I'm having a thing......

for flat, black, lace-up boots. I'm not entirely sure where it came from. I've had plenty of pairs before in my life, but for some reason, whenever I'm sitting in front of my computer for 5 minutes and I have a blank moment, it's the thing I search for. I've searched Zappos, and Amazon, and Piperlime (how annoying is that name and of all of the affiliated websites pushiness about them??)....Anyway, I have not found the right ones yet.

I found these:

which are pretty cool. In black I can only find a size 8.5. ugh. I'm not going brown. And basically, they are the same price as buying the real thing. The real thing being paddock boots from a western wear company. That's what these are from--well, sort of a hybrid of paddock boots and motorcycle boots. I guess I could just rock the Doc Martens again. Go old school.....But I think I am starting to push the envelope of acceptability on that. I'm no longer in my 20s or even early 30s. I might have to meditate on that.

Ok, while I'm meditating, I must tell you that I got a call that apparently Lucky Brand Kids is having some sort of $10 sale!? It's not on the website and I haven't gone in to confirm (what with Isaac still being feverish and all) so, check it out and let me know......who can beat $10?

Ok, meditation over.....went to the DM website......they had me at 'vintage collection'. Takes me right back. I really like the maroon ones all of a sudden (I'm totally getting off track here)


I mean, for those of you older than 33, these will take you right back......(arbitrary age).
And for those of you with kids: I'm sure you noticed those cute little green boots on your way in here. Those come in a veritable rainbow of colors and patterns. Killing me. Who can spend $60 on boots for the kids right now? Well, who can be buying boots at all right now? Certainly not me. Which is why I am ranting here.

veggie soup for dinner.....

This might be turning into a cooking blog.....at least for now. That's what happens when your kid is home sick for a couple of days......you have to find ways to not go crazy. And I can't get to the store--the best I've done is Rexall in the last few days--and don't get me started about that.....

So, below you'll see the video--that's sort of the basic recipe. I mostly put it up there to get my feet wet with embedding, but it is pretty good for 3 minutes. It will get you started.

Soup is like Jazz. I might have read that in an article. I feel like cooking is like Jazz--that drives Joel slightly nuts. He likes me to follow the recipe. I have a hard time measuring stuff. The great thing about vegetable soup is that you can mostly put anything in there and it will be fine. I had broccoli and some rainbow chard and little baby tomatoes, so I threw all those in there.
The twist for me came in using fennel in such a savory dish--it was so fragrant and really gave the overall flavor some depth. Also, I cheated a little and started with the 4 pieces of bacon that I had left in the fridge--gave it a little bite, a little minestrone vibe.

So, the soup itself was really good, but it was the additions that really made it for me. I did the croutons, that was easy and gave it a crunch and then I did a twist on the 'pistou'.....If I had a few minutes, I would look up the word, but I just rolled with it. I mixed some italian parseley, savory, garlic, lemon zest, dijon mustard and then a dab of olive oil.....I chopped the first 4 ingredients up super fine, then added the mustard and olive oil and mashed it all up together (you could do a mortar and pestle probably). This little thing added to the soup once its in the bowl was like a flavor explosion. That, a little parmesan and the croutons made a great dinner that didn't take very long to make.

HC 09

Just got back from counting the homeless tonight in Los Angeles. In case you haven't heard, tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night are Homeless Count O9. Happens every 2 years and helps to determine the kind of funding and services that the homeless get all over this country.

If you didn't get out there tonight, you can still make it for the next two nights. It sounds slightly daunting, but it's really not. They train you, give you a map and all the supplies you need and a team, and you hit the streets and just count the homeless and their encampments. I met the loveliest brother and sister: Joseph and Patsy. Patsy is 76 and she owns a little company that makes priest and choir robes. Yeah. And she was out there trekking around fearlessly with us to make sure we accurately counted the homeless. And actually, there were over 100 people who showed up tonight and word on the street is that all of the meeting spots were overwhelmed with volunteers.

This isn't to say you are off the hook. This is to get you on the bandwagon. I know you're tired. It's been a long day, but I swear, you will actually go to bed with a little smile on your face knowing that you spent a few hours doing this. It's a new day here in this land we live in, and in order to make the change we have so desperately fought for, we are going to have to work for it. Work at it.

lahsa.org

The Bag Lady of LA.....

While the rest of us were recovering from the election, trying to deal with the holidays and our families and just generally sleeping through these last couple of months, my friend Kirstin was busy. I remember that she mentioned at one point that she wanted to learn to sew......and then all of a sudden, she had purchased a machine, taught herself to sew and was making EVERYTHING!

Then one day she made a bag. And that was it. She was off and running. Her bags are perfect and stunning and durable and I could go on and on and on.......
Need a new computer bag? She's your girl. A cool diaper bag for the baby shower of your best friend next month? Go see Kirstin. She'll do custom work....and wallets and little insert bags for travelling...you name it, she's got it covered.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6760809

And it's aptly named: Maven Studio.

Tuna Cass

Lest you think that this endeavor is just about shopping, you're about to discover my other passion: cooking.
We went through a period where Turkey Casserole was in heavy rotation. Probably once a week or so. And who can blame? veggies, ground turkey, cheese, tomato sauce and pasta--sort of covers all the bases.
Lately though, I've been going through a new phase: Tuna Casserole. Not the Campbell's cream of mushroom soup kind--although that is certainly very much a comfort food from my youth. The great thing about tuna casserole is that you really can make it out of stuff that you keep in your pantry: canned tuna, pasta.....but this new version that I've discovered and now messed around with takes it up a notch AND makes it much healthier.....

1 bag of pasta or egg noodles or whatever you like
1/2 a brown onion roughly chopped
2 big spoonfulls of capers
1 1/2 cans of artichoke hearts*
3/4 cup of finely grated parmesan cheese
3 cans (6oz ea) of tuna packed in water (reserve the water when you drain!)
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. of finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup of flat leaf parseley
1/3 cup of bread crumbs

optional:
1 cup of frozen peas (cooked)
1/2 to 1 cup of chopped mushrooms
*I just substituted 1 bag (trader joe's bag) of cauliflower (steamed) for the artichoke hearts and it turned out great

Preheat oven to 350.
lightly oil an 8 to 10 cup casserole dish (better a round or tall one than a big baking dish)
cook your pasta and drain.

Puree onion, artichoke hearts (or steamed cauliflower) and capers in a food processor until smooth. Add parmesan cheese and reserved tuna water and pulse to combine. Run machine and add olive oil slowly to emulsify. (The last time I made this, I didn't use quite 1/2 a cup). season with black pepper.

Move everything to a large bowl and add the lemon zest, parseley, pasta and drained tuna. And if you're adding veggies, add those now too. Mix it all up and transfer to your baking dish.

sprinkle bread crumbs (and I put a little more parmesan on top as well).
Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes--until cooked through and brown on top.
Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart and has been altered in my kitchen.....I think that's what I like about it: like Turkey cass, you can move it around to suit your tastes and your pantry.

post dinner note:
worked out great. And my husband couldn't believe that it didn't have some sort of 'cream' base.....woo hoo!
a

and one more little tip......

So, I asked Isaac to write his name in sharpie on his friend's birthday card today......well, not sure what I was thinking, but all of a sudden I had a bunch of dark blue sharpie marks all over our wood dining room table.....409, no. some organic cleaner, no........panic, panic.....toothpaste. Yes, toothpaste. After a little research, I've now learned that some people mix it with rubbing alcohol, but it worked fine just as it was, with the added bonus of my table getting a little polish. It actually looks a little sharper in that spot. Go fig. File that under what-to-do-when-your-kid-draws-on-your-table-in-sharpie......of course you could go the route of keeping permanent markers out of the hands of your 4 year old, but what fun would that be?

A beautiful, cold Sunday.....

New idea for a kid's party: make a compilation cd instead of a bag full of plastic and sugar.....Isaac and I went to his friend Levi's birthday party, and came home with an awesome mixed cd that starts off with his buddy doing a little intro at the beginning. It will, no doubt, get waaay more play than the usual little trinkets that the kids usually come home with. Of course, all the kids were whining a little at first about not getting the goodie bag (did we get them at every party when we were kids? I don't remember, but it seems like we didn't), but once we got into the car and the old school version of the Spider Man theme came on, all was forgotten.

Then I took a little cruise through Old Navy since I was making a return upstairs anyway....a couple of cute things--lots of cute rain slickers in nice spring colors. They aren't on sale yet ($32-$39), but still super cute if you're in the hunt for a new rain coat. And this super cute green dress with the rolled sleeves and my favorite for comfy dresses--POCKETS! Cute with boots now, flip flops or tennies later and it meets my criteria for a great dress--perfect for the park. Some of you don't have that issue....but those of you who do, will appreciate.
Also cool there right now are the knockoff Sigg bottles. $7.50. They are tall too, which is cool. They only have the screw tops and I tried to fit my Sigg spout on it, and it doesn't work, BUT, it's still great to have another water bottle in the stable that isn't plastic. The one I got has peace signs on it, but these are all cute as well.....and who can beat $7.50??

update on Converse at Target

So, if you go to target.com and search for Converse One Star, you will notice that they are having a women's clearance sale that is something like 14 pages long.......I notices some super cute vests (a shiny red one, Mad Dog!) and some great simple dresses that can be worn with tights and boots now and then flip flops or flats in the spring and summer....some of the dresses were under $10! crazy.....I know I'm a little on about the Converse thing, but they are on to something right now.....

ok, and shout out to Sheigh for the preview of the new Orla Kiely line for Target.....launching next week (first of Feb), super cheap and super cute. Does it remind you of your grandmother's kitchen?? I think mine had the canisters.....

And another shout out to Patty for the tip on the hanky panky's....on sale at Macy's right now for $10 ish.....(regularly around $20).....that's worth a trip over to Bev Center this afternoon......

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These bargains of which I speak.....

alrighty then.....
went to Target today.....I must say that the Converse One Star line at Target has been my new favorite for a little while now. I have a few items, and all of them I've been quite happy with: The white dress shirt and the identical one in Navy Blue, my denim vest, today I purchased some little One Star tennies for Isaac. I got the black (see photo) $17.99, but they had pink and madras and cammo and for men they had them in high top.....super cute.
Also picked up a bunch of these great t-shirts by Merona. $9.99. great mottled cotton. I love the blue and white stripey one because it feels very french sailor. Also had yellow and white stripe and a bunch of solids. Runs slightly big--and by that I mean, xs is roomier than you would think. First review by Patty elicited an 'I would pay much more for this!'.....so hurry over to target. Or check it out online:

http://www.target.com/Converse-One-Star/b/ref=nav_t_spc_1_61/190-2849559-1533014?ie=UTF8&node=393216011

And about my very slight comments on DC I will say this: It is really hard to sum the last 4 days up in any kind of meaningful way this soon. To say that I'm glad that I went is the understatement of the decade. To have shared that moment--those days with thousands of people who all came there for their own reasons was profound. Older black ladies in wheel chairs out there with young children.....we have taken the first steps at lifting our country and our communities back up. We have given ourselves and our children a gift like no other.

DC

I guess it's fitting to start with my recent trip to Washington DC. My brother Drew and I went out for the inauguration. Good time had by all. Better time had by some......and COLD as.....well, Ice Cream or something really freaking cold. It was 2 pairs of leggings under your jeans cold and handwarmers in your gloves cold.

tomorrow....bargains. I promise.....

Well, I finally went and did it......

I know I've been saying I'd start blogging for about forever, so here we go.....I'm not totally sure what's going in here yet, but I'm sure it will be a mixture of all the things in my life......Joel & Isaac and our adventures, the bargains I am constantly on the hunt for, working in our community to make it just that much better and possibly the occasional rant. Comments not only welcome, but needed.
peace, love and finally a president we can believe in.....
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