DC Cooking Expo

Now that I have my computer working again, and a few minutes to spare while my meringues are cooking, I wanted to talk about the most awesome birthday present I got this year. Chris got us tickets to go see Paula Deen at the Washington Cooking and Entertaining Expo a few weeks ago. I love me some Paula. And what a creative gift!

Right when we got there, we ran into the Deen boys! I yelled out their name and got Bobby to pose with me (Jamie was on his cell and they were running off to something they were late for).



We entered the expo and it was enormous. Crowds of people everywhere, so we formulated a game plan and started visiting the booths and eating all sorts of yummy samples. It took 2 hours to make our way through the whole show and by that time, it was Paula Time! But first, I had to grab a shot of Carla from Top Chef. I love her. Hootie hoo!



Right before Paula's thing, Richard Blaise (another Top Chef-er) was doing a quick thing so I caught a few pics of him throwing these weird popcorn ball things out into the audience.



Paula's presentation was great! Her husband and boys were there and she answered audience questions. She's so hilarious and lovely and it was so fun to see her in person. Here's a pic from me stalking her on her way out of the theater. She was so close to me but moving too fast for my camera to catch her well (stupid automatic mode...I need to learn how to use this damn thing already).



On our way out, all of the sudden Chris yelled out, "It's Mike Isabella!" and ran up to this guy and started pumping his hand all excitedly. Another Top Chef guy that Chris loves. He was so psyched.



We had such a great time and the show was so fun and interesting. I hope we can go again next year!

Mayday! Mayday!

My computer is dead. I haven't been able to check in with my friends, or play enough Cafe World, or update this blog for a few days now. I have pictures from the Metro DC Cooking Show, where I ran into a few familiar faces. I have pictures from Carter's birthday.

I have stories to tell, like the day he didn't want to get out of the tub even though the water was gone and he was cold and shivering and he said to me, "Mommy, I'm mad!" I laughed and told him, "No, you're not." He said yes, that he's mad and then put his head down. I asked him why, and he looked at me for a minute, thinking about it, and then said, "towel." He was mad because he didn't want to get out of the tub and have me wrap him in a towel to get warm and dry. If that's the worst thing he gets mad at me for, I'm a happy gal.

He's used the "mad" thing a few more times and it makes me laugh inside every time. But I just tell him that it's okay to be mad and to let me know when he's happy again. It doesn't take long. Toddler feelings change more quickly than pregnant women!

Gasp!

I was laying in bed in this morning, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. No real reason...just one of those nights. After a little while, I finally decided to give up and come out to the living room and watch some tv in hopes that it would lull me back to sleep. I thought it was about 5:00 a.m. but gasped aloud when I put my glasses on and looked at the clock and saw what time it really was.

3:46 a.m.

Two years ago, at exactly that moment, Carter was entering this world, fist raised like a rock star. Two years ago, life as we knew it ended and became a distant memory. Two years ago, I became a mom.

Happy birthday, my little Turkey. I love you more than you can ever know.

Time Out

We implemented our first Time Out tonight. Well, make that, our first TWO Time Outs. He responded really well to them, though! Once I sat him down and he realized he was in trouble, he cried for a couple seconds and in between breaths I calmly talked to him about why he was in Time Out and asked if he was ready to do what he was supposed to (in this case, clean up his toys). He said yes and I let him up and he cleaned up his toys! Took all of maybe 20 seconds. A little while later, Chris was trying to have him clean up another part of the room with us and he kept saying no, so he got a Time Out. Again, maybe 20 seconds before he agreed to do what he was asked and didn't cause another problem.

I love Time Out!

ABCs

Carter singing his ABCs...with lots of baby tush. Don't you just wanna pinch those cheeks?

Happy Halloween!

Carter had so much fun trick or treating. We pulled him around in his wagon and he loved getting in and out all by himself and walking up to the doors saying "trick or treat." But, of course, the minute the person answered he got shy and would only say anything if I prompted him on what to say. Then, once he realized what was going on, he kept yelling, "Candy bucket!" between houses. He'd never even had candy before, except for a few M&Ms, but he sure was excited.

His costume worked out really well. He was good about keeping the hood part on and would even do his Frankenstein imitation upon request (but of course I didn't get any video of it...just picture him holding his arms out in front of him and grunting).

He got a pretty decent loot, for only going down one street. Plus, we got leftovers from my in-laws. The funny thing is, where I grew up we had TONS of trick or treaters and we'd give one candy to each because otherwise we'd run out. So, that's what I'm used to happening. Well, didn't I feel stupid when my father-in-law was like, "Feel free to give out more candy. We have plenty." Oops.

All in all, a good night. The weather cooperated for the most part, Carter behaved himself, even staying up until 10:30, and we came home with a ton of candy. The bad part? I started Weight Watchers this week so the candy is just sitting there taunting me. I was very proud of myself though; I made it through Halloween with no candy. I had one candy bar today (so far, LOL) but I'm eating a super healthy dinner so it all balances out.