Day 39 ~ Miami Glow

My new thing for the day was a gift from my wonderful husband.

Today my husband and I went shopping for some shoes for the girls. He was nice enough to come along and keep me company, we all know most men don't enjoy shopping too much. I was picking up my dad some of his favorite cologne in the perfume store, and casually smelling the different scents. I love perfume. I love things that smell wonderful whether that is fruit, flowers, fresh rain, sunshine, fresh air and even food. I have a very sensitive nose, so although I love wonderful scents, if something smells wrong, I find it almost painful to be around. It is a blessing and a curse all wrapped up in one tiny package, my nose.

While smelling the different perfumes, I came across this AMAZING scent. It smelled of summer, of coconut, pineapples, sunshine, everything wonderful and beautiful in the world. To my huge surprise it was by no other than J-Lo. That is right folks, Miami Glow is what it was called, and it was intoxicating. I sprayed a little on my neck and my husband just gave me that grin. The, "Hey, how you doin?" grin. I couldn't help but laugh. Later today he had to work, but came home with a surprise. He found the same perfume and brought it home for me. Of course I was delighted, he made me feel very special.

Tonight I sit here and smell of summer, coconut, pineapples, and sunshine, everything wonderful and beautiful in the world thanks to my wonderful husband.

Next time you are at the mall, check out the J-Lo perfumes, I think you will be pleasantly surprised

Day 38~ Oregon Zoo

Today my friend called and asked if we felt like ditching the Super Bowl and taking the girls to the zoo, she had extra tickets and thought it would be fun to go. My poor hubby had to work so I thought why not? Could be a lot of fun! I was right, it was and the Wild Six were at it again.

It had to be the perfect day to take the kids, nice weather, very few people and all the cats were out. I love the spur of the moments things. Where you don't have to plan it all out, you just go. Those type of things always seem to be so much fun. I thought about a million other places I would love to go during Super Bowl, like Disneyland! Can you imagine how short the lines would be. HMMMM.... maybe next year!

So there you have it, our new thing today was ditching the game and going to the zoo and we all had a wonderful time!

Day 37 ~ Beef Bourguignon

Tonight I tried a new recipe, Beef Bourguignon, and although it took awhile to cook it was DELICIOUS!!


In Late December I rented Julie and Julia and was inspired. She went through the entire year, cooking new recipes from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The movie not only inspired me to cook, but inspired me to start this blog. I loved the idea of trying something new everyday, and so here I am, day 37, trying the famous Beef Bourguignon. Although it is a slight variation from Julia Child's recipe, it was still wonderfully delicious. Trust me, the picture does not do it justice, just ask my husband who licked his bowl clean. I spent most of the afternoon cooking, sautéing, and chopping, and it was well worth it. I have attached the link to the recipe I used. I made a few substitutions like using 6 pieces of thick cut bacon instead of what the recipe called for, and no, I didn't use the cognac... I was afraid I would set the house on fire with that trick! Either way it was still absolutely delicious. The Italian Bread was a wonderful touch, toasted with a small amount of butter. All I can say is I tried a new recipe today and it was YUMMY!

Try it out, you will not be disappointed!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beef-bourguignon-recipe/index.html

Day 36 ~ Children's Museum and a Spray Tan

Today we surprised the youngest two with a trip to the Children's Museum. They had the Clifford Exhibit out and the girls LOVED IT!! There were so many great activities and things for the girls to do. The Children's Museum was amazing, and the girls kept running from one thing to another.


Hailey always had this look of excitement and "NO WAY!" I swear you can hear her scream from a block away and her happiness is felt across the room.


Our youngest's expressions are a little different from those of her sister. She is little more along the lines of "What the hell?" "What are you looking at?" I think this is her permanent look at all times. It seems to fit in any situation she is in. She is sweet and loving, but she can give you a look like you have never seen before.

It was so nice being able to get out together, and although my oldest was in school and we missed her a ton, we all had a lot of fun, and it was a great new thing to do this afternoon.

A Spray Tan

My other new thing for the day was a spray tan. As most of you know, or don't know, I am pretty fair. I grew up in San Diego where the sun never stops shining, and spent way too much time sun bathing as a kid. Now as an adult with as much money and energy as I put into keeping my skin nice, I avoid tanning. I have heard about spray tans but have never had one. I have nothing against tanning beds, but I do have something against wrinkles on my face.

My very good friend told me about a special at a local tan and spa salon. The Ultimate Tan and Spa in Newberg offers 50% off on Fridays for spray tans. Sounded like a great deal to me so I decided to go in. I can not tell you how good it smelt in there, like sunshine and coconuts all wrapped up in one. Seriously, just hanging out in there made me feel like summer. The girl behind the counter was so nice. She set me up, and showed me what to do. I went in a room and rubbed lotion on my hands and feet to reduce any chance of crazy stains from dye, I put a hair cover on, and then stepped into the machine. I pushed this green button and waited for the spray... blink, blink, blink and then the spraying began. It scared the crap out of me and I gasped for air, which at that moment included a heavy dose of tanning solution. I felt like a white man doing the sprinkler dance as I tried to make sure I got my body covered, doing the things the nice girl at the counter showed me to do. Then it stoped and I turned to get my back side while repeating the crazy stances/dance moves.

Once I was done, I stepped out and dotted the excess, got dressed, and came out. I unfortunatley have extremely dry hands, and noticed a streak, so I go to wash it off. After my hands are washed I noticed something. OH NO! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!! I have washed off the mist on my hands and now they are soooo white, I look like I am wearing white gloves. I go out with this look on my face. The nice girl just smiles and fixes it for me. I guess I am not the only one who has done this before. I am to wait 4 hours before showering to help it set.

I am so glad I did this because it gave me such a nice bronze color, not too dark but still enough to make me feel great. I feel next time I will be a little better with my moves in the spray room, but other than that, it was soooooo worth it. I definitely will be doing this again.

I got a tan today and I am loving it!

Day 35 ~ Crazy Sushi

As I mentioned yesterday, it has been 10 years today, since I met my husband. He is the love of my life and through good and bad times, he is the only man I want by my side.

When he woke up this morning and saw the I Love You signs around the house, and all the stickies with funny memories, he couldn't help but laugh and smile. I even stuck them in the shower, so when he thought he found them all, he found a few extra in there. It was well worth the lack of sleep to get it set up for him.

We decided to go to lunch and try a new sushi place, for our new thing today. It is called Crazy Sushi. Crazy Sushi, heck yeah, I would say it was crazy good. HOLY @*$#! It was absolutely spectacular. The food was AMAZING and colorful and beautiful and each plate looked like a piece of art. The prices were very fair and the portions were very generous. We were so full, we didn't even come close to finishing it, and we ate the rest for dinner. It was AWESOME!!! Yes, I am using the word awesome because that is how dang good it was! We tried some new sushi including:

Spider Roll

soft shell crab, crab, avocado, masago

Lobster Crunch

crab, avocado, cucumber, asparagus rolls

Lobster tempura piled on top

Washington Roll

California roll base with fresh Salmon on top

This was the best sushi I have ever had. If you live in the Portland area I would highly recommend it. It is a small place but, is UNBELIEVABLY good!!

We tried a new restaurant today and some new sushi and I would have to say, IT ROCKED!!

Here is their website, check them out. They even have coupons for free appetizers.

http://crazysushi.net/crazy-sushi/index.php

Day 34 ~ A Surprise

Tomorrow it will be 10 years since my husband and I met. I use to think people were strange celebrating this day, but this year I really wanted to do something special for my husband. I can honestly say the day we met started a new and happy chapter in my life. We met, and that was it! I can remember calling my mom the next day to tell her about the guy I met. We met at a bar by chance and all I can say was it was meant to be.


Tonight I went and got him all his favorites at the store. Favorite candy, favorite breakfast, favorite beer, favorite food and I plan on decorating the house once he goes to bed. When he wakes up he will find all his favorite things, signs all over the house that say I love you, and little sticky notes everywhere with funny memories we have shared. I have been having so much fun today planning and searching out these items. I can't wait to see his face in the morning. I think the biggest joy in life is often the the joy you receive from doing things for others.


Today I planned a big surprise for my husband and I can't wait for tomorrow!!

Day 33 ~ Variety

Today I did a variety of things that were out of the ordinary for February, and I am ready for bed!

Where I live we get a lot of rain. We spend too much of the winter indoors, and it is pretty gray. This morning I woke up singing Tonight's gonna be a good night, sang it all day long, and I think the sunshine had something to do with it. Today was BEAUTIFUL. The sun shined all afternoon and my husband and I tried to suck up as much sun as we could. We ate outside, played outside, worked on our yard, planted some bulbs and just sat and watched our youngest play. It has been months since we have been able to sit and enjoy a beautiful day together. My husband normally works a 65 hour week, so just having him here today to hang out all day was new in itself. I have to say there is nothing better than a beautiful sunny day in February. That was definitely something we haven't had for a while.

All I have is one word for you, LOST! LOST is finally back on and in its last season. I love this show!!! I wish it would never end. Enough of that.... OK one more thing... LOST is the best show ever.

Today consisted of a variety of new things for February. I wish the sun always shined like this. I would never come indoors. One thing I did realize is my legs have not seen the sun since October, and I think my new thing this week will consist of a spray tan.