Sweet 16

How I could have had a part in creating something so wonderful is beyond my comprehension!

Today my baby girl is 16 years old.  She has grown from an adorable little girl into a beautiful young woman.  Just a few amazing things about Cassie:

• a voice like an angel
• awesome sense of style
• promising photographer
• brilliant and creative
• wise beyond her years

I seriously love this girl.  Happy Birthday, Cassie.  You make my life so much richer.

so annoyed

we're going to have gyros for dinner!  the pita bread at the grocery store didn't look very good, so i decided that today would be the day i tried baking my own pita bread for the first time.

looks yummy, right?  if i had known how simple this was, i would have started baking my own years ago.

live and learn, i guess.

i must have been dreaming

when my alarm went off this morning and i was supposed to get up and bake cookies for the art show today, i said to myself "i could bake those chocolate chip cookies in my sleep."

i woke up again ninety minutes later and i was like, dang.  no cookies.

ta da!

Cassie's freshly painted bathroom!  We bought the paint when Arnold left for boot camp -- nearly two years ago.  Procrastinate much?

home alone, part 3

Tuesday night I did NOTHING.  Well, nothing except grill some smoked chicken sausage (one more thing Cassie won't eat, but in the future on this one, I will have to agree with her).

Wednesday -- Happy Fourth of July!  I got up and made spinach and bacon quiche, roasted rosemary potatoes, and a pitcher of bloody mary's with smoked salmon vodka.  Texted a friend to come help me with that.  She called me names and told me I was terrible, but she did come help me.  Then before the parade I cleaned Cassie's bathroom, repotted a few plants and planted some basil, and dusted the entertainment center.

The parade was fun.  It actually wasn't even raining until after the parade!  Had a nice visit with a friend I don't get to see enough. 

Tonight's plan for fun -- painting the primer on Cassie's bathroom.  Woot!

home alone, part 2

Tonight's project -- the laundry room!  Again, no "before and after" pictures, but trust me, it is reorganized.  Someday I'll cover the matching cardboard boxes like the ones Emilee pinned on Pinterest, but for now it's tidy and functional.

Dinner -- artichoke stromboli.  Yum!

home alone, part 1

Cassie is off at Fine Arts Camp for the next two weeks, so I'm home alone! Planning to use the time to get some cleaning and organizing done.  Tonight's project -- the linen closet!  Didn't take any before or after photos, but the shelves are all cleaned and straightened out, and the blankets and sheets that have been folded and stacked on one of the dining room chairs since Cassie's sleepover/fort-building extravaganza are all back in the closet.

Also attempted making rosemary focaccia for the first time.  Not thrilled with the result, but it wasn't bad, and went well with the roasted red pepper and tomato bisque with kale.