Lazy Sunday

Last weekend, it just so happened that everyone was around and the rain had let up for a few minutes, so we decided to throw together a BBQ!



"Mom, where can I find a basket for the buns?"
"On the basket hanger in the dinning room".
Of course, every home has a basket hanger?!?!



Goat cheese and pesto stuffed mushrooms (recipe below). Great as a hor d'oeuvre too, as they can be made ahead of time and popped into the oven at party time. Vegetarians can make them a meal by making them in portabella mushrooms (unfortunately, they were all out at the vegetable stand).



Everyone always wants cheese on their burgers! Beside the turkey and sausage burgers are my roasted red potatoes.



Greeting our guests.



Don't mind my hair-too hot and humid to actually put any effort into it.



Mom's key lime pie- well lime pie. You can't find key limes in Staten Island.


Goat Cheese and Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe

Wash mushrooms (can be made with stuffing mushrooms or portabellas) and coat them with salt and olive oil

Fill with layers of diced tomatoes, pesto and goat cheese

Pop in oven at 350 degrees for about 20-20 minutes in an oven safe dish (I used a glass baking dish)

Sprinkle with diced fresh basil and serve warm!

Moving Day

Sometimes, even if we’re not ready, we must move on. I never seem to be ready to take the next leap to the next proverbial “step” but I always manage to work through the anxiety and endure it. I must admit; I’m a look-backer, a one last timer and a hardcore rememberer. All these qualities make it hard for me to move…especially out of my very first apartment.



Even though it was tough, I managed to pack every last thing away besides a stack of books that I put aside for my friend Annmarie. By the end, I couldn’t believe how much stuff I actually had that I cheated and threw some things into bags. When I was done; the place didn’t look like mine anymore. It kinda looked like a dead body-the physical body was there but the soul was gone. I could now move on.



Everyone’s acclimating quite well though. “Charlie” the new kitten is meeting the “neighbors”. Things are a little cramped but not unendurable. This is only temporary place to lay our heads but with everything tucked away and packed, I’m starting to look at it like a mini vacation.



I did need some cheering up from all the chaos of packing up and moving within a matter of a few short days, not to mention surviving the earthquake and hurricane we were hit with last week. That cheering up came in the form of a puppy that my sister brought home. His name went from “Hurricane” to “Kingston” and he’s a lot of fun and obviously adorable. You really can’t be disheartened when you’re staring into the eyes of a puppy.

An Ode to the Food of Summer.

I just got off the phone with my friend where we talked about her upcoming schooling for holistic health, namely dietary holistic health. That conversation got us talking about the foods of summer and how food tastes enhanced in the summer when produce is at it's best. Food tastes better as the ingredients have been ripening under the summer sun, just offering to be picked. Tomatoes from my mothers garden almost taste like a they've been sprinkled with sugar and the smell of growing basil wafts through the warm air like wildflowers.



Possibly it's not just the ingredients though, maybe it's how you experience it. Food seems to taste better when grass tickles your toes. Food seems to taste better when you're at a table littered with garden flowers and votives. Meals taste better outside under the sun, in the fresh air, with the table cloth gently blowing in the wind. Dessert has never tasted so sweet as to experience it under the warm summer moon.







Summer food tastes better slightly burned over an open fire. Pretty much throw anything on a grill during July and it tastes delightful. If you have a grill; you're as superior as Gordon Ramsey or damn Bobby Flay.




Everything can/must be pared with a crisp summer salad and good bread. Lunch unexpectedly creeps up as the most important meal of the day. Smaller portions are welcomed because you find yourself savoring the food that your eating. Those pickled onions and micro greens would never cut it in January but in August they're sprinkles of joy.



I'll try to can you, freeze you, get my full fill to last me the winter. In my heart I just know it won't be the same. The smells will fade, the grass will get cover by ice and your vibrant colors will fade along with your leaves. I love you foods of summer and soon enough, I'll miss you crazily.

Boton Wedding

I went to the most romantic and whimsical wedding this weekend in Boston. It took place at a real barn that the family had to clean out just for the wedding. It was hot and smelled like hay but overall it was something out of a Martha Stewart magazine. The ceremony started in the garden with lemonade and vegan treats and then we did a ten minute walk to the barn where we ended the night with line dancing.

Hussle Up

I’m exhausted. Coffee isn’t working. Sleep isn’t working. I’m just tired…eyes, body and soul. It’s been a crazy last two weeks. The craziest I’ve experienced in a long time and it’s taken its toll.

I’ve found my internal feelings have affected my diet intake. For example, Carmine and I decided to try this authentic Mexican restaurant that had gotten great reviews on yelp and I chowed down in a major way. Behold Huevos Rancheros:


Two eggs are under there somewhere but good luck finding them. My emotions are a mess, just like the hot plate of melty rich gooeyness before me. Sometimes I’m easy like the eggs and then sometimes I’m spicy like the chili verde. Sometimes my feelings are all over like the cheese and on occasion I’m antisocial and lonely like the rice and beans.

I’ve never handled stress, whether it is good or bad, very well. Luckily, I’ve been experiencing a good stress but still stress nonetheless. I’m moving forward with the next big step in my life and it’s terrifying and exciting at the same time. I’m also fostering the last little kitten of the bunch we socialized that hasn’t been able to get adopted. It’s sounds like fun but he’s freaking my other cats out and running under couches and getting into everything he’s not supposed to. For example, I set up a nice little area for him to cuddle and enjoy a good night kitten nap and instead we found him here:


He’s in the trashcan in my bathroom. What the hell kitten-really?!


Thankfully the bootcamp class my sister is teaching and I’m attending (for free- sister bonus!) has been a great stress reliever. She makes me sprint up hills, do push-ups, work with resistance bands, do about a million squats and many other exercises that I can hardly pronounce the names of. All this stress just brewing comes out during the hour and a half we do in the park every Sunday (at 8:45am mind you). I’ve appreciated the workouts so much that I fit in a second work out this week after work. It’s hard to get motivated to go but once I’m there I’m so thankful that I was able to talk myself into it.



Not only have these workouts been great for me health wise, the other women in the class (about 3-4 others) have been a great comfort. As we do our high knees or calve raises we talk about what’s going on in our lives and I’m amazed at how they handle life with all the stress they have. All these women are in their late 30’s with a house full of kids, a husband, a full time job and probably a million other responsibilities and they still have time to come to workout and keep their bodies in amazing shape. I’m the 20 something who has no husband, house or kids and I’m dying here!

They really taught me that you have to laugh it off sometimes and you have to take time out for yourself. This exercise class is something they do for themselves and they allow themselves to have that small escape from the stress. I have to remember that to stay sane, I’m going to have to step out of this for a bit and take a minute to digest, whether it be another plate huevos rancheros or just my feelings-or hell, maybe both!

The Best Things in Life Are Free

It's been jokingly said that I'll end up in a house boat writing poetry with a bunch of cats. This scenario still doesn't sound like a bad outlook. I never dreamed of myself as rich, never liked spending money on frivolous items and always had some sort of budget. Hell, in my early 20's my aunt passed away and left me a nice sum of money and instead of spending it on vacations, cars or clothes, I decided to save it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a cheapskate either. I treat myself to Starbucks coffee, I've been to almost every restaurant on this Island and always have professional quality clothes for work. It's just that I consider Starbucks an indulgence, use coupons for restaurants or often ask for gift certificates as gifts and only buy clothes when I can get a discount (hello, Kohl's 30% scratch off coupon).

I guess I'm this way because I've been on both sides of the spectrum. I've been dirty rich with toys like pools, trampolines, go karts and a house so big one of my friends almost got lost in it. Then one day it was all gone. I had to get rid of all the toys and had to sometimes eat pasta for days because that's all we could afford. Food shopping is always the most depressing thing when your poor because you're shopping for a necessity that you can't meet the expense of. It's a daunting occurrence. Food shopping aside; when the money was gone, I never missed the house, I never missed the trampoline, the go-karts, the pools; these items never made me truly happy.


My house when I lived " the good life" in Florida.

After I lost the money, I consciously made sure never to get to attached to it again. I always played hard to get with money; never let it know I was interested usually doing this by taking jobs that brought me joy but paid crap or buying nice items at discounts. I pretended money didn't mean shit to me and that I could be fine with very little of it. Well, as I get older I find I can no longer keep this luxury. I need money.


This smile not bought with money.

I spent Monday at the bank with a thick folder stuffed with every financial piece of paper that I own. It sucked. Even when the bank told me that I was going to be okay, it still sucked. It turns out, you do need money. I need money for a car and I need a nice car for my professional job. I need credit cards to get good credit so I can buy things like a house or rent an apartment. I need a job that makes me work hard so I can make a decent amount of money and I need to get a loan to pay for more school so I can get said job that will pay for the car that will drive me to my house. By the end of the meeting, a houseboat with a few scrap pieces of paper and canned beans never looked so fine.

On top of the meeting with Mr. Bank man this week; my landlords raised my rent(again!) and also pulled out my internet and cable which was previously included in the rent. I freaked: "I love my TV!!!! Boyfriend, get on the phone right now and get prices for packages for cable and internet and phone and what are we going to do about rent"!!! Well, I have internet again but I did something I thought was tremendous but now as I reflect, it could just be perfectly me. I got rid of cable for my TV.I couldn't really afford all three or maybe I could but it just seemed like it wasn't the smartest luxury to enjoy right now. I'll deeply miss my Top Chef, my Project Runway, my True Life...but I just can't let money know I'm really that interested.

Summer Nights

The searing summer nights aren't so dire when you have views like this.

It's been in the 90's here everyday but the hot summer sun seems to craft the most stunning sunsets and nights. I took a drive with the BF to a park that happens to be under Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Staten Island to Brooklyn. I caught these photos just as the sun had set and the lights from the bridge started to twinkle. I have to say-this park will be my new favorite coffee spot.



So not only does the summer carry beautiful skies it always brings the most incredible fresh produce. I snatched up some fresh spinach from my local farmers market and then picked up some fresh fish from my local fish mart. My first time ever going to a fish mart and I will be back. The fish I got was so fresh and tasted incredible!



Above you will see most of the ingredients before I unwrapped my cleaned fish and washed my spinach. List of steps was as followed:


1.create a foil boat for the fish and pour in some olive oil and season
2.pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
3.diced tomatoes and place on top fish that is now in your foil boat
4.spinkle more seasoning on top along with some parmesan cheese
5.cook & enjoy! I served my fish over spinach & drizzled balsamic reduction.




Although this week was quite hectic (more about that next post) a silver lining was getting to see some of the kittens we've been socializing go to terrific loving homse. Little Grey (now Oliver) went to my cousin and although I'll miss him terribly, I know he is loved and we did a good thing for him. Two out of the four still remain, one with a home and one without. I couldn't imagine my life without kittens.


("Oliver")

This week will be a big week for me -well,I hope anyways. More abut that later though.

XO

Happy 4th!

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

My holiday was filled with:


Blueberry Pancakes for breakfast.


A new mantra to live by (and color chalk- I couldn't resist!)


Beautiful flowers from my moms' garden...can't wait for the vegetables to get here! (Vegas, stopping to smell the flowers).

Annnnnd the most American thing of all- Chipolte! (I kid).


I've been dying to go to Chipolte for the longest time now.I have no idea why but sometimes you just know when you're gonna love something and Chipolte was one of those things for me. Well, the place exceeded all my expectations.Not that my expectations should be all that high for a fast food joint, but I'm a cheap date and enjoy cheap food-done right.Plus, eating a burrito thicker than my arm sincerely appealed to me.I also didn't mind that they were blasting one of my favorites bands too.

(see Violent Femmes- "Gone Daddy Gone": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekL7o8BQkZM)

I need to find out how they make that cilantro lime rice-do they cook it in lime or just season it with the lime? Hungry stomachs want to know!

We're Chained

Friday Five! Hey, look I remembered!

1. My Sisters Engagement!


I'm very happy for my sister! It's exciting since this will be one of my first real weddings- and *BONUS* I'm the maid of honor! I love planning parties/events so this should be fun. I can also look forward to a vacation since she wants her wedding to be in Jamaica!!!


2. New York City



I took these photos at my sisters engagement party at the South Street Seaport in New York City. I love living in New York-just look beautiful it is! If you've never been here, you need to one day-please put it on your bucket list. Everything and anything you could ever want is here and it's all right at your fingertips and there's this electricity in the air that just fills you the feeling that anything is possible.


3. Lauren Conrads Collection at Kohl's

(I own that dress!)
I really like alot of her stuff but it's def a try on deal. Some things look awesome on the hanger but ill fitting when on. Her jeans, leggings and most dresses are really fantastic though. Very stylish and inexpensive. Here's the dress I'm currently drooling over:

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/lclaurenconrad/dresses/PRD~834543/LC+Lauren+Conrad+Ruffle+Racerback+Dress.jsp


4. True Life on MTV is back!

I love this show! For MTV, most of the topics the do are interesting and informative. The season started last week and the topics thus far have been:
I Hate my Roommate, I'm Allergic to Everything, I'm a Big Girl and I Can't Get Over My First Love. I'm a sucker for documentaries and this is one series MTV manages not to ruin.


5. The Scents of Summer

I'm not the biggest fan of Jessica but her perfume is my go-to scent. I can usually get it pretty cheap in TJ Maxx or on Amazon, so I don't feel bad about applying it all over and multiple times a day. I always get compliments on it too. It's sweet smelling but with a touch of floral that makes it girlie.


Hey, that was fun and painless! Here's a bonus too- I can't get this song out of my head this week, ENJOY!