Where in the world did 2011 go?!

 Welcome 2012
 

I am so happy for a new and exciting year. Almost a little embarrassed to be blogging on here again..its been almost 6 months without a peep...but I am back!! Happy Twenty12 to everyone who happens to stop by and have a read. 2011 was pretty amazing, actually my favorite year to date but I am excited and anxious for this new year. I have a number of things I want to focus on in 2012 to better myself, my relationship and the way I view life. Here's a list of some of my more reasonable resolutions...perhaps blogging these things will make me feel more accountable to stick to them.

 2012 Goals

*Start planning weekly menus to save time, $$ & calories.

*Fall back in love with Bikram Yoga (1x per week minimum).

* Take advantage of where we live, unwind from work with a daily beach walk w/ my handsome man.

*More Tea, Less Coffee 

* Photo a Day for the entire Year. (trendy...but I know I would love the end result)

*Stop making excuses and start making progress... this pertains to EVERYTHING

*Random Acts of Kindness

*Read More

*Explore the world of D.I.Y.

I've been off of work for the past 10 days. (&& it has been absolute Heaven!) I am sadly back at work today. With the big gray cloud of responsibility and late nights looming over my head, I had a "Come to Jesus" moment last night. Although work can be extremely draining and the addition of school to that busy 50+ hour work week, it has become all too easy to make excuses for myself. I am far too young with too many opportunities to not take advantage of every one that I can. I am ready to start 2012 off with a BANG!!

My favorite memories of 2011 in photo-form. 



2011 New Years Eve with my Love



Steelers SuperBowl!! We didn't win but we made it to the big Dance!!

Moving into our very tinsy but equally sweet home.

Pittsburgh with Mom for my Gram's 83rd Birthday!

Happy 27th Birthday to Nick! Stayed at the amazing ACE Hotel in Palm Springs.

4th of July Fireworks @ the Oceanside Pier



Our Favorite Band, J. Roddy Walston & the Business, came to the Casbah! Amazing Show!



My First Vegas Trip--Labor Day 2011

Halloween!! Nick got to choose our costumes this year --Frankenstein and his Bride <3

Our First Christmas Tree

The blurriest NYE 2012 kiss ever.. Still a perfect memory to start an amazing year - taken exactly at midnight!!



&& probably my most favorite thing about 2011 - Adopting these two sweet peas! Mojo (orange) & Billie



Hope 2012 is the best year to date for all of us!

See you Soon.. for real this time!

xoxo

-K

Home Is Where The Heart Is.

Papa and I have already been in our place for over a month...I am kicking myself for not taking pictures when the place was bare and looked about as big as a sardine can. (not exaggerating) We have to space out our spending, so its a work in progress, but I really feel like everything is coming along.

*disclaimer-I have absolutely NO photography skills. 

-Welcome to our Home-




This is essentially the entire little nest... but it's pretty cute. Nick managed to find this coffee table off Craigslist for $45 bucks. (So thankful for him.. I never realized coffee tables could cost $300)
What I did realize is that I can spend wayyy too much money in Pier One Imports....but I managed to find the blue pillows and adorable throw on a pretty decent sale.




I had to take a picture of our bookshelf. I love that we ended up have the perfect space for one. All of my books happened to be boxed up and put in the garage...but we are hoping to fill this with records, cookbooks and a few of my favorite series.. "cough cough"...Harry Potter & Twilight.




Our kitchen! It's my favorite room!  I realize I may sound really weird getting this excited about having my own kitchen... but it IS exciting to have your own dishes, pots and pans!!
We found the perfect kitchen cart to give us some extra counter space. Seems to be a trend.. trying to make the most of what little space we have. I guess that's what you get trying to afford to live a block from the beach! And no, I am NOT complaining ;)

One of the little things I love about  Oceanside is the Thursday night sunset market which is held by the pier every week. Last Thursday was our first trip this year, I saw the sign below at one of the stands and couldn't resist!
-"Oh, I'm sorry. You must be confusing me with the maid we don't have."








Our room is cozy and that bed may not look like heaven, but it is! We've invested in a 3 inch memory foam mattress topper...and have a REALLY hard time getting out of bed on the weekends! Papa obviously let me pick out the bedding. I am mildly obsessed with the color orange right now.. I know this may be just a little too much for some people to handle, but I fell in love with it. 




This is the corner of the house I think needs the most work. My parents were kind enough to pick up this giant 9 drawer dresser at an Estate Sale, we had our clothes on the floor for 2 weeks.. great size and great condition.
We love Banksy... but aren't sure about the picture. To be honest, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with this area. I do love my flowers though. Papa, somehow got the "girls love flowers" memo. I lucked out!



Couldn't leave Papa's office our bathroom out of the tour. It's small but practical and dressed in white and and my favorite shade of green.

Thanks for stopping by!

I love our little home. I am dying to have summer beach BBQ's with our friends and family!

.

Cutest Easter Dessert to Date

I wish I had kiddos so I would have a reason to drop everything and make these tonight. Instead, I will race home only to debate going to the gym for a split second... then put on the most comfortable pajama pants I can find, pour myself a glass of wine, make a simple dinner and snuggle up next to my man!

BUT maybe I will find some time this weekend to make them with my sweet little nugget, Leuc! (just had to find a reason to post this picture... he is honestly.. too. cute. for. words!)



Back to the real reason of this post, I have seen some cute Easter desserts, but these take the cake....without being cake at all.  I love how you can decorate the outside however you wish to make them a little fancier or more colorful. Simply put, these just make me smile.



For the recipe which is so conveniently posted on Rice Krispies website... Click HERE

Cake in a Jar? Sold!

I came across this fun recipe this morning. I am in love! I made Papa a neon "rainbow" birthday cake last year.. this just takes the same idea and makes it a little more interesting. You dont have to use the bright rainbow cake inside, although it's appealing to show off  the vibrant colors. You can really take this idea and make it your own. I personally think the idea of cake in a jar is awesome enough in itself with or without the colors! I'm thinking....red velvet with cream cheese frosting or funfetti (my personal favorite) with some fluffy pink icing & sprinkles!!!



In my opinion, (being one who loves frosting) a pint sized mason jar is just too much cake and too little frosting. I am planning on making these in small 4 oz mason jars or even recycled baby food jars to resemble more of a cupcake. These would be perfect for any bridal/baby shower or party. I can not wait to try it out!

Checking in...with a Tasty Recipe!

We have officially been living in our new little beach cottage for 15 days. I am not sure that life gets better than this. I have been on a constant high for the past 2 weeks just soaking in the fact that I have my own space, my own furniture, my very own pots and pans and a wonderful man to share everything with.

The initial move was simple.. maybe I say that because Papa moved everything in while I was working. I would venture to say we are about 70% done with the place at this point. I am kicking myself for not taking pictures of it when it was empty. It has much more potential than I thought it would. I remember our second walk through, the night we placed our deposit, I went back to Nicks and cried because it seemed so plain and tiny. I couldn't be happier with our decision though! I can't wait to post pictures! It truly is the cutest beach bungalow you will ever see!!

We went out and purchased a very sexy 46" LCD TV.  I had that gut feeling that I lost my boyfriend the minute we loaded it into the bed of his truck. I would have to say it's Nicks favorite part of the new place.. the TV paired with Netflix! Netflix is Genius. Simple as that.

Now..

MY favorite part of our home has to be my kitchen. It's all mine and soo cute (and small) but I have been really enjoying cooking. We've made home made meals almost every night we've spent at home. It's been really enjoyable and its nice to be able to use organic meats and locally grown produce.

Well the whole purpose of this post is to share a delicious recipe with everyone. My very best friend Ginny came over to see our new digs and stayed for dinner. I was all sorts of excited to have her over to MY home and make her a meal in MY kitchen. She is such a picky eater (and she will argue that she isn't.. but SHE IS) so when I came across this recipe on Our Best Bites I knew it was a pleaser.



Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo

8 oz. penne or bowtie pasta

1 recipe Guiltless Alfredo Sauce (1 16-oz. jar would work in a pinch)

2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped (about 2 c. chopped chicken)

6 oz. (1/2 package) cooked bacon, chopped

1 14-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 c. chopped green onions (about 1 decent-sized bunch)

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, prepare Guiltless Alfredo sauce. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Toss with chopped chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, green onions, and 1/2 c. mozzarella. Season to taste.

Transfer mixture to an 8×8″ baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

I subbed out the Artichoke hearts for peas for my picky eaters and it was still delicious. Can't wait to try it again with the Artichokes though! Please if you take the time to make this....USE the recipe suggested for the Guiltless Alfredo Sauce...it is full of flavor, sooo easy to make and the whole "Guiltless" factor makes it a much more enjoyable dish. (if you have a crazy calorie counting troll in the back of your head like I do)

~bon appetit!

Changes...

So, its a day short of a month since I last posted. Although I love the idea of the blog, I haven't had much to write about. Lets see.. in the past month:

• I turned 25. That was fantastic. Spent the day in downtown San Diego with my dearest friends
• Put a deposit on an apartment.
• Our dear friends Nathan and Dana got hitched!! 3.5.11
• .........

Maybe that's why I haven't blogged. Although I could have posted a ton of stuff to do with the wedding and pictures from my birthday. I've just been BUSY with the boring stuff....and packing!!

The reason for this post! wait for it...

I MOVE TODAY!!!

I am overly excited. This is the first real time I am leaving the nest (not counting those 6 months I was a 19 y.o. rebel and couch surfed... my poor poor parents) and I am moving in with Papa which makes the whole experience that much more exciting!

I promise there will be pictures to come (before & after).. give me some time though. We will be settling in and enjoying the Pacific Ocean which happens to be .1 miles away according to Google Maps.

Wish me luck!

BHLDN - [Beholden]

Lets do the math

Wedding blog/wedding anything obsessed person
+
Who has a deep love for most everything Anthropologie
=
 a serious freak out when that person saw this.

The creative minds behind Anthropologie just released their wedding line this week! I'm dying... My wedding will be on a much tighter budget... but a girl can dream, right?!

le sigh

...those little things you don't need.

I am sure you have all wanted something that was completely unnecessary.

Here is mine for the time being:



Not sure what it is about it.. but I keep going back to the site to look at it. Maya Brenner has a ton of amazing different pieces of jewelry.. mostly out of my budget...but still amazing! This is not something I will treat myself to any time soon because I can think of a million other things to buy for $300 and less but I just thought I would share.. maybe some lucky person who can actually afford to treat themselves to something nice, will fall in love with it, purchase it...and then I will live vicariously through them!

play on repeat

I am not sure about any of you, but occasionally (and not occasionally enough) I get HOOKED on a song. Something about the lyrics and the beat, but I can easily play this song on repeat for an unhealthy amount of time. I bought Florence and the Machine's album "Lungs" right before Christmas. When I bought it I only knew one of her songs...but I quickly fell in love with this one:



Just wanted to share. Its perfect to work out to, drive to.. or just sit in your office and listen to...like I am right now.

-Oh, the entire album is amazing if you are interested in something different.

Soon to be a Mrs. - Celebration Time

Well here I am again Slacking.. this is the first time I have opened my blog since my last post. I have been insanely busy at work (thanks to my 2' high pile of filing I have put off since Oct.).. and after spending 5 days away from my other half, I found it hard to spend any of my free time without him.

Papa and I have the pleasure of participating in a wedding on the 5th of March. One of Nick's closest friends found his match and I couldn't be more pleased with his pick. It makes me happy because by default all of Papa's friends are mine.. and none of them have had stellar girlfriends until Dana came along. I couldn't have hand picked a better woman for Nate. She is the type of person who you are drawn to because of her personality and contagious smile. I am so thrilled for them!  Anyways, a few weekends ago we celebrated both their Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. The boys packed up on a Thursday and headed north somewhere up in Monterey for a "guys fishing trip", ironically where ever they were, had zero cell reception (clever guys!) and I had to be OK with the occasional text to keep me sane. Turns out, their trip went well.. and the only injury was to the groom, a fish hook through his cheek! Nothing broken and all came back with fresh air in their lungs so I would say it was a successful Bachelor weekend.

The girls had something very mellow planned. Saturday morning we were off to spend the day at Glen Ivy. I had no clue what kind of treat I was in for! That place is literally a grown woman's Disneyland. General admission is a bit high ($52) on the weekends but I was happy to be there and would have possibly spent more if I wasn't on a serious budget due to this wedding and moving out mid-March. We spent four hours sun bathing, in and out of the lazy pool, sweating in Sulphur pools (don't wear any sterling silver in, I learned the hard way), relaxing in the Saline pool, covering ourselves with mud and trying the Cold/Hot plunge (my personal favorite). It was the perfect day. Dana's mom is a serious saint and treated us all to adult beverages and some snacks...as if I didn't already love her. I am thinking about adopting that lady. She may not even have a choice in the matter.

After a relaxing day at Glen Ivy we headed back to our suites in Temecula to get ready for the Bride's choice of Line Dancing at Stampede. I personally have never thought twice about visiting a Country Bar...and would have never pictured myself attempting to Line Dance... but it was a BLAST! I will be returning. I feel like I stepped into a different world when I walked into that Country Bar. I think it was a successful night, as Dana maybe sat out a total of three songs the entire night. We finished off chatting at the hotel room til the wee hours of the morning and headed home after breakfast on Sunday. It was a nice weekend get away, and I highly suggest Glen Ivy to all. (possible Valentine's gift for those of you who are still trying to figure out what to get your significant other)



This past weekend was Dana's Bridal Shower. Another successful event. Myself and the rest of the Bridal Party planned everything via email and that thread was VERY long. Everything came together perfectly though. I feel like we all had the same vision.
Dana's cousin was kind enough to let us use her gorgeous home in Huntington Beach. We were able to get there early enough to set up before the older crowd known for their early arrivals came.
We all decided on the "Love Birds" theme and each of us were responsible for little details.


Here is the gorgeous "Bride to Be"

The food table was simple but delicious. As for the desserts...

...they were scrumptious!

Some of the our center pieces. (I turned the birdhouses into picture holders by simply shaping and hot gluing flower wire to the back)


Needless to say Dana got spoiled, with 40+ guests I suppose its hard not to! I am so excited for her. Next event -the WEDDING!!- 03.05.11

Update from the Slacker...

Why is it so much easier to forget about this thing.. well not really forget but not have something come to mind for an entire week to blog about? I guess I am just new at this and truly don't know if anything that exciting is going on in my life that would warrant someone else actually wanting to read about it.
My day to day routine is typically the same... I wake up at 6:45 (there is nothing good about a morning that starts before nine), then I work till 5 pm, spend my evenings with Papa or make some sort of plans with a girlfriend, go to bed and repeat. I am constantly counting down my work weeks for the weekend. It seems like a waste to wish away 5 days of every week... but those two days off truly save my sanity. I suppose I can't beat myself up too badly over a slow start to this blog. At least I am spending my free time doing the things I love... so that is something to blog about in itself.
I had a wonderful weekend. Papa and I went house hunting on Saturday which was probably not the best idea because we still have another month until we are ready to move. I have my heart set on about 3 places that will be long gone by the time we are ready to sign a contract and move in. But!... it was nice to get a feel of what we can expect in our budget. We are hoping for something quaint and quirky where we can add our own touch and hopefully walking distance to the beach in Carlsbad or Oceanside.
I CAN NOT WAIT to decorate!!
We spent Sunday in Palm Springs at my brother's place. (Side Note: I am slowly but surely falling in love with La Quinta, Ca) It was Leuc's 2nd birthday party and my Steelers Division Championship game. The party was great! Tania (my sis in law) did a wonderful job with the food and football cupcakes. Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves until the tantrums started. I feel like once one child cries, the rest will surely follow in his footsteps and throw a fit of their own. I couldn't believe how many babies were there! Let's just say.. Papa and I are getting a pup as soon as we move into our place. Something..anything..needs to help curb this baby fever I've got going on. My goodness!
Sunday afternoon I experienced my first family football day. I grew up in a home who never turned on the television on Sundays, we usually spent the majority of the day at church. But this past Sunday, everyone was sporting their Steeler's gear. There was a great energy with THAT many Steeler's fans in one room and I had a good time waving my Terrible Towel. The second half of the game definitely had me on my toes, but my Steelers pulled through! We are heading to Super Bowl 2011!  For those of you who don't care about football enough to know what it feels like when your team, which is one out of 32 in the league, makes it to the final game...It's a little bit like Christmas in February. I came across this photo and couldn't help but laugh.



School started yesterday..I attempted to get an English class I need in order to transfer from my JC, but every one of the 6 online courses had a wait list of at least 10-20. Apparently my college broke a record this year with the number of students enrolled, which only means next semester it will be equally as hard to get the classes I want and need.  This semester I will be focusing on "Music of the World"  I suppose it seems interesting.. not something I would take if I didn't need to fill my arts credits but I'm determined to pass all of my courses with A's, so I will embrace it!

I know the whole point of this blog is to post recipes and fun DIY crafts but I am having a hard time with this. I am planning a Bridal Shower and Valentines Day is coming up shortly after that. I've been working on some things but don't want to post until after the events! Papa is probably my only follower and it would surely spoil the surprise(s) for him. And..I will be very honest, I have not been in the kitchen to make anything from scratch in a few weeks! Things will definitely turn around when I have my own kitchen and free time!

For the time being... Happy Tuesday!!

1, 2, 3.... Go!

So, let us get acquainted. I am 24 (closer to 25 and confused where the last 10 years have gone), I live in San Diego and have for the adult portion of my life. I grew up just south of Pittsburgh, which will be necessary to know for those of you who can't figure out why I am such a Steelers fanatic. I also like to claim that I am an East Coaster because, I genuinely think that people from the East are just a little softer around the edges. I work in Association Management and have a love/hate relationship with my job. It's a great opportunity for me, but it gets lonely...I work alone all day, every day....trust me it's not as appealing as it may sound. Along with working full time, I am working on getting my Psychology degree (part time). When it comes to an education.. I am not sure what I want to be when "I grow up", but working towards something is better than nothing at all. I am currently in the process of moving out of my parents house for the first time ever (yes, maybe I am a late bloomer) and into a home with my boyfriend. My boyfriend's name is Nick. He is pretty perfect in every way and I am extremely lucky to have him back in my life, maybe someday you will get the full scoop on us, but for the time being let's just go with.. He is perfect and I am happy.

Down to the purpose of this blog. I am at an age where I feel I should have a lot more experience in the womanly/motherly areas of life. I can hardly make a decent spaghetti, every cheesecake I've ever attempted has cracked, I need my moms assistance when it comes to sewing on a button and well when it comes to being creative or crafty.. I am NOT. My future family does not deserve that! So, I guess this blog is a challenge to myself. Not only am I "unKreative", I can be unmotivated at times. Throughout 2011 I want to challenge myself to attempt bigger things. Hopefully I will be posting successful tips along the way.