Birthday!

Well, that was it. Saturday was the BIG "Three-Oh". My mom called and asked me how I felt, I said "Old." All in all it was a nice day though. I slept in a little, Ry bought us some breakfast, then I met up with my friend M and I went to lunch and a movie (she is such fun). I went over to whole foods afterwards to buy a bottle of wine for dinner and then headed home. When I got there Ry was done studying for the day and we ordered dinner,Indian food, yum! Afterwards he sent me upstairs with the dogs to hang out for a bit while he brought my presents downstairs. When I came down he sang me happy Birthday and had the candles on my cake lit. (only 3, not 30 thank goodness!) I blew them out and made a wish and chatted for a bit with Ry, when he left to get a knife and plates I noticed a bike! Ry had hunted down a pretty purple bicycle for me for my birthday! We didn't take it for a ride that weekend because of the rain and Ry's bar studies (almost done). The I got to open my gifts from Mom, she got me two great books, one knitting, one baking and a lovely flatbed scanner that can also scan my negatives! She also got me Friends Season 1, but I opened that earlier. My Dad got me a purse from Turkey and sent me a check which I promptly spent on clothes and yarn! My grandparents also sent me a little birthday moo-lah, which I am still hanging onto. I'm looking for that perfect thing to get with it, and Ry's parents chipped in on a plane ticket to get me out to see my Mom and my brother in August. I am so grateful to have such loving friends and family. My Dad even managed to call me from a castle in Austria where he was camping for a bit. I missed the call, but appreciate the fact that he made it! My dear friend Amy called me too, but I missed that call as well. I am so lucky to have such great family and friends. (And my knitting pals had something planned for me for Wednesday, but I went home from work early that day with a migraine. I'll see them next week though, and I feel terrible about ruining their plans! I'm so sorry, ladies! You wouldn't have wanted me there half blind, cranky and shushing you every five seconds, trust me!)

Thanks everyone, you made my birthday very special!

Oh no!

Oh. my. GOD. I sent my boss's boss an e-mail that said "What the hell? Has this even been assigned yet?"

It was supposed to go to the office administrator.

Not my BOSS'S BOSS!!

Oh.my.God. Hopefully I don't get fired or severely reprimanded over this.



Update
I didn't get fired, I sent my boss's boss an apologetic and self-denigrating e-mail, and then met with him in his office. He said not to worry about it, I was over-reacting and he didn't care. (Thank God) Still. How embarassing. I'm going to have to double check if I hit "forward" or "reply" from now on.

Ahhhhh....Sweet, sweet release

I am done, finito, fin, with my finals! Yes, I turned in my last final yesterday and then went on a much needed kitchen cleaning spree and then made an apron. Yup, I cleaned thoroughly, I even wiped down the microwave, toaster oven and wiped the grease off the teapot (I don't know how it became greasy, it was here and greasy when we moved in.) After the kitchen was sparkling, I went right upstairs and used the pattern in Amy Karol's Bend the Rules book to make an apron out of a pretty half yard of fabric I had in my stash. I really love the way it turned out although next time I'll probably make it a bit wide and add a pocket or two.



Now that I have finished with my exams I can finally share that red sauce recipe I found. The Original recipe is here. The original is from the Orangette blog (If you have not been there yet, you really should see it, the description of food and the gorgeous ohotographs make the mouth water.) As I have said before, finding this simple red sauce recipe was a goal, a challenge presented to me in such a way that I would rise up and meet it. So I did, and in my quest I found Orangette's recipe, which served as an excelelnt base, but somehow did not seem quite perfect. Without further ado, here is my adapted recipe:

Infamous Red Sauce

28 oz. can of the best whole peeled italian tomatoes you can find (I like the organic tomatoes, the taste is perfect)
1 medium to large yellow onion peeled and halved
1 stick plus 2tb. of butter cut into pieces

Puree the tomatoes in the blender. Combine pureed tomatoes, butter and onion halves in a medium pot. I like to use our cast-iron pot for this, but it is not necessary. Cook for about 1 hour stirring occasionally. Remove onion before tossing with pasta.*






*Save the onion, it's excellent chopped up and put into the next mornings eggs or use it in a salsa.


Blogger hates me today and will not upload anymore photos, it just flat out refuses. I will add more later when blogger and I have reconciled.

Joining the Bucket Bandwagon

So Lisa over at Confessions of an Apron Queen is having a "Kick the Bucket" contest and give away ecouraging us to post our very own bucket list a la the movie of the very same name! (Deb has already done this, but she wasn't having a giveaway. Ha-ha! Just kidding, Deb!)

So this is their bucket list:

Witness something truly majestic
Help a complete stranger for a common good
Laugh till I cry
Drive a Shelby mustang
Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world
Get a tattoo
Skydiving
See the pyramids
Get back in touch with...
Hunt the big cat
See Rome


And here's mine:

Go on an African Safari
See tigers in India
Go to Xi'an China and see Emporer Qin's Terracotta Army
Explore Mayan ruins
Own and operate a vineyard
Adopt or foster a child
See the pyramids
Learn to play the piano
Drive a fast car as fast as I can on an open track
Go to Japan

I think that's it. There were many thing on my list that I had already done, so coming up with a new list was a bit difficult, but fun!


p.s. Soon there will be pictures and a recipe, I just have to get myself in gear and upload the pics!