MARCHing to a new beat

Happy March, y'all! I don't know about you, but I am super glad February is over! I know I have said it a million times, but this winter is kicking my butt, and every inch we get closer to Spring, is a better day for me. I woke up with some new motivation, and a much better attitude than I've had so far in 2015.

Along with my bad February attitude, I fell off the diet wagon for the better part of last week. One too many beers were drank, I definitely consumed multiples of the forbidden carbs, and there may or may not have a been a late night stop at McDonald's. Shame. Shame on me! Anyways, today was a new day, with a whole new set of calories to eat up. I decided to not continue this shame spiral, and whipped up one of my favorite Pinterest recipes: buffalo cauliflower.

Since we are still trying to be as gluten free as we can, I decided to tweak the recipe a little bit, and breaded the cauliflower with quinoa flakes. All you need is cut up cauliflower, 2 eggs beaten, quinoa flakes, and buffalo sauce. Dip the cauliflower in the eggs, then the quinoa flakes, throw them on a baking sheet, and in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.

They should look like this after the first 15 minutes.

Toss the baked cauliflower in the buffalo sauce, until it is all covered. I used store bought buffalo sauce this time, but Eddy has made sauce from scratch in the past. You can do whatever you want!

The cauliflower then goes back on the sheet, and in the oven for another 15 minutes. After that, you should have these tasty little nuggets, that are ready to eat!

Super easy, right? I was convinced that these would not be anywhere near as filling as eating buffalo chicken, but I was totally wrong. Not only is this a delicious meal, but it is also satisfying! I get pretty bored eating vegetables, so this is a quick and easy way to (literally) spice up your meal.

I hope everyone had a more positive start to March like I did, and that you all did something that made you happy today!

'XO' or 'F U'?

Hello, and happy February! Kali here, writing from the couch, on my third snow day in 3 weeks. Crazy, huh? I think New England has gotten some 60+ inches of snow in the past 17 days, or something insane like that. Thankfully, I've been getting scheduled for 6 days at work anyway, so I'm not too upset to work a normal 40 hour week, by getting this extra day off. Also, I am heading south (again), in about ten days, to go to our very own Bekah's wedding! Even though it will only be for a few days, I can't wait to see her tie the knot, and to feel the sun on my skin again. Maybe if I am lucky, I will squeeze in another trip to Disney World, because I am already having withdrawals.

I have been keeping very busy, cooking a ton, and crafting myself to death. I love Valentine's Day, and take it as yet another opportunity to send something cute in the mail, to all of my loved ones. I thought about making this post about the valentines I was sending to all of my love's that live in other states, but I realized that would ruin the surprise! Instead, I have a fun little conversation hearts nail tutorial, for your viewing pleasure. Now I know that it isn't cool to like Valentine's Day, so if you are being a hater, you could always change the 'XO' to 'F U', and still have adorable nails!

I started off by choosing a base color, and giving my nails a solid two coats (don't forget your base coat!!). The color I chose here is Essie- Mod Square. 

Next, I painted one coat of Essie- Set in Stones, to give the effect of confetti over the pink base. You could also use a multi-color glitter polish, which I actually think would look better than just silver glitter.

Then I chose the colors for the conversation hearts, and went ahead and painted the hearts on my nails. I did not use the striper polishes for this part. It was actually easier to make a heart with just two brush strokes, with the thicker brush. Your heart doesn't have to be perfect, because you are going to be outlining it with black, which can fix any mistakes. The colors I chose for the hearts are Essie- Play Date, Essie- Strut Your Stuff, Ulta- Peach Parfait, and Ulta- Sun-Sational. 

 I took my black striper, and outlined all of the hearts. If you are really feeling creative, you can use a white striper, and create a highlight on all of the hearts too!

Finally, I created my messages in the hearts using the black striper again. I had high hopes that I would be able to actually write some phrases, but alas, all I could manage was 'XO'. I need to invest in some nail writing pens, so I can do more lettering! Like I said before, you could write whatever you like in your hearts, love or anti-love related. Either way, finish it off with a top coat, and you're all set. Now you've got the cutest hands in the room!

I'll let you guys in on a little secret... I could only do my left hand with this one! I tried about 3 times to have hearts on both hands, and after a lot of swearing, and nail polish remover, I settled with one good hand. The nice thing is, who cares? I'm not a huge fan of symmetry anyway. I am apparently, a huge fan of conversation hearts though! I spent the other half of my day today making a little batch of conversation heart brooches.

I had made some of these a few weeks ago, all with anti-love phrases on them (Go Away, Yeah Right, stuff like that). My boss saw me wearing one the other day, and asked me if I wanted to sell them at my job! Of course we only have 5 more days until Valentine's Day, so I am cutting it close, but I can always save them for next year if they don't sell. Not to mention, I think these can be worn at any time of year! Last year, I went to Aldo the day after Valentine's Day, and bought their Conversation Heart Bag (on sale!), and proceeded to wear it all year long. Of course, now that Valentine's Day is this week, I don't have access to said purse because I left it at my mom's house in Florida! Oh, the irony. 

Stay tuned later this week for a Valentine's Day outfit post! It has been super frigid here, but I am going to suck it up and freeze for the sake of looking cute. Fashion over function, right? Right. See y'all later!

Bandwagon

What is up, lovelies? Kali here, finally getting around to a little nail art tutorial! My inspiration? The Superbowl. If you know me, this may be shocking, because I am in no way interested in sports, and am usually pretty ignorant to them. I am going to blame a combination of the fact that I live in Boston (the Patriots are in the Superbowl, in case you're as uninterested as I am), and my co-worker Anna challenging me to try some Patriots nails! I very confidently responded to her "I can totally do that", and once I got home from work tonight, got down to business. So here I am, jumping on that Pats bandwagon!

 I try to pull all of the colors I need before I get started, so I am not trying to reach into my bin of nail polish with wet nails. In baking/cooking, I would equate this to getting my mise en place! I always use: nail polish remover, cotton swabs, a cuticle tool, cuticle helper, a nail file, base coat, and top coat. You can get all of the tools I listed above, at your local CVS or Walgreens.

My most recent discovery in the world of nails, is making sure to use a base coat. I was having trouble getting my nails to stay in tact for more than a couple of days, and once I realized I could use this base to keep everything in place, I could get them to stay for at least a week! Double Duty from Sally Hansen works as a base coat, and a top coat (I only use it for the base), and is currently my go-to.

After applying my base coat, I decide what color I want each nail to be, and go ahead and paint them! I always go back and do a second coat, even if the polish is pretty thick. The colors I used today are: Essie- Aruba Blue, Essie- Shake Your $$ Maker, and Cover Girl- Toasted Almond. (Don't mind my Valentine's day newspaper ads that I am using to protect my dining table from getting polish all over it!)

People ask me all of the time "how did you do that?", when I show them my nails. Here is the secret weapon! I found these Stripe Rite polishes at Sally's Beauty Supply a couple of years ago, and they are the only way I could ever do any designs on my nails! I have probably 8 different colors, and the brush is so tiny, that I am able to do very specific details. I'm telling you, go buy these now, they're my savior.

So, I started with my green pinky nails, and used my white striper to create the look of the yard lines on a football field (no one correct me on my poor use of sport's terms). Since my pinky is so tiny, there was not much room for any other details here. If you were using a larger nail (like your thumb), you could have actually included the numbers that mark the yard lines.

Next, using the same white striper, I hit the nails I painted brown, and with some very simple lines, made them resemble footballs. To me, nails that have a more basic design, but are super easy to identify, are the best ones! There is no mistaking that these babies are footballs!

Here comes the tricky part, and where I used my life mantra, 'fake it 'til you make it'. To attempt this Patriots logo, I started with the white striper, and painted an outline of the whole thing. Then I went back with the other colors (red, blue, silver), and painted the details of the face, or at least I tried to! I went back with the white again, and touched up the edges. As long as your design has the general shape and color scheme of what you're trying to achieve, it does not have to look picture perfect for you to get your point across. Personally, I think Bostonians will recognize these Pats logos from a mile away!

Finally, I decided to just hit my thumb nail with some silver glitter, the one I used was Essie- Set in Stones. Before I go back over with my top coat, I always make sure EVERYTHING is dry. The white striper always gets me, and if you paint a top coat over it before it is fully dry, the white will smear, and all of your beautiful work will be ruined. I have been burnt many times by the white striper, don't let it happen to you! Be patient, and once you are confident everything is dry, apply your top coat. I just started using Sally Hansen- Miracle Gel Top Coat, which does not need to be used with another Miracle Gel polish! They sell it as a two-step process, but all you really need to get your new manicure to last is the top coat. You can always do two coats of your top coat for good measure, and once that is dry, you're finished! 

Now you can all enjoy your favorite football teams, with some adorable nails at the same time! (Or you can just sit around in your pajamas, watching Modern Family, which is what I am doing above.) Who would have thought these two hobbies could go hand in hand? I really hope that this tutorial was helpful, and would love your feedback! Let me know what you think, and I will keep these little nail lessons coming on a weekly basis. Happy nail painting, ladies! 

All I do is eat eat eat

Remember my last post where I pep talked you all out of being depressed during the winter? Well, I almost immediately fell into a black hole of despair after I wrote that, not taking any of my own advice! (Easier said than done, huh?) I had zero motivation to do anything, even less than before, & I did a lot of whining, & some crying, & wah wah wah'ed my way through the weekend. Then I decided to pull my head out of my ass, & try a little bit to not hate everything so much. My main focus for the past couple of days was trying some new recipes, so Eddy & I don't get bored with our bread-free/dairy-free/delicious food-free diet. I did a little Pinteret hunting, & chose a bunch of stuff that sounded delicious, with the hopes of having fun in the kitchen again! The first thing I tried was a Cucumber Dill Hummus, which isn't exactly a meal, but who cares?

So I will say, that I was not 100% sure about this recipe. I am not a huge fan of cucumbers, and at first taste, I thought I was going to have to let Eddy eat all of it himself. But, after I busted out the black bean chips, I couldn't stop scooping up this surprisingly refreshing snack! It was super easy, & it cost around $5.00 for all of the ingredients, making about 3x the amount of hummus you would get in a normal container at the grocery store.

The next recipe I chose was quinoa pizza bites, because I swear, all we see are commercials for pizza! I won't lie, I am definitely on a quinoa kick right now, and you'll be able to tell from my Pinterest board. I am sure I will be sick of it soon, but for now, QUINOA FOR EVERYTHING! Anyway, I was pretty proud of myself with this kitchen endeavor, because I decided to make the marinara sauce from scratch too. Who knows if I did it right, but it tasted good to us, and that is all that matters!

 

All of these ingredients look pretty disgusting right now, huh? 

The recipe called for the pizza bites to be made in a muffin pan, but I think you could always bake them in a glass dish (like one you would use for brownies), and then you would have a funny little quinoa pizza loaf! 

After I took them out of the oven, I sprinkled the bites with Trader Joe's Soy Cheese Blend (sorry, the internet wouldn't help me link that one for ya!), satisfying my efforts to stay dairy-free. 

Voila! I threw a little of that homemade marinara on the side for dipping, and we had a pretty sweet pizza substitute. We both agreed that the recipe could use some meat, so I think next time I will mix in some ground turkey, and then they will be perfecto! 

Finally, last night I decided to try this Parmesan Zucchini and Corn. Again, Eddy wanted to throw in some left over ground turkey to add some meat to the meal (he doesn't consider it dinner without meat!), and I cannot believe how tasty this was. It was by far, my favorite new thing I tried this week.

Fully equipped with a margarita, I'll say that dinner last night was just as delicious as if we had gone out to eat! Of course, even if we wanted to go somewhere yesterday, we couldn't have. I totally forgot to mention the 24" of snow that Winter Storm Juno brought us this week! The whole city had a driving ban on it yesterday, so we all got a snow day from work. You would think this would add to my winter blues, but it somehow cheered me up, and I actually thought being stuck in the house was fun. Here is a little glimpse of what we got, from my front door:

Crazy, right? Luckily, the house hadn't been cleaned since before we left on our month vacation, and I opted for staying in to clean, while Eddy shoveled our sidewalks, and both of our cars. He came inside with icicles in his beard! I did have to go back to work today, and this was the snowy mess that was once the parking lot behind my job:

I don't think I will ever get used to seeing this much snow, and the only thing I can compare it to is Blizzard Beach (you Floridians know what I'm talkin' 'bout). 

That is all I have for you for today. I am hoping to try some more new dishes over this weekend, and am hoping to have a post about some new items in my Etsy shop by the end of this week too! Have you guys tried anything new in the kitchen lately? I'll take all of the new recipes I can get! 

I went to Orlando, & all I got was this lousy...

So, I am still alive! Even with 3 straight days of work under my belt. I will admit, I was being a little over dramatic about my return to the working class. I was actually pretty stoked to see all of my co-workers, after being away for so long. It's amazing how much time you spend with the people you work with, compared to everyone else in your life. I mean, they are stuck with me (or I am stuck with them?) 40+ hours a week! I don't think I even spend that much time with Eddy, & we live together. Needless to say, I love them all, & honestly missed seeing their beautiful faces everyday. 😍 

I am still trying to get back on a normal schedule, & trying to unpack, slowly but surely. My favorite part about coming back home from being away for the holidays, is unpacking all of the Christmas presents I got while I was there. I always forget every little thing I unwrapped in my stocking, so it is like Christmas all over again when we get back! Eddy shouted to me from the other room earlier, "Babe! I went through the presents your parents got me, & there's so much awesome stuff!". Like we didn't realize how awesome it was the first time around? I think Christmas is so overwhelming, that it is hard to appreciate everything all at once. I will say that we got the crap spoiled out of us while we were there, & everything we got was perfect, but I did want to highlight my top 5 faves!

First of all, I'm lumping both of these gifts together as one of my faves. Second, HOW FREAKIN' ADORABLE IS CROCHETED FOOD?!? The donut is a pin cushion (the colored sprinkles are actually pins!!), & the pizza is a brooch. My super talented friend, Jen is to blame for all of this cuteness, & you can head over to her Etsy shop here, to buy up her delicious accessories. She also has a kick-ass blog Amity Island where she talks about all things DIY, & I know this week she's constructing some beautiful lingerie pieces! 

Can you tell I'm hungry? All of my favorite things revolve around food! This sweet little pack of  Doughnotes comes with donut shaped note cards (perfect for any occasion), tissue paper envelopes, & To/From labels. My Wisconsin babe, Lisa gifted these to me in exchange for me knitting her a scarf for our brutal winter. I think some of my loves in different states might be getting their valentines written on these babies. 

Speaking of knitting! I am a very, VERY amateur knitter, only having taught myself from a book about nine months ago, so I can use all of the help I can get. Between my mom, & Eddy's mom, I made out with about seven scanes of new yarn, & all of these books on knitting & crocheting. I won't lie, I am a little overwhelmed, & am not sure where to start, but at least I have all the materials I need once I figure it out! Last year picking up this hobby saved me from the "winter madness", & will hopefully get me through another few months of hibernation. 

I love, love, LOVE to do my nails. I love it to much that it drives me insane, & they have to be perfect all of the time, but I love it nonetheless. Eddy's mom stayed with us for a few days back at Thanksgiving, got to witness me obsessively nail painting every few days, & gifted me this nifty little nail dryer. It is battery operated (so no annoying cords in the way), & came with a nail file, nail clippers, scissors, cuticle cream, & tweezers all conveniently stored in the clear top. I can't find this exact model, but I did find this adorable little pink nail dryer on Amazon for super cheap! 

Every year after Christmas, my mom always takes me shopping to hit all of the after-Christmas sales. We were actually pretty disappointed in what was in the malls this year, & there weren't even that many great of sales out there! I don't know if I just don't like the styles out right now, or if everyone was selling down winter stuff & transitioning into spring, but it was certainly a dud... except for this bag! I will openly admit that I have a purse problem. One of the walls in our spare bedroom (*cough* my closet *cough*), is dedicated to all of my bags. I've surprisingly scaled down a LOT, & won't buy one now unless I am completely head over heels for it. Anyway, we were browsing the gigantic handbag section in JCPenney (don't judge me, it's my mom's favorite store), & I gasped when I saw this beauty. I wish you could see the color better, because it is definitely eggplant purple, & not brown like shown here. I also sprung for this little polka dotty wallet, because I had been just throwing my ID & debit card in my pocket, hoping they wouldn't get lost. The wallet is a good size, not too bulky, & can still fit in my smaller bags. I found a white version of this Lulu by Lulu Guinness bag here, & a black version of this Mundi wallet here. 

That's it. I went to Orlando, & all I came back with was this lousy list of AMAZING GIFTS! What a spoiled little jerk, huh? Honestly, everything I got for Christmas was fantastic, not to mention all of the family time I got while I was down there (all right, I'll admit that was the real #1 present). What was all of your favorite gifts from the holidays? 

Back to reality

I'm writing to you, curled up on my couch (watching the Golden Globes), counting down the hours until I have to go back to work tomorrow. I haven't been there since December 7th, & I don't even know if I remember how to get there. (Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I don't WANT to remember!) I'm not complaining about having to go back so much, as I'm more afraid that I will be totally useless once I get back in there. The most strenuous day I had on vacation, was park-hopping at Disney World, & that was just physically demanding. My brain has been on autopilot for the past month, & I am estimating that I make it 5 hours into my shift (half way), before I go cross-eyed! The past couple of days I have been slowly getting back to my normal schedule, & trying to challenge myself a little bit, so my brain isn't a complete pile of mush. Eddy & I love to cook together, & my mom got us a food processor for Christmas, so testing that out was a good way to get me out of my drawn out, vacation funk. 

If you have followed my Instagram at all, you know that we eat Mexican food like four times a week, so what better than to make our own salsa? Honestly, I don't even like salsa. I usually just dip my chip in the liquid-juice part of the salsa, & leave all of the chunky parts for Eddy. I did that same thing with our homemade salsa, but was that salsa juice delicious! We chopped: garlic, red onion, cherry tomato, & seasoned with cilantro, salt, black pepper, & Adobo. It tasted SO fresh, I want to make everything from scratch at home! (Just kidding, I don't have that much time or patience.) Seriously though, it was amazing. Not a huge culinary project, but just enough for me to get some motivation to be more daring in the kitchen. 

On top of being out of work for a month, I was also off track of any sort of decent diet. I will not go into the gory details of what I ate, or how many pounds have been packed on, but let's just say I THOROUGHLY enjoyed myself! Since we had been gone for so long, we had no food in the house, & basically only bought fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, & these interesting chips in the picture shown above. Those black bean chips are apparently only made with black beans, flax, & quinoa (coulda fooled me!), not to mention they were on sale 2 for $5.00 at Star Market. We also got a Sweet Chili flavor, that are equally delicious & taste a lot like SunChips. I was pretty stoked to find a tasty, gluten free alternative snack. Don't get me wrong, I had to close my eyes walking down the bread aisle, & wept a little walking past all of the cheese, but I will feel a lot better when my jeans fit again. 

"Sweat pants are all that fit me right now!"