keeping it in the family

valentines day

2012-01-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

i don't know if it's because i've been sick all weekend or because i just ordered some pink and red jeans, but i'm so ready to decorate for valentine's day.

here are a few ideas i've seen on the interwebs this afternoon.

(all images via pinterest)

speaking of pinterest, don't you think that if you get over 3,000 re-pins on one item the company should send you one for free? posh tots... i hope you're listening!

you're not the real santa... you're not tarnished with ashes and soot

2012-01-10T18:55:00.000-08:00

christmas 2011 was great! david and i landed around midnight on christmas eve eve, just in time to wish mom a happy birthday at her favorite place to be: LAX. only her second airport trip of the day.

we chit chatted for a while and then it was off to bed.

christmas eve morning started early! we had breakfast and then had tyler get dressed up in an early christmas present from santa (david 1 helped him pick out the right gear).

tyler keeps getting taller... but the shoulder pads really make him bigger than the christmas tree

nothing says christmas like a little bath-time fun with your puppy.

("i will literally kill you put this on facebook"-tyler)

he's not as naked as it looks. lol.

then it was off to the nutcracker ballet for the girls minus kourty. maybe the best part of the whole event was checking out what everyone else thought was ballet appropriate attire... sequin mini tube dress at 10am on christmas eve? really?

addie had the most gorgeous princess braids

so excited to see the show

best nutcracker buddies... what's happening? where did the boys go? where's clara?

intermission... we really wanted to take a pic on the stage

sisters by chance, frenemies by choice?

we were so hungry and andie was hoarding the sour patch kidz.

amber and i had to share 1 kid!!

so, the show was a little longer than we had anticipated, but addie was a trooper. she loved the whole thing

scarfing down some random sees candy for lunch on the way home from the ballet. we ran out of good ones in like 5 minutes.

then it was time for a quick walk to the sev with the pup before the christmas eve party.

this dog really hates walking... and that fake baby never stops crying.

then it was time for the 20something annual boberg christmas eve party. after a delicious feast it was time for the kids to re-enact the nativity.

we had dueling marys...

and a korty sneaking in the play

everyone's favorite part of the party... singing carols

andie's face says it all.

larry gets out of all the pics because he's the resident photog...

always ready for a pic

we're not sure why ambie dressed like taylor swift...

then santa's helpers had work to do so we took off and opened santa's workshop in my mom's living room.

sometime you wrap presents

and sometimes you have to try them out...

my mom is one grandbaby short of having to get a bigger mantle

the best christmas present of all (even if being a teen dad is harder than it looks)

with a christmas bow and everything

mom is about the same number of grandbaby or son-in-laws away from needed a longer staircase.

tyler and addie are so over it... bring on the gifties

kourty thought santa's left over cookies were the best present ever

addie's special disney princess day book

christmas cuties

andie really came through with the cinni bears this year

christmas hugs

one of the weirdest, yet probably most popular presents... tangled hair

love it

addie's nutcracker... only she would have picked out the most sparkly purple nutcracker out of the whole gift display

we had a few minutes before we had to be at church so david whipped up some fab stuffed french toast with bananas foster and caramelized pecan topping. mom, working hard on not burning the bacon.

one of the only moments this dog was peeing on something the whole week. he's like a ninja.

andie trying to finish a puzzle that was driving everyone crazy

the finished product

then we attempted to take a christmas picture with everyone, didn't really happen...

christmas outfits

who can photo-shop this for me?? like, it's probably a really good picture...

christmas reds

the sisters weren't having it.

after church we skyped with the bfields for a minute (hi conner!!), cleaned up a bit and headed over to grandma's for what we hoped would be a thanksgiving redemption...

appetizer table looking much fuller than last time. 1 point grandma.

kourty made a new bff: tara!

here is a quick pic of mae... we barely saw her, she had to leave to wash her car. she had been planning it for weeks.

addie sitting with santa and mikey and fernando trying to convince her it was the real santa. she knew better. she knew it wasn't the real santa because he wasn't covered in ashes and soot.

kourty: not a santa baby

even if it wasn't the real santa, she'd still take the car. the only thing left on her christmas list.

(big thanks to uncle mike for putting that one together!)

then came a new christmas tradition, one we hope doesn't make it to 2012.

my grandma coerced my mom and aunt carma to play a fun game with the gift card exchange this year by passing the cards around switching directions based on words from "twas the night before christmas." who knew it had 300 verses?? addie did. she knew all the words! amazing.

also noted: the worst christmas present to give a grandma: kindle fire. you're just asking for hours of tutorials. glad it wasn't my idea!

carma trying to explain the internet for the 100th time.

barely listening at this point.

the end! i hope everyone was happy with their gift card.

still munching. all she wanted was "fluh" carma made a new peppermint fluff fan this year.

david trying to explain the internet to my grandma... not really successfully.

the rest of the week was filled with great food and fun times and lots of measuring and weighing.

we went to cafe rio and loved every second of it

we got manis and pedis after waiting like 4 hrs... not pictured: laura--she's way over ---->

she was actually getting a mani and pedi, andie amber and i were just having our skin soaked off.

lots of snuggles with ambie... i found out how she gets them to love her-she has a secret stash of cookies in her bedside table. tricky.

princess cupcakes

claim jumper celebration dinner. we were celebrating everyone going on a diet on monday and tyler not dying in the mud caves.

also, amber ran over tyler's leg... while he was in the car... i don't buy his story, but here he is trying to show us how bad it is.

got ranch?

cheers!

well, that was it. christmas was the best! happy new year everyone.

wisconsin is having a heat wave. not a flake of snow on the ground, so you guys should all come visit!

this christmas

2011-12-18T18:53:00.000-08:00

"This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again."

Howard W. Hunter, "The Gifts of Christmas," Ensign, Dec 2002

i bet your dentist...

2011-12-17T18:29:00.000-08:00

doesn't deck the halls of their office quite as much as dr. pham. i am not kidding there were wreaths and trees everywhere i looked.

and i bet your dentist doesn't give you a christmas present for coming in for your semi-annual cleaning.

she may be totally crazy, but she's the nicest dentist i've ever met.

(also, the hygienists keep bringing up your referral Jenna! when are you getting that free tooth whitening?)

what? we have doors?

2011-12-14T18:29:00.000-08:00

after 1 1/2 years in our house we finally have cabinet doors in the dining room! it was the first project i started and it was a disaster. my brother re-made all of the doors and had them shipped to us a few months ago. we finally had someone come in and do the hard work of hanging them and getting and putting in the hardware. david installed the stained glass panels. i couldn't be happier! i love looking in the dining room and it not feel like a construction zone anymore.

cabinet on the left

cabinet on the right

i'm still working on my christmas table-scape. i really tried to downsize, last year was a little out of control!

also noteworthy: we have real doors for all of the rooms and closets in our house! come visit and check those out. (i take back every comment i made about david and laura not having doors, seriously, why is it so hard to get doors hung up??!). i'm not going to lie-- i don't miss the hippy lifestyle at all.

the christmas tree that almost wasn't

2011-12-04T18:28:00.001-08:00

every year we go to the same christmas tree farm to chop down our own christmas tree (and by we i mean i pick it out and david chops it down). of course the only saturday we had available to pick out our tree it was pouring rain!

driving out to the noble fir section of the farm

after sloshing around the farm for a while getting soaked we decided that maybe something from their pre-cut selection would be easier.

it was and they had some great freshly cut trees to choose from. the nice guys that worked there were kind enough to get it all tied to our car even though it was raining. i think they were just having a slow morning because no one else was dumb enough to try to pick out their tree in the rain.

we got our tree home and now it is finally decorated. i love christmas and having the tree lit up.

it didn't take quite as much time as i had allotted for decorating, so i finally made one of those ornament wreaths for my front door. i figure this is a wreath i am not that attached to, so i don't care if it gets ruined in the snow.

kind of dr seuss-y, but hey, it's christmas.

Thanksgiving 2011... Raw Turkey and Turkey Tourneys

2011-12-04T17:19:00.001-08:00

thanksgiving was as usual the most sleepless 4 days of the year. we arrived at late thirty wednesday night at LAX (nightmare!) then stayed up for hours gabbing (waiting for amber to get home, turns out she was asleep already...) oops.

before we knew it it was time for thanksgiving breakfast. we woke everyone up early to enjoy chocolate, pistachio and almond croissants from le rev... it was quite a task getting a dozen croissants from milwaukee to cypress, but it was a success!

yum-o

as soon as the last crumb was devoured it was time for christmas crafts! typically that means that my mom and i direct david on our vision and get frustrated when it doesn't turn out exactly right.

this year was no different!

david hard at work on shaping our wreath forms
andie showing off what we were attempting to recreate

turns out you need about a billion ornaments to make one... so, it's 1/4 completed, maybe we'll finish it by christmas.

then david and i headed over to grandma mazie's for a little visit. always great to see her!

next up thanksgiving at grandma mary's. you know, we do this almost every year and i'm pretty sure this was the year she called it quits.

appetizer table, pretty sparse...

noticeably missing: chicken chili and dorritos... don't event get me started.

also missing: weird flavored flat sodas. something is up!

also, this one was kind of a surprise... dinner was no where close to ready when we showed up. so time for portraits to kill time.

my favorite part of this picture? that pomeranians and jesus have the same level of prominence at grandma's house.

pyramid of hungry guests.

david2 and mae conversandan en espanol. grandma scootin' around getting in someone's way and tara trying to keep that broccoli casserole warm.

my favorite matching newlyweds + mikey

finally after hours of waiting grandma's turkey looked done enough for her to believe we could start eating (surprise surprise, you have to turn your oven on for it to get hot?!) luckily my mom prepped an 18lb turkey breast so we at least had some turkey to eat.

i'm pretty sure the girls are trying to figure out which gravy was safe to eat... you never know when there are two different dishes of gravy...

carma went all out and out did herself this year with 2 different cranberry offerings to choose from. we're all just glad she's off her crazy diet from last year. that pumpkin weight watchers 0 points trifle was a disaster! way to go for full sugared jello and marshmallows! these were keepers..

and mom's fruit salad was a masterpiece as usual. she really fancied it up with some pomegranate seeds. the seeds also were the reason for tyler's 4 outfit changes before we even left the house.

grazin'

of course we had our regular hilarious dinner conversations. nothing quite like thanksgiving at grandma's.

i can barely remember friday! all i know is we ate a lot and we did 0 damage to our credit cards.

first stop was an 8am soccer game for tyler, i was the only one awake, so i went with my mom while david was visiting with our nielsen grandparents.

then when everyone woke up it was time for lunch at lucielle's (david2's fav).

group shot!

tyler looks pretty stoked for some pre-game tri-tip

andie and brent... maybe he'll order better next time? who gets the hot link platter?! srsly.

birthday buddies!

tyler lovin' on some ribs, andie is still looking homeless and brent is really hating trying to choke down his nasty order.

sisterz.

couples!

it must be a hansen thing.

then we walked around to all the best shops lbtc has to offer. not shockingly, we came home empty handed. but i applaud anyone who found something worth waiting in the hour line to save $4 on.

ambie and i did find some shorts that were definitely worth trying on.

just some sisters sharing shorts

we even got them buttoned and zipped. i hope whoever fits in these shorts never buys shorts.

of course it was time to get in the christmas spirit with thanksgiving over, so we headed to not one, but two christmas tree lots to pick out the tree of mom's dreams.

i'm not even sure if this is the tree we bought.

the whole gang headed to tyler's next turkey tourney game. it was a nail biter and brent was doing his best coach taylor impersonation while we were all screaming and jumping up and down. so fun!

of course our fun was put on hold when grandma called us and let us know she had fallen down. bummer, wish i had some pics of this though... but that just seems disrespectful. we left my mom to handle that one and headed to the airport to pic up dave and made a b-line for cafe rio!

andie kind of looking like a character from oliver twist...

these guys love their queso

cafe rio cuties

david still hates pics.

the next morning it was time for another early soccer game. andie, brent and i went to this one with my mom. this one was rough... pretty sure we lost it, but it didn't matter because blue crush was already on their way to the finals.

soccer mom, ghost of christmas future.

we swung by chik-fil-a on the way home from the game so tyler could re-fuel. dropped him off, picked up and amber and david and headed to irving spectrum for a little birthday shopping and fun for amber. it was definitely speed shopping because we had a few other places to get to.

namely, lawry's carvery for birthday lunch! so delicious.

nothing like begging for pickles. what?

then we headed over to godiva for some birthday decadences and pictures by south coast plaza's poinsettia christmas tree.

best chocolate shake ever.

just the girls.

pics by another christmas tree.

smiling with no teeth.

hating every second of the picture taking.

then it was off to airport to head back to milwaukee. when we arrived we slept for like 15hrs straight to try to make up some of the sleepless nights.

halloween decorations

2011-10-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

i think this is the only week you'll hear me say that i wish it was colder in wisconsin. i really want to get a jump start on all of these jack o lantern ideas i have, but it's too hot outside to put pumpkins out!

seriously so glam. that's what i'm going for this year!

and fingers crossed david will let me make these ones:

thanks kohls!

2011-10-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

we didn't let the rain ruin our day at six flags last weekend. we drove down with the thorsteads to enjoy kohls friends and family day. i'm pretty sure the rain scared lots of people off, luckily for us that meant an empty theme park and getting to walk on every ride we wanted without waiting longer than 20 minutes.

after a few out takes we finally got a decent pic that makes us look like we're actually friends. (taken while richard was being arrested for bringing a weapon (swiss army knife) into the park)

jenna and i were twins! got to love marmot rain jackets.

richard and jenna waiting in one of the only lines we had.

david and i clearly on an adrenaline rush! (don't mind my roller coaster hair)

when it was raining so hard they had to shut down the rides we headed over to sweet tomatoes!! so good.

do you think we got enough food? nothing like riding a bunch of roller coasters on a stomach full of buffet.

love it!

i think that 3rd bowl of soup did me in!

we had such a fun time. all the david and richard could talk about was getting a pass... still thinking about it.

two of the stooges came to visit

2011-08-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

and it was a non-stop party! we ate way too much, stayed up way too late and had so much fun.

amber and tyler didn't land until 11pm, but that didn't stop us from a midnight BWW run. Delish--but made me so sick to eat that late at night.

the next day we went to pizzaria piccola and had some delish pizzas and fredo.

even tyler loves the fredo

followed by a little BR

and then on to the zoo (who knew zoos were so depressing as adults?!)

the boys went on the slowest zip line in the world

then we saw some dead animals

tyler loved the topiaries

and the giraffes

amber and i loved the elephant

and the camels (duh!)

tyler was the butterfly whisperer

don't mind us greaseballs! they had to keep the butterfly enclosure over 80 degrees and 80% humidity

i want a whole album of pictures of amber kissing animals

tyler in action

after the zoo we went to the movies. amber and i got carded at the mall by a hilarious old security guard. the boyz saw captain america and we saw that one movie with that girl from easy A and michael scarn and ryan gossling... not what i expected. then we met up for a late dinner at the mall.

the next morning we woke up early-ish and went to kranky al's for donuts and muffins.

breakfast at kranky al's

we made it to chicago and the boys when back to school shopping and amber and i met the funniest make-up artist named Iesha. she was crazy! if you're ever at the nordstrom off michigan ave and looking for some entertainment and eyeliner find her near the clinique counter.

then we headed over to vosges chocolatier to sample some tasty treats and have tyler swipe all of their free samples.

then we headed over to giordanos for a real chicago slice. i almost passed out because i was so hungry! so i didn't really enjoy that part of our little trip, but it was fun and delicious.

then we worked off our pizza by walking all over the city: visiting a few anthropologies and a pinkberry and finally ending at millennium park.

the bean was very cool

tyler had some of the best poses that we saw

the amphitheater was also very cool

tyler also got very into planking... i can't believe we didn't think of this earlier...

you have to look at this picture closely to see how high up tyler got to plank

the next day we went to six flags and had the best time ever!!

we even got to stop for lunch at sweet tomatoes and had a foreign family take our pic

i wish our eyes were open

lovin it!

their last day here we had a little lunch break at jimmy johns for tyler, chipotle for amber and myself (i'm so addicted right now) and then a little culvers. we tricked tyler into a trip to cosmo prof for some nail polish... amber really has quite the collection. we are working on our ombre tutorials... i'll let you know when they hit the web.

for their last night we went out to Devon seafood and grill. my friend kate from worked hooked tyler up! we all had a fabulous dinner (crab steak etc.) so good!

i'm really glad kate knew what planking was, otherwise this would have been very awkward

planking outside

on a rock

in gapfit

and then of course a leon's treat for dessert.

we loved having tyler and amber in town. come back anytime! we will keep your file saved on first blood.

come visit again!

technology will lead you into a lake

2011-08-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

this morning i was suckered into going on the relief society temple trip, but of course i would go because 1. with the temple being so far away i definitely don't go enough and 2. when your friend texts you like 20 times in a two day period begging you to go, you just go. (hahaha, only for jenna) so we meet up at 8:30am for a little bagel snack and then we head down to chicago to make the 11am session. well, let's just say our gps devices were acting up and we arrived at our destination a little late, only to realize that we were at some random park under a train park and ride in a weird ethnic suburb of chicago. what?

this picture does not really capture the ghetto-ness of our location. imagine a few shopping carts full of garbage and one with a surfboard, a few broken down cars and a bounce house/ possible seen of a shooting. it was crazy! cop cars everywhere, ambulances and sirens blaring. we eventually made it to the actual temple (which is located in a very safe neighborhood, don't worry mom!)

we ended up all finishing at the same time and we reunited in the dressing room. phew! here are most of the girls that were at the temple. we took this picture moments before some crazy storm hit so we booked it to corner bakery and had a nice relaxing lunch. we finally made it back to milwaukee at 4pm!! i've never had such a long temple trip, but it was great getting to catch up with some of the girls in relief society. i bet jenna will never drive with me anywhere again!!

it was my birthday!!

2011-08-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

and my mom came to visit and to celebrate my birthday and david passing his board exam. it was so much fun and as expected, i was beyond exhausted by the time we dropped her off at the airport.

we started the night by going straight to mr. b's for a fabulous celebratory meal. so delicious.

my mom tried her had at some photography-- this was the best out of a few blurry shots and an accidental video? i love when that happens.

then we woke up a little early on saturday and headed to the honey pie cafe for some great french toast and a little taste of milwaukee. the crowd is always great for people watching here.

my mom loved it. you will too! (come visit)

then we went down to chicago and walked around and went on an architectural boat tour.

gang's all here! (humidity + rain does weird things to my hair--half straight/half curly all the way frizzy?!)

of course as soon as we boarded the tour boat it started raining--but we braved the storm to the city from a totally different perspective.

it was very cool seeing all of downtown without having to walk for miles and miles or having to brave the crazy traffic.

the tour's midpoint was at navy pier. we have yet to visit this park in our years in the midwest, but we might next weekend when tyler and amber visit.

after the tour we walked around and waited in some lines and my mom just really wanted a picture by the original portillo's. (she loves the place!)

we also went a little crazy at le creuset and i'm thinking i might need a few more shelves for all of my beautiful pots and pans. (thanks again mom! i'll post when david makes soup in his special soup pot). we did a little baby shopping for the grandbabies and we stayed up late chit chatting and having hilarious text convos with my aunt carma.

it was such a great weekend! i can't wait until my mom's next visit.

3rd annual bastille day festival

2011-07-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

a few weekends ago we headed down toward the lake to celebrate bastille day with the yans... 3rd year in a row (honestly, i can't believe we're going on 3 years in milwaukee!). anyways, it was super fun as always, awesome cheese curds, people watching and of course the famous sidewalk chalk artists and mini eiffel tower. we were all disappointed that the street performers were taking a break or something when we got there.

this is a sidewalk chalk drawing of monet painting the lily pond, the artist was very proud that she thought she had achieved a 3-d look, i'm not buying it! i just think she wanted tips!

just like the real thing, right?

it was crazy busy, one of the funniest things we saw were people trying to pick out temporary tattoos. maybe next year justin!

i guess this will have to do until we can go visit the real one. in other news, my french is really coming along.

family pics 2011

2011-07-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

these are some of my favorites. i miss everyone already.

i wish everyday was vacay

2011-07-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

i loved our family vacation this summer! it was non-stop laughs for a whole week. i promise we did more than eat and parasail... but i figured 20 pictures is enough for this post. i am really wishing i had another one of these to look forward to!

in other news, 3rd year is amazing. david has done more around the house/yard in the past week than he has in the past year and it's a non-stop party. love it!! he has his first 24 hr call this sunday, so send some energetic vibes his way and feel free to stop by my house, i'll be making lots of food and being very lonely.

family pics sneak

2011-06-29T19:21:00.001-07:00

i have a pretty cute family! and look at that angel baby. love.

wishin i was at the rio right now...

2011-06-28T18:52:00.001-07:00

perfect book end meals to a fab vaca in carlsbad.

and we had a visitor!!

2011-03-20T15:29:00.001-07:00

david was touring the country for some meetings and worked his way to the midwest with a little stop in milwaukee via chicago. it took us 3 hrs! to get down to chicago to pick him up-a new terrible record for us. we even left at 2:45... i guess everyone left work early on friday. we went to XOCO for dinner and i saw Rick Bayless twice! too bad he kept ducking into the kitchen and i never got a pic with him, even though i kept my eye on the door. oh well, maybe next time.

then david came to our house and we put him to work! he said he didn't mind. we love that he was able to do tons of work in like 3 hrs. he made us a new base for our side door step--so now we don't have to use the janky crate that was propped up as a step.

hard a work:

the final result! now i just have to muster enough energy to track down some lannon stone and finish the step. maybe next summer?

as payment we took him to a few of our local favs. we went to bayview for a little breakfast snack at honeypie cafe. then we toured the downtown area for a bit. worked on the house and worked up an appetite and then headed over to pizzaria piccola in wauwatosa village (it's like pizzaria 712, but way better) and then we stopped by leon's for some fresh wisconsin custard on the way to the airport.

(leon's is so good i had to break my 79 day no treat streak for a dip! don't worry, i'm back on the wagon, off the wagon? i'm not sure how the phrase works, but either way, no treats)

the trip was such a whirlwind, as usual. but so much fun. i promise if you visit we won't make you work. david wanted to, i swear! thanks for coming!!

then we celebrated our 3rd anniversary

2011-03-20T15:16:00.001-07:00

our 3rd anniversary was on march 8th. david actually carved out a little time from his study schedule to go out for dinner and then that weekend we were able to go down to the chicago temple for the day. it feels like we've been married forever, but i guess that's a good thing, right?

i loved our wedding day and it's fun to remember all of the funny things that happened that day. like when i was freaking out that david wasn't going to show up in the morning because he came right on time and not early, when he left me in the temple because his contact fell out and then he forgot my wedding band, when andie and amber made our lunch and andie cut her finger and ended up forgetting the whole thing, my aunt carma showing up in the same dress as someone else, my dress being too tight to eat more than one bite, but i heard everything was delicious. thanks to everyone who was there, it made out wedding so special and thanks to everyone who still hangs out with us even though we're old and married and boring!

march so far...

2011-03-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

well, the snow has finally melted and everything looks gross in milwaukee, but at least it's been above 34 every day for the past week! we have had a pretty exciting march so far. david flew me to california for a little mother daughter sister bonding time for our anniversary.

the hansen girls were back together and we did what we do best: nails, shopping, eating and laughing! we found some pretty awesome matching shirts and we had to wear them for david's pizza party.

i loved it!

sisters! i miss you b's already. it was a weird time of day... we aren't that pale (well, maybe we are :/)

it's the pizza king! i wish he could build us a pizza oven here, but we would only be able to use it about 3 months a year. oh well, someday we'll have one.

we also saw this cutie work it in dance class. she was great, but easily distracted! good thing she's so cute--she can get away with anything. i'm so excited to see david and laura turn into stage parents... pageants, here she comes!

it was such a fun trip and i kind of feel guilty that david was back home working on the house and studying while i had non-stop fun! oh well. i'm just excited that it's less than 3 months until june 8th! then we'll be able to have a couple weeks to relax.

still snowed in...

2011-02-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

to my friends in california--complaining about the rain--i don't want to hear it and to my sisters in utah--complaining about -3 degree temps--i don't want to hear it either!

the midwest is experiencing the blizzard of the century apparently and guess who is stuck in the middle of it? anyways, it all started monday afternoon with lots of warnings on the news to get home and stay home. the owners of the company i work for were amazing and thoughtful and gave us tuesday off--letting us know around 2pm so we worked like crazy to get the next couple of days' work done in the remaining hrs at work. i drove home at 4:30 on monday and i haven't left my house since. everything is closed and all the roads are a disaster so here i am. well, at least i have really clean floors and baseboards, right?

i decided to make a few valentine crafts with what i had in my paper box. i think this garland turned out pretty cute. let me know if you want one-it doesn't take too long to make and i have all day to fill.
this morning i woke up an hour early to make sure i had lots of extra time to shovel a path to my car (or wake david up to do it) and to drive to work very slowly. as i was making david shovel i got a text saying work was cancelled again!

here are some pics of the snow for your enjoyment. (feel sorry for me)

this is our side yard. with the snow drifts i would say that is between 3-4ft.
here is david snow blowing our sidewalk. i don't want to get a ticket. thanks for letting us use your snowblower neighbor! (don't worry, i always bring them donuts or treat for letting us borrow it. i'd say that's fair)
crazy neighbors that left their cars out last night! at least with all the wind the snow got blown off.
this blizzard has been crazy! i went to bed hearing thunder and seeing flashes of lighting amidst white out conditions. i'm so glad we're possible half way done with the midwest. i love it--but i don't have to like it right now.

also, happy february! we are less than 2 weeks away from my favorite holiday. well... skype me, call me, text me-- i'm available!

just a christmas teaser...

2011-01-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

best pic of the trip...i love these crazy kids.

it was somebody's birthday...

2011-01-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

our little typod turned 13! on saturday... so this post is dedicated to the best dressed 13 year old at lexington.

before everyone left for utah/wisconsin we had a birthday celebration in tyler's honor at Kobe and it was the best birthday party i've ever been to (including the sailor themed disaster of '06).

his favorite part of the evening is when everyone went around the hibachi and said their favorite memory of him. (seriously--he was loving it! v)

here we are with monster kourtney--if you could see the hood to her outfit you'd get it. she's seriously the best baby. i hope our babies are as nice as she is.
sexy.
here the birthday boy is with his 2nd niece (addie was being naughty--so she wasn't there, but we missed her!)
gang's all here.
cuties
skinny! i miss you and all your chins!
nothing says, "it's my birthday and i'll do whatever i want" than second dessert.

and this is just a bonus pic of the birthday boy and justin beiber being twinsies.

happy birthday tyler! we love you.

christmas time is here

2010-12-03T21:15:00.001-08:00

maybe i just exhausted all of my table-scaping energy at my mom's... but mine just kind of looks like a jumble. perhaps an edit is in order. but notice the mercury glass garland that was one year in the making... it also arrived almost in perfect condition... just a few breaks.

here are my nutcrackers. i just love them. always have. if was blog savvy i would have dance of the sugarplum fairies playing right now.
this is my old world christmas ornament for 2010. it's the camel from their nativity collection. the wisemen are amzazing... i'm holding off on buying the holy family ornament. their version is kind of weird--let's hope they make a good one before i run out of filler ornaments.

the doctor ornament is the one i am most proud of finding. i've been searching everywhere for the past year and i finally found a decent one that matches my style.

this is our "our first home" ornament. i am definitely my mother's daughter. an ornament is necessary for every life event. including wednesdays.
here's the tree! the skirt isn't how i had imagined it, but it will do until next year.
this is the stocking i made for myself this year.
and this is david's. (i'm not sure why this one is so blurry... my camera's drunk. so is my ipod, but that's another story)
and here is our "mantel." if you don't have a fireplace, where do you hang your stockings?

p.s. apparently there is first christmas in wisconsin. it's called "st nick" and i think it's this weekend. all i know is you put your shoes out and st nick brings you a present. so i'll be busy lining all of my shoes up tonight.

if perfect's what you're searching for...

2010-12-03T21:12:00.001-08:00

then just stay the same.

(tyler sang that song... a lot. and i loved every minute of it.)

fast isn't for everyone...

2010-12-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

while i'm waiting on the slowski to send me some pictures from thanksgiving i guess i'll just have to paint you a picture with words...

it all started wednesday after the longest day at work. milwaukee also decided it would be nice to have our first snow that day. so the freeways were crazy trying to get to their airport. i was a little stressed to begin with and let's face it... i do not travel well. if you're a hansen 10 minutes early is late and 1 hour early is definitely late at the airport. so arriving with 30 minutes to get through security and on to our plane was killing me.

well. we made it. then we started 3 straight days of no sleep, too much food, lots of shopping and returning of christmas trees (mom--you owe me $500! i knew you would cave and get a real one, but i guess i'll just keep my garland and call us even?) and decorating, ambie's birthday and so much fun! (we missed you andie--but thanks for the macarons, i'll remember you the next time i ditch family time and take a whirlwind trip to europe). i think i slept a total of 10 hours. there was just too much to do and eat. it was a great weekend and it was so much fun to catch up with the nielsen siblings and see all of our nieces and nephews in one day! i don't think that has ever happened. anyways, as all good things must come to end we headed back to LAX on saturday at 12am. don't worry our flight was only delayed a few hours and our terminal had no heat. nbd. we made it back to milwaukee around 8am or maybe later... most of sunday is a blurr.

but since then we have managed to get a few things decorated around here. let's start with a little tree hunting recap.

california christmas tree picking:

i kind of miss looking for trees in tents set up in korean bbq restaurant parking lots.

i can't believe my mom thought she could do a fake tree. she's not 80!

tree hotties.

he loved it more than madden.

wisconsin tree picking:

i'm pretty sure it was like 28 degrees out.

she's the one.

david hard at work.

don't worry, the tree only fell of the car once on the freeway. long story. but we made it!

uh....

2010-12-03T20:41:00.001-08:00

Sorry Fans!

I know I know, I've been such a bad blogger lately... but it's getting colder outside so you know what that means--more us time.

Let's see. Since we last spoke we've done tons of cool things. I can't remember them right now, but I'm sure it was fun. I did upload pics tonight, so let's see what we have...

well, we went to the Chicago temple a bit ago and afterward we went down to the city and enjoyed some Xoco (a newer rick bayless restaurant). I saw it on the food network and knew we had to check it out. it's amazing. if you don't trust my palate-trust the hour wait for sandwiches and churros. worth it!

it was so good, david couldn't be bothered to look up from his food.

this was one of the pork tortas. i dream about it. if we've spoken since october, i'm pretty sure i've mentioned these.

they make churros from scratch to order and they dust them in the most amazing sugar/cocoa coating you have ever tasted. heaven! if you come visit, we will take you there.

since then we've done a few minor house projects. picked up some necessities (like the bird armoire from anthro for a steal!), eated too much, tried to exercise, studied too much, worked hard and hardly worked, visited with friends and family, had 5 thanksgivings and decorated a bit for christmas... more on that when my pics finish uploading!

then it was my bday!

2010-08-21T19:52:00.001-07:00

i'm beyond ancient now. let's not talk about it. we did however get to go to california to celebrate and it just so happened that my cousin tara's wedding was the same weekend. so we stopped by.

she looked great and her husband looked so happy! he's been in the family for years and now it's official. he is welcome to the christmas gift card game this year.

it took about 150 hours after the ceremony for the party to start. we got a little restless in the cocktail holding room and after addie pulled my grandma's wiglet off, we knew it was time to head outside.

amber got some pretty serious nagging about not wearing navy.

finally the party got started and addie got the best dinner! her chicken strips and fruit looked delish. just look at how much she's enjoying them...

i'm surprised she wasn't hugging everyone after every bite.

my grandma was high on painkillers and we're pretty sure she swiped someone's champaign, but she was having a great time until her arm hurt too much and she had to leave. she was the life of the table though!

my mom was all about making dreams come true as usual so we got to go to cafe rio for my bday! it was awesome. and i saw several bloggers i stalk there, so that was awkward.

david needed a haircut.

we're still impressed that tyler finished a 3 lb pinto bean only burrito in 1/2 an hour. he loved it.

they loved it.

and andie was rocking the biggest hair i've ever seen on her.

this reminds me of my college days. i miss cafe rio 4-5 times a week.

then we went to carlsbad for a few hours. it was so fun, too bad it was so cold and no one got tan.

pool hotties.

then we headed to extraordinary desserts for some breakfast. (we're still not sure why mom was so into breakfasts the whole weekend)

beats bagels and eggs any day of the week.

i really wanted to get a pic with the new baby and david1 and laura, but seeing as the baby is days old, they didn't make it. maybe this christmas? i'm working on my collection of this picture as well as christmas stairs pics. it's going to be great.

tyler always has a bf over there. especially when they heat up his invented chocolate decadence dessert.

$40 dollars a day. yum-o.

we were working on getting her to smile with her eyes open. it's not working.

cool baby!!

my mom and i also worked on our antique mercury glass ornament garland for christmas, they are going to look amazing, visited with grandmas, shopped, celebrated babies birthdays, met the newest addition to the hansfield fam and hardly slept at all. i can't wait until our next trip home.

the visit that would never end...

2010-08-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

andie and my mom came to visit us a few weeks ago and while my mom only had to deal with the hottest and most humid weekend of the year (i'm not kidding--all of the plants that we bought died within 5 hours of being outside) andie had to be witness to the craziest storm we've experienced here. but before all of that drams, we had some fun times.

my mom loved shopping day. we even went to a coldwater creek to keep her in a yesful mood. however, she hated milwaukee's anthro. and i do to, especially after the 2010 knob fiasco.

mom basically flew in, took us out to eat, got us some housewarming goodies and took off. leaving andie with us for another week.

we took her to eat a lot and watch a lot of shows, some super lame (leap year... wtf?) and some great (inception... i swear we saw this opening day, i'm not jumping on the bandwagon facebookers!)

2nd fav pic of the trip. you have no idea how awkward it was to get this shot.

she ordered an appeteaser taller than her, i think they should have given her a sombrero to wear because she is probably the only person to ever have ordered this. andie vs. food.

pizzeria piccola. it's like pizzeria 712 only good. and less annoying.

1st favorite pic of the trip. every time i see this picture i die.

then there was storm and the city water backed up into our basement causing a few thousand dollars worth of damage and lost property and ruined andie and david's thursday.

we took andie to cheesecake for her farewell dinner because it was pouring rain and we wouldn't be able to make it downtown with all of the roads being flooded. we also got some of the most uncomfortable pedi's of our lives during the storm. yikes.

then my mom told us andie's flight was on one day, when it definitely wasn't. so dinner was on her. we love takara--at least this time no one was complaining about bones in their filets.

so we had andie check in at the airport and check her bags, then we took her back with us for some fun because her flight was delayed a few hours. we finally dropped her off at 11 and around 2am she was on her way. a few hours later my new niece was born and she's adorable and we love her. and she sleeps a lot.

we've been busy...

2010-08-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

we bought a house... and it was a disaster! so we've pretty much been working on it everyday since memorial day, give or take a few weeks of vacay.

this is a lovely glass block window that led from the dining room to the kitchen. that definitely had to go. notice the mirror pieces framing it.

this is the color the previous owner decided to paint every possible door, window frame, baseboard, cabinet, you name it! i think he just loved home-depot as much as we do.

this is a grainy shot of the bathroom. trust me, you don't want to see anything more than 2 megapixels worth of that. notice the saloon door that leads into the shower area.

here is the nasty sink. i wouldn't even wash my hands in it.

sick kitchen.
so basically the previous owner hadn't dusted or cleaned anything in 45 years and he must have lived with a sasquach--that is the only logical explanation for the amount of hair that was in this place.

about 100 consecutive days spent at home depot and/or lowes, here's a little taste of what things look like now and it's definitely not finished.

this is the kitchen... or a few views of it.

as always, dishes in the sink.

this is just a close up of the backsplash for those of you readers who have not visited.

this is the dining room now. those cabinets do have doors, however they are in the basement at the moment.

view from the front door, the living room.

other view.

hallway. duh.

bathroom

it's still a work in progress. in fact, i am trying to get the bedrooms finished this week. should be a challenge.

anyways, come visit! it's not a disaster zone anymore. i promise we won't make you work either. (sorry andie for having to scrape grout off of the bathroom floor for a week. you're next visit will be much more luxurious)

whatever you are, be a good one.--abraham lincoln

2010-05-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

congratulations andie! since my little sister graduated and she came to my graduation, i did the decent thing and endured a 5 hour layover in the denver airport and arrived 1am the morning of her graduation. i love airports! they have chairs...

anyways, she looked gorge the day before i arrived at the commencement ceremony and it's a good thing she got some pics because it was stormy the day of her school's graduation.

a cap and gown has never looked better!

after the ceremony we got our shop on and our eat on and mom got pretty artsy with the flowers at temple square. watch out dave! momdoesmarigolds.com is coming soon.

cheers! $12 pomegranate lemonade. worth it. tasted like sour patch kids.
perfect timing.
sisters by chance. friends by choice.

p.s. congrats on grad school. now you need to find a grad school hottie.

loves it.

2010-04-06T10:05:00.001-07:00

i love this skirt so much. i do not love the price. please find me a perfect smell alike. xoxo

kate spade

happy easter!

2010-04-06T09:49:00.001-07:00

we hope everyone had an eggcelent easter. we were sad we weren't able to celebrate with our families, but it okay. the easter bunny sent us the best easter basket ever! it was full of all of our favorite chocolates and black licorice treats. tyler also sent us some awesome pistachio? fudge. i'm not sure if it is fudge or fancy soap, but it's the thought that counts. thanks for buying 2lbs of it! this picture is us with our basket. hansen tradition to pose with your goodies. also, check out my new pillows! i got so bored with my old ones i made some new ones.

if you look closely in the mirror you can see general conference. it was a bonus easter this year. general conference and easter sunday, i prefer regular church on easter sunday. i wish that the church would move conference to the christmases that happen to fall on sunday! christmas church is the worst, especially when it's in the morning! also we had to work in the family history center library on conference easter. bogus! but i did find out i'm 1/4 irish. who would have guessed?

worst spring break ever!

2010-04-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

david had spring break a few weeks ago and he got to spend it by going back to california with me for my grandma's funeral. it was sad, but it was nice seeing all of my cousins on my dad's side and spending time with my family. my mom is like the family picture queen and made everyone take pictures that no one wanted to take, but it ended up turning out pretty cool.

this picture is all of my cousins on my dad's side in order from youngest to oldest. the youngest is 12 and the oldest is 30something. i tried to pin down the exact age, but brett was elusive.

this is all of the cousins plus some spouses and some of the 2nd cousins.

please notice andie, front and center here. who else strikes a pose like that at a funeral. hahaha. i'm not surprised that we had so many laughs throughout the day with this family.

(i still have not unpacked... i am the worst at that. maybe today is the day!)

1ooth post!

2010-02-21T20:05:00.001-08:00

so tyler and my mom came to visit for president's day weekend and was so fun!

tyler thought it would be a good idea to play in the snow in shorts and a t-shirt.

go thome?

he always forgets how cold it is. hahaha.
and then we mostly shopped and ate.

heart shaped valentine's day breakfast pancakes!
6th jimmy johns of the weekend.
valentine themed crispy cremes.
then tyler thought he was a unicorn.
at mr. b's. so delicious!
group shot!
tyler and his crab legs. he prefers outback butter.
we also went to the outlets and the mall and tyler when iceskating and we went to an awesome chinese new year party at the yans! i'm going to need to run for the next week straight to burn the calories... but knowing me, i'll probably just eat some more. thanks for coming you guys!

i didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings

2010-02-07T17:07:00.001-08:00

i guess these girls felt left out of my blog, so here's a special post for some of my favorite girls.

amazing, magical, beautiful, yesful, relaxed

awesome, delightful, daring, interesting, silly, outstanding, naughty

i miss you ladies. come visit soon! or meet me in california some time.

things i've learned this week...

2010-01-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

1. we are not inside dog people and our house was way too small for a large inside dog

(blair walruff is now living with a new family with a puppy sister... i think she's happier, i'm still depressed about it though)

2. i love steam cleaning things... i just got the haan and it is just another reason why i love korean engineering. romi haan is a genius!

3. winter is definitely not over! we were tricked with a week of upper thirties and forties and we are back into the single digits (negative degree windchill)

4. the best homemade brownie recipe ever! as soon as it's light enough to take a picture i will share the recipe

5. how to make some super cute new bows. my nieces are going to be getting some pretty cute valentines this year

6. i still hate the week before test week! yikes!

in other news, i'm doing pretty good on my new years resolutions. i'm proud of myself.

newest member of the nielsen family

2010-01-23T16:51:00.001-08:00

this little girl is a total diva already! this afternoon david and i got bored and started looking at puppies online and found this 7 week old great dane puppy and we just had to have her. we drove up to northern wisconsin and brought her home. she doesn't have a name yet... we're taking suggestions.

andie wants us to name her snookie or the situation, my mom things fiona, let us know if you think of something perfect. right now we're just calling her puppy.

this is to show you some scale... she's tiny little thing!

and she loves watching tv. she's going to fit right in.

come over and play with her sometime!

our favorite thing this weekend

2010-01-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

cinnamon toast! did you eat this as a little kid too? i forgot completely about it until i saw a post about it on a recipe blog...

so good! it's the perfect invention for breakfast, snack, a treat, etc.

if you've never had it... you toast some bread (doesn't matter if it's wheat or white), put some softened butter on it while it is still hot and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (that's like 1tbs sugar to 1/2 tsp cinnamon) and use as much as you want. have some today!

favorite thing right now...

2010-01-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

i think i'm going to start posting my favorite things more often. i think it will remind me of all of the blessings that i have and how good i have it sometimes. too bad this first post is going to be material... hahaha. oh well. right now i am loving my pixie pants from jcrew.

they are really cute on. and i got them on a great sale. so go to your nearest jcrew and buy some! i've worn them twice this week already. maybe i should get another pair?

new years resolutions...

2010-01-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

okay, i don't ever do new years resolutions, but since everyone else who has a blog has done some... i guess i'll think of a few ways i could improve myself... but that's almost impossible because i am so awesome.

1. be nicer. this week i have been a real b. sorry everybody! blame it on allstate they are stressing me out!

2. make more interesting dinners. i cook all the time, but i wish i was more creative culinarily. so far i've made roast chicken, spaghetti and meatballs and chicken rice casserole this week... so i am not doing great at this. but, i did find a recipe for tempura that looks pretty good...

3. watch less bravo and e! (i doubt i'll be able to give this up... well, until gg is back)

4. be more social. everyone who is reading this that lives in wisconsin, come on over! i'm serious.

5. finish some of my craft projects that i started in 2009, hey, even 2008. remember the cathedral quilt? the mother's day wreath?

6. speaking of #5, decorate for more holidays than just christmas. i love decorations, i just hate cleaning up afterward.

7. read more. i want to read at least 3 real books a month. so far i'm almost done with one, so i guess i'll have to pick shorter books this month.

8. be more grateful.

9. go to the temple more.

10. don't complain so much. i know what you're thinking... what? ali? complain? i know i know. it's a bad habit. but i'm going to work on it!

11. do my hair and make-up better and more often. it's hard when you wear your hair up to work 3/5 days, you know?

anyways, that's all i can think of for now. i'm sure my husband will be able to come up with more for me. also... i want to be as skinny as i was in this picture this year. happy new year!

christmas break

2010-01-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

one of my life goals is to never have a job where i don't get winter break... so far things have been working out. this christmas was the best! it finally felt like christmas at our house again. and i of course do not have any pictures... i asked andie to email me some to spruce up this post... but she's slacking.

so... if you never see that picture of andie wearing a santa mask standing in front of my grandma's christmas tree next to her bf or cute pictures of baby opening presents or harriet tanning or us in las vegas loving it... blame her!

moving on.

we got to california at about 5am christmas eve... due to a 6 (or was it 8?) hour delay at the milwaukee airport. it was okay... airports have...... chairs. then it was not stop partying. we had the annual christmas eve bash with the bobergs, then christmas morning with mom, hanging out, visiting grandma and grandpa nielsen, grandma alice, then christmas dinner at grandma mary's with the tobiassens. then the next day we celebrating my mom's bday a few days late by heading to crate and barrel super early to score sweet deals and ornaments... we walked out of there with a few large bags full of merch. then we bought more online. then we went out to lunch with the prescotts. too bad our waitress at luicilles was the worst! then the next day was church. then we took typod to the check on some english bullies at fashion island and do a little post-christmas shopping. we also went to the coolest pei wei there ever was! and it was free because i found an old pei wei gift card with the exact amount of money to cover mine, david's and tyler's meals. it was a christmas miracle!

this is tyler with the coolest soda machine! i felt like i was in tokyo!

it was all touch screen and you could pick any kind of soda with any kind of flavor and it mixed your drink automatically. we had to sample several concoctions... you can imaging what an 11 year would come up with--especially when his drink of choice is a suicide.

we spent a lot of time with the fam. david 1 threw an excellent taco night at mom's house and hosted one of the best new year's parties to date. we made pizza's in his pizza oven and it was warm enough to hang out outside. then we kicked the adults out and watched angels and demons, my brother and i were the only ones to stay awake during the whole movie. the next day we headed to utah with a little detour in vegas with the girlies. am i dreaming or do you have my gameboy?

we went to serrendipity and did a little shopping. then we got to provs and had the time of our lives. we got to go to jenna's sealing saturday morning. it was great and so wonderful to catch up with our favorite farrells and to see all of david's siblings. and the lotts!!

we managed to see all of our nieces and nephews this holiday season. we loved it! thanks drew, clark and ty for letting us play games with you! also thanks to the dry cleaners next to the cafe rio in provo for staying open late and cleaning my coat! i don't know how i got so much cake on it at the reception.

then sunday morning (really early) we headed back to milwaukee.

anyways, christmas was the bomb! we had so much fun with everyone in california and utah. can't wait to see everyone next christmas!!

it's christmas time

2009-12-06T16:33:00.000-08:00

christmas in wisconsin is a terrible song... you should look it up. you might throw up. but, it's a great time of year. since we live out here, we thought we should really experience a winter christmas, so on the first day it started snowing we drove out to a christmas tree farm in west allis to chop down our own tree.

it was freezing so we picked a tree really fast and david cut it down.

i also got an early christmas present! these are my favorite kind of ornaments and my favorite christmas story. i love them!
then we decorated the tree. i think it looks pretty good. i can't wait until we have a bigger place so we can get a bigger tree and get even more awesome ornaments. you can't see the garland that well in this pic, but you can see it in real life. over thanksgiving my mom got me this cool antique garland with crystals on it... so sparkly and christamsy. thanks mom!

i'm still working on the christmas tree skirt. i'm half way done, but of course i found a bucilla pattern that i love, so i'll probably make a better one next year!

thanksgiving... i mean amber's birthday weekend

2009-12-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

i don't have any pictures of actual thanksgiving, because, let's face it we were really just celebrating ambie's birthday all weekend.

ambie had an awesome 19th bday on black friday. we kicked off the day by a little surprise blueberry muffin breakfast... sorry it wasn't really muffins amber, andie told us you had a muffin tin. she didn't tell us she hid it under the oven. then she got the best present ever:

(in case you can't enlarge that, it's a kitty pillow)

then we went shopping all day and ate way too much, but fuddruckers was an excellent bday dinner choice. renee was the best roommate by bringing a dq cake into the restaurant.

tyler was way happy to be shopping.

until he found out he would have to sit in the trunk with our shopping bags.

then we ate some more. tepanyaki was not as good as kobe, but it was still fun.

hey brothers.
rj and andelish and mom. loving every second of it!
and that is the only picture i have of baby! so sad. andie and amber: email me the rest of the pics!
then we played great dalmuti too much...

andie was not happy with what david was playing.

and that was the weekend. eating too much and hanging with all of my favorites.

medical school is so boring

2009-11-11T09:03:00.000-08:00

well, medical school isn't boring for david, but i'm dying! at least i like doing domestic things and am bored enough to think of projects to keep me busy. this thanksgiving i'm going to be most grateful for the internet!

while browsing the web a while ago i found a tutorial on how to make a cathedral window quilt... it didn't look very hard, so i though why not? muslin was on sale and i had time on my hands. i started cutting out the squares and ironing them into origami shapes and stitching them together, hours and hours and hours later i have part of a square done. i think it looks pretty cute, but it takes too long, so this will probably end up just being crib sized.

a few weeks ago i was browsing martha's website and came across some super cute carmel apples, so i called up the yan's and we dipped some apples. i think they turned out delicious!

i also had a crazy idea to make a fall wreath out of real fall leaves so i made david go on a few walks with me around our neighborhood and down by a stream near our house. we collected a ton of great leaves and i tried a few preservation techniques... don't believe the internet, glycerin gel does not work! i ended up with a bunch of moldy leaves, ironing with wax paper worked the best for me. the wreath has been up about 6 weeks and hasn't crumbled yet!

so, that's what i've been up to while david studies. pretty boring, but i have found some shows that you cannot miss: modern family, glee (sometimes), gg (as always) and 30 rock (it only took me a week to watch all of the seasons, it's a good thing we finished before test week)

so between the crafting and the baking i've filled my evenings. i'm looking forward to thanksgiving and being able to hang out with all of my readers (andie, mom, laura and stephanie). that's all i can think of to blog about. now that i finally have my camera charger back i'll be able to blog more frequently. isn't a blog without pictures so boring!?

new le crueset

2009-09-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

my mom is going to be the only who cares... feel free to skip this one... the next one is better anyways.

so when my mom was in town we went to the le crueset outlet they have near us and picked up these little french onion soup dishes, which just so happen to be the perfect size for making individual pot pies, which we enjoyed for dinner tonight.

just another view of the handled bowls.

she also bought me this beautiful new heart shaped enameled cast iron that i made spinach artichoke dip in. funny story, i registered for this for my wedding last year and grandma nielsen got it for me, but turns out it was sold out... but i found it in wisconsin!

thanks for all of the le crueset mom! you're the best! we can't wait until you come back so we can make delicious treats in these!

memorial day weekend!

2009-09-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

for memorial day weekend we had two visitors... tyler our best house guest and my mom. we had so much fun, even though it was the weekend before david's first test week. we kicked off the weekend by heading to the brewers/giants game. it was fun, but mom was done by about the fourth inning. so we headed to the fan shop and typod got all the brewers gear he could handle.

after the game we headed to gilles' frozen custard for dessert... we converted my mom and tyler to frozen custard.

on saturday we went down to chicago to go shopping and eat at giordano's. i finally got to try a real chicago italian roast beef sandwich... it was delicious.

then we did a little more shopping and decided to visit the sear's tower, which is now called something else, but no one remembers it's new name.

it's tall.
we got in line to get tickets and found out the line was like 2.5 hours long... so mom decided it would be worth an extra $15 a piece to cut to the front of the line.

a 60 sec. elevator ride later we were 103 stories up. they have these little plexiglass alcoves that you can stand in. it's pretty scary.

these pictures look weird because of all the reflected light off of the glass.

doesn't look that safe.

see: you can see all the way down to the street!

mom was freaking out... she had a death grip on several strangers... so funny!
anyways, our weekend was so fun! we love it when people come to visit. everyone has the best time with us too! ;)

despite having visitors during prime study time david did awesome on his exams. medical school is going to be a breeze.

white coat ceremony

2009-08-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

sorry for all of the posts today, but the fans are getting restless.

friday afternoon was david's white coat ceremony. it was the last day of orientation. this is when they get their white coats and kind of an initiation into the medical profession. the dean of the school and the keynote speaker took our picture:

i thought it was kind of funny that david would ask them, but they were happy to do it! i'm glad david goes to a school where there are nice people.

al's bday

2009-08-15T06:53:00.001-07:00

this post is going to boring for everyone but my mom probably. so feel free to skip it.

for my birthday typod and andie decided to surprise me in wisconsin! they picked me up from work on wednesday and from then we basically partied all week.

first i was greeted by a mountain of presents typod insisted he picked out. i loved everything and was glad that my mom got me wrinkle cream and baby stuff.... do you think she's trying to tell me something?!

then we went to a tepanyaki restaurant for dinner. it was delish, but this couple at our grill made the evening pretty awkward. our waitress was in love with andie's polaroid cam and loved taking pictures of us in the restaurant. here's just a sample of the awesome images that were captured:

then we went to culver's for some oreo custard sandwiches and whatever mess typod got. i wanted a br turtle pie, but was afraid that they make them with graham cracker crusts here.... later in the week i went to br to check it out and for future reference they make them like they used to in the 90's! with chocolate wafer crust! i know what i'm getting next year!

the next day david2 convinced us that the fair was only 1/2 a mile from our house so we walked. guess what? it's way farther than that. but we made it. it also happened to be the warmest day this summer and definitely not a day for jeans. let's just say it was sweaty.

these are some fried cheese curds and fried oreos, which surprisingly are pretty good.

this is typod getting ready to ride the slide!

he loved it.

then we found an indoor part of the fair after we were complete greaseballs.

then we went to chicago for some deep dish pizza, anthros and baseball. it was the bomb!

typod was loving the pizza:

david2 did too, but he likes looking serious in every pic.

then we took tyler to wrigley field to check it out. the cubs were on the road, so we didn't get to see them, but it was still awesome.

then we went to us cellular field to check out the whitesox vs. the indians i think. it was so fun and the hot dogs were really good. better than dodger dogs even. thanks for the tickets mom!

then we went to the magic mountain in illinois which is conveniently located 4 miles from the nearest souplantation. andie decided we all needed to take solo shots while waiting 2 hours in a line waiting for the thunder storms to pass. magic mountain was lame and made us wait out the rain and then wait for the rides to dry. it took forevs.

it was also the first time that i wore sneaks to a theme park. let's just say i felt like a tourist, but my feet were comfy the whole day.

we spent $15 on this refillable souvenir cup because you could get free refills all day. we decided that if we got 5 refills it would pay for itself. after 3 cups of soda we stuck with water for the rest of the day.

david kept looking up stuff for his orientation that started the next day.

andie had to hide her purse under her shirt for most of the day because this magic mountain makes you buy a locker at every ride if your stuff doesn't fit in your pockets. we were able to use some jedi mind tricks to get out of a few locker purchases, but some guys were sticklers.

i believe this pic is in front of the 4th anthro we went to in 3 days. what can we say? we love them.

in their last hours in the city we took them to see the milwaukee side of lake michigan and we took some pictures so you guys can check it out!

i'm pretty sure our guests loved wisconsin and you will too!

challah

2009-08-15T06:45:00.001-07:00

the best challah bread. seriously.

and i made it and i am not very good at making bread.

Time: about 1 hour, plus 2 1/2 hours’ rising

Yield: 2 loaves

1 1/2 packages active dry yeast (1 1/2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the bowl

5 large eggs

1 tablespoon salt

8 to 8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup raisins per challah, if using, plumped in hot water and drained

Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling.

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water.

2. Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading, but be careful if using a standard size KitchenAid–it’s a bit much for it, though it can be done.)

3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour.

4. At this point, you can knead the raisins into the challah, if you’re using them, before forming the loaves. To make a 6-braid challah, either straight or circular, take half the dough and form it into 6 balls. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Place the 6 in a row, parallel to one another. Pinch the tops of the strands together. Move the outside right strand over 2 strands. Then take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2. Move second strand from the right over to the far left. Start over with the outside right strand. Continue this until all strands are braided. For a straight loaf, tuck ends underneath. For a circular loaf, twist into a circle, pinching ends together. Make a second loaf the same way. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.

5. Beat remaining egg and brush it on loaves. Either freeze breads or let rise another hour.

6. If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. Sprinkle bread with seeds, if using. If freezing, remove from freezer 5 hours before baking.

7. Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden. (If you have an instant read thermometer, you can take it out when it hits an internal temperature of 190 degrees.) Cool loaves on a rack.

Note: Any of the three risings can be done in the fridge for a few hours, for more deeply-developed flavor. When you’re ready to work with it again, bring it back to room temperature before moving onto the next step.

this recipe is an adaptation from the challah recipe from smitten kitchen. i made mine in my little 5qt. kitchenaid and it worked fine. you just have to be patient with this recipe. but it is so worth it. also, you can freeze one of the loaves and used the extra stale bread to make the best french toast or bread pudding.

enjoy!

optimus prime vs. megatron

2009-07-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

i don't know why every morning 30 minutes before i want to wake up megatron chases optimus prime down our street and right past my window. you have never heard anything so loud in your life.

i can't wait until winter when we can keep our windows closed and the snow will muffle the sounds of the monster trucks that love to drive down our street.

in other news... new recipes are on their way. i've been doing a lot of baking lately.

brewers' no. 1 fans

2009-07-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

we were pretty busy this past week and apparently we're the brewers' number one fans.

first we decided to check out what the beach looks like in wisconsin:

to me it looked like the beach, but then you turn around and you're in a forest. kind of crazy and kind of too many bugs for me to enjoy it.

then we went to two brewers' games in one week... long story. the second game we went to we were practically on the field. and to our surprise they were playing the dodgers...

notice: it's a little bit humid in milwaukee, kind of like if you were right on the beach, also notice the terrible haircut i got. i am never going to learn. you make the girl promise to only trim off 2 inches and before you know it, you should have just done locks for love. hair: i miss you and i'm not cutting you until i can go to salon vida in los al.

here is andre ethier up to bat. i was trying to remember who typod liked to get pics:

and this is manny on first. trust me--4 innings of brewers' fans drinking and manny up to bat was not a good combination.

then to see what all the obama fuss was about we went to five guys burgers. it's really big out here (chicago area) and on the east coast. the burgers were really good, kind of like fatburger meets red robin? the fries were okay.

then the other day we went to see part of the pga classic or whatever that was happening down the street from us. i didn't recognize anyone, all the really famous players are in europe right now, but a lot of kids stood in line to get this guy's autograph.

we also celebrated bastille day at the bastille festival down by the water in downtown milwaukee. it was the bomb. they had crepes and fried cheese curds and mimes and a fake eiffel tower, however, i did not take any pics! so just imagine it.

coming up this weekend: ward temple trip to chicago, a new deep dish pizza place, italian fest and who knows what else. summer is fun in milwaukee! you guys should come.

p.s. we're sad we missed our little sisters in nauvoo. but 5 hours was just too far. sorry we missed you: andelish, ambie and jennbunny! we hope to see you soon.

also, we got a huge kingsized bed for visitors, so let's just say, bring whoever you want! we have room.

it wasn't knott's... but it was still 4th of july

2009-07-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

well, we were sad we weren't at knott's this year for the fourth and that we couldn't make it to the big pizza party... so we decided to drive down to chicago and visit a few places. we went to the bourgeois pig cafe for lunch and it was awesome. all the menu items have funny names and their icecream was delish.

then we just walked around the city and saw some cool buildings and lots of people.

then we went to my fav store for some birthday shopping.

then we went to 2 anthropologies and tried to go to a third, but they were closed, much to david's disappointment.

we tried to go to the brookfield zoo, but it was going to close by the time we got there, so we decided we'd just go some other time.

then we drove down to wrigley field to take a pic for typod:

this was just before the game against the brewers. we're excited to go inside when typod and andie come to visit!

then we came home and heard fireworks all night as wauwatosa puts on some huge fireworks show for the 4th. we hope our lives seems exciting to you guys so you'll want to come visit. we have a few things lined up to blog about as soon as we get around to it.

longest blog for the longest road trip ever!!!

2009-06-11T19:02:00.001-07:00

we had a lot to do before we started on the longest road trip known to mankind. we wanted to eat as many meals with this little one:

she is really good at picking up her own food and even learned how to say "buh-bye" for us. so sad!

then we took ambie to disneyland since she feels like she's never been. it was awesome. typod had to miss practice and we had to postpone our trip by a day, but it was worth it.

welcome to the park! (we're still sad andie didn't come and that we didn't take cheesy pics in the california adventure letters)

(you wouldn't get it, but it's funny... trust me)

all of ambie's years on the space really paid off for this pic

who knew the teacups could be this much fun?

:)
i'm not sure if he really thought he could pull the sword out or not.

bffs

you have no idea how many versions of this pic i have on my computer, well, with various bevs

cheers! (this would have tasted way better with a turkey leg)

we partied all night at disneyland and then we had to wake up early and pack and say goodbye and drive for 9 hours to stay with our utah bffs! m-dawg set up the timer to capture this lovely:

thanks again for letting us stay with you and use all of your stuff! you guys are the best! when you are out in milwaukee looking for a place to stay while michael goes to marquette you can totally stay with us!

then in the morning we woke up and ate breakfast with these two at our favorite kneeder's:

don't worry, they got to go back home and back to bed

(sick! i hate driving!)

then my favorite part of the trip. this is like 20 hours into the drive. we're looking for something to eat in iowa and we turn the corner to see this:

that is right. the world's largest. and i'm pretty sure it's true. they had everything in there. mcdonalds, wendys, taco bell a restaurant, a bowling alley, a mall, a group of amish teenagers in full gear and more trucker hats than even ashton kutcher could handle.

then we got to wisconsin and had to try our first white castle:

it was the bomb. and so is wisconsin. you should come visit sometime.

um, in other news: we've already moved from our first place, so if you have that address toss it. we have a new one. and our apt is awesome and it's coming along. all of our stuff arrived safely, except for one bowl. thanks again manda! we're going to take you to souplantation the next time we're in california. i'll post some pics of our place as soon as i think it's guest ready.

okay, i think that's it. we miss all of our fans and readers. we can't wait to see you guys at thanksgiving. or sooner if you want to come out and try the world's greatest frozen custard or meet the friendliest people from craigslist.

easter weekend

2009-04-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

we started the weekend at the aquarium of the pacific. i guess everyone else in long beach thought that they would do the same. the place was packed! but we still got to see all the fish, sea lions, etc.

the gang's all here!

fishy family shot:

amber loves whales:

and baby loves sea anemones and prehistoric creatures:

david's first aquarium trip:

andie and the stingrays:

hahaha:

baby's first easter egg dying:

pros:

kobe's favorite teppanyaki spot:

loves it:

baby loves japanese food:

and bunnies!

nothing says easter brunch like hot dogs and 4 lbs of sees:

we had a great easter and although david 1 has all of the official easter portraits and egg hunt pics, i think you get the idea.

also, moving update! we're moving to milwaukee, wi in about a month or so... so get ready to come visit some beer museums and dairies.

conference

2009-04-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

last weekend we went to salt lake for conference and to spend a little bit of time with andelish, jenna and the other nielsens.

and surprise surpise it snowed friday and saturday and was sunny, but freezing on sunday. oh, the good old days.

and these ladies let us tag along all weekend.

typod working his penguin sweater.

andelish loving her rio. too bad jimmy johns was closed on sunday!

and lovely crown burger. notice the gargoyle. nbd.

tidepools

2009-04-09T10:19:00.001-07:00

while our utah nephews were in town a few weeks ago, we were able to spend an afternoon with them at the tidepools.

this is clark after he had some time to rest and get enough energy to look as some sea creatures.

drew was far less hesitant to get into the pools and pick up some mussels.

after taking this pic we realized we really need to tan some more.

and this is typod with his kanye kate spades on. loving the beach.

we had a great time with our little utah nephews that we never get to see. i wish we had some pictures from creed's blessing that was the following day, but we don't. in any case, it was a beautiful blessing and it was so fun to have all of our nieces and nephews in the same place!

cupcake week

2009-03-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

this week is cupcake week and today i am posting my favorite banana bread recipe as cupcakes. i've tried dozens of recipes and my grandma's recipe is still the best- it always turns out just right.

the recipe:

½ cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 cups smashed bananas

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

½ cup water

topping:

3 oz of melted bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Prepare muffin tins with liners (makes 24 cupcakes). Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and blend until barely mixed Sift the dry ingredients and gradually add them to the shortening mixture. Add bananas, vanilla, nuts and water as needed to create proper consistency (should be runny, that's what makes them moist). Bake for 23 minutes. The tops should be golden brown. Let the cupcakes cool and if so desired top with the melted chocolate. I prefer mine with sugared butter, so do whatever you want.

next i'm trying the strawberry sprinkles cupcake recipe. i just can't decide how to frost them.

next cookie

2009-03-02T11:41:00.001-08:00

This next cookie recipe is great if you want to work out while you bake. Everything has to be mixed by hand--everything! It takes a while and a lot of effort, but it creates a better, more tender crumb. So, if that's what you're going for than this is your cookie:

More Traditional Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

ingredients:

1 ½ cup butter (very room temperature)

1 ¼ cup granulated sugar

1 ¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbs vanilla

2 eggs

4 cups flour

2 tbs baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 cups walnuts, chopped

1 24 oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips

directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter with sugars in a large mixing bowl with a sturdy wooden spoon, this should take about 10 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together in another bowl and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Mix together until just barely incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Spoon out onto cookie sheets, about 2 oz of dough per cookie and bake for 13 minutes.

*note: if you want your cookies to be more uniform in shape roll in your hands before putting them on your ungreased cookie sheet

bake off

2009-03-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

lately i've been editing my recipes and tossing the ones that were not the best. i've decided that i'm going to do my own version of tyler's ultimate and figure out which ones of my recipes are "the ultimate." this week i'm trying out some of my chocolate chip cookie recipes. first up:

(photography by amber hansen)

The Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie

Adapted from David Leite via The New York Times

Takes: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours chilling

Makes: 2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

ingredients

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour*

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content

Sea salt

directions:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and try to incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. [Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.]

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm. Or if you can wait. Let cool completely on a rack and then store in an airtight container.

* I should have used Valrhona feves, but I didn't feel like going to Sur La Table, so I just used Guittard 62% chocolate disks, found at Bristol Farms. They worked just fine, but Valrhona is definitely a better tasting chocolate. If you can't find the big disks, I've heard that Ghiradeli makes larger chocolate chips that you can find at the market and those would probably work just fine.

* To make pastry or cake flour just sift together 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch. Obviously makes 2 cups.

I would rate these cookies a 9.5. I think they would be even better with darker chocolate. Some of my taste-testers preferred the cookies made without the sea salt, but I liked the salty cookies. Up to you I guess. But if I were you, I would definitely try some with salt.

Up next. A softer chocolate chip cookie with walnuts.

the much delayed, but highly anticipated cabin trip

2009-02-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

to kick off our mountain weekend we made a stop at knowlwoods to partake of some cheeseburgers and their take on aussie cheese fries.

he was not impressed.

however, andelish and i thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

then we did some backyard sledding.

we decided to go way up to the top of the hill behind the house and andie ran into a stump. it was pretty intense.

more sledding

then it was time for a family pic. then david, andie and typod thought it would be cool to push me and ambie down the hill.

it wasn't :/
but we made up
such and angel

on the way home we had to go to the famous waffle place. andie almost lost her breakfast:

while there we also watched 7lbs. wtf?

24k gold for breakfast

2009-02-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

there is no place like las vegas. for valentines' day i had a surprise quick trip to las vegas for this:

and this:

and then the next day i got to eat this for breakfast:

i love las vegas and i love valentines' day.

new york: where 2 for $5 is more like 2 for $8.56

2009-01-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

before we could <3 NY we had to celebrate typod's and gma's bday/mlk day!

(typod turned 11 and his favorite food is king crab legs, so this is him loving it)

(he also loved his birthday presents... )

(addison loved me and the icecream... favorirte aunt status!)

then we were off to new york... it was a little congrats on graduating trip.

we walked to the brooklyn bridge with grand ideas of walking across it, but with strong winds and 20 degree temps, we decided to just walk to the first arches. this is manhattan from the bridge:

and this is us in front of the seals at the central park zoo:

and this is the inside of the downtown vosges boutique:

and this is the original chinatown icecream factory. interesting but maybe not the best idea to eat icecream outside in january.

we did a lot more, but it was way too cold to take pictures of everything. new york was awesome even though i spent hours on the steps and at the plaza waiting to see b or s or even little j and no one showed. i guess i should have the gg link on my phone so i can keep track of my favorite upper east-siders.

some people just don't know how to say no.
xoxo,
gossip girl

we're looking forward to visiting all of our readership (andie and stephie and steven) before we move for medical school. so plan some itineraries and we're there.

Transitions

2009-01-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

well, this will be a little recap of our '08 to '09 transition.

david graduated:

(and my mom thought that since it was ASU we needed to take a picture by a cactus)

and we got to stay at some resort in scottsdale that was really into giant lizards. typod would have been in heaven:

then we came home and went to see glory of christmas. this is how awesome it was:

(some of us liked it more than others. tyler really liked it, especially the crazy lady trying to sell mardi gras beads to the three wisemen)

then it was christmas:

(i can't wait until andie and ambie have a joint wedding this summer and we get to squeeze even more people on the stairs)

(btw... this is tyler in between his barf sessions)

(ghost of christmas future)

(barry bonds sent tyler a giant's backpack--it was christmas miracle. thanks fedex)

(santa finally ordered andie's senior pics... four years late)

(amber got the best present ever)

(and i finally changed my name... you're welcome david)

then it was new years: rockin' party at the bobergs. then naters came to visit and we did all sorts of indie things. then we got to visit savannah and cole and didn't take any pics. then the holidays were over and we're counting down until next year.

Visitors...

2009-01-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

Due to the difficult nature of the decision before us, we have resolved to choose our future place of residence solely on the basis of which location will draw the most visitors. And so we feel that this is the most appropriate medium to determine the preference of our favorite people(being that our two friends are the only ones to read this blog). So here are your choices,

would you rather...

salute our troops at the naval base in Norfolk, VA,

eat deep dish pizza and watch a cubs game in Chicago, IL

get a beer and go to North America's largest indoor waterpark in Milwaukee, WI

or visit the legendary Western town Tombstone and get your gamble on in Tucson, AZ?

Trust me, we are aware of the difficult choice before you, which is why we've chosen the democratic process as the best means of securing a pleasant future. Let us know what you decide...

my first christmas decoration of 2008

2008-11-22T21:47:00.001-08:00

this is the wreath that i spent 1,000,000 million hours on. not quite as worth it as i had hoped. also, now i'm pretty sure i have arthritis due to the hundreds of little cones i had to cut out, fold and glue together. merry christmas.

our patisserie

2008-11-22T21:05:00.000-08:00

not only my new favorite food blog-but also what our kitchen felt like today.

after eating the most delicious macaroon cookie i have ever eaten at the foundry grill at sundance and then calling them to see if i could order some (i could not, nor would they give out their pastry chef's recipe) i decided to search the web for a reliable and fairly simple recipe. joakitchen really hooked it up.

we finally tried out this recipe for pistachio macaroons (and if you're feeling fancy-i guess technically they are called macarons, somehow that just doesn't sound as appealing):

Pistachio Macaron Batter:

1 ¼ cups confectioner's sugar
4 oz pistachios
¼ cup plus 2 tbsps egg whites at room temperature
pinch of salt
¼ cup sugar

Pistachio Filling:

1 1/2 oz pistachios
1 c confectioner's sugar
6 tbs softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Process the pistachios with powdered sugar until you get fine pistachio flour. (I processed for 3 1-minute intervals mixing with a spatula between each.)

In a greaseless bowl, combine the egg whites with the pinch of salt. Beat on medium power until soft peaks start to form. Increase the speed, gradually beat in the sugar and continue to whip until stiff and firm peaks form, about 2 minutes. Sieve the pistachio flour and fold it into the egg whites in two batches, mixing with a spatula just until no streaks remain. This will seem to be a lot of pistachio flour for the amount of egg whites you have, but it will work out.

Scrape the batter into a pastry bag with a round tip. Pipe 1" circles of macaron batter about 1" apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Rap the baking sheets firmly on the table to remove air bubbles. Let rest for about an hour until the macarons develop a skin. Bake for 10 minutes.

For the filling, process the pistachios and the confectioner's sugar just like you did for the macaron batter. Cream this with the softened butter until uniformly mixed.

Cool the macarons completely before you remove them from the parchment. Pair similar sized ones and glue them with some pistachio filling. I feel that the macarons benefit from an overnight rest in the refrigerator, but they can be enjoyed immediately, too.

and while ours did not look as good as the ones on the website; i still think they turned out pretty good for our first try. they were also awesome.

(this is what the macarons look like when they are in the resting stage)

(and these are the complete macarons... slightly more golden-brown than i was going for)