June 30, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Keepin’ It Real: June 2014

June is done. Over. Never to be seen again. Well, hopefully we will see it again. Just not in this exact form. Except for some trials at the end of the month in which my Mommy Powers were tested (and now I have a super clean closet), it was the most wonderful month over here. It kicked May’s puny little monthly corner and I am ever so grateful. I could not have handled another month like May.

It’s time for “Keepin’ It Real” where I usually show outfit outtakes, but this time I will be highlighting filter comparisons between the real photo and the filtered photo, plus a real moment in my kitchen. If you missed last month’s “Keepin It Real,” you can find it here.

First, there is just something about this story that tugs at my heart strings as a parent. It has continued to be on my mind all month. Especially as I traveled from California to Hawaii in the luxury of the inside of the plane. I think of the terror that young man must have experienced on that airplane. The extreme cold with nowhere to go. And I hope he gets a happy ending.

I added a filter to my new feature, “Interpreting A Dream.” It is a feature where I share a funny dream story. I hope it ends up being disturbing and fun. I recently started using filters on some of my pictures. If I do add a filter in a fashion post, I note it at the bottom.

I honestly did not think the filter had changed it that much until I did this side-by-side comparison today. Wow! And, ugh!

I must still be in Dreamland.

I wanted to show the difference between the original picture and the enhanced picture. Filters are amazing. I had hoped to create a dreamy unreal photo. I wanted to make sure it was noted that the dream Jenni is actually a dream. She will be continued to be featured in that post, but she is not the real me!

Here is another one. We took the originals for this outfit in the shade. My face was shadowed. It was nice to find a filter that could lighten the photo.

Since I use my iPad to do all of my blogging, I am limited to enhancements and edits. I do not even know how to edit a photo, but I do love experimenting with filters. The App I use is called Afterlife. I highly recommend it. I am very challenged when it comes to anything technical and this is very easy.

I love making rice krispie treats. Especially with this recipe. It doesn’t get any easier. They were piled high on my cake stand, but now one day later they are almost all gone. Somebody ate one for lunch, one for dessert AND one for breakfast the next day.

“Eer duern’t know nom nom who is eaemting them nom.”

Cooking tacos in the kitchen. I originally bought that top as a shirt when I was heavier, but now it has become my favorite nightgown. I probably slept in that shirt and put shorts on to make dinner.

This shirt is pretty much my uniform. I am wearing it as I write this. For the second day in a row.

It doesn’t get more real than that.

My mom made me an early birthday present of my very favorite thing: her lasagna! It was the best gift ever. She gifted me the pan, too. Isn’t it great?

Thank you Mom!

So, I made the rice krispie treats above. I gave each of the dogs a tiny piece. Well, Ollie swallowed his without even tasting it. And Murphy waited for Ollie to eat his and then set about guarding his own. This went on for two hours. This is what a punk Murphy is… Ollie was laying there minding his own business and Murphy carried his treat and sprawled out next to him to guard that piece of treat in front of the hungry monster.

Ollie finally left the room.

Murphy finally ate the treat.

It is high drama over here.

Coming Up In July:

Interpreting A Dream: David Beckham Meets My Jelly Roll
My next outfit post going up on Wednesday features this dress. I haven’t named (or written! Doh!) the post yet.
Hulk Hands Part II
Breaking Bread
Living Room Changes

How was your June? Did you make anything? Go anywhere? Do something fun?

June 29, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Moroccan Shag Pillows

The week before we went on vacation, I had stumbled upon a delightful surprise. These Nate Berkus Moroccan Shag Pillows. They are from Target. They are sold out online, however, the website was saying they were sold out when I looked them up right after I purchased them, too. This leads me to believe that some stores might still have them.

I had been wanting these pillows for months. But the day I decided to get them in the middle of May, they were gone. Two weeks later, I found them again. Someone had returned them. I was not going to let them be sold out from under me again.

I love the black and white pattern in the room that is full of color. It is a nice contrast. And the shag effect on them makes them feel soft. I had to replace the pillows that used to be on the chairs. They had become too worn. And the Rabbit Pillows I purchased a few months ago, have been a little dog-handled. I need to fix the pompoms or cut them off completely.

I will say the insert in this pillow is not the best. The pillow is stiff because of that, but for $25, that is to be expected. The pillow does not have a zipper so it is not possible (without some work) to change its insert.

Do you have a thing for pillows? I cannot get enough.

June 28, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Purple Dayz

Who doesn’t want an easy summer? The deeper into summer it gets, the less I want to wear. Nothing says, “easy,” like a maxi skirt. More comfortable than jeans. More covering than shorts.

The best part about a maxi is definitely the breeze around your legs.

I purchased this maxi skirt for a great sale price on Free People (they have a new version here) last year. I have worn it but have never gotten around to blogging about it.

Purple is my least favorite color, but I love the volume of this skirt. And it has grown on me.

I did not want to be bogged down with too many accessories so I simply paired it with my Anthropologie Necklace from earlier this year.

The sandals were a killer deal that I scored in December. The were originally around $130 and I paid $23. I usually wait for a sale on most of my clothing and accessories. In fact, this whole outfit head to toe was obtained for $128.

I plan on wearing this skirt a lot this summer. A good rule of thumb is to buy your summer clothes in the fall and your winter clothes in the spring. You will get the best deals that way.

Do you wear maxis or shorts in the summer? Are you with me on wearing less accessories in the heat?

These photos were edited using the App Afterlife’s Equinox Filter.

June 27, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream

The summers of my youth could be described in three flavors. Grape juice, cheddar cheese and homemade honey vanilla ice cream. Being from a long line of beekeepers meant that my family had learned to incorporate the very nectar of their labors into almost every food they ate.

I have mentioned that as a young child, a spoonful of honey was a snack. A few drops of pollen, a special treat.

But nothing compared to my grandma’s honey ice cream. And nothing ever will.

I have tried to replicate it the best I could. I also wanted to make it a bit less rich. I believe my grandmother used mostly cream. I decided to use half milk. Half cream.

If you have never had honey ice cream, well, I don’t know if you should try it now. You will never go back. It is that good.

Seriously knees-dropping-to-the-ground-as-you-pay-homage-to-a-passing-bee good.

The person who invented the saying “you’re the bee’s knees,” may or may not have been referring to this phenomenon after just having eaten honey ice cream.

I mean, that makes sense right?

Well, it makes more sense than comparing someone to bee’s knees. Which, while they are quite cute and fuzzy for knees, do not come close to comparing to this treat.

Let’s make some heaven!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup honey
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Caviar from one vanilla bean
5 egg yolks

Directions:

Pour your milk and cream into a large pot on the stove. Add your honey. Turn heat to medium-low.

While that is heating up, separate five egg yolks. Whisk the egg yolks for two minutes continuously. Or bust out your stand mixer if you have one. And let it do the work for you on medium speed for two minutes.

Add the caviar of a vanilla bean to the steeping milk mixture. Whisk. When milk mixture comes to a light boil, turn heat to low. Very slowly add a ladleful (about 1/2 a cup) to the egg yolks while you whisk them. Now add that mixture back into the hot milk mixture. With a wooden spoon, stir continuously until the mixture begins to thicken. This should be about three minutes.

Turn heat off. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Add vanilla extract. Stir.

Cover bowl and refrigerate at least two hours to overnight.

Follow your ice cream maker’s churning instructions. For my machine, I simply dump in the chilled ingredients.

Freeze your ice cream in a freezer-safe container. And then indulge the next day. I like mine covered in Trader Joe’s Fudge Sauce.

I warn you. You will never look at vanilla ice cream the same way again.

Or a bee for that matter.

Now let’s get some padding for those knees.

*I adapted the vanilla ice cream recipe that came with my Cuisinart Ice-100 (a super fancy name for a big ol’ ice cream maker. The link is an affiliate link) to incorporate honey. Seriously, next time your husband makes the brilliant mistake of not asking for anything for Christmas, you might want to get ~~him~~ one of those babies. I might love it more than David Beckham.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

Month: June 2014

Keepin’ It Real: June 2014

Moroccan Shag Pillows

Purple Dayz

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream