hello, perfect dinner

Saturday night, Morgan and I made dinner for us and my friend Allison.
It. Was. Fantastic.

On the menu:

Mustard-Roasted Fish

the best broccoli ever

Brownie Pudding

Sauvignon Blanc

So, so, so easy, and beautiful! We just needed a starch or something.... a little bread would have been perfect.

I was given The Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics for Christmas and had been dying to make something from it. The Mustard-Roasted Fish and Brownie Pudding both came from here. Ina knows her stuff. Girl ain't playin around!

mustard-roasted fish

Just click the link for the recipe! We used tilapia. Next time, I'll probably just save a few bucks and use sour cream and see if I notice a taste difference. Either way, this was seriously good, seriously easy and looked real fancy. go us! fake out!

Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan Cheese

not exactly a picture of our broccoli, but yummmm

Wash broccoli and cut into spears. Put broccoli in baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle on Lawry's Seasoning Salt and Lemon Pepper seasoning. Toss well. Bake for about 10 minutes. Flip broccoli over and cook another 5-8 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cook for another 5 minutes. This was Mo's grandmother's recipe and it is delicious!

Brownie Pudding

for the recipe for this chocolate-y goodness, just click the link.

Brownie Pudding with ice cream... heaven.

they say it's your birthday....

I am so lucky to have some of the most amazing girls in my life! I mean, really, I have the best friends in the world! I was lucky enough to meet Hillary before we even started college at greek weekend. While we were sitting through stupid skits, my friend and I realized that the 2 girls in front of us were making fun of the skits and laughing just like we were... kindred spirits I guess. That's when I met Hillary and Hannah who would become 2 of my best friends throughout college and beyond! And the way we started out - LAUGHING - is pretty much how our friendship would continue... Hillary. Is. Funny. She has, without a doubt, one of the most creative, crazy HILARIOUS personalities of anyone I've ever met. She can always make me laugh. And I love that! She has a nickname for everyone (she calls my boyfriend David, Davy Crockett - which he loves, duh) and she comes up with the most ridiculous things to say. Oh, and did I mention that she's totally smart, loyal and beautiful? Also, she is one half of a fantastic relationship - soon to be marriage - and she will no doubt be the most beautiful bride ever! If I was able to choose one person in the world to teach my children, I would choose Hillary. I love to hear her stories, laugh at her jokes, and share her recipes. I love that when I show off my friends' pictures everyone can see her bright smile and I love that I can always call her my friend.

Thanks for being so wonderful, Hillary! I love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

such beautiful girls... 2005

2008

NYE '09 - Slill and Davy Crockett

Corey Smith concert - Florida Spring Break -09

SpringBreak

The most fun night!

graduation!

NYE 2010

If we could all be together tonight to celebrate, this is what we'd be doing:

all getting ready together

drinking KK's cosmos

listening to TayTay

going to Wasabi for sushi and martinis

dancing and laughing together all night!

I wish we could be there! Can't wait to see you soon!

Happy birthday! I love you!

Is it just me?

It drives me nuts when things aren't the same on the back as they are on the front. Take, for example, this dress from Forever21.

I mean, I know it's Forever 21 we're talking about here, but can't we afford to put studs on the back as well? I like to look like I'm matching from front to back, typically.

Maybe this is a genetic thing. My dad feels the same way. About sweater vests. (You heard me.) He doesn't like when they're cabled on the front, but not back. HA! I'm serious.

dream

Ina Garten is just amazing.
So is her new "Barn."
A kitchen, guest room, office,dining area, with fabulous outdoor entertaining areas.

Heaven.

yes, please.

photo credit: Simon Upton, House Beautiful

Take me back now. please?

Friends.

Dance Parties.

Fayetteville.

so much to do, so little time!

back in the real world starting at 8 am. booooooooooo

on a brighter note, I accomplished a whole lot during these last few days! I mean, random stuff, but it's important to start a new semester without thinking of all the little (and big) things left to be done at home. right? I mean basically, I just like checking things off lists. I like it a lot.

I accomplished these things:

taking down christmas.

cleaning our condo. like rully cleaning it. deep cleaning, if you will.

cooking!!!! (chicken salsa soup, salmon patties, corn casserole and black beans on NY day and my favorite- chocolate chip pound cake :)

cleaning out our outside closet....
...which then became a trip to the goodwill donation center...

a big target trip. stocking up, ya know.

laundry.

changing the bulbs of our outside light. i'm deathly terrified of the dark.
.... and even more so of coming in my front door since my friend hillary said, "aren't you scared when you're unlocking your door that someone could be hiding right there?" (as she pointed to a scary dark corner)
um, yeah hill, I was. but now I really am. thanks.

write thank-yous!

organize my desk.

..........and a million other little things you don't care to know about. But point is - I accomplished a lot and I am quite happy about it! Now, if only all those accomplishments could be like bonus points in school or something..... hmmmmm.....


My dear mother asked me to show her some pictures of our place decorated for Christmas and seeing as how only like maybe 3 people read my blog, (on a good day) I decided this would be a better place to put the pics than facebook. So, here is mine and Morgan's condo decorated for Christmas! I absolutely loved it!

(For those who actually read this blog and are not my mother, I apologize. skip along now.)

When I grow up, I want to be the Barefoot Contessa.

A few years back, when I started getting interested in cooking, I told my grandmother that when she passed away I wanted her stand mixer. Now, I realize that sounds slightly morbid, but she's big into passing things down and my cousins had already claimed other family "heirlooms." Yes, I consider the KitchenAid to be a family heirloom. First, because I am not interested in her china really. Sorry. And second, because she has a big ole KitchenAid and those bad boys are expensive! Lastly, because she is a fantastic cook so maybe that good luck (butter, grease, whatever) will rub off on me! :)

Anyway, so a few years back I mentioned the stand mixer. And since I am super pumped about holiday baking right now, I asked her to let me borrow it for tonight! woo woo!!!

When I got there, I saw that she had a piece of tape stuck on the back with my name on it. I think that means it's mine, what do you think? :)

It's probably been well over 5 years since she's used it, so it took me a while to get it all cleaned up for use. While I was happy to do the cleaning, I was not so happy that it postponed my baking...

On my list for the holidays so far:

1. Spiced pecans (not exactly baking, but whatev!)
2. Cheddar dill scones by none other than Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa incaseyoudidn'tknow)
3. Chocolate Peppermint Wafers

Now, keep in mind this is just so far. I will be traveling this coming weekend so it seems silly to make more than this right now. I have been dying to try to make scones (Ina makes them often and they look surprisingly easy) so when I saw these on my new favorite blog, cupcakesandcashmere, I decided maybe I should give them a shot! Emily also made the wafers! Unfortunately, tonight I was only able to make the pecans and wafer dough... but I'm excited to make the rest tomorrow! YUM :)

Okay, now it's time to watch the soyouthinkyoucandance finale with my mom! yay! go jakob! (or russell or kathryn i guess) fingers crossed.