Monsoon season

Jenny is all too familiar with monsoon season in Arizona, but I feel like Michigan is having one of it's own this summer. It will be a nice, sunny day, then start raining sideways out of nowhere. After a hard pour, the rain stops as quickly as it starts. It's been crazy. We had a little mishap on Tuesday night when Mat offered to go for a walk with me. 

Now note, this is a rare occasion. It just doesn't happen. I was really happy, especially because it was around 89 degrees out. We walked to 7-11 in the hot sun, and on the way back noticed that it was looking really, really dark. It wasn't supposed to rain until much later, so I hoped it would just blow past. Nope. It started pouring, I mean really hammering down. We both couldn't see, I briefly lost my left contact somewhere in my eye, and we were instantly soaked. Luckily, we found some shelter with a few other unfortunate people who were out (some were even in a paddle boat on the lake!). One lady decided the rain was better than the rat that scuttled past us, so she booked it.

It's supposed to be sunny all weekend, and we are planning on being outside a lot at the DCFC playoffs, so hopefully that holds true.

Anyway. I'm in a very rambly mood, so bear with me. I feel like I've made some tasty meals lately, so I thought I'd share. 

The other night, I made these spicy black bean cakes from A Cozy Kitchen. 

The picture is hers -- it looks much more appetizing than mine. These turned out awesome! We had really great black beans cakes at a restaurant in Traverse City once. I've tried a couple other recipes, but this one was the best. I love her blog -- visit the site to get the recipe!

On the side, I halved and hollowed out some jalapenos and filled them with a cream cheese/feta mix. I roasted them in the oven for about 15 minutes. These also turned out so delicious -- the perfect side.

Tonight I made an epic burrito with chicken, black beans, roasted squash, guacamole, cheese, and sour cream. Not the best photo, but it tasted delicious. 

Check out the shirt and shoes I got from Goodwill last week! The Nikes are practically brand new and cost $5. They also happened to me in my giant size. I don't know what happened but I went up a size in the past year.

Also, I don't know about y'all, but I am dying to see Pacific Rim. I hate paying full price for movies, so we usually go to matinees, but I'm pretty tempted to go tomorrow night. Anyone else going? What's the best movie you've seen so far this summer?

That's a lot of words, so I'll leave you with this funny -- albeit blurry -- picture of Wednesday with whipped cream on her nose.... and yes, we've just been hanging out on a sheet on the floor all summer.

Whew

Whew! Again, sorry for the lack of posts these past couple of weeks. Jenny was on vacation, and I was just busy. Time is flyyyyying by! It's hard to even remember what I've been doing. Here are some highlights:

• Went wedding dress shopping for the first time (more on that later)
• Chose our cake flavors (also more on that later)
• Saw This is the End (high-larious)
• Played Cards Against Humanity (the best)
• Ate lots of food (including a cheesy gordita crunch with a Doritos Cool Ranch taco, oh yes)
• Took my mom to a Detroit Citiy FC game
• Went to Mat's nephew's kindergarten graduation, he is growing up so quickly!

I'm sure there's more. It's the summer though and I love being busy! It's finally been getting nice and hot here, just how I like it. 

Anyway. It's getting late. More on the aforementioned wedding stuff to come. In the mean time, here's a story Fox 2 News did on Detroit City FC. You can catch me gettin' down in the background shortly after 0:48.

Fox 2 News Headlines

Rando

This post is going to be a long stream of consciousness, so hopefully you can all bear with me :)

This stuff is a lifesaver. I didn't have a chance to wash my hair last night (after also not washing it on Monday night) and my hair looked better than ever today. With other dry shampoos that I've tried, my hair would still look greasy. There is no grease and it adds so much texture. It also makes my hair look a little bit lighter. I am obsessed -- and it's cheap! I kind of never want to wash my hair again.

I'm still reeling over Game of Thrones (and still laughing at @RedWeddingTears - click only if you've seen/read it!), but I am getting so excited for True Blood!

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God bless HBO.

I tried a Sonic Peanut Butter and Banana shake last night and it was delicious. I love bananas but hate banana flavoring -- they use real bananas and there were chunks of banana in it. Sonic also has the best whipped cream! Our cat loves it too, ha .... she gets very excited when she sees Sonic cups.

Awwww

And perhaps most importantly ... we found a DJ for our wedding!! That was the last big thing really, so it feels like a relief! Although we do still need someone to do the ceremony. It's funny, I'm the least worried about that, but it's probably the most important detail, ha. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I cannot wait to see Jenny (and to eat at Cracker Barrel .... family tradition, ha!). 

What's new with you?

Monday Funday?

That just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? 

I wanted to start your Monday off with a smile, so if you can find the time, definitely watch this video:

So dang cute and funny. I dare you not to laugh out loud. 

Something else that made me feel good recently was finally watching this movie:

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I've been wanting to see this movie since I first heard about it, but it was well worth the wait. Watching this movie felt like receiving a giant hug. That's not to say that it isn't sad. The film takes place in a world on the brink of apocalypse -- a giant meteor is heading toward Earth, and humanity has three weeks at most. 

The ensuing reactions really made me think about how it would be if impending doom was a reality. I think that the filmmaker's nailed it. Half the world seemed to go absolutely crazy -- drugs, riots, violence -- and the other half just kept going about their business -- showing up to work, mowing their lawns, etc. I really think this would be the case. Chaos and denial. 

Me? I think I'd fall somewhere in the middle. I wouldn't riot, but I definitely wouldn't keep up with the same old same old. I'd do everything I felt like I "shouldn't" do (but nothing that affected other people). I'd definitely eat a lot of cake.

The film is very funny but it is a dark comedy. I found it to be very heartwarming. I didn't think much of this until I just read a review on the site where I found the above graphic, and they warn how heartbreaking it is. I don't know ... the context is sad, sure, but I thought the message was more optimistic. Although we don't know when our end will come like the people in the film, our time on Earth is finite, and I thought the movie was more about not giving up, in spite of that. Make the most of the time we do have. If you watch it, let me know your thoughts.

We also finally watched End of Watch (we are way behind on movies) and thought that was really good, too.

I hope you all had a good weekend. I'll leave you with another good thing to start your Monday --this picture for my friend Sara. 

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as you wish

Hola! Thanks for being patient as I am again a day late with my post. 

After my presentation yesterday, I rewarded myself with some sushi, so when I got home we feasted and hung out on the couch.

Our favorite sushi place ever is in East Lansing. When I was in school, we were there every Saturday night, but now we don't get to eat it very often. They have the best tasting sushi, as well as the largest portions for the lowest price. Win win win. I loooove sushi. Extra spicy, please.

We watched Safety Not Guaranteed, which I have been wanting to see for quite some time.

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It was delightful. I loved it. It had funny moments but it was mostly heartfelt. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you are looking for something that will warm your soul a little bit. 

Per the title of this blog post, as part of the Murder by Death Kickstarter, for a certain price point you could chose a song for them to cover. Everyone who pledged though would receive the covers, and they finally released the album, titled As You Wish, last week.

(buy here!)

Covers include Motorhead, Tom Waits, and Wilson Phillips (oh yes). It's pretty great.

Speaking of Kickstarter, if you haven't donated to the Veronica Mars Movie Project, for just $1 you can help them reach their goal of becoming the most backed Kickstarter project. Soo, go donate!

Okay. That's all I've got for now. Hopefully your weekend is more exciting than mine :)

Rando

What's up, friends? How was your weekend? 

Mine was pretty uneventful but relaxing. I knocked some things off the DVR and my to-do list. 

Luckily for my coworkers, I made these:

I LOVE Lucky Charms, and even though I have weaned myself off of sugary cereals, I can't resist a bowl around St. Patrick's Day! I actually never made Rice Krispie treats before... hello, easiest dessert on the planet. These were inspired by some tasty treats at Cheba Hut, an awesome sandwich chain in Tucson that we went to when I visited Jenny.

If anyone has $200,000 lying around and wants to open a franchise -- holler.

When I was there, I had the PB/chocolate "goo ball," but really regretted not getting the Lucky Charms version (even though that one was delicious). So, only about a year later, I finally made them.

I also tried my first macaron on Sunday:

They had some at a little winter farmer's market. I've always wanted to try one so I couldn't resist. DELICIOUS .. I see what al the hype is about.

Any Empire Records fans out there (or Welcome to the Dollhouse)? Who knew Warren would grow up to be so good looking?

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Um, hellllloooooo Warren. I guess he was in Seven Psychopaths -- totally did not recognize him.

Also, while browsing The Impulsive Buy the other day, I was alerted to THIS:

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Commence freak out. I need to find this ASAP. Even though Skinny Cow is kind of expensive, that is the answer to my prayerz. They also have Cookie Dough bars and Pink Velvet (!) bars!

So... all my posts are basically about food. Sorry :( I have no other hobbies outside of eating and reading blogs (jk...kindofbutnotreally). So tell me all about your fun weekends, and I will live vicariously through you ;)

Goals

I took a class through my work yesterday on personal effectiveness. It talked a lot about goals and prioritizing tasks (as well as tips for avoiding procrastination). 

My desk at work

A few things that stood out to me that I want to implement in my personal life as well were:

1) Make a list of all the things that I do, and then select the few things (20%) that bring me the most joy and satisfaction -- then focus on those things. This was based somewhat on the 80/20 principle, that says that roughly 80% of of one thing is made up of 20% of another thing -- so for example, 80% of what I buy at the grocery store is roughly 20% of all the products available; for 80% of the mail I receive, only 20% is mail we actually want (and so on). The key thing for me was identifying those things that bring me joy, out of all the tasks I do in a day. I tend to engage in a lot of time wasters, and then I wonder why I don't have time to do the things I really want to do (such as blog). I think making this list will really help me focus on those things and maybe eliminate some others. 

2) Write down the motivation behind my goals. I have lots of things I'd like to achieve, but they are just in my mind as abstract concepts (my 101 things in 1001 days goals list can attest to that). If I don't associate a reason with the action, then chances are, I'm not going to finish it, because I don't have any motivation. I do want to cement the reason why I want to blog, because I really do believe that it will make me more likely to stick with it. 

I kind of love cupcakes.

Once I figure out what that goal is, I will share it here.

In other news, we picked a wedding venue today! It's actually the only place we looked at, ha, but we both really loved it, and it fits what we were looking for. We aren't getting married until 2014 but that's one major thing off the list! :)

Until next time, I'll leave you with a picture of the tasty nachos I made last night. (If the chips look weird, it's because they are pumpkin, and freakin' delicious.)