nautical living

please and thank you.

(and thank you, pottery barn, for taunting me this morning)

she used to tie her hair up in ribbons and bows

yes i stole this off lauren conrad's tweet.
but how adorabe is this??

mac n cheese spice

i've had quite the domesticated day...
which means i still have 2 more posts for this week!
go me!
especially since i feel this week will be super busy
and i will rely on easy meals...
oh well. i fed bubs and me well today!

first up, my favorite...spicy mac n cheese!!
i am a big fan of any type of mac n cheese
but when i saw this zesty looking one, i knew i had to try it...

it's pretty easy cheesy to make...
AND SOOOOOO GOOOD!!
if you're not a fan of hot foods, you won't like this.
but anyone else...it has so much flavor
that i wanted seconds, thirds, and fourths...
i stopped myself and saved some to split for our lunches tomorrow
but this will be made again. and again....

ingredients
4 cups cooked macaroni noodles
1 tbsp olive oil
2 to 3 cloves garlic
1/2 red onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 tomato
1 small can green chiles
1 1/2 cups grated pepper jack cheese
salt
pepper

directions
boil pasta

in a large pan, heat olive oil and add garlic, onion, pepper, and tomato.
(yes, i 1/2 love this recipe cause i get to utilize the food processor so much)
stir in green chiles.
take off the heat and add to the pasta.
mix in the cheese.
s & p to taste.

DELICIOUS!!!!

modified from here.
i took out some of the fattening stuff
and it tastes delightful still.
however if you want butter and cream added,
pioneer woman says, "go for it!"
and i took out the jalapeno.
i once had a bad experience from cooking w/ jalapeno.
my face looked like angelina jolie
and my hands felt like they were stuck inside a bonfire.
i also took out corn...but i added tomato!

isn't she lovely

someone sprayed this perfume on me this weekend.
i swear i could smell it for 2 days.
and it was so delightful...
for $100 a bottle it should be
but that's not stopping me for begging logan for it ;)

chocolate malt for my eyes

so last night, after a pretty rough day at work
logie took some pity on me
and did what he had to in order to cheer me up...
CHOCOLATE MALT!!!!
while i felt bad going in at 9:45 to south bend chocolate co.,
i informed the man with the malt machine
he was making my day.
i don't think it mattered to him since i was still
that annoying customer coming in 15 min before closing
but he and logan seriously made me the happiest all day.
(my dear friend, jess, came in close second with her
monster fountain diet coke and large smile she brought to my office)
and as i opened my laptop this morning
to enjoy my morning coffee and diane sawyer
this picture was on people.com.
seriously.
so hot.
my chocolate malt for my eyes.

light me up

i know, i've been missing as of late. but i am making a pre-new year's resolution to update, for pretty bride's sake.

today is one of my favorite days. and no, i am not a black friday shopper. i have never been once in my life and i never plan to start (although technically we are heading to target today, but only because we are going to pick up more IU ornaments for our IU christmas tree...pics will be posted soon).

today is one of my favorite days because...it kicks off the christmas season. i love LOVE love this season. the lights, the decorations, the red cups at starbucks, and just the generally feeling of cheer from most people. and i am so excited to get to walk around downtown every day with it all decorated for christmas. tonight logan and i (and a couple of friends) are headed downtown for the circle of lights celebration where they light up monument circle. i cannot wait to indulge in my red cupped starbucks peppermint mocha and watch as this city kicks off my favorite season...

but for now, i will return to my couch position in front of my christmas tree and read. awww..its nice to relax.

you are the best thing....

i've had a bit of a long day, i'm tired, and have more work to do.
so i turned my laptop on to start working and opened up my itunes and this song came on and for whatever reason i just started to cry a bit (happy tears).

i love my little politico and can't wait for him to come home from the debate tonight and snuggle me up.

it's the little things

my life has officially become boring because of silly bar review. i work, go to class, eat, sleep, etc. and that is about it. i actually look forward to planning my meals, cooking them, and eating them. and by cook i mostly mean microwave because sadly it saves me lots of time. but i have thrown together a quesadilla once or twice.

last night after i got done with a marathon day of learning and was kicked out of the library (mark that my life has become boring and nerdy) i walked over to lolo's apartment and started to complain about the plight that is this summer. he is absolutely fantastic with me on this because he suffered through it last summer so i very rarely am allowed to complain. he usually tells me i only have to do this for a couple of more weeks, it is the end to a very long, painful journey, that i have the intelligence to pass the damn test, and the time i spend complaining is time i could spend studying and to just get it done. which is good because it gets me motivated, back on track, and back to the books. i like when people tell me not to complain because there really is no valid reason for me to do so. i have been blessed with an absolutely great life. i chose to go to law school and want this for myself so this is just one more obstacle to get that dream. so a kick in the ass to remind me of that is something i usually allow and supremely welcome.

but last night instead of telling me to just study for another hour, lo lo let me enjoy summer and we walked down to south bend chocolate factory, got two ice cream cones, and set on monument circle and just people watched. it was exactly what i needed...delightful.