GTKY! (10/18 Edition)

2MamazInSeattle · October 2013

Ok all! After taking last week off (thanks ball.and.chain for filling the gap with you AMA! From which I stole a few questions...)...here are some questions to help us get to know you better!

1. Describe your ideal pizza!

2. If you had to leave your home forever with 5 minutes' notice, and you could take 5 things - what would you take? (Assume all living things are out and safe - inanimate objects only.)

3. Tell us about your favorite childhood pet.

4. You just won Expedia's contest to go anywhere - but you have to leave NOW. Do you go? And, whether you go or not, where would you choose to go? (Assume 1 week trip, house/pet/childcare covered, and adequate spending money).

5. Kindle/e-reader or real book?

6. What's your favorite app on your phone? Tell us more!

7. What are you doing this weekend?

8. What are you going to be for Halloween? Your LO's if you have them?

9. What is your heritage? How connected to it do you feel?

10. Tell us about the last really spectacular meal you had. Did you make it? Someone else make it? Eat out?

PIP: Bonus for any PIP of your choice!

healz413 · October 2013

1. My ideal pizza is a cheese stuffed pizza from giordano's in Chicago. Stuffed pizza is not the same as "stuffed crust" pizza. Rather it is in the same family as deep dish pizza with lots more cheese.
(When we have to get regular pizza cause we are in Toronto, M and I love pepperoni, pineapple, and provolone)

2. I'm going to assume I already have my phone, keys, and wallet in my pockets so I'm not counting those and that M has the same opportunity so I don't have to do her things. I'd get my passport, the painting I have from my grandparents house that I described in a previous post, the quilt my grandmother made me, the painting M's mom gave us at our Love party, and the box of clothes we've bought over the last two years for our someday baby.

3. Hascha was our dog from the time I was 6 until I was in college. She was an entelbucher sennenhound (sp?) which is a Swiss cow dog. She was probably 50 pounds and full of love and energy. She was super smart and used to break into our fridge, eat as much as she possibly good, and then hide the rest around the house for later. She loved nothing more than family road trips but she would become very anxious that we'd leave without her.

4. Yes absolutely. This would actually be a great time for me to leave and I think M too. We'd go to Hawaii most likely. Although it is possible that with it all paid for we'd go to the even more expensive Australia/New Zealand and save Hawaii for the future.

5. Real book. I have books on my kindle and enjoy having it but I still prefer and paper book.

6. It is probably rocket man which tells you when the next bus or streetcar in Toronto is coming.

7. I'm planning to mostly lay low. We have to finish organizing our apartment. M is going to ukelele lessons tomorrow and we are both going to friends' housewarming on Saturday eve.

8. I haven't given it a moments thought. Probably nothing unless plans come up.

9. German, Norwegian, English, and Irish. Not really. Although obviously as someone of northwestern European roots part of my white privilege in North America means not feeling connected to my heritage because my heritage is woven into the day to day norms and taken for grantedness.

10. Recently we had butternut squash ravioli at home that we bought from Costco. I thought it was fabulous!

PIP: This is a photo from our friends' wedding social (fundraiser). M and I are singing "when you're good to Mama" (or whatever the title is) from Chicago. I'm the taller shorter-haired one.

KH826 · October 2013

1. Describe your ideal pizza!

Thick crust, medium amount of sauce, lots of cheese, spinach and fresh mushrooms

2. If you had to leave your home forever with 5 minutes' notice, and you could take 5 things - what would you take? (Assume all living things are out and safe - inanimate objects only.)

* My pillow (I have had the same one since I was 2, my grandmother gave it to me, it is this foam material that they don't make anymore. I take it everywhere (except when I fly), and I have a hard time sleeping without it. It is indestructible -- it has held up ridiculously well so far.

* My rings (assuming I wasn't wearing them - I don't sleep with them on)

* My iPad

* My "Love Box" (J and I created Love Boxes our first Valentine's Day together, and we have each put assorted trinkets and reminders of specials times together over the years. It started out as a shoe box, but a few years ago I graduated to a hat box. I have every card J has ever given me, some pictures, notes, concert and movie ticket stubs, napkins and match books from restaurants, etc. in there. Someday I will probably do something with the contents, but for now I just keep them in the box and maybe once or twice a year now I go through it and just poke around)

* The quilt on our bed. It was from J's grandmother who passed away last year. She was an amazing person and we both miss her so much. I was closer to her (as an adult) than any of my own grandparents who passed away when I was younger.

3. Tell us about your favorite childhood pet.

Honestly, I don't really have one. For someone who is totally obsessed with her dog now, I was not really a pet person before Reese. We always had dogs when I was growing up, but they were big dogs and I never really was close to them. I didn't interact with them a lot and was not very attached. I don't really know why, I just never connected with any of them. I was so anti-dog for years when J and I got together. She begged for a dog for years. Finally, we got Reese when J graduated from grad school, and honestly, she (meaning Reese) is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I love that little dog a ridiculous amount. With that said, she really is the first pet that I have felt emotionally connected to, if I am being honest.

4. You just won Expedia's contest to go anywhere - but you have to leave NOW. Do you go? And, whether you go or not, where would you choose to go? (Assume 1 week trip, house/pet/childcare covered, and adequate spending money).

Yes, I would go in a heartbeat, and I would go to Paris.

5. Kindle/e-reader or real book?

Real Book. No contest.

6. What's your favorite app on your phone? Tell us more!

Umm.... I don't really have any... HAHAHA. I finally upgraded to an iPhone about a month ago (I had a really old school blackberry before that), and I use it mainly for email, texting, phone calls, and random web searches/directions, etc. The only "apps" I have installed so far are Facebook, Pinterest & Words With Friends. I haven't used any of those three much at all yet either. I much prefer my iPad when I am at home, and honestly, I mainly surf the web. I am not very tech advanced...

7. What are you doing this weekend?

We are driving up to Boston this afternoon (leaving around 3:30, will hopefully get to my mom's by 10 considering Friday night rush hour traffic). Tomorrow is my brother's 15th Bday, and honestly, it is a miracle that he made it to another birthday. We are throwing him a huge party tomorrow. My mom has gone way overboard. Tomorrow night is also my youngest sister's (who is a Senior in High School) homecoming dance. J who has become a super awesome amateur photographer is going to take pics of my sister, her date and some of their friends before the dance. We also plan to tell my sisters that we are pregnant while we are up there this weekend. I am kind of nervous.

8. What are you going to be for Halloween? Your LO's if you have them?

I don't know. We have friends that have two young kiddos (2.5 and 1), and we offered to go over to their house to help out (either hand out candy so they could both take their kids out trick-or-treating, or help with trick-or-treating (I am assuming it will be a handful with kids their age). I don't know if we are going to do it or not. Haven't heard back from our friends. If we don't, we will just stay home. We aren't really Halloween people yet. Maybe when we have our own kids.

9. What is your heritage? How connected to it do you feel?

My mom is 100% Greek. I feel pretty connected to my Greek heritage, it was a big part of my life growing up. I even took Greek School lessons when I was little to learn to speak the language (unfortunately, I only remember about half of what I used to). I absolutely love Greek food, and a few years ago I cooked a traditional Greek holiday meal for my in-laws on Christmas Eve, and it was a big hit. I have been to Greece twice, but I haven't been back in about 10 years. I would love to go back with J at some point.

My father's family is a mix of English, Welsh and French Canadian. I don't know much about their family history/heritage, and I have never really been connected to it. Mostly because I have never been close to my Dad's family and their heritage never seemed to be something they celebrated.

When people ask me, I say I am Greek.

10. Tell us about the last really spectacular meal you had. Did you make it? Someone else make it? Eat out?

Hmmm... I am pretty easy to please. I can think of one recent meal that I had that was really yummy that I keep talking about. We went to a local restaurant with friends a couple of weeks ago and I had this grilled chicken sandwich on sourdough bread and these sweet potato wedges. It was very simple, but sooooo yummy. I keep saying that I would like to go back there soon. In terms of a REALLY amazing meal, there is this restaurant by my in-laws that we all totally love. It is owned by this very quirky amazing local chef that only cooks with organic locally grown foods. It is super swanky and expensive, but also very quirky and cool. All the chairs are different, and we often eat in this room that is off to the side and sunken in with a little fireplace in it and this neat chandelier over the table. The whole restaurant can only really accomodate 35ish people at a time, so reservations are hard to come by. We go there with my in-laws about once a year for someone's bday or some other occassion. We were there about 6 months ago and I had to most amazing vegetable risotto I have ever experienced.

Bonus PIP - This is us with my in-laws last New Year's Eve (I am the one in the cream blouse). We went to Disney World with them for the week between Christmas and New Years. We went to dinner at the Capital Grill. That was another fantastic meal!

KH826 · October 2013

Woops - my PIP didn't attach before. Trying again!

songbird31 · October 2013

1. Generally I keep it pretty plain with pizza. I like thin crust with extra cheese and pepperoni. I could also opt for thick crust same toppings if the cheese has burned on the sides. Mmmm. But boring I know.

2. This one is hard.... Also my rings as I still can't wear them right now. Our camera, my iPod... Yes, I still have one bc my music collection is so large and I just transitioned to a smart phone a few months ago. An external hard drive with pictures from our wedding a backup of all my music and pics from all of our time together, and a guitar that we have signed by the indigo girls. We also have one signed by Dolly Parton, so I guess I'll lump them together and just say guitars.

3. We had a golden retriever growing up. She was a really beautiful great family dog. I would say I am closer to my dogs now, but she was great about letting us do whatever to her. Like we would dress her up in our nightgowns and things like that and she liked being around us. I've been pushing for our next dog to be a golden (hopefully a mix) since they sometimes have bad health issues at a younger age.

4. Yes. I would choose the Australia trip as well and hope that New Zealand was thrown in as well. This is definitely on our short list.

5. Real book although I'm not much of a reader since leaving grad school.

6. I think it's called sound sleeper for the baby. It has some very calming white noises to help with her sleep. I'm also getting attached to baby connect. It tracks everything we do with L and we can share it with each other. Pretty cool.

7. Pumpkin patch with L, making chili, and sleeping when possible

8. I don't think we'll dress up this year, and we always do! We're having some serious debates about Ls first Halloween costume. We have NO idea. It's just so much pressure I feel, which may sound silly. We're thinking of maybe sunshine or maybe a pumpkin or rabbit.... We have to decide like today though!

9. I'm really a mut. On my dads side Cherokee, Dutch, and English. My moms side German, Dutch, and a few other European locations. But several generations here in the US, so I wouldn't say that heritage plays a big part in our traditions or anything. Nothing like S's family who are more recently from their Home countries and still carry traditions forward.

10. Ugh! So good and Im Sure so simple.... Someone made us a risotto dinner compete with salad bread, and brownies. It was amazing. I was super sad when it was all gone. We've had some great meals lately though. We usually host dinner parties etc and we had NO idea our friends were such talented cooks until we had L and they began bringing us meals. I have asked for the recipe. I'll definitely be making that again!

newmompeanut · October 2013

1. Describe your ideal pizza!
I'm boring. Just thick crust Canadian bacon. There's a local restaurant, Green Mill, that has the best pizza. Umm...

2. If you had to leave your home forever with 5 minutes' notice, and you could take 5 things - what would you take? (Assume all living things are out and safe - inanimate objects only.)
The photo of my grandpa and I and our identification. I can't think of anything else that I would absolutely need.

3. Tell us about your favorite childhood pet.
Lady. Lancer's Lady Amber May, to be specific . She was a Golden Retriever and was quite possibly the best dog ever.

4. You just won Expedia's contest to go anywhere - but you have to leave NOW. Do you go? And, whether you go or not, where would you choose to go? (Assume 1 week trip, house/pet/childcare covered, and adequate spending money).
France. Hands down. I've always wanted to go and B hasn't been there in like two years now.

5. Kindle/e-reader or real book?
I love the convenience of my kindle, but it can't compete with the feeling of cuddling up with an actual book.

6. What's your favorite app on your phone? Tell us more!
BabyConnect, but you know that from my last post

7. What are you doing this weekend?
I was hoping to go to the pumpkin patch with N and B, but B's at home with the flu today.

8. What are you going to be for Halloween? Your LO's if you have them?
I don't think I will be anything, but I think we finally decided that N will be a garden gnome!

9. What is your heritage? How connected to it do you feel?
I'm almost 100% Dutch. Not connected at all.

10. Tell us about the last really spectacular meal you had. Did you make it? Someone else make it? Eat out?
I absolutely love my homemade beef stroganoff. We have it about once a month and I look forward to it all month long!

trisholio · October 2013

1. Describe your ideal pizza!

I love cheese! So I am a fan of stuffed crust very cheesy pizza

2. If you had to leave your home forever with 5 minutes' notice, and you could take 5 things - what would you take? (Assume all living things are out and safe - inanimate objects only.)

I would grab our laptop because of all our pictures are on it, our wedding video, wedding scrapbook, my body pillow (I can't sleep without it) and my Gi-pop's marbles

3. Tell us about your favorite childhood pet.

When I was 9 years old we got a lab puppy and named him Alex. He was yellow and super cute! He was my little buddy and slept outside my door and followed me around. He was a terror and ate everything and thought he had 9 lives. He died when I was 21 and lived out of state. My mom had to tell me over the phone of him passing away. I was devastated. For any sports fans out there it just so happened that we got him from our neighbors at the time and they were the parents of Luke Fickell. He played for Ohio State University for years and was the interim head coach last year and is now the defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes.

4. You just won Expedia's contest to go anywhere - but you have to leave NOW. Do you go? And, whether you go or not, where would you choose to go? (Assume 1 week trip, house/pet/childcare covered, and adequate spending money).

I would take my wife to Germany. She went there when she was 18 and has always wanted to go back.

5. Kindle/e-reader or real book?

Little of both. I have the kindle app on my phone but I don't use it as much as I used to

6. What's your favorite app on your phone? Tell us more!

I have a windows phone and the apps suck on it. I use it for facebook and texting and that's about it

7. What are you doing this weekend?

working, working and working. I babysit full time and also on the weekends. By tomorrow I would have worked 63 hours watching 4 different children. Needless to say I am exhausted

8. What are you going to be for Halloween? Your LO's if you have them?

I have no idea! Halloween was never a big deal growing up and as an adult I have never been one to embrace it. My wife wants to go as the Spring zombie, she quotes the commercial all the time

9. What is your heritage? How connected to it do you feel?

My moms side of the family is English, Irish and a little German. We have a family genealogy for my moms family that goes back 13 generations to a village in England. I think that is awesome and makes me feel connected to something bigger than my immediate family. My sperm donor (father) side of the family is probably all inbred, they are white trash from West Virginia. I am not saying everyone from West Virginia is inbred or white trash, just them :-)

10. Tell us about the last really spectacular meal you had. Did you make it? Someone else make it? Eat out?

It is not a meal, but I am pretty excited about the homemade chocolate chip cookies I made last night. I don't bake a lot and when I try and make cookies they always turn out flat or something is wrong. I tried a new recipe last night and they are amazing!! They are soft, fluffy and perfectly baked.

The PIP is my sister and I dressed up for Halloween in 2000 I believe. I went as a baby doll. I am thinking of doing that again this year so I can be comfortable and wear pajamas

ball.and.chain · October 2013

Not even NYC can keep @2MamazinSettle away from GTKY! I love it!

1. I am kind of embarassed by how much time I have devoted to thinking about this question this morning. My favorite pizza toppings are fried eggplant, sliced meatball, and ricotta cheese (not necessarily together, although I would eat that), but I'd rather have a really superlative cheese pizza over a mediocre fried eggplant pizza, if you kwim. I tried to think of the best pizzas I have eaten, and the one that came to mind was a breakfast pizza (with runny egg, and probably bacon) I had at Oliveto in Oakland, CA. It was perfect.*

2. Hmmmm. A purse or bag with my phone and wallet in it, my framed copy of my mom's college yearbook photo, the afghan my favorite aunt knit us as a wedding present (it's cashmere and merino wool, affectionately called "green blankie" and much beloved by cats and by us), my laptop, my grandmother's pearl earrings, and the necklace my wife bought me on our honeymoon.

3. We had two dogs I didn't really love (one was crazy and got killed by a car within months of us adopting him; the other one was mean) so I am going to choose our first pet, a black guinea pig named Nibbles. Certainly not as interactive as a dog or cat, but he was mellow, tolerant, slow-moving, and made cute noises.

4. As long as it's OK with my boss that I leave NOW, I am taking my wife and going to Italy.

5. I have a Kindle Fire, and I like that I can keep multiple books on it, use it to read magazines, check FB, play games, and browse the web...it's nice to have an all-purpose device to take with me when traveling, and I like it for reading on the subway too (don't have to worry about toting around extra-large books and no one knows what I'm reading). However, if I'm reading at home I would ultimately prefer a traditional print book.

6. I have to admit I'm not a big app person...I mostly just use app versions of Gmail/Talk, FB, etc. I downloaded Gyft, which sounded cool, but haven't actually used it yet. And I like my WW bar-code scanner, but I rarely use it because I don't buy a lot of packaged food.

7. We're having 5 friends over for a dinner party on Saturday night. They are wine/cocktail nerds so when they asked what they could bring, we gave them the menu and asked them to do wine/cocktail pairings. Should be fun! Sunday I am going to Portsmouth, NH with a college friend for lunch and hanging out.

8. I'm going to be...at physical therapy.

9. I'm basically a western European mutt...1/2 British, 1/4 Scottish, 1/16 Irish, 1/16 French (via Canada), 1/16 German, and 1/16 Norwegian. If I identify with any of it, it's probably the UK, but not really. For the most part my family has been in the U.S. for so long that we aren't that connected to our non-U.S. origins. And also what healz said about my heritage being so woven into the dominant North American culture.

10. We recently tried a new restaurant in Cambridge for an impromptu date night. It was amazing. It was sort of a mix of small-plates/family-style, so we got a bunch of stuff: a prosciutto and pear salad, house-made spaghetti with chicken livers and pumpkin, brussels sprouts in duckfat, and skate wing. I am still thinking about the spaghetti.

*As a result of this question, I had to get a slice of pizza for lunch. It's not "ideal pizza," but it's tasty!

Jazibel · October 2013

1. Describe your ideal pizza! REAL NY Pizza with pepperoni & mushroom

2. If you had to leave your home forever with 5 minutes' notice, and you could take 5 things - what would you take? (Assume all living things are out and safe - inanimate objects only.) (Assuming I have wallet, phone, keys and shoes/coat) My stack of photo albums, my blue binder with all important docs, jewelry box, a photograph of whales we just got taken by EVs mom, Kaden's stuffed animal (an cute alligator with a huge stuffed snoot)

3. Tell us about your favorite childhood pet. My hamsters Sandy I & Sandy II (since hamsters only live a short while Sandy I was replaced by Sandy II), my memory blends the two together. I used to carry them in my pocket, and let them run around my room. Sometimes they'd get behind the bed and then it was a project to get them out. The squeaky wheel noise at night!! Ugh. But I loved having hamsters. I loved our dog too - but the hamsters were all mine. :-)

4. You just won Expedia's contest to go anywhere - but you have to leave NOW. Do you go? And, whether you go or not, where would you choose to go? (Assume 1 week trip, house/pet/childcare covered, and adequate spending money). Absolutely. I would chose the Seychelles (I've always wanted to go but the plane tickets alone - eeek) I'm sure EV would sneak in a trip to Madagascar since we'd be so close).

5. Kindle/e-reader or real book? Right now Kindle on my phone. I love always having a book with me.

6. What's your favorite app on your phone? Tell us more! Pinterest, I just love the inspiration and I love looking at beautiful things. I mostly look at kids craft/game ideas, DIY/Craft things, holiday inspiration, garden, travel and sometimes home decor (but the later just makes me want to go shopping...)

7. What are you doing this weekend? Studying for my final exam. Visiting with friends who live 2 hours away to discuss their new business venture. I'd like to take Kaden somewhere fun there's a lake with a beach nearby we might go there today to play in the sand. Also there's a big consignment fair we might head to. But studying is most important.

8. What are you going to be for Halloween? Your LO's if you have them? We are having friends over with their 14 month old son. We haven't planned it all out yet, but I'm sure it will involve some trick or treating for the kids and then answering the door for our neighbors kids. Probably yummy food...

9. What is your heritage? How connected to it do you feel? Biologically I'm half English half African-American. But I'm adopted and my mom was German my dad African-American. I feel pretty well connected to both sides (with my own unique perspective and interpretations of course. We grew up speaking German and traveling there to visit family. I spent longer stretches as well and attended school and University. I love that I have had this experience and opportunity and hope to pass along as much as I can to Kaden and his sibling(s).

10. Tell us about the last really spectacular meal you had. Did you make it? Someone else make it? Eat out? Our friends had us over for brunch and they made such yummy breakfast treats!! OMG Topped only by the homemade meatballs we had the time before that... EV is an amazing chef and I can't wait until the school semester lets up and we have time to cook at home more. (I cook and I'm pretty good - but what she does in the kitchen is pure magic!!)

Picture below from our pumpkin picking adventure last weekend.

PIP: Bonus for any PIP of your choice!

ATXmommas · October 2013

1. I like thick crust pizza, but I'm partial to the really thin, crispy pizza crust found at nicer Italian restaurants (my local favorite is North). Marinara, mushrooms, spinach, and any other veggies really. I also love Daiya (tapioca-based vegan cheese) if it's available.

2. Family photos, laptop, letters my mom has been writing to our boy ever since she learned I was pregnant, our wedding album, and wedding guest "book" (thumb print tree). This pic shows it partially -

3. My first pet was a calico cat my sister named Trumpet. She was awesome. We found her as a kitten and she let us kids tote her around in strollers and whatnot. She was an indoor/outdoor cat and had a really mellow demeanor. My first pet as an adult was Lucy, my calico. I picked her out because she reminded me of Trumpet. She's as pretty as trumpet, but is far from mellow. I'm fact, she's kinda a b, but I love her to pieces.

4. In reality no. I don't think I would enjoy a vacation right this minute. If this is fantasy land and we could both get off work, I'd head to Italy.

5. I love actual books, but the Kindle is great for traveling. I have the kindle paperwhite, and I like the built-in dictionary and the x-Ray feature for nonfiction books.

6. Nothing exciting, but most used apps are FB, Words w/ Friends, Huff Post, Bump, and google maps.

7. Watching Greys and Scandal w/ Z tonight. Friends just invited is out to a bowling alley/bar place tomorrow night, so maybe that. And, trying to get together with another lesbian couple who are due a couple weeks after us. Don't know them very well at all, but would like to.

8. I'm not big into Halloween. Can't think of the last time I dressed up. BUT, I showed my mom and sister a t-shirt last weekend that I thought was cute, but too expensive to only wear once. They told me I needed to be frivolous sometimes and gave me the $40 to buy it. They are sweet.

can't get mobile bump to insert it here, so it's my bonus PIP.

9. My maternal grandmothers side of the family is Lebanese. The rest of my family is a hodgepodge of mostly European descent. Agree with Healz about the European side (Healz always has such a great way of framing things!). I really don't identify with the Lebanese side other than a few things - certain foods that my mom still makes and we called my grandmother (and my mother is called) Tita - it's a cutesy name for grandmother in Arabic.

10. I had a really amazing meal at a Thai restaurant called Sway when I was about 6 weeks. And, I have had a couple of vegan bacon cheeseburgers lately from Arlos (food truck). Seriously, those things are amazing. We don't spend mucho money on "spectacular" meals very often, but we do have some great reasonably priced good eats in Austin. ETA: also, we had the most amazing seitan at an all vegan restaurant in NYC called Blossom last year. I still think about it.

Bonus PIP:

Pinkspark · October 2013

1. Describe your ideal pizza!

Papa Gino's bacon and pineapple pizza. Love me some papa ginos!

2. If you had to leave your home forever with 5 minutes' notice, and you could take 5 things - what would you take? (Assume all living things are out and safe - inanimate objects only.) Box of old family pictures, a sentiments box that my wife and I add to occasionally, the lockbox that contains our important documents, my PC storage device, the picture next to my bedside table.

3. Tell us about your favorite childhood pet.

Domino was my pet cat that I had from age 11 until 20. I still miss him terribly, he was the sweetest cat in the world that just wanted to be with you!

4. You just won Expedia's contest to go anywhere - but you have to leave NOW. Do you go? And, whether you go or not, where would you choose to go? (Assume 1 week trip, house/pet/childcare covered, and adequate spending money). Right now? I am so wrecked by nausea I wouldn't- but if I was feeling OK I'd go to Japan in a heartbeat!

5. Kindle/e-reader or real book? I'd like to get a kindle actually!

6. What's your favorite app on your phone? Tell us more! I generally don't use apps on my phone.. $:\$

7. What are you doing this weekend?

Taking my dogs to the groomer and watching my wife clean up the yard!

8. What are you going to be for Halloween? Your LO's if you have them?

I am going to be a slutty costume. Big trash bag with arms and leg holes cut out with a sexy whatever picture taped to the front! At least I'll be comfortable!

9. What is your heritage? How connected to it do you feel?

I'm Arabic and Irish. I think I'm more connected to my irish side, but no one ever sees beyond the arab side. But I really just think of myself as a normal american!

10. Tell us about the last really spectacular meal you had. Did you make it? Someone else make it? Eat out? Gosh, I've felt so gross for so long I can't even think of a "spectacular meal"!

lamaitresse · October 2013

1. Describe your ideal pizza!

I am super picky about my pizza! My first job was at a pizza place. Unfortunately I am now gluten-free and Smurf is lactose-intolerant, so pizza is a rare treat (and usually painful LOL). I love pepperoni, green pepper, and black olives on mine. Oh, and lots of cheese!!

2. If you had to leave your home forever with 5 minutes' notice, and you could take 5 things - what would you take? (Assume all living things are out and safe - inanimate objects only.)

A large framed photo of my mother that my sister retouched for me, my mother's engagement ring (which is now Smurf's engagement ring, but she doesn't wear it often because 'big' rings get in her way at work), my laptop, my phone, and my purple bunny, which is the only childhood toy I've kept (I've had her since my 1st birthday).

3. Tell us about your favorite childhood pet.

We had so many pets growing up and I can't choose just one. My mother bred Alsatians and we also fostered cats, as well as having our own. Before we moved to Canada we kept lambs that had been orphaned or abandoned by their mothers. I think the pet that I miss the most, though, is a Quaker parrot we had, named Henry. He died a couple of years ago and he was the last connection I had to my mother -- he even laughed like her. I was devastated when he died.

4. You just won Expedia's contest to go anywhere - but you have to leave NOW. Do you go? And, whether you go or not, where would you choose to go? (Assume 1 week trip, house/pet/childcare covered, and adequate spending money).

It would be a toss up between Argentina and Japan, I think. My grandmother was born in Buenos Aires and I've always wanted to go. Smurf is a third-generation Japanese-Canadian and would love to visit Japan... as would I. I am fascinated by their culture.

5. Kindle/e-reader or real book?

Real book, hands down. There's a Kobo app on my tablet but... meh. I'm not particularly enthused.

6. What's your favorite app on your phone? Tell us more!

I have a couple, actually... the first one is entirely self-serving. It's an app called PAYD that lets me process credit cards. Means I can work anywhere and there is no excuse for a client not to pay me LOL. The other is the FatSecret app, which is a food tracker with a huuuuge database. Love it.

7. What are you doing this weekend?

My sister is moving here in a couple days, so probably I will spend most of the time cleaning out my office and turning it into a bedroom for her.

8. What are you going to be for Halloween? Your LO's if you have them?

I don't usually get into dressing up for Hallowe'en. We'll hand out candy though.

9. What is your heritage? How connected to it do you feel?

I was born in England, and we lived in rural Scotland before we immigrated. We moved to Canada when I was 11 and for a really long time I resented my dad for uprooting us. I try really hard to stay connected to my heritage, and my Canadian friends sometimes think I'm too British for my own good, but whenever I go back to visit I realise that I really don't quite "fit in" in either country. The Canucks think I'm too British and the Brits think I'm too American. Sounds like a weird problem to have, but sometimes I truly feel like I don't have a cultural identity left at all.

Also, @herbabymama, Smurf and I LOVE that video!! She experiences this frequently, especially as where we live, there is a very small Asian population.

10. Tell us about the last really spectacular meal you had. Did you make it? Someone else make it? Eat out?

For my birthday, we went out for some AMAZING sushi. There is only one good Japanese restaurant here, and it's probably the best sushi you can find in the region without driving to Toronto.

PIP: Bonus for any PIP of your choice!

This is Port Stanley beach, on Lake Erie, a couple of weeks ago.

2MamazInSeattle · October 2013

1. Describe your ideal pizza!

I'm kinda a minimalist and love me a good slice of cheese pizza (of which I had 2 in NYC this weekend!). However, for the wood-fire made to order pizza at work, I like carmelized onion, mushroom and sometimes pepperoni.

2. If you had to leave your home forever with 5 minutes' notice, and you could take 5 things - what would you take? (Assume all living things are out and safe - inanimate objects only.)

Ok, I'll cheat and say my bag/purse, which will have my wallet and probably a few other things in it. My phone. I never take off my wedding ring, so that doesn't count . I would grab the shadow box our wedding photographer made that has a creatively hidden USB drive with all our photos on it, my 40th bday book I made with pix of my whole life. My grandmother's wedding ring, and whatever else I could grab on my way out!

3. Tell us about your favorite childhood pet.

I would vote for our beagle, Pudgey. She was just a good little dog - we always had 1 or two dogs, never cats. I like both - but cats are better for our lifestyle.

4. You just won Expedia's contest to go anywhere - but you have to leave NOW. Do you go? And, whether you go or not, where would you choose to go? (Assume 1 week trip, house/pet/childcare covered, and adequate spending money).

Yes, I would go! I would take J to Tokyo because it *blew my mind* and I want her to experience that, plus, I want to go back minus the crazy first-timer shock and see what I think.

5. Kindle/e-reader or real book?

Not much of a reader, but I like J's kindle when I do read.

6. What's your favorite app on your phone? Tell us more!

I'm not a total app whore like many (including my wife) - but I have had fun with the pointless-but-interesting decibel meter lately, just seeing how many decibels certain situations are.

7. What are you doing this weekend?

We just had a great time being away from real life in NYC. I have a friend who has lived in his apartment on the Lower East Side for 20 years, since we were in college, and also a couple who got married as soon as it was legal in NY that I have known and loved since before their first date 14 years ago. Bonus that they just bought a huge apartment where we had comfy accommodations just 4 blocks from my other friend! And the weather was *amazeballs* - shorts and flip flops. It was nice to be outside of our usual world, we needed a breather.

8. What are you going to be for Halloween? Your LO's if you have them?

No plans. One of J's coffeeshops is in a 'hood that has high expectations of all the businesses on the main drag to participate in Halloween - last year she was Frida and I put on a pair of wings.

9. What is your heritage? How connected to it do you feel?

I come from northwestern PA which is hugely eastern European. 3 of my 4 grandparents' parents were off the boat - so I'm 1/4 each German, Polish and Romanian. The other 1/4 was more anglo (Scottish/Irish). I definitely moreso identify with the eastern European part of my family, I have that olive skin tone and appropriate love of perogis.

10. We had some spectacular food in NYC but never ended up going anyplace trendy or expected. In an embarrassing admission, we usually don't love Dim Sum. Partially b/c it typically has MSG and J is miserably impacted by MSG. However - we went to a cool made-to-order dim sum place tucked into Chinatown that was pretty awesome. We also went to this wacky sandwich place in Brooklyn (Williamsburg) and J had this sandwich of boiled eggs, pickled veggies, feta, some mayo-like sauce all on focaccia. It was unlike anything we'd ever had.

Posting from the flight home, I'll try to PIP tomorrow!

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