2008: Year in Review

2008 was a fun year at our house.

Here's a recap of my year:


January-Sophie decides to pull her weight around the house

February-We do some remodeling


March-Another trip to Mexico













April-A first hair cut


May-A law school graduation


June-A move


July-A massive rainstorm


August-A (Sophie-less) trip to San Diego


September-An independent woman


October-A second birthday


November-A night with Ben Folds


December-An inventive little girl



And here's to 2009!
How was your year?


(visit my 2006 & 2007 if you wish)

Our Christmas Best

Here is how adorable Sophie was supposed to look last Sunday for church. Isn't she just the cutest in her cream & gold?

Instead, this is how she looked:
Miserable from a diaper rash that left her unable/unwilling to sit for 24 straight hours, and that kept her, her Mama, & her Papa, up all night.


That aside, we still had today to redeem her cute Christmas ensemble, until you take a closer look at her:
One shoe. That's right. These are her un-worn pair of new Christmas shoes, kept safe in her closet for 2 weeks, only to reappear this week as a single shoe.

This was just not meant to be.

Christmas Morning

Here is Sophie opening her big Christmas gift.

Here she is jumping backward once she realizes what's in the box.

It is a bunch of vintage Little People.
She also got the Garage and the Air Plane.

Other gifts included a Mr. Potato Head, homemade doll clothes, and a Dick & Jane book. She had a fabulous time all day visiting everyone she loves & eating the things she loves too. And so did we.

Merry Christmas.

Foodie Friday #11 - Humble Pie

Welcome back to Foodie Friday.

(for an explanation of the ratings, see here)

Humble Pie
Scottsdale Rd/Lincoln

photo from Phoenix Mag

Price: $$$

Taste: * * * * *
S&A: * * * * *
Value: * * * * *

That's right. You're looking at the first FIVE STAR review of Foodie Friday. And it is well-deserved too.

Humble Pie is a small pizza place that serves wood-fire pizzas. Again, we went with a big group, which actually makes this place even more affordable, as we shared 5 pizzas among the 8 of us (but with 2 people, we probably would have still ordered 2 pizzas - for variety's sake).

We started off with 2 orders of their french fries, which were seasoned with parmesan & garlic, and were delicious. Sophie proclaimed them to be spicy, but ate them like candy.

We then ordered a Margherita, a Wild Mushroom, a Proscuitto & Pear, a Sausage, and an Artichoke pizza. Everyone liked all of them, and I think the Pear pizza was the favorite of the majority, with Margherita coming in at a close second.

I think you could go there and order anything, and be completely satisfied with your meal. Definitely a place we will visit again soon.


Overall Rating: 5 Stars

Foodie Friday #10 - Tradiciones

Welcome back to Foodie Friday.

(for an explanation of the ratings, see here)

Tradiciones
1602 E. Roosevelt, Phoenix

Price: $$$

Taste: * * *
S&A: * * * *
Value: * * *

Jake and I had been to Tradiciones before, and returned for one thing: the fundido. It's an appetizer, and it's basically a small pot of melted Mexican cheese & a pile of tortillas. And it's delicious.

We went as a big group this time, and when it came time to order our meals, Jake and I couldn't remember what we had ordered the last time. And then after our meal, we figured out why. Everything we got was average or worse. The meat was poor quality, and anyone that ordered a seafood dish left disappointed.

Some highlights though: there's no skimping on the guacamole, the beans were good, and so was the flan.

What we learned from the experience: Stick to the basics. This is a traditional Sonoran restaurant - order accordingly. I think if we had all ordered more wisely, we would have all been more satisfied with our meal.


Overall Rating: 3¼ Stars

New Signs

Sophie is taking talking at her own pace, so I'm pretty glad I taught her some signs to get us by in the meantime. We don't use too many signs - just the everyday basics. But then a couple of weeks ago, Sophie invented some new signs.

Sign #1:

Index fingers and thumbs together, then
open arms as wide as possible, very dramatically.

This means "straw", as in, "Please include a straw in my glass of milk."



Sign #2:

Scrape fingers over tongue

"Spicy"

Christmas Lights

Our Christmas tree is up. And because of a Design Mom tip I followed last year, it was super easy to do. She recommended rolling all your lights into a ball (plug at the outer end) for storage. It looks like a big mess, but it was the BEST. Not only did they not tangle at all, but they're a cinch to wrap around the tree.


Definitely something I'll do every year.

Sophie's Goal for the Day:

Sophie's To-Do List for December 1st, 2008

Goal: Grow an Inch

How:

• Sleep a LOT

(She slept in til TEN THIRTY, and then still took a THREE HOUR nap this afternoon)

• Eat a LOT

................ (See below)

Results:

check and check

Outcome: You tell me.