really, cnn? really?

disclaimer: this veers slightly into seriousland. i am in a serious mood today. tomorrow, i will be back to funland and a nummy triple decker strawberry cake for what's cooking wednesdays. proceed with caution.

i will be the first to admit that my little liberal bleeding heart loves me some cnn. well, more like some anderson "silver fox" cooper. yes, he is probs gay. no, i do not care. he is dreamy. the man can wear a suit like nobody's business.

and that super fun interactive map they had on election night? genius! we all knew what the outcome of the election was at like 9pm, yet i was up until 2am watching them play out impossible scenarios about how mccain was going to pull off the upset. and i totally believed it.

as such, i have come to rely on cnn as one of my main sources of news. i also read the nytimes, the wsj, and the local paper, but on my little igoogle home page, cnn.com is the front and center headline provider.

but that ends today. two things yesterday officially have me scratching my head saying, "wtf? this is NEWS?"

1.) the igoogle box for cnn holds three headlines at a time, presumably the three top headlines at any given time. not ONCE yesterday did it mention the bernie madoff verdict. all three headlines, at all times, were about michael jackson. yes, he was famous. yes, his life was eerily fascinating. yes, his death is tragic. guess what? there are people dying in iran right now for daring to want freedom of speech. i do not care who gets custody of mj's kids.

2.) there is a ticker clock countdown on cnn the tv channel until the michael jackson autopsy results come in. is that not the most macabre thing you have ever seen? ew, i get queasy thinking about it. so. wrong.

cnn, you are not tmz. stop trying. it's not cute. so yeah, looks like i will be getting my current events fix from that nbc fox, brian williams. or my alma mater homegirl, katie couric.

p.s. anderson, i still love you.

whyyyyyy???

it started innocently enough. i really only went over to neiman's to check out that most delightful event, the online sale. but i soon found myself fighting temptation. to click or not click? the fall preview graphic featuring ysl's fall suede heels just loomed over the teeny online sale banner. but, what's one click? it won't hurt anything. just to look...

and then i saw them.

and then came the obsession. must. find. spare grand. must. own. these. shoes.

i am seriously considering taking up living quarters in a cardboard box for a few months to justify these. i feel fairly certain it would be worth it.

boudoir redecorating update

many moons ago, i wrote about my plans to redecorate my boudoir. because i am on a budget and a large portion of said budget goes to feeding my shoe habit, the redecorating theme has been slow and steady. that said, it is coming along quite nicely. the walls are covered in the lovely benjamin moore love and happiness. the silk gingham valances have been hung {i can't decide whether or not to add the matching panels}. a gorgeous custom-made {by my grandmother} toile drapes my bedside table. and the parentals have informed me that they are buying my new queen-sized{!} mattress set for me. delightful.

now all that remains are a few finishing touches and then two major decisions: the bed frame and the bed linens. here's what i've picked out for the finishing touches:

i just won this print on ebay for $5.99. to be matted, framed, and hung over my bookshelf, in between my windows.

because the puppy boy CANNOT sleep in my bed anymore. WAY too much sheddage action. j'adore the middle bed.

what's a southern girl without monograms? my shams are already monogrammed {pottery barn. pearl embroidered in hot pink. fabulous.}, but i think this would be the crowning glory.

a ginger jar filled with faux cherry blossom branches. i love the unexpected addition of blue to the room, and it's such a dramatic arrangement. branches found a pier 1. still hunting for the vessel.

for the bed frame, i really have no idea what i'm going to do. i keep going back and forth between about 4-5 different ones. all of which i love, all of which are polar opposites. that's a completely separate post.

i think i've narrowed down the bed linens to this lovely plisse blanket cover in white, over a crisp new down comforter.

now if only i could find the room in my wallet to do all of this at once, i could {finally} move on to the guest bedroom/office.

what's cooking wednesdays

hello, my loves! sorry i have been so mia the past week. our fiscal year ends in less than a week, r leaves for berlin tomorrow, and a jam-packed social calendar all have me wondering what happened to the supposed lazy days of summer?! not to mention a concert, a wedding shower, a belated father's day celebration, and an early 4th of july cookout all crammed into less than 24 hours coming up this weekend. whew!

but since i know y'all have not really noticed my absence been waiting on pins and needles for my next post, i didn't want to let you down. this what's cooking wednesday features a divine recipe for steak tacos and avocado relish that i made for the fellas at the riverhouse this weekend. spicy, messy, and finger-lickin' good, i bought 5 pounds of flank steak for this {i doubled the recipe} and literally did not have a single bit leftover. bonus: this is a cooking light recipe, so you can have your cake steak and fit in your string bikini eat it too!

for the steak:

1 2-lb flank steak, trimmed

2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Place steak in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Sprinkle each side evenly with half of Worcestershire sauce, salt, peppers, and chili powder; rub mixture into steak. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes. Prepare grill. Place steak on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Place on a cutting board; cover loosely with foil. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.

*i don't think i cooked this anywhere near 8 minutes on each side. i like my steak to still be mooing. use your best judgment.

for avocado relish:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 cup diced peeled avocado
1/2 cup chopped plum tomato
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper {about 1 small}

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

*i don't seed my jalapenos. i looove a little spicy.

serve steak on corn tortillas with avocado relish, shredded cabbabge, and lime wedges. and lots of paper towels. nom nom.

in other news, i won barefoot in the park's collared greens giveaway! so exciting. their company is just darling.

i promise to be back with more exciting posts on friday. i just need to make it through the rest of this week without having a meltdown!

what's cooking wednesdays: the trailer park edition

after a brief hiatus, i am actually cooking again tonight. back story: one of my besties is getting married in a little over a month, so we are trying to spend as much single-gal time together as possible. her fiancee is out of town for work this week, so tonight we are taking over the house. on the menu? hot dogs. homemade macaroni and cheese. vino. yes, you read that correctly. we were at the pool on sunday talking about foods we have been craving and this is what we came up with. i can feel your judgment. i can't say i blame you, but i don't care. tonight is going to be deeeelicious.

this is not your run-of-the-mill boxed mac and cheese {no offense, kraft. you know i lived on easy mac my first year at THE university}. no, no, this is my all-time, hands down, knock your socks off favorite mac and cheese recipe. this comes courtesy of the horseradish grill restaurant in buckhead. whip up a batch for you and yours tonight. it is super easy {the same cannot be said for keeping out of the leftovers...}

horseradish grill's ultimate macaroni and cheese

ingredients:

1 3/4 cup elbow macaroni

5 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, cubed

1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 1/3 cup half-and-half

1 1/3 cup whipping cream

2/3 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

3/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

5 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

preheat oven to 350. lightly butter 9x13x2 glass baking dish. cook macaroni to al dente. drain. transfer to dish. mix in cubed cheese. whisk flour, salt, mustard, peppers, and nutmeg in medium bowl until no lumps remain. gradually whisk in half and half, then whipping cream, then sour cream. add eggs and worcestershire sauce; whisk to blend. pour over macaroni; stir to blend. sprinkle with grated cheese. bake 25 minutes {it will be jiggly, as this is a custard-based recipe}. watch waistline expand.

just a little something...

...from me to you.

a little heart hug on this dreary wednesday morning. stay tuned for what's cooking wednesdays.

a wee bit obsessed

have any of you ever purchased items from iomoi? i have recently stumbled across this company and i.am.in.LOVE. all of their things are just so me. it's very city preppy with an edge. things i am currently lusting after:

fabulous address labels, in my favorite color

this darling pink pagoda lucite tray for my vanity

and my favorite: personalized yellow and pink monkey stationary. this speaks to me. it says, "buy me. love me. people will think you are fabulous." i'm sold.

and there's something for everyone! for all you lilly-loving ladies who are preppy minus the edge, how about one {or all!} of these pink-and-green finds?

how about a pink palm paperweight to make your desk a little cheerier?

or these to-die-for address labels?

love these calling cards!

fair warning: if you head over to their website, be prepared to lose several hours of productivity. it is impossible not to play around with the endless combinations of fabulousness on this website. i've already instructed my wallet to hide.

happiness is...

nom, nom...

a lunch of fresh melon and proscuitto. if only drinking at work wasn't frowned upon. this would go down much better with a bottle glass of prosecco. le sigh.

p.s. the thong song just came on the radio. i may or may not have been trying to booty drop in my desk chair. don't judge me.

a smorgasbord

happy monday, chickadees! from the looks of my overflowing google reader, it appears as though you all had fabulous weekends. mine was one of those weekends where i didn't really have any plans, so i just did whatever struck my fancy.

friday night, i wondered around barnes and noble and left with a armload of home design magazines and the conclusion that amazon is waaaaaaay cheaper for book purchases. saturday morning, i hit up pier 1 {attempting to find a ginger jar and faux cherry branches to recreate a look from my new july house beautiful in my own boudoir. branches, check. ginger jar, still looking.} then old navy, where i stumbled upon a darling teal tibi~esque maxi dress for $29.50. not on their website, so march yourself to the nearest store and pick one up. then target, where i lost track of time and happily roamed the aisles with a big diet coke in hand. i came home with a new bedspread for the p-units {i'm redecorating their master bedroom for them this summer} and birthday presents for various and sundry family members. then the madre and i had a lazy lunch downtown, drank our way through the wine festival, and headed home to make this for dinner. so.freaking.amazing. you MUST make it immediately. and yesterday was spend lounging poolside. and getting big white polka dots on my backside from my haphazardly self-applied sunscreen. gah.

my beloved hoos lost a heartbreaker game agaist lsu in the opening game of the college world series. we're down, but not out. we play cs fullerton today at 2pm and i will most certainly be taking advantage of my workplace's access to espn360 online. whilst pretending to work on spreadsheets or some other mind-numbingly monday activity.

and best of all....tory burch sale at ruelala today!! if you need an invite, please let me know. or not...i don't want a whole lot of traffic slowing down the site. heehee.

sorry for the fairly dull post today. my family received some bad news last week, and i've been feeling quite blah ever since. don't really have the emotional fortitude to write about it presently, but i promise i will update you all when i can.

call me a snob if you must...

but most some days i just feel like this.