Sometimes even the best laid plans go awry, don't they? Take Mother's Day for instance. I had plans of being unabashedly spoiled by my family. Think pancakes prepared for me (not by me), someone else doing the dishes, a nice long nap and then dinner with my own mom. Sigh... all the makings of a "perfect" leisurely day, yes?
Alas, the fantasy somehow doesn't always quite unfold as planned, and now I find myself questioning, "What really is prefect, anyway?".
Liv adding in a last minute dance competition on Mother's Day found me up at 4:50AM making pancakes to fuel her for the morning. Rushing, we just made our 5:15 departure with hair and makeup done, costumes in hand, and lunch prepared and packed for the day. Luckily our travel time to San Diego took a mere 26 minutes getting us to UCSD early, however I had left the kitchen strewn with the remnants of pancake and lunch prep along a list waiting for me to finish before my parents arrived later that evening for dinner.
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| My Liv... :) |
Competition days are exciting and bring me complete joy as I watch my confident, beautiful girl up there on that stage, however, after some 6 hours surrounded by blaring music and hundreds of teenage dancers one's head can begin to ache a bit.
Arriving home by 2PM and with only 2 1/2 hours to get dinner on the table I set to cleaning the kitchen from the morning mess and I'll admit to feeling a bit miffed that no one stepped up to help. It was Mother's Day after all, wasn't it?
Hours later with a tidy kitchen, freshly made garlic and sundried tomato bread (my mom's favorite - recipe coming soon!), dinner prepared and dessert baked, Mom and Dad arrived and I shared a beer with my dad completely forgetting to prepare the Strawberry Champagne Cocktail I had planned.
After a lovely dinner, my husband and I cleaned up the kitchen again and I longed for a bath and bed when my son called in needed help with an issue at college. Just finishing the call, Liv came down needing help with her homework and my husband commented that his uniform shirts weren't ready for him to head to work in the morning. Sigh.
Feeling tired, overlooked, and even a little unappreciated, I finally found that bath. Easing my tired back my phone beeped as my son texted a thanks for helping him along with "Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks. I have a few friends I hope you'll be able to meet." Wow... he really wants me to meet his friends? My heart lifted.
Popping in later to tell Liv goodnight she said, "Come here..." and enveloping me in a huge hug it was the "Mom... I'm so lucky God gave me to you. You're the best mom ever. I don't know what I'd do without you!" that completely melted my heart.
Heading to bed my husband also embraced me whispering, "You were amazing today... thanks for holding our family together."
It was then that I reflected that yes... my day had indeed been perfect after all. I spent Mother's Day doing exactly what I love. Being a mom. And I wouldn't change a thing.
And so the spoiling was left for today when Stacy of Food Lust People Love completely spoiled me with her version of this fabulous Strawberry Champagne Cocktail. May's Blogger Clue Series (#BloggerClue) prompt of "Berries" transported me to the other side of the world where I perused Stacy's incredible recipes and learned a bit about her life in Dubai. With her lovely smile and kind heart, Stacy references her many travels and warms my heart with her love of her girls, husband and adorable boxer, Beso.
Choosing from a plethora of luscious berry recipes including Blueberry Muffins, raspberry treats and even more strawberry muffins and breads, this Strawberry Champagne Cocktail had been meant for Mother's Day, but ended up being the perfect complement to a spontaneous Day After Mother's Day brunch with my husband as we laughed and completed the photo shoot together.
So here's to Stacy, a mom like me who gets by day to day and loves her job as much as I do. Cheers my friend! Thanks for spoiling me today.
And now won't you join me as we discover what the rest of our lovely Blogger Clue Society brings to the table?
2012... what a year! Filled with food, travel and my beloved photography, this world has stretched my boundaries and filled my life with the love of good friends combined with the flavors of fabulous food. I have so much to be thankful for, and as New Year's approaches I'm ready to Celebrate. Stretching east, my fellow Inspired Plate members are celebrating along with me as we share our final Food Styling and Photography Challenge of the year - Celebration.
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| 2012 Year in Review |
With a year of photography challenges under my belt, I took a moment to look back at the work I've submitted during the last 12 months. While I'm extraordinarily proud of some images, there are a couple that are cringe-worthy.
What brings the most joy though, are not the actual images but the memories of late night chats on Facebook, the supportive comments and critiques of my fellow photographers, and the newly formed friendships that can be found within the members of this special group.
An eclectic group of talented women, The Inspired Plate touches locations across the world. Starting here on the West Coast of California (I'm in San Diego), the members bring stunning photos to you also from the mid west, the east, Canada and on towards the date line from Perth, Australia. With varying levels of skills, we have worked together monthly to provide our own interpretations of the given challenges.
Early challenges began simply with "Photography on White" and quickly stepped up the difficulty level with subjects of meat, fish and pasta. Failing miserably at the "meat" challenge, the Mahi Mahi Tacos we created for the "fish" challenge have become a regular in our meal rotation, and I think I had the most fun writing that particular post.
"Photography on black" proved to be the most difficult to me, while the "pasta" photos took me back to my treasured days in Italy. My favorite challenge of the year? Without a doubt ~ The Splash...
The act of freezing time became somewhat addictive and had the entire family participating by dropping objects of all sorts into glasses of liquid. Relishing the fact that the spilled liquid was not going to make Mommy upset, the splashes grew, and soon the tile of the kitchen floor was slick and the table dripping. Catching a splash is indeed spectacular when captured properly, however that capture (as shown by my over 500 non-useable shots) is many times elusive.
Bringing back The Splash for our December Celebration Challenge, we bring you a new favorite cocktail worthy of any Celebration and perhaps an ideal libation for your own New Year's Bash welcoming 2013.
Incorporating my very first challenge subject, the pomegranate, we've supplemented a celebratory sparkling wine with a splash of unsweetened pomegranate juice. Dropping in a few fresh pomegranate aerials we have a festive and flavorful aperitif boasting a few antioxidants with those bubbles. Bubbles represent happy occasions to me, and whether your bubbles hail from the true Champagne regions of France, the Prosecco versions of Italy, or the sparkling versions of California's Napa Valley, they all exude a similar excitement.
One of the oldest known fruits, the beautiful pomegranate is a native of Persia. Nutrient dense and antioxidant rich, pomegranates have long been revered as symbols of health, fertility and eternal life. Also tied to mythology, pomegranates are known as the "Food of the Underworld"...
The myth of Persephone, the goddess of the Underworld, features the pomegranate. In one version of Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken off to live in the underworld as his wife. Her mother, Demeter (goddess of the Harvest), went into mourning for her lost daughter and thus all green things ceased to grow. Zeus,
the highest ranking of the Greek gods, could not allow the Earth to
die, so he commanded Hades to return Persephone. It was the rule of the Fates
that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to
spend eternity there. Persephone had no food, but Hades tricked her into
eating six pomegranate seeds while she was still his prisoner and so,
because of this, she was condemned to spend six months in the Underworld
every year. During these six months, when Persephone is sitting on the
throne of the Underworld next to her husband Hades, her mother Demeter
mourns and no longer gives fertility to the earth. This became an
ancient Greek explanation for the seasons. (from wikipedia)
With my fingers crossed that each seed I've eaten this year will not commit me to a month in the underworld, our celebration continues with an antioxidant rich Pomegranate Bark. Dark chocolate and pomegranate combine bringing an irresistible treat that literally pops in your mouth. Aerials stirred into and sprinkled on top of the melted chocolate literally burst with flavor and bring a double dose of those ever popular antioxidants in addition a simply wonderful dessert.
As we close this emotional year of 2012, I thank my newfound Inspired friends for their never ending advice, professionalism and simple friendship. I'm looking forward to the challenges of 2013 with excitement (as well as a touch of trepidation), and I'm ever so thankful to be celebrating with this wonderful group today.
Begin a trip around the world with me as I introduce the beautiful Sabrina Wong, a Food Photographer in Perth, Australia and we'll continue our Celebration... summer style!
