Friday, May 31, 2013

Get in my closet

Like most girls, I have a slight shopping obsession. I try to maintain this obsession within my means though, darn student loans are preventing me from being the Carrie Bradshaw fashionista I wish to be. Every morning as I struggle to pick out what to wear, I never seem to like anything I own anymore, I dream about having one of those fabulous closets that you see on Cribs (or used to anyway, I'm a little old school) and an unlimited bank account to spend on beautiful clothing. I am sure that most girls share in this dream, because to me the right outfit can make or break how I am going to feel for the day. How you choose to present yourself everyday also shares with the world a lot about your personality. So Until I make it big, or win the lottery, I will continue to browse clothes online, fantasizing about filling my closet with all of my favorite things.

Below I shared with you some of my favorite finds of the week. I am absolutely loving the chevron trend that is going on right now, whether it be through clothing or household accessories, I can't get enough!



Ivory/Mint Zig Zag Aztec Scuba Dress - Windsor Store


Evening Cocktails Dress - ModCloth

Great Wavelengths Dress - ModCloth

Fete by the Fountain Dress - ModCloth

Peplum Bow Back Top - ASOS

Zephyr Red Wings Snapback - ASOS

Nike Dunk Ski Hi

Gatsby Chic Bag - UrbanOG

Classic Pleat Dress - Forever 21

Tie-Front Animal Print Top - Forever 21


Cropped Perma-Creased Trousers - Forever 21

Lera Peplum Skirt - Nasty Gal


- Jenny

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

2013 Summer Goals

Even though I'm wearing leggings and a hoodie as I write this, I'm in full-on summer mode. Every year, I like to make a list of things I'd like to accomplish during these few short months of bliss. I started doing this when I was young and still had summer vacations. My goals are never anything complicated, just things I want to do to make the most of the season!

Here are my goals for 2013:
  • Dye my hair - My hair is blonde but I'm contemplating bleaching the ends for summer ... just wish it was longer :(
    Photo from my birthday last summer
  • Get a new tattoo - I need to save for our wedding, but my friend and I are possibly planning something, and the thought is just so tempting!
  • Book a wedding DJ - Hopefully this one will be knocked off the list very soon
  • Try a new restaurant - Actually did this Saturday night, but let's try another one! ;)
  • Go to the beach
  • Photo from our vacation last summer to Silver Lake
  • Read! - I am the worst at reading. I have so many books that I've bought or received as gifts over the past couple of years, and I haven't even read them yet. I am determined to read this summer! First order of business: finish The Walking Dead vols. that I have. 
  • Start my cross stitch - Yet another thing that I wanted to do and still haven't done. After I expressed in interest in learning how to cross stitch, my oh-so-kind fiance bought me a kit for Valentine's Day ... of 2012. I honestly want to do it, so I am going to make the time!
  • Reorganize my closet - Every morning, I come down with a bad case of "I don't have anything to wear," despite having two closets, a clothing rack, and a dresser full of clothes. I need to reorganize everything to make it easier to see what I have and put all of my work clothes together. 
  • List all of our shirts on Etsy - we were doing good for awhile, but lately have been buying more than selling for our Etsy shop. I want to try to finally list everything we have.
  • Go out for brunch - I originally had this as go out to breakfast, which I love to do but don't do often enough - but I've never done a proper brunch (and by proper, I mean "with a Blood Mary").
  • Go to Eastern Market
  • Clean my car (inside and out)! 
  • Go to the Royal Oak Flea Market
  • Eat at a food truck
  • Hang out with friends - Sounds easy, but sometimes it is easier said than done! I need to make the extra effort.
Do you ever make summer to-do lists? What are some of your goals?



Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Back to business

Welcome back from what I hope was a fun and relaxing holiday weekend! I can't say that our Salt River tubing trip was successful, but it was definitely eventful to say the least. I will spare you the drunken, cold, painful details. However, the silver lining from the whole trip was having a good excuse to be lazy the next day with my husband and watch movies/Netflix all day! We took my sister's advice and started watching Hemlock Grove. The first few episodes are incredibly confusing, but also intriguing at the same time. It is one of those shows (like LOST for example, ohh what a love/hate relationship we shared) where you continue to watch just to figure out what the heck is going on. I do recommend it as well though!

Yesterday I pretended to be domestic and I baked some peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread. It is as delicious as it sounds! I typically just like to stare at pictures of food on Pinterest and imagine making it, but I thought that it was time to actually go through with it. What do ya know, it was well worth the effort! I would show you a picture of how mine turned out, but this looks prettier.


The Hub of our Home


Today I also came across this great and informative article on clean eating by Military Spouse Magazine. It specifically talks about the types of food you should be buying from the Commissary if you live on a military installation. If you are interested you can read the article here.

I am excited to announce that my husband and I will be in Michigan next weekend for a nice, much needed, vacation! We will be home for 17 glorious days. I am so excited and definitely counting down the days, it doesn't help that I have already checked out of work though. Green grass and fresh dustless air here we come!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

- Jenny

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Memorial Day

Happy unofficial start to summer!

image via Em Rupe at society6 

Take a moment to think of our troops, and enjoy the holiday weekend!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Music heals us

Hello there!

I am not trying to neglect you blog. I just had a really bad migraine all day on Tuesday, even staring at the computer screen hurt. Then my husband and I had a small crisis with our puppy over the weekend. Friday night after we let him play outside for awhile, we noticed that his lip started to swell up. Then during the middle of the night he woke us up with swollen eyes as well, and he was itching like crazy. In the morning, even though the swelling went down after a few doses of Bendryl, he started breaking out in hives everywhere. Then we finally took him to the vet and found out he was just having a bad allergic reaction to some sort of insect bite. Luckily all is well now, and I have learned from this experience that when we have kids someday, I am totally going to be one of those moms that takes their kid to the emergency room for every little thing. I don't handle stressful situations well!

I don't know about you, but I sure am excited for this 4 day weekend! On Saturday we are going to Salt River, near Phoenix, with some friends. You basically just drink all day and float down a river with a ton of random people, should be interesting! I hope that everyone has a safe weekend and is able to relax and enjoy themselves!

Not too much else to report on this side of the country, so today I am going to share with you a playlist of some of my all time favorite songs. Does anyone else feel a strong connection to the music they listen too? I tend to remember situations throughout my life best by the songs or albums that I was listening to most at the time. Then, when I hear those songs again I am instantly transported back to that time in my life. I can remember what I was feeling during that time, the worries that I had, the laughter, and the major things that were going on in my life. Music plays such a powerful role in my life, and a lot of these songs and artists have gotten me through some difficult times. For instance, Mumford & Sons album Babel, and Lana Del Rey's album Born to Die and Paradise, got me through my husband's deployment. Whenever I was feeling lonely and out of place, these songs would bring me back to reality. What role does music play in your life?




- Jenny 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Currently listening to....

Fitz and the Tantrums - More Than Just a Dream
Amazon

MS MR - Secondhand Rapture
Amazon


Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Amazon
And definitely this:



Monday, May 20, 2013

Wonderful Weekend

It's so very hard to handle Monday after a fun three-day weekend. We jammed about as much as we could into one weekend. Here's the rundown:


Hit up Motor City Comic Con

Went downtown for the Detroit City FC game (we won!)

Took an impromptu road trip to Lansing for the best sushi.

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Snuck in the best breadsticks to Star Trek: Into Darkness

Other highlights include pulled pork nachos, buying some American flag shorts, outlet shopping, and winning some jean shorts (and Green Dot Stables coupons) at the DCFC game.
Where else are you going to see a jean shorts cannon??

I also bought a couple things at Comic Con:


I love Totoro!
All in all, it was a pretty great weekend. How was yours?


Thursday, May 16, 2013

Nice cream

I'm sure you have tried or at least heard of banana "ice cream." Something magical happens when you freeze bananas and blend them up -- they take on the texture and a lot of the taste of vanilla ice cream. 

My friend and I were talking the other day about those Yonanas machines (and knockoffs). She said she had used some berries and it turned it into soft serve. I had some strawberries I had to use, so I decided to try freezing them and mixing them with the banana. The results were delicious. 

sorry for the great quality of this photo.
This was last night's concoction. I mixed a 60-calorie container of Kroger-brand low-carb white chocolate raspberry yogurt (that I had frozen first), frozen strawberries (about 6 large, sliced), and one frozen banana (also sliced). I also added some sugar free chocolate syrup. The result was a huge bowl of tasty goodness.

Sometimes with just the bananas, I will crush up a chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar for pseudo chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Other times, I will use peanut butter and cocoa powder. 

I can't wait to try this with raspberries! 

On the other end of the food spectrum, apparently some Taco Bells have waffle tacos? It looks like a waffle folded over with sausage and egg inside. Why don't the Taco Bells near me sell breakfast!?

After going to that link, I kept going down the Buzzfeed rabbit hole, and came across this:

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Doughnut ice cream sandwiches? That's genius. More here with the 23 most perfect foods in the universe (I don't know if I agree with that, but some of them look pretty good). 

This post is a bit of a contradiction but you know what? Who cares? It's Friday! Let's party!

(source)



Puppy Problems

WARNING: This post is not intended to be read if you are in the process of consuming food or beverages.

So I had a pretty interesting wake up call the other night. At around 2 in the morning I woke from a peaceful slumber to the sound of my boxer puppy jumping off of our bed, running into the hallway, and releasing explosive diarrhea everywhere. As upset as I was at that moment, I do applaud him for running onto the tile floor instead of ruining our carpet or bed. Then I got the privilege of cleaning it all up by myself because the smell alone made my poor husband instantly sick from the other room. I can already foresee into our future, him gagging every time he has to change our child's diaper and handing the job off to me. Ohh joy...

I love my puppy very much, and it is amazing to see him grow so quickly, but I am totally ready for this puppy stage to be over. In one aspect I feel as though I am failing horribly at properly training him because my husband and I are at work all day, but then I think about how he won't let me leave the room without him being my little tail wagging shadow, and it makes me feel like maybe I am doing something right after all.

When we first brought Sammie home we were able to house train her within a few weeks, and ever since then she has been the most well-behaved dog. However, Champ seems to be the complete opposite and still struggles with his training. I think the worst thing to happen lately is catching him in the act of eating his own feces. Yes you read that correctly, and I hope that I haven't totally grossed you out at this point. I read that this problem, also known as Coprophagia, is very common for puppies and is caused by a number of reasons. Boredom or anxiety could be a cause, as well as overfeeding, feeding a dog food low-quality food that lacks in nutrients, parasites, lack of exercise, emotional stress, or their need to "clean" their area. I am not sure which of these could be the cause to Champ's problem, but I read that incorporating a small amount of canned pumpkin, pineapple juice, or spinach, to the dog's food helps to make their feces repulsive to them. I suppose it is worth a try.

For those of you that may share my debacle, or are struggling with training their dogs, I found some helpful infographics that may aid you in your quest:

 
The Dog Training Secret

Hella Wella

If anyone has any helpful dog training tips and tricks that they would like to share, I would love to hear from you!

I also came across this great website called The Dog Bar, that is full of goodies to spoil your animals. They are located in Miami Beach, Florida. The prices are a bit steep for me, but I still have fun browsing!

Looking at stores like this also make me really interested in one day owning my own pet store/bakery/spa/training class/hotel/park/hangout for fellow obsessive pet lovers :)

A girl can dream..


- Jenny



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Self love

I was planning on posting about something else today, but this morning at work, I opened up one of my notebooks and found this quote:

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I have no clue where I saw this or when I wrote it down, but it smacked me in the face this morning.

Like many women, the climbing temps have me feeling the pressures of swimsuit season. Most of the time, I'm happy with myself and my habits, but I still struggle. I try to keep the habits of healthy eating and working out regularly, but I'm not perfect (especially in the food department). 

Still -- these things are just that: habits. I should aspire to them, but not be dictated by them. On Monday I had a late lunch with a friend that I hadn't seen in a while. We had a great time, but I got home too late (and too full) to fit in my workout. Instead of being happy about spending time with a friend, I felt guilty about skipping my workout. This is when habit crosses into obsession.

(source)
I tend to do this a lot. I feel so overwhelmed when I get home from work, because I have to work out, shower, make dinner, do the dishes. I don't even have kids! (Kudos to all you moms out there!) This is all pressure I put on myself, for no reason. These should just be things that I do, and if they get skipped, no biggie. 

I think my biggest problem is figuring out the balance. Sure, I can't sit on the coach with a spoon and a jar of peanut butter every night instead of working out (even though that sounds wonderful). But if I have the opportunity to actually do something, I shouldn't feel bad about choosing that experience over a few crunches. Nothing is going to change that drastically overnight. 

Working out does make me feel good, but it shouldn't be a chore. 

Does anyone else do this to themselves? I feel like women are so much harder on themselves than men. Why do we do this, ladies? We need to build ourselves up! Let's all love ourselves a little bit more this week. And everyone, man or female, should try to be a little bit more like Ron Swanson. 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Cat lady

You wouldn't guess it from how obsessed I am with my cat, but I actually was super hesitant to get a pet. Wednesday was a stray, but having never had pets growing up, I was really nervous about what taking care of a living thing actually entailed. 

Obviously it worked out, and I am slowly becoming a true cat lady. So much of a cat lady that when I identified items for this post, I realized that I might have to break it into two, because I have so many cat-related items on my wish list. #yikes

With that I present: Cat Lady Wish List, Clothing Edition

"The Fuschia is Meow" dress from ModCloth

Tank from H&M


"I'm Just Kitten" tights from ModCloth

Dang it, I waited too long on this one! Forever 21 (no longer available)

Furball leggings

Hot Topic

I actually own this cat taco shirt, but I didn't know there was a whole line! You can also get cats on baconcat on sushi, and cat on a cupcake(!).

I only have a handful of cat shirts in my actual posession (so far). I was thrilled to find this cat print Old Navy shirt at a thrift store recently:
It's really cute and fit great. I also found a Jason Wu for Target blouse with the tags still on. #score

I hope everyone had a great Monday and that all the mom's had a great Mother's Day. I ate way too much hummus today (is that possible?) and am listening to the new Daft Punk album, which sounds pretty wonderful so far. Looking very forward to a 3-day weekend this weekend!

Stay tuned for Cat Lady Wish List: Accessories & Housewares!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to my incredible and beautiful mother! She has always been there for me when I needed her, and I know that she always will be no matter how old I get, or where the military takes us. So thankful for her!







Love you!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's out there (pet parents included!)

:)

- Jenny

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Caturday

Happy Caturday!

What a hectic week. The base is doing a summer safety video competition for their annual Comprehensive Airman Fitness week, and it was open to all of the squadrons. I joined the creative team for our squadron and ended up helping to direct and edit the film. We were a little slow on getting the project going so we found ourselves rushing to finish everything at the last minute. I love video editing, but the perfectionist in me gets super stressed about projects like this because I want everything to be a certain way. The good to come out of all of this though, was that since I worked on the video at home my boss decided to give me Friday off, unexpected 3 day weekends are always welcomed! Now we just have to wait a few weeks to find out who won, and the winning film will be shown to each squadron throughout the week. Did I mention that myself and my dog Sammie made an appearance in the video as well? What can I say, I am kind of a big deal :)

Hah, I will have to post the video soon, it is pretty silly.

For those of you that are Bad Lip Reading fans, if you haven't seen their new video already on the Walking Dead I just had to post it, it is hilarious!




Today I decided that it is time for me to be less anti-social, so I am going to step outside of my comfort zone and go to a get together with other military spouses from base. I don't know anyone, but I think that it will be great to meet some other spouses (that don't have children yet) and get to know some new people. Wish me luck!

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Hemlock Grove


A while back I saved this article on Netflix’s approach to releasing all of the House of Cards episodes at one time, instead of one each week, per the traditional TV format. The article goes on to discuss the habit of “binge-viewing” television shows.
I am so guilty of this, and I might even go so far as to say that it’s one of my favorite pastimes. I love watching full seasons of television shows in one go, instead of having it drawn out over months and months. The best is when Mat and I find a show we like and can rent the past seasons. The worst part is catching up and having to go back to waiting each week.
The article talks about “hoarding” shows, or purposely waiting until a season (or even entire series!) is complete before watching, to decrease the down time between episodes. As much as I prefer this method of viewing, I am way too impatient to hold off on something that I know I can get right away. It is also kind of nice to have something to look forward to, because it does suck when you near the end and know you don’t have any more episodes to watch.
Our most recent “binge” was Netflix’s second series, Hemlock Grove

Ugh. Not enough good things to say (from me—many critics seem to disagree) about this show. I was instantly hooked, if only because I had no clue what was going on. But this confusion continued to pique my interest all the way until the end, and I started to really develop a relationship with the characters. The show kind of reminds me of a mix between True Blood (vampires, werewolves) and American Horror Story (plenty of wtf-ery). The male vampire character is actually True Blood’s Eric’s (Alexander Skarsgard) real-life brother, and it’s funny because the resemblance is prominent in the show, even just in their mannerisms.
(source)
I think fans of the supernatural horror genre will enjoy it, but I do wonder if I would have loved it as much had I watched it on a week-to-week basis. I think I still would have loved it but something about immersing yourself into a show like that really affects me emotionally. I tend to get overly excited and obsessive about things I enjoy, so kind of hard to separate yourself from the fiction, at least to a small extent.
We started watching Dexter after the fourth season had aired, and watched all four seasons in under two weeks. If you’ve seen the show, you know how the fourth season ends, and after thinking about nothing but Dexter during that time, that scene hit us hard. I was depressed all the next day, ha. You feel like you start to know and understand these people.
It’s funny because I never really consider myself a big TV person, but that’s really pretty far from the truth. I never watch TV just for the sake of watching it – if I am bored, I am on my laptop. But when it comes to making the effort to watch specific shows, I have a long list.
Okay, now that you are all starting to get a little bit worried about my TV-viewing habits, I’ll say also that the music in Hemlock Grove is phenomenal. I can’t stop listening to playlists inspired the show (http://8tracks.com/explore/hemlock_grove). Excellent.
Anyway. If you aren’t too busy actually living a real life and need some way to spend 13 hours (and you have Netflix), definitely check out Hemlock Grove (and let me know what you think).
(source)
Thanks for reading, I’m thinking in hindsight this will be pretty embarrassing ;)

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Teaser

I've been meaning to do a post on Netflix (and now Amazon) now having original programming. This was before I even watched one of the shows. I haven't had time to write it out but hopefully will get to that on Friday.

In the meantime, here's a playlist I put together. Enjoy the teaser.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Puddin'

Hola!

I am just going to start off by confessing something, I have a deep love for banana pudding. There I said it. Ever since I was a little girl, I have the greatest memories of being at my grandparent's house eating my grandmother's delicious banana pudding, and making it for the holiday's has become a special tradition within our family. From peanut butter cookies, to apple turnovers, she definitely knew how to spoil us! This weekend my husband and I went to a BBQ for his squadron and I decided to bring some banana pudding for dessert. Luckily, I was able to bring some leftovers home so that I can splurge on it for a few days (all a part of my master plan). I used my grandmother's recipe (haven't quite mastered the meringue though) but it is seriously one my my favorite things to eat. Maybe I have a special bond with it because it reminds me of my grandmother, and when I make it I feel connected to her. She was an incredible woman that I will always love and admire. I don't know if I do her recipe justice, but I sure do try my best.

That is why I would like to dedicate this post to her. I searched the internet and amazingly found a ton of recipes and variations on banana pudding that I would like to share with you. Go ahead, treat yo' self and try one of the delicious recipes below!


Banana Pudding Poppers - Bubbly Nature Creations

Banana Pudding Ice Cream - Nutmeg Nanny


Banana Pudding Pie - Lick the Bowl Good

Nutter Butter Banana Pudding - Pass the Sushi

Banana Pudding Cookies - Two Peas and Their Pod

Banana Pudding Milkshake - Babble


Strawberry Banana Pudding Cake - Maybe I Will

Skinny Mini Banana Pudding - Skinny Ms.







- Jenny