stuff to blog about

es, I've been vacant. My vacation from blogland ends today. For at least one day. Today is one of those rare Sunday mornings where I am awake before BD, so I'll leave him be and use these precious few minutes to get caught up. We successfully made it through 40 days of no meat for Lent. We learned that we can live with eating less meat. But we cannot live without meat forever. It was much more difficult for BD to face the lunchtime work crowd on a veggie diet than for me. However, the Saturday night before Easter I was craving meat so bad, I swear, I almost ate my pinkie toe. In other news...
Painting our little abode. I stayed neutral in parts and got real bold in others. I'm a maniac and decided that while we've got everything torn apart for painting we might as well re-do this and fix that. Big mistake. Huge. While our pocket book is shrinking, we have no lights in the bathroom, no curtains hung, and no end in sight. Someone stop me.

Saying bon voyage to good friends as they pack up and move half way around the world to Idaho. It might as well be outer Siberia. Jess threw a dance/farewell party and we busted our moves before their BIG move. And ladies, let me just tell you...WE STILL GOT IT. Idaho, take good care of her. 

Wishing for these gorgeous wellies. I actually dreamed about them and a black and white polka dot jacket. However with the weather hopefully changing as quick as the forecast says, I might just skip the rain boot and go straight for these cuties.

Shopping for groceries on Saturday nights had become somewhat of a ritual for us. Typically we stop in out of necessity for a gallon of milk and an hour later we emerge with a cart full of who knows what. I'll admit, we have a pretty good time strolling up and down each isle finding crazy stuff. Last night BD's big score was some Jamaican peanut drink. Turns out, it really is as disgusting as it sounds. 

Craving Chipotle's fajita burrito. On our veggie diet, this became our favorite restaurant splurge. Their guac is outta this world as far as I'm concerned. I love their story and their "food with integrity" approach to running a franchise restaurant, which makes good food taste even better.

And last but not least, I'll leave you with this tasty dish. Which is so adorable I can't even begin to process it here on this blog. She now answers to the name "Giggles."

Happy St. Patty's!

via the Graphics Fairy

freshly

ver set yourself up for failure? I do sometimes. Okay, daily. Thank you for not noticing that I didn't finish my 28 days of blogging in February. Or maybe you did notice, but you are nice enough not to judge. I have excuses, of course. First, I got sick and barely had the energy to lay on the couch, suck a cough drop, and fast forward through the boring Olympics (you know what I'm talking about!). Not my proudest moments of multi-tasking, but still. B, I have issues. Now I'm playing catch up to distract myself from thinking about and doing hard things that I don't want to face. Like laundry. Because I have issues. But you already knew that...
Reading The Alchemist, and am considering reading it over and over again because I need all the help I can get with finding my personal legend and could stand to take a few lessons from the young Shepard. Such a good read. And re-read.

Craving waffles from Bruges. You might look at this picture below and think wow, she looks like death, only half smiling. And you'd be right. Spot on! That waffle and those fries could possibly have been the best thing to have happened to me during the whole month of February. So it must be blogged. Go there. Get one. And for heaven's sake, don't share.

Frying twins. Don't you love it when this happens? It's such an unexpected surprise. As one who takes signs from the universe very seriously, I was stoked on this find. But, just to be safe I made BD eat it instead. Yikes.

Cheering for a new Target, which is coming this fall (1200 ish S 300 W). There is not a Target in the city, which is crazy if you ask me. A trip to Target is 25 minutes on the freeway in either direction. Which actually saves me lots of money. This might be old news, but I made BD turn the car around so I could photo it anyway. I'm all about action shots. I think it adds great meaning and depth to this post, don't you honey? Hip hip.

Warming back up to the idea of snow. I really did enjoy the few days of spring-like warmth we had earlier this week. I'm looking forward to sunny days and green grass just as much as everyone else. However, I couldn't help but smile at the beauty of this morning. I love our neighborhood park, in every season.

Signing off for the weekend. I'm committed to getting caught up on laundry (really!), reorganizing my pots and pans, and taking a bubble bath. I'm also looking forward to having my hair done, making a fancy dessert from my new cake book, and a bounce house birthday party.

XOXO

Happy Birthday Tom!

appy Birthday to my amazing brother Tom! What do you get the guy who has spent the last few years giving away practically everything he owns to live out his dreams?? A shout out on his little sisters blog, that's what. Tom is the best big brother a girl could ever dream of and I hope he knows how much I love him. Sending you birthday wishes and kisses Tommy boy!

A note to family: you can donate to Todd's AIDS Vaccine ride here.

Adam (the movie)

e rented a heap of movies last weekend. Some were good some were bad, but one sticks out. I had no expectations for Adam, which is why I probably liked it so much. I found it very moving. And Rose Bryne's character had the most gorgeous wardrobe. I loved every outfit. And I loved this movie.

Let them eat cake

t's not just cake, it's birthday cake and there is a difference. After watching my other weekend birthday plans disintegrate I holed myself up under a blanket at home for 3 days straight. By Sunday evening I was hallucinating about winning the Gold medal in women's curling, or you might just say getting a little stir crazy. Yeah, that's less embarrassing. BD agreed to let me out for a few hours to play with my family and so I could finally have my birthday cake and eat it too. I strongly believe that all that matters on your birthday is that you get to eat cake. Your birthday hasn't officially happened until you have blown out your candles. Despite this WICKED cough I've been battling I did have a wonderful birthday weekend and felt incredibly loved by family and friends. I feel spoiled by them all, which I suppose is exactly how you are supposed to feel on your birthday. Mission accomplished.

XOXO

Downtime

eing sick this weekend has provided me with lots of downtime. I think I've watched more Olympic events over the last few days than I have in my entire life. I got sucked into the riveting 3+ hour women's curling event between USA and Great Britain on Saturday afternoon. There was even a bonus round! Lucky day! This just begs the question, how does one get involved in women's curling? As a youngster I failed magically at soccer, softball, and basketball. But curling was never even an option for uncoordinated pre-teens like myself. If it had been, I might currently be lead sweeper on the USA women's curling team. I'm thinking this is the sport for me. There are no hills in which to kill yourself at high speeds, no crazy maneuvers where you are expected to invert your body in mid air, no helmet required, and no ridiculous spandex costumes... it's the perfect non-sporty sport. Who's with me?

Pancake Love

n the menu for Saturday morning breakfast were Buttermilk Pancakes so we could test out my new frying pan, a birthday surprise from BD. The maiden voyage proved that it cooks a mean pancake. And it's heavy enough to give any potential home invader a serious head injury if needed. Consider yourself warned. I might keep it under my bed. Shortly after BD and I were married it came as a big shock to learn he hadn't been taught the correct way to eat pancakes. Meaning, he didn't cut his stack with an "X" before pouring the syrup. Huge penalty that we have since remedied. The "X" marks the spot technique allows the syrup to seep down into the middle of the stack for a more evenly distributed syrup:pancake ratio with every bite.

OK, maybe that's just a Richman thing. But still, old Saturday morning habits die hard.

They say its your birthday, We're gonna have a good time

oday is my Birthday and I called in sick. I'd like to be telling you that I'm instead pulling my best Lindsey Vonn down the slopes at Alta. But the truth is, I'm actually home, sick. It's not the best way to spend a birthday, I realize, but I'm determined to make the most of it. I'm not going to let a little cough keep me from having the best birthday ever. You only get one per year, you know.

• I've got a full bottle of DayQuil from BD
• I'm milking a delicious pot of brothy soup from a dear friend
• I have a DVR full of Bones re-runs to keep me company. (Since I gave up my trashy dramas last year, I'm new to this series and the re-runs skip around all seasons. I'm all sorts of confused about the storyline, but that Forensic Anthropology stuff is fascinating!)
• I have a box of frozen Junior Mints to keep my spirits up
• I get to spend the day in my jammies :)
• See? Best. Birthday. Ever.

Don't worry mom, I'll be back on my feet by Sunday to claim my lasagna and giant piece of chocolate cake!

XOXO

Hey Mister

ometimes Mr. has an unexpected break in his day. Sometimes I'm lucky and Mr. surprises me at work and asks me on a lunch date. Sometimes I am able to accompany Mr. for a lunch date. Sometimes Mr. takes silly pictures of us walking backwards without stopping. Sometimes I trip and we laugh. Sometimes this helps pull me through the week. Thanks Mr.

Lent

sh Wednesday marks the beginning of a 40 day period of fasting known as Lent. There are variations of Lent between traditional Western and Orthodox Christianity, but the same basic tenet of sacrifice applies. In a very modern interpretation, the 40 days of Lent boil down to giving something up. Whether it be chocolate, TV, caffeine, whatever you would deem as a sacrifice.* The whole purpose being to prepare the believer for Easter and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. BD and I have decided that together we will give up meat during Lent this year. In our own religion we have strict guidance on the matter that says meat is "For the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine." Key word is sparingly. Meat of all kind is readily available to us, and pretty cheap too. Meat used to be a special occasion, Sunday dinner sort of  meal. Now it is not uncommon for us to eat meat for two, sometimes three meals per day. So today begins our meat fast to help us on the track to sparingly. Because a perfectly cooked filet, every once in a while, is really good eats. And for that I am very thankful indeed.

Here I am branding a calf at HPR during the summer I worked in Montana. I actually worked as kitchen help, cooking and cleaning for the real cowboys, but every so often they allowed us city folk to get our hands dirty.

*According to Wikipedia, when observing fasting or abstinence during Lent, regard must be paid to the fact that Sundays are Feast Days, so there is no fast or abstinence. The days from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Sunday, excluding the Sundays, are forty, corresponding to the number of days Christ spent in the wilderness.

What about you? What are you giving up for Lent?

So Philly of SLC

resident's Day is one of those overlooked national holidays that sneaks up on you on Friday afternoon when your boss asks you why you are still working, it's a long weekend, so go home already young lady. I love you, Mr. Washington and Mr. Lincoln. One really has to take advantage of this particular holiday because there is a dry spell in days off until Memorial Day, 3.5 months away. On brother Dan's recommendation we lunched at Moochies and ordered up a 12 inch Philly cheesesteak, which Dan says is the best he's had out west. He should know since he spent two years tracting in the hoods of Philly and surviving on a diet of water ice and cheesesteak sandwiches. Moochies is a total dive, but the cheesesteak was pretty darn good, I have to admit. A cheesesteak, a really good cheesesteak, is about the only time I'll allow fake yellow cheese anywhere near my plate. It's unexpectedly good in this combination. What's also very unexpected is the accompanying heart burn. Hooey.

Our family holds a soft spot for Philly ever since Dan toured us around his mission area. I loved the street murals that colorfully decorated the buildings all over Philadelphia neighborhoods. They are really beautiful and well done. SLC is the proud new home of this beautiful mural "Ave Maria" (Hail Mary). It gives such needed flava to our downtown and reminds me of the street murals in Philly.

 As for the guns and ammo shop out front...that's all SLC baby.

Valentine's Weekend: Part II

riends K&C invited us over for some impromptu homemade sushi and tempura. Eat your heart out Takashi! We rolled eel, crab and shrimp with all the fixins. It is really quite fun to roll your own sushi. Each roll is your own masterpiece, and for that reason it tastes so much better. The tempura was pretty good too, although I'd like a second chance to improve upon my technique. I have very little frying experience and it can be tricky to get the batter to the perfect consistency and then fried until crispy yet soft in the middle. Even still, we didn't leave much left over. Our Valentine's were in heaven!

Valentine's Weekend: Part I

alentine's weekend was most delightful {and not over!}. I hope yours has been lovely as well. There are still some traces of burning plastic when I turn on my oven, so I didn't do much treat baking this Valentine's. However, we seemed to make up for that by eating enough delicious food for a small army of cupids. Friday night we were lucky enough that B&K's friends cancelled last minute on their Valentine's reservation at Log Haven. It was very unfortunate that we didn't have any other plans and so we had to join them. You know, as a favor. That's what kind of sister I am. Log Haven has a triple chocolate ganache dessert that is unbelievable. UNBELIEVABLE. I'm still fantasizing about it 3 days later. Thanks B&K!!

I Heart Breakfast

 We hope your Valentine's Weekend is going eggsactly as planned :)