Family Photos

I was sort of a slacker, and forgot to do pics when B was 12, 18, or 24 months old. Then the holidays started to roll around, and I wisely decided to cash in my last session and look super hot for my Christmas card. The work is credited to Meghan MacAskill, but let's be honest--our natural charm and classic good looks went a long way.

Seriously, folks. I don't know if pink is just my color, or if Talbots is my store (did I just write that?) but I have to say I'm not sad about the way these pics turned out. And it's not just me--Lance's evil photo twin, Vance, failed to show up in the photos as well!

Those pictures really capture the essence of Blakely--in all of her happy, smiley, funny glory. I look forward to the next holiday themed shoot. I found an adorable Valentine's outfit, and I think I need someone on the portly side to dress up as Cupid for a themed shoot. Any takers?

The Bird is the Word

Thanksgiving Throwback!

 Team Jacobs back in the day. Don't worry about the dude's tongue in Lance's ear. It was unwelcome.

We did Thanksgiving right. I cooked, and cooked, and cooked. I really enjoy doing the spread when I have the time and ability.

My stamina was fueled by organic egg nog from Strauss Family Farms. Get your hands on a bottle of this if you know what's good for you.

I triple crocked it. Yams, stuffing, and Brooke's creamed corn.

Lance demolished the bird before I could photograph it in its brown and juicy glory.

I set a festive table

It was scrumptious

Beezie wasn't so sure. I think she ate a roll.

We kicked back, watched movies, ate a lot, and snoozed as much as possible. Don't be jealous, but ALL of us routinely slept in until 10:30 or 11 every day of vacation. It was heavenly.

We also went to see Peter Pan in San Jose. It starred nimble and spritely Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan. At the end, she pounced off the stage and flew over the audience, tossing glitter all over everyone while kicking her legs and waving her arms. Lance and I were laughing so hard we cried. Lancer gave it one thumb up, and said his foray back into the theater was premature.

We also hit up the aquarium in Monterey--I believe in driving for fun. Since we're season pass holders, we never feel the need to get there early, or stay all day. It's nice. As always, B loved it. She was recognizing a lot of the animals this time, and saying their names. She likes gray whales, apparently.

Her favorite attraction is the "washing machine." You stand in this glass dome, and when the tide comes in, it rolls over your head. She always winces and fears being drenched, but we have to drag her out of it.

We also played around in our yard and captured B in her cute pumpkin dress.

This week, the rain started and there's a chill in the air. It helps if you cuddle up with cute boys for warmth. Smart gal.

Central Park and Hoboken

I decided to brave the tangled public transportation system today. I was feeling good as I got started, but that feeling quickly vanished as I realized I somehow managed to get on an express subway line that whizzed past all of my designated stops and dumped me in the middle of Harlem. I stifled my panic, hopped off, got my bearings, and took the line back downtown to Central Park.

I was so happy to see that street sign

Rain be gone--it was gorgeous, sunny, and breezy!

Poor Blakely is missing her friends. I know this because she talks about them longingly all day. She tried to engage every kid she met in the park. No one took her bait. Poor kid.

She would NOT wear her shoes. It was killing me. I saw a couple of other kids playing with bare feet, but it just seemed like a bad idea, on account of all the dirty needles hiding in the grass. If she contracts hepatitis c, we'll know I'm to blame. It was either the shoeless day in the park, or when she licked the subway pole on the way home. ~~Shiver~~





We soaked up the sun before heading back to the hotel for her first real nap in 3 days. B has been a total trooper!

I have to say--the men in NYC are second to none! They were so helpful throughout the day. They offered to help carry my stroller down subway stairs (heaven help people in wheelchairs--I have no idea what they would do in this city) they held doors for me, and they gave up their seats for me on the subway time and time again. I'm so impressed! I also see a ton of them waiting for their ladies at stops with large bouquets of flowers. SF men--take notes!

I grabbed lunch at a tasty little restaurant called Cosi. I would say it's the Panera of the east coast, but they also have Panera here. So I will just say that they have delicious salads, and a tasty grilled cheese for kidddios. Ashley and Brooke would love this place.

Once Lancer got back from Toronto, we walked around the waterfront in Jersey City. Look at that view!

This one is even better for obvious reasons

Along the way, we stopped and tried a pre-dinner milkshake from the Mister Softee truck. SO DELICIOUS. I had low expectations, but this was a tasty treat. B learned the word milkshake in a hurry.

We took the train over to check out Hoboken, which is a fun little college town in NJ. We settled on a restaurant that boasted Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food. Sign me up! I got the pad thai and sushi, and Lancer got the mango chicken. It was all delicious.


We are having so much fun with our urban adventures. We're going to hit the American Doll store tomorrow, which is more for me than Blakely. I had to resist the urge to make reservations for tea with her dolls. I need to continue resisting buying her a set of Bitty Twins, even though they're the cutest thing ever.

Pigtails and argyle may just be my personal kryptonite. Must. Not. Buy.

On an unrelated note, the women of NYC seem to have disdain for my Barn Wear, which could account for their kids snubbing B at the park. In better news, the women of New Jersey seem to eye it with jealousy and glee. I'm sure it has to do with the rhinestones. Staying classy in Jersey is what I'm all about!

3 Birds...and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

We did 3 birds this year. Why 3? Because we partied...a lot. Here's the Turkey-Day rundown.

Bird #1

This was for the Gray's Thanksgiving feast. It was a moist and tasty bird. I not only rubbed the entire thing with complementary herbs...I injected it with a delicious mix of herbs, chicken broth, and butter. Pardon the hair and fugly outfit. I clean up nicely, I swear!

I contributed a few dishes. I made my delicious GF cornbread stuffing for the masses. This recipe is great, even if you don't do gluten-free.



I also did Brooke's famous creamed corn. Let's be honest--this thing is a hot bowl of cream cheese and butter with a side of corn. It's SO good!

I also did my GF chocolate cream pie. It's so tasty. I only made one--on purpose.

As I baked, I downed this stuff. Organic Strauss Family Creamery Egg Nog. It's $7 a bottle, and I can only find one bottle per year. It's totally worth the pricetag, and double chin. It's soooo good.


Lancer cheered me on while I baked and cooked away. He was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of ads for Black Friday. He couldn't stop talking about how many ads there were.

Beezie, on the other hand, had no problem researching the best deals as she ate waffles atop the stack of papers.


We packed up our trunk with all of the tasty delights, and headed over to Casa de Gray. I told you I cleaned up nicely! Mamma just needs a flatiron.

I wore my tiny pumpkin pie charm to celebrate the day. It's so cute!


Smooches to Lancer. Thanksgiving marks ten years together. Unbelievable! Thanksgiving 2001, baby. It was epic.

We played

We carved the birds--and made stupid faces. I think Yo's face is European for "This Diet Coke is delicious. Mmmm."

Giggled with friends


We feasted

We learned "new" and "helpful" tricks from Sarah--no doubt pointers on staying up late, escaping your bedroom, stripping down to your undies, and waking up sleeping household members. B soaked it up like a sponge.

"Beezie, clothing is for losers. Naked is where it's at."

Bird #2

I spent so much time whipping, shopping, blending, roasting, and then cleaning up for hours on end that I just couldn't do a "real" bird for the subsequent gatherings. Enter Jenny-O Freezer to Oven turkeys. These babies are a Godsend! No thawing, giblets bags, turkey necks, or poultry thermometers. Just stick the frozen bird in the oven, and retrieve it four painless hours later.

Not bad, eh?

Let's just pretend that it doesn't cook in this weird heat-resistant plastic bag. Look away.

The Andersens invited us over for a Post-Thanksgiving Veg-Out. Lancer kept calling it the "Gobble-Gobble" for some reason. I think this should be the new name for this lovely event.

The ladies of the Gobble-Gobble

The invite specifically stated that no showering was allowed, and that partygoers had to be wearing comfy sweats. We pooled together all of our leftovers, and feasted again. I wore clothing that was both sporty, and expandable.

See-sporty and expandable

Somewhere along the line, we all decided Lancer was the Master Carver. We made him carve all of the birds. He is a good man.

The tasty spread at the Gobble-Gobble

We played, chatted, and feasted like kings. Again.

Black Friday was less exciting than years past. I was planning on hitting stores at Midnight--yes, I'm one of those--but my cold was starting to kick back up again. I learned my lesson from the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn. No good comes after 12 if you're trying to beat a cold. So I stayed home and slept in. I did, however, snag a new Dell laptop online. My craptastic HP died a few weeks ago, and Lancer and I were sharing a laptop--until it broke up with me on account of dirty fingers and misfiled photos. It's for the good of our marriage. I also got a new Nikon camera. It will be my daily use camera that I can keep in my back pocket.

On Saturday, we took a break from turkey and headed up to SF. We stopped in at The Ferry Building--it's one of our favorite stops.

We dined at Gott's Roadside

Lancer and I both got the smoked pork carnitas tacos, sweet potato fries, and a grilled cheese sammi for Beezer. Thumbs up all around--though they changed the formula for the fries, and the old one was decidedly better.


I decided against my normal chocolate milkshake, because I knew the Ferry Building would hold other sweet treats. I was right. Behold...The Cowgirl Creamery Milk Bar.

We had a Goldilocks moment. My Ho-Cho was too bitter, and Lance's vanilla milk was too sweet. We grabbed a 3rd glass, mixed them, and the result was just right.


After we got our drink on, we headed outside to see the Bay Bridge. We decided that it's a majestic beauty, but it's sadly the ugly stepsister to the Golden Gate. No one gives it the respect it deserves.


The plan was to hit HMB on the way home to grab a tree. However, the weather turned, and we decided to just go to the crap tree farm around the corner.

But somebody wasn't having it. Two seconds before MELTDOWN.

So I dropped off those two, and went to an even worse place to get a tree...the Rite-Aid parking lot. It's a serious step down from our romantic adventures in HMB. But sometime you gotta do what you gotta do to just git er done.

I used my guns to load and unload the tree by myself. I drove so slowly people honked and went around me. I was paranoid that it was going to fly off my car and kill a small child on a bike. It didn't.

Our little tree. Before....

.....and after!

and After-After. We had to put up the protective dog gate after B tried to eat an ornament. She was also eying Mrs. Claus.


But, wait! What about bird #3?? Yes, I did a third and final bird tonight. We had the Andersens over for a Round Three. I cooked up another birdy-bird, and we feasted. Again.

Lancer was actually angry by this point. He wanted to retire his fancy Calphalon carving set, but we put him to work.

This is how I eat my Thanksgiving dinner--by creating mini turkey sammis. Start with GF bread, then add the potatoes, stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, and dip that baby in gravy. So tasty!


And that concludes the roasting and eating of the three birds. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.