Friday Inspiration

Image via A Paper Aeroplane

Wishing I could sit on this back porch with a cup of coffee and a good book.

Dying to make this flourless chocolate espresso cake.

Reading this new journal series and loving it.

How cute is this little guy? Pups + Bike baskets = Too cute for words.

Thinking that this free printable would be great over my desk. Such a needed reminder.

Pretty sure this is going to be my next cookbook purchase. So much goodness.

Weekend Adventures

 We drove into the sunrise to spend the weekend in the wonderful city of St. Louis. 

 There was the journey to the top of the arch,

the Braves vs. Cardinals game, 

 and the exploration of downtown and all of its charm.

We ate the most magnificent brunch at Soulard Coffee Garden and had the best lattes at The Mud House.

And then there was The City Museum. Pretty much the coolest museum ever. 

A bus hung off the roof with a ferris wheel on the opposite side. A ten-story slide (among many other slides), lots of climbing and swinging activities, and spectacular exhibits fill the inside. Like I said, not your typical museum. I thought Kevin was never going to leave. 

I'm already making a list of places to go when we return. Needless to say, I fell in love with St. Louis and all of its loveliness and cannot wait to go back!

Friday Inspiration

Check out 7 Stylish Ways to Wear A Bandana and sport your favorite bandana style this weekend. My personal favorites are retro and boho. 

I think this bed-nook would be perfect for guests or rainy day reading.

21Photos Proving That Eldest Siblings Have the Toughest Job in the World. Couldn't.stop.laughing. We eldest have a tough job indeed.

I'm a big fan of handwritten letters and I love this DIY of handmade envelopes.

Here's to a lovely weekend.

BBQ+Chicken+Bacon Quesadilla {Crockpot Style}

So this is how it went down. I knew I wanted to make quesadillas; I started the crockpot right after work and threw in some chicken and salsa. While the chicken was cooking away, I remembered the amazing quesadilla I had at this restaurant. Two years ago, and I still remember it. Obviously the BBQ+bacon goodness had an impact on me. Anyways, I decided to recreate it as best I could. And it turned out pretty darn good. We're rhyming over here, folks.

Hold on to your hats because this recipe is mouthwatering. I mean who doesn't love barbecue chicken, bacon, and cheese all in one place? No one. That's who.
Not only is this quesadilla super delicious, but it is so. darn.easy.

{Serving Size for 2}

Ingredients:
4 soft taco shells
2 medium chicken breasts
4 pieces of cooked bacon or substitute bacon bits
shredded taco cheese
1 cup medium chunky salsa
barbecue sauce (however much or little you please)

Place chicken in crockpot on low for about 5 1/2 hours. Pour salsa over the chicken (You could use barbecue sauce instead if you don't want the extra flavor that comes with the salsa)

Go about your day and savor the aroma every time your enter the kitchen (this is a must in my humble opinion whenever crockpot cooking). Maybe snack on some chips & salsa while you're at it. Because let's be honest, chips & salsa is essential to every good quesadilla.

When the chicken is done, shred using a fork and keep it in the crockpot on warm.

Get those taco shells out and sprinkle cheese all over 2 of them (you can add bacon here too if you want), then place all 4 in the oven on broil at 450 degrees until the shells are nice and toasted and the cheese is melty (Mine were perfect at 4 minutes)

Pour barbecue sauce all over the 2 shells with the cheese to your taste.

Add bacon-either cut up into small pieces after cooked-or sprinkle bacon bits. Both are good, both add that bacon-ey goodness that we all know and love. Bacon-ey. It may or may not be a word. It is most definitely a lifestyle.

Scoop the chicken onto those shells and sprinkle more cheese if you're into that sorta thing. Bring on the cheese, please. 

Slap on those top tortillas, slice like a mini pizza, and try to make it last more than five minutes.

Forever Like That

First of all, shout out to Alex for re-vamping the blog.  It looks great!

Okay, so I realize that Alex has outblogged me like 100:1 the past few weeks.  I'd like to say I'll do better.... but that's probably not going to happen.

Here's a quick recap of the past few weeks.

(1)  Bryan Adams concert with Daddy.  Confession: I knew who he was because of the movie "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" (he was featured on a large portion of the soundtrack).  Turns out, he's REALLY good live, AND he sang a "Spirit" song.  

(2)  Lots of class.  This photo is me modeling "glaucoma glasses," glasses that imitate what it's like to see like a person with glaucoma.  Unfortunately(?), trying on different diseases is not the typical class.

Macie trying to read with glaucoma glasses

(3)  White Coat ceremony.  Three weeks in to class, UAB held a ceremony for their latest victims.  This coat is perfect for my "professional" wardrobe because a) it "matches" everything and b) I'm always cold.

(4)  BEN RECTOR'S NEW ALBUM CAME OUT TODAY!!!!!!  If you've EVER read my blog entries you know I have a Ben Rector problem.  I've lost count of how many of his concerts I've been to (9?), and according to iTunes I've played "The Beat" 262 times.  I fell in love with his song "Forever Like That" at a concert in October 2011, and I've been on pins and needles waiting for it to come out since then.  

Disclaimers: (1) the video below of "Forever Like That" isn't my own; (2) it's hopelessly romantic.

First thing I did this morning!

Now go listen to his album.

Weekend goodness & the road less traveled

This past weekend consisted of fishing at sunset,

hiking up a mountain and embracing nature,

taking breaks along the way,

and enjoying the view from the top.

Two different paths lead up to the tip of the mountain and we randomly chose one. The hike was harder than we expected; it was really more of a climb in most parts and we went down the other side, which ended up being 100 times easier. I'm sure there's some deep symbolism in choosing the harder path that leads to the same spectacular view? All I could think about was this poem:

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day! 

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Perhaps Robert Frost was right. 

Or perhaps we were just ill-prepared hikers who {thankfully} made it to the top without rolling back down the steep and treacherous rocks. 

Friday Inspiration

"Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

As Summer winds down, this look from Bridge & Burn actually has me excited to pull out my flannels and boots this Fall.

This tote from ForestBound makes me want to have a weekend getaway and explore a new place. 

I've been dying to make some homemade granola and this recipe looks like a perfect one to try out. 

Anyone else have an obsession with Matilda when they were growing up? Loving this quote.

Very Mini Polaroids: DIY

Part of the joy in taking photos is having prints of your photos. I recently started a scrapbook (Yeah, I've become that girl) to document our newlywed lives and I finally started printing out photos. I debated using a printing company to make instagram polaroids, but  decided to save a few bucks and print them myself. I used iPhoto, and it was super easy and quick. Plus I only used one sheet of paper for 17 photos!

First, I selected all of the photos I wanted to print by holding down the shift key. I suggest making a temporary album with the photos to make the selection easier. Then go to File>Print. Click on Contact Sheet and then Customize. Your page should look something like this.

To get rid of the titles under each photo (assuming you don't want words below your pictures), go to Settings and uncheck the Title box. You can change the number of columns at the bottom. I used 4 columns, but I think next time I will try 3 for a bit bigger polaroids. 

Then all you have to do is print and cut them out to look like mini polaroids! I used matte paper and it worked perfectly. I'm not a huge fan of the glossy photo paper, but that would work too. 

 Easy as pie. I'm not sure why they use that saying, easy as pie. Pies are not always easy. Or maybe that's just me. 

If you don't have iPhoto, you should be able to do the same thing with Word. You can drag your photos, resize them to whatever size suits you (I recommend somewhere around a 2x3) and determine the number of columns depending on how many photos fit in a row. A helpful way to save paper and time is to make the margins smaller so you can fit more photos per piece of paper. Again, print on matte or gloss photo paper and cut. If you're a perfectionist, use a ruler to make them all the same size. If you're like me, you can just guesstimate. 

 

Pin them on a bulletin board, put them in a photo keepsake box, or place them in a scrapbook and enjoy having your memories printed!