Good Luck!

Name That Dish #3

The first dish is the Nicoise Salad, which, for a lunch portion, included a generous amount of tuna. The second dish pictured was the Chicken & Brie Panini with a side of White Bean and Hickory Bacon (now people, as you may remember from earlier posts, everything is better with bacon!). Both meals were exceptional, and well worth the visit. If you are looking for an “off-the-beaten-path” place to have lunch near the Western Corridor, then definitely check out The Lobby Bar.

Now- on to picture #2. (And this one is going to be a tough one!  To help you out – I am posting two pictures of two separate dishes).

And dish #2 from the same restaurant is:

Happy Guessing!!

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Summer is my favorite time of year.  That being said- it seems like this summer has been on fast forward ever since it started! I can’t believe that THIRTY days from today, I will be dropping my girls off for their first day of school.  With the exception of the infamous hail storm, the unbelievable flood of 2010 and two straight weeks of rain, it has been fun. We have meandered through the Sam Noble Natural History Museum, gazed at gorillas, chimpanzees and giraffes at the Oklahoma City Zoo,  bowled, swam, and (my personal favorite) ate Rice Krispy Treats while enjoying fireworks on the 4th of July. All in all, I would say this summer is living up to all expectations.

In addition to the extra curricular activities, I have been enjoying some amazing food this summer. Hello, my name is Stephanie, and I am addicted to Big Truck Tacos.  If you live within a 100 mile radius of Oklahoma City and have not tried it, then shame on you.

So, in honor of all the amazing food that is being served in and around Oklahoma City, I have decided to start a weekly post called “Name that Dish!”.  I will post a picture of a meal I have enjoyed somewhere in Oklahoma, and you tell me the dish AND the restaurant? Ready? Go!

Gorgeous!, originally uploaded by stephaniebice.

Took this photo over the Memorial Day weekend. She is beauty personified.

1. Cook one new recipe a week
2. W rite on this blog at least three times weekly
3. Become a bit more fashionable when it comes to shoes
4. Start two new family traditions this year
5. Take a family vacation (somewhere other than NY or AL)
6. Decorate my bedroom
7. Listen more
8. Talk less (don’t laugh, I’m serious)
9. Fix my wedding ring
10. Become a proficient photographer

We are 5 months into the year, so I thought I should revisit the list to see how well (or not) I am doing.

The first couple of months of the year were spectacular for goal #1, and I made quite a few new recipes, including Baba Ganoush, King Cake, and Garlic Mashed Potatoes, but time has been my enemy here – and my experimentation with food has slowed a bit. I am averaging about 1 new recipe ever OTHER week, but I am happy with that.

Writing on this blog three times a week (#2) has probably been my biggest challenge. Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking (yea, yea, cheap reference to the Steve Miller Band) and that has me scrambling to find any amount of time to write.  But, I am working on it. Baby steps folks – baby steps.

Shoes are still my downfall. Susan Wagner wrote a great article on putting it all together. I envy those who can put on the funkiest, coolest pair of wedges or flats and look amazing in them. I am not one of those individuals. Trust me, I wanna be. But for some reason shoes and I don’t mix. I guess that’s why I like Summer so much – I can wear cute flip flops all summer and not worry about shoes!

For now – I am skipping #4. I need to ponder that one more…

As for #5, I am happy to report that I have accomplished my first goal! YEA ME!  This past March, my husband and I took our children to Great Wolfe Lodge in Grapevine, TX. It was a spectacular vacation – and I wish we could have stayed longer. That said, I am hoping my husband and I can put together enough funds to do this type of trip annually. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just somewhere fun for the four of us. I would actually love a road trip somewhere. Corn Palace anyone?

Numbers 7-10 are still “in progress”. And #6? Well, a big fat nothing on that one. Yet.

I am a product of divorced parents -which these days seems to be the norm. The divorce was nasty. Accusations, rumors, threats – you name it- it happened. It was a mess. The aftermath was worse. When I got to college, I thought “Marriage, who needs it! I’m going to move to the big city, get a job and work my way up the corporate ladder. ” It wasn’t until August 13, 1993, that idea changed.

You see, that is the day I met him. You know the one I am talking about, right? The one that makes your knees go weak when he smiles at you. The one you stay up until 4am talking about nothing to… (and then realize you have an 8am class). The one you eat Taco Bell at the park at 2am under the stars with – just because you can…

I first met him at a party. I had recently broken up with a guy and was ready to concentrate on school and enjoy my Junior year of college. (My new found freedom was a welcome change from my previous two years, which were tied down to someone I realize now was not at all right for me.) I wasn’t the typical college party-girl. Yea, I would go out and hang with my friends, but nothing too wild. This particular night, my friend Rachel had to almost DRAG me out with her. I put on a sleeveless white shirt, black jeans (hey – there were popular then!) and poofed my curly brown locks as big as they would go and off we went.

The party was hosted at the summer home of some frat boys who I did not know. The place was packed. Sorority girls were in large supply (some for the taking if you know what I mean..) and a handful of fraternity boys were relishing the atmosphere they had created. I was not impressed. I stood around enjoying my beverage and casually asked my friend Rachel, “Rach, Who’s house is this anyway?”. “Mine” the guy behind me replied. Not knowing any of the guys at this party, (and quite frankly not being interested in any of them either), I turned around and said “Well, who the hell are you?”. Nice, huh.

These, my friends, were the first words I spoke to my now husband of almost 15 years. Yep. Who the hell are you? I still think to myself, “what the hell were you thinking?”, in addition to “how completely rude was that!”.

to be continued….

I love summer.

Over the past few months, I have enjoyed sledding down large embankments with my girls, making snow angles, and admiring the power of mother nature’s wrath during the Christmas Eve Blizzard of 2009. But each night, as I sat in my living room in sweatpants, thick Hanes athletic socks and wrapped up in a fuzzy burgundy blanket, I realized how much I missed summer.

I miss flip flops, pedicures (I can’t justify a $50 pedicure in winter when no one will see my toes), and capri pants. I  miss the air conditioner blowing on my face while the sun warms my arms as I drive in my car. I miss afternoons reading a magazine at the pool while the girls make new friends or get reacquainted with old ones we haven’t seen since last summer.

Summers give me a break from the monotonousness (is that even a word?) of the school year. And thanks to my friend JG – I know exactly how many more days I have to endure. Thirty-three to be exact.

Back in 1993 when I would visit my father in San Francisco, I found myself  “wardrobe challenged”.  Compared to Oklahoma, San Francisco has very drastic weather fluctuations. In the morning, it can be 35 degrees, but the afternoons might reach 75. I tend to be cold-natured, so I always wore a coat and long sleeves or something of the like. The problem was, when afternoons hit – I was smoldering. I could never get right. I think it was that summer I realized that warm weather was for me.

What is your favorite season? And Why?

So the question is, where does the time go and how I can get more of it? I read some great articles in the latest edition of Real Simple, that focused on this very topic – how to save time. Some I am already doing (create a homework box for daily papers, throw out junk mail immediately), and other topics didn’t really apply.

For those of you out there that are working moms, what are your “time-saving tips” to keeping your life in order?