Tag Archives: new

Flashbacks, Flip Flops On The Rocks, Food, Friends, Fun

Going Door-To-Door

2 Comments

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

Citrus Ginger Sangria Blanca

*****

Here are links to some of my favorite appetizers…

Jalapeño Popper Dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Baked Brie With Roasted Garlic

If you want to make it more courses, serve up a simple soup or salad:

Black Bean & Salsa Soup

Blue Cheese Coleslaw

Make the main dish simple and {serve yourself}:

Taco Bar

Homemade Sloppy Joe Sliders

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?

*****

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?

Food

Year Of The Rabbit

Leave a comment

“A placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger.”

{via}

*****

Last Friday at dance class, while flipping through the February issue of Disney Family Fun magazine, I came across a recipe for Chinese Peanut-Sesame Noodles.

I wanted to see how it compared to this recipe. {I like the added veggies in this recipe, but both are excellent!}

And what better night to serve it than Chinese New Year…

I added grilled chicken and served with edamame on the side.

It was too spicy for the tikes, but you could certainly omit the chili paste. Also, if you don’t have tahini on hand you could easily substitute with the same amount of peanut butter.

These noodles were quick and easy ~ I had all the ingredients except for the scallions.

Delicious warm or cold.

Enjoy!


Family

Hold On

Leave a comment

Another year has come and gone.

Holding onto {ALL} that 2010 brought our way…

It was a success…and now we’re sitting down, buckling up, holding on and looking forward to what Twenty Eleven will bring.

*****

“From success you get a lot of things, but not that great inside thing that love brings you.”

~ Sam Goldwyn ~

*****

Wishing you {LOVE} today and always…

Have a safe and joyous New Year!

Fitness, Food

Taste Test Tuesday

1 Comment

My bro-in-law works for Glacéau, the makers of vitaminwater. He was in town a couple weeks back and delivered two cases of brand-spankin’ new formulas and flavors ~ which aren’t even on the shelves yet.

Facebook had a contest where fans could essentially choose a new flavor of vitaminwater and the winner was…..Black Cherry Lime!

I don’t drink the ones that have calories, but I tried this one and it was pretty tasty.

He also brought some NEW vitaminwater ZERO which will eventually replace the vitaminwater10 ~ apparently 10 calories was too many for some people! This new flavor is  grape-raspberry and I. LOVE. IT. I don’t normally drink these, but it’s nice to periodically treat myself to one instead of H2O during my workouts.

I always see these Go Girl energy drinks at the store and I think the name is so cute (plus a portion of the proceeds to to breast cancer research). I picked one up and did a little taste test.

The verdict:

I like the flavor of the vitaminwater, but I like the carbonation of the Go Girl. I think the color of the GG was a little bit of a turn off – maybe dial down the “pinkness” a few notches? But the GG has a citrus taste which I did enjoy.

So, I guess, with that said, I like them equally as far as energy drinks go…

…but I know the best thing is good ‘ol H2O, so I will stick to that and occasionally treat myself to some bling’d out version ~ plus I don’t really ever feel ENERGIZED after drinking an energy drink!

Do you?

Fitness

BFFs

1 Comment

Well, I did it!

I started running tonight to train for the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Half Marathon in early December!

This girl is taking baby steps since I am NOT a runner and never have been. I figured with the big 4-0 staring at me from 9 months away, I’d better do something so I can feel good about turning 4 decades old!

Tonight I ran .5 (don’t overlook that decimal – it’s not 5 miles, it’s “point 5”) miles. Don’t laugh. It’s a start, right? I am focusing on a mile a month. By the end of January, I will be able to run 1 mile no prob, by the end of February, 2 miles, etc.

I think that’s ultra conservative and doable.

My friend, Hollie, is my partner in crime. She’s also celebrating her “special b-day” this year and is going to do the “Vegas thang” with me! Any other takers out there?

We can meet in Vegas on Friday, do the race on Saturday morning and then party like rock stars for the next couple days! Doesn’t that sound like fun? I think so!

The following things are going to be my BFFs for the next while:

Mis zapatos:

Agua:

I promise to get an eco-friendly, reusable bottle pronto!

My zebra jounal:

Isn’t it so cute? I had to have it with my weird zebra print fetish lately!

I’m going to log all my miles in this thing and just kind of jot down my feelings from time to time. I think it’ll be fun to look back in 6 months and see how I was feeling and read about when I only ran a half a mile! LOL

And this is the word that I am going to have to keep repeating to myself:

I love this little plaque. I found it yesterday and had to bring it home for my mantel! I figured it would be the perfect push to get me through to my goal.

I’m excited to see where this takes me…glad I’m giving myself plenty of time so I don’t get discouraged!

I BELIEVE!

Do you?

Food

Out With The Old, In With The Shoe!

2 Comments

Hello? Is anyone still out there in Blogland? I know… I’m a blog abandoner! My apologies to my reader(s)! I promise to be around more now that we have the holidays behind us. I’ve missed doing my little posts and am looking forward to getting back into a routine.

Just to recap, I think that this past holiday season was one of the BEST ever for me. I tried my best to stretch it out, slow it down and take in as much as possible. And you know what? I think it worked!

We packed a lot in, but at the same time, managed to have time to sit back and reflect on a great year.

A Disneyland trip kicked off our holidays. Turkey in San Diego. 3:30 a.m. wake-up call on Black Friday. 4 foot tree from Home Depot. Token Santa visit at mall. H1N1 mist up the nose. Holiday card send-off. Road trip to Vegas for Jay’s 40th milestone b-day. Holiday play dates. Intuit holiday party. Visited friends in Newport. Peppermint mochas. Neighborhood lights on foot. Crafting delicious holiday treats. Listening to E&H sing Christmas songs on car rides. Late night shopping excursions. Wrapping paper. Tape. Curly ribbon. Tissue paper.

It’s all gone. Lurking around the corner to make an appearance again in what will be a short 11 months.

Superbowl ~ Valentine’s Day ~ Holden’s 3rd b-day ~ St. Patrick’s Day ~ Easter ~ Elliott’s 5th b-day ~ Last day of school ~ Summer ~ First day of school ~ New routines ~ My fortieth! ~ Pumpkins ~ Halloween ~ Annual Disneyland trip ~ Turkey Day ~ Repeat most of above paragraph and we’ll be in the same spot in 2011 as we are now!

My “resolutions” this year are: 1) No excuses 2) Keep it simple

To get off to a running (literally) start in 2010, I bought these:

Yes, the tag is still intact, but these will be getting put to use this week. My goal, again, is to do the Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon in early December…I am still positive, but seeing that I can barely run a half-mile, I have a few hesitations! Especially when I see a woman who looks to be in fabulous physical shape wearing a half-marathon finisher t-shirt! Uh, do I need to look like that in order to complete 13.1 miles? If so, then I have a LONG way to go and may need more than 11 months to complete my goal! BUT, since this is the year of “no excuses”, I will hit the pavement in the above pink and silver numbers and see what comes of it! Don’t worry, you will hear about every pain and blister along the way!

Jay decided he wanted to start the new decade out with a nice bottle of tequila! Ay caramba! So, there I was on New Year’s Eve @ BevMo in the L-O-N-G line extending to the back of the store getting this:

We rang in the New Year locally (meaning ON our street!) which was awesome since we were able to cruise home on foot around 2:30 a.m. from about 20 yards away!

We used the above square bottle for some Pomegranate Margaritas ~ recipe here.

This bottle DID last us 2 nights as we continued to welcome in 2010 last night with a wonderful sushi spread provided by our lovely neighbors Bob & Sun.

Check out this spread:

and this spicy salmon hand roll:

Let me just say that 2010 is off to a great start!

Thank you to ALL our family & friends for an epic 2009! Looking forward to new friends, new traditions, new discoveries and new adventures in the upcoming year.

Wishing you peace, love, health and happiness in the next 361 days!