adventures in weekending: the coffee shop

Spending hours sipping vanilla and hazelnut lattes at a local, low-key coffee shop is now going to be a weekly requirement of mine.  We only just discovered a café in the neighborhood that is the quietest, quaintest place during the day. Very few people, nice staff, good coffee and no pressure to leave or order another even though you’ve finished your drink about an hour ago. And so we didn’t…for a while anyway.

It almost felt like it should’ve been a Sunday afternoon.

friday fillers

• In case you missed it on Twitter, go check out my guest post over at Made to Travel. And don't forget to enter Jamillah's giveaway while you're there!

• It's okay to be introverted.

• Spring to summer sneakers under $55. If I could get my hands on those polka-dotted Madewells, I'd live in them everyday.

• Condiments made with real food - do they exist?.

• What a tidy way to hold hair elastics! Definitely trying this.

• A prettier, cheaper and more eco-friendly alternative to plastic baggies (perfect for bringing your lunch in...or a picnic in the park). 

apartment herb gardening

The taste of fresh herbs, in some cases, is far superior to dried so I often find myself buying bunches of them at the market.  Which is why, at a recent trip to Union Square’s Greenmarket, I picked up some potted parsley, chives and rosemary – three herbs I use often in cooking.

These beauties have survived the first few days at the apartment, in spite of the absent sun and my lack of gardening know-how. So a big ‘hooray!’ is in order.

(Hooray!)

I’ve been doing some heavy googling over here, but surprisingly enough, I haven’t found much information on indoor herb care. So right now, it’s just allowing them to get as much sun as possible, watering a few times a week and an occasional snipping of dried-out ends. But if there’s anything else you think I should be doing or if you know links to helpful sources, feel free to post those down in the comments. Help me keep them alive!

my top four spreads (of the moment)

In no particular order…

1.) Brad’s Organic Peanut Butter – Unlike popular brands like Jif and Skippy, this is made only with peanuts, so it has that true nutty taste I love.  And I’ve just recently discovered how good it is to eat peanut butter right off a spoon.

2.) Trader Joe's Lemon Curd – I haven’t opened the jar yet. For fear of what might happen when I do.

3.) Hero's Raspberry Preserves – Spreads on toast like a dream. And tastes like one too. I like to pair this one up with the aforementioned peanut butter for a quick and tasty breakfast.

4.) Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter (my hands-down favorite!) – Magical. It tastes like buttery, gingersnap-ish, cinnamon-y goodness with the consistency of thick peanut butter and the added texture of finely-ground Speculoos. Like I said, magical.

adventures in weekending: saturday brunch

The year’s first spring brunch al fresco (oh, you know there will be more to come).  We got our usual - French toast  and sugarless coffee for him, something savory with a mimosa for me - and enjoyed a shady spot in the kind of weather you only need to wear a light sweater in. My body and mind were fully at ease. That deep kind of ease where every muscle is almost to the point of surrender and the only thing on your mind is that adorable dog that just passed by that could pass for Lucky's brother.  If it weren’t for the impending rain (and a dirty apartment that desperately needed to be cleaned), I might have stayed glued to that seat all day. It’s just what I needed after a full week of busy, busy days.

friday fillers

• Apparently, I've been wearing bobby pins the wrong way this whole time.

• I just recently acquired a taste for Manhattan Specials (thanks to the bf for getting me into it). Here's 5 things to do with this delicious coffee soda drink.

• Why don't I look this fabulous in a plain gray tee?

• Make sure you're not eating when you read this.

• These dreamy photos are amazing - quality photography.

• Bob's mother passed this stovetop ribs recipe to me and ohmygoodness it was so good.

• A glowing sugar hand scrub and some other nifty uses for lemons.

We'll be getting some much-needed rain over the weekend, so I'm not sure  if that means it's a stay-at-home kind of weekend or go-out-and-brave-the weather kind of weekend. We'll see. Otherwise, have a great one!

weekly meal prep

Planning my meals is probably one of the best habits I’ve picked up. It has saved me money, time and so many headaches. When I do my food shopping, I already have an idea of what and how many ingredients to buy. That means when I come home from a day at the office, I already know what I’m making, how I’m making it and how much time it will take.

To cut down that time, the ingredients have been prepped ahead of time:

The mushrooms have been sliced and put in the fridge for Wednesday’s stir-fry. 

A few cloves of fresh garlic have been minced and stored for Monday’s baked chicken legs.

The eggs have been hard-boiled for salads and quick breakfasts throughout the week. 

It’s small steps like these that have dramatically decreased cooking time, allowing more time for reading, blogging and being lazy (mostly, that last one). I cherish my me time, so as much of it as I can get is perfectly okay with me.

Do you plan ahead or are you more of the spontaneous type? If you’re anything like me, you’ll appreciate the convenience of preparing part of the week’s meals in advance. Again, small steps, but they make a world of difference.

Here are some suggestions:

• grate or shave ½ cup to 1 cup (or more, if you’re feeling particularly strong) of fresh Parmesan and store in refrigerator until ready to sprinkle on dishes.

• peel/slice/chop/julienne the veggies for a weeknight stew and store in airtight bags or containers in the refrigerator or freezer.

• season a soup broth, refrigerate or freeze and reheat when ready to use.

• ready a pesto for quick and healthy pasta. Refrigerate or freeze.

• cook chicken and freeze until ready to use (cooked chicken will stay in the freezer for up to 3 months).

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on the mail

Can we all agree that at a certain point in life, getting the mail just isn't fun anymore?

But this kind? This kind I like. Keep these coming.

 Do you think I have enough subscriptions?

I actually have more than what's pictured. True story.

adventures in weekending: city evenings

A good weekend filled with tons of sweet, fun, surprising and hilarious moments: celebrating my friend Tanya's birthday, dancing like we were back in her dorm to a song we haven't heard in ages, filling up on bakery treats, glorious views of the city from a rooftop, finding out an acquaintance carries hot sauce wherever he goes, thrifting a kimono jacket for $5, sharing Thai-French appetizers with friends, long conversations about butter (for and against) and late late nights. Exhausting, yes. But so very fun.

It felt great to put down my bulky DSLR and put my camera phone to good use. And as you may have noticed, I'm now on Instagram! Username: jillianm55, if you want to follow along ;) I'm kind of addicted.

p.s. For those of you who were curious about how Mac's Russian Red lipstick looked, peep the third row photo!

straight out of a j.crew catalog

Seriously. I can't take how stylish these three are.

Growing up, I always wanted my big sister's wardrobe. But lately, I've been loving the striped tees, colorful socks and the entire sneaker collection of my nephews. Fashionable little fellas, those kids. And just so darn photogenic.

Hope you all have a super weekend! See you on the other side...

eating meat-light

I like the idea behind Meatless Mondays. I'm not a vegetarian by any means, but it doesn't mean I don't like to pretend I am for a few days out of the week. I've gone from eating meat every day to eating it only a few times a week.

The grocery bill is lower. I'm getting more creative when making dinner and in the process, increasing my intake of other healthy foods like vegetables and lentils.  Not only is it better for health, but it doesn’t hurt that it’s safer for the environment too.

Read more information about Meatless Mondays here. You might want to consider registering your blog (or making a pledge), if you’re really interested in the movement.

What's your take on it? Would you try going meatless at least once out of the week or are you a full-on vegetarian/vegan?

i hid the nutella

For a couple of reasons. 

One for my own benefit. If it's out of sight, it will be out of mind. 

Another reason being that Bob can not be trusted around Nutella. He can eat an entire jar in one sitting - and that's not an exaggeration. 

I was hoping to save it for a rainy day. Maybe to be used for a batch of  brownies to share with friends?

So I hid it, so that he wouldn't be tempted. It was for his own good and mine.

But then one night, while I was sleeping, he caved and went on a search and found the jar. When I woke up, I saw this note: