Baby's First Book!

Sure, I have gobs of children's books already; but this is the very first one bought especially for our little Speck. I LOVED this book when I was little, so it had to add to my collection eventually.

I think we will be raising a little bookworm, just like me! :)

Santa Has Been Here

Santa visited me early this year! I finally got a REAL hair straightener to replace the crummy $13 one I've been using for a while now.

Chi flat irons are awesome, and I'd like to thank my 2 best friends and my sissy for introducing me to them! I got it this morning and tried it out as soon as I came home. It's super fast and my hair feels really soft and silky.

And you gotta admit the polka dots are very cute.

I've Been Cooking!

I've been cooking for many years; but you always get into a rut once in a while, you know? That has happened to me recently so Landon and I were looking for some new things to try. We love the website www.allrecipes.com so we searched there for some different stuff for me to make at home. This site lets anyone add their own recipes to share with whoever wants them. None of these are my creations; I followed everything pretty much the way they are posted online (I will note any changes I made though).

This was my latest attempt-Orange Chicken! I was a little nervous to try my hand at homemade Asian/Chinese food because it rarely comes out as good when you try to make it yourself.  I was very impressed with this one though-it was easy; though it took me a while to make since it was the first time I've attempted it and didn't want to mess it up. Here is the link to it on allrecipes: Asian Orange Chicken

My changes: 4 servings instead of 6; used ginger powder instead of fresh; used minced garlic "flakes" instead of fresh

I am especially proud of this one, and it helped that Landon loved it. :)


I also tried a couple of other things; but I don't have photos of them. (The website will show some though.) I made Oven Fried Parmesan Chicken that came out awesome! It was so moist and MUCH better than using store bought Shake 'n Bake (although that stuff is good too). You also put garlic in the butter before rolling the chicken in it, so that made it extra good too-I love garlic flavor as long as it's not too strong.

My changes: 4 servings instead of 6; I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken; used a bit more Parm than it called for

Last one was Broccoli Cheese Soup V. This one was probably my favorite of the new stuff I've tried so far. Landon said it was "restaurant quality" and I agree-it was REALLY good! I love broccoli cheese soup so I'm excited to have found such a good recipe for it. The only thing I changed was the serving size to-yep, 4. :)

iPhone Fun

Landon found this really awesome app called Hipstamatic, for taking pictures with really cool retro effects. The info on the app says it's based on a child's toy camera from the early 80's (there weren't very many made).

Anyway, I'm having a blast playing with it, and enjoying how artistic it makes me feel! Here's a pic of my new shoes I got a couple of days ago; they are Crocs, can you believe it?!?

Yes, I Did!

So I like toys and already have a collection of dolls anyway; and I
adore the Twilight books and movies. I kept going back and forth about
these, and this week they were a great price on Amazon ($15 each) so I
caved.

I've never purchased one of the "collector" Barbies before, so these
are a little nicer than the ones I had as a kid. There's also a Jacob
one (but it kinda bugs me that he doesn't come with a shirt!) out now,
and Alice & Victoria (don't want her!) come out this Summer. Anyway,
just sharing a pic. I like them, and they are cool (especially
Edward!) hanging out on my desk. :)