bye bye Bob

Remember Bob, our cute beta fish?




(that is Sunny the snail, his bowlmate)

I came downstairs Sunday morning and walked over to his bowl to feed him, but didn't see him. I looked all around, thinking maybe he was hiding behind the plant. I didn't see him, until l looked down...

Bob was lying dead on the floor.

My fishie committed suicide! He somehow jumped out of the bowl.

:(

So tragic.

RIP, Bob the beta.







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meet me in Moscow

Confession: I am a bad Christmas shopper, because I can't seem to leave the stores without picking up a little something for me. Just something little, and something that nobody would ever to think to get me for Christmas...just a little treat.

I know, I am bad.

Saturday night, I met the lovely Heidi and Liz in Georgetown for a date. We first went to LuluLemon, where we took some hilariously fun pictures in their photobooth, complete with reindeer antlers and Santa hats. I'll post them another time.

We poked around the shops, I reclaimed my foursquare mayorship of Anthropologie (yes!!!) and had a cocktail or two. Afterwards, we found ourselves in Sephora (DANGER AHEAD) and I picked up this little doll-

Stila's Make An Impression In Moscow Travel Palette!!!

What it is:A travel palette containing four ravishing Eye Shadows and a Convertible Color dual lip and cheek cream in a collectible mirrored palette.

What it does:The fourth in a five-part series of collectible palettes, the Make an Impression in Moscow palette features Stila's award-winning Eye Shadows in four trend-setting shades: Matruschka (beige), Chill (pale blue), Nadia (orange copper), and Mink (brown). The wintery palette also includes Convertible Color in Lily, a sheer, hydrating pink shade that's ideal for creating a naturally flushed, cold-weather glow.

It was a five-part series?! I missed the other four?!

Okay, the website lists two others...Aspen and Tokyo, but where were the other two?! Maybe Luxembourg and Krakow? :)

(must order and find)

I know I didn't need this, but the best part, it was only $10 and I just couldn't resist the pretty.

Tip- don't ever let me go to Sephora.

Are you victim of treating yourself when shopping for others?

another tasty tuesday!

Sunday night, I made a most delicious chicken pot pie! I'd been wanting to make one for weeks, but things have been so crazy that I just hadn't. I went out to do a bit of Christmas shopping and decided that a pot pie would be an amazing dinner on a gloomy, rainy evening! I had most of the ingredients already, so just had to pick up the pie crust and some chicken broth. Pie crusts? Buy one, get one free! Awesome.

As you can see from the photos, the pie came out well and was so delicious!

Please also note my adorable Penelope Scarlet Threads apron (they make excellent Christmas gifts!)

chicken pot pie, a la lexi



2-3 tbls butter
1 lb boneless chicken, cut into small pieces (I used three large breasts)
salt and pepper, to taste
8 oz veggies (I used a can of peas/carrots and a can of mixed veggies, including corn and lima beans...shhh, don't tell Steve about the lima beans!)
3-4 tbls flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half & half
1 tsp spices (I used romemary, thyme, sage and oregano)
pastry crust, one pie crust

preheat oven to 425*

melt butter in large skillet over med-high heat. add chicken, cook/stir 3 min, until no longer pink in center. sprinkle with salt and papper. add veggies, cook 3 min

sprinkle flour evenly over chicken and veggies, stir and cook 1 min. stir in broth and half and half and spices. bring to boil over high heat, reduce to low and simmer until mixture is very thick.

transfer to pie plate and top with pie crust. cut slits to let steam out.

bake 20 min until crust is golden brown.

Enjoy :)

What is on your cooking rotation this week?

Lilly lovers?

I attempted to do a bit of Christmas shopping yesterday and was mostly a failure. I have NO idea what to get for anyone!

I ran into Marshalls and discovered this---





Lilly purfume for $16.99! They had Wink, Beachy and Squeeze and a few bath gels in Squeeze.

I know many of you love Lilly P, so l thought I'd mention this, in case you have a Marshalls nearby!

I've been looking for a new purfume, so l picked up Wink.

What is your favorite purfume?




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books and tea, nothing better

How much do you love this print? I know I do, and I want it to be mine!

The lovely Meg blogged about it, and of course, I had to as well.

{from etsy shop, and we all know how much I adore etsy}

Reading anything good today?

why the secrecy?

Last night, I got a facebook message from one of my oldest and dearest friends. It seems that she had stumbled upon this little blog of mine and wanted to let me know that she'd been reading for about a month now. She asked why I hadn't mentioned it, why it was a secret. I explained a bit, just saying how I like my little corner of the world where most of my "real life" friends don't know. It's not as though I write anything inappropriate in here- I think this blog is pretty G-rated, wouldn't you agree? :) Still though, she understood my reasonings, she said.


It's funny, because she also blogs, and I comment on hers, though when I comment, I comment anonymously and write "love, lexilooo" in the space, as her mother and sister read hers, and they are also close family friends. I think my mother reads hers sometimes too, though my mother isn't much of a blog person to begin with. She says that she "doesn't get blogs."


We were messaging back and forth for a bit, and I said that maybe one day I'd make it "public," and tell my family about it. Then she asked if my mother would be upset that I'd kept it from her for so long, which made me think a bit.

Is your blog public or private? Does your family and friends know about it? If so, what was their reaction? If it is private, what made you decide to blog that way, and do you plan to eventually tell people about it? What do you think they will think of it?

got my eye on pie!

If anyone wanted to get me this pie maker from Williams Sonoma for Christmas, I'd be more than happy to give you my new address (and send you mini pies once a month!)

What is your favorite kind of pie?

tea time!

How gorgeous is this?!

The tea time chandelier from Anthropologie (of course).

It is totally on my Christmas list.

LOVE!

{Modern Relief}

If you are a reader of quilting blogs like I am, you may have seen this popping up in the last several days---

Heather has dreamed up the most amazing project this holiday season-

{ Modern } Relief is a simple concept. We are Modern Quilters uniting through the holiday season by bringing the warmth of our quilts and the warmth of your hearts together for others in need. This season, 2010, we will be supporting World Vision. We hope YOU will join us in taking a stand against hunger by participating in our fundraising raffle.

I know that I don't need to tell you how much I love and support World Vision, so I was thrilled to see this charity as theirs.

Please go here and have a look at some of the amazingly gorgeous quilts that have been donated. I am not posting all of the pictures here, as there are so many, but here is one teaser, made by Heather herself-

Amazing, isn't it? She is so talented.

Raffle tickets can be purchased for $10 each and you can access their paypal account for purchasing tickets on Heather's site. I don't know if I can link their paypal account here! There are more than a dozen quilts that are part of the raffle, and one of them could be yours! Please consider purchasing a ticket and help support World Vision this year. Winners will eb chosen by a randon generator on December 1, so buy a ticket today and spread the word!

the dress! the dress!

Remember this post, where I mentioned my love for this dress?

The dress is now mine!!! One of my best friends from high school was visiting this weekend and we met in Georgetown for dinner. Of course, there was time to pop into Anthropologie! This amazing dress has long been sold out on the website. It was originally $168, then marked down to $80, but Saturday night? It was marked to $39.99!!!!!

So, what shoes would you wear with it???

breakfast at Cinderella's Castle!

The other night, I was cleaning and packing (have I mentioned that I am moving this weekend?) and came across this photo, from our trip to Disney World in 2008!

Lexi, Steve and Cinderella :)

I had never been to Disney at all before (shocking, I know!). We were walking in and of course, came to Cinderella's Castle and there was a huge line. Of course, stopped to investigate, and found that it was a line for breakfast with the Princesses! YES!!!! I knew that I wanted to do this, but what I didn't know, was that most people make reservations for their family six months in advance! Oooops. I asked the girl at the desk, and it turned out that since it was just the two of us, and no children, we had just a 15 minute wait! Breakfast was delish, and I got to meet Snow White, Belle, Jasmine and more!

I'll have to post some of the other photos sometime...they are too funny, especially the one of Steve and Jasmine, hehe!

Who is your favorite Disney Princess?

tasty tuesday- lasagna a la lexi!

Happy Tuesday, and today I am sharing a new favorite. Maybe not new, exactly, as I've always loved lasagna, but until recently, I had never tried making it! Growing up, I don't remember my mother making it- I feel as though she said it was time consuming, and maybe it was, if you boil the lasagna noodles, which I don't ;)

I first made this a few weeks ago, and Steve loves it...so, it's become a favorite of ours!

Lasagna a la Lexi

1 lb. ground beef (or turkey, if you prefer)
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup sliced black olives (optional)
1 pinch each- basil, garlic powder, oregano, sage, black pepper, minced garlic and onion flakes (I do large pinches, as I am very generous with spices!)
1 jar maranara sauce
1/2 package lasagna noodles (no bake noodles- I don't precook them)
1 large container ricotta cheese
1 bag mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. brown the beef in a large skillet over med-high heat. drain excessive grease, stir in water, olives and spices. simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often. stir in maranara sauce and then remove from heat

2. place a layer of meat/sauce mixture at the bottom of a 9x13" pan. cover with dry noodles (three across). spread layer of rocotta cheese over noodles, sprinkle with mozzarella. cover with layer of meat/sauce and then repeat until pan is full.

3. bake 45 minutes at 375*

4. enjoy :)


It is super easy, and you can also improvise. For example, I sometimes use half a jar of maranara sauce and half a jar of another flavor, like garlic or basil. Someone could also add mushrooms, if they like them, which I don't :) I also use a bag of the Italian mixed cheese, so there are four or six different kinds of cheese in there!

Also, the original recipe called for half a pound of ground beef and half a pound of sliced sausage, but that seemed really heavy, so I've never tried it with the sausage. Should I? Or do you agree that that sounds like way too much meat? :)

me, my lasagna and my Scarlet Threads Penelope apron :)

What are you cooking this week? Please share!

what are YOU doing?

Today is National Philantropy Day!

I've seen lots of posts about this on twitter, so I thought it would be appropriate to discuss. According to their website (linked above), 2010 is a very special year, as not only does it mark the 50th anniversary of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the chief sponsor of NPD, but it’s also the 25th anniversary of this special day.

In the United States alone, there are more than 1 million charitable organizations, and Americans give more than $300 billion annually to charitable causes (Giving USA Foundation). In Canada, more than 88,000 charities provide countless services to millions of Canadians, who in turn contribute more than $10 billion annually to those organizations (Canada Revenue Agency). In Latin America and Asia, with governments no longer able to provide enough funding for social services, charitable sectors are growing rapidly and creating programs to meet the needs of their countries’ citizens. The quality of life for all people—everything from education, healthcare, the environment and the arts, to name only a few—would be far less if not for these organizations.

(italicized paragraphs come from their site)

I talk about them enough, so I'm sure you know of two of my favorite organizations-

Scarlet Threads

A a compassionate boutique, specializing in unique products designed and produced by talented seamstresses in rural Asia.

World Vision

a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.

It has only been recently that I've become involved with Scarlet Threads, but I just love their mission and beauty, and I'd love you to check out their site (linked above, and on the side of my blog) for more information. They have gorgeous fairtrade aprons and other gifts that are perfect for any occasion. They just came out with their new products, and see the Aubergine apron? That was my name suggestion! Time for another giveaway, perhaps?

As you know, I sponsor two little girls through World Vision. Majlinda is seven and lives in Albania and Boikokobetso is three and lives in South Africa. I've been sponsoring Boikokobetso for just over a year, but it's hard to believe some days that Majlinda has been in my life for more than three years! I just love having them both in my life, and I think about them often, sending love and prayers their way. I have a picture of them both on my desk at work too. Unfortunately, I cannot post their pictures on my blog, as WV works hard to protect their privacy, and I respect that, but trust me when I say how adorable they are!

What are your favorite charities and what are you involved with? Are you passing along the message of philantropy today?

sweet saturday

Our new pets!



Bob the beta & Sunny the snail!



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still too many cookbooks

Remember this post from more than a year ago, where I discussed my many cookbooks?

(see teaser photo below)

I really need to purge some of these cookbooks! They are taking up space, and I just don't use them all! I use some, but not all.

So, want one? I'm more than happy to send you one or two, if you are interested, because it would be better than them sitting here and growing dust!

Yes? No? Maybe so?