exhausted!

we had a great weekend!

saturday we celebrated my sister's birthday. my mom (and I) made pepper crusted filet mignon with a blue cheese cream sauce, homemade onion rings, roasted asparagus, and sauteed wild mushrooms. then my cheesecake for dessert. there is only one word for such a feast... I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E. of course, with such rich food... comes a stomachache. which i had promptly after finishing my last bites of tasty goodness. alas, 'tis the price we pay for succulent treats and i am more than willing to pay it again in the future. i came home stuffed and promptly passed out in a food coma.

today, callista came over and we had a little scrap date. it was super fun and great to meet her! she is a sweet girl and i hope we can do it again soon. we watched "across the universe" and chatted. i had been to the store before she came and bought some fresh whole wheat rolls and made a pot of my grandmother's hamburger soup. it turned out very yummy and now i'll have lunch for most of the week!

here's the recipe:

grandma leona's hamburger soup
2- 29 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 to 1 1/2 quarts water (depending on how thick you like it)
1- lb 7% fat or less ground beef, browned
2- cups chopped and peeled carrots
1- onion
1- cup celery chopped
2- cloves garlic, finely chopped
3- cups peeled & cubed russet potatoes
1/4 cup brown rice or barley
salt and pepper to taste

mix together all ingredients except for potatoes in pot and let simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. add potatoes last and cook until done.

(i know, super hard, huh?). its perfect for a snowy day like today... i love soup. i think it may be my favorite food, well no... not favorite... but second only to pie.

here's a layout i did two weeks ago that i've never posted and one i did today with an old picture of me i found in my stash. i was five! just graduated from preschool, it was 1987, how hilarious.




how was your weekend? anyone have news to share?

cooking, thrifting, crying

man, what a week. it was so nice sleeping in this morning and yesterday. i love weekend mornings. yesterday i got up, made oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon for the hubby and i. then i started a pot for this week. a recipe i've heard about and been wanting to try... steel cut oats, apples and cinnamon in the crock pot. it made the house smell MARVELOUS.

i also went to see Marley & Me. holy shitballs. okay... so my nickname is "stone cold". my husband thinks its hilarious that I almost never cry (because he cries enough for the both of us, no joke). seriously, i wore no mascara just in case and boy, as i was walking out of the theater still sniffling and carrying a sopping tissue, i was glad i'd had the foresight. such a cute little movie. very funny, very sad.

we had some friends over for homemade stew and i made a cheesecake. my second ever and it turned out! i was so glad cuz the last one was an ooey gooey disaster. i hate that feeling... when you work really hard to make something pretty and perfect and then its crap.

yesterday i was at the goodwill and found this beauty (not gunther, just the mirror)



i want to take down the mirror (stock ugly thing) in the guest bath and put this up. I was thinking i might change the color a bit... either rub something over it or spray paint it.

here are a few new ones i've done lately:

week 2 project 52


week 3 project 52


my thoughts on the crazy washington flooding this year.


how was your weekend? what did you cook?

xoxo,
aimee

Project 52 Week 1

i really know how to pick em. i seem to always find the slowest line at the store, or get behind the person who has decided today is the day that they will open a credit card and save 2.50 additional. i change lanes to get out from behind a slow person only to find that the person in the other lane has decided its time to slow down and the person i was behind has sped up like mario andretti. i pick the treadmill at the gym next to the old guy who crop dusts like a mofo and then peeks at me out of the corner of his eye to see if i've smelled his stinkosfield. yes, i've smelled it and am running operation no-gag at this very moment and failing miserably thank you very much.

i guess i'm just lucky (wink wink).

last night i finished up a page for project 52 and started another while watching vanity fair. cute movie, i'd never seen it. i liked reese witherspoon ... she played a great character.

heres what i did for week one:

goals09
Originally uploaded by adripofcoffee

i've been loving the studio calico kits (thats mostly what i used on this week one page) and there will definitely be more layouts coming too... week 2 is all the january studio calico and it makes me SWOON.

also, have you been over to the purple onion blog lately? michele's been posting a bunch of projects and we've all got galleries over there. so fun! i can't wait to be able to post a super secret project i've been working on. its been a while since i've done something crafty that's not sewing or scrapping... and this one falls under misc.

also, i bought gossip in the grain, the new ray lamontagne album per recommendation by stephanie and I am sooooo sooooo in love. i loved his first, but i love this one too. and on a side note, doesn't he kind of look like all known pictures of jesus christ? i mean... the traditional one you see? it makes me giggle. where are your birkenstocks dude? lets see 'em



have a happy day all!