Evergreen!

*Dedicated to Heidi R!

Why I love TESC:

*Rollerskating on Red Square during summer evenings singing songs from Xanadu with all the kids from our neighborhood.

*Eating my way through Super Saturday & purchasing flower crowns (year after year). In fact, my first spring roll was from a SS vendor.

*Watching Nas & Matty ride their bikes all over when they were smaller.

*You can be whomever you want to be and no one cares!

*My sisters and I learned how to drive on the campus.

*Great memories from 1986/87 with wonderful TESC friends!

What I don't subscribe to: the anarchy ideal lots of students do...plus I like to wear shoes & deodorant. :)

**NOTE: B, Nas and I went to shop at the campus bookstore while Matty rode his longboard around campus. After about an hour, we met up with Matty. The first thing out of Matty's mouth was, "I have seen so many freaky people here!" Hilarious!

Spring Break - Part Deux

On Wednesday, B, the kids and I started our morning at Wagner's German Bakery for breakfast. Cream cheese danishes & cream horns. Simply yummy!

Breakfast!

We decided to walk off our pastries & stop by the Capitol.

Christine wasn't in. I checked.

Fun fact: B noticed that all the doorknobs have George Washington on them.

The ginormous chandelier. Fun Fact: a VW Beetle could fit inside.
Random Fun Fact: B remembered from a previous Capitol tour, that all the draperies inside were from Frederick & Nelson (remember that store?).

After the Capitol, we headed over to Lacey to visit Saint Martin's University.

SMU = $$$$$

It's also way too small of a school for Nas.

Fun Fact: There is an Abbey on campus and we saw several monks in long robes walking around Old Main.

After SMU, we headed back to the westside and visited my old stomping grounds: Evergreen! It's a good thing I ended up at WSU. First, I wouldn't have met Omid, and second: I would probably have dreads & call myself "Walnut."

TESC

After spending a lot of time visiting TESC and buying 'Greener' tshirts, we needed a snack.

Eagan's on Harrison for fries & goop. Delicious!

We picked Cayden up for Kindergarten and went downtown to Percival Landing. We were in the mood for something sweet so then drove to the San Francisco Street Bakery for cookies.

San Francisco Street Bakery (visit their stand in the Farmer's Market for yummy almond chewies!).

The kids and I came back home today. It's naptime for Remy & laundry for me. But first, I managed to stick my fun Doxies on the wall. I couldn't wait & decided not to paint my laundry room after all.

Remy checking out the Dachshunds.

Spring Break - Part 1

For the first part of our spring break, the kids, Remy and I headed up north to Olympia. We picked up my parents and ventured up to Seattle. Our first stop was UW, so Nas could visit the campus & see what it was like. Suzzalo Library on the UW campus. It reminded me of a cathedral; but our tour guide thought it looked more like Hogwarts - right out of Harry Potter. Give me a break! Btw...I am not a Harry Potter fan. In fact, I was waiting for our guide to say 'something' about Harry Potter ever since I read this article about Colleges/Universities comparing themselves to Hogwarts. The second reference to Harry & Co. was that UW has it's own Harry Potter club. We even saw the HPC president walking on campus with her Hogwarts scarf. I knew there was a reason WSU was better than UW!

Naseem & Papa inside the Suzzalo Library (fun fact: UW has 17 libraries on campus).

More Suzzalo (& shady looking guy who made it into the photo)

The cherry trees were all in bloom & were beautiful.

After we finished touring UW, we headed over to Fremont to find the troll.

The troll's eye is a hubcap from the VW Beetle down below. Fun fact: When the troll sculpture was finished, the VW held a time capsule full of Elvis memorabilia. Soon after, thieves broke into the VW and stole everything. So now the Beetle sits empty. Scary Fact: Matty climbed up to the top of the troll, turned around and saw several homeless people sleeping.

Matty & the Troll.

After hitting Fremont, I made everyone come with me to Lake View Cemetery. Lake View is the final resting place of many famous people. Bruce is the most famous. For some reason, I thought Jimi Hendrix was buried here too. My mom popped into the cemetery's office to get a map & that is when we found out JH wasn't at this cemetery. The receptionist gave us a map to the Renton cemetery, but we didn't want to drive all the way over there.
Bruce Lee's Gravestone

After we found Bruce Lee, we looked for Princess Angeline's gravestone. Princess Angeline is the daughter of Chief Sealth. Freaky Fact: After Matty & my mom got out to find the gravestone, it started pouring like crazy. Right when I started to take a photo, there was a bright flash and a gigantic clap of thunder. Scary! That was our cue to leave the cemetery!

Naseem's friend Gerald was also visiting UW. He met us at the cemetary and asked Naseem: What kind of people go to a cemetery for fun?! She answered: My mom! Fun Fact: My cousin's 5th grade class went to this cemetery for a field trip. I am not the only one who thought it would be interesting!

Happy Anniversary!!

21 years ago today Omid and I were married. Happy anniversary Omidjoon! I love you!!

Make This!!

Fruit Swirl Coffee Cake

1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c butter
1/2 shortening
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
4 eggs
3 c flour
1 can (21 0z) cherry pie filling

Heat oven to 350*. Generously grease a jelly roll pan (15.5 x 10.5 x 1) or two 9x9 pans. Blend sugar, butter, shortening, baking powder, vanilla, almond extract & eggs in large mixing bowl on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in flour. Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of pan. Spread pie filling over batter. Drop remaining batter by tablespoon onto pie filling. Bake about 45 minutes. While warm, drizzle with glaze. (Glaze: mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 1-2 T of milk).

Make This!!

Cracker Roca

Saltine or Club crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar (NOT margarine)
8-12 oz chocolate chips
slivered almonds or pistachios

Preheat oven to 400*. Line a cookie sheet with heavy foil. Layer crackers on foil. Mix sugar & butter. Melt and bring to a boil. Spread over crackers, bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Let sit for a minute - the chips will be easier to spread. Smooth chocolate to form a layer. Sprinkle with almonds, press slightly into chocolate. Refrigerate for a few minutes until cool. Break into chunks and enjoy!
**Note: I was mult-tasking when I made this recipe: talking on the phone. Mistake: only using one cube of butter instead of two. Verdict: still delicious!

Bird Dog...

Raisin & Remy

Happy Nowruz!

It's Nowruz today! Happy Persian New Year!!

Pet's Eye View Camera

What a fun idea! The camera clips onto your pet's collar and take photos at 1, 5 or 15 minute intervals. Holds up to 40 photos. I would purchase one for Remy....except I don't like the $50 price tag. I will wait to see if they go on sale.

Persian Food

It's no secret that Omid cooks the best Persian food in the world. His mom is a close second. For those of you who can't eat dinner with us every night, there's this blog: My Persian Kitchen. Check it out!

This color makes me happy!

I spotted this tin wash tub at Target today (& on clearance too!!). Omid and I were looking for one of these last summer to keep beverages cold during our bbqs. The cheapest ones we could find were around $30. The color is so cheery & bright on this dark, gloomy, wet day. Thanks Target!

Adorable!!

Photo by InitialYou

I want these playful Dachshund decals for my laundry room. They would look so cute underneath my ironing board. Don't you agree? **Update: I purchased them!!! Can't wait until they arrive.

Women for Afghan Women

Last night, ABC Nightly News aired a story about secret women's shelters in Afghanistan. I wrote an entire post about this, but deleted it as Diane Sawyer does a much better job reporting the story. Have a tissue handy if you do watch the story. Please visit the site Women for Afghan Women to learn more about Afghanistan's secret shelters for women & girls.

Make This!!

Chocolate Caramel Fondue

1 14 oz can Eagle Brands Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 12 oz jar caramel ice cream topping
3 1 oz squares unsweetened chocolate

In medium saucepan, combine Eagle Brand, caramel topping and chocolate. Cook & stir over low heat until chocolate melts.
pour into serving bowl or individual cups.

**I made this for Nas' bday party. The kids dipped pretzel rods, pound cake, strawberries, cheesecake bites, & dried mangoes into the fondue. It's great and you don't have to keep it warm over a flame.

Become a fan!

Remy has his own fan page on Facebook!

Check it out & become a fan!