birthday weekend...

I have to say, my birthday really was fantastic this year! Everyone was great, and I had an awesome time. I also have to say that this was the busiest weekend I've had in a long time haha. I'm exhausted! I can't wait to go to sleep tonight! :) so here's a recap:

my actual birthday was thursday (nov 18th). it just so happened that day at work was our thanksgiving feast, so I stuffed my face with turkey and stuffing and green bean casserole (yum!). my co-worker also was nice and made me a cake, which was delicious. i had a few parents/children give me birthday cards, which was very sweet. Also a few work friends gave me cards/gifts. It was a nice day. Thursday night I went to dinner at the Olive Garden with my mom, sister, sister's boyfriend, Saige, and Hinkle. Also delicious. After dinner I went home and my mom/sister gave me my gift ...love them!!

after that I went to Harry Potter at midnight with Trish, Angel, and Rob.  Angel left halfway through because she was tired haha, but the rest of us made it through.  It was a good movie, missing a few things from the book that I thought should be in there, but otherwise good.  By the time I got home and settled and relaxed I finally fell asleep around 4 am ... and was back up by 5:45 to get ready for work haha.  

Friday I worked until 4 and then I went out for dinner and drinks with one of the parents of a little girl from work.  We always talked about hanging out but never got around to doing it, so it was nice that we could.  We went to Iron Hill for dinner and drinks (more then a few drinks, that is hah) and just talked and laughed and had a really awesome time.  Around 11:30 we left Iron Hill and went to the grid iron for a few hours to meet up with Hinkle and his friend.  Went home around 3ish, fell asleep around 3:30, was up by 7 with saige on saturday.

Saturday i dropped Saige off at her grandparents house around 10:30 (she had an early date with seeing santa) and then I came home and took a much needed 2 hour nap.  After some technical difficulties, we ended up at the Fox & Hound in King of Prussia around 7:30.  My friend had been there for an hour and told us we had an hour wait.  Well, by 8:30 we still had no table, the hostess was crazy rude, and my friend asked for a manager and reamed him out.  Hinkle also sat down with two men who decided to steal a table that was supposed to be for us and got them to move haha.  It was an interesting night, but ended on a good note after a rough start haha.  After dinner some of us went back to hinkle's house and played games and hung out.  Those of us that stayed at his house called it a night at 3:30. 

Today I was up at 9:30, went to breakfast at irish joe's with hinkle, cait, and dan, and then hung around until I came home.  and then I came home and did nothing haha.  I've got zero energy.  I did buy saige her first christmas present for the year (leapster explorer, wanted to get it before black friday came around and they all sold out forever).  now i'm just counting down til bedtime.  OH, and saige lost her first tooth today! so the tooth fairy has to come visit tonight.  

All in all I had a great birthday, I got some amazing gifts from some awesome and generous friends and I couldn't ask for better friends, thanks for everything guys!  I'll post pictures of the gifts I got, because I think it's more fun that way :)

I can't find the right color pic but mine is black and white 

shutterfly holiday cards...

It's christmas time again ... and I don't know about you guys, but I really stress myself out over the perfect christmas card to send out. last year i sent out my first "real" grown up christmas card. I had my friend take some awesome pictures of myself and my daughter, as I had decided to make a photo card. I didn't know much about making these cards, and I had a friend that made some of her holiday cards through walmart, so I ordered mine through there as well. I thought the cards came out OKAY, but not great. They served their purpose, but I definitely felt like they could be better. I'm not sure why I dwell so much over the RIGHT card, but I always do. So I began my search for this years card because my same fantastic friend is going to take pictures soon for me for this years card. My mom swears by shutterfly and is always ordering things off of there, so I decided to check it out. I'm happy to say that this is DEFINITELY where I'm buying my cards this year! They have SO MANY that i just love! I'm not sure how I'm possibly going to decide on just one to make, but I'm very excited to have a lot of good options, instead of just settling for a mediocre card. My favorite kind of card is something colorful and cheery. I try to find something that doesn't speak to one religion, but to everyone. I like a nice, well thought out quote that is meaningful. The color scheme should go with the picture. I like it all to blend together in a nice little package. Here's a few that I really love:

first card this one is very simple, but I think it's very pretty. I think with a great picture, this could definitely be a really nice card.

second card this is ADORABLE. i think it would be great with a fun picture of my daughter on it, it's just cheerful and looks very sweet.

third card this one might be my favorite. I think it's sophisticated and pretty, and I like that it has room for you two write a few lines. i also love the colors, this might be the winner.

Well, thats my thoughts on holiday cards this year, what are your thoughts? if you're interested in getting cards, you might be interested in this great promotion from shutterfly. free cards, whats better then that?! check it out! :) Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… learn more: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Funny story ... my eye was really hurting and I told saige and she looks at me very seriously and says "hmm ... i think you have a fish in your eye." what! the mind of a 5 year old haha.

this weekend i'm just relaxing, which is nice as always. i had bronchitis last week so i'm still recovering but doing much better then I was tuesday and wednesday. saige is home with me too this weekend, so thats always nice. we're just laying around watching harry potter movies. earlier we had lunch with an old high school friend.

next week i turn 28, on thursday to be exact. i have mixed feelings about it, but there's not really much you can do about aging right? haha. we're having our thanksgiving feast at work that day, so thats nice. that night we're going to the midnight opening of the new harry potter movie, so i'm definitely excited for that.

christmas is coming up, i bought my first present last week and it got delivered during the week. i'm getting anxiety over christmas this year, i'm not really sure why.

I wanted to post another recipe while I was thinking about it. I made these banana muffins last night, because I had some over riped bananas sitting around and needed something to do with them. I found this online at www.catcancook.com and then came out DELICIOUS. let me know if anyone tries them!



Banana Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

3 or 4 Large bananas, mashed (the more bananas the moister, so I use 4)

1/2 cup white sugar (original recipe calls for 1 cup, but I don’t like them too sweet)

1 slightly beaten egg

1/3 cup melted margarine or butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups flour

Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and margarine together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients all together! Pour into greased muffin tins, and bake in 350 degrees F oven for approximately 20 minutes. Enjoy!

*These are much more flavourful the next day, and they freeze very nicely too!

i'm going to start posting more. so, i've decided i'm going to start posting recipes that I really enjoy making, as well as eating, just so I have something to post about! :)

I'll start out with one of my favorite things to cook ... five cheese ziti al forno. now, this is an olive garden recipe, and it's DELICIOUS, and it's easy to make which is always a plus. it's always a big hit whenever i make it!

Ziti Al Forno

Ziti Sauce:

4 cups tomato sauce
2 cups alfredo sauce
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons fontina cheese
1 teaspoon garlic pepper seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Ziti Topping:

3 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup italian breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons grated romano cheese
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon freshly chopped garlic
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Remaining Ingredients:

1 lb dry ziti pasta
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. PREPARE THE ZITI SAUCE:.
2. Combining all ingredients for the Ziti Sauce in a large bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. PREPARE THE ZITI TOPPING:.
4. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the first four ingredients for the Ziti Topping.
5. Add the garlic, oil, and parsley and mix until thoroughly blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
6 WHEN READY TO PREPARE THE WHOLE DISH:.
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 13-by-9-inch baking dish or large casserole with non-stick spray.
8. Prepare the pasta according to package directions.
9. Pour 1/2 cup of prepared ziti sauce into the prepared dish, and spread it evenly over the bottom using a spoon.
10. When pasta has finished cooking, drain the water and pour the hot pasta into the bowl of remaining sauce. Mix thoroughly; pour into the baking dish.
11. Spread 1 cup of shredded mozzarella over the pasta and sauce mixture.
12. Top the mozzarella with the prepared Ziti Topping, spreading evenly.
13. Place pan on center oven rack and bake until top is golden brown and cheese is bubbling, about 30 to 40 minutes.
14. Remove and serve immediately.


I promise this won't disappoint! enjoy!