I know this is a day late, but I wanted to say Happy Mothers Day to my mom! I was lucky enough to get to spend last weekend with her in Santa Barbara and Sunday with her in San Luis Obispo. We had a nice lunch at Raku and then walked around downtown to soak up the sunshine. My mom is such a hard worker, a nice person, and a lady with class. I am glad that Luke and I got to spend the day with her. I love you mom!


My other mom lives in England, so I don't get to see her too often, but I was lucky enough to get to talk to her on the phone. I think that as you get older the concept of family really becomes more important. I wish more than anything that Luke and I lived closer so we could spend more time together, but I cherish all the time we do get to spend with her. I love you, Michelle!

 Ronnie gave me a recipe for chicken adobo. I had never made it before, but I made it this weekend for Luke. He said it was good, but I wouldn't know since I don't eat meat. I did eat the soybean corn sesame salad though! Luke said that it was one of his favorite meals that I have made him.

CHICKEN ADBO   1 cut up chicken (into parts)  I like to use thighs only olive or other oil garlic powder minced garlic if desired 3-5 bay leaves 1/4 cup vinegar 3/4 cup soy sauce approx. 1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth   Generously sprinkle garlic powder onto chicken.  Brown in oil in pan that will eventually hold all the chicken.  Do not cook through at this point.  Do not crowd chicken. Place chicken aside.  SLIGHTLY cook minced garlic and bay leaves.  Replace all the chicken.  Pour in vinegar, soy sauce and chicken broth.  Bring to boil then turn heat down to simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes or so, until chicken is done.

I started reading this book on Saturday. Who doesn't love Lucille Ball?

What a great weekend! I hung out with my friend Ari, spent time with my family, shopped, and ate good food. I can't complain.

I have posted about my favorite food blog, Addicted to Veggies, a few times now because I am obsessed with Sarahfae's cooking. A while back she made this amazing recipe for me and I finally got to make it myself and it did not disappoint! The Lime in the Coconut Cream Pies were sooo good and I can't stop thinking about them.

Here are the ingredients I ended up buying. From left to right: coconut flour, a young Thai coconut, coconut water (for me to drink, not for the recipe), coconut oil, coconut crystals, and coconut butter. These are all new cooking ingredients for me, but I know I will get use out of them. I even found a recipe for a hair mask using coconut oil here, so it will get used one way or another :)

 I bought and successfully opened my first young Thai coconut. And I did it myself!

The finished product is not even close to being as pretty as Sarahfae's, but they taste amazing and that's what counts, right? The crust  is to die for!

One of my good friends, Brandon , is raising money for Alzheimer's research through art. He is making custom pieces starting at $30. I asked him to make a Cary Grant painting for me and he sent me the photo above within a few hours. I love it and can't wait to hang it up! Thank you Brandon! Please contact him on Facebook if you would like to have something made.

On Sunday Luke and I drove with my mom and grandma to Santa Barbara. I gave her the quilt and she liked it! I was nervous because she was a very talented seamstress and I am sure my amateur mistakes are painfully obvious, but she seemed very grateful and appreciative. I also got to see my aunt and uncle, who I haven't seen in over a year.

Afterwards we went to downtown Santa Barbara, got lunch at a Hawaiian restaurant, and shopped. I didn't buy much, but Luke found lots of things for himself at American Apparel. It's hard for me to shop because I always think to myself, "I could make that or learn how to make it." Plus clothing can be so expensive that it is hard to justify such a pricey purchase for something I probably won't wear too often.

 Here we are waiting for my mom in Nordstroms.

Wheww! What a busy weekend. Happy Monday!

This weekend my mom came to see me. We went to lunch and then she suggested that we go look at fabric. Um, how could I turn that down? I took her to my favorite place to buy fabric which is conveniently a few miles from my home, Quiltin Cousins.

Ok, the store is amazing for the following reasons:
1. The variety of fabric is good and everything is very cute.
2. There is a lot of vintage reproduction fabric, my favorite!
3. The owner Shawn is cool! She is so sweet and likes vintage/retro stuff as much as me!
4. Shawn does an awesome Julia Child impression.

My mom bought me the book pictured above. I can't wait to start sewing!

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there. The photo above is of me and my mom.

This is my husband Luke with my other mom. I am so lucky to have two amazing moms in my life!

My sister and my mom read this book about being a "daymaker." The whole point of the book is to stress doing nice things for people/strangers because even the smallest gesture can make someones' day. My sister believes in this so strongly that she has "daymaker" tattooed om her fingers!

On Monday night I went to my quilting class. I felt self conscious because everyone in the class is very skilled and my squares looked so bad! Things were cut wrong and not everything matched up. Embarrassing! I was reluctant to let anyone see my work because it wasn't all that great, but the Daymakers in my class made me feel so much better. One lady complimented me on my color choice. Another said I did a good job making sure the fabric was facing the right way. These ladies truly turned my night around!

Now it's my turn to be a daymaker :)