This year, our love day wasn’t really planned out and we just did whatever we felt like doing. The boy and I both had to work, so we spent the majority of the day apart. I woke up early with the intention of making this really great morning treat, monkey bread. The morning was rushed and the bread never had time to cook all the way through. Fail

As soon as I arrived at the ad agency, I got a call saying, “someone loves you again,” and I knew the mister had sent flowers. He’s really good at making me feel special. I spent the day admiring my tulips, taking pictures, and soaking in their fragrance. It’s moments like these that make me appreciate services like flower delivery lesmurdie, which always ensures a fresh, beautiful surprise.

One really great thing I did at work was participate in the Proclaim Your Love/Love of My Life project. All you do is go to the website, print out the mini poster, hang it where you see if, proclaim your love for someone, and then post your picture back to the website. Since the boy and I were both at work, I felt it was appropriate to hang the poster in my office and snap a pic. Watch the video- the story is just adorable.

Since we didn’t have a bunch planned for our Valentines Day evening and that we couldn’t decide on where we wanted to go to dinner, we considered checking out a few fine dining restaurants and ultimately decided we’d both pick up food from the restaurant of our choice and then take it home. We ended up watching 3 episodes of Lie to Me and cuddled on the couch for the rest of the evening. I also got a little crafty and made the boy a hand-made card.

The boy and I pretty much have a Valentines Day every day and we are lucky enough to have job/lifestyles were we get to see each other every morning and evening. We’ve been together for almost 9 years but I’m always curious to see what the future will bring…young love!

How did you spend your Valentines Day?

I woke up this morning with a mile long list of things I needed to get done. Most of the things on my list were domestic things like laundry & vacuuming, but other things included blogging, camera shopping and enjoying the amazing weather we are currently getting in St. Louis.

We spent the afternoon driving around with the windows down, jazz music playing in the background a warm sun all around. It was pretty great. The boy said it felt like he was on vacation. We stopped an ate tacos again. I think we’re making taco eating a new Sunday tradition. We also took the pup out on a nice long walk around the neighborhood. Porter James (the pup) turned one year old on Saturday, so it was nice to get him out and about.

I look forward to what this warmer week has to bring. I’m starting to get cabin fever and I’m ready for things to start turning green again. I hope everyone start their weeks with an amazing Valentine Day with their loved ones and enjoy the weather. I have a special GIVEAWAY lined up for tomorrow and I’m really excited about it, so check back in the AM.

How do you plan to spend your Valentines Day?

Recently I’ve think I’ve transformed into bit of a dreamer. I find myself standing in the shower saying things to myself like, “wouldn’t it be great if…” or “someday I hope to do …” As a kid and growing up over the past years, I wouldn’t of considered myself a dreamer. I’m more of the plan everything to the T and stick with the plan kind of gal. I’m liking this new side of me, so I’ll roll with it until it decides to evolve into something more, or less.

With that long drawn out explaination, I introduce you to a new themed post on my blog I’d like to call “Wouldn’t It Be Great If/To…” I like the idea of dreaming up great things and then working to make those dreams a reality, so here I go.

Wouldn’t It Be Great…to have this kind of Valentines Day

I’m not usually one to get all giddy over Valentines Day, but this year I’m feeling it. Since this love day happens to fall on a Monday, I envision this Valentines Day being filled with little surprises throughout the day instead of our regular day full of adventures. We’ll both be at work doing our own thing, so I look forward to seeing how all the little surprises end up happening. ( I’ve got some nice little goodies planned! )

*Images were pulled from Pinterest without proper sourcing attached. If you know the true source for the image, let me know please!

What would you like your Valentines Day to look like?

I hope all you had a lovely weekend. My weekend was pretty good with just enough activity to keep me busy. Our weekend started with date night at the 123Movies theater. I was able to talk the boy into seeing Blue Valentine because it got a 8.0 /10.0 on IMDB.com (he’ll see anything that gets a 7.5 or higher rating) The movie was everything I hoped for and confirmed the fact that I’m in love with Ryan Gosling.

Blue Valentine Movie Trailer-> go see it if you have a chance.
Best song from the movie “You & Me” by Penny & The Quarters

Our Saturday started off really lazy. I don’t think we left the couch until after noon. I was able to catch up on my blog roll, get in a few chapters of my current book and blog a little for myself. I’ve been spending a lot of my free time researching digital SLR camera and I hope to make a purchase in the near future. If you didn’t get a chance to see what cameras I’m looking into, you can see it here.

Late Saturday afternoon, the boy and I made a taco run to a great restaurant in a part of town called Soulard. It was our first time eating at this restaurant, but they won over my heart by having fried tacos on the menu. I’ll definitely make these amazing tacos a weekly thing (and I’ll be 500 lbs).

Sunday was another lazy day. I was able to catch up on all domestic things and get some “real” work done for the agency. We started to “watch” the Super Bowl and then decided to watch Mad Men instead. I love Netflix streaming. Have a great night everyone!

I know you guys were thinking that mustard was my favorite color. The truth is that mustard is amazing but not AS amazing as mint. I started to fall in love with mint probably two years ago and now every time I see something mint, I run towards it like a mosquito to citronella.

*Please note how AMAZING my two favorite colors go together. Mint + Yellow = Magic!

Let’s clarify what “mint” means to me, because clearly the internet assumes it’s just a light shade of green. (see color bars below ) This is true except it has to have the right amount of blue, the right amount of green, and yes…the right amount of yellow. I know that yellow is a sneaky one, but it must be mixed in. If you type “mint” into your search browser you’ll usually get something too blue. However, if you type “sea foam” into your browser, you’ll most likely get something a bit more accurate. Don’t you just love sea foam??

I love how I just rambled on and on about the science of minty goodness.

Another fun fact…I’d love to be a color specialist for some brand. My favorite thing about home goods, clothing, and fabric in general is the color it has. Is it reddish yellow or is it a little more “rust”. I’d also love to be the person who gets to name colors. Wouldn’t it be better if mint was called, “the best ice cream flavor” or if mustard was called “grandma’s couch”. All of a sudden your colors have a personality. wa-la!

And yes…I just rambled some more. I’m done.

Do you have a color obsession or a job to offer me as a color specialist. If so…contact me right away!

* Note #2 the images above were pulled from Pinterst Mood boards and if you know who the images belong to, send me their links so I can apply appropriate credit.

With all the blizzardy things going on outside, I’ve been in the mood to bake some yummy treats. This recipe happens to be one of the boy’s families favorites that I’ve fallen in love with over the years.

This is a recipe that I was introduced to when I started dating the boy almost 9 years ago. His mother and grandmother make this cake for him on his birthday and he loves it. He’s not a sweets eater, so if you find him chowing down on something sweet, you know it’s totally worth it. This simple cake recipe is very similar to the St. Louis, Gooey Butter Cake with some slight changes and a totally different back story. I’ve been told it’s a southern “thing”. Enjoy!  (read the family story above on the recipe card)

What You’ll Need:
1 package golden butter cake mix (I used Pillsbury)
4 eggs
1 stick butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1 lbs. powder sugar

Directions:
First, mix together cake mix, 1 egg & 1 stick of butter. Once mixed, press into 9×13 in baking pan to create a “crust”.

Second, mix together 3 eggs, 8 oz cream cheese, powder sugar. Pour mixture onto the first layer and spread evenly across the bottom of the pan.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Do you have any family recipes that are worth sharing? I think the online blogging community should make a cook book. What do you think?

Today’s one of those days where you look out your window and even though its still cold outside, it is so sunny that it appears spring has sprung overnight. They boy and I knew we had to take advantage of the sun and slight increase in temperature, so we took the puppy to the park. We bundled up and as we were putting our gear on, the pup could tell we were about to go have some fun, and he was included. So off we went…

We have a really great neighborhood park 2 blocks from our loft, so this is our go to location to get some energy out of Porter (the pup). He drug us all the way there and once we were there he sprinted back and forth like a mad man. He was so happy.

After awhile, another family and their chocolate lab joined up to let the puppies play. Because there was still some snow on the ground and mud everywhere else, we came home with an extremely muddy dog. He definitely was going to get a bath. He was a trooper and spent the afternoon running around the apartment drying himself off.

The rest of the day is going to be a lazy one for us. I’m sitting here blogging and watching Cash & Cari on HGTV. She’s great and I can’t get enough of her. I want her job. This evening I plan on picking up some essential quilting supplies and some ingredients for a cake. I’m making a cake because I want to eat it, simple as that. Check back tomorrow the recipe for greatness. (especially if you have a sweet tooth)

Thank you to all my readers who stopped by this week. This coming week I will be having my first giveaway, so please come by. Have a lovely weekend!

Last night I stepped outside of my little food box and tried something “new”. I felt like someone on the Food Network as I whipped up these delicious open faced chicken sandwiches. My boyfriend is a champion eater of sorts and he said it was the best thing he’s eaten in St. Louis so far. Either he was being super sweet or my sandwiches were kick ass.

This dinner is super simple to make and we were eating and watching Mad Men within 30 minutes. I imagine these would be perfect for get-togethers.

What You’ll Need:
1 Loaf of French or sourdough bread
1 package of readymade pulled BBQ chicken (we used Curly’s)
1/2 white onion
1 “stalk” of green onion
1 clove garlic
Cherry tomatoes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Shredded mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start by slicing your loaf of bread into 1/2 in thick slices. Place slices of bread onto baking sheet and heat heat both sides until slices are slightly tough/crunchy. Remove from oven.

To make onion/garlic spread start by cutting up half an onion and 1 “stalk” of green onions into small fine pieces. Next, cut up 1 clove garlic into fine piece. I then used a mini food processor to crush the onion, green onion and garlic. I then added a little bit of olive oil to make a thin paste to spread on each slice of bread.

Use the spread and coat each slice of bread with a thin coating of your onion/garlic sauce. Heat BBQ chicken by following the directions on the packaging. Spoon enough BBQ Chicken mixture onto each slice of bread on top of the onion/garlic mixture.

Top with cheese and cherry tomatoes and return to oven to melt the cheese. Serve warm!

That’s it! You can always experiment and tweak the recipe to include your favorite things. The boy and I decided that this recipe had the perfect combination of flavors without getting too complicated.

Oh, Don’t forget to stop by Nest and read a note from Rebecca! Get Involved.

We woke up this morning with full intention to head to the grocery and pick up the essentials since we’re out of EVERYTHING! We were slow moving and once we sat down on the couch, I knew the grocery wasn’t going to happen. Unfortunately my plan was to pick up some pancake/waffle mix, one of those things that you add water and shake up. Since that didn’t happen I got adventurous and decided I was going to make waffle mix from scratch and searched the lovely internet for a Belgian waffle recipe. Found on and off I went.

It wasn’t too difficult but those shake and pour things are genius. Oh well, next time! One of my favorite parts of this whole shebang was getting to use my new waffle iron that I got for Christmas. It performed well and we were eating waffles and peaches.

What you’ll need:
1 1/4 c. sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. melted butter
4 egg whites

Directions:
Preheat a waffle iron.

Whip the first three ingredients and place in refrigerator to chill.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, 1/4 c. sugar, and salt onto a piece of waxed paper.

Beat the egg yolks lightly and add the milk, vanilla and melted butter. Drop in the dry ingredients and stir just enough to combine.

In a separate, clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry and fold them into the batter gently.

Bake in a seasoned waffle iron at medium heat until the steam stops escaping.

Dust the baked waffles with confectioner’s sugar and top with whipped cream. Sliced strawberries or peaches may be served on top.

There you go. It was pretty simple and the waffles definitely had a home made “from scratch” taste. What kind of tasty treats have you made recently?

Today was one of those days that when it’s over you wish you could have a day like that everyday. The boy and I spent the day out in St. Louis’ Central West End neighborhood hoping from one shop to the next, which is easy to do in this area.

We started the day at a few thrift stores and unfortunately came up empty handed. You’ll have those kind of days when you’re searching for hidden treasures. We then hoped to Left Bank books to snatch up Hunger Games. I received an overwhelming amount of people suggesting I read the book, so I’ll give it a try. We spent some time in the children’s book section which always takes us back 20 years or so. We then perused the periodical section and I discovered some healthy eating tips from the Food Network magazine and saw Ryan Gosling on the cover of GQ. (I’ve loved him ever since he was in The Notebook)

Our stomachs were growling like angry lions so we walked across the street to devour some lovely pizza at Pi. I’ve eaten there so many times, but the cornmeal pizza crust never gets old. I remember playing a I dare you game where we called NYC pizza once and asked them if they were the Real Piza. that was hilarious. You can also check this dare plus more I dare you by following this link. (brought leftovers home!!!) Before heading home I drug the boy next door to Rothschield’s, a pretty snazzy antique store with overpriced goodies.  I left behind a really great card catalogue unit that I would of died to have. Definitely NOT worth the $600 price tag.

We spent the evening on the couch again, drinking chocolate chai, reading my new book and watching some more of Mad Men. Life is good my friends. Life is good! How did you spend your saturdays?

I’ve been busy tidying up our little loft and look forward to showing you some sneak peeks come monday. Fingers crossed and don’t forget to check back!