It's offically our last day in Thailand :-( Yesterday we went to a cooking class all day long, it was great! She also took us to the Thai market to show us what the ingredients look like at the store.

Beach Bubbles and Raspberry Buckle Recipe!

So, last week Elliott was very sick- the kind of sick that keeps everyone up at night/causes a 3 year old with a very short attention span to sit and do NOTHING for over an hour/causes same 3 year old with a normally huge appetite to not want anything to eat- sick.  That kind of sick.  And as any parents know, ill kiddos equal double work and double the exhaustion.  SO.. I was so proud of my ever-delicate immune system for staying strong all week so I could help out since the bug got to Dean as well.  I made soup, read 'Green Eggs and Ham' 4 times, popped medicine (not the red one.. the PINK one peeease!) and tried to help make my sick boys as comfortable as possible.  Poor Dean, I wasn't around much because of work and he got stuck with the majority of the sick chores.  Then.. low and behold, on Sunday afternoon Elliott woke up and after staring into space silently for about 20 minutes he quietly said "I want to go the beach please."  YAAY, he wanted to get out and do something!  So off to the beach we went, it was about 5:00, my favorite time to go because the sun is setting, the breeze is cool and the bubbles are more fun to blow:

He was feeling much better :)

Anyhow, Elliott went back to KY Monday and almost immediately I started feeling ill.  Long story short, here it is Saturday and I have called in sick once, slept over 15 hours in each day, filled up on fluids to the point that I think I might explode... and I still feel terrible.  Whatever this virus is that's going around, it's a STRONG one and it really stinks.

This morning, after lying around all day yesterday and being absolutely stir crazy- I decided to try out a recipe I found.. somewhere.  It might have been Marthastewart.com but I can't be sure.  Now please take note- I do not share recipes easily.  I know I know, it's not nice to keep delicious things from other people when you can spread the joy by sharing.  BUT.. cooking and baking are my 'soul hobbies' if you will- and sharing the pieces and parts of what I put into perfecting a recipe just doesn't interest me!  Sorry.. I know.  I'm bad.  I'm going to baker's purgatory or something.  Oh well :-D

Selfish kitchen habits aside- I am sharing a recipe here.  It was super easy to make, uses staples you probably already have in the house, and it's yum-o!  Here it is:

Raspberry Buckle

Serves 6

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking dish
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 containers (1/2 pint each) raspberries (2 3/4 cups)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)
Whipped cream (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-quart oval or square baking dish. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to combine. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder; with mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture until incorporated.
2. Spread batter in baking dish. Scatter raspberries on top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean and top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes; dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. With a large spoon, scoop out onto serving plates; serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

Mine was very beautiful.. I really wanted to take a proper picture to share but I was running late for work so all I managed was this measly shot from my iPhone:

Make it!  It's yummy!
-Jess

PS: I added half a teaspoon of vanilla extract to mine too.  Ouch.  Sharing baking secrets hurts.

Insert Last Thailand Blog Here..

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since we got back from Thailand!  We have some pics from our iPhones I want to post- I'll put mine up but the other phone is out of commission at the moment so I will have to update this post at some point.
The last 4 days in Thailand were spent at one of my favorite resorts ever, the Ratilanna in Chiang Mai.  Even though it was in the middle of the city, it felt so secluded and peaceful.  It sat right on the river and our room was just beautiful- I am apparently the queen of finding the best suites for the lowest prices so if you ever need help with a trip, let me know!  Here's some outside pics from the Rati:

This was the view from the balcony..

Hot Mess

Alright, I am in total vacation mode.  Two weeks off will do that to you.  Typically, that's a good thing.. but in this case it's just frustrating and makes me sad.  You see, when we were in Khao Lak, I left my expensive designer sunglasses in a taxi one night.  By chance, Dean had grabbed the guy's card and I managed to get them back a day later!  THIS time.. we were on our way to the Banyan Tree for for dinner in Bangkok and I left my bag (which had our CAMERA in it) in the taxi.  Yes, seriously, I did.  Luckily Dean was smart enough to upload the pictures at one point which really only covered about a week of the vacation.
So, here's a list of what we have zero pictures for:

• Hong Island longtail boat trip- Most amazing pics ever.  I am so sad.
• Private Diving charter out to Phi Phi island.  Again- gorgeous and only a memory in our minds :(
• All of Bangkok- dinner at the Banyan tree on top of 59 stories and all the rest
• Back in Chiang Mai- we are using the iPhone for pix so we'll see how they come out

SO ridiculous, I am a picture freak and I really had some good ones.  Oh well, I guess we'll have to go on another trip soon and get a better camera.. hehe.

Monkeying around rafts and ATVs

Yesterday we booked a day trip to go whitewater rafting and on a jungle ATV tour.  As usual, we were late getting out to the shuttle and felt pretty badly seeing that there were 8 other people waiting on us.  Anyhow, we got in the van and were given the itinerary for the day.  When the guide was asked how far the drive was to the river, he said 'Not close but not far'.  Well it turns out that not close but not far equals a 2 hour shuttle ride!  Grr!
The rafting was a ton of fun though- those Thai guys are a total crackup.  I was getting annoyed that he kept mentioning 'Three or boats a day capsize- will it be you today?', but we soon saw that it's actually the guides themselves that make the boats turn over- the wetter you get the happier they are.

Not a great pic but the company took their own so they weren't too keen on making your pictures perfect.

After our Thai lunch we were taken to the ATV riding site. Now let me tell you, I grew up with four wheelers and really do miss the feeling of being outdoors on them since I moved to Florida (which is actually 7 years ago next week!).  The feeling of riding through that jungle terrain was WONDERFUL!  Plus Dean learned a few tricks from me too, hehe ;)

Right at home..

SO much fun and so beautiful!

It was so cute, these little Thai boys were running around the whole time helping out with the ATVs and at one point I was stuck so he rushed over (unable to do anything) and told me "It will be ok madame!" :-) He was so cute.  Every bit of him reminded me of Mowgli from the Jungle Book.  Dean tipped him for 'helping' me and I got to take this pic:

(Twin brothers)  How cute are they!?

After the ATV rides, we went to 'Tiger Temple'- which didn't have any tigers and the doors to the temple are kept shut to keep these little guys out:

I was a little freaked out by the amount of monkeys in one place and the amount of people feeding them bananas and watermelon- those monkeys are vicious!  Dean bought a bag of bananas for them and made friends with a sweet one- take a look at her hands on his shoes gingerly asking for just one more banana please...

She really was super sweet.  It was fun to watch the monkeys but they're so brutal- this little runt got thrown down and held by his tail crying until he gave up his cashew nut!  Poor baby.  Here's my fav monkey pics:

My fav ;0)

Krabi was stunning, we took a longtail boat out to the Hong Islands (next post), went into town again and then went diving yesterday.  Posts to come soon, we just got to Bangkok and are exhausted! 

A Few Things I've Learned About Thailand..

1.  The mango with sticky rice has got me contemplating moving here.  Seriously.

2. If they say 'medium spicy' it's going to burn your lips off.

3. Don't diss the king.  I didn't learn this by actually doing it but it has proven to be very true- just don't do it.

4. Accepting the first price given for anything but food makes you a TOURIST.  Or a Jessica that doesn't like having to haggle.. I don't know why they can't just tell you the price!

5. The people have alot of fun and will open up to you quickly if they see that you do as well.

6.  The USA has quite the reputatiion for the women loving men with accents.

7.  Think of the cheesiest music from the US you can possibly think of- Thais LOVE it and play it everywhere.  'Eternal Flame' and 'As Long As You Love Me' are a few we've heard more than twice.

8.  It is obviously called the land of smiles because you only have to pay $7 average for a massage.

9. Toilet paper is a luxury, not a necessity.  Oh, and napkins are tissues.

10.  All fruit here is delicous- and my tongue and mouth don't swell up after eating the pineapple!  :-D

11. There aren't enough words in the English language (Thai language maybe?) to describe the feel of the sand under your toes here, the awe that is inspired when you see giant limestone mountains bursting out of the middle of the sea and the grounded feeling that is with you everywhere.  I am so grateful to the universe (and Dean) for this amazing experience.

Diving and fun with photography

I was pretty freaked out, I'll admit it.  The diving here uses meters instead of feet, a different 'out of air' measure (which I found out later is actually more than we use for PSI in the states) and a few other different hand signals. But it was a great time!
We started our diving at island #5 in the Similan Islands- this was the scenery on the way out:

I thought it so cool for these huge boulders to be in the middle of the sea..

This one's for you Casey- Lyn.. :)

Nervous me!

Anyhow, it all came back to me and after a minor (ok, major- at one point I floated all the way to the surface from about 15 meters and I couldn't control it!  Scary but we had a great dive guide that pulled me back down and put another weight in my pocket.) incident we had a beautiful dive.  Dean was also pretty freaked out about losing me completely underwater but he really enjoyed the scenery as well- we saw SO much color down there and the visibility was perfect. I was a little apprehensive to do the second dive due to my TMJ issues with holding on to the regulator but I talked myself into it and it was my best dive ever!  For those of you who dive, you can appreciate how amazing it feels to have your weights right, your breathing pattern down and to just BE down there.  Dean had a few issues with his mask but all was well after about 15 minutes. 

Success after 2-60 feet dives!

Yum-o

All in all, Khao Lak was such a beautiful break!  Our pool villa was amazing, the Le Meridien is a beautiful resort and it all helped get us into 'vaycay' mode.  Here's some night pics of the resort-gorgeous!

Entrance to Le Meridien Khao Lak

I was trying to get a pic of the torch in the middle but I caught this little snail and his trail on the way.. :-)

Full moon!

We're in Krabi now, another kind of beautiful that I can't even explain.. we golfed this morning, went to the town of Ao Nang, booked a rafting/ATV trip for tomorrow and a private diving charter for Saturday!  Wahoo! Post again soon, xo

Sa-wat-dee from Khao Lak

Once again we are up way too early-make that 5:30 to be exact- in Thailand.  It's pretty hard to adjust to being 11 hours ahead of the norm but we've done a pretty good job thus far.
We were only in Chiang Mai for two days but wow-what a difference to Khao Lak it was!  Being that we stayed at Le Meridien in the city, we wanted to do everything we could in the city itself which included tuk-tuk rides to temples, villages, foot massage places (Dean's was great, mine was terrible- picture a 'pedicure like' massage for 1 whole hour-I couldn't wait to get out of there!), custom tailor for suits and eating the best Thai food I've ever had.  It was very busy!

What's funny is that as we explore Thailand, I am noticing that smell is very much something I am associating every place to.  If I could pick Chiang Mai's smell, it would be a cross between the heavy smoke from the intense burning that's going on all over mixed with exhaust from the thousands of tuk-tuks and motor bikes on the road everywhere.  Odd to post about the smell I'm sure but my sense of smell is intense and I notice them all!  BTW, if you're not sure what a tuk tuk is, here is the one we used:

 It's kind of a cross between a golf cart and a motorcycle.. a tricycle with an engine :)

We flew to Phuket on 3/26 and drove about an hour and 15 min to Khao Lak.. kind of a somber ride due to seeing a pretty bad accident with an SUV and a motor bike and passing multiple tsunami memorials along the way (Khao Lak is exactly where it hit in 2004).  Aside from that, we finally arrived at the hotel and it is absolutely gorgeous, with my favorite scents of jasmine and magnolia everywhere! Here are some photos:

 Pool Oceanfront Villa :-D

Early morning coffee, just taking it all in.

Dean at the 'office'

Yesterday we relaxed on the beach and swam in the sea (the water temp here is like bathwater and the sand is like powdered sugar under your toes), then in the afternoon we had our massages and took a trip into town to book our diving and hit the night market.  Unfortunately we got caught in a downpour so the night market will have to wait until tomorrow, but today we are doing a two tank dive out in the Similian Islands!  I have been reading about this for months so I am super excited but also very apprehensive about spending 9 hours on a boat with no land in sight..!

Have a great day, more pics and posts to come soon.

Chiang Mai Adventures

Hello!  We made it safely and all I can say is.. WOW.  Thailand is so beautiful because of its culture, people and customs.. it truly opens your eyes to make you see what the US is majorly lacking.  We have already met some of the friendliest, most helpful people along our journey and it's so great to be thrown into a completely different time (literally!) and place.  I don't have much time to write so I will try to give an update with pictures:

Our flight path around the world

Perusing the dinner and breakfast menus while enjoying my champagne :)

Dean loving the entirely flat beds on our flight!

23 hours of flying time later, we have finally arrived.  I vaguely remember this shot, we were beyond exhausted.

Ronald and I doing the Wai- the Thai version of a handshake/wave.

Dean releasing birds at one of the temples- it's good luck!

First tuk-tuk ride-hence the blurred/terrified look of this photo.

:-D

We went to a very poor village where they make umbrellas and will paint anything you want (in beautiful design) for a donation.  Super amazing people here.

Dinner at a local hotspot on the Ping River recommended by one of the great people we have met- best live music I've heard in a while.. and the FOOD here- I can't even put it in to words!

So that's it for Chiang Mai for now, we leave today for Khao Lak, will post again when we have time. XO

We just ran like the bulls through Newark airport! Flight was delayed 1.5 hours from WPB, so stressful. Sitting here in the Business Class lounge sipping my Bloody Mary, I have almost forgotten about the rudest security woman I have ever seen. I know New Yorkers are a different breed but come on.. She snatched my jacket and shoes out of my hands and threw them on the scanner belt-who does that?!?!
Ah yes.. My Bloody Mary.. Mmm.

Thomas Party!

Ok, night before big departure.. just wanted to share some cutie patootie pics with you:

 

Early birthday morning presents!

 

Cake Lollies!

 

Train Cake #1

 

Trains Cake #2
 

Trains trains everywhere!

 

My favorite :)

Needless to say.. Elliott had a wonderful birthday party and slept very well that night. :-D

Catchya in Thailand!

Thailand.. 10 days away!

As most of you know- Dean and I will be in Thailand for 3 weeks starting on March 22, 2010.  I am going to be using this blog to document our experiences- I find that there are little things I will forget if not properly written down as they happen!
That being said, I am going to go private and hope that if you read this but don't follow it publicly, you will give me your email address so that I can add you as a reader!  I'm not exactly decided on which way I want this blog to go, but for now I'm going to keep it to our friends and family so that I may update and communicate in Thailand without any qualms about who may be reading about our personal experiences.
Also, Elliott's birthday party is next week and I am going to attempt some baking that I'm pretty unsure of.. you'll want to check in and see what the outcome is, I promise you!

DIY Necklace holder

Continuing on with my obsession with organization (well ok... not really an obsession but I certainly need to get it together with my various messes that drive me crazy daily), I sort of owe this project to D's sister.  She showed me one that she had put together and it reminded me that my mother used to make these necklace holders with quilt batting, ribbon and hooks.
I was in dire need of hanging up my necklaces to avoid the daily knot-removal fight I would get in with them every morning.  I also just bought some inserts from Bed Bath and Beyond for my earrings/bracelets/etc. that fit into my drawer in my closet (no, you don't need a fancy closet company to come fit them to your drawer!) so this project was a must- do.  Here's how it went:

Find an inexpensive painting (I found these at Homegoods) suitable for where you would like to hang your display-mine was to be hung in my closet.

Buy some hooks at a craft store with screw-backings, in different sizes if you have larger necklaces.  Ignore the man trying to get away from you at Michaels that says they don't have anything like that- THEY DO!

 

Pick the layout of what looks best on your painting for your hooks.  Remember that the larger hooks should go in the center to avoid pulling down the sides of your picture with the weight of your necklaces, and stagger the hooks so your necklaces have room to hang.  Start screwing in with your hands.

 

(Sorry for the glare of the picture, I should have taken these anywhere else but the closet.)

 

About 15 minutes and some sore fingers later, voila!

 

 

No more piles of necklace mess and knot-fighting!  Hooray!