Wednesday, January 26, 2011

In my mind

While perusing the magazine aisle at the grocery story today, which is not the norm as usually I have Matthew in tow and all he can think about is getting his free Publix cookie, I came to realize these few things
I really love the smell of cinnamon, there are some leftover cinnamon brooms at the grocery store and the smell just made me happy. I think it was the first time today that I wore a real smile and just had an easy feeling.
Then while I was looking at some decorating magazines I realized that I really like the teal blue green color, peacock color if you will and all variations of it.
So two things: I love teal and cinnamon.

I also have figured out the perfect girl name if I ever get pregnant again and if that pregnancy leads to a girl I have the name all figured out. I will not say it now as I don’t want to hear any crap about it but the initials are of course M and the middle name J.

Back to perusing magazines- I should NOT do that. It just gives me more decorating ideas and I already have too many of them. On top of that it gives me the wants. I need to stop having the wants and start liking what I already have more. Even Oprah says so.
Speaking of, when I got home today, the package from Macys was at my door,  this is the order I placed after receiving yet another negative pregnancy test and I allowed myself to order the dress and the cardigan I had been eyeing. However the dress is going back. It was on clearance and that means there was only one size left and lord only knows what lead me to hit add to bag on an XS.
 I also bought these single serving broccolis which I forgot how much I loved and they are only 40 calories.
That is where my head has been today.
Oh and I want to stay at home, not drop of my boy at daycare anymore.

This is a plant that I am NOT going to kill and it happens to be in the teal color that I am obsessed with right now


Saturday, January 22, 2011

A long time ago in a high school cafeteria far far away I met a boy over french fries.
He asked me out over the summer thirteen years ago with an Icee in his hand
He taught me to eat new foods, what a SuperSport was and convinced me NY was not the way to go
We made it through college, nearly unscatthed.


 We moved to the other coast where he asked me to be his wife, just the same way he asked me to be his girlfriend many years before

We married six years ago today, surrounded by our family and friends

We introduced the other love of our life 3 years ago


   Here is to MANY MANY more years together,
 adding to our brood and creating everlasting memories.



Friday, January 21, 2011

My Soap Box

People wonder what’s wrong with the world today- let me give you some hints:

Toddlers and Tiaras- toddlers DO NOT need to get their eyebrows waxed nor don cone bras circa Madonna 1988. As a mother I can understand wanting to show off how beautiful your child is but this is taking it many, many steps too far. This is purely for the parent’s satisfaction as the child obviously has no reference to ask for these things. I am no purest and have dressed my son up in outfits that put a smile on my face not his but I certainly did not parade him around on stage and request that he be judged. I think it is stunts like this that create the mean girls in grade schools that terrorize other children for being age appropriate. My now 10 year old niece once told me she needed to go on a diet and that she wants a Vera Bradly bag- now do you think she came up with that on her own? Her parents are extremely loving and she is well disciplined and yet she had these thoughts of herself that no 8 year should have.

The Show Bridal Plasty is another horrible creation. I have only seen clips of this show while on a plane but the premise is awful and yet again pits women against each other in a bitter battle to deteriorate the others self esteem which is obviously already low if they are even on the show to begin with. The premise is to engage in trivial games in order to win plastic surgery prior to their wedding day. Here is an actual snipit from the site about the show: Brides! Hate your face? Bored by your breasts? Fancy being on TV? ... Each week, groups of betrothed women will be set wedding-themed challenges. The winner gets a surgical operation of her choice. Really America?

What has happened to our gun control and lack of firearm knowledge? For years children were raised with guns in the house, some hanging on the wall and there were no rampages on school yards or massacres at the grocery store. We need to teach our children fire arm safety, the proper use of guns and the consequences of misuse. It scares the bejesus out of me to watch the news and hear stories like: 14 year old shoots Father, Aunt and Grandmother. 11 year old shoots and kills his mother over being asked to bring in some firewood. And obviously the recent massacre in Arizona and all of the events on school campuses Nationwide do not make anyone feel safe. I know, I know, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. I know it is our right to bear arms and that there are laws out there that are supposed to protect us but guess what they aren’t working!  We need to take it upon ourselves to bring awareness to our family and keep them safe. I am no gun enthusiast, just a concerned parent.

Our love for celebrities who do not have their sh*t together is another huge setback for society. Why do we hold people like Charlie Sheen in a golden light, he has been accused of some heinous acts and yet we let him slide because he is an actor? I am not saying that the lives celebrities lead is not fascinating, and that yes I yearn for the fashion, the glitz and would love to get all dressed up for a premier BUT look at what fame does to people. Can you think of many reality shows where the one time mundane family/couples that is now thrust into the spotlight ends well? Jon & Kate, Nick & Jessica, Even Little People Big World… it messes with their head and it’s because of us, the overly peering public is obsessed with them that it continues on. I would like to see some class and elegance brought back.

Snookie! Nuff said. Not to say that I don’t tune in to watch Jersey Shore but I am an adult and find it amusing, I don’t yearn to be Jwoww or Snookie or be one of the many random women ready to Smush or DTF. Children watch this show and Idolize these fools. Why on Earth does The Situation hold a 5 million dollar yearly income and us lowly people who work hard, study, and try to maintain decency pull down less than 6 figures? It just doesn’t seem right!

There is ZERO accountability these days. Everyone blames someone else for their actions. Which goes right along with the above two complaints.

Also I have ranted about this before- perhaps in the days of MySpace- but I loathe those who see marriage as their chance to have a big party and not hold the union to any standard and get divorced months later. If you want a big fancy party and a white dress, have a big fancy party and wear a white dress! Don’t take vows that you have no intention of keeping! Marriage is hard work and if you have no desire to put forth any effort in maintaining a healthy, sacred, well meaning balance of daily sometimes mundane but well worth it tasks associated with a long prosperous blending of two lives then Don’t put a ring on it!

Okay I feel better now. Time to go get my Treinta Mocha Latte from Starbucks and watch the DVR’d marathon of The Real Housewives while letting my son go unattended to as he plays with scissors. Kidding, I’m kidding! (I like Tall Mocha drinks duh)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Struggles

So since during the winter blast of 2011, which was last week mind you and lasted for oh 4 days, I have struggled to start my diet and other resolutions. In the last day I have conquered these struggles and started:
  • To eat right and exercise a.k.a my resolution to Get Shake Weight Arms. I was a regular in the gym in Florida but my schedule was a wee bit different there  and I have gained a little extra jiggle since moving. I now have NO excuses to not workout since I made a brash purchase and bought an elliptical and I have the weights and knowledge to do the rest. I just pray for the willpower to stay away from the sweets. Which is extremely hard when your toddler son is sick and you bribe him with candy to get him to take his medicine and there are leftover Skittles, Peanut butter bars and Teddy Grahams.

    Why do they taste so damn good
  • Yesterday I also started another term to obtain my MBA. To be honest I have zero desire to go back to school but since my company is paying for it and it can't hurt me - I decided to hit the books. Its taking me a long time to graduate since I refuse to pay any money out of pocket but when I do graduate I can say I'm smarter than my husband! We all know this NOT to be true as he knows just enough about everything to argue any point and will at any given point in time.
  • I also started this blog which is something I have been wanting to do for a long time now but just never got around to it. I have to say reading Natalie's blog (which is deeper than this one and helping a lot of people out there) made me push myself to get on the ball. Speaking of balls,  Cakeballer Emmie turning out the cake balls like nobodies business also made me want to jump into this world of blogging.
  • Another resolution of mine is to Enjoy Cooking more. I love to bake but that is because I love to eat sweets. I want to enjoy making meals, that my husband will eat and not scoff at. He is particularly picky about his meals, although last night I came home from work and he was eating an english muffin with melted peanut butter on it and washed it down with a glass of wine with ice in it. Perhaps I am rubbing off on him more than I thought. 

To that end here is the recipe for the Browned Butter Frosting noted in my first post:
1 Cup Butter
1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar
1/4 Cup milk
1 Tsp. Vanilla
Cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium head, stirring constantly, about 6-8 minutes or until butter is golden brown. Remove from heat immediately and pour butter into a small bowl, cover and chill one hour and begins to solidify.
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beginning and ending with the powdered sugar. Beat at low speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. I chilled my frosting, taking it out when the cupcakes were out of the oven. Giving the cupcakes time to cool was just enough time for the icing to be spreadable.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Lightning Fairy

Just a little tidbit about living north of Orlando... there is such a thing called static cling. I just got shocked while pulling the laundry out of the dryer, not just a little one either, a full on shock. My sister in law coined the term 'lightning fairies' when she told me she saw sparks of light as she and my brother in law (my husbands twin- more on that another time) were getting into the covers on their first visit. (I'll keep it it PG)  It wasn't till the second evening did we all realize it was the static cling. Thanks V for making me smile. So long story short, its cold, my hands are cracked and dry and I just got shocked doing the laundry. Gotta love winter time.
Not a lightning fairy but cute nonetheless

Its about time

Happy New Year and welcome to Discovering Grits, my little space to vent, learn and display all my concerns about actually having to be a big girl. Having recently moved from Florida to South Carolina- I just witnessed my first snow storm of my adult life. It was a beautiful blanket of snow which quickly turned to ice which I have never had the pleasure of driving in. At the same time my son had his first bout with pneumonia, my husband was recovering from arthroscopic foot surgery and I was trying to start a diet which failed miserably when we were 'snowed' in and I found a recipe for browned butter icing and just happened to have a box of chocolate cake laying around.   
So here is to new beginnings. Check back soon for recipes, photographs and life lessons I've learned and continue to learn as a mother, wife, and newbie blogger.