Mystery man

Yesterday hubby made grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Can you see a face in this piece of toast?  We see a man with a mustache.  It He It was yummy.

Here comes the sun

The sun finally made an appearance! Hubby celebrated the sunny day with this outfit:

A snazzy hat

A combo of green and yellow

And some white dancing shoes

hat- purchased in New Orleans
shirt- Old Navy sale
blazer- Banana Republic sale
bow tie- thrifted
shoes- thrifted

New life

The message of Easter is all about new life.  This message seems particularly relevant for hubby and me right now.  We're in the midst of settling into a new life in Michigan and soon we're going to start a new life as mommy and daddy to the new life growing inside my belly.

Last night we invited two friends over to Easter dinner.    

New traditions with some new friends

You know what they say...

"April showers bring May flowers"

But since it snowed here two days ago, perhaps the Michigan saying should be
"April snow showers bring May flowers."

Hubby and I are having a tough time believing that Spring is actually coming.  I'm longing for the days when I can shed my coat and expose my pale arms to a warm and bright sun.  Here are two of hubby's "Almost spring" outfits:

Nothing says spring like a nice jean jacket

White on white on white. 

Pass the pasta

Even though hubby works hard during the day, he still manages to act as the official family chef every other week.  It's so nice sharing the cooking responsibilities with him.  Neither one of us gets "burned out" from cooking the same thing every week and we're guaranteed homemade dinners during the weekdays.

I especially enjoy hubby's cooking because he's so creative and daring. 

Here's last night's pièce de résistance:

Handmade turkey and red pepper ravioli sauteed in a light butter sage sauce

As a gal who grew up eating canned or frozen ravioli, I always thought that the sauce made the pasta dish.  Pasta was just something to cover with yummy sauce.  Last night I finally saw how freshly made pasta really can be the star of the meal.  Three cheers for pasta maker machines and hubby's culinary creations!

Brain workout

Hubby often holds office hours to help students understand the material.  One day, after working with a student for half an hour, the student seemed upset. Hubby asked, "What's wrong?" and she replied,

"I'm tired from thinking so hard.  My brain hurts."

Feeling paisley

Yesterday hubby was very sick.  I think he has the flu.  Nonetheless, he soldiered on and taught 3 classes.  Here's his outfit from flu-tastic Friday:

How fitting, the paisley pattern reminds me of floating viruses

 Stay healthy!

Matchy matchy

Sometimes hubby and I pick out similar matching outfits. We never do it intentionally and usually one of us changes before we leave the house.  Today, the unspeakable happened again.  Short on time, we had to embrace our similarities.     

Hubby's preppy homage to blue

My preppy homage to blue

 (By the way, hubby's tie was thrifted and everything I'm wearing was also thrifted.)

Baa baa

Last night we went to an International potluck.  Everyone brought yummy foods from their native lands.

We brought these Australian treats. 

Lamingtons:  Tiny sponge cakes covered in chocolate icing and coconut flakes

Hubby says they're named after a man, but I like to think they're called lamingtons because they look like baby sheep.  Either way they are perfect "after dinner" treats.  Yum! 

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today I'm going to celebrate my Chinese heritage two ways: 

Snow day

We just received an email saying that school is closed tomorrow.

Our reaction?

We're quietly celebrating.

Icicle farming

With the weather fluctuating on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis, we've noticed a large crop of icicles growing near our window.  Amazed by the size of these pointy beauties, here's a photo of my proud icicle-farming hubby:

Unsure how big this thing really is?  Here's a photo of Charlie lying next to it. 

*Note:  Sadly, our prized beauty snapped in two after this photo was taken. 

New (sort-of) blazer

We went thrifting the other day and hubby scored this lovely warm blazer.  Here are two ways he styled it up:

Young republican

Young democrat

Shnazzy!

Anti-Atkins

I've recently been having some stomach issues.  No need to gross you out with the details, but let's just say it hasn't been pretty.  Now that my stomach is slowly getting back to normal, I find myself eating a lot of starch.

Tonight's carb-tastic treat:  hubby's congee. 

 Yum-o.  What a feast!

Bruce Lee and me

According to my hubby, I frequently make the "Chinesey" sound "Aiyah!"  I didn't think I said it that often until one day he pointed every "Aiyah!" out.

You know what?  He's right. "Aiyah!" is my go-to word when I

• lose my balance 
• am surprised (ex:  I see a mouse)
• struggle with using an object (ex: can-opener) 
• struggle with opening a tightly sealed object (ex:  jar of olives )
• hurt myself accidentally (ex:  stub my toe)

Last night when watching tv, hubby pointed out another person who also uses my special term a lot.   

It's you and me, Bruce Lee.

image taken from here

Bliss in a bowl

Yesterday hubby made Acorn Squash soup.

It was delicious.

Here's his recipe:

• Chop acorn squash in half and roast until soft.
• Sautee chopped celery, carrots, and onion in butter in a stockpot.  Season with salt and pepper. 
• Add chopped roasted acorn squash into the stockpot and sautee until everything is soft.
• Then, add water and "Better than Bouillon" until everything is falling apart.
• Puree the buggery out of the soup.
• Season with cardamom, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Basket-whaat?

Yesterday was the big Hope vs. Calvin college basketball game.  Since I'm not the biggest sports fan I figured I should know something about the game before watching.  So, I made these two lists:

Aren't you impressed with my technical knowledge?  

Hmm, I had much to learn

The game was super exciting. 

There was plenty of team spirit

Look, cheerleaders! (Cross off question 9)

Free throw- 1 point (Question 2) and referee (Question 6)

  

Sadly, we lost (2 periods- question 3)

But, at least I learned a thing or two about basketball.

Holiday attire

Wondering what to wear for those special meals this holiday season?  Look no further, here are a couple of suggestions:
 

How about a bow tie for breakfast?

Perhaps a quirky tie for lunch?

Tweed for dinner?

Or velvet for Christmas cocktails?

Does Apple own my hubby?

Oy vey.  Don't answer that...

Evolution of a bird feeder

As many of you already know from my "flighty visitors" post, we've recently put up a bird feeder.

Here, I hung the feeder on a random nail.

Worried that our birds didn't have enough space to stand, hubby created this contraption to encourage maximum feeding:

 

The "trapeze" feeder

Then, reading somewhere that bird feeders should be about 4 feet off the ground, hubby reworked the contraption to look like this:

The "damsel tied to the railroad tracks" feeder

Are we encouraging more birds to visit our feeder?   Unsure.
Do I smile at hubby's ingenuity?  You betcha.