Crewcuts adds new items

Of course, now that I've bought stuff, J. Crew has even better stuff I want to buy. Like this skirt:

Cotton Deco-Dot Skirt in Sweet Orange

or this cute tank

 

Organdy Flower Tank in Sweet Lavender

or this tank

Chiffon Ruffle Tissue Tank

Or this Floating Flowers Graphic Tee in Pewter

Some other cute things:

   Cozy French Terry Cardigan in roasted Carrot

Posy Chino Jacket in Tea Rose

This Jacket is shown with the Gathered Park Skirt in Sweet Orange

My problem when I buy clothes - for both B and myself- is I don't buy with an out fit in mind.  I look at the cute "Looks we Love" at on Crewcuts website and think "why doesn't B look that put together?"  And it's because I buy like I place stuff on the blog, without a care how B will wear the item.  My husband has helped me out, making me buy stuff together.  Now he needs to help with B.  We are going to Oakbrook this weekend, maybe I'll return the huge dresses and get cute little outfits.  

No School Today

I kept B home from school today.  When I picked her up form school yesterday, the teachers told me that B was tired and cranky.  They also let me know that another little girl has the croup.  And yet another little girl was home sick with strep and I stood looking another little girl with a  very  runny nose.  B took a long nap yesterday and woke up looking and acting better.  However, she coughed once while she was sleeping.  She stayed home because if she does have something, I don't want her to pass it on to anyone else, or if she doesn't have anything, I don't want her to catch something.  

The Mom with the kid with strep said the class is like a petri dish.  I have to agree.  I think the problem is kids can come to school ill, unless they have a fever.  I don't know.  Keep your kid home.  My kid doesn't need it.  So here's to hoping B is not too sick.

UPS brings a J.Crew box

Sunday night I placed a J. Crew order with free shipping.   I hate to pay shipping charges.  I think if you spend over a certain amount, they should give you free shipping automatically - especially if it's not sale merchandise.  So, got free shipping.  And, the order came quickly.  Yeah!!  I ordered a bunch of Crewcuts for B,  a couple different pairs of shorts for me and an orange shirt, and a pair of shorts for my husband.  

I am happy with B's stuff on the whole.  The Solid Cotton Babydoll dresses one in strawberry and one in striped misty lavender, look HUGE. (You can view the photos in this previous post)  I ordered a 3 or small because the x-small dresses from last year are too small.  I can't try them on B because she is asleep.  The size 3 or small Papaya Patchwork Camp Dress  should fit and is so cute.  Here are some photos of other things I ordered.

Elise Top in Cerise

Pretty Cotton top in Strawberry

Glitter Critter tank in Tea Rose

Sailor Striped Bikini Set

Also got a navy short sleeved tee (on sale 5.99),  Garment Dyed Denim Riley Cropped Pant in white,  the Regular Weight Chino Short in Khaki, and the Stretch Chino Cropped Pant in Khaki. 

B will not want to try anything on, I just know it.  I am know waiting on my Boden/Mini Boden order.  Coming from England, I probably won't get it for awhile.  

News from James Street: Mrs. Kravitz across the street

While at the gym today, I met up with Baxter's (a dog) Mom, one of my neighbors.  The first thing she mentioned to me was how little she thought of the lady that lives across James Street from me.  Baxter's Mom proceeded to tell me how "Mrs. Kravitz" yelled at Baxter's Dad, because Baxter was going to the bathroom in the parkway.  And how one of the neighbors was putting down mulch and "Mrs. Kravitz" went over and  told the neighbor she is a horticulturist and he wasn't putting the mulch down the right way.  I relayed that "Mrs. Kravitz" was giving grief to the neighbors that are remodeling their house.  Mrs. K called the survey office, and construction was halted while the neighbors paid for a new survey.  Needless to say, the first survey was right.  Then my husband saw her at remodeling neighbor #2's  measuring his new structure.  There are also the cones she puts up in the driveway, the no-parking signs, snow fence in the parkway, it goes on and on.  It was nice to hear some one else bitch about "Mrs. Kravitz".  Almost made going to the gym tolerable.  

B's Tuesday Outfit

I forgot to take a photo of B before we left for school.  I snapped this when we got home.  Cute skirt, pink shirt, light grey cardigan, grey tights and boots. She did well in school today.  Dry pants, got a lollipop.  After 5 months, she is finally getting the hang of school.

On the Table or in the Trash: Fagioli on Toast -Cookie Magazine

I found this recipe in December's Cookie Magazine.  I have been meaning to try it for lunch and finally had most of the ingredients.  Where I changed it:  I used a 14.5 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (Muir Glen Fire Roasted).  I added about 3/4 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of whole wheat elbows and grated some Parmesan Reggiano.

Fagioli On Toast

My finished product.

This was definitely On the Table.  Tasty and quick.

On the Table or in the Trash: Scott's Short Ribs by Barefoot Contessa

Last Saturday I watched Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics on the Food Network.  She and TR and another fellow were planning dinner and her contribution was short ribs. (The recipe is also in Barefoot Contessa Family Style). I have never had short ribs before and thought I would try making them.  Yesterday  I cut up all the  vegetables, preheated the oven to roast the short ribs,  took out the short ribs and they smelled awful!  I guess 5 days was too long to keep them in the frig.  I knew it was a long time, but I put off making them friday, and didn't want to freeze them.  Anyway, since I had all the veg cut up, my husband went to WF at lunch and bought more short ribs.  

Short ribs before I roasted them.

Sauteing carrots, onions, fennel, celery, and leeks.

 Short ribs after they've been roasted 15 minutes.

I tried to load a photo of the final product, but it wouldn't work.

I had some left over couscous that I warmed up with chicken stock.   That helped cut the sauce which was a little wine-y and fennel-y.  The short ribs had a good taste, but I think they should be cooked at least 3 hours.  They still had a lot of fat between the meat strands.  Longer cooking should melt that fat away.  B did eat the beef, but I was the only one who ate the sauce. The house still smells this morning like the sauce.  So, less wine, less fennel and more cooking would make this recipe a thumbs up.  But last night's dinner was a In the Trash.  

Monday, Monday

B has not been taking a nap.  The upside is she went to bed at 7:00 last night, slept very well (didn't ask for milk until 6am) and woke up at 8ish.   Today is not a school day and I don't know what to do with her.  We have played Betty Spaghetti, Thomas, jumped on the bed and who knows what she played while I showered.  Now, she is eating a late breakfast/early lunch of miso soup with lots of tofu. Usually she only gets this when we go to Sushi Dinner - B's favorite.  I finally took it upon myself to figure out an easy way to make it at home.  At the Whole Foods, I found a refrigerated miso (non-pasteurized) with a recipe.  I bought a carton of chicken stock (probably should try veg stock too), and some tofu.  So easy.  Heated up a cup of broth, added about a tablespoon of miso, added cubed firm white tofu (packed in water) and heated through.  B is on her third bowl.  I am having left over roasted vegetables with couscous and chickpeas over arugala.  What will we do next?  Go see fish at PetSmart?  Barnes and Noble?  Who knows.  

Christening Saturday in South Beliot, IL

Yesterday we went to my Cousin Barb's grandson's baptism.  We planned on leaving a little before 11:30 to be there at 12:30. Well, when it came time to get B dressed, she did to want to wear the skirt.  Crying and floor rolling ensued.  I figured Mike could stay home with her and I'd go without them.  I told Mike this and B heard and shaped right up.  So, we left around 11:30, but a gas stop put us behind and we missed the actual christening.  We made it for the party and it was very nice.  I got to see 6 out of seven cousins, plus Bert's new baby boy and her sweet dog and two friendly cats.  B had the most fun with them.  We we got home, I wanted to put B in her pajamas and she wouldn't take off her skirt.  Funny huh?

B having a snack in the car.  That is her fuzzy coat again, yeah!

B's outfit for the day. Tried to get her to wear her

 fancy black boots, but it was Uggs all the way.  

Underneath she has footless hot pink tights.

Cousin Al

Cousin Boo (Danny)

Cousin Tom with Kris in the background.

My husband.

Art Project Friday (and Sunday)

We went nowhere Friday (I did not go look for my pants), but we did lots of art.  Our third bedroom was turned into an office/craft room.  My husband bought cabinets from Ikea and installed them on two walls.  I have a great desk.  Also there is a sewing machine, that I really don' t know how to use and an iron, that I really don't know how to use.  I cleaned out one cabinet for B to house Playdoh, paints, markets, paper, crayons, stamps and stamp pads.  I share my stuff with her too.  Papercutter, stamps, paper punches.  I want to get her some pom poms and other stuff she can play with.  

B painting at her easel.  

We finger painted after brush painting and I lost all patience when she dumped the finger paints over (after 2 admonishments not to) and used the container to rip a hole in the paper.  Needless to say green finger paint was everywhere!  We quit shortly thereafter.  

B's new obsession, scissors.  

"I love scissors!" she says.

Sunday art with scissors and glue.

I did the paper punching.  Some of the paper has been colored on first using cool oil pastels I bought at Anthropologie.  She did the gluing with a glue stick and Elmer's.  Now I just need some frames.  

El Gato Slims

I have to go to a christening tomorrow.  I will probably wear denim unless my local Anthropologie has  the El Gato Slims. 

They a a good length for flats - 30.5" - and they are on sale for $99.95, down from $198.  If I can get B and I showered and dressed, we'll go check them out.  Now if my local store only carried shoes.  Ah well...  I think I will see if they have these jeans too.  Also a good length for flats.  

AG Willow Ankle

31" long .  Most of my dressier jeans require heels.  While I love a tall shoe (and that is mostly what I have) in the winter when it's icy, it's good to be closer to the ground.

A long night

B went to bed early last night -6:00.  No nap plus 2+ hours of snow play makes for a tired girl.  In a way B's early bed time was good.  I had a school auction meeting that lasted a couple of hours and when I got home Mike and I watched the season premiere of Lost.  We watched 3/4 of it when B woke up.  She was up for about 45 minutes.  Went potty, changed her clothes grabbed Emily (Thomas' friend), and had Milky.  That was 10:45.  By 3:30 she was up again, milky and flopping around.  Then 6:50.  She made me mad with the milky request, so I made her get out of bed and fixed pears, eggs and toast.  Still haven't given her milky. She whined and cried and pissed me off.  So, she's eating toast watching Arthur on the computer.  Here's to a good day after a long restless night.

Outside - All Afternoon

They took the kids outside today at B's school.  When B came home, all she wanted to do was go outside.  After a good lunch and a brief nap (10 minutes) we headed out to play in the snow.  B loves to be outside. 

Rolling in the snow

Making Snow Angels

Chasing the kitty (Isabel)

We also went to the park - took the sled over.  We were there for about an hour.  Good thing it warm!

Swinging

Sliding

Pulling the sleigh home

New Crewcuts-Finally!

I checked the Crewcuts arrivals (as I do everyday) and they finally have new stuff.  This is the first thing I have to get B

.

Stripped Cotton Babydoll Dress in Tea Rose

I also like 

The Papaya Patchwork Camp Dress

There's also the Pretty Cotton Tee in  strawberry and the Regular-Weight Chino Bermudas.

I need to make decisions.  I have way too many items in way to many shopping bags all through the internet.  Mini-Boden, J. Crew, Gap, Old Navy, ANd that doesn't include the stuff I want for myself.

Are you potty trained or what?

B has been wearing underwear since early June (08)..  She was a little young, but mostly got the jist of being potty trained.  Jump forward many months.  She is still having accidents daily.  Usually nothing too big, but a pain.  Oh, and never accidents while we are out and about or at while she sleeps (B started wearing underwear to bed about 2 weeks after she started wearing underwear).  And, the accidents at school may be holding her back from moving with the older 2 year olds.  So, I decided to go the bribe route.  Something I swore I would not do.  Maybe a dance of encouragement, but never a bribe.  Well, this never went the way of B will never  watch TV.  I made a chart and told her she could get a sticker and a treat if she had dry pants the whole day. And if after 7 days, she kept dry pants, she could get a new engine from the Thomas line.  The treats have been Tootsie Pops and iced cookies.  So far, only two accidents in a week.  One last Saturday, just a tiny bit of urine, barely wet, and yesterday at school.  Oh, so sad.  But the good thing is, she knew she wasn't getting a lolli when I picked her up at school and she was great the rest of the day.  Now the next question, how long do I keep this up?

This is B's favorite treat.  Frosted cookies.  

They are supposed to be a snowflake.

Chart with Stickers - morphed into a sticker when she wants - 

after she has dry pants and goes potty.

School Today

It's Thursday, that means B does not want to go to school.  She woke up late (a little after eight) so I rushed her to get out the door by 8:35.  I did manage to snap this photo of her:

She picked out the dress, I picked out her coat.  She never wants to wear this cute little thing, and I knew I could get it on her this morning and rush her out the door without too much whining.  As you can see, Thomas the Tank engine is also going to school.  She cried when I dropped her off.  The school's director came out to get her, opened the door (before I could get out of the car) and started to take B out of her seat.  B freaked!  I barely got to remind B to keep dry pants and she'd get a lollipop (more on that next post).