Pancakes

The hubby officially has weekends again and for the first time in all the years we have been married, we have a Saturday together. Long story short, he's been working two jobs and I have been looking forward to some time with him for such a long time. In honor of his special day, I made one of his favorites for breakfast - pancakes.

I love me some homemade pancakes. It's the same recipe I always use, see the recipe here!

Deezy - Traditional Iranian Dish

This past Friday (yes, my post is extremely late...it's already Wednesday) was the 6th anniversary of knowing my husband - August 16th was the first day we met :) I remember that day for so many reasons and 6 years later, it still feels like yesterday. We had a short (I say short because we both got home at 8:30 that night) dinner date and got one of my favorite foods ever at this new joint (Hen House Grill) that opened up near our house. Actually it's been there for over a year now and we just never got around to going, haha! But oh my gosh, the food is fabulous. There is this one dish that we used to get during the summers when I was small and visiting Iran, called deezy. It's basically a stew of potatoes meat and beans, cooked in individual portions. You separate out the juice from the stew and eat it like soup and mash up the meat, beans and potatoes and eat that with bread. It may not sound that appetizing with the way I'm describing it, but believe me, something about the way it's prepared and cooked is so good (and I normally don't like stew) that I crave it and have been craving it for some time now.  Craving it in this style...it's a dish that most can make at home, but not this way! I think for me, deezy is somewhat nostalgic, reminding me of my summers with my family back in Iran sitting by a fountain or river having deezy with handfuls of freshly baked bread, laughing and telling stories late into the night. 

Don't mind the pony clamps, its so one could handle the metal pots. 

So, I had flashbacks of summers ago and enjoyed the deezy so much. I was hoping that I would get a chance to have it for the first time with my hubby in Iran, but this is good enough :) 6 years and counting!

Here's a link I found that talks about deezy (also known as ab-goosht) for those interested: Deezy explained.

I'm hungry...this totally beats the PB&J sandwich I had today!!!

Vacation Fun

Surprisingly i'm still exhausted from my mini break last week.  What is it about vacations that make you more tired at the end of them.  Isn't the whole point of a vacation to get some rest and relaxation?  It seems every time I take a break from school/work, it's harder to get back into it.  And, well, it's Monday, and I hate Mondays.  But on a happier note, i'm only 4 days away from another weekend :D haha!
 
Here are a few snippets from last last weekend.   

Coffee date with my mum at Le Pain Quotidien :)

 

We did some quick shopping and found some cute things!! Check out her new bangles :) I'm so jealous she can fit into bangles....

My mom has a love for elephants.  She has a small collection of elephant figurines, and I think this necklace adds perfectly to her collection :)

The hubby and I took a short trip to the beach last Tuesday.  It was really lovely to finally have some time together.  It's been a while and as with all great things, too short! One of my favorite beaches is Corona Del Mar.  The view from the top of the cliff is amazing and we got lucky with wonderful weather! 

Coffee and Sprinkles Cupcakes

Cinnamon sugar and my favorite, pumpkin.

 

 

 

A small hint of a rainbow made its way across the sky :)

Grilled chicken with mediterranean salad from Pita Grill.  It's was spicy, but oh so good.

 

 My husbands niece and nephew left last Monday and my in-laws house was filled with their toys.  The toys had to be sorted back into their respective bins (Legos in one, cars in another, blocks in their box...) before they could be put away, but somehow the men got distracted with "organizing" and ended up playing.  The next hour and half of the evening was spent playing with Legos.

I made a pretty little garden, while trying to sort out the cars and blocks from the legos :D

that was then attacked by a fighter jet/machine thingy...sad day for my pretty garden...sigh, MEN!

 

My Weekend

I spent the weekend running errands, "cleaning" the house, doing laundry, and shopping :D of course! I mean, it wouldn't be a MY weekend if there wasn't shopping involved.  This time it was for my balcony.  Time for my mini garden to be spruced up in time for Nooruz (you know, Persian new year...first day of spring).

I did a complete overhaul of my flowers in some of the pots after a seriously disgusting infestation of ants. They had built a nest in my flower pot. I mean, the nerve! Who do they think they are and how dare they take over my soil and flowers!!!  It was so bad, there was a line of them from one side of the balcony to the pots and when I would water the pots, they would overflow out...and ya, well, you get the picture. YUCK!

Anyways...here are some pix from my weekend, and balcony pictures to come soon :)

So eeny mini cute!

Oh the blue was so beautiful...I would have/should have bought them all!!

 Amazing colors for a snapdragon.

So, we had crazy rain storm the night before that pretty much came out of nowhere.  Typical SoCal weather.  So, when I saw these flowers, I was amazed.  They always say that the first rain after a while is very acidic, but here is the proof!  See the discoloration on these morning glory's? The yellow tinge is the effect of acid rain.  Biology in action!

Babies are seat belted in :) and ready to come home! Yay!

This was the cutest perfume bottle.  Smell was okay :S

  If you've never had these, you are missing out.  Get to Costco now!

My Weekend

I hate Mondays and I especially hate this one because I didn't do anything productive this past weekend no thanks to Downton Abbey and I didn't get through Season 3 and it's killing me and all I want to do right now is go home and watch it.  I'm having dreams about it...it's addicting...it's terrible...my brain is on a Downton Abbey high. 

I went out for a bit on Saturday to see some friends and made a quick stop at my favorite store.  It really rejuvenates me, even if I don't buy anything.  Then I raced home and spent the next 6 hours getting through season 1 and then spent all day Sunday watching season 2.  I tried to do things while I was watching it, like fold laundry, but it's one of those shows that I really have to pay attention to because they all speak in code.  God...what is with these British! And, Mary will you marry Matthew already...GEEZ!   

And, I made the mistake of wikipediaing the show to get the cast names down in the beginning, and what do you know...spoiler alert.  Now, as I watch the show, I know who's going to marry who, who dies and so forth and it's really upsetting.  Damn you Wikipedia.

Here are some pictures of really cute pieces I found at TJMaxx that I would totally have bought had I had the space :) My hubby's lucky we live in a tiny place.

Totally a piece for a library bookshelf.  

 

Oh...I want these blue cups!

 

 

Wouldn't these large candle "lamps" be adorable in a garden?

 

 I really love this table, especially the cute curled legs.  I think it would look adorable in a girls room or even in a study :) Maybe painted white??

Oh teal...how I love thee!

 My new obsession: ceramic/porcelain filigree jars.  Me totally wants one in white and teal.