Gevalia Makes Friends

This weekend, we had the pleasure of hosting Mother-in-Law Red and her fiance, Mr. Bear, over to our home for some yummy coffee, french toast bake, and a yogurt bar!  Obviously this was paired with fabulous conversation!

We were lucky enough to get to try some yummy Gevalia coffee for the first time, and it was a hit at our house!  Mr. Bear isn't a coffee drinker, but everyone else was raving about the yummy coffee!  HH, who prefers a flavored coffee, drank it black and said it was great!

This was the first time I've put together a yogurt bar, and I guarantee if you're coming to my house for breakfast or brunch in the future, you'll see one there.  I had vanilla and strawberry yogurt; and strawberries, blueberries, bananas and granola as toppings.

I made a new recipe for our breakfast get together, which turned out fantastic!  We were too busy scarfing it down to remember to take a picture, but you can find the recipe HERE.  Take my advice, and make it ASAP!

I love hosting people in my home.  It was one of the things I most looked forward to during our Home Buying journey, and I am happy to say that nearly a year later, we have made a lot of memories here in our home.  I can't wait to continue having friends and family in our home over the years, and continuing to make more memories with them.

After our lovely breakfast and some catching up, we headed to our next fun event of the day - we went to the beach to take some pretty photos of MIL Red and fiance, Mr. Bear!  Their wedding is coming before we know it - less than a year, now!  We took some photos to remember this special time in any couple's life, and they might just get some use of them for wedding stationary!  HH was a lovely helper, holding my camera bag and MIL's purse, and even doing some sand-sketching for some creative photos!  I'll let MIL decide when she wants to share these photos (spoiler alert: they turned out so cute!), but here is a picture of my very helpful and Handsome Husband!

All in all, a very successful and joyful Saturday!  

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Fresh & Easy Date Night In

I was so excited to head to Fresh & Easy to plan my date night in with mu Handsome Husband!  I had actually never shopped at the good old Fresh & Easy, and it far surpassed my expectations!  I actually headed to an express store, which I don't think they all are.  I was a little dissapointed at first thinking I wouldn't get the full neighborhood market experience, but if this is just the express?  I can't imagine how awesome the full stores must be!  There was such a wide selection, and it was so fun to pick what to make our date night in menu consist of!     

 

I had to pick up with darling I love California wine.  1. Because I do love CA, and 2...

 

...how cute is the little heart on the top of the bottle?  Adorbs.

Had to whip up one of my "signature" salads to serve with the fresh&easy organic balsamic vinaigrette.  My signature salad consists of: chopped lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, Mexican cheese blend, and whatever else happens to be in my fridge/pantry at the time!

 

Gotta be honest, we don't usually have such elaborate dinners (unless you count eating on the couch while watching Mad Men elaborate), but it was so fun to get a little fancy with our Fresh & Easy meal!  Totally makes me want to put together a nice meal for the two of us more often!

 

The above vegetables were the most impressive thing I picked up at Fresh&Easy.  They came all seasoned and prepped and in little foil pouches that you could put directly on the grill!  The coolest, right?!  I see these no-prep veggies coming to my house quite often in the future.

 

I am so glad I got the chance to try out Fresh & Easy, and even more thrilled with the fact that is inspired me to put on a little romance at the Stress Case household.  We will definitely be having more date nights in, and we will be heading to Fresh & Easy to supply the goodies for them, too!



I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Happy Homeownership

Many of you know about our Hunt to Homeownership if you've been a Stress Case reader for a while.  It was a long battle, and there were many many times that I thought we would not be winning the war.  But alas, we did and we are now homeowners!  And that is something that makes me very proud!

It is rare to be a 25-year-old (and we were 24 when we closed escrow, and 23 when we put in our offer, for the record) homeowner in Southern California, especially in the beautiful and expensive Orange County.  If you would have asked me five years ago if I thought I would own a condo in this beautiful county by this age, my answer would have been how?  Because prices, even during a down market, are high in this area.  So high that it sort of makes you question your decision to settle here.  I mean, when you hear about people owning four-bedroom homes in other states for half of what you paid for your 2-bedroom condo?  It can be jarring.

So, why then?  Why buy in Orange County?  What is the best part of owning a home in Ladera Ranch, California?

Source

First things first, the sense of pride in ownership is a feeling I've never felt before.  The sense of accomplishment that not only did I manage to buy a home before I turned 25, but I did it in one of the most expensive counties in the country?  Feels good.  Feels empowering.  Did I do it alone?  Heck no.  But I did it!  We did it - a "we" that includes my Handsome Husband; my parents, without whom we would never have been able to save the money that we used for our down payment; our real estate agent, who dealt with a whole lot of crazy over the six months we waited for our escrow to open and close; and the real estate market, which allowed for us to even entertain the thought of buying property.

Secondly, I will always stand by that Orange County is the best place in the world to start and raise a family, to grow up, and to live.  It's beautiful, it's safe (Mission Viejo, which neighbors our town, Ladera Ranch, has been named safest city in the world more than once), and I personally believe it values families and children in a very special way. 

It's the little things - the way our town meticulously keeps the flowers that line the streets perfectly in bloom.  The way there is always something going over on the Town Green (I mean, the fact that we have a Town Green is adorable as it is).  It's the sunshine that comes out nearly every day of the year, and the endless options of what to do in the sunshine.  These are just some of the reasons I love owning a home here.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.