Elf On The Shelf Mom Guilt

by Ann on December 15, 2011

Yesterday a few of my Facebook friends all posted this one blog post.  It’s awesome!  If you’re a mom or a dad of a 2 year old plus- you’re going to know what The Elf on the Shelf is.  Before you read any more, you have to read this post from People I Want to Punch in the Throat.  Hilarious.  She so eloquently puts exactly what we’re thinking and yet makes it funny.  Since her blog name is so long, I’ll dub her Punch.  Punch should be a commenter on “I love the 80s” or 90s…

First off – I do not have an Elf on the Shelf for my kids.  I feel very guilty about this like they’re missing out on a critical part of Christmas traditions and memories that their little friends will cherish and tell their Elf stories as they grow up.  Haa haa!  They’ll all share a laugh and my kids will be left out because their terrible mom did not participate in the Elfcapades.  But have you seen the Elf included in the boxed book set?  He’s freaking scary!  He looks like my childhood doll nightmares!  Not quite clown scary, but close.  I don’t want this thing in my house!  And then, I read the post above, and the blogger actually has one elf, but two children – so she’s feeling the guilt that each child won’t have their own elf to keep .  That means, I’d need TWO scary little elves watching over my kids.  I can just hear the little, “Eeee eee eee,” stabbing noise from the horror movies of my childhood.  To be fair, one facebook friend does have a stuffed elf (so maybe the ones that come with freak her out too) but it’s still a little scary looking anyway.  I’m sure I could search for elves on Amazon and find a normal looking one, but then I’d have to take an extra step, spend more money, and then my son would probably be one of those kids who could give a rip.

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Voltaggios Take On Thanksgiving

by Ann on November 9, 2011

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Thank you Cooking Channel…and Williams-Sonoma!  I’m a huge Top Chef fan – including Masters and Just Desserts.  Definitely my favorite season ever was when the Voltaggio brothers were on.  They both just rocked it – every single thing Bryan made was perfect and Michael threw in some crazy ideas and won for his creativity.  But of course, what made it extra fun to watch is how cute they are…stating the obvious.  The picture above is old- but seemed like the best of the two together I could find.  In case you didn’t know- they have a Thanksgiving special on Cooking Channel right now!  It replays often so you can probably just DVR it and watch it whenever you want.  Michael’s brussels sprouts recipe and Bryan’s turkey recipe both stuck out to me the most.  I actually went to the store to buy the ingredients for the brussels sprouts but my kids were bored and I had to cut the trip short.  But really, even if you don’t like cooking or have no intention of making your Thanksgiving meal this year, it’s still fun to watch…if you’re a girl- or a gay man.

Girl talk! During their season of Top Chef – I was a total Bryan fan all the way.  He’s more serious and I didn’t see any tattoos, so that’s more my guy style – most of my girlfriends were into Michael though.  But this Thanksgiving special revealed a bunch of Bryan tats.  Plus, he had some weird bangs going on in the special – and all of a sudden – I saw what everyone else saw in Michael!  Michael wasn’t wearing his silly big hat backwards this time and seems more mature looking.  Even though tattoos aren’t my thing – Michael’s personality does go with them at least. Maybe Bryan has a bad boy side?  Well…the second those bangs go away I’m pretty sure I’ll be more into Bryan again, he is so serious you know.  Freshman year of college my best friend and I were feeling particularly adventurous one evening and decided to get little matching tattoos.  I wimped out last minute and got a belly ring (and she did too) - which my body hated so it was gone after 3 months since it never healed.  I’m so happy for my last minute change of heart!  Until I had my kids- I could never think of anything meaningful enough to me to want to wear every single day.  Except now I have that dumb little scar where that tiny gold ring was for three months.  And then when I got pregnant, it got darker and bigger!  Luckily, it went back down – but I’ve seen lots of friends whose ring holes got huge and dark and stayed that way after the baby.  Hee hee, the things you don’t think or care about in college!

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Pinterest is awesome

September 21, 2011

I feel like a bit of a late bloomer with this because I’ve been a zombie for about a year and a half.  Not that long ago I noticed my site blowing up like it used to when it was easier to get on tastespotting and foodgawker.  Back when they really looked at at the [...]

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Archer Farms Gelato…Imported From Italy

August 19, 2011

How did I not see this before?  I’m at Target three times a week sometimes!  At least once per week I look at the ice creams/gelato selections and rarely purchase anything since it’s either not good or not even close to natural.  Today, I stumbled upon Archer Farms Imported From Italy Gelato.  Yes.  Seriously.  Ok [...]

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Happy Father’s Day To…Me?

June 16, 2011
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What an excellent gift for Father’s Day!  I received an awesome steak knife set- Wusthof’s Grand Prix II Four Piece Steak Knife Set in red!  If you know much about American Football- you’d know the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ color is red.  Half the people I know have Husker basements or garages.  The ladies usually put a restriction on where the [...]

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Deconstructed Quinoa Sushi and Giveaway!

May 19, 2011
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It’s that time of year again for me to get inspired.  When it gets a little warmer and the sun comes out from behind the clouds, my kitchen gets some more use out of it!  I was lucky enough to get six bottles of goods from Saucy Mama – and it really is all sooooo [...]

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Get More Sleep With a 3 Year Old!

April 14, 2011
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Yep, I know, another kid post.  Well, my 8 month old wants me to be with her every waking second of the day and yells at me after ignoring her for too long just doing laundry or dishes – so you can imagine how I don’t get to the computer ever- or get to cook too [...]

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Best Baby Food Ever

February 10, 2011
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And it comes full circle!  Back in the day, I used to have a huge crush on Tyler Florence.  When he used to do the show Food 911- he may actually still do it but I haven’t watched in over 6 years so I couldn’t tell you!  My crush faded eventually when he did too [...]

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Get Your Kid To Eat Broccoli…Soup and CSN

January 17, 2011
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My dad loves literally throwing everything from his fridge into his soups.  Seriously.  Strangely, he starts off with canned soup as a base.  I think he must’ve bought a case of healthy Chicken and Rice soup from Costco, since his last two soups were started with canned Chicken and Rice soup.  So, of the two [...]

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Taste Buds Are Weird

December 22, 2010

I don’t get it!  Saturday night I had a little bit too much to drink.  It was my first time actually drinking more than a small glass or two of wine since breastfeeding is over.  I’m glad it’s over with since I won’t be drinking that much again in a loooong time.  Sorry New Year’s!  [...]

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