You're a REAL Catch!!

haha saw this on TheKeyPlay! You're a REAL catch ;) Happy Valentine's Day!

i love:

sissy <3

family <3

best friends <3

traveling, all over the world <3

sienna <3

roomies

pink

sparkles

sequins

facebook

my bed

fleece blankets

airplanes

sun

glitter

frolicking

laughing

singing

dancing, a lot.

focusing on what i love today :) happy valentine's day to you and yours.

CUPID MISSED!

well friends, this is my first year being single in SIX years. i can't tell you how AMAZING that feels. yea yea sure sure, girls like relationships on valentine's day, i understand that. but i also am free and single to fly down to charlotte, nc for the weekend with some of my best girl friends for the 4th annual CUPID MISSED bar crawl: charlotte edition!!

maybe i'll find myself a rich, banking boyf while im there?! a girl can wish.

Valentine's Sparkle!

GAH - how gorgeous are these images from Grey Likes Weddings...visit their site to see more!

Valentine's Day Collage

{click on the picture, then right click and set to desktop background}

all images *via marthastewart.com

Pan-Seared Shrimp & Scallops on Linguine with Tomato-Cream Sauce

Well, this is long overdue. On Valentine's Day weekend, we took some AWESOME friends to my parents beach house (last minute switch from the bay house) to relax, eat good food, and drink great wine!! It was the most fun I've had in a REALLY long time!! We played games NON-stop (If you haven't played Loaded Questions, do yourself a favor and get the board game and some dirty minded friends! you'll be happy you did!) and if we weren't playing games, we were watching random funny movies. We drank the.entire.time. - not the typical weekend, but it was great and I CANT WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!

I posted about what was on the menu, and we pretty much stuck to it! (very unusual for me..)

I had to adapt this recipe a LOT because it was quite a bit too wine-y for my liking - weird because i drink wine like it's water...

first off - i tripled everything since i was cooking for 6....second, i added shrimp....third, i added a hell of a lot more heavy cream (woops)

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup minced shallots - ** i used regular white/yellow onions
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger - ** i used ginger paste
  
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream - ** entire small container
  
• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup chopped seeded plum tomato - **whatever tomato is cheapest...
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups hot cooked linguine
• Cooking spray
• 3/4 pound large sea scallops - ** i used 1.5 lbs
• **add 1lb Jumbo shrimp
  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Chopped cilantro

Preparation

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium skillet; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 5 minutes). Drain mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, reserving liquid; discard solids.

Return wine mixture to skillet. Add cream; cook over medium heat 1 minute. Add butter, stirring until butter melts. Stir in tomato, 2 tablespoons cilantro, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Add linguine; toss well. Cover and keep warm.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Sprinkle scallops with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Arrange scallops in pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Repeat with shrimp. Cook until pinkish-red. Add shrimp&scallops to pasta mixture; toss gently to combine. Garnish with cilantro, if desired

this recipe wasn't the best thing i've ever made, but it was still great!
i also should have made the sauce ahead of time to let the flavors combine, but i was too busy drinking/playing games to remember!

Because I am a forgetful girlfriend

i jazzed up a really pretty photo about three weeks ago for the boy for Valentine's Day - it's cheesy, but cute. Good thing I forgot to print it - or even tell him about it - until today. what a gem of a gf I am!

Happy Valentine's Day, baby, even if it's three days late! :)

Bay House Weekend!

Hi bloggy friends!

this weekend, me and the boyf are headed to my parents' bay house with a few friends!

I seriously can't wait, and I'm SERIOUSLY hoping the roads are plowed...how much would it suck to drive 3 hrs and have to walk a mile with a dog and crapton of groceries? in 3 ft of snow. oh...i don't even want to think about it!

both photos by my papi!!


on the menu this weekend:

Boyf's french toast - it's to die for, i dont know how he does it...i always mess up!
Pasta with Arugula and Tomatoes - from snowmageddon
Pan-Seared Scallops on Linguine with Tomato-Cream Sauce - for valentine's day!
Flank Steak with Chimichurri sauce and my dads Garlic Jasmine rice (omg...so good)

and so many other delicious things! I'll be sure to post new recipes next week, lovlies!

shameless plug, my dad's rental properties! don't bother looking unless you have money to spend! I know I can't afford it!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!!!!!! I hope you all have AMAZING weekends, from what i've read/stalked on your blogs, everyone looks like they have perfect plans :)