i heart ...

i heart ... bruschetta

2011-06-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

the other day at trader joe's i saw these beautiful heirloom tomatoes.

i'm not exactly a tomato person,

but i am a tomato with basil and garlic person.

plus they were so pretty, i just really, really wanted them.

i thought about that scene from julie and julia

where julie makes beautiful bruschetta.

do you remember that scene?

oh my, does that bruschetta look soooooo scrumptious!

and i decided that's what i'd do with these tomatoes.

i cut up the tomatoes, basil and garlic.

added a little olive oil.

fried the crusty bread in butter.

and voila!

i love these salad sheers from pampered chef.

(i do not sell pampered chef. i just really, truly love them!)

it took seconds to cut up the basil.

this was a large tomato

and not exactly beautiful on the outside

and i actually thought about just throwing it away

(can you believe it!)

but then i thought, what the heck, why not use it.

and look what i found inside!

what a nice surprise!

isn't that beautiful?

i heart ... smeeks

2011-04-14T20:06:00.004-07:00

i love smeeks.

i mean, i love smeeks!

it is the happiest place on earth

(or in phx anyway).

i wish i could live there.

i wish i could marry it.

then my name would be paula smeeks, which isn't far off actually!

"a sweet little shop for sweet little folks"

my favorite thing at smeeks is the gnome cottage.

smeeks has fun pop that we always pick up on our way out the door.

one day brennan discovered leninade.

it's our new favorite pop -

and hilarious!

it has all these funny slogans printed all over it

(well, funny if you're a capitalist such as myself):

* a taste worth standing in line for!

* get hammered and sickled!

* join the party!

* drink comrade! drink! it's this or the gulag!

* misha, chill down this bottle and chill out!

* a party in every bottle!

* our 5-year plan: drink a bottle a day for 5 years and become a hero of the socialist flavor!

* beware the repressed communist party animal who is really a proletarian in denial masquerading as a bourgeois cold war monger!

(what in the....?)

p.s. - let it be known to one and all, that sierra and i discovered smeeks together.

(that was for you, sierra!)

i heart's best picture of january 2010

2011-04-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

clayton and eli

i heart's best pictures of february 2010

2011-04-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

paulina and natalia

hmmm... now where did i put that thesaurus?

i heart's best pictures of march 2010

2011-04-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

eli

ava, thomas and clayton

ammon, kaitlyn, brennan and thomas

clayton at sunset

eli

i heart's best pictures of april 2010

2011-04-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

clayton, samuel and noah

ohm!

paulina and thomas

samuel and natalie reading.

it makes me so happy!

brennan, sierra and shelby at tia rosa's

i heart's best pictures of may 2010

2011-03-25T21:53:00.004-07:00

opposites!

thomas at the gila valley temple

lucy's kitten, ju ju bee

i heart's best pictures of june 2010

2011-03-22T17:58:00.002-07:00

kaitlyn tryin' on the goods at sephora.

thomas at his favorite store, barnes & noble.

paulina adoring her baby sister olivia.

olivia's like, "oh my! i really am so cute!"

i heart's best pictures of july 2010

2011-03-01T18:18:00.003-07:00

thomas at woods canyon lake

it's become a tradition to explore a cave near my parents' cabin

and emerge in war paint.

sierra and her friend

the second part of this tradition is

to go to dairy queen in said war paint.

kaitlyn and summer

ammon

this is what happens when you suck on a ring pop.

ammon, sierra, kaitlyn, thomas, natalia and paulina

i heart's (oops!) best pictures of august 2010 that i forgot to post!

2011-02-24T18:23:00.001-07:00

the lincoln memorial

the spot at the lincoln memorial

where martin luther king, jr.

delivered his "i have a dream" speech

glenn beck speaking at the restoring honor rally on the mall.

thomas jefferson's monticello

the garden and view at monticello

the national cathedral

detail of van gogh's "roses"

at the national gallery of art

(i'm always so tempted to reach out and touch his paintings!)

i heart's best pictures of august 2010

2011-02-13T19:24:00.002-07:00

samuel and tonio at the cabin

caleb and samuel at our family reunion

olivia

olivia and paulina

natalia, sierra, kaitlyn, shelby and brennan

at charming charlie's

happy day at smeeks!!!

paulina, thomas, natalie, ava and clayton

playing in the rain 'cause that's what we do in arizona!

i heart's best picture of september 2010

2011-02-13T18:17:00.003-07:00

sedona

i heart's best pictures of october 2010

2011-02-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

stephanie's family at samuel's baptism

stephanie took me to sundance to see the fall colors.

brennan

sierra

kaitlyn

ammon

thomas the rooster

olivia, paulina, and natalia

i heart's best pictures of november 2010

2011-02-02T17:51:00.001-07:00

ava at the snowflake temple

eli

clayton

the treehouse clayton built with his dad

kissy face olivia being kissed by paulina

i heart's best pictures of december 2010

2011-02-01T18:12:00.004-07:00

i took thomas to the arizona musuem of natural history

(aka "the dinosaur museum")

but forget about the dinosaurs!

he was more interested in watching himself in the movies.

they have a blue screen you can stand in front of

and then a tv in front of you where you can watch yourself

in some old arizona cowboy movie.

he loved it!

i laugh everytime i look at these pictures!

thomas jefferson, meet thomas jefferson.

(not sure why this photo is at the arizona museum of natural history)

i made these christmas light cupcakes for christmas eve.

ava, clayton and eli on christmas eve

paulina, natalie and olivia on christmas eve

kaitlyn, brennan, shelby and sierra on christmas eve

paulina and ava on christmas morning

the girls at the temple lights

the boys at the temple lights

sierra, kaitlyn, stephanie, shelby and brennan

at the sugar bowl

i heart ... hello, cupcake!

2010-12-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

i love this book!

i can look through it over and over again

dreaming of the next cupcakes i'm going to make.

these pandas are the first i attempted.

i made them to celebrate paulina and thomas' birthdays.

when paulina was a baby i called her my baby panda.

in october i made these owl cupcakes.

they are my favorite!

brennan and kaitlyn helped me decorate these.

for thanksgiving i made these turkeys.

like i said before,

they were a nightmare to decorate.

thank heavens i'd already had good experiences with the pandas and the owls.

if these turkeys were the first i'd tried

from hello, cupcake!

i'm not sure i'd try any more ever again!!!

i heart ... thanksgiving

2010-12-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

thanksgiving was great, as usual.

how can you go wrong with thanksgiving?

it's the best!

(well, besides Christmas 'cause of course that's really the best!)

just look at the joy on people's faces!

(sierra's gonna kill me for using this picture, but i love it!)

for thanksgiving dinner i made bobby flay's

roasted brussels sprouts with pomegranates

and vanilla-pecan butter

i don't even like brussels sprouts,

but i saw flay make this on "throwdown" with the pioneer woman

and for some weird reason i had to try it!

and surprise, i loved it!

even the other people who said they don't like brussels sprouts

loved it!

(or they were lying. not sure.)

i am so making this again!

(oh, and the photo is from a feast for the eyes

because i didn't get a picture of my own dish

which is so sad because it was beautiful!)

for dessert i made paula deen's

gingerbread pumpkin trifle

it was so easy,

but even more important it was really good.

and last, but certainly not least,

i made

"larry the turkey" cupcakes

from

hello cupcake.

they were a nightmare to make, but they did taste good.

i've made other cupcakes from this book

and they were enjoyable to make,

but i really hated larry!

i heart ... canada geese

2010-10-25T18:58:00.001-07:00

okay, i don't really "heart" canada geese,

but i liked this little experience with canada geese.

so, i was with my cousin cy at the restoring honor rally

(along with 3 aunts, an uncle and some cousins-in-law if there is such a thing).

it was exactly 10am and just the time for the rally to start.

all of the sudden people started clapping and we were like,

"what in the heck?"

then we saw the geese.

we were like, "these people must be really bored

if they're excited about some canada geese."

then we had this whole discussion about how they are really called
canada geese

not

canadian geese

like everyone calls them

but how we feel stupid calling them "canada geese" in public

because people think we're the stupid ones...

but really they're the stupid ones.

so that was our conversation.

then i came home from the rally

and i saw this:

now i understand the clapping!
that fly over really was amazing.

i heart... the restoring honor rally

2010-10-05T19:02:00.001-07:00

i was so happy to be able to go to the

restoring honor rally

in washington, d.c. on 8/28

it was as wonderful as i'd hoped it would be.

it was such an uplifting experience to be with so many people

of all different backgrounds, but all like minded.

there were two themes to the rally:

to honor the troops

and

to restore honor to America

by looking to God.

my favorite quote was,

"we as individuals need to be good,

so America can be great."

the Founders knew that the Constitution could only work

if Americans were good moral people.

we need to get back to that.

here is an article from the wall street journal

that represents the rally as i experienced it.

i heart ... the gila valley temple

2010-05-12T17:39:00.007-07:00

i went with stacy and her family to the

gila valley temple open house.

our first view of the temple

was the night before our tour.

it was soooo exciting to drive down the highway,

in the pitch black, in the middle of nowhere,

and then to come upon the temple all lit up!

as we were getting ready in the morning

before our tour,

thomas was running around saying,

"temple, temple, temple..."

it was cute to see how excited he was.

and of course we sang

"i love to see the temple"

with him.

almost as exciting as seeing the new temple

was seeing our uncle rusty's campaign signs around town!!!
if you live in congressional district 1,

vote for rusty!

i heart ... olivia

2010-04-28T17:55:00.008-07:00

i have a new niece!
olivia
isn't she beautiful?!

you would just die if you could feel her hair!
like feathers!

the softest thing in the history of the world!

natalie & olivia

natalie was beyond excited to see olivia for the first time.

she is already such a good big sister to paulina.

paulina

unfortunately i don't have a picture of paulina with olivia.

paulina was more interested in her aunt mary's french fries

than she was in her new sister.

i heart ... girls' days

2010-04-20T13:46:00.009-07:00

every time shelby visits,

i'm like, "so what do you wanna do?"

and this time she said,

"i wanna have a girls' day!"

duh! why don't we do this every time she comes?

so first we went to lunch at tia rosa's. brennan, sierra & shelby

i usually get the salmon tacos,

but this time i tried the salmon enchiladas with avocado sauce.

oh my gosh it was so good!

and definitely better than it looks in this picture!

next stop,

scottsdale fashion square.

not sure exactly what's going on it this picture,

but i thought shelby & brennan looked so cute

at the tory burch storefront.

we were all in love with this trench coat!

i wish you could see better the ruffles at the bottom.

we even had to go back to burberry to admire it a little more!

(and look! there's hermione!)

and we couldn't go to fashion square
without going to
sprinkles!

next, brennan thought it would be fun to go to the
mesa arts center.
but first we picked up thomas.
he loves that place!

it's a great place for baby exercise.

translating for thomas,
"mmm... this reclaimed sewer water is so yummy!"

what's really sad is that i had never noticed

these wind chimes before.

i guess that's because the wind never blows here.

but it was blowing this day and i was so in love with these!

the end.

i heart ... easter

2010-04-10T18:03:00.012-07:00

this easter was the best ever!

for two reasons:

#1 stephanie's family came

#2 general conference

on the thursday before easter

stephanie called to say they were coming from utah for spring break.

they wanted to get out of the cold and come some place warm.

yay!

so,

first we watched conference...

then between sessions we ate outside with the orange blossoms...

then we had an easter egg hunt...

for dessert we had these cute cupcakes

that brennan and shelby helped me decorate.

unfortunately they weren't as good as they looked.

how sad!

after conference we went to visit our grandmothers.

first stop was nana's house

where i saw natalie & paulina in their easter dresses...

and where paulina & thomas played "kissing cousins"...

and samuel entertained everyone with "ode to joy" on the piano...

and samuel and natalie showed off their reading skills!

next stop was grandma's house

where samuel entertained us with, what else -

"ode to joy"!

he's a pro at that one!

and finally, we went for a walk around the temple!

and that was my perfect, best ever easter!

i heart ... weird chief

2010-03-29T15:02:00.005-07:00

this weekend

brook and i went to the

tempe festival of the arts.

there were men juggling fire...

and dogs wearing hats...

but we didn't really find any art that we loved.

that is,

until we found

weird chief!

oh man i love his art!

here are his paintings

i have to have:

bono

the mad hatter

george washington

abraham lincoln

and these are the other paintings

that i loved:

willy wonka

bjork

joan jett & debbie harry

radiohead

daft punk & ll cool j

marilyn monroe & audrey hepburn

edward scissorhands

morissey

i heart ... baby tortoises

2010-03-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

i was at stacy's house the other day

and ammon came in saying

there was a baby tortoise on the front porch!

what?

that's crazy!

but there it was.

isn't he the cutest?!

i swear baby tortoises are my favorite animal!

or maybe my favorite are

those baby sea turtles that are scrambling over the sand

to get to the ocean.

ammon made the tortoise a nice habitat

until he could find out who the tortoise belonged to.

we wondered for a split second

if maybe kyle was actually a girl!

remember kyle?

could this be kyle's baby?

but no.

our grandpa the veterinarian told us kyle was a boy.

turns out the baby tortoise belonged

to the neighbors a couple of doors down.

ammon knocked on their door and they said yes he was theirs.

then they gave ammon

a 2 dollar bill as a reward.

i think ammon was happy about that

because i think he loves money

as much as he loves baby tortoises.

(or maybe more!)

i heart ... american gothic in 3D

2010-03-22T13:46:00.007-07:00

have you seen this sculpture yet

in downtown mesa?

it's so cool!

see how tall it is?

taller than the street lights.

taller than a two story building.

ammon, kaitlyn, brennan and thomas

i took my nieces and nephews to see it.

it's called

god bless america

j. seward johnson

after the kids played around the statue,
brennan thought it would be fun
to walk around the mesa arts center.
i've been there many times,
but this was the first time i went just to walk around.
it was so fun and so beautiful.
even baby thomas had fun!

i love the colorful planters!

there are several water features for the kids to play in.

perfect destination for when it gets hot!!!

i heart ... orange blossoms

2010-03-21T18:38:00.006-07:00

it's official -

they are here!

orange blossoms!

i'm in heaven.

i know that i'm in heaven because this is definitely

what heaven has to smell like.

i've been seeing the blossoms on the trees around town

and every so often catching the scent in the air,

but a minute ago i stepped out the door

and the air is filled.

it will be filled for the next few weeks.

it is the best scent ever!

i'm so sad for my utah peeps who have never smelled it.

it's a crime against humanity to have never experienced it!

stephanie,

can you please

plan a family trip to arizona in march 2011

so your children can smell the orange blossoms?

it's just not right that they never have!

i heart ... st. patrick's day

2010-03-17T21:00:00.004-07:00

my favorite st. patrick's day tradition

is to go to fountain hills park

to see the fountain turned green!

thomas, sierra, kaitlyn and ammon

isn't it so pretty?

but looking at this picture,

i just want to pinch some of these kids!

where is their green?

i heart ... clayton's drawing

2010-03-13T14:51:00.008-07:00

the other day my nephew clayton and i were coloring together.

i was coloring in a my little pony coloring book

because i'm not creative enough to draw,

but he was next to me drawing a picture.

i was very focused on coloring my pony

so i didn't even notice what he was drawing

until he was done.

when i finally took a look

i was fascinated.

i asked clayton to tell me about it.

here is what he told me:

*the people at the top of the page are

Heavenly Father and Jesus.

*the person at the bottom of the page is

Joseph Smith.

*the house is Joseph's house.

*the little yellow rectangle with the dots on it

at the bottom

are the golden plates.

*the big brown dot next to the golden plates

is the stone that was covering the golden plates.

*the brown rectangle under the stone is

"the log that moved the rock" off of the golden plates.

i asked clayton why Heavenly Father and Jesus

have hearts drawn on them

and he said,

"because they are so happy that

Joseph found the golden plates."

clayton may love swords,

but he really is the sweetest!

i heart ... this oompa loompa

2010-03-12T17:06:00.003-07:00

my poor little nephew eli

has to take medicine

that turns his tongue purple.

(temporarily!)

it's so dang cute!

if he were mine

i'd give it to him everyday

to keep his tongue this way!

it especially looks cute with his blue eyes!

i heart ... this scary kid

2010-03-11T13:31:00.005-07:00

look at this sword uncle brad gave our nephew clayton!

clayton wanted to tell you,

"the sword is very deadly.

i think the sword is awesome.

its fortune is to rule the world.

when you touch the tip of its top, it's very sharp."

i love this kid!

i heart ... the oscars

2010-03-09T17:19:00.016-07:00

for me, the oscars are all about the dresses.

here are my favorites:

my very favorite dress of all was j. lo's.

is it slightly pink, or is that just me?

well, pink or white, i love it!

you'd think this color would be a little boring,

but for some reason i don't think it's boring at all.

it's so pretty and feminine.

cameron - wow! what a surprise!

have you ever seen her look so glamorous?

she's always cute - but that's just it, she's cute.

for these oscars she looked so fancy schmancy!

amanda seyfried... what can i say?

this dress is just so beautiful!

she should get married in it!

but i'm not so sure about the cuffs.

i love the color of this dress.

and it looks so good on penelope!

i was so happy sandra bullock won for best actress!

(although i would have been completely happy if meryl had won.

she was totally julia child!)

sandra dressed the part of an oscar winner.

she deserved it just to look at her!

everything from her hair to her makeup to her dress was perfect.

vera farmiga's dress was so super frou-frou,

but it's the oscars!

and i loved it!

it's the one time it's okay to be over the top

(but not in a bjork kind of way)

(i still totally love you bjork!).

carey mulligan's dress was not one of my favorites,

but it is super pretty.

the reason i'm so fascinated by it is because

her "jeweled" dress is not actually jeweled at all.

it's "utensiled"!

those are scissors and forks and other utensils decorating her dress!

and i love that about it!

and now for my least favorite dress:

do i really need to point out what's wrong with this dress?

at first sight i was like, "oh no she didn't!"

charlize usually looks perfect.

and actually this dress is beautiful from the waist down...

it's just that horrendous bust part!

uuuggghhhh! i can't look at it anymore!

i feel so embarrassed for her!

now let's talk about some of the hair.

what was up with the fly aways?

this is the oscars so there are no mistakes.

everything is on purpose,

which means the hair was on purpose.

but why?

sjp's hair really did not look good,

but even with the fly aways

penelope and j lo's hair still looked good.

and finally,

this has nothing to do with dresses or hair,

but one of the most exciting things of the night for me

was to see

mr. darcy at the oscars!

he was for sure the best dressed man!

and i'm positive tom ford had something to do with it!

i heart ... peanut butter brownie cupcakes

2010-03-01T14:03:00.006-07:00

i love paula deen!

every recipe of hers that i've tried

i've loved.

(except for one, if i'm being totally honest.

but even that one i liked! i just didn't love it)

i made these paula deen cupcakes on saturday

and as expected,

i loved them!

and they are super easy!

peanut butter brownie cupcakes

one 18 1/2 oz. package duncan hines chewy fudge brownie mix

one 12 oz. package peanut butter chips

24 miniature reese's peanut butter cups

duncan hines milk chocolate frosting

1) preheat oven to 350 degrees. line 24 regular muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.

2) prepare brownies according to package directions for "cake like brownies". fill cups 1/2 full with batter. place 1 tablespoon of peanut butter chips in center of batter,

press one peanut butter cup into center until batter meets top of peanut butter cup.

3) bake 18 minutes, or until cupcakes are set. when you can handle cupcakes safely, remove them from tins and cool completely on wire racks.

4)frost

*i used reese's peanut butter cups since they are my favorite candy.

**this recipe only actually made 17 cupcakes, not 24 as advertised!

i heart ... spinato's

2010-02-27T18:35:00.012-07:00

awhile back i was at the park.
i overheard these two women talking.
one was going on and on about this
kind of secret italian restaurant.
she was like, "it's hard to find.
it's in this dark industrial complex.
you would never know it was there
unless someone told you how to get there."

and then she said,
"i'm from new jersey and i've had amazing authentic italian food
but this is the best i've ever had!"
at that point i was sold!
but i didn't know the name of the restaurant
and the directions she gave the other woman were fuzzy -
and i didn't want her to know i was eavesdropping
so i didn't dare ask her any details.

but then last wednesday i got a lucky break.
while at joe's farm grill with my friends
one of my friends started talking about this
mysterious italian restaurant
in this obscure industrial complex
and i said "hold it right there!
i need names and directions!"

spinato's!

it's called spinato's!

so today i went!
my cousin jennie was in town
and asked me where i would like to go for lunch.

i knew just the place!

we started with the bruschetta

(fresh roma tomatoes, fresh basil, diced garlic, evoo, and balsamic vinegar)

super good!

jennie's baby, journie,

shared some bruschetta sans tomatoes and stuff.

she wasn't loving the balsamic vinegar!

i ordered the baked spaghetti calzone -

yes, a calzone stuffed with spaghetti!

i want to kiss who every thought of this!

genius!

jennie ordered the

fresh spinach pizza
(fresh baby spinach carefully marinated in "secret seasonings”
then baked with fresh roma tomatoes, diced garlic, and mozzarella cheese)

awesome!

and finally for dessert

we had the

pumpkin gelato and peppermint gelato.

journie loved it

and i think that is a good enough recommendation!

sadly, as it turns out,

spinato's is not as mysterious as people thought it was.

it felt mysterious

because, yes, it was hard to find,

and in a totally obscure location,

and in an unfinished building...

but there are actually 3 other locations

in the phoenix area.

nevertheless,

it was sooooooo good

and i'm just going to keep on pretending

it's a special little secret place!

i heart ... stephen's candy cane cocoa

2010-02-25T15:39:00.005-07:00

stephen's candy cane cocoa

is my very favorite hot chocolate!

but it's hard to find in arizona.

amazingly my brother brad had a can of it

and i was like what?

how in the heck did you get your hands on that?

i still don't know exactly how he got it.

he doesn't easily reveal his secrets.

but what really matters is that today

he surprised me with

four cans of my very own!!!

he is the nicest brother ever!

(just don't tell my other brothers)

i heart ... these surprise visitors

2010-02-24T16:53:00.004-07:00

today the doorbell rang
and look who it was!

my nieces, paulina & natalia

i love it when they surprise me!

paulina had ridden over on her dora bike

(which is funny 'cause she kinda looks like dora

and she's riding a dora bike!

get it?)

and natalie pushed a stroller full of, like,

a gazillion stuffed animals!

but do you think they were coming to see me?

oh no.

they don't come to see me anymore.

they come to see lucy!

i heart ... this weather

2010-02-23T17:16:00.004-07:00

it was rainy over the weekend.
you know how i feel about that!

look at those ginormous raindrops.

that's how the rain is in az.

and my heart melted when i got in my car

and saw this beautiful sunset

through my wet windshield.

with all this rain

the wildflowers in the desert

are going to be amazing this year!

i can't wait!!!

i heart ... joe's farm grill

2010-02-18T13:24:00.008-07:00

last night for visiting teaching

i met some friends at joe's farm grill.

the whole experience was fun.

it was fun being with my friends...

the atmosphere of the restaurant was fun...

even the food was fun!

i had the

grilled peanut butter & banana split sandwich

(p.b., chocolate chips, crushed pineapple,

fresh strawberries and bananas)

it was just as good as it sounds!

hmmm...

now here was something interesting...

my friends said,

"have you seen the bathrooms?

oh, you have to see the bathrooms!"

yep.

barbies and g.i. joes

and some weird puppet movie playing.

your guess is as good as mine.

p.s.

this guy's been there too!

i heart ... zinc bistro

2010-02-17T13:45:00.006-07:00

in honor of president's day

my bff brook and i had lunch at zinc bistro.

okay, not really in honor of president's day

but really in honor of having the day off.

(no disrespect to washington & lincoln. love them!)

to start we shared the

onion soup gratinee loved the gruyere!

for my main course

i had the

crab and truffle omelette

with bearnaise and straw potatoesit was perfection.

nice and simple and light

after the very flavorful onion soup.

our plan for dessert was

tahitian vanilla bean creme brulee

but they were out of some of the ingredients!

oh well.

that just means we have to go back.

so instead we went to grand lux cafe

for beignets.

no complaints!!!

i heart ... encanto-palmcroft & willo

2010-02-16T14:41:00.010-07:00

saturday was vnsa.
one of the things i look forward to about vnsa

is the drive home.
i always make sure to take a drive through the
encanto-palmcroft & willo neighborhoods
in downtown phoenix.
i love these old houses!
and i love that the owners love their houses
and take such good care of them.

i heart ... my life in france

2010-02-12T12:37:00.009-07:00

this book is just delightful,

as my aunt raylene would say.

i enjoyed it so much!

paris, marseilles, germany, norway...

i loved hearing about the places julia child and her husband lived.

and of course, the food.

she really was an amazing person.

she didn't start out an expert chef,

even though we think she was born that way.

she had to learn like the rest of us.

she even made mistakes.

lots of them!

and she wasn't afraid to make them either.

i liked reading of the painstaking way

in which she translated classic french recipes

into recipes that can be used in an american kitchen.

all of her hard work and integrity in that process

made me respect her even more!

i also loved reading about her relationship with her husband.

if there is such a thing as a perfect marriage

then theirs was it.

they more than loved each other,

they actually liked each other.

my favorite quote from my life in france is:

"remember, nothing is more important than people.

friendship is the most important thing -

not career, or housework, or one's fatigue.

(friendship) needs to be tended and nurtured."

the recipe that i have to try

after reading this book is

sole meuniere.

boy did julia love a good sole meuniere!

it was her first meal in france

and she never got over it.

she mentioned it over and over throughout the book.

so as you can see i totally loved this book.

it's one of those few books that i could read

again and again.

as julia would say,

bon appetit!

i heart ... this pied-à-terre

2010-02-07T21:36:00.004-07:00

image from tongue in cheek

i would kill

(seriously, i would kill

so watch out!)

to be here right now!

i heart ... pan-fried onion dip

2010-02-06T22:26:00.008-07:00

image from foodnetwork.com

i just made

ina garten's pan-fried onion dip

for the super bowl tomorrow

and oh my!

divine

i cannot wait until tomorrow to eat more of it!

i want to eat all of it right now!

but i also want everyone to try it

so i'll have to control myself.

wish me luck!

p.s.

i would like to change the name of this dip.

it doesn't sound all that appetizing.

how about

caramelized onion dip?

much better, i think.

p.p.s.

so the game is over

(and my team won! yay!)

and guess what?

so sad,

but the dip is not as good the second day.

but it was amazing right when i made it.

so do you know what that means?

eat this dip immediately!

i heart ... my picture book of songs

2010-02-02T13:36:00.005-07:00

when i was a child my mom would sing to me
and my brothers and sisters
from my picture book of songs.
and now my nieces and nephews are enjoying the same songs.
thomas especially loves these songs!
i can't tell you how often he grabs my hand
and pulls me to the piano.

this is his favorite page:

i think the above is his favorite page

because he loves the picture,
not just the songs.

i love the pictures in this book too!

(look at his cute little hand turning the page!)

i heart ... the babies

2010-01-28T09:34:00.004-07:00

have you seen this movie preview?

everytime i see it my heart just melts!

i heart ... roasted red pepper & tomato soup

2010-01-27T15:50:00.007-07:00

this is my favorite soup!

i can't get enough!

i'm so happy that today is another dreary day

which will go perfect with this soup...

oh, and grilled cheese too, of course!

have you seen this?

2010-01-22T13:45:00.005-07:00

i've been having trouble grasping the reality

of the earthquake(s!) in haiti.

i can't comprehend it.

but i just stumbled upon a blog

from a girl who was working in an orphanage in haiti

and was killed.

reading the blog is helping me to grasp the loss a little more.

and it especially has me wondering about the children.

the blogger was a recent college graduate from washington

who planned on working at the orphanage for a year.

she had just hit her halfway mark.

you can read her blog here.

i heart ... lucy

2010-01-22T13:23:00.003-07:00

i went into petco the other day
and look who i was surprised to see...

that's lucy, i tell ya!

lucy!

shouldn't they be paying me for that or something???

i heart ... cinnamon oranges

2010-01-21T15:35:00.001-07:00

this is my favorite snack of the moment.

all you do is

drizzle honey over the orange slices

then sprinkle with cinnamon

(just cinnamon, not cinnamon-sugar)

i could eat a million of these!

and i think i have!

i heart ... orange creamsicle trifle

2010-01-20T15:54:00.005-07:00

for my niece brennan's birthday dinner

i asked her what dessert she would like me to make.

she said "orange trifle".

well,

i've never seen an orange trifle,

but why not?

you can make a trifle out of whatever you want!

so i thought about it,

then put it together,

and it turned out soooooooooo good!

seriously!

way beyond my expectations!

and it had an orange creamsicle flavor

so i decided that would be the official name.

it sounds more cute, too.

paula's orange creamsicle trifle

1 1/2 angel food cakes

orange juice (no pulp)

12 navel oranges from my backyard because they're the best!

vanilla pudding

whipped cream

1) section the oranges. you can learn how to do that here. this removes all of the white pith.

2) make pudding according to package directions, plus about 1/3 cup extra liquid to thin it out a little.

3) cut angel food cake into 1 inch cubes.

4) pour 1/2 cup o.j. into a bowl. dip cake cubes in o.j. (don't soak, just quickly dip)

5) layer bottom of trifle dish with cake.

6) layer sectioned oranges over cake (i used 6 oranges for each orange layer).

7) pour half of pudding over oranges.

8)start again with another cake layer,

and continue on with layers in the same order as before.

9) top with whipped cream

i heart ... spicy chickpea curry...

2010-01-19T15:25:00.005-07:00

... and coconut chicken tenders...
... and chickpea flatbread...

brook and i recently had another recipe exchange.

brook made the dishes mentioned above.

i made creme brulee french toast.

i've made this dish many times before,

but i wanted brook to try it!!!

it means a lot if she loves it,

so i made it for her.

the dishes brook made, on the other hand,

were all new,

and were all

yummy!

i will definitely be making these myself!

you can go here for her recipes.

i heart ... gray skies

2010-01-18T18:29:00.005-07:00

this is what the sky looks like today

(and what it's supposed to look like for the rest of the week) :

love it!

hip hip hooray!

hallelujah!

this is what the sky in arizona looks like

99.999999999999999999999999% of the time:

this happens to be my favorite color,

but it's not what i want to see when i walk outside.

this is what i want to see when i walk outside:

funny how it works like that.

but that's the way we are here in arizona.

we are always so happy when it rains!

it's like a holiday!

i'm so excited for this week!

i heart... taco bell

2010-01-18T14:18:00.005-07:00

today i went with my mom and my niece brennan to taco bell.
we actually went inside and ate.
i never go inside.
never.
in fact, this was the first time i'd been inside
this particular taco bell
even though, let's be honest, i'd been through the drive through
a million times!
why am i blogging about a trip inside taco bell?
because it was beautiful in there!

who knew?
well, maybe "beautiful" is not the right word,
but it was nice or whatever.
and they had beautiful taco bell artwork
and i kept looking at it and thinking,
"i would totally hang that in my house..."
because that's how much i liked it
and that's how much i love taco bell!

this was my favorite of the paintings:

i couldn't get a good shot

because i was trying to take it incognito.

taco bell might have rules about

using flash photography near their paintings.

i'm sure they are of great value.

they are to me anyway.

and when i told all this to brennan

she told me that because i love taco bell so much

i would surely love this video:

and i do love it!

i heart ... 2009

2010-01-06T13:23:00.040-07:00

my favorite pictures of 2009

(and it should come as no surprise

that most of these are pictures of my nieces & nephews!)

january

thomas just learning to crawl

clayton & samuel

clayton, paulina, & natalie

february

clayton - the boy with the golden feather!

natalie on the trampoline

clayton finding out he was going to be a big brother again

i've never seen a baby who loves books as much as thomas!

and i'm so happy thomas has a big brother like ammon

who is happy to read to him!

valentine's day party

natalie, brennan, kaitlyn, paulina, & sierra

march

ammon's ginormous orange

sierra through the kaleidescope

ava & paulina

natalie's birthday

april

thomas jefferson attends his first political rally
and totally gets into it!

a visit to my cousin jennie's family

jacey, jaren, jayton, & jackson

may

paulina

my beautiful sonoran desert

have you ever seen a baby so joyous to pet a dog???

thomas

my sister-in-law rebeca's graduation

here comes air force one!

and lookie here...

see who flew in on air force one

to personally congratulate rebeca on receiving her doctorate?

sisterly love

natalie & paulina

memorial day bbq

more sibling love...

clayton & ava

kaitlyn gets beignets for her birthday

thomas' first trip to the library

june

cooling off at nielson's frozen custard

kaitlyn, brennan, & ammon

this is all i've got for june.

i think i was just too hot to take pictures!

july

ava

paulina

ammon & thomas reading, again!

thomas & noah

august

thomas, noah, & samuel at our family reunion

the punk rock show!

brennan, sierra, kaitlyn, & ammon

caleb & ammon

thomas on the saddle from sundown ranch

shelby

noah & ammon

caleb & sierra

stephanie & shelby

sierra - always with a flower in her hair

clayton

clayton - the spy!

eli & ava playing peek-a-boo

september

i love that smile!

thomas

kaitlyn & ammon

a kiss from thomas

brennan

october

(this photo needs no introduction!)

samuel scrambles an egg for me!

noah with a goatee

(or a mishap with a suction cup!)

caleb

caleb is my favorite artist.
oh, and renoir too.

shelby

samuel

oops! i mean, count dracula!

ammon, sierra, kaitlyn, thomas, & brennan

clayton, ava, & natalie

paulina

november

cowgirl kait

veteran's day parade

ammon & natalie

natalie flying her flag for veteran's day

paulina

samuel, clayton, noah, & caleb

samuel

caleb & shelby watching the fountain

all of my nieces & nephews!

when we all were together at thanksgiving time

i took this picture for our christmas present to my mom.

my cousins and i have a picture like this
from when we were children
and i wanted to recreate it,
but by this point in the day the children were so over
having their picture taken!

ava & clayton

paulina, natalie, & ava

thomas & clayton

eli

thomas playing wii.

doesn't he totally look like he knows what he's doing?

he doesn't!

he just copies what his brother & sisters do!

december

this is the first time i heard natalie read!

like, really read! not just for pretend!

natalie's ballet recital

look at the shadow of thomas' eyelashes...

i was driving down the street & look who i saw...

my niece kaitlyn & my cousin summer

bruiser!

a missing tooth and bandaged head.
(clayton)

first a bruiser,

and now a monkey!

the missing tooth & bandaged head are making more sense now!

paulina being her crazy self!

anyone who knows her knows just what i'm talking about!

ava

eli the hedgehog

ava & ammon

as joseph & mary

my new kitty

lucy!

... and that's the end of 2009!

.

i heart ... christmas

2010-01-05T13:24:00.014-07:00

here is the story of my christmas.

'twas the night before christmas when all through the house...

...lots of people were (there's not an appropriate word that rhymes here

so forget the rhyming thing!)...

lots of people were gathering to celebrate.

we always spend christmas eve with my dad's side of the family.

and we always begin the evening with lots of good food...

my dad & his brother brian

i made
martha stewart's triple chocolate peppermint trifle

which i've been waiting all year to make for christmas eve!

sierra, breanna, & brennan

after eating we just hung out for a little while.

it was nice and relaxing.

and it gave everyone a chance to chat -

because that's what my dad's family likes to do the most!

seriously!

super seriously!

look where thomas found santa?

this child loves santa!

we were having a debate over

what this creature was on eli's head.

someone said hedgehog.

i vote for that.

clayton & ava

kaitlyn & eli

after eating and hanging out

it was time for the nativity.

the most important part.

here come the players:

ava & ammon

look at this shy little lamb

(ha! don't be fooled!)

thomas

after the nativity we had numerous musical numbers

which were so awesome

and helped everyone to feel the christmas spirit

(but there is no way i can show all of them here

because there were so many!)

but i will just show you the final musical number.

scroll down further for the video.

can you guess the song?

last but not least,

eli received his stocking!

this is a very important event in our family.

my nana makes every new baby in the family a stocking

which is presented to them on christmas eve.

when it's presented we all sing

"hang up the baby's stocking".

aaaahhhhh,

christmas morning!

finally!

first we ate brunch...

... which is one of the best meals of the whole year!

creme brulee french toast, spinach quiche,

biscuits & gravy, fresh squeezed o.j.

and these amazing sticky rolls!

then the chaos begins

with the children opening their presents first...

...then finally it was the grown ups turn.

after all the presents were opened

then we played with the presents!

especially this one.

it's called floam.

clayton gave it to natalie,

but she shared it and we all enjoyed it.

it felt so good to squish it through my fingers!clayton, natalie, sierra, ammon, & kaitlyn

clayton, natalie, & thomas

thomas loved squishing it, too.

sadly christmas day always has to end.

the children were getting sleepy.

so were the adults.paulina

eli

but happily

there are always plans for after christmas.

it's the only way to not fall into a post-christmas depression.

i have to have something exciting to look forward to.

like,

our annual cousins soiree at matta's!

a few days later,

i was invited to go with stacy and her girls

to see "meet me in st. louis" at broadway palm. stacy, brennan, kaitlyn, & sierra

and another thing to keep my spirits lifted

is this new little gift i received on new years eve.

meet lucy!

and finally,

new years eve.

i don't have pictures of the partying

only pictures of the goodies i made.

the food is the most important part anyway, right?

i made these candy cane kiss brownie bites
and in case you're wondering,

yes,

i loved them!

merry christmas!

2009-12-25T09:38:00.001-07:00

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
ISAIAH 9:6

i heart ... candlelight carol

2009-12-24T14:29:00.004-07:00

"candlelight carol" makes me feel christmas

like no other song.

it might be my favorite.

i'm so happy tomorrow is christmas!

i've waited all year!

Share Candlelight Carol by John Rutt er

i heart ... living near family

2009-12-22T18:18:00.003-07:00

this is why i love living near family.

while i was out driving around

doing some christmas shopping

look who i saw.

these cute girls!

my niece kaitlyn and my cousin summer.

i heart ... candy cane kisses

2009-12-21T17:23:00.007-07:00

last christmas i discovered

candy cane kisses.

and every time i say "last christmas"

i want to start singing that song.

in fact i'm singing it in my head right now.

but anyway,

candy cane kisses were the flavor of christmas 2008.

i could not get enough!!!

and now i'm at it again!

but this christmas i'm extra excited (if that's possible)

because i found this recipe at the picky palate.

i'll be trying them

and i'll let you know how they turn out.

i hope they're great

because i don't want to waste a perfectly perfect bag

of my candy cane kisses!

i heart ... christmas sprinkles

2009-12-18T23:36:00.007-07:00

i went into sprinkles today.

i told myself i could have one cupcake.

one.

so of course

i got two.

eggnog spice & vanilla peppermint

so now do you understand?

it was impossible to choose one and not the other!