We went from this…
To this…
Her very first girlfriend from 6 years ago, Charlotte.
Together again…if only for just 2 days.
So thrilled she is maintaining dear friendships from our Nor Cal days…I will do everything in my power to keep these friendships alive.
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Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies ~ Aristotle
The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend ~ Henry David Thoreau
Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
Getting the chips and dips ready.
Go. Fight. Win.
{Holden ~ September ’08}
What’s that you say?
The Chargers aren’t in this one?
Maybe next year.
It’s Saturday and that means another fun {Hello, I Love You} link up with Heather @ Angel Face Designs.
This week’s prompt is :CANDY:
Have a seat…
let’s chat confections!
{via}
This beauty automatically makes me think of striped ribbon candy…gorgeous!
Vintage Candy Dish
{via}
Chic candy buffet
{via}
Hello, homemade York peppermint patties!
{via}
I adore these gumball necklaces…
{via}
{via}
Nothing better than old fashioned candies in apothecary or mason jars.
{via}
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Visit today’s {Hello, I Love You} for more sugary sweetness!
Leapin’ Lizards!
Where did January go?
February is here and we get one extra day this year…yay!
It may still be the shortest month of the year, but it’s already proving to be a busy one with the Superbowl {go Pats!}, after school enrichment classes, a visit from Gramma, Valentine’s Day, the 100th day of school, Holden’s 5th birthday, Art Night and who knows what else…
Following along with Erin and April this month and doing a photo-a-day the February way! Follow the fun prompts, snap a pic and share ~ it’ll be fun ~ won’t you join in with me? I must admit that I am stressin’ about #10….sun flare. Going to have to read up on how to capture that one ~ ha!
Here was my entry for today ~ RED:
{down to our last grounds of this stuff from the holidays…wah!}
I’ll be posting these daily on Instagram ~ come find me and follow along: aaspiras
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Wednesdays are great days for bow ties, don’tcha think?
Followed this super duper easy tutorial over at The Vanilla Tulip!
So fun.
Here is a better idea of the fabric color….{along with a cheesy grin!}
{I had the green polka dot fabric from Christmas ~ was supposed to go atop mason jars filled with yellow pepper relish for the neighbors…oops! Sorry neighbors. Hope the New Year’s sugar cookie bars made up for it! XO}
I think a little green bow tie bunting for across the mantel mirror would be cute for St. Patrick’s Day ~ time to bust out several more of these cuties.
Would also make cute boy’s bow ties for Easter and matching girl’s hair clips.
Or clip onto the top of a birthday gift….
Thanks again for the inspiration, Ashley!
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Today is also Day 1 of Valentine stocking stuffers…
{Valentine jammies all washed and ready to wear}
And by Valentine jammies, I mean girly “pirate” {skull & cross bones} ones for Elliott that have hearts for eyes ~ that’s Valentine’s enough for me. Picked them up recently at Target for 70% off. Picked up Holden’s from last year post-cupid at Old Navy for el cheapo, too. That’s how I roll.
They will not be getting {extravagant} goodies every day…maybe a simple fruit roll one day, a dollar store coloring book another day, etc. The new jams were just to kick off February and get into the Valentine’s spirit!
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Hope your {leap} into February has been a good one!
What are you going to do with the extra day given to us this month?
My weekend consisted of moments with and conversations about these three {things}.
I find it ironic that while Holden worked on his family flag project {a week late!} for church class, we had Lady Gaga blaring in the background. Fortunately he did not draw her into our family portrait {no offense Lady G, but that would have just been weird}. Afterall, Poker Face DID help get me through my 13.1 in Vegas! I will be ever so grateful for that.
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Yesterday afternoon Elliott and I took a little outing to get my car washed {needed it!} and stop by Justice to see if we couldn’t find some {hip hop high tops}. As you can see in the picture below, we found some. All I can say is that if we didn’t have that $25 dollars off $50 card she would have been wearing a different pair of zapatos in this pic. And all I can say is that these sparkly peace sign numbers best do the job in hip hop class…
While we were browsing through glittertown, she mentioned that she also needed some new shorts…”not the kind that go towards your knee, but the kind that go up towards your shirt”. Me: “Oh you mean Daisy Dukes”. Uh, we’ll revisit that when the weather gets warmer. Or she turns 25.
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And the gift she’s holding in the pic above…that’s for a 6:30 Sunday evening party at Chuck E. Cheese.
Can I just say it was a little weird going to a birthday party in the dark on a Sunday night…not the kind of stimulus we would normally seek an hour before bed time. Yes, we could have politely declined, but this is a little classmate of hers that she always talks about. I have always told her, she can go to any of her classmates parties {they are all sweet kids and I know most of the parents} as long as we don’t have previous engagements or are out of town, etc.
Oy.
But we made it this morning…up and out the door on time.
In, what she now refers to as, her “tenniboots” ~ half tennis shoe, half boot.
And she was NOT wearing Daisy Dukes with them.
Monday’s off to a decent start!
Hope yours is too.
XO
Another great weekend…
Even though it started out with coughs, sneezes and runny noses {me}, it ended up fabulously and just what the doctor ordered.
On Saturday I went to a retreat with my RCIA class to prepare for our Rite of Acceptance yesterday. I loved, loved, loved spending time with my sponsor Rhonda who is also Elliott’s catchiest on Thursday afternoons. She is like a long lost twin sister….there were two breakouts where we were given a time to report back to the main room and BOTH times we were the last ones in there with everyone waiting for us! The first time they had to send someone out to find us ~ we were too busy chatting it up and didn’t notice the time. I love that…it means that she was brought into my life at the perfect moment to come along and share this journey with me and I could not be happier. In the short time I’ve known her, I am proud to say that she is already a dear friend and I cannot imagine how close we will be in a year from this Easter when I go through the sacrament of baptism. So excited.
After the retreat I took Elliott to the mall for a self-arranged play date with her little classmate, Ashley. They arranged all by themselves to meet at Claire’s at the mall at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon and have their ears pierced together! Each day at pick up Ashley would excitedly run up to me with more details as the week went on ~ Monday it was that she wanted E to come to the mall to get her ears pierced on Saturday. On Wednesday it was that we were going to meet at 3pm and then on Thursday it was that we were going to meet at Claire’s. Boom. Done. I sent a note to Ashley’s mom confirming the ear piercing party and sure enough she had it on the books, too and was glad that I confirmed because she was going to do the same thing. Ha!
{smiling their toothless smiles BEFORE getting two holes in their ears}
{getting the purple marker dots}
{All done…another rite of passage}
{Elliott & Ashley and their two cheerleaders in the background}
{cleaning solution and care instructions!}
So fun….the mamas were joking that we hope the next first grader arranged play date isn’t at the tattoo parlor!
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Sunday morning was my rite of passage…we went to the 10:30 mass where the candidates {me} were received.
Here are Rhonda and me waiting to go up and answer a couple questions from the priest…
What do you ask at this time from God?
{I ask for his strength when I am weak, his grace when I do not deserve it, and to always feel his loving arms around me}
What do you ask of the community of Blessed Kateri?
{I ask that it provide, with open arms, a sacred place to gather with my brothers and sisters in Christ on our journey to glorify God}
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It was a beautiful, faith-filled weekend with a couple very special rites of passage ~ one for Elliott and one for me!
Couldn’t have been more perfect.
Today is the official LAST day of winter break.
I told the kids last night that they were going to be fed, bathed, teeth brushed, books read, excuses for more milk done and IN bed tonight at 7:45.
Watch me.
I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow morning…
With that negativity out of the way, I must say that we had a nice, family weekend to say goodbye to the past three and a half carefree weeks.
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While my car was being serviced in Lawndale on Saturday morning, we all piled into Jay’s Jeep Wrangler and headed due west to the Manhattan/Hermosa Beach area and searched for a breakfast joint. We settled on Brother’s Burritos and were pleased with the casualness and local vibe at this little place. The kids shared Hawaiian Bread French Toast squares…
I was bad and had the egg, avocado, bacon and jalapeño burrito with spicy salsa. We ended up not eating lunch so I didn’t feel so bad.
After breakfast we let the kids play on the beach for a bit to kill time. Jay shot some great pics ~ it was overcast and a bit cloudy ~ perfect picture taking conditions.
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The fam also took a last minute trip into Hollywood for an appointment yesterday afternoon and then ended up at a new {to us} sushi restaurant right in our own backyard here in Valencia ~ Sushi One. Yelp gave it great reviews so we gave it a try. Jay and I shared a Sapporo and some rolls and the kids devoured the bulgogi {Korean beef} and steamed rice! Here they are with their after dinner lollipops…
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The kids played dress up and came up with this concoction:
Reminded Jay and me of LMFAO ~ the hair. Love it!
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Trying to be better at meal planning…cuts down on a lot of problems like not knowing what’s for dinner at 5:00pm, unnecessary trips to the market and going over budget on groceries.
I decided to keep it easy with familiar/already tried recipes this week since it will no doubt be hectic trying to get back into the swing of things routine-wise.
Here’s what will be on our table this week…
Monday : Half of a grilled beer can chicken {Jay’s off today so he can grill}, zucchini fries and TJ’s Harvest Grains blend {Israeli couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans & red quinoa}
Tuesday : Chopped taco salad with spicy sour cream ranch
Wednesday : Moo shu pork burgers w/ fruit salad
Thursday : other half of the grilled chicken in soft taco form with roasted butternut squash
Friday : Leftover moo shu pork burgers & tbd side dish
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I hope you had a splendid 3-day weekend {dreaming} of equality and kindness.
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~ the brilliant Martin Luther King, Jr.
Linking up again today over at Angel Face Designs for another fun Saturday post in Heather’s {Hello, I Love You…} series!
Today the prompt is BLUE.
Hello, aqua piano…
{via}
{Told Jay I wanted to buy an old piano and paint it….he said may not be a good idea because all the paint might affect the way the piano sounds. Uh, your point? Who cares how the piano sounds when it looks this cute? No offense, babe, if you’re reading}
Hello, peep toe pumps with sweet rosette…
{via}
Hello, ever so faint blue door…
{via}
Hello, beautiful isle of Capri…
{via}
I will visit you someday.
Hello Blue Velvet Cake…
{via}
I will bake you someday.
Hello, blue lifeguard tower on a Saturday morning in Hermosa Beach…
{and hello cute little beachgoers!}
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Elliott will have had 26 days {including weekends} off for Winter Break.
That means 2o-some late nights.
Twenty-some days to sleep in.
‘Til 9:30am.
Teenage years are going to be fun.
We’ve spent A LOT of time in our pajamas.
A LOT.
Like way too much.
But the few weeks leading up to Christmas were extra crazy this year…phone ringing, driving, baking, shopping, wrapping, etc.
So I didn’t feel too guilty when we stayed in our jams and stuck close to home these past three weeks.
We were able to get together {3 times!} with dear friends that we hadn’t seen since late September maybe…too long.
We met up with Nor Cal friends passing through at one of our local parks while the mamas got caught up and the kiddos monkey barred, climbed the hill and loaded bark into dump trucks.
We enjoyed a nice family dinner at PF Changs in Santa Monica on a cold and foggy night discussing our goals and dreams for 2012 ~ a new tradition.
With Jay being home a little more, I was able to mingle in the kitchen with some fabulous new recipes ~ one of my all-time favorite things to do ~ just me, the cutting board or the Kitchen Aid and some pins on the ‘ol boards coming to life.
We enjoyed New Year’s Eve with a driveway party, fire pit, appetizers, wine, karaoke and great conversation into the early, early first hours of twenty twelve.
The kids hit a new milestone and ventured into having their own rooms. Elliott temporarily {until we move?!?} took over the guest room and quickly peppered the walls with hand drawn hearts and peace signs for a pop of color and was ecstatic to spot some new sheets featuring her current favorites ~ above mentioned hearts, peace signs, flowers in every first graders colors of choice ~ pink, purple, aqua and lime green. Holden confidently took over Elliott’s twin bed and snuggled into his favorite outer space sheets and astronaut quilt. Now to find the strength to sell their old crib…the one they’ve curled up in for the past {almost} SEVEN years!
{Anybody local interested in purchasing an antique white Pottery Barn sleigh toddler bed? We also have the PBK mattress still in the factory plastic and a white washable cover up for sale…will be placing on Craig’s List soon}
I was able to {try} to get organized and simplify as things will immediately get ridiculous again come Tuesday morning ~ for me the less clutter and STUFF, the better! When in doubt, THROW IT OUT. Or donate it. Or hand it down. Feels SO good.
I’ve also had fun turning up the volume on Holden’s fifth birthday preparations…have most everything locked and loaded, but the invites. Oops! Looks like I worked a bit backwards this time…..
Along with all these wonderful, casual, s – l – o – w days have come with lots of excuses and not nearly enough action. Jillian is most definitely calling my name from inside the DVD case and my New Balances haven’t been hitting the pavement as much as they should be after all the holiday sweets and indulgences.
Hoping that the new back-t0-schedule days will also bring some sweat and an elevated heart rate!
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Adios pajamas and hello backpacks, lunch boxes and homework!
For those who are already back in the saddle, I hope it wasn’t too bad climbing back in and for those who still have a day or two left, make it great!
Still don’t have plans for New Year’s, but want to get out and do something?
Why not coordinate a Progressive Dinner Party with a few neighbors on your street? That way you can ring in the new year with friends ON your street and not have to be out on the roads. We have done this the past two years and it works well {especially if you have kids}!
Just get three or four families that live on your street {or around the corner!} and assign one house to a cocktail and appetizer, the next to a soup or salad, then a main entree and the final house can be for dessert and some bubbly to ring in the new year!
I think it’s fun to do big punch bowls of pre mixed adult beverages and have a ladle handy for serving. That way, the host/hostess isn’t stuck mixing drinks all night.
Here are a couple options:
{Malibu Mimosa Punch}
1.75 liter Malibu Coconut Rum
1 liter Champagne
2 quarts Orange Juice
{recipe via}
{photo via}
Note: I have not actually tried this, but I wanted to include something with champagne ~ it IS New Year’s Eve after all. It does sound delish, though.
I have tried this Swamp Water for Halloween, but it is a great beverage to mix up ahead of time and ladle into a glass of ice. You could call it {Countdown Cocktail} or {New Year’s Electric Punch} or something more festive…
{via}
Here are a couple sangria options, as well…
Simply Citrus Red Wine Sangria
or
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Here are links to some of my favorite appetizers…
Baked Brie With Roasted Garlic
If you want to make it more courses, serve up a simple soup or salad:
Make the main dish simple and {serve yourself}:
And you can’t forget dessert!
How adorable are these New Year’s Eve Midnight cupcakes?
{via}
Or a dessert pizza with Nutella & fruit?
Or how about some espresso brownies to help your guests stay awake until midnight?
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So, go door-to-door this New Year’s Eve and you won’t have to worry about driving home!
Progressive dinners are lots of fun ~ hopefully you have awesome neighbors like we do.
Can you believe there’s just one and a half days left in 2011?