She Sells Sea Shells By the Seashore

The colors I wore today make me feel like I live on the coast. I don't, but it's nice to imagine.

Navy Blue Camisole, Old Navy, $8 on sale
Green and Brown Tube Top, Gap, Sale (several years ago)
Dark Wash Denim Capris, Merona @ Target, $16
Green Flats, Naturalizer, Swapped
Turqoise Earrings, Silver City in Augusta, GA, gift
Wooden Bracelets, Honduran, gift
Silver and Apatite Ring, Silver City in Augusta, GA, gift

Snap Peas for Summer: A Recipe

I adapted this recipe from Jack Bishop's Vegetables Every Day. I'm pretty sure my version isn't as good, but I hadn't gone to the grocery store yet and certainly didn't have any plans to go any time soon. I'll post his original recipe, and make note of my alterations. 

His Title: Sugar Snap Peas with Pancetta and Onion (My Title: Snap Peas and Turkey Bacon), serves 4 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sugar snap peas, stems and strings removed (I used about a third of a pound from a local veggie stand...I removed the stems, but wasn't about to string anything, so I just snapped them into the size I remember my grandmother did before she canned them)
  
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 2 ounces thin-sliced pancetta, minced (I used turkey bacon, because it's healthier, and I can correctly pronounce it)
• 1 medium onion, minced (I left this out because I didn't have an onion on hand, and even if I had, getting Dustin to eat snap peas was going to be a difficult enough challenge already...)
• 1 tbs minced fresh parsley leaves (I used about a teaspoon and a half of the dried)
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring 2 qts water to a boil in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of ice water. Add the peas and salt to taste to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 1.5 minutes. Drain and plunge the peas into the bowl of ice water. When cool, drain the peas and set aside (call me ridiculous, but this seemed like a lot of water to use and then pour out, so I retained all the excess water/ice and watered by non-blooming petunias. Georgia's suffering a drought, y'all). 
2. Heat the oil (I used too much, as you can see in the picture), pancetta, and onion in a large skillet. Saute until the pancetta is crisp and the onion is golden, about 6 minutes (I bet a tsp or so of minced garlic would be good, too). Stir in the peas and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. 

If you're not familiar with snap peas, they should be crisp, but the seeds shouldn't be swollen out of the pod. They're best super fresh, because the longer they sit in the crisper, the more starchy and bland they become. This is a really fresh tasting dish that I paired with lemon chicken and wild rice. 

Saddle Up, Cowgirl.

   I like fashion, particularly vintage-styled ensembles (my mom sells vintage clothes on eBay, and I'm sometimes crafty enough to swipe stuff before she posts it online...). I love perusing personal style blogs, and sometimes I'm even inspired enough to try to put together a new outfit. I work at a church with a really laid back pastor as a boss, so I don't have to be particularly dressy at work. I don't go out much, and if people see me in more than a t-shirt at school, they get a little worried. :o)

   I particularly am interested in how current trends are translated into plus-sized lines. I'm in what I consider a "bridge" size--a 16--and I can usually shop in both regular departments and plus-sized lines. My mom is in a 22, and she constantly bemoans the state of most plus-sized lines. Most are frumpy and boring, nothing at all like her personality. She's beginning to put together super cute and stylish outfits, but it's hard sometimes, especially when plus size designers apparently think that all women shopping in plus sizes want applique designed cotton t-shirts and lycra-woven jeans. 

   I won't have the energy for a new outfit every day (huzzah jeans and polos!) but when I think I've put together something at least sort of cute, I'll post it. In that spirit (that is, the spirit of trying something new whether it makes sense at all), here's today's outfit:

Faded Denim Jacket: Old Navy (5+ years old)

White and Brown Cotton Camisoles: Old Navy, $6-9 dollars on sale

White Cotton Eyelet Skirt: Thrifted

Italian Leather Boots: Thrifted

Earrings and Necklace: Panama Jack @ Wal-Mart, $4 each

I love Summer.

I freaking love swimming pools. I haven't been in one for almost 5 years now, but my boyfriend's mom is housesitting for her next door neighbor who just happens to have a phenomenal pool...that we are free to use while she's on vacation. Score! For the past 3 days, we've been swimming around like crazy. Dustin's a great swimmer, and I, well, I've got a mean doggy paddle. And it's a great workout. My abs, arms, and legs are sore! Plus, it's the kind of "workout" you can do hours a time and not even realize the time has passed (until the sunburn on your shoulders reminds you that you haven't reapplied your sunscreen...).

Happy Summer!!

Reasons

Reasons to go to the gym:

-to get swole. 

-to check out Oh, Mike. 

-to honestly fill out the fitness minutes chart on SparkPeople.

Reasons not to go to the gym:

-to work out bad haircut frustration. 

Seriously, who cuts hair dry? And takes a razor to it after the head attached to the hair says it's never turned out right? And doesn't cut the layers the right length? Le sigh. I should really learn to speak up when I'm not happy with something I'm paying (and tipping) for. 

Bad haircuts aside, I started using the weight room at the gym. Ow. There aren't enough Oh, Mikes in the universe to make that place enjoyable. 

Back Again

I've been in Mississippi making arrangements for a place to live. I love my new house. My incredibly small house (575 square feet). My not-even-finished-with-construction-yet house. My house with brand new appliances AND washer and dryer. My house fell into my lap, with a great price, and I am grateful. I have a great place to move into when I move away from Augusta, and all my friends and family here. I'll post pictures when I move at the first of August.

I've been officially off the wagon for about a month. I'm trying to climb back on today. I'm in a really great mood, and I'm not going to worry too much about what's not supposed to go in my mouth. I'll just be sure to write it down, and not sit in front of the TV all night (I have a mountain of laundry to do anyway). I'm going to the beach in 17 days (not that I'm counting), and that's great motivation. My graduation pictures are less than flattering, and I want some better ones.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!!

Frustrated and Tired

I finished my last undergraduate exam last week (an appropriate finish: I got to exempt it based on my average test grade and super-high paper grade!). I'm tired, but the apartment is clean, so it's okay.

I'm getting ready to apartment shop in Oxford. My mom and I are taking a road trip next Wednesday (I graduate this Saturday) to find a place for me to live. The prospects I've looked at online so far are okay, definitely livable, but nothing that just really feels right.

As far as weight-loss goes, I've been avoiding all aspects of it for about a month now. I'm feeling it again--the tiredness, the irritability, the bloat, and general inability to be active. It's showing in my pictures again, too--I don't like most of the pictures taken on my birthday because my face has that ridiculous chubbiness to it again.

I'm finding it hard to get motivated, and I'm usually a fairly strong self-motivator, so I'm not sure what's up--all my usual techniques are falling to the wayside in favor of delivery pizza and Reese's Pieces.