Summer Updates

Good morning, all! It has been a few months since I last posted and man, have I been busy! Life is really good, though, and I am just enjoying the ride. Want to know what I have been up to? Below is my life in photos...

At the first sign of spring we planted new bushes and flowers, spread fresh mulch, and showed some major TLC to our yard. I am loving the end result!

I also planted cilantro, basil, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, chives, jalapenos & strawberries in my backyard garden. There is nothing like stepping off your porch to pick some beautiful, leafy lettuce!

 

We had our housewarming party on Cinco de Mayo with 20 of our closest friends. It was a blast!

 

We set up a stone firepit in our backyard thanks to a very thrifty Craigslist purchase. I imagine many nights laughing with friends around the fire!

 B & I celebrated another anniversary filled with a delicious seafood dinner & ice cream, & a walk around downtown.

 We packed up the pups and road tripped to Wisconsin to visit family & friends, & to see two beautiful people get married.

And most of all, there have been a lot of laughs, love, and fun times had over the past few months, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer holds. What have you been up to, and what are you looking forward to enjoying during these summer months?

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all."

The Christmas Pig

These past few weeks have been a blur, filled with fun memories and lots of great food! On my last post I left off at discussing B's birthday weekend. That Friday I surprised him and we ventured to Christmas at the zoo. We both have a huge passion for animals, so I thought this would be a fun thing for us to do together.

We looked at the animals and light displays, and shared a few sweet treats from The Outpost.

We then went to the White River Gardens and explored the beautiful greenery and flowers they on display for Christmas.

On Saturday, I confirmed our reservations at The Melting Pot, and we enjoyed a delicious, three course meal of the following:

Fiesta Cheese Fondue


Shrimp & Sirloin in Court Bouillon


Chocolate S'more Fondue with strawberries, cheesecake, rice krispie treats, marshmallows, and pound cake




It was a great birthday weekend together, and I look forward to many more with him!

The following weekend we headed up to Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas with B's family. We had a wonderful weekend, and received lots of items for our house. Since this is our first home, we are needing a lot of the basic necessities. To name a few, we received a crockpot, food processor, spice rack, extra spices, mixing bowls, blankets, wine rack, etc. We also went to a beautiful steak restaurant called Mr.B's. I was a little concerned about what I was going to order since I rarely eat meat, but I was happy to find a pasta section and tried their eggplant rigatoni with a side wedge salad. It was AMAZING. It was so creamy and flavorful, and I would definitely order it again. We also went a little early before our reservation and hit up the happy hour. I am so glad we did this because we were able to try the duck fat fries and steamed mussels for a fraction of the cost. I paired mine with a gingerbread flavored cocktail, and it was delicious.



This past weeekend was Christmas which was celebrated at my parents house. It was a pretty eventful weekend as I had offered to help babysit/foster an adorable piglet named Bacon. He came from a neglected household, and I could not possibly turn him down. Knowing nothing about pigs, I offered to help care for him, and quickly fell in love. However, the day before I picked him up, his foster mommy bathed him in puppy shampoo and he had a severe allergic reaction. Two days later, after waking up to him with a fever and seeing his small little body covered in bright red/orange blisters, I called her up and asked if she would nurse him back to heatlh. Because she was a vet tech at an exotic animal clinic, I felt she was much more equipped to care for the little guy, and emotions aside, I had to do what was best for him. That being said, I took him back to her house on Christmas morning, and cried the whole way home. This week, I am spending some time looking for a happy home for him, and can't wait to see him grow into a healthy young boar.



Here are two more photos of Bacon with my parents dog, Duke. They were the most unlikely pair, but became good friends in a few short days.





Anywho, that is what I have been up to the past few weeks. I have also tested/created some yummy dishes in between those weeks, and promise to post more recipes on my next post. Hope everyone has a great week, and a very happy and safe new year!

"A charming woman is a busy woman." -Loretta Young

Good morning, blog followers! It has been awhile since I have posted, so I thought I should update you all on a few things...

The bf and I still haven't heard anything regarding the offer we put on the short sale house. Yes, it has almost been 3 months. We are continuing our house hunt, but because his lease is up at the end of January, we would like to have something finalized by the end of this year. We are looking at multiple houses this weekend, so we will see what that brings.

I have been doing a lot of fall cooking, and love the rich, hearty recipes that accompany this season.

Here are a few of my favorite dishes as of late:

Vegan Stuffed Peppers with Mexican Flautas

Tortilla Soup with Avocado and Cilantro

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

The stuffed peppers were vegan, and turned out delicious. I also make tortilla soup quite frequently because I LOVE all of the flavors, and can add as much or little hot sauce as I like. Finally, the pumpkin cookies are the perfect accompaniment to your Thanksgiving dessert table. They are full of flavor and perfectly fluffy. I found the recipe here...http://www.nutmegnanny.com/2009/11/24/pumpkin-cookies-with-brown-butter-icing/

I have been super busy this fall, and am sure things will get even more busy as the holiday season approaches.

In the past 30 days I have done the following...

Visited B's family in Wisconsin and had a fun alcohol-free night of celebrating Wisconsin's win against Nebraska.

Gone to the baptism of B's first nephew wearing the cutest outfit I have ever seen (a Ralph Lauren onesie & shoes I bought him)!

Golfed at a country club for the first time, and surprisingly didn't do too bad.

Visted Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland to see my dad's side of the family...I literally shopped until I couldn't see my toes from all the bags I was holding. Did I mention Times Square was extra insane with the Occupy Wall Street Protestors there?

And, my adorable pup, Tinky, attended his first dog costume party (dressed as a turtle) where he partied with Peyton Manning's dog, Presley.

Duke also dressed up...as a fat pumpkin.

In conclusion, life is busy, but really good. I am getting excited for Christmas, and can't wait to get more kitchen gadgets for our house, and other decorating things. Tis the season!

Labor Day Weekend

Goooooood afternoon, blog followers!

Well, after long adue, I am finally getting around to posting a new blog.

Here is what has been happening as of late...

In regards to our house offer, we have still not heard anything. It has been almost 4 weeks, & we have yet to hear if our offer was accepted, if the bank is even interested in our offer, or how many other offers are on the table. Short sales can be very frustrating/time consuming, but I'd like to think that they can also be very rewarding if you get the house you want for much, much less than it has been appraised at. At this point, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed & hoping for the best!

Work has been very, very busy, but I am trying to remain level-headed as this is my "busy season." I know there will be a lot of late nights ahead, but I can't let myself get too wrapped up in my work that I drive myself (& everyone around me) crazy.

This Labor Day weekend the boyfriend & I headed up to Milwaukee/Wisconsin Dells for a four day vacation. We left Thursday evening after work & arrived at his parents house in MKE around midnight. It's really not a bad drive, & we have 2 rest stops we always make pit stops at where we know the cashiers by name. Most of the drive I spend in the backseat cuddling up with the pup. Anyways, here is a quick synopsis of our trip, along with a few photos...

Friday: We left Milwaukee around noon after a nice morning of playing with B's nephew, Aidan. He is such a good little boy & grows more & more everyday! After a 1.5 hour drive up to Wisconsin Dells, our first stop was at the delicious Moosejaw Pizza for pineapple pizza & a variety of delicious beers!

After lunch, we walked around town, shopped a little bit, then made our way to our cozy hotel nestled in the woods. Our balcony overlooked the lake & it was definitely a comfortable room for the inexpensive price. We then decided to take the kayaks out for a spin on Lake Delton while we waited for our friends to arrive...

Unfortunately, it started to rain. Fortunately, we were shortly thereafter greeted with bloody marys from our friends Matt & Kelly who had just arrived in town. Two hours & a few cocktails later, we settled on sushi for dinner, & then headed to what was one of the strangest/most interesting nights I have had in a long time. We ended up at a club called WETT, and danced the night away!



Saturday: We woke up around 10 after hitting the snooze button multiple times, & decided it was too rainy to go to our intended destination, Noah's Ark. Being that the Dells is the water park capital of the world, we settled on our next best option, Kalahari Water Park.

This is just a small snippet of the HUGE indoor waterpark the Kalahari Hotel holds. Did I mention you could surf inside?

We also spent a large portion of our day causing chaos at the outdoor section of the waterpark, nestled under one of the many tiki bars complete with loaded nachos & pina coladas.



We topped off our night at Kahunaville Restaurant & Bar where we had a delicious dinner while watching a bar flair show. Because it was only midnight, we decided to head next door to the indoor theme park in which we had free tickets to. We played laser tag, rode the go karts, & watched Matt waste money on numerous claw machines. SO much fun!

Sunday (Funday): Woke up late (again) & headed to breakfast at an old 50's Diner. B & I then headed out of town back to Milwaukee for a day of fun with his family. Although we were running on little to no sleep, it was great to see his (huge) family & indulge in some of the most delicious food I have ever had. B's mom is so talented, & I always look forward to trying some of her creations. She really outdid herself at this party, & made 3 different types of sliders...lamb sliders w/ tzatziki sauce, bbq sliders topped w/ coleslaw, & buffalo burgers drizzled w/ blue cheese. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, & I ate until I couldn't move my mouth.

Monday: B's mom made delicious berry crepes with sausage patties for breakfast before we headed back to Indy. 6 hours later, we arrived safe & sound in Indy. Bed followed soon after.

Well, that is all that has been going on around here. I will try to update this more frequently. Now to prep myself for a 4 day work week!