Keeping Up With Current Events

If you HATE knowing what's going on in the world, you HATE laughing and/or you HATE saving time, then please stop reading this post.

If you wish you knew more about what was happening with oil prices, Congress' latest decisions, hostage situations, world health crisis, war, diplomatic discussions and so on, then I have a treat for you.

It's called the Skimm. Every morning (before I wake up), there's an email delivered with 1-2 paragraphs on 5-7 current events happening in the world. Today, they discusses the drop of the value of Russian money, a Taliban gunman attack in Pakistan, the latest on the Sony email leak & so on.

What you WON'T get is additional emails throughout the day or over the weekend (aka, SPAM) like other newsletter emails. It's the best.

an example of today's edition of the Skimm.

Knowing I can go to Italy for 10 days and either keep up by reading 1 email or catching up when I get back in 15 minutes or less, it's a great feeling!

Seriously - if you travel often, have a demanding job, demanding kids, demanding social life, demanding family, or you're just SICK of weeding through the crap to get the facts on recent stories - the Skimm is for you. It's free, zero BS, and extremely clever. Men, women, college kids, SAHM's, powerful executives, bloggers, musicians... this is for you.

I get nothing when you sign up for the Skimm, other than the satisfaction of knowing another friend is enjoying it as much as I am :) Sign up HERE if you're interested! 

Happy Skimm Day!

Do you read the Skimm? Are there other newsletters you subscribe to in order to keep up with current events? Comment below!

xo

Perfecting the Multi-Way Flight

I'm always looking for the best travel deal. In the last year, my new favorite way to maximize time, locations and save money is to check into multi-way flights. It's especially helpful if you're flying into one airport and flying out of another.

This is easily done on Expedia or your travel search of choice, then you purchase through the airline listed.

Here's an example. I picked random dates and random cities, but just wanted to show the possibilities.

Let's pretend you need to go to New York and Chicago on back to back weekends.

$336, not that bad. And I didn't change any dates to see if there was a more affordable option, perhaps staying an extra day in one or the other. This has you staying in Chicago until you need to go to New York.

Now, if you booked this same trip on two different flights, you're looking at over $100 price increase per person.

Now like I said, this might be a strange example. But let's say you're flying into one airport and out of another. i.e., Flying into Seattle and taking the train to Portland. Or seeing all of your family over one holiday weekend! Let's try another. 

My husband's family lives in North Dakota and vacations in Montana, a 9 hour drive away. My family lives in Florida, and usually stays in Florida ;) But for fun, let's say we were doing Disney with my family. We'd want to fly into the vacation destinations, but then drive back with our parents for a day or two at home. 

If we fly to North Dakota, we would have to drive nearly 20 hours round trip to fit Montana in. Alternatively, we fly into one and out of the other. Same with Disney, 3 hours from my parent's house. Let's see them separate. 

Ouch. Over $900 per person, plus 1 million hours in the car. Let's see the multi-way:

The multi way in this case saves you time and money. $100 per person, and cuts your driving time in half. 

This is similar to a trip we recently took. We went to Mexico to celebrate our anniversary, but wanted to meet up with Matt's family to go snowboarding, and then drive back to his hometown for a few days with extended family. 

Since Ixtapa is remote, flights are usually around $600/person. Bismarck and Bozeman, remote in their own ways (i.e., only like two airlines fly there), are also very expensive. Typically in the $400-500 range. Needless to say, we budget for flights around here! Unfortunately, $1,000/person for Thanksgiving was not in the cards. We were able to find a multi-way ticket for just a bit more than the price of going to one of the places. So we booked it! And packed everything in a carry on. More on that later!

Give it a try. If you search your destinations and aren't seeing much savings, switch your days +/- 1 and see what happens. When we did our Mexico/Arctic Tundra tour, the magic combo of days was amazingly affordable - but move it one day in either direction, we would have paid over $2,000 per person. So check out your options!

The multi-way ticket can make your next trip go smoothly. You cut down on fly time, save money, and travel more than you paid for! 

Have you ever used a multi-way ticket? Good results?

xo

Lentil Veggie Burgers

For those of you who don't know, I've been a vegetarian for almost 7 years. At the beginning, I was asked almost daily what I ate if I didn't eat meat! The answer is - everything that you do.... except chicken, pork, turkey and beef.

And truthfully, I don't miss it one. bit.

When I married a carnivore, I thought this might pose a problem! I have no problem cooking meat, but i thought it was kind of silly to cook two different dinners every night. Luckily, Matt enjoys all of my vegetarian cooking, and I try new recipes all the time!

One product i'm a huge fan of is lentils. Specifically, pre-cooked lentils from Trader Joe's. They're $2, rather than $1 for a bag, but soaking/cooking beans takes FOREVER and I just don't have the patience, considering I'm usually making up dinner when i'm already starving. Totally worth the convenience.

Anyway, i've found quite a few lentil recipes that I love. We joined a Winter CSA and have pounds and pounds of potatoes - regular and sweet. I'll be sure to include some of these recipes, too, as i'm sure i'm not alone on the potato overload! We wanted to make home-made fries, and i thought that 'burgers' would go really well with them!

I made black bean burgers from scratch once before, and it was extremely time consuming because i was mashing them by hand. I've since invested in a little food processor and it has completely changed cooking for me.

These lentil burgers took almost no time and were delicious!

Lentil Burgers
prep: 10min cooking 10-20min
Makes 8-10


Ingredients:
1 pack Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils (2.5 cups)
4 eggs
1/2 onion (you can add more or less if you like - but some is necessary for texture)
sea salt
garlic powder
cracked black pepper

1 cup oat flour (or alternatively, breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup grape seed oil (or other high heat oil)

1 - put lentils, a few shakes of salt, pepper, garlic, chopped onion and eggs in food processor. Blend until it's the texture of chunky humus. You don't need to make it perfectly smooth, you want it still a bit watery.

2 - pour into bowl, add oat flour/breadcrumbs and mix in. allow a couple of minutes for it to thicken. **remember, you want moisture. so if it looks a little dry, you can add another egg or 1/4 cup of water**

3 - while your mix is setting, put a large, flat pan on medium-low and add your oil.

4 - make patties (size of the rim of a coffee cup) and put in the oil. cover, and let sit for 7-8 minutes while it browns. flip to other side, brown for 7-8 minutes. allow a few extra minutes if necessary.

5 - remove from oil and allow to sit for a minute, but serve hot!

If you're trying to sneak in extra veggies for your kids (or yourself!) you can saute some spinach and add to your food processed mess! You'll never know it's there, but the vitamins will sneak into your body :)

I was too hungry to take a photo of them all decked out with the fries (dang it!) but i served mine with spicy brown mustard, lettuce and tomato. YUM.

Does anyone else have a good veggie burger recipe to share?
xo

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Chicago

This is the first Wanderlust Wednesday i've done in MONTHS - or should I say, one full year? That's awful.

Regardless, this week's post comes to you while i'm still IN Chicago, and is ABOUT Chicago. See what I did there?

My best friend moved here in August 2009, and I've been here minimum 1x per year since. However, the great thing about Chicago is that it's HUGE and there is always more stuff for us to do! Not to mention my annual trip is scheduled for Halloween...

Halloween 2009 - Swine Flu

Halloween 2010 - Peter Pan and a Trophy Wife

Halloween 2011 - Kate and Pippa Middleton

Halloween 2011 (Party #2) - Teen Girl Squad!

As you can see, we like to have fun with the halloween costumes. Stay tuned for 2012 costumes (as they are already in the works!)

But every time I come to Chicago, I see/do/eat at somewhere new that makes me like it a little more.

This time, we focused a lot on eating our way around Chicago (the best way to do it, in my opinion). We also walked a lot (great weather), went to Lake Michigan (the beach... as hard as it is for me to say that!) and shopped. 

But here are three stand out places to eat:

1 - Jam (Blue Line - Logan Square stop)

This breakfast/brunch place is very different in the selections they use. For example, the waffle of the day was served with boiled chicken on top (they said it was their version of "chicken and waffles"). We enjoyed an egg sandwich with pork shoulder (i removed the pork shoulder, of course) and zuchinni bread pancakes with a toasted marshmellow on top. I'm sad to say that i don't have any photos from the restaurant, but i found one from their website 

Yum.

2 - Letizia's Fiore (Blue Line - California stop)

This restaurant was originally opened in Wicker Park by Letizia, an adorable Italian woman who hand makes everything in the restaurant. We had already eaten dinner, but we went there for Wine and Tiramisu - delicious. I hope to go back here sometime for dinner, because everything on the menu sounded incredible. And the ambiance of the patio with a glass of wine, tiramisu and girl talk was perfection. Also, we were at the Logan Square location

3 - Chicago Diner (Brown Line - Belmont stop)

We picked this resturant because it was vegetarian - and I wanted the option of eating anything i wanted on the menu :) What we didn't know was how amazing it was going to be! We enjoyed Avacado Tostadas and Sweet Potato Quesadillas. Their slogan is "Meat Free since '83", but they are not vegan. They have many options for cheese for all of you dairy lovers out there, but you can easily avoid if that's what you're going for.

In the non food department, I had been told by a friend that the Chicago Cultural Center was worth going to - and FREE. It was absolutely gorgeous and full of different exhibits and rooms to explore. When i arrived, there was a man playing a piano concerto he had composed. He was playing it in this room

the Tiffany Glass Co. ceiling 

the view of the room (see the piano?) when you walk up the grand staircase

there were other gorgeous rooms, full of mosaic tile walls and ornate sculpted moldings and elaborate glass windows and ceilings everywhere. it was such a pretty building, and reminded me a lot of old libraries or cathedrals in Europe. Ok, one more room.

Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall Rotunda - so gorgeous

I am totally taken with this building and the experience, I cannot wait to go again. It's free all the time and updates its exhibits all the time. Located downtown on the corner of Michigan Ave/Washington Ave - right across the street from Millennium Park.

Another great thing to stop by on the weekends is the Logan Square Farmer's Market. It runs all year long (outside June - October, inside Nov - May) and there are tons of local farmers, cheese makers, florists, home made soaps/candles, etc! Plenty to see, do, and taste. It runs every Sunday morning from 10am-2pm. (Located in Logan Square)

There are obviously tons of different things to do in Chicago, but these are just a few highlights from THIS trip. I'd highly suggest all of these places!

And i'd definitely suggest Chicago if you've never been. Lots of culture, and always something to do in lots of different neighborhoods!

xo

All The Rage: Oregon's Uniforms

This might be the most unconventional fashion blog post of all time. And i know this is totally a girly take on football.... but i swear, i love the game! This just cannot be ignored.

I'm not from Oregon. I've never been to Oregon (although, i'd love to!) - but i am seriously contemplating taking the University of Oregon as my favorite College Football team..... completely based on their uniforms.

Check it out.

These are just a few of their uniforms.

They first really caught my eye in September when the played the first game of the season in these:

The neon on black is SICK. I know their colors are traditionally green and yellow, but this was an amazing twist. Needless to say it was love at first sight.... and i've been keeping my eye on the Ducks for more awesome designs by Nike.

Yellow and grey. L O V E I T.

This might be my favorite one. It's easily done, since yellow and grey are two of my favorite colors :) The wings on the shoulders look awesome in this one. I didn't see this game against Missouri State, but i've obviously been keeping up with the Ducks on the fashion front.

The white with just a little silver and yellow? Awesome.

And finally, last night. Pretty much sealed the deal for best uniforms ever.

24 just so happens to be my favorite number.

The helmets are so sick!!! Nothing else out there like them.

Aaaaand that was for the win.

I couldn't find any pictures of the back, but the players names were very subtly on the back of the jerseys. Just making them that much more awesome.

One of the guys i was watching the game with said "You've only commented on their uniforms.... i don't think you've paid attention to a single play - you're too distracted by the colors" 

it was 100% true.

Needless to say, my new favorite team is ranked #9, and has a 5-1 record. And their only loss is to #1 LSU. So.... i'd say that's a pretty good season so far. 

Not to mention..... they look good. Thank you Nike..... QUACK QUACK!!!

(i've gotta read up on what the fans say)

Color Prediction

It dawned on me that i have a new color combo that i love - pink and grey. More specifically, Honeysuckle and Cool Gray (via Pantone).

If done properly, it's GORGEOUS together. If done inproperly, it looks like goth punk argyle from 2002. So be advised :) The pink can't be TOO bright (if this borders on an orangy pink, don't do it!).

But go figure, the color of the year catches my eye once again, and is teamed up with my old friend, slate grey. 

I had this revelation in jCrew today. and i've been thinking about it all evening. 

Before i was looking at my handy dandy Pantone color chart, i was calling this combo slate and salmon - close enough? 

some other great complimentary colors! i've also been digging honeysuckle and that royal blue. so pretty!

I'm not promising this will be the same amazing trend that mustard yellow, dark purple, and grey were in my life (and the lives of many others), but i will say that i'm pretty set on getting some of this combo in my life ASAP. So if it gets really popular, you heard it here first.

All the Rage: Shellac

"i swear, the manicure last for 14 days"

.....

you understand my eye roll when i first heard that.

Maybe for a normal person. One who doesn't bite their nails. I don't get a lot of manicures, because i hate my nails! But i finally did it - stopped biting for an entire month. and grew my nails out long enough to be shellacked.

Hello, Shellac.

They don't have all the colors yet, but they are well on their way. So far, it looks and felt like a normal manicure, but one where each coat was sealed with the UV lamp. I chose "Rock Royalty" - a pretty pretty purple (i love purple).

T- 14 days until i find out if this is all the hype is true!