Friday's Letters

Dear Me:
You are not perfect, you fall short every day from being the person you desire to be. You make mistakes. However; every day is another opportunity for a fresh start. The fresh start you need might not be to fix those things above, but to allow yourself the grace to not be perfect.

"Love isn't finding a perfect person, it is seeing an imperfect person perfectly."  Today, allow yourself the grace to not be perfect and to love yourself despite of it. Never stop trying to improve yourself, but don't be so hard on yourself when change doesn't happen over night. 

Grace is a hard thing to allow oneself. It seems much easier to forgive other's shortcoming than your own; why is this? Stop. Just stop. Every hour, every day, and every week is another opportunity for another fresh start. Take it.

 

New Year, New Start

 

So many people have opinions it seems about making New Years resolutions. For me, I don't see why anyone wouldn't. Life is a journey, and we should take every moment and opportunity as a chance to grow and better ourselves. I love being able to reflect on 2012; all the past mistakes, opportunities lost, experiences that changed me and made me different today. 2013 is a chance to hit reset and change things for this year. I hope that when I am 70 I am still trying to better myself. So here it is, my goals for 2013.

My Husband
Honestly, I love this man more every day. He is my rock and without him my life would be so grey. My goal this year is to be more intentional with my relationship to him. I love being a wife, and I am blessed with a job that lets me be able to focus on taking care of my household as well. I feel there is a big difference in managing a house, and being intentional with every action. Serving my husband a plate of dinner after work is different than intentionally making a meal he enjoys, plating it well, serving a sit-down-not-in-front-of-the-tv dinner to him. Doing the laundry is different than intentionally cleaning folding, pressing, and putting his clothes away. Saying 'I love you" is different than intentionally saying the words and meaning it every time I say it. Going out to dinner for a date night is different than intentionally being present in that evening and putting all my stresses and anxieties away to spend quality silly time with the man I am so blessed to have in my life. I want to enjoy our lives together and flourish rather than just trying to just survive our days. I want to be silly with him. I want to make memories with him; not just on big days, but every day.

My Family
God has blessed me with amazing family and the opportunity to move closer to them. This year I want to work harder and building closer bounds and getting deep relationships with them. Its one thing to call someone a sister or a mother because they are blood; I want a long lasting relationship with my family that supersedes everything else. No more petty fighting and worthless energy spent over hurt feelings. At the end of the day, I want to focus on what is really important.

 

Friendships
2012 really opened my eyes to what friendship is, who my true friends are, and what a blessing a real friend is. No matter how many miles apart or time spent face to face, a real friend will stand by you through it all. I love all my friends and this year I want to make sure they all know it. Much like my husband, I want my actions with my friends to be intentional.

And Lastly...
Yes I want to work out more; I know it is cliche. But generally, I want to be healthier...both physically and mentally. I want to find workouts that I don't dread and that make me feel better. People say the best therapy can be found in the gym and I want to experience that feeling. I also want to become up close and personal about the demons I carry around me with..so to do that I think I might use this blog as a tool to express myself and try to overcome some of them.

So that is it. A long list of hopes and goals for the new year. I might fall a little, but I think the important thing is to say them out loud and allow myself some grace in finding out how to live life better every day.

Friday Letters

Dear Jamie,
I love you so much and cannot wait to spend the week with you. Buy lots of coffee, and wine! :) So excited for our San Diego outtings we have planned.
http://thenewsfromlafuze.blogspot.com/?m=1

Dear Southwest,
I am a nervous flier, so please try to keep it a smooth flight for tomorrow as I head to San Diego. Also, I would like a sprite and peanuts please!

Dear gym,
It has been a while since I have visited you and I am sorry. You and I have this love hate relationship. I love to hate you, but love the way you make me feel. I promise next week will be better. I will make an effort.

Dear pups,
I will miss snuggling with you while I am away. I know it will be hard on you since you havent been left alone all day now that I work from home, but behave and try not to destroy the house!

Details Make a House a Home

It has been 3 weeks since we got the keys to our house! It has been full of lots of projects, hard work, and nothing but joy in all of it! For those of you who didn't read it, I posted some of my inspirations and ideas a few weeks ago of projects I wanted to do. http://biggestlittleblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/happiest-friday.html

I love details; I feel like all the details are what make a house a home. Personalized touches that make your house uniquely yours. I just wanted to share with you some of my favorite details in my new home!!!

My entry way! I have always wanted a cozy and inviting entry way. I blogged about a picture that inspired this in the link above. The shelf in the original picture was pottery barn and hundreds of dollars! Instead, we went to home depot and got 2, 6 foot long boards, molding for the edges, white paint and hooks. We built the whole shelf for under $30! I still want to play with decor for it, but I love the shelf and its super sturdy so all my guests can hang their coats and purses with no fear of falling! The bench will be perfect for little feet one day; walk in, take off shoes and coats...kind of like an entry way/mud room idea.

My dining room is one of the rooms that is uniquely our style, and not for everyone. We had a good friend who is an artist come and mimic Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc pig on our wall. For two foodies, we LOVE our dining room. If nothing else, it has become quite a conversation piece when people come over.



I love our family picture wall down our hallway. I have pictures of us both as babies, our families, travel we have done, etc. It is full of all the people we love and tons of memories. Eventually, I want the pictures to cover the entire wall.

I adore how my office turned out. I work from home so I wanted an office that was going to be calming and comfortable. We have this cute nook that had a built in desk and shelves so we painted the whole thing white to lighten it up. I love butterflies, (http://biggestlittleblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/rainbows-and-butterflies.html) and my sister sent me some beautiful prints she took that I framed and hung up. We took some puddy, and added three coats to flatten the wall from texture. I then painted three coats of chalk board paint over it. We then took some molding, painted it white, and framed the whole area out. I love my chalk board, I think its useful but also adds a lot of character.

What are some of your favorite details of your home?



Greek Quinoa Green Salad

This has become my favorite thing to make lately in different varieties. It is healthy, super easy and quick to make, the flavors are so fun for summer!

What you will need:

1 cup dried Quinoa (cous cous or bulgur wheat; whatever your favorite grain will work)

zucchini

onion

tomatoes

salad greens

Dressing:

3/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup white vine vinegar

2 tablespoons of tarragon

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

pepper to taste

Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend well. Scrap down the sides as needed to ensure all ingredients are incorporated. Set aside or put in fridge to keep cool.

Combine quinoa with 2 cups of water in a pot and bring to simmer. Cook over low heat till all the water has been absorbed.

Preheat BBQ on low. Slice onions into rounds and slice zucchini in half longwise. Drizzle with olive oil and place on hot BBQ. Cook until little browned and vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and slice into bite size pieces. Mix vegetables with quinoa and salt and pepper to taste. From here, you can serve warm or put in fridge to serve cold. I like a hot salad and my husband likes a cold salad so whatever you choose!

Place a hand full of greens on a plate. Top with quinoa and veggie mixture. Drizzle with your dressing and serve! Easy, healthy, meatless, and fast to prepare! Have fun and play with different veggies. Add some avocado or grilled bell pepper. Let me know what you choose to add to yours!

Bon Appetit!

The art of cocktailing

To you, what makes a great bar? The drinks, the bartender, the atmosphere? If you had to only have 1 of those three, which would you choose? To me, the bartender makes the bar, and the chances of having a great bartender and comparable drinks are high.

Moving back to Reno has allowed us to go out and rediscover the area. This last weekend we ventured out to some of the newest spots we have heard hype about to check them out for ourselves.

We started at The Public House in mid town Reno. There was plenty of street parking, and since we went earlier in the evening, 7ish, the bar wasen't too crowded. The rustic vibe, wood bar, wood floors, amazing tap list made the whole place feel super fun and casual. We walked up to the far side of the bar and waited for our bartender's attention...for 15 minutes we waited for her attention. Again, did I mention the bar wasen't that crowded? Not even a simple, "Hey I will get to you guys in a minute," or give us a cocktails list to look over while we waited. The girls next to us had a list, so we were able to select our poison from that, but still, bad service. The cocktail list was a really fun list of craft cocktails, and art that is highly underutilized. I selected a "Gypsy Rose" which is gin, grapfruit and bubbles. My husband, the bourbon lover, had a blackberry fizz which is bourbon, egg white, lemon, blackberry, and lavender bitters. All in all, the drinks were amazing! Now if maybe we can get the bartender some help, I would say this place could definitely be frequently visited.

From there, we went up the street a block to the Biggest Little City Club. Immediately walking in the door the bartender greeted us and welcomed us to the bar. My husband was in heaven talking bourbons and whiskeys and bitters and was able to sample and taste different varieties with the bartender. Myself, I couldn't resist a Mick Jagger Mojito on the hot day and was pleasantly surprised with the brown sugar twist to this drink. The bartender was very knowledgeable and fun to chat with. He also informed us of the different bands and shows they bring into the bar; a wide fixture of music from DJs, to rock, to alternative, to Blues. Honestly, I am really excited about this place and to go back for a show one night. I like that they cater to different crowds, something for everyone. My husband and I also got to play a round of darts, where I am sad to report he won, but fun nether the less.

Last stop on our outing was dinner at Mid Town Eats. It was pretty late at this point, but luckily they had a table open so we were able to walk in with no reservations. This bar/restaurant is small but very charming. It has a very eclectic/rustic feel to it and reminds me of some of the cool restaurants we frequented in San Diego. My husband ordered a "Well Off" which is bourbon, lemon juice, pomegranate syrup, cherry syrup, and absinthe bitters. We ordered the bone marrow appetizer served with a toasted baguette. He ordered the pork belly, I had the fish, and we split a bread pudding for the dessert. The food was thoughtful and a good play of flavors. I didn’t get any pictures of the food, but it was worth going back to just to get some for you all :)

The art of making a great drink is making a comeback across the country and in every essence I am a major fan. I am so glad that Reno has some really cool places like these and can’t wait to frequent!

What is your favorite cocktail?

Cheers!

Potato Cheese Soup

My husband has a really bad cold, sick in bed the last two days. When he is sick, he love potato cheese soup, very comforting. This is a family recipe that has never been written down, so I am going to try my best to outline it here for you. This, like most of my recipes, are all estimations so play with it to make it uniquely yours.

Take 6 russet potatoes, peel and wash. You want to roughly cube them and add to empty pot. Once all potatoes have been added to the pot, fill with water JUST TILL potatoes are covered. You will not be draining the water so don't overfill. Put the pot of potatoes on the stove on medium low to slowly boil.

While potatoes are cooking, take about 6 strips of bacon and cube. Add to pan to cook till lightly browned. While bacon is cooking, take 1 whole onion, I prefer yellow, and roughly dice. Once bacon is lightly browned, add diced onion to the bacon pan and cook. Cook down till onion is translucent while not letting the bacon burn. Once cooked, remove from heat and set aside.

Once the pot of potatoes are slightly fluffy and potatoes are cooked through, turn down heat to simmer. 

In a separate pot, melt about 3 tablespoons of butter. Once butter is fully melted, add approximately 2 tablespoons of butter. Whisk in to fully incorporate. This part will be estimations and you may need more or less butter to flour. You will be creating a rue or roux; this is a base used to thicken up soups, sauces, or gravies. You can use this cooking technique to get a blond, medium or dark roux base which is created by how long you let your roux cook. For this soup, you just want a blond roux that will be slightly bubbly which is how you know its ready. Consult picture below.

From here, you will add 2 cups of milk to your roux whisking until fully incorporated.

Let simmer slowly, keep stirring as to not let your milk boil. Keep heat on low to medium. After mixture thickens up, about 10 minutes, add 2 to 3 cups of grated cheddar cheese. This is an approximation and based on your taste how much cheese you want to add. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the cheese into sauce till fully incorporated. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. From here, take you cheese sauce and pour into your pot of potatoes and water.

 Mix together and let simmer on low for about 20 minutes. Add pan on onions and bacon to pot of soup.

Let simmer for another 5 minutes at least. Again, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some warm bread and you have a nice comfort meal for a sick day or a cold night.

Bon Appetit!