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Monday, February 25, 2013

Menu Monday!

I'm linking up with Rachel to share some yummy recipes with you!




These were pretty good, but what was REALLY good was the Cilantro Cream Sauce that she suggested you make with them! OMG, that sauce was amazing!!! Travis was basically licking the bowl, haha. I think I'll be making the sauce again for sure!!



This was ok, but it was definitely a far cry from baked ziti...it needed a little more sauce. But it wasn't too awful.



I liked this, but it basically just tasted like regular chili...but nothing's wrong with plain old chili, so it was good!



Ok, Mom, I know you are shocked that I would make a recipe with any kind of squash! But its been all the rage on pinterest, and I thought it might replace my love for pasta. It didn't. This was actually not my fav at all. It was wayyyyy too healthy for me. I ended up dumping way more parm on than the recipe called for just to give it a little flavor. I would only suggest trying this if you LOVE vegetables, especially squash! (AKA, my mom.)

Shrimp Scampi with Risi e Bisi


Ok, so I searched the internet high and low for this recipe, but I couldn't find it anywhere. It is from Teresa Guidice's cookbook, Fabulicious!: Fast & Fit. I am trying to make some Italian meals, so when we get to Italy, I will know what the heck is on the menu! I started with risi e bisi, because it is very common and is a big comfort food everywhere in Italy. I wanted to make sure I liked it...and I did! It was delicious! It went really well with the shrimp scampi.

Here are the recipes for both:

Easy Risi e Bisi
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 cup frozen thawed peas or cooked fresh peas
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the rice and stir well without browning, about 30 seconds. Add the broth and salt and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover tightly. Simmer, without stirring, until the rice is tender and has absorbed the broth, about 18 minutes. 
3. Add the peas to the saucepan, but do not stir them in. Cover again and let stand for 5 minutes, so the steam in the pan heats the peas.
4. Stir with a fork to combine the peas and fluff the rice. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Season with the pepper. Serve hot.

Shrimp Scampi
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano, basil, or Italian parsley
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1. Heat the oil and garlic together in a large skillet over medium heat until the garlic begins to color, about 1 minute. Season the shrimp with the salt. Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp turns opaque around the edges, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the wine, lemon juice, oregano, and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Cook until the shrimp is opaque in the center, about 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter and stir, shaking the pan by its handle, until the butter is melted. Serve hot. 

Yum, yum, yum!!! I think all I'm going to eat in Italy is risi e bisi, and that would be fine with me! I'm allllll ready for my vacay now!!!!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Lately....

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately! We've been pretty busy....here's a {not so quick} catch-up!!

Loving - Our house in the snow last weekend!! It was fun to see a little snow, and thankfully, the roads didn't get bad and the snow melted the next day. Win-win situation!



Watching - The Bachelor! I think he's going to pick Lindsay....AshLee is getting on my nerves and seeing as he almost sent Catherine home last week, I'm guessing she'll be the next to go. 

Also, Travis got me watching all of these "Harlem Shake" videos on youtube. Can someone please explain this whole thing to me? I don't get it!



Looking forward to - Our trip to Italy this summer! I have most of our hotel rooms booked, and I CANNOT wait!!! This summer can't come soon enough. 


Making me happy - Girls Night last weekend! The snow didn't ruin our night out! We had a delicious dinner (and dessert!) at City Tavern, and then went to see Safe Haven. It was a really sweet movie, and of course I cried at the end. Duh, Nicholas Sparks movies never fail to make me cry! 


Celebrating - Our friends, Nick and Andrea's engagement! 

{me and the bride!}

{with one of their cute groomsmen}

They actually got engaged last April, but we went to their amazing engagement party Friday night! It was hosted by people who live in a condo two floors below Michael Jordan (yes, the Michael Jordan!)!! Their million dollar condo was out.of.control. I mean, they had a bidet in the bathroom. It was a very fun night, to say the least! 
I didn't manage to take any great pics of the condo (it was pretty packed with people), SO like a creepster, I stole these off Zillow so you could see how snazzy this place was (you're welcome!):



The pics don't really do this place justice....it was seriously one of the fanciest homes I've ever been in. It was like a Real Housewives home. 

Loathing - My job. I'm getting a little burnt-out to say the least. When's spring break?!??


Browsing - Pinterest! Can't.stop.pinning. Here are some of my faves from the last week or so:






You can follow me here :)

Missing - Warm weather!! I mean, I know the snow's gone, but it's still supposed to be in the 50s all week...which is COLD to me!!! When is it going to be warm again?!?!

Can't wait for the Oscars tonight! Have a great week!!!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Sunday Social: Valentine's Day

Happy Sunday! Mine is extra happy because I don't have to go to work tomorrow!!!

I'm linking up with A Complete Waste of Makeup for a lil belated Valentine's Day action!


1. Best Valentines Day you’ve ever had: Probably 2011, when Travis proposed!


2. Worst Valentines Day you’ve ever had: I can't really think of one...I'm not a huge Valentine's Day person, but any holiday that involves the color pink can't be bad to me!


3. What did you do for Valentines this year? We were super low-key, which I LOVED. I made NY strip steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans, and chocolate covered strawberries for Trav and I. We broke out our china and some serving dishes that we haven't used yet (oops, we've been married 8 months)! Trav bought me a sweet card and my fav kind of wine :)


4. Best Valentines Idea if you’re single: Get together with other single ladies (did you start singing Beyonce?!), go out to dinner, get manis/pedis and have a girls night! 

5. Favorite Valentines Candy? Reese's peanut butter hearts!!



6. Favorite Valentines Memory from your childhood: I loved having those class parties every year, where you got to make a little mailbox for your valentines!
How cute are some of these?!?!






We aren't allowed to have any holiday parties at the school where I teach, and it makes me sad! These kids are missing out!!!

Hope you have a great (and hopefully short) week!!!!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Pillow Problems

Pillows are taking over my life. OMG.

Sooooo....you may or may not remember I mentioned previously buying new, white couches and trying to find some fun pillows to go with them! 

Here is our family room before....and don't worry, we have since bought a matching white loveseat to replace the ugly leather one.


Anyways, my mom came to town and we picked out some (I thought) super fun fabric and my mom was going to make pillow covers!

Well, she mailed them to me last week...and when I opened them up, I started crying. 


OMG, they SOOOOOO don't match! 

All we had was a tiny swatch of fabric and it didn't have any of the lighter red and orange in it, so I thought it would match the rug (based on the tiny swatch we had) and instead, it looks awful! This is why I'm never decorating any room ever again.

After crying to my mom for half an hour, the next day, I went to about 3 Targets, 2 Home Goods, Pier One, Belk, Bed Bath and Beyond, Crate & Barrel, and everywhere else that sold pillows and bought approximately 294732875487932 pillows. 

Here's a small sample of what I bought:


Then, I kept returning some, and seeing others that might work, then I'd return those and buy more. Today's the first day since last Friday I have not been in Home Goods. I think they know me by name...

Travis was about to check me into Pillow rehab, but I think I finally got it! 

(PS-ignore that bowl on the table, I realize I need to get something new!)



I tried to ghetto-ly (if that's even an adverb) put up the curtains, so you can see how they might look with the pillows....





Did I do ok?  We obviously need to paint this room a different color...the yellow is too jaundiced for me! 

I'd take any of these....

{well, maybe not the navy blue or sage green}

Decorating is exhausting....I can only imagine what *fun* painting will be!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Some New Things....

Well, last weekend, my mom was here and this weekend, Travis' parents came to town!

Travis and his dad watched UNC lose while the girls went to shop!

I also got to meet my new nephew (Travis' sister's dog!), Danny!!! Isn't he so precious?!?!?!


He basically wanted nothing to do with me hahah....look at the terrified look in his eyes! But I still love him!

Saturday night, we went out to dinner at 1900 Mexican Grill with Trav's parents and got fajitas!


They were soooooo good!!!

On Sunday, I went to about 893 stores in search of pillows for our family room....but that whole situation needs its own post {coming soon}!

The pillow hunt was not so successful, but what I did buy were some new decorations for spring! (I don't care that it's only February 11! Close enough!)


I couldn't find a wreath I liked, so I just made this one...


I may or may not provide a tutorial soon...

I also channeled my inner Yolanda H. Foster (aka the Dutch Martha Stewart) and got some {fake} lemons to use as vase fillers!


Last, but certainly not least on my "let's buy lots of new fun things" extravaganza, Kate Spade was having a MAJOR sale last week (of course she was) and I just HAD to buy this bag that I had been eyeing since SEPTEMBER 2011! That's almost a year and a half!!!! So, clearly, I needed to buy this bag!


OMG, I'm sooooo in love with it!!! 

And then, I realized Kate didn't have my newest email addy (I made a new one when I got married)! Did you know that if you add your email to Kate's address book, you get 15% off your next order?! Well, I couldn't use it on the bag above because it was part of that surprise sale, but I could use it on this next guy that I've been wanting for when we go to Italy....


And it even matches my comforter!!!

So, no shopping for me for a while...or at least no more bags!!!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Super Bowl Weekend!

We had quite a busy weekend!! 
(And, I hardly took any pictures...you've been warned. Sorry!)
First, my mom came to town with her fabulous friend, Pam, on Friday. All of us went out to eat Friday night at Midwood Smokehouse


Omg, best BBQ EVER. It was amazing....and I was so excited to finally eat it at like 9PM that I totes forgot to take a picture of it!! 

So, I found this pic online, which is pretty close to what mine looked like, mac & cheese and all....


OMG, YUMMMMMM.

After falling asleep from a food coma, I woke up Saturday morning and my mom and I went shopping!

First, we hit up the fabric store (twice...and Target also twice)to find fabric for pillows that my mom is going to make for our new couch! After looking, literally ALL day, I finally found some fabric I liked that looks like this:


Hopefully, the pillows will look something like this:

Right Mom?!?

If you missed the post about my new couch and me contemplating what to do with our family room, click here!

We also went to Lowe's and found some new curtains:

I'm hoping they will pick up some of the Carolina blue in the pillows, since y'all know that's our fav color! Hopefully, everything will come together nicely...I am so bad at putting things together! Haha!

I said goodbye to my mom Saturday night, and sadly, this was the only pic I took of our time together! Guess we were too busy shopping!


Sunday, I woke up in a terrible mood because:
a. It was Super Bowl Sunday
b. We had to go to a party at Travis' friend's house
c. Said party was an hour away in the next county
d. I had waaayyy too much sh*t to do around the house
e. I was going to be up wayyyyyyy later than my 10:00 bedtime
f. I was not feeling well

Is that enough reasons?!?!

Anyway, my sweet husband felt bad, so he went out and bought me flowers! LOVE. HIM.


But of course, we went to the stupid party. An hour away. And it ended up being fine. I ate LOTS of food, so that always helps. Of course, there was that stupid power outage....


...which drove me NUTS, because I could just see my already late bedtime getting later and later! Luckily, some of our friends left at 10, so I made Travis leave, too! He was so mad....if you know my husband, you know sports are a serious matter and he DOES NOT miss the biggest football game of the year. Guess he must love me! We got home just in time (for him) to see the last few plays. I couldn't even tell you the final score because I was already asleep. Super Bowl 2013 WOOHOOO. (See also: I am old and lame.)

Hope your weekend was fabulous!