The sniffles

When I get a cold, I don't get just a little case of the sniffles. I get a full-blown foggy head, sneezing constantly, chills, aches, fatigue, runny nose, people-are-afraid-to-be-around-me-cause-I-look-like-death cold. And wouldn't you know it...that's what's going on this week.

But since I took so much time off the ol' blog at the beginning of the month, I didn't want to leave you guys hanging without an outfit post. So I dug up this one from a week or two ago, when the weather was a little more pleasant and I was feeling a little more human.






button down: New York & Company
coverup: Figleaf boutique in Athens
skirt: H&M, thrifted
tights, boots: Target
necklace, bracelet: so old, I don't even remember
I think this definitely ranks as one of my favorite outfits of 2012 thus far. And even though these tights look pretty orange in the pics, I assure you all they are more of a rust color. Guess I'm still hanging on to that autumn palate, even though we're far closer to spring than fall (and thank god for it, too!).

Happy worst-holiday-ever-invented!

I'm not gonna lie, I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day. I always managed to get fewer cards in my box in elementary school, and I'm not even gonna start on the horrors of dating-age Valentine's Days. (Though I will say that in college alone, I drunkenly ran into my ex at a bar and made a fool of myself one year, then almost had to go to the hospital the next while making dinner for Matt. Suffice to say the holiday has not treated me well.)

This year, Matt is currently en route to Louisiana for work. We did celebrate last weekend, and I came home last night to a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me, so I suppose things could be worse :)



Still. I definitely have a love-hate relationship with the holiday, and I think I somehow channeled that into my outfit today. There's a good balance of cynical black and romantic pink and red, haha.






button-up and sweater: New York & Company
skirt: The Limited
tights: Target
pumps: thrifted
necklace: Tiffany & Co (gift from my aunt)
I have to say, I've never been a big fan of the pink and red combo that's so trendy right now. Not sure why, but it's always kind of bugged me. But when I woke up this morning, I decided to face the EBEW challenge head on, stretching myself ever so slightly out of my comfort zone. And you know what? I don't hate it.

Linked to:

Three-day weekends

I think we, as a society, should work toward a three-day weekend and a four-day work week. Somehow, two days just doesn't quite cut it all the time. Sure, I got everything done that I needed to this weekend—groceries, cleaning the whole house, some bridesmaid stuff for my friend's wedding, etc.—and I even had a little downtime to do absolutely nothing. AND Matt and I went on a Valentine's double-date with our awesome upstairs neighbors.

Okay, so I guess this weekend was plenty long enough. Hey, a girl can still dream of three-day weekends, right?






shirt and blazer: thrifted
skinnies: The Limited
boots: Target
loop necklace: New York & Company (the other was a gift from Matt)
Not entirely sure what's up with my face in that first picture. Sometimes I forget that I'm taking outfit photos for the sole purpose of showing them to other people. I should really show you guys my outtakes reel sometime, those shots are ridiculous.

Also, a confession: I'm not really a huge fan of thrifting. Sure, I'm obsessed with getting great deals. There's nothing better than walking out of a store knowing you only paid a few bucks for each item. But generally speaking, I just don't have the patience for it. So when I find a gem like this blazer, I'm disproportionately proud of it. I picked up a few other items from the thrift store this weekend, too. Can't wait to show you guys!

Food Fridays: Slow-cooker pot roast

Remember that pot roast I mentioned a while back? Well, I never took pics of it the first time around, so I made it again last weekend for the sole purpose of shooting it.

"Pot roast again?" Matt whined. "We had this last weekend. Can't you be a little creative in the kitchen?" And I hung my head in shame.

Just kidding. He didn't say anything, as we were both too busy inhaling this food like we hadn't eaten in months. But when it was gone, he sat back and sighed and somehow, I just knew that I could serve up this meal every single Sunday and he wouldn't complain. Hm. Maybe I'll do that...I'm not kidding, this dish really is that good.

I found the original recipe on Martha Stewart's website (I know, I know) and adapted it a little because I can't just make a recipe as directed.


Excuse me while I clean the puddle of drool off my keyboard.

Ingredients (enough for 2 people):
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- a handful of baby carrots—I would say about 15-20
- half of a large yellow onion, cut into large chunks
- 8-10 small red potatoes, quartered
- 1 beef chuck roast, about 1 and a half to 2 pounds
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper

In your slow-cooker/crock pot/whatever you wanna call it, mix the cornstarch with 2 tbsp cold water until smooth. I found it helps to tilt the slow-cooker a bit, so everything pools in the corner and mixes easier. Add the carrots and pieces of onion, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. On top of that layer, add the potato chunks and season with salt and pepper.

Season the chuck roast with salt (use more than you think you'll need, the potatoes tend to soak up excess salt like a sponge) and pepper on both sides. Martha recommends trimming off the excess fat first, but I like to take the Paula Deen approach and leave the fat on because everyone knows that fat is where all the best flavor comes from. Place on top of the potatoes. Then drizzle the whole beautiful thing with the Worcestershire sauce.

Turn the slow-cooker on high and cook for 5-6 hours (my cooker usually gets it done in about 5) or on low for about 10 hours. You'll know it's done when your nose is screaming at you to just go sniff around in the kitchen a bit, and the meat itself falls apart easily with a fork. Martha suggests cutting the roast into thin slices against the grain, but what does she know, Matt and I just split the hunk of meat in half and go at it like cavemen. So...delicious...

(Side note: You can also strain the juices from the bottom of the slow-cooker through a fine-mesh sieve and use it as a dipping sauce or whatever, but I always forget to do this because I'm so distracted by the meat and potatoes part of the dish. So do what you will with that.)

My other favorite thing about this dish? (Besides its mouth-watering incredibleness, of course.) How easy it is to make. It's literally about 10 minutes of prep time, throw it all in the slow-cooker, and pull it all out a few hours later. The hardest part is just waiting for the damn thing to be done!

I love my cat. But sometimes, I really hate my cat.

Last night, Spazzy (aka Spazzcat McGillicutty) decided to go all hyped out and become an explorer/adventurer. Which means she was on a mission to get into the plastic drawer set that houses my socks, tights and unmentionables. When a cat is scratching on/clawing at plastic, it's not quiet. Especially if you're trying to sleep. Especially if it's 1 in the morning and you have yet to actually fall asleep.

And if she wasn't doing that, she was using our box spring as her own personal scratching post. (We had to take the bed off the frame and put the box spring directly on the floor, because she kept getting stuck up inside it from below.) We finally had to shut her up in the office, where we could hear her crying and mewing in the most pathetic manner until we finally fell asleep. It just about broke my heart. Or it would have, if I hadn't been so mad at her.

So instead of posting the outfit I had scheduled for today, I spent the morning on Pinterest looking for a screen/room divider thing (that I can actually afford) to put in front of my doorless reach-in closet to help solve at least some of the problem. Something like any of these would do:

Source: greatusefulstuff.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Source: bonluxat.com via Kitt on Pinterest

Source: wanelo.com via Look on Pinterest

Source: laylagrayce.com via Sasha on Pinterest

Source: homefurnitureshowroom.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: amazon.com via Susan on Pinterest

As for the box spring scratch post problem, I guess I'll just have to convince Matt to make me this (haha):

Source: ideastosteal.com via Amy Rose on Pinterest

Okay but for real...where the heck can I find a room divider screen that doesn't break the bank? Guess it's time to make a trip to the architectural salvage store and the secondhand stores around town...

Honey, I'm hoooome!

I've been a terrible blogger this past week (or two). I could tell you that I've been incredibly busy with my freelance stuff, but the reality is, that's only half of the reason I've been absent. The other half of the reason I've been absent is because I have some big, exciting news to share...but I can't share it just yet. And I'm terrible at keeping secrets, so it's just been easier to limit my blog and Twitter usage. I promise, I'll tell you all about it soon. Just not yet.

(But just to avoid rumors...no, Matt and I aren't engaged. For some reason, everyone hears "big news" and assumes engagement. Guess that'll happen when you've been together almost four years, haha.)









shirt: secondhand
skinnies: The Limited
boots: Old Navy

I've been wanting a shirt with some fun floral embellishments for a while now, when lo and behold, two days ago a package arrives on my doorstep. It was from the lovely Joanna of Fabulously Average, who recently cleaned out her closet and sent me some goodies. Thanks Joanna, I love these shirts!!

Joanna and Sydney (of Take Me For a Twirl) are both doing closet cleanouts, which reminds me that my closet is in desperate need of an overhaul as well. In fact, the trunk of my car currently has a giant bag of clothes that I keep forgetting to take to Goodwill...I should go through it first and see if anything would suit my bloggy friends! I don't think any of it is nice enough to warrant a giveaway, like Syd's (She's giving away a Cartier scarf this week. Oh my God.), but there's definitely some wearable stuff in there.

Want a little surprise package of goodies? Send me your address (verbal.melange{at}gmail{dot}com) and I'll see what I have for ya :)

A new link-up!

So if you read Take Me For A Twirl, you already know about Bloggers Take the Town. But if you don't, read on for more details about this new link-up! (Then go read Sydney's blog. Cause it's schweet.)

So what is Bloggers Take the Town (aka BTTT)? Well, you can read more about it here or by clicking the Bloggers Take the Town page above. But basically, it's a chance for all of us to show off the night-out outfits that we don't always post on the blog. Because hey, sober people should see your cute bar-hopping outfits too ;)

So this month, make sure you take pics of your weekend outfits! Then post them to your blog so you can link up during the first BTTT at the end of the month.



In other words, I'm off to knock out some more freelance writing. I promise guys, I'll be back next week with a good excuse for why I've been so silent here this week... *cue mysterious/anticipatory music*