Harder and Harder

Yes, it has been harder and harder to post every day with my meals. It's probably better I skipped a few days last week since I'm pretty sure I drank about seven glasses of champagne and five glasses of wine at our friend Jason's 40th birthday cocktail hour last Friday. It all went down hill when I saw Trent drinking as much as me, and we were on our way to leaving our car at the hotel for the night. Luckily, Anthony the valet took care of us. I recall calling him Tony and asking him where he got his awesome sweater (turns out it's part of his uniform) while speaking less than one inch from his face. The night is foggy but highlights include non-stop sex talk at dinner (which we didn't hesitate to involve our waiter in), group singing of Comfortably Numb in our living room, dancing by me and Leslie, and a full glass of red wine spilled all over my new non-maternity pants and cow-hide rug. That poor rug has seen more spills, dog pee and poop, dirt, and food than a rug should in its short lifetime. Another poor choice on my part for our high traffic living area. When will I get that right?

I won't bore you with the details of me waking up at 5 with the sweats, spins, and gurgles, or the hangover during the circus the next day. It's just that bad.

Instead, I will provide a link to a new site I am loving. It's called Pinhole Press. They have all sorts of neat things to do with pictures of you or your family. I love that they have a more modern edge than some of the other picture sites out there. So, for the sake of the blog, I had to test run some of the product. I bought the diary/journal, the list pads, and a notepad. I can't wait to see how they come out. We have a lot of lists in our house, so why not add a pic of the girls to them? Check it out and let me know if you order anything from them.

Monday, April 11th Meals

Breakfast: two over hard eggs

Snack: Lara Bar

Late Lunch: Rare ahi tuna over spring mix, sparkling water

Snack: 1/2 cup of raw almonds

Dinner: Three turkey meatballs in tomato sauce
I was planning on having soup, but it was all gross after I had to read Lyla 100 books. Between a one hour nap randomly in the afternoon and the sugar at her friend Evan's bday party, she was wired and up until 10:30. Luckily, our friend Halle emailed us all around 10 saying she was in the same boat. Damn you sugar!

Reality

Yes, I have lapsed in updating both the blog, and my meals. I didn't think it had been so long, but it has been a week. I don't feel like thinking of everything, but for the most part, I kept on track. Trent and I had a lovely adult getaway to Breckenridge, CO Friday through Sunday, and I drank a few brews, a few wines, and ate some tortilla chips on Saturday night since the restaurant's food was a little awful. I will recover this week by cutting down on everything.

The trip was incredible. The weather Friday and Saturday was amazing. It was so warm, people were skiing without shirts (mostly men), one chick had a bikini on with a fur coat over it, and we even saw a gorilla in the ski lift line. The first day took us for everything we had in us. After waking at 4:00 a.m., flying out at 6:15 for a four hour flight, followed by a two hour drive we were already feeling beat. We tried to quickly adjust to the elevation and thin air but no dice. I was wobbling around the halls with vertigo as we wandered the halls of the resort attempting to find our room. The place had like three buildings none of which were attached to the lobby. We don't usually ride the day we arrive for this very reason, but time was of the essence and therefore we ventured out. Well, my new boots I bought solely because my damn feet grew again during my pregnancy didn't fit. As soon as I put them on to walk outside they hurt like hell. I rode in them anyway, and I felt like a ballerina with her bloody, bound feet stuffed into her toe shoes. My toes were numb, my shins were borderline bruised, and after we came in, I had to walk in my socks through the wet-ass parking garage because I couldn't stand another moment in them. the next morning, I had to buy new boots. Luckily a board shop in town had a pair in my size and they were great. Phfew. That is y round about way of saying how tired we were the first day. Add a few drinky-poos on the deck and at dinner, and the Walters were down for the count. It felt like we had slept for hours and hours that night, and perhaps we did. You realize what a treasure eight hours of sleep is when you haven't had it in about a year.

Our return yesterday marked the one week countdown to my return to work. Sad. I have loved my time home where Monday is no different than any other day; where days aren't rushed; dinner has become a family affair, and each day begs the question, "Where are we going today Mom." Since we did not win the Mega Millions, I will indeed return to work. I told Lyla I had to start going to work again, and she replied, "You don't have to go to work if you don't want to Mom." So innocent, so cute. I treasure the moments I've shared with these little girls, and will cherish even more the mornings and weekends I have with them going forward. I do love my girls.

Monday April 4th Meals:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, one link of sausage, tomato

Snack: Lara Bar

Lunch: Ordered salad at airport but it was so awful, I threw it out.

Snack: One package of peanuts on the plane

Dinner: Chef salad

Tuesday April 5th Meals:

Breakfast: CLEAN smoothie

Lunch: Grilled chicken

Dinner: Lamb shoulder, frisee salad with egg, asparagus

2 Frescas
2 Waters

Pasta-less Lasagna

The good news--I lost another six pounds since my dreadful last appointment with my doctor. 27 pounds to go to respectable weight. Trent of course has flattened his stomach completely, feels great, looks great, and sleeps like a champ. Men.

With Trent and I both eating healthy, we have been scouring for recipes to try that fit our new lifestyle. Tonight we had lasagna without noodles and very little cheese. We both really liked it, but agreed we would modify it a bit to add a little something extra to it. If anyone is interested, her is the recipe, with what I would add as mods:

PASTA-LESS LASAGNA

• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves garlic
  
• 2 28-oz cans whole plum tomatoes
• 9 – 10 basil leaves, torn (or more, up to you!)
• 2 small to medium eggplants, thinly sliced
• 1-2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2-3 cups fresh leafy spinach
  
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese, skim milk
• 1/2 cup (about a handful) chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with about 2 tbsp EVOO. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, and sauté until tender, 5-6 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, basil, some salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon or a potato masher, crush the tomatoes up to make a chunky sauce. Bring up to a simmer and reserve the sauce warm. The sauce will remain wet, but add a mixture of one T corn starch mixed with 1/4 water and add to sauce to thicken if necessary.

(I would add this) In a separate pan, quickly saute mushrooms and spinach until just tender, and reserve.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta, parsley, egg yolk, parmesan cheese, some salt and pepper.

Ladle about ¼ of the sauce into the bottom of the lasagna pan. Lay down enough eggplant slices to cover the bottom in a single layer. Add about half of the mushroom and spinach mixture. Top about ¼ of the ricotta mixture and repeat another layer of eggplant. Continue assembling the lasagna in that order until you’ve used up all the fillings, ending with red sauce. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top of the dish and cover with foil. (I could only do one layer of cheese mixture, but it worked out fine to do sauce-eggplant-cheese-eggplant-sauce-mozzarella).

Bake the lasagna for 30 minutes with the foil on, then remove it and continue baking for another 15 minutes until the eggplant is tender and the cheese is browned.

Monday, 3/29 Meals:

Breakfast: Flax waffle, almond butter, honey (the usual); decaf coffee

Lunch: Salmon fillet with herbs, broccoli raab, water

Dinner: Lara bar

All About White

One of my favorite colors for clothing is white. In fact, many times I will show Trent a shirt, and he will ask me, "Doesn't that kind of look like every other top you have?"

I have a lot of white tops, blouses, and t-shirts. I probably have six white tunics.

I have one white dress that I bought at Scoop in Vegas, and it remains one of my favorite dresses I have ever purchased. It's starting to get a bit gnarly, but I'm pushing it as long as I can on that one.

In the spirit of spring, clean fabrics, and everything I love about white, here they are with a guide to who and where.1 Strapless corset-bodice cocktail dress
Monique Lhuillier

2 Spaghetti-strap chiffon tank dress
J. Mendel

3 Floral-Embroidered Lace Dress
Dolce & Gabbana

4 Flare Minidress
Alexander McQueen

5 Clipped Corolla Heels
Klub Nico for BHLDN

6 Brocade D'Orsay Heels
Bettye Muller for BHLDN

7 Burnished Organza Gown
BHLDN

8 Shirt-tail-back jacket and Sleeveless U-neck gathered gown
Rick Owens

9 Voluminous Silk Headband
BHLD

10 Filigree Cupcake Dress
BHLDN

11 On-A-Wing Heels
Katia Lombardo for BHLDN

12 Diamond Dust Sandals
Schultz for BHLDN

Sunday, 3/27 Meals:

Breakfast: Egg omelet with spinach and mushrooms
Coffee, soy creamer, stevia

Lunch: Five pieces of beef cubes leftover from beef stew the other day
Three carrots
16 ox. water

Snack: Almonds

Dinner: Steamed veggies (squash, mushrooms, zucchini) and lemon-pepper chicken
Fresca (I had to have a change from water!)

Leather's Not Just for Bondage Any More

For those of you not familiar with Mary Kate and Ashley's clothing line, it's called The Row. It's amazing. And, of course, very pricey. It has an elegant simplicity that I adore, and one day, I will buy something from the line. I saw this boxy leather top on the Bergdorf Goodman site and fell in love. I do want it very badly. I wish I could pair it with these black pants, but I cannot, because I could never pull it off, but with straight leg jeans for a dressed down look and loafers or brogues would be divine.

Saturday, 3/26 Meals:

Breakfast
Lara Bar

Lunch
Cobb salad from Panera Bread with bacon, tomato, and cheese removed (leaving lettuce, egg, and chicken).
No dressing from Panera, added olive oil at Tracey's house.

Dinner
Lamb chop with salt and pepper pan seared
Artichoke heart and asparagus medley
One glass of Pinot Noir (If I'm going to be miserable trying to lose all of this weight, I at least need to allow myself to drink to cope with it!)

By the way, tonight, I was standing in front of Lyla, not wearing anything tight at all, and she poked me a few times in my stomach. She then asked, "Mom, why is your belly so big?" The innocent question that stung so much led me to simply reply, "Because Mommy needs to lose some weight." That seemed to satisfy her. Thankfully.

Dreaming in Black

Unfortunately, we did not win the $311 million lottery on Friday, and therefore my spending must again be minimized. If that were not the case, I would be buying this amazing Chloe dress for Rob and Vale's wedding. Although, my hesitation would be exposing this front piece of belly. Is that in bad taste at a wedding? Is this dress more cocktails in New York, and less wedding in Italy? Might be. At a price tag of $2,750.00 it seems it would have to be more special occasion than cocktails at the Gansevoort, even though everyone there is probably wearing dresses that are more than three grand. Alas, I am no spoiled socialite looking to get laid and high on the roof of a hotel, and therefore cannot afford to spend this on a dress. Funny thing...I showed it to Trent, and he loved it, and asked what the hesitation was. Oh sweet man that you are, you know not the price tag of an off the runway Chloe dress. I wish I didn't either. So, the hunt continues.

Friday, 3/25 Meals

Breakfast
My new usual...flax seed waffle with almond butter and three drops of honey.
One apple

Lunch
Lara Bar in the car to NJ
A bunch of almonds in the car
Two bites of Lyla's chicken tender with the skin pulled off. The chicken was from Royal Farms, so I didn't feel awful about it, since their chicken is actually real, and this tender wasn't gross like most. I got really hungry and a little shaky, so I felt like I needed something a bit more substantial in this pinch.

Dinner
Steamed chicken and veggies
Brown Rice
The sauce for the chicken and veggies (Chinese) which I have officially nixed off my add-back-in list. It made me very sick to my stomach and bloated.

Reading and Painting

I have been teaching Lyla letter sounds, and got flash cards that have missing letters that we have been filling in. She has been having fun and doing well. However, the card sets are a real rip off at "Learning How" at the mall. I don't mind spending money on learning tools, but I hate paying for things that just aren't worth it. So, I am going to make my own cards. I was reading The Snail's Trail blog, and got this idea. I'm totally going to do this. I just need to bust over to Home Depot and pocket some samples since I have very few at present.

With only three weeks left with my girls, I am going to try to plan some really fun activities to do in the house and outside. I wish I had more inspiration on the fly, but I think if I plan ahead I can do some fun activities with Lyla over the next couple of weeks. I also found another amazing blog called Pink and Green Mama that has tons of good and pretty simple idea. This lady is crazy. It makes me feel bad about making Valentines and Easter Egg cut-outs five times a week!

4/23 Meals

Breakfast: One flax seed waffle with almond butter and two drops of honey

Lunch: I got super busy and skipped lunch a bit, but I did have a Lara bar on the run
Decaf Americano with soy milk and one stevia

Dinner: Beef stew (this may have been cheat, but I haven't have red meat on over a month and a half, so I thought I would add it) with lean beef for stewing, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and brown rice. Luckily, this was probably the lowest fat version of beef stew, so I'm not beating myself up on the meat.

Half glass of Pinot Noir (not approved on any diets, but heck, I can't be completely unhappy).