Orange County BBQ Bonanza

This was our first time going. It was certainly an experience. We waited in line for about two hours to get our food. We decided to go to the vendor that had the most awards (and of course, the longest line). So after about two hours of waiting, they announced that weekend's winner, which happened to be the vendor next door! We decided to remain loyal to our first choice. That decision proved to be a failure. By the time we got to the ordering window, they had run out of certain items on their menu. The girl taking the orders seemed to be having a bad day, and according to David, the best thing on the plate was the store bought potato salad. Ouch!!!

I'm not going to tell you who the vendor is. We'll leave it alone. I'll just say that next time, we won't judge the food by the length of the line!











Good times!

Happy Sunday!

Be kind today.

Happy Sweet 16!

Yesterday, we celebrated our sixteenth anniversary and it was sweet! I can't believe how fast the time is going by. I feel like we are still learning about each other. I know I'm still learning how to be a good wife! To honor our sixteen years of marriage, I started reading The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. This book has been sitting on my "one day I'll read it" section of my shelf. Well that day is today!

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
so he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Proverbs 31:10-12

XOXO
SC

Happy 4th Birthday Savina!

This past weekend we celebrated Savina's fourth birthday. It was such a beautiful day, spent swimming, eating, and enjoying time with family.

The kids went crazy over the dessert and candy bar.

Even some of the big "kids".

Savina loved her pony piñata .

Happy Birthday, beautiful Savi!

Oh, we also attempted to make friendship bracelets. I've never made them before and I honestly didn't think they were that complicated... until I tried it. I had never seen them done with this little wheel that is supposed to help make patterns in your bracelets like hearts and flowers. It took us a couple of hours to finally figure out how to use them! The label on the kit says they are for ages 7 and up. I'm insulted!

Well maybe the cocktails didn't help. Let's go with that.

If you want to try them at your next party,
you are guaranteed hours on concentrated entertainment!


XOX

Going Bananas Over This Cake!!!

It sounds implausible but I couldn't get enough of this banana cake. I have never tasted anything like it before. The banana flavor is so sublime, the cake is dense but moist, it just melts in your mouth. The cream cheese frosting adds just the right amount of sweetness to it. I am telling you, even if you don't like bananas in baking situations, you will love this cake. It's almost like a custard-y cake. And it is true, the longer it's been in the fridge, the better it gets.

The bad news is that I have hidden the left over cake in a container in the fridge and I have been sneaking a spoonful...or two...or three each night. Ayayay! Where is my self-control? When you find it, please give me a ring.

Doesn't this slice look so good? You can just see the richness in the layers of the cake. Maybe it's the love talking, but this one looks a little more moist and creamier than the one pictured in the recipe. Maybe I am going bananas.

I followed the recipe pretty closely, except:

1. I used store-bought buttermilk instead of making it like the author did. I don't know about the milk and vinegar situation. That just doesn't sound right to me, but what do I know. I decided to take the safe road and buy it.
2. I had frozen bananas which I defrosted, peeled, and mashed, then I put them back in the fridge until I was ready to use them.
3. I used room-temperature eggs.
4. I topped it with fresh blueberries instead of walnuts.
   
5. And I had the two very best helpers you ever did find.

So if you want to the same results, follow the recipe but do what I did above. Oh, and you'll have to talk to Jeanette about borrowing Luc and Alec.


Rats! As I was typing this post, I heard Mateo milling about in the kitchen and he found the cake!!! And he comes in here with a big piece of it on a plate. What can I do? I guess I'll have to bake another one! Maybe I'll make cake pops. Hmmm!

Not all is lost, the potassium binge has afforded me the energy I needed to complete some projects, albeit, small, but 3 in one night!

1. I sewed the lining in Mateo's sleeping bag.

2. I refashioned a T-shirt.


3. And I embroidered this heart on one of Mateo's shirts. Now he cannot deny that he wears his heart on his sleeve.



Oh my, just listen to me! Enough about me and the cake.

Good night!

Romantic Date Night - Camp Out

Still on my gypsy/circus-life fantasy/tent-dwelling kick.

Last Friday night, with Mateo still away at camp, Mr. Casillas and I did a little camping ourselves...at home. Sort of. We didn't actually sleep out there (we didn't want to set up the tent) but it was really fun to hang out and watch a movie on our cots under the stars.




We picked up a pizza, opened up a bottle of wine, lighted some candles, popped in a movie, and settled into our comfy, cozy cots.



The only bad thing was that we have single cots and we both don't fit on one!

I am thankful that my hubby goes along with most of my crazy schemes.

I've run away to join the circus

My circus life fantasy

Big Dreams ,Tiny Houses

I have many wacky hopes, dreams, I guess.

One of them is that one day, I would live on a farm. I think I've mentioned this before. And if living on a farm is not possible, at least I would like to raise chickens and have a vegetable patch in my backyard. Mr. Casillas is not too keen on the idea nor is he a farmer. He is more of a city dweller. But I guess I can keep dreaming.

One of my other dreams, well I can't really call it a dream, it's more like a curiosity, which especially strikes me when I have been cleaning my house for 6 hours straight and yet there is no end in sight, is to live in an Airstream trailer or a tiny little house. I like to day dream what it would be like to have only 1 toilet to scrub, to have only about 300 square feet of floor to clean, less furniture to dust...then I think about all of our stuff and realize that we would need to attach a big warehouse to our tiny house just to hold all of our junk! I think I am more in love with the idea of living in a caboose after reading and seeing Water for Elephants. I guess I would also need to join the circus. Sometimes I feel like I'm already in a circus.

But if I win the Lottery some day, I will buy an Airstream and decorate it and roam the earth. Ahhh.

Check out this caboose which was converted into a house. How cute is that? Would you be able to live in this?


Check out the rest of the story and this cool blog on tiny homes here.