Carter Plays Royals Baseball

This summer every night Carter asked to go outside to play baseball. Every night. I must have pitched a thousand balls and Kevin must have played hours of catch.

Anna took these videos so we could capture Carter announcing himself as each Royals player when he bats. You can see me pitching in my work clothes and Baxter helping to fetch the balls (he is handy that way... except when Carter hits them past the invisible fence line).

He says he's going to be a baseball player when he grows up. If it comes true I'm sure this video will be played more later than it will now.

Cooking with Carter (Real Simple's A Month of Dinners - Day Two)

Day two of A Month of Dinners from Real Simple was Tomato Soup with Paninis. Carter chose to help me make this meal. I edited 45 minutes of video into 9 that I've named "Cooking with Carter." I personally think his commentary on the whole meal is hysterical. He frequently breaks into song. If you can get past the fact that you have to stare at my mid section for most of the video (and that's not my best section) and all the crap on my counter in the background, then I think it's worth it.



If Real Simple's goal is "taking back dinner" then mission accomplished because Carter and I definitely enjoyed cooking together.

Unfortunately the reviews of the meal weren't as good as the reviews of making the meal. Several times Carter exclaims "This HAS to be better than last night" and while Kevin and I agreed it was an improvement over day 1 the kids did not agree. They didn't like the sandwiches grilled - they claimed they were burnt. They weren't burnt but it's clear they prefer their sandwiches cold and if I was going to make cold sandwiches this meal would have been a lot faster and simpler to just make some turkey or roast beef sandwiches. The soup was ok but not as good as Nordstrom cafe's tomato soup and so I would just recommend picking up a jar of that and heating it at home to go with some cold sandwiches if you wanted to make this meal. Or go with simple grilled cheese. Way faster and easier and everyone would have liked it more.

Strike two.

The Wedding

My cousin's wedding in Estes Park was one of the best weddings I've been to. Of course it had this gorgeous backdrop

And she was beautiful

It had a few firsts for me.

The first wedding I've been to where the bride didn't walk down the aisle to the typical wedding march. The first wedding I've been to that didn't have a flower girl or ring bearer. And the first wedding reception I've been to that had a surprise flash mob.

Surprise Flash Mob at Wedding Reception from Cara on Vimeo.

My cousin made all of the centerpieces which were very personal (she works in the film industry)

In addition to those paper flowers she also made all of the ones in this wreath

Not to mention the 100+ cupcakes she baked (the pumpkin with cream cheese icing was my favorite). She put Martha Stewart to shame.

I wore a new dress by Suzi Chin for Maggie Boutique. I had never bought this brand before. I ordered it online and it arrived the day before we left. Luckily it fit. I originally found it on Nordstrom's but then found it for half the price on Blue Fly. Ahh, the benefits of shopping on the internet if you have the time to find what you want and then search for it for cheaper. I don't think I have anything in this color but I decided I really like it.

All in all it was a nice weekend getaway.

A Month of Dinners - Day One

With my recent traveling I picked up the latest Real Simple magazine that touted it's Month of Dinners on the cover. I followed a similar article nearly 10 years ago that I loved so I was excited to try this one.

As soon as we got back from our trip to Colorado today I grabbed the preprinted grocery list and headed out. Day one is Salmon With Gingery Green Beans and Bok Choy

Real Simple is blogging about it here as well.

I would not make this recipe again. Granted I bought frozen salmon and I think that was my first mistake but the fresh salmon had all been cut up and only had ends left over that didn't look appealing. And I think I overcooked it. I drowned it in soy sauce in order to eat it. The kids wouldn't touch the vegetables. And I thought it needed a starch so I made a box of rice which was the only thing anyone ate.

Let's hope day two is better!

Hello from colorado

I am writing this on kevin's iPad from Estes park Colorado. We are here for my cousin's wedding tomorrow. We are staying at a motel that only has 6 rooms but it has been updated so it is actually really nice.

We walked around downtown before our room was ready. It is perfect for women in their 50's who want to buy another cloth patterned bag and bear decorations for their guest bedroom back home that has a lodge theme.

It reminds me a lot of lake Tahoe... Earthy, outdoorsy, organicy. I am not one with nature. I have allergies and my asthma is bothering me a little bit with the altitude. I forgot an albuterol inhaler somehow and our rental car has had a smoker in it. As much as they tried to mask it by vacuuming and air freshener I noticed it immediately. I like to look at the mountains I just don't feel the desire to be in them. All those family vacations when we used to drive for hours remind me of how carsick I can get. Hence the reason I prefer to fly everywhere. But only on large planes. Those small ones make me super sick too. Ah I'm such a high maintenance traveler. But I'm good once I reach my final destination.

I got an hour nap in. Much needed sleep after the recent conference at exacthtarget and no catch up since. Looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow!

September Meal Planning (week of 18 September 2011)

Sunday - leftovers from company picnic
Monday - Chicken fried steak
Tuesday - Country Captain Chicken with White and Wild Rice
Wednesday - I can't remember now...
Thursday - Corn Chowder from Help My Apartment Has a Kitchen

Last week I was in Indianapolis so Kevin was on his own all week with the kiddos. I imagine they had frozen pizza, chinese food and take out pizza.

Meal Planning (Week of 04 Sep 2011)

Sunday - Kabobs + Salad
Monday - Taco Soup
Tuesday - Steak Salad
Wednesday - Brats + sides
Thursday - TBD
Friday - Eat Out