#Boston Strong

             Sometimes, a cause is so great that I shell out a decent amount of money and go have fun for charity. Last night was one of those nights. Last night, I left Mr. at home with the Monkey and headed to TD Garden here in our beloved Boston for the Marathon Show. (Mainly because I couldn't get two tickets. The concert sold out in 5 minutes.) I left work early to get there with minimal traffic interruptions, got a sweet parking space (yay pre-order parking!) and headed to a local bar, The Harp, for dinner and drinks. Y'all, their Mac n' Cheese was quite possibly designed to be orgasmic.

              As the show got close, I headed over to the Garden with all the other excited concert goers. The paperless ticket system was so amazing. They should do it for every concert. I got through, was handed a program and headed to my seat. My seats were great. I quickly made friends with those around me including the usher. The local band pre show entertainment was so much fun! I found out talking to the usher that no one was getting paid. This show was completely volunteer. That floored me. No one was in it for the money. 100% goes to The One Fund, Boston. Sadly, it was not televised for the world to see.

            Finally, the show started and it was a five hour emotional roller coaster that was the best concert experience I had ever had. The two disappointments were the J Giles Band (minus J Giles) and Aerosmith. The show on the whole was so solid. James Taylor and Carol King were amazing. And the whole place sang along with them to "On the Roof" and "You've Got a Friend". NKOTB was amazing as always and the whole place shook when they introduced Bel Biv Devo and Boyz II Men. Dropkick Murphys singing "Shipping up to Boston" shook the whole arena, because everyone was up dancing and singing with the band. Extreme reunited for one night only and Boston rocked the house with "More than a Feeling"There were tears, laughter, and lots of love there. I just wish everyone could have felt it.

              The concert ran 5 1/2 hours and no one cared. No one thought about work or what had to be done tomorrow. It was all about the night, helping the survivors and healing our city. The finale where Aerosmith called everyone out and the entire building sang "Come Together" and "Dirty Water" pretty much summed up the feelings.

We will come together.
We love that Dirty Water.
Boston is our home.

Terrible Twos?

My Dear Little Monkey, 

What has happened? You have all of a sudden turned into the two-face of a toddler. One second you are hugging me and the next second you are throwing an epic tantrum.

Look, I know that this is going to happen. And you know what? I am there for you.

It is tough being you. You want to tell me so much, but don't know exactly how to say it yet. You are starting to realize that you can't always have it your way and that makes you mad. You want independence. I get it. I have been there.

And this is not the last time you will try to assert that you are your own boy. You answer to no one. Except, in reality, you do. You answer to Daddy and to me. And if you answer rudely or hit, you get a quiet time out.

Everyone has their moments, even Mommies and Daddies... It is hard to convey a point. That doesn't change. Everyone gets frustrated with their life or a situation. Just know you can always talk to us. Your Daddy and I will always try our best to understand. We are never the bad guys. We are there for you. We want you to succeed in everything you do. Trust me, if something makes us scratch our heads trying to figure out what you are doing; we will tell you so.

That doesn't mean there won't be screaming and yelling... because that is going to happen. But none of that ever means we don't love you to pieces. It just gets frustrating sometimes.

I just had to say that. You are an amazing kiddo. You are generous, thoughtful and polite. I am so proud of you, especially when we are around older kids who push and don't use their manners. You constantly get complements about your behavior at restaurants and stores. We took you to Toys r' Us and you had no problem putting things back that you wanted. You are a great kid.

This is just a phase. We will get through it... like we will every tough phase ahead of us.

I love you Monkey!

Love forever and always,
Mom

P.S. Keep the European kiss thing you are doing right now. It is super cute, and when you grow up I bet the girls will love it.

No Ordinary Bag....

This. This is no ordinary bag... It didn't cost hundreds of dollars and I didn't have to stand in line for hours to obtain it. It was made with little hands and a lot of love.

It is a present my little Monkey made me for Mother's Day.  He was so excited for me to open it, and I was excited to do so. He kept telling me about every button and how Nana helped. Later, he told me it could hold my dice.... which is true.

It is better than any other bag I know of. I love it so much.

Cake for the Masses

So I have discovered the secret to true chocolate bliss.

And that, my Internet friends, is called flour less chocolate cake. We had a game day this past weekend where we had gamers who needed a gluten free dessert. So I offered up the recipe for this delectable treat.

The ingredients are: eggs, butter, a lot of chocolate, cocoa powder and both granulated and powdered sugar.

Hard to go wrong with that combo...


The butter is put into a double boiler with the chopped chocolate and melted stirring as often as you can until it is smooth and shiny. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 and grease a spring form pan using butter. Put 6 eggs and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium for 5-8 minutes until the mixture is pale and thick.  Let the chocolate cool a little before mixing.

Gently fold in the chocolate until it is fully incorporated.  Then pour into the cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until inserting a knife comes out almost clean (just a few crumbs).

Then the best part.

Once it cools, sift some powdered sugar and cocoa over the cake and voila!


So delicious. So amazing. Try it.

Also put whipped cream on it. You will thank me.

What It Means to Be a Mom...

With Mother's Day approaching, I keep seeing these articles on what it means to be a Mother.  Let's face it.... we are awesome. We can handle anything. I mean we handled childbirth, right?

We know all we ever need to about cars, superheroes, monsters and children's programing. We don't mind reading that book for the 200th time, and still don't mind when we don't make it all the way through. We listen to a song over and over because they were polite and used "please" and "thank you".

As a working mother, I am able to shift from my work hat to my mom hat without delay. The best part of my day? The first moments I see him when I pick him up. He gets excited and runs over to give me a hug and 3 kisses (one on each cheek and one on the nose).  Then I get to share a ride home with him, where he tells me about his day or we sing... usually both. I miss him terribly during the day, but I think that is what makes our time at night so valuable.

I know his every quirk, can speak his language, can make him laugh with just a face, make his boo boo better with a kiss, and be his hero when he needs it.

It is awesome.

He fills my heart more than I ever thought possible. I am his mom and his buddy, and he is my little man.

I am his chauffeur, chef, playmate, chief cuddler, Mama Cat, and lullaby singer.

He is my sidekick, audience, baby cat and hugglemonster.

But what does this do with being a mom?

Everything.

Because that is what my little boy means to me.

I mean.... How can you deny this face?