New old stuff!

My mom just recently moved into the most adorable little home that has such a vintage flair!


It has built in shelves in the kitchen and a "phone nook" in the middle of the house (no hallway). My mom has always collected antiques and old things from family. She invited me to see if there were some things that I'd like to have because she has limited space. It was like shopping in an old antique store for free, except the old things all have personal, special meanings!

My favorite thing she offered me was this wooden heart-shaped wall shelf that my Grandfather made for her for Christmas one year. The thought crossed my mind to paint it but I'm not going to because I love the little imperfections (although, there are few because he was such a perfectionist). It's just so beautiful to me that he carved out the heart shapes and even had the desire to do so. She said that my Grandmother had bought a shelf very similar and my mom said she liked it to which he replied "Oh, I can make that," and then surprised her.


I also got a wooden spoon that my Great Grandmother used to cook with. I remember her vividly and she was a sweet lady and I'm happy to have something that belonged to her that she used so frequently. It looks like it was made, not bought. She loved to cook and had so much positive energy surrounding her.

These little heart mirrors were in my room when I was little. I'm going to paint them.

I love me a day trip to Wilmington

A visit's not complete without downtown-wandering..







We ate dinner at Front Street Brewery. Really, really awesome. There are so many reasons why I need to go back there.

There was just enough front-porch sittin' and fly-swattin' in the evening to make me wish I had more of that simple country-style activity in my life. These bug bites on my arms, however, are contradicting that feeling now.

Ebi was so exhausted from all of his fun and playing. He snuggled up very adorably with his new Scooby.

Pretty great week, pretty Good Friday

Yesterday after work a group of my co-workers and I volunteered to help with the clean-up of an area of downtown Raleigh that was severely damaged by the tornados last Saturday. I had been hearing damage reports and seeing images on the news but the area that I live in was, thankfully, destruction free. It wasn't until Monday morning on my walk to work that I personally saw signs of the tornados- pieces of insulation in yards and on the sidewalks. Just a few blocks over from that were uprooted trees, shattered windows, destroyed vehicles, all the signs of a fierce storm. It is wonderful and comforting to see so many strangers come together to help one another.

This week we also had a special "Goodbye Party/Lunch" at the Lebanese restaurant, Sitti. They provide great soft bread puffs with an olive oil and herb dipping mixture. It's great because it's different and affordable, but the food critic in me felt like the description of the Grilled Chicken Pesto Sandwich I ordered was a bit misleading. It used an extravagant list of ingredients to really pull you in. Pine nuts?! What! And roasted?! Why, yes! MORE olive oil?? Okay!!! Some other kind of infused ingredient I've never heard of but sounds so authentic!? Amazing! And all combined to make a wonderful pesto on this Chicken PESTO sandwich- I'll take it! In reality, the pesto was thin, tasteless, minimal. The chicken was dry. I needed ketchup. When somebody gets the ketchup out on your food and it's not french fries, that's a problem.

Today has been one the most relaxing. I'm off due to the holiday and I slept until 11:00am! I don't even feel bad about it because I have to wake up at 4:45/snooze til 5am almost every single day. If I'm not careful or if I don't have a plan, I can sleep dangerously late like that. My day was boring- cleaned a little, did a little laundry, watched a little Martha Stewart. She did a puppy special and she talked about making your own dog treats and I will be making Ebi some treats. She also made an adorable poodle skirt and, of course, made it look so easy! Lately my mom and I have been talking about her sewing machine, my lack of knowledge, and my interest. I'm going to get her to help me make one of these for my neice.

I had so much time to spend on my hair and makeup before taking my Grandma an Easter Lily since I will be out of town on Sunday.


Then I had to dig through this mess looking all pretty for a shoe mate...


I am not proud of this situation. It is stressful and embarassing for an organized person like myself. This is not an indicator of a girl with too many shoes, I promise. It's a result of limited space. I have to find a soltuion.

The Run Down

I got my hair cut and it's pretty cute when I fix it nicely. This was kind of a transition cut, I guess. I'm getting my bangs cut shorter in a week or so. This length meant that they were immediately in my eyes and I ended up having to pin them back with a PAPERCLIP at work one day because I got so frustrated.


It got LONG in a few week's time and now I'm just okay with it. I liked the lady who cut my hair more than anyone I've ever visited. We went to high school together and I sought her out on Facebook when she uploaded Before and After pics. In a few days I'm going to get this same sort-of cut again with a thicker, shorter bang. My bangs mostly stay pushed to the side because that's all I can do with it now.

I ate some exciting pizza at lunch with my co-workers at Lilly's Pizza in Raleigh. They have you get your water out of one of those dentist office-style water things with the big jug turned upside down on top. My pizza had pistachios on it. Their decor is wild/random.


In other food news, I'm making our own sushi these days. This is a sushi lunch of a simple seaweed-outside California roll and then a fancy, difficult rice-outside roll with salmon and tuna inside. I even made Eel sauce!


My weekend trip to New York City earlier this month was super fun. Right now I only have iPhone pics so I will give a complete step-by-step by this weekend when I expect to have my "camera cord drama" (I can't find it) solved. But highlights included...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art..


Tina Fey at her book signing..


And the view from Top of the Rock..


Tonight I am making cards with this kit I completely forgot I had.


This, of course, has opened up a whole new door of interests. I want to make all my cards for everything now.

Stay tuned...

I have so much to tell about. Makeup I've bought and love (both expensive and inexpensive), how my new haircut is working out for me, my weekend trip to NYC, new household appliances, my homemade sushi-making skills, awesome items I've found on clearance, etc. as I launch myself back into dedicated blogging mode! Right here tomorrow (when I have the hours to dedicate to getting myself caught back up)!


Pretty, poppin' iPhone photo from Top of the Rock this weekend!

Happy and free

This chocolate came from my boss on Friday- an appreciation gift for all of my hard work this week. Feels so good.

I ate lunch at Gravy and didn't need or even desire dinner. I had Eggplant Rollatini. It's basically a rolled eggplant with tons of melted mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce. So bad. So unhealthy. So delicious.

Friday was beautiful and everything fell into place so nicely. I even had time to relax before going to my part-time job hangout. I opened the patio door and let the Spring-time breeze dance around my apartment. Ebi and I talked about our days and he told me he was sorry for eating the heart-charm I made but clay and glitter combines to make such an enticing treat.


I ate a piece of special chocolate, put my flowers outside for some real light, and enjoyed the gorgeous afternoon.

Valentine's Day Eve

Durham is pretty freaking awesome. Technically speaking, I am probably the most Durhamite-est of the Durhamites. When I was younger my mother worked downtown and during the summers I would go to her office with her quite a bit. When I wasn't cutting up the National Geographic and making collages of the pictures, I was walking down to Brightleaf Square, buying myself a frozen coffee from the vendor on the side of the street (I still remember the taste and have never had a frozen coffee beverage as good as those), and roaming around the bookstores, music shops, art galleries, and soap shops that were there during that time. AND I can get myself from one area of town to another but cannot give strangers adequate directions because I don't know street names (I do believe that is an unofficial requirement).

Anyway, there are new restaurants popping up all over the place! I have been chasing dreams of eating brunch at Watt's Grocery for weeks. We tried to visit last week but there was a 90 minute wait for the BAR. This week we got there at opening and the Hostess said the wait was 30 minutes. Just enough time to visit Joe Van Gogh for the best Latte of my life.


I've never had heart-shaped froth! Or anything-shaped froth! It was delicious/pretty and I will treat myself to that heart-frothed $4 latte again. I mean it was even the perfect temperature at the first sip. The really do know "the art of the bean".

It looked like this inside..


And there were lots of people wearing those outfits that look like they picked various articles that under no circumstances match one or any of the other items in the mix. Example: Black leggings + brown hiking boots + purple lace tiered skirt + green down vest + red flannel shirt. True story.

I went all out at Watts Grocery. I got Benedict with crawfish tail hollandaise and andouille sausage.


I abandonned the grits because they were plain and next time I will get the hashbrowns. I could only eat half of the benedict entree pile of cream. It was delicious and the kind of rich that makes you feel full after 3 bites.

What I appreciated most about this restaurant was the fact that they could totally get away with charging more for their food but don't. There were whole blueberries in the jelly and everything was wonderfully fresh. I want to go back for lunch and dinner and brunch again!


Happy Valentine's Day from me and the cute turquoise charm I made to wear today!

Okay, so...

I'm going to start telling you about some of the foods I eat. The good, the bad, and the pretty. I'm on a pretty serious mission to eat healthily so it's mostly good/pretty/colorful. But there are bad times too.. like tomorrow night's homemade nachos for the Duke/Carolina game. Tomorrow night I will be an emotional eater. Bad. Bad. Bad.

Last Thursday I had a single wisdom tooth pulled and by Saturday I had graduated to foods of texture. Craving something sweet, I made this delicious little snack. I considered this a splurge because of the peanut butter..


This is one slice of Nature's Own Honey Wheat Bread Light (just 35 calories), one Tbsp of JIF Reduced Fat Peanut Butter, One-half a banana, and a little honey drizzled for sweetness. Heating this on the oven for a few minutes to toast the bread and warm the peanut butter-honey-banana mixture makes this a tasty, indulgent little snack for right around 200 calories (I'm not sure about honey-depends on how much)

I like shrimp because it's low fat/high protein. I don't know how bad this buffalo sauce is. It's probably a little Carby.


We get frozen uncooked shrimp from Harris Teeter when it goes on sale for either 1/2-0ff or Buy 2-Get 3 Free. It's so easy to store and prepare like that and you can get a TON for around $25 which is a sweet, sweet deal.


Buffalo Shrimp and Cilantro Lime Rice Dinner. The rice is Jasmine rice with lime juice and chopped cilantro for added flavor.


Shrimp and Broccoli Lunch. This is one of my favorite lunches to take because it's healthy, easy, and colorful. Shrimp was boiled on Sunday and refrigerated for use over the following couple of days. Broccoli is the frozen kind and I heard that frozen vegetables are actually better for you during their off-season because they were prepared and packaged during their peak- Not sure how true that is? All sprinkled with lemon pepper seasoning for flavor.


This was another shrimp lunch. Shrimp and green beans with egg noddles tossed with a little olive oil, and sprinkled with paprika and parsley flakes for flavor. These seasonings - Lemon Pepper, Paprika, Parsley, Dill.. I like them because they add flavor without adding fat.

This weeekend I found this frozen Joe's Crab Shack dinner. This version- Mahi Mahi with Tropical Salsa and sides Coconut Rice and Sugar Snap Peas. Just 350 calories. This is made all in the microwave and was about $6.50 for the bag.


There's just enough work involved in preparing this to make you feel like you did something without really doing anything. The salsa is delicious. So easy for busy week nights and it looks like I made something special. I'll get this time and time again.


My breakfast today was borederline-bad.


Everything bagel thin with 2 eggs and a slice of Muenster cheese. It's a tasty & filling 350 calories but tomorrow I will opt for one egg instead of 2 and 1/2 a slice of cheese. If I'm still hungry I'll eat a piece of fruit. I need to make this good, though, and just eat the whites and no cheese.

Crafts, Hard Work, and All That Jazz

I made these sushi magnets. I like them but I'm not IN LOVE. This was my first set and I know some changes I want/need to make to make them better. The good thing is they are heavy duty. I put a thick circular magnet on the back instead of the cheaper magnet-strip. The egg one is bothering me- I'm going to fix it. These are really cute though!


Let's see... I was so busy last week. Work. work. work. When I think about everything I do I have to pat myself on the back. I wake up at 5am, arrive at work at 7am, then go to my part-time job where I study, get frustrated, throw it aside, and pick it back up again, then go to the Y (I love the YMCA. I can't do any other gym. I like that they give back to the community so I specifically go to the one in Durham).

In one of my books I read about managing time when you have a lot going on. It suggested making a To-Do List that is separated into 3 sections: Immediate Range (things that need to be done within the next day or 2), Short Range (things that need to be done within a week or two), and Long Range/Ongoing (projects that are ongoing, stuff you are working towards, things to keep in mind, etc.) I love this. I broke mine up even further into 3 separate sections- General, Academic/Work, Fun (which is mostly crafts). My real one is in my favorite owl notebook, but so you get the idea...


I didn't even bother looking at any To Do Lists this weekend, though. Just a relaxing, fun time.

Saturday morning I took my car for it's first service appointment. There was a 2 and a half hour wait so I called my mom to come rescue me. I sat in a nearby Wendy's and drank coffee sitting down, in a chair, writing in a notebook..


I can think of much better places to enjoy a cup of coffee, but this was fine considering I usually chug it in the car, or standing in the kitchen making my lunch, or in the shower.

I wanted to go to the Flea Market Mall because that sounds like a good time but we went to a thrift store instead. I got some Adidas pants that are navy blue with red stripes and in excellent condition that I cannot wait to wear to the gym. I also got an adorable wooden heart bowl that I'll show a picture of later.

We took my neice to have brunch at Mimi's Cafe (she calls me Mimi), where she had Mimi Mouse pancakes. So cute!


On Sunday I found these black flats in Target for $7.48, originally $29.99

They're so tiny, like Barbie could eat them!

These charms are Barbie-food size:


There's a principle in science known as Occam's Razor. It states that we tend towards the simplest explanation. I applied that tonight. I needed a black string that is thicker than just a black string for my charms. I looked up some string-tying stuff on the internet but I'm not good at all of that so I just braided it. Braiding was so simple/easy/fast. It actually turned out cute and provides perfect little loops for adding the charms.



I also like this simple nigiri one:


These are sparkly and the rice is so perfectly sparkly. There are little indenatations (grill marks) on the fish.


I'm going to wear this one tomorrow..

Weekend at home

I chilled HARD this weekend and it was so wonderful. I haven't had a full weekend in a month or more and Christmas doesn't count because that's a lot of running around for me.

I enjoyed a hearty, Southern meal of shrimp and grits.


I also played in makeup, falling even more in love with my new Benefit Brow kit. I had been holding off this purchase for a really long time and I'm so glad I finally gave in. Good eyebrows really can make your face. I can tell a huge difference on the mornings that I don't have time to use it. It really makes your face look complete and neat. The dark one was a good choice for me.