scone love

friday night, i got the urge. the baking urge. i have been trying to stave it off because having baked goods lying around my house seems to be troublesome. but i feel better if it the baked goods are of the breakfast variety, rather than of the cake, cookie and pie variety. you know what i mean?

cranberry orange scones, courtesy of my BFF, ina garten.

i have made blueberry scones thrice before, they are my mister's favorite after all, but they always came out a bit too dry, a bit too tough. but with a bag full of cranberries and ina's recipe at hand, i indulged in the urge. ina rarely lets me down.

i even had a helper to assist me with all that orange zesting and juicing! and pretend like you don't see all that butter. it is just a mirage. i promise.

dough makes me happy. and i love when on her television show, ina moves a lump of dough around on the board, pats it, listens for the susequent "gentle slap" noise, and says, "there, just like a babies' bum". it's such a sweet sound.

i was proud of these beauties...proud enough to bring them to the office to share in fact. they were light, flaky and i think the orange zest made all the difference. that and the orange/sugar glaze!

good to the last crumb.

heroes, hair dye and oprah

thanks to my uber cool boss...we ditched the office on thursday to celebrate veteran's day. veteran's day in my house means we fly our american flag, take many moments throughout the day to think about those who serve our country (particularly this hero), and then we dye hair.

trevor came to visit and i woke up early curious and excited about what type of trouble we would get into...

we power walked for miles at mckinley park...how lovely to be outside, on a thursday, at eleven in the morning.

and then we hit up chipotle because that is just what we do when papa comes to town. i had planned to take a beautiful picture of my salad, but i guess i just couldn't wait...so a bowl of scraps and a crumpled up napkin is what you get.

we ventured to target...scoured the dolla section, flipped through magazines and tried on funny hats and winter coats.



and then we let the computer tell us what color i should dye my hair. strange, but cool.



brunette express here we come. did you know trevor is a master colorist? he, erika and i have been on his "little box of hair colour" train for years...and every time the first whiff of chemical hits my nose, i am brought right back to high school and our hair color experiments (and disasters).



it was a little darker than we thought but i am a big fan of raven colored tresses. we then made a bet on whether or not my mister would notice.

for the record, my ryan did notice, first thing, and then he said that it looked so pretty. what a guy. i lost that bet big time.

we considered doing jillian michael's no more trouble zones (have you done it? it such a bootie-kicker) but then decided to watch marie osmond on oprah instead.

and then, of course, a cheesy photo shoot. he puts on his new dollar bin beanie and gloves. he poses. he gives that hard stare. and then he breaks out in the giggles. it. is. such. fun.



yah, it was a thursday funday.

and now it is friday and i have black hair. awesome.

sara mary. the birthday girl.

Last night, we celebrated Sara Mary's birthday at Casa de Kelly.

I baked red velvet cupcakes. Because they are her favorite...

...I decorated the "mancave" with twinkle lights and my best silverware...




...we "cheers'ed" and ate baked ziti, a la Christy, salad, a la Tracey and garlic bread, a la yours truly...




We gave her a picture of the four of us from my wedding day. She cried and said we all looked so pretty.

And then she blew out her candles.

I feel so lucky to have these girls in my life...

Nearly ten years ago, Sara and I met, both working in a mediocre Mexican restaurant, both wearing aprons and regrettable uniforms. Thanks to her, I made three of the best friends a girl could ask for. My first friends in Sacramento. And I assure you, I am the lucky one.

Happy, happy birthday Sara Mary!

Weekending

A rainy weekend in Napa - is there anything better?

My first stop was to see this little fella...who looks nothing short of adorable in this little yellow rain jacket. Don't you agree?

*I wondered what he was doing in the bottom right picture and then I realized he was mimicking his crazy Tante with the camera in her face. Clever little lad.

We had planned on a long walk, but upon arrival Ever kept repeating, "it's raining, Tante!" I nearly died each time he said it and had to try very hard to keep my composure.

So we opted for story time instead...

And then a drive. Behold, the many faces of sweet, sweet Ever. I couldn't pick just one! Can you blame me?




We ventured to Whole Foods for lunch, but Ever had a hard time waiting, so we munched on an apple as we strolled through the aisles...



Saturday night is for sister mischief. I really have no words for these photos other than, my sisters are rad. We headed up Partrick Road in search of rebobs. We didn't find any, but we did have a pretty killer photo shoot in the road. And I have no idea what I was doing with my mouth in these pictures. And my sisters are fierce.

Aside from fun with babies and rebobs, the main purpose of my weekend visit was to celebrate this girl's birthday...

*photo circa 2007 but a classic in my mind.

My Emily. Well I guess I should say "our Emily", although in a perfect world I would have her all to myself. Anyway, she is as fun and cute and silly and wild and loyal as she looks. She has a hilarious, tough exterior but her heart is still like a child's: pure and sweet. She is the only girl in our family to wind up with our Daddy's blue eyes and she is the only one who can sing like a bird. Actually, more like Carrie Underwood. She can rock dark hair or blond. She doesn't shy away at the sight of blood. She likes eyeliner but also likes mud. She can make me laugh like A LOT. And now she is 23. My baby sister is 23. But to me, I think she always be eight, with ginormous sky blue eyes, pouty (in a good Angelina way) lips, singing "Katie and Tommy" on the porch.

So we celebrated. At Casa de Awesome, of course. We enjoyed delicious lemon shrimp pasta, Mom's homemade ice cream cake, football, a fire and maybe a cocktail or two.

We sang happy birthday to you and she blew out her candle and all was right with the world.

I wonder what she wished for?



I, on the other hand, just wished for a happy year for this girl.

And I have a feeling she will get just that.

melt my heart

I am such a sucker for this man. Especially when he walks through the door all tall and mighty, sporting his work clothes. In my younger days, I used to think it was all about the boots, jerseys or uniforms, but there is somethin' so refined and subtly sexy about the "suit and tie". It might be in the details: buttons, belts, skinny shoelaces, or maybe its just the way he sloppily loosens his tie, all the while having no idea of how handsome he looks.



And once he steps into our little domain, the first thing he does is kiss me hello, inquire about food and then he want to know where our naughty little feline daughter is hiding. He does his kitty "call", she comes running and they meet up for a post-work/post-nap cuddle.

And then they both just get cuter.

I watch his face finally relax after a long day, she purrrrrs and I just sit and melt.



What will happen to me when someday instead of a furry feline there is a real little baby human in those manly arms of his? Will I survive the utter cuteness? Will my heart beat right out of my chest?

I am concerned...

day tripper

saturday we woke with the sun and jumped in the car. the night before we had whispered about getting away for the day...i am so crazy for a spontaneous car ride, leaving with no real destination in mind. it speaks to me. and makes me giddy.

what's a road trip without some brew...of the coffee type, of course.

we headed southbound passing crops and cows and soon we passed this sign: and because i have no sense of direction, this is when i realized we were headed west bound...or as i call it, seaside bound. the giddiness only escalated.

the clouds began to part...

blue skies smilin' at me, nothin' but blue skies, do i see...yes, i sang. not well, however.

i am all for a cloudy day at the beach, i may prefer it in fact, but only when rain does not limit the amount of hours i can stroll, prance and comfortably rest in the sand.

to help the miles pass, we played twenty questions. i still laugh remembering how ryan guessed abraham lincoln in five guesses and then for his turn he chose a "thing" for me to guess. and he picked a "litter box". wow. needless to say, i didn't guess it in twenty questions but we laughed for a long time. maybe you had to be there.

we made it! self-portrait number one:

we walked slowly, no where to be..and we breathed deeply, enjoying the heavy sea air.

we stopped at this little gem of a store and we bought two new latte bowls in "ocean blue". ryan said that every time we eat cereal out of those bowls these we will be reminded of our day by the sea where we celebrated four years of us. well said.

i nearly died at this packaging and stopped myself from buying all six...christmastime is my happy place, but not before halloween.

a stop to rest our dogs and sip some blue moon...





and then onto the beach for the sunset show.









self-portrait numero dos:

ay, ay captain!

don't be fooled by this tough guy stare...he is just one big softie.

did you know? big foot ale is back!

i will never have good beach hair- i have begrudgingly accepted it. but i like this picture only because ryan thought to take it and i think i look how i felt at this moment...complete peace of mind.

we could hardly pull ourselves away...but the long car ride home beckoned.

and we turned our backs to the sinking sun refreshed and with that feeling of enough- like we had done everything we came for and it was ok that it was over. that is rare for me but when it happens - i love it.