Amateur Hour with Meg

I'm not sure I know how to blog anymore--or write anymore, for that matter--but here we go. Instead of writing a draft, editing the draft, thinking about things for a few days or weeks, editing again, and then finally publishing...I'm just spitting this out, like wine into a spit bucket. So sexy. And today I'm writing about one of the few things I know how to do these days, which is: drink wine. I visited my local wine shop today to grab a good deal on a wine from a fancy shmancy winery. But I'm not here to talk about that wine (yet). I'm going to talk about rioja. Apparently. I didn't realize most riojas are made primarily with tempranillo grapes and a few others mixed in. So I felt like a dummy when I asked the shop owner's recommendation for a good tempranillo. I mean, it wasn't a dumb question, but it was way more broad of a question than I realized. Anyway,  I had had a delicious tempranillo from a local winery and was interested in trying more of t...

It's been AGES since I last posted. I started going through a rough patch toward the end of last year. Around March, I was finally starting to come out of it, with our trip to Hawaii as a light at the end of the tunnel. And then... Coronavirus 2020 hit. I just wanted to get some thoughts down about this crazy time before I forget it all. Everything is weird right now. I'm growing some of my bangs out (yes, just some), so my hair is whack. My hubby is home with us all day. Both KIDS are home with me all day. Basically, nothing is normal anymore. The first few weeks of this quarantine were rough. It was truly a roller coaster of emotions. At first I was in total denial, but one by one as more things shut down, I tried to accept our fate. My biggest disappointments in all this were: 1) the fact that Ada wouldn't get to finish Kindergarten. You guys. It was such a hard transition and we were finally in a good place with school! And Ada LOVES her teacher and schoolmates. We ...

Wow! It's been a lonnng while since the last blog post. We started school this year (what?! I have a Kindergartener??) and promptly got swept up in the tornado of new schedules, pickups, dropoffs, school events, and busy-ness. I thought we were busy BEFORE this. Meanwhile, our 3-yr-old has been torturing us with nighttime wakeups and verrry early mornings. We'd been having problems with his sleep off and on for months, but the time change really screwed the kids up. And this is supposed to be the "easy" time change! It's been two full weeks since we set our clocks back, and we're just now getting on the right track of waking up closer to 6am. Many days it's closer to 5:30, but that's a huge improvement over 4:30! In light of all that, I'm not sure whether this post belongs on this particular blog or if it should be moved over to my private blog about my kiddos, but since this is my life now, this is what you get. Ada is doing great in school,...

Despite the June gloom here in San Diego, I made myself a summery cocktail and prayed the sun would show up while I sipped it outside.  I had saved this recipe from BHG a few weeks ago and was waiting for the right opportunity to try it. When my hubby had leftover egg whites from a recipe he made, I was like... I love me a margarita, and this drink is a fun twist on it, with the foamy goodness from the egg. It's a little more involved than the simple lime juice margs I make, but totally worth the effort! Here's the recipe: I didn't have a kitchen torch, so I stuck the orange under the toaster oven broiler. It took a while to get some color on the orange. Broiler action Time to taste! The verdict: this cocktail is nice and smooth. It has a hint of sweetness, but it's not too sweet. The orange doesn't add much as far as flavor, but it's pretty in the glass. It actually smelled like toasted barley (maybe I dried it ...

You've heard it (or something like it) before, I'm sure: "80% of women are in the wrong bra size!" As much as I like to debunk such mythy-sounding quotes, I think this one might actually be true. I'm not a betting gal, but I'm willing to bet money that you, yes YOU, are in the wrong bra size (or at least the wrong bra shape). I've been on a weeks-long journey to find A Bra That Fits, and I am now appalled at my old bras and HOW MUCH I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT BOOBS. And bras, for that matter. Like, I've had boobs for 25 years, and I'm just now learning all this stuff?! It's kind of obvious, but boobs are as diverse as people, and it makes sense that there's been very little progress in customizable (not to mention affordable) solutions for our comfort and uplifting... I'm going to attempt to summarize what I've learned, but if you want to do your own investigating, these are the resources that have helped me: A Bra That Fits (A...

On a totally random internet rabbit trail, I recently discovered that Dutch people put sprinkles on buttered bread for a snack. This phenomenon is called "hagelslag", and it's not just for kids. Apparently Dutch people are reeeally passionate about their sprinkles. I had a friend in college whose roommate insisted on putting sprinkles on really inappropriate things, like pasta. Maybe he was Dutch?? Just look at all these sprinkles options: Some of them are more like actual chocolate shavings. Ooooh. There's an informative and humorous article about Dutch sprinkles  here if you neeeed to know more, like I did. 😂 Anyway, I decided I HAD to try it, even though I was really weirded out by it. I mean, I'm totally down with bread—even more down with bread and butter—but sprinkles on top?? The sprinkles we have in America always seem to be stale and tasteless, more just for sprucing up a cake or donut. So I acquired some legit Dutch sprinkles (thank you, Wor...

For Halloween this year, we're going as lawn gnomes. Or just gnomes? I don't know. Anyway, in an effort to continue the family thread of creativity that my mom had (she made most of our Halloween costumes growing up), I decided to DIY our gnome hats. You could totally adapt this to be a princess or elf hat. It's pretty darn easy, and you don't need to know how to sew. You'll need: A yard or two of felt (depends how many hats you're making) Scissors Glue gun + glue sticks Disappearing ink fabric pen (if you have one) Let's get started. 1) Measure your people's heads. My kiddos' noggins were both about 20" around. The adults were 21" and 22". 2) Cut an isosceles triangle (yay geometry!) The base of the triangle will be the head circumference you measured. The hat height is up to you. I made my kids' hats roughly 13" tall, and the grownups' 17" tall. *Be sure to leave 1/2" to 1" leewa...