Saturday Laugh

As promised, here is Tage and his Newcastle... thinking of you, JR.

And here is something to make you smile today. My brothers and I probably did this at some point during our childhoods...

Giving Thanks

It seemed appropriate that the Thanksgiving holiday also brought with it the first snow in Spokane. We woke up to an absolutely beautiful light dusting of white covering everything. Tage had to work (his Starbucks had the busiest day he has seen since working there) and Safeway was full of the last-minute grocery shoppers. Astro and I slept in until about 8am then got to work.

On the Thanksgiving menu at our house consisted of Roast Turkey with Paprika and Thyme (I substituted dried thyme for fresh and included a few fresh sage leaves under the skin), Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Classic Gravy, Wild Rice Dressing (dried fruit and nuts omitted), homemade Cranberry Sauce, and of course, Pumpkin Pie (with gobs of whipped cream for Tage).

After letting our meal settle we took the dog for a walk, watched a movie, and enjoyed a relaxing evening at home. Yay for Thanksgiving leftovers! We're set for at least a week.

Tage and his best friend JR usually enjoy a Thanksgiving brew together. They did so this year, only 856 miles apart. Here is Tage with his Newcastle, toasting to JR...

(Okay, as soon as Tage forwards the picture to me I'll get it uploaded!)

Baby's First Craigslist Deal

Last spring we stopped by a Danish-modern design store in Spokane called Dania and happened across the rocker shown in the picture. We both sat in it, rocked in it, oogled it for a while, and searched (without success) for a price tag. Not thinking we would have a use for it any time soon, I took a picture with my phone and left it at that.

Almost immediately after we found out we were expecting, Tage was on the prowl for a deal on the rocker. I can't say I was surprised when he was able to find the exact one in the bay area. The original owner has a two year old and was looking for a home with a new baby to rock. Tage worked his PayPal magic and she has kept it for us for several weeks. Tage's mom graciously said she would pick up the chair and take it home until we needed it so it will be making its appearance in her home by the weekend. How exciting! Deanne, thank you SO much for picking that up for us, it was a huge help since we aren't going to be there until January.

If anyone ever needs to make a big purchase or is looking for something unique, Tage is the man to find it for you AND find you a deal on it. I keep telling him we need to somehow start a personal shopping service. Not only would he earn a small finders fee on each deal, but he would save people all kinds of money! For now his services are free and he'll take any excuse he can get to search Ebay and Craigslist for whatever you desire, just let him know. :)

New Favorite Recipes

While I doubt I'll ever be confused with Rachel Ray, I can follow a recipe and I have two I tried this week and wanted to share. One comes from my good friend Heather Mattos who posted the recipe for her Homemade Mac & Cheese last week. For some reason Tage and I have had a 5 pound bag of macaroni in our cabinet (which I imagine was there long before I met him) and this seemed like an effective way to use it. Being on an organic food kick, I picked up some organic white cheddar on Friday on the way home and tried it out. It was easier than I expected (anything that requires you to warm milk but not boil it and also calls for a Dutch Oven is a little intimidating to me) and absolutely delicious! Tage thought it could use more salt (although he thinks salt could use more salt) but I will definitely make it again. Thank you for sharing Heather!

The second recipe comes from Real Simple, one of my favorite magazines and also one of my favorite online resources for recipes. While talking on the phone to Heidi last weekend she mentioned she was looking for a recipe for Shepherds Pie. Not really knowing what it was, I searched Real Simple's online recipes for Shepherds Pie, finding this one. It could not have been easier and I had time while it was in the oven to actually wash the dishes I had dirtied to prepare it. We had all of the ingredients (I used fresh locally-grown, organic vegetables though) and the "mashed potatoes" I used were from a box. The best part was that Tage liked it. He even gave his approval for me to make this dish regularly, along with Tater Tot Casserole and pizza.

If you're like me and find yourself on Sunday evenings meal planning and writing out a grocery list for the week ahead, you now have two new yummy recipes to try and possibly add to your repertoire.

Make it a great week!

My first baby purchase

I don't believe there is anyone who doesn't revel in getting the mail each day. The only exception might be my Grandma Pete, who receives no less than 100 catalogues a week. The rest of us look forward to sifting through the bills to get to the good stuff like the late Fall Pottery Barn issue, coupons, or the occasional invitation, letter or card from a friend. I admit I'm no exception and I love that somehow I've been magically added to the mailing lists of Baby Style and Pottery Barn Kids (we recycle after their use.)

This week I arrived home to find my first Pottery Barn Kids catalogue waiting for me. I didn't actually open the catalogue until Friday evening, primarily because PB is so expensive, but I flipped through (past the kid stuff) to the baby section in the back. There it was, the Pottery Barn Ultimate Diaper Bag. Instinctively I envisioned myself pushing the stroller, purse on one arm and this bag on the other. I'm not much of a "girly" girl and like a clean, simple look so to me this was the perfect find. Add to that the fact that it was on sale for only $39.99 and how could I turn it down? I did wait a day, thinking I would wait for Tage to get home so I could ask his opinion, then I realized he absolutely could not care less about our baby's diaper bag and would be just as content strolling about town with a large Barney and Friends purple and green tote.

So last night I called PB and ordered the bag, only to discover that it was not available. They were sold out and not making any more. The representative offered to look to see if any stores in my area still had the bag in stock. Not only were there no stores in Spokane (not really shocking) that still had the bag, but no stores on the West coast! I was given the number for two, yes TWO Pottery Barns locations that were still showing they had the bag in stock. The first store, in Massachusetts, showed as having three but alas, they were sold out. The only other store the PB computer reported the bag being in stock was in New Jersey and they supposedly had seven. I placed a call to New Jersey and sure enough, they had one left. ONE! They took my credit card number and the black Pottery Barn Ultimate Diaper Bag is on it's way. Further research showed me these bags were already a hot item on eBay as they were "no longer available" from Pottery Barn. Who knew?

Here is a link to this coveted item, in case you're interested: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/sw1220/index.cfm

24 Weeks

As you can tell from the picture, my belly is growing steadily. The doctor told me today after measuring from the public bone to the top of the uterus that our little guy is content in taking up as much room inside my torso as possible. He has yet to extend himself outward a significant amount so it really just looks like I have a thick waist.

While my Bella Band is still performing miracles on my work pants, I broke down and purchased a pair of maternity jeans from Gap online and a couple of tops. Why don't women wear these things all the time?! They are amazingly comfortable although since I barely have a belly to keep them up they sag a bit after a while. Since I don't think there are any men who read this blog I'll share one other little purchase I had to make and that was a new bra. I thought it was fantastic until the helpful Victoria's Secret clerk finally convinced me to let her take my measurements (after asking her to continually bring me an assortment of sizes and styles) and I discovered I now wear a bra size I NEVER would have imagined. Not only that, but my breasts now sag. For someone who has never had breasts large enough to sag, I have to admit I'm finding this part of the pregnancy bittersweet. From what I hear, it's all downhill from here in that area (so to say.)

We do have a baby shower update. Tage and I will both be home the weekend of January 16-18. My incredibly talented and thoughtful girlfriends have taken charge and you should expect an invitation in the near future. In the meantime save the date. Tage is in Iowa until Sunday visiting family, hunting pheasant, and mostly golfing, but when he gets home we'll finish our registry at Target. Remember, suggestions are always encouraged and appreciated. :)

One last thing to share, I have been able to feel the baby moving for a couple of weeks now but before he left Tage confirmed that he could feel movement when he placed his hand on my belly. It was an awesome experience for both of us and I was thrilled to be able to share something tangible with Tage. There is no doubt this child is Tage's but now we have evidence... the baby responds most actively after I eat any kind of cheese and especially chocolate (just like his dad.) Surprise Tage with a package of mini chocolate donuts and you'll see what I mean.

We'll share more as we go, I can't believe we're already at six months. February will be here before we know it.

P.S. Astro is doing well although he has missed getting to play with Tage this week. Thankfully he gets me up in the morning to take him for a walk so I'm guaranteed exercise 5 day a week whether I like it or not!