I was excited about today’s menu because it involved my slow cooker and I love me some slow cookin’!!
Day 3 is Asian Baby Back Ribs with Gingery Jasmine Rice.
Verdict: would cook the ribs again and probably do the rice again as well. Although I would do my favorite Japanese “sticky rice” instead is the Jasmine rice next time.
eMeals Day 2!
Got sidetracked yesterday…life happened. Back onto the meal plan today. Meal 2 is Lemon and Thyme Baked Tilapia in Parchment and a side of Creamy Salad with Endive and Cucumber.
I wasn’t able to find the fresh Thyme at the store the other day so I improvised and just sprinkled some dry rosemary leaves over the fish instead. The fish turned out AMAZING! Cooked it exactly as specified in the directions. I never cook fish because I am simply afraid of it but this was the easiest thing ever and very little cleanup. Just cut the fish out of the parchment and threw it away!
I am not a health nut and am not the biggest fan of all the new produce I’m eating. The salad tasted a lot better then I anticipated but it wasn’t my favorite flavors so I didn’t finish it. 
Overall, another THUMBS UP for eMeals!
Finally got the Groupon deal to eMeals and signed up right away. Tonight was our very first eMeals dinner! I was a bit nervous using spices and ingredients I am not familiar with but the whole thing could not have been easier.
Of course my plating skills leave something to be desired but here you have it…
Spicy Lemon Chicken with a side made of couscous, baby spinach, pine nuts, garlic, goat cheese and lemon juice.
Review of the meal: The chicken breasts I cooked were extremely large and while they did get cooked perfectly, they were so large that the flavor did not penetrate much past the skin. Next time I would use boneless chicken breasts perhaps. I must admit I was nervous about the couscous side dish but ended up LOVING it. The lemon juice gave it a zing and the pine nuts gave it a crunch. Very good.
Try it out if you think you’ll like it, the Groupon goes until April 10th I believe.
I saw this idea on pinterest probably over a year ago for threaded spaghetti hot dogs. It seemed so easy but it wasn’t until the other day that I actually made it for the twins. In all honesty, they didn’t really eat it but I know they will next time! 
I was so excited to make it for them, I didn’t even really care if they ate it or not.
Step 1: Grab ingredients (I used a turkey dog and angel hair spaghetti)
Step 2: Prepare each piece. I cut the hot dog into 5 sections (I forgot to take the picture until 2 were already in the pot. oops) Its very easy and doesn’t take any time at all to thread the uncooked spaghetti thru the hot dog pieces. I cut off the ends since I figured they might make it a little harder.
Step 3: Cook them until spaghetti is ready to eat!
Step 4: Cover with whatever sauce/toppings of your choosing. With twin 1 year olds, red sauce is my greatest enemy so I opted just to do butter. 
Enjoy!
While my children didn’t exactly eat their lunch, they spent quite awhile playing with it. In my book, that spells victory.
I completed Week 1 a while ago but its taken me this long to get the photos taken, edited and blog post finally written.
Layout – left side
Used Becky Higgins Design A page protector.
The Week 1 card is from the Clementine Core kit. The Welcome 2013 was one of my first attempts at using Photoshop Elements to create cards. I was really excited about it at the time but now I don’t love it as much. Best thing about Project Life is that I can go back and switch it out with something new at any time! The January calendar was a free printable, can’t remember exactly where I got it but if I remember, I’ll come back and mention it. I’m loving adding text to photos and had fun making the Happy New Year card/photo. I also used that as an e-card to wish family and friends a Happy New Year.
Layout – right side
I took the Studio Calico Day by Day class in January. I don’t have a silhouette but one of the other members in the class created all the class die cuts for me and mailed them from Australia! So when I received them I went back and inserted the geotag over the photo of the sunset to make it a little more interesting. I decided to just do a week in review for the first week since I didn’t really do a lot of journaling. I think I will change it up from week to week.
I am just starting out and slowly trying to incorporate more elements and embellishments into my layouts. Just today received my first kit (card kit) from Studio Calico. Next month I will receive my first Project Life kit. Can’t wait!
This is the cover page to my 2013 Project Life album
It’s only been 6 weeks-ish but I finally completed the cover for my 2013 Project Life album. I think I just didn’t know how to complete it and was probably overcomplicating it. I recently purchased some of the Echo Park Photo Freedom papers and used these filler cards to complete the page. I’m very happy with how it looks now! It’s super simple and not over embellished but I didn’t want to go crazy on the first page of the album.
I’ve been following the blog Young House Love for a few years now. When I found out they were coming to Palo Alto on their book tour I knew I had to be there!
Gabe and I drove down and stayed with his brother and sister-in-law. They were so sweet and even offered to watch the kids…and Joel, so we could go and enjoy ourselves!
We got there about an hour before the doors open and were already pretty far back in line. It was being held at a West Elm and they had hired a caterer to provide snacks for those in line. It was fabulous! First up were mini milkshakes. It were very cute but a hot chocolate might have been more appropriate considering the temperature and the fact that we were all waiting outside.
It was a good thing we got there when we did because the line got really long!
Before we knew it, we were inside! And just like all the other West Elm book signings, they had the custom YHL themed cookies. They didn’t taste too bad either
We met the sweetest ladies while we were standing in line. One of them, My Friend Kelly, brought a gift for John & Sherry’s daughter Clara. It’s so cute, I’m thinking of tracking down the company and getting one for my Claire. Alanna, the other woman I met in line isn’t pictured here but her blog is This Modern Wife.
The line went quite quick and then I was next up to meet John & Sherry. I felt a little silly about being so giddy to meet them. But I just love their blog and they are so totally the people you want to be BFF’s with.
It was a fabulous experience. They were just as nice as I expected them to be. I hope they get some serious rest once this book tour is over, their hands must be TIRED!
All in all, the trip went pretty darn well. As evidenced by this scene that took place for THE ENTIRE DRIVE HOME. You don’t know how rare that is. Pretty freaking awesome is what it is.
Update: Thirty minutes after walking in the door when we arrived home, I got a call from the West Elm in Palo Alto. They held a raffle for a mirror that John & Sherry signed and I WON! I never win anything so I kept asking the guy if this was really happening. I must admit I never saw it so I have no idea what it looks like. I can’t wait to see it!
