i'm totally the martha stewart of pinterest

okay...so i'm probably not the martha stewart of pinterest, because that would sort of imply that i originate the ideas...and that's not really true. BUT i'm for sure not the sandra lee of pinterest...cuz i don't make nasty-ass cocktails and cover shit in edible pearls.

somewhere in the middle...there's me. the internet-trained culinary wizard. perhaps the hermione granger of pinterest??

it's blustery and pretty dang cold here in my little corner of the southeast (VERY thankful it's only wind, and hoping everyone in the northeast stays safe!)...so last night, i KNEW it was soup time.

and thanks to pinterest, i was able to bust out this cheesy veggie chowder and IT. WAS. AWESOME.

it did take a hot minute to do all the chopping, BUT it was basically chop-drop-simmer-eat. and that's for sure my kind of cooking!

next time i'll probably actually grate my own cheese, and maybe add a little salt and pepper while the veggies cook (aaaaaaand maybe some bacon, but i'm southern. we'll put bacon in anything).  but considering it's only 2/3 of a cup of milk and LOTS of veggies...i felt pretty good about this recipe!

PLUS, i've got at least half the pot left, and since the hubs is a total weirdo and "doesn't like leftovers", i'm gonna nom the heck out of this ish ALL WEEK LONG. yummmmm!!

if you've got a favorite soup recipe, share it! cuz my bowls get a LOT of abuse when the temps start dropping.

stick around, for lots of balls.

 so 3 years ago, about this time...i was on a plane, flying back to the good old US of A after my honeymoon (which, for the record, was amazing...but getting off an island on the other side of the globe was a BIT more work than i bargained for).

and yes...this means i totally forgot to blog for my ACTUAL anniversary. sue me.

and yes, this is the one and ONLY photo that features me and the hubs from our honeymoon. that lady in the middle is "mama". she has a restaurant in santorini. she called a guy a sex bomb. she rules.

ANYHOO, the whole point of this post is that i realize...i'm pretty sure our honeymoon phase is over. and has been for a REALLY long time.

now, before you go off and start calling dr. phil or dr. drew or dr. ruth to run some kind of marriage intervention on me...hear me out.

i'm GLAD that phase is over. because while it's awesome to be all lovey-dovey and smoochie-woochie and "omg you're my heart and my love and my life" bella swann on steroids...IT. GETS. OLD.

because life isn't like that. you're not ALWAYS gonna be like that. sometimes, you're gonna wanna punch your other half right in the balls. and sometimes, he's probably gonna wanna punch you in the lady balls.

THAT'S LIFE. 

it doesn't mean you don't love each other. it means you're both human. and sometimes...ball-punching thoughts happen. but at the end of the day, can you look at whoever you're with and say to yourself "if someone IS gonna punch me...i'm glad it's you"?

if so...you're one of the lucky ones.

"You took the time to memorize me my feels my hopes and dreams
I just like hanging out with you all the time
All those times that you didn't leave it's been occurring to me 
i'd like to hang out with you for my whole life

Stay and i'll be loving you for quite some time
No one else is gonna love me when I get mad mad mad
So I think that it's best if we both stay stay stay stay" - Stay Stay Stay, Taylor Swift


i love my husband. but i also REALLY like him.


i hope you've got someone you like hanging out with too =)

how many chains is too many chains?

i'll be the first to tell you, i LOVE jewelry.

love it. hoard it. make it. wear it all the time. basically feel naked without it.

so, shoplately is pretty much my favorite thing. i've written about them before, but basically it's a site with a bazillion and one pieces of gorgeousness, AND they have stuff that's on sale even more every day.

shoplately order by hfdukes on Polyvore

all of this stuff? cost me a whopping $21. because right now they've got  a promo going on....spend $30, and get $10 off with the code SLBDAY. it's good through thursday, so go get your shop on! that chunky gold chain is only $7.50, and i'm pretty sure i'm gonna wear it with everything once it gets here...like a really fancy, girly mr. T. 

 this bracelet is from a previous order from shoplatey, and i'm pretty much obsessed with it. 

PLUS, if you sign up for shoplately, i'll get a little cash to spend there, and then you can get all your frtiends to do the same, and then we can all go on a giant 4 hour episode of intervention where we end up swimming through a room of necklaces and bracelets like scrooge mcduck while my bro jeff van vonderen just shakes his head at us.  

no mo' burning up the highways

see this handsome fellow with one giant ball?

starting in 2 weeks...this dude isn't gonna be around the house a few days a week for me to harass. no more working from the upstairs office. no more 9 rounds of golf when he gets off phone calls at 4ish.

BUT he also won't have to get up at 4:45am on the days he doesn't work from home. he won't have to spend FOUR HOURS a day in the car driving 200+ miles to and from work. he won't have to go to bed at 9:30pm anymore.

HUBS GOT HIMSELF A NEW JOB Y'ALL!! and it's local, which means his commute will now be about 12 minutes...versus 120. i'm so so proud of him...AND a little bit excited about the extra income boost for a few months, which means we can pay for some projects around the house and cough::saveforababybeforeallmyeggsshrivelupanddie::cough.

we MIGHT be planning a "hooray nate has a new job" party in the works, complete with burning of his old business cards in our fire pit. cuz you know...that's how we roll.

even working from home needs a uniform right?

so,i might have forgotten to mention on monday that amidst all my life-learnin'...i also learned i am NOT meant to be a salesperson that does cold calls.

so i quit.

and for once in my life, i didn't overanalyze or try and make it work so i wouldn't let anyone down...i just decided it wasn't right for me, and stuck with that.

kinda proud of myself, actually.

and so, imagine my glee last week (after my quitting) when i realized that maybe, just maybe instead of getting all dolled up on cute pants and cardigans for work...i could have a different kind of uniform.

the kind that's perfect for someone trying to keep her head above her yarn hoard.

the kind that's perfect for someone who is doing what she really loves right now...being creative, and actually creating things.

THE KIND OF UNIFORM THAT'S GROWN-UP FOOTIE PAJAMAS FOR ADULTS.

with owls on them obviously....the sock monkey ones would just be ludicrous.

p.s. have you checked out the new goods at The Glittered Owl? you totally should...i've been getting my fancy hook on ;)

life lessons, or where i've been for 2 weeks

yes, i totally suck, and i've been gone for weeks.

BUT i've learned many things in that time span....things like:

1. if you start a crochet business...you might forget to blog. because you're too busy crocheting.

that's about half of what i've finished since i've been gone. is it bad to want to keep all your wares?

2. you might start worrying that Matt Paxton is gonna have to dig you out of your yarn stash, Hoarders-style. and you might be totally okay with that, because you've already made your husband promise that if you ever become a hoarder...the Pax will be the one to show you the light.

3. you might also have to spend some time learning how to use the fancy-ass new camera your husband scored for a song on ebay, to "help" with said crochet biz. you'll probably also realize that the hubs is a LITTLE bit selfish, and just wanted an excuse for a new toy. you won't care at all....but you'll realize it all the same.

4. you'll start to wonder if IT WILL EVER FREAKING COOL OFF ALREADY!!! because now it's technically fall. and since you've got a sweet gig that pretty much relies on chillier temperatures, because rocking a crochet scarf when it's 85 degrees outside will get you some major side-eyes.

5. you MIGHT start to evaluate your closet...because you MIGHT realize you've got a serious colored pants addiction. BUT you'll be really excited that old navy FINALLY wised up, and while they continually spout their lies about their rockstar jeans being flattering on everyone (yeahhh...if by "flattering", they mean "you'll have to wear at least 2 sizes bigger than you normally do, and oh yeah...your legs will look like bratwursts), they FINALLY have an alternative. you can find the non-sausagey, totally awesome and MUCH more flattering sweetheart skinny jeans HERE. 
i might have gotten black and coral. and i might be stalking the store and the site to see if they get more colors. AND they have petites AND talls. it's basically a miracle of miracles.  

6. most importantly, you'll realize you miss your blog peeps!

i'm gonna try and do MUCH better about sticking around here...plus, now that i've got a sweet new camera, i can take photos of myself, which means i can totally pretend to be a fashion blogger.

which probably translates into pictures in my yard while my pug tries to eat my pants leg.

been hooking for months, but finally went legit

you know how sometimes you have an idea, and then you talk yourself out of that idea...but then something spurs you to shut-the-eff-up-doubting-inside-voice, and JUST. DO. IT.

this little guy is the representation of that.

because he's the mascot FOR MY NEW ONLINE SCARF SHOP!

welcome ladies, to The Glittered Owl.

i'm SO excited to finally have a place to actually sell the stuff i make. a place to tell people to go when i get compliments wearing my scarves. a place to show off my friends' mad modeling skillz (and yes, the look-sideways-while-wearing-a-scarf is now a patented TGO move. ask tyra, she knows what's up.)

and right now, the best part of my new little corner of the internet? it's gonna be doing some good.

cuz see, this awesome lady named Kristen has set up an amazing auction to raise money for the american cancer society. and me? seeing as how i have lost WAY too many loved ones to the dreaded C-word...i HAD to help.

basically, you need to go to the auction's facebook page. did you do it? okay good. because that's the place to find out ALL the deets about this amazing fundraiser. it's gonna be epic y'all.

you can also like The Glittered Owl on facebook. if you want. chances are, you'll get to see lots of pictures of me buying yarn, and crocheting things. and probably my pug modeling scarves. cuz that's how i roll.

right now, the shop is mostly solid color scarves, BUT i've got some stuff in the works that's honestly blowing my mind a little(it might rhyme with schmeon, and i might be so pumped about it i could die). so here's hoping you lovely ladies are also into it...otherwise i'm gonna have to figure out how to wear them all at once on my own.

if there's anything you'd love to see in the shop, let me know, i'm up for any and all feedback =)