BRB

Julie is on her way!!! 

It's a miracle she got out of NYC. Three hours of a delay and 8 hours at the airport  but she's mid air scheduled to get in around midnight in LA. Thank goodness! All of my fun "sister plans" would have had to be scrapped for the weekend...

She's sitting close to Patti from Millionaire Matchmaker who apparently is wearing a very gaudy sparkly track suit...haha I love it.

I'll be back to blogging Monday-ish!

Have a great weekend!!!

One of the best things about being an adult is the realization that you can share with your sisters and still have plenty for yourself.  ~Betsy Cohen 

Good, Bad and Ugly

I'm linking up for the first time with B and Aly for The good, the Bad and the Ugly..They are such cute girls with great blogs so go check them out!!

The Good: We get to move this week!The Bad: We got 25 very large green crates delivered to our house to pack in...they have taken overThe Ugly: I have to repack everything I just un-packed 4 months ago
The Good: My sister Julie comes tonightThe Bad: It snowed in NYC like woah last nightThe Ugly: JFK airport is already closed-ish, I'm praying it re-opens and doesn't cancel her flight!
The Good: I decided to keep my hair blonde and not dye it brownThe Bad: I needed my roots done but didn't trust a new place to do it The Ugly: I started spraying Sun- In myself and using a blow dryer to fix the roots
The Good: Kinect Dance is the BEST workoutThe Bad: I have no rhythm, thank goodness I do it alone in the privacy of my own home The Ugly: I'm out of breath after one-ish song
The Good: J is ecstatic because he ordered a 13 part Revolutionary War dvd set off AmazonThe Bad: We've been watching an episode at a time when we go to bed at nightThe Ugly: It is astonishing how much I didn't pay attention in history class back in the day. 
The Good: I'm trying to drink less sodaThe Bad: Figured I'd rationalize it by just drinking caffeine free and getting the cans so I could drink one can at a time and not keep filling up my big cupThe Ugly: Instead of one at a time I drink way more than ever before... whoops, who was I kidding anyways


Hope everyone is excited to be almost done with the work week! Say a prayer JFK re-opens completely and Jules makes her way here safely, I've been so excited about her  trip!!

WILW

I'm linking up with Jamie today for another What I'm Loving Wednesday...I must have moving on the brain because I am LOVING all of these beautiful spaces...

I am LOVING this wine fridge....dangerous for any party with your girlfriends!

I am LOVING chickens apparently? This is Kate and I from over 20 years ago. She lovingly started to draw her parents...I drew some form of poultry. Go figure. PS. Shout out to my natural hair color. Yikes!

As always I'm loving my amazing husband and the beautiful flowers he brought me home the other day. He's the best!

Hope you guys are all having a fabulous Wednesday!!!

Top Two Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Since it's Tuesday its totally top 2 time. Obviously haha.

Heathy Snacks or Recipes

My mom has written/ tested for quite a few cookbooks in her day and seriously is one of the best cooks around. She is my resident Martha Stewart. I thought I'd pick two of my heathier favs from the cookbook she wrote for our family. Her cousin did the cover art and inside are lots of family photos and recipes from my moms entire side. Not to mention Candy personalized the front for everyone individually.It's one of those " If you could only take one thing in a fire" things. 

sorry about the grainy phone pic

{1} Flank Steak Marinade

This is perfect for a thin cut of meat that you can put on summer salads for a little protein. Or, you can do it the way my hubby likes it served with potatoes and broccoli. It's so great with veggies, lettuce and a light dressing.

"This recipe has been a favorite since  I worked for the Reynolds Wrap test kitchens. I spent all summer grilling for a barbecue cookbook and this marinade was one of the recipes we developed." - Mom

1- 1/4 to 1-1/2 pound flank steak; 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick

1 envelope dried onion soup mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Trim excess fat from steak; score both sides and pierce with a fork. Place steak in shallow baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients; pour marinade over steak. Turn steak to coat both sides;cover and refrigerate 4 hours over night. Turn steak once. Grill for 8-10 minutes per side; to desired doneness, over medium heat. To serve cut very thin diagonal slices across the grain. Makes 4 servings.

{2} White Chili

When I want a warm chunky chili but not all the red meat etc. I go straight to this. Plus, it is the perfect thing to keep in the freezer to bust out when you need a quick meal. It is so so good.

1 tbs salad oil ( any type: EVOO, canola, veggie)

1 medium onion chopped

1 garlic clove minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 whole large boneless skinless chicken breasts; cut into chunks

1 can ( 16oz) white kidney beans

1 can ( 15oz) mexi-beans ( or any other light bean of choice)

1 can ( 12oz) white corn; drained

1 can ( 4oz) chopped mild green chilies

2 chicken flavored bouillon cubes

For garnish; chopped jalepeno, shredded Monterey Jack cheese; tortilla chips

In large saucepan ( large dutch oven size), in hot oil, cook onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder and chicken until onion is tender and chicken is done. Stir in remaining ingredients and 2 cups water. Simmer 50-60 minutes, or until chili is thickened. Makes 6 servings. 

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday and stays warm if you are back East! 

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got..

Looks like Jenny from the block has come a long way! I saw Jennifer Lopez's house in the January issue of Veranda magazine and was completely shocked that I loved it so much. So calming, neutral, feminine and classy. For some reason I pictured it being over the top, tacky and gold leafed. I was so so wrong.

All pictures via Veranda.com

I wonder if J would let me put a formal dress on display in our room?

not normally a huge fan of peace but it looks so relaxing!

what a sweet blue kitchen

I love the slightly curved stairs

Way to go J.Lo.

Misc. Monday

Happy Monday Everyone! I'm linking up over at Carissa's for Misc. Monday. You should too!

{1} Hubs and I saw the King's Speech on Friday. It was AMAZING! It deserved every award it got at the Golden Globes. etc. Colin Firth was so great. You should def go see if you haven't.

{2} After the movie on Friday, J surprised me and took me out to our fav restaurant in Laguna Beach, Nick's. I love a little impromptu date night!

{3} My Junior League meeting was a riot. There are so many cute gals and I'm really excited to get started. Secretly, I miss my sorority so I can't wait to make lots of new gal pals while doing some good in the community.

{4} I wanted some navy pants to wear to my meeting and Banana Republic did not disappoint. Put down your computer and go get these right now. They have the best fit, some stretch and could go Navy or Black really, depending on the light. Sloan fit flare. Seriously.

{4} We surprised our cousin Patrick in LA for his birthday on Saturday night. J has two cousins and their wivfe and girlfriend that live in Hollywood.... so we headed up there for a little party at John and Sarah's. 6 people, some wonderful mushroom risotto courtesy of Sarah, too many bottles of wine/champagne and you've definitely got a party. Sarah also made these cupcakes with Guinness beer in the batter. To die for.  We had a blast and are already planning a cousin weekend in Feb. down in Newport. Yes!

{5} We played with Adam Sandler's kids in the park on Sunday at Greystone Manor in LA.  First child celeb sighting. Very nice to see they are just normal kids eating cheerios at the park with their grandma.

{6} We start the moving process on WEDNESDAY. I'm so excited and ready to get settled in our new place.

WOW. That was a lot of Misc. but I think that's the sign of a good weekend! Hope everyone is enjoying the start to their week!

A League of Their Own

FYI: I claim that this post is not totally irrelevant since I'm watching it on TV right now... I'm aware still totally random

Seriously, what is it with this movie?

 Inspirational. Based on a real time in our country. Funny. Motivational. Great theme song. Madonna. Tom Hanks. Uniforms that have skirts.  It's got it all baby. It's so funny how something so insignificant, like a random movie from your childhood, brings you back to a certain exact time.  I'm pretty sure my mom and dad got really sick and tired of renting it AGAIN and AGAIN from Blockbuster. I lived that movie for a while.  If you haven't seen it, first of all, what? and secondly, this wont make a whole lot of sense. 

I really remember wanting to BE Dottie Henson. I had a softball glove and I would practice imaginary catches in the backyard, complete with attempted splits. I rocked the skort and baseball hat and seriously was convinced I had it down. (No one informed me that the women's baseball league was no longer in existence.) I cried every single time  Betty Spaghetti got the letter from the war that her husband was killed. I laughed at Stillwell Angel and enthusiastically rooted for the Peaches to win the championship. I always thought Dottie's sister Kit needed to get a life and I felt bad for Marla Hooch.  I knew every word to the " anthem" they sang in the locker room. I can remember rewinding it on the VCR until I got all the words right. On a side note, I did have friends and other hobbies. 

In the mid 90's  Coors Brewing Company sponsored an all girls baseball team, The Silver Bullets. Clever right?  Read about them {here}. My dad took me  to see them play and my dream was re-ignited for 2.3 seconds. They only played 4 seasons and as they folded so did my hopes of becoming a Rockford Peach.

In the end, besides a year at t-ball and a stint as the 5th grade pitcher in elementary school, I never rocked a baseball mitt again. Maybe I missed my calling? 

Now if I may.....

new house, new furniture?

     That's my motto at least... I'm not going to buy all new furniture since I want to stay married but I am going to re-do most of the stuff that we have so it will match the new space! I love a good project.

 Here's whats on tap so far.

1. Chalkboard paint. I love it and was looking for a way to incorporate it without painting a wall or kitchen cabinet. Bring in our bar.

This is the general style of our cabinet. Ours is painted black and looks a little more modern. I can't get my pics to load on the computer. So, Im going to distress the black a little bit since it's kind of shiny. Then, the 4 panels are going to be painted in black chalkboard paint. I thought it would be fun to write cocktail recipes or drink menus for parties. It's also going to get new knobs of some sort.

PS. The cabinet used to hold some clothes of mine as a toddler and now it holds our wine glasses and service/party glassware. How fitting.

2. Burlap. I seriously have a love affair with burlap. It's a little weird but I love the natural texture and color. Our dining table is a good size white farm table. I keep flowers on it but I wanted a permanent runner to break up all the white. I'll be crafting....

pic via Emerson Made.

I like the initials of the above cloth but with the color of the one below...I'll see what I can do

pic via {here}

3. Desk duty. Our computer desk is plain and white. 

It needs a make over on top since it's had it's fair share of use. It was mine through college. So, to camouflage the top I'm going to cork it. It sounds weird trust me. I got the idea from my gal Martha via {here} I would never want to use it on a side table or coffee table but for a desk I think it could be great. I guess I'll find out. 

I have a lot more I want to do but one thing at a time!

WILW

Happy Wednesday!

Half way through what has been a 4 day week for most of you lovely gals!  That's something to celebrate! I woke up not feeling great this morning AND instead of lounging with my coffee I had to hustle and bustle out of the house since it's showing this morning. Yuck! But I really hope the people like it since that means we are one step closer to our new place! We signed all the papers yesterday, took measurements and did a walk through soooooo needless to say I'm thrilled! Even though I'm a little under the weather, there are a few things I am LOVING this Wednesday!

I'm still LOVING the weather recently. It's truly been perfect. 75 with sunny and clear skies. The sunsets have been amazing! Truth be told, it's cloudy this morning and I'm digging the overcast for the moment. 

I'm LOVING fruit with vanilla non-fat yogurt. I have to have something sweet after dinner so I figure I better make it healthy. Last night I baked some plums that turned out delicious. 

I'm LOVING that hopefully we will  be heading up to LA on Sat to celebrate a sweet family members surprise birthday. Well, the birthday isn't a surprise but the dinner is. Obvi.

I'm LOVING  that I have my first Junior League meeting on Saturday.  Meeting new people in this new city of mine = two thumbs up!

I'm LOVING that Jules comes next Thursday! Lot's of eating, drinking, chatting, shopping and sight seeing is in order. We are going to take a boat out Saturday to explore the harbor and California coast and I'm super excited. The best part, J drives while Julie and I sip something bubbly! Perfect. He's such a good sport :)

sooo many years ago but we were torturing my niece while she was sleeping.

I love this pic. Jules is doing some hysterical hand motion during a realllllly funny toast they gave at our rehearsal dinner. They told the story about when I was a baby they had me on their shoulders and put my head in a moving ceiling fan by accident. They didn't notice for a few minutes and couldn't figure out what the thumping sound was they were hearing. It was my head hitting the blades when they came around. I'm lucky I wasn't decapitated but we can all laugh a lot about it now. " She was our favorite toy to play with when we were little so J, I hope you enjoy playing with her as much as we have"... hahaha I love them. Alot.  

And as always I'm LOVING my husband. Through good and bad, he's the absolute best thing in my life. I wouldn't have it any other way.

2T2

It's Tuesday so I'm jumping back on board with Taylor! It's been a while but this is a fun topic to get back in it with...

Top 2 Outfits you're loving for Spring!

I love love love Spring. It's just such a comfortable time of year for clothes, anything goes. This winter I LIVED in leggings or really skinny jeans with riding boots. I am very ready for.....

1. Looser, flowy, wide leg jeans. They are coming back, you'll see. I love higher wasted ones with light weight blouses tucked in. My absolute favorites are from Emerson Made. Everything she makes is pure genius. Even her house is to die for.  Just so you know, I heart 60/70's fashion so Im hoping the flared bottom makes a return. Secretly. 

This next pic isn't EM, it's from elle.com street style. 

Go {here} to read a great article about how to wear these lovelies. Trust me, there is a right way to do it.

2. The Nautical Stripe tee. A light weight navy and white stripe screams spring to me.

And I'm cheating and going with a third...

3. Pin on flower. She's wearing it in some pics above or you can go larger...

I just love it.

If you can't tell I want to order everything from this gal... go {here} to check out her fabulous stuff. The above pictures  are from her site as well.

Hope everyone is enjoying the 4 day week! 

Off to the DMV and then to sign papers for our new house :)