{Wordless Wednesday: After-our-Morning-Walk Summer Ritual}

Chandler, Arizona

{Wordless Wednesday: It Does a Body Good}

Chandler, Arizona

{Wordless Wednesday: My Secret Weapon}

FYI, it's this particular bronzing lotion that gets credit as my secret weapon -- not my legs! :)

Chandler, Arizona

{Beauty and the Beast}

Our front yard is what they call xeriscape. Basically, it's highly functional for the kind of

hot, dry weather we have here in the Phoenix area.

So, instead of grass, we have rocks. (I love not having to mow the front yard.) In place of

plants that need constant watering, we have succulent cacti that survive -- and thrive,

even -- with only the few random drops of moisture Mother Nature sees fit to sprinkle

on on them.

I've really come to love the look and feel of desert landscape since we originally moved

to Arizona back in late 2004.

The Blue Monster is one of the cacti in our front yard. There's a real juxtaposition

between it and the intricate, fragile flowers it produces in springtime. It's flowering

season is short -- only a week or two.

The cactus has a thick, tough, prickly exterior. Each flower it produces only last for a

couple days, at best. It's gentle petals layer together and open to a beautiful bloom that

closes up during the day to protect itself from the harsh heat and sun.

It really is a natural Beauty and the Beast.

p.s. It was fun to look back at how our yard looked when we first planted everything

in the spring of 2008. It's really filled out since then!

{Wordless Wednesday: Home}

{Happy Birthday to my Sweet Baby Boy}

Killian would be perfect if he would just stop getting older. I want him to live as long

as I do and be as healthy and energetic as he is right now. Is that too much to ask?




My angel is six years old today. I'll tell you one things for sure, my world has been a

brighter place since he entered it. I love this boy so much!

Happy birthday, Kills. And many more!

{Wordless Wednesday: True That, Norah}

{Homemade Air Freshener}

You only need 60 seconds and some very basic ingredients to mix up a batch of homemade

air freshener. (A household must when you have an animal menagerie like I do.)

The recipe:

1 oz gin, vodka, or rubbing alcohol
6 oz filtered water
20 – 40 drops of essential oil, a few suggested oils are: peppermint, jasmine, citrus oils

This recipe is from re-nest.com -- a site with a ton of great ideas for eco-friendly living.

They suggested using a combination of gin and jasmine oil, but I couldn't think of that

flavor profile when I was at the store. So, I bought vodka and spearmint. Spearmint. I've

never had spearmint air freshener before. Have you? It smells so fresh and clean. That's

just one of the bonuses of making your own products -- they can be whatever you want

them to be.

I halved the recipe so it would fit into my little glass bottle. That amount should work

perfectly since the mixture will last for one month.

My main agenda when I decided to make this scenty spray was to replace Febreze as our

go to air freshener. Febreze, a Procter & Gamble product, is tested on animals. (You can

sign a petition to ask them to stop animal testing here.) It's a bummer, too. The stuff

works well, but I just can't support P&G as a consumer in good conscience. Febreze is

the only product of theirs I was still using, that I'm aware of ... and now, I'm P&G free!

I just love my new air freshener. It was super easy to make, not expensive and not tested

on animals. Plus, I bought one glass spray bottle. That means it's BPA-free, and we'll save

on plastic in the long run.

Please do attempt this at home.

{Go, Greek!}

The mom of one of my childhood friends made wonderful food -- baklava and spinach pies,

in particular. I loved when my play dates at their house coincided with her cooking days so

I could watch her while she cooked and sample the goods. Their house often smelled like

magic to me. Ever since, I've wanted to make spinach pies from scratch.

I've settled for store bought or restaurant versions for the past 17 years, convinced that

working with filo dough was above my skill level.

Thanks to the Barefoot Contessa and the "Food Network", I got the encouragement I needed

-- "How easy is that?" -- to finally try my hand at making spinach pies from scratch.

(Graphic and photo credit: Google Images)

Ina Garten (who coincidentally shares the same first name as my childhood friend's mom)

made a whole Greek menu on her show. I duplicated it for our New Year's Eve dinner. It

was, hands down, the best meal I've made in a long time. I loved sharing it with David and

his parents. It made a stay-at-home and very chill New Years Eve a little more special.

I thought I'd share the end product and links to the recipes with you, too. (The color on

my photos is a little off. The food looked even better in real life. I'm still learning how

to capture good lighting and color at night with my flash.)

Greek Salad with vinaigrette (recipe here)

Lamb Kebabs marinated in a yogurt-rosemary mix (recipe here)

Spinach pies or Spanikopita (recipe here)

Tzatziki with grilled pita (recipe here)

I was so proud of this meal. It was loaded with flavor! It worked great for mixed company --

vegetarians and carnivores. I was able to go meatless and still have a totally complete meal.

They loved the lamb, a meat people don't eat as often.

I'll probably do a play-by-play post of the spanikopita next time I make them, you know,

now that I'm an expert. :) In the meantime, do you have a favorite Greek or Mediterranean

dish that you make? I'd love to hear about any and all. It's my favorite kind of food, but I

always go out to eat it. This meal gave me the confidence and desire to try making more

of it myself. That's a good thing.

{Christmas Eve 2010}

Christmas Eve just may be my favorite day on the holiday calendar. This year, we made

it totally festive -- filled with traditions from every angle.

New tradition: Make-your-own-pizza night

It was a first time, hopefully annual tradition to-be, inspired by Pam (my SIL). And it

was a total success. I want to do this every year on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The

only thing I was disappointed with was my lack of capturing it all with my camera. I

missed the shot of my ingredient bar (all fresh and organic) and our finished pizzas. I

mean, what am I new? I know better. Anyway, Sandy and Jim were here. So, we all got

into it together. Jim was in charge of music. :) My favorite pizza? Potato and fresh

rosemary on thin crust with olive oil base and light freshly grated mozzarella. Mmmm.

Inspiration for a possible upcoming tradition: Caroling

No holiday is complete if I'm not moved to tears at some point. On Christmas Eve, that

moment came when the Hendricks paid us a surprise visit to say Merry Christmas. Jim

opened the door and the sound of holiday singing filtered into the house. I didn't know

it was them at first, but I heard the singing, and the tear ducts sprang into action. It was

so beautiful and so sweet! Barb and I decided we were going to coordinate a caroling

group next year. Neither of us have ever done it, and we just think it would be so much

fun to dress up and go door-to-door singing to unsuspecting people. I can't wait!

What's shaping up to be an every-other-year tradition: Christmas lights tour

There are some serious holiday decorators in these parts. I mapped out our course,

and it took us a light display coordinated to music and to homes with more lights in

their yards than in our whole neighborhood combined. I usually take popcorn, hot

chocolate and candy canes, but we were all fooded out from the pizzas. So, we brought

some of Jenny's holiday bark incase our sugar rush subsided at all. We wouldn't want

that, now would we?

Well-established tradition: Christmas Eve PJs

Each person opens one gift on Christmas Eve night, and -- surprise! -- Santa's helper

brought everyone PJs. We scurry into them and wake up feeling pretty and cozy on Christmas morning. They make for perfect breakfast and gift opening loungewear.

That's a wrap on Christmas Eve 2010! I hope next year brings as much happiness,

family, friends, and tradition.