We made it!

It's finally here.  The last day before Spring Break!  Come Monday we will be on a plane to Florida.  Hallelujah!

 

 

Words cannot explain how much I am in need of sunshine.

 

I am not sure if I ever told you this, but we got our round trip airline tickets for $350 total.  That includes our luggage.  AMAZING

 

I also found a studio condo to rent for the week for $777.  ALSO AMAZING!  And bonus points because the condo is actually nice.  It's on the bay, not the beach, but it was recently remodeled.  I am still trying to figure out why it was so cheap.  There's probably a catch, but I'm okay with it!

 

Now I just have to get through this day.  We have some major evaluation stuff due today, which I am very behind on, and the kids are going to be crazy!

 

It's also casual day.  Do leggings and a sweatshirt count as casual?

 

 

I am definitely not OCD

Bloggers tend to have this reputation for being obsessed with organization and cleanliness. 

 

Cleaning schedules

Closet organization
Hand sanitizer

Highly organized blogs

Blog posts for days and months ahead of time

Planners

A love for doing dishes or cleaning toilets

Living minimalist lives

Living on a budget

 

Don't get me wrong, I have an Erin Condren Life Planner.  I once made a cleaning schedule, but I never once used it.  It does not bother me to have dishes in the sink.  I'm a teacher that rarely uses hand sanitizer (unless I just pumped gas).  I'm not scared of germs, in fact I don't give a second though about holding a kid's hand.  Maybe that is why I have a cold?  But it seems to me that people who obsess over germs are the ones who are sick the most!

I write my blog posts the same day that I post them (gasp!).  I have to run out of clothes before I do my laundry, and sometimes it sits in the washing machine for too long, so I have to re-wash it.  And I definitely do NOT live on a budget. 

 

Do I like to be organized? Yes.

 

Do I like to have clean clothes and a shiny kitchen? Yes.

 

Would I like to have all my blog posts written out ahead of time?  Yes.

 

But it's just not me.  And I don't lose sleep over it.

 

I forget things. 

 

I get tired.

 

Cleaning makes me a little grumpy. 

 

And I cannot think of one thing that I obsess over.

 

 

St. Patrick's Day Party Recap

Hey remember me?  I took a little break last week.  It ended up being a super busy week at school!  We also had a party at our house this past weekend, so all my extra hours were dedicated to party-prep and cleaning.   

 

The party was in celebration of my Leprechaun boyfriend.  He is a St. Patrick's Day baby, so we always have a big party to celebrate. 

 

I have to say, I was not as good of a party planner this year.  That is not to say that the party wasn't a success, but it wasn't as Pinterest-y as I had hoped for.  Buffalo Wild Wings catered, which was a huge hit!    And the weather was nice enough to attempt a fire in our fire pit.  I say attempt because our wood was bad and we couldn't ever get it started.  There's always next year!

 

There are few things that Kelly loves more than cookie cake.  I wanted to make one this year, but he insisted that I buy one.  My baking skills are sometimes lacking.  He didn't want to take any chances!

 



We had plenty of ridiculous St. Patrick's Day novelty items, including a sequin bow tie and my personal favorite, a glittery beard.

 



 

Our friends Megan and Reed did not hesitate to get dressed up!

 

Sunday we drove up to Kelly's grandparents' to celebrate his birthday with his family!

 

We had tickets to an Icemen game for Sunday night, and after driving back home, we were so close to not going!  Apparently everyone else had the same thoughts because the place was not even half-full.  It was snowing outside so I think that kept people away.  It wasn't the most fun game we have ever been to (they were down the whole game), but it was good time considering tickets were free through Kelly's work.

 

To celebrate tonight we are getting carry out sushi and fried rice.  Nothing says St. Patrick's Day like Japanese food right?

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  And Happy Birthday Kelly!

 

 

 

 

 

A Quick and Easy Cocktail Recipe

Happy Friday!  We made it!  This week actually went by really fast, probably because we had a snow day Monday and a delay on Tuesday.  I am so excited for this weekend because I am getting together with my favorite girls for a girls' night!  We are going out to dinner tomorrow, and hopefully finding somewhere that will allow us to dance to 80's music and act like fools. 

 

I am pretty sure  I use this picture for every girls night that we have, but it's just such an epic picture.

 

I have the perfect cocktail recipe for our girls night!

 

 

 

I made it last weekend when we went to Indy, aaaand YUM. 

 

It is fruity and delicious, and could even be a breakfast drink if you are wanting to start early.  Plus it's super easy to make so you don't have to stand there and mix drinks for everyone!

 

The drink is called a Cereal Killer, and all you have to do is mix equal parts of Three Olives Loopy Vodka (how cute is that bottle?) and Rum Chata. 

 

 

 

That's it. 

 

Last weekend my brother said it was "Elyse-strong", which apparently means that it's not strong for me, but it is for everyone else.  Oops.

 

If it is too strong, you could always add some milk to it.  I also liked to add lots of ice, and let the ice melt a little.

 

It tastes EXACTLY like fruit loops.

 

See?

 

Breakfast drink!

 

Have an awesome weekend!

Better for You Chicken Jambalaya

I hope you had a very gluttonous Fat Tuesday!  How did you celebrate? I celebrated by making some Jambalaya!  Jambalaya is something that my mom always made for us, not just on Fat Tuesday, but year-round.  And as you know, I am a huge fan of spicy food so this is one of my favorites!

 

Traditionally Jambalaya calls for seafood, such as shrimp and lots of butter or bacon fat.  This recipe has chicken (because my mom is allergic to shrimp), turkey sausage (instead of regular sausage) and vegetable oil (because is has less fat than bacon grease).  It also uses brown rice instead of white rice.

 

So grab some Mardi Gras beads and cook with me!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's what you will need:

 

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 boneless chicken breasts

1/4 cup flour

2 chopped onions

1 chopped bell pepper

2/3 chopped celery

3 cups water

1 lb. turkey sausage, sliced

1 sml. can diced tomatoes

1 tsp. salt and pepper

1 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. rosemary

1/4 tsp. thyme

2 cups brown rice

 

Heat oil in a non-stick pan.  Cut chicken into cubes.  Sear chicken in pan until cooked thoroughly.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  Using the same pan, sauté diced onion, green pepper, and celery until translucent.  Add flour to onion, green pepper, and celery mixture.  Let it cook for a minute or two, allowing to flour-y taste to cook out.  Add chicken, sausage, and tomatoes.  

 

 

Add water and bring to a boil.

 

Add spices and rice, and let it simmer for 35-40 minutes or until the rice is tender.

 

With less fat from the turkey sausage and vegetable oil, and more whole grains from the brown rice, this is one Mardi Gras treat that you don't have to feel bad about!





I live under a rock

So apparently the Oscars were on last night, and I didn't even know.  It didn't really even matter either because the only movie I had heard of on there was Frozen, and I haven't even seen it.  I didn't even know half the actors.  Hence the title of this post.

 

Onto my weekend recap:

 

Friday night we packed up the dog and headed up to Indy to spend the weekend with my brother and sister, despite the impending snow storm situation.  I wasn't going to let the weather keep me from seeing my long lost siblings!

 

We got there late, but there was still time for dinner and drinks at Matt the Miller's Tavern.

 

I sipped on Blueberry Basil Limoncello Martinis.  So yum.

 

 

 

The Shrimp and Grits were also quite delicious!

 

 

My sister and I.

 

 

 

 

Lauren, Whitney and I with our drinks!

 

 

Sneaky little snapchats...

 

The next morning we left the boys and went to a cycling class, followed by coffee and toast at Eggshell Bistro.  It allowed for plenty of time to girl talk because the service was turtle-speed.  I guess this place is all about "the experience".  The atmosphere was so quaint and adorable, and the coffee was good, buuuut so slow.  I can't imagine how it would have been if we had actually ordered real food. 

 

After coffee, we headed back to meet the boys for lunch.  I forgot to take pictures of this part.  We went to Sweet and Savory.  This was the point of the weekend where I decided to play "Let's see how many restaurants we can go to in a 24 hour period".

 

After lunch we went to yet another restaurant to meet my friend Emily for drinks.  Kelly wanted to watch the Notre Dame game and we wanted to talk, so this allowed us to do both!  Everyone was happy!  The Bloody Marys were going down smoothly!

 

Which later called for a nap, and a post nap selfie.

 

Since we had already been to four restaurants, we decided to stay in for dinner and drinks on Saturday.  My brother and Whitney made us enchiladas, and I discovered a delicious new drink that I will share later on this week.

 

Sib pic with our +1s.  We tried to get the puppy brother in there but he wasn't really cooperating.

And Dierks... all alone.  I think he needs a mate!

 



 

Unfortunately we had to cut the weekend short because of the snow storm.  We left after dinner on Saturday night.  I may have cried on the way home.  I just hate being separated from my favorite people!  I think it was a good choice though.  We ended up getting enough snow and ice to cancel school today and have a two hour delay tomorrow! 

 

Oy Old Man Winter! Enough already!

 

Happy Monday (almost Tuesday)!