Weekend Happenings

Friday was a great night, Laura and I attended Nathan & Dustin's last softball game, they ended up being second in the league. It's always fun to go on a Friday and sit in the dugout with the guys and my girl Laura & drink a couple beers. We met up at Shuttles afterwards, (one of our favorite places in North Merritt island) to celebrate the end of the season with the team. Several people from our neighborhood are on the team so we get to catch up with them too. Next flag football season starts, but not until the fall. It will be much nicer to sit outside and not sweat our butts off.

On another note, here's a picture of our new cactus. A friend of our neighbor gave them a clipping of their plant, and they gave it to us. We're not sure if it's going to make it, but only time will tell. It will look really nice as it grows. I love how bright green cactus' are.

I also kicked Nathan's but in darts for the first time. I had to document this occasion, because it isn't very often I beat him in any type of sport or game. I was very proud.

Saturday morning we headed off to the St. Pete area to help my step-brother & sister-in-law pack up to move back to Michigan. We had a great time on Saturday night, we went to this great restaurant..I forget its name, but its totally rad. Live music, water, tiki & great drink prices. Ladies got a little tipsy, but it was a great night. We also went to the dog beach one last time with the dogs. Let me just say...this is the best beach I've ever been to where you can bring your dog. I just love watching all the dogs play, they're all so happy. Bella and Penny spent a good amount of time fetching the ball in the water, swimming, digging holes, and making dog friends. Its a great place to bond with your dog, and give them your full attention. They need that you know.

 

Steph was kind enough to offer her Elliptical Machine as they were packing up their stuff. I couldn't be more ecstatic! This is seriously something that I've wanted so badly. I'm not really a gym membership kind of person, it just isn't for me. But I'm going to use this thing every day! I started today, and did 40 minutes. The trick is..to put your laptop/TV on in front of it and watch a good show so you aren't thinking about how your legs feel like marshmallows. I'm proud of myself today, because I haven't exercised in a long time, and hopefully it will help me sleep better at night.

My goal in this daily exercising routine is not exactly to lose weight per say, but to tone up, keep my heart healthy, and get rid of that loose skin that makes my cellulite show. Yes even little skinny people get cellulite. I hope I'm not viewed as vain, I just want to keep my body healthy and trim. I get self-conscious about my body as everyone else does. I took some pictures today of my torso from the front view and the side view, no you can't see...but I think I will start posting pics as I progress. I think after I start seeing results I will become even more motivated.

I need sleep, so this is where we part ways. Goodnight!

Dolly Kei: Kitsch, vintage lovers and bizarre lovely fashion from Japan.

What happens when you mix creativity, vintage clothes, lolita, folk, mori girls style, macabre, celtic culture, cute things, kitsch, retro and horror?

(Learn more about Dolly Fashion!!)

As you may know, Japan is the biggest mixer in the world, and only in Japan could be born the Dolly Kei style, the one wich mixes everything I mentioned before and more.

The Dolly Kei was born around 2007 thanks to Hitomi, a lovely japanese girl who loved antiques and started her own accesories brand, Dolly; but it's in 2008 when she opened her own vintage shop, Grimoire, and the dream became true.

Don'tr try to find any brands inside Dolly Fashion, because there's no one. Dolly Fashion lovers find their inspiration in some different historical points: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, but also the 70's fashion and folk of countries like Russia, Hungary, Romania or including Turkey. They also love the horror, fairies and mystical stories, where they find another big part of their inspiration.So, as you can guess, they find almost all their clothes into vintage stores.

A Dolly Fashion lover would use layers of clothes, but lots of accessories too, as they're very important to complete the look. But of course, they won't use the "normal" kind of accesories that we're used to: tassels from old velvet curtains (for necklaces or belts), bags like tapestries, spooky hairdress with skulls or broken dolls, fur with the entire fox carcass and whatever you can imagine that contains some dreamy taste.

Nowadays, it is said that there are two schools for Dolly Kei: one where the girls prefer soft colors (pink, peach, white...) and a second one that uses dark colors and it's a little bit more macabre.They're influenced too by Lolita and Mori Girls fashion; sometimes they're confused with the second ones, but the major difference between a Mori and a Dolly lover are the patterns of their clothes; remember, if Mori loves nature and florar patterns, a Dolly lover would love it too, but would always prefer some arabesque or retro pattern over all.

So, did you know about Dolly Fashion/ Dolly Kei? I think it's an amazing style and I love it so much, because I'm a big vintage lover too and this style is perfect for mix everything I love! Vintage, kitsch, cute and macabre things!

By the way, in my next entry I'll publish the answers of my first Q&A post... so come on, ask me whatever you want!

Applesauce Cake

I was looking for something quick and easy to make and found this recipe. Chris doesn't care much for cakes (which is why we had cheesecake at our wedding instead of the traditional wedding cake), but he likes this cake...and volunteered to go to the store at a horrendous hour to buy more ingredients...

1 yellow cake mix
2 c. applesauce
3 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle in greased Bundt pan, coating pan well. Save unused cinnamon-sugar mixture. Combine cake mix, applesauce, and eggs. Pour half of the batter into Bundt pan. Add the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of batter. Add the rest of the batter on top of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 38 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes and turn out. Serve with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top.

Tastes good hot or cold. Enjoy!

Recipes to Remember: Rogers Arkansas Stake RS Cookbook 2001, p. 176

Crawfish Etouffe

  

  
We all have to admire our Cajun brothers and sisters for their love of life, music and food.  Gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffe all lead to good places and happy stomachs.  What can you say about a group and a cuisine where sucking the juice out of the head (of a crawfish) is the best part?!  Here in the Mid-Atlantic, where crab is king, crawfish awareness is starting to creep into our palate.  Some suggest it as a safer alternative to gulf shrimp after the oil spill.  Others see it as a new delicacy of choice.  I was on a flight to Europe last year where the business class flight served crawfish choices in three different meals.  However, aside from the occasional crawfish boils where homesick Louisianans ship in fresh crawfish, you will rarely see it at your local supermarket.  Nevertheless, I did come across a packet of frozen crawfish at my Whole Foods and decided to make crawfish etouffe.  The recipe on the package was less than inspiring, perhaps reflecting its North Carolina importing from China.  The sauce made from water, not stock, and no creole seasoning.  My kicked up version, as Emeril might say, is below.  All etouffe recipes are relatively simple: start by softening bell pepper, onion and celery, create a roux, add the stock and spices and simmer.  Serve over rice to complete your trip to the bayou.  Serves 2.  
    
Ingredients:
1/2 pound crawfish tails
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 diced green bell pepper
1 celery stick, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp creole seasoning
2 tbsp flour
1 cup shrimp or fish stock
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
salt/pepper
    
Directions:
Melt the butter in a medium pan over medium heat and add the onion, celery and bell pepper.  Saute until the butter is softened.  Add the garlic and creole seasoning and simmer a minute more.  Whisk in the flour and allow to cook a couple of minutes while stirring.  Add the stock slowly, while whisking, to mix and prevent/remove lumps.  Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add more stock or white wine if the sauce needs loosening.  Add the parsley and crawfish and cook for another 5 minutes.  Season to taste and serve.