PB&J

This morning I had to test a kindergartener, the first one I have tested all year. I thought his lunch started at 10:30, but it actually started at 10, so he missed it. I had him get his lunch and brought him back to my room so he could eat in there. For lunch he had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I have never had peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my life, but today I wanted one.

Weird, right?

Or is it more weird that I have never had a PB&J sandwich?

When I was in school I was the kid that never brought a sandwich for lunch. And I mean any kind of sandwich, not just PB&J. My mom would pack me soup, Chef Boyardee, cheese and crackers, tuna fish and crackers, salads, cut up vegetables, fruit salad, etc. Pretty much anything other than a sandwich. I still am picky about my sandwiches, but will now at least eat them. Still though, I don't like plain old bread, unless it is a salami and provolone cheese sandwich. That can be eaten on sliced, white bread. All the other sandwiches I eat, however, need to be on some kind of textured bread. I don't like sandwiches that just melt in my mouth. Ugh, just thinking about it grosses me out.

Obviously my issue is with texture. But still, the smell of the PB&J today made me want to try it. Maybe my tastes are changing. My palete has changed a lot in the last 5 years and I eat many more foods than I did when I was younger. I used to equate never having with not liking, but I have finally realized that this is not the case. A part of me is thinking that I have made it this far in life without it, why should I try it now. It makes me unique. But is not having a PB&J sandwich really note worthy? No.

So if I try it, do I go traditional? White bread, creamy peanut butter, and grape jelly? How do you like it?

A Little Sunshine

Sometimes all we need is a little sunshine to brighten our day. Today my sunshine came in the form of flowers.


After a weekend with the in-laws, a doctor's appointment that did not go well, red wine spilled on an off-white shirt, ripped stockings, and a day full of meetings, these were JUST what I needed to make me smile!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband and happy belated birthday (her day was Friday) to my sweet puppy!

xoxoxo

Random Tidbits

• Oops, looks like I gave the impression that it was our anniversary this past weekend. It is actually not until July....this was just a Valentine's Day outing. Sorry for the confusion!

• Today was my first day back at work since the snow storms, but the kids still did not have school. When I heard the announcement that the kids would have another snow day I was so annoyed, but after driving to work this morning I understood why. I got stuck at the end of our street and had to do the reverse/drive rock until I finally was able to make the turn. Real fun. I also could not believe that people were honking and yelling at me. Clearly I was stuck! Boo on you impatient people. Once I made it onto the main roads, the commute wasn't too bad. The roads were pretty much all clear. The street my school is on is another story. There are literally no sidewalks shoveled in the neighborhood surrounding my school. It is awful. The kids would have to walk in the street, which is also narrowed because of the walls of snow lining each side. Very dangerous and very sad that the community is not out helping to get the sidewalks and crosswalks cleared. Maybe the kids will be back in school in April, once the snow melts. Ugh!

• Yesterday I finished reading All Souls by Christine Schutt. Has anyone read this book? I picked it for my book club, which meets tonight, because it was the runner up for the Pulitzer Prize last year. I am really worried that everyone hated the book. Oops! Bad choice by me. I definitely agree with this one-minute review.

• I think I heard that there is a blogger layout that allows you to have pages. I can't remember where I heard this, but I am pretty sure it wasn't in a dream. Can anyone clue me in on how to do this?

• I got a Clarisonic Mia for Christmas and am still deciding how I feel about it. I haven't seen any positive changes in my complexion, but I guess going off the pill is probably mostly to blame for that. I am also not really sure how to go about using it. I have the cleanser that comes with the Mia, but do I wash my make-up off first and then use the cleanser and the Mia or do I just use the cleanser and the Mia or is there some other routine that I should be doing? Let me know how you like the Mia (or any other Clarisonic) and how you use it, please!

Weekend Recap

We are home after a fantastic weekend!

When we arrived in Pinehurst on Friday afternoon we stopped at the condo and then jumped back in the car. Kona was a great sport the entire ride, but we knew she was itching for a long walk. Thank goodness the next town over has a dog park with easy hiking trails. It was nice for us to get some exercise too. Kona refused to pose for the camera...she was too busy exploring.


Friday night we had dinner with my grandparents. They flew into town that afternoon and are planning to stay down for a couple weeks to escape the bitter cold that is plaguing NY. Spending time with them warms my heart; they just celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary! While we were at dinner it started snowing, so instead of stopping at the one bar in town, we headed back to the condo and spent the rest of the night watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. I was a tad worried when I heard that it was going to snow Friday into Saturday, but it ended up not being a problem at all. A few measly inches was nothing after what we had here last week. I forgot how pretty and charming the snow can be when it doesn't fall 30 inches at a time!


Saturday morning we dropped Kona off to get groomed (because grooming in DC is EXPENSIVE!) and then headed over to The Track, a hole in the wall diner that is situated on the horse track in town. Not only was the food greasy and delicious, but we got to see the horses too!

The rest of the day was spent shopping, sleeping, eating, and watching the Olympics. We were hoping to fit in some golf, but alas, you cannot golf when there is snow on the ground. Next time!

Yesterday we had an early breakfast, did some more shopping, had lunch in the village, and then relaxed before our dinner at the Carolina Hotel (where we had our wedding reception).

How about those drapes!? Clearly the condo has not been redecorated since the 70's!

It was so strange walking up to the hotel and I was surprised at how nostalgic I felt. It almost brought me to tears! Anyway, we had wonderful time at dinner and even got to share a piece of red velvet cake (our wedding cake) for dessert!

It really was a great weekend. I was so surprised that my husband planned something so low key, yet meaningful. Perfect, in my book!

Off We Go!

We are off to my most favorite place in the whole wide world...Pinehurst, NC!

We haven't been back since our wedding (I cannot believe it has been almost 2 years!!) so I am really looking forward to this trip. Everyone have a great weekend!

Don't Make Me Dance

We've been snowed in for a week. (Spring? Are you there?)

Our time has been filled with eating, drinking (I ran out of wine last night!), sleeping, cleaning, extreme snuggling (ahem), TV, board games, and video games. Luckily we've gone out a few times...for a half day of work on Friday, lunch last Saturday and Sunday, brunch on Monday, and to GameStop on Tuesday.

But yesterday we were stuck inside all day because of the 50 mph winds and 4-8 foot snow drifts. We REALLY had a lot of time to kill. In addition to deep cleaning our living room and attempting to rearrange the furniture (it's not possible), we played all these:

And because we had nothing better to do....we videotaped ourselves playing DDR. AJ has forbidden me from posting video of him "dancing", so that means I have to upload video of myself. I'm not sure what it is about that game, but it makes me lose my rhythm. I swear, in real life I am actually a pretty good dancer!

Please excuse my appearance....glasses, jingle jammies, naturally curly hair, and no make-up. Now you know what I reeeeally look like. And how awesome my DDR skills are.

ETA: I'm not sure why the video is so small, but I've learned not to mess with Blogger when something is wrong because I usually just eff it up even more. I am just happy it uploaded!

Look What I Found!

Today I had the brilliant idea that I should clean out all of my bags. I have a laundry basket full of bags, many that I do not use regularly. I was looking for an Alice gift card (click for a referral link) that I knew had twenty something dollars left on it, but instead of finding that gift card, I found all of this stuff:


1 bottle of nail polish, 6 cotton swabs, 2 nail files, 1 wood cuticle pusher, 4 elastic bands, 1 barrette, 11 bobby pins, 1 tube of mascara, 4 lip glosses, 1 hand sanitizer, 2 chapsticks, 2 band-aids, 2 cough drops, 1 face cream, 5 tampons


1 packet of Splenda, 2 pieces of candy, 1 bookmark made at camp, 50 cents in change, 1 stack of napkins, 1 Tide to go, 1 moist towelette, 2 matchbooks, 2 pairs of ipod headphones, 4 gift cards/certificates with balances, 1 CD (New Moon soundtrack)


4 pads of Post-It notes, 19 pens, 7 pencils, 4 batteries, 11 paperclips

I also found countless receipts and 12 pay stubs. Clearly I need to clean out my bags before I put them in my basket. I can't get over the number of writing utensils. Hilarious!

Winner!

Wow. Le Creuset was a good choice for a giveaway!

There were 122 eligible entries and the lucky number was 110. Congrats La Petite Chic!

Easy Italian

Where I grew up in NY there are a plethora of amazing Italian restaurants and I come from a family of very talented Italian cooks. Needless to say, I have a high standard for Italian cuisine. When we moved to DC (and NC, for that matter) I was greatly underwhelmed by the quality of Italian restaurants. When we first tried the Italian food various places had to offer, we ALWAYS left unhappy and longing for the food from home (both home cooked and from our favorite restaurants). Now we know better and rarely eat at Italian restaurants....so I have to get my fix via my own kitchen. (Or by ordering from this yummy place and having them ship it to us....but that is only for special occasions!)

Given my snobbishness, I should be ashamed of what I just whipped up in my kitchen. However, the meal was delicious, easy, and way cheaper than anything we could have gotten at a subpar restaurant in town. I had all the ingredients on hand and it required no planning whatsoever.

Here's how you can do it too:

• Boil water and cook your favorite pasta. My pasta of choice tonight was penne.

• Butter two pieces of Italian bread and sprinkle with garlic powder or garlic salt. Bake on a cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree oven

• Put together a mixed greens with garbanzo beans and croutons (I usually add roasted red peppers to salads, but didn't have any on hand today)

• Heat Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauce (we used Vodka Rustica, but also love the Champignon & Portobello sauce with angel hair) in the microwave for 90 seconds

• Transfer cookie sheet to the broiler and let bread cook for 1-2 minutes to help make the bread crispy

• Pour the sauce on the pasta, grate Parmesan cheese over the sauce, serve with the bread and salad, and enjoy!

No, Bertolli isn't offering me money, or products, or anything for this post. I just really love their microwaveable sauces. I know I am probably breaking some unspoken, Italian cardinal rule by liking a sauce that comes in a pouch and is cooked in the microwave, but I don't care. They are easy, convenient, and taste great. With the staples that I always have on hand, the sauce helped me pull together a last minute, delicious meal. I will definitely continue to buy them, especially until I can make my own killer sauce and/or we move back to a town with good Italian food.

Le Creuset Giveaway!

I am so excited for this giveaway! Last week I was contacted by a guy at CSN stores about an opportunity to host a giveaway for any one of their millions of products. CSN is an e-commerce company with over 200 online stores, including one that sells mailboxes, another that sells barstools, and a site dedicated to cookware. I browsed a few of their stores and found countless things I would love to offer, but ultimately decided that I could not pass up the opportunity to give away some Le Creuset!

So without further a do....

One lucky lady (or guy) has the opportunity to win a Le Creuset 9" Square Baking Dish AND a 5" Baking Dish in Caribbean!According to the Cookware.com website:

Le Creuset's Square Dish is truly an all-in-one dish that you can use for baking, slicing, serving, and storage. Poterie Stoneware can be used in the oven, broiler, or microwave and will not absorb odors or flavors. The durable finish resists chipping, scratching and staining. This beautiful and colorful piece has sure grip handles to go straight from baking to tabletop, making an impressive presentation.

Features:

• Bonus 5" Baking Dish
• Bold Caribbean color
• Does not absorb odors and flavors
• Oven and microwave safe
• Durable, non-porous enamel resists chipping, scratching, staining
• Convenient grip handles
• Refrigerator and freezer safe

Specifications:

• Material: Stoneware
• Dimensions: 9" W
• Capacity: 1.5-Quart
• Cleaning and Care: Dishwasher safe

To enter, please leave a comment with your favorite item from any of the CSN stores. You can receive additional entries by posting about this giveaway on your blog and/or tweeting about the giveaway with a link back to this post. You will get one additional entry for blogging and one additional entry for tweeting, for a total of three possible entries. Make sure you note in your comment if you have done one or both. Unfortunately, I can only accept entries from the U.S. and Canada. This giveaway will close on February 7th, 2010 at 5 PM EST. The winner will be announced on February 8th, 2010.

Here are a couple of my favorite items to help get you started!

Whitehall Products Bone Leash Holder. This would be perfect for Kona's many leashes, and the best part is it can be personalized for free!

Rogar Hammered Steel Bookshelf Pot Rack. If we owned our place I would definitely hang this on the exposed brick wall to save space in our kitchen!

ETA: Ugggggh Blogger!! Why must you be so difficult to format!?!? Please excuse the color/font/size changes. I can't figure out how to make them all the same. Boo!

Outfit Planning FAIL

Some of you may have noticed that I did not post my outfits this week. We got a few inches of snow on Saturday so naturally my school district decided yesterday that we would be having a two hour delay this morning. I knew I would have plenty of time to get dressed today so I decided to relax last night and save my outfit planning for tonight.

Now for the funny part.....

Guess what I am wearing today?

My "uniform" of course!

Cable knit sweater - Loft

Brown pants (at least they have a pattern!) - Gap

Suede loafers in Merlot - LL Bean

I tried to add some flair with my headband. I get fun credit for that right??


Ignore that lovely splotch on my throat. I've mentioned a few times that I have super sensitive skin. I must have been touching my neck right before I took this picture, hence the splotch.

This just proves that if I want to wear fun, creative outfits that don't consist of cable knit sweaters and some form of khaki pants, then I need to plan ahead!