Fancy-Schmancy

I had a very chic Great-Grandmother. This is her vintage clutch from the 20's:


My friend Jo is borrowing it for her wedding. Can't you just see this tucked under Carrie Bradshaw's arm?

Save it For Later

I can't believe I totally forgot about this. This was monumental...unfortunately, it happened when I had that nasty Korean bug, and I forgot about it until I came across the pics tonight.

In September of 08, the girlies and I volunteered to help out at a private party. We checked in the guests, and registered their auction paddles. This was before the economy really tanked, as evidenced by the purchase of an 8k dog.

That dog truly was worth every penny, though. They named her Sarah Palin. I will not comment on that except to say if you asked if I wanted dog more than life, my answer would have been youbetcha!! Look how tiny she is! I love me some Dobbie, but this dog could have hung out in my tea cup all day to keep me company.


In any case, The English Beat played in the backyard, and It. Was. Awesome. Any 80's fan worth their salt knows how cool it was. Why, I even passed Dave Wakeling in the hall, and he asked how it was going. I'm sure I had a clever response, though the specifics elude me.

This is me with the talented and very nice Dave in the background to the right. Forgive my hair...it was September, and it was a hot mess.


On a slightly related note, I realize that I'm a music fiend/snob. If you have ever seen High Fidelity, I'm kinda like that guy. At the party, some forty-something guy skeptically asked if I even knew who the English Beat was. I gave a short band history covering The English Beat, General Public, and even touched on FYC. In short, it was a history lesson that would have made Wiki proud. But it all came from my little head instead.

Please excuse me, I have to go pogo to Tenderness.

Good Vibrations

What do you get when you combine this:

and this:

and this:

Why, you get this:

What a rare gem. These are the actual pictures of the homemade Marky-Mark faced centaur my dad has in his model of King Solomon's Temple. You know, the one the ill-fated robber encountered on the kitchen table whilst trying to 'rob' my dad of his worldly belongings.


I forgot that I am a fairly rotten kid, and that I had taken photographs of it years ago for the sole purpose of later mockery until my sister reminded me the pictures existed. The overlooked (and most entertaining, truly) part of this story is the part where my dad made her go into Toy's 'r' Us to look for a head suitable for MM doll decapitation/welding onto a horse. He went up to a guy in the store and explained his intentions, and the guy looked at my dad like he was a serial killer and SPRINTED away from him. I don't blame him.

P.S. Marky-Mark has a reminder for you. Please heed.

That doesn't apply to me, of course, cause I'm cool with his bro.

Make It Big!!

A year ago, we were partying it up Wham style at Lancer's surprise 80's Prom. I was rockin' my Madonna dress, and Lancer was decked out in a pink shirt with a zebra striped cummerbund and tie. We looked hot...you know, for the 80's.


I still can't believe I pulled that sucker off. A full hour into the party, Lance asked when were going to the planned dinner. I had lied so well, and for so long, that he was still tangled up in my web of (well-intended) deceit. He thought we were really having a quiet, sit-down dinner to ring in his 40th. Not so much. I still think about that night, and how much fun we had with all of our crazy friends. It was truly magical.

I knew this year would obviously be mellow compared to last year, and I'm not totally happy about this fact. Just wait until my 35th. It's already planned--we're going to have a full-on 50's sock hop. Elvis will be in the building, and I may or may not dress up in a pink jacket, leather pants and sing "You're the one that I want!!" to Lance against his will on a faux shake-shack. You're all totally invited. 2011....Twist and Shout. Mark your calendars.

This year, we had our fun friends party on Friday, and then spent today together. We rolled out of bed late, went to Stacks, and then came home to play Donkey Kong and nap. Dobbie helped me make a cake...

...and then donned a party hat to join in the festivities!


I made reservations at Arcadia. Micael Mina didn't disappoint. We both started off with the Arcadia salad--Fuji apples, candied walnuts, and Point Reyes blue cheese. It was delicious.


Lance got to eat the fresh sourdough, and I got to eat the whipped butter topped with fleur de sel. Eating butter is a nasty habit I picked up in France because I can't eat wheat, and it helped me not feel angry. I really need to knock it off because it's gross yet very delicious.

For the main entree, Lance had the grilled swordfish with the citrus buerre blanc sauce, and I had the filet mignon with pinot noir bordelaise. On the side, Lance went for the truffled mac & cheese, and I got the creamed spinach with roasted shallots. We had no room for dessert, so we headed back.

Not wanting to be completely without some hijinks, I had pretended to forget the directions to the restaurant before we left for dinner, and ran back inside. In reality, I was hauling the cool Raleigh cruiser I got for Lance into the living room so he would be surprised when we got home.

I set it up in front of his other gifts, and his eyes almost popped out of his head when he got home and saw it. You know those cartoons where the eyes get all buggy and pop out? That's Lance when he's surprised. It's a face I love to see.


I got him some other assorted treaties--but his other favorite gift was this weird Chinese robot from the 80's. I got it off Ebay, and thought it would look great on his shelf. Lance thought it would be great to pop in some batteries and see what it did. Obviously, we don't read Chinese, so we had no idea what to expect. That's when the robot went from cool to super bad-a**. The stomach opens up to produce 2 tommy guns that light up and shoot while the robot is walking. Then, the upper part of the robot spins around like a freaky possessed bot. It's AWESOME.

I'm already planning 42 baby. I love you!! And you better love me back, or I'll sic that creepy Chinese bot on you while you're sleeping.

You can see all of the 80's Prom pics here.

Chocolate Cake and Synchronized Dancing

It must be birthday time for Team Jacobs!! Lancer turned 41, and we busted out DDR. I really thought I was going to dominate, but I was beaten by an Accountant. And a kid. And then everyone else. WTH??? I have fly moves. I have rhythm. I have soul. How does this NOT translate into killer DDR moves?? I think the controller was broken. This is the only way to explain how I was beaten by an Accountant.


Time to battle it out, DDR style!! Our friend Rob took these ghostly pics:




People pull the greatest faces while dancing. I thought our faces from karaoke were great, but these take the proverbial cake:


We also got to hang with our peeps:

And sing to the birthday boy:


Happy Birthday baby! Nuthin' says love like choco cake and DDR!

Crockpot Recipes

I'm a crockpot maniac. Last night, H and I were discussing her very delicious veggie soup. She throws in some cooked pasta at the end, but I keep it pure veggie. It's hearty, warm, delicious, filling and loaded with fiber. I've promised various peeps these recipes--here you go. All gluten-free.

Hayley's Crockpot Veggie Soup
1 onion, diced
1-3 cloves of garlic
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups of water
1 can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 12 oz. can of tomato paste
2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
(2) 10 oz bags of mixed veggies--I use the one with corn, peas, green beans, lima beans, and carrots
16 oz of Knudsen's 'Very Veggies' juice--can use V-8 instead. I bought the VV @ Whole Foods

Mix together and heat on low for 6-8 hours. Freezes well. Can stir in cooked pasta or meat when serving for a heartier meal.


Brooke's Crockpot Creamed Corn
2 lbs frozen whole kernel corn
12 oz cream cheese cut into cubes (can use low fat)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Spread corn over bottom of crock pot. Top with cream cheese cubes. Stir together remaining ingredients in small bowl; pour over corn and creamed cheese.
Cover and cook on high heat setting 2-3 hours.
Stir well before serving. Corn will hold on low heat setting up to 2 hours. Stir occasionally.

Kaari's Spicy Homemade Crockpot Chili
2 lbs lean ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 TBSP bottled minced garlic, or 1-3 cloves of fresh garlic
2 1/2 cups water
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
1 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes, drained
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 10 oz can Rotel--diced tomatoes and green chile peppers, undrained
1 TBSP yellow mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper--omit if you don't like spicy

Brown beef, onions, green pepper, and garlic until meat is brown and onions tender. Drain fat.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large crockpot (4, 5 or 6 quart) and stir. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 4-5 hours. Freezes well!

Kaari's Split Pea Soup in the Crockpot
1 lb package of dried green split peas
2 cups diced ham
3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 onion, diced

3 ribs of celery chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
5 1/2 cups hot water

1. Layer ingredients in the crock pot in the order that they’re listed and pour in water. Do not stir ingredients.
2. Cover and cook on high 4 to 5 hours or on low 8 to 10 hours until peas are very soft. Remove bay leaf. Serve.

Enjoy! Cite me as inspiration.

New York State of Mind

Lancer and I decided to take a bite out of the Big Apple together. He had to fly in for a meeting, I got to tag along. Boy, was I glad. Here's why:

I got upgraded to first-class with him. Have you ever flown first-class? Hot towels, warm nuts, and cold shrimp cocktail. It's heavenly. The seat turned into a fully reclining bed, which I enjoyed as I watched movies on my own personal TV. This of course, after having a gourmet meal topped off with an ice-cream sundae. The people in coach had to eat a boxed snack pack--ha-ha suckas. I didn't actually say this, of course, because I knew I had to fly coach home.

We hit Times Square late at night. The weather was actually quite cooperative while we were there. As long as you bundled up, it was fine.


Went to dinner with our Stanford-Era friends Lane and Britton. By the luck of the draw, another set of Stanford Ward peeps happened to be in town, so we all got together for dinner and dessert. I've known Britton for a loooong time-12 years. When we first met, he told me that "I didn't suck." How can you give up a friend like that? Obviously, you can't. He and his lovely wife picked out a yummy Brazilian restaurant to eat at, Casa. Lancer and I both had the stroganoff, and it was delicious. The flan, not so much. But a trip to Milk and Cookies made up for it. It was fun catching up with old friends.


The next morning, we dined at Norma's, the restaurant in the Le Parker Meridien. It was to die for--by far the best breakfast in NYC. We both got benedicts--Lancer got the benedict with the pancakes, asparagus, and Canadian bacon, and I got the traditional one.


Off to the Empire State Building. It was nice and sunny, so visibility was great. We got some great shots.


Lance became the Pigeon Whisperer on the observation deck.

Stopped off at the Shake Shack near the Flatiron building for "the best hamburger in NYC." I have to agree.
Got gussied up to go and see Wicked. I must say--I liked it, but I didn't love it. It was a little song-y for me, and that's saying something. There's also a 5 minute song where the greenie sings about her lack of self-confidence, and I kinda zoned out. I looked at Lance during "Defying Gravity" and he looked a little angry. I suppose it didn't help that I would belt out "Defyyyyying Gravity!!" and leap through the air on the way back to the hotel. He told me to stop, or I wouldn't be his Valentine.


After the play, we walked over to "Ray's Pizza." If you've ever been to NYC, you know about the ongoing joke about Ray's Pizza. If you ask a Native for the best pizza, they will say it's Ray's.

However--there are like 20 pizza places claiming to be the Ray's everyone is talking about, and all of the them say they are "world-famous" and "the original." We picked one, and Lancer got pizza, while I chowed down on a gyro. It hit the spot at midnight. I love 24/7 food on demand.

Continued to explore Manhattan the next day, and made our way down to Bleecker Street.

This is one of my favorite streets in NYC. We stooped into Isle for $8 Thai food--and it's Zagat rated!! Just one of the many things I love about that city. That and the fact that you may start out as a mellow CA visitor, patiently waiting for the lights and avoiding the crazy cabbies. By the 2nd or 3rd day, however, you find yourself yelling "ehhh!!" and banging on the hood of said cab when it tries to go on your light. Ah, aggression. It's refreshing on occasion.

Hit Battery Park, then went back to the hotel for a nice Valentine's Day dinner. We dined at the Hilton, which was delicious, though I'm nauseated by the fact that my dinner likely paid for a new tiara for Paris.

I really love NYC. One of the many things I don't love, however, is the honking. If you need a sign about it, it's bad. Also--what's up with the stinky whiffs that come flying down the street? I don't know where they come from, and I don't think I want to.

On our last morning there, we took the subway to B & H Photo, the photo mecca, and then walked back. We saw a White Castle along the way, and I talked Lance into eating some sliders, since he's never had any. He took 2 bites, and threw them in the trash. Oh well. I think everyone should try them at least once. If the Beastie Boys sing about it, you know it's worth at least a try. Look at fighting for your right to party. See where I'm going with this logic?


We sadly made our way back to JFK, where Lance got me upgraded...again! This first class lady had yet another relaxing flight, complete with all of the amenities mentioned on the outbound flight. I could get used to flying first. Sadly, I won't. That's me hanging in the 1st class lounge before boarding.

Goodbye NYC...we will be back soon! And next time, we won't be seeing any Broadway plays, unless I want a divorce. Which I don't.