Jameson the Second

Once again it's been awhile since I've posted.  Work, life stuff, work, and the new baby have kept me very busy.  Yes, I said baby.  One week ago Babboo and I went and picked up a new addition to the family, we named him Jameson after his dad and it goes along with the "alcohol theme" being our other baby is named Stoli.  Please meet the baby

Easter Day, First Day at Home

He is a silver lab and is the sweetest monster ever.  Right now he has the prettiest blue eyes that will melt your heart. 

 

He is adjusting to sleeping in his house at night and is trying really hard at potty training.  He likes to drive his sister crazy and has gone to work with his daddy a couple times. 

  I love candids so this is one of my favorite pictures.  Jameson checking out where Daddy works and making friends.

So I've been pretty busy chasing him around the house, taking potty breaks, checking to see what's in his mouth, telling him "NO" (which he may think is his name) and giving him lots of love.

Spring Forward

Yesterday we "sprung forward," although I hate losing the hour of sleep, I really love the fact that winter is almost over.  I don't like the cold.  I like sunny days over 72 degrees.  I can say I did the most awesome thing this winter, something that made me appreciate winter a little more,  Ice boating. 


Go Blue



"The Pickle" which I rode in.

For those of you that have never heard of ice boating, you are pretty much in a small sail boat with ice skates on the sides and the back.  I'm sure the ice boaters of the world just cringed at my description, but it gives you a good visual.  We didn't get going too fast, as the wind wasn't cooperating the day I went out, but I would say we got up to 30 mph.  Some boats can reach speeds of 100 mph in good conditions.  It was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever experienced.  If you get the chance to go ice boating, take it!

Knock, Knock, Knock....Penny

One of my favorite Pinterest Boards is "My Shiny Penny." I would love to tackle a penny floor or the penny bar, or the penny wall, but I'm not sure Babboo would be down with any of those. So I'm thinking that a penny word might be the answer to my first penny project.

 

 

I love this penny wall.  It has been sealed with epoxy, so the pennies look like they are under glass.  Holly from Bella Nest describes this project. The coolest thing is there is a line of pennies with family birth years. 
 



Rebecca from Crafted Sparrow made this as a gift.

 



I found this project at Sometimes Homemade.

I'm thinking of putting my word mixed in with framed pictures on my next project, the gallery wall. I first need to figure out where this gallery wall is going to be, since all the walls in this house seem to be too small, cut up by openings, doorways, stairways, windows..... At any rate, I think I will do the word "lucky" as a little play on the lucky penny thing, and with the pictures I think it will fit in. 

 

 

When I get motivated and finish my word, I'll post it here.  Happy Spring Forward.  





I have almost 5900 pins on my Pinterest Boards and I would say 80% are recipes.  But today isn't going to be about a food pin.  Today, I'm choosing what project to do to spruce up the house a little.  I'm deciding between a few things, so I'm hoping for some advice.  I know I want to do some sort of sign to mix in with pictures on a wall somewhere in the house.  Here are my front runners:


You Are

Dave Matthews Band Song, This is my ringtone for Babboo



Similar to the first, but I like lettering more




Another song lyric. i would change color and font.



Another DMB song



Because we live on the lake

Love You More

I'm second guessing myself because these will be in a common area of the house.
So, why don't you all comment on what you think I should choose.  Please and Thank You.

*****click on captions to find signs.

Last Name? Ok 20 minutes

My sweet babboo bought me a gift card for a cooking class at Sur la Table.  I loved this gift, not only because it sounds like a lot of fun, he bought it so we could go together.  Cue the "awwww". 
For anyone not familiar with the classes at Sur la, they have everything from the classic dishes of Spain, to pies and tarts, to tamales, to gnocchi, and many, many more.  The class we both want to take is Thai Restaurant Favorites.  We both love Thai food, and have attempted Pad Thai a couple times, but it just never comes out quite right. 

The menu:  Fresh Thai Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce – Classic Shrimp Phad Thai – Spicy Beef and Cucumber Salad – Mango Sticky Rice with Coconut Sorbet

Sounds delicious, right?  The only Thai class they have is in mid June unless they add another.  Until then I guess we will keep ordering take out, which is ok with me too.

I'm Sure We'd Be Great Friends

Do you remember the scene the movie "Notting Hill," where William's sister has a surprise meeting with Anna?  Honey rambles on about how her and Anna could be friends.

"Oh God, this is one of those key moments in life, when it's possible you can be really, genuinely cool - and I'm failing 100%. I absolutely and totally and utterly adore you and I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world and more importantly I genuinely believe and have believed for some time now that we can be best friends. What do YOU think?"

I have those moments all the time.  Not that I'm meeting celebrities, but when I watch TV or read someone's blog.  Right now I'm watching the Food Network and I think Trish Yearwood and I could be great friends.  I also think the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond and I could hang out, cook some yummy food, and tool around the ranch.  I started reading Ree's blog a few years ago, so I feel like I know her. 

I also think quite a few of the other woman, whose blogs I read, could be friends.  When you read about someone's life for years, you feel like you know them and could go for lunch or drinks, and send them Christmas Cards.  But my blog crushes are all over the US and sadly I will probably never meet any of them in person.  Too bad, I'm sure we'd be great friends.

You Can't Go Wrong With Cinnamon

I love food, all kinds of food, and my girlish figure can confirm this.  One thing I really love, CINNAMON.  Cinnamon rolls, snickerdoodle cookies, coffee cake, and the one thing I could eat every evening with a cup of tea, cinnamon sugar toast. 
Last night I had to make a trip to the grocery store and actually wasn't in a hurry so I stopped at Dunkie and grabbed a coffee.  Down the second aisle of the grocery store I spotted these, imagine my delight.

  

 I think what sucked me in was the writing on the top corner of the package, beckoning me to buy it, "DELICIOUS SNACK serve with cheese, coffee, or tea."  Coffee, you say?  Well I've got a fresh cup of Dunkie right here.  Into the cart it went. 
Usually when I get a coffee before going to the store, it means I will take my time and go up and down every aisle, not tonight.  I quickly grabbed the rest of the things from my list and headed to the car.
I'm going to preface what I did next, so I don't look like a total pig.  I hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was 7 pm.  With that said, I unloaded the groceries into the car, got in the front seat, and then proceeded to rifle through the bags to find my cinnamon treasure.  I tore open the package and pulled out a nicely wrapped snack.

 I thought, if they went through the trouble to individually wrap these up, they are going to be delicious!!!!  I unwrapped the wax paper around my cinnamon treat and found a crisp, round, cracker, covered in cinnamon sugar, and looking yummy.

 I took the first bite and could immediately taste cinnamon sugar.  Then it hit me, the after taste was horrendous.  Now, you could pretty much offer me a turd covered in cinnamon sugar and I would graciously accept your offer, but this, I imagine, tasted worse.  The extra virgin olive oil gave my treat a bitter, nasty taste.  I suppose I deserved this, since I basically was "sneaking" these treats because we just started watching what we eat and these were going to be my secret indulgence.
When I got home and unpacked the bags, I opened up the package to take a few pictures, and can you believe I fell for that cinnamon again.  One more bite, maybe I just got a bad one....Nope, the second bite was just as bad as the first.  I yanked them off the counter and into the garbage they went. 
I can say, this experience has not changed my love for cinnamon.  I will continue to be a sucker for monkey bread, cinnamon pretzels, spiced cinnamon nuts, sticky buns.......