Bars With A Bite

Get it???? Bars with a Bite?!?! Netflix made me a very happy vampire fan yesterday by speedily delivering disc 3 of "True Blood", making this weekend full of vampire fun! The only thing to make that better would be something delicious to eat while watching it. I had been craving something sweet so I decided to make these yummy Martha Stewart Rocky Ledge Bars. I had seen another blogger make these and they looked so decadent, I put them on my "to make" list. They did not disappoint! They are like loaded blondies- full of semi-sweet chocolate chunks, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, mini marshmallows, and caramel pieces! Aww yaaaa. I mean, these are bars you could really sink your teeth into.... :) I would even go so far to say they were love at first bite.... I've got more here, but I don't want to use up all my good material, so I'll stop. :) Anyways, they were a great accompaniment to a fabulous show, which I am completely sucked into! One more episode tonight! Then the netflix wait begins again....

Martini Therapy

Seriously, it's good for the soul, at least when consumed with some friends during a much needed night out. I went out with a couple mom friend's on Thursday to Brick Alley Pub, where hands down the best thing on the menu is their appletini's. Perhaps even better than their nachos. Although, preferably, you would order both. Every time I order an appletini anywhere else, it's just not as good as the Brick. Of course, also every time I order an appletini, my inner JD kicks in with "I'll have an appletini, heavy on the apple and light on the tini." :) Scrubs fans will know what I'm talking about. But back to the point. When you have kids around, it's very hard to have a real conversation with someone. Because you always have one eye on them, they want you to play with them and try to drag you to a toy, they are about to close their fingers in a door, trying to get a cat who is in the litter box, etc. So to sit down, kids free, and blissfully concentrate and listen to another adult and oh my goodness yes, actually respond and talk, it's wonderful! It really is. It was just so nice to slump in a booth, have adult conversation, and of course the added bonus of the happy martini feeling. We all agreed this needs to happen more often! Oh, and icing on the cake? Sadie was asleep by the time I got home. SWEET. :)

Belated Wordless Wednesday: Naptime Stages

Stage 1: Sometimes we wake up a little cranky.

Stage 2: Snack time. She does a good impression of eating a cookie.

Stage 3: Fully awake. A happy, smiling little girl!

Weekend Photo Essay

I had dinner with my first ever roommate, Neary, and her husband, John. It was such a great time, catching up with our lives and reliving old memories. We ate dinner at a hibachi restaurant downtown and it was the perfect place to chat. It had been awhile since I had talked about our fun college days, man, those were good times! We talked about everything from our tiny Miley Hall dorm to that same dorm being haunted by a ghost named Tuhs! A piece of advice- leave the Ouija board alone!!

I also got to get some baking in- I made a friend some birthday cookies. One of my favorites- ginger cookies dipped in white chocolate. Once again, these were supposed to be made during Christmas, but it never happened. I have to make these at least once a year!

Here's the friend they were for- infamous Christopher :) We went to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate his birthday and we had a blast talking, laughing, more memories being remembered, but this time post-college ones. Damn, we had some kick ass parties back in the day! Hanging with my old roommate, eating totally bad for me food, having a noon time beer, that is a fantastic Saturday, if you ask me.

And lastly, after 3 failed attempts at trying to get this coffee cake made, I finally did it. It's another Ina Garten recipe- Sour Cream Coffee Cake. It is so good! She describes it as a homemade Drake's Cake and it does taste like it! It was a wonderful Monday morning coffee treat, as it seemed extra hard to get out of bed this morning. In fact..... I just had another piece with a cup of tea. :)

So, that's Adventures in Rhode Island's weekend in review.

Girlfriends

Skylar, Sadie, and Amelia playing.

Sharing hair clips :)

Hugs for Skylar!

Sometimes Ava comes to play too, all get along smashingly!

The last few months, a couple mom's and I have been getting together weekly for playdates. More sometimes if we have classes together. It's been so nice to have that weekly get together, to let the girls play, to chat, to relax a bit while the kids are having fun. It's allowed the girls to really get to know each other and learn to play and share together. Sadie always asks for "Amelia and Skylar" on a daily basis, and gets very excited the days we have playdates or music class. It's adorable and you can really see how they are growing up, becoming little girls, and are actually starting to have FRIENDS! Wow, it didn't seem long ago when Sadie and Skylar got together and they just did separate things. Or sat there and chewed on their toys! (Sadie has been hangin' with Skylar since she was 3 weeks old!) Not anymore, they're little toddlers now. I love it, I love seeing their spontaneous hugs and kisses, exploring things together, having to do whatever the other ones are doing. Of course, it's also been great for the moms too, having a little adult time is needed too :) In fact, next week we are having a mom's night out- dinner and cocktails downtown, while the little ones get some playtime with the dad's. Looking SO forward to that! Martini's with friends are a necessary part of life, dontcha think?!

Sadie and Papa

Cuddles on the couch. Unattainable until now!

If photos are worth a thousand words, then this is a blog where I don't need to be too verbose. We had a wonderful weekend when John's Dad (from here on out, known as Papa) came to visit us. It was laid back, fun, and best of all, Sadie has a new best friend. I have never ever seen her react to someone so positively as she did to her Papa. And, it took no time at all for that to happen! Before I knew it, instead of clinging to mommy, she all of a sudden wanted Papa next to her every single second! When he would leave the room at all, she would toddle after him, calling out "Papa, come" or something of that nature. Hysterical and also wonderful to see her bonding like that with family. So a rare thing happened, Sadie wasn't attached to John or myself the nights he was here....... so what could I do? I'll tell you what. Uncork a bottle of wine and celebrate! My brain almost couldn't comprehend what was happening. Sitting on the couch, wine in hand.... and Sadie was not in bed..... not computing! Anyways, Papa was wonderful to her and played every game she insisted they play without complaint, although I am sure she wore him out! Thanks for a great visit, Papa. :)

Deep in conversation.

Drawing at her new easel.

Showing Sadie the lobsters in the touch tank aquarium at First Beach.

Chillin' out, relaxin'.

My favorite picture.

Playing her favorite game. She'll tell you to "sleep", she'll cover you up with a blanket, then wake you up with tickles, and laugh at her cleverness! Fun times, I tell you.

Just a few things

Dr. Sadie working on her patient.

Some good news- Sadie had another weight check yesterday and she gained back what she lost last time, plus a little bit more. Yay! She had been sick too, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with her weight. Solids are still a big struggle, but she is pretty open to new tastes and is much more confident when food does get in her mouth. Today she tried black bean soup for the first time and seemed to like it, not something I would have thought she would have liked. Also, I got her to taste cheesecake and she seemed to like that as well, and she isn’t too big on sweets. Little steps, but they add up.

Speaking of cheesecake, the cheesecake I gave her was the one I made this weekend that turned out to be a total flop. I had cream cheese to use up so I decided to make my first ever cheesecake. And the spring form pan I bought 10 years ago got used for the first time. All the directions said was to cook until the center was set, but I had no idea what that actually looked like, so the center of the cheesecake was all soft. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. The outside part of the cheesecake was fine, hence the part Sadie and I ate together. But disappointing when a recipe is a flop like that!

Lastly, I can’t put specifics about the Sookie Stackhouse book I am on (book 6!) because Kelley hasn’t gotten that far and I don’t want to write any spoilers, BUT, I am SO not happy with a certain vampire! Unbelievable!! And does EVERY supernatural being want Sookie?!?! Still really enjoying this tasty little series, but I just came upon a certain part that made me go OMG! So, Kelley, hurry up and read your books so I can blog less cryptically!

Anyone a LOST fan?? This season is going to be SO GOOD!! So excited :)

Oh, Alton!

Showing that dough who's boss. Don't mind the hair, it was 11 pm.

A few weeks back, my friend Ginny posted a blog about cinnamon rolls. And I've been jonesing for one ever since! I thought I'd take this opportunity to try my hand at making some. John and I are huge cinnamon roll fans and get them everywhere we go, but usually they are just so-so. The best I've had were the ones at IKEA. Seriously! They rock there. Anyways, there are certain cooks that I go back to again and again because their recipes just seem to always be on the mark. Alton Brown would definitely be one of those people. First off, I love his show (sniff, sniff, no more food network though until we expand our cable) because he cracks me up and I love hearing his hilarious scientific explanations of what makes a recipe work. And his recipes are usually something basic- but he makes the recipe OUTSTANDING! So when I was searching for cinnamon roll recipes, I chose his. It also sounded good because you made it the night before, popped it in the fridge, then baked them in the morning, just in time to eat with your coffee. Yes, yes, perfect! Well, I wasn't disappointed with Alton, once again. They were delicious! They were just as good as IKEA's and if I knew what I was doing when I made them, I think they could have been better. Like I said before, dough is still foreign territory. I loved the process of making these. I am actually starting to enjoy working with dough and there is definitely some satisfaction in making a semi-involved recipe. Oh, and did I mention it has a cream cheese frosting!? A good cup of coffee and warm cinnamon rolls in the morning has got to be one of life's great pleasures!

Finished product!

So what else has been going on? Instead of being productive during nap time and bed times, I've been doing this:

Book 2 done.

Book 3 done.

Book 4 done.

Onto book 5! My god, these books are like those white chocolate covered oreos. The ones you can eat in one sitting and not even realize you are doing so. They probably have as much nutrition as an oreo, too, but I think that's what I love about them! What a roller coaster of emotions! I love Bill! Wait. He did what??! I hate Bill! Now I like Eric! But I guess Bill did get tortured for it. Oh, the confusion! King of Mississippi? Queen of Louisiana?! Sheriff's, Supes, Were's, and Witches who ARE Were's AND who drink vampire blood?!?! I'm in heaven. :) I'm completely addicted now and will probably start book 5 tomorrow. I promised John we'd watch a movie tonight, since my nose has been in a book every night this entire week. I love starting a book series late in the game because I don't have to wait for the next one to be written, they're all in paperback now. :)

Well, he's still putting Sadie to bed. It wouldn't hurt to just read the first few pages from book 5.....

Wordless Wednesday: Playdate

First Valentine

Sadie made her first valentine today (with a tiny bit of help from mom)! Last week, a couple mom friends and I took our daughters to an open gym at an elementary school, it was for ages 1-5. It was a lot of fun for the kids, with balls, hula hoops, bowling, blocks, tumbling mats, and a bunch of other stuff. We found out while we were there it was run by a group called Parents as Teachers. They also run a play group once a week downtown and I took Sadie last week and today. I'm so happy I am finding these programs for Sadie and I. This play group is a little more organized than a normal play group, they kids play for an hour, then they all sit at a table to do an arts and crafts project (hence the valentine), and then there is quick sing-a-long, and a book read to them. About 10-12 kids have attended both times, and it gives Sadie a chance to play with a larger group of kids, and I get to meet some new moms. This group also focuses on working with you, if you want, on any issues or concerns you might have about your child's development. I haven't done anything with that part of the program, but it's nice to know it's there. I've just been pleasantly surprised at how active our winter has been with all these great - and free- programs we've been running into. Actually doing arts and crafts with her has been so sweet and has made me see she is really turning into a little girl.

Vampire update: almost done with book 2. In like a day. I'm shameless with my vampire addiction. It's fun to be sucked into a series again :)

LOST TONIGHT!!!!!