on hibernation

the puppy boy and ferdinand, his beloved squeak rooster toy

greetings from snow-covered small town, virginia! we are spending our snow day curled up in bed {with the exception of midday lunch + cocktails with friends at my favorite local watering hole} getting our WASP on with the following movies:

what's cooking wednesdays: the super bowl edition

last year i co-hosted a big super bowl blowout for me and my closest 40 friends. and by co-host, i mean friend e allowed us to use the game/tv room at her awesomely huge new house and i cooked. a lot. the centerpiece of my menu was my beloved aunt's taco soup recipe. i have wonderful childhood memories revolving around this soup and snow days with my cousins. the recipe has seen me through to adulthood, where my mom and i have both won a few chili cookoffs with a few recipe adjustments. i made two massive slow cookers full of this, and there was not a bit leftover. {if your friends aren't as gluttonous as mine, it freezes beautifully}.

aunt martha's award-winning taco soup
1-2 lbs. ground meat {chicken, turkey, or beef}*, browned with
1 small onion
add:
1 can chopped green chiles
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package dry ranch dressing mix
1 can hominy, undrained
3 cans stewed, diced, or crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 can pinto beans, undraines
2 or more cups water

Simmer for 30 minutes. {i tend to just throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning and leave it on low all day. this soup is very low maintenance.}

*i prefer to use a shredded rotisserie chicken and brown the onion on its own.

p.s. this goes beautifully with ina's yummy jalapeno cheddar cornbread!

thanks, mom!

i HEART milly, but since i am in the midst of de-debting, i doubt there will be any fabulous michelle smith frocks added to my closet this spring. so when i got this e-mail from bloomie's today, i saw my only chance at milly loot until the devil card{s} is paid off. my mom is a devoted fan of the clinique dramatically different moisturizing lotion, so i forwarded her the e-mail, kindly begged her to restock via bloomie's, and send the milly bag to her favorite eldest child.

it may not be a dress, but at least my bathroom vanity is getting a little fashion-forward boost this spring! stay tuned for what's cooking wednesdays...

no words needed

so. freaking. excited.

bad case of the {freezing} mondays

oh you know, typical monday morning. just sitting here torturing myself by looking at pictures of warm and luxurious travel destinations. it's currently 16 degrees here. it snowed all weekend. it's supposed to snow again tomorrow. and this weekend. at which point i may say to hell with fiscal responsibility and book the next ticket out of here to one of these destinations:

the tides, zihuatanejo, mexico

vedema resort, santorini, greece

four season maldives

the viceroy anguilla

the one in which hell freezes over

because i found a vera bradley pattern that i {gasp!} actually like.

remember this post? yeah, i still hate the stuff. but ummm....have i mentioned my obsessive love of toile? i saw someone carrying this pattern {imperial toile} the other day and freaked. out. this is the exact color scheme/graphic pattern of my bedroom. it is shockingly chic, especially coming from the maker of quilted fugliness seen the world over.

you will never, i repeat NEVER, catch me carrying any tote or purse-like item made from this stuff. {why would you when there is this or this to aspire to?} but i am now scouring ebay for some of the more subtle items {i.e. the hard sunglass case, the cosmetic cases, and some of the desk accessories}.

chinoiserie dreams!

what's cooking wednesdays: the nyc edition

hi all! hope you had a lovely week! i had a great trip to nyc, albeit way too short {i unexpectedly left a few days early. nbd, i'll be back soon!} y'all were too sweet with all of your recommendations of things to see and do and EAT in the city. mcw sent me a TON of awesome places...i just wish i had had time to eat at all of them! darling alice insisted i go to momofuku's new bakery, milk, and try the crack pie and/or compost cookie. apparently anderson cooper is on the crack pie train {see below video at around 3:50} and we ALL know how i feel about him.


sadly, i didn't make it to the bakery {at the top of next trip's to do list}, but i did find a recipe for crack pie {which is actually a shaker sugar pie}. i haven't made one yet, so don't hold me to it, but i'm planning on whipping one up this weekend to see what all the fuss is about. i have a feeling i, too, will be addicted to crack when all is said and done.

shaker sugar pie:
1 unbacked 9-inch pie shell
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 pound butter
pinch of nutmeg
powdered sugar {for dusting}

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. thoroughly mix the flour and sugar and spread evenly in the bottom of the pie shell. pour the cream and vanilla over the flour mixture. slice the butter into 12-16 pieces and distribute evenly over top of the mixture. sprinkle with nutmeg. bake for 40-45 minutes or until firm {note: several recipe reviews have said it takes closer to 60 minutes. i'll report back with my findings.} dust the top of the pie with powdered sugar when cool.

happy hump day!