Stupid Stuff

Not much has been going on around here. Now that our party is over, we have a little time to enjoy the remaining October days. I already feel the presence of Thanksgiving and Christmas, though. I am trying to resist the urge of jumping into that mindset and at least get through next Wednesday. So the past few days I have been catching up on things neglected. We had the kids rooms painted two weeks ago and I went through the closets and clothes. That always takes SO long. Took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill. We will probably get pregnant soon since I have officially gotten rid of all our baby stuff. Now I need to start hanging shelves and get a few pieces of furniture. We painted Luke's room this cool dark grey charcoal color and Sadie's room is a deep pink/faded red. It's great! I remember seeing a wall that color in a Jcrew years ago. Didn't think I'd be able to have it in my house. Aw yeah.
We have had some crazy wind here the past few days. Today was calm and beautiful! This afternoon it was about 80 degrees by the time I picked up Elliet from school. As soon as we got home, we celebrated by having snow cones one last time. Then the kids did their usual routine and all removed their pants and followed the leader around the pool, marching in their underwear. Hey, man- It wasn't TV and keeps them happy, right?
Tonight I needed to sew Elliet's Halloween costume. Her school party/parade is on Thursday. I wasn't sure how long it would take...luckily I whipped it out toot sweet. She is going to be a mermaid so all I really had to do was make a skirt.
I was having fond memories of my Mom making my costumes as a kid. She was always so creative and did a great job. I felt so proud going to school in the stuff she would make. It's dorky, but I was happy to be doing this- it's fun being a Mom and finding joy in some of the daily-ness that we do. At least, until she tells me I did it wrong or something.
The other night we made Bulgogi. It's a great recipe I have used for years and thought to my silly self, "I should take a picture of all this juicy meat and show everyone how gluttonous we are!". So here it is- a pic of just the meat. Of course, no, we did NOT just eat meat. You add some fresh green beans sauteed with olive oil, S&P and some brown rice and voila- it's FAB-O.
If you don't know what Bulgogi is, try it out, folks. Your tongue will thank me later. VERBALLY.




I also wanted to show off my cool cake I made for the Halloween Party. But you know what? This is just how things go. It looks cool, right? But no one ate it! Well, before the party I caught Sadie and Luke scraping the bottom end apart, but that doesn't count. So oh well. It was fun to try something new. This is why I like events- they give me a reason to try new things (yes, friends are guinea pigs. Big kiss! Loves!). This was a test of the meringue bones I made earlier. I put them between the layers of cake, hoping that when you cut the 'grave', you would cut through crunchy bones and get all creeped out and Happy Halloween! But no, the meringue bones are delicate creatures- afraid of commitment to crunchiness and dissolve like white wimps between cake. I suppose chocolate frosting makes me wimpy, too- I can't judge. It was yummy though- the meringue inside the chocolate reminded me of Hostess cupcakes.
But hey- the fingers look dope, right? Plus I used Martha's seven minute frosting recipe. It always looks so great, but I swear- give it an hour exposed to air and it's like a rubber tomb. I am still on the hunt for a good, 'whipped' frosting that isn't buttercream. I want that airy, whip cream kind that is on the store cakes. You know the kind? It holds shape great but isn't all greasy? What is that magical substance and how can I know the secret to it's goodness!?