We were not surprised to read that the United States wasn't near the top of the latest 'Mothers Index' of best countries in which to be a mom - but we didn't expect it would rate so low. This is the eleventh annual index put out by Save the Children to measure women's and children's health and well-being around the world. Have a guess which mothers have it best?
As if their silken, blonde locks and ski slopes weren't enviable enough, Norway tops the index of 160 countries followed closely by Australia, Iceland and Sweden. The United States was ranked at number 28 right behind Croatia. What puts our ranking so low within the tier of more developed countries: maternal mortality rate (one of the highest in the developed world, 10 times higher than Ireland); under-five mortality (a child in the U.S. is twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday than a child in Singapore); limited access to preschool (only 61% enrollment); and stingy maternity leave policies.
For my 10th birthday, I invited boys to my party. We were going to go to the movies, and because boys were coming, I picked a movie I thought they would like (I can't remember which). Surprise, surprise, the boys didn't show which meant we could go see the movie I really wanted to see - The Lion King. I had already gotten the soundtrack and knew the words to all the songs before we even got in the theater.
We had a relatively lazy weekend. We had a decent amount of stuff go on during the week and have company coming next, so we decided to take the opportunity to get plenty of couch time.
Friday night, we went to the Denver Theatre Company's production of Othello. It was performed in the Space Theatre of the Denver Performing Arts Center, and it was a perfect setting for this play. It's a small theater in the round with raised seating all the way around, so the stage itself is in the center. Instead of looking up at a stage from an auditorium, you are watching from above and get the feeling that you eavesdropping on the characters, not watching a play. The performance was excellent (much better than my last Shakespeare experience). John Hutton who played Iago was wonderful, as was everyone else down to the actor who only had a few lines. This is a long video, but here is a collection of clips from the play to give you a taste, and if you're in Denver and have a chance before it closes on Saturday, go see Friday night, we went to the Denver Theatre Company's production of . It was performed in the Space Theatre of the Denver Performing Arts Center, and it was a perfect setting for this play. It's a small theater in the round with raised seating all the way around, so the stage itself is in the center. Instead of looking up at a stage from an auditorium, you are watching from above and get the feeling that you're eavesdropping on the characters, not watching a play. The performance was excellent (much better than my last Shakespeare experience). John Hutton who played Iago was wonderful, as was everyone else down to the actor who only had a few lines. This is a long video, but here is a collection of clips from the play to give you a taste, and if you're in Denver and have a chance before it closes on Saturday, go see Othello.
Also well-worth mentioning is the costuming. This production was set at the turn of the century instead of the typical Shakespeare time period, and all the costumes are made specifically for the play. The costumes of the female characters were beautiful, and as a lover of clothing, I was always excited for a costume change so I could examine detailing of the new piece. I'd go see it for the clothing alone. It makes it that much more that the performance was so good.
And, a hilarious video of how the story would have been different if Desdemona had had a sassy, gay friend...
Saturday started with some coffee and cheesy potato goodness (mmm....) and was followed by some movie and tv watching which lasted for about 6 hours. Saturday night we headed to Sobo 151 to watch the Avs playoff game...and that's all we'll say about that except that Sobo 151 had great food and was a lot of fun.
Sunday, we made it out of the house by 2 to catch a showing of Waking Sleeping Beauty which was about how basically every one of my favorite childhood movies came into existence. I came home and told Danny that we would have to have a Disney movie marathon. He wasn't as excited about the idea as I was...
And, that was our weekend. Not too much although we did actually leave the indoors at least once a day which is pretty good for a lazy weekend.
What a wonderfully wonderful Easter weekend we had! We actually did nothing Easter related except for having Good Friday off and wearing springy clothes, but anyway...
Friday started with dropping the kid - I mean, pup - off at daycare. Then the husband and I walked over to Tattered Cover for breakfast & coffee and a few hours of peaceful reading in big wingback chairs surrounded by thousands of books. After we got our morning fill of reading, we grabbed our bikes, and rode over to the Denver Museum of Art. We randomly stopped for lunch along the way at Pints Pub which we learned has the largest selection of Scotch outside of Britain; they, also, brew their own beer and have good food - all in all, a great find!
I had never been to the DAM, so I was really surprised to see the entire Civic Center Cultural Complex. There's crazy architecture, old architecture, and large art installations. Loved it!
Although we didn't get to see everything, what we did see at the DAM was wonderful. It was the final weekend of a an exhibit called Embrace! which involved different artists transforming the unique spaces of the building into works of art, so I was really glad we made it in time to see it.
After the museum, we rode home to pick up the pup. I have to share the adorable report card that she got from daycare. Too much cuteness!
We dropped her off at home where she immediately passed out on the floor (didn't even make it to somewhere soft), and then head to a dinner party which involved wine, red snapper, homemade mac and cheese, carrots, and banana pudding. Mmmm....
Saturday was pretty lazy, so we'll skip to Sunday. Accompanied by Knox and Rachel, we went to see the Easter matinee of Cirque Dreams: Illumination which was craaaazzzyyy!
After the show, we went to Sushi Sasa for an early dinner. If you don't know this yet, I LOVE sushi! It was the perfect end to a seriously fabulous weekend.
I am a flirt. Hold your comments, please, because I mean a vegan flirt. My name is Nicole, and I have been flirting with veganism.
For the past year or so, I have cut down on the amount of meat I eat. In fact, most of the time, I go for the vegetarian choice on the menu instead of the burger or chicken breast. After watching some coverage of Food, Inc. and the like, I decided to do some research into vegetarianism and veganism.
I picked up The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone's vegan cookbook. The first part of the book is a discussion of veganism: how she arrived at being vegan, the cruelty of the meat and dairy industry, the health benefits, etc. I've always heard rumors of the benefits - clearer skin being one. But I hadn't really thought about how kind of strange it is that we drink the milk of other animals. In the animal kingdom, that's not normal. I also didn't know about the research being done into the relationship between dairy and cancer rates. We are told that you have to drink milk to get calcium, but according to The Kind Diet, the calcium in milk actually makes your body use more calcium than you're ingesting. It's actually been a huge marketing campaign by the milk industry (similar to the "A Diamond is Forever" campaign started by De Beers). You can get great levels of calcium from so many other things - greens, almonds, sesame seeds, soybeans - and their calcium is actually more readily absorbed by the body.
While veganism really intrigues me, two major things will prevent me from becoming truly vegan.
Sushi
Cheese
I cannot happily live without these two things. But that I have made some changes. At home, I've cut out out all animal products (except for cheese and seafood). No eggs. No milk. No butter. If I'm out, then I look for the vegan option. I believe that every little bit helps - me and our planet's animals. Although I don't label myself as anything, I guess at this point I am closest to a pescatarian (occasional vegan), but I make no promises; we'll just have to see how this goes. For now, you can just call me a flirt.
Although I had never been, I recently became obsessed with going snowshoeing. It seemed like a great alternative to skiing which I haven't fallen in love with quite yet. Sorry. You still get to be outside in the beautiful snowy mountains and get a great workout at the same time. So, when the opportunity arose to go to Silverthorne for a couple of days and go snowshoeing, I jumped on it!
We went up on Saturday, and I was blown away by the views from the cabin.
We spent Saturday relaxing and reading in front of the fire. I got a little obsessed with a giant book of crossword puzzles but managed a long enough break to take a much needed nap. Scarlett, of course, loved the fire.
Sunday morning, we got up early and got ready for some snowshoeing (!). We suited the pup up in her jacket and boots and got our snowshoes on.
The cabin backs up to a national park, so once we were ready, we just headed out the backdoor. Pretty convenient, huh?
I have to say, one of the best parts of snowshoeing - and by best, I mean funniest - is that if you fall down and try push yourself up, you're actually pushing down on 3-4 feet of snow, so you just sink. Watching someone fall and try to get up is hilarious! And, by the way, I laughed more than Danny did. Just saying.
The views the whole time were beautiful. We were surrounded by amazing mountains and untouched snow.
Although we never found the road or path we were supposed to find, we had so much fun. Scarlett had a blast too (She slept for about 16 hours once we got home). I'm really looking forward to snowshoeing again. Hope it's soon!
I realize Monday would probably be the appropriate day for a weekend recap, but oh well. You'll have to settle for hump day this week.
Our weekend started early. A day early and early in the AM. Our friends, Drew and Stefanie, came in to visit, so we took Friday off to hang out. Their flight came in at 7:30. WHAT? That's usually when I wake up, but Drew and Stef are worth it, so I woke up at 6 (Who knew it was so dark at 6?) with little to no complaints. On the plus side, I got to watch an episode of Saved by the Bell: the College Years while I got dressed.
First things first, we got brunch (it was 7:30 AM afterall) and came up with a tentative plan for our day. After dropping off their bags at our place, we grabbed the pup and walked over to REI. Drew and Danny both came away with nice ski/hardshell jackets that were on sale (score!). Next, we hit up Falling Rock Tap House for a late lunch and some really good beer.
Not too far away, we found Great Divide Brewery and made it in time for a tour and happy hour. After a short stop at home to pick up our friend, Andrew, we walked across the street to the Pepsi Center for an Avalanche game which they won - yay!
Saturday started with - big surprise - brunch (did I mention we really like brunch?). We did a bit of wandering and shopping on Broadway, found a great sale at Fancy Tiger, and had some ice cream. For dinner, we decided to get dressed up and take Drew and Stef to Jax which was oh-so-good.
Sunday, we gave our guests something they'd been really wanting - Snow! It didn't snow too much, but it was beautiful. Because of the snow and cold temps, they got to witness the pup getting suited up to go outside and watch her make a big scene about wearing booties.
After ogling the falling snow, we did what we do best and headed to - say it together - brunch. Our brunch destination this morning was Duo in Highlands which I highly recommend. Their weekend quiche is always amazing, and I don't even like eggs. I love their coffee too. Mmmm....We hit up a couple shops on Tennyson before heading home to help Stef fit all her purchases in her suitcase. She, of course, had nothing to worry about as I am an expert packer.
Before heading to the airport, we decided to try out the Cherry Cricket which boasts the #3 burger in the country. I can tell you that they have an excellent green chili cheeseburger, awesome chili cheese fries, and yummy fried mac and cheese bites. Can you tell we like food?
We had such a great weekend with Drew and Stef which we always do. We miss you guys already!
As far as this blog is concerned, I have been MIA for about 6 months (oops!). There was a major change in my life that sucked up all of my time. In those 6 months, we sold our house in the South and moved out West to Denver. It was a whirlwind!
Colorado was a place that Danny and I had thought about moving to several times. It felt like a place that we would love, but with the timing of life and jobs, it just didn't work out. Then Danny started working for a company based in Denver, and he started coming out all the time. All the time. Last March, I came with Danny on one of these trips, and we really fell in love with the city. We decided to set a lofty goal for ourselves: we would move to Denver by the end of the year. We went back home and continued our daily lives with some talk of our goal but no real steps toward it.
Then a few months later, we took our first small step. We traded in Danny's rear-wheel drive, 2 seater convertible for an all-wheel drive WRX wagon. All-wheel drive is an important thing to have when you're dealing with snow and ice. My car lease came to an end, so we turned it in. Moving with one car would be much easier than with 2. Step 1...that wasn't so bad.
The next step (and it was a big one) was putting our house on the market. Talk of this went on for weeks until I finally took the plunge and emailed our realtor to set up a meeting. That really got the ball rolling. We put the house on the market. There was no turning back now.
The next thing that happened was something we weren't expecting - the house sold 10 days after we put it on the market & the buyer wanted to close at the end of September which was only about a month away. Ah! "Did that really happen?" was a common phrase for the next few days and even weeks. We obviously hoped to sell the house quickly but not that quickly!
We were ecstatic that we were able to sell our house so fast, but with closing at the end of September that meant we were moving to Denver in a few short weeks and didn't have a place to live when we got there! Luckily, Danny had a business trip scheduled in September, so he was able to extend it & look at places. He found a wonderful place with help with our Denver realtor and signed the lease, all without my even seeing it. Good thing I trust my husband's taste...
The sad part of all this excitement was that we had to say goodbye to our friends and family a lot sooner than we had been expecting. The next few weekends were spent hanging out and saying goodbye to our friends and to the South. It was bittersweet, but we were so excited about our new home & our friends and family coming to visit us there.
So, at the end of September, we set off on our new adventure, and we're loving every minute of it!
Started at 4 am this morning. So far 4 girls (2 brindle 2 black) and 3 boys (all brindle). One of the black girls is marked just like daddy, except her slash is on the show side instead of the off side. All the rest are flashy and evenly marked so far.
#8 is another brindle girl, with beautiful markings and bright brindle.
#9 is another black girl, gorgeous markings. Slow to start, so good thoughts as we rubrubrubrub.
Started at 4 am this morning. So far 4 girls (2 brindle 2 black) and 3 boys (all brindle). One of the black girls is marked just like daddy, except her slash is on the show side instead of the off side. All the rest are flashy and evenly marked so far.
yay for lizzie and her puppies! i can't wait to start my job as puppy socializer!
saturday (the 13th) was danny's birthday, and sunday (the 14th) was mine. we're convenient like that - back to back birthdays. we celebrated by having a deliciously wonderful meal at the melting pot which lasted approximately 10 hours.
we spent the rest of the weekend being as lazy as possible. danny got me a wii active, and i can't wait to try it out (i had to wait due to the word "lazy" used to describe the weekend)!
so, in honor of the anniversary of the birth of the hubs' (i don't know where that came from), i wanted to take a moment to say how much i love him. he makes me incredibly happy, more than i can even say. everyday i think about spending the rest of my life with him, and it puts the biggest grin on my face. i mean, just look how cute he is!
excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is characterized by persistent sleepiness, and often a general lack of energy, even after apparently adequate night time sleep. Sudden involuntary sleep onset, and microsleeps are common complications. EDS is one of the two forms of hypersomnia, the other being prolonged nighttime sleep.
Some persons with EDS are compelled to nap repeatedly during the day; fighting off increasingly strong urges to sleep during inappropriate times such as while driving, while at work, during a meal, or in conversations. As the compulsion to sleep intensifies, the ability to competently complete tasks sharply diminishes, often mimicking the appearance of intoxication.
i read a suggestion that at the end of each day you should write down your happiest moment of the day. a sort-of happy journal. in doing so, you'll be reminded of what truly makes you happy (and therefore unhappy too). i find this idea so lovely that i'm determined to do it myself. i haven't decided whether i'll share my moments here or pick up my own happy journal. i'm sure etsy has some fabulous ones...
we are home from the oh-so-big apple! we had so much fun & didn't stop the entire time (hence the current exhaustion). i'm pretty sure we didn't go to bed until at least 3 every night. we walked A LOT and ate A LOT (hoping that the former canceled out the latter) including really really good sushi, late night pizza, and kosher deli sandwiches. we went to the met which was amazing & the natural history museum which was so so huge. hung out in central park. saw the filming of a nick cage movie. rockefeller plaza (today show!). off-broadway play. little bit of shopping. top of the rock (did you know nyc is massive?).
i just read this post over at urban grace interiors & i have to share it. get ready to laugh.
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This morning I had a doctor's appointment... everything went well. Doctor wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic to (hopefully) kill this never-ending sinus infection. So, post-appointment I drop the prescription off at Publix and decided to kill the 20 minutes devouring a Cinnamon Crunch bagel at Panera.
With my husband in tow we head to Panera. Let me preface this story by telling you that we've been having gale force winds this week.
Got out of the car at Panera, headed towards the front door... when all of the sudden out of nowhere, a massive gust of wind took the bottom of my cute little black fluttery skirt all the way up around my neck.
Panic.
I fumbled around for what seemed like 20 minutes trying to grab the edges of the skirt... couldn't find them... they were flapping in the wind so fast I could not get my hands on them. So, plan B I dropped my purse, hoping it would grab my skirt on its way down and help me out.
My purse falls in the open position and everything within it went everywhere.
I screamed.
I still had my skirt up around my neck.
I likely screamed again.
I finally got a hold of my waistband and yanked it down.
Yes. Not only did my skirt come up in the wind.
But then I managed to pull it off in an effort to solve the problem.
Brilliant!
Chance was walking ahead of me (I'm sure because he was racing to get the door for his pregnant wife), when he finally turned around there I stood in the parking lot with my purse on the ground, all of its contents all over the place and me standing there with my skirt half way between my waist and my knees.
He said "what are you doing!?"
I was mortified. I did a 360 to see if anyone was watching. Then laughing, blushing, and sort of wanting to cry I walked into Panera.
I dang sure needed that Cinnamon Crunch bagel now more than ever.
A man was peeking out of his booth... laughing hysterically. Hey gave me a wink and mouthed "oops!" my way. I guess "oops" is better than a thumbs up? I'm not sure.
No one else would look my way.
I was wearing the panties that last time Chance saw me in asked: "Does Mimi know you stole her underpants?" Mimi is my grandmother.
i am addicted to these things. there are probably hundreds of empty wrappers covering my desk. but they're sugar free, so that means they're actually good for you, right? like a fruit or a vegetable.
my friend, tara, had a baby last week! little braden scott was born march 3rd at 9:40, weighing in at 7 lbs. 8 oz, and he is a whole week old today. he and baby mama are doing well.
check out those pouty lips (he gets those from his mama). he's just so cute!
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