2.29.2012

That Time I Made a Choice

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For the last little while, I’ve been juggling with the same dilemma. I wrote about it back in November, and it’s been a consistent question in my mind. Ultimately, it was the tax return season that helped me make the choice. And a couple of answered questions and opinions and weigh-ins from the people who know me best. That’s right folks…

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…I got a Kindle Fire! I seriously thought about this over and over, weighing all my options. There are several different versions of the Kindle, so I had some choices. Ultimately, I settled on the Fire. It’s an E-Reader and Android Tablet all in one! I haven’t had it for more than a week, but I simply adore it. I can watch videos, look at color graphic novels and magazines, surf the web, and stream music.
And, of course, I can download books in seconds and read right away.

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It will definitely take some getting used to reading on the Kindle. I am finishing a book at the moment, so I have yet to actually start one of the books I purchased in my first few days owning le Kindle bebe. I’m excited to start!

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I know E-Readers are kind of a sensitive subject. Though the people I know who have Kindles/Nooks really like them, there are just as many people I know who think it’s practically offensive to own one if you truly love books. I get it. I really do. I will always love books. And I still plan on buying books. There are some authors I truly love, some books I truly love, that need to have a place on my future bookshelf to be shared and seen. But for now, I’m happy to embrace this bit of technology. I think it’ll be a great purchase in the long run.

Special credit to my boyfriend for taking/editing these photos that look a whole lot like legitimate Kindle ads haha.

2.28.2012

Outfit: Colours

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It has been over a month since my last outfit post. I’m embarrassed and slightly ashamed. This blog was never intended to be outfit post heavy by any means, but I wanted to try and keep up with them, trying to do about 1 a week. But, and I know I mentioned this before…winter really makes fashion hard for me. I dress to stay warm, not to necessarily look all that great. But comfy and cute can go together.
In this case, I decided to take the ol’ sweater and jeans routine and add a nice dose of color.

Aside from my Bass loafers, this outfit is 100% Old Navy. Are these jeans not the best color? My sister Maria picked them out and we both got a pair for Christmas. I’ve worn them quite a few times with quite a few colors. It’s a great neutral while still being a bit of a surprise. I guess I would classify them as a bit of a Rust hue? The sweater was recently purchased on sale. Used to be $40, got it for $15. I fell in love the moment I found it on the rack, but I don’t often by things full price anywhere, let alone Old Navy. You can always find the same item on super sale in a few weeks. Thank God I waited (and thanks to my friend Jenna for notifying me!).

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And, just for cute factor….

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…a picture of me dancing with Cali girl! What is life without puppies???

Sweater – Old Navy/Jeans – Old Navy/Loafers – Bass

2.27.2012

Weekend

Junk food. Woodchuck cider. Fun with friends and family. Sleeping in. Naps. The Oscars.
All of these ingredients make for a great weekend.

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I can’t express how much I wish every weekend was a three-day weekend. There is never enough time.
I can’t wait to plan a vacation. A week off to live life as I please.
Happy Monday, though! Let’s make it a great week!!!

2.24.2012

Dinner Last Night: Tacos!

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Sometimes, dinner needs to be quick, cheap, and easy. Cut to: TACOS! Yes, I use the Old El Paso Taco Dinner Kit. I’m not ashamed. It’s delicious. It’s less than 5 dollars. It’s easy to make. And oh my gosh, I could eat all 10 tacos if I didn’t have to share. That’s right…I could eat a pound of ground beef as long as it was surrounded by corn tortilla, cheese, sour cream, and taco sauce. YUM.

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This was my first time making the Goya rice and beans, and it was easy and delicious. I knew I needed a side dish, so that I wouldn’t be sad when I couldn’t completely gorge myself on tacos.  So, yeah…my dinner came out of some boxes. Whatevah.

By the way, Happy Weekend! I don’t know why, but 4 day weeks are sometimes more painful and torturous than a regular 5 day week. I think it’s because I expect it to go quicker than usual, thus making it harder to stay patient. To top it off, I’ve been expecting a package all week.
It finally comes today, so that didn’t help my anxiousness for the week to end!
I’m happy for the weekend. I’m planning on keeping it low-key. And let’s not forget the Oscars on Sunday! I love the Oscars.

Have a great weekend!

2.22.2012

Artie’s Close Up

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As much as you try to plan or plot a photo, I ultimately believe the best pictures come down to serendipity. The right subject at the right place at the right time. As someone with as many cameras as I have, with a strong love for photography (especially admiring the work of extremely talented photographers and picture-takers), I’ve been slacking in the snapshot department. iPhone makes it too easy to leave my beloved Rebel at home, meaning a lot of potentially fantastic moments have to stay in the brain instead of on the page.
Luckily, on Monday, I had a lot of time on my hands. While I waited for Maria to prep for her outfit shoot, a golden glow poured through the deck doors of our house and little Artichoke (how young is he in those photos?!) decided to stretch out and enjoy the sunshine. I couldn’t help but get down as close as possible and take as many pictures as I could of this lovely little moment.

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2.21.2012

Photos From a Day Off

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I had a very satisfying Monday. I love a long weekend. It’s a bummer when Brad and I don’t have the same time off, but it’s also nice, too. I get to lounge around in PJs, chat with my family, and take lots of time to myself to relax and catch up on little things I’ve neglected in favor of my social life. It’s also really important to me to sleep as long as I can handle it.

Reasons yesterday was so great:
A solid night of sleep
An omelet and yummy Mudslide coffee for late breakfast
Dog sitting Artie, the cutest little pup in the world 
Taking photos for my sister’s soon-to-be style blog
Homemade Haluski made by my sister
My first (successful and yummy) doughnuts from the Babycakes
Getting my family into The Voice

Now I only have 4 working days keeping me from another lovely weekend. 
Here we go…

2.20.2012

About this Weekend…

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Weekends (days, times, whatever) like these remind me of how wonderful life is. Spending time with my amazing boyfriend, sister, and friends helps put all the bothersome woes of life behind. I spent the last three nights with people I love, staying up way too late, singing way too loud, and enjoying every moment to the fullest. And now, today, I am relaxing and regrouping with a lovely day off.
Three-day weekends are the best. And four-day work weeks are great too.

I just wish I was better at taking lots of pictures when it’s all happening. I get caught up in the moment.
Which is great, but I do wish I had more photographs to remember it all forever.

2.17.2012

Dinner Last Night: Mac and Cheddar Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli

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Of the dinners I’ve made so far, this was the most intense for me. The recipe is Rachael Ray’s. I look at her recipes a lot because the whole point of her show 30 Minute Meals is that it would be quick and fairly easy. My problem? I can’t multi-task when it comes to cooking just yet. So a 30 minute meal is actually a 60 minute meal. But whatever.

For this meal, I didn’t use a box of Kraft mac with a cheese pouch. I made my first roux. It definitely bubbled over the pot. But it was so satisfying to make my own cheese sauce. The taste was definitely satisfying in the end. I’m trying to keep things adventurous over here!
Also, cooking chicken is one of my least favorite things. It’s slimy and gross and there’s the salmonella thing. Eek! But I survived.
For my first shot at such an intense recipe (for me) with three elements going on (the chicken, the pasta, and the sauce all on the stove at around the same time), I did a pretty good job (pats on back). I also made a tossed salad with fresh romaine, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, red bell peppers, carrots and cucumbers! Mmmmm.

It’s the weekend! I’m so glad. This week was slow and fast at the same time, if that makes sense (to quote The Shins – “The years have been short, but the days go slowly by.”). Work was quiet, but the nights would zoom by. I was kept busy. I’m very excited to enjoy a holiday weekend (I have off Monday, for Presidents’ Day). Tomorrow, one of my dearest, out-of-state friends is coming in for the night.
Can’t wait to see him! And that’s just the beginning of a pretty packed weekend (I seem to be busy all the time these days!).

Enjoy your weekend, guys!

2.16.2012

Short and Sweet

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This is what I got to enjoy last night, as a belated Valentine’s Day treat. Candles, roses, tasty food.
And then I took a two hour nap, woke up, washed up for bed, and went back to sleep.
All in all…pretty satisfying.

2.15.2012

Lyrical Goddess

I came across this tumblr and I just think it’s the greatest thing. As a fan of Lana Del Rey, I think these awesome combinations of lyrics and classic pictures are amazing. And they definitely capture the attitude and emotion of the songs. Whoever is behind this is just the coolest.

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These are just a few of my favorites. Go check out Lyrical Goddess for more!!!

2.14.2012

Us.

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Two years ago (almost to the day), after months of not seeing one another, Brad and I decided to become friends again (after a first shot at dating when I was still in college). I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss him or wonder about him that whole time we didn’t really talk. Little did I know, things would turn out this way.I have never felt so lucky or blessed in love before.
And, again, it’s been two years and we are still in this sweet, happy place.
Not perfect.
But happy. Supportive. Goofy. The best of friends. Confidantes. Home.

I want to pinch myself sometimes.

Happy Valentine’s Day/"Anniversary” to my best friend!

Happy Valentine’s Day to my family and friends, the sweetest people in my life. I love you all!

And Happy Valentine’s Day to you readers out there!

2.13.2012

WKND

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I’m already anxiously anticipating next weekend (especially since I have 3 days off!). This weekend was like a sample taste. With what little time I did have, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. A great double date with one of the cutest couples ever over wings, delicious dinner with an amazing group of lovely people, an attempt to see Chronicle that resulted in sold out seats and heading to the bar instead.
Panera Bread with some cute ladies. All in all, a solid time.

We did see Chronicle, on Sunday instead of Saturday. What an intense film. I am a huge fan of “Found Footage” films (Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, etc.), and this one goes on the list. The movie is heavy and sad, I will say that, but it was a breath of fresh (really cold) air that left me gasping and dry-eyed from being unable to blink or look away. I’m super sensitive, so it put me in a mood.
But if a film can do that, it means it was worth the money and the time.

Here’s to a great week!

2.10.2012

Dinner Last Night: Chili Night

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Okay, so I kinda did this meal once before (this time I used beef)…but it’s such an easy, comforting meal. And it’s only uses one pot. Less dishes to wash! How can you complain? I’m still working on the perfect chili. I need to work on the heat factor, and I’d like to utilize my own spices instead of always buying the easy McCormick’s pack. Don’t get me wrong, it’s tasty! But it’d be fun to play with the flavor and heat, especially since I often feel there’s some sort of element missing…

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I also made baked potatoes for the family as well. Such a filling, satisfying, comforting meal. Perfect for a winter night.

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I can’t believe the weekend is already here! That’s probably because I didn’t work on Monday, so the week flew by. I have a short weekend, though, due to work on Saturday morning. Otherwise, it should be a nice, relaxing weekend. Very different from the last few. Plans include: wings and pizza with Brad’s cousin and fiancé, movie night with friends I’ve missed oh-so-dearly, and quite a bit of vegging out.

See you on Monday!

2.09.2012

J’Adore

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Lana Del Rey and her album Born to Die. I understand a lot of people/critics dislike her. This means nothing to me at all. I personally think her and her music are absolutely gorgeous. I cannot stop listening.
Tucking into comfort food which, in my case, revolves around soup and cheese.
Nail Blogs. My favorites are Little Nails and Nailside. They are such a great source of inspiration for nail art and nail polish, and obviously I love reading about things I love!
The February Photo a Day challenge for Instagram. It’s fun to take random photos each day and see the many others people post.
Sinking right into a good book. I am on my 4th Emily Giffin book, and I can definitely say she is one of my favorite authors. She really evokes emotion and touches on some serious relationship issues in a very understandable and
often-relatable way. Don’t write her books off as girly fluff.
Planning Thursday night dinner for the family. Trying to keep the menu exciting!
Quaint weekend plans with people I love.

2.08.2012

Sight-Seeing

So, in Boston, I’ll admit I didn’t even cover half of the bases most people probably would on their first visit. There are many historical stops I didn’t see, areas I didn’t get to venture into. But what can you do? I will say this…what I did see was absolutely beautiful. Brick roads, trees and tunnels decorated with beautiful lights, a cotton candy sunset over the dock, and one truly breathtaking skyline.

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I was maybe moved to tears on Saturday night, after seeing all the sights.
I’m such a crybaby.

2.07.2012

Boston

I can finally tell all y’all blog readers that I was in Boston for a long weekend! The reason I couldn’t before is because I went with Brad and his parents as a surprise for his brother’s birthday! It was tough, considering I love Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc… but I couldn’t run the risk of ruining a surprise party! It was my first time in Boston and I had a total blast. There’s still so much more I’d like to see, but we got a lot done in a short amount of time. And there is absolutely no doubt that Brad’s brother was completely and utterly shocked to see his family at his surprise birthday party! I have SO MANY PICTURES…these will have to do for now.

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I’ll have to share more with you throughout the week…I took about 500 altogether. What a lovely weekend!
Time to get back in the swing.