Silly things for a silly blogger

I was checking my e-mail last week when I stumbled upon something that made my day.

Thank you to April, from twomatthewsers, for sending me this: (!)

Now, she fully disclosed that the practice of awarding another blogger this award is silly.

She even acknowledged that the recipients that she chose might simply want to ignore this 'silly' practice.

....

It's silly, right?

....

Just like this:

C'mon. Don't you love a shell with shoes?

Well, I'm silly. And I personally LOVED that she thought highly enough of my silly blog to send this on over!

So I'm taking it, and I'm sending it on!

As a part of this award, I must reveal seven things about myself. A bit of a 'get to know the real me' if you will:

1) I kiss my dog on my lips. Actually, they might be called jowls. Jowls, anyone? That picture is not of Roo. Roo's jowls are much nicer. Sorry, dog.

2) I smell everything.
Food to dog breath, I'm there.

3) I'm not stylish. I live in yoga pants/jeans and basic/solid t's of varying sleeve lengths. I used to own a few pairs of dressier shoes, but Roo chewed them. I was fine with it. My stylish best friend, Meghan, lives in NYC and I put on stylish outfits when she comes home (she knows that I do this). She's tall and sinewy, and would look good in a plastic bag with popcorn stuffed in it. (?)

4) We're currently in a three offer bidding war over a little house ( under 900 square feet ). Everyone who came to look at it with us kept saying how great it was was as a 'starter home'. That's not how we look at it. We like little.

(This isn't it- but how charming is this?!)

5) I grew up without cable television, and I actually can't stand having it. I'm guilty of watching now and then (we get it for free because of where we live), but I cannot wait until we move out and finally eliminate cable. It drives me nuts. Commericals are horrendous.

6) I'm really proud of my brother. He's going to Vanderbilt University to get his PhD on a full scholarship. He probably doesn't LOVE that I throw it around like this, because he's really modest about his accomplishments. But he's not just incredibly smart, he's much more interesting:


See?

7) I'm going back to school for........nursing.  Everyone I tell usually responds by saying how great the pay is with shift work. But the truth is, I have no desire to be a hospital staff nurse. I have a feeling that I will work in a small clinic. I have a feeling that I will make less money than I do as a babysitter (I don't care). Nurses are often seen in the acute care setting, and with the onslaught of medical tv dramas, it's easy to think of nurses as constantly in intense, life or death situations. I'm hoping my days will be filled with taking vitals, talking to people about prevention, and getting to know patients as they grow. Some would say it's boring, but that's what makes the field of nursing so cool. There is a spot for everyone.

Now, onto more pressing matters. I get to GIVE ten awards!

1.To Make Love Stay an open and honest look at married life... colorful tattoos and a beautiful dog, too

2.Along Route 65 latebloomerlikeme(or just on time)

3.lamidge wonderful pet advice, charity etsy shop

4. Away We Go charming, silly, day to day reflections of a young family with two adorable kiddos

5. 20- Something Homemaker young wife/homemaker...lovely little blog

6.My (Newly)Wed Life This is Ana. She's dear. I love her and her blog. I also owe her a guest post that is so long overdue.  She's a brave girl from Brazil.

7. Our Semi Organic Life awesome menu plans, great budget tips, helpful green living tips

8.Life. Faith. Fully. FOOD. (andmore. but the food!)

9.Sun is Shining when you're feeling like life has got you down, come check this out

10. I'm breaking the rules. Can you help me nominate #10? I can't decide....

I'll be sending an e-mail out to the bloggers listed here in a bit...it will have more information in the event that you'd like to play along.

Your friend,

the stylish blogger

Eating Well on Sixty: 5/22-5/28

I could easily spend an entire paycheck at the store each week. Sometimes I make excuses to go to Whole Foods when I really don't need to. Luckily, Brett is quite good at knowing when we really do need to, and when I'm just having WF hallucinations. (That alone probably saves us close to $1000 each year).But now that new school bills are looming in the very near future, it's time to get serious. And since I couldn't find many $60 meal plans that were healthy, delicious and vegetarian, I decided that I would create my own. Armed with three $20 bills, we will eat. And we will eat well.

Well folks. Quite a bit has changed since we've last met.  Let's make it short and sweet:

• I like Sunday thru Saturday better, because Sunday is our new day to shop.
• I'm no longer eating eggs. Why? It's a secret. I'm not being obsessive over eggs that may be in a baked good that I might (rarely) eat from a bakery, but eggs are no longer in the meal rotations. (If you're wanting to know, you can e-mail me and I'll tell you. But if you love your eggs and you don't care why I stopped, then just ignore this!)
• I'm challenging myself to absolutely TOP out at $60. Our goal is to average $50 per week.
• I am currently trying to tone down my eating habits. I've found that as the stress level goes up, so does my scale. I am a stress eater. I need to learn to eat when I'm hungry, and not when I'm fussy and cranky.
• I'm going back to school- starting tomorrow- which means most dinners will be made ahead on Sunday to ensure that we're still eating well even when I'm cramming.

This week, for $44.87, this is what we are eating:

Breakfast

-oatmeal with raisins and walnuts

-toast with peanut butter and fruit

-greek yogurt/granola/berry parfait

Lunch

Most days, leftovers from dinner will be eaten the next day as lunch. Other days, these are what I rotate in:

-veggie burger veggie wrap with veggies and slice of cheese

-baby green salad with green peppers, tofu

-tofurkey deli slices (buy on sale and freeze! this is a treat!) on homemade rustic bread, fruit, slice of cheese, carrots or celery

Dinner

Sunday

-sweet potato, kale, mushroom quinoa dish

Monday

-pasta with veggie blast sauce, rustic bread, and salad

Tuesday

-teriyaki tofu, steamed edamame, brown rice and salad

Wednesday

-white bean kale soup with rustic bread and cheese

I didn't take this picture because I eat too fast. But that's what it looks like, and our rustic bread looks just like the bread in the picture. Ohhh...it's so yummy. The recipe calls for spinach, but I'm a kale kid myself.

 Thursday

-bbq tempeh sandwich on rustic, cuke sticks, and salad

Friday

-pizza on homemade dough with salad

Saturday

-rice and beans with avocado, homemade cilantro salsa, and baked tortilla strips

Snacks/Treats

-popcorn with parmesan cheese and spices

-greek yogurt with grapes

-mini smoothies with frozen fruit

Last Week

Four Rooms, A Lilac, and a Nuke Plant

I've been away.

I'm not sick.

I've been keeping a secret.

It's an exciting secret, but I'm not getting excited.

Roo is excited. I told her not to get her hopes up, but you know how mutts can be.

Today, we found out that someone else wants it just as much as we do.

We're in a controlled state of panic.


So we're trying to keep calm as we get things in order.

Roo is very anxious.


I'm drinking too much coffee.

I know that whatever is meant to be will be.

But I love lilacs, so I'm hoping for the best.

I'll be back when I know more.

With Little House Love,

She Got Married, Too: Caitlin

I love reading about other couples. I love getting a

sneak peak into their lives and seeing how they make their situation work. Some would say that I'm nosy. Which I'm fine with. Because enough people were open enough to take me up on this guest poster series and answer with honesty, heart, and humor.

Enjoy :)

Names: Caitlin and Rob

Ages: (Almost) 25 and (Almost) 26

I live in: Wilton, Maine

Do you blog? (Where can we find you?) About what? I do blog over at http://tomakelovestay.blogspot.com/ and I write about clothes, tattoos, life, and whatever else I see and love.

What do YOU do? I am a software consultant. I travel to colleges and universities all over the country and teach staff, faculty and students how to use a campus management software that my company works with. On the side, I do a bit of semi-amateur-pro photography (weddings, family, engagement shoots, etc.). You can find my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CaitlinAbramsPhotography.

What does HE/SHE do? My husband is an Army veteran who got out of the Army in April 2008 and is currently a junior in college studying Environmental Science.

How long have you been married? We’ve been married for around 9 months, together for a little over 8 years.

How did you meet?We went to high school together and met in 2002 through a mutual friend. We’ve been together consistently for the last 8 years through college, the Army, deployments, and study abroad – it’s been a pretty crazy road so far!

What do you argue about the most? We don’t have any serious arguments as we generally have similar beliefs on the big-ticket items (money, kids, religion, politics) but sometimes I get cranky in the winter and he gets cranky in the summer, so our fights will stem from miscommunication and general crankiness.

Do you have kids? If not, are you planning on them anytime soon? No kids yet, maybe within the next 5 years or so.

No kids? Dogs? Cats? They count. Names? We have a beautiful dog named Cypress who is the prettiest, loveliest, most amazing dog ever. She’s some sort of husky mix.

Who cooks the most? My husband does a lot of the cooking. I supervise and assist, but he does most of the grunt work.

Who cleans the most? Depends on the cleaning type. I sweep, vacuum and organize, my husband cleans the bathroom and kitchen like a madman.

Where do you see yourselves in five years? Still married of course  We’ll probably leave Maine once Rob graduates next year because of the lack of jobs, but we have no idea where exactly we’ll end up. My guess is we’ll have kids and great jobs, though I’m hoping to be able to stay home once we have children.

If you could give an engaged couple any advice (assuming they asked for it), what would it be?

Make sure the person you’re marrying is your best friend.  Don’t listen to anyone else’s opinions; as long as you’re happy everything will go just fine. This goes for your wedding and for life in general.

I was supposed to post Caitlin's post last week, but ...I'm behind, so here she is! She's yet another example of the really cool people you can meet as a blogger. Also-Cypress is quite beautiful and she wants to be friends with my Roo, I think.

They ALSO got married!:
Ana
Heleen
Meghan
Justine

Eating Well on Sixty: 5/5-5/12

I could easily spend an entire paycheck at the store each week. Sometimes I make excuses to go to Whole Foods when I really don't need to. Luckily, Brett is quite good at knowing when we really do need to, and when I'm just having WF hallucinations. (That alone probably saves us close to $1000 each year).But now that new school bills are looming in the very near future, it's time to get serious. And since I couldn't find many $60 meal plans that were healthy, delicious and vegetarian, I decided that I would create my own. Armed with three $20 bills, we will eat. And we will eat well.


I've been missing. In all fairness, it's been crazy. I'm starting school (again) in TWO weeks, so I've been trying to get everything in order and ready.

This week, we spent $70. Last week we spent $65, and the week before that we spent $44. So- we're right on target. Also, I have a confession. Whenever we have ''extra'' money leftover from our budget (be it an side job or extra hours or whatever), we usually spend the money on food things. Not stuff we NEED, but stuff we like. For example, this week, we spent an extra $30 on extra jars of our favorite organic peanut butter, some flowers, and some ridiculouslygood soy cherry chocolate chip ice cream. But, this menu IS based around our grocery list, meaning you can do it for $60.  

Breakfast

-egg white scramble with tomato and  basil, english muffin

-oatmeal with raisins and walnuts, egg white omelet
-toast with peanut butter and fruit

Lunch

Most days, leftovers from dinner will be eaten the next day as lunch. Other days, these are what I rotate in:

-baby green salad with green peppers, tofu

-tofurkey deli slices (buy on sale and freeze! this is a treat!) on homemade rustic bread, fruit, slice of cheese, carrots or celery

Dinner
Friday

-Veggie Paella (Delicious as leftovers- a nice change from our usual pizza on Friday. The recipe is from THIS book that I got on clearance for $2 @ Barnes & Noble)

Saturday

-Pizza (to celebrate my Mawma's 50th birthday!)

Sunday

-Spaghetti squash with spicy peanut sauce (I got this recipe from THIS book, and I love it. Brett loved this as well, so it's big-guy approved.)

Monday

-BBQ tofu with cauliflower au gratin, cucumuber sticks, and salad

Tuesday

-Pasta with salad

 Wednesday

-Tempeh walnut salad with lime and cilantro, rustic bread

Thursday

-Spicy quinoa stuffed peppers, potato coins, and salad (This recipe is taken from Moosewood Classics. I've been using this book a lot, and I've renewed it quite a few times from the library. Maybe I should find myself one for keeps.)

Snacks/Treats

-popcorn with parmesan cheese and spices

-greek yogurt with grapes
-mini smoothies with frozen fruit

Last Week (There's a missing week. I was sick.)

I love you for reading, eat well this week!

xoxoxo