Another self imposed shopping sabatical.

Today I was looking over my last seven months of purchases and have decided I have spent waaay too much. :) Sooo.. this blog is going to turn back into its old self consisting of the items I drool over and love (as well as some purchases). I'll also be blogging a little bit more about our new home and how we're decorating. I hope you stay tuned!

30 percent off at J. Crew

I'm sure 99 percent of you know J. Crew is offering 30 percent of on final sale items if you spend $150.00+

I have a confession.

I'm not loving J. Crew as much as I once did. Maybe it's because my style is becoming a little less preppy and a little more.. I don't know what to describe it at. What I've been buying lately consists of Anthropologie and designer ebay finds (DVF, Nanette Lepore, Butter By Nadia). I still like J. Crew- but some of my recent purchases have be disappointing quality wise.

My recent Anthropologie purchases (sorry for the small sizes!):

Everywhere Dress: Sold out


Midnight Petal maillot swim suit- Sold outSprinkled and Shined Tank- Sold out
Magnolia Blouse-Sold out

Bedroom Vision

Our bedroom staged:

My vision:

Living room: Vision

I just splurged on a new couch- but we've been saving for months to make this happen. I feel it's important to create a space where you feel comfortable and enjoy being in. After coming home from a long day of school/work Adam and I like to make dinner and watch a movie- sometimes I go online and Adam play's Wii or XBOX (we're so cool).

So.. Here is out living room (not our furniture):

These are the pieces I would *like* to put in this space (the only for sure is the couch. Adam has vetoing power on the rest):

I'm considering an ivory rug in lieu of the gray to help the space appear brighter. The curtains we are using will be ivory curtains- again, the space is small so we want it to be bright. I'm looking for a way to bring color into this room- someday Adam and I will be re-painting the space but not for a few years. We figure why fix it if it ain't broken.

Any color suggestions?

Bought our first big boy couch (and bed too!)

Meet Reese:

This is our new couch. Reese will be replacing our old, stained, dilapidated couch love seat. We're super excited- this is our first "big purchase." When we were in college all our furniture was from walmart of furniture clearance centers. To furnish our first place cost approximated $2500 dollars. It's a lot of money but that purchased: bed, mattress, dresser, couch, tv stand, dishes, silverware, plates, linens, towels, rugs, cutlery, pans, pots, cups... you get the idea. We were young people building a home from scratch.

Meet Portica:

Portica isn't replacing anyone, but she's beautiful. Our first "bed" was a walmart platform I bought for 79.95 +shipping. It was broken within six months. We used it until we moved out of the old Detroit apartment. For two years we were sleeping on our mattress and box spring. Classy. Since June (when the movers came to take our stuff) I've been on an air mattress. The air mattress is where I'll stay until August.

These were two of our "splurges." Adam and I sat down and discussed a budget to furnish our new place. After deciding we wanted quality over quantity I started shopping. I quickly realized quality is expensive. We decided to invest in a good bed and sectional. I can see this sectional staying with us for 20+ years as well as the bed. I consider them investments.

I'm currently hunting for a coffee table on craigslist and am relying on west elm for carpets, window hardware, and dining chairs. We're spending more than we would like we would like to spend zero, but as my dad once brilliantly stated, "your home should be comfortable." And he's as cheap as they come.
I'll be posting photos when the items arrive. Don't start holding your breath- they won't be arriving until late September/Early October.

I'm baaaack!!!!

Sorry everyone. I stopped blogging in February as the diet was getting to me. All in all I lost 30 lbs I've kept off for 4 months and am about to go at it again to lose the remaining 20. I also got REALLY busy after February.

What have I been doing since my last posts?

Well... Adam graduated Navy OCS and we moved from Michigan to Virginia Beach! Adam is currently deployed and I am in Michigan- long story. Short version: We bought a condo, the deal fell through ten days after closing (shady), so we bought a new condo we're waiting to close on. For the past seven weeks I've been living at my parents, sleeping on air mattress, and roughing it with only three changes of clothes (all of our stuff is in storage).

Other changes are I launched a photography business and am back in school for something totally unrelated.

Overall, things are great- I've been cutting down my shopping (that's really a blatant lie), but that doesn't mean I don't have things I drool over.

It feels good to be back!

Weekly Weigh in- 4 weeks on Medifast (sort of)

Before announcing the results I would like to apologize for a few things. 1. I promised reviews, tutorials, pictures- essentially I promised awesomeness that I have not delivered. I am very sorry. The awesomeness is on it's way. It's been an odd week I will not elaborate on - but I've got fresh raspberries in the refrigerator that MUST get used so the Macaroon's are coming soon! 2. This weeks weigh in sucks. I'll admit I cheated this week. My sister and brother both took me to lunch on different days. I did my best to follow the rules- it's not the same as eating at home though (I found out I'm not allowed to have pineapple- which I ate on both occasions.. oops..). Oh.. And during the failed macaroon tutorial I ate a few of the rejects..

So without further adieu.. This week I have lost 1.1 lbs for a total weight loss of 18 lbs for my first month.

My thoughts:
I'm ok with the results. I did cheat and I haven't been following the exact medifast plan. I eat their meals when I'm hungry (2-3 a day) and have my lean and green portion. The medifast diet is really strict on carbs (you're not allowed fruit or even onions!)-I haven't been true to it. Occassionally I eat a few grilled onions on my salad. This week I need to get back on it and be a little stricter with what I'm eating. I'll probably also go back to weighing myself everyday- but will only post on Thursday.

My goal when I started this was to lose 50 lbs by the time Adam graduates OCS (in 9 more weeks) I'm four weeks into my diet and have already lost 18... 38 more to go.

Coming Soon...

My new DSLR Camera arrived today AND we're expecting a HUGE snowstorm meaning I might be off Tuesday/Wednesday!! Do you know what that ultimately means? Macaroon tutorial!!!! BOH and I attempted the recipe Saturday night and it was a complete failure.. this time I have a feeling.

I just hope the snow holds off until tomorrow afternoon, Roxanne has a vet appointment. If I can figure out how the DSLR works (haven't used one since highschool.. well I've never used one. In high school we used film in our Nikon's) I'll post some photos!

BOH's new wedding.

So.. BOH and Ginger are kaput. It's for the best, and she is doing well. She deserves better. Anyway, new start means a new wedding inspiration board. It will change when she finds someone, but for now, I can dream. This one was inspired by the sunset.

Daily Love

I've become much more internet savvy since getting married. While organizing my bookmarks which are perpetually always unorganized because there are so many I came across this link:

Rare Device- Very thin gold ring- $80.00

This would have been the perfect wedding ring for a girl like me. When searching for our rings I had two criteria my own (... ok three): 1. White Gold 2. Moderately Priced 3. THIN band.

What I ended up with was a white gold band that was 2.5mm thick (the thinnest I could possibly find at the time) that cost around 50 dollars. Only now do I find the PERFECT wedding band in the ring pictured above- and it comes in white gold! Pfft...

Is it already Thursday? Medifast weigh in #3

Typically I weigh myself everyday on this diet, but the past week I haven't had the time and when I don't lose weight it's always kind of a downer and I get frustrated. To counteract my frustration I decided to follow through with weekly weigh-in's instead.

*drum roll*

Since last Thursday I have lost 3.7 lbs. For a total weight loss of 15.7 lbs in 3 weeks. I am fairly pleased. I have ten weeks until Adam comes home from OCS, although he may go to baby SWO school first (Surface Warfare Officers either go to a 3 week school for "job training" or the Navy throws them directly on a ship and they learn while they work) In which case I will have another three weeks on my diet.

Until next week...

Until my camera is back... Enjoy some key lime meltaway's

I thought I would leave you with a post from my other blog that's about being married to the military/our married life in general. It's mostly a journal I guess. This blog is a bit superficial filled with all my wants and desires... but I've got to put this stuff somewhere. And what's life without a little superficiality? Really.

So.. without further adieu I give you Key Lime Meltaway's:

We picked up a bag of limes some time last week that were getting old ( I must say, they were some of the juiciest limes I have ever come across). So the decision was made to give my mom's recipe key lime (or in this case plain old lime) meltaways a shot.

These cookies are tart with a hint of sweetness on the inside, coated in powdered sugar on the outside. NOM NOM.

Yield: 5 dozen (but I doubled the recipe)

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Grated zest of 4 tiny or 2 large key limes
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (a.k.a. 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy (you can use a plain old bowl and hand mixer.. of if you're really feeling feisty do it by hand) Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.

Before the lime juice/zest/vanilla

After the lime juice/zest/vanilla.. sooo perty.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.

3. Between two pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment (ok.. so I just greased my sheets).

5. Place remaining 2/3 cup powdered sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.

6. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, just three or four minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat (I used a bowl). Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Well-ah! Enjoy!

Make sure that when you zest your limes the zest is small. I couldn't find the zester so I used the zest side of a regular grater- my zest was sort of big and didn't taste the best in the cookies. Overall, this isn't an amazing recipe- but it's pretty good for something that tastes light and is slightly sweet.