breeeeak

Holiday Break has officially started.  I cant wait to have two weeks off.  Fun, exciting plans in store... relaxing,  spending time with Steve, hanging out with my family, celebrating the holidays, eating good food, and an eventful trip to Sunriver to ring in the New Year!

Feel like I deserve a glass, no.... a bottle of wine to celebrate.

Gingerbread Building

Over the weekend I got to build a gingerbread house with Steve and his family.  It was a blast.  I have not done this is years and it was the first time I didn't use a box set.  Steve's mom made real gingerbread dough and made the house using cut outs.  And we whipped up some frosting that wasn't from a container.  The best part of the whole thing was eating all the yummy candy!!!

CHEF STEVE

(1)year-ago

roaming through pictures and found this....

it was a whole year ago and james has grown up so much.  he is interactive, playful, and growing up so fast.  i love watching him grow up and learn knew things.... but also miss having a little baby around.  however, i am excited for baby calhoun to arrive in april!!

ONE thought

OOOOO the Holidays.  What a fun time of year!!  I was thinking how amazing it is that for a month we transform our worlds for one day, Christmas Day.  We hang bright lights, decorate our homes, party and social with friends and family, eat yummy food, dress in festive clothes, and put a fir tree inside our homes just for one day.  It's pretty cool, but also kind of consuming at times.  I love the Holidays and everything that comes with it, but at times it can be overwhelming and often times when January comes around.... it is a relief.  However, looking forward to the Holiday Cheer for the weeks to come!

Hope your Holiday Season brings lots of cheer, joy, and happiness!

Steve and I enjoying the Christmas Tree Lighting at Pioneer Place

tis the season...

it's my favorite day.  i can finally start playing holiday music.  i have avoided it till today!  i love when i get to upload my playlist to my ipod and rock ((around the christmas tree)) out in the car to my favorite tunes.  i take my holiday playlist off my ipod every year because i will be tempted to listen to it before thanksgiving and i am opposed to that.  i cant start the holiday season too early..... however, it is some of my favorite music.

what's your favorite holiday song?

seasonally-employed

I got myself a job at Paper Source.  It's the coolest store to ever exist.  If you like crafts, books, calendars.... its the place for you.  I get to spend my holiday season demo-ing crafts, helping customers learn about different craft ideas, and enjoying the holiday season!  I am so excited about this job, I have wanted to open up my own craft store forever and maybe this is a perfect start!

If you have never been to Paper Source you MUST check it out.         Click here to see the website.

90210 old vs. new

not sure about you... but 90210 is one of my all-time favorite shows.  the "OLD" 90210 that is.  however, over the past couple years the "NEW" 90210 has become a favorite as well.  the drama, gossip, style, cast, and many other means of the show are so different....yet so much the same.  i think deep down inside of me the "OLD" 90210, kelly taylor/donna martin/brandon walsh cast will always beat dixon/silver/naomi cast.  no matter whether it's the "OLD" or the "NEW" it's still juicy and good drama.

don't the cast on the left look much cooler and stylish than the cast on the right?  c'mon!

To: ME

Happy Birthday

to

ME

Yah, pretty exciting day, I guess.  I never know if I should be excited to be celebrating that I am one year older or that I survived another year of life.  However, its my birthday so.... to be positive 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Whoop! Whoop!

Yup, that's right... WHOOP WHOOP!!!  It's the freakin' weekend.  I got big plans in store too.  

Hope you enjoy yours!

ENVIOUS

Seriously..... I envy people who can make cake pops.  I have tried a few times.... let me just say, UNSUCCESSFUL!! 

I am not sure what I am doing wrong.  I can make the cake balls, however, dipping them into the chocolate tends to always ruin them.  The worst part is that every cake ball I ruin I have to eat.  Not sure if that's a bad thing or not!!!  Maybe one day I will figure it out. 

For those of you that are good, I am proud of you.  You have a talent I truly lack!

happyFALL

Apples always make me think of Fall.  Check out GLORIOUS TREATS for 

delicious caramel apples. 

YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY!

COAST

Steve and I are headed to the coast... to celebrate a friend's birthday.  Expecting a pretty good evening with bon-fires, brews, and good conversation. 

Note: Obviously we are not going to this beach.  But it's worth dreaming about. 

CHEERS to the Weekend

What an exceptional weekend I had.  It all started Friday, dinner at my house with Steve and my mom, then off to Maria's 27th Birthday at Blitz.  It was a great time.... got to spend time with friends, play some shuffleboard, and of course honor the birthday girl!

Saturday began with a run on Marine Drive, then prepared for a fabulous evening celebrating Dan and Gemma Daw's wedding.  The ceremony was a joy, followed by pre-reception tailgating, and then the real celebration began at the reception which was held at Oregon Golf Club.  It was a outrageous party with lots of dancing, great music, good drinks, an appearance from Elvis, and even some shirtless genetlmen.

 

Sunday was a day of recuperation from the weekend.... spent the morning with my nephew James, made delicious soup, and went to a movie with Steve at McMenamin's Kennedy School.

Hate to see the weekend end and start my Monday!!  Boo-Who!

AUTZEN

What a game.... Always great to see the DUCKS win.  

It was a fun evening celebrating an engagement of some friends, cheering for the Ducks, 

tailgating with other fans, and being with Steve.

AZ

This last weekend.... took myself a mini-vacay with Steve.  We went to Arizona for his sister's wedding reception, as well as the Oregon State vs. Arizona State football game.  We also got to enjoy lots of sun, hot weather, and good company.  We went to an awesome bar called The Big Bang Bar, which was a dueling piano bar.... and NO it was nothing like The Barrel Room.  Way better!!!  Steve and I drove through Tucson and checked out University of Arizona campus.  It was a fun vacation.... sucked coming back to rainy, cold weather and returning to work.

At a Brewery near ASU campus, Gordon Biersch. 

Cheering on OSU at the game with lots of friends.... Rough loss but still a good time.  

Ran into a few Cacti... who would have thought?

At the wedding reception.  His sister, Kristy and her husband Jack got married in Hawaii a few weeks ago but through a reception for friends and family.  It was a blast.  She looked beautiful.... perfect weather.... and the music was great.  Steve and I own the dance floor.

chocolate

a chocolate chip cookie and a glass of COLD milk (AND I HATE MILK....) sound tasty right now.

sunday bbq

Today we are celebrating Abby (my sister) and David (brother in law)!!  It is their birthday.... well technically David is one day older than Abby or Abby is one day younger, either way we are celebrating!!!  And it is going to be a blast.  We got a fun evening in store and delicious food.  I attempted my first twice baked potatoes and super excited to see how they turned out.  They were fairly easy to prepare.  I am always nervous to make something the first time when you are serving multiple people but think they will turn out so yummy.

But enough about that.... Happy Birthday David and Abby!

seattle

(from left to right)

 top left:   downtown Seattle

top right:   outside Safeco Field

 bottom right:   Mariners vs. Red Sox, Safeco Field

bottom left:   Steve and I enjoying the fun city

SANDiego:CA

PACIFIC BEACH

I recently took a last minute trip to San Diego.  It was the best getaway, even though it was super short.  I could have stayed forever but had to get back for a wedding.  There was so much to do and not enough time, however, I spent much time soaking up the sun, indulging in delicious food and tasty drinks, playing sand volleyball, and exploring some cool parts of city.

Farmer's Market Pizza

Best pizza of all time.  I have never thought to put corn on pizza and was kind of in a toss up when I was actually doing it.  It however turned out fabulous.  As I always mention I love creating new things in the kitchen and generally like trying new stuff... so I was super excited about how it was going to turn out!

1 tablespoon olive oil                                             Cooking spray

1 cup thinly sliced red onion                                    2 teaspoons fresh oregano

1 thinly sliced red bell pepper                                  1 cup grated parmesan cheese

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced                                     1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup fresh corn kernels                                         1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 square Flatbread, 12 x 8 in                                    1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 425°. Position an oven rack in the next to lowest setting. Place a 16-inch pizza pan on the rack.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add onion to pan; cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add bell pepper and garlic to pan; cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add corn, salt, and black pepper to pan; cook for 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.

Remove pan from oven. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Place flatbread on pan, spread olive oil evenly on top and sprinkle with fresh oregano.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Spread the corn mixture evenly over cheese. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes. Arrange tomatoes, feta, and basil evenly over pizza; bake an additional 5 minutes or until crust is browned. Remove from oven. Cut into 8-10 slices.  Serve.

CAR-less

Better get myself one of these!!

I am about to be CAR-less.  I sold mine!  I recently got a new job and decided to reward myself with a brand new car, however, I have yet to have purchased it.  I decided I would put my car up on craig's list to start the process and it sold immediately.  AWWW!!!!

Guess I better start my car search soon.  I know what I want but didn't think it would all take place this quick.  Never did I plan to sell my car in the first few hours of posting it.  Must be a pretty good car, huh?

I sure am excited to make my first big purchase.  YEAH!!  I may be walking or riding a bike for a while though.

cherry adventure

yesterday.... my mom and I took a drive up to Hood River looking for cherries.  It is one of my favorite things about summer.  The best part is when you can find a u-pick.  The cherries though this season are about a whole month late in ripening, so we struggled to find any once we first arrived.  We made a few stops and finally found some to purchase.  We were looking for a u-pick but out of luck.

The best thing happened.... as we headed out of town we found a sign saying U-Pick Cherries... we figured why not just try and see where it leads.  The road took us to a farm not listed on the map that had lots of treasure.  It was packed full of cherry trees.  The best site I have been ever.  It took us no more than 10 minutes to pick 10 pounds of ripe, beautiful, sweet cherries.

My weekend is COMPLETE!

garden of success

my garden is blossoming like crazy.  everyday i look out the window to see it growing like crazy.  it makes me so excited for sweet juicy tomatoes, fresh summer squash, and yummy green beans!!  i wish it didn't take half of summer for it to appear.

BBQ Delicious

In celebration of James' FIRST birthday, we are throwing a little par-tay for him.  Not only do we get to celebrate his birthday but we get to eat some ever-so-good food and spend time together!

For the celebration our menu is your basic good old bbq-ing.

Hot Dogs

Hamburgers

Green Salad

Sliced Watermelon

Chips

Good Brews 

It's about to be a fantastic party.  Anytime James is around it's bound to be a blast.  He gets to open gifts, eat dessert (no cake.... only on his actual birthday), and be the center of attention (as always).

HR:Fruit Loop

Yah-Who!!  It's time for fresh fruits and veggies to start blooming.  This is the best part of the year.  Strawberries, Cherries, Zucchini, Raspberries, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Eggplant... you name it, it's going to be fresh and tasty.  One of my favorite places is Hood River.  They have the best fruits and veggies, perfectly ripe and so tasteful.  With over 50 places to stop and get produce... you are bound to find something.  The Hood River Fruit Loop is so impressive because of the variety each stand offers.  I have found that I often times eat my whole way home because it is so tasty and I can't stop snacking on the cherries or apples that I just bought!

If you are interested in FRESH PRODUCE you must head up to Hood River.  Not only do they have amazing produce but there is much more to do there..... wine tasting, great restaurants, fun shopping, and beautiful scenery.

(click on Hood River Fruit Loop above)