--For My Dad

"Dance With My Father", Luther Vandross

Back when I was a child, before life removed all the innocence
My father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me and then
Spin me around ‘til I fell asleep
Then up the stairs he would carry me
And I knew for sure I was loved
If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him
I’d play a song that would never, ever end
How I’d love, love, love
To dance with my father again
When I and my mother would disagree
To get my way, I would run from her to him
He’d make me laugh just to comfort me
Then finally make me do just what my mama said
Later that night when I was asleep
He left a dollar under my sheet
Never dreamed that he would be gone from me
If I could steal one final glance, one final step, one final dance with him
I’d play a song that would never, ever end
‘Cause I’d love, love, love
To dance with my father again
Sometimes I’d listen outside her door
And I’d hear how my mother cried for him
I pray for her even more than me
I pray for her even more than me
I know I’m praying for much too much
But could you send back the only man she loved
I know you don’t do it usually
But dear Lord she’s dying
To dance with my father again
Every night I fall asleep and this is all I ever dream

*In memory of my father, who died this past Friday, May 10, 2013. I’ll always be your “pistola”, Daddy. I love you.

141.4…Swap It

I defrosted a piece of the Mexican Lasagna and reheated it for my dinner Tuesday night.

It froze pretty well. I don’t think it tasted much different than the piece I had last week that wasn’t frozen.

Yesterday’s breakfast was Trader Joe’s vanilla Greek yogurt, Cascadian Farms Peanut Butter Granola and strawberries.

I took the kids to school and started to get ready for a party at my house later.

I had a quick lunch at Wahoo’s and then got right back to work.

Every year I host a “Swap Party” at my house. You clean out your closets, bring all the clothes you don’t want anymore and “shop” through everyone else’s unwanted items. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right?

Everyone also brings a hearty appetizer & a bottle of wine to share. Shopping, eating and wine….what more could you want!?! The appetizer I made is one of my favorites: Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry.

Everyone started to arrive and the party got started!

Time to shop!

Let’s see how it looks….

I thought it was easier to just pull my jeans down to try things on. Nice look, huh? :)

For dessert, I made Lemon Bars!  Recipe coming…it’s a good one!

Lisa made her famous brownies. Thank you Tami for being our brownie model!

This is my fifth year doing the Swap Party and it’s such a success every year. It’s a good way to clean out your closets and get some free stuff to put back in it!

This morning’s breakfast was a toasted English muffin with peanut butter and a grapefruit.

I dropped the kids off at school and volunteered there for a bit. Now I’m at Starbucks waiting for my next appointment.  Busy day today! Make it a good one!

Have you ever participated in any sort of “swap party”?

Technorati Tags: Everyday,Swap Party,Mexican Lasgna,Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry,Lemon Bars,Peanut Butter,Wahoo's,Cascadian Farms,Granola

141.2…Ballpark Grub

On my way to pick the kids up from school yesterday, I brought a sliced apple and a Babybel cheese with me to snack on.

Later yesterday evening my husband and I went to the Padres baseball game. We were invited for a work event and were lucky to sit in one of the luxury boxes!

There was a buffet of the standard ballpark fare…hot dogs, mini pretzels, hamburgers, etc. They also had sushi!

I had a couple plates of sushi along with some red wine. I also tried the hot wings they had.

The hot wing sauce was good but the wings were a weird shape and were a bit fatty so those were the only two I had.

The best presented item was the hummus with pita chips, tapenade and tomatoes.

Cute container, huh??

I also had a mini cheeseburger. They were too cute to resist.

Last but not least was dessert! Haagen Dazs bars!

No…I did not eat them all. Just one. :) Diet out the window for sure.

It was fun watching the Padres beat the Marlins 5-0!

This morning’s breakfast was a toasted English muffin with peanut butter and a bowl of grapefruit.

I took the kids to school and went to spin class. I haven’t been to spin in ages and it felt good to get my spin on!

Afterwards I ran a bunch of errands, including a trip to Costco where I had to buy a bunch of stuff for some upcoming school events.

I could barely push the cart. There were 10 watermelons in there. Workout #2.

Lunch was a tuna sandwich and “Texas Caviar” that I bought at Costco.

The Texas Caviar was just ok. Now I have a big tub of it. What should I do with it?

When was the last time you went to a baseball game?

Technorati Tags: Everyday,San Diego Padres,Baseball,Peanut Butter,Costco

141.6…Excess

That basically describes Las Vegas. Everything is excessive there. But you gotta love it!

The night before we left for Vegas (Thursday night) my husband was working late so I reheated some Mexican Lasagna from the night before for dinner.

It reheated pretty well. The rest of it went into the freezer. We shall see how well it freezes.

Friday’s breakfast was microwaved egg beaters on a toasted English muffin with cheddar cheese and avocado. I had some strawberries as well.

I dropped the kids off at school and then my husband and I headed to the airport for our flight to Las Vegas.

After we arrived, we checked into our hotel, The Cosmopolitan. I love it there because the rooms have balconies.

Not a bad view! :)

We immediately went to my favorite restaurant there, Holsteins, for lunch.

I’m slowly working my way through each burger on the menu. I ordered The Fun-Ghi this time: beef patty, roasted portabello, caramelized onions, truffle oil, gruyere and frisee. Along with the sweet potato fries, it was epic.

We gambled a bit while we waited for my brother Neal and Stephanie to arrive. Once they did it was off to Sushi Samba in the Palazzo for dinner.

Stephanie and I:

My brother and my husband:

We shared tons of different things. First up: Yellowtail Crispy Taquitos:

Japanese Wagyu Beef Gyoza: kabocha pumpkin puree and su-shoyu dipping sauce:

A variety of Robatas: Lamb, chicken and sea bass with Peruvian corn:

Salmon, yellowtail, and tuna sushi with a salmon roll:

Everything was insanely good. As if that wasn’t enough, then came dessert.

Rosca: handmade doughnuts served with hazelnut chocolate dipping sauce:

Cassava Carrot Cake: brown butter ice cream, cinnamon cream, rainbow carrot chip, orange reduction:

We were definitely full and happy when we left Sushi Samba. We went back to our hotel to gamble a bit more before calling it a night.

Saturday morning it was time to hit the pool. But first, breakfast! We ate at the pool restaurant. I opted for an egg white omelet with breakfast potatoes and an English muffin.

Sorry about the weird shadow. :)

The rest of the day was spent at the pool. A good time was had by all.

Lunch was fish tacos that were AMAZING. They put the grilled fish inside of a crunchy taco and then put a flour tortilla on the outside of that with some kind of amazing sauce holding the crunchy shell and flour tortilla together.

The pico de gallo was nice and spicy….I *almost* didn’t need hot sauce.

At the end of the day we made a last minute decision to go to the Mayweather/Guerrero boxing fight that night at MGM.

Glad we did! Although I thought the fight was boring, we were able to score some awesome seats last minute.

Afterwards we headed to Caesar’s Palace because we thought we had dinner reservations at a restaurant there. Turns out the restaurants was not there and the traffic was too horrible to try to find a cab and find the restaurant so we decided to pick a restaurant at Caesar’s to eat. Since it was almost 11Pm (eeek!) by then, most restaurants were closing except for Old Homestead Steakhouse.

The prices were astronomical but we were hungry and didn’t have many options. Besides the prices and our overly happy server, we did truly enjoy our meal.

My meal started with a wedge salad with ranch dressing.

I’m a ranch dressing snob. This ranch passed my high ranch dressing standards.

We all split a porterhouse steak as well as asparagus and mac & cheese.

Somehow the sides missed my camera.

It was late and we were full so we went right back to the hotel. Steph and I went to sleep while the boys gambled a bit.

Sunday morning started off just right, in my opinion.

No….those weren’t all mine. :) I had the mimosa (just a splash of orange juice, please).

I enjoyed eggs over easy, potatoes, bacon and an English muffin.

We went to the pool for a bit before we had to pack up and leave for the airport.

They had Jersey Mike’s Subs at the Las Vegas airport. Sold.

I only ate half though. I think my weekend of excess was catching up with me. For the same reason, I didn’t eat dinner. I felt like I needed a cart to be wheeled around in. Time to get back on track!

It started out right this morning with my breakfast: pineapple Chobani, Cascadian Farms Peanut Butter Granola and strawberries.

After I dropped the kids off at school, I went to the gym for an awesome Cardio Muscle class. Perfect way to start my Monday.

Afterwards I had a bunch of errands to run so I brought the other half of my Jersey Mike’s sandwich with me to eat for lunch.

Tonight we are going to the Padres game (as long as the weather holds up). Hopefully my “diet” will hold up as well. :)

When was the last time you had a day/weekend of excess?

Technorati Tags: Everyday,Mexican Lasgna,Egg Beaters,Las Vegas,Hollsteins,Cosmopolitan,Sushi Samba,Boxing,Old Homestead Steakhouse,Henry's,Jersey Mike's Subs,Chobani,Cascadian Farms,Granola,Peanut Butter