93 in 930

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MakeitHappenThe moment I heard about the 101 in 1001 challenge via Sam and Design Darling I was immediately brainstorming ideas for my own personal list. Unfortunately 1001 days from now ended on a completely random day in my life whereas 930 days from today I conveniently turn 30. Ouch, that hurts even to say type. My 30th birthday is fast approaching and this 2.5 year bucket list seems like the best way to ensure these 930 precious days of my twenties don’t get away from me. I must admit and it may come across snobby (swear I’m not trying to be because I am forever appreciative of the opportunities we experienced this last year), but it was extremely difficult to muster up even 93 tasks since in the past 7 months I have basically completed the majority of my previous bucket list (travel, adventures, skydiving, bungee jumping, etc). But in the end it pushed me to really look to the past to see what I want to improve on and to look to the future for what I hope my life looks like in 2.5 years and combine those goals into this measurable, quantitative list. So without further ado here is my list of 93 tasks to accomplish in 930 days! Here we GOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Start Date: Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
End Date: Tuesday, December 1st, 2015

Educational:
1. Read 10 biographies
2. Read 1 new book a month (0/30)
3. Buy Photoshop and learn 20 new editing techniques (0/20)
4. Take a flower arranging class
5. Take an intro to sewing class (goal: hem my own jeans)
6. Take a cupcake or cake decorating class
7. Learn how to drive a manual car
8. Complete a personal training course
9. Grow our own herbs
10. Learn 4 new card games (two person and group) (0/4)
11. Learn 100 conversational phrases/words in Spanish

Blog:
12. Hire someone to design my blog website
13. Order business cards
14. Have 5 site sponsors
15. Attend a blogging conference (Alt Summit?)
16. Write an about me page and create a media kit
17. Guest blog post for 10 bloggers (0/10)
18. Host 10 giveaways (0/10)
19. Implement SEO strategies
20. Launch a collaborative series
21. Attend a fashion show
22. Inspire someone else to write a list

Personal:
23. Find a job I love
24. Add one more member to our family
25. Buy our first home
26. Join a church and be an active member
27. Join a competitive sports league
28. Buy a new (to me) car
29. Finish all our scrapbooks from our travels and the years 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013
30. Put our wills and funeral arrangements in writing
31. Refrain from cursing for one whole week
32. Participate in 10 charitable walks/runs/events (0/10)
33. Decide my favorite flower
34. Make a list of 101 things I’ve already accomplished
35. Donate blood at least 3 times (0/3)

Friends/Family:
36. Add all my friends and family’s birthdays/anniversaries to one collective book
37. Send 30 handwritten cards (0/30)
38. Send 5 just because care packages (0/5)
39. Host a themed party (i.e. murder mystery)
40. Pay it forward at least once a month (0/30)
41. Prepare and serve a 3-course meal including apps/drinks, dinner, and dessert
42. Collect family recipes into a single recipe book
43. Walk the dogs at least 5 times a week for a month
44. Find a doggie daycare for the girls

Health/Beauty:
45. Begin and maintain an effective anti-aging skin care routine
46. Floss every night for a month
47. Implement a daily vitamin regimen
48. Run 3 times a week for a month
49. Try 2 new workout classes
50. Increase my flexibility to touch my toes while sitting
51. Try a juice cleanse
52. Go to a chiropractor
53. Try a new hair color or cut
54. Learn 5 new hairstyles
55. Find my perfect lipstick shade in red, coral, pink, burgundy, and neutral
56. Stop biting and picking my nails for 1 month
57. Give up pop for 1 month

Fun/Entertainment:
58. Participate in a flash mob
59. Watch 15 “classic” movies from AFI’s 100 Greatest Movies (0/15)
60. See all the Best Picture nominees before Oscar night
61. Watch all the Best Picture winners since 1985 (year I was born) (0/28)
62. Determine my go-to karaoke song and sing it in public
63. Do the Polar Plunge
64. Leave a 100% tip
65. Participate in a Color Run

Make/Do/Organize:
66. Refurbish a piece of furniture
67. Bake 5 recipes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (0/5)
68. Chop down our own Christmas tree
69. Organize all my belongings at my parents’ house
70. Create a wooden frame for our travel map
71. Create a home management organizational binder
72. Organize our postcards from past trips
73. Make our own curtains
74. Send out Christmas cards both years
75. Paint our (future) front door a bright, welcoming color

Travel:
76. Move to a new city/state
77. Add at least one more passport stamp
78. Drink my way through Napa Valley
79. Have a girls’ weekend with my mom outside of Iowa or Illinois
80. 5 trips from The New York Times: 36 Hours: 150 Weekends in the USA & Canada (0/5)
81. Travel to 5 new states
82. Be a tourist in my own city for a day
83. Attend Brimfield Antique Show
84. Catch, prepare, and eat my own fish
85. White water raft

Investments:
86. A classic handbag
87. Fun heels (printed or bright)
88. 10 new coffee table books
89. 2 sets of pretty pajamas
90. A cute pair of non-running tennis shoes
91. 1 Month No Buying Freeze
92. Add $20 to a savings account for each item completed
93. Have a 30th birthday celebration in honor of finishing this list!

Shecould

Cinco de Mayo Recipes

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Our first Sunday back in America was spent celebrating Cinco de Mayo with both our families, which allowed me to finally cook a new recipe two new recipes! I wanted to attempt something besides tacos but was on a limited time schedule. Both of these recipes were extremely easy/fast and complimented each other and our Dos Equis well. What did you do to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (if you can remember that far back)? What’s your favorite homemade Mexican dish?

CincodeMayo-6 The Lazy Girl’s Chicken Enchilada Casserole (original source):

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup enchilada sauce
1 cup low-fat sour cream
3/4 cup jarred salsa
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
4 ounces diced green chilies
12 white corn tortillas, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used the Mexican Mix)

Directions:

In a very large bowl whisk together the enchilada sauce, sour cream, and salsa. Add cooked chicken, thawed corn, and green chilies; stir to combine. Stir in torn corn tortillas. Spray a 9×13″ casserole dish with nonstick spray and spoon mixture inside. Top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Allow mixture to rest 5 minutes before serving.

My Take:

Instead of making this a main dish, I would omit the torn corn tortillas, top with salsa after baking, and serve as a chip dip (how we ate it and loved it).

CincodeMayo-3Homemade Taco Pizza (original source):

1 pound lean ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
10 ounce can refrigerated pizza dough (I used Pillsbury)16 ounce can refried beans
2-3 cups shredded cheddar (I used the Mexican mix)
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (I used a can of diced tomatoes = lazy)
1/4 cup chopped black olives (optional)
4 green onions, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brown ground beef in a large skillet, drain grease, and add taco seasoning according to package directions. Unroll pizza dough onto a 15×9 ungreased cookie sheet and let set at room temperature 5 minutes. Press the dough over the bottom and along the edges of the pan, bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden. Microwave refried beans for 1 minute, stir well, and spread evenly over pizza crust (I only spread the beans over half the crust for guests who didn’t like beans). Top with ground beef, cheese, tomatoes, black olives, and green onions. Return the pan to the oven for an additional 5-7 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

 

How I Wore: Yellow

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CAUTION: The images below may cause severe blindness. Proceed at your own risk.Mustard-6 :)

Yep. There they are. My blinding white legs officially saw the light of day. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Scary stuff for all those surrounding me but it was bound to happen sooner or later. With the weather finally getting warmer in Iowa, it is time to pull out the skirts and sandals to weather the rising temps and pull out the grills for daily barbeques. What goes better with burgers and brats than a little ketchup and mustard? Yes, this outfit (as well as this one) is sadly inspired by my favorite condiments. Wait, you don’t coordinate your outfits to your food? No one? Just me, I guess. Ketchup is taken very seriously in our household.

Shades of yellow are gracing the shelves everywhere this spring/summer season, but I wanted to show you how to transition your wintry yellow (mustard) from freezing to sizzling. Simply combine it with a bright printed mini and platform sandals and just maybe a fun pop of color on the nails and lips for a breezy perfect for any summer occasion outfit. What’s your favorite shade of yellow and what color do you pair it with? I’m linking up with Marionberry Style today to showcase the yellow trend. Stop by her site (here) to see how other fabulous bloggers styled their yellow pieces.

Mustard-15Mustard-17H&M Blouse (similar) | XXI Skirt (similar) | Guess Heels | XXI and Express Necklaces (similar, similar, similar) | GAP Sunnies (similar) | OPI Cajun Shrimp | Maybelline Pleasure Me Red

The Great Gatsby

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GGPosterIf you follow me here, then you already know Justin and I spent our rainy Friday afternoon in a theater full of people fifty years our senior enjoying the much anticipated The Great Gatsby (watch the trailer). We both had planned to get all gussied up and do the 20′s proud with some dapper attire (i.e. glitter, sparkles, and pearls for me; a suit for him), but as you can tell by the lack of an accompanying outfit post life got in the way, the clothes we wanted to wear were buried in our endless boxes of storage, and rain called for boots not heels (excuses, excuses). Although our dress up plan failed and it’s no secret I’m not the world’s biggest fan of the classic novel, we both were excited to see the movie on the BIG screen on opening day (probably the first time since HP7P2 debuted). I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. The movie had a flawless cast, directly correlated to the book (love when that happens), and surfaced all the beauty, appreciation, and lessons that I so dumbly missed while reading the book, apparently I just needed someone to draw me a picture make me a movie. :) Oh and looking at this guy for 2.5 hours doesn’t hurt either!

Leo_Great_GatsbyNow, Justin understood and appreciated this book before the movie and even more so after. When I got out of the shower the other morning, I found him sitting at the computer typing away on this open blog post his thoughts on the movie, so I just had to share:

The music and cinematography helped transcend the human captivation of being a social elite from the 1920′s to 2013. The story of greed, glitz and glamor of the upper echelons during the 1920′s captured in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” are undoubtedly the main drawing points for most when thinking about this book, and now blockbuster movie (there are four other Gatsby films). Baz Lurhman’s film does an amazing job of showcasing the luxury of both the Buchanan’s and Gatsby, but does an even better job of telling the story of what happens to someone so reliant on the material world to attract the one thing he really wants, love. That in the end they only loved his lavish parties, Daisy only loved the life of luxury she had become accustom to, and as a result the old sport that was once the talk of New York practically died alone. Lucky for us, Nick Carraway, the narrator in the book and writer of “the Great Gatsby” in the film, got to see the somewhat true and good side of Gatsby, the hopeful and determined man from humble beginnings that built an illegal empire to attract his one true love, Daisy. And because of this relationship we are blessed with a classic that carries with it themes and ideas that will be around for as long as we walk this planet.

Yep. That’s profound. Did you see the movie this weekend? I’m dying to know what everyone else thought? What was your favorite part? Did you hate how anything was interpreted? Can’t get enough of The Great Gatsby? Check out these art deco inspired homes, weddings, manicure, baubles, and Carey Mulligan’s gorgeous Vogue spread. Happy Monday everyone!
GG3DanceScene

GG2GG5GG4

Stop and Smell the Roses

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Stop_Smell_RosesApparently it is Friday. The days of the week run together in one continuous blur when you are unemployed, Monday feels like Friday and Saturday feels like Monday and you never know what Wednesday will feel like. I have a million and one things on five different to-do lists (must get a new planner ASAP, recommendations?) and what feels like five minutes to do them all (plus, I ordered this, want to try this cleanse, attempt this DIY, and devour this recipe). I can’t imagine how all you responsible employees/bloggers/volunteers/siblings/parents feel maintaining what I am sure is an impressive balancing act. Through the semi-controlled chaos of this week, I have consciously reminded myself to take a deep breath and stop and smell the roses, to slow down on our long walks with our pups, and to enjoy the quality time with friends and family that we so missed over the past 7 months; the to-lists can wait another day. I hope you all take a moment (or ten) to kick back and enjoy the small moments with your families this weekend – especially those amazing women we get to call our mothers. Lastly, if you have a minute please jump over to with a C.H. to read and support this girl who needs everyone’s thoughts and prayers.
Have a great Mother’s Day weekend!

Summer Salad

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As you saw in this post, Megan and Justin are back!! While I have enjoyed the time I’ve spent sharing my cooking and baking (attempts) with you, I’m excited to hand the torch back to my bestie and see what she has up her sleeve. What sort of recipes did she pick up around the world?

As I prepare to sign off from a blogger role (Ahem Meg, I will serve as a taste tester anytime…) I thought it would be fun to go back in time looking at my 5 fave recipes from the last seven months:

  1. BBQ Chicken Pizza
  2. Zucchini Black Bean + Rice Skillet
  3. Funfetti Whoopie Pies
  4. Tomato Tortellini Soup
  5. Homemade Skinny Vanilla Mocha Frappe

And … now I’m hungry.

Lastly, as my final farewell, I’ll leave you with a colorful, flavorful lunch or dinner-worthy salad fit for the amazing weather we are finally experiencing in Chicago. And if you want to talk ease, this recipe has three simple steps:

SUMMER SALAD

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Original recipe: Proud Italian Cook, listed below is my recipe based off her post

Ingredients: 

  • Lettuce (romaine, spinach, etc)
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Zucchini, ribbons
  • Squash, ribbons
  • Red bell pepper, chopped
  • Orange bell pepper, chopped
  • Onion, chopped
  • Frozen peas
  • Frozen corn
  • Goat cheese, to taste
  • Light vinaigrette dressing

**Add any other vegetables you would like!

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients, adding as many vegetables as you would like. Load ‘em up!!
  2. Toss in a light vinaigrette dressing.
  3. Enjoy!

Thank you for allowing me to post over the last seven months. I hope you’ve enjoyed the time we’ve shared. I love you all. Bon appétit!
XO,
Kate

Piperlime Picks for Summer

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I just realized the best benefit of our credit card reward points…gift cards to Piperlime! It’s like free money people. And when you just traveled the world for seven months and are currently unemployed with a shopping restriction, gift cards are as good as gold and my only option for updating my summer wardrobe. The only problem? I want all of these. I feel that each of these items could individually add to my current wardrobe whether as a fun print, pop of color, or statement piece, creating visually appealing layers and outfits as opposed to my usual simple dress or tee. So help a girl out, which of these items do you feel would be most worth my golden Piperlime gift card?

Piperlime_PicksFloral Dress | Braided Sandals | Fedora | Denim Vest | Sunnies | Watch | Floral Blazer | Earrings | Neon Pumps | Leather Tee | Bangle | Skirt

Book Review: The Paris Wife

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ParisWifeThe Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain

Synopsis (via):  “Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.”

Personal Opinion:  When Chelsea and I chose this book for this month, I was thrilled since I would be able to read about Hemingway and his trials of love in the city of love while I was actually in Paris,walking the same streets, eating in some of the same restaurants, and visiting bookshops bursting with his now published work. Plus the beginning of their courtship takes place in Chicago where I just lived for four years and was coming home to while reading this book, seriously this book was made for me to read at this time in my life.  Alas, I must be 100% honest with you.  I had EVERY intention of finishing this book days ago and I do absolutely love it so far. Every time I pick it back up I feel myself transported back and immersed in their story, HOWEVER, the free movies on the plane home, the late nights staying up with friends, the serious jet-lag, and days spent enjoying the beautiful Chicago spring weather overruled my reading time and I have yet to finish the book.  I know, bad awful blogger book clubber.  So in the meantime while I finish the book, check out Chelsea’s review here on Little Lessons in the BIG City and let me know what you all thought!

Next Month’s Book Club Pick:  The Ashford Affair

We’re Back!

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wetravelRemember when I asked and answered this question to announce we were quitting our jobs, packing it all up, and traveling for seven months? Yep, that was back in August and our seven months of living it up have officially come to an end. We landed back in the good ole U.S. of A on Saturday afternoon and are staying in Chicago for the week to delay reality even longer see friends and family, spend the day with these two (here, here), and be Chicago tourists for a day before heading home to crash at our parents’ houses (yep, that’s right, we are married 27-year-olds sleeping at our parents’).  Being home is a grab bag of mixed emotions:  sad that our travels are over, grateful for all our experiences, curious about where in the world we will end up, and excited for whatever the future may hold.  One thing I do know is that I am beyond thrilled to get back to my consistent posting schedule, sharing new recipes, more frequent outfits, and travel inspired posts!!  Hope you all had a great weekend and have a fantastic week.  Anything exciting planned?

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London Markets

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We just spent the entire last two days perusing the street markets of London from Portobello Road to Old Spitalfields to Old Truman Brewery to Brick Lane to the Columbia Road Flower Market.  Searching for unique home wares (mainly in the form of books and pillowcases) and local designer pieces with all too frequent breaks for delicious street food in the beautiful weather was the perfect way to discover new-to-us neighborhoods of endless London.  How did you spend your weekend? 

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