Project 365 – Complete!

I DID IT! I completed my project 365!!  I have to admit that there were a few days where it was a challenge to remember to take a picture or to think of something I haven’t taken a picture of 10x already.   It’s pretty cool to look back on all of these pictures and see where this year has taken me.  There are so many little, yet wonderful, things that happen during the year and these pictures help me remember it all.  I’m proud of myself for keeping up with it throughout this year.  Now I just have to make a book with all of the pictures next time I see a good deal online. 

 

Would I do it again?  Absolutely.  I probably will wait another year or two before doing it again, but it was a great and easy way to document my family and our life over the past year.  Maybe in another year I’ll attempt Project Life, but for now I’m giving myself a year off :)

 

 

 

 

 

on my shelf

You either love him or hate him.  He’s the (little creepy) bribery tool parents use to keep their kids well behaved for the month between Thanksgiving & Christmas.  You guessed it….he’s the elf on the shelf.  For the 2^nd year now this little elf has graced our house with his presence.  I have to admit that he creeps me out a little, but he’s become a tradition in our house and my son looks forward to finding “Adam” every morning.   (If you’re asking yourself “What the heck is an elf on the shelf?” then click HERE) 

The elf has been around for many, many, years but has recently picked up in popularity.  If you do a google search or just log into pinterest you’ll find hundreds of ideas for this stuffed sprite.  Some of these ideas are outrageous and as a working mom I don’t have the time to dedicate every night to setting up some elaborate scene for my elf.  I can barely remember to move him every night so to spend 15+ minutes setting something up each night is exhausting.  Maybe that’s just me but my 4 yo is not going to give a hoot if the elf is hanging off the chandelier or if he’s riding in a hot air balloon that was home crafted out of paper, ribbons and a balloon.    He enjoys finding him regardless. 

I’ve tried to get a little creative only because I’m running out of quick ideas of where to put this thing.  Half of me wants to wrap him in an ace bandage and say that he’s had an accident and can’t move for a week. But I can't disappoint my son, even though I’m pretty sure that he is not buying the whole story about the elf and is just humoring us as we move him every night.  But for now he’s playing along and we’ll continue to move our elf every night until Christmas Eve when we bid him farewell for another year.

Do you have an elf on the shelf?   cast your vote – creepy bribery tool or cute holiday tradition??

elf acrobatics

 

chocoholic elf

 

going for a ride on the Sodor Railway

 

made his own design with our window decorations

flying home to the North Pole makes for a hungry elf

zipline!

 

 

The Great Purge of 2012

You may remember me mentioning a few times how I want to clean out the clutter in my house.  Well, I finally did.  My husband and I started “the great purge of 2012” nearly 5 months ago.  Slowly but surely we have been attacking each room of our house and getting rid of anything we haven’t used or need anymore.  Almost everything we purged ourselves of has been donated to a good home.  Initially I was going to sell some of it on ebay, but gave up on that idea fast.  Donation was a much better idea.  There are so many people out there that could use these things more than we could.

If you remember back to my summer goals from last year, my first goal was:

“Clean out/organize the built in shelving area in our downstairs. It has become a kind of make shift storage area that I’ve begun to cover up with Chinese screens so that I don’t have to look at it anymore. It could use a good purging. “

We started with our bedroom closet and progressed to other areas of the house.  We still have a few places left to work on (mainly A’s closet and his toys) but we've made great progress and I am feeling much better about the house.

What we got rid of:

• 12 huge bags of clothes
• 36 glasses (everything from water to martini)
• 6 glass vases
• 1 table & 4 chairs set (from our kitchen)
• 1 parpasan chair
• 1 (very) old radio
• 3 bags of A’s toys (so far)
• 8 pairs of shoes
• 1 pair of snow boots

We also put a lot of stuff into a storage unit (holiday decorations, winter clothes, baby items) since our closet space is so limited in our townhouse.  De-cluttering was a little difficult for me in the beginning since I’m one of those people who tends to keep things (come on, you know you have your skinny jeans hidden in your closet too) but once I started purging it was like opening the flood gates.  I was tossing things left and right.

Time to go shopping??  (just kidding)

anyone thirsty?  I think I have a glass around here somewhere

Kickin' it old school!!

Aftermath

It’s been a surreal past few days.  Sandy came and she came with a vengeance.  We were extremely lucky where we were and the brunt of the storm went around us.  Even though we’re a mile from the Hudson River, we were high enough up that flooding wasn’t an issue.  We somehow didn’t loose power either.  It flickered a lot and we had a couple brown outs, but I’m shocked that we kept it. 

 

However, a LOT of people weren’t as lucky.  They lost everything they own. Their homes, their memories and some even lost their life.  To say that the storm was devastating is a gross understatement.  I’ve never experienced something like this in my entire life nor do I think anyone else has.  There have been a lot of pictures floating around the news and the internet.  At first I was curious to see how other areas had fared, but after seeing picture after picture of pure devastation I just can’t take the sadness anymore.

 

I’ve been home all week due to the commuter trains being suspended on my line.  The train I take is pretty much on the Hudson River so the damage to those rails were extensive.  flooding, debris, etc.   As crews have been cleaning up the rails they found a boat (!) on the tracks between my stop and the next stop to the south.  It’s just mind boggling.  I don’t think any of us can fully grasp the sheer magnitude of destruction that Sandy caused. 

 

While there are so many heart wrenching stories being publicized in the media, we can’t forget that there also have been stories of human kindness.  Neighbors helping neighbors and strangers helping strangers.  Those are the type of stories that I prefer to hear.   Things will be rebuilt.  It will take time, but it will be done. 

 

If you want to help those families that have been affected by Sandy you can donate to the Red Cross via their website, phone (1-800-RED CROSS) or by texting REDCROSS to 90999 which will send an automatic $10 donation. 

 

My prayers go out to everyone who lost something or someone during this storm.

 

 

Sandy's Path (picture from google)

a boat(!) on the tracks I travel every day to work (picture from www.metroinfo.com)

 

what is left of the Atlantic City boardwalk (picture from gooogle)

yes that's a roller coaster in the ocean (picture from google)

Batten Down the Hatches

Historical.  Unprecedented.  Devastating.  Catastrophic. 

These are all words that have been used by newscasters over the last 24 hrs to describe Hurricane Sandy.  I’m not usually one to be afraid of storms, but I have to be honest and say this one shares the s**t out of me.  Thankfully we live high enough away from the river that flooding shouldn’t be a problem, but I worry about the trees…especially the huge one right behind us.   “Frankenstorm” is a combination of Hurricane Sandy, super-storm conditions, and climate change is about to pummel the East Coast…and my house.

My husband laughed at me when I told him I wanted to go out and get supplies last Thursday.  We only needed some batteries, water and a few other items.  I wasn’t prepared for what I saw (or rather didn’t see) on the shelves of Stop & Shop 4 days ago.

 We got the very last 2 gallon jug of water (the one pictured here) plus a case of bottles.  They also had ton of batteries then so we got enough for our flashlights.  Plus we needed some good ‘ol fashioned junk food to ride out the storm with.

 

and not to be forgotten the most important provision.  Wine!  Now we’re ready :)

We brought in all of our outside stuff and I froze some Ziplocs full of water to use as ice packs or extra water for when we lose power.  Notice I said when, not if.  I’m certain we’ll lose power at some point tonight.  No power with a 4 year old should be tons of fun.

I took advantage of still having power today and finished up some laundry and (more importantly) baking up a batch of Halloween/Hurricane sugar cookies.  Yum!  I had a little helper who loved rolling out the dough, cutting out the cookies and decorating them.

The trains have been shut down and my office is closed today and tomorrow. The storm just made landfall in NJ so it should be up here very shortly.  Bring it on Sandy, Frankenstorm, whatever you want to call it.  We’re ready!!

To my fellow east coasters (and those in the tri-state area) I wish you a safe Frankenstorm.  Batten down the hatches because this lady is cracking open a bottle as the wind kicks up around here.

Beer Marinated Chicken Thighs

Last Sunday night I was browsing online for an idea of what to do with some chicken thighs that I had sitting in the fridge and had to make that night before they went bad.  I stumbled upon the below and immediately stopped.  (link to original recipe is HERE)

Chicken soaked in beer!?   Yes please!

Here is a recipe for you to try on some chicken thighs.  I’m sure you could give it a shot with chicken breasts also if you prefer.  These thighs marinate in beer, spices, lime juice and cilantro for a few hours then you can grill them up for some crispy goodness.  You could also cook in the oven if you don’t want to fire up the BBQ.  The beer in this recipe works as a tenderizer so if you are expecting beer tasting chicken sorry to disappoint you.  

I improvised a bit on the original recipe based on what I had in the house.  For example I used dried cilantro instead of fresh, chili powder instead of ancho-chile pepper and bottled lime juice instead of juicing a fresh lime.   Everyone (including my picky eating son) loved it and ate it all up.
 

Beer Marinated Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs
• 2-3 cloves of Garlic, pressed through a garlic press
• 1 teaspoon Ancho-Chile Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Cracked Pepper
• 2 tablespoons Fresh Cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup {8 fl. oz.} Beer, any kind should do
• 2 tablespoons Sesame Seed Oil
• Juice of half a large lime

Preparation:

 

(1)  Combine the garlic, spices, cilantro, sesame seed oil, beer and lime juice into a medium sized bowl.

(2)  Place the two pounds of chicken thighs into a large re-sealable bag or large bowl (I trim off any excess fat before I stick them in the bag).  Pour the marinate over the top.

(3) Seal the bag and squish the chicken around to coat evenly. Place in the fridge to marinate for 2 hours, tossing around every now and again.

(4)  Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Remove the chicken and discard the marinade. Lay the chicken on the grill grates and cover for a few minutes per side until cooked all the way through

(5)  Once the chicken is cooked, remove and let rest for a few minutes under foil.

Yield: 4 servings

Why, Hello There

Has it really been over a month since my last post??  Wow!  I hadn’t realized it was that long since I’d been on here.  The entire summer just flew by this year.  I can’t believe that it’s fall already and I’m even starting to think about Christmas shopping.  Yikes!

We had quite the busy summer with a few trips and lots of parties & BBQs.  The fall is looking to be busy also.  We have a family vacation to Florida planned next month and if all goes well…..there could be some big changes coming my way.

Stay tuned.  More to come soon!