"Uno-Brow"

My mom has always told me that there is never a dull moment when I’m around.

So yesterday I went to get my eyebrows waxed. I go about every other month to have that done. This time my sister is in town so she decided to come along and get hers done too…

I went first. Actually I almost didn’t go. I said “I think I’ll just cancel” and my sister offered to pay for me so I agreed to go.

I climbed up on that table first, which is kind of difficult when the table is so high up and my legs are so darn short. I lied down and relaxed. Tanya* (*names have been changed to protect those involved. Tanya is the first name I thought of just now for some reason…) asked me what I’d like to do to my eyebrows. “Just clean them up a bit. I don’t want to take too much off.”  I said. Famous last words…

She worked on my right eyebrow first. She finished that up in about 3 or 4 minutes. Tanya moved on to my left eyebrow and plucked a little. She then applied the wax, put on that little cloth strip and ripped if off. I was looking right up at her face and her eyes suddenly got really wide. She covered her mouth with her hands and let out a little gasp!

“What? What’s wrong? Did you take too much off?” I said innocently, not really worrying. I figured she had just made them a little thinner than I had wanted.

“OH MY GOD, I’m so SORRY!”

“What? What Happened?”

“I um, I took off your entire eyebrow. I’m so sorry!” Tanya turned around and moved behind the table by my head where I couldn’t see her.

“What? Really?” I looked over at my sister whose eyes were also very wide…

This is when Tanya got the mirror. She took a deep breath before she turned it around to show me what she had done and I could see her face was red and her eyes shining with tears. She turned the mirror around and OMIGOD she really did take off my whole eyebrow! I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard and Tanya burst into tears. I had to assure her I was not laughing at her, but just the whole situation and the fact that I looked pretty darn ridiculous. I kept telling her not to worry, it’s not a big deal because I have bangs. She said that it WAS a big deal. In her 8 years as an esthetician she said this had never happened to her. Judging by her reaction I’d say she was telling the truth. My sister and I were laughing so hard. Tanya drew my eyebrow back on for me. I tried not to laugh too much while she did that, but that task proved virtually impossible. She also gave me this little bottle of stuff for free called Revitabrow. It cost over $100 and is supposed to regenerate eyebrow growth or something. Tanya asked my sister “Do you still want to get your eyebrows done?” My sister blurted out “No thank you!”. I again, through my laughter, reassured her its ok, and not to worry.

We left the building quickly and bust out the door. As soon as the door closed behind us we burst out laughing even harder than before. I laughed so hard on the way home there were tears streaming down my face and I could barely see the road in front of me. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard.

Ilyssa said she couldn’t believe how well I handled that. She said she would have cried, as did everyone else I’ve told this story to. Some said they wouldn’t have been as nice. Sure I only have one eyebrow now, but this was a very unlikely situation. I will not tell you the name of the place that did it. They are very good at what they do and I would never want to take away any potential business from them because of one little mistake. And yes, I will go back there. It might be a while though since I’ll have to grow my left eyebrow back first.

Almost 24 hours later and I’m still laughing.

And that is how I lost my left eyebrow (Or as Andy likes to call it, my “Uno-Brow”) and became a horribly disfigured freak.  


It is "Uno-Brow" (pronounced Uno like the game or the Italian number one), meaning "one-brow" not Uni-brow which sounds more like two eyebrows have "united" to create one big brow. "Uno-Brow". Lets get it added to the dictionary!

Below: Chalk Drawing At Tasti D Lite

I. Have. No. PATIENCE.

I am so excited for this weekend I can’t take this day any more. I. Just. Can’t. TAKE IT.

My sister is flying in and will be visiting for the week and we will be spending this first weekend in St. Louis. We have a lot planned. The zoo, eating a wedding cake, STL Pride Fest, A surprise dinner, surprise after dinner entertainment (the surprises are for Lilly and Andy), then Pride parade on Sunday, looking at the STL Arch from a park, followed by an afternoon/evening at Six Flags St. Louis! It’s going to be so much fun and we are going to be exhausted come Sunday night.

The weather is INCREDIBLE today. Let’s hope it lasts through the weekend.

This day is just dragging… and it’s only halfway over. And I’m hungry. Spend my lunch writing a blog post, or eat? Hmmm… How about both? Time for the second part. I’ll post pics of the glorious weekend after it ends. 

Below: This is my "I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS DAY TO END" face

Number 25: Make Pop Rocks Cupcakes

Pop rocks cupcakes are something I’ve wanted to try for a while. I love pop rocks! But I knew that I had to do some research in order to make them work…

I do not know what makes pop rocks tick. I mean, I don’t know what makes them explode in your mouth. Do they explode in heat, on impact or is it moisture? Through my intensive and extensive research I learned it is the moisture that makes pop rocks pop. Of course cupcake batter happens to be very moist, so I can’t just dump a bunch of pop rocks packets into the bowl and call it a day.

Through my research I discovered that if you coat the pop rocks in fat, it preserves the pop until you put those little suckers in you mouth. 

Fat? Ew! Like lard? No. Like butter or peanut butter or one of several interesting combinations I stumbled upon on the interwebs. 

Through my research I also learned a few other interesting things. For instance, pop rocks are gluten free, they are not Kosher, and they were first patented in 1956.


I decided that the cupcakes should also be rainbow, another thing I've always wanted to try and something that looked fairly easy to accomplish. All you do is mix the cupcake batter as directed and then separate into bowls. You add different color food coloring to each bowl and then pour each color into the cake pan (or cupcake pan) one at a time. You can even swirl them together if you want. The batter is thick enough that they don't all run together. 


For the Pop Rocks part, Andy went out and bought me 39 packets of Pop Rocks. I decided to use a recipe I found for the Pop Rocks filling using cashew butter. Since I'd never heard of cashew butter before and the store didn't seem to have it, I ended up with regular peanut butter.


Turns out, the peanut butter worked! I brought the cupcakes over to the Columbia Entertainment Company Theatre before one of their performances of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and allowed the cast and crew to be my unsuspecting taste testers. I had to warn them of the peanut butter in case of any allergies (turns out there was someone allergic to peanuts).


As far as I know they really liked them! They may  have just been nice because I was standing right there. Who knows? The tasters did admit to having an explosion in their mouths upon reaching the creamy center, so the Poping Pop Rocks part was successful! I did what I set out to do and my scientific research was not in vain.  I also brought them Oreo Pops that looked like bumble bees. I got that idea from Bakerella. Bakerella's turned out much nicer than mine, but c'mon, she is Bakerella! 


I did not taste one of my Pop Rocks cakes. I think I'm a little scared. I promise I will today as soon as I get home. Now here are some photos!

Above: 39 packets of Pop Rocks!

Below: Making the cupcakes rainbow...

Above: Rainbow cupcake before peanut butter and chocolate Pop Rocks Filling is added

Below: Rainbow Pop Rocks Cupcakes all iced, garnished and ready to go!

Above: Bee Oreo Pops

Below: Oreo Balls with the left over stuff from Bee pops

Below: Dirt and Worm cups I made yesterday for Father's Day (Just wanted to add this in there. Be impressed.)

So if you're interested in seeing the amazing play The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, please click HERE for more info. This week (June 23rd through 26th) are their last performances and you don't want to miss out! The cast is FABULOUS and so talented and the show is HILARIOUS! Check it out!

Number 24: Tie Dye Some Stuff

Tie dye was on my list because it just looked like something neat I could do. Yup tie dye is neat. Actually, no, tie dye is very messy. It is three days later and my hands are still purple. Despite all the messiness, tie dye was really fun. Andy tie dyed with me which made it even more fun. We had to wait for the baby to go down for her nap because permanent dye and a toddler probably wouldn’t be the best idea and I didn’t want to try it and find out.

We began mid-morning on Saturday. The weather had cooled down from the previous week’s unbearable heat. It was quiet and calm outside and it made tie dying soooo relaxing!

So in case you are keeping track: Tie Dying= Relaxing. Yoga=I want to kill someone.

We mixed up about 8 colors. I had bought a couple of things to tie dye and we also ransacked our dresser drawers and closet looking for anything white we could add a little (I mean a lot) of color to. We don’t own a lot of white. We prefer black or dark colors. They are slimming. Tie dye is not slimming, but oh so fun!

Andy did an amazing job of tying up the shirts so it would create these really cool patterns. I just wrapped the heck out of my shirts hoping for the best…

The only thing that was a little frustrating for two people with ADHD who need instant gratification, is that you have to keep the shirts wrapped up for 6-8 hours before you can see the results. So Andy and I both went to try and fit in a nap before the baby woke up to pass some time. Then luckily, since my parents were visiting, we went out to lunch and did some shopping. By the time we got home we could see how our shirts turned out!

I learned a valuable lesson: Wear gloves when looking at the shirts you tie dyed 6 to 8 hours earlier. Or you hands will be purple FOR DAYS. Also, you can’t just open up the shirts and leave them to dry. You next have to rinse out all the extra die and wash them 1-3 times separately in the washing machine. OY, I didn’t realize this was such a complicated process. Good thing it was fun!

I would tie dye again. I definitely would. I would have lots of extra gloves on hand though. Hahaha… gloves on-hand…. Ok, sorry.

Above: Clothing prepared for Tie Dying

Below: Tie Dye Materials

Above: And now we play the waiting game...

Below: Shirt #1 Unwrapped...

Above: Shirt #2

Below: Shirt #3 (I am very proud of this one!)

Above: Andy's amazing Como Derby Dames shirt! He did an awesome job!

Below: The tub after we rinsed the shirts. This is why you might not want to try this at home... It is all cleaned up now though, incase you were wondering.

Below: My purple dyed hands...

Above & Below: The little one sporting her new tie dyed top!

Goal Number 1: Take A Yoga Class At The Gym= FAIL

Yesterday afternoon I accomplished another one of my goals. It was a total failure.

Andy took me to a yoga class at the gym. I was super excited to go. I thought it would be fun because I usually like the classes at the gym. My mom, Andy and I arrived at Wilson’s Fitness about 20 minutes before the class. The classroom looks amazing for yoga. It has floor to ceiling windows that make up one whole wall and look out over a beautiful wooded area.  We got our mats and arranged them at one side of the room. I did a few stretches first with my mom.

At first yoga seemed nice. The exact turning point was when she had us do downward dog pose. You are on all fours but your legs are extended with your butt up in the air.  My wrists began to hurt a lot. The instructor (or teacher…yoga master?) said that your hands and feet should equally be supporting your weight. Well that wasn’t happening. I kept trying to redistribute my weight more evenly but exactly how to go about doing that is still something I’d like to know. Really, I’d like to know.  It got harder and harder and the combination of my very short limbs and torso with my enormous size triple D chest (yes, yes, I know. Leave me alone) did not help. I couldn’t stretch my arms out and touch the ground without my boobs getting in the way. I didn’t even care all that much that I couldn't do the poses but, I was beginning to get stressed and angry and why that was, I am not even sure.

I have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and I’ve always been told that yoga is great for those with ADHD which is sort of why I wanted to try it in the first place. It is supposed to help you learn how to train your brain to concentrate longer and harder (something that can prove nearly impossible for people with ADHD). Getting angry and frustrated did not help me concentrate. Wait no, it did. I concentrated on the clock and watched the minutes tick by very slowly. I usually have a rule for myself when I take classes at the gym, which is that I cannot look at the clock. This time I couldn’t help it.

The instructor kept saying “If you’d like to take a journey, try it this way…” and “Listen to your body”. I was listening to my body and it was saying “GAHHHH! SARA, WHAT THE EFF?!?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? GET UP! LEAVE! GO!” So I was trying NOT to listen to my body. By this point only 15 minutes had gone by and my new goal had become making it through this stupid class.

I kept going. Sometimes doing my own variation of the poses the instructor showed us. I could feel myself getting angrier and angrier and feeling more and more stressed. I envisioned myself screaming a slew of horrible things at the teacher and punching her in her stupid face. I guess that was my journey. A lot of imaginary screaming and punching and little bit of imaginary kicking. I think at some point I even imaginary hit her over the head with an imaginary crow bar.

I am not usually by any means an angry person. I am rarely angry and when I am, “Angry Sara” doesn’t look all too different from “Happy Sara”, except in yoga apparently.

I did make it to the end of the class. But not before promising myself I would never ever put myself through that again. And then Andy said to me that he really enjoyed himself and that he would love to come back to yoga. This is the first class at the gym we have ever taken together that he enjoyed so I said “Well, I’ll come back and do it with you”. What? Really Sara?  You’re going to put yourself through that unbearable torture AGAIN!?

Yes. Yes I will. Maybe I will get good at it. Maybe I will merely learn to tolerate it. But I guess I at least have to give it more than just one try. 

If you have any advice on yoga, I'd LOVE to hear it! Comment here or on Facebook. Please! I need all the help I can get!

Above: Stretching Before Class

Below: Kvetching After Class

The Bee, My Awesome Hubby, & Upcoming Goals

Oooh I am in such a bloggy mood right now. Let me tell you a little bit about why my husband is super awesome…

So ya know that play I auditioned for, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, as one of my goals?  Well, Andy and I have been helping out. I am the Props Mistress (I love that title) and Andy is doing video. We also both acted as volunteer audience spellers for the dress rehearsals. It was SO much fun! I was an audience volunteer for both nights of dress rehearsal. The first night I got the word “Jihad” as my first word to spell. Although I can’t recall seeing the word spelled out on paper and had an intense internal struggle over whether is began with a “G” or a “J”, I spelled it correctly. I got out on the next word which was Gnocchi. I actually know how to spell that one, but had never heard it pronounced so I was confused. The definition confused me as well as apparently it’s actually an Italian dish made with potato, but I have all these years confused it with ganache and thought that it was a desert. So I idiotically spelled it “Nyioki”.

Anyway, when you get out, the whole cast sings this good bye song to you, the character of William Barfee (pronounced Bar-fay) literally kicks you off stage and Mitch, the comfort counselor, hands you a juice box. On the second night I got out on my first word. I spelled it horrendously incorrectly and cannot even remember what it was, as it was a word I’ve never heard before. As I made my way off stage Mitch handed me a little purple pouch and said “Here, Instead of juice box”. For a moment I thought it was a little pouch of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans (the jelly beans made famous from the Harry Potter books). But then I read the words written in gold and it said “Disney Couture”. Andy had gotten me this gorgeous Snow White themed necklace I have been dying for! Snow White is my favorite Disney movie. She is also my favorite princess and the first movie I ever saw back in 1987 at the age of 3 when they brought it back into theaters for it’s 50^th anniversary. It was such an amazing surprise!

Next, since neither of us had eaten Andy took me out for a late dinner and then to see Bridesmaids, which makes him a very good husband indeed. After that he took me to the store and had me pick out a tie dye kit so I can accomplish goal number twenty-four: Tye Dye Some Stuff. He also told me we will be taking a Yoga class this afternoon so I will also accomplish goal number one: Take A Yoga Class At The Gym. I will tell you how it goes since I know you are just dying to know.

If you live in the Columbia, Missouri area and are interested in seeing the 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, click here for more info on dates and times. It’s a fabulous show! Very funny. The cast is incredible! It opens tomorrow night (Thursday, June 9^th) and I’ll be in the audience with my whole family!

Above: Andy (#14) on stage as an audience volunteer during The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Below: My new Disney Couture Snow White Necklace. For info on the necklace click here.

We have been together six years this month! 

Even more plates

I went with my husband to paint some more plates at Hands On Ceramics last weekend. I decided to paint the plates of my mother-in-law and my father-in-law. Andy decided that since I was painting plates with the families’ faces on them that he should paint the plate with my face on it. I thought that sounded like a good idea. The plate is very different from the other ones, which makes it really interesting. I love how Andy’s art is so cool and very stylized. As I mentioned in my earlier post about painting these family plate portraits, getting a likeness is not easy. I had to keep asking the opinions of Andy and my sister-in-law, Lia, to tell me if the portraits even remotely resembled my mother and father-in-law and I had to keep changing things. Here is how our plates turned out…

Above: Andy’s first try at drawing me. He thinks it looks like our friend, Joel Shettlesworth, had a baby with Rosa Parks. Apparently I have lips the size of Kentucky. 

Below: Joel Shettlesworth and Rosa parks

Below: Andy’s finished plate portrait of me. He wanted to make sure everyone who eats at our house knows I am Jewish. Andy, I love you.

Above: My mother-in-law

Below: My father-in-law