Quiznos

So, when we lived in Arizona for 4 years we lived in a small Army base town with not many dining establishments.  Thus, it was full throttle, stand-in-line kind of excitement whenever someplace new opened.  But somehow they opened a Quiznos near our house and we never went.  Ever.  We kinda always meant to try it out, but moved away and still, had never tried it. 

Thus, the concept of "a Quizno" was born in our family.  It's a word we use now to describe something you want to do, could easily do, but don't.  The Smithsonian Natural History Museum is totally a Quizno for us.  DC is so close yet seems so far away.  But we were heading down there for the weekend (more to come on that) and decided to swing by.  It. Was. AMAZING.  I think I'm crazy for not going ALL THE TIME.  It was awe-inspiring the second you walked in.  And it's free?  We only covered maybe a 3rd of it and had buckets of fun.  We'll so be back.  Quizno no more!

The light up x-ray machine thing was pretty awesome

Sadie was banging two shells together and actually chipped one.  Ooops.  Glad it wasn't a fossil or anything...

This entire "coral reef" was knit in yarn!

I have a memory (and my Dad likes to tell the story) of when my dad chaperoned my pre-k fieldtrip to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum but we were bored there so he snuck me and another kid out when the teachers didn't know and took us to see the Giant Squid at the Natural History Museum across the way.  My Dad is the coolest dad ever. I still much prefer Giant Squid to Planes :-)

Rain did not keep the crowds away!

This is the view from right outside the Musuem (it was POURING rain when we arrived, hence the ominous clouds)

Cupcake Craft

Spring Break gave us time for some fun crafts including this "stained glass" cupcake :-) 

 

 

Top Chef Quest: Spike

This is the first installment of what I hope will be a many part series of posts over the next year as Chris and I try to stop in at all the Top Chef-related restaurants in the area.  We like Top Chef but it's not that we're obsessed with those particular characters, it's really just a way to narrow our quest to try out new, interesting, well-made food.  It's also fun to eat the food of someone you feel like you "know" from TV :-)  So, we've made a list of places within a 1hr radius that are chef-ed or owned by Top Chef (or TC Masters) contestants or judges.  It's fun to have a goal for our foodie hobby :-) 

So, this time we hit up Spike Mendelsohn's (Season 4 and All-Stars) burger joint. Good Stuff Eatery was pretty easy to get to in DC and not far from our other destination for the day, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. 

The Location

 Like I said, not hard to drive to, right in the middle of Capitol Hill.  We also found easy metered parking a couple blocks away. I am not much of a city driver so this stuff matters to me :-)  Interestingly Spike's other restaurant, We the Pizza, is next door.  Didn't try that one out so we'll have to head back sometime soon :-)

The Ambiance
The Eatery is a pretty small space and is kind of like a Panera or Chipotle

where you order at the counter and get a table.  When we came (with both kids in town) it was pretty packed and though there were a few outdoor tables, which would be great in the spring/summer, it was pouring so we had to wait for a table to free up inside.  The seating is upstairs as are bathrooms.  

As a mom, I must say the bathrooms were POOR.  There was no changing table and absolutely NO space in the tiny bathroom to lay a baby anywhere except on the floor to change a diaper.  Yes, I laid out a changing pad on the floor and crouched down between the toilet and sink to change a diaper.  I think we escaped with contracting the plague but it was definitely less than ideal.

The decor is nice enough for a burger joint but really, this is not a place to go for the experience.  It's about the food.

The Food

 Overall, we were very impressed.  The burgers and sides were decidedly different and upscale though the setting and prices were not.  

 Here's what we ordered:

COLLETTI’S SMOKEHOUSE
Applewood Bacon, Sharp Vermont Cheddar Fried Vidalia Onion Rings With Chipotle BBQ Sauce
6.89

PREZ OBAMA BURGER
Applewood Bacon, Onion Marmalade, Roquefort Cheese & Delicious Horseradish Mayo Sauce
6.89

And we got a couple sides to share

SPIKE’S VILLAGE SNACK FRY   Topped With Fresh Thyme, Rosemary & Sea Salt  2.49
CLIFF’S HOMEGROWN VIDALIA ONION PETALS 3.49

I left the prices in so you can see, this place is SUPER reasonable. Cheap even.  Especially because the food was SO good!  We have had a lot of burgers in our day and these were really tasty.  The beef was much tastier than any kind of fast food burger-and I liked it better than most restaurant-quality burgers I've had.  The toppings were also really tasty.  The tangy Roquefort cheese with the sweet onion marmalade, smoky bacon, and slightly spicy horseradish mayo was great combination. The bacon was a little chewy though which is a pet peeve of mine :-(

Chris liked his burger too and the sweet BBQ sauce made it taste completely different from mine.  We thought the onion petals were ok-wouldn't order them again.  There was a lot of sweet batter (almost like a donut or funnel cake) on a very little bit of onion.  However, we are fry connoisseurs and we really liked the village snack fries.  They reminded us of the duck fat fries we love at Victoria Gastro Pub.  The rosemary on fries is such a tasty addition. 

So, the price was right, it was definitely not too fancy for kids, and the food was utterly tasty.  Good job Spike!  We'll definitely be repeat customers.

Ella downed the fries even with the "little green things" (rosemary and thyme)

We got to watch the pizza tossers next door at We the Pizza in action

Sadie is 8 months (ok, 8 1/2)

Somehow, Sadie is 8 months old!  (Well, really almost 9 months-can't seem to find time/motivation to get on the computer too often and blog!)  I think I'm too busy snuggling this precious tiny one :-)  I am still enjoying her SO much.  I can't express how much joy she brings me every day.  Her disposition is still serene and cheerful and she's rarely far from smiling.

 

Sadie has officially far surpassed Noah the Monkey in size so this may be his last showing for a while.  She's right around 18lbs right now which seems huge to me but apparently is just below average.  

She eats 4-5 cubes of baby food mixed with cereal at every meal. She has started to eat more and more table food, just in the past week or two (and she loves black olives like Ela-WEIRD-Chris and I hate them).  She's starting to prefer some finger foods to baby food!  This is a transition I avoided with Ella (she was still eating almost all baby food at 11 months) so I'm trying to be a little quicker with Sadie.

Sadie is a pretty decent napper.  This month she had a week where she started napping only about 45 minutes at a time and after a quick google search, I decided to try what had worked for another mom and fed her more solid food at mealtimes.  It worked IMMEDIATELY!  She went back to napping an hour and a half to 2 hrs at each nap!  There are days this doesn't happen but in general she naps around 9:30-11am and 2pm-3:30ish.  There are many times she just naps an hour but she tends to make up for it in the later nap.

Her night sleeping has gotten a little off track this month.  She seems to have a growth spurt (or is just in some weird pattern) every 6-8 weeks.  She'll sleep 11-12 hrs for a month and then start wanting to eat once during the night for about a week-10 days.  Weird.  I have a very hard time letting her cry at night if she seems hungry so I've been nursing her once-twice a night a bunch of nights in the last couple weeks.  Then she just up and decides she's ready to sleep 12 hrs again.  Hopefully she'll stick with the 12 hr plan for a while now :-)

It's fun to have a baby who is turning into a "kid" and is interested in everything!  We took her to Bass Pro Shop to check out the enormous fish tank and she loved it!  I remember doing this with Ella at the same age and it's so nostalgic and sweet to see another baby discover the world for the first time.

Yes.  That is a SBOEP (snot bubble of epic proportions).  Sadie has had a couple colds and never really gets too fussy, just tends to have a faucet of snot which often turns into insanely sized bubbles when she breathes heavily/laughs/cries.  It's pretty hilarious :-)

The blue eyes are still hanging around.  Ella's didn't change until 12 months so we'll see what happens.  But Ella's were never this blue.  They're beautiful and her most commented on feature. I think they're gorgeous!

Sadie loves to clap and has some rhythm!  She's recently started clapping to a beat when music is on!  She really likes doing her little "tricks" and gets so smiley and proud of herself when she successfully claps, waves, signs "more" or "all done," or high-fives us. We're working on touching body parts when i say them but she's not quite getting it yet :-)  Chris wants her to learn to fist bump ;-)

Ella is as in love with her little sister as ever.  Watching their interactions and their relationship grow is one of the best blessings I've experienced.  Ella is definitely one of Sadie's favorite people and she lights up when Ella comes into the room.  Ella has to be reminded to be gentle sometimes though as her love is sometimes violent intense :-)

Physically, Sadie seems to be taking after her sister in being a little bit of a late bloomer.  She's not attempting to crawl yet and seems to have forgotten how to roll over.  She strains to sit up in whatever position you place her so she spends most of her playtime sitting.  She'll get it eventually.  I am cherishing the last few weeks of her being in the same place I left her when I come back into a room.

All three of us are pretty obsessed with this little girl and excited to see what the coming months bring.  I love you so much Sadie-lady!

E

Clearance Shelf Rescue

As a consolation prize for not moving to a new house this spring, I get to redecorate the living room!  I'm shifting to a more shabby-chic, pops of color, updated-traditional/ style.  Not replacing any major furniture but switching out wall art, rugs, lamps etc.

The only piece of furniture I was looking for was a tallish end table type thing with some style to it-flared legs or the detail of drawers...something exactly like what I stumbled upon in HomeGoods a few weeks ago! The table was a replica of what I'd seen in my head!  AND it was on CLEARANCE!  Not on sale...CLEARANCE!  Whoohoo!  The color was totally wrong but I'd expected that.  The only other issue was a chip in the front corner*.  It seemed very fixable to me though so, I bought it and the process began!

*As I was getting ready to check out with the table in my cart, I ran into a friend and when she noticed the table she said she'd been looking at it for months but wondered if I'd noticed the chip.  For a moment my confidence that it was fixable was shaken. But, undeterred, I assured her Chris and I would make it work.  I think that made me even more determined to fix it up!  Couldn't let this poor baby sit on the shelves for any more months all sad and broken ;-)

The original

 

The problem

The initial fix (Chris sawed a little piece of wood and glued and nailed it in).  Voila!

Mid paint job-Apple Green!  My fave!

2nd round of chip-fixing.  Sanded and spackled it.

After a 2nd coat of paint, chip almost invisible!

 

The Final Product!  

This was my first furniture re-do and I'm really happy with it.  It's totally not perfect which adds charm and makes me remember that it has a little story to it.  This will certainly not be my last rescue from the clearance shelves!

Dad Rocks Part Dos

So, not easily thwarted by the nasty eggs, Chris and Ella pressed on with high hopes that the 2nd Ziploc recipe would have better results.  It's ice cream after all, it's got to be good, right?

 Step 1: Gather milk, sugar, salt, vanilla, and whatever ingredients you want to add to flavor your ice cream.  Chris and Ella chose peanut butter and chocolate chips.

Step 2: Combine all of the ingredients in a Ziploc bag except for the salt

Step 3: Add Salt to a larger Ziploc bag of ice.  Then add smaller bag of ingredients to that bag and shake.  Or dance around with it on your head.

 Step 4: Spoon it out and eat!

Results: So it seems we've moved from a negative rating with the egg recipe to a mediocre "eh" rating for the ice cream.  Chris said it had a strange consistency and as you can see in the video below Ella thought it tasted like "nothing."  They didn't dislike it but it wasn't a huge winner.  So, guess we'll be tweaking our ziploc recipes :-)  Good thing the fun is in the journey.

Dad Rocks Part 1

 I might be the most blessed woman.  Chris is a wonderful husband and he is a fabulously creative dad.  Prime example: I have classes every Thursday from 4-10pm and Chris has both kids.  Sometimes he plays it safe and they just hang out at home and then head to bed. A lot of times they have friends over.  But this week, Chris went a little out of the box.

I called home during my break from class (because I was FREAKING out that somehow I got only ONE question wrong on a 10 page Statistics test-if you doubt there is a God, be advised, this is impossible sans divine intervention, but I digress).  So, after being excited for me about my test he told me to check my email to see what he was up to with the kids.  I did and found two recipes in my inbox.  The first was for "Ziploc Omelettes" and the second for "Ziploc Ice Cream."  HAHA!!

My dear husband came across these online, took both kids shopping to get ingredients, made them both WHILE taking pictures to document each step so he could show me, and still (I think) got them in bed on time.  I LOVE his creativity and all the effort he put into making such a  fun night for them. So, here's what they did...

Step 1: Put on a pot of water to boil and get some eggs and a ziploc bag ready

 Step 2: Crack eggs into bag

 Step 3: Let your child squish/shake/smash the eggs to "scramble" them

 Step 4: Check on cute smaller kid playing on the sidelines

 Step 5: Observe bigger child swinging bag of eggs and calculate risk of this activity (not sure if this step is part of Dad-world, but it would have happened in my head)

 Step 6: Chop up and add any mix-ins for omelette

 Step 7: Set timer for 13 minutes

 Step 8: Drop bag into boiling water and wait

 Step 9: Make PB&J for dinner because the eggs come out looking like this and smell worse than they look :-(  At least the process was fun!

 Stay Tuned for Ice Cream!!

Clickin' around

I rarely tool around the internet and just find cool things but, what can I say, Chris is out of town.  So here are some of the fun things I've found lately!

Adorable, Spring-ey, and Edible!


Chore Chart Idea I definitely want to try.

Craftfail. Hilarious and easy to relate to :-)