Feb 08

Leila Shea Law, LLC

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You probably know it already, but I’m a lawyer. Normally I wouldn’t bore you with the details (it’s not YOUR job to deal with them after all), but I’ve noticed an awful lot of people end up here when they search for “Leila Shea Law, LLC.” If you’re one of those people, welcome! You are on my personal website. My law firm’s site is at www.leilashealaw.com.  (For some reason, my blog ranks higher up in a google search than my business website.  I’m working on that.)

If you’re here visiting, let me introduce myself.* My name’s Leila Shea Christensen and I’m the owner of Leila Shea Law, LLC. I practice exclusively in family law, and I’m licensed in both Missouri and Kansas.  (I’m licensed in Nevada too, but I do all my work out here in the Midwest.) I grew up in Utah, went to Brigham Young University (for both undergrad and law school), worked in Vegas, and then moved out near Kansas City. And no, I did not get a serious case of wanderlust in order to move here – my parents and six (of seven!) siblings up and moved on me, and I finally followed them. (We’re working on getting my last sister out here, don’t worry.) Oh – and I am the oldest. My brothers and sisters will tell you that I never let them forget it. Now that I live here, I can’t imagine living anywhere else.  Kansas City’s a gorgeous place and I love it. I especially love it when it’s warm – this whole freezing thing is not really me.

I’m crazy about great food, working out, salsa dancing, speaking Spanish, and making cupcakes. Reading’s one of my favorite things, and I’m always in the middle of a book. I love all sorts of music, think art museums rock, and enjoy going to movies.

My law firm’s located just a block from the Family Courthouse in Kansas City at 2526 Holmes, Kansas City, Missouri 64141. Reach me at 816-471-1000 anytime.

*The “official version” of my bio can be found at www.leilashealaw.com. You’re getting the informal version if you stick around.

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Feb 06

Then I Don’t Want to Be Beautiful!

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At the Christensen household, we’re not big believers in unibrows on women. Unfortunately for us, it seems unavoidable. So we wax. More appropriately, we “sugar.” My youngest sisters have now joined the club. (They enter when they want to; no one should make a little girl sugar!)

This morning, we were doing the deed – Cassie had asked me to take care of her unibrow at the same time I was annihilating mine – and I told her that “Sometimes it hurts to be beautiful.” Almost instantly she responded, “Then I don’t want to be beautiful!” Fortunately for her, she’s beautiful both ways. Unfortunately for her, at the same time she was yelling, I took her unibrow right off.* Distraction is everything. Besides, sugaring doesn’t hurt nearly as much as waxing. Don’t ask me why – I have no idea.

*Before you think I am into inflicting cruel and unusual punishment, Cassie’s been sugared before. She totally knew what she was getting into.

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Jan 30

Just Wait ‘Til We’re Out With Someone We Actually Want to Kiss

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Normally I don’t blog about my dates. I consider it bad form. You see, my family has to deal with the fact that I blog about my life. (Yes Dad, I’m still going to blog about our family, much to your chagrin.) I don’t think dates sign up for that kind of intrusion.  So great dates, bad dates, bleh dates, good dates, mediocre dates, horrid dates, fantastic dates… I leave them all alone when I’m blogging. Even if I could tell some great stories. ;)

This week I am making an exception. I went on a date that I have to blog about. And I went with not one, but TWO handsome guys. We didn’t do anything expensive. We didn’t drive very far. But man, we had a great time.

These are the gentlemen:

Flattering pictures of both, I know. You recognize them now, don’t you? Logan and Reece. AKA Manly Men.

So how’d I end up on this date? Well, first of all, I hadn’t eaten much all day. I had a caramelized apple cider for breakfast/lunch and wheat thins for dinner. Caramelized apple cider is fantastic. And I am addicted to it. But it is not very filling. Wheat thins are not a very good dinner. When my stomach was contemplating all this (and loudly protesting the day’s events) I announced to my brothers that I wanted to go someplace and eat something totally unhealthy. So we went out. They opened the car door (after fighting about who got to do it), let me pick the music in the car (easy, because we all agree on loud country music), and didn’t mind that I had the heater full blast (in Missouri, I am always cold). We went and picked up some beautiful greasy cheeseburgers at Sonic. And then we drove to Wal-Mart and ate in the parking lot.

Classy, I know. Reece is the one who coined it “date night.” We hung out and laughed our heads off. And then Reece made the observation of the century – “This is so fun already! Just wait until we’re out with someone we actually want to kiss!”

The. Date. Was. Awesome. And maybe one of these days we’ll all go out together – with people we actually want to kiss. But if we do, you won’t hear about it. Remember? I don’t blog about those dates.

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Jan 29

I Am Not A Computer Genius

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But my law firm site is now up! It is not perfect yet, but it’s done enough for my office move to Kansas City on Monday. Wahoo! Take a look – www.leilashealaw.com.

PS – I promise to blog more later. This weekend is full of boxes and moving. Normally, I wouldn’t plan for anyone to move their apartment AND their law office all at one time, but when you live above your office… It’s going to be a busy weekend.

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Jan 27

160 Characters

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That’s how many characters I can send in one text. (20 more than a tweet!) My sister Jessie and I have a “feel good” sort of thing going right now. We came up with it during a girls’ night (so normally it’d be top secret), but I’ll let you in on what we’re doing. (I’m so nice.)

Every day, both of us will text the other something nice… anything nice, but it always includes “I love you and…” Here are some examples from the past week.

  • “I love you and your beautiful eyes.”
  • “I love you and your beautiful singing voice.”
  • “I love you and your luscious long hair.”
  • “I love you and admire your guts.”
  • “I love you and think you’re an awesome bottle washer.”
  • “I love you and your luscious long legs.”
  • “I love you and your deep brown eyes.”
  • “I love you and your smokin’ hot booty.”
  • “I love you and how nice you were this morning.”

Now, it’s just a little thing – you’ll notice that all of these things are LESS than 160 characters. I actually think they’re less than 140. (So you could send them in tweets too!) But what a great way to have a connection with your sister! It takes about 10 seconds – more like 60 if you text like my dad – and makes you both smile. Don’t you think it’s worth your time?

Today, I’m issuing a little challenge… well, more like throwing down the gauntlet. Yeah, that’s right. Throwing down the freaking gauntlet.

Text someone. Think of someone you care about, and let them know. It’s easy – you could even copy one of our examples. (Use the “luscious legs” text judiciously please. And the “smokin’ hot booty” should only be used for those people that you are super close too. Trust me.)

Oh? And before all the rest of my siblings start being sad that this is a Jessie/Leila thing – I texted you this morning. Because I love you all too. And your luscious legs.

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Jan 26

It Starts at an Early Age

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Samantha’s got a nickname. Actually, she and Cassie share a nickname. We call them “The 2.0s.” As in, the 2.0 version of a pretty good set to begin with – Alisha and I. (If we do say so ourselves.) Cassie’s fond of reminding us that they are the “new and improved” version. (Good luck with that, Cass. It’s a pretty high bar.) Anyway, if you look at the pictures Alisha and I have of growing up and compare us to Sam & Cassie, you’d sometimes be stuck wondering who was who. (Sorry, I don’t have an example to show you this instant. Lame, I know. But that would require going through some boxes of photos, scanning one in, and then uploading it. Too. Much. Work. For right now anyway.)

One thing that Sam and I both love? Spa treatments! Yes, it starts at an early age. She turned eleven this weekend and she wanted a spa day. We brought it to her. And if she ever says that Mom, Jessie or I don’t love her, I’m going to show her pictures of us scrubbing little ten year old feet for pedicures. Who would do THAT if they didn’t love her? PS – I’m just posting happy pictures. No need to relive any feet-scrubbing if we don’t have to.

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Jan 24

A Mile in His Shoes

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Obviously, these shoes are not the same size. No, it did not take a genius to figure that out. (If you couldn’t tell, perhaps you should get your eyes checked. Just a suggestion – worth what you’re paying for it. I’m not an eye doctor after all! But I DID try and line the backs of the shoes up in this picture, though it’s not super clear. Heels are complicated sometimes.) You’ve seen one pair of these before – the black shoes are mine, and they love to go dancing. This weekend, I took them salsa dancing. It’s the first time I’ve gone salsa dancing in over 3 years. But they almost didn’t make it!

You see, my brother Logan hasn’t been to a night club EVER. When we decided to go dancing at the spur of the moment, silly me failed to check that he had the appropriate footwear and we happily took off for Kansas City. He was wearing TENNIS SHOES. Well, technically, they were futbol shoes. But whatever you want to call them (Spanish speaking shoes or not!) they got him turned away at the door. I even used my best pleading look with the bouncer. Total fail. I am out of practice!

Enter the beautiful size 15 shoes you see in the picture. (Note to you – the brown shoes are the size 15s. My black shoes are a size 6. Please. I’m 4′10″. Think about it.) After the total fail with the bouncer, I texted a friend to tell him that I. Was. Not. Happy.  (Actually, what I think I texted was “I. Am. So. Mad!”  But you get the idea.) I was sad, but I wasn’t going to buy Logan a pair of dress shoes so that we could stay and dance. My friend’s 6′4″ – I knew that there was no way he and Logan would wear the same size shoe. And they don’t. But my friend came through and saved Logan’s life. No, Logan does not wear a size 15. But these shoes worked to get into Casa Grande and I danced the night away. And Logan can now claim he’s walked a mile in my friend’s shoes…

And just so you know – I tried them on too. If you want to get specific, I went about 2 steps. Definitely not a mile. But who’s keeping track?

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Jan 17

He Had An Evil Girlfriend

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That’s how Cassie summed up the story of Samson tonight. Never read it? Check out the Old Testament – you can find it in the Book of Judges. If you’re using the King James Version, the end (SPOILER ALERT – where Samson pulls down two pillars and kills 3000 Philistines) is in Judges 16. Or you can just listen to Cassie’s version. When Sam was asking about Samson, Cassie piped up with “he had an evil girlfriend.” You want more from her? “Sometimes guys are foolish.”

That’s pretty simple actually, and for a 9 year old to be able to sum it up like that is pretty sweet. (Not that I’m biased or anything.) She’s right actually – Delilah wasn’t exactly a stellar woman. But Samson WAS pretty foolish – after all, he lied to Delilah about the source of his strength THREE times, and she did exactly what he said would destroy his strength THREE times. Why then, would he actually tell her the source of his strength? Foolish is a good word. (I’d say “stupid,” but that’s a word that Cassie’s not allowed to use. My mom’s big on encouraging a strong vocabulary, and she thinks you can always find something more descriptive than “stupid.” If you can’t, I’d suggest looking at the thesaurus.  Here’s a link.)

Cassie’s pronouncement made me think… there are probably times where things are that simple for me, and I just don’t get it. I am pretty positive of one thing though – I don’t have to worry about an evil girlfriend. (At least not one of my own!) It’s just those men I’ve got to look out for. Thank goodness for small blessings.

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Jan 16

This Whole Country Thing Was Just An Accident

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You’d think that was me talking, right? After all, I didn’t plan to move out to the middle of nowhere where it’s normal to get your eggs from the backyard. Technically, it’s not the backyard – it’s the chicken coop.  But you know how I feel about technical. I was an English major, remember? Maybe I shouldn’t bring that up – maybe then you’ll be expecting some Jane Austen quality work. Forget it. This is a blog.  So back to the post…

This was Reece talking on our way home the other night. (Right before our car started smoking. Yikes. Dad, Reece and Logan fixed it. Manly.) When Reece lived in Utah, he liked country MUSIC. The rest of it – boots, hat, Carhart jacket, chicken coop, cows, guns, pigs, etc. – were not exactly on his radar. I mean, take a look at him. Does THAT picture look like a country boy waiting to happen? I think not.

(Reece is the boy in the picture. The only boy. Duh.)

But check out the afters… and before you ask, YES, it is the same boy. But I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t recognize him. After all, I didn’t! No, I’m not kidding. When I came out to visit after the “transformation” a cowboy came up to me to hug me in the airport. I thought that was rather forward of him. And then I realized it was Reece. Ooops.



The Cowboy Casanova has arrived.

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Jan 12

Some Desserts Are Sexy

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Creme brulee is sexy.

I got out my vanilla beans, my creme brulee torch, a little Shatto cream, and made some magic in the kitchen today. It. Was. So. Good. Do you make sounds when you eat? I do – sounds of total enjoyment. Even if you don’t make sounds, this creme brulee might persuade you. It is that good.

Thanks to Williams-Sonoma for an easy recipe (which I slightly modified). It’s been awhile since I’d ventured into creme brulee territory, so I’m putting the last step first. (That way, if you don’t really want to make it, have someone else read the rest of the post and make it for you. This is all you’ll need.)

FINAL INSTRUCTIONS: Enjoy. Share with your lover. Or don’t. Either way, you’re bound to make a few sounds.

If you actually want the recipe, here it is:

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 vanilla beans, scraped out
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • dash of salt

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and place a pot of water onto boil. Put a towel in the bottom of a shallow baking dish and arrange four ramekins on top of the towel.

Put the heavy cream and vanilla beans (scrape the seeds out, use both the pods and seeds for this part) in a saucepan over a medium-low heat. Let warm until steam begins to come off the top and it starts to form little bubbles at the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and let steep for about 15 minutes.

While the cream and vanilla are steeping, combine the sugar, salt, and egg yolks. Beat with a wire whisk for about 5 minutes until a thick syrupy beautiful yellow color.

Slowly mix the cream and vanilla (after you have taken the vanilla pods out) into the egg yolk mixture.  After the mixture is combined and smooth, pour into the ramekins (which should be on top of the towel in the shallow baking dish!). Place the baking dish in the oven, and then take that saucepan of boiling water and pour the water into the baking dish (but NOT the ramekins!).

Bake for about 30 minutes until the sides are set. Take out and place the ramekins in the fridge to cool for about 4 hours. (You didn’t think something so delicious would be ready in five minutes, did you? That’s called a quickie. Creme brulee is not the quickie sort.)

After 4 hours of (agonizing) waiting take the creme brulee out of the fridge. Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the top and get out your creme brulee torch to caramelize the sugar. Then caramelize it! (Really, did I have to add that last sentence?)

And you’re done – except for the final instructions, which can be found before the recipe. (Just where you expected them, right?)

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