i'm hurty

it's one of those days

diet coke was needed

mcdonald's fries too

and i had to stop at meijer's to pick up the chicken to marinate for tomorrow's dinner

where i also picked up chocolate for the office (me)

and

then i picked up some midol

i'm dying over here

i feel miserable

the salt and chocolate helped some

but all i really want to do is soak in a hot tub and epsom salts

and then layer on sweats and a robe and socks

i don't even own a robe

it just sounds nice right now.

it's also bitter cold out

nobody should have to leave the house when it's this cold

or when they feel this awful.

can i just get an early start to the weekend and take tomorrow off?

i'm just going to sit here and sulk 

YUM!

no surprise here

i'm tired

i stayed out way past my bedtime last night

for a basketball game - of a team i'm not even a fan of

but it was worth it so bill could finally see his team pull out a win in the stadium (the past 2-3 games we've attended they've lost...we were beginning to think it was us - and considering i'm a wildcat fan, it could have been my bad ju-ju vibes)

bill picked me up from work since we live away from town and my office is closer to the stadium- and to avoid having to pay for 2 cars to park

i had big plans to grab an appetizer nearby - but all the restaurants were packed

so we ended up going in to the yum center and finding food

which meant we had to try and eat standing up - at least the views were nice.

my one complaint - for a stadium named after the biggest chicken fryer in probably the world - KFC - i had the nastiest, driest, slab of grilled chicken ever...ugh.  no amount of honey mustard made this thing good. 

ok...well maybe

this beer.  it was nice and cold.

and almost $7. 

i guess you can feel kind of ok spending $26 on beer (bill and i total) when you only paid $12 a seat.

and wowee - look high up we are!

these were the people sitting next to us

nope, just a wall..

and the people behind us...

oh yeah...another wall

with all the walls around us, at least we could hear each other talk.

louisville was kicking butt early in the game, and then somehow late in the 4th quarter it became close, and UofL norrowly missed their 4th defeat in a row and pulled out a win against Pitt.

bill had almost convinced me to go celebrate at o'sheas after the win - i think it was the $7 beers talking - then i remembered my car was all the way back across the rive in indiana, and we would have to drive ALLLLL the way back home - about 45-55 minutes round trip.

so that got nixed.

we picked up my car and headed home

arrived close to 10:30, and after a quick shower i was out like a light.

and up way too early for my liking this morning.

week night outings are a thing of the past i believe

the one with the fennel

can we just go back

and re-live the weekend one more time

it was just...

nice

friday was spent cooking...per resolutions

and bill and i discovered we are not fans of fennel

fennel seeds we were fine with - the pork tenderloin was rubbed with a honey, garlic, and fennel mixture - which turned out really well

the fennel bulb - well...i've never cooked before

for your reference this is what the whole plant looks like

image found here

and while i sliced the bottom bulb in pieces i was skeptical

it had a sickeningly sweet smell

i then steamed the pieces in the microwave and thought there could be hope

the fennel was then to be covered with a mascarpone and breadcrumb mixture and baked

i mean - anything covered in dairy and crumbs should be good right?

eh

i mean it wasn't unedible

but i definitely wasn't enjoying the flavor either.

bill and i filled up on pork and called it a night - i had to throw out ALL of the cooked fennel :(

if anyone has a good fennel recipe or can suggest where to try excellent fennel - i'd be game to try again...but this...no...it didn't work for me.

and because we're  just too cool for our own good

yes, we keep our couch covered at all times unless we have company.  and i might be considering getting plastic to cover it with.  help me.

bill let me remove his blackheads

i'm obsessed.

i know.

gross, right?

but i couldn't sleep at night not knowing if bill's blackhead situation was worse than mine

actually, we both have normal skin - we had equal amounts of the normal amounts of blackheads to be had - whatever that is.

oh, and sidebar - i've used my clarisonic face brush like 5 times now, and i'm OBSESSED. omg, save your monies and invest in one of these.  my skin is brighter and softer already - and any blemishes i had last week are gone - bye bye! it's fantastic.  and i love it. and i want to wash everyone's face with one to prove my point. but i won't because i only have one scrubby brush.  but trust me.  just do it.  you'll love me forever and include me in your will because it will change your life for forever.

ok

moving on

besides obsessing over skin care

we had a youtube night

i don't think i mentioned this last week when we discovered we could do this

and if this is totally old technology, i apologize -

but there's a youtube app on the playstation which prompted us, or told us we could connect with our other devices using a code

so we paired the kindle and the ipad up with the playstation app

and bill and i are able to wirelessly take turns picking videos to play and watching them on tv

youtube night is on a whole new level now.

and to recap friday night - we are clearly lame and don't like fennel

saturday night we hung out with our DINK friends.

DINK = dual income no kids

and you'd think us DINKs would be living it up

but

instead

we had taco night and played cranium.

Jeff is looking quite skeptical of whatever bill just drew...

 we also played battle of the sexes

and then we were all bloaty from the tacos.

we passed around the beano

not really

but next time it will be readily available.

and despite a relatively low key night

all we wanted to do sunday was sleep in

8:30 is sleeping in for us...

and even then we can't get away with it since one of the animals usually puts a stop to it

sunday morning it was olivia, the girrrrrl (kitty) who pounced and let us know it was time to get up

coffee was enjoyed

as well as kroger sushi in the edge

laugh all you want

but kroger has some awesome sushi

and it's pretty portable

we ran around town for a bit, stopped by the in-laws - i received some knitting needles from the MIL who used to knit while they were in scotland - can never have too many needles!

and then we called it a day and headed home.

and now it's boring ole monday.

right now it looks like we're headed to a basketball game tonight

so i can already tell you tomorrow's post is going to start with

"i'm so tired"

i hope you had a great weekend!

is it 5 yet?

there is ice on my windshield

my pores are de-blackheaded

...and somebody needs a hair cut - and i perhaps could be the next villain in a batman movie - biorface, patches, THE EXTRACTOR!

and despite the ice falling from the sky

i am at work

womp.

i miss the snuggles back at home

even if it meant being used as a seat cushion.

there is very little chance much productivity is going to get done today

i'm keeping an eye on the weather radar

and enjoying my HUGE smoothie

i've made my grocery list for tonight's meal

honey glazed pork tenderloin with fennel (i've never cooked with fennel...i have no idea what to expect)

and i've decided on a recipe for next week

so i'm not sure what the point of all this was...

so uhm...have a good weekend :)

let's face it

i treated myself today

let me first tell you

i've had the same skin care regimen since high school

which basically ='s no regimen

i've never had "problem" skin - just...tempermental

in high school i would get a really big zit on my forehead, chin, etc maybe once a month

and it was usually related to my period

back in the day i sometimes used the clinique 3 step skin system

but once i ran out of all the product i really never went back and purchased more

i also went through a phase of buying lots of anti-blemish products

even though my skin didn't really warrant acid face washes and creams

in college i probably used whatever was cheapest at walmart

and i can't really remember ever using anything specific

the past 5 years i've stuck with philosophy's purity

and i've dabbled in moisturizers - but i confess

i don't moisturize usually.

i only wear bare minerals face powder and mascara for my everyday look

with a bit of chapstick...ooh la la

i'm a simplistic girl

but my skin is changing.

i've noticed more wrinkles.

when i took my nose ring out

all i could see were little blackheads - definitely not noticeable until i look closely, but the fact that i know they're there just makes me want to scrub my face all day.

and the past week my skin has been freaking out

probably a little hormonal

maybe a bit from drinking more water/eating more veggies - i'm going to pretend the little broccolies are purging my pores...

i just feel like at the ripe age of 27...i need a skin plan.

and so i went out and bought a clarisonic.

it's definitely the cheapest model, but i didn't think i really needed more than one speed and...a timer?

i also went to target and bought a night cream

i have night cream now.

that just sounds so grown up and old womany

i wasn't even sure what kind to buy - i don't have deep wrinkles.  i'm not trying to look 20 years younger

and i just bought a clarisonic.  i'm not looking to spend $50 on cream.

so, i'll start with basic.

and i also want to try something i've never tried

i remember these being big when i was in high school but i never tried them

and...

i really enjoy weird things like cleaning out my ears and neti pots - so ripping out blackheads is my kind of thursday night.

so i bet you can guess what i'm doing when i get home...

wish me luck!

the perfect knit hat

oh man

excuse my absenteeism

i took yesterday off to clean house

and get the ice maker fixed

except i got a phone call saying they were one repairman short and that my appointment was moved until today

so hopefully we have ice tonight

i did manage to clean behind the fridge.

it had been hoarding lots of dust bunnies

and a pine cone..?

but now it has had its bi-decade cleaning.

don't judge me.

but really there wasn't a lot to recap from the weekend

we washed the edge

 and we made a fabulous dinner

so good in fact

i used leftover ingredients to bake another dish sunday night

and yesterday i stayed in trying to stay warm

i wish i could have done the same today

feels like 4?

4 is an age

not a weather temperature.

i did do something cold weather productive with my time, though

i knit a hat

it was an effort to avoid seaming the baby cardigan which is stressing me (i WILL finish it this week...as soon as i get the courage)

i really don't want to mess up the cardigan, but i know my first ever cardigan won't be my best

and i don't want to rip the seams out over and over again

i just need to sit down in a quiet place

with a glass of wine

and tackle it.

oh, and it's extremely difficult to take a picture of your own head

i'll link to the pattern later if anyone is interested (it was found on ravelry)

super quick knit lace pattern that kept it interesting

knit with patons worsted wool

it kept my noggin warm on the drive in

and it's quite chilly in the office that i'm contemplating putting in back on

anyone else in need of a good hat?

i'm ready to start another.

friday ramblings

it's 10:38 and i'm still working on finishing my coffee this morning

i also have a smoothie in my purse that i haven't touched.

usually i have both finished by 9.

that's just how busy i am this morning.

luckily i got the busy out of the way and i have the rest of the work day to get caught up on small items.

i have to make a daily list and i love checking items off

it makes me happy.

bill also picked up my engagement ring - it needed a small diamond replaced and i decided to get it resized finally.

bill's hand.  my cuticles are worse.

it sparkles so much more now!  i love when they clean it!

so i had been making a menu for the week

but since we've had so many leftovers this week

i still have enough ingredients on hand to make bean burritos and zucchini bake.

instead, i've just picked out next friday's meal to cook with bill - again from my new cookbook

 

and i thought we'd try and tackle pork tenderloin

 

i'm thinking of serving it with some broccoli rabe.

most of our meals are meat free, and i like to keep it that way - but to keep it interesting and to help bill learn to cook more, i decided some of our friday night meals would include some meat.

i did use some amazon gift cards to purchase martha's new cookbook

 
but i haven't had time to really read through it to find dinner meals.  i have found a few ideas for lunches!
so hopefully this weekend i can dog ear a few recipes to try on friday nights.

but tonight is our first foray into italian cooking!

i originally planned on making the ragu sauce and serving it on pasta - but the sauce cooks for 3 hours....

ain't nobody got time for that on friday night.

i still want to try the sauce - but maybe on a weekend when i have 3 hours to simmer.

so....

baked pasta with sausage and four cheese!

the recipe calls for a half a cup of wine

which i think is a perfect excuse to drink the rest of the bottle (with bill) while the pasta bakes.

wish us luck!

week 3 of resolutions

i had high hopes of displaying my finished good

unfortunately i didn't finish the second sleeve until bout 9:55 last night, and by the time i googled how to seam a sweater i was too tired to put the needed effort into finishing the baby cardigan.

so now i have a pressed dismembered baby cardigan.

tonight is the night i finish! 

i'm also itching to go buy more yarn to knit another.  or make some socks.  or i guess i could make baby owen a hat to match his cardigan!  or i guess i could follow through with putting little elbow patches on this one...

decisions decisions...

speaking of

what decisions did i make for week 3 of resolutions?

my original goals were

1. no artificial sweeteners
2. more home cooking/less going out
3. cook more with Bill
4. clean closet
5. save money
6. run happy
7. knit more

and this is how i've been doing

1.  i still haven't 100% kicked the habit.  i'm still wanting a diet sprite with dinner and we had lunch out one day this week where i wanted diet peach sprite with my meal.  other than that my coffee is still sugar/artificial sweetener free.  EXCEPT.  i've been adding creamer to my coffee which is full of hydrogenated oils.  i've basically traded one evil for another.  maybe i can just switch to vanilla almond milk in my coffee?  i'm going to try it.  i've also developed a habit of having an evening coffee while knitting - which is making me wired!  i desperately need to pick up more decaf and/or get a nice herbal evening tea to sip.  BUT - my best accomplishment is not having a diet coke at work every day - actually i haven't bought one at all!  hooray!

2&3.  oh man - this has been such a good resolution!  bill and i are cooking so much more.  and actually eating our leftovers! bill is a smoothie making machine - which is being hindered by the fact that our ice maker stopped working yesterday!  we haven't had a full ice bucket in months and i just thought it was because we use a lot of ice.  well when our ice bucket was empty for over a day i knew something was wrong.  i've called to have it fixed - but they won't be out until MONDAY!  we'll be purchasing some bagged ice to get us through such depravity.   but on the cooking front, we've made potato soup, broccoli salad, eggplant parmesan - and it's all been so tasty.  but in an effort not to waste leftovers i haven't been cooking all the things i've set out to.  again i need to evaluate how much a recipe makes and how many leftover meals we can make out of it so i don't over buy produce for the week.  i also purchased a new cookbook - meatless meals by martha stewart.  there are several interesting meals i can't wait to try.  i'm really running out of meatless dishes that don't rely on noodles so much.  ALSO (i'm rambling) i've noticed our grocery bill has gone down - and it's from planning alone.  we're not buying lots of snacks, we're going in with a plan (and coupons) and coming out with only what we need.  i've also noticed we snack less - because we're making actual meals and not grazing all day. 

4.  no.  i need to be shamed into doing this i guess.

5.  i get paid on friday and plan on depositing some money into my savings!  i'm thinking about calculating how much money we would normally spend on eating out and putting that money into the savings account too - each time we chose to stay in.

6.  i don't wanna talk about it :(  i haven't ran happy all week.  i did start wearing my nike plus fuel band again - and the fact that i've maintained my (easy) goal, makes me want to get out and beat my record every day.  so there's that...

7.  i'm clearly surpassing this goal with flying colors.  i just think it's my passion right now.  i have lots of hobbies and right now this one is burning up!  come spring i'm sure i'll flip flop goals 6 & 7 - but for now i'm just going to roll with it and get lots of knitting projects completed.  tonight i sew up the seams!  and this weekend i buy more wool!

wee cuteness

can we all just agree

itty bitty baby sleeves are the cutest

i didn't get both sleeves done as planned

the pattern is knit flat in stockinette... and i hate switching between purling and knitting - something about my purl technique is really slow

and i also thought it was dumb to add another seam to such a small garment

so i knit the sleeve in the round

and turns out i don't have size 5 double pointed needles.

so i had to use magic loop with a pair of size 5 circulars.

so i traded not having to purl and seam

for constantly shifting stitches on the loop - and when you only have about 30 stitches

that's a lot of shifting.

so it took longer than expected

and coffee was needed.

i should have stuck to decaff

because sleeping was elusive.

but one sleeve down

and one more to go tonight.

i'll save seaming for tomorrow

and i promise

PROMISE

pretty pictures soon.

what projects are you working on?

knitting and cooking

it's back to work

but thankfully it was a great rainy weekend

cooking and knitting and a bit of shopping got done

i tackled eggplant parmesan for the first time using this recipe

cheesy goodness indeed!

bill and i made this together - i got him started on the flour, egg, breadcrumb baths for the slices of eggplant

and i fried the little slices up - we then assembled the pieces, enjoyed some wine while the whole dish cooked, and then chowed down.

this made a LOT.  eggplant is very meaty and filling, but i was worried how well the leftovers would be.

i had another slice saturday night and i promise this keeps very well in the fridge!  i was worried the whole dish would go soggy. but that wasn't the case.

bill and i had gotten in the habit of going out to eat every friday night and then head to target to pick up unnecessary items.

it was really nice to spend time cooking in the kitchen and just staying home to enjoy...well...our home!

woodford was grateful

saturday we had a few errands to tackle - which meant

starbucks was needed.

errands + coffee = more fun and caffeinated!

aside from needing to pick up a check from the consignment store, i needed to price frozen fruit and bananas at sams club, take my engagement ring in to get sized, shop some sales (bought nothing), annnnnd

check out a local yarn shop

to get inspired by some fibers

i just wish i hadn't showed up while they were having their knitting group.

i was interested in really looking at yarn - but it was too crowded and the tables were keeping me from even getting to some of their product. :(  i had hopes to find some pretty sock yarn but that got nixed

but i did find some lovely spud and chloe yarn

in waterslide to knit the sweater featured above

for a wee baby boy

it's my first attempt at a sweater - so i warned the mommy that this might turn out horrible but it was made with love and good intentions and that i only need to see a picture of it on him once :)

the pattern is knitting up very quickly and right now all i have left are the sleeves, piecing, ribbing around the collar, and adding buttons - maybe another 2 nights of work.

i'll take some prettier pictures tonight or tomorrow - the color is gorgeous - maybe not very manly - but very springy - i'm hoping to find some cool buttons to put on it - something hipster-y - maybe even stitch on some elbow pads.

tiny clothes are so cute.

IF...a big IF...this goes well, i would love to knit bill or myself a sweater or cardigan.

i'm just scared of big projects because they take so much longer to knit and stick with.  i should probably just go for it and knit smaller projects at the same time to keep myself distracted and engaged at the same time.

and don't get me started on the price of yarn.  buying lots of yarn for a big project scares me and my checking account.

and the best thing to soothe knitting worries, as well as fuel more knitting

bacon.

specifically bacon crumbles that go in potato soup.

i made this sunday - a day filled with more knitting and lots of football.  it rained hard all day, so it just made sense to hang out indoors.

and now...i'm hanging out indoors all day due to work

but at least i have leftover soup

i hope you had a great weekend!

meal plan friday

tgif!

finally!

anyone else catch the office last night?

anyone else still scratching?









since finishing bill's scarf i've been trying to decide what to knit next.  i bought a beautiful ball of cherry red wool that i was eager to make myself a hat with

but then i couldn't for the life of me find my needle gauge.  i cast on to a pair of needles i thought was close.

it was a disaster.

i'm pretty sure the needles were too big and i was going to have a hat big enough for an elephant.  or the pattern was way way off.

so i frogged it

and i'll be headed out on lunch to pick up another gauge...maybe some new yarn too.

other than knitting, i've been busy coming up with my meal plan for the next 7 days.

and learning from last week i knew to leave a few days unplanned to leave room for eating leftovers.

so week 2 of january meal plan:

Saturday
B:  smoothie
L:  originally we had planned to be in cincinnati for the day - that plan is scrapped, so we'll still plan on a late lunch early dinner out
D: snack- popcorn, pretzels, cereal and almond milk

Sunday
B:  pancakes
L:  smoothie
D: Potato Soup - it just sounds good for a rainy weekend

Monday
B:  smoothie
L:  leftover soup
D:  skillet parmesean and zucchini with salad

Tuesday
B:  smoothie
L:  PB&J with carrots
D:  bean burritos (recipe from week 1 that never got made)

Wednesday
B:  smoothie
L: leftovers
D:  big ol' salad
 
Thursday
B: smoothie
L:  romaine salad
D:  tuna noodle casserole with veggies

Friday
B:  smoothie
L:  leftovers
D:  my night to cook with bill and i've come up with something new to try

i ordered a new to me cookbook full of italian recipes.

bill and i both love italian food.

so i thought it would be fun to learn how to cook authentic italian food together

and our first dish will be

giusi's ragu

not exactly veggie friendly - but since it's our one night to really cook together i'm all for it.

i think for our first attempt we'll serve it over spaghetti -  and since it takes 3 hours to simmer, i'm thinking i'll have some hummus and veggies to snack on - as well as a bottle of wine ready to help us cook :)

this recipe can be doubled/quadrupled so if all goes well we can make ahead and freeze since there are a couple other recipes that use this sauce in them.

my goal is to cook one recipe from this book once a week (tuesday or friday nights)

here's to happy forks!

week 2 of resolutions

has anyone crashed and burned on their resolutions yet?

luckily i made mine pretty flexible

to ensure i don't get overwhelmed with an all or nothing plan

to recap my goals for 2013 are:

1. no artificial sweeteners
2. more home cooking/less going out
3. cook more with Bill
4. clean closet
5. save money
6. run happy
7. knit more

and for week 2 of january this is how i did

1.  i've accomplished this probably 90% of the week.  last friday i had a diet coke with lunch - but only because i forgot my water bottle.  not really an excuse, but it's the one i'm using.  i was also feeling pretty cruddy sunday so i had some diet ginger ale.  and there may have been once during the week i had some sprite with dinner.  i have eliminated sweet n low from my coffee - or i add honey or sugar for a special treat.  at work i drink water.  and since i'm back to making smoothies for breakfast - i've nixed my morning coffee - a rough start to the week, but i'm already over "needing" it.  i will confess i have a cup or two at night while i knit.  as soon as i buy some tea k-cups i'm going to change that.  so i've eliminated much of my caffeine intake without even setting that as a goal.

2&3.     more home cooking definitely happened this week and since bill took some time off he was able to help!

this taco pasta salad was...eh...it was written to be served cold, but that was pretty gross.  bill said it was better warmed up.  i had to tweak the sauce too much to want to make it again.

chickpea salad on homemade bread - accompanied by a dog nose - doesn't get much better.  i urge you to try this one

i also made 15 bean soup - this really doesn't count as cooking WITH bill, but he had to cook the beans while i was at work, so i think we get partial credit.  there was some confusion on my part at what temp to cook the beans, so we had a slightly mushy creation but the flavor was soooo good.  i'm actually finishing up the beans for lunch today.

i've also learned to not plan one dinner or so during the week since we have a hodge podge of leftovers right now and the bean burritos that were scheduled for last night didn't happen so we could eat some of the leftovers.  i'll probably just save that recipe for next week since the ingredients are non perishable for the most part

lots of smoothies have been made - my personal favorite is:

1 -1.5 cup of almond milk
5-7 ice cubes
1 banana
1 T chocolate dreams peanut butter
1 handful of spinach

blended until smooth

looks like a swamp

tastes like chocolate banana milkshake

and tomorrow night is the big meal bill and i will cook together (will update more on that)  so i would say i am 100% accomplishing this goal right now.

4.  ha. no.  i did make slight headway into some laundry.  that is all.  this is a fail.  BUT i have the whole year.  flexible.

5.  i haven't actually "done" this yet.  i have the idea in my head right now.  i  may just need to transfer the money into my savings account instead of having a tangible jar of money - that's probably too tempting.  ok.  i'm going to just put money in my savings account electronically.

now.

done.

check.  completed for week 1 &2

6.  ugh.  so sad.  i ran friday night and it was great.  i haven't since.  i've been focused on goal #7.  i really want to run in the morning to have it over with - i just need bill to get up with me - it makes it easier.

hint hint.  pssst...

since bill doesn't work until 1 ish he runs after i leave for work.  and when i get home at night it's just so dark and cold...and...i just want bill to suffer with me early in the morning.  unfortunately bill works until 10 so waking up at 6 doesn't interest him much.

7.  oh man.  i'm so proud of myself on this one guys.  i only took pictures with my phone, so they don't do it justice

but i finished bill's herringbone scarf!

i guess it took me about 1.5 weeks start to finish. 

i probably would have had it done this past weekend but i wasn't feeling so well and i didn't feel like knitting.

i still need to weave in the ends and block it slightly.

it sounds like it will be pretty cold next week so maybe i can get a picture of bill wearing it!

i'm putting together my meal plan for tomorrow's post - so stay tuned :)