Author: Big Mama

A list of ten things minus two

I know I said I was taking a break from Fashion Friday for the summer and I am, I really am. The question portion of Fashion Friday is officially on summer vacation. However, I had some free time this week and spent some of that time venturing into various stores, which led me to find some cute things that I feel compelled to share with the group.

In fact, I believe I was in Banana Republic (where all my best ideas have always been born) when I decided it would be fun to compile a list of my top ten finds of the week. Unfortunately, there are two flaws with this plan. First, some of the things I found aren’t online, including a darling cotton navy and white striped dress that has captured my heart and is still calling to me from the store where I left it. Second, I’m not sure I actually have a list of ten things, it may be more like seven or five.

We’ll just see where it goes and how long I can make myself wait to watch the season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” and part two of the “Real Housewives of New York” reunion special. It’s not like the DVR is going to watch that stuff for me.

Here’s what I found this week. (Note to P, I didn’t actually BUY anything. I just looked. Because I am exercising self-control)

(Speaking of exercising, I’m on Level 2 of The Shred. I can no longer remember what day I’m on because I skipped various days due to a raging case of PMS. As far as results, my arms are definitely more toned which is such a relief because I’m always so insecure about how my arms look in a bathing suit.)

1. Summer floral skirt

Y’all know I’m a fan of the summer skirt and I think this one is really cute, especially now that it’s on sale because Gap is high if they think that skirt was worth the original $44.50 price.

2. Linen cargo bermuda shorts

I tried these on and couldn’t commit, but I keep thinking about them because they were very lightweight and would probably be a welcome addition to my wardrobe come July when I’m wishing I lived in North Dakota.

3. Halter maxi dress

I hope the link works because Banana won’t let me link to the specific dress because it’s already sold out and I’m not surprised. When I saw it in the window of the store, I immediately parked and went in to get a better look because I thought I could wear it to a wedding this weekend and my twenty-year reunion later this summer.

However, what the picture doesn’t show is that the back of the dress does some tricky kind of thing that basically allows for no sort of undergarment to be worn. But apparently someone has figured out a way to make it work because the dress is SOLD OUT. Are these people gluing some sort of support device directly to their bodies? If you think I’m attending my twenty-year high school reunion with only on a super-glued cup standing between me and public humiliation, then you’re crazy.

4. Embroidered tunic

I really liked this even before I knew they called that color “Wasabi Green”, which just makes me like it that much more.

5. ABK Couture bags

A friend from elementary school makes these gorgeous tote bags and I discovered them last week. I am totally eyeing one of them to be my new laptop bag.

6. Double Mocha Jacket

I didn’t actually see this in person, but found it online when I did my weekly search through all of Anthropologie’s sale items. I am a fan.

7. Good jeans

I have no link for this, but Steinmart had 7 jeans and Lucky jeans in stock this week for substantially less than what you’d pay at the fancy department store.

8. Yellow Box Zebra flip-flops

There are no words for the cuteness.

It turns out I only had eight things, but like the old saying goes better eight than nothing.

(By “old saying” I mean three minutes old because I just made it up)

Y’all have a great Friday.
Swim of the penguins

It’s official.

The penguin goggles are out and we’re ready for summer.
Pizza, it’s what’s for dinner

I’ll just go ahead and confess that after Caroline left for school yesterday, I crawled back in bed with the remote control and stayed there for the next three hours. It was my belated Mother’s Day present to myself. I would have preferred to give myself a gift certificate for a one-hour massage, but apparently I’m cheap.

Eventually I realized it was almost lunchtime and I was in dire need of a caffeinated beverage, so I made my way to the kitchen only to discover we were down to our last Diet Coke which meant a trip to HEB was imperative even though I was hoping to put it off for one more day. Of course, P had started a list but his lists never really count because I always feel like we can go one more day without another box of Nilla Wafers or Q-tips, whereas a home without Diet Coke is a tragedy waiting to happen.

I waited for Caroline to get home from school because on her Mother’s Day questionnaire she said that one of her favorite things to do with me is go to the grocery store. Personally, I think she’s in it for the guarantee of a donut.

After a sweet forever, we finally made it home from HEB. Ever since they remodeled our store, I just roam the aisles endlessly because I can’t find anything. The layout makes no sense at all, starting with the fact that all the baking supplies are on two different aisles causing me much sorrow and anger at whoever the genius was that came up with that design.

Anyway, I don’t know why I’m telling you all this because the whole point of this post is to tell you about the delicious Blackened Chicken Pizza I made for dinner last night when I realized the cooking elves weren’t going to show up and prepare a fabulous, home-cooked meal for my family and the burden for nourishment lay squarely on my shoulders.

So I’ll quit rambling and share the recipe, complete with intermittent photos that really don’t do a very thorough job of showing all the steps.

Blackened Chicken Pizza (Paula Deen)

3 teaspoons blackening seasoning, divided (found on the spices aisle)
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded to 1/4 in. thickness
4 tbs. butter, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 tbs. all purpose flour
1/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup milk
2 tbs. chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
Pizza crust

Sprinkle 2 teaspoons blackening seasoning evenly over chicken breast. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until done.

You will notice that I used chicken tenders instead of a whole chicken breast because I like to minimize my contact with raw poultry and didn’t want to have to pound it to 1/4 inch thickness.

Remove from heat, cool and cut chicken into bite-size pieces.

In large skillet, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add garlic and shallot, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in flour, cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in wine and milk.

It’s totally optional but you may want to take a swig of the wine for yourself if you spent over an hour at HEB because you couldn’t find the powdered sugar.

Continue to whisk the mixture constantly for 4-5 minutes or until thickened. Stir in basil and remaining 1 teaspoon blackening seasoning. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 450.

Spread cream mixture evenly over prepared, unbaked crust. (I didn’t make a homemade crust, but bought a pre-made one at HEB because you know that old saying about how Rome wasn’t built in a day? That’s because they were too busy making homemade pizza crusts.)

Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese.

Top evenly with spinach, chicken pieces, and bacon.

Sprinkle another 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Caroline declared this “the BEST PIZZA I’ve ever had!”

Of course, she said that same thing last week about a frozen DiGiorno pepperoni pizza so you may want to take her culinary recommendations with a grain or six of salt.

But it actually was really good which is fortunate because I made two of them and we’re eating it again tonight.

Look P! It’s not even daylight yet and you already know what’s for dinner.
Time to invest in a Barbie styling head

So yesterday was Mother’s Day. The day when mothers everywhere are showered with love and attention for three minutes before getting back to sorting the laundry.

I actually had a good Mother’s Day because I received official confirmation that The 30 Day Shred is producing some results. Caroline’s teacher asked them questions about their moms and then recorded their answers on a piece of paper.

According to Caroline, I am “12 feet tall” and “probably weigh about 30 pounds”, which means I’m approximately the same size as Heidi Klum.

That Jillian Michaels is a miracle worker.

On Friday afternoon, Caroline decided it would be fun to play beauty shop. She pulled out all her makeup and hair accessories and asked me to make her look beautiful. As I delicately brushed some blue glitter eyeshadow on her lids, I marveled at how long her eyelashes are and the smoothness of her olive complexion. I swept her hair off her face and let my hand rest for a minute on her cheek, just taking in all of her five-year-old sweetness and thinking that I couldn’t love her more.

After I finished putting on her lipgloss, it was my turn. She managed to yank out half my hair with the hairbrush and then began to put makeup on me. I closed my eyes and felt her brush my cheeks with blush, coat my eyes with glitter, and then, in a perfect imitation of what I’d done to her, rest her hand on my cheek.

I opened my eyes to see her looking at me so intently. She was taking in every angle of my face as if trying to memorize every line. It took my breath away to realize how closely she watches me, how often she copies what I say or do, and how much we love each other. There is an incredible bond that exists between mothers and daughters.

She held my face in her hands for a few more seconds and gently said, “Mama?”

“Yes, baby?”

“You have a big hair growing out of your chin.”

Perfect.

I guess next time we play beauty shop, I’ll have to get a wax.
Edition 61: Fashion Friday (kind of, but not really)

Okay, so here’s the bad news. (Or maybe it’s good news to some of y’all, but just pretend it’s bad news so you won’t hurt my delicate feelings) I’ve decided to take a semi-break from Fashion Friday for the summer because it’s just so dang hot and it’s hard for me to think about fashion unless it involves what to wear when you’re soaking in a tub full of ice cubes because the heat is about to send you to the land where fun goes to die.

The good news is that I may still do a few Fashion Fridays throughout the summer because you never know when some sort of haberdashery emergency may occur and I’d hate to not weigh in with my two cents that may or may not be helpful, but I just can’t commit to weekly posts because I may be too busy eating ice cream at the pool or trying to get the smell of spoiled milk out of my purse.

What? Spoiled milk?

Oh yes. I managed to spill an entire glass of milk in my purse last night, which led me to the discovery that milk is surprisingly sticky when it gets all over your credit cards and everything else in your purse. I am telling myself that I got it all cleaned out, but deep down inside I have a feeling that at some point in the next few days I’ll pull out my Visa card and the smell will be so horrendous that it may cause a cashier to pass out.

I don’t know why I’m telling you this except that if you ever happen to run into me somewhere and you smell something that would make your dog throw up, please keep in mind that it’s just my handbag.

But who am I kidding? We all know I now have an excuse to buy a new bag.

I’m going to wrap this up because it’s late and I still have to watch “Grey’s Anatomy” because Meredith and Derek are supposedly getting married and if they don’t because of some asinine plot twist then I am going to be so worked up that it will take me hours to settle back down. Don’t disappoint me, ABC. It’s bad enough that Lil Kim got voted off “Dancing with the Stars” this week. My heart can’t take much more.

However, before I go get caught up in the Mer/Der wedding bliss (Please do not deny me this, ABC) I have a question that is actually fashion related. Gulley and I got into a discussion yesterday about our favorite outfit of all time. Ultimately, we decided that choosing one outfit or piece of clothing is like trying to choose who you like better, your grandmother or Justin Timberlake. It’s like “Sophie’s Choice”.

Here are three items that made my list and the year they changed my life.

1. Guess Overalls (1986)

The day I finally talked my dad into buying me an $80 pair of overalls was one of the happiest days of my life. I wore them constantly, but my favorite combination was wearing them with a hot pink t-shirt, a scarf belt, matching hot pink socks, and white Keds.

(EIGHTY DOLLARS IN 1986! That is absurd, but as Ramona on “RHofNYC” would say ‘Kudoos’ to the Guess corporation because people bought them in spite of the fact that they were EIGHT DOLLAR OVERALLS)

2. Aqua-colored Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and matching shirt (1980)

My MeMa bought me this outfit and, sadly, I ruined it when I got battery acid on the jeans when changing the batteries in my 8-track player. True story.

3. Luv-it Jeans with roller skates on the back pockets (1981)

If I ever questioned the fabulousity of these jeans and how they made me the envy of all the other ten-year-olds at the Magic Skate, my fears were put to rest when a girl I haven’t seen since sixth grade became my Facebook friend about a month ago and told me she’ll always remember how much she loved my Luv-it Jeans with the roller skates.

That is a powerful testimony to the importance of a good pair of jeans.

So what are some of your favorite fashion pieces of all time? Units? Anyone?

ANYONE? (Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about unless you were born after 1985)

Oversized sweaters from United Colors of Benetton?

Three layered Polo shirts with the collars flipped up?

Go ahead and confess. You’re safe here.

Y’all have a good Friday.

***I just had to come back and add that I just finished watching “Grey’s” and, while I don’t want to give anything away for those of you who have it waiting on your DVR’s, I will say that it has left me a sobbing mess. Well played, ABC. Well played.
Somewhere Ronald McDonald is crying

Last week, Caroline asked me if I’d please come eat lunch with her at school.

Oh sure, it sounds sweet and at the beginning of the school year it made my heart so happy to think that my baby still wanted to eat lunch with her mama, but now I know the truth. She just needs someone to cart some food up to the school so she can sit on stage and practice her prom queen wave.

Fortunately for her, a mother’s love knows no bounds so I am happy to be that person.

I asked her what she wanted me to bring for lunch:

“Caroline, do you want Sonic or a Happy Meal?” (I could already taste the tots and Cherry Limeade)

“I want sushi.”

“Sushi?”

“Yes. I’d like a California Roll and some edamame. Please don’t forget my chopsticks.”

Well, sure.

Because what kid would want a good old American cheeseburger with a side of tots when they can have sushi instead?