new york city!

Warning - Picture overload...

Gabe and I went to NYC for vacation a couple weeks ago. It was Gabe's first time in NYC and we had such a great time! We stayed on Times Square (thanks, dad!)...

Elizabeth came up from DC to spend one of the days with us. She was a great tour guide and we had a lot of fun tourist-ing with her. We went to the Tenement Museum - where i touched an artifact and got in trouble with the tourguide.

the Flatiron building is the first skyscraper in NYC. it's 29 stories tall.

Grand Central Station was beautiful. The station itself is a work of art.

Rockafellar Center

Gabe ruining my picture!!

the only thing we didn't like was all the rain.

Apollo holding the head of Medusa - Metropolitan Museum of Art

i really liked is furniture set.

Gabe liked the Egyptian stuff the best.

Going out.

Empire state building.

86 stories up - it was very windy up there!

quite the view!

i love the Flatiron building.

"i think i see my dad."

right after we took this picture, some girl walks up and says, "can i interview you? i'm a reporter. did you hear about the suicide here last night?" we thought it was a prank!! but then we looked up the news on Gabe's phone and sure enough, a guy climbed over the railing and jumped off the Empire State Building the night before we went. creepy..

Ground Zero.

the construction of the Freedom Tower (red steel going up on the left.) the Freedom Tower will be 109 stories tall.

View of the where the 2nd Tower was. - at Ground Zero we happened on to a tour... we just heard this guy talking and we gathered around the rest of the group. turns out it was a paid tour, but one of the guys leading it said it was ok.

Liberty Island. View of Manhattan.

Lady Liberty.

We were two of the few Americans at Liberty Island.

the little bit of sunshine we got to enjoy...

at the aquarium of the pacific

saturday, Gabe and I took Emily to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. She was hilarious in the car, dancing and singing along, stopping every now and again to say, "that way!" It was a beautiful, sunny day (if not a little hot). We had lunch at The Pike (shopping area next to the aquarium), walked around, and then went to the aquarium. There were so many exciting things for Emily to see/explore (even before we made it into the aquarium)... there were boats at the dock, there were pigeons, an escalator... it was all VERY exciting. :)

Emily, as she always does, won the heart of everyone at the aquarium. She said hi to everyone - even the man sleeping on the bench waiting for his family to get moving (Johnny Johnson, anyone?)

She loved running up to the glass (she could get right up to it) and saying, "Hi Fishies!" or "Wow!!! Look (at) That!"

There was so much excitment that it was hard to get her to hold still for a picture.

Uncle "Babe". We sat down on a bench for a snack and Gabe was out of her line of sight and she started to get worried. "Babe? Babe?? Babe!?" then he poked his head around so she could see him and it was as if she said, "ok. there you are."

After we had seen all the fishies, sharks, sting rays, seals, and sea lions, we stopped at the gift shop and told her she could get anything she wanted. She probably would've been happy with anything at the store and we made a few suggestions that seemed to be what she wanted, but she saw a book that called for her. Once she had that book in her hand, she could care less about all the other books, toys, stuffed animals - you name it. she was even reluctant to give it to the cashier to pay for it.

It was a fun-filled day. We all had a blast.

Thanks Mike and Janica for letting us take her!!

my target is super.

Despite having experienced unfavorable circumstances with respect to the purchase of my bicycle, I still LOVE Target. Not only have I forgiven them for their poor behavior (and Imight add that I received a $40 gift card for my troubles), but I pledge my allegiance to them more fully now. I do believe that it was in an effort to win me back (and they succeeded) that they decided to implement a new section of FRESH GROCERIES. This is so fantastic. First of all, I hate HATE HATE the grocery store (any and all, people). like, with an irrational passion. There are never enough checkstands open, the workers are rude and useless, the prices are high, and it makes shopping a chore. I almost always snap at my husband (yes, we're still at the "let's go grocery shopping together phase") and when he asks why I'm so upset, i have to remind him that I'm at the grocery store and I want to leave ASAP!

Second of all, i love LOVE LOVE Target. The "One Spot," clothes, purses, shoes, toys, games, decor, crafts, make-up, necessary supplies of all kind... I've always thought that Target has everything you need (except fresh groceries). Previously, you could supplement grocery shopping with a trip to the Market section, which had all kinds of food items. We found out that they had much of the same items as the grocery store, but for much cheaper. BUT, we'd still have to go to the grocery store if we wanted any fresh meat or produce. NO MORE, my friends. Target has officially become my One-Stop-Shop. Mind you, the selection is of fresh meat and produce is not very large. it is fully represented by my picture above (two sides of the row and free-standing kiosks in the middle). However, it easily fits the needs of a two-person household.

Now, considering that I hate the grocery store and love target...??? I'm going to go ahead and call this a match made in heaven.

(I might add that they have not changed the name to a "Super Target." I don't know if they plan on doing so...)

craft madness

this post contains nothing but craftiness.

i've made a lot of cards lately - birthday cards, valentines, one baby shower card. i've already shared my valentines. here are some other cards i'm pretty proud of...

Gabe's Birthday Card

• Elements: white card, blue background, orange and yellow highlights. i like to use bold, bright colors for boys birthday cards.
• Outside: if i use a white card, i usually cover the whole front of the card in some sort of color and/or pattern to give it some life. the square in the top left of the card slides around and reveals the message "...and many more!" originally, i had punched the square out of the blue and i was going to put the square of "happy birthday" paper underneath the blue. then i noticed that this "...and many more!" stamp would fit in the white space from the punch out of blue. when i stamped it, i mis-judged the spacing and it was high up in the square, leaving an awkward amount of white space below. so, i drew music notes to make it fill up the square better. the peek-a-boo element turned out so cute, i'm totally proud of it.
• Inside: rounded message saying "happy birthday to you" cut to fit around the cupcake's flame.
  

Katie's Baby Shower Card

• Elements: Orange card, new stamp set ("Cute as a Bug", bright colors, green polka-dot paper, old flower cut out from a set i bought years ago. i wanted to be bright and happy, like spring-time :)
• Outside: the peek-a-boo element from Gabe's card was so fun, i wanted to use it for this one as well. this time i pasted a white square on top of the orange card. i used pinking sheers for the green polk-a-dot paper to make it look like grass. each bug was stamped with bright colors and cut out from white card stock. i wanted it to look like they were crawling in the grass.
• Inside: cut out of paper that says "Congratulations" all over it.

RP Birthday Card 1

• Elements: Blue card, green and grey accents, Train stamp. It can be hard to make cards for the men at work (not the band). you don't want the cards to be too cutesy, but you don't want them to be ugly either! i thought this one was just masculine enough, but way cute. especially since its receipient has a lifetime of experience on the railroad.
• Outside: i gave the green background rounded corners. the grey mimicked the green at the bottom and then i ripped the top for a more rugged effect. each train car was stamped with bold colors and cut out from white card stock.
• Inside: a tag punch from the "...and many more!" stamp, attached with a brad.
  
  

RP Birthday Card 2

• Elements: Brown card, green and blue accents, patterned accents, bird stamp. i wanted more earthy colors on this one and i liked the bird because it's springtime (well, almost).
• Outside: the green patterned paper was ripped with a tool that gives it that zigzag/pinking sheer look. but, in real life it's a little more rugged, because it has been ripped. i wanted it to look like grass. the dandilion stamp was in the set with the bird, so it went nicely. the bird was stamped on white and cut out so it would pop on the card. the body of the bird is raised (3d), but you can't really tell in the picture.
• Inside: patterned accent with a Happy Birthday message.
  
  
  
  

RP Birthday Card 3

• Elements: Tourquoise card, orange patterned highlights, balloon stamp, cupcake roller stamp. this card works for a man or a woman - but it is for a man in this case.
• Outside: the cupcake roller stamp was rolled in Orange on white card stock and pasted to the bottom of the card. Orange polk-a-dot and orange striped paper created a background for the turqouise balloons to stand out from. the balloons are raised (3d).
• Inside: the same Orange patterned paper from the front, cut into squares and layered on top of each other to create a background for the birthday message.
  
  

Valentine's/President's Day

last weekend was a nice 3-day weekend. on Saturday, we went out to visit Grandma Joanie, check on her car, and give her a valentine. we were supposed to bake cookies with Linda but she was sick with the stomach flu. We decided to just drop by and give her a valentine to raise her spirits. :)

Saturday night, we saw Valentine's Day. we thought it was a cute movie. i know the critics slammed it, but really, what were they expecting? it's a cheesy chick flick. i like movies that have multiple stories intertwined, plus it's a Gary Marshall film (and i'm a sucker for the cheesy goodness he makes). the only bad part was Anne Hathaway. freakin' zipperhead. awful actress. and she plays an adult phone entertainer. so, we could've just done without her entirely. after the movie, we enjoyed some Claim Jumper. (which was lovely.)

Sunday, we exchanged gifts and made a delicious dinner at home:

gabe grilled the steaks. i made the salad (w/homemade croutons), twice baked potatoes, and broccoli. we even broke out the fancy plates for the occasion!

We had planned to ride our bikes to disneyland on Monday, but it was a little hot. we decided to drive. and it's a good thing! we were blacked-out. one of my valentine's presents was a cute little gardening set. so we decided to get plants and seeds to plant - hopefully i don't kill the plants! keep an eye out... in 80 dias i'm supposed to have some bell peppers!

here are the valentine's i made...

this one went to grandma joanie.

this one went to gabe.

this one went to elizabeth.

this one went to linda.

aunt-(& uncle) hood.

you know what? i love being an aunt. i remember when brian was born thinking that it was insane that i could be an aunt - but that i was going to love it. it's important, this aunt-hood. i take it very seriously. Elizabeth made a very good point the other day - "why can't we just get paid to be F/T aunts??" then we could expense flights to Bellingham and all our trips to museums, zoos, disneyland...

(seriously, though, i think we should all fly up to watch brian play soccer.)

Gabe has discovered that he loves to be an uncle too. at first, he was nervous. he thought if he held/touched Emily that she would break. He thought Brian and Matthew weren't going to like him. but Brian and Matthew love him - over Thanksgiving, Matthew wanted to hold Gabe's hand more than he wanted to hold mine. Brian was oh so excited to share a birthday with Gabe. and Emily loves to play legos with Gabe and treat him like a jungle gym.

so this post is dedicated to our nephews and niece (soon to be nieces) - my buddy Brian, Choo Choo Matthew, and sweet girl Emily.

here are some pictures from an expedition to the park with sweet Emily. (1/30/2010)

it was hard to get her still for a picture - she was so busy playing!

i told her she could pick one toy to bring to the park. she ran to her toybox and grabbed this book. :)

she LOVED going on the slide.

in the kitchen

i love to bake and cook - especially if it involves a cute little apron (of which i have many). i'm not as good as say Ina Garten, Paula Dean, or Elizabeth Kearns, but for the most part, i can hold my own in the kitchen.

I got a beautiful Cuisinart Mixer for christmas (thanks mom & dad) and i've been getting back into baking. when i was younger, i baked cookies all the time - family and lucky neighbors reaped the benefits. ever since i moved out of my parent's house, i haven't baked nearly as much. part of the reason for that is because i lacked the essential tool to make it fun, fast, and easy - a mixer:

and now that i have this beautiful, shiny new toy, here are the fruits of my labor:

mmmmmm. i use the Crisco recipe. i stopped using the Tollhouse recipe years ago - i just find that the Crisco one is..... better. try it - you'll agree. for these cookies i used a mixture of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. they turned out with the perfect amount of gooey-ness (inside only) and crunch (outside only).

another favorite at our house is my Lemon Chicken. it's easy and delicious.

• marinade Thin Sliced Chicken Breast Filets in Lemon/Garlic/Herb marinade (i just use store bought)
• remove chicken from marinade and place in an Egg Wash
• remove from egg wash and coat in Breading (mixture of flour, seasoning, lemon zest, and crushed Ritz crackers)
• place chicken in pan twice coated with Olive Oil.
  

and voila. (with a little steamed veggies and garlic mashed potatoes.)