Summer

"It's funny how one summer can change everything. It must be something about the heat and the smell of chlorine, fresh cut grass and honeysuckle, asphalt sizzling after late-day thunderstorms, the steam rising while everything drips around it. Something about long, lazy days and whirring air conditioners and bright plastic flip flops from the drugstore thwacking down the street. Something about fall being so close, another year, another Christmas, another beginning. So much in one summer, stirring up like the storms that crest at the end of the day, blowing out all the heat and dirt to leave everything gasping and cool. Everyone can reach back to one summer and lay a finger to it, finding that exact point when everything changed."

- Sarah Dessen

Do I really have to put a title on this?

Several things. First: why o why when you see a shoe on the side of the road, there is only one?

Also, I have another wishlist.

1. I wish I had the movie 500 days of summer in my possession

2. I wish I had this awesome plush headboard from Urban Outfitters

3. Aaaaand I wish that I had a sweet gun so I could be as hot as these BA women! Yes.

Cooking noobness

 Due to the overwhelming demand of my...reader... :) I am going to post another blog on... Da da da daaaaa!! Cooking. I realize that I am such a cooking noob. I really don't know what i'm doing, and I'm afraid to risk. It's probably because I'm afraid that all the money I spent on the cooking items will go to waste if I screw up. And If I'm under pressure, like if I am cooking for someone else, I feel like they will think I suck. So there are doubts all around. BUT I finally decided to buy my first cookbook at Anthropologie on Wednesday. Look at its glory:

I finally feel a touch of confidence. This book focuses mainly on chicken and egg recipes, but they are tasty. I figured that eggs are cheap, and chicken is healthy for you, so how could i go wrong? They also incorporate a variety of fresh herbs in their recipes, which I love. I've been cooking up a storm. My main problem though, is that the recipes are family size, and though I try to cut them in half...I still make too much for just me. My roommate doesn't eat much that I make, so my friend Jarod has been graciously taste-testing for me. Lol. Such a chore I know. Check out this amazing recipe I just made for brunch yesterday:

Greenmarket Scrambled Eggs in Ciabatta

Ingredients:

One 14 ounce loaf ciabatta bread, halved horizontally (I substituted a wheat loaf)

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

I medium onion , chopped

I small zucchini, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, deveined, and chopped

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon

1/8 freshly ground pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon

8 eggs

1/2 cup fresh goat cheese, crumbled (my favorite part)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or chives

Preheat the oven to 350. Remove the bread from the inside of half of the ciabatta, making a shell for the eggs. Place the halves side by side on a baking sheet. Brush the inside of the loaf with 2 Tbsp of the olive oil.

Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion for 2 to 3 minutes or until it begins to soften. Stir in the zucchini and the red bell pepper and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp tender. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Remove the vegetables to a plate.

Beat the eggs with the 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large bowl or until frothy. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil to the same skillet and cook the eggs over medium heat, stirring consistently until until curds have formed but the eggs are still moist. Remove from heat and stir in the vegetables, cheese and basil.

Spoon the egg mixture into the bread shells and bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until the bread and vegetables are hot. To serve, cut each bread shell crosswise into thirds, for a total of six pieces.

So there you have it! Its pretty easy, and the goat cheese made it delicious. Jarod couldn't even tell it was in there. (For those of you who unfashionably dislike goat cheese. lol ) Try it yourself!

Terrariums

Now I know that not everyone gets excited when they see greenery in the plant section of Cashwise...but I do. I like plants! Not ashamed. I especially enjoy putting plants together and making a "landscape" of sorts. I got a bonsai tree and put fake moss around it. I then put a toy dinosaur at the base of the tree. Just something random. I also put a ninja in one of my succulent terrariums. The best thing is that you can't do wrong! Its your house, you can do anything you want with it. And how can you mess up what you do with a plant? You can shove it in a pot and call it good, or you can get a little more creative with it.

 Tillandsia is a lot of fun. It only needs some light, no soil, and brief mistings. You can even glue it on wood!

              




Check out this Link to see some cool things you can do with plants. I enjoyed it, you probably will

Also, to find out how to make your own tillandsia terrarium in a light bulb follow this to the Hipster Home

Amelie - La Valse D'Amelie (Piano)

An absolutely beautiful instrumental piece, from the French movie "Amelie". Give it a listen!

Abominable snowman and sushi

I count myself as a pretty positive person, or I at least bounce back out of the negative pretty quickly. But I couldn't figure out what frustrated me more about these past few days:

1. Driving on Wednesday morning at 6:00am to a new job an hour away, braving a crazy, icy snowstorm that reminded me greatly of an abominable snowman that looks like this:












2. Being stuck in terrible traffic on Division in my car, at rush hour. The lights on 15 and Division are out, I'm late to my Chiropractor appointment and I have to pee like a mother.










3. Really wanting go buy Sushi from Coburn's for dinner, but not having money. :(

So what do you guys think? Whats the worst?

The Duchess of Devonshire

Yesterday evening I watched a movie called, "The Duchess" I literally felt depressed afterwards. Basically it's about the duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish. She marries the Duke of Devonshire and he's not loving to her. He takes her best friend for his lover and she lives with them as a sort of "second wife" for 25 years of their marriage until Georgiana passes away. Georgiana tries to take a  lover and has an illegitimate child, but the duke had her give it away and kept her from him.
The movie really did nothing for me except open my eyes a bit as to what life was like back then. Often you were placed in a marriage that had no love in it. The woman was mistreated, and her only purpose in life was to birth children (sons were preferred) and be a faithful wife. All well and good, but my heart goes out to them when the husband fails to be faithful to the wife and its socially acceptable.

Can you imagine having this on your head? Pretty sure there are sublaxations galore!

It makes me realize once again how lost people are. Back then many had no hope. I look at society now, and what is different? People still are run by their passions. Yes, there are less restrictions for women. For this, I am glad. But we are often held captive still to what other people think of us. We are what society think of us. In short, we are never good enough. 

Women, realize that you are special. You have beauty and a personality that no one else has. You are worth it, and worth waiting for. Don't sell yourselves short to the first "Duke" that comes along. Even if he does have money and power and position. You may end up in a marriage of misery. Just remember that there is a God who loves you just the way you are. As my wonderful friend Michelle told me today:

You are lovely

His Beloved

Bold

Sassy

Kind

Full of goodness and good fruit

Gracious

Growing

And this is what you are too. Believe it.