That's what she said

What can I say?

I got an email from my husband this afternoon, gently reminding me, "babe, you are slacking on your blogs!" 

 

Forgive me?

 

In addition to being busy at work, I had a busy weekend! So, let me try and catch you up a bit. 

 

Friday: We got Pho for dinner and then (after a sweet suggestion from Lindsay!) hit up B&O Espresso for dessert & coffee. Let me just tell you, their desserts are just lovely. And yes, lovely is the perfect word to describe them. My sweet husband may try and tell you otherwise, as his tiramasu was not quite sweet enough to his liking. However, please do not let this detour your plans to go, as I would like to point out that his plate was squeeky clean within a matter of minutes!

 

Saturday: Woke up to a very clogged toilet, made pancakes for breakfast (my hopes of making them from scratch crashed when I realized I only had one egg), lounged around the house, got my hair cut, went to Trader Joes, made lasagna for dinner and watched The Hurt Locker with my husband. Good movie. If you like man movies. With lots of blood, shooting & swearing. Which reminds me, babe you owe me, big time. Did I mention I already got us tickets to Valentines Day for Friday? ;) 

 

Sunday: Church, made this awesome dip for our Superbowl party, saw a few decent commercials, watched football, came home to a still clogged toilet (despite my sweet husband's multiple attempts to unclog it), watched Shark Tank and as if I hadn't eaten enough junk food for the day, ate a big piece of cake for dinner, fell asleep early.

 

Monday: Layed in bed until the last possible minute, drug myself into work w/ two shots of espresso & milk in hand, and was greeted by a co-worker with a maple-bacon donut. Now, generally the sight of a large slab of meat on any kind of sweet would just about make me want to vomit, but this one was different. The bacon was crispy and salty, the perfect partner to a sweet, puffy, pastry! (What do you think? Would you try one?), two hours left before I get to go home, make dinner and watch 24. Decent start to the week.

 

Tuesday

I woke up this morning, confused as to what day it was. Sadly, it was only Tuesday, which also meant four more days of work until the weekend. Boo!

Last night for dinner I made Leah's lentil & bean burritos. They were yummy, thanks for sharing Leah! Flyn even ate them not knowing they were 100% vegetarian! He had seen chicken defrosting in the fridge that morning so he figured there was chicken in them. Ooops. After he found out he pretended argued that he didn't like them anymore and preceeded to tell me, "I am a Man, I eat meat!" Imagine what would happen to his reputation if this information got into the wrong hands...;)

On another note, tonight is Leah's birthday celebration! I am excited to see my friend and eat some yummy mexican food with her :)

I have been on a new recipe kick lately and so I will share a few recipes I have found that I want to try. Let me know if you get to them before me!

Chana Masala

Onion Soup

The Mushroom Soup

Peanut Sesami Noodles

Five dollar pizza

There is nothing I like better than finding a great happy hour and then sharing it with friends!

 

Friday for date night we checked out a restaurant, via a recommendation from a co-worker. The restaurant is called Via Tribunali or Café Via. (They have five locations around the Seattle area).

During happy hour you can choose from one of three pizzas for $5 each, which are regularly $16 during dinner. One pizza per person can easily fill you up. We chose the salame; thin crust, sweet tomato sauce, a thin layer of cheese and topped with mini salami slices. Delicious!

 

Despite the small table we squished into, the place had a beautiful, rustic old tavern style feel to it.. The service was fast and pleasant. If you are looking for deep dish, chicago style pizza you won't find it here.

 

TIP: The place was hopping when we got there around 5:30 so I would suggest you show up early if you can! (Happy Hour from 4pm-6pm daily)

Weekend Special

My friend Leah just introduced me to this online shop Ruche. They have some really cute items, so go check them out! And do me a favor, if you see the urban horseriding boots in a size 8.5-9, grab me a pair ;)

A few of my favorites

"King of Fruits"

Last night we went to Malay Satay Hut for dinner with our small group. We got Roti w/potato curry as an appetizer and I got the Hot & Spicy Chicken as my entree, cause thats how I roll. It was all really good food! The best part of the evening was whenThomas ordered a durian shake. He has been talking this paticular fruit up at small group and so we dared him to order one and we would all try it. So, before I show you some pictures of the episodes to follow, let me give you a little description of the durian first,

Often called, the king of fruits, the edible flesh emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and offensive. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust. The odour has led to the fruit's banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in southeast Asia

Got an idea? Here are a few pictures of how the tasting went...

 


 
I think James & Flyn's faces say it all. If I remember correctly, some of the testers called it

"Cat litter!"

"Onions!"

"Garbage!"

Have you ever tried the King of Fruits?   
  

Sick and tired....

of this stupid cold! I hate being stuffed up and what's worse I can only hear out of my left ear right now. Let's just say it doesn't sound very professional when I am on the phone at work and have to keep asking, "What? Sorry, did I hear you correctly? You said that you are dating Justin Timberlake and you are running away with him to New Zealand!??" But, I will tredge on and continue to drink my liquids, eat lots of fruits & veggies and take my vitamins. Well except the last one, as I don't have any vitamins right now. (Leah H. If you are reading this I need you to hook me up with some of the cheap generic ones from the pharmacy asap! Please?)

Last night I kicked my fear of cooking fish in the butt and made this.

It was pretty good considering how little ingrediants it required and how simple it was! I also have a recipe for pecan crusted fish fillets that I want to try out soon, so stay tuned.

Tonight is party night for small group. We are meeting up for some dinner at Malay Satay Hut. Should be a good time, I am looking forward to it. Minus this stupid cold.

If ya'll have any more helpful hints for getting rid of this cold I would greatly appreciate it. (So, would my husband ;)

2010 Wish List

Hello, little black dress. I need you for a wedding coming up...

 

J.Crew

 

I am really into pearls & big, chunky, beautiful jewelry right now. This one is perfect.

J.Crew

 

Now you may be asking yourself, why does she want a large faux clam shell? Well, I originally saw this clam shell on Young House Love's blog. Sherry uses it to hold fruit in her kitchen. I love the idea, although at $49 I may have to settle for my curent wicker fruit basket for now.

 
Zgallerie.com

 

I think this Galvanized Wall-Mount Bud Vase Set is adorable. I think it would be cute to add other items through out the year too, when fresh flowers are not as available!

Pottery Barn

 

I love these! Cute idea for storing decorative items, cereal, cookies, candy, you name it!

Pottery Barn

 

So cute!

Zgallerie.com

 

You would look beautiful in my apartment.

 

Zgallerie.com

 

  

 

 

 

Vashti....Lilia....Leah

Today is your birthday!

I like to kid that you are so much older than me, but in reality, I am not too far behind you!

I remember the first time we met in high school in science class. You walked in with your white jeans and blue addidas jacket, the new kid in town. You scared me a little at first but we soon became great friends. I also remember spending the night at your house and sleeping on your pull out bed, styaing up late and eating biscuits & gravy for breakfast J

I like that you still laugh at my jokes.

I like that when I call you on the phone you pretend are always happy to hear from me.

I like swapping recipes with you and watching countless hours of the Hills, Madea and Food Network.

Maybe one day we will have our own cooking show or better yet, our own restaurant!

But most of all, I love your friendship.

You are a beautiful, sweet, caring, wonderful friend and I am proud to call you so!

I can’t wait to see more of you now that you are just a short drive over the water.

I can’t wait to watch our babies play together one day.

Yours will be older than mine of course, which is good, because then they can watch out for them like an older brother or sister. Or boyfriend, who knows... :)

So, here’s to you Leah. One year older, yet one more beautiful & wiser. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nyquil & Ice Cream

Yes, yes. I am still here. 

It's been a long week and yes it's only tuesday. Flyn and I spent the entire weekend from Fri evening to Sun evening in the house, nursing our sore throats and colds with lots of nyquil and ice cream :) At least we got the rest we were looking for! In a weird not fun kind of way.

Yesterday, I stayed home from work and caught up on some more rest and TLC. I was rather bummed for having to stay inside all weekend, so my sweet husb and I took a little trip out and he bought me these cute shoes from Macy's

Except in a light green color!

I hope your weekend was more exciting! Being fun is no sick, especially when your spouse is also sick! Back to a crazy work day today! And on top of it all I forgot to set our alarm last night and woke up 25min before we had to leave. Thankfully we got out the door on time, minus one much needed shower. Tuesday=1 Esther=0

Also, can someone please help clear something up for me. Is ice cream good or bad for you when you are sick? I sure hope that is not the latter....

Date Night

I am reaching out to you my fellow bloggers...any ideas on restaurants in the area or fun things to do tonight? I am running up short on ideas.....

Thanks!