Flavor of the day. . . . .

Coconut Ice Cream - an absolutely creamy and delightful treat. Kind of like a frozen Mounds bar if you would throw in a few chocolate chips.

• 1 c. milk
• 14 oz cream of coconut
• 1-1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1-1/2 c. coconut

Mix liquids and pour into icecream freezer adding the coconut during the last 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Felipe and I turned in our rental application today for the house on Springfield. I'm hoping they will pave a little path to the backyard and I have permission to stop by anytime and plant flowers. Except I have no clue what is easy to grow or when is the best time to plant. Advice (and gardening help!) would be MUCH appreciated! I'm definitely going to have pansies and petunias, but I'm also wanting something that comes up yearly. Perhaps irises. And then definitely a few tomato plants - yum!

Cash, casa, & compromise

Grown-up things I've done this week:

1. Met with a financial planner. The guy works primarily with residents starting out and comes highly recommended from multiple classmates. I figure a little bit of advice is good. The sooner we start saving the more comfortable our retirement will be. I'm thinking trips to europe, a cabin by the lake, visits to the spa. . . .I want to retire in style!
2. Discovered our first rental house. Well it hasn't actually been found yet, but after checking about about a dozen houses and three apartments we have it narrowed down to two. A rather ugly tan house with a fenced yard and a cute blue house with a garage. Both houses have washer & dryer and basements which is a plus. The blue house is closer, but has teeny tiny closets and one bedroom is miniscule. The tan house is about 50 square feet larger, has twice the closet space, and a beautifully tiled kitchen and bathroom. Plus, the neighbors are super nice med students. We're leaning towards the ugly tan one where you park in the front yard. I think once the grass grows back green and I hang a few plants from with a nice big pot of pansies on the porch it will have potential for cuteness.
3. Found my wedding band, a thin and dainty band studded with tiny sapphires. Not only is it within budget, it is also gorgeous and looks fabulous with my current rock. Love it!
4. Became a family. Miss Elo and Felipe are FINALLY getting along. I think they both came to terms with the fact that they each hold special places in my heart and there is enough love to go around.

To arkansas and back!

Just got back from a lovely trip down to Arkansas to visit my parents. The four days flew by. Who knew Arkansas had so much to offer?

• We got there on Saturday afternoon where we had a light lunch and checked out some HDTV's at Sam's Club.
• Sunday included a killer breakfast and a bit of hiking. Evidently I'm not too good at roughing it:) We came home to an amazing dinner of pork loin and baked potatoes - they are turning me into a bona fide meat eater!
• Monday was a trip to David's Bridal where I tried on 8 dresses. That's hard work! They were all pretty but none of them made me feel quite like a princess. We also took Boomer down to Lake Fayetteville for a nice walk. The paved trails were much more to my liking:)
• Sadly Tuesday was our last day, but we hit up one last bridal salon where I found the most AMAZING dress ever! Unfortunately I cannot describe it here, but lets just say it was GORGEOUS and I felt like a princess.
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cooking meat for the very first time. . . . .and naughty elo story #1

Yesterday I decided soup was what I needed to put some meat on my frail bones. And what better way to do it than with a meat soup? So, after searching the internet I came upon a recipe for white chili that got 5 stars! It had a somewhat interesting blend of spices, but I figured you couldn't go wrong with 5 stars so I decided to give it a go. First I assembled the odd-assorted spices: cumin, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne, and white pepper: I think the highlight of the recipe was using my new immersion blender to blend up some of the beans with homemade broth for the base:
And the final result (I didn't want to zoom too close so you could still see how cute my kitchen is with my 4 little guardian angels and yellow teapot!):
Unfortunately it looked better than it tasted. I think with some sour cream and corn chips it would have been quite tasty, but after a small bowl (for Felipe) and half a bowl (for me) we decided some happy hour appetizers were in order instead. This little place down the street has the best spinach artichoke dip for half-price during happy hour.

And now for naughty elo story #1. Miss Elo has always had a thing for shoes. She loves to smell them and roll around in them and just goes nuts. Pretty much they function as catnip. She's a girls girl, what can I say? Recently she has begun to love to bite - wonder where she learned that Felipe? So when you combine her love of shoes and her love of biting you get a shoe eating cat!


And of course before I could get mad she did this "i'm too cute to be in trouble" pose and I immediately forgave her. I think my pink flip-flops are still holding a grudge:)
And for reference, I don't keep trash on the floor. She's lying on top of her favorite cardboard envelope that she hangs out on top of all day long. I could have saved a TON of money if instead of buying her cat toys and condos I would have just given her cardboard envelopes and boxes. What a princess!

what's going on in my world

So many fun (and not so fun) things going on here in Kansas City.

1. Felipe is back from Garden City, and with a job offer no less. Not quite sure that I want to live in a town that has such a strong odor, but a job is a job.
2. I finished one little Ugg booty to go with the Baby Yoda at (that still needs felted, and really does have 2 ears). Felipe even approves, which is a lot coming from a non-knitting boy:)
3. I have a lovely case of the good old-fashioned stomach flu that I am slowly recovering from. I haven't been sick like this since I was 6 and its definitely not any better as an adult - blech! But miss elo has not left my side except to check on me when I decided the hallway floor outside the bathroom would make a comfortable (and close) bed.
4. My MPH Thesis research has been accepted into the KAFP Annual Meeting this June. (The Kansas Academy of Family Practitioners). Winner of the poster contest gets $1,000! And its all going towards my dream wedding dress:)
5. I have a delightful new recipe to share, Pineapple Sherbert:

• Combine 1 qt buttermilk, 20 oz crushed pineapple (drained), 1 c. sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla. Pour into icecream freezer. When almost frozen add 1/2 c. chopped walnuts. Freeze until solid and enjoy!

bird-watching & a bath

Watching the little baby birds enjoying the lovely spring weather: A quick bath. . . . .
Looks can be so deceiving. She appears sweet as sugar but is actually quite naughty.

p.s. Finished the yoda hat tonight, I'll post new pictures once I felt it -- I'm on to some matching baby Ugg booties.

Elo the smello

I just love the "no paws" look. Isn't she cute! Just looking at her you would never believe ALL the naughty things she does.

She has been incredibly affectionate lately, climbinb on my lap and purring like crazy. She is going to be SO disappointed when Felipe comes home next week.

knitting fun!

The brownies were a hit at knitty - once I find the recipe buried in my garbage I will post it for everyone to make. Very easy and very yummy!

Knitting was quite productive last night - I finished my neckwarmer for miss annie's birthday:I also made good progress on the baby yoda hat for Randy & Hannah's baby. Only one more ear and several cycles through the wash to go!

Yummies!

Each week, me and the ladies take turns hosting knitty and this week its me. The other ladies are AMAZING little bakers, they really should have their own show on the food network "Knits & Bits". Anyways, here is my best effort - Brownie Bottom Cheesecake! (I'll let you know how it goes.)

dress shopping: day 1

Today is my first "official" day of dress shopping. The 1,000 hours logged on my computer cybershopping do not count as I was unable to try on the dress or see them in person. Not real dress=not real shopping. My future mother-in-law and I are off to Bridal Extraordinaire. I've heard they treat you like a princess so I am SUPER excited. So excited that I woke up at 6:45 this morning ready to go. Kind of like Christmas, though I'm sad I missed my one opportunity to actually sleep in.

Dress shopping Day #2 is scheduled for next Sunday with my girlfriends - we're going to try to check out Group USA at the Great Mall.

Dress shopping Day #3 is with mom in ARKANSAS! I'm curious to see what brides wear in Arkansas. . . . . .lol.

The most gorgeous dresses I have EVER seen are from Waters & Waters, if you have a free minute you should totally check out their website.

Unfortunately I can not post a single picture to the blog, so that the fiancee does not get a glimpse of "the dress."

Love you all!

New Things

While it seems like every waking second is consumed by searching for the perfect dress and planning the perfect wedding I have had time to do some shopping. Eloise used to despise her plastic kitty crate so in an effort to get her out of the apartment Felipe and I picked out a new kitty carrier complete wtih faux leopard and the stinky smell of faux leather! She actually hangs out in it regularly! (That's miss elo to the right.)
She likes it SO much she decided to take a taste, or two, or three. . . . . . . I cleaned out one of my closests and while dropping off some treasures at the thrifty I came upon the most perfect blue wreath. I never thought I would be a wreath person until yesterday. I just adore it all nice and blue!
And then at my other favorite thrifty I found a little red Ann Tayler belted safari skirt suit! It's super cute on. The belt hits right above the waist, the jacket hits at the hip, and the skirt is right above the knee. I just love it, but am not quite sure where I will be able to wear it.Ignore the messy bun, its raining outside and the weather ruined my cute sophisticated hairdo I spent all day creating. Instead, check out my new highlights! Two colors: auburn and caramel. So fun!
Off to scout more dresses and wedding locations. . . . . .

ciao!