bah, halloween!

i actually don't like halloween at all. BUT lookie here. TONS of creative/cute costume ideas. plus, an etsy shop that sells sushi costumes. hilarious! be still my heart.

another hairstyle, another blog

in my blog hopping this morning (gotta digest my cereal before i run, right?) i stumbled upon this:

i wonder if it would work with a normal headband, too. perhaps i'll try.

food blogs i love

this afternoon i wanted to make french toast (for lunch, ha!) and hunted through all my regular food blogs to find a recipe i remembered seeing recently. i'm pretty sure it involved sour cream and orange juice. however, i couldn't find it. and just did another search (even though the basic french toast i made is now currently being digested...) and still can't find it. oh well.

all that to say, i decided to compile a list of the food blogs i read regularly. there's a section on the left side of the page that includes a couple, but there are far more. it's so tricky for me to remember on which blog i found which recipe. basically, i don't look at cookbooks anymore. they never seem to have quite enough photos for me. i'm totally a visual learner (and apparently a visual recipe chooser, too) so blogs are much more inspiring.

alright, here they are, in no particular order:

the pioneer woman. some of her recipes include a few too many steps for my full-time teacher schedule, but my absolute favorite salsa is from her and it's amazingly yummy. next up on my list is her pasta w/ pesto cream sauce. whenever i use homemade pesto w/ pasta, it's never moist enough.gotta try this!

dinner a love story. i just found this site, but i'm already excited to try some dinners from it. especially this recipe.

the brown eyed baker. though i know this blog includes some savory recipes, i mostly use it for unique flavors of brownies/chocolate-based goodies. there's an excessive focus on cheesecake [like the one below!], which is fine even though i don't usually make it. (just noticed: last week she posted a list of 150 best fall recipes. holy cow, i'd better check that out!)

annie's eats. probably the best enchiladas i've ever tasted are the ones i made using her recipes. she calls them "benchiladas" if you want to type that into the site's search box...

two peas and their pod. this site isn't updated often enough for my liking, but that's only because i love their recipes and i'm always checking to see if there's anything new posted. a few weeks ago i made their vegetarian chili, which was delicious except i added too much water.

awesome tough-girl video

 please check out this video. i found it via design mom.

speaking of tough girls. i've been one this week. my students stand on the second square in the hallway. they stop talking the instant i turn off the lights (our signal for quiet). they were utterly silent when i picked 'em up for lunch.

of course, i let them have fun. and we learn a lot. and they're darling. hopefully i'm singing the same tune in 4-6 months. though my 1st two days of this year are already light years better than last year.

post labor day wishing

let's check on the wishes i made last monday
- i would take the time to send a note to someone i love: CHECK
- that my darling brother would get some job interviews in Philly: can't really control this/don't know
- to give joel my undivided attention when he talks to me: tried my darndest. i think i did better than i've been doing most of the summer.
- for my classroom to be completely set up by thursday afternoon so i don't have to go in over my 4 day weekend!: went in on friday for a couple hours, but that's not bad. now it's ready for kiddos!
- that my staff scavenger hunt would rock (and my team would win. though "bragging rights" are the only prize. darn. haha.): we tied for fourth. pretty darn good, i'd say. plus, we had fun! 



today i wish:

- by Friday, that i'd know all my students' names without hesitation
- to actually make myself run the 5K on saturday morning. i'm such a baby.
- to take at least 4 photos by next Monday (i was going to type "interesting photos" but that'd be pushing it)
- that i'd find a perfect side table for our basement couch either on craigslist or at the thrift store

plus, aren't these flowers nice? i got 'em at produce junction. it's on the way home from joel's school so he's bought me two bouquets since then! :)

banana... cake?! really?

yes. really.

i was skeptical, too. i hate banana flavored candy. and i'm actually not even a huge cake lover. but it turns out this cake tastes like banana bread (which i LOVE) with rich & decadent chocolate frosting. oh yum. please make this.

[images from cake duchess.com]

a day off

last night i made a to-do list for today so i would be productive while joel's working/at a cross country race. it wasn't too ambitious, but there were at least 5 things on it. here's how my morning actually went.

6:30 wake up with joel (because that's how we roll) & eat breakfast/ make his lunch
7:00 read in bed under the covers while joel showers
7:30 finish my book, hug/kiss him goodbye
7:32 turn off the light, snuggle up in my sheets, dream vividly!
9:00 wake-up, surprised to have slept so long
9:58 get dressed for a bike ride, notice both tires are completely flat even though i pumped them on saturday
10:03 ride on a flat-tired bike to the shop across the street, pay 35 bucks to get both tire tubes replaced
10:33-10:55 bike around town
11 make delicious smoothie (frozen blueberries & frozen mango pieces, greek yogurt, honey, milk)= YUM

Now i need to get my butt in gear and head to school for a couple hours. kids come on tuesday!!!