The Pop Five

May 31, 2013

I cannot believe Memorial Day was this week. I’m a firm believer in the summer Friday (which I actually take year round). Come Friday around 2 p.m. I find myself stepping away from the computer and starting my weekend. My sister and I often joke that if we were to ever start a company together we’d for sure instate bikini Friday. Meaning, grab your laptop, cocktail and head to the pool! Here’s to the start of summer!

I never read Jeannette Wall’s memoir, The Glass Castle, and honestly I’m not sure I could stomach it. This piece, Mommy Nearest, about Walls’s mother living in a cottage on her farm was a very tough article to read, but so beautifully written. It’s one of those pieces that I felt so uncomfortable and sad the whole time I was reading it, but had to get to the end.

Image: Courtesy of Ilona Szwarc for The New York Times

There’s always money in the banana stand! On Sunday, Arrested Development became available for streaming on Netflix and it’s like the return of an old friend you haven’t seen in a while, but feel as if no time has passed. We’re on episode six and hoping Franklin and Annyong show up soon!

Image: Courtesy of Marion Curtis/Startraksphoto.com

This is one of my favorite photos of my parents. Every Memorial Day, I think of my father’s 21-year career as a journalist in the Army and wish he were still around to tell me about it all.

I’m convinced Margaret is going to wind up sounding like Demi Moore once she starts talking. These days she’s certainly finding her voice. And by voice I mean something that sounds like a feral catfight with screeching and squawking at the top of her lungs. I’ve taken to calling her the little lynx because she sounds like a wild animal. So sad this one born recently at the Nashville Zoo passed away this week from pneumonia.

Image: Courtesy of Amiee Stubbs/HotSpot /Landov

Nathan Fielder’s last text prank cracked me up and this one might top it.

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Shrimp Risotto

May 28, 2013

While visiting my older sister Susan’s house years ago, she made Dan and I this shrimp risotto that screamed springtime. It was fresh and lovely, using mint and lemon, and makes me think of her each time I make it (which is often when the weather is warm).

I play around with the grain on this one, sometimes using bulgur, as the recipe suggests, other times using quinoa or Arborio. I think I can sneak it onto our plates at least one more time before the season shifts into summer.

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The Pop Five

May 24, 2013

This was a tough news week. I’m so sad for Oklahomans. The story of the path of devastation hit very close to home. My parents met and married in OKC and we have family there. I hope the town of Moore and the surrounding areas can begin the long process of healing and starting over. Here’s to a weekend of remembering to hold your loved ones tight and taking a moment to appreciate just how fleeting and precious life actually is.

They don’t make ‘em like George Plimpton anymore! This looks so good.

I barely passed Economics 101 in college. My professor stumped me on day one with his explainer of the theory that “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” So, this piece about black market drug trade is both fascinating and baffling to me.

Image: Courtesy of David McNew/Getty Images

Isn’t this photo series on abandoned farmhouses stunning?

Image: © Niki Feijen

I can get behind the Donald Miller Storyline.

Image: Courtesy of Laura Dart

I’ve recently added salads into our weeknight meal repertoire. I’m not talking about the iceberg and mushy tomato piles of water I was accustomed to in the Midwest, but hearty greens that actually fill you up. I made this on Monday night. So good!

Image: Courtesy of Con Poulous

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The Wolf Pack

May 21, 2013

For the almost 12 years we’ve been together, Dan and my relationship with travel has changed quite a bit. But nothing so in your face as the current metamorphosis our family has undergone with we to three. When Dan and I were dating and newly married, we had a bit of disposable income and traveled whenever the whim suited. It was a time in our lives we had friends sprinkled throughout the country, we’d visit when the urge or reason struck us. It was that stage in our life we refer to as the wedding years, with at least two a year for a pretty good stretch, so a lot of our travel was to fun cities to shake it like a Polaroid picture.

Nothing could’ve prepared me for traveling with a small child. Not even helping my older sister, Susan, with her daughter on several business trips when she was still nursing some years ago. Let me tell you, there’s a very big difference with that second set of hands within the tight quarters of an airplane. Plus, it helps so very much when you know the person seated next to you when you’re trying to feed your baby. It’s about as up close and personal as you can get and getting a wee one fed trumps modesty.

Back in March, when I visited my mother, I was that person on a two-hour flight with the baby that screamed her head off the entire time, only to pass out from shear exhaustion moments before landing. It reminds me of the hilarious Bill Cosby little Jeffrey bit. My usually happy, content, grinning baby was swapped out for an absolute maniac that I couldn’t calm down. It got me thinking about things I wish I would’ve known. With that in mind, here are a few tips that can make traveling solo bearable.

1. Plan on traveling with some sort of carrier system. Ergo’s seem to be the trendy one of the moment, I’m doing just dandy with my older sister’s hand-me-down Björn. The more hands-free you can be, the better.

2. I cannot emphasize this enough – remember to pack extra clothes (everything from a onesie to a romper, sweater, hat and socks) in your diaper or carryon bag. Your child will need it when they (as if on cue) explode in the aforementioned carrier minutes before boarding your flight. Bonus points if you remember to pack a plastic resealable bag to put soiled clothes.

3. Before dressing (and redressing) your child, be sure to dress yourself accordingly (layers!). I made the mistake of wearing a very cute cream turtleneck sweater over a white tank top on a flight and proceeded to sweat buckets from shear exhaustion and couldn’t take my sweater off because I’d look like I was competing in a wet t-shirt contest.

4. Roll with it. Yes, their ears will hurt. Yes, they will most likely cry. Honestly do whatever you can to minimize their pain and just hunker down. Have multiple pacifiers (or whatever you use to soothe) at the ready. And remember make nice with the flight attendant because you’re going to need him/her to disinfect several of those suckers in boiling water after your kid throws them on the floor in protest.

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The Pop Five

May 17, 2013

It’s been week of change at our house. Margaret recently started on solids, so I’ve been experimenting with making baby food, which has been fun, but a little intimidating. I’m trying to just jump right in with it all, since this phase of Margaret’s development was one of the ones I was looking forward to the most. As the mother of a daughter, I truly feel that if I do nothing else for her, if I can give her a foundation for a healthy relationship with wonderful, well-balanced, nutritious foods, I’ll have done a decent job.

Here’s to a weekend of good eating, no matter your age.

I cannot wait to see this documentary.

For creatives (like myself) that set their own schedule, this Fast Company article is very interesting.

Image: Fickr user Rodrigo Soldon via Fast Company

Speaking of creative-types, The New Yorker recently published this incredible piece on parenting.

Image: Courtesy of The New Yorker

How cool is this couch?

Image: Courtesy of ZO_loft

This Washington Post article asks the question, Are foodies quietly killing rock-and-roll? Super interesting and the above photo I took of Crif Dogs hotdogs at Bonnaroo further proves the point.

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