Summertime…and the livin’s busy

Hey y’all!  Summer has been busy and while I should feel bad about never blogging, I have to admit, it’s been great to spend as little time as possible in front of a computer.  But, I have been keeping up with the blogs as much as possible and there is so much good stuff out there in blog land, that I want to share with you.  (And btw, in case you’re wondering, the picture above was taken last month when Mike and I went to Vegas for the wedding of my childhood best friend, Jennie.)

• As usual, I’m completely obsessed with this season of the Bachelorette.  Check out these sneak peeks of Hometown Dates next Monday.  SPOILER ALERT! This post does go into a lot of detail about the dates!
• And while we’re on the subject, are you reading Natalie Getz’s Bachelorette House of Style Blog?  If not, read it now!  It.Is.Hilarious!  (Fans of the show will probably remember her as winner of  Bachelor Pad and from Jason’s season.)
• I’m also still pretty obsessed with Kate Middleton.  And as a child I was obsessed with Anne of Green Gables.  So, you can imagine how obsessed I was with Kate blogs during her trip to Prince Edward Island earlier this month.  She even had a custom dress made that was inspired by one of Anne Shirley’s dresses.  Swoon!
• A great tutorial on making adorable banners using free paint chips! I actually followed this technique to make a banner for Mike’s birthday, but used scrapbooking paper instead.
• Getting Married soon?  This hot pink striped cake is amazing!
• If you’re into cooking blogs, or if you like funny people, or if you have a love/hate relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow, you must check out my new favorite blog, The Danny/Gwyneth Project.  Danny is a funny Portland boy who is trying to cook his way through Gwyneth’s cook book.  Makes me laugh out loud every time!  (He is currently writing a lot about a recent trip to Italy–I recommend you start at the very first post and work up.)
• For those of you who bake really well, wouldn’t it be fun to make this Double Chocolate & Banana Ice Cream Cake?  Way out of my league, but looks so good!
• For those of you who love gardens, but who have no yard, check out this DIY small space flower garden.  This would be perfect for a balcony.

Alright that’s all for today.  Hope you’re all having an amazing summer!

 

Leaving the Big Easy

This morning I find myself in the airport in New Orleans, awaiting departure back to Seattle. I have been in NOLA since last Thursday, attending the 2011 annual conference of the American Library Association. Last year, I was selected as a Spectrum Scholar, and part of that amazing honor was a trip to New Orleans to attend the 2011 Spectrum Leadership Institute. The Spectrum program is an initiative to recruit a diverse workforce into the library profession. As a Spectrum Scholar, I attended three days’ worth of sessions on professional development, diversity, personal branding, networking and professional options, and more. I met so many amazing people and learned so much about our profession. I also had the opportunity to meet several other students who are attending the same online graduate program as me, which I really appreciated, since opportunities to meet face-to-face are rare for those of us who go to school online.

I stayed at the wonderful Royal Sonesta Hotel, right on Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street was insane! Luckily, my room looked out over the pool, so I did not have too much noise filtering up from the rowdy crowds. The trip was definitely an adventure. I ate some great food, did a little bit of sight-seeing (I hope to visit again in the future and see more of the Big Easy), and got to know some wonderful people. I am truly grateful to ALA and the Spectrum program for providing me with this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Summertime Rules

Last summer I was so inspired by Emily at Cupcakes and Cashmere’s Rules of Summer that I told you about them here and promised you I’d write my own.  Well, that never happened so I hope no one was holding their breath.    Emily has once again written her Rules of Summer and reports that she actually stuck to each rule last year.  How fun and inspiring is that? Without further ado, here are my Rules of Summer:

 

1. Make homemade ice cream.
2. Go on at least three overnight trips. (2 are already booked!)
3. Make at least one dinner per week using ingredients I grow in my porch garden.
4. Learn how to incorporate the outdoors into my workouts.  I’ll never be a strong runner, so I’d like to bike, skate, and walk more.
5. Take Buddy to the dogpark once a week (unless it rains all week long, like it did a couple times last summer).
6. Go berry picking!  Mike and I did this last year but I freaked out over a snake sightng early on and had to cut the trip short.
7. Keep working on getting over my fear of snakes.  Anyone have any tips? I’m thinking about getting hypnotized…
8. Go to a flea market, estate sale, and/or junk fair.  I always talk about doing this, but never do!
9. Float on a river.  One of the things I miss most about summers in Battle Ground.
10. Redecoate my living room and finally buy that new rug!

Inspirations…

Inspiring and making me happy lately….

This amazing room makes me want to immediately move to the beach.  Found via at the Inspired Room. 

Cutest cupcakes ever!  Found via Cupcakes Take the Cake.

I’ve been craving everything Hawaiian lately.  Today I’m making these delicious Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches again.  Make them soon, you won’t regret it.

I picked up these G by Guess sandals over the weekend (in black) and now I obsessed with wearing them.  But, as usual, the sun is hiding out in Seattle.

Fresh flowers continue to be one of the things that make me happiest in life.  I can’t wait until the day that I have a backyard filled with fresh hydrangeas, peonies, lilies, and roses.

Happy Birthday Roo!

Photo of Sarah stolen from her facebook page.

Today is Sarah’s birthday!!!  I’d like to wish her a very happy day and an even better year.  She works so hard and really deserves nothing but the best in life!  Sissy, I’m so proud of you and I can’t wait to celebrate with you (twice) this year!  I wanted to do something cute and clever for the blog like I did last year for your birthday, but my creative juices are non-existent this week.  So just know that I love you and I’m saving all the fun for this evening!

And Happy Cinco de Mayo to everyone else!

THE ROYAL WEDDING!!!

The official photo of Wills and Kate that will appear in their wedding program.

How excited are you for tomorrow’s Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton?  I am ridiculously excited and will be pulling an all-nighter with several girlfriends to watch the wedding live at 3:30 am PST.  I made mini fascinator’s and we’ve got a feast of British foods and drinks all planned.  I’ll also be following the snarky ladies at UKate as they live blog.  I am so happy for the charming couple and I just love Kate and her amazing style.  (Although I won’t lie, I do wish she had more of a career to inspire little girls with.) It’s a modern day fairy tale and I can’t wait to tell my future daughters all about it!

YUM!

With it being the slowest part of the year at work, I’ve had a ton of time to experiment with new recipes.  I’ve been baking and cooking up a storm and wanted to share some inspiration with you.  As always, click the link or the picture to be directed to more details!

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I recently made these Strawberry Filled Vanilla cupcakes for my mom’s birthday.  I cheated a little and used box cake mix with vanilla bean cavier added and used my own butter cream frosting recipe (which I will post someday).  For the strawberry filling, I used my mom’s own strawberry jam and also whipped it into the butter cream.  They were delicous!  (To core the cupcakes, I picked up this awesome little tool for only $5!)

I Am Baker’s Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake looks complicated, but absolutely divine.  Maybe I’ll have the guts to try it for an upcoming birthday or Mother’s Day.

How amazing would these snicker doodle muffins be?  They’d be perfect for little ones or a Sunday brunch!

Speaking of Sunday brunch, Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon scones would be the perfect thing to wake up to on a Sunday morning.  Did you hear that Mike?

How cool is this wedding cake by Anna Tyler Cakes and found via Cake Wreck’s Sunday Sweets?  I love the topper, which must be inspired by El Dia De Muerto.

I’m not normally a huge fan of anything truffle flavored, but I would make an exception for this Jarlsberg Grilled Cheese with Arugula and Truffle Oil.  I’m not sure what my problem is, but I have always struggled with making a good grilled cheese.  Maybe this one will be up to Mike!  (found via Pioneer Woman.)

Gyros are one of my favorites.  I want to make these Lamb Gyros stat!  (Also found via Pioneer Woman.)

Mexico!

Hey all!  I’ve been promising you photos from our Mexican vacation for over a month and the time has finally come! It’s especially dreary in Seattle today and I needed a pick me up, so I decided to look over my sunny, vacation photos.  Mike and I went stayed at the Now Jade Resort in  Puerto Morelos, which is about half way between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen on the Caribbean coast.  We had a great time relaxing, swimming, and eating at the resort and ventured out for a trip to the adventure park, snorkling, and shopping.  Here are a few of my favorites from our amazing vacation!

Me in the amazing pool.

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Mike has the best underwater camera, which provided endless entertainment.

The sun starting to set on the beach.

We met our friends, Rick and Jo, for for a day trip to Playa Del Carmen and the boys had fun while the girls shopped.

See the caption above.

We went zipling at Xplor, an amusement park where we also drove amphibeous vehicles and rafted through caves and cenotes. The picture above is me after the 1st zipline.

Mike at the Mayan Handcrafted Market in downtown Puerto Morelos.

This guy rolled his harp around the reort playing the Beatles and the Carpenters. He made us very happy on our final day at the resort.

This was one of the highlights of our trip! Puerto Morelos is home to the world's 2nd largest barrier reef and the snorkling was amazing!

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today is our wonderful mother’s birthday! Although I am posting this late in the day, I just wanted to make sure to wish her a very happy birthday and a wonderful year.

Sissy Roos with their mom on the occasion of Sarah's wedding, 10.11.08

Married by the sea

I just love destination weddings.  Today Once Wed is featuring one of the prettiest destination weddings I’ve seen in a while.  Mike and I have never regretted getting married in Mexico and if I had to do it all over again, I would…although this time maybe I would invite a few family and friends, have a real wedding cake, and wear bright red lipstick and a bird cage vail.

Photos by Jonas Peterson.