Downtown Bend

Because we can't stray from tradition too much during our Sunriver trip, we spent one day casually roaming the streets of the little town of Bend. We love us some Bend. It's quaint and has cute little restaurants and shops, so what's not to love? From happy hour cocktails at Tart to dinner at Common Table (a cool nonprofit restaurant that donates all proceeds to the community and is run by volunteers!), the day was exactly what we hoped for.

To come, Sunriver via Instagram!

Sunriver: Snowblasting

Ok, ok, it's really called the Snowblast Tubing Park, but I truly believe we should all call tubing, snowblasting. Why? Simple math. Snow + having a blast = snowblasting. At any rate, you start with a few glorious minutes of relaxing on your tube as the rope tow brings you to the top, then you jump off and go down a GIANT hill, breaking the sound barrier within seconds! I'm not even kidding people, we created some sonic booms on our tubes, especially when we went down FOUR AT A TIME. So if you ever find yourself at Mt. Bachelor, heed this advice: go snowblasting. It's breathtaking (literally and figuratively - at times you go so fast that you can't catch your breath due to the wind resistance!).

Stephanie and Lizzie finding the perfect tube for optimal (fast!) speed.

Lizzie and Lianna ready to take on the hill.

Stephanie rope-towing up the hill.

What you can't really see in this picture is that the snowblasting hills are at about an 85 degree angle. I don't lie. And that hay? That's to make you slow you at the end, so you don't launch into outerspace or something.

Before we parted ways to ski and snowblast, all the ladies at Mt. Bachelor. Good times.

Homebound

Sunriver, as usual, was magical. It was hard to come home, but at least we had the chance to enjoy the beautiful Central Oregon scenery on the car ride home. (It was way too dark on our way down.) Details to come, but I will say this: snowblasting (AKA tubing) is awesome and so are my girlfriends. Both make me smile.

Hope you had a wonderful 3-day weekend!

Suits and Boots

The weekend notoriously known for suits and boots*, Goody's candy, skiing or sledding, aimlessly exploring Bend, OR, bad (bad!) chick flicks**, homemade breakfast and dinners, quality girl time - well, that weekend is upon us. Sunriver or bust!

What are your President's Weekend plans?

A note to the Doherty's: We don't thank you enough for letting us stay at your place each and every year. It's one of my favorite weekends of the year. So thank you!

*An annual tradition in which we put on our bathing suits and snow boots and high tail it to the hot tub across the complex.
**Just so you understand the caliber of bad movies we pick - if it features Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez, we have a winner. Just bad. But usually quite comical.

Penne a la Erika!

We've made Penne a la Betsy from PDubs' site before and it's scrumptious and sinful. Heavy cream, butter, oil - oy vey! We thought we would attempt to make a slightly healthier version - much less butter, oil, replacing heavy cream with half and half, and skipping the salt. Maybe a not-so-healthy replacement, we also substituted turkey sausage for the shrimp. It just seemed quicker, rather than deveining the little suckers.

To be honest, I don't think I could taste the difference from the original! Maybe if I had them side-by-side, but these slight modifications still made a heavenly dish. Yes, I admit, it's still not healthy, but it's healthier. There has to be some indulgence on Valentine's Day, right? A little Lilyhammer, pasta and your main squeeze? Perfection.

P.S. Please don't judge my portion size above. This lady was hungry! And I wonder why my pants are feeling tighter this week? :)

Penne a la Erika! (Original recipe)

Ingredients
3/4 pounds Penne Pasta (if you use the full 1 lb. box, add a bit more tomato and half and half)
1 pound turkey sausage
1 Tablespoons Butter (was 3)
1 Tablespoons Olive Oil (was 3)
1 small whole Onion
3 cloves Garlic (was 2, but we wanted more)
1/2 cup White Wine, Or To Taste
1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)
1 cup half and half (was heavy cream)
Fresh Parsley, to taste (we tend to add more because we can never finish a full bundle, so we want to get some get use out of it!)
Fresh Basil, to Taste (ditto, above)
Pepper To Taste

Instructions
Cook the penne pasta until tender-firm, also known as al dente.

Brown the turkey sausage. Remove from pan onto plate.

Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic. In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup of half and half. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

Chop your herbs, about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil.

Now add the turkey sausage into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir.

Lilyhammer

Picture this: New York mobster becomes everyone's target after he decides to do the right thing and testify in a trial. Quickly, he realizes that he won't survive in the Big Apple and enters the Witness Protection Program. Where does he request to be relocated? Lillehammer, Norway because "it looked pretty in the '94 Olympics." And you find out another small reason he chose "Lilyhammer", but I won't ruin the surprise.

A mobster in fair isle sweaters, trying to become a better person? It's like The Godfather meets Northern Exposure. Sounds like the recipe for a fun flick, huh?

We watched the first episode last night and I'm definitely itching to watch #2. It's a Netflix original, so it can only be watched on Netflix streaming. Check it out and let me know what you think!

valentine's day happy list

A few things that make me happy on this Valentine's Day.

1. The nostalgia and memories of elementary school valentine's days.
   
2. Wearing this red skirt with red lipstick to work today.
3. Google's valentine's day video. Sometimes the answer is simple.
4. Knowing that the people who surround me in life are so supportive, inspiring and thoughtful. How'd I get to be so lucky?
   
5. The "fax me" conversation heart. I like that even though the fax machine is semi-archaic, they still hold onto it.
6. Laid back valentine's day plans with my sweetheart tonight. (Or swedeheart as my mom calls my dad?)
   
7. This flashback memory: In high school, I remember telling my friend Robby about how I never had a Valentine, which was a week away. I wasn't sharing because I was bummed, just a matter-of-fact statement. So on the big day, he left flowers, chocolates and a balloon at my desk in 1st period. What a great friend, huh?
   
8. The red and pink color combo. It's so bright and happy.
9. Cute Valentine's Day cards.
10. This unromantic, stinky gesture made me laugh.
    

pic/via pinterest