Halloween Weekend

Emma went to Kennedy's neighborhood this year for trick-or-treating, and along came Brooklyn and her family, and a few other friends.  Em, K & B decided to be clowns this year:

 

 

  

We also went to the Fury soccer team's Graveyard Gala the night before (the adults that is): Here's Little Red Riding Hood and her Big Bad Wolf :)

You don't want to know what Joey was talking about right here.... :)

 And here's the "Witch's Brew" - I used a  lot of Pink Paislee items to deck it all out, and it fetched $210!!

A fresh look at Fall

This was the view from the seat in my car as I left for lunch yesterday.  It was a gorgeous crisp & clear day, and the leaves had been swirling in the parking lot, several landing on my windshield:

Costco: I love you.

I went to Costco the other day to pick up some Adele Chicken & Apple Sausages for a crock pot recipe.

It didn't turn out well.  Not because I didn't make it properly, the recipe was just 'eh'.

I had to get some carrots, so I ventured into the produce section.  Behold my eyes when I found butternut squash peeled & cubed, and bags of petite brussel sprouts!

Last night?  Yeah... squash and halved sprouts on a baking sheet, tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper (a la Ina), roasted in 425 oven for 30 minutes... yum.

Feasted on that in a quiet house with Sex and the City 2 on OnDemand.

It doesn't get much better than that, people.

(p.s. tonight I will be adding some of the sliced sausages and peeled/cubed Yukon Gold potatoes)

Me, these days...

Yes, I took one of those infamous photos of myself in my bathroom mirror last night, there's no one else to do it for me! HA!  

Not too shabby,  huh???  I was heading out last night to meet up with a very dear friend from junior & senior high days - Kathy Cody.  She recently (3 years ago) moved up to the Seattle area and Facebook has helped us to reconnect.  We've been trying since about July to get together, and last night the stars were finally in alignment!  We had food that was yummy for my tummy, and conversation that was nourishing for my soul.  Love her.  We'll be connecting again soon.

She suggested the Northgate area as a meeting point, and although most people said "WHAT?!?!" when I told them, I love the drive.  The drive takes me up the I-5 corridor, past Boeing Field, and around the bend through downtown Seattle.  And the Express Lanes :)

Have you ever been to Seattle?  Have you ever seen her in all her beauty while making this drive?  On a sunny day it is breathtaking.  You drive through the industrial area and approach Safeco & Qwest fields. They are magnificent.  You see the Olympic Mountains in the distance, ferry boats criss-crossing the Sound, and her skyscrapers in front of you.

Even better is Seattle on a clear night.  As I was driving up I-5, getting closer to the hubbub of Downtown, my heart literally started fluttering - it is just such an awesome sight!  The skyscrapers are lit, and you drive so close to them that you can see people's items on their desks through their windows.  And if you time it juusssssst right, you get to use the Express Lanes.

When I visited here almost 25 years ago, I was fascinated by the Express Lanes.  It was such a progressive idea - 4 lanes that change directions according to the time of day - that have no exits for probably 5 miles or so - that goes underneath I-5 in it's own secret passageway.  It's almost like driving a bat-car through there like Batman.  It's eerie, but so cool. You come out again just before crossing the Montlake Cut (the narrow body of water that connects Lake Washington to Lake Union).  You can see the UW on your right, the football stadium, the houseboats on Lake Union, the float planes taking off and landing, and the Space Needle looming in the distance. 

It is a serious rush for me.  

every

single

time.

So, no, I didn't mind driving all the way up to Northgate on a Friday night at all... especially in my Passat that throws my head back when I push the accelerator :)

Soccer today

It was a great battle, our girls played so well.  Emma's drive and pace was astounding.  But we lost, and it's okay, it's good to battle sometimes.

Random observation today

Today I'm home from work and found my baby hovered over a heating vent.  His hair flying around his face, kind of like a super model!  He loves to be warm :)

Hello, Lover!

Remember when Carrie Bradshaw in "Sex and the City" saw those adorable shoes in the window and cooed, "Hello, Lover!" to them? 

That's how I feel about this new color of Le Creuset cookware:

 

It's called Ocean.  It's mesmerizing, tranquil, and I want to fill it up with yummy goodness.

p.s.  I really did love those shoes too - oh how I'd love to go to an event with those lovelies on my feet.

Let's Go Sounders!!

Super fun game last night at Qwest field watching the last game of the season before playoffs begin.  The Sounders kicked some Chivas butt 2-1 (we missed out on two tacos from Jack in the Box by not getting a shut out, and missed out on a free haircut at Great Clips for not scoring 3 goals - drats!) and we had AWESOME seats (thanks to my co-workers that let me buy their season ticket seats for the game :)  We were so close to the field, Drew Carey (one of the owners of the team) was right in front of us about 10 rows away.

Here are a couple of shots from the evening - all from my iPhone, so not the best quality...

Two Teams

They were designated by:

Mustaches and Unibrows.  Hilarious.  The girls really knew how to work those babies...

Haunted Household

Emma and I have had a lot of fun decorating our house for the Fall season - but we have a few tricks amid our treats - some Halloween fun as well :)

I picked up these foam kits at Michael's for 40% off *before* the holiday - love that :) Emma spent a few hours working on these, here and there, on a card table set up in the living room.  Love how they turned out and are now a spooky centerpiece for our table :)

This vinyl image is from Uppercase Living.  We ordered several items for Emma's room and these were the free gifts with purchase this month - I earned two, so I got the expression in both colors - cut out the skull from the the green one - and paired it with the purple.  I saved the same from each so that I can use it again next year. See the added rhinestone eyes?  I sure hope I can get those suckers off... 

My Girl Got a Goal

Yep, coach mixed things up a bit at today's game and played Emma at forward - and she scored!  WOW!  It was soooo fun to watch - she's like a gazelle out there with those legs, lightening fast.  Not only did she score (she has solely played defender for almost 2 years) but so did her defense teammate, Brianna!  She lobbed one in from about the 25 yard mark - over the goalie's head - BEAUTIFUL!  First goal for these defense partners - and in the same game - love these girls :)

"Now how easy is that?"

Easy Ina, easy when you show me :)  My favorite cookbook author, The Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten, is coming out with a new cookbook!!  This is her trademark saying, complete with Northeastern twang and her irritating snicker after... say it with me... "now how easy is that???"

Simple is good.

Sometimes it's the silly little simple things that make us happy.  I bought a cup like this a few weeks ago for myself (heavy plastic, rubber 'sleeve', looks like a Starbucks cup) and use it every morning for my loooooong commute to work - LOL. (My commute is about 5 minutes!:))  Emma has become my morning assistant by working the Keurig and getting my coffee ready for me before we leave.

She has also been enjoying hot cocoa K-Cups and wanting to sip a little on her commute :)  She's been using a regular coffee cup in the car, and I knew she'd like one of these lovelies just like mine.  I think it might have been one of her favorite gifts last night... I love the simple things.

This is us from this morning's commute :)

Our birthday girl

Here she is with her completed "sundae treats":

The cup was filled quarter way with M&M's and Skittles, then topped with a pre-made cupcake, we added Jelly Belly Sour Balls for a "cherry" and a "PixiStix" for a straw - they were a total hit :)

Weird how I looked up at the clock today at exactly 4:11, kind of instinctually, and thought of her.  She's twelve.  She's amazing.  She's kind and thoughtful and compassionate.  She's witty and playful and fun.  She's smart and organized and methodical.  She loves to talk in a British accent with me (I once tricked she and Kennedy - okay several years ago - that I was born to British royalty and was finally "revealing" myself to them).  She is so well liked, has several very good friends, and more importantly... she's a wonderful friend.  I just love her. So So Much.

Thank you for making me a Mama, baby.

xox

Borrowed from Beth

watching: Top Chef Desserts (on DVR)

listening: Emma talk on the phone to Grammie

reading: People Magazine :)

eating: Chocolate drizzled macaroon bar from Fred Meyer bakery

drinking: Nothing... too many iced teas with dinner

spending: on Fall decorations for the house

loving: my new house, cooler weather, my Black Magic CC kit, my new wall hanging

not loving: work right now

missing: soccer this weekend

excited about: planning an outing to the nighttime corn maze with Emma's team

feeling in general: happy with my direction

Someone is having a birthday tomorrow...

And that certain someone wanted to make a special treat for her class.  She didn't want it to just be a cupcake, or just a donut, or just a cookie.

So that certain someone Googled "treats for class" and found a fun little project.  So I took that someone to the store to gather all of the ingredients, and she executed phase one of "treats for class":

The cups in the background are part of a certain someone's plan as well... stay tuned for tomorrow's reveal when it's all put together :)

The finished project...

Most everyone voted for fabric #1 (the lovely green/blue paisley pattern) - and honestly my first reaction was totally that one.  But it had no texture, and it was a bit on the shiny side. And then Jen validated my ultimate choice with: "No. 1 is my 1st choice, but something about the 3rd one is speaking to me also."


It spoke to me as well:

A big shout out to Carl who built my frames with perfection, did all the stapling and helping me stretch the fabric, and ultimately hanging it.  Now he thinks he wants to make one for his house :)

  

Hall & Oates... Oh yeah baby!

Puyallup Fair, Hall & Oates:  Lexi, Cari, Amy & me.  Great fun.  Great music - they were so easy on the ears, totally knew EVERY song they sang, awesome.

Bantering with Emma... and gratuitous photos

Really, I just wanted to post a few things that Emma has been saying lately that are cracking me up... so I don't ever forget - but a post needs pictures, no?  So there are a few just for fun.

Me:  rambling about something out of the blue...

Emma:  Well, THAT was really random.

_______________________________________

Me:  rambling about something...

Emma:  Mom.  Time out.  Time out.

_______________________________________

Where is she getting this stuff?  It's with a straight face and cracks me up every time!

Science project... 3 containers with food color in the water, white carnations with freshly cut stems, you know the results:

Is it bad that one of the containers is a Coors Light bottle, and the other is my favorite blue raspberry vodka??!?? :)  Come on!  The third one is spaghetti sauce!

And lovely Pier 1 decor.. although, I do need to edit the raffia...

Just call me batty...

This was the fun I had tonight at JoAnn's craft store with Kristy:

I love this mask.  I bought this mask.  I wore this mask... the entire time we shopped.  I just need to figure out how I can wear this mask in court :)