This is me kicking Air Tran in it's virtual balls

So last night we were schedule to fly out of Milwaukee to Los Angeles. Non-stop. Get a rental car and head straight to Newport for our week of fun in the sun. We get to the airport and find out our flight has been delayed for an hour, waiting for "an incoming delayed flight with about 30 passengers" on our flight. Fine. Well, the hour is up and then we see 2 cops show up, followed by an announcement that our flight has been canceled. Why has the flight been canceled? Our pilot called in "sick". Too much Summerfest, perhaps??

They tell us they have put us on a flight leaving Saturday at 4pm going to Atlanta, with a 3 hour layover, then heading to LA getting in at midnight. Um....no.

So I wait in a line to see if I can get on a different flight. An hour and a half later we have seats on 7:20 am flight to Phoenix, with a 5 hour layover there, then getting into LA at 3. Better than option one, but still super sucky. At least we have 2 free roundtrip tickets out of the deal. And at least we got to sleep in our own beds last night. Because of Summerfest, all the hotels were booked and those from out of town were probably stuck sleeping in the airport.

So here we are in Phoenix, just chillin' like villains. All is not lost however, as Derrick's sister and her family live close and are coming to hang out with us for a bit.

There's something about bad things happening that brings people together. Standing in line last night everyone became friends, sharing stories about where we were going and generally complaining together about how Air Tran blows. One girl was going to the BET awards on Sunday. One guy works at the Capitol Records building in the recording studio and was telling us about working with John Mayer and U2.

Speaking of bad things, I'm so super sad about Michael Jackson. He was one of my favorite all time artists. And now I'm even more sad that I never learned the Thriller dance before he died, and I'm even more sad that I never got to see him live in concert. I don't care what anyone says about him and what he supposedly did to chidren. All I know is his music rocked and his moves were smooth like buttah. RIP little buddy.

Oh, and Air Tran? You can suck it.

Hair BAND

Anyone who knows me know that I love music. Sure, I'm totally out of the cool-music-loop these days (hopefully Pandora will help me get back on track) but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm always listening to something, whether at home or in the car. And I shamelessly love marching bands, but we all knew that.

I thought my obsession was just limited to myself. And then I saw this in my bathroom this morning, just sitting there.

Who knew my hair accessories felt as strongly as I do?

Lost

No, I'm not talking about the TV show, which I've never seen.

I'm talking about how I feel right now. Don't worry, this isn't a crazy philosophical post. Why am I lost??

My genius, detail-oriented husband left for New York City this morning and took my phone. Not his phone. MY PHONE.

Great. Now I get to hear the BYU fight song each and every time it rings. Now I have to futz through his presets to send a text, calculate something, set an alarm.

So annoyed.

So, if you need to reach me between now and Thursday night, call his phone. It's practically the same number. Same area code, same prefix, but add 478 to the last four digits of MINE to get his.

Aren't I so clever to deter the stalkers??

Buyer Beware

If you've seen these in your grocer's freezer and thought, "Hey! Now I can enjoy Ice Cream of the Future in the comfort of my own home, instead of at a ball game, or fair, or mall," please, let me assure you that you can NOT. Even if you have a Buy One Get One Free coupon, you should NOT buy these. Because you will be super excited to eat them, thinking that now you can get knock off Dippin' Dots for a mere buck. And then you will take a bite, and you will be SORELY disappointed, and you won't take more than one bite, because they taste truly awful, and very chemically, and they leave an awful taste in your mouth, and you won't even consider wasting any precious calories on these little spheres of disgustingness.

Sometimes you just can't make a good copycat. This is one of those times. Save the ice cream pellets for the games, fairs, and malls. It's worth the extra money, trust me.

Just call me Nancy

Does anyone remember the "Sewing with Nancy" TV show? It was mostly on public access types of channels. And she could only talk out of one side of her mouth. Kind of creepy. But dang could that lady sew.

My cousin Jessica made this awesome diaper bag that she got from this tutorial, and I immediately wanted one just like it. So I talked Linda into making one with me. We started Wednesday, and I finished yesterday. Half the time was spent cutting out the stupid pieces of fabric and ironing on the interfacing.

I was nervous to start, seeing as how I've never sewn in a zipper, made gusseted mitered corners, uses snaps, or sewn in elastic, but I figured I'd never learn if I didn't just do it. And do it I did.

I love how it came out. This is going to sound SUPER nerdy, but as I was sewing the last few stitches, my heart started racing and I was getting all excited that I was almost finished. It was like a total high to finish something. I feel way more confident in my sewing skills now. Heck, I'm actually using the bag, that's how awesome it is. It's not an embarrassing piece of crap like some of the things I've tried making in the past.

I realize this is a totally lame post, but I was so excited to finish it. I felt like such a badass when I was done.

Flap with magnetic snaps

Inside pockets

Back zippered pocket

Yep, I'm a sewing rockstar.

Perfectly prepared pizzas are pleasing to the palate

Growing up, I don't really remember having a fondness for pizza. Sure, we'd get a pizza here and there and I would eat it, but I never really formed a relationship with it until I moved to Milwaukee. With Chicago so close with its deep dish deliciousness, full of carbs and cheese (how can you go wrong with that combo??) I've come to appreciate a good pizza. It's really all about the crust.

I have long been trying to perfect the homemade pizza, with little to no success. My crusts, and I've tried various recipes, all come out soggy. Pre-baked and not. I had gotten quite bitter over the whole idea of making pizza at home, and had almost resigned to living a life of Papa John's delivery (not that that's a bad thing in the least!)

However, last month Whitney and Joel made us pizza on the barbecue. I will forever remember that day, because it changed my life.

The crust was delicious. It was crispy on the outside and warm and chewy on the inside. The toppings were perfectly melted and had a great smoky flavor. I was hooked. I had always wanted to try making a pizza on the grill, but it seemed a little tricky. I'll admit, I was intimidated.

Still, I was assured making it myself at home would not produce as great results as we had at the O'Neills.

I was dead wrong. This crust is amazing. I've even made it in the oven and the dough holds up great. Not sure what it is about this dough, but I will probably never make another recipe for the rest of my life. It's that good. Plus, it's super easy!

In one of my finer moments, I threw together a pepperoni pizza, and one made completely of leftovers. Spinach from the farmer's market, bacon from a spinach salad, chicken from leftovers, and alfredo sauce from leftovers. It was deeeelicious.

Try it for yourself and see!

Pizza Crust

1 envelope or 2.5 tsp dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 1/4 c warm water

3 1/2 c unbleached white flour- more if necessary

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/4 c EVOO

Combine yeast, sugar, and water in the bowl of a mixer and stir to mix. After 5-10 minutes the mixture should look foamy. Add 2 T of oil and the salt and flour. Mix at a low speed to form a smooth, soft dough. It should be moist but not sticky. If necessary add more flour a spoonful at a time, running the machine between additions until the dough is the proper texture. The wetter the dough, the lighter and crispier the pizza.

Turn the dough to a working surface and knead it by hand for a few minutes. Lightly coat a bowl with the remaining oil and place the dough in the bowl turning it to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, 1-1.5 hours.

Then you place it on a cookie sheet coated with oil and press out to a crust.

Cook on the grill on high heat for about 5 minutes, then flip and move to a cooler area. Top with your toppings and cook until your cheese melts and the crust is cooked on the bottom, about 3-5 minutes.

The thing to remember is to put toppings on that need to cook longer first, like cheese.

Really, I don't know how I can ever repay the O'Neills.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Perhaps you remember me telling you about my wee little garden? Well, a few weeks ago it produced one lonely strawberry, fit to eat.


And eat it we did. And it was beautiful. And it was delicious.

And I better get more than one lone berry out of this garden, or else that was a $50 strawberry.

Scrap it up!

Thanks to my good friends Maria and Alexis I've been motivated to start digital scrapbooking. Again. For some reason I've just been too overwhelmed to start. So many flowers, ribbons, bows, papers! I didn't even know where to start! But both of these ladies are excellent are explaining things to me, and here I have proof that I can do it! My first (again?) page!

Hopefully I can stay on top of this and scrap as she grows, and not scramble to finish her first 20-some-odd years as a wedding gift.

Mountains of Mascots

For whatever reason, over the years I have accumulated quite the collection of photos with mascots. Now it's become somewhat of an obsession of mine. I went through all of my photos (digital, at least) and pulled all the mascot ones for your enjoyment.

I realize this is not a mascot, but a supersized backpack. Things that are giant are somehow equally as intriguing to me.

No, your eyes do not deceive you, that is me dressed as an apple with Frankie Furter, the Hot Dog. One day I'll run in the Sausage Race, rest assured.

Here I am with my friend, Mr. Pig. Where's Tad Hamilton?

I realize this is sort of cheating. Still, a huge ticket! This was at Wrigley Field.

At the Hershey store in downtown Chicago. If I were made of chocolate and peanut butter, I'd be smiling that big all the time, too.

Mascot of the best airline ever, the chocolate chip cookie. Seriously, those in-flight cookies rival Tollhouse's. Taken at the WI State Fair.

I think this is a Salty Sea Dog, on Navy Pier in Chicago.

With Paws, the Detroit Tigers' mascot- Comerica Park at the 2006 World Series.

Tony the Tiger at the Kellog's Museum in Battle Creek, MI. He's grrrrrrreat! Although not sure what he's looking at.

Ok, not technically a mascot. He was outside the Mirage theater after we saw LOVE. Which I LOVED.

With Miss Green M&M at the M&M store in Las Vegas. One of the best trips ever, thanks to Sara joining me while Derrick worked.

The Pea Pod guy. I think he delivers groceries?? This was when I auditioned for Wheel of Fortune at Steinhafels.

The Jelly Belly Man! Love those little beans! Found him in Old Town Sacramento.

Hate Spam, love this guy. WI State Fair again. Always a great place for mascot photo-ops.

See, told you I liked him.

What's in the middle? The White Stuff.

Hey! Kool-Aid! A very sad, deflated looking Kool-Aid Man.

Quite possibly the crown jewel of mascot photos, Cosmo Cougar. Need I say more?

And taken just last week in Madison, Mr. State Street Brat, whoever the heck he is. But more importantly, it's Summer's first mascot photo. But certainly not her last!

I'll take a pound of beef bung, please

Linda and Jessica and I made the Thai Peanut Noodle dish from Our Best Bites the other day and it was fabulous. We used fettuccine instead of authentic udon noodles, but still tasty. I'm making it tonight for dinner and decided to track down some udon noodles and make it for reals. So I headed to an Asian market that Linda recommended, Viet Hoa. (I have checked out a couple different Asian markets around her with success. I like to think I'm a pretty well rounded cook.) This place had everything you could think of for an Asian dinner. At least I'm guessing they did...I couldn't read most of it. Although I did find beef bung, whatever the heck that is. I hope that I never have to eat anything with the word "bung" ever in my life. I also found some imitation shark fin (although in my opinion artificial just doesn't taste as good as authentic), fish balls (who knew they had any??), and pork uteri (yes, uteri, as in plural of uterus). All fine ingredients to make a mighty tasty dish. Somewhere. Just never in my kitchen.

When I buy stuff from places like this, I have to tell myself not to think about where it came from, because I'm sure wherever it's packaged does not have as strict regulations as the US does. I figure there are thousands of Asians in the metro Milwaukee area, and they are all walking around perfectly fine after eating that food.

Or are they....

Oh...and just FYI...Udon noodles are in the fridge next to the meat counter. NOT in the dried noodle section, where I spent about 15 minutes looking. And the Mexicans unpacking boxes there cannot help you find anything. And neither can the non-English speaking Asians meandering around.

5 months!

Another month down! Each month keeps getting more and more fun. Probably because everyone's getting more and more sleep!

This is the happy girl we get to hang out with everyday:


We're always trying to get her to smile and laugh, and she usually indulges us. And then sometimes she looks at us like we're crazy.

Summer still loves bath time, and I love giving her crazy hairdos.

My attempts at tummy time have eventually resulted in her just plain giving up.

She tries to put everything in her mouth, giving no regard to size or feasibility.


She consistently sleeps through the night from about 6:30pm-5am, which makes mama so happy. And well rested. We haven't started solids yet...no need to rush the stinky poops! I'm going back to work for the first time on Saturday for 4 hours, so we'll see how she does with Dad. Maybe she'll take a bottle again? We'll see!

No rolling yet, but she's getting close. She loves to grab her feet now, and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they make it into her mouth. Yummy. She also loves to kick her feet at the ball on her play mat, and sometimes I find that she's turned herself 90 degrees on the mat. What a wiggler!

She chatters all the time, especially in her crib and in the car. I love to listen to her raspy little voice!

We sure do love this little bug!