Aunty Shelly

Big News Bears presents:

A BABY ON THE WAY!

Don't panic, it's not mine (the world is still safe from my demon spawn).

I am soon to be an Aunt. Aunty Shelly, I will be. My big sister Lisa is with child and is due in early fall. We are ecstatic. I have taken up singing baby songs like Row Row Row Your Boat and even eating baby food in preparation. Mashed peas and carrots?MMM yes please. OK OK, I'm lying. I don't sing Row your boat, that song is only good in harmony.

Now, I've never been an aunt before, but I think that matters not. I have been (and still am) a niece to many Aunts (and Uncles, of course). I know all about being a niece. I especially know what nieces look for in Aunts!

I am fairly confident that I will be able to slide seamlessly into the role of an Aunt.. With a little practice I think I will inherit the title of Best Aunt Ever. She is going to love me so hard! Ok Ok, I don't know for sure that La Bebe will be a girl, and if she is a he, that is fine with me. It will be refreshing to have a boy around who adores me and perhaps even drools over me (although ON me might be a more apt description).

Here's what I know about Aunts: I know that Aunts should be fun. They should be a mix between an older sister, a second mom and a best friend. Old and wise, but still young and fun. They kidnap their niece for a day of fun and adventure and bring her back late at night, tired and sticky and sad to be leaving the company of their favourite person ever. They buy the best Christmas and Birthday presents. Aunts babysit, without qualms or questions, when Moms need time off Mom duty.

Aunty Shelly. Sounds right, doesn't it? I can't wait to take La Bebe to the park and the zoo and teach her how to count and how to bat her eyelashes for maximum effect. I will buy her adorable outfits and hopefully coax her first word out of her. She will be my little sidekick and I won't even mind if she crys a lot, becasue I listen to my music so loud.

I will, however, pass her to her other aunts when it's time for a diaper change. La Bebe will be the luckiest girl around as she will have lots of "Aunts", the kind who aren't quite related by blood, but love you super hard regardless. They are your mom's friends and you get to spend a lot of time with them, because they don't have kids of their own yet.

 I'd like to take this line to say Thanks and Love you to all my real and fake aunts who made and make my life so wonderful. Sappy, but it was just one line, so get over it.

Baby Countdown: 20.5 Weeks



I one day aspire to be half as good an aunt as Aunt Jemima is a syrup.



The Un-Official Foodie Handbook

Before I had officially decided that I wanted to be a Foodie, I was just a girl who obsessed about food. New ingredients, new recipes, new restaurants; Low fat, low calorie, high protein, high fibre; What to try, what to buy, what to bake; Where to go and what to order... A thousand seemingly insignificant food related details. It's just food afterall, right? Wrong. Now that I'm Shelly the Foodie I have legitimate platform to obsess about foodstuff.

As per Wikipedia:

Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. The word was coined in 1981 by Paul Levy and Ann Barr, who used it in the title of their 1984 book The Official Foodie Handbook.

Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news. Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.

I think my lack of refined taste will suit me well as a foodie. Come along with me on my journey [insert beckoning arm gesture here].

Pick a country, any country... Ethopia? okay sure. I'll tell you about the time (Last Saturday) when we went for Ethiopian food. For some of you that may not know, Ethiopia is a country on the East coast of Africa with a population of around 80 million people and boasts to being one of the oldest sites of human existence known to scientists today. WOW!

Rumor had it that Alanna and her cohorts Leslie and Vicky were heading down to commericial drive to cross Ethiopian Food off their Bucket List. When my plans fell through that night I called and begged Nikita to bring me along. Nothing gets my juices flowing like Ethiopian food. Please note that was said straight-faced sarcastically. On the way downtown Nikita mentions that she has something to tell me. Now I can't remember exactly how she said this, but it was in such a way that frightened me. Basically, Bad News Bears.

"You have to eat with your hands at this restaurant, there isn't any cuttlery," Nikita mumbles.

"WHAT?! Have you seen how long my nails are?" I gasp in horror.

After a minute or two of sulking i get over it. Shortly after we arrive at the restaurant, which is called Addis. The pronunciation is unverified. We threw it around a bit and came up with "ah-dee".

The three musketeers have already arrived and a minute later the waiter brings us some menus. On the menu there are a variety of chicken, beef, lamb and vegeterian dishes with minimal descriptions. We ask the waiter what his recommendations are and he isn't very helpful. A gentleman who has just finished his meal and is leaving the restaurant comes over and apologizes for eavesdropping then tells us he had the vegetarian and the chicken dish and that it was more than enough for him and his dining companion. We take his recommendation and add a beef dish as well to round out the meal.

The food comes. It is on a large round plate topped with, what seems to be, a pancake. This pancakey adornment has also been rolled up and served on a side dish for us to use as our utensils (remember? no cutlery!). The beef and chicken are nicely cooked and seasoned. The assortment of vegetables are decent as well. This is definitely a meal that is best had with good friends or family as there is a lot of grabbing and reaching and mess. After the meal is over and our parking has almost expired we go up to the till to pay. $35 dollars for the five of us. I convince Nikita to buy a box of chocolate covered almonds for a good cause (the cause being my grumbling tummy).

Annonymous quote:

I had no idea they had Ethiopian food judging by the photos I have seen in National Geographic.