Recipes Needed

So we invited some friends over for dinner this coming Monday and the girl, A, has Chron's disease. It's a digestive problem that really limits what she can eat. I emailed A to see what foods were on the "can't eat" list and here was her response -- "no green veggies, any sort of lettuce or greens, tomatoes, cheese or anything creamy". WOW. alright then. That limits pretty much anything I would normally cook, as Sailor Boy and I love all of those foods. I really wanted to make a huge big summery salad, but I guess not. Does anyone have a good recipe that doesn't include any of those ingredients? Unfortunately, we don't have an outside grill, so we can't even do like kabobs or something fun like that. So anything is greatly appreciated. I really want to make something more interesting than just plain meat and a few non-green veggies. Thanks!!

Summer Swap

So I wanted to post the super cute pics of the summer swap stuff I got from my partner, Barefoot in the Park! Everything was adorable and Spencer LOVED her toy (more on that later)

So fun! I can't wait to try the recipe for the marinated shrimp! YUM!So I wanted to take a before and after pic of spencer's toy that was in the swap package. It's an adorable pink hula dog. Above we have the before picture. Notice the cute bathing suit and grass skirt. I was literally a little sad to give it to Spencer, since I knew she would destroy it within the hour. Her thing is to chew, bite and pull at a toy until it's obliterated.
During -- she's loving that grass skirt.

After - You can see the corner of the leg with the white stuffing sticking out. She really is quite determined. Barefoot...I'm sorry she ate it, but she really did love it!! Thanks so much!!!

Back in Action!!

Wow...I feel like I haven't blogged in forever! Work has been super busy and then the holiday weekend came up and I didn't really go anywhere near a computer because the weather was so amazing! I was at the pool or bbq's most of the weekend and it was fabulous! I finally got the hotdog I had been craving (ok, maybe 3 hot dogs). Monday was girls day at the pool with 4 of my best girlfriends. It was really hot so we actually got in the water, even though the pool was freezing cold. Literally, my legs were numb. For spending 5 hours at the pool, I didn't get too much color though, which I was bummed about because I always like coming back to work looking freshly sunned. Oh well, it's probably better for me...I was slathering on the 45 like whoa.

Since I was home alone all weekend, I also took about a million trips to the dog park with Spencer. We went Saturday afternoon and I had an encounter with the rudest woman. Of course, the dog park was packed all weekend and it's all these "non regulars". We've become regulars to the park and met all the other regulars, so we always feel weird when there's a ton of other people who are not normally there taking over the dog park. Call me snobby, but whatever. So because it was so crowded in the big dog park, I decided to take Spence over to the little dog park, because she really doesn't do too well when there are a ton of big dogs chasing her. So everything is fine and dandy in the little dog park and I'm playing fetch with Spencer. Well then this small little grey and white dog runs up to Spencer and wants to play chase. So Spencer obliges and starts to chase this little rat-like dog (sorry...I'm not a huge fan of small dogs). I will admit, Spencer is the biggest dog in the little dog park, but she is NOT aggressive at all. So the owner of rat dog starts to complain (loudly - and not directly to me...just announcing it to anyone who is close by) that Spencer is "chasing too rough". WHAT??? It's a freaking dog park...and it's not like she's killing your dog. She's chasing him...which is exactly what he wanted her to do. The owner is getting really upset with Spencer (since she's play growling and barking) and she actually pulls her off of her dog (which REALLY pissed me off...do not touch my dog). The woman then tells me that she doesn't think Spencer should be in the little dog area and we should probably go to the big dog area. Umm...my dog weighs 30 pounds. She's 5 months old. Thanks, but I will decide where she plays, since she's basically able to be in either area. I took Spencer over to the big dog park and we had a wonderful rest of our afternoon. Some people are just so rude!

That was the only non-fun part of my weekend. I was actually off yesterday too, which was nice and relaxing. I went to Target and Homegoods and did a fair amount of damage. They are both so dangerous!! I got the most adorable placemats at Homegoods...they're white with a black embroidered double border around them. They look like they need to be monogrammed in the middle though. I'm actually thinking about having them monogrammed and then give them to my BFF K for a shower or wedding present. Speaking of K's wedding, we ordered bridesmaids dresses!! Thanks to Jcrew's lovely additional 20% off sale, we ordered these this morning:

Not sure if you can tell, but the trim around the neck and straps is actually twisted, sort of like rope...i love it! With the 20% off sale, they were only $144 each! K has finally decided on navy with shades of pink and white as her final colors. So imagine that dress with a bouquet of pink and white flowers. I think it's going to be so pretty!! Plus, she wants to throw in some nautical touches, and I think that dress is semi-nautical with the neckline. The best part...she bought us both the dress as our present!! How amazing! I'll report back when they get here on how they fit.

Lastly...I want to thank my awesome summer swap partner, Barefoot in the Park, for my wonderful swap gifts!! I love it all!! Everything was adorable...I'm actually going to do a post about it tonight....with pictures! Spencer loves her toy...I almost didn't want to give it to her since I know she will just eat it in a few days! :-) But thank you again!! You should get mine soon...hopefully tomorrow!

Wine Down Wednesdays

The restaurant in the hotel where I work has "Wine Down Wednesdays" where all bottles of wine are 50% off. I wish employees got to take advantage of that discount as a take out option. I'm in serious need of a few glasses tonight. Wedding season is here folks, and my life is officially booked solid for the next 6 months.

On a lighter note, some things I'm loving right now for summer:

I've become really anal about too much sun...this is perfect so I can still look tan without all the bad rays. Put it on at night and you wake up a shade or two darker.

These fun outdoor pillows from Pottery Barn for our new house and backyard. I love the crab and the lobster. Would look awesome with our new non-existant patio furniture! but hey, I can dream!!

Completely random, but I have been craving a hot dog from the grill for about two weeks now. There's something so tasty about it and it totally reminds me of summer...luckily my parents are having a cookout on Monday, so I think I will be able to finally get one!

I want a fun brightly colored scarf to serve a few purposes this summer. I like to tie my hair up with them when I'm at the beach or pool. I also use them as headbands in the summer when I just don't feel like doing my hair. I also usually just tie one on to my purse, as a cute accessory.

Hope everyone's Wednesday is better than mine...Happy Hump Day!

A Little Random

The yellow dress from JCrew came. It's super cute, but unfortunately, it's too big. So I called JCrew and spoke to their super friendly and helpful customer service. Not only did they have the smaller size, they are shipping it to me for free (since I didn't pay shipping to get it) and they honored the 20% off discount that I got when I ordered it. That's what I call fabulous customer service. So hopefully when I get the smaller size, all will be well. Once I saw the dress, I decided that silver shoes will be exactly what I need. The dress has a little bit of a sheen to it (it's also MUCH more bright yellow than it looks in the pictures, which I'm actually happy about) So it looks like I'm on the hunt for shoes yet again.

Spencer had her 4th puppy class tonight. She did SO much better than she has been doing. She's finally got "down", and she did awesome with stay. I am so proud of her. Last week she didn't do very well at all, so I was nervous she might not pass. She's halfway done with class and she's well on her way to becoming quite the well behaved and smart dog.

Speaking of Spencer, her favorite thing to do is to roll in the grass. When I get home from work and take her out, the first thing she does is dive into the grass and then roll like crazy. She gets this huge grin on her face and wags her tail and pretty much is the happiest dog in the world. It's honestly one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I'd been meaning to take some pictures of it, and I finally remembered last week...so here they are:
That last picture looks scary, but she's actually yawning. You can tell because her eyes are closed...she yawns more than any dog I've ever met. But she definitely looks super ferocious with her big scary baby dog teeth!!

Sailor Boy is going away for the weekend to Asheville NC for his cousin's wedding. I'm super jealous, but I have to work. He's the best man and the wedding should be amazing...it's on the bride's parents 100 acre farm. I'm sending him with my camera so he can take lots of pictures. We have a wedding at work on Sunday, so it really cuts into my holiday weekend. I'll be off Monday and Tuesday, so hopefully I'll get to enjoy some holiday weekend fun...mainly in the form of our community pool. It's actually not my community pool, it's my BFF K's pool. We call it "Melrose Place" because pretty much all of our friends go to the pool, plus it's mainly also other people our same age and there's always some sort of drama. I totally love it. I spend all my free time there all summer.

I'm getting all my Preppy Summer Swap stuff ready for my wonderful partner, Barefoot in the Park. I'm almost done shopping and I'm so excited to send her everything!! By the way partner, fabulous post about the ebates!! I checked it out today and I'm totally obsessed!!

Retail Therapy

I've been having a rough few days at work (which I will not get into because it would require pages worth of blogging), so I decided to treat myself to a few new things.

JCrew's extra 20% sale (plus free shipping codes) is probably my biggest vice. It sucks me in and allows me to justify all my purchases, since it's all SO cheap. I ordered this dress and it will be here Monday. I can't wait to see it in person.

The color is obviously amazing and I think the cut will be very flattering as well. They also had it in a pink brocade, but I didn't love it. The best part is that it has pockets, which is definitely my latest obsession in skirts and dresses this season. I'll report back when it gets here. What color shoes do I wear it with though???

I also have been slowly and secretly ordering/buying new fun stuff for our house. I know it doesn't make sense to buy things before you move in, but I can't help myself. This is the first house that I've lived in post college that has a fireplace. I have no idea why this excites me as much as it does. So I ordered a candle holder that sits in the bottom of the fireplace! This is probably really nerdy, but I just really like them and since we probably won't make a lot of fires in the fireplace, I want something in there so it's not just bare. I can't find the exact one online, but here's a picture that's really close to the one I got:

I've also been shopping for outdoor furniture, but I won't be buying anything without Sailor Boy's input. I LOVE Teak...but that's not really in our budget right now. Maybe I can convince my parents we need a nice new patio set as a housewarming present!

In non-shopping related news, tonight we're going to a surprise party for our good friend L. She has no idea her husband B has been planning this for weeks, and to be honest, she doesn't really strike me as someone who likes surprise parties. Plus, he's taking her out to dinner and leaving the basement door unlocked, so that we can all let ourselves in before they get back and surprise her. To me, this is not such a good idea. I don't know too many girls who like coming home from a nice romantic dinner with their man to find 30 people in their basement, eating their food and drinking their beer. Plus, B sent an email saying he "got some food for the party" and to "help ourselves". This is boy speak for "I got 6 bags of chips and a couple of cases...come on over". I feel like L would probably want a little bit of say in this party, mainly in cleaning and organizing the house and serving actual hors d'oeuvres and food. We shall see.

If the weather holds up, hopefully we will be taking Spencer hiking with us on Sunday. Sailor Boy is very big into the outdoors (fishing, mountain biking, camping, hiking) and while he can't convince me to join him in all those activities, he has made me quite the hiker. I love it! There's some really great parks and trails all within driving distance of our house, so we go quite a bit in the spring, summer and fall. I really like exploring new areas and seeing cool new things. This is the first time we're bringing Spencer with us, so I hope it goes well. Being a hound mix, she's quite a sniffer, so it may not be a very productive hike, as I'm sure she will want to smell every plant, leaf and rock.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing weekend!!

I put my new shoes on...

I am currently searching for a new pair of fun shoes for a wedding I'm attending in July. I know, it seems early, but since I'm not finding what I want, I'm happy for the head start on this search. My friend from high school S is getting married and I have a fabulous black cocktail dress to wear. I got it a few months back for my friend A's bachelorette, but it's pretty dressy and I think it would be perfect for this wedding. A bonus is that I got it at the Limited for $19.99. I love their sale rack.

So in order to dress the dress up, I want to get a new pair of colored or print heels to wear. I've found a few things I like, but they're all pretty pricey and I think I could do better. I've searched Zappos like crazy and nothing is jumping out. I've also looked at Nordstrom online and I'm not impressed by anything either. This of course led me to JCrew, as they typically have a good selection of heels. Here's what I found so far:



This blue pair comes in a few other colors (purple, green, yellow) and it's the exact style and type of shoe I want. They're on sale right now, but they are still $199. I just don't know if I can spend that much, considering I won't get a ton of wear out of them since they are so bold and dressy. One bonus is they have my size (6.5) in every color so I could really pick anyone I wanted (I'm liking the blue or the green)




This pink pair is pretty amazing too...I'm of course
partial to pink and I love the bow. They are also on
sale ($199), but the downside is they don't have my size. I might be able to call JCrew and see if they could find them for me somewhere.









These are pretty fabulous as well...that turquoise
bow is amazing. Of course, these are NOT on sale and retail for $228. HMMMM.












Here are the final pair. I saw a girl wearing them
at the wedding at work this weekend, so
I've seen them in person and they are adorable.
I'm back to pink obviously. They aren't on sale,
but they're a steal at $198 (the cheapest!!)





So those are my options that I've found so far. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great!! I'm thinking I may just have to suck it up, spend alot (since I did get the dress so cheap) and then wear those damn shoes every day of my life.

Pennies for Tulips

So my mother's day brunch was a success!! I made two quiches and they both came out well. I think quiche is sort of a perfect food...you can pretty much add anything you want, pour some eggs on top and then put it in the oven for an hour and it's done. so easy. I made a huge fruit salad with fresh mint on top...my dad had like 3 helpings. I didn't realize he was such a fruit guy. We also consumed a few bloody mary's each...oops. This led to Sailor Boy, Spencer and I taking a long nap on the couch for a good part of the afternoon.

I went to get tulips for my mom early Sunday morning (i know, i'm a bad daughter). As I'm checking out of the Giant with my orange tulips, the cashier gave me a bit of helpful information. Put pennies in the bottom of the vase with the tulips...it will make them last longer. Then, the woman in line behind me chimed in with "if you use pennies from before 1981, it will be better since those are pure copper". Well alright. Did anyone else know this bit of tulip trivia?? So I went home, dug out some old pennies and gave it a try. The cool part was as soon as I put them in the vase, they opened right up, which was nice. My mom loved them and I will check with her in a few days to see if they are still pretty. Here's the pics I took of the tulips before I gave them to her:
We did also manage to take Spencer to the dog park by our house for a little while, which she loves. She's right in between playing in the small dog park and playing in the big dog park. She thinks she is a big dog (she still has some growing to do) and loves to play with the big dogs, but sometimes she gets intimidated by them and wants to go to the small dog area. I think she personally does better in the small area, since she's still a puppy and she's still learning how to play. Plus, I think she does like being the biggest and fastest dog in the little area. It's just as entertaining for me and Sailor Boy as for Spencer...we've even made some human friends there.

And just because she's the cutest puppy in the world, here's some new pics of Spencer girl I took the other night
Seriously...can anyone resist that face???

Totally my fault

Spencer ate/destroyed my favorite pair of work shoes tonight. And I can't even be mad at her - it's totally my fault for leaving them on the floor. They were the most amazing shoes too...flat, pointy toe leather, perfect to wear for weddings at work. Damn. So I replaced the shoes with a rawhide and she's happy and content. I got the shoes like 3 years ago, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a comparable replacement. I even had to pick pieces of black leather out of her mouth.

I'm about to start baking a blueberry cake for our mother's day "brunch" for tomorrow. I think the blueberry cake will become my go-to dessert. This will be the 4th time i've made it and people seem to really like it. Typically my idea of baking is breaking and baking.

The wedding tonight at work was AMAZING. Seriously, it was exactly what I would do for my own wedding. The colors were navy, green and pink. The tablecloths were navy pintuck and then she had 3 different types of pink and green floral centerpieces. Mainly hydrangeas and peonies. A few hot pink orchids thrown in there - so adorable. She also had some limes throughout some of the centerpieces which I love...I think it's so fresh and preppy. The bride had the most gorgeous dress - it was actually very pale pink. Am I a stalker if I said I took some pics as we were setting up? hehe. I'm actually mainly doing it for my own BFF K's wedding...i've been taking pictures of most of the weddings at work for her to get ideas. So anyways, not sure if this is even legal, but here's the cell phone pics i took:And I'm not even usually a fan of tall big poofy centerpieces, but these were actually very tasteful and not over the top. Totally love it!

Rainy Friday

I decided to take part...

5 Things I Can't Live Without Under $10:
1. Chap Stick (the royal blue one with SPF 15)
2. Clorox Wipes
3. Physician's Formula Solar Powder Bronzer with SPF 20
4. Cherry Coke Zero (i'm trying to cut back to 2 cans a week...this is way down from what i was consuming!)
5. White Cami's with a shelf bra (i usually stock up at like Old Navy). I wear them under everything in the summer, so I buy in bulk.

5 Favorite Movies:
1. Pretty Woman
2. Mean Girls
3. Breakfast Club
4. Love Actually
5. Clueless (i know every line)

5 Baby Girl Names That I Love:
1. Lily
2. Grace
3. Avery
4. Ella
5. Lucy

5 Baby Boy Names That I Love:
1. Jackson
2. Noah
3. Luke
4. Parker
5. Aidan

5 Songs You Could Listen to Over and Over:
1. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
2. Jesse's Girl by Rick Springfield
3. Anything by Jack Johnson (all his music reminds me of summer and I love it)
4. Old School Madonna
5. Actually, pretty much any and all 80's music. Obsessed!

5 Things That Stay In My Purse At All Times:
1. Chap Stick (i have 3 in there right now)
2. Cell Phone
3. My Epi-Pen (I'm deathly allergic to nuts)
4. Sunglasses
5. Vera Bradley Wallet

5 Obsessions I Have Right Now:
1. Dark Chocolate Raisinettes (I literally can eat an entire bag in one sitting)
2. Colored Heels (I'm trying to find a cute pair to wear with a black dress to a wedding this summer)
3. Our new house and finding cute accessories and furniture for it
4. Warm Weather - I'm ready for summer! Along with that is new SUMMER CLOTHES!
5. Planning our fall vacation for November - any suggestions are welcome (we want to go somewhere WARM)

5 Places I'd Love to Go:
1. Capri, Italy (I went in college, but we were only there for 1 day and it wasn't long enough)
2. Australia
3. The Seychelles
4. Paris
5. Ibiza Spain

The weather here today makes me just want to stay in bed all day. Tonight I have a small get together to go to for my friend M who is getting married next month in Maine. She actually is going up there next week and staying through the wedding, to get everything together. Should be fun.

Tomorrow at work I have the wedding of one of my most favorite brides...sometimes I get really close to certain brides (like I really could hang out with them and be friends with them). She's such a sweetheart and her fiance is so nice (and very attractive...haha). They are calling for rain here again, so I have my fingers crossed that the forecast will change because I will be so sad if she has rain on her wedding day.

I'm getting excited for the Preppy Summer Swap that Running Just as Fast as I can is hosting!! Can't wait to find out who my partner is and start getting together some cute stuff for her!!

Dogs like Rainbows

The flip flops that is. I went home for lunch today and I was playing with Spencer. I left her with a toy and was making my lunch in the kitchen for all of 5 seconds. I come back to see her chewing on my rainbow flop that was on the ground by the door. That's the 5th time she's started chewing on them. She doesn't touch any other pairs of shoes. I guess she can smell me on them. I'm gonna have to start being more careful...those are my favorite shoes!!

Also, I got online shopping happy this afternoon. I ordered Spencer this:



It's a Lands End squall coat that has a LCD light in it so you can see your dog at night!!! Totally obsessed! Plus, it was on sale for $14.99. Can't beat that. Sailor boy is going to kill me.

Furniture Shopping

So with this new house (ps...we move in JUNE 15TH!!) comes new furniture. The house isn't huge, so we don't need alot, but I do want to get a few new pieces. Mainly a nice comfy arm chair for the living room. We only have a couch right now (a nice one, even though it was a hand me down from my parents). It's sage green tweed...the tweed has brown, orange and yellow in it. In our tiny apartment, we also have one of those IKEA chairs (the ones everyone has - the wood frame with the thin canvas pad that fits on it) that I have left over from college. I do not want to use that IKEA chair in our new place...i'll probably stash it in the spare bedroom/office. I think a nice comfy chair will be good for the space...especially because we have a fireplace in this house and I want to be able to cozy up :-)

Also, our budget is not very big at all (like non-existant...Sailor Boy will say we don't even NEED a chair...but once we get one, I know he will love it). I'd like to spend under $200 on this chair. So I started searching online at target.com because I actually like a good amount of their furniture. Here's what I found so far: All these chairs are under $200 and I think they all look really nice. I'm intrigued by the leather chair, because I know Sailor Boy would love it (he would feel very distinguished sitting in a leather chair reading the newspaper). I need to see if that green chair matches or at least compliments the green in the couch. We have a long low bookshelf with those same feet on it like the green chair, so I like that it would sort of "match". Plus, if we get an ottoman for the chair, it will make it a little more comfy.

I'm also in the market for a banquette/buffet table of some sort for the "dining room". This house doesn't have a formal dining room like we have now, so we'll be using the couch to seperate the space into a dining area. So I want to get some sort of a table to make that space seem a little more "dining". Here's another piece I found at Target that I like:

We don't need a china cabinet (since we have no formal china), so this might be good for extra storage and just to make that space seem a little bit more "dining room like".

The one thing I'm NOT excited about it packing!! grrrr. I really really hate it. When I moved into my apartment last summer I said I was never moving again..ha. One year later, here I am. Luckily, Sailor Boy is moving/packing NAZI so it should go pretty smoothly. I've never seen anyone move or pack as fast as he does. It's crazy. I just stay out of his way and do what he says...he seriously moved me into the apartment in like 4 hours. We don't get to take "breaks" and I don't get to figure out where I want stuff...he just plops it down and keeps moving. I guess it's good, but it's definitely a little frantic. My favorite part of moving anyways is unpacking and putting stuff where it goes.

I also need some advice on plants. I want to make sure our yard looks good and plant some flowers. However, the neighborhood is ALL trees and SO shady. Any suggestions on good plants that thrive in practically all shade?? We don't even have any grass in the backyard because it won't grow. It's just decking and then mainly mulch and dirt. So I guess I will do planters with things in them...it's just a matter of finding what will actually grow with all that shade. I can't wait till we're moved in and I can post all the pics of the new house!!

Mother's Day Plans

So I'm an only child and I'm really close to my mom (well both of my parents actually). This year, when I asked her what she wanted to do for Mother's day, her answer surprised the crap out of me. "I want to come over to your house for brunch". WHAT? My mom wants me to cook for her? She knows I'm not exactly Julia Child in the kitchen - I do OK, but it's not like gourmet or anything. I mean, when I cook something, it usually consists of me calling her about 50 times to ask random questions about ingredients and cooking times.

Her main reason for this is because her and my dad are currently renovating their kitchen (like, completely gutted and new EVERYTHING). It's about a 6 week project and they started last week. So they are basically eating every meal out and I think she's getting sick of it. She wants a home cooked meal in the comfort of me and Sailor Boy's apartment. Sailor boy is actually the MASTER of breakfast/brunch foods. It's one of our favorite things to do...make a huge weekend breakfast together. He cooks and I clean up. So he's more up for the challenge than I am. To keep it pretty simple, I think we're going to do a quiche of some sort, breakfast potatoes and fruit salad. I should be able to manage that. Sailor Boy is doing the potatoes and the bloody marys (another one of my mom's requirements for this breakfast). Does anyone have a really good, pretty easy quiche recipe? I've found a few, but none that really jump out at me. I'd like do do something veggie - maybe like spinach and mushroom with some ham and cheese? I'm pretty sure I'm going to just buy the pre-made crusts...way easier that way. So wish me luck!!

Seis de Mayo

How was everyone's Cinco de Mayo?? I usually don't celebrate it that much, but last night my friend K hosted a little get together and I think I may have consumed 1 mango margarita too many. I was feeling a little "off" this morning. Normally I stay away from tequila all together (very bad experience in college), but the frozen mango mix was calling my name last night. Plus I ate about 2 tons of guacamole...probably not the best combination.

Spencer starts puppy school tonight!! And not a moment too soon, let me tell you. The problem is that she's been sort of cooped up while she's recovered from her spay surgery...the vet said not to let her run around and get too crazy until she gets her staples out this Friday. Well I think it's finally wearing on her, because you can tell she wants to run and jump, but we really aren't letting her. I know, we're so mean. All her built up energy is turning her into terror puppy! She's constantly barking and trying to run while we're out on walks, being super stubborn and generally just not listening to us. It's like she went from a very well behaved dog to a devil dog overnight. So I'm anxious to see how the class goes tonight and if we can start her back on track of behaving.

On my day off yesterday, I stopped by Marshalls and TJ Maxx to see if they had anything good...everyone had been talking about finding tons of cute Lilly and VV stuff at their stores. Well there was NOTHING at either of them. I was really bummed. Marshalls had ONE Lilly wrap shirt, but the print and style reminded me of hospital scrubs, so I didn't even try it on. I did get a very cute pair of black peep toe espadrilles (which I'm wearing as we speak). I like them because the heel is not too high. With my job, I'm constantly running around, but I still like wearing heels, so I was happy to find a cute compromise. Then, I went to get a pedicure and I was reading the latest Lucky magazine while the woman did my toes and there was a whole article on how lower espadrille heels are going to be the new hot thing for spring/summer. I was so excited!! For once, I was right on track with the trends!! Usually I just wear pretty basic, classic stuff and I would rather buy 1 or 2 timeless things than a whole bunch of trendy pieces. But it is nice every once and a while to know I'm not totally out of style...hehe.

Has anyone gotten their economic stimulus refund yet?? Sailor Boy got his today, but I haven't gotten mine. It's being directly deposited, so I've been checking my account a million times a day. I know I should probably save all of it, but I've had my eye on a few new j.crew purchases...and didn't Bush say he wanted us to SPEND it?? I hope it gets here this week!

6 Random Things

So no one tagged me to do this, but I'm doing it anyway!!! Six completely random things about me...

1. I had braces for 7 years. I got them on in 3rd grade and off in 10th grade. Yes, my teeth were "jacked up" (that's what sailor boy says when he sees pictures of me from back then...isn't he so romantic). Because of this, I am now anally obsessed with keeping my teeth straight. After I got my braces off, I wore my retainers religiously every night. It's definitely trailed off, especially now living with Sailor Boy (it's not very romantic to cuddle up to a metal mouth every night). But I still try to wear them at least 2 times a week.

2. I always have a ponytail holder on my wrist. In case I need to throw my hair up in a ponytail. This wouldn't be so weird except for last summer, I completely chopped my hair off into an angled bob (think Jenny McCarthy) so it doesn't fit into a ponytail anymore. But it's a habit now from when I had long hair, so I still just keep it there....i even sleep and shower with it on my wrist. Sometimes after they get worn out or gross, I'll replace it with a new one. Even when I'm dressed up, I have to remind myself to take it off. Right now the one I have on my wrist is hot pink.

3. I failed my driving test 3 times when I was 16. If I had failed one more time, they would have made me re-take driver's ed and wait 6 months to take the test again. The 2nd time I failed I actually got into an accident with another car on the course. It was a girl I went to high school with and she bumped me as she was turning into the course and I was exiting. We both failed automatically...and I had just completed the whole course and passed! I was so upset that I didn't speak to her for weeks at school.

4. I'm obsessed with Clorox Wipes. Like, really obsessed. Last year, as one of my christmas presents, Sailor Boy bought a 4 pack, wrapped them and put them under the tree. And I loved it. I compulsively wipe the kitchen counters and floors with them several times a day. I probably go through a container every 2-3 days. My favorite is the orange scented ones.

5. When I was 23, I went to visit my best friend C who lives in Ft. Lauderdale. On my last night of visiting her, we decided to bring 2 water bottles of vodka to the bar with us in our purses to save money on buying drinks. (We thought this would be a really awesome idea after we'd already had some drinks in her apartment) It worked great, except for halfway through the night, I reached into my purse to get my cell phone and I realized that my water bottle had come open and the entire bottle of vodka had leaked into my purse. There was literally a puddle of vodka in the bottom on my purse. My cell phone, camera, wallet were all SOAKED (and the cell phone and camera were dead). It was very interesting trying to fly home the next day and not be able to call Sailor Boy to tell him my flight landed and that he could come pick me up from the airport...he still hasn't let me live that one down. Oh, and it was my favorite black purse...which I had to throw away because it was ruined.

6. The first time I tried to cook for Sailor Boy (like 2 weeks after we started dating), I thought I would come off cool by cooking him this huge meal of enchiladas, beans and rice. Only I couldn't cook AT ALL. I got my roommate at the time to give me her recipe for enchiladas because they were so good and easy. The secret ingredient in them is actually Cheez Whiz (i swear, it's really good). Well I didn't read the recipe and added the entire jar of Cheez Whiz (it called for 1/4 jar), plus an entire bag of shredded cheese (it called for half a bag). I didn't realize this until we start eating them and we're both like "wow, these are really cheesy"...about 10 minutes later we both are laying on the couch in pain from the extreme cheesiness. I think we were each only able to eat like 4 bites of it before we realized it was basically unedible. I haven't made enchiladas since that. I have also become a much better cook...now I actually read the whole recipe!

Better Late than Never

So I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures from the brunch we threw for my bff K a few weeks ago for her engagement. It wasn't a shower...we just wanted to have a fun ladies only party to celebrate K being newly engaged. Since I'm a wedding/event planner, I always feel like there is a lot of pressure on me to make all the parties I throw really thought out and detail oriented. I think this one came together perfectly...whenever you throw a party for a group of girls, your hard work does not go unnoticed. We of course did a whole pink, green and preppy theme...sort of a little bit shabby chic as well.
My friend R' s house where we hosted the party...how perfect is that pink tree in the front yard?
Drink Table - Sailor Boy's contribution to the party was to make me 2 pitchers of sweet tea...its seriously some of the best I've ever had (and I went to college in North Carolina so I'm picky about my sweet tea)
We cleared out all the furniture from R's living room and made that the dining room Dessert!

Food Table - we had so much food...I cooked all weekend leading up the party
The Favors - tea bags of South African Tea. K was actually born and raised in South Africa, so we thought it would be nice to tie that in.

Since we did such a big, fun, girly party for this...I have no idea what I will come up with for the shower!!

Feelin' Good Friday!

Finally it's the weekend! I have alot to do this weekend...but it's all fun stuff, so I'm happy about that. Sailor boy and the pup are actually heading out of town tonight, to his parents vacation house on the potomac river in virginia. not really sure where in va it is...all i know is that it takes us about 2.5 hours to get there and it's really in the middle of nowhere. It's very relaxing though and it's always a good time when we go down...too bad i can't come this weekend :-( Is it bad that I'm actually sort of happy to have the house to myself??? I have to work all day tomorrow, but then sunday...i have quite a day planned!!

I'm going to sleep in, hopefully I can stay in bed until at least 10. I have a hard time sleeping in anymore...i'm usually wide awake and out of bed by 7:30. But sunday...I will FORCE myself to be lazy and stay in bed late. Since the apartment will be boy and puppy free, I'm going to do some massive spring cleaning. This may not sound fun, but I'm super anal/OCD about cleaning and I love to just spend a day really cleaning everything, so to me...it's heaven! I'm also going to get a pedicure and then lastly...TARGET!!! I just saw the target ad from the paper for the new Cynthia Rowley collection of home goods...OBSESSED! all the madras and pink and green...i MUST have it. I just hope I'm not too late! maybe i should go tonight!!! hehe.

In other fun news...sailor boy and i are officially MOVING!!! i wanted to wait until it was really final so i didn't jinx it, but it's 100% now. We're upgrading! A whole HOUSE and YARD for the dog. It's not the one we were looking at a while back...that one didn't work out because the house was SO old and SO big that the utilities were out of control. So we kept looking and finally found the perfect little house for us in the newspaper! The rent is very reasonable and it's actually in the same neighborhood we live in now, which is great because we love the area we live in. We can walk to like 5-6 of our friends places, so I'm glad that's not going to change...I like being close to everything :-)

It's a little 2 bedroom house that was completely upgraded 3 years ago, so all the appliances and everything is like brand new. It's just the most adorable house...white washed wood ceilings and hardwood floors. The backyard is HUGE and fenced in...basically spencer's idea of heaven!! I can't wait until we get a grill and some patio furniture to cook out and have barbeques!!! is it bad that I'm already shopping for stuff to furnish/decorate it and we haven't even moved in yet? We will move in hopefully July 1st - when our lease is up here. They want someone in June 15th, but we were able to negotiate a little bit for a later date.

Since it's a cottage, I want to decorate it sort of semi-beachy and fun. Most of our furniture/decor is green (couch, chairs, etc.) but I want to put some fun little new touches in...curtains, throw pillows, etc. I'm so excited!!! Here's the look I want from Pottery Barn...not sure if I could make it work with our green tweed couch, but I love it anyway!

Happy Friday!

Semi-homemade by Kim

I have to admit - I'm obsessed with Food Network. In particular, I am obsessed with Sandra Lee. I know, I know...she's a fake Martha Stewart who doesn't really "cook" anything. But I actually think what she does is wonderful. Most people are not chefs (myself included), so I like that she has come up with ways for families to eat dinner together but not have it be hard or complicated. Most of us already cook this way...I don't know too many people who cook or bake EVERYTHING from scratch. I mean, when Sailor Boy says he's craving stuffing for dinner, I don't sit there tearing up bread crumbs. I reach into the cabinet and pull out some Stove Top. I'm not ashamed.

I will also admit that sometimes I do find Sandra annoying and overly perky. But I still look past that and watch her religiously. Some of her receipes are not that good, but I have found some really good ones. I like using her receipes for entertaining, because it's much easier and I don't have to spend hours preparing stuff...and I can still pass it off like it's my own. I'm also a fan of her cocktails...because really, who doesn't like to end a meal with a good cocktail or two.

I made her blue cheese crusted filet mignon last night because I was thinking Sailor Boy and I needed a little treat after being so exhausted from puppy training the past few weeks. Sailor Boy is a huge steak guy (he would eat it every night if he could), so he was very excited. I hardly ever cook beef besides like tacos and burgers on the grill. But this came out really delicious!! We have this amazing steak place in our town called Lewnes, and while I don't think it came close to rivaling that, I was still very proud of myself.

2 tablespoons bleu cheese crumbles
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
2 teaspoons fines herbs (i just used Montreal Steak Seasoning - we like our steak spicy so I used more than 2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
4 (6-ounce) filet mignon steaks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning, plus 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup cognac (ok, I admit it...I used Sailor Boy's Crown Royal because I really didn't want to go to the store to buy cognac that we will never drink - that's why it's semi-homemade...i work with what i have)
1 cup organic beef stock
1 teaspoon crushed garlic (i just used the jarred minced garlic)
1/4 cup frozen chopped onion (I used a fresh onion - i'm not a fan of frozen onions)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil; set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, combine bleu cheese, bread crumbs, herbs, and 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil; set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large saute pan and heat over medium-high heat. Season steaks with salt and pepper and to add pan, but do not crowd. Sear 1 to 2 minutes per side just to brown. Remove pan from heat and transfer steaks onto prepared baking sheet.

Top each steak with 1/4 of blue cheese mixture. Finish cooking steaks in preheated oven for 4 minutes for medium-rare, 6 minutes for medium, and 8 minutes for well done.

Return pan to stove and deglaze with cognac by scraping bits from bottom of pan. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce liquid by half.

Serve steaks hot with sauce.

Delish! I forgot to take a picture of how mine came out, but I can tell you...it was beautiful!

Is anyone else SUPER happy it's already Thursday?