Lettuce entertain you...

I'm eating salads!! This may be a basic part of your usual day, but it's new for me. I like roasting and sautéing veggies, but summer is coming (so beat it grey clouds!), and this "cool" veggie concept is yummy. I just finished the salad you see above. Lettuce, carrots, and leftover chicken. Simple. Delicious.

I made this salad a few days ago. Mine looked less like spaghetti and more like erratically sized barkdust. For the record, YUM. I will eat any veggie combined with lemon, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and toasted nuts. You just can't go wrong.

This salad was inspired by this recipe. I was too impatient to make the dressing, but I used panko for the first time along with shredded coconut and made a bomb tropical salad. (You can't see it, but there is pineapple in the salad above.)

Three more weeks of salad land folks. Here we go.

Salads are boring.

That's a lie. They aren't boring. I actually just ate a delicious salad for lunch that included: spinach, almonds, strawberries, grilled chicken, cucumbers, and mushrooms. Problem is, I didn't make it. My roomie did.

I just don't feel compelled to make salads. For whatever reason, I prefer cooking/baking. It's easier. Cheesier. Gooey-er. But summer is coming and my lazy ass needs to get in groove again.

So here is my proposal. I will make salad for dinner twice a week for the next month. No repeats. New salad combos every time. It's a personal challenge. That means I need to buy some spinach STAT.

I also need to start looking for recipes other than the glorious ones found at SmittenKitchen. (I want to crawl into all these pictures, hide in Deb's kitchen, and steal...) She is still my go-to-gal for recipes, but her salad section is not expansive enough to keep up with my lighter taste. (fear not Deb, you will continue to be my favorite...I just need a break. From this. And this. And this. It's not you, it's me. And my belly.)

Lucky for me, I have a FABULOUS younger sister who linked me up with Gina's Skinny Recipes. She is a mom on Weight Watchers. All of her recipes are low cal, have nutrition/points listings, and look delicious. I think the first salad recipe of hers to try will be the Coconut Chicken Salad with warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette. Only 397 calories, and I already have most of the ingredients on hand.

So there is one goal. It feels odd to be back on track again after derailing so badly. I weighed myself on Sunday at my folks' place, and I am actually back up to 198lbs. I swore to never go above 200 again. And I won't. Salad land, here I come!

And 5 months later...

I thought I would pop in. To whatever random folk still glance at my blog every once in a while, sorry. I know. Months.

Honest Update.

I weigh 196lbs.

Holy moley. That is a weight gain, in case you were wondering. It is one I have recently truly started to rally against. I am umcomfy at this weight. 170/180 is the zone I feel good in, and right now I just feel flabby. I haven't blogged because there was no good news. Except for...well...ummmm.....

I ran a 15k!

That is 9.3 miles, in case you wanted to be impressed. I am. I am regrouping, recyking*, and reworking my life to lose weight again. And I will be using this blog again to help. So tune in every once in a while, and I promise to actually post schtuff.

*watch "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," and thank me later. I don't care that it is a kid's movie, just do it!

I need more floor.

I really want this rug. It's the Gislev rug from ikea, it's only $19.99. Only problem? I have no where to put it. No need. My cup runneth over with rugs, in fact, because there is a large rug hanging out under my bed right now, rolled into a slug.

But isn't she beautiful?! I love graphic prints, and the color gray...seriously, it's so cheap! This is such a struggle for me. I am at the point where I don't really need anything for our apartment. One or two storage solutions could be added, but truly, we are set. Where is the fun in that?

Last week I was feeling the decorating/painting/crafting fire within, and I decided to paint our entry-way table blue. Not just any blue, mind you, but the beautiful dark deep turquoise blue that would match our dining room table and makes me think of New Mexico and the ocean. I took it to my parents' house (we don't have a space for projects like that), took out the hardware, sanded it down, primed it....and.....uh...wait a tic....I could've sworn.....where is that blue paint?

No sh*t folks. I can't find my paint. I've been looking for 4 days. Everywhere. Nada.

My blue paint has gone undercover. Which is frustrating because 1)it was going to match, 2)I wouldn't have to spend any money on this project, and 3)it was an oops paint. One of those gallons that didn't turn out just right that you get for cheap on a metal rack at Fred Meyer's. So I can't match it exactly. The injustice of it all!!

However, if my biggest problem right now is finding a new paint for an entry way table, my life isn't actually that bad:)

Have you ever started a project without all the materials/tools, and realized it halfway through?

A few of my favorite things right now...

I'd like to take this time to share with you a few things I am loving. Like this new blog. And this English house tour. And as ever, this video.

Other what-not that is rocking my socks. right now includes:

My family dog in a cone. She is not amused. But I am!

This adorable glass lamp at a vintage shop. The shade would need replacement, but I love the peach color, and the clear glass look. I tried to echo that in a rather failed project I will post about later.

Jacket and tunic at Kohl's. My awesome friend Mandie used her 30% coupon to help me get the tunic, but the jacket has yet to be mine! I love fall and the clothes that accompany it, don't you?

Three bowls I got for someone's birthday. The are simple, classy, and you can use them for a variety of uses...it's a wonder I even gave them away, when they looked so good on my car seat next to my fabulous flip phone:)

Roasted tomatoes with garlic. That tray is mine!

What are you loving this fall season? What's making you happy this week?

Pasta and Pudding...and sharing clothes.

I'm pretty sure I just ate my weight in pasta and pudding. The pasta was whole-wheat with homemade roasted tomato sauce, so that, I don't feel too bad about. But I really need to invest in more desserts to have on hand at home, otherwise I begin making huge portions of random things, usually involving chocolate. And then my tummy hurts.

But in other news. My roomie adn I recently had a party! It was a ladies night in, and we asked our friends to bring any clothes or accessories that they wanted to get rid of to trade! Basically, we laid everything out on the floor and furniture, and then people just tried on things that hit their fancy bone. The below picture is us with some of our new styling clothes.

(did I mention we asked people to wear fancy dresses they probably couldn't wear anywhere else? I mention this in reference to the dress I am sporting...also, I was baking cookies, and the apron made me feel sexy:)

It was great for folks to get some new pieces for their wardrobe without having to spend any money! Later the same week I took a huge tupperware container to Goodwill of the leftovers. What do you do to save money on clothes?

Jamie Lee Curtis rocks the house!

I just read an article from Good Housekeeping about Jamie Lee Curtis and her epic house organizing/cleaning, and you so the same here. One of the highlights of visiting my parents house is reading Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, and More. Do I have the tendencies of a 45 year old woman? Yes. But along with those classic magazines, I also love more modern forms of home inspiration, like Young House Love, or Apartment Therapy. That makes me not quite middle age, right? Right?

But back to Jamie Lee Curtis. Her organizing tendencies go way past what I am able to handle, but one idea in particular that I liked was her kitchen storage. She keeps staples, like flour, sugar, etc, in big tupperware containers instead of in their original boxes/bags. This means they stay fresher longer. And you get to label things. And it just looks so darn organized in similar tubs! I just recently cleaned out my kitchen cupboard, but I'm thinking about taking another go at it, and trying some of her ideas. Although I might need more than one bin for chocolate....

How do you organize in you kitchen? Do you buy in bulk or go for the name brands?