Sunday Funday: Exploring Houston

From time to time, Will and I jump in the car and explore our large city. We try to find attractions that cost little to no money because... 1) It's a challenge. 2) It fits the budget.  3) You can really find strange and unusual places off the beaten path.  So after being cooped up for a few days, due to a cold, it was a good time to stretch our legs and explore. 

On this trip, we hit 3 spots.  Our first stop was The Beer Can House.  Admission is $2. $5 for a guided tour. Since we got there 10 minutes before closing, we just walked up and snapped a few pictures.

This house was 18 years in the making and is covered with approximately  50,000 beer cans and bottles.  The owner is a retired upholster from Southern Pacific Railroad and one day he just decided to cover his house with aluminum cans. 

Our second stop was The Art Car Museum.  Every year, Houston has an Art Car parade and since I miss it every year, I figured this was the next best thing. Admission is free.

Here are the cars we saw. We weren't able to stay long because Cora was a little scared of these strange and eclectic cars.

Our last (and my favorite) stop was at The Blue Trees.

Artist, Konstantin Dimopoulos, was commissioned to recreate his outdoor living project to generate awareness to the many trees Houston lost to the 2011 drought and the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.  The trees were painted with biologically-safe, water-based ultramarine mineral pigments. When I accidentally  brushed up against the trees, the blue paint came off very easily and the texture resembled chalk. There's no telling how long these trees will stay blue, but for now, they do make a very striking statement.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

All About Julia

Last year I told my husband that I really wanted to do something BIG for my 40th birthday in 2013. Well low and behold, I sure did do something BIG! I had my beautiful baby girl one week shy of my 40th birthday. It was the best gift I could have received.

The pregnancy started out a lot like my previous one... Tired the first trimester. No morning sickness, just queasiness that would pass after 15 seconds or so and serious fruit cravings. Even though I didn't want to say anything to my husband, I had a feeling this baby was another girl. At 5 months along, I found out my hunch was right.



We immediately decide to name her after my mother-in-law. Cora is named after my mom, and it just seemed right that we honored both of our moms.

Julia Annaliese came into this world one month earlier than planned due to extreme hypertension. I wasn't expecting to deliver that day, in fact I told my boss I was coming in late after my morning doctor's appointment. Unfortunately my blood pressure shot up to dangerous levels and my doctor decided we had to have her that day. Despite the emotional and chaotic start, I was very blessed to have an easy labor and delivery. In fact, I didn't even push. My doctor was prepping for the delivery. He didn't want me to push just yet. He had me just take deep breaths and next thing you know, Julia was born.



I think for Cora, it was love at first sight. She has been a wonderful big sister. I think she will always look out for her baby sister.







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Where Do I Begin...

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last blogged. I've often thought about writing a post, but being a mommy to a busy toddler and now a newborn (yes, i had another baby) takes up a lot of blogging time. Then there is Facebook. Why write a blog post when I can just update my status and attach a picture in mere seconds?

Well I've come to realize that I miss blogging. I love having a little space on the web that journals my life. I love looking back on previous posts and remembering all of my happy little moments. And even if no one is reading this, my daughters eventually will. I'm glad they will have stories of our lives that I wrote. They will read about how their mom and dad got married twice, details and pictures of our weddings, how I felt and looked during my pregnancy, how i carefully plan their birthday parties, how much I love life and want to teach them how to love theirs. Yes, I think I'll keep blogging...




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Avocado Egg Salad

Most work days I come home for lunch and have leftovers, but once in a while our nanny will prepare something for us. Her avocado egg salad is one of my favorites. It kind of a cross between guacamole and egg salad. It's so simple, why didn't I think of it before?

Here's what you need.



1 medium avocado
2 hard boiled eggs (chopped)
1/4 c chopped tomatoes
1/2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1/2 tbsp finely chopped celery
Chopped cilantro (optional)
Juice of 1/2 of a lime
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

In a mixing bowl, mash your avocado, then add your eggs, tomatoes, onion, celery, and cilantro. Mix well, then add your lime juice, garlic power, salt, and pepper.



My nanny serves it as avocado tacos on her homemade tortillas, but we've added to our burgers, sandwiches, spread on toast, and used it as dip. Even my toddler loves it!

Enjoy!

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Father's Day Daycation

I must admit, I am so lucky to have Will as my husband. Not only is a great husband, he is a wonderful daddy to our little girl. Since he made my Mother's Day so special, I wanted to make sure he had a memorable Father's Day.

We started the day with a little breakfast and a homemade card.
It's amazing what you can do with apps these days. I used Turbo Collage to piece the many pics I've taken of these two all snuggled up.


Then I printed it and created this card...


(Note to self...invest in washable markers and hide the colorful Sharpie pens from Cora).

After breakfast and a nap for Cora, we packed up for a Daycation in Galveston (which is about 45 miles outside of Houston).

We lunched at Gaido's. Apparently this restaurant has been here since 1911. I don't know how it's survived all of those hurricanes.



Cora looking out to sea.



We decided to take the ferry over to Boliver Island. My gosh the line to get on the ferry was soooooo long. When we finally got to the loading zone. We had a chance to get out and stretch our legs. Thank goodness it was a "controlled area".



Before we went to Galveston, I read online how the kids love feeding the birds from the back of the ferry. I brought some leftover bread from our lunch and we headed to the back of the boat. Cora loves watching the birds out the window at home and i just knew she was going to love this. I start to throw the bread and instantly a huge flock of seagulls were hovering right over us. My face went from excited to sheer panic. These birds were ready to take that bread right out of my hand and peck our eyes out! Okay, okay, a little exaggeration, but I swear they were all saying, "Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!" I ended up chucking the whole bread so we could escape. It was definitely a Finding Nemo/ The Birds moment!



Once we got away. We enjoyed the rest of our ride and a quick drive around the island






After a lovely day (minus the bird attack), we headed back on the ferry just in time to catch this beautiful sunset.



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Beating The Heat With A Watermelon Smoothie

Ahhhh Texas summers... They can be brutal. I found that a good way to beat the heat is a refreshing watermelon smoothie. The cute coffee shop around the corner makes wonderful watermelon smoothies, but they can be costly if I go throughout the whole summer. So why not make my own? All it took was:

A blender
2 C watermelon
1/2 C frozen watermelon
1/4 C crushed ice

Delicious!!!!



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Recipe: Easy Peasy Chicken Nuggets

You know that yummy, crunchy topping that makes your Thanksgiving green bean casserole taste so good? It also makes great chicken nuggets! Here's my recipe for Easy Peasy Chicken Nuggets.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breast or 5-6 boneless/skinless chicken thighs
1- 6 oz container of french fried onions
1 tbsp of flour
1/2 tsp garlic seasoning
Black pepper to taste
1 egg (slightly beaten)

Preheat oven at 350.

Pour the French fried onions in a large ziplock bag. Take out the air out of the bag so it'll be flat. With a rolling pin, roll over the bag and crush up those onions into small bits and pieces. Add your flour, garlic seasoning, and pepper in the bag and shake to mix it. The coating should look like this...




Slightly beat an egg and set aside. Cut you chicken into 1 inch pieces and then coat them with egg.



Then your chicken in your in the bag to coat each piece and place on a foil lined cookie sheet (it makes cleaning up a snap!)


Once all of the pieces are ready, you may notice that you have extra coating. Don't discard it. Go ahead and spoon the extra crunchy goodness on each chicken piece.




Bake for 20 minutes and they're done!


I'm not a big sauce fan, so I don't serve my nuggets with sauce. Honestly, I think these nuggets have so much flavor, you won't need it. They are always a hit when I've made them for guest. I hope you enjoy them too!

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