My New Clothing Crush

Design Sponge has introduced me to an amazing clothing website. I feel an obligation to share this with you: Mod Cloth.

I hope you take the time to look around this beautiful site, and just to get you started, here are some of my favorites:

For a beautiful summer night wedding, I would wear...

The perfect work outfit, that I could travel in...

And the perfect outfit to enjoy an outdoor concert with my hub and pup...

I love this website!

:o)

Happy 5 Years to US

Friday, March 19th was our 5 year anniversary. To celebrate it we went to dinner at my favorite restaurant in Raleigh, Second Empire.

Second Empire

It was my second time there, but I can honestly say that it is, in my opinion, the best restaurant in Raleigh. We ate downstairs at the Tavern, which has a much warmer atmosphere than upstairs, at the main restaurant. I wore my new Free People dress, which I don't have a picture of, but I would love to show you the new dress I want from Free People: My New Free People Obsession.

An evening with great food (did I mention that I had the best creme brule for dessert?), a great dress, and a wonderful hubby - perfect way to celebrate the wonderful 5 years we've had.

:o)

Julie Powell & Me

Last weekend I watched the movie Julie & Julia with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I have to admit that I enjoyed the movie a lot more than I expected. I mean, I knew I was going to love all the cooking, baking, and the talking about cooking and baking. What I didn't know, was that I was going to really dive into this movie, and actually get something out of it, besides hunger.

While watching Amy Adams portray Julie Powell, I found myself comparing my life to hers. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not going to start cooking like a mad woman. I related with her on the topic of never finishing anything. It is time to admit, that like Julie Powell, I am a starter, not a finisher. And like her, I don't like this about myself, actually, I kind of despise it. It is so easy to get really excited about a new idea, a new project, a new challenge, a new goal, and dive into it wholeheartedly, until the next thing comes along that really excites me. As you can probably imagine, it is not healthy to be this way.

By the end of the movie, I was balling, not because it was so cute that Julie Powell cooked a duck, or that Julia Child finished her book. But I was crying because I was so proud of Julie, for actually finishing it! I can't explain to you how proud I was of her, and as stupid as this sounds, I think I was so proud of her because deep down I knew that I wouldn't have finished it.

I am 27 years old (28 in 50 days) and I think it's about time I try to change this fact about me. So, I started to think about all things I've started lately that I have not finished:

• This blog is a great example. My goal, when I started was to blog once a week, sadly, it's been more like once a month.
• Thousands of projects around the house:
• kitchen backsplash
• painting the trim in various rooms
• painting doors
• replacing door knobs
• and tons more...
• Jewelry making
• Drawing and painting 
• Applying to graduate school
• Exercising
• And tons more...

The list could go on forever, but I'll stop now so not to bore you. So for now on, I am going to truly try to finish things I start. From small things like reading a book, to huge things like graduate school.

I can tell you that since I saw the movie, I have successfully started an exercise plan, and have kept up with it for 8 days - which is pretty major for me! The goal is to run a 5k in 50 days (yes, on my birthday). Wish me luck!

Also, I will be able to keep you guys posted on more accomplishments since I will go back to the original goal of posting a weekly blog entry. And since I work better with goals, here it is: My goal with this blog is to post at least once a week for the next 7 months. Since there are 42 weeks left in 2010, I will have at least 42 posts by December 31, 2010.

I have fun a year a head of me, and I'm glad that I will be able to share it with someone out there (whoever reads this).

Have a great week!

:o)

PS: Did I mention that I lost my camera? So sad.

I'm still Alive!

I apologize for not writing for so long, honestly, life has gotten really crazy. But, here I am, over a month later, writing the post I promised... my New Year's Resolution.

I know it is a little late to be talking about New Year's, but this way, I can also talk about the progress of my resolutions, and not just the intention.

So here we go:

1. No more Caffeine: You all ready knew about this one, if you read the No Caffeine = Massive Headaches post back in December. Amazingly, I have not had any Starbucks since Christmas, I'm doing good so far. Now, the other source of my caffeine habit, this one I have visited once, twice, well ok, 3 times since I officially quit - Coke just tastes so good. But hey, 3 cokes in 2 months, that's pretty good if you ask me.
2. Eating more home cooked meals: I have allowed myself one lunch a week that is not from home, and the hubby and I go out to eat once week together. That's been going well so far, but I can tell that I am starting to get sick of grocery shopping and planning my meals every weekend. 
3. Maintaining my house cleaner: In my house growing up, every Saturday was cleaning day, I was only allowed to go play with my friends, after the entire house was spotless clean. When I mean cleaning, I mean sweeping, mopping, dusting, etc., not the normal chores, like dishwashing, putting clothes away, etc. I have maintained this cleaning process ever since I've had my own house, but I think it is time to adopt a different format. With my hubby, my puppy, and me being so messy, the house has been getting too dirty by Wednesday that waiting until Saturday just doesn't make sense anymore. So, for the new year, I have adopted a new system: daily chores. Theoretically, this is going well, but I'll have to update you on this one after I actually take the time to sit down and create the chore schedule ;o)
4. Exercise: Notice how I just wrote exercise, not exercise "more". That's exactly what I mean, get off my butt and start some form of exercising routine. This, sadly, has not happened yet.
5. Accomplish at least 3 major projects in the house, these can consist of any/all of the following:

• Lay sod on the front yard
• Lay sod on the back yard
• Build the gravel patio in the front yard
• Gutters on the front and back of the house
• Wooden floors in the kitchen and laundry
• Window bench for the breakfast nook
• Hardwood on the stairs
• Hardwood in the master bedroom
• New sink for the kitchen

That's it folks, my New Year's Resolution for 2010. I'll do a mid year update in July to let you know how things are going.

Hope you are doing better than me at your list.

:o)

Home Cooked Meals and Rectangles

Matt and I have been trying to eat home more often this year, like we did right after we came back from Brazil (2007). Let's call it our New Year's resolution: Eat home cooked meals as often as possible.

We have been really good with keeping up this new trend... I know today is only the 12th, so what? But, I have to admit, the hardest thing about this plan is planning the meals. Sitting down on Sunday and coming up with some sort of plan for the week, this way we can be sure to have all the ingredients we need to create goodness, is not easy.

This Sunday, I decided to add a wild card recipe to the mix, and boy am I glad I did? During one of my get-lost-in-time-blog-reading-escapades, I ran across this Roasted Vegetable Pesto Pizza from Aggie's Kitchen. I never order veggie pizzas at restaurants, and honestly I don't like pesto, but for some reason this pizza just jumped out at me. Look at this picture:

 from Aggie's Kitchen

Don't you want to eat this pizza now?

Well, I was brave, and so was Matt - keep in mind he loves pesto, so there wasn't much convincing. So after not too long spent in the kitchen, voila:

Things you might notice about this picture:

• My pizza is a rectangle - that is correct, no round pizzas in this house. Didn't you know that rectangular food tastes so much better than round? It's the new thing... ok, I don't have a round stone.
• Only half of the pizza is being photographed - the other half is in our tummies. Sorry, I couldn't wait to take the picture, it was so good, I had to eat it right away.
• My culinary picture taking skills are nowhere near Ms Aggie's, but at least I tried.

As you can see, the week is going well so far, we'll see how the rest of the year goes.

On my next post I will share the rest of my New Year's resolutions. Stay tuned.

:o)

Decade Recap

I have a slight addiction to blog reading. I can sit in front of a computer for hours, just going from one blog to the next. It’s actually rather therapeutic, and inspiring. The reason why I am telling you this, is because most, if not all, the blogs I’ve been reading lately are doing some sort of year recap.  With all this reminiscing in mind, I decided that it was time for my recap blog entry, but instead of looking back at 2009, I want to look back at the ’00 decade.

It was a rather important decade for me; some would even say that it was the most monumental decade I’ve lived – keeping in mind that I am about go into my 3^rd.  Here is a short review, in somewhat of a chronological order:

• I was given a second chance by everyone, and moved back to the US.
• I made the decision to change my life around, and go back to God.
• I got a tattoo.
• Graduated from High School – honestly, I never thought it would happen.
• Graduated from College – Whoa! Much less this one!
• I met and married the love of my life – He’s freaking awesome!
• Became part of great families.
• Got a brother and two sisters – which honestly, I suck at communicating with them, but hopefully, I’ll get better.
• Moved a lot!
• Saw and hiked the Grand Canyon.
• Became an aunt 4 times.
• Went to Europe twice.
• Went to Brazil twice.
• Made great friends.
• Bought a house!
• Got a dog. She’s the cutest pup in the world!
• Had great jobs – and still do.
• Discovered hidden talents.
• Got to know myself better.

There it is, a short list of my last decade. It was a great decade, I had a blast! Hope you did too.

:o)

No Caffeine = Massive Headaches

Another major December event: I have officially given up caffeine. This means that somehow my life will go on without the following items:

Picture from Lemon Toast

I am actually not a coffee drinker - I know, ironic since I am Brazilian - my drug of choice from Starbucks is a Vanilla, Soy, No Water, Chai. OMG! It is so good. But, no more!

Picture from Zetson

I believe the above picture needs no explanation. Oh so sad.

Now, if you've ever been addicted to this drug like I currently am, you know that by living without the pictured items above I am agreeing to live with a massive, pounding, horrible, blinding, I could keep going, but you get the point, HEADACHE!

I've been clean for 4 full days. The headache is becoming bearable. Somehow, life will go on.

:o)

Cookie Exchange and Christmas Decorations

December was such an exciting month, I can't believe it is almost over. I have tons of things to share, thus why you are about to read a very long post.

First order of business: Let me tell you about this little shindig I had a few weeks ago. I read an awesome blog entry on one of my favorite blogs ever, Design*Sponge about a Cookie Exchange. (If you'd like to read about my inspiration, please click here. Note that this entry was written by one of Design*Sponge's guest bloggers, Ashley English, from Small Measures - also, a great blog - a fellow North Carolinian.)

Back to the point, after I read this entry, I could not stop thinking about this great party idea. Americans are so smart, a whole party revolving around the idea of eating cookies - I love it! So, since I want to blend in as much as possible, I wasted no time in sending my little E-vite to every woman I know who lives within a 30 mile radius.

The party was a success!

17 wonderful ladies brought 4 dozens each of "to-die-for" homemade cookies:

1. Reindeer Delights
2. Peanut Butter Black & Whites
3. Pecan Fingers
4. Coconut Macaroons - MY FAVORITE!!!
5. Reeses Cup Cookies
6. Gingerbread Cookies - Won for Most Creative!
7. Italian Wedding Cookies - My 2nd Favorite!
8. Raisin Drop Cookies - Won Best All Around! Way to go Grace!
9. Sugar Cookies with Butter Cream Frosting
10. Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate, Peanut Butter Chips & Pecans
11. Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies - Won for the Best Story of Why You Made These Particular Cookies
12. Graham Cracker Treats
13. Glazed Butter Cookies - My Cookies. I got this recipe from another blog I follow, Lottie + Doof, it was part of their 12 Days of Christmas cookie recipes. 
14. Inside Out Chocolate Cookies
15. Ginger Snaps
16. Creme de Mint Squares
17. Christmas Biscotti

If you are ever looking for a new kind of party to throw, this is such a great an easy party to host, and at the end of it, you end up with tons of cookies to enjoy.

Here are the details:

• On the E-vite I explained the rules: 4 dozens each, has to be homemade, and please bring a container to take cookies home.
• I had plenty of non-sugary snacks for guests to munch on: a platter with a large variety of cheeses, nuts, dried fruits, spreads, crackers and bread. 
• To drink we had coffee, hot tea, chocolate milk, and Mulled Cranberry Wine. 
• After guests mingled and ate plenty of goodies, we went around and shared why we chose to make the cookies we brought. Then we tried a little bit from every cookie so that we could vote for the Best Cookie. I'm very competitive, so there was no way I was going to have a bake off without prizes.
• After all winners were awarded (Christmas ornaments, to stay with the Christmas theme) everyone went around the table and collected 3-4 cookies from each platter.

It was so fun! Oh, and of course, it helped a lot that I finished decorating the house for Christmas about 30 minutes before the first guest arrived ;o)

A few shots of the fireplace and mantel.





The fat Christmas tree we picked out - I love fat trees!





Our pup sleeping by tree, isn't she adorable? And a detail shot from the tree.


In the kitchen I decorated the window ledge above the sink and the chandelier.

Soon I will post about the rest of my crazy, fun December. Stay tuned!

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!
See you in 2010!

:o)

Asheville - My Heaven in NC!

Asheville, NC holds a very dear place in my heart. There are so many things that make this city an amazing place: amazing restaurants, awesome art, great people, Windy Gap, drum circles, amazing local breweries, breath taking mountains, and as you can see, I could go on for pages.

I just wanted to take the time to share with the few of you who read the crazy things I sporadically post on this blog,  a few pictures I've taken this Fall and Winter while I visited Asheville.

The Blue Ridge Parkway in September:

Windy Gap, a Young Life camp in Weaverville, right outside of Asheville. This is where I met my hubby, 6 and 1/2 years ago. These were taken last week.

Our Save the Date for our wedding, was taken at the bench above.

Every time I go to Asheville, I have to eat at Doc Chey's. In my opinion, best noodle restaurant ever!

Here are a few links for you to check out, if you'd like to know more about these places:

• The Blue Ridge Parkway
• Windy Gap - Young Life
• Doc Chey's 

Things I Am Thankful for:

And, thank you Wordle.net for helping me create the Word Art above.

Happy Thanksgiving!