Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

There were a couple of people at my work who helped me out with our wedding invitations.

So, I bought them lunch and I am baking them the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies.

NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)

2 cups butter
24 oz.chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder.
Cream the butter and both sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda.
Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts.
Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.

a heart attack waiting to happen...

 

We have upgraded from our ghetto cookie cooling rack!

Please make these...they are sooo tasty!!!
YUMM!

Wednesday Hump Day

{one} if you won a trip to Disneyland/world, who would you take with you? I'd bring my Sweeter and my brothers! I think that my brothers would love it and I would need to have Sweeter with me to keep me sane!
{two} when was the last time you listened to a CD? Probably in Shirley...I was actually thinking about that the other day...there was probably a mix CD in the CD player that I didn't grab...so sad...oh well, I am sure it was imported to my iTunes
{three} what spice/seasoning is your favorite? Italian Seasoning I love Basil!
{four} if you were in a band, what kind of music would you play? Ha, that is a good question... hmm probably country!
{five} if you could have personally witnessed one historical event, which one would it be? Oh I don't know, maybe the Titanic (wow sorry for the depressing event) I loved the movie and it would have been neat to be on it (not at the end, of course!)
{six} if you could go back to school, what would you study? Definitely some kind of Web Design. My last rotation at work was in Electronic Prepress and working with InDesign, Photoshop and all of those programs was so interesting!
{seven} if you could go to one sporting event, all expenses paid, which one would you see? Definitely the Super Bowl! How cool would that be?!
{eight} do you drive an automatic or a manual? Automatic. Sweeter is trying to teach me how to drive a manual and I have some weird complex against it. I think that if I had to, I would drive it, otherwise, I prefer automatic...at this point in time.
{nine} are you comfortable speaking in front of people? Yes and no. The more I do it, the more comfortable I am. Since I am out of practice right now, I am sure that I would be so nervous.
{ten} have you ever experienced an earthquake? Yes...I remember I was at my house and my Aunt was asleep in my bed and I was sitting at the end of it and all of a sudden I felt the bed shake. I thought she was moving around and didn't think anything of it, and then it happened 2 more times! I woke up in the morning and found out that we had an Earthquake...it was soo surreal!

Kiss Me One Time

...Two Times!

Sweeter and I can get into these moods where we act very silly with each other.

I will tell him to kiss me one time and he does and he follows suit and demands two more:-) this can go on and on and on!

Something else that we do...well Sweeter does (and I think it is hilarious and I wish that in was as good at it as he is) is that when a popular song comes on, or one is stuck in his head, he changes the lyrics to be of something we are doing at that moment...or he changes the words to be all about me (well he says "Sweeter") and I almost fall on the floor laughing every time he does it! 

I love it!!

Something else that just makes me smile is...

A couple of weeks ago, we read the 5 love languages and we both really enjoyed the insight that came from the book. Yeah maybe we are making fun, but we do this thing now when we want something we say what love language it fills and say that that is our love language. For example, as I have said in the past, I am pretty small compared to him and he loves to just pick me up and toss me around or hold me. So whenever we are trying to do something, he will scoop me up and throw me on our bed and hold me really tint and say, "but Sweeter, I'm physical touch" (and of course he says it in the cutest voice you ever heard so you just can't resist.)

What is it with our men that just melts our hearts!? 

They are just way too charming for their own good;-)

I love our little games and silly things that we do together to mix things up a bit and the little quarks that makes our relationship unique and special.

Do you ladies have any fun things that you do ONLY with your man??

Now I have one more question for you all...

Do you and your honey kiss a lot? I posed this question to Sweeter the other say and now I pose it to you...baring all exceptions, (i.e. Your man is on deployment, or you are in a long distance relationship) how many times (on average) do you think that you and your honey Kiss per day?

less than 5 times per day, more than 50!?

What do you think?

and what do you think about kissing in public and PDA??

Just something to think about on this fine, fine Wednesday!

Enjoy your days and your reads and I hope you all enjoy your Hump Day!

Supurb Customer Service...

...Nawt!

For the Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Weekend I bought a cute dress from Nordstrom.

The dress fit me great in the fitting room, the zipper was a little funny but it worked just fine so we bought the dress.

I convinced Sweeter that it was okay to buy it because I would wear it to one of the weddings we were going to before the shower. He said it was fine.

Two weekends ago, we went to a wedding and I went to put the dress on and I could not zip it! I was trying and Sweeter was trying to zip it, everything...nothing worked! (mind you, there was plenty of room in the dress and would have been able to zip if the zipper wasn't coming apart of the dress)

So, I went shopping with a friend of mine and we went to Nordstrom so I could return the dress, or exchange it.  I brought it up to the dress department and I put it on the counter and I said,  "I tried it on in the store and it worked fine and when I went to wear it the zipper was sticky and it wouldn't zip up."

The Nordstrom Associate looks at the size (and sees that it was a 2) and goes, "Yeah, not many people can wear a 2..." and I turned beet red and was shocked that she said that to me!

My friend sees that I am in shock and turning red and being embarrassed and she said, "Just to clear the air, she is a 2" 

The Associate, now embarrassed said, "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I should really watch what I say..." and trying to make up for it says, "I just know that I can't fit into a 2..." blah blah blah!

Oh my gosh! Can you believe that! It is funny now, in hindsight, but in the moment I was shocked and pretty much dumbfounded!

I hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday and I wish for everyone to fit into their skinny jeans today (well, and every day!) :-)

A Monday Post

I have not been keeping up with these daily posts and I do miss them!

I decided to do this Meet Me On Monday!

Enjoy and I hope you all have a great Monday!

1.  Crunchy or soft tacos?

Honestly, I love crunchy, so that is why I order when we go out to eat, but when we eat in, we make soft

2.  Do you scrapbook?

I love love love to scrapbook! I scrapbook everything!

I am going to start our Engagement Scrapbook this week!

I am really excited!

3.  Do you take any daily medications?

 This is a weird question...

4.  What is your favorite sound?

 Birds

Weird, I know

We just got a bird clock and I love love love it!

5.  Where were you born?

Palm Springs, CA

The Shower

I am getting really excited for my Bridal Shower & Bachelorette Party!

In a couple of weeks I am having the party and shower that my Bridesmaids are throwing for me.

I am so super excited!!

It will be a fun filled weekend of Wine Tasting, great friends and my beautiful family!

I am just so excited!

No boys allowed! I am looking forward to the girl time!

Now some of Sweeter's Mom's friends want to throw Sweeter and I a shower and with that my Mom now wants to throw another shower! Oh my!

What's hard about all of this is that I don't live close to where these showers are located...but we are excited for these two other showers because they will be co-ed so Sweeter can be there too!

So how many showers did you all have?

What is typical?

I am so curious!

We are very excited because we are only 66 days away from the big day!

I hope you all have a great Thursday!!

I hope this doesn't happen...

....to me, or anyone!

{And I also hope nothing like this did happen to you!}

How terrible!

And I hate to say...

...I laughed when I saw this!

I am not sure if my laughter was out of horror or just me being a terrible person, but...

oh man!

Enjoy your weekend!

RIP Shirley Baracuda

My very first car.

My only car.

On Monday I was in a rather serious car accident.

I have never been in a big accident before.

Basically I was pulling out of my driveway onto a busier street to get to work. It is a blind turn so I cannot tell you how many times it has been a close call in the past.

Well, I was pulling out and I saw a car coming so I stopped and waited. I look both ways again and I didn't see anyone coming so I started inching out to turn and the next thing I knew I was screaming because the airbags deployed and my car was turned the opposite direction that I was going.

The entire front end of my car was ripped off and I had a hard time opening my door, well actually, all of the doors.

I tried to turn my car back on and when I turned on the ignition, it sounded like I was revving the engine, it wouldn't move.

I got out of the car and went to talk to the other driver. He didn't speak much to me, and then the police arrived. About 4 police cars came, a firetruck and an ambulance arrived shortly after. The firemen took my vitals and said that I was ok. I was just in shock.

From the airbag deploying and the loud sound and the pressure hit me in the side of the head and made it so I had trouble hearing and my neck was feeling a bit tight. The firemen said that my vitals looked fine but to keep an eye on everything and go to the doctor if I needed to later in the day, once the adrenaline wore off. (Thank God Shirley has side airbags because my head would have hit the window and I would have had more physical damage than I do now)

In the meantime, Sweeter had gotten to work and turned right around. The police had to move  Shirley out of the middle of the road and couldn't so they had to push her :-(

I took pictures and the rest of the time was a huge haze. A tow truck took both of our cars because they were deemed undriveable.

Sweeter arrived and he helped me with the rest. The police did a lot of talking to him because they said that I was likely in a bit of shock and that I may forget certain things, like where Shirley was being taken.

We also noticed that the jacket that I was wearing was ripped. It was the first time I was wearing the jacket and we were both very confused as to how the jacket had ripped...

Sweeter took me back inside and I called insurance and Enterprise to get a car rented.

He then took me to work - I know, I went to work?! If I had stayed home I would have driven myself crazy! It was to get my mind off of everything.

He picked me up at 3:30 and took me to Urgent Care. As the day had progressed, I started to feel the aches and pains and wanted to get some XRays and get checked out.

After 3 hours in Urgent Care, I came out with a few pain medicine shots, a soft collar neck brace, some prescriptions and a grumbly tummy. We got my prescriptions filled and then headed to get something to eat.

On Tuesday, I decided not to go to work because the Doctor had given me strong pain meds that prohibited me from driving. I rested in bed all day and just relaxed. I couldn't do too much moving.

I found out that both cars were totaled. I had a feeling that that was the case but it was still very hard to hear. I almost cried on the phone to the insurance adjuster :-( Apparently there was more than $17000 worth of damages to just my car, so insurance has decided to cut their losses and total my car :-( It was so sad!!

I got a Chevy Malibu as a rental car and I drove to the lot where my car was towed and I got all of my things out of it. When I opened the driver's side door I noticed that my seat was ripped. After a closer examination, I noticed that there was an airbag in my seat and that also deployed...that must have been what ripped my jacket!  It was very sad to say my last goodbye to Shirley, but it had to be done... :-(

Anyway, now I sit here writing this post, every hour noticing a new ache or pain, wearing my soft collar and catching up on my shows.

This weekend, Sweeter and I will be test driving cars...we are looking for something safe (with lots of airbags :-) ha!) and gets good gas mileage....

What do you all recommend??

I hope your week is going well and I hope you all have safe cars to drive in.

Remember never to go to bed angry and to always kiss good night.

SO Grateful

Yesterday did not turn into a Merry Monday.

For reasons I am not ready to share.

I just wanted to say that I am very grateful for the new friends that Sweeter and I have made some great friends here.

They heard about my hard day and they sent me "thinking of you" flowers and they were sitting at my front door when I got home last night.

It is amazing how in a time of upset, people come through and make you feel special, loved and thought about.

I hope that this Tuesday is better then yesterday's Monday.

Love

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
― Laozi

What a beautiful quote!
I wish you all a beautiful (and dry) Monday!

Whatever Wednesday

 I was reading over at West Sac Honey and I thought this post was great!! 

I hope you don't mind that I copied it, Jenn!

A. Age: 23

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore you dislike: Dishes!

D. Dogs: N/A Sweeter really wants a husky..when we have a place with a back yard!

E. Essential start to your day: Radio

F. Favorite color: Purple

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5'5"

I. Instruments you play(ed): the recorder? :-)

J. Job title: Management Associate

K. Kids: None now or int he near future

L. Live: California

M. Mom’s name: Andria

N. Nicknames: Sweeter, Friend, Tache

O. Overnight hospital stays: None

P. Pet peeves: When people drag their feet...

Q. Quote from a movie: Honestly, I don't watch too many movies

R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: Sam, 12 & Daniel 10

T. Time you wake up: During this rotation-6:00am

U. Underwear: I love lacy panties

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Mushrooms and Olives (if that is a vegetable)

W.What makes you run late: I think things will take less time than they actually do!

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, Ankles, Hands

Y. Yummy food you make: I love to to make and eat my hamburgers...I write a post about them int he near future

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Penguins!  

Gifts, Gifts and More Gifts!

Hello Lovely Blogging World! 

I promise that I have not fallen off of the face of the Earth

...I am slowly getting a grip and I am back, slowly but surely!

I am at the stage now in the wedding planning to be thinking about gifts

Gifts for the Maid of Honor

Gifts for the Bridesmaids

Gifts for my Parents

Gifts for Sweeter's Parents

Gifts for Junior Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

Eek, I need some help and fast! :-)

(And of course, Sweeter has already gotten his gifts...what a good man I have on my hands!!)

Please help me out with some ideas! 

I would greatly appreciate it!

I hope you all had a great Monday!

Be Yourself

“Be yourself. Who else is better qualified?” 

― Frank J. Giblin II

I got this quote in my email and I fell in love!

What a great way to start your Friday!

Have a great day! 

And happy happy Friday! 

Gorilla Pod

This past weekend, Sweeter and I went hiking on Palomar Mountain.

We weren't sure what to expect, we just knew that we wanted to get outside and have an adventure!

And adventure is what we had!

We were driving up the mountain to find our trail and we see snow on the ground!

Snow, in March, in San Diego?!

What?!

And as we climbed, we came across more and more snow!

Oh boy!

We were obviously unprepared for the snow...

Especially since Sweeter was wearing his five-fingers! Ha!

We get up to the trail head that we wanted and we find out that the trail name is very sentimental to us!

My future last name!

What a co-inky-dink!

Now on to the good stuff....

I love to take pictures

I love pictures!

A couple of weeks back, we were in REI and we bought a Gorilla Pod.

We haven't really had the chance to use it until this hike.

And it was a God send!

We ended up taking about 130 pictures and a bunch of them were timed and using the Gorilla Pod!

I love this little gadget and I definitely recommend i!

Its legs can be wrapped around anything

and it looks like you have your own personal paparazzi following you around!

It is a great little gadget!

We just had a blast!

I wish you all a happy Thursday!

I Pitty the Foooooooooll....

I love this song!!

I think that it is so funny and it always makes smile!

Every time I hear it, I want to dance around and sing at the top of my lungs!

Does this song have the same effect on anyone else?!

Happy Hump Day!

Chicken in the Crock Pot

I made a very yummy dinner in our crock pot and I would like to share.

I have been very hesitant to using the Crock Pot because the first time I used it, I would say 5 years ago now , the meal was terrible!! And the second time, which was a couple of weeks ago, we pretty much used it just to keep the chili warm.

So, last night, we made chicken burritos. We buy the chicken from Costco, so it is already separated in 2 breasts per package. I transferred the chicken into a ziplock bag and poured McCormick taco seasoning into the bag and coated the chicken. Once the chicken was coated I browned the chicken for 4 minutes on each side, to really seal in the taco seasoning flavor.

After the chicken was browned, I put the chicken in the crock pot. I covered the chicken with a jar of Pace salsa. I then sprinkled some chili flakes and poured some Tapatio into the mix. I kind of mixed it all up making sure to keep the chicken covered.

I let the chicken cook for about 4 hours. 3 hours into the process, I cut up red and green bell peppers and some onions and just laid them on top of the mixture to steam them a bit and give them some of the chicken flavor.

Meanwhile, we made brown rice, and added onions, salt, garlic powder and pinto beans (we prefer black, but we didn't have any in the cabinet). We grated cheese and waited for the chicken to be done.

Like I said, I cooked it for about 4 hours on high heat. When I checked on line for a time to cook chicken it said that if you cook it on high, it would be done cooking in about 1.5 hours.

We made burritos and they were delicious! The chicken just fell apart! We shredded it with 2 forks, we didn't even need a knife! Oh my! We didn't add any more salsa to the burritos because there was a lot of sauce in the crock pot, so we just used that.

Oh my, I am now sad that I gave Sweeter all of the leftovers for lunch today ;-)

Ingredients 

(of course, you can substitute any of these ingredients):

2 Chicken Breast

1 Package of McCormick Taco Seasoning

1 12oz Jar of Pace Salsa (Medium)

Chili Flakes (to your desired heat preference)

Tapatio (to your desired heat preference)

1/2 of an Onion (thick slices)

Red and Green Bell Peppers (thick slices)

Brown Rice

Beans (of your choice)

1/3 Onion (Diced)

Salt

Garlic Powder

Tortillas

Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese

(Please forgive my lack of measurements...I learned to cook just by using the eye and tasting everything, so I don't really measure too much - and also, it is just one more thing to have to clean!)

Happy Thursday!

The Passage- The Old Testament

Sweeter and I have chosen the verses that we want to be read during our wedding ceremony.

We decided to chose a verse from the Old Testament and the New Testament and we have asked two people very close to us to read them.

For the Old Testament verse we decided to have Sweeter's cousin read Song of Songs: 2:8-10, 14, 16a; 8: 6-7a

 

A reading from the Song of Songs

Hark! My lover-here he comes

Springing across the mountains,

Leaping across the hills

My lover is like a gazelle

Or a young stag.

Here he stands behind our wall,

Gazing through the windows,

Peering through the lattices.

My lover speaks; he says to me,

“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!

“O my dove in the clefts of the rock,

In the secret recesses of the cliff,

Let me see you,

Let me hear your voice,

For your voice is sweet,

And you are lovely.”

My lover belongs to me and I to him.

He says to me:

“Set me as a seal on your heart,

As a seal on your arm;

For stern as death is love,

Relentless as the nether-world is devotion;

Its flames are a blazing fire.

Deep waters cannot quench love,

Nor floods sweep it away.”

The word of the Lord.

We are very excited to have Sweeter's cousin read this during our ceremony!

It is a beautiful quote and we are getting so excited that time is going so quickly!

Yay!

Sweeter's Favorite

It was Sweeter's Birthday on Thursday!

On Saturday we celebrated and I made his favorite meal, Penne with Beef and Arugula.

It is a Giada recipe and I definitely recommend making it!

Oh my it is delicious and it came out great!

image

I was very proud of us! 

Enjoy!

Buon Appetito!