June Favorites

{1}  A sick and snuggly baby.  And my new iPhone case.

{2}  New shoes :)

{3}  New jeans.  These are the most comfortable jeans I have ever owned and they fit me perfectly.  So happy to have found them.

{4}  That handsome little babe is definitely one of my favorites this month.

{5}  Michelin alert!

{6}  Bone folders.  Everyone should own one of these.  I got hooked to them when I was at college in my very first bookbinding class and I was so glad to have found one at Michael's when I was preparing Leah's bridal shower.

{7}  Some more new shoes.  These are so comfy...  I think I have reached that age where comfort is my first priority when it comes to clothing and shoes.

{8}  New purse.  I'm also really into beige and neutrals right now.

{9}  My travel case for toiletries.  Love it.

{10}  These came in my June birchbox and I love them both so much.  The one step bronzer makes my skin glows and the lip and cheek stain is amazing.  Jake came home one night and complimented on my lip color.  I was surprised to say the least that he noticed a new lip color and even more surprised that there is still anything left because I applied it in the morning!

{11}  Current addiction.

{12}  I'm pretty addicted to those cheeks as well!

Hope you all had a good month.  Who is ready for the second half of 2012?

Bowtie and Asparagus in Cream Sauce

It has been a while since I posted a recipe hasn't it?  Well, it's been a while since I worked in my own kitchen!  Just thinking about this pasta makes my belly growl.  It was so good.  How can it not be yummy with a whole stick of butter in the sauce?  Instead of chicken bouillon cubes, I used my Chinese chicken powder and it was just fine.  I also threw in a bag of cooked crumbled bacon I grabbed at the store instead of cooking my own bacon.  Do I sound like a lazy cook or what?  I preferred to be called efficient or labor-saving thank you very much.

{ Bowtie and Asparagus in Cream Sauce }

From Favorite Family Recipes

1 package bow tie pasta
1/2 cup real butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1-2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 pint heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

10-15 spears asparagus, blanched

1/2 cup bacon, crumbled

1/2 cup toasted pinenuts

Parsley, to taste

Parmesan cheese, to taste

Boil bow tie pasta in salted water until al dente.

In a heavy skillet melt butter. Add minced garlic and sauté for a minute or so.

Add Parmesan Cheese and bouillon cubes. When the bouillon cubes are dissolved, slowly stir in heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Add cooked pasta to cream sauce and toss until pasta is well covered. Add blanched asparagus. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon, toasted pinenuts, parsley & Parmesan cheese and toss together. Serve immediately.

Oldies but Goodies

I hate importing pictures from my iPhone to my computer because it always take so dang long!  But then again it takes forever since I usually wait till I have used up ALL the memory on my phone before I irritatedly plug it in and impatiently wait for the 700+ pictures to be imported.  Let me not forget to mention that every time a message pops up to inform me that I am forbidden to take any more pictures because I have ran out of space, I go into settings and delete all the nice-but-peripheral apps to make more room for just one more picture of E.  Am I the only one who does that?  Probably.

Anyhow, I emptied my phone of pictures today and these are some gems I found.  They might be oldies but they sure are goodies.

Poor Ethan had a fever for three miserable days.
His was so sick his eyes were only half opened all day long on the third day.

New suit jacket.

Videos of the Mini

It's about time to share a few videos of the mini!  These were all taken back when we were in Utah about a week ago.  The first video is of Ethan laughing after I took the aspirator out of our luggage and found that it was covered in dried up Benadryl.  The Second video is of him doing his newest tricks a week ago.  Ethan has mastered the tongue clicking and the nose scrunch.  He learned how to stick his tongue out on demand today which I will try to get on camera one of these days.  The third video is of him trying lime for the first time.  He wasn't too impressed.  I hope you enjoy them!

Leah's Wedding Eve: { Hair Combing Ceremony }

The night before the wedding we combed Leah's hair so that she would be ready for her hairdresser in the morning.  Um.  Not true.  But that would be funny.

The hair combing ceremony is a Chinese custom that is still widely practiced.  We do it just for fun and for my mom to express her well wishes for the bride.  It's done by having a woman, in this case my mom, who has lived a blessed and happy life comb the bride's hair.  The woman recites a standard "poem" while she brushes the bride's hair and the poem expresses all the wishes that she has for the bride and her marriage.  In the olden days, and please don't quote me on this because I am certainly not a Chinese historian and don't pretend to be one either, unmarried Chinese girls wear their hair down while married women wear their hair up.  This ceremony is when they get that one dramatic change in their hairstyle for the rest of their lives so I guess it's pretty significant :)

We ended the night with some sweet rice dumplings which is symbolic of a complete and happy family.  And happy we were.

Introducing the Newlyweds!

Well well well.  Hello, my dear.  It's been a while, hasn't it?  I have the perfect excuse though--my baby sister is married!  Being the maid of honor is hard work let me tell ya!  If you have to deliver some bad news to the bride, you might as well put your head into a lion's mouth.  A shark would do too.  Or a dinosaur.  You get the idea.  I know, because I was once a bride myself.  The good news is though that I am back and alive.  

Leah's wedding was beautiful.  Her ring, gigantic; her dress, glorious; her maid of honor, gorgeous.  Ha!  But really, her dress was stunning.  Vera Wang is a crazy genius.  The pictures in this post don't do it justice.  

I am so happy for Leah to have found her prince charming.  Charming is the perfect guy for her.  He's smart, kind, and funny.  They are quite the match.  Without further ado, I'm going to take you back to that lovely Saturday to their reception...