Mar. 25: Super terrific happy thing #20

Today’s super terrific happy thing:

A card cubby!

My cousin showed me the coolest little organizer/wallet and I knew immediately I had to have one. Why? Because I like organizing and I really like buying myself stuff I don’t need. This little goodie was irresistible. I mean, LOOK AT IT. It’s an adorable little wallet-y thing with lettered dividers! Perfection.

Card Cubbies come in bunches of colors and designs (see them here). Some even have straps. Most measure 5”x3” and are about 2” deep, which means they can hold lots of cards. If your cell phone is small, it’ll fit in there too. There’s a clear pocket on the back and a zippered pocket inside.

I excitedly began to transfer my old wallet contents into the Card Cubby I bought last week. The filing process was trickier than I anticipated, though. Most things belong in an obvious place; my Albertsons card goes under “A” and my Starbucks cards go under “S.” But what about paper money? Does it go under “C” for cash? “D” for dollars? “M” for money? “N” for never enough? “P” for poker fund? See what I mean? Tricky.

(Since you’re undoubtedly on the edge of your seat waiting to hear where I filed my cash, you’ll be disappointed to know it didn’t get a special place. Or maybe it got the special-est place of all: it’s in front of the “A,” visible as soon as I unsnap. My debit card’s there too.)

Stress-inducing alphabetizing or not, I still think my Card Cubby is a super terrific happy thing. I got the red sweetheart one, and I love that it’s so bright and easy to find in my purse. I also like that it isn’t overflowing with a bunch of cards I rarely use, like my old wallet always was, and that now I can find those rarely-used cards when I need them. I’m less likely to lose gift cards when I have a good, sensible place to put them. Oh, and stamps! I lose postage stamps all the time, and now they’re right where they belong, under “S.” Yay!

Hold it. Should stamps go under “P” for postage? “M” for mail? “O” for old fashioned because who even uses postage stamps these days? Argh!

Thanks, Deanna, for introducing me to this fabulous wallet-y goodness! In my hierarchy of cuzzins, it puts you higher than ever. (Please don’t tell the others.)

Does Card Cubby have a Facebook page? You bet it does! Is there a good reason to “like” it? I CAN’T THINK OF ONE!

Aug. 16: Super terrific happy thing #19

Today’s super terrific happy thing:

The stuff in this etsy store!

An image caught my eye in a blog this morning, so I followed the link and it took me to a treasure trove of wall graphics. A treasure trove, I tell you!

Urban Expressions has tons of these wall decals, and they’ve got a gorgeous catalog that I’d kinda like to live in. Decor for kids’ rooms is adorable, and for adults, there are some beautiful quotes available. Those are my favorites—the word decals—but there are some gorgeous images too, like the botanicals and Partridge Family-like birds. Such fun!

Don’t you think you’d be a happier person if you woke up to a quote like the one above every single morning?

This decor idea reminds me a lot of what I did in Jack’s nursery…

…but looks way better than my handiwork did. I do love the way his room came out, but it sings “amateur!”

One more thing for my list of things to do today: find a room in which I can use one of these wall decals. I just gotta!

Jul. 7: Super terrific happy thing #18

Today’s super terrific happy thing:

Seeing one’s child reach a milestone that absolutely thrills them.

The last time I took Katie shoe-shopping, she wore a kids’ size three. We had a hard time agreeing on which shoes were right for her because so many were babyish, and the ones that were age-appropriate were hideous. That was my opinion, anyway. We usually do okay shopping together—her tastes aren’t too far off from mine—but finding shoes has been a real struggle over the past year. She’s gone shopping more frequently with her grandmothers since then, and quite frankly, I haven’t paid any attention to the size shoe that currently fits her.

Last week I took Katie shopping for flip-flops, and she found a super-cute pair in a ladies’ size five. A FIVE! And they fit! My little girl is in big girl shoes! This is HUGE.

I remember making the transition from kiddie shoe sizes myself, and how suddenly fun it was to go to shoe stores and try on the highest heels I could find. My very wise mom knew better than to let me get them, but I loved looking at my feet in heels in the shoe store’s low angled mirrors. I felt like such a grown-up from the calves down! Best of all, even if I couldn’t go home with the shoes I really wanted, I wasn’t forced to buy anything that a three-year-old would wear.

Once we discovered that Katie had moved into adult sizes, it didn’t take much encouraging to get her to try on a pair of high heeled shoes. Her grin was enormous. When she begged to buy them, I told her they weren’t very good for running around, and to prove me wrong, she ran from one end of the shoe department to the other in four-inch heels. The shocking part is that she did it without tripping or twisting her ankle. Still, the girl inherited my clumsiness; it’s only a matter of time before those heels would hurt her and hurt her good. You know it and I know it.

I’m hopeful that a new size range will expand our shoe-shopping possibilities (in a good way) in future years. We shall see. For now, I’ll enjoy the super terrific happiness of my girl and her “big” feet.

Jun. 5: Super terrific happy thing #17

My super terrific happy thing for today:

A pedicure.

For the past six months I haven’t been able to go to a salon for my spa pedicures because there’s too much risk of infection, so it’s been up to me to maintain the beauty of my piggies. And quite frankly, it’s easier to wear socks. Except for frequent nail trims, I pretty much ignored my feet all winter and through most of our very damp spring. Oh yes, I’m hanging my head in shame as I type.

…or I was. Today I took all my mani/pedi tools out on the deck and gave myself a pedicure in the sunshine. It was a thorough one, too—it involved much scraping and shaving and sanding and filing and now my feet are downright spectacular. Something on me ought to be.

I much prefer getting a pedicure over giving myself one, but I’ll take what I can get. There’s a lovely feeling in having soft feet, perfectly shaped toenails, and unchipped polish, at least for those few hours before I trip over the dog and spend the next week in an ace bandage. Being clumsy sucks. But having pretty piggies is super, terrific, and makes me oh-so-happy.

May 23: Super Terrific Happy Thing #16

You meet one of your favorite celebrities and AREN’T disappointed; he or she is even nicer, more charming, and friendlier than you imagined.

In the few opportunities I’ve had to meet a celebrity whom I admire, I think I’ve been pretty lucky to discover them to be decent people. It probably makes a difference that a lot of the public figures I admire are writers—typically intelligent and at least a little bit intuitive, they tend to do more than just say, “Hi, nice to meetcha.” Some have been downright chatty.

The local celebrities I’ve met have been a mixed bag of dazzling and, well, the opposite of dazzling. Former coworkers who were at a company Christmas party at my house in 1997 know of whom I am referring to and that is ALL I’m going to say about that. Let’s see… Mike Donahue? Super-nice guy. Jim Bosley, what a dude he was. Paul Linnman? Friendly and personable. Ramblin’ Rod? He was Portland’s Captain Kangaroo!

I think I’ve blogged about most of my author meeting or seeing experiences over the past few years: Armistead Maupin, David Sedaris, Heather Armstrong (dooce), Lisa Schroeder, and Sarah Vowell are the ones I easily remember. I keep an eye on the bookstore lists of authors scheduled to read in the Portland area so I can support these brilliant writers—no matter how popular they are, I always fear they’ll end up with a small crowd. If I decide to hang around to meet them personally, I usually feel nervous when it’s my turn, but I almost never regret it. Of course, it’s a treat to have my book signed, too.

The other day I wrote that I was all excited because Pamela Ribon visited my blog. I emailed a reply to the comment she left, and today I received an email back. Again, I have to try not to blather myself into a puddle of author worship, but I am thoroughly impressed with her kindness, especially after I asked her a question that totally bummed her out.

Here’s the thing. Y’know that camera commercial with that awful Taylor Swift where all her fans are brought in so she can take a panoramic photo of them? And they’re screaming, and she pretty much ignores them all and acts totally unimpressed while she takes the picture? And there’s that one guy who won’t leave and she just stares at him like he’s a freak (because he is)? Well, that’s how I think most celebrities see their fans—it’s probably unfair and inaccurate, but I just imagine that they don’t really care all that much about any of us, ESPECIALLY when we fawn all over them. So it’s nice to find out that there are some out there who are nice, considerate, normal kinds of people, who show an interest in their fans and truly appreciate our presence. Either that, or they’re really good at pretending we don’t drive them nuts.

To me, meeting some of my favorite celebrities has been a super, terrific, happy thing. What about you? Have you had a rotten experience meeting one of your favorite public figures? Do you limit yourself to sightings only? (That’s OK too, Laura; lots of people go through life without ever taking the chance to invite fake Sammy Hagar to a barbecue...)

May 17: Super Terrific Happy Thing #15

When I first decided to do super terrific happy thing posts, I made a mental note not to write all of them about food. That is me MAKING A SACRIFICE, people! Once in a while is okay, but I wanted to make myself think a little beyonder (a made-up word just for you, Fancy Lori™) and write about super terrific happy things that don’t necessarily end with YUMMY YUMMY IN MY TUMMY.

I made it as far as my third super terrific happy thing post before it became a food one. Shut up.

Dutch Babies (some people call them German pancakes)

I can’t remember where I first ate a Dutch Baby, but it had to have been at a friend’s house because my mom never would have let me sprinkle that much powdered sugar on my breakfast at home. I ordered a Dutch Baby at Elmer’s the other day and had forgotten how much I enjoy them, so I dug out my recipe when I got home. I got this from a long-gone local coffee company and have been using it for about 25 years.

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Dutch Babies

PAN SIZE	BUTTER	EGGS	MILK AND FLOUR
2-3 quarts/11” pan	¼ cup	3	¾ cup each
3-4 quarts/11” pan	⅓ cup	4	1 cup each
4-4½ quarts/13” pan	½ cup	5	1¼ cup each
4½-5 quarts/15” pan	½ cup	6	1½ cup each

1. Select the recipe proportions to fit your pan and get out ingredients.
2. Put butter in pan and set into a 425° oven.
3. Quickly mix batter while butter melts. Put eggs in food processor and whirl at high speed for one minute.
4. With motor running, gradually pour in milk, then slowly add flour. Continue whirling for 30 seconds.
5. Remove pan from oven and pour batter into the hot melted butter.
6. Return to oven and bake until puffy and well browned, 20-25 minutes.
7. Dust with ground nutmeg and serve with powdered sugar and lemon wedges.

Jen’s notes:

• When I first started making Dutch Babies at home, I didn’t have a food processor so I used a blender. Now I have a food processor but I think the blender works just as well and it’s a lot easier to clean.
• I’ve never in my life had nutmeg on a Dutch Baby. I’ve always used lemon juice and powdered sugar. I had strawberry compote topping at Elmer’s and liked it very much, and am now thinking of all sorts of directions I could take the fresh fruit thang… mmmmmm…
• I’d be curious to know of anyone who’s tried this with savory toppings. Good? Better? Too omelet-y?
• I recommend sausage or bacon as a side. Dutch Babies can be sweet.
• If you add raisins to this recipe I will come to your house and kill you.

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Here’s how the completed Dutch Baby looked when I took it out of the oven:

The sides were a little taller before it cooled. Notice the pools of melted butter in a few spots; they signify extreme deliciousness. Here are lots more photos of Dutch Babies. And here are lots more recipes. Take your pick.

Dutch Babies are super, terrific, and they’re a thing that makes me happy. YUMMY YUMMY IN MY TUMMY.

May 7: Super Terrific Happy Thing #14

Here’s something that always makes me smile:

Seeing a sign with my name on it.

There’s a Jennifer Street that runs through an industrial park a few miles away from our house. I probably drive it a few times a week, usually when there’s a lot of traffic on Sunnyside or Hwy. 212. On a quick Google search, I can see that there are lots of Saltmarsh Roads across the world. No Manullang Blvds that I can find.

When we were in Amsterdam we saw two restaurants near each other that made me grab my camera—they were Jennifer Croissanterie & Tearoom and Vic’s Terrace & Brasserie. I’m too lazy to scan and post the pictures, so I looked for photos online but I could only find the Jennifer one. Really.

It’s not, like, the best thing in the world, seeing your name on a sign. But it’s fun.

Apr. 21: Super Terrific Happy Thing #13

Here’s a new blog post type I’m gonna try once in a while because I need to remind myself more frequently of the joyous parts of life. I’ve decided to call it “Super Terrific Happy Thing” in honor of the Japanese show in which Jerry Seinfeld appeared for one second. He earned 12¢ royalty checks… so I’m starting at #13 (#1 was just too darn easy).

When I first pour my coffee in the morning and the mug is so heavy I have to hold it with both hands; it’s like holding a guaranteed 20 minutes of warm, life-giving contentment.

Pure super terrific happiness.