Memorial Day Weekend

Ok. So, I'm a week late..but who's counting!?! So last weekend we had a GREAT time!

Friday: I got home early...and so did Jamie! WAHOO!! Very rare indeed! I started right away with planting my hanging baskets that I had bought the supplies for earlier this week. Good news: They turned out beautiful AND even better news, they are still alive! Whorray!

Saturday: I had to walk ONE client. I planned it this way...i NEEDED the time off. But luckily it was one of my favorite clients. Bells....a soft coated wheaton terrier. We went down to Excelsior (this gorgeous town right on Lake Minnetonka...i LOVE it...one of my fav. areas) and took him on a hour long walk. Had the YUMMIEST home-made ice cream. And hung out with my hubby...all in all...good times!

Bells: Taken this winter....thus the snow!

Rest of the Weekend: We painted...yup, thats it! You scouff...but it was yet another thing that got crossed over that lovely list of "to-do's". Espically when the area that you are painting...is BRIGHT RED!

Sunday: Oh yeah...we went out to dinner at this great Irish pub...back over in Excelsior. Looks and feels like a real pub. Minus the $15.00 fish and chips (OUCH!). But it's our new favorite spot. Espically because they serve "home-brew" for Jamie!

So, thats it for us..a great weekend! As a side note...one of these days I will actually have pictures...still needing to buy a new camera! (ARG!)

Tastes like Chicken!

Okay, so, I was just reading some friends blogs...and my ol' co-counslor (Miss. Trish) inspired me. She was talking about a favorite grocery staple...and using it for a chicken marinade. I got to thinking...chicken is a staple in our kitchen....it's cheap, healthy and easy to spice up a bit. So, here is my favorite chicken recipe...it's also the easiest!

serves 4
ingredients
• 4 chicken legs, preferably free-range or organic, jointed
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a big bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
• 2 big handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved, and ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
• 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken up into cloves
• 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
• olive oil

optional:
• 1 x 410g tin of cannellini beans, drained
• 2 handfuls of new potatoes, scrubbed

DIRECTIONS:

This recipe takes literally minutes to put together but then requires slow, gentle cooking. However, in return for your patience, what happens in the pan from just a couple of ingredients is an absolute joy and never fails, so it’s a good one to serve if you have guests.

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Season your chicken pieces all over and put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer. Throw in all the basil leaves and stalks, then chuck in your tomatoes. Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chilli and drizzle over some olive oil. Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath. Place in the oven for 1½ hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off the bone.

If you fancy, you can add some drained cannellini beans or some sliced new potatoes to the pan and cook them with the chicken. Or you can serve the chicken with some simple mashed potato. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving. You could even make it part of a pasta dish – remove the chicken meat from the bone and shred it, then toss into a bowl of linguini or spaghetti and serve at once.

So, there ya go. Run out to the local farmers market, come home...fix this lil' dish up and let me know how it goes! EAT UP!

*compliments to Jamie Oliver, the chef that I grabbed this recipe from.

Have They Got the Right Stuff?!?!

Ok...so, being a product of the 80's I was, like most other girls my age, a HUGE fan of NKOTB (New Kids on the Block, for all you less-hip individuals). Today the group reunited and performed for the first time on the TODAY show.

Ok, so lets be honest...they don't have the best vocal talent or even dancing ability and yet I still think they are AWESOME. More because I start to get flashback to "the good ol' days" when boy bands were cool, new and still I would go out on a ledge to say innocent. I remember my first slumber party where every girl showed up with NKOTB sleepingbags and pillows in cases that matched. I know i didn't even have THAT much NKOTB stuff, not compared to my friends, and yet I still remember all the garb:

-sleeping bag
-BIG button
-bed sheets
-tshirt that was TOO big for me
-posters
-CD's

I remember standing in my room all day during a rainy day and making up dances to their songs. Even today when they were singing "the right stuff" and doing their signature moves...i started bee-boppin'...who wouldn't?!?!

Who knows how long they will stick around this time, but I don't think I'm alone in this flash back to my younger days.

~*~Yowza~*~

So, I finally came back and I'm embaressed about my severe lack of blogging. So, here is a brief catchup:

Jessica's Wedding: April 13, 2008

Bachlorette Party in Washington D.C

No, I did not get up on the bar to dance, I played "mom" with Jessica's sister Nicole and took the pictures. So that later on, when jess & jason have little ones of their own, I can adequetly embarress Jessica:) hehe....just kidding (maybe)

Jessica & Kim

Jess was one of the most beautiful brides I've ever seen. Also, you'll notice, I'm not in a lot of these....my camera broke (such BAD timing) so I don't have any pics of my own:(

Me & Kori: Bridesmaids Extroidanaire!

Not the most flattering angle...but whatever!

So, now Jess & Jason are probably back from their honeymoon and Jess is prepping herself for her man to go overseas for I think a year. She is so super strong and I'm so proud of her!

So, since we've gotten back we have painted the living & dining room in the house. When we moved in they were WHITE...i hate WHITE. I've finished the drapes for the living room, I've done my first booth for Heel! @ the Walk for Animals, we've got our second event coming up here in Shakopee this coming weekend and oh SPRING HAS FINALLY SPRUNG! Us Minnesotans are a little slow with the spring concept! So, once I get a new camera, I will have pictures to follow.