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This is a short post just to say a few things.

It is warm out, finally. I sat outside on our patio after getting home from work with a mug of coffee. I took off my shoes and painted my toenails pink and let them dry in the sun. I’d forgotten my sunglasses in my car so I squinted and didn’t care. Hello, spring. Thanks for arriving. I’ll try not to scare you off with over-excited facebook statuses or tweets about your presence. Please stay.

With the idea of spring comes new starts and fresh beginnings. I want to publicly announce that I am making some changes in my life. I am determined to find my way back to my passions, the things that really make me feel whole. I am going to have each day filled with something that I love. Sometimes you lose your way, and that’s okay. It’s okay.

Here’s to springtime, new starts, and vague blog posts.

And here’s to cups of coffee outside in really cute mugs. <3

Mary @ Travels with Mary nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award. Thanks, girl! I love doing posts like this, so this was a fun little surprise for the start of another week!

The Rules: Share 7 things about yourself and then nominate 7 other bloggers for the award.

Since I recently wrote a “random facts” about me post, coming up with 7 new things to discuss may be somewhat difficult, but I’m always up for the challenge. Here we go!

#1) I’ve had my ears pierced since I was 9 years old, and my nose pierced since I was 18. I got my nose pierced within my first month of being away at college, and when I told my parents, they were so mad…until they saw it! I think the first words out of my mom’s mouth were “Ohmygosh it’s really cute!” I also had a very short-lived belly button piercing in 2009. I got it done at a tattoo & piercing place in Harvard Square, and although it was adorable, it never quite healed correctly and when I was finally tired of catching it on things, I decided to just remove it altogether.

#2) As far as I can remember, Oklahoma! was my first favorite musical as a kid and probably the reason I always wanted a career in musical theatre. In actuality, it was a weird choice for a favorite, and I probably didn’t understand half of the subplots, but that’s neither here nor there at this point. Incidentally, Oklahoma! was the last show I did in college, and then the first show I choreographed with my students. Maybe there’s some kind of symmetry there. Except in my college production, I was on roller skates during the dream ballet sequence. This is not a joke, in any way, shape, or form:

Yeah…don’t ask.

#3) During the summer between junior & senior year of college, my parents got two pets:

Jasper, aka Jazz, a little black shelter cat…

And Zoe, a golden retriever. (Apparently she also likes koalas.)

#4) The other day, Gordon Ramsay (!!!)  followed me on Twitter. This basically made my day week month.

#5) I don’t usually like watching gory movies or tv shows and I shy away from the horror/thriller genre for that very reason, but I love The Walking Dead. I may hide my eyes a little every time someone smashes a zombie’s head, and I definitely can’t take it when The Governor removes his eye patch (please for the love of god just keep that thing on!!!!!!!) but a little zombie blood or eye pus (ugh) isn’t going to keep me from coming back each week. Can we all just agree though that things would be more interesting if Shane were still around?

#6) I followed a vegan diet for about a year prior to moving to Boston. Sometimes I wish I could go back to it, but then I remember cheese. And ice cream. And Greek yogurt. I don’t think I could do it….

#7) This:

Your turn! Here are my 7 nominees:

1. Ashley @ CupcakesNCrunches
2. Sara @ FitCupcaker
3. Becky @ OlivesNWine
4. Claire @ Indulging in Guilty Pleasures
5. Amanda @ Running With Spoons
6. Brooke @ Running in Heels
7. Lisa @ Lisa Lately

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Question: Tell me something random about yourself!

Before the days of twitter, facebook, instagram…be honest…who had a livejournal? Please notice I am raising my hand high in the air, because I was obsessed to the zillionth degree with updating my el-jay on the daily. I suppose it was my early blogger instincts, but I started writing in senior year of high school, and continued all throughout college. I feel that, in my adult life, I should probably terminate and wipe out all remnants of those livejournal accounts, but I feel like doing that would be erasing a part of myself. And, not going to lie, I secretly love logging back in and re-reading old entries. I’m who I am today because of my history. I’m every version of myself that I’ve ever been, and I’ve always been one to “document” my life. Hence, why I’m a blogger now, taking pictures of my everything and instagramming my dinners. That’s why we all do it, right? To say, we are here, this is what we are doing, we are living, we are “right now”.

Old words:

October 02, 2006: Pippin rehearsal tonight was awesome. We learned most of “War Is a Science” and even though my jaw hurts from making ugly-man faces for two hours, it was pretty fabulous. And I really love wearing my dance attire every night to the dining hall. I never feel as cute as when I’m wearing shorts, tights, leg warmers, and jazz shoes. I should just dress like that all the time.

October 03, 2006: From the book I’m currently reading: ”The comic musical theatre of Aristophanes has left a legacy of burlesque and burlycue, parody and satire, vaudeville and light opera, grand beauty, mechanical devices, subsidized theatre, songs of lyric beauty and high wit, and dances of character and vulgarity. It will be twenty-four centuries later and halfway around the world before all these elements appear together again.“ Reading things like that gives me validity and direction. It’s not just singing and dancing and mindless entertainment. It’s history.

December 14, 2006: Everything that is beautiful about the human body is accentuated in ballet; everything that is ugly is forgotten. I’ve been listening to Tchaikovsky ever since I returned to my dorm, and it’s just perfectly in tune with the time of the year, the biting December cold, the peppermint taste in my mouth, the soft glow of Christmas lights. And it’s also how I feel while walking home on the dark path in my long black coat, the black scarf, hair pulled back tightly in a conservative bun, black gloves, heels clicking against the pavement. Such a familiar walk, one I’ve been doing for three years now, but tonight I feel older, I’m graduating in six months, I’m leaving this place, not yet, but soon, and it’s all so different from how it was when I made this walk last year, or the year before that, and even the year before that, but it’s okay. It’s okay, I’m okay. Violins and christmas bells and stardust; oh December.

May 05, 2007: I’ve spent the past few days just lying out on the quad with my friends; Spring Fling is the best. We put all of our towels together to make a massive blanket that looked like an oversized quilt, with neon colors and a threaded sketch of The Beatles. We ignored the fact that the weather was a touch chilly; we put on sundresses and kicked off our sandals anyway. Yesterday I fell asleep on the lawn in the afternoon, and every time I would wake up and overhear a strange snippet of conversation or a burst of laughter, I would think: I have the best friends in the world.

October 02, 2008: I’ve been in Boston for a month now. I think it’s safe to say that September, 2008 has been epic. Earlier, I read Emily Dickinson at my favorite coffee shop by the huge open air windows. Today, it really feels like autumn. The air is getting that crisp feeling and my feet were cold today in my blue ballet flats. While I was reading, a gust of wind blew a pile of leaves into the cafe through the window. They swirled around the table legs and settled on the floor. The barista laughed and swept them up, although I wouldn’t have minded at all if they stayed.

December 15, 2008: In 365 days, my life has changed shape and color so many times. I don’t know how else to explain it other than that. One conversation over a glass of wine and a slice of chocolate cake. I can’t believe it lead me here. In love with a city, life, and so in love with love.

~*~

Reader Question(s): What makes you nostalgic? What are some of the ways you look back on old memories?

Thanks to everyone who entered my fun Health & Beauty giveaway last week! Congratulations to Lauren @ Kitchen Queen Eats Clean, you are the (random) official winner of the giveaway!

Shoot me an email at:

 cookingfortheotherhalf (at) yahoo (dot) com

with your mailing address to claim your awesome prize!

Again, a big thanks to all who entered. This will definitely not be the last giveaway on this blog, so keep reading!!

TGIF, y’all!

Oh Sunday. The most bittersweet day of the week. It’s still a weekend, and yet, the weekend is almost over. A Sunday following an impromptu 3-day weekend is even worse. The week ahead always feels somewhat daunting, and after sleeping in with no alarms, having set that 5:15am wakeup is extra painful.

Can we all just narrow our eyes in my boyfriend’s general direction – because he has ANOTHER snow day tomorrow!!! Most of the areas south of Boston seem to be adding another day of closed buildings and offices, where all of us north of the city folk will be getting up and driving to work. I suppose I shouldn’t be greedy and just be grateful for the one snow day we did get (on a Friday nonetheless) but who wouldn’t want just one extra morning of sleep?

Le sigh.

In other news, we finished Season 2 of Homeland last night. Consequently, this is me now:

Why aren’t there more?! Why do I have to wait until September?! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!

I suppose I should redirect my focus to the new episodes of The Walking Dead and Smash this month. And at least I won’t have as many weird nightmares about being sent to the Middle East on an undercover operation (which is what many post-Homeland sleeping patterns have produced.)

Now that the snowstorm is over, we were able to dig our cars out and venture to the outside world. Although, if I’m being honest, Boyfriend did most of the digging. Okay, all of the digging. I provided moral support though!

In an attempt of productivity and starting the week off right, we braved the grocery store, armed with a list of course.

I was surprised to find that the grocery store wasn’t all that crowded. I’d thought we’d experience a mob of people for sure.

To continue my smoothie / protein shake kick, I decided to try the fruit/protein blend by Silk that I’ve always noticed on the shelves when reaching for my usual red carton of soy milk.

This stuff is SO good! I can’t believe I didn’t try it sooner. It’s a good texture for protein shakes because it is on the thicker side, and it’s really flavorful.

I used it in a smoothie that I made this afternoon for lunch:

In the mix:

• 1 1/2 cups fruit & protein blend
• 1 tbsp vanilla protein powder
• handful of ice
• 1/2 cup sliced frozen peaches
• 1/2 cup mixed frozen berries

So good! I love how filling & satisfying a smoothie can be without feeling like you’ve consumed “a lot”.

In other news, I wanted to share that I’ve actually followed up on one of my New Years Resolutions from this year. In a previous post, I talked about getting a vocal coach and singing more. I’m happy to say that I did this! I’ve been taking lessons every Thursday evening, and it feels really good to do something for myself, to work on something that I am passionate about.

I’ve been slowly working through my huge “audition binder” that I used to lug around in a tote bag in NYC. My voice teacher is great because she’s really helping me strengthen the lower range of my voice, which is something I always thought I wasn’t so good at. As a soprano, I used to shy away from songs that required a strong lower register, but now I feel much more confident with the entirety of my range. I’m a musical theatre girl at heart, so having this in my weekly routine makes me feel more in touch with myself, and just happier in general.

Reader Question(s): What makes you feel like “you”? What do you wish you did more of?

Another month has gone by, which means it’s time for this month’s Things to Love post! I’ve already declared these posts to be (one of) my favorite, so I get excited every time I sit down to write one. Some months it’s harder than others to think of ideas, but for this one, a lot has come to mind! I’ll get right to it.

#01. Valentine’s Day

I know Valentine’s Day is a little cheesy, and it’s definitely over-commercialized, but I like it! As some of you know- any excuse to get festive, dressed up, or eat chocolate is okay in my book. I’m an affectionate person and I like giving gifts, cards, and letters, so an extra reason to do something like that is always a good thing. Plus, did I mention there was chocolate? And can we just take a second to pause and laugh at the fact that the picture above contains a conversation heart that says “fax me”?? Loves it.

#02. The Bachelor: Sean’s Season

I think this is a perfect segue to talk about The Bachelor. (Valentine’s day…flowers…roses…Chris Harrison: “Ladies, Sean, there’s one rose left this evening”…there’s a logical connection there.) This show is essentially a street drug. Yes. The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are your television equivalents of crack cocaine, heroin, and meth. What I mean by that is this: once you start watching, you. cannot. stop. I dare you to try. It will eat up two whole hours of your life every week (sometimes two days in a row) but it’s just unavoidable. Despite the fact that every season is basically the same (helicopters…bungee jumping /free falling / cliff diving [complete with some kind of comment to the effect of: "If we can do this, we can do anything"], and one person in the house being a total fake), it feels like a new ride each time. This is basically how I feel whenever a new season starts:

Sigh. Sean Lowe, who will you pick this season (and then consequently break up with 6 months later?)

#03. Annie’s Bunnies

I tweeted this today, because basically I am a child, but I adore these crackers. They are kind of like teddy grahams, but a zillion times better. And then there are the cheddar / wheat ones that are like goldfish crackers. I mean, who wouldn’t love a little bunny?

#04. Girl Scout Cookies

Similarly to #3, it’s Girl Scout Cookie time of year. I usually try to avoid the Girl Scout table at the grocery store because really- who needs a box of those things in their kitchen? But this year it was just too hard to resist. The girl at the table was all alone with her mom, and it looked like she hadn’t had any visitors/customers in hours. I decided I was doing a good deed by going over there, making conversation, and then purchasing a box of cookies. Good karma results in delicious cookies, right?

#05. Homeland

Totally addicted to this show! I’ve mentioned before that Boyfriend & I divorced our cable company, so now we rely solely on Netflix and AppleTV/iTunes for our favorite TV shows. And we LOVE it. Honestly, I don’t know how I’d go back to cable again. After just a couple episodes of Season 1, we were completely hooked. A true 90′s girl at heart, I can’t deny anything with Claire Danes. We are at the start of Season 2 now and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!!

#06. Mascara Pick of the Month: Lights, Camera, Lashes by Tarte

I’m always on the hunt for a good mascara. My daily makeup ritual consists of neutral eyeshadow, a swipe of black liquid liner, and a few layers of mascara. Paired with a bit of blush and light pink gloss, and done. I used to be all about the Buxom mascara by Bare Escentuals but my current favorite is Lights Camera Lashes by Tarte. I have a tiny little sample from Sephora (Beauty Insiders Club what whaaaat) and I need to go back and get a big one.

#07. This New Handbag

After a trip to TJMaxx the other day, I came out with this new handbag. I’d been carrying around a pink bag since the summer, and while I love it, I thought I needed something more “wintery”. This new bag definitely is not more “wintery” but it is cute and I just can’t resist bright colors. Besides, I’m justifying it like this: In the middle of winter, when it’s dark and gloomy, and we’re all wearing our blacks / greys / navys, a pop of color is desperately needed. I feel like that is good logic.

#08. Celeb Twitter Interaction

I’m not gonna lie- my heart did a little jump when I got this notification today: Mae Whitman aka AMBER HOLT FROM PARENTHOOD favorited a tweet of mine. I feel like I have permission to be a little starstruck when the actress who plays one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite TV shows has somehow acknowledged my presence on the interwebs.

#09. Vanilla Blonde Coffee @ Starbucks

The blonde roast is my absolute favorite coffee at Starbucks, hands down. Paired with a little soy milk – amazing! It’s hard to believe that this coffee could get any better, and then bam! Starbucks introduces the vanilla blonde roast. I tried it the other day and absolutely love it. Warning: it is super sweet and has a very strong vanilla flavor, so if it’s not your cup of tea (coffee?) stick with the regular.

#10. Pre- Blend Retreat  Excitement

Ok, I know this isn’t technically until the month of May, but I have to put it on the list because I am SO FREAKING EXCITED! The blend ladies recently put up a list of all the attendees for the 2013 retreat, and it’s been so fun checking out their blogs and sort of getting to know all the girls prior to the event. As mentioned in an earlier post, I’m rooming with Kate @ Quarter Century Southern Living and Ashley @ Cupcakes ‘n’ Crunches and we recently added Sara @ Fitcupcaker to our room– it’s totally going to be a blast! I can’t wait to meet all these awesome bloggers.

Aaand that’s it for my list this month!

Reader Question: What are you currently loving? Any category! Food, tv, movie, etc….

Last week, I came home with a massive craving for nachos. This doesn’t happen often, but all I wanted for dinner was a huge pile of (preferably blue) tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa, cheese, and sour cream. Sometimes Boyfriend and I will order nachos at a restaurant with the intention of ordering it for an appetizer, and it ends up being enough for an entree. So it seemed like a good idea.

Unfortunately, I had just come home from the grocery store and didn’t have this culinary epiphany until about 10 minutes after that. Of course, I hadn’t had the foresight to know ahead of time that this craving was coming, and therefore neglected to purchase, oh say, 75% of the required ingredients for nachos. Luckily, Boyfriend was so into the idea that he happily went back to the grocery store with me. Don’t I have a good guy?

Segue — if that isn’t enough proof (or the five zillion other things I’ve mentioned in this blog), please take a look at the text message I received from him yesterday in hopes to make me laugh:

Even the act of screen-capturing this and uploading it is making me laugh so hard my eyes are watering. The backstory is that we were watching Homeland the other night, and I asked him to pause it so I could brush my teeth. I’m not sure what exactly is going on in this picture, only that Claire Danes is having one of her freakouts, and the stars aligned so perfectly as to have this glorious image on our TV screen. I hope it is forever engraved in your brains, dear readers.

Anyway, I digress.

Nachos.

The great thing about nachos is that they can be easily customized for a vegetarian or meat eater’s diet. And the fact that they are covered in guacamole and cheese. I mean, do I need to say more?

Nachos: Veggie or Turkey

You will need…

• 1 bag of tortilla chips (I prefer the blue kind, but for this dish we mixed blue & yellow)
• olive oil
• 1/2 lb turkey meat
• 1/2 bag veggie crumbles
• salt, pepper
• 2 tsp cumin, divided
• 2 tbsp chili powder, divided
• pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne 
• several handfuls of shredded cheese (cheddar or a Mexican blend)
• salsa, store-bought or homemade
• guacamole, store bought or homemade (homemade is the way to go here, trust me)
• sour cream
• sliced jalapenos 
• shredded romaine or iceberg lettuce 

 

Method…

1. Heat olive oil in two skillets over med-high heat. Add turkey meat to one, veggie crumbles to the other. Cook approx 2 – 3 minutes each, then add spices to each. Stir often. Cook until turkey meat is browned and cooked through. Cook veggie crumbles until browned and cooked through. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On two separate sheets, spread a layer of tortilla chips. Top chips with turkey/veggie crumbles, cheese, jalapenos. Add more chips. Repeat layers until satisfied. 
3. Bake in preheated oven approx 10 minutes, or until cheese is thoroughly melted. Add shredded lettuce, salsa, guac, and sour cream. ENJOY YUM.

I’ll be honest– I look forward to hair appointments the way some people look forward to vacations. Ever since I was a teenager, and probably younger, I’ve loved going to get my hair cut. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been somewhat adventurous with my hair (there were days when it was strawberry blonde colored, I kid you not). Going to the hair salon always meant a change.

I’ve spent the past two years growing out my hair into a long, layered ‘do. It’s currently part-way down my back, with jagged layers, complete with thick long bangs. I’ve embraced the ombre trend, and the bottom two inches of my hair are a golden hue while the rest is dark brown. Don’t get me wrong– I love my long hair. But I don’t love spending over 45 minutes getting ready every day because it takes me that long to blowdry and straighten it. Lately, I’ve taken to just piling it up on top of my head and calling it a day.

So, I’ve decided it’s time for a change. After many hours of scouring pinterest, I’ve settled on the trendy “lob” — aka, the long bob. I always choose to be armed with pictures for the stylist (better chances of not getting disappointed) so here’s what I’m bringing her:

My appointment is Friday and I am, as mentioned earlier, quite excited. It will be a little sad to part with my super long hair but if the trade-off is a quicker primping routine with an equally cute hairstyle (not to mention the possibility of putting that extra time towards extra sleep), then I’d say it’s a pretty good deal.

Reader question: What celeb hair would you love to have?

Just this: