if not now...when?

a very happy halloween to you!!

have a safe, spooky, and fun halloween. it's one of my favorite holidays! i'm mostly about the cute and vintage halloween - not so much the scary and gory variety. we will trick or treat until we drop, and fun will be had by all! i'll post pictures of my little green elphaba and my suave, confident obi wan kenobi tomorrow! 

and to put you in a delicious mood for the holiday... a pumpkin crepe complete with pumpkin ice cream from lulu's creperie cafe in laguna hills. i will definitely be sharing more about this little gem later...

to. die. for. stay tuned for more, and have a wonderful halloween!

this is why...

we do what we do as moms. a little scene i found in my family room today, complete with the holder.

 

by sarah. her little contribution to our halloween decor. made me smile. :)

i love chalkboards. and i love my little artist! 

merry christmas... to ME!

why is it when we are supposed to out shopping for all of our family and friends that we find sooooo many cute things for OURSELVES?? i can't be the only one who does this, am i?

  

had to go to anthropologie (that took a lot of arm twisting ;)) to get a gift and found this adorable little orla kiely journal. it is the coolest little book - most journals seem to have lined pages. not this baby - it has lined, blank, and graph paper pages, and cool little vellum dividers. so cute. AND it fits perfectly in the middle pocket of my new lori marie  bag!!! i have been wanting one of her bags ever since i saw cheryl's like a year ago. i just hadn't seen the right one until i saw this little lovebird tote. i love it - thanks to lori marie for being so creative and so sweet, and well, for being such a fast shipper. her stuff is definitely first rate! :)  (and, beth, i know you're jealous! :P)

we are freezing our little butts off here in so cal. now yes, i know that the high 30's sounds downright balmy to some of you, but oh baby, it feels chilly to us. the warm weather - i think it thins our blood... but, i have to say that i enjoy having my fireplace running and snuggling down with the family. it's kinda fun, but i'm still cold! ;)

hoping to get out to the mission inn out in riverside sometime in the next two weeks to see their festival of lights. it is supposed to be one of the best christmas light displays in the country. if that isn't calling my name, i just don't know what would.

  

yep, this one looks like it could become a new holiday tradition.

we are going to LA tomorrow to see Wicked! very excited to take sarah to see this. and in an effort to miss traffic, we are going up early. hopefully, we will be able to find some good light displays in hollywood or los feliz. i will try to get pictures - wish me luck! :) and finally, it should be a very disney christmas around here very soon... stay tuned, and stay warm! :)

almost midway thru december...

and i am really hating typepad right now. i just had a long post, complete with CHRISTMAS LIGHT info, and POOF, typepad made it disappear like jimmy hoffa. grrrr... i think it is this new editor. it's making typepad act really weird for me.

i'll give links to the maps for what i think are two of the best christmas light displays in south orange county.

bramford street candy cane lane 

this is a very special neighborhood where i think about 99.9% of the houses are lit up. so worth the trip! :)

el corzo, rancho santa margarita 

this winter wonderland is kind of out of the way for a lot of people, and the crowds can be off-putting, but once you get out of your car and walk down this street, you'll feel like you are in another world, complete with SNOW and a mini ice rink. GO - you will not be disappointed, i promise! ;) i posted a ton of pictures of it a couple of years ago here. 

and yay!! snowdays is back!! you can go here and make the coolest virtual snowflakes. my kids LOVE this site, and i bet yours will, too!   

one last thing. if you love christmas treats, you must go to trader joe's. they have so many yummies - peppermint joe joes (oreos), salted caramels, triple gingersnaps, the list goes on and on. so good - make sure you put some of these delicacies on your christmas list. ;)

and if you scrapbookers out there need something really, really cool to ask for for christmas, THIS might be the perfect thing to ask for under the tree. it is being put on by scrapbook oasis and my awesome friend, susan lyons. i know that susan is a planner extraordinaire, and that karen and scrapbook oasis always hit it out of the park with their events, so this should be amazing.    

sorry no pics on this post, but typepad is *NOT* my friend right now.

hope everyone had a great weekend! :) 

'tis the season...

for appetizers!

these little frittatas are soooo good. i made them in a mini cupcake pan. it worked perfectly. they weren't hard to make, but they did take a lot of work, if i remember correctly...

from cooking light (can you tell i like that magazine?):

Individual Potato-Bacon Frittatas

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 2 frittatas)

Ingredients

• 3/4  pound  small red potatoes (about 6)
• Cooking spray
• 1/2  cup  chopped onion
• 1/2  cup  chopped red bell pepper
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese
• 4  bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (drained)
• 1 3/4  cups  egg substitute
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Place potatoes in a large saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and cook 25 minutes or until tender. Drain; cool slightly. Cut potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in potato, cheese, and bacon.

Combine egg substitute, salt, and black pepper. Spoon vegetable mixture evenly into 12 muffin cups or 6-ounce ramekins coated with cooking spray. Pour egg mixture evenly over vegetable mixture. Bake at 375° for 18 minutes or until set. Remove from muffin cups, and cool slightly.

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here is a fun holiday/wintery event i found for this weekend. these snow events are always fun. i would be going if sarah wasn't sick... :(

20th Annual Winter Wonderland

Saturday, December 6th

10:30am-1pm

Bonita Creek Park (3010 La Vida, Newport Beach

Celebrate the warm sounds of holiday mustic and enjoy 100 tons of snow with the Recreation and Senior Services Department during the 20th Annual Winter Wonderland Event. Bonita Creek Park is transformed into a winter escapade, with sledding, snowman building, holiday crafts and more. Although Santa and his elves are busy, they will make a special visit. Throughout the festivities, food and photos will be for sale. Additional parking and shuttle service is available in the lot located at 1701 Camelback Street.

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here is a link for a map to a christmas light display in aliso viejo. greenbriar is the main street with the lights, but they are really kind all over the whole area. i haven't been this year, but there were lots of good displays here.

apparently, i don't have street addresses saved for a lot of the really good lights that we go to every year. i will be on a MISSION this weekend, out finding them and bringing them to you. i hope that there are a lot of you who love christmas lights like we do! :)

i actually scrapbooked last night for the first time in about 6 months. when i get all my stuff organized, i'll post some pictures of the merry day album i'm working on! it was so fun to get out and see some friends! ;)

3 weeks and counting people!!! :D

button lovers, check this out!

from martha stewart, look at this totally darling button wreath!

how fun and easy this would be to make with your kids. i know that i am not the only scrapbooker who got caught up in buying 2,968,563 buttons. time to dig into the stash. ;) martha has a bunch of other button ornaments that you can make, but i love the simplicity of this.

i was wondering in anyone has ever made homemade marshmallows? i saw a recipe for them here, and i wondered if they are worth the trouble? one of the commenters over there said they taste just like store-bought. i thought the little stars were soooo cute... it makes me want to make hot chocolate! :)

the countdown is on!

we got this starbucks advent calendar a few years ago. my kids totally love it - they have been waiting to start it ever since we started getting the christmas decorations down.

   

i'm going to post a picture of it as my profile picture everyday as our official countdown to christmas! 24 days to go. will you be ready?

i will also be doing an album along with girls over at freckle friends for merry days 2008. even though i am no longer on the design team, i know that they have the best group of girls over there, merry days is album with a daily scrapping prompt for the month of december. lots of good christmas goodies, i'm sure. sharing traditions and ideas and inspiration - sounds like heaven! i might be a couple of days late in starting it, but once i do, i'll try to post my layouts. :)

one little last glimpse into our holiday preparations - our new lighted deer. love them!

i have lots more to post - some really special local light displays in time for some christmas light touring by the weekend - so stay tuned! 

*happy thanksgiving to you*

we had our cute little politically incorrect thanksgiving feast at the kids school today. they all made macaroni necklaces and pilgrim and indian hats. they ate a turkey feast, and chased each other around the playground. we dodged the rain - whew! here are a couple of pics of the kids in their finery. :)

next year, they both get to be pilgrims - they are very excited! :)

i took my pumpkin crunch cake to the feast that we prepared for the teachers and staff. they got "real" food. i don't know how "thankful" we would appear if we made them eat that school food. **shudder** everyone loved the cake and wanted the recipe, so i thought i'd share it here. it's not my recipe - i'm not even sure where i got it, but dang, it *is* good!

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

1 can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) -- (29 oz.)

1 can evaporated milk -- (12 oz.)

1 C. sugar

3 eggs

1/4 tsp. cinnamon  (i use a little cinnamon and a little allspice)

1 box yellow cake mix

1 C. chopped nuts (i use pecans)

1 cup butter -- melted and cooled

Frosting:

1 pkg. cream cheese -- (8 oz.)

3/4 C. Cool Whip

1/2 C. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9" x 13" pan with waxed paper. Mix pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, and cinnamon together and pour into pan. Sprinkle yellow cake mix (dry) over pumpkin mixture and pat nuts on cake mix. Spoon melted butter over nuts evenly. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then carefully invert and peel off waxed paper. Let cool for about 30 minutes. Mix frosting ingredients together, frost cake and refrigerate.

BEWARE!!!! this dessert is terrible for you, but you won't be able to stop eating it, and anytime you take it to a gathering, people will want you to bring it forever and ever and they'll also want the recipe! ;) it's sooooo good!

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to my so cal readers, here is something you might want to look into for some serious christmas fun. the fillmore and western railway up in fillmore, CA (west of valencia and magic mountain) offers a christmas tree train. you and your family take an old-fashioned train ride to a local christmas tree farm to pick a fresh christmas tree. your tree is cut down and loaded on to a train flatbed for your trip back to their vintage train depot. they also offer a north pole express train and dinner with santa. fillmore isn't exactly close to orange county... but we don't have too many options for fun things like this locally. they have pictures on their website. i don't know if i am going to make it up there this year, but i would love to hear about it if anyone does. we have gone up there for the thomas and friends days, and it is a great daytrip for something really unique. :) and with gas prices way down, this might be a fun way to spend a day!

i hope that everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving full of family, food, love, and lots to be thankful for. we will be spending the day with family tomorrow, and i just feel with all of the uncertainty in the world right now, it is important to remember how much we DO have to be thankful for. it's easy to forget when we hear so much doom and gloom in the news. i know that for me - we have our children and everyone is happy and healthy. seriously, what more could i ask for? yep. lots to be thankful for in my neck of the woods. (((((hugs))))) to all my friends out there. i am also so thankful for YOU! :) happy thanksgiving!

the holidays are upon us!!

i know that i haven't blogged in months, but with the holidays here, i am ready to go.

it's that time again!

i'll be posting local orange county christmas events and light display, cool shops, recipes, gift ideas - all the good stuff. ;)

i'll be getting ready this week, so check back - it's all christmas, all the time! merry merry! :)

happy mother's day!!

i just wanted to wish a happy mother's day to all of the FABULOUS mothers out there! i hope that everyone is having a wonderful day with your families. i got to sleep in today, i got lots of cool goodies, and i don't have to cook. sounds like the perfect day if i may say so myself! ;) off to do the family thing. have the best day ever! :)