on some asparagus...

Tonight I made some asparagus soup. I had extra asparagus from my last dish and wanted to use it up. It's quite simple and so tasty. I really think it's my favorite, it only took about 15 minutes to prepare and cook. Gotta love it!

You'll need...

About one pound of asparagus (however I had about a pound and a half & I just used it all)

One small onion (or half a huge one, like me)

One tbsp olive oil

One 32 oz vegetable stock

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

hand blender

I first sauteed the onion in the oil until onions are translucent. In the mean time diced asparagus into one inch pieces. Add stock to pot followed by the asparagus. Turn heat up to a rapid boil. After pot is boiling reduce heat to a shimmer until asparagus is tender and your able to cut it with a knife. Add salt & pepper to your liking. Once asparagus is tender remove from heat, pour in the cream and then puree the soup inside pot with a hand blender. Va la! Done. Ladle in bowls and serve. We had some garlic bread on the side which really was perfect for it. 

Another food that is high in antioxidants!


Monday are a drag sometimes and today was just one of those Mondays. It really amazes me how great the weekend can be and then the next day it turns to crap. I got through it and actually had to give myself a pick me up and got myself a manicure after work. I haven't gotten one for a while the there's a nail salon right across from work, so I went. I always love going there because the little Asian ladies always massage my hands extra :) And it feels sooooooo good.

You can't really tell from the picture since it's my mac-cam but I got a cute shimmery purple color called First Class Ticket. How O.P.I comes up with all these names? I don't know. Sebastian thought it was funny that I was posing with my hands to the camera so he copied me. He's cute with is little chubby hands :D


Leaving you with a handful of great jams to liven up your Monday. Not sure about you but music really can put me in a better mood. Cheers!
♥A.

on some happy feelings...

As I type here to you I am wrapped in my blanket with a plate of the last of my yummy stuffed cabbage sitting next to me & with a smile on my face. Today was great. Today was very meaningful.

Bobby and I got a chance to do a few wedding errands. It's crunch time, May will be here before we know it and I'm getting very anxious. We decided to go to the king of all malls around here and actually the king of malls that I've been to. And funny because it's called King of Prussia. It's the biggest mall ever. The first time Bobby and I ever went we actually got lost and couldn't find our car! We had to find some mall cop dude in the parking lot to drive us to our car. It was quite an experience. Any who, we went to Nordstrom first to find out if they have the shoes that I wanted to get that I actually saw online. Just my luck. Nope. They didn't have them. I was sort of bummed because these particular shoes are a little a lot out of my comfort zone and I wanted to get a hold of them. Alas I just decided to order them online see if I like them and if not just ship them back. Then in the mean time find a back up. They're not shoes that I would normally get since they are HEELS! I know right?! Crazy. But everyone is telling me to do it. To go for it. That's my shoe story. I'll let you know how it goes. Speaking of shoes we picked up some new Converse for Sebastian :) I couldn't resist. 

Then we grabbed some lunch, Chinese food. It was greasy, fatty and just plain delicious. After our tummies were full and we felt a skip in our steps we went straight to the jewelers to pick out our wedding rings!! I never would have thought it would be so much fun. I was very lucky to have a select few rings that really worked with my engagement ring since it has a unique shape to it. I narrowed it down to two rings and told Bobby and the lady that was helping us that I needed time to sit and think it over. So we moved over to find a ring for Bobby. He had just has much fun. He was trying on more rings than me!! The lady said we were definitely meant to be since Bobby ended up with two rings at the end as well! I thought this was super cute and I think I actually giggled. I mean you should of seen me through this whole thing. I bet if someone recorded it all and if I re-watched it now I'd be like barf! Who is that? 

Bobby finally picked out the one he loved, a pretty sweet tungsten ring. And in the mean time I settled on mine. All in all we went out of the store with Bobby's ring (they had his size right then and there) and I get mine sized and will be in my hands on Friday. When I think about it, about the small little round ring that will be on our fingers starting May 21st, about the significance it will mean to us warms my heart. Today was the day that made it even more real. I so can't wait to seal the deal.

Our day in photos...

♥A

on a sat-errr-day...

Perfect tittle. It felt like I sat around all day although I really didn't. I guess I am so used to weekends being spent out and about doing lots of things, just busy. Today I woke up and made a huge plate full of pancakes and started on cooking up my Stuff Cabbage. I don't know what happened today because usually this dish takes a while to make but it felt like I sped through all the different steps. 

Step one. Combine cooked rice, ground pork, onion, salt & pepper, paprika, one egg all together. Cut apart the head of cabbage and carefully peel off the leaves. I got a small head of cabbage since it's just Bobby and I (Sebastian isn't too thrilled by cabbage..). In a small head I got about 10 leaves. You want to boil the leaves in the water for about 2-3 minutes each to soften them. Also it's important to cut off the tough spine of the leaves so it makes it easy to roll them. Once you have combined everything into the meat mixture all you have to do is plop some of it inside a leaf and roll them up & stuff the sides inside (like above). 

 Step two. I thought I'd put it all together inside my slow cooker. I didn't plan on having this until dinner. Sauerkraut comes next. Layer in on the bottom of the pot then add a layer of the stuffed cabbage. Then again with the sauerkraut. And so on. With this type of dish I don't usually have a set cook time since it varies on how many rolls you have. This cooked for about one hour and was ready by lunch.

 Good thing! Because by the time lunch came around my mouth was salivating with the aroma inside our whole place! So there you have it my huge plate of stuffed cabbage with a HUGE dollop of sour cream. Turned out delish. So good that I'm having some more for dinner. It's win, win. 


The rest of my day has been filled with sitting, cleaning, sitting some more, fiddling with my new lappy and watching Megamind over and over again. 
Oh and not to forget Sebastian and I had our selves a photo shoot. Enjoy. 

(excuse the appearance of me..gross)

 Seriously have the coolest kid ever :D
♥A.

on being blonde...

I'm blonde. I did not expect for it to come up this light in the first session. But it did and I'm loving it! She did a whole lot of high lights. It's still brassy in places but with two more appointments I should have a full head of blonde.

 Just in time for the wedding :D

♥A.

on a grateful day...

(via)
(Sunday's post that for some reason did not publish last night!)

 Today was not very eventful, none the less I am grateful for it. Lots of food shopping and laundry. That is what our Sundays usually look like with a little family time on the side. We do a huge load of food shopping every two weeks. This is the way I like it. Sundays are the days we have time to do all our shopping and my favorite place to do our shopping is at Wegmans. I know I've mentioned this before but I really do love Wegmans and always have a hard time going anywhere else. I'm not the only one that loves this place because I swear the whole area goes there on Sundays. The place can get very packed with people. I don't mind crowds that much but the people in the crowds is what gets me. People not looking where they're going or people just standing in the middle of the aisle looking dumbfounded. So, every two weeks is just perfect for me. I don't think I could to it weekly without getting kicked out and banned from the store. Here are a few good things that I picked up today, some things that I am currently loving.

 1. Dill Veggie Dip; So yummy. I love dill and dipping carrots or cucumbers in it is heavenly. 2. ChoBani Greek Yogurt; This was the first time I've tried any other brands of Greek yogurt. I've been strictly eating the Fage brand because I love it so much. But thought it would be nice to try something new. Two thumbs up. Non-fat and vanilla flavored, and I top it off with some granola. Very filling. Great for breakfast or snack. 
3. Wegmans has a pretty great self serve Mediterranean Bar with all kinds of goodies. Every sort of olives you can image. Fresh mozzarella cheese and also a great assortment of dips. They have the best Baba Ganoush (which is what you see in the picture) dip that I buy and is great with pita.

Another something that has re-entered my life yet again and that I get from Wholefoods is a drink called POM. 

 Sweet Jesus. Best stuff ever. Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea. My favorite. Lychee is native to China. If you haven't ever tried Lychee I recommend you do so. The local Vietnamese PHO restaurant back in Seattle that me and my dad used to go to would give you a glass of water with the Lychee fruit on the bottom which would flavor the water with its sweet flavor. I have been heading over to Wholefoods after work all last week to pick up a bottle for the way home and would instantly make my mood chipper :) It's that good people. Plus good for you. Plenty of antioxidants. 

 I know I've been saying that I haven't really been doing a whole lot of "real" cooking lately. Well, I revisited all my Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazines to plan out some new recipes to try. Which by the way, I think I'd like to subscribe to again. I forgot how great they are. Anyways, this week I will be cooking up the following dishes:
1. Hungarian Stuff Cabbage. Have not cooked this up for a long while and thought some cabbage in our lives is needed.
2. Salmon with Polenta & veggies. Polenta is made from ground yellow or white cornmeal. This used to be on my dinner table at least once a week back when I lived at home with my dad. My step-mom cooked this regularly since it was a custom in Romania. I found a great recipe in the Martha magazine and thought I'd give it a go. 
3. Chicken Pot pie. I'm kinda cheating on this one because the mom-in-law made pot pie last week and froze some extra for me. This way all I have to do is make the pie crust and put it together, put it in the oven and ding dinner is done. Thanks Lori! 
4. Lastly I wanted to make Avocado Egg Sandwiches. Nothing super fancy but Martha had a gorgeous picture of this sandwich and I was like dannnnnng that looks good! So, definitely need to try it out. By the way, avocado is sooo expensive. It's like robbery. 
I'll let you know how they all turn out. What are you cooking up this week?

I will be seeing my hair dresser on Tuesday after work. Overly excited for this since I haven't been there since October! Good god. I've been contemplating on what I should do. I want some more layers and shorter in the back. My hair has been too flat lately with no allure. So I think I'd like the back to resemble something like this..

And the front to be something like this..

 And if I could get a smile like that I would be set for life. What do you think? 
Color is going to be work in progress. I want to go extremely blonde for the wedding. And will take a few times before I get the desired look. I use this website when looking for hair styles, it has been my source for a really long time. 


Hope every one had a nice weekend! 
♥A.

on twenty things...

Here's twenty things you may or may not know:

 1. I'm a black belt in karate. I was very passionate about it until I was forced to quit due to my parents divorce. It totally sucked.

2. When I was a kid and had really bad nightmares all I had to do is listen to my dad snoring in the next room to feel at ease. HA. It was comforting to hear him. 

3. My natural hair color is dirty blonde. Aka...poopy yellow. You won't ever see it.

4. I spent a whole summer in Hungary with some family when I was 16. It was the first time in my life that I finally felt independent. It's also where I got my first piercing. Nostril. Which was pierced by a chick who had some extreme hairy armpits. Quite an experience. 

5. When I get home from work at times I'll still have my purse on my arm and coat on my back while I start tiding up our place. I'm a compulsive cleaner to say the least.

6. When I returned back home after flying out to Philadelphia to meet Bobby for the first time my dad picked me up from the airport. We got in the car together and I burst into tears. I was crying so hard my dad thought the worst but really I was crying because I knew Bobby was the "one" and I knew that I was going to have to chose. Philly or Seattle. 

 7. I walk slightly pigeon toed. Unless I am completely lazy then I can actually trip over my feet. I know. Attractive. 

8. I get very depressed when ever I see a movie with Heath Ledger. He has a dear place in my heart. 

9. It depends on the situation but I can be very claustrophobic. Just watching Sanctum the other day made my palms sweaty. Yikes. 

10. I am very picky about my handwriting. If I write something and don't like the way it looks I will write it all over again. 

11. I have to sleep closest to the door. I have this need to be able to protect. 

12. I miss Seattle more than anyone can ever imagine. 

13. My dream is to own my own hair salon boutique. You'll come get your hair cut and shop for some cute vintage apparel. Win!

14. I've had nine piercings all together. There are a few I don't have in anymore. 

15. I keep a cute little pencil pouch in my purse that is filled with all of my favorite pens and pencils.

16. I drink hot tea all the time even in the summer. 

17. When ever I get an up-set stomach for whatever reason, salt & vinegar chips are the only thing the settles it. 

18. I've owned every single Nintendo Game Boy ever made! I got the DS a while back and that was were I called it quits. 

19. Even being at age 22 I still have a hard time with authority. I just don't like people telling me what to do. Simple as that. 

20. I'm not really into the night scene. There's only one person I love going out with and that's my best friend Tanya. Other than that a good time for me is at home doing my thing. And a really good time is when I can actually stay up past 10! Ha. I sound like I should be on menopause. 

♥A.

on part 1 of our day...

I love Valentine's Day. The flowers, reds & pinks, the chocolate (boy do I love the chocolate!) and all the extra hugs & kisses. Yesterday we started the day a little late since Sebastian had his speech therapy. We headed down to the Please Touch Museum right after and had a blast. Sebastian is very much a hands on fellow and loves to interaction with people & things. It was great because we basically had the whole place to ourselves since it was Monday. We were able to let Sebastian roam around on his own as we followed right behind him.

 Water play. I'm always nervous in this area. What mother wouldn't be? But I was prepared, for I brought an extra pair of clothes. What. You just never know. The little ponchos help out a lot. 

 Down stairs is full of Alice in Wonderland things. Sebastian hung around for a while then moved on. He wasn't as into it as all the other areas. 

He was very detail oriented. He had to plop down and look at all the little glass windows full of toys and knick-knacks. 

My sweet little Valentine had a blast and I was so happy to be able to spend the day spoiling him :D

on part 2 of our day...

After our fun afternoon at the museum we headed right over to the in laws house were Sebastian was in for some more fun but his time with his grandparents and cousin for they were right on their way to see Gnomeo and Juliet . Me and Bobby headed out to the movies before dinner. We decided on Sanctum. I was skeptical about this movie and was really the only one that jumped out at both Bobby and I. By that I mean I would of loved to see The King's Speech but I know Bobby wouldn't be into that. Hump. Sacrifices. It was Valentines Day so I thought I'd be nice. The movie turned out to be pretty good. I was on the edge of my seat at a few parts and really felt for the characters. Let's just say it wasn't a complete disappointment. After the movies we headed to dinner at Iron Abbey. The same place that we went to last Valentines Day. I really love this place. Very comfortable and laid back with a kind of renaissance feel. 

 We were feeling like entrees last night so we got a soup and a couple appetizers. Then shared :) 

 Lobster Bisque and Spinach Artichoke dip with pita. Yumm. Then we also got some nachos that we were not that crazy about so I didn't take a picture. They made up for the not so great nachos when our waiter walked out and set a plate of chocolate covered strawberries on our table :) Compliments he said! I actually think I clapped my hands and did a little gig in my seat. So Bobby and I thought it would be nice to share a fun drink with our strawberries. After I sized up the drink menu we decided to get a Tiramitini (tiramisu martini).

f

Deeeelish! 

Oh by the way, my sweetheart got me tickets to go see my favorite band Rise Against in May! Boy is May going to be jam packed. Let me tell ya, if I come out of it alive I will be happy :) 

Well, that was my little families V-day.

Hope yours was splendid!

&heart;A.

on I love you...

Happy Valentine's Day. To you my dear precious reader. Thanks for being here and loving this batty girl. Today we are taking Sebastian to the Please Touch Museum then later Bobby and I are heading out for a romantic dinner and a movie while Sebastian has a date with his grandparents. I'll post some pictures of our eventful day later. 

Hope you day is full of lots of xoxo's 

♥A.

on a family sunday fun day...

Today was just a mellow day. A day of spending time with family. We got some things done around our place and then a few errands while Sebastian took a snooze in the car. It was nice to just take our time. I love days that don't fly by in a blink of a eye. Days where you can actually enjoy every minute. The rest of the day was just spent at the in laws. We try to get up there every Sunday so Sebastian can visit Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop, aunts, uncles and cousins! And I spend most of my time with Lilly the little lady of the house. I really can't get enough of her and make it my mission to make her smile as much as I can. I always like to do mini photo shoots with Lilly. The camera loves her. 

 I really can't get over how precious Sebastian is with Lilly. I feel like he's going to make one great big brother :D

 I have many more. But these are my favorites. Isn't she cute!

The rest of my free time was spent hemming some jeans. My first project with my sewing machine. Long over due but it's been hard to find some time.

With the guidance from my mother in law I was able to get them all hemmed up and ready to wear tomorrow when me and my boys go on our Valentine's date to the Please Touch Museum! It will be a blast. I'll be sure to take lots of picture but you already knew that ;)

Well for all of you who have work tomorrow. Suckerrrrr. Just kidding. I do apologize. I am a little giddy. More than I should be I think.

♥A.

on six confessions...

I confess...

...that I pretty much ate that whole chipotle guacamole cheddar veggie burger tonight. With a side of sweet potato fries! We ordered in at The Drake Tavern which is just down the street from us. Yep. I ate it all and I don't feel guilty. What! It's a veggie burger how bad can it be for me?? (Annnnnd yes that is my Twilight themed plastic cup in the background. Don't judge).

...I'll dump coffee if it gets too cold to drink and make a new cup. I waste but I just can't drink cold coffee and I hate to have to microwave it. It does not taste the same.

...I have a fleece leopard print blanket that I sleep with every night. I've had it since like, forever. And I call it "sheeta". Like cheetah but with a "shhhhhh" in the front. Super weird but it just came out of my mouth one day and stuck. 

...when I am forced to use public restrooms I use way too many toilet seat covers because it just grosses me out!

...there's this girl at work that calls me 'doll' because she doesn't know my name after I've told her a million times. I really don't like being called doll. It's annoying. 

...I haven't even gotten Bobby his Valentines gift. I was fresh out of ideas (until tonight). I will be doing last minute shopping tomorrow.

Phew! That felt good to get off my chest. Got this little idea via Freckled Nest. Thought it was fun. Now your turn :)

♥A.

on who I am...

I am...

...happy for my three day weekend. I took off Monday, Valentines Day off to spend it with both my boys! We are going to take a little family trip to the Please Touch Museum. I like going every winter and have not yet taken Sebastian. He is going to have a ball. Plus Sebastian's speech therapist, Yvonne is letting us use her season pass :) She is a very nice lady.

...frustrated with not having a computer. We went to Best Buy and found out that they have  been lying to me this whole time. I have taken my computer back to get fixed with the same problem four times and was under the impression that if the same problem occurred yet again that they would replace my laptop. Not! They said that with my extended warranty they don't do that. Really? Well, then why are all these Geeks telling me otherwise??

...very excited to have my very good friend Ashley & her husband be our photographers for our wedding. She is a very talented girly and I am so looking forward to spending some time with her. I know for sure my special day will be captured so perfectly! Check out her website here.

...thinking that lately time has not been on my side. I can use some more hours in the day. 

...sick of these freezing temperatures. We need a little warm sun in our lives so the snow will melt away and we can go play at the playground. 

...going to attempt to start cleaning and organizing my crafting nook. It has turned into a messy pile of god knows what over the past year. It's super discusting and I hardly can look at it. I'm serious, my eyes try their best not to wonder towards that particular location of my living room. Sigh. I will totally do a before and after picture for you. Because it will be a miracle when it's finished. 

...completely obsessed over some new music. Angus and Julia Stone.This brother and sister inspire me with their words. Take a listen.

 

...presently feeling the urge to cut my hair. Not me cut my hair but my hair dresser. I think I want to go shorter. Not too short because I do want to look like a girl on my wedding day. Just give it a little something, It's been feeling very blah. Also I think I want to go a lot lighter in color. Hmmm.

...wondering if other mothers of two year olds feel like me. Like right now I'm sitting in my living room and thinking didn't I just clean the whole living room just yesterday? What the heck happened to it. Toys everywhere. A couch cushion fort in the middle of the living room. I really do think Sebastian plots to destroy the order I make in our living room. 

...loving coffee. I drink way too much of it I'll admit. But I really don't know what I am going to do when it comes time for me to get out of the coffee business. Without being surrounded by coffee. I mean you can only imagine what it's like for me at home on the weekends. I find myself lost. I have a Keurig which does the job.

...sad that I've been lacking on cooking regularly. I've been just doing lots of quick meals. Hence the no time thing. It sucks. Hoping to get back into the groove of things. I've found some great foodie blogs, it's time to try some new recipes out. 

...missing my little sister. I feel like we have grown apart. I'm a parent now and she is a teenager who needs to look in the mirror and find her true self. We can have completely different views on things because of the point in life we both are at. She battles with two homes on a daily basis. And two parents. One that is just pure evil (in my opinion) and one that just cares way too much (that would be my dad, god bless him!). The distance between us doesn't help either. I find it hard to talk to her when I know I don't agree with the things that she is doing in her life. However I have told myself a long time ago that there is really nothing I can do to help someone who doesn't want to be helped. Or a person that doesn't make the same effort for me. All in all, I hope we both come to a point in life that will allow us to understand each other better. I long for us to be what we were a few years back. Makes me sad but I think we will reach that point in time. 

...finally spending some quality time with my gem. My camera. I finally have sat down and fiddled with it some. Learned some new things and experimented. It amazes me that such a small thing can make such beautiful creations. I took this picture of Sebastian. It makes me smile.

           

 ♥A.

on some small happy things...

Today I woke up with a skip in my step. 

It started out in the car on my way to work as I was rocking out to one of my favorite bands Mumford and Sons. Do you know of them? I seriously have never wanted to jam on the banjo as much as I do when I listen to their music. I get into it so much that I'll be in the car playing my air banjo. Yep. It's quite a sight. 

Then at work today my boss told me that he is giving me a little pay raise! Do a little jig. Go me :) It's not a dramatic increase but it still feels good no matter. Coming into this job a little over a year ago I took a pay cut but didn't make a huge deal about it since all my needs were met and the understanding was there that I need a set schedule. I'm quite snug about that fact that both Bobby and I got some sort of raise this year. I think that is a nice triumph. 

Another thing that is so great is we only have 40 days until Spring starts! Hallelujah. I am so sick of winter, epically here in Philly. Very depressing with all the snow and freezing temperatures. I just can't wait for sunny days at the park, being able to wear flat without slush finding it's way into them, and nature finally waking up. Oh and the small detail that I'm getting married :) 

Tonight I made a homemade Margarita Pizza. I wanted something quick and easy tonight since I had to bring some work (by work I mean making a gift basket for a customer) home with me tonight and won't have too much time to be spending in the kitchen. When I say quick and easy I really mean it, I didn't even make up my own pizza dough. I just got the already made up stuff which does not taste the same but does the job.

 I always like to do a Margarita pizza everyone once in a while epically since my stomach can't always take red sauce. 

I'd like to conclude tonight with something silly that I found at Dainty Squid (my fave blog). It's called Slogan Maker. You write words into the box and it generates a random slogan. I wrote in Calico Tales and got this: Calico Tales for beauty to have and to hold. Really? It made me giggle. Now you go try it, go here.
♥A.