Oh the yummies...

I got you with the title didn't I? You were hoping for a blog about food huh?!

Well, better than food~FRIENDS!! I love my friends and these two are some of my favorite people in the world. They know more about me than almost anyone else...that is why I have to keep them close. (insert sound of me laughing out loud)

We got together last week to celebrate the birth of Tracy- she warned me about putting photos of her on the blog. I figure she has her glasses on so nobody would be able to recognize her anyway right? So what is a good friend to do but introduce her two besties to the Waffle Window.

Laurie had one with lemon curd, peaches and blueberries and the mountain of whipped cream.

Tracy had the ham and cheese with Black Forest ham with Jarlsberg and Gruyere cheeses served with Grade A maple syrup.
And I had the PB and J-always have liked me some peanut butter. That is peanut butter mousse, berries plus extra blackberries, mountain of whip and drizzle of chocolate. Yep, I didn't eat again until dinner.
Then on Friday Nick and Gabriele came over for their weekly time with us. We are so lucky to get to spend most every Friday with them and then with Amy on Sundays. Anyway~~I fixed one of their favorite dinners and then since I had bought a mini torch, I fixed creme brulee. The recipe I made though-should have halved it...we have lots left! Oh and Nick asked for a pumpkin pie and because of what he means to me I made one of those too. He thought he should have his pie bruleed too.
And then we all took turns lighting sugar on fire to make it melt. These things are FUN...

the end~

Have you heard?

This is a "Silhouette" die cut machine.
There is a giveaway at The Shabby Nest to win one...go quickly though-the giveaway ends on the 31st of this month.

Be sure to check out all the neat things it can do. If I get one I'll be doing some lettering for the walls and maybe some iron-on's for pillows. Definitely will use it for cards and scrap booking.

I love how it works from the computer and not cartridges like some other machines. So much more versatile.

Lazy day

It has been a crazy lazy day for me. Had lots of socializing this weekend and if you know me at all, you know this introvert goes into hibernation after being "on" a lot. So after a quick run (in the car) to take Gary his camera at work, I was back in my jammies and in my favorite chair reading. I found this gal Deb Caletti,who writes books for teens, good stories without being too dramatic and "sexy". A couple quotes from her stories:

"We are all a volume on a shelf of a library, a story unto ourselves, never possibly described with one word or even very accurately with thousands. A person is never as quiet or unrestrained as they seem, or as bad or good, as vulnerable or as strong, as sweet or as fiesty; we are thickly layered, page upon lying page, behind simple covers. And love - it is not the book itself, but the binding. It can rip us apart or hold us together."
— Deb Caletti (Honey, Baby, Sweetheart)

"I guess forgiveness, like happiness, isn’t a final destination. You don’t one day get there and get to stay."
— Deb Caletti

She is based in the Seattle area and so are the stories. I love stories that take place in areas I could visit and these just make me happy mostly...

Then I popped out to the computer and there was an update on Facebook by Anthropologie that sent me to their website...the cutest sheets!

Without doing all the work in Photoshop that is as good as the images will be but aren't they amazing? Oh I would love them all...but at close to $200 + a set, that won't be happening unless they somehow show up at Goodwill.

Well I have more nothing to do before dinner and a movie with girlfriends so ta ta for now (ttfn)!

It's what's for dinner

Spring rolls or summer rolls-whatever they are called, we found them to be fun to make and eat. Here is everything laid out and ready for us to proceed.
the lovely Gabriele's hands and chicken roll with mint-
Nick's plate and creative camera angel-
Nick has the camera so you know there will be a photo of Mrs. Canazzi!
Yum mango and shrimp-
By the time we got to making the "leftovers" I had figured out to put the stuff you want to show through the wrapper in first...
Mango, chicken and peanut sauce...
Some of us-Gary-didn't have such a successful time of it but they were still edible.
Watch this...


the end...

Portraits

I love it when families use our services through the years. Many times we are able to take multiple images and compare how the children grow.

In 2006 we did both senior and family portraits for the Bryant family. Last week we took their youngest child's senior portraits.

This is Drew in 2006. Just starting to get his growth sprint and still in braces.
This is Drew now, a big guy who just towered over me. He plays football for Mountain View High school and also loves to sing.
It was great to see that in addition to his physical changes, he has become a young man who is sure of himself and confident in his outlook on life.

We are in the midst of our "senior season" so keep tuned to see more images in the weeks to come.

a Birthday day

We started the day in the Hawthorn district of Portland with breakfast from the Waffle Window.
Here is a photo of Gary and I waiting for our lovely breakfast. Note to gals-be sure to use good light when applying makeup or you could end up with blue eyebrows!
Nick bringing over some yummies-see the passers by eyeing the waffles!
Mine was Berry bliss-
Gary had the whole farm-
Nick had 3 B's with bacon-
Amy had 3 B's with tomato-
and Gabriele had the granola and fruit-
and this...this is a wise look I think.
We popped into a few shops to browse and stopped into B&J for a photo op-
Hawthorne street and newlyweds-
We also stopped at Peninsula park and I asked for some family photos. Here is what I got,

It was bright, so they closed their eyes and when Gary said 1,2,3 they opened them. Sometimes they even looked where I was standing!
at least most of them did.Finally!!
Don't let Nick have the camera unless you want some driving home shots-


Karl fixed us an amazing lunch of salad, grilled chicken and to-die-for-mac&cheese. We also had some amazing strawberry shortcake. We all went together to get Gary a new "toy" he has been wanting. This will allow him to make his records into MP3 format, perfect for his one of a kind albums...
Then one try at a timer set family shot-perfect end to a glorious day!