Summer Eats

Warmer temps are calling for some yummy summer eats! I tried my hand at Martha's Blender Gazpacho last night, accompanied with smoked turkey, avocado and cherry tomato chutney paninis.




I'll be visiting this gazpacho recipe quite a few times this summer. Yum!

(also, I realize that my parents are probably having a chuckle over this, as once upon a time, I would only eat mac-n-cheese, and the idea of cold tomato soup or a chutney is probably something I would have stayed far away from. Luckily I have gotten over most of my picky ways....I'll still pass on the broccoli though!)

A Trip Home

I had such a nice trip home in Wisconsin. I got to take in all the irises in my parent’s new (ish) yard…








We scooted on down to Madison, to see Mister Miles, who will make a great dinosaur someday I think (if he decides he can keep this on his head long enough to get it buttoned!):


And went to the bridal shower for my lovely friend Gretchen – who is now the owner of the afghan I made back in the winter, when I could stand to have that much wool on my lap.


Seeing my family and catching up with friends was much needed. The weekend flew by, but I had a great time. There’s a lot of friend visits/more trips to look forward to this summer!

(and really, where else will you find a bar table that is a cribbage board?? I won, by the way. :))

WISCONSIN!!

I'm heading out tonight to the tropical lands of Wisconsin for the next few days to celebrate this lovely lady's bridal shower!



Love you Gretchy Poo, and I can't wait to see everybody!!

Spidery Tunic

I have a finished object (FO) to show off! This is the Spidery tank, from this summer’s Interweave. Mine is really more of a tunic, as it is really long on my shortie self. This was a real quick knit, and I really like how it turned out. While knitting it I had my doubts, as the lace pattern looks a little wonky all clumped together, but I think it looks really nice on.



Mine is pretty loosey goosey, and let me tell you, after wearing it all day yesterday, it has S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D considerably. I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, which is a yarn I’ve never used. Anybody have any tips of how to get this back into shape/shrink a little bit? I’m a little leary because this yarn is 70% wool and 30% cotton.



Even Boyfriend approves, and Mister Hipster can be a hard one to please, and does not hold back…and I quote “it looks like something you would buy in a store." Success!

On to more summer knitting!

Mallrats

Over the weekend Boyfriend and I had to pay another visit to the Century City mall food court. An odd “must-go” choice perhaps, but Take a Bao is great! We came across Take A Bao a few weeks ago when we were craving some fast food bao’s in the style we had over the holidays at Chicago’s Wow Bao.

What’s a bao you ask? (I didn’t know until a few months ago, so you may wonder as well…) Wikipedia says “A baozi or simply known as bao, bau, nunu, pow is a type of steamed, filled bun or bread-like (i.e. made with yeast) item in various Chinese cuisines, as there is much variation as to the fillings and the preparations. In its bun-like aspect it is very similar to the traditional Chinese mantou. It can be filled with meat and/or vegetarian fillings. It can be eaten at any meal in Chinese culture, and is often eaten for breakfast.”



Take a Bao has a fun approach of flattening out the bao dough and making them into a sandwich form with extra tasty veggies...and two baos come with a yummy salad. Definitely a great fast food choice, and a good way to fill up before a day of shopping and taking in a matinee (we saw Pixar’s Up!, which was great!).

San Diego Winnings

This weekend Boyfriend and I headed down to San Diego. We visited Shamu at Sea World, enjoyed the weather at Balboa park, had drinks at Pacific Beach, ate dinner in the Gaslamp District, and stuck our feet in the ocean at Coronado Island. One highlight however is summed up in this picture:



***a giant Elmo won at a carnival game at Sea World.***

Ohhhhh boy. What are we to do with this???

The Interwebs Enchanted Evening Prom

Thanks, Natalie, for hosting Prom! Check Natalie's blog to find more attendees.


(waiting for my date to arrive - late like always! Check out my sweet ride in the background! We did not take that beauty to Prom)


(A stop at Lutz Park on the Fox River, Appleton, Wisconsin)

My senior prom wasn’t that long ago, but it was still fun digging up the pictures. I got my dress at the end of the summer beforehand for a great deal, so I was extremely prepared! My mom called it the Sleeping Beauty dress, because it reminded her of when all the fairies try to dress Princess Aurora and use their wands to change her dress color, and when they all collide the dress becomes splashes of all three. It was definitely a princess dress!


(princesses like to mini-golf too)

Our Prom was supposed to be in May, but there was a mistake in the scheduling with the hall it was at, so we ended up having to bump our prom to mid-April. In Wisconsin, this is risky, because mid-April most likely means still cold, and still snow on the ground. Luckily for us that year we got lucky, and it warmed up and melted the snow away just in time. It was really windy (hairspray please!) and we didn’t quite get pretty May flowers as a pretty backdrop, but at least we weren’t freezing our buns off.



My birthday is March 13th, so a nice day to be asked to an April prom. Boyfriend (yep, Boyfriend was around then too!) is always good at thinking these sorts of things out, and making them special. Sometime after lunch I had to stop by my locker in between classes. One of Boyfriend’s friends a few lockers down was giving me a goofy grin and was very interested in me opening my locker, which tipped me off right away. When I opened up my locker, there were tons of curly pink streamers filling it up and bouncing out at me. Set carefully inside was a bouquet of pretty birthday flowers. Set in the bouquet was a little pink flower made of tissue paper with a note directing me to pull out the green paper center. The note said “will you go to Prom with me?” Although it has since faded, I still have that flower tucked away somewhere.


(Gretchen, me, and Allie having fun at the prom)

Our Prom was held at the Paper Valley Hotel in downtown Appleton. The infamous (in Northeastern Wisconsin) cover band Vic Ferrari provided the music. We started in the late afternoon with pictures at a park on the Fox River, followed by a game of miniature golf, and then it was off to dinner. We danced the night away, and after the prom was all over, a group of us headed out to High Cliff State Park and camped out. Overall a very fun prom!



I had a lot of fun with this post. Now that my scanner works, I'll have to dig up some more fun!