and Finally.... Introducing...

John bought me a tortoise for Christmas! I was so so surprised! Isn't she the cutest thing ever!

This is Shelli our newest addition to the family! Welcome little girl!

Annie and her Shelli


In her new home

Holiday Pictures.. only three

Our Tree on Christmas Morning


Ebi


Mom got a Killer Electric Guitar!! Rock On Mom!!


Despite my being sick, we had a great holiday!!! Here are three pictures highlighting events!

Happy Reamer Day!

We Have Been Married Six Months and We are Still Going Strong!


Six months ago today John and I stood on top of a beautiful lava cliff with the ocean crashing below us and vowed to love each other forever! That moment seems like a dream somehow and I can't believe that it has already been six months! Happy Reamer Day! I wish we were back in Hana!

Holly Jolly

We hope that everyone had a very happy holiday!!

I know that I have been a slacker with our holiday postings! I hope to have pictures up soon! I will also be introducing our families new addition!! Check Back Soon!!

Wisdom from the Dalai Lama

"In the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller families; you have endless conveniences -- yet you never seem to have any time. You can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don't bother to cross the road to meet your neighbors...I don't think people have become more selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoiled them.
They have less resilience, they expect more, they constantly compare themselves to others and they have too much choice -- which brings no real freedom."

The Suite is Sweet

Our apartment (John and I call it the Master Suite) is fully outfitted for winter holiday!! Our first Holiday Season as a married team. GO TEAM REAM! Happy Holidays!

Toasted

I have the good fortune of experiencing only mild mishaps in the kitchen throughout my amateur career as a foodie. I have couple of nasty scars from burns. I have a small reputation of burning croutons.. oh yeah, and there is that time when I cut the top of my thumb off and had to get it sewn back on. The point is that besides my mistakes, I keep working to be creative and cook up yummy eats. This weekend John and I had my parents over for dinner. Being only mildly hungover, I thought, "I'm a professional amateur, I can make a simple, yet impressive meal no problem."

I started by cooking my favorite thing, dessert. Rocky Road Brownies. I got the brownies made no problem. They were beautiful. Now time for the topping: Marshmallows, almonds, semi sweet chocolate. check! Ready to melt.

I put my concoction under the broiler and sat on the ground in front of the oven to keep an eye on it. I turned the pan around a few times to ensure that all sides were browning evenly. I closed the oven and turned to get my pot holders to pull the perfect brownies out quite satisfied with my job well done.

As I opened the oven.. FLAMES came pouring out!! After closing the oven and wondering what to do... I opened the oven again convinced that I had hallucinated the whole thing. I was wrong.

The flames were even bigger now and beginning to climb out of the oven to the stove top! I heard myself yell to John: "JOHN! HELP! FIRE!"
Then I burst out laughing. I laughed and laughed and laughed. The marshmallows were fully engulfed in flames. I had flaming brownies! Through teary eyes and doubled over laughter, I saw John grab the brownies and run outside! I was absolutely no help as John risked his life pulling the flaming brownies out of the oven and running outside! (did I mention that we don't have a fire extinguisher!?)

All ended well for us. No burned down house, no injuries. But I am sad to announce that the brownies did not make it.

The rest of the dinner turned out yummy and not burned. Thank God. John even saved the day (again) by making another batch of brownies... without the rocky road topping this time!

Kitchen art.. food gone terribly wrong!

Finals Are OVER!!! Now I can breathe!

I have been frantically making myself crazy finishing up this semester with all sorts of crazy tests and papers!

For prosperity sake, here is a list of a only a few topics that I have been researching, testing and writing about this week!






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Twinkle Twinkle

You know how I feel about lights! I couldn't resist posting this one!

If Only I Really Owned My Own Walls

I thought this project was a great one!! I needed to post it right away so I don't forget about this for our own home office (when we get one)!! Thanks again to Martha for the plethora of great ideas!


Wall Calendar How-To
We chose 4 shades of paint to make our calendar. You can use as few as 2 shades for a checkerboard pattern.

1. Paint entire wall with store-bought black chalkboard paint; let dry for 1 to 2 hours.

2. Mark the perimeter of the calendar with a pencil (to accommodate 8-inch squares, ours measured 48 inches high by 56 inches across).

3. Using painters' tape, mark off the B squares according to the diagram below.




4. Make B paint by mixing 4 parts black chalkboard paint with 1 part homemade white chalkboard paint. Paint B squares. Remove tape. Let dry about an hour.

Now That is What I Call a Loft!

I try not to get caught up in the snobbery of material stuff and the importance of price tags. However, this place is worth mentioning (and a place that I could call home)! This is a rare glimpse at a NYC loft where the antique furnishings cost more than the space! A mission that is nearly impossible to do with the pricey New York real estate market. Leave it up to an investment banker turned designer to suceed admirably! Thomas Hays, you have fabulous taste!

You Don't Just Have to Dress a Wall in Paint These Days

From the Sunset Ideahouse. This is so masculine, architectural and designy! I love it!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like..

It's cold. It's snowy.. yet somehow I feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.