Obsession: Ladies, Ladies, Ladies

In my most perfect of perfect dreams, I have naturally voluminous hair, dark, long eyelashes and rosy cheeks. Sigh. Yes, it is a sweet dream. I'm going to go ahead and blame it on the gorgeous ladies of old Hollywood. Just look at these pictures! I don't think photoshop was a thing back then, right??

all images from my Pinterest board "lovely, isn't it?" 

I have been loving the Mad Men influence, the cat eyes, the bouffant hair, the Chanel throwbacks... but mostly I just love seeing these stunning women in their pure and lovely beauty. They are the real deal, the women I want to emulate- in both style and presence. 

Do you have any style icons?

Good Eats: Curry & Mustard- who knew?

I have been trying for 3 years to entice my husband to go out for Indian food with me. No luck. AT ALL. Since I've never tried cooking real Indian cuisine, I thought I would ease into it for a few reasons- one, so Joe doesn't completely deny our dinner plans and two, so I don't have to go buy unknown ingredients like garam masala and paneer right now. Might just be a little lazy.

As such, I searched for some simple recipes online and found a curry mustard chicken that sounded safe and delicious. Guess what. It was so so so so so good. Maybe it's because I've been starved for anything with curry for the past few years... but whatever. I loved it!

All you need is:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/3 cup of dijon mustard

3 cloves of fresh garlic, diced

2 Tbsp curry power

1 Tbsp onion powder

1/2 Tbsp lemon pepper

Sprinkle of sea salt

Dash of ground peppercorn

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400. Placed rinsed and trimmed chicken breasts into a baking dish that is deep enough to allow the chicken to be covered by liquid (I used my very favorite Le Creuset cast iron terrine). Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, then spread dijon on with a marinading brush. Make sure all sides are well coated! Then add the remaining spices, except the garlic. Pour the 

chicken broth into the pan- if 1 1/2 cups is not enough, add more to ensure the breasts are covered by the liquid. Now add the garlic, dispersing it throughout the chicken broth. Bake for 40 minutes, then check for any pink inside. If there is some, cook for about 10-15 more minutes. 

For our side dish: I cooked chopped up bacon ends for about 5 minutes, then added Brussels sprouts and fresh green beans. I tossed in a little bit of olive oil and S&P, stirred everything together, then turned the heat up to high and cooked until the vegetables got a little crispy. I turned down the heat and covered them for 5-7 minutes, until the vegetables were cooked to my taste (not too soft). And bam! One of our favorites. 

Try it out- a little bit of curry cures a lot of cravings. Enjoy!  

Recipe adapted from here / image from my Pinterest board Cook, Eat, Repeat

Thing I Love: Front St.

Sitting in my cold living room in my cold city, it is easy to catch a serious case of wanderlust. I am having visions of sunny patios, turquoise water, icy cold cocktails, flip flops, beach hair... I think I actually might be able to taste a margarita right now. I told you this was serious.

Now it is confession time- I look forward to summertime outfits almost more than I look forward to actual summertime- it's true. I like flowing dresses and fresh pedicures and messy buns WAY better than bulky sweaters and puffy coats. I had a brief fling with Polyvore a few years ago- it is like paper dolls for 20 and 30-somethings! Who doesn't love that idea? So as an investment in my sanity, I decided it would be therapeutic to put together warm weather ensembles, based on my wanderlust fantasies. Today's outfit belongs in Front St in Lahaina, Maui. 80 degrees, warm wind, that gorgeous harbor... and this pretty little getup. 

1. Anthro maxi/2.Essie Haute as Hello/3.Fringe Hobo/4.Urban Sandals/5.Urban Aviators/6.FCUK Hat

Stay close as I will dream up new sunny cities and new ensembles to match soon enough... it's supposed to rain for the next 9 days. Ugh. 

Today, I pledge to Be A Good One EVEN IN THE RAIN!!!

xo

Blog Crush.

Nesting is my new thing. No, I am not expecting. Good lord, if you looked at my Pinterest habits and blog lists... you'd think so. But no. I am just super crazy fixated on making this house a home. This is how I found Little Green Notebook. 

This started out as a "Thing I Love" post, based on a few amazing posts from her blog. But I could NOT pick just one picture or one post.... subsequently, I have now read her entire blog. Aaaaaaaand, now it is a full-blown Blog Crush. 

Meet Jenny Komenda, hostess of the spectacular Little Green Notebook. In addition to her design blog, Jenny has an interior design business, a husband and three little girls. She's probably really bored. Yeah right, I am insanely impressed with this girl. It's not just me and her thousands of followers, she has been featured by HGTV, Vogue House and Home, Elle Decor and several others. 

Reasons why she is a Good One:

She is obsessed with color

She is super crafty and sees unique possibilities in literally EVERYTHING

She knows her s@!t in the design space

She is unafraid of mixing patterns 

She is thrifty and provides such new inspiration for on-a-budget folks like me!

She is just so darn adorable (Jenny on the left)

Go take a look- you will be completely inspired and fall in love with her loft, her style and HER!! 

Be a Good One,

xo C

Good Eats: Comfort THIS

Who doesn't love comfort food? I do. Boy, do I ever. Show me someone who really, truly, honestly prefers kale and almonds to meatloaf and mashed potatoes and I will call them... well, someone from Portland. Moot point. Bad example. Whateves.

So lately, I have been on some sort of quest to learn and memorize good old fashioned American cuisine. You know, like TV dinner cuisine. Like Grandma made. The good memories, like My Little Pony or Zack Morris. In my case, it is Beef Stroganoff and Nana's Mac & Cheese. 

My saving grace has been these 2 amazing resources: Skinny Taste and Eating Well. Skinny's author Gina (first name, that's what you do when you're BFFs like us) is an amazing site with thousands of recipes that we all know and love- but lower in fat, calories, sugar and sodium. So good. Here are a few of my favorite comfort dishes from her:

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Swedish Meatballs

Pork Chops

Eating Well has some amazing information on their site. My mom gave me a subscription to the magazine for Christmas and my goodness- I feel healthier READING it. The articles are incredible- like this one on Michelle Obama's garden- what? I love her. As well as recipes for the good stuff, made better. Like these:

Chicken Tenders

Meatloaf

Chicken Fried Steak & Gravy (Husband's favorite)

So, get after it! I am definitely craving something warm and hearty tonight. Especially since it is hailing and 45 degrees right now... ah, Portland. Get over yourself already. WE WANT SPRING! Until then... hot comfort food. Enjoy a Good One.

Obsession: Gallery Walls

Pinterest has themes. Sometimes its some e-cards. Sometimes its Polyvore. Sometimes its quotes with fancy fonts. Lately... its been GALLERY WALLS. Goodness, they're all over the place. 

But now I want one. 

I used to have an awesome mirror gallery in the ole Single Girl apt, but it lost it's charm after moving 3 times- the set-up routine is BRUTAL. I miss it, though. Then in our last house, we had a few perfect collections- a family wall in the hallway and a collection of randoms in our living room. But since we have been in our Portland house... the walls have remained empty and in need of inspiration- which I found. Abundantly. 

Here is the list of a few Good Ones:

Arty Schmarty

Art Variety

Book Shelf Gallery

Aaaaaaand, my favorite.

Now I just need to acquire art and some frames and pull up my creative boots to do it. Ready, set go.

** Note: all photos are on my Pinterest Inspiration board, located here!

Blog crush.

Meet Joanna Goddard, of A Cup of Joe fame. She has been writing this blog for 5 years, has a phenomenally loyal following and a bad ass blogging history with Glamour Magazine and Conde Nast Traveler (jealous). She is who I want to be when I grow up in the blogging world.

Reasons why she is a good one:

I love her taste & style.

I love her links to random stuff.

I love her excitement at being a Mama to her smooshable son.

I love her giveaways, her recipes, her affinity for gorgeous vintage photos.

I love having her in my daily rotation.

Now you need to love her too- seriously, go browse. She knows about things.