Flying

My favorite part of being home so far (wait, do I still call it 'home'? Or is it 'back where I'm from' or what?) was by far on Tuesday when we went flying. J's sister and her bf, who is also a pilot, took us up to Milwaukee where we ate dinner. Then we flew along the shore of Lake Michigan down to Chicago and around the city.

The plane we took was a Piper Aero, which is super tiny and fun. Seriously, the smaller the better with those things. I hadn't been up in a VERY long time, so my nerves definitely came back on takeoff. Then I remembered how fun it is and was able to relax and enjoy myself.

Chicago skyline featuring Lake Michigan, Grant Park, Millennium Park, the Sears Tower, Prudential Building, Trump Tower, and many more

Back in the heyday, J used to have a little Cessna. On our first date we did the same thing over downtown and it was SO magical. Seriously, what more could a girl ask for? Let's be honest. I was about to turn 17, I had a mouth full of braces, and a major crush. J was handsome, hilarious, super sweet, way older, and even more out of my league. I was smitten as a kitten.

I was feeling all warm and sentimental reminiscing about our first date and how it was love at first sight. I remember I wanted so badly to rip his headset off so I could kiss him right then and there! When we first started dating we would fly everywhere, just for the hell of it. Some of my favorite memories together are from the plane or the airport.

The Sears or Willis Tower, depends on what generation you're from.

How lucky am I? Not everybody gets the chance to fly, let alone around the most beautiful city in the world.

I also have an incredible video that puts the pictures to shame, but until I can get the card reader I need for my new camera, pics will have to do.

New Years Glitter Gradient Nails

I realize I have skipped the necessary Christmas update, but I'm anxious to show y'all my nails for NYE. Now,  I should explain how I really have no plans. In a perfect world we go downtown Chicago and do the fabulous thing. But the night just might end up with me being drunk with my boyfriend in a random basement. But I promise you I'm gonna look damn good doing it. I have a gorgeous Juicy Couture charcoal silk dress, black lace tights, and purple suede Nine West pumps I've been dying to wear. So of course I needed a pretty manicure for this.

Oh my god my cuticles are AWFUL! Do they really look like that? And I got polish on my skin. Ugh. Why can't they look like my favorite girl from The Polishaholic? Her pic is below with the color I used since I didn't have it with me.

Anyways, this was super easy- I started with two coats of OPI Burlesque collection's Tease-y Does It. Honestly there were SO many colors I could have chosen that would look fabulous, but I loved the sexy vamp-y look of this.

That's what gorgeous nails look like! Jen, show me your ways

Next, I took one of those cheap-o sponge eyeshadow applicators and dipped it in my new NYX polish, which I purchased for $1.49. It's an exact dupe for OPI Serena Williams collection's Servin Up Sparkle and I was sooo excited when I discovered it.

Score!

So once you get some on the applicator, dab it on the top half of your nails. VERY IMPORTANT: make sure your base color has dried first. Then once the glitter coat has dried, get some more polish on a sponge and concentrate it on the tips. Let dry and slap on a top coat. Gorgeous!

Home For The Holidays

Well, I'm back in Chicagoland for Christmas.

It sucks.

There is NO SNOW even though it is super cold.

Also, the Illinois tollway is doubling their tolls. I have a lot to say about that, but I'll save it for another time when I'm not so furious I'm ready to start a riot.

All in all, after being back for less than two days I have remembered why I left in the first place, and I'm ready to head back to Tennessee.

I am, however, looking forward to spending Christmas with J's family, and ringing in the new year downtown. Mostly because I have majorly cute outfits picked out. And that just makes everything better.

My stylist, aka Nikki, will be cutting major length off my hair tonight and doing a color I've never done before... I CAN'T WAIT! I haven't had a hair cut since September and I am soo sick of what I've got.

Pics of hair and nails to follow.

Chicken Enchiladas

My dearest friend Chelsea Lee is a Mexican. Not really. She’s Caucasian. But her grandmother is Mexican. Therefore, Chelsea does not speak any Spanish, but she sure can cook some mean ethnic food. She was kind enough to teach me this recipe, which my boyfriend loves very very much. It’s easy to keep the ingredients stocked in your pantry for one of those days where you don’t know what to make. Plus, they taste so yummy and authentic, Haley once described it as, “It tastes like you cooked it in your cast iron skillet over open flame in your hut with dirt floors while your 7 children ran around chasing the chicken whose head you have to cut off.”

I think that’s her way of saying it’s good.

Anyways,

Measurements are not super specific here. That’s the beauty of it. You can make this your own style.

1 package chicken breast.

2 10 oz cans enchilada sauce. (They come in hot, medium, and mild. I use 1 hot and 1 medium because dear boyfriend enjoys it spicy. This is up to you.)

Packet taco seasoning.

Can of corn. (Optional.) I like Green Giant Mexicorn because it has some red and green peppers in it.

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Vegetable oil

Corn tortillas. (The small kind. Ole brand is the best for this, but good luck finding them. Mission is good. So are Aldi brand. One time I got some other brand and they kept falling apart. Not cool.)

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Mexican or Taco shredded cheese

Trim and boil your chicken.

Shred it. The finer your shred, the better. Don’t be afraid to use your fingers here. We’re getting down and dirty. But wash your hands first! We’re not getting THAT dirty.

Place chicken, 1 can sauce, half packet seasoning, and corn in pan. Cook over low/medium until the chicken soaks up all the sauce. No need to stir too often, you’re just letting it simmer and hang out. This is how it looks when it’s done.

In a separate pan, fill to about an inch with vegetable oil. Heat it over medium until it makes a couple little bubbles. Watch out, because if you make it too hot it will pop and burn you! Ouch. Trust me.

Drop your tortilla in, for about 30 seconds. You know it’s time to flip it over when it begins to rise and bubble up like a pancake. Use tongs to turn. Don’t overcook, or they will get crunchy! I should have gotten a picture of this. I was on the phone. As usual. You’re gonna want to make a big stack of these.

They’ll look like this. Not too dark, ok? Layer each one on a paper towel to soak the grease.

Now, fill each guy with a couple spoonfuls of your chicken mixture. Not too full, or they wont roll up nicely. If you didn’t have much chicken, you can stretch it but filling them up less.

Roll them up and place them ‘tab-side’ down. Line your little enchiladas up in the pan. Cover in a can of sauce. Or less than a can, it’s really up to you. I like to douse mine but SOME people think they’re too saucy. SOME people are boring. Also, I was trying to fit a lot in this little dish. You don’t have to squeeze them together so much.

Cover with a hefty amount of cheese. We love cheese. Being born so close to Wisconsin and all, I think it’s in our blood.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

YAY! Homemade enchiladas. Serve with some Mexican rice, chips and salsa, and Chelsea’s homemade flour tortillas. Maybe she can teach you about those one day. 

Beer Bread

This bread is SUPER easy. I really mean it. It’s delicious. Anybody can make it. It goes with everything. And I bet you already have the ingredients. What are you waiting for?

3 cups flour, sifted. (All Purpose works just fine here, I promise. I used Gold Medal’s “Better For Bread” flour and it turned out even better than before)

¼ cup sugar           

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspon salt

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1 can beer. (12 oz) Room temperature. (If you want a strong “beer flavor”, use a hearty dark beer like Sam Adam’s Boston Lager. For a more subtle flavor use a normal kind, as long as it’s not “light”.)

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Stick of butter, melted.

Okay, ready?

Combine all your dry ingredients. It’s very important you sift your flour; otherwise it will end up with a hard, brick-like crust. You can really just do this with a fork or a whisk, no need to get fancy. Also, I added Parsley here. You can experiment with whatever kind of herbs or seasoning you want to put in. If you want to do cheese, stir that in after the next step.

This is the flour I find works best. But up until my discovery, All-Purpose was doing me good.

Pour in your beer. Mix.

VERY IMPORTANT: Do not over-stir. You really just need to get the flour wet. If you see dry flour on the edges of the bowl or whatever, don’t worry about it. If you stir too much you will also get that yucky brick we were talking about.

At this point if you are adding cheese, stir it in

Grease your loaf pan. I like to rub it with butter.

Dump your dough in. It will be very wet. No need to smooth it out or anything either.

Pour the melted butter all over the top. This gives it a nice, scrumptious, buttery crust.

Pop it in your oven at 375 for an hour.

Take the bread out and let it cool for 20 minutes. If you cut too soon the middle might not be done yet. I know it smells good. Your patience will be rewarded.

See? I told you it was easy.

A Day in the Life

This morning when the alarm went off I found myself wrapped up in the sheet, burrito-style. J asked me to come snuggle for warmth before it was time to get out.

"I can't," I said. "I'm trapped. Like a Chilean miner."

He looked at me, confused as to why I was laughing. "Huh?" He said.

I didn't get it... I thought my joke was witty. Then I remembered I was talking to the guy who just last night asked me what the Occupy protests were. Clearly he didn't know a thing about the Chilean Miners trapped underground for two months last year.

"Wait, you don't remember? It was big news last fall."

"No, but I'm going to get you back."

Get me back for what? I guess I made him feel stupid for his lack of knowledge of current events.

Now all day he has been referencing imaginary "Peruvian mermaids" and "Austrian mailmen."

Sigh.

Chicken Parmesan

While shopping at Aldi, J picked up a frozen chicken Parmesan meal. Wait. Before I start I need to inform you about Aldi. If you haven’t been to one, I highly suggest checking it out. Back in Chicagoland there’s one in every town. It is seriously the best place to shop for groceries. Everything is “store brand,” but is identical (if not better) than brand name. And for about half the price. Aldi also owns Trader Joe’s, so that gives you a good idea about their quality. When I moved to Auburn I was devastated I had to dish out so much money at Walmart for my food bill. The closest Aldi was in Birmingham or Atlanta. When we moved to Clarksville we were thrilled to have one back!

Anyways, when J wanted to get this frozen preservative hormone filled crap, I laughed and told him to put it back. I could make that from scratch and it would taste a thousand times better.

So, I picked up a few ingredients and set out to prove my claims. Let me show you how!

2 chicken breasts, halved

1 egg

1-2 cups breadcrumbs

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

8 slices mozzarella cheese

Half jar plain marinara sauce

Parmesan cheese (I’m a firm believer in the refrigerated grated kind. Not the powder Kraft stuff)

First, trim the chicken and pound it out to about half its original thickness. How much you pound it is completely up to you. The thinner it becomes, the more surface area there is to bread and be yummy, so thump away. I didn’t have any utensils to help me with this, so I went old school and used my fist on the counter. 

Next, whisk your egg and and dip your chicken. Make sure to get a good coating.

Cover the breasts in breadcrumbs. I used plain, but I think next time I’ll go with Italian for a little more flavor.

Heat your olive oil in a skillet. I made the mistake of putting too much oil in and having to dump some. You just want a small amount to brown up your crumbs.

Cook the chicken a few minutes on each side until it starts looking dark golden and real pretty. Don’t worry about the center of the meat not being done, because you’re going to bake it for more than enough time.

Enlist the help of a Border Collie to clean up your crumbs

Now lay your chicken in a baking dish. I’m sure a 9x13 pan would be appropriate, but at the moment our supplies are limited. As you can see, they wouldn’t fit, so I had to use two pans. Ugh.

Use a single layer, unlike my picture =)

Layer your slices of mozzarella over the chicken.

Then pour the sauce over. Next time, I’ll use more mozzarella and less sauce. We really like cheese. Sprinkle a hefty amount of Parmesan over the sauce.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese looks niceeee and bubbly.

Serve with a side of spaghetti.

The verdict? It was undoubtedly better than that yucky frozen stuff. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the bread coating and cheese was so yummy. Jon said it might possibly be his new favorite meal. Success! 

Surprise!

So, things have been pretty busy the past month. Mostly because... drumroll please... we moved into our new house! It has kind of been a secret during the whole process, so I suppose now that we're all settled in I'm allowed to talk about it. It's a gorgeous 3 bedroom ranch with a huge backyard in Clarksville, right outside of post. You'll definitely be learning more about it as we work on each room. The previous owners definitely had, um, interesting taste to say the least. Each room is painted the most unattractive color, and while the house is still pretty new, there are a lot of outdated touches. (Mauve floral border in the master bath, for example.) Needless to say, we have a lot of ideas and are super excited to make it our own! At the moment what we have for furniture consists of a mattress, two lumpy brown couches, and a folding table and chairs. After Christmas in Chicago we're bringing a lot of stuff down in a truck. I'm looking forward to that day. 

Our sweet little home

Our first project to tackle has been the guest bathroom. We figured it's the smallest, so it will be good practice. Well, turns out it's getting the most attention out of any room. When it is finished, this little guy is going to be the gem of the whole house. Big plans are in store. Sneak preview of the before:

Taken when the previous owners still lived here. Because I would not buy an octopus rug.

I wonder how long it will really take us to get everything to our liking. So far it has taken longer than expected for what we've accomplished so far, but it has been a lot of fun.

Restless

Unable to sleep, I finally decided to create the blog idea that has continuously been running through my head. Lately I just feel the need to share. Maybe it's due to the lack of friends I have in Middle Tennessee to hang out with and blab to. (More on that later.) And I have the compulsion to continuously inform the public of every detail of my life.

So anyways, I think I'm going to call it a night once I get a fancy layout going here. It's pouring rain and the sound is so soothing.

I'm betting most blogs start off by their writer not being able to sleep and just making something. Or else they were homework assignments.

-Rachel