Adorable Singer, Tiffany Alvord

Someone's blog had a link to this girl's videos and I love them!  She is 17 and so adorable and she sings all the songs I love singing along to on the radio.  She has a ton of videos, I've only listened to a few... go check her out!

Save the Words - Nifty!

In my early morning internet stumbling, I found this little bit of interesting: Save the Words by the people that bring you the Oxford English Dictionary.




The premise is that you select one of the archaic words and 'adopt' it, pledging to use it in daily conversation, in your writing, or as a name for your pet... so that it will make its way back into use. Not quite likely, given the obscurity of the words, but I found it really fun to learn some new definitions.

Cynthia von Buhler's Children's Books

I came across this author today, and both her children's books went right on my Amazon wishlist. Check out this website for But Who Will Bell the Cats?, her work is SO gorgeous:
http://butwhowillbellthecats.com/lookinside.html



She makes intricate scale-models of her scenes and then adds painted paper dolls for the characters, and these books are so beautiful! Intricate down to the smallest detail, and gorgeous colors that just grab you. These will be coming into our home for Christmas (or before). I'm so in love!

This blog of hers shows the behind-the-scenes and how she made the book, her sculptures and close-ups and tons of photos of the delicious details. You have to see these pictures! Here is the before picture of the ballroom... amazing.

Agave Nectar is Not a Better Alternative

So, a little while ago I was going through some recipes for 'healthy' baked yummies... the kind those crazy raw food / super health nuts would make for their kids and husbands. I'm trying to generally trend towards healthier foods with less chemical additives, so I figured why not go to the source. I kept seeing references to Agave Nectar, and these women were touting it as a healthy and fabulous miracle sweetener that was totally 100% great to use in place of horrible things like corn syrup, sugar, or honey (which everyone knows rots your insides and makes you 50x more likely to die immediately).


Well, I figured if it was so healthy it must taste NASTY, but maybe the sacrifice would be worth it to make healthier cakes and such for my family, right? Imagine, serving up a tantalizing torte that was GOOD for you? Anyway, I wanted to see what it tasted like- then amazingly I actually found it at a local grocery store and snapped it up. Well, it's been sitting on my shelf for a while, as I was too afraid to try it. My sister informed me that agave it was the same plant they make tequila out of, so I just had horrible visions of semi-sweet, thick tequila goo. It was off-putting.

Well, tonight I broke down and tried it, and imagine my surprise at how TASTY and PURE it was! I purchased the light variety, and the flavor is so clean, sweet and most of all... delicate! I wanted to make little fairy cakes with it. It is more liquid than corn syrup or honey but still a little viscous. It reminded me of a honey but thinner and lighter and without the flavors of honey, just the sweetness, and no aftertaste.

Of course, this stuff tasted delicious- no way it could be good for you.. those health nuts were morons! Couldn't they taste this stuff? I wanted to eat it out of the bottle for Pete's sakes! Well, unfortunately I was right on this count, it isn't good for you, and might be worse for you than stuff like white sugar and even high fructose corn syrup... because it contains 90% fructose in a condensed syrup which really makes it not nutritious. Certainly not any better than maple syrup or honey at all. Only reason to like it is if you have problems with glucose I guess. But it just causes other problems in response!

Well, you don't have to believe me you can go google it, there are lots of places that say it's unhealthy. Here is one person's summary that I found pretty complete, but it is from a raw foodie perspective so ... grain of salt. And here is the website of the company which made my Agave Nectar. Notice they also make it sound like dew from heaven. So, basically, go try the stuff if you want a nifty new syrup to play with... but not if you're looking for some healthy sugar substitute.

Oh well, if something sounds too good to be true... At least I will be able to make some unhealthily delicious little tea cakes!

New Stroller

We've had a bunch of drama with Arin's strollers. First, when he was tiny, we had a Snap-n-Go that worked great with his car seat, I really liked it and it wasn't too bulky. Of course, before he was out of his baby seat, one of the rear wheels fell off! I kept putting it back on, but every time we would walk somewhere it would fall off again every 15 seconds. There was no way to reattach it permanently, so finally I had to give up.

Somewhere during this time Cheri gave us a stroller she got with her car seat and wasn't using (since she has twins). It was a 'big boy' stroller though, so I hesitated to use it. Once I finally did... let's just say it was the bane of my existence. I could see why they have to give it away with car seats, it's terrible! Never get a Cosco stroller, EVER. So we suffered along using this until I didn't even bother to bring it out, it was so hard to handle and uncomfortable for Arin and wobbly and miserable. UCK.

Finally though, there is a happy ending! I was looking at strollers and comparing, and had decided on a Maclaren which are lightweight and have a good reputation, but when I was debating them I threw in the Bob Revolution jogging stroller which was more expensive but... fancier! Of course, I dream about quality and getting the best for Arin, so finally decided that was the one to get. It arrived in the mail about two weeks ago and ... WOW.

This thing is nice! It handles like a dream, it's super comfy and even fully reclines so Arin can sleep, it's super sturdy and safe and I just love it. I can NOT get over how well it moves and turns on a dime, it's like warm butter! The only thing I don't love is that it's quite big and doesn't clasp folded so you have to be careful when carrying it (or maybe I'm just missing how to do this), but we have plenty of trunk space so it doesn't bother me much. I can't wait to bring it on grass and rough terrain this spring/summer, it's so fun to drive! And not to mention, Arin thinks its his own little dune buggy, he loves it. He couldn't even wait until it was put together to start playing with it:



I don't jog, but the Bob Revolution stroller makes me want to head over to the Rail Trail and start. It has two 'modes', you flick a little thingie and it goes from jogging mode which keeps the wheels straight, or walking mode which lets you weeble around any which way you could want. The tires are big, thick and sturdy and great for going over rough surfaces. The sunshade is all fancy too, it has a little clear peep window for when it's fully extended so I can make sure Bobo is relaxing happily.


The first time I brought it out I stopped into TJMaxx and was looking at purses. I was taking up the whole aisle with this thing, and some woman was inching around me very slowly. Finally I was like, 'okay creepy...' and looked up at her. She was practically gaping at the stroller trying to scrutinize it's gears and such. She saw me looking and asked, 'Is that one of those jogging strollers?' And then just started gushing over how great it looked. This stroller inspires ENVY, isn't that fantastic? Stylish and practical, how can you go wrong? I wish I had gotten this from the beginning, (there's a way to put a baby seat into it too I think), I don't know what I did without it.

Lost and Dispatches and what?

I put up a new link on my nifty 'most recently posted' blog list on the side. This time it is not a close personal friend, but rather the actor Jorge Garcia (he plays Hurley on the tv show Lost... which is A1 and you should check it out starting with Season 1 if you have not already).

I was looking at Cake Wrecks, which is another famous blog (which I am not interested in linking to as it gives me a headache after 2 minutes) when they had a link to Mr. Garcia's blog. Not realizing who he was, I clicked the link and was super excited! Maybe lots of famous people have blogs now, but I don't read any, so I thought this was a great discovery.

He doesn't really write about the show, more about random stuff from living in Hawaii where they film, and his garden exploits and travel pictures. Which are all very tiny. But I think it's cute and funny so if you need yet another distraction give it a whirl: Dispatches from the Island.

Potty Time!

Arin finally has a potty! I picked out the Baby Bjorn one, and it's nice and sturdy and apparently very comfy. There was the temptation to buy one of those huge wooden thrones, but I erred on the side of practicality. And Arin loves it! As a 'Bumbo for Big Boys'. He thinks its fantastic... as a toy.


He is still a bit young to try to use it as a toilet, obviously. I've put him on it a few times to do his business, but he wasn't grasping the concept... he was more interested in springing up and running about buck nekkid.

He thinks it's great though... one day he brought all his blankies into the bathroom and proceeded to place his potty delicately on top of them, like it needed some pampering so it could take a nap! He also likes to drag it out of the bathroom and bring it to the living room to sit on. And, of course, he loves to put stuff in it! He loves to put stuff in the real toilet too, but that is way off limits. This is easier for him to sneak toys into.

As you can see, my little Bobo is playing mother hen here, laying his eggs on his little potty nest. It's fun to walk into the bathroom and see a colorful rainbow of balls sitting just so in the potty. I think I will move it downstairs for a while until he's more inclined/able to think about using it as a toilet instead of a play toy. :)

Sick

I am sick currently, which means that my whole world stops for a little while. I am not one of those people who handle being sick with grace. I whimper and shiver and sniffle obtrusively and sneeze all over. If I'm sick everyone knows it and I want pity.

I can accept this, I know I'm no Jane Austen heroine.

They are demure and modest and yet very delicate in that they are often contracting random illnesses they they accept quietly and without fuss. They just lie about in bed, graciously receiving visitors and eating toast.

I eat toast and complain about wanting to vomit and how snot shoots out of my tear duct when I blow my nose. No lie, it's wicked gross.

But, while I'm talking about Jane Austen, I would like to add a new blog to my list on the side. It's lovely and fantastic and indulges my epic love for all things English and polite and romantic. I've been finding a lot of great historical blogs recently but this one is good even if you aren't hardcore, check it out:

http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/

Also, it has tons of info and links to other nifty historical-ish things that are 'excessively diverting' to explore (that's a web award by the way, which this blog has won).

So, I'm going to sit here too sick to read all this socially delicious goodness, and dream of a time when it's spring and I'm well and I can devote hours to reading historical romantic fiction. Perfect.

Last Holiday

Last Holiday - I love this movie, I LOVE it. It just came on tv again tonight and that makes me so happy. If you are a female then go out and watch this movie, it is fun, uplifting, sweet, funny and how can you not love Queen Latifah?

So its cheesy and the plot line isn't deep and literary, but it's entertaining and just makes me want to go out and live life. Do something exciting, get out of the house, you know. It's elevating.

Not to mention I adore 'travel' movies, ones that are like taking a mini-vacation in your living room. Without the packing and plane fare. Anyway, just trust me, you'll like this go watch it.

Why I love Ree

Reasons why I love Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman:

1. She is a sweetheart.
2. She keeps it real.
3. 'Black Heels to Tractor Wheels' indulges my love of romantic stories and makes me warm and fuzzy.
4. She gives the world lots of pictures of cowboys in tight jeans.
5. She makes yummy recipes for us.
   
6. Someday I'm going to win one of her million awesome contests.
7. She feels me on SLR obsession.
8. She lives in the country and takes pretty pictures.
9. She's funny.
10. She makes me want to wake up at 5am in the bitter winter to drive cattle. Well, almost.