Hi!
I hope everyone has had a great Thursday. I can’t complain because a day can never be all that bad when you get a manicure! Yay for having a gift certificate! 🙂
Ughh and then there was the Anthro sale!! I wasn’t going to get anything but I found the most amazing smelling bubble bath that was marked down from $40 to $7 (!!) so I just had to splurge. Its pomegranate with organic coconut oil and shea butter and is in one of those lovely, long old fashioned bottles. I’m such a girl sometimes…I love things that smell pretty (bubble bath and candles mainly!)—they make me very happy!
When I got home this afternoon it was storming like you wouldn’t even believe and I had wet nails so I just grabbed the first things I saw for a quick snack—
And then I headed over to my parent’s house. My brother’s three best friends stopped by to say hi and that was really nice. Tonight is their big senior night dinner and my mom was feeling very blue before the boys rang the doorbell. Feeling their hugs and seeing their goofy grins is the second best thing to having my brother back so its a bit of comfort to us all.
Its so crazy because Mikan just goes CRAZY when John’s friends come over now! He never gets like this…..when they came in today, he raced as fast as he could underneath the coffee table and then just laid there shaking. He did the same thing when all the boys were over after the service. Its like he recognizes John’s friends but doesn’t know where John is and that really freaks him out. Animals just have a sense of things like that.
Oh! And before dinner I opened SUCH a fun package from Miss Jo of England!!!! I can’t believe this package came from so far away just for me!
Jo, this was just amazing……I thank you from the bottom of my heart! As you all know, I love Europe and equally love European goodies. This care package was jam pack full of fun stuff….even cute nail polish! I immediately broke into one of the herbal teas—
And took a bite of the butterscotch chocolate bar!
Okay, I’m really not a fan of milk chocolate in general but this takes the cake. It was out of this world. I’ve never seen Green & Black’s butterscotch chocolate bars here and it was such a treat. The chocolate was undeniably creamy with little pieces of crunchy toffee. To die for. 🙂
My mom made an outstanding dinner tonight—spicy avocado shrimp with mediterranean orzo.
The recipe for the shrimp is from a past issue of Bon Appetit and this bottle of goodness played the starring role—
SO good for you!!!
As for the orzo, my mom just cooked the pasta and then tossed it with feta cheese and olives. Yummy and fluffy….I love orzo! Avocado and lime were served on the side to compliment the dish—it was perfecto. I had a splash of pinot grigio with my meal of course 🙂
Dessert was of course more butterscotch chocolate!
This is definitely the creamiest chocolate I’ve ever tasted; it melts right on your tongue!
I also had some Aveda tea (love this stuff) when I got home and started blogging.
I’m about to fold massive amounts of laundry and call it a day! See you in the morning!
Check out my restaurant review of Cafe Hey published in Creative Loafing today!
elliebelle
May 21, 2009 at 6:55 pmYou dinner looks AMAZING! And the sweet photo of your little kitty – oh my goodness, what a cutie. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!!!
Courtney (The Hungry Yogini
May 21, 2009 at 6:58 pmYour nails looks fabulous =) I need to get mine done too! They are looking pretty bad these days!
I’m so glad that John’s friends still stop by. Such a sweet gesture and a true testimony to John’s character. What sweet boys!
And I’m totally jealous of all of your Mom’s cooking. My mom can’t cook to save her life! I think that’s how I started loving cooking to begin with…I wanted something DELICIOUS to eat!
Night, girl!
Graze With Me
May 21, 2009 at 7:02 pmYour nails look beautiful and you just reminded me that I need to do laundry!
Dinner looks amazing, I’ve never heard of avocado oil…love avocados though 😉
brittany meenach
May 21, 2009 at 7:19 pmYour Mom is an amazing cook, guess it runs in the family. Nails look beautiful, anthro is way too dangerous for me. I awwed and squeeled when i saw the cutie patootie at the end of the entry. xo brit
Recipes for Creativity
May 21, 2009 at 7:22 pmEuropean chocolate is always so freaking good! Actually, all other countries seem to have better chocolate…Canada, New Zealand…what’s the deal with that? Anyways, lucky you and your nails look great.
Still Life in South America
May 21, 2009 at 7:26 pmWhat a thoughtful box from your friend! The butterscotch chocolate would totally be my thing too.
It must be so hard for animals not to understand why a loved one has left. Poor Mikan.
I find that folding laundry is so comforting. Have a sweet night.
Michelle
May 21, 2009 at 7:43 pmbuttercotch chocolate…there is a god….
Mara @ What's For Dinner?
May 21, 2009 at 7:51 pmOh man… now I know there’s an Anthro sale. I didn’t need to know that 🙂
Victoria
May 21, 2009 at 7:57 pmI wish I had your mom! Looks amazing. That butterscotch chocolate sounds wonderful. Enjoy!
spicygranola
May 21, 2009 at 8:01 pmI had some potato chips that had been cooked in avocado oil. They were really different and tasty. I’d love to know how to incorporate it into more meals.
Jenny
May 21, 2009 at 8:01 pmBeautiful nails, and what a sweet package!
Wow, your mom is one awesome cook, dinner looks amazing, I love shrimp! 🙂
Help Meghan Run
May 21, 2009 at 8:01 pmMmm! That shrimp looks amazing. 🙂 Enjoy.
www. HelpMeghanRun .com
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats
May 21, 2009 at 8:15 pmWhat a sweet little kitty 🙂 I LOVE Aveda tea – it’s got such an awesome taste as you gulp…you know what I mean?
Abby
May 21, 2009 at 8:18 pmFirst of all, thank you for such a great blog that I can actually relate to. (Because of that, I’ve actually started my own in hoping to become part of this great, veggie blogging community.) It’s nice to know there are others that care more about veggies and yoga than hot dogs and hangovers.
And your mother’s cooking looks amazing. My mom likes Ball Parks and anything covered in cheese. Needless to say, I went my own way once I was old enough to choose fruit over Fruit Loops. Consider yourself lucky…sigh…
Look forward to your posts everyday. Hang in there and remember that even if it doesn’t feel like it now, everything happens for a reason. Namaste!
Bec
May 21, 2009 at 8:18 pmHow sweet of your brothers friends to stop by for a visit, I am sure they are missing their friend on such a big night in their lives as well and seeing you guys probably helped them too!
lee
May 21, 2009 at 8:20 pmwhereeee in the world is the recipe fore that shrimp?!!
Matt
May 21, 2009 at 8:29 pmI wish your mom would come cook for me 🙂
Adi (oatonomy.com - repaired!)
May 21, 2009 at 8:32 pmI had no idea Aveda made tea! Interesting!
Great nails 🙂
Christina MINDFUL LIVING
May 21, 2009 at 9:27 pmnot a shrimp eater at all but i must say….that looks great!
Mary
May 21, 2009 at 9:37 pmahhh that chocolate looks FANTASTIC!!! I have always looked and Green & Black’s chocolate, wondering if it was good. Now, I should go buy some.
Erin
May 21, 2009 at 9:51 pmWow, Mom’s cooking is fierce. Everything she makes I want to eat. Tell her I said kudos.
Way cool of John’s friends. Way cool.
Um, butterscotch G&B choco? I think I’d maim and pillage for that.
magicanderson
May 21, 2009 at 9:54 pmI think that’s awesome that John’s friends visit. My nephew’s high school friends spent a lot of time with my sister & brother-in-law after my nephew died. It was soothing for them to be together, all feeling a great loss but knowing they love and miss the same person.
And the last pic? Just adorable, cats are the sweetest!
Caroline
May 21, 2009 at 10:42 pmOoh! I always love getting food goodies from foreign countries…such a treat!
HeatherBakes
May 21, 2009 at 10:47 pmOh no!!! Why did you tell me about the anthropologie sale?? Now I HAVE to go 🙂
Love the care package!
Leah @ Simply Fabulous
May 22, 2009 at 12:24 amYour nails look so pretty!!
I sent you an email, but what flavour did you get of the Sun Warrior? I’ve been looking into buying some. It’s quite expensive though.. do you think it’s worth the money?
Stef
May 22, 2009 at 12:46 amaww Mikey, so cute, he’s getting big!! It’s so nice of your bro’s friends to come by the house and visit with you all, I can’t imagine how your mom is struggling right now but it’s great she has so much support. LOVE the nails, show them off in all your pics 😉
Shannon (The Daily Balance)
May 22, 2009 at 3:30 amdinner looks delish and nails are fab! great night If I say so myself 😉
Christie @ BeadLuvah
May 22, 2009 at 3:58 amYour nails looks pretty and that package is so fun!!
I’m glad you were able to get some comfort from John’s friends today and I agree about Mikan, they do have a sixth sense about things.
Michelle Hisae
May 22, 2009 at 5:14 amMy boyfriend read me an article this morning, and I yelled “Jenna entered that!” It was about the Murphy-Goode contest! He thought it was cool that I read a blog of one of the contestants, haha. You should check out the article – it was in the NY Times! Good luck going forward. We all want you to get it…CA is just beautiful if I do say so myself. 🙂
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/fashion/21whiz.html
Megan
May 22, 2009 at 5:20 amMMM Those Shrimpies look delish!!! 😀
Brittany
May 22, 2009 at 6:44 amI love Aveda’s comforting tea as well. And European chocolate has to be the best! I’m jealous!!
Joanie @ The Bright Side
May 22, 2009 at 7:17 amYum! That shrimp looks so good! I’ll think we’ll have to have some sort of shrimp for dinner tonight. Wow, that was so sweet of Jo from England to send you all of those goodies. Have a great weekend!
Sarah
May 22, 2009 at 7:19 amOMG, I love butterscotch, so I’m sure that chocolate was unbelievable! Yummy dinner, I’m finally realizing the awesomeness that is avocadoes and I would like the use the oil too. Love the tea too!
Leanne
May 22, 2009 at 7:35 amThat shrimp looks amazing! And I’ve never tried orzo before, but I’m interested to buy it…
Nicole
May 22, 2009 at 7:56 amThat recipe looks amazing! I love shrimp!
Your nails look cute too!
And I have to say Mikey looks just like my kitty…every picture you post makes me think you’ve just taken one of my little guy!
Have a great day!
SnowKat
May 22, 2009 at 10:53 amWishing we had some of those whole in the wall vegetarian/vegan restaurants around here… seems like every vegetarian place is Asian inspired. No idea how to find them either.
Anne
May 22, 2009 at 3:19 pmThat shrimp looked delicious. I have never had avocado oil, thanks for the tip!
Anais
May 31, 2009 at 11:30 amIf you want something that smells AMAZING, try aveeno’s new body wash. The fig one (I think?) smells so delicious! It’s got purple on the front…I think it’s fig anyways 🙂