Curly Girls
Let’s talk hair. Just for today. Then we’ll make donuts tomorrow. Promise. It’s been over two months since I last flat-ironed my hair. Who am I? Though I’ve definitely had my share of bad hair days over the last few weeks, I don’t miss it a bit. Because I’ve gotten so many emails and questions, I want to share a little behind why I hung up the flat iron and how I’ve learned to embrace my curls. Maybe you’ll be empowered... Read More
Books and Games for Little Peas (GIVEAWAY)
I’m currently trying to eat my way out of a week’s worth of produce before we head out of town. Luckily, I have help. My kids eat vegetables. Willingly. And they love them! (Before you think my life is a fairy tale, please know that I had to explain to Lulu while trying on swimsuits today what stretch marks are. She now wants “Baby Love Wrinkles” too. Feel better?) Lulu used to freak out if any vegetable was on her plate,... Read More
A Pea at BEA
When my editor called to invite me to Book Expo America, I must admit, I had no idea what it was. But for an opportunity to go to New York City, to have a few days of quality time with myself, a respite from tutu mending, hair detangling, elderly mens’ resort wear folding and angry cat avoiding sounded heavenly. Throw in the requirement for a new cocktail dress and the promise of dinner at Blossom and I became the new Urban Dictionary definition... Read More
Protein Power
I’ve received about eight emails this week about one specific thing: protein powder. And here you thought I was going to bring up Groupon referrals from Pea Daddy again. Am I that predictable? Don’t answer that. I knew it was time to go on the record about protein powders, though, when my book editor emailed me looking for advice about supplementing with powders. Since she could draw a mustache on the author photo on my back cover before... Read More
Books, Bites and Indecision
It’s library day. Every other Thursday is library day. Why every other Thursday? Because it’s not Ballet Day (Wednesday) or Grocery Shopping Day (Friday) or Church Day (Sunday) or Stay in Your Workout Clothes And Simply Reapply Deodorant Day (Monday and Tuesday…and often every other day, too). Library books technically aren’t due until three weeks after we check them out, but after a week and a half, I’ve grown tired of the Junie... Read More
God Made the Grand Canyon
But He lives in Sedona. When we sat at home planning our Spring Break in soggy January, eating soggy cereal in our slippers, soggy from fetching a soggy newspaper, we knew we wanted somewhere dry. And warm. And for reasons I can’t fully articulate, I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I have a deep faith, a faith that has deepened and widened in beautiful layers of strife and renewal in my life. Though I am certainly inspired by all the... Read More
A Day For Mama: Phoenix, Day 4
If Friday was a day for Pea Daddy, Then today was all about me. Not that I have anything against sitting on scalding metal bleachers on a 90-degree Phoenix day, surrounded by men with two beers the size of my head in his hands and women wearing booty shorts and four-inch stilettos to a Spring Training baseball game. This is heaven to some. Some Pea Daddies. But for me, I’m totally out of my element. Now this? This I could get... Read More
Meals on Wheels
I have to be the most indecisive person ever. Wait, maybe I’m not. I can’t decide. If I didn’t have other people to make decisions for me, I’m pretty sure I would be huddled in the corner of my room, hugging my knees and rocking back and forth. Or maybe I’d be on my couch. It’s hard to choose. That is why I’ve come up with a fool proof decision-making method. I once read that one of the best ways to make decisions is to flip... Read More
A Surprise in Store (GIVEAWAY)
As if a giant wiener on wheels wasn’t enough, I have something else fun in store for you today. Literally in store! Love me some puns, can you tell? Among the emails I get each day (from Pea Daddy asking why I put a picture of him with a wiener whistle in his mouth on the internet or from my mother asking what she ever did to make me turn out this way), I get a lot of questions about STUFF. They read something like this: Mama Pea, you... Read More
Gimme a Pea!
Don’t ask why we would go to the State of Oregon High School Cheerleading Championships. Ask why we wouldn’t. It was a nasty, nasty day outside (did you catch that Oregon part?) and I was all Yahtzee’d out, so when I heard about the Cheerleading Championships, I thought the girls would love it. And by “the girls,” I mean Pea Daddy. Yeah, she was so excited she could barely contain herself. She was hoping they’d at least have a t-shirt... Read More
Best Friends With Rings
Pea Daddy and I became best friends ten years ago. Seven years ago, we became best friends with rings. Someone had a plan, and as a result, it’s been five years since we became best friends with rings…and kids. Since Gigi came along, we have never spent the night alone in a hotel together. We went on an overnight date once when Gigi was two, but since I was seven months pregnant, technically Lulu was there and I had the bulging belly, hemorrhoids... Read More
Disneyland: The Vegan Friendliest Place on Earth?
We’ve been back from Disneyland for a week and a half now, and I’m still surprised. Surprised that today was the first time I’ve cleaned a toilet and mopped the floor (we’ve been busy!). Surprised that Gigi was playing “Disneyland” this morning and was almost in tears because there was a “20- minute wait for the Teacups!” I love the imagination, but she needs to learn to have it work for her instead of against her. Surprised that... Read More
A Grand Hotel
To recap our Disney trip without mentioning our hotel would be a mistake. And I’ve now decided that staying anywhere other than Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Lodge on a family trip to Disney would also be a mistake. Though I wish I could tell you the hotel comped any portion of our rooms for this review, that would be a lie. And though I may be exhausted, have full blown bronchitis, a suitcase full of dirty laundry and Pillow... Read More
Lessons in Beauty (& a Giveaway)
I’d always hoped that I would have girls. I wasn’t just looking forward to dressing them in frilly clothes, having tea parties and injecting even more pink into my home decor. I wasn’t just looking to avoid things that to this day I still have no clue about, namely foreskin and whether or not it should be removed (yes, Caitlin, I just mentioned foreskin in a post about your amazing book). My main hope was to be able to raise... Read More
Secrets Don’t Make Friends, but Giveaways Do
I hate to keep secrets from you guys. But how does that saying go? “Why buy the charming, hilarious, almost finished meat-free memoir cookbook when you can have the recipes for free?” So in exchange for my relentless teasing, I have another giveaway for you. I’m just going to make you wait for it first while looking at pictures of recipes that I can’t give you. Yesterday we hosted a birthday barbecue for Pea Daddy with... Read More
Running Scared
It started out as your typical gorgeous day in Suburbia… then we realized what day it was. Some of us were excited… Some of us were not. The backpack and hydration should have given it away. I had a runner on my hands. To avoid tofu, there was no distance she wouldn’t go… no terrain to rugged. Luckily, I had the manpower to bring her in, and a few tricks up my sleeve. Namely this: Incredible. The makers... Read More
Joining the Sisterhood
As I’ve mentioned before, I wasn’t in a sorority in college. I just found I was so busy with school, playing basketball and trying to change my frat boy boyfriend that I never committed to becoming a sister. Yet I envied their rituals, their friendships, their sense of being a part of something bigger than themselves and the fact that at least one day a week they didn’t have to worry about what they wore, threw on a Hanes sweatshirt... Read More
Guest Post: Pea Daddy in the House
I’ve got all sorts of excuses for why I’m not doing a standard post tonight: namely that my cold has worsened and I now sound like Peter Brady going through puberty. Please ignore the fact that this in no way affects my typing ability. Also, I have Round Two of my back injections first thing in the morning. Don’t be scared for me. I’m happy to have the drugs time to myself. When my husband (aka Pea Daddy) said that... Read More
The Multi-Task Master
When you are a busy, liquid eyeliner addicted, won’t get up early to workout, always got a new recipe brewing, Facebook friend conflicted mom like me, you learn to get really good at multitasking. Some of the strangest tasks I’ve ever “multied”: Breastfeeding WHILE walking around Disneyland (don’t worry, the Hooter Hider was living up to its’ name and Mickey wasn’t getting a free peek). Read the Bible while... Read More
