Queen Bee Designs Trunk Show

One of my favorite local jewelry designers is Allison Priebe Brooks of Queen Bee Designs. She was one of the vendors at the Junior League of Washington's holiday market in 2010, and I fell in love with her creations there . I also love that she uses a honeybee as her motif; my name means "honeybee" in Greek so I'm partial to them :) I checked out her website recently and saw that she will be holding a trunk show soon.

Champagne and deep discounts on fabulous jewelry - yes please!!!

Lacey's Cookies

I just polished off a package of these treats :) Delicious, but I was sorry to see the last two go!

 (image from www.pacificfundraisers.com)

If you have never had them, sprint at full throttle to your local Trader Joe's (I think World Market sells them too) to buy some. My favorite are the dark chocolate almond, but the milk chocolate macadamia are to die for as well. Lacey's Cookies are more candy than cookie, I think, but I'm not going to quibble about names for something so wonderful; I'm just going to focus on buying and eating them! I'm really curious about the recipe for these; I've never had anything like them and would like to know how they're made. If anyone has a recipe for them, please pass it along!

Weekend Recap

I'm ridiculously proud of myself for doing my weekend recap on a Monday :)

Friday was my day off so I spent the morning going on a Target run and buying a gift for a friend's baby shower this coming Sat. I love picking out baby gifts for friends, but I seriously dislike Babies R Us! Lots of things that are listed on registries as "available in this store" are, in fact, not available in this store. The aisles given for different products are always wrong and/or the aisle numbers are difficult or impossible to find. The store employees, while nice, do not seem to know any more than I know. Ugh! I did find a cute gift, though, and then was off to meet my husband for a little ice skating :) We both love to ice skate (we're not skilled/graceful, but we love it!) and realized last week that we had almost let the entire winter go by without skating. So Peter took off of work for the afternoon, and we went skating at our local ice rink. I had a great time, except when the rink guard was showing off to a group of little kids by skating really fast backwards and slammed right into me. Ouch!!! Thankfully I wasn't really hurt, just a bit bruised, but I was kind of upset that the rink guard who was supposed to be enforcing rules and protecting people made me fall. Not cool! When we got home, I made Deep South Shrimp and Sausage over Spicy Cheese Grits (thanks to Rachel from In No Simple Language!).

(image from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast, Oxmoor House)

This was dangerously yummy and very easy to fix! The recipe has already gone in my "favorites" in my recipe file :) After dinner, we watched Despicable Me which we really enjoyed. I wasn't sure I wanted to see this one, even though I usually like animated movies, since the previews didn't look that great, but I decided to take a chance and was pleasantly surprised. Sat. morning I helped set up for the Junior League of Washington's annual consignment sale, Tossed & Found. This weekend was the last weekend for members to drop off their stuff for sale, and, let me tell you, we got loads of stuff! The clothing alone made a small mountain in the middle of the room :) It looks like it's going to be a great sale! After my morning shift, I needed to go to Bloomingdales and Sephora to pick up some make-up, and while at Sephora, I fell in love with this:

 (image from Sephora)

Smells great and makes my lips rosy and soft. I think I'll be using this a lot this spring and summer! Sunday we went to church, came home and had lunch, and then I had an advisor meeting for Junior League to go to. My provisional year is almost over; I can't believe it! After I came home, Peter and I went for a walk around our neighborhood since it was nice outside and fed the ducks in the nearby lake. After dinner (TJ's Orange Chicken - always a fave in our house!), we attempted to watch the Oscars but ABC was not coming in on our TV for some reason. So we eventually gave up and watched The Simpsons :) I did check out some of the dresses online this morning (the only reason I watch awards shows!), and I loved Natalie Portman's dress (she is radiant!).

(image from Vogue UK)

I also loved Cate Blanchett's dress! So different - kind of structured yet frilly and feminine. Maybe I'm just really into purple too  :)

(image from Vogue UK)

Leaving on a jet plane ...

I wish! I'm really just sitting here at my desk, but I'm dreaming about leaving on a jet plane for somewhere wonderful. I've been dreaming a lot about summer vacations lately; I think it's a coping mechanism to get me through the last cold days of winter :) Peter and I both love to travel, but we're not sure about our travel plans this year since things at my job are a bit up in the air at the moment. We don't really know when we could go on a vacation, how long we could stay, what our budget should be, etc. This uncertainty does not stop me from doing some preliminary vacation research, though!

First possibility: Scotland!

(image from www.scotland-flavour.co.uk)

Scotland is the only part of the UK that I havn't seen yet, and since I'm a total Anglophile, this doesn't seem quite right to me :) I also love Alexander McCall Smith's books which are mainly set in Edinburgh, and I would love to see some of the places that he describes. Pros = castles; relatively cheap airfare for Europe; no need to grapple with a foreign language; sort of related to Wills and Kate's wedding this April since they met at St. Andrew's. Cons = not as adventurous; not sure how to travel from town to town since we don't really want to rent a car and attempt to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Second possibility: Germany and Austria!

(image from www.historichotelsofeurope.com/en/hotels-germany.html)

Peter studied German in high-school, and I think that it's only right after all of that hard work to go to the source of that language! Pros = castles; Sound of Music tour in Salzburg; strudel and other delectable pastries; a reliable and somewhat affordable train system; beautiful mountains; awesome beer; unique architecture. Cons = flights are crazy expensive; not as sure what we really want to see and what we don't.

Third possibility: Australia!

(image from www.embassyworld.com/maps/Maps_Of_Australia/)

One of Peter's good friends from college moved to Australia last year (his wife is Australian), and we would love to visit them! Pros = chance to see friends; English-speaking; very adventurous; kangaroos and koalas!; Great Barrier Reef. Cons =  no castles; super expensive flights that last 24 hours (an entire day on a plane - I don't know about that!);  huge country that is not easily traversed; again not as sure what we really want to see and what we don't.

Those are our foreign country possibilities. I would also love a week at the beach in the good ole U.S.A.! Peter has never been to Florida, and I've never been to the Florida Keys so a trip there has potential. I've never been to Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, etc. and think a trip to that area is highly overdue! I always love the Outer Banks in NC or Hilton Head in SC so I wouldn't turn a trip down to one of those beaches either.

I guess we can't really make any decisions until everything is more settled, but it certainly is fun dreaming about all of the possibilities :)

Weekend Recap & Menu Wednesday & Thoughts on The Bachelor

I'm really going to try to do better at doing my weekend recap posts on Mon. (or Tues. if Mon is a holiday) instead of later in the week. It just feels weird doing a weekend recap in the middle of the week! It also feels weird to do a Menu Monday post on Wednesday :)

On Fri. Peter and I took full advantage of the nice, spring-like weather in the DC-area (temps in the 70s!) and took a walk at the college campus where he works and the nearby neighborhood where we used to live. All of the college students were out and about enjoying the weather too; there was really kind of a street-party vibe going on. We gave up trying to count how many frat house barbecues we passed :) We were hoping that some college students would invite us to share their hamburgers and hot dogs but no luck so we headed home for pizza and a movie. We watched Eat Pray Love. Cinematography=gorgeous. Acting/Storyline/Etc.=mediocre. I remembered from reading the book that Elizabeth Gilbert certainly had a way with words but that overall I thought the book was a bit on the self-indulgent side, and I felt the same about the movie. Sat. was a lazy morning with a yummy breakfast of biscuits and honey and then we ran some errands that we had been needing to do for awhile. Peter got two pairs of new sneakers, and I got a bike! My bike was stolen last year (apparently a rite of passage when you live in the DC-area), and I really missed riding last spring and fall. Now I'm fully prepared to tackle those trails when the first signs of spring come (so excited for that!) :) Getting home from the mall was quite an adventure on Sat. because there were brush fires in our area!!! It was an extremely windy day, and a fire that started at some kind of factory ended up burning acres and acres of land. The smoke was so bad that the police had to close I-95 for awhile. Needless to say, traffic was horrible, and Peter and I had to be creative taking back roads home. After that, Peter took me out to eat (in the opposite direction of the fires!) for our belated Valentine's Day. Deep Creek Restaurant and Marina was terrific! We both love seafood, and our meals (he had scallops, I had crab) were fantastic. We had a table looking out onto the water, and a group of swans (?!) decided to swim by while we were eating which was fun to see. Sun. was church, lunch with friends (we went to a Vietnamese noodle place which was a new experience for me, and I loved it!), a grocery store and library run, and then talking to our families and relaxing. Mon. was a holiday for me, and I stayed home the entire day and cleaned like a crazy woman! Maybe it was spring fever or something, but I really went to town and was exhausted that night. I also almost finished organizing my recipe cuttings into binders. I've had a drawer full of recipe cuttings for about five years now and it was getting out of control (meaning the drawer was overflowing and I couldn't find anything in there!) so I finally decided to do something about it. P can't tease me any more about taking 3 years to find a recipe :)

Speaking of recipes, I tried one new recipe last week that I think deserves a shout out: Bacon Pierogi Bake

(image from Cooking Light)

Potato dumplings and cheese in cream sauce baked and topped with bacon, tomatoes, and green onions. Yum! Low in calories, fat, etc. and quick to prepare and easy on the budget. Even better! Peter didn't think that he liked pierogis, but he liked this and I'll definitely be making this again.

I don't really have a good transition into speaking about The Bachelor so I'm just going to jump in. I'm SO glad that Michelle was given the heave-ho last week!!! I was worried that she was going to be kept for the drama factor, but, thankfully, no. I really think that she thought she was going to win with all of her shenanigans and couldn't believe that her scheming didn't pay off when Brad didn't hand her a rose. Not sad to see her go at all! I was sad, though, to see Shawntel leave this week. She seemed so nice and genuine, and I really admired her for having such a different occupation. I'm rooting for Ashley now, even though I like Emily too :) I loved the hometown visits this week, and Ashley's family is too cute for words!

(image from ABC.com)

Can't wait to see the finale!!!

Ape House: Chapters 26 - Epilogue

1. How would you describe the relationship between John and Isabel?


They're good friends who respect each other a great deal. I think that they admire each others' work and character. I get the feeling that if John had not already been married he would have romantically pursued Isabel since the author hints in several places that John is physically attracted to her.


2. What was your reaction to finding out Peter's role in the explosion and capture of the apes?


I was appalled. I can't believe that Peter put Isabel, his fiancee, in serious physical danger and broke her heart by kidnapping her beloved apes and then spent time with her after the bombing, lying to her face. And even when she found out about his involvement, he still thought that he could get back into her life. Incredible!

3. Both John and Amanda ended up achieving their professional goals. Amanda ended up getting pregnant and John is excited about having a baby. Do you think this is the end to their problems? Can John and Amanda be happy?


They will certainly have more problems in their lives and in their relationship, but I think this episode in their marriage showed them that they truly do love each other and can get through anything together. In the Epilogue, they seemed really happy.

4. What did you find to be the most intriguing about the bonobos?


I thought it was very intriguing that one of the bonobos was able to identify one of the men who had participated in the bombing. Wow! I also thought it was very intriguing that the bonobos remembered Isabel so well and asked for her by name, even though they had been separated from her for quite some time. 

5. Which character did you enjoy reading about the most?


I really liked John. He was such a nice, decent, stand-up kind of guy. I really admired how he cared for his wife when she was depressed and how he saved that man's life when there was the explosion at the meth lab. I also really liked Ivanka. She was certainly a surprise! I thought she might give John a really hard time, but then she ended up being a good friend to him.

6. Was the ending what you expected? Did things resolve the way you thought they would?


I had not expected that John and Amanda's careers would take off the way that they did. I was happy for them; they had worked so hard and deserved some recognition. I had expected that Isabel would reunite with the bonobos, but I didn't expect that they would end up in a facility even nicer than the language lab had been!

7. And finally, any overall thoughts or feelings that these questions haven't addressed? How would you rate this book for others? Any part that you loved? Anything you hated? SHARE!

Sometimes the level of detail on the bonobos was a bit too much. Sara Gruen had obviously done a lot of research on bonobos for this book and seemed determined to include all of her information even if it didn't really contribute to the story. The parts where the readers were taken into the bonobos' minds were overkill for me. She is a very good writer, though, and I especially enjoyed her skills at characterization. She really made the characters come alive. I'm looking forward to reading "Water for Elephants" in the near future!

Weekend Recap & Valentine's Day 2011

Whew! What a busy weekend!!! I like being active and having things to do, but I have to say - I am looking forward to some down time this coming weekend. Last Fri. was my day off of work, and I spent it running errands - some enjoyable (Michaels), some not (post office). On Fri. night, I volunteered for an event for Junior League and met some really fun ladies, but it was LATE when I got home and I was wiped out. Thank goodness P and I didn't have anything to do Sat. morning so we slept in and made awesome blueberry pancakes. I found this recipe from Martha Stewart, and let me tell you - my husband and I thought we had died and gone to heaven while we were eating these :)

(image from Martha Stewart)

Sat. afternoon I was crafty :) (maybe I was channeling special Martha Stewart vibes from the pancakes) I made the Valentine's Day card for my husband while he was at work for a bit, and I made cake balls. The card turned out nicely; the cake balls were not all that I had hoped that they would be but they were much better than the last batch that I made (which was a total fail!). I think I just need to tweak a few things, and they'll be Bakerella-perfect!

I kind of realized after I had made the card that I might have made my husband the girliest-looking valentine ever, but I gave it to him anyway and he thought it was "cool" :)

 

My smile of relief after the cake balls turned out 100% better than before!

Sat. night my church hosted a super fun square dance to raise funds for the youth group's mission trip to Jamaica this summer. The square dance caller was a hoot and totally looked the part with his cowboy boots and bolero tie! He threw some disco and 50's tunes in with the country while we were dancing :) Peter and I always forget how much fun we have square dancing until we do it again. We're doing to have to find a way to dance more this year! Sun. we went to church and then we went out to lunch with a big group to celebrate the baptism of one of our friends. We spent the rest of the day getting some chores done around the house and talking to our families on the phone. 

We had decided last week not to celebrate Valentine's Day on Mon. since we didn't want to be pressed for time trying to go out to dinner and do something special on a weeknight. I gave Peter his present and card, and we ate cake balls but that was about it. That turned out to be a very good decision because Valentine's Day turned into a bummer for me with a really shocking and sad announcement at work. I can't go into details, but it just wasn't a great Valentine's Day from that perspective. After my day at work, I didn't feel like celebrating anything so I was only too happy to stay at home and enjoy some relaxing time with my husband. Peter has a belated Valentine's Day outing (a surprise!) planned for Sat., and I'm really looking forward to it :)