2009 Holiday Gift Guide goes recession proof!

As I was thumbing thru my new InStyle mag a few nights ago, I caught myself looking the the (beautiful! stylish! fun!) items and thinking... I can't believe how much all of this costs! I struggled to find one item I'd actually consider giving as a gift this year. My, how my thoughts and buying habits have changed in the last year and a half!

But Cool Mom Picks is on top of that! This year, they've included 100+ awesome gifts and they're making it easier AND more affordable! They've included tons of shopping discount codes (because, really... who shops without one these days?) and an 'Under $20' pick in every category. They even have an entire list of cool kiddo gifts for less than $12. It's like they 'get' me!!

They have gift ideas for everyone from your baby to your nephew to your dad, your neighbor, etc!

A few of my faves:

For the Future Rock Star: Personalized coloring books! I love the rocker one... but they also have a mermaid one that's right up Big Sis's alley (if there are 2 things she loves... it's coloring and Ariel!)

For the Future Food Network Star: Totally mod handmade apron. This is sooo cute! (Btw, I'm in the market for up to 20 CHEAP aprons.... would love to use them for Big Sis's bday party, if it works out. Anyone?)

For your sister, best friend, mom: Shabby chic picture frame. Okay, so the frame is a generic gift. But it's one I still love to get (esp if the frame is cute!)

For the preschooler who does NOT need another toy (esp a big, plastic one that takes up an entire room: Custom Rubber Stamp. I'm totally ordering this for Big Sis. Given her love of stickers, I think she'd be all over a stamp. And I won't be 'sticker shopping' nonstop.

So, check out this year's gift guide to find almost anything (including personalized necklaces with your twitter name - hilarious! Also many ways to give charitable gifts!)

Happy Thanksgiving - we're on our way up North (to OK, lol!) Oh, and happy shopping, too! :)

Lash out! A giveaway...

Okay, so I have a cold. And apparently, so has our internet. All week. Mr. Fix-It finally fixed it (because that's what he does!) late last night, after hours of cussing, unhelpful 'help' from the folks at the internet company, and his general fix-it skills that make him such a handy guy!

So.... while I make you wait WAY too long for a debriefing on the Semi-Homemade Halloween party (and all the goodness of yummy food, great friends, and hilarious costumes!)..... I present you with this:

A chance to win pure awesomeness from Sephora, one of my all-time fave stores! Seriously, with this damn recession, Mr. Fix-It and I have had to tighten up the budgets again (every few months or so, we kinda loosen up.... and then whoa! time to get back on plan!) ;) Anyway, I was thinking... what I wouldn't do for a new lipstick or mascara or pair of shoes....something to add to what I already have, some way to spice up my life without spending much! And what better way than to win something?!

Sephora wants to know what beauty product YOU are thankful for. Tell them and you're entered to win, so simple! And the 3 prizes are sets that are all valued over $100 - woo hoo! (And if you DO win.... and you're thankful that you found out about this contest thru me.... maybe you send one of those mascaras my way. You don't have to, I'm just saying...)

Enter here and have a good one - the weekend is coming!! :)

Dear Coffee Mate,

Why do you torture me? I have seen ads for your 'seasonal flavors' for over a month now.... yummy flavors like Pumpkin Spice

and Caramel Apple. Both of which are seasonal RIGHT NOW. So, once you showed them off to me in the Sun paper... oh, about 5 wks ago.... I started looking for them in the stores. (Yes, stores plural... I've searched any store I've breezed thru!) But, as it turns out, you don't plan to have them in stores until Nov. Are you not aware that we have not only been to the pumpkin patch, purchased pumpkins and decorated our entire house with them, but that we have also already made caramel apples? What are you waiting for? Starbucks has been on the Pumpkin Spice bandwagon for weeks! (But with this damn recession, I was really hoping Coffee Mate would come thru for me while I limit my $4 coffee intake!)

Then there's my fav seasonal flavor... Peppermint Mocha. I would expect this one a little later than the other 2 flavors, but it comes out at the same time. Again, this doesn't calculate for me....

Please consider a change to the madness in 2010! And in the meantime, I'll continue to subject myself to the boringness that is sugar free vanilla. While I wait. And while Starbucks continues to call my name....

Thankssomuch, Elaine

Fall has arrived at the Semi-Homemade House!! And Halloween T-shirt sneak peek!

It rained all weekend and I actually didn't mind.... our Sat night plans cancelled Sat morning and I actually didn't mind that either. We are known for booking every spare second, cramming in more than is humanly possible... and this weekend, it was nice to just slow down, and let it rain while we played (okay, tried to corral G-man) at home. (Custom baby gate guy, we're calling you tomorrow morning. Like at 8:01am.)

Anyway, I spent a few minutes in the attic today and was pleasantly surprised that I have a few more fall/Halloween things than I remembered (which still isn't much, but)... I'll have to snap a few pics to share how fall has come to the Semi-Homemade House (even if it could likely be back in the 90s as soon as the rain moves out, but so what?)

And during a trip to Target, I got sooo excited for the Halloween costume party we're throwing next month. They had soo many cool things! I could have bought one of everything...but, thanks to this damn recession, we settled on one thing (and honestly, this was a great value!) And so... now we are the proud new owners of this:

At only $15, it scared the you-know-what outta Big Sis (of course, Mr. Fix-It was chasing her thru Target with it at the time!)
Last Halloween was our first in this neighborhood, and we realized that we were the only ones who hadn't decorated their yards/porches for the big holiday. (Everyone in the 'hood meets for pizza at the square on the big night... then splits for the TOTing.... then gets back together for an outdoor movie for the kids while the adults enjoy some BYOB - fun!)

So, to get ALL of you in the mood.... here are some of my fav Etsy finds for the little goblin you love!

This cute pumpkin shirt is from veryKIKI.... what cute stuff! If you're looking for a cute applique - owl, birdie, plane, necktie! - they've got it!


Remember My Personalized Tshirt? I told y'all about them because they did G-man's super cute 1st birthday pirate bib! They've also got cutie pie Halloween shirts for your kiddos! Love the girly skull

And this one could double as additional game day attire for my kiddos when we're watching the Pokes! (Who obviously could have used some extra cheer yesterday. Boo!) :(

I love the modern look of these shirts by Molly Caroline designs. Besides a ton of cute Halloween shirts, she also has a great selection of classic & cute gifts!



Got a monster lover? ;) Try Two Zany Zebras! They've got all the monsters covered!


This one looks like it would be sooo soft!

I love, love fall. Bring on the smells, the foods, the sports, the fun! And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing comes up this week to blow my budget... because I want to head to Michael's and see what they have for the party or our yard!

S is for Shoes.... School.... and Semi-Homemade...

It's that time of year in Texas..... back to school! And just because they looked so darn cute, I thought I'd share a couple of pics from the first day of school. Big Sis started Preschool II last week and starts ballet tomorrow!

G-man has a bigger transition.... from an infant class to young toddlers. You see, in this class they sleep on cots (no cribs), eat table food and drink from sippys (2 things he's got down!) and they wear shoes! That last one has been the challenge.... I have bought, tried on, and returned shoes from Target, JCPenney, and Payless... and nothing fits. You see, G's foot is almost as wide as it is long. So, it shouldn't have been any surprise to us when the lady at Stride Rite informed us that he is, indeed, an extra extra wide. And that, apparently, costs you $50. Per pair. Ouch! (If anyone knows of a way to get his feet to stretch longer while stunting any growth in width, send them my way. Just kidding. Kinda.)

Anyway, he IS super cute in his shoes, so that helps take away some of the sticker shock. ;) Isn't he such a big boy?

Here are the shoes we got him.... Stride Rite's Bolton

Here the are in action..... right before he stuck a leaf in his mouth...

And here he is, blowing you big kisses! Muuuuuah!

Apparently, this new big kid class is pretty tough.... he's already taken a few spills, as he starts trying to copy the big boys! He came home on his 2nd day with a big bruise on his head! Over the weekend, he added another bruised bump and a big gash. He's ALL boy!!!

This is Big Sis on the 2nd day of school.... she insisted on wearing the giraffe dress the first day (I told her it was a little summery for the first day of school, but this girl lets no one dictate her style!) So, the 2nd day she agreed to wear this preppy plaid dress with her maryjanes. And why does she have her hands behind her back and her knees bent? Yeah, I don't know either, but she did it in 4 pics and then I gave up.....

(ETA: Is it me or does it look like Big Sis is practicing her Bunny Dip?! She must have caught me watching Girls Next Door at some point!)

Happy Back to School, y'all! And be on the watch for our Semi-Homemade Countdown to the Pumpkin Patch..... or how-to-attempt-to-get-Big-Sis-to-sleep-past-6am-on-the-weekend!

Semi-Homemade Staycation: Puerto Rico!

With summer's end fast approaching, I thought it was about time I shared our Semi-Homemade Staycation - we experienced Puerto Rico! I've gone on and on about the negative side of this damn recession.... the positive side is that we've done some things as a family that we usually wouldn't. Like take a staycation. I still can't wait for the economy to turn around and to go on a VAcation with the family, but the fun part of this was that we all got involved in the planning and execution of our "trip."

The inspiration:

Our trip to Puerto Rico last summer when I was 7 months pregnant with G-man. We left Big Sis at home with her grandma (wow, the memories those two made!) and Mr. Fix-It and I got to relax and get away!

The memories:

First, I want to share with you couple pics from the trip and the island, so you can see what we were trying to recreate. Mr. Fix-It and I at the poolside bar...

For the record, Puerto Rico was a great place to vacation while pregnant!

This restaurant is called Parot Club and is located in Old San Juan. It was so amazing we ate there twice!

Puerto Rico has amazing color everywhere you look.

And the food? Was SO GOOD! That was the deciding factor when it came time to decide where to staycation this year. Our favorite was this trio of appetizers from the Parot Club. (We're already planning to try to recreate these at some future time, but we didn't get quite this ambitious yet!)

The top layer is a type of nachos with plantain chips (yum!!) and a pork brisket type of meat. Y'all know my love of brisket tacos... The next layer was an empanada (saw lots of recipes for these when searching for Puerto Rican food. I think we'll try 'em next time!) But these empanadas are especially good because of that balsamic glaze on them.... heaven! And the third level was calamari (although I think we had something slightly different... maybe scallops...)

The ambience:

To recreate the scene, we dressed in bright colors and played music from the island. Lots of dancing ensued...

I pulled out anything colorful I could find to decorate for dinner. The smell of coconut candles floated in the air!

The menu:

We started with the drinks! ;) Frappes are a fruity drink that are easy to find in Puerto Rico! We mixed up the Frappe Tropical without the alcohol (then Mr. Fix-It and I added some coconut rum to ours!)

The food:

We went with some dishes we'd seen in practically every restaurant on the island.

We made Puerto Rican Pork Chops (somehow I only got pics of the colorful relish and not the actual pork chops!)

And served some black beans and rice with it (the semi-homemade way, a box of Zatarain's!)

Then for dessert, we Fried Plantains (we didn't really fry ours... more of a sautee... but I think we'll try frying them next time!)

Oh, and for a totally semi-homemade touch..... these coconut mnm's really worked, too! ;)

If you're thinking you'd like to try a Puerto Rican Staycation..... this is a great recipe resource!

The final effect:

Here are the Semi-Homemades, enjoying the sounds, smells and tastes of Puerto Rico!

Hmmmmm..... I wonder where we should 'go' next? I'm sure some of you have some great ideas.... share 'em!!

Life is about to get a little crazier....

.... and you thought that wasn't possible, ha!

G-man took his first steps last night! On the 1 year anniversary of his due date, I might add... ;) I'm so thankful to have gotten to witness them, especially as a working momma. I was in NYC for business the week Big Sis took her first steps. She was only 9 months old, so we weren't expecting it and I was super sad....

But it was the most amazing thing! 3 precious little steps! And I got so excited and gushed over him for so long that it wouldn't have surprised me if he did anything to avoid getting that kind of reaction. ever. again. But he took a couple more tonight! (And all this with me encouraging him for months NOT to walk! Just kidding. Kinda.)

So, now.... I need advice! This boy needs shoes! Big Sis wore shoes from birth... I worked in the shoe industry prior to moving to TX and I had friends near and far buying her the cutest, girliest shoes. G-man has worn shoes... maybe twice. I'm guessing the flexi-sole kinda thing is what I'm looking for.... and style is big for G-man (I mean, you saw his rocker pics, yes?) But here's the thing... don't forget the damn recession! I'd rather not break the bank, ok? So... fill me in! Here are a few I found in my 2 seconds of spare time that I liked:

Oh, and before a bunch of you suggest crocs..... those are not allowed at the Semi-Homemade School (or Big Sis would be in them sometimes!) Oh, and most of you know of my love of Amazon and/or free shipping... :)

Thanks for your help and celebrating G-man's big milestone! Hmmmm.... wonder what size he is..... g'night!

From the Semi-Homemade Cookbook: Brisket Tacos

Y'all. The other day, I got the brilliant 'idea' to make brisket tacos and they were soooo good, that I had to share. Okay, this isn't my idea, per se..... Brisket tacos are on many the menu at mexican restaurants around here. And I never order them. But they always LOOK so good.... So, I found this recipe on Gourmetmomma's blog and I'm going to share with you 2 ways to make amazing brisket tacos!

Okay, first, her way, which was how I intended to do it. I even bought the ingredients. I just had an issue with one of them.... you'll see....

Okay, first put the brisket in your crockpot (you know how much this working mommy loooves her crockpot!), fatty side up. Yes, fat. I know, I know, you like to cook healthy like I do... but there's no getting away from fat when you're cooking a brisket. It's required!
Put raw garlic cloves (mmmm!) on top of the brisket, about an inch apart, and then add salt. (My BIL swears that sea salt is better for you, and it actually tastes better, so I use that.)

*** Source of all pictures are Gourmet Momma!***

Add a layer of oregano and cumin. This is my kind of cooking... no real measurements. Drives Mr. Fix-It insane. ;)

Then pour on green salsa. Salsa is one of my absolute fav foods. It's why we moved to Texas. Just kidding. Kinda.

Turn on your crockpot and do something else for the next 6-8 hours... my brisket was about 3ish lbs and, at 7 hours, it was per-fect! It'll look something like this, swimming in all that juice:

Pull the meat apart until it looks like the picture at the top. Steal a few bites to 'make sure it's okay.'

Okay, so now for the semi-homemade version....

Like I said, I bought ALL these ingredients. But when I went to get the brisket, they had 2 options. (Now, you know we're in a recession, and I was at wal-mart... I'm assuming a 'real' grocery store might have had better options, but....)

Option #1: a 30+ lb brisket. Not kidding. I had to check to make sure I wasn't at Sam's.

Option #2: a 3-4 lb brisket, that was already seasoned

I went with #2. (Duh.) And can I just say.........OMG. It was perfect. I was working late the night we ate it (of course), and Mr. Fix-It called me at work, just to tell me that it was the best thing he'd had to eat in the last 6 months, at home OR in a restaurant. Wow! That's probably the best cooking compliment I've ever gotten!

You can serve with whatever you like, but it honestly doesn't need much doctoring. I liked it just with corn tortillas and Mr. Fix-It's famous homemade guac. Mmmmm.... Add cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato, if you want... but I think less is more here. Try it - you'll love it! And this is one recipe (walmart shopping or not!) that is truly easy on the wallet...