Blueberry Bread and a new book

Well, keeping the NYR of blogging seems to be a challenge. I will keep trying. I have officially been back to work for one week and it has been crazy. I am so fortunate to have my niece, Sophie, here for the week watching W. It is so nice not to have to get him up to go to the sitter's. It is even better that I have those extra minutes that are usually taken up by pick up and drop off.

Tonight while our dinner was baking in the oven, Sophie, W and I decided to make some blueberry bread....yum! This is the best recipe ever, given to me by Pam at gingergirl. When I got married, nearly 10 years ago, I had a recipe shower. Every guest was asked to bring a favorite recipe. This is the one she shared. I think it is the brown sugar that makes this so wonderful.

Blueberry Bread
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
2 3/4 cup sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups blueberries
Topping
1 cup sugar
1 TBL butter
cinnamon to taste

Mix all ingredients except topping in order given. Pour into 2 greased bread pans. Mix topping until crumbly and sprinkle over top of loaves.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Wait for bread to cool and enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea! My bread is cooling right now. I will post a picture of the finished product tomorrow.



Although I am slacking on some of my NYRs, I have kept up with my reading. I finished my last book and am on to a new one. This is a book that the book club at my local library is reading. The group is meeting for the discussion on January 20th. I had better get reading. I am a fan of mysteries, so I hope this is a good one!

Latest Read

Another one of my New Year Resolutions is to read one book a month. I realize that doesn't sound like much. At first I thought I would try for two books a month, but I want to make sure that I can stick with this goal. Why must I make this a resolution? Well, ever since W made his arrival just over two and half years ago, my free time seems to have diminished. I remember the good old days when I was reading a lot and I would suggest a certain title to my sister and she would tell me she didn't have time to read. That was the craziest thing I had ever heard. Yes, she had three young girls, but really, who doesn't have time to read? Working parents of young children. Another lesson learned. When I get home from work I have to get dinner ready, clean up the dinner dishes and I want to spend time with my little man before he goes to bed sometime between 7:30 and 7:45. Considering I have a 40 minute commute and need to include pick up and drop off at the sitter, it doesn't give me a lot of time with him and it sucks up a lot of potential free time. By the time he is in bed I am ready for bed myself. When I do have some energy it is used up by picking up and other household chores. Reading for enjoyment has certainly taken a back seat to life with my son. So, that is why I have chosen reading as something of importance for 2011. It is one piece of my pre-child like I am taking back.

So, this is what I am reading.



I read about this book in the Chinaberry catalog. I really love getting this catalog. It seems as though they put a lot of thought in to the products they sell. I have found that some of their items do tend to sell out, and quickly. I just learned this lesson when I went to order a book for a birthday gift and it was sold out!

I will let you know how the book is!

Happy New Year!!!!

Goodbye 2010 and welcome 2011! Today would have been a perfect day if the Badgers had won the Rose Bowl. (Boo Hoo) We showed our team spirit today by wearing our Badger gear and frequently dancing and shouting out, "Teach me how to Bucky!" Our enthusiasm still couldn't help the Badgers pull out a win. We did decide that the Badger trumps a Frog any day. We still love the Badgers!

So far the only resolution I am sticking to is updating my blog. Hopefully my posts will get more exciting as time goes on. I can't say much about what I am wearing today, only that I am showing off my comfortable side: Sweats and barely combed hair. That's what vacation is all about. Back to reality on Monday and back to some real clothes and a shower!

Starting Over

I took a moment to relax today and sip a cup of tea from my beautiful new tea cup. (A lovely birthday gift from by BFF, Pam, who has the fab blog gingergirl). While drinking my tea, I decided to think about making some New Year Resolutions. The typical ones were on my list: eat healthier, exercise, read more books, be more patient. To this list I decided to add, update my blog. It was a bit embarrassing to see my last post was made over a year ago. It is a good thing no one follows this blog(well only three people)! In this blog, I have decided to post a bit about the struggles enjoyment of raising an energetic two and a half year old, what is happening day to day, what outfits are inspiring and any favorite food items. We shall see how it goes...... If this goes well, I should have another post in a day or two. Wish me luck!

Those Who Live In Glass Houses.......

It seems as though I need to take that old saying to heart. When I was childless, I threw a lot of stones and I am now picking up the shattered glass.

Where should I begin? I see a lot of kiddos every day at my job. In years gone by I have often wondered why kids would come to school smelling of pancake syrup. I would roll my eyes and think to myself, "Why didn't your parent clean you up before sending you off to school?" I now join the ranks of this neglectful parent. I admit it, I have dropped my little man off at the sitters with the smell of maple syrup lingering on his body. I don't know where they syrup is hiding! I have washed his hands, face, neck, head, ears, the list goes on......but for the life of me, I can't figure out where it the smell if coming from. I now just pass him to the sitter and hang my head in shame, defeated by the smell of maple syrup.

Sadly, my rock throwing doesn't stop with maple syrup. My next disappointment is my car. I remember when my sister and her family lived in New Hampshire and they bought a brand new mini van and the next day drove home to Wisconsin for a visit. I still recall running out to greet them at their arrival. I was excited to take a peek at their new wheels and breath in the 3 day old new car smell. As I looked around their new vehicle, I yelled out to my sister, "It looks like you have had this thing for years!" I remember spying a McDonalds french fry on the ground, crumbs on the floor, discarded napkins and other random food scraps lying around. Disgusting!

I now find it embarrassing if anyone has to ride in my car. Before allowing a passenger to enter, the first thing I have to do is move the children's books and sippy cups from the seat. I then brush the cracker crumbs out of the way. The backseat is even worse. Books, papers and stuffed animals litter the seat and floor. I have about an inch of crumbs in the seat cracks. My poor little man's seat is filled with Kix, graham crackers and Ritz Crackers. My sister has now commented on the state of my car. I hang my head in shame and take back my snarky comment.

Does life get easier? Will my car ever be clean again? Will my son ever be clean? Where exactly does he dab the syrup?

Sighhhhhhhhh

I just put my little man to bed and realized that one week from today I will be back at work. Dub will be 15 months on Tuesday, and I have not worked full time since his arrival. I will miss our lazy days that didn't require me to shower or find something cute to wear. At the same time I look forward to adult conversations and pulling out some of my new fall items.

I must thank my bff, Pam, for her help in getting me set to go back to work. We went shopping on Monday and she set me up with some cute little items to get my fashion foot forward. We both found some cute t-shirts and great cords at the jcrew outlet. I also picked up a pair of jeans, a fuscia cardigan and two great necklaces. I nabbed some cute shoes at nine west and a fabulous little dress with pockets on the clearnce rack at Banana Republic. A whole day of shopping only for me! I didn't even browse for Dub. (I have some adorable items ready to order for him at mini Boden.)

A few days before my bff and I headed out, I hit Anthropologie with a woman from work. I had a bit of luck while I was there. Here are three sweaters I picked up. Pam, since you are the only one checking out my blog, let me know what you think. I am having second thoughts on one of the purchases.

I loved this Gentle Current Cardigan in pink. The other colors

were nice too, but this color was the best for me.

This Ruffled Cowlneck Cardi in turquoise is the one that I am

not so sure about. It definatley looks better on, but I am not sure

what I will wear it with. Thoughts?

This Wraparound cardigan was a deal at $49.95. It is super soft!

Well, I have some great new pieces to start work, but I won't have Dub with me. I suppose if I wasn't working I wouldn't have these fun new items to wear. One can only sit around in sweats and unfashionable clothes for so long!

Spills

Well, what a day! This summer I bought Dub a water table. He loves to play with it! His very favorite activity is to scoop up the water and pour it on the deck. He will continue to do this until it is almost empty. Apparently, he has learned that this trick can be done with liquids other than water.

I am really trying to get some things organizned around the house, and eliminate some of my clutter piles. I decided to clean out some dresser drawers today to make room for some of Dub's art projects, cards, etc. Since we were up and at 'em early this morning, I had my delicious cup of decaf in my favorite Dub mug. I set my yummy brew on the dresser and Dub and I began to work. He played the items I pulled out as I browsed through them. His heart really wasn't in the cleaning, instead he must have been longing to head outside to his water table. Since we were inside and not going out because of the rain, he decided to do the next best thing. He grabbed my coffee and poured it into the drawer we were cleaning. Yes, my coffee....in the drawer! What a stinker!

Today's Lesson

Keep your beverage out of Dub's reach.