We Just Thought You Should Know...

We're having a baby!'

A Way You Can Help

First off, let me start by apologizing for the almost month and half long blog silence.  I just haven't been very inspired lately to blog.  Lame excuse, I know, but it's the truth.  But now I'm back, and I have a cause very near and dear to my heart to share with you all.

As many of you I'm sure already know, my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.  Ever since then, I've been struggling to find the right words to honor this amazing man whom I fortunately had the opportunity to know and love for the last 10 years of my life.  I wanted to share with you all some of the many reasons why he was such a special person to me, and then I want to ask of a favor of you guys.

The Top 10 Reasons I Loved My Bob

1. His kind, always accepting, and always forgiving heart.

2. His bigger-than-life, friendly personality.

3. His passion for sports and the city of New York.  He LOVED his G-Men and Knicks.

4. His tireless drive to help others.

5. His ability to always have fun.

6. His love for oldies and his kick-butt dancing skills.

7.  The smile he always put on his face, despite his sometimes failing health.

8. The stories he would tell.  {Truth.  In his younger, rowdier days, he once stole a stop sign in the Hamptons.}

9. How much he loved his kitties and our puppy Mack Brown.

and, the most important of all...

10. How much he loved, adored and cherished his family and friends.  He was truly an inspiration to us all.

Besides Bob's deep love and passion for his family and friends, his other greatest passions in life were helping others and the game of basketball.  He found a way to meld these two loves by starting a town basketball league, the GBA, in Brad's hometown, and working tirelessly to provide kids, who needed the assistance, scholarship money to play basketball.

In Bob's memory, his family has created a fundraising page where we can all help carry on his amazing legacy and passion for education, scholarship and basketball.  Our goal is to raise $50,000 --  $25,000 to build one school in the developing world through the non-profit Brad works with, Pencils of Promise, and $25,000 for scholarships that will benefit children in Greenwich, CT. Part of those scholarships will go toward sending the kids to visit one of the PoP Schools abroad in order to educate and inform them about the global community that they are a part of. 

So here's the favor I would like to ask of you.  Will you donate to this cause, helping us to honor Bob's memory by continuing to positively affect the lives of so many children in his honor?  If you'd like to do so, here's the website where you can donate: Remembering Bob Haugen

Happy Valentine's Day

Brad found a new app for his i-phone a couple of days ago called WordFoto, and he made me these.

Very appropriate for today, so I thought I'd share.  

Hope you're surrounded lots of love {and lots of candy!} today.

Valentine's Chex Mix

Looking for something homemade to make your Valentine, but not in the mood to bake?  I have the perfect solution...Valentine's Chex Mix.

It couldn't be easier.  Make the chex mix, wait for it to cool and then add festive candy, like pink, red and white M&Ms.  Distribute the chex mix into pink or red containers and tie with a bow.  And, that's it.  You're done and you have the perfect gift to show those in your life how much you love them.

Chex Mix


3 cups Corn Chex cereal
3 cups Rice Chex cereal
3 cups Wheat Chex cereal
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup pretzel sticks, broken in half
1 cup garlic-flavored garlic chips, broken into 1-in. pieces
6 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 large bag M&Ms

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips.  Set aside.  In a small, microwaveable bowl, melt the butter.  Stir in the seasonings.  Add the butter mixture to the cereal mixture, and stir gently.  Spread the chex mix evenly onto 2 baking sheets.  Bake in the oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so.  Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes.  Pour the chex mix back into the large bowl and mix in the M&Ms.  Store in airtight containers.

Westie Wednesday

Mack celebrating the Giants win by watching the Puppy Bowl...

Cue the barking.

Zoo Day

A couple of weeks ago, my best friend Jess and her husband Steve were in San Diego for a conference that Jess was presenting at, and since San Diego is only a couple of hours away, we couldn't miss the chance to spend a day with them while they were here.

We had SUCH. A. FUN. DAY.  I wish we could do it more often {sigh}.

We began our day at the San Diego Zoo, which by the way, is one of the most amazing zoos I've ever been too.  Or maybe I just spent to many days at the Bronx Zoo as a NYC school teacher, who knows.  Either way, I was impressed.  The zoo is well laid out, immaculately clean, lush and green, and has a huge variety of amazing animals {including pandas!!}.  They also have tons of restaurants in the zoo, of the fast food and sit down variety, where you can get a snack or grab some lunch.

Here a few shots from our day...

After the zoo, we headed over to Coronado Island to have a drink at the famous Hotel del Coronado {for all you Disney lovers, this is the hotel that the Grand Floridan is modeled after} while watching the sunset.

And, we ended the day with delicious Mexican food from Miguel's Cocina.  The perfect end to a perfect day.

Red Curry Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry

Have I told you all yet that I got a wok for Christmas?  Well, I did.  And, it's so cool.  It was one of those gifts that you never knew you wanted until you got it.  Thanks, B :)

This is first recipe that I've made in the wok, but it was definitely an easy and delicious way to break it in. {Don't worry if you don't have a wok.  You can still make this in a normal frying pan.}

Red Curry Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry


1 cup brown rice
4 tbsp. vegetable oil {or peanut oil, if your husband's not allergic!}
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into 1-inch pieces {about 1 lb.}
1 tbsp. red curry paste {In reality, I probably used a little more than this.  You be the judge.}
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 scallions, sliced
1 zucchini, cut into thin strips
1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut in half
3-4 fresh basil leaves {Thai basil will give a more authentic flavor, if you can find it}, chopped

In a medium-sized sauce pan, cook the rice with 2 cups of water and pinch of salt.  Once the rice has absorbed all the water, remove it from the pan and allow to cool.  Make the rice a few hours before you cook the stir-fry or even the night before, if you have time.

In the wok, heat 2 tbsp. of the vegetable oil over medium high heat.  Add the chicken, and cook all the way through.  Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the wok and set aside.

Add the remaining vegetable oil to the wok along with the curry paste and saute for 1 minute.  Next add the scallions and garlic, and saute for 1-2 minutes.  Then add the vegetables and cook for 5-6 minutes.  Stirring everything together, moving it around the pan often.

Finally add the chicken back to the wok along with the rice.  Cook everything together for another 3-4 minutes, or until the chicken and rice are warmed through.

Remove the stir fry from the heat and stir in the basil.  Serve hot.

Source: Adapted from a recipe given to me by a friend :)