i don't have a stinkin title

its the eve of another new year. do we really need a new year to make resolutions? i personally think no. i understand for many people a new year signifies change, but what about making birthday resolutions? it marks a new year for you as well. if you're not ready for a change for real and you have to make it as a new years resolution then maybe you aren't really ready for that change! any hoo..just my little rant... hope you all have a happy, safe and healthy new year. may you accomplish all the goals you set for yourself this year, be them new year's resolutions or otherwise...

another christmas is over. its just not the same as when i was a kid. memories that have been collected from the years waking up in the middle of the night and sneaking downstairs to verify that santa did in fact come, and i really had been a good girl, and seeing the cookie crumbs and empty milk glass the great presents that as a kid stand out..my cardboard "grocery store" with plastic groceries and cash register. or the year i got my purple bike!! or once we got older and no longer believed in santa, there is the year that all my brother wanted was a dog. on christmas eve my parents said we could each open a present. my brother was handed his stocking. it was FULL of individually wrapped porcelain dogs, that my parents borrowed from a friend. with each one he unwrapped he got more and more upset, and my parents laughed harder and harder. at the time he was heart broken, but i think he's able to laugh about it now! i think. i miss the standard stocking stuffers i would g...

ever since i was a kid christmas has been all about the food. and the cookies. i remember around third or fourth grade being home cuz it was christmas break and my mom made butter cookies. my brother and i got to "help" by putting the sprinkles on the cookies. (i remember distinctly breakin 2: electric boogaloo was on my mom would make an array of cookies for christmas..butter cookies, pizzelles , almond balls, cherry almond balls, rum balls, and fruit cake. once i was old enough i really did help my mom bake the cookies, and roll all those damn balls! then i became the designated butter cookie maker, which was fine by me bc i got to use the cookie gun! once i moved to la, i made the cookies for myself bc really its all i have left of how christmas used to be. (going to rob's brother's for christmas is good cuz they have 2 boys that are still all about santa, but really its not the same as being with my LOUD italian family, not to mention completely different food.....

it's hard to be positive. it's hard to not get all depressed. our third and a half attempt at putting an offer on a house has been rejected yet again. but "it's a buyer's market" and " now is the time to buy" don't believe this bullshit this is from the banks that are trying to create a hype over the foreclosed houses that they are slowly dribbling onto the market so that that can instigate bidding wars from the frustrated wanna-be first time home buyers. we have been looking online for well over a year we started out looking at houses via two different web based agencies, if you can call them that the first web based guy was creepy. do\id my research online and i knew more about the house than he did. but we still used him to show us a few different houses. then we also ventured into the second web based agency. they definitely have the better site- more user friendly, they use a google map that you can move around on so if you don't know n...

so while walking to my car after work i was reminded of a line from a classic movie from the early to mid 90's hackers "spandex is a privilege, not a right" sooo true! oh 90's movies you speak to me on soo many levels. how i miss the 90's! not so much the early 90's like high school, but the early to mid 90's like college. those were the days! feeling the waves of nostalgia roll over me... but i digress there was a big girl wearing leggings as pants. (ok not spandex, but pretty damn close!) and i don't mean with a tunic or longer top, but with a normal length shirt falling just below the waist. really? do i need to see that? really? no, no i don't i understand being comfortable with your body, but would you wear a bikini on the beach? probably not now i consider my to be a big girl, not huge, but i could stand to lose a few pounds (which i'm not even going to think about until after christmas bc to me december is alll about food!) i might not...

remember that scene in sex and the city where carrie is walking up a manhattan street and she sees some manolo's in a window, to which she coos: "hello, lover!" that's me with anything 70's, loud and obnoxious!! rob's mom is in town so we went to the sleepy beach town of carpinteria for the weekend with his brother and family. on saturday afternoon the boys and men lounged around the house while the ladies wandered around town. after the trip to the upscale kiddie consignment shop and the candy store we wandered into an antique shop. normally i prefer to go to flea markets or garage sale bc the word antique tends to add more $$ to the price... i wandered around and was waiting for melinda to decide what to get... then i turned around and it was love at first sight!!! then i opened it!! there were 4!!! wow! amazing!!!! i am in my glory. so then i get home monday and find out i have a package waiting at the post office...i'm dying to know what's in the ...

so in my perusing on the internets i found this awesome site retro renovation . this site is dedicated to everything retro, but primarily mid-century modern. i like the mid century look and design, but my tastes are definately more 70's retro but i LOVE this site!! and today i was proven right in my love of the site. she had a story on someone who re-did her AVOCADO GREEN KITCHEN ! i am SOOOO coveting this kitchen! someday, someday! i hope...

so i've been on a mission to find recipes other than hummus for the chickpea, aka the garbanzo bean. i've also been trying to find pantry recipes, aka recipes for shit you usually have in the house i got lucky and found on that is both and actually healthy too!! this was originally from cooking light, but i swear you would never know it!! Ingredients * 2 teaspoons olive oil * 2 cups chopped tomato * 2 garlic cloves, minced * 3 cups hot cooked angel hair (about 6 ounces uncooked pasta) * 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 1/4 teaspoon black pepper * 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained * 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Asiago cheese * 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar * Basil sprigs (optional) Preparation Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomato and garlic, and sauté 2 minutes. Add pasta, basil, salt, pepper, and chickpeas; cook 2 minutes. Place mixture in a bowl...

so it got cold yesterday here in sunny southern california. cold of course being relative as compared to the east coast.. when i got home from work all the windows were open bc up until yesterday it had been perfect! so i closed all the windows and curled up on the couch under a blanket. after laying there in a semi-comatose state (as an opening shift after 3 days off can mess you up) i realized it was only 6pm and if i fell asleep then i definitely would not sleep thought the nite. i didn't really want to leave the comfy warmness of the blanket, but i had to. so i decided i had to bake something so i could turn the oven on and warm up the house! when i had been home for baba's funeral i asked if i could have her recipes and cook books. my goal was to find her banana bread recipe. sadly i found 2 banana cakes but no banana bread...i did, however, find baba's jewish apple cake. my mom was sooo excited for this one. the two main differences between what my mom had been doing ...

so its been a rough couple of weeks with no motivation. my baba passed away that combined with a general feeling of yuk has lead to no blog.. never fear! with the weekend off i am feeling like i will find inspiration.... stay tuned!

to me banana bread is a comfort food like macaroni and cheese. summer thunder storms always make me think of mac and cheese (we had a horrible thunderstorm that knocked down our next door neighbor's tree into our yard on a night that my dad made mac and cheese. they next time he made mac and cheese i asked him if it was going to rain, thus a food memory was born) banana bread always makes me think of my baba. growing up we'd spend our summer days at baba and dedo's. there was always banana bread. baba would make it in this large 8x13 pan. it was the best. try as i might i just can not replicate baba's banana bread. i don't know if it was the pan or some magic that only grandmothers seem to possess. i am always looking for new banana bread recipes to see if i can find that little difference. right now i have a banana bread in the oven. i know its not the same as baba's but its a good one. there is something comforting about the smell of banana bread baking ...

so we did it..we put an offer in on a house!!! i'm dying right now. here's our problem--its a short sale so i was doing my daily perusing of new listings on redfin my preferred real estate site (great inter-active map if you don't know neighborhoods or zip codes!) and this house came up on a block that is awesome and we never thought we'd get into. i clicked on it and its a short sale. i decided to email it to the real estate lady anyways. she lets me know that the listing agent is someone they have worked with prior and she is difficult. great. so we wait a week. then i called the real estate lady to see if there was any word on getting in bc we were very very interested! she suggested we put in an offer pending an interior inspection if we felt that strongly about it. so i talked to the man and we were like HELL! YES! so i sent the real estate lady an email. then she calls me to say we can get in! OMG!! ok so with out getting into too much detail: craftsman! interio...

so when i was in 6th grade we had to take a sewing class as part of home ec. we got to make a stuffed pillow. for our class we had the choice of an octopus or a chicken. i was the only one in my class to go against the grain and choose the chicken ( i was a rebel even then..hehe) also around the same time i had mr hubbard for history ( i hated him at the time but in retrospect he was an awesome teacher who tried to make it fun, even if he graded ridiculously hard! and was kinda mean). we were learning about the homo sapiens and ancient man. remember lucy ? the almost full skeleton that was found at the same time lucy in the sky with diamonds was playing. i'm not exactly sure where the van came from. i think i wanted to sound cool. (for some reason i think it had something to do with camper van beethoven, who i never even listened too) well anyways..lucy van chicken was born! there's even a label i sewed onto her back with her name! and she was a perfect shape to hold while i s...

so i've decided to start a blog. my intention is to post about stuff i like. so what do i like... i enjoy baking and cooking, and have become quite domestic in my old age...i'm gonna post recipes i like houses and am OBSESSED with house hunters (currently i am a house hunter). once i get the house i'm sure i'll be all about decorating. I enjoy 60's and 70's kitchy stuff. my goal it to have an avocado green kitchen! i watch lots of crappy reality tv! so expect me to share a thought or 2... i thought this would be easier..ah well..i guess i can add another post when i get inspired, right?