NaNoWriMo 2013

Is anyone else gearing up for National Novel Writing Month? For the past few years I have been telling myself, "Oh, I will definitely sign up for that next November." Mhmm. I am pleased to say that I have finally made an account and plan on trying the 50,000 word challenge starting this Friday! I am toying with a few potential story ideas and am interested to see which one I will run with. Wish me luck. : ) Hopefully, having to write a consistent amount each day will help me break down my deeply entrenched habit of procrastination.

Sarah

Back from Vacation and Wedding Celebrations

What a wonderful time we had in Alabama! My husband and I were married in D.C. at the end of August and went home for fall break to celebrate with our families and friends. The two receptions were much more enjoyable for us than a large, blowout wedding would have been. Since our families live in the same state but several hours away, we used our extended vacation to have a party and some quality family time at each end of the state. This eliminated a long drive time for most of our guests and gave both sides of the family a chance to enjoy a party without worrying about hosting. I am busy filling out a stack of thank you cards now; my kitchen is full of wonderful new gadgets!

My suggestions for other brides:

• At your wedding reception have someone prepare a box of food for you and stash it for later. You probably won't have time to eat until everyone goes home. 
• If you don't want to spend a ton of money on your wedding dress, get creative. Look at stores that aren't specifically wedding stores. I found my dress at Macy's for under $200.
• Order invitations online to cut costs, and look/wait for sales before you purchase. I saw a link on Facebook at the last minute and saved 70% on the cost of my invitations. They turned out beautifully.
• Stay away from Pinterest. Unless you have an endless wedding budget, all those gorgeous pictures are filling your head with unnecessary ideas. Your wedding day will be special no matter what your cake toppers and decorations look like. The important things cannot be bought or made or bedazzled. 

I might add on to this list later, but the best thing we did was elope. That made the day truly our own and we didn't have to worry about anything else.

MIA- Food Posts

I will be back to blogging on a regular basis soon. My husband and I are on a 10 day vacation to celebrate our marriage with family and friends back home.In the meantime, here are two great recipes I've been making lately.

Parmesan & Spinach Orzo: a great side!

Thai Drunken Noodles: super spicy

Enjoy!

Sarah

Weekly Meal Planning

This is a short post to share my weekly meal planning method with you in case your kitchen or fridge needs more organization.

On Saturday or Sunday I sit down with my sweetie and discuss food for the upcoming week since the weekend is the best time for us to go shopping. I scroll through Pinterest, flip through cookbooks, and rack my brain for tasty recipes that are healthy and/or easy to prepare and am aided by some helpful input from my husband. We then order our dinners according to who will be home what evenings and can cook what. The most important part of this plan is that we stick with the schedule once it is set in place. There is usually a built in day for leftovers, so if changes arise, we can push things up or back a day, but overall we make everything we plan to cook that week.

This has worked really well for our schedules and has helped us use all the fresh food we buy. I hate throwing away food because I forgot about it or never got around to making anything with it. The index card on the fridge helps keep us organized and well-fed. At the end of the week, I take it down and replace it with a new menu card. I have a designated drawer where I am stashing all the old note cards, so we can review those for recipes we enjoyed and would like to make again.

Let me know your meal-planning strategies!

Sarah

Scarf 101 (Crochet)

I finally started work on a scarf. Over the past few months, I have mastered crocheted potholders and dishtowels but have been hesitant to graduate to scarves. Through ravelry (an online community for knitters and crocheters) I found the easiest pattern possible and have begun my preparations for fall!

I love these colors, and this yarn is so soft.

This scarf is a little different because you chain stitch the length of the scarf and add on rows to create width instead of the other way around where you build on length. For some reason I found this concept less frightening. Another plus about this pattern is you really don't have to count/measure stitches. I made an incredibly long chain stitch and began counting to see if I had reached my 120 stitch mark. When I got to 40, I said screw it. I carefully examined my strand of yarn and decided it was scarf length, so I turned it around and began single crocheting in each stitch. In this pattern you can build on tassels/fringe while you crochet, but I decided to add those at the end. I am taking the most lackadaisical approach to this scarf as possible to trick my brain into completing this project. Follow-through is my biggest craft obstacle to overcome, but I am working at it. :)

Here is my progress so far: