Tisk on me

Bad Blogger Langley!!! But very good worker bee Langley, so I get a break. I've been working hard studying for the patent bar daily and balancing my work projects for my new job. I promised I would stay off of the computer during the day, and in the evenings I've been busy cooking, playing, cleaning, and organizing my life and space for 2011, which means no time for blogging, but I promise to be back with more frequent updates as soon as I feel I've got my responsibilities under control. In the mean time, here's a brief summary of all I've been up to.

Recreating some of our favorite french and italian treats, including Pasta Carbonara from Gabriellos, roasted zucchini pizza, tomato mozzarella flatbread, bucatini amatraciana, a seafood pasta with mussels, gnocchini con prawns and quatro formaggio, and the best dessert ever, MACAROOONS!!!. More on these a little later with pix and instructions.
You can make these in healthy versions and healthy portions and not feel guilty about trying new foods and carbs. what an idea!

It's also the final countdown to my marathon, the Donna run for Breast Cancer, which as of now is 25 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes away. I did my 18 miler this weekend (which accidentally turned into a 19 miler) and I felt great after and averaged at my goal race pace, so that was a major encourager for the final stretch.

We are FINALLY ordering some bedroom furniture for our room. I have been dying to upgrade to a king size bed, and a six foot four husband and two dogs has turned my "want" into a "need," actually a "must," so I'm pulling the trigger on a king size bed and some nice furniture to go with it. It actually works out well because our guest room doesn't have any furniture right now, so I can move our current white furniture into the guestroom for a nice update, and upgrade our room too. I picked out a pottery barn set with a nice sized chest and dresser, so more room for both of our clothes etc, and I got it in a dark cherry color which will look great with the beautiful ivory damask duvet set that my sisters and bridesmaids got me for a wedding present.

My sister is also helping us recover some furniture to update our living room, so our home is transitioning into some new looks.

It was a rainy Martin Luther King day in Gainesville, so we rented the Social Network and stayed in all day Monday snuggling on the couch with the pups and working on a Thomas Kinkade puzzle. Turns out Drew's not very good at puzzles, so this is becoming my project to finish it, and I'm addicted...a sidetrack I do not need while studying for the bar.

I'm also listening to some new music while I study, and I have a few new favorites which I think are worth checking out. Sara Bareilles' new cd is fantastic, and my favorite, favorite, up and coming band "Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors" have a new cd that will be released in February. I have a preview copy of it, and I have to tell you it is AMAZING, so please please order a copy. We used their song "Hung the Moon" for our first dance, and they are really great artists and people. They are streaming the album here and you can preorder the album here. I'm not an official endorser, just an official fan.


So with that, I will get day 3 of Paris and our Rome days up very very soon, and I'm off to make some ground chicken bolognese with roasted spaghetti squash and my banana pudding specialty.

...and catch up on Pretty Little Liars and the American Idol premiere while finishing my puzzle. shhhhh