May 8, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Paper Straws

Folks. I have a problem. We can joke about. Pretend it is a silly thing. A small thing.

But it is getting a bit out of hand.

It is kind of my habit or need, if you will, to have a supply of every possible thing. Imaginable. Just in case. You never know.

“Just in case. You never know.” That is the mantra of my life, by the way. In one word it can be summed up to: ~~greed~~ paranoia.

I have always been a Straw Freak. I bet you didn’t know there was such a thing. Well there is. Here I am. “Nice to meet you.” I cannot drink out of a glass without a straw. I make weird slurping noises. It is like I have been drinking out of puddles all of my life. My lips cannot form properly onto the glass.

I am sure at this point you are crossing off the word “straw” in Straw Freak.

I don’t blame you.

Also. I cannot drink water with a straw. Or milk (unless the milk is from a donut shop in a small container purchased on the way to the airport between the hours of five and seven thirty in the morning. Jealous of my husband now?). It is simply not done. Sends shivers down my spine, it does.

If I am at a restaurant, I always grab extra ones. Especially at Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf. Their straws are the absolute best. They are big. They are purple. They live in my purse where I can stroke them daily.

Shhhhhh!

So, I started seeing these gorgeous paper straws popping up all over the place. And the Need Beast in my heart grew.

I finally caved and purchased some hot pink paper straws from Amazon.
.

But the Need Beast was not satisfied.

So I bought a small pack of twenty yellow polkadot and stripe ones.

But he longed for more.

He wanted. All. Of. The. Colors.

RRRROOOOOAAAARRRRR!

But I did not want to pay for them. Well, the other day Anthropologie had free shipping on anything. That’s right. Anything. Do you want to know what I bought?

Clothes?

Nope.

Shoes?

Nope.

Jewelry?

Nope.

Shocker: I bought straws.

Eight boxes of fabulous clearanced paper straws. Eight boxes of 144 count straws (seriously, the best price I have found is on Anthropologie. Who knew?). This, combined with my previous Amazon purchases, left me with a total of 1,196 straws.

My husband was very impressed with this number, folks.

You should have seen his jaw clench.

I think it was in anticipation of the fun sipping he will be doing all season.

Don’t you?

I am so ready for this summer. For margaritas by the pool. For lemonade. And piña coladas.

All made more exciting with the use of colorful, happy straws.

It’s the little things: Making a drink even better.

Do you have paper straws in your house? Do you drink from a straw? Do you have weird rules about straws? Please share. My Need Beast really wants to know.

* The Amazon link is an affiliate link. The straws for this link are $1 more than what Anthropologie is selling their straws for. However, I provided the link in case Anthropologie runs out. Also, I get free shipping on Amazon but not on Anthropologie. Purchasing through the Amazon link will result in a small commission for ~~The Need Beast~~ this blog.

April 7, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Modcloth Stylish Surprise: SHOES!

This post could also be titled, “Modcloth, you have my heart.”

You all ready know that because Modcloth embraces every woman by offering a variety of different sizes, it is the store that makes me smile the most. Add that to their amazing customer service and customer appreciation and that site just makes this girl’s shopping heart sing.

But this post really isn’t about that.

This post is about the amazing promotion Modcloh does every few months:

It took me awhile to get over my light headedness when my box containing my Modcloth Stylish Surprise* (explanation about stylish surprise at the bottom of this post) full of shoes arrived at the door. For $10, Modcloth picked a pair of random shoes for me in my size and sent them. Shipping is always free at Modcloth for orders over $50. So, I ordered five pairs (three for me and two for my daughter. This might seem selfish, but her feet are still growing. Mine are not).

My daughter and I were nervous and excited to open the box full of shoes.

But we did!

Boy, did we get lucky!

We both loved our shoes.

I found out about The Stylish Surprise the same day I put up my post about my March purchases. I had ordered the clothing surprise from them a year ago and liked what I received, but I have enough clothes. I wanted to try the shoe version. It intrigued me.

I also wanted to immediately do a post the moment I learned about the sale going on, but I did not want this blog to seem too consumerismy (another new word). I also had never ordered the shoe surprise before, and I was not sure if it was something I was willing to recommend (this is important to me. I would never speak about a product here that I would not purchase myself). I decided to wait until morning to decide. Then the Stylish Surprise Shoes sold out. So, next time, I am alerting you right away. And if it happens to be on the same day as a post about clothes, well, that will just have to be the way it goes. I don’t want you guys to miss out! I think this promotion Modcloth does is amazing!

Okay. On to our loot:

I got these beautiful Chelsea Crew Tia Pumps in mustard. They fit like a dream. I love them for evening fun. They are my favorite of the shoes I received.

My daughter got these cool Dollhouse combat boots. These are so her. She was thrilled. She has worn these all week.

I also got these Seychelles Two Birds Heels. They are SO tall. I could never actually wear these. I ended up giving them away to the sweetest eighteen year old girl I know. And she was happy. And I was happy. So, it all worked out.

My daughter got these Chelsea Crew Notch Your Step heels in red. I was jealous of these. They are adorable. More importantly, she is madly in love with them. And I would rather her have been happy than myself. Thankfully, we both were happy. She wore these last Thursday and her outfit was perfect with these shoes! So cute!

I also received these Chelsea Crew Class Treasurer Heels (funny enough, I was class treasurer… Or secretary. I can’t remember. I also do not remember doing a thing for that title. Maybe I needed these shoes). They are the most amazing orange color. I love them.

So, for $50 we received approximately $337 worth of shoes. This works out to roughly 85% in savings.

I would (and will) absolutely be partaking in these surprise sales again. Not only was it fun, but it was a great bargain, too.

Have you ever purchased a Modcloth Stylish Surprise? If yes, what did you get? If not, would you?

* A Stylish Surprise is a sale that the online company Modcloth runs every few month. For a low fee, usually between $5-15, they will send you a surprise in the category you purchased your surprise in (apartment, accessories, shoes, or clothing). They guarantee your item will be worth a certain amount, usually much higher than your initial investment. Stylish Surprises are nonreturnable. If it does not fit or if you do not like the item/items you receive, you are out of luck. It is a risk.

* In the pictures, I am wearing Anthropologie’s Midday Dress. It is currently on sale. I am wearing a medium. I have a separate post about this dress going up on Sunday.

* This blog receives a small commission when a purchase is made through this website at Modcloth. : )

January 13, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti

When I told my kids I was making this dish, they got very excited. My daughter, for all of the wrong reasons.

You see, she thought I was making regular marinara spaghetti (her favorite), but with chicken in it. So, you can understand why this would be a disappointment to her when a white creation gets set down in front of her instead of a red marvel from her dreams.

But the rest of us?

Well, we can’t stop thinking about it.

I first made this recipe about a year ago. I am going to be honest. I thought it was good, but I just wanted to tweak it a bit. You see, I always make a recipe the first time, exactly the way it is written down. I think that is only fair.

After that, I will either leave it alone. Or play with it.

For this recipe, I thought it needed just a few adjustments.

First, I wanted to make it easier.

Second, I wanted a tad more flavor.

Third, I have to have my vegetables cooked in a casserole. I cannot stand crunchy onion.

Fourth, I love the Pioneer Woman. This is still entirely her creation. I just changed it a tiny bit.

Ingredients:

Diced chicken meat from one rotisserie chicken
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup reserved water from boiling noodles
1 minced clove garlic (or 1 handy dandy frozen packet)
1/4 cup diced onion
1 diced green bell pepper
1 package of spaghetti noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp salt + 1/2 Tbsp. to salt the water the spaghetti noodles cook in
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 – 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 jar pimentos
1 tsp. Lawry’s seasoned salt
1 tsp. knorr’s chicken seasoning
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground paprika
1 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Olive oil

Optional:

Broccoli

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or 325 degrees convect bake.

Cut chicken up from rotisserie chicken. Set aside.

In a stockpot, boil water. Break up spaghetti noodles into small pieces (about 1/3 their original size). Add 1/2 Tbsp. salt to the boiling water. Add noodles to the pot of boiling water. Cook according to al dente directions on noodle package. Carefully reserve 1/3 cup boiling water before draining.

In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat butter and olive oil. Add onion and green bell pepper and sauté over medium low heat for approximately 8 minutes until softened but not brown. Add garlic and sauté one minute. Add pimentos and cook for one minute. Turn off heat.

Add drained spaghetti noodles, chicken, all of the seasoning & spices, chicken stock, reserved 1/3 cup boiling water, the 2 soups, and 2 cups of the shredded cheese (if you are adding broccoli, and I sometimes do, steam it in the microwave. Do not overcook it! It will be a soggy mess in the casserole. I’m not going to say how I know this. ; ). Then add the broccoli during this step, too) to the vegetable mixture. Stir until very well combined.

Pour mixture into casserole dish (if you do not care about it being pretty. You can just leave it in the dutch oven as long as your dutch oven is oven-safe). Top with remaining 1 cup of cheese.

Put the casserole into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until cheese is melted and the edges are beginning to bubble.

Remove the casserole from the oven with oven mitts. Turn off the oven. Serve onto plates and eat up! That reminds me…

While I was adding a few spices to tweak this recipe, I made it twice in one week.

When I told my daughter I was making it again, she responded in jest,

“It’s not really spaghetti! I will not fall for your lies again!”

I hate to say this, and please do not tell her I said this, but she’s right.

Shhhhhh.

It’s not spaghetti.

It’s heaven.

P.S. I shared this on Savvy Southern Style.

And My Romantic Home.

January 5, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Poor Humboldt Tunic

I feel I owe the Humboldt Tunic (it is sold out online, but some stores might still have it. You can call customer service. Its sku# is 29392131. I am wearing a small) an apology. I think I embarrassed it when I first reviewed it, as I wore it without pants in the dressing room. And then I kind of posted it all over the internet. You can’t even google its name without finding it. I find this hilarious. Humboldt Tunic does not. I guess it didn’t deserve that. It’s not like it is one of my children I can embarrass whenever I feel like it.

Humboldt was thrilled it did not have to go home with me that day. It didn’t realize I was just biding my time. I had fallen in love with it. It just didn’t know it loved me back…yet.

Recently the Humboldt Tunic went on sale for a little more than half off at Anthropologie and I could finally bring it home (last day for the extra 25% off is Sunday. This is how my price was that low).

I could tell it was still a little scared of me, despite my many assurances that never again would I appear in a photo sans pants with it.

Notice I said, “photo.”

No wonder it doesn’t trust me.

I decided to show it a little love.

Look Humboldt, I am wearing you with pants! And, okay, these aren’t super expensive name brand pants. Maybe they were $7.50 at H & M, but hey, they’re pants. When did you get so picky?

Don’t blush Humboldt! Oh, wait. That’s just the color I bought you in.

Let’s cuddle up together in my favorite denim jacket. Do you know what pants are made of Humboldt? That’s right! Denim! So, in essence, you are right now being caressed by two pairs of pants.

You’re welcome.

And, of course, I also tried it with my favorite item (shhhh. Don’t tell Humboldt), my Ruffled Sweater Vest.

Is this covered up enough for you, Humboldt?

Humboldt, if I wear you with my favorite vest, you can hide almost your whole self behind it. Maybe nobody will even know it’s you.

This was its favorite option. Humboldt loved this cuddly vest. It hid its scars.

I think the photo is blurry from Humboldt’s tears…or my husband’s from having to take so many darn pictures.

The next day, in a delirium of fever and stuffy nose, I decided to try on Humboldt with my Paige Skinny Cords from Nordstrom Rack. It just looked too comfortable in my closet to not torment some more.

This would have been fine and dandy if I hadn’t had the thought of pairing it with my Faye Boots I got for Christmas. I just don’t think it goes. What do you think?

And its ~~security blanket~~ vest made another appearance.

I think it is going to take a while for Humboldt to trust me. Right now it is hiding in the closet. It is pressed up against three pairs of pants. Earlier it got its much needed cleanse in the washing machine. It was finally beginning to feel better when I hung the poor wretched wet thing up to dry. And there it lay, shivering all night… Plotting its revenge.

I think I hear it whimpering. Or whispering.

Who’s going to tell it I’m wearing it again tomorrow?

How do you think it would look with leggings?

Or, better yet, as a swimsuit coverup?

Poor Humboldt.

* P.S. I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

red

It’s The Little Things: Paper Straws

Modcloth Stylish Surprise: SHOES!

Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti

Poor Humboldt Tunic