Tuesday, April 28, 2009

My favorite snaps from the weekend

E was gone for a few days out of town for a school trip. I had a weekend full of littles love and attention. These are two of my favorite snaps from this weekend.


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BBD @ Superfranks on Saturday. Such a cute picture and face of course ... no?



The Littles Sunday morning before we headed out for the day.

More to come ... forgot my camera cable at home today. Our weekend consisted of a trip to the farmers market, a play date at Super franks, a weekly trip to Target, a quick jaunt to the office ,lunch with Teeti Monica, kite flying, bike riding and finally playing in the sand at Canyon Middle School track, while I got in some exercise.

In the end it was a fun filled, frenzied weekend full of laughs and kisses with my two favorite boys. And hey, I survived single mommy-hood for a few days good for me!

Weekly Eats


Monday Lunch Box



Tuesday Lunch Box

Monday, April 27, 2009

Date Night : Eddie Papa's



E was headed out of town last week for a competition with his students. He would be gone for 4 days so we turned Wednesday into date night. We had a few errands to run before he left town. After much debate as to where to eat( the never ending battle we have when we dine out) I decided on Eddie Papa's in Pleasanton. What a delight. We will be going back soon. I really loved the saucy-ness of this place. Drinks are served out of jam jars and at the end of your meal you get a little bowl of cotton candy. Very creative, looking forward to our next visit.

We ended the night at Walmart, to pick up some travel essentials for E.

A lunch Box for good measure

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I threw in this random little lunch box just because. I plan on getting more serious with counting points and weight watching like NOW. This Daily Eats box points unknown.

Apron Obsessed... More Etsy Love

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Found another cute little shop on Etsy. OH HOW I WISH I COULD SEW! This is a new personal mission to learn to sew and create my own super cute stuff.

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Cutsie pattern and colors

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And it looks so cute on... LOVE IT

Massage with another mother's club

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Last Monday I did massage for the Iron Horse Mothers Club (San Ramon). It was a fun gathering of other moms, my target market for massage. I had about 8 maybe 10, tem minute massages. It was a fun night. I handed out my business cards and made some tips so it was a quick and hopefully worth it two hours.

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business cards with massage creme pods

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I'm making these for the CVMC event as well

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My table set up

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A thank you from the IHMC cutre frame I will proably re purpose soon

Preschool Enrollment

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We have have officially enrolled LMG in to preschool. He will start in September. We choose one of the co-ops in CV. Here is a snap of E sitting in a chair at the preschool. Kinda funny so I wanted to share.

A snap of a fresh salad




Fresh Spring salad. Topped with blueberries

Trader Joes Run up close and personal

I'm back after a busy week of little care taking and single mommmy status. Massage was busy this last week and I did not have achance to sit and do proper blogging.


Trader Joe's Run last Saturday
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An upclose and personal look at what I pick up on a typical Trader Joe's run.

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Friday, April 17, 2009

Thursday Dinner: Pita Pockets




A fab Family favorite (well for E and I anyways) was on the menu for dinner last night.

Cook down ground turkey meat, add your choice of seasonings , last night I added lipton's onion soup mix and balsamic vinegar, lemon pepper and Goya Adobo blend. Chop veggies of choice I used zucchini, onions, garlic and spinach. Allow all of these things to cook down and mingle together in a pan. That's it! What the heck you say.. I am not kidding.

Next step is beyond easy. get some pitas I used whole wheat from TJs warm in a skillet ( I have found this to be the easiest way to open the pita pockets after many trial and errors) Once warm slice open and fill with your one skillet sensation (above) I like to sprinkle a little bit of shredded cheese on top, but crumpled feta is just as fantastic. I served this with TJs chimichuri rice. I thought this rice was yummy. Its been in the freezer a couple of weeks so I finally had a chance to use it. It was a cross between Spanish rice and Indian rice very zesty. BBD loved it , LMG did not and he is a rice hound. So go figure, you can't please both littles all of the time.

Trader Joes: Thursday



made a quick stop in at TJ's on Thursday to pick up some things we were needing in the house.

Cereal, lunch meats, turkey meat, pitas, dip and hummus , tortilla chips, juice, lumpia type rolls for a quick dinner option sometime this weekend.

Then dashed to my mommas to pick up my littles!

Thursday Lunch Box




I had a throw back to the old days lunch. PB&J with apricot and pineapple jam (my favorite, but truth be told I am a sucker for marmalade as well) Then a tangy fruit salad with bananas , kiwis and tangelos. I also had a hard boiled egg but decided to not eat it, I handed over to BBd once we got home last night. He loves them!

Hooray for the Spud Box!



A snap of my Spud Box on Wednesday. My box was missing the bananas , so made a quick call and they will be issuing a credit. Great customer service. Most companies should take note and learn from Spud!


Avocado, Hass - 1 (Earthbound Farm/Natural Selection Foods, CA)
Bananas - approx 2.5 lbs - 4 (Organics Unlimited, CA)
Kiwis - 1 lb (Earthbound Farm/Natural Selection Foods, CA)
Lettuce, Green Leaf - 1 (Cal-Organic Farms, CA)
Potatoes, Red - New crop - 2 lb (Tomorrow's Organic, CA)
Salad Greens, Spring - 4 oz - 1 (Earthbound Farm/Natural Selection Foods, CA)
Spinach, Baby - 5 oz - 1 (Earthbound Farm/Natural Selection Foods, CA)
Strawberries - 8 oz - 1 (Natural Choice, CA)
Tangelo, Minneola - 2 lb (Sundance Natural Foods Company, CA)
Tomatoes, Roma - 1 lb (MEX)
Zucchini - Fancy size - 4 (MEX)
Potato Rosemary - 16oz (Grace Baking)
Organic Crazy Eights - 8 (Dee's Mini Doughnuts)


I am realizing that I have entirely too much lettuce in my life so will be making some changes to the regular delivery and tweaking it a little. I also got some kiwis and tangelos this week. Thinking that if muddled together that will make fantastic cocktails(need to buy some booze) Smoothies (the littles will like that) marinade for a bbq (E will love that) and maybe even a sweet salsa ( E and I will love that with the cocktails) Hmmm... many possibilities this weekend to create in the kitchen. Stay Tuned!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Tuesday Dinner

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A Trader Joes favorite. Boneless Kobi beef ribs in a spicy sauce. I served this with a quick fix rice and asparagus. Dinner was done and on the table in 25 minutes. I love a quick painless dinner.

Absolute Bliss Massage With Michelle Massage

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My new T-Shirts and business cards arrived in the mail today. I am doing an event on this next upcoming Monday for a neighboring mothers club and I thought a cute looking T-Shirt would help brand my business and make me stand out at the event. The logo on the shirts, cards and my website match. I thought about publishing my website on here but then thought again not to do it since I don't want to publish my telephone number on my blog.


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Not the most becoming pic but this was after a long day at work and dinner was on the stove so I had to model it quickly. I think its cute on.

FabMama Review: EARTH’S BEST® SESAME STREET® Organic Yogurt Rice Crisp Bars

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EARTH’S BEST® SESAME STREET® Organic Yogurt Rice Crisp Bars

I picked these fantastic bars up @ Target while hunting for things to put in baskets. My intention was to put one bar in each littles basket and then keep the rest for their daily snacking. I happened to grab one yesterday for my lunch box. Holy Cow! These things are yummy, the best part... they are only 1 point per bar! that's fantastic! Very similar to a rice crispy treat but it's even better because its only 1 point and organic, designed for kids snacking but I am not above eating like a toddler if its good and these make the grade in my opinion. I Heart these bars. They will be a must in the cabinets from now on. Littles have not eaten them just yet but I am sure they will love them too, those two love organic also!

I highly recommend you try out these yummy bars ASAP, for your little and a better snack option for a littler waist!

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PS. I love Earth's Best Organics they were my baby food company of choice, after examining their food selection I need to motor over to Whole Foods soon and pick up some of their other toddler food options.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Spud Time



Could it be I forgot to make a posting about my beloved Spud Box? Say it ain't so? So sorry fans of the box I apologize... but here is what was in my box
Asparagus
Avocado, Hass (small)
Bananas
Cucumbers
Lettuce, Red Leaf
Salad Greens, Spring
Spinach, Baby
Strawberries
Tomatoes, Roma
Zucchini
Dee Crazy Eights
Potato Rosemary

Saturday Dinner

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I did not want to make a dinner that would be to heavy the day before an Easter feast. I whipped up something quick and easy.

Had some left over pasta in the fridge. Sliced up veggies and chicken sausage and sauteed in a pan. Sprayed a baking dish with baking spray, after tge veggies & sausage was cooked down I added some olive oil and seasoning.Next, mixed together with the cold pasta, put in baking dish. Sliced up some asiago cheese and mixed into the baking dish with pasta, chicken and veggies. Cooked at 350 for 20 minutes.

On the side I sauteed some spinach added some red pepper flakes and chopped up TJ's thai seasoned cashews. Cooked up and plated next to pasta dish...delish!

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Dinner plated and delicious

Day Before Easter Fun

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A few snaps of the fun we had the Saturday before Easter. We headed to an egg hunt, hung out with the Easter Bunny for a little bit.


Made a little mess while coloring Easter eggs


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After the littles went to sleep baskets were put together

Happy Easter!

9 Years & Counting



E and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary together on Friday. No, it was not 9 years of wedded bliss but 9 years together in this day and age is something to talk about , in my opinion. My sister came to care for the littles while E and I drive out to the city for some alone time. We made a day of it. We had lunch at Cha Cha Cha's on Haight. The food was outstanding, totally our type of down home ( well for us anyways ) cuisine. The mood was busy, the salsa music was pumpin' and the sangria was flowin. I really like this place and want to go back soon. Read my Yelp review of it here

After Cha Cha Cha's we did a kinda touristy thing and drove to fishermans wharf. not to check out the street vendors but to pick up a cupcake. Kara's Cupcakes it is both a sad but good thing you do not live near me!

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The day ended up with us back in the East Bay to watch a total man movie, "The Fast and The Furious" but it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Happy Anniversary E. I love you!

Bitter Sweet Snaps

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I was so taken with BitterSweet last week I wanted to share more photos of this yummy little gem of a shop.

Raw Materials



I picked up the raw materials for the littles baskets about a week ago but I have so many photos on iphone I lost the snap from Target. I need to desperately clean out the photos and start fresh. Anyhoo, here is a snap of the items I gathered for the baskets this year. a pic of it all pulled together will be coming sometime tomorrow before the bunny( E ) hides them.

Cutsie Pasta For The Littles

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I saw this super cute pasta @ Cost Plus World Market. I love Cost Plus, it remains one of my favorite stores and I try and pop in as often as I can to pick up something for the house or some sort of exotic snack for the littles and I. I knew lmG would love this pasta when he saw it and in fact he did . When I made him pasta earlier this week he insisted on the bunny pasta and so that is exactly what he had. I did save a bag for Easter day in case I want to whip up macaroni ( I mean Bunny salad)

Locks of Love



The day before I gave birth to David I went in to see the chemical queen(Tara) and chopped off 11 inches from my hair. I wanted to celebrate the end of my pregnancy with a new look. My hair was long healthy and of course curly. I knew I wanted to donate it to Locks of Love

This was something I have been wanting to do for quite awhile but my hair was never long enough. When it was cut in a pony tail I took it home and stashed it away in a drawer for a time when I could send it in. Believe it or not mommy brain set in all this time and I forgot where I put the pony tail. I found it last week and quickly sent it out. A little embarrassing but at least I donated it, finally and I hope that it gets put to good use.

A Week of Etsy Shopping




Believe it or not I am not a crafty person. I can not sew a stitch, paint a pic or anything even remotely close. However, I excel in shopping! The day I discovered Etsy was a fabulous day. It's an online market where you can buy and sell all things that are handmade. Love it! An old daycare kids mom turned me on to the site and I frequent it often for special gifts, or just everyday indulgences that I adore. Last week I made 3 purchases and they finally arrived.

I picked up a really cute scrabble piece ring
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Cute, no? kinda goes with my purse in the background.

I also picked up two aprons. One shown and one I got for massage purposes and I will blog about later. It kinda goes with my business cards and website and it was a steal @ $8 so I could not pass it up, the chances of me finding another that would match my logo so closely are slim to none.

My most favorite purchase off of Etsy this week was my flowered apron.
I got the Emma's practical pocket apron from here a very cute shop are very affordable prices.

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very cute, bright vibrant colors love it!

When my flowered apron arrived from My Mom Would BE Proud it came wrapped up and came with a recipe card handwritten out. The recipe was for chocolate chip cake. It really had that special touch of extra that you never find anymore another great reason to shop Etsy. People on there take so much pride in their work and the time and love that goes into the projects you purchase really shows.


And since I logged into my Etsy account to get the name of the store for the flowered apron here is a pic of my craft/ massage apron

apron
The flowers and colors are pretty close to my massage logo so it was a had to have.