Michelle Obama and Bo surprise the White House Tours

She's so warm and likable. I'm such a sap - I started crying as I watched her shake hands with visitors, ask them where they were from and why they were here, encouraged them to pet Bo (a Portuguese Water Dog) and repeatedly told students to be enriched and learn something. The lucky few even got a hug!

Greeting Canadians from Toronto!

Ristorante Pizza by Dr. Oetker*

For the nights that I'm tired, it's nice to have something on hand that can be prepared quickly and tastes good. Often for me, that means frozen pizza. Recently I noticed a new brand, Dr. Oetker. I bought two to try them out:

Funghi: Aromatic mushrooms, mozzarella, tomato sauce, parsley, oregano
Vegetale: Tangy tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, chilies, sour cream sauce

They are 10" and can be ready in 12-14 minutes. They were good and I would get them again.

Then I was contacted by BzzAgent for a BzzCampaign on the very pizza I had already tried! How fortuitous! Turns out it's the number #1 frozen pizza in Italy. Who knew? Ristorante Pizza has been a European favorite since 1985. It arrived stateside in 2009.

I have some coupons to share. Let me know in the comments if you want one.

*I'm a BzzAgent

Fix My Blinds

Our temporary fix was no longer working. Here's the before:

Sent pictures of the broken parts to Fix My Blinds, Inc. (since the broken parts didn't look like any of the parts on the site).



They emailed me back telling me which parts to order. Parts arrived in the mail about a week later.

Installation was very easy. We were done in about 10 minutes. And now our blinds are fixed.

Cost of new blinds for 3 windows = $150
Cost of repair parts & shipping = $22.95

Total savings: $127.05

Moroccan-spiced cauliflower

In a search to find a way to make cauliflower appetizing to my husband - without using Indian curry spices (which I don't like), I found this recipe for Quick Moroccan Vegetable Couscous. But we already have a Moroccan spice mix that we like - so we used that instead.

Moroccan Spice Mix
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon ground tumeric
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

One head of cauliflower, cut into florets (about 4 cups)
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Tablespoon of spices
1/4 cup broth

Heat oil in a large skillet. Increase heat to medium-high. Add vegetables and sauté until vegetables just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add broth. Partially cover skillet; simmer until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add spices and simmer for a few minutes until done.

Swiss Chalet - shame on you for bad customer service

I love Swiss Chalet but I'm shocked and appalled at the terrible customer service that my father received on a corporate order of almost $200.

The order was delivered without any utensils and there was none at the delivery location. Suddenly a casual lunch for VPs from HQ turned into a fiasco - and quite embarrassing. The only recompense he was offered was $5 off his next order. My Mom tried to complain but was just given the run around to fill out a one form after another.

After this experience, my father won't be ordering for a business function ever again.

Check out the whole conversation on Facebook!

What I did during my Christmas vacation

There was time with family...

 

Baking and decorating cookies.

A visit to Toronto's Distillery District...

On Christmas we had dinner at my parents house. On Boxing day we had breakfast and a late lunch with everyone at my sister's house. Chloe received lots of toys - which we all had fun playing with! :) Max, my parents and my brother went to see a comedy show at Second City - SO funny! Max and I went to the movies with two of my cousins to see New Year's Eve. It was good! Better than Valentine's Day. Watched many movies at home with my family including Rio (really good), Arthur Christmas (loved it), Dot it with an I (which was weird), Ides of March (good but sad) and the Muppets movie (awesome).

My Dad sums it up (much better) in detail:

• Christmas Day
• Boxing Day with the whole family
• Third day of Christmas
• Fourth day of Christmas in Toronto
• Fifth day of Christmas in Niagara's wine country
• Sixth day of Christmas

Max and I were at my sister's house on New Year's Eve. Yesterday, my family had dinner together at a Chinese restaurant before we went our separate ways... my brother back up to the frozen north... Max and I going south to Virginia.

Happy New Year!

Highlights of 2011:

• Helped my Dad start his blog, open a shop on Etsy, and create a Facebook Page for Bayshore Woods
• Weekend trip in March to Costa Rica with Max and some friends
• Short trip to Salt Lake City for work which included getting together with a friend from high school
• Week long trip in May to Kansas for my high school best friend's wedding which also included the filming of a Food Network show
• A whirlwind weekend in New York for my birthday including two fancy dinners and a Broadway show
• A short but hectic trip in June to Las Vegas for work
• Week long trip in July to Canada to meet my niece and spend time with my family
• Week long vacation in October with my husband in the Caribbean on the Disney Magic
• Two new additions to our family in October - our new kitten Momo and a lizard that we named Mr. Gecko
• A Cirque du Soleil show for Max's birthday
• A week long visit with my sister and my niece for Thanksgiving which included going to see Santa, ICE! at National Harbor, and a photo shoot
• Another whirlwind weekend in New York in December to see the Rockettes and a one man Star Wars show on Broadway
• Discovered an egg in our lizard's cage, so the name has been changed to Ms. Gecko
• Two week vacation in December to spend time with my family in Canada for Christmas and New Years
• Completed some knitting projects that had been languishing for some time
• Saying goodbye to friends (because they moved) and meeting new ones (at the West End Farmers Market)
• Reading some really great books like Water for Elephants and Peony in Love
• Watching some really great movies like Midnight in Paris and The Help

What's in store for 2012:

• No resolutions but I want to check something off my bucket list
• Momo gets "fixed" this week
• Weekend trip in February to visit my niece in Canada
• Most likely a weekend trip to New York in March or April
• Maybe a visit from my sister and niece in May
• A possible trip to Atlanta in June
• Probably a week long trip to Canada to see my family in July or August
• A weekend trip to Philadelphia in October for a friend's wedding
• A visit with my parents over Thanksgiving that will apparently include renovating the half bath in the front hall
• Hopefully a trip to Hawaii... not sure when but I really, really, really want this to happen before the year is out!

Tracking Santa on NORAD

Thanksgiving recap

My sister and my niece arrived on Monday night before Thanksgiving and stayed until the Tuesday after. We had a really great visit!

My husband worked from home so we both went to pick them up at the airport. We took my niece to see Santa on Tuesday night and had dinner at CPK.

On Wednesday, I brought her into my office to show her off to my work friends and then cooked the rest of the day.

Thursday morning, my sister and my husband went to yoga (my sister's first time). I watched my niece and taped the parade for later.

For dinner we had turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry orange relish, mashed potatoes (and a undressed portion for my niece) and braised red cabbage. For dessert there was pumpkin pie and caramel nut tart. Naturally there were lots of leftovers and on Friday we went to a friend's house for our somewhat annual "Leftovers Lunch." Afterwards, we dropped my sister off at my massage therapist's to get a 90 minute massage - also her first time!



On Saturday morning, my husband and I started putting up the Christmas lights. In the afternoon, we took my niece to Picture People to have some professional pictures taken - they turned out really well. She looks so cute! That night, Max, Noelle and I dragged the Christmas tree upstairs.






Sunday we went to see ICE, with ice sculptures depicting the story from Merry Madagascar. It was really cold in there, -9, but my niece did really good - a true Canadian baby. :)



For lunch we went to Rosa Mexicano and my niece had her first green - avocado! And she liked it. My Dad was so happy. :)



That night we decorated the Christmas tree. My husband left for New York Monday morning and I went to work. My sister made dinner for us and we went for a walk afterwards to see the Christmas lights in my neighborhood. I took Tuesday off since it was our last day together. We had lunch at the Olive Garden and then I took them to the airport. Was sad but doing okay... until we got to the TSA and I saw my sister crying - which got me crying! My niece had no idea what was going on. Which is probably for the best.