Waking up to single-digit temperatures on Saturday morning immediately threw us for a loop. Snowboarding was out of the question and the idea of running around town getting errands done in this cold wasn't too appealing.
So instead we headed to the Cleveland Boat Show for a piece of summer. While there was no sun or water, at least the lineup of boats reminded us of warmer days.
I must confess that I did NOT want to go to this and was conned into it by my husband. To me a boat is like a car, just more complicated and luxurious. And looking at a bunch of stuff that we cannot ever afford just wasn't my idea of fun. But as always, hubby proved me wrong. I had an absolute blast walking through the yachts, learning about engines and propellers and oohing and ahhing over simple things like built in coffee makers.
I think we need a boat.
[my brother, Adamand FIL]
Just kidding. Unless we happened to have half a million dollars just laying around, a boat is certainly not in our future until much, much later.
But it is nice to dream isn't it?
While pulling Adam and brother away from the seadoos before they open their wallets.
[sorry for the blurry images, dang cell phone photography]
And I must share the most creative thing found at the boat show. While you are allowed to waltz around with a beer in your hand, no drinks are allowed onboard. And you must leave your shoes at the dock. Of course this resulted in my MIL and me standing on the docks holding beers while Adam, my brother and FIL scrambled aboard. However, this gentleman found an more practical way to have his beer and enjoy boating too:
Not that I'd leave my beer unattended in a giant exposition center, but you've gotta give the guy props for creativity.
Sleepy puppies are so precious.
I'm relishing in life today. 2010 brought so many changes to our lifestyle and 2011 is bound to be just as crazy. As we contemplate where the year will take us I've become excited and fearful of the chaos that is sure to ensue.
But that's life. And that's how we like it. And I am so grateful to have been blessed with a wonderfully patient husband and that sleepy puppy above.
My heart is full of love today for them both.
And the smiles that they bring.
Confession: I dye my hair.
SHOCK.
Okay. It's not that shocking. Especially since about 70% of women in the US dye their hair regularly, whether to cover grey, achieve a new look or to boost their natural color. Me? Well, I was um, blessed, with dirty blonde hair and practically black eyebrows. Yeah, pretty strange.
So to keep everything look a bit more matchy matchy, I dye my hair about every 5 or 6 weeks. Which is somewhat of a pain, because it takes about 30 minutes start to finish. But I always love how my hair looks freshly dyed and full of color. Since I dye my hair so frequently, I use semi-permanent dye that doesn't penetrate the hair shaft quite as much, so the damage is minimal. As for color? Well, darker brown for one thing. But the shade is the tricky part and one that I mix up frequently.
A few quick tests to see if you're warm or cold toned is a good place to start.
1) Look at the veins on your wrist. If they appear blue you are cool toned (that's me!). If they have a bit of a greenish tint, you are warm toned.
2) Take an inventory of your closet and what color clothing suits you best. Do you look great in blue, black and green (cool toned) or red, orange and yellow (warm toned)?
3) Take a look at your eye color. Warm brown, hazel and green eyes tend to indicate you are warm toned. While greyish, blue would suggest cool toned.
Obviously these are all subjective tests. It's really a personal preference of hair colors, but these are a good place to start if you're just starting to consider hair dying. It might help reduce the number of 'oopsie' dye jobs (we've ALL had em...)
Me personally? I'm straight up cool tones. And since I tend to look good in ash colors that don't have brassy undertones, my usual hair color of choice is a deep ash brown. I try to stay away from hair dyes with red undertones.
But if you have a warm skin tone, shades with names like honey, copper and golden are perfect for you.
As for choosing your brand of hair dye, well, I personally use Clairol Natural Instincts, but based on your hair type, length and desired color, other brands might be a better fit for you.
Just do your research on the chemicals in the hair dye, follow the instructions EXACTLY and if at all concerned about sensitivity, do a test strip of hair before the whole dye job.
Well, not really. But I'm restless so you get the gist of that.
I've reached the winter rut. Early this year. Usually I can hold out till February but today I found myself perusing travel websites dreaming of future trips and sunshine and beautiful architecture. My camera is just begging to be outside again and who am I to say no?
Speaking of my camera, I think I'm going to bite the bullet, forgo my clothing budget for the next month ::SHOCK:: and get myself a daily camera bag. I know. No clothes for the month of February? I must be insane. But wouldn't it be so lovely to have my beloved DSLR with me for all my adventures? Even if it's just trudging through the Cleveland snow? And I certainly can't just sling on my carry-all backpack. That just draws attention to the fact that I'm hauling some nice equipment around.
So what do you think?
I can't decide if I should wait for the JoTotes Rose to come back in stock or splurge a litte and get the Epiphanie Clover Tote? Go for a bright pop of teal/turqouise color? Or play it safe with black or pewter grey?
The price difference is quite large: $89 for the JoTote vs $184 for the Epiphanie bag. A huge difference, but considering the usage I'll get out of this bag, I think it's worth the money. Now if I could only decide which one...
Any opinions out there?
We have two kinds of spaghetti in the house: summer spaghetti and spaghetti a la Prego. But what to do when the pantry is devoid of our loving Prego and it's the dead of winter? Improvise of course.
Here's a quick twist on our summer spaghetti using only what we had in the fridge already. Instead of summer squash and zucchini, we used red and green peppers. Instead of white wine, red to make it a bit bolder. Instead of fresh herbs we opted for the dry version. An easy (and inexpensive) meal!
1 cup of chopped onion
1 cup of chopped green pepper
1/2 cup of chopped red pepper
3 tbsp of minced garlic
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 (28oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp red wine
1 1/3 tbsp sugar
dried basil and oregano
salt and pepper
angel hair pasta
parmesan cheese
Directions:
Saute garlic and half of the onions in the olive oil. Slowly add the remaining onion, green pepper and red pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. Add diced tomatoes and 1 tbsp of wine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add sugar and season with basil, oregano, pepper and salt to taste.
Cook angel hair pasta. Serve tomato dish over pasta and top with parmesan cheese!
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