blue ribbon chocolate chip cheesecake dip

The first time I remember winning something was in the second grade. It was a spelling bee, and I correctly declared g-i-r-a-f-f-e, giraffe. I won a magnet.

The second time was at last week's Prairie Hills neighborhood dessert contest, 20 years later. I received a $20 gift card to the local grocery store for my efforts. I'm becoming so domestic in this state of matrimony. Admittedly, I feel a bit guilty by beating out homemade ice cream and gluten free cupcakes. This recipe is ridiculously easy and neither gluten, carb, or sugar free, but it's a real crowd pleaser!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip:

1 8 oz. package of light cream cheese (softened)

1 stick of unsalted butter (softened)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Graham Crackers

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth

2. Mix in the powdered sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla

3. Stir in the mini chocolate chips, chill for an hour, and serve with graham crackers

the softer side

Over the past month I've been in the process of moving in to Adam's house. It's an adorable ranch located in one of my favorite suburbs of the city, in an old neighborhood where the houses have a bunch of character yet notoriously lack closet and bathroom space. While the bones of Adam's house were always close to what I desire, his décor was, as expected, lacking a certain soft femininity only a gal can bring to an old house. Now that said gal has moved in, there have been a few improvements made in the texture department while keeping true to the clean lines and neutrality of our home.

scallop pillow / plush throw / mongolian lamb pillow

commitment

I'm back! And it feels so, so good to be here. That was a very long, unplanned break from writing, picture-taking, and documenting.

But I'm back and I'm ready to recommit to this old blog like I committed to the guy who sweeps me off my feet everyday. Maybe not quite like that, but I'm at least going to contribute regularly not only here, but over at the {something} project too.

Soooo. The last 7 months. Where to begin. I'm going to begin at the end. I'm married!!! I moved in with my husband!! We've already had dinner parties! I'm doing my best to fake my way through being a highly domestic wife.  We've only needed to open all the doors and windows to let out the smoke from my cooking attempts once, and we've gone through at least 10 bottles of wine. It's one non-stop celebration over here these days.

Being married is the most fun. The actual wedding planning (that I thought I would thrive at) ended up being not so much fun. A very anti-destination wedding family made things really difficult, which is the main reason behind my blog silence. "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" and all that. Without getting into too many details, here are a few things I learned along the way. I hope this helps at least one bride-to-be keep her sanity.

1. You will receive a lot of advice. Some is helpful. Most is unsolicited. At least 75% isn't going to be pertinent to your wedding, it will be about the advisee's wedding.

2. People will get their panties in a bunch no matter what decision is made, no matter how large or insignificant. So do what you've dreamed, be respectful, and don't get your feelings hurt over others' opinions. In the end, it's all about you and your future husband and the marriage. Not the wedding.

3. Having a graphic designer friend is heaven-sent.

4. Keep a spreadsheet of all gifts received, from your engagement until after the wedding. Stores with registry systems will tell you they'll keep track for you, but having a backup file is a necessity.

5. Find a workout that you love. Every bride wants toned arms, and it's the best way to clear your mind and let out some steam after a particularly stressful day.

6. Your bridesmaids have one hell of a job. Make sure you take the time to thank them and let them know how much they mean to you whether that be with notes, emails, or little surprise gifts.

7. It will all work out in the end. You get to marry your best friend. So cliché but so true!

november you sneaky month

Um. WHERE did October go?

I barely had time to get out my scarves before November hit and with that, one of my favorite months is gone, leaving way quicker than it came. 

October was filled with lots of ups, including a friend's wedding, a weekend trip to Akron to visit Adam's granny, and even a few Wildcat wins. All of which I took approximately five pictures of. Total.

It was also the month that The {Something} Project, a blog created by a good friend of mine, officially launched. Molly was kind enough to ask me to contribute, although if you've been reading here long enough, you know I am clearly no expert on any topic whatsoever. So hop on over there to check out what's going on in the lives of eight interesting, hilarious, fun-loving gals. And me.

I'll still be posting to finer feelings of course, but what's better than one blog that I can contribute to? 

The answer is two. 

image

the skimm



I consistently struggle with two pretty important things in life: geography and current events.

I was a lost cause on the news-front until Adam read me a small article from a spring issue of Vanity Fair. It was about The Skimm, a new email subscription targeted towards young professional women. I am relatively young and only semi-professional, so I hopped on that bandwagon before he could finish the next VF article. (They are so LONG.) Ever since, around 5:30am I get an email with updates on all the largest news stories of the day. I read the entire email every morning while I blow dry my hair.

The Skimm writers recap boring important stories in a way that's easy to understand and entertaining - they have a great sense of humor. #lotsofhashtagsused.

I'm sure many bloggers have written about The Skimm. (First article of business of getting the blog back in action: start writing. Second article of business: get caught up on reading.) But in case you hadn't heard of  The Skimm before, or weren't sure if it was something you'd actually read, I highly recommend subscribing to it. Gone are the days of politely nodding my head and smiling until someone brings up the last episode of Duck Dynasty. I can now have educated conversations with my superiors at the office about Obamacare, the MLB playoffs, and the Twitter IPO with little research and effort. Maybe someone will notice and I'll get paid more next year.....

trip highlights: austin, tx

If you follow me on instagram, you may have noticed I visited Austin, Texas last month. It was my first time to Austin, and while we were only there for 48 short hours, we hit up most of the spots on my must-see list.

The majority of our time was spent on 6th Street. My favorite bar was a dive on the Dirty 6 side called Dizzy Rooster, which I later found out was one of the favorite haunts of the Real World Austin cast.

The entire bar was covered in bottle caps. I loved every filthy, rusted one of them.

6th Street was oddly welcoming to K-Staters. Call it southern hospitality, or a way to get purple people in to your bar to spend a bunch of money. Either way, I liked it.

The weather was insane, and lucky for us we were out early enough to get a prime spot on the roof-top at Shakespeare's. From what I encountered, the tailgating experience is nothing like it is in Manhattan, or most Big 12 campuses for that matter. Instead of SUVs and RVs lined up in fields and parking lots surrounding the stadium, most people hang out at the bars on 6th Street, or went to a banquet hall that I can only describe as where your aunt may have had her wedding reception in the early 1980s. It was so Texas, and it was awesome.

After our loss (boo) and a perfect night's sleep on Saturday, we awoke on Sunday to meet friends at my now FAVORITE brunch place ever: Bess Bistro on Pecan. First off, they serve dollar mimosas, which apparently is a normal occurrence in Austin. This needs to become a thing in KC. Stat. Brunch was all-you-can-eat, so I started off with a mimosa and an order of deconstructed croque monsieur. I've never even had a constructed croque monsieur , so I wasn't really sure what I was ordering. It had just the right amount of truffle oil on the toast, a perfectly crispy-fried poached egg, and spicy blackened ham. After a pass through the delicious buffet line, Adam and I split the most popular order of the day - Fruity Pebble pancakes. Oh My G, I thought about those pancakes for days afterwards.

We had almost a full day before needing to head to the airport, so after eating our weight in breakfast food we bid adieu to our friends and went to Rainey Street. It's a small street where the adorable houses have been transformed into bars with backyard games, garages turned into restrooms, and parking lots filled with food trucks. Such a fun little street with so much character.

ATX - you were fun. I'll be back.

happy wednesday

best friends

I'm finally tackling my inbox, and found this article I had emailed to myself this summer.

Hope those instagrams make you as happy as they made me.