Class of 2001 (10 year reunion!)

Now that I've had a chance to recover (physically and emotionally) I can tell you all about my high school reunion last night. It was actually a lot more fun then I thought it was going to be. I was SUPER nervous so I started off with a glass of champagne....followed by three two more glasses.

I hung out with these pretty ladies most of the night, these girls were my bestest in high school, and still to this day.

Amy (from Dandelion Paperweight), Me, Laura, Roxanne

I waited until the last minute to find something to wear.

 I found this little number the night before the reunion at Kohls, $24.99.

After my dosing of liquid courage I was definitely enjoying myself. I talked to most of the people I wanted to talk to, and successfully avoided a few others. I was surprised actually at how many people stopped me to say hello (some of which I didn't think remembered me so I wouldn't have approached them first, but they totally came by to say hi). Isn't that funny how you always think someone won't remember you, but they always end up saying something to you first? Just me?

My preggo friend Mary who was my best friend when I was 12. Isn't she cute?

My friend Lauren (Lauren West Photography), Cristie, and Casey.

Laura and her hubby Scott.

My friend Chris who was my drinking buddy back in the day.

Matt (previous roomie and close friend) with my hubby. 

He's known Andy since day 1!

I'm going to admit that I drank a little faster and a little more than I anticipated. I never drink so I don't exactly have a tolerance anymore. I was anxious mixed with excitement for a night out sans Carter. I don't think I said or did anything embarrassing last night, but not quite sure. I did wake up with a horrible champagne hangover (the worst kind), and I am now reminded why I never drink. 

Chasing after a two year-old while nursing a hangover is just the worst feeling ever.  

All in all it was a great night. I had second thoughts about going, but really, we're all adults now and I know I would have regretted not going if I stayed home. It's worth the fog I'm in today. 

I'm contemplating taking up drinking more often as I was taken care of by Andy all day with Gatorade, food, cheesy movies (I chose Groundhogs Day). He allowed me to take a nap AND I was off poopy diaper duty (well, except for one). Kidding, I'm not totally serious about taking up drinking, but I'm glad Andy was there for me today. I told him I owe him one in the future. 

We all need to let a little steam off once and a while, right?

OH! Almost forgot. So I was introduced to this show called Workaholics on Comedy Central a few weeks ago, and I'm obsessed. Andy and I downloaded the first season on iTunes and would watch the episodes in bed every night for a week until we finished it. It's a little raunchy, but totally our sense of humor. So last night at 10pm, the bar / lounge that our reunion was at (Station Hollywood at the W Hotel in Hollywood - swanky, yes), opened up to the general public. While I was drunk catching up with old friends, Andy pulled me aside excitedly and told me he saw one of the actors from Workaholics there. Normally I would have gawked from afar, but because I was a bit tipsy, I grabbed my camera and Andy and marched right up to him. His name is Blake Anderson, and he is MY favorite character from the show. He plays this funny, sensitive awkward guy, with poofy hair, a funny mustache who always wears funny patterned type shirts. He was dressed like that when we saw him; I wondered if he is like this in real life, or they just finished filming? Season 2 does start Sept. 20th. I told Blake I was at our 10 year high school reunion, that I was a HUGE fan of the show, and that I was a little drunk. 

He was super nice at the time, but I think I creeped him out. 

Picture proof:

Blake Anderson from Workaholics and I.

And then 20 minutes later or so, I saw another guy from the show with him (who happens to be my 2nd fav guy from the show, Adam Devine). They use their names in real life as the names of their characters on the show. I of coarse had to stop and talk to Adam, but Blake promptly walked away when he saw me coming (oops). I think I scared him off. 

Adam was really nice and told me his reunion is coming up next year, and took a picture with us.

Roxanne, Adam Devine from Workaholics, Me, Andy

We arrived at my parents house around 1am (wow, normally I'm in bed by 9pm so this was a stretch). I fully expected my mom to bring Carter down to our room (we were sleeping over), but she didn't. We didn't see Carter until this morning, he slept right in between his Grammie and Grandpa all night! 

All in all, it was a great night! I probably wouldn't change a thing (except for sharing a vodka cranberry with Roxanne at the end of the night, oy).

Roxanne and I all dolled up ready to go with my little sis Nichole who wanted to jump in for a picture.

Did you (or will you) go to your high school reunion? 

Who's your Momma?

That would be ME. I'm Carter's Momma. I didn't even need to tell you that, right? Well maybe someone should tell him that...

Carter's 1st Thanksgiving 11/2009

A while back Carter was in this very clingy mommy phase. He always wanted his mommy. I couldn't go to work, or leave the room, or eat, or pee without a massive amount of waterworks. I would try and hand him off to Daddy or Roxanne so I could cook dinner each night, and he would always come running back to me and hug my legs and cry. I can't pretend I didn't absolutely love that.

Recently, (in the past few weeks), I've noticed Carter become more clingy to Roxanne. Roxanne is Carter's Godmother and one of my best friends so I thought it was adorable. And then I noticed he started calling her "Momma." Hmm, not so adorable so we corrected him "Oh no Carter, I'M your momma, this is ROC, remember, ha ha, ha, ha ...." (Note: we thought Roc would be easier to say than Roxanne). And then he called her momma again, and then again, and then it wasn't so funny anymore. He can repeat most words we say easily so why couldn't he call her "Roc?!" It just made my title not as significant. I carried you in my belly for 9 months! I nursed you! I'M THE MOMMA.We've only been repeating her name to him since he was born. Why is he calling her momma? Am I not enough mother for him?

Rox and Carter in their Lakers gear.

And then I noticed Carter call MY mom, momma. My mom is a big presence in his life, but again, I worked hard at being his mom, so I deserve to be the only one called momma. I didn't understand why he wouldn't call her grammie? It's not like I don't say "Do you want to go to grammie's house" on a daily basis. My mom absolutely loves it when he calls her momma and she encourages it! She also doesn't correct people in public when they assume Carter's her son. Thanks Mom! I do all the dirty work and then get to lose my identity as a mother. Great.

Carter and his Grammie on Mother's Day 2011

I started to think he picked this up at daycare (because let's face it, I blame everything on day care. Blame daycare!). I figured he saw the other mom's come pick up their kid's and then he'd hear the kid's call their mom, momma. Carter was just assuming that all women were momma's! Makes sense, right? We all just have the same name! I believed this until the day Carter called my dad, momma. This threw my theory out the window. How could you call MY DAD, momma? He's a dude, dude. When Carter wants something at my parents house, he'll run up to my dad and make grabby hands and say "mommmma." While it's super adorable, it's just plain weird. Carter can say "oh no, it broke," or "why did you do that?" but he can't call my dad Papa?

Carter and my dad "Captain" Dave, Mother's Day 2011

I think what it really comes down to is that Carter associates any loving adult figure in his life as momma. We all play important roles to him. When I really think about it, I'm happy that he has so many loving people who care for him in his life, who cares if he calls them all momma? I know someday he'll understand who I am and what role I play. I think it's his way of telling someone that he loves them and trusts them, just like he does his momma. And that's a beautiful thing. It really does take a village to raise a child (or lots of family and friends), and that's ok.

Love your only one,

Carter's Momma

Gobble, Gobble

My homemade Pecan & Apple Pie along with a not-so-homemade Pumpkin Pie.

And Gobble Gobble is what we did! We had another wonderful family Thanksgiving. I was so grateful to be able to spend it with my family, both of my grandmothers, my Aunt, my cousin Angel and Roxanne (and Crystal & Megan). I cooked half the meal and the desserts along with my father who did the other half. It was YUM as usual. I love spending time with my family and I love this FOUR DAY weekend. Being a full-time working Momma is NOT easy my friends. And being able to spend time with my family, and spend every minute with Carter, and do as I please is absolutely priceless.

Love this face Carter makes. Mischievous face.

Our spread (some of it!)

Our gorgeous dining table set-up.

Carter is seriously becoming his own little person and I'm loving every second of it. He is actually super funny and has a quirky little sense of humor. It's sad because I'm feeling like I no longer have a little baby; my baby is a toddler and I don't know when that happened. He makes raspberries when he puts something in his mouth he doesn't like, and he insists on being independent and feeding himself with his own spoon, among other things. He's only 14 month's old! I think he wants a sibling, it's time. :) Uh oh.

Carter's dinner!

And now it's officially CHRISTMAS-time. I ordered our Holiday Cards last night. The air is fresh, there are dozen's of Christmas movies on TV (not to mention Falalala Lifetime, which I'm watching now!), lights are getting put up, money is being spent. I love this time of year, it is my absolute favorite time. I literally count down the days to Christmas all year, and I'm treasuring every moment.

This year, I'm Thankful for the following:

My lovely absolutely adorable husband who loves me unconditionally no matter how crazy I get.

My beautifully sweet baby boy Carter. You are the reason I am on this earth and I know for certain I was destined to be your mother and you my baby.

My parents and siblings. You are the essence of who I am and thank you for always being there for me. I love that we are so close, and couldn't have asked for a better back-bone.

My friends. Especially my wonderful close group of girlfriends who I adore and look-up to.

I have to give a special thanks to Roxanne for being such a big part of my son's life.

My job, my home, my health, and my extended family. I am so thankful for everything that I have.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

With love and gratitude,

Michelle

Another face of Carter's I'm lovin.

Day at the Farm

We had a wonderful day today at the Farm with my little family (Andy, Carter and Roxanne). Roxanne has been living here since April when she got out of a long-term relationship. I've known her since I was 11 or 12 years old; she is already family to me and we love having her around all the time. Carter walks around the house looking for "Ra, Ra." He climbs up the stairs and barges into her room going through each and every item she has. He loves make-up and beauty products. LOVES THEM. If you give him a make-up bag full of make-up he squeals with excitement and takes the time to investigate and touch each item. Roxanne has a few baskets full of beauty products and he knows exactly where they are. Her door is kept closed most of the time, but when by chance he finds it open, or he weasels his way in, he goes straight for those darn baskets. It's definitely cute but a problem. He is also obsessed with wallets. If my purse is open and low enough for him to reach, he'll pull out my wallet and then dismantle it by taking each credit card, store card, business card, you name it, he'll remove it. The other morning I walked downstairs on my way out to the office and found my wallet completely empty with the contents strewn about our house. Not one single item was still in it. Sigh. But that's my life now and I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

K, off topic now. About the farm....We went to a local farm where you can pick your own fruits and veggies and pet animals, ride a mini train and a tractor, and spend a nice quiet day with your family. Carter and I had been once before with my parents, but today I brought Andy and Roxanne. It was a beautiful day out and we got some beautiful pictures. I thought we might be able to get a pretty picture for our Holiday Card but I think we'll wait and come back when it's nicely decorated for Christmas. We still have time. After, we went to my parent's where I cooked up some crispy chicken with a cream cheese chive sauce, steak, rice, and green beans. It was a nice little family dinner to top off our nice little family day.

As always, here are the pretty pictures to close my blog with. Enjoy! Happy Saturday Night all!

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Roast Chicken Love

So I am whipping up my favorite Sunday Night dinner; Roast Chicken with roasted veggies and potatoes. I usually switch it up every time I make it. Sometimes I roast the chicken alone and roast the veggies in a separate pan and make some mashed potatoes, but tonight I'm roasting the chicken and the veggies, golden potatoes all in one pan. I alter the recipe based on the ingredients I have, but here is tonights recipe:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degree's

Peel and Chop Carrots, Potatoes, a fennel bulb, one yellow onion and set aside. (I also used the bulbs of some green onions I had, chopped and tossed in).

Rinse and pat dry one small roasting chicken (remove giblets and toss, ew)

Put the chicken in a medium roasting pan and toss veggies all around

Cut one lemon in half and squeeze on the chicken, and stuff the lemon inside

You can also slice up another lemon and toss with the veggies or put on top of the chicken

Soften two tablespoons of butter and rub all over the top of the chicken

Liberally salt and pepper the chicken and veggies

Chop some garlic and toss in with the veggies and toss a few cloves of garlic inside chicken

Stuff some of the onion and fennel from the pan in the chicken

Chop some Rosemary (or any fresh herb you have, I also love using thyme) and sprinkle on the chicken

Stuff a few sprigs of the Rosemary inside the chicken

Season with any other poultry seasonings you like and veggies too

Drizzle everything with olive oil

Finish the pan off with 1 cup of chicken broth to keep the chicken moist

Bake for 1 and a half hours or until done

And then have your cute husband carve the chicken. Always helps the meal taste better.

Ignore the paper plates. It was one of those nights.

I like to baste the chicken a few times through-out the cooking time with the chicken broth in the pan to keep everything moist. You can drain the drippings and use for a chicken gravy, yum yum. I usually serve crescent rolls with this meal. Tonight I also made a Cranberry Apple Chutney for the side. If you're interested, use a cup of cranberries, 1 apple finely diced and cook on the stove with 1/2 cup of water and 1/4 cup of sugar. I also added 1 half of lemon juice, and the zest of the lemon. Cooked on medium heat, then simmered for about 20 minutes. Went perfect with this meal!

I loooove to cook. I enjoy rolling up my sleeves and getting in the kitchen and cooking my stressors away. It's my therapy after a long day of work, I look forward to getting in the kitchen. I'm hoping to share more recipes with you in the future.

Our roasted veggies once I put in a serving dish. They were perfect!

This was a perfect fall meal and felt like the holidays were near. It helped that I was listening to Christmas music. Can't wait to pull out the decorations. I'm a sucker for the holidays!

Roxanne and Carter after dinner. :)

Hope you enjoy this meal as much as we will.

Here's to another rewarding yet busy week ahead of me. Goodbye weekend!

Xoxo,

Me

P.S. This is Carter yesterday enjoying his weekend with Mom, Dad and Rock.