Home.

I love coming home to a clean apartment! Did a huge cleanse this
weekend with Jef's awesome help. :)

Also, what should I do with that black cd/DVD holder shelving unit.
Who wants it??

Sent from my iPhone

Malibu Pier

Beautiful evening and yummy dinner at Ruby's diner on the pier!

Bart's Books in Ojai

I am in love with this place! If you go to Ojai you HAVE to go here!

Check out their site to read more about the store. www.bartsbooksojai.com

I think I was most excited about the kids section and finding a
wayside school book by Louis Sachar. I loved loved loved those books
as a kid and had so much fun reading the one Jef got to Emily and
Ryan! Gotta find another one hehe.

The books are organized by section and it's almost all outside. Decent
prices and awesome selection! Go Ojai!

Ikea Rules!

I love my new desk ( and how clean it is in this picture) and the part
on the right side is a whiteboard! So innovative :)

Labor day 2009!

Hotdog spectacular! So many toppings to choose from, including
carmelized balsamic onions!

This was a jefe original masterpiece!

Lovely day at the park

Including a beadstash!

Delicious Steak Dinner!

I did a little cookin Saturday as a reward after we cleaned my whole
apartment. (hello spring cleaning in the last weekend of summer!)

The leftovers have been awesome and coming home to a cleaned apartment
is double awesome!

We picked out some fun beers to try with the meal and one was even
from Anderson Valley which is near were I grew up.

A Natural!

I started this blog and my cooking blog because I want to be a blogger! I want to have thoughts and cook things and share them with the world! I want people to read what I write and to want to read more. But I didn't factor in the part about having to write posts and cook meals on a regular basis. Well, I mean, I thought about it... but I just kinda thought it would happen without much effort from me! But sadly, starting a blog does not = being a blogger.

I can think of so many things I have done in my life where I start something and expect it to be easy and to basically just happen on its own. When I got my at-home driving school packets and filled them all out and finished the course, I figured that would be enough to pass my written permit test. No such luck! I failed that test, and in a horrible way! I was SO angry, SO frustrated, SO embarrassed - especially since all my friends knew I was taking the test, and since I made it sound like I was going to pass with flying colors! So my mom drove my wet cheeks and big frown home, and on the way she talked to me about how most things come easy to me. Schoolwork, sports, reading, games, etc. And its true! (Or it seems that way because when I can't get something the first or second time I often stop trying...) And she let me know that life is hard. That there will be SO many things that I'm not a natural at, but I still have to keep trying and working at them.

Even though it probably wasn't that memorable for my mom, I have never forgotten that car ride. Some days I wish that I only had to do those things that I have a natural affinity for, but apparently keeping up with my blogs is something I am going to have to work at! Blogging isn't something I have to do, and its not something that's easy to do everyday, but I am going to do it. I'm all about pushing myself out of my box this year, and what better way is there than this?

Plus, I have SOOO much going on to write about!!! Heres the quick list version:

• Feeling so lucky to have my perfect match! I love you baby!
  
• New (to me) car!!! My dream car that I've been lusting over for a while now is mine!
• Being Maid of Honor is so many different adjectives.
  
• School starts in a week, and I'm crossing fingers about a class I'm on the wait list for.
• CAAARRRRRRRRRRRR
• Two goldfish died under my watch.
• Is it friday yet?

Also, I loved driving down to Malibu with the Barbers! It was such a beautiful evening:

Dora the Explorer

Here is the test bag for a pattern I found. I think the Dora fabric is cute for a little girl, and the bag turned out better than I expected! I used pink stitching everywhere so it stands out against the fabric and give it a "home-made" look. The straps are basically loops and you can pull them to cinch the top of the bag and fit the straps over your shoulder.

Next I want to try a bigger one with some beautiful purple fabric I have. Also on my to-do list is a few pairs of pajama shorts, simple ones with elastic and a drawstring. Should be fun!!

I went to JoAnn's yesterday evening and got a few essentials i've been missing and some other things I saw that were cute. That store is dangerous for me!!!

Dreams & Dreams

Lately I've been remembering my dreams more and more. I'll wake up to my alarm and think about the dream I just was having, press the snooze and then fall right back into it! Its kinda cool since I have never been a dream remember-er!

Also, last night I finally started a sewing project. I wish I devoted more time to being creative and making different things, including cooking, sewing, and blogging. My big dream for this summer was to make stuff and start an Etsy shop. But... I haven't. Not that my summer is over yet, and I actually have a pretty free schedule this weekend, but with this crazy heat its hard to want to stay inside and run up my electricity bill when I could be swimming and bbqing outside!

So, I have some bag ideas and some cute fabric that I bought on sale and have had around for a while, but I decided to do a "test run" for the bag and so I am using some Dora the Explorer for the outside and a deep purple for the lining. If it turns out ok i'll give it away to someone with a little girl, or keep it to sell in my (future) Etsy shop.

There is also this huge roadblock of picking a name! Should I go with something that is a play on my name, or something random... the possiblities are endless! (and I am NOT the best decision-maker, thats for sure!). I am not even sure what exactly I would like to sell. I like to make purses and bags, but I know I could do so much more - so I don't want a name that is too specific or cliche.

Maybe I will try to finish this bag before I leave next Friday for my little mini-vacation, because once I get back it'll be all wedding chaos and then back to school! And realistically, if I work on it tonite I could probably finish in an hour or so. Then I could do some brainstorming and maybe the perfect Etsy shop name will just come to me!

....and in a perfect world I would make those damn citrus pancakes before the fruit I got for them goes bad!! Gotta step up my game already!

Mini Vacation!

I just got an ok from my boss that I get to take off a friday and monday next week to go up north for the weekend! Yay!! =)

Excited to see family and friends, and to possibly go water skiing!!

Weekend Bliss

I love starting out my week after a fun weekend, because Monday just seems to float by and suddenly its already 10:30! (Or maybe its moving quick because my Boss is out at a meeting this morning...hehe!)

I am super excited for Luke and Heather and their new apartment, it is super cute and is going to be great for them I think. And I love lazy Sundays with a whole afternoon at the pool ending in delicious bbq and friends!

Some little things I am thankful for lately:

• Air conditioning. I get warm easily, especially in this crazy heat wave we're having.
  
• Cute cooking blogs that inspire me
• McDonald's Iced Coffee
• Dreams of being important together
• Covered parking in my apartment complex - this morning my car was cooler than the thick morning heat.

Lately I have huge thoughts about cooking more in my life. I wish I was rich so I could afford some cool culinary school! I'd love to learn everything there is to know about food. How to mix flavors and spices, how to cook everything!! I'll just start small and try to keep cooking, taking crappy pictures, and blogging about it on iPhone Kitchen for now.

I am totally making those citrus pancakes tonight for dinner.

Sometimes its Difficult

Sometimes I find it difficult to be organized when I'm busy. My calendar gets filled up and I am organized somewhat because I know what I'm going to be doing, but then I slack on cooking, cleaning, and exercising, because when I get home from whatever I had planned, all I want to do is take a shower and watch Food Network until I can't keep my eyes open anymore!

Although the living room and kitchen of my apartment stay pretty clean, my room is a disaster area! I have laundry that needs doing, a bathroom that needs cleaned, clean laundry that still hasn't been put away, and a floor that needs vacuumed! It kinda drives me crazy, but I am just going with the flow this week, and its been a great week so far! I've spent lots of quality time with my friends and their families and that was 100 times more rewarding than coming home to a spotless room.

Lots of things are coming up in the next few months, but I think next week will be nice and calm, and I even have plans to see my cousin and meet her boyfriend!

My final thought is this: Weddings are insane. What the heck is up with "wedding season?" Is everyone I know getting married? Yes! I am glad I am only involved with one of them, and that there is only a month until the madness subsides. Being Maid of Honor is awesome and flattering and special, but it definitely makes me want a small, fun, easy (is there such a thing?!) wedding. And even though everyone around me is wedding dress shopping, its comforting that I know I am happy with my relationship and am in no big rush to tie the knot. =)

Day One & BBQ Chicken Pizza

I feel like I did SO good with my planning yesterday. I got up with plenty of time to get ready, make breakfast and a lunch to take to work, I decided I would do the pizza and picked up the one ingredient the F&E didn't have (cilantro, yum!) from Trader Joes on my way home, and made a great dinner! (Check it out here on my cooking blog!)



YUM!

After dinner I basically just lazed around - which I think is perfectly fine for a monday evening. I watched the show that I follow thats embarassing to name on ABC Family, tried to rid myself of a throbbing headache, and got to sleep at a decent hour!

I feel great so far this week, just trying to keep up with my planning and goals and trying to stay positive and keep going even when I just want to eat ten thousand delicious candy bars and watch E! True Hollywood Story all day long. The good news is that I get friday off for the 4th of July and will be eating delicious sushi as a reward for a good week and in celebration of Audra's birthday, and for that I am super excited!!

Weekly Planing

I have some lofty goals for myself this week! I find that I am super motivated at really odd times - mostly when i'm busy doing something where I can't get away and act on my motivation, and it has been getting very frustrating. So this week i'm going to change that. I am working on kick-starting my motivation and turning it into ACTION.

Some Goals:

• Pack a lunch for work - No buying fast food lunch!
• Make fruit smoothies for breakfast
• Follow through with dinner meal plan
• Go hiking at least once
• Do at least one fitness video
• Clean bathroom/scrub shower
• Think positive energizing thoughts everyday!

I went shopping at the Fresh & Easy market this evening and worked out four meals to make at home this week. I want to save money on eating out so I can feel good about going out friday to Tokyo Delve's for Audra's birthday and eating mountains of delicious sushi!

1. BBQ Chicken Pizza ( I got a whole wheat pizza dough from F&E and I'm super excited to try it!)
2. Beef Tri-tip Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots or Salad (I put the tri-tip in a quick marinade of a little balsamic vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and I'll probably make this a night when Jef & Fam come for dinner!)
3. Chicken Roll-Ups, Chips & Salsa (This is also a kid-friendly menu item)
4. Chicken Piccata over pasta (I have this great Piccata stewing sauce from Trader Joes and I am marinating some chicken breasts in some of it and simmer them in it as well)

I haven't quite figured out the days for each, and there are a few ingredients I still need to get (why the heck doesn't F&E carry cilantro all the time, and they were also out of salted butter) and the chicken for the pizza and the roll-ups needs to be pre-cooked so I might have to save those for later in the week or cook up the chicken during the day in my crock pot.

Recipe and meal planning is something I am really interested in getting into - I just think about how my parents ran our kitchen growing up - keeping staples on hand so that theres always some meal that could be made without a trip to the grocer everyday. Its hard to do that living in an apartment and sharing the kitchen with another person that does seperate cooking, but I feel very motivated to give this a try and see if I can come up with a routine that works for me.

I feel like if I can keep up with this I will not only save money and learn to cook more meals, but I'll be going out less and eating healthier and keeping my everyday life more organized!

Question Of The Day: What is your personal go-to meal?

Seriously?

> Where did you learn to drive??!
>

CSUCI pride!

Walking into the bookstore is so dangerous for me! I walk in with a
mission: get a scantron for my test and GET OUT! But it never quite
works that way. They keep getting cuter and cuter clothes and I almost
bought 10 thousand things! Finally I just settled on this lovely
tumbler and something for someone else :).

As I was brewing my coffee this morning I started to wonder why I
picked out a green one instead of the pink or blue. ( if they had
purple it would have been a no-brainer) I couldn't worry about it too
long since my amazing keurig takes all of 10 seconds to fill my cup,
and I am happy with my purchase, so green it is!

I hope everyone has a wonderful valentine's day! I know I will!!

Ps. Happy anniversary tomorrow mom & dad!

Quick lunch

>

> Costco orange chicken and leftover rice from jefe's dad! :)
>

Oh Sweet Relief!

Unorganized

This is my supply drawer at work. It haunts me everytime I open it.
Someday I will organize it again, probably the same day I get around
to cleaning out my car.

Breakfast

I love breakfast foods. Pancakes, waffles, crepes, fresh fruit,
hashbrowns, even parfaits and oatmeal!

I was reading the rachael ray magazine and this ad made my mouth water!!

Recently I've been way into breakfast sandwiches and I totally wish I
was better at getting out of bed in time each day to make something
good for breakfast. Breakfast sandwiches are so versitle! It's
delicious on regular toast, a bagel, an English muffin, a crossaint,
and looks mouth-watering between two waffles! The egg can be
scrambled, fried, poached. Melty cheese, tomatos, avocado, bacon...
Anything you want or don't want and the breakfast sandwich is still
delicious!

Plus it's easy to make healthy with spinach, tomato, and egg whites on
whole grain toast or bagel.

I can't wait to try this, ill have to pick up some frozen waffles next
time I'm at the grocery store for sure.

Anyone wanna come over for brunch some Saturday? :)