life
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Crusty Bread (aka the easiest bread)
Several months ago, when I was on a big Pinterest kick, I ran across a crusty bread recipe. It seemed easy enough for a non-bread maker. Four ingredients, three of which I had on hand. Matt and I ran to Costco a few days later and I found my missing ingredient, yeast.
With my all the ingredients, I began making my first batch of crusty bread. OMG, this stuff is seriously the EASIEST to make! Not to mention it’s delicious. I’ve made several batches so far and every time it turns out amazing!
Here’s what you’ll need:
1/2 tsp Yeast (I use active dry yeast)
1 3/4 tsp Salt (I like kosher)
3 c. Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 c. Warm Water
Cast Iron Pot
Mix 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour with 1 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of yeast in a glass bowl. Whisk together and add 1 1/2 cups of warm water. I like to use a fork for mixing since it will get gooey. Cover the mix and let it sit for 12 hours. Do not refrigerate.
It will get kind of bubbly and rise. Once it’s sat for at least 12 hours (I’ve let mine sit for up to 18 before and it was fine) preheat your oven to 450*. When your oven is preheated put your empty cast iron pot in the oven for 30 mins. I’ve never tried it with anything other than cast iron so you’ve been warned.
About 5 mins before the timer goes off I will take my dough and flour it. Just throw some flour on the counter and cover the dough. You can be generous with this.
Carefully remove the pot lid and put your dough inside. I just dump it in. No need for oil. I bake mine for 20 mins covered and 10 uncovered. The recipe from my pin says 3o and 20. That was too long for me and my oven. I also like my bread a little more moist and it was little too dry at 30 mins.
Once the bread has browned to your liking remove it from the pot and let it sit on a wire cooling rack. It’s best not to cut while it’s hot. Trust me, it’s a bad idea. You will end up with smushed bread.
***I don’t normally post recipes so I apologize for the roughness of this post.
~k
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So this happened!
For about 6 years now, since I got my foot tattooed, I’ve wanted one on my wrist. Two years ago when Matt and I went to New York I decided it would be a really cool idea to do it there. I knew it would be much more expensive but part of that was the experience. We got to NYC and I chickened out. You have bones and veins in your wrist and that has to hurt right? It probably didn’t help that I really had no idea what I wanted.
Fast forward a year and a half and I finally found what I wanted a few weeks ago. As soon as I found it I knew so I contacted VanNess and Fellows, a local studio for a guy I found on IG. Unfortunately he was booked for like 6 months out but he had a guest artist that weekend. I made an appt for Saturday and drug Matt with me. We ran to lunch downtown and I grabbed a glass of wine. Then we headed to the studio. I say studio because this was hands down THE NICEST place ever!
Ten minutes later I had a cute little heart and anchor tattoo on the inside of my wrist. It’s not quite complete yet but I’ll have to wait to finish it.
The tattoo itself was uncomfortable and a little painful once or twice but overall not bad enough that I wouldn’t do it again. The painful part came the next day. Man my wrist was sore and achey.
I think I will probably need a touch up but I was told this up front. The artist, Scottie, told me just to let the studio know and they would get it set up. It hasn’t fully healed yet so I don’t want to call. Scottie also works at a studio in Wilmington so it would have to be done at a later date when he’s in town. Till then I think it will be fine. Plus like I said, it’s not quite complete so I’m hoping that I might can get both done.
~k
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Check In
It’s been a few weeks now and my project at work is still running into road block after road block. This is partially our fault for not setting the necessary (or correct) parameters. However, this thing was just built like crap and now we are having issues trying to make a not fully complete or functional product work. Not to mention very little support. I should add I’m talking about software.
For the past 2 months or so I’ve spent many, many hours sitting in rooms hashing out details and testing. Oh my god the testing! I am currently sitting at my desk doing more tests. Tests I’ve done hundreds of times (it feels like hundreds anyway!) Every time we get one thing working something else seems to break. It’s like that scene in Poltergeist when JoBeth Williams is running down the hallway. She can see the door but she can’t get there. That’s what I feel like right now too!
I’m hoping we will actually get this process launched next week and life can move on. (I’m also hoping I can move on to a new position! I’ve put in a lot of time and work on this and I hope it yields some reward!)
Next week I hope to return to blogging on a regular basis so watch out!
~k
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Busy busy busy
I promise I have NOT forgotten about the blog. Work has been crazy busy these past few weeks. The good thing is I think I might have positioned myself to be able to move to a new position at some point soon. I’ve been working on a major migration plan that includes many top level people. It seems as though they have taken notice that I really know my stuff. Hopefully good things will come soon!
Not only has work been crazy busy but I photographed a wedding on Saturday and Matt’s birthday was Sunday. I want to make sure I give both events proper coverage so I will write separate posts about both this weekend. I might even include a few wedding teasers. I posted a few on FB but I will also post a few here as well.
Happy Friday!
~k
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Thanks eBay!
A month or so ago Matt and I were in Banana Republic when I saw this adorable necklace. The price tag of $59.50 was also adorable. Not! So a few weeks ago I decided to see if I could find a knock-off online. After a few searches I finally found the same necklace but in different colors and for a more reasonable price of $25.00 with shipping. Heck yeah!
About 2 weeks ago I realized the estimated shipping date had passed and still no necklace. I knew it was shipping from China and I had a tracking number but I couldn’t find any shipping service that the tracking number worked with. I decided to email the seller just to make sure my package hadn’t been delivered to the wrong address. She promptly responded and said it would be a few more days before the necklace would likely arrive. She also included a tracking link. By this time the necklace was in New Jersey so I felt good.
I had a pretty crappy past few days so I was pretty happy when Matt got the delivery notice in the mail on Friday. We had missed the package and would have to pick it up from the post office. Saturday morning we ran by and picked it up. The box was wrapped in plastic and then covered in clear tape. No way in hell I was getting in that sucker till we got home.
I was really surprised once I got the tape and plastic off to see my necklace was in a cute purple glittery jewelry box. When I opened it I found the necklace had been wrapped in bubble wrap and each individual medallion had been wrapped as well. Needless to say it took awhile to get everything off of it. I must say I am super happy with the necklace and the seller. 🙂
~k
~k
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Long Weekend!
Thanks to my company’s challenge last month to average 20 hours of exercise in July, I had Friday off as well as Monday! What a nice long weekend. Unfortunately there wasn’t much sleeping in. Friday I woke up with Matt getting ready, Saturday was the first football game, Sunday I had a photo shoot, and Monday we had the parents over – but really I just couldn’t sleep. Ugh!
The football game was good and both NC State and Auburn pulled out wins. The State game was at noon though and OMG it was H O T!!!! Thankfully our seats get some shade but by halftime I was done. State had a good lead and well, I wanted a shower and not to die of heat stroke.
Sunday I had a photo shoot for a friend’s little girl. She did pretty well for a 1 yr old and I think I got a few cute pics. Again though it turned out to be pretty hot so I’m glad we met early. Matt played golf in the afternoon and ended up getting rained out. About 6pm a storm rolled through and the bottom fell out. I finally texted Matt and told him I didn’t think they could wait it out. He replied that he was on his way home. It was so bad that we couldn’t even run out to grab food. 🙁
Yesterday we invited my parents over since Matt’s parents were stopping in for the night (they are headed on a road trip across country). The day went really well and everyone had a nice time. Matt grilled burgers and corn and everything tasted great. I made a carrot cake so now we have leftovers. YUM!
That was pretty much our weekend in a nutshell.
(Can I just say I’m really glad it’s another short week?)
~k
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Oh Miley
Oh yes, I’m going there. My life is too boring lately so I’ve resorted to blogging about something in the “news.” (I use the term news very very loosely here.)
After the VMA’s on Sunday my FB feed blew UP with people posting about the Miley Cyrus / Robin Thicke performance. I didn’t watch the VMA’s so I had no clue what was going on. Well Monday morning my curiosity got the best of me and I watched the performance. Hmm….
I’m not shocked and by no means am I offended. Do I think Miley put her best booty, er foot forward, no. Do I think the performance was shocking, no! Do I care, umm not really but there are a few things I do want to add.
First off, if you’ve seen the unedited version (the edited they are wearing flesh body suits to give the illusion of being naked) of Blurred Lines you know the girls are naked and or topless rubbing and grinding on Robin Thicke. Personally the video made me like the song more. So do I really think Miley was inappropriate. Umm not so much. (This is really directed to all those going “I wonder what his wife thinks?” Well she knew he had naked girls in the video so at least Miley had some sort of clothing on.)
Secondly, Miley is 20 years old. TWENTY!!!! You know what most girls are doing at 20 years old? Getting drunk, dancing on bars and grinding on college boys. The difference they aren’t famous so no one cares.
Yes, sure, Miley was probably a role model for numerous little girls growing up. However, those little girls who looked up to and respected Miley while she was Hannah Montana are most likely grown up now as well. Does it suck for them that she’s done this, maybe. But she didn’t do anything more shocking or controversial than let’s say the Britney / Madonna kiss back in 2003 (way more shocking if you ask me). And for the record Brit Brit was only like 22.
Personally I feel like she is a just a 20 year old girl trying to figure out who she is. For years she had everyone around her telling her who she was. I think it’s perfectly normal for her to want (and get) to figure out who she is and who she will be. Granted one day she may look back on this performance and be embarrassed but maybe she won’t. For the last few months she’s been all over the news for this or that. Clearly she is trying to find herself. She is just in an unfortunate position to have the world watching. And she may not care.
As the old saying goes, no publicity is bad publicity.
~k
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Just Because
The other day I came home and there was a package on the counter. I looked at it and saw it had been delivered to Matt at work. I figured it was a work thing but I didn’t understand why it was unopened. I asked Matt what it was and he told me to open it. Then, of course, I realized it was a gift for me! YAY!
I opened the package and inside was a Kindle Paper White. 🙂 I’d been hinting for a few weeks that I would like one. I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and I thought it would be nice to be able to read with the lights off. Plus my old Kindle has some small cracks around the page buttons (not that that in any way affected my ability to read it.)
Now that I had a cute new Kindle I needed a new case. The Paper White is smaller than my original Kindle so I set off to find something on Amazon. The new PW also doesn’t have the silly little side holders either so most of the new cases are either full surrounds or clip ins. I found an adorable clip in case and for 10.00 with Prime I was sold. It arrived yesterday and I couldn’t be happier. The little case looks elegant and stylish and is just the right shade of teal.
I have a pretty great husband! And I hope he knows just how much I love him! <3 -
Oh BB
A few months ago I posted about my new Clinique BB Cream. You may remember my review was not great. Like I really wanted to take it back I was not pleased. So now I’m here to say that maybe my first review was a bit harsh. I don’t think I really gave it a chance. I had an idea of what I thought it should be and when it turned out to be different I automatically didn’t like it.
*Hanging my head in shame as I’m sitting here wearing said BB cream*
Seriously I’ve worn it for the past few days and it’s starting to grow on me. It does offer a little more natural coverage. It is a little thicker than the Olay CC cream but not as heavy as a normal foundation. I do find it seems to “shine” a little more than I’m used to but I by no means feel like an oil slick. A healthy glow maybe?
Anyway I’m here to say my first review was a little uncalled for. I should have given it a few days before judging so quickly. So if you are looking for a BB cream the Clinique is not bad, though I will hold to my earlier statement that I would NOT pay full price. I don’t think it’s the best thing out there especially for the price.
~k
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No chip – Not a cloud in sight
Over the weekend Matt and I were out running errands and we just happened to be in the parking lot next to Ulta so I ran in. As usual I ended up leaving with new bottles of nail polish. The first was Orly Won’t Chip topcoat. For $5.5o (which looks like a sale price) I figured it was worth a shot. I mean if it didn’t work then I had yet another top coat to add to my collection and if it did well, YAY!!!!
The second polish was L’oreal’s Not a Cloud in Sight. It’s a pretty teal color (and quite popular right now.)
Since I didn’t know just how much I would like the color I decided to go with the L’oreal because it was cheaper. Personally I wasn’t super happy with how the polish performed. It seemed to be very clumpy and thick. Thankfully the Orly smoothed it out some and actually made the polish look better.
As you can see I am on day 4 or 5 now and I still have no chips! WOO HOO! The Orly Won’t Chip topcoat is doing a pretty great job. I am beyond pleased with the results so far. I think I will actually ride this out and see just how long the Orly will work. Normally by day 4/5 the tips are starting to chip and I’m having to touch up. So if you want to spend your money on a no chip topcoat Orly is the way to go!
***UPDATE: The polish lasted a good 6 days without chips. I think my coats were a little too thick so when it did start to chip they were pretty deep. But overall 6 possibly 7 days with thinner coats, I think this is a keeper.
~k