Category Archives: Friends

Food, Friends, Fun

Caliente!

This weekend was kicked off with a Mommy’s Night Out!

A bunch of us ladies went to SABOR to celebrate a couple birthdays. We sipped strawberry blueberry margaritas and fruity sangrias, chatted, laughed, shared stories from the past, nibbled on chips and salsa, muy delicioso entreés and this crazy good dessert:

Nutella.Filled.Churros.

OH MY!

Our server was very “pleasant” ~ think Mark Consuelos caliber:

Looking forward to the next “Mommies Gone Wild” evening, Ladies!

*****

If you haven’t tried Buffalo Chicken Dip yet, you’re missing out.

This stuff should be outlawed:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

All the goodness of wings without the mess!

I added some crumbled blue cheese and that put it over the top. I like to serve with tortilla chips, Ritz crackers, baby carrots and celery sticks. Thanks, Deb for brining this into my life! It is a staple now.

Next up out of the recipe box: Carolina Barbequed Pork & Polynesian Coleslaw

Hope your weekend has been full of spice!

Family, Fitness, Food, Friends, Frugal Finds, Fun

Summer On A Shoestring

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Even though we aren’t even half way through Spring, I can’t help but think about Summer. I know it’s going to sneak up on us and in just 9 weeks from Monday “Beach, Pool & Popsicle Season” will be upon us.

Off the top, we don’t have much planned. No trips to Capri, Italy or Disney World or anything. Just a good, old-fashioned, simple Summer, but guaranteed to be fun for all (and frugal!).

It’s hard to keep the kiddos busy and happy for the whole summer and not spend a wad of dough. Fortunately there is a local movie theater that shows free movies two mornings a week (albeit OLD, outdated movies, but the kids don’t care!) in an air-conditioned building! That is heaven here in the SCV during July! We pack our own movie treats and this makes for a cheap day once a week.

Then there is the Saturday night Summer Concert Series that is also FREE and lasts for a good portion of the summer weeks. We went to several last summer and had the best time packing a picnic dinner, sitting in our lawn chairs, visiting with friends and listening to music while the kids ran, squealed, jumped, chased and played with ice!

We hope to take our annual trip to beautiful Wawona, Yosemite to visit my uncle and Jill. We went over 4th of July last year and had the best time ~ stagecoach rides, lunch at the swimming hole, walks along the meadow loop, wine on the deck, train rides, BBQ at the beautiful Wawona Hotel, a barn dance, s’mores by the campfire with wonderful neighbors. Hoping to recreate that again this summer minus these:

Souvenirs from the ‘squitos!

I imagine we will take a couple trips too the LA Zoo with our passes, too:

I also want to get one of these:

Yes, preferably in RED!

And get my hands on the pink lemonade ice cream recipe from Mel! Yum, and SO summery!

I see a lot of sidewalk chalk, hopscotch, bubbles, root beer floats, water table play, homemade lemonade, popsicles, flip flops, wet bathing suits, damp towels on the floor, sandy feet, the smell of sunscreen, cannonballs, beach balls and iced americanos in our future!

Looking forward to keeping everyone HAPPY for about 9 weeks before both my babies start school in mid-August…one to Kinder and one to preschool!

Looks like I will need to work lots of Kleenex into the summer budget, as well…

Food, Friends, Fun

{C}atch Up Day

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Reposting this carnitas recipe today {10.12.11} over at The Larson Lingo’s Crock-tober! These carnitas are healthy and great in tacos, burritos, over cilantro rice {recipe also on this post!}, on nachos or in a salad! Makes a TON so there are lots of leftovers or perfect for a party. Come on over and see who else is linking up and what they’re cooking up in their crock pots!

Mel shared a recipe for baby back ribs with a cherry mustard BBQ sauce ~ needless to say, they look amazing!

*****

Mondays are generally catch up days around here. You know…tidying up the tornado from the weekend, laundry, phone calls, cleaning, etc.

It’s been {c}old and rainy today, so I didn’t mind being holed up in the house doing all these lovely {c}hores.

I was up bright and early this morning getting my crock pot on. Jay found a {c}arnitas recipe here and I thought it’d be the perfect thing to cook away in my new, gorgeous stainless steel Crock Pot while we hung out at home today.

Here is the line up:

This recipe is soooo simple, but it takes 10 hours on low!

In at 7am…ready at 5pm!

In between the {c}hores, we played {C}hutes & Ladders:

…and put together a {C}urious George puzzle:

Rainy day movie of {C}hicken Little:

…and the tail end of a {c}artoon:

(gotta love {C}andace!)

Once the sun reappeared, the kiddos {c}hristened Emilie’s new swing set:

Sweet Baby Ryan:

We had a minor {c}ollision:

*****

I made some {c}ilantro lime rice to go along with the {c}arnitas. This recipe is inspired from my friend, Niki, in San Diego. Mine doesn’t turn out as well as hers, but it’s still delish.

Here’s the line up:

Tonight I made WAY too much rice ~ 2 cups with 4 cups stock! I think we could feed the whole neighborhood. I would suggest a cup of rice (2 cups stock) for 4 people or 1/2 cup rice (1 cup stock) for 2 people.

First, toast the rice and get the onion (I used a half, chopped) going in some olive oil and a little bit of butter for about 10 minutes stirring frequently:

Holy rice, Batman!

Next, add your stock depending on the amount of rice you’re making (1:2 ratio):

Bring to a rapid boil for a couple minutes on high and then turn to low and cover for about 2o minutes. Chop a handful of cilantro and stir in at the last minute and you will have this:

…enough rice to feed all of China!

The carnitas turned out perfect, but again, we could feed an army. Look at all this meat from a 2.5 lb. pork shoulder:

I got a bone-in shoulder and I was a little nervous, but the meat literally fell off the bone and I discarded it and then started shredding the meat with 2 forks. It was SUPER tender. I spooned a little of the juice over it to keep it moist.

Here is the final taco action on a plate:

YUM! Smokey from the cumin and citrusy from the orange and lime juices! I added a little peach pineapple salsa, a tad bit of sour cream and a squeeze of lime and it was delish. The recipe calls for corn tortillas, but I am a flour tortilla girl all day long. I found these mini ones at Super Wal-mart of all places and I love them because they are the perfect soft taco size ~ even smaller that the “fajita” size variety you see in the grocery stores. They come in a package of 20 for under 2 bucks!

Don’t forget a squeeze of lime on your rice!

Enjoy and adios! I am off to see {C}armen at boot camp!

Maybe I should take her a couple tacos and some rice…

XOXO

Food, Friends, Fun

Serendipitous Saturday

Yesterday we planned to get up early and go to Griffith Park, but something happened.

I SLEPT IN!

I never sleep in. I am up around 6:00am EVERY day of the year.

I slept ’til a little after 9:00!

So, we took a raincheck and will head down to G.P. another weekend and visit Travel Town.

But then a few other great things filled our day ~ like post-Easter dyeing of 4 eggs (see previous post), and almond bars in the oven (again, prev post), the 2 midgets playing together nicely ALL day, Jay helping our friend/neighbor assemble a swingset, I GOT A PEDICURE AFTER 9 MONTHS and we had an impromptu “dinner party” with our awesome neighbors.

I made shredded chicken soft tacos.

Sun & Bob brought a gorgeous tower of sushi and sake!

Seriously….I go get a pedi, call Jay on my way home to find out a couple things I need to grab at the store, he tells me that Sun & Bob are joining us for dinner and that he has already “straightened up and vacuumed” the house!

How awesome is that?

I’ve gotten a little ahead of myself, though.

Let’s have a little mention of my pedicure, shall we?

First, I grabbed a large Peet’s iced americano.

$2.80 of sheer bliss:

OPI love:

I am awful at deciding on a color. I could vacillate for hours ~ it’s ridiculous.

I wanted this, Jade is the New Black:

but, I chickened out.

Then I thought about this, Absolutely Alice:

…maybe this summer (IF I get another pedi that soon! It’s asking a lot!)

So, after them telling me my lady was ready for me twice, I felt pressured to pick and I ended up with this, China Glaze’s Sexy Silhouette:

I didn’t even really WANT this color! I hate when I literally just “pick a color”. But, it’s been so long, I’d take baby poop yellow or barf brown as long as I can soak my piggies in warm soapy water, have my cuticles pushed back, get the dead skin cut off, have my calluses removed, legs massaged and wrapped in hot towels. It was 45 minutes of much needed time in the massaging spa chair reading about how Kendra Wilkinson Baskett is trimming down after baby, what J Lo’s adorable twins are up to and who wore silver the best at this year’s Oscars.

Here is a pic before I jumped in the car. I was so afraid I was going to mess them up:

Flattering, I know….my ugly foot against asphalt!

But my dogs look a million times better than when I arrived.

Thanks for the treat, Lola ~ next time all the girl’s will go together.

The day may not have unfolded like we had planned, but everyone needs a little serendipity in their lives once in awhile.

Wishing you a serendipitous Sunday!

Flashbacks, Friends, Fun

6 Months And Counting

In exactly 6 months from today I will be forty.

GULP!

Ten years ago I celebrated my 30th in Vegas. Man, 10 years ago!

A lot has happened in that time…lots and lots of major life changes:

Traveled lots for work, met Jay, bought a house, got 2 dogs, got engaged, got married, had a baby, moved to Nor Cal, sold a house, bought another house, had another baby, moved to LA county….

Looking forward to what the next 6 months bring before I hit the big 4-oh.

Lord only knows what goodness will come in the next 10. Excited to find out!

Here are a few shots from my 30th in Vegas:

{Me, Alisah, Noreen, my sister Becky & Shannon}

Funny thing…about 4 years after this pic was taken, Jay bought me the same cheetah cowboy hat while we were in Vegas at a company function. How I would love the zebra cutie now, too. I wonder if it’s still there at The Rainforest Café almost a decade later? Adore animal print ~ but in moderation!

Anyhoo, in 6 months I look forward to celebrating 10 more years in some capacity like I did in Vegas in ’00.

The countdown has begun…..

Family, Friends

Jyst A Cyst

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Last week I put the following as my status update on Facebook:

Amy Anspach Aspiras thinks it’s so refreshing to go into a medical office and have EVERYONE be SO nice and seem HAPPY to serve you…and NOT keep you waiting. (‘specially when it’s a mammogram!) The same goes for the kids’ pediatrician. 😉

The people over at Sheila R.Veloz Breast Imaging Center must have thought that meant that I wanted to come back and visit them again and give them $253.85.

Rewind…

I had a routine mammogram last Wednesday (baseline was last year). I came home Friday evening after being out all day to a letter from them saying that I needed some further diagnostic work done on the left side. Of course, I panicked. Here it was Friday evening, my bro-in-law and in-laws were in town for Easter, we had just had a nice day, went to Elliott’s dance class and eaten dinner at Souplantation. I was looking forward to a fabulous Easter weekend and then I read the letter. The first thing I wanted to do was cry. So, I did. I tried not to go THERE. But, I did. However, I am also an eternally positive person. So, I was.

But, there was still the unknown. The unknown was shadowing me all weekend. I tried to be upbeat, but the unknown would still reemerge every so often and I would slip into a fog and go THERE again.

I would look at my children and imagine the worst and want to cry. But, I didn’t.

I worked for an Oncologist for 3 years in college so I have been around plenty of cancer patients, chemo and seen more scary radiology and pathology reports than I’d prefer to. But, I also saw so many survivors and that is what I held onto.

I know I’m probably sounding a bit over dramatic, but that’s how I felt. I had no feedback other than a form letter on letterhead that said I needed to come back to a place that I was not expecting to visit for another year. The staff is wonderful there, but they are not the people that you like to see too much of.

Finally, yesterday morning I made a few calls to my doctor who received the report ~ she was on vacay and “someone” would call me back by the end of the day. I called the imaging center and they were nice enough to put me in touch with a nurse and go over the report. I wanted something to chew on…

The good news was that it wasn’t life shattering as far as radiology reports go.

Yes, there was a”mass” in my left breast at the 3 o’clock position, but there was no mention of a “suspicious malignancy” or anything of that magnitude.

I felt a little better, but still knew I had to get through the sonogram this morning @ 10:30.

I went in, sat in the waiting room, and when my name was called went back to take care of the insurance forms, blah, blah, blah…I joked with the lady that I wasn’t expecting to see her again so soon and that even though the soft sugar cookies and coffee they serve are good, they aren’t THAT good to get me to come back twice in a week’s time. I paid the “estimated” $253.85 (gotta love the $250 deductible) and went back, changed into the lime green wrap around top and read a People magazine until my name was called again.

The same technician did my ultrasound ~ it was very brief and she said the word I was hoping to hear….”cyst”. After reviewing with the radiologist, it was confirmed that the “mass” is indeed a cluster of 3 small cysts. Possibly looking something like this I would imagine:

{Photo: Google Images}

I am so relieved. It was a scary 4 days. I am so grateful that I only had to wait about 96 hours to hear this news. I know some people have to wait much longer for word that is NOT positive. For this, I am so thankful.

I look forward to seeing the nice staff at Sheila R. Veloz Breast Imaging Center in 12 months and NO sooner!

Thanks, Ladies for being so sweet and making scary, uncertain situations a little more bearable.

And many thank yous to Karen for keeping an eye on the munchkins while I took care of this today (and also for serving me lunch!).

Family, Food, Friends

Scenes Of Easter

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Elliott’s rendition of Mr. Easter Bunny:

Polka dot baskets filled to the brim:

Ding dong:

Priceless expressions:

Sifting through the loot:

Lollipops for breakfast:

{Cute Easter jammies from Popsi!}

The Easter Bunny must read flipflopfollies.com:

A brand new shiny, stainless steel Crock Pot from Gramma K:

Monkey Bunny bread:

{recipe here}

Easter Mass at Blessed Kateri:

Saying “Hello!” to all the parishioners:

Fiddling with Gramma’s camera:

Easter Brunch @ Lazy Dog Café:

Blowing kisses:

Sipping:

My boys in orange:

Miss Elliott LOVES her lettuce wraps:

We ended the day with Jay & Lolo driving U Rod to catch his flight out from Long Beach and Lola preparing beef & broccoli and tons of lumpia for din din. Our friend and neighbor, Scott, came up to sip on mojitos and dine with us.

T’was a wonderful Easter Sunday. Thanks Easter Bunny!

Family, Fitness, Food, Friends, Fun

Weekend Rewind

Saturday was full of impromptu events…

The Albertson’s down the hill was having an Easter egg hunt ~ the “golden egg” being a pass to Disneyland along with some other goodies for the little ones hidden inside certain eggs. Mr. Easter Bunny made a brief appearance which I was thrilled with because that saved me a trip to the mall and $25 for a photo!

The “hunt” took place in the produce section and it was hardly a hunt at all….just piles of candy filled plastic eggs under the apples, lettuce and potatoes! Super duper obvious and lasting a grand total of 3.5 minutes! My little chickens only walked away with mini Twix bars, Reese’s and mini Hershey’s bars…thank goodness the candy was good because I would’ve been real disappointed. But they had a great time and Albertson’s was nice enough to serve FREE hotdogs and sodas so this Mama didn’t even have to fix lunch ~ gotta love that. Here are some photos from the eggstravaganza…

Elliott gathering eggs:

The find:

Holden post hunt searching for the rabbit:

Emilie & Elliott with Mr. Easter Bunny:

Holdy with his new BFF:

Enjoying lunch:

Then, we organized a last minute redneck block party where a few neighbors parked their lawn chairs in the guest parking across the street, prepared some appetizers and enjoyed wine and chit chat while the kids ran amok, chalked the you know what out of the street and rode various modes of transportation including scooters, tricycles, bikes and the ever popular Disney Princess ride.

Here is the spread (yes, complete with boxed wine!):

I made a dip that I found on the back of the Mission Tortilla Strip bag…Black Bean & Roasted Red Pepper Dip:

It calls for cilantro so I was immediately sold:

This is my new fave $3.99 TJ’s wine find (and it’s organic!):

Holden decided to don a plastic bowl helmet:

Checking out the stars:

This morning we were up bright and early to head to a Scooter’s Jungle (bounce house place) birthday party for a little friend in E’s dance class, ran some errands to finish up shopping for Easter outfits, pick up some hand weights for my boot camp which starts tomorrow and then enjoyed an al fresco dinner of homemade crispy chicken tenders and mac n cheese (NOT homemade!).

I discovered this recipe in Parents magazine years ago and it is so easy and delish. I feel like I feed my kids dino chickens from Costco on a daily basis, so it’s nice to make them from scratch once in awhile. The recipe calls for corn flakes, but I used my leftover rice crispies from the treats earlier this week and those worked just fine.

Here is what you need:

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I use frozen chicken tenderloins)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 Tbsp. honey

1 tsp. prepared yellow mustard

1 cup packaged cornflake crumbs or 2 cups cornflakes, finely crused (or crushed rice crispies!)

1/4 tsp. salt

Dash ground black pepper

Dipping sauces: BBQ, Ranch or ketchup

1. Heat oven to 450F. Cut chicken into 3/4-inch strips. In a shallow dish, combine the egg, honey and mustard. In another shallow dish stir together cornflake crumbs, salt and pepper. Dip chicken strips into the egg mixture and then roll them in crumb mixture to coat evenly.

2. Arrange the strips on a baking sheet. Lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition per serving: 179 calories, 22g protein, 2g fat, 16g carb, 18mg calcium, 0 fiber

I sliced mine and put them into a salad…still desperately trying to recreate the CPK bbq chicken salad!

Finally, I will leave you with this cute image:

Future blogger?

Here’s to another busy week ahead…2 boot camps, mammogram, bro-in-law coming on Wednesday and then the in-laws coming on Good Friday to celebrate Easter with us. Egg coloring and frosted Easter sugar cookies to be made in between. Oh, and sloppy joes (not from a can!) on the menu for tomorrow.

Hope you have all sorts of good stuff on the agenda this week, too!

Friends, Fun

Tiara Thursday

Elliott did a little art project this afternoon.

She made some tiaras…

One for her.

One for Emilie.

One for Emma.

And…..

one for Holden!

Apparently she didn’t want to “waste” too many of the fancy stickers on Holden’s, so she personalized his with a Crayola marker: “HEAJ” (the family’s initials), a birthday cake & a flower.

He didn’t seem to mind that his had less adornments than the others!

Happy Thursday!

I can see Friday from here…

Flashbacks, Friends, Fun

10 Years Ago

Dublin, Ireland

In mid-March of 2000, I met 2 friends, Noreen & Shannon (my sister’s college roomies) over in Dublin for several days. They were doing a little European tour after their Master’s program and I decided it was a good excuse to see Ireland while they were there. They rented a room from some young guys for a couple months and utilized their work permit to make a little money to live off of.

They showed me a great time…pub crawls, beautiful parks, picnics in the small seaside town of Bray, wonderful food at “The Beast”, a train trip to Galway on Ireland’s gorgeous west coast, cozy bed & breakfasts, pints, pints and more pints. It was a fabulous trip. I met their friend, Michelle, who is pictured below in the Cookie Monster tee and who I am thrilled to have reconnected with on Facebook! Michelle was a superb hostess and I hope to be able to go back, visit and have our kids frolic together in the beautiful Irish countryside someday.

I am always renewed and have a different outlook on life after a big, international trip like this. It is just something about being in another country, partaking in their everyday life, sitting back evaluating your own life, returning feeling so rejuvenated and looking at it in a whole new way and then wanting to turn around and plan the next excursion! There is something so addictive about traveling.

Travels seem to be out the question these days, and I am totally OK with that, but in the meantime, I will relish in looking at old photos, relive these beautiful opportunities and dream of the big trips to come in our new life with our two new little travelers.

Where are your travels taking YOU this year?

{Here are a few pictures from my stay in Eire}

Hours after arriving on the Red Eye:

On The Ha’Penny Bridge over the River Liffey:

Ticket to the Hurling Match:

At the match clueless about the sport:

Having a pint (or two!) after the match:

The Ladies with a random Irish lad: