Sweet Voyage

Another year, another missed birthday

2011-11-17T20:56:00.001-08:00

Today is my dad's birthday. It marks the 8th year I haven't been able to celebrate with him on his birthday. He loved celebrating anything and he especially loved birthdays. One of the things I loved about my mom and dads marriage was they ALWAYS, without exception took their birthdays off work and usually went away for the weekend to a spa or somewhere romantic and relaxing. My dad was a total romantic. It was cute.

As hard as it is - and it's weird to say that it actually gets harder as the years go by, not easier - it's important to me to remember him externally in some way every birthday and every holiday. I want my babies to know him as best they can without ever getting to meet him. Of course they will meet him one day in Heaven so I guess I'm just doing a long introduction to their first meeting :-)

One way in which we might be able to commemorate him is through naming a building after him at CAL. He was an alum, and worked there for 20 years-my entire life! CAL and I will always have a very special bond - it will always represent my dad to me. I grew up going to nearly every single basketball (mens and women's) and football game...we even went to their rally's! I went to summer school there, and even transfered there after 2 years at UCSC to be closer to my dad & mom. He loved that school so much, and I was so proud that I could let him be a father to a student there :-) Of course it didn't last long because I got home sick for SC and came back pretty quickly! My dad actually died there too...playing basketball at lunch at the school gym where he played every week. He left such a legacy there - as you can see by the news bit in the Berkeleyan and the fact that they held a memorial for him on campus at which they had to shuttle hundreds of students and faculty to. The folks at CAL loved dad, and ever since he died they have been talking about naming a building after him. It would mean so much to my family should it ever happen. I could only imagine how blown away he would be if he were here and they named a building after him...he would be so moved. So happy birthday dad! Here's to naming a building after you! Oh, and go BEARS! :-)

Olivia's 1st Birthday ~ The Cousin Carnival

2011-11-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well, all I have for you is unedited pics of the Cousin Carnival/Livy's 1st Birthday...I just don't have it in me to do much more than that. Hey, I'm just impressed that I finally am posting anything at all! It was the 10th bday celebration for Curran, Jack, and Eden, and the 1st bday for Livy, Ryder and Ruby. It was loads of fun!

The photobooth

My favorite: the pie throwing contest...all the dads had to take their turn for their kids to throw pies at them.

Even uncle peter couldn't escape it.

Jack, Eden, & Curran

She didn't want to get her hands dirty, so she went face first :-) She only ate 1/4 of the cupcake.

Ryder on the other hand ate his up in seconds and then moved on to steal Ruby's.

She knows she was robbed.

The girls got their first baby dolls :-)

Summer

2011-10-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

My goodness! I am officially a waylaid blogger due to the call of various mother-hood duties. So in the interest of catching up on the blog, i'm just going to do a series of photos, all UN-edited as a recap of the last few months. Please don't judge my photography on these posts - it's sadly just autofocus and iphoto editing. I got a new computer like 2 months ago and I STILL haven't had the time to install my photoshop actions! So I basically haven't edited a photo in like 3 months. OK, now that I have confessed, on with the show...

We had our very first airplane ride to OR to vist great granny and bumper Franek. It was their first time meeting Livy and it was a joy to be with them.

She did well on the trip and even slept in the car (sometimes).

We had our annual 'day at the farm' in Prune-tucky with our dear friends, Mike & Judy. The kids swam, made s'mores, and did some carpentry in the barn.

Livy enjoyed the fresh blackberries!

We enjoyed many Sabbath meals with the family. Olivia & Ruby are cheers-ing for their wine toast.

Olivia went surfing a couple times with daddy. Cousin Selah was proud :-)

Olivia loves spending time with her older "sister" Makaena Marshall.

Olivia had her first sleep-over with cousins Selah & Janessa.

A very fun new addition to our daily routine is a visit at Nana & Papa's which is now just across the path!

As of the last 3-4 weeks, Olivia has become a little Tazmanian Devil. She leaves a wake of destruction everywhere she goes. It makes for more work for mama, but it's cute how curious she is.

One of my favorite purchases this year - monogrammed bloomers, thank you Etsy.

We had a visit from cousin Ayla Olivia, who hails from New York. She moved here just last month so we will be sure to see more of her!

Our little beach bunny

2011-09-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't have fb, here is a little video Peter made of our little surfer girl getting her first "wave".

Roth's at Briones

2011-09-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

I snapped a few photos of my sister Jen's kiddos. They are precious right? Maybe I'm a little biased but I love these rascals and absolutely loved taking their photos.

Eli Hudson wants to be a baseball or football player. He is crazy good at sports.

Samuel David (my godson) wants to be a baseball or basketball player. He is also crazy good at sports and can't sleep at night unless he knows all the day's scores in just about every sport.

Jonathan Adelie - he is the runt and a napoleon through and through. He abbreviates or nicknames anything and everything. He likes steakon (steak) and cheddy (cheddar cheese). His soccer coach (who plays for the SJ earthquakes) says he's never seen a kid his age dribble with both left and right feet.

Naturally she is the princess.

She would not take that lolly out of her mouth.

She's letting me know who lolly that is.

Where Children Sleep

2011-08-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Above: Tokyo, Below: Nepal

I would love this book. It would be a much needed constant reminder of the need for perspective. From MSNBC: Photographer James Mollison spent more than three years traveling the world and getting glimpses of where all sorts of children spend the night. He documented his findings in the book “Where Children Sleep,” published by Chris Boot. Here is a sampling of Mollison's images and excerpts from the captions found in his fascinating book.

Vote for Spector Dance!

2011-08-07T15:13:00.001-07:00

A relative of mine is working with Fran Spector, a choreographer who is rehearsing dancers for a nonprofit "Ocean" art-and-science project--a completely new approach to engaging the public for the purpose of education!

SpectorDance was selected for possible funding from Tom's of Maine if enough votes come in--funds needed to bring teachers, students and the public in to performances.

Please vote for SpectorDance once a day until Sept. 13! THX ~jessica

Our First Family Photos

2011-07-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Our dear friend Raya who is one of the most talented, well dressed, sweetest people I know graced us with her skills recently for a little family photo shoot. It was our very first shoot as a family and we were more than pleased with the results. Raya truly has a knack for making things lovely. Thank you friend! You might have laughed when I said well dressed, but there is really something to be said about trusting someone to capture your family beautifully who is dressed beautifully. It's like getting your hair done, would you chose a hair dresser who has stripey hair? Or getting your makeup done by someone who looks like a drag queen? Nope, I didn't think so.

BLOOMERS HERE.

A Sip & See for Raya & Genevieve

2011-06-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

What is more appealing than a new baby, friends, bellini's & cupcakes? Not much. We threw our friend (who also happens to be a VERY talented photog) Raya a Sip & See for her new baby. She has a boy and now a new baby girl - who was just precious and so sweet! She enjoys pretty things so we had to make her shower well, pretty. Here are a few shots from the day.

Genevieve Lisette Carlisle ~ what a perfect name! They call her Evie, so sweet.

Hello cupcakes...

Cupcake varieties: Coconut, Chocolate w/ Nutella Buttercream, Carrot Cake,

Vanilla w/ Mango Buttercream, Cheescake.

The guest of honor ~ Raya

The real guest of honor ~ Evie :-)

Mango Iced tea with Peppermint Simple Syrup & Lemon Water

The hostesses w/ the guest of honor: Hope, Raya, Me, Erin

I couldn't resist getting my little Livy all dressed up for the occasion. She was excited to meet her friend Evie.

Personalized T-shirts make fun gifts

2011-06-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Is your husband as hard to shop for as mine? Peter has everything already. He had enough computer gear, camera stuff, clothes, enough surfboards, enough wetsuits, enough watches, sunglasses, wine, foodie gear, etc, etc. What is left?!!? I have to get creative with him so I saw this deal on Vista Prints - which they are offering again here! The only thing cuter than this shirt is how much Livy likes it and how much Peter loves it! Livy looks at it and talks to the picture and touches it. And Peter loves it so much he wants to wear it all the time. It's super cute and i had no idea he would like it so much. I thought it was just a funny gift but he ended up loving it. So head over to Vista Prints and make your man, your kids or your parents a personalized tee.

Father's Day

2011-06-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a photo of me and my dad on FB for father's day. And when I started looking around I came across so many good ones that I decided to just put them on the blog. I love looking at them. The later year photos bring back so many good memories. He was so silly and goofy. I love that Peter is like that too with Livy.

That's my aunt Marie on the left, I can see the family resemblance in Livy.

Dad when he lived in Mexico (the boarder town of Juarez). I think it was his bday.

Sandlot anyone?

Nat'l Guard - how he got out of going to vietnam

Senior photo.

First date with mom. They look so young.

Hair.

Hair + glasses=wow. This reminds me of this website-Awkward Family Photos, it's amazing.

This was the last photo I have of him. He died a few days later. God gave us such a special date to Pier 39 with my sister. I'm so thankful for that.

Baby Bump Session

2011-06-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it was a little more than just a bump. This soon-to-be mom of two is literally due any day! She braved the 8-month bump and came out for her maternity shoot looking gorgeous! I was so sad not to be there (I was otherwise occupied–at a dear friend's birth!), but Peter took the reigns and enjoyed them so much. Editing them was quite fun - who doesn't love a bright pink sari?

46 Freezer Meals in 4 hours...

2011-06-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

From a 'Turtles Life For Me', this was impressive...not totally needed for us, but if you have a gang of kids and need money to go a long way, then this is for you.

Free Printable Place Mat Fun

2011-05-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Picture this - you've called the kids to dinner. They're rounding themselves up. Some are seated some aren't. Some are waiting for food and fidgety. They may be tired, hungry, bored, or some combination of the three. Here is a fun way to let them do something other than make a mess of the table you've set. I thought these were pretty cute and worthy of a share. Kiki Creates is a favorite blog of mine. She often does fun free downloads. Click HERE to download these fun mats and a few more.

Iron On DIY

2011-05-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here is what you'll need.

Fabric scraps (i get fat corners from the fabric store)

Scissors

"Under Wonder" or "Fusible Web". You can get it online on amazon or just go to your local fabric store. I just bought a small amount - 1/4 yard for a few onesies

pen

iron

towel

Calling all no-sewers. This is a craft for you.

Print out some letters in whatever font you'd like. Use cardstock if you can. Cut out the letters.

This stuff is awesome. Cut out a square large enough to fit your letter.

Cut out a piece of fabric just slightly larger than your fusible web. You want to avoid the fusible web sticking to your ironing board so you'll want the fabric to cover all of the fusible web.

Following the directions that came with the fusible web, iron the web and fabric together.

Let it cool then trace the letter onto the web side of the fabric.

Be sure to do it backwards because it will be the mirror image when you turn it over to the fabric side.

Cut it out and be sure to peel back the thin paper on the web.

You have your ready-to-iron-on letter!

Place the letter on the shirt.

Follow the instructions on the fusible web again. It involves a wet towel. Please use one without dinner's red sauce leftover so it doesn't stain your first attempt :-)

IRONING...

And you're done! Z is for Zoe :-)

S is for Samantha :-) Pair it with a rosette headband and a little gift tag and you're go to go!

G is for Genevieve & Gretel.

LOVE these fabrics from harts. Love harts!

Whole Foods Deals Right Now

2011-05-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

A friend mentioned that whole foods is selling rotisserie chickens for $5.00. They're normally $9.99. PLUS in the whole foods coupon book, there's a coupon for a free side dish with the $5.00 chicken! Good deal for Whole Foods.

got all this for $7.00

While there I cashed in on some more good deals (thanks to my frugal adventures). I bought a Santa Cruz Lemonade for $0.75, and a 32oz So Delicious Coconut Milk for free! I actually bought 2 of each beverage since my husband was with me and he had his own set of coupons (make sure you get rung up separately).

Here is what to do:

Lemonade:
On sale in store for 2/$3.00 making them $1.50/ea
Used this coupon online for $0.75 off
Bringing the price down to $0.75.

Coconut Milk:
On sale in store for 2/$4.00
Used an in-store coupon of $1.00
Used an online coupon of $1.00 off (make sure there is no zip entered on the site, and scroll through the pages until you find it)
Bringing the price down to FREE!

*the in-store coupon books are in the front at customer service.

Shutterfly Freebie Cards

2011-05-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Head on over to shutterfly to get 5 free 5x7 greeting cards. You do have to pay shipping but it's only about $1.00 per card. Coupon code: CARDS4GRAD. Thanks my frugal adventures!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Beef Noodle Salad Bowls - PW

2011-05-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

The P-dub does it again. This was awesome. Just a classic sesame style thin noodle salad, served hot or cold w/ some yummy steak on top for protein. Sesame noodles have always been close to my heart. Make this if you like them too. Recipe HERE. I would recommend angel hair pasta for this. For me, the thinner the noodle the better.

Reasons why i made this:
Cilantro
Steak
Sesame Noodles
Good for lunch, dinner, or potlucks

Iron On Onesies

2011-05-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Easy peasy. Love a gift I can put some creativity into! "Recipe" to be posted soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T08:36:00.001-07:00

To a faithful, loyal, loving mom who taught me much about being a mom & a wife. Love you mom!

Easter & Livy's First Solid Food :-)

2011-05-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Our big 6 month old :-)

Nothing like a girl and her daddy :-)

L to R: Curran, Eden, Faith, Julia, Olivia, Selah, Ryder, Emma, Ruby, Finnian, Adam, Cooper, Samuel, Jack, Lilly

The Brownlee's

Sweet Ruby Claire & Momma Hope

The Bartlett's

Shana & Selah (13 this April!)

The Habelts (Ofelia and I don't look anything alike ;-))

First FOOD! Triple Bumbo/Rice Cereal partay...the babies liked it.

mmmmm

6 years w/ my bff

2011-04-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

We're at 6 years together. We've always been bff's but now there is another little bff in the mix. Little Livy or Big O, depending on her mood and/or outfit choice. She is the greatest anniversary gift of all :-)

pickle jar project & Easter subway art

2011-04-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

pics & tutorial from eighteen25

spray paint some candlesticks and lids...

then use some glue and glue the jars on top

go download your Spring Subway Art

Introducing Miss Wallace...

2011-04-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

Senior year - oh the excitement. The prospects, the adventure that awaits, the trepidation within...what excitement! Miss. Wallace is right smack in the middle of this craziness and she is wearing it beautifully. Here are her senior portraits...

Happy Sunday!

2011-04-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I enjoyed a lovely afternoon photoshoot with Miss. Wallace.

Recipe=1 cup of adorable & a little pinch of sassafras <3

Liv & Leah = Cousins

2011-04-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Leah is my sister Jen's youngest kiddlet - she is their only girl. She is 10 Months older than my Liv. With 3 older brothers she is quite the riot. She is learning how to manipulate her boys at quite a young age! It's scary, really. The other day her dad brought home a doughnut. As soon as she saw it she hobbled over to him and gestured to be picked up. He picked her up and instead of asking for the doughnut which may lead to a simple "NO" response, she proceeded to kiss him repeatedly on the lips and hold his face and gaze in his eyes. THEN she asked for the doughnut. Holy Cow, how does that happen??? Here are so photos of the two bffs one morning in March. Love those two!

anthropologie inspired knotted bedding

2011-03-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

kojotutorial: anthropologie inspired knotted bedding...for those of you who have lusted after this quilt and wished there was a cheaper way of getting it into your bedroom.

My Santa Cruz Baby Shower

2011-03-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

The party planner in the flesh! Andrea is amazing and talented in so many ways...she could be paid mucho dinero to make such loveliness, but she choses to focus her talents on her family & friends. Love her! xoxo (and look at what a tiny thing my little Liv is!)

L: Auntie Anna & Erin (the hostess with the mostess), R: Kalina and some delectable tea sandwiches.

FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just realized that I never posted anything about my SC baby shower. Why on earth have I let this atrocity occur? I do not know! I thought about the blog post so much that I actually thought I had written it, no joke. So, I apologize and let's get right into it...

This day was just happy, through and through. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven! (because heaven is full of gigantic dishes of whip cream-I'm sure of it). It was the most BEAUTIFUL, CLASSY, CHARMING, THOUGHTFUL, DETAIL PERFECT, CUTE, AMAZING shower ever. There were countless details - I could not possibly recount them all. Some favorites were the Olivia Banner - including star fish and sea shells, the diaper cake - filled with a champagne bottle, the angel food cake bar w/ whip cream, kahlua, chocolate, strawberries, etc, the beautifully made soap favors, the cute poms, the hand-made clothes pins with shells for the clothes line full of clothes I got to take home, and the beauty of all my wonderful friends who worked tirelessly to pull off this incredible day! I am beyond blessed by all my friends, and was deeply touched by the work they put into the event. I got so many fun gifts too! So thank you to all my lovelies who made me and Olivia feel ridiculously special that day. Love you all. xoxo Below is a slideshow of some of my favorite pics. Photos by the lovely Emily <3

Rosette Headband Tutorial

2011-03-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Rosette Tutorial Cast of Characters: Felt squares (.25 ea), fat corners or scrap fabric (2.75ea) cut into 1 1/2-2in strips, glue gun w/ glue sticks, pen, something circular for tracing, and some snacks.

Gather your supplies and child and cut your fabric into 1 1/2-2in strips (length depends on how big you want your flowers and how tightly you wind them. Start with about 2 1/2 feet or something around that size. Keep your child far away from hot glue gun & scissors!

Step 1: Trace & cut out circles, any size you want, they will act as the backing for your rosette.

Step 2: Put a tiny glob of glue onto the middle of the circle, then tie a knot at one end of your fabric strip and glue it down to the circle. Step 3: Begin twisting your fabric (sort of folded in half length-wise) and turning the circle as you go. Round and round and round, gluing intermittently to secure the fabric onto the felt. And that is all folks!!!!!! I like them a bit looser but try it both ways!

Step 4: Glue them onto whatever headband or clip you'd like. I found these on ebay and bought a whole lot of them. I like them b/c they're crochet silk so they DON'T leave a mark on baby's head and they're one size fits all so they'll grow with baby from infancy on up.

I made matching gift tags for the headbands with extra fabric scraps and shipping labels from the office supply store. Stick them in a cellophane bag and they make a splendid gift.

And here it is on Miss. Olivia Linn :-) She doesn't mind the headbands on her at all! Success!

Just Like a Chipmunk

2011-02-24T15:52:00.000-08:00

So, the weather has been bizarre this winter. It was in the 80s for at least a week in January and now we might see snow at sea level this weekend! The last snow at sea level in the San Francisco Bay Area came on Feb. 5, 1976! But supposedly 4 inches of snow fell at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf in February 1977. But back on Jan. 3, 1974 a storm dumped as much as 9 inches of snow in Boulder Creek and other county areas and was dubbed "The Storm of the Century." It downed thousands of trees, closed Big Basin Redwoods State Park for three months and caused then-Gov. Ronald Reagan to declare a state of emergency in the county.
So where does that bring me today? At home with the heater on (we don't pay for our utilities-i know, i know, try not to be jealous...you are more than welcome to come over and defrost). So here I am, cooking up a storm. You know, just in case it gets all state of emergency again and we can't leave the house! I have become part chipmunk–storing up for the winter. I'm cooking and freezing, and cooking and freezing. Truth is, I would much rather dirty up the kitchen in one or two days by making lots of meals and freezing them then dirty it up each and every day. How GREAT is that feeling when you pull a meal out of the freezer - it's like seeing an old friend who has no dirty dishes with her. So here's to no dishes, and delicious dinners, maybe even with some old friends :-)

This is the menu for the week (comfort food is the theme here):
Chicken Divan - always a favorite
Pioneer Woman's Creamy Chicken Pasta Casserole (the smell alone is reason enough to make)
Real Simple's Scallop Corn Chowder (bacon people, it has bacon!)
Not Freezing but recommending:
Kahlua Cake w/ Chocolate Coffee Ganache
Grilled Tandoori-Style Chicken w/ grilled pineapple & mango jasmine rice

Slow-Cooker Asian Pork With Snow Peas, Red Peppers, and Soba Noodles

2011-02-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

This recipe made the binder because:
1- It's a Slow Cooker
2- Soba Noodles, yum
3- It's asian inspired

Serves 6| Hands-On Time: 10m | Total Time: 8hr 15m

Ingredients

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1⁄4 to 1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
12 ounces soba noodles
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed
chopped roasted peanuts, for serving
(From Real Simple)

Directions

In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, stir together the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, oil, ginger, and crushed red pepper. Add the pork and toss to combine. Cover and cook until the pork is tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours (this will shorten total cooking time).
Fifteen minutes before serving, cook the soba noodles according to the package directions, adding the bell peppers and snow peas to the water during the last minute of cooking.
Meanwhile, transfer the pork to a medium bowl; set aside. Pour the cooking liquid into a large skillet and boil until slightly thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the pork and toss to combine. Serve the pork over the noodles and vegetables; sprinkle with the peanuts.

Done and Done!

2011-02-23T14:34:00.000-08:00

I have been collecting magazine recipes for so long that they ended up in a somewhat unmanagable stack. I have wanted to make a binder full of recipes but in order to do that, they have to be organized and cut, etc etc. Which means I have to be organized! So basically this is one of those things that lives on my to-do list - until recently! The binder isn't super fancy because if it were I would never get around to completing it and I also wouldn't want to dirty it up in the kitchen. So, it's a very un-fancy, practical binder that is just perfect! Best of all I got to remove it from the to-do list :-) Can you guess the biggest section of recipes? Dessert obviously!

The key for me is lots of categories.

Among the cast of characters is a delicious dish - Asian pork which i have filed in the crock pot section.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake bars, yes please!

Smartphone pictures pose privacy risks

2011-02-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

Valentines Kisses from Livy

2011-02-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

Happy 4 Month Birthday Olivia

2011-02-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Don't you just want to tickle, kiss, zurburt, and rub on that budda belly? Happy 4 month birthday to my precious queen Livy. You are a joy and a delight to your mommy and daddy and all your family and friends :-)

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-12T23:24:00.000-08:00

We'll be staying home for v-day this year. But I will be making some yummy things and giving the hubs some fun little gifts. I've been working on editing some photos of him and livy and this is one I just had to share...pure joy, i love seeing daddy & his girl - it makes me so thankful that she will grow up to have such an amazing father. Happy Valentines Day daddy!

Your Privacy Protection To Do List

2011-02-10T21:03:00.000-08:00

(I put this on my work's blog but I think it's great info for you all to see as well)

Your privacy-makeover checklist includes everything you can do in one sitting to protect your personal information.

Order free credit reports at www.annualcreditreport.com or 877-322-8228.
Call various companies to opt out of having financial information shared with third parties (or, if you prefer to write, use a form letter from www.junkbusters.com/optout.html), including

Banks
Credit Cards
Mortgage
Insurance (auto, home, other)

Contact Acxiom's Consumer Advocate Hotline to opt out of marketing based on public government records: Call 877-774-2094.
Register your phone number(s) on the FTC's Do Not Call list at www.donotcall.gov or 888-382-1222.
Use caller ID blocking by dialing *67 per call you wish to block (free of charge).
Tell the phone company you are opting out of letting it share information about you and your calling habits (CPNI) with third parties.
To cut down on unwanted catalogs, write to Abacus, P.O. Box 1478, Broomfield CO 80038, or send an e-mail to optout@abacus-direct.com. Include your address and the full name of everyone in the household who wants to opt out.
Opt out of receiving prescreened credit offers by calling 888-567-8688 or going to www.optoutprescreen.com.
Buy and install a comprehensive security software package that includes firewall, antivirus, and antispyware protection.
Opt out of advertisers' sharing "cookie" data about your Internet browsing habits by registering at www.networkadvertising.org.

(taken from real simple)

Creamy Chicken and Biscuits

2011-02-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: dinner was delish and I am trying to force myself to hold off eating the leftovers until at least 11:45!

Tonight for dinner we're doing Creamy Chicken and biscuits (real simple) because:
1- I love any excuse to eat drop biscuits
2- I love chicken pot pie but dislike dealing with pie dough
3- It's a crock pot recipe which makes my day a bit easier since I can cook dinner in the day while Livy is napping.

Serves 6| Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 6hr 30m

Ingredients

3/4 pound carrots (about 4), cut into 1-inch lengths
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8) (i just used chopped chicken breast)
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
6 (store-bought or Easy Drop Biscuits; see recipe), split
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, toss together the carrots, celery, onion, and flour. Place the chicken on top and season with the poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add the wine and broth.
Cover and cook until the chicken and vegetables are tender, on low for 5 to 6 hours or on high for 2 1⁄2 to 3 hours (this will shorten total cooking time).
Thirty minutes before serving, prepare the Easy Drop Biscuits (if using).
Ten minutes before serving, add the peas, cream, and ½ teaspoon salt to the chicken and stir to combine. Cover and cook until heated through, 5 to 10 minutes more.
To serve, place the bottom halves of the biscuits in shallow bowls, then top with the chicken mixture and the remaining biscuit halves.

Makes 6 biscuits| Hands-On Time: 10m | Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup whole milk

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F. In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, baking powder, and salt; pulse until pea-size clumps form. Add the milk and pulse just until moistened.
Drop 6 large mounds of the dough (about ½ cup each) onto a baking sheet. Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

Free Valentines Printable!

2011-01-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

Want to do something fun for the kids? Well here ya go...it's valentines day head to toe ready for you to print and use! Such a cute valentines printable right? It includes sweet treat heart box, be mine heart tags, triangle flags, sweet heart valentines, and an I love you banner. So go on over to Catch My Party to download. I found it via my favorite crafty/idea blog One Pretty Thing.

What's For Breakfast? Make Ahead Muffin Mealts

2011-01-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

Peter's doing a 9-5 this week working over the hill in San Jose at Adobe, testing their new video editing software. Since he is a commuter for one week - I found myself asking - What's for breakfast? (for Peter, not me :-)) He leaves really early and cereal doesn't quite fill him up, not to mention we're out of every kind BUT raisin bran and he hates raisins. I was going to make him muffins but he doesn't like empty calories so I found this crazy delicious concoction on Pioneer Woman - doesn't it look mouth watering? It will be perfect - filling, somewhat healthy :) and fast for him in the AM. I wish we had a toaster oven to avoid the over (since we use it as storage in our mini kitchen). CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL PLAY-BY-PLAY RECIPE.

Fin is 3

2011-01-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

First off, could you think of a cuter name than Fin? And how perfect a name for this adorable little guy. His favorite thing is trains - so he was a conductor for his train cake which made his bday loads of fun for him.

Expiration

2011-01-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

I'm terribly thirsty and am drooling over the juice that is in the fridge. But I'm not sure if I can drink it because there is never a "use within such and such time" stamp on juice jugs. There is such a thing on pasta sauces - use within 7-10 days so why not with juices or with everything for that matter? Have you ever wondered how long you can keep that Trader Joes Apple Cider for once you've opened it? Well wonder no more! Real Simple has figured it out for us. Here is some examples but to see the full list of 77 Surprising Expration Dates, click here, you may be surprised at what you find.

Juice, bottled (apple or cranberry)

Unopened: 8 months from production date

Opened: 7 to 10 days

Ketchup

Unopened: 1 year (after this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume)

Opened or used: 4 to 6 months (after this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume)

Maple syrup, real or imitation

1 year

Maraschino cherries

Unopened: 3 to 4 years

Opened: 2 weeks at room temperature; 6 months refrigerated

Marshmallows

Unopened: 40 weeks

Opened: 3 months

Mayonnaise

Unopened: Indefinitely

Opened: 2 to 3 months from “purchase by” date (after this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume)

Mustard

2 years (after this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume)

Jon hammering nails

2010-12-29T10:39:00.000-08:00

Every so often we take a pilgrimage to Prundale to "Algal Acres"—a farm owned by a family I grew up with. My "other mother and father" take great care of us, and go to great lengths to entertain the kiddos. Mike - my "other father" is a carpenter and welder, among other things. But he primarily builds boats in his barn and at Moss Landing. He's very well known for his expertise in his craft. The boys love building things - and just doing manly stuff! Here is Jonny doing just that. Love that boy!

Livy's Nursery

2010-12-14T17:41:00.000-08:00

Words are really not needed in this post. The pictures can speak for themselves. It's all just so pretty and amazing - and I owe it all to my friends :-) My dear friends blessed me with a baby shower that was above and beyond beautiful and amazing. It was SO martha! I used the decorations for the shower for Livy's nursery. Andrea was the master mind of these decorations - she made everything so perfect. She made everything you see here with the help of some other dear friends. Thanks everyone! I love it so much! We did do one thing - the frame - got it from Ikea, painted it and filled it with a favorite fabric - eventually I will get around to putting an "O" in it (covered with brown fabric of course!).

Peter's old monkey (one in his extensive collection) on the left; Peter's old Paddington Bear, his surf trophy & some books from Nana - including a first edition Tolkien :-)

Welcome Ruby Claire Brownlee!

2010-10-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

Just 16 days after little Olivia was born, her sweet cousin Ruby Claire joined her in the world. Two precious girlies - both a surprise to their parents. We're enjoying them both so much and we have a little boy cousin to look forward to in about 1 week! Stay tuned for that little guy's photo debut!

Baby Girl at Home

2010-10-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

Breakfast Bridal Shower

2010-10-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

I found this really cute idea for a bridal (or baby) shower online today at project wedding (through oneprettything). It's for a Breakfast Shower. It's so original and unique I just had to share (and ever since I've been pregnant and sick the only thing I've consistently been able to eat is breakfast type of foods). You'll love it if you are a fan of breakfast all day - which I am! My favorite thing about this is the french toast kabobs with the fresh fruit...how yummy! And how fun are the toaster vases? You could do some delicious yogurt with home made granola plus a bagel bar with lox and the the whole works if you wanted to get really into it. I want to do this so bad! Someone get married and let me throw you a shower.

Week 39! Woooooah!

2010-10-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

Total Weight Gained? still blah, but at least i've stopped gaining weight.

Maternity Clothes: I'm done buying maternity clothes but I went to Valley Fair today to get some "Mommy Clothes" - aka a robe, and a nighty. I'm planning on spending a lot of time in a robe right after the birth, but don't worry I'll get out of my jammers after too long.

Sleep? I feel well rested usually even though I wake up every 1-2 hours. Getting up is soooo hard, I wish i could crawl.

Labor Signs: Lots of braxton hicks - and even some crampy feelings.

Best Moment of the Week? well the whole week has been grand since it's my first week not working :-)

Movement? Yes - still poking around in there.

Food Craving? Mint chocolate chip ice cream, enchiladas, doughnuts (but it passed before indulging), and fruity alcoholic beverages :-) And I'm going to go make these muffins right now! Update, I added a streusel topping because I wanted to use some oats. Thanks Barbara D for the cranberries addition.

Food aversions: Fast food but i did have In-n-Out today and it was A-OK.

Belly Button? way out, way way out! it's really soft too.

What I miss? myself a little - ha, that is a bit narcissistic, sorry

What I'm looking forward to: getting to know our babe

Weekly Wisdom: I don't like scrapbooking

Milestones: I have less than 1 week till our due date!

My Family Baby Shower

2010-09-27T12:54:00.001-07:00

Saturday I had my family baby shower. It was lovely - even in 90 degree weather! The theme was a tropical high tea. Mango Ceylon tea, hawaiian jams, tropical scones with coconut and mango, plus some adorable cinnamon shortbread sea creature cookies. I love parties at my moms - her garden is so beautiful and I just enjoy it so much. It was great having both sides of the family together in one place. My sisters and mom & others did an amazing job with the decorations, the food, and everything else. Thanks to all my family for making it so special. I was very blessed! Check out the 3 pregger girls below - we're all nearing the end :-) Some of us sooner than others...sorry Shana.

First shower game in a long time I haven't heard of. It was a race of sorts involving balancing a bag of potatoes on your hip while trying to make it through various tasks like folding onsies and beating eggs.

My niece Leah who will be 10 months apart from nino.

Happy grandma's

Cravings: Abuelita's Enchiladas

2010-09-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

The family enchilada recipe is for me SO much yummier than any other enchiladas I've tasted. It might be because I am used to it, and I grew up with it or it might be because Mexican restaurants dump extra cheese into anything they can get their hands on. These enchiladas are just not the same beast as your normal enchiladas. And I'm not even going to compare them to the "enchiladas" people refer to that are really enchilada casserole's (you know the American kind) - those are good in their own realm but they're just not the real thing. The main difference between these and those you find in restaurants is the method. These are sauced and fried before filling and rolling, whereas restaurants either do not fry them or sauce them up after rolling. It's so much tastier this way, albeit a lot more work. They're easy to make but very messy and time consuming. The filling is simple, just chicken, onion and cheese. The topping is a little tiny bit more cheese, and the sauce is the key - it's NOT enchilada sauce. It's CHILI sauce. I don't have a recipe, as with all my Mexican family recipes - it's just taught and passed down by word of mouth. So if you ever want to learn, I would be happy to teach you in person as long as we can eat some afterwards :-)

Pregnancy Photos from Napa

2010-09-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

We couldn't resist doing a few preggo photos while we were in Napa. We took some after tasting at Hess - they had a pretty coi pond and a beautiful art museum covered with ivy. The next stop was dinner at the Rutherford Grill across the road from an old train station. The surroundings were gorgeous and after such a amazing day I think the happiness showed in our faces :-)

Napa Weekend Rundown

2010-09-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

If you plan a trip to Napa, we have a couple recommendations for you. 1-Priceline all the way (name your own price). We stayed at a Marriot resort for practically the same price as a Holiday Inn. The Marriot Resort in Napa is actually pretty nice. It's clean, it's been renovated and they have rooms with porches that lead right out to the pool (one of our must haves for hotels while in Napa). 2-Restaurants galore but check out Rutherford Grill for a neighborhood feel...GREAT food, relaxed but very nice still. Not snooty (it's a grill afterall), but the best part is the FREE CORKAGE! Yes you read that right! You will find everyone walking around with their own bottle at RG...byob is the best. If you want to say you've eaten at a Thomas Keller restaurant but don't want to wait 4 months for a res at the French Laundry and don't want to eat uber gormet at Bouchon, go right next door to Bouchon cafe - it's a coffee shop with AMAZING pastries, Ham & Cheese Croissants, etc. Simple and delicious.

Photoshoot at UCSC & Natural Bridges

2010-09-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we enjoyed our Saturday up at UCSC with a delightful family - Shana, Luke & Mulligan Farley - Mulligan being their pooch. We had big plans to take them up to Davenport for the shoot but it was socked in with fog and we had a little tiny bit of sunshine to work with up in UCSC territory. Taking pictures there reminded me of my intro to photography class at UCSC - got to love those intro classes. They teach you just enough to be able to get frustrated with a topic b/c you still don't know enough to do it well! I actually did learn a few good things from the class that I still use today. Shana is the daughter of Peter's parent's friends so it was great getting to meet her. Mulligan is adorable and full of energy. The shots we got with him were miraculous because that boy doesn't sit still. Here are some of our favorites from the day.

Target and Marshalls coming to SC?

2010-09-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Santa Cruz will be getting our very own Marshall's. Just in time for the Holidays. This news made my day! I'm a dork...but c'mon, we could use ANYTHING here in SC. It will be next to Toys R Us where circuit city used to be. Oct 28th is the open date. I have also heard rumors of Target applying to move into the Capitola Mall where Gottshalks used to be. That article is here.

37 Week Update

2010-09-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

Total Weight Gained?: Blah.

Maternity Clothes: Found some great non-maternity stuff at a little teeny bopper store here called "Choice" - think Clothestime from back in the day.

Sleep?: Less and less.

Labor Signs: Lots of braxton hicks - Doc appt today said baby is low and in good position but nothing yet as far as dilation goes.

Best Moment of the Week?: Peter getting a new job. He's going to be doing wine sales for a brokerage. He went wine tasting today in the city for his first day - not bad :-)

Movement? Yes - nino's feet are still in my rib cage when i lie down.

Food Craving?: Still fruit, but last week I had the weirdest cravings. I came home for lunch and went right back out again to TJ's because I really wanted 1. Black Licorice, 2. Green Olives, 3. Blue Cheese. I had a tasty little smorgasbord of cheeses & olives and when I got home :-) It's funny because peter hates olives and blue cheese.

Food aversions: Fast food - I have said on more than one occasion during my pregnancy that I would love to blow up every taco bell, burger king, macdonalds, etc within a 10 mile radius. Lucky for me I have 2 within a block :-(

Belly Button? way out.

What I miss? Painfree living. I really can appreciate now how blessed I am to not live in pain all the time (well, when I am not pregnant).

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting our baby and finally knowing if it's a boy or girl and what it will look like.

Weekly Wisdom: If you're going to go crazy cleaning take lots of breaks or you will regret it later.

Milestones: Being full term! 37 weeks this thursday! C'mon nino, let's go.

Summer's not over yet! Frappuccino on a Stick

2010-09-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

YES PLEASE!

Follow this super simple frappuccino recipe to whip up a batch of your own frappuccinos on sticks. They're yummier than you might think!

step 1Ingredients

What you need to pull off this trick:

Strong coffee or espresso
Milk
Sugar
Cream (optional)
Popsicle trays or small cups and sticks
Chocolate syrup (for mocha frappuccino)

You get the idea, but for the full instructions, click here.

New Website

2010-08-28T08:50:00.001-07:00

We finally made a website for our photos. Nothing fancy, just a place to view some of them. It's here.

Back to School Buzz

2010-08-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

Back to School is my favorite! I love the back to school buzz in the air. I love fall, I love moving into the holiday season, I love apples, I love pencils, I love elementary school, I love it all (I didn't love it so much when I was a teacher...maybe that is because I taught High School).
So, I couldn't help but wander into the "back to school" bloggosphere. I found some fun ideas, and this one is cute and easy...for those of you that have no time (hm, all of you?). I got it from Alphamom, go there to print them out for freeeeee.

If I had babies old enough for school, I would definitely print these. Free printables are one of the little joys in life. The idea that someone did all the work on a project and just wants to hand it to you for free is just amazing! This is also not as fussy as many of the back to school ideas I'd seen (what kid will appreciate designer handmade lunch bags?). Try it if you want and let me know how it goes.

Week 32 Survey

2010-08-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

Total Weight Gained?: Do I really have to answer this....?

Maternity Clothes: Almost exclusively. I hardly even try putting on non-maternity tops these days - they just can't keep up with the bump!

Sleep?: It's been so so, it's still hard to get comfy, but when I do I can usually fall asleep fairly quickly and get a decent night's sleep. (Well until it's time to get up and pee for the 3rd, 4th time....)

Labor Signs: None yet, thank goodness! Although at our last appointment our doc said I had a contraction.

Best Moment of the Week?: Seeing Peter get super excited about getting a high five from nino. He said it glided it's little hand across his!

Movement? Yes - nino's feet are in my rib cage when i lie down. Our doc told us the positioning of nino so now I can picture what I'm feeling.

Food Craving?: Fruit, baked goods (zucchini bread was on the menu this week)

Food aversions: Fish, sorry Peter! He has some great recipes he has been wanting to try out but to me they taste like dog food :-(

Belly Button? On its way out.

What I miss? Going to the store and picking out groceries without being a little disgusted.

What I'm looking forward to: Getting my hair done Monday! woohooooooo, I can't begin to tell you how excited I am. I've been holding off to get perfect timing between now and baby so my hair will still look decent at the birth, and so that I'll be able to get it done again shortly after the birth to give me a little pick-me-up.

Weekly Wisdom: When people say stupid things such as "WOW you have a LONG way to go" or "Look at you, you even got pregnancy mask" just smile and bite your tounge... it's not worth getting upset about! (But seriously WHY do people say stuff like that!?!!?)

Milestones: Switching over to twice a month appointments, and my first meeting with our dula this weekend.

They're all gone!

2010-08-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of nesting I finally got around to editing some older photos. I had done a little impromptu photoshoot with my sister about a year ago while we were hanging out at a friends one day. Today I sit down to edit them (i know, isn't my sister is a patient woman). Jen's one request was that I show her some before my baby is born. So I'm ready to edit, and I cannot find them anywhere! It's not as if they have legs and can just get up and walk away! I don't know where they are and I am soooo sad! I found this one.....So sorry Jen!

I never post recipes but this one is worth making...

2010-07-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

I've made this recipe for a few years now and every time I make it I wind up making them again the next week because they go too fast and I love them so much. They're not as bad for you as most deliciously tasty things, so go for it! But you should make the orange honey butter to go on it, it's a must! I promise you'll enjoy them (if you have similar taste buds to me :-))

Yield: 14 servings (serving size: 1 biscuit)

Ingredients

9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup fat-free buttermilk
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons honey

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a large bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Chill 10 minutes.
3. Combine buttermilk and honey, stirring with a whisk until well blended; add canned pumpkin. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times. Roll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5–inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds (as if folding a piece of paper to fit into an envelope). Reroll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5–inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds; gently roll or pat to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a 1 3/4-inch biscuit cutter to form 14 dough rounds. Place dough rounds, 1 inch apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400° for 14 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan; cool 2 minutes on wire racks. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information

Calories:122 (32% from fat),
Fat: 4.3g (sat 2.6g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.2g)
Protein: 2.3g
Carbohydrate: 18.9g
Fiber: 0.9g
Cholesterol: 11mg
Iron: 1.1mg
Sodium: 192mg
Calcium: 59mg

From Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2008

Farley Photo Fun

2010-07-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Peter and I had the pleasure of shooting our pastor's family - who also happen to be friends of ours. They have 4 kiddos - the youngest still pretty new. Abby, Zori, Cedric & Malachi make up their bunch. It's always WAY more fun taking pictures of kids you know becuase their personalities can be so entertaining! Case in point - Cedric. Scroll down to see some of his larger-than-life expressions. He is the family comedian if you can't tell. Thanks Farley's for a fun time in Capitola...hope your ice cream afterward helped sooth those sore smiling jaws!!

Nesting Part 1

2010-07-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

Hello - and welcome to my living room. We have had a large blank wall for some time now and have not been brave enough to pick out artwork for it. It's almost too big for artwork. I didn't want to just pick out artwork for a wall like from ikea or something...artwork is something you see and you fall in love with and you buy and make work in your home - not the other way around.
So...we collected all the frames we weren't using & spray painted them black (peter did the painting don't worry). We needed a little black in the living room - too many browns and tans. We filled them with black and whites of our "ancestors", plus a couple antique maps that represent our heritage (mexico, czechoslovakia, great britain, and israel). So it's our "heritage" wall.
Funny thing actually we finally discovered (most of) Peter's ethnicity - no one in his family really knew! So we can finally put a recipe to our little nino. It's pretty funny all written out...our child is going to be:
1/4 Mexican (holding on with the largest chunk, woot)
1/8 Czheck
1/8 Ukranian
2/16 English
2/16 Scottish
3/32 Irish
3/32 Latvian
1/16 French
1/16 Spanish
1/16 ? (P. Dad)
1/32 Danish
1/32 ? (P. Mom)

So our baby is basically an American mutt. Biggest surprise of all – our child's second largest chunk (1/4) will be eastern european! haha. Second biggest surprise – our child will be danish (peter had no idea). I love doing family tree type of stuff. Have you done any family treeing lately? It's cool not to just let it go by the wayside because let's say our baby marries any of the above races - french for example, it will make our child's little part french become a bigger part french for their offspring. OK I'm done talking about my babies offspring, I haven't even met my baby yet. Goodnight!

Oh, we used this video to help prepare for our photo hanging (always a treturous process). This method is definitely the best and will save you time in the end. Although, it still took us about 5 hours! You'll need tape, hammer, nails, level, hand ruler, measuring tape, pencil, scrap paper, & scissors.

Ode to Charlie...

2010-06-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

Flashback of our first little furry friend, Charlie...

Charlie Goes To The Snow from Peter Garaway on Vimeo.

Princess Serena

2010-05-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Our friend's Matt & Sara Greco have some of the cutest children around. Serena is their youngest - the princess. She is just a little thing, and was such a trooper on her photo shoot. Sara made her a tutu for the photo shoot, which Serena looked so adorable in.

Serena & Lily

2010-05-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

Has anyone out there heard of Serena & Lily? Well, now you have and you might not be thanking me for it. It will either delight you with it's beauty or it will cause you to covet and if that is the case, I do apologize. But I felt I had to share - it's too beautiful not to. If you don't believe me, see for yourself and visit their website. Check out their amazing create-it-yourself fabric options & their gorgeous adult and children's bedding line. Some of my fave's are here and the one at the bottom I was able to score through Room & Board for about $500 off! I got the last one and I know what you're thinking...we don't know if we're having a boy or a girl so perhaps pink wasn't the most neutral color to choose. But I couldn't resist the great deal so I'll just sell it or keep it for the next one if we have a boy. And don't worry, I won't be getting the matching wallpaper...in case you were worried I was suddenly brainwashed by J-lo.

Today's DIY Project

2010-05-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

I have been entirely absent from the blog world. It's a typical pattern for me, I avoid something if I know I am behind in it and then I do a bunch of it all at once to try and make up for the procrastination. Since I am determined to never have the blog be stressful to me, it's no worries. Thanks for sticking around even though you might not see me for a while! But alas, here I am. Today is Friday. I have Friday's off. Creature of Comforts always has fun little DIY projects that I don't find overwhelming. My DIY today will be this cute and simple project for gift tags. I really believe (although I may not always act on my belief) that packaging is just as important as the gift itself. It's like food - presentation is almost as important as taste. They say with wine that smell is 80% of the taste. So anyway, here is my DIY for today & I'm sure some of you will like it as well. It's a great way to use fabric scraps & to play with fabric even when you're not a "sewer". Plus, I've always had a thing for office materials...it's a little organization fetish that I am always drawn to! See the play by play & get the name printables at Creature of Comforts.

Weeks 9-16 Preggers Progression

2010-04-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Lara & Jeff Engagement Part Deux

2010-04-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to posting the rest of the photos from Lara & Jeff's engagement session. I am sad to be done because I've had such fun with these photos. I enjoyed seeing Lara again after about 14 years and enjoyed shooting my old childhood stomping grounds. What a gorgeous bride she will make! They will wed this summer and unfortunately, I will be too preggers to shoot the wedding :-( However, the engagement session was fun enough on it's own! A good time all around.

TODAY Show Al's Book Club Pick: 100 Cupboards

2010-04-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

Just in case you weren't in front of your TV this morning, here is TODAY with my brother-in-law talking about his trilogy, 100 Cupboards. Pretty cool!

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/36596985#36596985

Lara & Jeff Engagement Sneak Peak

2010-03-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have known Lara since I was 6 or 7 years old. We went to school together - in the same 25 person class for 8 years. I loved that school - good old St. Theresa. Her dad and my dad were our basketball coaches for 5 years so naturally, we spent lots of time together. But up until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't seen Lara since pretty much our 8th grade graduation. We reconnected on facebook and to my surprise she was engaged, and to her surprise I was married! She graciously asked me to photograph her wedding which I regretfully can't do because I'll be hugely preggers, but we managed to sneak in an engagement shoot in and around our old stomping grounds—Oakland. It was loads of fun, even though I was slightly green the whole time. First trimester fun :-) We went to Market Hall, a European market which is adorable and affordable (it's like the non-chain, non-rip off version of Whole Foods). Sorry about the Whole Foods comment, I do love it and I know you can find great deals there but forget about finding them in their ready made foods dept! $13.00/lb for chicken salad! Sheesh! We then went to a cemetery (yes cemetery) across from our old school, and wrapped up the day at Joaquin Miller Park by our parent's houses. Thanks for the fun day Lara & Jeff, Peter and I enjoyed getting to know you again! More photos coming soon from Lara & Jeff's engagement.

Hello Little Friend!

2010-03-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

We would like you all to meet our new little friend. Baby is 11 weeks old and we got our first look at him/her today. Baby was moving around alot and looks so healthy and cute. Baby is on track for the Oct. 7 due date. Praise God for His amazing blessing. This was probably the happiest day of our life so far!

Point of view is verticle, baby's head is at the top and his/her arm and hand is out and by the head. During the ultrasound the baby was punching.

Swoon

2010-03-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

I regularly visit One Pretty Thing for ideas and inspiration. But these days I'm not doing much planning or crafting, just drooling and earmarking fabulous things for future use. I came across this garden party today and just LOVE it. Head over to Pepper Designs Blog for more photos.

Shorty your the best!

2010-03-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

If you are 5'6 and below, continue reading. I was once given a fabulous tip from a sales clerk at Express. She was a shorty and she told me that she shortens her pants with fabric glue. I have done this ever since with most of my pants. The reason why it's so great is that the fabric glue washes out in the wash so it's not permanent. Say you have a pair of Citizens and you like them long for date nights so you can wear heals but you like them sandal length for all other days—fabric glue is the perfect solution! You never have to permanently shorten your pants again! I got my glue at Beverly's but any craft store will carry it. Mine is called No Sew fabric glue. I just do a line of glue around the whole leg and then put a heavy book over it to make a bit of a crease. Of course you could iron on a crease but I rarely ever iron.

Nonpareils Candies Recipe

2010-03-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

I have had a few people ask me for the recipe for the candy treats i made for my sister's shower. I found the original recipe on Martha Stewart which uses bittersweet chocolate. I typically make that one for Christmas and use Christmas colored nonpareils for the topping. But, as a child I loved the nonpareils that you found in the bins at Safeway that are pastel colored. I remember them having a slight minty taste so I decided to do the Martha recipe with white chocolate and add peppermint extract. It's delicious and that way you can color the chocolate any color you want. For the colored ones i use white nonpareils but you can do anything you want! I included a link a few posts back to the printable candy bag toppers I found, and then for the bags you can get them at any craft store like Michaels.

Now that I have your attention...

2010-02-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make a shameless plug for my brother-in-law, author ND Wilson. I thoroughly enjoy his writings and think you will too. Lately he is getting a lot of publicity including a huge plug on the Today Show (AL's book club pick), and most recently a spot on the Better Homes and Gardens morning show. The hype is surrounding his fun and spirited children's trilogy: 100 Cupboards. Adults will enjoy it too! It's Chronicles of Narnia meets Hardy Boys. He has also somewhat recently released a compelling adult non-fiction book, Notes from a Tilt-A-Whirl which I loved and plan on reading many times over! If you don't know what to read next—here you go!

Suprise! More announcement photos...

2010-02-23T21:22:00.000-08:00

Jordan was a little late for dinner and missed the family photo. So we re-enacted the suprise with him.

This was in Disneyland. We took a road trip with our dear friends the Pitts' and had to keep quiet during the whole drive down (morning sickness and all). We were very happy to finally tell them and they were happy to hear it! This picture is my fave.

This is the Baers & McLelans. We hit them when they least expected it...during a commercial break while watching Lost. Suprise, suprise!

I am buried in there on the left. This was so fun because it was at a big family gathering with my dad's side of the family (there are about 100 other people that aren't seen in this picture). My cousin (who is the same age as me) announced she was pregnant that night and we followed it up with a x2! Fun times all around.

This is the Marshalls. I love her expression! She is unofficially my pregnancy planner — helping me walk through it for the first time :-)

We're having a baby!

2010-02-23T16:57:00.000-08:00

No doubt about it, I am preggers! Peter and I are parents! Oct. 7th is the due date. We are thrilled beyond belief. We have a doctor, morning sickness, and everything else that comes along with having a baby. I've even started to pop out a bit. It's all so new to us and very fun. We're trying to navigate through it all while staying afloat. Peter has been so fabulous and I really am not surprised. So, here we are on this adventure, we'll see what tomorrow brings! We've had fun telling people. We tried to set up a self-timer photo for as many people as we could. Peter counted down the photo with, "on the count of 3 everyone say Jessica's pregnant!" The camera captured a series of shots full of shock, surprise and joy! Here are the first 2: my fam and peter's...

Peter's sister, Hope (next to Peter) is preggers too! Just 2 weeks behind me. So happy to have close cousins!

Showered With Love Part 2: DIY is the best!

2010-02-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Jen's shower was so fun! We played a couple of games (they were optional). They weren't the awkward kind. One was a quiz that each person just tried their best to fill out. All the questions were about my sister's childhood so it was a way for people to get to know her better, and to laugh at her funny stories. The second was a onesie decorating contest. It is always fun to get to be creative and see what other people come up with. We had some pretty talented people in the group! My favorite part of the shower, aside from the food :-) was the decorating. It was all DIY down to the last detail. Table clothes were made with fabric from the fabric store, paper flowers were hand done, polka dot garlands were individual cut and woven together, thank you's were hand made too. It was lots of work but many hands made it easy! For more on how to make the Leah banner, see the next post.

One of the best part of the decorations (like the Leah banner) is that my sister will be able to use them for decorating Leah's nursery. Here is a link to my older blog post on how I made the adorable Leah fabric banner.

The hostesses (jen's family on the left, dave's family on the right). We're all really like family so it made planning easy and fun. Oh and can you see her corsage? My sister Ofelia made it using felt and ribbon to match the polka dot felt garlands that decorated the windows. Those were easy to make, just head to the fabric store, buy ribbon of your choice long enough to make 2 strands across the area of your choosing (a little measurement here). Then buy a few felt squares (like 50 cents each), and using cookie cutters - trace and cut out circles. Use a knife or exacto knife to slice 1-2 slits in the circles, and then string them together!

Mmmm the food: Cream Puffs, Lemon Shortbread Rounds, Tea Sandwiches, Candied Pretzels, Deviled Eggs, Strawberries with Nutella, Chicken Salad Endive Boats, and my favorite - the Fruit Salad in Orange Cups :-) Oh and the paper flowers were SO fun! They're super easy and can be even be made with household goodies (bamboo skewers, cocktail napkins, twist-ties, and scissors). And of course, you can always just head over to etsy and buy them.

My fave! Who wouldn't want to eat these fun little guys? "r" for Roth, my sister's last name.

Chicken salad endive boats

Candied Pretzle's - just take a pretzel and dunk it in melted white chocolate. Before it dries all the way roll the little guys in non nonpareils. They are delicious and can be made in all kinds of variations! Good job Chels!

The thank you's had Leah's initials of course! Make the jump to see how I made the non nonpareils and goodie bags.

Jen's mom-in-law made adorable frames for childhood photos that went along the mantle. See the other felt garland in the background?

Onesie decorating! Someone made one that said iPood. There were prizes for the winners of each category: "Best Design", "Cutest", and "Most Likely for Dave to let Leah Wear". By Katie! Just head to your nearest crafts store for brushes, cut up some sponges, get some puff paint, some stencils, etc, etc & you're in business! Oh and we got the craft paper from home depot to protect the tables & the onsies in packs of 10 or so on amazon.

Aren't the paper flowers the coolest? Another thing my sister can use for the nursery. Chelsea made them! See links for that above.

Showered with Love Part 1

2010-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

My sister's baby shower was last weekend. It was so fun and a big success! I am working on the pics from the shower, but here are some of from the prep work. I love planning showers—but especially ones for my loved ones! My sister has some amazing in-laws and we all (my sister, mom, jen's sister-in-laws, and mother-in-law) combined forces for the shower. Good job ladies! Can't wait to post pics of the final product.

Step One: Make hanging "Leah" banner

First part of step one consisted of buying "fat corners" at Hart's Fabric (such cute stuff in there!)

The next part of step one included cutting said "fat corners" into strips and wrapping around the "Leah" which was made earlier of out florist's wire. Wrap and glue, wrap and glue until they're all covered. I use hot glue for this and always manage to burn myself at least once.

Step Two: make party favors

First part of step two includes personalizing these awesome printable candy bag toppers found at creature of comforts. I just popped them into photoshop, made them bigger and added some nifty text.

Second part of step two is making the candy nonpareils from white chocolate red food coloring and white nonpareils. Oh and I add a little peppermint extract to make it extra yummy.

Step Three: to top it all off, I made these super easy toothpick flags for the fruit cups.

All I did was buy scrapbook paper in adorable polka dot (theme of the shower), stamp them and the guest of honor's initial, and elmer glue them onto toothpicks.

New Header & Our First Logo

2010-01-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over and it's time for a little pre-spring cleaning. A new blog header was in order! I decided to make a logo as well. Making a logo was quite intimidating. I just didn't know where to begin. There is so much potential, so many options. I spent lots of time finding inspiration with other websites and decided I should keep it simple and classic. Peter and I are working on a website & a photography blog and I wanted to start with a logo that we can build off of. I love the two colors & the font for the SV is a fun circus font.

Baby Cinco has arrived!

2010-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

The third new addition to our family in 2009 (yes I'm counting Charlie) is Baby Cinco - or baby 5 as Peter's sister Heather calls her. She is their 5th baby (they have 3 girls and 2 boys). They live in Idaho so we haven't been able to meet her yet. She is a cutie and her name is Marisol Helen Wilson—which I LOVE.

Introducing Leah Joy Roth

2010-01-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

Most of you have already heard that my sister Jen had a baby girl! Leah Joy Roth, born to Jen & Dave on December 10th. She is a tiny little thing with three very protective older brothers :-) We were NOT expecting a girl, but we were so wrong and so happy that we were! She is precious. Meet Leah...

Garaway Family is Expanding

2010-01-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

Drum roll please...we have a baby rabbit! He goes by the name of Charlie. He is a 3 month old mini lop, weighing in at about 3 pounds. He is a little shy in his new surroundings but he warms up quickly and likes to snuggle and get massages. He has free reign of most of the house and is almost potty trained! He is so cute you must have a look and see for yourself. Presenting Charlie...

Christmas Gift - DIY

2009-12-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas we wanted to do family gifts (since we have 25 nieces and nephews-hello $$$). The first thing that came to mind was a game. I wanted to make it personal and special. We used to make a Christmas movie and one of the best things about it was the cousins getting to see each other and feeling like a family since they don't all live close to one another. I was searching the blogosphere and I found a custom game of concentration (or memory) from Something I Just Made. If you want to do this with pretty vintage art, go there and print out the pre-sized art and just follower her step by step. She did it with vintage art but I thought to myself—why couldn't you do this with personal photos (which I have plenty of!). So here is what the process looks like.

I used cereal boxes, a paper cutter, mod podge, a paint brush, 2x2 photos printed at kinkos on an 8.5x11 good quality white paper and an M stamp for the finishing touch on the back. I put them in plain brown jewelry boxes and mod podged some scrapbook paper on the top, then stamped "Memory" across the lid.

To try this on your own, visit Just Something I Made for the step by step.

Home for the Holidays

2009-12-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

While some people have moved on from the holidays, we here at casa P&J are still enjoying the Christmas season. We still have about one more week to go with the 12 days of Christmas. I wasn't aware of what that was until a couple of years ago. I thought it was just a little song we sang in Catholic school. We were probably taught what it meant but I probably wasn't listening. Well, it is a song and it happened to have been written in France, pre-1800's, about the Christian faith.

It wasn't published until 1846, in England, during a time when it was illegal to be Catholic. The song was sung as a teaching aid for children since anything in writing could lead to imprisonment or worse—hanging, drawing and quartering (you don't want to know what that is). The premises for the celebration of the 12 days of Christmas is the magi searching for the new baby Jesus. To commemorate finding him on the 12th day (the Epiphany), there is a customary giving of gifts in the Catholic faith. In the song, the "true love" is God Himself. A little bit of history for you.

These fun 12 Days of Christmas ornaments are from Crate and Barrel. They were given to me this year as an advent gift from my wonderful mother in law.

Another gift from my mother-in-law—Spode china: to carry on the family tradition. The best part is Peter loves it too—this year's b-day gift from his mom was Spode also :-)

O Christmas Tree

2009-12-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

We met up with my family at the tree farm in half moon bay—half way between us and them. Truth be told, Peter and I had no intention of purchasing a Christmas Tree at the tree farm this year. We had already bought our tree at Savemart for $20 and it was sitting perkily in our living room spreading Christmas cheer. Since we went to the Santa's Village Tree Farm in Half Moon Bay with family, we naturally thought that they'd be getting a tree. Well, both of my sister's were thinking that the other was getting a tree at the farm, when each had no intention of purchasing a tree.

They are both fans of the Home Depot Tree Farm where you can buy perfectly perfect trees for a fraction of the price of the local farms. So there we all were, an hour away from home, with no tree purchasers present! We decided to enjoy the scenery anyway. We looked for trees, and found nothing that met our Depot standards. We drank cider, rode the train that played techno music, and best of all—enjoyed the "puppet show" which was truly amazing. It was less amazing in the jaw dropping, in-awe-of-their talents sort of way, and more in the is this for real? sort of way. The soundtrack to the Christmas puppet show was Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Not sure how Rick Astley reminds anyone of Christmas, but I guess I shouldn't go around assuming what appropriate Christmas traditions are. Just when you think you've seen it all, head to half moon bay for a very "Christmas-y" treat! And, for your viewing pleasure, I've posted the music video to that song—keep a close eye on the bartender. He is sassy!

Needless to say, it was a random place and we hope to not go back ever again. But it did provide us with some entertainment & Christmas cheer! Merry Christmas from Rick Astley and the rest of us!

Happy Birthday Felly!

2009-12-22T09:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Felly. Felly is my sister—my eldest sister. I went searching a found a few older photos of her to share. She can thank me later for not putting up all of the photos I found ;-) Growing up, she took great care of me. She was like a second mum. She used to make my school lunches, help me with homework, and bless her heart, she would take me to church. Now that we're all grown up, she has a beautiful family. I think her best quality is how she is tirelessly amused at anything and everything. If you watch a movie with her you're sure to laugh twice as much as you normally would. They're coming for a little wisit today. So, I must go and prepare the house for a wild gingerbread house decorating party!

Reno Slideshow

2009-11-22T20:00:00.001-08:00

Some more photos, they were getting lonely so I had to include them in the fun. See the Reno's Blog here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-22T19:24:00.001-08:00

As we enter this week of Thanksgiving, one of the many things I am thankful for is my church family. One of the families that make our little church family so special is the Reno Family. Peter and I got the chance to shoot them a few weeks ago. They have been very blessed this year. After a long wait, they were given a son! He is the cutest thing, and has traveled so far to be with the Reno's and our community. His name is Beniam (or CTBR).

Baby Ava Arrives

2009-10-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Baby Ava graced me with her presence this last week. And she was even kind enough to open her pretty eyes for me. She was born just a few weeks ago! She is the first daughter of my dear friend and old roomie, Christiana. She and her husband Nate are leaving soon for Cambodia doing awesome work for the people of Phnom Phenh.

First Look

2009-10-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. I got to spend part of it with some beautiful people. Here is a first look at our time together.

Team Reno

Uno Mas

2009-10-14T00:06:00.000-07:00

Too cute to leave out...and because this little "Nay Nay" as we call her was asking for more.

It's cute when kids share.

Autumn Rises Again

2009-10-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here in Santa Cruz, the Indian Summer was in full effect until about a week ago. It's a fast change and although it may not be appreciated by all of us homo adorans, it is a much needed break for the earth. This short pause in life is brief and allows our little earth to rest and be restored again in just a few months (if you live in California). But have no fear, if you are one of those among the 1 season preferenced people, there are loads of companies looking to ~~profit~~ provide you with warm gooey comfort to get you through the next few months. Pumpkin Latte's and Peppermint Mochas will see you through your fear of the cold and before you know it you'll be on to frappachinos again. Don't worry, I will be right there with you, and we can help Starbucks takeover the world together. Cheers! Oh and if you need a little extra help in the enjoying-the-seasons category, just take a lesson from some little ones near you. They enjoy soaking up every bit of autumn. Hooray for times of rest, wee ones, apple picking, and pumpkin spiced beverages!

Martin Slideshow

2009-10-01T20:45:00.001-07:00

I have finished the Martin's photos. I think it took me longer than necessary because I didn't want to be done with them!