veggie tales

Excuse the overtly geometrical presentation, but this colorful platter was my dinner the other night.  Baked zucchini, tomatoes, and breaded eggplant with mozzarella over orzo pasta...

This is a big deal for several reasons. One of them being that when I was little—among a multitude of other embarrassing occurrences throughout my childhood—I literally only ate chicken fingers with ranch dressing.  At every meal I possibly could I would order fried chicken strips with a side of ranch—I even included a small blob of ranch on a plate when our elementary art project was to sculpt our favorite food.  Hidden Valley's ranch and I have had a love affair that has lasted through the ages.  

While chicken fingers and I have since grown apart and my palette has expanded immensely.  So the amount of vegetables I consumed just the other night was probably more than I had my entire life up until about age thirteen.

Other reasons for this being a big deal are just that it was so unexpectedly delish—I underestimated the scrumptious-ness of a meal without meat—and not to mention pretty!  One of my roommates is a vegetarian and this came from her cookbook, 

Zucchini Casserole:

1. Slice zucchini lengthwise into four strips and brush with oil.

2. Bake at 400F for 10 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and layer mozzarella, diced tomatoes, basil and/or oregano over it.

4. Bake for 5 more minutes.

Delightful, delicious, de-lovely—see what I did there!?

scars and stories

The Fray is my first love.  I will always love them.  They were my first concert ever. "All At Once" is my "first-day-of-school" song for inexplicable reasons. And they met me at the beginning of my DIY career—see above picture of this appropriately 'frayed' shirt I so cleverly paired with matching pink bracelets my freshman year...cute...

Anyhoo, their new album entitled "Scars and Stories" is out now and it's as good as ever.  I'm probably (definitely) just biased because they're from Colorado.  Didn't really mean to make a plug for a band but I just thought I'd share this cute attempt at making my own concert tee my friend dug up in honor of the album release.

It's finally snowing in Chicago! Time to break out the sweaters. Starting with this one.

Also, I'd like to live here, if someone wants to setup a little garden getaway with me.

january

I have been doing my best to take pictures of the things I have seen, places I have been, and food I've eaten rather than all the people I do it with.  But it's difficult to take your camera with you somewhere you're going with others and not take any photos of actual people.  However, I do not want to turn this into my Facebook so I've decided I'll share of monthly compilation of the goons I hang out with.

This is also a good opportunity to share my newest form of procrastination—Pixlr.  I swear it is the easiest and best way to make your photos look heavily hip without the Instagram help on a smart phone.  All you do is upload any picture and sort through different effects, borders, overlays, etc.

Go check Pixlr out if you, too wish to live your life through the rose-colored lens that is a nostalgic looking photograph. And it makes you and your friends' lives look infinitely cooler.

Optimist

Optimist from Brian Thomson on Vimeo.

This Tuesday has been little weird. Maybe it's because I spent the first half of my day in class imagining life if Darren Criss and I were in love...and the latter part at Starbucks pretending to study while trying to connect to the irritably sketchy wifi. It might also be that I'm missing my Rocky Mountain snow...

Whatever the reason my productivity for the day has presented itself in the form of this video and consequently adding something to my Bucket List.  This is Sri Sri Radha Temple's Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork, Utah and it's a celebration I more or less want to live in. I must take part before I die. The cello is probably the perfect instrument in any setting but the cello set to slow-mo footage of color explosions is epic—music by Zoë Keating.

I will also be accomplishing another 2012 New Year's resolution (in addition to blogging semi-consistently) by running the Color Run this June!

Training has begun....yes I am training for a three mile run.  But that color stuff looks like you could easily choke! Getting too winded could be dangerous and I must be prepared.

Uh-Oh Oreos

The two most popular dessert items to be classically paired with milk.  Combined.  I don't know what more there is to say than that.

"Uh-Oh" Oreos:

1. Make any old recipe for chocolate chip cookies

2. Put some flour on your hands to avoid super sticky fingers and mold dough around oreos.  Try not to put too much on them—only enough to cover the oreo because they turn out very large.  

3. Place on greased pan and bake 12-13 minutes.

Similar to what The Londoner writes about the 'slutty brownie', "They're oh so easy, and more than a little bit filthy".  So if you're ready to dip your Oreos in more than just milk, I would definitely give it a go.

The other day I had a major breakthrough—I know what I want to do for my retirement! That's right—I have little to no idea of what I might be doing after graduation but I am confident I will spend the latter half of my days as a local librarian and or piano teacher.  Cannot.  Wait.

I don't really know what to title this post but I wanted to share these great patterns that I feel would each make for splendid wallpaper.  When I have a house I am convinced I will need a different wallpaper for every room.

On another random note, I will start accepting donations for THIS beauty of a couch for previously mentioned house any time...

And if you're an old soul like myself and have not yet seen The Happy Huffmans on YouTube, they will no doubt bring a smile to your face.

mason jar mania

Whether acting as candle holders hung suspended from a lush tree, quirky table centerpieces, flower pots, or just as a drinking glass, mason jars are perhaps the item that best encompasses all things DIY.  This multi-purpose jar instantly makes the product handmade and crafty—no matter if you just pulled them out of an attic and threw sand and sea glass in them.  They exude casual and almost beg for you to know just how unplanned and organic an event is.

I'm not making fun—I honestly love the backyard patio-party/summer lemonade feel that I associate with these containers.  I feel I need to find some stash with an abundance of the jars in order to try every craft I've seen with them...

Enjoy some of my favorite incorporations of the mason jar into everyday life and events. Some of these were taken at Beau Jo's Colorado style pizza, which serves their drinks in a mason jar.  The rest can be found on StyleMePretty—an extremely fun and organized way to get wedding inspiration.

follow the leader!

If you would like to follow my varying posts of rambles and rants, you may now do so via the email thingy on my sidebar!

 If you are also on Blogspot, I believe you can just add me to your reading list by clicking 'Follow' on your NavBar.

OR! Follow me on BlogLovin':

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

So many options. But considering I have trouble getting my TV into DVD player mode, my insights into the technology world are minimal and I am not sure if any of above suggestions will work.

 Prove me wrong by following! :)

the golden age

Like Gil in Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris", I believe the Golden Age was none other than the 1920s:

"Imagine this town in the 20s. Paris in the 20s, in the rain. The artists and writers!"

I feel as if there are a lot of girls recently that claim they like the 20s fashion, actresses, etc. but I would like to take a perhaps overly possessive and intensely hipster statement and say that I own the 20s.  In my freshman year of high school, I purchased a gray cloche (see type of hat above) and spent years trying to find an excuse to wear it.  With my large curls and love for all things antique I thought it was the perfect fashion accessory for me—until there were mass productions of them being made at Wal-Mart.

I have since embraced the surge of popularity in swing dancing, big band music, and Marylin Monroe posters in college dorm rooms because I do not own the 20s any more than I know who will be playing in the 2012 Super Bowl.  And the type of class, beauty, art, and fashion that resulted from that era deserves to be celebrated on both large and small scales.

So DePaul's 'Old Hollywood' themed homecoming last weekend was the perfect excuse to break out my pearl headband, ruffled dress, and—yes—the cloche.

The last photograph is one featured in Once Wed as one of the best 20s-inspired weddings I've seen.  For more of this beautiful bride's photographs by Josh Goleman, click here.

food for thought

I recently found HelloGiggles—created by Zooey Deschanel and Molly McAleer—and thought it was 'the damnedest thing'.  (I recently heard Betty White say 'the damnedest thing' in an interview—had to try it out.) It is basically a female cornucopia of all things girls both young and old should read about.  I thought I would share a particularly great piece:

This is Important: Cookies

Maybe I feel I relate to Miss Ellie McElvain because she is a college student.  But it is also because—like myself—she has encounters with the homeless on an almost daily basis.

Be kind, don't honk, drink the milk out of your cereal bowl, and give cookies to homeless people.

Have a great day.

nom nom nom

It is a known fact that I cannot cook.  Or bake.  Or do anything domestic really other than knitting and crafting.  So thank god I have friends that do it for me while I take pictures.

Caprese sandwiches are pretty simple though—and you can't get much better than tomatoes, pesto, and mozzarella.  Especially when it's got a face like this!  Thanks to my roommate, Alonna, for dinner the other night.


These snarky cross-stitches are perfect for any cranky old woman...or me.

And these seashells are crocheted!!!!

Also, everyone in the world should Pandora Iron and Wine. Best. Station. Ever.