30 by 32

3.6.12

I have to tell you — these “30 by…” lists have become such a cool part of my life.  They’re an awesome chance to make goals (big and small), and to daydream about things that I truly want to accomplish.  And you lovelies, whether you know it or not, are keeping me accountable.  So here’s to another year, and another batch of amazingness to make the year full.  xoxo

1.  Do one unassisted pull-up.

2.  See Delaware and at least one other U.S. state I haven’t yet visited.  {Completed Delaware 5/22/12 & Arizona 8/10/12.}

3.  Travel internationally.

4.  Figure out an in-home photo studio setup.

5.  Create a product to sell through the blog.  {Completed 5/21/12.}

6.  Completely organize my iTunes and photos on my computer. {Completed 7/30/12.}

7.  Make a cinemagraph.

8.  Read through my camera manual.

9.  Shoot and edit an HD video.  {Completed 8/7/12.}

10.  Be able to plank for 3 minutes.

11.  Improve my posture.

12.  Improve my vocabulary.

13.  Triple my blog readership. (Completed 2/13/13. Holy crap, can’t believe that one actually happened.)

14.  Make at least part-time income from blogging.

15.  Learn to fiddle.

16.  Learn basic banjo.

17.  Edit together the videos of our wedding and honeymoon.  {Completed 1 & 2 5/25/12.}

18.  Give my good friend a killer shower/bachelorette party. {Wasn’t able to plan it, but WAS able to attend both her East Coast and West Coast festivities! Calling it good 5/27/12.}

19.  Devise a five-year life plan.  {Completed 8/12/10.}

20.  Visit the Hamptons.  {Completed 5/16/12.}

21.  Make my own sushi.

22.  Sew a piece of clothing I’d actually wear. If accessories count, I’m all good with this one.

23.  Reach my ideal weight.

24.  Have a drink at the Stone Rose Lounge.  {Completed 5/9/12.}

25.  Sing in an open mic or cabaret. {Completed 9/16/12.}

26.  Have a picnic. {Completed 3/29/12.}

27.  DIY an awesome manicure. {Completed 4/2/12.}

28. Experiment with watercolor paints.  {Completed 5/10/12.}

29.  Find the perfect leopard ballet flats.  {Completed 8/12/10.}

30.  Take a dare from a reader.  Dare me to do something and I’ll pick the best dare — and DO IT.

honeymooning v: the end!

9.12.11

Well, Lovelies, our super-extended honeymoon has finally come to an end, and I have to say — it was a doozy!  We wrapped up by driving from Disneyland down to Coronado to stay for a few days in the vacation home of a dear friend, and it was the perfect way to end our extravaganza.

On the way down we stopped at Ocean Beach near San Diego for some killer fish tacos and to watch the surfers.  Then we rolled into Coronado and immediately got caught in the huge blackout, to which our answer was, “Let’s bike to the beach!”  So there, energy crisis.  We got sandwiches from the only deli that was still open, and had them on the balcony by candlelight with champagne and TimTams.  Best way to beat a blackout, ever.

The rest of our Coronado time consisted of relaxing, reading, toodling by the beach and the Del, and milkshakes at Moo Time.  We topped it off with a beach bonfire (inspired by the 30 by 31) and dinner at the Coronado Brewing Company, thanks to our gracious hosts.  A perfect weekend to cap off a perfect honeymoon, and now we’re happily headed back to the real world, married and rarin’ to go!  xoxo














honeymooning iv: disneyland

9.9.11

Our super-awesome California road trip week continued with a stop at The Happiest Place on Earth.  One of my 30 by 31 goals was to see Worlds of Color at Disney’s California Adventure, so naturally we had to hop over to Disneyland as well.  It was pretty awesome — the summer rush is over so the parks were nice and empty, and we had a fantastic, relaxing time!

The best part?  We mentioned to someone that we were recently hitched and they handed over two buttons that said “Just Married.”  We popped ‘em on our shirts, and people were congratulating us for the entire two days.  It was like a little boost of love energy.  And I’m just saying — we may or may not have gotten a private cruise around the world at “it’s a small world” because of those very buttons.  Our own boat, dudes.  We liked it.  xoxo












30 by 31: bacon ice cream

7.14.11

One of the 30 by 31 goals that I’ve been particularly looking forward to is #14:  Eat a Dessert With Bacon In It.  I’m not really sure how or why this ended up on my list — maybe it’s because the whole bacon-on-dessert thing has become so trendy and I’ve never tried it.  In any case, I was up for the challenge.

My Cowgirls roomie, Sarah, found a cool new brewery in town that just so happened to have something on their menu that would fit the bill:  brown sugar bread pudding with bourbon sauce and bacon ice cream.  Done.  We all trooped over after the show one night for some food and to cross this one off my list.

But lo and behold, when we got there, they had stopped serving dessert!  I was bummed — until, that is, Sarah sneakily sweet-talked the chef into bringing me just a scoop of the bacon ice cream.  So we feasted!  It was kind of bizarre at first; sweet, and then breakfast-y.  But delicious nonetheless.  The chef came and told us about how they make it in house (three pounds of raw bacon in every batch!).  And then we let it melt and dipped our fries in it.  Obviously.  Three cheers for Sarah, and for the folks at Mad Crow Brewery!  xoxo

30 by 31: the borrowers

6.13.11

On the 30 by 30, one of my goals was to re-read one of my favorite books as a kiddo — James and the Giant Peach.  For the 30 by 31, I decided to follow suit and revisit another of my faves.

The Borrowers chronicles the lives of teeny tiny people who live in the nooks and crannies of a house in 19th century London.  The Borrowers make their existence by “borrowing” goodies from the Big People — a fish bone becomes a needle for sewing, a cigar box becomes a bedroom, stacked matchboxes become a chest of drawers, and on and on.

Reading through the charming little story, I remember how much I used to love it, and how I really, really wanted there to be Borrowers in my house.  It was partially scary and partially exciting, but mostly it seemed like a good excuse for all of the little trinkets that I would lose.  In any case, it’s kinda fun to revisit your childhood faves as an adult.  Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite books were as a kid!  xoxo

 

30 by 31: homemade french macarons

6.2.11

For some reason, I thought it would be brilliant to add “Make macarons from scratch” to my 30 by 31.  Clearly, I did this without much research and with optimism in my heart, because apparently french macarons are some of the most difficult things to make correctly.  Nevertheless, Mr. Lovely and I pushed through, and have created what I believe are semi-passable macarons.  I’m proud.

After a ton of research and reading online, I came across this article on Not So Humble Pie.  Ms. Humble has done her research, and there is everything you could possibly need to know for your first time baking macarons all wrapped up in this little (and by little I mean huge) blog post.  Skim through it if you have the time — the research and prep that she does is amazing!

In any case, we took lots of Ms. Humble’s advice, added a few ideas of our own (a drop of vanilla, adjusted baking time, etc.) and things worked out for the most part.  My macarons actually got feet, none of them cracked, and they more or less stayed put in the shape that I made them!  The only bummer is that lots of them are hollow.  That could be attributed to a few different things (prep work, oven time/temperature, baking sheets).  But for now, I’m calling it a success.

We filled half of our macarons with strawberry preserves, and the other half with blackberry.  These little darlings were our Mother’s Day dessert, and while they weren’t perfect, they were quite the smash.  We did it!  xoxo

30 by 31: homemade guacamole

5.26.11

I tackled one of the things on my 30 by 31 recently and concocted my very first batch of homemade guacamole. The beautiful thing about making guac is that you kind of can’t go wrong, as long as you have some good fresh avocados.  I made mine with 2 avocados, a third of a red onion, half of a serrano pepper, a medium tomato, some fresh cilantro, juice from half of a lime, and salt.  Mash the avocado in a bowl, dice everything else, and mix it all together.  My kind of cooking.  xoxo