I thought we had several more years before we had to deal with this sort of rebellion. It started off with Kayla flashing people at Chili’s.
If that wasn’t bad enough, she went out and got a tattoo.
I guess we’ll keep her anyway. 
Wes and I took Kayla to get her first hair cut today. She didn’t have a not of hair, but what she did have was hanging in her eyes. I agonized over where to take her. Do I take her to my hair guru or to a less expensive salon or should I try to do it myself? Luckily we got a new little place opened up right by the house called Snip-its. It’s just for kids, and they were go good with her. These people were prepared. Kayla immediately started squirming when she got in the seat. But they were ready, each station had a t.v. with cartoons. Plus cookies, candy and bubbles. Wes blew bubbles for Kayla and she sat still for her cut. Here is a before and after shot.
Before:
After:
Lets face it, we all love good food. So I thought I’d share some tasty tidbits I’ve discovered recently. For starters, Annette and I had a girls night last night, shopping and dinner. We went to one of the new restaurants outside the Mall of LA, called “Bravo!” I might have a new favorite Italian restaurant. The atmosphere was nice, the service was great, the price was fair and the food was delicious. I ordered a cup of Lobster bisque that was sinfully rich. One of those so rich, you know you’re going to have a belly ache later, but it’s totally worth it. And for my entree, I got the Wood Grilled Salmon Salad. Grilled Salmon, field greens, tomato, grilled asparagus, shoestring potatoes and feta cheese with a balsamic vinaigrette. It was so good, I can’t see myself ever ordering anything else. I do plan on going back, soon. I am happy to see new restaurants opening around the mall, we needed some few stuff. And I have had my last bad experience from Logan’s, I’m done. Their free bread isn’t good enough to suffice the horrible service I have received on my last 3 visits there.
Moving on to candy… if you like those free chocolate covered mints from D’Angelos, I found them at Fresh Market. They taste almost the same, and they are pretty colors. Now you can buy them instead of begging your waitress to bring you extra.
Still on the candy subject, Kayla and I found a new item at Target today, mini chocolate covered marshmallows. Now, you really can’t go wrong with these, because they combine two of my favorite things, chocolate and marshmallows. Combine that with they fact they are tiny and cute and you have the perfect snack. I found them on the baking aisle, next to the regular marshmallows.
Alright, moving on. I couldn’t resist sharing this with you. Kayla and were on our way home from the fruit stand this week. I put my bag of fruit and veggies on the back seat because I hate collecting all my loose fruit from the trunk when we get home. So Kayla being nosy, decided to check out our stash on the ride. I check my rear view mirror only to see her chowing down on a raw squash. I couldn’t help but laugh and there wasn’t really anything I could do about it while driving on the interstate. She hasn’t gone for any more squash since, but she is eating the grape tomatoes like their going out of style. Here is a picture of the bruised fruit.
So, do you have a new favorite restaurant, recipe or snack? I’d love to hear about it.
Well, if you haven’t heard me talk about it enough, last night I made my first pass at the drag strip. I was a little nervous, but tried to hide it for Wes’ sake. I know he was already worried about his car. I have to say, it was awesome. I went pretty easy on it cause I didn’t know how hard it was going to be to keep it straight. I was really worried about over correcting into the wall. Plus, Wes was already having some technical difficulties with it, so I didn’t want to break it. I did 2 really nice burn outs to make sure the tires were good and sticky I got it up to 100 mph and did the 1/4 mile in 13.45sec. I was happy with it for my first pass. I really wanted to go again, but it started smoking and we decided to call it a night. Rest assured, I’ll be out there again. I’m hooked now. This is me, check out the video…
I’ve been waiting for it to come in and today I went out to get the mail and it was waiting for me on the door step. I immediately brought it inside and Kayla and I made some ice cream. All of the recipes that came with it called for Half & Half or cream. I had neither, so I made my favorite ice cream…Grape! Couldn’t be simpler 1 can of condensed milk and 36 ounces of your favorite soda. Root Beer is really good and Strawberry, but my favorite is Grape. Anyway, you put the ingredients in one side and ice and salt in the other and roll it around for 30 minutes. I did stop halfway to scrape the sides. I should have done it again 10 minutes later because when I opened it after 30 minutes, it was frozen solid except for a small part in the center. It was really hard to scrape the sides at that point. But nothing a long metal spoon wouldn’t fix. Kayla and I shared a bowl and we froze the rest. By the way, The Ice Cream Ball came from L.L.Bean. You can get Pint or Quart size. I got the quart size and it was really heavy with the ingredients inside, about 10 lbs. So if you want your kids to roll it around for 30 minutes, you might want to go with the smaller one. It also comes in 5 pretty colors. I chose Blueberry. So if anyone has any good ice cream recipes, send them my way. I am ready to roll some more ice cream!
Ok so I am sitting here, trying out a new product. I know I am probably the last one on the band wagon, but I will share my results with you anyway. I picked up a box of these Crest White Strips today.
It’s a 14 day kit, but I am supposed to see results in 5, so we’ll see. I have them on now and they aren’t as gross as I thought they would be, but they do sting a little. I am supposed to leave them on for 30 minutes. I am scared to swallow, I don’t want to get throat cancer or anything. So has anyone used these? Did they work? More updates to come.
Fail…that seems to be the new catch phrase, or at least around the Ratcliff household. Maybe its a nerd thing, I don’t know, but it’s pretty dang funny. Wes found this awesome blog, Failblog.org totally dedicated to the misfortunes of others. I will leave you with a few on my personal favorites. The rest you’ll have to check out for yourself.
