Cheap Makeshift Daily Latte

I love a good Starbucks soy latte. My stomach has never really handled regular old coffee the best, but I always want the caffeine. That said, Starbucks is not on my daily spending list anymore. We are thinking about our future, a new house, and how to save a few pennies and a drink that costs over $3/day didn't make the cut.

We have a Keurig, and I could buy the ready made lattes that you can pop in, but they never quite do it for me. They always taste more like a chalky hot chocolate to me than a foamy goodness latte. I also realize in theory, we could invest in a cappuccino machine and make our own lattes but hello saving money.

So I toss a half-calf in the Keurig (I never fully weaned back onto full caffeine post pregnancy and a full year plus of nursing, plus I like the taste better. While it's brewing, I put in my sugar and/or splenda depending on my choice that day.

I choose the smaller of the two options (if you have the newer Keurig you probably choose the tiniest one if you wanted to- or the medium one) because I want room for my frothy milk. Then once it is brewed I take a teeny splash of vanilla extract to it.

We keep soymilk in the house. I know there are some people who say soy is bad for you, but I only have it in my coffee each day because I'm lactose intolerant and it's only a couple of ounces. Now here is the secret to my madness coffee: I shake it as hard as I can. Now no, it's not the foamy goodness from starbucks that's hot when it comes out, but it does work! As soon as I'm done shaking, I put it in the already brewed coffee.

Delicious morning treat- and much cheaper than the daily stop at Starbucks. The holiday cups are out and the peppermint lattes are calling my name, but I know I can pick up a Peppermint Mocha  creamer and fulfill this need the same way. Here's to home made coffee ! 

September Gardening.

Oh my goodness! Our garden, that only produced strawberries earlier this summer, is now flourishing with veggies. It's gorgeous and smells amazing and the abundance of tomatoes this house has is a little bit out of control.

I went out earlier today to scope it out with Sienna and one of her little friends (who kept plucking the tiny yellow cherry tomatoes and telling me mmmm as she popped them in her mouth one by one). The tomato vines are growing into our trees, our bushes, and way off the tomato cages/bamboo shoots we put out there for them. WAY OFF. We have so many tomatoes I'm begging neighbors to bring over a basket and go shopping {free shopping, that is}. The yellow cherry tomatoes are so delicious. Our neighbor just told us to slice them in half, olive oil them up, salt, pepper, garlic and then bake them in the oven and save in fridge for salads, sandwiches, salsas. Sounds like an amazing plan since we have so many!

And... and the jalepenos. There are two huge bushels of them. Anyone need some spice in their life? Come and get them... I'll even pick them for you.

Also? Eggplant! Mmm. The other day I plucked an eggplant for eggplant rollatini and it was melt in your mouth amazingly delicious. I split the recipe in half since I just used one big eggplant. Jamie requested seconds and thirds and we cleared the whole (small) pan in one sitting. We have about four outside right now. I picked one today and am thinking I'll repeat the recipe this week too using our own home grown tomatoes.

We always just collect them in a big Tupperware container. Even though we don't use pesticides on them, we see a plethora of lovely bug species living on and around our veggies so in an attempt not to devour some spiders with our fruits and vegetables, I try to soak all of them right in that container. Below are a couple pics of today's full harvest (just what we took from the ground, there is enough for a family of 50 out there still). Talk about farm to table, eh? All kidding aside, it does feel pretty darn good to produce our own food and eat healthy while we are also saving money. I only wish I could grow cheese!

Soak them in cold water, take them out and set to dry... and tonight we will dig in. I'm thinking two-tomato salsa and chips for an app. YUM. 

And seriously, if anyone needs some veggies in their life, give me a call - call us Walls Farms lately!

Be back hopefully later tonight with an update on our latest house project that started on a whim and now demands to be finished before the weekend is through.

XOXO

Quick Dinner

This is for real the one pot wonder.

I made this pasta last night. I changed it a tiny bit, but it's so easy and SO GOOD that I couldn't help but share. Oh and it was dinner last night, lunch today, and dinner tonight. It makes a ton!

My only actual "jobs" were to chop the onion and tomato. And to pluck the basil outside. Otherwise, you literally put all the ingredients listed into the pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Presto! Done!

In case you're too lazy busy to click the link and interested in my small changes:

One Pot Wonder Recipe
-One box pasta (I used thin spaghetti but the real recipe calls for linguini)
-One can diced tomatoes
-I added fresh tomatoes from our garden sliced up
-Three full sprigs of basil
-One large sweet onion chopped julienne style
-32 oz (a box) of veggie stock
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-Garlic cloves (we go easy on this but you can see what the real recipe calls for- I think it's 4 chopped)
-Dried oregano
-Salt and pepper
-Large handful of spinach (added 2 minutes before finished)

Pot with added ingredients coming to a boil.

-Put ingredients in pot
-Cover & Boil
-Bring to simmer for 10 minutes.
-Stir.
-Serve & add parmesan!

Finished product

Happy eating :)

A lesson to all mamas and dadas

This morning, I clicked on a post a friend had on facebook. I couldn't stop reading. I was drawn in quickly and emotionally. I found myself wiping away huge ugly tears and crying audibly. I found myself wishing, for this woman, that things just happened differently. If you want a good honest but heartwrenching blog post to read, here it is below:

Love, Light, and Laughter Blog- Be with me. Just for today.

Here's the point. Secure your dressers, your big tvs, your furniture to the walls. Even if you think it can't be pulled over- it could be.

I'm for sure getting myself to Home Depot to get some more anchors for our furniture. Like thsi mom said, I too have my heavy furniture secured to the walls. But her little changing table? Nope.

Time to get going on this and stop saying "I'll get around to it". Injury prevention and saving a kiddos life is worth the tearful blog read.

XOXO

grammys

Justin Timberlake performance?

Yes.

Adam Levine + Alicia Keys?

Yes.

Good going, grammys. Goooood going.

Overheard: In our Kitchen

Me: How do you think babies know what's food and what's not?

J: They are like sharks. Food good. L key from the keyboard, yuck.


(Meaning, sharks bite to taste and see if it's worth it. And last week Sienna tried to eat the L key)

saturday night memoirs.

I was making Christmas presents this evening, going through the photos from this year... and oh my goodness...


I already forgot how tiny she was already.

I forgot how tired we looked.

I forgot how emotional it all was.

Oh Sienna, I love you more each day, and I gotta tell you, I totally love this whole sleeping 11-13 hour stretches.  But your littleness in these photos has me swooning. Sigh. New babies. Can't wait to get my hands on some of my friends' little ones on their way this winter/spring.

Happy Weekend Evening (on my couch, blogging, Christmas shopping, wouldn't have it any other way.... I'm.so.old)

Saturday Morning.

 

Fav foods. Fav drinks. Fav baby. Yes, yes, yes.

New fav recipes.

Lately we've had some downtime in our house, mostly due to Hurricane Sandy. Combine that with a few other life events that have had us more grounded than usual, and it leaves me with a few extra cooking and baking adventures. I've gotten back to using pinterest lately and trying to actually do or use the things I pin. These two recipes are tweaked from things I found there.

Number One: Stuffing Bread Peach French Toast Casserole
*The real recipe used texas toast but when I saw a bag of "stuffing bread" in the grocery store for $1, I figured it was the perfect thing to use. Especially since I planned on freezing this.

Ingredients

Bread (any kind really as long as it's slightly stale)

6 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

butter for bread

Peach or Apricot Marmalade (I used peach butter from our natural food store)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups milk  (I used soy)

 

 

1. Butter bottom of casserole dish

2. Layer of bread (buttered on one side)

3. Layer of peach/apricot marmalade

4. Lay of buttered bread

5. Whisk milk, nutmeg, eggs in a bowl.

6. Pour mixture over bread

7. Fridge for 8-24 hours, then remove

8. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

9. Bake for 40-50 mins at 375 degrees

 

PS I always let S help me bake. I give her spoons, measuring cups, bowls, and stick her in her high chair right next to the counter. I sometimes let her measure (aka play with) some flour or something that won't harm her if she gets a bit in her mouth. She LOVES this and watches intently when I turn on the mixer and push buttons on the oven. Great baby activity.

Prepared at night; Baked in the morning.

Mmm delicious! This was so much food. We ate about 1/4 of it. Froze the rest. Saving for a rainy morning! So so good.

 

Number Two: Salmon with home made teriyaki and sriracha sauce stuffed with cream cheese

[topped with green onions]

 

Ingredients:
Teriyaki Sauce:

1/4 cup corn starch

1/4 cup cold water

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 cup cold water

2 tablespoons honey

5 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

sprinkle of garlic powder

 

Salmon:
Salmon filets

cream cheese (to your liking)

Sesame Seeds

Green onion

 

Sriracha Spicy Dressing:

1/4 cup Sriracha sauce

3/4 cup mayo

3 tablespoons condensed sweetened milk

 

To make teriyaki sauce:

mix corn starch + water in bowl, set aside

mix rest of ingredients into sauce pan, simmer (make sure brown sugar is melted)

add in corn starch mixture and mix until thickens (about 1 minute)

 

Salmon Filet Prep:

Prepare salmon by slicing knife in lengthwise to create pocket 

Place salmon filets in dish

Cover with teriyaki mixture

Refridgerate 30 mins-8 hours

 

Remove salmon from fridge

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Stuff cream cheese in pockets

Sprinkle sesame seeds

Place in baking dish that is lined with tin foil, cover with foil

Bake at 400 for 20-25 mins

Uncover, bake 5 mins (you can broil if you want crispy)

 

While baking, mix Sriracha sauce ingredients

Cut green onions.

Top once Salmon is finished.

 

The hubby went back for seconds. So good, so Easy!

 

Happy Eating!

 

 

 

"No Fail" Vanilla Cake= You can Fail. BUT I didn't! Thank you smarts!

So as I was putting S to bed tonight, I decided I wanted vanilla cake. I will say in retrospect this was a horrible thought to have cross my mind for two reasons. One, it's now 8:30pm [late in new mama world] and the cake is still baking at my normal bed time. Two, baking a cake from scratch when you don't have a cake mix means you eat more batter than normal and need to have a glass of wine while cooking and you're not hungry anymore and would rather be in bed by the time the cake is ready.

I digress.

I googled "easy vanilla cake recipe". I have never ever baked a cake from scratch. Don't judge, I've been busy with things like grad school, residency, and having babies. Fine, one baby. But one baby is a lot of work. So I decided tonight would be a first! Google away.

I found one. It said "NO FAIL". I consider something no-fail when, if the directions are followed, you cannot mess up. I followed the directions EXACTLY. Then do you know what happened? I poured the batter into the pan.... and I thought hm this looks like cookie dough NOT cake batter. I went back and read again. I realized the author forgot to tell us when to put in the milk. So I poured the cake back OUT of the pan back into the {beautiful kitchenaid} mixer and added milk. Thank goodness I've got some brains in my head and feet in my shoes and steered myself in the direction I choose. Name that book. Anyone. Oh also I didn't EXACTLY follow the directions either. I maybe substituted pure maple syrup for vanilla extract.

I baked. The cake rose. The cake smells awesome. I cut a little piece out. The cake tastes... good. Not AMAZING, but good. Fluffy, not dry, and I think I'll call it a mostly success.

Here's the recipe. EXCEPT ADD MILK! Add after you beat the butter & sugar but before the flour.

Leaving this bad boy to cool off and will frost it up in the morning. Because do you know what tomorrow is? Sienna's 5 month birthday! I'll put some yellow frosting on it to celebrate our girl [even though she can't eat cake yet].

Happy caking!

Waffle Iron Cinnamon Buns

I am totally guilty of stealing other people's ideas from pinterest, facebook, instagram. And when I saw this idea I was allll over it. I made a mental note to pick up some store bought cinnamon buns and on my next trip to the grocery store added them to my cart. They are as easy to make as one.two.three.

one.  Put separated cinnamon buns in waffle iron.

two.  Take cinnamon bun waffles out of iron.

three. Pour delicious warm frosting on top. 

No waiting 25 minutes to bake! No hard edges! Just quick and easy and delicious. Enjoy!
{Yes, I am apparently on a food kick. Blame my ventures back to pinterest}

Suppli, please.

Pinterest is back in my life after a newborn baby induced hiatus. Though, if I had discovered the app on my iphone prior to a week ago I may have spent the dawn hours nursing S watching the rising sun while pinning away.  Today while pining away- yes pining, not pinning- at photos of Italy and dreams to return to one of my favorite places on earth [rome specifically], I came across the culinary delight I could literally live on for life with no other means of nutrition. Yes, I'd be extremely fat most likely. But happy, so happy.

Hi suppli, I missed you.

In Roma, these balls of rice are tomato flavored with a gooey mozzarella center. In other parts of Italy they are slightly different and called other things. Sicily? Arancine. But my heart and memories live in the tiny pizza places that served these to me for 1euro on my way to classes during my summer in Roma. To me, they will always be called suppli.

Goal of the month: Make these. With this recipe.

{I found tons of recipes online, but the true Roma suppli is tomato sauce mixed with the rice and a huge chunk of mozz in the middle. I mean could anything be better?}

Mixed Feelings and some Cinnamon Stick Tea

Last weekend, we brought Dexter to the adoption center at our vet's office. After a bazillion tears (which I have to admit are still randomly coming), we decided it was best. Our vet's office only takes a few cats at once, and will work with him to make sure he can calm down before he goes to a new home. Ever since we brought him in though, a wave of guilt and sadness have just been lurking around me. Despite the fact that he is a completely crazy feline, the adoption agency director assures me they are working with Dexter to help him calm down so they can find him a home. Still, my heart is broken over this.

And so I am trying to turn my attention to baby. Because that is happy and I know that Dex would have hated being in a house with a little newborn, it gives me a comforting feeling. But oh my goodness, where is baby? I am not overdue yet and know I shouldn't be so impatient. But on Friday the doctor said she'd be "shocked" if I made it through the weekend, and here we are on Wednesday. As the days go by I hope baby will arrive to help me snap out of feeling sort of blah.

In other baby progression attempts, my friend Laurie swore that cinnamon stick tea helped her induce labor. So at 6:00 am today, I was downstairs boiling water and mixing in cinnamon sticks. By the time I got to work, I had finished a huge mug and was hoping for the best. But so far, nothing. Nada. The doctors shouldn't tell you that you are going to go early if you are not... it is very frustrating.


(Mine did not look this pretty and I had to add brown sugar to stomach it)

 The other thing keeping me afloat is my super positive husband. He gave me a great birthday and Valentine's day and even brought home spicy pad thai, when I mentioned that spicy food might help. Ohhh and also- waiting for me- is a bag of 6 of my favorite wines for post baby. Yay! He also assures me daily Dexter will find a new home, that our baby is just waiting until she's ready, and that we will have a lot of happy times coming up in the near future.

So for now, I daydream about baby and also about summer. Maybe it's a mid winter funk. By June we will have a cute little baby, be spending some weekends in Rehoboth, and all will be well.

Wish us luck!

Couldn't make this stuff up: Kindling.

I love my kindle. Love love love. It is the old school one, not the kindle fire. But the problem is the screen breaks. It's not just me either, I know a lot of people who have this issue.

But today on amazon chat, I encoutered Lizly (I don't get it- did her parents mean to name her Liz or Lilly??) and I couldn't help but laugh at our conversation.

Lizly asked me to trouble shoot, reboot, etc. It didn't work of course because anyone with two brain cells knows how to turn something on and off, plug it in, and then try again. When it still didn't work this was the rest of our convo:

Lizly:Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Meghan. Was this kindle a gift from someone?
Me:Yes,it was a gift two christmases ago. (expecting that they need to know the buyer)
Lizly:Nice.
Me: Yes, do you need to know who purchased it?
Lizly: Oh no, just wondering if it was a gift. That's nice.

Umm.... thanks Lizly. I think it was nice too, but if we can just get back to the whole sending me a new kindle, I'd appreciate that. I suggest you ask for Lizly if you want a laugh during your amazon live chat.

The end.

Pinterest inspired Grocery + Menu Challenge

This weekend we cleaned out our fridge. 2011 was gone, and the food that expired in probably month nine had to go. We Jamie realized how much food money we must waste by throwing out the leftovers that are never touched, the yogurts that expire, and the salad we never used... So we figured we should make an actual grocery shopping list. Ya know, one that we follow and that makes meals. I turned to Pintest and J and I spent an hour this afternoon picking and choosing nutritious semi healthy meals.

I'm sharing our menu in order to keep me on track. The plan is to cook the meals we have planned for the week. I know some people do a whole month, but my brain doesn't work that way and let's face it- sometimes you just need a pizza night. So for now, let's go for Tuesday through Sunday. But I am hoping until baby arrives we can keep some semblance of this plan.

This Week's Menu

Tuesday Evening

Spaghetti with sauteed Chicken + Grape Tomatoes

Light caesar salad

Wednesday Evening

Martha Stewart Grilled Mozz Cheese

Chunky Tomato Soup

Thursday Evening

Balsamic Flank Steak

Lemon Orzo Salad

Friday Evening

Thomas Keller Spanglish Sandwich (glorified BLT)

sweet potato tater tots

Sugar cookies for dessert

Saturday Breakfast

Egg Stuffed Potatoes

Saturday Lunch

Leftovers or Zucchini Pizza

Saturday Dinner

Low Fat Chicken + Rice Casserole

Garden Salad

Sunday Breakfast

English Muffins with Jam

Scrambled eggs or cereal

Wish me luck! I will take photos each night this week so I can prove to the internet world myself that I am capable of this. And who knows, I might pick up a new favorite along the way!

I'm starving.

Pinterest is the devil of foods. I sign in and I start to salivate. There are some days when I sign in and the ENTIRE first page is food. I am tempted to go to the store, scoop up every ingredient, and have a cooking/baking fest. And maybe that's what will happen this weekend. But anyway, let me share in hopes that my cravings subside and I can hold off until dinner time.

1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Fine, I cheated this picture does not match up with the website and recipe. But SAME concept. And a wonderful one. If someone would like to split a pan of these with me, I'm open to it. J hates chocolate, so this won't go over well in our house and instead I'll eat 24 cupcakes. Volunteers?

2. Cranberry and Cheese Dip

I think this was called "cranberry salsa" on pinterest. It looks amazing, and uses cream cheese too. Yum! I think I might give this a go for thanksgiving at my parents as an appetizer. Or maybe just as a Sunday afternoon treat while J watches football and I pretend to pay attention but actually browse pinterest and babycenter.

3. Avocado Eggs Benedict with Chipotle

I know I know I can't get away from eggs benedict. But YUM for this one. Had to be included. J, if you're reading this, and want to make me this for Sunday morning breakfast I won't argue.

4. Pumpkin Cake with Cider Caramel Sauce

This looks AMAZING. Imagine it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some apple cider on the side. And after a nice fall dinner. Maybe your husband will make it for you.

5. Lime Chicken Tacos in Crock Pot

Fine, these don't really go with the fall theme, but I am obsessed with anything we can put in our slow cooker/crock pot and come home to ready after work. Pulled pork? Yes. Whole chickens? Yes. So lime chicken tacos and a twist on some of our more "boring" recipes? Sign me up.

6. "Healthy" Sweet Potato Skins

They are healthy because they aren't smothered in bacon. But they've still got starch, and cheese. So that is enough for me to give them a thumbs up. And J looooves sweet potatos, so this would go over well in my house.

I'm totally craving some savory foods. But, I also crave crunchy fresh foods and had a salad and fruit for lunch today (by choice). So someone pin some really good salad and fruit ideas so I will stop wanting to make cupcakes and cheesy items. 

Eggs. Eggs. Eggs.

6 months ago you could barely get me to eat eggs. I would maybe have Eggs Benedict at brunch, and a good egg salad once in awhile. But really I didn't like them. Scrambled eggs for breakfast? Only if you piled on the cheese. Eggs and toast? Nope. And to that measure, we didn't keep eggs in our house. Ever. When I wanted to bake I had to run to the store to get eggs, or more often, egg beaters or something of the sort.

Well things are different now. There is a little baby who rules my life and my body. Little baby growing inside says eat, I say how much. Baby says eggs! I say okay. And without eggggsageration (I crack myself up), I could eat eggs every day. Now, for those of you who use Pinterest (my profile) you would see that my section of "Foodies" is taken up by eggs. Breakfast eggs, eggs on sandwiches, lunch eggs...  Eggs benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham is actually by and far my favorite, but preggy websites say no smoked salmon. Has the same stuff in it as lunch meat. Damn you, smoked meats. I adore you so much. Let me show you some of my favorite egg recipes I have found. I have not created any of them. Often I just whip up an omelet with avocado, tomato, and cheese. And this morning I attempted to make destroyed two poached eggs. Actually, I destroyed one. The other was not so sad face.  Anywho... here we go.

My Name is Snickerdoodle Egg Salad & Avocado Lunch Sandwich

1. Egg Salad & Avocado Sammy: Yeah I know, egg salad and not a poached or breakfast egg. But let's face it, eggs and avocados are two of my favorite foods. If I just ditched the egg yolk I'd be in pretty good shape for eating healthy protein and healthy fat filled foods. But this has yolks. And mayo. A family reunion for an egg.

Cheese & Chocolate Blog: Egg Stuffed Potatoes

2. First of all, anyone who has a blog called cheese & chocolate wins my heart x10. Second, these are sound sooooo easy to make. Potatoes in oven to bake, slice off top & scoop out. Crack egg & put some bacon and cheese on top. Bake again. Ready to go. This would be a good holiday (Christmas) morning breakfast.

Eggs Benedict from Simply Recipes

3. This is my favorite egg dish of all time. Probably because technically the hollandaise sauce is an extra kick of egg yolk- mmmm fatty cholesterol. I will eat this almost every time I go to brunch places. And since the meat is cooked it is one of the few "lunch meat" type things I can still have. Amazing. I am determined to make this myself one day, but i still haven't made that effort. Someone come over for brunch & give me reason to attempt this bad boy.

Dine & Dish Ham and Egg Breakfast Cups

4. Also look super easy and delicious to make. They don't have the pull of the runny egg yolk, but the savory ham and cheese together looks amazing. Plus, I love to cook things like this and burn the cheese a little. Call me what you will, I think it makes it taste better.

The Kitchn Blog explains Thomas Keller's Spanglish Sandwich

5. Anyone who saw Spanglish and did not salivate at this sandwich is not human. Or just a vegetarian. Either way, French Laundry chef Thomas Keller created this especially for that movie. Hence, the "Spanglish Sandwich". I again have never made this. The poaching of the eggs/frying of the eggs with a perfectly half cooked half runny yolk evades me... I have such an issue with this. But I want this sandwich. At 9:00 am.

So, I think since eggs are my new BFF and I want to make all of these recipes (Okay I can also have just a plain poached egg with some salt and pepper to curb the unhealthy bacon that takes over most of these), I think I need something to help me out.

What is this you ask??? Why, it is an EGG POACHER. And on Amazon.com  I can get it for $15. I think I should give it a go. But we have so much random stuff in our kitchen we don't use, I will wait a week or two to see if the egg craving sticks. If so, egg poacher, you are mine. And I invite you all over for some Eggs Benedict (that J will likely end up cooking when I manage to still screw up the eggs even with a poacher).

And just to add some more cheese to these dishes and my humor, I hope that you share in 

these EGGELLENT recipes! YUM!

What Will I do without COLD gatorade? Do they make CAT floatation devices? I only know to go to the basement but that's for tornados. AHHH I am not prepared for a Hurricane. Someone give me a safety kit!

So I hate to buy into the chaos of this hurricane that's coming our way on the east coast but I seriously cannot help it. I am glued to the news, I could be the newest meteorologist outlining the path of the storm and where it will hit (as of today).

I have never been in a hurricane!! BUT I have been in a tornado. In first grade. Where I ducked under my desk until it passed.... and the roof of our school got torn off. And my mom had to come get me. But we've all seen the movie Twister. Tornadoes come and then they go. They tear threw and they bring a cyclone of wind. You hide in the basement (or if you want to go back to the movie Twister, you can strap yourself onto some water pipes that are secured into the ground). But they PASS. Hurricanes? All damn day....

J and I could do this if it was a tornado coming. But it's not. It's a hurricane. Like Katrina that hit Louisiana and tore its life apart. I don't like it. I don't mean to panic, but I have SO many questions.

In a tornado, you flee to the basement. In a hurricane? I mean yes to stay away from the wind. But what if it floods? Then what? J and I could survive in a little water... But what about my cats? I have the cat carriers out (yeah I'm a crazy pet parents- shhhh don't judge) and ready to go. Go where? Who the heck knows. I envision myself moving throughout our house on Sunday as needed. Up high if it's flooding,  down low if it's windy.This may be what my animals look like.

Umm and food? I guess I should join the club of gathering in the grocery store and/or Targetr. That will happen tomorrow afternoon on my way home. I think if I get 2 jars of peanut butter, some type of bread, and gatorade (I hate warm gatorade, but it will due) we will be good to go. Oh and potato chips. That would be good.

UGH I hate bad weather. Not only is this thing going to torment us, it is going to head up to Boston and torment my brother and sister-in-law, who live on the coast. Like the actual beach. And so far they are not evacuated. But how about you guys evacuate yourselves?

In conclusion, I will buy gatorade, hide in my basement/living room/garage, put my cats in their carriers and/or in inappropriate floatation devices, buy a lot of peanut butter, and forbid my husband to leave the house because everyone knows I'd lose my shit (sorry mom) if I was alone when this thing hit....

Dear Irene, I don't like your name and I don't like your path either. Find someone else to bully.

xo,

Hurricane Emergency Preparer.