We just returned from a trip to Healdsburg, Sonoma where we taste wine, explore, have picnics, taste more wine, play scrabble, eat at fine restaurants, drink more wine, and play more scrabble. Wake up, wash, rinse, repeat. We rented a house that was tucked away in this little bohemian community along the Russian River. Quiet, no cell signal, clean air.

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{dark chocolate ganache, a golden buttery crust, and candycane dust are the beginning layers of this rich minty tart, yum!}

{each bite of this roasted zucchini, feta, avocado, and red onion salsa bursts with flavor as the juicy pomegranite pops in your mouth!}

The thing I look most forward too each year is spending Christmas in Atlanta. It’s a whirlwind impossibly packed into a couple days, but going home for the holidays is like being wrapped in a warm blanket and I just love it. There’s always lots of excellent food, trash talking games of scrabble, incredible wine, gift giving, and family fun. Here are two recipes that barely chip away at some of the delicious things we ate over Christmas weekend, one savory and one sweet.

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{The best tuna sandwich in downtown LA is from a lunchtruck, look at how yummy!}

As the recently elected Chairman of the Packed Lunch Improvement Committee, I feel I can authoritatively speak on the deterioration of bagged lunches in this country. Japan continues to shame us with their elaborate bento boxes, France with their simple but perfect fresh baguette sandwiches, and then theres us. What do we bring to the international lunch table, Lean Cuisine? Hotpockets? Shame on us! While I’m in office, I vow to do my part to clean up the streets so to speak.

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Little noosh stayed over last night at the vet. He’s been throwing up and not eating for a few days now and it was just time to take him in. They put him in an incubator to bring up his temp and are rehydrating him good and proper. I hope he’s okay, we’re really worried about the little guy. Everyone send good thoughts Noosh’s way. I’ll post an update later when we hear. Cross all paws and tails.

Update: Well, Noosh came home and headed straight to the food bowl. Hooray, I think it’s a wrap! He’s still tired but had a rough week so he’s sleeping it off in his favorite chair. He probably ate something poisonous and then got so weak and dehydrated that he wasn’t strong enough to get better on his own. So relieved, he’s such a sweet kitty and I love him so much! We’ll break the news to him later about the part time job he’ll be working to pay off his Club Med bills. Heehee.

{tags weekend cat blogging babaganoosh}

Three years ago Chris and I got engaged on 01/02/03 and married on 04/05. Today is our anniversary and at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00am this morning, the time and date was 01:02:03 04/05/06. I’m totally playing lotto later.

Today, his voice still reduces me raw materials. His hugs and kisses remain euphoric and the most adoring gestures I’ve ever experienced. I didn’t think it was possible to love him more than the day we were married, but as I type this through teary eyes, I do. More and more every day. I am so grateful and completely his forever.

{tags xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo}

I had to brag to everyone about how I have the cutest hamster on earth. On and on I went and now I’m going to have to explain how I’m a TERRIBLE hamster mom. The worste.

This morning I woke up and went about my morning rituals of lovingly handing young Sergei a veggie treat. You know what’s coming, I thought he was just sleeping snug like a bug, but he was already in hamster heaven. Why didn’t I see the signs? What happenned?!

It’s true what Chris said, he was just to good for this world. RIP Sergei, you were loved.

{tags siberian dwarf hamsters sergei}

{tags happy birthday, i love you.}

It’s been a long week ya’ll. Our water-heater stopped working and I shaved my legs in the sink. Now, I’ve got razor burn something fierce and it stings like hell. On Wednesday, I was rushing to work and get this; I had my geriatric clogs on because I have to hike up this hill every morning, so I look down and I’m wearing one navy blue and one black shoe. Lucky for me too because when I got back to my car I saw my reflection and my effing shirt was on inside out. Brilliant.

Today, I left work carrying my laptop in my arms because my bag was full. I set it on the roof of the car while I put my bag and coat in the backseat, forgot it was there, and drove off with it still on the roof. Uhhh duh. I didn’t realize untill I got home when I called work, and the security guard actually found it in the parking garage. Amazing. Who knows how banged up it is, but still – I’m lost without my lappie.

It wasn’t all bad though, I went in for a much needed processing. Processing being manicure, pedicure, and waxing. My nails look pretty kick-ass and so does my you know what. Eyebrows people, eyebrows. I’d never mention such things on my blog. Ever.

We also made some cash on the market, thanks to C, so we ordered a new 6 megapixel camera. I know it’s tacky to brag but its really neat, plus I’m not here to appease your bourgeois social anxieties now am I? Skaaahhahaha! And C got some good news that I can’t share with you guys just yet, but soon.

Now dear readers, I’m leaving you for artichokes. Buttery delicious artichokes. I’ve been craving them for days and who am I to deny myself? I’ll get to it just as soon as I go to the market, lock my keys in the car, lose my cellphone in the bulk pistachio bin, and abandon my purse on the bread aisle. Hugs and Kisses.

{tags lumix-fx9 powerbook los angeles sanita clogs}

Those of you who know my husband Chris already know he’s the baddest-ass coder in all the land, that he brought the high-five back from the 70’s, and always has the coolest sneakers. Btw, you can only get them in London, so don’t even try. If you work with him, you have an idea he’s not a morning person after approaching him pre-coffee-pre-ciggies and been growled at or bitten. What you don’t know is how much of a non.morning.person he truly is.

I’ve heard stories of him punching people out cold for waking him up, knocking them out from clear accross the house with whatever objects he can catapult at their heads, shatterring glass with his thunderous growl, shooting lasers from his eyes to burst offenders into the fiery flames of hell.

Seriously, its like the frenetic rage of a blood sucking chupacabra, meets the deadly precision of a ninja assasin, meets the determination of King Kong sniffing Naomi Watts out from a cave. Thats why whenever he tells me he’s quitting smoking, I dust off the old battle helmet, hammer some extra nails into end of my bat, and mentally prepare to sleep with one eye open for the next 3 months.

…Except for this time. This time he decided to go the zyban route. We know a bunch of people this totally worked for. I’m talking about serious hard-core smokers who still don’t smoke, fracking magical right? Exactly, magic! The way it works is you take it for a 10 days or whatever and then quit, plus double your daily dosage. So Chris has been taking it for about a week but hasn’t quit yet. I pretty much forgot about it untill this morning when the angels did sing.

I woke up late, the alarm didn’t go off, I had to wake him up and run away before he realized it’s the first day back to work after holiday vacation, running late, the cards virtually stacking against me before my eyes. ALL of it is clearly my fault. I walk around the bed and see him grinning in his sleep. SMILING in his sleep and barely audibly he’s humming what sounds like a happy tune. The only thing missing from this rarest fairy tale moment would be some hummingbirds gathering sweet nectar from his ears. Then, fluttering off, leaving glittery pixie-dust in their wake to shimmer in the rays of a new day’s sun.

{tags zyban humming birds unicorns battle helmets}

Jamison keller Bell on Rachel Ray:

“I’d like to just smack her so hard on the booty.”

{tags booty spankin rachel ray overheard}