Essie Obsession

This color on the left by Essie, Bikini So Teeny, is amazing. I don't know if I will take it off until October.

Maldives: Heaven on earth?

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you: the underwater restaurant that I absolutely must visit. Soon. Like, this summer. How can I possibly make this happen? Honey, I promise to not bring my phone to dinner if I was dining with this view.

Maldives, I'm coming for you.

Now I'm not one to post about American Idol...

But, dang, girl.

Skylar Laine had me in tears! While I'm not one to post about American Idol, I'm also not the kind of girl that cries over musical performances. But, she killed it. I even tried voting, but it was past midnight and the lines were closed. Oh well, A for effort right?

Love it or... wait, what was I doing again?

Lately, I've been watching TV shows on HGTV, and then getting sidetracked and missing the ends of the episodes. So, I have no idea if the couples on the show love it... or list it. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but this is one of those things I spend way too much time obsessing over, and it just makes me so angry.

In my defense, they wrap up the end of that show really quickly, people. The couple is viewing a home for sale one minute, and starting to talk about their decision. I walk over to check on dinner and come back a few moments later to a new House Hunters.

...and I'm left staring at my TV in utter agony. Not again.

I know, I know. There are so many more important things in life, but it's so annoying to me that I can't stay focused for one measly hour, or at least remember to record the ends of shows.

And, because I am sick and will spend an ungodly amount of time thinking about something I don't have time to think about, I've Googled the episodes to the high heavens... to no avail. Of course, it doesn't help that I can't remember the character's names, the episode title, or anything of any value. My last Google searches were "basement that flooded mid renovation love it or list it" and "guy named steven or stephen mean wife flooded basement".

Good luck, Google.

Can't wait to try this!

Ricotta, olive and pine nut spread with endive | Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup (about 12) large green olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) pine nuts, toasted*
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
• 1/4 packed cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Preparation

In a food processor, combine the ricotta cheese, olives, pin nuts, olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pulse until smooth. Add the parsley and pulse until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve with endive leaves.

* To toast the pine nuts, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 6 to 7 minutes until lightly toasted. Cool completely before using.

Serving Size

4-6 servings

Home Office Haven

I'm in love with this incredible home office decor. Love the dark navy, orange accents... and of course, the chandelier. I would have a chandelier in my car if it was socially acceptable. Don't you scoff at me. Let me dream a little, ok?

Husband is sick.

I've known him for years, but this is the first time I've known him with the flu. He is a mess. He won't even attempt to eat, because he hates throwing up so much. He won't take pain medication, because he is afraid that it may (even though it never has) make him nauseous. He has been sleeping for nearly two days. He is hardly talking. He's not making up words to random melodies that he gets in his head, he's not cracking cheesy jokes to annoy me, he's not even drinking coffee.

I'm so bored, I've cleaned the entire house, done all the laundry, and even spent a couple hours shopping online for candles.

Candles.

I want my husband back. Life isn't nearly as fun without him yapping in my ear, day in and day out. Love him so much - I hate to see him like this. Also, I hate to see our bank account like this. I've joined three sites (including Birchbox) and ordered six candles so far.

Get well soon, Paul. Please?

It is yours for the taking.

¹⁰ The LORD your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. ¹¹ “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach. ¹² It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ ¹³ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ ¹⁴ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. Deuteronomy 30:10-14

I love how simple God makes it for us. It's not hard. It's not rocket-science. It's right in the palm of our hand, and all we have to do it take it. :)

Springtime is coming!

The latest addition to my collection.
Essie - Lilacism
come on spring!

Last Thing Thursday

Welcome to THE LAST THING THURSDAYS, brogught to us by The Life of the Wife! :)

READ: Outsmarting Google. If you want to know the secrets of SEO, this is a must read. I was scared it would be an intimidating read, but it's not! Evan Bailyn is a legend, and I'm excited to learn from him!

PINNED: I haven't been in Pinterest in forever. Don't hate me. I partially blame Jessica. She sent me an article last week about how Pinterest is under scrutiny, and how there's all this talk of possibile lawsuits from people pinning stuff that they don't have rights to. So, while I was scoffing and telling Jessica that her research was a load of crap, I was busy disabling my boards deleting any identifying information in my account.

BLOG POST I READ: I'll admit, I've abandoned blogging lately. Not on purpose, but this last week and a half has been so crazy... so many things going on in my world, changes being made (all good!), and overall, just not enough hours in the day. BUT, I did find this blog today, and I think I love it. And her. I love food blogs; I'm such a fat kid! So, I will be visiting Lindsay quite frequently! :)

TV SHOW I WATCHED: American Idol, yo. Does anyone even watch AI anymore?

CANDY I ATE: My guilty pleasure.

DID FOR SOMEONE ELSE: I stopped by Jessica's house last night, on my way home from work. She got some teeth pulled, and was all drugged up and bleeding from the mouth. Super glam. But, she needed someone to be her voice on the phone with her dentist, so... Corianne to the rescue!

BAKED: Sigh. I haven't cooked in a while. But last time I did, I made Bethenny Frankel's Stuffed Peppers... and they were ah-mazing.

BOUGHT & LOVED: This. Has. Changed. My. Life.

Ok, and if I'm being honest... the TECHNICAL last thing I bought was this:

And I thoroughly enjoyed (LOVED!) my avocado for lunch. So, while I still need to make sure everyone knows how much I love my dry shampoo... the fat kid inside always wins.

Button BLISS

This may not be that exciting for many of you - but I made a button (by myself!) and added it to my site. My husband is much more the HTML-master than me, so the fact that I figured this out is quite the feat.

I'd like to thank Google, really. There are some amazing websites with some foolproof tutorials.

I would love to post your button on my site, so just let me know if you have one available! I'd love to come grab it :) And I promise, I will have a much fancier button soon. But for now, this one will do!

I love you, Blogspot. I'm starting to feel right at home.

Last Thing Thursday.

The Life of the Wife along with aunie SAUCE have begun this fun link-up party called The Last 13 Things. Be sure to join in and link up over on their blogs!

The Last Thing I:

ATE:

Kashi Go Lean cereal and vanilla almond milk.

BOUGHT:

An Emerald City Smoothie - Lean Body for Her w/a scoop of peanut butter and NO BANANA. Tastes like a PB&J in a cup. Delicious, and no gross like my desciption may lead you to believe. Ha!

READ:

Some beautiful posts on Facebook, for a man that went to Heaven far too soon for my liking. We love you, Joe.

LAUGHED AT:

COOKED:

A Chicken Pesto Melt. Just as delicious as it sounds. We served it "open-faced" (only one piece of bread), with provolone and pepperjack and roasted red peppers and fresh tomato. Absolutely amazing.

BAKED:

Haha. Bake? Me?

CRAFTED:

Haha. Craft? Me? I think I hot-glued some rhinestones to a ceramic picture frame, which I loved so much I BEGGED my family to get me my own hot glue gun for Christmas. They did. And I haven't even opened it. That was two years ago.

DROOLED OVER:

All of this loveliness from Target. Are you kidding me?

COVETED:

This, also from Target. Man. What is it with me and Target lately?

THOUGHT:

I cannot wait to get off work and go to the gym. (Weird.)

WORE:

A long-sleeved grey shirt from H&M, black leggings, brown Steve Madden boots and bedhead. I'm fancy.

CRAVED:

this smoothie that's I'm drinking. I'm telling you. Addicting!

WAS THANKFUL FOR:

Tomorrow. And with tomorrow... life. My family. My husband. My Jesus, and the gift of grace and peace.

Hot Yoga: is that what it feels like to do Yoga in hell?

Jessica: I'm doing Hot Yoga tonight!
Me: Oh, you are? By yourself?
Jessica: But it starts at 4:30.
Me: Oh, that sucks. I was having an inner debate on going, on whether I wanted to join you. I'm scared to try Hot Yoga! But I'm off at 4:30. :( Sad!
Me: And by "oh, that sucks" I meant that I sighed in relief.
Jessica: Yeah, I could tell you were super upset about missing it.

An hour later:
Jessica: Hey guess what?????
Me: WHAT.
Jessica: Hehe. I just called the gym and there's another 90 minute Hatha class that starts at 6:30!!!!!
Me: *signs off*

Stars aren't born. They're made.

Has anyone been watching Smash? First of all, I just have to say... I LOVE IT. Like, adore. I think Katherine McPhee is an incredible talent, and she's wonderful as the main character, Karen. Charming and sweet, not a sucky-American Idol reject turned last-ditch-effort "Hollywood" actress. She's actually good. And girl can sang.

There's only been two epsisodes so far, and I'm hooked... sincerely hoping that NBC doesn't give this the ax after a season, or even a couple episodes. I feel like stations are quick to do that to new shows. I've been living in the dark, apparently, because I never really noticed the danger a new series is in - they have a definite proving ground (RIP, Playboy Club).

I'm not sure how they could let this show go, though. Besides McPhee, the cast is pretty awesome. Anjelica Houston. Debra Messing? Yes, please. And directed by Steven Spielburg? I'm sensing - praying - for a long run for this one.

The Broadway show they're casting in this debut season is called Marilyn, and it's based on the life and times of... yep, obviously... Marilyn Monroe. I'm a little mad that this isn't a real production, because from the numbers they've shown so far, I would totally see it. As long as Katherine McPhee played Marilyn, and not that icky Ivy. It looks amazing... granted, I've only been to one "Broadway-esque" show, and that was Cinderella... but Marilyn would defintiely be on the docket.

Watch Smash! Monday nights. And let me know what you think.

Irony & The Ugly Truth

Today has been a great day.

No work. Woke up on my own at 8am (this is sleeping in), went to the gym with my work-out buddy (high-five for yet another perk of being married; live-in workout buddies!) and then proceeded to do nothing all day except for make lunch, get an evening coffee, hit up Target for nothing in particular, and spring-clean my closet.

And just like that, my much-anticipated Monday off, is over.

Why do these precious days fly by? And if I was at work today, the 8 hours would have been the longest, most painful chunk of time ever. I know this is nothing new. I know I'm not the first to observe this. But this is one of the many ironies that I just can't wrap my mind around.

Now, we're wrapping up the night with a delicious dinner - whole wheat pasta with tomato chunks, feta cheese and avocado - and watching The Ugly Truth. I seriously will watch anything that Katherine Heigl has a role in. It's pretty bad. I have no shame.

This movie, I loved. It's a tad inappropriate, but oddly charming. Maybe it's the combination of Gerard Butler and Katheine, or the witty dialogue, or the fact that any movie where the main actress plays the producer of a news channel/morning show is an automatic hit with me.

Ok, wrapping this up now - it's the dinner scene with the inappropriate undergarments (if you have seen this movie, you know exactly what I mean. I think I snort-laughed in the theatre the first time I saw it). Have I mentioned that I adore Katherine Heigl?

Beautiful Words

One of the qualities of faith, is expectation. Faith always expects. Faith always moves towards it's goal. - Rev Marvin Winans, at Whitney Houston's funeral

Friday Check In

Obsessing Over: My smoothie. It's quite amazing, actually. It's a Lean Body For Her chocolate protein, fresh strawberry base with a scoop of peanut butter. Hello, 30g of protein! And it literally tastes like a liquid peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Before you shudder, just be open minded... it's actually quite amazing.

Working On: I always scoff at this question, because obviously... I am working on this Check In. Other than that, I am working on getting this blog up and running.

Thinking About: My puppy. I think he misses my husband, who has been out of town for a few days, in Dallas for Ed Young's C3 Conference. I'm missing him too, but my poor dog is putting himself into a state of depression. Poor little guy!

Anticipating: My husband coming home! I love him so much.

Listening To: Spotify; a band called Sons & Daughters

Drinking: the rest of my delicious PB&J smoothie :) It's lukewarm and almost gone, but I am savoring it! I could be on a liquid diet if the liquid consisted of this.

Wishing: It was 5pm! I have a three day weekend, and I could not be more excited. There's nothing better than having dinner on Monday, catching up on some DVR, and realizing that we don't have to be up in the morning for work. Life's simple pleasures.

Rose Colored Glasses (and Watches).

Image Source: CorianneLand

The Gift of Time

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of summer. Like most seasons, when the end is drawing near, I'm ready. But when it looms on the horizon - full of promise and unknown - I can hardly contain my excitement. Around September, I ache for the twinkle of Christmas lights; the crisp, cool air and the layers of scarves and pea coats and thick knit socks and worn in leather boots. Around February - right now - I can't stop thinking of sunshine. The early morning sunrises, the clear blue skies, the iced coffees and brightly colored trees, fresh in bloom. And even the rain. We get a lot of that around here. Around May, I'm ready for the 9pm sunsets and the screen doors and the smell of the BBQ when I walk in the door from work. I'm ready for sweet tea (because even though we're in the Northwest, I married into a Midwest family, and they know a thing or two about sweet tea) and skipping the gym for a run around the lake. And then, when summer's stretch has become expected, I'm dying for the leaves. The golden leaves, burnt orange and red, littering the ground and leaving the trees bare and cold. I'm ready for pumpkins, and salted caramel latte, and the familiar drone of football on the TV after church. In reflecting on this, one thing is for certain... I'm always ready. Always looking forward. Always grateful for the time I'm leaving behind - and always expectant of its welcome return. Time if a gift. Time marches on. Time, although never promised, is a constant presence in a world of steady change.

Friday Devotion

Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom—it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats.

Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. (James 3)