Tales of Me and the Husband - Page 142 of 207 -

February 2, 2012

memory lane.

some of you have asked who parker resembles most out of the kids. you never saw them as babes, it’s a legit question! since steve’s looks are so clearly in the little dude, there’s a good chance he’ll end up looking like his siblings even though they’ve got different moms, which is nice. on that note, i bet you’re wondering what shannon looked like. as you can imagine, she’s where william and nathaniel get their dark hair and eyes. they look a lot like her (and a lot like each other–you’ll see). so, i went through the photo albums (i did it a lot when we first got married, but haven’t done so in quite some time) last night to grab some pictures to put up. it’s pretty remarkable, and sometimes shocking, how much life these guys all lived before i ever knew them. trips here and there… moves from sheffield to vancouver to minnesota to new hampshire… birthdays and broken bones. who could have known how life would end up? who would’ve known that steve’s wife would get sick? who would’ve known that i’d end up babysitting for my professor who was also a widower? who would have known we would end up falling in love, i’d raise his kids as my own, and we’d add our own to the mix? it’s crazy how intimately mine and shannon’s lives intersect… yet we met only once. life. a lot of unknowns. so, here’s what we should do: be grateful for every day. hug our loved ones. decide that happiness is a choice. ready, go!

william + jordan // jordan + shannon // nathaniel

nathaniel // jordan // jordan

william + shannon // lindsey + steve // lindsey + william

shannon + lindsey // william // jordan

lindsey // nathaniel // william + lindsey

February 1, 2012

valentine’s day fashion.

well, it’s safe to say valentine’s day with a baby who’ll be almost seven months old will be… low-key. i promised william and lindsey we’d make chocolate covered strawberries and i might take a crack at this crock-pot chocolate lava cake (sugar-overload!) but beyond that, i think we’ll be chilling out here, perhaps opening a bottle of prosecco (martinelli’s sparkling cider for the kids!), and cuddling up together. i’m still not really into leaving parker. i’ve only done so to go to the grocery store three times in his life. you might be thinking i’m crazy and even i keep wondering if this is unusual, but nevertheless, i know myself and, with that, i know that i won’t totally let loose and have fun on a date with steve. i’ll be missing my little bud. eventually, i’ll have to, but since i don’t want to now, why force it?

nevertheless, i can imagine what i would wear if i were going out for valentine’s day. i think the 5th dress would have to be mine. i’d wear my hair down and sort of wavy, perhaps do a nude pump (or those teal pumps below!) like the model, a smoky eye, and some thin gold bangles on my wrist. we’d go out dancing, drink margaritas, and eat mexican. i know mexican doesn’t really scream romantic, but we love it. and then we’d come home and, well, i’ll stop there because that part of the date might actually happen.

get your mind out of the gutter! i meant we’d eat the chocolate covered strawberries we made earlier in the day!

1. asos textured dress with cut out | 2. modcloth flame of love skirt | 3. free people new delhi dress | 4. forever 21 colorblock pleats skirt | 5. asos off-white dress with sheer panel

6. mossimo peep-toe wedge | 7. jcrew mona leather pumps | 8. forever 21 striped flats | 9. shop ruche astoria strappy heels | 10. poetic licence velvet heel

what are your valentine’s day plans? can i live vicariously through you, sexy-beasts?

January 31, 2012

it’s been awhile since i posted a song…

…and i like boppin’ around to this one as of late.

maybe you will too?

January 30, 2012

our weekend.

ikea.

veni, vidi, vici. honestly, that’s how i feel about ikea. i mean, i love it, as long as i don’t go more often than once per year. it’s overwhelming. and i make a list for days before i actually go god forbid i forget anything and have to make my way through the endless maze of aisle this! and bin that! and lingonberry-flavored foods! and words with umlauts! and stacks and stacks of really good priced stuff i don’t really need! so, for 2012, our ikea trip is complete. and it was a success. and my outfit matched the rugs too!

January 26, 2012

chicken enchilada casserole.

so guys. i’ve been hearing that the chicken parm has been making its way into kitchens everywhere (and everywhere indeed! you guys are all over the place! i loved reading where ya’ll are from in last friday’s post! readers from athens! vancouver! cuba!). anyway, glad it’s been a successful dinner! and here’s another that i think will be a hit–at least it was (twice so far) in this house.

chicken enchilada casserole

serves 6

like most of my recipes, there’s lee-way.

do as much or as little of the following as you please.

i should add that you could totally do this vegetarian (add more veggies!)

or ground beef in place of the chicken.

| ingredients |

chicken (i used 3-4 breasts), cooked and cut up (i “pulled” mine cause i like that texture)

red, orange, or yellow peppers (i used three), chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

sour cream

creole seasoning (or a chili powder / mexican seasoning)

monterey jack cheese (cheddar would be fine too)

black beans, drained

corn (i used frozen)

rotel tomatoes (OR any type of salsa really. this is just to keep it moist.)

corn tortillas

enchilada sauce (i used this kind because i’m pretty sure the canned variety has high fructose corn syrup in it and that just pisses me off)

spinach, if you want (i put some in and it was delish)

| the how to |

sautee your onion and red pepper in olive oil a few minutes till its just a little bit soft. add some seasoning: creole, taco, cumin…anything you like. here’s where i boil my chicken, let it cool, then pull it apart. you can cook yours on the stovetop and cut it up though. whatever works. before your peppers and onions are done, if you’re using frozen corn, add it so it heats up. put cooked chicken, peppers/onions, drained black beans, corn, spinach in a big bowl. add the tomatoes or salsa, some shredded cheese, a couple scoops of sour cream and mix it all up. meanwhile, heat up your enchilada sauce. there’s no real measurement to the beans/meat/veggies mixture, but you don’t want it to be super dry so add enough salsa and sour cream. then take your corn tortillas, coat them in enchilada sauce on both sides and lay them across the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish. they can overlap, it doesn’t matter. on top of it, add your meat/veg mixture. coat a few more corn tortillas and lay it across the top of the mixture. again, they can overlap. then shred cheese over the top of it and put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. top with cilantro! YUM.

those may be the most vague directions ever but it’s that kind of recipe — you can’t mess up.

enjoy!

January 24, 2012

our snowy weekend.

the first snow! we stayed mostly around our neighborhood, taking parker out to show him: your first snow! that white stuff! it’s snow! and then cozied up inside. it was a lay-low sort of weekend. and how funny is that picture of william with lindsey laying in the snow behind him? it makes me giggle. she hurt her butt sledding (says she). the aftermath was pretty dramatic. i almost gave her an oscar. i think her butt healed up pretty good, not to worry.

and now most of us are sportin’ some mean colds and drinking tea and broth. hurrah!

ps. if you sent me an email friday and i haven’t responded, write me back please! my email was wonky and i think deleted a bunch.

January 23, 2012

6 months.

the best way out

is always through

{robert frost}

Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder on Grooveshark

i loved this song before i knew parker was a boy.

so now, i still love it, but substitute she for he.

go with it.

6 months. woah. ready for the cliches? cause they’re about to be thrown at you. here we go! where does the time go? i sit here in total disbelief that i have a six-month old. i mean, i know it’s true. he’s chunky, he rolls this way and that way, he can almost sit up by himself, and he is strong and can arch his back at a moment’s notice if he doesn’t want to be in a certain position anymore. but how’d we get here so fast? i wrote it here awhile back but it’s worth writing again: the days are long, but the years are short. i am doing my best to soak it all in, savor every last morsel of the sweetness that is a new life in the house. and so much sweetness there is. parker has brightened our days. not just mine and steve’s, but everyone’s. when he comes down in the morning, sitting on my hip (something he couldn’t do fresh out of the womb–more evidence that, indeed, he is growing!) everyone greets him with a genuinely happy, “good morning parker!!” and he reciprocates with an enormous open mouth smile. like he is equally happy to see the same bright faces every morning. you can’t help but be happy with that looking at you! he is a really happy guy, more credit to his nature than anything we’re doing right but still, i hope that we’re doing things right. or close to it anyway.

i could go on and on. and on and on and on. i won’t! it’d take too long. there’s too much to say. i journal… my dear parker journal… a means of expressing the overwhelming feelings i have as his mama. especially since he can’t yet understand it. one day. so, i will end it with this: parker, we’re so glad you are here. i’m so glad you are here.

{other months with parker}

January 20, 2012

ten little hunt things.

numero uno.

in keeping with my super-crunchy ways this week, i made my own almond milk. it was sooooo easy and way cheaper than buying it. take that, store-bought almond milk! here are the deets: take a cup of raw almonds. soak them for 24 hours (the water just covering the almonds). they plump up and the next day dump the water, put the almonds in your blender with five cups of filtered water. blend! then pour through a coffee filter to get all the almond meal leaving you with… almond milk! add vanilla or a sweetener if you’d like?

question: what do you guys do with your leftover almond meal? i don’t see myself doing the dehydrating-to-get-flour thing.

numero dos.
my sweet friend candis started an etsy shop with her husband drew jones. his name is drew, but we all call him by his full name, drew jones. anyway, the two of them have skillz in the art-department and are making prints of some special quotes from friends’ blog posts… mine included. i think it’s really special and here’s mine. that quote means a heckuva lot to me so seeing it in print like that melts my little heart. also, i already own one of those cool necklaces they’re making–stay tuned cause it’ll be showing up around these parts! also, they’re good people. so, shop small business and shop good people, duh!

numero tres.

i have wanted the LBD (little black dress, ya’ll!) from emerson made for like ever. it’s perhaps the most perfect black dress of all time (oh, and the jeans, and the bag ‘o leggings…). the price tag is a little less perfect but still, it’s on my list. i spotted this one on modcloth and thought it looked quite a bit like my fave one. that sexy neckline! a little cleav! the skinny belt! it gets me every time.

numero cuatro.

with a bit of prompting, lindsey started this project with that book whose praises i keep singing. she wanted to make herself a farm (on poster board) using details she found in the book. it was a cute project and kept her busy for many hours. that’s the ticket! here she is doing her thang, and here’s a page of the book–those details! every page, people! every page is full of them!

numero cinco.

i’m ready for summer. but not for parker to be approaching his first birthday. any way we could get the summer weather minus the him-growing-up-thing?

numero seis.

i’m open to another vlog. what?! did i just say that out loud? and now that i broke the vlog-ice, it won’t take me three months to do it (you’re skeptical. you have every right to be.). what should i do this one on?

numero siete.

in keeping with my ‘i’m going to read the classics in 2012‘ i’m working my way through pride and prejudice happily. and loving it, people! the key is bringing the book with me to nurse and not the iphone. anyway, i imagine jane austen giggling to herself as she writes some of the dialogue in it–particularly mrs. bennet’s. such moxie, that jane austen! i love it! and mr. bennet might be my favorite. the way he gets mrs. bennet all hot and bothered just for the fun of it. he’s a clever one, that mr. bennet.

numero ocho.

boston’s had some killer weather lately. a few weeks ago it was 60! 60, folks! in january! in boston! we walked around the city (mostly beacon hill) all day and ate at the paramount. it was the best day. and today we had our first (maybe second, but the first was only 1 inch and melted in a few hours) snow. our first! towards the end of january! i do love the snow, but once it’s dirty and gross, i’m over it. right now, it’s looking quite beautiful out. anyway, all that to say, boston’s winter has been good to us this year.

numero nueve.

this is something i wonder from time to time, but haven’t yet really asked. readers: where do you live? how old are you? can i come visit? the third was sort of a joke but not really. if you tell me paris or spain, i’ll be looking you up. anyway, i often wonder where you guys are as you read my blog, but haven’t asked. so here it is. where are you?

numero diez.

how about some songs we like up in heeeah lately? music makes the day better, say i. parker agrees!

i never tire of paul simon. like never. throw any one of his cds at me and i will declare it listen worthy! the other day i had his new cd on and steve was all, “CAN WE LISTEN TO ANYTHING BESIDES JAMES TAYLOR AND PAUL SIMON IN THIS HOUSE?” i yelled back, “kiss my a**!” that being said, i loooove his newest cd.

and for you to have a taste of the greatness, click play!

Rewrite by Paul Simon on Grooveshark

The Afterlife by Paul Simon on Grooveshark

bam! ten things! and i’m linking with my friend elizabeth today. she needs no more introduction than that, i’m pretty sure you all know her! and if you don’t, you need to fool!