Saturday Like A Sunday

This week I worked at a different campus than usual and I look forward to the commute in order to listen to podcasts. I was riveted by this interview with author Mark Arax on the farming monopoly in the San Joaquin Valley and its far-reaching effects on the environment, government policy, workers, etc. Eager to read the (very long) article here.

We had Jenny over for dinner and I made two of my new favorites dishes, The You-Gotta-Love-Rosemary Menu:

🍞  Overnight Focaccia 

 🍳 Creamy Chickpeas with Runny Eggs and Prosciutto 

The first time I made the focaccia I topped with olives and nuts as described and they burned. I love those flavors and plan to serve as a tapenade with the bread - same idea, no burning. This time I topped with rosemary alone to sop up...

All the glorious sauce of the creamy chickpeas. This dish is a cinch - the only prep is the slicing of two cloves of garlic. It's my new favorite thing to make. You should try it right now.


I went to spin class three days in a row at 5:30 a.m. and did not get enough sleep all week. On Saturday Luke let me sleep in and played with the girls all morning:


👏👍🙏🙌 from me and my FitBit

Our playdate was cancelled due to sickness and we had a lazy day at home.

"I drew my octopus."

After I traced the girls they wanted their loveys traced. Here Clem is drawing Cupcake the Zebra.

 I moved their dollhouse to the living room, where they might actually play with it, from Josie's now-empty room.

Cupcake, ringed in roses. She added the "Jellycat" from the tag.

I rowed, did 15 minutes of yoga, read Martha Stewart Living, and cooked a pork tenderloin in the sous vide for dinner. I had some burrata in the fridge with a quickly-approaching best-by date which I realize are mostly bogus but when it comes to dairy products I feel beholden to them. I took the little trick of a quick-fry of a rosemary sprig from the chickpea recipe and crumbled the rosemary over burrata and topped with a few glugs of good olive oil. Summer, I'm ready for you!!!

Sunday: spin class for me; ballet for them. Earlier in the week I bought two new coloring/sticker books at Target to keep each girl entertained during the other's class. C got the hang of this code exercise - match the number to the letter - and it was amazing to watch.

Josie colored a few princesses and talked the entire time.

Turning to this page she said, "Wook [look]! Cinderella is trapped!"

After ballet I gave Luke some downtime and took the girls swimming and to the grocery store (but not before starting our 18 cups in the coffee urn and warming meatballs in the slow cooker for dinner #momlife).

Mid-March Fun

Josie and her loveys but her favorite lovey, Corn, closest.

Luke has been taking Clem on a weekday Daddy Daughter Mission. This week they went to the City Museum (Luke: my knees still hurt) and saw the circus performance there.

New spring dresses. Josie loves yellow.

Despite having my camera in my pocket, I was too busy chatting, dancing, and bidding on the silent auction items to take many photos at the Breast Dance Party Ever. It was so much fun! Here are Amanda and Cameron looking cute.

The girls went to my parents' house that weekend and we had a Saturday to ourselves. I went to spin class and got a hot stone massage in the morning and we spent the afternoon at a furniture store looking at chairs and fabrics. Skipping lunch, we had dinner at 5 at Bristol - the scallops were delicious! - and watched The Big Sick. A pretty wonderful day. In the morning I went to spin and we met my mom for brunch and took the girls to dance class.


An unattended piano next to the ballet studio...

Watching Daddy.

During Clemmie's class Luke took Josie around the building to explore and asked her to tell a story. I don't think I've ever heard her talk for so long (probably because C isn't around to interrupt her) and it's so funny how she incorporates little bits of stories and her malapropisms (Twizzlers for tweezers and Miss Jeannie - her swim instructor - for the genie in Aladdin).

It snowed that Sunday and the girls and Luke built this snowman.

That night we made sweet potato gnocchi with pecans and prosciutto from Handmade Pasta. I think I over kneaded the dough, added too much flour, or really need to find/order some 00 flour - the gnocchi were too heavy and chewy. Next time.

Play-Do food. Clem's intense waffle-making cracks me up.

A Late Winter Weekend

Friday night: movie night (actually Llama Llama on Netflix), pizza, catching up on a pile of magazines. Friday nights are for being at home.


Making cream scones from The Food Lab. (No milk in the fridge meant no Dutch baby, Clem's new weekend breakfast request).

Luke was driving back from Chicago and I wanted to take the girls someplace fun. We spent the morning at the zoo. It was brilliantly sunny but cold.

We arrived shortly after opening and had this train to ourselves for two stops.

Clem: I'm telling you, that lion is dead.

So funny because "I'm telling you" is a phrase of my mom's.

Lunch at Nordstrom Bistro.

Marcie in accessories always loves on the girls. She let them conduct this transaction - the purchase of a very large, very obnoxious visor! My hair will not get squished on the walk to work!

Date night: Steven Pinker at the library.

I look forward to their dance classes on Sunday. So cute except... Josie wants to tell her teacher everything and Clem treats the music selections - and she knows all of them - like Quiz Bowl, shouting out "Nutcracker!" "Sleeping Beauty!" "Tangled!" "Beauty and the Beast!" after the first few bars. After dance we headed to a playdate and rolled in to the Sunday night routine (where are the backpacks? where are their nap blankets?) and watched the Oscars.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// Planning a raised bed garden. I grew some lettuce in Texas, and that was exciting - I'm about to purchase two 2 x 8 foot planters and have spent some time pondering the pre-planned layouts. I was already gravitating to the cocktail garden (herbs! cucumbers! Alpine strawberries!)

image via

Even though I'm not much of a cocktail drinker and never make them at home when what to my wondering eye should appear but this book on Serious Eats...

image via

which promises 

Every cocktail in the book can be made with just a single type of liquor and a handful of easily purchased, totally affordable supermarket ingredients...forging surprising, nuanced, eminently sippable flavors from commonplace liquors and fresh fruits, herbs, and other seasonal ingredients, as well as vinegars, spices, and sodas.

*** Of course, after I purchase the planters, soil, plants, and book this will be the most expensive cocktail ever but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ***

// Getting back in a workout swing. When does a few instances become a trend? I have a standing date with my trainer (more like a squatting / step up / deadlift date) and bought a Groupon for the cycling studio near me. After one ride I bought the extender deal -- the studio is so nice. 

// Being on track with my reading goal.

// Pouring over the recipes in Nicole Karr's Handmade Pasta. Looking for a chance to make the sweet potato gnocchi with pecans and prosciutto soon.


// Date night. We got a sitter and had appetizers and drinks at 5 pm, a brief mall walk (during which I bought a gnocchi board (vide supra)), and walked across the street to see Steven Pinker speak FOR FREE at a library event. (Can you believe you can see the great minds of our age for free?!)


// Seeing our new home in the springtime for the first time although today there were snow flurries. That's ok! I need time to assemble my planters!