Lotto

Well at least I was somewhat lucky on Monday! I only had one matching number on my Lotto results. Oh well, it was fun testing the theory. :)

Cupcake Street Art

I LOVE this idea! But...I lack the energy/motivation to do it myself. Maybe I will have the energy to do it over spring break. Maybe.

I found this cute Easter egg wreath idea. I want to make it, but that would mean I would have to spend $ (which I am trying hard not to do) on a hot glue gun and glue sticks.

Feeling Lucky

Last night, I was feeling extremely lucky. Earlier in the afternoon, Matty asked me to play "pasoor" with him so he could practice & try to beat his dad (Pasoor is a Persian card game). I groaned as I never (ever!) win that game. Actually, no one ever wins against Omid in this game. So I agreed to play just two games with Matty. Well, I was shocked and somewhat excited as I won those two games. I couldn't believe it. Yay for me!

When Omid came home, Matty and I had a rematch. I won again! We had another rematch. Again a win for me. What a streak of luck for me! I wanted to test the luck theory and asked Omid to play me. I knew that if I beat Omid...I should definitely go and buy a lottery ticket! Omid & I played and I won. Let me just say right here, I won fair & square...he didn't let me win.

I was so excited I got in my car and ran to Fred Meyer. I bought 2 Lotto tickets (which I haven't bought in years) & picked up some thick Greek yogurt & ice cream for dessert (which were on sale!). Once I got home, I made delicious borani (yogurt with fresh baby spinach & shallots) which was super delicious. Omid tested it and said it was awesome. Wow! What a great night. Hope I win Wednesday night's drawing!

Fun with Jackson Pollock

http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

Don't click on Take it from Here...click on Enter http://www.jacksonpollock.org/ instead.

This is a fun "time waster." Click to change colors and press the space bar to clear your canvas.

Salla!

Yesterday I ventured up to Bellevue to see my friend Salla. We haven't see each other in 24 years! It was a lot of fun to see her again after all this time. :)

I met Salla on the first day of school in 1984. She was an exchange student from Finland and we had PE together. We became best friends. We have so much in common too. Our birthdays are both in December - just 4 days apart, we share the same wedding anniversary - March 30, we both love to travel, we both enjoy wine, we are both crazy for dogs and the list goes on and on.

When it was time for Salla to move back to Finland, she invited me to go home with her. I spent 5 weeks with her and her family. It was such a wonderful experience for me. We have kept in touch all these years by telephone, mail, email and most recently Facebook. Salla & her family moved to Chicago 3 years ago. She flew out to visit her host parents this past weekend and squeezed me in for a visit too. Sadly, she will be moving back to Finland in June. Here are pictures of Finland 1985 and also of our reunion yesterday.

Meeting Marja, Salla's mom.

Marja, Salla & Seppo (Salla's dad)


Seppo, Me, Marja in Tampere.

Salla & Me

On our way to the airport (my last day in Finland).
Salla & her host mom Joy.

Salla & I toasting our reunion with a glass of Piper champagne at Pearl.

After catching up for a few hours, we headed over to Seastar restaurant in Bellevue. Oh my goodness. The food was so incredibly delicious. Joy is a local celebrity there, so we received the 'star' treatment.

It was such a fun day catching up with Salla and Joy. I hope we don't have to wait too long to see each other again!

Happiness & Persian on the outside...Texan on the inside.

60 degrees and SUNSHINE today! What wonders sunshine does for the soul! I am so HAPPY today! Yay! The reasons I am happy are as follows.

#1 - No School Today! Woo Hoo! Though I did have to stand outside and knock on the door for about 5 minutes before someone saw me and let me in (had to drop something important off). I am not cool enough to have the much coveted 'main' key' - just a key to my room. Sucks for me.

#2 - SUNSHINE! What more can a person in WA ask for?! I even washed my car today. :)

#3 - Seattle for me tomorrow! I am so excited I just can't wait. You will have to wait until Sunday to find out what the Seattle post is about. It's great & wonderful and I can barely stand the wait!

#4 - Sound of Music tonite! Go Nas' friends!

Okay...now to the Persian-Texan tease. Most of you know, Omid is Persian (eye-rain-ee-an) by birth. There is a redneck (aka Texan) hidden in that man. He is way more redneck than I am and I grew up in Olympia for goodness sake! If you need more proof of this: watch the following videos. Anyone know of a parade out there I can sign Omid up for? ;) He is so funny...he makes me laugh everyday!

Quick & Easy Dinner

This recipe is just that: quick & easy. I found this recipe in Tuesday's Oregonian (in the Food Day section).

I grabbed what I thought was a bag of frozen rotisserie chicken and when it was thawed, saw that it was actually razor clams. Ooops! Our chicken chowder just became clam chowder. Still nummy!

Creamy Chicken & Corn Chowder

2 T butter
1 1/2 c chopped onions
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 c flour
1 14 oz cans chicken broth
2 11 oz cans Green Giant Mexicorn, drained (I just used 1 15 oz can regular corn)
2 c milk
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 packed cups baby spinach (I didn't add any of the spinach)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 t Tabasco sauce or to taste

Melt butter in saucepan, add onions & saute until tender. Stir in the cumin. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2-3 mins (stirring occasionally). Whisk in the chicken broth until smooth. Add the corn & milk and bring to a simmer. Let cook for 4-5 mins more or until the chowder is thickened slightly. Stir in the chicken & spinach and cook for another 1-2 mins and the spinach is wilted. Add salt & pepper to taste. Stir in Tabasco & serve immediately.

Wild Olive Tees

I found this site thru Pioneer Woman this morning. I love the Transform Your Mind tshirt. I must have it. Check out these cool and positive tshirts at Wild Olive Tees. Too cute!

Dog Friends

When I arrived at work this morning, I found this note & ball in my box.

Remy's friends Buster & Beaner "Beanie" Owen were shopping with their mom this weekend and bought Remy this giant ball.

It's definitely a mouthful!

Thanks Buster & Beaner "Beanie" Owen!

Love, Remy

Vinyl Sillhouettes

I want these! I am already thinking about which photos of Nas, Matty & Remy I am going to send in. Too cute!

http://www.vinylsilhouettes.com/index.html

Backgammon & ice cream sundaes

Several nights a week, Omid and his mom play a competetive game of backgammon. Both always claim to win - the kids and I never really know the truth. If Omid's mom 'upsets' the game by moving the pieces around (which happens fairly often) we have a good idea that Omid is winning. Last night, the 'loser' had to take the kids out for ice cream. I was excited as I had found a coupon for Baskin & Robbins (buy-one-get-one free sundae) on the Coupon Cravings blog.

We drove to B & R and I announced to the person helping us that we have a coupon for a bogo free sundae. He said, "We don't accept any coupons here. You have to try another B & R." I was bummed. Those sundaes are $4.99 each! I also have a Payback book, so I guessed he just didn't want to accept internet coupons (plus, I don't like to be told: no). I said to him, "Well, I also have a Payback book cooupon for a bogo ice cream cone." He again told me, "we don't accept coupons here," and pointed to a sign that said, "EACH STORE IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED & MAY NOT ACCEPT COUPONS."

So...instead of driving to Cold Stone (where I KNOW they will accept my coupons) we stayed there and got the kids their sundaes & Fari her ice cream cone. We were the only ones in that store & I would think the owner would WANT business there. My advice to him...start accepting coupons. I won't be back to your B&R store again...but will visit Cold Stone instead. Everyone is using coupons now. Get on board!

Mary's Microwave Caramel Popcorn

One of my coworkers sent out this recipe today with YUMMIES in the subject line.

It's super tasty and super easy. It takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish. It is sticky and greasy, but the results are worth it. I usually make my carmel popcorn with a bag of melted caramels. It stays sticky, whereas this popcorn is crunchy (like Fiddle Faddle). The sticky-greasy bag afterwards.

The end result.

Remy waiting for his share. He loves it!

Here's the recipe:

Mary's Microwave Caramel Popcorn

Pop 2 bags microwave popcorn and put into a large brown paper sack. Combine in a tall bowl:

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup Karo syrup

1/2 t salt

Cook in a microwave for 2-3 mins making sure it comes to a full boil.

Stir in 1/2 t baking soda. Quickly pour syrup over popped corn in bag. Shake to mix.

Microwave bag with the top rolled down on high for one and a half minutes. Remove from micro and shake well. Return to micro and cook for another one and a half minutes.

Pour caramel corn onto buttered cookie sheet to cool.

Olive Juice

Just found this blog, Olive Juice this morning. It's full of delicious recipes. Check it out.

The Case of the Missing Brown Bag Lunch

My friend Lin brought me lunch today. She said, "It's a brown bag lunch with a sandwich and a few snacks. Your name isn't on it, & it's in the small fridge." I told her 'thank you very much' and was so hungry by first recess there was no way I was waiting until lunch to access that bag.

I went into the staff lounge and grabbed the lunch bag (without my name on - just like she said) and ate the sandwich. It was good too. Roast beef on whole wheat. Yum.

About an hour later, I saw Lin and thanked her for the lunch. She asked how I liked the turkey sandwich. I said, "That was turkey? It sure tasted like roast beef." Lin said, "No, that was turkey" and some other things that I didn't hear because I was thinking: 'Dang! I think I ate someone else's lunch!' I asked her if she put a bag of Cheez-its and a Jello in for snack. She said, "No, I went back after first recess and wrote your name on your lunch." Once I heard that I ran to my room to check my email to see if someone had put a lost lunch alert out. There was nothing there, so I decided to put my own "Are you missing a lunch because I just ate it" email.

After I sent the email, I took the brown bag + snacks and went to the staff lounge. Swallowing my pride, I held up the bag and asked about 20 people if they were missing a lunch. Two ladies held up their hands and I asked who had the roast beef & Cheez-its, etc. It was poor Ashley who is already deathly thin and needs to eat. She was eating chicken noodle soup instead. I explained to her and everyone else what had happened. I apologized profusely to Ashley and gave her the snacks I didn't eat plus the lunch Lin made for me (which now had my name PLASTERED on the bag).

I bet after this incident, Ashley (& everyone else at work) will write their names on their lunches. This'll teach 'em. :)