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!!

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!

Valley Of The Sun = Rejuvenation

I recently went on a week-long "Inspiration Trip" to Arizona and it was an AMAZING experience for many reasons!  I was able to visit friends, I shopped, I relaxed, I stayed at a 5 STAR Resort,  I ran up and down mountains...soooo rejuvenating!  I am so thankful to my family, Bryan, my mama, my Auntie Mallory, Bryan's parents, and my kiddos, who all worked together to make it happen for me.  I have only one regret...that I didn't blog in the evenings while I was there because I had the ability/technology to, and should have because then it would have been easier and fresher in my mind. 

Anyway, this is just a small picture of the Arizona Grand Resort where I stayed.  I was very fortunate to NOT have to pay for my stay, and if it weren't for that I would not have gotten to stay there at all!  So, THANK YOU JANNY, for letting me tag along on your work trip and borrow the extra bed...(That was so comfortable it was hard to get out of!!)  You are AWESOME!!! I am so eternally grateful! 

 
And THANK YOU MATT AND KATIE, for letting me stay with them the night before Janny arrived so I could save $100 on my plane ticket!! Thank you for taking me to the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Cave Creek, dinner at the BEST Mexican place EVER, letting me have creative license with Syd's shirt, Syd giving up her bed, and Matt for enlightening me on the TASER Gun!! Your little family is AWESOME!! 

THANK YOU JoJo GIRL, who flew down from Boise to meet me, sent her husband golfing, and hung out with me for crazy adventures of getting lost, finding sheep, realizing "Lucy" was my doppleganger, forgetting to feed ourselves, (but after finally feeding herself promptly threw my portion of sandwich on the ground...LOL!)  backwards drive-thru's, and finding oooooodles of ribbon and flowers the size of my head!! 

THANK YOU ROY, JoJo's lovely husband, for using his golf clubs to get me oranges and grapefruit from the trees because I was so excited to not only see fresh citrus fruit ON a tree in real life, but eat it fresh too!!

THANK YOU CAROL WINGERT, who was gracious enough to pick me up from my hotel, take me to her FAVORITE places to shop, buy me an AMAZING brunch at her favorite breakfast place in Mesa, T.C. Eggington's, introduced me to SAS for more vintage trims/inspiration/and craziness than I could ever imagine, and inspiring me more than I ever thought possible!!  She put up with all my silly giddiness and I truly adore her and her amazing talent and big heart!!

What AMAZING friends and family I have!!  I am blessed beyond measure and the fact that all of the stars were aligned so that this trip was possible makes me soooo grateful!!