monday musings.

monday musings.

9.22.2014

>> You guys, last week was hard. And the weekend, even harder. Ugh. I'm pretty glad that week is behind us so that we can start fresh today. You know those weeks...when you're actually excited for Monday? Yea, it was one of those. C and I were basically passing in the night and didn't eat one meal together. We both had really busy days followed by several evening commitments. Saturday was a mess so we spent all day Sunday catching up. 

>> I think I've finally discovered my favorite yoga class/teacher - I hope it never goes away. However, as I'm heading out the door to said class, dressed and excited, I get an email saying it's cancelled. Grrrr. Needless to say, that kicked off the not so great week because then I couldn't motivate myself to do anything active at all. 

>> The bright spot of the weekend was finally finding some time to watch church online. I LOVE that we can live stream Cornerstone services at HPUMC, our old home church in Dallas. I miss it a lot, especially the people. It was such a fun surprise to see Elizabeth preaching on Sunday. Elizabeth officiated our wedding ceremony and it was so so so special. It's the one piece of the wedding I wish I had on video. She is so good to us. 

>> The picture above is from last weekend when we were in Baltimore. C's mom hooked us up with amazing seats for the Blue Angels air show in honor of the 200th Anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner. You can see more pictures on my instagram.

>> I did the big winter/summer clothes swap out on Saturday and found several more items to send to the Fashion Project. I'm trying to think strategically about what I'll use the Nordstrom gift cards towards - probably something I wouldn't normally pay full price for like a coat or boots. I have my eye on these but they are currently out of stock in my size.

>> I cut my hair short again over the weekend and can't decide how I feel about it. I think I just need to get used to it. I like it short during the winter so that it doesn't get tangled in scarves or coats. Something weird is going on with my bang situation though. This is the cut I showed my stylist. Also, anyone else in the market for a long bob? Check out my pinterest board!

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{recipe} easy weeknight pasta toss

{recipe} easy weeknight pasta toss

9.19.2014

I just found this post in my drafts from a few months ago. I probably never published it because I didn't have a picture of the dish. Oh well, this was a pretty delicious meal so I think it's worth sharing! 

It's no secret that we love pasta in our house. Pasta, however, can get pretty lame especially because I prefer not to use jarred sauces (sugar!). I typically have a batch of my delicious meat sauce in the freezer for emergencies but sometimes it's nice to mix it up. I love watching The Pioneer Woman because I feel like her recipes are very adaptable. She was making this penne the other week and that's where the inspiration behind this pasta came from.

In Ree's episode, she uses shrimp and doesn't add any veggies. I also cut back on the amount of cream used which is why I reserve a bit of the pasta water in case the sauce needs to be thinned out. We had some left over roasted chicken and some frozen peas so I tossed that with the sauce. The best part about this recipe is that you can use whatever meat/veggies you have on hand. I think this would be great with asparagus, roasted broccoli, baby scallops, chicken sausage etc. This is a great recipe to use to clean out your fridge!

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the connecticut river

the connecticut river

9.18.2014

For our anniversary, my mom wanted to give us "paper" so she gave us tickets for a schooner cruise on the Connecticut River and suggested we also check out the Gillette Castle. Though the weather was iffy (holy humidity!), the whole day made for a fun excursion. We even rode the country's second oldest ferry. 

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kennebunkport, me

kennebunkport, me

9.16.2014

We've been doing our best to take advantage of some free weekends as well as our close proximity to a bunch of really cool small towns. A few weeks ago, we got up early, booked a room on Hotel Tonight and hopped in the car for a few hours to drive up to Kennebunkport, ME. 

Sleep // The Maine Stay Inn

We were so lucky to get a last minute room at this adorable B&B because EVERYTHING was booked when we initially looked. I've never used Hotel Tonight before but it was awesome, and kind of a rush! You feel like you're getting such a deal when you snag a last minute room.

Eat // David's KPT for dinner (also a B&B!), and Mabel's for a lobster roll

Play // Take a sunset sail on the Schooner Eleanor

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monday musings.

monday musings.

9.08.2014

>> So in all honesty, I have just not had time for this space lately. It's not that I'm uninspired or anything, I have like a million posts in draft form, but by the time I have an ounce of free time, all I want to do is relax with C, watch Masters of Sex, and maybe sip on some whiskey. So blogging has become low priority. And you know what, that makes me anxious. HA! I'm crazy. That being said, here are some monday musings for my 6 readers. 

>> We spent this weekend in NYC for a wedding - one of C's college friends and prior roommates in Dallas. It was a great weekend but after several late nights, it was a pretty sleepy train ride home Sunday afternoon. A few highlights: meeting sweet friends at Sarabeth's by Central Park for brunch, finally finding the perfect pair of nude patent pointy toe 3" pumps (that didn't cost a fortune), putting in a solid 5,000 steps traipsing around NYC with Lizzie, and dancing the night away with Mr. Thomas.

>> After deciding Saturday morning that I was not satisfied with the dress I brought with me to wear to this wedding, I made impromptu plans with Lizzie to stop into Zara to try to remedy the situation without spending a fortune. I hit the jackpot and not only found a dress for the wedding for $40 but also scored another dress that is basically perfection (don't judge it by the image online, it's way cuter in person #comfy).

>> Go order these two cookbooks immediately (here and here). Jessica's blog, How Sweet Eats, has been a long time favorite and my go-to when I'm feeling the need to try a new recipe. She's really a gem. I stumbled Stephanie's blog, i am a food blog, through a post on Jessica's blog. How fitting. All this to say, stop reading monday musings and order yourself a copy of their new cookbooks which just launched last week. Cook all the things. Thank me later.

>> I threw out a quick plug for the Fashion Project in a previous post but I feel the need to elaborate due to the success I've had with them. If you're in the process of organizing your closet and maybe switching out clothes for the season, this is the perfect thing to sign up for. They send you free bags, you fill them up with gently worn clothes, send them in, they sell them on their marketplace and donate 55% of the profits to a charity of your choice. Oh, and for every 5 qualifying pieces, you get a $40 Nordstrom gift card. Let me just tell you, I mailed in about 20-25 pieces, and got $120 in Nordstrom gifts cards. Just saying. So go sign up now (it's free!).

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