This is my new favorite sauce....

I don't know what my old favorite was but this is definitely my new favorite. And, I couldn't be more excited that Fresh Market now has Wickles --- so I can use their relish in this recipe. Thank you Bon Appetit. -Shannon

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon finely grated onion
• 1 tablespoon sweet relish or 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from canned chipotle chiles in adobo
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

• ingredient info

  Canned chipotle chiles in adobo are available at better supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Latin markets.

Preparation

• Combine ingredients in a medium bowl and serve with burgers. Earn bonus points by bringing a jar to the next cookout.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/06/special-sauce#ixzz1PBUq9E9E

A good thing...

Martha would definitely classify this idea as a good thing.

This is one of the original blogs that I started reading. I love this lady and her views on parenting, etc. She has a great recommendation for what to do with school stuff collected throughout the year. The blog is 71toes.blogspot.com. Anyways.... here's what she said.....

Post School Filing

We pull down each child's file folder box (they each have their own that we keep hidden away in top shelves of closets during the year) and file the stuff they deem "valuable" to keep. They only get one hanging folder for each year up to 12th grade so they really can't keep a whole ton.

See that one that says "Kindergarten" below? There are folders like that for every grade.
Here's a better look at Max's:
When they come home with something too big to keep that they love we just take a picture of it:
That makes them feel like we really are "keeping" it without filling up their boxes...especially if I post that picture on this blog :)

Okay, I think this is awesome. I have poster tubes with artwork from preschool but this definitely makes grade school look more manageable. -Shannon

The Importance of Follow Through- Birdhouses, Blogs, and Holidays

I think if you asked my husband what his biggest frustration is with me (besides "the trail") he'd tell you its my lousy follow through. I'm known for starting projects and then just leaving them unfinished. Another example is our morning routine.  No matter what time we get the family up in the morning, dressed, fed, teeth brushed, etc., when its time to walk out the door to get to school and work on time, inevitably the structure of the morning falls apart in our laps. Katy might need a diaper change, or Evan gets toothpaste on his shirt and has to change, or the backpack wasn't cleaned out the night before, or I left my computer in the living room and didn't put it in my briefcase to go out the door, etc. We laugh about it, but its annoying.

 So, where I am going with this is to state my disappointment in myself for taking so long to finish these birdhouses for Katy's room. You would think I would have had them hung right after I painted them a few weeks ago, but no, they sat in my dining room collecting dust... That is, until I had some motivation. What is the best motivation for me? New Company. Not like good friend company-they know me and don't care what my house looks like.  New company is the kind of company that has never been to your house before, and whether you think you're this way or not, you want everything to appear as though your home runs like clockwork and all is perfect.  We had that kind of company on Saturday. Good friends from the job I have that does pay me, plus best friends.

So, as I was running around my home on Friday and Saturday trying to assemble dinner and clean house with two kids, I came across my birdhouses. They are too cool to shove in a closet, so I made Ben drop the yardwork  he was doing to hang them in Katy's room. He was very gracious about it, and deep down probably thrilled that I was finally bringing this project to completion (for now).

On another blog I read I had seen a clever way of hanging birdhouses on walls, and basically copied the idea. Imitation is the best form of flattery, right? So here they are in all their glory. They exceed my expectations for cute! I apologize for the grainy camera phone image.

I'm still looking for the letters of her name to go either on the birdhouses or above the hooks. My friend Blythe found some the other night at Michael's and bought them for me. I'm pumped to see if they will work.

It's amazing the motivation you can find within yourself  when you have a sense of urgency... I would be a rockstar if I responded to everything that way. HA!

BLOG
Switching gears now to talk about this blog. We've been at this a little bit more than a month and I have to say that its been more fun than I ever anticipated. My initial thought was that we'd post once or twice and not "follow through". I know its still early in the game, but I have to say that  I love having this place to share my interests, thoughts, and the going ons of our life, and I hope I'm invested in this enough to maintain it for the long haul. But the best part is sharing it with a dear friend.  It kinda cracks me up that after Shannon or I  post a story, we text each other to let the other know. Our comments on the articles are transmitted through text and not on the blog. ha! Oh well, it works and we are having fun.  That said, something has been missing from all this.  Shannon and I are just two parts of a friendship that involves one more dear friend. I introduced her to the blog last night and filled her in on the story of its premise. My hope is that she will join us on this journey. While we are all busy, and probably have zero time to really invest in this thing, I'm glad I have it to share with my best friends. So come on Amiga-I guarantee you will surprise yourself!

Okay-last but not least, We've got a busy next few weeks in our house and some important holidays / birthdays to celebrate. Next weekend is Father's Day and I'm a little stressed as to what to get my awesome husband who is a wonderful father. My son has some great ideas, and I have a few, but I'm trying to come up with something clever. Ben is always so thoughtful when it comes to gifts for me. I'm a lucky girl! That said, do you have any great gift ideas, or links to great gift ideas? I'm also stressing about what to get my dad and Ben's dad.  The clock is ticking... Follow Through is key! HELP!!!

Also, my big guy is turning 6 this month and has decided he wants a pool party for his birthday. We've done his last five birthday parties in the backyard of our house. He very sweetly told me that for his 6th birthday he wanted something different. The idea of a pool party stresses me out for some reason, but I am going with it-he deserves to have what he wants for his birthday!  Yesterday I was on my favorite invitation / card / stationery site,Tiny Prints and found these awesome invites for the party. They are perfect for Evan-right down to the orange and blue swimsuit.

Unfortunately, they cost a fortune and I only need 10. There is no way I'm going to justify spending $30 plus express shipping on these cards to my husband. Ugh! That said, my new project is coming up with an alternative... wish me luck and some follow through! -Carla

Random thoughts at the end of school....

Here in Virginia, we're at that weird time when the pool is open and there's still two weeks of school. It's very confusing. We've been running the schedule of get off the bus, eat a snack, throw suits on, stay at the pool til 5, come home shower, eat dinner and go to bed. Towels are always wet, etc, etc.

It's also the time of year when TV shows are over. This is normally a changing of the tides for me but since we got rid of cable in January, I haven't watched much TV. We flew through Dexter (all the seasons that were available via Netflix) and then did Season 1 of Hereos. Hereos was good but being used to watching HBO/Showtime shows -- I couldn't get past the 20+ episodes in a season. The thought of basically spending an entire day to watch a show --- that's weird. So, our TV habits are virtually non-existent at this point. Geoff's happy as he's always felt that TV is for a lower denominator of people. His preaching on this subject has led me to feel the same. Anything worth watching will eventually be on Netflix and why should we pay $100 a month to have immediate access to crap TV? With this mindset, I've spent some time at the library. Having lost my log-in info, I can't reserve books - I need to get this fixed. Taking kids is a total pain. You can't go downstairs and look up books without them being crazy loud/fighting. I have a 2 minute window to find what I want in new-release and move on. Today, I grabbed this....

So far, it's witty and everything you'd expect from Nora. You've Got Mail is my all time favorite movie --- I enjoy how Nora Ephron thinks and writes.

Speaking of You've Got Mail..... with the start of summer, I've also realized that I've crept back to my old Starbucks habits in 2011. It's $3.40 for my drink. If I take kids, add $3.00 to that. $6.40 times 5 = $32 a week. Or, $128 a month. My espresso machine is back in action for making my drinks. I always (and I mean, ALWAYS) think of You've Got Mail when pushing the button for my 1.7 ounces of espresso. When Parker Posey is yelling to Tom Hanks, "Have you pushed it?" She should have realized the value of having someone that pushes your espresso machine button and not have lost him to Meg! -Shannon

Mother Daughter Shoe Purchase

While on a trip to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina this past weekend, my family and I decided to take a day trip to the town of Highlands to shop and get ice cream. As we were walking around, I came to a dead stop in front of a hiking store when I spotted these beauties in the window.

 I knew about the wonderful work TOMS does by donating a pair of shoes to a child in need with every purchase, but never really thought the shoes were me. Until now... I love these red and white stripped wedges. OMG so fun!!!   And they have them in black too, which for me, would totally be appropriate for work.

 

 Unfortunately, they were sold out of my size (in every color I might add). So, I'm now on a quest to find these shoes in Atlanta. Nordstroms seems to be the place to go, but I've also seen them listed as being retailed at Whole Foods and Abbadabbas. Obviously this will be my weekend project.

But, the best part is.... they have them for my little birdie too.

How amazingly cute are these shoes.  I cannot wait to buy these for her (unfortunately, the store in NC was sold out of her size too.)- Carla