Helpful Friends

Today's Beautiful Things are my friends M & S. S suggested I IM with M about my computer troubles. M diagnosed the problem and sent me a link to the exact item I needed to buy to upgrade my computer. It was so nice of them to spend time with me and help me out. Thank you, my helpful friends. :)

Mmmmm Tasty

Today's Beautiful Thing is an Italian restaurant with a drive-through window. I picked up a wonderful meal on my way home from work tonight and it was so good! :)

Colorful

Today's Beauiful Thing is our colorful new kitchen walls--2 of them, anyway. We are in the process of painting the kitchen "winter surf", which is an aqua color. It's looking great so far!

Edgy!

Today's Beautiful Thing is finding these cool new edging stones for our rock garden. The border we have right now is made of small pieces of wood and they are old and falling apart. We've been thinking about re-doing it and we just happened to stumble onto the perfect solution today. We ran home and measured and then went right back to Home Depot to purchase what we needed while they still had them. Yeah! :)

Quiet

Today's Beautiful Thing is spending a quiet evening at home. I'm tired tonight and I just feel like hanging out with the hubby and the pups. I feel so grateful I don't have to rush to a child's game or something like that. I love my 4 footed babies. :)

Farrah

Today's Beautiful Thing is Farrah Fawcett, who died today at age 62. I still can't believe she's gone. I loved her as a child. Charlie's Angels might not seem like a positive influence for a little girl, but it was. I thought it was so cool that women could be Beautiful, smart, and kickass--though I would have never said "kickass" back then since I was a good little girl. The red bathing suit poster was a classic. Hubby saw the pic on TV tonight and said, "Hey! I had that poster!" I had him beat. I had the t-shirt.

Heaven has a new angel tonight, as my friend Tom put it. R.I.P. Farrah and thank you.

Handy Hubby

Today's Beautiful Thing is a job well done. Hubby started a smallish project and he was just about done as it was getting dark. He decided to push through and finish it so I helped, holding 2x4s and using the level. He was able to get it finished tonight, which made him feel good. All that's left now is to paint it. Yay!

Leftover Swap

Today's Beautiful thing is packing up the last big chunk of lasagna and putting it in the freezer...and taking out a bowl of pasta salad. I'm going to add chunks of grilled chicken, grape tomatoes, a big jar of artichoke hearts and steamed zucchini to my already tasty pasta salad (from a party we had a couple of weeks ago) and tomorrow's dinner will be a snap!

Dinner at the Pier

Today's Beautiful Thing is having dinner on the pier. Hubby had the idea right out of the blue. There's nothing better than eating fresh fish and shrimp while watching the waves and smelling the salty air. :)

Father's Day

Today's Beautiful Thing is my mom. Really! She was both a father and a mother to me and I will always be grateful. I love you, Mom!

Arby's

Today's Beautiful Thing is a brand new Arby's close by. I had the All American Roastburger (with no mayo, please!) and it was SO GOOD! :) I will miss the tacky lighted 10 gallon hat, but the pretty new design looks much nicer and suits our neighborhood much better. :)

Hubby

Today's Beautiful Thing is a hubby who takes good care of me. I was not feeling well at all today and he catered to my every whim. I love you baby!

Best Laid Plans Pt II

Today's Beautiful Thing is a working dinner with Michele. She came over after work and we plotted and noshed for 2 hours. Yay!

Best Laid Plans

Today's Beautiful Thing is having everything work out just the way I wanted. I got up early, grabbed a coffee, got to work, sorted out some problems, and got my work done just in time. I love it when my day goes that way. :)

Mama Mia!

Today's Beautiful Thing is a huge pan of lasagna. There was a possibility of friends coming over last night for dinner, so I spent Sunday afternoon putting it together. We ended up meeting them for dinner last night instead, but my hard work paid off tonight when all we had to do was pop it in the oven. Nom!

Friends Who Visit

Today's Beautiful Thing is meeting up with out of town friends. It was so nice to see Heidi again, as well as to meet Dan & Anna and introduce them to Abner. A good time was had by all. :)

Spread Your Wings

Today's Beautiful Thing is watching baby doves learn to fly. Lily had two beautiful babies and they are already masters of the wing. Yeah!

Bandits

Today's Beautiful Thing is coming upon a raccoon while out for a walk. I never seem to get over the neighborhood nature we have here. I feel so lucky.

Nom Nom Nom!

Today's Beautiful Thing is Frutas del Mar at Las Brisas Restaurant. It's a lovely dish of giant prawns, giant scallops, crab claws, fish & lobster with fresh asparagus and rice in a tomato garlic sauce. Seriously yummy!

I Go Walking After Midnight...

Today's Beautiful Thing is a late night walk. We usually go out around 10. Tonight we were out late and we are off tomorrow, so we went out about 11:30. It was a quiet and peaceful walk, like we were the only people on earth.

Giftie

Today's Beautiful Thing is a little giftie we picked up today. Elise, our niece, turns 4 at the end of August. Last Easter we got her a similar item that was a ballerina since she was taking dance class. But this one's named Princess Elise. And what could be better than that? :) They're magnetic wooden "paper" dolls, in case you were wondering.

Pretty Posies

Today's Beautiful Thing is the pretty bouquet in my livingroom. We bought the flowers for our party Saturday night, but they are still fresh and, yes, Beautiful tonight. :)

It's the Little Things

Today's Beautiful Thing is how excited Lulu & Ace get when it's feeding time. It really makes you appreciate the little things in life. We should all learn to take pleasure in everyday things like a good meal, a nap on a warm afternoon or a belly rub--er, backrub. :)

Tired

Today's Beautiful Thing is feeling tired from a job well done. The party went well and my in-laws had a nice time, which was the most important thing anyway.

Good & Bad

Today's Beautiful Thing is learning to shrug off the bad stuff and go with the good. I felt myself getting stressed today, but I pushed forward and got stuff done. Things turned out well.

Busy-Busy

Today's Beautiful Thing is having a busy weekend ahead of me. I'm learning to look forward to busy times in my life instead of stressing over them. :)

Welcome to June

Today's Beautiful Thing is getting all my May invoices in so we can close the month of May. Probably not very exciting to anyone but us in the Finance dept, but a very Beautiful Thing indeed. Now, on to the (fiscal) year-end projects. The fun never ends! :)

Mmmm

Today's Beautiful Thing is the smell of cake baking. I'm making a birthday cake for my mother-in-law & father-in-law's combined birthday party on Saturday. The house smells like French vanilla heaven.

Bonus Beautiful Thing: a cake tip from a former professional. ;) Bake it early, allow the layers to cool completely, wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer. You can bake the cake early and you end up with a much moister cake as well.

Quick & Tasty

Today's Beautiful Thing is having everything ready to cook for dinner and eating early for a change. I love it when it when things work out the way I planned them. :)

Bonus Beautiful Thing: It was healthy too! I baked the fries and used nearly non-fat hot dogs. The fresh watermelon was sweet and juicy too. 7 grams of fat for me, 10 for him. Score!

I Can See Clearly Now

Today's Beautiful Thing is a husband who does windows. My garden window is kind of hard to get to and my hubby took it upon himself to climb up there and clean it. What a difference it makes too.