A Week in My Life: Week 13

I'll just start by saying that this week was both stressful and challenging (in a good way). Sometimes life throws you curveballs that you may or may not be ready to handle, but you have to deal with them anyway. I am getting better at handling pressure. A lot of that has to do with the help of my amazing husband and best friend, Luis, who is probably the most wise and steady person I know. When a huge load of pressure is placed upon me, I have somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction to it. Sometimes tears are shed, sometimes not. I'm glad that I have someone there who says, "Ok, dry up those tears. Let's think this through together." Luis has been there through the many ups and downs that I've had to deal with in the past five years, and I realize that his support is one of the many reason I chose to spend the rest of my life with him. He knows exactly what to do; he is the shoulder that I can lean on; he's my support and he's always encouraging me. All in all, I'm really glad I had his support and wisdom this week.

On a lighter note, here's how the rest of my week went:

Earlier this week I made Apple Bacon wrapped Chicken with creamed corn. It was delicious!

I will admit that I bought this pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream mostly because it had Jimmy Fallon's face on it... Also, the potato chip chunks dipped in fudge. Hey, I needed it. 

I love drinking juice from a Mason jar. I was looking down at it and I loved how the name "Ball" was clearly outlined against the light. I had to capture it. 

I'm noticing that almost all of my photos are food-based this week. Above was an impromptu snack I created with Triscuits, pesto, and Parmesan cheese. 

 Kitty keeps me company while I do laundry. She's obsessed with our laundry basket. 

These delicious sodas remind me of my childhood. My parents would always take us to a restaurant called El Famous Burrito for Sunday lunch. They sold these sodas and I would beg my parents to buy me the pineapple kind. I love that they're sold at Walmart! 

Here she is again, making a home in a shopping bag... 

I went shopping with my best friends earlier this week and we went to a store called Tuesday Morning. I found this book called "Things Cooks Love" by Sur La Table for $4.99! I'm really glad I bought it because it has so many amazing recipes that I cannot wait to try. 

I made Pasta Fagioli soup a few days ago. It was super easy, delicious, and you can find the recipe here.

A Week in My Life: Week 12

Here's a peak into my past week:

My family came into town from Colorado. It was nice to have them here. It's been a pretty traumatic summer for Colorado dwellers... We had them over for cookouts, movies, and catching up.

 

My uncle and cousin then decided to race each other in my parent's yard. It was pretty funny!

My hubby and his family are from Puerto Rico, so I'm constantly being introduced to new flavors and tastes (I love it). Above is a perfect example. Luis had me try Malta Goya, which is essentially a non-carbonated soda-ish drink. It was pretty tasty!

Had coffee with my best friend, Kelsey. I got my usual: vanilla latte (also accompanied by my red C.O. Bigelow lip balm). We talked food, politics, and how to get free stuff online. Hehe.

Photo Credit: George Street Photo and Video

Speaking of Kelsey, she got some of her wedding photos back, and I had to share this one... On the left with the fake 'stache is my hubby, my dad in the middle, and our best friend Alyssa's husband. I love everything about this.

This is the only time of the year when you can buy tomatoes at a grocery store and have them look that red and ripe.

So I took advantage and made some amazing spaghetti!

I'm pretty excited about the root growth that I've managed to cultivate from a basil cutting I took from Kelsey's plant. I thought it would take much longer than it did! I just cut a piece and stuck it in water. The roots are now longer, so I planted it this week. 

Sometimes, you just need extra help when you're cooking. I enlisted Luis to mash the potatoes for the twice baked potato casserole I made.

Homemade bacon bits... Yummmm.

The finished casserole. I cannot tell you how good this was. 

We had some pretty crazy cloud action this week. It rained very little though... Hoping that changes soon. 

Hoping that your weeks were great! xoxo

A Week in My Life: Week 10

I can't believe that it's already been ten weeks since I started this blog "series". I had seen a few bloggers do it, and I decided to try my hand at it as well. I recently had someone tell me that they wouldn't have anything to write about if they started a blog, and I thought about how I didn't really think I had much to say either. It's funny how you start realizing all of the simple things that happen during the week that might have otherwise gone unnoticed and been forgotten. Blogging is funny that way; it's an extremely personalized way of documenting your life and things you love and before you know it, you find yourself wanted to photograph every little thing you do!

Here's what my week looked like this week!

 

One thing I love about summer is the abundance of fresh fruit and raspberry lemonade (in a Mason jar!). 

 

Yes. These are my feet. I went over to my parent's house to make dinner for them. My mom and I sat on their deck and chatted while the chicken cooked. 

Got to use my parent's fancy new oven/stove. I was pretty jealous ;-) 

The finished products. I made Garlic Parmesan crusted chicken with honey roasted red potatoes. My mom also threw some of their fresh garden vegetables in! Read more about that here.

Some pictures of my old stomping grounds. My parents own a few acres of land so my childhood was full of backyard exploration adventures, tree climbing, and berry picking. You can see how much we need rain- the grass is brown!

My cat did some pretty cute things this week. Or at least, Luis and I thought they were cute. Here she's chilling underneath our bookcase, half sun-bathing. Not sure what she was going for there. 

I had my favorite blanket (also Kiki's favorite) hung on the back of a chair. She took her chance and wrapped herself in the blanket. What a goof. 

All in all, Kiki likes warmth, and where warmth goes, she goes. Here she's got her paws pushed under my laptop. I love her...

More sunbathing... 

My grandma sent me this photo earlier this week. It's somewhat of a Tjader/Johnson family tradition to photograph the grandkids (of which I am one of) in my grandma's daisy field each summer. Here I am (at 22...) posing in the field. The thing you do for loved ones ;-) On a side note, I'm in my favorite blazer! Haven't been able to wear it much 'cause of the hot weather.

Slowly but surely, I'm trying to replace my current forks and assorted cutlery with vintage counterparts. I've been finding beautiful stuff at the antique shop right down the street. I've got my eye on a vintage glass juicer that I might go purchase...

I made rice crispy treats for Luis and I... We ate the whole thing... Then I made more the next afternoon.

Um, clearly I love sweets. I went and got myself a BIG box of chocolates (two levels!) and had the time of my life. 

My workspace...aka the kitchen table. Luis hates this. Fortunately it doesn't stay that way for long. 

Finally got my July Birchbox! Starting from top going clockwise: Stila eyeshadow palette (love!), eau Flirt perfume sample, Dirt salt scrub, blinc mascara, earbuds, and there was also a snack bar, but I ate it... 

I bought some white canvas boards because I'm going to make myself a makeshift photography studio. The only thing I need is a painter clamp light which will look great when diffused by the white canvas. All of my windows face west, which means I only get about three hours of direct sunlight into my apartment. The lighting isn't the best situation for photography (in my opinion). 

I'm plant sitting for my best friend while she's away in Michigan. Look at her basil plant! Massive! I introduced them to my other plants. They seem to be getting alone fine. ;-)

I took a leaf cutting from Kelsey's large basil plant, treated it with root growth plant hormones, and planted it. I'm really hoping that I can get a plant from this. I used Schultz's Take Root. You can find it at pretty much any major store. 

Bought some mint on clearance today! Pretty excited to have that around.

A Week in My Life: Week 7

Here's a glimpse into this past week!

I went to my folk's to celebrate Father's Day. My dad is an avid gardener/landscaper and spends his free time cultivating his yard. My parents live on about 5 acres of land (I believe my numbers are correct...) so my dad has plenty of space to plant and spruce and trim. I'm jealous. Above is his Japanese Maple. I've turned the leaves over because in the fall the leaf's underside turns a deep orange. 

My attempts at indoor gardening have been an...experience. I live in apartment that doesn't have a balcony/patio or anything, so I have to really improvise to get my plants enough light. My hypoestes and primrose have done very well, as have my succulents. Sadly, my beloved thyme plant is getting very ill and I predict it will soon die... Does anyone have any advise on how to revive it??

Sometimes I stay up late perusing the world of blogs and such, and usually my kitty stays up with me. She gets really comfy on my husbands desk chair and she just looks so cute. 

If you haven't already heard (seen), I made butter this week! It was pretty neat. If you want to read more, go here.

In more exciting news, Luis and I went to Milwaukee this week! I blogged about that trip here.

I rearranged my jewelry box this week. I'll have to share that in a separate post. Look at all that craziness! 

On Friday, I spent some time with my mother-in-law, Elsie. We went to this lovely tea restaurant called Infini-tea for lunch and tea. If you live near Antioch, Illinois and have not been here, you must go! Their food is delectable, tea delicious, and the atmosphere is perfect for mulling things over a cup of tea. We ended up buying a few bags of tea to take home and enjoy ourselves. Above is a tea flavor called Cocoa Orange= so good! Afterwards, we went shopping to a vintage treasure trove and walked out of there with about 4 bags of treasures! Hehe

We got some dessert to go, and this is a piece of Orange Dreamsicle cake! I forgot to mention that Infini-tea also has a gluten free menu!

Every year, Zion, Illinois, hosts a "festival" of sorts called Nostalgia Days. They invite everyone to come and get a taste of the "olden days". Vendors come and sell food, crafts, and anything else you can think of. But the crowning jewel is the old car cruise through Zion's main street. We went out to see a few of the cars. I loved the blue Mustang, above. 

And then, of course, a few people took it upon themselves to show off their souped-up cars...

We got a pizza for dinner tonight... It was so big that we had to cut it half in order to fit it in our oven... It tasted pretty delicious though!

What were some of your week's highlights?