Food for Thought

This is a hot topic that I've just had time to start reading about. Working/staying at home and motherhood. The LA Junior League invited Ms. Stone to speak with us last year and it was a very informative evening - and really enjoyable. I just read her book (I've had it for a while, but it didn't seem relevant until recently:)

She talks to a lot of highly educated, professional women about why they left their careers after having children and her conclusions are really interesting. If you are interested, I really recommend it. There is no judgment or agenda, just a thoughtful discussion of the forces that work to make career and motherhood very difficult to balance.
Here's what I'm reading right now - and it's also fascinating. Women with families who work and who stay home provide insight into their decisions, and what helped them decide. It's fascinating stuff. I am an attorney, so I'm hopeful to continue my career after having a family. However, these books are really useful to get thinking about childcare, parenting responsibilities as well as my own assumptions. My mother was a fantastic and doting stay at home mum, and she really deserves credit for the success of my brother and I. (When I was in high school chemistry, she retaught herself to balance chemical equations to help me with my homework!) It's definitely a topic that interests me - if you've read anything on the subject, let me know what else I should read!

Odds and Ends

We have a car seat! If you live in California, did you know that the Highway Patrol and local fire stations can provide clinics on safe car seat installation? I think other states provide similar services, so it's worth browsing around the internet. The officer who assisted us said that the vast majority of car seats coming in are not done correctly. So please call and get yours checked on this week! It was a great experience, because we got a one on one instructional session and learned a lot. Thank you CHP! (Below is the intersection of Topanga Canyon and PCH - it was a beautiful day to drive through the canyon and by the ocean!)

Our installation was out in the valley, and I used my time on the other side of the hills to enjoy a beautiful day in the valley. I know that if you don't live here, the San Fernando Valley has kind of a bad reputation, and I want to say that it is not deserved. The valley is a great place to visit with great restaurants and is warm and sunny on days when this side of the hills is foggy and cold. Maybe similar to New York, LA is clogged and traffic-infested, and the Valley is nice and suburban. I went to a lovely and uncrowded Target and Trader Joe's...heaven big parking lots, wide aisles, and a generally more pleasant shopping experience.

I availed myself of these opportunities and stocked up. We now have toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies to get us through a month or so of baby-included chaos (including visits from my mum and N's dad and stepmother and his mum). We also have all sorts of frozen goodies from Trader Joe's and there is a lasagna cooking in the oven. I played around with my mother's recipe, so I'm going to test it, and if it worked, I'll share, otherwise I'll just post her original version (which is awesome).

After exerting myself, I am perched on the couch with my little buddy. Happy Monday, and if you're some place warm, please have a glass of chilled rose or some other summery drink for me.

Weekend Update

Spring has sprung in LA. It was absolutely beautiful this weekend. Honestly, we didn't do all that much, but I did get some nice cleaning done in my home office/aka the loft closet, and washed some more of Baby Icing's clothing. She has lots of clothing for someone with no Social Security number or birth date!

I'm also working on putting together a postpartum transitional wardrobe. In that spirit, here are two machine washable, potentially nursing friendly pieces from C & C California. Check out Bluefly.com for a great selection!

I got the wrap dress in grey, but couldn't find a photo.

Yesterday, we lounged and watched men's basketball, then went to see Duplicity! I LOVED it. Without spoiling any of the plot, there is great dialogue, intrigue and romance. It's the same director as "Michael Clayton" and I love how he gets big law/big corporations. Having worked in that environment, I really appreciate how silly those places can be.

Today I had brunch with another friend M (I seriously need for people to have different initials), and then the combination of sun, pancakes and maple syrup was too much, so I needed to recuperate on the couch for the rest of the day. I did make it off the couch to file away some recipes (I'm still working on the quiche issue) and general office tidying.

I have some exciting news - our car seat is getting installed by a member of the California Highway Patrol. I'm thrilled, and relieved because I was a little worried about doing it correctly! So, as a big thank you, I made the congo bars referenced earlier to bring to him. I'm also looking forward to visiting a Trader Joe's in the valley - the one near my house is literally the seventh circle of Dante's Inferno. Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Day Two

It's kind of sad what "overdoing it" is for me these days. (The picture above is Amandine - the delicious patisserie - hang tight as I search for tasty quiche recipes to try for you). I walked the two very flat, very gentle miles to the car dealership to pick up my car and part with several hundred dollars. Then I changed for my doctor's appointment. Baby Icing is right where she should be, and looking good.

You'll agree it was not a very taxing day. However, I'm simply too tired to go to the grocery store now, so I'm going tomorrow. In other frustrating news, I finally figured out the mystery of the missing rocking chair. Pottery Barn cancelled my original order for some reason, but since I paid with N's credit card, I didn't notice. So please, cross your fingers that the reordered rocker arrives in time. My mum was quick to note that Baby Icing will probably not notice the difference if her first few days are sans rocker.

It's crazy windy here, and quite nice and sunny. Big kitty and I are relaxing on the couch and watching "What Not To Wear." I'm pretty sure that I am one watermelon bellied "Don't" at this point, but I will try to redeem myself after Baby Icing arrives. In a traumatic new development, my hairstylist just left her salon, and I hope I can coordinate with her on a new location before Baby Icing arrives - otherwise we'll have to do some headless shots of me (mama don't do roots).

Happy Weekend!

My Favorite Brownies (So Far)

These are from How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. They are everything that I think a brownie should be. The recipe makes a huge pan of deeply fudgy and delicious brownies. They freeze like a dream, and keep well out of the freezer (in fact, they improve if you serve them after a day).

And, they are really amenable to lots of add-ins (pictured above I used white chocolate chips because N likes them, but they are delicious with hazelnuts, candies, dried fruit, pretty much anything you like). I know they sound like they use a ridiculous amount of butter and chocolate, but it's such an easy recipe, and they are so worth it!

Brownies (Nigella Lawson)

1 2/3 cups unsalted butter softened (This is 3 sticks and about 2 TBS)
13 oz bittersweet chocolate (it's worth it to use really good chocolate - Valrhona or Ghirardelli)

6 large eggs

1/2/3 cups sugar

1 TBS vanilla

1/1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13"x9"x2" pan (and you can line with parchment if you like- but I always skip this step!)
   
2. Melt the butter and chocolate (I use the microwave, but you could use a double boiler. In a bowl (I use the Kitchen Aide) beat together the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Measure the flour and salt and mix in a separate bowl.


3. When the chocolate is melted, let it cool a little before mixing with the eggs (otherwise you get scrambled eggs). Beat the melted chocolate into the eggs and sugar, then add in the flour/salt mixture. Beat until you have a nice smooth batter.


4. Scrape into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes where the middle of the brownies stays nice and gooey. I generally give these 30 minutes, but don't go over. They also continue to cook as they cool.


5. It is much easier to cut these after they've cooled overnight. So, cut yourself a nice brownie hot out of the pan, and leave the rest for another day. Your brownie will be hot and crumbly, but they cut quite well and are really pretty if you let them cool overnight.

Please, if you don't ever make a single other recipe that I post, please make these! Of course, right as I was typing this post, my mum called to tell me about a new recipe she just found that involves both melting the chocolate and butter, but then creaming some of the butter in with the sugar. She promised me that there would be days when Baby Icing is quiet and well-behaved, so we'll be sure to try it out!

Day One

Thanks for your sweet comments! I had a lovely day. First things first, I dropped the car off for a much-needed servicing (complete with hearing I need new brakes and new tires) - oh well, better now than later! Then, I went home where my lovely friend J braved cross-town traffic to bring me some sweet books and a beautiful hand knit blanket from her mother.

We had a lovely lunch and tea! Check out Amandine if you're ever on the west side during lunch - their asparagus/potato/pesto quiche is divine. (Why isn't quiche cool - I swear it's one of the tastiest lunches ever!) I'm saving my piece of "Delice de Chocolat" for tomorrow after my check up, but had a bite of hers and it was fantastic!

The UPS man brought me the baby bag above, and I have to say that I love it. It's black nylon, the logo is relatively discreet, and it's the perfect size. Then, I figured out how the car seat adaptor works with my stroller and it was EASY! YAY! I'm working on a brownie post - so stay tuned for my favorites (of those recipes that I've tried so far).

Happy Almost Weekend!

All Done

Have a drink for me! I made it through my last day at the office - of which I spent about 6 hours standing in the hallways of our lovely downtown courthouse as we waited on a judge. I don't really like standing for extended periods of time these days...so I'm tuckered out. We were finally sent to another courtroom, where the trial will start in with the preliminaries tomorrow. I have done my out of office email, checked in with all the parties, and I'm on leave.

That said, you'll have to bear with me because I'm going to have a lot of time to post over the next 3 plus weeks (I am assuming that Baby Icing has NO interest in coming early). So, stop on by to check on my progress...and if you would be kind enough to send kind thoughts/prayers my way for a safe, easy and early arrival for my little sweetheart, I'd be very grateful!