Home all day.

With a completed internship and no job, Paul waiting to start his internship, and 100+ weather, we have spent the last couple of days inside. Working out, watching Netflix, working on puzzles, applying for jobs, and best of all, eating!

Tonight we decided to cook something special. Partially because cooking gives me a self-confidence boost when it turns out good, something I really needed today, and because we had time and food that needs to be eaten.

So after we finished all of the animal crackers..

We started working on our feast. The menu today? Broiled salmon that was marinated in Italian dressing, grilled pineapple, and roasted asparagus with Parmesan cheese. So delicious.

Ahh so good..and I can't wait to have the rest of it tomorrow.

And for dessert..we celebrated.

Happy Creamsicle Day! Now unfortunately at our local shopping center there were no traditional orange creamsicles..so we got chocolate. They were still amazing.

All things considered, it's been a fine day. Food always has a way of making hard days better.

Luv, Lindsay

sick.

I don't get sick very often. But I am sick today. My last real day at the Southwest office and I have to come home early because I feel so awful. Not the greatest. Luckily I'm going back in on Monday. I couldn't tell you the last time I took cold medicine, and I just took some. Not a good feeling, my friends.

On the bright side, today is National S'mores Day! So yummy.

The best place to eat S'mores is Priest Lake. No question.

And I got to talk to my BFF Bethany today! Love those chats.

The NyQuil is taking over..time for bed.

substitutions

Happy Zucchini Day!

I'm not the biggest zucchini fan. It's a texture thing. So I decided to try something new.

Zucchini Brownies.

I'm not the biggest fan of substitutions in recipes. They say you can't ever taste it, but I usually can. It might just be because I know it's there but I really think I can taste it. I just usually like the good, old fashioned, full fat, full calorie versions.


But here was my attempt. Thanks to Mommy I'm Hungry for the recipe.
(Pictures are mine though :) )

Frosted Zucchini Brownies 
½ cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups zucchini (shredded)
½ cup chopped walnuts (I left out)

Chocolate Frosting-

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup margarine (I used butter)
2 cups confectioners sugar
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking dish. (I lined with parchment)
In a large bowl mix together oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until well blended. In another bowl combine the flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. A little at a time stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in zucchini and walnuts. The batter will be dry and crumbly, don't worry. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.

Place into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the brownies spring back when gently touched. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool.

To make the frosting- In a small saucepan over low heat melt together the cocoa powder and margarine. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl blend confectioner’s sugar, milk, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir in the margarine/cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies and cut into squares.

 They were good, but again, I am just a fan of the regular, boring, not-trying-to-be-healthy-in-any-way brownies. But it was a good way to celebrate and feel a tiny bit better about it.

Luv, Lindsay

we can watch!

First, a shout out to my awesome cousin Derek and his cute family for loaning us their old TV antenna so we can watch the Olympics. It is pretty amazing. We got to have dinner with them and my cousin, Jake, on Sunday. Good catch-up time!

The dessert I made actually turned out really good. Easy too!

Recipe is included at the bottom.

My job search continues. I was sad to turn down a job offer I received but after lots of prayer and talking to people, I just knew it wasn't what I was supposed to do.

But here's what I wore including a skirt from my NYC trip and my wedding shoes :)

So the job search continues still.

Luv, Lindsay



Chocolate Dream Bars:
(Adapted from a recipe by Peggy)

Ingredients:

1  package chocolate cake mix (I used devil's food)
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup (6-ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I only used 3/4 cup and it was great)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with non-stick foil.

Empty cake mix into a very large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the egg and oil into the well. Using a mixer on medium speed, blend until the mixture is combined to a crumbly texture (like wet dirt). Remove 1 cup of the mixture and set aside for use later in the recipe.

Pour remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of the foil-lined baking pan. Press firmly into an even layer.

In a small saucepan, bring the sweetened condensed milk slowly to a simmer. Turn off heat and immediately stir in chocolate chips, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir until chocolate is melted and all is combined. Pour chocolate mixture evenly over the crumb layer in the pan.

Sprinkle reserved 1 cup of chocolate crumb mixture evenly over the fudge layer.

Bake about 25 minutes until the edges are firm. Place on a rack and let cool completely before adding the frosting.

I had some leftover canned frosting that I needed to use up so I whipped it with some cream cheese and powdered sugar to make my frosting but you can use whatever thick buttercream/cream cheese frosting you want. Just make sure it's not runny.

Pour into a zip-top plastic bag, press out all the air, and seal. Snip a very tiny bit of the corner from the bottom of the bag. Use as a pastry bag to drizzle frosting in a decorative pattern over the top of the brownie dream bars. Let brownies sit at room temperature for about an hour before cutting to let the frosting firm up.

let me eat cheesecake.

Happy National Cheesecake Day y'all!

We were already planning on eating at The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate this holiday but when we found out that the cheesecake was half price..what a nice surprise!

I'm not even much of a cheesecake fan. *gasp!* I LOVE all of the chocolate cheesecakes, but the ones that are mostly the true cheesecake...not a fan. I just feel like I'm eating sweet cheese. I guess that's what it is..it's just not my favorite. But what we had today had real cheesecake and I loved it. Read on..

I'm not usually an appetizer order at restaurants, but have you ever had the avocado eggrolls at Cheesecake Factory?

 They are so worth it. It comes with 6 rolls and they are so amazing. Try them.

Why yes, that is a forest on our table. It was a salad night. They are so huge and make for a good next-day lunch. I got the Grilled Chicken Tostada and Paul got the Chopped. They were both good but next time Paul has to remember to get his without the bleu cheese.

This was after we had BOTH eaten some of my salad. Hardly a dent in it!

Paul's birthday was last week and mine is this week so we mentioned that to the waiter hoping they'd sing us a song. They did. And they gave us a candle and wrote on our plate in chocolate! It was definitely a wonderful birthday cake.

We had the brand new Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake. I'll let you read the description:

OREO® Dream Extreme Cheesecake
OREO® Cookies baked in our creamy Cheesecake with layers of fudge cake and OREO® Cookie mousse. Topped with a milk chocolate icing. Available July 30th on National Cheesecake Day. 

Can someone say incredible? I sure did.
It had the real cheesecake but enough chocolate to balance it out and make it absolutely amazing.

 Happy Birthday to US!

 I was basically in heaven.

Oreos and more chocolate?

It doesn't get much better.

Happy National Cheesecake Day. I hope you got your piece.

Luv, Lindsay

start spreading the news

This is part 2 of our epic weekend! Find part 1 here!

After driving the 2.5 ish hours to from Philly to New York, we found a parking garage and set out. It is quite the adventure driving around that area! We got a little lost but got to see some stadiums and things on our way to the Lincoln Tunnel. No rain in New York!

 I believe this is where the Giants and Jets play.

Paul is SO excited for The Dark Knight Rises, so I had to snap this pic and send it to him:

They had ads for this movie covering walls of buildings all over the place! We are seeing it today in IMAX so hopefully it lives up to all the hype. And hopefully I actually enjoy it. I'm kind of paranoid now after the tragedy in Colorado..I can't believe that would happen. My thoughts and prayers with those suffering.

First stop? Central Park. What a beautiful place! The weather was perfect and we took a nice long stroll around.

 Such an awesome place!

We weren't hungry having eaten a lot not that long ago in Philly, but we had to try Wafels. 
We are so grateful for our awesome tour guides who knew all the best places!

I love eating places that have been featured on Food Network.

They even beat Bobby Flay on Throwdown It had to be good.

And oh...it was.

Next time I go to Central Park, I will get one.

Next stop, 5th Ave Shopping!

J. Crew was our lucky spot! I had to buy SOMETHING in New York besides food.

A very on sale shirt and skirt made it home with me :)

I love NBC! Today Show..favorite!

 I only wish I would have been there to see Kathie Lee and Hoda!

 I always wanted to go here as a little girl..

 For Paul!

 I learned that in New York and Philly you have to carry lots and lots of cash.

We had to make an ATM stop.

 We had to stop at the Southwest Porch!

#Swalife !

First Subway experience:

 On the subway we saw some very interesting people. Our favorite game was "man or woman?" Yeah, it was interesting. A very nice man with painted toenails helped us find our way.

By the end my feet were about to fall off. For some reason, right when I got off the plane in Philly on Friday night my right foot was killing me. It was so painful to walk. I figured I had just tweaked something and it would be fine when I woke up in the morning...no..not so much. I was kind of in agony for the entire trip but let me tell you, it was so worth it. Unfortunately my foot still hurts but not quite as much.

 My tired feet.

 We went to this bakery for some delicious treats.

So delicious!

I got the chocolate bomb! Just a big cup of chocolate.

And this could have been my favorite part.
Times Square! Advertisement Overload! Marketing capital! I loved it!!

I had so much fun, but I don't think it's a place I would ever want to live. I'm finding out that I am not the greatest in big cities. Mostly because I hate spending money and the city is very expensive, and I would go crazy trying to get around! As much as I hate driving, I would rather drive than take a taxi any day. I don't know what it is, but taxis give me anxiety like nothing else.

We got a quick 4 hours (if that) of sleep in New Jersey before heading back to the airport and back to Dallas. I had a row to myself on the flight from Newark to Houston (I think we stopped in Houston..I don't remember) and got some good sleep. Houston to Dallas wasn't as good. It was a more crowded flight and the baby behind me, as cute as he was, kept reaching over my seat and drooling. The disturbing part was that the drool seeped into the seat before I had a chance to get some napkins from the flight attendant...ew. I wonder what other fluids are hiding in those seats..

Thank you, ladies, for an AMAZING weekend! Especially Emilee and Danelle for the transportation and crazy tour guide skills.

Can't wait to go back with my hubby!

Luv, Lindsay