Pretty Little Thing(s)

I recently bought two beautiful necklaces from the elephantine etsy shop.  One was the ombre sterling silver chain, which I got in a custom length of 36" (and I now wear just about every day!).  The other was the eastern holiday, which I absolutely love and have gotten many compliments on.  She was so sweet and very quick to respond - I highly recommend her jewelry!  She also has a great blog.

Such pretty packaging and nice note :)

Vertical Garden / AC Cover

This weekend I celebrated Fathers Day by using power tools :).  I have a rather large and not so attractive air conditioner in front of my townhome.   And now that I have a very nice and new patio (and the huge pile of dirt is finally gone - thanks James!) I decided it was time for a solution to covering up said AC.  The inspiration came from a vertical herb garden that I saw on the housetohome website.  I used deck wood and deck screws so that it could withstand the weather.  I also plan on staining and then applying a coat of urethane as a finishing touch.  We also took a trip to Ikea and Home Depot for some cute outdoor furniture and a grill - I'm definitely looking forward to a 4th of July BBQ!

 If you are looking for an inexpensive way to have an herb garden, or to just display plants, and you don't have much space - I recommend just getting an old pallet, weather treating it, and either hang or lean it against a wall and voila!

Afterwards James took me out to eat at Mon Ami Gabi (love!) and we went also stopped by a small fair and had cotton candy.  (Isn't he handsome!) ;-)

A Waterfall Full of Water Snakes

I saw this band last night - we got absolutely drenched by a crazy thunderstorm, but it was sooooo worth it!!  They even played three new songs.  Complete awesomesauce.

I do wish we had gotten a chance to hear more of The Low Anthem and Matthew and the Atlas.

Craving...

I'd like to get a nice pair of sunglasses this summer and am craving these from Ray-Ban - classic and masculine.

Shooter

Outdoorsman

or the super classic Aviator

Gluten Free Dinner

I made my guy a very tasty and healthy dinner tonight.  He has a gluten allergy and it can be difficult to find gluten-free recipes that are actually appetizing.  I got this recipe from one of my coworkers - she had originally used couscous, which unfortunately does have gluten, so I substituted quinoa.  Quinoa (pronounced ki:nwa) is nutrient rich and cooked in much the same was as rice.  I included lean ground beef seasoned with salt and pepper and a summery peach sangria with our meal.  After a day of trekking through the D.C. monuments this was a super easy and yummy meal to make - and eat! ;-)
(The recipe below calls for couscous - but the same directions can be used w/ quinoa.)

Just because flowers are always nice :-)

Ingredients

1 box 16 oz Couscous (I used Quinoa) - Organic is best (follow directions on the side of the box for the salad)
3 cups water
1/2 green fresh pepper diced
1/2 red fresh pepper diced
1/2 yellow fresh pepper diced
1/2 red onion diced
1 large, not too ripe,  tomato diced
1 large bunch parsley chopped (I used cilantro, I just prefer the flavor)
12-16 teaspoons olive oil
12-16 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I used an entire lemon, 1/2 in the quinoa and 1/2 in the veggies)
Salt and pepper to taste (I ended up not using any s&p since the ground beef was s&p-ed)

Prepare

In a large pot combine 3 cups of water, 12-16 teaspoons olive oil, fresh lemon juice, couscous (or quinoa) and mix together over high heat and cover for 5-10 minutes while you dice/chop fresh vegetables.  Place all veggies in remaining lemon juice and gently mix so the lemony flavor and the natural juices from the veggies draws, uncover couscous (or quinoa) fluff with a fork add veggies and gently mix them together.  Refrigerate for about 15 minutes or overnight and enjoy!  You may also serve it warm.

You could also do your own variations by using other veggies/fruits/nuts/chicken as well as using chicken/beef/vegetable broth, grilled/roasted chicken breast or other grains.