Lunar New Year!

Chuc mung nam moi! Happy lunar new year! The celebration is winding down now as we are in the 8th day of my adopted holiday. I am a lucky gal to have such a wonderful husband who opened me up to an Asian world of goodness I would have never known. To kick off the year of the water snake Daniel and I made Pho from scratch. It was a big hit with the family! A few photos to document the process are below. Fortunately for us we have Eden center and a very large Vietnamese community here so the ingredients weren't too difficult to find. During the week we made Banh Chung it was delish! I do miss my Mother in laws spring rolls, I should have taken notes before she moved to sunny Florida!

Green stamps

You must remember Green Stamps?
Lately Dan and I have been watching reruns of The Brady Bunch, I know why..?  Well it just so happens that was one of my favorite shows when I was just a little lady who didn't know any better!  So I guess you could say it brings back nice memories for me but for Dan...why?  Who knows...maybe because our nephew looks so much like Bobby Brady.  How do green stamps fit in here...?  I'm getting to that but had to preface it with my Brady explanation...

Dan was watching an episode this evening before I arrived home from work.  The story revolved around green stamps and the Brady family possibly having enough to get something significant from the S&H store.  Dan said to me do you know anything about stamps to get something...immediately I knew what he was talking about, green stamps, I exclaimed!  Oh my goodness I used to collect those in the summer at my Nanny's house, we used to get them from Publix in Florida!  Wow now that brings back memories.  There is so much stored up inside our noodles it's great when something so nostalgic makes its way to the front of the line!  I find it so amazing that he had no idea what they were.  You could save them up for anything, a stuffed animal, a vacuum cleaner, a camera even a vacation!
So the story goes...The Brady gals and guys were in a big dispute over what they were going to select...a sewing machine or a row boat! Can you guess who wanted the sewing machine...Dang ...Marsha!
The parents of course had a clever and unique way to solve the dispute...build a house of cards.  The boys against the girls.  The girls actually won but only because the dog Tiger knocked over the boys house as Greg was adding the very last card.  Of course the gals could not agree on which sewing machine to get so they went for a color TV for everyone!  So random but its a happy ending for all.
I do miss Green Stamps!

Venice, you had me at hello...

Venice it's easy to love.   This photo was taken in 2011 and those glowing smiles...
well just visit this beautifully magical place and it will do the same for you!  I first traveled toVenice with my husband for our honeymoon.  Of course it was wonderful but if you told me I would have the opportunity to return I would never have believed you.
Yet there I was and now I'm day dreaming of returning again.
It's not all gondolas an macaroni, though its there for the taking if that's what you fancy!



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