Frank the Fancy Goldfish

Frank the Fancy Goldfish came to live with me from Petsmart yesterday. He's a cute little goldfish and is adjusting nicely to his new home.

I'm going to Florida this weekend to see my parents so Frank will be the man of the house for a few days and hopefully can hold the fort down. No parties!

Julie and Julia

If you know me or read the blog then you know my love of the Food Network (hence the title - Everyday Lauren) and cooking/baking. Therefore, it was just a matter of what day this past weekend I was going to go see Julie and Julia. Also, what made the movie even more fun, was that I was able to see it with my Big Sis from college - Amy!

The movie was really good and not to mention some of the food in the movie. One dish in particular was the brushetta that Julie makes early on in the movie before she starts her quest to conquer Julia's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". We couldn't stop talking about the brushetta so the amazing Amy found a few recipes and sent them over so I decided to make it tonight for dinner. OMG! It was so yummy so if you need a brushetta recipe or want to try out a new one this is definitely a winner.

Brushetta!

Sliced rough textured bread like focaccia or a baguette - cut lengthwise into however many pieces of brushetta you'd like to make.
Assorted tomatoes - chopped; I used a mixture of cherry heirlooms and roma tomatoes
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove - peeled and halved
Chopped fresh basil

1. Toss tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar then salt and pepper to taste.
2. Broil the slices of bread until they are golden then drizzle some olive oil and rub half of the garlic clove over the top side of the bread slice.
3. Spoon tomatoes over bread and top with chopped basil.
4. ENJOY!

Baby Edge Shower

Last weekend we celebrated my friend Tara impending bundle of joy with a baby shower brunch at La Duni Bakery/Restaurant. We had such a great time catching up and enjoying the wonderful eats and drinks that La Duni has to offer. Speaking of the eats several of us had the "Huevos Finos" or eggs benedict on a POPOVER! Sweet heavens it was so good and a meal that required an afternoon nap. Tara got some really cute gifts and one of which, the Sock Monkey, I came inches within it mysteriously disappearing from her hands and staying in mine.

Congrats to Tara, Cody and Baby Edge!

Beautiful flowers my friend Monica put together for shower decor

Tara and the oh so cute Sock Monkey

THE Huevos Finos

We could not get over how creepy and about 12 yrs. old the Baby Bjorn couple looked.

NKOTB Round 2

I felt that one New Kids on the Block concert just wasn't enough. The boys came back to Dallas in July so my fellow NKOTB fan, Kelan, and I headed back out for Round 2.

They changed the show up from the first time we saw them so we were glad it wasn't the same all over again although I just can't get enough of singing my childhood tunes. We had a great time dancing on the lawn at superpages.com center, but I prefer the first concert experience at the AA center with A/C.

Best part of the concert - Joey sang Popsicle.

Sweet dance moves

Kelan and I enjoying the show

Joey singing Popsicle along with more sweet dance moves

Donnie making his "tribute" to Dallas with a Tony Romo jersey & a cowboy hat

The Parents are in Florida

My parents are living in Florida for the next year in Port St. Lucie just north of West Palm Beach for my Dad's job so in June I went to visit them for two weeks. I took some time off of for fun in the sun, but also worked a few days in FL. I could get used to a tan year round, but if you think Texas is hot the humidity alone in FL will end all air supply to your lungs.

Heat aside we tried out some great restaurants and of course had some of Mom's yummy eats. Each morning my Mom heads down to the pool for "Aqua Divas", which the name alone I'm sure is providing a wonderful mental picture and an excellent guess as to what "Aqua Divas" is. Yes, its water aerobics where the average age is 65. Don't you know it was a rigorous workout. We also enjoyed the lovely sights and sounds of Fort Pierce where they had a "light show" in anticipation of July 4th. Who would have thought it would have been an absurd amount of Christmas lights set to the popular tunes of our great country's independence.

Mom has her first tan ever!

Historic Fort Pierce Marina

Mom and Dad at Fort Pierce

July 4th Light Show in Fort Pierce

Beautiful night in sunny Florida

The Return to Cyberspace

FINALLY!

I have moved to my new casa and am "mostly" settled, I have internet, I can now blog again. I'm going to start with a summer recap so my reader(s) enjoy.

LAJ