wedding and babies oh my!

I just came to the realization that this weekend I am going to a wedding for one friend and throwing a baby shower for another and today a friend just had a baby and there's nothing that could make me feel like more of a loser than all this. oh geez. It's just weird to think about how people the same age as I can have such a completely totally different life than I do! But its ok because I honestly do love being single and I really don't even want to be married at this point in life even if I did have a boy in my life! It's kinda fun being able to say that in August maybe I'll move to the other side of the country without having to think about anyone but myself. I like it. But it still can get to a girl when you see all this happening. Anyway just my thoughts this evening as I procrastinate from cleaning my room up (yeah I have to clean my room, because I live with my parents, because I'm a loser, just kidding).

The Jenny/Curtis Project: Day 15

Tonights menu: waffles with caramelized apples.

It was yummy. That's all there is to say about this meal. oh I added pecans to the apple concoction because I thought that sounded good and figured we could use the protein.

sugar. 

yum.

Tuesday sillies: travel

I've really been craving a trip lately! I haven't been anywhere far away since June 2008. :( Two years is much to long for me!!! But I can't travel anytime soon, so I thought I'd post pretty pictures from Europe so I can dream about it. Hope you all are having a most beautiful Tuesday!

source: weheartit

have fun dreaming!

Birdie's Birthday!

The Bird had her 14th birthday on Friday! She knew it was a special day because she got to go for a walk (she can only make it about a block and a half then we turn around) and she got extra cookies and loves all day. We wanted to take her out for ice cream but we had to wait until her bff's Dolly and Cedric were free, so we celebrated with them yesterday at the local ice cream shop! They made cones with little dog cookies stuck in them for the three puppies, it was hilarious. I haven't seen Birdie dog as happy as she was in such a long time! She was skipping and grinning.

walking to the ice cream shop

Dolly is full of it!

look how happy Birdie dog is!

Dolly was super excited!

waiting for their ice cream cones!

ice cream!!!!

Cedric eating his cone

Birdie gets her cone too

Birdie got a birthday present from Cedric and Dolly

The puppies got a quick jaunt through town afterward. 

The Jenny/Curtis Project: Day 13 and 14

This week I made myself the salted caramel popcorn! I was super excited for it because I'm a big fan of caramel popcorn. But it was kinda fail and turned more into kettle corn, my sugar wasn't cooking correctly and I think it might be because it's evaporated cane juice and not refined sugar...or I could have just done it wrong...but I swear it cooked it as long as Curtis said, longer even! ANWAY, I still like how it turned out it just wasn't really caramely caramel popcorn.

Then tonight I made the pan friend halibut and black beans except minus the black beans and plus quinoa. We didn't have any black beans and I didn't want to go to the store, so I looked in the pantry and voila, quinoa! I found a recipe for it online that sounded like it would go with halibut. Its cooked in chicken stock and lemon juice and then you put a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, basil, thyme and parsley over it. It was super yummy! And the halibut was easy, just salt and pepper and cook in pan with olive oil! done. The fam liked it a lot so I figure that means it was a success!

gluten free awareness month!

Hello dear readers. This month is (unofficially) gluten free awareness month. It's officially celiac awareness month in Canada and they are trying to change it officially here in the US from Oct to May. So this weekend the good people at GIG an Pamela's Products are challenging everyone (specifically those who don't already) to live gluten free for this weekend. It helps raise awareness of what people living with gluten intolerances have to face everyday and it just helps raise awareness of this disease. Did you know probably only 5% of people with gluten intolerances have been diagnosed! We need doctors to know about this problem so people can get the proper treatment and not be poisoning their bodies with a food that hurts them anymore!

I have had to be gluten free since I was 17, so this year is my 8th anniversary of living gluten free! I'll admit for a while I wasn't 100% gluten free because it was hard, especially in college; but for the past three years I haven't touched gluten at all. My health went crazy a few years ago so I had to vow to not eat any gluten again and I haven't. Its gotten so much easier in the past couple of years because of the raised awareness of gluten intolerance. I've found restaurants that have gf options, there are stores dedicated to only gf foods and tons of bakeries are starting to do gf things!

When I started my gf diet in high school almost no one knew what celiac or even gluten was. I would get really frustrated when I did things with friends because it felt like I couldn't eat anything, and the stuff I could eat tasted horrible. So I existed off of rice and meat and vegetables, which is healthy but can get boring because you feel like you eat the same thing all time. We tried to bake breads but they never turned out well. I couldn't figure out how to even bake cookies, COOKIES! I love cookies, so that was sad. But now there are tons of mixes out there to help you bake cookies and cakes and even pastries. And there are tons of people who are gluten free and experiment to make delicious meals and desserts!

I envy the people who start their gf diets now because it honestly is so much easier to find information and foods then it was eight years ago! But I know its still a scary new thing to take on and takes a lot of time to figure out. But you can do it! And you will feel so much better and healthier. If you do have an auto-immune disease or gluten intolerance isn't it great that we can just change our diet to heal our bodies and don't have to be taking a medicine for the rest of our lives! I try to look at this as a blessing and not a curse because I am healthy and eat healthy and enjoy the foods I eat.

So go out there and eat gluten free this weekend! And if you suspect you have a gluten intolerance get to a doctor and get it tested because letting it go on can really be detrimental to your health!

Betcha didn't know I was an artist...

...no I'm kidding, I'm not really (although I grew up painting with my grandma who is an artist). But for my final project for my sacred geometry class I did a painting incorporating the geometry we learned. I think it turned out pretty awesome, I'm quite proud of it. So anyway I thought I'd show it off on here for all to see. :)

a little bit of a secret...

So I have kinda a secret, well not really, but kinda. I'm applying to a different school for a different master's program. I'm applying for the Design for sustainability M.A at Savannah College of Art and Design. I'm super duper excited because I feel like I've finally found where I fit in the design community! I get bored with just picking out colors and furnishings and making space plans, its just not me. I feel like sustainable design is my calling! And I love it because its not just about "green" design, its also about designing with the future in mind, so that people will be able to use their space for a lifetime if they so choose! And then of course designing so that our designs and our lives will sustain this beautiful earth of ours!

I'm trying not to get too excited about it though because I've had schools and programs that I was super excited about before and they don't happen, so I don't want to jinx this. But I have a good feeling, and it would be awesome to have the degree and training in the area of design I love! Plus Savannah sounds like a cute city! And it's close to the water which is good cuz I love the beach! And I've never been to the South, except for Florida, so it'd be a fun adventure for a year or so! So if you could all keep this in your prayers and that it'll work out I'd appreciate it!

Psalm 24:1 The Earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it...

Music Monday: The Script

boise

I just now realized I never blogged about my fun weekend in Boise, ID with Ashlee and Heather! It was fun to see their home finally! They've come out here a few times, and of course lived here all through college, but I hadn't been to Idaho to see them yet! We had a good time, I just am happy to sit around with them and do nothing because I miss them a lot, life is no fun without them around. 

Lets see...we went thrifting and found some fun vinyls to do an art project with!

And we got goofy at the thrift stores too. 

And we had some yummy tea that my mommy sent along with me. Oh and we made brownie cupcakes from (who else) Curtis Stone's cookbook! 

(we're kinda huge dorks...)

And then we went bowling

Oh and we made a silly video that I posted already, but here it is again in case you missed it. 

Officially plastic free in the shower!

I meant to tell you all that this weekend I finally used up the last of my shampoo in a bottle and that I am now officially not using any bottles in the shower anymore! woo hoo! And I love love love using all natural products, it just makes me feel better, and my hair is shiny and pretty and its great! The last thing I will need to find is a solid lotion bar once my lotion bottle is out, and if I can I want to find some sort of baby oil in a glass bottle. Anyway I thought I'd tell you where all of my products have come from, I have gotten almost all of them from Etsy! So heres the list!

Shampoo is the Rosemary peppermint bar from Dress Green

Conditioner is the conditioner that rolls from Get Lathered

Face cleanser is the Blemish buster bar with sea buckthorn oil from Sudsy Soap DuSoleil

My body soap is just from Burt's Bees, I use the Milk and Shea butter bar. And you know whats way cool about their soaps? The paper its wrapped in is made from like stone powder or some crazy thing like that so you can't recycle it but when you throw it away it is totally biodegradable! yay!

And my hand soap in the house is just a natural bar soap I found at Target.

I'm really excited about using all natural products and not using nearly as much packaging! I've read that on average a single American throws away 520 POUNDS in just packaging alone in a year! Thats just packaging! I haven't figured out how much less I will be using now, but I felt that a lot of waste comes from all the bathroom products packaging, everything comes in plastic bottles! yuck! Also, my shower is WAY more organized now, I don't bottles falling all over me every time I take a shower! So anyway, I'm enjoying doing this, and hope to find some more ways to cut back on more packaging in my life!

Tuesday sillies: kitchens

This week for a final project for my sustainable design class I am designing a kitchen. Well redesigning specifically, I'm using my parents kitchen plan and redoing it. Here are some pretty kitchens I've found for inspiration today!

source: weheartit.com

Happy Tuesday everyone! 

Music Monday: Brett Dennen

Who doesn't love Brett and his crazy red hair?? I sure do!

Mum

Happy Mum's day to my Mum! I love her, we're pretty silly and have too much together usually. 

I love her :) 

Mothers Day last year at Disneyland!

The Jenny/Curtis Project: Day 12 (Cinco De Mayo)

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Ai ai ai ai ai! Ole! So tonight I made steak with chipotle, cilantro butter and grilled corn on the cob! And for dessert I made Tres Leches cake, not a Curtis recipe but it went with the Mexican theme.

The steak was super duper yummy! I marinated it in white wine first and salt and peppered it, Curtis didn't tell me to marinate it first, but I love when its marinated so did. Oh and I made the butter by having a room temp stick and then mixing in chopped up chiles and cilantro and TEQUILA!!!! Sorry but I love tequila, so whenever I see something with tequila I get really excited. Then I popped it in the fridge for about an hour. Anway, then I (actually dad) grilled the steaks on the bbq and when he flipped it we put a big pat of butter on each steak.

And the corn is pretty easy, I didn't read the recipe ahead of time so I didn't have the butter mixture chilled like I was supposed to, oops. Anway I just melted butter until is was browned and stirred in chopped garlic, and then brushed that on the corn and put that on the grill too! Its so yummy you must try it!

Finally I made the tres leches. Omg you guys, I've never had this cake before because I can't eat it at Mexican restaurants obvi, being they use wheat flour. I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman (ps read her blog, she's awesome). So I just followed her recipe and used my Pamela's all purpose baking mix for the flour (I'm lazy and don't want to make my own flour mixes so use Pamela's). Once the cake is baked you poke it with a fork and drizzle a mixture of evaporated and condensed milk and heavy cream on it and let it soak in for about 30 min. Then you top it with whipped cream! Luckily we had whipped cream already made up from last night when mom made something for a potluck somewhere. And she has one of those way cool whipped cream contraptions that they have Starbucks, I get super excited when I get to use it. Yeah, I'm a huge nerd.

So all in all, I think this was the BEST Cinco De Mayo meal I've ever had! (well the fish taco and night of tequila my junior year in college was kinda awesome, but that's a whole other animal).

So happy independence Mexico, I love you so very much, you brought me my favorite type of food in world and my favorite drink...margaritas. sigh. thank you Mexico, thank. you.

Oh and well done Curtis on the steak and corn, it was delish. So thank you too!

Tuesday sillies: Audrey Hepburn

Today was Audrey's birthday, so I celebrated it by watching Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's. She was so classy and gorgeous and she had a pet deer, how cool is that?! 

The Jenny/Curtis Project: Day 10 and 11

So I made some recipes last week, but one I was too lazy to take any pictures of and I was leaving for Boise the next morning so didn't have time to blog it. and the second I was in Boise so we were too busy chatting and giggling to take pictures and I didn't have my computer to blog it. So here I am, days later blogging about the BBQ Chicken Quesadilla's and the Brownie Cupcakes!

So the bbq chicken quesadillas turned out super yummy! They were way easy too, just grilled chicken, then cut it up all small and bite sized, put it, cheese, jalopeno's, and bbq sauce on the tortillas and grilled them! I'm a big fan of quesadillas. I'm a big fan of Mexican in general, but I've always loved quesadillas. For probably the past ten years I put a quesadilla maker/pan/thing on my Christmas list, I kid you not, I obvi haven't gotten it yet, and the night I made these mom was like oh I should get you a quesadilla maker/pan/thing. And I was like HAVE YOU EVER READ MY CHRISTMAS LIST?? I've only been pining for one since I was like 15!!!!! So fingers crossed next year I get one! hehe. Then I'll have a quesadilla party, and it will be fabulous!

The brownie cupcakes are basically everything right with the world all put into one little cupcake. They're amazing! They're a brownie and yet a cupcake, with dark chocolate frosting. I die. You just have to make them to find out. I can't even explain the awesomeness. The only bad thing is that when I make them I obvi make them gluten free and they always sink in the middle and the tops spread all out. But they still taste yummy.

Oh...

here is a silly video that Ashlee Heather and I made from this weekend. (I went to Boise to visit them, more on that later though).

Music Monday: Boy bands

Today the Backstreet Boys came on the radio and it made me laugh so I decided I'd reminisce about my middle school days and the boy bands I loved. I was actually more of an 'Nsync girl myself, but I still loved Backstreet Boys. My friend Desiree had taped both bands in concert off the Disney channel and we literally watched those two tapes so much that they wore out, I kid you not. Yeah we were awesome like that.