happy birthday!

happy birthday, aaron! i can't believe how old you are and that i'm about to follow. you're fabulous and wonderful and loads of fun. i'm so happy you're in my life.

if you can't tell, he's the darling on the left.

oh, and note the post date. i back dated cause his birthday was over a week ago. sorry...

midnight in paris

last night aaron and i saw this movie. and loved it.


i'm picky about my movies. and i'm so not a rom-com girl. but this fit the bill.


it's really quite delightful. and clean. loaded with cameos, in unexpected places.


go see it. it might help to brush up on your 1920's literature/art history to fully enjoy the movie. just a tip.


we saw it at an indie theater so you might have to search around.

swamp people

last night we discovered the show, swamp people, on netflix. what a find. the premise involves families who make their living hunting in the Louisiana swamps, spotlighting alligator season.

the characters are awesome. you know they're real because you can't script this stuff. the alligators are crazy. quality viewing. my two favorite quotes of the night?

~speaking of shooting an alligator.."you ain't might not never get another chance"
(3 negatives. a negative X a negative X a negative = a negative, people. this is grammatically correct.)
~referring to a large alligator.."thas there a tree shaka"

i found out this morning that season 2 is currently on the history channel. best news all day.

problem

i left my phone charger in utah last week.
solution?
until it is mailed to me, i'll use my car charger.
problem?
i never drive the car and aaron doesn't get home until late.
solution?
i woke up at 5 this morning, grabbed my pillow and a blanket, walked out to the car in all my morning glory, plugged the phone in and slept for 30 more minutes in the back seat of the car.

i give my neighbors plenty of reasons to wonder.

recipe time

i often receive those recipe chain emails that request me to whip a recipe off the top of my head to a stranger.

i've never participated. i'm completely intimidated by them. i over think it. and under think it. suddenly my palms are sweaty and i can't recall a recipe off the top of my head. so i do nothing.

this time i have something. a small offering and an apology to all who have ever sent me an email like that and i dropped the ball.

i make banana bread often in our house. about once a week. aaron is picky about the condition of his bananas and unless he eats roughly 5 in 2 days, they're suddenly past his prime and on the fast track to bread.

'banana bread?' you say. i can hear your sigh. you already have 5 of these recipes. they're everywhere, right? but, wait. this recipe is different. it's from my beloved baking illustrated. and it's the first recipe in the book. super special. delicious. easy. and, i have made it so many times that i can proudly recite it from the top of my head.

banana bread

1 1/4 C roughly chopped walnuts (not walnuts, chopped. big difference)
2 C flour
3/4 C sugar
3/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

3 ripe bananas, mashed well
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 C plain yogurt (i use non-fat)
6 T melted butter, cooled
1 t vanilla

*heat oven to 350.
*spread chopped walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in oven for 5-10 minutes. once they start to brown and you can smell em, they're done. let cool.
*while the walnuts are roasting, melt the butter. put in the fridge to cool.
*wisk flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and walnuts in a large bowl.
*with a wooden spoon or spatula, mix bananas, eggs, yogurt, cooled butter and vanilla.
*gently add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined.
*butter and flour your pan(s). the recipe calls for a 9 in loaf pan, but i've also used 3 minis just fine. i used a pastry brush to get all the left over goodness from the butter bowl to grease my pans.
*bake at 350 for 55-60 mins. i find this bread to be very moist so i turn the temperature down just a bit (330 ish?) about 40 mins through so the tops don't brown too much.
*let rest in the pan for five minutes then turn onto cooling racks. (i was greedy once and didn't let it rest. suddenly i had 2 loves. top half in my hands, bottom half in the pan. not cool.)

not much beats the taste of this bread with a bit of butter while still warm. i love giving the minis as gifts or eating a whole one while standing at the kitchen counter. your call.

enjoy!!

a thought

i'm listening to the mormon channel at work right now. it provides much needed solace.

the current program is 'conversations', where sheri dew is interviewing elaine dalton.

regarding running, elaine told a story where she and her husband were running and she fell behind while going up a hill. frustrated and discouraged, she called out to her husband that she was turning around and going back to the car. he ran down to her and said, 'elaine, you never turn back while going up a hill; i'll run with you'.

you never turn back while going up a hill.

i like that.
i hope to apply it to my life.

countdown

it's may. do you know what that means?

we go to yosemite next month. oh boy. come to mama. to put it mildly, i'm excited.

it's the highlight of my summer.

in honor of the countdown to camping, i'm posting a video aaron took upon finishing our climb to half dome 2 years ago.

i was not thrilled to be videotaped.

i was not thrilled to be conscious.

i spoke softly. you'll need to turn the volume up.

enjoy.

royal wedding!

i did it. i awoke at 1245am to make a breakfast treat then met J to watch the royal wedding. we watched it on a BIG screen. then went back home and got ready for work.
here's our picture. remember the time while viewing the photograph. we were tired.

btw, loved the wedding. it was wonderful to see a wedding given so much fanfare. weddings are important. and i loved her dress. not just in a fashion sense, but because it was so modest. not exactly temple ready, but a big step in that direction and i'm excited it will spawn designs to follow suit. i hope my yw were watching!!

naturalist

ever the environmentalist, i discovered aaron's method for drying clothes one day as i returned home. so clever.

this is what i did at work today

yep, washed a cat on a friday afternoon. no scratches, success!happy friday and have a good weekend!

the happiest place on earth

well, my happiest place on earth. the WS outlet in primm, nv. the only one on the west coast. a must stop every time we pass it on the way to utah.

aaron knew i had to go on the way back from LV. oh, the deals i've scored there. they have everything and it is so marked down. i owe it all to K for telling me about it years ago.

because of this store, i've become a glass collector. juice glasses, to be exact. they're all packed away for the day i have a place and family to use them. i've developed quite the eclectic collection. this time i found tall sundae glasses for .99 cents each. awesome! pans, knives, linens, bake ware, appliances, it's all here. love it!!
i was not doing my best marilyn monroe impression. it was quite windy that day...

Las Vegas-all i do is wynn

we went to LV recently and, after reading many reviews, decided to stay at the wynn. we were not disappointed. i am not a LV person by any means, but i would gladly go back to this place in a heart beat. you never need to leave the property. we toured most of the hotels on the strip and this outshines them all. there are a lot of hotel pictures, but we just loved it so much.
isn't it amazing? we didn't get too many good pictures of it, but all around those trees are amazing water displays. similar to the belagio, the wynn has a large lagoon in front.
our room. very spacious and everything was remote controlled. the lights, the curtains, the temperature, the bathroom all on one panel. the bathroom was gorgeous, too. i almost slept in the tub and i am so not a tub person.
okada, a hotel restaurant where we ate one night. see the waterfall in the background? part of the water display. there was no wall separating you and the waterfall, so you could hear it, see it, smell it.
night view of our room.
tired and a bit haggard from the drive, but happy to be there. it was so great to walk around with aaron. although the strip was a freak show and you have to avert your eyes a bit, we loved staying up late and exploring. one night we were so tired that we literally came back to the room and passed out in our clothes.
dinner out with shelly and dayna.
we were propositioned on the way out to join a group of guys at the crazy horse. said they were looking for classy ladies. huh.
we saw, love, by cirque du soleil. i'll be honest. i didn't have high hopes. it was aaron's pick. i've always wanted to see O. however, i went and was blown away. not only do you get the amazing performance that is cirque du soleil, you also get all the beatles music. fabulous, start to finish. if you remotely like the beatles, go. now.
swimming with ava and the boys. such cuties.
a little nightlife. hard to believe, but only the person on the right was part of the show. the lady on the left was just walking by...
hallway leading to the suites.
atrium shot. those blue hydrangeas are totally real. very alice in wonderlandish all over.
so gorgeous.
since the hotel is curved it only makes sense that the hallways are, too. it looks so cool!
hallway leading to the theater and the encore (which is an after thought to the wynn. they are sister hotels that share the same property, but are a little different in decor. the wynn is more laid back, if you can believe it)
i almost got these from the wynn home store, but i thought it might clash with the ikea theme i have going at home. oh, and they were $16,000. there was a huge one leading to a restaurant in encore. over the top.

all in all, we had a great time at the wynn and would absolutely go back. i could easily stay there and relax by the pool (or all 6 of them!) for a few days.

african coffee cake? really?

monkey bread, sticky bread, bubble loaf, golden crown, pinch me cake.
yes, those are some of the odd names wikipedia calls the glorious creation before your eyes.

growing up we called it cinnamon pull apart. aaron called it suze's sticky buns (in honor of mama). we still don't know what to call it around our house. usually a hybrid of names comes out of my mouth. i made it yesterday for Easter. while many of you were having a fine feast, i was making this fabulous white trash creation.

rather than having it for breakfast and passing out in sunday school after my sugar high wears off, i made it after church. we had it for a late lunch, before dinner. much more nutritious.

i don't make it as my mom made it and i don't follow the directions on the bridgeford rolls package. (don't even bring those pillsbury rolls to the table. no.) just as the name, my recipe is a shapeshifter. it changes each time. i think i found the perfect combo yesterday. i'm so happy i only occasionally make it. i consume a disgusting amount of butter, bread and sugar in one sitting. my recipe is not for the faint of heart. but, it is delicious! just had some leftovers. did i mention i'm going running after work?

yea for special occasions!!

dream come true

one fine saturday in febrauary (that's how far behind i am on posting), i came home from the temple to find the follow scenario:
*the laundry done
*the clutter picked up
*vacuum lines on the carpet (i'm not sure if i prefer that or a pile of money. close call)
*aaron in the kitchen, depicted in the photo below

this is not a normal occurrence. aaron hates cooking. a lot. sees no need for it. waste of time. has a bunch of excuses that makes my head explode. he hates it so much so that this image is akin to spotting bigfoot.

how could he hate what i love? oh, the humanity.

anyway, he decided to make jamaican jerk chicken from the WS cookbook he recently bought me (see it there in the background?). note the bag of doritos that was his cooking companion. i think that would be his scotch if we drank. note all the garlic on the cutting board. he thought a bulb was a clove and the recipe calls for 8 cloves. oh yeah. i came home just in the nick of time.

i pointed him to my mini food processor and i think he wept for joy at not having to chop all that by hand. and for knowing he didn't have to add all that garlic. the chicken turned out great and i had a fine saturday off.
and i was aided in remembering what a great hus i have.

spring break 2011

we were in vegas for spring break.
there i said it. i had to confess right away. but, that's not the reason we went. it was an early birthday celebration for aaron and it happened to coincide with his spring break.
i really didn't fit in with the spring break crowd. i was the only person at the pool in a one piece and i was reading the latest issue of 'urban farm' magazine. i stuck out and people took note.
just wanted to give an explanation in case you saw us on some youtube video.
i'll post pictures soon.