Life of Larisa or LOL

This time last year I was as big as a house, uncomfortable, irritated, sweaty, and impatient for baby Z to arrive. Like a good little boy, he arrived into our family right on time---his due date. We welcomed him at Kaiser Hospital right before midnight on August 28, 2011. He weighed in at close to 10.2 pounds with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a devilish charm. He has not stopped rockin and rollin since. Over the weekend we celebrated his first birthday in true Rockstar fashion. Friends and family swam at the pool and munched on snacks while Isom and I breathed sighs of relief...we survived. Not just the party, but the first chaotic year of parenting two boys. Zach and Gabe are opposites in every way and keep us on our toes. It's been fun, tiring, and challenging, but quick cake recipes (thanks Pinterest), the occasional date night thrown in, and humorous Zach (and Gabe) antics have kept us a float. We just keep truckin... Zach, you bring joy to everyone in our family...despite y

I love new discoveries. On Admissions day (it's a Hawaii thing), we met up with our windward Oahu friends to get some skateboarding and scooter riding in (for Gabe not the baby). First we enjoyed some nice shade time at Maunawili Park and then moved on to the coolest park I've been to in awhile. It has shade! I'm telling you, this is a hot commodity. No good park ever has it. The adults all had lawn chairs and coolers. They were ready to stay for the day. It was like a tailgater. Every kid was smiling and enjoying all the park had to offer. Most parks on our side of the island are all the same. Hot, boring, and graffiti ridden. This park, that I hear was improved by donations from the community, is clean and there is a sense of pride of ownership. This park is a labyrinth of hideaways, slides, bridges, monkey bars, tightropes, pirate ships, sliding poles, and more. It's perfect for kids of all ages (I have a one and nine year old and they both loved it). There is a wood

It's not a poke cake! Can you believe it? Easy breezy delicious potluck item here. 1. Spray bottom of 9x13 cake pan with nonstick cooking spray (I use PAM) 2. Place sliced apples on the bottom of the cake pan (mine were pre-sliced from Costco...even better!) 3. Pour a box of cake mix on top of the apples (Pillsbury was on sale at Wal-Mart) 4. Pour a stick of melted butter on top of the dry cake mix (I only had half a stick in my fridge) 5. Sprinkle with brown sugar (I added this genius step) 6. Bake according to the directions on your box cake mix. In about an hour, (after prep and baking) you will have a nice little fruity dessert to place a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top of. Today's quick easy dessert recipe, brought to you by Pinterest. I'm thinking Pinterest and Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker are partners...I've bought more box cake mix since becoming addicted to Pinterest, than I have my whole life. I will be buying yet another box cake mix to repeat

I'm not a crafty person. I can barely cut on the dotted line. And if it involves tape I'm done for. It is quite shocking that I therefore participated in my very own craft project this afternoon. This project involved spray adhesive, glitter, and a Starbucks cup...oh yeah and Pinterest. First off, if it involves Starbucks, I'm pretty much in. The fact that this project was blinging out my "to go" Starbucks cup, big smiles. As with many of the things I "discover" on Pinterest, they seem easy and clever at first glance, but when I try to recreate anything that doesn't involve three ingredients, one of which is a box cake mix, things tend to go downhill fast. Supposedly, there are just three steps to this project...no box cake though (maybe this is where I went wrong!) 1. Unscrew your personal Starbucks cup to reveal the inner lining 2. Spray (quickly...this was emphasized in a dramatic way on the blog I read the tutorial on) the inside of the outer

I am slowly getting back to walking for exercise after my ankle sprain at the end of June. Today's "hike" was on a flat paved path and was just under the two mile mark. It was just enough of an incline to make me break out into a subtle sweat and get my heart rate up, but still easy enough that I could wear slippers. Which I did. Zach enjoyed an early morning nap and I got in a little exercise. After eating a slice of the devil cake yesterday, (Butterfinger Poke Cake), a brisk walk was definitely in order. In a little over thirty minutes I was able to put my morning coffee to good work. Getting to the ravine is easy, its just a few miles up the road from our house. Parking is free and the trail is nestled amongst Central Oahu suburbia...so it's pretty safe. The wildest thing I saw were some pigeons fighting over bread. The scenery is green, lush, and there are a few spots where you can see the Waianae Mountain Range. It's secluded enough that you can enjoy nature

Yes. I have an obsession with poke cakes right now. All the recipes I see for them online are so easy and delicious sounding. I'm all for easy and delicious. My friend Claire pinned this latest recipe on Pinterest and I greedily saved it so I could attempt to replicate it. There are certain smells and flavors that evoke a sense of home. Coffee brewing, biscuits rising, bacon sizzling. And this cake. I hadn't expected it to remind me of my grandmas homemade pecan pie. To be clear, there are no pecans even in it. But when you slide your fork through the layers of the finished product, suddenly it's like you dove face first into your favorite childhood dessert. For this extraordinarily sweet cake, you will need the following ingredients: 1. Yellow cake mix 2. 1 can sweetened condensed milk 3. 1 cardiologist 4. 1 can of caramel topping 5. 1 container of Cool Whip 6. 2 Butterfinger candy bars Bake the box cake according to instructions. I did not. I substituted one ban