Almost Quirky

Ground Control to Major Tom

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:15:00 +0000

Well hello there.

I've been gone for awhile. (No kidding!)

There have been many factors to my complete lack of posting: laziness, writer's block, and my grandfather's passing. I mentioned here awhile ago that my grandfather was battling congestive heart failure. I'll never know whether I was being naive, or whether my grandfather really did decline in health at a much faster rate than we thought, but I do know we lost him before we were ready for it.

He lived a full 90 years. He accomplished so much in his life, he was loved by so many, and everyone has a story to tell about "Uncle Ed". His funeral and service were a complete inspiration to me. I really don't think they make 'em like they used too. I so, I do, and will, miss him terribly.

Yet surprisingly enough, it was not the loss of my grandfather that lead me to stop blogging. It was my own ego. I have another confession to make: I thought I was the next Pioneer Woman. I thought I would start up a blog, it would quickly catch on, I would gain a huge following due to my inspirational DIYs and home improvements, companies would pay to advertise on my site, and I would make a living off of it.

I know. Wake Up. Come back to your home planet, Quirky.

This vision came to a screeching halt when I realized Dave and I just do not have the money to remodel, let alone photograph it and offer step-by-steps. I also don't technically live with Dave yet. I've always struggled with how much money and time to put into decorating a house that isn't yet my home. I love it at Dave's, and I find myself spending more and more time there, and it will be my home someday soon. But it's not. Yet. And so with the exception of our bedroom there, I've majorly held off on any purchases for our someday home.

And I thought that made for a boring blog. Except, I think I was wrong.

I like to write. I occasionally have interesting things to write about. So what if they're not about what counter top we're choosing for our kitchen. And so what if it is? I don't know when I got tied down to a theme for my blog (although ultimately I would like to someday have some cohesion!), but it's not for me now.

And so I'll write. When I want. When I can. It may be about dresser hardware. It may be about my students. It may be about those 8 or so pounds I want to use. Or the bathing suit I want. Or planning a wedding (someday!). Or Georgie (why should she only get one post?)

And I hope you'll read. But I'll understand if you don't.

Thanks for listening,

A. Quirky

A Perfect Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:47:00 +0000

I've always been a fan of Valentine's Day. Always. Even the first 25 valentine-less Valentine's Days of my life. Yes, that's right, Dave is my first and only official Valentine. I like it that way.

And I also liked my Valentine's Day 2011. I loved it, actually. And I know why. It's because we didn't stress. We didn't search out the perfect restaurant. We didn't try in vain to snag reservations. I wasn't running through the department store hunting down the perfect gift because we weren't exchanging gifts.

We originally planned on cooking dinner. Then I got stuck at work and Dave didn't feel well. So we decided to get carry-out from a local restaurant, Redstone. Here's what you need to know about Redstone if you don't know already. It's delicious. And it's on the pricey end. But hey, it was Valentine's Day and we were treating ourselves.

We decided we'd try and find a seat at the bar, have a glass of wine, and order a delicious something or other to-go. But lucky us, the bar was surprisingly dead (couples prefer tables on V-Day, I know) and so after drink number one we decided to stay and eat there.

We consumed Buffalo Shrimp, Some Other Kind of Shrimp, and an Ahi Tuna appetizer. Oh, and a few glasses of wine. And it was lovely. I'm so glad we didn't plan any of it. There's no way it could've been as nice.

And the gifts we weren't buying? We bought them. Those were pretty lovely too. A FryDaddy for Dave. (Guys love deep frying things. Correction, I love deep frying things). But Dave's gift to me trumps mine to him (as usual): Cooking classes in Philadelphia for the both of us.

I am in love :)

Happy Valentine's Day, Belated. I hope you enjoyed yours, single or taken.

xxoo,

A. Quirky

Restaurant Review: Tortilla Press

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:53:00 +0000

**I'd like to apologize in advance for the complete lack of photos. I didn't plan ahead and take photos last night and Tortilla Press' website doesn't have a single picture of anything we ate. (And I figured it'd be lame to post photos of something I'm not going to talk about!) Then, I almost posted a picture of the chef/owner, because he seems like a nice guy, but then we're really going into irrelevant territory!

Have I ever mentioned how much I looooove food? That I love to eat? That my favorite outings with Dave involve a restaurant? That I only pay attention to my groupon email if it has a deal for food?

If I haven't, I don't know how that slipped until now. I am a "live to eat" person. You know, as opposed to an "eat to live" person. Eating to live? How depressing. While none of this boasts well for my waistline, it most certainly does for my tastebuds.

Now, I'm no foodie, but I do eat out. A lot. Like at least twice a week. So I do feel informed enough to be able to review the places I eat. And so, onward to my first restaurant review...

The Tortilla Press is located in downtown Collingswood, a cute and quirky little town in South Jersey. The Tortilla Press has a lot going for it. It's popular (I'd been many times before, and Dave has a few as well.) It's good for groups (we went with two other couples), it's Mexican fare, and it's BYOB. A BYOB where you bring tequila. My kind of place.

The Tortilla Press has won many local awards. Best Suburban BYOB? Check. Best Mexican Restaurant? Check, check, and check. It's even won awards for "green" dining, and Best Entree from the Peanut Advisory Board. Now, how many places can claim that award? I'm gonna with it being for their Chipotle Peanut Pork.

In the interest of saving us all some time, I'm gonna from paragraph to bullet form to highlight what I loved, liked, and loathed (not really) about Tortilla Press during my most recent visit:

Loved:
-BYOB. Anytime a restaurant is a byob I get pretty excited. I get to drink, and spend less money? Score! But when I can bring my own tequila and order Tortilla Press' virgin Margarita Mix...that's love.

-Guacamole. I make a pretty damn delicious guacamole. And with only two ingredients. TP's is much more complex, but oh-so-fresh. I could taste the lemon juice you normally add to guac to keep it fresh looking, but it wasn't overwhelming. I definitely ate more of my fair share of it.

-Free Dips. What do I love more than delicious food? Free, delicious food. And you get that the minute you sit down at TP. Warm tortilla chips, plus two salsas, and a bean dip. The bean dip is awesome, but my fave was the mild salsa, which was actually more like a pico de gallo. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Liked:

-Crab & Avocado Quesadilla. I ordered this for my entree. Confession: I pretty much always order this for my entree. There's 2 reasons for this. One, I reallllly like it. Two, I'm not huge on Mexican side dishes, so it's silly for me two pay $20.00 an entree when I'll really only eat the main dish. This time around my quesadilla was pretty good. The filling was delicious, definitely stuffed with the good stuff (crab meat, cheese, and avocado). A lot of times I feel like restaurants skimp on the more expensive ingredients, so to have the quesadilla as full as it was left me feel like I was getting a good deal for around 9 bucks. While the filling was pretty much perfection, my quesadilla fell short when it came to the tortilla. I like my quesadilla shells crunchy and golden brown. My tortilla last night looked that it was either microwaved, or sat on the flat top for much too short of a time. You can bet I'll give TP another chance to make it up to me though :)

-The Ambiance. Most BYOBs in general are tight little spaces. And I don't think there's a spacious restaurant in downtown Collingswood, but that's fine with me, that's why I like them so much. They're so not commercial. Where I feel like TP fell short last night was the lighting. It was too bright. I like a dim, romantic light. In a place so small, darker lighter affords you more privacy than bright light does. Other than that it's an adorable place. I especially love the artwork by local artists on display, and for sale.

-The "other" entrees. Obviously, I wasn't the only person eating last night. Dave got the Habenero Shrimp, and we both thought the shrimp were delicious. (Side note, I come from a family that always eats off of each other's plates. Especially my mom and I. Dave does not. He learned quickly that when he orders dinner, he is in a sense ordering for both of us). So anyways, I stole a shrimp, and it was pretty dang yummy. The perfect balance of sweet and spicy. Where his dish left something to be desired was the sides. The mashed potatoes were oddly sweet, and dry. And his vegetable medley was pretty much straight up carrots. Carrots at a Mexican place? Weird, right?

The big hit at the table was the fish tacos. Two of the six of us ordered them, and both of the guys really liked them. We also had a chicken burrito and chicken fajitas at our table. My friends didn't say too much about it (and I had no idea I'd be writing this post to ask them), so I figured they liked it well enough. Nothing special enough to talk about I guess.

The Price: I'd say TP is pretty fairly priced. After we split our bill down the middle, it came to $45.00 per couple, tip included. And considering more than half the table, including myself, have waited tables in the past, I'd say we're pretty generous tippers. The fact that I didn't get an entree lowered our price a little bit, but in my opinion Mexican platters, especially those involving seafood, priced at $15-20 makes TP's pricing seem very fair.

Loathed (Not Really):

I say "Not Really" because I didn't loathe anything about TP. Plus, loathe goes a lot better with Love and Like than Didn't Like does. There was one thing I wasn't a huge fan of though...

The Bathrooms. There are 2 bathrooms in TP. One per dining room/area. In the area we were seated in, our bathroom was right by the kitchen and server's station. It was a very high traffic area in general, and with a constant line for a unisex bathroom, it got even more crowded. While I didn't love it, I also feel like it's a little unfair to complain. Going in to such a tiny place, you have to expect the bathroom situation to be exactly as it was.

Overall, I love TP, and will definitely be back. In the summer. When it's warm. And I don't have to climb over a mountain of iced over snow to get into my car. Margaritas are so much more appropriate in 80 degree weather anyways.

I give Tortilla Press a solid QQQQ (4 Qs for Quirky) out of 5.

Definitely check it out. (Like you haven't already)

A. Quirky

(Kind Of) Cohabiting

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:22:00 +0000

(Is it a bad omen that I found this picture on a divorce site? Oops.)

So, for the past week or so Dave and I have found ourselves cohabiting. It wasn't really planned, and we're not sharing the bills or anything like that. Yet. Here's how it happened...

My family is originally from Ohio, and my grandfather and aunt still live there. Recently, my grandpa (here on out known as Ed) has been having some health issues. Complications from Congestive Heart Failure. My mom, bearing the guilt that only the oldest child can bear (I know this, b/c I am the oldest as well obvs...), decided she needed to go out there to help take care of all the things having an elder parents entails. I am glad she did. It was touch and go there for awhile, and I was ready to drive out myself. Ed is such a big, strong man, that we don't see him going anywhere anytime soon, despite his 90 years of age.

While she stays there helping out my aunt, I have been left the house to care for. This is good for many reasons: I feel like an actual 27 y/o having my own place, I don't have to unload the dishwasher the minute I get home from work, and no one nags me to wipe out the sink after I brush my teeth. There is a whole bunch of awesomeness to this living alone situation, but there is one big problem: I hate being alone. At night, specifically. And so, I won't. Enter Dave :)

Dave and I are now splitting our time between my house and his. 3 days here. 4 days there. Or 2 days here and 4 days there and 1 day here. However it ends up. It's a pain in the ass, packing bags, and lugging groceries back and forth (yes, we do), and not to mention Georgie's stuff!

And I kind-of like it. Granted, there was a moment last night where we were ready to sleep in separate rooms, if not separate houses...but I'm thinking of it all as a preview for what's ahead. And overall, we make it work. With the stress of the back and forth. So cheers to that!

Talk to me in two weeks. I hope I'm as satisfied and positive about this whole situation as I am today. I have a sneaking suspicion I will be :)

A. Quirky

Quirky. But Not in a Good Way.

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:20:00 +0000

Phew, it's been awhile since I wrote. Sorry about that. Uninteresting personal stuff.

While I was gone though, I got a make-under. Do you remember Jane Magazine? I looooved Jane Magazine. But I wasn't quirky enough for it when I read it. One of the editors hosted a party and served Pimm's Cups. I had to google what Pimm's Cups were. And I still don't know what they are. Anyhoo...they did make-unders for girls who wore too much red lipstick and liquid eyeliner. And girls who teased their hair about 12 inches too high. I loved that part of the magazine.

Well, I got a make-under of my very own recently. And it wasn't on purpose. And I hate it.

It started with my hair. The lovely lady that usually does my hair is actually a friend of mine. And she had a lovely baby. Well, a handsome, lovely, baby, and she couldn't do my hair. So, she suggested her friend at the salon do it in her absence. I actually somewhat knew said friend, and she is also a very lovely lady. And she did a nice job, except I couldn't help but hear the tiny voice in my head saying, "Your hair is tinted orange. Your hair is tinted orange." I ignored the voice. It's pretty much always there. I can't always listen to it, how else would I teach kids how to draw line segments and identify a right angle?

So, I drove home, still ignoring the voice (how else could I order my dinner from Chipotle?), and showed my Mom. I told my Mom my hair was orange. She said it was Strawberry Blonde. Well, that worked for me. I loved Strawberry Blondes! They were adorable, pretty, dainty, and quirky! Perfect! I would now be all of those things.

Except I wasn't. My hair actually got orange-err. Well more carmellyyy. Which I also thought sounded cool. But not dainty or quirky. Sexy. Trendy. Perfect. I'll take sexy and trendy. Except...carmel just isn't my color.

I decided I'd fix my problem by making an appointment with Lovely Hairdresser #1 (Friday, where are youuuuu?) Problem Solved. Right? Well, sorta.

In the midst of all the hair drama I popped in my favorite nail place to get my eyebrows waxed. It's cheap ($7), and they do a really nice job 8 out of 10 of the times. And even those other 2 are pretty okay. Well, let's say this last time wasn't really nice, or pretty okay, or even okay. My eyebrows are practically gone! I should've known when the tweezing portion (my least favorite part) was taking waaaaay too long. Or when she handed me the mirror for only half a second to look. Of course I said, "Very nice job. Thank you!" I always say very nice job!

So now I'm walking around with an awkward hair color, and even more awkward eyebrows. Dave still loves me. People still look me in the eye. And my students don't run away when I greet them in the morning.

And I probably seem so shallow for even writing this, but I don't care. I wanted to vent about taking a step backward in my quest to become cutely quirky.

Thanks for Listening,

Not So Quirky

The Trifecta: Cheese, Mustard, and Puff Pastry

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:12:00 +0000

Havarti Cheese & Mustard Stuffed Pastry

(Italics makes it look fancy)

When I was younger my parents were very close friends with 2 other couples. We got together frequently, and this was an appetizer that one of the couples made every time. Every.time. Because it's delicious, and now that I make it, I suspect they also made it because it is the easiest thing in the world to make. Easier than a cheese and cracker tray. I. Swear.

Here's the ingredient list:

-1 Puff Pastry Shell
-2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
-1 tsp minced garlic
-1 tsp fresh horseradish
-1 block havarti cheese
-1 egg

(pretend there's an egg in this picture)

Here goes deliciously easy perfection:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

2. Unwrap your room temperature pastry shell. (If it is frozen it will break when you're working with it)

3. Place it in a lightly greased baking dish (the cuter, the better)

4. Grab the havarti cheese. Yum.

5. Place it in the center of the pastry.

6. Now, mix your Dijon Mustard, horseradish, and minced garlic.

7. Once it's all mixed together use a spoon to spread it on all 6 sides of the havarti.

8. Now, wrap the puff pastry as if you were wrapping a present. You are, really.

9. This includes the part of the pastry without filling as well.

9. Now, take an egg white, and use a pastry brush to "glaze" the outside of the puff pastry. The egg white will help keep the seams together, as well as help achieve the golden-brown oven look :)

10. Now, bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. You'll know this deliciousness is done when it has a golden brown appearance. I also like to see some cheese oozing out of it. It's better that way. Trust me.

Tell me that doesn't look delicious.

For you savvy "Where's Waldo Experts", you'll notice that my completed Havarti Specialty is now sitting on top of a different stove. That's because I started it at my house, and took it to Girl's Night, where it was promptly devoured. That's another beautiful thing about this dish. It's very, very easy to make and take.

Now go make. And possibly take.

-A. Quirky

"I Have Another Confession to Make..."

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:10:00 +0000

Actually, this is my first ever blog confession. That's just a line from a Foo Fighter's song. I'm so happy I used it because now it's stuck in my head. Come to think of it, Foo Fighters are like, almost always, in my head. I think it's Radio 104.5's fault. They're always playing Foo Fighters. David Grohl either owns Radio 104.5, or has serious stock in the company. I'm gonna look into that. But none of this has anything to do with what I am writing about today. I know. It's a problem. Imagine actually talking to me in person. I know. It's a problem.

Here's my actual confession: I bought Wedding Stationary. This is a problem because I don't have a wedding date. Even more so, I'm not even engaged. I am however, one of those girls. I read wedding blogs. I scout locations. I find bridesmaid dresses I like, and wonder to myself if they'll flatter all the different body types of girls that will be in my wedding. The wedding that hasn't been planned yet. Because I'm not engaged yet. Oh boy.

This is the first time, though, that I've purchased something for said imaginary wedding. There I was, wandering down the aisles of HomeGoods (that's a whole other blog) and all of the sudden three little orange boxes came tumbling down into my cart! Okay, not really, but I did find them by chance in the mirror aisle (another "wedding planning, not-yet-engaged bride", having second thoughts perhaps?). They were white. They were simple. They were cute. And they were EYELET! I looooove eyelet! It's like one of my top 5 adjectives! And better yet, they were cheap! Also one of my top 5 adjectives (the good cheap, not the bad cheap, just for clarification). Five dollars for a box of 40. I scooped up 3. Sorry 121st person/couple/family on my imaginary wedding list, you're not invited anymore.

I justify this semi-creepy act in many ways. One, they were so cheap, that even if I change my mind, I didn't blow a ton of money. Two, I have champagne taste on a TwoBuckChuck budget. This means when I actually get married, I'll have to "settle" on certain items when I'm wedding planning. Invitations are definitely one of those items for me. And most importantly, Dave and I talk about getting married. Well I talk. He listens. But I know its in our (not toooooo far off) future, which makes it less of an impulse buy.

I love eyelet, but me being me, I'd have to alter them in some way or another when the time comes (see, I know I'm not engaged yet!). I actually found a few cute ideas when I was googling an image for this post.

(I cannot take a picture of the ones I own because they are hidden somewhere deep in my closet for no one to find. I'll pull them out when I am actually engaged and say, "Oh lookie what I stumbled upon in HomeGoodes today!")

Anyways, I really liked what Cece, at Dill Pickle Picnic, did with her set:

(Image via dillpicklepicnic.com. Check out all the awesome crafts ideas she has while you're there)

She rounded the edges, added a flower graphic on top, and used a cute font. Definitely something to keep in mind.

So that's my "dirty little secret...I hope that you can keep it..."

Damnit. Another song stuck in my head,

A. Quirky

Baby Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:41:00 +0000

Hello All!

Well, I broke my New Year's Resolution already. Don't remember it? Check it out here. But I'm justifying it because I only broke it at work. Wait, I never say work, I say school. Because I'm a teacher, remember? As any good teacher knows, lesson plans are the key to a successful, organized, and productive classroom. As any teacher also knows, they are the bane of one's existence. They totally stink. The only thing that stinks more is grading. Remember when you were in school and got to grade your neighbors paper? Wasn't that so fun? Well it's not anymore.

Anywayyouprobablydontcareaboutthat, I slacked off during break, and didn't create lesson plans for this week. Fear not, my students were not climbing bookshelves and hanging from the flag pole during the Pledge of Allegience, I pulled myself together around 7am, and arranged some pretty kick-ass activities about Christmas Break and Resolutions.

And because, as any good teacher knows, teaching by example is always helpful to the little kiddos. So I shared my New Year's Resolution. They thought it was boring, and wanted to have resolutions like "remember to feed my fish" instead. Whatever, I guess that's a pretty good one for a 7 year old.

But since I need someone to think my resolutions are smart, or practical, or even logical, I am sharing them with you. My general resolution was to be more organized. That's a giant step for quirky-kind though, so last night (during the Eagles game, yeah that game, the really embarrasing one) I told Dave we were gonna start with baby-steps. (He automatically shares the same New Year's Resolution as me). Presenting Baby Steps:

Almost Quirky Home Renovation List:

January:

1) Order cable box for bedroom (cannot stand not having HGTV in here!!!!)

2) Buy and install new hardware for bedroom set

Yep. That's it. Baby steps people, baby steps.

Maybe in February we'll have a few more items on the list, or a few more major items on the list. But, as any good teacher knows (are you tired of this yet?), you have to instill confidence in a child to encourage them to take risks. This means lots of positive reinforcement, and scaffolding (starting small).

I'll let you know how our January To Do List goes. I'd be too embarrassed to ever admit we didn't get that meager stuff done though, so you'll probably be reading a post the first week of February declaring "Mission Completed", whether we did or not ;)

Do you start off your resolution or goals with baby steps? Surely this can't be a secret only teachers know about ;)

Till Next Time,

A. Quirky

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 14:50:00 +0000

Okay, so I'm a day late. But the most productive thing I did yesterday was open a bottle a Motrin, and swallow a few of those puppies. They didn't help. The 20+ hours of sleep finally did. So yayyy! Happy New Year!

Dave and I celebrated in a pretty rad way. (New Year's Resolution: Use rad in sentences more often). Our friends, Katie and Justin, got married, and it was F-U-N!!!! Seriously, surrounded by people you love, in a hotel (no worries about driving after a few too many cocktails), with delicious food and (tons of) dancing is the way to go.

Here's my first official blog photo of Dave and I:

Happy New Year! So looking forward to all of 2011 :)

-A. Quirky

Bad Gemini

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:39:00 +0000

(You Want This Magnet)

Darnit. I wish I could get a bigger version of this picture, but I got tired of looking. No surprise there, if you read my magnet. I actually have this magnet somewhere, but I can't find it. Again, no surprise. It's so cheeky, I love it. It basically highlights all my faults, and really most of them are true (that's not easy to admit), especially the ones I circled.

See, Dave and I are both Geminis (our birthdays are 1 day apart), and well, two Geminis in one house can have its disadvantages.

In our day to day lives it's little things like deciding where to eat, or what to to eat, who should drive, what we should watch on tv, and who should take Georgie out. Okay, this is stuff every couple deals with, but where it really messes us up is in the home improvement area.

As I mentioned here, Dave recently moved into his grandmother's house. The house has good bones (Mom Quote), but needs a lot of work. The fact that we have pretty much no money for any major renovations leaves us with lots of small improvements to work on in the meantime. The problem? We cannot even decide what to work on. That's right, forget deciding on a paint color, we can't decide on whether or not to paint!!

Now that would be problem enough. Except sometimes we do decide to do something. And when that happens we do it. We just do it. We don't really research it, we don't really talk it out. We don't explore other options. Dave is worse than I am (sorry hunny!), but it's still that indecisive and flighty quality in both of us that hurts us.

Sometimes it works to our advantage, like the paint color in our bedroom. (More on that later) But most times it doesn't, like remodeling the fireplace. After we tore off the fireplace doors we realized the fireplace wasn't deep enough not to have them. So now we can't have fires, and have hideous gold fireplace doors just hanging out in the hallway.

With all of this comes my New Year's Resolution. Yes, I could stand to use a few pounds, and I should show my sneakers what the outside of my closet looks like. But for the better of humankind, err, Quirkykind, I am going to become more organized.

Here come detailed lists of any and all projects, pros and cons lists, detailed spreadsheets, and budget calculators. We're going to order a bed (no more sleeping on the floor on a mattress), clean the fireplace (you have to do that before you pain it, we discovered), and a new kitchen back splash.

We'll see how it goes.

Happy New Year!

A. Quirky

Thursday Obsessions

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:26:00 +0000

Covergirl Lash Blast Mascara.

Now remember, I haven't achieved that "Perfect Smokey Eye" yet in my life, so I am not the be-all, end-all opinion on mascara. My day to day make-up consists of moisturizer, lip gloss, and mascara...and now blush, natch!! MAC Blush. I know, I'm moving on up! But until I get all the way on the MAC Bandwagon, I'm sticking with my Covergirl Lash Blast. It doesn't clump. It doesn't flake. It does smudge, but I think that's because I rub my eyes all the time.

So, until I stop rubbing my eyes, or master the "Perfect Smokey Eye", Lash Blast it is :)

Toodles,

A. Quirky

Snowed In Cinnamon Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:35:00 +0000

A blizzard of sorts hit the East Coast this past Sunday, which just added to the do-nothing, laziness I was feeling after Christmas. And when it snows, I get hungry. Some people know it's going to snow because they feel it in their knees. Me, I feel it in my stomach.
I'm usually a salt girl, but for whatever reason, I was craving a sweet treat. Enter "Easy-Peasy Cinnamon Rolls", renamed for this post as "Snowed in Cinnamon Rolls". These rolls are so easy because they don't require yeast to make, but are still pure deliciousness.
Nevermind my photography skills, these rolls are much better than their pictures :)

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk

Filling (aka the best part):
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 milk

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

1. Do the filling first. In a small bowl, combine all filling ingredients to form a soft, crumbly mixture.

2. Sprinkle about half of the mixture over the bottom of a greased 9x9 pan

3. Prepare your dough mixture: Mix together flour, baking soda, sugar, brown sugar, and salt.

4. Cut in softened butter. (I use my hands for this part)

5. Stir in milk. You should now have formed a soft dough

6. Flour a surface to roll out your dough. Roll out your dough into a rectangle-ish shape. Your dough should be about 1/4 inch thick.

7. Spread your remaining filling into the rolled out dough.

8. Roll up the rectangle into a long log. Cut the dough into about 16 small rolls.

9. Place them in the pan. I like to make sure that the rolls are covering all of the mixture I put in the pan, otherwise you're just wasting that mixture. The rolls will expand a little bit, but don't get too huge.

10. Bake the rolls at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. If you like your rolls "doughie", bake them for about 18-20 minutes.

11. While they're baking mix the powered sugar and milk for your glaze. I like my glaze thicker, so I use a lot of powered sugar. If you prefer a lighter glaze, start with a 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and work your way up to taste.

12. As soon as the rolls come out of the oven, plate them and drizzle your homemade glaze over top. I plate mine upside down, so that the filling faces up. They look tastier that way.

Lastly, sit near window, think to yourself, "I'm so glad that I do not have to be out there in said blizzard", and eat tasty roll. Try not to eat all rolls in one sitting.

Enjoy :)

A. Quirky

Favorite Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:37:00 +0000

I was a lucky girl this Christmas. I got some really good stuff :) I was also able to gift some fabulous, yet practical, gifts this year. (The mixing bowls were a hit).

My mom got me the newest edition of Photoshop Elements (yeah, still figuring out how to use it), and gift certificates to my favorite stores were many, but Dave especially spoiled me this year. I got a new pair of sparkly, georgous, sophisticated, and stylish diamond studs. I. Love. Them.

What could be better you ask? You may be surprised. My favorite gift of Christmas 2010 is a different sort of pair. A pair of black Hunter Rainboots*! These were on my "I Need to be More Stylish" checklist, and also happened to make an appearance on my "I Must be More Practical" checklist.

These babies are stylish and functional, and in black, oh so classic. I even got to wear them in the snowstorm yesterday! See, I'm almost-er quirky and stylish and grown-up-ish post Christmas 2010**

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

A. Quirky and The Hunter Twins (my new best friends)

*For the record, my most favorite gift was the wine and food I got to share with the ones I love the most here in Jersey, but that's not as fun to read about!
**I'm still only Almost Quirky because a real quirky person would have remembered to call rainboots wellies, and well, I didn't. Damnit.

And So This Is Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 09:40:00 +0000

I had to share my favorite Christmas song. I love this song because it totally puts me in the Christmas mood when I hear it in December, yet it's message is so simple, lovely, and important, I could listen to it any month of the year.

Happy Christmas !

A. Quirky

Thursday Obsessions

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:15:00 +0000

Cilantro.

Source

I love the way cilantro looks and tastes, but I really love the way it smells. The other night I made Chinese Chicken Salad, and added cilantro on a whim (it was hard to resist in the grocery store all misted up and lovely looking). Let me tell you, it was the (not so) secret ingredient to the best Chinese Chicken Salad ever.

Cilantro is even delicious in drinks. Buddakan makes a cilantro martini, and it is perfection.

That's all for now :)

A. Quirky

Meet Georgie

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 20:46:00 +0000

I've mentioned a few members of my family in a post or two, but until now, I've left one very important gal out: Georgie :)

Georgie. Georgie Girl. Georgina. Pumpkin. Pumpkin Pie. Miss. She goes by anything really. In Philly my roomate's boyfriend christened her Jorge. To my brother she is George. To Dave she is Dog (my least favorite nickname, but he's almost as in love with her as I am, so I let it slide).

As you can see, Georgie's sported a few different cuts and colors in her lifetime (just like me :)). When I first got her, she had brown ears, a brown patch over her eye (pretty much why I picked her), and a few more patches on her back and tail. The brown faded to what I refer to as latte (why? I don't know) over time, and has pretty much dissapeared now that she's 2. There's a small hint of it left behind her ears.

Even when she's naughty (which is a lot...) she is pure innocence, and the biggest lover of any animal I've ever come across. All in all my family has 2 other dogs, and 4 cats (Mom and Dad's House together). I love them all, but Georgie....Oh Georgie.

I love you kid :)

A. Quirky

Gifting, the not so quirky way.

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 16:58:00 +0000

Christmas is a only one, very short week away. It totally snuck up on me this year. I planned on being done with my Christmas shopping by the first week of December this year. Let's just say I've adjusted my goal to being done with my Christmas shopping by, well, Christmas. It's not all my fault, though. No one in my family would give me any gift ideas, and while I love to discover the perfect gifts for loved ones, regardless of their wishlists, this year is a little different.

My mom (the most amazing woman in the world) is a certified teacher, but is only able to find subbing jobs in NJ right now. Thank you Chris Christie. Merry Christmas to you too. Not. Anyways, sufficed to say, she's not rolling in the dough, and would really appreaciate practical gifts this year. Digital Camera and new mixing bowls? Check.

My brother, a recent college grad has also fallen victim to the economy. Since he graduated in December of 2009 he's worked as a server, in a bagel shop down the shore (his summer job since highschool which he loves, so don't feel sorry for him there), and some "corporate sales" job that I swear was a pyramid scheme in disguise. Most recently, he applied for jobs at a bank and stocking shelves at Target. No luck even there. Money? Check.

My boyfriend recently moved into his grandmother's house, when she moved into his family's house. It's actually the house I refer to as my house, because, well, someday it will be mine as well. Also, without me, the house would be decorated with Bud Light cans. Seriously, there was one hanging from the Christmas tree when I arrived the other day. Anyways, back to gifts. Dave needs basically anything you would find anywhere in Home Depot, Lowes, HomeGoods, or Ethan Allen. I won't say what I got for him, because he's hinted that he has "found" my new blog. I didn't know anyone had yet! But because he's a sly fox, I never know. Let's just say... his gift...very practical.

My Dad's gift is a little less on the practical side because he owns everything he's ever needed, or wanted. He loves electronics, but the ones he loves aren't in my budget. Really cool coffee table book? Check.

And lastly, my sister. She never asks for practical things. So I do what any semi-quirky gal would do. I give a practical gift, disgused as anything but. This year? A giftcard in a mustache pint glass. The girl is obsessed with (fake) mustaches!

What kind of gift-giver are you? Purely Practical? Or do you treasure-hunt all year for that special gift? Are there any situations in your life this year that change the way you gift?

Either way, Happy Gift Giving. Isn't it fun?

A. Quirky

Philly Inc.

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:34:00 +0000

What a clever and quirky title to this post! Get it? I said I was going to show you how I planned on incorporating Philly into my house? Get it...Incorporate Philly...Philly Incorporated? Well, I like it :)

As someone who is semi-quirky, as well as semi-stylish, and semi-resourceful, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Etsy.com . I mean, it's a serious love affair. So naturally, when I was looking to incorporate (there's that pun again!) some Philly into my house without putting up a poster-size picture of the 2008 World Champs or a Chase Utley signed baseball, I knew exactly where to go...

I love this illustration by Etsy Shop birdAve. It looks very retro the way they have the illustration photographed here, and while I love it, I tend more towards a cozy look, so I would probably group it with some other items on one of my bookshelves. I also love the orange-ish shade. It's more unexpected than say a blue or gray.

The shop also has a print that my boyfriend would love. And since the quote comes directly from Ben Franklin's lips, it's an even more subtle nod to Philly than the print I love.

Another Etsy item I love is this necklace from seller BathtubJungle.

True, it's a necklace. But, the seller says that she can make it a pin if one so prefers. If I ordered it as a pin I could stick it into a corkboard, or into the corner of a frame. A frame holding a picture of Dave and I. A picture of Dave and I in Philly. Genius. Or, I could leave it as a necklace and drape it over said frame, or other object. But, I wouldn't wear it as a necklace. I'm just not that quirky ;)

Priced at $45.oo, it seems a bit steep to use as a pushpin, but it's also pretty cool. I mean a skyline. A clawfoot tub. It doesn't get much cooler than that!

I totally fell in love with all the items in architette's shop. Check out the Project Cupcake Cards to use as a "where the hell did you get this" birthday card. Architette draws skylines of hundreds of cities in the United States, as well as other countries, and even the 7 Wonders.
Lucky for me, she has 2 versions of Philadelphia. I already ordered a set of her notecards. I'll frame one, and send the rest to friends. I love them so much, they might replace post cards when I go on vacation. I'll just order the city I'm headed to in advance, and pack them to send when I arrive. Hey! That's cheating! No, it's not. It's love.

These items are only the tip of the Liberty Bell as to what I found surfing Etsy. I didn't even include any of the items I found that paid tribute to our beloved Sports Teams. Which reminds me, welcome back to Cliff Lee, lucky number 33 :)

I'll include other items somewhere along the line, as well as photograph the items that make their way into our home. Until then, I encourage you to head on over to Etsy, and find some subtle, quirky nods to your favorite city.

xoxo

A. Quirky

*I am in no way endorsed or paid by etsy or any of the shops I have listed. I just love their stuff <3>

Facebook and Philly... A. Quirky falls in love.

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 14:38:00 +0000

As I said in my very first post, I have a wonderful boyfriend named Dave. We "met" through my brother, but if we're being honest, we really got things rolling on Facebook...

He friended me. I accepted. We snooped and stalked each-other's pages, until eventually, I got the guts to post on a comment of his; something about a free lunch at Famous Dave's if your name is Dave, and how that would be a cheap date. One comment lead to another, and soon our status commenting evolved into Facebook Messaging... Eventually, he got the guts to get my number, call me, and arrange our first date. That's the abbreviated version of our Facebook Romance, but it seems a little juvenile already, and the details would really make you roll your eyes. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. It worked for us.

Dave and I have been together for a little over a year. While we were dating I was living in Philly, and it really was the perfect location for a budding romance. There were no awkward "meeting of the parents moments" until we knew each-other pretty well. There was however, an awkward meeting of the roommates, and I was nervous enough still that I had to drink a glass of wine before dates 1-7.

But anyways, Philly. I love the city, and pretty much all of our "getting to know each-other moments" were there. Our first date was at Bridget Foy's, a really cute place in Headhouse Square on South Street. He got the crispy chicken sandwich, I got the turkey burger, and we each ate about a bite of our lunch.

Our second date was a Phillies Play-Off Game with 2 of his friends. I thought the date was going to end disastrously when the Phillies fell behind late in the game, but Jimmy Rollins may have saved the fate our romance when he hit a walk-off triple to end the game.

Our love evolved over beers at the Irish Pub during the World Series, museum exhibitions, discoveries of local bars and restaurants, and spring and summer walks to Rittenhouse Square with my puppy, Georgie.

There's no doubt when we tie the knot that Philly will somehow be involved. I also want nods to Philadelphia present in many aspects of our life together. I'll have a future post dedicated to how I plan on doing so.

xoxo

Quirky

Welcome!

noreply@blogger.com (Miss K) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:38:00 +0000

Hello there!
My name is Halle. I'm a twenty-something who looks like a teen-something. Really. I have a job I sort-of love, a dog I definitely love, and a boyfriend who definitely loves me (luck for him I feel the same :) )

So, the title of my blog? It pretty much says it all. I always feel like I'm the edge of quirky. I have an almost quirky sense of style. An almost quirky personality. Come to think of it, I'm on the edge of a lot of things. The edge of being a great baker. A talented cook. A one-of-a kind teacher. (there's the job I sort of love!).

When I walk down the street, or through the store, because living here in NJ, I don't walk down the street much, I see people who look like they have mastered something. The girl with the smoky eye? She definitely mastered the make-up course of life. The lady I work with who wears the trench coat and riding boots? She mastered the "10 Classic Looks Every Women Must Own" skill. My friend who has the most abstractly-perfect, don't match anything, yet they match everything" drapes? She has the quirky, cozy, home decorator down.

Don't get me wrong. I do not go moping around wishing I was trench coat lady, or look at my drapes and consider hanging myself from them. I just wonder if someday I'll be the drape lady in a trench coat with a smoky eye. It's certainly worth a try.

My hopes for newborn blog are a lot like any parent's hopes for their newborn (real, breathing) baby. I want her to be the best she can be. I want her to follow her own path, even if it's not the one I originally set out for her. As a parent to a newborn baby blog, I want to enjoy every moment, and be proud of my little girl :) I don't yet know how exactly this blog will turn out, just like a real baby! (The comparisons keep working!!) Happy Birthday Almost Quirky!! I can't wait to see what you become! And with that...

...here goes quirky.

xxoo
Halle