Allison Cafe

Daphne's first sailing trip

This weekend we took Daphne sailing for the first time. She as a little apprehensive at first, actually she did a full-on mule maneuver at the dock. I didn’t think she was going to make it. But with a little coaxing (food never hurts!) she made it aboard and she seemed to have a great time. By the end she was snoozing with the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. She didn’t like it much when the boat started heeling, actually that always freaks Hayley out too. They had a great time though, as did we.

Sailing Puppies

What this photo can’t capture though is the conclusion of our sailing adventure. Usually after an afternoon of sailing we stop at the local fish market and enjoy some Oysters Rockefeller and a glass of wine. But since we had the dogs with us this time, we decided to buy some seafood from the market and make it ourselves at home. We had to make a quick stop at the grocery store too though, for butter and parsley of course! While in the grocery store, for I swear no more than 10 minutes, the dogs were waiting patiently in the car. Well, not so patiently so much as devouring an entire pound of raw shrimp that I accidentally left in the front of the car! Yes, that’s right this cute little face pictured above turned into a carnivrous beast and ripped the bag of raw seafood to shreds, not even so much as a shrimp’s tail was left as evidence. Hardly any of the bag was left either!

Now, it was my fault for leaving the seafood unattended in the car. But I honestly had no idea that they would get into the bag, let alone actually eat all of it! The unfair part is that I have no evidence to suggest that Hayley played a part in the sabotage of our dinner. Daphne is quite protective of her food and when we returned to the car Hayley was hiding in the back seat. So it appears Daphne may have acted solo. But we will never know.

I seriously wish that dogs could talk to us. I would love to hear Hayley’s side of the story. They are both resting peacefully tonight with full bellies after a day of sailing. Life with dogs is certainly entertaining! I’m trying not to think about what that pound of raw shrimp is doing in Daphne’s belly. I’m going to hope for the best and be thankful it wasn’t chocolate!

Our new sweet girl

Ok, so it has been too long since my last post but once again I have a great excuse. Not only have I been loving my new job and our new life in North County, we also welcomed into our lives a new family member, of the four legged kind. Miss Daphne joined us last week.

New friends

She is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. She is 6 and a half years old and is the sweetest little girl. But do not let that sweetness fool you, she actually has become top dog around our home; little Miss Hayley follows her all around. They have been getting along great, although Daphne has more interest in food than she does in playing with energetic young Hayley. Daphne’s family was moving and could not take her with them. And although I am sure she misses them she seems to have adjusted quickly and quite happily to her new home. We are so happy to have Daphne’s sweetness and calm demeanor in our home and Miss Hayley is loving having a friend around while Steve and I are at work all day.

Please join us in welcoming Daphne! Wondering how life is with 2 dogs now? Great, but I am sure I will have twice as many stories to share!

Beautiful May Flowers, Orange and Blue Contrasts Captured My Attention!

Hello everyone! I know I have taken a long break from posting any news. But I have good reason! So far 2010 has brought all kinds of good change. Kind of like how after the cold of winter and the rains of spring, flowers begin to thrive. Well, so has our life lately. In the last month we have moved into our first home (as first time homeowners!), which also meant we relocated to North County San Diego and after months of unemployment I am now employed!

We are still settling in to the new place. And since I am now working full-time, there really has not been enough time to write about the whole home buying experience. But now that things are starting to calm down a bit, I am thrilled to have a few minutes to write again and think creatively. More to come on our home journey.

This past weekend we celebrated Mother’s Day early with my mom. I took the above photo of one of the many adorable vases filled with fresh blooms that could be found all over my brother and sister-in-law’s house. These particular little roses in this blue vase captured my attention from across the room and I just couldn’t resist taking their photo.

Stay tuned for more house photos as we unpack! Happy Spring everyone!

A Drinking Song

May you all feel lucky today, I know I do! Today is one of my favorite holidays. It also happens to be the one year anniversary of starting my blog, Allison Cafe. So happy anniversary too! In honor of the day we will be feasting on corned beef and cabbage and homemade Irish Soda Bread this evening.Oh, and maybe a Guinness or two as well!

St. Patrick’s Day Fun Facts

• Saint Patrick was a priest. He was born to wealthy parents in Britain and his birth name was Maewyn Succat. He took Patrick as his Christian saint name when he became a priest. As a priest he spent his days teaching the Christian faith in Ireland. After his death, the country decided to honor him with day of his own – Saint Patrick’s Day.

• Saint Patrick’s Day was originally celebrated as a religious holiday. It started as a simple feast day to honor St. Patrick but developed into a holy day of obligation where people attended mass in the morning and celebrate for the rest of the day in the afternoon. And gave Catholics a one day reprieve from lenten fasting, leading to a tradition of indulging in beer!

• Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional Easter Sunday dinner in Ireland. But today it is a St. Patrick’s Day must for us in America!

• Irish Society of Boston organized what was not only the first Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the U.S. colonies but the first recorded Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the world on 17 March 1737.

• Originally the color associated with St. Patrick was blue not green. But green won out over the years – obviously!

• Shamrocks, three-leaved plants, were thought to have been encouraged to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish. Saint Patrick was known to have used them in his teachings. Wearing and displaying shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.

• Cheers in Irish Gaelic is “Sláinte”, which means ” to your health”. In the South and West of Ireland it is pronounced “slawnt-yeh” or “slant-yeh”, in the North it’s “slain-cheh”, with the “ay” much broader than in the English “slain”.

Hello friends, it has been awhile since my last post – but with good reason! We are kicking off another Relay For Life season. As some of you might remember, I got involved with the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life last year. I volunteered on the event planning committee for the FIRST Relay For Life in Clairemont CA. (read my recap of last year’s event here). Check out the brief video above from our media sponsor Firefly Films highlighting the 2009 event.

This year I have taken on the volunteer role of  Publicity and Community Awareness.  Please help me spread the word about this educational and important community event. Tell a friend about this event (use the share icons at the bottom of this post). Are you a Survivor? We want to celebrate you, please sign-up online to attend our event. Join or start a team today. Or sign-up to volunteer on our website, we have volunteer needs on every level. Interested in sponsoring our event? We need donations of materials and giveaways items, please contact me at relayforlife (at) allisonbaloglu (dot) com or contact us via the website.

Details:

Relay For Life Clairemont CA 2010

The Important Question Everyone Asks:

We don’t expect anyone to be at the event 24 hours! Even if you can make it for 1 hour to walk a few laps – we would LOVE it! Or if you don’t live in town and want to participate remotely, that’s awesome too!!

What is it?

Relay For Life is an American Cancer Society event, held to raise awareness, raise funds, celebrate survivors, and remember those we’ve lost to this disease. It is entertaining, educational, and honestly, a really fun time you will want to come back for the next year!

Relay For Life is also, as it eludes to in the name, a “Relay”. It is a 24-hour walk, where team members divy up the hours they walk the path. Teams also have their own “campsite,” and you can camp in the park overnight! There are also kids activities and various entertainment going on throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Dollars & Cents:

Team Captains pay a small registration fee donation when they create their team online. But there is no charge for participants to join a team! We hope each team member will set a goal to raise $100, and we are planning a fundraisers prior to Relay to help you get there, if you so wish! However, there is no fundraising minimum requirement, Relay For Life is a FREE event and its primary purpose is bring the community together and educate them on cancer awareness and prevention information, while having fun of course! Anyone is welcome to attend the event, even if you just want to stop by and cheer us on!

The REASON:

Did you know that 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime? Think of you, and the most important person in your life. 1 in 2. We have had numerous family & friends diagnosed. I am committed to do my part to decrease this number! Won’t you join us?

hmmmm....dark chocolate lava cake!

Happy Belated Valentines Day to everyone! We enjoyed our day in sunny SoCal yesterday and found ourselves so thankful for our beautiful life together. My husband made the most delicious dinner of grilled lack of lamb on a bed of swiss chard with pomme frites and a beet salad with feta cheese and argula. It was so good that I do not have any photos, we enjoyed it too much!

Dessert was my domain yesterday. And we did pause for a brief moment to snap a quick photo (above). I debated what sort of healthy chocolate decadence to create. I settled on a recipe I found in my Better Homes and Gardens New Bridal Edition cookbook. The results were similar to a chocolate souffle but the recipe was much faster to make. And the best part is that you can make it up to step 4 and then just keep it chilled until 30 minutes before you intend to bake it, meaning that it is a great dinner party dessert with unbelievably rich and delicious, souffle-like  results.

Here is the recipe: (more…)

Puppy's First Pupcake!

Miss Hayley had a very special treat today on her 2nd birthday, she had her first Pupcake.

Pupcakes From Cups La Jolla

A local cupcake lounge in La Jolla, Cups, offers peanut butter and bacon Pupcakes. Yum! It came in a small plastic bag and it appeared to have a cupcake liner, but it turns out the cupcake liner is edible! Judging by how quickly Hayley gobbled it up I would have to assume they are out of this world delicious!

Happy Birthday Miss Hayley! It seems like only yesterday we brought you home from Helen Woodward Animal Center.

Spread HOPE

The talented team at the Domestic Nest has generously offered to donate 100% of the sales of these beautifully handmade, repurposed leather bookmarks to Doctors Without Borders. You can find even more creative gifts at the Craft Hope for Haiti etsy shop. Here is another great collected list of reputable charities that are collecting for the Haiti relief effort:

Plant with Purpose

Doctors Without Borders

Partners in Health, Haiti Reborn, Yele Haiti and more

In the 7 days since the earthquake in Haiti, the news has been full of reports of terror. But it has also featured small rays of HOPE as people are reunited with loved ones, survivors are pulled from the ruins of buildings even as recent as yesterday and care begins to reach those in need. The real lesson here is that recovery will not be quick, we must keep the people of Haiti in our thoughts and prayers for days, months, even years to come. And whatever way we can contribute, every little bit counts.

Today I am sending a prayer for HOPE for the people of Haiti. I pray that even in their darkest hour, they can find a ray of HOPE.

As 2009 comes to an end and we make plans for the year ahead, it is a great time to reflect and to count our blessings. We feel truly thankful for all of our loving friends and family. We were blessed in so many ways this year. 2009 was a year full of ups and downs but we enjoyed every minute. We especially enjoyed the time that unemployment gave us to spend with each other and with friends and family. Thank you to all of our readers and thank you to our friends and family for your love and support.

Here is to a happy and healthy 2010!

Please leave us a comment and let us know what you are your thankful for, share a favorite memory from this past year or a goal for next year.

For many of us in the United States, New Year’s Eve parties conjure up memories of watching Dick Clark’s Rocking New Year’s Eve bash on television, sipping champagne at midnight, and unfortunately crowded bars and restaurants with ridiculous cover charges. I have long loathed that last one. To me, New Year’s Eve has been more about spending time with close friends and family, and of course that special someone to kiss at midnight. It has been less about needing to attend large parties and spending ridiculous amounts of money just to be there. Do not get me wrong, those events can be fun sometimes, but many times I would much rather be in a smaller setting ringing in the new year with the ones I love and not hundreds of strangers.

I think that is why a lot of people decide to create their own party and host it at home. Not only is it a lot more affordable, it also can be a more intimate event. And it can still be just as chic and fun as the trendiest clubs, if you take the time to decorate. And do not be afraid to ask guests to contribute to the menu. Hosting it as a pot luck can actually be a lot less work for the host and make guests feel like part of the planning committee. And let’s be honest, not all of our friends want to cook for the party, so task those guests with bringing other key ingredients like beverages.

New Year’s Eve should (more…)