Pink Hello Kitty

The Year Of The Tiger...Grrrr.

I started out Chinese New Year in Las Vegas this year!  Can you believe that?!  I was lucky enough to be invited by my boss, Sylvia to go to the Magic Clothing Show in Vegas to help pick out and purchase clothes for the boutique I work for.  What an AMAZING experience!  I saw clothes and fabrics and jewelry and people dressed all kinds of ways, and LOTS of boots!! EVERYONE and their Aunt Matilda was wearing boots of every shape and design...works for me!!  I LOVE my boots! :)

There were mannequins everywhere and we weren't allowed to take too many photos but I did try to take a few of some of the displays when I could.

Bet you all cannot guess why I took a picture of THIS booth!  I want them ALL!! :)

The booths are set up a lot like the booths at the craft/scrapbook trade shows that I used to go to when I had the store.  These were a few things that caught my eye.  Very "Anthropologie" I think.

These were among my favorites.  I really could not believe how everything from my craft/scrapbook days crossed over!  I was very inspired and took a ton of notes of things that I could come home and create, with paper and fabric and wood too!  Bryan was excited that I was able to get a bunch of ideas for him because he likes to sew for me and the girls.  I am pretty excited to get started.

I am so happy that I got to experience such a cool thing!  Thank you, Sylvia, and here is to a GREAT 2010, YEAR OF THE TIGER!!! Grrrrr!!

The Lovely Day Of Love That I Love

Seriously, how cute are these???  Bryan got them for me at the Co-Op and I really cannot bring myself to eat them because they are so darn CUTE!!

And seriously, how beautiful are these???  Remember #2 from this post from around this same time last year?  This could not be more perfect!  I LOVE them, and they just scream that Spring is drawing near!!

Okay and seriously, how great is it that Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year so that we were fortunate enough to be able to do our Sunday Brunch with heart shaped pancakes and enjoy it with all that were able to join us???  It cannot get more fun than THAT!  On the menu, in case you were wondering, Sweet potato hashbrowns, left over ham butt, whole wheat/buttermilk pancakes, and mixed berry compote.  You can find the recipes on my Crafty Blog when I get them posted in the next day or two.

And for the dinner, our new tradition of heart-shaped pizza!  The kids love it, we love it, we can all make exactly what we like!  YAY!!!  We did the same thing last year and it was a hit, of course!  And don't you just love the plate? VERY Valentine-y! 

Hope everyone had a day filled with love all around them, like I was so lucky to have!

Steak And Lobster Fest...That's Right!

Way back in October Bryan went on his 3rd trip to the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara, California to travel on a boat for 5 days and dive for lobster.  This picture here is some of the result of his night dive where he brought in 3 of the 9 total lobster he caught on the trip.  These suckers are BIG!!  He made 22 dives, the most of anyone on the boat, and doubled his catch from last year's trip, still managing to come home alive despite some crazy stories!

This is what it looks like during and after preparation...YUMMMMMY!  He soaked them in lemon water after taking them out of the freezer, now that we were ready to get the family all together and share!  He boiled the 7 smaller tails for about 10-12 minutes, (and smaller is relative, folks!) and aren't they BEA-U-TI-FUL??? 

And then he cut up the 2 largest ones using this recipe for a tempura and deep frying it.  I am not joking when I tell you this was AMAZING!

And then we had a little Shish Kebob of veggies and tri-tip steak with a Baja Citrus Lime marinade.

And these are the onion rings he made from scratch using the same tempura batter recipe as he did for the lobster.

The fact that we could share this delicious food and fun time with our family was what I consider the BEST part of the whole thing, though.  What a huge blessing all the way around!  I sure hope Bryan gets to go again this year!  Maybe he will double his catch again!  Sure would be nice to be able to share with even more people!

I Am Grateful To Be So Loved

February is one of my FAVORITE months!  Not just because it is my birthday month, (and was my dad's too) but because well, I guess I have always been a hopeless romantic!  I love the colors of pink and red and I love hearts, and sparkly things, and I love, "LOVE" itself!  I wrote this post last year in February.  I re-read it again just now and it made me smile, because evidently, I feel pretty much the same way this year...haha!

I am so grateful to be surrounded by such AMAZING and loving people.  I am grateful to have so much love in my life.  Love makes the world go round!

Ode To My Children

I realize this is a Christmas Picture, but it is fairly recent and I just love it!  We take this picture every Christmas morning in front of my Mother/Father In-law's tree, always in their new warm PJ's and hats!

I am loving these new Sunday Gratitude posts!  I love starting out my week like this and it makes me appreciate the little things, as well as the big things in my life.

Today I just want to say how thankful I am for my four children.  They continue to amaze me every day in ways that are quite unimaginable.  They all received great marks on their report cards last week, and they continue to try to improve all the time.  They are not free from trouble, they are far from perfect, but compared to some stories I have heard, I feel pretty darn lucky!  On Friday evening we were having company so after school the kids jumped right in to help me "Spring Clean" and we got A LOT accomplished without complaining!  It was awesome and then after having an amazing time with family, they helped again so that we all woke up to a clean sparkly house and a SUPER FUN Saturday together!  I love them.  I love that they are all so helpful.  I love that they are all so close.  As I write this post, I can hear the laughter through my window as they are jumping and having a blast together outside on the trampoline.  I know that no matter what happens in my life, I have been given these amazing little souls that brighten up my world and for that I am very grateful!

Wedding Dreams, Dresses, And Invitations

So this is what has been consuming my life the last few days!  Seems a little strange because it has been a very long time since I have been part of helping with a wedding!  What fun Janny and I are having helping our friend Anna in making the invitations, looking for dresses, and helping her make it the sweetest day of her life!  She is getting married in Hawaii and then having a small reception when they return from the Island.  We have been getting together in the evenings, hanging out, eating dinner, watching Biggest Loser, and creating these beautiful invitations! I used the new Shimmerz VIBEZ in "Penny Pincher" and it turned out beautiful!! To see the completed project check out my Crafty Blog Here!