January 25, 2012

taking the windy city to texas.

Ok, the title of this post is probably a little misleading. I am technically taking the Windy City to Texas. But by Windy City, I mean the Windy City Dress I just got from ModCloth to wear to my sister’s birthday bash in a couple of weeks:

Behold the pretty! I’ve actually been eyeing this dress for a while but it was out of stock FOREVER. Also, I had no real need for a new dress until now. I saw that it was back in stock and just had to get it for next month’s festivities. So excited to get it and try it on! Now I just need shoes…

Also, the other way I’ll be “taking” the Windy City to Texas is that Alex (my born and raised in Chicago boyfriend) will be joining me. Yes, I will be introducing him to my parents. And the rest of my exceptionally large family. I met the majority of his extended family over Thanksgiving and it went really well. I explained to him that our families are similar in a lot of ways (us both being Mexican helps) but that mine is just… bigger and therefore, louder. Let me put it this way: my mom is one of 10 kids. Yes, TEN children. And all of her brothers and sisters got married and had kids. And some of those kids have had kids. So, that’s a lot of people. Just on my mom’s side of the family too.

This is also the first time since high school that I’ve ever brought a boy home, so naturally, it’s kind of a big deal. I’m nervous and excited, all at once. I have no doubts that my family will like Alex, because he’s pretty awesome and an all-around great guy. The only thing I’ll have to help him with is the language barrier. While we’re both Mexican, we were raised pretty differently. I’ve spoken Spanish fluently my whole life while Alex only has basic understanding of it. My family in Texas speaks English, but I’ll also have family from Mexico coming in that doesn’t. So overall, it should be an interesting (but hopefully fun) experience for everyone involved.

This trip is happening in two weeks! Here’s hoping I don’t end up packing the night before, like I usually do.

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Filed under adventures, chicago, texas, the boy, travel

January 20, 2012

foto friday: making veggie meals

So, I’ve been a vegetarian for almost half my life now (I dropped meat like a bad habit when I was 13). But I’ve only recently really started to branch out in making veggie-friendly dishes for lunch. I’ve never been great at cooking and let’s be honest–I can be pretty lazy when it comes to making lunch. I’ll usually go the sandwich route or yes, even frozen meals.

Except recently I’ve decided that I kinda hate frozen meals. Especially because I have no variety when it comes to them; the majority of them focus on meat. They’re not filling (AT ALL) and they get pretty gross after a while.  I pretty much had the same reaction to ramen after college–I ate way too much of it during those four years and haven’t really been able to stomach the stuff since.

Also, I’ve recently been inspired by Alex, who is clearly the cook in our relationship. He loves cooking, much to my relief. And although he’s not fully vegetarian (what I kind of girlfriend would I be to deprive a man of his bacon?), he’s great about whipping up meatless meals for us. He’s also really good about hunting down blogs filled with yummy recipes and sharing them with me.

And thanks to one of those said blogs (specifically, Poor Girl Eats Well), I decided to dabble in making cheap, yummy meals for lunch. First up is a variation of her pesto couscous salad recipe, which you see pictured above. I just added in some more veggies (mushrooms and spinach) and voila! A delish and surprisingly filling lunch. No more sandwiches for this girl! … Ok, I’ll make sandwiches when I’m in a hurry. But I’m hoping this is the start of a good habit. :)

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Filed under cooking, foto friday, growing up, vegetarian

January 13, 2012

foto friday: winter wonderland.

It took a little longer than usual, but Chicago is finally covered in snow! We’ve had a fairly mild winter up until now. Just earlier this week, it was almost 50 degrees out when WHOOSH–in comes winter with a vengeance! It’s suddenly a winter wonderland out (and freezing).

Snow can be a bit of a pain (especially when you throw in ice and slush), but when you’re not in a hurry, it’s actually kind of nice to walk through. Don’t know if I’ll still be saying the same thing when I have to clean off my car tonight, but other than that, I can’t complain too much. This kind of weather comes with living in the Windy City. :)

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Filed under chicago, foto friday, life as i know it

January 10, 2012

time to embrace the new year.

I think I’ve been in denial about the fact that it’s 2012. The last bit of December came and went in a blur. I went home, I saw my family, I baked, I opened presents, I came back. A few days later, I kissed Alex at midnight at his favorite bar as the clock struck midnight. But until now, I haven’t fully embraced 2012.

It doesn’t really help that I was sick all of last week with a cold and was just trying to get through the work week. Now it’s the 10th and I’m sitting in my corner at work, realizing that it is in fact a brand new year with brand new things in store.

I always hesitate on calling the little list of goals I have written out “resolutions” because as we all know, resolutions are often forgotten about by the end of January. So for now, I’ll call this my year-long list of things to do:

1. Be better with money
It’s often hard being a freelancer/part-time employee but I know that I’m much better off right now than most. I just have to be a bit more financially responsible and make sure I can pay all my bills and still have enough to buy groceries. I have two credit cards that aren’t maxed out yet, but I know I need to be better about using those as well (and start working to pay them off). It helps writing out a budget for the month and making sure I log into my online banking account on a regular basis (as opposed to avoiding it) so I know where I’m at. Learnvest is a super helpful website that emails me daily about how to cut expenses; I’m currently on registered in their Cut Your Costs bootcamp and I love looking over their tips on my way to work.

2. Freelance more
I haven’t had a ton of luck finding and keeping regular freelance writing gigs in the last couple of years. A few publications I used to love to work for don’t even exist anymore and I just recently lost yet another gig (through no fault of my own, thankfully). But I’ve decided instead of just waiting for something to pop up, I need to work on pitching stories. I haven’t always been great at it, but it’s a really valuable skill I need to work on. The one big pitch I hope to make is to Bust. I absolutely adore Bust; it’s the only magazine I subscribe to these days and one that I’d love to write for.

3. Exercising and eating well
This one is always one everyone’s list, isn’t it? I was only able to get back to the gym as of last night due to my cold. I didn’t push myself too hard but it felt really good just to work out again. My gym has offers classes that I’ve never tried before, so I think I’ll go to a couple different ones to see what works best for me. Eating well is a big one too; Alex and I have been doing really well thanks to his healthy, home-cooked meals and limiting alcohol to weekends only. Overall, I think I just need to work on feeling good and being happy with how I look.

4. Reading and learning
I love books and I definitely don’t have enough of them. My sister got me Mindy Kaling’s new book for Christmas (so good!) and I finished it in a day. I’ll be scouring the interwebs to see what everyone else is reading and get back into the groove of buying used books off Amazon. As for learning, I feel like I can always learn something new. Here in Chicago, there are classes offered through Dabble and I’m hoping to find something I’d like to try out soon. On my own time, I’ve signed up at Codecademy because I’ve always been interested in learning basic Javascript (yep, I’m THAT big of a nerd).

5. Keep creating
This one is pretty important to me. Staying creative in any capacity keeps me sane, you know? Knitting and photography are two things I dabbled in throughout 2011, something I’d like to continue into 2012. Working with film photography on a budget can be hard, but I miss it like crazy and can’t wait to take pictures of the winter wonderland that Chicago will no doubt become by next month. Same goes for knitting (pretty yarn doesn’t come cheap!) but I’m already working on a new, simple project (a new scarf for Alex because the one he has right now is old and worn and I sorta hate it).

And those are my main five things to do this year! To manage all my other little to-dos: Wunderlist. Ohmygosh, this app is helpful. I love that I can log into on my computer and also use it on my iPhone. Throw in my new paper planner (simple and cheap from Target) and I’m ready to tackle rest of January. Alright, here we go. :)

{image source: weheartit}

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Filed under being crafty, chicago, growing up, knitting, life as i know it, stuff i love, thoughts

December 31, 2011

see you soon, 2012.

Before I start talking about the end of the year, please watch the video above. It’s wonderful and touching and will probably make you cry (because it definitely made me shed a few tears). 2011 was quite a year. It’s a year that I had been waiting for, for quite some time. I had serious ups and downs since graduating college in 2008. And while I don’t necessarily feel like I standing steadily on both two feet just yet, I finally know that I’m well on my way there.

In 2011, I:

Went on a dating detox for 5 months. At the end of May, I met Alex and as they say, the rest is pretty much history. :)
I am so lucky to be someone so wonderful and so happy in our relationship. I feel secure, loved, and blessed. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Had an amazing summer, filled with adventures with friends and Alex. There was visits to the beach, drinks, outdoor festivals (including one in Milwaukee, my first time there), and everything in between. It was definitely one of my favorite things about this year.

Dabbled in creativity. Alex gave me an old film camera he had in college and I’ve all but fallen in love with it. I’ve always loved photography and working with film takes time and patience, but I adore it. I’m looking to buy more film soon and dabbling even more in the winter months. :)

Baked like whoa. It’s no secret that I love baking and I love getting some practice in. I did a little bit of everything and tried lots of new stuff this year, including pumpkin bread and Alex’s favorite cookies.

Lost my job. It’s not as awful as it sounds. I worked for a small publishing company for a year and got laid off because my projects got cut. This sort of stuff happens. And it wasn’t until I left that I realized how unhappy I was with my job. In a way, it was almost a relief. And I’ve been a full-time freelancer in the past, so I wasn’t completely blindsided. I was also fortunate enough to find employment with my alma mater, and it let’s me do more web/social media stuff than editorial. It’s not full-time but it has potential and I still have a couple of freelance gigs going on the side, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity and potential career change.

All in all, 2011 was so much more than I thought it would be. I survived my first blizzard. I fell in love. I travelled to Texas a few times. I had fun. I grew up. Like I said, I finally feel like I’m finding some steady ground. And tonight, you’ll find me a little Irish pub with Alex in his neighborhood, ringing in what should be a nice, relaxed new year. See you all then. :)

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Filed under amazingness, craft love, growing up, life as i know it, photography, recipes, stuff i love, the boy, Uncategorized

December 30, 2011

knitting with love

The blanket you see pictured above has been almost a year in the making. That’s right, it almost took me all of 2011 to knit this bright yellow baby blanket for my bestie’s new baby/my godson, Jax. I’ve never knitted anything so big, so that’s probably a huge factor as to why it took me almost 10 months to finish it.  Throw in my job, dating, running around Chicago, hanging with friends, and everything in between and yeah–I’m just glad I finished it in time to hand it over to Jax for Christmas, which was also the first I got to meet him. :)

Now, I had to deal with quite a few babies over the holidays–little cousins, nieces, and nephews. There was enough wailing and crying to swear me off even thinking about having kids until I’m 30. Which is why I have to commend my best friend for having a baby at our age–it takes time, dedication and just plain ol’ hard work. But Jax is the sweetest, calmest baby I’ve met in quite some time. And I’m not just saying that because he’s my godson. :)

From what I could tell, Jax was a big fan of his new blanket. So even though it took the majority of 2011, knitting it for him was well worth it. It’s a knitting project I took on with love–and although I’m not home often, I hope this little something is enough to tie me into his life and I can’t wait to see the little guy again in February!

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Filed under being crafty, knitting, texas

December 20, 2011

cooking up a (small) storm!

Alex and I (ok, just Alex… sometimes I help out) really like making new, yummy dishes for dinner. We’ve been actively trying to eat out less, so we’re constantly scouring the interwebs for recipes to try and make. We’ve also recently become obsessed with all things Iron Chef, so that only furthers our need to make awesome dinners for ourselves. I’ve been a huge fan of A Cozy Kitchen for a while now (seriously, it’s such a great food blog) so we decided to give two small recipes a go: jalapeño bacon stuffed mushrooms and avocado fries. If they both sound amazing, that’s because they are. Mushrooms and avocados are pretty much two of my all-time favorite things to eat, so I was pretty pumped for this meal.

Due to my veggie ways, Alex and I switched out regular bacon and used soy bacon. For those who say boo to all things soy: I swear, it’s not awful! Soy bacon (we used the kind from Morningstar) is actually pretty decent. It smells and tastes the same; the only real difference is the texture of it, as soy bacon doesn’t get super duper crispy.

Anywho, I cooked the veggies together while Alex scooped out the stems from the mushrooms:

While we waited for the mushrooms to bake, we got to working on the avocado fries (all while watching the finale for The Next Iron Chef, of course). I dipped the avocado in the mixture and Alex fried them up:

The finished results were just as awesome as we had hoped they would be. We pretty much inhaled this meal! I definitely want to try making them again. :)

Afterwards, I made Alex his birthday cake: a chocolate stout cake (using Guinness, his fave beer), which is a recipe I got from my other fave food blog, Smitten Kitchen.  The original recipe called for a chocolate ganache but I worried that would be a bit too sweet, so I went with my usual favorite frosting instead: cream cheese + whipped cream frosting, flavored with a cream stout (which we also had on hand at the time, haha). It turned out really yummy! But that cake will get its own blog post. :)

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Filed under baking, cooking, recipes

December 13, 2011

winter adventures!

I can’t believe I’m going to be home in a week for the holidays! As much as I love the first snowfall, I always secretly look forward to a warm Christmas back home in Texas. :)

From the pictures above, you can catch a glimpse at my most recent adventures: Riding the holiday train, enjoying the Christmas tree that my roomie was oh so nice enough to purchase (it’s a real tree and makes our living room smell lovely!), shopping at the Renegade Craft Fair holiday market and walking about after the first bit of real snow we got last week (which has since melted away).

Before I can go home, there’s plenty to do, including celebrating Alex’s 29th birthday (my mister is getting old!) at Revolution Brewing and baking him a birthday cake–a chocolate stout cake, to be exact. This will only be my 2nd time baking with booze and I’m really hoping it turns out yummy! I know next week will be here before I know it, but I’m glad that all of my Christmas shopping is now out of the way. I can’t say I’m excited to fly out at 5:30 am next Wednesday (gah) but I’ll be home before noon that same day, which will be nice. :)

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Filed under adventures, amazingness, chicago, the boy, weekend, winter

December 7, 2011

music of the moment: birdy and blind pilot

Around this time of year, I always find myself listening to mellow/soft indie music and sure enough, my current music of choice reflects that:

I first wrote about Birdy way back in May when I first heard her cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love”. Since then, she’s released a self-titled album of wonderful covers and I’ve been obsessed with her version of The National’s “Terrible Love” (sensing a trend?) for weeks now. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her covering “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” because I love the original version so much, but she puts her own spin on it and it’s pretty good. The whole album is really lovely and well-done; she has an amazing voice and I would definitely recommend listening to it.

I’ve liked Blind Pilot since their first album was released back in ’08 (3 Rounds and a Sound). Their new album, We Are The Tide, is pretty great. My favorite song so far is “Half Moon”, which has made its way onto my most recent playlist. Their new album reminds me a lot of one of my old favorite bands, The Little Ones, but slightly less upbeat overall. I usually find myself listening to the whole album while riding the train home after work.

Still getting used to the fact that it’s December, which will be made all the more real by spending tomorrow Christmas shopping and enjoying general activities of merriment wit Alex, who decided to take the day off work and spend it with me in the city. :)

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December 1, 2011

on into december!

Oh 2011, where did you go? 2012 is just around the corner! But first things first: wonderful holiday celebrations, Christmas and New Year’s Eve festivities. :)

I get into the holiday spirit rather quickly. You’ll find me at my desk, listening to Christmas music non-stop, planning out my baking plans with my sister via text and carefully crafting gifts for the members of my family (and the boyfriend too!). I’m even plotting to go out of my way to ride the holiday train on the way home from work. For those who aren’t from Chicago, yes, we have a holiday train and it’s as amazing as it sounds.

This weekend will be the start of it all: on Saturday, Alex and I will be in his neighborhood checking out the Lincoln Square Christkindl Market. Then on Sunday, it’s back to Wicker Park to check out the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market. There’s the promise of snow this weekend, which will probably throw my Christmas spirit into overdrive. And with snow, beer, cider, yummy snacks and shopping, I’ll be in my own little winter wonderland. <3

{image source: tumblr}

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