internetless

{photo credit and graphic elements: me}

blogging with no stable internet connection is hard. i would dare say impossible. sorry i've been MIA! we are in between internet providers, and i have yet to set up the new connection because i don't know the difference between a DSL line and an ethernet cable. besides the fact that one is grey and one is yellow. where was that class in college? i have a tech guy coming by my place tomorrow so i hope i will be up and running again soon.

it's actually been great to take a little break from the internet. i still have my phone to instagram on thank goodness, but without my laptop to do work on, i've been wireless. {ironic pun kind of intended.} i've been reading and crafting and spending time with friends and family. those are some good, quality things right there. i miss them when they are lacking.

hope you guys have been having a great weekend! do anything fun? tell me everything.

heart day

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happy heart day to all my loves! thankful for you, all my readers. love you guys. thankful for my friends and my family. thankful for my bright pink fuzzy bathrobe. thankful for the cookie dough that sits in my refrigerator.

be love today.

here are some valentine's day inspired links for your browsing enjoyment.

free love songs

DIY concrete heart necklaces

a quote to encourage

an awesome valentine pinterest board (send a valentine to someone today!)

ritz cracker ice cream sandwich cookies

party animals

new in my etsy shop

{photo credit: me}

after a long absence, my etsy shop is back up and running! i have been busy listing a bunch of fresh pieces, and i'd love for you to stop by. i still have more to list, but i will add them little by little as i go along. it feels good to be back.

easy like monday morning

{photo credit: me}

because it's monday and because mondays tend to be hard (especially when your weekend was really good), here's a super easy and delicious recipe to ease you back into the workweek.  i call it: the easiest salad in all of the land. with feta.

ingredients:

edamame (i buy the trader joe's fresh shelled edamame)
dried cranberries
feta crumbles
salt and pepper to taste

preparation:

mix everything together. put a spoon in it. eat it and feel good about yourself because this salad is health.

{photo credit: me}

on cooking and entertaining

{photo credit: me}

perhaps it was because i started reading bread and wine and was inspired to get busy in the kitchen, but this past weekend, i totally had people over to my apartment and cooked for them. on two different occasions. what? okaaay. yeah!

here's the deal. i'm not a total kitchen virgin, but these are the basic building blocks i'm working with: i know how to boil water, melt butter in the microwave and heat up a can of progresso. {yeesh}. it's not because i can't cook. it's because soup is so much easier and cheaper than making a meal from scratch.

unfortunately, watery chicken noodle soup does nothing to impress guests. like, not a thing. what does impress them? pesto pasta with seared brats. cinnamon raisin french toast. red pepper and avocado scramble. gourmet pigs in a blanket with feta and caramelized onions. go big or go home.

{photo credit: me}

on friday evening, my friend micah come over and we hustled in the kitchen, me making one pot pasta, him cooking the brats and concocting gin-basil smashes. as soon as i served up the plates, i grabbed my phone to take a picture of our delicious meal and promptly dropped it face down in the pesto. that will teach me to think twice about instagramming a meal.

{photo credit: me}

on sunday morning, my friends sarah and sarah came over for brunch. they are roommates and besties and they share the same name. they're cute. while they sat at the bar drinking starbucks, i soaked sticks of cinnamon raisin bread in milky, custardy liquid and then dropped them into a hot skillet, one by one. while they sizzled in the heat, into another skillet i poured eggs, avocado, red pepper and feta crumbles. i managed to keep watch on both skillets without setting any food on fire. sweet freaking success.

{photo credit: me}

sunday evening i went to a super bowl party and needed a snack to bring. my go-to party food is always a dessert as i'm a baker before i'm a cook, but i wanted to go a different route for this party. my co-worker gave me the idea to do a fancy twist on pigs in a blanket, and i ran with it. it was my favorite thing i made all weekend. holy crap these babies were good. i highly recommend making them for your next party or even a before-dinner appetizer. i went with savory flavors with this batch, but you could really go a million different ways with your filling choices.

ingredients:

pillsbury crescent rolls (i used 4 mini packages as they were out of the larger packages)
1-2 sweet onions, chopped and caramelized
feta crumbles
1 package nathan's beef cocktail franks
1 package of bacon

preparation:

caramelize your onion on the stovetop while you cook your bacon. you don't want your bacon to be super crispy as you will eventually be wrapping it around your cocktail frank. i baked mine in the oven for 10 minutes, and it was perfect.

when onions are caramelized and bacon is cooked, roll out one of the pillsbury crescents and on the wider end, spoon onions and feta. on the smaller triangle end, place bacon wrapped frank and start rolling the dough around it. roll down to the wider end where the onions and feta are. you won't get a perfect roll as the filling will start making things a little messy, but that's fine. just pinch the dough closed here and there.

once all crescent rolls are filled and rolled, place them "messy" side down on a baking sheet and spray the tops with pam. sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

holy flavors, batman. i tried one before i brought them to the party, and i'm glad i did because there weren't any left at the end of the night. disaster averted.

it was a full weekend on many levels. full from all the food i ate and full from the friends i spent time with. do you guys have any good recipes you've made lately? do you lean more towards sweet or savory dishes?

and that's all she wrote. er, ate.

february mix

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happy february! every month when i curate my mixes, i try to pick a theme to base my playlists around. it usually tends to be whatever major holiday is happening that month, but that can be challenging because, really, how many songs are there about st. patrick's day? if there isn't a holiday to build a list around, my "themes" get really subtle and subjective: "i'm feeling happy about the bagel i ate this morning. this will make a great playlist theme." (it doesn't.)

since i am a big valentine's day fan, this month is one of my favorites to put together. however, unlike past february mixes, this playlist is a mixed bag. i usually do all lovey dovey songs, but i've realized that's not totally fair nor is it even the case for many people. i love a good love song as much as the next person, (boy, do i love them) but there is good and deep therapy in songs about heartbreak. having gone through a breakup myself last year, i know the tug of war that goes on between your mind and your heart when a relationship ends. it's hard and painful and lonely, and sometimes only a song can nail exactly what you're feeling. seriously, music is therapy.

also, i realize there are plenty of people out there who are neither in giddy love nor grief stricken with a broken heart. there are songs on this playlist for ya'll. i try to cover all my bases. all in a blogger's day's work.

pssst: look along my sidebar for the music player to listen to this playlist in its entirety. i've always just assumed you knew it was there but never actually mentioned it. but you guys are smart. hopefully you've figured it out before now.

february mix

step out : jose gonzalez

kiss me : ed sheeran

more time : needtobreathe

dreaming with a broken heart : john mayer

chocolate : the 1975

sea of love : the national

your firefly : ben cocks

wild heart : great american canyon band

tessellate : alt-j

hold on when you get love and let go when you give it : stars

beautiful war : kings of leon

you are goodbye : holly conlan

brother : matt corby

tell your heart heads up : mute math

who you love : john mayer feat. katy perry


happy listening!