kalidarling (monster-ously cute)

Is there anybody out there?

It's been a crazy long time guys! I have so many things to post! Hopefully I'll be posting them more frequently! Lets just start with this week. I recently moved into a new place and put up some v-day decor. It looks like this:

I made it myself over the course of a few seriously snowy days. There are a million tutorials out there for making a heart garland. Here are some links to a few tutorials if you feel like busting out a garland of your own:

Flat Heart DIY

Stuffed Heart DIY

Do you have Fun V-Day plans? This year I'm taking a little trip to vist some friends and Geek out in a different city. Expect many a va-cay photo! Hope you've all been well and I will be writing again soon!

XOXO Kali

Hey Stranger!

Apparently my new blogging schedule is one post every 4 months. Say wha??? Oh well, I'm not giving up yet. Wanna see what I've been up to? Thought so...

1. Mastering crocheted cables!

2. Running with this guy.

3. Napping with this girl.

4. Dreaming of owning this car.

5. Epic moves complete with floor installation.

The move is really what has sucked up most of my time. I'll post something a little more in depth once I get some more things unpacked. Hope things are well with you!

xo - Kali

There will be blood...

Generally speaking, cold weather turns me into a crabby irrational hermit. I despise being cold and living in an ancient, drafty apartment just makes me curl up in wad of blankets muttering  and growling at passers by for the majority of the winter months. This is tradition. Which is why I was recently surprised by a blast of inspiration I've been feeling. I haven't been this motivated in a looong time! I suddenly have a million ideas and trying to keep them logged in my idea note book has been a challenge. My inspiration overfloweth!

The inspiration has been coming from everywhere, but the top item this morning has been papercuts. Here are a few for reference:

Beautiful bunny by: Elsa Mora

I've posted about Jayme McGowan's work before. I still think she is incredible.

Perfect monsters by: Patrick Gannon.

I've never attempted a paper cut illustration of my own, and we all know how graceful and all around accident prone I am so... I've started stock piling band-aids. Let's do this!

Mmm...Soup...(Fall Tastes)

This week I started unpacking my winter clothes and dragging out the Halloween decorations. Fall is Lit-trally my favorite season. (I know you Parks & Rec fans are out there. You read it.) Every year I stretch it out for as long as I can and then wish it could have lasted a little bit longer as soon as it's over. To ensure that I get the most out of it, I fill the season with a long list of traditions that capture every aspect of it, covering each of my senses. The next few posts will feature a number of these traditions.

Lets kickoff this sensory road trip with tastes! So far this season I've been indulging in pumpkin pie concretes, pumpkin spice lattes and apples in pretty much everything. There are dozens of foods that I consider quintessential Fall staples but one stands out above all the rest. On a crisp Fall night there is really nothing like hot bowl of soup. I've been mixing up one batch after the other. Here are some of my Fall favorites:

1. 15 Minute Udon Noodle Soup by: Steamy Kitchen. Super quick and super satisfying! I always beef mine up with some slices of tofu and a fried egg floating on top.

 2. Curried Cauliflower and Apple Soup from Epicurious. This one didn't last long enough in my house for me to snap a pic. There isn't a photo on Epicurious either but its awe inspiring qualities lie in its taste anyway. Everyone was starting to eat it out of the pan. I served it with grilled apple and smoked cheddar sandwiches. NOM!

3. Stuffed Pepper Soup by: Leslie Fehling. Leslie's recipe was the closest I could find to my Mom's recipe. We usually toss in any extra veg we have hanging out in the fridge/freezer. This could be anything from frozen peas & corn to left over roasted carrots or potatoes making it an excellent "fridge cleaning" supper option.

4. Vegetarian Split Pea Soup by: Martha Stewarts Every Day Foods. Serve with warm buttered crusty bread to mop up your drool.

5. Vegetarian Chili by: Me. This is a recipe I fall back on a lot. I usually have the ingredients in the house already and it requires minimal effort.

Ingredients:

• 2 T Vegetable Oil
• 1 Medium Onion Diced
• 2 Carrots Sliced into Rounds
• 1 Bell Pepper Diced
• 1 Package Morning Star Crumbles
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 1 Can Black Beans
• 1 Can Small Red Beans
• 1 Can Rotel Tomatoes
• 1 Can Tomato Sauce
• 2 Cups Water
• 2 T Chili Powder
• 1 T Cumin
• Red Pepper Flake (Optional)
• Salt and Pepper

Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onions and carrot and saute until onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat for at least an hour.

You'll note that none of the cans have sizes mentioned. This is because I always just use what I have on hand. This recipe is really flexible. If you like your chili mild swap out the Rotel tomatoes for a can of diced tomatoes with their juice. If it's too thick add more tomato sauce. Too thin? Add more water. I always serve it with lots of add in options like shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions and oyster crackers.

Do you have any Fall flavor staples?

 

I'm pinning for you...

As soon as I found out about pinterest I requested an invite. At the time it was not open to the public and I had to be put on a wait list to finally get an account. Since that day I have used pinterest almost on a daily basis and with the most recent bug fixes on the phone app I use it even more!

For those of you that aren't familiar with pinterest it is essentially a giant cork board for you to use to organize the internet. As you surf the web looking for inspiration, recipes, a laugh or the next big sale, you have the opportunity to pin things that you find and like to a board that you've created on your profile. Each pinned item includes a photo, caption and link back to the original place you found it.

As an avid blog reader, I am always coming across cute ideas, recipes or stories that I would like to read. With pinterest I can store all of them in one place for quick reference. I also use it a lot to hold inspiration images for new projects I'm working on. I have had whole boards dedicated to various color combinations.

Once you open you account and start pinning you have the option to follow other pinners. When you choose to follow someone all of their pins show up in your home feed and you have the option to repin the any of the items that that they've liked. The whole process is addictive. It's easy to pop on just for a few minutes and find yourself three hours later wallowing around at the bottom of the internet surrounded by Ryan Gossling "Hey Girl" posters, but if used correctly, I'd recommend it to anyone!

This week alone I made these pinterest recipes:

Dirty Pirate popsicles -

Source: endlesssimmer.com via Kali on Pinterest

 

Crushed Potatoes -

Source: fortheloveofcooking.net via Kali on Pinterest

 

Moded a t-shirt for a charity event using this tutorial -

Source: andreasteed.com via Kali on Pinterest

 

And fell in love with this bunny -

Source: attackofthecute.com via Kali on Pinterest

 

Oh pinterest, if you could just shed a few million images of crayons melted on canvases and tacky maternity photos you'd be perfect, but I still think what we have is pretty special!

You can follow me on pinterest here.

Making Progress

Today I'm finally getting around to framing some of the artwork that I've collected and left stacked around my apartment for ages. I will be funding the effort with a number of gift cards I recieved for Christmas and left stacked around my apartment for ages. It's coming full circle! The stacks are now eliminating themselves!

I've made some serious progress over the past few months purging excess items from my house. I'm not on a first name basis with the guys at the goodwill donations drop off yet, but honestly, I should be. I'm still probably a few weeks away from where I would like to be. Which is awesome because the summer has completely flown by and I have some pretty big plans for this Fall. Details to follow!

That's Awesome!

Top 5 things that currently amuse or inspire me:

1. The perfect Cuban coffee.

2. The cutest purse ever.

3. Giant collective love notes.

4. Tiny surprise gifts from friends.

5. Broccoli Rabe & Provolone Grinders - It's what's for lunch.

Road Trippin'

Last weekend I went to Memphis. It looked a lot like this:

1. Hit the Cards season opener before I left town. Awesome.
2. Contacted college bestie and laid out some plans.
3. Brewed some seriously strong coffee gifted from a friend & drove South.
4. Caught the ARRG All Star bout then caught up over bourbon in a pirate themed bar.
5. Eclectic brunch with Cuban coffee and fancy lattes.

Some friends are entwined so deep in your soul that even after 6yrs of not seeing each other you both still have the same "creepy dude in a kiddie pool" print hanging up in your respective bathrooms. Hey, Soul Sister!

P.S. Special thanks to those of you who have kept religiously checking back for updates and super extra thanks to those that sent messages checking up on me or sought me out on other social media sites. Your actions did not go unnoticed and I love you all! More posts ahead! Frealz.

Off the Grid

I recently fell off the grid and I have to admit, it was pretty nice. After the rush of the holidays I was long over due for some me time. I unplugged my computer and spent minimal time on the social media apps I tend to rely on. While I was gone I took a small trip to visit friends, read two books and then started two more, did some just because baking, reorganized a few sections of my apartment and found a new favorite hang out. Amazeballs! Now I'm ready to get back on track.

Here's a small glimpse at what I've been up to, details to follow:

Cookie Marathon Madness 2011

I just realized I never published this. Oops! For those of you that are new, a few weeks before Christmas every year I host a huge cookie baking marathon with friends and family. When I say huge, I'm not exaggerating. This year we made 16 varieties of cookies and assembled 46 tins of cookies with an extra paper grocery bag filled with more cookies that we donated locally. It was intense.

Here are a few pics from instagram of the event:

16 lbs of butter.

A small sample of our ingredients. My grocery list read more like a supply list for traveling the oregon trail than anything else. On the plus side no one died of dysentery or snake bites. Yeah!

Homemade oreos with mint icing.

Gingerbread snowmen.

Assembled tin. Unicorns as promised.

Our cookie selection this year included:

1. War ration cookies filled with cherries (Grandma recipe)
2. Almond Cut Out Sugar Cookies
3. Mint Oreos
4. White chocolate clusters
5. Lime Shortbread
6. Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark
7. Bailey's Fudge
8. Cranberry Blondies
9. Peanut butter Blossoms
10. Citrus Oatmeal
11. Macaroons
12. Cinnamon Crisps
13. Vegan Red Velvet Beet Cookies
14. Gingerbread Snowmen
15. Chocolate Espresso Chip Cookies
16. Spicy Chex Mix - Recipe Here.

We were also going to attempt some honeycomb candy, but realized we lacked a candy thermometer so we dropped it. This year we were a little better organized and prepped a lot of the dough in advance, but it was still a long process. After a solid two days of baking and 6 hrs of icing I was happy to be finished, and thankful for all of the amazing people that took part!