I'm still here!

Hi my beautiful followers...
Sorry it's been so long since I've stopped by!  I have had a LOT of changes going on lately, and have been using most of my time to enjoy the lovely Spring weather, and work towards going back to school in the fall!

Image via Pinterest

Yep, this is the last few months of freedom & relaxation before I start school for a second time.  I am SO excited though.

I'm going back to school for nutrition, so I'll basically be getting a second bachelor's degree since my first degree was in photography (a completely unrelated field...for now). ;)  I start with a year of culinary school then move into the nutrition program!!  I seriously can't wait, and I start classes in September.

So until then, I'm gonna stop by more often.  At least it will get me to start taking pictures again. :)

Hope you've all been having a wonderful last few months!
I missed you.
XO

Backyard Decorating - short-term results!

Remember how I was looking for outside decorating ideas in this post for my sister's graduation?  Well apparently a LOT of other people have been looking for some inspiration, 'cause that post has gotten a lot of hits!  Fun! 

Glad I'm not the only one needing help in that area... 

But I did get my backyard decorating done (on a very tight / nonexistent budget, of course), and here are the results! 

BEFORE... 

...AFTER!

Now, I know it's not a HUGE difference or anything, but I was happy with what I could do for my sister's party!  The picnic table has been wonderful - although I still need to paint it, it was a great find (Craigslist, $40)!  


The cloth banner is all thanks to Kendra - she used it at her wedding, and lent it to me for the party.  It really helped tie everything together, and I think it looked super cute!  


I would love to get some more permanent-ish furniture out there (as opposed to camping chairs), but these did for now (donated by my lovely parents).  

My dad even gave us some rad little Chinese lanterns on a string to hang alongside the house - they really looked wonderful, and the glow was warm and lovely at night.  


And of course, the fire pit helped with that too once the party started dwindling down to the last party-goers...

I know everyone looks bored here, but this is actually "relaxed".  Or "drunk" - one of the two.  Haha! 

Weekend Fun & Bein' Productive

This weekend was full of all KINDS of awesome stuff!

Did I mention that I'm going to be doing an online cooking show?  Oh, well, I am. :)  I found these guys on Craigslist, and we're doing a whole vegetarian / vegan cooking show together!  My show is called "My Meatless Kitchen", and on Saturday morning (bright & early), we filmed the first two episodes. 

This is the kitchen we shot in!
 

One of my first items that I made - quick sticky buns!  I adapted it from this recipe here - it's one of my favorites, and ridiculously easy to make.  For the first two episodes we did breakfast foods.  Fun fun!
 

Look, ma!  I'm on TV!!

A close-up of the quick sticky buns - the crew went crazy for them, and John was bummed when I came home without any to share with him.  Haha!  I'll post a link when the website / videos are up & running!  It was pretty darn fun.  I was a little nervous at first (I've never done anything like this before!), but eventually it started to feel a bit more natural.  The crew was awesome too - they were a huge help with getting me where I needed to go, and guiding me with what to say.

Also, it was a pretty rainy / cold / dreary Saturday, so it was kind of perfect for filming indoors!

Saturday night I surprised John with tickets to the Outlaws Lacrosse game.  It warmed up a bit finally, but there was still a chill in the air.  My friend Ryan gave us his season tickets for the night since he couldn't make it, and DANG were they close!!  It was pretty great!  

 

I lent John my uber fashionable scarf since he was cold.  I should've probably told him to wear a coat - it was kinda cold!  Whoops. ;)  Luckily we snuck in some pocket shots of rum & whiskey to spike our cokes with.  That helped keep us warm. 
 

Best part of the night was me getting to dance for the Jumbotron!!  I stood up and did a little boogie for the crowd.  The guy in front of us turned around and said - "Oh my gosh, you are awesome."  HA! 

We stopped for Thai food on the way home, and ate it in front of the TV.  It was a great end to a great night!

The next morning John and I got up late and hit the Farmer's Market for the first time this year.  It was super fun!  Not much produce yet (it's a little early in the year to harvest just yet), but we did get a few things.  

We also FINALLY got seeds for our own garden at home!!  

That's me plantin' seeds like a pro.  Well, a very confused "am I doing this right?" really-hoping-that-I-don't-mess-up-our-first-batch-of-veggies pro.  :)  
 

My little seed-planting set-up!
 

Grow up BIG and STRONG, lil' guys!
 

While I worked on the seeds, John went to work on the garden.  He's been working his booty off with cleaning it up, raking, tilling, and getting the soil ready to go.  Our compost should help to fertilize too.  He did an awesome job! 

After we finished our work on the garden for the day (it's barely started, but at least we got things going finally), I cleaned out the fridge and the cupboards.  I mean, REALLY cleaned them - I emptied everything, wiped off shelves, condensed things... it felt AMAZING when I was finished!  

Then I decided to make some Coconut Scones.  I pinned these a little while ago on my "Sweet Recipes" page on Pinterest, and I have been dying to make them ever since.  Also after my cleaning adventure, I realized I had all of the ingredients I needed!  WOOT!  Love when that happens. :)  

Here is where you can find the recipe with step-by-step instructions.  The only differences from mine is that I substituted soymilk for heavy cream, and I used whole-wheat flour for regular flour.  

I'm not kidding, folks - these things are DELICIOUS.  I had mine with a cup of tea, and a side of strawberry jam.  I enjoyed it SO MUCH and it was a wonderful treat to wrap up the busy weekend. 

 
 Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!!    
 

Flowers that brighten my path

Lately I've been walking in to work.  I have to get up a little earlier to make the trek (it's about a 35-40 min walk instead of a 10 minute drive or bike), but it's totally worth it.  Not only is it a great way to get more movement into my day, but I say hello / good morning to people I pass by, I listen to music or a podcast or a book, and stop to smell the flowers. 

Yep, it's a great way to start the day! 

I have been noticing all of the flowers coming into bloom lately along my path to work, and I thought I'd share them with you!  

I think these are cornflowers?  I'm not sure, but I absolutely love them (and their color).  They make me smile every time I pass them! 

I love the color of these ones too.  Gosh, I kinda wish I knew the names of all these flowers!  I know the roses of course (haha), and I could guess on some of the others.  But it would be cool to be able to identify all of them! 

I LOVE this one. 

This is one of my new favorite photographs. :) 

I caught that little busy bee going to work on that flower!  How cute is that little guy??  Poor bees, they get such a bad rap.  They're good lil' buggers. 

Sometimes slowing down before you have to attack your day is a nice way to keep things stress-free.  I know that I always feel so much more relaxed after my morning walk! :) 


What do you do to stay relaxed?

Chocolate Pecan Pie & Taco Dinner

Friday night, John and I went over to Ryan & Amanda's place for dinner.  

I told them that we would make a dessert since they were making dinner, so I pulled out my new favorite pie cookbook that I got for Christmas last year, and picked out a recipe! 

I decided to go with the Chocolate Pecan Pie, because it sounded decadent but simple at the same time.  

Seriously, I'm in love with this cookbook!  So far I've made 3 different pies from it (Bean Pie, Coconut Pie, and this one), and they've all turned out utterly delicious.  I love that they're really not terribly complicated to make, and she always gives a brief description of the pie's history & origins.  You get to learn while you cook!  Yeah!! 

Look at that FILLING - doesn't it look amazing!?  It's basically butter, chocolate, sugar, & corn syrup - then you add in the eggs and vanilla.  I think mine got a bit screwy because I realized we only had margarine left (not real butter), and I had about 1/2 a cup less corn syrup than was required.  I think that caused it to be a bit "liquidy" in the end, but everyone still gobbled it right up!!

The leftovers were even better the next day - straight out of the fridge. :)  This pie would be AH-MAZING with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream too - or even better CARAMEL ice cream.  *drooling... 

For dinner, Ryan & Amanda made tacos, and they were SO GOOD.  

Just sauteed veggies (meat for the carnivores), salsa, tomatoes, black beans, freshly made guac & cheese.  They were scrumptious!!  

OM NOM NOM!!  TACOS!! :D

John always knows how to make a picture perfect! 

 

 Amanda & Ryan! 

After dinner we had pie, and daylight turned into twilight - then into evening.  It was a totally gorgeous and perfect evening, so we sat out on the porch & started playing cards! 

A friendly game of "Oh Hell" to be exact.  We played it all the time when I was in Florida with Garvey & Amanda a couple of years ago - it was super fun.  You have to bid on how many "tricks" you're going to take for each hand.  It's really fun (and hilarious)!

I apparently forgot everything about how to play the game (and lost miserably the first round), but started getting the hang of it again, and came back eventually.  We laughed, and talked, drank wine, ate pie... all in all, probably one of the best ways to play a beautiful Spring evening! 

My empty pie plate.  Yeah, it was pretty darn good. :)