Appreciating Where You Live

Remember when I said I got a bike basket in hopes I would ride to work more? Well, I've ridden twice so far and my ride home from work was so peaceful and beautiful! I wanted to share a few photos I took on my way home.

One thing I realized is that I don't need to rush all the time. Taking my time and enjoying the beauty of where I live is a necessity. I'm so fortunate to be able to live close enough to work in a beautiful area that I can get views like this on a normal basis (the only downside I've seen so far is the smell of low tide). It really allows me to appreciate where I live and makes me want to take advantage of it.

I'm really hoping to ride my bike to work more often and get even more beautiful photos on the way to/from. Maybe I'll use riding as an excuse to invest in a better camera!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

It Feels Like Home

Happy Wednesday everybody! I hope everyone had a great weekend and is making it through the week. I'm excited to show you some decoration Branden and I finally put up.

A little decoration goes a long way in terms of making your place feel like home. I'm not a very creative person and I've been wanting some kind of decoration, but really couldn't think of what I wanted. I went to TJ Maxx a few weeks ago and I saw some decorations that I thought "I NEED those".

Our engagement pictures were taken in Hawaii, and we have a large canvas that was hanging in our room of one of those photos. The decorations at TJ Maxx were beach theme and they seriously go perfectly with our photo. Even better, they were at TJ Maxx, which means they weren't too expensive! Here is the final product above our bed:

I found this mirror at Kohl's and used a gift card to buy it. I added it to the side of the bed.

Having the decoration above our bed really does make our place feel more like home. I absolutely love it! Especially since we live right next to a beach :-).

I'm so glad we finally have something and can't wait until something else catches my eye and inspires me.

Tortellini with Butternut Squash and Sage Brown Butter

I'm always looking for new recipes and love trying new things. When I came across this recipe, I knew I had to try it because I not only love butternut squash, but I'm a huge fan of pasta.

This recipe is seriously to die for. I could eat it every night and not get tired of it.

Here is how to make it:

Ingredients

- 1 small butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes (or use a 12 oz. bag)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 10 whole sage leaves, 5 shredded sage leaves
- 1 10 oz. package cheese tortellini
- olive oil
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese for sprinkling.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Toss butternut squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes or until soft and beginning to brown. You can also steam the squash if you prefer
3. Meanwhile, start the water for the tortellini. When the water boils, put in the tortellini and take out a medium saute pan. Place the butter into the pan and melt over medium-low heat. Set the 10 whole sage leaves around the pan and do not stir.
4. Slice the remaining sage leaves and just when the butter begins to brown (see tip at bottom on browning butter), sprinkle the sliced leaves in the pan.
5. Remove the tortellini and drain. Once all the water is removed, return to the pot. The butternut squash should be done. Take it out of the oven and use a potato masher to squish it up.
6. Place the butternut squash and sage brown butter into the pot with the tortellini and toss.
7. Serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Makes 4 servings.

Stages of browning butter: butter will first melt, it will become lemony yellow. After a minute or two it will begin to splatter a bit, then foam and begin to smell nutty. Next, little brown specks will begin to appear in the center of the golden foamy bubbles 0 this is when you add the slices of sage. Color-wise it should go from a yellow to a golden tan to an orange-y / toasty golden brown.

Happy 2015!

I started off 2015 trying to be more organized and healthy! I don't really believe in New Year Resolutions but I'm always trying to stay healthy and keep my life in order (which I am terrible at by the way).

For Christmas, Branden got me a bike basket so I would be more likely to ride to work. Well I haven't ridden to work yet but I did ride my bike to the store twice over the weekend instead of driving. If I'm not in a rush and am just going to pick up an item or two, I see no excuse to not ride my bike. Our town is even putting in a new bike lane on my street which I loved being able to use. It was actually a really nice ride and I even got to make use of my bike lights the second day.

In addition to riding my bike, I also organized my closet! Our apartment has these built-in closets from Ikea which I love, but it turned out to be a place for me to pile all of my makeup and other random stuff. I decided to go to Target and buy some organizational drawers and let me say, it made a huge difference. I think I want one more bin, but for a start I think I did a pretty good job! The top is before and the bottom is after:

I did a bit of cooking this weekend along with organization. We had a friend over to watch football and the UFC fights and figured it would be the perfect time to try a somewhat healthy appetizer I saw and let me tell you, it was delicious! I made some Spinach and Brie Topped Artichoke Hearts! Here is the recipe:

Spinach and Brie Topped Artichoke Hearts

Ingredients:
- 9 oz. box frozen artichoke hearts
- 2/3 cup chopped and cooked spinach
- thin slices of brie (enough to top all the hearts)
- lemon juice
- parsley
- salt
- pepper
- minced garlic

Directions:
1. Preheat broiler
2. Prepare artichoke hearts according to package
3. Saute spinach until wilted
4. Mix spinach, about 1 tsp lemon juice, about 1 clove garlic, and salt, pepper, and parsley to taste.
5. Place spinach mixture on top of artichoke hearts
5. Top artichoke hearts with brie
6. Place in broiler until cheese is melted, about 1-2 minutes

Both Branden and our friend loved them as well!

I know I said I was trying to be healthier, but Branden did make some homemade pizza. It was so amazing! I'm sure it's healthier than from a pizza place though. We bought the vegan Trader Joe's dough along with their organic pasta sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about how good it tasted.

So far 2015 has been great and I can't wait to see what the rest has in store! I've got a few more posts planned for the near future so check back every so often!

Happy New Year: Where Did Time Go?!?

What the heck happened to the year?!?! These past few months have flown by! I know it's been months since my last post but I'll catch you all up. My boss left the company and work got so crazy that all I wanted to do when I got home was relax. Here is what we have been up to since October:

We celebrated our paper anniversary by taking a trip to Sonoma and getting an anniversary cake and eating it at our venue. We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant and then the next day we went to Alcatraz (the paper tickets were our gift to each other). I know it wasn't the most conventional thing to do but we both had a great time and learned a lot.

In November we went to Vegas to celebrate Branden's birthday and visit his friend Carson. Tomas came with us and we all had a blast! That was my first time going to Vegas for more than 24 hours and it was a great experience! We clubbed all night one night, gambled, walked around, and even got to see KA which was an awesome show.

We got to celebrate Thanksgiving with both of our families this year which was extra nice, and we went back to LA one last time to watch USC smash Notre Dame.

Christmas came and went, and we did Christmas Eve with Branden's family and Christmas Day with mine. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone and I personally think this was the best Christmas in awhile.

The last day of the year is tomorrow and when I look back on the year I am so grateful for being able to live a happy and healthy life. I've got tons of stuff I wanted to blog about (like delicious recipes and new decorations) so I'll be posting about them randomly. Hopefully next year I'll feel more up to posting more often. For now, happy new year and I wish everyone a safe and happy evening tomorrow!

Back to LaLa Land

Last weekend Branden and I went to LA again! As you may or may not realize, if USC loses and we went to the game, it takes me a little to get over it and post about it. This last game was especially rough. Although we lost, we still had a great time in LA.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and decided to go to a museum. We picked the La Brea Tarpits because it wasn't too far from the Burbank Airport or Pasadena. The museum was extremely interesting and I'm so glad we went. It was very cool learning how the animals of the ice age had been preserved for so long (they are still digging for fossils today)!

While we were there we got to see tons of fossils, we even got to touch a few. We even got to feel what it would be like to be stuck in tar. I now understand how the animals could be tricked into thinking the tar was water and then not being able to get out.

Here are a few pictures from the museum:

And here are 2 pictures I took from the football game!

I hope everyone has a great weekend :-).