Happy 1st bday Cadence!

We celebrated Cadence's 1st birthday yesterday at this big grassy park in Vallejo. All of the Bolings were there to celebrate, and lots of Cadence's friends. Enjoy the pics - I can't believe she's getting so big!

pumpkin cupcakes

I found this great recipe for low-cal chocolate cupcakes in my hungry girl cookbook. Instead of using eggs and oil, you simply mix a box of chocolate cake mix with a can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just canned pumpkin). The batter is SUPER thick, and it seems like you need to add water, but don't give in! They took about 20 minutes to bake and turned out excellent! They don't really taste like pumpkin, but they are super moist and delish! I didn't put any frosting on them because they were just good by themselves. I gave some out to friends and they really enjoyed them (and had no idea they had pumpkin in them!) Paul didn't like them too much, but his co-workers did!

I want this book!

Some of you may not have seen my indoor "urban garden", but it's growing wonderfully! I'll post pics of my ripe cherry tomatoes (have already picked 4 of them!), my rapidly growing basil, mint, and rosemary soon. I keep whining to Paul that I want to move into a new place that has a space that I can garden in, but until then, I'm settling for lots of potted veg and herbs in the kitchen window sill.

and P.S., this book looks great!

Kris and Dave's wedding

I'm back in the East bay recovering after a fun filled week of visiting friends and family...and 1 spectacular wedding! I had such a great time on my mini-vacation and got to hang out with some pretty fun people. Check out my slideshow of pics from Kristin and Dave's wedding (the highlight of my vacation). It was definitely one of the best weddings I've ever been to! I was so happy to be a part of their special day. Now it's back to the grindstone for me...but congrats again to the happy couple!!

Philly pics

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these from Philly...

Paul and his cheesesteak
Philly Friends Meeting House

Paul and his grandmother at Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens bush sculptures. See Paul behind the dog??

I have lots more pics and will be making a slideshow soon...these are just the preview shots!

Busy times

Wow! Let me catch my breath. As I mentioned in my last post, I've got a lot goin' on these next 2 weeks. I'm especially looking forward to:

- Going out on Folsom lake with my family on Saturday...I might even get on the double water skis like I did last summer. I hope it's REALLY hot so I can just swim and drink beers all day!

- Visiting my friend Kim in Truckee. I'm hoping that get intertubes and float down the Truckee river (at least that's the plan). Kim has to work on Tuesday, so I plan on doing a solo hike or maybe just relax on one of the docks on Donner Lake.

- And finally, Kristin and Dave's wedding! For those of you who may not know this, my best childhood friend is getting hitched on Saturday June 21st. I'm soooo excited for her and Dave, and can't wait to be a part of their special day. Kris, her mom and I are doing all of the flowers for the wedding (I'll take pics, of course!) which I'm excited about (you know how I love flowers, and crafty things).

That's about it. It's a mouthful, I know! But I'm really looking forward to my "mini-vacation".

Rocky Mtn. High

I'm here in Denver, playing on my computer while taking notes for my Leadership Team meeting. I came here yesterday at 9am (after catching a 5:45am flight outta Oakland)for this quick overnight meeting. As I was waiting for the hotel shuttle at the airport, a woman asked me, "what is the name of those mountains over there?", and I replied "oh, those are the Rocky Mountains!" She got so excited and took her camera out, and started singing "Rocky Mountain high"...I watched her stuff while she tried to get the best angle of the mountains (trying not to include the various buses that were blocking her view). I think I made her day.

I couldn't help but reminisce on the times that I have spent in Denver, Colorado, and this part of the west. Like the time Amy, Sky and I took a road trip through Steamboat springs, stopping in Rocky Mtn. National Park, up to Boulder (slept on the side of the road), and then down to Denver (with many fun stops along the way...especially to the Coors light brewery!) Or the time I came to visit my aunt and uncle who were living here, and we went up to Pikes Peak and down to Red Rocks and Valley of the Gods. This state is absolutely gorgeous...

The meeting went really well, and I passed out early because I was pretty exhausted. I talked to Paul right before I fell asleep, and he was at the A's game, trying to sneak into the luxury boxes. Him and Martin and some other buddies had been tailgating at the game, and were up to no good. I wish I could've joined them!

Go Celtics!

I just realized that I haven't blogged in a month! Bad, bad, bad...

Well, I'm happy to report that May flew by really quickly, with a trip to Philly to see Paul's fam (will post pics later). We had a great time visiting everyone, and Paul gave me the full-on Philly tour (complete with a few cheese steaks. Yum!)

Now that it's June, I'm looking forward to a month of fun things. Tomorrow I head out to Denver for an overnight meeting. Then next week is my cousin Melissa's 8th grade graduation (I can't believe she'll be in high school next year!) After that I have a week off, and am taking a mini-road trip to see some family in Folsom, river friends in Placerville, and my dear friend Kim in Truckee. Then, I head down to SC for Kristin and Dave's wedding. Whheeeeee! This month is gonna fly by!

I've also started another blog for my dinner group: http://ladiesthatdine.webpress.com
Check it out!

And GO CELTICS!!