Friends, Family, and FUN!

Nothing is better then spending the weekend with friends and family.

We started it all off on Friday when the Dovers, Torreses, and Matt VanGundy came over to watch the Lakers game and have some Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. The Lakers won and we had a great time!

Saturday we met up with our Aunt Bonnie at The Elephant Bar to take her out for her birthday. We had some finger lickin' good ribs, tasty chicken, and finished with a yummy cobbler. We love our dinners out with Aunt Bonnie!

After that we had a spontaneous Street Fighter tournament break out in our apartment...

my husband won :-) Though it is hard for me to understand why this is so fun for guys, it was really nice to see Keith again. We all enjoyed some ice cream from Joe's Italian Ice (the best place for soft serve).
The next day we went to Mom and Dad Christensen's house for Jodee's birthday dinner (see the pictures below). We had a great time with all of the nieces and nephews.
We finished the weekend off with a tasty stir fry and movie at the Dovers.
We are so grateful for all of our friends and family!

Family fun for Jodee's Birthday

A day in LA

A day in LA

Spring semester is wrapping up for the classes that Aaron is teaching at USC so he organized a final field trip to Olvera Street. This was to give the students an opportunity to use their newly acquired Spanish skills and to just have a little fun. I was invited to come so I decided to make a day of it.

I started the day off by meeting Holly in the textile district of LA. We spent about 2-1/2 hours just walking from shop to shop and taking everything in. This was my first time to this area so I was really just learning the ropes and getting ideas of prices, fabrics, and messing around. We had a great time haggling with the vendors and thinking about all of the things that we are (at least think we are) going to make. We did buy some fabric that will make a really cute skirt (I'll let you know how it goes). It wasn't long before I realized that I have to study up on the names of all the fabrics. You've got to sound like you know what you are talking about up there. We will be making this trip a regular thing so, if anyone is interested in coming with us some time let me know!

After we were done I made a quick trip to my old property to say "hi". Everyone is looking great and it was really nice seeing them again. I have to admit it can get a little lonely working from home. What would I do without Facebook and all of your blogs!

I then met up with Aaron and his students at Olvera Street. They had been taking their finals in the morning and left shortly after for the field trip. There were about 18 students that showed up (out of about 40 total students in the two classes) which I think is pretty good since it wasn't a mandatory trip. Professor Forest, Aaron's advisor, also came to join in the fun. Everyone had a great time and it was really fun to meet all of his students and see my handsome husband in a teacher role.

Then we sat in traffic for 1-1/2 hours to get home...Good times!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!


P.S.- A quick Happy Birthday shout out to my bff Rachel! Love you!

Lake Tahoe Pictures

Lake Tahoe Trip

Happy 3 year anniversary!!
For our 3 year anniversary (that was actually February 17th) we planned a three day trip up to Lake Tahoe. It was my first time and Aaron's 3rd and we had a BLAST! On the way home we made a visit to Dave and Sherry Triggs in Sacramento. Hope you enjoy our pictures!

Table Linens + Toilet Paper Rolls + Sea Shells = ...

A Beautiful Table

With springtime almost here it was time to change up my dining room theme. After a lot of bargain shopping (I'm not willing to spend too much on this) I found a tablecloth and napkins that I liked and knew Aaron would like too. Normally I would not turn to blue for decorating but this tablecloth had enough gray/silver in it that it gave it a more modern feel vs. country. I added eggshell circular place mats with silver charger plates, and white hydrangea flowers with a touch of blue daisies to make the look fresh.

Everything was coming together until I couldn't find napkin rings that I liked. My mom (who can make, cook, grow, or build ANYTHING) gave me the idea to make my own using toilet paper rolls, some ribbon and sea shells that I already bought.

So, it started out looking like this...

I used these...

Two minutes of drying like this...

The final product...

And finally the whole "shebang"...

(Notice the beautiful pictures in the background that were selected, matted, framed, hung, and given to me by my wonderful husband)

With a center piece of silk flowers

We love how it turned out and are so excited that we actually have a dining room now to decorate! The best part was the whole project cost less than $40 :)

I love good customer service!

A few days ago I got this idea to make some homemade Humus. I decided to make it from scratch starting with the dried garbanzo beans that I rinsed, soaked overnight, and cooked for 1 1/2 hrs. I get my blender out turn it on and nothing! All of that prep work and nothing!

My blender has died.

My blender was a wedding gift that we received three years ago and has been a good blender so far. Later that evening Aaron and I had to return something to Bed Bath and Beyond and we decided to take the blender and all of its parts with us to see if they would let us return it. Now, I have to admit that I was a little embarrassed to bring a three year old blender with no box and no receipt to return but I thought it was worth a chance. We get to the store and I put the blender on the counter and let them know it was a wedding gift from our registry. I also asked how long they keep the gift registries on record and they informed me "Two years". We weren't trying to pull any thing so we let them know that we were married over two years ago. To our astonishment they said "Okay, that's no problem, would you like to get the same blender or pick out a different one?" I really couldn't believe that they were going to let me return my blender and order me a new one (waive the shipping) without any proof of purchase. For all they know I bought the blender at Target (who doesn't let you return anything and if they do they treat you like a criminal)! On top of their great return policies everyone in the store was just wonderful. They were all friendly and willing to help. Needless to say that is definitely the store that I will go to if I need to buy any household items, especially for the kitchen.

So, let me repeat: I LOVE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE AND I LOVE

BED BATH AND BEYOND!!