Happy New Year!

My New Years resolution is to shop less. What? not surprising? Having been inspired by Maria's bombardment of Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping: What Would Jesus Buy?, I get the point.

In my defense, I actually do not shop as much as people think. I'm not a bargain basement shopper-I do not and will not ever scour the Internet searching for deals. It's just not me. But I also don't buy a bunch of crap. I like to save and buy something expensive and really nice. For example, I have one winter scarf-but it's a Burberry. I have at the most 8 sweaters but they are cashmere. Two beautiful purses I use daily but they were gifts. I'm all about quality-I have much less volume in my closet than I used to but it's filled with nice, well-structured, expensive pieces that will last and I can hand down to Elise.

So there you have it-last year it was the cooking goal and this year the shopping. I really feel I have cultivated my cooking skills over the year and turned out some truly delightful dishes. Last night I received the stamp of approval from Mike (one would think he's obligated to say nice things but he is surprisingly frank) that I was, in fact, now a fantastic cook. I perfected my roasted pepper, garlic and tomato sauce simply by using the veggies in the crisper that were about to expire. I added shrimp and whole wheat pasta to the mix and it was exquisite. Mike's philosophy about what makes a good cook is "to use what you have and make something extraordinary". Indeed.

Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Years Eve!
Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. Because we are the coolest people on the planet we have no plans for tonight. Mike is on home call for both UCLA and his moonlighting gig which is not terrible because it means lots of $$$. Hopefully the pager won't go off too much and we can (I can) drink lots of champagne, we can play video games (I've gotten suckered back into a golf game on xbox) and write marginally-drunken emails. I say suckered like it so hard to twist my arm...
Have a fun night:-)

Log Cabin

Now *that's* a log cabin-

Ever since childhood I have always wanted a log cabin on a lake in the mountains or at least near mountains. In fact, it was pretty much written into our unspoken vows that we get one some day. Mike tried for "what about a ski home somewhere". I still want my main residence to be on a lake (preferably a small one) with a floor to ceiling stone fireplace and enough space to fit all my Christmas carolers, trains and New England villages. We can also have our boat too. You can take the girl out of New England but well....you know. For the meantime, one of Elise's presents this year was her first Lincoln Log set! It was mommy's absolute favorite toy as a child. It was fun to see my dad helping her construct different homes with the logs.

It also made me miss the log cabin belonging to my Aunt and Uncle deep in the forest of the White Mountains that we would retreat to every year...sigh. I think this beautiful LA weather is making me homesick for bubblers, grinders, jimmies and Magic Hat #9.

Elise wanted to wear her bear hat tonight and collect her woodland animals which have been living in the tree house with her fairies and hobbits. She wanted mommy to wear it too:

It totally looks like E and mommy share the same gut in the first picture. Thanks to mom's extra sweatshirt material and E's toddler belly that hasn't quite gone away:-)

While Mom's Away

Mommy was out shopping in Beverly Hills on a beautiful day. She came home and found this:

Mind of the 2 year old...

This post is completely random, as are most of them. Anyone who knows Elise knows her language is developed for a 2 year old. Let's just say she's about 3 years advanced on that scale. The potty, well, that's another story. But what we can't figure out is how her mind thinks and what provokes her to say things like "Oh my god Daddy! You are the TALLEST man I have ever seen!"
"Katie (our friend) look at my "B" (her blanket) isn't it just incredible?"
"Mommy, that sweater looks really good on you! May I have one?"
"Hey everybody! It's Lysie time!"
"Good job Olivia! If you keep doing it you'll be such a good maker some day."

We have no idea who Olivia is. We are starting to think it might be imaginary friend time. I had a series of imaginary friends who came and went with the seasons. Mike, however, had a very good one named "Einsig Eensick" who apparently made him cakes all the time. He held onto that one for quite awhile..in fact, sometimes at night..I can't be sure..but..

Viva la chef

This is my new spice rack-and it's AWESOME

This is going to be my new All Clad large saute pan and it's AWESOME

All the yummy things I will create..visions of port wine reduction sauce dance in my head.

I also got my spring form cake pan for my chocolate espresso torte..mmmm

And to all a good night...

Christmas in the Froehler household was jammed packed with gifts. Some of the highlights include, but are not limited to, a new play kitchen, a gigantic dollhouse, enough musical instruments to start a band and a billion race cars for Elise. Guitar Hero (we're about 2 years late on that one:-), a rare and special bottle of scotch for daddy. A coveted Dean and Deluca spice rack, gift card to Saks and a Louis Vuitton purse for mommy:-) yay!!!
Pepe enjoyed Christmas and watching Elise open 2 hours worth of gifts. We were happy to see that she took her time and gave thoughtful consideration to each and every present. She even helped mommy pick out several toys to donate to the toy drop for those less fortunate citing-"I want all the kids to have cool presents".

We had a wonderful day and it was so nice to have Pepe here with us to celebrate. Despite the fact that my family back in New England was without power for so long and had a crappy start to the Christmas season, everyone managed to get through and have a nice holiday.

Like father, like daughter:

Elise overwhelmed with the presentation:

Peace On Earth

champagne-induced thankfulness

So I'm rocking out to Fire Woman by the Cult and why wouldn't I on my birthday??
Thanks Thanks Thanks for all my well wishes today. Today my emails, phone calls and cards came out in record numbers-thanks facebook!
But really, I'm so thankful for my family and friends-I couldn't ask for better people in my life. Thanks Courtney for reading my blog (as well as all the other lurkers-you *know* who you are). I'm really happy my daughter loves 80's music almost as much as me. I'm thankful for my wonderful, generous, spoiling and wildly intelligent husband. Life is good:-)

Tree House

Useful? No. Practical? No. Completely adorable? Yes. Elise's newest addition to her toys-behold a tree house for her dolls:

while dad's away...

Mike is out of town this weekend and Elise just asked if that means we should have a party. hahaha
If by party you mean-laundry, cleaning, wrapping presents, watching mommy's Tivo'd shows and scouring Whole Foods for the latest in Pirate's Booty then it's going to be a rocking fiesta:-)

Foods of Love

yellowtail tartar with caviar
black cod with miso
scallop sashimi with jalapeno
uni roll
wagyu taco
duck w/foie gras and truffles
matcha tiramisu
one bottle of premium unfiltered sake
Veuve champagne

and I can't even remember what else we had but big thanks to my husband who poured on the love:-)

Roses...

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I'm excited for dinner,
because I love Nobu.

Mike is taking me out for an early birthday dinner at Nobu. We dined at his establishment several years ago in NYC and it was great. His executive chef Morimoto had gone on to open his own place in Philadelphia which we dined at a few years later. We had the pleasure of Morimoto being in house to prepare our sushi that evening. Nobu has three LA restaurants: Nobu, Nobu Matsuhisa and Nobu Malibu. We will be dining at his newest Nobu, which shares the same name as his NYC one. I hope he is in this evening, I would love to add him to my list of encountered chef celebrities-we met Wolfgang Puck in May at Spago. If I can ever get reservations at Pizzeria or Osteria Mozza then I can try for Mario Batali:-)

Grandma's visit

We had a fun-filled weekend with Grandma in town. Jeanne got into town on Thursday and we started off with "the cholo". El Cholo is a Mexican restaurant in Santa Monica that has the best margaritas. period. It's also insanely kid-friendly so Elise can sing and clap and yell all she wants and it's so loud no one cares. The food is also delicious and authentic.

Friday Elise and Grandma stayed near home and played while mommy and daddy went to tour a prospective preschool in Bel Air. Unfortunately the only preschools on this side of town are in in Brentwood, Santa Monica, Palisades or Bel Air and well, you get the point. Fortunately, we get to have encounters with members of KISS.

Friday night we strolled down Montana Ave (a very popular shopping and dining mecca right next to where we live). They were having the holiday festival. Elise got to meet Santa but stood far enough away to shout her wish list at him. We were unable to get proper picture documentation. After we decided it was too crowded to really enjoy we ended the night with sushi at home.

On Saturday we headed to the beach, duh. It was a beautiful 75 degrees and sunny so Grandma was happy to remember that she was far away from Rochester. For lunch we did the Hollywood driving tour for Grandma and went to all the famous landmarks including Pinks. Pink Famous Chili Dogs has been a Los Angeles institution since 1939. It's still in the same little shack and it still has a line around the corner at any given time of the day. We all shared various hot dog creations and they were equally delicious and equally bad for your digestive system. We called it an early night.

On Sunday we headed to the Farmer's Market which is, literally, right outside our door. We bought lots of yummy treats and laughed at all the rich people who pretend to be peasants for a day. After naps we went to the Santa Monica Pier. Surprise, surprise. It is Elise's ABSOLUTE favorite place to go and it's right down the street so it works out perfectly. We did the usual ferris wheel and merry-go-round but Elise took it a step farther and ventured out on her own. She rode on the kiddie cars all by herself. They are strapped in and the cars go about 2 miles an hour on a small circular track but mommy was still breathless and ready to jump the fence at any note of trepidation on E's part.

We ended the evening at a seafood restaurant where mommy gorged herself on steamed shellfish of every variety. Early birthday present from Grandma..thanks Grandma:-)

Elise is sad that her 24 hour/day playmate has gone back to New York but she'll get to see her Pepe in a few weeks when he comes for Christmas!

I think independently

Today our daughter said to me "Mommy, you're so beautiful. but sometimes you're so silly..."

who are we really talking about??

Pie Lady

I am officially the pie lady. I am unafraid to compete with the best of them. I challenge anyone to a pie cook-off. Yesterday sealed the deal in pie-making. I am excited to come up with some new pie ideas. Maybe I'll be like the girl in Waitress and open my own pie shop someday. Nothing warms my heart more than to imagine that possibility. The thing is, I don't even like most pie. I make it for others to enjoy and that makes me happy:-)

food coma

ate. too. much

yummmm

We are celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow with our friends Katie, Jay and their son Thomas. So of course that means I'm a cooking freak today. Our place smells so good! I am currently making homemade pumpkin and homemade apple pie with my famous crust. I am also going to make butternut squash, apple and gorgonzola torte and roasted asparagus with toasted pine nuts. But I probably won't do the latter until tomorrow. Those, along with wine and beer will be our contribution to the meal. Katie is taking care of the turkey, cheesy gratin, cornbread stuffing and cranberry-orange sauce. I think for two couples and two toddlers that is quite a feast! We're happy to spend this holiday with friends:-) Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Lysie's room

I'm finally happy with the way E's room looks-and we can thank Pottery Barn Kids (and their shameless knock-offs) for that one. I added butterflies to her wall yesterday and she really likes them!

Just a few..

of my favorite things. Hedgehogs, Pink Lady apples, Juno, oompa toys, cherry blossoms. As far as brown paper packages tied up with string..I am wrapping all my x-mas presents in recycled brown paper bags I saved from my shopping trips BEFORE I switched to my own canvas grocery bags. I give major contributions to the farmers markets on the westside, buy free-range meat, mostly abstain from water bottles. My next step will be a hybrid but I have yet to convince Mike on this..he says since I drive like, 2 miles a day at most and often walk everywhere anyway, that I'm not the problem. He has a good point. He always does damn it:-) Well, off to the beach this morning!

Random Pictures

OK..So we had a boring weekend. Does anyone even read this blog anyhow? Probably not. Facebook prevails I guess...

1)He did it.



2) Is that Iron Man??



3) Am I going to have a beard like daddy? (exact quote from E)

4) when will mommy get a beard? umm...menopause?
5) The highschool picture I WISH I had...

As you can see..doesn't take a lot to excite this family:-)

ps: Sirius/XM has named their holiday station sirius/xm Holly. That shouldn't make me as happy as it does..I really need a life. Especially since when the holidays are winding down but the music is still playing and my name is in every song I'm thinking "ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

pps: Mike has turned his iphone into a lightsaber (i didn't know you could do such a thing?!) and is waving it at me. I just chose my own lightsaber. I'm purple green peas Froehler and I just sabered his head. "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!!" Long live the croquet queen..

Lucky..

I'm sure this blog seems very redundant..oh they went to the beach AGAIN. But I can honestly say that I'm pretty happy where I'm at right now. I can't believe I can go to this beautiful beach every morning and it's free. I was walking along the beach this morning watching the dolphins and listening to the waves and thought, "I'm so lucky to be able to do this." It means so much more to me than anything else I do. This beach is always empty and it's like having paradise all to ourselves. So relaxing. So gorgeous. So happy. At least I get to share it with Elise and our two buddies Katie and Thomas..Mike doesn't see the outside of the hospital much anymore and probably won't for three years. But I think he feels happy that we occupy our time doing things like this:-)

just cuz...

Sunset

Managing to escape wildfires, just another beautiful SoCal weekend...

Welcome Monique!

Please welcome Monique Theresa Babeau! My sister Michele delivered a beautiful, healthy baby girl Sunday evening. She is perfectly wonderful and our family couldn't be happier! What a true blessing for us, especially my sister.

Most Talkative

Elise proudly displays her shirt which we believe suits her to a "T". She came with mommy to vote today and seemed to enjoy the whole experience including the sticker she was awarded for cheering on mommy and the rest of the citizens in line:-) Happy Election Day!!

Happy real Halloween!!

Happy Early Halloween

I get so excited for Halloween every year..I have already warned Mike that when we move someday and have a big house I will be going over the top with the Halloween motif. Think grave yards, skeletons, cob webs all over the house, ghosts in trees. If it has to do with Halloween-it WILL be there. I adore spooky things, LOVE horror movies (Mel knows how much-I made her watch the Exorcist when she came to visit me one year). The thought of a real haunted house sends a delightful chill down my spine. Having a two year old girl doesn't leave much of a fear factor on Halloween. G rated trick-or-treating at 5pm with the neighbors. After Elise goes to bed the lights will be dimmed, candles will be lit, popcorn and yummy drinks will be made and Mike will suffer through at least two frightening movies with me. YAY! I have been prepping Elise for the Halloween festivities with Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. This is our favorite Halloween book:

Elise's Mug Shot

my latest obsessions...

Things that take up Holly's time: Cooking, Facebook, the Virgins, x-mas shopping, iced coffee from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, lava cakes from Trader Joes (not too many though-wouldn't be good for the figure). I have recently been interested in, perhaps, going to cooking school at some point. I never thought myself a chef until recently. Throughout my adult life I have contributed an ample amount of time to decadent food and drink but usually on the receiving end. Over the last year or so I have realized I can actually cook and that I enjoy it more than almost anything else I do. I have wanted for some time to go back to school but never thought about it involving food-so we'll see what happens. In other news, Mike is working offensive hours so I'm really glad I have made some stellar friends here:-)

Family Vacation

Lysie having fun in the pool with daddy:





Lysie thinking "I'm not sure about these ultra-liberal San Franciscan types":

Lysie blending right into the festival surroundings:

It's been a fun couple of weeks for us. Mike's parents (pop-pop & noni) came into town last week to visit. We did lots of the usual-Santa Monica Pier, beach, playground, spoiling Elise with everything in sight. We then drove up to Santa Barbara and stayed at a wonderful resort right on the ocean-it was beautiful. Then onto San Francisco where we had a great visit with "uncle Rob" saw some sights and went to a Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park. Elise had tons of fun-a huge park filled with thousands of people is a good way to almost lose your child in the crowd:-) We drove back part of the way on Highway 1 stopping to admire the breathtaking views. We stopped in Carmel (near pebble beach) to walk around and have lunch and then caught a faster road back home. I was disappointed we didn't make it down to Big Sur but we decided it would be better to go camping there on our next trip-barring any wildfires. All in all, it was a great vacation for all-especially Mike who has been working like a dog. Ooh-We also went out for a truly spectacular dinner at Mastros in Beverly Hills sans the kid. Food was AMAZING. Anyway, we just got back from the beach in Malibu so better go to wash off the sun and sand-god I love living here!

Downtime

Our week with Pepe and Laura was fun filled but it's always nice to have some rest before our next adventure. Pop-pop and Noni will be in town next week for a few days and then we are all driving up to Santa Barbara and then onto San Francisco to see uncle "Rog" (mike's friend Rob who Elise used to call Rog).  We went to Venice Beach the other day and there were lots of cool sailboats on the water.  It's very hard to tell in the picture but this was a red and brown striped one that resembled a small pirate ship.  Elise was delighted as she loves pirates and has decided she will be one for Halloween, if not for her future occupation.  When asked what she will be when she grows up her response is, "a pirate! definitely a pirate!" So there you have it. 

Who ordered the boy?

Yesterday while we were at Disneyland it became abundantly clear to us that we are raising a tomboy.  Although Elise loves many girlish things, she has never taken to dolls, tea parties or ballerinas.  She loves race cars, spaceships and pirates.  While mom was waiting in line (for an hour) for E to meet the princess, Mike took her to the princess gift shop.  One can imagine what overpriced items they sell at such an establishment. Of all the colorful assortment of crowns, dresses, wands, tea sets they have, Elise chose a huge sword.  Mike was able to convince her to get, yet another, toy cell phone.  For all the time I spent waiting in line, Elise met Belle, Ariel and a few other lesser known "princesses".  She seemed disappointed that Cinderella wasn't there and asked the other gals to call her on the cell phone.  They didn't seem too upset that they received silver medal status and happily obliged.  Elise's favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm not sure if it was the drunken pirates toting swords, the explosions or the scary darkness of it all but she was entranced.  She also managed to squeeze a few more toys out of Pepe including a Lightening McQueen race car to add to her "collection" and a Buzz Light year.  We were exhausted by the end of our journey but Elise was a trooper and ended the day riding the go-carts with daddy (of course).  

In other news, our dinner at Katsuya was very remarkable-the food was sublime. Cucumber sake martinis and salmon sashimi with caviar-yum yum yum:-)