Passion Flower

When I noticed the Passion Flower vine my boss had planted had started to bloom, I made sure to bring my camera to work to get some shots!  It is one amazing flower!

I might make some note cards out of some of these shots! : ) 

 

Please enjoy the Passion Flower Photoshoot, with some Joe Pye Weed at the end for good measure! : )

(sorry there are so many, I had trouble narrowing them down!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 Vacation One

I am writing to you from vacation! Yay! Today was supposed to be a full beach day, but sadly it is pouring...so I think it might be a full Blog day instead! 
(Unless the sun comes back out then I am off to the beach!)

 

 

Here are some pictures of our first few days on vacation. On the long drive, Colin wanted to find a Chick-fil-a since he had never been to one, and I wanted to find, well anything but fastfood, and had dreams of finding a exit with both a Panera AND a Chick-fil-a, but I figured that would never happen.

 

But we did find one!!! It was a Vacation Road Trip Miracle! Yay!

 

 

 

 

 

Once we got here we soaked up the views and put our feet in the sand!  We haven't had too much beach time yet, so hopefully this rain doesn't last all week! 
Although I did get a few hours of my favorite past time... : )

 

 

My cute boy thought it would be a good time to shave off his beard, whoa, look at that clean face! : )  He also commented on how he was a 'real-merican' with all the red, white and blue he was wearing, then told me he felt like he was weating a bunting! ha! He makes me smile!

 

We were also anxious to use the grill, sadly no grill while we are in an apartment! Burgers, Dogs, Shrimps and Veggies! (Yes there is a burger and dog hiding under all my veggies!)

 

Ok, time to relax, watch the rain, and enjoy vacation...rain at the beach still beats sitting at work!  More blog posts to come since I have the time!  Maybe Ill post pictures of last years vacation! Ha!

 

Birthday Flowers, A Napkin and some Mercury Glass

These pictures are a little random, but pretty, so enjoy!

My Cowoker got me flowers for my birthday!! yay!  And they went perfectly with the cloth napkin I bought a while ago to make this man cave a bit more feminine!!! I just got one to use on the table.

Then I also picked some flowers from around my office! Yay flowers! 

And last but not least...when Colin and I went out for my birthday one of the shops we wandered into had little mercury glass bowls, so I got one.  Something else to put the jewelry that winds up all over the house in! : )

Birthday Take Two

After a lovely day with Colin, I had an hour or two to rest up and change and then it was out for more birthday celebrating! This time with my lady friends!

We had a yummy byob dinner, as always, and it was a great time.  Thank you for coming Ladies!

After dinner, we hit up club fro yo (aka frozen yogurt place that was way too cool for a bunch of 31 year olds! haha)  But it was fun and yummy!

Yay Birthdays!!!!

Pesto

update -recipe edited and fixed : )

I have made decent and not so good pestos in the past...But since I love it so much, I decided to try it again. This time I went to simplyrecipes.com which is one of my main go-to recipe sites. Their guac recipe is now a staple in our house!

It didn't come out amazing, but it was still pretty yummy. I am wondering if the basil leaves need to be ground finer? Either way, it made for a lovely dinner, and I froze some, so it also made for a lovely dinner a few weeks later! : )

Fresh Basil Pesto

from simplyrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 clove garlic
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1. Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2.  Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Yield: Makes 1 cup.

To eat with the pesto..... some veggies and some Costco ravioli's. I heated the veggies in some corningware dishes. I found a whole un-opened set in Colin's cabinets!!!!  He was holding out on me!  I love a lid when microwaving! (I might not have picked the flower pattern, but I am happy I found them!) 

As much as I openly dis Costco, they do have some good ravioli’s! I prefer the spinach, Colin prefers the chicken (per usual). And speaking of both Costco and Pesto, Costco does have a fab pesto...but the container is so big, we would never be able to use it up before it goes bad!

 mmmm I think I need to make pesto again soon!

ps. here is a different pesto recipe you can try....this pesto was good, but doesn't have the traditional pesto taste if that is what you are craving.

Hazelnut Arugla Pesto

Birthday Take One

As much as I don't want to get older, I do LOVE my birthday! : )  I had a great day! Colin and I both took the day off and headed out for a fun day trip!

We got lunch outside, we had some tree debris falling on our plates, but that didn't bother me!

And a lady bug joined my birthday lunch!  She didn't place an order though, she must have already eaten.

Who knew catus has such beautiful flowers!?!

We strolled through town and popped in and out of some antique stores to see what they had to offer.

I really wanted those purple porch posts, but I didn't get them since I had no place to put them.  And those dogs lamps...wtf!  I also loved the metal tray (bottom left), that would be nice to put on a buffet during a party...but again, no place to put that right now!

We hit up Crate and Barrel on the way home! Yay! Crate and Barrel!  The landscaping was so lovely! Catmint and Knock Out Roses blooming for my birthday!  (That is Colin covering his face with his shirt since I asked him to smile!)

We replaced a glass the dishwasher broke and I got 2 more low bowls!!!! Now we have 4, so who wants to come over and dine out of low bowls????

Colin also got me the rain coat I have wanted and needed for quite some time.

 It was a great birthday!  And there is more, so stay tuned! : )

Low Bowls!

So I was going to work on a "wish list" post, about a few things I wanted from Crate and Barrel. But Colin and I swung by Crate and Barrel on our way home from wine tasting, and I got the things I wanted. Yay!



I have taller glasses, but I wanted the shorter ones to match.



I have also wanted some appitizer plates.



And I also really really wanted these low bowls (or high plates?) since I thought they would be perfect for pasta! I only got 2 of these since they are a little pricey $$$, but evenually I will get a few more for when people come over. Everyone loves low bowls!



And of course I needed to try the low bowls right away! Pasta, Broccoli Rabe, and Chicken Meatballs. (I bought them, not made them) YUM!