Weekend Whirlwind

Seriously, where does the weekend go? I even got a three day weekend and I still have no idea how it slipped by so quickly. It seems time really does fly when you're having fun, because I sure made the most of the past three days. Here's a list of things I did, because I love lists.

- Saw Moneyball. This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Brad Pitt really is an incredible actor (also, he seems to get more and more attractive with age...). I'm a sucker for a heart-felt dramedy, and this definitely falls into that category.

- Toured Target Field with my family. I love going to Target Field to see the Twins play, but this was a whole different ballgame (it's okay you can groan). We got to see everything in the stadium from the visitor's clubhouse (the Twins don't let you tour theirs, rats), to the pressbox, to the dining room that serves only those who hole $250 tickets. We even got to go into the dugout!

- FINALLY did laundry and unpacked all of my clothes! For the past month I've sort of been unpacking stuff I want to wear, wearing it, then washing it and putting it away. This resulted in a lot of hunting for the item I planned on wearing that day, which then resulted in a clothes bomb exploding all over my closet floor. The bomb has been diffused, and my clothes are now neat and tidy. My closet is by no means organized even close to the way I want it to stay, but at least I can find an outfit now! 

-Baked banana muffins. Not an incredibly difficult task, but a yummy one! My mom always used to bake banana bread and muffins for me to take to school for breakfast on days where I'd go in early for one reason or another (usually because I didn't want to have to park a mile away), so baking and eating them always makes me a little nostalgic. 

- Headed back to Aamodt's! A friend I hadn't seen in a while organized a group trip to the orchard for a round of pick our own apples. Sadly, all of the pick your own apples had been picked. Instead of heading out and letting our festive plaid go to waste, we hung out and made the most of the rest of the activities at the orchard. I bought some more of their amazing apple cider donuts (which I mentioned here), did a wine tasting, fed some goats, took a hayride, and enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous day. 

-Watched the crazy people participate in the Twin Cities Marathon. And I mean crazy in the best way possible. I still can't run a whole mile, these people run 26! 

All in all, I had a pretty great weekend soaking up the remaining beautiful weather before mother nature runs her course and sunny and 70 degrees turns into overcast and 20 degrees. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. 

Easy as Pie

Last night I was riffling through my cookbooks looking for something easy and satisfying to make for dinner.  I have a few cookbooks but somehow I always end up overlooking them in favor of online recipe sites (they're just so convenient!). I figured since I have these books, I really should use them every once in a while.

I finally decided to make something from the dusty pages of a cookbook that was made in my grandmother's honor for her contributions to Project Linus in North Carolina. The recipes in the cookbook are all family recipes donated by members of the community my grandparents lived in for over 20 years, so they're all incredibly comforting, delicious, and {most importantly} relatively simple. The winning dish was Crab Quiche.

Now, I'm embarrassed to say that I've sometimes scoured restaurant websites in search of a place where I could get a slice of Quiche for breakfast or brunch. How silly of me, quiche is insanely easy to prepare. Granted, if you make your own pie crust it gets minimally complicated, but I avoided that by purchasing a frozen crust. Here's the recipe:

1 9" pie crust

1/2 c. mayo

2 T. flour

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 c. milk

2 (6oz.) cans of crab meat

8 oz. shredded swiss cheese

1/3 c. chopped onion

1/3 c. chopped mushroom

Blend the mayo, flour, eggs, and milk until smooth. Stir in the Swiss Cheese, crab meat, onion, and mushrooms. Pour into the pie crust and bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

This goes into the oven and 45 minutes later- TADA! Cheesy, yummy goodness comes out. 

I made a side of roasted asparagus to accompany my quiche and it was the perfect mid week meal! 

Now that I know how friggen easy quiche is to make, I'll probably end up making this my lazy day meal. Plus, any combination of meat/cheese/veggies is going to be equally as delicious, which means the possibilities are endless! 

Apple of my eye

Monday, I did one of my favorite things...apple picking! The bf and I had been meaning to do pick-your-own fruit all summer. Sadly, we missed out on strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I refused to miss out on the crisp apples that come with the start of fall. So, Monday afternoon we headed out to Stillwater to Aamodt's Apple Farm, to do some harvesting.

 I'm pretty sure this is the most famous orchard around the Twin Cities, and for good reason. In addition to a great apple orchard, they also have a pretty large vineyard (which produces wonderful wines you can sample for $5)
and an amazing, I repeat amazing bake shop. I would drive the 40 minutes solely for the purpose of purchasing a package of their Apple Cider Donuts (which I would have gotten a picture of, but they didn't last long). Lucky for me, I also got Cinnamon Candy Apple butter, and a bunch of Sweet 16 apples. If you haven't had a Sweet 16 apple, I suggest you go find the nearest orchard that grows them, and get yourself a bucket. They're delicious.  I was a little wary at first, because of their small size, but as soon as I took a bite I realized the error of my ways and devoured the rest... and maybe another one too.

We've got some catching up to do!

Where to start?! Lack of an internet connection, combined with some recent life events have taken me away from the blogosphere for a bit, but now I'm back!

One of my favorite quotes from The Happiness Project (which I've said before is part of my inspiration for starting a blog) is, "It's easy to be heavy, hard to be light." It seems that a lot of people I know have been dealing with some unfortunate luck and some heavy feelings. I've found that I've been struggling to keep some lightness myself as a result.

I love this quote because it reminds me that perspective is key when facing difficult things. It's easy to take events at face value and be discouraged by adversity, or you can put in a little effort and find the silver lining. Not to be cliche, but if you do the work you can usually find the place for a new start and a little transformation when faced with less than ideal circumstances. I'm incredibly lucky to be surrounded by people who often do the work and as a result, gloomy clouds never last for long.

I also happen to be surrounded by people who throw awesome weddings, bring me to the Renaissance Fair, and go apple picking. Which are the things that have kept me busy recently. I'll have more to share shortly :)

I hope you've all had a lovely start to the week!

Brush Crush

I'm not one to spend a lot of money on cosmetics. I love doing my makeup, but I've never really seen the point in spending $50 for a brush to apply my foundation. This has generally resulted in me applying makeup with my hands, which I've realized is a big skin no-no. Apparently the people at e.l.f. cosmetics agree that beauty products should be affordable. Like, really affordable. The total price for these three products was a whopping $3. Yes, that's right people the liquid eyeliner, the blush, and the foundation brush were one whole dollar a piece. The amazing part is, they not only do the job, they do it well.

The beauty of a line of quality, affordable cosmetics is that you can try out new trends and colors without breaking the bank. Coral blush for fall end up not being your color? No worries, you only spent a dollar. Can't get the hang of liquid eyeliner? Perfect your technique for only a dollar. Finally stop applying make-up with your hands, and (for only a dollar) realize how much easier it is to blend natural looking foundation with a brush. It's such an incredible difference, I wonder how I ever went without.

Friday's Fancy This!

From now on, every Friday, I will share an image with you (maybe mine, maybe not) that inspires me. Hopefully the inspiration will carry through the weekend. We'll start with this one, which does happen to be mine.

One of my favorite photos, of my favorite memories, in my favorite city. Le sigh.

I took this photo the day I discovered how wonderful the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris is. With Sacre Coeur at the center of a million fabric shops, sandwicheries (yes, that is a real French word), incredibly charming boutiques, cafes, and one of the most spectacular views, it was impossible not to tomber amoureux. Also, I had the best panini caprese I've ever eaten in my life at a sidewalk cafe down the street from Le Moulin Rouge so, bonus points.

Happy Weekend Friends! I hope it's downright lovely.

Guilty Pleasures

Disclaimer: I may be shunned for this post ;)

I (like a lot of people I know) have a laundry list of guilty pleasures. Most of my list isn't really truly guilty, i.e. I actually acknowledge that I enjoy most of them. This list may or may not include Katy Perry, CW TV shows (how many Gossip Girl reruns have I watched?), and eating half of the brownie batter before the pan makes it into the oven.

One thing that has long been hidden on my actually guilty guilty pleasures list is my love for Lauren Conrad. I have had a soft spot for L.C. since my high school days when a healthy number of Friday nights were spent with two of my best friends painting our nails and watching Laguna Beach. When I moved to college, of course, I was too cool to watch the spin-off show so I didn't really follow her career very closely (other than eyeing up most of the pieces for her Kohl's line). Then one night, after seeing the newly mature and pulled together Lauren Conrad on covers of various magazines (combined with a bit of boredom and not much else to do) I watched an episode of The Hills, and put it on my guilty pleasures list.

So, The Hills rightfully belongs on the guilty pleasures list, but Lauren Conrad? I think not. Her look is somehow modern, classic, and chic all at once. Plus her website is a haven for everything style (seriously: beauty, clothes, design, parties, the list goes on), and includes plenty of tutorials. Plus her most recent "Decorate" post is about chalkboard paint, a current obsession of mine. So, rethink what you knew and check it out, you might find a little inspiration!