Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Blog

A few weeks ago, my friend Amber asked if I'd do some pledge of allegiance to the blog for 31 days in America, and I said no. I can not, will not pledge to write on my blog for any given period of time, because I have not all year. Scratch that. I only have six times this entire year.

Six times.

This is sad for a variety of reasons. Most of which I can not talk about. Which only adds to the lack of blogging. It's a vicious cycle, this not blogging thing. I don't know how most of the world does it. The not blogging.

Because, in retrospect and in truth, it has taken a lot more energy for me to not blog.

Meaning, the guilt and longing associated with not blogging has far outweighed the time, effort and consequence it takes to blog. So I choose that. The time and effort. And consequence. From today forward. And so begins again The Queso.

The Texas Queso

• 4 cups grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 12 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 6 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup minced white onion (about 1 small onion)
• 1 (4-ounce) can diced mild green chiles, juices reserved

Place cheeses in a large bowl, sprinkle with cornstarch, and toss. Transfer cheese mixture to a large saucepan and add milk. Set over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is smooth and melted, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in onion and chiles.

Enjoy.

Oh Happy Day

It's been a wild week.

But I came in the office to find a ton of happy greetings,
including this lovely photo from my friend Kristen.

I'm so thankful for all the blessings in my life.

And I'm super excited to celebrate another year in this wonderful world.

Don't Talk To My Husband.

He's wearing headphones for a reason.

James is building complex financial software for very cool company. One of his co-workers just sent this to me. As you can see, he's very busy thinking. And coding. And architecting and stuff. So don't talk to him. Trust me.

Simplify Media = 10,000 New Songs

James introduced me to this magical concept called Simplify Media today. I really have no idea what it is or how it works. But as far as I can tell, you go to the Simplify Media web site and download an application that magically appears on your computer and allows you to share iTunes libraries over the internet.

In other words and most importantly, with the click of a few buttons, I now have access to my husband's ridiculously gigantic collection of music.

This also means that I'm now listening to Glasvegas and Low vs Diamond almost nonstop.

But it goes both ways. I plan to share my latest finds. Like Chris Mann (who will be at Mom 2.0 Summit on February 20th). I also have a surprisingly large collection of The Wiggles. I know. I'm a giver.

Obviously Simplify works out better for some of us than it does for others.

30 Days to Make a Habit

I wrote the above on Twitter two weeks ago and got a number of disagreeing responses. This doesn't really matter, and is probably an entirely different post (because he so is, and I'll tell you why), but the point is, Will Smith is smart. As I was typing that Twitter post, I was watching him on Jay Leno, and he said something that made a lot of sense to me.

He says he attempts to set an example for his kids by reading everyday and running everyday. His philosophy is, if you do these two things, almost everything else falls in line.

This makes a lot of sense to me. Read everyday. Run everyday. Simple. I'm adding write everyday as well, and that takes me to my next three ambitions for 2009.

Read everyday. Not a lot. Just a little. Right before sleeping. I'd like to finish one book a month. Totally doable.

Run everyday. To be realistic, everyday is four days a week in my mind. And running is walking. Or yoga. Or running. Whatever. Movement of some kind. At least a little.

Write everyday. This doesn't mean write on this blog. This just means write somewhere. (I have been posting daily at Cool Stuff, so there's that.) This really isn't a problem. In fact, it's a gimme goal.

So far I've kept to these. Okay, it's only the 11th, but I'm all for celebrating baby steps.

I'm also attempting to make four Blurb books and to cook more.

Hey, it could happen.

Reality Check. I need to read more.

I traded in my books for a laptop. Literally. Figuratively. Compulsively. Without really thinking about it or meaning to, sometime over the last two years I began to spend all my reading time online. Reading online. But still.

This is a surprise from someone who once broke up with a cute boy about 2 minutes after he said, "Books are over. Reading fiction is a waste of time." Oh yes I did.

And I'm here to say, even though it may have seemed so in my own household, books are so not over. Not so much (now that phrase is over, according to this 2009 list of "Banished" words.) But books, no. If they ever went away for some reason, they're back.

Just like depressions are good for design, they're great for the permanent art form of alibris.

Seriously.

Mark my words. 2009 is going to be the year of the book. Watch for it.

(Also this book by Guy Kawasaki. It's awesome. Even if it's not fiction. In fact, it's not fiction at all. And in this case, that's what makes it great. Check it out.)

(Double also, I noticed that Monica has resolved to read more this year. And I noticed this on the Mom2summit flickr feed. They're having a big contest over the next 10 days. If you post a photo representation of your resolution, you're entered to win a free pass to the Mom2Summit in Houston in February. I'll be posting resolution shots everyday. I have 12 after all.)

Being So Resolved

Each year, everyone in my department at work writes secret goals and puts them in a sealed envelope to open the next year and see if they met them. Kinda like 'The Secret' meets a time capsule. The theory being that there's power in things written down... even if you don't remember them. Like magic. But I was thinking about it, and it seems if there is power in words you forget, surely there is even more power in those you deliberately write down to remember.

And since 'tis the season to make a resolution, I'm going to make 12. Like the 12 days of Christmas. Or the 12 months of the year. I know it sounds a bit overwhelming, but I do better when I have more to do. Plus they're totally doable. And I want to do them.

The first one has everything to do with this space right here. The Queso. And Cool Stuff con Queso. And Hurricane Tracking. I'm resolved to doing more here in 2009. This will include a redesign and a lot more entries. The last part of last year I found it very difficult to make time to spend time here. And I was always pretty sad about that. But since a number of these 12 will be supported here (they're somewhat woven together), it makes sense that this one should be the first.

I feel super motivated for all things to come in 2009. In fact, I was ready to start before it started.

The week between Christmas and New Year's has always been one of my favorites. It's such a great combination of laziness and ambition wrapped in long open days. And on Monday of this week I was so excited about what is to come that I packed up every bit of holiday around our house, boxed it up, and put it away to make space for what's next.

I can hardly wait.

2009 Rules.

Here's to the greatest year yet!

All the best from the Mayes home to you and yours...

Cheers!

Black Eyed New Year's Rockin' Peas con Queso

This is a bit of a repost, but I've had some requests...so here goes.

I wouldn't say we're traditional, but we firmly believe that some traditions are sacred. Case in point: the New Year's peas. So if you cook nothing else this year, you only have a few hours left to cook these. It's silly simple.

The Peas Stand Alone

Black Eyed Peas
Water
Cooked bacon
Onion
Worcestershire sauce
Red wine
Salt/Pepper

Soak 2 cups of Black Eyed Peas overnight in H20. (Or buy them pre-soaked from Whole Foods or whatever). Rinse off and put in large pot. Stir in at least 6 cups of H20, 1 cup diced/lean cooked ham (or bacon) (or bacon + bacon drippings, if you're feeling really crazy), 1 chopped onion, 1-3 Tbs Worcestershire sauce (and/or a generous glub of red wine!), 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper. Cover, simmer for 2 hrs.

Then eat them for good luck, for goodness sake! I'll be eating them in this lovely red bowl.

Tomorrow we're trying them with queso. Oh yes we are. I'll let you know how that works out.

Hey a color is an adjective, lady.

Me: So you know Santa is coming in 14 days right?

Harry: Yeah.

Me: And you know he'll bring you a treat or two if you're a really good boy.

Harry: Yeah.

Me: And you can ask him for what you want, and he'll maybe bring it to you. I mean, if the elves can make it, and if it fits in his sleigh.

Harry: I know.

Me: So what do you want?

Harry: Rock and roll.

Me: Really? What kind of rock and roll do you want?

Harry: Brown.

I have a theory that people who are hard to shop for are genetically disposed to be this way. In other words, all the boys in my family will be receiving coal this year. Fair waring.

Elvis Has Left the Building

Happy October!

I can not believe October is only hours from being over. Especially when I realize this is the first post I've written this month. Sorry guys. No excuses. But I've chosen to spend almost all of my hardly-there free time to finish up and refine the kirtsy book. It's almost there. But in the midst of it all and in the meantime, we've had a pretty fantastic October around here. I give you some photographic proof.

With excellent birthday parties...
Photo by Jenny

So we had the Hurricane's party a month late.
Because of another Hurricane...Ike.
And because we wanted to celebrate in tandem with our good pal Grayson.
Another Photo by Jenny
Heck, all the Photos are by Jenny

And at Cousin Hannah's acrobatic par-tay.
And with lots of football...

And through a pumpkintastic Halloween...

And finally, with Elvis.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

And now for my very favorite...Photo by Anna Center, age 7

We're looking forward to what's ahead in November.

Happy Birthday Hurricane Harry!

Over the last week, we've been pretty focused on Hurricane Ike around here, but today it's all about Hurricane Harry.

Because today he is three.

If you ask him how old he is, he'll hold up one finger on each hand and yell "TWO!!" And if you tell him that 'no, actually you're three today', he will argue with you. Because he is right and you are wrong, and he doesn't want to be three, he wants to be two.

Because when he turns three, he has to get rid of the very last pacifier we still have that hasn't been lost.

So tonight when we tucked him to bed, the paci was gone. We were a bit nervous about that, and I actually wondered if we should put it off again... like I had when he turned 18 months old, and two years old, and you get the gist. But we thought we'd go ahead and try it anyway, and it resulted in maybe 20 seconds of whining.

But then he became very quiet, very quickly, and we were beyond proud of our exceptional progenitive prowess and mad parenting skillz. Until James stopped back in a about 15 minutes later and found him lying there in the dark playing Mario Brothers on my Nintendo DS Lite. Doing quite well at it, according to reports. Playing a video game on a level that I didn't even know existed.

He's two.

Or at least he was at the time.

Photo of a boy in his treasured Lightning McQueen pajamas, taken on Saturday by Karen, courtesy of Chookooloonks.

Bad haircut, courtesy of me.

Hurricane Ike Didn't Hit Central Texas

So. That's where we went. And that's where we're going to stay until things get a little better in Houston. For anyone who's been calling, emailing, twittering, or screaming at me for not updating Facebook, we're at my parents' house... they just happened to be in Nashville visiting my sister.

Last time, we stayed in Houston. We had to. I was in labor and delivery. Delivering.

But this time, we were out of here. We decided late Thursday to head toward Central Texas, and a drive that usually takes two-and-a-half to three hours, took almost six. Not good. Three hours into the drive, we were seriously thinking we were idiots to get on the road. But our house was built in 1920 with almost original paper-thin windows, and it's surrounded by giant trees. I just didn't want to "hunker down" in the middle-of-the-night hurricane with an almost three year old. Even more, I didn't want to be without power for days. Especially when we had a perfectly good spot to go.

So we went.

We're a bit worried about our place in Houston (this building is across the street from where we used to live)... word is, power and water are out... windows are out, and trees are down all over our neighborhood.

But here, we have sunshine, electricity, water, sangria, internet, and Wiggles videos. So we're set.I've been on the phone all morning with work...making phone calls and touching base with everyone. Looks like I'm the Austin office this week. And it sounds like a lot of people are heading this way. We're not the only ones who want power.

Things aren't great in Houston right now. People survived the storm just fine but weeks and weeks without power and water...that's a problem. ATM machines are down, grocery stores are closed, air conditioning isn't working (a huge deal in Houston), plumbing isn't working (yikes), and the long list goes on and on.

Part of me wishes I were there to help out... perhaps it's evacuation guilt.

But most of me is just really glad I'm here with my husband and son. With electricity and water to make coffee... just one of the perks of power. I'm sure there are a million of them that I'm not thinking of right now, perks that my friends in Houston are wishing for today. While we're here wishing the best for them and hoping for quick returns to normal for everyone along the Gulf Coast.

UPDATE: Above photo taken on our street from CosmoPolitician. Thanks for checking on our house, Monica!

*Harper Seed Farm photo from Cynical Pink's Flickr photostream

Ike is Pretty

So should we stock up w/ peanut butter and water?

Or should we get the heck out of dodge?

We can't decide.

Superhero Necklace Auction for Nie Nie

I'm not sure if you have heard about Stephanie and Christian from Nie Nie Dialogues. I started reading Stephanie's blog a while back after she guest blogged on my friend Gabrielle's site, and I love her quirky spirit, smart ideas, and fantastic sense of design. In fact, a few weeks ago, I was absolutely inspired by her "back to school breakfast" (Who does that?! Awesome!) and family theme for the year..."Be Prepared".


Her intuition was amazing. But no one could have prepared for what happened. A few days later, Stephanie and Christian were in a terrible plane crash. They both survived, but have very serious injuries.


This family needs our help. Stephanie needs our help. She was severely burned all over her body and has months of recovery ahead. It will be a painful, extensive, expensive healing process. And money is the last thing they need to worry about right now.

So some online friends are putting together an online auction to benefit Nie Nie and her family. There are 165+ items being auctioned off over the next few days.

Here's one.



Bid on a Superhero Necklace: Since Nie Nie and her family will all have to be superheros through this process, I thought it fitting to auction off Superhero Necklace (Winner's choice. Check them out! How will you choose?) by Andrea Scher. Legend has it that Andrea blesses each necklace. I think with this one we'll ask her to bless the winner and Nie Nie's family too. What a great reminder of the blessings we all have!

How to Bid: Leave a comment in the comment section below with your bid amount. Bid increments must be no less than $1.00. Auction will close Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 10pm Central Standard Time. The winner will submit payment to the Stephanie Nielson Fund Paypal Account and send the receipt to me to receive their prize.

Happy bidding! Go hug your family now.

XOXO,
Laura

Tilapia Tacos with Peach Relish. Delish.

We spent our last weekend of summer at the beach. Which was great. It also, as usual, motivated two things. Being in the sand and surf makes me want to:

1. Eat. a.) healthy and b.) fish.

2. Crave cilantro. I have no idea why this is. But it is, and it's on. And there was no way I was going to shut up about cilantro unless I just hit the kitchen and whipped up something that contained a lot of it. So. I did. And now I give you this kick arse little recipe I found in an old Cooking Light magazine:

Tilapia Tacos w/ Peach Relish

Salsa:

2 cups finely chopped peeled peach (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Remaining ingredients:
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 pound tilapia, cut into 2-inch strips
Cooking spray
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas

To prepare salsa, combine first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add fish to bowl, tossing to coat. Place fish in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until desired degree of doneness, turning once.

Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish and salsa evenly among tortillas.

The entire recipe was super easy. The chopping was the hardest part, and that's not exactly rocket science. I was able to grab all the ingredients from Super Target of all spots, except for the the tilapia (because I wanted fresh not frozen) and the panko. And both of those were totally worth dealing with the sociological case study that is Whole Foods.

All in all it was a total crowd pleaser. Since the crowd was only me and the husband, and I was really needing some cilantro. The Hurricane ate the baked tilapia straight up with ketchup. He seemed to dig that too.

Serve with: Blue Moon Belgian White Ale (with orange slices)

Soundtrack: Athlete, Beyond the Neighbourhood

Stop. Behold. Its Edouard. And Karen.

So everyone is freaking out, FREAKING OUT, about now. Preparing for the stormy storm with way too many vowels in its name.

Or maybe it's just the people on TV freaking out.

And the people at the store. On his way home from working out, James stopped by our neighborhood grocery to grab a few items. As he walked in, a woman walking out warned him, "It's a freaking mad house in there." And apparently she was right. People were going cra-zazy, grabbing water and prayer candles off the shelves like Noah.

So I'm hoping everyone is overreacting. And this bad boy is more like its cousin Rita. Only without the C-section.

Also, I went to check out chron.com, you know, just in case the TV and frozen foods isles lie. And look who I spotted under Mr. Edouard.
My girl Karen! Freaking front page! If you haven't yet, you should check out LensHouston, her very cool Chron photography roundup. My prediction: there are gonna be some interesting storm photos soon.

Here's to low water!

The Kirtsy/Alltop Party

This past BlogHerBlogShe weekend was super swell.
So swell it may take more three months to process and/or recover.
Starting with the Kirtsy/Alltop party.

Last spring, Guy asked us kirtsy chicks if we'd like to help him host a party at his house. We thought about it for about a millisecond and started screaming YES!!! in his general direction. And then we started planning. With two great sponsors, YouData (my new favorite company, great people!) and ListenShare (amazingly fantastic folks and friends) With five incredible artisanal wine sponsors from California like Palmeri and Terriors. And Israeli Wine Direct. With tons of great people and food and fun. And 500 swell swag bags for this party and the People's Party. It was an amazing night. Check it.

Starting with these videos from Jesse.

And these stolen photos from Guy.
The buttons.

The YouData Tshirt Swag Prep

Kristen

A Few Fab Kirtsy Editors
(more here)

And from Jordan
(The brilliance behind so much of the party...
including the amazing red lanterns)


The vintage red sign in typewriter

The paella

And from Rohit.
(more here)

If pictures are worth 1,000 words, then I just wrote a novel.
(But here's one more, maybe my favorite.)