Meet My New Ink

That's me and one of my besties, Sara, last Fall at Pioneers Park here in Lincoln. We've been friends since I was 17 and she was 16; we are now 33. We've been together through positive pregnancy tests, break ups, weddings, funerals, high school, college, motherhood, unemployment, and everything else that happens between the ages of 16 and 33. A lot.

The best part about our friendship is the way it has stood the tests of time and distance. She wasn't a bridesmaid in my wedding, but she should've been. I have one bridesmaid that I haven't seen since my wedding day. Needless to say, I wasn't always such a good judge of character. I have been blessed these passed almost TWENTY years to have two people always with me: Colby and Sara. Her two kids are the same age as my youngest two. We even gave birth to our youngest children (both girls) two months apart so they could be besties. Well, maybe not on purpose, but still...

Sara and I have both went through some pretty amazing body transformations, as well, losing probably about 90 lbs between the two of us. She can borrow clothes from me now, like best friends should! But if she gets skinnier than me, I might have to punch her. Wink, wink.

Sara and I shared another first on Saturday: I went with her to get her first tattoo. Not only was it her first tattoo, but we got matching tattoos!! She got a heart on her left shoulder, and I got one on my right. We have been standing side by side, heart to heart, and soul to soul for years, and now we've just made it a little more official. Not only that, but when we are apart I can carry her heart with me.


Here's to an everlasting friendship that I will carry with me until my dying day.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a commercial holiday, no doubt about it.  It's a chance for jewelry stores and florists to make big bucks off of hapless husbands/boyfriends/partners who don't think outside of the box for a gift.  Don't get me wrong: I love flowers and jewelry, but there isn't a lot of creativity or thought involved.  Also, I'm pretty much allergic to all metals used in affordable jewelry, and our kittens will eat any and all plants brought into this house...which means Colby is forced to think outside of the box.

We've been together for a really long time.  My guess is 17 years, but I am not good with dates.  We will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary in May, and we dated a few years before that.  After 17 years of holidays, Colby knows exactly what to get me every year: he says, "Go on Etsy, put a few things in your cart, and I'll pick one."  Best.husband.ever.

This year,  I/he chose a vintage spice rack with hand-painted cherries.  It is super cute and looks perfect in our kitchen.  Good choice, Babe.

Adventures in Chocolate

I haven't posted any recipes lately, so I decided to try out a few new chocolate recipes in honor of Valentine's Day.  First, I tried a healthier version of frosting for these Frosting Shots I made for movie night with my friend, Sara.  The recipe is from this blog.

The frosting shots were super rich, and even the small portions I made were a little large.  I think this would make an excellent frosting for super-sweet cakes or smooshed in between some Shortbread Girl Scout cookies (hint, hint).  I love recipes that allow me to control the amount of sugar I add, and this frosting recipe definitely fits my needs.   Coconut milk, chocolate, and powdered sugar, that's it.  Why buy a can of frosting from the store that is filled with ingredients you can't even pronounce??

My second chocolate-inspired recipe is homemade chocolate syrup.  This is another recipe that lets me control the amount of sugar.  Let me tell you: I could eat this stuff with a spoon all by itself.  It's that good.  I adore mixing it in some almond milk.  I never drink cow's milk, especially not overly sweet and calorie-packed chocolate cow's milk.  I am telling you right now that mixing this syrup into a 40 calorie glass of almond milk is heaven.  The recipe is so easy, why even buy the bottled stuff??

One caution: anytime you are boiling sugar on the stove keep a very close eye on it.  It can and will overflow the pan and cause a mess.  Stir it often.

I only made a half batch of the chocolate syrup because I didn't have quite enough cocoa powder for a whole batch.  I am on my way right now to buy stock in cocoa powder so that I always have some on hand for this gem of a treat.  Well, maybe I won't buy stock, but I will buy an extra can or two of cocoa powder.

this blog.Homemade Chocolate Syrup

In Honor of Abundance

This is Lakshmi.

She brings blessings of abundance and prosperity on all levels.  It is believed that Lakshmi is the mother of all, the bringer of prosperity and abundance, and the granter of fearlessness.  It is her greatest joy to bestow her gifts upon all children of creation.  She believes all children of creation deserve to be blessed abundantly.

Now, am I a follower of ancient Indian religion...no.  Do I ascribe to any religion...no.  However, when Lakshmi's card was drawn for me by the employee at one of my favorite yoga/hippie/stoner stores in town, I knew that I liked Lakshmi right away.  If you put $1 in the karma box at said store, they draw a card for you, a sort of tarot reading I guess.  After months of worrying about financial abundance (or the lack thereof), I thought it interesting that her card was drawn for me.

Lakshmi does not just represent monetary abundance.  The gifts she bestows go far beyond, and I realized when her card was drawn for me that I had so many abundant gifts in front of me all the time, even when money wasn't one of them.  I might be beating a dead dog here, but I can't stress enough how my time as a welfare queen gave me a lot of perspective.

So, today when I returned to the store (everything is 30% off there once a month in accordance with the lunar cycle) I saw Lakshmi sitting there in all her made in China glory, and I had to take her home.  She is a reminder to me of all the abundance I have, even if sometimes that abundance is stress.  I think the universe knows that sometimes the abundance of bad makes us appreciate the abundance of good we took for granted.

Plus, she's a mom, and apparently the mother of all.  I can definitely relate to that.

For the Love of Busy Days

I feel so bad that I haven't been keeping up with my blog. My blog gives me a place to vent, a place to brag, a place to journal. I like to look back through old entries and see how much has changed around the Vescapades house.  Things have just been hectic around here.

All four of my kids are in school, so I find myself filling my time with Pinterest crafts, cooking, and errands. I take the kids to school by 9am, teach yoga until nearly 11am, and by then the day seems half spent.  The kids need to be picked up by 3:30pm, so I squeeze into my alone time all the laundry and cleaning and shopping. Yes, lots of shopping.  Of course, there are Mom dates at the Indian restaurant, the yogurt shop, or the coffee house.  I help a friend with her photography business.  I babysit for moms who need back-up.

That's just the kind of hectic I need, the kind of hectic that comes with being a stay at home mom.  I love the kind of hectic where I am trying to squeeze in coffee breaks with my friends between yoga classes and grocery runs.  It's the kind of hectic I missed while Colby was unemployed.

Here's a salute to the busy days I have, filled with first-world problems and the occasional nap.  It's the kind of busy for which one should be thankful.  And I most assuredly am.