Saturday night, I put on a dress, slapped on some make-up, did my hair, and had dinner downtown.  Thanks to Amy and Jamie for gathering some of the local bloggers who weren’t able to go to BlogHer for some fun right here at home.  (I snapped this photo with my webcam at 11:30pm so forgive the quality and the lack of make-up…I just thought I would preserve the proof that I did occasionally put on something other than a t-shirt and do something that doesn’t involved a clip with my hair.)

It was a lovely bunch of women!  I met Calie who lives down the street from me.  I sat next to Lori who was delightful (and I swear she is familiar).  I had a chance to chat with Meredith and Jordana and Ashley and Malia – all of whom I adore.  I was only able to say hello in passing to the others at our long table – and a few I didn’t even get a chance to do that much.  (This photo stolen borrowed from Jamie.)

It was great to get out and have some rowdy conversations and yummy margaritas!

(Also stolen borrowed from Jamie.  Flickr didn’t make it easy – I had to work at it!) That is Jordana, me, Lori, and Jessie.

(This one is mine.)  And yes, Ashley is really this smiley and cute and Meredith is really that gracious and lovely in person.

For those of you who are local (or semi-local), Jamie from BlondeMomBlog and Amy from Milk Breath and Margaritas are hosting a gathering for the non-BlogHer going crowd.  Those of you who read blogs know that you won’t be able to open the internet during the last weekend of July without getting slapped in the face with neener-neener-neener posts about the FUN! BEING! HAD! in Chicago.  So rather than being bitter, come sip margaritas with us.  (Or guzzle if you have a designated driver.)  (Karla made the pretty button.)

We wandered up to the farmer’s market today.

I thought it was so cool to see that the vendors are able to take food stamps!  Isn’t it awesome to know that those who need some help are able to access fresh food putting those dollars back into the pockets of local farmers?

The guy selling these sugar watermelons had a sense of humor.

The girls surprised me.  Tessa didn’t nap before we left and Steve decided not to put a pull up on Sabrina.  I predicted disaster.  But Sabrina was dry and we used to bathroom there.  And Tessa managed to hold it together pretty well and even flirted with a couple of people.

We brought home lots of yummy stuff for this week – including some ham from a local farmer.  I am going to make some salsa and something reminiscent of eggplant parmesan without the breading and the deep frying.

Then we made a stop at World Market (one of my all time favorite stores – probably a good thing financially that it isn’t very close to where we live).

While at the farm market, we played home town sight seers and went across to Bicentennial park.

A rare photo of my little family together:

I like the shapes here:

I hope you’ve all enjoyed your holiday weekend.

We were near Hobby Lobby yesterday and I asked Steve if he would mind if I ran in quickly.  The picture frames are 50% off again this week.  I never used to display family photos but since we had children and moved away from friends and family I find that I display quite a few and needed a few new frames.  He said he would stay in the car with the girls with the a/c on.

I ran inside.  I picked up a couple of frames and then detoured to the clearance aisle.  I recently started using my napkin basket for napkins again (our child didn’t know the word napkin – she thought paper towels served that function) so I needed something to throw the random crap on top of the frig in.  I found this cute lady bug thing for 80% off so the detour through the clearance aisle seemed like time well spent.

I really wanted to wander some more but I knew the kids and Steve were waiting so I headed to the checkout.  There were 2 lines.  One was about 8 people long.  The other had 2 people in it.  Stupidly, I headed to the short line.  The woman who was being waited on had 2 carts full of breakables so each item had to be wrapped separately.  Then she asked to have it broken into 2 transactions.  Ten minutes later, she finally left.  The other line was populated with new folks and still long.

The college girl in front of me only had a few items so I figured I was home free.  She added Testamint gum (which she referred to as “Jesus Gum” which cracked me up) as a gift to her friend’s mom who was waiting in the parking lot and calling to complain at increasing intervals.  Then the girl’s debit card was declined for insufficient funds.  She took off an item and tried again.  Declined.  She took off an item and tried again.  Declined.  Lather. Rinse. Repeat 5 times.  She was down to $8.05 and still declined when her friend gave her $10 cash just so they could get out of the store.  It took almost 10 minutes from start to finish for college girl to exit the line.

The cashier apologized but I wasn’t upset.  Sure I would have preferred to get out of there more quickly but I found the whole thing kind of amusing.  She “accidentally” rang up my photo frames for much less than they were marked.  I asked her if she was sure that she got everything when I saw the total.  She assured me she had.  I started to correct her mistake when she gave me The Eye and said she was sorry for the inconvenience of my wait and that she had rung up all of my items.  The woman in line behind me gave me a slight wink and said “I guess it is your lucky day to find such a great sale.”  I finally realized that they were telling me to shut up and get out because she was doing something nice for me. Weird trip to Hobby Lobby.

I really don’t have anything to say today other than whining that I am tired of potty training.  Is wearing diapers until kindergarten really a bad thing?  We’ve just made the switch from pull ups to panties.  It’s been 1 1/2 days and we’ve only had one accident which is fabulous.  But to get those results, I have to take Sabrina to the potty every hour.  Which results in much whining from her – she doesn’t want to stop what she is doing to go potty.  She worries that Tessa will take her toys while she goes potty. She doesn’t need to go potty.  She doesn’t want to go potty.  She has a boo-boo.  Look! A bug.  Seriously, the whining is wearing me down.

************

On a completely unrelated note, I love that this little restaurant seems to have an identity crisis.  Every time we drive past it, we laugh.  If you can’t read the signs, it says “Wok -N- Grill and Sno Biz Treat Center”.  One awning says “Delicious Chinese Food, Good Prices” and the other says “Ice Cream, Shakes & Smoothies” while the ledge over the drive through says “Sno Biz Shave Ice”.  I’ve never been brave enough to eat there but it always makes me smile.

I’m amazed at how little thought was given to outside living in the area where we live.  This is my front porch.  Yes, the whole thing.  Out back we have a 5’x8′ slab of concrete that is in direct sun from noon until sunset so it is unuseable for much of the year.

We had declared the front porch unuseable when we moved in but Sabrina wants to be outside all of the time now.  In front of the porch is a planting area about the same size as the porch.  Into it the builders crammed 5 azaleas (2 of which died last year- which allowed me to plant my herbs), an evergreen bush seen at the end in this photo, 2 bushes I can’t name, and the monster that is right in front of the chair.  I don’t know why they couldn’t see beyond year 1 when they crammed all of that into this little patch of dirt but it is all cramped and crowded and overgrown.  My leases says I can’t make any permanent changes so I haven’t removed anything that is still alive.  In order to fit a chair on my little porch, I had to hack away at the monster bush for days.  But I finally managed to clear away enough to put a chair out and sit so Sabrina can play outside without all of us frying.

This success led to Sabrina and Tessa both having their first popsicles.  Sabrina was a big fan. Tessa was less sure what she thought.  And by the way – the slow melt popsicles really do melt more slowly but they are made with some gelatin so the texture is a little weird.

If you are on Facebook with me, you already heard me lamenting my inability to get a decent photo of the girls in their big sister/little sister shirts.  I took 67 photos yesterday.  These are the 2 best.

And that is why I don’t take them to a portrait studio to get professional photos done at this age.

After getting my hair cut, I didn’t want to cook.  At Steve’s request, I went to pick up some dinner at KFC.  KFC doesn’t provide a plethora of choices.  You’ve got chicken in a couple of forms and some side dishes.  No burgers.  No fish.  No turkey clubs.  Just chicken.

I pull into the drive thru and find the man in the car in front of me engaged in conversation with an employee through the intercom.  I’ve learned to dial back my impatience a little bit here in the south.  People here like to have conversations in situations in which northerners would cut you for making small talk.  But there are limits.

Man: I’ve been wanting to try that new grilled kind. Is it good?

Employee: Most people seem to like it.

Man: If I didn’t get the grilled, what are your other kinds?

Employee: Regular and crispy.

Man: What is the difference?  Is the regular crispy at all?  Because my wife likes it pretty crispy.

Employee: It is a bit crispy but if she likes it crispy, you  might want to order the crispy.

Man: I have some coupons at home.  How much would I save with them?

Employee: I’m not sure sir – depends on the coupons.

Man: Should I go home and get them? We just live down the road a bit. We’ve never been to this KFC before even though we are just down the road.  Oh probably only 2 miles or so.

Employee: If you want to go get the coupons, we can get you fixed up when you come back.  (I must say, this young man had great patience.  I could tell he was trying to hurry him along but he was never less than courteous.)

Man: Well, I just don’t know.  And I’m not sure how many pieces to get.  What do you think?

Employee: How many people are you feeding?

Man: 4 I think.  Unless Bobby has a friend over. I think the 16 piece would be too much but the 12 piece might not be enough.

Employee: We have a special on the 7 piece for $9.99.  You could get 2 of those.

Man: But then again if Bobby’s friend is there…

At this point, to avoid ramming my car into him, I drove around and went inside.  I ordered, paid, and waited for our food.  As the girl was handing me my order, the kid from the drive thru window came over and asked if I had been behind that gentleman.  I laughed and said I had.  He apologized profusely and I told him I thought he did a great job of dealing with him.  He said he had JUST gotten him to pull ahead.

Memo #462

Dear Sir:
You are too stupid to order chicken.  Go home.

Sincerely,

A woman who really wanted some mashed potatoes

I’ve been hearing about Trader Joe’s on line for years.  At first it seemed to be a California thing – and we all hate California because they have all of the cool stuff and best weather.  The only reason we don’t all move there is the whole earthquake and cost of living thing.  We can’t afford $750,000 for a 600 sq ft house that is freeway adjacent and fault-line straddling.   I heard stories of 2 buck chuck and ready made meals that tasted good and had a reasonable price tag and were free of preservatives and crap. Then I heard we were getting one here.

I’ve been pretty clear about 2 things 1) I love food and b) I’m lazy.  Trader Joes is my kind of place.  I can’t comment on the 2 buck chuck because I live in the bible belt a whiskey barron controlled state and they won’t allow wine to be sold in grocery stores because that might undermine their price fixing.  But the rest of it? The stories are all true my friends.

Daffodils that bloomed the next day for less than $2 and tulips (my fav) for less than $4.  Hence the seemingly unrelated flower photos in my grocery store post.  I love fresh flowers but can’t bring myself to spend much on them because they die.  But I figured a little happy was worth $2.

But the real story is the food.  Most everything is in house brands.  And it is all made with ingredients I can pronounce.  The garlic hummus ingredient list reads like I made it at home (garlic, chickpeas, tahini, lemon, salt, olive oil).  We’ve liked everything we’ve tried with the exception of 1 or 2 things. The fresh portabella ravioli and the lobster ravioli are YUM!  The shredded pork carnitas is fabulous. Beef taquitos – good stuff.  And the prices are really good – even Steve remarked on the fact that we would be hard pressed to make some of the items for the price.

I love picking up a few new things to try and knowing that I have dinners in the frig that will taste good and be ready in under 15 minutes on the nights that I don’t want to cook.

The other thing I love is the staff – at least in our local store.  The staff is helpful and friendly.  Customer service is a lost art so I’m always happy to find a store that places value on it.

Has anyone found a great coffee at Trader Joe’s?  I tried the Guatemalan and the flavor was okay but the roast is just too light.  The Bolivian didn’t do it for me.  I’m trying to decide what to try next time.  Also, if you have a favorite ready made item from there let me know!

Memo to Consignment Sale Czar:

Props to you for figuring out how to put your children through college  because you have to be raking in an assload of cash.  You charged each person consigning items $12 then took an additional 30% off the top of each sale.  You rented a huge empty store front for the week and staffed the sale with volunteers.  The volunteers actually want to work so they can earn the privilege of getting first crack at buying other people’s cast offs.  Those who don’t consign or volunteer, stand in line for hours to purchase other people’s stuff and are glad to do so (the purchasing, not the line-standing) because they feel frugal.  In return for your mad organizational skills and planning and big picture vision, you are likely taking home pockets full of cash.  Seriously, kudos to you for creating a win-win-win situation.

Signed,

The Clueless Northerner who never dreamed she would be standing in line for over an hour to pay for her consignment finds and therefore didn’t bring drink, snacks, or diapers for her 2 increasingly cranky children.

PS Just a little pointer.  If you have your sale featured on the local TV talk show…telling the viewers 4 times that it is in “the old Trees N Trends store” doesn’t help those of us who feel proud that we sort of know where the current Trees N Trends store is.  An address is always appreciated.

Open letter to my fellow consignment shoppers:

Yes, the amount of clothing to be rummaged pawed sorted throughwas overwhelming.  Yes, there were WAY more people there than any of us would have dreamed.  Yes, the line was long enough that we all felt like we should have brought sleeping bags and received Springsteen [or insert cooler/more relevant band here] tickets at the end.  But you couldn’t miss the line when you entered – it snaked around most of the store and up and down a few aisles.  To stand in line for a few minutes and then throw your items on the floor and leave in disgust is without excuse.  The neverending line was either a signal that the organizer needs to recruit more volunteers next time or the price you pay to save a bunch of money on clothing for your children.  It isn’t Macy’s or Target – you can’t expect to have a retail store experience.  All you can do is decide if the amount of money you will save is worth the amount of time you will spend in line.  If the math works, get in line and shut up.  If not, place your clothing on a rack and walk away.  And be nice to the volunteers.

Signed,

The Momma who was impressed by how well most kids held it together in the neverending line.

Memo to Consigners:

I understand that you are trying to get a little something back from these clothes.  And I know that you paid $12 for the privilege of selling your clothes and you only get to take home 70% of what you charge.  Really, I get it.  But please give some thought to your pricing.  I had conversations with several moms at the sale.  We all agreed that unless it was something extraordinary, $5 was our threshold (for babies and toddlers).  There were a lot of very cute outfits for $8 or $10 or $12.  But I can go to a sale and buy clothing new for that price.  So unless it is a boutique and higher end name brand (I mean Ralph Lauren not Gap), think twice before you price it over $5.  And leave the stuff with stains at home.  Yes, we even see the faint ones.

Mmm’kay? Thanks.

Signed,

The Momma who was very happy with obtaining 12 outfits for Sabrina and 16 for Tessa and 2 toys for $100.  Add sandals and swimsuits and spring/summer is pretty much covered.

After this post, I promise to shut up about Blissdom ’09 and return to rants about the grocery store bag boy and cute photos of my children. But I do want to talk a little bit about the actual conference.

I think the majority of my readers are aware that there is another world of blogging out there the same way we are all aware of quantum physics.  We know it exists but we aren’t particularly clear about the details.  I attended Blissdom for almost purely social reasons (ironic considering how socially awkward I’ve been telling you I was, no?) but I am fascinated by this other world of blogging.

Some of these women make a living or at least a decent paycheck from blogging.  These women work hard.  They network with great purpose.  They beat the cyber pavement.  They spend many hours building up their blogs and their numbers and their advertisers and their reputation and their presence.  They read.  They comment.  They facebook.  They twitter.  They do these things because it is their job.**

It is a world driven largely by numbers.  Numbers in the sense of traffic and numbers in the sense of dollars.  No one wants to divulge their numbers.  There was a lot of discomfort when anyone asked about numbers.  I’ll share: about 550 per week day but weekends are significantly smaller and $0.  Those ads on the sidebar have generated nothing and will be removed when my husband gets around to it.  I’m okay with that.  Blogging is my hobby, my therapy, my entertainment, my semi-creative outlet.  I don’t want it to be a job.  Would I mind having more people visit me? No but I feel like you all are my friends and I like knowing who comes to see me every day.  Would I mind making a few bucks? Well duh.  But I like what it is now.  I’m satisfied with my blog.

One of the main themes I heard this time and at Blissdom ’08 in the fall is that in order to have a profitable blog, you need a niche.  You need a narrow(ish) focus so that people always know what they will find when they visit you.  My thought then and now is my life is a niche so my blog can’t be.  I like writing about whatever is on my mind that day.  I like posting recipes, ranting memos, pictures of my beautiful children, political rants, and whatever else is going on inside my head because out loud I am limited to what my 2 year old can comprehend.  They also talked about brevity and editing and I think we can all agree that isn’t my strong suit.

So I go back to the thought I started with – I like my blog. I wouldn’t turn away more readers or a little cash but I’m not willing to change it to get there.  The occasional give away or product review is as big time as I get around here.  I will leave blogging as a business to the other bloggers and I will continue to admire them for doing it.  If some niche idea comes to me and I want to give big blogging a try, I will do it elsewhere.  You all propped me up through my adoption and my pregnancy…now you have to help me through potty training and pre-school.

**Just a point of clarification – these women have a passion for what they write about.  It is a business but something they enjoy as well.

PS If anyone has any specific questions about what we discussed, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer in the comments or via email.

PPS Did you all see that White Trash Mom commented on my last post and claimed to be a fan? I’m sure she was just being nice but *Swoon*

PPPS Proof that I was there (I don’t remember where I lifted this photo so I apologize for not giving credit)