Bangin'

Usually, about once a year, I get serious case of bang envy.

Some dumb celeb sports some new bangs, and I too, want the look. 9 times out of 10, I am able to remind myself that this celeb has the luxury of having someone DO their hair on a daily basis, and this is why their bangs always look good. I ponder "just going for it" for weeks, and then remind myself how much I HATE doing my hair, and that bangs require effort, and I flush the idea down the toilet.

Sienna is not helping. Her new set o' bangs rock, and I want them. The humidity is off the charts here is KC, which does NOT make for good hair, let alone bangs, but I want them.

Somebody call bang 9-1-1, and help a sister out.

Pimpin' out my girls....

These two nuts are giving it away....a $60 gift card to CSN stores.

You could lose your mind figuring how to spend it, as the possibilities are endless.

For your chance in life to be a winner, hop over to their blog (you'll be glad you did--humor galore), become a follower, leave a comment, yadda yadda yadda, you know the drills.

And if you aren't familiar with the drills, all of the rules and regulations are posted on the blog.

These girls are so great, and Shan is such an amazing friend that she promised me if I don't win the gift card, my consolation prize would be this necklace that she is dying to get rid of.

Love you gals!

She's trying to kill me.

I am pregnant, and hot. I don't mean Demi Moore hot on the cover of Vanity Fair when she was pregegrs, I am referring to the heat outside.

I can't take it, and getting dressed is a big pain in the rear. I am trying to look forward to fall when the baby will be here, the extra lbs. will be gone (Lord and Tracy Anderson willing), and buying clothes will be fun again.

MK is NOT helping here. She looks AMAZING in this dress, and don't even get me started on that trench and those boots.

I am thinking about pulling an *Alexis Neiers* and helping myself to some outfits.

**please note that I do NOT watch her show "Pretty Wild" on E, but was informed of this scandal by my boyfriend Joel McHale**

Snippets from the weekend.

It was an action packed few days: finalizing some details on decorating a dear friend's home, house projects of our own (pics to come), a trip to the zoo, an afternoon in the park, Lindsey's yummy snow cones, a family get together starting with The Barefoot Contessa's Goat Cheese Tomato Tarts, and ending with Giada's Orange Raspberry cake (thanks, Shannan!).

My living room is filled with hot pink flowers, and I couldn't be more exhausted.

The mister instructed me to "go lie down or I'm going to punch you", as he did all of the dishes.

Life is good.

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Another hit.

Just made this as a side dish for dinner.

Delish.

I subbed turkey bacon for the pancetta, and there was still a ton of flavor.

Super easy to make, and would be yumm-o topped with a fried egg.

Then again, what wouldn't be?

Too much drama for this mamma.

Pretty much since day one, you have been just like your father: laid back, focused, even tempered, easy to figure out.

Along comes your 17 month birthday, and I enter the picture. You become determined, strong willed, stubborn and dramatic. Oh, you're still a lot like your dad, but if you don't get your way asap, well it's game over.

There are really only a few situations that get you all wired up:

Walking.

You insist on walking everywhere. You're father and I should be entitled to a discount on our overpriced stroller because I never use it anymore.

If I pick you up to cross a busy street, you really let me have it. You love to arch your back, go limp, and cry, as your 5 ft. pregnant mamma tries to pick you up without throwing her back out.

Not going in the direction you want to go in.

This is really under the walking category, but if we need to go in a certain direction, and you want to go another way, you become as stubborn as a bull. You have this amazing super power of being able to super glue your feet to the ground, and not move an inch, even when I'm trying to redirect you. It's oh, so much fun.

Elevators and Buttons.

I know most little ones love them an elevator, and yes, I have become that mother that prays to the good Lord above that when we get into one, there will not be any button pressing competition. If you see an elevator out of the corner of your eye, the super glue feet come out, and you immediately hold your index finger in the air letting me know that we HAVE to go over to it, and that button MUST be pressed at once. It's pretty much out of control.

Mothers looking on who have older children just smile, and say, "it's his age.", or, "it's really a good thing that he knows what he wants". I would like to respond back, "yes, but I can't have my class of cab at the end of the day to compensate for this drama", but I just smile and nod.

I know it won't always be like this, and that I should love that you're coming into your own (I do), but if we could just eliminate the going limp portion of the tantrum, I would be forever grateful.

Stepping out.

No, I'm not referring to one of the best Joe Jackson songs ever.

I am talking about getting out of my culinary comfort zone.

There are certain recipes that I will come across, and not even consider making due to their reputation of being difficult.

Crepes are one of them.

However, while on Smitten Kitchen (have I told you lately that I love her?), I stumbled across her mushroom crepe "cake", and the drool began forming.

She has never steered me wrong with any of her recipes ( and I have seriously tried a TON of them), so I was feeling a bit confident with this one.

Then I read this line:Cook for another 10 seconds and throw the crepe in the garbage; seriously, the first one is always cursed.

I mean how, unnerving is that??!!

However, given the fact that her recipe's have such high success rate in my book, I decided to go for it.

On a night we were having friends over for dinner.

I mean, who does that? Makes a new recipe, with a high chance of failure, when people are coming with empty bellies?

That's me.

I said a quick prayer and went to work. The first crepe was exactly what she said it would be-a failure. I said another quick prayer, tried again, and this time it looked more like a crepe!

I took it out of the pan (NOT an easy thing to do when you aren't using a traditional crepe pan), and the thing ripped in half.

Third times a charm, right?

It worked! I think it takes a few tries for you to get the hang of the flipping, how much butter to use, the heat of your stove, etc.

After getting into my groove, it didn't take too long at all--I used her recipe for the mushroom filling, but can't wait to try different ways of filling this.

The best part (aside from all the mmmmm's at the dinner table), was that with the extra crepes we had, the mister and I filled them with nutella and banana's the next night.

Try it, you'll like it.

Daydreaming gets you in trouble.

Been thinking a lot about my little peanut that will be making her debut in just a few short months.

My little man has a packed closet, a full dresser, and his own shoe armoire. I guess this means she is going to need a walk-in closet.

All from Barney's and Tutti-Bella.

And all ridiculously overpriced.

I guess it balances out?

Hmmmm...eating organic, and smoking. Interesting Mary Kate.

Well, at least she's eating these days.

When life gives you lemons.......

What you are looking at is a little slice o' heaven.

When I was in San Fransisco, I had the pleasure of meeting an old friend for an insane breakfast at Tartine. I have been wanting to go there for quite sometime, so you can imagine how much we ordered. Oh, and we're both preggers.

After stuffing myself with a swiss chard/gruyere quiche, and a pan au chocolate, I had to take a lemon bar "to go".

To go means, to eat during the car ride home.

These lemon bars are INSANE!! Perfectly tart, and on a brown butter shortbread crust. What's not to love? Okay, maybe the calories, but I assure you, they are worth every one.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree-my dad happens to be down right in love with lemon bars, so when he was here a couple of weeks ago, I made the recipe from the Tartine cookbook.

They were exactly the same. Amazing.

So, if you too, happen to have a love affair with lemon bars, do yourself a favor, and get to baking.

Practical Fashion.

It's been raining like mad here in the KC.

Isn't footwear the biggest pain in the rear when it rains? I love me a pair of Hunter's, but have been searching for something different.

Enter these amazing Marvin K boots.

They're called the "giggle", which is precisely what I did when I found out they cost $260 bucks.

However, with all of the rain that's in our forecast, I can almost justify the price tag.

Then again, when can't I??

I hate ants, but.....

I LOVE Peonies.

They are by far, my favorite flower. Ours are blooming, and I always want to cut some and bring them indoors, but I LOATHE getting the ants off of them.

Any tips?

Smitten Smorgasbord.

A few blog post back, I shared one of my favorite staples to keep in the fridge.

Here are a few more that make me super happy:

Amazing chicken salad from my favorite food blog, Smitten Kitchen.

I omit the shallot, and use dried cherries instead of the cranberries. I also double the amount of the champagne vinegar. It gives it a nice tang. Fresh Tarragon makes a huge difference.

Another fave all summer is a fresh tomato mozzarella salad. LOTS of pepper and fresh basil, and a really good olive oil will jazz it up.

This zucchini sautee is the STUFF! Super easy--goes with chicken, fish, etc. We eat it all summer long.

Hope y'all aren't growing tired of my food love. Keep in mind that I'm 6 months preggers, and getting dressed isn't as exciting anymore. So, instead of my "what I'm wearing" posts, they have been replaced with "what I'm eating".

At least until the big, fat fall fashion mags arrive in my mailbox.

For the mammas....

Wether you're a mother, have a mother, or know a mother, I hope you're enjoying this weekend.

A memo to my Nana and NoNo

Mommy says you're coming to see me! I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!!

I feel like I haven't seen you in forever. A few things have changed on my end.

#1-I have teeth! Finally! Mommy says I look like a (cute) jack-o-lantern. I have no idea what she is talking about.

#2-I L-O-V-E to walk!!!!! I still like to hold on to your finger, but I can walk for miles. Like today for example. Mommy tells me we have to run into 2 stores on the Plaza, and that we can walk together! Whoo hoo!! No stroller! I tried to focus as we walked to store number one, but there was this AMAZING brick wall that I had to stop and touch (for 15 minutes). I really didn't want to leave, but mom said one of the stores closes early. So we made it across the street, and there it was- A FOUNTAIN!! No way I was passing this up!! We played near the fountain for a while, and then she goes and tries to make me a deal. She rambled on and on about being able to come back to the fountain after store number 2, and tries to take me away! AWAY FROM WATER!! That woman knows better than that!! I treid to make her a deal also, but all I can do is cry and wail, so that's what I did. Then I saw the Swarovski crystal store, and wanted to stay in front of the sparkly (gaudy) store window, but mom said she wouldn't be caught dead looking at overpriced bedazzled things.

The point of this story is to remind you to bring your walking shoes. And energy. And kisses.

Because I miss them.

Channeling Liberace.

I found this amazing Etsy seller, Fabulousmess through cute Maria's blog.

I hyperventilated when I stumbled upon these chairs!!!

I began racking my brain trying to think of how I could come up with 2 grand FAST.

I thought about those mother's from Toddlers and Tiaras, and how they pimp their kids out. My little boy is always being mistaken for a girl! This could work!

But then I thought about all of the money I would have to spend on feather boa's and dresses. Then there's the possible psychological damage it could do later on down the road.

I briefly thought about my purse collection, and selling them on ebay, but then I became extremely shaky and threw up. Not gonna work.

I wonder if she would consider a lifetime supply of whoopie pies?

A payment plan?

Sympathy for a 6 month pregnant woman who's back is killing her, and just wants some fabulous chairs to rest in???