In Florida!

We made it and are having a great time! Here are some photos from South Florida yesterday! We are in Orlando now and ready for some wedding fun! :) 

It's so hot here! I had almost forgotten just how oppressive this temperature PLUS ridiculous humidity feels! 

Food more than makes up for it though. ;) Below is a Publix sub sandwich and my Toojay's tuna melt (FAVORITE FOODS) and my sister's pretty Mediterranean sandwich!

Ah good times and only more to be had!

Thanks for reading!

This and that -- AND CUPCAKES!

We've been up to a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Ya know, life. 

Fall is in full swing; complete with cold walks with the dogs followed by hot tea and crochet time. It is typical as well that I have an awful cold. 

"Will jump for treats...or stand"

One of the houses I wish I lived in...

I have been baking. As one does with looooots of time off. I should have been studying, but I am facing the usual lack of motivation as I do every fall. Something about this weather, the end of summer, crocheting, artsy-ing it up and all that -- it just doesn't want to make me study or work on my bachelor's thesis! There has been a lot pinteresting stuff going on too. ;) I love to be lazy! 

I baked these cupcakes (recipe here) with plain cream cheese frosting just to test out the recipe and just because I felt like baking. I love those days!

 Then I made them again for our housewarming party this past Friday! That time though, I made them with orange flavored cream cheese and they were a HIT! We only had 2 left out of about 30!! These were too easy too, I have a new party food favorite!

We also served a bacon pasta salad, dips with chips and carrot sticks and nutella meringues. Somehow this seemed to be enough and it wasn't even that expensive! 

 I've been spending time with my Kissa. She is just so darn pretty! However, she has been naughty as well this week...and a cliche with the whole cats and yarn thing... I wasn't happy but I couldn't help but laugh! 

 

 It was wrapped around the fish tank, couch, table legs, chairs and back again. Multiple balls of yarn...

Be jealous. (and yes, I agree, we do have hideous floors!)

She's been cute and cuddly as well, too. :)

We are also pretty darn excited about our trip to the US -- NEXT WEDNESDAY! Woohoo, that means we just have to get through today, Monday and Tuesday -- then we are ooofffff! :) I am so excited, haven't been back since 2009! We're only gone for a really quick week, but we have all kinds of stuff planned, family time, a wedding, shopping and my most favoritest thing ever (other than family of course): EATING! :)  

The only sad thing about the trip (other than the length) is that our fuzzy ones are going to be at their grandparents' and I am going to miss them sooooooo much!

I am looking forward to being a tourist in my old hometown. It's always interesting.

That's it for me folks. Thanks for reading, have a LOVEly Sunday!

focusing on positive happy thoughts!

As time goes by and the older I get, I realize that I'm my own worst enemy. I am my biggest critic, the one who is always the most disappointed in my behavior, so on and so forth. This year was off to a great start, this summer was quite alright...but this fall... It has been a downward spiraling disaster!

I saw a pin on pinterest last week that said something along the lines of "if everyone threw their problems into a pile and you saw everyone else's, you'd gladly take yours back". I don't think I would. They're petty, annoying and worst of all, created by yours truly! Maybe that is what makes everything so unbearable, there is no one to blame for my problems but myself.

Thus, the need to take a break, turn the brain off (haha, yeah right) and focus on positive happy thoughts. I have been having a nice couple of days despite the BS. See, happy thoughts!

Let me share!

This morning I had a pumpkin latte made with this recipe. It was good and made more than the two servings promised. Just watch out for the pumpkin and spice sludge at the bottom of the mug - mega gross! 

I drank my pumpkin latte with these pumpkin spice cupcakes. A must since I had opened up a a can of pumpkin and needed to use the rest up! Yeah, by the way, this could be the breakfast of champions. Much preferred even to baked oatmeal. 

I found both of these recipes on pinterest! 

This is where I am sitting and typing at the moment. My painting needs to be hung, but it is perfect for this space. And I never thought I would like this old country style table so much with the old bench. Shoot why did I not take a picture with the bench in it?! 

Ah yes, sunflowers. I have them here next to me on the table and on the counter in front of the window. How nice. I do love fresh flowers. The garden was far nicer to us this year than we deserved. Honestly, picking weeds in the rain is not on anyone's agenda --> overgrown mess of a garden. Oh well.

My husband loves sunflower seeds so he was excited to try salting and roasting our own. Neither of us has ever tried doing it before, but I suppose there are plenty of easy recipes on the world wide web. I'll let you know how it goes...

Also from the garden: fall hydrangeas.

We spent some time at our favorite thrift shop that is run by the Finnish Red Cross. It seems they were having a 50% off home textiles and dishes sale and I didn't notice the signs until my total at the register was much less than expected! I was tempted to go back and pick up more stuff but I was feeling frugal (yes, even in a thrift store) and I wasn't in the mood despite the known and documented benefits of retail therapy. 

My mom however did go back and pick up this crocheted pillow we thought was cute. Original price 2 euros, sale price 1 euro. !!!!

My dear mom also bought me these adorable heart dishes. I love them sooo much. Retro ♥. They also cost only 1 euro!

I spent a total 2.75e on this fabric I couldn't walk away from AND the two dish towels that I could never use as dish towels. Lol! 

I love the print and colors but I have NO CLUE what to do with this fabric! Maybe save it for a future baby room? It's 125x195 cm - ideas anyone?

Ridiculously pretty!

Looking at these pictures, I am kicking myself for not going back and doing some more shopping! Argh, I only spent 2.75e??!?!? What was I thinking!!!! 

I was a good wife on Thursday and made dinner for the hubby who had a long day at school (8 am to 6 pm!) However, it surprised me that he was surprised to have dinner waiting for him -- and dessert in the oven! He must have forgotten that he married a domestic goddess. (hahaha). 

I forgot to take a picture before we dug in (and took seconds). But it was soooo good! 

Ham cubes, (frozen bag of) diced potatoes, (1/2 frozen bag of) leeks and some cream. Salt and pepper. Oven 200C till its all crispy on top. --> easiest dinner ever!

And our dessert, pah-lease! Apple crisp made according to this recipe (thanks pinterest), but since I didn't have 6 cups of apples, I used the 2 apples we did have and added 2 pears to it. Apple AND pear crisp! It was even better than the dinner! This recipe was super easy, too. I recommend it especially since it would probably go nicely with any fruit crisp and the ingredients are always around! 

Unfortunately though, it was missing some vanilla ice cream, wink wink.

I suppose I should bring this post to a close with the picture I have been promising of the crocheted pillow cover backs.

I still need to do a row or two of red border for the purple Godmother pillow and then sew or crochet them together. And the citrus meringue creamsicle pillow (what I call it in my head) just needs to be sewn/crocheted together. Wow, finito. 

I should probably get off to doing that. And this place needs a vacuum! The downside of a larger apartment is definitely the fact that there is more floor space to vacuum and more corners for the tufts of pet hair to accumulate! 

Thanks for reading, I even feel better after getting share the not s***ty parts of my life! 

Isn't blogging amazing?

Eats

Lunch two days ago: cabbage salad. One could call it a slaw? 

Cabbage, red onion, sliced pear, cucumber, carrot (too lazy to chop it, I always use a vegetable peeler and just make slivers that way). Oh and caesar dressing. No not made from scratch. :)

Dinner two nights ago: Pizza casserole. 

We carried the ingredients home from downtown and got caught in the rain! Argh, what a pain! We were S-O-A-K-E-D!

But the casserole was good. The cheese-y top was the best part obviously, it really tasted like pizza topping. We made it with pepperoni, onion, roasted garlic and canned mushrooms. And cheese. Lots of cheese. We tried making it healthy by buying whole grain fusilli. Hahahha...

 

 (Link to recipe HERE: Cully's kitchen)

Dinner one day ago (ok, so um yesterday): Baked oatmeal. We used those ripe bananas. I added gingerbread cookie spice. It was totally awesome, except it could have used another fruit/berry for sure. Plain banana is just kind of bland. It smelled like banana bread though = good thing. I have issues with the textures of food though and thank goodness I liberally sprinkled crushed almonds on the top (didn't have walnuts or pecans on hand) and it improved what would have been an awful texture in my book.I'll definitely make it again. Actually next week, when we are doing brunch and crafting with a friend! Yay! :)

Oh and we had this for breakfast this  morning, too. I heated it up in butter in a frying pan (we don't own a microwave!) and it was so good with berry jam! 

(Recipe linked HERE: Annie's Eats)

(what a trusty baking dish that is... lol)

I have a four day weekend starting today. Nice huh.

(couldn't resist taking a picture of the new batch of pears and apples!)

I plan on painting. Yep, got the oil paints and canvases. 

I plan on finishing those two crochet pillows (the yellow one and the one for my godmother). I was so inspired by the coziness of the couch and the rain outside yesterday that I crocheted the backs to the pillows. Too tired of waiting for the right thrifted-recyclable sweater to come along. Believe you me, I've been looking for one! These WIPs just need to get on moving outta here! I have more projects to start! :)

I plan on finally maybe organizing and arranging the shelving around here. And we should think about where to hang this stuff. I am having a small housewarming party not this Friday, but the Friday after...a good kick in the butt to do that kind of boring housework stuff. Hahah. I need those kicks in the butt.

Lots of plans. 

Well, thanks for reading! See ya soon I'm sure. Hopefully with some crochet goodness? :)

a million other things

I should be exactly one thing: studying for a test. And instead, I am doing a million other things. Isn't it annoying when you're annoyed by your own lack of interest and concentration?

I am so interested in practicing different f-stops and exposures with my camera. Ya know, still life photography. 

I've been really inspired by Xiaolu of 6 bittersweets. Great photography and food for thought about food photography, good recipes too! I would like to practice and play with the camera! Not study!

I should do the dishes, vacuum, wash laundry, clean, organize closets... Ya know, anything but study something boring.

I want so badly to crochet any of my WIPs or better yet, start a new one!! 

I love pinterest. I would much rather spend all day pinning cool ideas and recipes. Much rather. (look for me: annelil)

I have bananas that are ripe... and everything else necessary to bake banana bread.

But instead, let me sit here and search for bachelor's thesis topics and read online nursing journals. Yes, this is almost like studying, but not really studying the actual topic. 

I have the worst habit of procrastinating!

Hopefully your Tuesday isn't as frustrating as mine! 

Thanks for reading! :)

Small crocheted happiness

Good morning all! I love having Monday mornings off! It's my second one in a row, being a third year student is great! We have the most wonderful laid back schedule this fall. It's simply awesome! :) The sun is shining, the coffee is plentiful and I can spend all day crocheting if I want to. (or I could do some school work now instead of later...lol)

Here is some randomness before the crochet reveal...

Simple pleasures of owning a cat: kitty paws. They are toooooooo cute!

Simple pleasures of a beautiful old white bed with gorgeous pillows. I loves. (both the pillows were flea market finds and there is my strawberry!)

My Saturday's work... I finished it Sunday morning when the hubby left to work on his mushroom table (coming along nicely!). It kind of reminds us of a dreamcatcher because of the circular shape, doesn't it? It is really the bottom of a basket that the naughty bear-boy ripped up in protest of us leaving last week. Nothing nicer than coming home to a pile of sticks. (Grrr.) The shape of the bottom caught my eye though and I salvaged it into this! The patterns are from Lesley Stanfield's books, the mushroom is her cep mushroom pattern but I used white and red instead of browns. I really ended up liking the sunflower, even though when I have paged through the book before I've thought it's ugly. I gave it a shot though because I wanted a fall flower and it seemed right for the basket bottom too, glad I did! :)

The circles weren't included in the pattern, but I made them by making a magic ring and then crocheting 4-6 sc into it and then closing with a ss. It worked out rather well.

Here's how it looked after it was hung on our front door! The picture's not the best, but you get the idea!

I also crocheted this Irish rose, pretty isn't it. I just don't know what I should do with them so I gave this one to my mom to admire. She loves pink!

This is my failed half apple. I spent probably 2 hours trying and unravelling this. I swear I must have started over at least 5 times. I was SOOO MAD. I could not figure this out for the life of me. I can't decide if it's the pattern or me with the problem! It kept coming out lopsided like seen below. Anyone have any tips where I went wrong???

I would have crocheted more yesterday, but we took a trip to Ikea for some dishes and more importantly, a bathroom cabinet. We've had an awful time with this bathroom, as in hate is mild expression for my feelings towards it, but things are starting to look up with it. 

White dishes --> better looking food --> better food photography. :)

We bought the Fullen cabinet because while the Lillangen model had a door and was slightly larger, 39e beats 99e in the eyes of poor students any day of the week. If we owned this apartment and reaped the benefits of home improvements, I'd have gotten the god morgon series, which you drill into the wall (speaking of drilling, see the old holes they have yet to come and patch argh), it costs 199e though! Way out of our budget!

For the open shelves, I have to look for some cool tins and containers for things like q-tips and cotton balls. Hopefully I find something nice in the flea markets!

Having a kitty in my lap cuddling is making it rather hard to type (one-handed), so I think I'll end it here for today! Thanks for reading! :)

Happy Monday!