Five Things Friday

I am so grateful for this break from winter weather the past 2 weeks. Though this week wasn't as nice as last week [today is the first day in a week where the sun has really been out], not having to worry about snow, ice, and the freezing cold has been wonderful.

 

[Tomato paste in a tube] I hate opening a can of tomato paste to only use a tablespoon or two. Though I intend to use it in another recipe, I rarely do and it gets thrown out. I finally found this at our local Martins.

[MacBook Pro Charger] My oh so sweet dog, Kona, ate my charger on Valentine's Day. A week later and my new charger arrived. So grateful to be able to borrow one from a friend, but it's nice to have my own again.

 

[Bamboo Silverware Organizer] I think my obsession with bamboo has gotten a little out of control. From cutting boards to organizers, I love it all!

[Sandals] I love sandals, esp. wedges. This pair from DV by Dolce Vita makes me even more excited for spring. 

Other things from this week: Kona was able to have a raw hide without getting sick, meaning her explosive upset stomach wasn't due to her love of raw hides. Peter was home the whole week [though that is very likely to come to an end next week].

 

Couponing

Growing up, my mom went through phases of couponing - and I dreaded it. I didn't mind trips to the commissary [military grocery store on base], where we could easily fill up two full grocery carts upon my dad's return from a deployment, but that was actually 'normal.' Going to a grocery store off base, which was where a lot of the 'special' deals were, drove me nuts. I hated waiting for the cashier to scan all the coupons and watching everyone stare at us because it took an extra couple minutes - not to mention, sale items weren't anything that I had any interest in.

Now fast forward 10-15yrs.

While I hate paying retail for most things, I never thought I would get into couponing. And I guess I don't really 'coupon' [with the exception of Michaels coupons], but rather skim the ads for weekly VIP-type savings where you just have to have the individual stores member card [which is free]. It allows me to stock up on a lot of things that we go through pretty regularly. So, it's not couponing like my mom would do, but the same concept. Anyway, it's saved us a lot of money :)

5 Things

Too bad "Five Things Saturday" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Five Things Friday." The point is that I did it, right?

[Bamboo cutting boards] Who would have thought that I would be obsessed with cutting boards? But seriously, I love them.

[Fancy cupcake liners] After holiday sales make $3-4 cupcake liners a little more justifiable. Michaels and Target's had some great deals on Valentines Day stuff; Michaels also had select cake decorating supplies on clearance. This is also a great website for some awesome cupcake liners as well.

[Flip flops] 70+ degree weather this week warranted wearing flip flops for the first time this year.

[A dozen red roses] The hubby bought me roses for Valentines Day and we went to the Joshua Wilton House in Harrisonburg for dinner.

[Blueberry Muffins] Probably the best blueberry muffins that I have ever made. And I got to use my fancy new cupcake liners!

At some point I will actually figure out how to add pictures, I swear.

Word of the Week

em·u·late [v. em-yuh-leyt; adj. em-yuh-lit] –verb (used with object)

1. to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass: to emulate one's father as a concert violinist.

2. to rival with some degree of success: Some smaller cities now emulate the major capitals in their cultural offerings.

*A word that seems to be slipping into my vocabulary a lot this past week. Or month.

5 Things Friday

One of my favorite blogs, Cupcakes and Cashmere, does a "Five Things Friday" post every week highlighting 5 things from the week that made her happy, essentially. I love reading her Friday posts specifically, because she not only gives great recommendations (she often posts products, decorating ideas, and recipes), but it makes me think about what made me happy as well. I know, that statement sounds really lame and stereotypical, but it's true :)

I've hesitated posting because, well, I'm terrible at keeping up with my blog for starters, and posting pictures of the 5 things makes the post better, but since getting a new computer a few weeks ago, I haven't figured out how to do that, exactly. If anyone with a Mac wants to give me a tutorial, feel free! None of my uploading techniques have worked.

Finally, I realize that today is Saturday. I began this post yesterday - a day late is better than nothing at all, right?

[New green kitchen towels] I'm switching our kitchen colors from red and black to green, off white, and black.

[Light My Sapphire] OPI nail polish.

[New green teapot] Stove top teapot that matches the new kitchen colors. Great way to add more color to the room when you can't paint the walls.

[Chicken with Rosemary Sauce] While I tweaked it a little, this chicken was amazing.

[Maebel's birthday card] I will have to post a picture of it after her party today, because I was a dork and sealed the envelope before taking a picture of it. Happy first birthday to my little BFF, Maebey baby!

Something Fresh

Have I mentioned that I love having a mini herb garden in my kitchen? Because I do. An herb garden has been on my mind since early fall, but I was reluctant. The thought of weeding was enough to completely turn me off, but renting our place also makes it a little more difficult.

In one of my more recent trips to Martins (local grocery store), I saw locally grown, organic herb plants $3/ea. Awesome. No weeding! I found mini washtub-like bins at Target for a couple dollars, thanks to the [almost] dollar section. So, now I have an awesome mini herb garden in my kitchen.

Something that I never really thought about was fresh vs. dried herbs. I mean, really, who does? It just seemed like something that would help me experiment with more cooking [see my NYE regarding this], and get something fresh into the house.

Just don't get me started about picking all the little leaves off the stems ;)