Making A Happy Life, One Craft At A Time
It’s fall again here and I couldn’t be happier! This is one of my favorite seasons and with it comes changing leaves, cool weather, cozy fires and my very favorite, trips to the pumpkin patch. Each year we drive down to Carpinito’s to play in … Read More
These are the days where happiness is made. Where we linger over stories, and adventure. Where our make up is dirt, s’mores stuck to our lips, our hair bigger than normal, smelling of campfire smoke. These are the days where we chase sunshine’s last rays … Read More
The holidays have officially kicked off and I’m considering breaking out the maternity pants like Joey on friends. We’re gathered with family, the buzz of stories and laughter with the recordings of “Alice’s Restaurant” playing in the background. Dinner is cooking, and the house smells amazing. I can’t wait to eat everything. This year, I am grateful for my health, a good job, wonderful friends and family. Things are so good, and days like this where we talk about all that we’re grateful for remind me of how far I’ve come and how fortunate I am.
This year, we went a little crazy on the menu for Thanksgiving, and I can’t wait to eat it all and snack on the leftovers! So what’s on tap for today?
Breakfast
Goat cheese, bacon, and leek tart with chanterelle mushrooms
Mango-orange mimosas
Dinner
Appetizers:
Deviled eggs-regular and habenero
Caprese Skewers
Cranberry Wine
First Course:
Mixed green salad with candied walnuts, pomegranates, and a raspberry walnut vinaigrette.
Beets with goat cheese crumbles and pistachios
Main Course:
Deboned, honey brined turkey
Rotisserie roasted pork shoulder
Sides:
Mashed potatoes
Pear, cranberry, and port conserva
“Green Slime”-pistachio pudding, cool whip and marshmallows
Pineapple coconut salad
Applesauce
Roasted squash medley with port poached cherries, and almonds
Chorizo spinach stuffing (gluten free)
Turkey stock gravy
Wheat bread with orange cranberry pecan butter
Rolls
Drinks:
Prosecco, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, more cranberry wine
Dessert:
Gluten free vegan cashew and date cheesecake
Cranberry walnut tart
Vanilla bean ice cream
Sandeman’s Port
Prosecco
There you have it! I’m so excited to dig in and eat. While it’s a lot of food for 8 people, we’ll all leave with a ton of leftovers. Full bellies and happy hearts, and isn’t that a great way to spend the day?
How are you spending the holiday and how do you give thanks?
Yours in food and happiness,
Raina
Happy 4th of July, all! Tomorrow I turn 38. It’s not really a milestone birthday, but it is another year closer to 40. I’m pretty excited for that birthday, ushering in a new decade, closing out the old one. I’m excited to see that that … Read More
Oh, how I love this time of year! The leaves are falling, the weather is cool and crisp, and everything is bathed in a golden glow. Fall came so quickly this year. The hot and sunny days were quickly replaced by shorter days requiring more and … Read More
Almost two years ago, this tiny wild child came into my life. We’ve had good days, we have had rough days, and we have had amazing days. All the days have pushed me to be better than I was the day before, and I know this will continue with each passing day, month, and year.
When Izzy was born, we were in a whirlwind of doctors, specialists, hospitals, and equipment (for those of you new to the blog, you can read more about that experience here).We longed for the day when kiddo could eat with us, and when we didn’t have to spend our time around a feeding pump, or a bolus syringe. We wondered if that would ever end, and if we would ever experience “normal”. It turns out, normal is overrated, and when you spend the first week of your child’s life in Children’s Hospital, you get your very own baby care manual.
After a week in the NICU and specialty care, two surgeries, hours of hospital visits and home care visits and who knows how many medical supply shipments over almost the past two years, Izzy is officially weaned from her g-tube and is eating on her own.
It feels so good to say that!
It wasn’t an easy journey. We started a couple weans in the past, and they just didn’t stick. We all ended up tired, sad, and frustrated. This time though, we had a lot of support! We worked with our tube weaning clinic team at Seattle Children’s and our feeding specialist at NW Center Kids. Folks came to the house weekly and we worked with Izzy to help her relearn to eat and swallow. Once she was able to master those techniques, we began the actual wean which was reducing her overall calories down to 30% to trigger hunger. She would do well for the first few days, live on Goldfish crackers the next few days, but eventually she learned and we used the g-tube less and less. Here we are now, feeding her what we eat and having her choose her own meals. We’re working on meal timing, versus just grazing all day (a work in progress for me as well!), but the main thing is that she is eating consistently.
Now that the hard stuff is behind us, we can focus on the fun. Our days are spent playing, painting and exploring. She loves climbing and hates butterflies. She dresses herself and insists on wearing hats as much as possible. She’s obsessed with boots and anything tiny (again, except for butterflies. I don’t get it) and is just the happiest little thing. She plays hard and then sleeps hard.
Dear reader, I am so, so lucky. Thank you for being on this journey with me too!
On a completely different note-stay tuned for some posts this week about drinks and new holiday recipes (buckwheat whiskey cocktails or chocolate bourbon pecan pie, anyone!?) Some DIY goodies-I’m whipping up some arnica and calendula salves, and even some beauty and date night recommendations.
It’s been an amazing couple weeks, and I can’t wait to share more, but I wanted to share the good news about kiddo 🙂
Yours in happiness,
Raina
