Blackie Attackie

I tried for a while tonight to get a good picture of my feet and Blackie's paws, but wasn't crazy about any of them.  I decided to just go with this one because the reason its blurry is that just as I was about to snap the picture she jumped up and went after the camera strap, attacking my leg in the process.

And apparently the camera strap wasn't too entertaining because a minute later she was like this:

Cilantro, Smelly Cat, and a Signature

Jillian came over for dinner tonight and I made enchiladas.  It was my first time making them and they turned out well - another successful recipe, yes!  While at the office a few days ago we were talking about food and Seth said something about loving cilantro, and Jillian mentioned that she had never had it, which shocked him.  So I made sure I picked some up for tonight and made her try it.  She tweeted the following picture, with the caption "Seth look, I ate clinatro!" And I think the picture is just hilarious, that lone little cilantro leaf on a whole enchilada...

This picture doesn't look very appetizing, but they were good!

I'm cat-sitting a cat named Blackie this week (who, at the moment, is chasing her tail) and she sat with us on the couch while we watched a Louie Giglio podcast.  Later I realized that the blanket she was sitting on was kind of smelly, because she was kind of smelly.  So I started singing the Smelly Cat song from Friends.  Jillian hadn't heard of that either, so I filled her in and now her life is a bit more complete.  In case you are unfamiliar with Smelly Cat, you can watch Pheobe's Smelly Cat music video here.

And I got something really exciting in the mail today, the autographed bookplate for my Bloom book, yay!

A Wedding in the Mountains

Yesterday I went to the wedding of a family friend.  It was a great day because not only are weddings fun, it was a good chance to see and catch up with friends from Lynchburg that I haven't seen in quite a while.  Like one of my best friends, Ashley, and when Lindsay and Brittany and I got together, we realized we were all wearing our bridesmaid shoes from Amanda's wedding.

The reception was in a quaint little downtown area, so when it was all over we were walking around exploring and I saw a boutique called Fabulous Me and called out "Oh! Fabulous me, take my picture!"

And then later that night a big group of us hiked up to The Pinnacle, from this lookout point you could see Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky.  It was beautiful!

Closet Clean Up

On Friday I tackled another much-needed project at the office: cleaning out the craft/office supply closet.  Like many other areas of the office, by the end of the semester, it's a disaster.  Here's proof:

As I began cleaning it out I found things I didn't know where in there, like one of those old school label makers, the kind where you turned the disc to set the letter and then it made an indent in a strip of plastic.  And I found things that we were sure we were out of, like new plastic table cloths.  It reminded me that being organized can help you save money because you don't keep buy the same things over and over again.

So several hours, a few new plastic bins, and lots of labels later, this was the end result:

Seriously, give me some blank labels and a new Sharpie and I am in heaven; and there is nothing like neat, organized craft supplies!

DIY Welcome Home Pennant

Last night our team that went to East Asia got back!  And I decided to make a cute Welcome Home banner to put on Eliza's front door, since I wouldn't be able to go Knoxville to meet them at the airport.  I went to Michael's and picked out some cute decorative paper, going with kind of a pink and blue theme. 

I used a scrap piece of thick paper to make a template for the pennants, they're 5" wide and 7 1/2" long, and then I traced them onto the backs of the pieces of scrapbook paper.

After the pennants were cut out, I used a glue stick to glue on the letters, which I just printed off from the computer.  Then I laid them out, upside down, making sure that they were in reverse order, and simply taped yarn to the backs of them.

And here's the finished product!  It's not the greatest picture, because the lighting was bad, it was fuzzy without the flash and a glare with it, but you get the idea.

Pinterest Inspired Pepper Bowls

This post is LONG overdue...Oops...But several months ago I pinned this on Pinterst:

via

 

And then about a month ago I did it, except with not quite as many veggie options.

More Personalized Gift Wrap

Wednesday was Amanda's birthday, and I got her this cute plaque, which she has already hung up in their apartment!  

And I wrapped it up all cute and simple, with brown paper and blue yarn, and personalized, with a wooden A that I painted yellow.

Summer Nights

Jillian and I are going to try to have dinner together every week or so this summer, alternating who cooks each time.  I was up first and I made this recipe for Pan Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic Green Beans.  It was quite tasty if I do say so myself!  Then after dinner we went to campus and walked around the soccer fields until we got caught in the rain.  Hopefully there will be more good summer nights like this one to come!

Pan Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic Green Beans

This was a recipe I found on Pinterest, and it's one I'll definitely be making again.  It was yummy, easy, and an all-in-one dish!

Pan Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic Green Beans

Ingredients

6 tbsp. olive oil

2 lemons; one thinly sliced, one juiced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

3/4 lb. trimmed green beans

8 small red potatoes, quartered

4 chicken breasts (bone in, skin on, about 3 1/4 lbs.)*

*I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, because it was all I could find.  I would have preferred chicken with skin because it would have probably made it a little more juicy, but it was still fine this way.

 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a large baking dish or cast-iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer in the bottom of the dish or skillet.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper; add the green beans and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the green beans and arrange them on top of the lemon slices. 

Add the potatoes to the same olive-oil mixture and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, arrange the potatoes along the inside edge of the dish or skillet on top of the green beans. 

I bought the potatoes at the farmer's market.  It was my first time buying produce there, but I will definitely be going back!

Place the chicken in the same bowl with the olive-oil mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the chicken, skin-side up, in the dish or skillet. Pour any of the remaining olive-oil mixture over the chicken.

Roast for 50 minutes. Remove the chicken from the dish or skillet. Place the beans and potatoes back in oven for 10 minutes more or until the potatoes are tender. Place a chicken breast on each of 4 serving plates; divide the green beans and potatoes equally. Serve warm.

I took pictures of all the steps except the last one, because I figured you'd rather see the finished product rather than a pan of raw chicken, and then of course I forgot to get a picture before we dug in.  And I am so bummed, because it was one good looking dish!  So instead here it is on my plate; not the same, but better than nothing I guess.

 

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Today is my sister's 23rd birthday!  So why not celebrate with a little trip down memory lane?  I wish I had pictures from when we were little, but I don't, at least not here.  So here are some highlights from the last few years!

At my senior photo exhibit.  This is how we used to hug when we were little, back when we didn't like to show affection.

But we got over it.

At my college graduation, May 2009.

Before a football game with all of her roomies at Tech.  I had to include this because look at our feet, we're doing the same thing - definitely sisters!

This was a close game, but they won!  Fall 2009.

Virginia Beach, May 2010.

All of us at a football game the next year, it rained the whole time!

At the Patriots vs Lions  2010 Thanksgiving Day game!

 

Matching Christmas Eve pj's, a more recent tradition.

At her bridal tea party.

Typical us, at her rehearsal dinner.

The bridesmaids - all of her roomies, plus Lindsay; they're all like sisters now :)

Our last picture together as Stone sisters!  July 3, 2011.

Fall 2011, the first time we'd been back together since she'd gotten married!

We've taken some pictures since, but they're on a disc somewhere, and the computer I'm using doesn't read CD's, and I didn't plan ahead to get them :(

Happy Birthday Amanda, I love you!

New Life for a Ladder

Last week when we cleaned out the basement at the office I found a little wooden ladder that I knew had tons of potential, and I couldn't wait to bring it home, clean it up, and give it new life.  Well those first two things ended up happening in reverse order.  I knew the ladder was dusty, but when I really looked at it, I realized dusty was an understatement.  The thing was caked in layers and layers of dirt, and there was no way I was putting it in my car like that, so I ended up cleaning it up at the office.  Look at the left side of the ladder compared to the right, so gross!

So much dust!

I had to do some rearranging, but the ladder is now in the corner of the living room.  

 

 Right now it's quite bare and boring, but I have plans to dress it up.  Over the weekend I searched "ladders" on Pinterest and found several cute ideas, and I want to do something similar to this.  I just need to find some 5x7 picture frames.

via

And since the ladder is now in the corner of the living room, the little table that was there is under the cut-out between the kitchen and living room, which I like.  The plant that was there is now in the kitchen, which I'm not crazy about, but I'm running out of room for all my treasures!

A postcard I bought in China, a Milligan handbook from 1939-40 that I found at an antique store, a picture of me giving my toast at Amanda and Jonathan's wedding, and cotton from a field near my Granny's house!

I'm also thinking about doing this with the tobacco stake ladder I bought at an antique store several months ago. 

via

And in the midst of all the moving and rearranging, I managed to dump a pretty much empty bag of chips on the carpet.