happy halloween!

(image from here)

(oh and have a listen to this if you really want to get in the mood. was I the last one ever to hear about this? and why did no one tell me about it????)

freakin friday mix (enjoy!)

Gone Sugaring-Mirah
Kick Drum Heart- Avett Brothers
Funny Little Frog- Belle & Sebastian
Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side- Magnetic Fields
People Gotta Lot of Nerve- Neko Case
Business Time- Flight of the Conchords
Oh You Pretty Things- David Bowie
Rubella- Smoking Popes
Holland, 1945- Neutral Milk Hotel
Black Cadillacs- Modest Mouse
Push It- Salt N Pepa



Music Playlist at MixPod.com

(check out these guys' super sweet friday mixes too!)
hi fi weddings
one cat per person
tylre
10000dollarwedding
fashionunder100
jolynn
savoir weddings
fancynotion
anotherdamnlife
dead flowers blog

since everyone seemed to like this...

my cats (2 of the 3, tinker on L, pirate on R; beto not pictured)



if my cats dressed up for halloween (tink as she ra, pirate as captain america)

bits of my day.

dinner tonight.

help a lady out.

this blog is trying to find its way. perhaps you can help me out? here are some things I like: I like things that make me laugh and smile. I like amazing art. I like things that make me want to make change in the world (inspiring stories,etc). I like things that make me drool (food and shopping alike). would you read it if I wrote about them? what do you want to read about? truth or dares? wacky adventures? music? stuff I want? embarassing childhood tales? stuff I want to make/have made? recipes? what do you want to read about? or do you want to see my drawings? I'm sorry I'm never probably going to be one of those blogs that writes about anything too deep. I'm more likely to devote a post to animals wearing people clothes.


(you can buy your cat a party hat here; found via here)

thanks for the help in advance, folks.

my weekend.

how was your weekend? mine was nice. too short (as always) but nice. I neglected to get anything done on my halloween costume for work on friday. I did get a birthday gift for a certain someone who gave birth to me though. I also went to the new target near my house and got a free gift bag. it was the best because I was out shopping and was hungry and the woman said 'here have a gift bag. we have a new fresh food section'. the best part was the gift bag was filled with food that is the furthest from fresh you can get: combos (not even cheese, pepperoni combos; we read the ingredients list and there is no actual meat in it; fun fact!) and poppycock (its this caramel corn & nut mix). it also included a map for me to get to the fresh food section. I thought that was pretty hysterical. anyways, I can probably divide the rest into 3 sections:

1. food

- we went intent on finding a new fun place to eat on friday. first we encountered a strange plac that when we went in, it was closed off by a curtain so we were unsure how to enter. we ended up at a place whose menu was 80% senior items. also my wrap had a ton of prosciutto which is usually awesome but I was more conscious of the fattiness of it since there was so much.

- made this (side note: I used low fat butter and low fat half and half and it was still excellent). ate it with homemade biscuits. ate it again over egg noodles. I still have about 2-3 portions left in the fridge. I need to downscale my portions or increase my desire for leftovers.

2. family

- spending time with my sister and husband. what could be better??

- do you guys have times of year when it seems like its everyones' birthday? its that time for me (this time of year and late spring/summer)

3. "wife chop"

(sorry I can't take a good picture to save my life)

also:

listening: Belle and Sebastian's Write About Love

watching: SNL, Planet Earth, Cold Case Files

brainstorming: christmas gifts, illustrated dream diaries, playlist for friday

reading: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

wearing: big sweaters & my trusted slouchy boots

so how was your weekend?

friday five!

well its been a long week, kids. what are your weekend plans? I might not have any, which is really awesome. scratch that, I have to make my mom's birthday present (will post later). tgif, here's your five:


five things I miss from my childhood*:


(slimer needs no introduction, image found here)

1- ecto cooler!**
2- 'my' tv lineup (ducktales, tailspin, gummi bears; also I miss my strawberry toy box that I would sit in to watch said shows)
3- my sweet NKOTB accessories (I swear I had a bracelet that weighed 10 lbs; it was faux gold with hearts and their signatures)
4- my teenage mutant ninja turtle action figures (especially the van)
5- popples

* certain things are a given like: being a kid, the house I grew up in, childhood pets
** see also: my metabolism, lack of food guilt



bonus! a link to start your weekend off hilariously

plant love.

in lieu of attempting to post anything of note* today, I thought I would post pictures of the houseplants I'm trying to keep alive (sorry in advance for the creepy dark pictures!)


(terrarium 1. I love this one, its hearty. its a varigated jade)

(terrarium 2. its a stripey aloe)

( italian basil)

(purple ruffle basil, thai basil)

(half of my dining room table terrariums)

(the other half; also those little mushrooms I bought off etsy)

(mint, lemon balm, mini succulent hair for the potato man planter; since I took this picture the mint has taken a turn for the worst)

(kitchen herbs: lavender, tarragon, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme)

not picture: my lemon tree in the hallway.

*I really wanted to hobble together a post about 2 different conversations I had last night with my husband: (1) would I rather have a guy roommate my age or an older one? (I chose option 1) and (2) what is the deal with the creepy double bathtubs in the cialis ads? (we did some googling, apparently it has to do with relaxing and having the 'luxury of time' on your side)

figs & sisters

(image from here)


a couple things:

1. yesterday I was already saying what a long week it had been...on tuesday
2. seeing my sister and eating fancy pasta and frozen yogurt made it better!
(we went to this pick your own pasta/sauce/toppings place. I got gnocchi with pink vodka sauce and mushrooms, peas and tomatoes. she got creamy pesto fettuccine. then we went to berry line, which is actually the same as pinkberry, and I got frozen yogurt with blackberries and fresh figs! I never knew how good fresh figs were since they are so damn expensive at the store! now I want them all the time! one of the things on my list of best things ever would be laughing with my sister.)

what cheers you up on a looong week?

**also: Angie I got the new Belle & Sebastian, I'll let you know how that goes

my weekend

(lots of VW listening. I have officially overplayed the Phoenix album so this cd was the soundtrack to our weekend)


(last wedding of the season, they had props on the dancefloor)

gorgeous wedding, beautiful bride, happy people. it's always fun to see people dance you haven't seen dance before.


(this didn't happen this weekend; this is just the face I make when I see babies)

we went to a 1 year old's birthday. I was so psyched to see the adorable little guy. I held him and made him cry which prompted me to ask Ryan if I thought our kids would like me. He looked at me like I was crazy and said of course they would but they might sense my crazy love for them and that is why they are nervous. Then he took it back saying babies are not like bears. regardless, I got some good times in with the wee ones since I had a balloon and he loved balloons (what little kid/adult doesn't?)


also:
-LOTS of cleaning our house
-more spaghetti squash, made soup for lunch for the week, made muffins for breakfast
-did a million loads of laundry (anyone else feel REALLY good after they do this??)
-went to the new super target near me (super jazzed!!!!)
-hysterical game of cranium
-loads of treats (candy, cake; all wedding related I swear!!!)


didn't:
-buy supplies to start a certain christmas gift
-get my wedding dress cleaned (still...I know)
-call/write my grandma (need to print out some photos and send them her way!)
-get my hair cut (everyone keeps saying how nice it looks long but it is driving me bonkers)

how was yours??

friday five!

(eek! image from here)

alright, it's here my friends. our beloved weekend. we're so close! I am lucky because I have a 3 day weekend this weekend since I have a wedding to attend today. sorry I am out of good ideas today, so this list may be a little weak:


5 things that I find perplexing/confusing/creepy:

1- mayo (not that I don't eat it; I just don't like to think about it too much)
2- the Dyson guy (I cannot believe how upset he gets over other vaccuum cleaners and now, fans. take a nap, dude. it'll all be okay)
3- the Dark Crystal
4- canned meats
5- Tom Cruise (what is his deal? he makes me nervous)

what are your 5?

bacon vs. good decisions

(the epic bacon explosion, from here)

so I read an article the other day in glamour about someone subsiding on a diet of anything they heard advertised (sorry I can't find a link to it; it was worth reading though). Not surprisingly, it was almost all junk. So when I listened to the radio on my way to work, I made note of all the food related ads in a 40 minute car ride:

1- subway- new angus beef subs
2- panera bread- bacon breakfast sandwich
3- peanut butter cups at 7-11 (I know! what a random ad)
4- wendy's- bacon deluxe sandwich
5-wendy's apple pecan salad (the girl in the article ate this and said it has more sugar in it than a doughnut)
6- dunkin donuts
7- tim hortons

I also heard:
2 ads for different diet pills (ironic, huh?)


I also heard 1 ad that was actually good, it was a Harvard Pilgrim one about making positive and smart lifestyle changes. We need more ads like that! I want to hijack the airwaves and say things like ' aren't apples great! we should eat more huh?' or 'we are all awesome! let's make some healthy decisions today!' or 'you haven't seen so and so for a while! you should call her, go for a walk, and catch up on gossip!' . I think if I start saying things like that to myself, I can maybe start making some better changes in my eating habits too!



who's with me?

dream diary.

(image from here)

this post is thanks to Angie. I am hoping this can become part of a series (if you're interested). You already heard about my gator dream but here's what has happened since:

dream 1: I was going on a road trip/ escaping from something. again, I think dinosaurs were involved, atleast I know a sabre tooth tiger was. but this sabre tooth tiger was my friend and slept in my van with me. for some reason, the car was completely open, no doors, windows. also for some reason, I slept in my car.

dream 2: this involved two people I have not talked to in quite sometime (nothing bad; just fell out of touch with, facebook stalking does not count). in the first part, there was a giant flying polar bear (hey its a dream give me a break! is it embarassing to mention that when the bear flew there were tiny blue stars all around him?). I tricked him into leaving my home along with an ex boyfriend. then i felt bad and let the ex-boyfriend back in (it was snowing out). is it weird I want to email him to say hi after dreaming this? he was a really nice guy (he is actually how I first met Ryan). I would think its awesome if someone had a magical polar bear dream and I was in it! keep that in mind if you dream about me!

dream 3: lounging about on my bed with an old friend I used to work with. I had invited some friends over and they were all in the kitchen eating all my food but I didn't go see them.

dream 4: I have a baby but the baby is already 2 years old. he is totally adorable and has long blond bangs (like a bowl cut). I am so sad that he is 2 and not a baby.

dream 5: I have ALOT of dreams where I am late for work...and don't care. in these particular dreams, I got to work earlier than normal but everyone else had gotten to work even earlier. usually, everyone is mad at me and I'm nervous I'll be fired. also, I'm usually underdressed, horribly dressed or half dressed.





lord, I'm a mess.

my weekend

(apple picking with my sister, Ryan, my dad, his girlfriend, her granddaughter (she is the cutest thing ever! I wanted to pick her up so much. She did a lot of dancing for me and held my hand a little though)...so the orchard was basically out of apples which seems so crazy to me but I did get about 5-10...I also got a big cool gourd I'm going to make a birdhouse with and 2 pumpkins, one to decorate with, one to make puree with)

(apple treats friday night, the recipe is here. just an FYI, they taste good with Edy's pumpkin ice cream; also these apples were enormous so we (I) only ate a little less than 1/2 of one)

(sunday breakfast for my husband. its supposed to be cinnamon pull apart bread but I didn't make enough dough so it came out more like munchkins, which is also good I suppose. All you need for it is either biscuit or pizza dough, melted butter (1/2 a stick should do it) and a bowl of cinnamon sugar. You can make them in a bundt pan or muffin tin, in anything flat bottomed it will make some kind of crazy caramel, also not a bad thing. make little dough balls, dip in butter than cinnamon sugar. pour only extra butter and cinnamon sugar mix over the dough balls. bake at 400 until toothpick comes out clean, probably 10-15 minutes. I made some myself poached eggs. I really need to get on making perfect poached eggs)

(this breakfast was the bomb. the recipe is from here. it made 2 portions and I'm not embarassed to say I ate it for lunch too)

(so I kinda went cooking crazy this weekend as I'm sure you've noticed so far. I also made a bunch of veggie stock and froze it in ice cube trays and in 2 cups portions as well. I made about eight cups and used a bunch of fresh herbs (tarragon, rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley) with 1 quartered onion, some chopped carrots, corn cobs, garlic, peppercorns, etc. I also made pumpkin puree (halve a pumpkin, rub with oil, roast 45 minutes at 350. scoop out inside. how easy is that??). then I made some pumpkin muffins for the week)

.....then I spent the rest of my weekend doing dishes. also, I bought a dress (for the last wedding of this wedding season we are attending), cleaned up my garden and compost bins and did the laundry. I feel pretty accomplished. and full.

so, how was your weekend?

friday five!

so I don't know about you but I had a loooong week. you know what would make it better? a friday five that makes me giggle the entire time I write it. so without further ado...

5 hilariously ridiculous animals*! (no particular order; also cats are a given since I have 3 so they are not on the list)

1- capybaras!

(I love how studious this guy looks. image from best week ever. for more capybara love, go here)

2- miniature horses

(image from here. I picked it because the horse's name is peggy sue and there are so many weird things happening in this picture, I mean is that an elf?? also, don't know if I ever told you but I used to ride horses (regular sized ones). it was the only sport I was ever good at, since the pony did all the work. also, one of the first times I ever played truth or dare was with other girls at the barn. long story short, I ended up having to lick a salt lick. also, one time I sprained my wrist falling off a horse. good times)

3- pudus

(image from here, which I love because it is a post about a heavy metal song written about pudus. also, have you all seen planet earth? if not, go watch it. now. thats where I first saw these guys)

4- corgis

(image from here. Ryan's mom's neighbor has one and I get so excited when I see it and it runs over to see me. It is like a furry little sausage in the grass)

5- lisa frank's animals (realize this is cheating to put more than one animals here, but its my list and I do not care)

(image from here...anyone else notice how lisa frank bears do all the work? well the painting anyways. everyone else is just being neon and chillin on rainbows and the poor bears are on the clock. well, I do like bears in overalls so atleast there's that)

bonus! top 5 animals that freak me out but I am strangely fascinated by**:

1- armadillos (they had one for sale at a pet shop I went to when I was younger. I was terrified of it)

2- anteaters (seriously, just look at them)

3- bats (there have been 2 separate occasions where bats were hanging out in my bedroom. both times they were caught using my fisher price net. once was when I was probably 7, then next time I was 20)

4- mongoose/cobras (these are combined because rikki tikki tavi freaked me the eff out)

5- eels (they look like such creeps)

*can we discuss how I apparently love animals I resemble? all of them are short and squat too! I especially look like the capybara since we both wear glasses

**Ryan always teases me because I always think animals are going to attack us. once we saw a deer and I think I said 'wow! it didn't even come at us or anything!' and he said 'why do you think everything is trying to gore us?'

a lesson learned.

so not all recipes are going to come out good. no matter how closely I follow the recipe, sometimes I just don't like what I made. the following recipe is a good example of this. but maybe you would like it, so I will share it with you:

some sort of yellow split pea mash with chicken sausage

(loosely based on this lentil soup recipe from epicurious)

a handful of baby carrots, chopped (I need to use those up! why did I buy such a big bag?!)

half a small onion, chopped

3 cubanelle peppers, chopped (my garden all of a sudden decided to produce a bunch of these)

3 chicken sausages, sliced

1 bag of yellow split peas (I meant to use lentils but I didn't have any)

broth ( 5-6 cups)

1 bay leaf

atleast 2 garlic cloves

1 tblsp tomato paste

salt, pepper

feta

bring split peas, bay leaf, cloves, and broth to a boil. simmer covered for about 45 minutes. once the peas are done, pull out the cloves and bay leaf. stir in tomato paste. keep watm. in a seperate pan, saute sausage in a little oil utnil browned. remove from pan. saute onions, peppers and carrots (add more garlic too if you want a more garlicky taste). once softened, add this and the sausage into the peas. serve with salt, pepper and feta. (steps not listed: taste. remember you don't really like split peas. instantly regret making this (it made so much there are a couple extra tuperware tubs in the fridge too). pick out the sausage and carrots and eat those. decide to make pumpkin muffins* instead.

(yes that is a super warped IKEA cutting board)

(final step: put random herb on top to make photo fancy)

*pumpkin muffins

(based on this recipe)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

1/2 cup yogurt

3 tblsp honey

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 2/3 cup flour

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 bag chocolate chips (would also be good with chopped crystallized ginger)

preheat to 350. mix all wet ingredients. mix all dry (except chips) in a seperate bowl. incorporate dry into wet. lastly mix in chocolate chips. pour into muffins tins (or make weird cakey cookies). the recipe has 10-12 minutes for baking time but mine probably took 5-10 minutes longer. muffins are done when your princess toothpick comes out clean! enjoy!

(yeah that's right, I classed it up with my tinfoil heart tins)

car thoughts.

(image from here)

like many people, I commute. I drive about 40 minutes in and back each day. that's 40 minutes of me day dreaming to avoid focusing on the increasingly annoying traffic situation (and/or people's awful driving skills. for example, why do people drive like dummies in the rain? what?! you've seen it before! its not scary at all!). here are some things I think about to pass the time:

thought trail 1:
should I get breakfast? you know I really should pack a breakfast or wake up earlier to cook one. I really want something fall-ish like a pumpkin scone. hmm, how many calories are in that? probably a million. what about a bagel? then I just won't eat carbs for the rest of the day, right? no, probably not a likely scenario. ooh didn't our awesome work study bring in apple crisp?! no, thats worst than the scone (I think). I really should have packed something.

thought trail 2:
look at that guy beside me. he looks mad. where is he going? I wonder where he works. oops he saw me looking at him. usually I'm too busy singing loudly to look at people. blah, I've overplayed this cd. wonder whats on the radio? wish they would play something fun. hmmm...ooh! this station said nelly! I could use some 'hot in here' to make this commute faster. damn, they meant nelly furtado. maybe I should put the cd back in. hey wheres that guy I was looking at? great, now nelly furtado is stuck in my head.

thought trail 3:
ugh. why did I even bother ironing this shirt? wait, did I? yes, I did. I wonder if anyone notices that I wear the same pants all the time. I don't remember what anyone else wears but they might remember my pants (for some reason). UGH! what is that weird stain on my shirt?! shit. I'm such a mess. wait, did I leave the iron plugged in? no. did I leave the stove on? no. as mentioned above, I did not cook anything, so most likely no.

thought trail 4:
if I could eat anything today and it would not be bad for me (note: this is magical thinking), I would have: bagel and cream cheese (either veggie and egg bagel or french toast bagel with honey walnut cream cheese); a really good cheeseburger and fries; pizza or fried calamari; random awesome deserts/treats (also note: in magical thinking, this would not make me ill)

thought trail 5:
not really a thought trail, just that song stuck in my head. just the chorus. on repeat

thought trail 6:
if I could go anywhere instead of work, I'd go pumpkin picking, then have a pumpkin carving party (with my cats) and roast the seeds for snacking. also, drink cocoa and stay in bed with my husband.

((note: I got a bagel.))



what do you day dream about?

spaghetti squash: where have you been all my life?

so I may not have been eating it out of spite. any vegetable that can claim to give me the same satisfaction as one of my favorite carbs is treading in dangerous waters. I have stopped eating pasta so much lately because I am usually pretty 'go big or go home' when I make it and I'm trying to be good. hello, this is me rambling. So anyways, I bought a big spaghetti squash at TJs and heres what I did with it:

good dinner #2 (we'll call the soup #1, I'm not counting the spinach pesto and ricotta pizza I made the other night because the crust was bad... or the enchiladas that made Ryan sick)


spaghetti squash with meat sauce!
(makes enough for 1 dinner for a hungry person & leftovers for lunch the next day!)

for the squash:
(got this from Emeril)

preheat oven to 375. attempt to cut squash in half. succeed! scoop out seeds and goop in middle. place squash cut side down in pan and add water about half way up sides of squash. cover with foil. roast/bake/whatever for 45 minutes. once squash is cool enough to hold (or don some badass oven mitts), scrape out the 'spaghetti' strands. toss with a little butter and your favorite tomato sauce, or use my recipe below!

for the sauce:
1/2 lb ground turkey
2 cubanelle peppers
1/2 an onion if you have it (I didn't)
couple cloves garlic
2 cans tomatoes (I used no salt added store brand from whole foods, pretty good!)
salt & pepper
any spices you like ( I used oregano & basil)

saute the turkey in a little oil until cooked through. remove from pan. add in onions (if using), garlic and peppers. cook until peppers are soft. add the meat back in and add the tomatoes and spices too. cook until delicious.


(one day I will make something to eat that is also pretty to look at)

sleep! thats where i'm a viking!

so I have weird dreams. I know I'm not the only one... but that doesn't make my dreams any less weird. Last night, I dreamed that I went to this spooky lake with friends ('dream' friends, I don't actually know them) and there were tons of alligators in the lake so I did not want to swim there. Then I was at some kind of strange underground amusement park. There were also alligators here. They were blocking all the exits. We were trying to escape (not sure why??). I was with some friend and I think we eventually escaped by wrestling alligators. I have a lot of dreams where something is after me (people, dinosaurs, what have you) and I am hiding from them. It almost always involves me hiding in some room that has a lock. When I was younger, the dreams always involved me hiding in our house's bathroom since I knew that had a lock. It also had our washing and dryer which were behind these wooden panels doors which locked. So in my dreams, I would sit on the dryer. Anyways, once we escaped the amusement park, I went to IKEA with Justin Timberlake.


(you know an animal is badass when even a t.rex is like 'oh shit!' when it sees one. from here)


This dream can be (partially) explained because:
A- saw The Social Network on Friday*. That would explain JT.
B- watched a show last night called '5 Animal Attacks' (sorry! seriously nothing was on!), which you think would explain the alligators? even though the show only had orcas, sharks and deer?


so what do you dream about?


*it was good. I would recommend it to anyone who is as big of a fan of Aaron Sorkin as my husband is.

so i'm a ridiculous person

want to hear a funny story? sure you do! so I go to the grocery store this morning to pick up a couple things and I spy this adorable looking bottle of water. I had actually bought a bottle of this brand of water a couple months ago because I liked the packaging (this is how I do most of my shopping). so I put it in my cart. as I am checking out, it is the last thing the cashier rings up. it does not ring up. it takes me and another cashier to find another bottle of water to rescan. by the time I get back in line, there are several people waiting behind me. I can only imagine what they were thinking when they saw me come back with the tiny water bottle that is clearly designed for children. damn, I hope this water tastes good.


(yes you read that right, its grape water)



(and just in case you needed a close up)

friday five!

happy october, all! its about time! now if it would just stopping being 80 degrees out, I could make this or this. the hell with it, I'll make them anyways. What is up for your weekend? I have something miraculous: a free weekend. !!!! I think I will clean, maybe garden (my only gardening attempt so far has been 1- let pumpkin rot 2- throw pumpkin in backyard 3-cross fingers and hope for pumpkins next year). tonight I am possibly doing the dinner/movie thing. I really want to make these too. alright, enough jibber jabber, heres your friday five:

five youtube videos to make your friday better:

1-

2-

3-

4-

5-