Leah's Favorite Things

We woke up to a blizzard. Left the hotel to find the pass closed

Hi guys!
Husb and I are in Lake Tahoe, Ca!
I don’t have a ton of time because I’m about to go get a massage AND manicure at the Spa in our beautiful hotel.
Spoiled…I know.
A big shout out to the sweet friend that booked us the room (you know who you are)!

Here are a few pictures from our trip so far.
We couldn’t help but laugh at this sign.
Really?
So many dogs jump off the cliff that they have to put a sign?
Sad.
 
Okay…I had to run to get that massage and manicure.
I’m back and it was wonderful!
Do you think they will let me move in?
They have a eucalyptus steam room and a shower with 32 heads (I swear that’s what she said).
I tried both.
I think I’m in love with the steam room and was unable to master the fancy shower.
This is why I need to move in…so I can learn how to use it
Okay…back to our trip.
 
Our first night was spent in Reno, NV.
We arrived late and left fairly early…it was just a pit stop.

Then we headed to our hotel!
The Ritz-Carlton at Lake Tahoe.
This is a picture I took of it on our drive up.

  
Notice all the snow?
It snowed almost the whole drive…all the way from Oregon to Tahoe.
A little scary to drive in…but thankfully Husb does all the driving.
Today we went to a little town called Truckee.
The sweetest little snow covered town!
And it has somewhat of a history…it’s only a few miles from where the Donner Party was trapped all those years ago.
I told husb that if we got stranded I might have to start munching on his leg…he said he would oblige me.
What a great husband
 
 
 
 
This afternoon we ate lunch at the Squeeze In.
Was a neat little place that just happen to Throwdown with Bobby Fly.
  

Tomorrow we head out bright and early for San Diego and then here we come Tecate!
I more than likely won’t be able to post again until after Thanksgiving so I hope you all have a great holiday and enjoy your families and friends!
And someone watch the Macy’s Day parade for me please!
Love you all!

So that amazing place I mentioned yesterday…it was a Washington State General Administration surplus sale.
A what?
A surplus sale!
Basically all the furniture, electronics, dishes, books, and other miscellaneous things that are no longer needed or used in various government agencies gets moved to one of two warehouses.
Lucky for us, the warehouses are consolidating.
So the Auburn location has been selling everything at awesome discounts so they will have less to move.
And when I say awesome discounts…I mean AWESOME discounts.
 
50% off this week and 75% off next week.
We found old style elementary school desks, school chairs, filing cabinets, wooden library bookcases, walls maps, chalk boards and a million other things.
Looking back I’m surprised I didn’t suffer from overload and just meltdown.
Thankfully I had already been inspired by this post.
So I knew what I wanted and wasn’t afraid to dig and unpack and grab!
Wanna see what I got?

Globe – $4
Rolling cart – $2.50
In-baskets – $0.50 each
Metal bookcase – $2.50
World/United States wall map – $2.50
Washington State Map (brand spanking new, still in the box) – $2.50

A grand total of $15 and some change!
You have no idea what a happy camper I have been over this deal!
And those wall maps…they’re the real deal.
The big ones that hang in front of the chalkboard in classrooms.
I love them and one day I will hang them up and just sit and stare!
And that rolling cart and metal bookcase…those babies are going to become great friends with a can of spray paint.
And I may or may not be sending a dear friend back down to that warehouse to pickup a few items that have been haunting me all week
Don’t worry…a few items have been haunting her too

To see more pictures of our trip go here.
And you definitely need to go here to see how Tash integrated those adorable desks into her decor.
It’s taking everything in me not to go back down and buy myself a little desk.
I highly suggest you find your state surplus warehouse.
Unless you live in Washington state…I’m not sure I’m ready to share

Pioneer Woman will be on Throwdown with Bobby Flay tonight!
If it wasn’t a homework club night I would have thrown a Team Ree party and we all could have watched it together!
What fun that would have been

(Shirt courtesy of Savory Sweet Life)

I’ll be back soon to share about the most amazing place I went to yesterday.
It was a self taught, home decorator but cheap woman’s dream!
And I still have the adrenalin pumping through my veins from the trip.

Smell ya later

Hi Friends.
I’m linking up to the Organizing Junkie again this week with my meal plan.

Monday
PW’s Fettuccine Alfredo w/ Caesar salad

Tuesday
Homemade pizza

Wednesday
Zucchini Garden Chowder

Thursday
Lentil & Rice Burritos

Friday
Leftovers (sorry Husb) unless I can come up with something else.

Saturday/Sunday
We will be driving down to Mexico!!

That’s right.
Going on another road trip.
To do a late celebration of our 5 year anniversary at Lake Tahoe and then to visit Natalie for Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving in Mexico…what is the world  coming to
It should be great though…I get to help her cook a Thanksgiving meal for some of her art students.
I haven’t told her the part about never preparing a Thanksgiving meal before

I’ll be back before we leave for our trip…
but we could use your prayers.
This week is packed full and topped off with Husb transitioning to a new team and a possible home purchase.
Yes, you read that right!
A possible home purchase…and a definite Leah freaking out.
Sunday’s sermon was on fear…ya think God might have been talking to me

Did anyone else watch the CMA’s last night?
Did anyone else feel a little awkward watching Gwyneth Paltrow sing?
What about Lady Antebellum?
Is it bad that I am less of a fan after finding out the one dude is the brother or Josh Kelly…who is married to Katherine Heigl.
I don’t even have a problem with her?
I loved her in Roswell and she adopts babies.
I loved Brad Paisley…I find him to be quite funny and his wife is adorable.
The only Hollywood wife there that doesn’t weird me out.

Although, I’ve been out of the country music loop for a while.
This was made plain to see when I hardly knew any of the nominees and kept waiting for Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Trisha Yearwood to come out.
And Dolly…you guys know I LOVE Dolly.
George Strait and Reba were my saving grace.
Love them.
Vince Gill was there.
Mema and Mom love them some Vince Gill action.
But again with the Gwyneth Paltrow.
Is it just because of her new movie or is she going to be a regular?

You didn’t know I had so many opinions on country music issues huh?
It was a very opinionated night for me.
But I must say…I really enjoyed it.
I didn’t have to cringe every time someone got on stage to accept an award because they might say something crazy and embarrass themselves.
Everyone was dressed in an appropriate manner.
It was somewhat relaxing.

And the performance I enjoyed the most was by The Band Perry…who sadly wasn’t given much time to perform.
I was introduced to them just the other day by Shannon…I had no idea who they were.
But I was pleasantly surprised to see them last night.
Here is the song they sang.
It’s a slightly odd video and I couldn’t help think they all looked like characters right out of a Twilight movie.
However, it’s a beautiful sounding song and they have a charm about them.
Enjoy!

I finally made my own laundry detergent.
I’ve been wanting to do it for almost a year now…after reading about it here and here.
It was super easy, cost me $12 for a whole jar full (only half  batch pictured below), and it didn’t do anything disastrous to the jeans I washed last night
I am most interested in seeing how long it lasts.
How awesome would it be if that $12 stretched out over a year?
Although, that might just be a pipe dream

Today I’m linking up to The Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday!

Last week I spent $56 on groceries for the week.
I could have thrown a party to celebrate I was so happy!
That is a whole $100 less than what I spent the week before!
And I promise I didn’t cook prepackaged, cheap, bad for you food.
And I didn’t use a single coupon.
I did however, go to three different stores…but mainly because of the quality of food I wanted to buy and not necessarily because of sales.
My main three stores are Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Fred Meyer.
So, this morning my meal plan is complete and I’m armed with my grocery list.
And in about 2 hours the fun begins…I’ll do my grocery shopping and see how well I can do this week!

Monday
Stuffed Cabbage (Nourishing Traditions Cookbook)

Tuesday
Mac & Cheese, Pork Chops, Steamed Broccoli

Wednesday
Crockpot Spaghetti w/ Ezekiel noodles, Caesar Salad w/ Croutons

Thursday
Tacos

Friday
Roast Lemon Chicken (recipe from Cooks Country Magazine)
Twice Backed Potatoes
Broccoli

Saturday
Garlicky White Bean Soup w/ Dark Greens, Rosemary Rolls

Sunday
Dinner out or leftovers

And if your looking for menu planning tips check out The Organizing Junkie and The Organic Dollar.

What are you eating this week?

I got another recipe to share with you guys!
Last week, as I was scouring Esther’s Everyday Food magazine, and trying to put together a meal plan I ran across this recipe.
I ripped it outta the magazine and ran for it.
Well, I didn’t run…I did rip the recipe out tho, with Esther’s permission of course.
Martha was kind enough to supply us with the recipe online.
So here it is!
It was good…and husband approved…especially if you serve it with steak