In Praise of PodCasts

So a colleague of mine just discovered iTunes. He has had a iPod for a while, but had just burned his cds, and not downloaded any content. I was telling him how I love to listen to podcasts on my iPod, and thought I would share some of my favorites here. These are great - and FREE!!! Gotta love that.

1) NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - if you have never heard this hysterical NPR newsquiz show - i LOVE it - it is awesome and comes out weekly.

2) NPR's Selected Shorts - short stories read by actors. I do not like reading short stories. But listening to them is perfect.

3) The Dis Unplugged - all you ever wanted to know about Disney World and trip planning.

4) WDW radio - more about Disney

5) KCRW's Good Food - a foodies heaven. Recipes, restaurant reviews (for southern california), and interesting information about food.

Any other great podcasts I should add to my list?

Good Vibrations

What is it about certain items of clothes that make you feel powerful? I have a couple items that I just love, and when I wear them, I feel I could do anything. Currently, it is my bright red short trench coat from H&M. I bought it at 50% off for $30. Even my kids love it.
Same goes for my black wrap dress. It fits great and I feel like a million bucks in it (I think it was $25 from overstock.com). I have a few pairs of shoes that do it too - especially a few pairs of very high heels.

How is it that clothes can give you that feeling more than anything else?

Cool Party Ideas

Tonight my out-of-town cousin is having the coolest party. It is an Iron Chef/Top Chef party. Each attendee had to select a secret ingredient and then the hostess picked one from a hat 3 days prior to the party. Then the attendees had to bring a dish (entree or appetizer) made with the ingredient to the party. They will be judged on a number of categories including creativity, taste, etc. At the party she is having Top Chef-ish challenges - naming spices by smell only, tasting ingredients, perhaps some kind of relay race involving constructing an hors d'ouvres. It sounds so cool.

So cool my friends and I are stealing it and doing it this weekend. Ingredients up for grabs - lemon, beer, breadcrumbs, goat cheese, peanuts, pineapple, whiskey, and bacon. I think it will be awesome.

Any other ideas for fun dinner parties??

Shook to the Core

This weekend my best friend's husband died of a massive heart attack. There was no warning. He was 40 years old, had no warning signs and had a physical two weeks ago that showed he was perfectly healthy. He leaves behind his wife of 17 years who has multiple sclerosis, a sweet 8-yr old boy with cerebral palsy and a ventilator, and an energetic 5-yr old daughter. Never mind he was the sweetest, gentlest, smartest man I have ever known. He was a beloved husband, devoted father, amazing friend, and someone who found joy in everything and always looked on the bright side.

There are no words to discuss what kind of tragedy this is. It makes you question everything you thought was true.

Favorite Children's Books

My kids LOVE reading. Well, they love listening. K loves reading. They all love listening. So after the big book sort last week I am happy to report we have been reading some new books. And of course the big book dump (we donated MULTIPLE big bags of books away) has not stopped Mama's habit of buying books. In fact, within 24 hours we had several new kids books in the house (hee hee). One of them was an INSTANT favorite. It is the new Piggie and Gerald book called "Watch Me Throw the Ball". If you are not familiar with Piggie and Gerald you are MISSING OUT! They are the newest creations from Mo Willems, an amazing kids book author who has also written "Knuffle Bunny" and "Leonardo, the Terrible Monster" and of course, the Pigeon of "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" etal. Mo used to be an illustrator on Sesame Street and totally knows his stuff. Watch Me Throw the Ball is hysterical. The kids were literally rolling on the floor. I highly recommend it.

Other favorites of my kids - Skippy John Jones, Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, and of course, Junie B Jones and the Magic Treehouse.

What books do your kids like? (we could always use some more!)

Waiter, there's a fly in my soup!

When my brother and I were little we used to have this game we played. Every once in a while, my parents would cook dinner for themselves. Then they would get dressed up and go downstairs to our family room. My brother and I would put on black pants and white shirts. We would write up a menu and set the table. Then we would meet my parents on the landing and escort them to their "table". Then we would serve as the waiter and waitress for their dinner "out". We had pads of paper and took their orders, then carried everything from the kitchen upstairs down to them downstairs. We would even refill their water glasses and clear the dishes to bring new courses. We LOVED it. SERIOUSLY loved it. It was great.

Today, K decided out of nowhere that she wanted to serve dinner to her brother and sister and us. It was homemade pizza. She wrote up a menu and used her picnic set to set the table in our family room. She used her Disney tea party cart to carry the food back and forth. She wore black pants and a blue shirt (she couldn't find a white one). When she came up with the idea I told her we used to do it too. She loved it.

In Case You Ever Need To Know

Dish washing liquid works wonders in getting Vaseline out of hair.

gotta love 2 year olds!