Kiss Me I'm Irish... 2012

Goodbye March... and hello April!

But not without a little Saint Patty's Day Post!
This year we wanted to celebrate Saint Patty's Day, but we also wanted to keep it healthy. We are working on being more healthy right now. :) So, for dinner we had a LEAN and GREEN meal.
The decor, was just what we had on hand. Gold place-mats, white plates with green accents with other dishes. Maybe not as festive as last year's traditional dinner, (see here) but still yummy!

Grilled zucchini, Green "Shamrock" peppers, Mixed greens salad, with grilled lime tilapia!

The "Shamrock" peppers was an idea I got from Pinterest.

We also had Peach Crystal Light, with a shamrock straw, also found from pinterest.

And the napkin rings were rainbow rick-rack, with a tag saying... Kiss Me I'm Irish, for today!

I don't know why but my Husband says "Kiss me I'm Irish" all the time. Mostly when he comes home from work. LOL. I always say I don't kiss you because your Irish... because, he's not. I kiss you because I love you, silly. However, for Saint Patrick's day I am all about being Irish... for a day! :)

Oh, and I made my husband put on his only shirt that has green, and it also is perfect with a shamrock on it; we got it a few years ago for this very holiday. He's NOT a green fan, however I LOVE GREEN!

Hope you had a fun St. Patty's Day!

April Subway Art { F R E E D O W N L O A D }

How, is it that APRIL is just around the corner? Time is flying by. :)
I love springtime. I love seeing all the flowers pop out, especially in my parent's yard. They have a zillion. And they are always so pretty.

It was tricky to pick words for the April Subway art. There are already so many spring subway art out there, and I don't want to just redo them. So, I tried to mix the fun, spring and Easter things in with some more spiritual words. Which is kind of harder than you may think.

Here is the SUBWAY art for APRIL.

{ available in 2 colors: Vintage and Brights }

Download your Vintage April Subway art here.

I really can't decide which to print out!

How about you?

Download your Brights April Subway art here. 

Don't know what "General Conference" is... Check it out here.

© Christina Marcano. For personal use only.

You are the heart on my Valentine.

Remember more than a month ago it was Valentine's day!
We kind of kept things simple because the next morning we left for California!

My Husband surprised me with a decked out car with little chocolates and a valentine card.

To get me to come to the car, he texted me and said... I think I left my wallet in the car,
can you go and check. lol. It totally worked.

I made Cruz a Valentine-Candy-Gram!

XOXOXOXO!

spinach chicken artichoke pizza, in the shape of a heart.

I love valentine's day every year because I get one of these... a card, with a love note from the husband-o.

i ♥ u...

Yesterday, I went to my sweet next door neighbor's (where I grew up) viewing. She passed away after suffering from pancreatic cancer. She was a wonderful example to me, and so loving to my family through the years. They had this saying on a pillow next to a family picture. It made me cry my eyes out, right then and there. I was super embarrassed by this, but my heart was really sad. I tried to hold back the tears, but that just made my face really red. I was touched by this cute saying.

I am thankful families really can be together FOREVER!

Print your own 5x7 print by clicking the links below.

Teal

Purple

Green

Salmon

(They preview off color, but once downloaded the color looks normal.)

Road Trip!

Cruz had to renew his passport which required him to go to San Francisco. 

We decided to make a little vacation out of it. Why not, right?

We'd been to San Fran back in 2009 and did all the tourist things we knew about and then some. So, this trip around we decided to spend 2 days in San Fran and then drive along the coast to Los Angeles.

We did little planning, and just kinda went with the flow of things. 

Stops included:

1. San Fran
2. Monterey
3. Pebble Beach
4. Carmel Beach
5. Big Sur
6. Hearst Castle
7. Solvang
8. Santa Barbra
9. Malibu Beach
10. L.A.

Favorites from the trip include:

1. Clam Chowder in a sour dough bread bowl from Boudin Bakery.
2. San Fran Trolley ride... i've been there 4 times, and this was a first!
3. Awesome, hotel with fire place and jacuzzi at an affordable price.
4. Carmel, super cute little town with fun tourist shops and a yummy bakery.
5. Hearst Castle... Wow, that place has a little bit of everything. So, so, pretty. 
6. Live Jazz music to go with dinner in L.A.!
7. Being with my handsome husband for 6 days straight, without work and the craziness of life.

I really, really LOVE being on vacation!!

Oreo...is 100!

I've been a little under the weather, with a really horrible cold. I was too sick to celebrate leap day, and too sick for Dr. Seuss' birthday. (Seriously, so sad.)  I am feeling a lot better... I was happy that today my co-worker gave us the pleasure to celebrate Oreo's birthday during our monthly meeting. 

Happy BIG birthday to Mr. Oreo! 

What a yummy cookie you are.

I love you dipped in milk.

I love you homemade.

I love you in all forms, 

and especially with ice cream.

3 cheers for Oreo cookies.

Who knew this cookie had been around for so long? Crazy.

An Oreo memory... Once for my birthday my friend Jamie gave me a large jar filled with only the black part of the oreo cookie. I guess, I had mentioned that I liked it better than the white cream. Which now doesn't sound all that good... I like it with the white stuff now. At the time, I thought it was hilarious, and delicious. :)
Oh, and the other funny part of the story is that I think she and her sister ate all the white stuff on its own. LOL.

Hooray for Oreo cookies!

Welcome Home Elder Tyler!

My nephew Tyler returned from serving his mission in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 8th. We are so happy to have him home. It was great to chat and to hear him talk a little about his mission. I love it how missionaries can talk about mission stuff forever and ever... and love it just as much as they did the day they got home. :) Congrats Ty for returning with honor! Love ya. 

Win a KINDLE FIRE!

As most of you know, I am a graphic designer. During the day I design for Covenant Communications. An LDS book-publisher. A fantastic job, I am really lucky! Anyway, a book that I designed the cover for released this month (Feb. 2012). It is an intriguing story. I just listened to the audio book while we drove to San Francisco, it kept our minds off of the long drive. I don't know why but I am interested in stories of people who were aboard the Titanic. 

I loved how the cover turned out... but the main reason for this post is so that YOU can watch/share the book trailer, and WIN a Kindle Fire from Covenant Communications.

Rules and details of the contest can be found here.

Below is the book's trailer.

ENJOY!

Sweet Valentine! (Friend Party)

 My cute friend Lex, decided to have a friend Valentine's Day Party.

It was so much fun. See that bowl of chex mix... only pic of it that I had... but seriously that stuff is amazing. Thanks, Ash.

She got really creative, and decked out her house with hearts and cute banners.

Cruz and I brought Pavlova. 

All the treats were so yummy! We had a sugar rush for sure.

Ashley B. Made these cute cupcakes with chocolate hearts.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lex made these super yummy jello parfait.

Lex, also gave us these fun valentine's with mustaches on them.

I "MUSTACHES" you a question...

Will you be my Valentine?

This was such a fun little party. I loved that it was a few weeks before Valentine's day (02.04.2012)... it got me in the spirit of this lovely holiday. :)

LOL. Got to love these friends...!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE.

and...
a little love note for the husband-o.


dear husband-o,
i ♥ u.
i love you the mostest-er!
thank you for the sweet card, and valentine's day surprise.
you are the best.
i hope you have a wonderful day.
i am excited to go to San Fran with you tomorrow.
hugs, and kisses.
—love, your wife-a

Arrrrgggg, it's Free Valentine Printables!

My friend had an early valentine's party this past weekend. (I'll post pics later.)  It was fantastic. She asked us to bring some valentines to share. So, I sat down at the computer and came up with these. Since they were from both Cruz and I, he informed me that they couldn't be too girly. LOL! So, I went for a pirate theme, I really liked how they turned out. :)
(I also learned that in Venezuela, kids don't hand out valentine cards, like we do here in the states... so when I told Cruz that we were to bring little valentines he was kind of confused. He said in Venezuela, you only give a card to your boyfriend/girlfriend... not to classmates etc., honestly; I think he found it a little odd that we have this tradition. For me, I think it's great to share a little love once and a while!)

I thought they'd be fun to share them...

enjoy!

Download your own set here!

I think this red one is my favorite.

Oh, and do you want to make little envelopes for these little valentines??? Go here...

ps... I started with a 6x6 square, and it worked pretty good for me! For this size i don't recommend card stock.

Happy Valentine's Day!

celebrate!

 I didn't really have anything BIG planned for my birthday... little did I know.

When I got home from work, my handsome husband was already home from work... and ready to party. He had the gifts all wrapped, and everything set up. ;)

Cruz really knows how to make my birthday fantastic. He always has a surprise up his sleeve.

 He remembered that one random day I had said I wanted some baking supplies. Love that! He also had these beautiful roses sent to my work. A fun surprise. The picture doesn't show, but they were really pretty, and the vase was a fun square shape, and had some fun twigs coming out the top. ♥'ed it.

 After opening the gifts we went to dinner. We went to Gloria's Little Italy, which is very yummy. If you haven't tried it, and you are in Provo sometime you should. It is tasty.

 I recommend the bruschetta... so delicious.

 When I got home, some of my adorable friends were at my house to surprise me. :) I loved it. They had chatted with Cruz to get the details worked out, and they sure did a fabulous job!

 Have your cake and eat it too.

FRIENDS!
(PS... see that cute banner, Lex made it... I thought it was festive... don't be surprised if you see it again for some other party. It is too cute to not use it again.) 

 I love how ridiculous this picture is.

 This birthday was the year of FLOWERS. It was perfect. My house looked like spring... and those tulips are still as pretty as ever. Thanks Kristi!

 The Saturday after my birthday we gathered as a family... at La Jolla Groves. Seriously, beautiful and mouth-watering food.

It was a fantastic birthday. I loved all parts of it.

Thank you Cruz for all the work you put into my birthday. You are a great party planner. ;) I love that you took the time, and energy to make it all happen. Love you the very MOST!

I really didn't think he could compete with last years b-day... but I think he did.
i loved 2009 b-day celebration as well. (See... isn't he the best!)

NEW!

I have a new blog header. I think i love it, it feels good to have a little change. :) Let me know what you think!

{ Let me know if you need a new blog header, I'd love to design one for you. }

Oh, and speaking of NEW... we have a new car! It is lovely. We got her the day after my birthday... kind of a little extra birthday present. (More to post on my b-day another day...)

We have been a ONE car family for about 18 mo. that is a long time. I am so thankful that my co-worker Kathy, who was a lifesaver; and let me ride to work with her. It was really fun to get to know her better. She tells the best stories, and never complained about all the crazy road construction.

I am also super thankful for my parents letting me barrow their extra car all the time when I needed to run places, or when the car-pool at work didn't work out. They would always make it work, thanks Mom and Dad. Love ya. Thank you to all the other people who gave me a ride, when I needed one.

So far Maxinne is loving us right back, she has a few extra bells and whistles. I think our other car Max is a little jealous. I can't wait to take Maxinne for a little road trip to San Fran in a few weeks. We have to go re-knew Cruz's pass-port... so were making a little trip out of it. It is great to be able to just go, when you need to GO, and not have to think of how you will get there. Hooray, hooray for a new car.

Oh, and not too long ago I also got a new hair cut. I am kinda loving it too. I went short, and it has been a good 5 years since I've had my hair short. Shoulder length hair is short for me. :) 2012 is welcoming NEW things!

p.s..... happy GROUNDHOG DAY!