How I Got Here

This week, twelve years ago, I was a senior in college. A friend of mine from high school came down from Smith to my college for the weekend and we went to a free Wycliff Jean concert sponsored by my school. Afterwards we went to another friend's dorm room and did Thin Mint shots (peppermint schnapps and chocolate syrup). I was thinking about breaking up with my on-again, off-again boyfriend, again.

This week, ten years ago, I was living in California, working at a job I hated and taking pottery and ballroom dance classes. I played badminton for exercise. I was single and went to happy hour with my girlfriend every Friday night.

This week nine years ago, I was living in China and baked a boxed yellow cake with canned chocolate frosting that I had brought with me all the way from the US. My apartment didn't have an oven, so I baked it in a borrowed toaster oven. It turned out terribly, but I ate it anyway.

This week, seven years ago, I was living in Washington DC with a roommate and nursing a broken heart. My boyfriend, the one I thought I had a future with, had just dumped me while we were on vacation in Boston. I worked all the time, often traveling more than three weeks a month, and had just started grad school at night.

This week, five years ago, my dad died. I had just finished grad school and gotten engaged. I was shell shocked from so many life changes occurring at once.

This week three years ago, I was vacationing in beautiful Quebec. I had just gotten married and started a little blog.

This week two years ago, I took a little trip to Chicago. I was dreaming of moving to Wicker Park and reconsidering my position on never having kids.

This week, this year, I'm eating Ethiopian food and going yurt camping in Maryland with my husband and five and a half month old baby. Today, I turn 33 and (in both a good way and a bad way) I still can't really believe this is my life.

Hooded Baby Towel Hack

I think hooded bath towels for babies are super cute, but they're expensive and can be too big for a wet, squirmy little body. Ages ago, someone had given me a microfiber hair towel as a stocking stuffer and it was sitting in the back of our linen closet. I never once used it for my hair but it works extremely well as a baby towel.

It's easy to cover the top of the baby's head quickly with the towel and it is the perfect length for a baby's body. (When we first started using it to dry him off, it reached almost to his feet and now it only covers a bit past his bottom. At both lengths it's long enough, without being too long.) Because it's microfiber, it dries him very quickly, which helps to keep him from getting too cold. We often use a hand towel to dry off the front of his body.

Turbie Towel or Turbie Twist are the brand name of the product to which I'm referring, and they sell for like $5, but I've seen generic versions at the dollar store as well for just a buck. Either way, they are much less expensive than actual hooded baby bath towels and I'd say slightly more effective since the baby doesn't get all tangled up in it.

Using a hair towel as a baby towel works for me.

A New Way to Celebrate Halloween

Is it lame to take a baby who is too young for solid foods trick-or-treating? I fear the answer is yes, but GAH, it's his first Halloween! In an attempt to balance my need for pictures of every one of my infant's "firsts" with my shame at knowing the neighbors are going to know his 30-something parents are going to literally be stealing candy from a baby, I think I've struck a Halloween compromise. I'm calling it "Reverse Trick or Treating". 

My plan is that we'll go to one or two of the houses on our street (minimizing the shame) for the trick-or-treating photo op and the authentic Halloween experience, but we'll spend most of the evening going door-to-door in our apartment building passing out mini loaves of pumpkin bread. Apartments never get trick-or-treaters (which is so sad because no one should be denied the cuteness which is small children in costume) so I don't think my neighbors will be prepared with candy, but if we do the treat-giving I think it will eliminate some of that awkwardness of an unexpected knock at the door and give us a chance to meet more of our neighbors. It's a win-win-win*: baby gets to trick-or-treat/I get more pictures, we get to meet more of our neighbors, and the neighbors get pumpkin bread and to see a baby otter.

Speaking of the baby otter, I bought this clearance costume online while I was still pregnant because it was brand new and less than $5. It's a size 6-12 months so I thought surely my very tall sixth month old (he'll be six months and one day old on Halloween) will fit into it. But no, it's about five sizes too big on him (except for the hat, which fits perfectly on his big noggin.) I was debating getting/making him another costume, but Chuk put the kibosh on that and suggested we stuff the costume with newspaper. I'm not going to stuff it, but he's probably going to be an otter next year too.

What are you doing (if anything) for Halloween? Do you know your neighbors?

*Win, win,win is from The Office. You can watch a clip from episode I'm referencing here.

Zoo

It was 75 degrees today, so we took the baby to the zoo for the first time. He liked it. So many people and trees to look at, and the animals were pretty good too.

The flamingos were, hands down, his favorite animals. I think it's probably because they were the easiest for him to see. At five months, his eyesight is still not fully developed.

This mama and baby gorilla napping together were so sweet; it made me want to cry. When Chuk and I were last here, in January, that mama was carrying that baby around on her back and now he's so big. He's not to big for a cuddle though. 

In less sweet viewing, I saw this silver back gorilla catch his poop in his hand and then eat it. Everyone let out an audible "Ewww" at the same time.

Not to be undone in the gross department, at the very next cage, this orangutan was eating his barf (licking it up off the floor) when I came over. When he was done, he sat there for a minute, looking at everyone through the glass, then he barfed again and ate the barf again. Seriously, animals are disgusting.

This guy, who knows a thing or twenty about barf himself, was worn out. We're already talking about and strategizing  for our next trip to the zoo. Next time, more time at the farm, and we'll skip the bird house and go straight to the flamingos.

Choosing an Appropriate Halloween Costume

Below is a repost of one of the earliest posts I wrote. I am just as dismayed now as I was four years ago, when I first wrote this, by the scarcity of modest Halloween costumes for women and the pervasive sexism that this represents. I continue to boycott these types of costumes and I hope you will too. 

Is it just me or could nearly all women's Halloween costumes be described as "Slutty ______"? Seriously, it's all just different versions of the same prostitute costume. I thought Halloween was supposed to be scary, not objectifying.

They don't pull that crap with men's costumes. They sell men's doctor costumes, but only "sexy nurse" for women. Men can get a fire fighter's costume, but sorry ladies, you'll have to be "Hot Stuff". I thought this was the 21st century. Can't women be doctors and fire fighters too? (I know, theoretically I could wear a man's costume, but I'm 5'4", so it's unlikely any would fit.) 

Let's compare two costumes in the same theme: prisoners. They are similar down to their little hats, except that the man is covered up in loose clothing while the woman is in a low-cut, skin-tight mini-dress. AND they are charging women $15 more for half (or a third) as much clothing. These are from the same catalog.

It's time for us to vote with our dollars, ladies. Just say "no" to overpriced, skanky costumes. Even if you can't sew (I can't either!) you can throw a sheet over yourself and say you're a ghost. It'll be retro cool.

Getting Your Pumpkins to Last

As I've mentioned here a time or twelve, I'm pumpkin crazy. I love using pumpkins to decorate throughout the fall. They feel so autumnal to me and I like that they're also natural, affordable and disposable. Disposable is important when you live in a small apartment, like I do. I don't have the space to store decorations for every holiday and season.

I've kept pumpkins for up nine months before, but nowadays, I just want my pumpkins to last from the time I get them in September or October until the end of November. To keep my pumpkins looking nice and fresh and new throughout the season, this is what I do.

• I'm careful to pick pumpkins with no soft spots, blemishes on the skin, gouges, or mold at the base of the stem or on the bottom. You really have to check them carefully. So many, especially ones from the grocery store, are damaged and aren't going to last. 
• When I get them home I wash them thoroughly in the sink or tub to get off any dirt and to wash away any mold spores and excess bacteria. The mold and bacteria are what causes the pumpkins to soften and rot.
• Make sure they are very, very dry. I dry them with a towel and then let them sit on my cold stove burners for a few hours so air can circulate underneath the pumpkins. (You could also use cooling racks, like for baking.)
• When I'm sure they're clean and dry, I take it a step further and wipe them down with either rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or a bleach solution. This ensures you're really killing the bacteria and mold spores. Be sure you clean the bottom of the pumpkin and the base of the stem very well. 
• Let it dry again. This shouldn't take as long as before. Then you're ready to display them in a cool (room temperature is fine, but try to avoid keeping them right under your heating vents or near your radiator or fireplace) dry place.
• I rarely carve pumpkins anymore, but if you do carve them, be aware that they'll only last a day or two at the very most.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but they go by quickly. It actually takes less hands on time than arranging grocery store flowers in a vase and then you don't have to think about your decorations for three months, so it's totally worth it. That totally works for me.

Crockpot Chicken Adobo

There is something about fall that makes me want to cook everything in the Crockpot. I think, that to me, fall smells like leaves on the ground, dirt in a pumpkin patch and something slow cooking in the kitchen all day. It's all very Marcel Proust. So in keeping with the idea of food smells bringing back happy memories, I decided to try and make my grandma's adobo in the Crockpot.

Why, why did I not try this earlier? So good and so easy. Seriously, if you eat meat, you must try this. It works with both chicken and pork.

Crockpot Chicken Adobo

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 Tbs. minced garlic
6 Bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black peppercorns
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
10 Tbs. sugar

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Pour enough oil into your slow cooker to coat the bottom, just a couple of tablespoons. You don't want your meat to stick, but you don't want it greasy either. Pour all the other ingredients into the slow cooker and give it a stir. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve over rice with lots of green vegetables on the side.