Shana Tova

 

Last night, my dad & his wife invited us to join them in their Rosh Hashanah celebration.

I've mentioned her culinary & entertaining expertise before, but I thought it deserves another mention...

... and a little proof to go along with.

   

Mac & cheese + braised ribs + roasted chicken + a wealth of sides + the cutest little salted caramel pudding cups.  

 

A true feast- from the savory, all the way to the sweet.

   

Recipe of *de-stress {Listography 2011}.

   

Each Wednesday, Danielle, @ Elleinad Spir, Emily, @ Notorious MLE, and myself are working our way through the lists of Listography 2011.

 

 

Last list of September, and only 3 months to go.  Wow... time flies.  Today's list is timed just right.  A time in which we're officially closing the door to lazy days and summer sunshine.  And {tentatively} opening them into busy schedules and mounting to-do lists.  A time in which- if we're not careful- Stress comes knocking at beating down the door ... but only if we let it.

List your de-stress recipe.

After coming straight home from a weekend away, and heading straight into car lots, this week quickly got off to a stressful start.  We did find a car, but it sucked up a whole lotta time.

This plum pudding cake helped to ease the tension.  I knew immediately upon reading the post, that I had to squeeze it into the day... and I just happened to have 5 ripe plums waiting to be utilized.  IT WAS WORTH IT.  A perfect cake.

{didn't have golden syrup so I used light corn syrup & molasses... 2/3-1/3 ratio}

The day before- as we were wheeling & dealing at the car lot... this delicious de-stresser was slowly simmering away- and it also did the trick.

Both taking full advantage of summer's final bounty, but with an added richness... complexity... depth of flavor...  The glorious taste of autumn.

Oh, and the day before that- a de-stresser that didn't even require a recipe!

                               

Just swirl and...

  

What is your go-to de-stress recipe??  Share a link at Danielle's or in the comments below :).

  

SHOUT-out.

 

It's been a long week, to say the least.  

My grandma's out of town for a few weeks, and generously gave us LOTS of groceries.  Between this, the CSA box, and the garden- our fridge was packed with produce.  I've been an iron-chef in my own little kitchen... on a serious mission to get creative, and use as many ingredients as possible per meal.  Autumn may be starting today, but it kicked off a bit early in our house.  Plenty of hearty meals and a constant stream of dishes to show for it.

Aside from the cooking sprees, I'm on yet another mission to win this laundry/cleaning battle once and for all- trying to end the cycle of- get behind, get overwhelmed, get more behind, finally make a little headway, get behind again, repeat, repeat, repeat.  Put my Housewife cap on, & channeled my inner June, but damn... I'm tired.

Oh, and our car was declared totaled on Monday morning after a [believe it or not] "minor" accident that Ryan was in (not injured!).

Needless to say- I'm ready to sign out, but before I do- I thought I'd give a few shout-outs of some new & old finds that made the week a little brighter...

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BIRCHBOX.  Have you heard of this?  I've become quite the product junkie in the last year- which I attribute fully to blog-reading.  Always wanting to try new {and old} products... to figure out what works and doesn't work for me... but not having the time or money to fully research and invest.   With Birchbox, "Four to five hand-picked deluxe samples delivered to your door for $10 per month" ... Perfect for me.  I'm in.  I'll let you know how it goes.

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dandelion goods.  I've been anxiously waiting for Danielle to open the doors to her new Etsy shop.  She did.  And I shopped.  Handmade, high-quality clutches and scarves.  An incredibly talented & sweet gal.  Excellent service and packaging perfection.  What more could you ask for?  Go ahead.  See for yourself :).
              

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Amy's.  Some weeks require a convenient mid-day meal.  And this is one brand that does not invoke any guilt.  {...a great reputation & back-story too}

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SHOUT COLOR CATCHERS.  My grandma also gave me a box of these.  I admit.  I inwardly turned my nose up a tad at first.  I pride myself on my OCD-laundry-separating... why would I need these??  Well, staying on top of laundry meant doing smaller loads, and mixing more clothes together- for the sake of STAYING ON TOP OF LAUNDRY.  These came to the rescue.  Color bled straight into the wipe (just like on the box!) and laundry is done.

 

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Pustefix bubbles.  Alright, these had nothing to do with my week, but I just loved all of your comments on my childhood reminiscing post- and I've decided those memories need to be inserted on the blog more often.  And so many activities and items are still available for our kids to enjoy today... like these bubbles.  Remember these??  They made me very happy as a child.

Well, I'm off to enjoy a weekend here with this guy...

...doing a lot of what he's doing...

...with his parents- and this soon-to-be-married couple!

 Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Id quod visum placet {Listography 2011}.

              

Each Wednesday, Emily, @ Notorious MLE, Danielle, @ Elleinad Spir, and myself are working our way through the lists of Listography 2011.

MY FAVORITE SPORTS FIGURES ...

{this may or may not be based solely on physicality} 

There's just something about a man in a uniform...

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...or in some cases- without one.

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Now your turn.

Share below :).

Final touchdown.

 

I realize this is about 12 hours after-the-fact, but I'm going to go ahead and post anyway...

... because it doesn't feel right having a "series finale" post on my landing page (which was also WAY after-the-fact), when there's far more important and relevant things to document and celebrate.

{and then I promise that I will move on with my FNL obsession- at least as it pertains to blog content}
  

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Two wins well deserved.

{and Minka Kelly's delivery, the co-stars reactions, as well as the massive twitter buzz made it even better}

   
...but I really do wish that his equally deserving 'wife' {Connie Britton} shared the honor.
 

Leaving Texas.

All good things must come to an end.
                        

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And in just two short months (yes- it was that good), the time has come.

60 days.  5 seasons.  2 episodes-to-go.

And 1 final Friday night of football...

 

Looking forward to a night of True Texas Chili & Jessica's "tried and true Texan cornbread." 

And a few tears sprinkled on top. 

Bittersweet.

{thank God for Parenthood}

  

{and maybe even a FNL MOVIE?!}

    

{and good food to keep our 'hearts full'}

        

In pursuit of pleasure {Listography 2011}.

 

Each Wednesday, Danielle, @ Elleinad Spir, Emily, @ Notorious MLE, and myself are working our way through the lists of Listography 2011.

                                                                                                                             

List#38:  Memorable activities from my childhood.

Here's just a few...

Ahhh.  The  days of sacred sticker collections, wide-ruled paper, & over-nights at Grandma's.

Amazing how a few vivid memories can set a course of a lifetime... an endless pursuit of simple pleasures.

Now your turn to share.  Cause I'm curious.

What are some of your most memorable activities?  If you have a post to share, visit Emily :).

Tag. {You're it.}

                
I've made it.  I've made it to the BIG TIME ladies & gentlemen (are you there gentlemen??).

Okay maybe not in "real life" but on the ol' blog anyways.

I've been tagged.

For the very first time.

     

Thanks to Claire... one of the best writers I've had the pleasure to get to know over this past year.  Authentic, witty, passionate, driven, disciplined, creative... all of the qualities you'd want to see in a blogger... in a friend.  I credit her with giving me the courage to write from the heart... to dig a little deeper (beyond what I was comfortable sharing... representing)... to find my true voice.  And beyond that, she has inspired me in so many other ways- from personal finances to personal relationships.

I may have been a little 'over-enthused' about the whole tagging bit, but if anyone is going to ask me to link up 7 of my old blog posts- there's no one more fitting than Claire.

So without further ado- here's the fine print.

What this is about:
To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

Rules:
1) Blogger is nominated to take part.
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.

• Your most beautiful post
• Your most popular post
• Your most controversial post
• Your most helpful post
• A post whose success surprised you
• A post you feel didn’t got the attention it deserved
• The post that you are most proud of

3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers.
5) And so it goes on!
6) The site Trip Base be sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on their blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links.

{here are my 7 picks}

 

1. My most beautiful post.

{Wine} Country @ heart.

   

{our little home away from home.}

2. My most popular post.
                    

Recipe Exchange- Let's Get Cooking- Butternut Squash, Sage, & White Bean Soup ... and a perfect autumn salad.

                           

{a lovely recipe... one that I strongly encourage you to add to your fall/winter repertoire.}

3. My most controversial post.

A story of acceptance... and judgement. 

4. My most helpful post.

                            

The "F" word. 

{a huge personal breakthrough.  before I started the blog, I was told that putting your heart out there sparks others to do the same... walls come down... truth comes out.  this post exemplifies this, and is ultimately what I hoped to achieve from this little place to share.}

5. A post whose success surprised me.

Enough is enough.

{the responses not only surprised me, but delighted me.}

                        
6. A post I feel didn’t got the attention it deserved.

Share & tell.

   

{definitely got the attention in terms of traffic, but I hoped more would play along!  c'mon- don't you have a favorite post you'd like to share with me?  believe it or not, I actually want to SEE! (yes... still shamelessly begging for participation.)}

                             

7. The post that I am most proud of.

The quintessential play date.

{a strange choice in a way, but my first attempt at digging a little deeper into a topic... beyond just the "happy" (not that anything is wrong with the happy, but there's a fine line between 'authentic writing' and TMI- and exploring that line can be a little scary} 

Whoa.  That was a LOT of links all wrapped up into one.  Thank you for sticking with me- in this post, but more importantly, in this past year and a half of blogging.

Now for the fun part.  I get to tag 5 others to play along!

   

I'm horrible at choosing in this way, so I took the easy way out and chose the first five commenters on yesterday's post (all 5 of my daily reads, and who I know will have 7 great picks).  Well, ladies: 

              
Tag.  {You're it.}

Jessica @ Kitchen Belleicious

Danielle @ elleinadspir

Stephanie @ Scrumptious

Leslie @ Fresh Out of Lemons

Estelle @ Under a Pink Moon

        

9 to 5 {Listography 2011}.

Each Wednesday, Emily, @ Notorious MLE, Danielle, @ Elleinad Spir, and myself are working our way through the lists of Listography 2011.

 

{quite practical, but nonetheless~} 

My dream work environment...

                         
  

 
What about you??  Would your dream work environment look like?

If you've got a post on this topic, link it up over at Danielle's :).
 

High five.

 

Well, hello there Three Day Weekend. 

  

Before we get down to business, 5 very important matters to discuss...

             

1)  French-pressed coffee.

For the past week, Ryan's been a busy man.  Early mornings and late nights.  Hasn't even had the time to brew coffee in the morning.  Although I am fully capable of doing so myself, when it's only me, I prefer using the French Press.  Back in the day, all new baristas were encouraged to get one... to conduct at-home tastings... to master the world of whole bean coffee.  It produces a miiiiighty flavorful cup of coffee- even if you're the type to doctor it up.

Plus, this very press got me through my final years of college.  At home.  With a son.  No car.  Working late nights.  Studying around the clock.  No coffee maker.  No espresso machine.  And although I worked at Starbucks, I hated coffee.  But I needed something to keep me awake- and motivated to study my little heart out.  So- each morning... a French press, a hell-of-a-lotta Nestle creamer (mocha to be exact), and endless reading.  And I gradually acquired the taste.  Not to mention, the addiction.  

  
2)  Chalkboard wall decal.
 

The only thing we didn't change or replace when we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago, was this side door.  Not very pretty, but need to switch all of our doors out eventually and figure that this door will have to do in the meantime.  

Ever since I wrote this post, I've wanted to convert the thin, aluminum-framed windows into a chalkboard, but hadn't actually done it- until I saw the chalkboard decal at Urban Outfitters a couple of weeks ago.  A  perfect solution.  A razor was used to trim the edges and black caulk to fill the gaps.  A great spot for a shopping list... or a canvas for budding artists. 

3)  Stripes.

                             

    

Cannot get enough of this particular pattern, and a visit to Old Navy the other day did not help the matter.  Such stripe cuteness goin' on over there.  So many different colors and styles to choose from.  And they're just so versatile.  I was wearing a dark orange maxi skirt and tried the blue top (above) with it.  It worked with that- with a belt, without a belt- with the beige pants... even with the yellow tank underneath.  You know- it's said that only the really daring type will mix stripes with stripes.  Yep.  That's me alright.  Always 10 steps behind ahead of the curve.

{I tried to find the links, but all I could find was the pink one.  I don't know about you, but with Old Navy, I have better luck trying tops on in person, so if you have one near you- and are addicted to stripes too- go see for yourself!}

4)  Pork shoulder tacos (Jora's way).
 

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Oh, what can I say?  Do you want a meal that will knock your husband's (or wife's... or friends'...) socks off??  That produces not only heaven on a plate- but heaven in your taquito the next night... 
  
5)  Baked taquitos.

                        

 (Image via; Recipe here!)

The best leftover meal ever.  And this one too can be prepared ahead of time.  Two DELICIOUS make-ahead dinners.  Domesticity at its finest.

                              

{Cook's Notes:  Prepared the pork Jora's way- with a slow cooker... Used one whole jalapeno and two dried chiles (don't worry about it being spicy- just adds flavor)... Topped the tacos with avocado, cilantro, sauteed peppers and onions, and lime... Topped the taquitos with homemade salsa (with diced avocado and cilantro) and sour cream... Mmmmmmm.}

Now let's get to that weekend.