Little Monkey and Friends

Ballet camp (Lord, help me) starts next week.



And someone we know is incredibly excited about it.



While others are quite looking forward to their own day camp just down the street. Left to their own devices, their creative fashion forward-ness knows no bounds. I used to wonder when he'd show an interest in picking his own clothes. Now that it's happening, I am kicking myself.

Labels: goofy pics, summer

Pausing to appreciate the complexities of a good peanut butter & jelly sandwich.



Blue Skies.

Labels: summer

This weekend's festivities kept our days pretty full. Here's a round up



In preparation for the annual 4th of July BBQ, Mina helped me wash some sparkly, outdoor glassware. You can find them at your local Target - home of all things sparkly.



They are just perfect for holding the beverage of choice for the evening - "Fresca sangria." Recipe brought to you courtesy of Eddie Ross. He just has the best ideas ever for entertaining. You must check out his blog.




I also borrowed shamelessly from the dear friend I wished I had - Barefoot Contessa. I decided to make her Flag cake. Finding a pan this big was fun. Mina came along for that ride too. I'm normally a HUGE fan of Barefoot Contessa, but I wasn't crazy about the way this cake turned out. The cake itself was a little dry - maybe I overmixed it with my broken ass mixer? And the frosting wasn't my thing either - it was a creamcheese base. Some people love that. I guess I don't. Not sure if it's a kid thing either... I might try something different next year.



I prepped the berries solo though - for reasons you will soon see. Go Costco!



We started the weekend off with a visit to the town carnival. Doesn't Jordan look like he's got this thing totally under control? These 4 year olds are just old hat at the merry go rounds now.



And Miss Mina, taking charge on the fire truck .



The helicopter - riding solo! I know these are baby rides, and nothing to fear. But I think we were still riding with him on it last year.



This thing is the belly of the dragon ride that spins around. Argh... just thinking about it makes me queasy. Some appropriate dragon faces .



Jeff couldn't resist the siren call of the deep fried oreo.



When he offered a bit to Mina, her response was, "NO, I wanna eat da WHOLE ting!" She takes after her father.




On the 4th, I woke up early and made it to the town's 5k fun run. I've been preparing for this for a few months now; and since it's the first time I've ever run, I was pretty excited.



At the starting line, I posed with my racing buddy, Nataliya - a two time winner in her age group. Don't I look happy? I was a little delirious from skipping breakfast. I just can't run after I've eaten anything, can you? What do people eat before a real race? I think I could skip eating for a 5k or even a 10k.. but beyond that, you have to eat something, right?



And we're off! I was trying to wave to the kids. Look at all the real runners setting their pace clocks. I was just excited I got there in time to get my free t-shirt.



I was also very excited about this picture. I'll give you a hint. Look at my legs. I know it's not nice to brag, but gosh that picture gets me all giddy. I don't see those kind of muscles in any other part of my body, so I'm gushing a bit.



While I ran, Mina and Jordan played at the park with Jeff, Grandma H and Michael.



As I approached the finish line, I kept my eyes out for the kids. Would they be excited to see me running? For months now, I've snuck out of the house to run at night - leaving the kids under the watchful eye of their father. Some nights, I'd have put them to bed already. But some nights, if Jeff got home early enough, they would still be awake.

"Where you going mommy?" They would ask.

"I'm going running guys. I'll be back soon. Daddy's in charge."

"I wanna run too!" they'd say. And then I'd have to run out the door, while pretending not to hear their disappointed little cries in the background.

I just had to do it though. I just needed those 40 minutes of running to get my head on straight again.

1

But, I hoped they'd get it. And it turns out, they did. As I approached the finish line, they came running out to meet me. Mina charged into my arms and Jordan grabbed my hand.



Together, we jog/walked to the end where they ripped my number tag off and told me my time.



Jordan skipped us along.



And we finished in 32 minutes. Which is 8 minutes less than my average.



Jordan celebrated with a mandatory warrior pose. I celebrated by plopping down on the concrete and guzzling some warm water.

That evening, I made up for my skipped breakfast:



Meet Jeff - the grill master.



While he sweated under the blazing afternoon sun, the kids played in the backyard.



We watched as they ate/didn't eat at the kids' table.



There was a whole lotta food that needed to be consumed - burgers, ribs, steak (not pictured - can only hold so much on one plate), roasted potato salad, Ashley's broccoli salad (thanks again!), and a new one Grandma H. tried - coleslaw with ramen noodles. Sounds odd, but trust me - it was good.



I had already frosted the cake, using Barefoot Contessa's recipe, but I saved the decorating for the kids. In hindsight, this may not have been the best idea ever. Some kids took it seriously, like Julia..


and her brother, David.




And some people just wanted to eat all the raspberries by themselves.

I hope you all had a happy and healthy 4th of July. Someone said, "Isn't it great to live in a country that celebrates its independence with barbeques, food, tossing frisbees, fireworks, and celebrating with family?"

I'd have to agree.

Labels: celebrations, food aventures, friends, holidays, mommy time, summer

First, eat something. Trust me on this one.

You're going to need nourishment to sustain you.



This past weekend, I went to Boulder, Colorado, to visit my brother Osman, and his wife - Dallice. Here they are looking all cute.

I left the kids at home to be well cared for by Monkey Sr., Grandma H, and Michael. The odds were in favor of the grownups given the numbers, but ya never know..



Flying into Denver involved a short 4-hour plane ride. It's amazing how quickly the time passes when you have nothing better to do than read your Kindle and order drinks. So peaceful. So calm. So quiet.

The view. Can't you just smell that fresh, mountain air?

Upon arriving, Osman and Dallice were kind enough to pick me up and drive me to town.



First stop - lunch at the Boulder Teahouse. I was too busy scarfing down my food to get up and take pictures of this lovely little gem of a restaurant. So, I borrowed a pic from their website. Dallice tells me the restaurant itself was a gift from Boulder's sister-city, Dushanbe, Tajikistan.



Not a bad gift from a sister huh?

In similar fashion, I brought Osman some New Jersey soap.

And a birdhouse.

I had to pack light. It was pretty soap though. "Masala" - guaranteed to make you smell more desi.

Ouch.

Following a hearty lunch, Dallice and I treated ourselves to a well-deserved afternoon at the Essentiels Spa, just around the corner from my hotel. It was very, very nice.



You see?

A wonderful lady with big, strong hands, gave me a soothing massage - complete with luxurious aromatherapy oils to soothe my body. I returned the favor by immediately falling asleep on the table and waking up with major pillow face. Who knows what she did, but I felt well-rested.



I dropped my stuff off at the hotel. The view was so pretty.

And because the afternoon had been so taxing, we decided to venture downtown and commence the cocktail hour and dining hour.



Something minty was in order.

Boulder is a young town - meaning there's a lot of young 'uns scampering about attending the University and aquiring useful life skills that will translate into meaningful employment and deep, introspective futures ahead of them. When they aren't too busy doing that, however, they frequent some of the same watering holes we visited. Thus, I was shocked and awed when the barkeep across the way demanded to see my ID.

"What?" I said, over the music.

"I.D." she mouthed, and flashed me a square-symbol with her hands, which I assume meant license, and not "square" as in - well, me. At that point, I giggled. What a great vacation!!

We had a delicious dinner, eaten under an open sky on the rooftop, In the distance, I could see the Rockies and feel myself get more light headed with each passing sip. Something about the high altitude apparently. I switched to water.

Off to Salsa!



and hula-hoop!



Because they just go together like that! And this is why Boulderites are so skinny, methinks. Every burst of food is followed by a round of something active before the calories ever get a chance to settle on your hips. Did you know Boulder is the skinniest small city in the country? Yes. I can vouch for this. The only fat people there are the tourists.

They can be found at places like this store:



At Powell's Sweet Shoppe, one can feast her eyes on an assortment of candy to make even Willy Wonka grow envious.



Some of his buddies even left behind souveniers.



And the candy...



loads of that...



With some old favorites you just don't see around anymore. Remember this classic?

On that note, we headed home and I passed out. But, keep in mind there's a two hour time difference. I hoped to sleep in late. And I did!

At 6:30 Boulder time, I woke up - refreshed and ready to go. I reminded myself I was still operating under NJ time, which meant it was 9:30 in my neck of the woods. That's a very late morning for me.

Knowing what lay ahead, I decided to get some exercise in before breakfast.



Armed with a map, and my keen sense of direction (Bwaahh!), I went for an nice, long run. That just means I was out running at snail pace for about an hour with no sense of distance. I did find a lovely running/biking trail that stretched along a creek. Surprisingly enough, there were tons of people out there running, biking, walking, pushing strollers, and even enjoying a casual cannabis smoke by the water. Boulderites are active people, it seems. And did I mention how skinny they are?



This might have something to do with it. They bike a lot. Osman and Dallice were kind enough to bring an extra bike over to the hotel for me to ride that morning. We decided to bike to our breakfast location.



Let me introduce you to a fine, li'l lady, known as Lucile. Lucile will treat you right.

Osman has told me that this place beats Bubby's hands-down for brunch. He wasn't kidding.



We started with some beignets. That's them there under the confectioner's sugar.



And a dee-li-ci-ous buttery, biscuit. This portion you see here is just a third of the actual biscuit. We split it between the three of us. Lucile's also makes its own jam - mine was strawberry-rhubarb. I bought a small jar of it, and the nice people from airport security have been enjoying it with their morning toast since Sunday.

I digress..



Eggs Pardou for Dallice.



Eggs Jennifer for me. Because I couldn't decide whether to go with the grits or the potatoes, I got to pick the "li'l bitta both" option. Sweet.

And because I was too busy stuffing my face, I couldn't take a picture of what Osman ate, but it looked real good.



We biked to our next stop - the farmer's market. This cruiser was so cute! And the rooty-toot horn was the best part. I might have to dig out my mountain bike for those short trips to CVS, instead of driving in my car. Not sure where I'd stick Mina and Jordan though.



Beautiful stuff at the market. This, dear readers, is what real strawberries are supposed to look like. Not like those behemouth, tasteless orbs they sell you from Driscoll's.



More pretty reds. You can't hear it, but in the background there was a Zimbabwean musical festival filling the market with sounds from another land. Pretty music on a pretty beautiful morning.

We biked back to Osman and Dallice's house for a quick pit stop. While they got ready for a hike, I checked my email and discovered I was apparently scheduled for a job interview on Monday. Whoops. We'll talk about that later. Let's stick to fun things.

Like our hike!

Refreshed, we grabbed their dog, Marley, and headed to the mountains.

First, a view from Flagstaff Summitt:



And then, the work begins.

"Two roads diverged in the woods; and I... I chose the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference," Robert Frost said.



We chose the stairmaster one. You probably never heard about that one. It looks like this.



"Let's do a nice, relaxing trail," I suggested, when Osman asked me what I was in the mood for that morning.



"You know... something easy, and light..."



"Nothing too taxing.."

The best part about spending the afternoon hiking, was knowing what came next..



Nachos at Southern Sun!! Because nothing says healthy living like a big, heaping plate of cheesy, beany goodness.

Oh boy. They were good. And that's all I have to say about that.

A quick shower later... (I'm going to spare you the details of the conversation regarding personal hygeine habits of Boulderites, because I think my brother is speaking only for himself here. He is under the impression that Boulderites don't feel the need to shower after a hard day of exercise. One shower a day is enough for them, regardless of sweat output. His wife Dallice, disagreed vehemently, and I am more inclined to take her opinion on this. Boulderites, be assured, I know you are clean people.)

And we headed off to the Boulder Outdoor Cinema showing of "Monty Python's the Search for the Holy Grail."



This was a super-fun, summery thing to do. Sitting below the stars, watching a great movie outdoors - BYOB and all the food and pillows you could haul in. Some of us made it to the end of the movie...



And some of us didn't.

I didn't either, but I made it longer than him, so I win.

And just when it seemed like the mini-vacation was over, Osman and Dallice pulled out ALL the stops and took me out for brunch on Sunday to the most amazing place in the world.

The Brown Palace.

Here, I was treated to the most sumptuous buffet of food I could imagine. It was almost like being at a full-scale wedding cocktail hour. There were four tables spread out across the width of the hotel ballroom. Off to the side, a piano player and jazz band performed for our amusement while an intricately carved ice sculpture gently melted under the twinkling lights.

Oh, and there was food.

A lot of food.



Oh wait. I forgot to mention the best part.... there was a DESSERT BAR!!!

Happy-happy! Joy! Joy!

Bring on the pictures, baby.





















And that is what is known as saving the best for last.

Boulder is an amazing place. And I got to experience it in the best of company. Thanks Dallice and Osman for sharing your home with me and helping me see the best of the best. I had such a fun time!

I might consider bringing the rest of the fam next time. I know Jordan would have made himself at home at the dessert bar.

Labels: adventures, family get togethers, food aventures, mommy time, summer, travelling

Heading to Colorado tomorrow - solo! I'm going to visit my brother, Osman and my sister-in-law, Dallice. Just a weekend trip, but I've been looking forward to it for years in the making. I was trying to think of the last time I've seen the both of them together. It's been too long.

I've never been out there before. This shall be a adventure.

The kids shall be well cared for by Monkey, Sr. and Grandma H. When I told them I'd be going away tomorrow, they reacted as follows:

Mina - "I'm going on a trip with you too, Mama. I go with you."

Jordan - "Dad is going to stay to keep an eye on us, right?"

Not sure what to make of that. I was so giddy with excitement today as I thought about a weekend off, I almost forgot something. As I put Jordan to bed tonight, and sang yet another chorus of "My Baby," I looked down at him and felt this wave of yearning. To hug him, to give him a kiss, to brush that piece of hair out of his eyes. Of course I'm going to miss them.





How could I not? They are diabolitos, but they're all mine.



Jordan's art is getting ever-more interesting. Today they did some "I" penmanship. Take a look at how he illustrated the letter "I."

"I" is for Ipod.

Oh, Brave New World.

While Jordan busied himself in the classroom, I worked my own magic in the kitchen. Temps hit the high 80's today and our kitchen was a humid, muggy mess. Don't you HATE cooking in the summer? Just the thought of it makes me want to pull out my sushi menu and pick up the phone. I need to put Daruma on the speed dial already so I can stop reaching up on the high shelf for the take-out menu file.

But, thanks to the beauty of Costco, dinner was just a few minutes away.



Spinach and Mozzarella ravioli.



Tossed in some of this, steamed.



With some marinated artichoke hearts, some roasted red pepper, and some parmigiana-reggiano cheese, it became this.

And this is why, among other reasons, why I love running. For weeks now, despite erratic eating patterns, my weight has managed to stay stable. A few runs a week, throw in some hills and some sweat, and I can eat a bowl of this without feeling too guilty. July 4th is the "big" race, and after that, I need to find something new to train for or this spot on the couch is going to become even deeper.

On the topic of running, I'm so into this book - "Born to Run." It's about this tribe of indigenous Mexicans living in the Copper Canyons who've perfected the art of ultramarathons. Don't know what that is? I didn't either till I started reading. Think NYC Marathon doubled, add some more miles, some heat, night, trails, and a crazy sense of pushing your body beyond known human limits - and there ya go.

These people are crazy, but it's an amazing read.

Well, we all have our own hobbies. Jordan and Mina have rediscovered the building block set (it had to be removed for awhile.) And they've taken to creating fantastic little stories of their own, using the blocks as props and toys as characters.



Here, Cinderella and Snow White are taking a nap/having a sleepover. Cinderella got the "big bed" and Snow White got the "trundle bed."



Not to be outdone, Jordan created the same for his spacemen. Only he went one better -



He designed an escape ladder so the astronauts on top could get off without disturbing the ones below.

Those astronauts, by the way, are cake topper decorations I used for Jordan's 3rd birthday party. I can never throw anything away.

Labels: adventures, cooking, goofy pics, mommy time

Preparations for Father's Day began during the week. A quick crafty idea later, and we were all set. Thanks to our friend MB, who did this craft with her kids and generously shared the idea with me. Jordan and Mina supplied the graphics. Off to a secret corner to hide until Sunday.




On Saturday, we were blessed with yet more rain, and a still-recovering Mina. While Jeff worked in the basement (hard working lawyers never take a day off), I decided to make cupcakes with my own Click and Clack. They are about as useful at baking as those two are at fixing your car over the radio.



They are good at decorating though, provided they get to sample along the way.



But, not so good at posing.



Jeff's best cupcake-eatin' grin.



The good part.



On Sunday morning, while everyone slept, I woke up early and made breakfast. What says Father's Day better than some homemade sticky buns? I can't complain too much about making breakfast - Jeff does it for the kids every other day of the year. I usually stumble downstairs slightly later to make them lunch for school, and drink coffee. Jeff always leaves me alone until well after the coffee.



One of these days, the kids can get up on their own and make breakfast. In the meantime, here's Mina eating some of the breakfast I made for Jeff.

She's not so good at helping.



In fact, she's kind of a demanding little thing, actually.



Not to mention a bit bossy. She's got all of us working for her.



Eventually, she let Jeff sit down to open his card - made by Jordan.



And open his presents too.



Later, we went out to dinner, so Jeff could enjoy his steak in piece.



And then got up early on Monday to keep celebrating. The school arranged for some Father's Day bowling at the local lanes.



Picking out the right ball is critical. Never mind the actual weight of it, or anything trivial like that. Color, people - it's all about the color. Look how brilliantly that shiny, 15-lb pink ball glows. Why mess around with the dinky little 8 pounders when you could have this one?



Jordan is such a pro at this, he just grabbed his ball and ran with it. Literally. His form can only be fully appreciated if you realize how low he is to the ground to begin with. That is one deep knee bend.



And, apparently, it works.



Thirsty business - this bowling thing.



Mina gave up quickly and spent several frames consuming calories. I like her style.



Jordan came over for some strategizing



Which was a good thing, since one of our team members - Sydney - emerged as the dark horse in the mix.



And they waited for their turns, patiently. What more could you ask for??

Happy Father's Day!

Labels: celebrations, Jeff, summer

After last night's dinner debacle (see below post), and yet another night of no sleep (Mina's cold), I decided tonight's dinner was going to be super-simple, kid friendly, and to hell with worrying about adequate nutritional guidelines. I just wanted something on the table that the kids would eat, that I didn't spend an hour cooking.

Pizza.

But I didn't want to order. I wanted them to make it. Let them do the cooking for a change. Ha Ha.

I made it easy for them. Store-bought crust, Sargento shredded mozzarella cheese on their half. Spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and goat cheese on mine and Jeff's.



The sauce though, is something worth commenting on. Locals among you - you might recognize the jar - it's from Jerry's. It's the marinara one. Love this. Even the kids like Jerry's. How could you not? The sheer amount of samples is enough to tempt even the most fickle of tastebuds. These days, I try to avoid the store as much as possible. Its evil array of good things is more than I can handle. But when I want to indulge a bit, I go straight to the cheese counter and buy a small wedge of the goat cheese called Humboldt Fog.. Sooo good.

I digress. Really got lost there for a moment thinking about that cheese.



Look how serious he is here. Once, he told me when he grew up he wanted to be a pizza delivery guy. He would own his own restaurant; and I could cook there; and he could even deliver the pizza's himself. Should the lawyer in me be disappointed by the lack of ambition here? Oh hell no. I'd be thrilled if he wanted to be a pizza delivery guy/chef/restaurateur. I'd be the first one in line to eat the very first pizza he ever made. And all the while, I'd be thinking back to each and every meal he ate at my table as a child.

As payback, I'd insist that every slice of pizza I got be comped... because after all these years of food related torture with him - I deserve it. I deserve free pizza. That's all I ask. And you never know. Every great chef had to start somewhere. Why not with pizza? Daniel Boulud, eat your heart out.



So, everything was going swimmingly. Is that a word?



They were taking turns spreading the sauce, sprinkling the cheese...



And then the chef decided that "glumping" the cheese in the middle was way more fun.



This one is so easily amused.



She thinks anything he says is funny.



I intervened long enough to assemble the grown-ups side of the pizza. Guess which one that is?



Now, pizza is - to put it in weight watcher parlance - a "trigger" food for me. What that means in English is - if you put a pizza in front of me, I will eat the whole pie. I will then be consumed with so much guilt and loathing that I will eat a bowl of ice cream and probably attempt to bake some chocolate chip cookies to wash it down with. This is called compulsive eating.

So, I try to avoid eating too much pizza because it does bad things to me. When I get some for the kids, it's usually on a night when I'm eating out. I also try to avoid eating it at the multitude of kids' birthday parties we attend. If I'm at one of yours and you notice I'm not eating, it's not because I hate your pizza. It's because I want to eat all of your pizza and then eat the entire ice cream cake and all the cupcakes too.

Even your kid's.



Which is why I'd like you to know how much restraint I exercised tonight. I gave Jeff the bigger piece of the half left to us. I ate mine and prepared a salad to go along with it so I'd be full (oh yay, zero points,) and I wrapped up everything quickly before the demon inside of me awoke and hurt someone.

Labels: cooking