(belated) weekend recap!

Once again I was swept up in the beginning of my week and have been m.i.a. from love type thing world-my apologies. I am happy to report that I did have a pretty swell weekend with my family! 

Friday night my younger (and only) sister got back from her summer-long internship in Indiana and I was (and still am) oh so happy to have her around for a bit before she has to head back to Indiana for her last year of college! I don't know how many of you out there are the eldest child or just have a younger sibling, but it is such a weird/awesome/crazy/cool thing to see your siblings all of the sudden become adults...where does the time go?! Anyways, my parents invited us to join them on their traditional Friday night outing to the local "Summer Sounds"-a Friday night jam each week throughout the summer that features one or two different bands, usually from the midwest area. It was a perfect night-cool breeze, tasty drinks & food, good tunes, and of course great company :)

Saturday continued to be a great day....I got to catch up with one of my dearest girlfriends from college who was passing through the area for a wedding. She and I always have the best chats and I miss her "in-person" company and friendship, but we make it work despite the distance between here and D.C! Most of the day and evening was relaxing, finishing up with a much needed (and delicious) run to Noodles & Co. and Red Box with my sister...pasta, movies, red wine, and my sister make for a great night.

The weekend wrapped up with a classic Sunday night dinner: bbq pork loin, polenta, roasted veggies, and homemade french bread. And some awesome pie. Annnd the Olympics, naturally. I hope you had a great weekend too...stop back in later for my mini-peach crumble recipe-tried it out last night and it was DEElicious! 

in the kitchen: Greek dip

A few weeks ago, I made this tasty (no-bake!) party dip from Iowa Girl Eats to bring over to my co-workers house and it was GOOD!
I always get a little nervous when I decide to bring something I haven't tried out before but I felt confident about the simplicity of the recipe & knew all the ingredients couldn't possibly fail!

Greek Dip via Iowa Girl Eats

Base layer ingredients:
-6 oz. plain Greek yogurt
-10oz red pepper hummus (I went with the recommended Sabre brand, but you could always grab your favorite)

Toppings:
-crumbled feta cheese
-kalamata olives, chopped
-Roma tomatoes, diced
-red onion, minced
-cucumber, chopped
-optional: fresh parsley

Put it all together!
-Spread the yogurt for first layer on your plate (you want one with a deeper bowl to it). Then use your hummus for the second layer.
-Sprinkle your toppings evenly on the hummus....and you're done!
-you can serve with cucumbers, carrots, or whole grain crackers...I decided to use pita chips!
Enjoy :)

pinterest finds

gold tube bracelets via Honestly WTF

red lips, polka dots...can't go wrong

divine looking chocolate cake

great DIY via I Spy DIY 

anchors away!

gorgeous wedges

cheddar jalepeno spoon bread...yes.

Feel free to check out more pins here! Hope your week has been going well

weekend recap

I hope all of you were able to take advantage of your weekend-I know I tried to fit in what I could! On Friday night I met a friend for some eats at Milwaukee spot, the Eatery-I went with the portabella mushroom sandwich and sipped on a cold Lakefront Brewery IPA. After catching up for awhile, we headed down to the Urban Island party at the Lakeshore State Park, a small park that is close to the Modern Art Museum & Discovery World in downtown Milwaukee. 

I actually never even knew about this park, so I was really excited to be able to check it out. I do wish we could have been able to be a part of the event during the day because they did kayaking, paddle board demos, and even a hula performance, but we weren't able to get down there til later on in the evening. Still, it was a lot of fun to hang out for a bit and be a part of something new. After that, we met up with some other friends and grabbed a drink at one of the local bars, Hotel Foster...they serve their drinks in mason jars, enough said. 

The rest of the weekend was a lot of fun too! I finally went to see Beasts of the Southern Wild-beautiful story & acting (had a good cry), and I went on a three hour bike ride on Sunday around town and out to the bluffs for an awesome view of lake Michigan! It has been waaayyy too long since I have made biking a part of my routine, so despite some challenging hills and maybe getting lost (I'm directionally challenged!), it felt really good to spend the afternoon cruising around.

My Monday flew by, which is great because my sister is coming home Friday AND my dearest friend  from college will be in town on Saturday! So there is plenty to look forward to as the week goes on :)

in the kitchen: eggs in a boat!

Good morning world! 

As I mentioned last week, I have got to start my day with some kind of breakfast-even if it's just an apple and peanut butter or some toast, this girl has got to eat in the morning. Assuming I have enough time before heading off to work, eggs are one of my "go to" breakfast choices throughout the week. The beauty about eggs is that there are so many ways you can prepare them and practically anything tastes good mixed in, on top or on the side! Here is one way that I recently enjoyed my eggs....how do you like yours?

Eggs in a Boat

1-2 eggs
1 tbsp milk
chopped red pepper (however much you like!)
chopped onion
1 hoagie bun, cut in half (take out excess "dough" from each half) 
1/2 c shredded cheese of your preference


1. Crack those eggs into a bowl! Add in your milk and whisk with a fork, set aside.
2. If you haven't already, chop up the onions and peppers
3. Put a small about of oil or butter into a pan and then add your vegetables to the pan. 
4. Once the veggies are sauteed to your liking, add in your egg mixture and stir occasionally until you have the eggs cooked. Take them off the heat.
5. Go to the oven & turn the broiler on low (or high depending on quickly you want it to go)
6. Grab your hollowed-out hoagie buns, scoop in your cooked eggs in and add your cheese on top. Place the "egg boats" onto a cooking pan and put them on the top rack of the oven. Broil til the cheese is bubblin'!
7. Take your egg boats out and enjoy! I opted to have mine with some greek yogurt & fruit, but feel free to serve with bacon :)

morning thoughts

1. Breakfast is SO necessary for me to function in the morning. And coffee (duh.)

2. Commuting to work (in a car) is just awful-how do people do this every day? Thankful for 88.9 Radio Milwaukee and NPR right now for providing some mental escape from commuter land.

3. I'm in total nerd mode with the Game of Thrones books. I have about three other books sitting in my "dock" on my Kindle, but every time I have finished a GoT book, I ignore all the rest and download the next one! Since I have just started the final book in the series, I figure I will crawl back out of my "medeval" world and back into one of my many other books (Sin in the Second City, The Night Circus, The Fault in Our Stars...)

4. I know I am not the only one and definitely not the first to say this in the last 48 hours BUT, 

Gabby Douglas. You rock!

5. My dad is one of the best cooks around-the temporary living at home situation is a tasty one :)

Happy Friday morning to all of you!

relocation = blog neglect

sorry folks, my move (though not a super far one) from Duluth to Milwaukee and starting the new job has meant an absence of blogging. That and my nightly watching of the Olympics instead of writing-what can I say, it's so exciting!

Anyways! I am back in Milwaukee...well actually outside of Milwaukee, hanging at my parent's house until Ryan joins me here in the land of beer and brats. Side note: everyone knows there is more to Milwaukee than that, right?! Might have to make it my mission to enlighten you...). I have started my new job and I am missing the liveliness of my old office, but I know I just have to take some time to get settled in and find my groove. New beginnings, even when you're in somewhat familiar settings, can be so overwhelming! I have been occupying my time with lots of apartment hunting, catching up on reading (in the midst of three books!), and learning a lil backgammon from my dad. 

Promise I shall return soon with more regular updates! Until then, I hope all of you have had a great start to your weeks-almost halfway through already!