Plain Jane

I present to you the most expensive shoes I own. Why did I buy another pair of expensive shoes, you ask? Because it came in a pretty red flannel pouch, obviously!


I kid, but not really. I didn't buy them for the pouch, I bought them because I decided that since I have such a hard time finding shoes that fit I am going to focus on buying well made shoes that can be refinished, recrafted, and resoled. This means good quality leather and leather lined insole, outsole, and heel. I want to slowly build my shoe wardrobe with shoes that will last me a very long time because finding a replacement for a busted pair is not easy for me.

So what do these shoes look like?


A bit underwhelmed, are we? It's very simple. There's a reason they named the shoes "Jane". It might be plain but it's also classic.

The devil is in the detail.


It is hand crafted out of the most awesome bridle leather. The innersole is lined with smooth nappa leather and the nice plushy high arch support is a huge bonus since I have a high instep and it's very hard for me to find shoes with proper arch support.

My taste in shoes tends to be a bit masculine and I've wanted a pair of chukka boots for years, ever since I saw some dude wearing a pair of Wallabies. I think they're a great transitional footwear. Something to take you from the winter to spring and from fall to winter.


I can't wait until they are broken in; it's going to age so beautifully. I would wear them every day to speed the process but the heels are more delicate than I thought and I want to get heel taps put in before they get too worn.

I Got a (Temp) Promotion!

Yesterday I was offered a temporary promotion which comes with a pretty sweet monthly bonus. Yay! I was mentally spending this sweet bonus in my head when I realized that it's a bonus, which means it will be taxed at a much higher rate. Boo.

On one hand I will essentially be asked to do what I'm doing right now, so it's not like I have to do more work. Doing this will get me some recognition (provided I do it successfully, which I feel I will), so that's a HUGE plus. The only down side is that I'm looking at... approximately 10 hour increase in my commute time per week. I get reimbursed for miles so, essentially, this bonus is compensation for sitting in traffic for around two extra hours a day.

After taxes, is it worth it? Meh... It's definitely way more than what I would make at a part time retail job, so yes. Then again, we're not having any financial issues so the money isn't substantial enough to get me all hot and bothered. Bottom line, I'm more excited about the recognition and the opportunity than the dollar, which is how it should be, right?

I just wish in was a temporary increase in pay so they would take less out for tax. Oh well. I'm just grateful for the opportunity!

Valise Kendra E/W Tote

Check out my new bag!


I like to treat myself to a nice new bag every year. Michael thinks it's silly to spend so much on a bag when I already own so many. I pointed out to him that since they are my every day bags the cost per use is way less than anything he's ever bought. He's still not convince. Whatever.

I was a bit hesitant to get this one because I'm used to slouchy bags that I can just toss around. I need things that can take a lot of abuse and still look good because I know myself and I know that I'm not going to treat anything gently. That caviar leather trim? Once that gets scratched up there's no fixing it. But, you know, I took a leap of faith and bought it.

I'm trying to act more "grown up" this year and move away from beat up slouchy messenger bags with receipts and other various crap just all smooshed in there. The structure allows for better organization and look!


It takes me like .00003 seconds to find everything. Beautiful!

My only complaint is that it's a bit heavy and the straps aren't long enough to comfortably wear around my shoulder. It does come with a cross body strap but I'm not a fan of that look.

Someone Knows What They are Doing

A few days a go the weather was feeling pretty nice and I got the thrifting bug again. I headed out to one of my favorite thrift stores, Blue Ridge Hospice in Purcelville! That thrift store has a book section (the Book Nook as they call it) that will rival any used bookstore. Most books are a dollar or less and it's a great place to pick up some cheap read. I usually go there when I'm in the mood to read but this time around, I was looking for something cute to spruce up my house, more specifically, artwork.

I don't know if there have been some changes or if I've never noticed but someone there really know what they are doing. Their selection of home decor are much better than your average thrift store... and the prices reflect that fact. It's more of an antique store than a thrift store with prices averaging from $8 to $30. Sure there were some cheap things here and there but most of the things worth buying were marked up at a very high (for a thrift store) price. Bummer.

I did pick up some jewelry, however!

I got this pendant because the artwork reminded me of a picture that would be hanging in a 70's home.


Even though I'm not much a bracelet person I got this because it looked like something we would sell at work.


Only, instead of $1.5 it would be more like $60.

I know they run sales a lot so I'll be on the look out for the next time they have sales on home stuff.

Balsamic Teriyaki Steak

"What's your favorite food?" is a question that I get asked more often than you'd think. It's a pretty loaded question and my default answer is steak. Mmmm... Steak. Today someone asked, "What's your favorite flavor?" Oooh... That's different. Didn't require a lot of thought though: A1.

No, I don't put A1 on everything. Here's how I see it; I love steak, it's one of my favorite foods, but I love steak only if it has A1. Ergo, A1 is my favorite flavor.

My love for A1 is to a point where I won't even order steak at a fancy place because I know they won't have any A1. I don't care how fancy the meat is and I don't care how well it's cooked. I'm sure that herbed butter or wine reduced sauce is fantastic but I like my steak with A1. I once knew a guy who said that if a steak required sauce than the chef didn't know what he was doing. I beg to differ. I make damn good steaks and I still need A1.

Every once in awhile I'll try something new, just to see what else is out there. Recently (before my now defunct No Grocery plan) I tried this recipe for Balsamic Teriyaki Steak.


It was good; I enjoyed it a lot. Michael absolutely loved it. But, as good as it was, it was no A1.

The balsamic teriyaki sauce is pretty easy to make. I would definitely not use your good balsamic vinegar for this recipe. Instead of shallot I used diced onions because we always use onions; we don't really use shallots. Speaking of ingredients we never use, I didn't really foresee a need for mirin in the near future so I just went with some Marsala wine 'cause that's what I had. It still turned out pretty good... Just not as good as A1.

La Travinia of Leesburg

I'm trying to think of something that has actually lived up to its hype.

Hmmmm...

This is hard...

Well of course there are things like cars. I agree cars are pretty spiffy, can't argue with that. However, when it comes to more frivolous things like arts, entertainment and stuff I've found that few things lives up to the hype. Michale calls me a contrarian but I think he's a sheeple so there.

Since we only eat out once a month Michael wanted to make it count so he did some research on Yelp before picking a place. For the month of March, based on some very favorable reviews, he decided we should check of La Travinia in Leesburg. It's one of those places that are constantly busy, there's always a long wait, it's a tad bit too dark, and always too loud. The food was okay and the experience was not horrible.

I ordered some uninspired pasta dish with shrimp and spinach.


Michael ordered the lasagna.


It wasn't bad but it wasn't good; the sauce was way too sweet.

Honestly, I don't understand why that place is so popular. For about the same price you can eat at Palio in Down Town Leesburg where the food is much better. Maybe that's where we'll eat for April.

Ahoy Matey!

Sometimes you think you know a person and then they say something that makes you realize you don't know them at all.

A few months ago Michael and I were discussing decorating themes. I asked him what he had in mind for his bathroom when he mentioned pirates.

Pirates? He likes pirates? Since when? A pirate themed bathroom for a man of his age?

I knew he liked beach themed bathrooms since his old bathroom had lots of seashells and pictures of light houses. He's never talked of his love for beaches or wanted to go to a beach but, you know, whatever. A beach themed bathroom doesn't seem as odd as a pirate themed bathroom. He told me he was joking about a pirate bathroom but when ever I see something kind of pirate-y and jokingly point out that it would fit well in his bathroom he seems to be all over it... Like this print that we saw at Joanne Fabric:


That would look good in my bathroom but how would I use it? Do you think I can make it into a shower curtain?

Um... no. It's flannel and... you have a glass shower door...

I suggested he frame it and that's what he did.


The fabric costs less than a dollar and the frame was on sale for like $5. Not a bad price for a wall hanging.

Speaking of pirates and the deep blue sea, I saw this mirror at Pier 1 and I think it would be the perfect mirror to put in his bathroom:


It's hard to tell in the picture but the frame is made of a gazillion little shells and it's quite impressive if you're into beach things. His bathroom is the last room in the house that I'm interested in decorating but it's on sale for $79.99 right now and that's actually a pretty decent price for a mirror of that size.

In Case of a Zombie Attack

I was discussing my NO GROCERY FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH challenge with one of my associates and he said, "Well, don't forget you need to save some for emergencies."

???

"You know, in case there's a flood or an earthquake or something."

Oh. Haven't thought of that.

Every time someone talks about emergency food I always think of 28 Days Later. You know, how the guy gets sick 'cause he's running on candy bar and soda? You know, how they had to resort to drinking toilet water? You know, how they came across a grocery store with irradiated "fresh" produce and they were SO over joyed? You know how an entire country just completely fell apart in a span of a month?!?! That's what makes the movie so freaking scary, not the "infected" and the body nom nom nom-ing but that an entire civilization with it's rules and structures and back ups and enforcements and such can just be completely fall apart in a matter of days.

What's the point of emergency food? When shit hits the fan, shit is going to go everywhere and some cans of tomatoes really aren't going to make a whole lot of difference. If it floods our food will just be ruined. If the house comes crumbling down our food will be squished. If there is a huge terrorist threat and we're all under lock down... Okay, then some food would come in handy.

It's like 28 Months, you know the beginning when they're eating that horrid looking pasta dish? Yeah, I bet they were grateful for some emergency food. Of course, they did get eaten by zombies shortly after, but whatever.

Emergency food is an idea that I'm going to consider. I'm not planning on lining my basement walls with cans of spam and jugs of water but maybe it's a good idea to make sure I always have a few cans of soup, boxes of pasta, and jars of marinara sauce. They all cost like a dollar each anyway. You can easily stock an emergency shelf for like $20 and as long as you're eating from it and restocking it the food won't spoil. I don't expect a zombie attack in the near future (knock on wood) but the weather has been pretty vicious. It would be nice to have food in the house if the roads are too icky to venture out.

No Grocery for Two Weeks!

On the Ides of March we left Trader Joe with $120 worth of groceries... $120!!! Considering it's just the two of us and this wasn't our first trip to the grocery store this month (or the second... or the third, I think...) it's a lot of money. As we were loading the bags into his car I decided that we need to cut back, a lot. Since it was the dead middle of March it seemed like a good starting point to challenge ourselves. So, a decree was announced:

No more grocery purchases for the month of may!!!

I predict this week will be easy but next week will be a challenge as we start to run out of fresh food... Hmm... How much processed food can a couple eat? I guess we'll find out!

I started off our challenge by making fried rice since we had some produce in the fridge that I wanted to use up before they spoiled.


I've never really made fried rice before because my mom used to make these not so good ones all the time and I just always got it in my head that all home made fried rice just doesn't taste that good. Well, nothing against mom but they are pretty easy to make!


I also threw it the last of my frozen shrimps in there. I'm kind of looking forward to this challenge. My fridge and pantry will be so clean after this month!

Make Your Own Fajita Night!!!

Since Make Your Own Taco night was such a success we decided to do a Make Your Own Fajita night!


Yay!

It was so delicious, easy, and cheap. Well, the steak and guacamole wasn't exactly economical but they were the most expensive part of the meal and everything else were things we already had in our fridge or things that we could easily use for another dish.


I'm not too sure how fajita differs from a taco other than the fact that you get to build it yourself.


Jamie suggested making shrimp tacos with some frozen shrimp and taco seasoning so I decided to give it a try. Honestly, there isn't much to say about Make Your Own Fajita night other than that it was DEEE-licious! I mean, look:


Damn, I wish there were left overs... starting to get very hungry...

Lasagna with Bechamel Sauce

This past Christmas Michael's mother made the absolute best lasagna I've ever had. I assumed it was because she's Italian but Michael's dad explained that it's because it's made with bechamel sauce instead of ricotta.

Bechamel? What is this delicious white goop and why have I never heard of it?

I really, really hate ricotta cheese but I made peace with the devil stuff awhile back because lasagna does taste better with a little bit of something creamy in there. Normally I would've been all over a ricotta substitute but... Bechamel? I always assume anything French is difficult and not worth my time. Seriously, have you ever seen a recipe for Coq au Vin? Sheesh. The quicker something takes to make the less chance I'll screw it up. One day, while flipping through a back issue of Every Day Food magazine I came across a recipe for bechamel sauce and it looked a lot easier to make than I thought. I didn't really have anything better to do and we already had lasagna stuff in the house so I decided to give it a try.

The result?


Very, very, so very easy to make!

As soon as I tasted it I recognized it! In Korea they have this instant "vegetable" soup that's pretty popular (at least they was when I was growing up). I say "vegetable" because it's really just a few sprinkling of mirepoixe in a sea of white creamy soup. Even though it tastes good I never like it. I'm not sure why except that I didn't trust it. I don't know what I mean by that, I just didn't. I just don't think I was a big fan of milk growing up.

Anyway!

Bechamel as soup? Eh, a bit much, for me anyway. Bechemel in lasagna?


Fantastic!

A bit of advice... When layering on the stuff don't put us as much as I did. Bechamel kind of melts in high heat and yeah... My lasagna ended up more like a pasta bake. But hey, it's the taste that count and it tasted FAN-tastic!

Bechamel Sauce
Yield: 4 Cup

3 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
4 cups whole milk

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium. Add onion and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add flour and salt; cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is pale golden, has a slightly nutty aroma, and is the texture of cooked oatmeal, about 5 minutes.

Whisking constantly, pour in 2 cups milk; add 2 more cups milk and whisk until smooth. Cook mixture, stirring constantly along the bottom of pan, until boiling, about 7 minutes.

Reduce heat to low. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and does not feel grainy when a very small amount is rubbed between two fingers, about 10 minutes. (To store, press a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface and let sauce cool. Transfer to a resealable container and refrigerate, up to 5 days).

That's How They Get You!

Sur La Table is my new favorite store. I go in there a lot during break. It's like William Sonoma only more focus on cute and pretty and less focus on functionality... They definitely cater to the more superficial side of cooking. But there's no reason why your salt pig can't be shaped like an actual pig, or, in my case, a frog.


It's spring. It's cute. Why not.

The thing about places like Sur La Table, William Sonoma and Anthropologie is that amidst their $200 enameled cookware, hand forged knives, and pretty flowy dresses they'll throw in the $7 dessert plates and $12 air tight coffee jars and $25 butter dish in the shape of a giant flower or something. Compared to the more expensive stuff the store is known for the little things seem very affordable and you think, "Oh I should get this, it's cheap!"

Except it's not, and that's how they get you.

Mr. Froggy salt keeper up there cost me $14. If I had picked it up at Target it would've been "$14 for a small frog? Pfffffft. I'll wait for it to go on clearance." At Sur La Table it's, "$14 for a ceramic frog! I should get it before it sells out!"

In the end the only thing that matters is that I like it, and I do! However, I really need to stop going in there all the time...

Shoe Envy!

As a belated Valentines day present I got Michael a pair of wingtips.


Aren't they beautiful? I am totally in love. He is so bad at taking care of his shoes I am tempted to forbid him from wearing them. I just want to have them out and look at them, stroke them, love them.


So jealous! I'm now on a hunt to find a pair of wingtips for myself.

Left Over Spring Roll

Since Michael and I both work retail we have a rule in our house: Whoever doesn't close has to make dinner. If both of us are closing then who ever gets home has to make dinner. One night, both us were closing and it looked like I would get home before him. On one hand I was bummed because I really didn't feel like making dinner. On the other hand I was relieved because Michael only knows how to make two dishes: scrambled eggs with vegetables and a pasta dish that roughly resembles a baked ziti. I mean, I like pasta a lot but a girl can eat but so much baked tubular pasta+marinara sauce+meat of some kind+mozzarella cheese.

So I got home first and since we still had tons of left over Asian-ish vegetables from the last time I made bibimbop (Michael: So, what's this dish called again? Me: Just... call it Korean Burrito Bowl, it's the same idea.) I decided to make some spring rolls.

For reasons that I still do not know we had a package of spring roll wrappers in our house. I don't recall buying them or needing them or ever wanting to make spring rolls before but there they were! Perfect!

I used bean sprouts, shaved carrots, shrimp, fresh basil leaves and spinach.


Rolling it all up was a bit harder than I thought but I eventually got the hang of it.


Kind of.

We didn't have any Asian dipping sauce so I made my own bootleg peanut sauce with some melted peanut butter, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, lemon sauce, vinegar and... Yeah, I think that was it.

It wasn't as good as something you'd order from an Asian restaurant but for an impromptu dinner it was pretty tasty.

Mediterranean Quesadilla

I was going through the kitchen trying to decide what to make when BAM! Like a divine intervention an idea just came to me: Mediterranean Quesadilla!


It's so cheap, easy and quick to make! You just slice up and saute some salmon and various Mediterranean-ish vegetables (I used frozen artichoke, asparagus, and spinach). Put down a tortilla on a hot greasy grill, layer on some mozzarella cheese, then the sauteed salmon mix and more cheese. Slap on another tortilla, flip and squish. Done!

I asked Michael if he thought I would face legal issues if I opened up a restaurant named Virginia Quesadilla Work Shop (referencing the Tex-Mex chain California Tortilla Factory). He thinks I will but, more importantly, why would I want to name a Tex-Mex place after Virginia? Um... Have you been to Sterling? Herndon? Manasass? Certain parts of Reston? This area has a very healthy Hispanic community. I want to start a new genre of food- East-Mex. It will combine all the great foods of the East (crab, lobster, maple syrup, peanuts, peaches, oranges, BBQ, um... beans, cheese steak, chowder... tea, pizza... etc.) with the generic Hispanic food forms such as tacos, quesadillas, burritos, etc.

Crabcake burrito with some peach salsa... Doesn't that sound AMAZING?!?!

Bookmark Clean Out

Michael's is making beef stew! He bought a great big honky slow cooker awhile back and tonight's dinner will be it's inaugural meal! Watching Michael fumble around the kitchen is adorable and quite hilarious. While I sit here and refuse to answer any questions (teach a man to fish and he'll eat forever, right?) here are some posts you can read!

Michael just spilled a whole bunch of McCormick peppers all over our the inside of our silverware drawer. He should've used freshly ground. Lesson learned. The whole kitchen smells very peppery now. Achoo!

Rock of Love Girls: Where are They Now- Rock of Love (and its subsequent spin offs) were my not-so guilty pleasures. I'm sorry I missed this one.

7 Golden Rules of Freezing Food- I hate left overs but I love frozen dinners... Maybe I should freeze a portion before eating. Technically it's not left overs if you save it before you eat it, right?

Fast Banana Pudding- Hmmm... I have some bananas in the fridge, maybe I'll give this a try tonight.

Beef with Snow Peas- OMG that look so good!!!

Woman Uses Cell Phone in 1928?- Of course I don't believe in time travel but the video is very interesting and kind of freaky if you give it too much thought. Speaking of proofs of time travelers, there's also this.

Sneak Peak: Stacey Sargent of Love and Photographs- SHE HAS MY RUG!!!! okay, it's not my rug because I never got the chance to buy it from Ikea but I am quite envious that she has it and I don't.

Healthified Beef and Broccoli- Ever since Michael has started to gain a little extra weight around this tummy he's asked me to make some healthier dishes. This is something that I do not know how to do. Besides, what good will it do for me to make lighter dishes when he's the one sprinkling bacon on his pizza?

Thai Lemon Shrimp- I completely fail at cooking shrimp. They always end up overcooked and whatever sauce/marinade I use ends up becoming way to watery. Maybe I should stop using frozen (but they're so cheap!). I'll have to figure something out because this dish looks so good!

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms- Oooh, this looks so good but I'm not sure we would eat it as an entree and we have no room for side dishes of this magnitude since both of us hate left overs.

Cataclysmic Macaroni and Cheese- Not the biggest fan of pancetta but I'm sure bacon will work just as well. Bacon!!!

Collection Report: Burberry Prorsum Fall 2011- I wish every men dressed like this... minus the shearling.

Mine, All Mine- OMG so cute!!! Everything in her Etsy shop is adorable!

Build Your Own Smitten Kitchen- No two people's Must Have lists will be alike, different forks for different folks and all, right? This list comes the closest to my Must Have List (where's the micro plane zester?!?!?!)

The Sharper Staffer: Best Foot Forward- Proper shoe care has become a mini-obsession for me; it really does make a difference. One day I will show you my shoe care arsenal. As geeky as it is I love talking to men about proper shoe care. Occasionally you meet a woman who is just as passionate but it's mostly the dude's who invest in proper maintenance.

Brooklyn Home of J.Crew Director Jenna Lyons- Did she purposefully make her son put on yellow pants to stand in front of the gray wall?

Fine Art

Whenever Michael gets invited to our more formal family events my mom always calls me to ask him not to wear his "cartoon shirts". He's only worn his novelty shirt once around my mom but first impressions stick.

Neither of us really wear our "cartoon" shirts much anymore. We're all grown now, you know? We should be wearing things with buttons and stuff. We have quite the collection of novelty and band shirts that we're not willing to part with so I decided to just frame them.


This one hangs in our kitchen above our fridge.


I went to Michael's and just bought some cheap $4 frames.


I thought the blue and orange would fit it really well in our "living room".


While at the craft store I saw some woodcut outs and decided to make this:


since everyone thinks that door is the hall closet.

Cupcakes!!!

My niece celebrated her one year birthday a tad early and my sister went all out. I thought these marshmallow cupcakes were super cute.


We walked out of that party with so much candy and chocolate! It was fun.