Oh My Goodness! What A Great Day!

I woke up today to a typical Monterey Bay foggy day.  It was just gray.  I had been thinking about taking Liesl to the beach again this morning, but she was looking at me like she was not down with that plan. I was not feeling it either. We were both feeling like a cozy morning at home.  She went to go lay on her blanket on the sofa and I headed to the kitchen.

I had planned on making yogurt this morning.  You have to start pretty early in the day because it takes about 10 hours.  I have not had any success in finding yogurt that isn't sweetened with fructose, so I decided to make my own.  It takes about a quart of milk.  I do use a yogurt maker, but I understand that you can just make it just as well in a bowl.  While I was waiting for the milk to do its thing, I decided to clean out the fridge (I LOVE my fridge, with the freezer on the bottom.) I had an overabundance of veggies, so I decided to make tomato vegetable soup.   I threw a few leftovers in there to and ended up making the best soup I have ever made.  My daughter had given me some Penzey's spices for Christmas.  They are quite possibly the best spices ever made.  Much tastier than grocery store spices.  I am hooked.  They made my soup wonderful.

While I was getting the veggies out I found a spaghetti squash that I had totally forgotten.  I threw that into the oven so that I could have it ready during the week.  When I pulled it out of the oven to shred it into Tupperware, Liesl got herself off of her napping spot and made it clear that she wanted some.  That little dog would not stop eating spaghetti squash.  She loves sweet potatoes, too.  As a side note, dogs are omnivores and can eat certain fruits and veggies.  They should never be given grapes, onions or garlic as they can cause serious illness and even death.  However, most fruits and veggies are good for them and healthy snacks.  Liesl loves her sweet potatoes and they are pretty good for her.  I think the spaghetti squashy probably smelled the same to her, which is why she became so excited about it.  She also loves white potatoes and would eat a whole bowl of brown rice if I let her.  Spoiled, yes, she is.

After my cooking-palooza, I went to have lunch with my best friend.  She has such a great sense of humor and is a lot of fun to be around.  It was nice to have some friendship time today.  I left her and ran to Target to get my memory card for my camera.  Only I ended up finding several other things I needed too, like shoe organizers for my closet on sale, a shelf unit for my laundry area, and a gorgeous hard wood bookshelf that is PERFECT for my living room and is exactly what I wanted.  I got to play construction all afternoon!  Of course, I still have not put my sewing cabinet together, but I sure had fun today.  

Now I get to stitch and catch up on my episodes of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  I am looking at my bookshelf that is just amazing.  I am super happy about it.  Now I am thinking that I may have to paint a red accent wall in my living room...

Today was the perfect end of a great weekend.  It was just so simple and so lovely today.  Perfect!