Christmas Moments

Posted by Yvette

Christmas is over! Hooray!

The tree is down and everything is packed away and ready to go back into the garage.

I’m not really this grinchy, as I’ve mentioned I’m usually pretty fond of the holidays, I really am. It’s just, this year just went by so quickly and Christmas snuck up on me. I was not ready at all! I felt like I was taking down Halloween decorations and suddenly, it’s Christmas?

Note to self – Next year will be a nightmare before Christmas theme.

All in all, the kids had a great Christmas. I didn’t get to decorate our first Christmas in our new home the way I had imagined I would. I didn’t send Christmas cards out like I wanted to. We were shopping up until Christmas Eve, even though this year, we swore we wouldn’t…. Of course, it was all worth it, when we saw the kids faces light up as they unwrapped their gifts. The little monster even unwrapped gifts we had for other people, meaning I would have to re wrap them all.

A few memorable Christmas moments in no particular order:

• The little monster opening gifts and squealing before he even knew what was inside the box.
• Little monster opening gifts that didn’t belong to him and when we would stop him, he stared us down with absolutely no expression on his face.
• My 11 year old son telling me “I hope I get skinny jeans” in an oh so obvious voice that confirmed to me that his sister told him what we bought at the mall a few days before.
• Watching our 7 year old and the little monster throw celery sticks on the lawn for the reindeer.
• Seeing the cup of milk the kids left out for Santa - a black goblet with the words TOXIC written on it from Halloween.
• Hearing our little monster say “happy Chrismis!”
• Seeing my 11-year-old son fast asleep on the couch at 9am, tired from waking up before 6am Christmas morning.
• Spending time with family
• Knowing it was finally over!

Anyone else have any great memorable Christmas moments? Please comment, we’d love to hear them!

Sweetfully,

Yvette

To do list:

Posted by Tabitha 

It is time to get back to my regularly rescheduled program, and I can feel it.

Christmas is just 2 days away and I'm sure like every other procrastinator, I still have a slew of things to get done.  This year however; I am a bit ahead of the game. I'm actually done with half of my Christmas shopping, which is a huge milestone for this professional procrastinator. Cheers to that!


I keep wondering-what will I do after Christmas and I no longer have 8-12 Pumpkin Rolls to bake per day? Will I sloth in front of the television and catch up on all my garbage DVR shows? Will I finally make an appearance at the place called a gym? Will I have a bit more time to chat and see Master Gemini and allow his sense of humor and charisma to further envelope my deprived love life? How about those salsa classes I've been thinking about? Hmmm, and pastry classes? Oh wait, I also need to start preparing for sky diving in March and I'm thinking a marathon of some sort would be a good idea. Oh, and an updated vision board is on the horizon too. What about Sweetfully Ever After's January treat? Before all of this I really should work on the decorations for the New Year's Eve party. Geesh...where to start.

I'll start with a list. T.V. was first on the list, so I'll start there.

Sweetfully yours,
Tabitha

Naughty or Nice TALKING TUESDAY

Tis the season to give and receive. What if the gift you receive is not really to your liking and the giver asks if you like it. Are you naughty or nice? What do you say?

Comment away!

Speaking of the Truth...

posted by Tabitha

Sweetfully Ever After has been productive and busy. Tis' the season, right?

Between baking Pumpkin Rolls (me), wireless being down (Yvette), craft fair shopping (both), packaging for Pumpkin Rolls, (Yvette), 5 children (Yvette), blind dates, (Yvette...kidding!! Me!), being sick (me) and basically having a full load, Sweetfully Ever After has also kept a happy little secret.

Well, perhaps not a secret to our close friends and family, but certainly from the blogmosphere. OK! Maybe not a secret, but more like good news. (Good dramatics work, you know.)
 
Sweetfully Ever After will be hosting a Holiday Cupcake Party for the children at Children's Hospital this month.

Before I gush and gush, you ask, what is a cupcake party? It means that we will be taking 60 homemade cupcakes to Children's Hospital along with all the supplies for the kids to decorate the cupcakes however they'd like. Pretty cool, huh?

You know, when we decided to start this blog I said I'd go about this in the most honorable way, in a honest way.  Well,  the truth is that I don't know how to explain how honored I feel today or felt the day we received the email inquiring about our interest in doing something at Children's Hospital.

The truth also is, things are overwhelming today and I feel like I have a lot on my plate. I have a full-time career in marketing, a full-time job baking Pumpkin Rolls, no time to go to spin classes, haven't seen my family since Thanksgiving, my room is a mess, my car needs an oil-change, my back hurts, I'm PMS'ing, I need to finish my Christmas shopping, help plan a NYE party at my house and somehow have a dating life.

However...

The BIGGER truth is that my heart is pumping stronger than it ever has. The truth is, for the past 2 weeks I've closed my eyes every night and can imagine seeing those little faces at Children's Hospital and a rush of peace enters my heart. The truth is, when I open my eyes the next morning and feel like I didn't get enough sleep the night before, I imagine those faces again and I do the mental countdown for the day that we'll see those faces.

I know it's just a cupcake, but if a cupcake can make one child smile for one moment...the truth is, I'd say that I've fulfilled my purpose here on this crazy planet.

Sweetfully,
Tabitha

TALKING TUESDAY

Sweetfully Ever After wants to know:


If you were able to wake up tomorrow in the body of someone else, would you do so? Whom would you pick and why?

Best response will receive a FREE Pumpkin Roll before they are out of season at the end of December 2010, so get creative!  *Answers must be in by midnight PST on 12/14/10

The Taste of Sarcasm

Posted by Tabitha 

Last Saturday night I was invited to the Taste of Mexico by my cousin, Carlos. The Taste of Mexico was to be a spectacular event with four of the top Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles serving dinner to their guests at a Downtown Los Angeles venue. Oh, and free Tequila tasting. Sign me up…

The venue was beautiful. It was a renovated cathedral, so how could it not? As a recovering Catholic,  I still have immense appreciation for beautiful churches and cathedrals, so I was in awe. The place was crammed with people, a live mariachi band filled the air, food aroma’s permeated my nostrils with each inhale and there were plenty of opportunities to indulge. 

We indulged straight to the tequila. 

After tasting a responsible amount of tequila, Dawna arrived. I was glad. Carlos is a social butterfly and can chat it up with a mannequin if need be. He’s actually the perfect person to take anywhere if you’re looking to indirectly connect with everybody at a party, but not talk to them for too long. His social graces are much more admirable than mine when it comes to meeting new people. We are related, so luckily I still have some wit that make my social ineptness almost unnoticeable to most people. Oh well…back to the story. I was glad Dawna arrived. I would be able to hang out with her while Carlos did his social thing, but most importantly it was time to eat!

We chose what seemed to be the most popular restaurant to eat at since the line was horrendously long. The line looped right past a well-known bakery where I devoured a Mexican wedding cookie. Oh, no, that was earlier. I think I stayed clear this time around. It took us nearly 20 minutes before we arrived to the actual food. I decided to eat a little bit of everything they had. The portions were appetizer sized and it all looked delicious. 

I walked down the line of food and finally arrived to the last person serving food. He had mini tostadas with chicken and beef. Perfect! I took the chicken tostada one first, but hesitated for a moment on the beef. My plate was already overflowing with food, but I was hungry. I went for it. As the chef served it onto my plate he casually said, “that’s grasshopper.” My quick sarcastic infused response was, “oh…ok.”

Carlos, Dawna and I found a table to enjoy our Mexican feasts. I took a bite of the mini chicken tostada, yum. Next was the mini beef tostada.

I took a bite. Instantly I was appalled by the taste of the seasoning on my tongue, but bit down anyways. What is that? It’s crunchy. I continued to chew. What IS that? It’s too crunchy…

“EW! I’m eating grasshopper.”

In the same second that I so cleverly and instinctually ensured that grasshopper would not enter my body, Carlos managed to take a picture of me, take the grasshopper from me for a picture AND ate it. You see, he really is the life of the party. 

Please enjoy some before and after pictures: 

Before-I was so happy and unaware of what my palette was about to experience

After the insult...

 Here's the little guy captured by Carlos's camera-you can see it's leg

 

Side note-I am more than willing to try new food. I went to the Philippines in 2004 and virtually ate everything put in front of me, so it’s not for lack of trying on my end. I just wasn’t expecting grasshopper. 

I thought the chef was being sarcastic and maybe even witty when he said “that’s grasshopper” because that is something I would say.

Let’s see how long the taste of sarcasm lesson sticks.

“oh…ok!” 

Sweetfully yours, 

Tabitha

Calling out Sick

posted by Yvette

The little monster was sick! Poor little guy had a stomach bug of some sort. 

last Thursday evening at about 7:30pm, I get a text from my daughter –

(spelling as it was in text message)

Daughter: Can I go to Isbel’s party, remember it’s this Sunday ;) :p

Me: As long as your room is clean, your art poster is done and we work on your book cover. Deal?

Daughter: Yeah jude threw up and someone cloged the toilet and didn’t un clog it and so its leaking through the ceiling

I don’t think I can do the poster and the book cover all by Saturday her party is on sunday ;) :p

Me: What!?!

What toilet is leaking?

Is Jude sick?

Daughter: yup dad wants u to call or pick up ur phone ;) :p

So call my husband to find out what is going on and why I am finding out via text from my daughter who seems more worried about going to a party on Sunday.  My poor husband sounds exasperated as he tries to explain to me that our little monster had thrown up in the car on the drive home. He is not sure if he’s sick, or ate something that his tummy didn’t agree with. Then my husband proceeds to tell me that the toilet upstairs had been overflowing out of the tank (clean water thank goodness!) for who knows how long because the boys had been next door at a friends house. The water had saturated the carpet upstairs and managed to leak down into the living room! 

Lovely.

I hang up the phone and sit at my desk for another second before I run out the door.

I get home to a pile of wet towels on the living room wood floor and a rosy-cheeked little monster.

Friday morning comes and I start my weekday routine; 6am wake up, make the kids lunches: mustard only, turkey, jalapeño jack cheese on toasted bread for my 13 year old, mayo, mustard, turkey and munster cheese for my 11 year old boy, white rice and rosemary chicken leftovers in a bento box for my 11 year old daughter and finally mayo only, turkey on toasted bread for my 7 year old. I wake up the kids about 6:15 and head back down to pack the lunches.

Here come the arguments of “I’m not hungry” or “I don’t want to eat” and of course “why don’t you ever buy what I like?.

By 6:50, I am counting down to 7am which is when the first set of kids are supposed to be headed out the door and off to school and Ita’s house (my mother-in-law).

This time, my little monster tells me “my stomuk hurt” I check him for a fever and thankfully he doesn’t have one.  I tell him, “your going to be with Ita today, okay?” he say’s “no. stay at mama’s house” He’s looking at me with his giant eyes and I say “oh baby I wish I could, but I have to go to work”

“no work, I want to stay with mama”

How do I say no to that?

I don’t.

I stay home with my sick little monster….

Welcome to TALKING TUESDAY

Sweetfully Ever After is introducing Talking Tuesday.

It is fun and easy-simply comment below with you answer. 

The holiday season is upon us, which means LOTS of festivities and planning is upon us. So tell us your favorite pre-season ritual or tradition that takes place in your home today or in your childhood.

No answer is too big or too short, so have fun! 

Truly,
Sweetfully Ever After

Costco is my Disneyland

Posted by Tabitha 

I think angels might cry when I announce this, but…I don’t like Disneyland. I actually kind of loathe it.

Please don’t feel sorry for me and think I had some sort of deprived childhood. I didn’t like Disneyland as a child either. Wait, there was this one time I took my nephew to Disneyland with an Ex-boyfriend and somewhat enjoyed it. I think I was mentally playing “house” though, so that shouldn’t count.

Anyhow, my form of Disneyland is Costco. I love, I mean LOVE Costco. As soon as I know of an impending Costco visit I instantly start mentally planning.

What will I wear? This is important because I plan to track the entire Costco store and need to ensure I have the proper shoes. Also, is a sweater necessary? I plan to do a lot of walking and since my body temperature rises when excited, do I really want to lug a sweater around? And now for a purse. Hmm, a backpack would really be ideal, but that might look suspicious. I am slightly paranoid and tend to leave my cart alone for a few moments at a time, so I usually settle on a purse I can easily swing over a shoulder or a side satchel like purse.

So what do I love about Costco? Besides the obvious fact that buying in bulk is smart and cost effective for a household on a budget, that is only my cherry on top reason for loving Costco.

I love the people watching. You’d be amazed at how many interesting and awkward moments I’ve encountered at Costco. I sometimes wish I were the “cool girl” who could walk around with sunglasses. If I did, I think I’d stare even more.

Food Samples.  YES! Yes, I am that person that tries every food sample. Where else can you get a low calorie taste of something that you KNOW is bad for you? Hello, deep fried jalapeño cheese poppers! On top of that, I have the ability to work those calories off by walking aisle after aisle aimlessly and happily. Fabulous!

Lines.  I understand people do not like Costco because of the long lines, but here’s something to think about. Disneyland has ONE long long line for everybody. Costco has multiple lines, so we have the ability to analyze which line is the shortest and who has fewer products to buy. If I’m lucky, I have another person with me so we get to both stand in different lines and race to see who gets to the front first, then we both end up in that line.

Ok, I know Disneyland has a FAST PASS, but I know of a quick way to enter the Costco parking lot and park that most people do not know about. So, I have a Costco FAST PASS.

Window Shopping. Costco has the best ideas for making crafts for the Holiday season. I was inspired by something I saw yesterday and have already started researching how I can manufacture the same gift idea with a touch of Tabitha and less of a price. Thanks, Costco!

Hidden Gems.  Since October I have been searching for a green jacket to match the new brown boots I bought. (I’m more of a black and white kind of dresser; so adding some color into my wardrobe has been part of turning a new leaf.) The search for a green jacket had led me to Ebay, Nordroms Rack, Macy’s and even Ross. Instead, I found a great black jacket and bought it. (Right, because I need another black jacket.) In any case, yesterdays Costco visit provided me with the ever so difficult to find green jacket I have been searching for. Reason 500 why I love Costco.

Now, there is one area in which Disneyland and Costco certainly match up. I cannot walk out of Costco without a bill of at least $200. Just like Costco is worth the $200 bill to me, I am most certain that same $200 bill is worth it to parents taking their children to Disneyland.

Lastly to all my friends with children, don’t worry. Should I be blessed with little ones at some point in my life, I WILL take them to Disneyland and I WILL love it.

I’ll just secretly love Costco more.

Sweetfully yours,

Tabitha

Surviving the Fire

Posted by Tabitha 

True Friends.

These are the people you count on to pick you up and celebrate when you announce enthusiastically that you’ve been promoted, paid off your car, are engaged, etc. We also count on them to pick us up, literally from the ground, when we’ve managed to successfully dig a hole in our lives and burrow in it. That’s a whole other kind of success, unfortunately.

If you are blessed, then you have a handful of these friends and you treasure them more than you treasure (insert your ungodly possession here).

So what happens when you see a true friend running into a building engulfed in flames, with no fire protection and the simple “hope” that something good will come out of it?

Well, I have a true friend who has done just that.

My first inclination was to yell “Stop, you fool! You’re smarter than this! Why are you doing this?” However; in all my so-called brilliance (I’m using this term loosely), I once ran into that same exact building engulfed with flames and realize that nobody, not even a 10- ton gorilla or my best friend Romina, who can be much scarier than a 10-ton gorilla when trying to protect a friend, could have stopped me. I have the figurative burn marks as a reminder; yet, I felt like I’d be a hypocrite if I stopped my true friend. Instead, I let her run and didn’t even call her a fool.

I didn’t even give her a fire retardant jacket to survive the burns...

So now what? She’s in the fire and is suffering 10 degree burns at every turn. As a friend, I can only watch miserably offering my words of encouragement- when asked. Why don’t I push? Why don’t I offer the “tough love” that nurturing women so cleverly offer at times? Well, experience I guess. Friends around me know how quickly I was to pull away when anything more than distant encouragement was offered. It came to the point where I decided to suffer my burns quietly in solace.

Yesterday my true friend said, “Why did this happen? How did I get here?” I realized something. While I wanted to scream and yell, “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE….don’t question it!” There was nothing I could say that would make sense to her. The fire is too intense for her. I mean, do firefighters stop to investigate the cause of the fire while the fire is blaring around them? Of course not. It is not until the smoldering building is a heap of nothing and any surviving evidence is pulled from the wreckage that the investigation begins. 

Instead I said, “That’s the thing, honey. While you are in it, you’ll never know. You’re too close.”

It breaks my heart to pieces, but yesterday for this true friend, it’s what I had to offer. The truth. The truth is, you just need to get out alive. When she does get out alive, because she will, I will be there with the fire First Aid kit, just as my person (my best friend Romina) was there for me. There are no questions asked. No I told told you’s. Just love. Just love…

True Friends. What every gal needs to survive the proverbial fire.

Sweetfully yours,

Tabitha

Monkey’s have invaded my life and I think I love it

Posted by Tabitha

Sweetfully Ever After has idea. Tons of ideas.

Where do we start? Oh wait, we already started. Are we taking on too much? Too ambitious?

Are the monkeys in my brain taking control of my life?  Like Elizabeth Gilbert referenced in her book “Eat, Pray, Love”, the monkeys are like thoughts in my brain jumping from limb to limb and never stop. Of course my life has to be more interesting, so the monkeys are addicted to every idea and inspiration that pops into my brain. 

Monkeys on crack-Fabulous.   

Is it possible to be complete and happy when passion and inspiration is driving my life, I don’t really have a moment to stop and dilly-dally, I’ve already made it clear to Mr. Interested that chatting on the phone is impossible at 9pm because hello…I have a business meeting, and all my thoughts are about what we have the opportunity to create?

Is it possible to believe that the idea conceived by a simple Facebook posting could become something I never knew existed for me but now breathe, sleep and eat the idea?    

I’m a Scorpio. I’m too cynical to believe in this kind of stuff right?

Right?

No time to wait for an answer. Spin class will surely knock the monkeys into place. 

Sweetfully yours,

Tabitha

"Bah! Humbug!"

Posted by Yvette

 Is it January yet?

As a child I didn’t celebrate the holidays, so when I became a mother I always went as big as I could (or my wallet would let me) for every holiday. I’m usually a sucker for decorations and handmade projects that are themed around whatever holiday it happens to be.

When we bought the house, I thought of all the ways I would decorate for each holiday. I told myself I would plan ahead and enjoy hosting holiday dinners.  I imagined the kids running down the stairs to find presents under the tree…

So why is it December 1^st and all I can do is beg for January to be here? Halloween decorations came down November 1^st this year, I’m dreading going into our garage to pull out Christmas decorations and I just want it to all be over!

Maybe it’s because as the kids get older they get more expensive. Letters to “Santa” went from G.I. Joes, blocks, legos, dolls and easy bake oven to lists that now include BMX bikes, laptops and TV’s for their rooms…

The kids no longer get excited to make handmade ornaments for our tree…

As cute as it will be to watch my husband put up Christmas lights on our very own house, I can’t help but wonder if a trip to the emergency room will be part of the process or if our circuit breaker will go out…

Maybe it’s because I have a million things to do and less than a month to do it…

no, really? Is it January yet?

Scroogefully yours,

Yvette

Peaches and Cream

Posted by Tabitha 

“Good Morning Sunshine! Thought I’d wish you a great day. With a name like Tabitha, I would imagine all your days are like peaches and cream. Talk to you later.”

And so it begins…

After a week of Pumpkin Rolls and what seemed like a constant buzz of the electric mixer in my head I was ready for a short vacation. I mean, who wouldn't be after baking over 50 Pumpkin Rolls (THANK YOU!!) in 5 days. No complaints though! 

Arizona was my destination. I was invited to a birthday/going away celebration, and since Susan Miller, my online astrologer, told me to "circulate" I decided that meant all the way to Arizona.

Here goes Full Disclose out to the blogmisphere. Yes, I just decided that was a word.

I realized right before my trip that in all the Sweetfully Ever After excitement, pumpkin roll baking and blogging away that I hadn't been out on a legitimate date in well, I don't remember how long. Furthermore, I realized that I hadn't even stopped to think about a man (real or imaginary) or even logged into Plentyoffish.com just to window shop or check on who had viewed me my profile. (Oh yeah, that's my favorite part.) I wasn't upset about this realization at all, just surprised. Typically, there’s someone lurking in the corners of my dating life. Whether it’s a man I’m interested in and he’s "just not that into me” or he’s interested in me and I just can’t get into it. However, with all the new adventures in my life I just hadn’t had the time for Mr. Right Now’s so I was riding solo. Not a bad thing at all, so I just embraced it and jumped on a plane to Arizona.

On one of our nights out on the town we walked passed a man who gave me the complete “I’m interested look” in a way I had not received in quite a while. Ok, I don’t really go to bars anymore and definitely do not go to clubs and since men can’t LOOK at me online, it had been a while.

We continued to walk passed him and his eyes stayed on me. As we were about to exit the bar his friend, Wing Man, approaches us. Sergeant Gonzales, my future housemate, was with us and there was no way Wing Man was going to make it passed him. Sergeant Gonzales was nice enough to humor Wing Man who finally walked away. We continued out the door and here comes Wing Man again. Sergeant Gonzales and my other roommate now begin drilling him. I completely lost interest and realized I was insulted. Why did Mr. Interested send his Wing Man to do his work? Was I not worthy of being swept off my feet by Mr. Interested himself? So, I did the most natural thing I could think of-I confronted Mr. Interested. I believe it went something like, “Why did you send your friend to talk to me?” The look of bewilderment on his face was priceless. He sputtered a bit and perhaps it was a ploy…but it worked. Mr. Interested landed a California cellular phone number and it was actually the right number. Not a common occurrence in this woman’s life.

“Good Morning Sunshine! Thought I’d wish you a great day. With a name like Tabitha, I would imagine all your days are like peaches and cream. Talk to you later.”

Peaches and cream? How’d he guess?

Sweetfully,

Tabitha

Happy Launch Day Sweetfully Ever After

Posted by Tabitha

What an exciting  day it is!  Yvette and I are ready to officially launch Sweetfully Ever After to our friends and family.

Last night I traveled north to Yvette's house where we finalized some details for this blog and divided up the measurements to make 25 Pumpkin Rolls that we have on order for Thanksgiving. These orders have come in from our close friends and family.

It's all happening so fast and we are so grateful, but most importantly we are having fun. Cheers to that!

Today was spent making 10 of the Pumpkin Rolls we have on order and wondering "what if" a lot.

What if:

-this blog is like my 9th or 10th birthday and nobody shows up?
-someone actually thinks I think I'm a writer and leaves me a rude comment about poor grammar or spelling. I can delete those comments right?
-we have SO many orders that we have to rent out a kitchen? Good problem right?
-someone takes offense to something we blog about.
-I acquire a stalker by having a blog.
-we actually have readers and someone thinks I'm "so awesome" and they want to set me up with their hilariously funny, charming and ruggedly handsome friend/brother/co-worker/cousin/dad. Ew? Dad. No.
-my friends start telling me, "you can't blog about this!" and its something awe-inspiring, but I know I have to  respect it their feelings. 
-we end up on Oprah! Oh, wait-it's Oprah's last season.
-we end up on Ellen!
-martians land on earth

And there it stopped.

Whenever I start playing the "what if" game with myself I ask myself that, "and what if martians land on earth" because I realize that thought process is just as silly as the rest. I don't know what will happen, so for the most part I just need put forth worthy effort, smile and accept what comes, right? Hmm, or I could go to a Psychic. 

Nah, let's go the old-fashioned way and leave it up to destiny. 

Whatever will be will be and I embrace this experience for all that it may bring. 

Sweetfully yours,
Tabitha

Dedicated to Non-Complaining Parents

posted by Tabitha


Quick intro to this blog:

Pumpkin Roll season is in FULL swing and the orders are coming in daily. I have managed my time and can now successfully bake 5 Pumpkin Rolls in 2 hours, which is what my evenings have consisted of this week.

And here we go…

I woke up feeeling unusually tired on Thursday morning and realized it was due to the fact that I had neglected the gym all week. Wow, who would have even thought that statement would exist in my world? I mean, I went through 30 years of my life without the gym and was always tired. I just didn’t know why, I guess.

I got through the day with the usual hustle and bustle at work and managed a quick lunch stop at Smart & Final for more Pumpkin Roll supplies, and a quick bite at Subway. Even though the gym has been non-existent I still try to eat sensibly. By the way, wouldn’t you all agree Subway would get more business if they actually had a drive-thru? Anyways, I had 5 more Pumpkin Rolls to bake due to a surprise order that came in the previous day during a chat with a vendor/friend I work with , so lunch became errand time yet again this week. 

Ok, so I get home and notice that something is definitely amiss in the house, but  I’m not too focused on it because I have rolls to bake! Mind you, Yvette was set to come over at 6:30pm to package the baked Pumping Rolls and I still had to deliver them since they were all needed Friday. For this reason, I didn’t over-analyze the fact that all the lights were on in the house, the front gate that is always closed is wide open, Oscar, one of the dogs is missing (I figured he was with Dawna-his owner), and my dog, Mia, is whining like somebody took her favorite toy away. Instead I went about my baking business until I realized I needed to  more pumpkin. I open the front door and there stood my two roommates with Oscar, the dog. Ummmm, why does Oscar have a cone around his head and bandage on his ear??

BAD-Mia and Oscar got into a territorial fight over a dead squirrel
WORSE-Oscars little ear was torn bad enough by Mia that he needed stitches
ME-Gulp. I feel terrible and helpless.

Instantly my plans change and I unconsciously realize I need to be present for this moment. As a dog owner since 21, I know all too well about the scare of your beloved pet being hurt and the grotesque vet bill. I went back inside the house and chatted with the roommates for a few minutes and got the basics of the story. Not good.

By this time it is 6:15pm and I realize Yvette will be over in less than 15 minutes so I need to run. Carlos (one of my roommates) is trying to tell me about some great news as I jet out the door and he literally has to sum it up in one sentence for me. I think I shouted, “That’s awesome!” as I ran out the door. If I didn’t, “That’s awesome, Carlos!”

I return from the store just as Yvette is arriving with two of her posse members. By posse, I mean children. She has 5, so it works, right? We run in the house and get to work. I’m baking and she’s packaging. For our first shot, the packaging looks great! Kudos Yvette! I’m so proud of us, but don’t really have the time to digest it all since so much is happening at the same time: Yvette’s son is playing catch with Mia, so there’s the constant, “Mia, drop it” going on, I’m occasionally checking on Dawna and Oscar to make sure they're o.k. because Oscar is completely drugged up, while giving the command, “Mia no jumping!” all while Yvette is cutting and doing her craft stuff. She showed up with a bag of craft items, so I can’t really tell you what she was doing. It just looked great, and I get a little lost in that part of this process, but its ok….I bake.

Finally, 8:30PM hits and 5 rolls are packaged for delivery and 5 rolls are ready to be refrigerated and packaged for the next batch of orders. I dash out the door and I am off to delivery location number one-success! Next to delivery location number two-another success! Finally, I get to location number three-the gym. I deliver the final roll to my friend Amy who teaches pole dancing. I had never stepped into a pole class before. Wow…sexy! Mental note-must take class one day.

I’m back home by 9:45pm and still have a heaping mess of cream cheese filling and powdered sugar to clean up. As I’m washing the dishes I realize that I literally had not sat for one moment since being at my desk at 5pm, only had 2 minutes to shove the other half of my Subway Sandwich (love those foot longs!) down my throat and didn’t really get to chat (when I say chat I mean girl talk) with Yvette while she was over. I realize I did the same thing the night before and haven’t had a moment to myself. Wow, no tt (Taby Time)! Then, it hits me- “Whoa, this must be what it feels like to be a parent.”

Epiphany number two hit me in the shower a few minutes later. Yes, the whole "Whoa, this must be what it feels like to be a parent." was epiphany number one. oh, and you’ll hear about more shower epiphanies in future blogs since it’s the common place for such things.

So, I'm in shower and have the same thought I had when I woke up in the morning. I’m tired. I now realize my back hurts, my feet hurt and my eyes burn. I recognize what I’m doing-I’m complaining! Logic hits me hard and fast.  I talk myself out of it by reminding myself that I’m doing this extra work because it’s an adventure, it’s new, it’s challenging and I love it. More importantly (please highlight this word) I CHOSE to do this. Therefore, no complaints allowed, lady!

I know I went all over the place in this entry; however I was trying to illustrate a point that I hope some of you got. As the day ended something very powerful occurred to me that I kind of already knew, but now admire even more. I know nothing about having children, but I know this:

Hands down, 100% my hat goes off to every parent I know out there that cares for their children from the tippy tops of their heads to the bottoms of their toes and doesn’t complain. You all must be so tired, but I very very rarely hear it. When I do it is laced with sweetness and “but it’s all worth it” phrases.

For this very reason, from the tippy trippy top of my head to the very bottoms of my toes I now say-You are all my heroes!

Now, pour yourself a glass of wine.

Sweetfully Yours,
Tabitha

23 vs. 33

posted by Tabitha

I remember somebody telling me, “once you reach 21 the years fly!”  If I could find this person again I’m not sure if I’d punch them for the glaring reality of that statement or kiss them for the wisdom.

I feel like I blinked and here I am-33.  33 graced my life a few days ago and I certainly welcomed her with gracious arms. Yay!

One of two things usually happens at this time of year for me. I either get the “birthday blues” or go into a complete frenzy and feel the need to empty the necessary contents of my Cosmic Backpack.

Let’s define here:

Birthday Blues-a pensive state of mind that usually is expressed by mopping around, not knowing what to do for your birthday celebration and by responding with “meh” when someone eagerly says, “someone’s birthday is coming up!” This all stems from being an overachiever and realizing that you didn’t solve America’s economic situation or didn’t watch enough of the Discovery channel throughout the year. Point is, it is somewhat irrational. 

Cosmic Backpack- An invisible backpack that one carries around with things such as;  anger, frustration, resentment, debt, unresolved arguments, regret, etc. Basically, nasty stuff. It’s a backpack that weighs one down. Depending on how heavy one’s backpack is one might find it difficult to walk through life and do the simplest things.

This year, it was somewhat of a combination; however nothing too dramatic. I got the birthday blues because I realized that I don’t like planning birthday parties for myself anymore. SHOCKING, I know! I’ve planned a birthday celebration for myself since my 21^st birthday, so I think I reached my threshold on this one. Hold on though! Let me make two things exceptionally clear here:


1-I fully encourage any and all of my friends to plan a future birthday party for me. 
2-I am 100% committed on planning any and all events for my friends and family

My Cosmic Backpack only had one item weighing it down, which I threw out of my backpack before my actual birthday. Go, team!

Yesterday, I found myself laughing to myself as the memories of a 23^rd birthday compared to a 33^rd birthday ran through my mind. 

Indulge me if you will:


23


Dinner-Get a group of 15 or more of your friends go to Bucca Di Beppo. The bill is split however many ways and drinks are “cash and carry.”
Cake-Who needs a cake? Cocktails!
Drinks-Everything and anything. The stronger the drink the better!
Dancing-Check out the local hotspot and dance until your feet hurt and its 5am. Yes, you work the next day, but come on….You are 23 only ONCE!
Hangover-What hangover? Whatever tired you might have is gone the moment you meet your next group of friends the next day to celebrate again. They couldn’t make your actual birthday celebration, so play last night all over again times two!


33


Dinner-Dinners are intimate now and consist of only your parental units and perhaps a couple of close friends who happen to free that night. You might even have a few dinners planned throughout the month; however they are all one-on-one and there is no “cash and carry” bill.
Cake-If you are lucky, you get two. One at the actual birthday celebration and another at the birthday party. Both times you imagine, “how many calories is this and long will it take to burn it off?”
Drinks-Wine at your birthday dinner and a signature drink at your party. No plastic cups. Especially not red ones!
Dancing-You dance at home and perhaps create your own video taped rendition of Madonna’s “Vogue” video. You then enthusiastically show this video tape to your younger cousins to assure them you still “got it.”
Hangover-HELP! The walls are coming in on you, the room is spinning and the AC in your meeting feels more like an explosion of heat coming out of the vents. You have a 10am presentation, but get through it with coffee, water and Tylenol. 5pm, your pajamas,the couch and remote control cannot come any faster. Looks like you’ll be missing your workout for the evening and you’ve already planed what the rest of the weeks workout sessions must look like.


It’s all a matter of opinion; however when asked the question, “Which was better? 23 or 33?”


My answer is pretty simple-I’ve never been happier than I am today.

This is the HAPPY pose.

Sweet fully yours,
Tabitha

Three Natural Talents

posted by Tabitha

I didn’t realize how much I would love baking the Pumpkin Rolls for Yesenia’s wedding, until mid-point of my baking marathon endeavor.

After each roll was baked and wrapped I felt like letting out an Emeril Lagasse, “BAM!”

I think one of my favorite moments in the baking process was when my roommate, Carlos came home and proclaimed, “It smells like Christmas in here!” Clearly, my next favorite moment was being at Yesenia and Zack’s wedding and not only witnessing the magic of their beautiful wedding, but being thanked by strangers for the delicious pumpkin rolls.

Again, flattering.




Truly, a beautiful wedding.





I was honored to contribute to Zach and Yesenia's beautiful wedding.


Here’s something you should know about me-although I do a great job at the sometimes self-promoting, I really am not that kind of woman and kind of loath individuals who are. (Hello, Tyra Banks!) If you know me, then you know I’m pretty humble and I think it’s witty to play up the “I am the Queen of the Universe” role. It’s my shtick, if you will. However, I do believe we ALL have three gifts things that we are naturally talented at.

Here are mine:

1) Baking Pumpkin Rolls
2) To be Determined
3) To be Determined

As you can see, I have some digging to do on those other two natural talents.

Anyhow, since baking Pumpkin Rolls is one of my natural talents (insert humble font here) I was asked to bake some more Pumpkin Rolls for my best friend’s birthday bash. Then, I was asked by my roommate Dawna for four Pumpkin Rolls to take with her to Arizona for Thanksgiving.

Yes, my Pumpkin Rolls travel…

Finally, another friend, Amy, asked for a Pumpkin Roll to enjoy while her mom visited from Seattle. Here’ the surprising part- they all asked in one way or another, “how much can I pay you for them?”

OH! So people can use their natural talents to make money?

Wow, I really need to start working on those other two talents-STAT!

Sweetfully yours~Tabitha

Weekend Blunder

by Yvette 

 

Ah, the beauty of home ownership…

I was looking forward to the upcoming 3-day weekend. I thought we would have time to finish a few small projects around the house.  I mean, how long can we keep saying,  “It’s coming along” every time someone asks us how the house is?  It would be nice to finish at least a room or two as we approach our 1-year mark!

This weekend, we also had a little shindig to attend. Tabitha was going to be celebrating her birthday and declaring it her “Best Year Ever”, all her parties have to have a theme. I love that.  In spirit of her celebration, she asked everyone to bring his or her “best dish ever” to share.

I thought I would make little chalkboards for everyone to write the name of their dish on. I bought small square and rectangle wood shapes and painted them with chalkboard paint. I'm never happy first time around,  I felt that they needed a little something else, so I added decorative paper corners to them, ah yes that's better! Except I needed them to be able to stand on there own, so I hot glued small pieces of wood on the backs to keep each one propped up. Very cute (if I do say so myself).

Saturday came around and hubby and I went to Lowes to buy paint for the living room. Yay! Finally, we can paint the two bare walls next two the fireplace. We also bought grass seed for the front lawn (I think hubby is a little jealous about how well my grass is doing in the back)

Idea was to buy all supplies today (Saturday), clean and move furniture so that we can tackle the jobs the following day (Sunday).  That should leave us with time to get ready for Tabitha’s event that was later in the evening.

Of course, this plan would not be as easy as we thought…

After putting the little monster down for a nap, I walk outside to see hubby and our neighbor covered in mud standing over a giant (it was giant in my eyes anyway) hole in my front lawn exposing a broken pipe. My first thought was “oh no, what did hubby break now???” He was supposed to be planting grass – actually no… grass seeding was for tomorrow, not today.

Turns out, we had a leak underground and a portion of our front yard was rising. Our neighbor had noticed it and was waiting for us to get home to let us know.

They had to shut off the main key to fix the pipe, which left us with no water.

 No water, for 7 hours!
 I don’t know anything about plumbing, but 7 hours? Really?
So, what this meant was - no showers, no cooking and no washing of the dishes.

It's Saturday night and here I am, with no water, a muddy mess of a front yard and about a dozen mini chalkboards for a party I am supposed to be on my way to!
Uh huh, safe to say I was in a bit of a bad mood. I tried not to show it, since I knew this wasn't anybody’s fault. Did this really have to happen today? The weekend of one of my best girlfriends birthday party?

yup,  that was my Saturday night. Home with a dirty little monster, dishes piled high, and my half cooked “best dish”- ah yes - and NO WATER! Did I mention I also have mini chalkboards?

Where are the days where the big challenge of the evening was simply finding something to wear?

Sunday worked out a little better, I was able to paint and hubby was able to clean up the mess in the front. Two-steps back and one-step forward. I suppose that will have to do for now.  At this rate, maybe we’ll be able to have a housewarming by 2012, huh?

Sweetfully yours,

Yvette

Happy Birthday Kiddo

Yvette

It was a nice weekend of simple loving celebrations. It was my son’s 11^th birthday on Saturday. We didn’t do a big party for my daughter whose birthday was three weeks ago or for my son this year. We figured that buying the kids a house with a yard and more room to run wild would be a present enough for a while.

Somehow, I don’t think that is going to fly for Christmas…

My son did have three friends over for a few hours - and that was in addition to the kids who are normally over on weekends. At one point I think my husband and I counted 10 kids in the house. It took about 45 minutes before the headache started to come on. BOYS!

I finally had to kick them outside and get them off those video games. My daughter and I snuck off to buy flowers to plant in the garden.

Over the weekend, we also had the chance to spend a nice afternoon with my parents and sisters. It’s always so nice to have the whole family get together. I made a Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. It's official; the baking bug has bitten me. It's bound to happen every year; I just never know what time of the season it'll hit me.

I do have to boast a little about how amazing my son is as he is a rare little soul. He was identified as talented in performing arts; he’s quite the little actor. The kid can dance his heart out too!

Of course this crosses over into the real world and there are times, that I don’t know if I want to laugh and hug him or smack him (I don’t spank my children, so I wouldn’t actually smack him).

He’ll often give me a play–by-play in FULL detail of what he just did on his skateboard outside. Of course, when he is telling me the story, he almost flipped 5 feet in mid air and almost landed on a sharp rock that surly would have went through him, had he not rolled over just in time.  

His stories are complete with facial expressions and sound effects. I’m also sure to hear it at least twice that day.

When he is sick or gets hurt he gives Oscar worthy performances that as much as I hate to admit, have faked me out. I once ended up with a $1000 x-ray bill, and visits to Urgent Care, of which none were substantiated… 

My little guy is also the most loving young man. He is so open minded and worldly. We’ve gone to the Theater on many occasions and the Ballet on one. He loves skateboarding and Tech decks. If you were to ask him where he would like to go for dinner, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he chose Sushi or oysters. He wears skinny jeans and a RAMONES band around his wrist.   

When he was 5 he insisted on wearing a different Converse shoe on each foot so that they never matched  - sometimes with argyle socks and shorts. He wore a tie every picture day until 5^th grade because he "felt like it".  He’ll try anything once, and will give you his opinion on it. He can carry a conversation with just about anyone!

I so love this kid. I am so fortunate to call him my son. 

Happy Birthday son, you make me a proud mama!

Sweetfully yours, 

Yvette