white

Currently craving: white jeans.  I think my big fear is getting them dirty.  How in the world do you keep them clean?  But they look so nice, especially for spring/summer! 

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I think Old Navy has their denim on sale right now, so it may be a good time to see if they have white in stores!  I figure if I'm nervous about trying white denim, I probably don't want to spend a lot on a pair in case I ruin them!


Have you embraced the white denim trend?  Are you a nervous wreck about keeping them looking nice while out and about?

go somewhere

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This seemed suitable for today.  We finally booked our vacation for this year.  Granted, we're going to the beach and it's one I've been to before... but it's been many many years since I've been there... and I figure the most important part is going somewhere, getting away, and spending quality time together.  So, that's what we intend to do.  So now I'm counting down the days, weeks, months until we go on vacation. 

It's not even Memorial Day yet, and I feel like the summer's already starting to fly by.  Between work trips for myself or my husband, trying to schedule visits from family, and any number of other commitments... I think it's going to go so quickly.  I'll be honest, it's stressing me out a little.  But it'll all work out.  Guess I just have to keep my eye on the prize (vacation). 

Any big travel plans this year?  For the summer? 
Do you try to take a yearly trip?  If so, do you like to go to a new place or do you have one special place you go back to time and time again?

Hair Help for H54F

OK I'm doing today's High Five for Friday a little differently because I need help!  I decided to make a hair appointment today after work (impulse decision)... and can't decide what to do.  I literally haven't had a haircut since Thanksgiving of last year when I donated to Locks of Love.  So, my hair's grown out a bit... it's just past shoulder length and the sideswept bangs have grown out... and I'm bored with it. 

I'm seriously leaning towards bangs... but am wondering how they'd look with a longer bob type look.  So here are the pictures that are looks I'm considering (five of them for H54F!) and I'd love to know what you think. 

Honestly, I'm really in love with Rose Byrne's hair in the top left but I'm not sure I have the texture to pull it off.

So please weigh in.  Which look do you like?  Bangs or no bangs?  Do bangs work with a long bob?

picture sources //1//2//3//4//5//
Linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday

garden

The weekend before last, we put in our garden.  While I had intentions of putting in a raised bed this year, I just didn't get everything planned early enough to allow us time to build it.  I also had a hard time making up my mind about how large to make it and where to put it.  Too many decisions.  I have a pretty good idea of what I want now, so I think building this fall will be the plan so it's ready to go next spring. 

 

So, given that I wasn't ready to build the raised bed, we opted for containers this year.  It was easy and painless and I'm really excited about what's in store. 

 

We planted:

• Arugula
• Romaine Lettuce
• Strawberries
• Red, Green, and Yellow Bell Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Grape and Beefcake Tomatoes

 

So, here's where I ask for any advice you have... given that I'm a gardening novice. 
Anything that you learned along the way that may help?  Any suggestions for the raised bed that I plan to put in for next year?  Or are you a fan of container gardening?

I'm pretty sure the next step will be a windowsill herb garden.  I'll let you know how that goes.

five

TGIF!  I'm so glad it's Friday.  Hope you're excited for the weekend.  Here's a quick recap of the week:

 

Sunday was the Dirty Girl Mud Run.  Here's what we looked like before and after: 

 

 

 

Last weekend we finally got to work on our garden.  More on this next week but here's a sneak peek!

 



 

Here are my boys lounging this week.

 



As we all know, my love for Danny Castellano from the Mindy Project knows no bounds.  This adorable pictures is from Mindy Kaling's instagram this week.  Seriously, too cute for words.  I'm going to be so sad when the season is over.  This show is my hilarious.

I've talked about this before, but I'd really been wanting a sewing machine.  Well, guess who ordered one this week (70% off! Yay Amazon Daily Deal!) and it came 2 days later?  Now I just need to try to remember how to use it.

So how was your week?  Any big plans for the weekend?

Linking up with Lauren for H54F.

chocolate chip oatmeal

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are my favorite.  I'm not sure why it is that I like them better than regular chocolate chip... maybe it's the texture.  Maybe it's even the illusion that oatmeal makes them healthy.  Who knows?

This weekend I made a recipe I'd pinned and been meaning to try for a while.  It's a slight variation on the typical chocolate chip oatmeal cookie.

Chocolate Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
Slightly altered From The Wednesday Chef
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups packaged finely shredded unsweetened coconut
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup almonds with skins (4 oz), toasted, cooled, and chopped  (I skipped the toasting part)

1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. Beat together butter and sugars in a bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until just blended, then beat in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add flour and mix at low speed until just blended. Stir in oats, coconut, chocolate, and almonds.
3. Arrange  cookie dough about on baking sheet. Bake until golden, rotating halfway through, 12-15 minutes total depending on size of cookie.
4. Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute, then transfer with a spatula to racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

mud run

This weekend, my friend TJ and I participated in the Dirty Girl Mud Run.  It was a lot of fun... and some of it was fairly challenging.  The obstacles were really fun; my favorites were the cargo net and the slide.  The slide was also how I got the most dirty.  I'd done a decent job not getting dirty above my waist until we took the slide down into a mud/water pit and mud flew all over the place.  I think at that point, it was a lost cause. 

I definitely got more muddy than I'd expected.  I planned on getting through with minimal damage but I think the inability to do so may have been because we were the second day on the course.  Nonetheless, I had a great time.

Before

After

Final Mud Pit

Almost Done

Inflatable stairs