wish it were sunday...(cuz) thats my funday!

Tickets Booked. Check.

Heart palpitations and nervous stomach feeling. Check!

I really am not looking forward to being away from B for 3 whole weeks. Iam, however, very happy to be going to Colorado to visit my sisters. On the downside, I will miss cooking dinners while I'm there, and riding. Boo :( speaking of boo, Haloween is coming up and im trying to figure out what kind of costume I want to get for the wee one. Currently she has a thing for D-d-d-d-d-DORA, and she sings her name, just like that (without sounding like she has a speech impediment)

I spent the better part of Friday cooking and baking up a storm, and for no particular reason other than to work my way up to becoming a domestic goddess a la Nigella Lawson . Originally I planned on making a quiche of some sort, but when I asked husband, he lovingly told me he was not a fan of Quiche. He suggested I make the Spaghetti Bacon Carbonara we saw when we watched this episode of Oprah that I pvr'd. Tom Cruise's version looks utterly horrible, but the ingredients looked promising so I decided to give it a shot. I was very nervous about adding the 4 raw eggs into the cooked pasta, but I made sure the noodles were piping hot when I put the raw eggs in. It worked, the hot pasta cooked the eggs perfectly in a matter of seconds. The original recipe called for Italian bacon, which I was unable to find at my local grocery store, so instead I used President's Choice all natural Old Fashioned thick sliced bacon. Mr. Cruise did not specify what type of spaghetti noodles to use so I made use of a few packages of the Rizopia brown rice pasta I had in the pantry. I must say this dish was a success, and the leftovers tasted even better (i know right, leftover pasta is usually yuck!) Will definitely make this again. The "nest" that the eggs are resting on in image #2 is actually 2 cups of freshly shredded Parmaggano Reggiano.

Even though my Quiche idea got the kabosh, I still really wanted to make something with a flaky pie crust, so I whipped up a cherry pie (B's favourite after pecan pie) I've always wanted to do the whole lattice top thing, and this was a perfect oppourtunity. I made 2 pastrys and let them chill in the fridge for an hour, then i rolled them out and started getting creative. The pie turned out so pretty and B said it tasted even better. I have to give credit where credit is due though, during the whole cherry pie process, i called my mom a zillion times with questions: "Mom, do I bake the pie crust before I put the cherry filling in?" um....... im no better crocker. (the answer is NO, by the way)

I spent Saturday afternoon at Hikari with good friends, not my first choice for sushi, but everything else was closed for some reason. It's a beautiful establishement, but the sushi is just mediocre, my favourites would have to be Iguana and The Sushi California . They never fail to deliver amazing sushi every single time we go. After sushi I met up with B and we took the toddler for a hike in the woods near by. She is the happiest little thing when she's outside but I really hope she doesn't start begging us to take her camping anytime soon (or EVER!) I've never been and to be honest, have no deisre to sleep on the ground and have mosquitos buzzing in my ears all night.

The basement is officially FINISHED! No more unsightly grey concrete floors, and most importantly, i don't have to look at 50 something year old workers with their shirts off and their nipples pierced.

Husband couldn't find his keys this morning, so i reluctantly gave him my car for the day. Normally by this time, if I haven't left the house I would be going crazy, but it's been a blustery, dreary, rainy day, so I really don't mind being shut-in.