Tag Archives: Sometimes I’m Serious

Finally Embracing Facebook

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The most amazing thing just happened to me the other day. I actually found a relevant use for Facebook. A month or two ago, a friend told me that I HAD TO create an account and that I’d become instantly addicted. Well I created the account and then pretty much forgot about it until last week. Then for some reason I got a number of “Friend” invitations from both people I know well and people that I haven’t seen in years. Being in Key West, away from my day to day responsibilities, I had some time on my hands. So I actually updated my page with more details and did some searching through the Friend lists of my Friends for other friends (using the caps to differentiate between Facebook “Friends” and my “friends”). Okay – so my OCD tendencies kicked in and I felt compelled to comb through everyone’s Friend list to make sure I caught each and every last acquaintance.

Still this was just one of the many tedious exercises I put myself through (again – my OCD), and I didn’t expect to get much more from it than the usual momentary sense of accomplishment. But then something really wonderful happened. I actually found one of my best childhood friends whom I lost touch with almost ten years ago.

Last time we spoke, she had just moved to LA and couldn’t afford to fly back to DC for my wedding. As it sometimes happens with long distance friends, we let too much time pass and the next thing I knew, it had been years. But we were close during that period of childhood when your friends live at your house and treat your family like their family. I never had a sister, so Madeline became my sister. Here are some of the things that come to mind when I think of Madeline in fourth grade:

  1. She was the middle child of one of those big Catholic families (five kids), with two older sisters and two younger brothers. Her sisters were teenagers with bedrooms on their own floor of the house. They would put make up on us and style our hair. They gave Madeline her first “winged” haircut and we thought it was very sophisticated. They also told Madeline that she would be the prettiest of the three. I always thought how wonderful it must be to have glamorous teenage sisters with such high hopes for your future.
  2. She actually was a beautiful little girl, and once a woman stopped us on the street to tell her how lovely she was and remark upon her long eyelashes. We laughed about how weird that was, but Madeline was secretly pleased and I was secretly jealous. In spite of being quite petite and pretty, she was also a bit of a tomboy and was always good at climbing trees and bossing around her little brothers.
  3. The first time I played at her house it was a sleepover and I marveled at how she had her very own little black and white TV in her room. We stayed up late watching Benny Hill and Saturday Night Live and laughing at everything – even the jokes we didn’t understand.
  4. One of Madeline’s little brothers had Down syndrome and even though he wasn’t the youngest, he was cherished like a youngest child. Madeline was somehow very protective of him without ever making him seem any different from the rest of them. As small as she was, everything Madeline did was big. And her love could be best described as fierce.
  5. Madeline and I fought like sisters and once I actually punched her in the face. I was not a tomboy and had never done anything like that before. She laughed and I got a bloody nose. I was good at holding grudges, but she was always able to get me to come around. Most of the time I didn’t deserve it.


I could go on and on about the things that I remember about Madeline – about all of my childhood friends and how much I still remember about them. Who would have thought that something as commercial as Facebook would bring one of the lost ones back to me. Now I’m looking for Frances McMillen, Jerry Dougherty and Sarah Squire. All friends from different times – friendships both long and brief. They all count and now I want them all back. So we’ll see what Facebook has to offer.

I haven’t actually asked for comments yet (since you all seem to prefer e-mailing me directly…). But why not? What about you? Looking for a missing person? Who are they and what are the little but big things that you remember about them?

"If not now, then when?"

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Okay – so I lied. One more post before Monday. How could I forget to mention cake this week? Isn’t it like – my theme? Anyway – I was catching up on a couple of friends’ blogs and two of their totally unrelated posts got me thinking.

First of all, my friend Tricia made me really start jonesing for some fattening baked goods (no luck here in the evil vegan empire of my brother Matt) with a post on a local DC phenomenon, CakeLove.

Then another friend, Ainsley discussed having a childhood dream and asked whether you followed it, forgot it or would like to revisit it. This is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. How exactly did I fall into the career that I have now? It’s certainly not fulfilling a lifelong dream – or even a new one to be honest. I’d like to find that thing that I was “meant to do,” but what is that? And how do I get there from here?

Warren Brown, founder of CakeLove and host of Sugar Rush on the Food Network, has a lot to say about finding your life’s passion. Reading this made me feel kind of inspired (and hungry). Particularly his question, “if not now, then when?” How do you really know that it’s the right time to follow a dream? I guess you don’t, but when it comes to finding your passion in life, what better time than now? My parents had a dream to move to Key West and my mother in particular wanted her own shop for a long time. Now they are living both of those dreams. It hasn’t been easy – they have plenty of setbacks (especially right now), but if you’re passionate enough, then you keep going. Right?

The other thing that Warren Brown said that really rang true for me was that you have to “answer to yourself.” No one is going to come along and hand me the answer to my question. I can’t wait for someone to tell me what I was meant to do. In fact, that kind of lethargy got me onto my current career path. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t hate my job. I just wouldn’t say that I’m passionate about it. But it does offer a good work environment with flexibility which is a huge priority for someone with three kids that aren’t out of daycare yet. So I’m not quitting anytime soon. But in the meantime I would like to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. That way I’ll be ready when the right time presents itself. And who knows – maybe when I figure things out, the right time will be now.

Off to find me some Fourth of July cake! Happy Fourth!

I Make the Best Cake Icing and You Can Too

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It’s been a really fun week starting this blog – but I have to tell you, I’m exhausted. It was my original intention to sit down every night and spend 20 minutes on a paragraph or two about thoughts I had that day. But due to some strong OCD tendencies, I find it very difficult to just whip something up. Do you know that the two longest posts I wrote were the ones that I expected to be quick, amusing anecdotes about my family? Either because they involved my children or because I automatically felt the need to over-explain my initially unimpressive parenting style, I just couldn’t keep it brief. And then I had to obsessively edit them – making changes even after I had posted them to my blog. I work full time, have three children AND just happen to have had a week on my own while my husband was traveling for business. Who do I think I am – a professional writer? I can’t stay up all night blogging! So future weeks will bring some attempts to simplify things a bit. I’ll restrict myself to just a few rambling stories and the other days will be devoted to something else. What that will be…I’m not really sure yet – but hopefully it won’t involve too much scrolling.

My brief thought for today is that while writing this week, I enjoyed reading other blogs even more than I did before. On my own blog, I have a short list of sites that I’ve stumbled across and I have an even longer list bookmarked in my favorites. And they are incredibly diverse. Of course I love the design blogs with their pretty pictures and products I might never have found on my own. But I’ve also discovered a number of personal blogs that I find inspiring. Some of them are fashion or art focused, some of them have a journal format, some are written by people much younger than me, and some are straight up humor. But they all create a feeling of community – one in which all are welcome to comment and keep coming back. People that might never give each other a second glance on the street have this whole world of ideas and pictures and laughter – and everyone is invited.

Before taking a break this weekend I really feel like I should include at least something about cake. Here it is. When I make my own cake, I refuse to use frosting from a can. I don’t care much for it, and I know a really easy recipe for something SO much better. Buy a box of Domino Confectioners’ Sugar. On the back or the side you will find the recipe, but if you use a different brand, these are the directions:

Ingredients
I lb. confectioners’ sugar (approximately 3 ¾ cups)
½ cup butter softened
3-4 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions
Combine in large bowl, with mixer at low speed, confectioners’ sugar, butter, milk and vanilla. Beat at medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency. Makes enough to fill and frost 2-layer cake, 13x9x2-inch sheet cake, or 24 cupcakes.

You can add different flavorings in place of the vanilla and use food coloring as necessary. People tell me that they have never had a better cupcake when I make that icing. Try it and you too will become a true believer.

Have a great weekend!