Welp, my last post was in MAY. Whoops. So much has happened, though.
So. Much.
Patrick and I decided that Wilmington, while awesome, didn't have any career opportunities for either of us, so, rather than continue to spin our wheels, we packed up and moved back up to the DC area. We've been here since July, and the move was definitely the right one for us. I wasn't able to get a teaching job, so I've been in the restaurant business - still - but I actually just got a great new opportunity that I start January 5th! I'll be working from home much of the time, and traveling the remainder of the time, but I'm hoping that this kind of schedule will free me up to blog more.
To be fair, blogging even once a month would be "more," so maybe I should set my sights a bit higher! :) At any rate, my sister has been telling me to get the blog going, so hopefully after the new year, I will do just that!
Dec 19, 2014
May 19, 2014
Myrtle Beach Bike Week 2014
Anyone that's ever visited or lived in Myrtle Beach knows that May means one thing - BIKE WEEK. The second week of May, thousands of bikers (as in motorcycles, not bicycles) crowd into Myrtle Beach to... well... I never really knew what. I lived in Myrtle for five years, but all I really ever knew of Bike Week is that the traffic is horrific.
Funnily enough, now that I've moved out of Myrtle Beach, I got the chance to actually experience it. Patrick had friends come down from Maine to stay with us for the week, and I rode down to Myrtle with everyone for one day to see what Bike Week is actually all about. Turns out, Bike Week is some of the best people watching ever... I loved it! I didn't take a whole lot of pictures (and, most annoyingly, I never got a picture of me on a bike for the first time, ugh!), but I had a blast. We started with The Beaver Bar in Murrell's Inlet, and then moved on to spend most of our time at Suck Bank Blow (where these many many pictures were taken).
The bar has a dirty name, I admit, but we just posted up on the balcony and watched everyone below. My impression of Bike Week was always along the lines of "So you ride your bike from bar to bar... where you get drunk... and then ride again? Real smart." and while I'm sure there were (unfortunately) some bikers doing that, there's really plenty else to see and do.
Funnily enough, now that I've moved out of Myrtle Beach, I got the chance to actually experience it. Patrick had friends come down from Maine to stay with us for the week, and I rode down to Myrtle with everyone for one day to see what Bike Week is actually all about. Turns out, Bike Week is some of the best people watching ever... I loved it! I didn't take a whole lot of pictures (and, most annoyingly, I never got a picture of me on a bike for the first time, ugh!), but I had a blast. We started with The Beaver Bar in Murrell's Inlet, and then moved on to spend most of our time at Suck Bank Blow (where these many many pictures were taken).
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| Helmet hair, anyone? Should've taken a cue from Patrick and brought a hat! |
We got to SBB at maybe four o'clock? but we stayed until the sun went down for one thing - a burnout contest. Don't know what a burnout is? Never fear, neither did I, so allow me to educate you: a burnout is when you lock the front tire of your bike while letting the back wheel spin as you take the bike through gears. Eventually, the back tire will blow. Suck Bang Blow's big claim to fame is a "burnout pit" for exactly this purpose.
The big clear box at the bottom of the screen is the burnout pit, with an exhaust fan at the top to try to help clear the inevitable smoke.
This last photo is right before the contest started. Once again, I forgot to take a picture of the contest itself (in my defense, my phone was dead, so I had to ask Patrick to take the few photos we do have). The exhaust fan didn't really do its job very well, anyway, so you really wouldn't have been able to see anything besides the smoke anyway. We went on Monday, which is really the first official day of Bike Week, and you can see how crowded it is even as the sun isn't quite down. I can't imagine how packed it gets by Friday.
I didn't know what to expect from Bike Week, and, I admit, most of my expectations were negative, but I truly had a great time. Riding motorcycles has always been a huge part of Patrick's life, and while I've a long way to go before I love it the way he does, it was nice to be able to share in his favorite hobby even in a little way. Next time? More pictures of me on the bike!
Anyone else ever been in the thick of Bike Week, in Myrtle or elsewhere? Were you as pleasantly surprised as I was?
May 2, 2014
Patrick's Birthday Card
I love a good greeting card, and every holiday, I try to outdo myself making Patrick a homemade card. This year, Patrick's birthday fell on Easter Sunday, and, since I worked late Saturday night, I decided to put his "cards" up on the bathroom mirror for him to see when he woke up. Here's what the final product looked like:
A bit mean for birthday cards, eh? Look a bit closer...
I know some of those are still a bit hard to read, so here's the full text:
without YOU life would SUCK.
YOU'RE the only thing that can brighten my UGLY day.
I HATE that YOU have to work today.
I WILL END anyone who tries to eff with YOU on your birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I LOVE YOU!
(The red "I WILL END YOU" card is a reference to this Aziz Ansari joke, which is from his stand-up special Buried Alive, which you should totally watch.)
It was all I could do to not crack up as I watched Patrick squinting at the mirror in the morning. Not your conventional greeting cards, but I love it! And in case you're interested in recreating a similar lovefest, I made some digital versions, too!
May 1, 2014
Mise en Place
If you are a fan of Top Chef or any other cooking show, you've probably heard the French phrase "mise en place." Essentially, I believe it means "everything in its place," but, just for you, I will Google it to see if that's right.
... ... ... Hm, I'm pretty close! It means "putting in place."
Anyway, from what I can gather, this means that when you cook, instead of having to scramble to chop garlic when you reach "Step 4: Add garlic to skillet," you have all your food prepped and ready to go. I don't know anyone who is organized enough to actually cook this way all of the time, unless you count the Pioneer Woman. But you know what, she looks pretty B.A. as she just adds all of her ingredients out of cute little bowls, so I decided to give it a go tonight while I made Potato Skins Mac & Cheese for dinner.
The verdict? It certainly made it a bit easier to cook in the moment, but, honestly, I'm not so sure that the extra dirty dishes are worth it most of the time. I already feel that I dirty 80% of the dishes we own when I cook, and doing this just adds to the problem. Definitely prepping some stuff is helpful (like veg that need chopping, cheese that needs grating), but doing so for everything (especially for stuff that just needs opening and measuring directly) seems like a waste of time/dishes.
How about you - when you cook, do you prep all your mise en place in advance, wing it as you go, or are you somewhere in the middle, like me?
... ... ... Hm, I'm pretty close! It means "putting in place."
Anyway, from what I can gather, this means that when you cook, instead of having to scramble to chop garlic when you reach "Step 4: Add garlic to skillet," you have all your food prepped and ready to go. I don't know anyone who is organized enough to actually cook this way all of the time, unless you count the Pioneer Woman. But you know what, she looks pretty B.A. as she just adds all of her ingredients out of cute little bowls, so I decided to give it a go tonight while I made Potato Skins Mac & Cheese for dinner.
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| Not pictured: macaroni noodles, crumbled bacon, and ground beef (all still in their pots). |
The verdict? It certainly made it a bit easier to cook in the moment, but, honestly, I'm not so sure that the extra dirty dishes are worth it most of the time. I already feel that I dirty 80% of the dishes we own when I cook, and doing this just adds to the problem. Definitely prepping some stuff is helpful (like veg that need chopping, cheese that needs grating), but doing so for everything (especially for stuff that just needs opening and measuring directly) seems like a waste of time/dishes.
How about you - when you cook, do you prep all your mise en place in advance, wing it as you go, or are you somewhere in the middle, like me?
Mar 17, 2014
What I've Been Cooking Lately
For Christmas, Patrick got me this chalkboard menu from Hobby Lobby. I love to cook, and now I have a pretty place I can list our meals for the week! Since there's just two of us, and I work three nights a week, menu planning like this will usually last me two weeks or so, as I won't cook every night. Here's some of what I've been cooking lately!
recipe from Closet Cooking
Patrick is crazy about goat cheese, and this is an easy favorite for us. I don't usually bother with the basil called for in the recipe, but it's still great. Also, if you've never roasted your own red pepper before you seriously don't know what you're missing.
Chicken Croissants
recipe from Mom
We ate these all the time growing up, and I still love them. Basically, you fill crescent rolls with chicken and cream cheese and bake them with breadcrumbs on top. We usually eat them with a side of asparagus and rice.
recipe from Skinnytaste
This isn't the quickest recipe, but it's well worth the time and effort it takes. A bit on the dangerous side when it comes to trying to cut the butternut squash, though... why is it so hard to do?! At any rate, I've made these a few times and they've always turned out great.
recipes from Budget Bytes
There's a reason Budget Bytes is my favorite recipe website, and these two are on constant rotation. I've never bothered to add the sesame seeds, but it's still delicious without it. The best part about the chicken recipe is that I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand, so I can make this whenever the mood strikes. Plain old jasmine rice will go just fine with the chicken, but the coconut version just takes it to a whole new level!
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| Yep, you can still see the recipes from the last time. I think I need to re-chalkboard paint the background so it doesn't keep absorbing the wet chalk pen paint. |
Coconut Chicken Curry
recipe from the Budget Bytes cookbook
When I was in college, I lived downstairs from an Indian couple, and I always hated the food smells that came from their apartment. Flash forward six years, and now I'm cooking curry and filling my house with that smell voluntarily. Go figure.
recipe from Budget Bytes
If I had to pick one favorite from Budget Bytes, this would be it. I hate making meatballs, because touching raw meat with my hands grosses me out, but this recipe is so worth it. Just like the sesame chicken above, I don't bother with the sesame seeds, and I make it both with regular rice and with coconut jasmine rice. You really can't go wrong with this recipe, I promise!
Jambalaya
recipe from my cousin Brittney
I wanted to make some genuine jambalaya this month in honor of Mardi Gras, so I texted my cousin from Baton Rouge for a good recipe. She didn't disappoint!
Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff
recipe from the Budget Bytes cookbook
Mmm, I might have lied about the Terikyaki Meatball Bowls being my favorite Budget Bytes recipe. I don't know what it is about this one that is so phenomenal, but man oh man it is. Think of a Hamburger Helper recipe but 10000000% better, and only 1% more work. So good.
Chicken Enchiladas
I've made each of these recipes on their own before, and I decided to take the best of both and combine them. I used the sauce from the Budget Bytes recipe (although I added chipotles like in the Skinnytaste sauce) and the filling form the Skinnytaste recipe, and the combination was even better!
What have you been cooking lately? Am I the only one that posts a menu in the house?
Mar 16, 2014
Household Bills Tracker
I, for one, have always (well, since college) been one to track every dime that I make. I wouldn't say that I'm a penny pincher, in fact, I spend more than I should, but I do know where I overspend, if that makes sense. My dad taught me to balance a checkbook when I was young, and I still carry a checking register in my wallet and log every. single. transaction. I have for both my debit and credit cards.
In the same vein, I tend to always be on top of my bills, making sure that I know when they're due, what they are, and - most importantly - that I pay them on time, every time. Some of my best friends, well, they pretty much suck at it. So the other rainy day I was playing around in Photoshop, and I ended up making this Household Bills Tracker to make it easier!
In the same vein, I tend to always be on top of my bills, making sure that I know when they're due, what they are, and - most importantly - that I pay them on time, every time. Some of my best friends, well, they pretty much suck at it. So the other rainy day I was playing around in Photoshop, and I ended up making this Household Bills Tracker to make it easier!
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| This is just an image - if you'd like a PDF, click here for the Google Doc! Also, I'm not sure why the entire image looks grey here... the Doc is a white paper, I promise. |
Here's a sample of how it might look when you use it, for all those visual people (me included):
As you can see, I planned it for a couple that's living together but has separate bank accounts, although it would work for a two-person roommate situation as well. My boyfriend and I try to split rent, and then most of our bills are on auto-pay from one of our accounts. We typically try to keep the remaining bills about even between the two of us, and this allows me to see which one of us is "ahead" from the last month, so we can try to even it out the following month. I also use the last column to keep track of things like confirmation numbers, late charges, or if a credit is going to be applied to the bill for the following month.
If the "calendar-on-the-fridge" method of keeping track of your bills isn't cutting it for you, hopefully this will help you change that around!
* Template design inspired by the free printables from iHeartOrganizing. Love that blog!
Feb 18, 2014
Mini- Binder Dividers
As in, mini-dividers for your binder, not dividers for your mini-binder. Confusing, I know.
Anyway! Last week I finally bit the bullet and started printing hard copies of my favorite recipes. I love to cook, and it was getting a bit ridiculous trying to look up the same recipes over and over. I knew I wanted to organize the recipes by type, but I also knew that I had no dividers on hand and didn't feel like buying any.
The good news is, with a little cardstock and some labels, I created some mini-dividers that get the job done and look pretty doing it! Here's how to do the same yourself:
1. Grab some pretty labels and cardstock. I have a book of 5x7 multicolor cardstock that I used, but the name of the game is Use Whatever You Have On Hand, so any size will really do. My labels are from the dollar spot at Target, and the cardstock, ummm, who knows where I bought it. It's lasted me ages.
2. Use a ruler to divide your cardstock in two, vertically. If you use 5x7 cardstock like I did, you'll end up with two 2.5x7 pieces.
3. Using the ruler (again), put the left edge of your label approximately half an inch from the left edge, which will make your label appear centered. As you can see, I wasn't very precise measuring this. As for how far from the top I placed the label, I just eyeballed it with a slight border from the top. (If you are using a different size cardstock, you will need to play around to figure out where to place the label in order for it to still appear centered after you punch your holes.)
4. Use the ruler on your 3-hole-punch to punch holes in the same place in each piece of cardstock. This is the hardest part, but, honestly, it's not too hard. I held my cardstock up to paper in the binder already to determine about where I wanted the holes, and then I used the ruler on the 3-hole-punch to approximate that measurement. In retrospect, I wish I had made the holes a little lower so that the dividers poked out a bit more at the top, but to me it was more important to have the dividers consistent. (I tried to show you the ruler on my 3-hole-punch here, but I wasn't as successful as I'd hoped.)
So there you have it! They don't really have the same functionality of regular binder dividers, but I already know the order of my categories in my recipe binder, so this does the job, cost me nothing, and adds a little bit of pretty! :)
Anyway! Last week I finally bit the bullet and started printing hard copies of my favorite recipes. I love to cook, and it was getting a bit ridiculous trying to look up the same recipes over and over. I knew I wanted to organize the recipes by type, but I also knew that I had no dividers on hand and didn't feel like buying any.
The good news is, with a little cardstock and some labels, I created some mini-dividers that get the job done and look pretty doing it! Here's how to do the same yourself:
1. Grab some pretty labels and cardstock. I have a book of 5x7 multicolor cardstock that I used, but the name of the game is Use Whatever You Have On Hand, so any size will really do. My labels are from the dollar spot at Target, and the cardstock, ummm, who knows where I bought it. It's lasted me ages.
2. Use a ruler to divide your cardstock in two, vertically. If you use 5x7 cardstock like I did, you'll end up with two 2.5x7 pieces.
3. Using the ruler (again), put the left edge of your label approximately half an inch from the left edge, which will make your label appear centered. As you can see, I wasn't very precise measuring this. As for how far from the top I placed the label, I just eyeballed it with a slight border from the top. (If you are using a different size cardstock, you will need to play around to figure out where to place the label in order for it to still appear centered after you punch your holes.)
So there you have it! They don't really have the same functionality of regular binder dividers, but I already know the order of my categories in my recipe binder, so this does the job, cost me nothing, and adds a little bit of pretty! :)
Jan 3, 2014
My Word for 2014
If you read blogs regularly, you've probably noticed the trend of, rather than composing New Year's resolutions, to choose a "word" for the year. Myself, I love writing resolutions. It's a list - what's not to love?! The problem is, year after year, my list looks like this:
1. Eat healthier
2. Work out more
3. Floss more often
4. Keep better in touch with old friends
5. Join a small group at church
6. Eat out less often
7. Go vegetarian five days a week
8. Wear real outfits when I leave the house instead of yoga pants
9. etc.
10. etc.
By the time I'm done, I typically have - no exaggeration - about 30 resolutions every year. Let's take a guess how many of them I adhere to for more than a week.
So this year, I've decided to do a bloggy thing and pick a word for the year. For me, 2014 will be the year of:
Okay, it's a two-word phrase, not just one word, but whatever. I love it, because it really encompasses what I truly want to accomplish most. When I quit my teaching job (ugh, maybe I'll write about that one day), I returned to the restaurant. While not exciting in and of itself, I was excited that it would give me more free time to figure out what I actually enjoy. I'm 27 years old, but I don't have any hobbies, really. Not many interests, either. So I want to be more purposeful with my free time, using it to enjoy my life.
I want to be more purposeful with my time with Patrick. Sitting together in bed watching TV as we fall asleep does not count as spending time together.
I want to be more purposeful with my time with my dogs. Just because I'm tired when I get home from work does not mean that they are. They have slept all day and want to play!
I want to be more purposeful with my time with the Lord. Namely, I want to make time with the Lord.
I want to be more purposeful with things that I say. I don't think enough before I speak, so I want to say what I mean.
I want to be more purposeful with my relationships with friends. We've only been in Wilmington for 6 months, and I'm not as social as I wish I were. I miss female companionship.
Really, I could go on and on...kind of a repeat problem of resolutions, no? But really, it's not the same, because I just want to be purposeful with everything that I do, as much as I can. Of course not all the time with everything, but I just know that life is short, and I want to actually enjoy mine and have mine mean something.
Do you ever focus on living purposefully? What do you think of the blogging trend for a "word of the year" instead of resolutions?
1. Eat healthier
2. Work out more
3. Floss more often
4. Keep better in touch with old friends
5. Join a small group at church
6. Eat out less often
7. Go vegetarian five days a week
8. Wear real outfits when I leave the house instead of yoga pants
9. etc.
10. etc.
By the time I'm done, I typically have - no exaggeration - about 30 resolutions every year. Let's take a guess how many of them I adhere to for more than a week.
So this year, I've decided to do a bloggy thing and pick a word for the year. For me, 2014 will be the year of:
living purposefully.
Okay, it's a two-word phrase, not just one word, but whatever. I love it, because it really encompasses what I truly want to accomplish most. When I quit my teaching job (ugh, maybe I'll write about that one day), I returned to the restaurant. While not exciting in and of itself, I was excited that it would give me more free time to figure out what I actually enjoy. I'm 27 years old, but I don't have any hobbies, really. Not many interests, either. So I want to be more purposeful with my free time, using it to enjoy my life.
I want to be more purposeful with my time with Patrick. Sitting together in bed watching TV as we fall asleep does not count as spending time together.
I want to be more purposeful with my time with my dogs. Just because I'm tired when I get home from work does not mean that they are. They have slept all day and want to play!
I want to be more purposeful with my time with the Lord. Namely, I want to make time with the Lord.
I want to be more purposeful with things that I say. I don't think enough before I speak, so I want to say what I mean.
I want to be more purposeful with my relationships with friends. We've only been in Wilmington for 6 months, and I'm not as social as I wish I were. I miss female companionship.
Really, I could go on and on...kind of a repeat problem of resolutions, no? But really, it's not the same, because I just want to be purposeful with everything that I do, as much as I can. Of course not all the time with everything, but I just know that life is short, and I want to actually enjoy mine and have mine mean something.
Do you ever focus on living purposefully? What do you think of the blogging trend for a "word of the year" instead of resolutions?
