I can't wait!!!!

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday..............some of the best sports days EVER!!! I really enjoy watching golf, but I truly adore The Masters. This year will be all the more fun because Tiger is back, but not necessarily at the top of his game. Granted, he's still amazing, but the field is WIDE open this year. Who will get to wear the famed green jacket?


Will it be Phil Mickelson (one of my favorites)? Will it be Trevor Immelman again (can he really go two in a row)? Will it be Padraig Harrington or Geoff Ogilvy (they're playing pretty well this year)? What about Kenny Perry? He had a fantastic year last year, and it is really hard not to root for him because he's SO nice!!! Besides Phil, I love Luke Donald and Ian Poulter. Both are young and both wear super fun bright colors on the course. I know B will be routing for Tiger for sure. He just loves him!!!!!!





We're going to tape the start of it as we will go to late service at church and then brunch before coming home and celebrating one of the best days in golf!!! Last year we had a fantastic "Sunday at Augusta" party, but with it falling on Easter and Passover this year, too many people had other plans. So, we'll just make an azalea cocktail for each of us and settle down on the couch to enjoy the afternoon together.

Does anyone else out there love to watch golf? Have any of you been to Augusta for the Masters??? Any other tournaments that you've attended that you want to share or think we should go to?

Just finished bawling my eyes out!

I'm not crying for a bad reason. I'm crying because the pics I just saw made me happier than I've been in awhile and also made me miss N more than I have in a long, long time!!

I posted before about my bestie and her adorable twin boys who were little miracle NICU babies. A few of our friends went together for their shower gift and bought them a session with this amazing photographer for their first birthday pics. Since they had been in the NICU so long, they never had newborn pictures done, and they were still so little and fragile when they came home, inviting people into their home wasn't high on N and M's list of priorities.

Just today, Ksenija posted the one year pics on her blog. You can see them here. Once you open the slide show, you'll be hard pressed not to get a little choked up. Especially if you are a mom. They're just such amazing pictures!! Honestly, she's an amazing photographer---I feel so blessed that they will have this adorable age captured forever!

My favorites are this

and this .

And can we all marvel at how well Henry's eyes match the color of the leather perfectly???


If you are in Michigan and are looking for a group gift for a shower or for a photographer for yourself, do yourself a favor and book Ksen. Also, her blog is a visual work of art, so if you love eye candy, add her to your reader!!!

Help me with my debate, ladies

Okay, so as mentioned in my last post, I am babysitting in MI for the week. Miss Cutiepie and I went to run a few errands today after dying Easter Eggs (great success by the way!). While driving down the street, what did we happen upon???? Oh, yes, it was a SONIC!!!! Now, this may be common place to those of you who live in the south, but, us northerners???????? Sonic is a legend just like Chik-fil-A. So I call B, so frickin excited about the fact that Miss Cutiepie and I are going to have Sonic for lunch one day this week (the diet is totally off for this meal). He tells me that I can have as much Sonic as I want- mmmmmm tatertots- but that I can't have an Orange Cream Slush b/c that's dessert!!!!!!!!!!

B AND I GAVE UP DESSERT FOR LENT!!!!!!!!!!!

So, the question is, is a drink a dessert????? I don't feel that an orange cream slush is the same as a milkshake by any means. But, neither B nor I have broken Lent even one teensy tiny bit. If I could get Sonic every day, I would totally listen to him and not get an OCS, but since there aren't any in Chicago, this could be my only opportunity. But if it's a dessert, I don't really want to break my covenant to God either. So, I really, really need help with this (as inconsequential as it may seem!!!). Let me know if you would consider it a dessert or not.

Thanks, lovelies!!!

The reason I'm going to be slow in posting and commenting for the next week!!

For the next week, I am in Michigan babysitting this little cutiepie!!! Her older sister is 21 and is studying abroad in London. So, mom, dad, and 17 yr old brother went to visit for spring break. Miss cutiepie is staying with me at home since Harrod's and The Tower of London aren't really her thing :)

Our plans include
*dying and decorating Easter eggs
*gymnastics class
*build-a-bear workshop
*playing with friends
*kids club at mommy's gym (I'm using guest passes to work out- thank goodness!!)
*shopping
*movie and popcorn night
*making Easter cookies
*making lemon bread for the "Welcome Home" basket
*lots of art projects
*playing restaurant and house
*a trip to Starbucks for a treat

I had lots of plans to ride bikes, go to the playground, play in the backyard, etc BUT it is raining here today and it's supposed to snow starting on Sunday (ugh!). The weather for next week isn't looking any better and her parents aren't home until Friday late afternoon. It could be stir crazy central!!

Any moms of 4 year olds out there with other fun activities? I'm all ears!!

Great Giveaways!

First of all, MMM is doing the cutest A. Tierney pendant giveaway. So perfect for summer! I love the pink and green stripe as well as the life preserver!!


Also, if you haven't previously won a
Tucker Blair headband, The Monogrammed Nest is giving one away!! I absolutely adore both the green and the pink that have the polkadots. I also love the lobster. Seriously, they're the cutest, and who doesn't need a little needlepoint in their life??

** I am on a Mac for 8 days (I'll explain why later) and cannot figure out how to right click, therefore cannot figure out how to get to the properties section to add a picture to the post. So, no pics for now until I figure this out!!! Trust me though that these items are SUPER cute!!**

** Mac users, they say macs are user friendly, but I am totally struggling with this!!**

Another check!!

As I previously blogged about, last week I finished all the clinical hours I needed for my master's program. Today, I am attending my last in person class as a graduate student!! I am presenting a small assignment today on weight loss in overweight adolescents and turning in all my paperwork for my clinical hours as well as my preceptor evaluation. I have three more assignments for my online class that I am working on (not due until the end of April) and then will be completely done. So awesome!! It will be weird to have extra free time on my hands, but hopefully that won't last too long.

I know a lot of you out there are getting ready for the end of your semesters and/or looking towards graduation as well. Deep Breaths, ladies!! It's almost over!!

Now, what to wear for graduation???? Hmmmmm.......

Moraira, Spain!!

Our second stop on our honeymoon will be in a small, seaside town called Moraira. We are staying at a private residence for 5 nights. Here are the pics of the house, the pool, and the view to the sea. I cannot wait to lay by the pool all day long! After having quite a hectic schedule in BCN, relaxing by the pool will be perfect! We arrive on Thursday night and on Friday mornings the local market is open. Our plan is to buy a few things so that we can eat most breakfasts and lunches at home and then have dinner out.






One of the nights we're going to go to dinner at Girasol. It has gotten great reviews, so hopefully it will live up to them the night we go. We'll have a car while we are there, so we are planning a trip to Benidorm for an afternoon and to Alicante for a day. B loves to sail, so we may head down to the marina one day and see if we can charter a small sailboat for the afternoon. From the pictures I have seen, it would be a lovely way to view the coastline. Next stop on our trip....Seville!

**Have I told you all that this will only be the second vacation we have ever taken together alone? We went on a cruise 3 years ago for a week, but, other than that, all our vacation time is spent up north with our families during the summer or over Christmas/New Years. For this reason, plus the fact that school will be completely over for both of us, I have never been so excited for a trip ever in my life!!! Now, if any of you could make May 17th get here oh say, tomorrow(!!), I would be in your debt forever!! **

Pink and patent?

I have always loved Sperry Top-siders. My brother and I always had a pair when we were little. His were always the standard brown leather, and mine varied from summer to summer. My favorite pair were my navy canvas (I changed out the laces for pink ribbons). I would love a new pair for this summer as the tan canvas ones I had for awhile had a mesh side and didn't end up getting worn much. I am loving the idea of the patent pink ones here:

I just don't know how often I would wear these either. But SO cute!!

These may be a little more functional (I could easily pull them off at work during the summer) and they are still really cute. I like that they are a little more feminine.

I don't need these at all but had to share for all the pink and green lovers out there. I love how simple they are, but if you want a pink and green plaid, there's a pair of those on the website as well.

B has the standard brown leather pair, but I'm thinking he should have the red leather pair that's on the website as well. He has quite a few cute belts that would work with the red shoe and khacki pants!!

Do any of you wear Sperry's during the summer? Do you put them on your little ones? I simply adore them on little boys!

Update on Jodi Picoult's newest book

I just finished it and was so disappointed. I don't want to spoil it for those who want to read it still, but it is very similar to one of her other books. So similar, in fact, that I think she just got lazy, changed some names, changed minor parts of the plot, and was finished. I also didn't feel as strongly about these characters as I usually do. It's definitely a library read rather than a bookstore buy (if you are going to read it at all). I'm now onto Breaking Dawn- can't wait to see how Bella and Edward end this series!

Date night in dinner

Last weekend B and I stayed in for dinner on Sat night. We hadn't cooked a special dinner at home in awhile, and we were looking forward to spending a night together in the kitchen. We decided to tackle roast beef for the first time. I'm so glad we did. This recipe was excellent and would be perfect for a dinner party!! My only suggestion is to really watch the internal temperature throughout. Since we only did a 3 lb roast, it took us much less time than the recipe called for. We cooked it in our Le Crueset and clean up was a breeze. We had mashed potatoes and cipollini onions for our sides. These onions are amazing; honestly, they were the best part of the meal. Cipollini onions are expensive for the amount you get (they're quite small), but I think you could easily sub a sweet vidalia onion with similar results. B and I will definitely make this meal again and will make the onions again as a topping for chicken or for a flank steak.

*A good meat thermometer will go a long way in the kitchen!! We have a relatively inexpensive one from Crate and Barrel. It does a great job. I don't think the electronic ones are necessary.*