The Positive Side of Prison - The latest in the Crayon War Saga

There are some moments you have as a Mom that make you all warm and fuzzy inside.

The Great Crayon War

Thanks to a certain two year old, We have had to remove all the crayons from our house. It started with some stairwell "artwork". It happened about a week after we moved in and the result was me having to paint a stairwell.

Shortly thereafter {{and two walls later}} we decided it would be best if the crayons went into "hiding" until Bug was just a little bit older. Apparently, in two year old terms this. Meant. War. Since then, whenever her pudgy little fingers find something that writes, she has tagged a new wall in the house.

One in the living room

Fashion Lesson #1

While on my quest for fashion fabulousness and how to find it, I have become OBSESSED with the clothing selections on Pinterest. Those wonderful little windows with outfits prebuilt for you? They are awesome! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you can follow the link and see other outfits made with an item so you can see how different people used it. It really shows each items diversity and how one piece can do so much in one wardrobe.

So, yesterday while I was wasting spending time on Pinterest going through different outfits, I. Fell. In. Love. You know those moments when you see something and you know it was MEANT for you to have it? Could be anything. A book, an accessory, something for your kids? Those moments when you see something and it sends you on a prompt and immediate search to purchase said item? I had one of those moments with a navy blue dress I saw. I loved everything in the set. I even happen to have a pair of shoes that look almost exactly like the shoes shown with the dress, which just made me LOVE it even more. I knew that it was meant to be and I HAD to have that dress.

I was SO excited to have found something that was classy and work appropriate but good for date night, too. Squealing like a thirteen year old at a Bieber concert, I clicked the picture to follow the link so I could find out where it came from. The link took me to a page on polyvore.com {{another VERY cool website}}. When the page finished loading I was crushed.

It was Valentino $495.00

{{Womp, Womp, Womp}}

Fashion Lesson #1: Don't fall in love until you know you can afford it.

Culinary Curiosity

As you know, it has become a mission of mine to get out of the mealtime rut I got us into. In October {{I think}} I started finding new recipes and meal planning. We've had fun trying new foods that I've found, that friends have shared and in cookbooks and online. I've even shared one here. Culinary Curiosity will be one of the new feature posts about our adventures trying new food - the good, bad & ugly.

Last night, I made a Pork Apple Bake - a P90X recipe. I understand the whole savory-food thing with the salt and the sweet, but honestly, the idea of apples on my pork didn't really sound like a good idea. The recipe itself is pretty simple: Layer lean boneless pork, thinly sliced sweet potatoes and thinly sliced apples. Bake at 350* until cooked. Salt & pepper if desired {{it is desired so I used sea salt & fresh cracked pepper}}. I also drizzled some olive oil over the top of the dish because it seemed a little dry when it went into the oven. And actually when it went in, it looked fairly appetizing and I was excited to be opening new food doors.

However, when it came out of the oven, any appealing look the food had, had been cooked off by the heat of the stove {{Womp, womp}}. I am always impressed by the amazing timing J has. Usually he comes home only to catch me watching embarrassing tv {{like the Kardashians *red face*}} or something else equally mortifying. Last night he walked in right as I was closing the door on the stove to let the food cook longer. My face must have said it all because he asked what was wrong. That's the deal with new recipes you just find; you never know what your going to get or how it will taste.

So, after some fair warning and a few more minutes in the oven we sat down to eat... this.

Believe it or not it didn't taste as bad as it looked. My biggest problem with the dish was the apples {{I used Granny Smiths trying to even out the sweet}} and the sweet potatoes cooked down quite a bit and by the time they were plated {{ok someone's been watching too much Chopped}} it was like eating mashed apple-sweet potatoes. Not bad... just interesting...?

Needless to say that recipe probably wont be made anytime soon again in this house. I think it was an ugly, fail.

Speaking of P90X - It's Stablatic!

I had breakfast with Tony Horton again today. Well, I had breakfast with him but he didn't have breakfast with me. Today was day 2 of the Lean P90X program. I chose to do the Lean program because it is more cardio based than the Classic & Doubles. It went much better than day 1 but that's only because the kids were asleep {{its pretty hard to do lunges with a 2year old circling through your legs}}. He's an interesting guy. He's full of wonderful words of wisdom and retarded jokes {{like "Stablatic"}} that he laughs at all by himself...

Maybe Day 3 will be with no talking.