. . . blame it on dorothy . . .

. . . all that singing about rainbows . . .

. . . first it was the cardigans . . .

. . . and the empty hangers . . .

. . . no big surprise . . .

. . . when it happened to today's fruit salad . . .

. . . yummy, yummy . . .

{if you've never watched the wiggles, you won't get that at all}

{and you're lucky!}

. . . peddlin' . . .

. . . they always feel a little

"sanford and son"-ish

to me . . .

. . . it's probably because i'm just too darn lazy . . .

{remember? i drive straight to goodwill/do not pass go/do not collect $200}

. . . my hard-working/ambitious offspring,

on the other hand . . .

. . . had themselves a garage sale this morning . . .

. . . i just provided the location . . .

{stealth photo taken between shutters before i was presentable}

. . . check out addi and halleigh . . .

. . . their cookie station

was first stop for many customers . . .

. . . turns out

sunshine makes cookies taste

"right out of the oven" fresh . . .

. . . these two yahoos spent most of the morning

in the shelter of this cabinet . . .

. . . which is where we used to store dog food

in the garage . . .

{oh, maggie ~ may she rest in peace}

. . . tate spent plenty of time "shopping"

and rediscovered a love

for this awesome viking set

that hadn't been played with in forever . . .

. . . elliott absolutely freaked out

when a nice lady asked

"how much?" for elmo . . .

. . . then he proceeded to "hide" it

so no one else would buy it . . .

. . . it was still around at the end of the sale . . .

. . . and can now be found

at the goodwill

on southern and val vista . . .

. . . chris did his best to unload

this awesome double jogging stroller . . .

. . . lots of inquiries, but no sale . . .

. . . if you're interested

and missed out this morning . . .

. . . check craigslist . . .

. . . it'll be posted soon . . .

. . . biggest laugh of the day came

when someone purchased {for one dollar}

a "vintage" {read: fifteen-year-old} black v-neck sports bra

from amanda

that she had actually still been wearing

up until a couple of weeks ago

{maybe you had to be there} . . .

. . . all in all

~ several hundred dollars later ~

it was quite a productive morning . . .

. . . good job, girlies! . . .

. . . sprainting . . .

. . . bought it on the list . . .

. . . from this cute girl . . .

{wish I'D been the one who found it at goodwill!}

. . . and, of course,

since i can rarely

leave well enough alone . . .

. . . i decided to repaint it . . .

. . . in my super professional paint booth . . .

. . . right next to the pool equipment . . .

. . . because i'm classy like that! . . .

. . . after painting the arch on the left . . .

. . . rustoleum white semi-gloss . . .

. . . and after re-repainting the whole thing

rustoleum heirloom white satin . . .

. . . just doing what i can to divert attention

from the fact that i never get to make my bed . . .

{insert frowny face here}

. . . happy birthday big baby . . .

. . . not this big baby . . .

. . . THIS big baby . . .

. . . happy twenty-two years to drewski . . .

. . . who will always be the baby of our family . . .

. . . apparently geoff thinks drew's a big baby, too . . .

. . . see? . . .

. . . also born on this fine day . . .

. . . james taylor . . .

. . . and mitt romney . . .

. . . i'd say james and mitt are pretty lucky . . .

. . . sharing today with drew . . .

. . . the pied piper . . .

. . . due to unfortunate circumstances . . .

. . . we got to have a quick visit

with drewski and jessalyn this weekend . . .

. . . quick = them being in town

for approximately thirty-two and one half hours . . .

{and about twenty hours of driving ~ ick!}

. . . we loved having them here . . .

. . . but i'll tell you who loved it even more . . .

. . . there was not so much as

a "hi, grammy!" or a hug . . .

. . . only "where's uncle drew and aunt jess?" . . .

. . . good thing they'll be back

for about the same amount of time

next weekend . . .

. . . something's fishy . . .

. . . if you google "tia rosa's salmon tacos" . . .

. . . this is the image that pops up . . .

. . . which technically appears to be

a salmon taco on the left . . .

. . . and a shrimp taco on the right . . .

. . . sadly ~ no actual photos

of our very own salmon tacos exist . . .

. . . i'm here to report

that you can make

salmon tacos like these at home . . .

{only better!}

. . . don't you just love cooking blogs? . . .

. . . here's what i did . . .

. . . first ~ i invited my siblings and my mom

to celebrate mom's birthday

with dinner at my house . . .

. . . then i went to costco

and bought the biggest piece of salmon

i could find . . .

. . . when my brothers and sister

and mom and i got home

from the temple saturday night ~

i put them all to work . . .

. . . molly and heather seasoned the salmon . . .

{extra virgin olive oil, fresh rosemary, seafood spice rub,

kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and lemon slices}

. . . they wrapped it securely

in a double layer of foil . . .

. . . then eric and jeff expertly grilled it ~

about 4-5 minutes per side . . .

. . . we enjoyed our fill along with

wonderful, buttery filet mignon,

pioneer woman's perfect potatoes au gratin

{thank you, lora!}

ina garten's roasted brussels sprouts

{thank you, eric!}

green salad with blush wine vinaigrette,

beautiful fresh fruit,

{thank you, heather!}

garlic bread,

and raspberry cream cake . . .

. . . is your mouth watering yet? . . .

. . . but ~here's the most important part:

i made sure there was

plenty of salmon left over

. . . then yesterday, i googled

"tia rosa's salmon tacos recipe" . . .

. . . many options appeared . . .

. . . here're the three toppings i made

and enjoyed immensely . . .

cabbage slaw

• 2 c finely shredded cabbage
• 1/3 c minced red onion
• 1/4 c seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 t kosher salt
• 1/4 t fresh ground black pepper

toss cabbage and onion together.

whisk together oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

toss with cabbage to coat.

citrus salsa

• 3 medium navel oranges
• 2 medium limes
• 1/4 c cilantro leaves
• 2 serrano chilis
• 2 t seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 t extra virgin olive oil
• pinch kosher salt
• few twists of fresh ground black pepper

remove peel and pith from oranges and limes.

cut sections from between membranes.

chop coarsely.

mince cilantro leaves and serrano chili.

{if you're wimpy, fine. remove the seeds and veins first, but i would never do such a thing!}

lightly toss all ingredients together.

cilantro creme

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 6 sprigs cilantro
• 2 green onions
• 1 serrano chili
• pinch kosher salt
• few twists of fresh ground black pepper

finely mince cilantro, green onions and chili.

stir all ingredients together.

assembly:

• reheat salmon {in a skillet ~ no big deal}
• warm corn tortillas {in another skillet. fresh ones from pro's ranch market are awesome}
• use two tortillas per taco
• smear a spoonful of cilantro creme down the center of tortillas
• using a fork, flake off a generous portion of salmon
• place it on the cilantro creme
• top with cabbage slaw and citrus salsa
• and snarf

. . . i highly recommend . . .

. . . don't get overwhelmed . . .

. . . after making sure i had

all the required ingredients,

it only took me about thirty minutes

to make these . . .

. . . seriously, the toppings changed this entree

from fish in a tortilla

to absolutely delish in a tortilla . . .