so where’s my vacation photos? well… I went through all 700 and narrowed down 370 that i love. I spent all Friday night doing so. I know i should edit them even more….How could anyone sit through looking at 370 pictures??? But how could I not include photos i find so dear? I’m the worst at editing!
the weekend was spent catching up on sleep (at least TRYING to). I keep waking up when it’s dark outside. THANKS JET-LAG! Saturday I woke up at 7AM. Sunday I woke up at 6am. Today I woke up at 5:38AM. What’s with that?? Although… it’s actually nice to watch the sun come up. I never get the chance to do that. I don’t know my house well at that time of day. It’s fun to experience. My sleep usually comes before watching the trees light up with the sun.
glimpse of my weekend:
-we watched Knocked Up on dvd
-short trip to Ikea for planters
-grocery shopping for Red Sox game on Sunday
-bought a bundt cake mold & made my first bundt cake.
-caught up on all the mail from being away
-made grilled cheese & tomato soup
-helped Casey to get better (he’s sick)
-made part of my halloween costume
-straightened up the house for company
-decorated the mantle in the living room for Halloween (pictures above)
-relaxed & enjoyed being home
After spending 10 days away, I hope to take things easier and enjoy all the things I have.
we’re baaaaack! Casey & I went on a trip with my family. We spent 10 days away. It was wonderful, relaxing, amazing, magical, interesting & overwhelming! So much to see, so much to do! I took over 400 pics while away. It’s going to take me a long time to edit them….. But right now I leave you with this one above. We spent the last day of our trip in Las Palmas- in the Canary Islands. We walked around and found these pretty fish!
More about the trip later. I’m still recovering from having spent 27 hours traveling. It’s good to be home. Time to catch up on all my recorded shows & snuggle with my two kitties.
I’ve spent the past 10 days curbing my internet usage. Damn….It felt pretty good. I’m trying sooo hard not to get sucked back in!
on friday night I had a birthday dinner at my house for my favorite neighbor: meat loaf, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach & apple pie (too busy to take pictures!)
we occasionally encountered some misbehaving cats over the weekend:
i baked a loaf of bread & made whoopie pies:
we enjoyed the bread on the patio during an overcast morning:
i bought two new lamps for our bedroom and put existing lamps in the guest room (new lamps not shown):
spent a lot of time in my office/work room:
we went to Pacifica to watch the Red Sox vs. Yankees as well as the Patriots game. We stopped at the beach along the way….
we ate turkey chili & cornbread muffins
-we watched Fargo
-i went for a hike
-i played on the internet (til 3am!)
-i tried clothes on for our trip
-we went shopping for a jacket
-i bought some magazines
-i didn’t sleep as much as i wanted to
Now I’m off to make one of my favorite soups & watch Martha on my TIVO. Happy Monday!
had a little help from my 13 year old baking buddy:
xoxoxoxoxo, tracy
today at work I went to my coworker’s house to take pictures for her Real Estate brochure. The best part (besides getting away from work) was meeting her “kids.” The dog is Siena Cha-Cha and the cat is Madison. It’s the first Scottish Fold cat I’ve met. Their ears are silly.
i also fell in love with this flowery plant. It’s a Jewels of Opar plant. Perhaps one day I’ll have one in my backyard….
When someone asks you to help them with something and their explanation of the action takes longer to explain than the action itself. This is not the best time management. They clearly could have finished the task already. This is especially annoying when the task is making a phone call.
example:
“Call this person, tell them this and this and this….ask them this and that and that…and if they ask this…say that….etc!!!” I sit there thinking “Do you want me to dial, and you can just say that to them?!!!???”
People on the internet:
Say hello to my new camera. She doesn’t have a proper name yet. Once she does, you will be properly introduced. She needs a complicated/devilish name because it wasn’t easy getting her.
I ordered her (or should i say one of her relatives) through Amazon thinking she would come in a few days. I received an email from them saying it was due to ship in October. Blasted! This would not arrive in time for her to make her maiden voyage on our trip to Spain at the end of September. Can you imagine the stress this caused?? My wonderful husband tracked her down at a camera shop in San Francisco.
When I called Amazon to cancel the extended warranty, I made the mistake of telling them I was going to purchase it in person. I bought the camera at a local shop and returned home to cancel the camera order through Amazon. To my surprise, it shipped!!!! What is with that? Did they expedite my order because I threatened to buy it somewhere else? Now, I will have to deal with the returning process. Either way, I’m glad I have her. Stress no more! She will make her maiden voyage soon.
casey installed our new front porch light:
coffee was the fuel for the weekend:
went out to breakfast:
we had our monogrammed aisle-runner framed from our wedding. It now lives in our dining room:
a paint swatch was contemplated:
caught up on my tv shows with yummy yogurt with almonds, raisins & honey:
we finished painting the deck. here it is in progress:
thought about the wonderful treats of Taste Catering at my parents house for the University of Tennesse Party on Thursday:
-we also ate burritos & saw Jay Mohr perform at Cobb’s Comedy Club in SF
-we bought a mirror that didn’t work out
-we spent time with friends & went to Malibu GP to race cars, play miniature golf and O.D. on skee-ball. Dinner at Safeway’s new Citrine restaurant.
-snuggled with kitties
-red sox rookie pitcher threw a no-hitter
-watched Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
-prepared lunches for the work week
**not in that particular order**
When it’s hot as hell outside and I have no motivation to clean a sink full of dishes I make the following dinner:
Sliced heirloom tomatoes with basil and fresh mozzarella:
I usually chop up a bunch basil leaves, mix in sea salt/ pepper and really good olive oil. Dab on the sliced tomato and top it with the mozzarella slice. Sprinkle some sea salt & fresh ground pepper and dig in. It’s really great paired with a toasty piece of french bread.
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes:
I slice up fingerling potatoes so they are thin. I put them on cookie sheet with lots of olive oil, salt & pepper and sometimes I’ll splash some garlic powder into the mix. That goes in the oven at 425 degrees. It usually takes about 20 minutes total-give or take. I flip them around half way so they don’t get burnt or stick to the pan. I usually save all the crispy ones and devour them, secretly in the kitchen.
We used to fight over the crispiest potato in my family. It’s a habit that I haven’t broke. Sometimes if my husband gets a really crispy one- he puts it on my plate. Now that’s love! To make the potatoes look extra fancy, top with some chopped parsley. I didn’t have any in this picture. Please forgive me.
Grilled Chicken with Lemon: To these two side dishes, I add some grilled chicken. I pound out a couple of chicken breasts, bathe them in olive oil & lemon juice- with a bit of salt & pepper. I occasionally add cayenne if I’m feeling extra spicy. After 15 minutes in the marinade, I grill them on our little b-b-q. Top it off with extra lemon juice & you’ll want seconds.
I usually make a little green salad. This one above is a simple mixed greens with chopped green onions. I add some lemon juice & olive oil to taste. Salt & Pepper that baby up and you are good to go! You could add feta if you’d like. You won’t regret it.
Pair it all up with a Gin & Tonic or a Jack Daniels & Diet Coke with lime (in my case), and it’s a typical summer meal on my back porch.
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