Bluegrass Saturday...Muffins and Mari

I headed to work at 8am this morn. When I got home shortly after noon, Mari was here taking care of Sebastian since Nate had to work today too. Then the 3 of us went to get some Aveda goodies, coffee and Noodles and Co. 

Who's Mari?...Oh, she is one of my besties and she is the shit.

On any given week night, you can often find the two of us watching crappy reality TV while eating macaroni and cheese and Stove Top instant stuffing...yup, at the same time...like, the best dinner ever.

Anywho, after we got home, Mari and Sebo both napped and I did laundry and started making muffins. Super yummy muffins. 

I have eaten these muffins a couple times...but have never made them. It is a recipe from Nate's aunt. Banana Bran Chocolate Chip Muffins. 

The recipe calls for oat bran...this is harder to find then you may think and that's why it took me so long to make the damn muffins. I thought I found it once, I was really excited about it. I came home and Nate pointed out the fact it was oat bran FLOUR. I had noticed this when I bought it but assumed it wouldn't make a difference. Nate assured me it would. 

Buzz kill. 

I finally did find oat bran...just plain oat bran all by its lonely self. 

Wrong                                                                Right

Then the muffin making starts.

Part way through, Mari and Sebo joined me in the kitchen.

Sebastian loves hanging out in his highchair staring at everything...

...and I love staring at his face.

The recipe doesn't call for muffin cups but I decided to use them so I can easily grab one (or two) when I am running out the door.

Of course Magnus wasn't far from the food as well.

Once the muffins were done...Mari and Sebastian spent some quality time on the couch.

Another good Saturday followed by what I expect to be a good Sunday and Monday...I don't work until Tuesday! 

Banana Bran Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yields 18 muffins

1/2 cup butter (room temp.)

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup ripe bananas

1 tsp salt

1 cup oat bran

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream butter, vanilla and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Stir in oat bran. Blend dry ingredients alternately with mashed bananas into creamed butter/egg mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Do not over mix. Fill greased (or lined) muffin tins about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Yum.

I tossed about a dozen in the freezer in hopes that I can throw one in the microwave on rushed work mornings. Not sure if they freeze well...we will find out. I will post an update to let you know how that goes. 

Bluegrass Saturday Night

Yup, that's right. Bluegrass Saturday...night. 

Last week I mentioned that 88.5 FM plays bluegrass music on Saturday mornings and it makes me jolly. I've decided to make a post every Saturday from now on and title them Bluegrass Saturday _____. Why? Because bluegrass music is easy going and happy and that's how Saturday's should be.

Most Saturdays, Nate works all day and night so Sebastian and I just hang out. It's really cold out today and we are happy to just be cozy in the house.

This afternoon he took an epic nap and afterwards was wide awake and talking away in what his Papa calls his "activity chamber".

The many faces of Sebo.

Dinner is always uneventful when I'm the only one eating it and tonight was no different. But it was pretty yummy. We have a bunch of tiny garden tomatoes in the freezer from last summer. I tossed a bunch of them in a pan and added olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, garlic, salt, basil, brown sugar and a bit of tomato paste. I put it all on top of some angel hair pasta and topped it off with some parmesan. Yum. I even used the china and paired it with a glass of  wine.

Sebo is now sound asleep. I'm curled up on the couch and look forward to what's next...pistachio ice cream, a few episodes of Hoarders and then bed. My Saturday's tend to be laid back and uneventful, but I am just fine with that because they are days filled with Sebastian time...and that is the best kind of time.

Bluegrass Saturday Mornings

What's awesome? 

That 88.5 FM plays bluegrass music on Saturday mornings and I love it. 

What else is awesome? 

When I am heading up the stairs and I see this...

It takes a few things to create this moment. 

A white curtain, a sleepy cat, just the right sunlight. 

When it happens, I love it.

 Because of this, you may get some fuzz on your bum if you ever use our restroom. 

Sorry about that...totally worth it.

Who will you find behind the curtain? Charlotte de Berry.

Of course Filibuster has to watch me take photos...which in turn creates more photos.

While the cats hang out in the bathroom...Mr. Magnus lounges on the stairs.

And Penelope snuggles in our bed.

Where's Sebastian? 

Napping.

And I stare.

Then he wakes.

Recently, his legs and feet have become quite interesting.

As you can see, Saturday mornings around here are pretty lazy...and I love it. 

Best Year Yet

In about 2 hours, it will be 2013. One of my resolutions for the new year? Blog more.

Ready, go.

As 2012 comes to a close, I am thankful for a great year full of great things. But the greatest thing that has happened in my life is the little munchkin Nate and I brought into the world on August 17th.

Enter Sebastian.

Never knew I could love something so much.

Here he is at 4 months. 

First photo Nate ever took of him right after he was born.

A few more from his first days.

I never knew it was possible to sleep so hard.

Sebo monkey basking in the sun.

I cannot believe that he is more then 4 months old already. Time really does go faster as you get older and even faster once you have a kid. I cannot wait for the years to come, to be able to watch him grow, learn and become his own little person. I think he is going to be a pretty awesome little man.

Happy New Year! Here's to more blogging.

Annual Week in Michigan

Every year, Nate's moms side of the family, which includes her 3 sisters and all their family members, meets up in Union Pier, Michigan for a week on the beach. I have been tagging along on this trip since our second summer of being together in 2004. The week is spent at a little beach resort called Gintaras and we stay in cute cabins close to the beach.

It is wonderful. 

We sit on the beach, read, swim, eat, nap and relax. It pretty much always takes place in the end of June...so we are here now! The weather has been quite nice so far...just very hot. But today it is raining...which means I have time to make a post...which I am realizing I should really do more often.

A bunch of family hangin' on the beach.

Squishy nephew Elliott wearing my sunhat.

Me and my 30 weeks pregnant belly on the beach.

This is what we call the BS. Beautiful Sunset. 

We have a few days left here, then back home to tend to the garden and continue preparing the house for the baby...which will be here before we know it.

All photos in this post taken by the hubby, Nate.

Fluffy Feathers and Red Fur

Being a city girl at heart means I will never have the little hobby farm I once thought I might have someday. As much as I would love acres to raise animals on, I would prefer to stay right here in my city slice and just have some backyard chickens at some point. 


My mom's boyfriend lives on a few acres just 15 minutes from the city. Today I went and hung out with my mom and his spring chickens and piglets...and I loved it. I am thankful to have this little spot of farm animals to visit so close to home and look forward to visiting them often this summer.

They just got these three piglets yesterday. They are still a bit skeptical of being pet, but I got a few pats in.

I love the curly ears.

Eat, eat, eat...all day long.

Next we visited the chickens! They got these dozen or so little ladies a few weeks ago and they have already grown a lot. Their fluffy little fuzz is quickly turning into colorful feathers.

This little nugget is my mom's favorite...obviously. She has not grown as much as the others and is still only a small handful of fuzz.

Although my mom too has always been a city girl...as you can see here, there is a little more farm girl in her then city and this is where she looks right at home.

Little, Green and Joyful

Tomorrow is my birthday and today, my aunt Mary brought me out to Bachman's to celebrate...what a treat :) 

Here is what I came home with as a gift from her...

Can you even stand how dang cute it is??? They are little mini adorable plants in little mini bright colored pots...it can't get any better then this. All of them lined up are small enough to live right on my coffee table where I can enjoy them all the time.

They sit just right on this little wood stand with a metal tray attached.

I almost feel like I should name them...

Thanks auntie Mary for giving me something so little, green and joyful!

It's a perfect little slice of spring in This Mini Apple Slice.

Mr. Magnus Joins Us

Well, it appears that I have not blogged in quite some time...lets fix that. 

I will start by introducing you to our newest family member...Mr. Magnus!!! We got him in December and he is fitting in well!

When my hunt for another dog began, I was looking for a big dog...50+ lbs. But then I saw Magnus and I couldn't pass him up, all 32 lbs. of him. Take a gander at a true mutt. Penelope is quite a mutt herself, but Magnus on the other hand is more of a mystery...the best guess is Basset Hound/Pit Bull, but we really don't know. What we do know is that it's hard to look at his short awkward legs with that big head and not smile. His body parts don't look like they should go together, but somehow it works for him! He was found roaming in Indiana and was picked up by animal control there. His home was never found and that is when he was brought up to MN by Midwest Animal Rescue to be adopted. His history is unknown, the only hint that we have at his past is that he is a little fearful...thankful not aggressively so, he wouldn't hurt a flea. He is a cuddle bug with tons of extra wrinkly skin to squish. He and Penelope love to wrestle, play tug-o-war and chew on each other.

Here they are on christmas day in a sea of wrapping paper.

His main goal in life is to lay on top of Penelope. At first she was a bit skeptical about it (as you can see in her face here). But she quickly got use to it and now she just thinks he is a giant hot water bottle.

She now thoroughly enjoys the cuddling.

I am not always sure how Penelope keeps breathing like this.

 A couple more sleeping dog photos, just because you can't have too many. Right?