Everything Elsea

Fashion Friday and Puppy Conan

2012-02-10T06:47:00.005-05:00

A little while back I traveled to DC. Man do they have nice clothes there. I think these clothes are also sold in Ohio, but for some reason they just look better in DC.

Here's what I saw...

1. Strapless Organza Dress. This was my absolute favorite find (which I couldn't buy because 1) C would have killed me and 2) it doesn't go well with a baby bump). I fell in love with this dress and am trying to convince everyone else, who can, to buy it.

This picture does not do this dress justice.

This is where the Fashion Friday post ends because not only I am easily side tracked (especially since I'm preggo) but I also forgot the other cute stuff I saw (another result of the pregnancy brain).

Yesterday was sort of frustrating for me and not even the thought of getting a slushy brought a smile to my face (because Sonic is an entire 3.3 miles from my house and that's just too far to drive), but then I discovered Puppy Conan. And I was well in my world.

I. NEED. A. PUPPY.

Book Smarts vs. Street Smarts

2012-02-09T06:50:00.001-05:00

Riley is a very smart dog. She always wants to please and is very eager to learn. It only took her a few squirts from the spray bottle to stop jumping up on people when they came into the house. And by "jumping up" I mean, jumping so high she once kissed dad on the cheek.

She also loves to play fetch. When no one will play with her (evidenced by the photo below) she will find a way to kick it and play by herself.

This can drive Katie a bit crazy especially with the weather when you can't and don't want to play outside with Riley for 5 hours straight (I tell ya, this girl does not get tired). So Katie has taken it upon herself to use her street smarts to trick Riley.

Whenever she needs some peace and quiet she'll act like she has to go outside and stand by the back door and bark. This leads Riley to believe that she is going out (and Riley doesn't want to miss outdoors time with Katie). Riley comes bounding through the house and runs out the door and down the steps. Katie then returns to the couch or kitchen to enjoy her quite time.

Monday morning, after performing her fake out, she went back to the kitchen, grabbed the chewy Riley had been working on, and returned to the living room to chew in peace.

Now that's street smarts.

Hope there's a lot more where this came from

2012-02-08T07:52:00.000-05:00

18 weeks

2012-02-07T07:38:00.003-05:00

We're still growing a baby over here. Please note, I have no abdomen, so this baby it sitting pretty high up there. Here are the latest updates.

How Far Along: 18 weeks
Size of Baby: Length of a bell pepper.

Total Weight Gain: -1 pounds (I lost roughly 10 in the beginning but I'm on my way back up.)
Maternity Clothes: Work shirts, yes (all my button downs are done). Occasionally a Be-Band when my work pants are too tight (because they aren't low riders). Everything else, no.

Gender: It's a surprise!
Movement: Nothing noticeable yet, but we're getting close. I'm worried I have actually already felt it, but confused it with gas (sorry, Mr. Fartlepants).

Sleep: Lots and lots of it.
What I Miss: Laying on my stomach.

Cravings: Cherry Slushies and Eggo Waffles (with a glass of milk!).

Symptoms: Not many right now other than occasional exhaustion.

Best Moment this Week: Found a fabric pattern to center the nursery decorating around.

Babymoon

2012-02-06T17:55:00.003-05:00

Grab a snack and get comfy, we had a busy weekend.

Friday evening we chose to stay home and relax (C had had a very hectic week and I was exhausted from my travels at the beginning of the week). I was all set to get Olive Garden (C had a very late lunch/early dinner and wasn't hungry) until I watched Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Then I wanted fish. So we headed out to pick some up from Madisons (and also get a slushy from DQ). Then at 8:30 I was ready to take a cat nap. Just 20 minutes, then I'd be ready to go for the rest of the evening. Except there was no "rest of the evening" because I didn't wake up until 11:00 when C told me we should probably go to bed.

After 11.5 hours of sleep Saturday morning I was up and ready to go at 8:00. C had some work he had to get done and I had some make up to pick up and a quick craft project to work on with my mom so we headed out separate ways. We reconvened after the Buckeyes' game so that we could go on our babymoon - an overnight stay at Easton!

C planned everything from the hotel to dinner. We arrived and were headed to the Courtyard until C made an early turn and pulled into the Hilton! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a Marriott girl, but I've wanted to stay at the Easton Hilton for years and years. I had been there once for an LWML worship service, but never got to spend the night.

We had late dinner reservations so we were able to run to Trader Joe's to pick up some snacks and also chilled in our over sized room. It was at this point that I realized I had left all of our toiletries and my make up at home. 40 minutes away. With Drew in Philadelphia and Mark at his homecoming dance (and not wanting to drive back to get them) we were stuck. So I called down to the front desk to see if they happened to have tooth brushes, tooth paste, and contact solution. Fortunately they did and also offered for the bellman to bring them up. It was at this point that I also realized I had left my nice boots at home (I wore my moccasin slippers up there).

Roughly an hour (and too much money for contact solution) later we had watched a decent portion of Arthur (good flick) and I started pulling out my outfit from the suitcase. Low and behold, look what I found....

I still didn't have my boots, but that's ok, because I had my make up!

Slipper Shot!

We dolled our selves up and heading to the Melting Pot! Roughly two years ago, I won a bet with C. A March Madness bet. (I take great pride in beating boys at sporting things.) The bet was that if I won we'd have to go to the Melting Pot and if I lost, well, we didn't have a bet for what would happen if I lost because 1). I was fairly certain I was going to win and 2) C never came up with anything. So Saturday night I cashed in.

We enjoyed Cheddar Cheese fondue, salads, teriyaki sirloin (me) and filet mignon (C) and 'Smores chocolate fondue for dinner. Our waiter was a bit slow so we didn't leave the table until 11:00 p.m. (eating a long and late dinner isn't the best idea for a pregnant lady I later found out), but I enjoyed every single minute of it.

We returned to the hotel in time for C to enjoy the hot tub.

Sunday morning we woke up and ordered room service. Why is it that whatever someone else orders is always better than yours? My french toast had raisins and nuts in it, but C's pancakes were SO delectable.

We spent a few hours roaming around Easton. We stopped at Buy Buy Baby for a body pillow. The Snoogle is my new best friend (although I did ditch it last night because I couldn't get to sleep). We also read for a while at Barnes and Noble and grabbed a snack before heading back to town.

We had plans to go to the Vansants for the Super Bowl, but got back in enough time for me to take a nap with my Snoogle. What a nap it was. 2 hours later, it felt as though I'd slept like a baby.

We finished off the weekend at the Vansants with dinner, a game of joker, and fast forwarding through the game to watch the commercials.

All in all a great Babymoon weekend!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

2012-02-03T06:24:00.003-05:00

I'm getting this one in just in time for the Super Bowl. If you need something to take to a party, I suggest Spinach Artichoke Dip. Simple, quick, and yummy. I found a recipe on Kraft.com but added a few ingredients to make it cheesier and creamier.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
1 package (10 oz) frozen, chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
a few tsp. milk (to thin out the dip if needed)

Combine all ingredients and put into your handy dandy small crock pot (that you may or may not have purchased for a college speech project). Warm through and serve.

yet another list of stuff

2012-02-02T06:55:00.002-05:00

I promise I'm not going to get into the habit of making posts that just list my thoughts. Except for today because I am dog tired. DOG. TIRED.

1. I have a great post in the works about one of our favorite restaurants. It's scrumdiddlyumptious.

2. My work week started on Sunday so I'm one day ahead of myself. My brain thinks today is Friday. Not good.

3. While I am still holding out for one ~~more~~ snow storm that leaves me stuck in doors for a day or two, this weather has rocked my socks off.

4. Big Red is engaged! I'll spare you from recounting my first conversation with her fiance, Brad. Let's just say I wasn't aware he was on the phone when she called to announce the big news.

5. Over the weekend my belly popped. It still looks like I've just put on some weight (strictly in my mid-section I hope), but if you know I'm preggo I now look the part.

6. This is one of my favorite views of DC. (I'm not talking about this particular street or it's street lights. Focus on the three things in the middle.)

The End.

I laughed until I cried (and I'm still crying)

2012-02-01T18:03:00.002-05:00

Emily kept asking me if I've seen this clip, so tonight I came home and watched it.

I kid you not, I still have tears running down my face. (And it's not the hormones.)

I. NEED. THIS.

2012-01-30T06:18:00.002-05:00

Mom and I have been busy looking at colors, fabrics, and patterns for Mr. Fartlepants' nursery (C's involved as well, just isn't too concerned about going to quilt stores to look at bolts of fabric). Several months ago, before Mr. Fartlepants was a part of our lives, we stumbled upon this and I made a mental note that it was a nursery must.

I should have bought it then because now it is absolutely nowhere to be found. We need it. We must have it. The quilt that will match the crib skirt, sheets, curtains, and throw pillows must be hung from this.

So please, please, please let me know if you find it.

Thank you.

Fashion Friday (I think)

2012-01-27T06:53:00.002-05:00

I haven't felt very fashionable lately. I've been wearing loose fitting clothes to work (the same 5 things), sweat pants and a t-shirt in the evenings, and jeans when I absolutely have to go out.

I think I need more clothes that will grow (and not rip) with my expanding waistline.

I haven't looked at clothing sites or window shopped or even cared about anything fashionable the last month or two. But now I think I'm in the market for a new watch because you shouldn't wake up to find your watch is 40 minutes or 25 minutes behind for no reason at all (especially after just having had the battery replaced in September). Unless I'm resetting my watch when I'm sleeping we've got some sort of technical problem in the inner workings of my watch.

I choose the Stella Resin Watch as a replacement. It's gorgeous and not your average metal watch. I also think it would have less of a tendency to show scratches and wear like my current watch.

I also considered the Stella Stainless Watch in Rose and the Two-Tone (which I don't like nearly as much as the first two). The mental debate between the Resin and Stainless Rose was much too long for a watch I'm not even going to get.

Maybe next week I'll muscle up the courage to do a maternity clothes post. So far I just can't justify spending $40 for a shirt that I'll wear for a few months and be done with for a few years.

Teaching a new dog new tricks

2012-01-26T06:26:00.000-05:00

(Somewhere I have a picture of Katie playing cards as well. It runs in the family.)

I'm saving up $900 for a stroller

2012-01-25T06:53:00.002-05:00

1. I've been having crazy dreams lately. Friday night Justin Timberlake was my BFF (and possibly brother) and Tuesday night I was at Owen Wilson's house. Man did he have a decked out bathroom with two hot tubs and three pools.

2. Now that there is a baby on the way, I'm ~~starting to~~ spending lots of time looking at baby gear. Lets face it, I've had some of my dream baby items picked out for years. I didn't have my wedding planned at age 14 but I knew what stroller I wanted. That being said, ~~I'm beginning to realize~~ C has told me that my ~~lofty~~ dreams of a $900 stroller aren't going to happen so instead I'm looking at choice #2 or a Peg Perego (because there is an outlet in Fort Wayne).

What I'd like for Mr. Fartlepants to travel in.

What Mr. Fartlepants will probably travel in instead.

3. Speaking of baby items, I think it's a good idea when people are compiling their wedding registries to get input from scads of people as to what they absolutely need to register for or even just things they never even thought of. I, for one, found about 32 things I should have registered for after we got married. So I'm thinking ahead this time around and asking what baby items you can't live without. I will take every (serious) suggestion into consideration. Thank you for your input.

4. I cannot spell the word inconvenience. Every time I try I get it wrong. Then I try to have spell check correct it. Spell check's suggestion is incontinence.

5. I've been wanting Danish Puff for the last three days but do not have enough butter. I'm seriously considering making the 1.5 mile trek to the store to get some butter.

6. C and I are on the house hunt. The goal is to be in a place by the time the baby is born (I'm shooting for June) but ideally by late Spring. Every time we go into a house that we like (we have our eye on one in particular right now) I immediately start thinking about what kitchen cabinets would be for food, which would be for plates/cups/other everyday wear, and where we'd put our food. Yesterday morning I found myself thinking "I could put guest towels, sheets, and toilet paper in that linen closet, but those three things don't take up much of the space, what else could I store in there?" We also discuss where we would put the dog crate in each house. I have fully arranged, in my mind, 6-8 houses we've seen, and liked, in the Lancaster area.

7. Call me crazy, but if we are able to move before June, I'd still like to get a dog right away. I think C's in agreement with this one.

Caramel Puff Corn

2012-01-24T06:35:00.003-05:00

Here's an easy recipe if you're having people over (unlike us - we try to make it a point not to socialize) for the Super Bowl in a few weeks.

Caramel Puff Corn

2 bags hulless puff corn (buttered)
1 1/2 cups butter
3 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup light Karo syrup
3/4 tsp. baking soda

Bring brown sugar, butter, and Karo syrup to a boil in a large sauce pan. Boil for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Some type of chemical reaction will occur causing the caramel to becoming more bubbly once the baking soda is mixed in so make sure your sauce pan is big enough.

In a large roasting pan (this is a good time to break out the roasting pan you received for a wedding gift 4 years ago but haven't used yet), pour caramel sauce over the puff corn. Stir to make sure the puff corn is evenly coated.

Baked at 250 degrees for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes.

Once baked, pour onto wax paper and let cool.

Weekend Rewind

2012-01-23T17:43:00.002-05:00

So we got a little bit of snow and a little bit of ice over the weekend. Not enough though to make it look like a winter wonderland outside. I'm still holding out hope for significant accumulation (read: at least 6 inches).

Friday evening C and I ventured out to pick up some Chinese for dinner before the ice storm hit. Then we skyped with the lovely Olson family.

Saturday morning we slept in, ate Eggo Waffles (me), watched some t.v. (me) and stayed around the house most of the day napping (me) - I do that a lot now - before going to Starbucks to read (C) and blog and look at nursery ideas (me) with our mocha (C) and Sonic Cherry Slushy (me).

That evening we went to my parents' house for dinner and a Euchre lesson for Mark. He picked it up pretty quickly and I even managed to deal myself a pretty nice hand.

After being beat 2 games to 1, I played some fetch with Riley. This is her "I'm ready stance".

After church and lunch on Sunday morning I napped again (I'm really becoming quite the expert at this napping thing) and then C and I went to the grocery to pick up a few things I needed for a funeral dinner at church later this week. After coming back home and laying on the couch C asked if I was going to take another nap (he knows me so well) but we both decided that wasn't a good idea because then I wouldn't get to sleep at a decent hour which would throw the entire week into a tailspin. Instead I cooked dinner. Yummy cheeseburger pie. We rounded out the evening with C working on some stuff in the office while I laughed my head off watching Amercia's Funniest Home Videos - the dog who tore up the sheet and was found hiding in the corner of the shower was the best.

And there you have it. C's weekend of being an adult and my weekend of napping and watching children's programming. Just your typical Elsea weekend.

16 weeks

2012-01-21T17:41:00.003-05:00

I'm preggo. That means it's time for me to start my semi-monthly (at least until things really start to grow) belly photos. Kudos to me for doing this on the first day of week 16. We'll see if we're that lucky for week 18. I'm guessing not.

I should take a moment to explain the board. C made this all my himself sometime around week 8. We've been changing the countdown every Saturday and changing what's written above "Baby" to either the names we like or Mr. Fartlepants.

How Far Along: 16 weeks
Size of Baby: Size of a lemon.

Total Weight Gain: -5 pounds (I lost roughly 10 in the beginning but I'm on my way back up.)
Maternity Clothes: Work shirts, yes (all my button downs are done). Occasionally a Be-Band when my work pants are too tight (because they aren't low riders). Everything else, no.

Gender: It's a surprise!
Movement: It's moving, I just don't feel anything yet.

Sleep: Lots and lots of it.
What I Miss: Nothing. Yet.
Cravings: Fruity Pebbles and Cherry Slushies. (I'm writing this at Starbucks while drinking a Sonic Cherry Slushy.)

Symptoms: Exhaustion, but not nearly as bad as it has been.

Best Moment this Week: Starting to look at nursery patterns, ideas, cribs, etc.

yesterday

2012-01-20T06:25:00.003-05:00

Here's a breakdown of my yesterday:

1. Got an email from Big Mama that I had won one of her blog giveaways (that I didn't remember even entering in November). While it's no $200 gift card to Ann Taylor Loft, my eyes will be ever grateful for their new color.

2. Snow was predicted. We got roughly 1 inch. If more wasn't on the way tonight (in the form of ice too), I'd quit.

3. The world found out that Fausto Carmona is really Roberto Hernandez Heredia and isn't 28 years old but 31. My world has turned upside down. Obviously I'm still coming to grips with this. What's even real anymore? I'm just not sure.

3.a. Since Fausto was outed as Roberto, I thought I'd take the opportunity to announce that I am really Maria Sanchez, born in Chile, and I'm 34 years old. Marinate on that for a while.

4. Cousin Jessica had her baby! Welcome to the world Silas Blake!

As you can see yesterday was a very eventful day.

desperately

2012-01-19T07:27:00.000-05:00

seeking

snow.

(please

pray.)

These girls are not normal.

2012-01-18T07:19:00.001-05:00

What's my age again?

2012-01-17T06:21:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty sure I'm 26 years old. However, yesterday I bought a shower cap. For. My. Self.

About a year ago I stopped washing my hair everyday. Partly because it's better for my hair and partly because I'm lazy and not having to dry my hair in the morning means I can sleep in 8-10 minutes longer, basically cutting my prep time down 33%. But now, thanks to Mr. Fartlepants and my desire to keep him fed and "nourished", if you can count Fruity Pebbles as nourishment, I'm making more of an effort to eat breakfast before I go to work in the morning which has added that 33% back on. So the non-hair washing days are amazing.

So over the past 12 or so months I been using shower caps from hotels. I would load up when we were gone and bring them back to use. However, we haven't stayed in a hotel recently and the elastic on my el-cheapo (read: free) cap was not very elastic-y anymore. So I decided today to buy one.

Why do I wear shower caps instead of just pulling my hair back? Because I don't want a single strand wet and I have a very quick (don't worry, and thorough) shower routine I don't want to make longer because I'm trying to keep my hair dry.

My problem... I couldn't find one at Target and was not about to ask someone where they were because I'm 26, not 86. So I browsed the same 4 aisles for 15 minutes before I found one. And since I try to save money when I can, I went with the $3.09 cap instead of spending $7.39 and splurging on what all other 26 year olds would get if they were buying a cap - a nice, satin patterned cap (which they aren't because no other 26 year old uses a shower cap).

And now, I'm going to do what I probably shouldn't do. I'm going to show you what a 26 year old (read: me) looks like in a shower cap. Brace yourselves.

By the way, the plastic smells so good.

I also bought a few maternity shirts, so hopefully that brings my own age perception back down to (at least) childbearing years.

TGIF (for real)

2012-01-13T07:19:00.002-05:00

Fashion Fridays are probably going to be few and far between for the next several months. While I do see lots and lots of cute clothes everywhere, I, myself, am a bit restricted to not buying anything as my waist will be expanding. Don't get me wrong, maternity clothes have come a long way, but you can't make a cute sequined, pencil skirt for a preggo woman. And that makes me sad.

I did discover two fashionable things yesterday. I present to you the Legacy Stripe Tech Case and Laptop Case. I'm in love. And (*cough, C, *cough) they are less than $100. I'm in love.

Tech Case.

(For my iPhone)

Computer case.

Both of these have moved to the top of my material possessions list.

Much to my dismay C hasn't been able to secure me a tour of the local jail (I have a thing for jails). To be honest, I'm not even sure he's even tried to get me a tour and he's there all the time. That being said, I've started a new book, Orange Is the New Black. I'm sure it's not nearly as exciting as the Wheeling Street Facility, but it will have to suffice for now. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I'll should probably take this opportunity to say my biggest jail dream is to tour Lucasville. The jail within the Ohio jail system. I get giddy just thinking about it. I would stick my tongue out at all the inmates as I walked past them. Then I'd promptly enter the witness protection program so they couldn't find me if they ever got out. But still, if anyone can hook this girl up I'll name Mr. Fartlepants after you. Promise.

I watched How Do You Know last night. For some reason I could not remember the name of the film before, during, after, or even now. I have to think really hard about it for a few minutes just to remember the name. The movie itself was sorta the same.

We're currently in the middle of our first (and probably last) winter ~~storm~~ flurries of the year. 2-4 inches of snow is projected so I'm expecting an entire 1/8 of an inch.

Better plan on my commute to work this morning taking 4 minutes instead of the usual 2. Off I go.

Mulled Cider

2012-01-12T07:34:00.001-05:00

It's supposed to be cold again in Ohio tonight. Yippee! For the brief time the cold weather is here you must try this mulled cider. If only to make your house smell of sweet spices. This recipe is easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Mulled Cider

1 quart apple cider
2 Tbs. mulling spice (we had Williams-Sonoma)
orange peel or slices
lemon peel or slices

Throw everything into a large sauce pan. It's best to put the mulling spice in it's own holder (tea leaf holder, cheese cloth, or if you're my sister a small strainer with a coffee filter tied on top).

Bring to a boil and simmer until you're tired of smelling mulled cider OR it's all gone.

Serve warm.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

2012-01-11T07:49:00.000-05:00

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Pros and Cons (Part One)

2012-01-10T07:01:00.002-05:00

C and I are inching closer to home ownership. And by that I mean, I'm pretty sure our landlord isn't going to renew our lease come April because he already has two families fighting for our apartment. That being said I'm starting a pros and cons list of homeownership. Here's what I came up with last night.

Pros
Chicken patties are on sale this week at Meijer. I could only buy one bag because our freezer is the size of a cooler you'd take to a picnic.

Next year, when we undecorate after Christmas, I won't have to call my brother and ask him to come pick up our tree and take it to my parents' house because we don't have anywhere to store it at our place.

Our laundry room will (hopefully) no longer be in the kitchen.

We will get a puppy!

Cons
After buying my one bag of chicken patties I was greeted by this when I got home. I'm pretty sure this doesn't happen ~~often~~ ever in the neighborhoods we're looking at.

Clearly I'm torn.

Weekend Rewind: Tweets Edition

2012-01-09T17:56:00.001-05:00

Here's what went down on the twitter this weekend:

Friday

We need a slushy machine. #fb*

First RedBox experience... Midnight in Paris. Great movie.

Saturday

There's a shooter on the loose in Lancaster, Time to turn on the police scanner on.

C's going to be gone all day. I need plans.

Since I'm having a baby does that mean I have to stop being a kid?

Uh-Oh. I've got Spring Fever.

@CGinPhilly Thanks!! (In response to: @CGinPhilly You might enjoy this. It's free!!)

@Revjack56 too heavy for me. (In response to: @Revjack56 We are taking down trees at church :) )

I'm ready for some baseball. #fb

I have so much (mental) energy.

I want to go on a walk.

@CharlesMLC Nah. I'll pass. (In response to: @CharlesMLC you should. Stay on big streets tho. Everyone here is freaking our about the shooter on the lam.)

@IAmRileyTheDog and @Revjack56 watching the #Buckeyes.

Right now on MTV: Teen Mom 2. Next up: Charlies and the Chocolate Factory. #fb

Sunday

I missed Charles Barkley on SNL last night. #dayruined #fb

@edavidson5 that would require you to go to summer camp (In response to: @edavidson5 So has the ship sailed on me having a secret twin from London that I meet at summer camp?)

@davidsondrew but you love Jesus! (In response to: @davidsondrew Im between a rock and a hard place, I hate Tebow, but I also hate the Steelers.)

*#fb means that I also thought the thought was SO important it must also be shared with facebook.

Champagne Mousse

2012-01-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

As I stated on Monday, I've been cooking more over the last week or so. Now that I can (most of the time) stand being in the kitchen without feeling like I'm going to die from the horrible smells the trash or sink or even counters are letter off, I'm feeding people again!

I figured I'd start with this champagne mousse (because it's New Year's themed and posting it in a month wouldn't make sense). Last week I commented to C that we had 3 bottles of champagne in the fridge (two dating back to our wedding) and I had no idea what to do with them (champagne is actually one of my few favorite alcohol infused drinks, but now it's a no-no). Then the next day, BAM! Sprinkle Bakes posted a champagne mousse recipe. So guess what we had for dessert last Saturday night...

Champagne Mousse

(from Sprinkle Bakes)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar

1 1/3 cups champagne (we used sparkling wine)

2 1/2 tsp. powdered gelatin (which worked out to be one packet)

3 Tbs. champagne

Using a mixer, whip the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks are formed (I went a bit too long on mine, but it still came out well). Refrigerate.

Start your double broiler by filling a pan 1/3 of the way with water (enough so that it doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl you are using) and bring to a boil.

In a heat safe bowl (glass or metal) whisk the eggs and sugar until the mixture is lighter in color (we're talking a soft, baby yellow). Add champagne and whisk until well combined.

Once the water is boiling, place the bowl on top of the sauce pan and whisk, whisk, whisk. The champagne will cause the custard to be foamy. You'll know when it's done because the foamy-ness will all disappear and the mixture will thicken. (I took mine off too early, but couldn't tell a difference in the final product). remove from heat.

Pour gelatin over 3 Tbs. of champagne and let sit for a few minutes. This will become quite gelatinous. Next, nuke it for 10 seconds so that it can be poured into the custard mixture. Whisk gelatin/champagne into the custard. Let this cool

Once the custard is cooled, fold in to the whipped cream (if you pull the custard off the stove too soon, the consistency between the two will make it harder to fold). Then pour the mousse into your serving dish/bowls/cups/flutes. Freeze until ready to serve.

We also added Sprinkle Bakes' chocolate ganache to the top. We made the entire amount, but only needed a smidgen of it.

It's a PARTY for JESUS!

2012-01-04T06:40:00.000-05:00

So that's what happened...

2012-01-03T07:31:00.001-05:00

In case you thought the Buckeyes play calling was a bit off yesterday, perhaps this will help explain things.

Looks like Riley was at the helm telling the boys what to run (while cutting coupons).

I'm treating today as New Year's Day

2012-01-02T11:04:00.001-05:00

We're back, the blogs back. I'm reinvigorated. Seriously. Today I woke up with a super great outlook on the year. I think this had something to do with it.

I've got grand plans for the day - which I'm treating as New Year's Day, yesterday was just a regular Sunday. I'm going to watch the Rose Parade, make cookies (I'm cooking again!), do some laundry so we have clothes to wear to work this week, make sloppy joes (C really hasn't had regularly prepared meals - by me - in two months), and watch every show on HGTV (they have a great line up today).

So. Yeah. I'm excited about this year. Lots and lots of changes coming our way. The biggest being Mr. Fartlepants (don't worry we have real names picked out). Speaking of the baby, now that the internet world knows I can talk about it on here! However, I don't have much to say right now other than the fact that I'm doing my darnedest to eat because this has zapped my appetite at times. But I should be turning that corner soon.

We had a great Christmas and New Year. We spent Christmas in Pipestone, Minnesota (population 5,995 + 5 Olsons) not only celebrating Jesus' birth but also the birth and baptism of our new niece Clara. We spent New Years at my parents' with the Upps. We played games and laughed until we cried (seriously).

So that's what's going on in the Elsea household. I also made at least 3 new recipes to post in the upcoming weeks (plus one more I'm making today).

The Rose Parade is starting so I must get going. Gotta keep my eye out for the Lutheran Hour Float (#56 I believe).

1460 days, 16 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds

2011-12-29T08:30:00.001-05:00

Also known as the exact amount of time we've been married.

Which means today is our fourth anniversary.

Which also makes this our last anniversary as a family of two.

This next year is going to be big.

Merry Christmas from our (growing) family!

2011-12-23T07:37:00.000-05:00

That's right. We're expecting little Mister Fartlepants (that's our gender neutral term of endearment) in early July and couldn't be gladder. (I think C's a bit worried that the baby will have my "smarts" instead of his.)

See you in the New Year (when the baby posts will start in full force)!

Christmas came early

2011-12-22T07:18:00.000-05:00

Today's post will be quick, if only because I'm too lazy to download the pictures from our camera.

Tuesday C gave me a Christmas present a bit early. He had to. It was tickets to that night's OSU game against Lamar (the school, not a person).

I won't go into detail (I'll save that for next week), but I will go far enough to say that our seats were close enough that we were on SportsCenter when they played the highlights. Can you find us?

And after tomorrow the blogs going vacation through the end of the year. It had a few unused vacation days it needed to use up before the end of the year.

How'd that happen?

2011-12-21T07:31:00.000-05:00

I like to listen to Christmas music

2011-12-20T07:36:00.000-05:00

I've been listening to Christmas music since Thanksgiving day. While I may be having problems getting my act together to make a gingerbread house, I have no problem turning the radio dial to 93.3 or 94.7 (here's to having a working FM radio this year!).

My other Christmas music obsession of the year is Michael Buble's Christmas. It's loverly.

Weekend Rewind

2011-12-19T07:07:00.002-05:00

For your Monday morning reading enjoyment, here's a picture-less Weekend Rewind.

C worked late Friday evening so I came home, made potato soup, got Christmas cards addressed, and watch a four hour, two part Oprah Winfrey movie called The Wedding. I had absolutely no intention of seeing the movie through, but 4 hours later I was still watching.

I've found myself watching a lot of Oprah's channel recently. I have no idea why. The one thing I can't get in to... Rosie's new show (but I did watch her craft special the other night). It's just not good.

Saturday morning (after C got home at 4:00 a.m.) we slept in and then headed to Easton to get our Christmas shopping done. I'm not sure why, but I have managed to put off all things Christmas this year. aside from the tree getting up (which took a week and a half) I haven't made any cookies and have an unassembled gingerbread house sitting on the kitchen table. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we'll be gone for Christmas.

We started out at T.J. Maxx. What a mistake. It was super crowded and picked over. I think I actually had a minor holiday panic attack. We left about about 8 minutes, got some gas, and headed to Cosi for a late lunch and to regroup. C kept telling me once we got the first gift the rest would just come to us.

He was right.

We picked up something for my mom, headed into H&M (which I had never been in, but love!) and knocked out another three gifts, then headed to Barnes & Noble to pick up the last one. I had one thing left to order online, but I knocked that out last night.

We also saw Andrea Cambern, 10TV anchor, working one of the Salvation Army bell thingies. C got the bright idea that we should ask if she'd mind saying hi to my dad (he's kind of a big fan) if we gave him a call. She was more than willing to so we dialed him up and she said hello. She is super nice and beautiful. It isn't often that someone looks even better in person, but she does.

After spending some time in the B&N Cafe (C likes to sit there and read, I took my Peoples) we made our way back to Lancaster. C's a bit under the weather with a cold so I dropped him off at home, headed to let the girls out, and picked up some pizza for dinner.

We ended the evening watching Love Actually (one of out top 2 Christmas movies) and enjoying cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

After church on Sunday (which was yesterday) we made breakfast for lunch at my parents house. C headed home to get some work done (he's got a big project he's been wrapping up) so I stayed back to finish up some of my homemade Christmas projects (something I've been working on with my mom for about a week). We almost lost one of them to a fire (don't put anything over the top of a candle) but were able to quickly save my project.

We also stopped by a surprise birthday part for Flo for church. Then C picked me up and we headed to starbucks so he could get a mocha and then went to Target for tissues (poor guy) and my replacement moccasin slippers which I use as shoes.

I ended out the night wrapping the rest of the presents (I've managed to make three rolls of wrapping paper stretch 2 years, I'm thinking I've got another 2 to 3 in them) and watching Moonshiners 'cause them's my people.

Way to go Riley (and Mark)!

2011-12-18T20:11:00.002-05:00

A special post on a Sunday? You betcha!

(We have Time Warner to thank for today's post because our internet went out Wednesday night thus not allowing me to prepare a post for Thursday morning. I cannot wait for the day when we get to call Time Warner and cancel all of our services - right now they are the only option we have and I choose going with them over no t.v. or internet.)

Wednesday night I went to Riley Roo's graduation from basic training in Columbus with my mom and Mark. We had one goal... get Riley graduated.

Each dog went through some basic skills and was graded on those skills (sit, stay, follow, run fast, run slow, etc).

Then there was the sit and stay (for a long period of time) and the down and stay (for another long period of time). Each dog was given points based on how long they could stay in each position. Riley didn't do so well on the down command thanks to the unruly dog next to her.

Once the last two commands were finished the leader tallied up the scores and announced the winners (1st through 4th places and Most Improved).

Maggie (the Saint Bernard) got Most Improved, Ginger, the multi-colored dog in the back, felt she deserved it. We agreed.

Riley (and Mark) won 3rd place! (Obviously the lady didn't see Riley standing up for the majority of the down command.)

We are so proud of both of them!

Fashion Friday Faux Pas

2011-12-16T07:28:00.007-05:00

Dear Selena,

I understand that it's embarrassing to go stag to a wedding when you are a bridesmaid, and especially when your date would be Justin Bieber. *Swoon*

That being said, I can't believe you still agreed to take The Biebs when he walked out in these "pants".

Sincerely,

Rachel

(via PopSugar)

This girl loves her Buckeyes (and the movie "UP")

2011-12-14T07:26:00.001-05:00

Weekend Rewind

2011-12-13T07:40:00.000-05:00

Christmas is coming! If you haven't left your house in the last 2 weeks and only watch t.v. the movies on ABC Family and the Hallmark Channel should've clued you in. So really, there's no way to NOT know.

Oh yes, and other good news. The Tournament of Roses Parade is going to be held on Monday this year not New Years day, so it looks like we can go to church after all.

I had a nice little extended weekend thanks to some vacation days I needed to use before the end of the year.

Friday I met my mom for some lunch and a trip to the quilt store to get some fabric for Christmas presents. We spent the rest of the afternoon starting the project and taking breaks so Riley, who thinks she is a lap dog, could sit in my lap.

Once C was done working, I returned home so that I could watch him play Wii Baseball. Yeah, exciting. I also made some cookies for the blood drive my Other Mother was throwing (do you throw a blood drive?) or maybe hosting (?) Saturday morning.

Saturday morning we headed to St. B's for the blood drive (sadly I didn't get any pictures like last time). Joyce had crafts on hand so I was able to make some nice foam bookmarks while I waited for C to finish up.

As soon as we got home we were able to iChat with our newest niece Clara (and her mom, grandma, and brothers too)! I then took a nap and caught the end of the Buckeyes game (glad I didn't see it all) while C went to Starbucks to read.

Saturday evening we went to Pickerington for dinner with the Vansants. We stopped at the ATM on the way up and discovered Carl Bumgardner* had left his debit card at the ATM. Since the ATM is right next to the bar we decided to take it and return it to the bank on Monday morning. The next 30 minutes were spent with me on the phone trying to tell the guy and then gal working for Insight (Carl's bank) on the other line that we had found Carl's card and would return it to the bank on Monday. I had to tell the guy I did not expect him to give me Carl's personal information, just wanted to let the bank know I found the card. Then I had to listen to the gal finish our conversation with "Thank you for choosing Insight". But I didn't...

We arrived in Pickerington and grabbed some dinner before playing a game of Joker. C and I won. I am the Queen of Joker. Seriously. My record is 4 and 1.

Sunday we churched and lunched and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned AND discovered that C had left his debit card at the restaurant the night before. Just call him Carl Bumgardner*

While C was at work on Monday I was able to enjoy the day working on some projects with my mom. We finished up our Christmas projects, made cookies, and also made some Caramel & Chocolate & Toffee Covered Pretzels.

I ended the day back in the real world with a board meeting and writing this blog post. Eight more (work) days until Christmas break!

*Carl's last name has been altered to protect the innocent. (Carl is the innocent in this case.)

Last night I...

2011-12-07T07:33:00.000-05:00

Wanted to travel to...

Chicago

Florida

South Carolina

Scotland

New York

Wanted to eat...

Chicken Salad (FMC's is the best...seriously)

Sloppy Joes

Fresh Fish

Crab Cakes

Chili Cheeseburger

Thank you Triple D.

Shopping Lists

2011-12-06T06:44:00.001-05:00

C and I got quite the chuckle out of this over the weekend. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The tree is up!

2011-12-05T17:44:00.001-05:00

After 8 days of thoughts of putting up the Christmas tree, I can officially report that it is up and decorated.

Friday evening was quite laid back for us. And after the busy work week we had we needed it. We grabbed a bite to eat (along with the rest of Lancaster) at Texas Roadhouse and returned home to do nothing. And my nothing I mean accidentally watch Van Wilder on VH1.

After some hiccups Saturday morning my mom and I headed to good old Glenford (aka the middle of the middle of nowhere) for a Christmas sale. I score this bell wreath, which to C's chagrin is hanging on a door that we don't open daily.

After returning to civilization we met C at the high school for the pancake breakfast (yum) and then C and I went to pick out our Christmas tree.

And by "pick out our tree" I mean, "find our tree bag at my parents' house". But it was still fun to pretend we had found a tree, cut it down, and got it gift wrapped.

Our plans on putting up the tree were thwarted by my desire to take a nap and C's desire to do other, non-tree putting up things. I also make a grocery run to get essentials for dinner (beef and noodles). But by 5:30 we started cleaning so that our tree could go up. At least 3/4 of it. We are easily distracted.

Sunday morning we had to make a pit stop at C's office so he could pick up something for church. While he did that I busied myself by finding a stain on his floor that looked like the State of Ohio

We finally made it to church and then lunched at Scrambler Maries or Marie Scramblers. Apparently they were out of clean dishes which meant our meals had to come out separately and that Mark couldn't get a refill for an extended period of time. And then something happened about not being able to run the credit card through because they only had one outlet and the dishwasher was using it? I'm not sure, but we did finally leave.

C and I managed to get the top of the tree put on and most of the ornaments prior to my youth event, but once I got home we were able to finish it (and all the other decorations). We also found some time to iChat with C's parents.

With all the effort that went into putting up the tree, I'm thinking it'll stay up through March.

Odds and Ends (but mainly Odds)

2011-12-02T06:27:00.001-05:00

I have a confession to make. I haven't felt very fashionable lately. At least not in the work sense. In fact yesterday I dreaded the idea of having to come up with an outfit to wear to work. Mainly because I didn't want to wear tights because I think I have a cold or something and who wants to wear tights and feel all tight when you have a cold? Not me. So we're going to forgo Fashion Friday today (C will be thrilled - if I'm not thinking about clothes then I don't want to buy them). Instead I'm just going to fly by the seat of my pants here.

You're probably wondering about the Quest for Justice which was started this spring when the stupid Oldsmobile Regency would park for days on end in the two hour parking out front.

I briefly thought about taking this down after the city put new street parking on the other side of our building and the Regency moved over there. We don't park on that side because the spaces appear to be smaller than city regulation parking spaces and we're worried that our car will get rear ended, front ended, or sideswiped. But within the last few weeks the Regency moved out front again. So the count is back on. Only problem, the city doesn't appear to see a need to monitor any more (I think they don't want to walk as far from the Police Station in the cold). So the count will stay up. For now.

C and I have been trying to get our Christmas decorations up since last Sunday, but apparently the legal world is super busy right now so we've pushed it back to tomorrow. I'm stoked.

Speaking of Christmas, we have a plan to watch all of our Christmas movies before we leave on the 22nd. This would include (I believe) it's a Wonderful Life. C loves that movie. I think I'd like it better if it were in color. Can you imagine what people who only knew black and white movies would think if they could watch a movie today? But maybe they already know because I'm sure Heaven has its movies in color and they're probably even a few steps ahead of us down here.

We'll be in Pipestone for Christmas this year celebrating the birth of our Lord and Clara. That means we have the best chance of having a white Christmas that you can get. Which means it'll probably be snow free and rainy while we are up there.

I'm eating a Clementine as I write this. They are so yummy.

For some reason I was way too excited about Urban Meyer becoming the OSU football coach. It is a well known fact that my love for OSU basketball trumps anything football related. Yet I couldn't help but be giddy.

Speaking of basketball, OSU plays Texas Pan-American tomorrow. Apparently there are so many schools in texas that they have resorted to naming them after the airline industy. Also, the NBA is back which makes me happy for one reason and one reason only, Charles Barkley.

That's all folks. If you're in Lancaster tomorrow go get some Kiwanis pancakes for breakfast. I'll be there and so will the pancakes and sausage. (I have no tie to Kiwanis other than I will be eating their pancakes and sausage). Also, the real Santa is there.

I love me some Clementines

2011-12-01T06:42:00.003-05:00

I'm currently in a committed relationship with Clementines. I love the way the smell, the way they taste, and the spritz of orange essence that is let off into the air when you peel it. I love them.

It's a Christmas thing really. I'm not sure why, but Clementines happen to remind me of Christmas. Is this just a me and my family thing or an entire world thing? Why aren't they so desirable in July?

Phew. I just had a minor freak out that I've been eating Mandarins not Clementines. According to wikipedia they are one in the same. So I'm good. I think. I should probably confer with my Other Mother.

On another Christmas food related note, I'm in another relationship with the Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes.

Am I missing anything? Is there any special Christmas treat you can't resist right now?

Festival of Trees

2011-11-30T07:23:00.000-05:00

Thanksmas 2011

2011-11-29T07:20:00.002-05:00

I'm just going to throw this out there... I love Christmas. Last night I managed to not watch the Duggar's special World Tour or All-American Muslim, all because there was a cheesy movie on Lifetime about a single, career minded woman who runs into a utility pole and comes to as a married mother of two. And to top it all of, I had seen this movie before. I love Christmas.

I did catch the Sister Wives finale. I must say, Robyn has won me over by offering to be Meri's surrogate and carry "parts of Kody and parts of Meri" so that they can have another baby. I'm hoping Meri takes her up on the offer.

But let's rewind back to Thanksgiving, the holiday that allows us to give thanks and then start the Christmas preparations.

We spent the weekend in Fort Wayne, cramming roughly 7 days of activities into 56 hours.

Thursday morning we woke up and headed to Ft. Wayne in what we thought we be car-less, cop-less traffic. Ha! I'm hoping the cars that were pulled over were told they were no longer able to drive. We're talking 27 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone. And this just wasn't a single instance, but multiple. At one point my mom was wanting to throw her home health business card out the window to the cars they were passing.

After arriving in Ft. Wayne we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner consisting of turkey, mashed potatoes, my squash (it wasn't the best this year), green bean casserole, stuffing, rolls, salad, and a few other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Later that evening we had our Christmas White Elephant exchange. I am now the proud owner of not one, but TWO talking Jersey Shore pens. I am truly blessed. The rest of the evening was spent with the boys "trap shooting" with C's Nerf gun and some paper plates and trying to land James' helicopter on the ceiling fan. Those poor guys didn't get gifts as cool as mine.

We spent Friday morning doing some baby shower prep for Jessica's shower. In the afternoon we went to Grandpa's and pulled up the dead flowers he had planted in the spring (which just died). Later that evening we went downtown to see Jessica at work. She works at Erin's House which is a non-profit for grieving children. They had (and still do) a fundraiser in which you could purchase a luminary in honor of a loved one. The grandkids got one for Grandma Stephenson. We also took the opportunity to get one for Grandma and Grandpa Davidson.

After seeing our luminaries we went down the street to see the Christmas trees on display at the Embassy Theatre. They were amazing. Here's a brief sneak peek.

We returned back to the ball park (where the luminaries were) to see the bill board lit up with our messages for Grandma Stephenson and Grandma and Grandpa Davidson.

We picked up some pizzas and returned to the house. We also decided we have never had Chinese as a family, so that's on the list for next year. We'll just order one of everything.

Saturday morning we woke up and did some last minute shower prep (read: I needed to make cupcakes). We had the shower at the United Way Carriage House downtown. Instead of making all the food we went with a caterer this time and OhMyGosh was the food good. Honey thyme chicken, pomegranate salad, cherry rice, asparagus with a citrus hollandaise, and winter fruit salad. Delish.

We had a few games and enjoyed watching Jessica open her gifts.

We were quite proud of our center pieces and favors.

After the shower we returned to the house to clean the dishes and headed out on our way home. And that's about it. It was a great time spent with family.

Thanksmas Sneak Peek

2011-11-28T07:10:00.007-05:00

I have every intention of recapping Thanksmas for you. Tomorrow.

For now, enjoy Grandpa making his chip dip. I'm not a chip dip person, but the chip dip connoisseurs all said it was a great.

27

2011-11-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

I'm interrupting this Thanksgiving Week blogging break for an important announcement....

It's C's 27th Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Fashion Friday: Oh, It's sooo Sparkly edition

2011-11-18T06:53:00.000-05:00

So it's finally starting to act like fall around these parts. We're talking low 30's in the evenings. It's nice. Now if only we can get some snow instead of Tornado Warnings.

While browsing through gap.com the other day I kept being drawn to sparkly items. One of which I had to convince myself was ugly because I'm sure you all think it looks like a trash bag. So instead I went with these shiny beauties.

1. Sequin Flounce-Hem Tank. Throw a cardigan on (and probably some pants) and you're done.

2. Seqin Party Shell. Help. I can't stop myself. (Seriously, C thinks I just said yes when he proposed because he had a shiny ring).

3. Metalic Mini Skirt. Pair this sucker with some tights and you've got yourself an outfit.

4. Trio Drop Earrings. Not quick as sparkly. A bit more conservative. Which is always a good thing when you work in an office (in Lancaster).

5. Marinelle Chiffon Dress. Is anyone out there going to a Christmas or New Year's Party this year? If so please buy this dress and wear it for me. I've got no where to go.

I'm going to make myself stop. I just can't handle this Christmas excitement. So far I'm still following my self-imposed "No Christmas music before Thanksgiving" rule, but C has agreed that this weekend we can watch either a Christmas movie or Made of Honor (my fav!). I'll take what I can get.

Reminder: Send out Christmas Cards

2011-11-17T07:05:00.000-05:00

Last year I almost didn't send out Christmas cards. Despite having our picture taken in Cleveland in August, with the sole purpose of using it for the card, I was thisclose to just scraping the idea for the year. But then I got my act together two days before Christmas and ordered my cards from the local drug store.

I really wanted to order from Shutterfly's Holiday Card Selection, but when I decided on the 23rd to try to get them out before Christmas my only option was the one hour service down the street.

This year, I'm going to think ahead. In fact, I already have. I have a rough idea as to what the wording will say and I plan on having Drew take our pictures when we see him over Thanksgiving. So (ideally) my cards can be ordered before December 1st!

What I love about Shutterfly is the fact that you aren't limited to a 4 x 8 (vertical or horizontal) glossy, picture paper print. Instead you can go with a card stock print which, in my humble opinion, looks much more professional.

I think it'll take me a few evenings to pick one design from the Christmas Card selection.

Plaid. I love plaid!

Too bad we don't have two cute kids.

Shutterfly isn't just for Christmas Cards. They also have endless possibilities for invitations to any kind of party (if you're not like me and throw parties) as well as photo cards for every occasion. C and I sent wedding thank you's in the form of a picture from our honeymoon and added handwritten messages on the back to personalize each card.

So this year, that's the plan. To work ahead of time. And to not complain when I address the envelopes because that's all I have to do. Shutterfly will do the rest for me.

In exchange for this review I received holiday cards from Shutterfly, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Happiness

2011-11-16T06:47:00.000-05:00

I hope you're enjoying all of your snow Montana

2011-11-15T07:17:00.001-05:00

Meanwhile, here in Ohio we're experiencing Tornado Warnings in the middle of November.

Weekend Rewind

2011-11-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

I love unproductive weekends. I love them to death. And that's just what we had this weekend.

The most exciting event happened Friday morning when I tried to open the front door and my key broke off into the lock. It was awesome. So I called the landlord, went to my parents to pick up our spare set of keys (which the landlord doesn't know we have), and spent the next hour and a half with a nice locksmith from Slaters. That evening C and I watched the Carrier Classic on ESPN followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes season opener. (But maybe it was a pre-season tournament? I don't know).

Saturday morning we ran the rounds to get a mocha (for C) and chocolate cream filled powdered donuts (for me!). We watched some of the Ohio State football game as well as the Penn State game (out of curiosity). Later in the afternoon we took a long walk around town. I should also mention that we returned three cds and checked out two books (if only to add some length to the post).

We had Roosters for dinner (cheese and bacon fries - yum!) and watched something that I cannot remember in the evening. I believe I also got hooked on Storage Wars. It is now a regularly scheduled "to record" program in my DVR. Oh yeah, and we watched a show on the ID channel about women who murdered their husbands.

After church Sunday we spent some time at my parents. We had brunch which consisted of a recipe from the beach. C then watched the Browns while I helped mom with some odds and ends.

After returning home, and napping, we iChatted with the Olsons in Minnesota (we have the cutest nephews) and headed out the door for a brief walk.

At this point in the evening, I thought, "I need to do something productive so that I have something to write in my Weekend Rewind." So I did something productive. But I don't want to give it away, because I'm giving what I made (with C's help) to family at Thanksmas. So you'll just have to wait.

Maybe this wasn't really a weekend worth rewinding. I didn't even taken any pictures. But since I spent the time typing this, it is what it is. I'll try to have my events be more entertaining next weekend.

Thursday's Things (alternatively titled "I watch a lot of t.v.")

2011-11-10T06:25:00.003-05:00

This was supposed to be a list of what was on my mind. Apparently t.v. fills up most of my mind. I'd get another hobby, but I just love t.v. so much. If they want me to stop watching it they should stop making it so enjoyable.

1. I'm a little bit (just a little bit) allowing myself to get in the Christmas spirit. I plugged this guy in at my office Monday.

2. I'm pinning recipes like it's my job. Last night I made my first pinned recipe (a cream cheese baked spaghetti). I'll share it with you next week. Or tomorrow. But probably next week because I love fall and winter fashion.

3. Are boy's allowed to be on Pinterest?

4. If you haven't checked out Suri's Burn Book stop reading this and go there now. Read each and every post. I feel like Suri is my soul sister (although she know of my existence, she'd probably want nothing to do with me since I often wear sweatpants around the house) what with our mutual hatred for Tom Cruise and all.

5. I'm unabashedly loving Gossip Girl and Hart of Dixie right now. My Monday nights cannot get any better. However I am worried that at some point I'll be forced to stop watching (because I'll legally be too old). Maybe I shouldn't be admitting to the t.v. authorities that I even watch it (I'm sure they check my blog regularly).

6. The Sister Wives Baby Special is Sunday the 27th. They named their baby Sampson or Saul or something. Wait, it's Soloman. I'm really surprised Kody didn't pull for Sampson what with his Adonis like hair and stellar bod. (I hope I made the correct Greek mythology reference - where's Mrs. Hand when you need her?)

7. Buckeyes Men's Basketball starts again tomorrow. My sports life will be whole again.

8. Other shows I'm currently hooked on include: Lockup which recently aired a special on Lucasville (the prison within the prison system) which is just 2.9 miles from where I went to Girl Scout Camp - the show actually started at the Ross Correctional Facility where C has been! (for work) - also, I'd like to tour a jail; Brides of Beverly Hills - I have NO idea why I like this show; and I'm also very much looking forward to All-American Muslim.

9. The Jeep's oil needs changed.

10. Oh and most importantly, it appears that KFC has brought back their popcorn chicken! (I only like their popcorn chicken. The rest is full of gristle.) For a while I would have to call before I went to see if they had it (and they never did) because once they took it off the menu without telling me and put chopped up chicken fingers on top of my KFC bowl (without cheese and gravy please). So I put them on my Bad List. Turns out it's back!

A November Beach

2011-11-09T07:09:00.002-05:00

(via Aunt Janet)

I'm on the Pinterest

2011-11-08T06:50:00.001-05:00

Pinterest has let me on to their system (or whatever it is called) and I am addicted. Just ask C.

I've only been on for a week, but I've already got the house we don't own fully decorated. Check out these DIY Roman Shades. Super easy and cheap and I think I can do it with some minimal help from my mom. I'm also loving this storage idea for all the household cleaners. If I hadn't just reorganized our current storage method I'd jump on this idea today. However, I'm proud of the current set up so I'll keep it for a bit longer.

And how about this brilliant way to hang up a wreath?

(via lemonade)

I've also got several Christmas craft ideas floating around thanks to my new best friend. This weekend I'm going to take a stab at this button Christmas tree.

I also love this pearl wreath which appeals to be from Better Homes and Gardens but I'm not completely sure as there isn't a link.

My pining (or is it pinning?) doesn't stop there. I've got recipes to try, hats to make for Thanksmas, and this new sparkly OPI nail polish (from their Muppets collection).

I'm also a sucker for the pets section and have found myself pining/pinning random pictures of dogs.

I'll call it quits for now (you're welcome). But please do share your favorite pins with me. Or follow me on Pinterest. I'm so addicted I've added a handy dandy button on the side bar so you can easily find me.

New York, New York

2011-11-07T06:42:00.002-05:00

I watched this last week and immediately want to go to NYC. I went once in 8th grade, but it wasn't enough. C and I are hoping to go within the next year or so. This makes me want to plan our trip tonight. You can read the back ground of this project here. Enjoy.

P.S. I love the song so turn up the volume.

Fashion Friday: E for Effort

2011-11-04T07:36:00.002-04:00

I'm just going to show you one peice of clothing today. It's a shirt I got from E for Effort which was a featured sale on fab.com (which I had a $10 credit for and couldn't use it on what I originally wanted because it was under the credit amount so I decided to get something else).

So I settled on this made to order small bubble wrap printed tee. But in cream.

They also have cute notebook paper shirts and bags as well as onsies.

Her big "!!!!!ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!"

2011-11-03T07:37:00.000-04:00

So Tuesday Jessica stunned the world by announcing she was pregnant. The entire world stopped spinning out of sheer shock.

Also, I think Jessica thinks her baby is going to fall out because she's always holding her belly up.

(via People)

72 Days of Wedded "Bliss"

2011-11-02T06:51:00.010-04:00

Now that the news is two days old (or 2.7% the length of their marriage), I'm sure everyone is aware that Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries (who I was never a big fan of) called it quits after just 72 days of marriage. It seems like just last week I was watching parts 1 and 2 of their wedding special. Oh wait, it was just last week.

I took the news pretty hard (as in "HEY, THIS IS HUGE NEWS!" Not as in "OH MY GOSH, THEY WERE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!") and I have no idea why other than the fact that Sunday night I dreamt that the Kardashian sisters (plus one of their half sisters, I don't remember which) were brutally murdered and I was there to witness it. During my dream I remember Kris (the mom) sitting on the couch after the funerals laughing about something or another. I for one was fearing for my dream life and didn't understand what was so funny and why she wasn't worried that the killers weren't going to come after her, Bruce, Rob, and the other daughter (and me!) as well. I was quite relieved to wake up and find out that it was just a dream and (for all I knew) they were all still alive.

Then just 4 hours later, BAM! K²was filing for divorce. So I read some articles over the last view days and found this picture on people.com.

(via People)

Check. Out. The. Size. Of. His. Hand.

It's scary BIG. We're talking larger than her head (and she's not a petite woman - regular like you and me) BIG. If you look at his hand for a second or two it's like it's growing right in front of you. It just keeps getting BIGGER and BIGGER and BIGGER.* I definitely don't remember his hands looking that big on Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
While I never like to see a marriage end, I'm not too sad to see this split. After watching several Kardashian episodes with Kris, I quickly grew to not like him. I can't really put my finger on it, but he just didn't seem genuine. I know we're talking about a reality show, but go with me for a minute here. The Duggars are genuine, so there are others out there in Reality T.V. World who are also genuine (like Giuliana & Bill, and Bethenny) but Kris Humphries just isn't one of them.

*Yes, this is the kind of shenanigans that C puts up with from me on a daily basis.

one and the same

2011-11-01T07:02:00.002-04:00

I think Catelynn from Teen Mom is moonlighting as Maddie Brown on Sister Wives.

Or maybe it's the other way around, but still I'm calling ~~their~~ her bluff.

Catelynn

Maddie

(via twitter)

Happy Halloweeeen

2011-10-31T06:52:00.002-04:00

Fashion Friday: I need to figure out how to join Pinterest Edition

2011-10-28T06:17:00.002-04:00

Roughly 3 months ago I decided to cave in a try to get on Pinterest. So I submitted my email for the ever exclusive invitation. I was told I would receive it as soon as it could be sent. Then I forgot about it. Fast forward to the end of September when I went to dinner with Big Red, Beth, and some girls from high school. Pinterest was brought up and I mentioned that I had sent my request for an invite eons ago, but never got it. I just assumed it was something that would take a while. Beth told me I should have had it some time ago. I just got around to asking for another invite yesterday. I'm not too optimistic about the whole thing. I'm not even sure I'll use it, but I think it may be neat to create cute outfits on. But of course, they have to have me first.

So here's what I've seen this week that I adore or as the case is for the first item, need.

1. Skinny Leopard Patent Belt. I needed this Wednesday. I wore a super cute outfit, but the shirt wouldn't stay tucked in because apparently I move around a lot like a four year old. So I untucked the shirt and had to re-tuck it before going to a work event. Had I had this belt, it could've stayed untucked.

2. Patterned Sweater Dress. I love sweater dresses. Yet I don't own one. Maybe this winter things will change. But who are we kidding? Probably not.

3. Patterened Turtleneck Sweater. While we're at it, I also like this one.

4. Strung Silk Necklace. This is a cutie, but I think I can make it out of clothing from Goodwill for just $1.48

5. Merona Pullover. I saw this in the ad on Sunday and loved it. I couldnt' find it online (because the new Target website, when it's actually up and running, is a pain in the butt) so I just had to screen shot the pop-up from the ad. Way to go Target.

Unfortunately Target's website wore me out. So I'm going to call it a day. Enjoy the weekend.

Grandma's Mashed Potatoes

2011-10-27T06:39:00.004-04:00

It's been almost two months since I posted a recipe. I'm sure you're all worried about whether or not C is even fed any more. Trust me, he is. I've been cooking, but all of the meals are meals I've already shared with you. Every.Single.One. Well, that or they are frozen meals you throw in the oven for an hour and half.

Last Saturday we had a nice dinner at my parents' house. I offered to make a potato dish and saw this as a prime opportunity to make something I haven't shared with you yet. So I give you...

Grandma Ted's Mashed Potatoes*

12 medium potatoes
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. sour cream
1 stick of butter (at the most)
Garlic powder to taste
S&P to taste
Paprika or Parmesan cheese for the top

Boil the peeled and chopped potatoes in salt water (this is all of the salt I used). Once cooked through, strain and mash.

Once thoroughly mashed, add cream cheese, sour cream, and butter (I only used about half of a stick). Combine with an electric mixer. Also add your garlic powder and pepper (and salt if necessary).

Transfer to a greased baking dish and sprinkle with paprika or Parmesan cheese (I went with the paprika).

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees, uncovered.

I'm told these are best if made a day or two before and refrigerated before baking. You can also make these in advance and freeze them for when you're hungry. Or if there are just two or three of you in your family, divide into multiple dishes and freeze.

*These are a staple at any Stephenson family get together. Apparently they weren't Grandma Marlene's recipe, but Great Grandma Clara's, affectionately called Grandma Ted.

Shirt of the Week

2011-10-26T07:12:00.000-04:00

Milk Eggs Vodka

2011-10-25T07:17:00.000-04:00

Quite possibly my favorite coffee table book (other than Kramer's) is Milk Eggs Vodka. The book is just a bunch of grocery lists found by individuals and then submitted to Bill Keaggy. It is the only coffee table book that we have that I actually read through every now and then.

Several months ago I found a list of my own to submit (and just pulled it out the grocery bag this weekend).

oil, banana, milk, blanket, pork, ginger, green onion, ?????, eggs

?????

What is going on here? I have no idea what is between green onion and eggs. I'm beginning to think this guy needed 23,312 eggs. That's a lot of eggs. Maybe the blanket was to keep them all from banging against each other on the ride home.

As for the second thing.... Did he need to pick up some Chinese food on the way home? I usually just write down what I want in english.

Here's the back of the list. It looks like the guy was trying to figure out how may eggs he needed.

If you haven't read Milk Eggs Vodka. It's a good read and will give you lots of chuckles. I promise.

The weekend I went to Meijer three times in 24 hours

2011-10-24T07:39:00.004-04:00

Good Morning!!!!

First and foremost, for some reason Friday's post didn't post as scheduled, so make sure you continue reading after this post. You don't want to miss it. Unless you do want to miss it. Then stop reading after this post. Whatever floats your boat.

We had quite the busy, not our typical weekend. Here's how it went down.

Friday morning I got lost at the Pumpkin Show. Don't worry I wasn't lost for long, but long enough to text C that I had no idea where I was or where my booth (which I had already been to once just a few minutes before) was. I then spent the rest of the day blowing up balloons and giving my finger muscles quite the workout trying to tie every balloon in a knot.

That evening C and I headed to The Thurman Cafe in German Village. I had seen the place on Man v. Food, but had never been. The (2/3 lb!) burgers were delish. The place it definitely unique and most likely a fire hazard. After dinner we stopped at Starbucks and returned home to finally watch the several episodes of The Office that were piling up in the DVR.

Saturday morning, after sleeping in!, we grabbed breakfast at Waffle House (quickly becoming a tradition and nice change from Starbucks) and ran over to Meijer to do ~~a bit~~ a lot of grocery shopping. Once we got back home I realized I had left the ground beef at the self check out so I called Meijer to see if I could come back later to pick it up. We also stopped by C's office to see his new, used furniture. It's like he's a real, live law-yer now. I then headed to the library to pick up a CD, ran to Kroger to get my flu shot (which was free!!!), and ran to Meijer to pick up the ground beef. Except I left my receipt at home...

So I came back home and made grandma's potatoes (recipe to follow later this week) and waited for C to return from work. Once C was home we loaded up with grandma's potatoes and went to my parents for a yummy meatloaf dinner.

After dinner was eaten and the brownies we devoured we hurried home to watch the Cardinals. In case you weren't watching the Spartans beat the Badgers, the Cardinals had quite the game and C was quite the happy camper.

Oh yeah, and during the game I decided I wanted a english muffins that we had purchased earlier that day. As I was going to open the package I found a little creature with wings flying around in side (I tried to word that as nicely as possible). So it was a good thing that I couldn't pick up that beef earlier because now I had another reason to go back to Meijer.

We played hooky from church Sunday. With the game going oh-so-late (the Cardinals in the playoffs drains me, really) and dad having the Sunday off (so everyone probably though we were out of town too), we needed to sleep in. And sleep in we did. Until 11:00.

We had double chocolate pancakes for ~~breakfast~~ brunch and headed out to run a few errands. Since my flu shot was free, you better bet that I was going to make C get one too (plus we got 50 Kroger fuel perks with each shot - that's 10 cents off a gallon right there). Then we went to Meijer to pick up the beef and return the english muffins.

C worked in the afternoon while I spent some time with mom, addressing baby shower invites and watching Riley entertain herself.

Katie thinks she's crazy.

We ended the evening with a nice iChat with C's parents, our leftover Thurman burgers (a 1/3 of a pound each), and watched the Cardinals game.

This week has a lot in store... more baseball, I'm actually cooking dinner, Trunk-or-Treat at church, cookie making, big work day on Saturday, and Lost and Found on Sunday. I'm already looking forward to sleeping in on November 5th.

the farm girl in me

2011-10-21T07:17:00.003-04:00

Now that the fair has officially left town, the ride operators have moved on to Circleville, the fair grounds themselves are cleaned up, I thought I'd share the Combine Derby with you. This is by far, hands down my absolutle favorite part of the fair (aside from the ring game). If you didn't go this year you didn't miss much. It wasn't the best. But in case you're a bit bummed that you didn't get to see these huge machines ram into each other I thought I'd bring the Combine Derby to you.

The lining up of the competitors (only 7 this year - three of whom are related).

Getting ready for the first round. Combines form a square or circle with their butts facing each other.

And they're.

Still going. But no sparks. So not too exciting.

My favorite was the tiger that had eyes made out of the lids from buckets.

And just in case the pictures don't make you feel like you're right there in the action, maybe these videos will help.

Combine Derby 1 from rachel elsea on Vimeo.

Combine Derby from rachel elsea on Vimeo.

Love at First Bark, a review

2011-10-20T06:51:00.007-04:00

I think we all know my overwhelming desire to have a puppy. And if you don’t… I want a puppy. Very badly.

That being said, it should come as no surprise that I jumped at the chance to read Love at First Bark by Julie Klam. Love at First Bark is Klam’s canine rescue memoir in which the reader follows her through three different rescue stories: Morris, the dog found tied to a street sign in NYC; Clementine Eve Bows, a terrier with a neurological disorder; and Jarhead and Paul Leo, who she helped rescue during a trip to New Orleans a few years after Katrina.

I enjoyed following Julie through her journeys, but as an individual who hasn’t rescued any animal (aside from starfish on vacation) I found it hard to fully understand and relate to the subtitle, “How saving a dog can sometimes help save yourself.” That is until I read the line that summed everything up, “I had always felt like any dog that I took care of would’ve done the same thing for me if it could, and in fact by rescuing them they filled my heart in such a way that I was rescued right back.”

At that point the book had me. I got it. I understood. While I haven’t rescued a dog and experienced that first hand, I have experienced the love that a dog can give, the unconditional love that makes you believe and know that could they help you, in a second they would. That love comes from any dog you develop a relationship with (or really meet just once), not just the ones who are rescued.

Julie Klam definitely got me thinking more about animal rescue. Someday, when we are in a place where we can have pets, I plan to look into ways that we too can help dogs who have been either abandoned or lost.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club, but the opinions expressed are my own.

yesterday's sky

2011-10-19T06:50:00.000-04:00

I want an E*TRADE baby

2011-10-18T07:28:00.001-04:00

I hope when we have kids, if one is a boy, he's like the E*TRADE baby. Not only for the funny, good golfing, cute baby, but also because he'll help us save lots and lots of money.

Here's my new favorite.

Weekend Rewind

2011-10-17T18:15:00.000-04:00

We had a nice quiet weekend here in Ohio. Quiet, that is if you forget about the little thing called Cardinals Postseason baseball.

Friday evening we picked up some wings (perfect sports event meal for a guy) and corn dog nuggets (perfect sports events meal for a gal who is still 5 at heart) and settled in to watch the Cardinals.

Loved how they labeled my food.

Saturday morning C headed to work so I headed out to spend the money he was making. I kid. A little bit. I needed to pick up some bridal shower invitations (ended up going to three different stores to find the best because, hey, I had 4 hours to kill) and also needed to get some Essie fingernail polish I saw on the Vera Bradley blog. Hello Trophy Wife.

C returned from work and we watched the Buckeyes cruise over (on land, not in the air, due to wind) Illinois. Then we headed to Pickerington for dinner at Unos and reading at Barnes and Noble. On our way out of town we passed not one, but two DeLoreans. There must have been a convention on West Fair Ave.

After church on Sunday we went to Waffle House (finally!) and I tried to be productive while C worked. I did get a load of laundry folded, the kitchen cleaned, and FUN da-Middles made. It was super lovely out so we took a brief walk and then ate a yummy homemade dinner of spoon roast, carrots, and mashed potatoes.

It was a rather late evening last night thanks to the Home Run Derby that took place in the first 3 innings of the Cardinals/Brewers Game. Add the celebrations, trophy presentation, and C basking in the glow of his boys making it to the World Series and you don't get to bed until 1:00.

Now we've got a new week ahead of us and a new series. Wish us luck.

Rally Squirrel

2011-10-14T07:05:00.003-04:00

An MLB postseason commercial centered around a squirrel? Yes. Please.

Reminds me of another commercial from 2007.

At the horse donkey races

2011-10-13T07:11:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night C and I walked down to the County Fair.

After grabbing my sausage sandwich and C's steak on a stick we stuck around the track to watch the horse races.

There were a lot of a$$ jokes made by the announcer.

Then they announced the line-up and one of the horses was named "My A$$".

Turns out it was a donkey race. Who knew?

So much for pretending we were at the Kentucky Derby.

i. love. salad.

2011-10-12T06:44:00.001-04:00

Weekend in Joplin

2011-10-11T06:17:00.008-04:00

I suppose I should probably tell you about our weekend. I could just say that we ate lots and lots (which I am more that ok with) but I'll give you some more details...

Thursday evening I headed out to Joplin to meet C and his parents. From Columbus to Detroit (where our plane boarded 50 minutes early) to Tulsa to Joplin. I must say, flying is much better than driving. I got in late in the evening and was picked up by C and his mom. We headed back to Joplin and hit the hay.

Friday morning we slept in and enjoyed a delish breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes. After breakfast C's mom gave us a tour of the tornado destruction area. Pretty much everything has been removed, minus the high school and technical center. While I didn't take the camera, just imagine a bunch of cement pads with some debris scattered here at there. Since I didn't see the immediate aftermath in person I can't speak to the progress that was made, but C says it looks great. Like a blank canvas full of potential. I can't wait to see the area once even more progress is made.

After our tour we went to the mall/high school to find some Cardinals shirts before meeting up with C's dad at Starbucks. We also drove through the two FEMA communities near the airport. Later in the evening we had chicken on the grill and ate on the roof top patio. It was the perfect evening with perfect company and perfect food.

Once the dishes were cleared it was time for the Cardinals/Phillies game. I won't give you the play by play because I'm not C and only remember the score was 1-0 (because that's easy to remember). To say everyone was excited about the win would be an understatement.

After sleeping in again on Saturday we had waffles for breakfast and then walked over to the Candy House right down the street. I was familiar with the store thanks to Kendra's visit a few seasons ago.

Saturday afternoon we saw Moneyball. I was able to put my semi-irrational dislike of Brad Pitt aside (pretended he was pre-Angelina Brad Pitt) in order to fully enjoy the movie. While I love baseball movies regardless, the Indians scenes didn't hurt.

After the movie we grabbed a ~~late lunch~~ ~~early dinner~~ linner at Woody's Smokehouse and topped off with some Starbucks for dessert. The Buckeyes were on at 7 so we watched them dominate the first half while having a late dinner at Magoos and blow it in the second.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at a local Joplin establishment, Cracker Barrell before hitting the road. The trip back was long but painless. For some reason C asked me to take a picture of the Cricket billboard so that he didn't forget about the promotion.

Once in Illinois we listened to the Cardinals lose (C says the worst way to witness a loss is over the radio) and didn't play the alphabet game once. It was a bummer. The one positive thing that came out of the trip home was that C decided there's no way he's driving to Pipestone come December so we're gonna fly!!

This week is full of the fair (which we hope to go to tonight) and lots more eating (in moderation).

"old woman driving"

2011-10-07T06:08:00.001-04:00

My intention for today's post was simple enough. Post a picture of an old woman driving and mention that that is what I look like behind the wheel. My torso is about 4 inches in length so I look a child or a 90 year old woman minus the gray - knock on wood) behind the wheel.

My search results didn't give me exactly what I was looking for.

Let's discuss....

1. Not an old woman. Not driving. Not sure what's going on here. May showing off how well her hair spray holds?
2. ??
3. Close. But the shot isn't front on and she's not a shorter sitter.
4. Mug Shot!
5. Mug Shot!
6. Close. But I needed a shot of the entire person. Assuming it is a woman.
7. Mug Shot!
8. #2 again??
9. Mug Shot!
10. Old woman who passed her driver's test. Good for her.
11. Mug Shot?
12. Reese Witherspoon. Bless her Dixie heart. She was hit by an 84 year old woman a few weeks ago and popped up all over the place during my search.
13. Mug Shot! #9 again.
14. Mrs. Witherspoon, again.
15. Mug Shot!
16. Not a woman, not old. Google Image search fail.
17. Mug Shot! (but male)
18. I'm guessing a girl who just got her license back after a suspension due to a DUI (probably not, but it's more fun this way).
19. Cartoon. Close to what I look like.
20. Mug Shot! (male)
21. Mug Shot and scene of the crime!
22. Mug Shot! Shirt reads: I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a drunk. Great shirt to wear. If they didn't plan on doing a field sobriety test when they were pulling her over, I'm sure they decided to once they saw her shirt.
23. Mug Shot!
24. I wonder if this is the end of a high speed chase I watched on FoxNews.

**I apologize for the poor number quality. I had to do this all by myself and couldnt' get the text feature to work in Paint. This one day after I answered a survey and checked "I've very savvy on the computer."

How to Be an American Housewife, a review

2011-10-06T07:04:00.011-04:00

I've found it! One of the few books I've read this year that I couldn't put down. After reading the first line, "I had always been a disobedient girl.", I was hooked. At first I was a bit hesitant to read How to Be an American Housewife. In fact, I kept putting it off. So much so that I told myself I had to read 100 pages a night for the next three nights. I finished the book in two nights and would have in one night had I not needed to get up for work the next morning.

How to Be an American Housewife follows the life of Shoko Morgan, an American house wife who met her husband in Japan and followed him to American in search for a better life. Told from two perspectives, that of Shoko and her daughter, Sue, the story depicts a rocky relationship between the two which is strengthened immensely when Sue travels to Japan for Shoko, who is unable to due to health reasons, to find and reconcile with her Uncle Taro. Sue sees firsthand the life her mother had and what she left behind in search of a better life. Since the story is loosely based on Margaret Dilloway's mother's personal story I found it particularly fun to guess what was true and what was fiction.

As I continued to read the book and learn the history of Japan, I constantly found myself looking up actual events online in order to have a better understanding of what happened. As C can attest, I’m not one to normally look up things I don’t know, so this would come a quite a reveal. But I couldn’t help it and once I'd figured out the factual nugget I just kept on reading.

Despite my initial hesitations about reading this book, one that I normally wouldn’t pull off the shelf at the library, my horizons have been broadened and now I have a whole new “you might also like” section to check out the next time I visit my neighborhood bookstore.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club, but the opinions expressed are my own.

wordless wednesday

2011-10-05T06:15:00.002-04:00

Birthday Cake

2011-10-04T07:09:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Emily and Big Red!!

I hope you enjoyed your virtual birthday cake.

Bethany Getting Married!

2011-10-03T06:40:00.002-04:00

Friday afternoon Emily, mom and I headed down to Georgetown, Kentucky to attend Beth's wedding. Beth is Big Red's sister. While Big Red and I dominated in all our gym classes, Beth and Emily were also in the same grade, but instead braided each other's hair.

Even though we drove through rain and overcast skies the entire way down, come wedding time it was gorgeous and almost warm.

The wedding was very low key (very Beth) but at the same time very beautiful. Beth is a graphic designer so it's no wonder the place was beautiful. Tobacco cloth was used instead of toile as it is much cheaper (and looks a thousand times better). The guest book was instead a bunch of individual leaves for people to sign and hang on a small tree.

We all received a carmel apple (or two) as favors and enjoyed six different flavors of cupcakes. This was the first wedding I've attended with STARBUCKS coffee.

Big Red was the maid of honor and did a great job keeping things running (except for somehow managing to NOT be in the Cooper family photo which had to be retaken once they realized she wasn't in it) and also delivered a great toast.

It was a wonderful girls weekend (we snuck in some shopping both on the way down and the way back) and a great time catching up with those from high school (mainly parents because Big Red was my only friend).

Congratulations Nate and Beth!

StL

2011-09-30T10:07:00.000-04:00

We're in playoff mode over here.

3 wins, 1 loss

2011-09-29T06:01:00.001-04:00

I think I've reached the last allowable day to rewind our weekend. I'm going to keep the words brief because 1) I've got lots and lots of pictures and 2) I don't remember the specifics other than who won.

Friday night we went to sporting event #1 for the weekend. The Lancaster Gales - Gahanna Lincoln Lions game. C helped me sneak in my tea. I spent most of the game looking for a player who wasn't even there. The Gales lost. That's about it.

Saturday we headed to Cleveland and met up with Emily for the Indians day/night double header (a first for us).

And let the photo dumping begin.

The Indians won game won 8-2 (without any home runs). We walked a mile and half to the West Side Market only to find the crepe place (with horrible customer service) was closed. As was almost everything else in the market. So we settled for chocolate covered pretzels and a caramel apple from the only stand still open that wasn't a butcher. Instead of walking back to the next game we instead took the RTA. Once back in the middle of town we tried to go to a pizza joint which also turned out to be closed. We were then told at the next place they couldn't tell us if we'd be seated and done within two hours to make the game on time (apparently in all of their years of being open no one has asked for an estimated wait time - excuse me). We finally ended up at the Thirsty Parrot were we got free plastic Indians cups!!

Thome sighting!

C always gets the best shots of me.

Our brick was covered with the trash can and trash juice. Gross!

Mike Hegan, voice of the Indians, was retiring. His final request was that his four grandchildren throw the first pitch(es) to Hall of Famer Sandy Alomar. I was so happy. So happy.

Thome at the plate. This is what we (or at least I) came for.

The Indians won game two 7-6 after trailing 6-0. At one point things were so dull that Emily leaned over and said, "I'm glad we came to the first game and saw a win, otherwise I'd be very bummed out right now." We weren't too bummed during the rally that took place during the 6th and 7th innings.

The game was followed up with Star Wars themed fireworks. Since I have no clue what the movies are about, other than the guy dressed in black being Luke's father, the music and clips didn't really mean much to me. But the fireworks? Awesome!

Sunday morning we slept in. Alleluia! After coffee, tea, and muffins we Aunt Babs we hit the road to Cleveland Stadium to watch 59 dull minutes of so called "football" followed by 1 minute of actual football.

All the pictures from the game pretty much look the same....

But then I caught Colt McCoy playing air guitar in the middle of the play. No wonder the first 59 minutes were so bad.

After the air guitar shenanigans I wasn't too surprised to see him strike the Heisman pose mid play.

But then he got to work.

After the game (and what seemed like hours of waiting to get out of the parking lot) we stopped at B Spot, Michael Symon's restaurant in Strongsville.

Pure mozzarella, basil, and balsamic goodness.

Oh. My. Best burger I have ever had. And the rosemary fries. To die for.

All in all, our sports filled weekend was a blast. Doesn't quite measure up to the Social Suite experience, but it was close.

#25

2011-09-28T06:57:00.003-04:00

I read the tweets.

Texted Emily to see if it was indeed true.

Received the photographic evidence and I got chills.

Jim Thome. Playing 3rd base. One last time.

Where it all started, it was all ending.

While he was only in for one pitch. That was all that was needed. When asked what he would have done if the ball was hit to him, his simple response, "I would have made the play."

If you think this post is a bit ridiculous, then you probably don't understand what this man and this sport mean to me. Jim Thome was, for all intents and purposes, my first boyfriend. I played 3rd base because he played 3rd base. I studied his movements on the field and tried to emulate them on my 10 and under slow pitch softball team. It was his number that I put on my plastic Indians locker.

I have, and always will, love him and my Tribe.

twitter me this

2011-09-27T07:18:00.016-04:00

I'm an avid tweeter. Especially on nights when C's working late and theres "good" t.v. on. I pride myself on following (mostly) funny people. I'm always open to suggestions (with the exception of the National Debt Clock - really??) so today I thought we could have a twitter swap. I'll share my faves with you and if you feel so inclined, you can share your faves with me.

1. @altgeldshrugged. Also known as Jen Lancaster. In case you just stumbled on this blog, I love Jen Lancaster. Her blog is great, her tweets are fantastic, and her books take the cake.

2. @darrenrovell. Darren Rovell is the sports business reporter for CNBC. While I can't say I've ever actually seen him on t.v. (CNBC may be one of the few stations I'm unfamiliar with on our t.v. line up), he tweets about a variety of sports issues from ball park food to salary facts to minute details you didn't know you needed to know until he informs you. Some of the best are the "headline contests" he holds after big sports upsets or victories. Really, if you're a sports fan, this guy is your guy.

3. @PureRage_Perez. The fake twitter account of @ChrisPerez54. We had the honor (yes, honor) of meeting Pure Rage Perez at our Social Suite visit earlier in the year. This guy's got quite the 'tude.

4. @SteveMartinToGo. No explanation needed.

5. @MLBastian and @castrovince. Must lists. MLBastian is the Indians' writer while Castrovince used to hold the job until being promoted to covering all of baseball (read: the good teams).

6. @sheblyfero. She's just your average girl trying to make her way through the college world.

7. @cnnbrk. Ahhh, the non-funny account I follow. Ever since becoming a tweeter I've searched for a news sources to follow that don't clog up my feed with not-really big news (Drudge was out about 3 seconds and 29 tweets later). CNN Breaking News tweets the real news and doesn't tweet every single second of the day.

8. @IAmRileyTheDog and @IAmKaiteTHEDog. Who wouldn't follow their pets on twitter. They obviously can't tweet much (it's hard when you don't have thumbs!), but when they do it'll bring a smile to your face.

9. @badbanna. C turned me on to this tweeter. I think he's a marketing man somewhere in the middle of the plains states. (Note: the "Mid West" is Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan - possibly Minnesota and Iowa - but really the Great Lakes states - which would include Minnesota. Although those last two states are very plain-y. All that to say it is definitely not Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas or our blessed Missouri, home of the Holy City. If you're not one of those, but do have tumbleweeds and lots of fields of amber waves of grain, you're a plain state).

10. @CharlesMLC, @RevJack56, @Binkylu, @edavidson5, @davidsondrew, and @mdavidson24. A shout out to the family (and @CGinPhilly) who tweet with me day in and day out and have yet to block me (don't get any ideas).http://lcms.org/

I'd love to update you on our weekend

2011-09-26T21:40:00.001-04:00

the high school football game, the Indians games, and the Browns game. But I've been a bit busy tonight.

So the update may just have to wait till Wednesday. Maybe even Thursday. Or is that too late for a weekend rewind?

Good news. Next week is the last class. Bad news. I'm baking and decorating an entire cake. I'm planning a cake eating party afterwards to celebrate. I've got a lot of work to do before then.

Fashion Friday Faux Pas

2011-09-23T07:35:00.003-04:00

Bar Refaeli must have woken up late and gotten a late start on her day.

She appears to have just tucked her shirt into her pink pajama pants.

(via PopSugar)

That's gotta be embarrassing.

Now taking orders

2011-09-22T20:09:00.001-04:00

If a not completely full carnation is your thing.

Or maybe a calla lily with a larger than life stamen.

Or maybe even a pink rose with more petals on one side or the other with white showing in the middle.

But hey, I'm trying.

blue skies

2011-09-21T06:48:00.000-04:00

An open letter to SiriusXM

2011-09-20T06:33:00.002-04:00

Dear SiriusXM,

Please turn back on C's radio.

You see, you deactivated it after you told me it wouldn't be deactivated. Need me to start from the beginning? I will.

Last Christmas I ordered a new radio for C to replace his broken radio. You had your yearly deal going on in which current subscribers could get a new radio at a discounted price. So instead of going with the bottom of the line model, I went with the middle of the line. I was a current subscriber so I assumed it would go on my current account. Nope. I new account was created for Rachael Elfea.

C installed the radio and got it activated without any trouble. We threw the broken device away.

Then the calls and emails and letters came begging me to come back and reconnect my radio. Each time I answered I explained that the old radio was dead and the new radio was activated. There was no need for me to come back because I didn't go anywhere. After the 8th call (and me maybe not being the politest - but I promise I didn't say any bad words) you got the hint and stopped the calls. But that didn't stop the emails or letters, did it?

Last month I got another email. "Come back and we'll give you 6 months of service for $25." This time I actually had a new device. The one in the Jeep. Even though the letter was from XM and the Jeep radio is Sirius I figured I'd give it a shot because you're related or married now or something.

So I called XM and was given the details about how the two companies are together in name only but still compete, but they didn't see why I couldn't call Sirius and see if they'd honor XM's deal. So call I did. The lady and I had gotten somewhere. She set up a Sirius account for me and had given me the radio ID.

Then we got disconnected while she was asking her supervisor if they would honor XM's offer.

So I called the Sirius number back and again seemed to get somewhere. Credit card information was given and everything seemed to be running smoothly. That is until the gentleman told me I was good to go. Except I wasn't because my radio wasn't working. I explained the entire situation again and he tells me I need to call Sirius (which is actually the number I did dial) and transfers me.

15 minutes into waiting for someone to pick up I get impatient and call back on my own. This time I get a very helpful gentleman who tells me I do not have a Sirius account and that he sees the charge guy #2 just put through and that he'll remove that. I clarify with him roughly 29 times that C's radio will not be disconnected. He confirms this 29 times, removes the charge from 30 minutes ago and we're good to go.

C and I took a walk later that evening and stopped by his car to make sure it was still working. And it was!

One week later, it was deactivated. And now the emails, letters, and calls have continued. My favorite are the 9 am calls (while I'm at work) asking me to reactivate. Yes, 9 am is a very convenient time to do that.

So SiriusXM, if you're reading this out there. Please reactivate C's radio. If I didn't love him I'd just drop the issue and no longer be a customer, but since I love him and he loves his radio, we need it back. And while you're at it, maybe throw mine in there for free?

Sincerely,

Rachael Elfea

My carb loading weekend (without a bit of exercise).

2011-09-19T18:03:00.000-04:00

I ate a lot this weekend. I kid you not, I ate an entire Entemann's coffee cake. That serves 8. That's 4 C's and 4 me's. The good news? Each serving had 8% of my daily recommended amount of vitamin A and 2% of the daily recommended calcium. One can only wonder how much I'll eat when I'm pregnant one day. I can't even think about it. My stomach can't stretch that much.

So I ate a lot this weekend. But that wasn't everything I (or C) did.

Friday evening, while C was working late (or is 4 am considered early?), I headed over to my parents' house to help my mom get the craft ready for the Family Fall Festival the next day. I was so proud of my two master pieces until my mom pointed out that a 3 year old could (and would be the next day) completing the same task.

Ooooooooooooooo.

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.

After finishing our craft and playing with the dogs, I headed home. But not without first stopping at Kroger's to get a $6 raspberry danish coffee cake.

Saturday morning I slept in (yay!) and C headed back to work after a nice 4 hour nap. Later that morning I went to church to get set up for the Family Fall Festival. The turn out had to have been the best we've had. While I expected 15 kids to make a pumpkin sun catcher we had over 60 kids! Later in the afternoon I was roped in to face painting. Something I have never done before, but thoroughly enjoyed. I also can draw more than a stick figure or pretty letters. Unfortunately kids did not want "butterfly" written on their face, but actually drawn so I sucked it up and tried my hardest to please them. Luckily we're talking about wee little kids here who are just happy to have a rainbow that looks better than something they can draw.

In the evening C and I grabbed some dinner to take home for the football game. I went with the football staple of fettuccine alfredo while he bucked the trend with wings. C was rather upset about the end result of the Buckeyes game while I was expecting a let down from the beginning. When you're a Cleveland fan you really expect the losses (no matter who you are playing) and rejoice in every single victory. I also don't place a majority of the blame on a coach when a team loses (gasp!). Somehow I don't think it's entirely Coach Smith's fault that Joe couldn't catch the ball. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

Enough of that talk.

After church and McDonalds on Sunday C and I hit up an open house with Mark (we are beginning to think that the realtors in town view us as a big tease). Once we got home C declared that he needed new shoes and that I could use my Coach coupon so off to Easton we went. YIPEE!! C got some ~~lovely~~ handsome shoes at Clarks (not just for women) while I picked out a purse that wasn't in stock and has to be shipped to me. Only Coach would have a tracking number to be within 2 hours of purchasing a bag on a Sunday. Seriously folks, Coach has the best customer service ever. They even let me keep the $100 off coupon. So if you're wanting a bag before October 2nd let me know and I'll send it your way!

We got back to Lancaster and the fun stopped. It was time to grocery shop, clean, cook for this week, and clean some more. Finally at 9:30 we called the cleaning quits because we both had early mornings (but didn't make it to bed before midnight).

Fashion Friday: A Zigzagged Mess

2011-09-16T07:32:00.000-04:00

Apparently Target and Missoni have teamed together for a new line of clothing. This news was appearing everywhere this week. So I thought I'd check out their website to see what all the fuss was about. Because these articles of clothing have to be sent from above, right?

While I did find one or two, of the 120+ items, that I liked, everything was a zigzagged mess.

And to make matters worse, most of the zigzagged mess was sold out. Which caused me to yell (in my head), ARE THESE PEOPLE EVEN LOOKING AT WHAT THEY ARE BUYING?

Moving on to things I do like (and things those who raided the shelves at Target probably don't like):

1. Pleated Animal Print Skirt. By the way, I'm fully embracing fall and crisp, cool temperatures (which means it should be in the high 70's next week). Throw on this baby with some tights and heels or boots and you're set.

2. Breezy Blouse. I'd like to think Jennifer Garner would wear this. In fact, I think she has. I love all the colors. Minus the black, t.v. patterned one.

3. Tiered-Pleat Tank. I love wearing cardigans but never feel like I have a lot to wear under them and usually resort to a tank top. This one's got style.

4. Glitter Sweater. Like I said, I'm not all about Fall (until I change my mind). I love sweaters that I can wear to work and not-work.

5. Double-Breasted Skirt. I had a skirt similar to this in college. It was shorter, so I could get away with wearing it then. Not a chance I could do that now. I love all things camel colored, so naturally I love this. While we're on the short skirt topic, I love this one as well. But alas my legs are too long.

I need to take a second to apologize to our future (girl) children for being the reason why short skirts are too short.

I'm sorry. Deeply sorry.

And on that note we'll stop. Five picks for the last five days of summer.

6 things

2011-09-15T08:27:00.002-04:00

1. I wasn't pleased with the Entourage finale Sunday night. I think they crammed too much into 8 half hour episodes. Then tried to resolve everything in 15 minutes without even mentioning Turtle and Drama's issues.

2. I'm eating my words on saying I wasn't interested in Mad Men. We're in the middle of season 3 and I'm enjoying it. It helps that John Hamm is easy on the eyes. It's no West Wing, but it'll suffice. I'm also looking forward to being able to watch season 5 without cramming in season 4 three weeks before the new season starts (thank you contract disputes).

3. This weekend is the last weekend we're home until the third weekend in October. Our journeys will take us to 2 Indians games and 1 Browns game. We'll also be traveling in or through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.

4. I got a $100 off coupon in the mail from Coach. Yay! What's even better is that C isn't completely objecting to a new purchase. I will make sure to keep everyone up to date.

5. I started my cake decorating class last Monday night. Considering I don't have any clients, the folks at church are in for some fancy cupcakes at the next funeral dinner.

6. I am so thrilled that Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck are expecting Baby #3. I'm hoping for a boy.

And that's reason even to stop. Another reason why we're stopping at 6 is because last night I was much to into Mad Men Season 3, Episode 11. It was a doozy. Most intense non-sport television of my life.

Mr. Crabby

2011-09-14T07:13:00.002-04:00

Septemberpalooza

2011-09-13T06:41:00.003-04:00

We spent the weekend in Ft. Wayne for Septermberpalooza. Also known as "the Stephenson's yearly family reunion in which we all wear matching t-shirts." It's a blast.

We started off with a golf scramble. And wouldn't you know, I deleted a majority of the pictures that were taken. All that's left is the last hole.

After team Sub-Par finished the 9th hole we sat on the hill waiting for the other two teams (both of which beat us) to finish.

C didn't say any bad words.

Drew was golfing in the wrong direction.

Grandpa was chauffeured around the course.

Also golfing were James, Uncle Todd, Uncle Wayne, Katie, and Blake. I just happened to delete their action shots.

After golfing we headed back to get the lobster boil underway.

Aunt Janet demonstrating how to cut open the crab legs. Much easier than using the claw crackers.

I washed the potatoes!

And the lobster. All ready for the boil.

This is where I would show the step by step boil process. However the pictures were taken on three different cameras because there was trouble distinguishing whose was whose. So we'll just jump to the end.

The entire ocean.

I think it's safe to say the lobster boil was a hit and will be a new Stephenson tradition.

Sunday we had breakfast and lunch (but not brunch) in a 2 hour span before heading back to Ohio and reality.

A trip to the car dog wash

2011-09-09T07:01:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday Mom, Mark, Emily and I headed to the doggie wash at the local pet store to give Katie and Riley a proper wash.

The girls were ready to leave as soon as we got there.

Katie was up first. She doesn't like to get a bath. She also doesn't like to be away from home.

Riley was last. It was probably a good thing too because she took up a lot of drying time.

Rile took so long to dry that Katie had time to do some shopping.

All the while Riley was still trying to dry.

Once Riley was almost dry (and time was up) it was back to the house. Riley sits very nicely in the car (and has a tendancy to get car sick). Sometimes she sits just like a human.

Katie, on the other hand, is all over the place. Wanting to see what goes on outside of her electric fence. (Not pictured because she was on 4 different seats in the time we took three pictures of Riley sitting in her seat.)

I'm not sure if there will be a next time as Katie loves the car ride but not the wash and Riley won't get in (or out after she is in) the car but doesn't mind the wash.

A Shazam - Sound Hound Face Off

2011-09-08T06:42:00.003-04:00

Last weekend as C and I were working our way through season 2 of Mad Men we noticed the song playing during the closing credits was a bit different than normal. We're talking an organ piece not the regular 60's era piece (bear with me, I'm not a musical person and don't know the key - haha - musical phrases). We really liked it, so we decided to pull our our handy dandy iPhones and Shazam and Sound Hound the music to see what exactly was playing. We had a face off between the two apps.

Apparently Shazam wasn't aware of the competition because while Sound Hound was spot on...

Sleepers Awake

Shazam was on a completely different continent.

Torre De Marfil

We thought Shazam was just a bit confused so C rewound the credits and tried Shazam on his phone (maybe it was up to the task unlike mine?). Turns out, Shazam is a bit off it's rocker.

Land of the Free

I think it's safe to declare Sound Hound the victor. Now I'm wondering how many of the other 41 songs I've Shazamed are actually what I was looking for.

Kayaking in alligator infested waters

2011-09-07T07:14:00.001-04:00

the last weekend of summer

2011-09-06T06:55:00.005-04:00

Some big things happened over the weekend. Ok, nothing big really happened, but it sounded like a good lead in. Wait, one "big" thing did happen, but I'll save that for last.

Friday night:

- I had (and still have) a cold.

- C brought home Max and Erma's for dinner because he's been craving a cheeseburger. Yesterday he was craving BW3's. I think he may be pregnant.

- Watched some Mad Men (which I'm warming up to).

- Also watched some football.

Saturday:

- Spent the morning watching quality t.v. (food shows, E!, etc) while C had a breakfast meeting.

- (Thought I) texted C and asked him to bring me a donut.

- C returned without a donut. I later realized I had typed the text, but never sent it.

- Took the girls to the doggie wash. More on that later this week.

- Went to the pool with Emily for the last time of the summer.

- Had Putting Away of the Pool Bag ceremony.

- Headed to the mall for dinner and a stop at Walden's (they are closing so we're spending lots and lots of money there - 70% = yay!).

- Went to Mark's football game.

- Mark got tackled.

- Dad did the t.v. coverage.

Sunday:

- Starbucks. Sunday School (I guess we go to Bible Study, but we still call it Sunday School). Church. Lunch.

- It was dreary so we couldn't go to the pool.

- Watched Mad Men.

- Went to Gypsy Joe's for ice cream.

- Watched Mad Men.

And most importantly, Saturday afternoon C brought his computer back to life!!

In case you didn't know, his trusty mac file vaulted him out of accessing anything. After much deliberation he decided just to reinstall the original operating system wiping the sucker clear of all his music, writing, and law school stuff. Once it came to life it was like he had just gotten a brand new toy. Who knew something almost 5 years old could bring so much joy?

For his Christmas gift I'm thinking of fixing a broken alarm clock.

Hobby Found!

2011-09-02T07:11:00.001-04:00

No fashion stuff today as I don't feel like internet shopping. Shocker. I know. I must be sick or something. Oh, wait, I am sick.

The local small town candy shop is starting their cake decorating classes in a week and half. I'm looking forward to being one of their pupils. The first class is Fondant and Gum Paste.

It's just a matter of time before my work is featured on Food Network Challenge!

Who am I kidding? More like Cake Wrecks.

I want to smell better

2011-09-01T07:14:00.006-04:00

Today is September 1st. August ended yesterday. The pool closes on Monday.

A moment of silence please.

Moving on to almost as important issues...

I'm almost out of perfume and while I recently found a soap and lotion at Williams-Sonoma that I love, I can't bottle that into a perfume and am not sure it'd even work as my general scent.

The three (real) fragrances I've tried in the past are:

Romance by Ralph Lauren
Very Sexy HOT by Victoria's Secret
Burberry Brit by Burberry

I won't even start with the fake scents (i.e. Dream by Gap and a wide array of Bath and Body Works stuff).

So I'm needing a different smell. Something warm and fall/wintery I frequently walk by people and think "Man she smells great!" but am too shy to walk up to her and say "What are you wearing?" Seriously, why walking the mail to the post office one evening last week I smelled the most lovely smell which was odd since we are so close to the poop plant (read: waste plant).

So once again, I need some help (which reminds me, I'm going to start a cake decorating class this fall as a starter hobby). What scents do you like best? What do you wear?

I promise to go to the nearest perfumery and smell all the scents suggested. I'll let you know what I chose. And if I don't get any suggestions (or only get a few which make me sneeze) I think I'll go back to Burberry Britt.