Happy Birthday Sarah!

It's my sister Sarah's birthday today!



She is 21 years old today!

Some facts about Sarah:

*We are 6 years and 4 days apart.
*I love having a birthday twin.
*We are both brunette, my sisters Emily and Kerry are redheads.
*We both read food blogs.
*We are both English majors.
*We both read a ton.
*Sarah goes to the same college that I graduated from.
*Sarah is ridiculously pretty. (All of my siblings are!)
*Sarah is spelled with an "H."



Sarah is the middle child with 2 older siblings and 2 younger. Poor thing.



Sarah likes to get her way.



Sarah has an amazing boyfriend, who I love.



When I was 20 years old, I flipped up Sarah's skirt at Pearl Harbor in front of a college football team. She was a little pissed off.



Happy birthday little sister! I hope you have a fun 21st!

Weight loss Saturday-a day late!

Hey! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes yesterday! I'm officially 27 years old now!

I have a ton of photos and fun to share with you but I felt the need to weigh in via the blog.

I weigh the EXACT same as last Saturday. Even after indulging on my birthday (can you say creme brulee and wine?) I'm honestly shocked that I didn't gain!

Andy and I tried to run today but my body wasn't in the mood. We ended up walking 3 miles. We ran a little bit but not much (less than a mile.) I really need to sign up for a race so I can motivate myself.

We didn't make it to this round of Project Foodbuzz. I am bummed but also relieved! I got to enjoy my birthday and not stress over what to cook!

Hopefully I'll see a loss next week!

Goodbye 26!

Turning 26 was tough for me. Last year's post if you wanna read it.

I fretted and frowned and whined. WHY? My 26th year was awesome. I learned a ton about myself, fell even more in love with Andy, travelled and fell into a good blogging routine.

Student teaching has been great, marriage has been great...weight loss--meh more on that Sunday.



I can handle 27! Tonight we have some fantastic plans...including eating at one of my favorite restaurants, sleeping in a Disney hotel and a trip to Disneyland tomorrow. Can't complain.

Do you dread getting older? Or do you embrace it? I really need to learn to embrace it.

I celebrated the last day of 26 (my birthday is tomorrow) by having my cousin flat-iron my hair, splurging on a tall nonfat 1.5 pump mocha (yeah I'm THAT girl) and wearing high heels.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday! My family is going on vacation so I wasn't able to see her today so we celebrated last night at The Melting Pot!



Before going out to dinner, we went to pick up our CSA box. Figs came in the box and I had no idea what to do with them.



I found a recipe online for proscuitto wrapped figs and went for it.



The figs were gorgeous inside. I loved the pink color.





I was excited to try this Laura Chenel Chevre. I've had it at restaurants before but always deemed it too expensive to enjoy at home. This time I got over it!



I stuffed the figs with the goat cheese.



Wrapped the figs with proscuitto and drizzled them with pumpkin-spiced honey. Yes, pumpkin spice + honey. So good! These figs were amazing. I will 100% make it again.



I also served some of Biz's baja fresh salsa with chips on the side. Biz was kind enough to send me some of her homemade salsa. She sent us 4 jars! We already went through a jar and loved it.



Seriously it tastes just like my favorite salsa from Baja Fresh only fresher and yummier. I'm going to try making shredded salsa chicken in the crockpot with one of the jars. Andy is excited! He's a salsa fiend. Thank you so much Biz!



After picking up the CSA, lunch and some errands we were ready for some fondue at Melting Pot.



I said hello to Daniel too! My sister Sarah babysat him so mom and dad could enjoy the evening with us.



The lighting isn't great so I apologize for the shoddy photography. We started with cheddar cheese fondue with bread, green apples and veggies for dipping.



Then we had salads and the meat course. The meat course consisted of steak, shrimp, chicken and raviolis. They also gave us mushrooms, broccoli and red potatoes.



And dipping sauces for the meat once it's cooked.



Obviously dessert with all of the dippers was the best. We got milk chocolate fondue. I loved it with the strawberries. YUM!

Mom loved The Melting Pot and is really looking forward to going again. Happy birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Emily!

On August 5th, my baby sister turned 19. Emily is the youngest girl in my family. She's also a redhead. Families have patterns. Ours is brunette, ginger, brunette, ginger, dirty blonde. Good thing my parents ONLY have five children.



We decided that it would only be appropriate to take Emily out to try some food trucks.



First off we tried Cool Haus due to the surprisingly short line and the delicious homemade ice cream sandwiches.





Em tried brown butter with candied bacon ice cream with chocolate chip cookies. That's right candied bacon. (They taste like candied salted pecans to me.)



Sarah (my brunette sister) got mexican chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies. The mexican chocolate ice cream was rich with a spicy aftertaste. Next time I'm at CoolHaus I'd get this.



The other ginger...my sister Kerry stuck to water.

I had vanilla bean ice cream with snickerdoodle cookies.



Next up was the Buttermilk Truck. There was an event going on so both trucks were in the same proximity.







We ordered the Hawaiian Breakfast Sliders and split them. Hawaiian sweet rolls with egg & portuguese sausage.



Red Velvet Pancakes with cream cheese frosting. These are incredible. I wish I could recreate them. I often feel that red velvet cake is over-hyped but these pancakes fit the bill. Delicious!



Lemon ricotta pancakes with a blueberry topping. The lemon scent was out of this world. I will be recreating these. I need to.



Chicken and cinnamon waffles.

We couldn't finish anything so we just all took bites and called it good. Next time, we'll order less! Lesson learned!

If you are in the LA Area, I highly suggest CoolHaus and The Buttermilk Truck. Try it at least once.

I'll be back with more recaps soon! I've had a busy week and I want to share with you!

Happy Birthday Kerry!

On Friday April 16th, my little sister Kerry turned 23. We decided to celebrate the best way we know how. With delicious food!

Kerry picked Cafe Santorini in Pasadena.



Cafe Santorini is hidden from the craziness that is Old Town Pasadena. It's close enough to walk to but far enough to be cozy and quiet.



We started with light, crusty house bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.



Then came the appetizer. Which we split. It came with dolmas, babaghanoush, cheese borek, halloumi cheese, some kind of sausage, olives and cucumbers.



Kerry ordered an extra side of cheese borek as her entree. It comes with crispy phyllo dough, salty feta cheese and roasted sesame seeds on top. It's almost as good as my beloved spanakopita.



My other little sister Sarah ordered pasta with a garlic cream sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and mushrooms.



I ordered kefta kebobs with rice pilaf and roasted veggies. The meat was perfection with some hummus. YUM.



Andy ordered the lamb shank in true man fashion but barely ate any of it. It was a huge portion (and had a huge bone in the center...bones creep me out.)

The mashed potatoes were delish. I stole several bites.



The birthday girl on the left and my sister Sarah on the right.



After dinner we walked over to The Melting Pot for some fondue desserts. I was pretty full already but the walk over helped.



The five of us split an order of flaming turtle (chocolate, pecans, caramel and rum) fondue.

It was fabulous. I love that The Melting Pot gives you some fruit. Fruit dipped in chocolate = love.

Since my parents were not able to attend Kerry's birthday on Friday, they decided to take us out for pizza on Saturday. It was especially nice because my littlest sister Emily was home from college for the weekend. I have 4 siblings and it's so nice to have everyone together.



Daniel and the birthday Kerry.



Kerry and her boyfriend Yigit.



My lovely salad from the salad bar. I loaded that thing with broccoli and cucumbers. I needed veggies! (and cheese.)



And managed to restrict myself to only 2 slices of pizza. (with chicken, bacon and pepperoni) I usually eat way more pizza but I am trying to slowly adjust and change my diet to the Body for Life style of eating.



My dad, Sarah and Emily. (Sarah and I are brunette, Kerry and Emily are redheads and Daniel is dirty blonde. Our family is strange.)



And an ice cream cake for dessert. I struggled with resisting this! I had a thin slice. YUM!

I am keeping track of my eating and will share my first BFL (practice) week soon!