The 'Before'

Hope this Wednesday is going well for you guys!  I spent my morning with the little furry boy (the dog) taking a walk around the park and doing some generally sniffing- you know how it goes.  I am slightly more energized and looking forward to a long weekend. 

Since this once used to be a food blog, I'm about to share the disaster that is my kitchen- we are in the middle of a remodel.  Fancy paint color, right?

We are so fortunate and blessed to have help from my father-in-law and eventually my dad in these renovations.  It is so.much.work and my only contribution has been accompanying the hubby to endless home improvement stores, tile stores, and other places that do not sell delicious food or shoes.  I also make and bring the boys lunch.  So very ladylike of me but we really do not want my 'services' in this part of the remodel.

And the husband?  He has been the project manager extrordinairre.  This man has been on top of everything and has been working his butt off to get things done.

For now, here are the 'before' pictures.  The kitchen has been functioning and livable and I have used it for the last 3 years.  I realize there is nothing wrong with it, but we are upgrading it for a more modern feel and to customize it for ourselves since we plan on being in this house for a long time.

Did I mention it will take 4 weeks or so and we will be without a kitchen for 4 weeks?  Yep- it's true.  There will be a lot of wraps, salads, and sandwiches in our future but it's all worth it.  It's another excuse to get in one of my favorite (and excessive) treats- pomegranate arils.

One being not particularly impressed with the renovations is Mr. Chino- he doesn't need much as long as he has his food and his bone.

Weekend in Pictures

Oh weekends.  I can't say enough good things about weekends.  When other people are slow at work during the summer, I am in my busy season and can't wait for the beautiful time of 5:00 PM on Friday.  This weekend was just as great as all the rest and sitting here on Sunday, it's just not long enough!

We ate a lot of delicious food and spent a lot of time with family.  I knew it would be a great weekend when this was the view I saw on Friday night while walking the fluffy one.

We got to see this (not so) little guy and his parents and somebody had an Angry Birds marathon together.

We digested our dinner by going out on a bike ride/walk for the little ones and made it up to see a beautiful view.

Spent time enjoying each other's company on the couch (check out the angry birds toys)!

Oh- and there was dessert- my reason for life.  We ate my mom's new creation- a raspberry cheese tart made with cottage cheese. Amazing.

We also enjoyed some homemade chocolate covered strawberry kabobs made by my sister-in-law.

Oh, and today?  Husband brought me this beautiful dessert and it will be demolished later tonight.

I Wish I Was Still Here

Our vacation to Mexico was almost 2 months ago and I still haven't finished posting recaps.  Now that I look back on it fondly, I am once again impressed and overwhelmed by how awesome our trip was.  We won't talk about how I left my husband's phone in the cab (sorry you married a complete schmuck, honey)...or how I totally lost all my Spanish when they tried to tell us about paying CRV tax on beer at the neighborhood liquor store.  I'll let the pictures do the talking- taken during our city tour of Mexico City.

Things I'm Loving- Part 100

I am positive I have done many, many, posts of the new things I'm loving.  I blame it on my obsessive personality and my "ooh- look it's shiny" approach to new things.  All my pictures are via instagram.  I apologize in advance, but I think it can make everything look better.  If you disagree, please don't burst my bubble. Ladies and Gentlemen, let's get it on!

One-dish dishes: I roasted orange chicken and added asparagus and pineapple as a last minute throw in.  The best part is that everything cooks together and it's less dishes for my resident bus boy (love you hubs).

Hiking in the open space: There is nothing better than taking off for a hike with my boys in the open space.  We get to explore new parts around us and the view are spectacular.

Rediscovering old breakfasts: I love my overnight oats with Greek yogurt icing for those hot mornings.

Cherries to go along with breakfast.

Nutella: It's been in my pantry for 1.5 days now and I haven't opened it yet.  Not sure where this self control came from, but I'll remedy the situation soon.

Other things that made my list?
- Lifting heavy!  I've been lifting with the hubby for the last 5 weeks and I'm getting stronger
-Yoga. Still love it
-Trying new workouts- I'm going out of my comfort zone and going to try a very different exercise class this weekend.  I can't wait to share with you guys.
-Moroccan oil.  Yep, I bought it and I like it.

What are you loving lately?

Boos, Apples, and Catching up

I am long overdue with my recap of Mexico and everything else that has been going on around these parts.  There has been a lot going on here on the life/house/fitness front, so let's get going!

Boos
We kicked off last weekend (not the one that just happened, but 2 weeks ago) with a blog meetup with Amanda and Andy of Two Boos Who Eat.  Amanda and Andy were staying in the city for Andy's work-related conference and I scooped them up and took them on a train adventure with us into the Oakland/Berkeley area. 

Mr. Apple and I lived in Oakland for about a year and thought it would be nice to walk through the area and of course, explore some of the food.  We had Ethiopian food at Asmara on Telegraph Avenue and ended up at Ici for ice cream.  These two places contributed to a good weight gain when we lived in the area as a recently-dating couple (me mostly) but are well worth it.  Amanda eloquently posted so I encourage you to read her recap here.

We had a fantastic time talking food, travel, mixed martial arts, and the functional fashion of men's skirts together ;)

This past weekend we took a little break from our remodel (more on that later) and went to a party at a friend's house.  I brought my easy mango shrimp ceviche with plantain chips.

In other exciting news, Hello Kitty has appeared at my yogurtland. It's pretty amazing.

Chino has discovered a new hobby- mud diving.  He did this not only once, but twice and I kinda loved watching him.

Now that I've ripped off the posting band-aide, I'm going to try to update more. 

P.S. I'm obsessed with instagram...every picture looks really cool with it.

What's new with you?