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| first kiss!!!! |
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| friends since high school :) love them so much! |
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| our favors! love it! |
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| the first dance! matt is SO happy, i love it! |
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| beautiful bride, sarah!! |
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| dance par-tayyyy! |
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
memorial day weekend - matt and sarah's wedding!!
memorial day weekend - bethany/dewey/oceancity
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| sunglasses at night - always |
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| no, no, no, nicos! |
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| love these guys |
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| teach me how to deweyyy |
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| seacrets, USA was packed to the BRIM |
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| me and sissy before the neighborhood cocktail party |
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| me and momma before the neighborhood cocktail party |
all in all it was a great beach weekend! got to see lots of friends, go to the bars, and hang out with my family!
hope you guys had a fun and safe weekend as well!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
we had a dog birthday party!
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| sienna looooves her birthday cake!!! |
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| gimmedat! |
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| craaaazaayyy dog party! |
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| "why is this dog so small??" |
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| new addition to kelly's fam! Rosie Posieeeeee! |
well, friends, it doesn't get much crazier than that. i am officially going to be single forever.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Pesto Baked Chicken
Baked Pesto Chicken
{from kayln's kitchen}
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chickenn breasts
salt and fresh ground black pepper for seasoning chicken
1/2 cup basil pesto (I used my homemade Basil Pesto with Lemon, but you can use purchased pesto.)
2 oz. (1/2 cup) grated low-fat mozzarella cheese
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375F. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken pieces, then cut each chicken breast lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces. (I cut the larger ones into 3 strips and the smaller ones into 2 strips.)
Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/4 cup basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips over the pesto, then spread 1/4 cup more basil pesto over the chicken.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil (or use a baking dish with a tight-fitting lid) and bake the chicken for 25-30 (**i did 20 because my chicken was cut a bit thinner) minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. (Don't cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.)
When chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and sprinkle chicken with 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 minutes more, just until cheese is melted. (If your broiler is separate from the oven, start preheating it when you take the chicken out.) After I melted the cheese for 5 minutes I switched my oven to broil and broiled for 5 minutes more, just long enough to get the cheese lightly browned.
Serve hot. There will be some flavorful juice in the bottom of the dish when this is done, so you may want to serve with rice, couscous, or quinoa to soak up the juice, but if you're eating this for phase one, just spoon the juice over the chicken.
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| ready for the oven - bake at 375 for 20-25 (depending on how thin/thick you cut the chicken strips) |
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| ready for the oven part 2 - broil on high for 5 mins. |
the flavor was so intense and the chicken was cooked perfectly! i cant wait to make this again! next time, i think i'll make my own pesto - my dad has the best recipe that i have yet to make on my own!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Chickpea and Sweet Pepper Arugula Salad
i've made this before without my own pictures, wanted to post again because i modified the recipe!
this recipe is from Picky Palate, and once again, i highly recommend it!
i modified it slightly by adding a handful of chopped hot cherry peppers (jarred). they added a perfect kick that didn't distract from any of the elements of the salad. i also cut the olive oil down a lot and used more lemon juice instead.
this recipe is from Picky Palate, and once again, i highly recommend it!
i modified it slightly by adding a handful of chopped hot cherry peppers (jarred). they added a perfect kick that didn't distract from any of the elements of the salad. i also cut the olive oil down a lot and used more lemon juice instead.
HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY SIENNA!!!!!
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| "mom, i need to lose weight" |
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| tired pup after a long walk! |
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| no gray hairs yet! |
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| my little angel baby! |
happy birthday to my 3 year old puppydog, sienna!!!
i love you times a million despite how much trouble you cause me.
3=21 in dog years...she is gonna get SO DRUNK tonight on her bar crawl! (just kidding of course)
post from last year!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Recipes I've made recently!...
...that i forgot to take pics of...
Cilantro Chicken Salad from Gina's Skinny Recipes
Couscous Summer Salad tossed in lime vinaigrette from Simply Scratch
two extremely fresh, delicious spring/summer options! the chicken salad was amazing over arugula with diced tomatoes. the summer salad was just amazing. so fresh and the lime gave it the perfect amount of citrus twist.
highly suggest you make these!
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| thats my ugly attempt at a picture. this is the salad, with shredded chicken added, over Israeli couscous |
two extremely fresh, delicious spring/summer options! the chicken salad was amazing over arugula with diced tomatoes. the summer salad was just amazing. so fresh and the lime gave it the perfect amount of citrus twist.
highly suggest you make these!
Congrats Sis!
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| George Washington University Graduate Degree Graduation - May 13, 2011 |
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| Sis - right before she walks across the stage!!!!!!! sooo happy for her! |
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| fam at Filomena's in Georgetown for dinner after Graduation!! |
love you!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Welcome to the Jungle
...when you live with all girls, general yard upkeep is just not happening. i tried to mow the lawn (for the first time ever!) yesterday, but the lawnmower started smoking and leaking oil and gas everywhere. such is life. im hiring someone from now on...
...for those who know me...can you believe i ACTUALLY even attempted it? weird, eh? turning a new leaf. not.
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes!
Strawberries were buy one get one at Safeway the other day, soooo i knew that i had to buy them. i then realized that i never really eat strawberries. so here i am with two entire containers, and nothing to do with them. ding!ding! strawberry + cupcakes = heaven?
...and here you have it. deliciously moist cake with chunks of strawberry, with a cream cheese frosting that makes the cupcake taste like a milkshake. im not even joking, peeps, its like a milkshake in cake form. it's not even fair. sooooo outta this world good.
Yield: 34 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¼ cups sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white
1 cup milk
2½ cups finely chopped fresh strawberries*
½ c. strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature (i used fat free. prob not the best idea. prettyyyy goopy)
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted
½ tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla
For garnish:
Additional fresh strawberries*
Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and egg white one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternating with the milk, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a spatula.
Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling each about ¾-full. Bake until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Allow to cool in the pans a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting, puree strawberries in food processor. Strain through a mesh sieve to remove seeds, and set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla and strawberry puree. Adjust the amount of puree to achieve your desired consistency. Frost cupcakes when completely cool.
ENJOY!!!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Happy May!
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| {find it here at mimi+meg} |
salsa month? yes PLEASE.
ALSO - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF MY BESTEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD! Christy, i loooooveeee you! :)