dressing a salad

It's weird to post about salad dressing and be serious about it but in all honesty this post is for Kate. She visited me a few weeks ago and we baked tasty good things like quiche and pumpkin bread buuuut somehow we also had fried chicken and salad. I don't even... anyway. The salad dressing is pretty quintessential "Gail" if you know my mom at all. It's a basic lemon vinaigrette that happens to taste good on EVERYTHING you put it on. I haven't tried it on cereal... but I would. It's THAT good.

Well, Kate texted me for instructions/ingredients and I told her what I thought it was. When I reported back to my MOM what I texted KATE she... told me it was correct and incorrect all at the same time. Then she let it go. Then she brought it up the next day some ingredients I forgot. Then she dropped it. Then she admitted, finally, THE NEXT DAY, that I needed to give Kate CORRECT ingredients for the vinaigrette.... and THEN said it really didn't matter to be honest. She's miiiildly obsessive. And I pretty much love the stuffing out of her. 

So... even though I am acting on command from my mother this is seriously the most simple and amazing salad dressing ever. My favorite salad is romaine hearts, finely chopped, dried cranberries, walnuts and radishes. on a good fall day I'll add a tart, crispy green apple. and add this simple yet effective vinaigrette? this salad SINGS. 

this... coming from a girl who thinks french fries are hardcore vegetables. (kidding! mostly...)

Ah! addendum. already haha... My mom likes to see little flecks of green in the dressing, it gives her subtle satisfaction of sorts. She will put either dried parsley (which you cannot taste) or dried cilantro (which gives it a very, VERY subtle boost in flavor) in the dressing. Also that "sqwidge" is more like a teaspoon or less. Dijon can be very overpowering so you have to make it a team player. Actually all the flavors threaten to overpower one another which is why it's so brilliant in it's simplicity. You can definitely leave out the onion powder if that isn't your cup of tea but don't leave out the garlic powder. Just sayin'. You'll want it present. 

This is the ONE dressing that makes me CRAVE salads and saves me money because I will never buy vinaigrette again. It's perfect for in between the constant carb loading holidays and a good reminder that good food doesn't have to have golden arches on it. : )

Happy eating!

The Villafuerte Wedding (finally! tang cups!)

So you know my love of hipster friend weddings right? Please refer to Katherine's amazing wedding for proof. All my friends keep getting married and having babies! For the most part I'm cool with that cuz a) i like to dance and b) i love babies! it just... works out.

Well I have yet another insider scoop on an awesome wedding. Can I share something with you? (read: "...with you, Sarah?") I was wary of this wedding. Sarah had a VISION... like no joke this girl is brilliant because to talk about it I was confused. It seemed like a lot of cool elements that made me really happy and then really sad cuz I didn't understand how they were coming together. Guess what?! Didn't matter cuz I wasn't the one getting married! And they did come together! it was GORGEOUS and totally Sarah.

The wedding was AMAZING! Take... equal parts fabric from all walks of life, plates from everyone you know's house, lyrics from hipster love songs, Hollowine (oh yes.), a secret chapel hidden in the trees, and the most beautiful custom made dress you've ever seen (for real this is a beautiful dress Sarah literally DREAMT up. I can't even...)and WA-BAM. Sarah and Manuel twenty-eleven. Sarah took "do it yourself" to a whole other level. There was handmade bunting, wood burned tree (with the ink pads so you put your finger print on it?! so cool!), her cake stands were tree stumps! Gah. It's hard to explain. I feel like I can't do it justice.

Her ceremony was at Funks Grove and it was the most idyllic place I've ever been. There were leaves falling slowly the whole time, it felt like a dream. And of course while I was there I tried to justify my place in the world and how life in general functions and tuuuurns... but the place makes you do that! It's all golden trees and white picket fences and love! WHY. It wears off after a few days. Don't worry.

Also I was "in" the wedding and had no idea. Like I had a little corsage made for me! Her Aunt Chris walks up to me and hands it to me and I'm like 'oh! um... no?' and she looks at me and goes, "You know your name is Abby right? You're the only Abby here." *crickets* sometimes... I'm kind of slow... hahaha

My camera was my iPhone and I did all the editing/photo framing on Camera + and Photo Frame (both $0.99 in the App Store. WORTH IT) I think it turned out pretty cool! The video is still a work in progress but it's almost dooone yaaay! I'll be putting all the photos you see smashed together up in a Facebook album too... unsmashed. let us move on : )

Sarah looked so beautiful it almost didn't make sense. She looked like Adele meets someone way more awesome that I can't think of haha... and I'm still HARDCORE in love with her dress.

Oh wait! That's not all. I didn't even get to the DANCING. First of all Get Me Bodied by Beyonce is... probably the best dance song ever made. There's instructions! You can't NOT dance. It's like... a commandment to dance. Love it SO HARD. Annie and Brent are probably THE MOST coordinated white people I've ever met. Okay... confession? I'm not a good dancer! I'm all shoulders and hips and booty bumpin'. Sometimes that gets you no where. But I DO bring da noise. Sometimes I bring da funk just to keep it interesting. But they... brought the house down. Highlight? Me and Katherine changing into pajamas before leaving... theeen hopping onto the dance floor for Ms. New Booty. Cuz you can't not dance to that. So much fun.

Quick letter to all my friends, I friggin love you. I love you and your amazing weddings. Please keep having parties in the future. Please don't forget to invite me. I will show up with my iPhone ready to party.

blast from the past!

I'm not a girl who saves things for ever and ever. It's possible I throw away birthday and Christmas cards a week after getting them. I mean, please, can someone tell me what exactly you're supposed to do with those? Look at them with longing and nostalgia? Ack. Well somehow something stood the test of time...

MY CABOODLE. 

yeah. i said it. not only is it a Caboodle is a KIDZ Caboodle. When I was little my sister had this amazing black and turquoise one with so many compartments! when you opened it there was a mirror and then the sides stacked THREE HIGH on EACH SIDE to reveal tiny drawers, little compartments, and areas of imminent surprise. and then the BOTTOM was CAVERNOUS... filled with anything you could DREAM of! Make-up, hair accessories, more hair accessories and old bobby pins! *wipes tear* man. you never know how good you have it til you don't have a Caboodle anymore. Luckily I still have mine. It's pink and orange with a yellow handle. A 90's girl's DREAM. No joke I still use it to hold hair stuff but I think the last time I cleaned it out was circa... 1994. because I got my Caboodle in 1994. yeah.

Since deciding to go natural I picked up a few things at the store and realized most of the stuff in my Caboodle (man, it's ridiculous that I still use that word AT ALL) is pretty outdated. I had no idea.

BEHOLD. figures 1-7.

1. the category of the butterflies. this was right around 7th to 8th grade for me. I got butterfly hair accessories as birthday presents, I had a butterfly that changed from clear to purple in sunlight, they were in my barrettes i mean they were EVERYWHERE. and i friggin LOVED IT. What I would do is put my hair in a bun then stick a winged butterfly at the top of the ponytail/bun and it would flutter... all day. in my hair. people would compliment me. I no joke started hair trends in grammar school. Private school kids are NUTS.
2. Ribbons. i don't even understand why I have these and then I remembered high school band. *shakes head slowly* I mean I know where I'm going with this but man do i NOT wanna go there! I was super into pig tails and two pony tails. When we had games I would wrap the ribbons all up in my hair and feel amazing. People would marvel. People would MARVEL. (in a good way! for shiz!)
3. Headbands part 1 - people still wear headbands today. I still wear headbands all the time because of my CRAZY HAIR but these in particular made me look like I was trying out for a coveted part in EVERY EXERCISE VIDEO EVER MADE. Look at your life. Look at your choices.
4. Tiny trinket trends - here lie three things that were made to make your hair look awesome and cool but I never used. Those little jeweled pony holders there? Okay somehow I must have forgot about being black but those things NEVER held my hair. I couldn't get them around a ponytail not even once. Why. When did I forget that my hair is NUTS. The flowers... omg those flowers. They came in a pack of 400 I swear to bob I maybe used one. They were supposed to hang at different points in your hair and like... i honestly don't know. I don't even remember or understand what the little "u" shaped things are. I made no sense!

5. a torture tool - this handy dandy thing is supposed to help you learn how to french braid. also I really wanted the Topsy Tail. this was the next best thing. I used it on my dolls all the time but never on myself. I just... figured out how to french braid my own hair without pulling out my own hair because of this thing. that counts for something right?!
6. SCRUNCHIES - they DOMINATED the 90's. this is only a sampling of the amazing selection I had. I used to layer them, I perfected the sock bun WITHOUT USING A SOCK (heck yes). Side bun? SCRUNCHIE. Low ponytail? SCRUNCHIE. Naked wrist?? PUT A SCRUNCHIE ON THAT WRIST.
7. Headbands part 2 - this one is made from a bra strap. i bought this with that knowledge. this was a paid for product. i can't say anymore about this cuz it hurts too much. it hurts. too. much.

not pictured:
clips! i used to LINE the pockets of my school uniform of clips of all shapes and sizes. no joke this started a trend. girls everywhere at Calvary Academy were wearing clips on the pockets of the skirts and the pockets of their shirts. I was the REAL DEAL y'all.

For a girl that really never holds onto things from her past, this was a hilarious journey I went on. Turns out, I was pretty awesome back then. w00t!

p.s. - Happy 300th post to me! aaah! haha

color head-to-head

I saw these two rooms on Design*Sponge today and I absolutely swooned over them. As soon as I saw the picture on the left I was like, "THAT'S how I wanna design my home!" then I saw the picture on the right and said "THAT! is how I need to design my HOME!" arg. dilemma.

What would you choose? Like colors to make a cohesive, rich and deep color palette? Or would you choose colors to compliment each other for a quirky, fun, but lived in feel? I love them both because they both have unique statements and personalities. The outside porch looks inviting like you just NEED to cuddle in all those blankets and read a book with a cup of milky tea. The living room looks like lots of Scrabble is played there, impromptu dance parties are had and love is present. Seriously. Love is totes there. So hard to choose!!

Well the good thing is... this is the same house! Whoever this is? Please make room. I'm coming to live with you. Obvi.

What's your preference? Analogous? Complimentary? Do you just enjoy saying the word "tertiary" like I do (often)? or do you take it to a neutral level and work within those limits? There's so much you can do! I can't wait to own my own home... be too daunted to do anything and eventually run to IKEA for help. YAAY! Thank God for Design*Sponge.

haiku for the single girl

Hope I never need

Haiku for the Single Girl

To get me through life 

it's good for a laugh

i might cry afterwards though

Geez... penguin classics.

Thank you, Cup of Jo,

for recommending this book,

but it's not out yet.

what to love.

I have probably already mentioned this a billion times but I need to make sure you're heading over to Gathered Heart. I took a gander over there and realized she is on the verge of exploding. For shiz, the girl has flawless taste, a detailed eye for design and she's hilarious so obviously... best combo ever. Add her to your Google Reader, Reading List, Top Sites and what have you. You won't be disappointed! And you'll get to say you read her before she became ridiculously popular. Cuz that's happening very soon-like.

You'll thank me later. All 15 of you.

Also if you aren't listening to Oh Land right now, you need to do so. She is like Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, a hint of Regina Spektor and a tiny sprinkle of Ingrid Michaelson. You'll totes like her.

this is the remix

There is something about this fall in particular that has me wanting to buy new things. Sweaters, tights, cardigans, BOOTS, which I NEVER buy EVER. I had to really stop myself because I have a closet full of clothes that are considered "summer clothes" but it's now cooler. What to do? Well my girl over and d+sj knows how to work a closet without thinking about it. I got to see her last week and she was wearing a shirt dress with a sweater over it and though I never SAID anything my mind started going through my closet to see what I could wear to be THAT AWESOME. *mind scenario* Do I have a long shirt tunic? Oo! I do! I could put a sweater over it and it becomes a shirt dress/skirt combo. What about my black dress? throw some sweater tights under it and throw some boots on. Brilliant!

It's made me want to remix my whole closet! I have a purple baby doll-type dress that I plan on pairing with my new charcoal cardigan from Old Navy (it was on sale. best purchase EVER), grey cabled tights and my kick-awesome brown lace up boots. Watch for that at the quarterly meeting : ) My black summer dress is getting a make over with a thin striped sweater from Gap, hunter green opaque tights and city flats (also. from Gap. go figure!). That same dress is also going to be paired with my striped cardigan, burgundy sweater tights and my grey knit boots. AND! i found a long grey shirt tunic I usually wear with skinny jeans (turns out it's long enough to be a dress) that is going to meet my mustard cardigan and purple opaque tights! I. am too. excited! There's so many possible combinations! My brain. It's wrinkled.

I'm pretty pumped about fall and winter. Should be pretty awesome style-wise.


p.s. Sorry for the delay of Sarah's wedding post... i'm actually working out the video portion of the day (aka my whole JOB in the wedding) and I want it to be awesome... yet effortless. It's coming soon! Hoorays! I'll keep feeding you with previews on Facebook.

{about creativity} from my late boss

my two halves

I PROMISE the next post will be Sarah's wedding! puh-romise.

I'm sure you've heard me talk about being an introvert before (see: Renegade Adventures, or How I'm Awkward) and how it hinders and helps some things. Well, I think I'm realizing how much of an EXTROVERT I am now. I have both personalities on the inside. It comes from my mom who is both extroverted and introverted at the same time as well. How is that possible? Shouldn't they cancel each other out and you just end up... "normal?" Yeah it's not the case.

I'm extroverted when it's BUSY. I work at a place that launches a new, high demand, state of the art products approximately every 6 months to a year give or take and when that happens our store is just wall to wall PEOPLE. I call busy "when i can't see the front of the store" that was the last couple days. Turns out? I LOVE IT. It feeds whatever extroverted nature is inside me. I end up running circles around co-workers who are invested in "slowing down the conversation." Secret? I still suck at slowing down a conversation! I'm all hit it and quit it (way less derogatory though), get you what you need, i WILL hug you, and get out. Works the BEST on busy days. I'm excited, YOU'RE excited, all God's children be EXCITED.

I NETWORKED at work on Saturday. Okay networking for me is a scary, sometimes stupid thing in my mind. You essentially walk up to a stranger to use them for their services and vice versa and really never develop a relationship with them. I'm opposite. I'd rather walk up to you tell you look nice and or strike up some kind of intelligent conversation (cuz otherwise I won't say anything to you - i'm so bad at chit chat!) and THEN make a barter deal of some sort. Back to Saturday. I talk to a million people, turns out he's a designer, we exchanged info (business intro ZING!) and he asked if I knew Photoshop. The end! And I didn't even REALIZE that's what I did until he left and i was like 'WHAAAAAAAT' *own mind blown* then I had to take a break and process things out haha and THAT is where the introverted side of me comes into play.

In situations where people would react in an excited way, say meeting a celebrity or getting engaged, I react the opposite. I shut down. Literally, shut. down. because my brain has to make sure everything's okay. It's not necessarily a BAD thing but if you're not used to dealing with introverts it can be... really confusing. I met Taye Diggs last Saturday. Yeah. You heard me. TAYE DIGGS. In the real... chocolatey... holy crap... flesh. My mother decided to tell me before she completely surprised me because she KNEW i'd need to time to pretty much cope - bless her heart. I did. My eyes glazed over and I stopped talking. Then I just started shaking my head no saying I couldn't go. Yeah! that happened! (TAYE DIGGS.) but eventually I pulled it together (it took like an HOUR) and we went to see him. It. was. AWESOME. and THIS happened:

wa-BAM. stare at THAT. holy sheet.

It has taken me a long time to even accept myself for who God made me to be. I'm awkward AND loud. Quiet AND energetic. I mean what am I a walking oxymoron?! But I'm slowly learning how to be the best version of myself (isn't everyone?). annnnd meeting Taye Diggs was like a best life moment EVER. aaaargh! haha

p.s. - this is not a journey into self discovery in any way - cuz that's stupid. I'm defined by God and not people but for a long time i wasn't vocal and had NO idea i was outgoing at all. i had a good chance of becoming a recluse when i was younger so this is good!

more interwebz musings

I met a blogger in the store yesterday named Tiffany, she was pretty awesome, and we got to talk about the ins and outs of having a blog - her blog being about fashion, mine being... respectfully ambiguous. She had gone to a fashion show for Akira (read: the devil) and said she never posts where she is until AFTER she goes cuz there's some creepers on the internet. So true. Stranger interwebz danger is real life y'all. 

It got me thinking about comments. I have had more than a few run ins with bloggers taking me for creepy because if I feel a connection with a blogger I am overzealous about letting that blogger know. I always feel scorned if my comment is taken the wrong way or worse, deleted. That actually happened the other day when I told a blogger I knew of an awesome knit shop I'd love to show her and then get coffee if she was ever in Chicago. She seemed awesome! =\ i always feel like a 5 year old when i get shunned online. Like, "why don't you wanna be my friend? I'm a nice person." 

Another time happened with Smitten Kitchen (who I stopped following after I got shunned). She had a pizza dough recipe that Joy the Baker used on her blog. I asked her if she doubled the recipe (as Joy had done) would it still turn out thin and crispy? I mean I'm sure she had doubled her own recipe on occasion. She responded snippily, "Well I wouldn't know because I'm not Joy." Slightly confused... I told her the recipe Joy used WAS HERS but never got a response to my question. 

Blogging is like having an open relationship with everyone who reads. There's a subtle dynamic, a push and pull, between blogger and reader/commenter. I feel like I cross that line too often because of my bubbly personality. I love communicating through text and writing so I'm usually very eager and willing to say, "hey! you should come to Chicago!" but apparently that's extra creepy. I don't know these people! They have no idea that by nature I'm happy and zealous and secretly a 5 year old. It's one thing to do it on a friends blog but for the people I don't know (but still feel a connection with, obviously because I read their blogs) I have to be careful. In my brain, I'm best friends with Joy the Baker and Tracy Shutterbean but in real life they live across the country and wouldn't recognize me on the street. *shrugs*

the internet is so weird and interesting. What are your thoughts on commenting? (lol essentially i'm telling you to comment. GAH INTERWEBZ.)