Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Office Space

Like most people who work in an office we can all agree that Office Space was way more hilariously accurate than we can even give it credit for. As I'm writing this now I'm sitting with a very unfashionable headset on in a cube listening to "work arounds" and "regroups" and acronyms that mean nothing outside of these four walls. I'm thankful to be inside from this summer heat wave we're experiencing in NC, but the self tanner that I was forced to apply this morning from lack of sun is permeating. It's only a matter of time until one of my cube mates tells me the smell has set off their allergies (true story). 

As the 30 year mark continues to close in (only 4 months away), I have a nagging feeling that there is nothing natural, sexy or intentional about spending your days locked up at a cube...670F to be specific. If I had to tell my younger self one thing it would be to pay attention to your Myers Briggs! Follow what makes you tick and what really feeds your soul. If I had paid closer attention to what really feeds my personality way back when I probably wouldn't be faced with this meltdown at almost 30. "Meltdown" is clearly intense and dramatic, but I'm trying to refocus my efforts back to being intentional and thoughtful and aligned with why this blog was originally created. This year has been a year of growth and change, and I'm stretching and reaching to finish it out with even more of both.

My conference call has ended, and we've concluded we'll need another regroup... but I'll leave you with this little token.



Friday, July 17, 2015

Friday Wedding Fun

Today marks exactly 3 months until Mr. B and I are only another 24 hours away from sitting on the beaches of St. Lucia... as husband and wife! Since Friday's are usually dedicated to my top 5 favorite things of the week I thought I'd do a wedding edition in honor of being only 3 short months away from the big day. First, let's get this straight though. This isn't my wedding, but lots of my favorite things when I first started planning that I wish someone else would do!

::one::

::two::
 

::three::

::four::

::five::

I literally can't wait to see our true vision come through on Oct 17th.  I'm praying we have a beautiful clear blue sky kinda day that makes people fall in love with the North Carolina coast that time of year.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Treat-Yo-Self

I hope everyone had a fantastic July 4th holiday! Mr. B and I had a low key weekend in the country. Other than the grassroots fireworks show we watched the real highlight was my homemade ice cream!

DRUM ROLL please....

Coffee Buttered Pecan. Enough said. Coffee is by far my favorite flavor, but come pumpkin pickin' time I love a good buttered pecan. From a farm stand. Behold the mash up. It's amazing and you should definitely give it a whirl!

2 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cups sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee (or 1 small box Folgers instant coffee packets)
3 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Melt the butter and add the chopped pecans. Toast them up for 4-5 minutes. Strain any leftover butter and chill the nuts. In a medium bowl, combine milk, sugar and instant coffee. Mix on low speed until sugar is dissolved. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla. Turn the ice cream maker on, pour in mixture, and let mix until thickened about 25 minutes. Add the chopped pecans to the mixture during the last 5 minutes of freezing. Transfer ice cream to airtight container and freeze until you're ready to enjoy!

Next up... Lemon Basil Sherbet


The only picture taken all weekend. Waiting for the fireworks!
until next time...