My Life in Lists #2

10 things I'm kind of obsessed with right now:
1. Ruffles. ruffles. ruffles.
2. Other people's blogs.
3. The color yellow.
4. Ben Rector's music.
5. Paper crafts.
6. Foreign languages.
7. Croissants.
8. "The Mentalist" television show
9. Easter eggs.
10. Stockpiling craft ideas for when I have spare time.

laissez les bon temps rouler

Tonight I made this jambalaya for Beck, MB, and C. I love love love Kraft recipes. They're always simple, always delicious, and relatively inexpensive. As much as I feel like being a professional when a recipe calls for teaspoon after teaspoon of some exotic spice, I like the freedom that Kraft recipes bring. Tonight, I was feeling like using Turkey sausage instead of regular sausage (SO much better, it is a great substitution) and then I felt like doubling the sausage because it's so good. So I did. I increased the amount of oil I needed. I cooked the rice with the chicken broth and tomatoes and THEN mixed everything else I sauteed. I didn't use a whole green pepper. I just feel like such a rule-breaker (terribly out of my character), but it's nice. I feel like I'm actually learning to cook this way. And it's kind of a metaphor for life. You don't always have to measure everything out perfectly. Sometimes you need to take a chance and mix things up a bit. Who knows? Something even greater could be the result. But then again, I learned that from making JAMBALAYA. Who knows what all I could learn from cooking a 5 or 6 course meal...

5 Things

5 Things I Loved About Spring Break:

1. Finishing a book. ("Beach Music" by Pat Conroy)

2. J.Crew outlet + student discount.

3. Grilled cheese sandwiches everyday for lunch.

4. Having nothing to do in the evenings except sitting with some of my favorite people eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream watching (500) Days of Summer.

5. Making precious memories. And being cheesy about it.

reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body

For an English major like me, this is just TOO great. Seriously. I'm ALWAYS looking for new books to read based on the books I've read and loved.

I've already entered in the last five books I've read to find new ones in which to plunge. Just in time for Spring Break (and nearly summer)...

knock knock (who's there?) orange (orange who)...

This past Thursday, Abby and I made this citrus chicken. It was SO incredibly easy and especially delicious! We prepared long green beans, throwing in a little butter, brown sugar, and almonds for good measure, and we made sweet carrots with LOTS of brown sugar (see a pattern?). I didn't have my camera, so no picture, but it was quite the colorful meal, perfect with spring break right around the corner! Cooking is starting to become one of my favorite pastimes. We're sort of teaching ourselves, but it is all based on the eating we've done in hundreds of restaurants, so at least that's going to good use.


I'm all about finding alternate uses for everyday things (oh, how I love you, Real Simple magazine...). Besides cooking, there is a lot you can do with citrus fruits. First of all, the colors are so strong, you can place lemons, limes, whatever in a bowl and have a fresh centerpiece. Or use them in a vase for a twist on floral arrangements. I like to add slices of lime to sweet tea to give it a little special twist. Put a lemon rind in the garbage disposal with a handful of baking soda, and run for 30 seconds to get rid of the stench. The possibilities are endless...

Speaking of citrus, I'm heading to Florida for a week at the beach! I'm looking forward to a much needed break to catch up on sleep, reading, sun, and friends.

made you look

I just wanted to create a post devoted to some of my favorite things. Whether they be art, crafts, recipes, charities, poems, short stories, videos, photos, what have you, they're all still favorites. Kudos if you click on all of the links.

anthro is an adjective

This project has truly been a labor of love. And all of the credit goes to Jana. She found this craft in the January 2010 Martha Stewart Living magazine, and created her own "bubbly balls." I saw them in her apartment and immediately fell in love with them, so she taught me how to make them. Several weeks later with hundreds of baking cups, many sticks of glue, and several burnt fingers from the hot glue gun, they're hanging in my room. I think they're precious, and everyone remarks about how they look "so anthro." You gotta love that.

that shrewd and knavish sprite

Tonight I was stuck with no plans for the evening. For me, this is a rare, rare occasion. Normally, my days are booked solid. However, I enjoyed my peaceful afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, I had gobs of studying to tend to first, but after I conquered a decent amount, I rewarded myself doing something I enjoy. I am OBSESSED with Anthropologie's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" hand-stitched wallpaper, but at $698 a roll, that's a tad out of my budget. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of wallpaper and, even if I was, I don't think I would want an entire wall covered in Shakespeare's word. However, covering a ruled Moleskine cahier is more of my speed. I love Moleskines. Sure, they're overpriced journals, but sometimes I just want to feel like a legit writer. Moleskine claims that it

"is the heir of the legendary notebook used for the past two centuries by great artists and thinkers, including Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin."

Solid. Here's my twist on these two great products...

march on

Soooooo...it's March.
The month of love is no more.
The Olympics will roll around again in two more years.
The Ides of March is coming. Beware.
Everyone will get really into March Madness and talk about "brackets" all month. (Last time I checked, a bracket was the key directly to the right of the "P" on my keyboard.)
St. Patrick's day is coming up...the best day to pull the whole, "Yea, I'm 1/8 Irish." But really, I am. (I like John Mayer's take on it.)
Spring will officially be here in 20 days.
Which means Spring Break will soon be here.
Which means that all the lean cuisines will be gone at the grocery store and it will be impossible to find a machine to use in the gym.
But one of my favorite things about spring is the whole idea of birth/rebirth.
Yea, I'm a nerd. I think about those things. But it's true. I mean, obviously, all of the flowers bloom, all of the birds come out to sing again, all of the cute baby animals are born, and everyone starts having really bad allergy attacks. Cool, those have been a part of spring since God created it that way (well, maybe not the last one). But it's a time for a fresh start. We get to begin another season of life. This spring, I'm ready.

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee
God of glory, Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Opening to the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Giver of immortal gladness
Fill us with the light of day

All Thy work with joy surround Thee
Earth and heaven reflect thy rays
Stars and angels sing around Thee
Center of unbroken praise
Field and forest, vale and mountain
Chanting bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee

Mars, the Roman god of war, for whom March was named