Race Relations
I had a berry fun hobby of collecting Strawberry Shortcake dolls when I was a little girl. They were so berry darn cute with their different colored hair that was said to smell like each of their dessert names: Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Meringue, Huckleberry Pie, etc. Truth be told, though, each of their heads just smelled berry faintly of Froot Loops. One year at Christmas, my collection was nearly complete, save for one doll: Orange Blossom. For... Read More
The Bright Side
When life hands you lemons… make Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chickpeas! Nothing about the last 24 hours really went as expected. Still, no one wants to hear me whine, so I’m simply going to relate them to you in the most annoyingly positive way possible! I didn’t even need my alarm to wake up Friday morning and was even able to pay a visit to my general practitioner to test out my new health insurance! I was happy to let McDreamy... Read More
Slow Mornin’, Slow Cookin’
It’s no secret in my family that I am NOT a morning person. Seeing me pre-coffee would truly give Scott Baio something to Tweet about, and thankfully, I’m not the only one reluctantly embracing the dawn. Princess nightgown in full effect, Gigi set up a grocery store in the breakfast nook this morning, carefully laying out her inventory. She announced that she was starting a store “where everything costs TWO DOLLARS.” I... Read More
Field Trippin’
I’m currently playing nurse to an injured Lulu. Call it the dangers of having a home gym. Miss L was bouncing on an exercise ball in our living room when it slipped out from underneath her and she bonked her head on the tile surrounding our gas fireplace. There’s no more horrific sound than your child’s skull hitting a hard surface. It ranks up there with the sound of your cat coughing up a hairball on your down comforter, the... Read More
Get a Move On
They say life’s a dance. Of course, “they” have never suffered from irregularity. The cramps, the bloating, the overall discomfort may make you feel like you are in an endless game of “Cat and Mouse” “Pincher Pincher.” Isn’t it time you left the sidelines? Isn’t it time you quit hunting and digging for a magical cure? Isn’t it time you found the secret weapon to quiet your “tummy... Read More
Wicked Awesome
Since Gigi started preschool, I’ve learned a lot. The main reason we wanted her to go to school was to help her step a little bit outside of the pink sparkly bubble we live in and learn about other people. I mistakenly assumed that she would be quick to point out how different other people are from us and that I would take that as an opportunity to teach her about diversity, personal choices and respect. A parent can dream, right? The... Read More
Make New Friends, But Keep the Old
I did most everything yesterday with the aid of an old friend, my glasses. I got the fun diagnosis from the optometrist on Friday that I need to wear my glasses primarily for the next three months since I am guilty of overusing my contacts even more than I am overguilty of using my liquid eyeliner and “That’s What She Said” jokes. Can you blame me though? Like a man in a mid-life crisis, I’ve got a new friend coming in... Read More
Woman, Fetch Me a Beer!
It turns out not every member of the Pea household was thrilled to have their picture in a tiara on the blog yesterday. It occurred to me after the fact that even though, “I promise not to publicly humiliate you on my blog,” wasn’t one of my wedding vows, it probably should have been. So today my goal was to somehow makeup to Pea Daddy for my transgressions. I’m noticing a trend here…a six year long trend. I looked... Read More
Site Under Construction
After my tough but enjoyable workout this morning, I came into a tangle of tent poles and two girls yapping at my heels to put together their playhouse. The poles are tethered together with thin, nylon rope, and somehow in her excitement, Gigi managed to twist and knot those poles together as if she were deliberately trying to create a Survivor challenge for her sweaty, hungry, desperate for a cup of coffee mom. Still, miracles happen. $8.50... Read More
Punching Out and Kissing Up
Have you ever taken Nyquil? I don’t know why anesthetic is necessary for surgery. This stuff won’t just help you get your Zs, it will walk past an armed guard, shoving babies and old ladies out of the way, and boldly snatch those Zs from a laser protected pedestal and bring them to you and cram them down your throat. I was in bed by 9:45 last night for the first time since I was twelve and wore a size 34 A bra. I’m thirty-one... Read More
Box of Rocks
If you don’t have kids, stop reading this and go take a nap…just because you can. Sleep is a gift God has given us, and apparently once you give birth, you are not deserving. Last night from about 11 pm until 6 am this morning we were consistenly awakened by Lulu barking like a seal, Maggie (our cat) chasing plastic Dollar Store rings around our hardwood floors and then our own sharp, piercing throat pain. Daddy and I would look at... Read More
Celebrating Heroes
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! I hope that you are able to celebrate such an important figure in our history today and appreciate the freedoms each of us have regardless of how we are different, be it our gender, our race, our sexual orientation, or our impossibly difficult to manage curly hair, size 10 1/2 feet and orange palms. Though as a society we still have great strides to make, CHANGE DOES HAPPEN and can happen in other arenas as well. There... Read More
Sunday School
We didn’t make it to church this morning, for reasons that will become obvious as this post develops. However, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t learn lessons of Biblical proportions here at home. 1. A glow is not always a “healthy glow,” and may in fact just be snot. Poor little babykins got another cold, most likely from the lollipop she shared with her sniffley big sis on the way home from the birthday party... Read More
Lingering Leftovers
The first of the many leftovers in this post will probably explain a lot. That’s the leftover (read EMPTY) bottle from our dinner with friends this evening. I was amazed that I was still feeling the lingering effects of a glass and a half of wine with dinner. 14.1%? No wonder I’m wanting to take my shirt off and eat a cheeseburger. This morning I didn’t have leftovers for breakfast (unless you count the day old coffee I chugged... Read More
Back Asswards
Today’s been like Anne Heche’s relationship history: completely bizarre and to be blamed on daddy issues. In our case, Pea Daddy had an arbitration early this morning, followed by a meeting tonight (or so he says…), so our whole day was kind of thrown off. Every morning my workout time is from 6:30 to 8 a.m. each morning, but since Pea Daddy had to leave early, I had to get up a half hour earlier than usual. That half hour... Read More
Not the Same
I put some Baby Spinach Blend in my Smoothie in a Bowl this morning. “Baby Spinach Blend” is NOT the same as baby spinach. And unless you like some bitter radicchio and spicy arugula with your frozen strawberries, almond milk, protein powder, stevia, cinnamon and granola, it is definitely worse than the original. I tried to tie some lacy black underwear around my head this morning. It was NOT the same as “V’s” fashion... Read More
All Before Breakfast
Subtitle: How I Make My Life Harder Than it Should Be Due to just having a gut feeling that Gigi’s ballet class wasn’t the best fit for her (she can’t wear her fuchsia tutu, for goodness sake!), I decided to enroll her in the same class she took over the summer. The bad news: it’s a forty minute drive and starts at 10 a.m. Please note, we deliberately don’t collectively leave the house until at least noon each... Read More
This Ain’t No Motel Six
We’ve got clean sheets, (although they come from a laundry pile so big, it attacks) and a capable staff. There’s live entertainment, and fresh baked cookies. Vegan Almond Joy Cookie Bars 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 t. baking soda 3/4 t. salt 1/2 c. shredded coconut 1/2 c. oats 1/2 c. chopped almonds 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips 1/4 c. organic sugar 1/2 c. NuNaturals Stevia Baking Blend (or just use 3/4 c. total of organic... Read More
Fresh From The Farm
Today Pea Daddy and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. If you had told me six years ago that I’d be a vegan food blogger/permanently retired attorney/stay-at-home mom to a curly-haired ballerina and a pig-tailed princess, and that I love and respect my husband even more than I did that day, I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s too good to be true. In preparation for the big day, we cleaned house (Gigi was so scared, I... Read More
The Grapes, er, Peas of Wrath
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I appreciate that God likes to remind me that He’s in control, and not me, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow sometimes. Much like this wine I’m drinking right now. (Sweet PEA’s farm!!!) I wanted a glass to unwind and help the words flow tonight, but am thinking that this bottle that was in my White Elephant gift from Christmas was likely also purchased at the Goodwill. ... Read More
Irresistible
I couldn’t resist my craving for a green smoothie in a bowl this morning. 3 handfuls of spinach almond milk ice frozen strawberries frozen pineapple stevia 1/2 scoop protein powder cinnamon Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Granola A little trick I’ve been using is to blend my spinach with the almond milk before adding anything else. That way, the spinach gets blended up really quickly and I don’t have to stand there with my... Read More
The Fast and the…Mildly Disappointed
Wow! Thank you guys so much for all the feedback on the Dressgavagantza. It was surprising to me how much of you liked the dress that Gigi and my mom liked best (the purple Diane Von Furstenberg), and how many of you liked the dress Pea Daddy liked best (the orange Herve, shocking!). What was most surprising to me of all though, was how many of you said things along the lines of, “Please don’t choose the ____ dress!!!” I can... Read More
Let’s Play Dress Up
As you well know, every day is “dress up” day in our house. This morning it took a bit of a dramatic turn, without costumes, as the girls reenacted one of their favorite books from the groan worthy Max & Ruby series, “Max’s Breakfast.” The book summary is as follows: Max’s Breakfast Ruby has a special surprise for Max’s breakfast: A lovely sunnyside-up egg. Max would rather have strawberries for breakfast... Read More
Fear and Loafing
Since last we talked, we’ve been having an open ended discussion about “fear” in our house. This was spawned by Pea Daddy’s announcement that we were going to find out what color our car truly was underneath the dirt, grime and “Wash Me”s by going through the “Cutie the Elephant” car wash. How could you be afraid of Cutie, the Blue Elephant? I guess if Tyra can be afraid of dolphins, Gigi’s... Read More
Blogging With Resolve
Like many of you, I have some goals and resolutions for the New Year. However, I really don’t think you all want to hear about getting Lulu out of diapers (without having to rip out my living room carpet due to it becoming a biohazard), my reading list (Entertainment Weekly and the Bible, not necessarily, but probably in that order) or big projects that may soon be coming down the pipeline (which I promise is not another metaphor for potty... Read More
Out With the Old, In With the New
I’ve got a good man. Yesterday, while I worked out, blogged and showered, he orchestrated the de-Christmasfying of our house while supervising the children. Okay, somewhat supervising the children. Next year our tree may just be all gingerbread men ornaments. Why go through the painstaking process of carefully wrapping and packing delicate glass balls when you can just eat fistfuls of month old cookies? But while the cookies were being... Read More
Hap-PEA New Year!
You saw that one coming a mile away, eh? New Year’s is all about self-improvement. Even though I like to think as every day as “New Year’s,” in that every morning when we wake up we have the chance for a fresh start, I can still get behind doing it on January 1st as well. We definitely have seen our improvements already.We kicked off our New Years’ Eve yesterday with minimal hygiene, overplayed track suits and maximum... Read More
