I'm still here!

I'm still here, just been in a blogging funk.

Actually, I've taken lots of pics and have lots of posts in my head. I just have no patience to sit down and type.

I'll do it this week, I swear!

Yum

Here's a few things I've spotted via Pinterest that I've now made:

I made this Snickers-Apple salad tonight.

Super simple and very yummy!

Source: ericasbloggityblog.com via Kyle on Pinterest

I made this Hawaiian Crockpot chicken a week or two ago. Got good reviews in our house!

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I made this buffalo chicken salad last week. Sam and I both liked it. Max didn't :P

Source: snappygourmet.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Here's what mine looked like:






I made this southwest chicken in the crockpot a couple weeks back. Very good, especially using leftovers for tacos/burritos. Make sure to use full strength cream cheese (not low fat/fat free).

Source: thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Happiness is

Happiness is SNF (Sunday Night Football) in a comfy spot (my bed) with the house smelling yummy!

I <3 Scentsy!

I found some cute warmers at WalMart made by Better Homes and Gardens. They're half the price as the Scentsy warmers and just as nice.

I recently ordered a bunch of new scents from Scentsy but Enchanted Mist is my all-time favorite.

Which do you like?

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In completely unrelated news, I recently found some new bedding. 

I've always lurvved white bedding, but have had a hard time finding what's been in my head. So last year I ordered a floral one from Pottery Barn that I really liked and overall I've been happy. But still, the elusive white bedding has been niggling at me.

Well I noticed way too late that Target (in addition to West Elm, at a much higher price) had exactly what was in my head. Unfortunately, Target had sold out completely by the time I'd realized they had what I'd been searching for. Bummer.

Right before I was going to hit 'purchase' on the West Elm site, inspiration hit. So I went to over to eBay and wham! I found what I wanted (from Target's line) for the exact price I wanted!!

So happy!!

So here is the new white bedding! I'm thrilled to have found it after looking for so long!

(sorry for the bad night-time lighting, it truly is white)

What do you think? Simple but not plain right?

I like that for fall/winter I can add some fall and/or Christmas colors (pillows/throws) to change it up a bit. I still love my floral Pottery Barn duvet, which I'm sure I'll bring out next spring.

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9.17.11

Today's outfit:

Had a wedding shower to go to tonight. Which apparently is different from a bridal shower. Anyways, we all had a fun time. Max was really well behaved and I had him dressed super cute in khakis, light green l/s button up and a argyle vest.  Cutie patootie!




Incidentally, looking at these pictures this mirror truly does add like 20lbs to my hips/tummy in pictures.

Cringe.

Anyways, here was my inspiration picture from Pinterest:

Source: polyvore.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I was going for the green with black. My shirt had those exact green colors and I wore a black swing cardigan overtop for extra warmth.

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9.13.11

Today's outfit:

Nothing special really.




Eggplant flutter tank, oatmeal cardi and dark blue capris. Gold jewelry.
And finished with a smile!

I probably ruined it with the shoes, a plain leather slip on, but I have a ton of errands/walking to do today and need something comfy.
Comfy > ideal cute sometimes.

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9.11.01

I remember everything about that day.

I have not forgotten.

I cry every time I see anything about that day.

I have not forgotten.

I still pray for thousands of unknown people.

I have not forgotten.

I remember.

Kitties!

So Sam and I were snuggling on the couch watching football while Max is napping.

As the commercials come on, he flips around channels. He pulls up the guide and I hear the following:

As he spies animal planet channel)

(que squeally happy Sam voice)

Sam: Oooohhh!!! Oooohh!!!
Cute Kittens, followed by America's Favorite Cats!!!!!

Sweet! They know what people wanna watch!

Jenn: I look at the guide and my husband and then burst into deep gut laughing and the tears start streaming.

I haven't laughed that hard in months. Maybe years.

HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahhahahahahahahahaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still am chuckling and am drying the tears.

Goodness.

Folks, my husband is the crazy cat man. This just re-emphasizes it all.


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Pro Tip

My loving husband informed me that I look like a grouch in all these pictures.

I'll try to smile more.

That is all.

:)

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22 Months

I just realized that I forgot to write up what Max is up to at 22 months (which he tuned on the 2nd).

He must be going through a growth spurt because he's sleeping a long time at night- NOT that I'm complaining. I'm loving it, truly.

He's really working hard on his letters and sounds. For instance this morning he woke up and just hung out in his crib going through all the letters, sounds and words he knows. For like 40 min. I took extra time to get ready as a result. :)

When I come in now, he likes to direct me through the routine a bit. I think it's cute.

After I pick him up out of the crib, he'll grab me and hug me (my new favorite activity). Then point me to turn off the humidifier and sound machine. Then he points to the changing table. He hands me his paci and says 'all done'. While I'm changing his diaper, he'll try to give me a wipe or try to use it on himself. You know, down there. He knows which arm/leg is next as we put on his outfit. I love his little interactions in our routines.

He's learned how to say 'help' now, though mostly it sounds like heh or hah. But whatever, I know what it means. He also says up and he knows the difference between up and down. His down sounds like done.

Max has never said the word 'no'. Always 'all done.' He can almost jump entirely on his own- especially in an elevator.

He does try hard to say new words. Sometimes he actually says them by accident but when he actually tries then he can't.

He's all about figuring out how things work. His fine motor skills are so good.

He still could care less about books. I can't get him to sit for longer than 8 seconds when we have a book out. Literally.

He's loving kale chips, anything he can dip stuff into and Max can sniff out chocolate within 150 feet and climb Mt Everest to get to it.


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9.7.11

Today's outfit, cool and drizzly out, I wanted something warn and fall-ish:




Brown cable cardi, peach swing tank, trouser jeans, brown-bronze jewelry accents and brown suede Me Too flats. Comfy!



Max didn't nap yesterday so I never did get that mirror hung. Worked long hours last night too.

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9.6.11

I'll try to get a better picture later as I finally found what I was looking for to mount my mirror in the bedroom.

Here is the inspiration pic:

Source: zipit.onsugar.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

But for the quick and dirty, here's what I've got on today:





Dark wash trouser jean, grey/white stripe v-neck tee, black drape cardi with red jewelry accents and shoes.




We've got a bit of a cool/wet day, so this was perfect. Comfy, warm and casual.

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Funny guy!

Max had been going through a shoe phase. Sam says he's a shoeaholic like me and that I've corrupted our baby.
That's another topic I suppose.

Anyways, he likes to try on our shoes. Actually, most times he demands we (usually me) take off my shoes so he can jack them and try them on.

So here's Max moments ago in all his shoe glory!









The red patent completes his outfit, no?


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9.5.11

Today's outfit,grey and turquoise.  Here was my inspiration for the color combo:

Source: polyvore.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

And here's what I wore:


Trouser jeans, grey v-neck t-shirt and turquoise cardi.

Shoes are a pewter/metallic flat:




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9.4.11

Its my wedding anniversary today, so I'm keeping it short and simple. Love you Sam!!!!

Outfit today:




The sweater is a bit much seeing as how it's in the 80's out, but with football on I'm feeling fall-ish!


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Curry Chicken

Tonight I decided to make some curry chicken. I'd seen a recipe I liked but knew I would need to tweak it for our family.

So here's what you need:

chicken (I used 2 ginormous breasts) and cut them into small chunks
onion - 1 med, chopped
curry powder
salt'n'peppa
red pepper - not pictured
veg. oil
coconut milk (1 can, I only used a wee tad bit) - not pictured
heavy cream - not pictured

First thing is that after you've chopped the chicken into bite sized chunks, add about 1 TB or so of the curry powder (can be more or less, depending on your taste) and the onions and a smallish drizzle of oil. Mix them well and let them sit for a couple minutes.

Chop up the red pepper. Place the chicken mixture in a pan with the red pepper and cook thoroughly.

Once the chicken has cooked fully, add in some (or all) of the Coconut Milk. I used perhaps less than 1/4 cup. I also added just a few splashes of heavy cream.

My husband Sam doesn't really like soupy stuff (unless it is a soup) and also that entire can of coconut milk is like 75 grams of fat. Heh. No thanks, we just needed something to cut the curry a bit, nothing crazy. So that's why I did the coconut milk/heavy cream combo.

Let the cream sauce come to a brief boil and then reduce the heat. You could let it go a bit longer or serve immediately.

Normally I'd say put this over some rice, but as neither Sam or Max would eat rice, I didn't make any. We ate ours just like so.



While I was cooking, Max kept busy by doing his letters/sounds. He'd use the little 'computer' to play the letter/sound then he'd repeat it. Often he'd run over to me and then tell/show me which letter he had.

He came up with this little idea all on his own and it was quite good. We can now add the letter 'V' to his known list! He's working on 'U' next!

The Zoo!

On Thursday, Max and I headed out to the Zoo. The National Zoo here in DC.

The background: about a month or so ago, I looked up the information online about going to the Zoo, since I'd never been to the one here. What I learned was, it is free to go in, however they charge $20 for parking. Yikes!! You can take the Metro to the Zoo but the closest stop is about a mile away (slightly uphill, ugghhh). OR you can buy a yearly family membership for $70 and get free parking every time plus discounts on everything you buy in the Zoo. Sweet - no brainer there! We're a member now.  :)

The first time we went was while my mom was in town a few weeks back. We went during one of the worst days of that heat wave we had. It was like 105 degrees with like 80% humidity at 10am, so the heat index was like 120.  Ugh, to say the least.  We lasted 1 hour and no animals were even out- it was too hot for them!

Needless to say, that was a less then stellar experience.

So, anyways, on Thursday we woke up and had nothing going on for the entire day.  It was warm out but not humid at all so I figured it'd be a great day to head outside. I packed us lunches/snacks, got the car loaded and headed out.

We spent a few hours there and had the greatest time! Max really enjoyed himself and this time all the animals were putting on shows for us! Yippee!

We stopped by the Animal Farm first. I mainly took pics with my Nikon but haven't gotten those pictures imported yet. So I'll post a couple that I got with my phone first.

Here's some cows:

 And a lion:

The animal farm has 'petting zoo' hours but we weren't there during that time. Perhaps another time we'll do that. The cows there are so awesome- they really moo'd a LOT for all the kiddos. It was so neat!

The best part of the Zoo that day were the orangoutangs. I'll post later about that but they were the stars of the show!