Now Ain't That Some Shhhhh

Glee cast with Gwyneth Paltrow - Umbrella/Singin' In the Rain


I've been kind of wearing myself out the past few weeks, so naptime around here has been quiet time for me as well, but I've also done my fair share of zoning out to Glee. Because the one sure thing that lifts me - besides watching runway - is a good Glee performance. I'm dead serious. The best high is a Glee high.

So I thought I'd end the week on a gleeful note (punny!), and do a post with links to all my favorite Glee videos / the ones I've been watching recently. This is a selfish post, I admit, because now it means they're all conveniently collected in one neat place, but, come'on, fellow Gleeks. You know you wanna see these too.

Also, the video above ties in nicely with a fashion article I read recently (courtesy of my dad). See, here are a few of the number of things I love about that number:

1) the water choreography. genius. so fun to watch.
2) the marvelous mashup! I love Singin' in the Rain and I love this mashup.
3) the clothes. the trenches, the wellies, the umbrellas - I love raingear! and then there's the men. I'm looking at you, Mr. Shuester. men in vests. yes.
4) which brings me to this: http://on.wsj.com/8YUd2d - a recent article in the Wall Street Journal about the return of three-piece suits to mens' fashion. I certainly hope this is courtesy of Chuck Bass, but I'll take a little 1920's Gene Kelly nostalgia too. (and if you love Singin' - or really just regardless - you should really watch the full episode, "The Substitute" in which Mr. Shue and Mike Chang perform "Make 'em Laugh," and with that rolled cuff 20's pants leg I love too, I might add.

• Also in this episode, Gwyneth and the Glee kids do Cee Lo's "Forget You" - and it's pretty awesome. Just sayin'. Now ain't that some shhhh.
• Now, if you watch the show, you'll know that as the only openly gay kid at McKinley, Kurt has been dealing with bullying, even more so than usually lately. This leads him to seek out all-boys school Dalton, home of The Warblers, a mens' a cappella group. I suspect he feels at home not only because everyone is nattily attired in sportscoats and ties, but also because Dalton has a no-tolerance policy on, well, intolerance. Here, the Warblers perform a rockin' version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream."
• And now, from the "Duets" episode, because I love me some soul, and I love me some Santana, and I'm diggin' on the choreography: Santana and Mercedes performing Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High." This is defiitely the number that gets belted he most in my car, shower, anywhere, really.
• I've left the Britney for last. Because, I love the Britney (both Spears, and the Glee character - easily my favorite for all of her deadpan comments). Because, all my workouts recently are done to the Best of Britney (I wanna wanna get in zone). And because when "Me Against the Music" was an answer in the mashup category at trivia last night, I very nearly wrote, "It's Britney, B****" on our answer board. Here's Glee Brittany and Santana's "Me Against the Music."
• Side note: If you notice Glee Brittany's phenomenal dance moves (see also: I'm a Slave 4U), well, it's because she's a pro. She's an original "Single Ladies" dancer, and when the show brought her in to teach the cast the moves for their "Single Ladies," well, she was just so awesome, they asked her to stick around.
• Oh. And lest we forget my favorite non-musical cast member (well, with the exception of some Olivia Newton John, that is), here's how Sue C's It. Halloween, that is. Jane Lynch, thank you. Just, thank you.

Of course, there's no way I could share all of my favorite Glee moments and performances at once (Madonna episode, anyone?!). But, there you have a few, from this season, anyways.

Wow. Did I just reveal myself as a Gleek? Yes. Yes, I did.

What if Real Life was just like Preschool?

Then we'd all be a lot happier. I mean, I'm just sayin'.

Nick Jr runs these ads centered around this idea. I searched and searched for a video, but alas, came up empty-handed so unfortunately you'll have to rely on my word-smithing to catch the idea.

Scenario 1: A mail clerk is attempting to make his rounds in your typical office, but as he calls out name after name, there's no responses. Nobody's sitting at their desk, cubicles are all empty, lights are off. Finally, a snore draws his gaze downwards, to the hard-working, suit-clad workers snoozing under their desks, teddy bears, blankies, thumb-sucking and all.

Wouldn't it be great if life was like preschool? There'd be naptime.

Scenario 2: A bustling surgery, doctors calling for scalpels, etc. For their tinkertoy creation, that is.

Wouldn't it be great if life was like preschool? There'd be arts and crafts.


You get the picture. There's a also a few in a mechanics shop involving story time and a class pet. These all make me smile, of course, but also give me pause, because in a lot of ways, my life is like preschool (even more so than when I worked in a preschool, actually):

1) There's naptime. Sweet, sweet naptime. Currently, M still takes a morning nap, and both M & N nap in the afternoon, giving me ample to time to recover, rest, take some quiet time of my own, and occasionally (okay, pretty much all the time) work on my other projects, of which there are many. But sometimes, if I really want to, I can close my eyes and enjoy the peace and quiet. Or watch endless Glee videos. Whichever.

I personally think America's working hours are too long - when I was in Dublin, I worked 10-4. And I gleefully walked to work everyday. Now, I loved my internship, but, I also never got burnt out, and neither did the editor. I love the Spanish idea of a siesta as well. There's been many a study about how productivity lags in the afternoons, and how Americans are putting in more and more hours, but getting less accomplished. Efficiency in shorter hours. When I have my pie shop / boutique, we just might have siesta time.

2) There's arts and crafts. Not just the kind N likes to do, which mean I come home and find dried playdough, beads, and hair elastics hiding inside my clothes, or marker on my nose. No, I've been lucky enough to find a group of artistically inclined girls and form a Craft Night - which makes us sound like a bunch of old biddies knitting and gossiping, but really, it's a bunch of wildly talented visual artists (and me) inspiring each other with the creative work they get up to when they're not doin' the daily grind. I love it.

3) There's storytime. Hellooo, blogging, writing, reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" a thousand times, memorizing "Goodnight Moon?" My parents nicknamed me "Belle" when I was little and this had entirely to do with the fact that I could be caught reading while brushing my teeth, walking, eating, watching tv, riding in the car, in the shower (I still do this, I read and re-read the back of all my bottles and what-not) - anywhere I could read, I would. My life is storytime because I am so caught up in language and literature. My imagination's vivid. And I'm always daydreaming.

4) There's a balance between worktime and playtime. Of course there's that old adage, "All work and no play makes Jack a dully boy," and then the European sentiment, "Work to live, don't live to work," but I saw this balance quite evident when I was working at a Montessori preschool. In Montessori, there is work, and while it may take on the appearance of toys, it is always exercises in counting, motor skills, letter learning, etc. but this is always balanced with playtime at other times of the day. Elementary school was like this, you had math, science, social studies, but you also had recess, music, art, P.E.

My life is exceptionally balanced in this way I find because taking care of the kids is both work and play, when they nap, I get a break for my own work and play time, and then I break up my evenings and weekends with work/writing time, gym time (which with my upcoming dance classes will be play time too), friend time, volunteer time, dating time, craft time, future planning time, music time, family time, cooking time, collapsing face first into my bed and turning off my phone time...

Okay, so sometimes, I add way too much onto my plate. I've always done this. I'm interested in doing too much. My life has become about finding a way to balance this, structure this, and to be able to do it all. Up next on my reading list is a book, "The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One," which, as you can read in the title, is all about figuring out how to accomplish all of these things. Recently, it's become about realizing different goals and projects should be tackled at different times in my life, not all at once.

5) There's always room for imagination. This goes back to everything I've mentioned above, the stories, the varied interests, the dreaming...fashion has a lot to do with this. It's dress up time, yes, and call me crazy, but I feel empowered when I love what I'm wearing (which tends to be always). And that's important for a nanny with a college degree. It's one of the reasons I go to the gym: I feel empowered when I feel strong, and I love feeling strong, always have.

Preschool is all about playing make-believe, which imitates real life. And what is the life of a twenty-something but that? We've just been thrusted out of a lifetime of school, into this "real world" thing, and I know but few people my age who really know what they want out of life. We're all trying new paths, new jobs, new hobbies, new people, and just trying to figure it all out. Some people know what they want and are figuring out how to get there. Others, have an inkling, or have no idea, but again, are figuring out how to figure that out and get there. We're all toddlers and pre-schoolers out here in the real world, learning how to walk, talk, and live. And with practice and play, we'll get it right.



What are your pre-life ambitions? Experiments? Hardships? I'd love to hear.

In Honor of Prince William's Engagement, a Journey through a few of Princess Diana's Best Looks

Today I was supposed to write tips for pattern mixing, I know. But then, Prince William and Kate Middleton got engaged! And girls - and grown women - all around the world sigh in disappointment. I'm pretty sure, actually, it was my 14-year-old self's ambition to grow up to be that girl. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I don't know too much about Kate Middleton, but seeing as how she's now wearing the late Princess Diana's ring, I thought we'd trip through some fashion history briefly, starting, with that famous wedding gown:

 Talk about your big wedding gown. I vaguely remember having a Princess Diana paper doll with this dress. What I can't remember is if I liked it. I very much doubt the future Princess Kate will wear a similar fashion, and long sleeves and puff shoulders are very much out of style. But one thing is for certain: this is certainly a princess's dress, and it is iconic of the princess's style.

Ah. Classic. Fishtail gown, sweetheart neckline. In this, she could've been Grace Kelly decades before, although Princess Di is no less a fashion icon than Princess Grace.

Proper in pink, hat, and pearls, that's for sure, but that's quite a hemline for a princess to be sporting! Love it. The suit and the power shoulders was one of her signatures.

All mommy cas and cute in Laura Ashley. The sheer skirt over what I assume are leggings is quite interesting. In a good way.

I. Love. This. Victorian collar + buttons + shoulders and that very jaunty cap! It's very British Isles of her. Plaid's having quite a moment right now, I could almost see this on someone today. . . in fact, I have a similar shirt, though a different plaid, elbow-length sleeves, and different buttons, but with the same collar and shoulders. Plus isn't this just a fantastic photo of her?

Poppin' her collar, royalty style. It's undeniably a great sillhouette.

It's yet to see if the world will watch Kate as closely as we did the late Diana. Perhaps if she's lucky, we won't. I believe the tiara gets heavy after awhile. But no matter, best wishes to her, and congratulations to Prince William. May their future be filled with the sort of light it's said Princess Diana brought into the world.

Mastering Pattern Play and Hosiery: Part 1



my own recent adventure with hosiery and pattern mixing

Well, ladies and gents, I've failed. I went shopping this weekend. It's a sad, sad truth.

While I seem to have kicked my Groupon habit for the time being, it was about time for me to start using the things. Beginning with my Groupon to the Gap, which expires this week. The gateway drug, if you will.

No, I made it out of there alive, with but three things: the skirt pictured above, a cream knit sweater, and the biggest, softest scarf I've ever seen or felt, which I just want to be around all the time. I spent more than my Groupon was worth, but I feel these items were all good decisions. 

In a related miracle, I made it out of Forever 21 with naught but two basic stretchy pencil skirts (which I went in for, looking for a black one to pair with a certain Fair Isle sweater of mine) at $6.50 each and five pairs of socks (including the grey polka dot pair pictured above) for about $4. Who says I haven't tamed my ways?

Plus the additions to my wardrobe have given me renewed energy and creativity when it comes to cold weather dressing, two very important things when it's difficult to drag yourself out of the warmth of your bed on a November morning at 6:00 am. Especially when dressing is so often one of my favorite parts of my day.

This is made easier when hosiery is such a huge trend right now. Warm legs + toes and the ability to wear skirts, dresses, and shorts throughout the winter without freezing? Huge bonus. The Fall 2010 RTW runways ran the gambit when it came to hosiery, too, from socks with sandals to legwarmers and thigh highs.

On Friday, I made the (cold, very cold) decision to wear calf-length charcoal gray socks with a pair of sky-high black heeled sandals, with my little black dress for the evening. While that evening cemented with me the fact that it is past the time to wear bare legs, my sartorial choice struck up a conversation amongst friends.

Remember this?



1995, Alicia Silverstone in "Clueless." This is the last time I really remember knee socks being on trend. Shortly after, in middle school and all throughout high school, we suffered through winters with bare legs because hosiery was "just so not cool, mom." On Friday, when my friends and I were standing around talking socks at this event we were at - grown women now with strong holds on personal style - we were remembering when socks with shoes were just so gross. And then all of a sudden, when a year or so ago, I saw them paired together again, it seemed fresh and modern. And it clicked for me, so much so that I couldn't wait to wear it. Fashion is cyclical when it comes to so many trends out of necessity, I think.

And then a few years back, thankfully, opaque tights cycled through again and we all were warm again. And then a few seasons ago, sheer hosiery re-appeared with the "ladylike" trend. Followed by ankle and calf-length socks with shoes, and then finally, the explosion of all things hosiery with Fall 2010. Shall we walk through it?

In a collection that was mostly knitwear, sloutchy socks ground two very girly looks at Dolce & Gabbana:

Alexander Wang takes legwarmers to new heights (and lows), and deconstructs suiting, with thick thigh highs that are actually pulled down over shoes:

With Peter Som on hand as consultant, Tommy Hilfiger turned out polished prep as never before. This of course had to include hosiery:

Over-the-Knee boots are notoriously hard to pull off. Especially duck boots, and they must be done with sass, as reviewer Meenal Mistry notes. And trickery. Note the dark tights and the polished buttoned-up-ness of the rest of the look.

An easy and budget-friendly way to simulate the OTK look would be with knee-high socks or leg-warmers. A key to remember though is to keep the colors on bottom all in the same color family, in order to avoid chopping up the leg. In the photo at the top, the reason I risked white + large print is precisely because they were ankle socks, small, and visually at the bottom of my look. They were also diluted by the shoe.

Previous to my shopping excursion this weekend, I had mostly updated my wardrobe with hosiery, as they're fresh, add variety, extend the life of summer and fall dresses, skirts and shorts, and can be found at any price point. And did I mention, they're fun? 

Nanny's Tired

It's Friday. It's raining out. N had an epic meltdown a few hours ago involving broccoli throwing, and I'm conserving all my energy for an event I'm attending (hint: it involves 30 varieties of gourmet chili for me to eat). And since brevity, my dears, is the soul of wit, I'm sharing but two things.

Please find above in all of its glory the song, "I Eat Doughnuts," by artist Sibley, which I tracked down after enjoying so much in Stella McCartney's ad for her Kids line, as posted earlier this week (Pour les Enfants).

Updates to come on what N has to say about the song, and "what it make her booty do."

And lastly, because Fridays are supposed to be en Francais, I thought I would share my favorite French term of endearment:

mon petit chou chou - "my little cabbage"

As in, "Awwww, je t'adore, mon petit chou chou!"

Je l'adore.

Voila! C'est bien. Bonne Vendredi.

It's Baking Season! (A Favorite Apple Pie Recipe)

Okay, as I previously indulged in an "I Love Fall" post, September begins my favorite time of year (not that I don't love summer!). The following is a list of reasons why (recipe at the end!):

1) I've designated Halloween through my Birthday (in January) as the Official Season of Glitter. My friend B once said she wouldn't be surprised to find glitter in any place I had been (and then there was the campus-wide scrubbing for at least the week after I was Tinkerbell for Halloween and carried out a bag of glitter as pixie dust one evening). It's true I love the stuff. And Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, my birthday - everyone's automatically given leave to wear as much glitter, shine, sparkle, and sequins as possible, all in the name of festivity. Gotta love it.

2) Boot season.

3) Sweater season.

4) Light jacket season.

5) The lilting combination of leaves crunching underfoot, and campfire crackling. The smell of a campfire. And later, the hanging of the greens and the spicy-sweet smell of evergreen.

6) Apple cider and hot cocoa. I'd say hot toddies, but anyone who attended my Ugly Christmas Sweater Party a few years ago can attest to my less-than-perfect hot buttered rum. I'm working on that...in the meantime, I make a mean (and simple) warm spiced apple cider + rum.

7) Ice skating at Crown Center (+ sweaters + hot cocoa).

8) A Christmas Carol at the Rep and the Nutcracker at the Kansas City Ballet. This is the time of year my imagination really takes flight (reaching very lofty heights) and I get lost in the Nutcracker, my memories of being taken to the Midland as little girls, it's grandeur, the magic of the music, the dance, and of course, the never-lost dream of being a ballerina.

9) Shopping on the Plaza in the dark of evening, with the glow of the lights. No, really. I prefer to do my Christmas shopping in the black of dusk - it all just seems more mystical, and festive.

10) The food. I don't eat much in the summer; the heat keeps me from it, and I generally just snack on a lot of fruit, cold veggies, salsas and salads. This is good for me. Fall begins my love affair with the savory. I adore chilis, soups, and stews, crusty breads, green beans and sweet potatoes. But this is also the baking season.

I kicked off the week with a pumpkin pie (using the recipe from my post Pumpkin Pie with a Twist, and in two weeks, my mother, my sister, my grandpa and I will be spending two days creating our family's Christmas lebkuchen (Christmas cookies), but what to make in between? I haven't been to a farmer's market since I-don't-know-when and I'm all over that this weekend, because...I've decided it's the perfect time to make an apple pie.

Apple pie is one of the labor intensive pies there is, but one of my favorites. I tend to shy away from cheddar crusts (I like mine sweet) and caramel apple pies, and often gravitate towards recipes with crumb toppings versus lattice. I haven't decided what to try this year - the cinnamon crumble-bottom turned out well in my pumpkin pie, perhaps an adaptation for apple? The following is a recipe I used last fall that turned out exceptionally well:

Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie from Epicurious.com
(If you're on Epicurious, you can find me and my recipe box under simrl, though I still have yet to update it with all the recipes on my mobile app).

Crust:
1 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour (I'm going to try this using wheat flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 Cup butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 Cup shortening, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Ice water (I usually keep a cup of ice water handy, adding a little bit at a time. It always seems to vary how much you'll need).
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar (Note: any more and your crust will taste strongly of vinegar).

Filling:
3 1/4 lbs. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/4 inch thick (I used organic sweet red apples bought for a pittance at a road-side stand by my mom's garden. Granny Smith's are generally considered the best baking apples, but if you don't mind a sweet pie, use whatever you like. The red apples turned out a fantastic pie).
2/3 Cup sugar
2 TB all-purpose flour (again, and also in the topping below, I will try wheat flour)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I'm always a little heavy-handed with the spices and don't measure this precisely)
2 TB butter, melted

Topping:
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
6 TB chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

preparation

For crust:
Mix flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter and shortening; rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms(I'm so glad this is in here! I always use my hands for all parts of the crust-making process. Messy, but works best). Mix 3 tablespoons ice water and vinegar in small bowl to blend. Drizzle over flour mixture; stir with fork until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 30 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch; turn edge under and crimp decoratively. Refrigerate while preparing filling and topping.

For filling:
Mix all ingredients in large bowl to coat apples.

For topping:
Blend first 5 ingredients in processor. Add chilled butter cubes; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles wet sand.

Toss filling to redistribute juices; transfer to crust, mounding in center. Pack topping over and around apples.

Bake pie on baking sheet until topping is golden, about 40 minutes (cover top with foil if browning too quickly). Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until apples in center are tender when pierced and filling is bubbling thickly at edges, about 45 minutes longer. Cool until warm, about 1 hour. Serve with ice cream.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cinnamon-Crumble-Apple-Pie-108650#ixzz14zJMD3kS

Bon appetit! Stay posted for my apple pie adventures this weekend.

N Says

As I go off tonight to embark on training to become a literacy tutor (after an embarrassing snafu last night, as I apparently, the would-be tutor, can't read an e-mail, and showed up a night early...) my mind is on language. My assignment for tonight centered around phonemes, blended consonants, and all of that good stuff. I vaguely remember this from a History of the English Language class I took in college, but what this really calls to mind is my poetry professor's waxing (ha) on the sounds of language. The sounds of words. Poetry was a crash course in a love affair with speaking slowly and taking the time to listen, to let the syllables melt and drip over your tongue, your teeth, feeling their weight, or their airiness. It's true that one of the reasons I love to write is because I love to play: with word order, with juxtaposition of sounds, with meanings. And all of a sudden, I find myself surrounded by people - both toddlers and adults - who are just learning to listen to those sounds.

M, at 15 months, is extremely vocal, though non-verbal. But he loves to make certain sounds and hear himself do this. We had a play-date at the park with my friend, J, and her adorable son, C, who is just 11 months. And as we pushed the two side by side in swings, it struck me, how each baby seems to have his or her own unique non-verbalisation. M is extremely fond of making these glottal noises in the back of his throat, for example.

And then there's N, who's very vocal about nearly everything, but still very much learning the language. A typical sentence of hers might be: "Her not have pink." She hasn't yet learned to recognize the difference in pronouns, so it's something we work on, but, she is 2, after all. She adopts particular phrases that she loves to use in any situation, or words - "poop" is a favorite for just about everything, as is, "Whoa, dude!" Yet she still converses with M in his little language, or, at least, imitates it (I still have no idea if they have some sort of understanding of what he's saying or not) and frequently uses onomatopoeia. "Sook sook," is a recent one that is used with such variety that I haven't quite figured out it's true meaning, if it has one.

Where am I going with this? When it comes to writing, to anything in life, really, I find that children inspire me. They have an uncanny way of revealing truths, and have not yet learned to shield, or control, their emotions. I think this is very good. So much so that I've found a focus for a collection of short stories centering around revealing childhood stories that friends, acquaintances, and so forth have told me (you can read one, Sweet Baby James, published here, as it were.

One of my favorite moments with N happened when she was playing with her brother in the living room, and I got up to go do something in the kitchen. As I turned the corner, she came flying up, huge grin, arms open, halfway in the air, yelling, "I need Rachel right now!" And as I turned to lift her up, she gave me the biggest, sweetest, tightest hug you ever saw. "I need you too, sweet pea," I said. I tear up at, well, a lot of things, but still, that moment brought tears to my eyes, and validation to my heart, as it does now as I write this.

So I've been steadily keeping track the past month or so of the funny, adorable, and sweet things N says, some of which ring with such resonance. I often tweet these things, but in case you've missed them, here they all are collected:

Me: "We all have little colds, don't we? But I think yours is getting better!"
N (crinkles her nose): "Um, sure."
Me: "Well perhaps not."

This remark happens nearly daily:
N: You have booty, Rachel? That's your booty! I touching your booty!
Me: Yes, I noticed.

N: "I just pink right now."

N: "Hey Rachel, you got messy hair right now."
Me (as I strive to fix it): "Oh do I? Is that better?"
N: "Hmm."

N: "The leaves are falling down. Where they going?"

Me: "I think you're being a little bossy today, N!"
N: "Noooo I not!"
Me: "Yes, I think you are!"
N: "Nooo I not being bossy! I being Mommy!"

Me: "Okay N, lunch is almost ready!"
N: "Haauuuumm oookaaaay."

Note: After I drove to work one day with bird poop on N's window, we spent a week discussing why it was there, what it was, why birdies poop on cars, why birdies live in trees, and so many more "why's." The following is one of the choicest quotes of the week, a running monologue from the back seat:

N: "I potty in the toilet, birdies poop on the car. Your car dirty? Birdy do that. M, no, we don't poop on the car! We go in the potty!"

N: "You not have a bow in your hair today? Why not?"
Me: "Well, I don't know!"
N: "I have a bow in my hair. You wear one again? Tomorrow? Hooray!"

Me: "Please don't chew on my button, N. It's really not very nice. Nor good for your teeth!"
N: "It is! I do it! I do it every morning!"

(At the park, from the top of the playground set) N: "HI RACHEL! LOOK AT ME RACHEL! WATCH THIS RACHEL! YOU A PRINCESS RACHEL!"

Me: "How's that thumb taste, N?"
N (as it's placed smackingly in her mouth to stay): "Icky!"

N: "I want a car!"
Me: "Can we say please? What kind of car?"
N: "A pink one!"
Me: "Oh? And where will you go in your pink car?"
N: "I go to the store! I go to the store to buy chocolate milk!"

N: "I want my lipstick."
Me: "You don't want your snack?"
N: "No, I just want my lipstick."

Note: We're big fans of Pandora (although it's been increasingly difficult to explain why I cannot force the Disney station to only play Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel) and one of N's favorite stations is the Gaelic Storm station, which plays largely traditional Irish music. She calls it "her" music. So we like to put "N's" music on and dance.

N (as she's crouching down, "booty" stuck in the air, and shaking it): "This music make my booty go like this."

Me (as N wipes her runny nose on my shoulder): "Do you need a tissue, N?"
N: "No."
Me (as she continues to wipe her nose on me): "I think you might. 'Cause I'm not a tissue."
N: "No. You a tissue!"
Me: "No, I'm really not. I don't want to be!"
N: Yes you do! You want to! You want to be tissue!"

N: "You nanny. Is Mommy nanny?"
Me: "No, Mommy's mommy."
N: "Whoa dude!"

N (surveying the aftermath of M's lunch, which was largely all over the floor): "Too icky."

N: "We teach M, Rachel."