listening to : arlo requests michael jackson and izzy requests barbie so there is a lot of both happening right now

watching : love on the spectrum us s2 (finally!) and it was worth the wait!!!!

eating : cozy meals! i’ll share some recent faves below

wearing: JEANS! who even am i!? but wow they are way more flattering than my frumpy cotton pants

been a while since i’ve done a monthly post but here’s one! january felt like the longest month ever, as soon as arlo went back to school, poppy came to visit forever and it felt like a very long unproductive stretch of time where i didn’t get much done and felt bad about it.

i think every january, i get into a little slump because i’m terrible at transitioning back into full on productive mode and then i make myself feel guilty for it lol. but the month is ending and i’m finally starting to feel a little more in the swing of things. a little bit!

we all took arlo to his first musical, MJ — because gigi raved incessantly about it. we introduced him to some michael jackson prior so he’d know the songs and obviously he took to thriller! so for the first half of the show he just kept saying “MOMMY… WHEN IS THE THRILLER?!” lolllll. he was bored out of his mind mostly, and now having seen the show myself, i get why haha. the performers were amazing but the story was actual crap and they totally glossed over all controversy by having reporters say things like “gee, there has been a lot of controversy” and michael responding by singing “that’s the price of fameeeeeee”

it didn’t help that for some reason i decided to partake in a gummy when i haven’t partaken in like 15 years and was out of my mind high because my brother didn’t warn me to not eat the whole thing hahah. arlo was being very fidgety so i had to take him to the bathroom for a break and that felt like i was climbing a mountain hahah. i was like omg can we even go to the bathroom during a show? is this even allowed? how loudly am i asking gid this? then i said sorry 125 times as we rushed out and when i got to the lobby i noticed plenty of people use the bathroom during a show and it’s not illegal haha. during intermission arlo really wanted red vines and then hated the way they tasted (rightly so) and i held the red vine looking for a trash can for what must have been 200 minutes but probably more like 20 seconds. what a ride.

when i got home and still felt it, i was calling him asking how to get it to go away and he’s like JUST ENJOY IT 😆 oh ok sure i’ll just enjoy this with my two children sitting next to me no big deal hahah. anyway, i ate some soup dumplings in a fog and it finally started to fade — i won’t be doing that again anytime soon lol but it was quite a memory for the books.

TMI?

anyway, worked on the house a little bit more — finally got the coziest couch ever and it’s made our living room a place we all want to be at all times. it’s insanely comfortable!

now focusing my efforts on getting window treatments around the house, coming up with a plan for arlos room, and working on a tiny dollhouse for izzy!

i’m still exercising twice a week with a trainer, which is incredibly expensive, so i’m trying to decide if i’ll start back up with yoga sculpt soon instead but i’ll need to go with a friend or relative because i’m way too good at not going unless i have an accountability partner.

some recipes i made and liked this month:

braised white beans with greens : very good and nice to make something that isn’t dilly bean stew for a change! (we both prefer dilly bean still though lol) i used swiss chard and added mild sausage.

chicken rice with buttered onions : this was so cozy and so delicious, but took me a long time to make. her site says 70 minutes, it took me more like 90 to properly brown the onions which is a much longer dinner experience than i can usually handle. i also had to chop three onions which my eyes could really not handle. i’m thinking about getting one of these, anyone got one and think it’s worth it? the meal was so good, but i probably wouldn’t make again till i’m an empty nester lol. also, if you like this flavor profile, chicken rice-a-roni is really not a bad sub!!! haha

garlicky chicken with lemon-anchovy sauce : i’m in my anchovy era (i blame alison roman) but this was so good and quick! it has a piccata vibe, but elevated. very good for weeknight dinner!

i’m all about adding anchovies to my chicken now, despite what gid requests, because he’s wrong and it tastes amazing. the other day i did an air fryer chicken thigh with anchovy butter (just butter, garlic, anchovy mixed together) and it was just TOO GOOD.

and — izzy loves barbie. it’s the first thing ever she’s actually wanted to watch on tv, and she hands me the remote and i say do you want to watch something? and she nods and i say “barbie?” and she nods and patiently twiddles her thumbs while it begins haha. it reminds me so much of arlo with mamma mia. she is genuinely obsessed (but she whines for me to fast forward when they’re in real world). i put on kid stuff but barbie is the thing that she wants to watch. and dance to! luckily arlo seems to enjoy it too now, it’s pretty cute how they both sit and watch together.

izzy is walking and saying “hi!” to everyone she sees now. she’s growing up so quickly!!!

ok i guess that’s about it, happy february!!!