Ahoy, matey!

After taking our first cruise in May 2004, we concluded we're not "cruise people" because the best parts of that trip were snorkeling off St. Maarten and kayaking off St. Thomas. On board the ship, we were kinda bored. Six years later? The sweet sound of boredom lured us back to the high seas to celebrate Bryan's 40th birthday. Here's a peek at our trip...

We sailed from Mobile, Alabama to Cozumel, Mexico aboard the newly renovated Carnival Fantasy. As with our last cruise, there were not so many people reminiscent of The Love Boat as tattooed grandmothers smoking Marlboros, swearing like sailors, and slamming back beers. Luckily, our dinner companions were a really nice grandma and her middle aged children. One works for the Smithsonian, another is a marine archaeologist, all have traveled extensively... super interesting people.

Self-portrait taken in our state room.

A frog (top) and a rabbit (my favorite) that our room attendant shaped from towels. Cute!

I really wish the kids had been with us to experience Playa Mia on Cozumel. The beach was beautiful and they would have loved the giant playset and trampolines. The public restrooms were spotless, the amenities were well-staffed, and there was an ambulance and paramedics on hand for emergencies. I was impressed and hope we can go back with the kids when they're older.

A self portrait at dinner one night.

¡Adios, Mexico!

The kids got Cozumel t-shirts and wooden flutes - and even better - four nights with their grandparents!!!

Thank you soooooo much, Nana & Paw-Paw and Papa & Mama P!!!!!

Sunshine and Tacos

Bryan and I booked a 4-day weekend to cruise from Mobile to Mexico to celebrate his 40th birthday! We are due to arrive home tonight... more info and pictures forthcoming! In the meantime, Travelocity is running ridiculous deals on cruises (and by that, I mean like 70% off) plus almost-that-good-of-a-deal options to places like London, Banff, Lake Tahoe, the Bahamas...

Photo compliments of www.shipmobile.com

Rocks, sticks and grass

¡Hola! Bryan and I are South of the Border this weekend, so compliments of Blogger's auto-post option, I bring you this sneak peek into my latest attempts at decorating...

I stuck a bunch of river rocks in a vase with some birch branches in an attempt to add an 'organic element' to the bathroom. It sounds like a cool idea, huh? Eh, well, it ended up looking kinda weird. I'm not sure how to cozy up the space. I do like the bamboo rug I picked up last week. Bamboo is good stuff - a grass that acts like wood - plus it's cheap, plentiful and renewable.

Bamboo rug.

Our cat, Dizzy, trying to block your view of the vase of rocks and sticks.

Weeknight Cuisine

When this posts, Bryan and I should be floating somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico celebrating his not-nearly-as-traumatic-as-it-will-be-for-me 40th birthday! Have a great weekend!

As a follow-up to my post about Weekend Cuisine, I thought I'd share some of our Weeknight Cuisine. In general, my cooking strategy is "cook once, eat twice" with a special emphasis on simplicity and speed for weeknights. Here are a couple things from Emeril Lagasse that are much easier and faster than they might seem: We've been eating this salad a lot since Christmas, except that I use olive oil instead of bacon fat in the dressing (Emeril!!!) and this pasta (below) is something I saw him make on his show.


Pasta a la Emeril Lagasse
Note: The measurements below are mine because, of course, Emeril was just throwing stuff in the pan. I hate following recipes anyway, but I have found these measurements work. Feel free to tweak...

• Cook 2/3 box linguine using package instructions. Drain, drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil on pasta, stir and set aside. (The oil keeps it from getting stuck together as it sits.)
• Chop 4 Roma tomatoes into small chunks.
• Chop 1/2 pound of bacon into small pieces. Brown in skillet. Set aside to drain on a paper towel.
• Pour 1/3 cup olive oil and 2 TBS lazy garlic (my term for diced garlic in a jar) into skillet to sautee.
• Add the tomatoes to the skillet and let them soften.
• Remove from heat and add 2/3 cup of cream or half-and-half and stir gently.
• Add sauce and pasta in whichever pan or pot will fit all of it - and stir gently.
• Sprinkle on a teeny bit of salt and as much cracked black pepper as you like.
• Top with shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Leah stopped after 2-3 bites and said, "This is delicious, Mommy. Thank you for cooking." Michael scowled and said, "I don't wike dog food," but proceeded to eat half of it. Good enough for me!

My boudoir

A friend of a friend came to a party at my place in Dallas once and - for whatever reasons - followed me into my closet and said, "Where are all your clothes?!?!?" I laughed because I have plenty of clothes - I just limit my wardrobe to clothes I really do like and really do wear and then group them by type and by color, e.g. sleeveless black tops, short-sleeved black tops... It drives my brother Steve nuts - and that's a good enough reason to keep doing it. Ha!

Anyway, that was a long way of saying I don't need a walk-in closet, but since I have one, I pulled down most of the shelving and turned it into more of a boudoir. And I love it! Here's a peek:

Walking in, I see my black boots (and yes, I wear them all), a painting my brother Steve did in college (upper left), bins for socks/scarves/etc. and my bulletin board with old pictures all held in place by these awesome London Paris Rome Venice Nice and Florence pushpins. All my shoes are lined on inexpensive racks I bought at Wal-Mart. I can see them all - and I do wear them all - even though I seem to mostly wear this one pair of chunky black Swedish clogs.

On the right, I have a poster of the Dallas skyline (a going-away present from my old teammates) hanging above hooks to organize my collection of necklaces. I love costume jewelery and wear a different necklace every day. I also put up this framed collage of black and white photos I took when I lived in Vienna. I love those photos.

And lastly, I have all of my purses hanging up so that I can find the one I want without digging through a pile. (Don't laugh - I realize these are black and brown versions of more or less the same purse! I like what I like!)

When we win the lottery, I want something more like this. For now, I am enjoying my boudoir as is! You don't need a walk-in closet to do this. When I was a teenager and had a really small closet, I pushed my clothes onto one side and on the other side I tacked up a poster, ticket stubs from concerts and movies, and a painting I'd done in junior high. I created my own little space - and that's the point.