Friday, April 23, 2010

Photo Shoot

For a long time now (ok, so only 8 months) people keep telling me to do a pregnancy photo shoot or I'll regret it.  I know I'll have Whitney (the most fabulous photographer) take pics of the little guy when he arrives, but I wasn't too keen on someone taking pictures of my belly and me... I'm the size of a house.

Needless to say, I did it!  I trust Whitney very much and she had some fun ideas, so we went with it.  We almost went away in the wind while we were shooting, but that's another story!

If you want to see the sneak peek... go to www.blissstudio.net/blog.   OR  Take a look HERE!

By the way... isn't my child's father HOT!  (insert whistle noise)  Such a hot piece of man.

Anyhow... on to the pics!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

It was a disaster...

People... it was a dinner time disaster last night.  Ugh, I get exhausted just thinking about it.  I got home from work, the gym and running errands, then started on dinner.  I was kind of excited to make this particular dinner because it was new.  Main course - stuffed shells.   See photo below (courtesy of Real Simple).



Let me digress for a moment and say  how much I LOVE Real Simple Magazine.  I L-O-V-E it.  My heart goes into a tizzy of excitement when it arrives each month.  It's so loved in our house that even Josh sneaks it away to find the recipes for the month.  We always try a few, if not ALL of the recipes they include.  I just love it.... LOVE it.  I hope you get the picture because I would hate for you to not understand my LOVE of Real Simple.  We clear yet?

Anyhow... all was going well.  Shells were made, stuffed and ready to go into the oven.  Here's where it all started.  I set the heavy dish filled with the dinner deliciousness into the oven (top rack), and AHHH the rack collapses on the right side.  Thank goodness I still had a hand on the dish or it would have been "bye bye".  Josh comes over, helps me get things back in order, places the dish on the rack himself (just to be sure), we close the oven, set the timer, and for approximately 17 minutes... life was good.  Dinner was in the oven, the house smelled delicious, and I was one step closer to heartburn for the night.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!  Timer goes off - DINNER IS READY!  I remove myself from the couch where I had been slumped, and waddle into the kitchen.  I grab my hot mitts and go in for the kill.  Open the oven, reach in....grab the bubbling deliciousness which I am about to devour... and then..... SLAM, sLiP, WHAM... "AHHH"... "SON OF A".... deep breath....."JOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHH"!!!!   The oven rack bailed on the left side, sending my entire dish on the slippery slope to spillage and slopping all over the oven, the floor, my left hot mitt.  You get the picture. 

In my haste to save some of the dish, I grabbed it and slapped it onto the stove top to sit while I assessed the damage (it also gave it time to cool before we ate the remains).   As I gazed at the mess in front of me, I could do nothing more than stare.  Have you had that moment?  Please say yes.  It's the moment where you just can't figure out the best way to tackle the mess ahead.  I sat and stared at the wreckage, this wasn't helping, but what was I going to do?  Not exactly easy to clean up a 400 degree oven!  Meanwhile, Josh comes bee-bopping in from the garage.  "What the...." he exclaimed as he saw me and the wreckage.  "I heard something, but figured you were OK", he said.  "Um, did you hear the crash and the battle cry for help" I asked.  He started laughing, he had only heard the crash.  We both laughed ... what else is there to do!  Laugh or cry... those are the options.  We laughed. 

Josh immediately dives in and starts cleaning up.  What a man.  What a MAN!  He's cleaning and I'm kind of helping, kind of pouting.  Then I exclaim loudly, as if it's the best idea EVER - "Let's just eat, and then we'll clean up".  So, we did.  We ate.  It was good.  Then we started cleaning up again.  It wasn't so good.

I tackled the dishes while Josh continued tackling the oven.  He had paper towels, toothpicks, Q-tips, Clorox wipes... you name it, he had it and he was determined to clean everything out.  GO JOSH!.  In the mean time, I get the leftovers packed up and ready for the fridge.  Josh decided his hard work deserved a beer, especially if he was going to finish the job.  So, he kneels down, reaches into the fridge to grab a beer and I ask nicely, "can you put this in there somewhere" (referring to the glass dish of leftovers).  As I so swiftly hand him the dish, I also WHACK him upside the head!  OH MY!  I start laughing hysterically... really, what a way to end things.

But the end is still not near.  Josh gets his beer, and goes back to cleaning the crevices of the deep dark abyss.  Suddenly... BLOOD!  The man somehow cut his finger right under the fingernail... YOWZA!!!  It was bleeding everywhere.  NEW MESS!  WAHOO!  I hand him a paper towel and although I felt awful, I started laughing again.  Let me explain... I get this from my mother.  Whenever there is an emergency, danger, injury, etc... LAUGH.... just burst out in LAUGHTER.  Preferably uncontrollable laughter.

Anyhow... after that, I told Josh we were DONE with the kitchen for the night.  I think you'd all agree, it was in the best interest of all parties involved.  We're just lucky a dog didn't hop in the oven or slip on the mess or something.

I'm tired and hungry now....