Toro Bravo (y Pantalones Bravos)
Pea Daddy gave me a gift card, among other things, for my birthday. With it, I bought a pair of really tight, electric pink pants. I blame Pinterest, fashion blogs and my bolder, younger friends for their influence. Funny how no one ever pins or posts pictures of five year-old saggy, faded jeans that you have to trim every few months when the strings along the hemline are fraying down into your $5 flip flops. And that is why this will never... Read More
Ten Things About Sunday
1. On the 13th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me, one case of pinkeye, acute bronchitis, four missing teeth, and a partridge in a pear tree. 2. How ‘bout some irony? Gigi, both a pacifist and a vegetarian, has been cast as the solider who gets to kill the Mouse King in The Nutcracker. I feel nothing but pride. I suspect Lulu, cast as a mouse, will find her harder to forgive. 3. The worst part about writing a cookbook: 4. ... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Bliss Salad
A few helpful hints for you today: If you are going to one of Loving Hut’s many locations, call and make sure they are open on Sunday before dragging someone else across town just so you can eat a highly addictive Heavenly Salad. Someone else will be very, very angry. If you have a dirty, dingy wedding ring, you can clean it at home by using a little toothpaste and baking soda and someone else’s toothbrush. If you are so inclined. If you are... Read More
A Little Advice and Thai Fried Quinoa
Don’t think a gentle morning jog will stretch out an aching back. Don’t then think a few sets of power squats will loosen up a massively throbbing back. Do have exact change for the Swear Jar. Lulu won’t break a five. Don’t think lying on the living room floor while you are having back spasms will make them go away. Don’t think about what’s been on the living room floor in the last week. Do pick up some more carpet cleaner. Don’t... Read More
Phoning It In
It was bound to happen–I’m sick. Logic would lead one to believe it was a result of the last few weeks, burning the candle at both ends coupled with far too few green vegetables during my Seattle trip. I, however, choose to blame Pea Daddy, as I usually do. Because while I was on my mini-Pacific Northwest book tour, he and the girls were on a full-blown, no-holds-barred Snot Tour. The carousel. (With greasy, smeary fingerprints up... Read More
Eight Hours and Seven Links
Say hello to my little friend. I spent eight hours this morning on radio interviews across the nation to talk about our new book. It was a cruel joke that we scheduled our radio tour for 4 a.m., the night after The Bachelorette finale. I admit it, it was stupid to stay up ridiculously late to watch what will surely be long-lasting love between two complete strangers. I’d do it again. Therefore, say hello to my little friend. But it was... Read More
The View from the Backyard
I’m going to go out on a limb and call this 4th of July one of my favorites ever. I didn’t make the homemade pound cake I wanted to. I didn’t make it to the baseball game I wanted to. Or that I pretended to want to. My only contribution to our party spread were two overripe avocados that I somehow found the energy to mash with a fork and turn into guacamole. It was exhausting. The funny thing is, sometimes it takes relying on a little cold... Read More
Doctor’s Orders
I hope my doctor doesn’t read Peas and Thank You. Or follow me on Twitter. And it’s not just because I’ve referred to him as McDreamy a half a dozen times. I’m more fearful that he’ll be upset with my loose interpretation of his orders. Singlehandedly killed that repeat batch all by myself. And tried again to do as McDreamy said. I bought my first one-piece since I was six years old. From Tommy Bahama. Let’s not speak of this... 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
Was Blind But Now I See
*Note: if you are sensitive to descriptions of medical procedures, breakfast cereal manufacturing or adults wearing plastic shoes, you may want to skip this post. Or toughen up, Cream Puff. Today was the day. That’s not me getting ready to go to work at the Honey Bunches of Oats factory. That’s me on drugs. Pre-LASIK surgery. After three days without makeup, 30 days in glasses and 25 years of being legally blind, I can now see. It’s about... Read More
Lessons From Christmas Dinner
If you pile my family around a dinner table, you are bound to learn a thing or two. We eat. We talk, borderline shout. We argue. We eat. We talk, borderline shout some more. I cannot guarantee the factual accuracy of any tidbit that comes out of any person with my genetic makeup, admittedly, myself included. Perhaps that is why it is so easy to get into little arguments. When two parties of a heated debate are both making things up, it is virtually... Read More
Spicing Things Up
When you are married with children, it’s not always easy to break “the routine.” You make the coffee, I unload the dishwasher. I workout, you pour cereal. You shower, I dump the bowls of soggy cereal and make the snack (aka “the real breakfast”). And on and on it goes. For seven and a half years. We need to spice things up. Forget carving, we need to decorate pumpkins with stickers and Sharpies. I’m sure we’ll end up carving... Read More
Leaving the Nest
I want my babies to stay babies forever. Unhealthfully so. I’m pretty sure Lulu would still be breastfeeding were it not for that nasty back injury and not wanting to pump her bloodstream full of Vicodin. Although my OB/GYN said at a recent appointment that she would have been fine nursing even with the narcotics. Shh…don’t tell Pea Daddy, I think he wants that week of his life back that he spent “weaning” while... Read More
The Most Dramatic Post Ever
More false words have never been spoken. Except for a few. Like “I don’t expect much from my husband.” I most certainly expect him to jump out of bed at 12:30 a.m. (regardless of the fact that he is the responsible adult that has been asleep for an hour) and dispose of the hamster-sized spider that was on our bathroom wall. He didn’t budge from that bed. I don’t consider myself a defenseless female and I don’t... Read More
A Wee Weenie Post
I like to think that I’m one tough mother. I’m pretty humble about most things. I get embarrassed by compliments. I downplay accomplishments. But I’ll tell anyone who will listen, or anyone who won’t (“Gigi, quit drinking the pool water!”), that I have an abnormally high tolerance for pain. I base this on a few key events in my life: I once took a hit off of a helium tank when I was eight, blacked out... Read More
Job Opening
I think my husband should start looking for a new housewife. I am a hasbeen. For starters, despite the fact that I spent almost four hours cleaning my house yesterday, I hired a professional to do my dirty work. What kind of housewife hires a cleaning service? A housewife that wants her shower whiter than Moby in January, whiter than a weekend in the Hamptons with Muffy and Preston Vanderhausen, whiter than me the summer I decided Jergens... Read More
I Like it Medium Raw (Giveaway)
A wise man once said, “You don’t have to agree with someone to want to sit down and have a beer with him.” I completely agree. And that is why last night, I was overjoyed to sit down and have a beer with that wise man, Anthony Bourdain. Alright, I didn’t really sit down and have a beer with him, but I did get to sit in the seventh row of his speaking engagement in Portland, and as far as I’m concerned, I had a pretty... Read More
Tonight
Tonight I celebrate my love for you It seems the natural thing to do Tonight no one’s gonna find us We’ll leave the world behind us When I make love to you Tonight I celebrate my love for you (1 c. almond milk, 2 T. cocoa powder, 2 T. peanut butter, stevia, 1 1/2 c. ice, 1/2 t. xanthan gum) And hope that deep inside you feel it too Tonight our spirits will be climbing To the sky lit up with diamonds When I make love... Read More
Do You Remember?
How about a little Flashback Friday? Do you remember what happened in the Pea household a year ago today? If you are a new reader, which it seems like there are a few of you, I’d like to extend you a special “Hidey ho!” and tell you how happy I am to have you along for the ride. Please do not click away or unsubscribe because I said “Hidey ho!” Trust me, far more absurd things will come out of my mouth (fingers?). 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
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
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
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
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
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
The Peasies: Christmas 2009 Edition
Merry Christmas! As you can imagine, my camera is FULL of pictures, my carpet is littered with Scotch tape and wrapping paper fragments, our recycling bin is full of Gymboree and My Little Pony boxes and despite an hour of trying to put some of the insane amount of gifts our girls recieved away, our entryway still looks like a jumble of pink tulle, rainbow socks, pjs and swimsuits and themed panties (which thankfully fit Daddy perfectly). So rather... Read More
Lucky Dog
In the words of Ice Cube, “Today was a good day.” Before we headed out for the afternoon, we had some smoothies. I served mine in a bowl for easier toppin’. 1/2 scoop vanilla soy protein powder 1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk 1 c. spinach 1 c. frozen strawberries 1/4 c. frozen mango 1/4 c. frozen pineapple cinnamon ~2T. Kashi Go Lean ~2 T. granola Then we dropped the kiddos off with my parents so we could finish up our Christmas shopping. ... Read More
Helping Ourselves
Mooch much? Today we made ourselves at home in a variety of places, and most certainly outwore our welcome. Memberships will be revoked, locks will be changed and phone numbers will be lost. I started out my day taking advantage of my own free personal trainer. I haven’t been this sore since my half marathon. Funny how you think you are in shape until you get a wake-up call like a fog horn in your eardrum at 4 a.m. However, somehow it’s... Read More
Tofu Barbie
Since becoming a parent, I’ve learned that things don’t necessarily have to be all or nothing. There can be a little yin to go with the yang, and that doesn’t make me a hypocrite. I can be a woman of faith, yet religiously watch a slightly foul-mouthed and blasphemous Chelsea Handler. I can eat a tropical breakfast on a chilly December 1st and still call myself a true Oregonian. I can let my kids eat chocolate before 8 a.m.... Read More
Sick and Wrong
Two things I hate to admit being: sick and wrong. I know I’ve been griping on and off about a cold for the last week, but it hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday. I woke up Sunday morning at 4 am feeling like Oprah, Steadman AND Gail were all sitting on my chest. “Hey, let’s sit on her!” I’d like to quash any beliefs that I am always sick or that it has anything to do with the fact that I don’t eat meat or much... Read More
Vegan Shmegan
Other potential post titles: Blogger Shmogger Water Shmater Turkey Shmurkey Marco Poll-oh Please allow me to explain. I got a little wrapped up in Thanksgiving today. In fact, I got so wrapped up that I neglected my blogging duties, taking very few pictures. I also neglected simple self-care tasks like drinking a certain beverage we call “water” (please note Wine Shmine, and Coffee Shmoffee were not potential post titles). That... Read More
Peas and Thanksgiving
Today was full of preps for our first vegetarian/vegan/completely weaned off of breast milk Thanksgiving. Can I get an amen?! (And a boob job? ) I think now is a good time for reflection on the things I’m thankful for this year. I think I said it best tonight as I was tearily and hastily shrieking to Pea Daddy on the phone (the holidays bring out the best in me): “No, things aren’t perfect. They can always be better, and... Read More
There’s No Place Like Whole Foods…
Like me preface this post with a disclaimer: I’m not allowed to drive right now. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to blog now, though! Am I right or am I drugged? Everything went just fine this morning and other than a Harley riding, overly-friendly male nurse who asked my sign and what I like to do for fun, the whole thing was relatively painless. I’m just a little sedated and on ice. My personal caretakers/babysitters... Read More
