Mod Apron

Aug 13

Death by photo

Supreme devastation.

Apparently I had waaaaaaaay too many photos on my computer’s hard drive and I done killed it dead. Dennis is working feverishly to resuscitate my poor Mac but it’s not looking good at the moment.

Needless to say, you won’t see much blogage from me until the old girl is recovered. IF she can be recovered. All I can do at the right now is post little blurbs and pics from my iPhone (like this, and the cake post from earlier today). I’m so upset about this that I’m literally in the throws of the 4 stages of grief. Currently I’m experiencing complete denial.

I’m really worried, guys. Send prayers.

Jun 29

Heavens to Betsy. I left the house holding one of the kids’ maracas today and it wasn’t until I was already 2 blocks away that I realized.

I can’t actually say how it happened; all I know is that the kids were playing with the bucket of instruments after breakfast and at some point I was cleaning up, getting shoes on, grabbing Maya’s lunchbox and ushering us all out the door to get to Maya’s summer day camp. It was a blur of activity as we were leaving the house.

You can just imagine my puzzlement when I realized I was still holding that thing, and with no pockets or anywhere to put it down. There were more than a couple of sideways glances from people passing by on the sidewalk.

But you know me, I’m always looking at the glass half-full. I decided to use that maraca for emphasis and excitement when talking to other adults at summer camp drop off.

“Would we like to have a playdate next Thursday? That sounds GREAT! (shake shake shake)”

“Oh! They’re baking bread in class today! How EXCITING! (shake shake shake)”

“Sure, I’ll empty out Maya’s cubby for the weekend. Yay WEEKEND! (shake shake shake)”

Ya gotta make the best of it, that’s my motto.

And speaking of making the best of it, I did my best to remedy my meal plan and grocery shopping drama by popping by Cal-Mart on the way home for some goodies to tide us over. I bought mostly veggies and I think it was money well spent. Tonight, we’ll have a vegetable and tofu stir-fry with brown rice for dinner. And at some point this afternoon, I’ll make some veggie stock from my two overflowing bags of veggie scraps in the freezer, of which some of that stock will become a simple vegetable soup for dinner tomorrow. Sunday is still a question mark, but chances are it will be soup leftovers.

Jun 28

Out of sorts

I was chatting with my mom on the phone this afternoon. I told her that without having a meal plan in place this week, I was feeling really out of sorts. Mom corrected me, advising that the actual definition of “out of sorts” is something akin to “irritated”. Huh. My whole life I thought “out of sorts” meant discombobulated.

And discombobulated I am! The first few days after mom and dad’s visit, my kitchen was overrun with leftovers and I wanted to use them up. But now, we’re down to nothing, the week’s over half-over and I have empty cupboards and no plan! I hate shopping piecemeal and having to come up with meals on the fly. It’s inefficient and expensive. But if I do a big shop now, it’ll compromise my regular Meal Plan Monday schedule. I’m so screwed!

Never start a week without a meal plan. Lesson learned, my friends. Lesson learned.

Rest assured, this week hasn’t been a total wash. You may have noticed I’ve been posting less frequently over the last few days. That’s because I’ve been spending my bloggy time on a cool little project that I’ll be unveiling tomorrow morning… So check back mañana for more deets!

Jun 16

Coffee bender. It’s bad, guys.

[Photo via Instagram]

Jun 15

My shame.

I bought some coffee yesterday for my parents’ upcoming visit. I told myself it wasn’t for me. I promised myself I wouldn’t drink a drop.

But this morning, it was the first thought to pop into my head when I woke up.

My Brain: “Pssst. There’s coffee in the house.”

Me: “F—- off, Brain. I’m, like, so over coffee.”

Brain: “No you’re not. You want some. In fact, you want some really badly. I’m gonna fix it so it’s all you can think about.”

Me: “Whatever. I’m fine. I’m a strong, independent lady who’s taking charge of my health. I’ve got my hot water with lemon and fennel. Which is awesome, btw. I don’t need…”

Brain: “Coffee.”

Me: “No.”

Brain: “COFFEE!!!”

Me: “Nooooooooooo!”

Brain: “COFFEE COFFEE COFEEE GO MAKE SOME RIGHT NOW!!!”

Me: “Okay, listen. If it’ll shut you up, maybe I’ll have just half a cup. After my lemon-fennel water.”

Brain: “WATER’S FOR CHUMPS! COFFEEEEEEE!!!”

This internal dialog continued all through my morning yoga, my shower and even while I was putting the kettle on for my HOT WATER. “This boiling water would pour so nicely into your french press instead, wouldn’t it now?” Brain said.

Eventually, I gave in. In the end, my feeble resistance couldn’t hold a candle to the thought of that dark, sweet elixir and the glorious start to the day it provides. Devil’s brew, this.

Dennis says I’m a nicer person when I drink coffee. That comment kind of hurt my feelings but if I’m being completely honest, he’s probably not exactly wrong. I justify my coffee in a million different ways but ultimately, I know it’s terrible for me. The fact that I’m this addicted is a clear indication to me that I need to let it go. This little habit is not serving me or my body very well at all.

But oh, coffee. I just can’t quit you!

[Photo via Instagram. Please ignore my man-hands. Yeesh.]

May 14

Oh for goodness sake.

Let me begin this sad story by saying that we never, like, never have brown bananas. We simply go through them too quickly to ever get to that point. I often wish for brown bananas, but between my two little monkeys our bananas get gobbled up before they barely have a chance to turn from green to yellow.

Brown bananas are like GOLD in this house.

But on this sunny Monday morning, I found myself with a secret stash of two brown bananas. Oh the glory!

And since I haven’t had the chance to make brownies yet, I had the brilliant idea to make a loaf of banana bread to serve at the HOA meeting tonight. Perfection!

I was up early and I seized the opportunity to bake before the kids woke up. I mixed, I stirred, I mashed, I baked.

And when the oven timer rang loud and true, I plucked my beautiful loaf of banana bread from the oven. It was quite something to behold, perfectly risen, and baked to a golden brown. But when I tried to turn it out onto the cooling rack, the unthinkable…

It all fell apart! Nooooooooooooo. #fail #tears #woeisme

And my beautiful loaf was reduced to a delicious, warm, crumbled pile of mess and crumbs. Not at all suitable to serve at the HOA meeting, sadly.

Good thing my kids have no objections to being served warm, crumbled gobs of banana bread for breakfast.* [Sigh.]

*Note Henry’s red, puffy, glassy eyes. That was caused by crying for more banana bread.

Apr 17

Fashion backwards

Um, yeah, so as I was getting undressed last night to change into my pajamas, I noticed that my shirt - the shirt I had been wearing ALL DAY - was on backwards. I wonder who noticed?

#embarrassing #whataloser #ivebeenawakesince5am

Mod Apron

Modern homemaking for the frugal urban mama.

Death by photo

Out of sorts

Fashion backwards