Denver bound...

I'm currently wheels up heading to Denver for a much needed vacation. A couple friends of mine have a conference in the city and Ray and I decided to tag along. I will completely admit that I am a tourist.  I love exploring a new city and all of the adventures and food that go along with it.  I was hoping to share some great packing ideas with you, but I think I'm a better example of how not to pack. Either way, my 10 outfits and I are on our way and I can't wait to share what we get into with you! 

Home sweet home

I moved into a duplex just before thanksgiving.  I saw how spacious and adorable the place was and couldn’t wait to move right in.  I spent the first month or two getting moved in and putting up a Christmas tree,  another month or two, taking the Christmas tree down, dealing with a leaky roof and a busted pipe, and the ridiculously cold temperatures.  The past month I’ve finally been settling in.  I consider this different from moving in (def: taking things out of boxes).  I’m trying to make the place my own now, and this includes many many craft projects which I will be happy to share with you in the coming weeks.
But for now, I wanted to share this window.  This window is one of the main reasons I fell in love with this place.  It sheds so much natural light across the living and dining room and is a perfect place for the dog’s people watching.  The curtains are canvas drop cloths on clip rings; I went back and sewed a loop at the top (my first sewing project) to block out the light/air at the top of the window.  The drop cloths are longer than any drapes I found and about 1/4 the price.

Better.

I will be the first to admit it’s a little late for new years resolutions, but this blog won’t make it another 9 months, or maybe I won’t keep with it another 9 months at this pace.  2013 as well as the start of 2014 were kind of exhausting.  The year had more ups and downs than a roller coaster. From finishing my masters, to 7 months of unemployment (in which I almost lost it), to working a part time job in retail (which was quite an experience), to finding a great job which happened to be in the last city I thought I would end up in (10 minutes from my home town), to finding an apartment, to issue after issue with my apartment.  Things have started to calm down.  I’m finding my pace and loving my job and apartment and the time I get to spend with my friends and boyfriend.  I’m working on getting back to that place where I really do love and enjoy my life and to do so I’m focusing on bettering myself. So, that is what this blog will focus on.  Betterment through what I do, what I eat where I go. Not that the topics covered will differed extremely from what I’ve already talked about (travel, food, books, pretty things..), but the new focus will.  I  hope you find this blog helpful and encouraging and would love to hear any comments or suggestions you may have.

February Birchbox

I’ve been getting Birchbox for a few months now and love it! It’s a great way to try new products before buying full sized versions. As great as it has been, February was probably my least favorite box. It included products by Miracle Skin Transformer, Joan Vass, 32 Oral Care, and ElevenSkin. All of the products were good, but nothing was really great. My favorite item was the Beauty Protector Protect and Oil; it cuts down on the mass fizziness that is my hair and makes it feel soft and strong. Like I said, I really do love Birchbox. A few of my faves over the past few months have included Eyeko Black Magic Mascara, Harvey Prince Hello, Toni&Guy Casual Sea Salt Texturizing Spray and Serge Normant Meta Revive Dry Conditioner. Yes, that last one was dry conditioner, and it is amazing!

Marshall’s Diner and Downtown Frankfort, Kentucky

Downtown Frankfort is such a cute town.  It is full of old buildings in cute colors. There are train tracks running through the very center of town, and unbelievable close to a few buildings. The only thing strange I noticed was the lack of people out and about.  I’m sure that was mostly due to the extreme cold last week, but it seemed like the kind of town where you would pass the friendliest people on the street.
We ate at Marshall’s Diner for lunch one day. It was such a cute place; very cozy with a home town feeling.  However, the food was less exciting.  I didn’t order anything special (just a chicken wrap with fries), but the chicken was slightly overcooked and nothing really had any flavor. Other people’s meals were drenched in gravy and no one really seemed too impressed by the end of the meal. I believe the diner recently reopened, possibly under new management? Hopefully things will improve for the adorable diner.

The Dragon Pub, Frankfort, Kentucky

I spent the last week at a control of particulate emissions training course in Frankfort, Kentucky. I know, it sounds like a blast, right?  We were in class for 8 hours a day and really did nothing outside of that time, but eat.  We ate out for 3 meals a day for almost 5 days, and we were able to find a few little gems.

The first night, we found the Dragon Pub on urbanspoon.  It seemed like it was a little more of a bar than a restaurant.  We were the only people in the restaurant (which generally makes me nervous) but I think the entire town had migrated to Louisville for a basketball game.
We had a lot of fried food!  We started with Brew Sticks, Crispy Artichoke Hearts and Dragon Scales and I then had the Pub Burger.  Everything was fried and delicious but the real favorite of the night was the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale.  I only had a taste, but it was awesome.  It is the love child of bourbon and beer, both of which I love, and I may have bought a 4-pack as a souvenir.

Brew Sticks - Our unique version of a cheese stick. Our own homemade Beer Cheese wrapped in a thin won ton wrapper and fried until crispy. Delicious!
Crispy Artichoke Hearts -  lightly dusted and fried. Topped with grated parmesan. With a lemon garlic aioli
Dragon Scales – Our famous homemade chips drizzled with spicy Dragon wing sauce and sprinkled with bacon, cheddar, blue cheese crumbles and creamy blue cheese dressing
Pub Burger – Our 6 oz. beef patty, topped with homemade Newcastle Beer cheese and a freshly battered onion ring on a grilled pretzel bun. Delicious!

Guatemala City

I’m back online! I don’t think I turned my computer on for a few months after leaving the world of unemployment. I have since, been working, moving into and unpacking an apartment, and of course adjusting to a steady work schedule. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed catching up on all of the blogs I follow and I am very happy to be back to blogging myself. And what better way to get back into it, than with a Throwback Thursday post.

Last summer I had the opportunity to go to Guatemala City with my parent’s church. We left less than two days after I finished taking comps and I was completely exhausted. The pictures I’ve posted are from a Bible school we put together at a local church. No matter how little sleep I got that week, I am so thankful I had the opportunity to go. I absolutely loved the people we met. The kids were so sweet and loving and the adults, so amazed that people would come to another country just to play with kids.

Our first full day, we went to the local dump to visit the people that lived there. Basically, these were people living in the dump, surrounded by all of the garbage and flies, who made their living by digging through the trash to find recyclable materials. I expected to maybe see a few families living there, but the community actually included rows and rows of makeshift houses. It was heartbreaking to see the conditions but so wonderful to see the spirit of these people. With every corner we would turn there would be more children running, smiling, and holding their hands outstretched towards us. They were so loving and happy. Their joy wasn’t dependent on their circumstances.

We went to church with the locals on Sunday and each helped in the children’s Sunday school classes. I think I helped with the 4 year olds. The kids’ Spanish was of course better than mine, but much more on my level than the Spanish of the teenagers and adults. The week in Guatemala definitely proved how little Spanish I knew.

The week of VBS was wonderful. We painted faces, made crafts, played basketball, sang songs, told stories, played with a giant parachute, hit a piñata, colored, and of course played soccer. The children and adults we had a chance to meet and talk to were each amazing. One boy (above in the green shirt) left one morning only to come back with a simple Spanish-English translation brochure so he could talk to us in English. We then took turns holding up coloring pages and teaching one another new words. Another little girl, Doris (above, coloring) had such a fun attitude and personality. It was so wonderful to get to know each and every one of those kids.

Jonah’s Fish & Grits

Thomasville, Georgia is this adorable little town located just north of Tallahassee, Florida. On one of my most recent trips to see my favorite guy, we went up to Thomasville to explore the small city and have dinner. We ate at Jonah’s Fish & Grits and sat outside, on the patio. The place had so much character and such good food. We had the fried pickles which were served with their blue cheese aoili. For dinner, I had the grilled shrimp and scallops with the peach tree salsa

PEACH-TREE SALSA: made with peaches, pineapple, lime juice, red bell-peppers, caramelized red onions, fressh cilantro ad spices

And Seth had the shrimp and grits

SHRIMP & GRITS sautéed shrimp, bacon and chives in a light cream sauce drizzled over roasted vegetables and white cheddar grits

Both meals were delicious (I know because I helped Seth eat his) The crème brulee also looked delightful but we were way too full after our delicious dinner.