2/5, Holiday Edition

Remember that one time when I confessed that Jack Black and Jason Segel represent 2 of my 5 celebrity "gimmes"?  Did you also know that they made a cartoon of themselves singing one of my favorite Christmas carols, the David Bowie/Bing Crosby version of "Little Drummer Boy"?

Well, they did.



Merry Christmas to me!

Christmas Eve Eve Makes Me Feel Fine

Livy is at Oma and Opa's having the time of her life (Did you know that she sings Opa's name when we practice singing together?  That little girl has a serious case of Opa-love.), I've taken a 2 hour nap and wrapped the final pile of presents, SLB is on his way home from work to take me out to a new gastropub in the neighborhood, and Amelie is going to be on TV in about 5 minutes.  Life is good, people.

So, until the holidays are over and we have some time to breathe, let this suffice as a Merry Christmas to you, dear readers.  You are the reason for the season!  Well, you and these people:

All tuckered out from an exciting holiday show (Yes, those ARE puffed sleeves.  You only get one chance to be a little girl in a Christmas dress.  Go big or go home.)

Singing to SLB's fine accompaniment

My peeps.

And to all a good night!

In No Way Safe for Work, So Don't Be Stupid

I had forgotten how much pure, sweet pleasure this brings me.  Aaaaaahhhhh...



And this ends my recent spate of NWA references.  I promise to talk like the college-educated, privileged people that Ice Cube and I are.  And, Mr. Cube, to answer your question:  Yes, we are there yet.

Promises

Olivia, that loving little cherub, has a great new trick.  Whenever we're out in a crowd, usually when shopping, she likes to reach out toward people, grin, and say "HI!" in her cutest voice.  Absentmindedly, I'd been saying "Are you making buddies?  Is that your buddy?" whenever she'd do that.  So now she skips me as the middle man and just shouts "HI, BUDDIES!" at anyone she thinks will say "hi" back.  And that's where things get weird, because about half the time the person she's just greeted won't say hi back.  I've seen people stiffen and avert their eyes as if she'd just asked them for change.  It's cold, it's weird, and it's far more socially awkward than saying hello to a cheerful little girl.

How dead inside do you have to be to give this smile a cold shoulder?

So, I hereby promise to greet in kind any child who says hi to me.  I'm happy to teach kids by example that if they go out of their way to be friendly that their effort will be reciprocated.  Also, I promise to buy lemonade from any sidewalk lemonade stand.  I do not promise to drink it, but I promise to make my quarters jingle in the piggy banks of young entrepreneurs.  Yeah, it's nice to be nice, and it's even nicer to teach kids to be nice through our niceness.  God bless us everyone.

Breathing Easier

I just hauled myself off of my sickbed (sickcouch, really), took a shower, put on deodorant, and dressed myself in nonpajama clothing.

Celebrate with me, won't you?

Eat This: Sweet Potato and Pepper Soup

"Eat me!," says the soup.  You'd do well to listen to it.

I've made this recipe so often over the years that SLB and I now just call it The Soup.  In an attempt to scare off this cold I made an extra potent batch today in the hopes that the Vitamin C from the peppers, Vitamin A from the sweet potatoes, and heat from the chipotles would nuke the virus out of my system.  Whether or not it has done so remains to be seen, but after a hot bowl of this soup I do feel at least 15% more human.  So, if you've got a bad case of boogers and/or cooties, I recommend that you gather these ingredients and make a pot of this soup for yourself.

What you need:
*2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into about 1 inch dice (You're going to blend this soup later, so chopping doesn't need to be precise)
*1 yellow onion, chopped
*2 bell peppers (I like red and/or yellow for color contrast), seeded and chopped
*Hot peppers (In the past I've used 2 jalapenos seeded and diced, but here I used 1 chipotle in adobo sauce)
*48 oz of chicken or vegetable stock (give or take)
*About 2 cups of corn kernels (fresh is best, thawed frozen is second-best, drained canned is third-best)
*The juice of about .25 lime
*Salt and pepper to taste
*Olive oil
*Sour cream or plain yogurt, chopped cilantro, chopped green onion (optional, but awesome)

What to do:


*Sautee the peppers and onions in a splash of olive oil with a dash of salt over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to sweat.  They shouldn't brown, but rather begin to melt together and release their juices to make a yummy veggie liquor.

*When the peppers and onions have softened and mingled, add the sweet potatoes and stock.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to low.  Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

*Remove the pot from the heat and blend the soup.  If using an immersion blender, you can go for it right away.  If you're blending the soup in batches in a conventional blender, let it cool for about 10 minutes before you do so.  If you try to blend the soup while it's still boiling hot you run the risk of hot, steaming soup exploding from your blender carafe onto every surface in the kitchen (ceiling included!) and scalding the living daylights out of your arm.  Or so I hear.  I'm way too fly to have experienced that kind of buffoonery myself.

*When the soup is velvety smooth add your corn, a healthy squeeze of lime, and salt and pepper to taste.

*Serve immediately with sour cream or yogurt, chopped cilantro, and chopped green onion.  Voila!  Delicious!

Health in a bowl, I tell ya.

Sick Days

Livy and I have caught terrible colds and are lying low this week.  This is what that looks like:

It ain't pretty, but it'll do.

Snuggly baby?  Check.  Her favorite book, Mermaids on Parade (a gift from Mrs. Miller that Livy begs for all day long)?  Check.  Bed head?  Check.  Blanket made out of recycled Crown Royal bags (a gift from my miscreant uncle who personally emptied each and every bag)? Check.

And we're off!

Go team!

Sadly, we'll be here all week!

Bought Her That: Mini Marauder Hat

In an effort (and for a notorious grinch like me it truly is an effort) to make merry this holiday season, SLB and I took Livy to the Phinney Neighborhood Association's Winter Festival and Crafts Fair last weekend.  In addition to some quotidian vegetable wax candles and secret gifties we splurged on a fine fleece hat made by my friend Lynn for my friend Livy.

(Leif Erickson > Leif Garrett) < Livy

It's called the Mini Marauder hat, and it is awesome.  Lynn's company, Pingihats, sells at Pike Place Market and at her studio, Absolutely Fabulous, in Queen Anne.  You would be an idiot not to buy one of her designs, even if pillaging isn't on your personal agenda (the fox hat almost came home with us, too).  It is on Livy's, though, and she wears her hat with pride!

Hide yer daughters and yer cheddar bunnies!

In fact, I liked this picture so much that it made our Christmas card shortlist - in sepia, no less.

So old-timey, plus it detracted from the clashing patterns on  her shirt, jacket, and car seat.

We wound up choosing a more seasonally-appropriate photo that implies much less threat of Viking violence.  Maybe if you're lucky you'll be receiving one of these cards in the mail.  And if you don't, maybe you should consider being nicer to us and buying us more presents and fancy coffee drinks.  Just a little something to consider in the new year.  No pressure.

IT'S LIKE THEY KNOW ME!

I was just posting a comment on Auntie Spotter's website for Sarah Potter Photography and this - THIS! - was my secret comment-posting code:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Don't mind if I do!

Friends, that secret code says "fartme."  FARTME!  FART!  ME!  It truly is a season of miracles, large and small, and this is proof of that! 

This is going to be a good day.

And because my mom's been after me to post new photos of Livy, here you go!  Now stop nagging me, woman!

Oma giving Livy her first haircut after Thanksgiving dinner.  (If your kitchen doesn't look like this after a holiday meal, then you're not eating well.)

Showing of her bangs at the Portage Bay Cafe

Saying cheese while eating cheese - so meta.