Things I Love Thursday
- Taking tennis lessons with the girls. We are all at about the same level, so this works out nicely.
- My neighborhood. We have so much fun! (Wine Tasting post coming soon!)
- Piper's Self-Portrait. She's been enjoying taking pictures with our nice Canon and she's very careful with it. I found this among a series of closeups of her blanket. Too sweet.
- My subscription to Whole Living magazine. I find it to be a great "all-around" read. It's about balance, beauty, fitness, recipes, and living green. I really look forward to it arriving every month.
- Pinning!
- Visiting the Oregon Zoo on a semi-dry day with the family and having these girls smile and be delighted with the snack we chose: an apple and a banana, rather than the other items available: ice-cream, "Elephant Ears," cotton candy, etc. (Also, I can't help but love Geneva's hat!)
- The prospect of a sunny weekend on the horizon.
- Getting our garden started.
- Having your guests say, "We'll bring an appetizer." Then, having them show up with the most amazing spread from Olympic Provisions and a bottle of The Napa Valley Reserve. *swoon*
- Having a Kindle. Specifically, for ready naughty erotica without anyone knowing.
- The new stamp I recently acquired to make these new cards. Which are now featured in "The Shop." In addition, figuring out how to run a "special" that allows me to offer free shipping for Mother's Day! (MD2012 - use it at checkout)
- Our sunny vacation... that's right around the corner.
- Making summer plans... Sunriver, visits with my family in Southern Oregon, my high-school reunion, camps for the kids, Vegas...
- The joy of Piper learning to ride without training wheels.
- The fact that Game of Thrones is back on-air for their second season.
- This ridiculous picture of Piper:
- The new Scentsy wick-less candle night lights I recently purchased for the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.
- Growing my own ranunculus.
- Seeing all the cheery trees blossom around town.
- Receiving hand-me-downs for the girls from our very generous (and super stylish) friends.
- This amazing gift we recently received from some amazing friends: A Dessert-a-Month! I have no idea what's coming each month and I couldn't be more thrilled. *tummy doing the happy dance*
- Piggy-tail braids.
- The little voice I hear reading to her sister, all the books I used to read to her.
- Seeing the blue and yellow rooster statuettes that once belonged to my grandmother in my bookshelves.
- The way Piper loves all things (even the gross things).
- Listening to the girls sing, "Somebody That I Used to Know" at the top of their lungs. (Indeed, I am aware of the inappropriate "screw me over" and "so happy you could die" phrases... we're working on understanding figures of speech right now.)
- Thoughtful, unexpected, simple gestures from friends.
- Cool kids. "Take my picture like this and send it to Daddy, please."
- My new fruit basket (that I found for a steal at Target). It is similar to this one but a slightly different style.
- When I receive a text from my mom, Debbie, saying that in addition to caring for the girls while we are on our Vegas trip in August, they would "love to have the girls for an additional week or two this summer."
- When a hectic weeknight, post-gymnastics and T-ball practice, ends (at 6:45pm) with a dinner for Greg and I like this one. Let me explain how this was remotely possible. Piper and I had visited Costco earlier in the day. We went to return some outdoor cushions and purchase toilet paper. However, we arrived during lunchtime. Piper decided on a hotdog. I decided to wait to eat until we got home. Mistake? Maybe, maybe not. I was hungry. I sampled every station. We came home with some randomly delicious items: brioche buns, peach-mango-orange preserves, cranberry-almond thin cookies, coconut curry simmer sauce... (I'm totally serious. I think I bought everything I tasted. *gasp*). In addition, we came home with Sous Vide Cuisine Solutions - Lamb Shanks, "seasoned in an aromatic mint and rosemary sauce." I couldn't help it! They were amazing. And while you can prepare them in 7 minutes (in the microwave), I chose the conventional oven method and 25 minutes later, nestled these tasty treats over a bed of creamy Bob's Red Mill polenta.
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I love reading your blogs. Thank you.
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