Christina Perri.

The Christina Perri song Jar of Hearts is playing everywhere right now. There are parts in the radio version where I think her voice doesn't sound all that great, mainly when she's kind of talk singing at the beginning. Then there are other parts where I thought it was beautiful. I youtubed her and she has her own channel where she posts videos of herself at home singing covers of other songs and they're amazing.

I particularly loved these two songs and I heard you can buy this session on itunes but I don't know because I started to refuse to download new versions of itunes about 5 versions ago. Her album is due out in May for which she just released the first single, Arms.

What I Wore Wednesday.

I couldn't bare to crop out my shower wall. Love it. 

I usually don't participate in What I Wore Wednesday at The Pleated Poppy because I've already done What I Love Wednesday and I generally don't double post (I don't want to blow up everyone's feed). Plus, I'm lazy and always wear the same thing - jeans and a cardi. I am not 100% positive but I believe the idea behind it is for stay at home moms to get dressed up for themselves, to get out of their pajamas, and to look cute throughout the week. I'm definitely not a stay at home mom but as I am not working, I'm definitely a stay at home something. Fur mom? Student? I don't know. Anyway, since Jake is gone and I'm bored I went to get takeout and actually got dressed up (aka I need to do laundry). I thought today I would double post and show you guys my outfit. The linkup always seems fun so I figured it'd be nice to participate for once.

These are some of my favorite shoes that I own. 

Cardigan: Handed down from my sister

Dress: H&M

Tights: H&M

Shoes: Ross find
I'd tell you the brand but I used to wear them so much there are no identifiable markings on them anywhere anymore. 

Necklace: I made it. The tutorial is here.

What I Love Wednesday, Number Four.

1. Hedgehog Towel by Pata Pri.
2. Vintage California Pottery Console Bowl at Iones Attic.
3. I'm Sew Very Happy Print by Love Sugar.
4. Rapunzel Handbag by Enchanted Squirrel.
5. Skeleton Cameo Ring by Saylor Rose.
6. Eco Ballerina Flats in Lime Green by The Generation.
7. Aqua Daisies Organic Cotton Sateen by Wonder Fluff Shop.
8. Superior Servers by Ladies and Gentlemen.

I especially love the skeleton cameo and the Rapunzel bag, they both have so much personality.

The other thing I'm loving is awesome old Rockola jukeboxes. I don't necessarily have anywhere to put one but that doesn't mean I don't want one anyway. I love how they look when they're all lit up.

You don't actually need to sit through the really dumb commercial since the still is of a lit up Rockola.

Our Dog is Driving me INSANE.

Jewelsy and Rocky cuddling on my chair. That's right, we have no furniture yet so we sit on blankets. 

Jake is at Fort Carson in Colorado for his evals so I'm home alone cuddling with Jewels, eating Oriental Top Ramen, drinking tea and teaching myself to knit. By cuddling with Jewels I really mean that she's running around like a crazy person whose best friend is missing until I tell her to lay down and then she lays right on me and almost breaks my sternum, crazy dog. I swear she has panic attacks anytime Jake leaves so I bought her some new doggy treats today to try to cheer her up.

Idaho Finger Steaks & Cocktail Sauce.

Have you heard of finger steaks? I hadn't until I met Jake. From what I've heard, "they're an Idaho thing." People think of potatoes when they think of Idaho, but according to Idahoans, we should be thinking of finger steaks. These things are one of Jake's favorite foods ever, I mean, as soon as we moved to Idaho this is the first thing we had to go get.

After several trips to the local diner for finger steaks I decided I would make them myself. Jake was pretty dubious about my finger steak making abilities. I looked around on the internet until I found the supposed original recipe from the Torch Cafe in Boise.

The batter is really thick and smells delicious. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. salt (all of the comments recommend to skip this step or it ends up too salty, I skipped it)
2 Tbs. seasoned salt
3/4 Tbs. Worcestershire
2 1/2 c. flour
oil for deep frying
3 lbs. beef tenderloin cut into small strips

Mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Slowly mix in flour until you have a nice thick batter. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Heat oil in a pot. You don't have to use a lot, just enough to completely cover the strips of meat. I heated mine to medium, if the oil is too hot it'll cook the meat too quickly and burn it.

Cover the strips in batter, gently set in the bottom of the pot to cook. Be sure to wear long sleeves so the oil that splatters won't burn you. Cook them in small batches so they don't stick together. It takes about 5 min. per batch.

I ended up cutting larger pieces with a knife and going back and cutting them into smaller strips with scissors.

Now, if you're going to have finger steaks you must also have either bbq or cocktail sauce. Jake wanted cocktail sauce so I decided to try my hand at making that as well.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. grated horseradish root (I just used creamy horseradish I had in the fridge)
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. fresh lemon juice
6 Tbs. ketchup

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and refrigerate. Adjust the amount of horseradish to your tastes.

I asked if these were as good as the ones from the restaurant and Jake just nodded as his mouth was stuffed with finger steaks. He's been asking me to make more ever since, definitely a keeper.

Fabric at Spoonflower.

Are any of you awesome artists who want to make your own fabrics? Apparently you can at Spoonflower. I was just wandering around online looking for pretty fabrics and somehow wound up at Spoonflower which has thousands of beautiful fabrics designed by many different people.

Honey Bears by Heidi Kenney.

Seafoam and Red Armadillo by Holli Zollinger.

 

Daisies Sunny Yellow by Zesti.

 

The Woodland Beat by Kiddins. 

You can even search by color, which is awesome for quilting, and purchase in many different quantities. They also offer different fabric types. Even if you aren't going to purchase anything, it's really fun to look and play around. 

Tropical Tenderloin.

I bought this giant 3 lb. beef tenderloin to make finger steaks for Jake (more on that Tuesday). I used about half of it for the finger steaks and I'll probably end up making more but I needed something for dinner last night so I found a "tropical" marinade recipe online and made that. The only problem was that I didn't have some of the ingredients so I just subbed in whatever I happened to have.

1 c. vegetable broth
3/4 c. orange juice
1/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. pineapple juice (I didn't have any so I left this out)
3 Tbs. packed brown sugar
3 Tbs. lime juice (I used fresh lemon instead)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbs. minced ginger
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. rum extract (I subbed 3 Tbs. Malibu Rum)
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
8 4 oz. beef tenderloin medallions

* I think this would be nice with a little bit of coconut flavoring as well.

Mix all ingredients together in medium bowl. Put meat in a Ziploc bag or small dish, add about 2 c. of the marinade, let sit in fridge for two or more hours. Put aside the leftover marinade to be used for basting.

Cook on the grill (be sure to spray with non stick cooking spray) for 8 to 10 min per side, basting occasionally. I ended up cooking mine in a skillet since we left the grill in Utah. I'm pretty sure that was Jake's sneaky way of getting a new grill. I cooked them on medium for about the same amount of time, maybe a little bit longer and I did baste them.

The marinade was super delicious (I tasted it since I don't eat meat but was curious how it would taste) so I decided to make it into a fruity gravy. I put about a cup of marinade into a small skillet over low heat and added cornstarch (you can mix the cornstarch with water first so it doesn't clump up in your marinade) or you could add flour. Start off with just a little bit and be sure to whisk it asap. Add more cornstarch until you reach your desired thickness. With this particular marinade it was delicious but I wouldn't recommend it with a marinade made mostly of soy. Yuck. Just spoon the thickened marinade over the meat and serve.

Jake devoured this in 3 minutes flat. I'm not even joking. I've never seen him eat anything so quickly. He said he thinks he'd prefer the marinade on a different cut of meat better though, or maybe on chicken. Overall, it's definitely a keeper and something we'll be eating in the future.

Yarn and Felt Headbands.

I own every color of thread but grey. Time to remedy that. 

I've been wearing flowers in my hair for years. I don't want to sound like a hipster by saying that they were my favorite before anyone else had ever heard of them but I definitely recall getting more than a few strange looks and compliments. I'd go to to the craft store and buy fake flowers, disassemble them, and reassemble them with a headband attached. I love flowers so much I'll probably still be wearing them and surrounding myself with them when I'm 80.

My older brother asked me a few weeks ago if I'd make some flower headbands for his girlfriend before I go visit in April. I will probably make a few the way I normally do but I wanted to try some with yarn as well. I don't like headbands that pinch behind my ears or hurt my head after wearing them for a few hours. I thought, a band made of yarn would be a nice soft change. I crocheted 3 separate 22 inch strands of the very basic chain stitch. You can actually do this stitch with just your fingers. We used to make hemp bracelets with it in middle school. Then I braided the strands together just like I do my hair. After braiding, the strand of yarn is roughly 20 inches, which seems to be the circumference of my head. I then just tied the ends together (or you could glue them) to make the headband. Be sure to make it a little tighter than you normally would as the yarn stretches.

I'm not glaring at you, I promise. Just checking the camera in the mirror. 

Then just glue or sew on anything you'd like. I chose to make flowers from felt. Or you could just leave the yarn as is without any further embellishments, it looks really cute plain too.

I love this because it takes almost no time to make and can be made to suit many different tastes. I want to make one for my niece and Jake's niece. Any idea how big around little kid heads are?

And just for kicks, here is my favorite photo of my older brother and I. Isn't he sweet having his sister make him some headbands for the girlfriend on the down low?

My Awesome New Spice Jars.

I posted a few weeks ago about how when we moved my spices disappeared. Most of our boxes have been unpacked and all of them have been searched. I'm fairly certain the spices were left in Utah. Sad. I had one coupon for $1 off any McCormick spice. Other than that, I was going to have to shell out the money to replace them. I went to the grocery store to confirm that spices do indeed cost anywhere from $2 to $8 for a little bottle. That is ridiculous. I used my coupon and bought a couple random off brand spices but knew that I would eventually need more. I do want to start an herb garden but I'm not there yet so I still have to buy them from the store.

After I grabbed my few spices I walked down the aisle and noticed that at the end of the aisle that has Mexican and Asian food items there was a display that housed big packages of dried peppers and guess what!? It also has these little packages of herbs. I know I've passed them all the time and never even thought about it. This time I took a closer look and realized that in addition to some Mexican spices there were lots of my regular favorites, Thyme, Nutmeg, Paprika, Italian Seasonings, Allspice, etc. It was all there for 83 cents per bag. Seriously, 83 freaking cents. On a side note, in the past, I did buy some spices at WinCo in the bulk section but we don't have a WinCo here. The closest one is over an hour away.

The only problem with this is, the bags aren't resealable and they're a little awkward to use. I looked all over etsy for cute jars and didn't really find anything I was in love with. There are sellers on etsy who sell spices in jars but I don't want to pay for spices I'll never use. I want to pick and choose exactly which ones I want. Anyway, I needed little jars and after looking in the local thrift shops I came up with nada. Then I remembered some jam my sister gave me last year in these cute little canning jars. I went to Bi-Mart and picked some up. They're the perfect size and they even come with cute little labels.

I think with the cost of the spices and the jars I came out to about what I would've spent if I had bought them prepackaged but I can use the jars over and over which makes them better for the environment and my budget.

I have these jars from Ikea and they would work great too, I just don't like how the lids sometimes screw on funny. They're great for holding my craft embellishments though.

Even though I technically posted this on Thursday, I'm still going to link up over on The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday since I think it fits the criteria, minus the Friday part of course.

What I Love Wednesday Number Three.

1. Gray Gardens Apron.
2. Winking Wisecracker Jar.
3. Tea and Crumpets Apron.

I have a beautiful apron that I love but it's just a half apron, you know, a pretty skirt. Anyway, I love it for baking but sometimes when I'm cooking on the stove I'd like an apron that covers my shirt as well. I'm just having a tough time deciding between these two from Anthropologie. I was just there the other day and picked up some cute bowls and the peacock plate I had been wanting. I hadn't realized they sold aprons until I was confronted with a giant rack of them. I didn't pick one up that day, I'm still mulling over which one to get. I did however learn that, at least in Boise, Anthro does their markdowns for sale items on Tuesdays. I'll definitely be taking advantage of that little piece of knowledge in the future. I am in love with that cookie jar. Although, I rarely bake cookies so I'm not sure I really need a cookie jar.

I picked up this bowl at Antrho for almost half off. I love sales!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

I was in the mood to bake bread the other night but I wanted to try a new recipe so I googled bread recipes and found one for Kalacs (Hungarian Cinnamon Swirl Bread). It was really simple to make and was delicious although it didn't seem any different than just making a basic bread recipe and adding cinnamon, brown sugar, and raisins. I did make some very tiny changes so even though I've already linked the original recipe, I'll repeat the recipe below but with the changes I made.

Ingredients:
4 cups all purpose flour - I used 2 cups all purpose, 2 cups wheat
1/4 c white sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 (.25 oz) packet of dry yeast or 2 1/4 tsp.
1 egg
1/4 c melted butter
1 1/4 c warm milk (110 degrees)
1 t vanilla extract
melted butter for brushing
1 T ground cinnamon - more or less depending on how cinnamony you want it. I think I used more.
1/3 c brown sugar

I made this without a mixer because I don't own a stand or a hand mixer, although I've been pinky promised one for my birthday this year. If you click on the link near the top of the post, there are the original instructions on how to use a stand mixer, not that you couldn't figure it out yourself. You know, when I say mix I mean either by hand or with your mixer, whichever you have.

Mix the warm milk, sugar and yeast together. Set aside while the yeast activates (or wait about 10 minutes before adding other ingredients to your bowl.
Mix egg, vanilla and melted butter into the yeast bowl.
Slowly add in the flour and salt. Continue to mix until you get a doughy consistency. I did this with a whisk. The key is to add the dry ingredients very slowly or else it's very difficult to stir.

Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel and let sit in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours while the dough rises. Some good places are on top of a warm oven, on the counter above the dishwasher or my favorite place - on top of the dryer, while it's on of course. Only problem is, we don't have a dryer right now. Sad.

Once it's risen to about double the original size you'll want to punch it down. Seriously, just punch it a couple times. Sprinkle some flour on your counter and split the dough into two equal parts. This will make you two loaves. If you want to make smaller loaves, split it into 3 or 4 or however many little loaves you want.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle shape. You want it to be about 1/3 in. thick. Mix cinnamon and brown sugar together in a small bowl. Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with the brown sugar/cinnamon mix. Add any other items you'd like (raisins, nuts, etc.) and then roll the dough up, tuck the ends under and place in a greased bread pan. Repeat with the second loaf. Cover with a damp towel and let rise somewhere warm for 45 min.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush tops of loaves with melted butter, then bake until golden brown. The recipe says 30 minutes, mine were good to go in 25 so be sure to check them.

Let cool, cut, and enjoy!

After you eat 80% of it when it's all warm and delicious, slice the rest up and toast in the morning for an awesome breakfast! 

My Beautiful Niece.

My mom (Pau Pau) reading to Lana just like she used to do for all of us.  That's why we're all wicked smart. 

I think my sister has ditched her blog or something. I'm not really sure. I think it's probably more like she's too busy with the baby and doesn't want to try and find the time to write because she'd rather be playing with Lana. That's good and all but that means that pictures of my cute niece are going unposted and this is a travesty. I love that little face. So I've decided to steal a photo of Lana from facebook and post it because I think people deserve to see the cuteness. Okay I lied. I stole two photos. I couldn't narrow it down to just one.

I heard this was the happy face from the first walk in a forward facing carrier thing. Is that the correct baby product terminology?

I don't get to see Lana or my sister very often because we live states and states away from each other but seeing all the photos my sister uploads to facebook is part of what makes my life lovely. 

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Garden of Love Stamps.

{via}

This May, the 19th to be exact, the USPS is coming out with these adorable Garden of Love stamps. I'm going to buy a giant stack of them because they're forever stamps. You know, they're good "forever." I especially like the strawberry one and the yellow one right next to it. They were designed by Jose Ortega who has previously designed for the postal service. For more information click the link under the photo. 


I think keeping in touch with friends and family is really important. And yes, we can do that through email and facebook but those don't mean as much to people as receiving a hand written letter in the mail. I save all of the cards my family sends me because, to me, it means they took the extra time of purchasing or making a card, writing something in it, and going to a postal drop box to drop it off. It shows that they care, and that I'm important to them. I can't wait to send out lots of cards with these cute stamps. 

Our Kitchen!!

Have I mentioned that I love our new kitchen? Well I do. It makes me so incredibly happy. It's huge, I mean, you could dance in it that's how big it is (and I have). It's yellow which happens to be my favorite color and as opposed to our last kitchen, there is a lot of counter space. It's really nice to work in there.

Right outside is a cute little covered patio area where I'm sure Jake will be grilling this summer. Right now we're storing our old fridge until my dad comes to get it. His fridge has been acting up so we're trading him our fridge for a dryer. I've mentioned before that I've saved up enough for a washer but not the dryer. Now we've got it all worked out so I get my washer and dryer and my dad doesn't have to spend so much money on a new fridge. The one we are giving him is fairly new and in great condition.

There is so much cupboard space in the kitchen. It's awesome. There is room for everything. Every bowl, pot, and spoon has a place. There's even a nice big pantry to store my dry foods. Downstairs in the basement is another room for storing home canned foods. 

This is where the table will go once Jake makes it. I can't wait to have a table. When I'm chopping a lot of veggies I prefer to do it sitting down because I'm lazy like that. Right now it's a catch all for empty boxes that need to go to the recycle center. They don't pick up recycling here which makes me kind of sad but that's okay. It's not like it's a long trip to the recycling center. Actually, it's not like it's a long trip anywhere in this town. I'm just happy that there is recycling at all.

More Embroidery Practice.

As previously mentioned, I'm learning to embroider. I have found some cute patterns online but I haven't purchased any yet because our printer isn't set up. In fact, it's not even unpacked. Neither is my glue gun. I'm not sure which box it's in. If I did know, I would have tucked the fabric under and glued it to the back of the hoop for a nice clean look. 

Anyway, while watching The Princess Bride today I decided to get some practice in. I'm not exactly a great artist, or even a decent one. So from now on I've decided to have Jake draw out the designs because he happens to be an amazing artist. However, I kind of love my off kilter utensils. They'll look cute in my kitchen. I used felt for the heart on the other hoop and I really like the traditional feel of it. It reminds me of the craft fairs my mother would drag me to as a child. They weren't the awesome craft fairs like they have now, they were the creepy wooden crafts and scary dolls and there was never any food kind. 

I especially love the border. I love it so much that I basically just want to make a giant hoop of only this. That would look a little ridiculous though, I'm pretty sure. 

I'm also participating in the Find A Friend Friday link party over at Rags to Stitches. I've found that some link parties are a great way to find other blogs that I really enjoy reading and who doesn't like making new blogging friends? Some of the coolest, nicest, and most talented people blog and I love to sit in awe and read about their awesomeness. 

Thrifting.

I decided to check out all of the thrift stores in my new town. Little did I know that there are a lot of them. Well, a lot for how small this town is. The cool thing is that they're all completely different. One specializes in really feminine things like jewelry and teacups, another is straight out of American Pickers and another sells refurbished furniture. It's really cool. The only thing is, these people know exactly what their stuff is worth. I love going to the Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul and picking up finds for a lot less than what I know they could be selling them for. That's a no go in this town. These people are on the ball. There are some other stores in a nearby town and they're of the larger, more well known variety that employ high schoolers so I was able to come across a couple great finds there. I am going to talk Jake into making a Boise trip one day for lunch somewhere yummy and thrifting. I know the lunch part will seal the deal. I can't wait to see what Boise's thrift stores have to offer.

What I Love Wednesday (WILW) Two.

Last week's What I Love Wednesday introduced me to Stephanie from Love. Life. Babies. and guess what, I really like her, she leaves the nicest comments! So I've decided to continue to participate in the hopes of meeting more awesome bloggers. So without further adieu, here are my picks for this week:

1. You and Me Print by Bang Bang You're Thread. (love that shop name!)
2. Paper Leaves Wreath by Sadile.
3. Batman Necklace by Spin Thread.
4. Yarn Flower Headband by Peach Parlor.
5. Pheasants and Peonies Vintage Sofa at Thistle Finch.
6. "That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying, "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you." And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back." - The  Princess Bride.
   As You Wish Linocut by The Big Harumph.
7. Botanique Lace Necklace by White Owl.
8. Modern Abstract Rustic Coffee Table by MSTRF.
9. Woodland Owl Wing Headband by Sleepy King.

The other thing I'm loving is my sweet landlord. She came yesterday to bring us the keys to the backdoor and the rental agreement and ended up staying for well over an hour just hanging out and talking.

This is the move in gift I found upon my arrival, not to mention she left a space heater for me as she knew I wouldn't have any heat the first night.

She also gave us a box full of onions which are the main local crop. If you knew my eating habits then you'd know how excited I was about this. Onions are my favorite food. I don't eat them apple style or anything like that but I do put them in everything I can get away with.