Cabo San Lucas

We're hitting Cabo San Lucas today....

At the tip of the Baja Peninsula, where the blue Pacific mingles with the Sea of Cortez in a whirl of watercolors. Even more spectacular: waters teeming with marlin, swordfish, sailfish, tuna and other fighting fish. Feast your eyes on exquisite black coral; take in the annual migration of the gray whale.

Back in San Diego tomorrow!


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Puerto Vallarta

Today we are in Puerto Vallarta!

No longer the well-kept secret of the artists, writers and Hollywood stars who first "discovered" it in the 1960s, "PV" (as it is affectionately known) still retains the essence of the quaint fishing village it once was. Here is Viejo Vallarta, the quaint Old Town, An enticing mix of red-tiled buildings, cobbled streets, chic shops and bustling open markets. Here are Mismaloya Beach, Gringo Gulch and Conchas Chinas, the Beverly Hills of Vallarta. Nearby: the rugged canyons and luxuriant jungles of the Sierra Madre.



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Mazatlan!

Today we are in Mazatlan!

Home of the largest shrimp fleet in the world, this cosmopolitan resort city tempts with every variation of this tasty crustacean: grilled, al mojo de ajo (with garlic), or in the shell with a tangy squeeze of lime. Other temptations: miles of uninterrupted sandy beaches, busy markets, and sleepy mining towns tucked into the Sierra Madre.



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Checklist for Vacation

My sisster is in town!

She had a kind of a crazy day getting, here, what with the crazy weather in the Midwest, but she made it.

And now, I can feel vacation close at hand!

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Tuesday Garden Party - No Fail Perennials (and a garden UPDATE!)

This week's Garden Party is all about our favorite perennials. Living in San Diego, we can grow many things year-round. When we moved into our house, we had many different varieties of day lilies already planted.

Originally I kind of thought they were no better than weeds, and I hacked them way way back. Well, they grew back. Even bigger. So I hacked them back again.

But this time when they grew back, I decided to enjoy them. And the flowers were beautiful!

Right now they are ready to be cut back... but just wait for Spring!

And now for my update! Remember my poor sad peas and lettuce after the heat?  Apparently a month or so of "Seattle-like" weather agrees with them!

The carrots like it too!

Next week I'll share what we'll be doing for our fall and winter pots. In the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.

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On a Monday

Whew. We've had a super busy several weeks.

- getting used to my new job {it's been fun, but hard to get used to not being the expert at my job.... it will come though}

- getting ready for our upcoming cruise {halleluja! we are in desparate need of a vacation and some SUN!}

- planning for the holidays {just found out that my beautiful niece and her wonderful hubby will be visiting us over the Thanksgiving weekend! yea!}

- getting the house ready for visitors this week {my sis is staying with us for a couple of days before the cruise, and my parents will be here afterwards}

- watching The Mr perform in his annual concert over the weekend {the concerts were FABULOUS! certainly worth all of the effort and time}

- enjoying time with a visiting old friend {haven't seen my friend, now an engineer for NASA, for 20 years maybe... back in the days when he was an art student, I was a journalism student, we both lived in MN and had many philosophical conversations over beer and pizza... back in the days when I drank beer and ate pizza... ;-) very fun to catch up on the last 20+ years and The Mr and I enjoyed some great meals and conversation. good to see you!}

- celebrating my FIL's birthday {75!}

- enjoying a couple of kid-free weeks {they were on vacation with their mom over their fall break, came back last night and had fun telling us all about their trip. good to get back to normal.}


I love being busy, but I'm ready for a break. Good thing the holidays are coming. Ha ha ha. (I mean ho ho ho?) I'm hoping the rotten rainy weather stops for a couple of days so that I can get my garden in order. It does look incredibly green and lush, but it could use some SUN!

How is your week starting?



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Sunday Snapshot - Happy Birthday!

We went out to dinner on Saturday night to celebrate my father-in-law's 75th birthday!!

The restaurant was very dark, and the food fabulous so I kept forgetting to get pictures. ;-) This is the Lobster Pumpkin Soup - yummy!

My FIL got a rich chocolate mousse for dessert...

... and blew out the candle.

The Mr and I shared a Chocolate Lava Cake Smore. OMG.

While we were eating, we saw the ship that we will be sailing on next Saturday leaving the Bay for this week's trip.

Today was spent cleaning for our guests next week and getting ready for tonight's football game. I do NOT want to talk about it.

Hope you all had a great weekend!!





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Cherry Angel Squares

This is a great quick dessert. Just two ingredients, ingredients which are easy to keep on hand. Add some shaved chocolate and whipped cream, and it can be quite elegant for guests! We had it the other night and it was a hit with everyone. If you don't like cherry, other fruit pie flavors can be substituted.

Cherry Angel Squares

Ingredients:

1 package angel food cake mix, about 14 1/2 ounces
22 oz light cherry pie filling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Combine cake mix with cherry filling (do not add any other ingredients). Pour batter into an ungreased 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cool and cut into 24 pieces.


For more great recipes, check out The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap! If you have a recipe to share, please join in the fun!

If you are looking for some healthy and budget friendly recipes, check out the recipes at Get Healthy Cheap:

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Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I started a new job last Friday.  New job, same company.  But a HUGE change.
For the last 10 years I have worked in the IT organization for a large manufacturing company.  I've been a Project Manager.  Not a bad job.  Sometimes pretty interesting.  I did get to work with some fairly nice people.  I even met The Mr working there.  Excellent side benefit!

But for the last 5 years, I've been doing basically the same thing.  With no opportunity for growth or movement.  Most of my job I could do with my eyes closed.  Not that I would.  That would most likely be a safety violation.  We're all about safety here.

So, I've been pretty dissatisfied with IT.  And I've been wanting to do something that is closer to our end customer.  We are a supplier to the energy industry (primarily the oil and gas industry).  I've been wanting the work that I do to make a difference.  Sometimes it is tough to see the connection between our IT projects and the company's bottom line.  ("sometimes" is a significan exaggeration actually)
So when I had the opportunity to move into a differnt, role, I jumped at the chance!  I am now working for our legal department.  I'll be reviewing commercial contracts, identifying areas of risk for our company, and negotiating with the customer to mitigate those risks.  Out of the frying pan and into the fire!  

Three best things about my new job?  1) Not working in IT anymore (these people here are so much nicer... and frankly more "normal" than the IT folks I've been working with);  2) finally using that JD I've been letting gather dust for the last 10 years (just for you mom!);  3) working at the same location as The Mr in an office with a view!

I've got a big learning curve to get up to speed in this new role, but I'm excited about it and having a good time so far!



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Sour Cream Drop Cookies

 Fall has officially made its way here!  I'm getting in the mood for baking.  I ran across the recipe for Sour Cream Drop Sugar Cookies the other day while paging through a cookbook - this was one of my grandma's favorite cookies. 

We used to spend many Sundays at my grandma's house.  She had this great old cookie jar (I think my aunt has it and I totally want it!) and it always had homemade cookies in it.  I loved when she made sour cream drop cookies - they were so yummy!

This "heirloom" cookie was originally made with homemade sour cream stored in a crock in the basement. The dough for drop cookies is soft enough to drop from a spoon. Use an ordinary teaspoon rather than a measuring spoon, and slightly rounded spoonfuls rather than level ones. Push the dough off the spoon with a rubber spatula or another spoon. Make the drops all the same size so they will bake evenly. Bake them just until done. Remove immediately from baking sheet. If cookies are left for only a few minutes on a hot sheet, they will continue to bake and will be overdone and dry.

Sour Cream Drop Cookies

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup butter or 1 cup regular margarine

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

sugar

Directions:

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; set aside.
2. Cream together butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in bowl until light and fluffy, using electric mixer at medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in sour cream and lemon extract. 
3. Gradually stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture, blending well. Drop mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls, about 3 inches apart, on greased baking sheets. Sprinkle each with sugar.
4. Bake in 375°F oven 8 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Remove from baking sheets; cool on racks. Makes 5 1/2 dozen.

For more great recipes, check out The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap! If you have a recipe to share, please join in the fun!

While this recipe may not be terribly healthy, sometimes a treat is worht making. And this one can be made with ingredients that are msot likely on your shelf right now. If you are looking for some healthy and budget friendly recipes, check out the recipes at Get Healthy Cheap:

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Before and After

This cat makes me laugh. She's a natural little comic, and loves to be - in fact insists upon being - the center of attention.

I love this picture of her. I wanted to stylize it a little. Let me know what you think.

If you like my shots, you need to visit Pixel Perfect for more before and after fun! And if you want to play along all you have to do is show us your SOOC (straight out of camera) shot and then the edited version. Link back to Pixel Perfect and link up your post below! Feel free to share with us your editing program and camera gear too!

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30 Days!

The Mr and I decided we are in desparate need of a vacation. So, we decided to take a quick cruise here!

We did this trip last year, right about this same time and had a wonderful and relaxing vacation.  Last year, it was just the two of us.  This year, our parents will be joining us, along with my Sis and The Mr's Aunt.  It's a super fun group and we should all have a blast!

Now if I can only make it to the end of October.....




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Tuesday Garden Party - Heat Wave

This week brought a couple of days of CRAZY hot weather! And just after I planted my little pea and lettuce seedlings.

The peas fared pretty well in the 110 degree heat and blazing sun...

... for the most part anyway. A few crispy leaves, but not many.

The lettuce? Not so much. Hopefully they will come back after this heat wave goes away.

The tomato on the other hand? Loves it! Almost ready to pick!

I planted carrots, broccoli and onions - come on back next week to see if they've sprouted. In the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.

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Sunday Snapshot - Aztec Football

We've got season tickets the San Diego State University Aztec football games. We have not been a very good team historically, but it is basically the only game in town (so to speak) and we have a good time at the games.

We've got pretty good seats. You should be thankful that I left my DSLR in the car and had to use my cell phone for pictures. The first month of school has not been kind to the cheerleaders. Apparently no lack of beer on campus. Enough said.

And it was band night! Something like 10 high school bands came to play with the Aztec Marching Band at half time. They sit in front of us. This was the view for much of the game.

Someone was always standing. Either the band or the dance team.

We got my MIL to go to this game....

... because they had an amazing fireworks show after the game.

We had a great evening. And the Aztecs beat the Utah State Aggies! 41 - 7!!









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Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid

Are you looking for a wonderful Sunday brunch dish to serve friends ad family?  Or a Saturday dinner recipe?  This recipe, courtesy of Cooking Light, is it!  Easy and fabulous!  Flexible too - change the types of sausage, cheese and/or veggies and you will have an entirely different meal.  So worth trying!

Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients
1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
4 ounces chicken sausage with jalapeño peppers, chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped seeded jalapeño peppers
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Unroll dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat into a 15 x 10–inch rectangle.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sausage; cook 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in eggs; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until set. Remove from heat.
4. Sprinkle Monterey Jack lengthwise down center of dough, leaving about a 2 1/2-inch border on each side. Spoon egg mixture evenly over cheese. Sprinkle cheddar over egg mixture; top with jalapeño peppers.
5. Make 2-inch-long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling using a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Arrange strips over filling, alternating strips diagonally over filling. Press ends under to seal. Brush with egg white. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices.

For more great recipes, check out The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap! If you have a recipe to share, please join in the fun!

If you are looking for some healthy and budget friendly recipes, check out the recipes at Get Healthy Cheap:

Mhnaty!

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