Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Backyard color...

(All pictures from BHG)

Aren't these cute?  I wish I had a tree in my backyard to hang these from...

 And how cute is the letter on the wall-  where can I get one of these?  I love that!


How fun is this?  I would love to do this on my fence, however, my backyard gets so much sun and I am the worst about remembering to water...

Friday, May 20, 2011


I scrapped again and made one page from my 45th birthday...2years ago! Time sure does fly...

I have been preoccupied with DIY blogs still- such great finds out there.  Here are some good blogs to check out Thrifty Decor Chick and  Remodelaholic... 
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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Great Blogs....

Lately I have been bitten by the DIY bug…and I have found so many blogs of women that are so great at it. They have me so inspired!  I wish it was as easy as they make it seem.

Check out this blog- Fancy Frugal Life - I love the plate idea!!!  I have to do this! It would be so cute for a dinner party.

And while you are at it- check out Red Hen Home- how cute is her clock table!

I found all of these blogs by checking out the great blog finds by my friend Pam has found and then checking out their links, and so on… J

Friday, May 13, 2011

On Friday, Jake's school had "Moms & Muffins" in honor Mother's Day. The kids had to draw a picture of their mom and then write a few things about them. Jake was VERY embarrassed about his picture and didn't want me to look at it. The picture is pretty funny with the red hair he colored. While we were at his desk he leans over to his friend and says, "see my mom has red hair". Then Jake whispers in my ear, "can you dye your hair blonde?" I guess my hair color embarrasses him... some kids certainly don't like to be different than their peers, my kid definitely is one of them!


I ran out for a Starbucks on Mother's Day (Mark had to work in the morning), when I came home this is what the kids had prepared for me...:) nice, huh?



A quick run out to Temecula for a little wine tasting and dinner at Palumbo's Ristorante. Fun day!
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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I am so sad.....I made Creamy Lemon & Chive Farfelle last night from Simply Scratch, it was SOOO good, had enough just leftover for me to take for lunch today.  This morning I get the tupperware container out of the fridge and bring to work.  I am starving all morning and cannot wait for lunch, I open the container.....it's the leftover farfelle that I didn't put any of the creamy lemon sauce on because Jake doesn't like it.  I seriously almost cried.  How sad am I?  :)

Friday, May 6, 2011

I found this picture online somewhere, I am sorry I can't remember which pool company, as I looked at MANY and then forgot to write down where I got this picture, but this is my dream pool...

The other day I stumbled on a blog, from another blog,(I wish I bookmarked her site!) and the gal stated that she made a list of ALL the things that needed to be done around her house, big & small.  She said she even went so far as to call and get quotes for things that she couldn't do on her own- just so she would *know*.  I thought that was an excellent idea-  there are so many things that need to be done around our house.  I think we could hire a handyman to come to our house everyday, he would have a job for at least 3 months!

Anyway, I (and the kids too) have always wanted to re-do our pool, so I thought, what the heck- I am going to call and get some quotes, what can it hurt?  I am sure I will fall over when they tell me how much it will cost- but at least I will *know*!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

My new favorite pasta dish....

I just spent the last ½ hour climbing up our ladder & unplugging all of our smoke alarms.  Seems our neighbor could hear the alarms going off inside our house & called Mark.  He couldn’t leave work so I had to go.  I was afraid of what I might find- water streaming through the doors or something horrendous like that.  So happy it wasn’t that! 

Last night I tried this recipe from Simply Recipes except I tweaked it for my tastes…I have to say this was sooo good.  Even the kids liked the taste of the cauliflower!  Granted they only tried the smallest piece they could find.  But at least they tried it!  I had the dish for lunch today- tasted even better!  YUM!

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and (Prosciutto) Recipe

            

INGREDIENTS

1/2 medium cauliflower, cored and broken up into 3/4-inch florets (4+ cups)  (I used a whole cauliflower)
1 pint cherry tomatoes  (didn’t use those- just a regular tomato, it’s all I had & cooked them with the cauliflower)
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage (used only 1 tsp dried sage)
4 large cloves garlic
4 ounces of prosciutto   (did not use)
8 ounces orecchiette pasta (I used campanelle)
5 ounces baby arugula or spinach, cleaned and coarsely chopped  (I used spinach)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Lay out cauliflower and tomatoes in a roasting pan, coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until just lightly browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
2 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil 
3 While water is heating, pulse garlic, sage, and (prosciutto) together in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Once cauliflower has browned lightly, remove from oven, toss cauliflower with garlic mixture, and return to oven to cook for 5-7 minutes more.
4 Boil pasta uncovered (rolling boil) until firm, but done (al dente). Reserve one cup of pasta liquid. Drain water from pot. Add cauliflower, tomatoes, arugula (or spinach), and Parmesan to the pasta. Stir in enough cooking water to moisten. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Yield: Serves 4.

Monday, May 2, 2011

how cute are these?  You can find it here-I don't know this person- just liked this when I was browsing... :)  I think I need these to put in my kitchen...