My First Receipe!

This is a butternut squash receipe from Rachel Ray . I made it for dinner tonight. Yum O.

I could even see serving this as a side at Thanksgiving.

The Red Room

Saturday evening, E and I went to dinner with one of my girls Kim, and her bf Will. I love Kim, shes like the skinner version of me. Actually people always ask if we are sisters.

Anyways, we went to the Red Room in Shadyside on Highland Street. We had reservations at 7 and the place was empty, and my inital thought was "OMG, we really are in a recession". However, by the time our appitizers arrived the place was packed.

Of of my favorite blogs is by this awesome chick in CA, and she writes wicked restaurant reviews, so to take a page from her and showcase the fabulous restaurants we have in Pittsburgh. Let me be known that I cant quite bring myself to bust out my camera in the middle of a meal, but I will get there.

So we started of the meal with some pretty good Cabrenet from Sonoma valley, it was 33 for the bottle, but it was quite good. For appitizers we shared the red bean hummus and the red pepper fondue. The hummus was served with tortilla chips and honest it was just like a regular ol' hummus. Nothing to write home, or to blog about.

But....the red pepper fondue was amazing. It was cheesy, had a nice kick of spice to it and you could still taste the sweetness of the roasted red peppers. The fonude was topped with what we believed to be a balsamic reduction and the serving bowl was practically wiped clean.

On to the Entrees....

We decided to skip the salad/soup course because when your drinking its just not nesscary, we did however have another bottle of wine. I had feasted on the seared scallops with saffron linguine with black lobster sauce. It did not look good at all. It looked rather green. But it was out of this world AMAZING!! The scallops were cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth like buttah. The linguine was cooked to al dente and the serving size was plentiful.

E had the filet au poirve. ( Did I spell that right?) I should mention that he asked to steak to be cooked medium well, and well it came out medium rare. Now, I know some may say "oh, hes ruining the steak that way, blah, blah" but thats what he likes. The steak was served on top of truffeled gnocci, baby carrots, some other veggie and a congac demi glaze. The demi glaze was very, very rich. He loved the meal, and he was too buzzed to noticed his steak wasnt cooked enough.

All in all I give the red room 4 out 5 stars. We will be back.

And to make this post with pictures, heres a pic of me and kimmy at her 25th birthday at the Sonoma Grille.

So did Aubrey get kicked out?

I love Making with the Band. I remember watching Da Band in college ( the second season) and it was hilarious. So, when Puff ( love how we are on a first name basis) was making a girl band, I was like sweet! I was so excited.

So, I have to tell you that I loved Aubrey from the get, in fact, I brought several pictures of her to highlighting appointments a few years ago. Shes raw talent. She can sing and dance, and shes hot. So she was instant favorite. So after like 3 seasons, Puff finally made the band and of course, Aubrey was in it. Their first CD is great, its not the Beatles or anything but its pretty good. I requested "Showstopper" at my wedding. I love Danity Kane.

When Christina Augilera came to the 'Burgh on her Back to Basics tour I excited to find out that DK was the opening act. So were the Pussycat dolls, but they are okay. They were awesome.....

fast forward a year and have...how can Aubrey be leaving? Its not the same without her.

Team Aubrey!

Trax Farms

I love fall, Saturday E and I went to Trax Farms to buy some apple cider, pumpkins and sweat. Why does it have to be 80 degress the day we go to the farm? In any case it was fab. I love seeing all the little kids climb over pumpkins and I cant wait to to that when we have kids. The pumpkins were in abundance.

Happy Autumn!

*What I did on my Summer Vacation*

Summer is long gone, but since I'm a bad blogger I thought I would post about what I did this summer.
It was good to E and I. Summer kicked off when E returned back from a work related trip to London. I had to stay home. Then we watched my younger cousin Jenny get married. Awww.

The we had a fabulous vacation....we went to Little River, SC. Its right on the border of North and South Carolina. Lots of fabulous southern charm, cute Pirate lore and lots of sun. It was a good time.

A weekend with T.

Tianna is my cousins daughter. She is a fabulous little girl. I was in the room when she was born and I remember thinking, oh my God, Jamie has a daughter!

Jaime and I were bffs growing up, unfortunatly we grown apart a bit over the years, but I see so much in her of Tianna.

T is 4, its amazing how much shes grown. She doesnt look like a little baby anymore, but now a young lady. Once a month E and I watch T for the weekend. Some months she comes twice and its always a treat for us, and I think she enjoys it too.

Last week, E and I had a heartbreaking event happen, and we were very sad. Having T come brightened our moods tremendously.

So Saturday morning, we picked her up and had a picnic at South Park with E's brothers daughter Aleda. Shes a cutie too. And the got along famously. Which is nice. We will see how well they get along 10 years from now!

Weekend in Review.

Did you ever have a weekend that flew by? I cannot believe I am sitting here late Sunday afternoon....updating my blog.
This weekend started off good. Friday I went to happy hour with on my bffs blogless Kim. Shes fab. We met up with my corworkers at the Bar Room in Station Square. After a pitcher of Patron strawberry margehritas, Kim and I were ready to eat. We headed over to Kiku ( in the freight house of station square) for dinner. We noshed on the tempura platter for an appitizer, while Kim had the sushi platter for dinner and I had the chicken terriyaki. We may or may not have had sake.
The food was insanely yummy.

Saturday, I woke up at 5:30 am only to have my personal trainer kick my a**, sorely I went home and got ready for my friend Lisa's baby shower. It was fab. Lisa is seriously the cutest mommy to be. I had a great time. I also got to see my friends Sarah and Melissa which was a great treat. Melissa is getting her Masters with 2 toddlers at home. She is an inspiration.

After the shower we went to house showing #5,897,000 and the house left much to be desired. Well, the asking price was a bit high, and every room was a different, non coordinating color. E and I decided we did not want to deal with re-painting the rooms. Even though FIL is a painter.
We will eventually found a house. This I know.

Then we went to south park with BIL and SIL cutie pie Aleda. I love being an aunt. Its so much fun. Aleda calls me "Streena" which is Bosnian for Aunt. Not exactly a good translation but you get the idea. We played for 2 hours or so then E and I headed to the Bendedum Center ( THANKS AUTUMN!) to see Annie get your Gun. I liked. I walked all over downtown in 5inch heals. I must have burned 4000 calories yesterday.

However,
After my workout I came home only to find that E went out and bought my all time favorite Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Imagine World Peace. It was inspired by John Lennon. The yummy goodness of the vanilla ice cream, fudge peace signs and toffee cookie was two much. But I *really* only ate a 1/2 cup.

Happy August everyone!

Ohh I have been tagged!

Jenn from http://idroolblackandgold.blogspot.com/ tagged me.

The rules are as follows:

Name five things that you can't live without. It can't be a person, it has to be something material that actually makes your life easier. It can't be something in general, it must be exact. Also, it can't be the obvious like a cell phone or computer.

1. Coffee. Seriously, I have caffine addiction like no other. I have atleast 3 cups per day. Im not a coffee snob aslong as its fresh.

2. My clarisonic. I love my clear skin. If I do not use it for a few days I feel all icky.

3. My christian louboutin very prive pumps. I wear them at least 2x a week. The make me feel very powerful and do alot for my height and my attitude.

4. Orbits mint mojito gum. yum yum yum!

5. Victoria Secret Bare bronze self tanner. Its the only self tanner that smells good and works wonders. Im really pale and without it, my whiteness would be out of control.

I am now tagging Jo!

http://joskitchen.blogspot.com/

***Summertime****

So today being Memorial Day, marks the unoffical start of summer. Time to break out the white bags and white shoes! I myself just took my fendi bbag out of storage. What are your favorite things about summer?

A few of my favorite things are....
1. Reading US weekly and Intouch by the pool.
2. A healthy tan.
3. Pedicures every 2 weeks.
4. My new favorite summer drink! Thanks to my friend Rosie in Boston, it is Prosecco with a splash of grey goose pear vodka. Yum!
5. BBQ chicken, veggies and fish.
6. Getting wet.
7. Everyone is skinnier in the summer. I myself included.
8. Ice cream from Pages Dairy Mart on East Carson Street.
9. Vacations
10. Rocking my sunglasses 80% of the time.

And summer beauty products!

Clarisonic Round II

OMG! I am in love with this little machine.

First let me speak of my personal experiences with it. I started using it a little over a week ago, and for the most part of the week at that. My skin is glowing! It makes face washing go fast and fun, and I am finding the days I dont use it, I can tell on my skin. I had a few breakouts in the begining of last week, as my skin was "purging" and today its honestly clear as day. Last night when E and I went to dinner I found that I did not have to use any foundation, concealer or powder. Just eye make-up and gloss.

Also, I found out today from a friend that an upscale spa in San Francisco also uses the clarisonic durings its facials. Yay!

Sami vs. The Clarisonic. Round I

So, I there is an amazing group of women that I talk to each day. They are supportive, funny and quick to tell you the TRUTH, when you need it. I big puffy heart them.

Anyways, when someone discovers an a great product, shoe, bag, macaroni and cheese reciepe, we are always up for sharing. Well, Melanie discovered the Clarisonic and since then 90% of ordered them and started to use it.

My PINK clarisonic came Saturday. I started to use it last night. I've heard that it can take up to 2 weeks to seen an improvement, but honestly, my skin felt smoother ( is that a word?) after one use.

You can find more about the Clarisonic on thier website, or you can order it from Sephora. I will update you all in one week.

Things I am craving right now....

1. Massage. Even though I just had one I feel the need for another one. So relaxing. I am a high stress person, what I can say?

2. Some Boston Market. Thanksgiving in May. I would have chicken, stuffing and sweet potatoes for dessert.

3. These Christian Louboutins. I cant find them in my size :(

Thats all!

Happy Birthday to my Husband!

So my dear, darling husband turned 28 on Sat. He had a wonderful day he told me last night. A pastry chef from a message board I frequent, was kind enough to make his nutella, chocolate and rasberry birthday cake. It tasted out of this world amazing.

We had a great time at his dads and E is spoiled rotten and got lots of good gifts.

My Husband returns tommorrow!

Yeah!

I missed E so much, and Im so happy hes coming home tommorrow.

But.

And theres a but.

I remembered what it was like to be single. The good and bad parts about being single.

First let me start of with the good.
1. Having the bed to myself.
2. Watching unlimited amounts of Keeping up with the Kardashians, Rock of Love ( TEAM AMBRE!), Whos wedding is it anyway? Lots and lots of scary movies, and my guilty please the Hills. I love the hills.
3. No one blowing my candles out.
4. No dirty dishes in my sink
5. No one drinking all of my "juice" lol.

And the bad...
1. I hate taking the garbage out.
2. I hate doing laundry.
3. No one to kiss goodnight.
4. No one to kiss good morning.
5. I miss my best friend.
+

E leaves for Europe tommorrow.

My wonderful husband E is leaving to go to Europe tomorrow for 19 days. Hes is going back to see his mommy and grandma for the first time in 7 years. I hope he has a great time.

Long, time no blog.

Its no secret that I havent been blogging much. Well. Thats all about to change. Major upgrades comming, and they are comming soon.