Have You Switched to HappyCozyLife?

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New Blog: HappyCozyLife

Long overdue and still working out a few kinks, but I'm moving this blog on over to HappyCozyLife starting now!



Besides layout and a web address that doesn't include my maiden name, not much has changed. All of the posts from It's All Happening have been moved over, plus I updated my links. Bear with me though, because there are unresolved font issues as well as the header you see above not showing yet.

So change your favorites, your feeds, etc. Come on over to HappyCozyLife!

What We Ate This Week

Herein begins a busy time round our house. We don't necessarily get to sit down together for all of our meals. But I'm going to keep on cooking!

Sunday Pork tenderloin and potatoes baked in Lipton's onion soup mix, salad
Monday Bacon and artichoke jambalaya (NR), kale, blood orange and hazelnut salad (NR) I'll make again, I liked them both. And I swear, the kale gave me extra energy the next day.

Baking
Saturday I baked a new lemon bread recipe. Unfortunately I had lemon oil instead of lemon extract. SO...VERY...LEMONY. Like painfully so.

On Wednesday I made the double-delight peanut butter cookies (NR) that have been all over the place since the woman who created the recipe was on Oprah. They were...okay. Gasp, I know. I think my issue is that while I love peanut butter and peanut butter desserts, I've never been crazy about peanut butter cookies.

Skinny Jeans and New Tops

Last month I picked up a new pair of skinny/straight jeans during one of Gap's flood subscribers' inboxes with codes and 40% off emails. While I love my pair from Alloy, I need a pair that provided the kind of coverage a 30 year old lady needs. After doing some research online and in the store, I settled on a pair of Real Straight Jeans.

And I freaking love them. Not too tight, but slim enough to wear tucked into boots, they are so comfy (stretch is key). Not tucked in they will be perfect for the ankle length style that is both popular and flattering for me. The only thing is the length. They are crazy long. I cut them and intend to get them to a tailor before spring (or Florida) come.

They'd look great with any of these tops.






Top to bottom: Striped Scoop Neck Top, Kali Embroidered Tunic, Ash Knit Top, Colorful Macrame Top, Embroidered Paisley Peasant Top and Here & Now Tee.

Melamine Measuing Cups

I've had these measuring cups for about a year and the continue to make me deliriously happy.

Donate to the Red Cross With Your Amazon Account

Using your Amazon account, you can donate to the Red Cross to help with Haiti disaster relief. Found via diablocody.

Products for Fine Hair

If you have hair like mine (layered, fine, soft and lots of it), then this time of year is a nightmare of flat hair and static.

I personally can't stand having overly processed or stiff hair, so over the years I've cultivated a little stable of go-to products to keep my hair looking and feeling good.

First of all, what makes a huge difference for me is not washing or conditioning my hair everyday. I do it every four or five days. It keeps the natural oils and gives it more body.

That said, these are my tried and trues.

MOP Lemongrass Lift I use this all year round. It gives my hair fantastic body and keeps it in place when I wear it up. If I'm going to style it (like curling it for a wedding), I put this in when my hair is wet and it is the only product I need. I NEVER, EVER use hairspray.

Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave-In Cream Weightless and easy. I use this when I'm really feeling static-y.

AVEDA Phomollient Styling Foam Also very weightless.

Terax Crema I think this is the best serious conditioner. My hair feels so silky smooth when I have time to let it sit on my hair with a shower cap on.

Aveda Pure Abundance Volumizing Clay Conditioner This makes my hair feel light and fluffy. I need product in it after using this one.

This Week in Yaays and Boooos

Yaaaayyyy

Decorating and playing with snow and ice. Ice vase is from Design*Sponge and table is from Apartment Therapy.


Cute kitchen remodel from AT.

Awesome bags and totes made from Hmong baby carriers. Dazzling Lana, found via Jillian Frances. (I love when someone else does the Etsy work for you!)

Cooking with different kinds of salt from Our Best Bites. Image of table salt from Wikipedia.


BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NBC, Jay Leno, NBC management. Boo, boo, boo. I'm with Coco! I don't know where the image is from, my friend Carrie sent it to me.

Vaseline Total Moisturizing Conditioning Lotion

It has been so dry and cold for way too long and I really can't stomach smelling like a Bath & Body Works store/overly enthusiastic perfume sprayer any longer. I picked up a 3 oz bottle of Vaseline Total Moisturizing Conditioning Lotion as a fragrance free trial run and I have to say, I'm pleased.

Any other tips? Baby, its dry up in here.

2010 Food Intentions

What can I say, all I can blog about it is what is top of mind for me. This month at least it is FOOD.

Beyond baking and making one new recipe each week, I want to tackle some foods that I have thus far shied away from. I also want to perfect a go-to recipe for others. Some of these things are way easy, I know, but for whatever reason I just haven't gotten around to trying them.

To do
Roast and break down a chicken
Roast root vegetables (beyond potatoes and carrots)
Grow a garden, part deux
Homemade hot chocolate
Mark Bittman's No Knead Bread
Bread
Red beans and rice
Cuban and shredded pork
Join a CSA
Blueberry red wine reduction

Eat/make more
Vegetables
Fish, snapper
Sangria
Kale
Crockpot recipes
Danish puff
Brussels sprouts
Salad dressings and recipes

Find a go-to recipe
Vanilla cake
Lemon cake
Lemon bread
Sugar cookies
Pizza dough
Granola
Pretzels
Manicotti

Of course, this list is not complete....

Inspired Food Reading

To help in my quest for new recipes, I ordered Cooking Light and Martha Stewart Living through my niece and nephew's magazine drive. Both showed up just in time to help me chart a course for food exploration and new recipes in 2010. In addition, my mother renewed the Cooks Illustrated subscription I had let lapse.

Besides new recipes, there were some totally inspiring and hunger pang inducing articles. It had been quite some time since I'd picked up a Cooking Light, so I really was not expecting to want to book a ticket to Quebec City after reading an article about the city's storied food culture.

Artisanal cheeses, the discovery of Jerusalem artichokes, North American foods with a European flair, and poutine. Oh, do I want some poutine.

Most interesting was the story of Les Fromages de L'Isle d'Orleans. Considered America's first cheese and made on a tiny island just outside Quebec City, government regulations prohibiting unpasteurized milk halted production 40 years ago and only recently has it been made with scientific twists on the old recipe.

The other story I just ate up was about Black Dinah Chocolatiers, featured in this month's Martha Stewart.

Husband and wife pull up their West Coast stakes and move to a tiny island in Maine's Penobscot bay (I'm sensing a theme here, no?). He's a computer geek and she's a chef. To supplement their income, they started a chocolate business with a cafe attached to their house.

Most inspiring? The farm market collection, featuring products made within 50 miles of Isle Au Haut. Blueberry black pepper, rhubarb, apple, strawberry balsamic and chevre & nib just to name a few.

Photos from here, here and here.

What We Ate This Week

We've pretty much been on vacation for the last two weeks and while we ate well over the holidays, it was good to cook at home and stock up on groceries. NR denotes new recipe.

Monday-Pan fried pork chops, salad and linguine avgolemono with artichoke hearts and green beans (NR). While we liked the pasta, we like our lemon fusilli standby more, so I think I will just try switching up the vegetables in that recipe.

Tuesday-We had friends over for the Orange Bowl and lots of treats to last us for the rest of the week. There were carrots, french onion dip with Ruffles, the world's best pasta salad, BBQ meatballs (NR), another dip and Anthony made hot wings from his own special secret recipe.

The meatballs were great, I will definitely make again. I heard the wings were very good, but the fryer stunk up the house so I've been boiling slices of lemon, lime, orange and cinnamon on the stove to drive out the smell.

I'm heading into the new year with cooking excitement. I'm looking forward to trying new recipes and conquering fears about cooking foods I've shied away from.

Holiday Card Art

My former roommate Lica's yearly holiday card is a work of art and this year was no different.


This year's is based on the Frank Gehry designed Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus.

This Week in Yays and Boos

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

Hawks win the Orange Bowl!


What a great way to end the season.

Design*Sponge has been doing a really fun series called Living In. The Julie & Julia one is absolutely delightful.




Fun way to display jewelry.


I forgot how much I LOVE Archer Farm organic fruit strips. A little burst of fruit flavor in your mouth. Raspberry is my favorite. Yum.


This is Micky’s favorite winter toy. Playing fetch in the snow with tennis balls is a sure fire way to lose them, so I ordered this LED lightup ball for playing at night.


BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Neighborhood thief steals dog toys and Christmas gifts.

In the past month we have had not one or two, but three UPS deliveries stolen from our front steps. I’m so mad! I hope the rotten thief is enjoying the fake mustaches and buster cube.