Catching up on some favorites

January 3, 2012 By 2 Comments
We had a great new year’s eve and I planned to share some fun photos with you from that last night of 2011 but I left my camera at our hosts house!  So instead, I thought I’d use my time tonight to catch you up on a few recent favorites. 

We started the new year off right by taking time out for fun yesterday spending it on a rousing afternoon of Hand & Foot.  Have you played?  It’s pretty simple and straight forward and all the rage down in Sun City West where my parents live each winter. Glen and I got creamed!  I made grilled cheese sands and a big pot of the yummy Tomato Orange soup that I shared with you all a couple weeks ago. So good and simple. You can get it to it here fast: http://www.myhappylifebythebay.com/2011/12/christmas-season-soup.html 

I know this cactus doesn’t look like much but I’m bragging on it because Glen got it as a start from my brother-in-law a couple of Christmas seasons back and not only has tended it into growing to a good size but it bloomed this year!  Okay, one bloom, but that bloom represents a whole bunch of tender loving care.

Today, our beat the blues assignment is to cook something new and I am making a Tom Gai Thai soup in my crock pot.  Definitely stretching into an exotic area for me but it is smelling really good.  I plan to serve this Garlic Naan on the side.  I’d like to serve this on the side for every meal actually.  : )  This is so good and so easy! If you are a naan bread fan like me, treat yourself to this easy and fast to prepare   bread from Trader Joes. It keeps great in your freezer and you just pull out what you need as you go.

I signed up for BirchBox and my first box came last week.  I think this might be fun.  It’s basically a service that sends you samples of a variety of different cosmetics/nutrition items every month to try and if you like them, you can go on their website and buy the full size. The monthly cost is $10. In this first box we got lip gloss, an energy drink, Ageless perfume, tape to keep your clothes in place, face cream from Benefit and a hair shine oil. I liked the perfume enough that I plan to get some.

I don’t have a picture yet of my next favorite thing but its January and we have hummingbirds here for the winter.  It looks like we have three of them actually and they might even be wintering in our rhododendron bush. We put a feeder up after we noticed them buzzing around the Christmas lights one day and they love it!  They are constantly sucking it down and we’re enjoying their company.

I’ve loved this nice long holiday weekend.  Got a lot done and had a lot of fun — nice balance.  Somehow it seems like there is still a lot to get done — how’s that work anyways?  Is it ever possible to be “all caught up”?

Lastly, a warm hello to the new friends I’m making off the Blogaholic Network site.  I’m really getting to see some cool new blogs and “meet” some creative new friends with lots to share.

Filed Under: Ageless Perfume, Birch Box, Hand and Foot

Just bein’ us

September 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We jumped right into some fun on this perfect summer day and grabbed the bikes for a ride on the Sammamish River Trail.  Perfect place to ride cause its flat!  And wide and it wasn’t too busy and it was very pretty. Of course, what would a workout in the Land of Julee be without a stop for lunch?  : )  So hello Red Hook Brewery.  We had a table out on the deck with everyone else, got burgers and right next to us was perfect entertainment — this ropes and ladders training center.  How horrible would that be?!?  Oh my gosh.  People were climbing all over it and even though they were solidly clamped in with harnesses, well, I need to just spill it out — I would be the girl waiting in the car.

Fortunately though, I was the girl having lunch with the fun guy and just sweating from the sunshine not the rope walking! On the way home we grabbed groceries and frozen yogurts at Menchies and then headed over to mom and dad’s for a few rounds of Hand & Foot.  Have you played this fun card game?  You play in teams.  Dad and Glen took the first round by a bunch but mom and I got our revenge when we cleaned their clocks during the comeback!  Of course, it might have been because they were distracted with the Seahawks versus the Oakland raiders game on the telly.  Go hawks!

So tonight I had to button down and get something constructive done — so, tah-dah, my seashell decor is gone till next summer and we’ve got our rustic African things up for awhile.  The best part of these?  Most of them we picked up in Africa. Had we been smart we would have just swung by the closest Pier 1 : ) but its not every day/year/lifetime you get to travel to Africa and that sort of drove the need to bring things back with us.

So while I worked on that decor change, I put a fire under Glen and Dandy to get Dandy’s toys picked up off the deck.  You would think we ran a pre-school or I was Octo-mom with all the toys scattered around our house — not just one big golden retriever! I love this picture though of the two of them getting everything collected.  Such a couple of cute guys. Never mind that everyone of these toys — plus a few — will be all over the house and deck again tomorrow! Being a parent can be thankless!  : )

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Filed Under: Hand and Foot, Lake Sammamish River Trail, Red Hook Brewery

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