my 24th october

october is the best month ever.  i love summer but i love winter too, and october is the changing of the seasons and leaves and weather.  i love it.

it helps that my birthday is in october.

and i got some SWEET presents this year!  i seriously loved them all, but im going to highlight a few of them, simply because they are sheer awesomeness.  

i have a nickname.  most of your who know me have prolly heard my dad say it a fair number of times, since he rarely calls me by name.  so what does he call me? punkin.  yup.  so there are lots of pumpkins all around mine and my parents house.  so what did my mom buy me? a pumpkin beanie. i might never wear it, but its the thought that counts right?

brian bought me the gift of gender neutrality.  we go camping alot. and i get jealous that i cant stand next to a tree and pee.  so brian made it possible.  he bought me a go girl!  its basically a silicone funnel...so i can pee standing up!  the best gift any girl could get from her husband, right?  oh, come on chicas, we ALL have tried peeing standing up before. if you deny it, you are lying :)

the best present of all came from lisa.  i needed a little personality at my law school carrel, so she bought me a little something. something wiiiIIITTTHHH!!!  a HERRING!  i have my very own kinght of ni now!  he is HUGE and sits at my carrel, keeping me company.  some people have even known who he was without ever asking.  im so proud of my fellow montys! i gave them permission to give him pounds whenever they want.

i got alot of other great things from everyone else-YUMMY sweatpants, a huge bag of skittles [gone], an awesome gf cookbook [see here for my post on it], a HOT guess brand trench coat, a sweet custom T from mar tar, a beautiful and unique pot from south africa, hair rollers [to give me a reason to keep my long hair] and a recycling bin [thanks honey].  

i felt the love, guys. thank you so much. 

happy 24 to me!

the joy of cooking

my birthday is on monday. yay!  because brians birthday is only 13 days ahead of mine, my parents split the difference and celebrate our birthday together the weekend between the actual days. this means i got most of my presents already!


and i got what i wanted. a new gluten free cookbook!


its called cooking for isaiah, and i discovered it through an article on the aol homepage.  why was i so excited about this? i have several gf cookbooks that im not in love with, so what made this one any different?


the fact that the woman is italian american.


call me crazy, but my great grandmother was pure italian, and i just knew that this book would be more like the kind of cooking i grew up with.  and i have not been disappointed.


well, i say that, but ive only made one thing out of it so far.  but ALL of the recipes look great!  my husband insists im a picky eater-i dont think so!  i just like the style of cooking and food that my mother and grandmother make, and which is how i now cook.  lots of herbs, meat, veggies and starches, and no canned soups or casseroles.  my husband, who grew up on casseroles (with 6 kids and 5 of them hungry, bottom less males, who blames his mother??).  but recipes that use alot of boxed or canned things just dont appeal to me.


im super excited about the idea that i could make some really awesome things that i already know i will like.  and my gluten free bread?  well, the second time around it came out amazing.  lesson-wax paper and parchment paper are def NOT the same...