Bending Steel

A sorta random post not about Olive, me, boobs, or anything else mommy related I usually blab about.

A friend of mine shot and co-produced a documentary called "Bending Steel." I've attached some of their info and a video since we all know how well I explain things....

Bending Steel is a feature length documentary produced by Dave Carroll and Ryan Scafuro of Sixkiller NYC, which follows Chris Schoeck, a Queens, New York native who is training to become a professional olde-time strongman. What is an olde-time strongman you ask?  Well, in the late 1800's and early 1900's these performers wowed audiences across the country with amazing feats of strength such as breaking horseshoes with their bare hands, holding back planes from taking off with their hair (yes, seriously), and biting nails in half . Every major city had a strongman or three to entertain the masses, but their time was fleeting.  As the vaudeville era faded, so did the strongmen. Now, in 2011, there exists a small community of men who are dedicated to keeping this rare art form alive.  With help from his trainer Chris Rider, who is one of the strongest men in the world, Chris Schoeck attempts to initiate himself in to the strongman community and find his place amongst the legends.
We first met the unlikely pair in January of 2011. The two men expressed their desire to put on a historic show on New York City's famous Coney Island, where strongmen such as the Mighty Atom once performed nearly a century ago.

Here's the catch:
Schoeck has never performed in public. Ever.
We follow him as he struggles through training to surpass self imposed limitations and excel in to the unknown heights of mental and physical strength. We witness intimate moments as he battles his own fears and insecurities that he believes have held him back since childhood. He claims to have never felt the need for human interaction.  He claims to have never felt the need for social acceptance.  These become revelations that will shape his future.
Through this journey we have met some amazing and unique characters, all of which make this an endearing, humorous, and inspiring story.  This is the story of Chris Schoeck, a man attempting to find his place in the world through the unique activity of bending steel.  It is the story of the strongman community, a group of men dedicated to keeping a lost art alive.  It is the story of the search for fulfillment, which always seems just out of reach...

See they did a much better job of telling you all about it. There is a ton of info on the site here and a way to donate here. Even by liking it on your facebook you can spread the word. I know there are a billion causes out there and some are more important and life or death than others but I believe we have to support the arts and self expression just as much as the next thing. If anything watch the video, they did an amazing job and I hope they can get the funds they need.

just stuff

I was flipping through my Bon Appetit this morning and came across this recipe. I'm always drawn to things that I know I have in my kitchen and of course vegetarian so this was a pretty perfect fit for tonight. Although it didn't stray too far from our normal ish meals it was just enough different to be exciting. Next to the recipe happened to be an advertisement for cream cheese. It was kinda weird (does cream cheese really need an ad) but it was all these little pieces of bread smeared with cream cheese and covered with yummy vegetables. It looked delicious and inspired me to make some with dinner. Well minus the cream cheese(that is reserved for bagels and frosting). My bread was a Rosemary Sourdough with goat cheese. I used tomatoes and basil from my garden! Tonight Olive decided that she loved tomatoes and ate them off two slices of bread that were supposed to be for Blake. Oops! The photo is really ugly but that was dinner and it was tasty!

Cumin-Scented Quinoa and Black Rice

• 1/2 cup short-grain black rice 
• 1 cup red quinoa, rinsed well
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons 1" pieces chives
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Preparation

• Bring rice and 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until water is absorbed and rice is tender, 25–30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine quinoa, bay leaf, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return quinoa to hot saucepan. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf, fluff quinoa with a fork, and transfer to a large bowl.
• Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add to quinoa. Add rice; mix well. Stir in remaining 2 Tbsp. oil, fresh lemon juice, cilantro, parsley, and chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cut avocado into wedges. Serve salad with avocado and lemon wedges.

I wrote a big ol post then I realized it was really boring so I deleted it. I mean most of my posts are uneventful run downs of our day but this one was especially boring so I will leave you with photos of my good looking baby.

faceplant

We're having a lazy night on the couch watching a pretty good documentary on Bill Cunningham.  He's a fashion/snapshot photographer in NYC. I've been so out of the photo loop so it's cool to see stuff like this and get happy about photography. It's so weird not to really be a photographer anymore. I mean I am, I always will be but it's been a few months since I had my last job and I'm a bit sad, mostly I would like the money and the feeling of working but we'll see if something comes up. At this point I have no time whatsoever to try and get work, not with a teething little one that thinks sleep is lame. In time, in time. BUT I did get a nice little check from my stock company that I'm quite excited about so after I pay a big chunk to my credit cards I'm hoping I will have a bit leftover to get a tattoo. Just need to find the right person to do it. All my other tattoos were done in NY so I need to figure out who I want to do it in the OC. Excited to do something for me!!!

We had a pretty good day in these parts, nothing too eventful. After Olive's super short morning nap I decided we should head to the OC Zoo. It's a much smaller zoo than the Santa Ana Zoo but I thought we needed a little change in animals since we're always at the Santa Ana Zoo. Since we were there when it opened it was super quiet so we did a few laps, pet some goats, and then kicked some leaves around. On the way home Olive fell asleep for an hour, slept through lunch and totally got the day all wacky schedule wise. Since we didn't  have to be anywhere it wasn't that big of a deal except it didn't give me much of a break but I survived. We were having a good ol time playing outside, drawing with chalk and Olive had a nasty fall. Since she started walking she has fallen MANY times but never actually hurt herself till today. She was walking with chalk in her hand and she tripped and fell flat on her face. I immediately grabbed her and I didn't see any cuts so I just held her while she screamed her lungs out. After a few seconds I looked at her face and she had blood running down her nose on both sides. I almost lost my mind. Babies and blood are not cool at all. I was able to calm her down and get the bleeding to stop and besides a bit of red under her eye she is good to go. Such a champ.

My mom bought her a snowsuit. She is gearing her up for the winter in Mammoth.

And this jacket too.

 Excuse the crappy snappies. I need to go back to all the leaves with a real camera and not my iphone cause it's quite beautiful.

Red eye and Nate Burkus show in the background. Don't judge, it's good.

more squash

I think I'm Butternut squash obsessed. I bought another one today and I'm attempting lasagna with it. I found this yummy looking recipe so I'm starting the roasting part while Olive takes her nap to avoid taking up too much time at dinner due to her recent craziness during dinner making. The sun finally came out but honestly I was loving the gloomy cool weather this morning. I put a big cozy sweater on and boots and I was quite happy. We ran to the market this morning and then played the rest of the afternoon. It's been a slow but nice monday.

I'm sipping on tea hoping it will give me a little bit of energy as I didn't sleep at all last night. Olive was up on and off all night teething like crazy. She just kept crying the saddest little cry. I thought only two teeth were coming in but it looks like there may be more than that. Poor thing is so so upset. There was no way I could get teething gel in there last night so I attempted a cold washcloth which she was not happy about either. I ended up nursing her which calmed her down a lot and then she took one of those frozen teething rings which seemed to make her happy and allow for a few hours of sleep. I've been meaning to mix up some more clove oil which was really helpful with some of her first teeth. She is going to be able to eat anything after all these teeth come in, she almost has a mouthful already.

Here are some photos from the weekend. It was pretty quiet around here and we didn't do much. Saturday was spent running errands and going to our favorite coffee place. Sunday we went down to the beach so Blake could surf with some friends visiting from New York. It was freezing and totally felt like the start of fall/ We came home and went on a walk around the hood and watched a movie. Hoping the week is busy with fun stuff and I don't have another super emo rant.

Showing her you can like Avail and Barry.

Pulled pork grilled cheese. Yes this was my breakfast and no I do not feel guilty.

Happiness is in this cup.

Peanut Butter cookies with kisses.

I like you

An award for me!!?! Ok well kinda. I always love fun comments and especially "meeting" new mom bloggers out there so it was pretty exciting when I saw a comment from Sam of Simply Sam.
Apparently there is a little blog award going around called the Liebster award and she gave it to me!! How cool is that? It's a sweet way to spread some love to the smaller mama blogs out there. It's amazing how many mama bloggers there are. If you're down with the MBS (Mom Blog Scene- totally just made that up) then you know all the big names out there that we all follow but there are also a ton of smaller blogs that are just as cool so it's always fun to recognize the smaller ones too. Not that I have anything spectacular to say but it's always fun to know there is someone out there I've never "met" that thinks I'm cool or can relate to me or just some connection. It makes the world pretty neato. So anyways I copied these from Sam but here are the rules.........

To keep this award going and pass it along to other new deserving blogs, the recipient must now recognize five other bloggers with less than 200 followers that have really stood out in the crowd.

The rules for the Liebster Award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too!

And my special award winners are.....

(Oh and I apologize if you have more than 200 followers but either way I like you guys)

The Mama Monster

 Kellee is the only mom blogger that I know in real life. We met when we were 18 through mutual friends and recently through facebook and all those other fun social networks were able to reconnect. It's been fun to see all the cute photos of her family and watch her kids grow up. Her kids are ridiculously adorable! She has a huge passion for animals and the warmest heart ever. Her blog is a mix of family, randomness, and cute boys. Her and her hubby are covered in the most beautiful tattoos ever and they are really the cutest little family you've ever seen.

Life of a Mombie

This blog was a recent discovery and probably one of my favorite reads. Another tattooed mama with 3 kids living in the suburbs. She is so incredibly honest and sincere which I absolutely love. I love all her crafts that she makes for the kids and the passion that she has for being a mom is really inspiring. She puts everything out there and when you read her blog it's like you're reading a friends blog. When you see how cute her kids are you will melt, for reals.

Fourth st Payphone

Caitlin is an (almost) first time mom. With weeks left in her pregnancy she has been blogging about getting life ready for a baby, lots of fun food posts, and her adventures as a nanny.  Her and her man seem like the most down to earth cool people ever and if they lived closer I think we'd be great buddies. It's been fun to watch her adorable bump grow and see all the cute outfits she puts together while pregnant. Love her!

DIY Cupcake

Jennifer always has the most cool posts about anything from gardening to crafting to anything really natural healthy living and I'm always inspired after I leave her blog. She is super informative and really knows her stuff. I LOVE her passion for natural birth and all her involvement in the natural birthing community. She is honest and passionate and I look forward to reading her posts.

Confessions of A City Eater

Stephanie's blog was one of the first blogs I came across when I started getting into blogging and I was hooked. She has a little girl with another little one the way. She is super honest and puts everything out there. There have been a ton of posts where I just sit there and think that we could be twins cause we are going through the same exact feelings. She posts AMAZING recipes and is super passionate about baking which I love. 

Thanks for being awesome mom bloggers!

toofusssssssMO

Last night was a rough one. Poor Olive is teething like crazy. She has another molar on top coming in and another bottom tooth(not sure which one but perhaps a molar). That makes it her 10th and 11th tooth! Usually I can catch the signs during the day to kinda anticipate the night but she has hasn't been all drooly or anything lately so it was quite a shock when I felt around last night at 2:30 and felt a tooth. Sneaky little guy coming in. I'm always dipping her upside down to check her teeth but somehow I didn't see these. Maybe they poked out last night?? I dunno either way its so sad. She usually lets me poke around in there but last night she was really not letting me put my fingers near her mouth. I manged to put a little teething gel somewhere in there and then all she wanted to do was be held and snuggle so that is what we did. She woke up at her usual 5:30 happy as can be and has been napping like a champ this morning so hopefully last night was the worst of it.

I'm feeling better from my rant last night and trying to just enjoy the day with my family and relax a bit. Going to try and get a massage later and have some me time and hopefully get back to normal.

Morning walk.

Destroy.

Vans Skate Park. We spotted Cara Beth Burnside, Olive first pro skater sighting. Score!

Olive brought me this. Ooops.

Orange Seitan and Cous Cous.

Playing Peek-a-Boo in the cutest outfit ever.

She figured out how to climb on the table.

Sierra is not thrilled that she is trying to crawl up on the couch.

First punk rock jacket.