Cooking Up Dreams.

I've found that I seem to be getting older. {Which is brilliant!}

I feel like I'm barely becoming the woman I should

have always been. But I didn't know how to download

the Ashley version 3.0. properly. Shards of my general

core have always been in existence, but the program is

finally beginning to congeal together.

Lately I've been sauteing on the numerous things I want to learn

or perfect. Baking and cooking is sky high on my list.

Last Tuesday I took some action in developing in that area.

I shadowed the lead pastry chef at La Grande Orange to

learn new techniques for baking. We focused on pies!

I was a tad nervous, but the butterflies dissipated and

I began to get more comfortable. I learned several

new techniques that I'm excited to implement into my

own kitchen. This week I want to make a different pie

using my new found set of skills and secret tips.

Time to crack open my ever growing collection of cook books!

What are you learning about?

photographer for image source unknown.

Elizabeth Taylor.

Dear Elizabeth Taylor,

In short, you are magnificent. In my opinion you are the most gorgeous female the world has ever known. Marilyn Monroe was pretty, but she became immortal because she died young. That's the key to becoming immortal-DON'T AGE! But Liz, may I call you Liz? Liz, I think you trump everyone because you have grown old, and have maintained a state of dignified grace, class, and personal style. Liz, I love your perseverance, your violet eyes and of course your diamonds.

Yours Truly,

Ashley

He's Pretty Great.

Sundays are typically fantastic; I attend church, catch up with my family and friends, and Bryan and I take an extended nap together. But when I have too much "reflection time" it's not a good thing. My mind begins to race and I think of how many puzzle pieces I have, and how many I want to have, and how many pieces I thought I should have by now. And then there's this looming Birthday I have coming up. And on my Birthday I look at a master list of THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE that I created years ago.....Do you see how it gets to be a tad bit much? Ugggghhhh I'm a piece of work.

Luckily for me, my sweetheart is always up when I'm down. He can perennially talk me into smiling and being my regular happy, glass-half-full-self. And fortunately enough, I'm up when he's down. I don't know how the universe manages it, but our entire marriage has magically continued in this pattern. In his fruitful efforts, Bunnie said something significant to me last night,

"We may not be exactly where we thought

we'd be at our age. But what is great

about us, is we haven't abandoned our dreams.

We still have the courage to go after them.

Someday reality will catch up with our dreams,

but in the mean time we're still happy."

He is so perfect for me it's scary. We are soul mates, and I'm thankful I found such a wonderful man to spend forever with. By no hands of chance, he makes up for everything I lack. And I make up for everything he lacks. And together we create an unstoppable rebel force. Hooray for true love. Hooray for marriage. Hooray for an amazing husband.

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography.

Let Them Eat Cake!

What's so bad about cake? In my opinion, Marie hit the nail on the head. If everyone in the world stopped for one ordinary afternoon to lull around and eat an exquisite piece of cake, the world be a happier and lovelier place to live. Of that I am convinced!

Tonight I was perusing my dvd collection and I happened upon Marie. I loved that movie. Now the script was dribble. And the acting {yehhh} and no one had a French accent {in France.} But what it lacked in content, it made up in costuming, style, and music. The score is amazing! And no one can deny the tender hearted Sofia Coppola that. No one! {My favorite dress was the sea foam and red!}

All The Right Type.

Every L.A. woman is a gracious and creative hostess.

No two soirees are ever alike, and neither are her

invitations. I have a couple of gatherings coming up, and I am

pining for a typewriter to combine with my odd-ball

card making methods.

You might say, "Just use a computer." Easier said than done.

I'm not very competent when is comes to using computers.

And more over, quality card stock smears in our laser jet printer.

And so, I am searching high and low

for a proper functioning typewriter

of my very own. I'm hoping for one of the

following looks:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

*Yellow wallpaper image found at:

http://callmetheens.blogspot.com

1. http://hi-and-low.typepad.com

2. http://mytypewriter.com

3. http://somenewtrend.files.wordpress.com

4. http://www.esquire.com

5. http://www.philipkdick.com

Paw Power.

When Soba was a brand new puppy

{and weighed only a couple of pounds.)

I would plop him in the laundry basket, and take him

with me downstairs to do the laundry so he wouldn't cry.

But now he's eleven pounds, and still wants to

go on a puppy adventure along with me.

Every time I pull out the laundry basket, he hops on in

as if it's his puppy right. I had to chronicle this bit of silliness.

Hey, It's A Thought.

Bunnie and I have been brainstorming for creative ideas to pay off our student loans. So far, the most plausible option is to

make more money. {Go figure.} I did look up "HOW TO FAKE YOUR OWN DEATH." Which really made us laugh because the instructional site I located said the following in the preface,

"Perhaps it's all just getting to be too much. Maybe you want a fresh start, a new beginning. On the other hand, maybe you just don't want to pay your students loans. Whatever it is, there is always the option of faking your death." {CLICK.} To visit the site.

We burst into uncontrollable laughter. It seems there are numerous couples out there scrounging to pay back their impossible student loans just like us. Even President Obama just barely paid off his student loans last year. Yeah. That doesn't give us serfs a whole lot of hope! Oh, well. We'll just keep plugging away, and eventually we'll pay back the loans. And when we finally do, I want to

pay back the lenders in pennies.

Would you fake your own death to escape debt?

money tree image by: jerryong.com/ blog/tag/money/