I Answer, You answer.

I thought it might be fun to do a little game where I ask a random question, answer it and then you get to answer it in the comments. I took a peek at my stats and notice that people are reading but, no one is commenting. Come on, people don't be shy. Don't leave me lonely here in blogland. :)

Ok, so here we go...

What are the first thoughts that typically cross your mind when you wake up in the morning?

The first thoughts that typically cross my mind in the morning are "what time is it?" "what day is it?" and "coffee." Usually the answer to the first two come after I've had the third. ha ha.

Your turn!!!

{In The City} Sofra

A friend of mine invited me to go with her to one of her favorite places, and I gladly accepted. Little did I know that it would become one of my favorite places I've been in this city so far.

First of all, I LOVE middle eastern food, especially Lebanese food,One of my absolute faves so, this place was right up my alley. The name of the place is Sofra. They serve Middle Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean food. One word....YUM.

I had some choices from the Meze bar. Meze is basically a selection of small dishes, or appetizers that they serve in the Middle East or Mediterranean for lunch, or dinner and in some regions, Meze is served at the beginning of a large meal. Many of them are dips.

A bonus for me was that all but 2 of the selections were free of gluten.

Here's what I chose...
From left to right: Smoky Eggplant with pine nuts, Whipped feta with red peppers, Parsnip Skordalia with toasted almonds, Moroccan Carrot Salad, and Beet Tzatziki. (*my favorite)

Instead of the usual flatbread that is served on the side, I had cucumbers and a type of radish. I'm not sure what they were called but, they were milder than your typical red radish.

Sofra also has a great selection of stuffed flat bread sandwiches, and delicious baked goods such as their chocolate hazelnut baklava, macaroons, and many more.

I also had a red rooibos latte, sweetened with honey, also very delicious. The place is tiny, and you are very close to your other dining neighbors and you may even meet someone new. We met the man sitting next to us who was from Lebanon.

So...if you live in the area be sure to check this place out. It's great to meet with friends or on a date. I can't wait to take my husband!

Where's your favorite place to eat, have coffee, or just hang out?

A little bit of fun.

I love to laugh, and there are plenty of opportunities to laugh around here. My son is hilarious when he plays the Wii. He really gets into it. The other day while they were playing I thought I would take some video, then "A" got in on the action.

I took two separate videos and I couldn't decide which one to post so, I put them both. You can hear me laughing in the background. I hope you find them funny, too. Although, I do realize you laugh harder at your own kids than others might. :)

"A cheerful heart is good medicine...." Proverbs 17:22

Who Says?

Who says you can't leave birthday decorations up for 9 days after your actual birthday?

Probably the same person who says you have to wait to put your Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve and take it down the day after Christmas.

No offense intended to anyone who does this. :)

You Can't Use Up Creativity...

Nothing that can be used as a canvas is ever wasted in this house. :)

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou

{School} In our Library Bags...

*I was wanting to post this yesterday but, am just now getting around to it. *grin*

I decided that on Thursdays I would post about school. School is a huge part of our life and I haven't really talked about it much on this blog. I thought that maybe my family and friends might want to read about our school experiences.

Today we went to the Library. It is one of my favorite things to do. I think I like it even more than the kids do, and they love it a lot. One of our biggest issues with going to the library is the amount of books we come home with. A couple of years ago I saw an idea for giving their kids baskets to take to the library to fill with books but, only letting them fill it up with as many as they could carry themselves. I thought that it was a great idea but, instead of using baskets, I went and got some plain tote bags and let the kids decorate them, and that is what we use.

"A" can only carry about 3 books in her bag without complaining that they are too heavy and "K" will literally stuff his bag full and sling it over his back and act like they are not very heavy.

Sometimes I'll bend the rules and carry some for them but, I have the same problem. I leave there with at least 5 books of my own. When I go by myself, I usually come home with an armful of cookbooks and health and nutrition related books. I think I need to make my own library bag.

Just in case you are wondering, here's what ended up in our bags this week...

A's Bag:

Ballet Sisters by Jan Ormerod

Princess Pigtoria and the Pea by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Fancy Nancy Poet Extraordinaire by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Barbie Rapunzel

Fancy Nancy and The Posh Puppy by Jane O'Connor

K's Bag:

Marveltown by Bruce McCall

Berenstain Bears and the Wishing Star (Reader) by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Puppy Mudge Takes a Bath (Reader) By Cynthia Rylant

The Patterson Puppies and the Midnight Monster Party by Leslie Patricelli

Black Cowboy Wild Horses A True Story by Julius Lester

Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude by Kevin O'Malley

My Picks:

Pigs will be Pigs by Sharon McGinley-Nalley (we are learning about money in math and that's what this book is about)

Eating Fractions by Bruce McMillan (again, for math)

Aesop's Fables

Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye

What Your First Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, JR.

Cooking Up U.S. History By Suzanne I. Barchers and Patricia C. Marden

The Library to me is like a huge treasure chest full of any thing you could ever want to read or learn about....and it's all free. Amazing. I know, I'm a little crazy. *smile*

Do you like the Library? What are some of your favorite things to check out?

Food For The Big Game (day 4)

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. We are not die-hard football fans around here so, I basically use the Super Bowl as an excuse to throw a party. I love having people over to my house and making them food. It's fun. So, tomorrow we will have a Super Bowl party. If you live nearby, come on over!

Food is, of course a huge part of Super Bowl Parties, at least in this house. I will be making chili and cornbread and others who are coming will be bringing desserts, snacks and drinks, just something to contribute.

Here's some yummy recipes for you just in case you are wondering what to make for the BIG game!

White Bean Chili

The Best Gluten-Free Cornbread

Quick and Easy Dip

Ratatouille Pizza

Easy Salsa

We have a busy weekend planned and Monday is my son's 7th Birthday so, it's going to be a fun next couple of days.

P.S. Out of loyalty to my dad and the rest of my family, I will be proudly sporting my black and gold. Go Steelers! (no haters, please) :)

What are your plans for the Super Bowl?....and please share food details, if any! :)

One day...

One of my favorite decorating styles is vintage-modern. If you walk into my place right now, you would not know it because it's just a mix of what we have, many things gifts from our marriage over 10 years ago, and I'm so thankful for them for sure.

But, I sure do love to dream....

What's your decorating style like?

*Images found here via here

skating on thin ice...

I dislike winter, it's just way too cold. I've decided after living with cold winters all of my life that if you can find fun things to do in the winter weather than it makes it a little better. So...we decided to introduce our kids to ice skating.

I think I was just as excited as they were when we were planning to go!

They had no idea what to expect. My son had ideas of getting out there

and speeding like a hockey star!

Of course, that did not happen. There were lots

of falls but, no tears. Only laughter and smiles.

We skated for over 2 hours. We didn't

want to leave we were having so much fun.

my arms and back were sore the next day from trying to hold the kids up

and keep them from falling but, thankfully I did not fall.

We really had a good time. It made the wintry day just a little more bearable.

Pint-Sized Fashion.

My littlest is a girly-girl in every sense of the word. She loves to dress up (mainly as a ballerina), to wear jewelry, the occasional lipgloss, must always have some sort of hair accessory on, and asks to wear dresses or her tutu almost every day. I love it. :)

One day before Christmas, I told her to go and get dressed in something comfy and this is what she came up with...

If she can't wear a dress, it's leggings. She also prefers jeggings over regular jeans. She only has one pair of those but, believe me they are getting worn. a lot. :) She has a personality all her own, and style to match...I wouldn't have it any other way.

Quick Coffee Tip!

It's no surprise, I love coffee. I feel like the winter cold drives me to drink more than usual.

I especially love holiday coffees but, they can be quite expensive.

Years ago a friend of mine let me in on a little coffee secret she had. She would sprinkle cinnamon in her ground coffee before she brewed it, and voila! Cinnamon coffee. It is divine. Over the years I've experimented with different spices and have come up with some fun combinations. Here's what you do...

Put your desired amount of ground coffee into the filter in your coffee maker. Sprinkle your desired spices on top of the coffee and brew. That's it.

A couple of quick notes. You definitely do not want to use a lot of spice or it may clog your coffee maker. Also, you want the flavor subtle, not overpowering. I usually just do a couple of shakes of each.

Here's my favorite....

2 shakes of cinnamon, 2 shakes of ginger, a shake of clove= gingerbread coffee.

*Note that this is for a whole pot of coffee. If only doing a few cups, you'll want to adjust the spices.

You can use more or less of each spice according to your liking. Experiment a little, it's fun!!

I used to be very particular about my coffee. I still am to an extent but, I definitely don't pay as much for my coffee as I used to. After trying many different kinds, I've discovered some of my favorites.

Melitta European Roast is my favorite. I like it dark. This is what we drink most of the time. I often get asked what kind of coffee it is whenever I serve it. They also have a range of Fair Trade and Organic coffees as well.

Equal Exchange Mind, Body, and Soul Blend is very good as well. Not as bold as the European roast but, still good. All of their coffees, teas, chocolates, and snacks are fairly traded and some are organic as well.

Well, there you have it. My coffee tip for the day!

I'd love to know, what is your favorite coffee?

Apple Pickin'

Last week my Mother-in-law came for a visit. We decided that since none of us had ever been apple-picking that we would find an orchard and go. When we lived in NY we had a couple of apple trees on a hill behind our house so, we never really needed to go anywhere to get apples!

We found a great place in Stow, MA called Honeypot Hill Orchards. It was about a 40 minute drive. Let me just say, that the drive there was breathtaking. New England in the fall is beyond words.

Here we are posing by the silly scarecrow.

Can you see the tiny turtle on the rock? I thought this was so cute.

Of course, you can't resist sampling a big, juicy apple!

My husband saw some good ones up a little higher than any of us could reach so,

of course he did a little climbing.

It rained on our drive there, but managed to stop long enough for us to pick

our apples and have a visit with the farm animals. The rain started up again as we drove away.

Thanks, God. :)

us with nana.

Of course, you can't go apple picking without some apple cider made right there

and some yummy cider donuts...they were a big hit!

I think we might make a tradition out of this.

Did any of you pick apples this year? I'd love to hear about it.

Just Us Girls!

When it's just us girls, here's where we like to go...

And of course, you have to try on some cute shoes...

...and have frozen yogurt (with blueberries and M&M's)

And you MUST pretend that you are a mannequin!

Singing in The Rain...

My little "A" has been wanting to take a shower by herself for a long time. For some reason, she just couldn't do it. She wouldn't even go in the shower with me. She didn't even like sprinklers. Anything that had to do with her face getting wet, she wanted nothing to do with it. Until recently. "A" is the type of girl that once she makes up her mind to do something, she does it all the way. So, one evening "K" was getting ready to take a shower and she said to me "Mom, I want to take a shower. All by myself." I said "really, all by yourself? You will need to get your face wet." "I know." she said. She was ready, really ready. So, I got the shower ready and she got in...and loved it. Several times during the shower she said "this is great, mom" and "I don't need your help, mom I can do it all by myself." I did need to help her wash her hair, though and of course make sure everything was washed. I sat on a step stool waiting for her to finish while listening to her sing "singing in the rain" It was really quite cute. Finally, I had to drag her out. I decided to conduct a post-shower interview because she was so proud of herself.

Here she is...

This actually makes me very happy because now I have 2 kiddos who can take a shower. My back is also very thankful for this. :)

Music To My Ears...

The best music there is.

A City of Minis.

I love the Mini Cooper. My kiddos and hubby love them too. My daughter calls them the "little chubby cars." Obviously, they are not a "family" vehicle but, they are cute and fun to look at nonetheless.

We see them everywhere in our neighborhood. One night, we took a walk and decided to count how many minis we saw. We walked approximately one mile and we spotted 10! The kids were so excited. Here's a pic of one we took on our walk.

How about you? Do you have a favorite fun car?...or maybe it's a motorcycle (I love those too).

Treats!

My kids LOVE treats! Well, what kid doesn't? Especially when it's during some one on one time with mom.(Who likes treats, too). I took "K" to Starbucks for a little date and he picked out the biggest cookie he could find. It was oatmeal raisin...

he wanted to show that it was the size of his face!

eating the cookie, very quickly I might add.

"Wait mom! Take a picture of my milk, too!"

Treats are always better when shared together!

*Don't forget to vote in my "blog music" poll. Stay tuned to see if I listen to the masses! :)

Our Visit Home...

Over the 4th of July, we went back home (to NY) to visit family. We were there for a week. It wasn't quite long enough in my book but, I'm sure all of the grandparents found it quite sufficient after the week was through. :)

There was a lot of sunbathing and swimming in Nana's pool,

lots of yummy treats, cookouts, and memory-making with cousins...

lots of lovin' from grandmas and grandpas...

and lots of adventures in convertibles , 4-wheelers, and bicycles!

more pics to come soon!

Have You Met Tom?

Yesterday, as we were driving home from a lovely day at the beach; an advertisement came on the radio for The Great American Food and Music Fest. The announcer said that Paula Deen and Tom Colicchio would be there. Excited, I went on and on about how fun that would be to attend and how cool it would be to meet Tom being that I am a HUGE Top Chef fan. My husband says to me "Nobody knows who Tom Colicchio is!" I said "Oh my gosh, everybody knows who Tom Colicchio is. Why on earth would they have a huge event at the Gilette Stadium and feature him if no one has heard of him?" I jokingly debated. For the next few minutes we bantered playfully when finally I said "OK, I'm going to do a poll on facebook and find out who really knows or doesn't know who Tom Colicchio is." Later that evening I sat down and wrote this status:

I think MOST people know who Tom Colicchio is,my husband thinks I am crazy. So...I'm doing a little poll. Without Googling, who knows or doesn't know who Tom Colicchio is? :)

My first commenter knew who he was. "Yes, this is going great" I thought. Well...30 comments later, and a few laughs in between, only 7 people knew who Tom Colicchio was. I hung my head in defeat as my husband (lovingly) gloated about his victory. I guess I was in my own little Top Chef world thinking Tom was a household name Like "Simon" or even "Paula Deen"...

...Oh well, you win some, you lose some...*sigh*.

*Picture from Google Images.

A Fun Web Discovery...

I recently stumbled upon this really cool website. It's called Young Me/Now Me. Has anyone seen it yet? People take old pictures of themselves as kids and try to recreate them as adults. Some of them are so sweet and heartwarming and others are utterly hilarious. I have been inspired to try and do this myself. Just thought I would share the fun with you. If you are looking for something lighthearted and maybe want to laugh a little, this is a cool place to go.