Monday, October 27, 2014

2014 weekly menu | #44

october band birthday celebration.  gotta love costco cake!
this week i'm baking for a treat sale at school, volunteering at the book fair, putting together the final halloween costumes, practicing sofia's book report presentation, working our school's fall festival and home football game, trick or treating with the younger kids, water polo tournament on saturday, volunteering for a ucla game, cheering on the dirt diamonds at the softball game on sunday, followed by a friend's birthday party and great grandpa's birthday celebration.

does everyone have this much to do this week or are we just crazy busy?  i put together a menu for this week but not sure i can pull it off with everything else.  good thing we have lots of leftovers in the fridge from this weekend in case i collapse.

weekend eats
saturday: pizza
sunday: chinese food with my parents after church

making this week
monday: turkey burgers, sweet potato fries
tuesday: stuffed chicken with prosciutto, pears, and brie, salad
wednesday: salmon with pineapple salsa, green beans
thursday: grilled flank steak with cilantro balsamic marinade, roasted potatoes
friday: football game and halloween

wish us luck!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

around here | october

haven't been able to run for two days due to a strained muscle in my neck and shoulder - most likely happened in yoga on monday. hmph.  getting out the foam roller to massage it out.

there are still remnants from a good birthday.

the camaro is back and parked in our driveway.  i promised b that i wouldn't sell it while he is at work.

a few weeks ago b and i test drove some electric cars.  thinking of trading in our "gas guzzling" tahoe for something new.  not sure 100% electric is the way to go for the amount of miles i put on every day.

at our sophomore parent meeting they gave us (way too much) information on the college process.  i can't even think about it right now.

 our weekends go something like this:  friday night, football game. (let's not talk about the unfortunate defeat at our homecoming game against crespi on friday. but the halftime show was awesome!)
 
 saturday, band review in riverside or anaheim or tustin.  some combination of us attends.

sunday, early morning softball game.  lately the games have been at 8am.  she's doing great and loving it.
then it's confirmation class and church or dinner out with friends.

last saturday the boys and i went on a date to see whiplash at the arclight.  loved it even more the second time around.

i think it inspired jordan.

picked up the rosie project again (took a break to read wild) and i think it's so funny.  i have my next book lined up so i'm in a bit of a hurry to get through this - but i'm enjoying it.

organizing and purging my craft area.  and freeing up some creative space.

making good use of my creative space.

almost done with the craziness that is the combination of water polo and band season. i wonder if we'll miss it when it's all over. i'm pretty sure jordan won't.

finding inspiration everywhere i go.

Monday, October 20, 2014

2014 weekly menu | #43


dinners last week were as posted.  lately i've been rearranging (or totally changing) the menu to fit our schedules.  but last week i made everything and it was all good.  had great success with both of the skinny taste recipes and loved the pork chops with apples and pears from the paleo cookbook.

this week i'm going with dinners that i don't need recipes for.  these are tried and true meals that i can put together without too much thought.  i have to mix it up sometimes.

weekend eats
saturday: pf changs (and movie) with the boys
sunday: tgifridays with friends from school

making this week
monday: italian sausage, white bean and spinach soup, bruschetta
tuesday: chicken tostadas
wednesday: bbq pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw
thursday: pizza
friday: football game

jordan requested that i make this granola again. i'm tempted to making some kind of bread with pumpkin this week.  i've stayed away from the onslaught of pumpkin filled products that i've seen at trader joe's lately - except for a pumpkin kringle that was too good and apparently no longer available.  the cooler weather is a perfect excuse to get in the pumpkin mood, don't you think?

have a great week.

Monday, October 13, 2014

2014 weekly menu | #42

i was really happy to find the skinnytaste cookbook on my last trip to target.  you know i love gina's website and have enjoyed every recipe i've made from her site.  what makes this cookbook even more exciting for me is that the photos were taken by penny de los santos, one of my favorite food photographers.  good food + beautiful photos = perfection.

so of course it came home with me. and it inspired me to pull out another cookbook to make up this week's menu.

weekend eats
saturday: hawaiian luau at the nd gala
sunday: the habit with sofia and friends for her birthday

making this week
monday: pan seared rosemary and sage pork chops from the paleo kitchen cookbook, roasted veggies
tuesday: crock pot chicken, salad, mac and cheese (making the chicken stock again as well)
wednesday: sweet and spicy salmon from the skinnytaste cookbook, brown rice, roasted sesame green beans
thursday: chicken pot pie soup from the skinnytaste cookbook
friday: homecoming football game

in other news: i am working on updating my blog.  i haven't changed it in far too long.  may have to learn some html coding and bring back the uppercase.  it's time for improvement.  so excuse me while i try a few things out, move things around and figure this little space out.  hopefully in the end you will like it even more.

thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

sassy @ 9


sofia has been called sassy all her life.  it's something about her attitude.  i was not a fan of that nickname.  to me it meant rude, disrespectful and having an attitude.  

so when it came time to put her nickname on her softball jersey i wasn't sure this was a good idea.  

but then i did a google search of the word "sassy" and it brought up this definitionlively, bold, and full of spirit; cheeky. that definitely described who she is and how she lives her life.

she has an amazing spirit.  she is gentle and fierce. intense and sensitive. reserved and bold.


she is all in.

she loves 100% with all of her heart.

she is creative and energetic.  she doesn't hold back.

she is beautiful.

she has the biggest sweet tooth of anyone i know.

she is so funny but takes life seriously.

she is most definitely stylish.

she is still so much a little girl who fights growing up.

she does great things with lots of energy.

she is a risk taker who feels secure in the choices she makes.

and goes confidently.

she is a girl who doesn't put limitations on herself (and won't let others put them on her.)

she is sweet, thoughtful and caring but with a strong will.

she is joyous, smart, friendly and dramatic.  we love all that about her.

in my google search i found the urban dictionary definition of "sassy": possessing the attitude of someone endowed with an ungodly amount of cool.  well that sums it up!

happy birthday to my sweet and sassy girl.

love,
mom

Monday, October 6, 2014

2014 weekly menu | #41

vietnamese vermicelli bowl 
we're at that point in the year where bobby and i just look at each other and wonder how we will keep it all straight.  who needs to go where? what will we have to sacrifice? what did we forget? when will it end?  it's a whirlwind of activities (and more now that we've added softball to our lives).  we love it all and can't imagine giving something up.  so we muscle through and get it done, try to enjoy ourselves along the way and take deep breaths.

yoga on monday mornings helps.  so does keeping a weekly dinner plan so i don't have to think about it.

weekend eats
saturday: mexican take out
sunday: sushi with friends

making this week
monday: pasta with meatballs
tuesday: carne and pollo asado tacos for sofia's birthday
wednesday: turkey chili, cornbread
thursday: miso glazed salmon, vegetable stir fry and brown rice
friday: football game

cheers to a good week.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

creative adventures | the art of calligraphy

i have long been a fan of handwriting.  it comes from my dad who would show us the exercises he used to do when he was in school.  we would fill pages and pages of lines, circles, swirls and loops.  over and over.  i loved it.

then in school i would seek out those friends who had good hand writing and copy their style. i remember in junior high changing my writing to that fat lettering that spread across the page because that's how my friend wrote. i'd find the pen she used and copy her font letter by letter.

i never took calligraphy.  the pointed pen kind of scared me and it seemed so formal and laborious. but more and more people are bringing it back, in a modern style that looks formal and easy.  it was love at first sight.

so a few weekends ago my sister and i took a class in manhattan beach with a calligrapher named laura hooper.  i've been following her blog and instagram for a while and when i saw that she was coming to LA i jumped at the chance to take her class and i love that my sister was on board with me.

we were so excited to take the class and be with other people that enjoyed handwriting as much as we did.  each student had a personalized place setting ready for them when they arrived.  ink, pen, workbook, paper, nibs, a card, pencil and that awesome tote to carry it all in.

they had a mimosa bar, muffins and crescents for us as well. we had to take it easy on the mimosas or our writing would come out crooked.

i love all the details .

then it was time to get to work.  making lines, circles, swirls and loops.  she would demonstrate the letter on the board and we would write it over and over on our paper.

they would come around and correct little mistakes, like making my capital E look just right.

the key here is practice makes perfect and that's what we need to do now.  practice and make adjustments to the basics so we come up with our own individual style.  that will be fun. i'll be ready to address envelopes if anyone wants to hire me...

after the class i made reservations to have lunch and debrief at a local restaurant.  we knew we had to go to little sister - an asian and french fusion restaurant just blocks away from the hotel.

oh man, the food here was outrageous.  we ordered a cheese plate of bucheron and apricot preserve with lavender.

followed by the chicken banh mi with shrimp chips and a side of pho.

the grilled pork spring rolls which we wrapped in lettuce and dipped in that incredible sauce were just perfect.

i had a great time learning something new, eating something delicious and hanging out with my sister.  looking forward to our next adventure.