I've decided...

I've decided this is the best summer ever.

Do you remember the carefree days of summer when you were young? Hanging out, playing with your friends, swimming, riding your bike, playing in the sand, etc. I do, vaguely. I remember it fondly, but the details are fuzzy.

Now imagine experiencing it through the eyes of a 2 year-old. Amazing. And this time you remember all of the details.

Let's go to the movies

This morning T-Daddy and I took CiBaby to her very first movie, Horton Hears a Who. Sooooo cute! Some of our local theaters are having early matinee movies for free this summer, so we thought it was a perfect time to see how it would go.

We got to the theater about 30 minutes before the show started. I went in to get seats and they stopped by the concession stand for pa-goom (popcorn, in CiBabyese) and drinks. Thankfully, as a few minutes later a hoard of children arrived from a summer program to take up 2+ rows of seats and throngs of people poured in.

CiBaby was wide-eyed at the big screen. Most of the time she didn't even take her eyes off the screen to grab some popcorn or juice (ssshhhh, we brought that in). She laughed in appropriate places even. She loved it. We got through about an hour and then she got antsy, we were impressed. It was almost harder to get T-Daddy out of the theater than it was CiBaby. This one is definitely on our "to rent/buy" list.

Good fortune

"You have excellent concentration and are inclined to think deeply"
"Your wit is sharp and quick. Avoid using sarcasm on an unsuspecting victim"

Those were my fortune cookie fortunes* from last night. Appropriate? Wildly, so I've been told.

I have had the good fortune of hooking up with a wonderful group of ladies under the pretense of our children. Most days our children are with us, but once in awhile a rare occasion brings us out without our children. I've joined a new bookclub (don't worry, the old one is still around and they know all about it...it's one of those "open relationships") and I also get to hang out with some really neat people. All so very different, but I love that.

Last night we had a girl's night out...we had a blast! If it hadn't been for the fact that one of the group was moving in a few days, it would have been even that much more fun...but it was fun all the same. We laughed, talked, ate and drank the night away. I had the most delish mojito...Thai herb mojito...to. die. for. Our bellies and hearts were full and our faces and sides hurt from laughing so much.

Oddly, everyone received fortunes that suited them very well, or at least we had a good giggle over them and their possibilities. These were some of them.

"Others are deeply moved by your presence."
"Someone you know is waiting for your praise (in bed**)."
"You tend to leave no stones unturned in life."
"Be tactful: what goes around comes around."
"Your uniqueness is more than an outward appearance."
"Good things come in invisible packages. You will be delighted."
"You tend to spark the flame of enthusiasm in people (definately in bed)."
"Expand your horizons by reading a new book (in bed)."
"A business trip will bring you excellent results (in bed)."

To the girls! cheers

*I love fortunes so much I have a little fortune cookie book. If you would like one too, call Ellington & French in Berkeley and they'll hook you up!
**Do you add the "in bed" at the end of your fortunes? I never had. We talked about many fortune cookie traditions, all of them different.

Hot fun in the summertime

A dip in the pool,

some new* wheels,

an ice cream cone before noon,

some bond buying on the patio,

a book poolside during naptime...and a little tanning going on.

Does it really get any better?

*The parts finally came, after only 2 phone calls and 3 weeks. 5-7 business days my arse.
(Music to blog by: Hot Fun in the Summertime by Sly and the Family Stone, and Pink Cadillac by Bruce Springsteen)

Clubhouse Rules

"No pooping in the clubhouse! Sorry, couldn't fit the litter box!"
"TUNA, coming soon" "Have fun"

The clubhouse rules have all the elements to be effective.

1. set the rules at the beginning
2. explain why the rules are the way they are
3. incentives
4. excitement and enthusiasm

If the child who put together this clubhouse and rules isn't going to be a great parent, I don't know who would be.

Let's celebrate!

Yesterday was definitely a celebration!

First off, T-Daddy came home!!! He'd been gone for over 2 weeks on active training for the Navy Reserves. Thankfully this time he stayed stateside. To say CiBaby and I were excited to see him is an understatement.

Second...CiBaby attended her first friends birthday party!* Her little buddy Aid just turned 2 as well. All of her favs were there...food, friends, food, cake, ice cream**, juice, swings, presents, Da-eeeee!, Mom!, and did I mention food? It was a great time for everyone. In my elation of the day I forgot the camera...but imagine this. CiBaby came all decked out in her party clothes. Red Elmo t-shirt and jean skort, she was dressed to kill. And she would have fit the birthday theme had it not changed from Elmo to Thomas, but what are you going to do? Toddlers change there mind faster than even women.

*We have another party coming up this next weekend that we're super excited for. Her crazy buddy I (wet t-shirt girl) is turning 2 also.
**Lactose free Breyers - so yummy! Thanks for thinking of us K!!!

(Music to blog by: Celebration sung by Strawberry Shortcake - I had to do it. I listened to this all of the time when I was a little girl...gotta love that sassy redhead!)

Bossy vs. Bully

There seems to be a very fine line. Kind of like love and hate.

I keep reading how schools and communities have a "No Bullying" policy. GREAT! I was bullied in seventh grade, and let me say for the record...it completely SUCKED! So much so I would fake illness to stay home and run the other way if I even heard her voice, I'm non-confrontational (but I'm not a wuss, so don't even go there, she was much bigger than me). Although she was never physical, just the thought of it made me shudder in my Esprit shoes.*

So it's made me wonder, when do bossy people become bullies? Are bullies ever just bossy, or is there something else (minus anything physical, that's inexcusable in my book) that makes someone a bully?

How I see it, bossy people are leaders, instigators, go-getters. The world needs bossy people...and followers for that matter. You've heard the adage, too many Chiefs, not enough Indians**. It just works. But then there's that line...a line where bossy people turn into bullies. What does that look like? From my adult perspective it's when others are afraid that they won't be liked or be apart of a group if they disagree with a particular person, and they use that to their advantage. That's real fear. No not fear that you will be pummeled, but that your social circle will disintegrate in a flash.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.

*Bopa told me to just hit her back if she ever tried and that he'd back me up if it came to it. Thanks Dad!!! It really was a turning point, seriously.
**Yes, I know they are Native Americans...but that's not the saying, so just work with me.

Uncomplicated

As a self-proclaimed foodie, I believe food should be as uncomplicated as the perfect friendship. Oh sure, complicated foods/people have their place on the tongue/in your life, but really...they get tiresome, don't they???

Tonight was the perfect example. We once again played "What's in the freezer?" for dinner. I had a package of ravioli and peas, as a base. Some wonderful unsalted butter and loads of fresh herbs at my disposal...brown up that half stick of butter with the herbs, throw in some peas and the ravioli and viola! Your toddler will be begging for more (after she picks off the herbs and wipes them all over herself, of course...sigh...we can't have everything), your young adult will declare it a success and you now have a tiny bit of space opened up in your freezer...along with a very satisfied belly and mouth.

Now for the tomatoes to ripen and the zucchini to explode. My mouth is watering in anticipation.

What's your favorite uncomplicated food?

(Music to blog by: Complicated by Avril Lavigne)

Can you imagine...

the complex one could have riding in this vehicle day after day?

how cute you'd have to be to have yogurt all over your face

and still look like this?

the compliment to the chef that prepared this delish dish???

or the nose on the person who coined the phrase,

"As fresh as a daisy"?
Their sniffer must not have been working, those things STINK!

(Music to blog by: Imagine by John Lennon)

Fat, Dumb and Happy

That's the way I feel tonight.

I went out, as a fifth wheel (although P insists I wasn't), on "date night" with some foodie friends. We ventured across the river to a food event that featured 34 local restaurants. Oh. My. God. I'm still full. [Almost] everything was divine. At the end of our evening there, P asked everyone what their favs were. She told me that my absolute fav didn't count, as it was a mini caprese salad (because I make them all of the time in the summer). It was heavenly. The plum tomato was lightly roasted and the balsamic vinegar was of a good quality. Mmmmmm summer on a plate. So my [second, shhh] favorite was a pineapple cardamom cake from Saffron that was delish!...and I'm not a sweets person.

3 hours* and $35 later we were fat, dumb and very, very happy. But don't tell all of your friends, we want to keep this on the...shhhhhhhhhhhh...down low.

*We stopped at Nye's Polonaise Room (voted one of the best bars in America!) for a night cap before heading home. I will shout it from the roof top that it was my first time there and all I had was plain, old water with lime...but a lot of fun. Thanks Corky!

Hoofing it

A friend of mine posted this on her blog the other day (thanks Suzy!) and it made me wonder, what does the world say about the "walkability" of our neighborhood - on a scale of 0-100 (100 being the best and totally walkable)? Get your own walk score.

Our current home scored only a 38*. I'm shocked. We walk EVERYWHERE around here, and it's not exactly a haul. The amount of things we could live off of is within 1 mile of our house, most of it closer than a mile. Who can't walk up to a mile? Even the elderly in our neighborhood walk to most every thing. This is the reason we moved here. There are pre-school through grade 12 schools within 3 blocks, a vast amount of restaurants, 3 grocery stores (including 1 natural foods co-op!), movie theater, library (which is open 7 days a week, except in the summer it's closed on Sundays), numerous playgrounds, banks, clothing stores, etc. all with sidewalks to get you there safely! I really have to beg-to-differ with this site.**

The apartment T-Daddy and I had when we were first married scored a 78...pretty good! And we loved living there, except for the minuet amount of space we had. Oh well.

The house I grew up in, and where G-Mama and Bopa still reside scored a 62. Most of those things were there as I was growing up, however, you had to traverse some serious traffic and walk on the street the majority of the way as there were no walking paths at that time.

*2 blocks! away got a 74...go figure. I've seen their house, I like mine (and the yard) better.
**They do admit to not taking some things into consideration, so I'll cut them some slack.

Who am I?

This is a question I've asked myself time and again throughout the years.

For years I was CzaRena, the street smart, logic based, creative, crafty, handy, sassy, intelligent*, exuberant, eclectic, good cooking, body building, people loving, violin playing, tech savvy, fair playing, gardening, devil's advocate, hip, dancing fiend traveler who battled anorexia, low self-esteem and miscarriages to come out well on the other side.

Now that I'm CzaMama I'm trying to remember who I was and keep everything I've worked so hard to become over the years, but add a little something more. While I love being a mom, that's not all I want to be, nor do I want my girls to see. I am more than just someone's mom...I'm Cza!

*I recently discovered after several IQ tests that I'm not as dingy as I had been thinking...to say I was "shocked" would be a bit much, but definitely pleasantly affirmed.

Christmas in July

CiBaby came in singing, into the bathroom of all places, carrying a small silver bell...

Bit-a-dough bit-a-dough waaaaaaay
garble garble garble HEY!
Bit-a-dough bit-a-dough waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
garble garble garble HEY!

All I can say is, thank God for props. Do you know how long it took me to figure out "Twinkle twinkle little star"??? For awhile I thought she was becoming Greek with all of the Opas! coming out of her tiny mouth.

(Music to blog by: Jingle Bells by James Taylor)

Block Party

This weekend is the annual block party put on by our neighborhood business association where you can find some great music, nice (and some not so nice) arts and crafts, good food and loads of people.

This is our first year where we actually paid attention to the children's activities, and since it's not far away, and I'm looking for things to keep CiBaby and I occupied while T-Daddy is gone and everyone is busy, we strolled on down...Min and all.

Our first, and basically only stop today was the petting zoo. There was a lot of different types of goats (we fed some), a baby pot bellied pig, a baby zebra (I felt so bad for the zebra, he seemed so scared...poor little thing), bunnies, some funky chickens and a few other animals. CiBaby didn't quite know what to do, but she loved looking at them...from afar.

And this guy, well what can I say, I had to photograph him. The first picture is from last weekend at the Dragon Festival and the second is from today. The two events, although in the same city, are completely across town from each other!

We're going to go back again either tonight and/or tomorrow to see more.

(Music to blog by: Shout (from Animal House soundtrack) by Otis Day & The Knights)

CzaMama's in the Kitchen

Chances are, if you are at my house for a function or I bring food to you, you are my guinea pig. I LOVE trying new recipes out...and I throw caution to the wind and serve it to people without ever making it before. (Don't ever say you weren't warned)

Recently I've tried out 3 new recipes that I really like. So much so I'm going to post them for you.

For CiBaby's birthday party I made a massive amount of really yummy hummus. It was so good I heard mutterings later that people wanted to slather their bodies with it.

Hummus bi Tahini -Nantucket Open-House Cookbook...word for word

3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup sesame tahini paste
1 cup water
6 cups canned chick-peas (garbanzo), rinsed and drained
1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
Salt to taste
3 Tbsp fruity olive oil
Sweet Hungarian paprika
Lemon slices, Greek olives, and fresh mint or parsley sprigs for garnish

Place the garlic, lemon juice and tahini in a food processor fitted with the steel blade; process to a smooth paste. Add the water and chick-peas and process until the mixture is very smooth, almost fluffy. Season with the cumin and salt to taste. Transfer the hummus to an earthenware bowl. Pour the oil over the top and swirl lightly with the tip of a knife. Sprinkle with the paprika, and garnish with lemon slices, olives and mint or parsley sprigs. Makes 6 cups


I recently hosted a bridal shower and decided the day before it to make some baked french toast. I was accused of definitely being a 50's housewife with this one. It was damn good!

Stuffed Baked French Toast - Dining in the Spirit of Naniboujou

Preheat the oven to 350F (in the morning!)
Butter a 9x12" pan1
lb french bread, cubed8 oz cream cheese, diced into 1" pieces
8 large eggs
2-1/2 cups Half and half
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup maple syrup
cinnamon

Put one half of the bread cubes in the prepared pan. Spread (I just "scattered") the cream cheese evenly on top. Add the rest of the bread cubes. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs well. Add the half and half, butter and maple syrup. Pour the mixture evenly over the top of the bread. Press the bread down slightly to make sure everything is moistened. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon before baking. Bake about 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!


And last, but definitely not least, for my new book club I made a delicious African appetizer. We read Pretty Little Mistakes, an adult "choose your own adventure" book. It was quite fun, albeit a bit odd. Well, my character went to Berkeley after high school and ultimately ended up in Africa.

Macadamia Dukkah - from Jo Jo Vasquez, Chef at The Banyan Tree Restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalaua, via Travel Goddess M.

1/4 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup caraway seeds
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
1/4 cup white sesame seeds
1/8 cup fennel seeds
1/4 cup fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, ground to cornmeal texture
Salt and pepper to taste (I actually toasted whole pepper corns and added to the mix)

Toast all the seeds, the crumbs and the nuts. (It might be best to do the seeds together, the bread crumbs on their own and the nuts on their own). Grind to a powder (in a blender or food processor, or with a mortar and pestle). Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

(Music to blog by: The Kitchen Song by The Bowmans)

Bad to the Bone

One last gulp of smoothie for the road and I'm off...


riding my piggy (it's a small Hog) into the sunset.


Yes, I'm bad to the bone.

(Music to blog by: Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood)

Water water everywhere...

We read that book almost every night in the tub. It's one of those bathtub books, don't worry, another board book didn't go swimming.

No, the water I speak of was actually outside. Since T-Daddy left for his two weeks of defending the country (you feel safer, right?) I hadn't watered...it rained but then it was hot and I just didn't have the time, or memory capacity. Finally last night I remembered to turn on the water in the back garden...but I forgot to turn it off...until 5:50 AM this morning!

Yep, I pulled a T-Daddy (he did the same thing about a month ago). The back garden is well watered now, as is the inside of the garage floor. blah. Of course I discovered that not long before a group of lovely ladies and their crews came over for a morning of eating, gabbing and present opening. Oh well, what are you gonna do...off to open the side door and dry up the joint!

Dragon Festival

This weekend was the Dragon Festival where there was a very cool opening ceremony to awaken the dragon; which included the dragon dance, a blessing, opening of the dragon's eyes, a reading of an ancient Chinese spell, and a welcoming Hawaiian dance.

The Dragon Boat races...

Cultural performances...

CiBaby especially liked the Taiko Drums, she was entranced by them.

(I have a video of CiBaby watching the Taiko drums and doing a little jammin', but the file is too large to post...too bad, because it's so cute! If someone knows how to post a larger file, please let me know :-)

Mom and daughter tattooing...appropriate symbol, don't you think?

Family and friends*...

(CiBaby's little swinging buddy)

We went both days and it produced one very tired CiBaby**.

*For some reason I missed getting pictures of Grams and our friends J & O, sorry! And unfortunately T-Daddy wasn't able to be with us this year...the Navy had other plans for him.
**CzaMama is beat herself, goodnight!