change of plans...

Yesterday didn't go as planned. For some reason we slept poorly Friday night and just never felt well enough Saturday to do much of anything. We missed the music & ice cream festival we were planning on; the cold & cloudy weather didn't help. With only 2 weeks left in his semester, I know Cory is running pretty ragged; I don't think he minded a down day. I found a copy of the old school Disney Sleeping Beauty I had for my niece and decided to curl up & watch it with the cat :) Love.

Project Life update...

I love being able to just pick up and over the course of a few days put together & finish 6 pages!....although my goal is definitely to get into a better habit of working on it every week. I gathered up my favorite photos and thought about what had been going on during the month of April...everything else just sort of fell together. I haven't saved as much memorabilia as I'd like; I'm working on that too. Random thoughts...I love the veggieburger font printed on journal cards, my gratuitous stealing of internet pictures to supplement my own photos, my corner rounder hurts my hand, I want to use that hot pink paint on everything & using date stamps is scary! (the perfectionist in me has re-done journal cards because of botched stamps).

upcoming events...

If you live in central Illinois and are looking for something fun to do tomorrow, check out Emack & Bolio's Music & Ice Cream Fest! This is the 6th year for this event but it will be our 1st time attending. One of our good friends is the event organizer and a few others will be performing + the ice cream is to die for. Music runs from noon until 10pm and admission is free! :)

asian salad + grilled chicken

This has been one of our stand-by recipes for the past few years. It is fresh and light and we almost always have everything we need to make it! I'm not sure of the original source for this recipe - I got it from my mama (mamas always know best, don't they?). Tonight I kept it super simple, I didn't even marinate the chicken, just a little salt + pepper before throwing it on the grill pan. You can use pretty much whatever veggies/salad stuff you have on hand. I used romaine salad mix, carrots, purple cabbage and cucumbers. The key players are the mandarin oranges and the crunchy chow mein noodles. The star of the show is the dressing....we'll call it Kate's Lite Sesame Dressing, in honor of Mom :)

Kate's Lite Sesame Dressing
1/4  c. light mayo
2 + 1/2 T. rice vinegar
1 T. sugar
2 + 1/2 t. sesame oil
2 + 1/2 t. soy sauce
1/4 t. garlic powder

Whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl, makes approx 2-3 servings. Enjoy!
I recently learned the following tip on grilling chicken:
* Use a meat mallet to flatten out the chicken + make it a uniform thickness.
I have had amazing results since I started doing this!

photo(-a-day)dump...

Truth be told, I've gotten a little behind on my photo-a-day challenge. I've missed the sunset a few times and have been basically waiting to capture that so I could put everything up in order. I took a film photography class in college (very basic). So this is just me playing around with our Nikon D60. I'm hoping that I can learn new techniques & just overall improve my photography by taking photos daily.
From top to bottom: stairs, something I found (my old driver's license from Japan), how I feel today (like a crabby goose), sunset (not loving this photo but moving on), flower, something I don't like (doing dishes by hand, love when they are done though), hair (got that shot on the first try!), orange (juice), something I drew (a tent), and a bottle (pink champagne - YES!).

I'm playing along with Fat Mum Slim's Photo-A-Day Challenge & love having prompts! Above is April 12th - 21st. You can find May's prompts here.

thoughts...

I took the photo above last week (trying to take more photos lately). The walk from our house, around the park + lake then back home again is a nice 30 minutes. The girls are so used to our route; they know when to turn and which way to go. On Sunday we took them to the dog park to run around & socialize. Lulu was a total mama's girl while Bella wanted to be friends with everyone, other dogs & humans. :) I forgot my camera that day, shoot.
In other news, we've been trying loads of recipes from Pinterest (I'll share my favorites), doing lots of spring cleaning & organizing (oh how I love a clean closet!), and lots of job-searching. I've also been thinking a lot about my parents this week. They're back at Duke for treatment after a not-so-great report last time - just after we all thought he was in the clear. It's a relief that he's not in any pain, but he is exhausted and I know it's frustrating for him. If you make time to pray or send good vibes into the universe, please add them to your list. 
On a related note, my sister Molly, her boyfriend Alex & her good friend Jamie are participating in the 2012 Race for Hope in DC on May 6th.  Their team is Papa Doc's Tooth Fairies (my dad is a dentist) and if you want to donate you can do so on their team page. They are running for Dad and in honor of Jamie's mom who passed in 2002 from brain cancer. Proceeds from the race support the National Brain Tumor Society and Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, causes very near & dear to my family. ♥

Happy Birthday Dear Husband....

 Yesterday, my dear husband had a big birthday....the big 3-0! I made my first ever from-scratch cake (this Hawaiian Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese frosting). I cut the recipe in half and baked 2 6-inch cakes. I lost a layer during the cutting process so this guy is 3 layers instead of 4. I highly recommend baking the cake the day before if you can (the longer it has too cool & rest the easier it will be to cut and frost). My cake may not be pretty but it was definitely tasty! Cory requested meat loaf & mashed potatoes for dinner....decided to change it up and try Pioneer Woman's meat loaf recipe. Oh holy comfort food!!! YUM! I cut the recipe in half, omitted the bacon, and used dried parsley and bread crumbs instead of fresh because it's what I had on hand. It was a lovely & low-key evening, just as he had requested after a long day of work + school.
Happy Birthday Dear Husband, Happy Birthday to you! ♥

photo-a-day

From top to bottom: shadow, inside my wallet, younger me, cold, where I ate breakfast. From Fat Mum Slim's April Photo-A-Day Challenge (this is April 7-11).

movie night...

 stills // Lionsgate 

Oh the Hunger Games!!! I finished the book and saw the movie today. I cannot wait to dig into the next 2 books & I thought the movie was excellent! It was a movie date with my sister and my parents....and it was free small popcorn day at the theater! But I had really been craving a soft pretzel so I got one instead and called that dinner :) My sister and I called Katniss & Peeta < catnip and pita pocket > the whole time...I always have laughs with my sisters! I absolutely loved the cast....Jennifer Lawrence was great and I had no idea Stanley Tucci or Woody Harrelson were even in the movie - pleasant surprises! And now I want to take up archery! :)