The Big Tree

Sunday Colin and I headed to the C-I-T-Y with our friends Alexis and Jay to see the big tree!!! (Although it is not nearly as big as you remember as a kid haha)



Trying to get Colin to smile on the train:



A stop a Macy's....




Strolling through the city. Love me some park chairs! And some red twigs!!!!



We met at Barney's (so fancy!) since they had a Lady Gaga Display.



Then we headed to the tree! Yay Christmas!!!!








And we met Jen there! How fun! What are the chances?????

I don't remember which window had these weird animal people, but I loved these fancy lady birds!!!!



It was a fun day filled with Christmas Spirit and everyone knows how much I love Christmas Spirit!!!! : )

Martha gets me everytime

I am so often distracted by things I don't need while shopping, but I was confident I could get in and out of Home Depot without a problem...a little potting soil, a new show shovel...and I would be on my way.

BUT NO...Thanks to Martha, I was even distracted in the Home Depot!!!!



Don't worry, I stayed strong and did not buy this, but oh, how I wanted to! It would look so nice on the glass door at the top my front stairs. A pine cone wreath COVERED IN GLITTER!!!!

Three cheers for me staying strong and not buying it!



Everything is better with Glitter!

Everyone knows that!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!

I am really excited for a nice long weekend! Colin got me some nice fall flowers to have around the house this weekend! What a nice way to start a vacation...flowers! : )

Pasta Primavera

I have made this twice now and it is SO good! And other than the time it takes to cut up all the veggies, it is pretty easy! : )

Here is the link to the real recipe, it is a Giada De Laurentiis Recipe on http://www.foodnetwork.com/






Ingredients3 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 medium zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into thin strips
2 yellow squash, cut into thin strips
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried 'Herbess de Provence'
1 pound pasta

15 cherry tomatoes, halved1/2 cup grated Parmesan





Once you cut, you coat....Don't forget to set the table!!!!

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total.

It might take more than 20 minutes to roast the veggies

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with theParmesan and serve immediately.



Out of the oven and time to mix!



Yum!!! Dinner is served!

Summer on my Door

I needed some thing new for my door. I have a wire basket with summer flower that I have had on my door in the past, but I wanted something different this year.

I saw these wreaths on Etsy and I was inspired.
It was craft time! : )

I got a bunch of flowers at Michaels, then I got a few fancier ones at a nursery by my house, I borrowed the hot glue gun from my mom and I got to work!







I thought about adding this fun ribbon, but decided against it, and kept the wreath simple.







Shall we take a closer look?







I am very happy with the way it turned out!
Yay Summer on my Door! : )

Good Morning Queen Anne's Lace- How are you?

4th of July Weekend - Part 1

So this past weekend was a good one! I had three days of fun AND relaxing! You need both for a good weekend! : )

Friday night I went on a very fun (and pretty romantic) double date! I headed to a cute down town with Colin, and Alexis & Jay for some fine dining and fireworks! : ) It was a really nice night! We will have to do it again later in the season and get a table on the water to really get a good view of the fireworks!









Saturday and Sunday I took tv and magazine breaks in between being productive. It was awesome! And I actually had time to lay on my Hammock!!! Yay three day weekends!!!!!



Colin and I also hit up the farmers market and I got some produce for the week. I am thinking this is the making of a good veggie lasagna.



Oh and that summer fruit! With some honey, cinnamon and some oatmeal sprinkled on top! yay summer!



And Colin got me flowers. What a good boyfriend! : )

Adventures in making Hummus

It has been so long, I think I forgot how to blog!!!!! : )

I have months worth of back photos to share, but I am going to start with my adventures in the kitchen last week. I try to make most of my own food, so I figured why not make my own hummus???? It didn't come out bad, but it didn't really come out good either. "Failed Attempts...." haha



It tasted good, but the consistency was way off, it was too watery and too chunky. I need to blend it more, or just use a better food processor than the mini I have right now! haha

Cedar's Spinach and Artichoke is my favorite, so I figured I would try and copy that!

I did a can of chick peas, 1/4 cup oil olive, 1 clove garlic (perhaps 1/2 would have been better), 2 tablespoons lemon juice, cumin, fresh parsley, fresh rosemary...then I added half an artichoke (from a can stored in water) and some fresh baby spinach. Then I saved the liquid from the can of beans to add as needed when blending.

Use the term "recipe" loosely for the above paragraph since I didn't really master this yet haha

I made the spinach artichoke batch and I think I put way too much spinach in, so I made a second batch plain. That one tasted a bit better. Then I just mixed about half the spinach batch in with the regular.



I have been eating it at work, and although not bad, it isn't exactly good either. Ill need to try this one again. : )

Once that was done, I whipped up a quiche for lunch! Yum!!!



And since we are talking about cooking.......I took my first trip to the farmers market last weekend!!!!! yay!!!!! I'll photograph my next trip for you. Even Colin loved the farmers market, I could tell! : )

Among other things, I got some Swiss Chard. I put it in my chili, but there are so many favors in that, I really couldn't tell you what it tastes like. So I cooked it up the way I make escarole and bean.



Whoa those leaves are big!!! I put the stems in first to give them a head start, I was told they hold the most fiber so you need to cook them!!! They guy at the market said to cook the Swiss Chard with Bok Choy since the flavors compliment each other. Perhaps I'll try that next week. : )
I bet the after picture of the green veggies would look better NOT in a green Tupperware! haha