Post Thanksgiving

Wanted to post a few quick pictures of the tables. The wild grass proved to shed way too much to put near food. So maybe better luck next year. 

Part of my creative process is accepting when there is an epic fail and keep on moving. :) 

Things turned out o.k. even without the wild grass and feathers. Surprisingly the usual suspects didn't get drunk and my dish was the only thing there without butter.

BTW I sewed a pillowcase with an actual sewing machine yesterday. It's been since I was about 9 that I have used one because I was so frustrated by the experience. I do think it may be a little easier now. No promises but this could be something...the reveal of that stuff will be with the bedroom reveal. Now I may be able to sew the drapes rather than iron the hem.

Stolen Meatballs

Mountain Man has been working 3 weekends in a row so I have not been very adventurous lately. Thanksgiving we go to a pot luck with 25-35 people. Alas, someone signed up for my meatball appetiser. I thought Swedish meatballs were my thing.  
I have brought them for a few years now.
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/78/Grape_Jelly_Meatballs44065.shtml
So I am left flailing a bit to come up with a substitute. 
Friday night I did a test run on Warm Fennel and Parmesan Dip by good old Martha. Because she's usually a bit complicated I did a dry run and ended up eating 80% myself which went LOVELY with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. I had only used one fennel not the three as it calls for. It was pretty good so I shall bring it to the feast.
http://www.marthastewart.com/346112/warm-fennel-and-parmesan-dip   

On Thanksgiving eve we get together for prep time and festivities. I set the tables & decorate them. This year I will try and be a little more natural. I work with the props I am supplied and bring a few of my own. Here is a hint of what I'm thinking this year.

 If I had a staff I'd have them comb the fields for more cat tails and pretty grass.

More pictures to come after the decor is finished but in the mean time. Enjoy yourselves this Thanksgiving. Cheers!

Big Dreams Do Come In Small Packages

It's the story of when desire meets instinct and passion. And how when this happens doubt and fear take a back seat because all you can smell is victory. SWEET VICTORY! 
I love when that happens. I admire when that happens because I know someone is following their dream. Doing that takes courage. Down fear down!

Smokey And The Bandit

The planets aligned Sunday morning and I caught a wonderful CBS Sunday Morning interview. Something about that show gives me moments of sheer bliss. Has since I was little.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cN-SqTvGxM

I secretly want to be a guest one day. A low grade dream but fear BEWARE.      

Letting Go Of Cool

I have long since given up on the hunt of good independent films and reading all about them. I no longer thrill on finding secret foodie spots in D.C. My trendy clothes shopping is on the back burner. My dance moves are stuck in the 90's.

In spite of these tragedies this has also given me new perspective. It gives me the chance to see myself without all of the frills and love me undone. And in turn I look at others with a more gentle gaze. The way that I in my current state would like to be seen.

I play a game that I'm looking for others who can see in this way. When we meet we will know telepathically. No need for words just a cool mental handshake.

Photo from William Sun

After The Storm & The Tempest In A Teapot

As Sandy was blowing closer to the Mid-Atlantic this weekend there was change brewing throughout our house. 

I'm going to step up now and apologize; to all the mothers out there I snuffed my nose at and thought, "NOT ME!" or "WHAT HAPPENED?" I'm sorry, OK?!! It happened to me and I get it now. Unless you have a personal trainer, the will of steel or some non-human genes your body enlarges & changes from pregnancy. Then you have no time for yourself or sleep/energy to do much about it. My days of deliberate exercise have come to a complete halt.

There were warning signs. I knew my wardrobe & body were in jeopardy when I had to purchase clogs. My feet were so swollen during my first pregnancy that none of my cute shoes fit. 

Finally after two years of stillness I went through my forgotten fashionista wardrobe with a gale-like force. It had been sitting untouched and I basically got rid of it all.  As I said good-bye to my old smaller sized stuff I believed we would meet again in a more updated version so I was o.k. This is just a passing storm that too will blow over. Besides, in it's wake it has left something breathtakingly beautiful.

Milestones Blah!

I am apparently a delayed adult according to the charts.

In the last 20 months the word milestones has been rearing itself. I suppose I understand the need for them but being from the Midwest it feels like a lot of East Coast pressure.
I do not enjoy the notion that my child needs to pick up x amount of blocks by x age in order to get into Harvard. And anyway I commend people who listen to their own drummer. Milestones feel like using the same measuring stick for things that are too different.

I suppose getting a full time job, married, kids, retiring with money are typical adult milestones. Aren't those goals too?

Possible considerations for new adult milestones; When...

• You find your first therapist (in spite of insurance obstacles)
• You don't get divorced - is that more of a goal?
• You are addiction & addict free
• You accept and love yourself
• You realize you can't control others

• You figure out love is never lost because you created it in the first place
• You can lose 20 lbs in a week (post baby)

Most of those are a lot more difficult than setting up a 401k plan and are music to my ears.

Going Interior To Decorate

Yep Baby, it's getting cold outside. Which is a fine time to pull out the blankets and buy a new rug for the chilly cement floor. I am finally getting to decorate the new (transitional) master bedroom. Mountain Man is a carpenter/contractor so we have been converting garage space into living space. For a WHILE now. All of the logistics of heat, electricity, drywall, doors and that boring stuff has been put in place. I...we are now picking the decor. I have looked at enough magazines, blogs, Pinterest boards, TV & websites to have a degree in decorating.

Garage in early stages. We added that wall on the right.

We are (working on) not buying a lot of new stuff and trying to use things in a storage unit of furniture or build it. The coolest thing in the room aside from the view of the woods and sunrise are the beams made from re-purposed pallet wood.

There are 3 of these pallet beams in the room.

We looked and looked at barn doors but the hardware just made them crazy expensive since we wanted two sets. So he made those too from plain Home Depot doors and MDF. He did one wall in wood for a custom look.

There are 2 barn door sets. They go on the new wood wall.

To see my potential finishing touches you can check out my Pinterest Master and Master Final boards. http://pinterest.com/bellebyrd/master-final/   Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll reveal how things evolved.

Mostly finished...

Halloween, I've Got This!

Halloween has stumped me for as long as I can remember. I feel a crazy pressure to come up with something cool or original and fail miserably. Of course never wanting to just buy a darn ready-made costume I try to piece something together from the thrift store or closet. I have acquired some fun wigs at least. And I'll be darned, I'm not copping out to be something "sexy" for Halloween, that's not for me.

Some past "costumes" I created to go out in were a waitress, Axl Rose, an evil doctor, a model w/ bad teeth, someone in a dress trying to look dead and many more lame forgettable characters.


One year I wore a flannel shirt & headband like Axl.

Last year was my daughter's first Halloween and her dad got her a skeleton onesie. So I thought I would do an elaborate Day Of The Dead face to go with it. Major Fail. The lameness of my DOTD attempt sent me into a hysterical laughing fit it was so far from cute. We went to my dad's busy neighborhood to trick-or-treat because we live in the woods and she rubbed it all off anyway by the time we got there.

Make-up reapplication was simplified.

This year we have a son and a daughter! Pinterest and Google give me support & images for ideas. Sam will be a skeleton (last year's outfit hey, where is it?) or a bee (gifted) and Stella will be a mermaid (thrift store) or superhero (closet). We've planned earlier. Rich already got makeup and props. What could go wrong? If we can get this down one day I may even dress up again & have decorations beyond pumpkins.


Photo taken from Pinterest.

Ghosts of Charlottesville

I took a day trip to Charlottesville, Virgina on a lovely day this fall. It was a girl trip to visit Monticello. I did no reading to brush up on my history. Did little research on the city. I just Google mapped it. Bought tickets. And off we went. The day was to unfold loosely (sans babies).

The town has an old air with a renewed young vibe. The architecture has an industrial, green, minimalist look scattered about town on many buildings. We ate lunch on Main Street at Orzo Kitchen & Wine Bar near a cute market. http://www.orzokitchen.com/  When in doubt go to Main Street in any new town!

Monticello 

Then we took the tour of Monticello. In the foyer there were maps and trophy heads. I imagined it perfect for a Vogue shoot. Wigs and bright silk poofed dresses would look gorgeous there. Throughout the house I was surprised at many facets that are popular decorating features today. Even the exterior style of the home is still seen all over Virginia.

So we continued with another tour afterward about the slaves of Monticello. This was done outside along the road where some slave quarters would have lined up leading to the main house. They no longer existed because they were wood but stone markers represented the aprox. 12'x14' size. Archaeologists were there digging to find the original road. Below would have been a view from a slave's quarters. 

Looking South from Monticello

We set out on our own to see the wings of the home where there was ice storage, cooks quarters and wine/beer rooms. But for me the insight to the cruelty and inhumanity of our nation overshadowed whatever accomplishments may have resulted at this residence.

Who put those stones in Monticello?

Dinner happened when we stumbled upon the downtown mall http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=177 . For a Thursday night in a small city the place was bustling. There were lots of shops and restaurants with outdoor seating. The mall was like a carnival with outdoor entertainment in the form of a traveling theater troupe, a woman walking on five foot stilts, drag queens, and such diversity everywhere. It was a real dream for people watching. We had a great dinner outside at The Blue Light Grill http://www.bluelightgrill.com/ .  Later, with a light buzz, we forged north into the cool night trying to shake the ghosts of Charlottesville.

Girl Band

  Did I mention I'm in a girl band? Or was. We broke up.Well it's true. We were the Circ Girlz. Three members of diverse chicks bonded by books to start. Then music, dealing with the public,TV, thrifting, food, road trips, and alcohol bonded us further. Through the years we debated who would be lead singer and what instruments we could fake play. The point is we wanted to be rock stars. Or maybe just do what we did together -play- MORE often. Like as in all of the time.
  We're actually similar to a small book club or talk show. We often thought we could be rented for party entertainment or be really interesting friends to famous people. Tracy and Mimi are very well read and intelligent. I am the person of action. Tracy wanted to have a cooking show or talk show and hang out with Oprah. Mimi wanted to be an astronaut wife or girlfriend to several skinny musicians. I wanted a shorter commute and to get rid of my acne. I also wished to live in a music video with Sting or Eddie Vedder. 

Taken on Circ Girlz beach trip.

  All 3 of us are comedians and artists. Something maybe only our band members recognize in one another. We actually were each others biggest fans. Sounds like a support group now. Oh yes, we had therapist too.
  For gosh, maybe 10 years we took an annual voyage to the beach in the dead of winter. The routine was to thrift shop til we drop, watch CMTV, DVDs, eat brunch & boardwalk food, drink mimosas and do facials and pedicures. Crammed into 3 days. Recently 2 of us started a Pintrest group.  http://pinterest.com/bellebyrd/circ-girlz/
And that's where we get to hang out until we reunite for another excursion.

  Contact me if you want to rent the Circ Girlz for a party. We may 'get back together' for the right price.