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I have a post 90% complete. I have been working on it for over a week but haven't had the time to finish and post it. It is a follow up to my I'm not Expert BUT post I wrote in February, so it is very comprehensive and takes a long time.  I try to be very thorough and thoughtful when I post this type of list.  A lot of research and trial and error goes into the products and theories I buy into.  I want to make sure I am giving you the best information I have.  I hope to finish it this week.

In the meantime, my sister posted a catch-up the other day and I liked it.  In the little sister's pattern of being a copycat, here is mine:

Currently-

watching: nothing - last thing I watched was Toy Story 3 last night
listening: Traffic on Broadway
reading: Middlesex (don't love it)
enjoying: Cooler summer days, days and nights with josh and the babe, friends and a quiet still apartment
feeling: Tired-  My eyeballs feel like they are burning holes through my eyelids. Content- Had a nice three day weekend and glad I like the job I get to go back to in the morning
not enjoying: Mosquitoes, end of Summer Friday's
missing: Sleeping in and working out

I was looking through photos on my phone just now and saw this picture:

I was reminded of the delicious lunch I had last week.  Why I never went to the Oyster Bar before, I have no clue (maybe I didn't even realize it was there?  Never had a reason?  Thought it was going to be too expensive - it really wasn't...).   It might be one of my new special occasion favorite restaurants.  I work just across from Grand Central Terminal and my boss had been telling me about the Manhattan Clam Chowder for two months, so one rainy day I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch. I sat at the counter and ordered the Manhattan Clam Chowder and Creamed Spinach.  Both were very good and I thought I was satisfied - but then the guy sitting at the counter next to me ordered dessert and it looked so good.  It was contagious- I ended up ordering the Thai Basil Cinnamon Ice-Cream (pictured above).  For the 5 minutes I sat and nibbled on it-  the rest of the world stood still.  It was that good.

Now that Sonny can walk, he is finding himself all sorts of adventures:

He has become very good at taking things out of the recycling bag

And very good at going in places he shouldn't be

A Mouse in the House

Three posts on one day! You would think I have had an easy day at work. Au contraire! I have been quite busy. I just had two of these already written.


Ok. So, last night josh had to go into the closet in the back room to look for something and he came out and said “there was a mouse on one of your dresses, he was just clinging to it, like he was scared. I’m going to go back in a bit and it if is still there, I’ll catch it and put it outside.” He didn’t see it again. I went into the closet, took out my suitcase and started getting clothes together. Later, josh came in and said “Oh, look you can see the mouses tail.” It was hanging out of the leg of a pair of my pants. We thought we would catch it and then take it outside and let it go. I’m not opposed to traps, but I don’t want to see it actually die or manually kill it so we thought we would free it. Well… turns out the poor little guys foot was ll sorts of tangled in the loose thread/hem of my pants and he was stuck!

He could have been there for ages! Can you imagine if I would have pulled my pants on and felt a mouse?? Worse yet- as josh pointed out, what if I put them on and the mouse was dead! GROSS.

Josh took some scissors and cut the thread and the mouse fell into the pot we were holding out. This poor mouse had been through so much. He was missing an ear, skinny and clearly scared out of his mind. AND his foot was still caught up in the thread. We couldn’t let his leg fall off, or let him starve to death. Josh got his flashlight and tweezers and we carefully chased the mouse around the pot until we (josh) was able to loosen the thread and set his handicapped leg free. Then we fed him some snacks and gave him some water in the lid of an old water bottle. I could tell he felt better after eating and drinking. We let him rest for an hour and then josh took out side and let him go. He will probably end up back in my closet.  Traps will be set this time though.

Blueberries and Basil

Mmmmm... Why are berries so good? Every kind of berry I can think of right now is so good. Except the berries that made my lip swell up that one time. If you know the story you might be laughing right now. If you don't- it's pretty funny and very Carly.

Remember last year when I was so excited about my CSA? We did it again this year, and have been lucky enough to get a ton of delicious organic blueberries and basil each week. Sonny, loves blueberries too, so it works out perfect and we almost names him Basil They are just the right size for his tiny fingers to pick up and eat. Sometimes he likes to squish them by the fist full first, but mostly he will just eat them one by one.

With all the blueberries we have been getting, I've been thinking and experimenting with ways to use them before they go bad. Aside from the obvious of putting them in salads (i love this), I have two new favorite ways to include blueberries in my cooking.

1st- Sautéed with Veggies. I used fresh green beans from our farm share one day and zucchini from the farm share the next. Although they were both good, I think the zucchini was a little bit better, The moisture from the zucchinis helped to make the blueberries super soft and syrupy. It was almost like eating blueberry pie guts.
If you want to try it this is roughly what I did:

2- small zucchini (sliced)
salt and pepper (to your taste)
a lot of basil leaves (sliced or chopped)
2- tbsp of pine nuts
enough olive oil to thinly coat the bottom of your pan
handful of blueberries

Heat olive oil and throw in the zucchini (when the oil is hot enough to sizzle when a drop of water is introduced). Sautee the zucchinis for about 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure both sides of each have had a chance to get olive oiled and hot. Add the pine nuts, basil and salt and pepper. Sautee another 2-3 minutes (on lower flame), make sure you keep stirring, otherwise the nuts will burn. When the zucchini looks soft and tasty, add the blueberries. For the next minute or two, gently mix it all together (on low heat). Voila! All done. I added some golden quinoa and it made it perfect.



That is fresh corn with basil butter and sprinkled with black caraway seeds

 2nd - Grilled Mozzarella Cheese, Basil, Blueberry Sandwich

The title says it all. This was so good. We were eating grilled cheese and basil sandwiches with blueberries on the side and josh said : "I bet blueberries in the sandwich would be really good." The next day I followed that suggestion and it was NOT a disappointment. If I had a sandwich shop, I would 100% sell this sandwich. If you want to try it, this is what I did:


Mozzarella Cheese (sliced) I used this.
Fresh basil leaves
Blueberries
Organic multi-grain bread
Butter (I used this)

If you don't know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, I'm sorry.
Just in case- here you go:

Butter one side of each slice of bread you are using. Put the bread butter side down on the frying pan that has been on a medium/high flame. Let it warm up for about 30 seconds. Layer your cheese slices on the bread (according to your taste- do you like it super cheesy or thin? your call). Lower fire to medium. Don't touch it for about a minute and a half (depending on how much cheese you put on). Let the cheese get a little melty- not too melty, just glossy looking. Add basil leaves, and scatter a few blueberries on top. Wait about 30-45 seconds, add the other piece of bread on top (butter side up). Flip the sandwich over. Watch the cheese between the bread and when it gets nice and melted looking, you are done!

When you have your sandwich and you are going to cut it in half, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - make sure you cut it diagonally. Grilled Cheese MUST ALWAYS be cut on a diagonal.

Oh!  and look at this pretty bell pepper we got with our farm share.  I'd never seen a purple one!

I know, I know

It has been ages since my last post.  You know what is to blame? My Kindle. It makes reading so easy.  You know why I am blogging now? (**This post was started on Friday night**) Because I just finished the Hunger Games Series (Read all three books in a week and a half- not b/c they are that good, although they are good, but b/c the Kindle just makes it easy).  Before I bought my Kindle I was in a reading lull. **Let me just say, I am in no way being a paid advertisement from Amazon to you. I don' have a very big reader base**.  Why I like the Kindle:

• Reading is EASIER
• Fits into my purse/pumping bag/diaper bag, I bet it would even fit into a large pocket. 
• Access to nearly any book you want to read anytime night or day
• Light Weight
• Easy to read on the train, don't have to flip pages while standing on the A train during rush hour holding the pole with one hand, your bags in another and trying to ignore someone else's breath on your neck
• Easier to read when walking
• Easier to read at the gym
• Books are fairly priced
• Whenever we move, josh will like me more - no more heavy boxes filled with books

Things I do NOT like about my Kindle:

• Access to nearly any book you want to read anytime night or day- They add up!
• Can't put the finished book on your bookshelf
• People can't see what you are reading on the train and you can't tell what other people are reading. I miss the comradery you have when you see someone reading the same book you are reading at the same time. 
• Doesn't have a light. I think the old school indiglo would be a good idea
• Makes reading too easy
• Stands between me and chores, blogs (I still put the baby first though - only read when he is sleeping or at work)
• No more heavy boxes filled with books. 

I told josh a very brief synopsis of the Hunger Games and he said "That sounds like a FANTASTIC waste of time".  He is not a leisurely reader.  But it is NOT a waste of time if you like to read.

No I don't know what to read next.  Any suggestions?  In addition to my daily train commute, I have a plane ride and vacation coming up, so I will need some decent reading. And the last free book I got from Amazon sucked.

Here is a a unrelated picture:

The Internet Says it Takes 6 Years to be Good at Something

Nothing quite captures our marriage like this picture.  One time when we were on a cruise and took a similar picture during one of the scheduled cruise photo sessions; they refused to display it with the other guest pictures because it was "inappropriate". 

July 14th was our six year wedding anniversary. Six whole years we have spent together as husband and wife, and now we have a baby. That is weird (but in the best possible way).  I am a lucky lucky lady and I love my husband.  He is a good man, a good father and a very good husband (these of course are all understatements).  Like I said in his birthday post, I could list an infinite amount of things that make him wonderful, but I like to keep those to myself. If you know him, you know a few of them.  Happy Anniversary to us!

All of these  pictures on this post were taken by our dear and talented friend Shannon Roddy.  She can capture love and personality like no other.  Take a look at her photo blog- she really is a terrific photographer.  Thank you again Shannon for taking these pictures of us, and for making it SOOOOO easy and comfortable.

Eat, Play, Love

So far the boy loves fruit and vegetables and the only thing he gagged on (litterally gagged) was hard boiled egg yolk.  I will not be feeding him that again anytime soon.  He'll try and eat just about anything, but what he loves are figs, avocado, berries, beets and raw zucchini sticks.  I've also been giving him toast with yogurt or other mild spreadables and he likes that too.  It's easy to feed him now that he is older and can digest better. We just keep things super simple, natural and organic.  He makes such a mess and that is so fun to watch.

i think it is so funny how he sits with his one leg up. Straight chillin

I bought him this little walker wagon and was so excited when it came in the mail.  The first time we tried it wasn't very successful so I assumed that it would have to wait a few weeks. I was wrong two days later the boy is zipping all around the house.  He's just learned what to do when he crashes into something.  In the beginning he would just scream out of frustration, but now he will back it up and try to turn it - before screaming out of frustration.   Watch:

This is another cute video (if you aren't sick of seeing my two boys) I love these two:

The 4th of July

The little man is fully recovered. Phew.  

We had a really nice July 4th spent with friends, food and fireworks.  Sunday we met some friends in the park by us for a potluck picnic covered in babies.  We have been really lucky to meet some great families in the neighborhood with babies all around the same age.  They just crawl around stealing eachothers toys. It's cute.

Every year  for a few hours on July 4th, the Empire State Building  is closed to the public for a special firework viewing event. This year we were lucky enough to be able to attend.  It was Awesome.  I've only been to the ESB one other time, and it was crowded and touristy.  This time though was special. All it took was one email from and to the right people and my little family got a very special 4th of July (Thank you DP). The observation deck on the 86th floor is open to a small crowd to watch the Macy's Fireworks.  There was no line.  No crowd, no waiting.  There was King Kong, free snacks and a beautiful view.  The weather was perfect, the sunset was beautiful, New York City actually felt - still.  The baby fell asleep just before the fireworks started and woke up just in time for us to miss the Grand Finale.



The baby wasn't so sure of King Kong





I LOVE NYC



I wonder if this view will ever get old