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Every weekend my sister (and Elliette, of course) and I go to our favorite coffee shop. It's right down the street from my parent's house so it's just a quick stroll down the street. Elliette walks in and acts like she owns the place and is immediately given a plate of pickles. She's on a first name basis with the owner. ;) The food is awesome and the owner is super friendly and always sits and chats with us. I love supporting local businesses. My dream has always been to own my own coffee shop/vintage clothing store so I admire those who make it happen.

This is our favorite little corner.

Elliette in front of The Groundhog in her vintage dress from my friends store, Blackbird Attic. Check out her moccs. ;)

What I wore: Boots//American Eagle, Skirt//Marshalls, Shirt//American Eagle, Sweater//Old Navy, Bracelets//gift, Hat//Charlotte Russe

This is Elliette's impression of me. I don't know whether to laugh or be embarrassed. Or both. ;)

Recipe: Sweet Potato Quinoa 01/20/2012

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I'm home early again from work, thanks to some toxic (?) fumes stinking up the office. At first we tried to pretend it was totally fine and if we just open up some windows everything would be A-okay....albeit freezing, but nothing to worry about. Eventually I think the headaches, blood shot eyes, and overall fear that we were either going to drop dead from the fumes or that the building would burst into flames finally got us sent home early. Woo! Give me toxic fumes any day! I'm kidding, I don't really know how serious it was and my nose is so stuffed up I barely smelled anything but not one to complain, I happily scooted on out. So here I am, back in my pajamas on a Friday afternoon with a giant bow headband in my hair courtesy of ModCloth (free gift with my pretty new dress). I'm trying to decide if I can pull it off, I think I'll leave it on for when Frank gets home. That's how I usually test to see if I look cute or ridiculous. Not that I really care what he thinks, I just like to see his reaction.

Anyway, I'm so excited to have a recipe to share. I've tried out many quinoa (keen-wah) recipes knowing that as a health counselor I'm SUPPOSED to like it but never being satisfied with it. This recipe has finally turned me into a quinoa lover. It's full of veggies and a snap to put together. I pretty much used this exact recipe but just changed up some of the measurements. And I'm super happy with how nice the pictures turned out. :)

Ingredients:
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1 sweet potato
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 scallions, chopped
2 tbs fresh parsley
freshly squeezed lemon juice (1-2 lemons depending on your taste)
1/2 cup feta cheese
olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425
Peel sweet potato and cut into small pieces. Line a pan with tin foil and toss potatoes with a little bit of olive oil (about half a tbs) and salt. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Bring quinoa, water, and a pinch of salt to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in 1 tbs of olive oil and set aside to cool.
Chop up bell pepper, scallions, and parsley. Add to a bowl with black beans, corn, sweet potatoes, and quinoa.. Add lemon juice, salt & pepper, and olive oil to taste. Sprinkle in feta cheese and mix well. Serve chilled or eat immediately.

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Happy Weekend! 01/14/2012

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I'm so excited for another long weekend. Even better is that I have no real plans besides the usual coffee dates and wandering around town......and cleaning. Meh. I'm not looking forward to that part at all. I hate cleaning, thank goodness Frank is a neat freak. Unfortunately, he works all weekend. My favorite thing is coming home from work on his day off to a spotless house. He's a keeper!

But seriously, weekends should always be 3 days long. I would love to know who decided that a typical work week would be 5 days...it's nonsense! Last weekend I almost cried knowing I had to go back to work the next day.

I wish these pictures turned out a little better but Frank is still learning about lighting/focusing and I'm just so grateful that he's decided to embrace helping me take pictures for my blog! This jacket belongs to my dear dear friend, Ashley of Lions Lace Lattes. She left it behind when she was visiting me for NY Fashion Week. It was the perfect light jacket to wear since we had such a mild fall and winter (so far). See how she styled is back in September! When I sent it back to her I included a couple surprises for her to style. Can't wait to see what she does with them. ;)

What I wore: Boots//Target, Knee Socks & Tights//Marshalls, Shorts//American Eagle jeans I turned into shorts, Sweater//Urban Outfitters (borrowed from my sister who borrowed it from my other sister), Jacket//Zara, Hat//Forever21

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Chase the Sun. 01/07/2012

The weather has been freakishly warm this winter. Earlier this week it was freezing and I thought maybe winter finally arrived, but when I stepped outside today I was surprised that it was warm enough to not need a jacket. I'm absolutely loving it. It's made me realize just how much I hate winter. I always thought I couldn't live in a place without snow but I'm learning that I enjoy sunshine 100 times more. I wanted to watch the sunset today because it was stunning on Friday and I wasn't able to capture any of it. (Pretty sure I almost died a few times on my way home from work trying to look at it.) Frank and I grabbed some hot chocolate and headed down to my absolute favorite place. It was crowded at first but as the sun started to go down everyone left and we had the whole place to our self. I left my phone at home and somehow survived. I tried to persuade Frank to turn around to go get it a few times but eventually gave up. And it turned out to be really really nice not having it. One of my new year's resolutions is to detach myself from my phone. Ever since getting an iPhone 3 years ago I have developed an even shorter attention span than I already had.

Frank was in the picture taking mood so this is a photo heavy post...time to get back to my slumber party with a very special 2 year old who really should be in bed (we're watching Ice Age). What can I say, I'm the cool aunt.

I want to get married here....I've planned it all out in my head already. ;)

What I Wore: Black booties//Old Navy, Leopard print tights//Target, Pink polka dot skirt//American Apparel, Navy collared shirt, Sweater//Forever21, Necklace//Forever21, Bag//thrifted vintage Coach

Say Yah to da U.P. eh! 12/31/2011

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My favorite memory of 2011 is our family trip to Fire Lake, Michigan. It had been at least 10 years since we last went and it was just as I remembered. Fire Lake is a place that is so special to everyone in my family. Maybe it became more so after my grandfather passed away because he gave us this beautiful place to vacation and a piece of him is in everything at Fire Lake. I never knew the whole story until one night around the campfire my grandmother filled us in. When my dad was 18, my grandfather took him and his younger brothers to search for the perfect piece of property. Living in Illinois they ended up all the way in the Upper Peninsula and on a whim happened to hear about this undeveloped property on a lake that was for sale. They built it from the ground up...from digging out a road, clearing out trees, and building the cabins. When I think about how special it is to me, I can't imagine how special it must be to my dad and his siblings. I was so excited to get to share it with Frank, to spend the days four wheeling through the woods, swimming in the lake, kayaking, eating food cooked over a fire, and waking up at sunrise. I really enjoyed talking in a Michigan accent and pretending to be a Yooper.

It was quite the trip. 10 of us in 2 cars on a 2 day trip. My sister and I serenaded Frank and Tommy with Bon Jovi, Lady Gaga, and Sir Mix-a-lot. I still haven't been able to convince her to let me post the video. My two year old niece was such a champ and watched Ponyo about 800 times on her little DVD player and at every rest stop would say "Get me outta here!". When we finally got to our hotel for the first night we realized it was most definitely the kind of place where people "live". That part was fun. My mom booked the hotel before we left New York but when we got there and realized that everyone was hanging over the balcony watching us unload our car, and the rooms smelled like cigarettes and sex...we hightailed it out of there and found a Red Roof Inn a mile down the road. Not before my sisters boyfriend sprawled out on the bed and turned the T.V on though, content to share his bed with bed bugs and remnants of other unmentionables.

The second day of our strip we stopped at this fun souveniour shop and my sisters and I all bought Minnetonka moccasins and wore the crap out of them. We also bought wolf t-shirts that glow in the dark. I know, I know...it doesn't get much cooler than that. I love how even now Elliette will still talk about Michigan and Fire Lake. Any body of water she sees is Fire Lake and every time she goes on a long road trip it's to Michigan. It's already special to her and she's only 2...I can't wait to bring her back this summer. The only difference is that we are flying out there. haha

I was convinced Frank would propose to me there, but then again I'm convinced he is going to propose to me on every vacation, holiday, birthday, and outing. (I'm only half kidding...)

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Merry Merry! 12/29/2011

I can't believe how fast Christmas came and went! The entire month of December was a whirlwind of events; parties, decorating, shopping, cooking festive meals. I kinda hate how the week after everything goes right back to normal. I love how festive the whole month is. I always get so sad when it's time to take down the tree and the lights. This year was extra fun though because my niece is 2 and was sooo excited for Santa to come. Apparantly so was I because I didn't sleep a wink and woke Frank up at 4:00!! I'm a little embarrassed to admit that. I just love the way we celebrate and I think I was more looking forward to that than the presents. Frank gets up first, puts my gifts out, turns on all the lights, gets the fireplace going, makes me coffee and hotchocolate for him then finally I can get up. When (if) we have kids, I can picture myself racing to the living room and pushing them out of the way or waking them up long before they are ready. ha!

On Christmas Eve, my sisters and I went shopping. I took them to my friends vintage/consignment boutique and everyone scored awesome finds. I picked up this pretty handmade lace collar and I love love it!

My moms yummy cookies and holiday rum punch. They go perfectly together.

One of my pretty sisters and some baked brie with fruit.

New clothes!

Hope you all had a lovely holiday season. :)

(I'm obsessed with instagram, if you haven't noticed.)

Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas and Feta. 12/20/2011

I have a thing for poached eggs. Last night I was searching for dinner inspiration and nothing was catching my eye. It's hard to meal plan when your appetite isn't what it usually is. (I've been sick for the past 2 weeks...finally going to the Dr.'s tomorrow.) When I saw this recipe, I couldn't wait to get home and make it.

Holiday Baking 12/18/2011

This year I wanted to keep my baking simple. I attempted to make way too many cookies last year and I wasn't really pleased with the result...or the amount of work. I felt rushed and didn't enjoy the process.This year I picked 4 recipes that I knew most people would enjoy, put on my holiday apron, turned up the Christmas music and got to baking.

1. Molasses 2. Peanut Butter Kiss 3. Peppermint Bark 4. Truffles (not pictured)

Golden Birthday: 27 on the 27th. 12/17/2011

My birthday was almost a month ago but I figure it's about time I do a birthday post! I wanted to have a party for my *Golden* birthday but I didn't want to have anything at my house (cleaning before and after are never fun) so I tossed around the idea of going out to dinner or just out for drinks but I wanted something a little different. And my list of people I wanted to invite kept growing . A while back I looked into renting out this space in town called the Beahive for a workshop that I never did. (One day I'll get over my fear of public speaking.) Anyway, after checking out the space I realized it was just what I wanted for my party. Big open space, exposed brick walls, surround sound, comfy and plenty seating, pretty lighting....but I didn't want to spend the money. Frank surprised me and rented it out for me as his gift to me. It was really sweet. My best friend bought my party dress, my mom and sister made tons of food, and everyone else brought alcohol. I also got some amazing gifts that I wasn't expecting. It was a really fun night but it went by soo fast. Luckily I got some awesome pictures to look back on. I spent a few hours during the week cutting out props for my makeshift photobooth. I found free templates from Oh Happy Day, which saved me from attempting to make my own. I ordered some fake mustaches from Amazon and some stuff from the dollar store and we were good to go.

Dress from Threadsence, Shoes from Modcloth.

It wouldn't be a party without my 2 year old niece walking around wearing a fez and drinking water from a plastic champagne glass.

I'm ready to make 27 the best year yet!