favorite things

...not what I started to write what I sat down, but what sprang to mind when I began typing. What are your favorite things? The things that make you absolutely happy deep down in your soul?

• New shoes. I love shopping for them. I love trying them on again when I get home. Even if I don't buy any, just going to the store is great.
• Sleeping in. I accidentally did this today, woke up 5 minutes before I had to leave for work. Oops.
• People I love. Not just my boyfriend. But friends, family, all those people that just make your heart smile.
• Crocheting. And when I crochet, I think about all the people that helped me learn -- it took years. My college roommate, my RA, my mom, and a great lady at my church. I love to give away the things I make. I'm about to start on a scarf for a fantastic girl, it's going to be grey.
• Reading a good book. I used to always read before I went to bed. I love it so much. Especially books set in England. I don't know why.
• Good music. Especially when I'm driving in the summer time with the windows down and my hair blowing.
• Going to the lake. I cannot wait for it to be warm enough.
• Going fishing. Crazy, right? It's so relaxing. And half the time fishing means I'm laying on the back of the boat drinking a margarita.
• Mangoes. But only a mango bought at a Farmer's Market in Dallas. Then eaten all fresh and warm and juicy. Nothing is better.
• Good hair days. I have finally trained my bangs to go back to swooping. They look great today.
• The perfect day.
• Mornings that feel like church camp or Easter. I cannot explain it, but each of these kind of mornings have a very distinct feeling and I love it so much. It sends me back to being a kid and the excitement of the day.
• Trying a new recipe. I'm making BBQ chicken pizza this weekend. Yum!
  

familiarity

So I guess I had kind of a rough day. It was just... I don't know. I think I was just being overly emotional and crazy. I'm feeling better about it now. How? Well, I have fantastic people in my life. And I did a little bit of memory therapy.

When I feel like things are crappy, I go to Shoe Carnival. Why? Well, I worked there for years and something about it is soothing. I love the smell. I love all the shoes. I felt so good when I left. And then I went to Jimmy John's and got a sandwich for dinner. Between the two, it just made me happy. It made things seem better and everything else seem a little closer.

don't let the bedbugs bite

I love my bedroom. When I was a kid I spent a lot of time there. Not because I was a bad kid or got in trouble, it just seemed like my own little sanctuary. It was full of all the things I loved and it was always so peaceful. I had to wait for good natural light to take pictures.... There is no overhead light in my room and I just have this cute but not very bright lights hanging up.

Previously mentioned lanterns. Very pink and brown theme.... I reworked those lanterns, they used to be cream and green. Now with brown spray paint, hot glue and some pink ribbon for embellishments.... voila!

The top of one of my dressers. Stacking dolls my best friend brought me back from Russia. The change jar. Someone likes to throw their change everywhere. And oh yes, that's a fishing lure you see.

My desk. Yup, that's my blog up on the monitor. Awesome, right. And a Cuba poster I snagged from my dear sister.

My closet. You should be very jealous. It's gigantic. I mean GIGANTIC. I think there have been smaller bedrooms in apartments I have lived in. It's fantastic. And so organized. Aside from that pile of clothes. Don't look.

So I like to think I am a neat person. But secretly I am occasionally messy. I also like to think I am reasonably (for the most part) well dressed. But secretly I love my black Nike sweat pants that are horribly unsexy. I also like to think I have very cute hair. But it is naturally pretty wavy and hard to control meaning sometimes, it looks pretty crazy.

Well, yesterday I got caught. I had great plans for my day. These plans included organizing the closet, vacuuming, doing a bit of a work out, taking a shower, cleaning up the kitchen and a few other various things. All of these of course, were to be done wearing those sexy black sweat pants. I was going to be cute by the time the boyfriend got back from work which should have been around 11pm. But much to my surprise, shortly after 9 (while I am sitting on the couch in said sweat pants with frizzy hair) I hear the key turn in the lock. Oh shit! I was met with laughter. I'm not sure this look had surfaced yet. I try to, you know, save the sweat pants for myself. So I rushed to be a bit cuter and we both laughed about it. So, lesson learned. You might get caught with frizzy hair and sexy black sweats and should get ready sooner in the day.

moving in

So, I moved into my new apartment a couple of weeks ago. I love it so much. Things are almost arranged as they should be. There are no dining room pictures because I don't have my table yet and it's silly to take pictures of empty rooms. So, here are the living room and kitchen....

The bar area. The wine rack (and wine) that we bought today. My cookbooks (if you look close you can see Betty Crocker on the right end) and my Pyrex mixing bowls.

More of the bar. My cool metal collander and Guiness glasses. You can see the matching Guiness sign in the first picture.

Walking into my kitchen. The awesome striped apron my Grandma Celia bought me. :)

One of the cutest kiddos ever. No, not mine. My long time friend Rachel's little boy. This is across from my striped apron.

Fantastic striped/polka dot trash can that I painted and my fridge. And there are two empty Boulevard boxes on my washer. Classy, I know.

Mmm, coffee! We love coffee! The other night I dropped my plate and threw chicken and mashed cauliflower everywhere. It's still in one of the burner pans. Gross, I know! Don't judge me.

Okay, I lied. This is the wall of my dining room. I got these for Christmas and love them.

My book case. My dad made it for me a couple of years ago. And lots of pictures. I love pictures!

A really terrible picture of the built in shelves beside my TV. A picture frame my lovely friend Laurissa bought for me. And a little table I bought to put the cable box, DVD player and XBox on. I got a super bargain on it!

The ridiculously large TV we bought. Yup, I"m watching Grease.

My whole living room. Check out those brown curtains. I love them! It feels so cozy!

a year in review... baking

These may not technically just be from the past year, but get ready for some of the high points in my baking career.

My dad's birthday cake from his 60th birthday. It's a pineapple cake with cream cheese frosting. This was my first attempt at piping icing. Not bad considering I did it with a Ziploc bag.

Cupcakes from that very same 60th birthday. I have no idea how many I made. A lot! They are yellow cake frosted with orange colored buttercream frosting and chocolate buttercream frosting.

The cupcakes from my mom's birthday. My best friend and I made and iced 60 pink cupcakes. It was a little ridiculous! Thank God for good friends and a stand mixer! My mom's birthday comes after my dad's, thus the more elaborate cupcake decorating.

My Christmas tree cookies. It's Ethel's Sugar cookies from Betty Crocker with green food dye. After they cooled, I dipped the edges in white almond bark to make them look snow covered. This is what was left after all of the Christmas festivities.

The football cake. Oh, the football cake. I ended up buying a football cake pan. So field is a yellow sheet cake iced with green colored buttercream frosting. The football in a chocolate cake frosted with chocolate buttercream. The transport of the football to the field was a little tricky, I was informed that no one ever knew that much swearing was involved in baking. It was delicious and worth it though, I think.

green tank tops

I'm sitting in my new apartment, squinting at the computer (I already took my contacts out and I'm too lazy to go find my glasses), smelling chicken baking in the oven and listening to the whir of the dryer. And I love it. I love it so much. I guess this is the first real dinner I've cooked since I moved.

Saturday night I made pizza for Valentines. I was going to be so sweet and put mushrooms on half but I couldn't find mushrooms at the store. But pizza is just one of those super easy things I make. A total no brainer:
--2 packages Shawnee Hills pizza crust
--1 can Hunt's Zesty & Spicy pasta sauce
--1 pkg. pepperoni
--1 pkg. Mozzarella cheese
--Cajun seasoning to taste
--Make the pizza crust per the instructions, add Cajun seasoning to mix. Bake for approx. 12 minutes in a 9x13 baking dish. While crust is baking, brown pepperoni in a skillet (this helps get the grease out) and drain on a paper towel. Pour sauce over crust. Top with pepperoni and cheese. Return to oven until cheese is melted and bubbling.

It's delicious and so easy. My next pizza assignment is BBQ chicken.

But back to tonight's dinner. Baked chicken that I marinated in Baja Chipotle sauce and mashed potatoes/cauliflower. The cauliflower is just for me, I started a new diet. It's surprisingly delicious.

So my apartment is all unpacked. I'm in the midst of doing laundry because, oh yes, my apartment has a washer and dryer. It's great! I really like the new job so far. I've had training the past 2 nights where I felt incredibly old and like I already knew what was going on. I also discovered my first wrinkle yesterday. It was a horrifying moment. And most importantly, cable and internet got installed today. I hadn't had tv since I moved in. So it's been fun. Look for decorating pictures to come.

toilet paper

I think someone that is very clueless must be out there designing apartment bathrooms. There is always something that’s a little off. It usually has something to do with the location of the toilet paper holder. I mean, c’mon people, it shouldn’t be this hard. We all use toilet paper, right?

Two apartments ago the toilet paper was right beside the toilet. Good idea, right? Well sure, if there was more than 2 inches of space there. It was literally in your armpit. Even being the neat freak that I am, I left the toilet paper on the counter all the time because it was just awkward and horrible when it was on the roll.

In the apartment that I am now 99% moved out of, the toilet paper holder is on the wall beside the toilet, but it’s like a thousand feet away. You nearly fall off the toilet trying to get toilet paper. It’s ridiculous. So I have a little shelf across from the toilet and that is where the toilet paper lives.

Now to my new apartment. I was so excited; I thought I had finally found a place with the perfectly located toilet paper holder. Or it was perfect until I hung towels on the towel rack. The towels cover the toilet paper! Arg! Seriously, are these people idiots? I have an easy solution this time that will actually allow the toilet paper to stay where it belongs. In college I bought an over the door towel rack. Luckily, my sister still had it and returned it to me. When I officially move in on Friday, that bad boy will be going up on the door and the towel rack will be reserved for a cute little hand towel. Problem solved. And thankfully the solution did not involve toilet paper hanging out on my bathroom cabinet (frankly there’s not enough space).

And I apologize to anyone who stuck around to read that much about my complaints of toilet paper holder location. You could have made it a drinking game. Took a drink every time I said “toilet paper.” Maybe you should go back and re-read this and try that – only if you’re of legal age of course. I am not supporting under-age drinking.

I’m really thrilled that I will be in my new place on Friday. I cannot wait to unpack – specifically organize my closet and the kitchen. I think those are my favorite. I pretty much love anything with organizing. It’s so fabulous. I know, I am very sick.

a heart

I desperately want this necklace. I think it’s the cutest thing ever. It would look fantastic with everything. I love jewelry, I suck at remembering to get jewelry on. I almost always get my ring on, but that’s about it. In college I used to wear a turtle necklace that my ex-boyfriend (boyfriend at the time) bought me. That went by the way side, now I’ve been really wanting something to wear. I think this is it. I wish someone would buy it for me. If only we celebrated Valentines…

movin' on

I am officially moved! Well, my stuff is moved. I still have to finish the week at my current job. So for now I am sleeping on my sister’s couch. The first night wasn’t bad. I have a week packed full of last dinners with all of my friends. Or at least as many as I could cram in. Last night I had dinner with one of my oldest friends (not in age, but in how long we’ve known each other). I’m so thrilled that I’m moving but I think I’m really going to miss my friends down here.

I can’t wait to be up there for good. We’re already talking about people to invite over for dinner and to play cards or watch sports on my gigantic TV. I’m more excited about cooking for people. Others are more excited about my TV. I finally broke down and bought the giant man-sized TV. I’m pretty sure most girls would not purchase this thing – but one of my co-workers had a 56” TV she was selling for insanely cheap. We talked about it and decided it was too good of a deal to pass up. So now it’s sitting in the middle of my living room – it’s huge! We tried it out Sunday night and I actually really like it.

It’s driving me a little nuts that all of my stuff is so far away right now. I have all of this great work I could be getting done and organizing my apartment but it will have to wait for the weekend. It’s going to be so great though. I’m so excited! I’m excited that I’ve made this move, excited to make my apartment cute, excited for grad school. Yeah, pretty much just a big dorky bubble of excitement.

I can’t wait to start baking cookies and decorating. To make it really feel like home. Most of my stuff has been in boxes since October so I’m really ready to pull it out and make my apartment feel like home. I’ve missed my white dishes and my polka dot towels. And I’m really looking forward to organizing my giant closet. We hung curtains on Sunday night, that helped it look more homey already.