because this isn't a New Year's Resolution...

...I should be able to keep it.

My little sister, Annie, started a blog yesterday, because she is attempting to lose 30 pounds by the time she is 30 (which is in 5 months). I think that one of her reasons for blogging her experience is to have some accountability to her faithful blog readers (me), and because she hopes to be an inspiration to anyone who might come across her sight.

If you have been reading my blog, you know my issues with my chubby Wii Mii. So, I thought maybe I'd play along. My goal is to lose 10 pounds by the time Annie turns 30 (which will be a week after my 40 1/2 birthday). I'm thinking that will take me out of the realm of chubby and back into healthy, which ultimately is my goal. (well, honestly, my goal is to get back into a size 6, but I don't know if my hips will cooperate after having 2 kids!)

To kick off the challenge, I bought myself The Biggest Loser Cardio Max DVD today. My friend Shawn and I were using it in the fall, and I really liked it. I figured it was time to own the DVD myself, and get back to work. Of course, I will still be trying to do my WiiFit, and maybe I'll even use the treadmill hanging out in my basement. I'll keep you posted.

If you'd like to join us, and have someone to cheer you on and be accountable to, leave a comment below with your weight loss goal and plan. Each Sunday will be weigh-in day. I'll post my results, and you can post yours in the comments. Or just follow along on our adventure! Along the way, I'll share my experience and any good recipes I find that are worth the effort.
Then in July, we will toast to Annie's success (glass of water, squeeze of lime, please) and a very Happy Birthday!

Okay, lets do this! I know we can!! Thank goodness the Girl Scout cookies are gone!

Hey, Cupcake!

Over the past year I've been seeing lots of things about cupcakes and their new found place in entertaining. Have you noticed this? Cookbooks entirely devoted to cupcakes, cupcake stationary, cupcake plates, really cool cupcake liners, cupcake t-shirts, cupcake everything! I've been toying with different cupcake ideas and then found two sites that were exactly what I was looking for, but all the thinking was done for me already.

First, I'll share the sites, but you must promise to come back to visit me from time to time. These ladies are professional to my amateur for sure!

The first is Bakerella - she has been mentioned in a number of magazines, and was even featured on Martha Stewart - and it started with this: cupcake pops

Next, a Sr. Close To My Heart Consultant, who is much more creative than myself, on the west coast, who shared this awesome papercrafted cupcake: Papercrafted cupcake

So, when I've had a little time here and there over the past week I've been trying these out. Here is my first attempt!

The Cupcake Gift Card Holder:

The Gift Card hides in the cupcake! Just pull the cherry up and viola!

And here are the Cupcake Pops:

They are as yummy as they are cute. Oh, and here is my little cupcake:

The recipe for the cupcake pops is on the Bakerella website. I made my own cream cheese frosting (for the cake mixture) and used Wilton pink chocolates for the icing, and Nestle chips with a little vegie oil for the coating on the base.

Both of these projects are now a permanent part of my collection. Loved them, and will be doing them again for sure! Not only fun and tasty, but very therapeutic!

Slurp

Last night:

You can never be too careful eating soup, I suppose. And we all know what a careful eater Noah is...
The homemade chicken noodle soup is courtesy of Emily who has been wanting to make this from a recipe on her ... Webkinz. So, since I had some leftover chicken, I let her create. It was very good. The secret, I'm told, is in the large handfuls of noodles you add to the broth. But it also contained carrots, celery and parsley (mom, not webkinz, inspired).

Perhaps the goggles were actually Noah's way of hiding his delight in the deliciousness of Emmy's first soup.

Or not. Unfortunately, I think the goggles were more the result of being like his nerdy mommy.

R.I.P.

Sorry I haven't been blogging over the past few days. You see, I've been mourning a comrade, a partner in crime so to speak. We did so much together, and she will be greatly missed. Attended family functions, there at every holiday, traveled together, and treasured the simple moments of the day together. Good times. And it is all my fault she is gone, really. I knew she hated water, and because of my carelessness, she is no more.





Goodbye, old friend. You won't be easily replaced.

Get Your Cookies Here!

Workin' the cookie booth. I'm so proud of my Brownies...between personal sales and cookie booths, they've sold over 800 boxes of cookies!! You go, Girls!

updated 2/17 - make that 960 boxes!! wow! Our original goal was just 600.

I Heart You

Gotta love a good school Valentine's Party!

Heart-shaped soft pretzels, juice, grapes, a conversation heart relay game....

And who doesn't love coming home and opening up all the little valentine's left in their paper plate mailbox?

Valentine's Treats

After spending a crafty inspirational Monday morning with my friend, Anne Marie, I decided to make these Valentine's gifts for Noah and Emmy's teachers. I bought small paint cans from Home Depot, and decorated them with scrapbook papers, stickers and ribbon.

And filled them with candy kisses, of course.

Can't wait to see what Anne Marie put together - hope she took pictures!!

Time Flies When Your Having..Kids!

After several unsuccessful attempts, my dear college friend, Lisa and I finally had our 8 year reunion! Yep, some how 8 years have passed since we've gotten together... interestingly enough we both have 8 year olds...




I traveled an hour north and we enjoyed a yummy, albeit quick, lunch of caesar salad with grilled tuna. Yum. But, we had to try and squeeze 8 years into little over an hour. Thankfully, we hope to make this a more regular occurance.. how 'bout no more than 8 weeks, instead of 8 years!!

How Could I Not Have Known!

It's Today! February 5th! I kid you not! In honor of this most festive occassion, I give you the recipe for Nutella Ice Cream - tried and true-ly yummy! And just 2 ingredients!!



Super Simple Nutella Ice Cream (from http://www.chocolateandzucchini.com/)

- 1 1/2 cups or 360 ml Nutella

- 14 1/2 ounces = 1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon = 380 ml evaporated milk

Makes about 3/4 quart


Pre-freeze the bowl of your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Combine the chocolate hazelnut spread and the evaporated milk in a medium mixing bowl, and stir with a whisk until they become one, smooth and silky. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Whisk again and churn in your ice cream maker. That's it!


You don't need much per person, it is very sweet. So, you can share it with a select few - if you want! Now that I know such a day exists, I will be searching for other, equally yummy Nutella recipes. And if you've never tried Nutella, consider it. Make it an early Valentine's gift to yourself.

Hold on! I just found this blogger after my own heart. Her awesome site lists 50 ways to eat Nutella, and also defines the different types of Nutella lovers out there. (Let's not even discuss that this American woman LIVES in Italy) Check it out: Nutella Lovers

Don't Sneeze!

okay, so now that I found the camera cord thingy, I can FINALLY share pics from last weekend. On Friday, we attended a Spaghetti Dinner school fundraiser. Surpassed my expectations because the 6th graders served us, dressed up as Italian waiters with big chef hats AND there was entertainment... the 6th graders parents who were working in the kitchen and behind the scenes sang "Pasta Queens" to the tune of Abba's "Dancing Queen"... so get the tune in your head - here are some of the words some very creative individual wrote...sing along...

Friday night and a chance of snow, Looking out for a place to go
Where they serve the right meatballs, Sauce is nice and hot
You want to eat a lot!

Anybody could do the job, Can't be lazy or a snooty snob
Have to love to serve people, Have to get the job done,
You're in the mood for fun.

And when you get the chance:

You are the Pasta Queens, Mature and wise, Twenty -plus-seventeen.
Pasta Queens, Feel the heat from the kitchen steam
Oh, yeah!
You can stir, You can pile
Spaghetti as high as a mile
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
See us girls, watch the canteen, dig in the Pasta Queens.....

There are actually several more verses, but you get the idea. I love that I live in a small town where we can be silly like this. It was very refreshing to see these women (and man) up in front of us, just being so silly for their kids - and us. Loved it.





On Saturday, Emmy celebrated her 7th Birthday with her friends at the CLAY PLACE. What a cool store. Lots of creative inspiration there...







Got our game faces on for the Superbowl on Sunday...



at my sister's house. So, according to Noah, the 3-D event was overrated, but a thumbs up to the Dorito commercials...

And here we are with another weekend right around the corner. I'll have my memory card IN the camera this time!

TWO POINTS!

SCORE!

Looks like we finally are going to have a "REAL" snow day! After I put on about 8 layers, I'll be joining my snow angels outside. Found the camera cord thingy though (yeah, in THAT office), so I'll be back later with pics from our weekend.

in.THAT.office.

After spending an entire evening searching for the cord thingy that connects my camera to my computer, I've resigned myself to the fact that I am not going to be able to share my pictures or stories from our weekend on my blog - until the cord is found. (I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera, and the pics I took are on the internal memory now) I know it's in. THAT. office. somewhere. And I've even been working on cleaning it up (see the Disclaimer post on 1/13) although I know it still wouldn't satisfy my roommate from college, Kathleen (not that she is here to see it, but I often think of her when I'm trying to organize - cause she was a Master) I'm headed back in to clean out all of the desk drawers and bookcases after this post. However, I do have a picture of this to share:




My awesome little sister, in THAT office, hooking up my new (well, bought in December...) wireless printer for me (cause my eyes roll into the back of my head trying to read directions). I am so excited. I no longer have to email myself stuff from my laptop just so that I can print it. And I can start to figure out how to use my Adobe Elements software - after I finish reorganizing THAT office, of course!


As an aside, I just love her scarf, don't you? Wish me luck finding that camera cord thing - I have some funny pics to share!

Three in a Row!

What an unexpectedly wonderful week for me! Time spent with friends not often seen on 3 separate occasions:

Breakfast with Kim on Tuesday - almost turned into lunch as well...so much to catch up on! So nice to laugh together again!

Dinner with Stacy on Wednesday - and although this is a picture of the dessert tray, we did NOT order dessert, for the sake of my Mii. We just had tea & sympathy for dessert.

Impromptu wine tasting and "event planning" evening with Ched and Tara on Thursday. We didn't get far in the "event planning" so we'll have to sacrifice and do this again soon!

These are parmesan crackers that I made following (well, I use that term loosely) a recipe in my new cookbook (yes, I needed ANOTHER one) Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites. The recipe calls for Pecorino cheese and all purpose flour, but I only had parmesan cheese and white whole wheat flour, hence the darker color of these crackers. But they were soooo easy to make, and my kitchen smelled like a Cheez-It tastes while they baked in my oven. Just the right amount of cayenne pepper for a spicy after taste in your mouth (yes the cayenne actually WAS part of the recipe). I will definitely be making my own crackers again. I didn't think it could be so easy!

Also on the menu:

Toasted Ciabatta bread with goat cheese, fig jam and walnuts (really, it's a staple here)

Warm Artichoke, spinach and garlic dip

The three went really well with our conversation and the 2 bottles of red wine that we sampled...

So blessed with friends that can just pick up right where we left off, despite how much time has passed, and who obviously love to gather around food like Keith and I do!

Of course it makes sense...

to play on the swings in the snow for almost 2 hours when it's 25 degrees outside...

If your 7!

And to tobaggan down a 1/2 degree slopped hill in the backyard covered in a millimeter of icy snow....

If your 8!

Hope they get some real snow this winter. They are desperate! I'll be inside with my Pero , and coconut creamer, thank you.

Although buried under Girl Scout Cookies...

...and attending the Lip Sync at our Elementary school, and attending a 6 year old birthday party, I squeezed in an hour to put together this... cause I promised.

Front ( sticker says: Life is a series of beautiful moments that, over time add up to precious memories.)

Back

First Page (will be January)

I've been wanting to do a "year at a glance" book for a while, and this year CTMH came out with a My Creations Display Album with 12 6x6 page protectors in it. Perfect. Each month I'll pick one picture to put in the book, and by next January, I'll really feel like I've accomplished something because at least I have one picture scrapped from each month this year!

I haven't decided on January's picture yet, or perhaps I just haven't taken it yet! I'll show you the final result when it happens.

In case you are interested in doing this project along with me each month, here is what I used:

Display Album: (Z1054)

Front & Back Cover: Emporium Level 1 Kit ( (X7105A) and Creative Basics Emporium Collection ( X 5806) (and I'll be using these kits again for my February page)

January page: Aspen Level 2 Paper Packet, and Aspen Level 2 Stickease (X7103B, X7103C)

You can find all of these items at my Close To My Heart Store. And there are only 4 more days to take advantage of their National Papercrafting Month Promotion!

I'm thinking this is also a great project for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to scrapbook, but still wants to do SOMETHING! I'll be posting each month's page if you want to just copy. But I'd love to see what you come up with, too! Let me know if you want to play along with me!

Give, Save, Spend

I figured that since it is National Papercrafting Month - what, you didn't know? Oh. Well, it is, and I guess I should have said something earlier, especially since CTMH is having an awesome special this month because of it. And since papercrafting IS a favorite hobby of mine, I thought perhaps, this month I should dedicate some time to it. Today, I'm starting small, but I hope to have some more to show you after the weekend.

Something I've been wanting to do for Noah and Emmy for several years now, just couldn't discipline myself to save the 6 jars. After going to the Container Store last week, I found these, and decided they would do.

I hope they inspire Noah and Emmy to Give a little more, Save a little more, and financially speaking, Spend a little less.

In what ways do you hope to Give, Save, and Spend in 2009 - financially or otherwise?

Strangers in the Night

I love when something so random happens that it stays with you forever. There was a time when I was rushing through the uneven sidestreets of Bologna in an attempt to get to a bookstore that had a book about the city that I wanted to purchase as a souvenior. I guess I was going between classes because I remember being in a hurry to get there. The bookstore was not far from the University of Bologna and for some reason the streets seemed to be buzzing with pedestrians more so than the usual. Because the streets were small, people were walking close to each other, and I remember listening in on bits and pieces of Italian conversation trying to understand a word or two, hearing friends huddled together as they walked, laughing, etc. but for the most part I was so focused on my mission that I wasn't paying much attention - until I lost my shoe. An Italian guy about my age, I am guessing, had given me a "flat". As he did, it was as if everything on the street froze - except my shoe -which went flying over people's heads and landed on a man about 5 paces ahead of me. Then everything unfroze, the sounds of the streets returned and the man turned around holding my shoe up over his head. The boy behind me and I just stared at each other in shock and horror, and then began laughing so hard, we had to move to the side of a building to get out of the way and catch our breaths. The man holding my shoe manuevered through the crowd to get back to us and the three of us laughed for what seemed like forever. I apologized in my "best Italian"and retrieved my shoe, the boy replayed what happened, we all laughed together again and then we all shook hands and stepped back into the crowds to go our own way.

I love moments like that. Moments shared with strangers that could have gone a completely different way. I could have been hobbling through the streets of Bologna back to class with an angry Italian man charging after me, yelling things I didn't understand while shaking a shoe over his head. But that didn't happen. Instead, I got to share a bottom of the belly shaking laughter with these two people, and looking in their eyes, it was obviously just a shared moment of humanness, of fun, of laughter at ourselves and the sillness in life. I'll never forget it.

Why do I share that? Cause today, I had another moment. While traversing the grocery store, list in hand, and pushing my cart, an older gentleman, (I'd say 60ish or so by his graying hair, although, his dark skin was the kind that I don't think will ever wrinkle so he could have been much older,) and I were trying to manuver around each other without much success. Everytime he'd go left, I'd go right, I'd go left, he'd go right. And each time we'd both apologize. When we finally were able to get it right, I laughed and said, "Thanks so much for the dance!" He laughed and started to walk away, but then came back and said, "Hey, too bad it isn't this past Tuesday night and we weren't dancing to ..and he starts singing "At last..., that was a beautiful song" (in reference to the Obama's inauguration dance) so we cart danced one more time as he sang and we laughed, and then he walked away, on to retrieve whatever he was there to get, waving with his back to me as I wished him a good day.

I saw the same thing in his eyes as I had that day 18 years ago in Italy, which is what brought the memory back along with several others. Do you have memories like that? Memories that you can turn back to when you are having a bad day, or need to remember that there are "good" people out there? I hope so. Write them down!! I just did.

And since this is SUCH a long post, without any pictures... I couldn't resist THIS little dance around the grocery store... I know it's random, but it made me laugh...

How The Day Sounds from Miky Wolf on Vimeo.

To Answer your Question

Several years ago, my friend Ann Marie shared with me an awesome magazine called Paper Crafts Gourmet. It was a one time issue, and when I tried to find it, it was already out of circulation. I was really disappointed because it combined my favorite hobbies: cooking/baking/entertaining/papercrafting! Recently, I found that they had come out with a book called Paper Crafts Gourmet, and I mentioned the name of it several posts down. I received a number of questions about where I found it, so here it is: Paper Crafts Gourmet


So, I'm hoping to be able to share some of the things that I've made as a result of the inspiration from this book in the coming months... but right now, I'm still working on the office!

Steppin' Out With My Baby

The Infamous Company Party....17 years and counting!

How old IS Grown-Up?

Surprised Emmy today with an early birthday present... a trip to the beauty salon and then off to get her ears pierced!

Before:

During:

And The Big Reveal:

okay... so maybe I got a little too close, but I think it's cause I just wanted to try to hug her back to about 3 1/2 again. She asked me at what age she'll become a "grown-up" because she is thinking 10. I said "35 if you are lucky". After we did a little window shopping we bought a box of Auntie Annie cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks and headed home to show the boys her new look. A fun morning had we! But I want to know where my baby girl went???!!!!

Great Beginnings

I've been meaning to share how I started out my birthday...greeted by this....

Noah and Emily "surprised" me with a special breakfast in the dining room: grapefruit, a BIG glass of o.j. and REALLY buttered toast. They took this on all by themselves while I was in the shower. When I came downstairs I saw this first:

Notice the different stations around the table...peanut butter without the lid (peanut butter? Emily decided to make her own lunch...) toaster on the chair, the lunch box on the butter, the bread tumbling out of the plastic bag, the sugar and grapefruits, the orange juice container... those poor dears needed our WHOLE kitchen to make this gourmet feast! I'm such a blessed mom. And I can't imagine a better way to have started out my day.

Answer to Wednesday's post.... 1st pic: Anthropologie!! Love that store 2nd pic: William Sonoma ( how'd ya know, Annie??? :) Pic 3: Treated to a birthday lunch of Afternoon Tea at SpecialTeas. We also went to Anne Taylor Loft but I neglected to get a picture. My 3 favorite stores - all in one day! Brings a tear to my eye, never thought it would happen. Thanks for a fun-filled day, Maria!!

Guess Where I Am Today

I spent a much needed, wonderful day today with my dear friend, Maria. Guess where we went...( 3 pics, 3 different stops) Leave your answer in the comments, and I'll let you know if you were right tomorrow!

They're Hee-re

600 Boxes in my living room.....

yummy, chocolatey Girl Scout Cookies...

Now I just need to sort, distribute to my 10 adorable brownies, sell, deposit $, trade cookies, and pray that all the cookie money is accounted for in the end... and that I don't eat them all myself.