Kitchen Renewal

Well, some of you know that while I was living in Kentucky, my CA roommate (who I am now able to live with again) had the unfortunate experience of having the condo that she owns get mildly flooded. The flood actually originated a few condos down and my roommate's condo had the least damage, but still not a fun process. Her main areas that were affected were the downstairs bathroom and the downstairs flooring on the half that shares a wall with the most affected condo.

In an attempt to help her while I am still job searching, I offered to take down wall paper to help with the process since I have the time on my hands right now. I decided to tackle it this week, and below are a few pics of what the kitchen now looks like. Later on when the downstairs bathroom is redone and new flooring gets selected, I will post pictures of the progress of that as well.

I like cooking anyway, but cooking in our transformed kitchen will be extra fun! The inspiration was a Kim Parker picture that my roommate really likes (which hangs in the dining room--I actually had one of these in my dining room in Kentucky as well, which is kind of fun). Kim Parker actually designed a line of dishes for Spode as well, and I got some of these to use as wall decorations to tie in some of the colors. It turned out really cute!

Bistro 45

Tonight Tri and I were going to see a movie up in Pasadena, so he picked out a place to eat dinner since we were making the long trek to see an independent film that was not being played anywhere in Orange County. Although the movie, Lymelife, stunk, the restaurant was FABULOUS! We had an appetizer and a salad, I had trout with baby potatoes and green beans, and the dessert was divine! The most impressive feature of the restaurant, in addition to the food, was the service. Every single staff person who passed our table asked us how we were doing and if they could get anything. Also, our waiter upgraded my wine to a better tasting one (he knew his wines and gave me a sample--and correctly, the year for the wine I chose was not as good as the one he recommended). I highly recommend Bistro 45 to anyone who has to eat in Pasadena!

Easter

For Easter this year, I was able to go to Murrieta with my family. We celebrated my brother Rob's birthday as well. It was great to be with them again after being in Kentucky for the past several holidays! As you can see, I especially had fun making the chocolate covered strawberries. Happy Easter, everyone!

Carlsbad Flower Fields

On Good Friday before Easter, Tri and I went with his parents to the Carlsbad Flower Fields--one of my favorite places to visit in the springtime. If you have never been to The Flower Fields, it is a farm right along the I-5 in Carlsbad where they plant striped rows of Rannuculus flowers, which they harvest the bulbs for and sell. In the springtime when they are in bloom, they are just beautiful!

Long Drive Home

After waking up Saturday morning and getting an early start on my journey, I realized early into my trip that it really was a blessing to be driving through the western part of Colorado right after the snow. Vail after a snowstorm is BEAUTIFUL! I got to drive through the Eisenhower tunnel (over a mile long!), and the entire day was scenic and georgous. After passing out of Colorado, I went into Utah--equally georgous but in different ways. I stopped at a few scenic view points and saw some large and beautiful canyons. After making it to Las Vegas by 10pm, I decided to drive on through the rest of the 4 hours home to Orange County, rather than be caught in Spring Break traffic the next night. I ended up driving just over 1,000 miles in 19 hours that day--I don't plan on doing that anytime soon! Here are a few pics from Colorado and Utah.

Colorado Snow Storm!

After leaving Omaha, Nebraska, I headed across Nebraska into Colorado. I can honestly say that I have never seen as many red barns and windmills as I saw along the I-80 in Nebraska. Tonight, I was supposed to spend the night with my college roommate and friend Lori that I lived with while attending Pacific Christian College. I arrived at her home around dinner time and got to meet her adorable two boys and incredibly nice husband. I "thought" I was going to get to depart the next morning...God had a sense of humor however with my aversion to snow. When I woke in the morning, there had been about 16 inches of snow dumped during the night. So I ended up staying TWO extra days with Lori and her family. It ended up being a blessing in diguise, because I actually got to catch up with her and get to know her family some during my stay with them. Here are a few pictures of my two snow days in Longmont, Colorado:

Covered Bridges of Iowa

After visiting with my Gramma, Tuesday's itinerary was to drive across Illinois and Iowa. Most of the day it was raining, but right when it was time to drive past Des Moines to Madison County where I had decided to visit the bridges, the rain cleared away! I had about two hours to drive all over the county and make it to 6 bridges from 5pm to 7pm. BARELY made it to the last one by sundown. I decided to have dinner at the little Cafe in downtown Winterset--the same one where Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep sat in during the filming of the movie Bridges of Madison County. All in all, a nice day. After that, I continued onward through Iowa to Nebraska, after altering my trip after heeding the weather warnings. (Mount Rushmore and most of South Dakota was covered in a LOT of snow).

Goodbye Kentucky...Hello, Indiana and Illinois!

Well, I finally left Kentucky on Sunday afternoon of March 22nd. My friends Lisa and Lesley helped me pack my remaining contents of my little Kentucky rental house into my car. Bon Voyage to Ant Jeny as I crossed over the Ohio River in Louisville into Indiana. Sunday night, I spent the night with my childhood best friend, Lisa Hicks, and her roommate who has also become my good friend, Lesley Jacobs. They were lovely hostessess for the evening and it gave me a chance to gave some more time with them to hang out and say goodbye before my long journey. I miss them already!

Also part of the reason I left KY on Sunday was to get a head start on my first destination along my trip...My Grandma Rose's house in Round Lake Beach, IL (suburb of Chicago). I got an early start leaving Lisa and Lesley's in order to get to spend some extra daylight hours with my Gramma (aka "Gramsey"). After I arrived at her house around 2:30pm on Monday, March 23, we went to lunch at an old favorite...Scotty's Hot Dog Stand! My parents went here with their high school friends before they were even married, and as children when we spent the summers with my grandparents in IL, we frequented Scotty's pretty often. So, it has become tradition when I come into town that Gramma and I go enjoy a Scotty's hot dog while I'm in town. Below are a couple photo's of the iconic stand that I remember from when I was at least as young as 7 or 8 years old.



That evening after eating our Hot Dog's, Gramma and I went by my Uncle Jimmy's house and I visited with him and my cousins, Jason and Jack. I didn't get any photos with Jimmy, Jason, and Jack, but I've included one from childhood of my with my sisters and Uncle Jimmy...priceless!
Kristey, Amy, and Jennie on Uncle Jimmy's Motorcycle, Circa Summer 1985