Currently: April

Reading: This Is Where I Leave You- Jonathan Tropper

Listening to: John Mayer because I'm going to see him tonight AND I'M SO EXCITED! (He admitted that this one is about Katy Perry... awwww.)

Watching: The Walking Dead finale (anyone else? discuss?). I finally watched Manchester by the Sea. It was depressing, but not a tear-jerker. Also watching this Emo Trump video that Michael shared with me recently:

Eating: Lots of personal pizzas and junk food. Don't judge me.

Accomplishing: Sending out all the books! I love Paperback Swap (and clearing some space on my bookshelf)!

Buying: This foxy fleece throw blanket that has been on my wish list for about 2 years and just came back in stock. AND at $40 less! It arrived and it's soooooo soft and woobie. 

Loving: snail mail! I don't even remember the last time I received mail that wasn't bills or junk.

Needing: to re-do my nails. I found the CND Vinylux Weekly Polish that Steph recommended at TJ Maxx, and it actually DID keep my nails from chipping for 7 days! Woot! 

Practicing: Patience, particularly at work. They've physically moved me around so much lately that I don't know where I'm supposed to be or what exactly I'm supposed to be doing 3/4 of the time. I was feeling pretty shitty about this, but after a long convo with a good friend the other day, she reminded me that it's actually a good thing because it means I CAN wear a lot of different hats, and that I'm adaptable. Not to mention I've learned even more, and added to my transferable skill set. And I've learned (again) that sometimes you just need a different perspective. 

Pinning: 

This Marmot Montreal down coat
Available for 70% off at BackCountry

I love MJ and I love the double strap trend.
And how perfect is the neutral color of spring/summer?
Available at Macy's 

How pretty is this copper hammered bar tool set?
And I just so happen to have a gift card for William Sonoma...

I'm always pinning recipes, and this one calls for Swedish meatballs which I just bought a bag of #cheating
Swedish meatball pasta bake

This commitment-free tanning lotion that washes off with soap and water
Available at Sephora

What's currently going on in your world?

Linking up with Anne and Jess. 

30 Min Dinner: Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Hey guys, I finally found my way back to the kitchen! I normally pin a bunch of recipes in the hopes of eventually motivating myself to cook something, and this quick one caught my eye. Any easy recipe that can be done in approximately 30 min (this one was actually a little less) using "normal" ingredients (read: things I usually have on hand) is a winner in my book. I also love anything that includes pasta and cheese. GIVE ME ALL THE CHEESE! I know it seems like a lot of ingredients, but it's really just a bunch of spices. Anyway, I posted pics below the recipe for easier viewing. My notes are below those. You can find the original recipe here. 

Tuscan Chicken Pasta- Serves 6

Ingredients:

 2 cups shredded chicken* 
16 oz. box of pasta, any kind will do (we used whole grain penne) 
2 (14.5 ounces) cans diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup half & half (we used fat-free)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups frozen spinach (we used an 8 oz package)
½ onion or 1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried basil
grated Parmesan cheese, to garnish

Directions:

1. Defrost the spinach. Place the oil, garlic, spinach, and onion/onion powder in a large pot*. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.

2. Start cooking the pasta, until it's al dente, in a separate pot. 

3. Add the oregano, thyme, pepper, salt, basil, diced tomatoes, and chicken stock to the large pot. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then stir. Add the chicken and stir.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the half & half and flour together, making sure there are no clumps. Stir the flour mixture into the sauce, stirring continuously well mixture is combined. Allow to simmer for about 12 minutes.

5. Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce and mix it up.

6. Dish it out, top with some Parm cheese, and enjoy! 

Step 3- when I remembered to take pics

Step 5- Mix things up

Bon appetit!

Notes: 

* The original recipe calls for 2 C of rotisserie chicken, but I used shredded chicken because that's what I had on hand. I made it about 2 days earlier using this crockpot recipe. It was a little dry in this dish, and honestly, this recipe doesn't need chicken at all.

* The original also calls for a Dutch oven, which I don't have. A large pot gets the job done just fine. 

What's one of your go-to weeknight meals? 

Linking up with Jessica, Jenn, Anne, Annie, and Jessi!

Currently:: August

I realized I completely missed doing this in July, ad after yesterday's kinda heavy post, I wanted to do something light. So here's what's going on in my life currently.

Reading: The Martian by Andy Weir

Listening To: A lot of random stuff on Spotify. 

Wearing: Basically this, except with black pants instead of skinnies because work. 

Watching: Friday Night Lights on Netflix. I'm on Season 5 and now I'm getting anxious because I don't want it to end!

Needing: more time.

Wanting: Some pointed flats. They look so cute, but also work-friendly, and comfortable! These Audrey Brooke neutral patterned ones are my fave. 

Anticipating: The Mindy Kaling in conversation with with Tina Fey in September!!! I'm so excited!

Avoiding/Dreading: signing on for any more grad classes. I've really loved having this summer off to read whatever I wanted and not have to worry about, um, anything.

Wishing: for a vacation. Preferably on an island with umbrellas in my drink.

Trying: to get back on the meal-planning, weekly groceries train. I've been eating out like crazy.

Buying: pillows and towels #oldladystatus. (No but seriously, Kohl's is having their clearance sale event. Crazy low prices on everyday stuffs. Just sayin'.) But I'm also in the market for a picnic bag for an upcoming wine country trip, and I've had my eye on this one:

Worrying About: my work situation. 

Planning: allthefunthings for fall! I already have quite a few things on the calendar, including a few concerts, a couple food festivals, the Jack O'Lantern Blaze, and  Blogger Meet Up! 

Loving: these thin Oreos. Seriously, so good.

What's going on with you?

Random Thursday Thoughts

Tuesday was not a good day. I slept like crap the night before, and was dead tired all day. I would've called out of work, but my team member was already taking off. On Tuesday night, once I motivated myself to do laundry, I went downstairs to find this:

That is my little storage area in the basement of my apartment. In the first pic, a large piece of wet sheet-rock is on top of my 30 year old wooden toy chest. In the following pic, is the ceiling from which the sheet-rock fell. On the bottom, was some more of the ceiling on some more of my stuff. I took the pics and sent them to my landlord stating that (obviously) the ceiling fell in. He responded, "What Happened?" Um... how should I know, and what the hell do you think happened? You think I just wanted to get creative and start poking at the ceiling?? No, idiot. I wanted to scream, "Your G-D- building is falling apart, that's what happened! Just fix it and clean it off my shit!" 

In other unrelated news, I mentioned that I attended the NY Ren Faire over the weekend. One of my absolute favorite parts is the people watching. These were my two favorite sights:

Tails on heads, and a unicorn!

I also allowed myself to be tied into a corset for the first time. The guy tied it so tight I could hardly breathe. I looked thrilled, right? I was trying not to laugh at the sight of myself.

Also over the weekend, I pretended to be a fashion blogger.

Pinspiration:

walking Old Navy ad

Pinspiration: 

3 yr old maxi dress/necklace from Wet Seal, t shirt from ?, crossbody from ON

That's enough thinking for today. Want more? You can find other random thoughts here:

Things I Learned This Weekend

Things I Learned This Weekend:

• Bingeing (and finishing) a show within 48 hours when you have been anticipating it for nearly a year will leave you with feelings of sadness and restlessness
• The word "bingeing" looks really weird, but it must be the correct spelling because otherwise it would say "Binging" and there is no Chandler here. 

"Litchfield Lemonade"

• When consuming large amounts of alcohol, do not use fancy glass cups that hold meaning for you, because you your friend may break it. And then your friend would feel really, really terrible about it. Stick to plastic.
• Kraft macaroni and cheese is still my favorite. 
• I have no qualms about eating canned chili, especially when it means more time to do what i really want to do, which in this case was continue to binge-watch. 

prison food: chili dogs and Mac n Cheese

• I still do not like pulp in my OJ. 
• Themed meals make binge-watching and eating more fun. 
• Explaining Pinterest to a noob is hard. "So wait- you just pin things and that's it? [Yes. It's a way to keep things you find interesting. And there's an add-on you can add to Chrome so you can pin anything from the web. And then you can organize it to like, vision boards you create.] Do other pinners get mad when you pin their stuff? [No, it's expected.] Oh... so what's fun about it? [Le sigh...]

Big Boo's Screwdrivers

• I like prosciutto in small doses.
• I also like stuffed chicken. This was the first time I tried it. 
• I require sides with almost all of my meals. I already knew this, but it was reinforced over the weekend. 

Prosciutto-stuffed chicken with spinach and pasta

What did you learn this weekend? 

Wednesday Confessional

+ Sometimes I don't read blogs for several days, but then catch up on all of their entries in one day. I call it binge-blogging.

+ My friend sent me this link on Monday regarding student loan repayment relief. I'm thinking I need to take a closer look at my student loans; paying 25% of my monthly income kinda blows.

+ The landlords provided us with hookups for our own washers and dryers, but I never bought them. I had made a deal with my friend that she would take me to the laundromat weekly, but she keeps going up to her parents' every weekend, which means I hadn't done laundry in about a month. So I "borrowed" my neighbor's washer and dryer on Friday. But I was so nervous the whole time that I actually gave myself a tummy ache.

+ I don't understand the point of the "mute" button on Twitter. Why not unfollow if you don't like what the person tweets?

+ I don't remember the last time I cooked a full meal- I've been living off of leftovers or take out. I should get on that.

+ I got caught leaving work early yesterday. Even though the company President technically let us out at 4- he said we could watch the USA game in the cafeteria, which me (and some other coworkers) decided that meant we could leave early and go to the bar. So I changed into jeans and headed to the elevator... and then my boss caught the same elevator and my dumbass coworker mentioned that our friend had reserved a table for us at the bar. I couldn't even play it off, since now I was in jeans too, obviously leaving.

+ I am super sad that the USA lost yesterday. Not sure I'll be watching a lot more of the World Cup.

+ I'm so disappointed in True Blood this last season but will probably continue watching just to finish out the series.

+ I told my friend/coworker she had RBF last night. I honestly thought she knew. Oops. She agreed though.

+ I am seriously considering getting a tattoo. I've always been a fan of them, but I've never gotten one because I wasn't sure what I would get. Now I have a pretty solid idea of what I want and where I want it, but am considering the pain factor since I am a giant wuss.

What are you confessing today? Share it with Kathy!

Oh, How Pinteresting!

I have a lot of posts "in the works", however no motivation to actually finish them. Not sure what that's all about. I have, however, been quite busy on Pinterest. So you guys get another linkup-- sorry! And as much as I hate to admit that summer is coming to a close, I can't help but be swept up into some fall-inspired pins.

Here's what I've been pinning lately:

I can definitely think of some friends that would get a kick out of this!

Gathering ideas for this year!

Every.Time.

Beef stew, crock pot style

Too cute!

Most pinned this week!

I love everything about this transitional outfit

What are you pinning lately?

You can see all my other pins here!

OHP: Apartment Ideas

So in the past week I have spent a LOT of time in my new little apartment. And also a lot of time on Pinterest (no judging!). Mostly I'm just trying to pick color themes for the rooms, since I've never had the opportunity to before, but I also found some cute home decor items that would be perfect additions as well!

I like this color palette for the kitchen
via design-seeds.com

Love this combo
via 2asinapod.blogspot.com

via roomsinteriordesign.blogspot.com

Wow- this is so organized! Something to strive for!
via homeideamaker.com

via Nordstrom

via re-nest.com

via onekingslane.com

via Joss and Main