Please Wear Pants...

In a mama blog such as this you may be thinking that this post has everything to do with the fact that my little one prefers to be nude as much as possible...and while that's completely true, that's not what this is about today. 

Today my question for the world is this: What on God's green earth does "your favorite business casual attire" mean for an event?  I'm all for nonprofits and organizers getting creative when it comes to addressing the "dress", but come on!  I like to think I'm a pretty decent dresser most days, but it doesn't just fall out of the closet for me.  I generally have to put a little bit of effort into what is on my person, and I literally have nightmares about showing up somewhere in cocktail attire when everyone else is in a golf polo, or not having hat adorned when clearly everyone else got the memo (sadly, this did happen.)  The worst part is I love a good hat!  And I feel way more confident in forced cocktail chat when I look like I belong.  Not to mention the inevitable question from my husband, "What I'm I wearing for this thing?"

Help me break it down.  Favorite Business Attire.  This implies cute business suit or business appropriate LBD (think sleeves).  Favorite Casual Attire.  Frankly for me this is JCrew skinny jeans and ballet flats.  Business Casual.  This has changed dramatically over the years.  For most industries think Target: khaki Dockers and a solid colored polo.  But if you are in a creative profession, or somewhere other than a bank this can also include dressy shorts, knit dresses, a high end graphic tee or jeans with a jacket.  Let's not even talk about a profession in "the arts"... Throw on something in rainbow or macrame and you are in.

One party site I found listed the following:
White tie/ultra-formal — Men: tailcoat and white vest, shirt and bow tie. Women: long gown.

Black tie/formal — Men: tuxedos. Women: dress (knee-length, long).

Semi-formal/informal — Men: dark suit, tie. Women: knee-length dress.

Cocktail — Men: dark suit. Women: knee-length dress or skirt.

Dressy casual — Men: jacket or collared shirt, pants. Women: skirt or dressy pants.

Business casual — Men: collared shirt, khakis. Women: dressy pants or skirt.

Casual — anything goes.

Thanks world wide web, that wasn't helpful... 

This time it's easy for my husband.  Dockers and a polo. Check. 

But here's a glimpse into my mind...

I don't own khaki's anymore...jeans are too risky if everyone else is in pants/skirts...I should have shopped at JCrew when my sister was working last week, darn it!...my pink dress is out, could be way too dressy...striped dress, no sweater?...flubby arms...striped dress and sweater...too dressy again!...heals or flats, heals or flats...skirt and chambray shirt, who am I trying to kid, I'm not cool enough to pull that off...

Help!

Mr. Mom

I couldn't be more thankful for my wonderful husband that took on the unexpected roll of "Mr. Mom" this weekend.  Canceling plans to go to the farm, study for his graduate final, and golf for the first time this year, he opted to stay home to take care of his very green, disgusting wife, and give Jett a very happy play filled weekend in spite of the looming flu.

Not only did Super Dad wrangle kiddo and chiweenie, but he did all the laundry and dishes, and checked on me regularly to make sure that I was drinking enough fluids.

Thank you Mr. Mom, you are my hero!
-Love your fluish wife.

Eating Granola and Thought of You!

My friend Jen sent me a text this week that said, "Eating granola...and thought of you!"  What a high compliment in my book!  You see lately I've been on this wild granola kick.  One Saturday I was super hungry for granola and was out, so I decided to make my own.  It was a moderately successful first run, with a minor honey-heating incident with the microwave (Do not, I repeat, do NOT heat honey in the bear in the microwave! Just remember that angry bears will explode, and that's all you need to know.)  I also kept the oats in the oven too long, but masked the flavor by adding extra dark chocolate chips. 

Then there was that fateful trip to Costco where they sell "The World's Best Granola" complete with flax, amaranth, quinoa and other good nutritious stuff.  I've been loading up ever since.  The only problem is that there are 250 calories per 3/4 cup.  (Is it really fair to gain five pounds because of granola?  I think not!) 

While not a complete solution to the calorie challenge, I like the idea of making my own granola so that I can control the sugar content (and add extra good stuff like dried fruit, coconut or chocolate chips.) So I guess I'm making more dessert granola myself, but in place of a bag of chips in the afternoon it's still a good alternative.  Here is a recipe to the batch I whipped up yesterday.

3 1/2 cups rolled oats (I always make a super big batch.)
1/4 cup flax

1 Tab. milled flax

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1 heaping tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

4 Tab. honey

1 Tab. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine first six ingredients in a large bowl.

Next, heat oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla over low heat.  When the honey and sugar are incorporated, you are good to go.

Pour syrup over the oat mixture and combine using a spoon or your hands (if you want to get messy.)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and press granola in a thin layer.  Bake in a 325 degree oven for approximately 25 minutes.  You will need to take the granola out every 8-10 minutes to stir, flip, and toss so that all sides bake evenly and don't burn.  When the granola is finished and cooled I like to put mine into zip-top bags in the freezer for future eating. 

One of my favorite things about making my own granola is that it's the perfect "Use-it-Up" recipe.  You can add whatever you have available as long as you stick with the basic oats+nuts/dried fruit/other goodies+syrup equation.  Enjoy!

Bringing "Sexy" Back to Power Walking

I know that when I walk down the street I'm turning some heads. Yes that's right, I'm bringing sexy back to power walking with free weights.  Just give me some sandals to wear with my socks, and I will officially be rocking the neighborhood with my chicness.

I'm walking tall, not just swinging my arms alongside mind you, nope I'm pumping, punching, and curling those bright blue 3 lb. weights to get the most out of my two miles.  If I see you on the street, in your car, or at the ball field, you better believe I will give you a big wave.  But don't be ashamed if you don't wave back, its okay, I know my hotness is pretty intimidating, sneakers, holey shirt and all.

Incredible Itinerary

Are there travel agents any more?  I really don't know.  With the creation of online booking and sites like Trip Advisor it seems a little unnecessary.  It's really too bad, because I think I would be an exceptional one!  I'd like to go back to 1980 and find out.  I could totally rock the perm, but I think the stirrup pants and blue eye shadow might kill me. 

We are back from NYC, and if the sore muscles from walking 15-20 miles a day wasn't enough reality for me, the three and half hours of email clean-up certainly snapped me back.  I'm really glad to be home, and missed my sweet baby a ton, but it was a FANTASTIC trip, and I'm incredibly glad that we did it.  It was a first NYC trip for my Aunt Hope and I, and a second run for Lillie (but her first experience was a high school band trip, so that doesn't totally count.)  For weeks I poured over Trip Advisor reviews, and Fodor's 2012 NYC guide and created an itinerary that I thought was a rough outline of what we might get to see.

Saturday
Arrive in NYC at 5:45 p.m.

Walk through Times Square

Supper at John's Pizzeria on 44th

Sunday
Walk through Central Park to the Met
The Met – Opens at 9:30 a.m.
Lunch in the Met cafeteria

Madison Ave window shopping

Somewhere fun for supper - This ended up being "Hell's Kitchen" on the corner of 9th and 39th.

Monday
Walk through NBC Studio area - wave at the Today Show cameras (which we did and saw Al Roker and Sasha Baren Cohen as "The Dictator")
NBC Studio Tours – 8:30 a.m.
Walk through Rockefeller Center

Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island – Noon

Ground Zero
St. Paul's Chapel

Dinner at Bouchon Bakery - The best carrot and orange soup, and grilled cheese sandwich ever!  Not to mention a great view of Rockefeller Center.

Tuesday

Standby Tickets for The Chew – 7:15 a.m.

Taping from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

Walk through Central Park to the Guggenheim
Guggenheim
Afternoon Tea at The Plaza – 2:30 p.m.

5th Ave Shopping

Light bite at Famiglia Pizza

Wednesday

Home!

This itinerary worked remarkably well and we saw everything on our list and more!  Except for getting caught in grid-lock traffic on the way to the Battery Park for our Statue of Liberty tour and almost not making it, and a brief mix up on the lines for "Live with Kelly" versus the line for seeing Clinton Kelly on "The Chew," it all went off without a hitch.  Even those moments were true quintessential New York moments that made for a great experience.

This is the first in a series of posts about our trip to The City!  Tomorrow more on the food...yummm...

Blessings of Produce and Cousins!

In my opinion this past weekend, was nearly perfect.

Saturday mornings have become one of my favorite times of the week.  Jett and I usually sleep in and roll out of bed at the bright and shiny time of 7:30 a.m.   Just in time to catch some of the best Food Network shows like The Pioneer Woman, and Aarti Party (although they have recently moved the times of her show or heaven forbid - canceled it!)  I usually fix pancakes or amish oatmeal for breakfast, and then the rest of the morning is filled with quality play time, walks, basketball, sandbox, and sometimes running errands. 

On this particular Saturday, Jett crashed for a nap at about noon, and mama caught some snoozes too.  Around 3:00 p.m. we were invited on a Costco outing with my parents, who had not been to Costco in months.  It was an amazing trip filled with samples, bulk produce, and "The World's Greatest Granola" it said so on the box, and it is!

Sunday morning we went to 8:00 a.m. church which we have found works so much better than late service for Jett's napping schedule.  He's much more chill and willing to play quietly early in the morning.  We were blessed to have lunch with my mom's side of the family in celebration of my cousin Ian's 10th birthday.  I truly can't believe that he is 10!  It seems like only yesterday that my biggest concern about his arrival was that it would occur on the day of junior prom.  He missed prom and we've loved our sweet, funny redheaded boy since day one.  I love all of my cousins dearly, but Ian's arrival was extra special as he was my first cousin on my mom's side with a gap of 10 years between him and my sister as the next oldest grandchild.  My aunts and uncles made up for that time very quickly after Ian and we have since added eight cousins in total to the clan.

Jett loved running after his cousins, and my Aunt Heather's girls were so good to him.  Ivy especially played basketball all afternoon with him.  I could tell Ivy was wearing down as she plopped on the floor at one point, but Jett ran over and tugged on her with an "eh, eh" and a "Let's Go" look, and off they went again.

Kevin said he has perfect form in this shot!

If only rain would have come sooner, and UNL didn't have finals this week, the weekend would have been very close to perfect.  We missed Kevin and Lillie, but were blessed to have time together as a family (and grateful for that awesome Costco run!)

We ran a 5k (and we are mommies!)

Last Saturday my best friend and I ran our first 5k at the Nebraska City, Arbor Day Fun Run.  It was a beautiful cool spring morning, and we were pumped.  We had trained, which in my case meant sqeezing in a run at least once a week, and putting 12 miles plus on the stroller every week walking, and we had encouraged each other leading up to the event by exchanging goofy texts about our times and "competitiveness."

We left Fremont bright and early at 6:30 a.m. and left our sleepy kiddos with the grandmas.  Laughing all the way to Nebraska City, I wasn't sure we were going to have any energy left for the run.  The trail was fairly difficult, consisting of hills winding through Nebraska State Historic Park.  A beautiful view but a challenge when compared with the mountainess terrain of Lincoln and Military streets in flat, flat Fremont. 

With energy to burn we began the run chatting and laughing and comparing ourselves to the other "true runners" who actually had gear and brand name spandex.  About two miles in it started to sprinkle and we started to wilt.  Thankfully things started going downhill in a good way as we begun descending the hills.  We rounded one particular corner and a volunteer said, "You are doing great girls, only about 3/4 mile left!" to which Brandi replied "Oh Crap!" We laughed and I breathlessly replied, "We are doing great, AND we are mommies!" a mantra that began when we ran our first Turkey Trot and Frosty Frolic earlier in the year.

It's safe to say that 10 years ago neither of us would have classified ourselves as "athletic" or in my case even in shape.  For us high school did not include many team sports, and my particular lack of coordination was better suited for the music department.  Nearly 10 years later, I think it's fair to say that we are in really great shape and athletism is something we can now claim.  I don't know why it surprises me so much that this has occured now, as an adult, after having a child, but I never expected to be healthier today than I was in my teens. 

We finished the race right at 32 minutes and 10 seconds and placed 26 and 27 out of 79 women that ran and walked.  Personal best times for both of us, and not bad for two beginning runners (and mommies!)