Saturday, May 18, 2013

Friday Night Dinner with Levi











Levi came over Friday evening for a simple meal and some good conversation. While he sipped on some Russian Caravan tea with some of my homemade sour cherry preserves, I whipped up a quick meal of fresh pasta with over easy eggs and roasted asparagus.

Other than preheating the oven, the meal itself took about 15 minutes to make from start to finish! Wanna make it yourself? Here's how!

Ingredients:

  • Fresh pasta (I used Manini's Gluten Free Roasted Garlic Fettuccini) 
  • One bunch of asparagus
  • 2 eggs (or enough for 1 per person)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Pecorino Romano cheese

Instructions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Rinse the asparagus.
  3. To remove the woody stalks of the asparagus, simply hold each piece at each end and bend lightly until it snaps. Discard the bottom tough part of the asparagus. (Discard it well or your asparagus thief cat might steal it in the middle of the night and put it on your bed. Seriously.)
  4. Place the asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil (use your best judgement).
  5. Once the olive oil is drizzled over the asparagus turn the asparagus over in the pan until it's well coated.
  6. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top of the asparagus, and then put it into the oven to roast. Let it cook for about 15 minutes turning it once about halfway through.
  7. While the asparagus is cooking, bring water to a boil and cook your pasta according to the directions. If you are using fresh pasta, it should only take a few minutes.
  8. Once pasta is cooked, drain it, put back into the pan, toss with some olive oil (once again, use your best judgment- I believe in you!), and plate.
  9. In a small skillet, heat about 1 tbs of oil over medium-low heat.
  10. Crack your eggs into the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and let sit for a bit. To make an over-easy egg, I always cook on the first side until the whites look cooked through, but the yolk is still pretty raw. 
  11. Once the whites are cooked, flip the eggs and let cook for just a few seconds. This will set the other side but not cook the yolk through. (You want it runny so it will essentially make a sauce for your pasta).
  12. Once the eggs are done, pull them from the pan and set them on top of the pasta.
  13. At this point the asparagus should be done too! Plate the asparagus next to the pasta and grate some Pecorino Romano cheese over everything. As much as you want! I always do a whole bunch of it. Now all that's left is to eat up!
After dinner, we spent the rest of the night chatting and listening to records. Hank, never one to miss out on anything, made himself at home in the middle of Levi's stack of records. He also left a toy in Levi's boot. Something to remember him by?

It was a lovely night, and I even got a couple of Bowie albums out of it!

Til next time!

-Becca

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Weekly Wishlist

1. Jean Jacket: ModCloth; 2. Shoes: ModCloth; 3. Bangle: Etsy;  4. Belt: Anthropologie; 5. Dress: Anthropologie; 6. Purse: Etsy

This jacket is a super versatile piece that would go great with dresses and skirts since it hits just below the waist. I love the gold polka dots on this belt and think they could make even the most basic look super fun! You could even do a DIY like this one from Skunkboy Blog to make some shoes to match the belt! I've also got a thing for vintage tooled leather bags, and I'm head over heels for this one (it says "Betty" on the strap!).


Maybe it's because I've been listening to too much Patsy Cline lately, but this week I'm loving a casual look with a touch of a western feel. 

What are you wishing for?

Til next time!
-Becca

Monday, May 13, 2013

Weekend Wardbrobe





I had a wonderful Saturday afternoon hanging out with my lovely friend, Katie. We scoped out some camera gear, which lead to Katie finding the lens she took all these pictures with (thanks Katie!), and then did some Mothers Day shopping, decided we wanted to try some cute projects with stamps, ate cupcakes, and had a little photo shoot in my very little yard.

I'm rocking my new favorite vintage dress scored at Lucky Vintage. It's got a pretty serious diner waitress feel, which I am really digging right now. I love collecting vintage pieces and since it can be hard to find my size, every piece I add to my closet feels extra special. I paired it with a cinched belt to give it a good fit at the waist, and some basic flats.

Katie is super cute in her look! Check out how she took this outfit from a cute, casual, daytime look to one meant for a night on the town over at her blog, Katie Marie V. I loved her daytime look, and am even more in love with her evening look (also super envious of her super glam hair and makeup!).

Til next time!
-Becca

Sunday, May 12, 2013

DIY Appliqued Gift Card

Hey guys!

Today I'm going to show you how to make this super cute appliqued gift card!



Now, I'd love to tell you that this was the exact idea from the beginning and it turned out exactly how I wanted it to, but that would be a big ol' lie!

When I dreamt up this project I was looking to make a lovely homemade gift card for my mama for Mothers Day. I had originally planned to do a card that said "I <3 You Mom!" on the front, and was going to cut the letters out of fabric and sew them on with embroidery floss. And I started it, and it seemed ok at first, but then I realized I'd made the letters too big, and only had room for "I <3 You" and decided, eh, what the heck, I'll just go with it. 


Not too shabby!
Not bad, right? Well, THEN I started stitching the letters on, and boyyyyyyyy what a mess:
Hot Mess.
Alright, so maybe it wasn't quite that bad (those scraps came when I needed something to test adhesives on), but I didn't like it. So, like any determined crafter, I started over!

Here's how to make that cute card pictured up top!

Supplies:

  • Blank gift card and envelope
  • Fabric scraps (or paper!)
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Brush-on Tacky Glue
  • Washi tape

Ok! To get started, draw shapes on your fabric scraps and cut them out.


If you are doing hearts, like I did, I would recommend making an assortment of sizes with a variety of fabrics. That way you have more to play with when it's time to work on the layout. As luck would have it, that's the next step!


Take your time on the layout. Really. I futzed around for so long that I think my friend Sarah thought I was crazy, but I'm a stickler for a good layout and am glad I took my time because I loved the result! Once you get a layout you like, take a picture of it. If you don't have a camera handy, make some very faint pencil marks so you can know where everything was. That's going to be important, because the next step is to take everything off of the card.

Then, using your Brush-on Tacky Glue, apply a thin layer of adhesive to the back of your fabric shapes. I did mine one at a time, but you could probably take care of a few at once.


Once the glue is applied, let it dry for a few seconds (this will help avoid the card paper curling), and apply to the gift card.


Once all the hearts have been applied, you're in the home stretch!

The last thing to do is to apply the washi tape to the edges. You'll begin by sticking it to the the face of the card one edge at a time. Start by completing the 2 long edges, then move on to the 2 short edges. It's good to start with the face of the card so you can make sure you're getting an even line. You may want to check your work with a clear ruler as you are sticking it down, but since mine had a pattern that made a nice make-shift guideline, I used that.


Once you have it applied to the front, snip the tape squarely at the corner. Then turn the card over, fold the washi tape and press into place. Snip the ends to make them even with the card.










Once the washi tape is applied to all sides, all that's left to do is to let everything dry completely. That, and to write a lovely message for the recipient, seal it up, and give it to them!

And voila! A lovely gift card to give to someone you love!

Til next time!
-Becca

P.S. My mom LOVED the card!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Weekly Wishlist

1. Sweater: J Crew; 2. Belt: Anthropologie; 3. T-shirt: Anthropologie; 4. Shoes: ModCloth (Swedish Hasbeens!); 5. Skirt: ModCloth; 6. Necklace: ModCloth.

Lately I'm loving mixing prints, like the cute little birdies on this skirt from ModCloth mixed with this simple, subtly striped t-shirt from Anthropologie. Since it's springtime, I'm also loving pieces that can be worn in warm or cool weather (how cute would this outfit be with tights on a cooler day?).

I'm wishing real hard for this outfit right now! What are you wishing for?

Til next time!

-Becca