves her piggy!

Later after all the gifts were opened, she got to play on the ride-on toy we had opened first. Here's hubs pushing her around the living room (isn't he handsome?!).

Big surprise... LO loved her new bean bag! And one of those durn popcorn popper things? Ya, she would literally pick it up and carry it everywhere instead of roll it on the ground so it makes noise. Not sure I mind this technique...

Here she is chillin' with her popcorn popper on her new bean bag.

At the end of the day, it was time to put in one of her new "Elmo's World" DVDs and break in the new bean bag. Can you tell she had a long day?

Now, for those of you who may have children, this part may be hard to believe. See, LO had a short morning nap before the party (like 9:00 AM), and had a short afternoon nap after the party (around 5:00 PM). She hung out and played with us all afternoon. Keep in mind she typically goes to bed around 8:00 PM. Well, my dear friends from Atlanta drove up for the party, but were leaving that evening. We got to talking and decided to go out for dinner with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew. It was 8:30 PM, people, when this decision was made. So we were heading out to dinner a good 45 minutes past her bedtime. We had no idea how she'd behave.

Oh. My. Goodness. I don't know if she was on a cake high or what, but this child was a pleasure the entire time we were at dinner! I couldn't believe it! I brought all kinds of entertainment, snacks, drinks, a paci, her teddy that she sleeps with--even had a back-up plan for hubs or I to take her out to the Jeep to watch a DVD if she got super restless. We didn't need any of that stuff! Okay, maybe some snacks, but that was it. She was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! We didn't put her to bed until almost 11:00 PM and--as you can imagine--she slept like a baby, even though she's officially a toddler now!

Anyway, that's the rundown of LO's first birthday party! It was amazing, fun, exciting and all-around wonderful! Hubs and I celebrated the fact that we made it through our first year of parenthood, and LO celebrated the greatness of her one year of life! We are looking forward to all of the milestones and accomplishments that await our LO during year #2!

We are SO blessed!!!

Things that Make Me Happy

1. Seeing my daughter's smile when I get her out of her crib each morning.
2. My husband coming home from work early (or on time, or even late--as long as he comes home!).
3. Allowing the lady with only 3 items to go ahead of me in the check-out lane.
4. When they get my order right at the restaurant--any restaurant.
5. Getting my hair cut and straightened.
6. Finding a cute pair of shoes that actually fit my aircraft-carrier feet.
7. The smell of my homemade chocolate chip cookies.
8. The smell of my homemade buttercream frosting (assuming I'm not pregnant, 'cause I can't stand that smell when I'm pregnant).
9. Doing the "little things" to let my husband know how much I love him (i.e. hide a sweet note in his laptop bag before he leaves for work).
10. Helping someone who needs it.
11. Hearing my daughter's laugh.
12. Playing the piano.
13. Girls' Night In at my place! Oh, the fun of junk food, gossip and Dutch Blitz!
14. Planning LO's first birthday party!
15. Shopping with someone else's money (okay, that never happens, but it would make me happy!

What about you? What makes YOU happy?

Then Comes LO in the Baby Carriage (PART II)!

So when we last left off, I was 8 months pregnant (read: HUGE!) and hubs and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby girl! My due date was Tuesday, July 24, 2007. I saw the doctor for a scheduled appointment that day and we talked about an induction. I was on board with that (read: I wanted that baby out of me--stat!) so he made a call over to the hospital to make sure there would be a free bed in Labor & Delivery that evening. It was a GO! We were to arrive at the hospital at 6PM to get started with our induction.

We decided to have dinner at Cracker Barrel (another one of my favorites) as our "last hurrah" as a married couple without children. Can I just say that we had the WORST service ever!? The waitress was maybe 12, couldn't tell when drinks needed to be refilled, had to be asked to bring out biscuits, and took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to bring our bill. As you can imagine, we were QUITE disappointed with what would most likely be our last hot meal for 18+ years. Oh, and on the way to the hospital we hit some serious and unexpected traffic on the freeway and were so worried we wouldn't get there on time!

We made it through the traffic and to the hospital on time. We got "checked in" (ya, like it's a hotel or something) and I got to put on my pretty gown. At least it wasn't made of paper (I'm always looking at the bright side!). The nurse got an IV started and hooked me up with the first phase of the induction-: Cervidil. It was a long and relatively uncomfortable night. Labor definitely wasn't starting, so at least that wasn't a problem. It was the bed, being stuck sleeping on my back all night, and just kinda ugh. That was actually the first night hubs and I spent in separate beds since our wedding day (over a year and a half). At least we were in the same room--but he was stuck on some really uncomfy-looking couch. Guess that kinda made us even?

Early the next morning, the doctor broke my water (painful!) and I started phase two of my induction: Pitocin. At 7AM the nursing staff switched and (as planned) I got the BEST LDRP nurse EVER--my sister! I know what you might be thinking--hmmmm, would I want my sister scoping me out to see how far I'm dilated? I had already debated all of that way in advance and settled on the idea of my sister being my labor nurse. Best. Decision. Ever! She basically was able to come in to work with me as her only patient all day (okay, she had other things to do and patients to attend to, but she basically was with me in my room the whole time!). Now I highly recommend having someone you know as your nurse if at all possible. My sister was able to give me all kinds of info about what was happening, what was going to happen next, what I could do to make the process easier, which doctor/anesthesiologist/etc. were the best (and worst!), etc. SUCH a huge help!

My contractions had finally started and labor was progressing. Around 11AM I was ready for that epidural I was promised (NOTE: That was probably the one thing I was most afraid of with the whole labor process. I had some crazy fear that they'd puncture my spinal cord and I'd be paralyzed. I'm weird.). Luckily the epidural went fine and I was in heaven!

I kept watching the monitor to see if/when I was having a contraction (now that's what I call labor!). But the afternoon went by so slowly it was ridiculous! They kept checking me and I just wasn't dilating very quickly.

Around 9PM or so, my sister and the doctor were getting concerned about LO since it had been about 15 hours since my water broke, and my labor wasn't progressing quickly enough. My sister informed me that if I wasn't at 10 the next time the doctor came back that we'd have to move forward with a C-section. That was SO not what I wanted! Ultimately I was willing to do whatever my sister and the doctor thought would be best for LO. My sister talked me through the entire process of the C-section from start to finish (since this wasn't something I had prepared for at ALL), and that really helped ease my fears. Really the worst part was that there'd be a MUCH longer recovery period. But I didn't care. I was ready and willing to do whatever I needed to.

The doctor came back for one last check. Turns out I was at 10 and LO was in the right position to start pushing! It was time!!

Now, I just have to insert a comment here. All those deliveries you see on TV or in the movies must absolutely be entirely fake. All of them. The woman always looks excited, she pushes twice, screams once and "poof!" there's the baby! It takes all of 12 seconds. That could not BE more wrong.

So my job is to do the pushing. My sister (i.e. labor/delivery nurse) is responsible for counting to 10 during each push. Hubs is responsible to stand there and watch it all go down. Now, I did learn a sneaky little trick of the LDRP nurse during this experience. This is how my sister would count to 10:

"1... 2... 3... You're doing great! Keep in up! Oooh, the stock market's looking good today! Is it raining outside? 3... 4... 5... I wonder if I remembered to put the windows up in the car? 5... 6... 7... Come on! Keep it up! LO's on her way! You're doing great! 7... 8... 9... and... 10!

In other words, it took her two and a half minutes to count to 10. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to be pushing the whole time. Now, in case you didn't already realize this, you can't breathe while pushing a baby out of your body. My entire head was bright red the whole time I was pushing--probably even close to purple.

I felt like I wasn't making any progress. I felt like I'd been pushing forever. I was tired. I was uncomfortable. The doctor was trying to encourage me by saying things like, "I can see her head. She's almost here! Just one more push!" Quite literally, my response to him was one single word: "Whatever." Said with the least amount of emotion humanly possible. I just didn't believe him. He'd said "just one more push!" like 12 times. I was telling him and my sister that they should just get a vacuum or some tongs or some other apparatus to just get her out already. I was done.

Somehow or another, it really did come down to one last push. As irritated as I was at my sister for taking a light year to count to 10, I pushed again and FINALLY! our baby girl had arrived at 11:48 PM! I saw a quick glimpse of her before they rushed her to the warming area and my baby nurse (who happened to be MY MOM!) started cleaning her up and running through that whole process.

I was looking over at my daughter, quite literally trying to count her fingers and toes to make sure they were all there, when the doctor started jabbing his fist into my abdomen. "STOP! It hurts!" I cried. He continued trying to knead a hole into me, completely ignoring my cries of pain. This was so completely much worse than pushing. No one told me to expect this. I was supposed to be smiling and crying as they bring my newborn daughter to me, all wrapped in a blankie and topped with a standard-issue cap, so I could look at her in awe and amazement.

But--NO! The doctor said he was trying to get the placenta to separate (sorry if that's TMI and/or grosses you out--I'm trying to make this story as "PG" as possible!) and he'd need to continue. I heard him offer pain meds and I jumped at the chance to alleviate the torture. My sister (remember, she's the LDRP nurse) put some kind of somethin' in my IV and as I stared across the room at my daughter, everything went black.

Approximately two hours pass.

My daughter was weighed (8 lbs. 13 oz.!), measured (22 in.) and got to meet her Daddy for the first time. She got her first bath (thanks, MOM!) and Daddy even got his first lesson on diapering his baby. My other sisters and nieces and nephews got to see and hold my daughter.

And I missed all of it.

Unfortunately I had been given some serious drugs to knock me out while the doc finished working on me. Turns out I had a condition called "uterine atony" that caused hemorrhaging to the point where the doctor feared I would need an emergency hysterectomy. He was able to get the bleeding under control and I was going to be fine, but unfortunately I missed the first two hours of my daughter's life.

When I finally "came to" around 2AM, my husband introduced me to our daughter, LO. I was still quite groggy, but I knew instantly that she was and would always be the love of my life (well, one of them, I guess, since I love my husband, too!). I was absolutely smitten with her, and continue to be so each and every day. I look forward with anxious anticipation of all we have to look forward to as she grows into the beautiful young lady she was created to be.

Here I am with my precious little girl...











I still just feel so lucky that she is ours, and we are her parents. For always!

Meet our Little One...

Pet Peeves

I've decided to share a short list of my pet peeves, in no particular order. I'm sure if I thought about it long enough, I could double or triple this list. But I'll keep it short for those of you who are supposed to be working right now!

1. Bad customer service. Anywhere.
2. The guy in front of you at the stoplight that has a 12 second delay before he realizes the light is green.
3. Same guy from #2 that take 2.7 minutes to get up to the speed limit--even if it's only 35.
4. When you're on the phone about something (like a purchase or what-not) and they ask for your name and/or phone number. You start to give it to them and they ask you to hold on so they can get a pen, paper, etc...
5. People who drive at or under the speed limit while in the left lane of the highway (hmmm... a lot of these seem to focus on other drivers, huh?).
6. PCs. That's right--I'm a Mac girl now!
   
7. People who say they're gonna do something but don't.
8. Bathroom doors that you have to "pull" to exit. This makes no sense to me.
   
9. People who say what they think you want to hear--especially when they don't mean a word of it.
10. When someone with more than 20 items uses the express check-out lane marked "20 items or less."
11. Having to ask the server for a refill on your beverage.
12. Stretch marks. 'nuff said.
    
13. When my Internet connection is down. Or slow.
14. Long lines. Anywhere.
15. Ladies who leave the bathroom without washing their hands. (gag)
    
16. Blog readers who don't leave comments (Seriously! I want to hear from YOU!).

What about you? What are your biggest pet peeves? Do any of mine make your Top 10 List?

National Doughnut Day!

Yes, you read that right! It's National Doughnut Day!











I don't know about you, but I just added this national holiday to my Top Ten List! I'd say it ranks up there with the first day of Summer! And to celebrate, you can actually get a FREE doughnut at participating Krispy Kreme locations! How awesome is that!?

If you're from the South, there really isn't anywhere you can get a real doughnut except at Krispy Kreme. Can you say YUM?! So click here to find the location nearest you and go get yourself that delicious calorie bomb! After all, it IS a holiday, so why not get out there and celebrate it?

For the Locals...

Okay, so I've got to post this for all of my local readers. I do have local readers, right? Right??

...crickets chirping...

Anywho, for those of you who live in the Upstate of South Carolina, I just had to pass this link along. Hold onto your seats, folks! I know you can't hardly wait to know what little gem I've found that seemed worthy of posting for all the world to see. It's a--wait for it!--Searchable Upstate Restaurant Inspection Database! Woo-Hoo! Not that I'd consider myself a total germaphobe (pretty darn close, though...

Exhibit A:













Exhibit B:









Exhibit C:












...you get the point.). But how cool is it that you can find out what letter grade your favorite restaurants received (of course they should ALL be A's) during their recent inspections? Not only the letter grade, but the actual score (0-100) the restaurant received as well! How nice is that?! I for one am quite interested in to know if that "A" posted in the window was an impeccable score of 100, or a lame "employees-forget-to-wash-their-hands" 90.

Well I bet you all weren't anticipating such a poignant glimpse into the neurotic-ness of mom2lo, now were you? Ha! At least I feel like I've provided a public service by sharing this link. That makes me feel good. Although maybe a bit germ-y.

Where's my Purell??!

Um, Ya... The Cow is Still Mooing

WARNING: This may very well be the world's longest single post on a blog ever in the history of man! Err... at least in the history of the Internet. Or blogs. Or whatever. You get the idea.

Okay, so hubs, LO ("Little One"--our adorable 10-month-old daughter) and I just got back from dinner at our local Copper River Grill. I say "local" when in reality it's actually a good 25 minute drive each way. Anywho, we had a gift card so figured we'd end up pretty even once you calculate gas costs to get there and back with the fact that we were getting a free meal. Super!

So we get there and were told we'd have a brief wait. Alrighty-then! No biggie. LO's getting hungry but she should survive. Over the next 10 minutes,at least 6 or 7 other parties arrive and are immediately seated. Weird, no? It turns out they only have like 6 actual tables where a high-chair can be used; the rest are booths with that durn "step up" to them so a regular high-chair would be too short. So strange that they'd limit their ability to sit parties with small children this way. Oh, well. We're finally seated in the "non-smoking" area, which happens to be about 20 feet from the smoking bar area. Now as you can imagine, the lovely smell of second-hand cigarette smoke is just wafting it's way to our table throughout our entire meal. Let's see... table? Check! High-chair? Check! Cancer? Um, check... apparently!

Moving right along... we place our drink orders (water for hubs, Pepsi for me) and a few moments later order our meals. Salads come out a bit later--yummy! They serve a To. Die. For. crescent roll with the salad--you know the ones, the kind with the super-tasty honey butter! Mmmmmm! We're almost through with the salads when our meals arrive (NOTE: This is a HUGE pet-peeve of mine. Please do not bring me my meal while I'm obviously still working on my salad. See, I'd actually like to eat my steak and veggies hot, not lukewarm after sitting at the table for several minutes!). So hubs starts working on his chicken pasta (it looked and tasted delish!). In the meantime, I gingerly cut into the very edge of my sirloin. The durn thing almost jumped across my plate! Red juicy goo starts oozing all over my plate and I almost gag myself right then and there (another side-note: I'm borderline vegetarian these days. Can't stand working with, looking at, touching, smelling, or being within the very vicinity of raw meat. Gag.).

Uh, ya... this is an actual photo of my steak:











I immediately pushed the plate away, made my typical "I'm so totally disgusted" face, and of course hubs wondered what was wrong. Once he saw the cow dash across my plate while mooing incessantly, he quickly realized my issue. When the waitress returned to ask how everything was, my husband handled the problem and reminded her I had ordered my steak "medium-well." Now, in my world, that should mean "very slight warm pink center." In their world, apparently, this meant "make sure he's still buckin' on the way out the door!" The poor girl even asked us what medium-well is supposed to look like! You'd think they'd have some sort of training for their servers before they start serving. Oh, well. We thought it was funny.

To my surprise, she returned a mere 2 or 3 minutes later with my steak. "Hmmm...," I thought, "How in the world did they finish cooking this steak so quickly? They must have some amazing convection-grill apparatus thing back there!" Well, after another little slice into the edge of said steak, the little guy whimpered in obvious pain. He was definitely more done than before, but the cool pink center and slightly red-hued juices on my plate told a different story. Gag. Again.

Rather than have my steak soaked in another round of spit (hopefully just spit--certainly nothing else besides spit, right? Right????), I told hubs that I'd rather just have them take it off the bill and ended up sharing his pasta instead. The waitress was very apologetic (and I mean very--she must've said "I'm sorry" a record 32 times!) and removed the meal from our bill. I also had to ask for refills on our beverages several times (you shouldn't ever have to do that, right? They should just know when the cups are empty!). Although she got me good when she brought me a Diet Pepsi. I'm sorry, but that's just one four-letter-word this girl is not down with (I reminded her I was drinking a regular Pepsi and she brought me a new one a few minutes later. Whew!).

That leads to the funniest part of this whole fiasco... We paid our $17.17 bill with a $50 gift card. After running it through, she returned to our table to apologize (again!) and wished us a good night. My husband asked if we could please get the gift card back, to which she responded with, "Oh, there's nothing left on it." Okay, think through this with me here. We paid with a gift card. Our bill was $17.17. Who in their right mind would purchase a gift card for exactly that amount? Seriously, who? It was quite comical that she thought that way. We informed her that it was in fact a $50 gift card, and she gladly returned it to us. How sweet, huh?

Whew! So that was our latest dining experience. I'm tellin' ya, I think I just have some sort of bad "customer service" karma (not that I actually believe in karma, 'cause I don't.). Experiences like this just really make me feel like some crazy high-maintenance female that just can't ever be happy. "Oh, so you don't want your meat to dodge the knife when you try to cut it... We never get requests like that!"

So I felt it would be fun to jot all this down and figured, while I was at it, why not post it for all the world to see (i.e. read)? Good times. I figure I'll post lots of my random thoughts and experiences here. I think it's good for my soul. And who are you to tell me that it's not? :)