Saturday Song Day

M83 - Midnight City

I know that it has been pretty much no time since I last posted a song by M83,

but I am LOVING them. AND I am even more crazy about this song than I was the last one.

Obviously I listen to it cranked all the way up, so I suggest you do the same - it's great!

Food Friday: Potato Soup with Bacon Vinaigrette & Tea Biscuits

Winter is the perfect time for easy meals and quick leftovers.

It seems like every single meal you make is built for double duty;

lasagna, shepherd's pie, quiches, soup and chili - it's all amazing on day 2.

It can also get a little repetitive which is why I like to get a little creative once in a while,

and let me tell you, bacon vinaigrette on top of potato soup 

isn't something I would come up with myself.

SOUP                                                                                                                                                         

The soup itself was super easy to make.

Which is awesome because it means more time

for bacon vinaigrette and tea biscuits.

Basically chop up your veggies, saute, add water and let it cook for a while.

Once it's been cooking for a while, transfer to your blender, blend and add sour cream.
See? Easy peasy.
Not detailed enough? No problem.
Take a peek at the full recipe over on food 52

BACON VINAIGRETTE                                                                                                                             

Soup wasn't easy enough for you?

Well you sure are fussy... and might I say, slightly lazy. 

That soup was effin' easy, so you may need to check yourself.

In any case, the vinaigrette is also crazy easy 

so if the soup didn't impress this sure should.

Lay your bacon flat on a baking sheet, bake for a bit.

While it's baking, chop up green onions and pour your white wine vinegar.

Then mix it up and you're basically good to go.

Want a little more insight?

Check out the full recipe on food 52

TEA BISCUITS                                                                                                                                            

Believe it or not, the tea biscuits were the most work of the entire meal.

We followed a very basic tea biscuit recipe, found here, 

and then tweaked it here and there.

First tweak - the addition of bacon grease in place of shortening.

Second tweak - the addition of basil and parmesan.

Third tweak - skim milk [to balance out the bacon grease].

They turned out awesome.

Notes:

Even though this meal is easy, there are many layers to it.

It adds up. It's annoying.

I used wine and water glasses to cut out the biscuits,

I think a larger circle may work as well.

Blend your soup in two batches.

I did not. It got messy. 

It made everything take a WHOLE lot longer.

Don't make the same mistake I did.

Your kitchen will thank you.

Transitioning

Going back to work after Christmas vacation can be tough,

- really tough -

choosing the right clothing can help to ease you into the transition.

I try to balance dressy - to help me get focused - 

with comfort - so I can pretend I'm still at home 

in jammers watching up Friday Night Lights and eating bon bons.

Okay, so the bon bons are a little far-fetched but I've got loads of dino-sours,

chocolate, and pastries to keep me company so I'm all good.

Other great options to aid with the transition include dresses, jeans

and moo moos, if you've managed to wrangle some work-from-home time.


In other news, I went WEDDING DRESS shopping today! 
It was my first time, it was exciting and I am tuckered.
...but more on that later!

Christmas Uniform

American Apparel sweater | Oxford (similar) | American Apparel leggings (similar) | Hunter boots | Hunter liners | Longchamp bag

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!
Besides eating everything within arms length,
I spent my holidays driving back and forth between Wolfville and Halifax which,
thanks to the awesome weather, wasn't so bad!
Currently, brain is still stuck on holiday mode
[i.e. slow, sleepy and only interested in conversations to do with food or candy...
i.e. this post will be slow, sleepy and focus on food].
I didn't mean to, but between the travel and commitments
I ended up wearing pretty much the same thing for the entire four days.
It was fancy.
It was also comfy.
Mainly, the elastic leggings allowed for large meals to be consumed
and the sweater helped to hide my food baby quite nicely.
His name is Jeremy.
He's going to be around for a little while.
I can't help it, people keep sending holiday baskets to my office.

Classic Cheer

Happy Holidays all!!
I am off to visit family and friends
for the next few days so it's going to be pretty
quiet around here. 


I hope you guys all have wonderful vacations and holidays
filled with sweets and turkey and movies and snuggling.
See you on the flip side!

A New Love

Sweater (similar) | Coated Jeans | Pumps (similar)

Hello world!

These are my coated jeans.

I love them.

I won them from Foreign Affair in Halifax

for re-tweeting a sale they were having.

It was magical.

I literally pressed one button, and then presto change-o: NEW JEANS!

I went in on a mission for their bravest pair.

The bravest pair were leopard print JBrand skinnies.

I'm a-scared of animal prints.

So I checked out their second bravest pair - these babies
Some call them waxed, others say they're coated,
quite frankly, I just think they're wonderful.

Since getting them I have trucked them around store to store 

trying to find tops that look oh-so-perfect with them.
- although I'm sure I already have plenty -

It's been a rough journey.

I'm very picky; only the best for my new love.

Finally, this past weekend, I stopped into Club Monaco and found 
this AWESOME cream coloured sweater.

There's just a hint of sparkle in the pin stripes and I'm smitten.

I think we-three will be very happy together.

Brown, Black and Grey

Being employed again comes with a bunch of cool perks.
Likkkke a paycheque, fancy new post-its and a daily purpose, 

you know, besides re-watching Arrested Development and Party Down in their entirety.
It also allows me to get all dolled up office-style and break out the more conservative pieces

that I've been recently ignoring.
In all honesty I haven't actually gone full-business yet, 

but have instead been walking the tightrope of business casual, with a hint of fun tossed in
(I'm not fully ready to say goodbye to the style I grew accustomed to while unemployed).
Luckily, my office is not at all stodgy and (as far as I know), there have been no complaints.

For example, today the idea of heels nearly made me want to give up on life. 

So instead, I grabbed these flats boots, a little black, brown, grey and threw together this little ditty.
I don't know about you guys but I have really been enjoying the grey/brown, black/brown combo.
I know it's sometimes frowned upon, but quite frankly I do not care.
I definitely think it can work.
My only issue with this outfit is my go-to, structured t-shirt dress is beginning to fade 

making the whole thing a little less sharp than I'm comfortable with.
Looks like I've got a little shopping mission for the new year...

Topped with a Bow

BB Dakota dress (similar) | Stop Staring belt | Hue tights | Franco Sarto pumps | Matt & Nat clutch (similar) 

One of my favourite parts of the holiday season are the never-ending excuses to dress up!

i.e. Holiday parties, Holiday get-togethers, dinners, do-drops, and just every day fanciness.

You rarely have to feel over-dressed and you always get to feel extra pretty,

just like you did back in the day heading out for the semi-formal.

Although in this case you don't have to switch gears between KC&JoJo and Nervana every few minutes.

We've been stacking our holiday commitments about 3Deep per day and the big saving grace, 

for me, has been relishing in the festive outfits. 

Don't get me wrong, the friends and family we're seeing are pretty great too, but when it comes down to it, 

they don't really hold a candle to this wrapping-paper style cupcake dress. 

Sorry guys, maybe next year.

Saturday Song Day

She & Him - Baby It's Cold Outside

I know this isn't a very original pick for a Christmas song, 

especially considering Zooey Deschanel sang it Elf, 

however it's one of my favourites so originality doesn't really have to factor in.

Up until this year my Christmas playlist consisted strictly of Perry Como, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. 

Now that She & Him are in the mix it seems as though  nobody else it getting any play.

Tough breaks boys, She & Him just get me, end o' story.

Food Friday: Peanut Butter Cookies

I've gotta level with you. I've been thinking about it, and I just do NOT like the sound of Matrimonial Monday. I just don't. It sounds old, matronly and quite frankly, as though Jack and I are in for a great big bore come our big day. I just can't have that. Especially, since I will be posting more and more about our wedding planning in the coming months and I don't want to fall asleep at the thought of doing it.

Obviously, my sights are set on Wedding Wednesday as the replacement. Unfortunately this means I have to change What I Ate Wednesdays to Food Fridays. This is a bit of a bummer for me because I've really grown to love the flow of What I Ate, however sometimes a girl has got to compromise. LAME, right? In any case, thems the breaks.

And so, on account of the holiday rush and my slackness of blogging this week, I present to you the first FOOD FRIDAY! (Hope you're all on board!)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a huge fan of peanut butter. 

Reese's pieces, peanut butter cups, peanut butter fudge ice cream -

I love it all.

ALL of it.

Don't believe me?

I used to spoon feed it to my sister when we were little.

I wanted her to love it as much as I did.

Now, before you worry about the potential of pint-sized heart attacks -

the peanut butter was all natural. That's right folks, we were raised by hippies.

As much as I love peanut butter, and as easy as these cookies are to make,

I've had very little experience actually baking peanut butter cookies.

Growing up, my mom made baked, but never with peanut butter.

She just didn't like it in things. Weird. It's not even like she's allergic.

I mean seriously, who doesn't like peanut butter 

besides those who are afraid of it and it's deadly abilities!?

In any case this cookies existence often fails to make it to my radar 

so when the idea popped into my mind, and I had all the ingredients,

I was excited.

I may have done a dance.

Nothing big, but a dance all the same.

If you think these look delicious (and you should), 

check out the full recipe here, at the Brown Eyed Baker; she's the bestest.

Everybody, Everywear: Sequins + Sparkles

Vince cardigan (similar) | Cecico top (similar) | American Apparel Faux leather leggings (similar) | Steve Madden boots (similar) | Matt & Nat bag

How perfect is this Everybody, Everywear?! 

Seriously, holidays scream sequins and sparkles 

making this is ever-so serendipitous.

So wonderful.

I have actually had sequins on the brain since November

and have been furiously stalking all my favourite boutiques waiting for the perfect piece.

Last Saturday, I even topped off my Christmas shopping with an insane mall-marathon

(I had checked out the downtown boutiques throughout the week)

in hopes of finally tracking down this elusive top.

No dice.

I'm a little worried that I've been too picky 

and as a result I will never find a top that's good enough.

Finally, I went home defeated.

And while pouting in my closet, 

I stumbled upon a sequins top I already own!

Yeah, guys... I sure AM silly.

It's not exactly what I was looking for, but it's the right price.

I wore this as my Christmas shopping ensemble the very next day.

Lazy sequins... it's wear* it's at.

*haha get it?? it's a pun... now I'm just as clever as the EBEW girls!

'tis the Season

BB Dakota dress (similar) | Club Monaco belt (similar) | Hue tights | Nine West booties (similar) | Matt & Nat clutch (similar)

'tis the season for dressing up, parties and indoor photos, 

and boy do I love it!

(...except for the indoor photos of course, but I get cold easy).

Usually I treat myself to a fancy dress this time of year, 

however with the wedding planning (and saving) I skipped the tradition.

Luckily my great pal, Ruby, loves her some red dresses so I've been able to be thrifty,

raid her closet and borrow away.

It's been working out prettttty awesome... although I really must return this one.

I've had it a little longer than I meant to.

In other news - I finally got to pair my sock bun with a dressy outfit!
I must say, after all your kind opinions I definitely came around to it for every day use,
however it was super exciting to see how fantastic it looked all dolled up a-top my head.
The side bangs probably really helped too, 
but we`re not going to let them steal the show this time - attention-whores that they are.
It`s sock bun`s time to shine and I won`t stand by and let them steal the spotlight!

Saturday Song Day

The Cults - Never Saw the Point

These guys can pretty much do no wrong.

Their songs are all awesome

and I always feel relaxed and at ease 

after listening to them.

Enjoy.

Comfy Cozy Hussy

hmmm, anyone else notice how SHORT this is??

I obviously did not notice before leaving my house or else 

I would have done something about it.

I'm practically a hussy dressing in heavy wool.

Not the most common hussy, but a hussy none the less.

I swear this dress wasn't always so short.

I washed it recently so I'm guessing in may have shrunk...

looks like it may be better to NOT wash your clothes after all.

But I digress. Apart from the EXTREME shortness of the dress top,

I am a fan of the look.

I love the variations of grey, paired with the white and black.

I also love how all the fabric is heavy, warm and obviously cozy.

I think I may take some time this weekend to stretch this dress and make it long again.

This way, I'll be able to wear it again without worrying about 

the fine folks of Halifax getting a little peep show of my sweater-tight seams.

What I ate: Quesadillas

Sorry I'm late guys, I swear I've been eating (and eating… and eating… )
It's just all this Christmas shopping has put a wrench in me getting blog on.
So please accept my apologies if I drop the ball
on a few OOTD posts in the next coming weeks.
I'll do my best to keep up.

In stark contrast to last week's very involved, slightly expensive sushi adventure, 

I present to you: a wintery take on quesadillas
- or quesa-diLLas -

These little ditties rely less on meat and cheese and more on

the root veggies and legumes that we all tend to avoid.

They are also incredibly inexpensive and very easy 

(I'm telling you, after a little wine, they'll be putty in your hands)

INGREDIENTS:
1 large sweet potato, cubed
1 can black beans
1 onion, chopped3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 green onions
1T olive oil
1/2 lime
4 - 6 large, multi-grain tortillas
cheese, grated - any kind will do

SPICES:
2T basil
1.5T oregano
1.5T chili powder
1T chili flakes

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS:
avocado
red pepper
cilantro
 

DIRECTIONS:
Boil the sweet potatos until soft, 15 - 20 minutes.
Drain and mash.
Saute the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes.
Add the sweet potato mash and the black beans.
Stir to combine.
Sprinkle in the spicy mixture.
Let cook on low for about 5 minutes, stirring on occasion.

Add the green onions and squeeze the lime juice over top the mixture.
Stir to combine.
Lay out your first tortilla.
Take two med-large scoops and spread onto half the tortilla, repeat until the pan is empty.
If using avocado or red peppers or lettuce or anything else delicious that your heart desires,
layer on top of the sweet potato/bean mixture.

Sprinkle cheese on top.
Fold the empty half of the tortilla over top.
Brush the outer sides of the tortilla shell with oil.
Set the oven to broil on high.

Notes:

Not up for eating the same meal for lunch and dinner 3 days in a row?

No problem. These babies freeze well.

Place cooled, uncooked, assembled quesadillas in a freezer bag,

freeze (obviously) and use within two weeks.

Need a salsa recipe to accompany this?

Check, check, check it out

Confessions

American Apparel sweater | D.E.P.T. sweater skirt | Hue yellow tights | Steve Madden boots

I wore this out over the weekend when I met up with a few friends for some casual drinks at a pub.
Truth be told, I am in love with both the sweater and the sweater skirt 

and have probably been working them over time but I honestly can't help it.
Don't you ever stumble upon a piece of clothing that is so perfect and effortless,

in every way, that you can't help but favour it?
You can't help but wear it day in and day out.
Styling it in different ways each time to try and keep it fresh and looking new.
Spilling some tea on it one day, but drying it off and wearing it again.
Rolling the sleeves up to cuff a dress shirt on a warmer day, 

causing you to inevitably stretch the sleeves and style around it.

Considering washing it to get the shape back, but lazily dropping the idea once

your Sunday night HBO and AMC line up start.
Spilling some coffee on it, waiting for it to soak in
and resorting to giving it a perfume bath in an effort to mask the smell 

and avoid surrendering it to the laundry and drawn out drying process.
And finally, when it's all stretched two sizes too big, and smells like an axe body spray commercial
(because that's what axe is, isn't it? layers and layers of perfume and food?)
you wear it one last time for a quick trip to the grocery store,
where the elderly lady stationed at the Christmas donation booth 

gives you the stank eye because she knows.
And you know.
And it's embarrassing.
So you finally go home and wash the damn thing,
so the cycle of love can begin again.

Know what I'm talking about?




Note: After seeing the photos, I swapped these boots for my black ones.