We had a mind blowing pre-holiday meal at Cesarina. If you haven’t been there, put it on your to-do list. They greeted up with bubbly and warm bread. We dove into that while we waited for our crispy octopus with romesco, capers, red onions and almonds. For the main course, Pappardelle with marscapone and truffle sauce topped with guanciale. parm and cracked black pepper. You guys, it’s the best pasta dish in the universe.
The night before Easter Shawna and I stayed up making a scavenger hunt for the girls’ Easter baskets. How did it turn out? Let’s just say that they would most likely not make it out of an escape room on their own.
We also hid eggs for them to find. We hid them so well that we didn’t find two of them for weeks.
We spent the morning dreaming about running down to Cabo for a couple of nights, spending the days on Medano beach eating fresh fish and sipping margaritas. Real life has us doing laundry, cleaning fish tanks and getting groceries, good times.
It’s been a busy summer so far. My classroom had an art show focusing on Henri Matisse’s Scissor art.
We went to the fair and luckily didn’t leave with fish this time. The two goldfish from last years fair are still living their best life, sigh.
The girls dragged us on the Zipper which I had horrible memories from childhood (thanks Jess) and I am happy to report that it’s not scary anymore. That evening Old Dominion was playing and we were lucky enough to sneak up on their rehearsal.
While the girls were riding rides, we took advantage of some wine tasting and a funnel cake hot dog.
The only thing that would’ve made it better was if it were beef and not chicken.
We did one last ride before calling it, it was a school night.
A day of non stop country music with a backdrop of palm trees swaying in harmony. That is a glimpse of what Boots in the Park at waterfront looks like. As soon as we heard Thomas Rhett was going to headline Boots in the Park this Spring we had tickets that afternoon. The festival lineup also featured his daddy, Rhett Atkins, Scotty McCreery, LOCASH and Lee Brice. VIP tickets are the only way to go for this festival because it’s a separate area with it’s own amenities, bathrooms and most importantly benches to sit on because age.
We arrived early planning out where we wanted to park ourselves for the day while we were in line.
We were one of the firsts in the VIP section.
If we had to complain about VIP it would be the lack of food and drink options, but we survived.
While we were sitting and chatting a lady came up to us and asked us if we wanted to meet Rhett Atkins.
We replied with an obvious “yes”.
Our phones weren’t allowed backstage… He seemed like a nice guy and we shared a few laughs.
Rhett was a good story teller and shared personal anecdotes between songs. He told us about the time Luke Bryan went to his hotel room in nothing but his boxers to tell him that he came up with sure fire hit song.
This is that song….
He’s written a lot of songs for other artists such as Blake Shelton and Jon Pardi. He told us backstage that his four year old son might join him on stage for a song. Sure enough at the end of his set, his son came out and sang the old classic “the Itsy Bitsy Spider” and the crowd went wild.
On our way to get a refill we ran into our radio morning show hosts. I listen to Jon and Tammy every morning so we had to get a picture.
As the sun started to go down, Lee Brice took the stage.
And he sang all of our favorites including Rumor.
Next up was not so little Scotty McCreery whom we saw at Boots in the Park in 2019 with Old Dominion. I was eager to hear his latest song, Cab in a Solo.
A drone show lit up the sky.
Finally, the man of the match. Thomas Rhett came out and started the show with one of my personal favorites, Vacation.
His entire performance was stellar. He played all of his hits and talked about how he re-did “Heads Carolina” with Cole Swindel, which I did not know.
It was such a good day with my love and we can’t wait to see Thomas Rhett again.
To say that we have been taking advantage of our SeaWorld passes is an understatement. I think we have been about four times in the past two months and we have done it ALL. Food, shows, rides, drinks….you name it, we’ve done it. Averi has gone from afraid of rollercoasters to riding them on repeat. I knew that she had my thrill DNA somewhere inside of her. Now she is bummed because she isn’t tall enough for the scarier rides.
Averi’s favorite ride was the water ride.
Sound on.
However, once she braved Manta, the other roller coaster that she is tall enough for and it doesn’t have loopty loops, is now her favorite ride.
Between rides we take food breaks to watch a show.
The skyride is perfect for a cool down break.
Sometimes I say “yes” to games and face paint but in return they have to sit with me and listen to some music.
BUT….my most favorite thing to do at SeaWorld is riding Emperor. The front row is the best, shoes off is even better but it you want to feel like you are really flying through the air, eyes closed and hands up.
Here you go….
I have such a good time hanging out with my girls on those sunny, (okay so it hasn’t been sunny in weeks, sigh) Saturdays.
The irony of my blogs name….Finding time to blog has become an art to say the least. It’s been 55 days since I last posted here, not that I’m counting. I will feel my guilt tug at me and consider sitting down to tell y’all about what we ate or how we are all getting older…. but then I start to feel more guilty and just don’t…I am sure there is a therapist reading this with BIG thoughts.
In reality, I am back in the classroom and just wrapped up DRDP (Desired Results Developmental Profile) to prepare for conferences.
And now that is done, and I am ready to catch you up. Even though it’s been some days since we last chatted, I do remember saying that I was going to make a few of Jet Tila’s recipes out of his cookbook….and I did.
Obviously it was delicious as we knew it would be.
Shawna turned the big 49 and we took ourselves to Vegas to celebrate. Casey and Aileen gifted us a stay at the Golden Nugget so that is just what we did. We LOVE Downtown Vegas. Sure the big hotels with the fancy shit and $25 buy-ins might look nice, but dammit it’s not worth it. (insert Ted Lasso’s voice) They are great for certain shows and concerts but I promise you, the fun and the food is just as good downtown. The end.
Fun story happened minutes after this picture was taken. We were sitting at a great table outside ready to watch a country (cover) band that we quite enjoy. A man approached our table and said “I’ll give you $300 for your table.” Shawna replied with a “fuck you.” I mean it’s Vegas you guys….Then he pulled out $300 and she said, “babe, grab your shit, we are moving!” And that is how I saw my first ever bubbly vending machine.
We took that money and ran….to a pool table and sipped some bubbly with someone who could have been Lil’ John, and didn’t do half bad on the Roulette table.
Oh, I almost forgot Dancing Chucky, you’re welcome.
We also saw the Padre’s play, they lost but the food and weather were winners.
The girls like to make TikTok videos…. but just for us (no they don’t have SM or post this shit..over my dead body.) Anyhow, they liked this one.
We spent Easter Sunday at SeaWorld, we have SoCal passes and can go back and back and back until Averi conquers a roller coaster, little scaredy cat…Definitely not my DNA.
The only plus is that she holds all our stuff while we ride the fun ones.
It’s a phase right?
I think that brings us up to April. I hope to see you guys sooner than 55 days…Cheers!
Winter is not my jam. Snow, cold, rain, wet, all of the above, I don’t love….you know? However, the girls are fond of the rain and especially the snow. So to get it out of their systems, we had a snow day.
We drove far enough East until we hit snow and we let them run free.
After some snow angels, little snowmen and a lot of exploring….
A couple of hours later, they had had enough.
Perfect little snowy escape.
I much prefer to sit in the sun with a book…cat sometimes included.
Oh and off topic, if you are looking for a new cookbook that you’ll want to cook your entire way through, this is it.
Another one that I am obsessed with right now is this.
The girls are on a Korean BBQ/Bulgogi/dumpling kick so this book has done the work for our weekly dinner plans.
I am making a few of Jet’s recipes this week, I will report back.
We kicked off the spooky season with my first visit to Knott’s Scary Farm.
We went straight to an amazing looking roller coaster. The lights were all lit up and it looked like a boardwalk. The ride was so fun we did it multiple times. The downside, the exit took us into clown alley. Yes, I know that I am an adult, but I have an irrational fear of clowns…sigh, I am not proud. It took all that I had to not look them, even when they came running at me head on…Otherwise I would have cried.
We had a such good time, rides at night are just better. Parts of the park were very dark and creatures of all sorts would follow us around breathing down our necks and jump out at us. A lot of them had on shoes with metal taps so when they ran and slid at you, it made an awful sound..basically scaring the shit out of us at every corner we turned.
We were walking through a very dark area with fog machines clouding our path when we realized why so many people run in the wrong direction in horror films. You know how we scream at those idiots? Well, we were them…We had a hard time figuring out where we were and where we were headed. If was legit in danger, I would have just fell to the ground and succumbed to my death.
However, it was fun and definitely something to do again.
The girls had fun at the store trying on masks.
We hit the pumpkin patch and we made it easy on ourselves this year. We went to one in Temecula, gave the girls some money, grabbed a glass of wine, and hung out while they did all of the things. Petting zoo, panning for gems, snow cones and all of the other shit that is a waste of money.
We no longer buy our pumpkins at the actual patch which saves a lot of money. We just grab them at a local store on our way home, the girls don’t care.
Then we carve them and then they die. {the pumpkins, not the girls.}
Luckily we got a few photos of our artistry before they wilted 20 minutes later.
The next day we made Oreo bats and I realized that the girls are almost too old for these food crafts. They just want to eat the ingredients rather than create. However, I MADE THEM HAVE FUN!
These are super simple using only 3 ingredients.
Oreos, bite size Reese’s and candy eye balls. We used the oreo filling as the glue for the wings and the eyes. Pop them into the fridge for 10 minutes to set or don’t and just eat them right away.
I think they turned out cute!
The girls have their costumes and we are excited to take them out Monday night, and then go right home to inspect their candy! {aka take all the good stuff}
The Lion King was playing for a few weeks at the San Diego Civic Center. Since we have an avid Lion King fan, I thought it would be a fun thing to do. I have only heard great things about the show so I for one was excited. The older girls however, were not and they originally said that they would rather stay home. So we decided just Aves and I would go, of course after the tickets were bought, they changed their minds. By that time it was too late, the seats were slim picking.
After dinner and on a school night, Averi and I headed downtown. After we found are seats we had to go back up to stock up on sweets and a drink.
Averi got all sorts of compliments on her dress.
The opening moments of the show were breathtaking. The music and life size animal puppets were incredible. As the African drums filled the room a herd of galloping gazelle make their way down the aisles followed by rhinos with flocks of birds perched on their horns. They were followed by thudding elephants also making their way to the stage. Giraffes came out on the stage as a yellow-orange glowing sunrise filled the stage all while a leopard made it’s away around the animals.
All of the characters were played by fantastic actors. The hornbill Zazu was comedic perfection and the young Simba was outstanding.
It was a great show.
The second act was a little slower, more talking, less singing. Averi knows every word to the show so if something was off, I heard about it. Zazu would joke, “this isn’t the cartoon!” Which made the adults laugh and the children question why.
Averi started getting tired towards then end, it was past her bedtime. We got home by 10:30 and she crashed as soon as she hit her bed.
It was a great time and I am forcing all the girls to go to the next show.
Homemade remoulade/tarter sauce or your favorite store bought brand.
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce until smooth.
In a medium bowl, lightly toss the crabmeat with the cracker crumbs. Gently fold in the mayonnaise mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Scoop the crab mixture into eight 1/3-cup mounds; lightly pack into 8 patties, about 1 1/2 inches thick. In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook over moderately high heat until deeply golden and heated through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the crab cakes to plates and serve with lemon wedges.
These can be made ahead, formed or not, for up to a day.
Last week I found myself at home instead of teaching a cooking class. That lead me to cook in my free time, obviously. Although I don’t have much photo proof to show you, I did indeed make some delicious food. Pavlovas with lemon curd, scallops with an herb chili oil, esquites (Mexican street corn salad) and crab cakes with a remoulade.
The crab cake recipe that I use (Andrew Zimmern) is the only one I need, ever. Super simple ingredients, not loaded with filler, it lets the crab shine. It’s delish!
Shawna and I hit the Del Mar races. I had some luck on my side… finally.
Winner!
It was a fun day. The weather perfect, the views even better.
Our weather has been a consistent 77-80 degrees with humidity. Leaving us craving water in all forms.
We went to Mission Bay and the Plunge at Mission beach and then back to the bay. Seeking refuge in bodies of water.
I think it’s almost time for an adult poolside day. One where I’m not lugging snacks, chairs, boogie boards, water bottles and everything else that comes along with children. More like a good book and an adult beverage!
The Art of Thyming 