11/52 - things that start with H

This is a week late. I am really going to try hard to be better at posting these sooner - and also I am going to try and take and post more pictures of my every day life. Those are kind of more fun than these to me anyway since it is a little more personal.

Back to H week. While Meghan was making cookies, the rest of us tried to find things around her house that started with H. Without further adieu

Hair

Hand off.

Hershey bar

Hair dryer

High heels

Hunter boots.

Houndstooth.

Gosh, she is having a grand ole time making these cookies, isn't she?

3.19.10

Friday night I went to Meghan's. She made the infamous Nieman Marcus cookies while Tom, Eva and I thought of things that started with H to take pictures of. These cookies were SO good! A little more complicated and more steps than the standard Nestle Toll House recipe, but very much worth it I think.

Here's the thing though, I texted Meghan today to get the recipe and when I did not get an immediate response, I decided to just Google it. (gosh, I'm impatient) Apparently there is an urban legend where someone got charged $250 for the recipe instead of $2.50 that she thought it cost, so in revenge she sent out the recipe to everyone on the internet. Snopes said this is completely false....and Nieman Marcus has posted the actual recipe on their website as damage control. Either way, this is still an awesome recipe that I highly recommend! As a note, this made a TON of cookies. It might be a good idea to half the recipe. I also don't remember Meghan putting any nuts in her cookies. I just ate one too and didn't taste or see any in them - so I would say that is optional. Here it is:

2 cups butter

4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 cups sugar

5 cups blended oatmeal

24 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips

2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 king size Hershey bar (grated)

4 eggs

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts. Drop onto cookie sheet

Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes, or 10 to 12 minutes for a crisper cookie.

Makes about 10 dozen cookies.

10/52 - things that start with G

This week was kind of a bust. I only got green pictures.

After the Shamrock Shuffle, we went to Brats. We had some green beers, listened to some bagpipers and sat thisclose to Charlie Shortino. Yessss.

9/52 - things that start with F

Five Guys

It is a shame how much I love this place. On this particular visit, the guy calling the numbers was telling stories about the guy who was on the floor cleaning tables over the microphone. At one point we all clapped for him because it was his last day. See, I go back for the camaraderie, not the delicious burgers and fresh cut french fries. Nope not for that at all.

Footprints.

I was in a race against the weather to get this shot! We have had a heat wave here so a lot of the snow has melted, but I actually found a patch of snow to get this shot. I thought that I wouldn't be in the position to able to take pictures of footprints in the snow again this season, but I have been proven wrong. Snow in the forecast for Saturday. fml.

Fajitas!

Let me tell you a sad story. For about 3 years, we were on a streak of going to Chili's about once a week. Judge all you want, but Chili's. is. good. I would rarely switch up my order, always getting the chicken fajita pita. It was a more efficient alternative to the regular fajitas. Instead of getting 4 plates and having to assemble my own dinner, it came already stuffed in a delicious pita. LOVED IT. Unfortch, about a month ago, they redid their menu and TOOK OFF THE CHICKEN FAJITA PITA! Yes. It is the truth. Sadness. On our return trip, we got the regular fajitas. Basically the same, but so not. :(

Fisher.

My nephew. He is about 4 months old now. He has been battling some mean cradle cap...poor kid! Word on the street is that he got some meds and it has cleared up. Yay!

Frontage road.

Flamingo

found at M. Schettl's off 41 between Appleton and Oshkosh

3.14.10

I ran the Shamrock Shuffle with my pal, Gina, on Sunday morning. Jon took it upon himself to take some pictures of the race while we were running. Bless his heart, he had it on shutter priority 1/10 the whole time. It was probably my fault for not switching it before handing it off to him though. Needless to say, most of the shots ended up like the one below. (that's me on the left!) I still think it looks kind of cool...

...and afterward we indulged in a few green beers. (More of that in G week)

3.13.10

Stacy and Jordon are getting married in Jamaica next January! Their family threw an engagement party for them on Saturday to celebrate. It was in Spring Green at the House on the Rock resort/golf course (or something like that). note: my sister and I were OB-SESSED with that place as children. I was a tad disappointed that I couldnt see the house peeking through the trees or something. I gotta get back there someday! I mean, remember the infinity room?? I think I was too scared to go all the way to the edge. This is about Stacy and Jordon though, not the HOTR...We are so happy for them!

3.6.10

Cooper turned 2 on the 4th, so Gina and Todd threw him a Sesame Street bday party. Gina made the adorable cupcakes and her baker friend made the cake. Aren't the cupcakes awesome? They look just like Elmo and Cookie Monster.

Gina and I made these place cards for the kids the night before the party with her Cricut too. Adorable, right? I am sure the toddlers really appreciated our hard work.

Here is the big 2 year old. This kid doesn't stop much and hardly ever poses for pictures or smiles nice, so this picture was sort of a miracle. I can't believe he is already 2!

3.2.10

IDizzy had her baby at about 9am on March 1st. A little girl named Charlotte (but she will go by Charlie). I headed to Milwaukee after work on Tuesday to see her and ooooo, she is precious. She had quite a voice on her for only being 1 day old, but that doesn't matter much when they are so small and cute, does it? I got to hold her for most of the time I was there, so I didn't get any good shots of her. But trust, she is SO cute and I think bears much resemblance to Dizzy.

Here is Andy doing a little multitasking :)

On the photo front, I need to get better at evaluating things before I take pictures. Sometimes I see an oppotunity (like this one) and just get excited and click away...even though the settings were set for a pic I took earlier. In this case, the shutter was open too long and I had to do some damage control in the post processing. Ugh. Like most things in my life, I need to take my time so I don't make mistakes. This happens often when I am cooking. Jon says it is because I don't put any love into it :-/

8/52 - things that start with E

Ear




Eight Ball.



Ella's Deli.

Who has heard of this place? The funny thing is, before I knew Jon and spent some time in Madison, we would always go to this place when we were in town. When I thought of Madison, I thought of Ella's Deli. 6 years later (4 of those living here), I have never gone there. I have never thought of going there either...and I dont think I am alone. I'm not sure people who live here think this place is that cool at all. I don't think it is just my Milwaukeean family who equates Ella's Deli with Madison either. I'm pretty sure most Milwaukeeans think this place is the bomb and makes sure to visit when they make their yearly trip to Madison. Am I wrong and maybe just out of the loop? Like maybe people with kids go there? I don't know many people with kids in this town, so that is a definite possibility. The peeps I know frequent watering holes, not deli/ice cream shops with a carousel in the front. Either way, I visited this place to get my E picture and peeked inside to remember what it was like. I have to admit, it is pretty cool. I'd like to make a point of going back this summer when the carousel is open, the sky is less gray, and maybe at night to see it lit up.

2.27.10

One last hurrah! Not that anyone is leaving or anything bad is happening - actually the exact opposite...Diz is getting induced tomorrow! It was kind of crazy realizing this would be the last time we would be together before her life will literally change. A few years ago (more like 12) we used to go to high school football games and drive around town with no worries and now we are having babies. Whaaaa? When did that happen? I have a hard time realizing we are nearing 30 and these are the types of things folks our age do. Other near 30 year old people who are having babies is no problem for me to understand...but for some reason when it comes to her, it is VERY hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that she is going to be a mother.

So what did we do on our last hurrah? Diz, Mary and I got manicures, had lunch and talked for about 3 hours...mostly about the impending labor and delivery. Just what the doctor ordered for an already nervous pregnant lady :)


(I think I need to get my hair highlighted. it's like half brown half blonde. yikes.)

7/52 - things that start with D

Drawing. I had to post this despite the shoddy quality. I just cant get enough of this kid. He would scribble a little bit, then hold it up for everyone to see....then scribble a little more and hold it up again. This went on about 20 times in a row.



Dome. I told you it would make an appearance again in D week! I figured I should show another perspective though, so I took this from the inside of the capitol. They just don't make buildings like this anymore, do they? It really is amazing. I wonder what a capitol building would look like if it was built in 2010...



Denim.



Dang!



Dips. I had a Tastefully Simple party on Saturday morning/afternoon. My sister, Gina, is an independent consultant. I don't think I can link to her personal site, but her ID# is 0087362 if anyone reading this has a Tastefully Simple item they love and don't have a consultant to buy from. You can order right online through her site and it gets shipped right to your door! Or if you really love something and know it and want to order something now, I can add your order to my par-tay. :) There was a really good turn out at the party and we ate lots of the delicious food Tastefully Simple has to offer. Let me run down my faves:

-Twisty Grahams - woowee these are awesome. like graham crackers, but not. About 197 times better - even better paired with the Key Lime Cheese Ball!
-Garlic Garlic - I use this in and on so many things I can't even list them. Easier than having fresh garlic around all the time.
-Spinach and Artichoke warm dip - Nancy said it best when she said artichoke dip is awesome, but can be kind of annoying to make from scratch. So she got this because it is so unbelievably easy (add just 3 ingredients) and also unbelievably good! (I'm having it for dinner tonight. shhh, don't tell. I promise to eat something with some nutritional benefits also...or maybe not)

6/52 - things that start with C

I waited in line to get my car washed for about 40 mins on Saturday afternoon, thankfully I had my camera and some things that started with the letter C....like chap stick!



and my camera, a Canon to be exact. Double whammy! I realize this isn't very creative.



Condiments. We were in a dark corner of the bar and when I cranked up the ISO to take this, it obviously turned out very noisy, so I decided to resort to the flash...and I kind of don't mind the way it ended up. I mean, I don't mind the way it ended up post editing :)



Capitol



Columns



(insert our last name that starts with the letter C here) This is not exactly how I was hoping it would turn out, but I guess it's kind of cute.



Cake. I picked up a Valentine's Day dessert for us at the grocery store. The Sara Lee cakes were BOGO, so I gladly bought 2 of them. My grandparents always had a Sara Lee cake in their fridge and having a piece was always a highlight of visiting them. I hadn't had one in years though, but I figured it had to be just as delicious as it was in the late 80's, right? RIGHT? Wrong. It like wasn't even worth the calories to me...and lucky us, we have 2 whole cakes still!

2.14.10

Would you believe it if I told you that I have lived here for almost 4 years and today was the first time I had been to Ian's Pizza? Tis the truth. Yes, I had the mac and cheese pizza. Yes, it was quite tasty.

5/52 - things that start with B

If anyone noticed, I quit doing the Sunday announcement. I think it is safe to say no one cares :) I am continuing to enjoy the letters of the week theme...but I also keep getting ideas for other fun themes - so hopefully when it is warmer and lighter I can exercise those ideas! On to the Bs!

Burp clothes. Aren't these adorable!? My sister's pal (and my pal too!), Monnie, made them. I got them for Dizzy (don't start getting any ideas!) and they were a huge hit at the shower. She sells these and some other adorable goods on her Artfire site. Check it out here!



Baby Bellies! I liked the other pic I posted of these girls only slightly better than this one. This one is pretty awesome too.



Balls



This one might a triple threat - Boy and Bucky Badger. Hey Oh!



Booze




Brewers - Beer holder - Beer. This one might be a little bit of a stretch.



Baby. This kid always sleeps. In the time that I have been in his presence, I think he has been asleep 75% of the time. Apparently his brother wore the outfit he is wearing in this pic when he was 6 months too - and he is only 3 months. Dang, kid!



Boots

2.7.10

Little Fisher baby was baptized on Sunday. I didn't take this picture, as is evident by my presence on the right side of the picture. I was fulfilling my godmotherly duties, so I handed the camera off to Jon. Happy (?) Baptism, Fish!

2.6.10

Dizzy's shower was on Saturday. We gathered for a super delicious lunch at Western Racquet Club and showered her with love and presents to hopefully make her feel more at ease and "ready" for this babe to make his/her appearance.

Her sister in law, Mary, is also pregnant and due only a few weeks after she is, so we had to get a shot of the both of them. I am obsessed with the way this picture turned out. My favorite shots are usually the ones that are either right before or right after when the picture is supposed to be taken (does that make any sense?)...and this is one of those instances.

...and I have to say, Mary is owning those horizontal stripes like no one's business.

2.2.10

I love a little Laughing Cow and loved this adorable new packaging. I'm a sucker for a cute logo and perfect symmetry. The portion of the cubes are a little small - like I use one cube on one cracker, but I suppose that helps with the overeating.

1.25.10

This is a tad overdue, but this chica celebrated her birthday last week! We had a pretty big group that got together to celebrate at Cafe Continental, NOT Lombardino's as one might guess from this image. Happy Birthday, Nancy!

4/52: things that start with A

So I am really liking this generic theme rather than what I was doing the prior weeks. I'll obviously have to go back to doing those from time to time since there are only 26 letters in the alphabet though...and I'll probably skip Q and X and maybe Z. This was fun though! I'll admit I waited until Sunday to take all of these, but it was fun basically playing I Spy as I drove down the street trying to find things that started with the letter A. The scene in the car went like this: me talking out loud to myself naming everything I saw as I passed it. tree. T. nope. bridge. B. no. garbage. no. arrow. A. yes. pull over. And here they are...


Arrow (liquor baron was pretty sketch, btw.)



Arch

Is this a stretch? like maybe it will show up again in D week as a dome? we shall see. Looking back I should have gotten a shot of the most famous arches of them all - the GOLDEN arches. Dumb. It is only like my favorite restaurant. I wish I was kidding.



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