Call Me Susie.

Little Susie Homemaker...that's me. Sort of. haha I feel that way on days like these when I don't go into the office. I suddenly get very into the thought of baking and/or cooking all day long. I fit some cleaning in there too, and most of the time feel very accomplished by the time my man comes home.

The funny thing is, ever since I got married, I've pretty much been at the office M-F, away from the house. There had been this longing within that had taken root to make my house a home, and I couldn't because by the time I got home, I was tired and didn't have the energy to play Sarah the homemaker. Granted, I made sure we had good food to eat, we've cleaned the house on the weekend, and when there's laundry to put away, it eventually gets put away....but this being home during the week has made a huge difference.

I really enjoy being home. I really like having a job description that includes meal planning, folding laundry and vacuuming. Can't say I'm a big fan of dusting, but I do enjoy the smell of the orange pledge in the air and the fact that we don't have a TON of places for dust to settle. I'm an old-fashioned girl who belongs in the 50's I think.

This morning I got some chicken going in the crockpot and then proceeded to make some chocolate chip cookies so that Carlos would be pleasantly surprised upon his arrival. I did the dishes, vacuumed and dusted of the living room, put laundry away, made the bed, straightened up, and started putting my extra room together now that I have my last piece of furniture necessary for the room - shelves. I haven't completely figured out what I'm doing with that room yet - all I know is that until I figure out what colors I'm painting the shelves, desk and bookcase, things will just have to be put away on the shelves - as is.

Must go now! Its 6:15, my man just got home and I MUST get dinner on the table. =)

Plans

Aren't they funny? Big or small, we as people continue to make them and they continue to be blown out of the water every time (for the most part).

Take today, for example. Carlos went to work, I stayed home. The plan was to clean the entire house, from dishes to vacuuming to dusting, to putting away laundry, to clear off the kitchen table and file/sort/organize every bill and document that has arrived in the mail for the past month that I've "planned" on putting away, and after having done so.... *DEEP BREATH* .......wash Chloe and possibly shower myself (if time permitted after everything else was spotless).

Then amongst those things that I needed to get done, are those things that I just wanted to catch up on.....blogs (mine and others), browsing craigslist for cool stuff for cheap, etsy, dreaming of how I'll eventually have an office/craft space once I figure out how to make our extra room into such a space instead of a dump site.

Instead, I got up at 8:30am when Carlos left, took Chloe for a walk, called Steph and decided we should get out of our homes and take a walk today since we live two streets apart and I'm rarely home during the day for such things. That was about 30 minutes away so I worked some facebook networking and posting for MasterWerks. By the way, check out our vimeo channel because we've posted all of our recent films. Steph and I went for a walk with Chloe, came back to the house, ate some lunch and watched about 6 episodes (What!? I had to get her caught up!) of Parenthood - the best show on the planet if I haven't already stated that in this blog.

Now, as I look around my messy living room, take a peek at the dirty dishes in the kitchen, waiting for Carlos to get home and survey the lack of cleanliness....(including me and Chloe), I'm okay with the fact that the day turned out the way it did. I don't hang out with Steph enough - it was due time for a lazy day hangout. And it was my duty to fill her in on the awesomeness of Parenthood season one.

So on the list of things I've accomplished today I've:

1. Taken Chloe for a walk twice.

2. Spent time with my best friend.

3. Eaten healthy food and took AdvoCare supplements at the correct times =)

4. Watched hours of Parenthood.

5. Is writing a blog entry - something I haven't done in almost 2 months!

6. Will have some yummy salmon for dinner.

....and I'll probably make a checklist tonight so I can be better prepared for tomorrow's to-do's!

But if something comes up, and I only complete half the list, it'll be okay. =) There's always tomorrow, and speaking as a perfectionist/procrastinator (see this entry regarding the phenomenon) - I KNOW that if I can't get everything done, a part of me won't be able to fully commit to beginning it. I'm going to fight the urge tomorrow!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 3

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.

Alright, first things first. With the exception of two dance dates (that I don't count because I wasn't interested) in high school, I didn't go out on a date until I was 23 years old. For many years I despised this fact. I felt on a pretty consistent basis that I was never going to find someone who loved me for me, with my quirks, patterns of shyness, lack of flirtation and the list goes on and on. Thank GOD Carlos came along. He's more than made up for the many dateless nights with so much more than I could ever imagine. I've come to realize that God has some pretty awesome plans, that are SO beyond mine, and as I look back at those dateless nights I'm so grateful that I've never had my heart broken by someone. He kept me without that bit of sadness and baggage so that I could meet Carlos and have a fun, refreshing, romantic relationship that did not and will not sour.

So I figured I'd tell you about my first date with Carlos and my first date ever. Nothing about it is extravagant, but Carlos planned a very special and personal date for the two of us that I will always remember.

Carlos came and picked me up from my parent's house, with a basket and a flower arrangement in hand. Knowing my love for cheese, he made a gift basket for me, filled with several different cheeses, olives and crackers from Whole Foods (YUM!) and my favorite root beer (Weinhards). He also had a flower arrangement for me (first ever flowers that I got from a guy - not from a family member for my birthday), that was one of many gorgeous arrangements to come.

We got in his truck and made our first stop at the grocery store. Why? haha Because he knew I liked using the Coinstar machine there and he had a bunch of change. Why do I love Coinstar? Because it kind of feels like I'm winning money....I don't know. Anyways....

We moved on to our next location - Borders. We hung out there for a while in the music section, listening to some tunes and he bought me a cd (Badly Drawn Boy "The Hour of the Bewilderbeast"), which became the soundtrack for our date that day. I actually ended up walking down the isle to the beginning of their song "The Shining" from that album. (Click to listen) I felt it was an ode to our beginnings. =)

Carlos made reservations at Rocky Point for dinner. I felt so awkward at dinner like I had to keep talking. He just kept smiling at me going on and on like "isn't she so cute the way she thinks she has to keep talking". Dinner was delicious and our view was awesome.

Our last stop was Starbucks, where we just sat and talked and people watched and then talked some more. Although I already knew him as a friend, it was SO important to have a whole afternoon/evening to talk and get to know him that much more, and he get to know me as well. That Starbucks in Monterey burned down shortly after that. But we continued to have most of our important discussions at the Starbucks in Salinas =)

He drove me home after Starbucks and we hung out at my parents and watched "50 First Dates". It was the best, no pressure, relaxed yet special first date I could have imagined.

For the majority of my life, I thought the best first date would be at an amusement park so that you could have time to talk with the person and have a blast at the same time.

Carlos doesn't ride roller coasters. End of that story.

I'll take cheese over roller coasters. Which, in another full circle sort of way made it into my proposal story which was yet another wonderful date. Probably the best of all. =)

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 2

Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.

.....Well, since I've finished two meals today and I've eaten all evidence, there will be no visuals of eggs, turkey bacon, avocado salsa, oatmeal (yes, we had oatmeal for lunch in place of the bread that we've run out of), apples, peanut butter/honey dip, 2 cuties and a cup of coffee. All I have left at the office is the blueberry yogurt that I had planned to eat, but haven't yet.

Timeout.

Is it just me, or is it crazy to see everything I've eaten today? It just seems like a super long list. Nothing bad by any means, and none outrageous in portion size.

I'll segue into another "is it just me" question: does anyone else ever find themselves listing everything they ate on a certain day to a friend, family member, etc? Its just quirky, and I think I only do it with a couple of people every so often, but they do it with me too. After the fact, I always think to myself, "we just talked for at least five minutes about each and every item we ate today...what a weird conversation". Yet we will go on to have the same conversation (different ingredients) again another day. American's have it good, man. Having a whole conversation revolving around the different foods we're blessed to afford and enjoy. Even the food we find boring would be awesome for someone that doesn't have any. Makes you think.

So I'd take a picture of something I ate today, but right now I don't have anything to show. I didn't look at today's blog topic until I had finished anything worth a picture. I might take a picture of my lasagna tonight - on the other hand, I might not. I'll let you use your imagination. The point of the blog entry was to write, right? =)

Taking on New Recipes

If you're like me, you have your own database of go-to meals forever in your brain. You've made them time and time again, memorized the ingredients, you know they'll taste good and in a pinch you have dinner prepared.

There are those evenings though when the old faithful recipes just don't do it for me. I want something new - a challenge that I'm never quite sure that I'll be able to tackle successfully. The recipe may say that it will take an hour to prepare and cook and I don't even care if it takes me two or more, I will make something new and fabulous (or at least attempt it).

Another reason I oftentimes try out a new recipe is when I'm cooking a special meal or having company over. Risky - totally. I don't know why I do it to myself. I always think, "maybe I should make something that I know is good..." and then that's exactly when Carlos challenges me to try something new and I totally can't help myself but accept the call to action and break out the cookbooks, leaving any doubts of incompetency behind me.

Recently Carlos and I had our first dinner guests over, and I was determined to make something fancier than I had made in the past. I went through my cookbooks (usually Rachel Ray), searching for the perfect thing and I stumbled across a recipe that I had been interested in several times, but always thought it might be too difficult. Turns out, the most difficult time I had was finding the ingredients! Who would have thought that it would be so difficult to find puff pastry (in the right size), fig preserves and Italian fontina cheese?? Thank goodness I started shopping early in the day and not RIGHT before dinnertime because I had to go to four stores just to find everything. Three out of the four stores had fontina cheese, but it was from Denmark. Two out of the four stores only had puff pastry shells and out of the remaining two, only one had the puff pastry sheet size that I needed. Only ONE store had fig preserves. Can we get a Whole Foods in Salinas please?

Anyway, with all of that said, ingredients collected, the recipe wasn't difficult at all - pretty straightforward and the result was delicious. I served it alongside green beans and asparagus with a tarragon lemon dip (also Rachel Ray) yummmm and finished off the evening with pears with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. It's a pretty expensive meal, but compared to a dinner out, not bad. For four adults it was $60 for a gourmet meal in.

I challenge you to try them all! Here are the recipes:

Love Birds - Chicken in Pastry

Ingredients

4 pieces skinless chicken breast, boned (about 8 ounces each)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 to 3 sprigs fresh finely chopped rosemary

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 sheet puff pastry (11 by 17-inch), (recommended: Dufour)

8 slices Italian fontina cheese, slices should be 2 to 3-inches square and 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick, cut in 1/2

1/2 cup fig preserves

1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Season the chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary. Cut each piece of chicken in half across the breast giving you 8 equal portions. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly brown the chicken on both sides, 5 minutes total. Remove from heat.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut pastry into 8 pieces. Place a piece of cheese on each pastry square and top with spoonfuls of fig preserves and the chicken pieces. Pinch and seal the dough up and over the meat and cheese, seal with egg wash, flip the pastry packets over and brush the tops with remaining egg wash. Bake 12 to15 minutes, until golden.

For entree portions, simply leave chicken breast whole and cut the pastry into quarters. Trim off excess dough and use it to decorate the pastry with small cut outs such as heart shapes.

Asparagus and Green Beans with Tarragon Lemon Dip

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed

Salt

1 cup mayonnaise

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 small shallot, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon, (4 sprigs), chopped, plus sprigs for garnish

2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves, plus sprigs for garnish

Few grinds freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook asparagus spears and green beans in 1-inch of salted boiling water, covered, for 3 or 4 minutes. Drain and cool the vegetables and arrange them on a serving plate. Combine the dip ingredients in a small bowl and garnish with sprigs of parsley and tarragon and set dip along side vegetables on serving dish.

Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients

2 cans pears in heavy syrup, 15 ounces

4 tablespoons amaretto or dark rum

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or, chop up a bar

1 pint French vanilla ice cream

Directions

Drain pears over a small saucepot. Reduce syrup over medium high heat 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in liquor and cook 2 minutes longer. Add chocolate and stir to melt. Remove from heat.

Slice pears and place in cocktail glasses. Pour hot chocolate sauce over pears and top glasses with small scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Okay, so I haven't written since March? How is that possible? Easily, very easily. Here are a few reasons:

1. Wedding planning

2. Wedding planning

3. Wedding planning

4. Actual Wedding

5. Honeymoon

6. Wedding aftermath

And somewhere in there I thought I was not only going to become a crafty women extraordinaire, but also train for a half marathon. Somehow I thought that being unemployed would mean extra time for the pursuit of creative goals AND that I could become an athlete in the meantime. Ha! Well, neither was accomplished, but Carlos and I were able to plan an awesome wedding and ran/jogged/walked the Salinas Valley Half Marathon on Saturday without training (the no training thing is something I wouldn't recommend, the going for one's own sense of accomplishment, I would).

The wedding was everything I could have ever wanted: awesome weather, relaxed atmosphere, filled to the brim with everyone I love, tons of color, lots of dancing - basically a gigantic picnic with 100 of my closest friends and family, which is EXACTLY what Carlos and my desire was. I'd love to say more, but at this point, the pictures say it all. I would add more, but blogger annoys me every time I add pictures to my blogs, so this is all I can handle right now. =) I cannot wait to see the professional pictures that Mike Steelman did. I've only seen two pictures so far and I'm loving them, so I'm looking forward to seeing what else he captured.

We had a relaxing honeymoon in Hawaii, where we stayed in Kailua-Kona. Snorkeled one day and did some sight-seeing the other few days. Fun thing is, Carlos' family (parents and brother's family) are going to stay at the same beach house this month in Kona and we're going to go along with them, so we can spend some more time exploring the island.

So.....where does this leave creative Sarah? Well, despite my lack of fabric work (honestly haven't touched the stuff since I bought it) I have been learning video/audio editing and graphic work alongside Carlos so that I can eventually work doing that. My "creative space" aka our extra room is on its way to being cleaned out. This will be quite the accomplishment, considering for the past couple months it's stored wedding decorations, then wedding/bridal shower/bachelorette party gifts, then once the gifts found homes we unpacked my trunk (probably a good three weeks after the wedding) which was filled with the leftover wedding decorations and moved over the last of Carlos' stuff from his parents' house. So for now, I think we've got it down to just wedding decor and a couple boxes of stuff that we haven't found homes for yet. Man - its a chore trying to figure out where everything will go! Merging two lives into one is messy, and I'm just talking about closet space here. Luckily in helping Carlos' brother and his family unload the moving truck we inherited a bookshelf and we got a dresser from his parents at the same time. Score!

I'll leave you with a fun moment from my bachelorette party. If you ever have a chance, go to Kula Ranch Island Steakhouse in Marina, CA. It used to be AJ Spurs for any local readers. It's definitely one of my new favorites. If you go, I suggest you go wild and just get a load of appetizers. SO good. I'd love to tell you what my favorite meal there is, but I honestly can't tell you. I've been there probably five times and done the same thing. Do not leave without having the sweet potato fries, coconut panko tiger prawns or fire roasted artichokes! Also, try to go on a Friday or Saturday because usually they'll have this fun ukulele player dude there and he takes requests...or like he did our night, have a lady gaga medley prepared. ha!

Hopefully in my coming posts I will be able to post some pictures of crafty or household tasks accomplished - like cleaning out that extra room so that I can actually use it!