fun links

it's going to be a busy weekend juggling different shows at different venues over the next three days.  fingers crossed that we don't go nuts!

here are a few fun links i found around the internet recently . . .

1. i keep saying how much i loved the 90s

2. does someone want to make me these cookies?

3. 15 things i didn't know were invented by women

4. hotels that got it all wrong

5. poisonous plants to avoid in your garden

6. this quiz was easier than i thought it would be - i got 100

7. how often do you wash your sheets?

8. finally!

9. i want a swing in my house!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

a night painting scenery

i've been helping out here and there over the past two months with a grant to teach local kids about the technical end of theatre production.  the several-month course (which runs until june) started off in february with my class which was all about theatre terminology and theatre history.  since then i helped out teaching an audio class and last night i helped out with a scenic design class.  we worked on teaching the kids different painting and sculpting techniques on the scenery for their production of the music man.  i snapped a photo before we started but forgot to take a picture at the end of the night to show our progress.  part two of the scenic design class continues next week (so i'll try to remember to get a picture of the end result). 

love, laurie

mark twain and cats

did you know that mark twain was a cat lover?  good man.  i enjoyed seeing these old photos of him with tiny kittens!

love, laurie

paging dr. leko

this past week i was fighting an annoying head cold (which ryan so generously shared with me).  the only thing that made me feel better was this sweet little man's cuddles.  i snapped these pictures on my phone one afternoon as he snoozed on my lap while i was sitting on the couch.  i just can't resist his cuteness!

love, laurie

"E5C4P3" the journey tribute band

on saturday we had a journey tribute band at the theatre called "E5C4P3" and they were great.  i thought i knew a lot of journey songs, but throughout the show i was surprised how many journey songs i didn't know!  several years ago ryan had the opportunity to work a (real) journey concert at our local concert pavilion.  these guys were great, and their lead singer looked and sounded just like steve perry! 

you can see the rest of my photos from the show on the theatre's facebook page here.

love, laurie

back up in the catwalk

we were back up at a local high school last week where we work in their theatre to work on lights for the school's production of pinocchio.

this weekend we have a journey tribute band performing in my theatre.  we're definitely looking forward to that show because we love journey!

have a great weekend!
love, laurie

kicking off the first day of spring with free rita's (well, sorta)

it's finally spring (!) but it's raining today :-( and i just can't get relief from this head cold :-( :-(

it's a tradition of ours to celebrate the first day of spring with free rita's.  this head cold is still getting the best of me, so ryan stopped by rita's on his way home from work late last night, just before they closed, and brought home our free italian ice.  we put it in the freezer to save it for another day when we can enjoy it.  looking forward to that in the freezer and very much looking forward to getting rid of this stupid head cold!!!

love, laurie

spring!

happy first day of spring!  i'm ready to kiss winter goodbye along with the head cold that i'm currently battling.  since today is the first day of spring, rita's is giving away free italian ice!

love, laurie

. . . 

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happy birthday!

happy birthday today to ryan's mom!  our families got together to celebrate on sunday.  we had dinner at our house followed by cupcakes for dessert.

we're looking forward to getting together again with ryan's parents again tonight for dinner to celebrate some more!

happy birthday!

love, laurie

snapshots from the weekend

we kicked off the weekend on friday night by going to a local high school's production of "mamma mia" and it was great.  on saturday, we got together for brunch with my parents at one of our favorite local restaurants.  then on sunday, our families got together to celebrate ryan's mom's birthday which is tomorrow.  we finished off the weekend on sunday night by curling up on the couch with leko to get some much-needed rest.

happy monday!
love, laurie

have a great weekend!

it's finally friday, and this week was a bit of a crazy one.  i'm very much looking forward to the weekend and actually having the next two days off with ryan!  sunday is st. patty's day.  we're not irish, but i think ryan has the "luck of the irish" in him because he has such a knack for finding four-leaf clovers.  i heard on the news this week that 1 in every 5,000 clovers has four leaves.  he has found several over the years, and i have kept most of the ones that he found (by pressing them between two pieces of wax paper and letting them dry out.)

love, laurie

pi(e) day!

today is pi day (3/14), or pie day!  if you're looking for some pie inspiration for today, here are some of our favorites: banoffee pie, classic apple pie, deep dish apple pie, strawberry pie, rhubarb macaroon pie, roasted strawberry mousse pie, pumpkin pie, lemon clementine pie, peaches and cream pie, and ice cream pie.  you can really get in the pie spirit and even watch a movie about pie or see the broadway musical too!

enjoy!

love, laurie

kitty watch

i'm on kitty watch while ryan's parents are away and these two cuties are so lovable!  they're always so happy to see me when i walk in the door (i'm sure it's because they know i'm about to feed them)!

love, laurie

pancake day!

today is national pancake day at ihop!  to celebrate, ihop will be giving away free pancakes all day.  if you're like us and you don't live near an ihop, you can celebrate at home with your own pancakes.  it's no secret that ryan and i are huge pancake fans.  here are some of our favorite pancake recipes . . .

pancakes:
- almond poppy seed pancakes
- apple cider doughnut pancakes
- apple cinnamon pancakes
- apple pancake rings
- banana bread pancakes
- banana pancakes
- buckwheat, banana, and oatmeal pancakes with dark chocolate
- carrot walnut pancakes
- chocolate pancakes
- cinnamon bun pancakes
- cinnamon swirl pancakes with coffee maple syrup
- coconut pancakes
- coffee pancakes
- cornmeal pancakes with rhubarb sauce
- cranberry brown butter pancakes
- greek yogurt pancakes
- honey and oat pancakes
- hot cross carrot cake pancakes
- key lime pie pancakes
- oatmeal yogurt chocolate chip pancakes
- old fashioned pancakes
- orange chocolate chip pancakes
- peach cornmeal pancakes
- peanut butter pancakes
- poppy seed pancakes
- pumpkin spice pancakes
- raspberry oat pancakes with toasted hazelnuts
- sweet summer corn pancakes
- whole grain buckwheat pancakes
- zucchini bread pancakes

dutch babies / puffed pancakes:
- dutch baby with fresh berries
- german apple puffed pancake
- gingerbread puffed pancake
- nectarine dutch baby
- spiced apple puffed skillet pancake

crepes:
- lemon poppy seed crepes with lemon blueberry cream cheese filling
- strawberry crepes

you can even make your own chocolate chip pancake mix to keep for yourself or to give as a give to a friend to celebrate national pancake day too!

happy pancake eating!

love, laurie

it's becoming a thing . . .

. . . that leko doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning and i don't blame him at all.  it's making it very hard to convince myself to get up to go to work for a very early monday morning meeting when he's so cute and cuddly!

love, laurie

thanks, ryan!

i know it doesn't look like much, but ryan saved the day at the theater by building a little system to store all of the power cords for our microphone receivers off the floor.  thanks, ryan!

love, laurie

way to go!

this is a really horrible picture because of the angle it was taken at . . . but nonetheless, it signifies the successful completion of my friend's doctoral dissertation.  i served as a committee member for his dissertation and was proud to see him successfully defend his work last week.  way to go!

love, laurie

i want to stay in bed!

when you wake up, and it's cold outside, and you find this guy in bed with you . . . it's extremely hard to convince yourself that you have to get up and go to work.

i want a day to stay home in bed with this cute cuddler all day!

love, laurie

happy mardi gras!

happy mardi gras / happy fat tuesday / happy fasnacht day!  no matter what you call it, it's a great excuse to eat a doughnut today.

here are some of my favorite homemade doughnut recipes from over the years:
- baked mocha cake doughnuts with coffee cream cheese glaze
- baked strawberry cake doughnuts with strawberry glaze
- baked pumpkin doughnuts with brown butter and apple cider glaze topped with pecans
- baked apple cider doughnuts

i also like these doughnut-inspired recipes too:
- apple cider doughnut pancakes
- gingerbread doughnut muffins

love, laurie

mini chocolate raspberry dutch babies

it's been a long time since we've made a dutch baby for breakfast (here and here).  we're pancake lovers, and that includes puffed pancakes baked in the oven.  one of our favorite local restaurants makes crazy flavors of cast-iron skillet dutch babies.  i saw on facebook that they were advertising a raspberry dutch baby with chocolate chips for valentine's day, and it inspired me to make my own version.

we used our mini cast-iron skillets which made cute little individual portions.  dutch babies are so easy because you mix all of the ingredients together, pour the batter into the hot skillets, and then let the oven do all of the work. 

we enjoyed ours with a dollop of vanilla yogurt on top along with some warm maple syrup!

mini chocolate raspberry dutch babies
prep time: 5 minutes
baking time: 20-25 minutes
yields: 4 servings

ingredients:
1 tablespoon salted butter, divided
4 eggs
1 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup raspberries

directions:
preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.  divide the butter between 4 mini cast-iron skillets and place the skillets in the oven while it preheats to melt the butter.  meanwhile, beat the eggs with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.  mix in the milk and vanilla.  beat in the sugar, flour, and cocoa powder until completely combined.

remove the skillets from the oven and swirl the butter around to evenly coat the inside of the skillet.  divide the batter between the skillets.  place the raspberries in the batter and bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed and cooked throughout.

serve warm with yogurt and/or maple syrup.

enjoy!

love, laurie

happy spring?

it's march 1st and it's the first day of meteorological spring, but we woke up to snow this morning and are forecasted to get even more snow this weekend on both saturday and sunday.  ugggggg!!!!

it's the first weekend in a long time that we are free and don't have a show, so we were really looking forward to doing something fun.  we won't be happy at all if we have to spend our weekend shoveling.  come on spring!

love, laurie