Vail Trip – Day Two – November 2010

While day one on the mountain in Vail was spent trying to get our bearings again, day two was a little easier and a little more fun.  It helped a lot that my love was feeling much better.  He was able to finally concentrate and enjoy himself on the 2nd day.

We had some good runs and had lots of fun…up until the end of the last run that is, when I banged my knee on a wooden wall covering a bridge.  It was a dumb move and my knee instantly swelled up.  That was the end of snowboarding for us.  We skipped the last day on the mountain, instead opting for the comfort of our condo and watching the Packers play.  I think it was a good choice considering a week later my knee still has a giant purple bruise.

Ooooh, and day two also consisted of a yummy pizza lunch.  If you are ever in Vail, be sure to check out the delicious pizza at Blue Moose Pizza in the Lionshead Vail Square.

Here are some photos from day two!

               

Credit: Photos taken by me in Vail, Colorado.  A handful of these photos were also taken by my love using his cell phone camera.

Vail Trip – Day One – November 2010

One of the reasons why I haven’t been blogging as much this month, is that we took a trip to Vail, Colorado a few weekends back.  I grew up with lots of snow in my life every winter, so I’m not one of those people easily amazed by season…but Colorado with all its beautiful mountains is a different story.  Even I can admit that the snow was really pretty covering the peaks of all the gorgeous mountains.

Me and my love snowboard…but keep in mind that this was only our 3rd time snowboarding ever.  The first and second time were both last winter, and the first time was a lesson.  So we are newbies at this sport for sure.  And I wouldn’t exactly say that Vail is for newbies.  It was a big departure from our usual mountains of Big Bear, California.

We spent the first day on the mountain just trying to get our bearings and re-learn the basics.  My love referred to it as our “training day.”  The first run we did on the mountain was not a good choice (and it certainly didn’t help that my love wasn’t feeling to well), but we found better runs later in the day and ended on a much better note than the day started.

Here are some photos from day one!

     

Credit: All photos taken by me in Vail, Colorado.

Big 3-Oh Birthday Card

I made this hand-made, hand-cut, and hand-glued 30th birthday card in mid-November.  Sorry for the late posting.

This card was my attempt to both (1) make a 30th birthday themed card and to (2) make a masculine card as well.  Cards for boys are tough!  Hope you like it!

The three and the zero were hand-drawn and hand-cut from black cardstock, then hand-glued, and finally hand-embellished with tiny silver polka dot studding using a silver marker.  The font in the interior of the card is “Honey Script” a free font that can be found on Dafont.com.

A matching version of this card may be available for purchase on my Etsy shop in the future…so keep an eye out for that.

Credit: Birthday card made by me and photos taken by me as well.

Missing in Action

An apology is in order…

I feel like such a slacker being absent from the blog for so long.  There is really no excuse, so I’m not going to make any.  Instead I am just going to stop being a slacker.

More posts soon as I get back on track with the regular posting.  :)

Crushin’ On Color: White

White roses, lilacs, peonies, and anemones paired with a little greenery, makes the perfect classic centerpiece for an elegant event.

Credit: Photography by Marlin Munoz via Style Me Pretty

Crushin’ On Color: Teal

Teal adds the perfect kick of color amongst of sea of white and grey.

Credit: Photography by Dean Thorsen via Style Me Pretty

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I found this recipe awhile back and it makes for the most delicious pulled pork ever.  So tender, a little kick of spice, and perfect when topped with some sweet barbecue sauce and served on a bun.

What I love too is that since we are only a household of two, it makes enough pulled pork for about three meals and nibbling here and there (so about 10 pulled pork sandwiches total).

Oh, and did I mention that the recipe is SO beyond easy?

I usually use a 2 to 3 pound pork shoulder with the bone in.  You can definitely go bigger if you are feeding more people, just let it hang out a tad longer in the crock pot.  You also want to be sure to keep that nice big hunk of fat that is on one side of the pork.  Do NOT cut that off.

Here’s what you need to make the dry rub:

Dry Rub

• 1 tablespoon Ground Cumin
• 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 1 tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon Ground Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Paprika
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• (optional: 1 tablespoon of Onion Powder and 1 tablespoon Chili Powder)

COMBINE the above ingredients and MIX together with a spoon.  This should make a bit more dry rub than you will actually need, but you can put the leftover rub into an unused spice container and save it for the next time you want to make this recipe (and you will want to make this recipe again).

DRY pork shoulder with a paper towel.

ROLL pork shoulder into dry rub covering the entire outside with a coating of the spices.

PLACE coated pork shoulder into a crock pot and SPRINKLE top with a little more dry rub.

COOK on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.  Cooking longer will only make it better.

After 8 to 10 hours, REMOVE the pork shoulder from the crock pot.

Using two forks, PULL apart pork into shredded pieces.  It will fall right off the bone.

POUR juices left in the bottom of the crock pot back on top of the pulled pork.

SERVE topped with barbecue sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray’s) on the buns or rolls of your liking.  You could also used this pulled pork on tacos.  It would be delicious.

See credits and notes below.  Enjoy!

Credit: Photo taken by me.  Food in photo was made by me as well.  Recipe adapted from The Nerd’s Wife.  The difference between her recipe and mine is that she also adds onion powder and chili powder to her rub.  Since I don’t have them in my cabinet, I omitted them.  She also does a brine to her pork before cooking in the crock pot.  I’ve skipped this part both times I’ve made it, and it is so darn tasty even without the brine, that I don’t bother.