Sesame Street Live: The Fantastic, The Expensive and The Blue Poop

Last Saturday, on June 23, we drove a couple of hours to go see Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music.  I bought the tickets a few months ago and it is the one thing we had planned this summer that was for just the four of us.  We were all so excited to go see some of our favorite friends from Sesame Street.

The Play Zone opened up an hour before the actual show, and we got there just when it started.  I highly, highly recommend arriving an hour early so you can play on the sets and take pictures.  Also, some of the characters come out and do a few mini-shows right in front of the kids.

Maggie got high-fives from all the characters and full on hugs from some of them.  She was smiling, laughing, dancing and clapping.  It was a magical experience for her, and it may have brought a tear or two to my eye. The actors were really good at approaching all the kids who wanted to interact.  There was a teenage boy there who was special, and he knew all the words to every song.  Every character made sure to go over to him and give him a high five or hug.  This may have brought like 10 tears to my eye. And maybe to Mark's, too.

We told our kids before the show that they could each pick out one souvenir, and they both chose these spinning light up things that they love.  They were $15 each, but they are high quality and still play with them, so I feel like it was just the right special thing to remember the day by.

The show was perfect.  The songs were catchy, familiar and well-written, the sets were awesome and it was just a lot of fun. Maggie loved every minute of it, but Liam got a little weary of it by the end. I enjoyed it, and I felt so blessed to be able to share such a great experience with my kids.

 There was an intermission after 45 minutes. At the intermission, a vendor appeared with Elmo head balloons and I heard a lot of tears around me when parents discovered they cost $10 each and had to say no (my friend, Kelly had gone to the show in a different town and had prepared me for it.)  There were even more tears when those who did buy them were asked to keep them under their seat for the second half. I could just feel the frustration in the arena.

And now onto the "blue poop" part of this discussion. TMI warning, okay? Seriously, I am about to talk a lot about poop.

See these slurpee-looking things?  Well, a vendor appeared about 15 minutes before the start of the show, and he was hawking these blue drinks and red drinks. Of course, the kids were begging for one and we hadn't had a treat yet. So, Maggie chose the blue flavor (color?) and Mark bought two for us to all share.

 As soon as he came back with them, I realized they weren't drinks slurpee-like, but actually rock hard and served with only a flimsy straw. They were messy and hard to eat, but these three shared the two drinks between them after I opted out.  I mentioned how crazy dark they looked once we were closer, and suddenly the kids and Mark had blue all over them.  Their mouths, hands and faces were dark, dark blue.

I was annoyed at the crazy amount of dye, but honestly didn't think too much about it.  I kind of just shrugged it off.  But then, the dye stayed on Mark's face all day, until he finally scrubbed it and scrubbed it.  When we changed Liam's diapers, his poop was black and we were freaked out until we realized what it was.  But, the real kicker? Maggie used the bathroom a full 24 hours after eating one of these, and she forgot to flush (as four year-olds sometimes do.) I went in the bathroom an hour or two later, and her poop was still there and it was blue.  And worse, all the water in the bowl was blue, too!

Mark told me his stomach hurt a little on and off during the day following and he, too, was off.  The kids never complained about stomachaches or anything like that, though.

It took two days before they were all "back to normal."

I am just annoyed that Sesame Street would be part of selling these to kids.  Why sell a product that is obviously just full of dye?  I know that I willingly purchased these for my kids, but Sesame Street doesn't make it easy on parents when vendors keep popping up everywhere.  I wanted to give them a treat, but I just felt guilty for days about what I put in their bodies.  It changed my impression about Sesame Street a little bit, and somehow I felt like the trust I had in their brand was altered.  

I know every corporation is out to make a buck, but I wish Sesame Street and the Vee corporation (the company who runs the live shows) also took the step to show that they care about kids' health. How about selling lemonade or real fruit punch? I mean, this is Sesame Street, and the core audience is young children. Obviously, I learned my lesson and I will be thinking about the amount of dye in foods a lot more.  It is sad, though, that Sesame Street taught me that lesson (and not with a song and dance.)

Overall, we had a fantastic time and I would definitely recommend it to other families.  But, be prepared to have to say no to your children a lot. And don't eat the blue snow cones, unless you want to dye your kids' insides.

UPDATE: I sent a link to this post to Sesame Street and the Vee Corporation  (along with a letter) and received a great response. To see what they felt about all this, check out this post.

More "Old Timey Victorian 30th Birthday" Pictures

My friend, photographer Amy Brown, just sent me more pictures from my birthday party and I am so excited about them. She did an amazing job, as always!  I wanted to share more of the details from the party just in case you might want to do something like this.  I had so much fun celebrating my 30th birthday with my twin brother and our friends and family.

We asked all our guests to come in costume and be ready to "party like it's 1899."  We had music from the era playing as guests arrived and we immediately offered them a class of champagne or fresh squeezed lemonade.  We had a candy bar set-up, as well as an Absinthe station and a snack table with peanuts, coca-cola in bottles and to top it off, we rented a full-sized popcorn machine.  The popcorn machine only cost $40  from our local party rental place, and it totally set the mood to the party.  Almost all of the decorations were made or bought from the Dollar Store.

We also had a saloon set up with an old fashioned poker table and a bar with whiskey.  We ordered a cake from Costco and I made some miniature bunting to decorate it.  We also used lots of candles and fresh wildflowers, which were purchased from the farmer's market for $5 a bunch.

After everyone arrived, we served a dinner of tea sandwiches, fresh fruit, fancy deviled eggs with smoked salmon and a salad of boiled potatoes and blanched green beans.  We played poker, danced, ate, drank, threw popcorn at each other and had an amazing "old fashioned" time.  As the night went on and people became hungry again, we roasted  hot dogs and marshmallows in a fire pit.  My friends are such good sports and we all stayed up way too late and then crashed in the tents we had sent up in my mom's back field.  Just a perfect night and a perfect way to turn thirty!

Here are a few of my favorite portraits from the night:

And one last one with my honey, just 'cause I love him so darn much (and his hard work totally made this party possible!):

P.S-I bought those straws off of Ebay, I paid a few bucks for 40 of them. So worth it!

What I Wore Wednesday: A Weekend Away

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my outfits from last week.  I took pictures of two outfits this week and I really need your help with one of them.

Here it is:

I bought this tank top/ light sweater thing about a year ago at forever 21 and this is only the second time I've worn it.  I feel like it screams "plus size clothing" (which I hate!), but I also felt confident and put together while I was wearing it.  I feel like maybe it's just too long, which makes me look shorter.  What do you think??

I wore this to go see "Sesame Street Live" in Sacramento and we had such a great time!  I tired to get Magdalena to pose with me before the show but she way more interested in her snow cone.

After the Sesame Street show, we drove to my sister's house in the Bay Area, where we stayed for two nights.  We had such a great visit!  On Sunday, we went to Tilden park in Berkeley, and I wore this outfit for our day out and about.

Here's a snapshot while riding the Tilden Steam trains, which was so much fun with the kids.

Everything in this outfit is from Target, except my jeans, which are Forever 21.

In the next couple of days, I'll be posting about our weekend trip and all of the fun things we did. AND, I got lots of pictures from the photographer from my Old Timey birthday, and I cannot wait to share all of the details of that party, with lots of tips on how to throw your own!

15 Totally True Things About Me

1. I love to break out into spontaneous dance.  I prefer the Charleston or the Roger Rabbit, but when the moods strikes me I'll do the "Elaine" from Seinfield.  At my 30th birthday party, Mark and I did a rather energetic waltz for a whole song.  I think I have a bit of what I'm calling "the Chris Farley effect" on people; when people see a big person who is light on their feet and loves to just go full out, they are a bit mesmerized  and oh-so entertained.  I just love to dance.

2.  I hate bridges. I am pretty sure the news footage from the 1989 earthquake in San Franciso created this fear.  I have crossed the Bay Bridge many times, but I literally feel sick each time and the images of the collapsed upper deck from that earthquake run through my head.  And each time I've gone to a Giants' game (twice? or three times?), I've had to say a silent prayer that no earthquakes happen during the game.  It just freaks me out.

3. I love musicals.  A lot. I am particularly infatuated with Hair and Rocky Horror Picture Show right now.  Oooh, and Little Shop of Horrors! The song "Skid Row"? I could listen and sing along to it for hours.

4.  I'm going on a road trip to Seattle next month with a new/old friend and I am SO excited.  Amy is a super cool lady that I have known since junior high, but we are finally really connecting for the first time.  She is a professional photographer, talented singer/actor and I cannot believe I get to spend five days on vacation with her!  We are roadtripping to visit another amazing lady in Seattle that is a mutual friend of ours.  She is another creative hero of mine, so I'm kinda losing it over this trip.  I'm bringing my camera, my sketchbooks, some watercolor paper and paints, pens and a totally open mind and schedule.  So psyched about this!

5. I can't sleep in the car.  Or on a plane.  Or anywhere, really.  I have such a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep.  I remember taking an Amtrak train to Oregon by myself when I was 15 (oh, have I mentioned how much freedom I had growing up?) and I boarded it around 1:00 in the morning.  I didn't sleep until the next night.  And when I flew to London?  I think it was 36 hours before I slept.  Mark, my husband, falls asleep immediately, anywhere (I have caught him sleeping standing up) whenever he wants to.  Sometimes this makes me want to scream in his face.  And, once, I did.  Oops!

6.  Speaking of London... to approximately fifty people, I am known as "that girl they saw having a mental breakdown in a phone booth on that cute street off of Tottenham Court Road." I tried to do a work abroad program in London for 6 months when I was 20, but I just couldn't hang.  It is one of my biggest regrets that I came home after 3  weeks.  Homesickness was a debilitating thing for me; I stopped eating and I lost twenty pounds in those 3 weeks.
I did manage to have some truly life changing experiences in that time.  I spent hours and hours in the British Museum by myself.  I saw a play in The Globe Theatre and felt like I could finally personally thank Shakespeare for the impact he had on my life.The best part is that I took a side trip to other parts of Europe and I visited France, Belgium (and ate the most amazing Belgian waffle with ice cream) and the Netherlands.  I spent a weekend in Amsterdam and absolutely fell in love with the city.  It is, to this day, my most favorite place in the world. I am forever grateful for those experiences that I had 10 years (!) ago although I feel like they were hard earned. And...seriously....TEN YEARS? Ugh.

7. I am a reader. To the max.

8. I love to make people laugh.  My soul soars when people I love laugh because of me.  I live for the moments when I shock someone into laughing.

9. I once farted in a silent movie theater. With my siblings.  I can't believe that I didn't die from embarrassment/sibling torture.

10.  I love to cry.  I love to feel things deeply {that's what she said...?}  Seriously, I am a ball of ugly crying and spastic sobs when I read sad things or watch anything moving on TV.  I am freakishly sensitive.  I can't watch scary movies, because I have literally cried because I was so scared and screamed in a packed movie theater because I was truly terrified.

I feel bad for my friends who were in our "Game of Thrones Club", where we gathered one night every week at our house to watch Game of Thrones.  I gasped, I threatened to throw up, I death-gripped the furniture, I laughed in relief, I prayed, I cried, I swore, I covered my eyes and I audibly announced my predictions.  I am either the best or the worst TV viewing partner in the world. By the way- Tyrion has my heart forever.

11. So, I have spent a lot of time lately reading my posts from 4, 5 and even 6 years ago.  I almost want to remove them, but I also feel like they are such a part of who I am.  I read those posts with a sigh, totally feeling the pretentiousness of them.  I am such a different woman, such a different Christian and such a different human being than when I wrote those. It's been strange.

12. I am enthusiastic about almost everything.  I was a cheerleader in high school, and that came so naturally to me.  To this day, if someone game me some poms and said," Let's dance", (or 'Bring it!" or some other overly-enthusiastic cliche) I would immediately start counting in 6-count and bobbing my head. I love cheesy stuff.

13. I know a lot about pop culture. It's a little sick.

14.  I love my hair.  Even if I hate everything else about myself, I have always loved my hair. I grow it super long because it makes me feel beautiful and confident.  I have been considering cutting it short lately, but I'll probably just keep it as is.  It is so fun to play with!

15. Some time during Liam's pregnancy, five black hairs sprouted on my chin.  I was horrified to find them one day, when I happened to stroke my chin and I realized I had disturbingly long hairs growing there.  Two and a half years after he was born, I still have five stands of hair that grow non-stop from my chin. When I am tweezing these hairs, all I can think about  is Rosie O'Donnell talking about her chin hair on her talk show back in the day.  I can't believe that this is now my reality...beard and all.

What I Wore Wednesday: Back in the Game

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my outfits!  I love What I Wore Wednesday with The Pleated Poppy and I am so glad to be really participating again.  I started last week, with an attempt at being more fashionable. This week, I felt like I got in the groove a little better, and I felt a little more confident.  I have been having a really hard time with the whole confidence thing lately, so getting out of my super comfy "hide me" clothes was a step in the right direction.

I'm wearing:

Dress & Canvas slip-ons: Target

Skinny Jeans: Forever 21 Plus

White Tank: Old Navy

 You can tell that summer is here by the little curls that pop out all over my head. Sigh.

 I wore this outfit on one of the days that wasn't 105 degrees.  Actually, it was kinda cool that day.

I'm wearing:

Jeans: Target

Black Tee: Target

Cardigan: Anthropologie, a million years ago. Okay, really, like eight.

Silver Belt: Thrifted

Silver Sandals: Forever 21

Oh, and I did this manicure the other day and I LOVE it!  I've been calling it my Vintage Floral Manicure and I made a tutorial for it yesterday. Check out the step by step process HERE.

I also wore this super casual/comfy outfit on Father's Day. 

Maxi Dress: Old Navy (from 5 or 6 years ago!)

V-neck Tee: Target

That's it for this week!  I am loving being on Summer break and having the time to plan my outfits a little better.  I'm going to really dig through my closet this week and try to rediscover some of my favorite summer clothes.

Vintage Floral Manicure

I am been having a lot of fun giving myself manicures lately, and here is one I did yesterday. 

 I wanted to do an impressionist floral pattern, and I really like how it turned out.  

It reminds me of vintage bed sheets from the 70's.  And that makes me happy. 

Start with a coat of green, my green is actually a bit lighter than this, as you can see in some of the other pictures.

Brush on a smudgy flower shape in the first color; I used hot pink. I did 2-3 flowers for each color, letting each layer dry before moving onto the next.  Overlapping flowers is good!

Add the next layer of color, I think yellow is essential for a vintage look.

I then added two more layers of flowers, in candy apple red and a sparkly teal.

This is the step that will make the flowers pop.  Use a toothpick to place tiny back and white dots in the middle of some of the flowers. 

There you go!  It took me about 45 minutes to do these because of the wait times.  Don't worry about the flowers being imperfect, I think it's part of the look!

I'm linking up with Tatertots & Jello for The Weekend Wrap-Up Party

My PSA about Air Popcorn Poppers & Kids

Tho other day, Mark was making popcorn with the kids with the air popper.  Which we love, by the way.  Liam wanted to watch the popcorn pop, so he was standing right by the counter.  An extremely hot unpopped kernel jumped out of the bowl, down his shirt, and got stuck in the folds on his shirt.  It burned him bad enough to give him a second degree burn about half an inch long, and we felt so bad.

So, new rule for our family: you must stand in the doorway of the kitchen to watch the popcorn pop.

I told him to make a sad face and this is what he did.

He won't stop touching it, so he has a Squidward band-aid to cover it up. 

Miniature Animal Portraits with Fiber Paste

I made these two little paintings a little while ago and I (finally!) hung them up in the kids' room today.

I had so much fun making these. I bought the wood plaques from Michael's for a dollar, and then I painted them with white gesso.  Then (this is the secret) I used a product called Fiber Paste by Golden Paints as the base.  After the fiber paste dries, you are able to dilute your acrylics paints with water to the point that they act just like watercolors on watercolor paper.  Except, they act like acrylic paint in the way that they are much more user friendly and blend like acrylics.  Did that make sense?  Anyway, I love fiber paste.  It's bit pricey, so I should see if there's a way to make my own.  I also used my favorite ink pens on these, too!

First, I tried them right next to the window because I like how the curtains brought out the turquoise in the paintings. 

In the end, I decided to hang them right over Maggie's bed.  She loves them!

And a shot to show some of the detail of how the fiber paste works.   There's no fiber paste on the outside edges, and the watery paint just dripped right off and the colors don't look quite as vibrant.  I really like the contrast of the different surfaces with these.

Super Easy Homemade Pizza Snacks

I know I just posted a recipe using egg roll wrappers, but I also had to share this super easy recipe for homemade pizza snacks that I make using won ton wrappers.

I cut up string cheese into about 1/2 inch sections, cut slices of pepperoni in half and also cut little slices of cheddar that are about the same size as the other fillings.  Dab water with your finger on the edge of the won ton wrapper.  Pitch the bottom and top together firmly, making a crescent shape.  Put the pizza snacks on a sprayed baking sheet.  Spray the tops of the pizza snacks with baking spray (like PAM) and put into a preheated 350 degree oven.  They will be ready and very crispy in about 10 minutes.  And of course, you can change up the fillings to match your tastes, but don't overfill them.  I serve them with a side of marinara, but you could probably put the marinara on the inside if you desired. 

So easy and delicious!

Baked Asparagus & Chicken Egg Rolls

Thank you to California Grown for connecting me with California growers and encouraging California consumers to “Choose California Grown” when they can.

I was honored to be selected by California Grown via The Clever Girls collective to receive a sample of organic asparagus straight from the grower and to create a recipe with it. Finding this beautiful fresh asparagus on my doorstep over the weekend was pretty awesome.

I was so excited to work with California Grown because eating locally is a passion of mine. I grew up in an agricultural community. My parents' house has always been across the street from an organic almond orchard, and I just feel connected to food grown here in California. I participated in 4-H and FFA and now we have our own garden and we raise chickens for the eggs. Eating as locally as possible is a great choice for the environment, as less resources are used on transporting the food. I like to know where my food is coming from, and I feel like it is important for my children to know the reality of where foods come from.

We try to eat as locally as possible, either from our own garden, the farmer's market or by buying produce  grown in California from the grocery store.  If you don't see any produce marked with the California Grown logo, you can ask your grocer to find out which produce was grown in California.

California Grown also has a great website with great information, recipes and videos showcasing the farmers who grow produce here in California. This California Farmer video features Barbara Cecchini of Cecchini & Cecchini. This is one of the many family operated farms growing asparagus within California and this video offers an insider’s look.

Now, onto the recipe that was inspired by this beautiful asparagus.

I was sent three bunches of aspargus, so I used two packages of egg rolls wrappers, and still had some asparagus leftover. It made a lot of egg rolls, a little more than 40.  If that is way too much for you, I would buy one package of egg roll wrappers and one bunch of asparagus.

You will need:

For the filling: 

Aspargus (1-2 bunches depending of amount of egg rolls desired)

1 head of cabbage

1 large yellow onion

1 bag of bean sprouts

1 container of mushrooms (approx. 15-20 mushrooms)

You will also need:

2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

1/2 Tablespoon chopped ginger

1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Grass paste (or throw in some fresh lemon grass and remove it after cooking)

1/2 Tablespoon Fish Sauce

2  Tablespoons chopped garlic

And finally, you will also need:

1-2 packages of egg roll wrappers

1 pound of ground chicken

Cooking Spray, like PAM

1/2 cup of water

  I started by chopping the cabbage into long strips, like you would for cole slaw. I put that aside in a large bowl

I then cleaned the mushrooms with a damp rag and removed the stems by snapping them off the cap.  I sliced all the mushrooms thinly.  I set those aside, and sliced the onion into thin, long strips.

I put the ground chicken in a large pan with the sliced onions and mushrooms and cooked it until the chicken was done and the onions were translucent.

I then added all the sauces and seasons listing above AND the chopped cabbage and the bag of bean sprouts.

I stirred all of the ingredients together and let them cook on medium for a minute or two.  I then turned down the heat to low, and then placed all of the asparagus on top of the filling.  I then splashed about 1/2 of a tablespoon of soy sauce across the asparagus and covered it with a lid (or use foil!)

I let the steam from the filling cook the asparagus for about 8 minutes, and then I removed the asparagus carefully with tongs.

I set the asparagus aside to cool and then transferred the filling to a bowl to cool.  I let it all cool down on the counter for about a half an hour.  You have to use your hands to wrap the eggrolls, so it can't be too warm.

After they cooled down, I first pre-heated the oven to 375 degrees.  Then, I pulled out my baking sheets and covered them in foil.  I do this every time and it helps so much at clean-up time.  Then, spray the baking sheet with the cooking spray.

Now, comes the slighty-tricky-but-easy-to-learn part.  Let's learn to roll an asparagus eggroll, shall we?

First, use a slotted spoon to  place approximately 1 tablespoon of filling on top of the eggroll wrapper as shown below.  If your filling is a little liquidy, let the liquid drain through the slotted spoon.  

Then place 1 spear of asparagus atop the filling and fold the wrapper over, as shown below.

Next, you're going to pick up 1 corner of the wrapper and fold it in across and behind the asparagus

And then, do it with the other corner, as shown below.

Roll the eggroll up on so the edges are held down/ You should have something that looks like the eggroll below.  Fill a small cup or bowl with water and place next to your "rolling station."  Dip your finger in the water, then apply that water to the exposed top triangle of the egg roll.  Continue rolling until complete and looks...like an eggroll!

As you complete each eggroll, place them on the sprayed baking sheet.  When you have filled the entire sheet, spray the tops with a little more cooking spray.  This step is important and will help to make the eggrolls crispy. Then, place them in the preheated 375 degree oven.  I baked mine for about 15 minutes and I found it pretty unnecessary to turn them over.  I did turn one batch over halfway through, but I liked the way they looked better without turning them.

This is what mine looked like when I took them out of the oven.

What a happy little asparagus and chicken egg roll!

I was pretty happy, too when I sat down to this.  I served four other adults when I made these, and honestly, they all loved them.  No one missed the fried aspect of a regular eggroll and the chicken supported the Asian flavors really well.  They were actually really beautiful in person, too.  They would be perfect for a party as an appetizer!  I served mine with sweet and sour sauce and hot mustard and it was wonderful!  Yum!

I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as my family and I did!

Thank you again to California Grown for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here  to learn more about all of California Grown growers. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own. #CleverCAGrown #spon