Under Contract

Things are a bit crazy over here.  My husband and I are under contract on a little condo in the mountains!  After viewing over twenty condos and making offers on two places, our third offer was accepted.  This means we are busy putting together all the loan info, scheduling inspections, and day-dreaming about decorating. 

We are a bit disappointed that we won't get to move in until after ski season, but plan on using it a lot this summer between mountain biking and kayaking (hanging out in the hot tub).  Bonus, the HOA allows owner's pets, so Atticus will get to explore with us! 

We are worried the drive up with him might be a disaster if he just whines the whole time.  Yep, he continues to be the most talkative cat I have ever met (alright, and the cutest).  He is currently in my lap, slowly shoving the laptop farther and farther away.

Springtime in Colorado continues to be a guessing game. Tuesday morning we woke up to unexpected snow that threw everyone's commute off.  Then it was sunny and in the 40s all afternoon.  The weather certainly keeps us on our toes! 

4 new Chobani flavors

Chobani was kind enough to send me four new flavors to try out. 

I also got a sweet spoon.  :)  Chobani sent me the yogurt for free, but did not compensate in any other way, nor even ask that I post a review.  All opinions are my own.  

Two of the flavors are a new line - Chobani bites.  These 4 oz yogurts come in a four pack and are mini-desserts clocking in at 100 calories.  We (I say 'we' because the husband ate a good portion) loved these.  Pineapple caramel and raspberry with little chocolate hunks.  I would say both would be an excellent substitute for a chemical filled jello pudding snack.  There is also a fig based bite I am going to track down!

We also received 2% banana and 0% pear.  The pear tasted like a ripe pear.  I liked it, but would not go out of my way to purchase it.  The banana similarly tasted like a real banana - not like banana pudding.  This one had some textural issues for me.  Neither Jake nor I were crazy about it straight up.  Next time I want to try baking banana bread with it.  

I am always blown away by Chobani's generosity.  It is a company I am glad to support, even if it means paying a little more at the store.  If you want to try the new flavors, Target is carrying them.

My tasty Valentine

Jake was supposed to be out of town most of the week for work, but ended up being in town for Valentine's day.  He cooked mussels and Brussels Sprouts (a la the delicious way we had them in California!).  Delicious!  It was a low-key and wonderful night.

  

We also had some friends over for a game night on Tuesday -that's why you spy loads of cards in the background!  

Enjoy the weekend!

San Fran day 4

Our last day in San Fransisco was all about exploring.   We started with breakfast at Tartine.  We split pain du jambon (ham croissant) and a morning roll (orange muffin crossed with a cinnamon bun).  Crazy good, and the whole area knows it - there was even a line even on a random Tuesday morning. 

 We explored Mission Hill district and found a crazy pirate storefront.  The place is actually a non-profit writing center for kids, with a pirate them.  

Then Jake told me there were slides in a certain area we should go find.  Now, I was certain these slides were going to be like "Oh, there is a pool on the roof!" situations.  I did not trust the internet.  

Wrong move.  After hiking around a bit, we found them.  40 foot slides tucked away in a neighborhood. 

Fast slides. 

 Our next adventure was finding China town.

 We wandered a bit then picked up picnic supplies and headed to the coast to enjoy our last hours on the Pacific. 

It was a wonderful trip and I am so glad we went.  There was nature, museums, great food, interesting wine, and an amazing city. 

San Fran Day 3!

Day 3 in San Francisco was all about the water.

First we headed out to Alcatraz island.   We found Pier 31 (after a stop for breakfast and the best coffee ever at the Ferry Building) and boarded the ferry.

  I think I was one of like 10 people who actually watched Alcatraz on Fox last year, so I was actually quite excited to see it. 

 Plus, any opportunity to nerd out with an audio tour and I am a happy girl.  Prisoners one the island included Al Capone and some crazy murderers.  The cells were very small - smaller than the width of the redwood yesterday!

Did you know the island was actually the site of an Native Indian occupation in the late 1960s?  Lots of tribes came together to claim Alcatraz island as their own.  The occupation lasted for about 15 months. 

Freedom was so close yet so far.  The tour said that prisoners could often hear parties from the mainland on calm nights.  

After the tour, we got back on the ferry and headed back to the mainland.  I was in search of one thing - sea lions! 

 Seals?

 Either way, incredibly cute (and loud). 

We crashed in our room for a late afternoon siesta then headed back out.

 Space ship art across from our hotel.  

The port of San Fransisco! 

After wandering a bit, we headed out to our fancy dinner at Michael Mina.  Dinner was amazing.  The highlights included the bread served with a ricotta-honey spread and the lobster pot-pie.  Seriously, the best lobster I ever had in my life.  Delicious. 

San Francisco Day 2 aka the day of boozing it up.

We knew that neither of us wanted to be a designated driver on a day set aside from 11-4 for wine tasting.  So we were uber-fancy and hired a driver for the day.  It made the tasting easy peasy and stress free.  Here we are at a vineyard that is a converted hops barn. 

 This is why we hired a driver.  We rented a Corvette for the weekend and didn't want Jake to get into too much trouble.  :)

 

VML vineyard had beautiful labels.  They keep a designer on staff who does all of their labeling.

 

Still at VML, there was a lovely garden, live music, and delicious soup to enjoy. 

 After 4pm, we decided we needed to kill some time before Jake made the drive into San Francisco.  We found a nearby theater and saw Django Unchained.  We both enjoyed it, but knew going in how violent it was likely to be.  

When we arrived at our hotel in San Francisco, we were greeted with warm chocolate chip cookies and champagne to celebrate our anniversary!  We are very fancy, can't you tell? 

 

Oh, and here is a Muir Wood photo I just found.  Awesome bridge on top of a fallen giant tree.  

At this point, we now had 5 bottles of wine to get back home.  More to come (the next part we will actually be in San Francisco)!

San Francisco Day One!

I hope y'all are ready for some pictures.  

We arrived in San Francisco late Friday night and crashed at a hotel near the airport.  We woke up bright and early to make our way to stop number 1 for the day, but first, we got to go over the Golden Gate Bridge!

 After a fun drive, we arrived at our destination, Muir Woods National Monument.

 Home of the Redwoods

 This was one place I really wanted to go.  I've never seen any living thing so large.

 We hiked around for a bit marveling at the trees (and poor signage).  Tons of other hikers stopped us to ask where they were or how to get to the entrance...  We must have looked very knowledgeable in our sweet soft-shells.  

 After the woods, we drove along the coastline to Sonoma Wine Country!

 

Also, a random unicorn statue for your enjoyment.

 We had this pass for Saturday and Sunday.  It basically enabled us to go to about 70+ wineries and get in without paying a tasting fee. 

We got to meet up with a law school friend who was also out and about boozing it up.  Sadly, we both failed at getting pictures. 

Imagine a picture of two cute girls with wine glasses here.  

Most places had some sort of snack in addition to all the wine.

This place had a cow made out of corks.  Even draw. 

 

We then checked into our B and B for the evening.  Very lovely place, the Cottage Inn and Spa.  This was our private dining area where they delivered fresh pastries in the morning. 

 Gorgeous!  Off to the side is killer jacuzzi.  We managed to blow a fuse trying to use it. Whoops! 

 At this point, we'd purchased two bottles of wine.  There will be more purchased tomorrow! 

Week 3 of BBB and some donuts

I just completed Week 3 of Best Body Bootcamp by Tina!

I had to adapt this week quite a bit due to the trip to San Francisco.  I will post about this in the next few days - it was incredible. 

Back to bootcamp.  I made it through all three strength workouts, and used walking around Alcatraz, hiking SF, and skiing as my cardio for the week.  My legs are sore.  I totally spaced on goals though.  I need to make them a priority for next week!

I used Saturday to prep a bunch of food for the week, including Janetha's Healthy Dark Chocolate Donuts.  Y'all, these were so easy to make and incredibly good.  I subbed all white flour since I couldn't find whole wheat pastry flour at my regular grocery store.  I would show you a picture, but we ate them all very fast.  I highly recommend them.

Tomorrow (or Tuesday) - San Francisco! 

That time I made lasagna

Y'all, I made lasagna from scratch!  Well, not the noodles, but everything else!  This was one of my "30 before 30" goals.  And really the only one I could remember, so on Sunday night, I made lasagna.  Nothing like getting it in under the wire. I followed a recipe from Rachel Ray aka my food guru. 

First, I made a beef sauce from scratch.  Onions, garlic, carrots, celery, pancetta, and beef sauteed.  Then added a large can of crushed tomatoes and let simmer for 35 minutes.

Next up I tackled my first ever bechemel sauce.  This was actually easier than I thought it would be, but still took lots of babying and stirring.  

Finally, I started stacking. 

Baked for an hour.  Finally, after another 30 minutes of resting, we got to eat!

Final verdict? 

It was fine.  It took 3 1/2 hours from start to eating.  If I make it again, I would probably sub out the bechemel sauce - I thought it was too rich for the dish.  Maybe just layers of cheese instead?  

All in all, I am glad I tried something new to me.  I enjoyed the whole process, just wished it was shorter!  

 

30

I spent my 30th birthday hanging out with my boys, playing board games and eating Chinese. 

We have received/purchased/given each other several new games since Christmas.  We are trying to watch less tv and hang out together. This one is called small world. Goal: domination. 

I will do a review once we play them all!

Atticus remains super-cute and super vocal. 

Back later with a story about that time I made lasagna from scratch. 

Jury Duty

Last night did not go at all as hoped.  Poor Irish.  What a horrible end to an amazing season. 

This morning I go up bright and early for day two of boot camp and busted out some cardio.  I then got gussied up for jury duty.  After three hours, I was released from service.  Not going to lie, I am kind of bummed I didn't get chosen.  I've never been on a jury before and think it would be helpful to know how the legal system works on that side for future jury trials. 

After running a quick errand I arrived home to find my father-in-law and grandfather-in-law had arrived early at our house.  Thankfully I finished cleaning the house before I left this morning! 

BCS Championship

Go IRISH!!!!!

Anxiously awaiting kick-off. 

I'm going...

I've thought about it a few times and always chickened out.  I wanted to start off the new year with a plan to follow for fitness - besides a random Jillian Michaels DVD (though I love them lots).  I have been slacking off recently (most of December) on getting up early to work out and hope this will be a kick in the pants.  So, I bucked up and am off to boot camp! 

Meet Atticus

Happy New Year!  One of my resolutions was to get back to blogging. 

Lots has happened since we last spoke.  The job is good, the hubs is great, and Colorado is finally getting some snow.  Most importantly, however, was the new addition to our family.

Meet Atticus

A four month old kitten who just wants to sit in your lap or chase string.  Super cute and super fun.  I will try not to bombard you with pictures, but no promises.  :)

Y'all, I made fried chicken!

     By the 'y'all' in the title, you might think I grew up enjoying homemade fried chicken.  As my dad like to (lovingly) say, the only two things my mom can't do in the kitchen is make gravy and fry chicken.  Well, after years of watching Rachael Ray, I have mastered the pan gravy.  And thank to another cooking guru, I have made my first batch of fried chicken.

     My dad loves watching Fabio (not the long-haired model) on Yahoo!  It's a 5 or 6 minute webisode called Chow Ciao that airs weekly.  He always forwards the episodes to me to watch , and they are always fun and informative.  A few months ago, Fabio made Italian Fried Chicken.  Dad and I both kept saying we wanted to try it.  I said I would make it for him when I was home in Atlanta over Memorial Day.  Memorial Day arrived and there I was, facing loads of raw chicken (marinated in buttermilk) and hot oil.  Having never fried a single thing in my life, I was intimidated. 

     The end result - amazing!  One of Fabio's secrets is to slice up lemons and fry them with the chicken, along with sage and rosemary.  Y'all, do not skip this step.  The oils in the lemons release and you can taste it in the chicken.  It was something I would never have thought of doing on my own.  You could even eat the fried lemon slices.  Seriously delicious.  The fried sage and rosemary were also winners.  There were six of us sitting around the table and moaning with happiness. 

     Oh, and when we poured the oil back in the bottles for easy disposal, we found that not a lot was missing.  Meaning less oil got absorbed into the chicken, meaning fewer of my arteries were clogged.


     I can now say I am a true Southern lady.   

Crazy Beautiful Life

Yep,  my title is a Ke$ha song.  Her songs are crazy catchy, and I've accepted my love for her.  :)

I attended BLEND retreat last weekend and had an amazing time connecting with fellow bloggers.  The retreat reanimated my desire to blog.  Maybe my next post will even have pictures?  I also met a bunch of Colorado bloggers.  Hi ladies! 

Life is crazy right now.  I had an interview last Wednesday, got the job Friday before heading out to BLEND, and started work on Monday.  After my first full week, I have a bit better feel of it.  It was very odd to go from part-time work (including telecommuting), to working 50 hours a week, in a suit.  My feet are not happy about being in heels all the time, but they'll get used to it again. 

I spent a chunk of yesterday prepping for the upcoming week.  Laundry, cleaning bathrooms and meal prepping were key.  There were two nights last week were nothing was planned, but I managed to pull something out of the pantry.  I made sure to stock up on some pantry staples.  I made a quinoa and lentil salad to take for lunches, and a huge amount of enchiladas so that dinner will be ready a few nights this week. 

Crafty days

I recently dived into pinterest. I'm still not 100% sure how to work it (I only have three pins). However, my bff pinned this:

Source: flickr.com via Annie on Pinterest

I thought it was super cute and I had a t-shirt with an annoying stain that I couldn't remove. Perfect! Mine did not end up perfect. My strings never rolled up, no matter how thin I cut them. Mine is more of a necklace/scarf.

I do love the color. It was a fun project for a lazy Sunday.

Any thoughts on how to make the fabric roll? Note: most of my strips are wider, but even the uber thin ones didn't roll.

Attack of the Fire Alarms!

Last night, when I got home from the gym, I set out to make Heather's Stuffed Acorn Squash. I'd even done some prep work before going. It turned out very tasty. However, this involved cooking bacon. No, I did not set the house on fire. However, bacon does get smoky. We turned on the vent and opened the window. Ten minutes later, I set the stuffed squashes into the oven. The smoke detector immediately went off.

Now, this is not just the normal smoke detector annoying beep. This was an incredibly loud alarm(s). We sighed and opened up a few more windows. I stood under the smoke detector and waved around a towel to get air circulating. Three minutes later, loud noise still going on. Jake and I looked at each other, and said "this isn't normal." Jake began investigating the alarm system (which came with the house and we've never used). I grabbed a stool and started disassembling the smoke detector. I managed to yank out batteries from both detectors in the hall. I also managed to ram my head into the doorsill. Ow... the blaring alarm was not helping matters.

We couldn't figure it out. There was NO smoke in the house anymore and the alarms kept going. I finally found the ATD help line and called. Ten minutes later, we'd detached every wire, pulled every plug, and still the blasting continued. The lady finally said there must be another system involved and suggested turning off the circuit breaker for the whole house. (At this point I remembered the squash in the oven and rushed to save them.)

We hung up and flung every breaker. Now the house was pitch black. And yet the alarms continued. Tears of frustration were forming in my eyes. We finally yanked out disassembled the remaining smoke detectors (there were two others hiding around the house) and yanked their batteries. Silence. Blessed silence.

Moral of the story: when you move into a new place, make sure you know where all the smoke detectors are, to what system they are hooked, and how to turn them off.

Silver lining: if there ever is a fire, those things will wake us (and our neighbors) up.

Domestic Before and Afters

Last weekend was the Atlanta Reception. It was fantastic! I was so touched by who all came - old high school friends came from out of state! I almost cried seeing everyone.

One of Dad's friends is an amateur photographer and came about an hour early to take family photos. Once he sends his photos, I'll post. He already brought my parents a poster sized picture of Jake and me. My photographer is still MIA. My parents are sure she's absconded with the money. Dad wants me to sue - he said I could use the practice.

I got home a few days before the party and asked to be put to work. Mom had me polishing silver - a tiny fraction of the work my parents put into the event. Did I mention Dad was washing pebbles at one point? Mint julep glasses, pitcher, and tray - very tarnished and dusty.



About an hour and a half later - look how shiny they got?

I am super glad now that Jake and I did not register for any silver. We will have more than enough once my parents downsize (which they constantly talk about doing).

Also on the domestic side, today I tackled our pantry. There was way too much stuff in it and it was driving me crazy. It ended up taking over the entire kitchen. You can't see, but the rest of counter and floors are just as crowded.


I still need some gripper thing for the brooms, but I got rid of the giant pile of user's manuals, warranties and random papers in there. I got all the sodas off the ground. and reorganized the baking dishes so there is no longer a danger of them falling on me (that happened once, and hurt). There is even some open space!


Now I just have to reorganize the office...

Fun Fall Friday

Sorry for the delay in posting wedding recap. My wedding photographer has decided to stop answering my email = lametown supreme.

Friday night Jake and I hosted a small dinner party. Two couples came over. All four of them have gotten new jobs in the past month so there was reason to celebrate. I made an Indian feast. First, Jenna's Channa Masala for the vegetarians. I also made Jenna's Chicken Tikka Masala. Both are amazing. If you are new to cooking Indian, I highly recommend both recipes. They are simple, though a bit of work, and garner rave reviews.

I also made this delicious creature.


Yellow cake mix frosted with a cream cheese frosting and decorated with strawberries. Mostly, I wanted to use my lover, the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, to make frosting. :) A successful and fun party menu. Much beer was enjoyed and we lit the chimenea for a perfect Fall Friday.