Birthday Pics ...

Fun Birthday!

Well ... I was going to post some amazing pictures from all of my birthday festivities but the stink'n computer keeps saying, "connection interrupted ..." So ... you'll have to wait for the pics. However, the week has been amazing, despite a small case of the sniffles and sneezes. Tuesday night Ryan and I got to go for a night on the town, cruising in no less than a (borrowed) CLK Mercedes Convertible : ) We cruised Ventura until 7:15, at which point we dined at the Watermark -- which I highly recommend. Wednesday (the actual bday), we took a family trip to the Santa Barbarbara Museum of Art. The kids were facinated and it was a very fun but mellow outing. Wednesday night my sisters and mom took me out for sushi and some good laughs : ) AND ... this weekend I am heading down to L.A. to stay with a good friend for a few days -- SOLO! I will miss my husband and girls like crazy but I am so looking forward to the quiet train (YES -- I'M TAKING THE TRAIN) ride and weekend without meal making and dish cleaning : ) Off I go ...

Things we use ...

So last night I was putting the dishes away and, well, you know when you try to squeeze those everyday-use serving utensils back into the utensils drawer and inevitably SOMETHING is stuck in the back of the drawer, preventing it from closing? And I say SOMETHING because you haven't looked in the back of the drawer for um ... let's just say 5 years and so you really don't know what useful items might be back there -- clogging up the drawer mechanics. SO ... I proceeded to empty and empty and empty that little drawer and Oh My Gosh! I filled an entire grocery bag worth of unused utensils ... pie servers (?), a baster, a boiled egg slicer ... hahaha, I just have to laugh thinking about it. Okay -- so what is in the drawer now? Everthing that I do in fact use: 2 spatuals, 2 wooden spoons, wine bottle opener (!), salad tongs and 2 can openers. Back to the basics.

Hanging On

Just today I cleaned out yet another drawer of "stuff" that is never used but that I have kept around since (well, in this case) almost 8 years. Yep. Wedding registry gifts are somehow difficult to part with. Whoever I was when I picked out those satinny blue and off-white doily placemats ... well, that girl is gone. Not sure how those things ever made it on the registry -- but they did and I think I used them all of ... um ... 2 times. So, off they go to the thrift store. Still, I'm not sure what comfort was brought to me by hanging onto those ugly things. Today I was more than ready to part with them.