Congrats Erin & Eli!

I am very excited to announce the engagement of Erin and Eli! Erin has been a great friend since high school, we were roommates in college and Erin recently traveled from Steamboat Springs, CO to be a bridesmaid in our wedding. So excited for she and Eli! Looking forward to making our way out to Colorado for their big day...

Gobble, Gobble

Just got back from a fun-filled and eventful Thanksgiving in Maryland. The weekend was complete with two great Thanksgiving celebrations on Thursday, a BIG birthday celebration on Friday for Martha, two P90X workouts (ouch!), wonderful pasta dinner thanks to Marisol and games on Saturday and lots of shenanigans in between.

Cousins Joshua and Hannah Shouse in their traditional pilgrim costumes:


Cousin Alyssa Shouse, a.k.a future American Idol winner:


All the girl cousins (sans Kristen) at the Shouse & Thompson family Thanksgiving:


Thanksgiving evening the O'Connor family festivities kicked off with the traditional family football game. I somehow managed to talk my way out of the humiliation in years past, but this year I wasn't so lucky. I got a mouthful of Austin's fingers and missed simple passes that anyone with even a little coordination could have caught. Oh well! It was fun nonetheless...


Future Mr. and Mrs. Long:


Uncle Jamie, Jimmy, Kevin and Stephanie:


Cousins Kelsey and Austin O'Connor:


Friday was our BIG birthday celebration for Martha. The theme was a Mexican fiesta so we had Mexican beer, tacos, enchiladas, guacamole and tequila!



The birthday girl with four of her favorite people - her three kids and boyfriend, Ron:


Tequila shots!


Brothers battling at Guitar Hero:


Happy Birthday Martha! Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving. Looking forward to Christmas together!

On the Road Again...

Heading up to Maryland after work today for Thanksgiving with the O'Connor's and Shouse's and I'm very excited. Maybe it's because I'm young and have never had to travel for work, but I love, love, love road trips! There is something warm, fuzzy and family-oriented feeling about packing up the car and heading out onto the open road.

I'm, of course, also really looking forward to spending time with family. Though I've long felt like an honorary sister, cousin, niece and daughter, something about it being official just makes it feel different this time around. I already got Grandma O'Connor's chocolate chip cookie recipe as a wonderful gift at our wedding. Do you think the fam could have been holding anything else out on me? Perhaps a secret family handshake. I doubt it, they're really too sweet, but we shall see...

Early Thanksgiving Celebration

This past weekend we went to Boone to kick-off our Thanksgiving festivities with good food and fun. Friday was our Thanksgiving dinner with my family and arguably even more exciting, the night we went to see New Moon. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am now so excited for Eclipse, the movie. I hope they get on it, so I don't have to wait too long!

House full of dogs (not pictured: Mikey - he's older and doesn't like to be around the crazy pups!)




On the agenda for Saturday was an Appalachian State University football game, another great dinner and an evening of family games.



Blame it on hours of tailgating and mixed drinks during the game, but our Saturday dinner of my mom's spaghetti and meatballs was just too delicious looking/smelling/tasting not to capture. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, let me say that I am thankful for my cooking genes. If I'm half as good of a cook when I have children as my mom, it will be really be something for both me and my family to be thankful for year after year...

Chicken with Parmesan, Garlic & Herb Crust

I don't know about you, but I find preparing chicken very boring. I mean chicken can be used in a stir-fry or in any number of Mexican or Italian dishes, but what about when you just want to make a chicken main dish with a side of veg? I usually resort to making Jimmy grill the chicken or when I'm feeling especially ambitious, I'll do the Heintzelman family go-to, chicken cordon bleu. All this blabbing to say, I found an easy and tasty chicken recipe that, here's the best part, is comprised on ingredients that most of us already have in our pantry.



1 garlic clove (I opted for 2)
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley
2 slices whole-wheat bread
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 teaspoons dijon mustard

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a medium baking dish with cooking spray. Mince garlic in a food processor, then add the parsley and pulse until combined, about 15 seconds. Add the bread, parmesan, oil, salt and few grinds of pepper. Pulse until well combined. Spread the mustard on the chicken breasts and pat the breadcrumbs mixture on both sides. Arrange the chicken in a baking dish and bake until cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Bedroom Makeover #1

So, thanks to Miss Shiva Jean, Jimmy and I have this beautiful, super beachy Pottery Barn paisley duvet cover and shams. Great start to a bedroom, no?

Well, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out a color scheme to go with the marigold yellow and was so pleased to get the October issue of Coastal Living with inspiration I think I can work with.

The guest rooms at The Betsy Hotel in Miami, FL were featured for their crisp, clean and classy color scheme - yellow, lavender, lots of whites, dark wood and natural fabrics.




I'm going to start by painting the walls an ivory like the picture directly above. Then I'm thinking the yellow paisley duvet on the bed, lavender and white or ivory curtains, a natural jute rug, mirrors, mixture of white and dark wood furniture. It will, of course, be a long time before I can pull all this off, but it's fun to plan and dream nonetheless...

Want

I stumbled upon these microfiber fleece sheets from The Company Store and now I want them so bad! I can't imagine having them plus a down comforter though. I like the way they are pictured here - seems so warm and cozy, yet still light. I think the red set is especially cute for around the holidays. Adding them to my year-round wish list...

Weekend Update

It's no secret, college town or not, that Wilmington slows down after the summer. And though late winter can be cold and boring, we welcome the chill pace in our little beach town during the months leading up to the holidays.

Friday night we grabbed a quick bite and decided to join the rest of Wilmington (no joke) at Legion Stadium for a local showdown football game - Hoggard High vs. New Hanover High. It was quite an event to say the least. New Hanover hasn't beaten Hoggard since 1996 - Hoggard Vikings reign supreme!






Saturday Jimmy spent most the day studying for the GMATs like the diligent person that he is. I offered moral support laying just a few feet from him on the couch. We were both in need of some fresh air, so we set out for a bike ride to explore. It was technically Saturday night as we made our way back home, so we stopped in for a pumpkin beer at the Fat Pelican and then a great glass of wine at our local coffee shop/wine bar. The lady working Two Wine Guys called Sacred Stone her, I think it was, "porch crusher", because this California blend is truly too easy to drink, take a bottle to your porch and you may not come back inside with any of it left...




Two Wine Guys

Sunday Jimmy continued his studies and watched football. I finished "Bright Shiny Morning" and started and completed "New Moon". I freaking love the Twilight books. They are seriously so addicting.

Well, that is it for us and our weekend.

Quick & Healthy - Recipe Galore!

Though I still love cooking nightly, I've recently scaled back on the more time consuming meals and now I'm leaning towards dinners like those considered "Quick & Healthy" by Cooking Light magazine. Here are a few of my favorites from the last week or so...

Roast Chicken Chimichangas


Shepherd's Pie

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Pierogies with Bacon, Sauteed Onion and Sour Cream


Chicken Tortilla Pie


And although it's not quick or seemingly healthy, this was amazing. I love cooking with butternut squash, but I'm not a fan of the butternut squash based soups. They taste like baby food.

Roasted Butternut Squash & Bacon Pasta

I'm Going to Pump You Up

I had to create a post about my favorite class at the gym, Body Pump. I fell in love with this class pre-wedding and I am so proud of myself for continuing my workout regiment post-wedding. The devil on my shoulder says, "you're married, get comfortable." Luckily for me though, the angel usually speaks louder. For anyone who hasn't taken this class, it includes 6 whole minutes of nonstop squats with 40+ lbs of weight on your shoulders (ouch!), you also work every major muscle group in your arm and your abs. It hurts so good. Now if only the daylight savings darkness wasn't infringing on Jimmy and I's after work runs I'd really be in good shape...

Laid Back Halloween

Jimmy and I decided this year to take it easy for Halloween. Just a couple bucks each for our costumes, a cooler of good seasonal beer, some festive outdoor decorations and we were ready for some trick-or-treaters. Much to our disappointment, we only got about 20 kiddies to stop by, but had fun nonetheless.

The unsuspecting pumpkins:


First up is my grim reaper face. Next is Jimmy's hooded skeleton with flames.

I was going to be a scarecrow, but decided last minute that I could more easily pull off a farmer.



Jimmy looking freaky with the Scream mask...



700 S. 5th Street looking awfully Halloweeny...