Pot Roast!

Man, is it comfort food season, or what? I tell ya, all I want to do lately is cozy up with big bowls of slow-cooked deliciousness. One of my favorite comfort foods is Pot Roast; it's tender, flavorful and incredibly easy to make. This is great meal to make when you're having a lazy day at home, too, because it takes minimal effort, but tastes amazing. Sunday afternoon cooking at its best!

Let's get started!

Pot Roast- Makes about 8 servings (more or less depending on how big your appetite is!)

Ingredients:
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- alb cut of beef pot roast
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
- 2 tsp chopped garlic
- 2 tsp mustard, preferably dijon
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, chopped
- 2 medium carrots cut into 1" pieces
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 bunch laminate kale, chopped.

1. Begin by liberally seasoning the pot roast with salt and pepper.

2. Then, in a large, heavy pot with a lid, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the roast and brown on all sides.

3. While the meat is browning, combine the vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, herbs, garlic, and mustard in a small bowl and mix together.

4. Once the meat has browned on all sides, pour the mixture over the meat, cover the pot tightly with a lid, and let simmer over low heat for 90 minutes while you go put up your feet and watch TV or something!

5. After 90 minutes, add the sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and kale, being sure to arrange them evenly around the meat. Then return the lid to the pot and let simmer for 1 more hour. Go relax some more while that's cooking!

6. After that last hour of cooking/relaxing, pull the pot off the heat and check out that deliciousness! The meat should be stupid tender, and delicious as can be.

7. Once it's cooled a bit, pull the meat apart into smaller chunks and serve some of the meat and veggies over brown rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles!

And so, with minimal effort you've got a delicious home cooked meal perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

I hope you enjoy it!

XOXO

-Becca

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Weekly Wardrobe: A Go-To Winter Look!

 Glasses: Bon Look
Necklace: Periwinkle Nuthatch

Sweater: H&M/Similar

Belt: Anthropologie/Similar

Skirt: Vintage

Tights: Nordstrom

Shoes: J. Crew/Similar

Hey guys! How was your weekend? I hope it was just lovely!

I gotta say, after a week off, it's been hard getting back into the swing of things! During my time off, just about all I accomplished, other than some cleaning, was shotgunning all the episodes of Scandal I could get my hands on. Sidenote: have you guys watched Scandal yet? SO good!

Well, now that I really am emerging from my cocoon of much needed laziness, I'm finding that the one thing my heart desires is to really get my house decorated and organized. In the last week I've purchased some of the cutest wallpaper ever as well as a bakers rack for my kitchen, and I purchased a set of drawers to replace some useless shelving I currently have so I can organize my craft supplies. I'm also keeping my eye out for cute art for my walls and have started dreaming up some DIY wall art projects!

I gotta say, it feels really good to be focusing some energy on updating my place to be a happier, prettier, better organized space. I'm really excited to see how it comes together in the months to come!

In other news, I have to admit, I got into a major creative slump over the weekend. I racked my brain trying to come up with a good craft project, but between the time I had and the supplies I had on hand, it just wasn't going to happen. So, in the spirit of one of my goals for the new year, I just let it go. Unfortunately, that means I'm a little light on posts this week, but worse things have happened!

On the brighter side, I feel like I'm starting to notice some mild improvement with my anxiety, and have been making some better eating choices recently! Also, the weather this weekend was absolutely gorgeous, so that always helps! I got to spend some of the day out and about with Katie on Sunday and I ended up wearing one of my go-to winter outfits, which features this amazing vintage skirt. Gingham AND embroidered peacocks? Could it be any better? I wore this skirt all summer and am loving that I can still get plenty of wear out of it during the winter months.

Did you guys get up to anything fun this weekend? How are you doing with your goals for the year so far?

Til next time!

-Becca

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Goals for a New Year

Hey guys! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! It's been really nice having some much needed time to step back, relax, and reflect, but I'm glad to be getting back into the swing of things.

It's now 2014 (!!!) and I couldn't be happier about that. To be perfectly honest, 2013 was a really hard year that was full of anxiety, debilitating perfectionism, rocky friendships, and not being able to let go. While there were certainly great things that happened (starting this blog for example!), this last year has been overwhelmingly rough. I'm happy that it's now 2014, and with this new year, I'm trying to affect positive change and get things off to a good start.

Now, I'm not usually one for New Year's Resolutions- in the past I've found that I've set unrealistic goals that I know, even as I'm making them them, I won't be able to follow through on. So, this year, I'm all about setting attainable, continuing goals. A lot of these goals are things that have been in the works for a while, so what better time to set them into motion than in this brand new year!

1. Get my anxiety in check/work towards managing it.

It's gotten bad. Bad to the point that I've been breaking down (we're talking full-blown tears and occasional panic attacks) over things like chocolate on cookies not setting up properly or not knowing where I'll be able to put lovely Christmas gifts that I've received. Bad.

Earlier in the week, I paid a trip to my doctor about it and she got me set up with a set of natural remedies, so this goal is already in motion. So far I haven't seen a ton of difference, but hopefully I'll see some changes in the next few weeks!

2. Learn to let go.

Whether it be a struggle in my personal life, an unresolved situation that I have no power over, or a bout of perfectionism, I need to learn to let go. It's something I've been working on for a while, and admittedly, I don't really have a plan of action for this one, but it's a thought and an intention I'm going to try to keep at the back of my mind.

3. Speak up.

This is a goal that I've been practicing for quite some time, but it continues to be a struggle in some areas of my life. I'm prone to avoiding potential conflict since I'm a peace-loving creature, and while I've been working for years on speaking up more, I need to continue to improve. My feelings matter, my opinions matter, and it's ok to voice them. Preferably calmly and respectfully, but I know that won't happen 100% of the time- no one's perfect!

4. Eat better!

While I'm not actually after any sort of weight loss (ok, fine, it would be nice to lose the 5 pounds that showed up over the course of the holiday season), I'm hoping to make better choices for my meals and snacks. More whole grains, more veggies; less candy, less simple carbs. I'm all about everything in moderation, though, so don't worry- ya'll will still be seeing plenty of baked goods around here!

There's just the four goals, but I think they're good, important ones that will really help affect positive change in my life.

Did you guys make any goals for the new year?

XOXO

-Becca

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Merry Christmas and See You Next Year!

Merry Christmas Eve, guys! Can you believe it's here already? I'm super excited! Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I can't wait to spend it with my family, relaxing and partaking in some of my favorite family traditions!

Well, after a very, very busy holiday season, I'm particularly thrilled that I will be doing some serious relaxing for the next few days! In fact, I've taken all the days between Christmas and New Year's off of work, and I'll be on a blogging hiatus at that time as well. Ya'll, I gotta deep clean my house. It's a disorganized mess at the moment, and I want to get 2014 off on the right foot! But fret not! I'll be back soon with lots of good stuff.

I hope you all get to relax and spend lots of time with your loved ones over the next few days!

Merry Christmas and see you next year!

XOXO

Becca

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A Holiday Playlist!

Well guys, Christmas Eve is tomorrow, which makes me think three things: 1. Seriously? How did this happen? It's tomorrow already? 2. It's about time! and 3. Christmas music!!!

The third point is clearly the most important one, since today I'm excited to share this Holiday Playlist with you! It's full of some of my very favorites, including lots of Soul and Motown Christmas songs, lots of songs from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and of course, some Mariah Carey.

I hope you enjoy listening to this playlist while you're finishing up wrapping gifts, spending time with your loved ones, or driving around looking at Christmas lights!

Til next time!

-Becca

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