Meringue Mistakes

Well I have found that after you caramelize the to of meringue, you need to let it "set." Okay, so here is my issue, I made a chocolate meringue tart

names after my daughter, "Burke's Chocolate Meringue Tart", and I did not allow enough time

for it to set. But the real issue was not the "setting" the real issue was that i didn't have my oven high enough to brown the meringue so instead when it finally was "brown," the meringue was hard and the filling, chocolate cream, melted through the crust! This was not my day! Speaking of, this was Christmas eve when I was putting on dinner for 10 people! That

On the up side, I made a wonderful cherry pie that was great for Christmas eve dessert. We did end up eating the chocolate meringue tart for dessert as well,, and although it was not the prettiest thing... the tart was quite good! My lesson in meringue today... get a small hand torch from ace hardware (since it is better than the one in the kitchen stores) and do meringue that way.

As for Christmas day, after learning my lesson about meringue, I decided to do a chocolate CREAM pie instead. That came out much better and much more appetizing. I love baking and can't wait to do more things, i just need to be more careful about my "creations."

I love to try new things with my style of baking. I am always up for new creations and love trying something different. Next on the agenda.... cake decorating class! I'm going to take that class in February and hope that I can do well.

Fashionista!

So first off it has been WAY too long since I have posted anything. Sometimes it truly is just hard to find the time, amazing to think that "blogging" would actually be a luxury. It is crazy to think that in just over a month I'm going to have a 1-year-old! It is surprising and shocking to me that my life has changed so much in this past year and she has become such a fantastic, beautiful edition to our family. Which brings me up to the fashions of tomorrow... that I'm afraid of what this world is coming to and what my daughter could potentially be a part of. I do not want to be a pill, I just need a set of blogging to "vent," after all, that is what blogging is right?

Now that it is getting cold I think a few things need to be set straight, in the way of fashion. I would never claim to be a "Fashionista" of any type. I mean come on, my uniform is basically jeans and a women's style t-shirt. I may sometimes include a sweatshirt or mix it up and do a sweater; but over all I do not make it a point to be up to date with fashion. My two best friends are fabulous when it comes to the newest trends and what is "hot," I am not one of those people; I wish I was, but the reality is, I'm not. Now that I have let you know that; let me get to my point. Something needs to be said for the train-wrecks that I'm seeing today. Anna (one of my best friends) and I were talking one day and found that there are a couple of basic rules when it comes to fashion. First off, "If you wore it the first time around, you CANNOT wear it again." What does that mean, you ask? If you wore the bubble skirt, the flannel (and you are not a lumberjack), the Band-dress or the jelly shoes... the first time around, you cannot wear them again.

I do not know what to do or what I should tell my daughter when she is 12 years old and her friends are wearing tiny mini-skirts and UGGs. First off, they are not cute; they are suppose to be "functional." Second, this is Southern California, it barely rains and never snows. Unless you are going to big bear or camping in the snow on a regular basis, you should not be wearing them. If you are like my sister-in-law and living in Canada; you should feel free to wear them or you are like my friend, autumn, who travels to the northeast on a regular basis; otherwise it is like wearing a fleece vest, "my arms are not cold, but my chest is." In other words, it makes "NO SENSE."

So, today I was with some friends hanging out in a sweatshirt and jeans (of course), and who should walk by me but a pack of women in the "should not" category that I'm talking about. It was just one right after the other. Another rule, if you are in your twenties you are not allowed to wear "odd numbers" on your clothes, 1,3,5,7,9... Those are clothes in the "junior" section and you are no longer a "junior," deal with it! So these women who were walking by could have been pretty, relaxed women emphasis on relaxed! One, was wearing the UGG/short-shorts combo that I am talking about, the other wearing the "junior" clothes, and finally the third was wearing a bright blue shirt that had word, "meercats" with pictures of them underneath. I do not want to seem judgemental, and I hope I am not coming off that way too much. It is just you could tell these women COULD help it. You could tell that they were actually trying to look good they had the intention, it was just poorly executed for one thing they were over the age limit of all three looks. In fact, I am over the age limit of all three looks.

Seriously, to everyone out there, (and the few that may read this) "Please buy a mirror and actually use it before you leave the house. If you do not have a mirror, get a friend, partner, spouse, mom or just SOMEONE who can give you the thumbs up or thumbs down on your ensemble." Good luck and happy shopping!

Moving Time

So as I have a few minutes in between the feedings I am trying to decide what will be next. I end up doing"chores" which of course is not fun, but I have been able to knock out eight loads of laundry, and actually put them away! I always say it is never going to get to the point that I have that much laundry and somehow it always seems to pile up. I know things will be different when apartment living is over; when we have our own washer and dryer, (it can not get any worse!) Now that is the next challenge: MOVING with an 8 month old.

We are in the process of buying a house in Westminster/ Huntington Beach; and what a process it is! I do not think I have ever signed my name so many times. After awhile the paperwork just becomes a big "pile" on the table and it eventually turns into, "I know that disclosure is here somewhere..." Do not get me wrong, I am so excited! Burke finally gets her own room and we will all get a little more sleep. But my least favorite is the packing! I should be a pro at it, I have moved enough times, 12 to be exact. This will be lucky 13 which means I should be planning on staying for quite awhile.

Boxes are coming in but I just can not seem to get into the "packing" mood. I know it has to get done and I have started but... this part SUCKS! I want to just pick up everything and move without having to pack anything. Is that possible? The good thing is that I could put Burke in front of the TV for an hour to watch a Baby Einstein video, the Baby Neptune one, and she will watch that specific one for a good hour. It is amazing! She does not watch them that much so when she does, she concentrates. The funny thing is that it is ONLY the Baby Neptune video, the "water video" any others she loses interest in.

She is so incredible. she has now managed to pull herself up in her crib and now will hod on and walk from one end of the crib to the other! It is unbelievable to think just this past Christmas she was still "Baby Yoda." We had no idea who she was or what she would look like. We did not even know if she was going to be a boy or girl (at least I did not know, John said the whole time she was a girl.) It still amazes me. And she is learning so much everyday. I look at pictures of her from just a few months ago and she looks like a totally different girl. She is already said "dada" and every once in a while "hi." Last night she started getting the hang of "giving kisses" before she would just lean in but now she really will give kisses; open mouth of course, but it is a start! I can not wait for the future but I am truly enjoying every minute with her now!

"Megan Movies"

I love a good movie. I think we all do. I love to "veg out" for about two hours and just sit back and be truly ~ entertained. I'm sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, baby is asleep and husband is out golfing with friends; and I am finding myself flipping between three movies... three "Megan Movies." I am watching: Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, and What Happens in Vegas. The Megan Movie tri-fecta! The cherry on top of a GREAT Labor Day weekend, and I still have another day to hang out.

I watched a couple of other great movies today which are on my new favorites list. I saw "Bottle Shock" for the first time and "Never Been Kissed" for the eightieth also today! I loved "Bottle Shock," a movie about making wine in Napa; what could be better? Oh, did i forget to mention Christopher Pine is in it. SO CUTE! All I need is a great glass of wine to go with it.

I am growing up?

When did I grow up? How did this happen? It feels like only yesterday I was playing barbies with my best friend, Anna, at my house in Lakewood. It is crazy for me to think that I have gone to school, graduated from college, had a career, got married to my best friend- John, and had a gorgeous baby girl- Burke. I still have "those feeling" every now and then, like everyone does... I feel like I'm this little girl "looking in" on what seems to be my life. I feel like one day I'm just going to wake up and be 10-years-old. It is so strange to me to think that when I was nine, Anna and I use to "play teenagers & college" ...we were 18! The weird part is I am NOW 10 years OLDER than what we were pretending to be! Oh, to be able to use my imagination like that again!

Speaking of imagination... where did it go? It seems today, that our lives are so planned out so monopolized by technology that we don't have time to daydream about who we are or what we want to be. We are so caught up with out video games, tweets, you tube and Facebook that we forget to "leave a little mystery " to our lives. We forget that when we were in 4nd grade we were unstoppable and were going to be an astronaut, a writer or a doctor. Now we are hoping and day dreaming about MARRYING a doctor. When I was young, Anna and I use to draw maps that led to basically no where and would ride from one house to the other on our bikes all over the neighborhood. With the way that society is .... sadly, I can't see myself allowing Burke to do the same, times have changed.

Do not get me wrong, I am still that fun loving, free-flowing girl that will talk to anyone and everyone and I see those traits in Burke. My issue, is that the world has changed and it's not just one person that is the odd-ball that stands out in the neighborhood. There are many people that unfortunately, you can not trust and you need to LOOKOUT for your children. I never understood that until I became a parent. (Yes, I know mom, I am eating my words from when I was younger!) I was the kid that just wanted to "GO"... go anywhere...I just wanted to experience the world. Now I understand why my parents had to restrain me from being "too friendly" to everyone. It was not me, it was the other people. I just see it now with Burke. She is friendly, social and has so much love to give that it scary to be a parent.

I just want to know what happened. I know I always wanted to be a parent, but I never expected another human to consume my life like she has. I just feel like I want to be with her all the time. I know I need to start to pull away a little and let her experience life for herself and I need to regain my life, but I just love being with my family. I will start to do new things and have my own experiences again. I have already started... I took a trapeze class a couple of months ago and next month I am going to take a cake decorating class. I can not wait to start class but until then, John Burke and I are just going to have a great time out while all the other kids are back in school!

Please Don't Stop The Music

What a difference a few years make...It is amazing to me that over the years; we don't realize how much our tastes really change. Take music for example. There is something to be said for a really great live version of "Layla" by Eric Clapton or a mother singing to her beautiful daughter a lighter, simpler version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." No matter who you are or what country you are in or from; music has an influence over your life. With that said, your music tastes change over the years, even slightly.

It so crazy to see that there is such a cosmic pull in your body when certain music plays. There are always "those songs." You know the ones that when played no matter where you are it is like an out of body experience. I know for me when I listen to "The Pot" by Tool, no matter where I am or what I'm doing I just... LET GO (which of course, I can't do while driving). It just makes me want to "dance it out" whatever I'm feeling at the moment. The reason I mention this, six or seven years ago I would have never thought such an "experience" could happen. I always listened to music, loved music, sang and danced; but it was only in those past seven years I have found how it can totally CHANGE your whole demeanor. How you can have one of those terrible, horrible, nothing is going right, kind of days and then you put on a little Bob, and you know that every little thing is going to be alright!

I have been going through my old Cd's; playing them one by one and singing every word (because I still know them somehow) and thinking, "why do those songs just stick like napalm?" I have not seen many 30-something year-old men blaring, Raffi, out their car windows lately; but if they have children they know every word to "Baby Beluga" because of their children and their own past. I remember growing up to my mom singing "You are My Sunshine " and now 28 years later singing it to my own daughter. I realize then that great music, " your music" last forever and is swayed by that period in your life.

I can feel the effects when a certain song comes on the radio or a specific memory flashes through my mind in the blink of an eye over hearing my favorite song. I know for me there are always certain songs that I permanently attach a person to. I could hear "I Saw Him Standing There" (Tiffany's version) and I'm 10 years-old again with my best friend, Anna, and we are putting on a show for her sister and her friends...Oh, and I still know the dance moves to this day! There is the "go to" song for karaoke, "Last Dance." Then, there are those rare times where your hear a band or singer for the first time, and it literally "changes your life." For me, that was Tori Amos, and my Uncle Jim introduced me to her when I was about 12 and it meant the world to me! I know then what my new dream was, song writing. Unfortunately, I could not play an instrument to be able to write music to the lyrics. Then there is that special song that I danced with my husband to "Making Memories of Us" by Keith Urban and that song will always remind me of my first husband an wife dance an how I truly felt at that exact moment, in love. Or if I turn on a little Bob Marley, I'm right back in Jamaica with the crystal blue water on naked island with a mudslide or a rum punch in my hand. I then discovered dancing (S-factor), and there are still songs that just make me "come alive" and feel the music. I hear "Gardenia" by Mandy Moore or "Closer" by Kings of Leon and I'm transformed into this creature that is just in my own world. It is an over whelming feeling the first time that you truly let go and get out of your head.

Now it seems to have come full circle as my daughter, Burke, is being so heavily influenced by music through her parents. Since she was a sparkle in my eye, she has been listening to music. She listens to everything from Tool or Metallica, to Bach, to Chris Botti, to Sugarland or Taylor Swift, she has heard it all. I could swear the other day I caught her singing in the car with me (she is seven months old). I was driving down the freeway and she was wide awake and happy. She pulled her Nuk out of her mouth and started babbling along with me and the music. I heard her, turned down the music and she stopped, then turned the music back up and she started up again. Coincidence? I hope not!

It's My First!

So here we are... first time for everything, right? My first attempt at blog. I have found that I'm behind in the times and I need my husband's help to "download a template." Sad. I am still new to the setup, so bare with me. I feel like I have something to say, but what is it? Is it my life, my relationships, other's relationships, vacation, my family life, my work life, recipes, life with my friends, things I love, things I hate or ALL of the above? I'm not sure which way my focus is going. I would hope to touch on all of it. All I know is that I only have enough time... between feedings!

Things I should do on a sunday afternoon... Clean the house, organize my papers, start packing, make dinner for my husband, and make more baby food. What am going to do instead? Hang with my family, go see District 9, and have a nice dinner at my mom's house. That is my idea of "Sunday Funday!" Sometimes you just have to hang and enjoy a glass of wine.