Thankful Thursday on Friday

At least I try and get to it once a week, even though not on the right day...yes?

2 days until we're on our way to Scotland, and we're frantically trying to get everything done. Not to mention me leaving work at the worst possible time for vacation. Makes getting out of there kind of difficult!

And hey, after work I still have to fix enchiladas for 12 of us tonight and make Nolan's requested cake this year: my special sour-cream blueberry coffeecake recipe that I've been hoarding ever since I found it on a blog I like. No big deal!

Last night we had a birthday eve dinner (steaks! mmm) and Nolan requested on my way home that I make the "moose" I made him last week. So I did. And what a mousse it is:

Delicious, relatively healthy, and so easy to make! And it's so rich that we had a contest to see who could finish their glass and Nolan totally lost. I only won because I persevered for over an hour. Tasty. I got the recipe from this blog (which I'm loving!). There are hundreds of tasty little treats on here.

So this week:
1. I'm obviously very thankful to be officially on vacation! YIPPEE!!!
2. I'm thankful the rain has stopped for a few days. I was tired of peering through my windshield on my commute, while my wipers frantically tried to make things visible.
3. I'm thankful Easter is coming up, and therefore we get to see family and friends that weekend!
4. I'm thankful for a little break from insanity (what vacation is for, no?). As much as I adore it, I was starting to get a little too muscly. I may need to rethink this thing.
5. I'm thankful for Nolan's birthday today, which means we have a.) a reason to host a big game night tonight and hang out with a bunch of dear friends and b.) another reason to get 100 people together to see Hunger Games with us tomorrow! Partay!

Happy birthday to my amazing husband, who's only aging on paper ;)

Thankful Thursday

Last night I had dinner with some girlfriends at Coconuts in Palo Alto. They have fabulous Yelp reviews, and since we try to have a different genre food each time we go out, this was the ticket! Coconut shrimp, jerk chicken, ackee triangles? Yes please! Next time I'll remember to take pictures.

In honour of St. Patty's day today, our building brought in a fiesta of all things green and irish. So while I was enjoying a spoon of free mint-chip ice cream, I got to listen to this churning out Irish melodies:


And since today is Thursday, we had the local farmer's market in the galleria across the street. Hooray for delicious, fresh produce (and tasty stuffed bolanis, in my case!).

Feeling extra blessed today, even though I had a crappy couple of days earlier. So this should be easy:
1. I'm thankful for challenges at work. Although it's gonna be tiring and a lot of work, I have an opportunity over the next few months that I can't pass up, and it's going to be super challenging (I don't even know where to start!), but also fun.
2. I'm thankful for great friends. I don't think I've really had time to see friends in....a month? Something like that. So it's great to have a few nights this week with good girlfriends (even if it meant spending 2 hours watching the Bachelor, oy vey).
3. I'm thankful for my good health!I broke a toenail earlier this week and it put me out of commission for a day. Limping to meetings, no cute shoes, and no working out that day. Just 1 day, and I almost went nuts - I can't imagine having a broken foot or being out for 2 weeks with the flu! I'm trying not to take health for granted.
4. I'm thankful for my commute. Yes, I said it. I love that the train ride gives me time for quiet times in the morning, and reading Game of Thrones in the afternoons. I like that the driving allows me to sing at the top of my lungs, which always makes me feel extra happy when I get home.
5. I'm thankful for productivity this week. I finally got to catch up on some things with my personal life that I had been putting off because I felt too tired/busy with work. One of these things: planning for our trip to Scotland in 10 days.

What are you thankful for?

Benedictus

Since I've been out of town (or for no reason at all I guess), I decided to go all out on Saturday for our breakfast. It was Nolan's day off, so we slept in - glorious! -and got up slowly to do some fun reading, eat breakfast, and have coffee together. I made Nolan's absolute favourite - eggs benedict, and he grabbed my phone and took a picture while he was destroying it. So it's not the prettiest picture. And it doesn't capture the fresh berry salad, bacon, english muffins, and delicious homemade hazelnut lattes I had made! Boo.

The whole day was pretty awesome, since we were lazy and did a lot of reading and lounging around. That evening we went over to a friend's house for Paxti's deep-dish (YUM!) and catching up with some of our dear city friends. Followed dinner by lemon bars = not the most healthy of days, but they're few and far between so it's okay.

Last night we were having dinner with some friends and their parents, when we got a horrifying text from my dad, saying that my mom broke her fibula while in Hawaii (how awful is that!) and was on the way to the ER to get it splinted until they can get back home on Tuesday. He included the picture below. Naturally I was a little worried, but when I talked to her on the phone she was her usual chipper self - if you know her, you know what I'm talking about, and it's pretty amazing under the circumstances. Apparently things were okay today, too, since I got this picture from her, with a text saying she was enjoying the pool. Even with the broken leg, I'm a little jealous. Note the flower - isn't she cute!

Can't wait for:
Nolan's Birthday!
St. Patrick's Day Party!
Hunger Games!
Scotland!
Game of Thrones season 2!

Thankful Thursday

Since I've been "out and about" the last 2 weeks, I thought I'd start at the beginning with the pictures. Sadly, I only took 1 picture in Vegas, and 1 picture in Scottsdale. But it's better than nothing! Vegas was great, of course, but involved very long meetings, and massive amounts of work to catch up on afterwards. But there were definite bright spots. Like dinner at Wolfgang Puck's at the MGM with a few of my Texas colleagues:
Friday was my last day working with my colleague Michelle, who is going off into the world to have a new adventure. So we went out to lunch, and on the way back, I FINALLY found the Curry Up Now truck that Nolan and I had been hunting in Sunnyvale on Valentine's Day. Bummer.


As a parting gift, my coworker willed me her Dwight bobblehead for my cube. When I first started working here, I saw it on her desk and told her that I literally was in the middle of buying one for myself and had to cancel it because we couldn't both have one. I guess she remembered, and so Dwight now has a new home.


The one picture I took in Scottsdale was of the first dinner I had there. My coworker told me I should go to this place for dinner because they had the best meat, and it was THE BEST MEAT I've had in my life. I also had a salad, but that didn't last very long and so it isn't in this picture :) I don't know if it was the charms of the meat, but the wine was also an especially delicious Malbec.


Can you guess what I'm thankful for this week?

1. I'm thankful to be home for a couple weeks. I can't imagine how folks who travel all the time do it. It's fun, but...I miss my husband and cat, I hate having a billion receipts for every little thing, my feet hurt, I'm tired of being behind on work emails, and my nose has been bleeding from the dry airplane and hotel air. At least the next time I'm travelling (in 2 weeks) will be WITH Nolan and I'll have a jar of vaseline to stick in my nostrils
2. I'm thankful that it was a quiet day in the office today, and I could wear comfy shoes and my pullover.
3. I'm thankful for the experiences of the last 2 weeks - exploring new places (LOVE Arizona!), trying new foods, getting to know new people...it's been fun.
4. I'm thankful for the longer, warmer days. Last weekend before I took off again, I spent an afternoon riding my bike to Menlo Park in the sunshine, browsing a bookstore for a book on Scotland, then coming home to eat a freshly baked cranberry orange bran muffin and laying in the patch of sun on our floor reading my new book with Milo on my chest before heading out for a mani-pedi. Bliss.
5. I'm thankful for Nolan (this should be a permanent item on my list). I love coming home to him, and cuddling and reading with him before bed. I love that he saves me the last muffin because they're my favourite. I love that he consistently sets his alarm to a volume level so loud that he yells "WHOA!" as he wakes up each morning (the other morning it was "Mercy" on the radio and it was SCARY). I love our little family.

What are you thankful for?