Picked up this book at 10:00am yesterday, started reading it around noon and finished it this morning at 9:30am.
{amongst preparing fish sticks and ham sandwiches, making blue cheese coleslaw for a Spring Break cul-de-sac party, attending said cul-de-sac party and letting the kids run wild ’til 9:45pm and getting almost 7 hours sleep}
I’ve been following Kelle’s blog, Enjoying The Small Things, for over two years now…wasn’t planning on running out to buy it on it’s release date, but it just happened. I also follow @etst on Instagram and her posts yesterday morning lit a little fire under me. I called and reserved a copy at my local Barnes & Noble.
This book is for all mothers. For anyone that wants to live life to the fullest. For anyone that {thinks} they can’t turn their life around in whatever capacity.
You just have to change the way you see things.
Not always easy, but certainly doable.
*****
Again, I’m passing it around to anyone that’s interested in reading it. Handing it off to a friend today, but if you want to be next in line, just holler!
Meant to sit down and do a {turn your old, outdated framed print into a chalkboard} tutorial this week, but others things happened.
On Tuesday morning I got caught in some traffic on the way to Woodland Hills…
Because of a darling striped, ruffled shirt I spotted in Instagram {thanks, Richelle!}, I went on a wild goose chase for one {or two} for myself:
{now can you see why I had to have one? I got yellow & white…the pink is for the person responsible for all this! [wink wink]}
While whizzing through Wal-mart, my no sweets havin’ self spied these…
{it’s ON after Lent}
On Wednesday morning, I started a load of laundry before walking Elliott to school. By the grace of God I was upstairs brushing my teeth when the washer started overflowing. I immediately turned off the water, placed a call to the management office and waited for the fix-it guy…
{turns out there was just a hole in some hose that didn’t allow air in for the sensor thingy to signal that the water level was high enough…or something technical like that}
Fix-it guy said we could’ve had LOTS of water damage of I hadn’t been there to turn off the machine. Phew!
{this is Rascal sitting on my lap while we were waiting for fix-it guy}
Just when I was feeling down about our WHITER than WHITE walls, I realized that I will take white walls any day of the week if the are home to my babies’ fun artwork.
Cheeseburger Chopped Salad was what was for dinner on Wednesday…
Everything you’d put on a burger, but the bun!
{turkey burger sliders, chopped romaine, cheddar cheese shreds, tomato, red onion, pickles, jalapeños, real bacon bits and avocado all tossed in a bit of ranch dressing}
It was deee-lish.
Thursday Woody went to school for share day. When the letter of the week was K. Oh well, at least he buckled up for safety.
My brown-eyed, freckle nosed, side pony wearin’ girl….
Fish sticks for dinner…
Friday morning brought this gorgeous sunrise…
Getting a quick Easter gift ready for Elliott’s sweet, deserving teacher…
{reusable tumbler with little iced tea packets inside}
A trip to the mall to scope out some Easter duds…
Found some possible options for next to nothing…
{dress, $6-something and shirt, $4 ~ The Children’s Place}
Next a trip to have a picnic and feed the {duckings} as Holden calls them…
{with Ryan stocking up on bread}
{tossing bread}
{Fought the crowds at Circle K for our chance to be gazillionaires}
{we’re not gazillionaires after all}
Hit up Mickey D’s for a cone to kill time before dance class…
*****
Not too bad of a week leading up to Spring Break!
Looking forward to a fun-filled week at home ~ visiting with friends that are moving to Australia {wah!}, coloring Easter eggs, sending off Easter greetings in the mail, frolicking with Gramma, hopefully painting a chalkboard or two and making some headway on sanding and painting my little table that I’ve been putting off for a year and a half!
Linking up with Jeannett over at Life Rearranged! Come over and say, “Hello!”
The other day I was thinking back to when I started going to Starbucks. It seems like now, after almost a couple decades, that it is just part of life. Just as we drop off and pick up our kids from school, run errands, fix dinner, etc. we run to the Starbucks drive-thru or pop into a store to fetch our morning, afternoon or evening cuppa joe {or tea. or hot chocolate.}.
It’s become part of the routine. At least for ME anyways.
My first real memory of Starbucks dates back to 1993 when I worked in Hillcrest at a doctor’s office. The office manager, Susan, and I would run across Washington Street to the corner Starbucks and always get a grande nonfat no foam latte with two Equals. A half caff coffee of the day for Dr. Schmidt.
A couple years later when I moved to Pacific Beach with my best friend, Denise, our thing was the coffee frappuccino. I remember one summer when a day might consist of a morning frap and an afternoon frap!
Then around 2000, my co-worker Deb, introduced me to the americano and it was over from there. We would go down to the little coffee cart at our building in the mornings and get a hot one, but once summer came I immediately started ordering them iced. I will say that a venti extra extra ice americano with 2 Splendas and a splash of half & half is my go to coffee beverage 9 months our of the year.
Last week one of my Instagram friends, Melissa, posted a cheeseburger calzone picture and was gracious enough to type out the recipe on her iPhone WITH a cast on one hand! Thanks, girl!
So, this was what was for dinner last night. I could hardly wait to make it since I had never made a calzone before.
Elliott suggested, “How about Sundays are ladies cook nights!”. I couldn’t say no to that so we donned our aprons and got to work.
Here is the ingredient line-up:
1 tube Pillsbury French Bread loaf
1 pound ground beef or turkey
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup Mustard
6 slices cheese {I used pre-shredded cheddar}
Pickles
Brown your ground beef with the onion and garlic. Add the ketchup and mustard and mix together. Roll out your bread {this is where it gets sketchy…I don’t know if you’re supposed to unroll the dough by hand as it comes out of the tube and THEN roll it with a rolling pin or just roll it out directly as it comes out of the tube which is what I did. I had trouble getting it into a big flat piece which is what I envisioned} At any rate, I ended up cutting it in half and having two long pieces of dough. Lay the bottom piece of dough on a greased {with Pam} pan, put cheese, pickles and then the meat down the middle, leaving a little room on the top and sides. Add the top layer of dough and press the edges together {I also got a fork and pressed down to seal and give it those little lines}. Put a few slits in the top to vent and bake according to package directions {26-30 minutes at 350*}. Let cool for about 5 minutes, slice and serve!
{not the prettiest calzone I’ve ever seen, but still delish}
The circus came to town this past Saturday {Holden’s actual birthday} and it was nothing short of chaos ~ beautiful chaos.
We packed almost 60 {59 to be exact} clowns, big & little, into our circus tent and I think everyone had a grand time.
The day started off with Jay taking Holden to get donuts in the trailer…
*****
The invites were just thank you notes that I flipped over so the {thank you} was on the back.
{The cards are from Target and the stickers from CVS}
I fell in love with the detail on the envelopes.
This theme was so fun to plan ~ stripes, polka dots and LOTS of color are right up my alley. About a year ago I found these little monkey flags at Kohl’s for like 49 cents and used them to start the circus craziness.
A huge orange star greeted the guests on the front door…
My friend, Hollie, made this cute “Happy Birthday” sign for the front yard.
If you’re local, you can rent it and have it personalized for your special birthday someone. Contact me and I can put you in touch with her! So fun.
Gramma threw together this “5” banner…
I picked up a rainbow of fabrics and made a little bunting to hang across the fireplace…
{just get 1/4 yard of fabric, rip into 1 inch strips, cut those strips in half, loop around a long piece of twine ~ voila!}
My mom found some polka dot paper lanterns at Pier 1 and I hung 2 of them above our big dining room table…
I love the way they look and want to get some solid colored ones to leave up permanently!
I filled my sconces with bubble gum and stuck rolls of tickets on top…
The large ticket sign is from Kohl’s for cheap…
Gramma Kathy got the clown piñata at Party City {this was the first piñata we’ve ever had!}
{I stuffed with Dum Dums, Smarties, Mott’s Medley gummies and Florida’s Natural Fruit Nuggets}
What’s a circus without popcorn?
Circus animals with sprinkles are also a must…
I made myself a gum ball necklace based on this tutorial.
Gramma schlepped her sewing machine up here to make this shirt for the birthday boy…
Of course we had to feed all the circus-goers…
I found Cotton Candy Liqueur and made this sangria…
I made a 5-layer ombre cake in cotton candy blue…
I found cotton candy sherbet push-ups at Target {Market Pantry} as modeled here by our darling neighbor Miss Nataliyah and her beautiful mama…
Singing…
Making a wish and blowing out the candles…
I wanted to set up a photo booth backdrop in the backyard, but it was too windy…the kids bounced in the jumper, hit the piñata, played Wii and ate WAY too much sugar!
Our little clown friends were sent home with some practical party favors ~ socks! Striped for the boys and polka dots for the girls…
I also made little bow ties for all to take home…if you didn’t get one and would like one, please let me know and I will whip one up.
The bigger boys {that are too cool for striped socks} got to take home a box of Bottle Caps…
On Thursday I somehow tweaked my back and ended up flat on the couch that evening and most of yesterday.
A few ibuprofens and I am back at ’em for the long weekend.
*****
How about {Mr. White Chocolate}, Adam Brock, on Idol?
L.O.V.E. him.
Hope he goes far. He and his {feel good}, soulful vibe…praying he does Marc Cohn’s Walking In Memphis all the way through ~ adore that song.
I agree, they do need some white chocolate up in this season.
Go Adam!
*****
Need a quick, fun, makes-your-belly-feel-good lunch/dinner?
Make some biscuit pizzas…
Waaaaay better than Bagel Bites!
Saw these on Instagram this week and knew we had to have them for lunch this weekend.
Grab some Grands {flakey} biscuits {8 in a tube}, cut them in half lengthwise {so you have 16…I know, I’m a mathematical genius}, spoon on some pizza sauce {I used Ragu}, throw on a couple pepperonis {or whatever else}, top with queso of choice {I used shredded mozzarella} and bake in a 350* oven for about 15-17 minutes! {note: I used my Silpat and they turned out crispy and nice on the bottom…if you use foil, spray with Pam first or they will stick a little}
The whole family LOVED them {hallelujah!} ~ I won’t tell you how many I ate.
Make them now.
Please.
*****
Tomorrow we’re having some old friends from the Bay Area come visit. They are extra special in that they were really truly our first friends after we moved there in the Fall of ’05. We met in swim lessons ~ Elliott was just 10 months and Charlotte was only 6 months! Crazy….
{waiting for swim lessons to start in their matching bikinis ~ circa mid ’06}
Nancy is one of my dearest friends … I wrote about here here. She and I would shop, plan parties, shop, sample wines for the parties, shop and shop some more. We both love a good party theme and aren’t afraid to carry it out!
Looking forward to sitting, sipping and chatting tomorrow night as it’s been almost 2 1/2 years since we’ve seen them.
*****
All these things have me feeling good on this Saturday!
