100th Post Giveaway!

I just realized that my last post was my 100th!  Small steps I know, but I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping up with my resolution to blog. In honor of this small landmark, I have decided to have my first giveaway to thank those of you who keep up with my daily musings.  Please write in the comment section of this post and let me know how I'm doing to enter, and the winner will be chosen randomly on Thursday.  

What will you win?  Well I'm starting off small but impressive.  Winner will get a package of mint chocolate chip astronaut ice cream as well as a STS-134 insignia patch and pin!  STS-134 is the upcoming shuttle mission (the one that was supposed to go up a couple of weeks ago, but is now scheduled to launch in 6 days!) and it is an important mission as it is bringing the AMS, or Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer that will help researches study the formation of the universe and look for dark matter and antimatter, up to be mounted to the international space station!

Step by Step

After over a month of no relaxing weekends you'd think I'd be done with projecting for a while.  But I've always wanted to do something to the ugly, dirty, carpet covered steps that are the first thing you see when walking into my home.  These pictures are proof that stairs do not have to be purely functional.  My favorites are probably the  Je Monte, Tu Montes, Il Monte, Nous Montons, which means I climb, you climb, he climbs, we climb - so great - and the numbered one.  I'm thinking for my house that I'd probably try more of the style in the other picture, though, with the painted/stained step and the under portion either painted/wallpapered/tiled.  I kind of love the idea of backsplash type tiles.  No matter what I do, there will definitely be a satisfaction in ripping up the disgusting carpet first!  What are your thoughts?

(some of the pictures from Apartment Therapy, which also has some other great stairwell designs)

Busy Bee

How was everyone's weekend?  Did the mothers out there sit back and relax and let their family pamper them?  My mom told me she spent her weekend taking in the finally gorgeous and non-rainy weather in Chicago and requesting my dad perform the first official grill-out of the spring.  And my family in south Florida all got together for a giant Chinese food feast (so Jewish). 

Not being a mother and not being able to travel to see the mothers of my family due to the unpredictable shuttle delays, I spent my weekend running around town and checking errands off my list.  I FINALLY got an oil change (only about 5,000 miles overdue...), and while the car was in the shop J and I ran across the street to Walmart to pick up a few things (including these fruit bites that I'm obsessed with!).  After that we made stops at the drugstore and Target, where we picked up some of their wild caught frozen salmon.  That night we grilled out ourselves for the first time since we fixed up the backyard.  In addition to the salmon, J also grilled up some adobo chili spiced beef strips and I used some Masa de Harina (corn meal) to make homemade corn tortillas!  We paired those with some of my specialty guac for incredible tacos. 

The following day we started off laying in bed and reading, which I haven't done in a while.  We followed that up with more errands - dropping off some stuff at a friend's house, grabbing a bite to eat, buying some picture frames for new artwork I recently purchased, getting fluffy and soft new towels to replace the old ones I've had since freshman year of college, and stocking up on yummy food stuffs at Super Target. I may or may not have also picked up a dress or two as well :0)

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

Another quiet relaxing weekend planned with my to-do list only consisting of getting an oil change and a long and cheerful Mother's Day convo with both my mom and grandma.  This will not be a travel weekend for me, so I won't be able to see them, but lovely personalized cards are on their way from Tiny Prints, a great online card and stationary shop I just discovered that offers some absolutely delightful options.  I don't generally do too much more for this particular holiday as I enjoy showing my appreciation throughout the year with weekly phone calls, girls' days out when I do visit, and small, thoughtful gifts for no reason at all other than they are both awesome!

A quick shuttle update too: don't expect launch to happen before NEXT weekend at the earliest now.  Root cause of the issue and repairs have been finalized, but work still needs to be finished up.  I'll hopefully have a slightly better idea of the launch date by the end of the day today...

(image from here)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I was up late last night making a huge batch of guacamole for my coworkers today in honor of Cinco de Mayo.   I was also running late this morning and forgot it in the fridge....  Go figure.  My coworkers seem to love mexican themed foods.  When we have pot luck lunches it always winds up centering around tacos, fajitas, salsas, etc.  And every time we have said pot luck, I always get voted to bring one of two things, my guac or my key lime pie.  I can't tell you how many times I've made these two items for my coworkers as I've truly lost count.  Here are the recipes for those of you looking for some Cinco de Mayo inspiration:

The guac is really easy.  I mash up about 5-6 ripe avocados with a fork (gives it better texture than a food processor), then add in about 1/2 a chopped red onion, 2 chopped vine ripened tomatoes, 1-2 seeded and chopped jalepenos (if you like spicier guac, feel free to leave in some of the seeds), a handful of chopped cilantro, juice of one lime, a heaping spoonful of sour cream, and salt to taste.  I do a bite-sized chop on the onion and tomato, a small dice on the jalepeno, a rough chop on the cilantro, and I taste test with corn chips as they contribute more salt to the overall taste.

Key Lime Pie

Crust:

½ cup ground pretzels

½ cup graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Set oven to 350 degrees.  Combine ingredients in a bowl until crumbs are all moist.  Then pat into a buttered pie tin to form an even crust along the bottom and sides.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until crust starts to brown slightly around the edges.

Filling:

3 egg yolks

1 ½ tsp fresh lime zest

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup lime juice (I use about 5-6 fresh squeezed regular limes and top it off with store bought lime juice if needed)

Whisk egg yolks with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy and lighter in color (about 2-3 minutes).  Add the lime zest and the can of sweetened condensed milk.  Beat until mixture gets slightly thicker.  Add 2/3 cup of fresh lime juice and mix until just blended.  If green color is desired, add 1-2 drops of green food coloring as well.  Add the filling into the crust and bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until the filling is set (jiggle the pan to test for filling movement). 

Let pie cool and serve with whipped cream.  I usually top with extra lime zest for garnish.

Whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 Tbs powdered sugar

Mix in electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

Can't.... Stop.... Buying.... Shoes......

My shoe obsession is reaching epic proportions.  I have 3 new pairs of shoes I haven't even worn yet and I'm still craving multiple other pairs.  I may be at a point where I should seek intervention, because I CAN'T STOP!!!  I want all of these.  Maybe once the shuttle finally launches and I start putting in some overtime during mission support then I'll be able to justify one or two pairs...

These nude-hued beauties are from Gap!!! They're part of the Design Edition collection and they are so gorgeous. I'm sure they'll sell out soon enough, and so I'm trying to bargain with myself over whether or not to buy them.

These sparkly J. Crew stunners are a more wearable (and slightly more affordable) version of a pair of glitter Miu Miu wedges that I've been obsessing over.  Hoping they don't sell out before they make it to the sale rack...

Teal/turquoise/aqua is my favorite family of colors.  Pair that with the fact that this pair by Heavy Machine, a brand I just recently discovered that creates the most incredible styles, is a near style match for a sold out pair of Marni shoes I wish I had known about sooner, and they've been floating at the top of my list.

Chicago Girl

After 7 years in Florida, I may have found my go to places and acclimated to the temperatures here, but I will forever and always be a Chicago girl.  Although many cities have come close (notably Seattle and San Fran), Chicago will always top my list of best cities in the United States.  I love the parks, the museums, the food, the plays and musicals, the easy to access public transportation, the sports teams, the profusion of spring flowers, the quirks of each neighborhood, and of course the people.  And to get my fill between trips back home, here are some Chicago themed picks to proclaim my adoration:

necklace | t-shirt | cuff

I'm pretty sure I'm going to cave on the shirt, I just love it.  The necklace has been on my wish list for a while too.

city print | adler poster | papercut card | heart map

The city print is a new discovery, but I'm quite taken with it.  The Adler Planetarium poster is the perfect combination of vintage chic and space geekery (so me!).  And the papercut of Lake Michigan with a star representing Chicago is actually a card, but I think it would be so great framed and hung!

And just in case I need a deep dish fix, one of my favorite Chicago pizza establishments ships their famous deep dish pizza for long distance consumption!

(skyline picture from here)

Lovely Birthday Weekend and Shuttle Update

Well, the only upside to the shuttle not launching on time (more on that later) is that I didn't have to spend my birthday on an airplane.  Instead I had a wonderful weekend with J filled with lazy mornings, a trip to Orlando for shoes and a Whole Foods extravaganza, lunch out on Sunday with my friend R, and even a little productiveness regarding the planting of herbs and flowers in my garden.  Speaking of flowers, check out the incredible bouquets that J and my cousin C got me!  I'm such a sucker for flowers :o)  In addition to my cheerful blooms, I also got a bottle of my favorite perfume, a fabulous Kate Spade necklace, and Tina Fey's new book Bossypants that I plan to start when I finish my current read (I can hardly wait, Tina is HILARIOUS!).

As for the shuttle, an electrical box needs to be removed and replaced, which puts launch currently at no earlier than Sunday, May 8 at 12:09 pm EST.  Keep in mind, this is "no earlier than", not "definitely scheduled for" as the launch date not only relies on continued troubleshooting of the electrical box and all associated components, but the scheduled Atlas launch at the end of the week...