Welcome to Heidi's blog......Tales of life in Portland with my baby, Hank.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

I was a guest blogger on "And Then She Saved"!

I'm a personal finance geek, I love to read about ways people save money, not necessarily just articles on investing.

Last year was especially hard on us financially.  We had a baby, enough said, right?  Lots of money to spend there, furnishing his room (what was the least of it), out of pocket medical expenses, and daycare expenses (ouch) since we both work full-time.

We finally bought a new car, a 2011 Subaru Forester.  The last new car I bought was my 1994 Toyota Tercel.  It's been a great car, but it's getting old.  We had to have the engine rebuilt the year before, and it's only a 2-door car.  Not easy for getting a baby seat in the back. 

Our biggest expense though was buying a house to rent to my Mom.  The housing market was at an extreme low, my Mom's rental (which she'd been in for about 15 years) was beyond gross and worn down, and the landlord did nothing to make repairs or improvements.  Plus my Mom has had breaks between jobs (she's a self-employed transcriber for marketing focus groups) that made it hard to make her rent on time.  We figured we could be better landlords, and give her cheaper rent.  So far it's working out really well, but coming up with the 25% down payment hurt. 

So we absolutely have to buckle down and really stick to a budget.  No more buying taxidermy, art, vintage jewelry (me), or bikes (Julian).  At least not for a while. 

I LOVE personal finance blogs...which leads up to my guest blogger post on "And Then She Saved", a fantastic personal finance blog.  I even saw Anne Newell Jones on the Nate Berkus show last Friday when I was home sick, talking about her "spending fast" and how she got out debt.  Please check out my post!
http://www.andthenshesaved.com/and-then-she-saved/6-ways-to-save-money-with-a-baby-on-board.html

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

NoseFrida (aka "The Swedish Snotsucker")....It sucks!

Hank turned 6 months old almost 2 weeks ago!  He was starting to come down with a cold, but I took him in for his 6-month check-up anyway, which includes a lot of shots (including a flu shot).  He got so sick that same night.  He was feverish, really groggy and was breathing really rapidly and shallow.  It was kind of scary.  The next few days sucked - he got such a horrible cold, which I can only imagine the shots made worse.  He was miserable - tired, cranky, horribly stuffy/runny nose and a bad congested cough.  And of course you can't give a baby much to help them out. 

We did discover the Swedish Snotsucker though, which is worth the $17 it cost (we got ours at Posh Baby in the Pearl).  Of course he hates it, but it gets out so much snot!  So much better than the old bulb snot sucker, which he also hates.

Here's the proof - lots o'snot!  And yes, from just one sucking.

Here's what they look like - a medical contraption.

All better!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Dinner with the kiddos

Our good friends, Owen and Sheila, came over for dinner a couple weekends ago with their little guy, Oliver.  Oliver is soon to be Hank's BFF, he's just 2 months older than Hank.  My Mom came, and so did Julian's parents (Jo and Edith). 

Our dinner was a group effort (the best kind!): a baked ziti, a green salad and garlic bread.  Although we didn't really make it to dessert, Sheila brought super good orange zest cookies that she'd made, I made banana walnut cookies and Julian's Mom made a butter cake - so low fat!  Not.

Oliver - about 8 1/2 months old

Check out Sheila - what a multi-tasker!

Sheila, Oliver, and Owen

Oliver's getting a little handsy with Hank

Julian's Mom/Hank's Oma, Edith

Monday, March 12, 2012

The lowdown on Shellac manicures

I'm sure you've heard of Shellac manicures by now?  They're a gel-based nail polish that adheres to your nails like crazy.  You have to get it done via a manicure, this is not something you can buy at Sally Beauty Products and do at home (yet). 

I never get manicures - I've had maybe two in my life.  I thought I'd give a Shellac manicure a try and got one at Dosha on 34th & Hawthorne just over 2 weeks ago.  It was $35.  Although it costs $15 to get it removed!  Doh, the fine print!

The process is exactly the same as a regular manicure - there is a selection of polishes to choose from (see picture below), so choose wisely since you're stuck with it for a while.  After the normal part of a manicure (filing the nails, pushing the cuticles back, etc.) they put a special base coat on your nails.  After every layer you put your hands in a black light nail dryer.  I believe the black light is integral - although the manicurist had no idea.  Then they put 2 layers of the polish on.  Then a special top layer.  Voila!

So how does it last, and is it worth the money?  It does last, and yes, I think it's actually worth it.  If you chip your nail you can just file it.  I do a ton of dishes and after more than 2 weeks there are no chips, and it's not peeling.  But your nails do grow out, so that's really what makes you want to get them either re-done (another $35) or have the polish removed ($15).  Dosha does remove the Shellac for free if you get another Shellac manicure.  Apparently it takes 100% acetone to remove this stuff, which I hear you can buy at Sally Beauty.  I've been warned - do not pick at it!  It will literally take the top layer of your nail off with it.

If you know of a place that is a better deal for a Shellac manicure please leave a comment!  Maybe somewhere that doesn't charge to remove it?

Here is the selection of Shellac polishes

The black light nail dryer contraption

All done!

Here are my nails about 1.5 weeks after I got it done - looking good!

Here are my nails, about 2.5 weeks after I got it done - you can see they're starting to really grow out.  Otherwise looking ok.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Smoked salmon chowder

I made a yummy smoked salmon chowder a few weeks ago to eat while we watched the Oscars.  It's an adaptation on a recipe from the Food Network Magazine.  It was seriously good - my brother Christian even said it was the best thing I'd ever made.  That's a big compliment. 

1 lb smoked salmon (I used the fresh kind from Freddy's, the trim pieces per recommendation from the fish department)
4-5 carrots
4 medium potatoes
1 red pepper (optional, I just wanted to use this up)
3/4-1 lb. brussels sprouts, cut in half through root
1 onion, diced
1/2 lemon (juice only)
1 bunch of fresh dill
7 cups stock (I use veggie)
1 cup half and half
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 T. Old Bay seasoning
Pepper to taste

Peel and cut the carrots and potatoes in similar sizes.  Saute the diced onion in some olive oil, then melt the butter and add flour (stir for a minute or so).  Add the Old Bay and black pepper.  Add the stock, then the diced carrots, potatoes and brussels sprouts.  Simmer until tender, approximately 10-15 minutes, adding the red pepper towards the end cause it cooks fast.  Add the half and half, then the smoked salmon.  Last, add the juice of half a lemon and the chopped fresh dill. 

Our friend Matt with Hank on Oscar night

Check out Hank in his cute overalls, courtesy of Trang

Hank, in the backyard last week

Hank this morning in his Johnny Jump Up - so close to figuring this out!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Dinner at Tapalaya

A couple weekends ago we went to Tapalaya with our good friends, Brandy and Dave.  Tapalaya is a cajun/creole small plates place here in Portland, on "restaurant row" in the Kerns neighborhood.  Julian and I have been to Tapalaya a few times, but not recently, and we'd been planning on going here with Brandy and Dave for almost a year.  Having Hank sort of delayed things - but we finally made it happen!  And we even went the week of Mardi Gras, how fitting.

We all enjoyed our food - between the four of us we got quite a few things and we shared most of it (that's the best part of small plates, you get to try so many different dishes).  A few highlights were the crabby mac n'cheese, pulled pork slider, seafood jambalaya, Crawfish fritters, smothered brussels sprouts, collard greens and salmon croquettes. 

Tapalaya
28 NE 28th Ave.
www.tapalaya.blogspot.com

Julian out front

Clockwise, from left: Brandy, Julian, Dave and me (Hank's in his car seat)

Julian and Dave

Brandy holding her little buddy, Hank

Salmon croquettes (yummy)