Thrift Shop

For those of you who know me, know I absolutely LOVE thrift stores! I can spend hours looking around at everything. Today I went to a thrift store near me and picked up a few things.

I got a few books 3 cool books & one book on personalities that looked cool (plus it was only $0.50 so who cares) the 'quick & easy' cook book shows step-by-step instructions on how to cook all the recipes in it!! Who wants to read a recipe? I just look at the picture and go from there.

Picked up a few $1 scarves to start the head wrap trend for myself. It will prob look hideous on me, like most things that go on heads, but I'm definitely wanting to try it out!

This my friends is a hot pad! How awesome is this. I love the pattern and it's made out of a papery/woodish material which is cool too (also $0.50)

This is my favorite purchase of $2 each. Totally worth every penny theses brooches are super beautiful! I will def be adding one of these to my outfit soon.

I also got some sweat pants...you can never EVER have too many. Especially when you wear that & spandex 6 out of 7 days a week. (Who doesn't c'mon)

Irish Festival

Last Saturday I went to the Irish festival here in St.Charles. There was a lot to see but unfortunately I haven't been so good at taking pictures lately. So I promise to be better on my next post!!

 

I managed to take one by this ol red truck with Kalidawn & her baby boy, he'll be done cooking in October.

 

And one by this train on the Katy trail right by all the action at the festival. (See that cute prego girlie the white shirt with polka dots & black hat? Well she is due in July & asked me if I wanted to take some newborn pictures for her!! Wow! I don't know the first thing about newborn photography but I'm sure excited to learn!)

There was a book with all the Irish last names in it & I found both my married & maiden names in it. Well I found my maiden name without the 's' on the end, if that counts... There was some Irish jewelry that was really pretty, and a lot of beer (no surprise there) the place was full of tents selling Irish style items that I enjoyed looking at too.

After the festival we went over to the Shakespeare festival in St. Louis I manage to only take a video of a guy balancing a chair on his head. After, the man put a couple cherries in his mouth & spit them out one by one then caught them in his mouth again. I was impressed. the play this year is 12th Night, we watched the first half of the play then had to take off. Unfortunately I didn't take very good pictures, but fortunately it's plays all next month and we will be returning & I'm going to get some seriously awesome pictures!

 

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Ginger Tuna Burgers w/ Sweet Coconut Wasabi Sauce

I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted for dinner tonight & I was racking my brain to think of something not chicken related. You see, I'm a picky person when it comes to meat, and how food is cooked. Basically I only eat chicken & fish (never.ever.ever fried) & the occasional quality steak, oh & turkey of course. I looove to make black bean burgers but I wasn't feeling it tonight, that's when the idea of a tuna burger popped into my mind. I looked up a quick, simple, base recipe then I searched around for a certain taste I wanted to bring out. I decided on Ginger Tuna Burgers w/ Sweet Coconut Wasabi Sauce. Yes, I made that up...

I tweaked the base recipe a little by adding ginger powder (I think real ginger I would've been better but I didn't have any) I also didn't have any oats so I blended up some almonds to make a flour (gluten free) to hold the mixture together. Then formed them into patties, sprayed Pam on foil on a cookie sheet, & baked them for 25 mins @ 450 degrees.

To top the burgers you need:

1 sweet onion cut into medium thick sliced & pan grilled whole.

1 Roma tomato thinly sliced

Spinach leaves or any leafy green

Cilantro I love topping tons of my dishes with a pinch of cilantro it has such a bold flavor that you can't go wrong by adding it

While the burgers were baking I made the Coconut Wasabi Sauce.

 

I used:

1tbsp Wasabi Paste depending on your level of spice tolerance you can add more or less I used more so the 1tbsp would prob be in between mild & medium(I made my own from powder, pre made is great too)

1/4 c. Coconut Milk

2tbsp soy sauce

1/2 pk sweetener or 1tsp sugar

Directions: mix the coconut milk & wasabi paste till smooth. Add soy sauce & sugar. Stir. Taste test to see if you want a sweeter or saltier flavor.

I thought that chips & fresh, homemade salsa would go perfect with this, naturally, since chips & my homemade salsa is my biggest weakness, so of course it was the perfect pair.

 

The burgers turned out fantastic. They met & exceeded my thoughts for them!

What would you pair your tuna burgers with??

 

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DIY Magnets

Decided to make some magnets for my blah fridge today.

I found the idea on....yes Pinterest, from balancing home blog

Here's how mine turned out

Pick it

Size it

Cut it

Glue it. Wait till dry.

 

Stick it! (To the magnets)

 

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Heritage Festival

There are a million festivals from every country & nationality here in STL. If someone ever said they were bored...they were lying. This past weekend happened to be one of the many parts of the Lewis & Clark Heritage Days, The Historic Children's Festival. 

We went &

saw some pretty cool things. Like this guy juggling flaming torches. Everyone one was dressed in colonial times get-up. They had lots old antique items to buy like old glasses, hand carves walking sticks, and purses made from hide & fur. There was a grandma telling stories (her outfit was the best)

We were able to watch the Scottish band practice which was awesome since bag pipes are my fav! 

Super outfits huh!

But my most favorite part of the day was watching a little red haired boy, behind the band while they were practicing, play an imaginary, giant chest drum, flawless to the actual drummer directly in front of him!! We also witnesses the roasting of an entire pig (rotisserie style) 

Yoga Time

St. Louis just started Yoga under the arch every Saturday morning! Kandice & I (naturally) had to check it out. 

This awesome guy (in the yellow) is the instructor. I don't know his name yet but he rocks! 

Needless to say it is now going to be a saturday morning tradition.

The xx

The xx first reeled me in when they released their song 'crystallized'. Their sound is so unique; soft strumming & cool, serenading voices, that you just want to keep listening to.

 

Last September the band released their second album 'coexist' & to know surprise it was just as beautiful.

There are quite a few music videos to watch on The xx website. Go take a peek.

 

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DIY Birdfeeder

There are always loads of birds flying around our apartment so in order to welcome them to my balcony I decided to make these!

 

& so can you. You'll find the tutorial HERE. Have fun & happy summer!

 

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MS MR

I've been listening to these guys for a little over a month now. They only had 4 songs...until today. MS MR's first album launched this morning called "second hand rapture" check em out!

 

 

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Best Green Smoothie Base

Everyday after my workout I whip up one of these bad boys and drink up. Some people I've talked to about spinach drinks, or green smoothies have tried them but ended up absolutely hating them! I have found the perfect 'base' for any GREEN drink. 

1/2 frozen banana {I keep a bunch in the freezer after they've ripened and pop em' in the microwave for 15 seconds or so before I plop it in the blender}

1/2 green apple {these are the key ingredient in combo with any spinach/kale based drink. They coat the 'green' taste & make the drink just taste like a crispy apple!} 

2{ish} cups spinach {or kale or whatever green you choose. I prefer spinach the most.} 

Throw it all in the blender. Along with a

Handful of ice cubes &

1-1 1/2 c. water 

Then blend until it looks smooth & free of spinach pieces. 

Viola!! Then drink up!

There are lots of other things I like to add to my smoothies. Here's a surplus of other things you can add to make your drink bigger & badder...

• any berry {strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry...}

• any fruit {try: mango, pineapple, orange, peaches...}

• carrots

• celery

• flax seed {chuck full of omega-3's

• chia seed

• fat free greek or regular yogurt {for a creamier taste}

• protein powder {adding this would turn this into the perfect meal replacement}

There are lots more options out there but here is a few good ideas to get you started and feeling great! Maybe even shed a few lbs for the summer!!

For the love of Fashion

Fash•ion

/'faSHen/ 

n. A popular trend, esp. In styles of dress, ornament, or behavior. 

my interp.: expression of ones true inner-self on the outside.

The Great Gatsby

I had the honor of going to see The Great  Gatsby opening night.

 

I LOVED it! It was no surprise though as the incredible Baz Lurhman directed it, he is my favorite director of all time! He directed some of my most favorite films, Moulin Rouge, and Romeo & Juliet. His movies are all beautiful works of vivid, colorful art; masterpieces.

Right before heading out to the show I downloaded the soundtrack.

Produced by Jay-Z, this CD had the perfect sound for this movie. It had the 1920's feel with a touch of modern that paired seamlessly with the film. 

All it all it was a great experience to eat a giant bucket of popcorn & watch the "movie of the year" starring an amazing cast. ( Leo looked sexier than ever!) 

I hope you felt the same way about this film as me! Thanks for listening to me blab! 

So it begins...

I'm finally giving in & starting one of these bad boys. I'm excited to share my life with anyone who wants to see & read about it. Since that wont be very many individuals, I'm pretty much just going to have a sweet journal to look back on someday...

My handsome husband Brady & I recently {Monday} celebrated our 2nd anniversary. It was a major surprise & probably the best day of my married life. It all started on Sunday night when Brady whipped out a duffle bag & told me to put some clothes in it, then we headed out the door. I was overly thrilled {I thought he'd forgotten} that Brade had actually planned something for our anniversary! We drove for a bit, then pulled into a hotel, got our key & I walked into this...

Yes...a jacuzzi suite with a wonderfully comfortable king size bed, which we lack.

But wait, it doesn't end there. The next morning we headed downtown to do some touristing at the famous Gateway to the West, St. Louis Arch!

Check this baby out. It's huge.

We did the whole shebang, watched a video on the making of the arch, toured the Louis & Clark museum

Then we hitched 4 minute ride to see this...

So awesome!!

 

 

On the way back we walked by Busch Stadium. The girls from our office are going to the ladies night game on Thursday!! Woot woot!

Brade then surprised me with a trip to the mall & got me these beauties

Love em! #nikeaddict

To wrap up our perfect day he took me to the greatest, & my most favorite, steakhouse on the planet

If you've never been, then....well..that's really, really unfortunate.

I slowly devoured my sizzling, butter drowned, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth steak; that I'm sure will cause some build up in my artieries.

One word: yum

And to end out perfect day/anniversary we went home & watched Prison Break! The end!!

 

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