Four Things

Four Things I Did 10 Years Ago

1. Start high school.

2. Begin to meet some of the people who would be lifelong friends.

Best Friends Fashionista, Does it All and Swagger

3. Go to the first ever American Idol tour, which just so happened to be my first concert ever.  Late bloomer over here.

4. Broke my first heart.  And it wouldn't be last, what can I say.

Four Things I Did 5 Years Ago

1. Date a really douche-y guy for way too long.

2. Moved out of my parents' house for the first time and into LA County, for the last and only time.

3. Unknowingly went on my last dud of a first date.

4. Quit my job in shopping center marketing, and worked a short internship for a music marketing company.

Four Things I Did Yesterday

1. Opened a lot of very generous and lovely housewarming gifts that we received at our lovely Housewarming Party last Saturday.

One of the only photos of my spread that I worked so hard on - thanks for taking it, BF Fashion!

2. Suffered from a nasty lil hangover - also a parting gift from our Housewarming party.

3. Took our Holiday Card photos - check another thing off the list!

4. Got to have a wonderful breakfast with Twin Oh Yeah and Future Dr. Babies at the best place eva - Original Pancake House! 

Honey Boo Boo

Great taste in Halloween Costumes...

Just another thing me and Mandy have in common.

Adding on to, of course, us both being superb talents in the singing department, married to hotties, curvy and totally hot.

PS Totally made my tutu - proud of myself for that one.

A Lazy Girl's List

I'm over at Today Was a Fairytale today sharing my Lazy Girl's List of Fall Favorites - do me a favor and go check it out, yeah?  Tell Kelly that Casey sent you!

PS a little birdie told me there's a pretty sweet giveaway going on over there today, too!

The Ghost of Halloweens Past

Every year, it is so fun to look back on past years of costumes, no? 

 

Enjoy the good, the bad, and the downright ugly from my Halloweens past.

 

Dressed up as ...eccentric high school girls? at a Fall Out Boy concert in 2005.

Oh, and I broke my rib this night.

Being myself (a Ruby's waitress, at the time) for Halloween.

Hosting a party for Halloween, just two months after Handsome Hubs and I started dating.

We headed to Downtown San Diego for Halloween in 2009.

I was Hermoine and my ginger HH was Ron Weasley.

Had to show off our friends' Farmville costumes - the game was so popular that year, and Cute Apartment's super cute Eve costume.

Pub Crawl is a little bit of an exaggeration, as we bought tickets to a pub crawl that we never actually got to go on, thanks to a misunderstanding of sorts.

Our costumes were pretty popular though - Blue and Steve from Blue's Clues.

In 2007, I truly cannot remember what I did.  Being that I was a sophomore in college, the reason I can't remember probably has a little something to do with booze.

 

In 2010, my sweet HH and I were Fred and Wilma Flinstone and HH's costume was so darn cute.  How I managed to not get photos is not only depressing but a total disgrace to a photo obsessed gal like myself!

Quotable Tuesdays

Adios, October

In October...

 

We made our first ever mortgage payment!  A sad day for our bank account, but a satisfying feeling all the same!

 

Aunt Fancy Chef and Uncle Lighting came over and treated us to two fun surprises: dinner out and a super generous housewarming gift of some new lighting fixtures for our new home!

 

Ms. Art Teacher and I had a long overdue gab session, for which she supplied the sweetest little minuature champagne bottles.

 

So dang cute.

 

We unloaded some of our junk, that just so happened to be other people's treasures, at a garage sale lovingly hosted by Grandma Beach Bum aka Garage Sale Expert.

 

Family poker night rolled around again and this time I made a disgrace of myself, finding myself first out - but luckily Handsome Hubs grabbed second place!

 

I had a double twin day when I was lucky enough to have lunch with Twin Beauty School (now a graduate of Beauty School, bee-tee-dubs) and dinner with Twin Unicorn!

 

I got to spend a few hours with Lil C when his mom and daddy-o headed out for date night.  We even ventured out to Michaels for some supplies - mama practice, I tell ya.

 

Lots and lots of house projects were worked on - photos, recaps and before and afters coming very soon!

 

Handsome Husband and I got to spend some time with our San Diego buddies when we went down for his Alma Mater's Alumni Weekend for Athletes.  It was so much fun to watch HH play with his old teammates again!

 

Gardening Momma and I trekked it out to Highland for a Halloween party my cousin and her family throws every year, and judging by the amount of fun we had this year, I'd say we'll be back next year!

 

And on Wednesday, for our very first Halloween (or holiday, in general!) in our new home, the plan is to sit on our patio and hand out candy to the many many adorable kids that surround us in our neighborhood (is it hot in here, or is that just my baby fever?).

 

And clearly, by the looks of this post, I did not take nearly enough photos!



Cooking with Casey: Beef and Noodle Stir Fry

I'm pretty proud of myself for this one, guys.

 

I took a recipe, didn't have/couldn't find some things listed in it, and turned it into my own thing!  When I explained that the Handsome Husband, his response was "What are you, a cook, or something?" - my husband, he's just got a way with words.

 

You can see the original recipe by the one and only Pioneer Woman HERE.  Below is the recipe I used, including all my changes.

 

Beef and Noodle Stir Fry

Serves 4

 

I got way too much joy out of setting up this photo.

 

1 1/2 lb Flank Steak

1/2 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce

4 Tbsp White Wine (I used Pinot Grigio, an uuber cheap bottle)

2 Tbsp Packed Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Cornstarch

Garlic Powder

2 Tsp Chili Sauce

Canola Oil

1 Medium Sweet Onion (I prefer sweet onions, so I always use them)

2 Red Peppers

1 Tbsp Diced Jalapeno (I used a can, sister don't dice jalapenos in this house)

Anthony's Cut Fideo Pasta

 

Start by putting together your marinade/sauce that you will soak flank steak in by combining in a medium bowl: soy sauce, white wine, brown sugar, cornstarch, garlic powder (the original recipe calls for garlic cloves, but I am both lazy and cluless, so I simply use garlic powder and on this occasion, I probably used about a teaspoon?) and chili sauce.  Set aside.

 

Thinly slice flank steak.  I cut mine in half lengthwise, and then sliced, so my pieces were not too long.

 

 

Place flank steak slices in sauce and toss to coat.  Leave steak slices in sauce and set aside.

 

Dice onion (I prefer very small pieces, but if you like slices, that would work great too!), and slice red pepper into small rings/slices.

 

Heat about a tbsp of canola oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Once hot, add onions and sautee for about a minute and a half.  Remove onions and put in medium bowl.

 

Return skillet to flame, and allow to get hot again.  Add pepper slices/rings and cook for about two minutes - until peppers have some black and brown but are still firm.  Remove peppers and put on top of onions in medium bowl.

 

Return skillet to heat and add another tbsp of canola oil.  Allow to get hot again and, using tongs, add a chunk (you're welcome for the technical lingo) of the steak from the sauce.  Spread the slices of steak out in the pan and sear on each side for 20-30 seconds.  After both sides have been cooked, put on top of peppers and onions in medium bowl.  Continue until all meat has been browned.

 

Now would be a good time to put your water for noodles on to boil. 

 

Lower heat for skillet to low, and add back your bowl full of meat, peppers and onions.  Top with leftover marinade that steak was soaking in.  Let simmer while the liquid thickens.

 

 

Once water is boiling for noodles, add noodles and cook per package instructions.  (I used about 3/4 of the package, because I am a huge noodles fan, you could use less.)  Once noodles are done cooking and drained, add to stir fry mixture in skillet.  Mix to warm everything up one last time, and you're done!

 

 





Things Thursday: Things I'd Like to be in Another Life

1. A starfish, so I'll always be a star!

2. The President - we know that's not happening in this life.

3. A dude.  Although in actually, I'd like to be a dude for all of 15 minutes, y'all are gross.

4. A wedding planner, just like JLo.

5. A kitten, but only a housecat - this girl don't wanna catch her own food or sleep outside in the cold!

6. Miranda Lambert.  Love her.  Though I'd go by Miranda Lambert-Shelton, but that's just me.

7. An artist - I can barely draw a straight line as it is.

8. A goat, but only if I could be this guy:

 

9. A high powered bossy pants business lady.  Who wears Louboutins .

 

10. A butterfly.

 

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Road Trips

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The thing about road trips is that in theory, they sound so cool.  Getting to make your own schedule, no stuffy plane to be stuck on, unlimited stops to check out cool sightings of the road.

 

But then there's reality.  A car seat that no matter what contorted position you're in, you're uncomfortable and need to switch every 15 minutes.  It's always either too hot or too cold in the car.  All you want to eat is junk, and then all you do is feel sick to your stomach.  Never a bathroom in sight when the urge hits.

 

Road trips blow.

 

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I am a great road trip partner.

 

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And by great, I mean if you look for the following in a road trip companion:

 

Someone who sleeps longer you think is humanly possible

 

Someone who has perfected complaining as if it is an artform

 

Someone who is always either too hot or too cold

 

Someone who refuses to drive, but has a lot to say about your driving

 

Someone who most always leaves something at home, and 50% of the time needs to go back and get it

 

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Any takers?

Quotable Tuesdays