Liebster award time (blogging news).

I must apologize for being so quiet on the blog this past week. For some reason I have felt rather uninspired to write. I have a few posts in drafts, but I haven't been able to muster the motivation to finish them. We've been rather busy in real life, with a trip to LA, and then having family stay with us for a few days. Additionally, I've been having exhausting dreams about going on epic adventures, and I wake up feeling like I've been running around all night (although, in a way, I enjoy them, as they are like watching exciting adventure movies). The next few weeks will also be quite busy, but I will try to stay more up-to-date on blogging (although I'm not making any promises).

Last week I was nominated for a Liebster award by the lovely Shandy from Aprons 'n Pearls! Liebster is German for sweetheart, darling, and beloved (and boyfriend, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that that's not what the award means). This is a fun way to get to know new bloggers, and to share a little bit about yourself. Here are the rules (I copied these verbatim from Shandy):

Going back in time (writer's workshop).

I have been a spectator of the writer's workshop over at Mama's Losin' It for a while now, and I'm finally taking the plunge and becoming a participant. I actually linked up last week too, but that was just because my post happened to fit one of the prompts, not because I had planned it. This week I chose prompt #5)  Find a photo of yourself taken 10 years ago and display it on your blog along with a current photo. How have you changed since the day that photo was taken?

10 years ago I was a junior in high school, fall 2002; Showing off my new baby journal Christmas morning, 2012

One word (resolution).

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful end to 2012. Looking back, it was a great year for us. We celebrated our 1 year anniversary, enjoyed several lovely vacations to visit family, found out that our family will be growing by one, and we have myriad pleasant memories to remember the past year by. I can't wait to see what 2013 will bring.

In prior years, my New Year's resolutions rarely made it past January. Last year was (as far as I can recall) the first time I ever stuck to a resolution. My goal for 2012 was to start blogging. In just 3 days I will be celebrating my one year blogiversary! Now, I definitely slowed down over the last few months; life caught up with me, and with all the other priorities blogging started to feel like a chore. That is not the attitude I want to bring here, so instead of forcing it, I gave myself a little break. However, it feels good to be back, and I'm going to try to post more regularly again (although it may only be once a week).

This year I wanted to try a different kind of resolution, a one word resolution. I saw a lot of these last year, and I really liked the idea. So maybe I'm a few years behind on this trend... c'est la vie. I think (hope) it's the best way to go considering other plans we have for the year ahead. 

My broad goal for this year is to simplify, and to appreciate the simple pleasures of our everyday lives. With a little one on the way, I think it's important to focus on what's important, and to eliminate or minimize the unnecessary distractions that waste time, energy, and money. I think another aspect of simplifying is organizing, and I want to get as organized as posible before the baby arrives (because realistically, if it's not organized before then I doubt it will happen afterwards). I am going to apply this principle to all aspects of life, but since I am a list person I also feel like I need a few specific and concrete bullet points to focus on.

* Organize our apartment
Reorganize the belongings we use and need, and get rid of the unnecessary detritus that has accumulated over the years in preparation for all of the baby stuff that will soon be flooding our small space.

* Spend less time watching TV
There are a few shows that we really enjoy watching, but too often I find that I'm watching something just because it's the most tolerable choice from the selection of bad shows that are currently on. If I don't care enough about a show to give it my full attention I will turn it off.

* Cut down on multitasking
I know that I am actually less productive when multitasking, and now it's time to actually apply that knowledge. Avoid the temptation to check email, facebook, shop stats, text messages, etc in the middle of doing something (I almost just broke this one, but caught myself in the nick of time). Close the computer when I'm spending time with the hubby (I like to think I can follow the plot of a show or movie while browsing the internet, but time and time again I have been proven wrong. If I can't even do that, how can I expect to have a genuine conversation?).

* Streamline my Etsy business
Figure out and focus on what's really productive for my Etsy shop, and cut down on the activities that  are not moving the business forward.

* Go back to blogging for myself, not for pageviews
Last year, the more I worried about pageviews, the less I enjoyed blogging. Honestly, the posts that get the most hits are never the ones I expect them to be. I might only post once a week, but I'd rather enjoy writing one genuine post than force myself to write 3 just to meet a self-imposed quota.

* Avoid overloading my schedule
I have a hard time saying "no" to people (even myself). I need to be realistic about how many tasks and activities I can actually fit into a day or week. When I stretch myself too thin, my performance everywhere suffers. I'd rather say "no" to a few requests then perform at a subpar level.

* Bonus: Finish reorganizing my Pinterest boards
Over the holidays I resorted all of my food and photography Pinterest boards (no small task - check it out!). There have been so many times when I have pinned something fabulous, and then been unable to find the pin again when I'm finally ready to put it into action. Hopefully by organizing my boards I'll be able to actually find all of those great recipes, tips, pieces of advice, and tutorials when I need them.

What are your resolutions for 2013? What resolutions have you made in the past that have been successful? What ones have failed? I'd love to hear from you.

I link up to these parties.

Transfer attempt (a craft fail).

The fabulous ladies from Four Marrs and One Venus and Nellie Bellie are hosting a Stinky Linky Party for those crafting, cooking, and DIY projects that don't quite go as planned. I'm sure we all have a few big fails (at least I know I do), and normally they would never see the light of the internet. This linky party gives us bloggers a chance to let it all hang out, and to see that everyone goofs sometimes (which can be easy to forget when we only show off our best work). Make sure to check out the other stinkers, and don't be afraid to show off yours too!

I have a blog button (updates)!

Creating a blog button is something that has been on my to-do list for quite some time now. Last week I finally did it. You can now grab a button from the sidebar by copying the text underneath the picture!

The catalyst for getting it done was that I won ad space on two of my favorite blogs, plus one new (to me) blog, last week! Do you remember the birthday giveaway I helped sponsor last week for Dawn at Addicted to Recipes? Well, it must have been my lucky week because I won a prize four out of the five days (there were about five prizes offered a day - it was a birthday extravaganza!).

Head over to White Lights on Wednesdays and Crazy for Crust to see the button in action (and to be inspired by the awesome ladies who run these blogs). I also won an ad spot at Live.Laugh.Rowe., but it  isn't up quite yet (but don't let that stop you from clicking over, Kelly's blog is great). Finally, I won a $20 wally-world gift card from Quick Asian Recipes (a blog full of mouthwatering Indian food). Woo-hoo!

If you missed out on Dawn's birthday giveaways, don't worry. September 16th is Julie's one year blogiversary for White Lights on Wednesday, and she's hosting a pretty fantastic giveaway party to celebrate. There will be eight sponsors providing phenomenal prizes, so be sure not to miss it! I'll be giving away one of my decoupaged Christmas ornaments (winner's choice of book page, sheet music, or map decoupage).

Christmas ornaments from MdoubleM on Etsy

Where has the summer gone (update)?

Egads! I can't believe summer vacation is almost over! Matt starts classes again tomorrow, and the boys that I tutor go back to school next week. I've been so busy, I just don't know where the time has gone (confession: I still haven't fully unpacked my suitcase from when we went to Colorado back in June). I'm hoping that I will have more free time for blogging and Etsy in the fall, but I'm not sure where it will come from ;)

Now, don't get me wrong, it has been an absolutely fabulous summer, and I've been loving every minute of it (which is probably why it has gone by so fast). We got to spend a lot of wonderful time with family, did a little traveling, and spent lots of time outside in the sun. This month, I've been to the beach almost every day with the kids I nanny, and when we're not there we have the slip and slide out in the yard (I know, I know, it's a rough life, lol).

Matt's mom drove down from LA this weekend, and we got all dressed up and went out to dinner last night at Donovan's Steakhouse (it was seriously the best steak I've ever had!).

With all this fun, I have been seriously neglecting my computer, but there are a few things to note. I'm very excited to be sponsoring a giveaway over on Addicted to Recipes hosted by Dawn in honor of her birthday (did you notice the button in the sidebar?). She'll be hosting multiple giveaways each day all week! Be sure to check it out, I know I'll be entering all the other giveaways!

I bought my domain name (MdoubleMcrafts.com) a few weeks ago. In all honesty, it has been sort of an up and down experience. I was ecstatic at first, and I thought I had set up the blog forwarding, but then I realized the links weren't working (a huge "Thank you!" to Jen from Four Marrs and One Venus testing it out for me). I played around trying to fix it, and just made the problems worse and worse, so I gave up and tried to put it back to normal for the time being. Instead I completely "broke" my blog, and didn't realize it for four days, d'oh! I did finally get it back to normal (as you can see), and for now I'm leaving it like this. It's inexpensive to register a domain name, and at least I know that I have my address and nobody else can use it for the time being (but if I had to do it again, I think I would use GoDaddy, based on what I've heard from other bloggers). Some day when I'm feeling patient, I'll sit down with my laptop and work it all out. For now, I'm happy with how it is. 

What have you been up to this summer? Are you ready for autumn, or do you wish that summer could last for ever?

I bought my blog domain!

I'm so excited to announce that I just bought my domain name! You can now type in MdoubleMcrafts.com to get to my blog :) Don't worry though, you can still find me at mdoublemcrafts.blogspot.com too.

this is me right now

A day at the beach (update).

It's been busy around here lately! The family I nanny for just had another baby, so I have been working A LOT. Additionally, my brother-in-law and his fiance visited southern California for a few weeks; they came down to San Diego a few times and stayed with us, and we drove up to LA one weekend to see them. What this all adds up to is that I haven't had much time to get stuff done (or to sleep, but that's what coffee is for).

Last Saturday was the first day in a long time that I didn't have to do anything or go anywhere. I took one quick look at my to-do list, and said "screw it, let's go to the beach!" It was the right choice.

At the top of the trail with two cliffs between us and the beach

We were planning on going to Torey Pines so that we could hike and go to the beach, but the parking lot was full. We decided to make an adventure of it, and went in search of a new beach that we'd never been before. I looked at my GPS, said "let's try here," and we did. We had no idea what to expect, but it was fantastic. We still got to hike a little bit, and the beach was almost deserted. The trail wasn't too difficult, but enough to give the day a sense of adventure (it's not somewhere I'd try to take children, that's certain). 

Time for a refreshing swim after the trek

The waves were the perfect size for swimming, and the water wasn't too cold. The sand was soft and fine, and we had lots of space to ourselves. After a few hours of frolicking and relaxing we were ready to head back to civilization. We stopped at Cozymel's on the way home for a late lunch (and a few margaritas of course). I woke up Sunday feeling more refreshed than I have in a long time!

Climbing back up the steps that have been carved into the stone

I'm still going to be very busy for the foreseeable future, but at least my batteries are recharged. I have some awesome new recipes to share, such as Lemon Jalapeno Shrimp Skewers. I'll post as regularly as I can, but no promises ;) Thanks for understanding!

Back from Colorado (update).

Please forgive me for my unannounced absence. We spent last week visiting my wonderful Grandma in Colorado. She turned 90 earlier this year, so my family came together from across the country to celebrate a belated birthday (we had to wait until all of our schedules worked together). We had a fabulous time visiting, and I can't believe how fast the time went by.

Before leaving, I had grand plans of prewriting and scheduling blog posts for while I was away. Clearly, that never happened. The week before we left was unexpectedly busy - the family I nanny for had a new baby girl (almost 2 weeks early), and our old car broke down, so we suddenly had to get a new one. It was an exciting week! I didn't even start packing until 11 o'clock the night before our (early morning) flight.

The good news, is that now I have lots of posts waiting to be written. My goal is to get back to at least three posts a week. I feel refreshed and energized after our trip; my creative juices are flowing again. After I write up a few more posts tonight, I plan on trying out a new risotto recipe (if it comes out delicious, I'll be sure to share the recipe with y'all).

Three generations. My aunt had these shirts made up for us (I blurred out my grandma's name).

Cheesy artichoke bread (guest post from Prickly Banana)

Good morning everyone! Today we are trading blogs, and I am happily handing my blog over to the talented Cheryl from Prickly Banana. I am always amazed by the beautiful furniture restorations that Cheryl shares; she has a great eye for the potential that a piece of beat down furniture still holds. Check out this amazing chair refurbish that she did.


In return, I am posting over at Prickly Banana today. Be sure to go check it out (I made oat & jam bars), and take a look around. A big "Thank you!" to Melissa from Serendipity and Spice for organizing this wonderful blog swap.


Now, without further ado, here's Cheryl:

Hey there everyone!!  I am so excited to be guest posting for Monica here at M Double M!  I am a new follower of M Double M and already I can tell this will be a valuble resource when I need to get my creative juices moving!  Monica has some really awesome recipes that I will be trying VERY soon.

It is garden time for many of us and if you are anything like me, you will be up to your earlobes in Zucchini.  Monica's recipe for Cheesy Sausage and Zucchini Casserole will take care of your zucchini overload.

This recipe I actually made tonight and it was Ah-May-ZING!!!  Crock Pot Chicken and Black Bean Burritos defy the meaning of delicious (the kids loved them).  And super easy to boot!

I thought with all of Monica's awesome recipes, I would throw down a little challenge if you will.  I present to you the Cheesy Artichoke Bread!

I had a jar of artichokes in my pantry for no lie....about a year.   It was really time I used them, for something.
I was making pasta for dinner and was going to toast some italian bread when genious struck.
Cheesy Artichoke Bread.  It's cheesy, it's artichoky, and, well ...bread.

Get your chef on: lemon soufflé (recipe).

It's finally here! Today is the day that we all get to share our "Get Your Chef On: Lemons" recipes. I love cooking with lemons, and I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with! If you haven't heard about the Get Your Chef On challenge, you can learn more here (and see all of the other participants too). 

As soon as I saw that the featured ingredient was lemons, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I went through a stage last year when I was making soufflés about once a week. I read dozens of recipes and tips, and I took lots of notes every time I made a batch. Then I must have gotten souffléd out because I didn't make a single one for about a year. Luckily, my appetite for soufflés is back, so I pulled out all of my notes and went to work.

Now, the first thing I have to say about soufflés is that you shouldn't be scared of them. They aren't as difficult to make as many people think. I think there are two keys to creating a good soufflé. First, be gentle with the egg whites; fold them gently and don't bang the pans around. Second, precision is important; baking is a science, so order and measurements are very important. These only take about ten minutes to put together, so give them your undivided attention for those ten minutes, and you will be happy with the results. 

I picked these lemons from my father-in-laws tree. Aren't they beautiful!

I love this recipe. The result is a soft, fluffy, light top that becomes richer, thicker, and more custardy at the bottom. It's warm, satisfying, and refreshing all at once. In fact, if I wasn't out of eggs, I'd be making another batch right this instant.

A zen garden and various updates.

One of our favorite wedding gifts was this big beautiful rectangular metal centerpiece (it's 3 feet long). It's meant to be a reflecting pool (and it's beautiful that way). However, since it's still water, it get's grimy and nasty fairly quickly. Once a month, I had to dump the water out, wash all of the rocks, and then refill it; that got old fast.

Our solution was to turn it into a zen garden instead. I filled it up with sand, added a few of our river rocks, then played around to make the patterns (I used a serving fork since we are still looking for the perfect little rake). Now I don't have to worry about cleaning it, and I have a fun little zen garden to play in when I'm bored, or just need a relaxing little break.

Our new zen garden (top); reflecting pool with floating candles (bottom)

I also want to share a few exciting bits of bloggy news. I have finally created About me, Blog roll & link parties, and Awards and features pages. Go check them out to learn more!

I am also signed up for two wonderful blog projects: Get Your Chef On, and Trading Blogs. Click on the buttons below to learn more about these exciting activities!

I've been tagged!

Way back on March 9th, Julie from White Lights on Wednesday tagged me in her round of the Blog Tag game, and now I'm finally getting around to responding.

Since this is similar to the Versatile Blogger Award that I did last month, I decided to only tag a few people who I didn't get to include last time. If you want to play along, I'd be delighted! Just leave a comment, and I will be happy to add a link to your blog.

The Rules
I'm bending them, but here's the "official" rules for the game:
1) You must post the rules.
2) Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you and then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged.
3) Tag 11 people and link them in your post.
4) Let them know you have tagged them.

Julie's Questions
1) What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
I love almost all of them (except chocolate, which is the hubby's favorite), but my absolute favorite is the Haagen-Dazs java chip. I can easily eat a whole pint of that in one sitting!

2) Where do you live?
We're happy to call San Diego, CA home for the time being.

3) What's your favorite song?
Spanish Harlem Incident by Bob Dylan. When we were first dating, Matt told me that this song reminded him of me. Now it makes me smile every time I hear it.

4) If you could be instantly be awesome at anything, what would it be?
Music, or if that's too broad, singing. I am certifiably tone deaf, and it's not pretty folks.

5) What's your WordFeud/Words with Friends ID?
Ever1derwhynot, and I'm addicted to Words with Friends, so I'd love to play against y'all!

6) What's your favorite blog to read and why?
This is a toughie, but recently I've been getting a huge kick out of Aiming Low: Perfectly Mediocre. I always end up laughing reading the posts, and since it's a collaboration, I've been introduced to a few fun new blogs this way too.

7) If you were stuck on a desert island, what 3 things could you not live without?
My hubby for company, my kindle for entertainment (this island has wifi and electricity, right?), and Johnnie Walker for sipping.

8) What book do you find yourself reading over and over again?
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut. I've read the all so many times that now I can just flip a book open and start reading anywhere.

9) What's your favorite junk food?
New York style pizza; I could eat it every day and be happy (if you're in San Diego, check out Bronx pizza in Hillcrest for the best NY pizza around!).

10) Show me a picture of your favorite purse!

Technically this is a camera bag, but I have been drooling over it for a long time now (sadly it's been out of stock for a long time). It's the Millie bag in pewter from Jo Totes.

11) What's your favorite movie?
This is a tough question because my favorite movie changes frequently... I'd say my current favorite is Across the Universe.

My questions
1) What's the last book you read?
2) What's the best concert you've been to? Or the one concert that you most wish you could go to?
3) What's your favorite place in the world?
4) If you had to eat only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
5) Who is your favorite author?
6) If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
7) What's one gadget you use that you could not live without?
8) What's your favorite color?
9) What's your favorite way to waste time online?
10) Would you rather craft or cook?
11) Where did you grow up?

Bloggers I'm tagging
Lyuba from Will Cook for Smiles
Carmella from Creative Carmella
Dana from The Sunshine Bride
Delilah from Confessions of a Semi-Domesticated Mama

Playing catch-up.

I have two exciting things to share with you today! I meant to post this a few days ago, but like I mentioned last week, this is an incredibly busy month for me, and I'm still adjusting to my new schedule.

First off, I got the chance to name this amazingly delicious looking dish:

Crab, shrimp, tomatoes, coconut milk, oh my!

Lyuba from Will Cook For Smiles created this dish, but wasn't sure what to name it so she asked the blogging world for help. In honor of her blog name, I suggested she call it "Smiling Thai Crab." I was so excited when she contacted me a few days later to inform me that she had chosen my entry! She even featured MdoubleM in her blog!

I can't wait to make this, it sounds amazing. You can find the recipe here, and the announcement/feature here. Don't forget to check out the rest of her blog too (just try not to drool on yourself!).


The second bit of news is that I won a mystery giveaway from Creative Carmella last week (I'm feeling the luck of the Irish this month ♣). Carmella sent me a package full of lots and lots of little goodies handmade by her; these pictures show just a few of the things she sent me (aren't those bobby pins adorable?!). What a sweet crafty girl!

I love the pastels!

Versatile blogger award!

Last week Dana from The Sunshine Bride awarded me with The Versatile Blogger Award!

I'm so honored, and now it's my turn to share the bloggy love! Dana's an awesome girl, and she's going to be a beautiful bride. If you are planning a wedding, or know someone who is, be sure to check out her blog for great DIYs, fashion trends, planning tips, and other wedding advice.

The rules for this award are:
1. Thank the person that nominated you with a link back to them (see above).
2. Tell 7 things about yourself (see below).
3. Pass this award on to 15 newly discovered blogs and let them know that they’ve received an award.