Yikes

Not my best day ever...

Here's hoping for a better one tomorrow...

I'm Fine...

It's not surprising that I haven't posted anything in over two months considering what my summer has been like, but i'm embarassed none the less. In my new job I actually write pretty much everyday - mat releases, pitches and that PR entails - so I find the last thing I want to do when I get home is write MORE. It also can be discouraging for me to blog because a lot of my job consists of finding quality blogs to reach out to on behalf of my clients and there are so many wonderful blogs/bloggers out there (that post way more frequently than I do I may add).

However, I realized that I miss blogging not so much because I need people read my posts and this my blog is cool, although I do love when you do, but because it serves a way for me to look back at different points to see what I was feeling/interested in. So for anyone that's still be checking in, I am alive, fine and hopefully blogging more soon.

Rainbow Cake

I love this picture...and the cake looks delicious. Come to think of it, the image is quite fitting for Chicago's PRIDE festival this weekend. :)

I've actually been reading quite a bit about bakeries dying cake batters more and more these days. Fun Fact: It's become a particularly popular way for expectant couples to announce the sex of their babies to friends and families at baby showers...how cute!

Intrigued by this food trend, I looked up how exactly to color cake batter and found a very helpful article that breaks it down step-by-step. You can see the instructions below or click here for the full article. 

Instructions:

1. Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions.

2. Add three to five drops of food coloring to the cake mix and stir it in.

3. Check the coloring for the desired shade and add more food coloring if desired. The cake will bake to a lighter color than the batter. For instance, if you want a light pink cake, add red coloring to a white cake batter until it turns dark pink. 

4. Use a color mixing chart to create different colors from primary colors. For instance, the chart on Baking 911 recommends using one part each of blue and black to create gray.

5. Bake cake as directed

#88 Baumgartner’s Cheese Store & Tavern

I can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not but I've made it my life goal to visit every bar on The Growler List: 125 Places to Have a Beer Before You Die. I consider it to be my bucket list of sorts since I don't have a real bucket list. I LOVE a good beer and so many of these bars are in places that I'd like to visit so it's a no-brainer. I've only visited a few of the bars on the daunting this so far so this past weekend I decided to take a trip off the beaten path and visit #88 on the list, Baumgartner’s Cheese Store & Tavern, located in Monroe, Wisconsin. 

For anyone that doesn't know where Monroe, Wisconsin is located don't feel embarrassed. I had know idea where it was and I've lived in Wisconsin but after a quick Google Maps search I found Monroe to be about an hour from the IL-WI border and was on my way...
 

 

This is what most of the drive to Monroe looked like...lots and lots of farms and open space.

 Made it! The store in located on Monroe's town square.

Baumgartner’s has two maps that dominate one of its main walls - one of the US and one of the world. They will give you a pin to stick in the map to mark where you are from.

 I was amazed to see how far people had come to visit Baumgartner’s! It's a small world!

 Baumgartner’s is covered in signs filled with funny quotes. This one in particular "unattended children will be given a shot and a free puppy" was my personal favorite. 

 I have no idea why the ceiling was covered in dollar bills...

 The tavern is of Swiss origin so it has a big map of Switzerland with all of its cantons listed. 

 That's me with my beer! I chose a New Glarus Spotted Cow, a Wisconsin favorite.

 

Since it's a tavern AND cheese shop I thought it was only fitting that I purchased a cheese plate to go along with my beer.

I liked Baumgartner’s so much that I bought one of their t-shirts and posed with one of the animal statues on the town square. :)

Cheap Eat: Pastoral

So last week I was craving a lunch that was fresh, different but would still fit within my lunch budget. I had heard my co-workers rave about Pastoral so I decided that I would check it out. I don't know how they do it but Pastoral manages to stuff tons of delicious gourmet ingredients into their salads and sandwiches and sell them to customers at shocking prices. Granted this is not your McDonalds dollar menu, (not knocking it - I love a McD's hot fudge sundae as much as the next girl) but for getting a sandwich like the BLTA - house-made proscuitto bacon, mayonnaise, fresh tomatoes, avocado and field greens - for around six dollars or the Fromager's Salad - field greens, goat cheese, fresh tomatoes, spiced almonds and balsamic vinaigrette - for just over seven dollars is a great bargain for lunch in Chicago.

When I returned from my delicious lunch I did some further investigation on Pastoral's website. I found that they even offer wine classes and cater picnics that are quite reasonable in price. Since Pastoral's Loop location is so close to Millennium Park, I definitely see a picnic order in my future to go along with the free concerts in the park on Monday nights. :)

Selection of gourmet sauces and condiments

 Cute :)

 A SMALL section of the cheese case - I was so excited to see that Pastoral offers cheeses from all over the country, specifically from Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor!

 Pastoral's storefront

 Fromager's Salad - field greens, goat cheese, fresh tomatoes, spiced almonds and balsamic vinaigrette

I'll be seeing you

I'm loving this song today...Billie Holiday is a classic.

I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through.

In that small cafe;
The park across the way;
The children's carousel;
The chestnut trees;
The wishin' well.

I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day;
In every thing that's light and gay.
I'll always think of you that way.

I'll find you
In the morning sun
And when the night is new.
I'll be looking at the moon,
But I'll be seeing you.

I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day;
In every thing that's light and gay.
I'll always think of you that way.

I'll find you
In the morning sun
And when the night is new.
I'll be looking at the moon,
But I'll be seeing you.

Summer Seafood

This past weekend I got a little adventurous after being inspired to make mussels ever since having them at Sardine a few weeks back. The idea of making mussels didn’t seem terribly difficult but I’d never made them before so I dug up one of the simplest recipes I could find to ensure minimal mistakes and headed off to the market. While waiting at the fish counter I spied some incredible-looking oysters so I figured I should get some to serve as an appropriate appetizer to my mussels. I also grabbed some peppers and onions to cook up and round out the meal for good measure.

The meal turned out way better than I expected. I enjoyed the simple yet delicious preparation of the mussels so much that I decided to include the recipe here:

Spicy Grilled Mussels Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. EVOO
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/ tsp. crushed red pepper
• 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb. mussels

Directions:

Place skillet on grill over medium. Add EVOO, garlic and red pepper; cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes, wine and bay leaf; simmer 5 minutes. Add mussels; cook, covered, 8 minutes.

Assortment of peppers and onions that I grilled to go with the mussels

 Side note: Oysters are a pain in the you-know-what to shuck so my advice is to trick someone else into doing it for you like I did

Mussels! Success!

Cheap Eat: Cozy Noodles n' Rice

I've decided that since I'm back in Chicago I'm going to commit to doing a weekly "Cheap Eat" blog post (in addition to other posts...hopefully) to showcase all of the amazing food stops that Chicago has to offer.

For my first Cheap Eat entry I chose Cozy Noodles n' Rice in Wrigleyville. I stopped in with my brother after a Cubs and fell in love with the quirky decor (see pictures below) and eclectic Thai menu. I ordered the Pad Khee Mao which was described on the menu as stir-fried spicy wide rice noodles with chicken, basil leaves, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, baby corn and bell pepper. I subbed the chicken for beef, added a bit of extra spicy sauce and viola a delicious and filling noodle feast.

My brother ordered the Dumpling Noodles - stuffed shrimp dumpling, Chinese broccoli, bean sprouts, egg noodles and BBQ pork. It looked delicious although I didn't sample it because I was too engrossed in my own plate of Thai happiness. :)

The restaurant itself is quite cozy and seems even tighter because it is wildly decorated with collectibles galore. However, Cozy Noodles n' Rice does offer a really nice outdoor seating area that if we weren't in a rush I would have taken advantage of.

The best part of the meal though I have to say was the price. Both of our dishes cost only $7.50 each - a steal for a filling meal that's sure to provide leftovers. In addition to having great prices, the restaurant also offers a number of coupons and deals on their website making Cozy Noodles n' Rice an easy choice for anyone - whether on a budget or not.

Here we go again...

So it may not come as a big shock to some of you but in less than two weeks I will be moving back to that beautiful city that inspired me to begin blogging in the first place - Chicago. After spending the past year in Wisconsin, I've been called back to the big city to take a job that I'm very excited to start. I am of course nervous and slightly stressed about all the things I need to do to prepare for my move, but I know that this is what's best for me. So get ready Girl and the Goat, Gilt Bar and Jam because you three are at the top of my list of must-visit places upon my return. :)

Girl and the Goat 

 Gilt Bar

Jam

Pinterest

I came across the site Pinterest this afternoon and it really did "peak my interest" (pun intended). According to their website, "Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste. People use Pinterest to collect and share all sorts of things -- wedding inspiration, favorite T-shirts, DJ equipment. You name it, people are pinning it."

I poked through the site and stumbled upon the "staff favorites" section that features a number of categories that have already been populated with beautiful images. My personal favorite is the "graphic and type love" section curated by PAPERFASHION which showcases typographical art graphics and the best part in that my "pinning" the images, they are automatically linked to their native site. I've also included a number of my favorites from the section below. Enjoy!

 tumblr.com

 etsy.com

 society6.com

 youaremyfave.blogspot.com

 etsy.com

 abduzeedo.com

 tumblr.com

etsy.com

Happiness

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life."

— John Lennon (via thegreensandyellowsofhappiness)

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day everyone! I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to some of the best Earth Day treats/tips that I've found today. All of these companies are donating at least a portion of their product proceeds to green-related causes and/or have implemented nature-friendly business practices. GO GREEN! :)

1. Sprinkles Cupcakes are donating the proceeds from their vanilla cupcakes to local tree planting and environmental care organizations.Click Here to find a Sprinkles location near you!

2. Gilt Group is offering a selection of Eco-Friendly Gifts today ranging from FEED bags to trees from The Magnolia Company.

3. Check out Whole Foods Whole Story blog for all sorts of tips on how make smart environmental choices with your food.

4. PACT Apparel, Inc. is an awesome undergarment company that supports numerous environmental causes through organizations like the Sierra Club, EarthSpark International and Creative Growth. Oh, and did I mention that their underwear is super-soft and comfy too?

5. Method is a cleaning supplies company with a fantastic "methodology" and have "set out to save the world and create an entire line of home care products that were more powerful than a bottle of sodium hypochlorite. Gentler than a thousand puppy licks. Able to detox tall homes in a single afternoon."

The Difference Between 21 & 23...err 24

A friend of mine shared this post on their Facebook feed this morning and I couldn't help but re-post it here. The difference between being 21 and being 23 (or 24 in my case) really is a greater difference than you would think and this post by inindieinus is a comical realization of just how fast things have changed since 21. Enjoy!

The Difference Between 21 and 23.

Posted on April 6, 2011 by inindieinus

 

21:  College.
23:  Student Loans.
21:  I’m having people over tonight.
23:  Want to cook dinner and drink some wine in my parent’s kitchen?
21:  How am I going to get motivated enough to lose this weight?
23:  How much longer can I avoid this debt collector?
21:  Waitressing sucks.
23:  9-6 SUCKS.
21:  I’m feeling creative.
23:  I want to feel creative like I used to feel creative.
21:  I’m self-conscious.
23:  I’m conscious.
21:  My bff and I are in a fight.
23:  I think I only have two friends.
21:  I think I just need to be single right now.
23:  Everyone I’m inviting to my party is in a relationship and I am single.
21:  I’m not getting married until gays can get married.
23:  I think I’m crazy, I don’t know if anyone would ever want to marry me.
21:  Carrie Bradshaw kinda just gets it.
23:  Carrie Bradshaw kinda just gets it.
21:  I can’t wait for Thursday night.
23:  I can’t wait for the weekend.
21:  Beer.
23:  Wine.
21:  Laugh.
23:  Whine.
21:  Hung over.
23:  Meltdown.
21:  Swine flu.
23:  Nuclear meltdown.

Easter Basket Ideas

Easter has got to be one of my favorite holidays. I love that it's low-pressure and candy filled...I guess then it would make sense that my other favorite holiday is Halloween...I'm seeing a pattern here. Anyway, in the spirit of Easter I've created a list of my favorite Easter basket stuffers that I've seen so far this year. Hope it brings you some inspiration for your baskets!

1. Perpetual Kid's Giant Gummy Bear on a Stick
2. Cocobon's Liquor Flavored Jelly Beans
3. West Elm's Eco Egg Decorating Kit
4. West Elm's Living Easter Pail
5. Williams-Sonoma's Meri Meri Easter Egg Hunt Kit
6. Godiva's Easter Carrot
7. Dean & DeLuca's Fried Egg
8. Bath & Body Work's Chick Deep Cleansing Hand Soap
9. Wilton's Colorful Basket Cupcake Wraps

Changing Seasons

Maybe it's because I was too in love with being in college, but ever since my freshman year I've come to gauge my growth and accomplishments for the year around the month of May aka the ending of a school session. Even though I'm no longer a student (tear), my mind has been turning to that familiar place of questioning and gauging in recent weeks...

What did I do this year that I should be proud of?
How did I grow?
How did I change?
Did I change?
What am I sorry for?
What do I still need to work on?

I've found that this year has changed me a lot - not all for the better - but it has changed me.

Good things - I moved to a new city, got a new job, new friends...umm, what else...new haircut? :)

Bad things - I lost focus. I lost the focus of staying in better contact with a lot of really wonderful people and the focus of pushing myself to be better emotionally, spiritually and physically.

I think sometimes when there are too many "news" in the mix, it's easy to lose track of some of the more valuable things about yourself. For example, I've always considered myself to be a very strong person, it's one of my attributes that I'm the most proud of actually. I'd never been scared that there was something I couldn't do or a problem I wouldn't be able to solve. However, looking back on this year I can see that I've been really rattled and as a result have lost some of my strength.

I would have thought I would have come out the other end of this year with a new and brighter perspective, but to be honest I'm just kind of exhausted. Exhausted from pushing myself and exhausted from questioning every decision I make that has come with the territory of making so many changes within such a short period of time. Even though it may seem strange, I'm definitely ready for more change and am not afraid of it - it just needs to be the type of change that's good for me in all aspects of my life...not just change for the sake of change. I feel like things are looking up though. It's one of the wonderful things about the coming of Spring - it makes me believe that good, healthy change is just as close as the warm weather. :)

This Is Your Life

I love every word of this typographical image...quite inspiring. 

via http://growingoldnotgrowingup.tumblr.com/

New England Clam Chowder

I was thrilled when I received the cookbook The Lobster Roll as a gift from my parents. Ever since my trip to Newport, RI this past winter for my brother's wedding, I've become obsessed with the trademark dishes that have been perfected by the east coast. The Lobster Roll authors Jodi Della Femina and Andrea Terry of the Hamptons restaurant Lunch compiled the cookbook which contains recipes for the namesake dish and "regional recipes from chowders and salads to sandwiches and burgers to delights like buttermilk-lavender fried chicken, strawberry-rhubarb pie and berry-citrus iced tea."

For my first cooking attempt, I decided to make The Lobster Roll's recipe for New England Clam Chowder since it's still quite chilly here in the Midwest. The result was a creamy, hearty soup that I will be sure to make again and again, only next time I may use more clams. :)

Don't mind my thumb that snuck its way into the picture :)

The result - served with crusty, garlic infused bread

The thing about mistakes...

"I know it's a mistake, but there are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake but you don't really know it's a mistake because the only way to really know it's a mistake is to make the mistake and look back and say 'yep, that was a mistake.' So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake, because then you'd go your whole life not knowing if something is a mistake or not."

3 Interesting Things

So I once dated a guy that used to end every day asking me, "What are three interesting things that happened to you today?" At first, I thought it was really annoying. I hated that after a day that was either really long, stressful or incredibly uneventful I had to try to think of things that would be deemed "interesting". However, after some time of telling each other interesting things that occurred in our days I began to open my eyes more to the world around me and to be honest, it helped our conversations from falling into the "How was your day?"..."Fine, yours?" routine. Unfortunately, when that relationship ended my need to tell someone about "interesting things" ended as well. So, recently I've been trying look out for things that are noteworthy and although I do not plan to include 3 interesting things I did every day on this blog, I thought including 3 from this week might be a good start, especially since I haven't posted at all this week. So, here goes...

1. I discovered an awesome new bakery in Madison, Wisconsin called Peoples Bakery thanks to a colleague traveling in with doughnuts. They are a Lebanese restaurant/bakery that apparently has some of the best gyros in Madison, but also makes a mean jelly doughnut if you ask me.

2. Started a new art project to serve as organization for my ever-increasing scarf collection - inspired by DIY project found on Design*Sponge. I purchased a number of different off-white knobs from Anthropologie and plan to finish up my drawer hanger project next week.

3. I tried a new recipe for vodka sauce from scratch. I found it to actually be lighter than the traditional vodka sauces that I've had in restaurants. It was delicious and served as a great cold-weather treat

Visiting Portland

I eluded to my love of Portland when posting last week but I didn't go into much detail regarding my trip. It was definitely a whirl-wind and although I wish I could have spent more time there, I did enjoy just about every minute of my trip. I did a fair amount of research before heading to Portland because I knew my schedule was going to be tight and I wanted to be able to fit in as much as I could of what the city has to offer. Surprisingly, one of my best tools turned out to be the Portland City Guide offered by West Elm. West Elm actually offers a number of these City Guides and they are filled with the best restaurants, hotels, landmarks and shops to visit in an given city - great idea, especially for a furniture shore - it makes them appear more local and less corporate.

But anyway, back to Portland. The city itself is amazing - practically set into the mountains, split by a river with almost a dozen magnificent bridges connecting the city and a size that was neither overwhelming nor too small. The culture of Portland is very eco-friendly and seems to really focus on leveraging mom and pop shops rather than large food chains, which I loved. My favorite spots had to be Le Pigeon (an amazing french inspired restaurant that only houses a handful of tables but has some of the most amazing dishes I've ever tasted) and basically any shop or brewery that resided within the Pearl District, one of Portland's distinct neighborhoods set right next to downtown.

The only downside to Portland would have to be the rain, which I don't know if I could ever get used to if I lived there. As one would imagine, it rains slightly less than Seattle and slightly more than San Fransisco...which still equates to quite a bit of moisture in the air year-round. However, the city is so unique and inspiring that maybe after investing in one of the patented Patagonia rain jackets that everyone was sporting, and some durable rain boots, I'm be able to make the sacrifice. :)

 

Clyde Common - really neat spot (lots of exposed piping and old wooden tables) where I had my first meal in Portland...you can see my meal below...

Delicious Chicken Grana sandwich equipped with local Portland IPA

 Downtown Portland at dusk

 Very cool "Vegas-ish" sign that lights the way to downtown

 Cupcakes of course - I found these at Cupcake Jone's in the Pearl District which was surprisingly the only cupcakery I found during my trip

 Pearl District

Cool art on one of the sidewalks downtown

The Pacific Coast - not part of Portland obviously but I included since it's close-by and was a great part of my trip