Friday Favorites ~ Summer's Eve.

Wait. Hold on.

I'm totally not talking about a douche. 

Do they even make those anymore? Or was that just a fad in the 70's and 80's? Seriously. Can someone check that out and report back? 

No, what I'm talking about is far more exciting and won't leave you with a nasty yeast infection (or so I've heard). 

You guys, it's finally, finally here.

Summer's Eve. 

Why does that make me wanna bust out some mad moves and do a happy dance?

1.) You know how I feel about 'Eves',

2.) You may remember that here in Minnesota, winter ate spring,

and

3.) I'm thisclose to spending three months (give or take a week) at my Happy Place. 

I'm not kidding, because this is our last "normal" summer with Thing 1 (don't even get me started), we're planning to pull up our stakes, pack up our cats and head to the lake for most of the summer. 

It's tough, but they find a way to relax.

I can't wait. 

No, I take that back.

Actually, I can. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the 'Eve' is much better than the actual event, because it hasn't happened yet. And if it hasn't happened (but is just about to), it isn't almost over and I'm not sad and wishing it was just beginning.  

That makes perfect sense to me, btw, but I'm on my second glass of wine*, so let me explain:

It's like when you first sit down to open presents on Christmas morning.

It's like day one of the vacation you've been waiting a year for.

It's like when the waiter first sets down the Appletini that is so full it's sloshing over the rim of the glass.

Now you get it.

*Relax, it's Thursday night. Somewhere. 

And here we are. 

Memorial Day weekend.

Summer's Eve. 

Nope, still can't even type it without chuckling. 

Now, let's get to the favorites. 

To honor both the true meaning of the weekend and pay tribute to how we actually spend it, there's a theme this week.

And contrary to the title of this post,  it's not feminine flushing.

1. Real Heroes -

A little over six months ago I wrote a post titled, Be Brave, Be Strong, Kick Ass for my brother-in-law who was about to be deployed to Afghanistan for nine months. Take a minute and read it if you can. It's got a far more important message than hot dogs and board games. He's still there doing the good work (only two and a half months to go!) and this weekend I'll certainly be thinking of him a little more than usual. Because while Memorial Day is a day set aside to honor and remember the fallen, I believe it's also a day to think about the brave men and women who are selflessly continuing the mission and about their families at home who are sacrificing so much. 

So while I'm eating my grilled hot dog and drinking an ice-cold beer, I'll be thinking of all of them, sending lots of good juju their way, and offering up thanks. 

2. Nathan's Hot Dogs -

I'm not a huge hot-dog connoisseur, but if I'm gonna eat a wiener, I'm eating Nathan's (insert husband joke here). 

3. Chips - it's what's for dinner-

Since I do my best to avoid chips throughout the year so that when summer comes I can indulge without guilt (and yes, I realize that does not make any sense), Memorial Day kicks off my summertime chippapalooza.

My three addictions?

Seriously, think of me tonight at about 6:00.

I'll be ripping through a bag of Kettle Chips — on my own — and not even thinking about the consequences. 

And I'll bet I have a smile on my face as big as Nathan's. 

3. Board Games -

Fun fact: In Minnesota in the summer, the sun doesn't set until after 9 p.m. and it's not dark until around 10.  "Fun" because it means that when we're at the lake we're outside until super late (coated in DEET 'till we shine, obviously). But we definitely make it a point to come in early once in awhile and have an old-fashioned game night.  With boards, not screens*. 

Here's a few of our tried and true family favorites (and for those of you with kids under the age of eight, stick with it...game night does eventually get less painful). 

Loaded Questions

We've loved this game for years, and it's even more fun when we play it with visiting friends.

The premise is simple: One person asks a question, everyone writes down their answers, and then one person has to guess who said what.

It's hilarious.

Worried your young players won't be able to follow along?

Worry NOT.

If they can write, they can play. 

And speaking from experience, it's usually their answers that bring the table to hysterical tears. 

Hands down, our favorite game to play with a group.

Wise and Otherwise

This game has been our family's favorite since about 1995. And when I say "family", I mean extended family, too. We have a lot of history and millions of laughs associated with this game.

It's only been in the past few years that we (our family of four) have been able to really play it, as you need to be able to read and write and do a bit of higher level thinking to play it successfully. 

It's a lot like Loaded Questions, but instead of answering questions, you are completing quotes.

Everyone writes down their own ending which are all read with the correct one, and one person has to guess which one is the original.

It can go one of two ways.

With our family, it usually goes the way of the absurd rather quickly.

And that's what makes it so fun.

*Head's Up

So this one does require a screen, but it's our newest favorite, thanks to another favorite, Ellen DeGeneres.

Do you like charades but hate having to think up categories?

Do you have an iphone or ipad?

You.Must.Buy.This.Game. (It's only like $2.)

Not only is it instant charades (with a variety of categories), it videotapes you so you can watch (i.e., prove to your partner she's an idiot for not knowing you're "packing a suitcase") and even share to facebook, twitter, or your blog - 

{Oh, look! It's another one of my very favorites — Lauren Graham!}

It's mine and the Things' newest favorite. 

Try it and let me know what you think. 

So that's a wrap. 

I've gotta get the car packed and hit the road with the other 500,000 people heading north. Thank goodness I'll have all those bags of chips to snack on. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Are You There Judy?...

Okay girls. 

I've got a question for you.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the name Ralph? 

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-

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If you just chuckled, blushed and reverted back to your 13 year old self, you must have been a big fan of Judy Blume books. 

Like most girls who grew up in the 70's and 80's, I was obsessed. 

Starting with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great when I was in about second grade, I was hooked. I think I'd read every book she'd written by the time I was in sixth grade (and yes, that includes Forever, which was questionable and beyond shocking at that age, for sure, but remember, by age nine I'd already seen Grease).  

Judy Blume was my favorite and most influential teacher. Menstruation, divorce, race relations and discrimination, masturbation and sex — Judy Blume tackled them all, and in a time, unlike today, when all those issues weren't acceptable, and common, dinner conversation. She helped raise an entire generation of pre-teen girls with her honest and heartfelt stories that became, in my case at least, constant companions and trusted textbooks for navigating the turbulent waters of adolescence. 

There wasn't one Judy Blume book I didn't like, from the obvious favorites like Are You There God... and Blubber (which to this day makes this girl who hates conflict uncomfortable — not to mention tape her mailbox shut every Halloween), to the not as obvious Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, which after reading and re-reading caused me to carry Sally around with me in my head for months.  My sister and I entertained ourselves during the long summer days in 1978 (pre-computers and cable TV) by acting out, in great detail, the plots from every Judy Blume book we'd read. I'm not kidding, it took us all summer. Iggie's House was a challenge, and I'm pretty positive we skipped Forever, but we knew every word of those books, and brought them to life with a cast of two. 

A few days ago I read an article in Entertainment Weekly about Judy Blume, and about how she and her son are bringing Tiger Eyes to the big screen and OnDemand. It's taken years of red tape and failed promises and creative differences to make happen, but they were finally able to do it their way and with ownership. And I've gotta admit, as much as I like a good movie adaptation of a favorite book and as happy as I am that they were able to make a movie they're proud of, I haven't decided if I'll be watching. Not having all my favorite Blume stories ripped out of my head where they've lived for over 35 years and reconstructed on the movie or television screen is part of what has kept them sacred. Linda Fischer, Deenie, Sally — they've all looked the same in my imagination since I was 12, and I think I'd like to keep Davey, the protagonist of Tiger Eyes, that way, too. 

But regardless, I'm extremely happy that there's a new generation of girls who'll be led to Judy Blume books as a result of watching the movie. In a time when it seems young girls get much of their education via YouTube and reality shows, they could use a few honest lessons from Mrs. Blume. 

Last week we were going through a big box of old books with the Things and deciding what to keep and what to donate, and we came across my old copy of Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, yellowed and dog-eared.  Thing 1 immediately grabbed it and shouted, "I LOVE this book!" and told Thing 2 she had to read it.

That book was published in 1970.

I'd say 43 years of popularity and relevance is a pretty good indication of a phenomenal teacher, wouldn't you? 

What were your favorite Judy Blume books? 

Click this box if you read Forever...and hid it from your mom. 

Prom. Go Big or Go Home.

As you probably know, May is prom season, and because I have a teenage daughter and friends with teenagers, I’ve recently been re-educated on the pomp and circumstance surrounding this adolescence milestone — and you guys, what I've learned is terrifying. 

I say “re-educated” because the only way prom in the year 2013 resembles prom in the year 198-- ...er, the year I went to prom...is by the fact that a horny guy still asks a naive and unsuspecting girl to go with him, buys her some crappy flowers and a decent meal and then expects a little sumpin’ sumpin’ in return. 

Some things never change. 

But I’ve learned that the hullabaloo of it all certainly has — starting with the simple act of asking the girl to prom. 

Grab a helmet, folks; everything I'm about to tell you may just Blow.Your.Mind.

The one rule of thumb for the guys to follow when asking a girl to prom these days? 

Go Big or Go Home.

Gone are the days when the boy the girl had had a crush on for two years caught her in the parking lot after school, handed her a rose and simply said, “Will you go to prom with me” (which may or may not be something that this girl will ever forget, even without backup dancers and guitar accompaniment).

Seriously, there’s now usually some kind of choreographed performance involving many friends complete with days of rehearsal. Songwriting! Musicians! Video! Spelling out “PROM?” with flower petals or candles on her front lawn! 

And once she’s secured a date via the skywriting message or YouTube request, the girl doesn’t have it so easy, either. Air brush tanning, manis, pedis, and two hour long hair appointments are a given these days, not to mention shopping for the appropriate undergarments.  I’m not kidding, the other day I heard a radio spot for a bra store that was targeting teenage girls who “needed that perfect undergarment to make her look her best at prom.” Um...pretty sure that’s code for, “....to make her look smokin’ hot  when her lecherous date peels her dress off with his teeth.” 

Listen, my daughter isn’t going to prom this year (Harry Styles is out of the country), but if she goes next year you can be damn certain I’m making her wear her rattiest bra and ugliest underwear thereby making sure she’d die of embarrassment at the thought of anyone seeing it. Duh. 

Spray tans? Hair appointments? My prom day was spent far differently. 

I worked a five hour shift at the yogurt store where I painted my nails between customers and made myself drink an 8 oz. glass of water every half hour. I probably showered, did my makeup and hot-rolled my hair in about an hour. My date picked me up (in his wicked Trans-Am), we exchanged corsages, my mom snapped a few pictures of us standing by the door and we were on our way. I remember going straight to the restaurant where we met two other couples for a nice dinner — and where I had to go pee every 15 min. from the 80 oz. of water I’d consumed — before heading down to the dance. I don't remember much from the actual dance, other than being super excited when "Lady in Red" came on. (Fellow 80's peeps, am I right?)

Okay, I'll answer the questions I know are burning your mind.
Yes, he's wearing tails and yes, my bangs ARE awesome, thankyouverymuch.

But by today’s standards? 

LAME. ASS. 

Let me describe the 2013 scenario:

A group of maybe 12 couples (but no less than eight) meet up at a totally unrelated — yet picturesque — location along with all their parents several hours before the dance. There they take hundreds of photographs which include, but are not limited to, the following combinations:

• couple alone
• all couples, boys behind girls, smiling
• all couples, boys behind girls, acting goofy
• all couples, walking toward and away from camera
• all couples, jumping in the air
• girl with besties
• all the girls, smiling
• all the girls, acting goofy
• all the boys, looking tough
• girl/boy with parents
• couple together with parents 

If you question my accuracy on this, I can prove it. 

Let me show you my Facebook feed next week.

As for the dinner? The transportation? I honestly have no clue, but I imagine it to be maybe a private jet to Vegas for a quick meal and back in time to make a brief appearance at the actual prom, which I have heard from actual parents is actually pretty lame. 

As for the after parties — I don’t even want to know. 

I'd tell you about mine but other than spending about five awkward hours wondering if my date — who was also my best boy friend and as fate would cruelly have it, my biggest crush — was ever going to kiss me (he didn't) and sitting on the roof watching the sunrise (and ruining my mom's white sweatshirt on the red tiled roof), I don't remember much about it. 
Those two things are memory enough, I guess.

And listen, I'm not anti-prom. Quite the contrary. An excuse to wear a dress fit for the red carpet, do something with your hair other than throw it in a ponytail and feel like a celebrity for an evening? All for it! It's just that it seems like such a monumental effort these days. Not to mention expense. 

Seriously, when did prom become as big of a deal as a freakin’ wedding? Was it maybe when so many weddings had to happen as the result of prom? 

Ahh...it’s all making more sense to me now. 



Have any prom memories of you own to share? I'd love to hear them!

Click this box if you like to snuggle. 

Friday Favorites - Buzz Cuts, Deck Days, and a Tiny (possibly dead) Turtle.

So apparently there's a lot of people interested in my lady bits.

Or their lady bits. Or just lady bits in general.

And with good reason, I might add (well, not for those interested in my lady bits. That's troubling and we need to have a talk). 

But Wednesday the little blurb I wrote directing people to my In The Powder Room post  where I was asking the honest question of how you ladies keep your cookie clean quickly became my third most hit post — in about 12 hours. 

That tells me something. 

We all need to meet up for a little show & tell. 

Nah, that might be extreme, but what it did definitely did tell me is that we're all curious as to what's going on with each down under. I mean, we're girls, we totally wannna compare notes! It's really no different than sharing lipgloss tips (Boots No. 7 from Target - love) or what the best method is for cleaning your granite countertops (water, some rubbing alcohol and a few drops of dish detergent in a spray bottle). 

And I'll be honest, I was not expecting the flood of comments describing in great detail how you ladies actually trim the hedges (or your husband's), but I have to admit it helped make my results graph much more accurate. So thank you. 

And FYI — the military cut was the winner. 

Moving on. 

Spring has finally sprung here in Minneapolis, and while that is favorite enough for me, I've got a few more things to add to today's list. And they all have to do with one thing —

1. My deck.

If you're ever looking for me during the month of May and until about mid-June (when either too many bugs like to join me or I've escaped to the lake), it's a good bet I'm out on my deck.

Our backyard is totally wooded, with a wetland at the far back, and in the early spring it's not only a lime green vision with hundreds of trees budding, but an absolutely gorgeous (and loud) symphony of birds, frogs, ducks and geese who provide lovely background atmosphere throughout the day....and night. (I'm not going to mention the truck noise from the street abut 1/4 mile away because I try to ignore it, and because it's not my favorite.) 

I start my days with coffee and my laptop in my favorite wicker chair -

Eat my lunch and (more often than I admit to anyone) take a mid-day nap in the very same chair, and end every day chatting with husband for a few hours while grilling dinner and enjoying a glass of wine. 

Or three. 

Flowers getting placed for planting this weekend.
Leaves starting to bud on the trees (a month late).
We earned this. 

It's not a fancy deck by any stretch of the imagination, but by the end of May when all the leaves are fully in we are completely secluded back here and feel like we're in the middle of the woods. Which okay, I guess we kind of are, but all the houses that surround us completely disappear and other than the occasional splash from the neighbor's pool or the bass thumping from their teenage boy's poolside speaker (the one I keep threatening to go over and throw into the pool), the only music is made by the feathered residents. And the frogs. Who aren't feathered. I don't think. 

When I'm home, it's my favorite place to be, no question. 

2. Time to plant the flowers!

Definitely a favorite springtime activity...until mid-August when I'm totally sick of watering them and they're all overgrown and I pretty much let them die.

(Sounds like one more thing I'm OVER, doesn't it?)

But yesterday? Yesterday was flower buying day....

A small sampling

And tomorrow is flower planting day! (Favorite 2a.) 

Just one more reason I love spending time on my deck. 

2. Archer Farms frozen edamame -

Okay, I know I'm late to the edamame craze, but my sister-in-law introduced me to the little green pockets of soy goodness over spring break and I.Am.Addicted. Seriously, we eat a bag about 5 nights a week. Is there such a thing as a soy addiction? Soy overdose? SA meetings? 

Target (of course) sells this frozen bag that you can toss right in the microwave -

$1.99 - can't beat it. 

I toss with just enough sea-salt to make my lips swell and then we gnaw away like little rabbits.  

Don't worry...the salad is coming up next...

What does edamame have to do with my deck, you ask? 

Keep reading...

3. Grilled chicken salads (see above) - 

One of our favorite and frequent dinners to make when we're out on the deck is a variation on the grilled chicken salad.

Basically, we grill a couple of chicken breasts and then have the option of:

• Asian Sesame - w/ Sesame dressing, red peppers, green onions, dried cranberries, sesame seeds and wonton strips.

• Caesar - w/ Caesar dressing, parmesan and giant croutons.

• Buffalo - w/ lettuce tossed in Ranch, chicken tossed in Buffalo sauce and celery. 

• Mexican - w/ salsa/ranch dressing, black beans, avocados, tomatoes, green peppers, cheese and tortilla strips (my FAVE). 

• Chef - w/ dressing of your choice, and a ton of other crap that is in danger of rotting in the veggie drawer. 

This week I found Panera dressings at (where else) Target, and may have freaked out. 

Do you have Panera where you live? If not, it's like Paradise Bakery (for you AZ folk). 

Love.Their.Salads.

Last night we had Asian Sesame Salad (pictured above w/ the edamame):

Grill chicken breasts. Slice. 

Toss lettuce, thinly sliced red peppers, dried cranberries or cherries and a small amount of sliced green onions with dressing.

Arrange sliced chicken on top.

Drizzle with a little more dressing.

Add more green onions on top (which is why you want to go easy on them in the "toss" stage).

Add sesame seeds.

Top with crispy wonton strips &/or slivered almonds. 

*Serve with edamame (obviously). 

If you want some more easy summer dinner ideas, check out my summer dinners Pinterest board. 

It's a work in progress, so I'd love to hear some of your easy summer dinner ideas in the comments section below! 

4. Tiny Turtles!

Making a last minute addition to the list this week doesn't have anything to do with my deck.

But would you look at this teeny tiny turtle I almost ran over (literally - with my feet) yesterday when I was out — you guessed it — running (or attempting to in between taking pictures of tiny turtles)? 

Could you die? 

It's possible it actually had as it wasn't moving at all, but it was still super cute.

So that's gonna be a wrap today, my lovely ones.

It's raining worms and frogs outside and so I think I'm gonna pour a cup of coffee, sit on the couch with the windows open and two unfolded loads of laundry by my side...and read a magazine. Duh. 

Clicking this box will automatically enter you to win a date with Clooney.   

If you're looking for me today, I'm In The Powder Room.

Yesterday it was 97° here in Minneapolis.
I'm serious.
You may remember that we had 10" of snow on May 2.
This can only mean one thing, you guys.
Al Gore is an idiot? No. Well, yes, maybe, but that's beside the point.
What it means that we ladies have to do some serious and speedy grooming if we don't want to be confused with a Yeti in the next week or two.
Sure, the legs are easy. No real decisions to be made.
But girlfriends, I've got some vital questions for you concerning the um.....hidden area, the hideaway hollow, the hibernating hoo-ha — and I'm asking them all today in my debut post over at the hilarious site In The Powder Room.  Check it out - HERE!  And please, help a girl out and leave a comment/response at the site. I've got a whole bar graph set up and ready to go.

Oh, and btw, if you're one of the awesome dudes who read this blog? Don't even be shocked or grossed out. You know it's a necessity and it matters. And hey, you should try it once in awhile yourself. You might be surprised at the feedback.

Click this box if you like pie.