Pumkin Bread to die for...

This is super yummy, and anyone who would like to swing by on this drizzly fall Sunday, will be treated to some hot cocoa and warm pumkin bread. But if you can't stop by, the recipie is below!

The Bread:
1 cup veg oil
3 cups white sugar
4 eggs

mix those then add

2 cups pumkin
3/4 cup milk

then dry ingrediants

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tbl cinnimon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg

pour into bread pans, makes 3 ish, can also be poured into cupcake tins

The spread:
2 cubes butter
1 package cream cheese
2 cups brown sugar
cinnimon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg to taste

blend until smooth

***this stuff is amazing, somehow it is greater than the sum of it's parts- it's just super yummy, and hard to keep out of. Also great to dip ginger snaps in!

Book Review

I recommended this series and I finnished the 3rd (and final) book a few days ago and so I thought I'd "review" it. I loved, I mean loved the first book, one of my favorite books ever, #2 was good, it made me really excited for #3. Mocking jay however had a couple of things lacking that totally bummed me out. I don't want to ruin it for anyone so I'll try to be somewhat vauge with still giving my opinion, but if you don't want any clue, stop reading now!

The good: very exciting, heart pumping, especially the last 2/3rds it's just go, go, go. Heart wrenching... of course people you love die, I got teary eyed in one place and did the ugly cry in another. It has to be good writing for you to care that much. As far as the love triangle goes, her choice is what I thought it should be.

The disappointments: The ending is abrupt, leaving awkward dead ends to long standing realationships. The two biggest choices she makes, (one political the other with the love triangle thing) left me without the why filled in very well. I want the scenes, monologue and dialoge that leave me understanding her choices, this was done so well in the other books!! AAAHHH! It bothered me deeply for about a day, and at this point I've rewritten it in my head so that it feels more done.

anyone else love or hate it?

My shopping Mecca... well one of them

Did you know that everything throughout the country that is returned to a Nordstom store is sent to one central place and sold to those in the know at great prices? It's called Last Chance and it's in Phoenix and I have flown in to Phoenix for the sole purpose of shopping there on a few occasions. Even if you don't like to shop, just grabbing a bench and watching the cat fights over the Prada shoes is worth it.

It is the weirdest store ever in a lot of ways. Overwhelming and constantly crowded, and you have to dig for, or sometimes snatch quickley the good stuff. You know how Nordstrom will take back anything supposedly. After shopping at Last chance you will have a testimony of that fact. I am amazed at what people manage to return with a strait face. I've seen some very interesting stains, rips and bizarre things. My friend once tried to buy a pair of shoes without a tag only to find out they were some random persons that decided to walk out in a new pair. I bought 4 huge bags full of stuff (and made poor James figure out how to get it back home!) for about $180.00 4 coats, 5 pairs of earrings, 5 pairs of shoes (3 for Adri, 2 for me), 3 cardigans, 3 shirs, a scarf, 2 pairs of tights, fishnet spanx (they were not selling the guts to wear them unfortunatly) and my new favorite purse a turquoise hobo bag. More I'm sure, here are some of the highlights...and if anyone wants to go shopping with me just say the word!

We are the excited owners of...

Disneyland annual passes! Yes we are hooked, so you get to be bored again and again by my pictures. We just returned from the craziest itinerary which had James driving from Washington to SanDiego, just him, Mason (6) and Adrienne (3) What a brave brave man! He said it wasn't too bad, but I noticed he brought ear plugs....

They picked me up at the San Diego airport, I was so lucky to make the sold out flight, the only non rev passanger on a very full Southwest flight.

We did SeaWorld which was fun, more fun for Mason then Adrienne, may I just say that Dolphins have to be the coolest animals ever! Adrienne liked the pink birds (flamingos-I think they are kind of creepy looking) and Mason like the shark tunnel and stingrays. We all got an embarrassing display from a bold Walrus (children, cover your eyes)

then on to Disney for two days, so fun, and then drove over to Phoenix, for shopping, swimming and friends, Jaque and Momo flew down from SLC where they were partying with the cousins. We all had a ball and then flew home altogether. James, Adri, and I had a panic filled hour where it looked like we weren't going to make it home- but Alaska airlines came through for us, and terminal 2 at sky harbor was so empty we were able to run through the airport and get on a flight home.

I want to post more about Phoenix shopping and the surprise waiting for me when I returned home, but here are a few favorite Disney/seaworld/phx pics

PS whenever anyone is going to Disneyland and wants company, tell us! We'll come!!

3 things I've tried hard to like, but just don't...

1. Herbal tea

Maybe it was the childhood tea parties, grand events headed up by Shirley the Great (my grandmother who loves all things British) Maybe it's the fact that I don't drink coffee but still want to sip on something in a chic coffee house with my girlfriends, or perhaps the allure of beautiful teapots and teacups. I really want to like herbal tea. The names are pretty, the ingredients sound delightful. I repeatedly try them and my nose instantly wrinkles in disappointment. I know you tea drinkers out there are thinking I haven't tried the right kind, or I steeped too long or short, or I need to find the right amount of sugar and/or cream, but I'm telling you, no matter how dolled up (I've done tea time at the Ritz Carlton- THAT was cool), no matter what kind, there is a distinct taste of dried grass under the Mandarin, raspberry, blah blah flavor the package proclaims. I really want to like it, but I'll stick with hot chocolate, of which I am a connoisseur.

2. Running

You know that feeling when your heart is beating in time with your feet pounding the pavement. Fresh air moving freely in and out your lungs, a great song playing through your ipod that pushes you to new heights, the adrenilin is flowing and you just feel free? Well I DON'T! I'd like to, I know that everyone is suppose to have this goal of doing a marathon, or triathalon, but I have not the slightest interest in even a 5k. I like hiking, particularly in a beautiful place with beautiful friends, taking a walk, swimming, a bike ride (if I didn't feel ridiculous in a helmet) but I just can't do the running thing.

3. The Office

I have several good friends who are now writing me out of their wills. I'm really very sorry. I've tried, and I admit, I chuckle now and then, but it's mostly to fill the awkward silence. Maybe I don't relate because I've never worked in a cubical jungle. It's just too dry for me. So dry in fact that I'm willing to try and wash it down with another cup of herbal tea.

Whatcha Reading?

I love a good book, but a long time ago I lost the patience for reading so-so books. For me a book has to grab me fast so I have a 50 page rule. I have read the first 5o pages of many books, an author has that amount of my time to get me interested. Here is one set of books that passed my 5o page challenge with flying colors. Even James likes these books, and that's saying something!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (a 3 book series, the last one comes out later this summer)

Summer! At Last!

I LOVE summer. My favorite season by far, if we move back to Phoenix, I might have to change my favorite to Spring, but in Western Washington, spring is wet and grey for the most part, as was the 4th of July. But here on the 6th of July summer is finally here.

The front door is open and Adrienne is sitting on the steps while James is sawing and hammering and trying to finnish our front columns. With the windows open there is a perfect breeze flowing through and I smell someone bbq-ing and hear a lawn mower in the distance. AAAhhhhh, finally summer!

A few of my favorite things about summer:

boating up in the San Juan Islands

flip flop suntan lines

homeade blackberry icecream

watching cute freckles appear accross the bridge of Adri's nose

James making ribs, steaks, salmon or anything else out on the grill

ahhhhh summer in Seattle- all 6-8 weeks of it.

oh, and smores, and of course garage sales. think I've mentioned those before.