The Real Housewife of Santa Monica

A couple of weekends ago, my old friend flew west from Cambridge and, after grabbing Root Beer, we headed north to a little town just south of Sequoia National Park called Three Rivers. We went to stay with a mutual friend who has recently published her first novel.

Her writing partner was there – you see, they were preparing to leave to do research on the sequel in Vienna & London. WOW! Sure beats the research I used to do for Froot Loops commercials which entailed finding detailed photos of temples in Angkor Wat for Toucan Sam to explore.

I think I just dated myself. That spot is so old it can’t even be Googled. Great.

Anyway, due to the success of these creative endeavors, spirits were high! Wine was drunk (and so were 4 women), no diapers were changed, nobody was bathed or read to in bed. Everyone was a winner, working hard equalled sure success, the non-writers’ future careers were chosen, global warming was stopped & cancer was cured.

The next morning we did some calisthenics outside in the shade of a [insert name of shade tree that grows in that exact climate here].

Beer made himself at home.

Lynchie’s mysterious writing partner dubbed the weekend “Four B—–s in Three Rivers.” Who could top that?

Saturday morning we were served fresh pomegranate juice. Fresh from frozen that is as it’s not pomegranate season for a few more months but Lynchie picked these from her tree & used a friend’s press and froze it. A refreshing elixir made from my favorite fruit!

Once we got the hair off our tongues Neen and I visited the park. We got a late start and became a bit lost a few times by being flighty & chit chatting instead of paying attention to where we were. I wasted further time by insisting on a large Dagwood sandwich which was only procured by taking a shuttle to Lodgepole.

From onlineposter.de

The vegetarian version of a Dagwood is a lot less impressive. Basically a perfectly fine humus/veggie wrap is what it was.

Getting lost can be nice, actually. We got off one of the shuttles too soon and ended up strolling by Crescent Meadows a few times. Picture yourself walking through tall sequoias when suddenly a vibrant green meadow appears through the trees on your right. Long rays of sunlight streaming down, illuminating the changing bunches of wildflowers. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to have seen a few fairies & elves flitting about from bluebell to bluebell. WOW! If you ever get there in the spring or summer, check out Crescent Meadow!

This guy climbed the steps to Moro Rock (which we also did) and has some nice pix of the most popular areas of the park.

After FINALLY finding our way back from the park, Neen and I met the other duo at a wonderful dinner party. We were late & really hungry from stumbling about the park all day. In addition to EVERYTHING being amazing, gorgeous & tasty, there was a beautiful barley salad which I’d like to try to recreate soon. Nina, what else besides avocado was in there again? How I wish I’d snapped a pic on my phone.

Sunday morning we did our calisthenics again while the dogs patrolled the perimeter.

Dogs at work. Work, dogs, work!

They took a few breaks as the sun heated things up.

Dogs at play. Play, dogs, play!

We were sad to leave but so happy for 2 of the B’s and their well-deserved successes after a LOT of hard work. We were jealous and wished we were going to London & Vienna only without having done any work.

Kaweah Post Office

On the way out we finally got an ice cream at Reimer’s. It was closing in on 100 degrees by then.

You know what would be perfect in this weather?

Alas, I missed a ton of photos this weekend – namely the park as I left my cell in the car. But an ordinary camera really can’t do it justice anyway.

Thank you, Lynchie & Meg for a wonderful weekend! It’s the first time in a while that I’ve been able to start and end a conversation though I definitely can’t vouch for my listening skills.

Incidentally, I’m slowly posting recipes to my new blog “Real Housewife of Santa Monica” and it should go public within the next two weeks. Stay tuned!

You know those nights you’re so sick of serving pasta with jar sauce? Yet, you know you’ll still be serving pasta out of some weakness of character? This is the recipe for you!

Our friend, Liana, made this over vacation. It’s the perfect meal for a large crowd – especially a large crowd who just hiked for several hours at altitude carrying toddlers. When we got home she threw this together & everyone loved it!

It’s so easy & satisfying.

You need:

INGREDIENTS:
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb dried pasta (I used whole wheat)
1 head broccoli, cut into small pieces (I use the stems too – peeled & sliced)
1 can diced tomatoes
a couple of handfuls of baby spinach
salt & pepper to taste
fresh parmesan cheese
OPTIONAL: crushed red pepper to taste

Heat water in large pot for pasta. When water has started boiling, add salt & pasta.

Heat your oil in a large skillet. I only have a medium sized skillet. But if I had a large one, that’s what I would’ve used!

Add garlic & cook for about a minute, stirring occasionally.

Add broccoli & stir to coat with oil.

Cover & lower heat to medium-low. Cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Test a piece of broccoli – it should be just tender but still have some crunch.

Remove lid & add tomatoes. This will give it some “juice” too!

Top with a couple of handfuls of spinach, stir to combine & turn heat up to medium.

Meanwhile, cocktail hour Legos.

When spinach has just barely wilted, remove from heat.

When pasta is done, drain & drizzle with olive oil to keep it from sticking.

In a large bowl or pot, combine pasta & veggies. Adjust salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with sprinkled parmesan cheese!

Either my kids loved this or they were starving to death.

All gone!

I really owe Trish a heee-uge thank you for this cocktail which she had in my hand about 10 minutes after entering her house in Denver. It was HOT that day (as it still is…) and she made this gingery bev in a large mug.

Try this drink. It’s simple, has only 3 ingredients and is such a treat!

You need:

1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz vodka
4 oz ginger beer
ice cubes

Ok. Including the ice, that’s 4 ingredients. Sue me!

Pour your lime juice into a glass.

Drop in a few ice cubes, add the vodka, then fill up the rest of your glass with ginger beer. Stir!

Highball glasses are recommended but of course we ain’t formal like that (read: we don’t have highball glasses). That’s why ours were strong.

Can you use ginger ale in place of the ginger beer?
Certainly! You can use your old dishwater if you want to.

I found ginger beer at Ralph’s in the “fancy soda” part of the soda aisle.

Yummmmmmm we sure did enjoy these!

That lime looks downright lonesome there.

Before I start I want to announce or rather pre-announce the launch of my new blog page. In 2008 Cox-Fitz Chronicles was started as nothing more than a birth announcement for Maddie’s arrival. G made it at the start of the 3 day labor. He’s amazing! Well, G’s gone & done it again. He’s set the stage for MY new spin-off blog:

Real Housewife of Santa Monica.

Sorry, no link…YET!

It still needs some work – but SOON. Also – Cox Fitz Chronicles isn’t going anywhere – that will be the family blog. After all, I doubt perfect strangers want to watch 6 minutes of a toddler trying to nurse a doll.

Anyway, here’s my latest, non food-related blog posting. We just had a fun & active vakay in CO with our good friends & their good friends who are really cool. 6 adults & 6 kids. Wowza!!!! The casualties were: my favorite old belt (black with heart buckle if anyone finds it), my cheapie Banana Republic glasses, M’s brand new hoody (green with daisies), and my Patagonia jacket. I don’t care about any of it but the belt. Never having had a waist, this was the only belt with the tenacity to hang on to the untenable & keep my jeans from falling down.

Come back to me (belt)!
[- Cold Mountain]

Speaking of mountains, poor Colorado is raging with fire right now. Worrisome. Downright disastrous for wildlife, the 600+ families who’ve lost houses not to mention the exhausted firefighters. Aggh. Well, we didn’t know about the fires when we planned our trip, and we DO feel for everyone involved!

We headed out of LAX at a decent morning hour. G does not avail himself of coffee.

I thought my dad would be pleased to see this sign so I emailed it to him right away since he is “done” with flying and can also get pretty annoyed with the train at times. (He doesn’t like sitting near or talking to people.)

The Denver bathroom had these totally rad cans for trash & recyclables (composting).

Paper towels only!

Then next to it this one:

Trash ONLY!!! No paper towels. (Dummy!)

Am I really posting pix of the airport bathroom? Yes, yes, I am!

We headed right over to our friends’ Mark & Trish’s house in Denver. The girls had a blast playing with their little boys & Trish introduced me to a Moscow Mule. (And no, Chris Lynch, Root Beer is perfectly safe off his leash near this mule.) Very few pix b/c someone had to rescue Bea from the screen door each time she got pinned behind it.

Anyway, here’s a pic of our lovely hostess, Tricia with the Bea-dozer.

They live in a really progressive neighborhood which was built in the old Denver airport when they up & moved it. All the houses have porches and it’s totally walkable with a terrific park for the kids. They even uncovered a creek that had been under the runway of the airport! Amazing. My kids, being unaccustomed to nature, walked straightaway into the boggy mud with socks & shoes on causing me to yell at them a whole bunch which didn’t bother them any.

After a delicious meal, a few MM’s (Moscow mules) and an amazing strawberry rhubarb pie, we put the kids to bed and accidentally conked out ourselves. Nice work! Bed by 8:30PM the first night of vacation. Way to party! Forget “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” with us it’s “I’ll sleep now or I’ll be dead.”

After a stroll around the farmer’s market we bid our friends adieu and headed to Littleton to see my mom’s cousin, Harriet. (I believe Harriet is my first cousin once removed?) I hadn’t seen her in over 10 years and the last time I did it was at my brother’s wedding when my mom was still alive.

It was a wonderful visit. Harriet’s daughter Jennifer & her daughter Kelsey joined us along with Harriet’s husband, Arne. It was 90 degrees in the shade of their porch (which surprisingly didn’t feel very hot). We felt totally welcome there. There’s something about being with family that makes you feel that way. I was so grateful that the girls could visit some family, particularly someone who knew MY mom really well since we have none but my dad on the west coast.

Mark it with a B

I cut myself a sliver of this blueberry pie (don’t women always seem to cut themselves “slivers” of pie?), then Bea started acting up so I handed it to G instructing him to bring it in (I couldn’t carry Bea & open the door.) Thinking I was done with it, he tossed it.

Nutritionally & calorie-wise my body had NO NEED for that pie. But I really wanted it.

Harriet and I talked about my mom a lot and, for some reason, here came the waterworks. My mom died in September 2001 – just 8 days after the Twin Towers fell. You’d think I’d used all the tears I had by now. It must be having little girls that makes me feel strangely protective hearing Harriet talk about my mom’s (at times) lonely childhood. Yet it was equally touching to hear about how much Harriet and her sister Teddy loved & cherished my mom, who was younger.

While you’re growing up, it’s hard to think of your mother as a full person. Only after she died did I start finding out more about her life pre-Me.

Harriet told me that when she was small, she got to crying so much that the only way her parents could calm her down was to put her in the bathtub and run water over her. I guess the shock of the water snapped her out of it. Later, when she was grown, she shared this with my mom adding that she thought this was the reason she avoided confrontation as an adult. My mom told her that her parents had done the same thing to her adding, “It didn’t bother ME a bit!”

Harriet’s point was that two people can share the same parents but come out of childhood very different.

Harriet describes my mom as having been “spirited.” I know she didn’t avoid confrontation. Whew – that’s for sure. I suppose if you’re an only child to two people who are REALLY into each other, it might be hard to know where you fit. Unasked questions…unTHOUGHT of questions…

We left the special luncheon knowing we need to go back and make a little more time to visit properly. When you are hauling along two toddlers you are really conscious about out-staying your welcome so it probably hurt nobody to leave when we did.

The next day we headed to Breckenridge.

Thank gosh for naps.

It was beautiful. G has skied there quite a bit and even spent some time there with his family during the summer. I love the idea of Jack & Patsy strolling around the little town, window shopping & having a glass of wine in the afternoon sun.

We went to the Motherloaded Tavern.

The next day we strolled around the river side.

Then we got back into the car & headed to our final destination: Buena Vista.

Pictures of one's feet are all the rage in the summer.

Stay tuned & pray for photo editing talents to visit me in the night so I can make these posts more concise. I might even slip in a quick cocktail post to break it up a bit.

In my late 20′s I remember watching my friend’s sister feed her kids a huge plate of raviolis (previously frozen in a large Sam’s Club bag) with jar sauce and thinking, “She really should serve them some vegetables or salad with that. Also, they don’t even have napkins.” and probably 3 or 4 even more helpful thoughts. That was at a time I happened to live alone and, after yoga class would make myself adorable little salads with shaved fennel & homemade dressing which I dabbed off my lips with cloth napkins. This woman, however, had 3 small kids and her bedridden mother living in her dining room. Our realities were different.

Before we had kids G and I agreed they wouldn’t watch TV until they were two, and then they’d watch only educational shows for limited amounts of time, that we weren’t going to let the kids take over our lives (that they’d have to adhere to OUR schedules) and that we would never let them interrupt us, that they’d be eating sushi, jalapeños & whatever else we were into at the time. We also promised each other never to argue, to let each other have free time for exercise or socializing, to have “date night” once a week, not to buy too much kid gear and probably 100 other well-intentioned thoughts.

Now that I’m in the meat of it with two daughters who’ll be 4 and 2 in September, I really have to laugh (and cry) at myself: the Ghost of Christina Past. After a week’s “vacation” with the whole family (read: poor or no sleep, 2 hour flights that felt like trans-Atlantic ones & a lengthy hike at altitude with a 35 lb kid backpack) including upon return: 1 solid day of prolific toddler vomiting followed by three days of 5:30AM wakeup calls, this (short) list, along with a chorus of heavenly angels, appeared like an apparition in my crazy head during a much-needed SOLO shower. G had to lock the door & carry Bea shrieking into another room to get her away from me for 10 minutes.

In the shower I came up with a short list (it was a short shower) of three reasons why I shouldn’t judge anyone else’s parenting (unless of course, they are injuring their child.)

(Next blog posting: 1 Reason Not to Judge your Friend’s Over-use of Parentheticals)

Here they go.

1. You don’t have the whole picture.

Let’s use the example of my friend’s sister serving ONLY tortellinis for dinner. Yes, moms “should” serve fresh fruits & veggies often. But I was only over there at her house for about an hour. I had no idea what had been going on before then. For all I know they placed in a swiss chard-eating competition that morning!

In my case, my kids will eat piles of fruit all day long. By dinner time, I’ll either make something with veggies in it OR depending on what else they’ve eaten over the past day or so, or how tired I am, will resort to some form of pasta. Dry pasta, fresh tortellinis, raviolis. I’ll use homemade tomato sauce, jarred tomato sauce, fresh pesto, jar pesto, or just olive oil & parmesan cheese. I used to try to make EVERYTHING from scratch but I was getting so stressed out and exhausted that I was yelling at everyone and just generally miserable. Not to mention the dishes facing me later. If someone showed up at dinner, it wouldn’t “Look” like a balanced dinner but that is only a snapshot of a second of that day. They’d really need to see the film version…

2. Parents are always changing.

After the school year (I taught 6th grade) ended in 2010, I faced what felt like a long very pregnant summer home alone with my almost 2 year old, Maddie. Since she had been in daycare full time that year, I really had no idea what to do with her. I was tired during the day. One day we sat together on the couch watching Sesame Street and eating Trader Joe’s Veggie Chips (read: green, orange & tan potato chips).

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Photo from Trimble Crafts on Etsy