CHEF'S WIDOW

Archive for Widow Holidays

Festivus for the Restivus

December 30, 2010 Widow Holidays, Widowism One comment

Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
‘Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t coming back ~Kesha

Five years ago, the Chef and I were brand new parents. Our son, the boy, was permattatched to my boob and neither the Chef nor I remembered what sleep felt like. We were so googly eyes in love with our little man that neither of us gave a damn.

Until the holiday season. New parents + holiday season + chef at Lolita = VEP…very exhausted peoples. We knew we need to let loose. We needed a moment to feel like we were still in our twenties. Festivus was born.

We weren’t ready to let the boy leave our sight overnight yet so we decided to start the festivities late night. That year, our party was with pole but without theme. Over the years we have celebrated Festivus for the Restivus in ugly sweaters, yacht rock style, and full on glam rock, good times always had by all.

This year was our fifth Festivus, a pop star potluck and by it was by far the best. See for yourself.

PS. Don’t judge the McD’s yo. It was a potluck.

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2010 Widow Holidays 2 comments

The Giving Season

December 8, 2010 Widow Holidays 2 comments

Inspired by my friend Becky, I decided to adopt a family this year over the holiday. The Salvation Army has a fabulous program that allows people to provide a holiday season for those who cannot provide their own.

Our family is not wealthy by any means but we do have a community. I have a community here in blog world and the Chef has his own food & cooking community. I thought that this year I had to step it up a notch. I spoke to Patty at The Salvation Army and our staff at the tavern, and decided that instead of me just adopting one family, the tavern would adopt 2 families, 2 seniors, and a whole lotta veterans.

When I received the wish lists, my heart broke. The first family, a family of five asked for one thing, and one thing only. A bunk bed. The three children, ages 5-14, all shared one twin bed. When I shared their list with my staff, I only shared the smaller items like soap and TP, I did not want to ask for their hard earned money.

Turns out I didn’t have to. When I went into the restie yesterday I saw that our amazing staff had begun raising money to buy the bunk bed. They are absolutely lovely. We are so lucky to have them as part of our family.

There is a lot to gather for the ones in need, and the tavern and myself are asking for your help. The vets are in serious need of basic, basic items and I was hoping that my FANTASTICALLY WICKED AWESOME readers would be able to help a widow out.

Holiday Tradition

December 6, 2010 Widow Holidays, Widow Kids 15 comments

He pulls them slowly through the aisles of pines as they shout out their favorites in unison. They love the tall ones, fat ones and skinny ones, sometimes even the dead ones. They hold no judgement when deciding on what tree will become a part of our family for the next 30 days. They just pick one. It seems so simple and soon our toes are frozen, icicles have formed beneath our noses, and we have found our fir. The Chef pulls out the saw and looks at the boy for help.