the week so far.

Apr 26, 2012

Besides the weather being really crappy and dreary this week has gone by pretty fast. It is already Thursday and Fri-Pay will soon be approaching :)

Unfortunately I have to go to the animal hospital today for work, I don't really want to but I will be helping train the new girl on reception. I find it funny because I work once a month, if that, and a lot of stuff has changed so I hope that I know what I'm doing as well. There are moments where I really really miss working there, I think it's the organizing wanting to be in charge part of me that misses it. Being praised always helps too because it made me enjoy it that much more. I also am excited because I can stop at Whole Foods while I'm down there and pick up some much needed items. Maybe I'll stop at Trader Joes too. I am going to bake some cupcakes for work so we'll see how much time I have, not that it matters because I love to bake anyways.

This week:
Banana Cinnamon cupcakes made
A in Collective Bargaining!!
New baked mac and cheese recipe made
U-Yee dinner (finally in Steve's words)
Birthday so so soon!


I can not wait until my birthday/our anniversary! Then I can finally know what Steve has been up to!

project life | week 15 & 16

Apr 24, 2012

I had to play catch up again but I am all finished with Week 15 & 16. Pat and Linda looked at this a few days ago and were amazed at how much work I put into it. I kind of feel the same way when I look at other Project Lifers and notice how much embellishment they put on their cards. I only do as much as I can, but I love how it turns out.

Week 15.





We did so much stuff last week and I collected tons of business cards, I didn't want them to go to waste so I added them in a little pocket I just made so I could keep them all.


One of my coworkers brought me this :)
I made her cupcakes for her little sisters birthday, she's in 3rd grade. I thought it was pretty awesome! It made my day.







We don't take a lot of photos together, I always seem to forget about taking them of US instead of just objects or him, or just me. We needed more of us together for our first book.


Week 16. 



(blurry *oops*)

Although it rained and rained and rained on Sunday, the rest of the week was pretty gorgeous outside. I thought it deemed a bright and sunny title card.


Family from Thailand is here. So excited to see them ♥


Finished book #3 of Hunger Games. I was little mad throughout the book but overall I liked the series, very entertaining. Now I am on to book 4 of 7. I think that I will be reading 7 books before summer starts. Fifty Shades of Grey Book 1 of the trilogy. A friend of mine told me to read it, it's "the new thing" but for 18+ only haha.




My previous post had this recipe and picture because it's amazing. I am sure if you made it with regular mayo it would be just as amazing but since Steve is vegan, I make everything vegan and there is no way you would have been able to tell the difference. It is amazing.

Linking to The Mom Creative!


Most of the journaling I did was typed out. I finally figured out a good method to print on them. I used the paislee press tutorial but before it never worked as well, but I used it on my PSE 10 and it worked A LOT better than in Word. I'm sure it still works but I was never getting it as good. So glad to be caught up on everything! I got tons of new paper pads and alphabet stickers, I can't wait to use more!!

best vegan macaroni salad EVER

Apr 23, 2012

I found the absolute BEST macaroni salad ever. And what's even better about it? It's vegan and I love all things vegan. You can not tell the difference between this macaroni salad and the macaroni salad that I had as a kid on sunny summer days.

The influence? We walked through the park on Saturday morning and it was BEAUTIFUL outside. There were tons of people having picnics and outdoor parties, I said to Steve how much I wanted to have a picnic and grill some food and for summer to make an appearance and sit outside all day. I decided we were going to have some "not-dogs" and macaroni salad. I have never made mac salad, especially vegan, but today (meaning Saturday) was the day.

Conclusions.. the most amazing mac salad ever. Easiest thing to make. So easy that I had to make it 3 times because we ate it all. Pat and Linda loved it as well, it is definitely making a ton of appearance this summer.

I didn't measure the additions of veggies so I can't really say what measures it was, I eyed it out.


Ingredients
Chopped:
  Celery
  Red peppers
  Green peppers
  Carrots
  Red onions
2 cups Macaroni
3/4 cup Vegenaise (Follow Your Heart brand)
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons soy milk
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Paprika, for garnish

Directions
1. Boil water, cook macaroni, add salt, stirring occasionally. Most of these are about 7-8 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and place in a large bowl. Add veggie mixture to the macaroni.
2. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard, soy milk, vinegar, sugar, and salt and mix well.
3. Combine dressing and macaroni pasta together and cover. Add paprika to the top for garnish. Let sit in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.
4. Enjoy its heavenly taste.


And we never made it to Deals Gap *sad face*

project life tuesday.

Apr 17, 2012

I always look forward to Tuesday.
Everyone has worked so hard to get their projects finished to post on The Creative Mom. It makes me feel apart of something that is mine, that is my hobby and something to look forward to. I love to read and find inspiration from all the different women I find through Pintrest, Facebook, Google. It's inspiration for when one day I am older and have children to document about. I love it now, but I can only imagine how it feels to have these books as your children grow up. I have tons of pictures of me growing up and I love looking at them and seeing how different things are, I love having Steve look at them and see me as a child.

Having this scrapbook means so much to me. I love that Steve won't look at it for a few weeks but will sit down at my scrapbook desk and look through all of the pages he's missed and read the things I write. Poke fun at the misspellings and wonder why I never proofread anything. This is the story about us, our life together before all the growing up really happens, our friends and the moments we go through.

The more I search, the more I want to buy and refrain from. Add to cart. Close tab. It's a cycle. I am too much of an impulsive shopper, I need to stop! I will be working on my Project Life tonight, finishing up what's left of it and then out to dinner with some fantastic friends.

I love this life.

project life | week 14

Apr 11, 2012

Busy busy week!
Two inserts and lots of fun stuff! I have been working on this all week and I love working on it, I get so into it haha.

I received a bunch of new add-ins that I ordered, I couldn't be happier. Some washi tape, stamps, new letters, some colorful tape from Target. Exciting! After visit Scrap Cove in Central Jersey I was so happy to scrap more. I also bought some slick writers, I've heard so much about them and decided to try them. I want to try the Precision pens as well, at a later date. Today I ordered some paper pads, stickers, and embellishments off of Two Peas in a Bucket with a free shipping code after $35. KPSC493! Use it!

Now on to the layouts. I still can't figure out how to take good pictures of these, any advice? haha.





Steve is an amazing boyfriend who came over to take my roommate to the airport at 3:30am last Tuesday. He didn't want me to be tired. I appreciated it, A LOT. I also had to drop off my brothers Easter. Unfortunately, the JRA Pain is not a happy moment but a moment that is important to me. I go to the doctors tomorrow and hope that everything turns out okay. Auto-immune, basically my body hates me. UGH.





Inserts.
Earlier in the week I posted about two good friends getting engaged while they were in California. I added a nice little insert for the story I heard and some pictures I received. After using the Silhouette cut out I had little hearts left over so I added them as confetti.



Easter layout.
I wasn't going to add an insert but I had so many great pictures and moments that I really needed to. Spending time with Steve's family is just great. We even drove around in the RX-7 that it was so nice outside! That is Steve's baby, it is in perfect condition, or it looks like it is.. sometimes it breaks down but that's because it's an older car.

I love my Easter baskets. Yes, two!

My parents sent me some pictures of these cute dogs they always see downtown. My dad said my mom always donates some money for the dogs to get food. I think it's because she misses Fifa so much.

His baby.


I started a craft project with a cork board cut out of the USA. I am going to pin the different places me and Steve have gone together and mount it on a painted canvas. I haven't had time to figure out what color or what the little tags will look like.


I love this picture so much because of the Silhouette cut out of the mixer. I love my Kitchen Aid mixer more than anything! I made those cupcakes for Irina's birthday, they were mini form.. the best kind.


An order of cupcakes for Easter dinner for a friend of a friends boss. Yay for cupcakes.


Thanks for visiting :)

Easter bunny (o.O)

Apr 9, 2012

Easter was fantastic. Fan-tab-ulous. I have never had such a wonderful Easter holiday.

I spent the entire day with Steve and his family, Saturday evening until Sunday evening. The weather was great, the food was great, just happy. I had an order for 2 dozen cupcakes this weekend and after many trial and errors, I finished. We spent most of Saturday relaxing because we were busy driving around and/or baking.

Sunday morning, his mom bought us some coffee in the morning. I got to open my parents Easter bag! I was so excited, I have been waiting weeks to see what was inside, even after Fifa ripped a huge hole in it I managed to not peak in it. It was a great basket, my parents being so far away are amazing. Chocolate bunny, chocolate peanut butter bunny, Jelly Belly assorted bag, gummy bears, mini gummy bears, Swedish Fish, Nerds, Starbucks giftcards, AND a Target giftcard.. how amazing?! I could not have asked for better parents.

Steve's mom is just as wonderful and bought me a bowl from Crate & Barrel filled with the most amazing jelly beans I have ever tasted, with a solid chocolate bunny in it. It's from the same place that Steve bought me my chocolate covered fruit on Valentine's Day so I know the chocolate will be fantastic. I love the bowl from Crate & Barrel, if I could shop there all the time I would, but I am not filthy rich.. or even close to it ha.



Dinner was delicious. Tofurkey is my thing and I have no problem announcing it! I think it taste just fine, delicious in fact. Every time I have eaten it I think it's great. I don't even remember what real turkey taste like and I am so glad that Steve's family cooked a big dinner. Everyone is vegetarian/vegan, it makes it easier, even though my mom would go out of her way to cook me something separate too. Everything was so tasty even though it was a little difficult to eat, my jaw has not been doing any better. Doctors in 2 days, hopefully it helps.

Overall, our weekend was great. We even took the car out for a short drive, Deals Gap is in less than 2 weeks! Long drive but a good time will be had :)

ouch.

Apr 6, 2012

Growing up I never felt any pain, it never hurt and when the doctors would ask me if anything hurt in the morning (or ever) my answer was always no. I grew up never thinking about it and basically pretending that whatever was going on with me did not exist. I did not want to learn more about it or what could be better. I barely too medicine because I hate swallowing pills, but it never effected me that bad.

Now that I am older, I told myself that for one of my resolutions I would take my medicine once a week like I am supposed to. What's funny is that the pills are so much easier than injecting yourself with a liquid that burns as it goes through your skin. Who wants that nonsense? And I have kept to my promise.. I take it once a week. So why does it hurt more now?

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Also known as JRA.
But is it still juvenile since I am no longer a juvenile and I am an adult?
Always, always, always, "I thought that was only for old people." WRONG. It's like an old body with a young soul. My body aches in the morning and I take a hot shower and it gets better. My neck is hard to move but I deal.

This morning.
I made myself a bagel, got in my car on my way to work and realized that every bite I took from the bagel was a shooting pain through my jaw. *sad face*
WHY?!
I have no idea. I just knew that it hurt like hell and I stopped eating it. I took an Aleeve to try and ease the pain but it doesn't help as much as I would like. So I made an appointment at Columbia University with a Rheumatologist for Wednesday and lets hope it doesn't get any worse. Steve, being the great boyfriend he is, is going with me because I am not a fan of driving in the city, especially parking in the city. Parallel parking is basically a nightmare for me even though you need to do it to pass your exam.


Happier note.
It is Friday. Work is quiet because most people have off for the holiday.
AND John brought me in a chocolate bunny for Easter :) I love my "cubicle partner." I only say it in quotes because we are not really in a cube, it's more like a hallway.


I am also very excited because I get to open my Easter bag that my parents had sent me.

they're engaged!

Apr 5, 2012

And by they, I don't mean me!
Our good friends Pat and Linda are finally engaged and I am so excited for them! They took a trip to California for the week, I have been dying for this for at least a month now. I found out a while ago when Steve went to help him look, it's very exciting :) I am extremely excited for when they come back so I can hear all about it, because you know, that's what we all love doing.. hear the story. Steve and I are going to take them out to eat since we haven't seen them in a few weeks and to celebrate this news.

 

It's so pretty!


Other than that, there has not been much going on in the world of Sammy. I have baked a few times for my roommate and a coworkers birthday but not much else. Mini cupcakes have been somewhat of a new hobby. I need to perfect the standard ones but the minis are just so cute. Confetti and red velvets. I love the feeling of happy people eating what I bake, especially when they don't realize it's vegan. It makes it all that much better.

I have been on a spending spree with scrapbook supplies and I need to slow down! There is just so much stuff that I want it's really hard to resist. I found a scrapbook store near my house, it's about 10 minutes away with no traffic so after work I am going to venture over there and see what I can find. I am really hoping they have the Amy Tangerine sketch book and some other 6x6 paper pads. I was so excited to find this place! I always see people talking about scrapbook stores and I always order stuff online, stupid shipping. But lets hope!

I will let you know how my venture goes and some info on it for any of you who live in the area.

playing catch up

Apr 2, 2012

Here I am playing catch up on Week 12 and now Week 13!
Trying to find a way to organize what I am going to put in it seems so easy but it isn't always! I tried to use the printable layouts but then I would always lose them or forget where I put them. So instead, I use mini post-it notes on the places where I want to write and date them to remember to stamp it, if I feel like it. So far these past 2 weeks it has been working.


Week 12
I like trying to input new page protectors, it can be a little difficult with the vertical pictures but I somehow figure it out.

The first day of spring didn't look too well for us here in New Jersey, but as the afternoon came in, it got really bright and sunny. Unfortunately, it is now cold again and will drop to freezing tonight, boo.

I added the title page to the right side since it was Page Protector A. Not tons of pictures but it was an uneventful week. Fifa had another ear infection, my boss said it was going to keep happening since she is prone to it, her and her sensitive skin. We also said goodbye to one of our supervisors Adam. Later in the week, spring flowers popped up at Steve's house, I love these pictures.




My dad sent me pictures of them while in Thailand and I am so happy that they are having a great time on their retirement. I can not wait to go visit them in December for Christmas break.


Week 13


Unfortunately, you can see the slight cut out of the "12" behind the dollie haha. I didn't realize I was doing Week 13 and was caught off guard when I went to look at the dates haha. Oh well, a few mistakes; it'll make looking at this later even funnier. I have a few spelling mistakes in past weeks but just left it as it, gives a little character :)

I jumped on the bandwagon of reading the books, which I really enjoyed... the movie not so much. I doubt I will go see the rest of the movies after I read the books.
I felt the acting was very flat, didn't make me believe it as much as I wanted to. BUT that's just my opinion!

♥, enough said.


Right:


Yeah $2!!!! Our company pool did not win, but Steve and I won $2 haha. If only we could win that $640 million, maybe next time ;)



Good old Eddie came to visit us at work, he was our student worker who is now off to graduate school. We were really excited to see him. I made sure to keep it a secret until he showed up. I baked those cupcakes for his visit too. Funfetti. DELICIOUS. Those are the mini ones up there, so cute and bite-sized. They were great.

My roommates birthday is on the 4th, but most of us won't be here for it so I decided Sunday I would bake her cupcakes and we would surprise her and sing her happy birthday. She is in denial because she is turning 25. I'll be there in a month!
We tricked her, she kept coming into the kitchen and I told her I had an order to make. Her boyfriend was there as well and he made sure to keep her out of the kitchen when we set it up. She almost cried she was so happy.
I've baked for all 3 of my roommates birthdays and surprised them, I am good at this!


The last two weeks are all caught up, finally! I can take a breather on Week 14 and just slowly plan as I go along. How is everyone else doing? I want to get more supplies but between baking, photography, and scrapbooking I have to wait haha.


Some supplies I use:
PL Core Kit - Colbalt, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Ormolo- shipping tags, Silhouette Cameo, AC letters 1, AC letters 2, AC letters 3, 4x6 photo layouts by Persnickety Prints (they have TONS of digital stuff- definitely visit!), chevron printable - Finding Nana (amazing blog and inspiration for Project Lifers), PSE Actions (if you are into photo editing and like actions/filters this is a great place to buy some), Epson Photo Paper, Martha Stewart glue pen, Fiskar corner rounder (I wouldn't recommend though), date stamp, Uni-Ball pens, and a One Happy Mama link up.

If anyone has some great supplies that they find really useful let me know please! :) I always like a lot of help when it comes to this.. there's always a wish list, especially since my birthday is only 1 month and 5 days away!

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