a life beyond running shoes.

gap is having a contest....due november 3rd. JUDGING CRITERIA: 34% overall appearance of the baby as shown in the photo, 33% overall personality of the baby as expressed through the photo, and 33% quality of the photograph. I can submit five photos....please vote and let me know which you think convey the criteria......not all are the greatest pictures but i need 5..... you can either comment or email your vote. PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2 PHOTO 3

JUDGING CRITERIA: 34% overall appearance of the baby as shown in the photo, 33% overall personality of the baby as expressed through the photo, and 33% quality of the photograph. I can submit five photos....please vote and let me know which you think convey the criteria...... PHOTO E PHOTO F PHOTO G PHOTO H

JUDGING CRITERIA: 34% overall appearance of the baby as shown in the photo, 33% overall personality of the baby as expressed through the photo, and 33% quality of the photograph. I can submit five photos....please vote and let me know which you think convey the criteria...... PHOTO A PHOTO B PHOTO C PHOTO D

not that kind of group - my book group.... we met friday night to discuss our latest adventure in reading. jonathan safran foer's novel; he happens to be another brooklyn author. his story was good. of course, we had read nicole krauss's book "a history of love" not too long ago - he happens to be her husband. well, i think they wrote the same story....not really, but there are some uncanny similarities to the two novels: main narrator is juvenile, multiple tales, old world/new world, multiple narrators, detatched mothers, etc. while i think i enjoyed her novel more (more fluid, more engaging), after our discussion friday night - i did enjoy this one. i laughed out loud at times because of osker's naivete and innocence coming out. the narrator's youth allows the reader to not feel the weight of the sorrow because of the humor tied in with the sorrow. the heavy boots don't weigh down the entire novel, yet it is still a tragic novel about post 9/11 s...

one fun thing about having visitors is that the possibility of doing more than our normal routine is easier because we have more hands on deck. i convinced them that it would be a fun outing to hit the central park zoo. it was a great trip and one i would not have done on my own. micah LOVED the polar bear in part because it was going "night, night." he did not like the cow - even though it is one of his favorite words. the sheep were a bit much for him as well. i think he like the penguins & monkeys - mostly because they are behind glass and there is not risk of one getting up in your face, like the llamas. here is micah sporting his "gator" tee shirt sitting on g'pa's lap. micah loves g'pa's duck voice.....and even got used to being chased in the apartment. both g'ma & g'pa are referred to as "ga." impressive for a multiple syllable word in micah's world. our next visit from a grandparent is when my mom comes...

so friday i made beef stew with red wine and vegetable (page 398). as per the note, i made it in advance because it allows the flavors to set - as is good with most stews. the difference in this stew is that it lacked the soup like quality i enjoy in a stew....but i guess that is what makes a stew versus just a soup. there is no water or stock in the recipe - it is cooked in red wine. it made the meat delicious but left i didn't like the flavor enough to dip my bread in. it was a good try and one i will probably try again, but not anytime soon.

could it be possible that alien life forms have taken my child and replaced him with a pod-person? of course not right, but boy does it feel that way sometimes....especially during a cycle of real discipline issues. as he wakes from the gentle slumber of lullabies and blankies, i hear the gentle voice of my toddler say, "NO." now, who is he talking to and why is that his first word when waking? what in the world?! i mean really. i am really being challenged as a mom in my willingness to be consistent for his sake (and my own sanity) is disciplining him. what is acceptable and what is not is the name of the game right now. if i fail to be consistent it comes back ten fold. like turning on the tv. he is allowed when given permission but this week he has really tested that privilege....or when refusing to get into the stroller - arched back, locked legs. how can 23 pounds be so difficult to manage....is he really stronger than me and i didn't realize it? oh brother...

"any christian who is not a hero is a pig." at first glance perhaps this might sound totally offensive....but give it some thought (and a grain of sand since it is from john irving). really and truly though, should not every christian be a hero?! i do believe that in my complacency i would argue this statement is a fallacy. if i am honest though, with the life of christ as my example, i have to conclude that i should be a hero......and i should re-read owen meany . shouldn't my life be fundamentally categorized by serving other people - even in small ways. isn't that being a hero - being an advocate for another person, having someone else's life mean more than your own - the laying down of my life for another......sound like some scripture there? i was struck by this quote during our fall retreat this past weekend. i'm not sure i heard much else due to chasing around a toddler... but it was a good weekend. this is our family at the apple orchard. micah...

so, my dear friend, stef, came to brave whatever was next on the menu. little did she know that she was going to get more tears than good food & conversation. oh, the tears were from micah who was simple opposed to the general idea of sleep last night. anyway, dinner was tasty - if i do say so myself. the garlic-scented tomato salad (page 548) was delicious. so yummy!!! i did a repeat of the cucumber & orange salad for a refreshing side to the butter and rosemary sauce (page 169) on angel hair. very delightful. i did leave out the beef bouillon cube as my guest is a vegetarian, so i will definitely try this again for dinner for my family with the subtracted ingredient to compare. overall, dinner was delightful minus the background chaos of a crying baby. oh 'twell....next time dinner is at her house - no baby, just roxy!

i love the idea of getting dressed up and it being fall and how it sets the tone for the next two holidays. my sister sent micah these awesome ghost pjs.... she rocks! (they are blue - not black....i'm not a scary mom) we are still working on the halloween costume and trying to do it through hand-me-downs. we'll see if anything fits in a couple of weeks. happy fall!

i promise - i am not a cooking extraordinaire; i just am bored with most of my recipes. last night for dinner i made baked bluefish fillets with potatoes, garlic, and olive oil, genoese style (page 306; but i made it with tilapia) and sauteed zucchini rounds with onions (page 532). well, the fish was good. john's piece was overcooked but he loved his potatoes. i thought there was too much oil for my taste. the zucchini on the other hand was sensational.... but i used a yellow zucchini that i got fresh from the farmer's market last saturday.....coupled with the carmelized onions - so good, so good! the only bummer is that it didn't make more. side note about the OUTRAGEOUS ragu sauce from the weekend - not as good as a leftovers! to prove my not so saavy normal repertoire: tonight for dinner - tacos!

I am always on the quest for the perfect lip treatment be it a balm, gloss, chapstick, whatever. i think i might have found it. some friends of mine in LA started a company called anti-Body : anti poverty, beautiful body. they have a lip balm that is peppermint shea and it tingles. i love that. i bought burt's bees strawberry lip gloss just about two weeks ago and can't stand it. now, i'm not just trying to go on and on about a lip balm, even though the quest is real & significant, but also about their company. it is all fair trade in such a personal way that one of the owners of the company was in africa this past spring to make connections. anyway, i just wanted to brag about some cool friends that i have that are doing cool things and to proclaim that i love their lip balm. they did send me a sample of their hand soap - which is lovely.

walker percy is consider to be one of the great southern writers up there with flannery o'conner & faulkner. i just finished "the moviegoer." it came highly recommended as one of his best. i had a hard time with it. perhaps it is my state of mind, lack of focus, and need for entertainment. i am almost sad that i did not read this in college or grad school because i think i would have loved it. or perhaps, it speaks to my desire for entertainment more than good literature. i might have opted for dancing with the stars than continue reading..... but i am trained enough to recognize his writing as "worthy," should we say. but i think for right now, during nap times and at the of very long pregnant days, i am looking for a story....not a journey of working through the malaise of the day onto discovery of self without the movement of a plot to guide me. my attention span is just not that long.

i am finding myself to be a little silly that i get excited when people say, "hey, i read your blog," or get a comment posted or even an email with similar sentiments. is this the modern age of community? i don't really think so because i don't think it can possibly substitute for the real thing: friends, family, and real community....so why do i feel so much better and validated knowing that people out there read? what is this whole blogging thing about? why do i enjoy it? why is it validating? is it really satisfying my need to be significant? i don't think it can, but then again why get such encouragement from it & excitement from a comment? this is strange phenomenon indeed....in myself and culture. i am fascinating myself, to be honest with you. is it lacking so much in my daily life that i need cyber space to validate my existence. have gotten so out of touch with who god is and who i am as a creation that this is where i find significance? i h...

for any of you who are affiliated with babies & toddlers, you have probably heard of this stuff. it is a liquid vitamin that smells about as good as you could imagine liquid vitamins smelling - NASTY! most kids hate it, but we as parents force them to take it to make sure they are getting the daily essentials, especially iron. well, micah has to be different. somehow, we have managed to train him that this stuff is good......almost yummy. (i cringe as i think of the smell) he gets it every night during his bath because, as we found out as an infant, the stuff is black and stains clothing - sounds yummy, huh?! so, it has been a part of the regular night routine, not big deal, right? until yesterday morning......i had a bad night sleep and so john stayed home a bit extra and did the morning routine with micah. somehow, micah got a hold of the bottle of vitamins and proceeded to ask for some with his very cute, "please" that really just sound like "peas."...

i mean really? is fresh ricotta really all that different from the ricotta that one would buy in the grocery store? perhaps it is since in my recipe book it says that the ricotta should be crumbly.... huh? ricotta is crumbly? like feta? oh boy. last night i made peas, bacon, and ricotta sauce (page 163) over fusilli pasta. it was tasty except for the fact that i don't like peas, particularly frozen ones and that fact that my ricotta was not crumbly. should i try this one again? nope, i think we consider this one checked off until someone convinces me that the fresh stuff makes ALL the difference in the world. has anyone every had it? does anyone read this thing.... other than my brother in japan - which is really cool that he does. it made me smile when he emailed. i guess there could be a few readers out there and i would never know because even though there are a few blogs that i check on daily (where have you gone "shows" & "movable pockets")...

yesterday started with a "tossing of the cookies" in the middle of 10th street. it was one of those pregnancy moments of "i feel sick; i think i might get sick; i am going to get sick; i got sick; i feel fine." strange to say the least as this has not been common for either pregnancy. i was just thankful not to have been on an avenue block - i at least could hide behind a car for my display of breakfast. this lead to last night's dinner of braised pork chops with sage and tomatoes, modena style (page 422) along with sauteed broccoli with olive oil and garlic (page 477). so the debacle was the pork chops. it called for a can of peeled tomatoes and of course i got a can of crushed tomatoes. now it was still tasty, but what was lost was the flavor of the fresh sage; therefore, i don't think i can officially check it off as a completed recipe since it was no where near what it should have been. the broccoli - not my favorite. i think i still prefer it s...

there was a write up in Paste Magazine page 40 about this place. it was started by dave eggers (author of "a heartbreaking staggering work of staggering genius") and is located in our neighborhood....literally four blocks away. i got my sister a ray gun for her birthday one year - it made her way cooler. it is affiliated with the non-profit organization 826nyc .

our morning at the playground with our friend andrew. it was a photo opt mostly with the grandparents in mind.... my mother has been anxious for pics of the "bump." well, here we are in mom, micah, and segundo! as you can see we are in long sleeves... the mornings feel like fall but after trekking up hill to the playground, it is warm again. it is officially fall but we are expecting a warm weekend. i am ready for cords & sweaters to say the least!!! i love the crisp mornings though and leaving the windows open at night. i love fall and continue to wait patiently for it.

well, last night was oven-roasted chicken with garlic & rosemary (page 328) with sauteed green beans with parmesan cheese (page 472) and a side of risotto with parmesan cheese (page 244). the chicken was juicy & tasty - and easy other than the basting every 15 minutes. micah actually ate his green beans for the first time (of course w/o the cheese). i was almost as excited about that as when he first starting walking. it has been a while since he has had a vegetable that was not pureed. but the parmesan added a really nice flavor to the fresh green beans. the risotto was a bit bland for me. it was still tasty but i think i would opt not to water down the stock i was using. over all a tasty dinner. tonight's dinner was fast and simple. pesto by the food processor method (page 176). since i do not own a mortar set, the food processor method was my only option. we have this amazing fresh basil growing out in our glorified front yard. we have had our fill of fresh toma...