Friday, August 28, 2009

Football Food

I'm kind of on a fall kick. My bf, Conor, & I were talking about how the first USC {our personal fave} game is in, like ONE week. Wow. That is soon. This made me & my party-lovin' mind go into planning mode. Sure, there's decor & themes & outfits to think of, but the most important part of any football-watching-shindig is obviously the menu.

Here's a few highlights of the many menus I have set up for the 2009 season.

1. CHICKEN WINGS! My favoritest food ever. Ever.
2. 7-Layer dip. In individual jars. How fab is this idea? No more digging around in someone else's dip-waste. Ew.
3. Mini burgers. Mini anything. H. Dogs, tacos, pizzas, whatever. Mini is the new regular. Or something.
4. Kettle Corn. I just mastered this one & haven't heard one complaint.
5. "Oh look, they're little footballs." "Laces out!" Some Ace Ventura-inspired football cookies.
6. Pudding Shots. Remember these? I made them for the Superbowl last year & they are AWESOME. Dessert & booze.
7. Punch. With alcohol in it. I don't care what kind. Just make me some.
8. Beer Margaritas. I've heard some pretty great stuff about these...
9. Cheap beer. Duh.

I'll be sure to post real party pics throughout the season, starting next week. And don't worry, there will surely be lots of fun decor, not just food. I'm thinking Astro-Turf tables, fall flowers, & whatever else I can come up with....stay tuned & happy weekend!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

First Week Back {I'm tired}

I know I've been a bad blogger this week. I've missed visiting everyone's blogs and would much rather be reading them than research texts about psychology. I have lots of fun posts in mind that I will hopefully get to Friday & next week. And...my second giveaway! I haven't had once since my first around Christmastime & want to reward my loyal readers for sticking around. It's just my little way of saying thank you!

{computer camera HARD for Pipe-pipe to make work}
More later. I leave you with a pic I sent to a friend over the fancy World Wide Web today during class. Yes, it was that bad. And yes, I had to re-write backwards. Note the crazy school-eyes. Oh yeah.

So check back next week for your chance at a few of my favorite things!

Monday, August 24, 2009

{Back to School} Breakfast

Well, fall semester has finally begun. I'm currently laying in bed having sent Conor off to work dreading the idea of finding a parking spot & navigating the {most likely crazed} bookstore. This got me to thinking about breakfast.

Generally throughout the school year my breakfast choices are those above. Iced latte or hot, depending on the lovely Nebraska weather, of course. Better than nothing, right?

Is the first meal of the day really the most important? Do you all eat brekkie? Most of my adult life I've tried to schedule my days so as to sleep through this meal. So please give me some quick & easy breakfast ideas. Otherwise I'm afraid I won't make it through Horticulture, blah.

Okay, I must head to campus.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Heading Home!


{Our house...ps, it's for sale if you're interested.}
To my hometown, to see my parents & relax before the fall semester begins on Monday. Home is Iowa; Shenandoah to be exact. It's small. It's pretty. But the best thing there is definitely Les & Rog's place {my parents}.
Gourmet food, drink, & company awaits. I'll even post some pics this weekend to show you how pretty Iowa can be!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

{Blood} Red Lips

So, what do you guys think of them?
Any of you lovely ladies {or guys, I don't judge} fans of the classic red lip look?

My boyfriend took a pic of me yesterday that made me rethink red. Perhaps it's the lighting, or the fact that it was before noon, but I'm feeling that it's a bit much. Perhaps I should stick to wearing reds under the veil of evening.

{Nice hair, Pipes}
Next question...if you are a red lipstick fan, what's your go-to colour?

Now, I'm off to swipe on some Rita Beige, my favourite nude lipstick. Sigh.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

{Fall} Reading

Earlier this summer I posted about the various titles on my summer reading list. Well, as summer is on it's way out, I've composed a list of books to read that I'm planning to mix in with various {school-related} psychology texts.

A Thousand Splendid Suns & Shanghai Girls have been on my list for a bit, but were overlooked this summer for the easy beach reads. I, of course, had to throw in a few silly ones, which is why I chose Twenties Girl {love Sophie Kinsella, just do}, & sTori Telling. How hilarious is Tori, honestly?

Murder on the Orient Express, New Moon, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, & Dracula are all on the list to get me prepped & ready for Halloween, my favorite holiday. {Well, New Moon is more of a re-read for movie prep in November, of course!}.

What's on your current, or to-be-read list? Please share!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Incomplete...

For me, summer is coming to an end.
My fall courses begin in one week, so I got to thinking about what I had planned to get done this summer...

{I'm the pale sun, thank you.}
I had planned to lay by the pool & achieve the perfect café au lait colour. I'm more of a pale beige, to be honest.


Grilling dinner every night? Not unless you count bar food as "grilled." Whoops.

Those flowers & herbs I planted? Yeah, dead.

I didn't make it on that summer trip to Milwaukee/Chicago. Nope, still here in Omaha.

{Uneven paint job. Boo hoo.}
The furniture I had planned to finish painting never got it's final coat. Sigh.

But hey, fall is upon us & I still have time to create plenty of new plans I will never fulfill. Ha.
Now, please tell me that some of you are like me in this sense? Summer "goals" that were never met? Share!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Back to School {Shopping}

Well, I'm finished with my summer classes, which means it's time for the fall semester to begin. Sigh. In all reality I have one week to get myself prepared, but it's not much. To honor the sometimes-dreaded-back-to-school I've put together a mini-list of items that would make heading back to the books that much more enjoyable.

1. A cute little Vespa. Everyone knows parking on any college campus is horrid.
2. Some cute new clothes, of course! {from Lulu's Boutique}
3. A rainbow of Tory Burch flats. Comfy is key!
4. A new Blackberry Tour. My friend Kenny says these are the best. Kenny = Phone Guru.
5. I've always loved Balenciaga's Le Dix collection. A large please, for my Macbook.

These would all come in quite handy, if I do say so myself. What would be on your back-to-school wish list? I may have missed something totally obvious. I was perfecting my flip/cannonball form late into the night at my sister's pool, so I'm a bit off today.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Weekend & Week Ahead


{Dad & Conor: my only decent photo...it was quite dark}
I had the best weekend! Dinner with my parents was so fantastic - the best food & company around.

Seeing my Chicago friends Chuck & Kenny was great. We had some cocktails, went to the casino & hit the bar.

Needless to say, after they left Tuesday morning I spent most of the day napping & re-watching season 2 of Mad Men {gotta get prepared for Sunday's premiere!}. I'm pretty excited to see what's going to happen w. Peggy & Pete's pseudo relationship.

{The gorgeous Mad Men cast}
Fall semester starts in another week so I am busy ordering textbooks from Amazon {tres cheap}, putting together a fall wardrobe, & contemplating a move to a l a r g e r place. More on that later, of course!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Fancy {Schmancy}

My parents invited me & Conor on a double date. Pretty awesome, huh? We also just so happen to be going to the most fabulous restaurant in Omaha. V. Mertz. If you're from here, you simply must have at least ONE dinner there. It's fun to be fancy. If it was winter, I would totally be donning the fur I inherited from my G-ma.

Anyway, V. Mertz is this great restaurant located in the Old Market Passageway downtown. They change their menu seasonally & have an intimidatingly large wine list. I can't wait.

I 100% promise to post some pics from the night on Tuesday.
Unless they confiscate my camera at the restaurant for being a tacky customer, ha. We shall see!

{Chuck & Kenny}
My best friend & his boyfriend will be visiting Monday, so I will be busy frolicking by the pool & playing at the casino. Yes, casino. You just wait.
Have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Shoe Confusion

I need advice. How do you lovelies feel about shoes "designed" {I use that term loosely, as we all know these ladies simply put their name on the things} by celebrities? Case in point - I developed a crush on a pair of pretty, bow-topped pumps by Valentino awhile back. I love bows. Well, needless to say, I couldn't afford to buy them, as their retail price was higher than my monthly rent.
1. Valentino's bow-detailed d'Orsay {$695}
2. Paris Hilton's Senorita pump {$89}


Here's the dilemma. Paris Hilton {aka Satan}, has come out with a similar shoe. I actually really, really like it. Sadface. What to do? It's under $100 & super hilarious. I want them to live with me. But Miss Hilton leaves little to be desired in my book, so I am stuck between a rock & a hard place.

Thoughts?

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Bring on Fall

I'm ready for it.
It's been an odd, not-too-summery summer. I got kinda bummed the other day when I was thinking about the upcoming back-to-school season, but my dear pal Charles reminded me of our favorite things. Football, layers {as in clothing}, & cool, crisp weather. Not too mention Autumn is quite pretty around the Midwest.

Tailgating!
In this particular instance it was a bit chilly
{hence the watching of the game from the RV}

& Conor is apparently trying to get fresh with some dude.
Seriously, could he get any closer?

Look at the fall clothing. Look at it! I Anthropologie.

Alright, I've got a final tomorrow.