Crap I've Made from Pinterest Vol. 6

Yeah, so we just moved to Oregon, blahblahblah - more on that later.

First mountain sunrise!

Since I'm currently unemployed, my daily tasks are to UNPACK ALL THE THINGS and make dinner for the husbeard (note: manfriend has been upgraded due to wedding). He requested spaghetti tonight and since we're in Oregon and I had the time, I decided to try my hand at making pasta sauce from scratch.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and used it as a jumping off point.

What I actually used:
Olive oil (just poured some in the pan, probably 2-3 tablespoons)
1 yellow onion
12 garlic cloves
6 roma tomatoes
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1.5-2 teaspoons of sugar
Entire package of basil
Half package of oregano

Chopped everything first, like a good cook. Put the onion in with the olive oil and cooked it down until translucent, then added the garlic for about a minute or so. Added the tomatoes, salt, and sugar. Let that all cook down to deliciousness next.

Once that was good and liquidy, I added the basil and oregano and cooked them down until wilty (yes, that is the technical term...).

At which time, I had to go collect the husbeard from work. So I took the veggies off the heat and let it all just hang out for a bit. After returning and getting the husbeard's approval of my progress so far, I threw it in the blender where it became sauce! Upon sampling, we decided it needed a little more kick, so I added:

A sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes
1-1.5 teaspoons of Worchestershire sauce

But the TRULY secret ingredient was the red food dye. Husbeard was convinced the color was wrong, so he added 2 drops of food coloring. Note: no one was joining us for this dinner, so the color hardly mattered. However, it did make it more appetizing to look at. Especially after adding the meat:

Super tasty. Super easy. Not sure if it was actually cheaper than pre-made sauce, since that stuff is pretty cheap, but it was so easy, I'm not sure I'll buy sauce again. And you know... all natural ingredients, customizable, no preservatives/weird chemicals. All good stuff.

My Kind of Town

As a woman, I have a lot of opinions.

As a woman from the South, who has spent the last nine and a half years in the Midwest, I have a lot of opinions.

There's a lot of good about the midwest. But there is one area that could use some improvement: The Topography.

Being from the south (Kentucky so totally counts as the South, y'all), I'm used to having something interesting to look at. Like rivers:

And caves (which are mammoth):

And gorges:

And waterfalls:

And forests:

The midwest... well, it's different. It could use a little something... more.

As I obsess over the mountain view I'm going to have from my sewing room in our new Oregon home, I've been trying to think of all the things I'm going to miss about the midwest - specifically, Chicago. And really, it's the people. I love a lot about this city. It's where I made some of the best friends of my life, where I found myself, where I rediscovered my love of costuming, got my confidence/groove back, and took a lot of risks (mostly the good kind). I ran my first half marathon here and covered endless miles on the lakeshore path. I had more amazing nights out with you people than I can count (or remember). I have had some of the best food of my life here. It was inspiring, and sometimes frustrating, to live and work in such a beautiful, vibrant theatre community.

Most importantly, this is where I met, fell in love with, and married this guy:

Sorry, ladies. He's taken.

But when I balance the fees, the traffic, the taxes, the cost of living, the hordes of people, the smell, and the frantic pace against this:

I mean... c'mon. It's time for me to play in the mountains. And every single one of you will have a place to stay when you want to come play too.

I will miss the crap out of you people.

Chicago, you were great. You gave me so much, for which I will always be thankful. I would never leave you for NYC or LA. They've got nothing on you.

Chicago, I love you.

Go west, young man!

Oh, 2013... This is what I think of you:

W.T.F.???

Remember when I said this at the end of 2012??

I only hope 2013 has more of the good and less of the crap. 

But as long as the manfriend is around, it will all be ok.

Oh, how naive I was. Let's look at a quick run down of this year, shall we?

January: Started a new job!! Now I have three!

February: Missed my train to Detroit, manfriend bought me a last minute plane ticket to get me there - so we could get engaged!! Yay love!

March: Find out my mom is sick - it's going to be ok, but still. Rough. Also visited Courtney and Janelle (mostly to compare engagement rings - I'll never forget Court having a good laugh at us as Janelle and I checked out each other's diamondz).

April: Sadly, the manfriend's mother lost her battle with breast cancer. We had a sad, yet lovely celebration of her life.

May: Went to Louisville for Mother's day and my younger sister's college graduation! And we set a wedding date. On May 17th, we decided to get married on August 17th. Like ya do. Also, started working in the fashion industry. Yay four jobs!

June: Packed up and cleaned out the manfriend's mother's house. Again, rough.

July: Holy shit, we're getting married next month ahhhh!!! Bachelor party, bridal shower, general crafting, and neurotic spreadsheet organization abounds. Related: I bought 20 yards of burlap and have about 17 yards left. If anyone needs/wants burlap, come talk to me.

August: WEDDING.

September: Things actually started to calm down and I felt like we could be starting to return to normal. FOOL.

October: Visited my mom at Vanderbilt. We were so happy we could go down to see her and I sincerely hope our presence (and the wickedly tough numbers game I brought her) gave her some joy. Oh, and I got old(er).

November: Hosting Thanksgiving. And decided to move to Oregon.

December: Oh holy shit we're moving to Oregon.

Photo credit: http://vintagepacificnorthwest.tumblr.com/image/65906378136

If you had told me last New Year's Eve that THIS New Year's Eve we would be married and living in Oregon, I would have laughed and laughed and gone to get myself another drink.

We're going to Oregon because the manfriend has an amazing new job. With a salary. And a normal schedule. And health insurance (!!!!). Also - mountains.

Dear 2014,

I know we have another month of 2013 to get through, but we all know that this is basically over and I just need a little sanity in my life. So. Here's what I need from you: a job in Oregon for me as well, time to read, time to hike, time to run, time for my husband and me to go on little mini-breaks around the west coast... Mostly, I need time. Time to breathe. Time to sleep. Time to finish projects. Time to be a normal married couple.

Please.

Mo

Despite the emotional roller coaster that this year has been, one thing has been constant: Mr. Mac. I was right when I said, "As long as the manfriend is around, it will all be ok." Because he's still around and it's still ok. 

And I'm back!!

Holy crap, it's been a while. But, in my defense, we've been busy (watch out - tons of pictures coming at you):

First, we got married. That was kind of a big deal.

It was an absolutely perfect day. Perfect weather, perfect people, and perfect tacos. Just for fun, here are some of my favorite pics from the day!

Seeeesters!

I had the best and prettiest bridesmaids. No contest.

Strobel lay-deeeez.

The crew.

Mr. and Mrs. Vaughey

Love. This. Picture.

We approved of the tacos. Also, Scrabble tiles and burlap.

Bunting!

Again - Love. This. Picture.

Turns out Toto's "Africa" the longest song ever written.

We're pretty good at finding the light.

Then we had an after party and I had a costume change.

Johnny Knight did our photos. He's awesome. Check him out. I highly recommend him for any upcoming event in your life - birthdays, weddings, Tuesday afternoons.

And then there was a mini-moon to Mackinac Island in Michigan. I may have gone a little crazy on the Instagram...

Mr. Mac was all about the smoked fish on this trip.

Bridge! Dead bugs!

Zip lining!

On the ferry to Mackinac Island.

Checklist for our European honeymoon.

Our hotel had a rooftop hot tub! With a waterfall!

Pensive.

Fancy luncheon at the Grand Hotel.

Sightseeing on the fort. My fave picture of this trip.

And theeeen... there was omg so much work. But now that things are calming down a little, I have time in my life for this blog. And quilts! Stay tuned!

Crap I've Made from Pinterest: Wedding Edition

The wedding of the season* is just under two weeks away. You know what that means - CRAFTING.

*The "Wedding of the Century" title was already taken by Kate and Wills. Barely.

Saturday night was my bachelorette party! There was wine, Scrabble tile necklaces, bourbon, books, and Motown. And seven of the loveliest ladies you could ever ask for. Basically, it was the perfect evening.

Being me... I had to make a dessert for everyone. I found a recipe for Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownie Bombs and, well, duh. Holy crap are these delicious. And holy crap are they a mess to make. But worth it.

Also, Waterford. NBD.

And then Sunday... ALL THE CRAFTING.

The manfriend keeps saying that if you're going to DIY your wedding, you have to play to your strengths. My strength is... craftiness. Yep.

So! I'm altering my wedding dress, which was once my mom's dress that my grandmother made (see the bottom of this post); making the bridesmaid dresses (no pics until after the wedding!); and making a lot of the decor. With the help of three hung over ladies, we made centerpieces, a card box, an aisle runner, favors, and a quiche (for the eating, not the wedding).

Scrabble tiles! Center pieces!
Please note: my Ginghers are leopard print. That's just how I roll.

Because sometimes the Mod Podge isn't drying fast enough.

Ampersand aisle runner (aka - my college degree is paying off).

That's about $80 worth of M&Ms for the favors. And fried food for the hang overs.

Quiche au fromage!

Ok, so none of this links back to specific Pinterest pins... but we all know. There's burlap and lace all over the place on those wedding boards.

Oh. And we made signs so people can find the bathrooms. Very important.

Here's everything all piled in one corner:

Sigh. Doesn't look like much, does it?

And just for fun - a beard in a dress:

WEDDING!!!

Also, the guacamole.

In order to mark the two month mark (ohmaigawd), another installment of "reasons why I'm marrying him:"

Lately, the manfriend has been working on perfecting his guacamole recipe. It's been tough, but I'm making it through.

Last night, we decided to have TACO NIGHT, which is always a big deal in our house. Obviously, he had to make the guac. And since his friend came over and they ate most of the first batch, they went to the store to get supplies to make a second batch to make sure there was enough for me.

That's love. And really good guacamole.

Just in case anyone wondered why I'm marrying him...

Actual conversation that just happened next to the refrigerator:

Manfriend: Man. What am I going to do if my kids come home some day and say they want to become vegetarians?

Me (laughing): I love you. Because you don't worry about our kids being gay - you worry about them being vegetarians.

Manfriend: Well, being gay isn't a choice.


And I worry about them being Republicans.