Happy Anniversary to Me (and Keith)!

Yesterday was our 4th Wedding Anniversary. We took the time to celebrate our marital bliss over a home cooked meal. I made Oso Buco (veal shanks), bought Ben & Jerry's for dessert and we toasted to our four years with a bottle of sparkling cider. Keith brought home the new Wii Resort game for us to play together and I kicked his butt in wake boarding, but he won ALL the other games...LAME. But, the BEST part of our anniversary?... the card that Keith got for me*! I hate to get all mushy on everyone, but for those of you who know Keith, outward expressions of love are far and few between. But, when he does come up with something it is usually pretty good! So, I thought I would share how much I love my husband (**don't throw up**), and how proud I am to be married to such a great guy! Happy Anniversary Babe!


*Notice that in addition to the message, the card is the 4 of hearts.

Penny Cakes

Today I sampled cupcakes at the new cake shop in Gilroy called Penny Cakes. (www.pennycakes.net)
I got 4 cupcakes and had a tasting at work today.
Vanilla w/ Chocolate Ganache - cake was dry and I was not a fan of the Ganache (I think these were a little old)
Vanilla w/ Butter Cream Caramel frosting - cake was good, I am not a fan of butter cream, so I did not like the frosting. The frosting tasted more like vanilla and sugar than caramel, it could have used more flavor.
Chocolate Fudge w/ Chocolate Frosting - cake was good, but again the frosting was butter cream, so I did not love it.
(This would be a great place for my cousins Jim and Traci as they LOVE butter cream.)
The final flavor was Lemon w/ Lemon filling and frosting - This was by far the BEST one. The cake was moist with a lemony center and the frosting had a yummy lemon taste other than just sugar.

I am not sure I would go out of my way to visit this cupcake shop. And, the lemon one was the only one I thought was worth the calories. (Although, I ate my share of all the other ones.) The store itself is VERY cute, Melissa described it as "shabby chic" and I would have to agree. If I lived in Gilroy I think I would try ordering a custom cake, just to see what other yummy things they offer. But, in the future I will stick to my sprinkles cupcakes!

Trapped!

Today, I got stuck in an elevator. I always thought this would be a great fear of mine. However, I was surprisingly calm. I got in the elevator on the 1st floor of my dentists office with a mom and her two kids and we were both headed to the garage on the ground floor. When we got there the elevator never "landed" and the doors never opened. The mother of two, Maddie (20 months) and Seth (9 weeks) started to get a little anxious. We called for help and they said they could not give us an estimated time of rescue. I decided to sit down and play with with Maddie. This seemed to calm the nerves of the mom. We ended up playing in the elevator for 30 minutes. When we were finally rescued, a man pried open the doors and we step out of the elevator. The mom thanked me for being there and keeping HER calm. Who would of thought I would be the calm one in the stuck elevator. What an exciting morning!

BLOW OUT!

I almost died this week. Not really, but sometimes I like to be dramatic. Heading home on Highway 85 doing 75mph in the fast lane, my tire exploded!
I let my foot off the gas and made my way to the shoulder. After realizing that I was alive and no major damage was done, I called Keith to come and bail me out. I try to remember if I should sit in the car with my seat belt or if I should head as far off the shoulder as possible. I decide it is safer up the hill on the shoulder then in car (as my car is right on the white line).
So, in heels (the one freakin' day I wear heels) I climb to the top of the shoulder and sit in 100 degree weather in the dirt. Not 5 minutes later the CHP pulls up and asks what I am doing. I explain. He tells me I should be sitting in my car. So, with the help of the CHP I climb down the hill and attempt to get into my car. However, I have now lost my car key, or locked it inside. GREAT!
The CHP calls a tow truck and tells me to call off Keith, but now we need Keith t bring a key. While my new friend Officer Kim and I wait for Keith and the tow truck we sit in his cruiser with AC blasting. Officer Kim says "These are your tax dollars at work, don't say you never got anything..." Hehe we laughed.
Keith and the tow truck arrived 40 minutes later, and my ordeal was over.
Thanks Officer Kim, Keith and the tow truck driver for the rescue.

Also, thanks to the Richmond and Othon families who were coming over for dinner. Dinner was postponed to a later hour until I was rescued!

Here are some pictures of my blown tire:

Fresh and Clean

I was wandering the aisles of Target last weekend, looking for interesting things to buy. I came across the Jet Dry Dishwasher cleaner. Interesting... I purchased 2 and was excited to try them. They work so great! If you have hard water and your stainless dishwasher is looking a little beat up. BUY THIS, IT WORKS! (and smells good too)

Sharing...

Not that anyone cared...because no one voted on whether or not I shared my cupcake. But yes, I did share. I asked Keith to take a picture of himself when he ate it so that I could post it on my blog. He had a rough time and came up with this...

I LOVE TREATS!!!!! But, treats don't love me!

Keith and I have been doing Ediets for a couple of months. I am really impressed with the food and how successful we have been. The food gets delivered every Thursday and is our food for 1 week. All we add is milk and fruit. They also send treats (snacks) for the middle of the day. They are usually cookies or chocolate or something delicious. But, I am pretty sure you are NOT suppose to eat Sprinkles cupcakes or Italian Lemon cookies.

However, this week my sweet, sweet Debbie surprised me with 2 red velvet sprinkles cupcakes! I ate one on my way home, thinking this would give me enough time to devour the second one before Keith got home and found any evidence. But, after the first one I was so full and sugary (yes, me, could not eat more sugar- weird I know) that I decided it would be best not to eat the second one. Now, should I hide it and save it for tomorrow, or should I share with Keith? What to do...what to do... What do you think I did? (I will post the answer on Friday)



Then my favorite baker/cook Rosetta brought me a bag of my favorite lemon cookies. She makes them from scratch, and does not make them very often (I guess they are hard to make, I have never attempted). But they are so so YUMMY! So, you cannot just eat ONE...you have to eat the whole bag in 2 days.


So, as good as ediets is going, I have had a FEW slips. But, let me tell you, it has been worth the extra 2 pounds! I love the treats, but the treats do not love me. Now back on the elliptical for double the time!

Beach Time?

The weekend before 4th of July I went on a grand vacation with some of my favorite people! The Stewarts (minus Doug, except for one day), the Melos (x2 Dawn and Travis joined us for a couple of nights), even the Nores' made an appearance and the Beiers headed over to Pajaro Dunes for an extra long weekend. We rented a house right on the beach so that we could enjoy the view all day long.

Sunday, Doug made clams...mmmm they were yummy! All the boys were int he kitchen and pitched in. (This was the only time the boys made it to the kitchen).

Unfortunenatly it was foggy and cold the whole time we were there. The freezing weather did not stop the kids from wanting to play in the sand and hang out on the beach. So, Nadien, Dawn and I bundled up in our sweats and jackets and headed to the beach for some play time. I think play time lasted about an hour before we all had frostbite and were ready to head inside.

It seemed everyday the birds would come in large groups for a feeding frenzy. They would dive bomb into the water and then circle around to do it again. It was quite a site to see.


Nadien and Debbie had enough of the fog, so they headed over to Capitola where the sun was out and the kids could play. I stayed at the house and slept & read all afternoon. It was the perfect vacation day!

Monday we headed to the Boardwalk for $.75 rides and hot dogs. Nadien and I tried a fried twinkie, I thought for sure this would be totally gross, I was VERY wrong! Friend twinkies are like warm delicious donuts right out of the fryer. Luckily we shared one, because I cannot imagine they are very good for you. It was a fun night!

So maybe it was the ideal time to go to the beach in Watsonville, but we did get to hang out and play and spend time together, and that is always a good time!

(Keith and I forgot our camera (or Keith could not find it)...so when my peeps send me more pictures I will post all the fun! Thanks Deb for the ones above!)