A Work in Progress

I wanted to post a picture of my classroom before I did anything to it.  Okay, that's kiiiiiiiiinda a lie, I moved stuff into this classroom from my old classroom (or box as my BFF liked to call it).  Yes, my current classroom (the one pictured below) might not look like the biggest room ever (it's not) but compared to my old classroom-it's a freakin MANSION!! And I couldn't be happier to call it my own.  Although, I will miss my close & comfy old classroom (I said goodbye to it several times) I can't wait to jazz this one up and make new mems with my kiddos!  

I have big plans for this space. BIG. PLANS.  Including paisley, pennants, polka dots, and owls.  UGH, alliteration fail. 

Stay tuned! :)

Goodbye Summer

Some title, huh? Especially for those of you who are still enjoying summer.  Tomorrow I go back to work.  No students until August 5th, but we'll have teacher trainings, professional development, classroom setup, etc. etc. etc. etc. until then.  So I thought I'd take some time to reminisce...

What seems like YESTERDAY, my little kinders graduated to big first graders.

The day after school got out, Erik & I took a trip to beautiful Montana to visit his parents.  It was the perfect way to transition into summer.  After the hustle & bustle of the end of the school year, a relaxing long weekend is just what I needed. (spoiled much?)

...annnnnd then we enjoyed a staycation at a resort in Scottsdale. (again, spoiled much?) Staycations are so underrated! And living in AZ, you get the added bonus of hotels heavily discounting rooms because summer is when everyone else is trying to get out of the heat.

I bought a car! (oh. my. gosh. talk about stressful! I needed a glass or 3 of wine after that)  But I love Yari! (the Yaris)

We celebrated Father's Day...

...and National Martini Day (June 19, in case you missed it this year)

Moved into our new home!

There was 4th of July festiveness 

And obviously we made some time for wine tasting!

Then there was the night we discovered Giant Jenga (this is important, if not only for the obvious-it's AWESOME but I love am obsessed with games)

And of course, San Diego :) (I realized in my SD post there were no pics of my dad, sister, or her boyfriend, but they exist! And here they are!)

**And drumroll please** We cannot forget the birth of the Royal Baby! 

(Exhibit A: Why need to go back to work-sometimes I have entirely too much time on my hands)

It's been real. It's been fun. It's been real fun, Summer 2013. xoxo.

California Lovin'

I just got home yesterday from a San Diego vaca and for the past week this was my view...

My parents rented a beach house (literally right on the beach) and our days were spent from the time the sun came up until the sun went down on the beach or patio with an icy cold beverage in hand.  Very sadly, Erik wasn't able to come this year (work sucks) but my BFF Sarah was there and I don't think we stopped laughing for more than 30 seconds at a time.

She also let me make funny pictures of her...

One of my good friends from college, Kate, who lives in San Diego now, came to visit us for a couple days too.

More patio sitting and wining

Of course, no vacation is complete without some low & slow eggs...

...or Mom's homemade spaghetti & meatballs

....or a cartwheel on the beach :)

Although I would like to relive this moment over & over & over again, I'm happy to be home with Erik and Kobe.  Erik and I went out for dinner last night and he ordered his first bowl of Pho and loved it (about damn time!)

Saturday Scramble

There is only one way to cook/eat/enjoy scrambled eggs and that's low & slow.  I seriously didn't even like scrambled eggs until I discovered this newfangled way to make them. (just kidding, I'm sure people have been doing this since the stone age. maybe.)

OKAY. Back to the eggs. This takes some time and patience and focus, but oh, it is so worth it.

Set your burner on low and add more butter than you think necessary to the pan and let it melt.

I'm realizing now melted butter isn't captured well on camera......

Whisk your eggs up with some cream.

Okay, a lot of cream.......

Add your eggs to the pan and watch the magic happen

Remember. This takes time. When the eggs have almost reached perfection (i.e. when they're almost done) you'll need to tend to them often. Move them around constantly with a spatula or they'll get too "done" and dry and all your hard work will fly right out the window. (Oh & yeah, if drier scrambled eggs are your thing, low & slow probably isn't for you).

Serve with some bacon

And bloody marys

And BAM! That's Saturday morning.

Wine Tasting

Did you know I love wine? And wine tasting? ;)

At the very beginning of summer, Erik & I went to visit his parents in Montana. While we were there, we went to this cute restaurant that sold wine (and had wine tasting!) upstairs. So after lunch we made our way up there, naturally. I came across this wine tasting sign and thought I have to have this. Erik & I would be moving into a new place at the end of June and it would look perfect in our new kitchen (I also hung it up in the kitchen of our old place, even though we were only there for a few weeks after we got back from Montana because I loved it so much!)

I wasn't sure where I was gonna put it in our new home, but as I was unpacking the kitchen I thought, "Why not make my own wine tasting station?!" (I don't think anyone calls them "wine tasting stations" - but it's the best I could come up with)

So I added this

And this

And got this! "The Wine Tasting Station"

Did you know I also love Target?

Pasta With Lemon Butter Sauce & Italian Sausage

As promised, here is our favorite pasta from this post. Erik & I first discovered this savory sauce at one of our favorite Italian restaurants here in Tucson. It was unlike anything we had ever tasted before. I mean, so good that I was inspired to try to make it myself. I scoured the internet looking for what I thought would be a similar recipe and found one here & adapted it to make it more like the one we had at our fave spot.

WHAT YA NEED:
1 cup white wine (I used Barefoot sauvignon blanc)
Juice of 3 lemons
2 (or 3 if you're like me & a garlic fanatic) tablespoons minced garlic
3 shallots, finely chopped
Pinch of salt & pepper
1 dash hot pepper sauce (I used Tabasco)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 sticks butter, cut into pats
1 tablespoon fresh or dried parsley

1 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 lb. pasta (sometimes I break up lasagna noodles, Sunday I used campanelle)

At the same time I start making the sauce, I also start boiling the water for the pasta and cooking the Italian sausage on the stove over medium heat.

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the wine, lemon juice, garlic and shallots. Lower heat to medium-high & cook for 3-5 minutes. Lower heat to medium and stir in salt, pepper and hot sauce and cook mixture for about 3 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook for 1 minute. Over low heat, whisk in a few pats of butter at a time. When you have added all the butter, remove from heat & continue whisking until all the butter is melted. Pour sauce over pasta and add sausage. Sprinkle with parsley & enjoy!