If at first you don't succeed...

Bookmark v.2
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

knit knack

Bookmark
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Please let me first say that I realize this is the ugliest bookmark in the history of bookmarks - but ya'll I MADE it! I learned to knit and then I knitted this with my own - very clumsy - two hands. Also, I would like to clarify that knitting is not anywhere near as easy as it looks. I was so frustrated I almost quit several times but after searching down a couple of web videos I finally got the hang of it - well, sort of...

Sunday: Perfectly Grilled Corn with Chipotle Mayonnaise, Cotija Cheese & Lime

Sunday: Perfectly Grilled Corn with Chipotle Mayonnaise, Cotija Cheese & Lime
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

I saw Bobby Flay make this corn on CBS Sunday Morning almost a month ago and I've been obsessed with it every since. I've been begging Nicholas to make it forever and he finally caved after we picked up corn at the beach last weekend and can I just say - YUM!

Thursday: Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Thursday: Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes and Mozzarella
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Birth

Birth: A Surprising History of How We Are Born should really be titled Birth: An Infuriating History of How We Are Born. Chapter after chapter author Tina Cassidy chronicles the way in which laboring women have been mistreated, ignored, experimented on, and even killed. What makes the history even more enraging is that most often the people doing the maiming, torturing, or whatever were there to "help." Most often those there to help were male doctors trying to take that care away from female midwives - and doing a large amount of damage in the process.

Here's one of my favorite examples, where Cassidy quotes a mid-nieteenth century doctor complaining about the midwife and women helpers who were still present at the birth, even if they were forced to call in a doctor.
"Nothing is more common than for the patient's friends to object to [bloodletting], urging as a reason, that 'she has lost enough blood.' Of this they are in no respect suitable judges."

And if they weren't blaming the women in the room, they were blaming the actual laboring mother:
When doctors were spreading infection in the late 1700's before sanitary practices, the "blamed the mother for creating her own infection...a woman, upset because her husband was abroad she went into labor at the Rotunda, became infected. The head of the hospital blamed her fretting."

The entire time I was reading about how doctors intimidated women and bullied them out of their own better instincts I couldn't help but think of a recent conversation with my aunt. I mentioned that I was interested in a home birth with a midwife and she told me that her female OB-GYN had told her she gets so upset when she sees "smart, educated women doing something stupid like having their baby at home."

So, let's settle this once and for all:
- "In America, those women attended by midwives ultimately have lower cesarean rates, fewer interventions such as labor induction and episiotomies, and lower infant mortality, than those attended by doctors."

- "Deliveries at home and in birth centers have been statistically proven to be as safe as those in hospitals, where, not incidentally, one's chance of having a cesarean soar just because you walk through the door."

- "One study has shown that epidurals increase the likelihood of the baby presenting in the posterior position - in other words, not fully rotated. Such a presentation does lead to higher cesarean rates."

You're not a dumb hippie because you want to have natural childbirth, even in your own home, and I just wish in 2007 most people understood that. It's not the answer for everyone - but if I learned anything from this books, it's that every woman should have the right to figure out that answer for herself.

Life Made Easy

People always say life should come with an owner's manual...Well I have to say this blog post might come pretty close.

The Bourne Ultimatum

We just saw it. There are a lot of great reviews out there, so I'm not sure I can add much except to say ...

"Y'know, I always thought that Matt Damon was like a Streisand, but he's rocking the shit in this one!"

Queen for a Day

One of my LexisNexis purchases (see below) was a book called No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for your blog. I thought it might be interesting to expand the subject area of this blog beyond food, travel, and how cute Maggie is. The author's first idea is what you would change about the world if you were Queen for a Day?

And can I just say - I've been waiting a LONG time for someone to ask me that question. ;)

First, people would stop chewing their fingernails in public...scratch that, people would stop chewing their fingernails period. You know why? Because it's disgusting. It's disgusting to do and it is certainly disgusting to watch. I hate watching someone stick their nasty fingers in their mouth then shove it in either further because clearly they've already chewed that nail down to almost nothing. YUCK!

Second, people would stop bossing other grown-ass adults on the metro. Look, mass transit can get ugly and sometimes people don't act like the upright walking homosapiens they are and that sucks. However, you screaming at people to "Walk faster - people are trying to get on!" or "People would do well to remember their bags are an extension of themselves!" is NOT HELPING ANYTHING.

Third, men would stop with the street harassment. I'm glad you think I have a fine ass. Really I am - I'll be able to look myself in the mirror now that you have officially solved all my insecurities. But just the same - keep it to your dang self. It's insulting and scary and just plain rude.

Also, if I was queen for day, everyone would wear lovely, flattering clothes and the planet would be stricken of capri pants, ill-fitting bras, and graphic T's. I would never have to wait in line and it would be Free for the Queen day at Nordstrom and Cityzen. Oh and Oprah would be my Lady in Waiting! ;)

Don't Break the Chain

Over the weekend Nicholas and I stopped at our favorite crab shack in Rehoboth called Lazy Susan's. Sitting next to us were two couples engaging in lively conversation. Once this conversation turned to Harry Potter, I couldn't help but interject. Well, over the course of dinner, we talked about a lot of other thing, including my favorite subject - politics. The woman sitting next to me was particularly interested in my work for Hillary and how I felt about her. I told her all about how great Hillary was in person and how she totally inspired me. She told me about how she had voted for George Bush two times and how she was becoming increasingly disturbed by him and the Republican party. At the end of dinner, she asked for my email address and I gave it her, not expecting much from it. However, today I got this email.

Sarah,
Thanks for the inspiration .. I added my name to the Hilary e-mail list and changed my voter registration from independent to democrat.
It was nice to meet you .. it was so refereshing to listen to the voice of our youth.
Have a great day,
Deb

So, that's pretty awesome. I guess engaging in "pointless" political discussions isn't always pointless. :)

Sunrise

Silent films were never my favorite when going through the list the first time. I found them long and a bit tedious. However, this film was really engaging and beautifully done. I can't help but think talking might actually have sullied it up a bit. The director F.W. Murnau was a leading German Expressionism and that style, the distorted images, the symbolism, were so apparent in the film. What I thought was so really interesting is how it really seemed like a fairy tale come to life, like the film industry was exploring what types of stories to tell. I'd highly recommend it, especially if you're interested in early film.

Birthday at the Beach

Rehoboth Beach 2007
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Nicholas and I spent the weekend in Delaware at Rehoboth Beach, our favorite summer getaway. We had an absolutely fabulous time and I had a near perfect birthday. We drove down Friday night and had fish and chips on the boardwalk. On my birthday, we spent at the beach until a thunderstorm rained us out at which point we headed to the arcade. We ate an unseemly amount of seafood at our favorite local crab shack and birthday cake and champagne in our room. On Sunday, we took one last stroll on the beach before heading to the outlet, where Nicholas injected some much needed new blood into his wardrobe.
I think more than anything I just enjoyed hanging out with my husband. As we left town, he realized he'd been at work everyday since July 5th. And as we had more and more fun together, I realized how much I'd really missed him. So, not to lay on the sap, but getting to spend such quality time with my favorite person was probably the best birthday present of all. :)

They say it's your birthday...

It's my birthday too!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

****SPOILER ALERT**** I've warned you people and gave you a week's notice so here it goes!



I started reading Harry Potter in 2001. My dear friend Annie was having a party for the first movie and you couldn't come to the party unless you had read the book. About 5 pages in I was hooked and I've been desperately in love with J.K. Rowling's wizarding wonderland ever since. I literally love everything about the books. The characters, the settings, the themes of choice and courage. I just love it. I've been pushed to tears by her books. I've laughed out loud. And at the end of Goblet of Fire, I sat in my room in broad daylight scared out of my freaking mind.

So, it was incredibly bittersweet to reach the end of the series. But, oh wow, what an ending it was.

Not surprisingly, I absolutely adored Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Again, I went through the whole spectrum of emotions. I laughed out loud ("Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"). I cried...ok, let's be honest, I wept. (DOBBY!) And, for a majority of the book, I was on the edge-of-my -seat, scared out of my mind!

What I didn't expect was to be surprised. I thought Rowling would spend this final book answering our questions and tying everything up. And she did, but in ways I never expected. I think the tying in of Dumbledore's past was nothing short of genius. Like Harry, a part of me just assumed Dumbledore sprung forth full-formed. I never thought about why he was so powerful, although a part of me always wondered why he couldn't defeat Voldemort. The way his past became such an integral part of Harry and Voldemort's story was amazing to me and probably my favorite part of this book. While I had never questioned it before, it makes so much sense that the three most powerful wizards in the book, Harry, Voldemort, and Dumbledore, would be intertwined and that for Harry to fully come into his own power before he defeats Voldemort, he would need to understand why he was uniquely suited for the role (beyond the mere accident of birth) and Dumbledore wasn't. What struck me even more by the end of the book, I believed that Harry was a more powerful wizard by the end - which in some ways I wasn't expecting.

Of course the road there wasn't easy and the deaths in the book were also surprising. There was a part of me that fully expected for one of the three friends to die. I heard an interview with Rowling where she expressed pride that people really felt no one was off the table and I guess she's right. The book felt more real and intense because I truly expected Harry, Ron or Hermoine to die, especially after Hedwig died in the first 50 pages of the book. I felt like she was telling me very clearly that no one was off limits. Now, the fact that the main three were spared did not make any of the other deaths any easier. I was particularly devastated by Hedwig and Dobby. These two creatures were caught up in a war they had no part in creating and their unconditional devotion to Harry made their deaths that much harder. Of course, as a big sister to twin brothers, Fred's death was almost unbearable. It truly makes me wonder if Rowling is close to any twins in her life because part of me thinks if she was then she would have known one without the other is completely unimaginable.

Now, there were some deaths that were significantly less upsetting. Like, I don't know...Bellatrix the Bitch. The killing of Bellatrix, the ultimate representation of murder and complete lack of empathy, by Molly Weasley, the ultimate representation of life and compassion, was awesome! Again, not what I saw coming but the only conceivable option once it happened. Of course there were a thousand other brilliant moments where some of my favorite characters got their moment to shine - almost all at the Battle of Hogwarts (which is the sole reason I am counting until the days the 7th movie) - Neville pulling the sword from the sorting hat to slay Nagini, Minerva ordering the armor to do their duty and defend the school, Trelawny throwing crystal balls at Deatheaters, the list goes on and on.

Of course the ultimate shining moment was the ending - Harry faces death courageously and comes out on the other side. I thought the ending was inspiring and perfect. I thought the ultimate battle between Harry and Voldemort being fought in the Great Hall of Hogwarts for all eyes to witness was brilliant and I felt completely fulfilled with not the slightest dash of disappointment. My absolute only complaint was that the epilogue featuring Harry and his family 19 years later did not reveal his career. However, Rowling has recently revealed he is an auror, so my only remaining question was answered. And otherwise I really loved the ending with him sending his beloved children off to his first loving home and the beginning of his journey - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

I'm so sad it's over, but I can at least look forward to the next two movies...that and introducing my own children to the enchanting and endearing world of Harry Potter. :)

Happy Birthday Early!

Ultimate Rewards Points
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

My birthday came a bit early courtesy of Lexis Nexis! All through law school I was obsessed with the Lexis Nexis rewards points they handed out for trainings or regular visits to lexisnexis.com. So obsessed that by the time I graduated almost 30,000 points. To give you some perspective, most of my friends had around 1,000.

So, last week I cashed in my points on their amazon.com website and got:
- a digital picture frame
- scanner
- card reader
- several books
- a cupcake carrier
- $10 iTunes gift card

The majority of the shipment came today and I've been playing with my digital picture frame all night.

Thanks Lexis!

Wednesday: Tortilla Soup

Wednesday: Tortilla Soup
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter Release Party
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Ok, so all you peeps have till Friday to read the book because I REALLY want to post about the book! Consider this your warning ;)

Saturday: Neopolitan Ice Cream Cake

Saturday: Neopolitan Ice Cream Cake
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

I made this for our good friend Jennifer and David, who were in town visiting from North Carolina. It was chocolate angel food layered with strawberry and vanilla ice cream and it's dang good if I do say so myself.

Swing Time

Despite my self-professed passion for dancing flicks, I had never actually seen a Fred and Ginger movie and - oh man! - was I missing out. It is like they are connected by invisible strings, moving constantly in sync.
More importantly, what makes them standout against all the ballroom I've ever seen, is the seeming absence of effort. Sometimes I watch ballroom dancers, particularly the hardcore professionals, and it seems like every muscle in their body is tense. But F&G just glide and twirl and dip as if the movements are more natural than walking. It is stunning.
What surprised me even more (besides the blackface number no one mentions) is what good actors they both were. They were funny and charming and their chemistry was amazing. I won't lie and say the rest of the movie was genius - it's still all about the dance numbers. However, overall it was really entertaining and now I really want to see more F&G flicks.

Mama Maggie

While at home in Paducah last month, I did interviews with my great-grandmother Maggie Stewart and my grandmother Nancy Stewart. I've finished editing the interview with Mama Maggie - complete with family photos and music. It will of course be more interesting to the Stewart's on the blog but I think the life of any 95 year old is interesting whether you are related to her or not. You should at least watch till she talks about her mother and her ability to "bless you down." ;)



Mama Maggie from hollandnm and Vimeo.

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.