DPP 19: GO AWAY SNOW!

Not even 10pm and tomorrow is totally ruined by the "Snowpocalypse". Stupid cancellations. Stupid snow. I am boycotting by refusing to post a picture of it! So here is Chloe, one of my parents cat's posing for their birthday gift a few weeks ago. 

DPP 3: Fly Away!

My parents left on their annual birthday trip. Peru's Machu Picchu. I'm hoping for a Llama souvenir! Not a stuffed one. Full sized. For Nessa to ride around on.

Three Things.

1) I had to transfer my own blood vials today. Blood is creepy.

2) I learned my mom's cat is on anti-depressants. Go figure. 

3) I am watching Jersey Shore over the Election coverage. Just tell me in the morning. 

DPP 13: Bag of Chocolatey Joy

The little goodie bag of chocolate that lay on my plate tonight at dinner. The event was OHC's Women's Holiday event. Mom bought a table, decorated it beautifully with some holly and candles. The event itself was.....lacking. But the decor was festive!

DPP #4: Meals and Muppets!

DPP 4: My wunderbar parents got back from Germany late last night. They went for a week of Christmas Market hopping to celebrate both their birthdays.

We celebrated today with family meals and the Muppet movie (at his request).

Wrapping up Colorado!

So thanks Mom and Dad for a great week in Colorado. Full of fun, food, and family frenzy. From dad's "magic tricks" to mom's spoiling us with Daylight Donuts, it was worth the long drive there. Thanks for loving us and taking us with you, especially over your anniversary! And thanks for always making us laugh :-)

May Mayhem!

In a matter of a week or two, its as if I ate my weight in badness. Tasty delicious badness. But, it was all for celebration! And celebration eating doesn't count, right?

Mother's Day. How adorable are they? Brunching at the country club.

Tim's 29th birthday. Monkey Bread beats cake any day!

Pella's Tulip Time. Now, it was nowhere near what we expected. We have heard so many awesome things about it, maybe we got a little over excited, but a two hour drive there wasn't worth it for the tulips, parade stuff, dutchy things, and whatnot. But it is debatable on if it was worth it for Jaarsma's bakery. Blueberry bars, Dutch Letters, Beehives of frosting, an almond crunchy thing, cinnamon roll, this is why the scale hated me this weekend. Tim definitely enjoyed his bologna on a stick though. Good lord, the concept of that title is disgusting. And then came the Poffertjes as he went back to the car. There was powdered sugar EVERYWHERE. But nummers. Times 10.

Lori : A Resort and Spa.

Hi Mom. Your uterus received a five star/four diamond rating. No Michelin star though. But I think we can all be ok with that. Thanks for the lodging, next time, more chocolates on the pillow. :-)

Disney Winners 2011.

Classics of this year's Disney Extravaganza.

A swedish massage is going to be deeper, and all over....-Clare
And comes with meatballs-Tim

Take him home! - My mother, about the Italian waiter, with Tim RIGHT next to me.

Its like Hiroshima!-Christopher's personal time.

I think I'm going to try to be electronic - My mother.

Clare, this ride is scary! -Tim, being pushed in the wheelchair by mom

I cant hear you, my butts on fire. -Tim

That Arch feeds me well!

Last week, I was treated to a bit of happy times before the torment of dental extraction. Tim and I had gotten tickets to Ke$ha quite awhile ago, and Mom decided she wanted to be part of the road trip down to St Louis, minus the concert. As a sidenote, Tim had the Ke$ha cd hidden in his car for quite sometime before I found out and was pissed that he hadn't shared it with me!

But anyways, so we all made the unexciting trip down early Tuesday morning. Wicked early, only so that we could endulge in just one more meal at First Watch while down there. Egg white omelet with turkey, spinach, feta, & tomato. Turkey sausage. And then Tim and I shared at banana crunch pancake. Holy breakfast in my belly. I would eat there every meal if i could. Not even kidding.

And then just like any twoday getaway, the shopping craze started. In a matter of hours we hit up REI (no dice on the desired sandals, but lots of clothes tried on!), Container Store, Gap (yay to the Buy a pair of pants, Get a shirt free deal, although the hoodie "jacket" I wanted was cheaper than the sweater I was allowed to get), and Macys (where the gift card went unspent).
My big excitement part of the shopping was supposed to be the fact that they have a Lululemon in StL. But then, we got there. I was pretty disappointed in the selection at this store. They had very few options, and even few fewer sizes. Like, they have maybe 4 different sweatshirts, and each style had maybe two or three sizes in stock. And sizes are 0-12 mind you, not S/M/L. And when I walked in, I did a quick lap just to see what I was working with, and a lady came up to us and asked if we were lookging for a gift! I was ridiculously offended. Who starts their greeting with that? What about me right now says I am looking for a gift instead of for myself....not amused. Even less amused when there was a lady in there with three SHRIEKING children. One of them was playing with a box of safety pins used for hemming. Like, what kind of mother let's their kid do that? Geeze. But I ended up getting two sale items. Mom bought me a sweet pair of gray pants, kind of hard to describe them actually. And then I got a bra/tank combo that i really dig, but also hard to desribe. Let's just say, I love workout clothes.

A quick jaunt into Williams and Sonoma had my mom buying a crap load of lavender, and on our way out, I saw a HUGE glass jar of  "Nut & Grain". Tim bought it instantly, its totally delicious. Well worth the overpricedness of such a jar of glory.

Dinner @ Pi Pizzeria. It actually turned out that it was directly across the street from the concert venue, but it wasnt really relevant since we had to take Mom back to the hotel inbetween dinner and the show anyway. However, it did mean we got a sneak preview of the 14 year olds going to the Ke$ha concert all dressed up and ready to go. It was insane. I thought Lady Gaga was crazy, those were weird, but these were SLUTTY. Like, I cannot believe 75% were allowed to leave their house looking like that. Both mom and Tim ordered the same pizza, only Tim got deep dish and mom got thin crust. Both were delicious, The Western: mozzarella, spinach blended with ricotta and feta, mushrooms, onions, and garlic. And I got the Bada Bing salad: field greens, toasted almonds, gorgonzola cheese, dried bing cherries, with raspberry vinaigrette. Only swap the gorgonzola (GROSS) for goat cheese. Yummy! http://www.restaurantpi.com

We totally lucked out getting back after dropping mom off at the hotel, parked a block away, and saw there were two lines. One was like two blocks long, and the other was maybe 10 people. And we knew it was a long shot, but we figured we would just attempt the the short one. Silly kids, it wasn't a special line at all, and we got in way before we would have in the other line. It was an all ages show, but we got split into lines of 21+ and underage because the underagers got charged an extra fee to get in. The staff of the Pageant was absolutely amazing. Best staff I have ever encountered at every level. Door security, ID check, bartenders, ushers, everyone. I loved it. And then there is the venue itself. Its amazing. Upstairs seated balcony thats 21+, has its own bar, assigned seating, and great views. Although the lack of jr high girls and stretching room was the best perk. Show was great, pretty sure there was lots of lipsyncing, but frankly, I dont care that much if the stage show makes up for it. And her and the dancers totally did. Including the stage director in the Santa costume....yup. Just really fun in general.
As a side story, the opening one man band was called "Beardo the Trailer Park Hero". Yup.

I slept like a rock, and despite the super early wake up call the day before, and a crazy busy day, and going to bed later than I had wanted to, I was awake enough when my alarm went off at 6:55 in order to go down to the hotel gym. Mom even went with me! The room was like a sauna. I wasn't on very long and I was quite moisturized afterwards ;-)
Breakfast Feast at First Watch. Coffee, fresh fruit crepes, turkey sausage links, and shared a carrot cake pancake with Tim. The granola and blueberry muffin that came with got saved for the car ride home at least. I was STUFFED. 
We then went to my mecca, Whole Foods, we spent 90 minutes there, and I could have spent 90 more. But my mom had finished her shopping and Tim had put up with enough of my aisle wanderings. We got quite the haul though. Including a peanut butter and jelly on banana bread for the road home. We pulled out of town around 11:30, and I have officially added St Louis to my ok long weekend destination visit list. Their food choices are growing and are pretty sweet looking (not including the ever fantastic First Watch). Their shopping is grand, and it seems like there is plenty to do. I vote yes. 

No more wisdom for me.

I like to moan and groan about my teeth a lot. More specifically, my dentist. But this post will be moan and groan about the dentist free! But it shall still all be about my teefies! Or the lack there of now. Two yanked five years ago. Two more yanked on Thursday. See? Proof!
Tim didn't have to work til 9:45, and my appointment was for 8am. Its not like its brain surgery, aka, it super quick, so he drove me to the appointment, met Mom there. The nurse was beyond amazing, really nice and just awesome in comparison to the heinous ladies at my dentist. Especially when I was one of "those" patients, and asked if I could get the IV line in my hand instead of my elbow. I felt bad, but it just eases my mind a lot. No problems. Waited maybe three/four minutes for the doctor. Lovely man. I asked right away about how soon I could work out, and he seemed surprised, but amused by it.

Our only other conversation was me asking if I could have the teeth if they came out whole (yeah, I know, its sick, but whatever). My arm hurt and then burned when he injected the sleep stuff. Then my wrist felt like someone snapped it, but then I felt it hit my heart and spread crazy fast, I remember maybe two or three images between that sensation (8:10am at the latest) and waking up on my couch at noon. Trying to write on a piece of paper. The car. Those two images are literally like someone took a picture of the event, and then showed me once, three months ago. So those are super fuzzy. I remember slightly better walking in the garage. Then Tim coming in and telling mom he bought pudding and changing my gauze cause apparently I kept saying that I was choking.

Thats it. Then noon. Not five minutes after I woke up, my GLORIOUS Mommy came over with a marshmallow peach shake. Total treat of awesome.Even though I didn't eat it until 4 or 5. She stayed for maybe 20 minutes. But once I woke up, I was totally awake. No more lethargy. Just very cozy on the couch. Complete with round the clock care by a very attentive nurse.
Tim later said that when they got taken back to the recovery room, I apparently asked for my teeth about every five minutes, and then as soon as the doctor came in to talk to mom and Tim, I asked him AGAIN when I could work out. I still have my paper of me trying to communicate. Lots of squiggles. Pretty much every legible scratch involves me liking drugs. One is just a heart with drugs written in it. And another says, David, I like drugs. And I do not remember a single part of it. Ill just be thankful for that part.

My mouth barely hurt, but maybe only slightly more than an aggressive dentist visit. Tim didn't force drugs on me as soon as it was over, knowing I would just pass out anyway, and by noon I decided it wasn't bad enough yet to just take them. So I didn't, and never ended up taking any at all that day, which pleased me, since I havent actually taken a painkiller in probably a few years. Although yesterday morning, waking up, after having probably clenched my jaw all night...I popped those babies in like candy!

A side effect I didn't expect was how bad my hand and arm hurt. I have a tiny bruise and a rather large prick hole on my hand from the injection, but my arm has been pretty nasty feeling all day, all the way up to the elbow really. Like I had held my arm up and it just got blindsided by someone in a Geo Metro. A small, yet still large metal automobile. But no puffy face! At least I don't think so. Tim says a little bit, but I sure can't tell.
So that's that. Four teeth out. Here's hoping I'm not a shark relative and won't be finding any more rows of teeth back there anytime in the near future....or ever.

Throwback Thursday: Take Care of Me Mommy!

I feel like this will be recreated tomorrow, only fastforward 2.5 decades. I get my top wisdom teeth out. Tim works all day and I need a babysitter. Mommy to the rescue! Had this been a few weeks ago, there might have been a TOTAL recreation complete with Bears shirts, but alas, we will not talk about that defeat.

Can I just say I would like tomorrow over with?

Although I spent the past two days in St Louis, so look for a post on that coming up, it should be written while a drug induced stupor...so pretty entertaining at least....

Slow Down, its moving too fast....

The next six weeks are shaping up to look quite awesome. Well, a few less awesome and more just eventful. But still. Keeping busy feels nice. And then summer doesn't exactly slow down....

Week #1-Valentines Day, normally eh. But this year involves a six course dinner. 4 Queens opens. Last Mens Bball game of the season!

Week #2-Two days in St Louis of eating and shopping and Ke$ha in concert. And then getting my top teeth yanked out, thats the less than awesome event....

Week #3-Dropkick Murphy's show in Des Moines. And the last two Womens Bball games of the season!!! Yay free time!

Week #4-Get psyched up (as if I'm not already) and leave for Disney!

Week #5-Best week of the year of Nordyke family craziness at DisneyWorld.

Then June brings (MAYBE) a mission trip to another continent with mi madre. No more on that until its locked. I'm already far too excited for only being in the works.

Perhaps another summer vacay with the fam in Colorado sometime in July....

Throw in five weddings, one being in South Dakota and another in Massachusetts, and you have one poor, yet happily busy and socialized Clare!

Dentist Doom

This entry includes the sentence: My mom is just excited cause I will draw her pictures that resemble a four year olds masterpiece while still totally drugged up and seeing unicorns again. (See? Now you want to read it).

Last week I went to the dentist. I have NEVER had even a neutral experience there. See: Bruising and Torture.

And of course, this past visit was no different. I actually was meant to go in quite awhile ago (its probably been a year), but with our New Zealand extravaganza, I just kind of ignored it. Well, my top wisdom teeth are all the way in, and the only way to get them out is to get a referral. So once again, suckered into the dentist.

That being said, when I got my bottom wisdom teeth out near a decade ago, he told me that there were no top wisdom teeth on the x-rays, and by that age, they should be at least visible in x-ray by now, so I had been lucky enough to escape top ones. CLEARLY WRONG.

There's more to that part of the story, but I feel like I should share the beginning of my lovely day at the dentist. It's typical to be in the office for close to two hours between all the waiting between steps that you have to do at my dentist, he beyond overbooks and is always late. But I arrived around 9:50 for my 10am appointment. Checked in, sat down.

Waited. 10am hits. Two guys walk in within five minutes of each other, both are taken back to their rooms before they can even sit down in the waiting room. I get annoyed that I have been there ten minutes and they just get to walk in. So I go up and "check" to make sure my appointment was at 10 (read: reminding the community college graduate behind the desk that I was still waiting).

She responds, "It's only 10:05"
"Well, yeah, but those two guys walked right in so I just wondered...."
"They have different hygienists than you, yours will be done soon"

All with immense attitude. I sat down and contemplated the concept of pre-assigning the hygienists and the complete annoyance of such practice.

Finally being shown into a room, forced into small talk where I showed my heinous side of how unhappy the dentist makes me in order to shut the woman up so I don't have to talk with her hands in my mouth, I tell her about my top wisdom teeth. She pulls up my x-ray and says,

WAIT FOR IT

"Oh yes, I see your bottom left tooth poking through"

Yup. Remember up to the top of the story that I had my bottom wisdom teeth removed years back. They don't exist. And this moron of a lady is claiming to see them on my x-ray. I swear its to get me to like her and stop being so angsty.

I don't care. I judge her ferociously and continue the rest of my visit. Ugh.

Then there was quite a glorious argument with the lady scheduling the surgery about my insistance about going under during the extraction. I think by the end of it the lady understood that if I was this bitchy awake and at the END of appointment, no one should have to deal with me during the process of terrifying me half to death and making me bleed from the mouth.

My mom is just excited cause I will draw her pictures that resemble a four year olds masterpiece while still totally drugged up and seeing unicorns again. The humor she finds in my pain.... *sigh*

Two weeks from tomorrow I will be short two more teeth. I am now accepting get well gifts, cards, as well as poetry. ESPECIALLY since Tim will be working during my recovery, and I will be left at the hands of my mother, who clearly has shown her sympathy traits above....No really. Feel free. ;-)

Throwback Thursday: Bug Blame

I blame my travel bug on them. I also thank them for it. It's one of those itches that's so good to scratch!

Throwback Thursday: Do Penguins quack?

Ok, so bear with the total stretch on this one. I wanted a Halloween picture, but I have none scanned on my computer, so I have to improvise. This is a gorgeous picture of my adoring parents. My father is in a tuxedo. A tuxedo is also called a penguin suit. And this year for Halloween, Tim is dressing as a penguin.....that works, right? :)

Happy Halloween everyone! Leave me a message and tell me what you are going as this year, or what your favorite costume has been in the past! (Don't be shy, more than my mother needs to be commenting on this one!)

Throwback Thursday: Self Promotion.

Total self promotion today, my day of uterine escape. I am two hours old in this picture. My mother doesn't look too thrilled with her picture being taken at the moment. I, however, remember being super pleased to be out of my uterus jail. I mean really, it was all wet and cramped up in there. I wanted FREEDOM! That's why I was 3 weeks early. I just wanted fresh air and dryness.

Sidenote: Mom, I am not saying that your uterus wasn't more than habitable, I just, I like my space. Ya know? Those fallopian tubes were crampin my style....

Throwback Thursday: Mom and the Meat.

The date on the back of this picture is November 26, 1987. A Connecticut Thanksgiving. It just seems appropriate this week, since this past Monday, there was just as big of a spread as Thanksgiving on the labor day lunch table. There was so much ridiculously tasty food. Yum. Slow roasted pork (17 hrs via Tim), 3 veggie salads, homemade bread, party potatos, brownies, pumpkin pie, and lemon cake. Cue drooling.

HOWEVER, no such hairstyle was present at this holiday weekend, neither was a turtleneck...thank god.

Brief Weekend in Boston.

Boston.
Arrival Night (Thurs):
Bertuccis Awesome. Then Sleep.

Day One (Fri):

Shopping at Fanuiel Hall.
Lunch at Barking Crab.
More Shopping at REI and MFA store.
Emerson Bookstore.

Cantina with Caroline and Mom.

Harvard bars with Caroline.

Day Two (Sat).
Pilates class with Meg.
Brunch with Meg, Kate, Mom at a KILLER cafe.
Party Favors cupcakes.
Shopping.
Meg and Kate's engagement party of AWESOME.



Day Three (Sun):
Brunch at Fire/Ice.
Walking/Shopping.
Cirque Du Soleil Ovo.
Rock Bottom Brewery.

Day Four (Mon):
7am Flight from Logan. Ew.

People, I like to eat.

Could I be any busier? Two weekends ago, I spent four days in Boston with mi madre, and what else is there to do in Boston besides eat?!? (Ok, theres a lot, but thats a post for later)....so here's the best eats of the week!