A frightened and anxiety ridden boy has replaced him.

Each night is now a battle and a fright fest.  First there is the screaming and kicking and crying.  Then I calm him down and read to him.  He senses my preparation to leave his bedroom and flips the fuck out.  The screaming and kicking and crying begin again.  I leave because I have to.  But then just as the crying fades and I think my baby boy is sleeping sound he starts to scream.  ’There are monsters in my room mama, MONSTERS!’‘  I hear the dread in his sweet voice and head back to his room.  I tell him it’s ok and hand him his light saber.  (Monsters are scared of light sabers, in fact they can’t even enter a room if a light saber is in one)  He sniffles and cries a little bit more.  And then he pulls me in for a hug and kiss and tells me he loves me.  And my day is done.

A few hours later I find him sleeping soundly.  Not in his bed.  But not in mine either

Again and again thru the tantrums, and the thru insanity I find myself more in love with this boy each moment of each day.

Chanel Chance Perfume, ummm yeah I smelled this last night when I went to hug another chef’s widow goodnight.  It almost knocked me off my feet and I absolutely had to know what her scent was…fingers are crossed for Christmas.

Shoparooni, I met this husband & wife team last night at an event for the 30 most interesting people in Cleveland (the Chef happened to be one:), then today I checked out their store and figured that I should probably never physically enter their store with any type of monies.  It’s that cool.

Etsy, I am becoming an etsy addict, got Biggie Smalls Haloween costume and plan on buying many a homemade presents for the holidays.  I also plan on buying this beauty for the Festivus festivities as well.

Girl Talk, My ex-raver ass used to date dj’s, wear Jnco jeans, and drive from city to city to go dance in asbestos filled abandon warehouses.  And I did it all for my love of drugs bass.  And I get to relive my glory days now (and not be as embarrassed of my glow stick toting former self) by listening to Girl Talk.  If you like a little mash up of bad ass drum & bass, old skool hip hop, and 90’s pop I highly recommend them.  

Mazzy Star’s Halah Video, Somehow this video came up on my phone one day when I signed onto YouTube and I was instantly taken back to my days as a flannel wearing, combat boot stomping riot grrrl, as much as a riot grrrl one can be while attending a Catholic school of nuns.  The song is so yummy and I can’t stop playing it over and over and over.

Sensory Overload, my new favorite source for la musica.  Every since I had the babes my musical sense has gone to shit.  I don’t go to shows and I don’t discover new music like I used to pre-kids.  But now I don’t have to!  Kelly & Jose do it all for me and make it hella easy.  If you are on the lookout for some new tunes (and or great recipes) check ‘em out.  Also send them some congrats on their upcoming nuptials!

The Jimmies, a new kids band I recently discovered.  In the nick of time too.  If I had to listen to Laurie Berkner for one more milisecond there might just have been a hole in my head.  Catcher is also a HUGE fan of the website.

Cool Mom Picks Holiday Gift Guide, as always a Classic staple of my Christmas shopping experience.

Pear Tree Greetings, just got my Christmas cards from PTG and I must say I heart them mucho.  I got these, a sustainable recycled card with photo.  How great are they?  And the price…unheard of.

If your still on the fence about joining our bad ass Vonnegut Book Club you shouldn’t be.  

Join.  Do it. Everybody else is.

Ladies & Gentleman (I keep hoping at least 1 boy will join),

I have set up the Kurt Vonnegut Book Club Site. Please join to join the wonderful world of KVon. Our friend Kimberley will be heading it up but it will only work if all of you join and start adding discussions, blog posts, pics, etc…

Plus I think it will help us pick our upcoming books especially if we are going to stray from the Von man. Kisses.

View my page on Kurt Vonnegut Book Club

About 2 minutes in, my favorite Iron Chef gives a nice little shout out to my FAVORITE CHEF ever. (But you should watch the interview in it’s entirety cause MS is badass.)

Rumors of Trainspotting 2 are floating around the Internets starring my very own boyfriend, Mr. Ewan McGregor. Trainspotting was the movie that started my psycho obsession innocent girl crush on the Scotsman.  

These days it may be tough for me to watch a sequel of that great (and horribly terrifying movie).  Having a recovering heroin addict brother pretty much cancels out the ability to watch anything (film, show, etc) drug related.  I only wish he (my brother) had seen it back then.  God knows it made me NEVER want to even think of trying the smack.  Which thankfully I never did.

If TS2 does come out, I think I will have the Chef screen it and then I’ll watch it minus the drugs.  Or maybe there will be no drugs and it will just be about how Renton got even hotter as he got older and ended up marrying a girl from America named Amelia…

***A special thanks today for my peeps Liz & Mike.  Dinner was, as always, excellent and the shout out at the food show was rad!  Liz you are one hot mamma!

Dos Michaels & Vito enjoy the smooth serenades of Michael McDonald

It’s that time of year again.  The time where we put aside our differences and be thankful.  Thankful for FESTIVUS!!!

That’s right, Festivus is soon upon us and I desperately need your help.  This is our 5th annual Festivus Celebration and we have yet to come up with a theme.  Last year we yacht rocked it out and this year is proving hard to follow.

Any help will be greatly rewarded with our super duper love and affection.

Kisses.

Life in the burbs’, widow stye

So we live in a burb.  A burb that is far away from downtown.  A burb where women wear white jeans and are condescending bitches when I tell them my son’s name.  A burb where I grew up.  Where I went to high school.  Where I met the Chef.  

And we are over it.  I am over it.

 The driving, the lack of friends, the lack of culture, the lack of city.  I am sick of driving by a CVS and then watching a Walgreens get built across the street.  We need to move.

But in this clusterfuck of an economy  there is not a chance in hell that we could sell our house or buy a new one.  So what do we do?  The new restaurant opens in 2 months and the Chef will start all over with 20 hour work days.  I will be working there part time as well which means a 40 minute drive downtown twice a day five days a week.  Not so appealing for this lady.  Prius or no Prius.

So we came up with a plan.  The Chef and I sat down and actually talked about our lack of options.  This is what we came up with:

We finish fixing up our house.  Finish the floors, the cabinets.  We put our house up for rent or for rent to own.  Obviously we consult a lawyer and get an airtight contract drafted for this.  If we find renters we begin to look for a house downtown for us to rent.  We are just not sure where.

We have thought about Ohio City, Tremont, & Cleveland Heights.  I am a fan of the heights although we would have to keep both cars.  Ohio City & Tremont are great ’hoods but I am concerned about the safety factor.  I just know that my kids and I would love to see the Chef able to come home midday to say hi to us. To hang with us for an hour.  And lord knows he is absolutely unable to do that if we continue to live in the burbs.  

Any ideas or experiences with neighborhoods in the CLE you would like to share would be more than appreciated!

Her tear breaks my blackened heart….

Biggie Smalls is cutting three fucking teeth.  Catcher won’t stop saying ‘SPD POWER RANGER ORNAGE!’ right before he tries to jump kick me.  The Chef is pretending he’s sick just because he worked three 17 hour days in a row.   Poor baby… And me, I wanna make out with a vampire, return the fridge, buy some shoes, and go to Epcot.

This day is f’d up.  And I am about to be.

The Chef is putting the kids down, I am drinking my signature Cantillon and then to lala land.  Peace out peeps.

NEW DAY

Biggie is still is a sick mess, the Chef is still ’sick’, and Catcher has caught a mean case of the whinypants.  Is it too soon to say ‘I need a vacation?’  I kid.  Next vacation Biggie & Catcher will be on my side.  And the Chef of course.

Life is crazy but life is good.  The family may be sick but that just means I get to cuddle more with the kiddos and watch Kung Fu Panda all day.  I’ve got some yerba mate, the prospect of another new writing job (more deets to come) and the excitement of The Greenhouse Tavern being opened very very soon.  

Yippey Kiyaya Yay Mutha Muckers!!!!