Kyle & Kylie

Happy Birthday Month!

2012-02-28T09:57:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, I have been so bad lately about updating this thing! Can I use the busy excuse again?

Each time I read my friend Michelle's blog I get inspired! Thanks Michelle! :)

So I will be trying to catch everyone up....figured I'd go ahead and start with the most recent events, and since it's (almost) the last day of February, this means BiRtHdAyS! :)

We started the birthday celebrating by going to dinner with some friends: Jill, Tim, Kristin (below), Mo, Yasmine, and Jack.

We went to this really cool little place called Luna Park in LA...nice ambiance, pretty chandeliers, and delicious food!

I ordered this drink (since it was a birthday celebration!) called "Be a Pepper Too"...consisting of classic Dr. Pepper, vanilla vodka, and vanilla simple syrup.

To my surprise, they brought me a little silver tray with each ingredient (old school Dr. Pepper in the bottle!), and I got to mix my own perfect ratio...so fun!

Each cocktail was decorated with a little toy animal...I had a giraffe, which doubled as a stir stick ;) (See it's feet above?)

The best part of the night was when they brought out my birthday "cake"...complete with giant sparkler and candles...

After I blew out the candles, the waitress picks up the "cake" (a total fake!) and underneath it was the creme brûlée that I had ordered! Totally fooled us! None of us knew it was fake until the waitress picked it up with both hands...it was hysterical. Wish we could've gotten a pic of that moment ;)

My early birthday present from the hubby! ;)

The Yamaha jacket (and a few extras) I have wanted for a few years now!

Thanks honey! ;) xo

The following weekend we celebrated at my parents' house. I got a birthday mani/pedi, then we went to lunch and had birthday cake ;)

These napkins were my favorite.

A good motto to live by ;)

My GoRgEoUs birthday cake from Jodee's Bakery....same place that made our wedding cake!

It was a light almond cake layered with a raspberry mousse and cream cheese, with a vanilla buttercream frosting....Yum!

And the pink ruffles....I'm in love!

Thanks Mom!

On my actual birthday I slept in and had my morning coffee in my birthday mug:

Went to lunch with Kyle, and made a little mall trip to the Valley...

Got some afternoon birthday coffee...

Did some window shopping....can I have this cupcake please?

And overall had a lovely day ;)

The weekend after my birthday, we had a joint birthday celebration dinner at one of our favorite restaurants ever, The Ranch House, in Ojai.

These pics were taken with my iPhone, and the outdoor area is pretty much candle-lit and twinkle-light-lit, so the lighting wasn't very good ;( Oh well...

My handsome hubby ;)

Cheers!

Wish this one would've turned out a little clearer...

We split our two favorite desserts of all time...tiramisu

& creme brûlée :)

This one was actually a coffee creme brûlée, which was delicious! The Ranch House delivers again!

We brought home a loaf of their delicious date-nut bread too (they have a bakery on site)...

It was the perfect evening!

I wanted to take Kyle out for a special night of his own, so I took him to a place he's wanted to go for awhile...Hamburger Hamlet! ;)

We shared a Stella, and Kyle got their delicious Napa Valley Burger...mmmm...I got the lobster bisque with a salad.

Guess who was at the table next to us? :)

That's right! Mrs. Brady! haha

She was having dinner with her family. I tried not to be too obvious looking over but I couldn't help it! ;)

We finished the evening by watching Supercross in the bar area (Kyle was a happy man ;), then headed over to the ArcLight theater and saw Act of Valor.

The movie was really interesting, but we were bummed because the theater was out of their famous caramel popcorn! We'll just have to go back :)

I figured since Kyle had to share my pink ruffle birthday cake on my birthday that he deserved a birthday cake of his own ;)

I picked up this delicious vanilla confetti birthday cake from Susie Cakes in Calabasas...

it's the same one we had last year, and it's so good I had to get it again!

Matt, Alli, and Baby Jake came over to celebrate with us!

This little munchkin is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen!

All bundled up like a little bear...

Cake for Jake? Soon enough! ;)

I can't believe he's already 5 months old!

So for us its true, we really do celebrate birthdays for a whole month ;)

Cheers! :)

Happy Halloweekend

2011-10-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! And Happy almost-Halloween!

I was sitting here thinking how Halloween is a few days away, and how we really don't have any plans.

First of all, it's on a Monday, which makes it hard to do much with our work schedules. Second of all, I sprained my foot last week at work, so I haven't been able to do much either, and I don't think we'll want to overdo it.

So I started thinking about Halloween last year and how much fun we had, even though we didn't have any "real" plans either.

We hung out with our good friends, Matt and Alli (just realized Alli isn't in any of these pictures)...

And their dog Scout...

Who we dressed up as Superman...or Super Dog, I should say...

Isn't he cute?

We made nachos...which the boys devoured.

Like the dueling laptops?

And then of course, had to end the evening with some yummy dessert.

Behold Shortbread Candy Corn Kissed Brownies.

You basically make a layer of shortbread, then stick Candy Corn Kisses in it, then cover it with brownie batter.....uh huh....

I got this recipe from one of my favorite recipe sites, Picky Palate.

Jenny from Picky Palate comes up with some of the most delicious yet simple dessert recipes.

I actually didn't see any Candy Corn Kisses in the stores this year though. Maybe I missed them.

Then bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

And there you have it...

A perfectly delicious Halloween dessert!

Get the recipe here.

If you try them, let me know what you think!

Here's some other recipes I've been thinking about trying this year:

Halloween Cupcakes in a Jar (by Glorious Treats)

Candy Corn Cheesecake Mousse (also by Glorious Treats)

Candy Corn Macarons (by Annie's Eats)

I think I see a theme here...I must have an attraction to candy corn.

Not sure if I would actually attempt these macaroons...they seem pretty time-consuming...but they are so pretty to look at!

Also, check out some other Halloween ideas I had on my inspiration board on Pinterest.

What are you doing this year?

Have a great, safe weekend everyone!

xoxo

Aloha Continued...

2011-10-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

Maui Trip: Day 2

On the second day of our trip (our first full day in Maui) we decided to be crazy and get up super early to do to the sunrise tour of Haleakala, Maui's dormant volcano.

We figured, "Hey why not, we'll be leaving at 2:30 Maui time, which is really like 5:30 California time..." however we didn't go to bed until 12:00 (Maui time) so we only got a few hours' sleep. Oh well. We're on vacation, so we can take a nap later, right?

Our tour guide Fred picked us up at 2:30, and turns out there was only one other person on the tour. So it was kinda like having our own private tour of the volcano.

We started with about a 20 minute drive to "base camp," where Fred loaded up our bikes (more on that later) and there were donuts and coffee. At 3 a.m., though, I wasn't really ready for breakfast.

Next was about a 45 minute drive to the top of the volcano, where we waited for about another 45 minutes or an hour for the sun to rise. The point of getting there so early? We realized the benefit of it as tons of other vans and buses filled the top of the mountain. The place was packed!

Our tour guide Fred wanted to make sure we got a good seat ;) The other passenger, Kyle, and I all took a different seat in the van and slept until it was time to go see the sunrise.

So happy to have our Canon G11 to capture these photos! ;)

As you can see, we layered on tons of clothes for the trek to the top of the volcano. It was so cold up there! Luckily there wasn't much wind, but it was odd, considering the temperature down below was in the 70s. I was so glad I had my sweatshirt, scarf, gloves, and Kyle's heavy Yamaha jacket...I needed them all!

Love the fiery oranges and yellows in the clouds as the sun starts to come up...

Peeking over the horizon...

I laugh at how bundled up we were (I was)...ha

You can really see some of the volcanic rock here

Finally time to go down the mountain!

We rode beach cruisers down the mountain (a 16 mile trek altogether). Kyle got to be the "leader," which means he rode in front and got a radio (around his neck). Fred drove in the van behind us (to protect us from traffic) and when lots of cars built up behind him, he'd radio to Kyle to have us move to the right. We'd move over, slow down a bit, and let the cars go by. Then we were free to ride in the middle of the lane again.

It was so cool getting to see some of Maui's "countryside" so to speak...lots of trees, pastures, horses, etc. Fun sight-seeing!

We also stopped periodically so we could take off some layers...because as we rode down, the temperature went up!

Here's a little place we stopped for some breakfast.

Kyle and his breakfast burrito :)

We made a friend...found out she's a local named Cleo

The other person on our tour; she was from Shanghai and her American name was "Keira." Very sweet girl!

Driving past more sugar cane fields on the way home

Once we got back to our resort we decided it was time to try the pineapple and the dragon fruit...yummy!

Can you believe this color?!?

Sugar cane in the raw

You just kinda have to gnaw on it...it's got a sort of bristle-y texture, but as you chew it, the sweet sugary juices come out. Delicious!

One of our best ideas was to buy fruit, crackers, and brie. We snacked on this and most of the time weren't even hungry for lunch! That way we saved some cash and just ate out for dinner.

One of my favorite Maui finds...Hershey's Kisses with Macadamia Nuts! How cute are these!

This beach was recommended to us by our friends (thanks Michelle!) and it turned out to be one of our favorite beaches of the trip! I think you'll see why...

I could not get enough of this gorgeous, crystal clear blue water.

The water was so warm, it only took a matter of seconds to get used to...then dive in!

I could've stayed here all day...and we pretty much did!

More pretty plumeria plants

After a day in the sun, we went back to our resort, showered, and went to Whalers Village, a cool shopping and dining area.

We ate at Leilani's (another recommendation) and it was fabulous!

We ate outside, where we could watch all the people walk by. You can't really tell since it's dark, but the water is just over those green bushes.

This yummy drink was called a Coconut Grove, and it had Macadamia Nut liqueur in it...I didn't know there was such a thing...but it was delicious! And the food here was really good. We'll definitely come back.

And how about some macadamia nut Haagen-Dazs to finish off the night? Only in Maui :)

Maui Trip: Day 3

Our third day started off with an activity I've been looking forward to for a long time...a zipline tour!

We loaded up in a van with about 8 others, and made the bumpy trek up the mountain (the helmets are for the bumpy ride up...that's what our guides told us!), rockin' out to Bob Marley

The journey consisted of 8 different lines, starting with the shorter, slower lines and ending with the longer, faster lines, with a little hiking in between.

My first line.

I told Kyle I wanted to go first, because if he went before me, and then I got scared, I would have no one to cheer me on! ;)

Once I did the first line, all doubt left my mind and the sheer fun of flying through the air and looking at the beautiful views of Maui kept a big smile on my face.

Here comes Kyle!

Trekkin' through the brush

It was an absolutely gorgeous day

Kyle showin' off ;)

My turn!

We stopped and ate lunch at a place overlooking this little valley...beautiful!

We had two guides, Cliff and Kavika, and they were hilarious. They seriously kept us laughing the entire time (which helped ease some nerves at first).

Here's a little live footage of my final zip line!

After our fun day zip lining, we headed back to our resort and hit the beach for a little bit.

That evening, we attended a luau at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa.

We got there a little early to look around and get in line.

The resort is beautiful!

We heard that they had warm-weather penguins at this resort, and sure enough, here they are!

Here's their little houses

Lucky penguins!

While waiting in line, we thought we'd snap a few pictures...

In this pic, I played with the color settings on our camera...only blue hues show up...can you tell?

Kyle bought me this little flower...I wore it the rest of the trip :)

On our to-do list for next time...parasailing!

We're glad we got in line when we did...the line was huge! We were about 12th to get in.

Finally they let us in, and we found our seats. We started chatting with a nice couple from Boston in line; they were on their honeymoon, so we sat with them. The couple next to us at the table were also on their honeymoon, and they were from New York. People kept asking us if we were on our honeymoon too...."No, just vacation!" we'd say ;) Although I told Kyle we should've said yes, maybe we could've gotten free dessert or champagne ;) lol

Getting the pig out of the ground

The food was really good, although I have to say I was kinda disappointed in dessert....nothing too extraordinary.

The show was really good! I would definitely recommend this one!

A little glimpse of the show...

The "queen" of the luau

This fire-dancer guy was amazing!! Seriously talented!

Maui Trip: Day 4

On Saturday, we planned a snorkeling trip to Molokini.

We left around 7:30, and the weather was mild and beautiful.

Waiting to board our catamaran, the Lani Kai

Our view of Molokini from land

Setting sail!

One of our guides decided to fish off the back (as we were moving....not when we stopped of course)

He said he catches Ahi tuna, Ono, and Mahi Mahi

He didn't catch anything that day though

Inside the cabin

Approaching Molokini

Some footage of our excursion

You can see all the other boats bringing snorkelers and scuba divers to this popular spot

What's crazy is that the guy driving our boat (the captain?) grew up in Simi Valley! Crazy right?

And...get this...a mechanic that Kyle knows from the racing world was on our same boat with his wife...

all I can say is, it's a small world.

Unfortunately we didn't get any pics of us in our snorkel gear; we were having too much fun!

Next we went to a spot off the coast of Wailea, called "Turtle Town."

We saw four different turtles!

Before we got in the water, we saw a mama and a baby turtle swimming together; and then once we got in, we saw two different ones swimming. They are huge! So graceful too.

A pic of Clint Eastwood's house

Having a little fun...

They had a slide on the back of the catamaran...good times!

This lady was another one of our guides...she had the same camera we have, and she taught me a few things about using it! haha

Trying to get an action shot...

Finally!

Sunbathin'...

Our snorkeling trip was an absolute blast....we saw a ton of fish, and they swam right up to you. We saw a multitude of colors; black, blue, yellow, orange, the blue-and-yellow-Finding-Nemo-kind :)

Once we got to land, I wasn't feeling very well. It wasn't seasickness, but more of a feverish-kind of not feeling good. We went back to the resort, and I rested...and come to find out I came down with a 24 hour flu! :( This was the only little bummer about our trip.

So we rented a few movies and just hung out...and I slept...and slept...and slept.

Maui Trip: Day 5

So my 24 hour flu really did last 24 hours...at least...and even after about 12 hours sleep I didn't feel 100%...but I couldn't bear to be inside any longer so Kyle and I tried to think of something low-key we could do.

It was Sunday morning, so we thought we'd try to find a beach-side church service. Sure enough, Calvary Chapel Westside met right down the road from our resort!

It was awesome! It was similar to the church service in "Soul Surfer" (love that movie!)

As you can probably tell, I'm not feelin' quite like myself

The seats were beach chairs! Isn't that awesome?

Especially for me, feeling sick, I was able to rest my head against the back and totally relax.

The view

Wish we could go here every Sunday! :)

The worship team was really good

Since I still wasn't feeling great, after church we went back to the resort. Kyle picked me up some kids mac n cheese and fries from Duke's, and I slept some more. I felt bad for poor Kyle, but I seriously could barely keep my eyes open! Luckily, on his way back from Duke's, he met a guy giving surf lessons, so after lunch, he headed out and learned to surf. I'm bummed I missed that one (and missed capturing it in pics!) but we definitely plan to do it next time!

After an afternoon of resting, we attempted to go out and walk around downtown Lahaina again.

I felt okay, but was slow moving. This was the only pic we took that evening...in front of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. :)

I was praying I would feel better the next day (our last day)

Maui Trip: Last Day

I was finally feeling a little better Monday morning (our last day), so we decided to go out to breakfast.

A local we met on the plane told us we had to try Aloha Mixed Plate.

Funny name...delicious food!

The view from our table

Aloha!

We went back to Lahaina, and took a walk. We came to this incredible little park filled with banyan trees.

These trees are amazing...some of their limbs grow down to the ground and form new trunks.

The plaque in the park said that there are 16 trunks in addition to the original trunk.

Some of the branches make a nice seat

Crazy!

We took a few more pics near the waterfall at our resort before packing up our stuff....awww....don't wanna leave....

Driving to the airport...we made one more pit stop at a scenic overlook

See you later Maui! Until next time :)

Aloha!

2011-10-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

One of the most exciting things we've been up to lately is taking a little vacation to a place both Kyle and I have been wanting to go for a long time....Maui!

If I could sum up our trip in one picture it would be this one:

I took this picture with my iPhone, and it's been my background ever since.

We've been back from our trip for a couple weeks now, but each time I look at this picture I am taken back to this beach and the warm sun, sand, and amazingly blue water...aaahhh. Maui, I miss you already!

One of the best things about this trip is that it was kind of last minute...Kyle was traveling for work when he decided to look at the number of Sky Miles he had accrued...and lo and behold, he had just about enough for two plane tickets to Maui! :) Talk about a great surprise :)

So he told me this on a Thursday and we left the following Wednesday. It was actually great because we didn't have that much time to anxiously wait for it to get here...if you're like me, if I have a trip coming up I'm constantly counting the days for it to get here...and wishing it was here already...and planning activities...then reconsidering my decisions and re-planning...and it can sometimes almost start to stress me out because I want the trip to be perfect! So with this trip it was perfect because we were able to plan a few things, and then before we knew it we were on the plane...no time to second guess what we had or hadn't planned.

We basically planned one major activity each day and then left the rest to whatever we felt like doing.

It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. I can't wait to go back :)

Maui Trip: Day 1

Airport breakfast...breakfast of champions :) We actually got in line behind a pilot, and started chatting with him. Come to find out, he was the pilot for our flight! I had a suspicion since he was wearing a Hawaiian print lanyard ;)

He asked if we've ever been to Maui before, and it was my first time (Kyle had gone when he was younger), so he said, "Just so you know, it's normal to hit some turbulence when we land, since the winds are always coming around the island and the mountains on Maui."

I was SO glad he told me that! Now I could fly knowing that a little bumpiness was totally normal ;)

I thanked him and we saw him about an hour later on board the plane.

He also recommended the oatmeal at McDonalds...I thought, if it's good enough for our pilot, then it's good enough for me ;) lol

It actually was pretty good, fyi.

Can you guess whose suitcase this is? :) lol

Kyle was fortunate enough to get us bulkhead seats so we had lots of leg room. The guy sitting next to us was from Yorba Linda, and was on his way to be in a wedding.

Maui here we come!!

As you can see I got a little bored at one point and decided to take a picture of the hawaiian flower I had painted on my toes, just for Maui ;)

My first time flying over the Pacific!

The flight definitely wasn't bad at all. I was a little nervous beforehand, but it was super smooth, and we kept busy watching a movie, reading, napping (it was an early flight), and reading up on where we were going.

So excited!

I decided to play with the feature on our camera that brings out one specific color (blue in this case) and leaves everything else black and white. Kinda cool.

We finally arrived! When we stepped off the plane it was a balmy 80-something degrees. Aaaahhhhhh

On to the rental car place, where we got hooked up with our Ford Fusion. Crazy story....so we took a shuttle from the airport to the rental car place, and there was one other couple on the shuttle. Guess where they were from? Simi Valley! What are the odds?

My sweet husband surprised me with this beautiful silver necklace...isn't it pretty? Love it.

Off to our resort....

But first made a quick pit-stop at Costco. They had an entire aisle filled with different kinds of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Only in Maui, right?

The drive to our resort was about 30 or 40 minutes. I was so excited to finally be there that I got a little picture happy on the drive :)

A random surfboard place

My handsome hubby

Enjoyin' the Maui breeze :)

Sugar cane field

First peek of water....

After driving next to miles and miles of gorgeous beach, we couldn't take it anymore so we just pulled over, kicked off our shoes and splashed knee-deep in the warm, crystal blue water.

Then we came to this little fruit stand on the side of the road...and I had to get one of these.

It's hot pink!

They're called dragonfruit. Have you ever had one?

The guy selling it told me they are either hot pink, red, or white in the middle (can you guess which one I chose?) and tasted like a sweet kiwi.

Sugar cane

This smoothie stand was sooo good; just fruit and ice.

Of course we had to get a pineapple...and it was one of the best ones I've ever had.

Coconuts!

Couldn't resist snappin' a few pics of the beautiful hibiscus flowers

These plumeria plants are EVERYWHERE---love the pretty little star-shaped flowers on them.

We stayed at a condo resort in Kaanapali...loved it! It had everything we needed. I would definitely stay here again.

I loved how open everything was.

They had a pretty waterfall right in the center of the resort as you walked in.

The view from our room...

I tried to pack every bright and/or Hawaiian-y dress I had ;)

This chubby little bird was on our balcony every day...and of course we had the sliding glass doors open. So each day we would find him walking into our condo (until he got to about the coffee table), and we'd shoo him out. He was kinda cute though ;)

The pool at our resort...gorgeous view of the ocean.

You could walk right out onto the beach from the pool area, and I loved how they had lounge chairs on the sand. Two were waiting for us!

And here's where my favorite picture comes in. We'd been waiting all week for this!

Sun, sand, ocean, lava flow.

And each other.

Heaven.

We had to get in the water! It was SO blue, SO clear, SO warm...we didn't want to get out!

Around 6:00 that evening, our resort put on a little show with music and hula dancers. We sat by the pool and enjoyed our first taste of Maui ;)

This little hula girl was so cute!

Heading back to get ready

The sun setting on the mountains behind our resort

Our first night, we went to downtown Lahaina to walk around and have dinner.

We decided on Cheeseburger in Paradise (thanks for the recommendation Michelle!)

We were on the top floor overlooking the water

Some pics of downtown Lahaina. I loved it here! Lots of cute little shops, shaved ice, ice cream, restaurants...and no one's in a hurry! The weather was so nice and warm...didn't even need a jacket.

After dinner we drove to a Safeway on the way back to our resort to pick up a few groceries. Everyone always warned me how expensive things are in Hawaii; but honestly it wasn't as bad as I expected. There were a few things that seemed a little more expensive (I did see a box of cereal for $7) but we tried to shop the sale items and it was fine. A big selection of Kona coffee at the grocery store!

We decided to get to bed (it was around midnight) because the next morning, we were going for a sunrise tour of Maui's dormant volcano, Haleakala.

More to come on that soon....:)

Hello again

2011-10-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, I know. I am ashamed to admit that I have not posted on our blog for a very.long.time. A whole year to be exact...yikes!

What can I say, other than we have been busy doing lots of things so that I have plenty of material to blog about! haha

I just wanted to let y'all know that I am planning on making a concerted effort to catch up on our blog, since I know it's a way a lot of our friends and family stay connected with us.

I have also been busy blogging on our 2 Hearts B 1 Designs blog; check it out to see what we've been up to!

So thanks again for all your patience. I look forward to filling you in on what's been goin' on!

It's good to be back :)

"Hiking" in Ojai

2010-07-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

So three weekends ago we went out on a little "hiking" adventure with our good friends Matt and Ally (and Scout!). I say "hiking" because it really wasn't too far...and we wore flip flops. Does it count as hiking if you wear flip flops?

Anyways, our destination was a little watering hole where Scout (and the boys) went swimming. As you can see, they wasted no time.

Scout wasn't too excited to go in at first, but then he got used to it.

Watch out little kids!

Safe on dry land.

The other cutest thing in the water :)

Which way is the beach?

Then Matt and Kyle proceeded to climb up the ginormous rock that people were jumping off of into the water...for "fun"...to Ally's and my dismay.

We were yelling out their names but they said they couldn't hear us...uh huh. wink wink.

Scoping out the jump.

Finally they heard us...and gave us a little wave.

Oh boys.

If you weren't so cute, we'd be mad.

The lovely onlookers ;)

So our first attempt at "hiking" was a success.

I could do that again! :)

A Bittersweet Valentine's Day

2010-02-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

So let's start with the SWEET stuff from this Valentine's Day...I happen to love Valentine's Day (maybe because my birthday is the day after? :)...and I know a lot of people who don't; who have the it's-just-a-commercial-holiday view of it; which to a degree, I understand. But to me it's not about the oh-it's-Valentine's Day-so-I-better-buy-my-significant-other-something-to-show-them-I-love-them viewpoint...the way I see it, it's a day to celebrate love ;) Love in all forms, whether it's romantic or not...I think of Valentine's Day as an opportunity to show the people in your life that you care about them. We should really be doing that every day, right? But it's always fun to have a special day to do something special for those you love. Mom, dad, sister, brother, friend, dog, cat.... ;) You get the idea ;)

And this Valentine's day was especially sweet since it was Kyle and my first married Valentine's Day...awwww ;) We both got each other "husband" and "wife" Valentine's Day cards...it's crazy to shop for those now! I was so used to shopping in the "love" or "significant other" section at Hallmark...now I feel like there are so many more options! ;)

So maybe I'm a little funny, but ever since Kyle and I got married and we've had our OWN place..to ourselves..just ours..I have this thing that I love to do. It's really not a big deal, I guess, to some..but I love putting a fresh flowers on our dining room table. I take great joy in going to the grocery store, and picking up a bouquet of roses or gerber daisies or lilies or whatever strikes me when I am getting my "every day" groceries. It's a little thrill I get ;) Whether we are having people come over or not, I love the feeling of walking through the front door and seeing a beautiful arrangement greeting me. It's like its saying, "Welcome home" to me each time I see it...like it's reminding me of how special this place is.

So anyways...now you know ;) And lately I have been taking pictures of some of the prettier bouquets...so I just thought I'd share what our dining room table looked like before Valentine's Day...

I found this gorgeous bouquet of corally-pink roses at Vons..the petals are tipped in an orangey-yellow.

And now getting ready for Valentine's Day...I switched it out for some festive pink tulips ;)

And speaking of SWEETS {!} I decided to make Kyle some red velvet cupcakes.

And set the table with some candy hearts, some red votives, and my favorite Martha Stewart cake stands.

So this is something I learned from Martha Stewart magazine...and I knew I had to try it on my red velvet cupcakes.

Chocolate abstracts.

That's right.

Little delicate pieces of artwork adorning your cupcakes..made out of..what else..chocolate :)

(I knew Kyle would take them off, since he doesn't like chocolate, but I still wanted the presentation factor)

They are super easy to make! All you do is melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave and add in a touch of vegetable oil.

Turn a cookie sheet over (so it's upside down) and lay a piece of parchment paper down.

Then what I did is put the melted chocolate mixture (careful not to burn yourself) into a baggie, snipped the corner, then carefully piped chocolate hearts onto the parchment paper.

They do not need to be perfect...in fact, the less perfect, and more artsy-abstract they look, the better ;)

What do you think? :)

I love dessert! ;)

And now for the bitterness of this Valentine's Day...the week before (V-Day was on a Sunday), Kyle's dear sweet grandmother Betty had been going through a few health problems. She had taken a fall, and was in an assisted care facility. Kyle got a call on Tuesday from his mom that his grandmother wasn't doing very well, so he left work and went down to Menifee where she was staying. Unfortunately before he got there, he got another call from his mom...it was the news that Betty had gone to be with the Lord.

That was such a hard day...Tuesday, February 9th...it was rather unexpected, and I know Kyle was hoping he could get there in time. I was at work, trying to fight tears as Kyle called me with the news.

We were very thankful that the weekend before we had stopped to see Betty in the hospital and visit with her. We were able to spend some time just talking with her. I will always remember our conversation; how she was sick of the food there (she said it "had no flavor," and I said, "I bet, you need some of your homemade macaroni and cheese"..mmmm), and how she seemed in good spirits, despite being in pain. She told me that I was a very special person.

We miss Betty greatly. I always will admire the woman that she was...a woman of faith, a woman who loved and treasured her husband and family, a wonderful friend to so many people, a woman who took pride and joy in her home, and a woman with some serious skill in the kitchen ;) She is everything I could hope to be when I get to be her age, and her life is one that we can all strive for...to look back one day on all the love you have given, and to leave that legacy of love with others. We will always hold memories of Betty dear in our hearts.

On Valentine's Day, Rhonna, Kyle, and I went to Carlsbad. It was uncharacteristically warm, so we decided it was a perfect day to go to the beach!

I don't know how Kyle got these pictures to look like this, but I like it!

Here's to celebrating the people you love in your life!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Balboa Park

2010-02-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

We started Sunday of our fun weekend in San Diego with breakfast at Hash House A Go Go....oh. my. goodness. If you haven't been, you have to go. Their slogan is "Twisted Farm Food." Sounds funny, but it's delicious! Not to mention everything is HUGE. Check out Dave's pancake.

And my waffle!! With the eggs and potatoes, I think I only ate one square of that waffle (shameful, I know...) It was sooo good, but I was sooo full...could not fit another bite.

We headed to Balboa Park after that. When we walked up we saw the big amphitheater with the organ...and a few brides and grooms taking pictures (must be a popular wedding venue).

I love the architectural detail here.

It's funny, now that we live in the LA area, whenever I mention Balboa Park, people think I'm talking about the Balboa Park in the San Fernando Valley. My how they are mistaken...there's a big difference :)

As we kept walking through the park, past the museums and little coffee stands, we came to this...

one of Kyle's weaknesses....

Girl Scout Cookies.

All of sudden I was walking and realized my husband wasn't next to me. I turned around and saw that the wallet was already out and there were two boxes in his hand. :)

Oh honey ;)

This fountain is one of my favorite places to take pictures. It's right near the space museum.

This picture is a little blurry, but I still like it ;)

Lots of photo ops!

Again, it's hard to see the resemblance, right? :)

Jeannie and Patti.

We kept walking and came to the Spanish Village Arts Center. Again, wanting to try out our new Canon G11, I snapped a pic of this San Diego squirrel ;)

There are lots of unique, whimsical shops in the Village Arts Center. I love the bright colors of the shops.

We ended our trip by visiting the Botanical Building...which has lots of different plant and flower species inside. I got some great pics of some of the beautiful flowers..practicing my photography skills ;)

In front of the building is a huge rectangular lily pond...it's really pretty! Unfortunately I lost battery power at this point :( But I guess it's one of the most photographed sites in Balboa Park.

We walked back toward the parking lot, and I was able to snap a couple more pictures before the camera battery officially died (I didn't fully charge the night before).

There was actually a concert going on in the amphitheater, with a professional organ player. She was really good! The organ sounds very regal; but sometimes has kind of a Phantom-of-the-Opera sound to it ;)

Overall, it was a great weekend! It's always great to see Dave and Patti, and it was nice getting to spend some time with them. And Jeannie was great fun as well ;)

San Diego Supercross

2010-02-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we had a fun weekend with father-in-law Dave and Patti, and Patti's sister Jeannie ;) We drove to San Diego so we could go to Supercross on Saturday, and then Balboa Park on Sunday. After we checked in to our hotel, Kyle and I walked across the street and had our first experience on the Metro ;)

Not really much to see, but it was nice not having to drive! It also makes stops at Fashion Valley ...unfortunately we didn't have time to stop there this trip ;(

Luckily, our seats were under the overhang in the stadium...since it ended up raining!

We still managed to have fun despite the storm ;)

Jeannie, Patti, and me ;)

Kyle and Dave (no family resemblance there...haha)

I was excited to try out our new camera and it's super zoom capacity (we bought ourselves the Canon G11 for Christmas :)

Not bad, huh?

After Supercross, Kyle and I went and had a late night snack at Bubba Gump Shrimp's...then took the Metro back to the hotel.

Vegas Baby

2010-01-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I had the chance to get away for a little bit at the end of January...he had a test in Las Vegas, and after the busy holidays (I had been working a TON of overtime), we thought it would be fun to take a little trip together. Even though he would be working, I could sleep in, walk around, and pay a visit to some family in the area.

We stayed at Mandalay Bay, and had a great time! I have to say, we took advantage of the $2 beer/$3 glass of wine Happy Hour at House of Blues almost every night! ;)

We ate at this amazing Chinese restaurant the first night, where the food was delicious! Some of the most memorable dishes were the wasabi (yes, wasabi) mashed potatoes and fried spinach! Mmm!

It rained a lot of our trip, which was interesting; we usually go to Vegas in the summer, so a rainy Vegas was a whole new experience! It gave us an excuse to check out more of the cool attractions in the casinos, rather than just the pools :)

The second night we headed to the beautiful Venetian, where we saw Blue Man Group. It was sooo good! Very entertaining--definitely worth seeing.

One day I had lunch at the Burger Bar with my Aunt Kelly, my cousin Chloe, and her beautiful new baby boy Kaden (born on Thanksgiving Day 2009). He is sooo sweet! :)

The last day (Kyle was not working) we decided to be frivolous (with the dining credit we had) and order breakfast in bed--can you say creme brulee and mimosas? :) It was soo nice...I truly felt like I was on vacation at that point :) Before we drove home, we met Chloe, Jason, and Kaden at Hash House A Go Go for some brunch. It was great to see them and get a chance to hang out.

The last surprise of the trip was the drive home...when it snowed! Thank goodness Kyle is such a safe driver (thanks Dave ;)...even though it was comin' down, he went slow and got us back to Simi safe and sound ;)

Rose Parade

2010-01-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Day we decided to go look at the Pasadena Rose Parade floats after the parade...thinking we might avoid some of the craziness with all of the parade-goers....

However, it seemed as if almost all the parade viewers decided to go see the floats again after the parade...(maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit)...but it felt like we were at Disneyland maneuvering through the crowds...

It was definitely worth it once we got inside! The amazing detail of the floats when you see them up close is spectacular. You can also smell the incredible blossoms if you're close enough! :)

By far one of our favorite (and one of the most popular floats) starred this cute little dog (and several others like him)...they were the snowboarding bulldogs!

There was even a baby version of the talented bulldogs...

On the front of the float was a giant bulldog...

And this little house is where the dogs end up after their trip down the "slopes"...

They get a little help getting on the board at the top of the hill...

And then away they go!

The whole crowd was cheering the dogs on as one by one, they sledded down the hill, to the background music of "Who Let the Dogs Out." Way cute.

Happy 2010!

Pictures of some amazing creations...

(Of course, we had to get into some of the pics...:)

New Year's 2009

2010-01-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to spend the last day of 2009 with one of our favorite friends, Amy! She was able to spend the whole weekend with us.

I have been practicing my "tablescapes," so to speak, and I wanted to create something elegant and contemporary for her visit. I've been having a lot of fun mixing colors and textures, and playing with elements like flowers and candles to create something inviting and aesthetically pleasing. Here's what I came up with:

I made some hot apple cider to start off our New Year's Eve afternoon (since it was a little chilly for Southern California ;) in the new mini crockpot my mom had given us for Christmas.

When Amy arrived, we had cider and talked while I started making some appetizers. We were ready to relax and start the New Year off right!

As you can see, the appetizer's went fast: we had a cheeseball (which sounds kinda 'cheeseball' but they are actually really good ;) with crackers, Kyle's favorite "Parmies" (pastry-wrapped hot dogs topped with parmesan cheese, served with a spicy mustard dip), and one of Amy's favorites, caprese salad....yum! And to wash it down, some yummy champagne cocktails.

After more hanging out and catching up, we decided to go down to Limon Latin Grill, where we had a pre-New Year's Eve party cocktail. The nice thing about having the Simi Valley Town Center right below us (where Limon is located) is that everything is walking-distance! After this we were going to head over to Jeremy and Trish's to watch the ball drop.

On our way back up to the apartment, of course we couldn't help but pose with the ginormous Christmas tree in the middle of the Town Center!

After a great evening celebrating the coming of 2010, we headed back to the apartment and got some sleep. New Year's Day morning Kyle was sweet enough to treat Amy and I to breakfast--homemade waffles, eggs, and bacon...mmm. There's no better way to start off the New Year than with the one you love, wonderful friends, and wonderful food!

Happy 2010!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, we had a nice day just relaxing at home. I made some hot apple cider with the new mini crockpot my mom and dad gave us as an early Christmas gift, along with the mulling spices...mmmmmm.

One of my favorite holiday pieces in my kitchen was my red and white snowflake towels...so cute! :)

Our first married Christmas Eve :)...

I made a one and a half pound ham for the two of us, with twice baked potatoes, broccoli, and cranberry sauce...

After dinner, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights in Simi, then came home, and got ready for Santa to fill our stockings! :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

2009-12-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

We started getting into the Christmas spirit by taking my parents to the Grove in Los Angeles for the first time, which also happens to be the location of Littlejohn's Candies (our favorite toffee in the Whole Wide World--coincidence? I think not ;) It was very festive! I felt like I was at Disneyland.

The next weekend we went to my parents' house where we had a little Christmas cheer by baking Christmas cookies.

Our Apartment :)

2009-12-02T20:41:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm kind of funny sometimes when it comes to taking pictures of our apartment--I like to take pictures of how I've decorated, that way I can see how it looks from a slightly different perspective, and well, so I can remember it :) One thing is for sure, I LOVE to decorate...it's so much fun! Here is how I decorated for our first Christmas...

Our Christmas wreath (our door was already green ;)...

We displayed our Christmas cards on our coat closet door right as you walk in...

Here's our little tree :) It was little and cute...perfect for a first tree :) I will be excited when we have room for a real full-sized tree one day, but I couldn't have been happier with this one :)

I used this gorgeous crystal bowl that Donna Smith gave me for my wedding shower to display some festive red bulbs...

And our bar is one of the first things you see when you walk in, so it's a perfect place to display a welcoming Christmas message:

Our First (Married) Christmas Together :)

2009-12-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

We are SO excited to be celebrating our first Christmas together! Starting new traditions, making yummy food, spending time "just the two of us," enjoying this magical season...it's one of our dreams come true!

The wonderful pictures above were taken by our fabulous photographers, Troy and Marjorie of Imagery Concepts. We sent these out as our Christmas postcards this year. Thanks again for such an incredible job!
Here we are celebrating Christmas the true Southern California way--with faux snow! Every night at the Simi Valley Town Center it snows for 5 minutes. We took the opportunity to have a "white" Christmas while we could! :)