gnocchi

This edition (sort of) of OhMyGoshIHaveToHave

A few weekends ago I made gnocchi. I was fun but it would have been more fun if I'd had these two bad boys:

via amazon.com: gnocchi board & potato ricer

And to show how fully obsessed my brain apparently is with these things I had a dream last night about going to the library and being told these had recently come in, used but in good condition of course, and would I like to buy them. The library selling anything!?! The library selling kitchen tools!?! Well that's what happened in my dream anyway. And crazily enough I didn't even buy them in my dream, I think it was because even though they were used they were asking too much.  Stupid library!

high five for friday

So my Mom came and went. It was fabulous! It was so amazing that it felt like a vacation, and I was home! So it's really sad to see her gone. And hard to get back to reality. Oh and did I mention my reality now officially involves moving (and packing)!?! And throw in a really early morning workshop one day, a huge work event over two other days, and hubby being on call all this week. So while I've been doing a lot there's not a whole lot to share for this week's high five for friday. (And very little packing having been done.)

I'll leave you with some good stuff, which apparently is almost all about stores/corporations. Does that make my life pathetic? 

1. Trader Joe's. It was officially announced that they'll be coming to our little town some time next year. I am so excited it's not even funny. (And I've never lived somewhere where they've had a location. My time there has only been when I'm on vacation. And forced hubby/family/friends to take me there.) I'm already thinking of the things I can buy from this amazing place and they haven't even broken ground!

2. My new clothes (still). So I've only worn two pieces my Mom got me. And I totally love them. I not only feel like a million bucks wearing them but it makes me think of my Mom too!

 3. Home Decor Love. Home Goods is opening a store this Sunday in my town. I am SO excited. Did I mention I'm moving. That's right: beloved home store + I'm moving and need new stuff = love. I'm a little afraid how my adventures there will go over the next few days. Do I buy something now? Or can I have the will power to wait until we've officially moved? 

  

4. Publix Bakery's Apple Pie. Hubby went to the store to get food for dinner. And he came back with that, and an apple crumb pie. So good. We so didn't need it but I'm not going to lie, it's been a highlight of my day to have this as dessert!

via Anne Taintor

5. (Not) Packing. So I know I need to. I really do know I need to. But I hate packing/moving and I've found about every excuse not to most of this week. Some have been more valid/legit than others. But even when I'm actually motivated (it happens) I get so easily distracted, this happens all the time. I'll go get this from the other room and then do that. I get into the other room and totally space. So then I go on my way to something else, more likely than not not packing related.

always believe

Somewhere along the way I found a quote very similar to this (it's out there in many different versions and forms) and it stuck with me. I'm an eternal optimist, no matter how hard I try at times to be otherwise (like when I'm mad). This is kind of my mantra.

via Pinterest, original source unknown

fall shopping

So what's better than spending time with your Mom? Well when your Mom insists on buying things for you! A trip to the mall with intentions of buying something good must include a visit to Loft. (Or so goes my thinking) I've talked about my ... fear resistance/hesitation to "fashionable" things so it's hard for me to go into a store and see things I like. (Forget about thinking "Can I afford that?!") But Loft is one store that I tend to like at least some of their items. While I can't afford much there without a discount it's good quality items that will last for a while so it's worth whatever investment I can put into it.

Anyway, after an experience that felt like a much improved (and genuinely fun) "shopping with Mom for new school clothes" adventure I walked out with a very full bag of great things. To mix it up I thought I'd give you a digital fashion show of my goodies! 

              Slub Cotton Tee

Donegal Tweed Shift Skirt

These two were bought to be an outfit! So picture something like this when it's put together.

via stylishpetite.com

(Actually this was the top I wanted for this outfit but they were out in my size.)

Peacock Print Peplum Hem Shell

My Mom and I both bought this top. I think it's the first time in maybe a decade that's happened. It's cute on both of us but looks totally different on each of us. Funny how clothes can be that way. I'm actually wearing this top right now. Super cute!

Ribbed Trim Open Cardigan (mine's purple)

There's something about wearing new clothes, you feel like you look like a million bucks. You also just feel overall better about yourself. I can't say I like knowing my Mom is spending money on me but I do like having new clothes and making her happy all at the same time. As one of my favorite female tv characters say, "win win"! (That'd be Kate from Fairly Legal)

P.S. I've now realized Loft pulls the same crazy promotional games as other stores such as The Limited. Saturday at the store select full priced items and all sale items were 50% off. Sunday I found out via Facebook that ALL full priced items were 40% off. So we went back Sunday and returned/exchanged the full priced items to get that 40% discount! 

It's not exactly fun but be careful of the ongoing sales at stores. You may purchase something at a good price and turn around and realize within a few days you could have gotten an even better price for it!

high five for friday

Happy Friday everyone! I'm sort of cheating today, I've taken the day off of work and I'm enjoying my extended weekend for one very important reason: my Mom is visiting! She flew in last night and I'm trying to enjoy every moment I have with her. So I'm being lazy with my high five for friday and instead of making a pretty collage of everything together I'm doing it the lazy girl version for this go round. But also because this one is REALLY random, more so than usual. The pictures aren't .... pretty or what anyone else in their right mind would put on a blog. Anyway, here's the highlights of my week. 

via hoganstand.com

1. Hurling. You've never heard of it but it's essentially the national sport of Ireland. Hubby happens to love and play it, but nothing along the lines of these pros. Anyway, the All Ireland Finals were Saturday and we watched it online with friends. They tied, after an amazing game, and to settle it they're planning a whole other game to determine who the winner will be!

bad picture via my iphone

 2. Crazy Sleeper. {sorry for the bad picture!} Apparently in my quest to be comfortable and just right while sleeping I violently banged into hubby's foot, with my foot, and we both woke up in pain! It's really pathetic to have an injury that you caused yourself AND that you weren't even conscious of doing because you were asleep when it happened! But I look down and laugh (sort of) every time I see that cut!

via Walmart.com 

{that's where I bought it for less than $2, just FYI}

3. The Works. It's a miracle cleaner.I know this isn't glamorous, in fact it's kind of gross to be discussing. But I'd been battling with my bathroom for years, I'd clean it but it still wasn't clean looking. On a whim I tried this bad boy from online suggestions and to my surprise it removed that ickyness that wouldn't go away with bleach or other cleaners. Apparently it was hard water or ruse or something. Because my bathroom is now sparkling clean!

via etsy seller DigitalThings

4&5. Mom visiting. My Mom is one of the best people in the entire world. She's clearly the best Mom ever though. I may be biased. But my bias is why this is taking up TWO spaces, because my Mom is just that amazing. And me seeing her is just that amazing.

I heart Costco (samples)

So I may have mentioned this in the last High Five For Friday but because I'm a nerd and clearly loved my Costco trip too much I wanted to share the whole story. 


Last Friday hubby and I took the day off from our respective offices and took an early weekend. We were kind of lazy but at the same time went around town running errands and things at our own pace. Hubby decided he wanted gas in his truck so we went to Costco. I said we had to go inside, I came up with some excuse. Half of our city seemed to be there, it was a FRIDAY, what was up with that?! And they had full all out weekend level samples going on. I wasn't complaining but it seemed odd. I mean I know it was the day before the start of a long weekend but most people don't take an extra day off. Most of the world is working while they had these samples going, or so I thought. Oh boy was I wrong, well clearly since so many people were there. 

Anyway, the most amazing part: the insanely amazing and plentiful samples! They had samples of their pumpkin pie, apple pie (best apple pie I've ever had), key lime pie, oreos, and chocolate pudding! Those are only the desserts I sampled, I had no mind for savory things (seeing as we'd just come from eating lunch before heading to Costco). So amazing! This will live in infamy as the best Costco trip ever, or at least the best sample selection. 

Yes I made this graphic myself, to accurately show my love.

Going around Costco and enjoying the experience, that includes samples, is just so much fun for me. Hubby feels otherwise and just wants to go in, laser on to what we need, and then go. So it was a nice break to be able to enjoy the amazingness that is Costco for once.


* Again, I got nothing to write this. In fact Costco probably has no clue I exist beyond my yearly membership and random purchases with them. So clearly I wrote this all on my own, because I love Costco, and for no other reason. Just to be clear. :)

intial necklace

So I'm a little bit obsessed with elephants, only if they have their trunks up and look cute. I grew up being told that an elephant with it's trunk up is good luck. And I'm always okay with anything that will help me in the good luck department. My friends know this and gift me with elephants of all shapes, sizes, colors, and materials. I've run out of room for them, seriously! I've got an elephant lamp on my office desk, an antique (well old'ish and from my family) bronze elephant on my work desk also, an elephant bag that I carry my lunches into work, elephant ornaments, an elephant plant holder, you get the point. The latest craze is initials/monograms. Every TV show I turn on and watch seems to have a female character with a subtle and simple, yet stunning initial necklace on. I WANT this! But I've had a hard time finding one in white gold or white material that looks appealing (and that won't break/crack/somehow die in three seconds or less), forget about pricing. So I'm on the lookout for one, because eventually I will have one around my neck!

And look what I stumbled upon!

by etsy seller cocowagner

Some other pretty (but way out of my bank account level priced) necklaces

by etsy seller GaudyBaubles 

by maxandchloe

Danielle Stevens Jewelry from couturecandy.com

high five for friday

1. I heart Costco samples. The end. :)
2. Mustache! While leaving the parking lot of a great restaurant I looked ahead and saw this in front of me. I had to take a picture and share this.
3. Craigslist. Well it's great, but this is specifically about their rentals section. 
4. Pinterest. Again, another of my loves but this time I'm calling out my love of their home decor section. I've been looking on that for lots of inspiration. Why? See #4...
5. One tired pup. I'll save the story for another post but look at this cutie pie fast asleep. We had an adventure, that's for sure!

greek pita pizza

I love to bake and cook. Cookbooks are wonderful but there's also so many wonderful recipes and inspiration that is simply a click away on the interwebs. There's also nothing better than finding a recipe that's so wonderful you can't imagine life without it in your recipe rotation. This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of those recipes. I was desperate to find something new, but easy, with ingredients I already had on hand. You know, when you get creative juices ruining through you that you just have to make something but you don't actually feel like going to the store to pick up any new ingredients. (I have a lot of those moments.)

Anyway, after only a few (more than a few but less than a half hour) minutes on pinterest I found such a recipe. (Spoiler alert, the title revealed the actual recipe.)

Greek Pita Pizza! 



Warning: bad photo! Recipe via Pink Parsley

It's so simple yet so wonderful and it was really easy to put together. It's not a difficult recipe, more of an insipration for your own recipe. So I took the version from Pink Parsley and twisted it for me.

Ingredients
6 large pitas (I used Tofuyan Large Pitas)
Hummus (2/3 recipe of quick and easy hummus*)
Kalamata olives, sliced
1/2 a red onion, sliced thin
Feta cheese, crumbled (I used reduced fat feta)
Italian cheese (I used the 4 Cheese Reduced Fat Italian mix from Sargento)
Garlic powder
Extra virgin olive oil (or oil of your choosing)
Any other topping(s) of your choosing

Preheat oven to 450-475 degrees. Brush both sides of pitas with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder. Place pitas in a single layer on the baking sheet(s). I had to use two baking sheets to fit all of the pitas. Bake pitas for about 5 minutes, until slightly crispy. 

Spread hummus on each pita, to your own preference. I used about 1-2 tablespoons hummus on each pita, just enough to have a decent amount on each pita. This is the sauce of your pizza so you can make it as think or thick of a layer as you like.  

Sprinkle chopped olives and red onions on each pita, to your own taste. In my house we love onions so we loaded those up. (The second time I made these, well Hubby actually did, we had red peppers on hand and added those, great addition!) Add a tablespoon or so of your Italian cheese, but you're more than welcome to add more cheese if you want. Bake the pitas for 5-10 minutes, or hower long it takes for the cheese to melt. Let your pita pizas cool and enjoy! 

Since knowing the nutrition of what I'm going to eat makes me really happy I'll share my highly unscientific guesstimate:
Serving: 1 Greek Pita Pizza; Calories: 282; Fat: 8.2g; Carbohydrates: 38.7g; Protein: 14.2g
Diabetic Exchange Guesstimate: 1 fat, 2 protein, 2.75 carbohydrates

* Quick and Easy Hummus
Ingredients
1 can chickpeas/garbonzo beans
1 lemon
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
Salt, pepper, seasonings to taste

Drain chickpeas and place into a food processor. Roughly chop the garlic and place in the food processor as well. Pour olive oil and sprinkle salt to taste in the processor. Slice lemon in half and squeeze each half into chickpeas. (TIP: Take a pair of kitchen tongs and place lemon half inside the tongs, use the 'arms' for assistance squeeze out the juice without any real effort on your part.) Mix the food processor until your hummus is your desired consistency. If it's too thick just add more liquid, either more lemon juice or olive oil or the bean juices or even water. Enjoy! 

cuteness

Sometimes you just need to see adorable animals just being their cute selves. Hence why I have a "cuteness" board on Pinterest. Anyway, I found this yesterday and it's so amazing I have to share it with you guys! Seriously, this is so amazing stop reading and just watch!!!