aarav's first birthday party

i left kristin's baby shower early to head over to my coworker's son's first birthday party. they were really excited to debut the cake! ... it was huge and delicious! the picture doesn't do justice to the size and, well, roundness! i think they ended up getting it from the cake girls.


they put together a good party. food from uncle julio's (a mexican restaurant here where it's way too easy to gorge on the food), pizza, a housefull of folks, and even grandma and grandpa from india. aarav is pretty adorable!

little miss jo's baby shower ...

jo's comment reminds me that i never posted anything about jo’s baby shower! will definitely have to post the re-cap here:

jo's shower was a virtual shower, so none of us were actually there. the whole thing was sarah lyman's idea, but she enlisted me as a side-kick. she wanted to do something with all the scripps girls and figured even though we've all spread out across the country there had to still be a way to throw jo a little shindig. so we developed a little website and asked scrippsies to leave notes for jo, chris, and baby braveheart (the babe was weighing in small, so mom and dad decided to forego calling the baby 'peanut' in favor of the big bad nickname 'braveheart' instead).

www.peanutdaly.shutterfly.com

(jo posted pics on the site afterwards, too!)

the next step in the virtual shower was that scrippsies sent baby gifts to the daly household. all gifts were held for the virtual shower date. we also sent a baby-shower-in-a-box and cupcakes to jo & chris for the 'party.'

(baby shower in a box)

mama jo setting up for the shower.

auntie maire sewed this bunny. that's a mini-cupcake on the disproportionately larger shower themed paper plate.

the STAR of the shower: declan himself wearing a robe by ashley on a boppy from courtney.

he didn't want to miss his own shower, so he showed up early!

mama in a necklace by nolan and braveheart in a swaddle from lara.

during the festivities, jo & chris [i am sure begrudgingly] put the spoon to the jar [that’s kind of like pedal to the metal] in a baby food tasting game. i can’t believe i never revealed the baby food flavors (jo & chris are SUPER good sports! did you guys really taste these or just pose as if you were tasting them in the photos?).

and the flavors were:

Banana
(jo guessed apple banana and chris guessed banana! chris 1, jo 0)

Apple Blueberry
(jo guessed apple blueberry and chris guessed apple. chris 1, jo 1)

Mac & Cheese
(jo squash, chris carr0t)

Apples & Chicken
(jo turkey barf, chris f---ing disgusting)

#5 "thank god this one still had the label on it or i think we would have barfed."

THE WINNER: IT WAS A TIE!

kristin's baby shower

i went to high school with kristin, who moved to chicago two years ago. we weren't friends in h.s., though were in essentially the same classes. her husband is originally from here and when she moved to chicago, we met up and then she introduced me to the girls that i sometimes do bunco or book club with.

her sister, and another girl from high school, and kristin's college friend flew out to chicago and threw her such a darling baby shower. i love what they did. but there were so many cameras there i didn't take many pictures of the people. i did make sure to take snapshots of some of the cute details - but didn't even capture it all. kristin and her hubs have a GORGEOUS home in roscoe village:

i zoomed in here from some other photo to show how nicely done the fresh flower arrangements were.

mom-to-be

the hostesses

name the parents of the celebrity baby name.

le weekend.

it's monday morning at 6:30am. i have driven patrick to the airport, stopped at dunkin' for an iced coffee, checked my email (sounds good, les), and the weather, watched zoraida and rob do the local news, and i should be showering so that i can get to work early today, but decided i don't want my foot post to be the most recent on my blog. so ...

the weekend report
last weekend included:
baby shower
first birthday party
ravenswood 5k with christine
brunch by chef nikolai

more to come.
happy monday.

funny foot problem

"petite" sesamoids + high arches + distance running = xrays and ultrasounds = sesamoiditis, a week of cortisone, and custom orthotics (but only if insurance is going to cover those )... lots of blabbing here.

soo, the big-toe-joint area on my left foot (more on the underside of the foot, but radiating to entire joint) has been bothering me since just before the austin trip, which means since january. fast-forward to april, still bothering me, so i finally went into the doc:

• only hurts a little when i run, more at first, then goes away
• hurts worse when i walk, particularly after running, and when walking to work
• feels better when i tape it
• deep pain, not sharp, sometimes throbs at night but usually not much pain when not using
• way worse when barefoot vs. with shoes on

he listens to my description, feels my foot, and then tells me it's really swollen (maybe i just have fat feet, mr.!), compares to my other foot, and orders xrays thinking that i have a stress fracture.

... but NOPE! yay!

he shows me the xrays, and explains to me what sesamoids are.
then he tells me that i have high arches and a high instep.
which puts a lot of pressure on the ball of my foot, and the sesamoids.

then he also tells me that my sesamoids are really, really small. he actually said "petite," and that normal sesamoid bones would be about 1.5x larger. weird!

he says he wants to take a look via ultrasound.

he concludes that the good news is that while my tendons are super inflamed, there is no fluid in the joint. however, my tendon does not track properly between my sesamoids. he printed out a picture of it. all those factors, combined with the increase in repetitive high impact i started placing on my foot at the end of last year, has caused the sesamoiditis.

so he gave me a week-long course of cortisone - looked like a birth control pack, you take like 7 pills the first day, then 6 the next, so forth -and recommended custom orthotics (i'm thinking, what podiatrist doesn't recommend these? they did special little casts of my feet, but have to see if insurance will preauthorize these $800 suckers. they gave me some other inserts in the mean time) ... but basically it is going to be hard to get the inflammation down when i continue to run on it, but he is hoping that the cortisone gets it down, and then i can take extra care of my foot to try to heal it (btw, dr. carr is like a real runner). i'm not sure if the tendon tracking issue is a cause or a result of the problem, but i hope it works itself out. of course, i'm at risk for re-injuring, and for the same condition in my other foot. but, it can also completely go away!

all in all, an interesting morning with dr. carr, where i learned about foot anatomy. interesting!

also, my self diagnosis (ya, physicians love this) was 'turf toe,' so while that is different, since the conditions are presented together here, i figure i wasn't so far off in self-treatment (toot, toot).

sesamoids and turf toe site

from another couple sites:
Intro
Two pea-sized bones, called sesamoids, are embedded within the soft tissues under the main joint of the big toe. Even though they are small in size, the sesamoids play an important role in how the foot and big toe work. If the sesamoids are injured, they can be a source of severe pain and disability.

Anatomy
The main joint of the big toe forms the inside edge of the ball of the foot. The two small sesamoid bones are located on the underside of this joint. There is one sesamoid bone on each side of the base of the big toe.

Causes
Sesamoid pain can develop a number of different ways. When the tissues around the sesamoid bones become inflamed, doctors call the condition sesamoiditis. Sesamoiditis is often caused by doing the same types of toe movements over and over again, which happens in activities like running and dancing.

Symptoms
People with sesamoid problems usually feel vague pain under the main joint of the big toe. The sesamoids typically feel tender when touched. Movement of the big toe is often limited. People tend to notice pain mostly when their big toe is stretched upward, which can happen when the back foot pushes off for the next step. Occasionally the joint catches or pops. The catching or popping is often followed by increased pain, which usually eases after resting.

after the first two days post-visit, all i was thinking was "i wish i went to him three months ago - i'm so dumb!" it has been feeling better during the regular course of the day, but the magical cure wore off as soon as i ran on it.

i am kind of thinking that if insurance doesn't cover the inserts, that it's almost worth the money for me to buy them if it makes the pain go away. the dr. gives a discount on them if not covered. so, does anyone know: does a custom orthotic mean that it is not only sculpted for my foot, but also for the exact problem i am having? if the non-custom are helping somewhat, why would the custom ones be better? i will ask when i talk to the office next week.

history of easter lasagne (and last easter post)

the bonkos follow an orthodox calendar, so they weren't celebrating at church on our easter sunday. instead, they came over (and later elaine joined as well) to share in our traditional easter lasagne. they brought so many goodies with them, including these:

thanks guys!

history of easter lasagne

the first time patrick cooked for me was sunday dinner on easter, 2005. i was at the lyman home participating in easter egg hunt mayhem, then joined the new boy for dinner. he made me turkey meatball lasagne (enormous, like 20lbs i swear), spinach-strawberry salad, and cheesecake (too good).

2006 easter we lived together, so we did lasagne again -- the squiggles of the lasagne noodle kind of remind me of decorated easter eggs. that year we were both invited to the lyman home. and i think i was as equally unprepared as i was the first year. but i beat patrick. i think that's the only person.

2007 we were in our new home here. lasagne. again, huge. the leftovers sat in our freezer for almost a year before i realized we weren't going to finish it.

2008 we were in playa del carmen, and had lasagne made by an authentic italian couple who moved to mexico.

2009 so, this year we had to have our 5th annual easter lasagne feast. the bonkos joined, and then elaine rolled in from visiting home in indiana. and we still had tons and tons of leftovers!




and in a somewhat related conclusion, a photo of me and my dad, circa 1981? his family grew up having prime rib for easter, so ham aversion runs in the family i guess:

cool shoes, dad.

bananas

sarah, I do think that bananas are an integral ingredient of BANANA cake. but it just hit me, you might be able to get the same tender consistency with applesauce in lieu of banana mash. Voila Apple Cake?

and sarah, the other sarah, my cake book (cakes from scratch in half the time post) has proclaimed the same thing about lower temps. but i tried that and it didn't work. i even bought a thermometer to put in my oven! boo. maybe better pans will help, but the book said even the cheap ones from the bakery section of craft stores, blah, blah.

let's bake banana cake! (updated)

let's bake banana cake! turned out a little lopsided, but delicious. recipe follows.

cake ingredients:
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups buttermilk (i used 1%)

frosting ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (i used low-fat)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups icing sugar (confectioners, i presumed)
(walnuts optional for garnish)

1. Preheat oven to 275°.
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.

mushy bananananananana!

4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.

fluffy? i guess this is fluffy.

6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.

yep, i licked 'em.

7. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8. Stir in banana mixture.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

i baked three layers -- it was yummo. however, i wasn't sure that i liked it WITH the frosting. at first i only frosted the bottom layer. then the next morning, i thought the frosting tasted much better. so i frosted the second layer, too. we kept the third layer aside, frosting free.

10. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist. deliciously and cake-a-liciously dewy.
11. For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
12. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
13. Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
14. Spread on cooled cake.
15. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired.

the original one-tier.
this one was more level because i used dental floss and skimmed off the top of the cake. that was seriously very yummy! so on round two, i left the top layer as-is, lopsided and all. but i did floss through halfway down layer two, in order to add another layer of frosting. so it's two tiered, but three layers:

the revised, two-tier.

easter egg hunt for the bonkos

the best part is that the second i told them there were eggs hidden, they were racing to find them before i could even get another word out - like how many they were, what areas they were hidden in, what was inside, etc. they just went at it as if it's normal.

of course, compared to the lyman easter, so tame, so very, very tame.

do you see that blue egg in the flowers? that's the last egg they found ... the egg that was the difference between a tie or a victory for nikolai. patrick is making lasagne.

this is when nikolai found the last egg. better luck next year, c!

note on my toe

since a few of you were brave enough to comment on my toe post, a point of clarification. i do not tape my toe to prevent blisters; i have some sort of other problem that started in january. taping stabilizes my toe and prevents hyperextension. i think it's some sort of repetitive motion issue. i scheduled then cancelled a podiatrist appointment and have been putting off rescheduling for awhile. from my self-diagnosis, there is not much the doc could do. but since the problem has persisted, i made an appointment for next monday. but like i said, i think it might just be one of those things that i have to suck up and deal with! but maybe he can tell me if i'm using the right taping method.

nice how it says to shave excessive hair!

mystery gift (SOLVED!)

friday i received a cylindrical package with this poster inside:

who gave me this super fab poster?

it is from ork posteres, which was featured on urban daddy last year; i remember because i saved the email. but i don't think i ordered it myself. i mean, i've been know to be forgetful, but i really don't think i indulged myself. mystery unsolved. anyway, thank you, thank you!

this one's for slyman

since i've seen her blistery feet, this one goes out to miss sarah lyman!

these days i tape my left toe when i run. saturday morning i could not find my good tape. so i reluctantly turned to the only other athletic tape i had in the house - a gooey, sticky tape that i hate. and it hates me back. it started slipping about an hour into my run, with the toe-anchor bunching at the base of my toe. i kept running on it, thinking it might correct itself, but after another half an hour, a buddy and i ran up ahead so that i could rip off my tape. and underneath, i found this:

owie. gross.
once i relieved my foot of its demise, it was happier for the rest of the run.

happy easter, chickadees!

me too!

to everyone who has nightmares about their teeth: me too!

i think that is why i was so freaked out last friday - it was like my nightmares were coming to life! patrick called me at work to calm me down because he could tell from the emails i was sending him that i was a the verge of a breakdown.

i didn't explain it very well in the last post, but from the time the tooth broke to my first call to my dentist was a matter of moments. but then i had to go onto my insurance webpage and find a new dentist that could see me same day. after making the appointment i had to wait three hours before heading north one building. three very, very, long hours. nothing hurt though, so patrick said i could calm down. but to me, my dreams were haunting me! turns out maybe i overreacted.

so because everyone else was mentioning their toothy night horrors, too, i pulled down my dreamer's dictionary.*

"Teeth. One must, of course, correlate the action and other details of the dream, but as a general guide: false teeth signify unexpected help out of a difficult situation; broken or unusually worn down teeth are a sign of the deterioration of an important relationship; aching teeth portend family quarrels; a dream of having teeth filled promises good news; having teeth pulled forcasts favorable business or investment opportunities; loose teeth area a warning of untrustworthy friends; if they fall out or you spit them out it is a sign of a season of financial reverses; decayed teeth mean health problems - see your doctor; even and or very white and beatuful teeth forecast happiness and prosperity; very long teeth predict leagal action; one tooth longer than the other portends sad news; buck teeth augur unexpected travel; bridgwork is a suggestion that you should be more meticulous in meeting obligations; a dream featuring the roots of your teeth is a warning of lending money or gambling; to dream of having a nerve removed predicts a season of good luck; brushing your teeth indicates the clearing of obstacles which have been holding you back, unless one or more bristles gets stuck in your teeth in which case you will still overcome the obstacle but only after continued patient effort [AT THIS POINT I CALLED BS ON PATRICK AS HE WAS READING THIS TO ME SO I COULD TYPE -- BUT HE WASN'T MAKING IT UP! FOR ONCE.]; picking your teeth is a sign of false friends in your close circle."

*inside was a receipt from 12 years ago - funny! barstow outlets! from a very failed impromptu roadtrip to vegas.

not much, not much update

since my last post, i cracked a tooth while at work. a big chunk of 'tooth' came out while i was sitting at my desk (i was just sitting there, not eating or anything), so i quickly moved myself to the restroom, where i thought i would start gushing out blood: which did not happen. but i did think i was dying of some weird tooth disease and i started imagining that all my teeth were about to fall apart. it was my left, upper, back molar area - and i could not see it in the mirror quite. until a little later in the afternoon, i realized that from the side, if i pulled my cheek back, there was basically a huge gap from where the tooth broke!

called my dentist office -- all dentists were out of the office for training!! wtf, seriously!? went to a different dentist office instead, but had to wait a couple hours before i could get in. i was really freaked out and could not concentrate on work at all.

turns out, all is fine. it was actually a filling that broke from too much pressure. so now i have to get porcelain. how do you spell that? i have a temporary onlay right now while they make the porcelain piece i need. i think that's how it works.