Tuesday morning, Jarom called into 105.1 FM KNCI for to win dinner at Morton's Steakhouse with a live performance of new solo recording artist, Jessica Harp. The radio station was taking callers 9 and 10. He let the phone buzz and buzz with the busy signal, about to hang up when it started to ring and well, he WON!



Our prize was dinner for two, that night, at Morton's Steakhouse in downtown Sacramento. Jessica Harp is a new solo recording artist that already has a top 20 Billboards Hot Country Song song with "Boy Like Me". She used to be part of the singing duo with Michelle Branch that made up The Wreckers.

Neither Jarom or I have ever been to Morton's until Tuesday, so I looked it up. I remember hearing about it and thinking it was a more upscale fancy restaurant, to our standards, and I was right. From what little I could see for pricing it was expensive, too. I decided I would wear a nice summer light skirt, so I picked my white one with my teal green baby doll top and white tank top underneath. I didn't expect Jarom to wear a suit and tie, but I did expect Dockers and a button up shirt. He wore jeans and a button up shirt. When we walked in a 6:30pm, everyone was in suits and ties, but they ushered us to the patio outside in the 100 degree heat for our fare. It was actually nice outside, once the sun started to go down and there was a nice, refreshing breeze, too. It was a relief to see that we were dressed nicer than most of the other winners.

There were 10 other winners, each with a guest and we were the last to arrive, but we had a nice time. Our meal was several platters of "Bar Bites" from the bar that just kept on coming. Jarom and I were the only ones at our table and there was a lot of leftover food, but we couldn't eat it all. I wish I had taken several pictures of our food-it all looked so yummy and it was. I enjoyed all of it and I'm a picky eater, but I ate crab and blue cheese. I was able to find a few pictures on thier website, though, at www.mortons.com.

Immediately, we were each give a swag bag. In it was a t-shirt, pen (that lights up) and key chain that has a bottle opener and flashlight.




This is a list of all the food that they brought us:
-Miniature Crab Cakes with Mustard Mayonnaise
-Chicken Goujonettes with Mustard Mayonnaise, these are crispy fried little chicken bites.
-Prime Cheeseburgers with lettuce, tomato and purple onion

-Iceburg Wedge Bites with tomato, egg, bacon and blue cheese
-Jumbo Lump Crab, Spinach and Artichoke Dip with French Bread Croutons (So Yummy!)

-Blue Cheese French Fries with blue cheese, red pepper flakes and chive (Not my favorite, in fact this was the only dish I didn't really care for)
-Petite Filet Mignon Sandwiches with Mustard Mayonnaise


Jessica soon came out with her two bandmates and started to play her set. Her CD will be released in September. She played 3 or 4 songs from her album, and "Leave The Pieces" that she sang and produced with Michelle Branch as part of The Wreckers. When she played "Have You ever Seen the Rain" written and performed by John Fogerty (it was first performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1970 on their album the Pendulum) everyone sang along. Jessica's music is great and she has a beautiufl voice.







Jessica played and sang 7 or 8 songs and then for anyone who wished to have them, she autographed photos and our KNCI t-shirts and took photos with us. I got an autographed picture and had her autograph my shirt, too, and then Jarom took a couple photos of the two of us. She was very nice and I really hope that she rockets to the top and that we see a lot more of her.





Jessica autographing my photo


Jessica Harp and Me




We left the restaurant around 8pm and walked back to Macy's to the parking garage where we parked the car. We weren't exactly sure where it was and my navigation system said we arrived at our location, when in actuality we still had to go another street down, so we parked a bit of a ways away. It was a nice walk except for the heat and my feet being swollen so my sandal heels were hurting my feet. I even have a little blister on the side of my left big toe. Had we known exactly where it was we would have seen that they had valet parking for $5. Oh well. Besides parking, all we had to pay for was our drinks. Jarom had a coke and I tried the Veuve Clicquot, Rose, Brut champagne. It was okay, but not as sweet as I like. I was hoping they would serve us dessert, because their Hot Chocolate cake and cheesecake looked fantastic! Oh well.

I had a sweet tooth on the way home, so we stopped at Baskin & Robbins down the street from the house before going home. It was $1 Tuesday Scoop Night, too, but only Jarom's was $1. He got a sugar cone with vanilla soft serve ice cream. I, on the other hand, decided I wanted a 'blizzard" which is called a "31 Below" at B&R with butterfinger. YUMMY!

It was a really nice evening. We both really enjoyed ourselves. Jarom and I haven't been doing well when it comes to going on a date together, for some time now, so this was a very nice date with my wonderful husband.

Thank you, Baby, for a really great night! I love you!

Just real quick...I just added a button to both blogs. They are for wonderful baby blankets made by my friend, Natalie. I can assure you they are of the highest quality and you WILL want to have one not just for your babies but all the babies in your life.

Just click on the button and it will take you right to her page to choose the pattern/fabric combination you want and order your blankies today. And yes, that cutie on the page is her youngest, Madison.

Just one more quick post today.

I started a second blog. I quit doing my other helpful hints blog becuase I had a hard time keeping up with it. Well, here I am with a second blog again. Anyway, this is a lbog dedicated to the recipes of the foods I make for my family and friends. I have several that come from recipe books that I will cite accordingly and several from family. As often as possible, I will include pictures of the foods. That will be the tricky part, because I don't really make a habit of taking pictures of my food.

With that siad, you can find this new blog at: http://deathbygoodfood.blogspot.com/.

As of early this morning, when I couldn't sleep, I posted the welcome message and four recipes that I made this weekend. Enjoy!

I can't believe the holiday has come and gone already. It was a far better one than last year, when Jarom and I were on seperate coasts and our street was very quiet. This year, a much livelier picture was painted for us. Most of the day, it was quiet, just hanging around the house. I made my Aunt Michelle's chicken rolls and black bottom cupcakes-a cream cheese filled chocolate cupcake.

Around 7pm, half of our cul-de-sac came together to share in the fireworks show. I broght out some cupcakes to share as the kids twirled sparklers until it was dar enough to watch the big show. Jarom brought out chimanea out to the driveway from the back and some chairs. The Subletts to our left (looking at the house) had a houseful that all came out and the new neighbors across the street came out with thier 4 children, too. The neighbors to our right set off thiers on the side of the house, which we has to watch closely so as they didn't set our house on fire.

We didn't buy any fireworks but there was plenty betweent he neighbors to wathc quite a show. We had our very own fire thrower, or in this case fireworks thrower. I know, it is dangerous, but it was quite a show and he was very cautious. After all the fireworks were done, we made s'mores and passed them around to everyone who wanted one. It was all over by 10:30 and we were in bed by 11pm.

Fathers & Daughters with Sparklers


Fireworks on the Ironing Board


Girlfriends Smile for the Camera-Destiny, Shannon & Madison


Fireworks Thrower


Jarom & Jenna


LeeAnn & Wallace


LeeAnn with her Mom & Aunt


S'Mores Time

My newest edition of the Barbie Collector Catalog came in the mail last and I just had the chance to sit down and look through. This is a never a good idea because I'm such a Barbie Fan and I always end up wanting just about the entire contents of the catalog to add to my collection. This time is no different. It is times like this where I wish I had an endless supply of money of worked for Mattel with a really great discount so that I could afford these beautiful dolls. The monetary total this time comes to just under $794! And that doesn't even include tax or shipping and handling.

My favorites you ask? Well, did you just set yourself up. :o)

1. 2009 Holiday Barbie, pg. 5, $44.95

2. Original Teenage Fashion Model Babrie (1959), pg. 11, $39.95; 2nd reproduction/
50th Anniversary (My mom and dad had an original that belonged to my Great Grandma Marney. She used it make barbie clothes for my mom and aunts. One day it will be mine, but I still want this one, too.)

3. Brunette Bubble Cut Barbie (1962), pg.11, $39.95; 2nd reprodcution/50th Anniversary

4. Twist 'N' Turn Barbie (1967), pg. 12-13, $39.95; 2nd reproduction/50th Anniversary

5. Malibu Barbie (1971), pg. 12-13, $39.95; 2nd reproduction/50th Anniversary

6. Superstar Barbie (1977), pg. 12-13 $39.95; 2nd Reproduction/50th Anniversary

7. Barbie and the Rockers Barbie (1986), pg. 12-13, $39.95; 2nd reproduction/50th Anniversary--(I have this one, of course she is no longer in her box or original outfit becuase I played with her all the time. However, I do still have the original outfit in a bag full of other Barbie fashions I've accumulated over the years of my adolescents.)

8. Hershey's Barbie, pg. 14, $43.00; Silver Label (This one is for my great love of chocolate! :o))

9. Harley-Davidson Barbie, pg. 19, $44.95; Pink Label (I think this is ones I want the most! Including any and all ethnic Barbie dolls. So Mom, Dad, if you are reading this could you go to the Barbie Fan Club site, get a membership and buy me this doll for Christmas??? Pleeeeaaaassseeee!?!?! She has three stars next to her in my catalog, by the way.)

10. Empress of the Golden Blossom Barbie, pg. 22-23, $150; Gold Label (She is so gorgeous! There was one in the past year of so that is similar and I would love to have both! But I don't know if the other one is available anymore.)

11. Scarlet Macaw Barbie, pg. 22-23, $100; Gold Label

12. Babrie as Aphrodite, pg. 22-23, $114.96; Gold Label

13. Amazonia Barbie, back cover, $26.99: Pink Label

14. France Barbie, back cover, $26.99; Pink Label

15. Scotland Barbie, back cover, $26.99; Pink Label

16. Barbie as Goldie Hawn, pg. 14-15, $44.95; Black Label

Now you want to knwo what the color labels mean, right? Well, it is a way that Mattel has classified thier Barbie dolls.

Pink Label-Anywhere that Barbie is sold you can find these dolls and it is an "invitation to collecting".

Silver Label-less than 50,000 dolls produced in the world.

Gold Label-25,000 or less produced in the world and may be available at certain selected retailers. These dolls are also numbered.

Platinum Label-less than 1000 produced worldwide and they are numbers in sequence and may be available at certain select retailers.

Black Label-these dolls are made specifically for the adult collector because of the contents of thier clothing or little there of or other factors like body art.

I have many pink and silver labels, 5 or so gold, maybe one platinum but I'm not positive and currently no black labels. There aren't too many black lable Barbies, though. The Cher doll was the most recent black label doll, but I'm not such a big fan that I had to have her. The Goldie Hawn doll is a black label because she is fashioned after the go=go dancer she portrayed in the segment in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In "The Mod, Mod World". I love Goldie Hwan. She is hilarious and just has this magnetic personality, I think.

Okay, so now you know, if you didn't already, that I'm a major diehard Barbie fanatic and collector. I think I have about 50 collector dolls already and I got my first Hard Rock Cafe doll a couple years ago. Each year they have a new one. I think I have the 2007 one, so I need another one of those again. They are available at any Hard Rock Cafe souvenir store. :o)

I"ve rambles on enough about that, I think. I'm sorry if I bored you, but I had to get it off my chest. :o)

I can't believe it, I didn't post anything for weeks and all of a sudden I have a post two days in a row. Go figure.

It has been a strange week in that there have been quite a few celebrity deaths. Tuesday morning, I read the news and Ed McMahon had passed away. I knew he had been ill for some time. I remember watching him on "Star Search" and the Publisher's Clearning House commercials growing up, but that is about as much as I remember about him. It wasn't until I read about his death that I learned about his work with Johnny Carson. He had quite a career.

Wednesday, my body decided to catch Jenna's cold that transformed into a sinus infection. A really bad sinus infection. It has made the last few days miserable. I've sturggled with breathing, headaches, horrible sinus pressure and a sore throat that turned into an ear infection. I have been loading up on Day/Niquil for the cold and Tylenol Sinus for the sinus infection, along with orange juice and chicken noodle soup. I have drank a whole gallon of orange juice in two days. The last day or so, it has been eaiser to breathe and I have been sleeping a lot. i'm trying to be sure to be sure I use a lot of steam to break up the mucus.

Thursday afternoon, when Jarom returned home from work, he told me that both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson had died. I wasn't very surprised at Farrah Fawcett's death with her battle with cancer. I had hoped she would pull through and the cancer would go into remission, but even that was a small glimmer. Today, they are running Charlie's Angels reruns in honor of her on WGN. As far as Michael Jackson goes, I don't know. It just didn't ignite a spark at all. I wasn't saddened, but I wasn't surprised. I don't know what I felt, I don't think I felt anything. He had some great music during my adolescent years, but he was just weird. I feel for his chicldren, though, they are so young. And, I'm so tired of hearing about him. Enough already.

Friday night, Jarom and Jenna went to see "Transformers", but returned home 20 minutes after leaving because of the line. Last night they tried again. Turns out the line wasn't for getting tickets, it was the line of people waiting to get their seats. They thought is pretty good. I didn't go because I just still don't feel well, but at least I'm starting to sneeze and cough some, which is helping to break everything up. They said it was a pretty good movie.

This afternoon when I emerged from our room, Jarom told me that Billy Mays died. Even though he can be annoying, it was a shock. Jarom and I enjoiy watching "Pitchmen" with him and Sulley what-his-name.

Once again, there is not much going on here. We've had tripple digit heat with 107 yesterday and with this miserable heat I'm fighting this miserable sinus infection. We are just such an exciting little group of people.

It is has pretty much uneventful around here lately.

I'm on a new anti-depressant and just waiting for it to build up in my system so I can see the difference. For the most part I'm sleeping a lot. It is hard to not be on anything to starting a new medication and waiting for it to build up and start working. But, Jarom has been sleeping a lot, too, when he gets home from work and on weekends. However, since I have been sleeping so much, I actually never went to bed last night and I'm really going to try to stay busy today and not nap, so that I can go to bed at a normal hour and get on a good schedule again.

This morning, when I went out to water my plants, a little hummingbird came to visit only I didn't know it until I turned around. Upon my turning around he flew up into the tree.

One of our little hummingbirds




My plan today: blog, paint my toe and finger nails, cookie dough to freeze for another time and I just may bake a batch of oatmeal cranberry cookies for Jarom. Also, make a few dinners to eat this week and freeze for later. Keep you finger crossed I can stay awake and get it all done.

Jarom and Jenna have been working on the lattice work in the backyard. They are replacing some boards and lattice and painting the new one white. Jarom cleared it with the manager and we can take whatever money it costs out of our payment as long as we include the receipts. They did the same thing last month when Jarom found some broken sprinklers. I think they allow us to do it because Jarom knows how, plus it saves them money because they don't have to pay someone to do the labor on top of whatever they need to fix the problem.





We did have an awesome thunder and lightning storm. The thunder was really booming and the lightning was like flash bombs going off in the sky. They were bright and lit up the sky and the dark house. It was pretty cool, even if it was 3am. I love a good thunderstorm any time!

We have been spoiling the dogs a lot. We haven't been putting up the baby gate on the stairs to keep them downstairs, so they have been upstairs in the our bedroom with us at night. They have even been allowed to sleep on the bed with us a few times. Last week, Miss, as usual slept near Jarom's side and Gus cuddled with me for once. He hasn't cuddled with me like that for some time, usually he has been going down to the end by our feet. He stayed cuddled with me all through the night. It was so sweet.

Yesterday afternoon, Jarom came home early from work...well, he was sent home...and everyone else at the High Tech. There is construction for their new building going on right next door to their building and a gas line was broken in the morning. Everyone was ushered outside at 9:30. At 11:00, once PG&E and the fire department showed up, they were told they could go back in and go to work, but that the line would take pretty much the rest of the day to fix. The Chief didn't want to take any chances so she sent everyone home for the day.

It was nice to have him home, but we took a big long nap and Miss got to join us. It was nice. We all cuddled together, with Miss right next to me-her head right next to mine and all cuddled up to me as I snuggled up to Jarom. I wish I had thought to grab the camera to get a picture of all us together-both times; when both were with us and just Miss. The camera is even on my nightstand, ugh.

My flowers are beautiful in the back yard! I took some pictures to share-the big yellow calla lily is so beautiful. Each year the plant grows but doesn't bloom. I planted the bulbs three years ago and each year the leaves of the plant grow, but no flowers. I was starting to wonder if I had another "cucumber with identity issues" again. Jarom and I picked up some cucumber seeds a couple years ago and instead of cucumbers, we got tomatoes! I had started all the tomato seeds inside to transplant later. It was crazy! Anyway, about my yellow calla lily-I am just so excited about seeing it actually bloom. Some of my calla lilies have bloomed since being planted a few years ago but they have not grown as big as my beautiful yellow one...you can see for yourself.

White Day Lilies & Purple Calla Lily


Yellow Calla Lily


Yellow Calla Lily


White Day Lilies


Purple Calla Lily


Morning Glories starting to climb


Disneyland Rosebuds popping up all over


We have had some hummingbirds coming around. Jarom cleaned the hummingbird feeder and filled it with sugar water. We have had some with little red breasts. Not only do they like the feeder but the hanging basket with the little purple flowers that is right next to it.

Hanging basket the hummingbirds like in addition to the feeder


All three of us played Raving Rabbids on the Wii together. I was the loser-and I lost bad, but it was fun. And, I have been maing meals the Weight Watchers way. I've never really cooked unhealthy with fats. I use olive oil and cooking spray when I cook. I have to watch out for the dairy and carbs in the meals and focus on the portion sizes. Last week, I made us mini pizzas on whole wheat pita pocket bread with pizza sauce, low fat mozzarella and turkey pepperoni, and for only 4 points a piece! For 6 points a serving, I made cheese tortellini with fat free marinara sauce. And instead of seperating the chicken breast, I just cut it up and added it to the pasta; I made garlic-parmesan toast too.

Now, I'm off to get some work done that I can check off my list today. I added a couple really special photos on my blog homepage on the left hand side-be sure to check them out.

Oh, thank you Natalie for my little took kit pouch. I think I'm going to use it for my craft tools. Thank You, Natalie!