I wasn't quite as productive as BigSis on the day after Christmas, but I did manage to clean up the last of the aftermath from a huge party on Thursday, sort through all the wads of gift wrap, gifts bags, and boxes strewn all over the living room floor from Christmas Eve night, and finish up the remaining leftover dirty dishes from Christmas Dinner.

I figured that was enough for one day, so I did nothing really productive for the rest of the day, except for beating the guys in a couple of games of Wii bowling. (They can't stand the fact that I still hold the record for best game!) 🙂

No one has yet to beat my 289!

Here”s my lil Mii, the Pro.

And, I can't wrap up Christmas without sharing a couple of Santa Hat shots!

My Santa Guys! (Aren't they cute?)

We all know how much TomTom LOVES sporting a Santa Hat!

So, now that Christmas is behind us and the New Year is fast approaching, I've spent some time the past couple of days reflecting on what all has happened and changed for us during this year. Like a lot of people, 2010 was a tough year for us so I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to 2010 and welcoming 2011! I'll be back in a few days to officially wrap up the year.

~LilSis

Posted under Holidays

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Not that we need any more cookies in this house since we're still loaded with Girl Scout cookies, but I thought this would be a fun treat for Valentine's Day.

My friend from New York calls these Linzer Tarts and they're one of her favorite cookies so I'll be dropping some off at her house today so we don't end up with too many left to tempt me.

Even though I've seen a few variations of this recipe, I used the original Linzer Sandwich Cookie recipe that was on the package of the Linzer cookie cutters.

I was a little out of my comfort zone when making these because I haven't rolled out cookie dough in many years, but the recipe was pretty simple and I think they turned out pretty good!

HayHay came in right after I finished the photos and he must have thought they were okay because he devoured 3 or 4 in a matter of seconds!

Have a terrific Valentine's Day!

~LilSis

Posted under Holidays

I've been wanting to create an inspiration board for a long time but I've never managed to set aside the time to do it. Thanks to my dear friend, P, who gave me a great IKEA desk, I finally carved out a little corner for myself in our guest room to use as a combination office/craft area. P knew I had wanted to do this for a good while already as I'd been looking around at other desks I could get for myself online using sites similar to https://www.officemonster.co.uk/office-desks-1 and others. Finally getting a desk urged me to create the space I wanted. Having my own space got me really motivated to get my inspiration board made so I could hang it right above my desk.

And since March is National Craft Month, I thought this would be the perfect time for this project. BigSis and I are both crazy about all different sorts of crafts and we recently decided that we want to start sharing more “DIY” crafts with you here on our site.

This bulletin board was Bry's when he was in high school over ten years ago and I've had it stashed in the back of a closet ever since just waiting to be transformed.

This is what it looked like when I pulled it out of the closet.

The first thing I did was clean it up and paint the frame a glossy black.

I found some nice, thick Scrapbook paper at Jo-Ann Fabrics for a great price, so I bought four 12″ x 12″ sheets with a scrolly design for the corners and four more 12″ x 12″ sheets of a pretty cursive handwriting design to fill in the center and cover all the cork.

Once that was done, I just gathered some of my favorite photos and items that inspire me and make me happy. Here's a little something about what some of these mean to me.

I've wanted to go to Italy for many years and BigSis & I hope to some day take a two week dream vacation across Italy.

I've talked before about how badly I want to see the Sistine Chapel. This is at the top of my bucket list.

Maui happens to be one of my most favorite places on Earth. Just the thought of sitting outside on Kaanapali Beach having lunch at Hula Grill or strolling the artsy/fartsy streets of Pa'ia always makes me smile. These are just a few photos from a previous vacation.

I'm inspired by a lot of different things when it comes to my passion for art. Scents, colors, textures, and creative people inspire me. And reminding myself not to worry so much helps keep my mind clear.

I collect greeting cards designed by the amazing artist, Josephine Wall and these are just a couple of my favorites. I've made four sculptures that were actually inspired by her cards and my Mermaid was the first and inspired by this card.

My ‘Shell Queen' sculpture that I created several years ago was my first to ever be exhibited at a gallery show and she was inspired by another one of Josephine Wall's gorgeous creatures, “Shell Child”. I'm now in love with “My Lady Unicorn” and I think she may be my next sculptural inspiration.

And, I also mentioned my love of these bookshelves on our site a couple of years ago. I'd love to have some floor to ceiling bookshelves like these so I think if I keep looking at this photo and visualizing it, maybe I'll have some like this some day!

Yoga is a big stress buster for me and I want to be able to do this version of the pigeon pose one day; I came close a few years ago. This photo just inspires me to continue with my yoga practice.

The ceramic cross hanging in the corner is from a series I sold to an art gallery years ago. I have a goal to get back in my clay studio to start producing some new creations before the end of the year and this helps to inspire me.

This was such a fun, inexpensive project! I bought some ribbon and some small, headless pins in addition to the scrapbook paper, but the cost was still less than $10.00 since everything you put on your board is either an inspiring photo or an item that you already own.

I just finished my board today and I'm so anxious to get it hung so I can look at it every day. Why didn't I make time to do this sooner?

It was probably because I didn't have one single space in my house that I could call my very own. Now, I do. And it makes me very, very happy! 🙂

~LilSis

Posted under Home

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail.
Hippity, hoppity, Easter's on its way!

How's that for a non-traditional photo to kick off the Easter season?   I was out for a walk last weekend, and passed by this crack in the sidewalk.  It looks to me as though Peter Cottontail left an image of his carrot embossed here in the concrete to remind us that Easter is on its way!

Easter comes late this year on April 24th, so we have just 2 more weeks til it's here.  The meaning of the holiday is the heart of it of course: that Jesus died for us and rose again 3 days later.  It's also a holiday set on a backdrop of spring, pastel colors, new clothes, and oh yeah…candy!

Just because it's an important time in our lives as Christians doesn't mean that we can't also enjoy it and have some good, clean chocolatey fun too. 😀  Now's the time to get those bunny cake pans out of storage and get busy.

In the next couple of weeks, we'll be sharing some Easter joy with you.  We're planning some Easter cookies, crafts,and maybe even a bunny cake!

~BigSis

Posted under Holidays

Classic Tortilla Soup

Like most of our Texas sisters from other misters and brothers from other mothers, we sisters love our Mexican food!  Give us a reason to eat it.  Please!

Or don't give us a reason.  We'll still eat it.

Morning, noon and night.  We'll eat it 3 times a day.  Or more.  Girls need snacks sometimes, you know.

Cinco de Mayo is the official Mexican food eating holiday though, so bring it on!  Check out the recap we put together last year with some of our favorite Cinco de Mayo dishes.

My new favorite Mexican food snack is veganized Bob Armstrong Dip, so that's what I'll be making.

Vegan Bob Armstrong Queso Dip

Whatever you feast on, enjoy your Cinco de Mayo!

~BigSis

Posted under Food

Remember a few weeks ago when I let myself run completely out of eye cream?  It wasn't pretty.  In fact, it was darn frightening for the people around me.  Since I was starting at square one, I decided to go on a mission to find an effective eye treatment that was affordable.  I first tried Olay Regenerist Eye Products, with mixed results.  I'm still using the anti-aging eye roller, but the eye lifting serum went right back to the store.

What to try next?  Aha!  I found a package of Loreal's Revitalift Eye Lifting Repair Duo with big half-ounce samples attached of Revitalift Anti-Wrinkle Concentrate (for day) and Deep-Set Wrinkle Repair Night Cream.  I paid less than $20, and got 4 new products to try!  How fun is that?

I've been using all 4 products now for almost 2 months, and have some good news to share.

• None of these products caused a break-out!  That's pretty big for my grumpy skin.  90% of the moisturizers and treatments I try will immediately cause clogged pores and/or zits, even if they're dermatologist-tested/approved and theoretically non-comedogenic.

• All of the products seemed to do a pretty good job of moisturizing.  Even so, the day cream didn't cause shine to bleed through my foundation in the morning, which some products can do.  Using the night cream with my Tazorac every evening helped to lessen the drying effect that the retinol product can have on my skin.

• The daytime eye cream worked fine in conjunction with the anti-aging roller, and didn't get goopy or cakey with my concealer.  The night eye cream was richer than the day version, and seemed fine.  Neither eye products caused any burning or irritation.

Now for the bad news.  I hate that there IS bad news, since the price point on these products is great and there was a fair amount of good news. But Loreal's Revitalift line is about advanced anti-aging action and wrinkle repair.  Did I see any lessening of wrinkles?  I don't think I did, I'm sorry to say.  If there was any improvement, it's so slight that I haven't really noticed.

I'll probably keep using these products occasionally until they're gone, but I don't think I'll repurchase.  I'm still on a mission for the best eye cream.  Any ideas of what I should try next?  Be sure to come back for this week's Fabulous Friday when I'll share my review of an anti-aging skin serum that actually does work!  😀

~BigSis

Posted under Beauty and Skin Care

 

Happy purple petunias on my front walk.

I've had to really ‘baby' these petunias that are in my front yard because they get a little more sun that they like, but they seem to be happy now, which makes me very happy!

I love how this random yellow pansy seeded right in the middle of this pot. 🙂

When BigSis was here visiting, we were talking while I was watering and we both agreed that petunias always remind us of our Grandmama. Petunias and snapdragons always bring back happy childhood memories of our visits to her house and of her beautiful flower garden.

Happy yellow petunias

And I just love these yellow petunias that I bought for the shower! They're very happy in my backyard.

~Not to be “Debbie Downer”, but this week has been a bit of a melancholy week. We've both been extremely busy with work so there hasn't been much time for a new post, but it's also been a little hard to get in the mood to talk about anything related to Father's Day.~

Last year I was able to shop for Father's Day cards for my father-in-law for the first time since Daddy passed away, but for some reason, I couldn't do it this year; four years later. I had to ask my hubby to go pick them out for his dad so I wouldn't end up a blubbering idiot in Hallmark reading sentimental Father's Day cards.

Any time I'm a little ‘down in the dumps, I make myself go for a walk by the beach or just go out into my yard and do some gardening. Both of those things always cheer me up. I take great pride in my garden and have been recommended by a friend to use trugreen, as she uses the ohio branches of trugreen and has said how much it has helped her grow and maintain her garden, so I think I'll have to take a look for myself!

We're lucky that here in Southern California we have flowers that bloom year-round and right now I've got some blooming like crazy! So, instead of talking about Father's Day today, I wanted to post some pictures of some of my very happy flowers in my yard that make me very happy! 🙂

Happy Impatiens on my front porch.

In the winter, I just cut these impatiens back and leave the pots on the front porch and they come back in full force every Spring.

Happy Blue Hydrangeas

These blue Hydrangeas that I bought for the shower are absolutely gorgeous now that they're in full bloom.

Happy Pink Hibiscus

I have a huge Hibiscus tree in our back yard that has struggled for a couple of years with some mean ole bugs, but hopefully this is a sign of some happy hibiscus this year.

Happy Orange Hibiscus starting to open.

The orange Hibiscus tree had to be trimmed all the way back a couple of years ago because of bugs, but this is my first bloom of the year so I hope it's going to provide lots of happy blooms for us this year.

Happy pink Geranium.

We have several different varieties of Geraniums in our yard, but these pink ones are very happy.

Happy Bird of Paradise

And, one of my most favorite flowers is the Bird of Paradise and I'm really lucky to have several of these happy plants in my yard.

So, whatever you do tomorrow, whether you're able to celebrate Father's Day with your father or just spend some time reflecting on happy memories, as we'll be doing, we wish you all a very Happy Father's Day!

~LilSis

Posted under This & That

It's been a couple of weeks since I've been back home from my extended weekend trip to California, and I'm still thinking about Beach Break Cafe! On our way to take me to the airport, we stopped in for a late breakfast/early lunch and we can't believe it took us so long to eat there!

We happened to be at Beach Break Cafe on the last day of school, and this was apparently THE go-to spot for happy high schoolers who were eager to celebrate their freedom with an awesome California-style meal. HayHay saw oodles of kids he knew. We had to wait for a table for 15 or 20 minutes, but it was well worth the wait.

Even before our food came, we were loving the cafe. All of the staff were so friendly and our server told us that they were experimenting with new restaurant POS systems to try and make their service even more efficient. The decor and vibe was very beachy-cool, and fun. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the fresh air and people watching. This is our kind of place! You can keep your fancy fah-fah-fah restaurants. Give us a laid back hole in the wall cafe and we're happy girls!

Being vegan 99% of the time, my food choices were somewhat limited as usual, but I did have options. Take a look at the menu. I was dying to try the legendary crispy hashbrowns, so that's what I had, along with sliced tomatoes, biscuits and coffee. There was no way I was going to be virtuous with oatmeal or fresh fruit on this trip! I wish I'd gotten the fresh-squeezed tangerine juice that LilSis tried. It was pure California gold in a glass! Beach Break also offers fresh-squeezed grapefruit and orange juice.

Here's LilSis' meal before she tore into it. Check out those crispy golden hashbrowns!

LilSis' plate at Beach Break Cafe

Check out HayHay's plate. You can't even see the 2 ginormous slabs of sourdough toast on the side!

Beach Break Chicken Fried Steak

You see that hand on the right of the photo? It belongs to a 17 year old surfer and it's holding a fork. You know what that means? It means in 10 minutes flat you have this situation:

Beach Break plate after HayHay attack!

I guess he was too full or the garnish would have been history too!

We'll definitely make breakfast at the Beach Break Cafe a regular stop when I'm visiting. The whole fam damily is hearding out to Californie later this summer after my new great nephew is born, so Beach Break better get ready! We'll need lots of those delicious hashbrowns!

 

~BigSis

Posted under Food

I cannot believe that tomorrow is already May 1st. I knew this year would fly by since it's our baby's Senior year but the past four months are almost a blur. Before we know it Summer will be here, which happens to be my favorite season; but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Let's talk about Mexican food.

If we've said it once, we've said it a million times, we sisters LOVE our Mexican food! Whether I'm visiting in Dallas or BigSis is here in San Diego, we always treat ourselves to Mexican food at least once every day! (It's impossible for us to ever get enough chips, salsa, guacamole and nachos.)

As most of us know, this Saturday is Cinco de Mayo, the official Mexican food eating holiday.  We thought this would be a great time to share with you some of our favorite recipes that are perfect for a Cinco de Mayo party or if you're just cooking for family or friends.

Shrimp with Garlic and Chili Pepper

Roasted Garlic Dressing with Green Chili

Ceviche Salad with Avocado, Cilantro, and Green Chili

Hatch Green Chili and Garlic Goat Cheese

Classic Tortilla Soup

Super Speedy Mexican Vegetable Stew

Spinach Mushroom Enchilada

And we can't forget about a little something for dessert!

Mexican Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

We're both busy in our cocinas trying to whip up a couple of new dishes; so if all goes according to plan, we'll be back in a day or two with a few more ideas for your Cinco de Mayo menu. 🙂

~LilSis

Posted under Food, Holidays

A couple of weeks ago, while BigSis and I had our one afternoon at the beach, I finally had a few minutes to flip through my June issue of Sunset magazine. In it, I came across an article titled Wow ‘Em Cocktails that got me thinking it was time to come up with a new Summertime cocktail.

(I was going to do a Raspberry Fizz until I realized at the last minute that someone, not sure who yet, had polished off my Chambord and didn't tell me.  So, I'll be posting that recipe a little later after I get the chance to pick up more Chambord.)

Since we just celebrated the first day of Summer this week, I was trying to think of something that goes hand in hand with Summer. And since I have a huge bowl of fresh-picked lemons that a friend gave me, staring me right in the face, it hit me!

Lemonade.

And no; not just Plain Jane lemonade.

Let's kick it up a notch and make some Vodka Lemonade! Sound yummy?

It. Was.

Summertime Vodka Lemonade Fizz

4 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 shot vodka
1/2 t. sugar
1 or 2 ounces of club soda
lemon and strawberry slices

This is super simple. Just squeeze the lemons and stir in the sugar until it's dissolved. Add the vodka. Put some lemon and strawberry slices in with the ice and pour the lemonade over the ice. Top with club soda and garnish with lemon.

Since I'm serving this poolside, I've used a cute plastic wine glass for my lemonade.

Note: This is pretty tart. Since I don't really care for sugary sweet cocktails, I put very little sugar in my concoction, but you could easily add more sugar to suit your own little taste buds.

Enjoy! 🙂

~LilSis

Posted under Food