Splurge & Save

I'll let you guess which item is associated with which word:

The Mac wasn't as steep for us as it is for the average Joe (thank you Apple employee friend) but it still won the splurge title.  My brand new never been worn Nine West snakeskin heels, however, cost less than $4 = save!!! 

PS: Matt dreamed of and saved for his purchase over years and years.  I was the one who went out on a limb and made an impulse buy :o)

Guest Room

It's no secret that we like having guests around here.  And the schedule for 2011 is very promising!  Today our first overnighters arrive.  Are you on the list?  Hope so.  Or are we on your guest list?  Hope so.  Oooh to be a professional visitor/traveler.  Oooh if gasoline prices weren't so high.  Oooh if money grew on trees. 

PS - This is a close-up of the linen towel that is safety pinned to the wall above the bed.  I took it out of the MothersStuff stash and am debating on whether or not to keep and frame it.   Since Matt and I have been to London and all.  I wouldn't have the same inner debate with a cloth map of San Fransisco.  Never been there. 

 

While I'm on it... I love remembering where our things came from.  It evokes soooo much gratitude and brings back great great memories.  The bedding was pieced together with wedding gift money.  The lamps used to be my in-laws.  Matt built the bookshelf.  The Orangina poster was a gift from my Mom.  The alarm clock and bathroom towels were wedding shower gifts.  I bought the "R" on sale at Hobby Lobby in Keller, TX.  And the bottom row of books is a set of John Calvin commentaries Matt bought at a used bookstore next to our laundromat in Waco.

Love the things in our guest room and love the people we get to share them with!

Winter Scene

Geese in the snow a couple weeks ago.

Kennedy Center

Matt is currently on a rotation/stint/tour/phase/etc. that requires him to be out the door by 5:30 most mornings.  Considering his night owl nature, he has done fantastic with it.  Three things have been very helpful: (1) self-discipline (2) Rozerem and (3) the Jack Diamond Morning Radio Show.  At 5:30 every morning Mr. Diamond opens his phone lines for the "5:30 Club" where callers win prizes by merely being the right caller.  No trivia.  An easy task that early in the morning.  

For months Matt tried and tried to be the 5:30 Club winner.  No luck.  A couple weeks ago his alarm went off at the usual 5:00 hour, but I caught him resetting it for much later hour (which is allowable, but not every day that week...) so I sleepily encouraged him to go ahead and pursue the day.  He did.  And an hour later at 6:00 I woke to his phone call saying he won the 5:30 Club prize!  Yahoo!  What a great reward for getting out of bed that day! 

Four tickets to hear the National Symphony Pops Orchestra perform at the Kennedy Center were ours!  We laughed, but remained excited, when we found out the music selection was Disney tunes.  We were hoping for Mozart, but knew Mary Poppins would be fun too.  We took friends Jordan and Meredith with and had fun experiencing a new experience for free!  Except parking.  They got us there.  

We heard great tunes from films including Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book.  The last song performed was It's A Small World and as the concert hall sang along it felt like a Lawrence Welk moment.  Which is a good thing in my book.

We arrived back in Annapolis with empty stomachs at 10:00.  Everything but Cadillac Ranch was closed for the night and that place is what it sounds like.  An all-American bar and grill complete with mechanical bull.  A couple burgers and chicken fingers later, we ended the evening so grateful our friends could find a babysitter on short notice and that Matt didn't go back to bed that rewarding morning.

Chicken Soup Recipe

I found a staple recipe for chicken noodle soup that is so good.  So good I need to share.  It came out of this cookbook and is so yummy and easy I made it twice within one week.

• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 med yellow onion chopped
• 1 Tbs minced garlic
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 C dry white wine
• 6 C low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 C shredded rotisserie chicken
• 2  med carrots, peeled, chopped
• 1 celery stalk chopped
• 2 oz egg noodles
• 1 Tbs roasted garlic 
• 1/4 C chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic.  Add the thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent, 5-7 minutes.  Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the stock, the bouillon cube, the chicken, carrots and celery.  Simmer until the vegetables are tender, 25-30 minutes.  Add the egg noodles and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the 1 Tbs roasted garlic and the parsley.  Just before serving, season with pepper to taste and add more roasted garlic if necessary.

It was worth learning to roast a head of garlic in the oven and buying fresh parsley.  They say, and it's true, this soup is best made at least 1 day in advance.  The flavors marinate and, ode to the white wine and garlic, it's just so good!