Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A Deep Dish Chicago Style Weekend

A week ago we drove up to Madison on a late Thursday night. Joe took this fantastic and entirely educational photography class held at Monona Terrace all day Friday, so while he was busy learning how to blind people with strategically placed lights, I had the pleasure of spending the day fitting into the wild, hectic, constantly on the go routine of my sister in law, Katy. I clung on, catching my breath as she shuttled kids to school and Mimi's (grandma's) and grabbed a quick breakfast with friends and their passel of small humans all covered in four identical orders of chocolate chip pancakes, a nearly universal favorite kid breakfast I have come to learn.

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We bought paint so Katy could finish painting the imminent baby girl Sands' bedroom, the boys and I counted paint brushes, I strapped and unstrapped a little boy into his car seat so many fumbling times that by the end of the day I could do it almost as fast as Katy. We hit Target and bought a cart full of stuff that I can't remember. We dropped Connor, the three year old nephew, off at Spanish class and Jackson, the nineteen month old nephew off with Mimi, and Katy and I actually had the chance to have an hour long conversation without her having to wrangle a small or larger Sands boy.

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I think it was the first full girls only conversation we've had in nearly three years. It was great. We filled our faces with salad and talked smack about our families and ourselves. Nice Friday. Then Joe arrived back at Jim and Katy's to rousing cheers for "JO JO!!" (What the boys call Joe, they looove him, Jack almost cried when we left, no JO JO!) And we got in the car and drove the three hours to Chicago.

I love Chicago. I've probably been about there about five or six times in my life. Just enough for the city to feel familiar but lacking any tangible ability to get myself around without a map or a guide. And we had the best guides. We stayed with Joe's youngest brother Jon, and his girlfriend Samantha. They live in a young, hip part of town, Lakeview. Their apartment is a good size, especially for a big city. Two bedrooms, filled with beautiful antique Craig's list furniture and their quirky funny style, we were totally comfortable immediately. We arrived tired and ready to crash and ended up staying up hours later, eating late night deep dish pizza, because this is a requirement when visiting Chicago, and were introduced to the most bizarre, fascinating train wreck of a television show that I have never seen before in my life, topped by a second and stranger program. I speak of Hardcore Pawn and Cheaters. One the reality show following the scary staff and customers of an enormous Detroit based pawn shop complex and the second an oddly staged overly dramatic hidden camera adultery show. Bottom of the barrel, groody, tacky and utterly compelling, at least while on vacation and while watching it with our cool Chicago family. Joey Greco, the host of Cheaters, has been punched, stabbed and verbally abused all in the process of helping people discover that their partners are cheating on them with nasty strangers. It's a horrible, horrible entertaining show. But back to Chicago, we did do things other than eat two pound slices of pizza and watch bad third tier reality tv. We hit the city, hit it quick and dirty, in just one day.

There were so many fabulous photos that Joe slipped them into a little slideshow, so enjoy.


Saturday morning we got up and hung out in the apartment, drinking coffee, conversing on serious topics like Family Guy and attempting to sketch out our plans for the day. We started with a quick trek to Jon's favorite enormous Marshall's just a few blocks down the street. This Marshall's was large and fancy and chock full of good bargains and some fancier name brands than we typically see here in KC. So we shopped. And it was good, I snagged some home goods items, and a perfect little black dress and yes, my husband bought a lime green Oxo watering can. After our shopping excursion we walked back to the apartment to drop off our goodies, while I fell deeply in lust with an eclectic little gift shop filled with a mix of vintage items, paper goods and lovely accessories and pieces of art. I stopped and browsed and dreamt of owning my own version of this little store. Instead I bought a dark blue glass hand. Because I had to, it was shiny and it now holds my wedding ring set and trademark silver bangles every night when I fall asleep. Newly purchased items dropped off, we ventured back out onto the mean streets, caught a cab and jaunted off to WRIGLEY FIELD!

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I'm not a big baseball fanatic, but Wrigley Field is straight up cool. Plus even though I've never been there before, it feels so familiar since it's in so many movies and tv shows. It was bigger and bolder and brighter than I expected as we came around the corner, it was like, bam, WRIGLEY FIELD. Then we had lunch, which included beer and fried pickles. Come on, Chicago, you are ruining me for other places with your tacky delicious food and third tier reality shows and discount name brand shopping. We had lunch at Goose Island, crammed into a red leather booth we ate lots of stuff and half watched the Bulls game on the twelve big screens. After our greasy feast we caught the train headed downtown. The train was packed, the girls scored seats, and we listened to cool hipsters from Spain tease each other, while a girl with a significantly sized nose ring asked them what language they were speaking, then I'm pretty sure they teased her in Spanish for asking. I love the city.

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Train travel completed, we exited and walked over to Millenium Park for photography, goofy Bean self portraits, random conversations with retired chatty marines, and general merriment on park benches, checking out the fountains and face art, the PDA couple that were going at it standing next to the Bean so intently that they might have walked away as expectant parents, and of course the rain. It rained off and on for the rest of the day. So chilled and ready for more calorie consumption from all the walking and photographing, the ladies sought out coffee beverages while the men purchased ice drinks, Joe making sweet sweet love to an orange cream smoothie and Jon downing an iced coffee. Then we shopped some more. And once our shopping energies had been fully drained and with the realization that it was really raining now, we caught a cab and headed over to Navy Pier for some dry indoor fun.

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We were not the only people to think Navy Pier was a good idea on this raining Saturday. The place was packed, packed tight. Packed tight with hordes of cheerleaders, just as scary as zombie hordes but with enormous hair bows, eyeshadow to match their mid-drift barring uniforms and glassy eyed pep instead of glassy eyed brain munching. They were everywhere, hundreds and hundreds of them. It was terrifying and precious. Yes, it was both.

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We struggled through the crowds, waited in line for the most delicious Garrett's popcorn, meandered through the Stained Glass Museum, took more photographs, counted cheerleaders, and people watched. After more than a hour spent fighting off the cheerleader hordes, we caught a cab back to Jon and Sam's apartment and collapsed, our fingers covered in a thin film of Garrett's cheese popcorn, we threw ourselves into sloth, letting our abused feet rest and watching the Family Guy version of the Empire Strikes Back. The boys watched TV, the ladies napped or read, or read then maybe napped a bit, and reconvened later for another round of Hardcore Pawn before our sushi dinner.

Here's the danger of living in Chicago. All of these truly amazing shops and restaurants are right outside the door. Steps away, these places wait to tantalize your taste buds, to fill your apartment with lovely trinkets and cozy linens, and intoxicate you with custom brewed beers, or Belgian waffles at midnight. And diverse and eclectic people work hard in high rise towers, run to catch trains, avoid rats running across the street at 10pm (this actually happened) and catcall strangers with phrases like "My goodness, someone's looking fine today." Thanks, elderly African-American window washer, you made my day. It's all right out there all the time in a city of this size. It is alluring and fantastic and I kind of want it all the time. But KC is great too, it just involves a lot more driving and planning and parking and personal space and almost everything closes by 10pm at least in the suburbs.

So we walked the three steps down the street to the sushi restaurant and enjoyed some delicious rolls, the Hello Kitty menu holders, some edamame and possibly the slowest waiter in the zip code. He was sweet and young and not great at his job. But we were in no rush and the sushi was good and Grouponed and did I mention it was just three steps away.

Our trip pretty much wrapped up there. We might have watched another episode or two of Hardcore Pawn, maybe, and Sunday morning we got up early, packed, said a fond farewell and headed home. I kind of want to move to Chicago now. If it wasn't so damn cold and windy from October to May I might consider it. But for now, we'll just visit Chicago Jonny and his better half Samantha as often as possible. Thanks for hosting us, guys!

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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

One of Those Questionny Things

Bethany tagged me in a Facebook questionnare thing. I love these, I don't know why. Other than I like to read about other people's stories, the questions are alternating between stupid and interesting and I like to talk about myself. I've not felt much like blogging lately. Just busy and I've had all these great trips and out of town visitors and I've let myself get behind and I need to catch up. But for now, this will do for a blog. So sorry, Facebook friends, you might have seen this already!


1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?
I have a scar in that fleshy webbed bit between your pointer finger and thumb. In first grade I broke my arm doing a running cartwheel. One of the first casts they put on was too tight on my skinny little six year old arm and they had to cut the cast off to put on a new one. The nurse grabbed a big pair of scissors to free up the tightness around my hand and she cut right through that little fleshy bit. You can still see where they stitched it back together.

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
We have an enormous blue, orange and red drippy modern painting done by my dad, a large mirror, a print of a giraffe wearing a beret and monocle named Sydney that we bought at an art fundraiser and a Matisse print in a frame that Joe made, also two red coral shaped metal hooks that hold some of my necklaces.

3. DO YOU SNORE, GRIND YOUR TEETH, OR TALK IN YOUR SLEEP?
Occasionally but not so badly that Joe has kicked me out yet.

4. WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
A variety, more indie lately, and heavy on the Arcade Fire and The National since their spectacular show last week. But I like a lot of music: bossa nova, jazz, blues, 60's and 70's and 80's cheese, some hip hop, classic rock, I don't want to be pigeon-holed here, I like a lot.

5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
I know it was early, somewhere around 2:52 or 3:52am CST

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
I want a massage, I want a 60 minute massage, maybe 90 minutes but that might be more joy than I can handle.

7. WHAT DO YOU MISS?
Summer vacation and those goofy little kid birthday party favors like chinese finger torture, bouncy balls or fortune telling fish.

8. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION(S)?
There isn't just one: my happy marriage, my family and friendships, my health, my passions, my grandmother's star shaped pendant with a little diamond in the middle that I rarely wear.

9. HOW TALL ARE YOU?
5'11", 6' with any type of shoe on

10. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
Rarely, usually just in very large moving crowds when I can't see over the person in front of me.

11. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
Only if I know there is a spider on the ceiling and in the dark I cannot track his whereabouts accurately.

12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
I shall leave this one blank to protect the guilty.

13. WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR?
Losing my mind, losing my people, being forced to live in the Ozarks as the wife of an abusive meth dealer like some Kassie version of Winter's Bone

14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Dark eyes, dark hair, that's my attraction template, anyone I've every been serious with has had these traits. Except two boys with yellow hair that I had crushes on in elementary and high school. But they were fleeting and probably are kind of gray now.

15. WHERE CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF PROPOSING?
Done, I'm all proposed up.

16. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINK
Coffee. I've witnessed the ravages of 5 Hour Energy drinks on a loved one, it wasn't pretty. I shall stick with the old fashioned coffee. Though I enjoy that commercial for 5 Hour Energy that makes it look like filling a coffee pot with filter, grounds and water is the most challenging task on earth.

17. FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
Pepperoni and cream cheese.

18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
a perfect ripe pear

19. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME?
Red

20. HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A GOLDFISH?
No, but my freshman year my friend Neha gave me a goldfish as a going away to college gift and some guy in my dorm was flirting with me and actually put the goldfish in his mouth while visiting my room with his friends one night. This was an ineffective method of flirtation. I called him a fucking moron and smacked him on the back of his head to make him spit it back out. He did not "flirt" with me again. Though he did have drunken sex with my roommate two days later, while I slept in the next bed. She and I were not roommates the next semester.

21. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MEANINGFUL GIFT YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?
My 101 Dalmatians music box, I still have it. I used to fall asleep to that little song every night, watching the dalmatians turn round and round on their pedestal.

22. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?
Yes, on Clive Owen.

23. ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED?
Yes, my left thumb, same thumb with the fleshy webbed bit scar.

24. FAVORITE CLOTHING BRAND?
Eh, no idea, I love Marshall's, and I am not loyal, though Talbots has some nice pieces when I can find them on sale. And I got a really cute Calvin Klein dress at Marshall's in Chicago. I <3 Marshall's. And no TJ Maxx is not as good, it's just not.

30. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
no, you say it

31. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
I like 'em dark and swarthyish.

32. FAVORITE QUOTE?
Much like Bethany, I'm a bit of a quote collector, but we made my parents watch High Fidelity for the first time on Sunday night and this quote always sticks with me. "What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music? "

33. FAVORITE PLACE?
Where ever you are right now, I'd like to sit next to you and chat with an iced beverage.

34. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE USA?
Sure, took a cruise with my parents in 6th grade to St. Maarten and other islands I don't remember though I do remember wearing a Coca Cola swimsuit with a little skirt, and then I've been to England, Italy, Amsterdam airport, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Togo for about ten minutes which included a marriage proposal from a strange African gentleman who offered to give up his first wife to marry "plump white girl."

35. YOUR WEAKNESSES?
Books, purses, high expectations, delicious tasty food and sitting and talking more than walking or running.

36. MET ANYONE FAMOUS?
Kind of, I once asked Ben Folds for his autograph while he ate lunch with his five, he was very nice and made a joke about veggie burgers.

37. FIRST JOB?
Hotel gift shop desk clerk.

38. EVER DONE A PRANK CALL?
Yes, and this ages me, before the days of caller id, prank calls were a delight. Even Star 69 was underutilized then. We could safely call boys we had crushes on and pretend to be the police, the giggliest youngest police officers in the world.

39. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOULMATE?
Yes, many different soul mates, I can't believe there is just one for each of us.

40. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED THIS OUT?
Sleeping, cooking, reading, driving, working, listening to Tina Fey's Bossypants in the car and nearly choking to death and causing a major traffic accident caused by dangerous coffee in throat laughter.

41. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY?
Wisdom teeth removed? Does that count?

42. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
I don't know, that's weird. Maybe my writing lately, specifically a slightly racy post about prom. That or my rack.

43. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES?
Yes at age 21.

44. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
No idea, it's months away. Maybe just to get together with some of my favorite people for guiltless cake eating.

45. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT AND THEIR NAMES?
No idea.

46. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
My middle name, Louise, is the same as my mother's middle name and my Great Aunt Garnet's middle name.

47. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST TURN OFF OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Ed Hardy anything.

48. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU LIKE(D) ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
Learning, books, some teachers and friends, plays.

49. WHAT KIND OF SHAMPOO DO YOU USE?
John Frieda for colored hair, but it doesn't lather enough for my taste, so something new next time.

50. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
I guess, I don't really think about it. It's legible and once I stopped dotting my I's with hearts, people at work took me more seriously.

51. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Honey ham or roast beef.

52. ANY BAD HABITS?
Not enough exercise and too many treats going into my cake hole. And procrastinating.

53. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON?
Depends. Stop looking at my husband, lady.

54. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
How can a person actually answer this question? It's just silly talk. Yes, of course, have you met me? I'm super awesome.

55. DO YOU AGREE WITH FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?
It depends. I married my friends with benefits, so I guess it can work out just dandy.

56. DO LOOKS MATTER?
Yes, yes they do. Is that a shame? Probably. Is that going to change,? Probably not.

57. HOW DO YOU RELEASE ANGER?
Talking, writing, furiously gesturing.

60. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD?
Tearful Teddy, soft teddy body, plastic crying emo face that wept openly when you fed him his plastic baby bottle.



61. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
Any number I would ever need.

62.WERE YOU A FAN OF BARNEY AS A LITTLE KID?
Barney didn't exist when I was a little kid. I have no opinions on the purple dinosaur, other than the kids on that show look a little dead eyed.

63. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Only with much thought and grace. Shit, yeah, I do.

64. MASHED POTATOES OR MACARONI AND CHEESE?
Depends on whose making them and what's going in them. But yes, yes to both.

65. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
In friends: humor, honesty, smarts, the ability to look me in the eye and not laugh when I share something deeply silly and personal. For boyfriend/spouse: same, plus amazing sexual chemistry, and they are allowed to laugh occasionally at my expense.

66. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES?
Kassie Lou, Kass, Bead and Read, Sassy Kassie, Aunt Kassie

67. FAVORITE SUPER POWER?
Self deprecation.

68. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
Today it's Mad Men. Tomorrow it might be something else. When does True Blood come back?

69. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUR ENEMIES?
As Tina Fey would say : Over, Under or Through.

70. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Anything with Peanut butter and chocolate and/or caramel.

71. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR FINGERS AND TOES?
Yes. Though I used to think, when I was about 12, that it would be cool to have an extra finger like Ann Boleyn and have people be scared of you because that meant you were a witch. The beheading part was less cool.

72. DO YOU HAVE A COMPUTER IN YOUR ROOM?
Nope. But laptops can be in any room. And I've got one of those.

73. PLANS FOR TONIGHT?
Writing two or three blog posts and one book review for Blogher, organizing clothes to pack for imminent trip, and probably finding twelve other things to distract me from the first three tasks.

74. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WHEN YOU ARE OLDER?
It depends on where all my people decide to live. But probably not Florida.

75. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Sure, I like hearing about your love or hate for Barney.

76. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
Pandora, song on now is I've Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash, next up, Marry Me by the cast of Glee, yeah, I said don't pigeonhole me.

77. LAST THING YOU DRANK?
Coffee with Hazelnut creamer. And not enough of it.

78. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?.
A client, they were on a cell phone and actually said "can you hear me now?" with no irony.

79. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Ass shape and arm muscles followed by ear hair thickness.

80. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
Write, hang with people I enjoy, read, travel, starting to garden, cook/bake, judge.

81. FAVORITE THING TO HATE?
Racism, nasty politics, damp jeans, dirt under my fingernails, the rude.

82. FAVORITE SEASON OF THE YEAR?
Fall.

83. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF CANDY?
Today I really want an gooey gummy orange slice. I'll have to settle for a clementine since I started the new Weight Watchers today.

84. HAVE YOU EVER REALLY AND TRULY HAD A BEST FRIEND?
Absolutely. They are life savers and soul mates.

85. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR?
Brown with reddish streaks depending on every 8 to 12 weeks or so.

86. EYE COLOR?
Hazel, mostly brown with some green stuff floating around in there.

87. SHOE SIZE?
11 -  yes like a drag queen's foot. If I ever shop for shoes on ebay you would not be surprised to find that half of my choices are 5 inch clear platform heeled beauties.

88. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
Culver's or Chick-fil-a

89. FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
I don't really have a favorite, we try a lot of different places. But Lidia's always makes me happy.

90. DO YOU LIKE SUSHI?
Yes, Joe might divorce me if I didn't. I kid, but barely.

91. WATCH TV TODAY?
Yes, Today Show, or as I like to call it, "Who gives a crap about the royal wedding, Meredith!? Not me!"

92. FAVORITE DAYS OF THE YEAR?
Standard Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any mellow Saturday.

93. PLAY ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS?
Piano a bit, but it's been ages.

94. REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT?
I own a t-shirt with a large heart on the front, one tiny drop of blood and the word liberal printed underneath. Yes, liberal democrat mostly.

95. KISSES OR HUGS?
Big, slobbery open mouth kisses. Except from you, just a hug from you would be fine. Two back pat maximum. Thank you.

96. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS?
I know Joe prefers relationships so that's what I'll say. (Actually too prudish to ever have had a one night stand.)

97. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT?
A scone at Panera last night, my drink was free, those Panera cards are cool. I like consumerism.

98. WOULD YOU EVER BE A HOUSEWIFE?
I don't have the stamina or patience for that career choice. I need to work around adults who I can avoid calls from when I'm too busy.

99. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
Just finished Girl in Translation for BlogHer book club and getting ready to start A Jane Austen Education for their book club too. In the meantime I'm reading Dennis Lehane's A Drink Before War, the first in his Kenzi/Genaro private detective series, Gone Baby Gone was part of that series. It's so friggin good so far.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

16 New, 36 To Go

We've been eating lighter and healthier at the Sands household this week. No major changes, just coming out of the heavy doldrums of winter comfort food. It's spring and getting warm again. New fresh fruits and vegetables are sprouting up at the grocery store and the farmer's markets are reopening on the weekends. I've been craving bright clean flavors and that leafy green stuff. I think it's more than just the weather though.

Oh, the delicious indulgences we enjoyed in Chicago last weekend that I feel the need to make up for this week. Fattening heavy foods that no amount of walking can atone for, Chicago excels in this greasy arena and we made a serious effort to support the restaurant industry during our two day visit.(Is there a city with better restaurants? Nope, and yes, blog and photos to come.) Then our impending vacation to Phoenix next weekend, who wants to eat heavy food when you're anticipating relaxing by the pool in the 95 degree dry heat or hiking around Frank Loyd Wright's Taliesin estate on the 3 hour tour that Joe is jonesing to take? Then just in time for our vacation, the three brand new swimsuits just delivered to my door via Land's End. These lycra ladies are anxiously waiting to be tried on, vying for my affection with their retro vibes, bright colors or slimming secret powers. They will be pulled on repeatedly, their merits and flaws debated and tested (usually through vigorous jumping and dry land dog paddle and back stroke, performed while standing in front of the full length mirror, done to assure no sensitive bits escape or jiggle inappropriately.) Yet only one will emerge victorious. All women know that eating healthier and exercising, obviously things we should do year round, tend to ramp up when the weather warms up. Visions of my pale legs in shorts are taunting me at night, and the bulky, camouflaging sweaters are getting packed away so it's time to lighten up around here.

This week, the recipe is all Joe's find. He came across this great website, Food 52, last week with some interesting and easy seafood recipes. We tried the Shrimp a la Bittman tonight. One- because it's dead easy, two - because we both could eat shrimp everyday of the week and three - because lime and lemon zest and olive oil are three of the best ingredients ever combined to wake up your mouth.


Shrimp la Bittman

Paired with some roasted asparagus and tomato focaccia bread dipped in a little olive oil, it was pretty much the perfect spring meal. The shrimp, a pound or two cleaned and shelled, gets coated with a combination of olive oil, lemon and lime zest and juice and salt. The shrimp are roasted for about 8-10 minutes at 450 degrees. They cook quickly, they absorb the amazing citrus flavors and with a little extra salt at the end, they were scrumptious. Scattered over some angel hair pasta with a light dressing, tucked inside a taco shell with some avocado or on top of a green salad, these little pink beauties would perk up any weeknight meal. With the prep and cooking time all under 20 minutes, we will be making this again for sure.  I actually wish I'd doubled the recipe so we could have had some leftovers, note to self, do that next time. So this was number 16 on the new recipes count, with a goal of 52 new recipes cooked for the year, which means I'm right about on target!

And I must give credit to Joe here for a minute, just a rare minute. His addiction to kitchen equipment has been well documented and if you set foot in our kitchen you can see the effects on our stuffed-to-overflowing drawers. His purchase of the microplane (see red handled long thing in first photo) was mocked and ridiculed as just another unnecessary tool when he brought it home a few months ago. I believe I held it up disdainfully, rolled my eyes and said, "Where are we going to fit this one?" when he presented it. Now it has become one of my go-to tools in the kitchen. So while we may need at least four extra drawers to house all of his silly kitchen tools, some of them really are worth buying. Thanks, dear.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I like your sleeves, they're real big.

In honor of this glorious season, no not spring, Prom season, The Gloss, one of my favorite fashion/culture/relationship/beauty websites, has been posting I Remember Prom stories all week. This post about my junior prom experience was published on their site Friday, so reminisce with me and recollect your perfect or awkward or perfectly awkward prom night...

It all begins with the dress. Prom is a wedding, a wedding for high school girls where every girl is a blushing bride, minus the lifetime commitment of monogamy, the cultural pressure to wear demure white, and with a surprisingly higher likelihood of losing one’s virginity.


My dress was borrowed. It was black taffeta with enormous puffy off-the-shoulder sleeves that I continually had to keep pulling up throughout the night. It was tight and knee length with a deep sweetheart neckline that revealed more cleavage that I ever had shown in my young life. I felt hot in that dress. I ignored the fact that I had borrowed it from my mother’s 25 year old administrative assistant co-worker, who had a fluffy bleached perm and bangs like a forehead surfboard. Because, damn, that dress made me feel powerful and sexy. I remember thinking this was the most beautiful I would ever look in my entire life. And sexy, really? This feeling was new to me. Tall, curvy plus size girls simply had shitty fashion options in the early 1990’s and that always coordinated well with shaky self-esteem. My jeans were perpetually high water, my formal wear options matronly and feeling hot was a foreign concept. Feeling dumpy sure, feeling gawky yes, but hot, this must be how tiny blonde stick figure girls felt. And wow, it was kind of awesome. Though the dress and even the black lace pointy toed pumps were borrowed, that cool May night in 1992, I made that dress mine.




I accessorized with the most enormous fake crystal and pearl earrings I could find at The Icing, they almost touched my shoulders. I had my hair all done up at the salon by a stylist named Roman who recommended a loose updo with curled tendrils, because this was 1992 and if we weren’t crimping my straight hair we most certainly would attack it with a curling iron. He also regaled me with a racy story about his prom night back in the early 1960’s, evidently the first and only time Roman was intimate with a lady. My mom did my makeup. She was selling Beauti-Control cosmetics at the time, a line of products somehow based on a wacky seasonal color concept (I was evidently a Winter and shouldn’t wear the color orange.) Mom expertly applied the popular mix of heavy black eyeliner, top and bottom, thick layers of black spider leg mascara and a Monet worthy blending of purple and grey eye shadow so layered that I could barely open my eyes. And the red lips, I had to have lacquered red lips. And she even loaned me her diamond pendant. Yeah, I felt hot.

My date for the night, also my first serious boyfriend, picked me up in his mother’s red convertible; presented the dainty orchid wristlet I coveted, while wearing a carefully selected matching cummerbund and bowtie. He was a perfect gentleman, gave the flattering compliments and seemed to also recognize the rare hotness that had somehow manifested with this magic dress. He kept beaming at me and putting his hand on the small of my back. We posed for pictures at no less than three parent’s houses, with grandparents and video cameras and younger and older siblings all watching and teasing and goading us on to the dance, making us kiss and cheese for the cameras.

When we were finally released we headed over to the generic suburban hotel ballroom where the dinner and dance were being held. The food was forgettable as hotel banquet food usually is, the music was a heady mix of Color Me Badd, Vanessa Williams, Garth Brooks, Boyz to Men, Mr. Big, all the cheesy ballads and “I Want to Sex You Up” lyrics certain to inflame the already potent hormonal sexual energy enveloping the dance floor. We danced and danced. Chatted with friends, spent the requisite few hours at the dance showing off our young love and our finery and my rare newfound confidence, and then somehow it was time for after prom. Oh, after prom, those dangerous late night hours where regular curfews and parental controls are inconceivably slackened. Our after prom plans included heading back to my boyfriend’s parent’s house. We were too young to get a hotel room and entirely too nervous. Neither one of us were really the after-party type of people. And his parent’s had a hot tub, and at sixteen that sounds romantic. And it is romantic I guess, until you get to your boyfriend’s house and realize that you are firmly locked into your first medieval long line strapless bra and physically unable to get yourself out of it. Yes, his mother had to help me unhook the 10,000 tiny closures up the back of my bra. Yes, did I mention his parent’s were home and that after his mother so kindly freed me from my confining underwear, they discreetly disappeared upstairs.


Power dress swapped out for swimsuit, and embarrassment finally fading, we got in the hot tub and proceeded into the naughty after-prom activities. The steam from the hot tub began to wilt my hair, tendrils and loose curls stuck to the sides of my cheeks, that same steam sent rivulets of mascara down my flushed face. Things got intense, decisions needed to be made: to become an easy prom night cliché or resist that folly? I pulled back to breathe and think for a second, we had been dating a few months, I think I loved him, but the magic hotness created by the dress was more than I could handle. My head was spinning and I was still 35%... 25%... 15%...10% certain I didn’t want to lose my virginity on prom night. I whispered my concerns: his parent’s window looked right down on the back deck where the hot tub sat in full view, it felt so risky and stupid, we didn’t have any protection, but the steam and the hormones and the glass of pink champagne I had snuck were clouding my brain. And they must have clouded my boyfriend’s brain as well, because as I began to lose my willpower, he leaned in, unaware that I was about to cave, working to convince me as even nice guys will and murmured in my damp ear, “But the chlorine will kill all the sperm.” And the mood was broken. I laughed loudly and right in his face. He looked embarrassed and stammered that he’d heard that somewhere before. But we both knew the night was over. We got dried off and dressed, he drove me home in his mom’s sweet red convertible, with the top down. The cool Midwestern spring breeze blew through what was left of my chic updo, and cooled my warm face and I felt happy. I had felt the power of the hotness and I liked it. But the power wasn’t in that borrowed dress, it was in me. I kissed him goodnight at the door and I kept my virginity tightly in check, at least until a month later when his parents were out to dinner.


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

30 Second Book Round Up

I've been a bit of a reading fiend lately. I can normally manage a book a week or a little less, depending on the book, but I've been flying through books lately. It could be the lack of any compelling television, other than the occasional Veronica Mars marathon (which, yes all you people, Bethany, Kristen, Keri, were right about that show, it's great.) Or it could just be that I've read some really superb books lately. I haven't blogged about books much in the last six weeks or so, leaving a lot that I would love to review. But I'm pretty sure that's about ten too many for my readers, instead I'm going for just one or two sentences per book, short and concise. Which reminds me of these Two Minute Mysteries collections that I used to love to read in elementary and middle school. Just two pages and a murder or robbery would be vividly described and then you had a chance to solve it in your head and read the solution. They were genius and I felt brilliant those times when I could solve them quickly. I think they helped develop my early love of reading and mysteries specifically. So in homage to the Two Minute Mysteries, here are my 30 Second book reviews:

Room by Emma Donoghue - This book is brilliant and heartbreaking and narrated by a five year old boy who has never been outside of a 12' x 12' room. Go read it, right now, my favorite so far this year. I want to read it again today.

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak - I adored The Book Thief, also written by this author, and while this book is tricky, lighter, rambling, funny and a little corny, it left me feeling inspired and positive and wishing for an Australian accent.

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist - I watched the movie version of this book alone at night a few months ago. This was a mistake. I liked the movie better because it kept the creepy, grim, terrifying story but cut out all of the bulky disturbing side stories that I didn't enjoy in the book. I rarely like the movie better than the book, but the atmospheric and unsettling movie rose above for me. 

Veronica by Mary Gaitskill - Following the up and down career of a model in the 1980's, Gaitskill created some complex and unlikable characters, but her enviable ability to craft and weave such lyrical words elevates the wandering plot and depressing subject matter.

The Debt Collector by Lynn S. Hightower -  Blah, palate cleanser murder mystery, and yes, paycheck loan/cash advance companies can be evil, Hightower convinced me.

How to Be Good by Nick Hornby - It's Nick Hornby, what's not to like? Mid-life crisis, infidelity, a guru named Dr. Good News and a cranky writer's religious epiphany, hilarious and moving. And Hornby manages to write a novel from a female character's point of view surprisingly skillfully.

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier - Set in the 1800's and following the friendship of a middle class spinster and a working class girl, as they search for fossils along the beach of their English seaside town, the book was beautiful, frustrating and educational, highly recommend it. And damn it, it made me want to go on a feminist tirade again.

Half started and promptly quit two Clive Barker collections. I have often thought I should give Clive Barker a chance, since I love some horror and have read almost every Steven King novel. But Barker is too bloody and brutal and dark for me. I quit, with no qualms. I felt nauseated. and struggled to find a redeeming reason to spend my time reading it. I should have known since I've never been able to sit through a single Hellraiser movie without having nightmares about Pinhead. So many pins. I have to stop thinking about it, or he'll visit me tonight.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - Now here's a little horror I enjoyed, unreliable narrator, things that go bump and then bloody in the night, menacing empty bedrooms, car accidents and gloom, a nice 1950's classic bit of gothic psychological terror.

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks - This one already received the full review treatment over here! And I'm excited, I have two new books I get to review for Blogher, hopefully in the next few weeks.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff -I thought this book had a fascinating story, split between the autobiography of Brigham Young's 19th wife in the 1800's and a modern day story of a Latter Day Saint's off shoot cult full of polygamy, misogyny and child abuse, rather like a season of Big Love in book form, with less Bill Paxton, which in my book is always a good thing. I hate Chet.



And finally Handling The Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist - What would happen if all of the recently dead suddenly returned to life? This has to be the saddest, most melancholy zombie novel ever written, which shouldn't be a surprise since it's Swedish. It had a deeply troubling premise, strong well developed characters and left me feeling strange and wanting to hug all of my loved ones, immediately.

So that's it. I'm currently reading The House at Riverton by Kate Morton, but she might get postponed since the library just emailed me and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro just popped up from my hold list. I've heard excellent reviews about the book and movie too, so Kate might have to wait.

What have you been reading lately? Any recommendations? And if you are a book fiend like me, come find me over at Goodreads and let's be all friendly!

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Cookies and Crustaceans

I consider myself a cookie connoisseur. I enjoy a variety of types, ok nearly all types, hence the connoisseur title. Can I put that on my business card? Probably not advisable unless my business is baking. Yeah, it's not. Oh that it could be. I digress. Peanut butter are probably my favorite, generally though if asked to describe my favorite snack, it would have to be cookies. Small, portable, delicious, sweet and available in a thousand varieties, who doesn't like cookies? I might as well be talking about puppies for how non-controversial this subject is. Puppies and cookies for President! Anyway...

I rarely buy cookies. One, they never last in our house since I have zero self control and two, homemade always tastes better. Except, I admit I have a fondness for those crunchy savory little ginger snaps in the brown bag. They taste simple and old fashioned and eating two is usually enough for me, kind of like dark chocolate, a little taste will do.

Why am I talking about cookies again, other than to make your stomach growl? Last week I made two batches of delicious cookies for very good reasons, other than my own ravenous desire to munch them down. The first are one of my absolute favorites and if you've ever gotten a Christmas goodies package from me you've probably had these cookies. Cranberry White Chocolate shortbread, they are easy, they have only butter, sugar, flour, cranberries and white chocolate and they are spectacular. And though they don't count toward my 52 new recipes this year, I still had to blog about them.

Cranberry White Chocolate Shortbread


I made these cookies specifically because they ship well and have big flavor punch and I've never met someone who didn't like them. So I whipped them up for the I Am Baker, bake-cookies-for-a-worthy-stranger project I signed up for in March. I had the name and address and lovely story from the stranger's daughter, read her cute blog about her daddy (the recipient) over here. I baked these little beauties, restrained myself from eating too many, packaged up a couple dozen and shipped them South to my stranger. And then I had to ship the rest off with Joe to his office. After I ate one, ok three. Make these for yourself or your new neighbors or your friend who just had a baby or just because you are in the mood for something crumbly and buttery and scrumptious. Or maybe bake these next babies instead.



Smitten Kitchen Snickerdoodles

If you don't visit Smitten Kitchen and you like to cook or bake at all, then I feel a little sad for you. It's a wonderful home cooking site based in NYC, filled with beautiful photography, helpful detailed blog posts and some tremendously good recipes. Snickerdoodles had to happen on Sunday. They just did. We are getting our house painted. What better excuse do I need to bake than that? I felt compelled to provide treats for the hardworking crew up on ladders painting our shingles and trim and working hard on a hot and humid afternoon. Yes, we were paying them, but cookies needed to happen. I tried Smitten Kitchen's snickerdoodle recipe and found it to be perfect. Crunchy edges, soft lofty cake like middles and enough cinnamon to make me smile. The painters smiled too. And did a lovely job I might add. And just to keep this whole 52 recipes in 2011 a little more balanced, it's been heavy on the sweets lately, I tried a delicious and fairly healthy new dinner recipe on Tuesday night.

Shrimp Étouffée

We had a work potluck on Mardi Gras a few weeks ago and my boss brought this spicy little number, Shrimp Étouffée. I immediately begged for the recipe and promptly put it up on the fridge and forgot it for a month. Easy to make and filling enough to be the main course, it was quite tasty. Joe did request fewer peppers and more shrimp but even he liked it. Here's the original recipe. I think next time I'll make a roux to add more depth and flavor to the dish and give it a richer texture. I also will add more shrimp, which I had swapped for crawfish. I  did use 1/2 the butter called for and a little olive oil, added some diced roma tomatoes that I had on hand and served it over a long grain basmati rice. I think the addition of more tomatoes and some lemon juice would also add to the flavor. I made some of Emeril's Essence to use for the Creole/Cajun seasoning and I used a lot of it. I like spicy. I will also admit to a few squirts of siracha since I was out of Tabasco. My lips were tingling afterward it was so spicy. But if you like Creole flavors and your throat doesn't close up at the thought of some fresh pink shrimp then I highly recommend this dish. And yeah for a balanced 52!

So what's for dinner tonight at your house? I think it's Costco potstickers for us. I'm all cooked out tonight.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Book Nerd Alert!

Book nerd alert, nerd alert! The ultimate book obsessed, library fanatic opportunity just dropped in my lap: I got to participate in the inaugural Book Club over at BlogHer! BlogHer has partnered with Penguin Group USA to bring new and fabulous books to BlogHer Network bloggers to read, review and share with you, our devoted readers.


I had the pleasure of receiving a free galley copy of the book,  Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, reading it in a quick three days, then turning around and reviewing it for publication over at the brand spanking new BlogHer Book Club page, and I get paid a bit just to read and review, even if I hate the book. Um, ok! So go read my review, they just posted it yesterday. (Hint hint- I loved it.)

The BlogHer Book Club will be active on a monthly basis and I hope to have the chance to do it again soon. It took me back to my college days, reading the classics, aggressive class discussions, underlining my favorite lines, sweating over writing papers, wrinkled brow analysis of story line and character development, plus it was just sheer fun. Go ahead and pre-order the book, totally worth it! Now, go read my review and comment if you like it, but only if you like it!

Friday, April 01, 2011

#44 - Touring the Universe

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Photo by Joe Sands (My favorite from the day!)


Well, now that 7 Days is done for the spring round, normal blog posting can commence and you can see less of my mug. Ok, maybe a couple more shots of my mug now and then, but just a couple today with the back drop of Union Station to distract you. (And taken by Joe, so that's better!) Just look at that stunning Beaux-Arts 1900's architecture. Wow.


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Photo by Joe Sands


But let me get back to why we were out at this lovely building on a cloudy gray Sunday in the first place. Two weeks ago now, Joe and I spent an historical and interplanetary afternoon bumming around Union Station. #44 on the Bravely Obey in Action list just happens to be "Attend a show at a local planetarium." So we did. And we also spent a solid hour just wandering around and taking photographs of this spectacularly renovated Kansas City classic.

Visiting the Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium and taking in a show was exactly what I wanted and expected. The planetarium experience is pretty terrific. I have always been a stargazing kind of girl. Fascinated by the mythology of the constellations, curious about the sparkling dark sky and yet entirely lacking in the necessary passion for math required to pass an astronomy course. One of my favorite high school science memories was crawling through the tunnel of the inflatable planetarium dome that traveled from school to school. It sat, enormous and gray, pulsating lightly with the air that kept it standing upright, plopped in the middle of the library. We climbed down the short tunnel, sat in a circle or leaned back on our elbows in the pitch black until the image of the night sky was suddenly projected all around us. It was mesmerizing. And the Gottlieb show was even more so. The screen was enormous, 360 degrees with 155 seats, all tilted back and filled with an eager audience. We took the 45 minute Solar System tour, fascinating, detailed and yet general enough to not overwhelm young viewers. My eyes were a bit overwhelmed though, I kept trying to process all of the movement on the edge of my vision and it made me slightly nauseous. I had to keep stopping myself from trying to see everything, because it's impossible. We traveled to every planet, moons, and just beyond our vast solar system. And tried to ignore the teenage couple sitting two seats over who seemed to be devouring each others' faces during the entire show. Young galactic love.

I really enjoyed the show and it was totally worth the $6 ticket price. But it was short. Too short. And sadly at this point I've gotten spoiled by the sharp detail of our high def TV and I'm used to seeing everything with this clarity that would have shocked me ten years ago. So it makes the planetarium show slightly less stunning because of the fuzzy quality of the film. Not bad or distracting, it just left me wishing I could see the whole thing in perfect HD. And then what did I stumble upon on my one of my favorite sites? This glorious photographic animation of Saturn. Try to picture this on an immense 360 degree screen. Ah.







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Photo by Joe Sands


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Photo by Joe Sands


After our 45 minute tour of the universe, we took ourselves on a little local photographic tour. Each of us armed with a camera, we wandered and shot and gazed and lingered and had a great slow afternoon spent appreciating this building. Union Station opened in 1914 and was a bustling hub of travelers and activity until the late 1950's. Troops shipping off for WWII, travelers visiting friends and family all over the US, even gun battles during Kansas City's wild Pendergast era in the 1930's, Union Station was a vital part of the Kansas City area. And then the interstate highway system and car travel took over and train travel began to diminish. And by the late 1970's, Union Station was a relic. During my childhood in the 1980's, Union Station was a dilapidated eye sore, with a leaking roof and empty, abandoned facade. Ownership of the building changed hands repeatedly, plans were begun and halted and then finally in the late 1990's renovations began.

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Photo by Joe Sands


Union Station is a gorgeous place, replete with history, charming period details, creamy marble and plenty of weekend traffic. Though it has struggled with finding the right mix of museum events, tourist attractions, shopping, dining and touring shows to attract enough visitors, Union Station seems to be thriving. I highly recommend taking the time to visit. Go see the traveling Princess Diana or toy train show, visit Science City, grab dinner at Harvey's or Pierponts, or just bring a camera and a friend and take some time to look at door knobs and ceiling tiles, columns and chandeliers. Take a moment to pretend you are off to visit your soldier fiance who has just returned home from serving in Germany, you are wearing your smart white gloves and sweet little hat, carrying your travel case and grabbing a quick sandwich and cup of joe at the lunch counter before you miss your train! Take yourself back to a time before iPhones and SUV's, satellite radio and $4 a gallon gas. Stow your luggage, grab a seat and sit back and watch the scenery fly by as you ride the rails.




Railing
Photo actually by me, photoshop help from Joe


Visiting Union Station, we traveled through time, space and history. Spending time wrapped in the stoic elegance of this building makes me feel like a true Kansas Citian. This is a building that I have known since I was a little girl and every opportunity to see it refreshed and invigorated is a joy. So glance at the rest of our pictures and take your own tour if you get a chance.

I crossed off #44 on my list, so time to pick the next task! Maybe even for this weekend. What are you up to this weekend? Planetary travel? Laundry? Sleeping in?


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Photo by Joe Sands

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Photo by Joe Sands

Elegant lady
Photo actually by me, photoshop help from Joe

Door Knob
Photo actually by me

Photographer at Work
Photo actually by me

Stone Leaves
Photo actually by me

Chandelier
Photo actually by me


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Photo by Joe Sands

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Photo by Joe Sands