STLWorkingMom

I’ve been thinking a lot about pie. Why? Five things happened:

1. When it was on, I watched and adored the show Pushing Daisies. (Returning this fall, btw–joy!) The main character, referred to as “the pie man” makes pies at a restaurant called “The Pie Hole” as in “Shut yer . . .”

2. I saw the movie Waitress. Tell me you can watch that movie and not want pie. Go ahead. LIAR!

3. I read the book Julie and Julia; My Year of Cooking Dangerously. Hilarious and possibly life-altering.

4. I was talking with friends, one of whom admitted to an obsession with gardening. I don’t garden, but I knew what she meant when I confessed, “I’m obsessed with baking.” She understood and said it was the same kind of thing; a tactile activity with a tangible result. Since we work in the same field, on weekends and weeknights we crave the tangible. 

5. I bought, after coveting it on the shelf, the book Pie. It was $40 on the shelf, so I left it at the bookstore after reading several pages, then caved to the crave this week, buying it for much less on Amazon (with free shipping!).  

When I told the boy I bought a book about pie, he wanted to know if it was just pages and pages of the number. LIKE I’D EVER WANT A BOOK ABOUT PI.

I sat and read MUCH of it last night and am about to embark on a mission to become a master pie baker. And yes, I will likely blog the journey. There are sure to be some disasters as I blunder my way through 300 pages of pie recipes.

Another small thing happened while I was having my pie epiphany. Andrew Hersey blogged about a lemon pie that was the best food he’d ever put in his mouth. I had to know more, and Andrew was kind enough to tell me; not meringue, more of a cream. I will endeavor on my pie journey to reproduce this pie. Andrew will have to be an honorary tester.

AND YES, if I can find it, I WILL BAKE A CRUST WITH LARD. (Don’t suppose I can buy this at Rebecca’s or Whole Foods, eh?)

Neighbors and friends be warned: there’s a pie in your near future.

The girl, age 11.

This could be a picture of me at her age, nose stuck in a book.

I’m so glad she’s a reader, like both her parents.

Better still, is the book she’s reading, a favorite of ours. It’s such a thrill to share beloved books with our kids, and have them appreciate them, too.

We spent part of the afternoon in a coffeeshop, she with her hot chocolate, me with a mocha, pleasantly reading, quietly passing the time together, doing what we love to do best.

I have come to a crossroads with my hair. If I continue down one path, there are two diverging roads. On one, I can spend at least $100 a month at a salon where my color will be efficiently and beautifully managed. I’ll never show a bit of gray hair although roots will show and I must be on top of the maintenance schedule. This option is not that appealing to  me. That’s a lot of money over a year’s time. Also, I hate scheduling appointments and spending that kind of time in a salon.

The second road down this path is, of course to color my hair myself. This is much less expensive. I, however, am far from a professional colorist. When I’ve done my hair myself I miss whole sections or the color comes out not exactly the shade I’d hoped. I’ve ranged from chocolate to auburn to a punky maroon. It’s really tough to match plain old brown and not have it look fake or overdyed. Colored hair, particularly for brunettes, looks so obvious to me.

Aside from the reluctance to maintain hair color, either on my own or with professional help, I wonder about the effect of coloring one’s hair. Is it really good for me to have all those chemicals on my head? What about the environment? Is it “green” to color one’s hair? Probably not.

My husband is very anti-hair color. He would actually prefer it if I just let it go. He’s graying at a rate slightly faster than I am, and it looks good on him — of course. Gray hair always looks good on men. I said that I think when people see a (younger) woman with gray hair they think she doesn’t take enough of an interest in her appearance. But I’m not sure that’s true. In the last few weeks I’ve noticed plenty of my friends my age or thereabouts who aren’t coloring their hair. It looks fine — good, even. Normal.

I mean, as a friend from grade school recently pointed out, we’re almost forty. Who are we kidding, here?

So I’m seriously considering it. So much in fact it’s been months since I’ve covered my gray. I don’t have much — just a string of holiday lights along my part and a few at my temples. In the right light, it looks silvery, and I’m hoping, in the sun, like highlights. Maybe I’ll be lucky and have that lovely silvery hair that some older women have, rather than dull, colorless locks.

My guess is it will take ten years or more before I’m completely gray. Maybe even closer to 20. Although, in the next ten years the girl will go through all of what teenagerhood holds. She may well turn my hair white overnight.

Are you going gray? Where do you stand on the hair coloring issue? I used to think I’d color till I was dead, never for a minute revealing my true color. Now though, I think I’ll just let it go, and see what happens. If I start being mistaken for a much older woman, then I can always start coloring again.

I really do not like shorts. I think they look terrible on just about everyone.

I don’t even find capris, while comfortable, terribly flattering to all but the thinnest, longest-legged women.

I like skorts. They’re more flattering than shorts and are good for the hottest of days.

I like skirts, in fact I wear them a lot in the summer.

A dress though, is what you want for those hottest days. My search for the perfect sundress is never ending.

This is cute, and in a nice summery color. (From Victoria’s Secret for $29). I’m not, as you know, sixteen-years-old, so I doubt I can pull it off.

If you’re sixteen, though, you should consider it. The price is right.

This is not bad, from Newport News for $59 on sale. This model reminds me of the woman with the gorgeous hair on CSI Miami.

I will never have that hair. How does she keep it from frizzing in the Miami heat? These things really distract from the plot.

 I like a nice halter dress.

I’m into brown this year, too and have shoes that would look nice with this.

But, at $250 from Neiman Marcus, I think I’m going to have to pass.

As a side note, remember that famous pinup of Farrah Faucet? The one where she’s wearing the orange swimsuit? I saw that in a magazine today and you know what was refreshing to notice? She’s not frighteningly thin. And she’s not surgically enhanced. She looks pretty but normal. Wouldn’t it be nice if more models looked like Farrah used to? I’m just sayin’.

Of course, I don’t think we need to go back to the big frosted hair. I’m OK if that doesn’t come back in style.

I think I need an intervention. I’m completely drawn to two patterns when I shop: polka dots and paisley. I have owned, or currently own, plenty of polka dots. I’ve managed to steer clear of the paisley, but there’s a swimsuit I’ve been eyeing that’s aswirl with pink, orange, green and blue paisley. Somebody stop me.

This is lovely, though, and comes in brown, too. It’s $168 at J. Crew. I could do without the rosette thing. That would have to come off.

What do you think? Too bridesmaid?

As I said, the search for the summer dress never ends.

Today is a big day. It is not only the day of Foxfield and the Dogwood Parade, but tonight is PROM! No, I’m not going, the boy is. Somehow, the boy negotiated only $2.50 to pay the girl to wash his car. I enjoyed the negotiation, particularly now that I know I can get away with paying her $2.50 to do mine.

(Large thunderclap interrupts this post. Oh no! I hope the rain either holds off or passes so we can take prom pictures in our blooming front yard.)

The girl has been a good helper today. We got her hair trimmed first thing this morning and watched a woman getting her hair done for her wedding. We then grocery shopped, and baked a banana cake together. We are stocked up on bananas, not because we are cool and belong to a CSA and got a huge load of bananas this week. No. We were just poor planners and bought some at the store and then a 3lb. bunch at Sam’s. We’ll frost it with chocolate butter frosting when it cools.

Tonight, while the prom goes down at the JPJ, we’ll grill some steaks and corn on the cob, relax and maybe watch a movie.

The weather (except for the ominous thunderclap) is beautiful. Darn near perfect. Mark’s been doing all kinds of outdoor work, putting in paving stones, planting grass seed and an herb garden. I’m taking a break and will, in a moment, do piles and piles of laundry. I will never get over my love for weekends.

It’s a good day.