Ella, Shopping, Looking Forward

I sold another building today! And Ella came to work! She's my boss' dog. She's super sweet and a welcome distraction. Keri tells her to leave me alone but I like to love on her while I work, sometimes I let her sit on my lap and she stares at the computer screen so intently. Ella makes me go against my general dislike for little dogs. :) Isn't she cute?!

Before work I got some more of my project done. Lots to still do though. After work I went shopping and to dinner with my mom in law. She ends up paying for most of what I pick out when we go together and that makes me feel bad cause I don't want her to think I'm a mooch. Mostly though I think she's just nice and likes to take care of her kids. So I got some basic tops and a really cute spring green cardigan. And Geoff got a couple shirts and shorts and more of his coveted Adidas socks. Doesn't take much to make him happy. :) One of the stores we went to was Lane Bryant and I have to tell you, I think that's the best store on earth. I never pay what the price says on the tag. I think this is because the fine people at Lane Bryant know you're depressed about having to shop there and so they send you out the door with all kinds of discounts to make you feel better. Several times I've saved more than I've spent! And, best of all, they play up the discounts if your husband is with you... I've seen it happen many times! Husbands think discounts are great and then they let you shop there more often cause you always walk away with such great deals. Anyway this business philosophy works for me. If I ever do lose all of this weight I will be sad to not get those amazing discounts anymore!

On a side note, next week is Meredith and Derek's wedding on Grey's. I'm super excited (but we'll see if they go through with it, seems too good to be true). Geoff and I will be enjoying the Wedding/100th episode at the beach. We're going to the beach for our anniversary and staying at the Inn at Discovery Coast, which is where we stayed for our honeymoon. When I'm stressed I escape there in my mind. The bed is an AMAZING king size and the jetted tub is my home away from home, seriously! I am also super excited that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button comes out on May 5 cause that's just in time to buy it and take it with us to the beach. When we stay at the beach I always watch Big Fish, it's tradition now, and when I saw Benjamin Button I told Geoff it would make an excellent beach movie cause it reminds me of Big Fish and so it's perfect that the movie is coming out they day before we leave. But I suspect if I watch it from the tub I will probably be as wrinkled as Benjamin is when he's a baby!

Poop! I just remembered I need to go water my flowers and it's already 11:30, ugh. It's supposed to be SO beautiful out tomorrow. Here's hoping I get to work the Garden show so that I can spend the afternoon marinating in the sunshine! *fingers crossed*

Creative Cats, Turkey Meatballs

My boys are sleeping on the couch. Kinda like this only Kuzco is on my head instead of Geoff's. :)

Work was good today. I sold two buildings and I'm working on two large buildings so I guess you could say I'm earning my keep. We are going to be at the Junior League Gift and Garden show this weekend at St. Martin's. I hope the show goes well cause if the show goes well, I get to go back full time!
So last night I was working on my new project last night and Kuzco and Piper decided they could be my helpers:




Tonight I made Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
Bread crumbs
Mozzarella Cheese
Basil
Oregano
Sage
Thyme
Garlic Salt
Pepper
What to do: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. I sometimes use regular ground turkey, sometimes italian seasoned ground turkey, both are good. And for the mozzarella I prefer to buy a ball of fresh mozzarella and cut it into cubes but tonight I used shredded cause that's what I had. After ingredients are mixed form a ball between the palms of your hands and then press a thumb-print into the meatball. Stuff your cheese and cover it by rolling the meat into a ball again. Place the meatballs into a baking dish with a thin layer of olive oil in the bottom. Garlic infused is my favorite to use for meatballs. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Ooh and I almost forgot!! You know that top Laura helped me make? She also forwarded a blog with a cute purse on it and I noticed that the lady was hosting a Spring Top thing so you could send in pics of the tops you make and so I did and she posted my top on her blog! Here's the link: http://madebyrae.blogspot.com/2009/04/spring-top-week-day-3-raes-tie-top.html, She cut off my face but eh, what can you do? :)
Geoff just woke up and wants to go to Baskin n Robin's cheap scoop night so off we go. Hope there isn't a line.

Back to Work, Beef Stroganoff

Greetings from the desk of Jessica L Brown. Yes, that's right I'M AT WORK!!! Not back to full time yet but off and on for a few weeks and then back to full time. Woo. I never realized how much I missed my job until I sat down at my desk today. I was delighted to find a stack of work that Keri put together for me and Matt threw some in too. Jackpot! I got most of it done, just one more tedious customer to tackle. I have to draw plans and do up and estimate. The plan drawing is the tedious part but it's work. :) Today I am happy for work. Later this week, when the sun comes out, I'll be wishing was still unemployed. But this morning when I woke up to rain it did feel like a sigh of relief. Dunno why, just sometimes the rain is nice. And my flowers are grateful.

For dinner tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. Here's my recipe:
1 lb (more if you like) stew meat
1 Family sized can Cream of Mushroom Soup
Spicy Brown Mustard
Worcestershire Sauce
Sour Cream
Milk
1 Bag Egg Noodles (make 2 for leftovers)
What to do: Cut the stew meat into smaller pieces, usually in half or quarters. Saute in pan with Worcestershire sauce. Let simmer for a while, til the meat is tender. If you don't live with a mushroom hater you could even throw some fresh mushrooms in to simmer w the meat. You may need to add more sauce or a little bit of water so it doesn't dry out. Leave the juices in there, don't drain it. Add mushroom soup, milk, sour cream, and mustard. For the milk, I just add as much as I need to get a good consistency, a little at a time. I think I probably add a cup to a cup and a half. Same with sour cream and mustard. These two are more for taste than texture, so put a little in and taste. I also add a fair amount of pepper. After you add those, cook the noodles and allow the sauce to simmer while noodles cook. Serve it up with a dollop of sour cream on top and enjoy!

Now that my mouth is watering and I've wasted a sufficient amount of time NOT working at work... I better get back to it.

Pictures of Kuzco, Piper video, My top

Some pictures! Here are Kuzco's birthday pictures:

So I was being silly with the Corona, thinking it would make a funny picture, but as it turns out it's Piper who really has a thing for Corona:

And finally my first attempt at making clothing:

Love love love my top! It's a little more full than I would have liked but that's ok. I can still take it in a bit. I wore it to the symphony last night and felt oh so stylish. The bag turned out cute too, just big enough to hold my cell, ID, and car key. I'm excited to wear my top again! And I can't wait until I have a little girl to make summer dresses for. :)

That's all for now. I have so much to get done today but still not feeling well. Today would be a good day to summon my inner Domestic Goddess... ha!

Turkey's Birthday, Oly Symphony

Today my cat Kuzco turned 5. We bought him a new collar, cat grass, and a crazy feather toy. He seems pleased with all of the above. I can't believe he's been with me for 5 yrs now. We've been through hell and back together, that's for sure! He holds the record for most dependable male in my life... he's got Geoff beat by 2 yrs. :) I took birthday pictures but I'll put them up tomorrow. Too sleepy tonight.

We also went to see the Olympia Symphony tonight. I was super excited cause I used to play in the Olympia Youth Symphony. It was a good concert. I was most excited to hear Copland but they didn't play a very exciting Copland piece. They closed with a D'vorak piece that was amazing though.

Laura helped me with my shirt dress this morning. I took it in even more when I got home so it fits a little better and made a little bag to match. I took pics of those too but again, pics tomorrow.

I'm going to go to bed. I have a yucky cold and my allergies are acting up on top of it so I'm feeling pretty miserable.

Oh, btw, boss called today and said he might be able to have me come back to work soon. Bitter sweet. :)

Ok I'm off. *achew*

Intro I Guess

So I'm a blogger now. I am not sure yet where this will take me or how exactly I will format my blog but here I am. Today is Saturday. My husband and I were supposed to go on a hike today with my dad but we crapped out. But so did Dad in the end. Geoff (husband) is playing video games with our nephew. I'm on the couch trying to talk myself into getting ready for the day so we can take Dallas to go see Earth. But I have a cold and I am sooo tired.

Yesterday I went to the zoo with my mom in law. We had a fun time. We don't hang out one-on-one very often and so it was kind of a treat. I took some pics but none worth posting. The animals were sleepy. The sun was out and it felt good to marinate in it!

I have a couple projects going. I am working on a quilt and a shirt-dress. I will post pictures later when I'm feeling better. I need to take shirt-dress over to my friend Laura's so that she can hopefully help me make it look less like a pumpkin! It's so poofy but the fabric is super cute. I think we just need to take it in on the side a bit. I was inspired by an apron pattern I saw: http://www.mkquiltdesigns.com/pattern%20pages/p-lillyapron.html. The quilt will be a gift. I made my first quilt last month, I took a class at JoAnne's. It turned out amazing for my first shot at it. I'll post a pic of that one too.

This weekend is Art's Walk downtown. I really want to go. I hate to drag Geoff to look at stuff he's not really interested in but he's good to me and goes along with it anyway. :)

Ok, I guess this is it for now. My first post. I will make future posts much more interesting, I swear!