the wedding, the dress and the king's speech

made
chocolate biscuit cake again (not that i'm obsessed or anything;) - this time using the correct ingredients (but omitting the raw egg because the thought of it made me feel queasy and salmonella-y, even though i eat raw cookie dough ALL THE TIME... also i made them cupcakes instead of one big cake... because following recipes to the letter of the law just isn't my style ;) anyway, this time, OMG, the Queen/Prince William are quite right - they are sooooo good!! Danny LOVES them too - even though they do contain animals (we used animal crackers because heaven forbid we should use rich tea biscuits as the recipe suggested :)

loved
every single thing about the Royal Wedding. the only thing that wasn't quite right was that i wasn't watching it there with my family... and rewatching it... and rewatching it, over endless discussions and rounds of tea (i did rewatch it and rewatch it, but the boys got bored and went to bed ;)

loved
Kate's gorgeous, flattering (her waist must be 18 inches), demure, elegant, classic, unfroofy wedding dress. i do believe they are the most perfectly radiant, naturally gorgeous couple ever :) and i love that Will doesn't try to disguise his balding-ness at all :)

didn't love
Victoria Beckham's dress - she looked so round shouldered and, dare i say, a little dumpy :| i am aware that she's like 10 months pregnant and all, but that's the vision of VB i want to keep in my head forever - pregnant and dumpy, with round shoulders :)

also didn't love
the gross overuse and misuse of the words "cheerio" and "toodlepip" by clueless American TV hosts. they mean goodbye ONLY - not hello or anything else!

watched
half of the King's Speech last night but fell asleep - not because it was boring but because i got up at 2:33am :) on the contrary, it was so fascinating that in an unprecedented move, we are keeping it an extra night (be hang to the extra $1 fee at redbox!) to finish it. that kind of move n-e-v-e-r happens ;)

looked
high and low for Jo Malone sweet lemon cologne (there's that obsessive thing again ;) i even called Chester's Jo Malone :| i finally begged some nice little man in Edinburgh to send me a bottle for American Mother's Day! which reminds me, mail (belated) English Mother's Day gift/card home in time for next Sunday and pretend it was on purpose :)

signed up
for Skype :) now all i need is a fancy webcam (and make-up and a good haircut ;)

off for Saturday night datenight - i am totally craving mexican food and really good guacamole ;) back later xoxox

tea towels, scones and flags

found and purchased a coveted Royal Wedding tea towel. however, sadly, it won't arrive by tomorrow :( so the marriage needs to last at least 10 days until it shows up :)
i really wanted this one but it's all sold out....

but had to settle for this one, which i actually think i prefer, busy-ness has no place in my kitchen :)


bought flowers for around the house... it being the Royal Wedding and all :)

made scones (badly...) they look pertiful and all, but they taste like old boots, dry old boots and for the longest time i couldn't figure it out why... then i remembered i totally forgot the butter (in better news, this means they are fat free:)

this little piggie kept going back for more :)

he's almost one and almost walking too


received a parcel from a "Richard Ramirez" (i know of just one "Richard Ramirez" - only the most terrifying serial killer of our time!!) i carefully opened the package, fully expecting to find a freshly severed heart or something of that nature. imagine my disappointment when the parcel simply contained an ebay purchase. i should have known from the zip code: the real Richard Ramirez lives in San Quentin, CA, not Elizabeth, NJ :)


made sweet craft projects with my child because that's the kind of mother i am ;)


Blackjack sunbathed while we did some gardening :)

off to bed at 9pm so i can wake up at 1am for the Royal Wedding. whhhhhat were they thinking??! it should be at 3pm, to show greater global consideration towards the people of America who have to get up early ;)

chocolate biscuit cake etc

making
the chocolate biscuit cake again today with the correct ingredients this time... apparently you can't substitute unsweetened chocolate for real chocolate :| the consistency was perfectly soft/ crunchy - just a void of sweetness :)

marveling
that Jo Malone talks much more Bexley Heath than Knightsbridge - i am learning all kinds of fascinating things today

not so much loving
my fancy new so-called "walking" shoes. i've only walked in them once but i have blisters the size/shape of Texas now :| yesterday i wore my old Clarks shoes and despite having blisters the size/shape of Texas, i still managed to walk 9 miles... stupid new so-called "walking" shoes :|

needing
to find a perfect Royal Wedding tea towel. every home should have one :)

neeeeeding
to make a mercy dash for hair color. desperately. namely: medium ash brown (be gone evil red highlights)

neeeeeeding
to also make a sideways mercy dash to Trader Joe's too (it's right next to the Walgreens luckily:)

neeeeeding
to fix my DVR too - yesterday it recorded just ONE MINUTE of '16 and pregnant', if you can imagine something so awful... if it does that to the Royal Wedding, i might just be forced hack it to death and then have to think up some tall tale to tell Time Warner about it's unfortunate demise....

wanting
to go to Knotts Berry Farm. and ride the big wooden rollercoaster. and eat funnel cake fries. and get soaking wet on the roaring rapids ride. but it's Thursday. and everyone is either at school/working or on a very strict eat/play/nap schedule. which is kind of what's so awesome about the working week - weekends become so much more precious and huggable :)

off to look for the tea towel, buy hair color and assemble everything needed for a perfect English tea party tomorrow :) I CANNOT WAIT!!!

parades, fountains and flowers

loving:
that it's finally bedtime. at 8pm. i get to not answer any more questions or have to rush to look at something amazing, or rescue any more headless/legless lego men from the dustpan or tear the top off any more jello pots. for about 10 hours at least ;)

also:
i get to sniff my arms, which are a perfect trip-around-the-world of Jo Malone scents today :)

waiting:
for shoes. from Mr UPS who is apparently not done with them yet :(

noticing:
the better my MJ dancing score, the worse my elbow feels (sigh)

actually agreeing
with RHOC's Alexis for once - that frightful dress looked better with the sleeves hacked off ;)

listening:
to Disneyland tunes - namely the electric light parade song (only my favorite song EVER :) (i've seen that parade 200+ times and i am soooo NOT exaggerating ;) if i won the lotto i'd have an electrical parade nightly (from Memorial Day to Labor Day;) and a dancing fountain show like this one on the hour too :)

wanting
just a teensy weensy bowl of banana pudding - i let the baby try it today and he loooooved it :) my next batch will have more bananas and less cookies so it's actually technically slimming :)

wishing
R.E.M. were touring this summer (but they're not and it's just not fair to loyal fans like me who recently came out of their motherhood-induced 10 year coma....)

hoping:
to walk 10 miles tomorrow - it could happen :)

unloves

people who don't understand all the fuss over the royal wedding (seriously, it's a big deal!! H-U-G-E-!-!-! and if you don't like it, don't watch!)

people who think the word "stupid" is a bad word. because it isn't and it's stupid to think so ;)

being called "mama" by anyone but my own little immediate family

expressions like "bring it", "get your ........ on" and "holy ...... batman" :|

also "let's do this" for obvious reasons :|

being called "honey/sweetie" by anyone - grounds for murder and being found not guilty due to temporary insanity. on the other hand, being called "my darling" is perfectly acceptable :)

mangos

throwing something at the trash can and missing - i am a gold standard 'paper toss' expert, but i still miss the trash can with no fan blowing???? not fair!

Gil Grissom for leaving CSI... oh yes, i hold a grudge for a verrrrrrry long time ;)

the UPS man. i am quite sure he is holding my new mary janes hostage - i bet he has been secretly wearing them all weekend and that's what the hold-up is :| i want my shoes!!!

douchebag friends of friends on facebook. friends just shouldn't have pricklepant friends! and ps i really need to figure out how to block these offensive people..... even though blocking people doesn't actually physically vaporize them in real life - they are still, sadly, free to roam the earth :(

eyeshadow - it makes me look like a victim of domestic violence/wannabe panda

people who don't love cats AND dogs equally (honestly... they suck)

peanut butter cookies

armrest hoggers on airplanes

"live laugh love" written on signs in homes :| i refuse to laugh/love to order and the live part really confuses me. if you were dead, you wouldn't be reading it :|

Costco.... i've said it before and i'll say it again - the receipt smiley face person just has to go. at a local Costco, the receipt smiley face person has just one hand. ONE HAND!! how on earth can he hold the receipt AND draw a smiley face with a huge line of people waiting to escape the evil snakepit that is Costco??? he can't and it's agony watching him try (slowly i might add...) :| and at Tustin Ranch Costco, the receipt smiley face person is on crutches. it takes him so long to make a smiley face, i just want to shake him!! anyway i want to get a law passed to ban those receipt smiley face people - they are soooo annoying and unnecessary and once i've paid for my wares at the checkout, i want to be on my way, no muss no fuss :|

phew. with all that off my chest i am going to bed to watch "Ruby" with a couple of chocolate hobnobs ;) she has really let herself down this season... she has gained 56 pounds :(

our beautiful artisan easter cookies (on a valentine's day plate - Martha would have kittens looking at this...)

loves

loving
that today is an entire day of at-home-family-coziness

loving
sticky spicy hot cross buns (i just need to find some :)

loving
mochi & nutella waffles for breakfast :)

loving
starbursts and laffy taffy for breakfast too :)

loving
the kittens so much - three little black kittens playing with the waggy tails of two big black dogs = adorable :)

loving
that kinder eggs are indeed illegal here - it just makes perfect sense somehow that they would be :) (they have some very suspect looking fake kinder eggs at the store that i was tempted to buy, but then i remembered, if they're illegal here there MUST be a really good reason for it ;)

loving
that tomorrow's ANOTHER day off school

loving
our very quiet pretty street

loving
the washer and dryer that work tirelessly, day and night, to keep up with us :)

hating
the time difference. i am in such a tizzy over Friday... i just have to watch it live.... but i can't envision how awful and jetlagged the rest of Friday will be after waking up at 3am... sigh. and clearly, i can't watch the Royal Wedding without a cup of tea and a sultana scone and a small (ie large) pile of chocolate biscuits... sigh, i just need to move to the eastern seaboard for this coming week. or home ;) that would be ideal!

loving
the sound of Prince William's chocolate biscuit groom's cake. i must admit, i think chocolate digestives would make it a little bit better/crumblier. but since both Prince William and the Queen swears it's the best, i will follow their recipe the first time at least :) it sounds like tiffin minus the ridiculously inappropriate raisins (fruit+chocolate=should be illegal;)

i love.........

coffee and chocolate digestive biscuits for breakfast :)

cuddling with the purr-iest, furry-est little kittens ever... Weasel is getting pretty tabby stripes now and Megan's tummy is turning an amazing shade of grey :) Onyx has been adopted (yay!!) and Violet is being fixed today ready for her adoption. Weasel and Megan are still too tiny for fixing/adopting

finding old Little Britains that i never saw before - how did i miss an entire season??!

House Hunters International (i now want to build a 4000 square foot dream home in Morocco :)

Jo Malone fresh mint cologne - it's smells so cool and clean and wonderful

supremely shiny perfectly clean floors

finishing our fancy wooden American flag together (i accidentally sawed a bit off my thumb so Danny/Daddy did the final hammering part for me:)

spaghetti dinners with the family (and Danny actually eating spaghetti too:)

making chocolate eggs with my boys

and bunny shaped frosted sugar cookies :)

and little cornflake cake nests too with mini eggs inside :)

checkered shirts for boys

banana pudding - you definitely cannot substitute dollar store cookies for nilla wafers, but you can make it fat-free/sugar-free and it's so creamy and wonderful, even Friday our anorexic cat can't stop eating it:)


somewhere up there, yesterday, was Air Force One and Obama :)
I
the post-fish and chips fat-fighters check - yes we all still fit in the phonebox :)

apparently it is illegal to steal a joshua tree :| hedgehogs, gerbils, ferrets and now joshua trees... absolutely everything worth having is illegal here :(

there's one thing we believe in - and that's the Easter Bunny :)

they made their own fancy easter eggs (and are now begging to eat them:)

chocolate bird nests (delicious;)

Sam with Megan who refused to dress as a bunny

Dad with Simba (who was not happy about the bunny ears either...)

and Weasel didn't want to wear them (our own pets seem so soooooooo well trained and compliant in comparison)



this is what every flowerbed looks like... full of dinosaurs and lego people

vegas and back

left at 6:30am (bright eyed and bushy tailed!!)

breakfasted on the most heavenly burnt waffles and toaster strudels on our journey :)

GPS said we'd arrive at 10:21am - - but we got there at 9:41am and we didn't even drive that fast (but no-one was allowed to pee... that's why i took starbursts - for hydration :)

even though we did stop briefly at Halloran Summit to look for a small-ish but awesomely spiky joshua tree to possibly dig up (would it really be so wrong...? i mean, nobody technically owns those joshua trees... and i just want one small one... and i'd take reaaaaally good care of it!)

wanted to get a shake at the fancy new Southpoint Steak N Shake but it didn't open till 11am :| grr... being ridiculously early has it's disadvantages...

stopped for Dunkin Donuts instead :)

Sam called home on his phone :)

went to Pet Kingdom USA and fell in love with the ferrets all over again... and the possums too, i was this close - {THIS CLOSE} i tell you - to purchasing a pet possum :)

found our off-the-strip hotel and took a micro 3 minute nap

but the boys wanted to swim - so we did that instead of napping :|

Sam called home on his phone :)

went to Rio's most amazing buffet... heaven really is a place on earth :) they even had onion rings! snow crab legs don't impress me at all... but onion rings do :) and they have the best gelato/dessert bar.... you actually want to finish everything you grab, because they are all that yummy (this might not be a good thing, in hindsight:)

they also had awesome wood fired pizza :)

went to the Fashion Show Mall - haven't been there since the day we got married (for a blizzard :)

painstakingly sniffed for hours at Jo Malone. felt very light-headed. it was impossibly hard... earl grey or assam? or sweet milk?? or fresh mint??! i chose the fresh mint because it's cool and clean and fresh and so unique. i love getting a perfume on vacation because the smell always reminds me of the place - and i don't have a "Vegas" perfume, despite having 101 fabulous trips there.

stood in Apple for one painful hour (it was probably not an hour... but it felt like a DAY) while children played games that i've since been begged to buy :|

had my eyes covered by sweet, protective children while attempting to drive down the Strip because they saw naked ladies painted on the bus next to us :)

Danny sang a song about a little donkey over and over and over until Sam went absolutely insane (but recorded the whole thing on his new phone :)

boys swam again

went to Grimaldi's for pizza (soooo good... i briefly considered buying a freezer. and buying lots of pizza pies and freezing them. and trying to drive the freezer, full of pizza, back to CA. but i was in the car not the minivan... and it just has a AC thingie... so i just ate the pizza reeeeally sloooowwwwwly and tried to memorize the sublime taste of the char and the sweet tomato sauce :)

boys fell asleep instantly after dinner, and i watched Bethanny Ever After (she reminds me of a zombie... Aaron says she's more corpse-like)

looooved the pillows/comforter in the hotel - they were so amazingly squishy and lovely. and i counted that we had 14 pillows between three of us:) turned the AC down to 65 so it was wonderfully chilly and snuggly

was awoken at 6:11am to go to breakfast by hungry children (grrr)

looooved the buffet breakfast at the hotel - i love hotels with waffle makers :) just give me squishy pillows and a waffle maker and i'm happy :)

drove home via Costco in Victorville (we stopped for restrooms/milk/churros)

was welcomed home by Daddy, who unpacked the car :)

napped at last!! (i do not know how people with more than two children go on vacation and don't spontaneously combust from the WORK involved!!!!)



cookies, cheesecake, tiramisu gelato, carrot cake, red velvet cake and bread pudding (i left the brownie as it didn't seem very deeply fudgy, and i didn't want to "pig out" :)

rainy monday

breakfasted
in bed again - how i love my hubbie :) and spring break:) and ginger cat cookies:)

went
out to lunch with 4 children all comparing/playing with their cell phones :) it was so quiet and completely awesome!!

noticed
there is no school next monday. i wonder why??? why not next friday so we can all watch the Royal Wedding together??! not fair!

just danced
to 'it's raining men' and 'tick tock' - seriously.worst.songs.ever :)

decided
to go to Vegas after all... because i was kind of bummed that we didn't go today - it's 60 degrees here and 90 there.... so we are going tomorrow!! three cheers for joshua trees, coal-fired pizza, dunkin donuts and exotic pet stores! and zzyzx road too!! i love it all! even the Bellagio fountains when they play Pavarotti and mist you with a refreshing breeze on a 91 degree summer night :)

decided
to stay way away from the Strip for the first time ever. i am a little worried i will regret it when i arrive and the Strip looks so shiny and appealing (and i see the above mentioned fountains...) but we will see, staying on the Strip is also reaaaaally hard work with kids............ the hotel we chose has a little kitchenette thingie and an indoor pool and includes hot breakfast, things you'd never get at a Strip hotel (and i flatly refuse to pay MGM's resort fees, no matter how much i love those fountains...)

mailed
our easter card to Grandma in Wales with a made-up postcode on it, since Royal Mail was no help whatsoever... fingers crossed it arrives by Sunday :)

bought
new mary janes. i hope they arrive by Easter Sunday also (preferably by the time i get home from Vegas actually, i love having parcels waiting for me :)

twas the best kind of day...

had perfect coffee in bed

and a side order of ginger cats naturally :)

watched a new episode of selling New York (how i looove that show! even more than million dollar listing... though i must admit i think the realtors in LA are much cuter :)

took a trip to Targetto - i like to keep it real (once in a while at least;)

and a trip to Walmart - the nice "fancy" one on the hill

found perfect tank tops for $3.88 (whhhhy did i only buy one??!)

bought Sam his very first cell phone :)

loved the super duper helpful wonderful sweet Walmart lady who handled the transaction with patience and kindness. i got my iphone at that Walmart too :)

went to the most wonderful 99 cent store in all of the world. the man/boy in line behind us were just buying one thing (a frame for the little boy's school picture:) and i said they could go before us, but they were too polite to push in. i insisted, and the dad told the cashier to give his change to Danny (who was beyond thrilled with his 91 cents!!)

almost booked to go to Vegas tomorrow... i get so hung up on reviews like
"painfully, slow check-in - manager handed out water so no-one died in line", "strange creepy window between shower and sitting room", "elephants dancing in room above" and "hardest beds everrrr".... gawsh, staying at home sounds far far nicer ;)

took a looooooong wonderful cool silent nap in my very soft bed

cuddled the kittens in a warm blanket - Weasel's becoming quite the talker, if you say something to her, she answers in the most adorable squeaky voice :) and whenever you're within 10 feet she purrs soooo loud (she's soooo lovely... oh dear, did i fall in love....)

went to Mimi's with the family. i kind of hate Mimi's.... i only like the carrot cake that they serve before dinner, which is just plain odd if you ask me, but i wrap it up and take it home :) anyway the waitress didn't even bring any (until she was prompted to, by our demonic hungry eyes ;). urgh, big mistake, lady. HUUUUGE!!! NEVER FORGET THE BREAD BASKET!!! the boys had burgers and i had a wedge salad for dinner. i'm like a real vegetarian and everything, i didn't even want to sniff their burgers :) then she forgot to bring the boys' dessert. seriously... that's grounds for murder in my book. don't mess with a) bread b) dessert :|

read about Leah and Corey - i totally didn't see that coming ;)

read a fascinating blog about restaurants and such and was inspired to make m-o-r-e banana pudding :)

wished it set faster... (HURRY UP BANANA PUDDING!!!!)

wanted to stab Bridge for freezing over and over

gave up on pics and looked at my iphone pics instead :)