Date night!

By now, most of you probably know that Aaron is busy studying hard for his Quals exams that are happening the end of October/beginning of November which is pretty evident from his lack of social interaction. Every once in awhile, I'm able to get him out of the house... Italian date night did the trick.

Can you believe that less than a week ago, it was warm enough for sleeveless? Crazy.

We went and checked out this "Casual Italian" restuarant just down the street. Baroni.
It was fabulous. I filled up on the chicken parm.. which I had leftovers for Aaron and I both to have the following day, and Aaron had some pizza.
Date night with my hubby is a special treat. :)

Snapshot of today 2010.09.22

Today was a pretty good day...

I got plenty of sleep (any day when this happens is automatically a good day!)
Made it to work on time
Linked some financials (lame to most people, but I'm really excited about them)
Had mexican for lunch
Home before 6
Quick dinner of leftovers and quick tv watching
Went to the church building to help with the tutoring program

More on the tutoring program: Our church has a tutoring program where the buses go out into the community and bring back kids for us to help with homework, reading, etc... I am working with a sweet 4th grader named Sarah who is from Brazil. Today we worked on language arts... which consisted of cutting out letters and gluing them on paper. It was pretty awesome. Afterwards, I realized how out of shape I was as we chased tons of little kids around playing freeze tag in the gym. My heart was literally hurting... haha. Maybe next week won't be as bad.

now I'm home.. catching up on some of my shows... and playing on facebook.

Today was a petty good day...

What's for Dinner?

Potato-Crusted Fish!

Ok, well this is technically what we had for dinner yesterday... but it was so delicious.. I thought I would share it with you. I got the recipe from Publix, one of the Apron meals.


Ingredients

1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 firm white fish fillets, such as tilapia, snapper, or orange roughy (1 1/2 lb) we used tilapia
1 (2-oz) package potato flakes (1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons butter, divided

Steps

1. Combine buttermilk, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place fish in buttermilk mixture, turning to coat; let stand 3–4 minutes.
2. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Place potato flakes on plate. Coat both sides of fish with potato flakes; press with fingertips to coat heavily (wash hands). Place 2 tablespoons butter in pan, then add fish; cook 4 minutes (do not turn fish).
3. Place 1 tablespoon butter in center of pan. Turn fish (using spatula), distributing butter under each fillet; cook 3 more minutes or until golden and fish flakes easily. Serve.

It was absolutely fabulous! We will be making it again very soon! (besides the fact that it's fabulous... I bought I humongous box of potato flakes I need to use...)

See the official site for the recipe for the side of broccoli.

What's for Dinner?

Momma's Spaghetti!

My friend Julie had a blog post over the weekend with her menu for the week... well that encouraged me to get off my butt and make a grocery list and go grocery shopping. I always plan to do this weekly, but somehow we always end up with enough food to stretch out longer and longer.. then we are just making things up to hold out going to the grocery.. or stopping by to pick up one or 2 things to complete the meal. (having Publix right out your front door can be sooo convenient and sooo bad all at the same time!)

Anyways, tonight was Momma's Spaghetti. It's nothing fancy, just the way I like. It's one of the only spaghettis I truly love. I think it's the *special ingredient*.
It's also really really cheap to make. Score.

1 lb. hamburger meat ($2-$3)
1 can tomato sauce ($0.49)
1 can tomato paste ($0.45)
Garlic salt (staple)
Pepper (staple)
2 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning (staple - $3.49 for new bottle)
1 tsp. sugar (staple)
wheat noodles (staple - ~$1.75 for box)

Season hamburger meat with garlic salt and pepper to taste. Brown hamburger meat. Drain. Add tomato sauce. Add 1 can of water. (use tomato sauce can). Add tomato paste. Add italian seasoning and sugar. I always add more than 1 tsp of sugar.. that's the special ingredient. :) Serve with noodles.. wheat if you want it to be a tad bit healthy. We serve it up with garlic bread.. homemade, aka cheap. (white bread with butter and garlic salt - in oven for 5-7 mins)



It's just so simple, cheap, and delicious.. it's a regular on our menu.
Thanks momma!

Ps. Head over to Lauren's blog if you want some good veggies to serve with your spaghetti. We both just so happened to have spaghetti for dinner and we both independently decided to blog about it... considering we had bread and they had veggies.. they win on the healthy eating.

Secret to Running?

So today I ran 2 miles. I guess that means I'm not a marathon runner.. or anything close to it.. but if I have to exercise, running is usually my choice.
Here are some of the investments I've made for my running habit or lack thereof:
1. Treadmill - ok, some of you people may think I'm crazy.. but after hearing the rumors about HAW busy season weight gain (5-10lbs)... I decided it was worth checking into. We were lucky enough to find a decent, used one on Craigslist for only $70. Totally worth it. It hangs out in our sunroom. Our sunroom has lots of windows, which is nice when it gets cool outside to open while running. The treadmill makes running more convenient for me, I can run while the oven is preheating or water is boiling, etc.. Or I can run late at night, when it's dark and a bit uncomfortable for me to go outside by myself. During busy season, this was vital as I usually left for work in the dark and arrived home in the dark.
2. Fancy shoes from Fleet Feet. I love that store and I love my shoes. Adidas Supernova.
3. iPhone. Ok, so maybe I didn't get the iphone for running... BUT the Slacker Radio on it has been crucial to my "success".

Ok.. so wanna know my secret for making it through 2 miles today?
1. Slacker Radio - see above
2. I just kept telling myself... "that pain in your chest, it's been there the whole time.. just keep going." "those leg cramps aren't too bad... just temporary" "wow, you give up easy"
Basically.. "you're a wuss... push through"

Happy run to all my runners out there!

PS. I obviously shouldn't be giving running advice, since I was struggling for 2 miles.. but another way I made it through the run was writing this post in my head :)

Two Girls and a Camera - Blog!

Hey guys!
I'm sure most of you know that my friend Lauren and I have been doing some photography together for the past couple of months.
Today we finally went live with a blog.
Add it to your favorites, reader, roll, whatever... just make sure you check it out periodically.

http://twogirlsandacameraphotography.blogspot.com/

Snapshot of today 2010.09.10

Donut
Chickfila
Pineapple whip cream cake
Panera mac n cheese
popcorn

tummy ache.

Girls just want to have fun...

Moving to a new city where you know basically no one can be tough... but Aaron and I handled the transition to Atlanta pretty well. I have to chalk most of it up to my wonderful friends from North Atlanta.. especially the girls.
Last year I was asked to be the coordinator for the monthly girls night. We usually just meet at a restaurant to stuff our faces and chat.. but after our summer hiatus.. I decided to spice things up a little with a concert! Can you believe that the ultimate girls concert, Colbie Caillat and Sheryl Crow, just so happened to be on the 3rd Thursday of August? Well it was. We originally had purchased lawn seats (cheapest.. and easiest to coordinate) but when we got there we were informed that we could trade our lawn seats in for regular seats. Holla. The weather was absolutely amazing... humidity controlled itself and there was a nice breeze. The music was great (although I definitely know more Colbie than Sheryl songs...) and the people watching was superb. Nothing like the girl next to you singing her heart out.. or the older gentleman getting down to every Sheryl Crow song from the 1990s.

This weekend I get to spend even more time with my wonderful girl friends. Although it's not an "official" Refuel - Girl's Night.. I figured I'd rather see a chick flick with the girls instead of Aaron. Tomorrow night.. a group of 8 fantastic girls (myself included) are meeting for some yummy Panera (of course I'll have their mac n cheese) and then heading over for Eat.Pray.Love.

Here are a few reasons why I'm so excited about tomorrow:

1. Girlfriends

2. Panera's mac n cheese

3. Eat.Pray.Love - I love movies that explore other parts of the world, make it a chick flick and I am totally sold.

4. This lady right here.
She is truly wonderful at what she does.

5. Saving $$$ - One of my friends recently started a deals website.. and because of her, I not only got my ticket for $4, I also get free popcorn. Sweeeet! Check out her site here: Peach Deals. Unfortunately the $4 ticket is long gone (groupon).. but the free popcorn for tomorrow night only (9.10.2010) is available to anyone who "likes" Regal Cinemas on facebook. Now I just need a coupon for Panera and I'll be all set. :)

Speaking of...

Speaking of this little guy....

Can you believe he started Mother's Day out already? Yesterday was his first day and he'll be going every Tuesday and Thursday. His mother tells me that he walked right on in the classroom barely saying bye to her or Andrew. He's growing up so fast!

We really enjoyed getting to spend some time with him this past weekend.. he was a little less clingy (to all others except us) than he was last time we saw him.. which made him more fun! He loved playing with Newton.. there were even some kisses exchanged. Ethan also loved going in our sunroom and closing the french doors and making faces at us from the other side. Gotta love him!

PS. he LOOOVES Funnel Cake Fries. :)

Ode to Cream puffs

Ode to the Original Cream Puff....

They are absolutely delicious... and the only place I know where to find them is the Wisconsin State Fair and truth be told.. the main reason I wanted to go to the fair while we were visiting. This puff is made from fresh cream from the Wisconsin dairy cows and it absolutely amazing.
You haven't been to the WI fair until you've had a cream puff.
Fortunately/Unfortunately the cream is to be kept at cool temperatures which keeps us from taking home 4 dozen.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Well it's been one whole year since this picture was taken.. and you better believe we whipped that hat right back out.
He still hates it.




and here's his birthday present that he was oh-so-excited about...

It's already half-way destroyed....

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Newt!

On a side note.. Aaron and I and my friend Lauren are heading to Memphis tomorrow after work. Lauren and I will be photographing a wedding this weekend. Should be fun. :)
In the meantime, my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew will be coming from Memphis to Atlanta for the Nascar race on Sunday. We'll be heading back on Sunday in hopes to spend a little bit of time with them and love on that precious boy.