cooking for madam

This book makes me happy for so many reasons. 

#1. I did not know it existed!

#2 It's a Jackie book. (see obsession here)

#3 It's a cookbook.

#4 I found it at the library so it was free for now (but I will probably buy it on Amazon for .22 or .28 cents after I return it). 

The recipes are organized by months of the year, and many of the dishes have little backstories about how they were prepared, tips on preparation, and which Kennedy family member or friend requested it. Published in October of 1998, the book's foreword was written by John Kennedy Jr. which is kind of heartbreaking because of course he died less than a year later. 

mornings

I love learning the details of other people's routines. It's more interesting than going through their purse or even their medicine cabinet! My morning routine has become something about which I'm fairly fanatical. 

image via

Here's how it goes:

6:15ish: Sleep Cycle app alarm clock beeps. Do you guys know about this? It wakes you up when it detects you are already awake-ish (ie- you are moving) which avoids the dreaded crazy alarm going off in the middle of a dream.

6:30: Tracy Anderson workout; mat workout only. I've started Metamorphosis approximately 700 times in the last 3 years. Right now I'm on Level 3 again. It's like the movie Groundhog's Day. So far it's given me a little more energy in the afternoons which is wonderful. I do recognize that in order to see results I am going to need to start adding cardio and deleting "The Pimento Cheese with Soul." 

7:00: Read the headlines on NYTimes, WSJ, NPR, BBC, Faux News, Sun Sentinel and Huffington Post just to see what everyone's getting up to. 

7:10: Press "start" on coffee maker which is so loud that it wakes everyone else up. Also Clarisonic/ Cetaphil/ Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer/ mascara.

7:25: Turn on Pandora to either "Let it Go" radio (yes, this is a real thing) or Paul Simon + Paul Westerberg radio or "Rent" radio. I'm sorry guys, I am just trying to be real here.

7:26: Make breakfast which is an exercise is getting as many plates cups and utensils dirty as possible without making pancakes. 

    me: Ezekiel bread toasted with butter and raspberry jam, a hard boiled egg, OJ and coffee.

    daughter #1: oatmeal + OJ

    daughter #2: cereal + milk

    husband: typically does not eat breakfast, but sometimes has a Shakeology Shake which I'm sure is both nutritious and delicious but always seems to make a big mess.

Sometimes we all share a bowl of fruit if I'm trying to be really awesome. 

7:45-8 is where everything gets really crazy because both girls + husband are trying to get dressed, brush teeth and find matching socks. Everyone is screaming about not wanting to get their hair brushed or put their pants on. I usually use those this portion of the hour to realize that my keys are lost or remember that all the school uniforms are in the washing machine, and then the indoor cat runs outside. 

8: hopefully by now both kids are in the car and we are headed to school and husband is en route to work. I would estimate that 50% of the time everyone is happy and 50% of the time someone is mad or crying. Could be anyone! Then we listen to Kids Place Live. Kids Place Live mostly drives me bonkers, but I think Mindy from the morning show is a superstar, and she even makes this song kind of fun.

What is your morning routine like?

Friday this + that

image courtesy of Caitlin McGauley

Remember the scene from Mary Poppins when Mary, Jane, Michael and Bert all jump into Bert's sidewalk drawing? That's how I feel about the red room pictured above (by illustrator Caitlin McGauley...you can order some of her amazing work here). 

I'd love to sit on that lovely floral chair and:

Read the new Bridget Jones novel. (V. excited that Bridget is back, ignoring all lukewarm reviews).

Listen to this album on repeat. 

Eat these donuts (on repeat). 

Paint my nails this color.  

Earmark out some new recipes from this cookbook. 

Burn this candle by Aerin Lauder.

Here are  few other exciting things I've got my eye on:

The United States Post Office has cute holiday stamps this year. I have not been impressed with their recent-years holiday selection, but the poinsettias rock.

Have you seen this personality quiz that tells you what state you should live in? I got Oregon; a state that is geographically and temperamentally opposite from the state in which I actually live. 

:-/

I'm obsessed with these semi-DIY ornament kits from Posie. Seriously what if I did this every year & one day had an entire Christmas tree full of only handmade ornaments and hand-strung popcorn? 

So what if I'd have no family or friends left?

This movie is finally out iTunes. YES.

I will try anything Mark Bittman says is good. Even beets.

Happy Weekend!

vacation

We are on vacation for the next couple weeks, and I could not be happier about it. I've been working part-time (which has actually turned out to be wayyyyyy more than "part" time) since the beginning of the year, and the combination of being a stay at home mom while simultaneously working from home has gotten a little...intense.  It's definitely a situation I'm grateful for, but let's just say it's made me all the more grateful for a break. For the past few days I've been: making blueberry pancakes with lots of bacon for breakfast and grilling my favorite chicken apple cheeseburgers based loosely on Gwyneth's Japanese meatballs from It's All Good. (I added shredded apple, forgot to buy ginger and made them into burgers topped with provolone cheese and caramelized onions)

coloring rocks with sidewalk chalk so we can leave them behind Hansel and Gretel-style on some upcoming hiking adventures.

watching Mad Men (I just finished season one: really, Peggy Olson??)

exercising (for precisely 1 day)

napping

reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown and Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand

stopping for a love break on a walk

extra-long mountain naps

I'm too cute for this

playing "cafe" My daughters are also sharing a bedroom right now which is both scary and adorable. Right now Ellie (age 4) is singing Jesus Loves Me to SK (age 2). I had NO idea that there were so many verses to this song nor did I realize that Ellie knows them all. Or maybe she made them up. Either way, it's hard to be mad at these two little cuties who should have been asleep hours ago.