Category Archives: Fun

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!

Family, Food, Fun

Almond Joy

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I came across a recipe for almond bars on the back of the Market Pantry (Target brand) almond extract box. Random, huh?

Since I LOVE almond, this was a no-brainer.

I was going to make them yesterday, but forgot that I hard boiled the last 4 eggs in the fridge for dyeing last weekend.

Then I forgot to pick some up at the store.

Getting back to the hard boiled ones…we never got around to coloring them last weekend. Terrible, I know. Elliott has asked me a MILLION times if we can dye the Easter eggs! She doesn’t care that it’s almost a week later. We still had quite a bit going on this past week, so we FINALLY got around to coloring our 4 measly hard-boiled eggs this morning.

Dropping the eggs into the dye:

Simmering:

Still waiting:

The expression on her face = pure guilt for not doing this LAST weekend:

More guilt:

We did FOUR eggs people…can you imagine the excitement and glee a whole dozen would have created?

Next year, kids. Next year.

I really do love to dye eggs. Really. It’s just I need a controlled environment to do so. All that dye makes me a little nervous. But next year I am going to pick up my favorite cheap Paas dye, vinegar, a dozen and a half eggs and let them go to town.

OK, now getting back to the almond bars…

I’ve been dreaming about these since I discovered the recipe around Valentine’s Day. They really are very easy to make even though there are three steps: crust, filling and glaze.

Trust me, they are a hit. Imagine a light, crumbly shortbread crust married with a smooth, cheesecake filling only to be finished with crunchy toasted sliced almonds and a drizzle of sweet almond icing.

Sound like too much almond? Well, it’s not. They are perfection.

For the glaze, I mixed it up and transferred to a zip lock, snipped off the tip ever so slightly and drizzled over the uncut bars:

Perfection on a pedestal:

Here is what you need…..

Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 stick butter, softened

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Filling:

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. pure almond extract

3/4 cup sliced almonds

Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. pure almond extract

4-5 tsp. milk

Heat oven to 350*F.

Combine crust ingredients at low speed until crumbly. Press mixture in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch pan. Bake 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden.

Meanwhile, beat filling ingredients, except almonds, until smooth. Pour over partially baked crust; sprinkle with almonds. Bake 15-2o minutes or until set. Cool.

Mix glaze ingredients; drizzle over bars.

Enjoy!

Store in refrigerator. (If there are any leftover!)

I think these would also be delish with some apricot preserves spread in between the crust and the filling. Whatcha think?

Here are a couple more random snapshots from our Saturday morning:

*****

Up tomorrow: Crock pot carnitas!

Fun

Adios Spring Break

Spring Break is coming to a close ~ next week it’s back to the usual calendar and hopefully NORMAL sleep schedules for the kiddos!

Hope your Friday and your weekend are full of all sorts of sweet treats!

{P.S. I’ll be making some sweet treats of my own ~ Almond Bars. Stay tuned for the deets!}

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, Fun

I’m Here!

Just peekin’ out to say, “Hello! I’m still here…”

It’s Spring Break and we’ve been enjoying family visiting, an open schedule, late naps, late to bed and late morning wake-ups!

More new recipes and meatier posts to come real soon!

{XOXO}

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!

Family, Food, Fun

Sous Chef

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Lately Elliott wants to “help” me in the kitchen…all.the.time.

I hate telling her, “Maybe tomorrow, honey.”, “Not right now.” or “Just let Mommy do it real quick.”

It makes me feel like such a crappy Mom.

So, while I was doing my grocery shopping this weekend, I decided to pick up some rice crispies and marshmallows and enlist her help with making some good old-fashioned rice crispy treats. After all, marshmallows are so Springy to me.

Pouring in the ‘mallows:

And some more…

Holden sneaking crispies:

Waiting:

Ready for an after lunch treat:

In case you forgot (like me!) or never knew just how easy these are to make, here is what you need:

1 stick butter

1 16 oz. bag mini marshmallows

6 cups rice crispy cereal

Here’s what you do:

Melt butter on stovetop over low heat. In the meantime measure out 6 cups of cereal into a large bowl. When the butter is melted, add half the bag of marshmallows and heat slowy, stirring frequently. Add the rest of the ‘mallows and continue stirring until they are melted and combined with butter. Pour mixture over the cereal and stir to combine. Pour into a greased 9″X13″ pan and let cool before cutting.

I wanted to color the marshmallows pink, but Elliott wanted to “keep them white at Easter”. OK. Will do!

I am committed to being a better “executive chef” in my kitchen and letting my sous chef help more.

Hope you’re having a happy, marshmallowy Monday!

Family, Fun

Spring Shoot

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This morning we took a trip to a local nature preserve and Jay shot some pics.

Holden displays his “big muscles”:

Sweet nature girl:

My favorite of the day:

Sibling silliness:

Swinging:

It isn’t Spring without spotting a ladybug:

Me with my pre boot camp muffin top:

Holden’s war wound:

Because you always wear cheetah print ballet flats on a nature hike:

Spring has sprung!

Family, Fashion, Fun

Fantasy Friday

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I want to go here:

Capri, Italy

{concierge.com}

How gorgeous is this?

{Google Images}

Strolling through these sidewalks wearing this:

{Michael Kors}

Smelling like this:

{michaelkors.com}

I could pack all my goodies in this:

{Kathy Van Zeeland}

Oh my, check this out….we could stay here:

{Google Images}

Can you believe this is a REAL place? Ahhhh, sipping on Limoncello and feasting on Mediterranean inspired dishes.

Per Orbitz, for a family of four to fly to Naples, Italy on Lufthansa would be over $1300 per person (economy). Then we could take a ferry to Capri…wonder what the going rate is for 5 nights at the hotel pictured above.

It’s fun to dream, isn’t it?

Here’s to a dreamy Friday!

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…