Sidewalk Chalk Paint...where have you been all my life?

I will happily admit I have parenting guilt issues.

For example, I barely watch TV in my own life, therefore I am zealous to the point of loony-toon sometimes about my daughter not watching TV.

Do I give in for movies when she's sick? Or an afternoon rainy day hour of Phineas and Ferb?

Yes, yes I do.

But every time I do it I send my husband the same text "Is it ok that I'm giving her an hour of TV?".

This is hilarious because my husband is not nearly as psycho about the TV time as I am, but bless his soul every time he sends me back a loving response that reminds me TV watching time in no way makes someone a bad mother. Which I know. I really, really do.

But I have a hard time not judging myself...everyone else I'm a really big, live and let live person, but I slam myself for silly things.

So now that confession time is out of the way, I needed an activity today to avoid the TV. A quick one. One that would entertain us for a solid hour preferably outside.

A google of sidewalk chalk paint lead me here, where I found the super easy recipe, 1 part cornstarch, 1 part water, and food coloring!

Rock on my friends, rock on!

It took some serious stirring to break up the lumps but we had a great activity in the afternoon and I avoided the inevitable and ridiculous guilt ridden text to my husband.

The colors dry very vibrant and pretty...probably even more so on a clean sidewalk!

Coming to Writing

This is a departure from my usual blogging style, but I believe that you will see more "life musings" from me as this blog goes on, as I deepen my private writing, and display a touch of it on here.

If you are a writer, an aspiring writer, a blogger who doesn't quite consider herself a writer or someone who has always thought "Wow I have a lot to say but don't know how to get it out" I highly recommend "Coming to Writing", an essay by Helene Cixous.

It is not a "how to" book, it does not tell you to set a timer for 15 minutes a day and write your little heart out.

It does nothing less than ignite the fire deep in your soul that yearns to produce something creative, to share with the world your light, and to embrace the glory of the words of others. Deeply emotional, poetically structured, and abounding in a call to action it will remind you why you write, how your writing is in essence a revealing of the core of your nature.

The essay is beautiful, boundless and without parallel.

When I first read it in 2002 I highlighted 12 pages. Pages. Rereading it today I do not feel at all that I overused my highlighter, in fact I'm wondering why I didn't just drag it across the entire piece of work.

I cannot do it justice so I leave you with my three favorite quotes and encourage you to find your fire, let it roam, and write. Even if you choose never to show your writing to anyone, at its soul and center writing is always intended for she who wields the pen.

"Writing begins, without you, without I, without law, without knowing, without light, without hope, without bonds, without anyone close to you, for as world history goes on, you are not in it..."

"[Woman] is defined by her connections, wife of, as she was daughter of, from hand to hand, from bed to niche, from niche to household, woman as the complement-of-a-name has much to do to cut free. They have taught you to be afraid of the abyss, of the infinite, which is nonetheless more familiar to you than it is to man. Don't go near the abyss! If she should discover its force! If she should, suddenly take pleasure in, profit from its immensity! If she should take the leap! And fall not like a stone, but like a bird."

"How what affects me comes into language comes out fully worded, I don't know. I "feel" it, but it is mystery itself, which language is unlikely to let through"

Track this down. Even if you are not a writer, it will awaken you, remind you of your own purpose here, and encourage you to embrace what you are capable of and strive to surpass it, not as a matter of social construct but because of the innate desire to better yourself.

Dangerously Delicious: Homemade Goldfish

Wow.

Truly, if I had known how awesome this recipe was going to come out I probably would never have made the homemade goldfish. Since any hopes I had of losing the 5 pounds I gained during wedding season just went out the window with these delightful little goodies!

I found the recipe here, and I'm already itching to try the other stuff she has posted, gloriously crunchy looking wheat thins, graham crackers, the list is simply endless of what looks amazing on that site. What a find!

I made them exactly as she does, only I used 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat so they are darker than standard Goldfish crackers, but they are still amazingly delicious. Also, mine are no where near as uniform and eye pleasing as hers, I think I will have to invest in a small cookie cutter instead of using the pizza cutter.

If you have the ingredients in your house (which I bet a lot of you do), make them tonight. If you don't, go to the grocery store and still make them tonight. AMAZING!

Oh, and I think that my 2-year old liked them. Which is why I made them in the first place, a nice preservative free snack where I could pronounce all the ingredients!

Easiest date night dinner EVER!

Lest everyone think that I spend every night making loads of homemade food, I present to you the easiest date night meal EVER!

First, purchase many a good cheese (I recommend Trader Joes for this, great selection, remarkably inexpensive), mixed olives, mussels and bread. That's right, I bought the bread. It's a date night, I felt like I deserved the special treat of not dealing with yeast.

Second, make hummus and marinated mushrooms (recipes to follow in a future post), and mussels. This was our first try at mussels at home and I let the husbando take the reigns so really, I did virtually nothing.

Third, pick up delicious new beers to complement your picnic spread.

Fourth, pop in X-Men First Class if you haven't seen it yet, you will thank me later! Though I'm sure that like me you will find the only flaw in this film to be the horrific butchering of Emma Frost's character by January Jones. Who is in fact simply a pretty face. Boo.

Make-up bag to clutch

I was super fortunate to be in a completely awesome wedding a few months ago!

The bride was totally sane (yay!) and the group of girls that made up the wedding party were close friends and therefore an amazing time was had by all.

The bride was also extremely thoughtful and generous in thanking us for being in her wedding and got us adorable Coach make-up bags that are absolutely awesome!

However, since I am notorious for beating the be-jebus out of a make-up bag I was not super enthused about shoving my mascara and half open green eyeshadow in this way too pretty to be abused bag.

Therefore I made it a clutch in 2 steps, with 1 foot of chain that cost me $0.24 from Lowes, and a ribbon I had leftover from a gift I received.

I present the DIY:

You need, 1 foot of chain, about 20 inches of ribbon, and four jewelry jump rings.

Use two jump rings to attach each end of the chain to the zipper, creating a loop. Then thread the ribbon through the chain and tie a bow.

Done.

Unfortunately no one was home to take a pic of me with the bag, so here is the self-portrait. I'm sure that I will post an outfit with this clutched in my hand very soon!

Jalapeno and Honey. Filed under "Who Knew?"

Turns out that jalapeno and honey is freaking delicious.

Officially on my list of "Who Knew?"

I was inspired by an appetizer at a friend's house the other day, a delicious combination of honey, jalapeno and cream cheese on Ritz crackers (perhaps I should get that recipe to share on here as well!).

So tonight I made this, another dish full of fall colors:

To make, preheat your oven to 400 degrees, peel and cut two sweet potatoes, toss with olive oil and cinnamon and bake for 18 minutes.

While they are baking heat olive oil in a skillet and add a package of frozen corn, when heated through add 1/2 a large onion and two cloves of garlic, minced.

Sautee for about 5 minutes, then add a can of black beans, half a can of sliced jalapenos (chopped), 1/4 cup of honey, 1 1/2 teaspoons of nutmeg and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin.

When the sweet potatoes are done add them to the skillet and gently stir (don't crush the sweet potatoes).

Serve with flour tortillas for wrapping (mine are homemade from this recipe, with no alterations because it is absolutely phenomenal, I use the vegetable oil), and a mix of shredded cheddar and feta cheese.

I am a mostly non-meat eater so I'm always trying to come up with delicious meat free meals that pass the test with the husbando. This was a total hit!

Enjoy!

Rainy Day Activity!

2 year old stuck in the house all day.

One would think that the toddler would crack first, but truly, it's usually the parent who is in the house with the toddler that starts to feel those walls closing in.

While sometimes this inspires nothing but an urge to turn on a movie, it does occasionally spark a creative project just before turning to madness.

I give you, the create-a-village project:

It is ideal for learning shapes and colors, and super easy.

I just cut a few triangles, squares, and vaguely "tree" shaped pieces out of construction paper and after we constructed our village I glued them together.

She liked it so much that I'm thinking I will do a version made out of felt (since the construction paper is easily destroyed by a toddler), with velcro on the back for a more permanent "shapes and colors" project.