St. Valentine's Day Weekend - 2016

Hiiii peoples!

Well look at that, it's still February and I'm posting my Valentine's Day post in the same month that it happened! Am I good or what? You should be nodding. Are you nodding? Good.

This may be one of our best heart days yet! Mainly because instead of venturing out into the mad crowds of crazy people, trying to book a reservation and all that hullabaloo, we stayed HOME. 

Introvert. Heaven. *cue angelic singing*

Home is nice. It's my favorite-est place to be. A place where after being peopled out after a long week (my poor little introverted self can only take so much), I can just relax and be myself and not say a thing, if I want to. And Robert is my introvert buddy, so he understands!

We started out Saturday morning with this lovely breakfast:

GF Chocolate Chip Waffles WITH Chocolate Syrup (Mmmhmm, I did that) and Orange Slices.

 
We spent Saturday catching up on suuuper fuuuun things like dishes, and tidying up the house after the work week. Friday evening we went grocery shopping early because we didn't want to get caught in the crowds of men storming the store for last minute Valentine gifts :P Robert picked out a bouquet of flowers for me while we were there! Lol, we're such an old married couple. IT WAS a surprise! I wasn't in that area when he picked them out, BUT I did know he was going to get some for me before we left the house, cuz I hinted that there would be a better selection to choose from if we went early.  :) I HAVE picked out my own flowers before, but not until recently. It's because I'm an artsy person! I like looking at  all the different flowers and seeing what I'm in the mood for, but this time I wanted him to pick. And chose well, he did.

Are they not lovely? He knew exactly what I wanted before I did.

The spread for the next day.

Pink Moscato Champagne (Birthday present from my mother-in-law), Juniper Berry and Bay Leaf infused Olive Oil (Aldi's), Almond and Hazelnut stuffed Green Olives (Aldi's), Turkish Figs (Aldi's), Herb and Pepper encrusted Salami (Aldi's), Hawaiian BBQ and Himalayan Sea Salt Kettle Brand chips with Avocado oil (Krogers), Chocolove brand chocolate, "Spicing Up Married Life" book by Father Leo Patalinghug, and "The Vow" movie, one of my faves.

Aldi's had a BUNCH of specialty items on sale after Christmas and we stocked up for this!

 Speaking of Father Leo Patalinghug, guess who came to our church? You betcha, the man himself. HE WAS AWESOME! He came for our annual Mission and spoke at our Church for 3 nights and boy were they memorable evenings. If you haven't heard of him before, he is a chef and has a cooking show on EWTN called Savoring the Faith; he is also kind of a celebrity now after beating Bobby Flay on Food Network in a fajita cooking competition about 6 years or so ago.
 BUT THE WAY HE SPEAKS. OH MY GOODNESS. He just ignites you with a blazing fire for your faith And he's hilarious. He has published three books, and we have them all now, including the marriage one pictured above. They have recipes in them :) Including the fajita recipe he beat Bobby Flay with! Before priesthood he used to teach martial arts and self defense, and is pretty awesome at breakdancing. I mean, HOW COOL IS THAT?! Including videos below so you can get to know him:

Of course we got a picture with him! He told us we looked like we got married when we were 12 XD

Selfies with the marriage book!

Heart Strawbs, something I started doing last year. Just cut a V in the top of the whole strawberry before cutting and you'll have cutesie little hearts!

Breakfast on Sunday morning. Almond flour pancakes with strawberries hearts, part of a Pumelo (The ancestor of the grapefruit, and much better I think. Less bitter.), and pork sausage patties.

It's not a Valentine's Day post without at least one picture of us.

Champagne and Roses.

Foccacia Bread! I used the recipe in Cybele Paschal's ' The Baker's Handbook'. I loooove her cookbooks. Here is the link if you are interested in the cookbook. I added the grapes and majoram on top and it was amazing. It was hard to refrain from eating the whole thing between the two of us!

Ze romantic dinner. Complete with candles.

Bubbly in the candlelight.

So we ate our finger food, sipped the bubbly, watched The Vow, gobbled up as much foccacia as we could get away with, and it was such a nice evening, just being home together. We're realizing how precious moments like these are, so for us this Valentine's Day was more about making uninterrupted time for each other (and good food) instead of extravagant gifts. Not that I don't like extravagant gifts *hint hint*. Buuuut time is priceless and we never know how much we have until we lose it.

So cherish the people you love!

How did you guys spend your Valentine's Day??? I hope it was amazing whether you're are in a relationship or not :)

Cheers!

Tips to Help You Organize Your Clothes

Hello my lovelies,

Last month I realized something: I own way too many clothes.

80% of my clothing shopping is done at thrift stores so I don't feel that I have spent a fortune on my wardrobe. BUT. When a person has more clothes than they can possibly wear in a year, something must be done about it. I have also been hanging on to some clothes for nostalgic reasons and I tend to avoid wearing them to preserve them. (Ridiculous, I know, but there it is.) Others are just plain worn out from favoritism. I think some letting go has to happen, don't you?

So I've decided to purge! I have three clothing closets in this house. Now, now, hear me out! They are small closets and one of them isn't even filled all the way :P I also hang up most of my clothing. People don't normally hang up t-shirts, but I do 'cause it keeps them from getting wrinkled like they would be if I kept them in a dresser. I am not a fan of ironing so this is essential.
I was also very nice to Robert and let him have the biggest closet in our bedroom (and house), which fits most of his clothing. Someday I want to design my own walk-in closet, but today is not that day.
 

This is my entire t-shirt, flannel shirt, and cami collection; minus a few that were in the laundry pile.

 Today I'm going to start with my t-shirt, cami (camisole), and flannel shirt closet. I keep these out year round because I can layer long sleeved shirts with t-shirts or flannels with t-shirts, etc. Camisoles are a very important part of my wardrobe because of how thin and low they make t-shirts these days. 

I was losing my hold on the stack in this pic. My arms were sore the next day after this photshoot :D

Things to keep in mind while going through your clothes:

1. Inspect every. single. piece. Look for signs of wear such as: holes, rips, loose threads, stains, fading, and pilling (fuzzies). I may end up mending some of the above that I find, but if it's too far gone it's going!

2. Try on everything. And I mean everything. Does it fit right? Is it too tight? Too short? Fabric uncomfortable? Is the fabric stretched out? When you lift your arms or bend over, does skin show that you would rather keep covered? Is the fabric design or color going to match something you already own? Numerous times I have bought something just because I liked the style or fabric and stubbornly refused to think practically. Most of those purchases ended up being forgotten in the closet because I didn't ask myself these questions. Ask yourself questions like these, especially when you are shopping and take a friend with you for another opinion. Or simply because it's fun shopping with friends!

3. Do you need it? If you're anything like me, I tend to keep things because they have good memories attached to them. As I mentioned above, there are clothes in my closet that I no longer wear because I don't want to ruin them and am trying to make them last longer. What's the point of keeping clothing if you're not going to wear it? I don't need the shirt I was wearing when I experienced my first kiss, I have a picture of myself on that day. Bonus: I married my first kisser! I get reminders every day :)

4. Are you tired of your clothing? Do you own things that you loved at the time, but don't love now? I still have shirts that I had when I was 10! I'm 21 now, and my style has and is changing. Trends come and go, and sometimes I don't always like what is 'in style'. I do want to update my closet with some of the trends I do like and I think it's high time to part with some teen style t-shirts.When people see me, I want them to see an adult, not a teenager. (Which I often get mistaken for.) I'm keeping some of my nerd/geek t-shirts though. They is important!

5. You may be able to sell your clothing!!!! If something you don't want anymore is lightly used, you may very well be able to get money for it on places like Ebay or Poshmark. I know I've mentioned thredUP before and I've sent clothing to them in order to get credit several times. Unfortunately they are very picky about what they will take. They only accept certain brands and conditions of clothing, and last year I sent them some items that were only worn once that they didn't accept :P If you want to get the clothing back from them you have to pay $12.99 return assurance prior to sending the bag. I like buying from thredUP but I don't think the selling option is worth your while. I'm sure there are tons of other clothing buying and selling websites and options out there for you to choose from, these are just the ones I have personally used or know of.

 I'm sure there is more that I could think up, but it's time to begin the purge! I'm going to take this colossal pile of t-shirts and begin my investigation.

 Tools you will need: 

1. Needles - For mending anything you want to spend the time to mend.

2. A razor - This helps remove difficult pilling/fuzzies. Be very careful while your using this, I almost slit my fingers a few times. I also managed to make holes in a few shirts. Don't go too crazy with it or you'll end up causing more damage to the shirt than there already was!

3. Thread - Coordinating with whatever needs mending.

4. Lint Shaver - This works for removing some pilling, but it doesn't always work remove it all. Be careful with this too because if the material bunches up while using this, it will cause it to make little holes. Try to avoid going over the thread lines on your shirts because it can mess those up too. I speak from experience :P

5. Scissors - For snipping off those annoying loose threads.

6. A movie or music - To keep yourself from dying of boredom while doing this!

It's best to do this on a flat surface so that the material won't bunch up. I used our coffee table. Just lay out your choice of clothing and get to it! This does take a while. I definitely didn't do this in one sitting.

 Here is my end result! The pile on the left is to keep and the pile on the right is going away. I parted with almost half of what I started with, guys!!!! Pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I hope this helps you the next time you decide to organize your clothing! From now on I will be keeping a practical mindset whenever I go clothing shopping so I won't bring anything home that I will regret later!

Catch ya later,

Mary