My week. . . . . .

The handsome hubby playing the guitar (thanks Jen for the pic!)

Sexy girl!

Rawr!  Like brother & sister. . .

Spicy Shrimp Po'Boy ( a new Felipe fave!)

quick tip: if you use already cooked shrimp these take about 5 min to whip up

What I did last weekend. . . .

Happy Birthday Gloria!

My MIL celebrated a lovely birthday on Friday and we are having her over for a birthday lunch today.  Other distinguished guests include, Fernando (who just made it back from Colombia) and Gloria (my grandmother-in-law who is visiting), as well as Andy (Fel's brother.)  One the menu:

• El Pollo Rey: the most delicious grilled chicken I have ever met
• Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet: using my little cuisinart ice cream maker makes me so excited!
• Coffee Cake: to be enjoyed after lunch a cup of coffee

It has been a super-challenging week.  After our lovely housewarming party, we found that the flue from our hot water heater had corroded through, spilling carbon monoxide and other flammable vapors into my closet.  A quick call to AB May, our hot water heater was turned off and we had a $2000 estimate for the repairs (they said the problem was not covered under warranty because it was not install correctly initially.)  Luckily our best friend Jill lives just down the street and let us use all the hot water we needed, we located a plumber who was willing to repair only the damaged part of the flue for a fraction of the AB May quoted priced, and super Steve (our realtor's dad) came and helped install a new hot water heater yesterday.  Long stressful hours at work, combined with 100+ degree heat, and no showers make for a very cranky husband and wife.  Please send some good blessings our way!

housewarming!

We had our official house-warming last night, and it ended up being such a lovely summer evening.  I was amazed at how many family and friends were able to stop by (and all the lovely things they brought with them!)  The night definitely would not have been as special without help from dad (power-washing champ), mom (chief sandwich maker), gloria (batteries for the mood music), and jill (emergent bug spray run.)  Thank you so much everyone!

I intended to take oodles of pictures of the house and our family & friends.  I figured the house might not ever be this clean and uncluttered again.  Unfortunately I only ended up with 5 random shots.  Above, is our bookshelves.  Below, our new art which we ended up stretching ourselves.  That was definitely a challenge, but so worth it.

My lovely parents finally sitting down with a cold drink and snack after a hard day of work.

My fabulous new beverage dispensers.  So much fun!  Can't wait to fill them up with other yummy drinks this summer.

The lovely ladies (plus my handsome hubby!)

I didn't catch any pics of the food, but want to share the recipes:

• Paula's finger sandwiches
• Giadia's orzo salad
• BLT roll-ups
• Ina's chicken salad
• Oreo cheesecake brownie - easy, and do die for!

BAM!

Made my first Emeril recipe last night, Sweet & Hot Pepper Chicken.  In the past, I've been a little afraid of Emeril.  His recipes usually have more ingredients and generally they are a bit more complicated than your average recipe.  But after a long day at work, I felt up to the challenge and was craving a little spice.  I was a HUGE fan of this recipe.  I think it was the minced ginger that tipped it over the edge into deliciousness.  Unfortunately that same ginger likely tipped it the other way for Felipe whose taste buds are a bit less adventurous than mine.  Nonetheless, there is the perfect amount of leftovers for me to take to lunch.

Even though laying on the new furniture is completely against the rules, he just looked like such a little prince up on my chair I couldn't resist snapping a picture before I shoo-ed him off.

Greetings from Arkansas

This weekend has been just what the doctor ordered  - - rest, relaxation, shopping, and grilling.  Here's a few of the highlights.

Fish taco's with grilled corn.  Absolutely delish!  Sprinkled generously with cilantro and chipotle cream.

Watermelon limeades to cool down on a hot day.  I've been on such a watermelon kick lately.

And Mr. Boomer who is slowly going grey, but you wouldn't guess it when you see how excited he gets when its time for a walk.

A few things I didn't capture on camera:
-filet mignon: WOW!
-my new patio set: thanks ma & pa!
-fireworks 2 nights in a row

Me again!

Ahhhh (that was a sigh of relief.)  I'm feeling like myself again.  After work today I got to indulge in a few normal person activities.  I ran a few errands (picked up my contacts, stopped by the post office), watered my plants out front, cooked a lovely meal for my hubby, and tided the kitchen.  Its so nice to be back in the kitchen!  On the menu for tonight, Chicken Scarpariello.  I used to dislike Miss Ray, thinking she was too loud and her recipes rather odd.  But now I'm going to have to give her a second chance.  This meal was quick, easy, delicious, and even looked pretty on the plate.  She's not lying when she markets herself as the queen of 30 minutes meals.  I'm a huge fan of the hot cherry peppers, they add the perfect amount of heat.

Here's one of my favorite ladies posing for the camera!

Night Float

Things I miss:

1. seeing my hubby
2. sleeping at night
3. getting more than 4-hours uninterrupted sleep in a 24h period
4. eating regular meals (or even eating real food, let me tell you the hospital cafeteria has nothing to offer at 3am)

Things I am looking forward to:

1. picking up our new artwork from the post-office tomorrow-->4 paintings direct from an artist in china!
2. having 3 full nights (but only 2 days) away from KUMC, hooray for 4th of July
3. going to Arkansas for a weekend getaway: shopping with my mama, delicious grilling with the pops, taking Boomer to the lake, relaxing