Some new colors

One of the perks of Jon's job (I say one because he has many...lucky guy) is being able to get Laura Mercier makeup and skincare products at a deeply discounted price for me.  The other day he came home with a little bag for me.  I was so excited and immediately went to the bathroom to play around!  

I love it when I benefit from the perks of his job!  :)

The weekend!

While I was at work, Jon tried surfing for the first time Friday.  He had fun, but couldn't quite stand all the way up on the board.  Practice makes perfect!

We took a walk Saturday morning and found the fishermen cutting up some crab legs.  See that huge pelican in the top right corner?!

Saturday afternoon we went on a birthday pub crawl with some friends.  It was a great time- face painting and a balloon artist were involved...along with the usual adult drinks.  I was Black Swan and Jon was Braveheart.  My tutu was a bit difficult to navigate in the bars so I lost it about half way through.  

Sunday evening I broke out my personal pie maker for its inaugural run.  I got it as a Christmas present from my parents and I was afraid I wouldn't have room for it in our new apartment, but thanks to Jon we have some very creative storage!  We made shepard's pie and a berry pie for dessert.  They were delicious.  

Hope you enjoyed your weekend...I'd say we did!

Not the January I'm used to

Top 5 observations from this week:

5.  The smell of suntan lotion 

4.  Having the windows open

3.  Driving with your sunroof open

2.  Grilling shrimp kabobs

1.  Talking Wilma on a walk with this sunset in the back ground

Friday's Fancies - California Dreamin'

After a few week hiatus, I'm back for Friday's Fancies!  Today I made something very Californian to me...

outfit

...I still can't get over the fact that you can wear TOMS in January!  It's crazy, but I'm in love with the pair my parents got me!  Happy Friday!

Our first date

Some of you asked about the black turtleneck story...

Jon and I met in grad school (we were both getting our MBA and we were on the same group project).  Turns out we both worked at the same company, Chrysler (we worked at the headquarters building along with thousands and thousands of other people so it wasn't that strange that we didn't know each other).  Fast forward a few weeks, Jon asked me out on a date.  We were going to meet that Saturday for lunch at Mr. B's in Royal Oak.

Well, that Saturday ended up being SUPER snowy and cold.  My best friend, Laura, and I picked out my outfit- something that was cute, yet warm...and appropriate for a lunch date.  After quite a long fashion show (I miss those), we settled on jeans, a black turtleneck, and wedge heels.  I wish I had a picture because it really was a cute outfit.  The turtleneck wasn't an old school one...it was flattering...I promise.

I was driving a Dodge Charger at that time and it was RWD...that was fun getting to Mr. B's with all of the snow.  :)  Anyways, I showed up and Jon was waiting at the bar for me.  We had lunch, and then decided to walk over to Barnes & Noble (the night before I booked a trip to Amsterdam with my sister and brother-in-law) and check out the travel books, from there we ended up going to the movies, and then we came back to Mr. B's and closed down the bar.

So, what I thought was going to be a lunch date ended up being a 14 hour date!!!

Fast forward a few months into our relationship.  Jon brought up that he couldn't believe I wore a black turtleneck on our first date.  He claims it was super boring and that he doesn't like black turtlenecks.  My response back was "well, it must have not been that bad because our lunch date turned into the longest date of my life"...and, about a year later he asked me to marry him!  

Oreo Truffles

When I went to the clothing swap party last weekend, I made Oreo Truffles to take with me.  They are SO easy and everyone seems to enjoy snacking on them.  These are definitely going to become a go-to recipe for something quick and delicious!  I had a few requests for the recipe so here you go!

Oreo Truffles

courtesey of The Culinary Couple

Ingredients

• 1 package Oreos
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 bags chocolate chips (semi-sweet or white or both)
• ~2 Tbsp vegetable shortening

Directions

1. Add Oreos and cream cheese to food processor. Pulse 2-3 minutes until sticky and shiny.
2. Refrigerate for 1 hour to harden.
3. Roll into ~1-inch balls.
4. Melt chocolate chips over double boiler, stirring constantly until smooth. Add vegetable shortening if chocolate is too thick (2 Tbsp of shortening  / 12 oz of chips).
5. Coat Oreo balls in chocolate, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until ready to serve. (For additional decoration, drizzle white chocolate over top.)

The weekend!

We had a jam-packed weekend, but it was a good one!  I was at work late on Friday and told Jon I wanted to grab a drink when I got home so that's just what we did!  We both got a schnooer full of beer...it definitely helped kick off the weekend!

Saturday I went to zumba and then we basically shopped the rest of the day.  Jon had much better luck shopping than I did, but that just means I get to go again!  We also started looking for a new couch.  We went to Living Spaces, The Sofa Company, and Arizona Leather.  Any other SoCal furniture store recommendations?

I spent Sunday morning cooking away.  I made two different kinds of soup and oreo truffles.  I also reorganized our "pantry" for the third time.  

I also went to my first clothing swap party Sunday evening.  It was a ton of fun- I met so many nice girls!  I cleaned out some stuff from my closet and walked away with a couple of items.  Of course there was also great food and wine!

Here are my finds!  I'm wearing the black bird shirt today!  I'd highly recommend going to a clothing swap party or hosting one.  I can't wait for another one!

Pretty excited!

Ok, folks...I'm back after not having internet or cable since Monday night!  It's been a quiet few nights in  our abode.  As frustrating as it was, it was also nice to be disconnected from technology.  
Who has plans for February 4th?  This girl does!  I'm so excited for the SoCal Blogger Meet-Up!  I can't wait to meet more people in CA and go to my first blogger meet-up!  Here are the details if you want to join!    

From grass to sand

Some randoms since moving to California...

1.  Wilma has been having a hard time adjusting to going to the bathroom on sand.  We'll get her there though.

2.  We took a family run to the pier and back tonight...on the sand.

3.  We have seen about a dozen people outside with gloves and hats on...it's in the 50s people...man up!

4.  It's the middle of January and we don't have our heat on.

5.  We have Time Warner Cable which turned out to be the exact same thing as Comcast...YUCK!  We miss our AT&T U-verse.

6. We've had the sweetest clementines we've ever had (thanks Christine)!

7.  The stars are bright and gorgeous at night!

Two instead of one

It's been a very busy few days moving in and trying to get settled (hence, the short blog post).  It's off to work tomorrow, but on a positive note, we did "move up" in the world of apartment living and now have two oven racks instead of one!

And, I got to sit in the cab of the moving truck...it was pretty awesome!

We have arrived!

The last day of our journey!

Tuesday we headed out to the Grand Canyon bright and early.  We saw a beautiful sunrise on our way and only about 3 other cars.  :)

It was BEAUTIFUL!  Absolutely stunning and cold (it was 20 degrees when we got there).  There were so many spots along our hike that didn't have a fence to keep you in from potentially falling over the edge.  It was crazy!  We kept Wilma on a tight leash.  Being there reminded me of the Brady Bunch episode where Bobby and Cindy get lost at the Grand Canyon.  I think Jon got tired of me asking "do you think this is where they filmed?"...he told me I was obsessed.

Finally...California!  We had to go through a vehicle inspection at the border.  I was slightly nervous when we pulled up, but the lady was very nice.  She asked if the cactus we brought had ever been kept outside...um, we are from Chicago so that's a no.  :)  

Finally...Newport Beach!  

We celebrated our arrival by taking a long walk on the beach at sunset.  It was perfect!  

One more time zone to go!

We made it through the remainder Texas, all of New Mexico, and half of Arizona today.  Texas remained as flat as ever...you could look out and see the horizon.  New Mexico was pretty hilly and had more snow than the Midwest does right now!  So far Arizona has been fairly flat...coming into Flagstaff tonight we saw some mountains though.  

New Mexico wanted to make sure we felt very welcome by having multiple signs at the border!

We had lunch in Albuquerque at Lotaburger, a New Mexico favorite.

Arizona: destination for all of the snowbirds from Michigan that we passed on the expressway.  

Meteor Crater!  It was HUGE!!  Jon's grandpa mentioned it to us last night on the phone and it was a good thing!  We had fun checking it out.  

A little Wilma update...we've discovered she strongly dislikes elevators.  She's never been in them before (at least with us) until this trip and she crouches down and walks the perimeter while it's going up or down while looking fearful for her life.

"Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain"

Day 2 of our journey!  We cruised through the rest of Missouri, including seeing tornado damage in Joplin from last spring...it was really sad.  It definitely flattened quite a bit of the area.

I was on the look out for The Pioneer Woman in Oklahoma!  I stalked every white Expedition we passed on the expressway.  Sadly, I didn't see Ree.  Maybe another time.

We saw this statue and had to stop for a photo op.  Don't you just love our travel clothes?  Only the best for I-44 and I-40!

Jon and Wilma were ready for whatever might come our way.  

The Lone Star state!  So far it's been incredibly flat...you can see for miles and miles.  We saw a dirt road expressway entrance ramp!  The plan was to get dinner at a steakhouse (we are in Texas after all) tonight, but when we left the hotel room Ms. Wilma decided to freak out.  So, Jon picked up takeout (still steaks) and we ate as a family in the hotel atrium.

Gateway to the West

I'm going to try and post about our move as much as possible so we can share it with all of you...bloggers, family, and friends!  So, a fair warning, this post has picture overload!

Tuesday the movers came to pack everything up.

The kitchen was a disaster!

The Jetta went on the car carrier Friday morning.  I'm pretty sure everyone walking by thought I either got a "boot" or the car broke down.  There were a lot of sympathetic looks.

Of course I had to walk to our neighborhood JJ for lunch on Friday.

The AeroBed looked pretty sad in the empty apartment Friday night.  It didn't get much use as we went out with friends for goodbyes and didn't get home until 3am.  Yeah, that alarm came early, but we wouldn't have spent our last night in Chicago any other way.

The Jeep all packed up and ready to hit the road.

First stop..."Get your Kicks on Route 66"!

St. Louis Arch...gateway to the West.

Budweiser Brewery tour.

The Clydesdales!

Bottling floor.

We had lunch at Saint Louis Bread Co (aka Panera).  

We made it to our first destination...Springfield, MO.  Time for some pizza and to crash!!