Today, I hit a new parenting milestone.

I took Louisa into a store.

Well, I’m not sure the dog groomer counts as a store, but it is an establishment, of sorts.

I’ve been putting this chore off because I couldn’t grasp how I was going to get Louisa & Topanga into the groomer in one swoop. The picture in my mind just seemed too chaotic for me to handle. But Topanga looked mangy & probably had critters living in her fur, so I had to buck up & do it. Well, it was just as chaotic as I imagined. Topanga was in rare form getting to go on a car ride for the first time in a while so she was just a nut job. Lou was basically a perfect angel, but despite having the lightest car seat you can buy, it’s somehow still the clumsiest thing I have ever tried to walk with. We get inside and it’s been so long since I’ve talked to store employees, I really didn’t know how to act. I think I just stood there until someone was like umm we can take the dog for you…. Then I was like oh yes umm ok do I pay now?!?! And they were like ma’am, you pay when you come get her. Then I still just kind of stood around for a few seconds too long. When I finally realized my job there was done, I started to walk away & then yelled back goodbye to Topanga???? It was obscene.

Lou wants a new mom.

Time: 30 minutes (prep + cooking) | Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cous cous, uncooked
• 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed + drained
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 red honey crisp apple, chopped
• 1 cup of arugula, packed
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Handful of basil, chiffonaded
• 2 tbsp. of olive oil
• S+P, to taste

How to:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Spread chickpeas on a lined baking sheet + drizzle with 1 tbsp. of olive oil + S+P, roast for 10 minutes
• Add onion + some more S+P, bake for another 10-15 minutes, tossing once
• Meanwhile, cook cous cous according to package directions
• In a bowl, combine cous cous + chickpeas + onions +apple + arugula + basil + drizzle with lemon juice + remaining olive oil + S+P
• Serve warm or chilled
• Just eat the whole thing in one sitting why don’t you