Food, Shopping With Mom, Cats

It's been sunny and beautiful here,

and not too hot (yet).

Today it briefly reached 80.

Let's start this post with FOOD!

I made a lot of great food lately, and I'm proud of how it all turned out.

I'm struggling right now with a Crohn's flare-up, but  these foods still look pretty good!

First amazing thing: DOUGHNUTS!

 I usually don't crave doughnuts, but when I do,

it's the raised chocolate glazed ones.

These are not raised, not fried, but definitely chocolate glazed!

These are baked.  And light.  Fluffier than I expected, too.

I am making another batch tomorrow when my parents come over for dinner.

I put coconut shreds on some, and mini chocolate chips on some.

Some I just left glazed.

Is your mouth watering yet?

 

I also made some pancakes with blueberries and mini chocolate chips.

I make these a lot.

I use buckwheat flour for these.

Here's a typical lunch this past week.

Thin rice cakes with hummus, spinach, pickles, shredded red cabbage,

shredded carrots, and a tomato slice!

With sliced oregano potatoes.  Yum yum!

I might have to have this for dinner tonight.

Oops!  On this batch I left off the spinach by accident.

Slice washed potatoes about 1/4" thick, arrange them on a baking stone (or pan lined with parchment paper or nonstick baking pads) and sprinkle with oregano, garlic powder, salt, and whatever other spices you like.  This time I wanted them old-home style.  I wanted the house to smell like a big roast had been cooking all day.  It did!

I also made some pasta salad this week.  The dressing didn't turn out well this time,

but that happens sometimes.

You see a banana and blueberries in the back to the right,

sprinkled with cinnamon.

Now we'll move on to the best day of shopping I think my Mom and I have had

in ages!

A couple of other shopping trips spring to mind as EPIC and precious.

One was a trip with my Grandma (my Mom's Mom), my special Auntie Cindy,

and me.  I think I was 22 or 23 and I bought a number of cute little dresses (I still remember them).

I remember a shopping trip in Minnesota in October with special fondness because it was CHILLY and breezy and cloudy and beautiful AND we enjoyed exploring some new territory. 

Pretty much every shopping trip with my Mom feels extra special because we can't just do it every week (though that would STILL feel very special!)

Here's what I wore:

blouse: WhoWhatWear (Target)
camisole: JKY by Jockey (Target)
pants: Express
shoes (Target)

Look how cute my Mom is!

There's my Mom in the trenches at Ross!

There we are in the monitor!

  

I didn't find a huge bunch of stuff at Ross,

but we did find some wonderful thigns.

I am happy to have bought this GOREGOUS

light blue faux leather jacket!

I REALLY DIG this perfect color and the cut of this jacket.

And it was only $39.99!

jacket: Marc New York by Andrew Marc (Ross)
blouse: Target
jeans: INC International Concepts (Macy's)
socks, shoes: Target
bag: ABage (Amazon)

We had lunch at Chipotle and it was delicious.

I get a veggie bowl.

It's huge and very filling, so I can go on and do more shopping!

Next we went to Target.

I bought this t-shirt from Target online, so I thought I would insert it here.

It says, "duck, duck, gray duck".

This is a Minnesota pride t-shirt, in case you didn't recognize it.

Do you know the game "Duck, duck, goose"?

Well, in Minnesota only, it's called "Duck, duck, gray duck".

I LOVE THIS REGIONALISM!!!!!!

Read more about why it's great here.

Jillian (my dear sister-in-law) was wearing this shirt when they came to visit,

and  I had to have one!

Can you see us in the self check out monitor?

The sky was beautiful.  I love those wispy little clouds.

Here is the unveiling of our new front patio!

I have been browsing online to see what sort of decor I'd like in the front entryway,

and I wanted something welcoming, yet modern.

It needed to feel fresh and also fit in with the rest of our home decor. 

WELCOME to our home!

Someone else felt at home in our yard!

Let's move on to the backyard . . . 

I was hanging out out there with a glass of water,

and saw this pretty prismatic effect from the sun.

I put bleach in the fountain to clean up the water and the fountain itself.

The next morning, we woke up to this!!!

It looks like the fountain grew a beard!

It's getting warm enough for our Chinese Elm trees to bud.

Their tiny little leaves are growing!

  

On Saturday, Greg whipped out his big stick (from Mark & Jillian)

and cut some branches.

This neat tool has a mini chainsaw that hooks on to the end.

And the day ended with PINK CLOUDS!

Now we're on to the CAT portion of this post.

Here is Claude after brushing herself on the counter.

While I was fixing my hair in the morning,

these three cats were enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine.

But they got sleepy and needed to cuddle!

  

Have a great evening!

I hope you have some fuzzy babies to cuddle.