Hot Dog = Dentist?
I had no idea how to entertain Maya after school today. This was cause for some concern being that Ali had a work related dinner tonight and Maya and I were looking forward to at quite a bit of one-on-one time. I almost felt sorry for Ali having to attend yet another boring dinner but when I found out it was at Shutters on the Beach I felt sorry for myself instead.
So the park was out due to the frigid 56 degree temperatures. We were already up to our ears in library books due to a recent visit so that was out too. We spent nearly two hours at Borders on Sunday and didn’t buy a thing so I wasn’t sure we’d be welcome there either. Our last resort? The play place at the Westside Pavillion Mall.
Conceptually this place is great because the kids play in a semi-contained area while the adults sit and watch. The problems are numerous and as follows:
1. Most of these kids are spoiled West Los Angeles brats who don’t hesitate to whack another kid if they feel like it.
2. Most of the parents couldn’t care less and don’t notice or care if their kid is beating up yours.
3. The play place is strategically located in the middle of the food court and thus your kid is constantly asking for something fried and/or full of sugar.
4. The last time we were there Maya jumped off the hot dog structure of all things and chipped her tooth requiring an emergency visit with Maya’s dentist. As though the scheduled visits weren’t bad enough!!
5. This place is chock full of germs. And I mean chock full.
We stopped to admire the Christmas decor on our way up.
Sorry for the fuzzy picture, apparently I am 100 years old and unable to hold a camera still.
The play place was teeming with germs kids whose parents were also at a loss of what to do on a cold day.
Maya managed to leap off the offending hot dog without needing to collect her teeth afterwards.
Other than a little boy elbowing another kid in the face, a crying child who was lost for a few minutes until security found his mom at Panda Express drowning her sorrows in MSG, and two brothers fighting over their 20 piece nuggets, things remained fairly peaceful.
Immediately after our departure I doused Maya in hand sanitizer and upon returning home placed her in a hot bath. I hope my measures minimize the germs but I can only hope for the best. Looking at the bright side of things, at least we killed an hour without any need for further dental care. I’d call the afternoon a success!
Black Ice on Wilshire?
Today was a rare winter day in usually sunny Southern California. It.Was.Freezing.Cold. By freezing I mean about 52 degrees. While I know that sounds ridiculous to people battling real winter conditions, I swear that people in L.A. don’t know what do when the temp falls below 72 degrees. The rain flooded the streets faster than one could say tow truck. People were driving like maniacs. Or they crawled through the streets as though they were covered with black ice. I’m not sure which scenario bothered me more.
Work was no fun either. The heater was broken, the ceiling leaked, and my fingers nearly froze while I typed. I huddled up to my CPU for warmth. I am not exaggerating. All I kept thinking about was getting home and blasting our barely used heater. So that is exactly what I did. I picked up Maya from school and we came home and put on our warmest pajamas. Maya wanted to model her gingerbread pajamas and grandma slippers:
I”ll spare you a picture of my random but warm ensemble…but how cute are my slippers?
My mother-in-law bought these for me. She is the best shopper in the world. The best part is that she buys me things I don’t even know I need. And then suddenly months later I suddenly realize how useful the gift is.
After sitting around brainstorming what to do Maya and I decided to make muffins. It was a safer alternative to shooting glares at each other.
Chocolate Chunk/Chip Muffins to be exact.
There appeared to be no incidents of sneezing into the batter but I can’t guarantee she didn’t taste test when my back was turned.
After hounding me the entire time the muffins were in the oven, Maya finally had a taste and stamped a firm approval. I wasn’t able to taste test but if the amazing smell wafting through my house is any indication, these are fabulous. And easy. And fairly healthy too.
Chocolate Chunk/Chip Muffins – makes 10 muffins
1 3/4 cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup regular)
2 Tablespoons sugar
2.5 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chocolate chunks/chips (I used a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a chopped up milk chocolate bar)
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
Mix all the dry ingredients together and add the chocolate. Mix all the wet ingredients and then add to the dry ingredients. Stir only until combined (don’t overmix). Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. My oven only takes about 20 minutes.
Enjoy after your kid/husband has gone to sleep and you have a minute to think.
I’m not sure that will ever happen for me but I have high hopes that it will happen for someone!!
Throwing up Part II or III?
Well the barfing machine struck again. I think we’ve established a new record…has it been two weekends in a row? Maybe three? It serves me right I guess because I just told a friend that Maya seemed to be growing out of her throwing up. And I didn’t bother to knock on wood. Obviously I was a bit ahead of myself on that one.
The day started out innocently enough. We went to our favorite place in L.A., The Grove. I always love The Grove around Christmas. They put up a million foot tree and it’s real! I have no idea where they get it from but it is so big I couldn’t get the entire thing in a picture. You’ll have to settle for one of me and Maya instead with about 1/10 of the tree.
Santa and his Reindeer were at The Grove today as well:
Instead of bringing me another sweater I wish he’d bring me a barf-free year.
The Grove decked out the Trolley:
And had Santa available for visits.
We arrived at 11:30 and were told Santa would be able to see Maya at 2:30. Santa is a busy man. Unfortunately the West Hollywood kids had so many demands for diamonds and Chanel bags that Santa still wasn’t available for Maya at 3pm. There’s always next year Maya.
Lunch was at Ulysses Voyage, a restaurant I love because I used to frequent it often when I worked at CBS. Despite the odd name, the food is great and the ambiance is so cozy. In typical LA fashion we sat “outside” on the plastic enclosed heated patio. I utilize “quotes” too much, don’t I?
We had lentil soup. It was delicious until Maya started using it as a dipping post for her bread. At that point I figured three sets of germs was about two too many so I took my germy spoon out of the pool.
I had a shrimp salad. It was good but small. I’m not sure why I keep encountering this problem? But for $13 I do expect more than 4 shrimp. Maya asked if she could have one. I grudgingly gave her half. I know, just add my selfishness to the long list of reasons why I am a bad mother.
Maya had a pizza…when in Greece order Italian?
She enjoyed the pizza a little too much. Lets just say it was the beginning of her demise. She also consumed the cookies you see off to her right. And a few bites of baklava. And then while I was at Anthropologie trying on half the store, Ali bought Maya a hot chocolate and a cupcake….even though I expressed my doubts that it was a good idea. But who ever listens to Mom? Since all this food was consumed in less than an hour I’m not that surprised that Maya tossed her cookies while on a ride on the Trolley. From what I understand Ali didn’t have the requisite Ziploc handy but he at least instructed her to hang her head over the side. Classy. Luckily I was safely ensconced in a dressing room and for the first time I didn’t have to pick up the pieces. Literally.
My trip to Anthropologie was quite successful. I decided to reward myself for getting through almost two weeks of the Fat Flush detox by buying myself this gorgeous shirt:
The “Ladylike Blouse” was on sale from $68 to $49.95. Let’s see if the $50 investment will make me look more like a lady.
Unfortunately this wasn’t on sale but I bought it anyway:
I had been looking at it way too long so I finally decided to take the plunge and buy it. I consulted with Ali and he gave his blessing. Actually I think he just wanted to get out of the store ASAP and clean the vomit off his shoes. He figured a quick escape would be worth the $32. There were so many other things I wanted but I practiced a bit of self control. I’m trying to set a good example for Maya so that maybe next time she won’t eat 100o calories worth of sugar in one sitting.
Back to the grind tomorrow. But at least I can start the week out with a bang…and by that I mean my new shirt and hopefully not more of Maya’s vomit.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
