Roman Art

A few weeks ago we printed and framed some photos that we took while traveling in Italy this spring. I really like these gallery style frames, which we purchased at Pottery Barn. We hung them above the computer desk in our den. On another wall we have two Africa prints (one a giraffe, one an elephant), from Cost Plus. Ah, sabbatical seems so long ago....

Oh My Darling Clementine

Clementines are such a wonderful snack. So juicy, convenient, and best of all mess-free. We've enjoyed three 5-lb boxes since Thanksgiving! The last batch was the best, the peels were thick, and the fruit was so fragrant. But there is only one left :(

Crafty Fall Fun

I finally got a chance to put together an autumn wreath this weekend. Made it using a 24" grapevine wreath, an assortment of fall flowers/leaves, and a trusty hot glue gun. It was a little difficult keeping the cats away during construction (they love to nibble on any plant-like material be it real or fake). And I only suffered one slight burn from the glue gun - oops. I think I now have a wreath for each season.

Race to the Finish!

While Mom and Dad were visiting the other weekend, we decided to enter the 5K walk in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, in downtown Phoenix. It was a huge event - over 30K people! It was a lot of fun, and the weather was very nice, if not a little warm. We treated ourselves to breakfast at Chompie's afterwards - as it turns out, so did many other race-goers :)

iLike iTunes

So I finally checked out iTunes (yes, I know, I'm a bit behind the times). I haven't purchased anything yet, but I did enjoy browsing and sampling misc artists/songs. And I'm also thinking maybe I should upgrade my current MP3 player to an iPod one of these days..... They just look so cool.

We tried out a new recipe last night we'd seen in the Williams-Sonoma catalog (of all places) for butternut squash risotto. It was very rich and yummy - especially because of the browned sage butter you drizzle on top at the end. We couldn't easily locate butternut squash puree. So we ended up substituting butternut squash soup from Trader Joe's - using equal parts of soup and chicken stock (4 cups each), instead of the 6 cups stock the recipe called for.

Birdies Beware

Bulk pick-up is just around the corner, which means a weekend of trimming the trees. Stew began by chopping up our palo verde tree that had fallen over during a storm about a month ago. Back then, we had noticed 2 baby birds huddling under a branch, after having apparently fallen out of their nest during the storm. Well amazingly, they were still there - once Stew started up the chainsaw, the mom bird took off across the street. So not to harm the birdies, Stew pulled the branch in which they were now perched off to the side. Who knew we'd be such softies for a pair of pigeons (ok, well mainly me). Anyway, pigeons aside, after 2 hot mornings of hard work, our large pile is pick-up ready.

Roy's - A Good Choice

Last night we went to the newly opened Roy's in Chandler, to celebrate Stew's birthday, and I must say I'm looking forward to going back. We've been to other locations in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Maui - and have enjoyed the trademark 'Hawaiian Fusion' cuisine. For this visit, I made the reservation online at Open Table and noted in my reservation that we were celebrating a birthday.

When we arrived, we were taken to table with a curly ribbon around the votive candle - a nice touch. Stew had the prix fixe menu, which included a 3-sampler appetizer, a choice of 4 entrees - he ordered the macadamia crusted ono, and a choice of 2 deserts - he went for their signature chocolate souflee (even tastier than I remembered). We also ordered the calamari - light, crispy, and perfectly salted. I had a mixed green salad, and ginger sea bass - which came served over snow peas, and with 3 wild mushroom raviolis on the side (kind of odd, but very tasty).

When the dessert came out, the waitress also gave Stew a 3-sampler desert, with a candle, and Happy Birthday written in chocolate on the plate. And they took a digitial photo and later delivered a printed copy in a Roy's card. Another nice touch.

Lazy Sunday

Just taking it easy this Sunday morning - french toast, coffee, the sunday paper ads, and golf(?)

Had some friends over for dinner last night. We kept it low-key, with tomato-sausage lasagna, a green salad, and garlic bread. Unfortunately, I didn't hear the timer for the first 60-min bake of the lasagna, so the noodles were a bit on the soft side - oops. Had cherry pie (from Trader Joes) a la mode for dessert. And Stew made Giada's white bean dip with toasted pita wedges, and caprese salad (again, using our fresh basil) for pre-dinner snacks. The cocktail master whipped up a nice batch of tangerine martinis too.

We also watched Walk the Line last night - it was pretty good. Caught the seaon premiere of Prison Break this week too - not bad, but still anxiously awaiting the season premiere of Lost... just a month or so away.

Deal of the Day

We bought this 1-gallon basil plant at Trader Joe's today, for $2.99! You can hardly find a tiny packet of basil leaves at the grocery store for that price.

This week's menu includes couscous paella with shrimp, vegetarian chili, homemade mac and cheese, oh, and caprese salad as an app (to take advantage of the fresh basil). Mmmm.

Floor It

I'm finally getting around to posting a picture of our newly installed wood floor. Also purchased out a new rug this weekend to go under our dining room table. Have been browsing around in catalogs for some ideas for living room furniture.
[Edited 8/18]: We ended up getting a different color rug than the one shown here. The 'putty' color was a tad too pink, so we opted for 'stone' instead. It is the Unior Pier Rug from Crate and Barrel. And as a side note, we've never done so much rug exchanging in our lives - between the new color, and 2 defective rugs, it was a total of 4 tries before we got it right.

Oh, and the cats seem to enjoy the new floor too. We just hope they don't scratch it up....

Tried another new recipe this week, for salmon baked in foil, which I saw on Everyday Italian. I liked that it is really simple to make (even baked it in the toaster oven!).

Creativity & Chaos

I created some more cards while assembling a stamp order for my mother-in-law this weekend - here are 3 samples.

I'm finding this quite addictive - guess it is about time I put all my supplies to use anyway.

Also found time for a little shopping. Picked up some cute shirts, a cool ceramic leaf tray for the dining room table, a pomegranate scented candle, and a couple of other things.

Snapped this shot in Marshalls - I feel badly for the worker who draws the short straw for toy aisle clean-up.... Notice how items on the higher shelves are still relatively orderly :)

Yum

Tried a few new recipes in the last few days. We enjoyed Giada De Laurentis' chicken florentine, very easy to prepare and good flavor. Also decided to try a chocolate-ricotta icebox cake I saw in the latest issue of Everyday Food. The cake is quite dense (since it uses ricotta), but it looks quite fancy - would definitely impress your friends :) I ended up substituting dark chocolate (from Trader Joe's) for semi-sweet, which made the cake more rich than sweet - I think the semi-sweet would have been better.

Oh, and Project Runway Season 3 has started! We've only watched the 'pre-show' so far (love TiVo!), but looking forward to all the crazy designs (and drama).

And finally, now that my 'craft corner' is semi-organized, I can craft once again. Made the card below this evening.

Takeoff

At long last, my first post. Here I plan to post (as probably most do) a collection of random stuff. I will likely include such things as our latest home improvement/decorating projects, restaurant reviews, craft projects, travel adventures, favorite recipes, and of course, overall musings on daily life :)