So, about my new lamp...

 

This past Saturday, we (along with some of our friends) were hanging out on the back deck for a BBQ.  I had gotten up to refresh a beverage or two, and as I was walking through the kitchen, I could see out the front window that a Fed Ex delivery man was walking down our driveway.  I hadn't been expecting a package, so I headed out to the front porch to see what had arrived.

 

Much to my surprise, there was a giant box on my porch with the words "Crate & Barrel" written across it.  I pulled out the invoice thinking the box had been incorrectly delivered to me, but my name was on it.  Once I opened up the paperwork, I could see that the box contained "1 Large Finley Wheat Pendant Lamp".  I immediately recognized the item name as something that I had on my Crate & Barrel Gift Registry - one that I had been using as a "wish list" of sorts for all of the items I wanted, but was not ready to purchase.

 

As I dug deeper into the packaging, I found a card. 

 

 

How sweet!  The only problem?  I don't KNOW Kaye and Lew.  My mind started racing, and I'll admit, the first thing that crossed my mind was that some stranger was performing a random act of kindness.  (Ha)! 

 

As my investigative skills began to sharpen, I located the billing address - Texas.  I then looked online and discovered that an entirely different Jessica Ingle is getting married next year, in Texas, and this gift was obviously mistakenly purchase off of my registry instead of hers.

 

So here I am, with a beautiful lamp purchased by a stranger off of the wrong registry, with a house full of people - one of which just happens to be an electrician. He immediately volunteered to hang the lamp for us right then an there....and I mean, how could I refuse?

 

 

 

To save some time, don't worry - I did the right thing.  I mailed a very nice letter explaining the mistake that had occurred, plus a check for the amount of the lamp - and a picture of the lamp hanging in my dining room.

 

I hope she finds the situation as hilarious as we do :)



Bye Bye Bye

So many posts today. 

It occured to me today that Ben might be into this video.  He loves to wave "bye bye", he loves dancing, and he loves car chases.

Who knew that he would pick up the Bye Bye Bye dance moves immediately?  Perhaps he has a future as a boy band member?

Ben "loves" Maxwell

Weekly Meal Planning - Week of July 15th

Review from last week (well, technically, still this week)...

The pizza chicken was fantastic.  Greg LOVED it and it took me only about 5 minutes to prep and 25 minutes to bake.  We made Ben's on a piece of Texas toast instead of a chicken breast, and he was very happy with that, too.

The salmon rub I had talked about was not quite as good as the steak and chicken rubs had been.  It was still very flavorful, but it made the salmon a little smokier than Greg and I like.  We have decided to purchase a few cedar planks for when we cook up the rest of the salmon in our freezer.  Also, miracle of all miracles, Greg has decided that he likes asparagus now.....AND....Ben ate some. 

And the triple protein burgers - hamburger, bacon, hot dog.  So freaking delicious.

Quick side note - eliminating the every day breads, pastas, and carby snack items has been surprisingly easy for us.  I think it helps that our mantra has been: When something looks REALLY delicious, we should have some.  That seems to help us not to want to purchase it for at home.

Snacks lately have been:

• 0% Fage yogurt, berries (with plenty of splenda)
• Protein shakes - I read about this one and made it.  SO delicious.
• Kind bars
• Hard boiled eggs
• Cheese - I'm obsessed with the Babybel light cheese right now
• Raw or dry roasted nuts
• Lots of egg scrambles with veggies and cheese
• Salads with lean meat, hard boiled egg, a tiny amount of olive oil and roasted red pepper hummus as the dressing.  I know it sounds strange, but it is so quick and easy to make.
• Guacamole (essentially, I mash up an avocado with salt and some of the pre-made pico de gallo that they sell at Fred Meyers) - I try to eat this with bell peppers, but SOMETIMES I cave and eat it with multigrain chips.
• Naturebox snacks

Monday: Chicken Paillard with Lemon, Capers and Olives

 

Tuesday: BBQ at the Cougan's!  Halibut tacos (prepared by Peter) and a Superfruit & Nut Arugula Salad (prepared by me).

Wednesday: Mexican Salad

 

Thursday: Summertime Grilled Corn, Chicken + Blueberry Chopped Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Friday: Grilled Hamburgers (wrapped in lettuce) and sweet potato fries.

Saturday: Greg will be out of town for the night on Saturday at Collin's bachelor party, so I won't be planning anything fancy for me and Ben.

Sunday: Artichoke Lemon Pesto Chicken Pasta

Sweetest Dance Moves Ever

 

Grab your nipple and GET DOWN.

Big Truck

 

Lately, whenever I ask Ben to pick out a book for me to read to him, he will come back with one about trucks.  And we have SEVERAL books about trucks.

Today, while out running an errand, I spotted a big excavator across the street (which no, I had never known the term for before having a son).  I made a u-turn so that we could get a closer view and sat in an empty parking lot for a solid 5 minutes while Ben watched, pointed and laughed.  I tried to describe what the truck was doing as it rolled, turned around, picked up enormous concrete chunks and then dropped them from way up high.

It's pretty rad how something I never, ever, would have noticed or cared about before, ended up making my kid's morning.  And thus, made mine.

Nature Box

Have you heard about Nature Box yet?

As a person who has been a big fan of the monthly delivery boxes (particularly Stitch Fix and Citrus Lane, both of which I have recently cancelled simply so that I could try other things), when I heard about this program I immediately got on board.

I feel like I am always on the hunt for a new and healthy snack, particularly one that would also be healthy for Ben, and one that is easy to throw in my purse when we are spending an afternoon out.  This program has helped to make the search a whole lot easier for me!

For $20/month (with free shipping), Nature Box will send you 5 bags of snacks each month (with a bonus 6th snack in your first box to welcome you).  All of these snacks are nutritionist approved and contain NO:

High fructose corn syrup
Partially hydrogenated oils
Trans fats
Artificial sweeteners/coloring/flavors\

In my first box, I received 2 bags of Peanut Butter Nom Noms, Salsa Spiced Nut Mix (my favorite), BBQ Kettle Kernals, Cherry Ganache Granola, and Guacamole Bites.

I am signed up to get the Discovery Box each month, but they have several different boxes to choose from.  If you are interested in trying it for yourself, you can use this link to get $10 off your order (and give ME $10 off MY order).  Gotta love that!

Anyway, these snacks aren't necessarily wheat/carb/gluten free, BUT I do feel a lot better about us snacking on these items when we are on the go (which seemingly is all the time these days).