Project Life 2012- Weeks 1-3

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

I had been hearing about Project Life all over the internet. I was not sure if I should do try to take that on this year. What does a 20-something who works on average 45 hours a week document? What does one who spends most of her time at work do? No kids to snap photos of. Don’t often travel.

But I had to stop thinking of the things I didn’t do and to think about all the things that I had the opportunity to snap pictures of and document. This is my 3rd year doing Project 365 so clearly I can take a photo every day (well, almost every day), so I decided to stretch myself a bit and dive into Project Life for 2012. I see plenty of Boston, I have interesting things going on at work, I go to fun events, I eat out at too many places… so many possibilities

I didn’t go with the typical Project Life path in that I didn’t buy a kit. While the Project Life kits are fantastic, I decided to just buy Photo Pocket Pages – Design F, Photo Pocket Pages – Design B, and Photo Pocket Pages – Design E. I was inspired by Kelly Purkey’s Project Life post she did for her first 2 weeks. It didn’t scream kit to me. I love how things match when they are all from the same release or from a kit but life it not all that matchy matchy so I skipped the cards that typically go in the page protectors. And so I dived right in!

Project Life Cover:

Week One:

Week Two:

Week Three:

It’s not too late to join! Or you can even hold off until your birthday and do a Project Life from birthday to birthday. Or you can start at the birth of a child. Or when you get married to document your first year of married life. Oh the possibilities!

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The Boys LO- Studio Calico 12.25 Sunday Sketch

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

12.25.11 Sunday Sketch

I know that for most cases you should use the rule of 3 in photography and in design. In this case my only 3 were the boys in the picture! The page is divided in half but I think the fact that the photo is not centered helps this layout be so attractive and visually appealing.

I don’t typically stamp, which is strange since I have 150+ stamp sets from Stampin’ Up! and so many from Studio Calico. Plus my massive collection of inks. I am really going to try to make a point of stamping in my layouts this year. I am doing Project Life and I think it will start off being manageable in that and them creep into bigger layouts.

I took this photo after my niece’s first birthday. We celebrated right before Halloween, which is her birthday, which is why one of my nephews is wearing part of his costume. He was showing it off. Sure, I can have them stop and pose for me but whats the fun in always doing that? I want to capture these silly moments. In truth this was the best photo out of a dozen+ I took. The others were dotted with tongues sticking out, wide mouth yells, and rolled eyes. At least they are very lively!

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Spinach Salad with Shrimp, Avocado, and Grapefruit with Citrus Vinaigrette

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

I love salads so much. I really hate that we have the tendency to skip over salads in the winter or automatically go for ones that have cranberries in them or whatever to make them ‘wintery’. They are perfectly fine salads but I wanted to make one that was not something that you would expect to see in winter, but that is in season now.

 

 

Citrus is in season in the winter. As much as we enjoy our lemonades and margaritas in the summer the best season for domestic citrus is the winter. The citrus vinaigrette is light since it is mixed with a light vinegar and some water. I felt that the lime and vinegar combination could result with a tart dressing so I cut it will some water to dilute it. If you prefer a more intense vinegar then don’t add water, but you may like to add a pinch of sugar to balance it out.

 

 

According to Produce Pete Florida avocados are in season now. They are in season from late June to February. Why use a Florida avocado? The texture us much different from a Hass-variety so it can stand up well to being mixed into a salad. They are much firmer compared to Hass avocados, which are great for guacamole.

 

Spinach Salad with Shrimp, Avocado, and Grapefruit with Citrus Vinaigrette 

*serves 2 as a main, serves 4 as a starter*

Spinach Salad with Shrimp, Avocado, and Grapefruit

Ingredients

  • 8 oz of baby spinach
  • 1/2 a Florida avocado
  • 1 large ruby red grapefruit
  • 1/2 pound of shrimp, 36-40′s
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Process

  1. Wash and pat dry the spinach, plate.
  2. Halve the avocado. Remove the peel and then slice thin wedges from the avocado. Layer on the salad evenly.
  3. Peel the grapefruit and then carefully peel the membranes away from the segments. Evenly distribute the segments on the salad.
  4. Rinse and remove the tails from the shrimp. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the shrimp.
  5. Over medium heat, warm the oil in a large skillet. Cook the shrimp, flipping after 2 minutes, cook until evenly pink.
  6. Add the warm shrimp to the salad and then top with some of the citrus vinaigrette.

Citrus Vinaigrette 

Ingredients

  • 2 limes
  • 1 orange
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 2 oz rice vinegar
  • 2 oz water
  • 2 oz extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Process

  1. Squeeze the limes and orange.
  2. Add the garlic, vinegar, water, oil, and salt and pepper.
  3. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.
Posted in Cooking, Food and Drink | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

1.20-22: Weekend Recap

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

a shitty day |  pimm’s cup | belated birthday disappointment | project life arrived early! |  mac and cheese | true blood | wake up ‘late’ to it snowing outside | P90x arms and shoulders & ab ripper | get ready quickly | Price did the driving to and from Newburyport | lunch at Loretta’s | grilled romaine salad was amazing | drinking at The Black Cow | 2 snowball cocktails | eggs and rice for dinner | true blood | up early | Price went to ON, I worked on project life | Brunch at The Landsdowne with Boston Brunchers | watch the Pats vs Raven’s game at Kurland’s | 4 loads of laundry | more project life work | GIANTS WIN!

 

 

 

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An Instagramed Birthday

Posted on January 19, 2012 by

yesterday was my 27th birthday, man I’m old…

I had been harassing Rachel about picking a day when I could visit her and her 3 kiddos since I have so much PTO (paid time off). Last week she happened to pick yesterday and I was delighted since it would be a day off from work on my birthday.

Before heading up to the Granite State, I stopped to get some bagels from Kupels.

We chatted and had some bagels. Then the kids thought my purse was the best thing in the world and went through everything in there. There was some coupon de-organization and Nivea lip care stick stealing. Maybe some was eaten too…

Being silly with my winter headband.

Contemplated stealing this little guy…

Gnome… before she went to take a nap.

I was requested to stay and watch a movie but had to head back to have some dinner with Pricer. Must make a plan for another play-date. :-)

I was welcomed home by these flowers from my nephews and niece!

Every year (except last year- long story) Price and I make pizza on my birthday. We went to the grocery store and grabbed what we needed to whip up the birthday pizza. It was mash-up of things in the fridge…like leftover taco meat. I forgot my pineapple for it, but it was still great. Already looking forward to the leftovers for tonight.

Then Pricer gave me my presents. He gave me the CHEESIEST card ever. I really can’t believe that 1) someone wrote it 2) it was put into production. I was cracking up because it was so awful. Love it! I had told me that I liked a necklace from Kate Spade when I went shopping in the mall last weekend. He remembered and got it for me. Plus he got me a wrap dress and a shirt to wear with it from Banana. sweet!

It was a great, relaxing birthday.

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive. 

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