Feeling festive!

So in keeping with the fall theme I was feeling a bit bold and festive today. I went with orange/grey. 

I didn't take a full body shot because let's face it- my hair was a mess and no makeup means I look like I haven't slept in 4 years. Which isn't entirely off the mark...

I just took one of our cats in for a pet-i-cure (see what I did there) and whilst convincing him into his crate he inflicted the following damage to my fall leggings. Hence why he needed that nail trim!

All in a days work!

Great find- pens!

Im not sure about you but I am a pen-a-holic!

Gel, ink, marker, felt, ball point - it doesn't matter because I love them all!

That being said, I found a really cool set from Japan that you just have to try!

These have great color, write beautifully and are...wait for it...erasable!!!! Yes, erasable!

They are Pilot Frixion pens. I got mine on Amazon here.

Pretties!

So while I was on Amazon Prime ordering some necessities (coffee and diaper wipes, natch!) I spied a couple lovelies!

I love Kate Spade bracelets so when I saw this, I about keeled over! Oh my gracious pretties! And oh my, the colors! I think the pink and the teal are the most fab. Although, the white with gold circles is so, so elegant!

Berry Picking

We had a great time berry picking today! We didn't stay long as it was hot, but we did have a great time!

(Don't judge my outfit- it was nearly 100F out today!)

Yummy Teriyaki

I moved here from Seattle. There are tons and tons of teriyaki shops around there - here not so much. We have kabobs.

So, in the spirit of wanting some yummy food, I went in search of a great teriyaki recipe. I adapted a friend's recipe (thanks Elbe and Jill) and here we go!

The cast of characters:

1C Soy Sauce

1C water

1-2 shakes rice vinegar

1C brown sugar

2-3 cloves garlic, minced/crushed

1-2 tsp crushed ginger (I cheated)

Add to a bowl and whisk until the brown sugar is completely dissolved.

Ta-Da!

Feel free to adjust the basic recipe to tweak your personal desired flavor!

You can simmer this on the stove for a lil while and make a thicker finishing sauce as well.

I keep mine stored in the fridge so it's always ready when I need a quick and yummy dinner!

2 parties 2 many

We had 2 birthday parties to go to today. Maxwell hit overload by the second.

We hit a hasty retreat.

We are now chilling with Blues Clues and calming down while momma here tries to get rid of a massive migraine. OMSH!

Photos:
Unwinding with Elmo.
Trying to cut using a spoon and knife.
Loving the Elmo cupcake!

Never too young to start!

Grillin' mama!

This mama likes to grill. Our old one was probably 10 years old, the grates were full of rust and the single burner was disintegrating!

So after the hubs and I talked he sent ME off to Sears to find my heart's desire (well within budget of course)!

Here she is. A 5 burner, searing and rotisserie grilling machine!

My dad and I got it put together in less than 2 hours (while Maxwell was napping).

Oh boy, does this grill work great! Wowza!!

Kiddo

My son keeps me busy, brings me joy, makes me learn patience and makes me sad that my house will never be truly clean again.

I love you kiddo.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Harry Potter

So I just got notice today that the new JK Rowling Harry Potter site, Pottermore, is live! If you haven't gone to it or heard about it, its really pretty cool.

There's lots of things to explore- little tidbits she imparts for various parts of each of the books. Plus you can buy the eBooks for each book (or a bundle of all 7) that work with each major eBook carrier.

I think the bundle for all 7 was around $57.

I loved the books, as well as the movies, so its nice to finally have them on my Kindle.

Southwest kicken chicken pasta

Y'all this is yummy! And also my first experiment into cooking from taste (aka no recipe). It worked out nicely if I say so myself!

Flip side

While I'm thankful for the pain relief that I get from my hip medicine, the flip side is that I gain insane amounts of weight. Ive been taking it consistently for the last 3 weeks and gained 6 lbs (possibly more, since I had shed a little before that from the last round).

Not fun in any case but especially as we go into swim/ shorts season.

Sigh.

Chillin'

It's been sprinkling on/off. So while I clean up around the house and prep dinner, Maxwell gets cozy and is watching Nick Jr

2.5

Today Maxwell is 2 and a half. I can't believe how fast the time flies. It seems like just yesterday that I had this big baby and now he's changing into such a big boy.

Sam and I are do lucky to have such a great kiddo.

Mmmm cheese sticks!

Decided to break down and make some cheese sticks at home for Maxwell like the pizzerias serve. Actually all 3 of us devoured this super fast! It's that good.

I don't have a pizza stone but I'd read a tip on Pinterest to just use the backside of a sheet pan. Worked like a charm.

I don't have the time/energy these days to make my own dough- I just buy the pre-made dough at Trader Joe's.

Pre-heat your oven to 500*F.

Make your own dough or use the ready made stuff like me. If your dough is chilled, let the dough get close to room temp. (~20 min) Spread out and roll it to your desired shape and thickness.

Place it on your pizza stone/pan.

Take a couple (2) tablespoons of butter and melt in the microwave. Add some finely minced garlic if you like that. Spread it over the entire pizza dough- including the crust.

Add equal parts of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. I purchased the pre-shredded low skim mozzarella and parm from Trader Joe's while I was there. I used probably 1 1/2-2 cups each.

Place it in your oven for 10-13 min. Check to see when the cheese is gold n bubbly. Take it out, slice and enjoy.

Sorry, I can't get blogger to turn the picture correctly.

Ginger Soy Salmon

I saw this recipe on Pinterest a while ago and decided to give it a go. It was excellent!

I slightly altered mine from the recipe (click the picture link below) by not adding the scallions or the toasted sesame. But that was the only real change I made.

It was totally excellent.  I'll be making this again for sure!

Recipe here: 

Source: howsweeteats.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Lovely day

Sunday was a lovely warm day here. We headed out to have lunch. Maxwell decided he wanted to eat his PB&J with a fork.

Silly kiddo!

Little things

It's the little things that make me happy :)

Now Max's plates have something to keep them organized.

Refresh!

I took this morning to repaint the front door and the hardware.

The door used to be maroon with brass hardware.

1 can of paint & 1 can of spray paint took care of that!

I love it so much better!

Easter!

I forgot to put up Easter pics. Bad mommy!