The Mommy MonoBlogs (sm)

Back to School at Hanes

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:44:00 +0000

This is one of the best back to school bargains yet ... Hanes has their StayClean Cotton kids polos, y'know the ones that work with most school dress codes - on sale for $3.99. I purchased 14 for $55 including S&H. Great deal!

Pistache --- Dee-Lish!

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:27:00 +0000

With our regular baby sitter out of commission, it has been a rare occasion that my husband and I can steal some time together. However, this past Saturday we were able to find a fairly competent sitter and headed out to finally celebrate our anniversary ... only about 2 weeks late. We wanted to do something different so we ventured over to the famous Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach to a lovely French Bistro called Pistache (www.pistachewpb.com).
The French flag flew high as we approach the valet stand right near the restaurant’s Riviera-like entrance that over looks overlooks Centennial Park, the Fountains and the Intracoastal Waterway. The entrance was bright and the atmosphere cozy. Several tables were available to dine al fresco but the humid night was better served in air conditioning. Most of the tables indoors were filled with boisterous 50 something’s enjoying a wide array of vino and the early evening on Clematis. The back room was host to a rather large birthday bash which was hidden from us behind the red velvet curtains that separated the front room from the back room. We were seated at small but romantic corner booth. I ordered a Pinot Grigio and my husband a Mojito. Pinot an somtimes fall a bit flat on texture and flavor, but this make and vintage was devine.
Our drinks were joined by the Soup D'Jour, Carrot Ginger Soup and Steak Tartare. The soup was flavorful but not overly sweet as often the case with carrot soup. The tartare was prepared strait up raw with the typical condiments surrounding the meal pile on the plate. We picked and tasted each condiment and the meat alone but found that the best flavor was found when we smooshed all the elements together.
For our main dish we both went for daily specials: The 16oz bone in veal chop ($45) for him and the lobster risotto ($24) for me. Both dishes arrived piping hot. The dewy texture of the Arborio rice was just setting me up for that mild lobster flavor rounded off with a touch of sherry. It was fabulous. My husband enjoyed the veal which was served topped with a peppery forestiere sauce. This was also quite good. Overall it was an impeccable meal for approximately $125 pre-tip.
We skipped coffee and desert in house and instead followed the meal with a walk past the bars of Clematis, which includes the original Dr. Feelgood’s, and stopped at Starbucks for a decaf latte before picking up the car and returning to real life ... parenthood. Wonderful meal ... wonderful evening. Will definitely be back to Pistache!

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noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:54:00 +0000

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California Overturns the Ban on Gay Marriage

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:52:00 +0000

I am 30 something, well educated; in fact I am an attorney. I am heterosexual, married and a mother of two delightfully difficult children. I was blessed to find love and my best friend in the same package. I guess I was also lucky that he happens to be a man so that society does not shun our union. But what if my, or for arguments sake, your soulmate, your closest confident and personal cheering section turns out to be of the same gender? Do you not deserve to be loved? Take the sexual act out of the picture; take out kissing and other affectionate scenarios. Now you have one person caring for another, sharing unconditional love. Now should their gender matter?

Try it this way … most people associate homosexuality with gratuitous sex. Wow, homosexuals tend to be homosexual all the time … that is a lot of sex. Maybe those who can’t tolerate homosexuality are just jealous that they aren’t getting’ any!

Now if they can marry then they will have all the benefits of being married, of course it is only fair that they get the all burdens and responsibilities well. That doesn’t work for you? Have you been through a nasty divorce? Know anyone who has? Well if gays can’t marry they don’t need to divorce … for all those who have been dragged through the mud in a divorce you’re probably thinking, “lucky bastards.” One post I read said, “now homosexuals can be stuck in miserable marriages just like heterosexuals.” I found that statement quite amusing.

Adoption … having kids and building families. Family values are about family. Family values are not about genitalia! In fact children of gay and lesbian couples are often well cared for, well educated and super loved! There are so may kids that need to be adopted and need to be loved, and these are the folks to give them that love. Maybe if some of the products of the foster care system would have had a stable home with parental love less of them would move into the penal system?

Whilst I am not preaching to embrace homosexuality … I am just saying get a tough skin – grow some balls and tolerate it. Oddly enough homosexuals teach their kids tolerance to all social issues – even those of the ignorant religious right. Despite what the ignorant posse thinks they are not creating little homo soldiers. I bet if someone did a study on the adoptive children of gay couples they would find there is no correlation. I know of one child of a lesbian couple who also was a lesbian but she was the natural child of one of the mothers. If anything that give strength to the argument that there is a genetic link.

The homosexual communities in this country tend to be well educated, successful and wealthy. Look at the most lucrative industries … fashion, television, radio, motion pictures, music, marketing, new media and restaurants – almost all spearheaded by Gays (and/or Jews – who face some of the same prejudices due to their incredible success). Again, I have to believe that jealously motivates most of this hatred.

Oh and if your reading this and thinking what a liberal #(*& … I am a card carrying registered Republican! Homosexual marriage is not about politics, not about religion, not about science … it is about love. There is no shame in being in love. So I say to all those who chose to love persons of the same gender … go forth, love and be loved … legally!

What Do You Consider Romantic?

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:55:00 +0000

So far today has been a miserable day at the office. I am hours away from missing several deadlines despite working my ass off all week. I don't even have time to use the loo. The heel just broke off of my shoe, I cringe when the phone rings and every call from Scott I have responded to in a short-tempered snap. I am just crazed. When I finally come up for air I check my email. I scroll through the free offers and annoucment of my internation lotto winnings for name I recognize. Aha! Scott ... what now? I open the email to reveal the most romantic thing ... a copy of our first few flirtatious emails that are nearing 8 years old. He kept them. I am touched and a tear forms in my eye and all the work crap doesnt seem so important anymore. At least for 30 seconds, that is. Back to work ... but a heartfelt thank you to the man of my dreams. I love you Scotty.

Saturday routine ...

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:40:00 +0000

Saturday starts with Dani up at 6 creating a mess in the playroom while we try to get "just 15 more minutes." Noah sleeps until 7:15. At 7:30 I can be found in the kitchen scrambling eggs and making pancakes. Then it is off to gym class at The Little Gym. (The Little Gym is far superior to My Gym or Gymboree for about the same price) Noah's class is first and requires parental interaction. Because of my hernia surgeries I cannot participate. So Scott accompanies Noah to class. Danica and I used to wait in the lobby but I lately some of the parents in Noah's class have been bring their older children and leaving them in the lobby ... alone. How do you leave a 4 year old alone? If you havent figured it out I sudden became the babysitter of other people's children. I would read books to them arrange a table for coloring and try to keep the noise to a minimum. Now I did not mind at first, besides these kids were in my daughters class but after 3 or 4 weeks people were leaving kids with me that did not attend classes at the gym. So today Danica and in took to the grocery store instead. What a shock for those parents who were taking advantage of me. They suddenly had to look after their own kids! I even got a dirty look or two when Danica and I showed up just in time for her class. Scott and I had such a great chuckle about it as we sat entertaining Noah in the lobby while Princess Danica took to the bars.

Gym class is followed by Jamba Juice or Starbucks and then it is off to Jessica's House. Jessica is our babysitter. At her house they get the attention of Jessica, her sister Natalie and their mom, Becky, whom my kids call "Mom" as if her name was actually Mom. They also get to play with 4 dogs and run around the huge yard. Sometimes they get to go to lunch at a fast food joint or going shopping. They will be asleep by the time we pick them up at 9.

We will spend the day cleaning the house. Today we cleaned the playroom and the kids bedrooms. Then we go out dinner ... like adults. After all ts date night and we have a sitter!

Happy Valentine's Day ...

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:59:00 +0000

I remember before I was married Valentine's Day was a romantic moment in time for a couple to delight in their love. Meeting Scott added to the drama. Each year he would endevour to purchase me a lavish gift. And each year I made him return it. This year he finally learned. He did not get me anything. He did bring in a pizza so I did not have to cook and spent a few extra moments telling me how much he loved me as we sat stuffing goody bags for Danica's birthday party. Spending time together trumps a tennis bracelet any day!

Ain't No Paradise

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:59:00 +0000

So I have had my eyes peeled for commercials for Paradise Hotel 2, but have seen none. Turns out I don't have My Network TV or Fox Reality. Our cable is through our home owners association and channel options are limited, not to mention we chose not to upgrade since we dont watch any of the shows on the "movie" channels. The web? Nope, cant find full episodes there either. What I did find is a recap given by the "envelope girl." From what I can see this group seems lame. They are totally stereotypical, drunken 20 year olds. Not one has a personality, they all seem fake. Not a crazy Toni amonst them. And to make things even less appealing and a bit more morbid, one of the guys, Nathan, died shortly after the show wrapped in September.

Now we do have TiVo and there is a service from Amazon in which I can buy the episode for $2. But, no. Not worth it. Besides, Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant, who needs Paradise Hotel!

Family Suite Yay, Princess Dinner Nay!

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:24:00 +0000

This past weekend we took the little munchkins to Walt Disney World for an early celebration of Danica's 3rd birthday. We decided upon this particular weekend as she was still, technically, 2 and free but more importantly it was an uncrowded Superbowl weekend. I recently underwent some major surgery and I am not allowed to bend or lift anything over five pounds . . . such as my kids. So, to keep Scott sane, we brought along our babysitter. With the added body to our party we realized that we would need a little extra space and even an extra bathroom to accommodate the 5 of us. The solution was easily found at the Walt Disney World All-Star Music Resort. This particular hotel is one of their "value" hotels created to fit the needs of those on a tight budget. The pull to the All-Star Music for this trip was the fairly new "family suites." The family suite is basically two adjoining rooms that have been converted to a living room and small bedroom with a kitchenette including a refrigerator. The room was perfect for our needs and was reasonable maintained.

Now I should note, that this is not our first foray into the lower priced hotels. We have stayed at Pop Century (Value) and found it to be adequate for our then party of 3. The room was small though. In fact we were originally booked into a room with 2 double beds and had to be moved to a room with a king in order to accommodate Danica's pack and play. Even so the rooms in other resorts were about the same size. In the past we have stayed in the Coronado Springs Resort (Moderate) and our last trip in September took us to the Grand Floridian (Deluxe Monorail). Okay, there were a few more amenities in the pricier resorts but I honestly did not need to use the Grand Floridian robes. I did, however, have to request a refrigerator at all the hotels except the All-Star Music. The family suites have a refrigerator included, despite the fact that the value hotels charge a nightly fee for the refrigerator. The more expensive hotels provide them upon request, free of charge. On Saturday night, Scott and I strolled over to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. We chatted about the hotel differences, such as the huge cafeteria in this hotel compared to the shoe box at the Grand Floridian. We concluded that it may be more advantageous to stay at the value resort.

Enough about the hotel … now onto food! I love to cook and Scott and I are total foodies. One of our facinations with WDW is the fabulous restaurants and the ability to enjoy food from different cultures. However, not every restaurant is a winner. On our last trip we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's, the food, despite being a buffet, was wonderful and tasty and the kids were entertained by the characters. Since we are not big breakfast eaters we decided to make this a dinner stop. Unfortunately, the buffet was not really appealing. The "less cooked" (the carver's words not mine) prime rib was good. Still the kids had a good time. We will be returning on our next trip in September but only for breakfast.

Suffice it to say we did not have one outstanding meal the whole trip but we did have one amazingly disappointing one. The Princess Fairy Tale Dinner in Norway! I showed up at our designated time and checked in. Tom, at the podium told us it would be just a few minutes. Twenty minutes and over 100 people later I went up to the podium again. A new gentleman was standing there and the look on his face made me realize that Tom had not checked us in. He quickly ushered us into the hall and had the kids photographed with Belle ... for $32.

Then we were seated for the nightmare to continue. I had been told it was a buffet. I choose buffets at the parks because the kids dont have a long wait for the food to be served. Well this is not a buffet and the menu is totally unappealing. There is an appetizer buffet ... do your toddlers like smoked salmon and beet salad? Exactly! Ariel worked hard to calm us down ... then Tom appeared. He was our waiter. Realizing that all the restaurants were full-up I just tried to make the most of it. Scott ordered some sort of meat patty that came with beets while I chose the salmon. The kids shared a kids pizza and our babysitter ordered the pizza off the children's menu as well. This is where I note that I was charged $15 for the kids pizza and $29 for the babysitters pizza ... all of which tasted horrid and went uneaten. Scott ate his meat patty and I nibbled half way through the overcooked salmon. Then we left the park and headed for home. I was sick the whole way, the next day and even stayed home from work today. Obviously, we won't be back.

A Hottie Named Scotty

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 19:04:00 +0000

So, the point of this blog is to expouse my opinions and thoughts on being a working mom. However, maybe you want to know about how I became a mom. Now I am not going to divulge the intimate details but instead tell you a little about my "partner in crime," the love of my life, my hot hubby. You get the point! So, how did it come to be that I met Mr. Right-Now-&-Forever? Glad you asked.

It was a Sunday night in October, I had just returned from a weekend of listening to my then sugardaddy/boyfriend grovelling about how sorry he was for whatever he had done that week. The relationship had been boring me for months and I had started dating on the side. In fact I had been running my own personal ad on love@aol, now match.com, for several weeks. I signed on to my email and decided to check out the latest postings. Boring, ugly, fake, loser, the list went on. Okay, I told myself, just a few more and I would be off to bed. Then I saw him, this adorable smiling face with dirty blonde hair looking right at me. My heart skipped a beat and I got all nervous and giddy. I sent off my usual cut and paste introduction email. Then I returned to the picture. Something about him just kept me sitting at the computer. I did something really weird ... I sent another email. I wrote, I really think you are cute. I would send you my phone number, but alas, I will let you be a man and ask for it."

The next morning I woke to a reply email from my mystery man. He simple wrote,"Send me your number." I emailed my phone number and went off to work.

It was about 7 or 8 pm when my phone rang. "Hello," the voice on the other side said, "this is Scott." The conversation was amazing. For four hours we talked. We discussed New York and hobbies, dating, clothing, totally oddball stuff but if felt right. Suddenly Scott blurted out, "I have a good feeling about this ... when can I meet you?" Scott had just started a new job and was out in Utah for the week on training. He would return on Friday we made plans to meet on Saturday. Each night that week we talked on the phone. Each conversation was interesting and entertaining. I could not wait for Saturday to arrive.

Friday evening came and Scott flew back from Utah to New York. As soon as he could he called to make plans for our date. "Let's have coffee." He said, "Coffee is short and less pressure. If there is no attraction we can go our own way in 15 minutes. On the other hand, dinner or dinner and a movie can create an akward situation if we meet and there is no attraction." I agreed. We decided to meet at Starbucks at 6pm.

I arrived late, in "old" Shari fashion, at 6:15pm, Scott watched me as I nervously approached Starbucks and peeked inside. I dilly dallied by checking my hair in the window of the Jewelry store next door. Finally, I walked into Starbucks ... empty. I was confused and stepped outside and out of the shadows appeared this sweet smiling face. "I have been watching you since you got out of your car and ... I really don't want coffee." My heart sank, was the date was over before it started? Was there no attraction? Scott sensed my confusion and quickly said ... "Let's go have dinner and then a movie."

Apparently there was a lot of attraction. That date led to another and another and another. Eighteen months later, a wedding and a few years after that two beautiful children. It has been eight years since that incredible night and there is still A LOT OF ATTRACTION!

Paradise Hotel 2 ... Finally!

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:21:00 +0000

Apparently, those really smart executives over at FOX have finally had the revelation that rather than airing crappy reality shows ... bring back a successful show ... the one that started it all! Yes, ladies and gentleman, Paradise Hotel will once again be welcoming weary, drunken, unrealistic hardbodies, showcasing erratic and turblulent behavior in a tropical setting. I can almost smell the tanning oil and tequila! Look for the new show airing on the "mytvnetwork" on Feb 4th ... and if you get the FOX reality channel then you can view that same show, less censored at 1AM on Feb 5th. Oh, now if only we could knock some sense into the ABC execs that chose to run Private Practice. It is so NOT Grey's Anatomy. Somebody should have said to the," Are you serious?"

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Shaz) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 01:21:00 +0000

The majority of the holiday season is almost behind us. Soon it will back to business as usual. Not sure about you but I am looking forward to it. More so I am looking forward to beginning the blog full force!