Happiness is...

A Warm Cinnabon
+

Red Wings Game

PS - I found a bottle of red that was buried on my kitchen table (surprise!) and yes, it was that bad.

Morning Reality

My new favorite thing to do on Saturday mornings is watch movies in bed on my computer thanks to Netflix new instant view feature.
Most of you know I LOVE documentaries, especially if they are about other parts of the world, human rights, etc. so this was the line up today...

Born into Brothels
"This Oscar-winning documentary is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in Calcutta's red-light district, where their mothers work as prostitutes. Spurred by the kids' fascination with her camera, Zana Briski, a photographer documenting life in the brothels, decides to teach them photography. As they begin to look at and record their world through new eyes, the kids awaken to their own talents and sense of worth. " Netflix

Motherland Afganistan
"Afghani-American filmmaker Sedika Mojadidi shadows her father, a women's health specialist working to rebuild hospitals in war-torn Afghanistan, in this thought-provoking documentary filmed in the wake of the United States' invasion of the region. In a country where one in seven women dies during childbirth, many women are willing to travel for days to receive adequate care from a trained professional." Netflix

Both of them are very moving. The second one reminded me of my lost faith in our government (what else is new?). I love hearing stories of people stepping in on their own to try and help out people who may not know their rights. I know the joy, pleasure and happiness I get from doing humanitarian work - it really is better than any paycheck I have ever gotten in my life - just to know I made a difference in someone's life who does not even speak the same language as me is a feeling I cannot explain in writing (which is probably why I have yet to write about my trips to Vietnam). Both of these movies are very powerful and inspiring and I highly recommend them both. They made me miss my Momma in Vietnam. I will share the story of that sometime this week.

Adventures in Babysitting

Tim and I got to baby sit last night for baby Reece. She is the daughter of Katie (Tim's cousin) and Mark (her husband) who were here in San Francisco for Mark's job (they used to live here until last October and we miss them). We had so much fun. Reece is super duper cute! She will be a year old July 27th and she is already taking steps without holding on to things! It is funny to see a tiny little thing walking around.

Here are some photos from our night together:

PS - please note the pink nail polish and no, I did not do that. So funny though. Katie used to work in a salon and they went to visit and came home with pink nails!

10 Years!

This post is one week overdue - I have been super busy at work so, this post should have been on May 22.

Tim and I have been married now for 10 years! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by, it is incredible. I love him just as much today as the day I married him and maybe even more since I know him a lot better now - we only knew each other 6 months before taking the leap.
Here are TEN things I love about Tim:
1. He is super positive all the time
2. He is really funny and makes me laugh a lot
3. When I am freaking out, he tells me not to take it all so seriously - a good balance for me
4. He is a great dancer and loves anything dance related (just like me)
5. His faith in God
6. He is always up for an adventure (except for horseback riding, I am working on that one).
7. He is close with his family
8. He eats everything I make for him even if its bad he acts like it is great!
9. The way he plays with BayLee, they have their little routine in the morning and when he comes home from work.
10. He has supported my going to Vietnam 3 times to do humanitarian work and my Malta solo trip to find my family.

Booooooring...

What happened to me?
I used to have SO much going on, so much to say but recently I have hit a slump I guess.
My weekend was less than exciting. The one time I left the house was to take BayLee to the vet for his annual check up with Tim. Once we got into the exam room he went and hid in the stainless steel sink and ducked his head down like a child - he must have thought since he was hiding his eyes, we couldn't see him (I love that game). That was our excitement for the weekend - I know, knocks you right out huh?

Hooray Friday

YEAH! It's Friday!
No plans for the weekend AT ALL and I love it!

100.6 in The Mission today!

I hope little BayLee is drinking all the water I left out for him.
Ugh, so hot, I have to work my second job tonight too!

Things I am Grateful for at this Moment

I know, another list, sometimes it is the best way for me to get a little perspective and get my thoughts out.

I think if you think of the things you are grateful for, the stressful stuff or the don'ts and can'ts will fall along the wayside.

• My job
• The bowl full of fresh strawberries at my desk right now that came in with the office produce order.
• My blue kitty - when I was a kid, our art teacher, Miss Alexander had a blue kitty that she would bring in and one day I said to myself, when I get older I am going to have a blue kitty too! Tim keeps telling me he is grey, not blue, same diff in the cat world.
• My Jeep, gets me to where I need to be.
• My flat, even though it is under construction and the door was painted shut yesterday when I got home.
• My 20/20 vision
• My friends, they are not all close by, but I thank God for them each day.
• Timmy!
• My family, they are the best and so much fun and super cool as well.

These are just off the top of my head at this very moment.
Have a nice day and be grateful for what you have try not to focus on what you don't have.

Ultimate Wish List

Why not dream big right!

I just thought I would put my wishes out there into the universe and see what happens.
After all, nothing is impossible!

These are in no specific order whatsoever.

A Dishwasher

New Dishes (everyday white from Williams-Sonoma)

New Glasses (also Williams-Sonoma)

A Queensland Healer
A New Red Truck
A Log Cabin
A Washer/Dryer
A Parking Space
A Wall of Shelves in my Kitchen
Room for a Marble Top Desk in the Kitchen This Tile work in my Kitchen
My Grandfather's House in B'kara, Malta

There are so many other things, but these are the items that are HOT on my mind right now! What's on your Ultimate Wish List?
Come on, take a risk and put it out there.

Weekend Recap

Monday, Monday - what a lovely start to the week I have had already. I know it when I woke up that the day was going to be great.
My weekly Operations Meeting at work was cancelled! 2 hours gained, yahoo!

Not too exciting of a weekend...here is the scoop.
I worked on Saturday at the CG. But before I went, Tim brought me my favorite, sprinkled doughnut and coffee for breakfast. Not only did I get to get jacked up on sugar, caffeine too! Yes, I ate it at my computer.

I taught a quick gifts class that was a lot of fun. I made some cute magnets to boot!Saturday night Tim and I just hung out at home and watched some TV shows we had saved on our DVR.

Sunday, I slept in and missed beating the crowd to the museum - so much for my master plan. So, I decided to stay home and work on some personal stuff - called my Mom, cleaned out some magazines, made candy for Timmy and relaxed a bit (which was great).

Hope your Monday is as good as mine! My boss just walked in and said he has to leave early and is out of here - YESS! So many blessings!

Fabulous Find

Know anyone who is getting their office redone and who loves horses?
Check these cuties out.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mama's out there.

I will be celebrating with you next year!

Thanks to my Mom for my crafty genes and my good old Maltese ingenuity.

Hooray Friday!

L: Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rob Besserer, Cumberland Island, Georgia, 1990. R: Susan's Shell Collection, King Street Sunporch, New York, 1990. Photographs © Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005
March 1, 2008 — May 25, 2008

I have been wanting to go to this for a while and it is almost over, so I am bound and determined to go on Sunday at 9:30 AM before the world is up and about.

Fabulous Find

Check these cookie cutters out at Williams-Sonoma.

Plesant Surprise

I got flowers today!

I almost NEVER get flowers.

What a nice surprise!

They are from Steve here at work. I etched a personalized pint glass for a poker fund raiser at his son's school that he was playing in, I hope it brought him luck at the table. What a nice way to say thanks!

Spicy Peanut Sauce

I made noodles with peanut sauce, broccoli and red pepper last night. It was yummy, I have leftovers for lunch today - score!
Here is the recipe for the sauce that I made up.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

• 4 thinly sliced green onions (tops and bottoms)
• 1 large chopped garlic clove
• 1/2 of a thumb size jalapeno chili pepper
• 1 Tbls Vegetable Oil
• 2 1/2 Tbls Soy Sauce (I used Braggs Liquid Aminos)
• 1 Tbls + 1 tsp lime juice
• 2 Tbls Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Molasses
• 1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/4 Cup Water - more to thin out if needed
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

*Blend all ingredients besides onion, garlic and chili together in a bowl until smooth (I use a fork or small whisk). Stir in onion, garlic and chilies until well blended.

This sauce can be used over rice or noodles and mixes well with stir fried or steamed veggies. If you eat meat, you could add chicken, shrimp or beef as well. Just add the sauce to the saute pan after everything is cooked.

Things I Love right now...

• My time alone, not sure why, but I am loving being ALONE right now. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with Tim, but my brain is sending me signals to take some time for myself so I mind as well.
• My faith
  
• The smell of BayLee's head after a long day of sleeping in the sun - weird I know.
• Being able to make candy, my new love - English toffee covered in chocolate
• My super positive, supportive and handsome husband

• Knowing that my sister is back in the USA in less than a month
• Thinking about my parents coming out to visit in the fall and our trip to Mammoth together - Tim is coming with us this time!

• Looking at paint colors for our kitchen
• Cash Cab

• Indie pickle packs - I love pickles, great fat free snack. Now, if I could only get Olives like this I would be in heaven, blue cheese stuffed - I would pass out. I know there is too much packaging, but I love these
• Kiehl's Cryste Marine facial serum

• OPI Yoga-to-get-this from the new India line
• Anything that has to do with Olives, Olive, Oliveia, anything Olive related - all focus, prayers and positive thoughts are around LMO ((el-mo) Little Miss Olive) where ever she is please bring her to me.

Road Trip

I have been out of pocket for a while so this may be a long post.

Just got back to the Bay Area yesterday evening from my 4 day road trip sadly moving Angela out to Colorado. We had a wonderful time. Without giving away too many details, here is the recap.

Day 1 news fit to print (with photos):

Emeryville, CA to Sacramento, CA (1 hour 48 minutes and super fun!).

Packed the car and started driving...Here are the key players that were in the car. Clockwise from left; Angela, Matrix, Maltese Kat, Shelby, Claudine and Ella.Our first stop was in Verdi, NV where we gassed up, let the dogs run and ate fish sandwiches at Jack in the Box. We decided we would gamble at all the stops in NV. We won $8.25 on a dollar at this place. We didn't even know what we were doing, which made it more fun.We stopped for the night in Elko, NV. It is a small mining town with lots of vintage motels and casinos. It seemed like a destination spot for some folks - gold miners? We stayed at the High Desert Inn, the dogs were pooped, we all slept really well that night.

Day 2
Morning in Elko, NV - we drove around, took some photos and asked a woman on the street where the best breakfast in town is (Rachael Ray style). We found our way to The Coffee Mug, and it was pretty darn good. Luckily, no dietary rules apply when you are on a road trip - so we went all out.

We left Elko at about Noon or so and headed to Salt Lake City. We fueled up and played some slots once more before heading over the Great Salt Desert. Our stop was in West Wendover, NV, we were welcomed to town by Wendover Will. He was waving us down to the Rainbow Casino. Since we were traveling with an old mayonnaise jar full of change, Ang decided to take it into the casino and cash it out. When we walked into the casino, Angela was in front of me and all I could see over her shoulder was mirrors and neon - I was dieing laughing, I couldn't even talk. I grabbed her and pulled her back into the vestibule before we made our entrance. We had a really good laugh and then upon entering we decided it was best to take a couple photos of the place - WRONG. The manager came over to us within like 30 seconds and told us that we couldn't take photos, etc. first reason was the Mormons wouldn't want to be photographed in there (then why are they in there in the first place?) and second, no photos in casinos period. Who knew? So, I deleted the photos in front of him and we went and cashed out the change. We played with $10 and made $17 and change. Again, we had no idea what we were doing. After the casino, we drove across the Great Salt Desert - a giant long straight away with constant mirages in front of you. No services, just vast amounts of nothingness. We arrived in Salt Lake City, UT late in the afternoon. We checked into the old Peery Hotel downtown. It was a really nice old hotel. Our room was pretty small compared to the two beds we had the night before. We had a full size bed for the 5 of us! Ha ha! The animals were going to have to sleep on the floor this time. We unloaded the car and the dogs and got everything in the room. Now for operation Claudine. The hotel did not know we had a cat with us. I think people are scared a cat is going to make a mess, spray (boy cats) or pee all over. Not our traveling champ. Since we had to go through the lobby of the hotel we decided to put Claudine in my little backpack. In she went and right as I approached the door of the hotel her little head came right out of the backpack. She had pushed her nose between the tiny space where the two zippers met and decided to see what in the heck was going on. I turned around so fast and was laughing so hard as I shoved her back in and zipped her back up. We got to the room and set up her little potty box and she acted like she owned the place, like the night before at the other hotel. We had some places checked off of our AAA book that we wanted to check out so we took the dogs for an urban hike to Temple Square (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) to check out the temple, tabernacle, etc. When we approached the square and walked through the gates we got stopped and were told we could not bring the dogs in unless we could carry them in. Seriously? They were on leashes and are so well behaved. So weird. So, we walked around outside. The offices of LDS have some beautiful gardens with millions of tulips and daffodils. It was beautiful.
After we got banned from the square - ha ha, we walked down to the The Cathedral of the Madeleine. More our speed, Catholic, open like the churches in Europe and they let us walk in and check it out. I went in first and attempted to take photos, but like in Malta, I didn't want to use the flash. So, my photos are not that great. But believe me, it was INCREDIBLE. Click on the link to check it out (Mom, that means, click on the name of the church above so you can see the photos). Here are some that I took...
After our walk around town we went back to the hotel before going to dinner at the Red Rocks Brewing Company. Our meals were terrific - so were the cocktails!
I had a smoked trout sandwich on pumpernickel with red onion, tomato, cucumber and dill cream cheese on the side I got carrot chips which were raw carrots sliced waffle style on a mandolin (very thin) with ranch dressing to dip in. Angela got eggplant Parmesan, spaghetti noodles with olive oil and cheese and garlic bread! Oh, did I mention we started the meal with calamari? Good thing we had to walk back to the hotel.This is what we found when we got back to our room. Look at Claudine's glowing eyes in the background on the chair!

Day 3
We had a nice night sleep and headed out at 9:30 AM for the long haul to CO. We changed our route due to a sign we saw on the 80 in Utah stating that the 80 was closed in part of Wyoming due to snow. We decided to drive down to the 70 and enter CO from the west side and we were so glad that we did, it was gorgeous! We went through so many mountains, it was incredible. Before we left Utah, we stopped in Price at a place called Big Moe's for lunch. It was like we were eating in someones small bakery. They had all kinds of home made baked goods and tables set up inside to eat at. We split some rings and each had sandwiches on home made bread that were deelish. We rook the dogs for a little walk and got back on the road.

We stopped at about 10,000 feet at a Starbucks to get some coffee for the remainder of the ride. The ride was just breathtaking. I don't know how to describe it. We saw long horned sheep, elk and buffalo. It was hard to take photos in the car, but we did the best we could. It was fun to see the dogs playing the snow when we stopped. Ella loved it more than Shelby which was unusual, Ang said that Shelby usually loves it. I think they were ready to settle for a while and just wanted to get to Angela's Mom's house. We arrived in Thornton at about 6:30 PM. Cheryl (Angela's Mom) and Bobby (her husband) were outside with Frankie waiting for us. We unloaded the car, animals, etc. and set up in the basement. Cheryl had made spaghetti and home made sauce, salad and garlic bread which was so yummy. We were so tired and it was starting to set in that I had to leave the next day and leave my best friend there. I was sad, but held it in until the next day. We had a good sleep that night and so did the animals however, I think Ella was sad that I was leaving - look at her...Day 4
Sunday, woke up, took the dogs out, hung out with Frankie before leaving for the airport. I had a good cry before we left, I didn't want to make a scene at the airport - too much of an audience there. I am still sad that my friend is not here. But I know she is a phone call away and I can get her anytime I need to. I will miss Frankie growing up before my eyes like he has over the last year.
My flight was uneventful, I slept the entire time. When I arrived in San Francisco, our tradition continued where Tim and I go to Celia's for a Mexican dinner. I was happy to see Tim and I think he was happy to have me back at home. After all, I am the entertainment.
It was a wonderful trip that I will never forget. We laughed so hard at times, it was a great release for me. The timing was perfect, a nice escape from the adoption stuff going on in my life. We talked about it, but not too much. It was a conscious effort on my part, I needed a break.
Angela, I love you so much! You are a sister to me, you know that. I will miss you so much but I know distance will not change our friendship. I cant wait to see you in a few months.