A New Title for the Hubs

Congratulations to my hubby, who just received a promotion at work! He is Exponent's newest Senior Manager in their Technology Development Practice! People always ask me what it is my husband does. Um, it's a bit complicated. So I lifted some words from his work bio to help me...

Here's what he used to do: Dr. Klein's work focused on radiation hardened electronics and novel electromagnetic remote sensing technologies.

I usually explain it like this: He makes things.

What he likes to do: He is particularly interested in novel electromagnetic sensing systems development.

I say: He likes to make things.

Here's what he did in grad school: His research focused on ultra-low power autonomous electromagnetic measurement systems for remote locations and extreme environments.

I remember: He made lots of things. And got to travel to the South Pole.

You see, whenever Max talks about work, I just stare at him, completely in awe of his intellect and imagination. I understand when he superficially explains to me what he's working on, but I can't retell it on my own. Being a teacher, I know this means I really don't understand it at all. In teacher talk: I don't even have the lower order Bloom's Taxonomy working for me ; )


Regardless of whether or not I can explain what he does, I'm so very proud that he does it well, and so incredibly happy that he's gainfully employed at a company that recognizes it : ) Happy promotion to my husband!

And just for fun, here he is doing the opposite of working...

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Whirlwind Vegas Weekend

This past weekend, Max and I flew into Vegas to meet up with my sister and her boyfriend, and my mom and aunt. After a day of travel, we were all ready for drinks and dinner.

My strawberry martini was dee-lish. I must figure out how to do strawberry infused vodka at home!

We all were staying at the Venetian, so after dinner we checked out the gondolas.

A fun mom and sister pic:

And one with the love of my life : )

The next day was St. Patrick's Day so we all donned our green:

We were hit by a random cold spell and then rain while out and about! Thanks to the hubs for letting me borrow his jacket.

After dinner at Ceasar's Pallace we headed to Planet Hollywood and caught the Bellagio water show on the way. I caught this photo with my iPhone camera - just beautiful!

At Planet Hollywood we had tickets to see this guy:

The real fun was figuring out after the show how he did his mind reading and tricks (I think we eventually got all of them).

The next day it was time to say good-bye to my sweet sister. I miss the days of living in the same state!

And it was also time to say good-bye to Vegas! Whatever earnings Max and I won from our last trip were given back to Vegas in the form of Black Jack and Craps. We did go into the trip saying that we "owed" Vegas : ) I'm thinking this means that next time we'll be winners, yes?

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It's Spring in the Desert

I was lucky to ring in the first day of spring with my mom and aunt in town! Spring in the desert = Spring Training so we took in a Giants vs. Diamondbacks game. We of course supported the California team. You can take the girl out of California, but you can't take the California out of the girl ; )

Our yummy spring desert: homemade strawberry ice cream.

Our crafty spring project: decoupaged eggs!

The Tiffany ad in the NY Times was dedicated to the first day of spring as well. I can't help checking the Tiffany ad every single time I pass by a NYT newspaper. It's an old habit from college that started while taking a Global Studies class. The professor would literally quiz students during lecture on current events featured in The Times, which meant every student had to read the paper every day. We had it delivered daily to our apartment, and noticed that a Tiffany ad was featured on the inside page, in the same spot, each day. It became a game to see who could guess what Tiffany would be showcasing (a ring, a watch, a crystal goblet, etc.). Passing by the papers even now gives me that wave of college nostalgia!

To quote the Tiffany ad... Spring is in the air. : )

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What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's time for some smiles... (Click here to link up)

I'm loving these sunshiny shoes I purchased from DSW yesterday! My old yellow flats were needing to be updated. I made my teacher friend shopping with me promise to check and follow up to make sure I toss out my old beloved ones which I'd worn into the ground. It's seriously amazing how many outfits I pair with yellow flats - I just love the pop of color!

I'm loving that this Amazon shipment was waiting for my on our porch when I got home! The Gail Simmons book is for me. I love watching her as a food critic on Top Chef (I do a little happy dance whenever she comes on screen). She's hands down my favorite judge. She's super sweet and is always constructive with her criticism instead of plain mean for effect. The other book is for my adorable firsties. They are obsessed right now with setting a trap for the leprechaun. I may or may not have fed into this frenzy by already reading a number of St. Patrick's Day books. If you haven't already heard, leprechauns like shiny things, so my little ones are brainstorming things they want to leave out in hopes of catching him ; )

Finally, I'm loving my incredible husband and partner in everything : ) He's been putting in major hours at work without so much as a complaint, and still takes the time to help me through any and every challenge that comes my way. I can't imagine going through life without him!

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I Heart The Bachelor

On Monday night I had some of the teachers over to watch the final episode of The Bachelor! I have a weakness for reality T.V. and I just can't help getting sucked into The Bachelor (or The Bachelorette, or Bachelor Pad) every. single. season. We played the show on the projector in our "theatre" so Bachelor Ben was larger than life!

Although it was already leaked who the winner would be, I scribbled this message:

And yes, that's the Bachelor's face. In a wave of whimsical humor (and not stalker-ish creepiness, I promise) I printed out a bunch of Bachelor Ben photos to go along with the food and beverages.

We had Bachelor Ben Bow Tie pasta:

And a twist on shish kabobs:

These were the "Fantasy Sweets" named after the Fantasy Suites on the show! I didn't think the tuxedo strawberries were going to turn out so I was pleasantly surprised that they actually resembled formalwear!

But even yummier than the strawberries were the bachelor cupcakes made by Cuteology Cakes! Thank you Alyssa for bringing them!

Apparently Barbara Walters is not a fan of The Bachelor. She stated on The View that "...in the 10 years the show has been on, not a single bachelor has married the woman he chose in the finale." She was deeply offended by the show. No bachelor cupcakes for her!

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I Speak For The Trees

It's field trip day! The firsties and I are off on our way to see the movie Dr. Seuss' The Lorax at the nearby AMC theatre!

I'm just as excited as they are! After all, my fave Taylor Swift has a speaking role in the movie : ) To get ready for the big day, we read the story yesterday. Gotta love this little guy:

Then, I found the sweetest idea over at Fun In First Grade. It was a pattern for students to make their very own Loraxes! (Is the plural Lorai??) Anyway, here was my teacher example:

The firsties wrote all about how they, too, would want to save the trees! I took their little guys and made this fun bulletin board.

I just crack up at the mustaches:

The Truffula trees make me so happy:

Wish us a happy theatre experience! The kids don't know it yet, but there will be popcorn and Sprite awaiting them at the AMC! I'm fully expecting to hear the statement "This is the best day ever!" over and over again ; )

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Oh, How Pinteresting!

These are the pins catching me eye as of late...

First, I definitely want to recreate this little guy:

And I loved this super colorful and thorough multiplication project! It has me dreaming of grades higher than grade one...

This kitchen had me from hello. It has so many of the exact things that I want when we (eventually) redo the kitchen... the dark hardwoods, the gray subway tile, the huge farmhouse sink, the white cabinets, even the gas Wolf range. Of course, we only have electric at our house, so dreams of a gas stove would include a tens of thousands of dollars gas hook-up bill...

This media room reminded me of our "stadium seating" back in college. We just put our second couch on a coffee table (I'm not sure who thought that was safe/a good idea), so this has a bit more effort put into it, but it's the same idea!

And finally, just some gratuitous pink+fancy. Bonus points for the cuties, peonies and coral on the glass!

What's Pinteresting to you?? : )

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Happy March!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day (and in anticipation for spring) I've been switching out some things around the house in favor of all things green.

I wanted something shamrocky for the kitchen table, and since St. Patrick's Day table runners were nowhere to be found, I fashioned one out of cute half priced fabric from JoAnn's and iron on tape (I'm not a sewer).

I also aded a "fire hazard" to the coffee table (the hubs has dubbed this name for the hurricanes - he's not a fan of candles, especially if I leave the room when they're burning - oops):

The mantel needed some love, too, so I printed this subway art (found here):

And I painted a happy tree over the course of a couple afternoons. I was inspired by this print I saw while browsing at Pier One. It's actually titled Green Happy Tree - what a perfect name!

I went with a deeper green, and my tree's not as full, though I'm hoping it's just as happy : ) We're ready for spring! Countdown: 18 days to go!

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