My stepmom-in-law gave hubby and me a pasta roller attachment for our KitchenAid mixer a few months ago for helping with a family reunion, and I've been looking for a time and opportunity to bust it out and try it.  I felt the weekend lull creeping in Saturday - feeling restless and bored yet not wanting to do several "necessary" chores.  So I rationalized that a complicated dinner project would be appropriate!

I wanted to make some kind of ravioli, so I pulled up this basic recipe from Served to Scratch to know where to start.

I can definitely see myself making tons of my easy homemade crackers with this guy!

I served them alongside some storebought meatballs I baked in the oven on top of a pyramid silicone mat - this is a great way to drain fat while cooking the meatballs evenly.  Jarred pasta sauce is another shortcut - I knew the ravioli would be labor-intensive enough and wanted to cut corners where I could!

The pièce de résistance!

Do you have a nifty piece of equipment that takes some effort but is well worth the work?  It's fun to roll up your sleeves and get creative from time to time!

It seems that lately, routine has won over novelty for sake of ease when cooking dinners.  Tuesday night we found ourselves with a night at home, and I decided to try something a little different in the kitchen.  As much as I love perusing ink-and-paper cookbooks, I have to admit that Pinterest makes finding recipes a breeze.

We hadn't had fish in awhile, so I went to Fresh Market and picked out some wild-caught Alaskan cod without knowing exactly what I'd do with it yet.  I also grabbed some cabbage (I had forgotten how cheap that stuff is!) to roast according to this recipe I'd been wanting to try from An Oregon Cottage.

After searching for a cod recipe that sounded light and flavorful, I settled on this one from Foodness Gracious, and boy did it deliver!  I only had one whole orange on hand, so I used its zest and juice while supplementing with some bottled lemon juice for the marinade.  It was light and flavorful and exactly what I was looking for!




Do you like to go grocery shopping without a recipe or menu in mind?  Sometimes it's like jumping without a net, but sometimes it can be fun!

This past week(end), hubby had some work to do in his company's Raleigh office that would be easier done without other employees around, so we decided to make a weekend getaway out of it!

Soon after we got checked in and settled in the room, we decided to check out the bar on our hotel's 20th floor - it offered great views of the city (kicking myself for not going back for a photo opp).

Bourbon, neat, for him and sauvignon blanc for her.

THIS is the atmosphere I want for our deck and backyard!  SO charming!

Freshly seated, before a small rainstorm.

I'm an a capella superfan!

After freshening up at the hotel, we checked out  Boxcar Bar & Arcade.  VERY fun but also VERY overwhelming.  There were several birthdays and bachelorette parties going on, in addition to a whole mess of regular folks just like us.



I tried two really good beers there - Milky Way by Trophy Brewing, and Summer Basil by Fullsteam (I like the weird stuff).

I'm a huge fan of Yoga with Adriene and have recommended her videos to a lot of people IRL.  She's funny, down-to-earth, and REAL (during the video I watched this morning, a little bug scuttled across her floor, and she merely said hello to him and brought his presence to our attention, saying he was going to do yoga with her....and that's totally something nerdy I'd do).  At the beginning of this year she created a 31-day yoga challenge called "Revolution," and I've decided to put myself to the task now.

Part of me wanted to wait until the start of a new month to begin this challenge, but a calendar page is arbitrary.  I'm ready now; I'm motivated; I'm yearning to feel better in mind, body, and spirit, so I have begun!


I've completed days 1-4 so far and appreciate that the practices build on each other and are also centered around a particular theme.  Having a mantra or certain concentration for each practice helps keep me focused and more mindful.  I find that I often feel very scattered, concerned about what's next or what needs to be done rather than what is NOW or what I CAN DO.  It's my intention with this yoga challenge to root myself deeper in the present and to get a better handle on all of which I'm capable (plus I gotta work on my strength and balance...let's be real here!).

I took yoga classes back in college for course credit and really got into it for awhile, but over the past few years have gotten away from it.  Nowadays I tend to get frustrated when I try a pose I would've been much more capable of in my yoga heydays, so the concept of honoring myself, my limitations, and my capabilities is one I need to practice, both on and off the mat.  I have set the reward that at the end of the challenge - if I have stuck with it - I'm going to buy myself one of these Turkish towels to use during my practice (in place of a blanket for knee support, etc.).  I just love how classy and bohemian they look!  And while the real goal here is to get more comfortable with doing impromptu practices at home, a little external dangling carrot never hurt anyone, right?  😉

For those of you who do yoga, have you had a hard time getting into the routine of a practice on your own?  What accountability measures did you put in place to make sure you stuck to it?  Besides Adriene, what other instructors should I check out?

I've had a project in the works for a few years (at home I'm a starter, not a finisher...not proud), but I finally was able to wrap it up with the help of another project (I weave a mighty tangled web of crafts).

Tangentially (but I'll get back to the point): for our wedding anniversaries, I'd prefer to stick to the traditional gift-giving guidelines for some inspiration.  For our first anniversary, part of my gift was a hand-lettered print I did of the title of our first dance song, but I never got around to framing it.  Lately we've finally been putting more stuff up on the walls, so I dug out that print and realized an LP album frame would be perfect for it (12" square, and I only know those exist because my stepmom-in-law did a framed album cover project recently).  I searched the Michaels website to see what kind of options they had, and wouldn't you know it - they had a BOGO sale going on!  One went on my anniversary print, but I had outside-the-box plans for the other.  Getting back to my original point....

I bought a 12"x12" piece of sheet metal from Home Depot awhile back with the intention of displaying magnetized eyeshadow pots, but never took the time to decide how to frame and hang it.



I used the same E3000 glue to affix a magnet to the back of each eyeshadow pot and let them dry for several hours.


I re-assembled the frame and hung it on the wall next to the mirror in our vanity area, and now I've freed up tons of counter space and can actually SEE all my color options!

I served them with some BBQ sauce, and they were a great way to use up the pulled pork!  These would be great for an event as they were easy to pick up and eat, and were relatively healthy (omit the cheese if you're being even more health-conscious.
 

Taco Casserole

Peach Enchiladas