Wordless Wednesday

Recipe - Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I'm posting this just for fun, and a bit of a change from usual.

I brought this to a party recently, and got a request for it!


2 - 10 oz pkg frozen spinach
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
1 stick butter
1 onion, diced
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
2 c monterrey jack cheese
3/4 c parmesan cheese

crushed red pepper to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter, add diced onion.  Cook until onion is translucent.  Mix in spinach, followed by cream cheese.  Once that is mixed, stir in everything else except the monterrey jack cheese.  Put in serving dish, top with monterrey jack.  Cook in microwave 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Friday Coffee

Another Friday Coffee!  Tonight, I opted to indulge in coffee the best possible way... skip the coffee, and head right to the coffee icecream, instead!

 

Today, when a coworker stopped by to stay she was doing weight watchers (WW), I was thrilled.  I've been wanting to start doing WW for a while now, but haven't had someone to hold me accountable!  Now that I've got a buddy... we can attend lunch time meetings together, and perhaps I'm on my way back to a more healthy weight!  Hooray!

 

When I arrived home this evening, I had a piece of mail that made me do the mail-dance.  Have you ever done the mail dance?  The dance where you jump up and down (literally) because you are so excited to receive something?  Here's the funny part:  This mail wasn't even addressed to me.  It was for Baby G.  And it means travel is one step closer.  Any guesses yet?  If you guessed that it was a Passport, you have guessed correctly!  Still dancing (if only in my head) that we are a bit closer to our next family vacation! 

 

The word for this week weather-wise has been COLD.  Today it did not get out of the 20s!  Brrr!  This encouraged me to find a better "solution" to the every day "where are the gloves?" problem that my kids seem to have.  I approached a coworker who knits, and asked/begged/pleaded/cajoled with her to make a "scarf" like thing that can be thread through the sleeves of the coats to keep the kid's gloves attached to their coats!  And the best part?  She's doing it for a "trade" - - I will be giving her one of my necklaces.  Another win-win that almost has me dancing!

 

My pedicure date (and semi-real coffee...err.. lunch) date with a friend to catch up is tomorrow - and my feet are looking forward to it!  Some girl time is just what I need!

 

Wordless Wednesday

Bad Hair Day

Let's do Coffee - - shall we?

A friend of mine recently posted a "coffee date" post on her blog, and I loved it.  It was just the inspiration I needed to kick me into making a post (with words and everything!) of my own.

It was my friend Mel who pointed me to  Katie who introduced her readers to the Coffee Date Friday series by Rags to Stitches. The idea is to have a chat over some coffee, about anything or everything. 

So... Please join me, on a "coffee date" -  - as I pretend to chat with you just as if we headed to Sola Coffee Cafe (my favorite local coffee shop here in Raleigh) for a hot tea!  (Of course, I could also be convinced to do the formal "afternoon tea" at one of the 5-star hotels in the area - - it is awesome, and it's been a year now since I've been there!)

I got a new camera for my birthday. I'm excited to figure it out and top the 5000+ pictures I took last year (according to hubby, who recently backed up the pictures for me.)  And speaking of my birthday...I wasn't expecting much.  After all, I'm an adult.  But since birthdays are important to my 4 year old - for the first time in a long while, I got to see my birthday differently - from the eyes of a four year old.  And let me tell you.... it was awesome.  My "birthday hug" and wish first thing in the morning, the anticipation of going out to dinner, the excitement about signing a birthday card - - there is absolutely nothing better than the brilliance of a child's excitement.  This is the excitement that I still have for Christmas morning.  And somehow - - this year, I seemed to be the only one (with 9 people and 1 dog in the house) that was ready to open stockings and get breakfast started around 5am.  At least I got a great Christmas Morning picture of the dog:

I need a pedicure. Thankfully, a friend recently booked one for me.  Just 7 more days.

I'm debating signing up to shave my head for st. Baldrick's, to raise money for a children's charity - - but, in the end, I probably don't have the confidence to do it.  But I'm still thinking about it.

We're waiting on passports for the kids to arrive in the mail.  For once in a very long time, we have no trips planned at the moment.  (Perhaps that is at least one of the reasons I've worked myself into a "funk" the last month or so, and need a good kick in the butt to get out of it - - but, I digress.)  We are at least considering and discussing possible trips to either Niagra Falls (including the Canadian side) or Puerto Rico (possibly for an Eastern Carribbean cruise).  At the end of the day - - it is unlikely we will book either of those until after we have passports in hand.  We're at the "waiting" stage, now.  I do have several work trips tenatively planned for this year.  Boston in June, and New York in October, along with a couple short overnights to Florida.

So what have you been up to? Pull up a chair, the more the merrier.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday