Fashion Friday: Almost Summer means time to get dressed up!

I decided that before Mother Nature decided to throw a wrench in my plans I would try to be outside as much as possible. For the past week or so I’m happy that that was reality: gardening, grilling ok, that was Darth Husband but I did eat it, cracking open the very first Abita Strawberry Harvest of the season, standing on the front porch when the evening air begins to cool but the pavement is still warm, realizing I need a serious overhaul of my summer wardrobe…

Yeah, that’s not fun.

I deliberately use the word overhaul since this definition from dictionary.com works perfectly: “to investigate or examine thoroughly for repair or revision.” While I know there are things that I can just donate, I don’t want to do so without a plan on how to fill the gaps. There is that fine line of if I am not wearing something due to it not fitting right or if I just don’t like it anymore.

Let’s add the “does it still work with the view I have of myself/for myself “style wise as well. It is important for me to feel comfortable in the clothes I am wearing but also to feel good about the image I am projecting. Don’t get me wrong, I have some crazy outfits like the old AFI tshirt from when they were punk and the star print shorts I’m wearing now that I wear around the house. I am an artist so clothes is another creative outlet as well.

One of my go-to staples, especially if it is hot and humid and by that I mean Chicago hot and humid which is a gross sticky, is a sundress. Big shock, right? Pretty much every fashion site/magazine/blog/advertisement has this aspect covered! Exactly why it is a staple – accessible, affordable, and yet possible to splurge on something slightly out of the normal price range without it being painful.

I have had success for years with clothing from Roxy so the Quicksilver dresses below are definitely on the watchlist which means watch for sales and scour outlet malls or save up since they are above my normal dress threshold. There is something about them that makes me stop and literally go OOOH! Now, I just would have to see it that continues or I end up laughing in the dressing room. Laughing helps except when you are laughing so hard that you get stuck in something which hasn’t never happened in awhile.

Sundresses 2012 by yarnalone featuring vintage day dresses

Quiksilver open back maxi dress
$56 – quiksilver.com

Quiksilver print dress
$80 – quiksilver.com

Quiksilver vintage day dress
$70 – quiksilver.com

Cacharel red sun dress
$710 – stylebop.com

Sun dress
$85 – modcloth.com

Hobbs white day dress
£119 – johnlewis.com

Days of Dirt, Mulch, and Broken Fingernails

I have been on a gardening kick lately. (My poor fingernails are taking a beating.) While, I know it probably was from throwing my plan out into the universe, I know a recent conversation with Darth Husband really hit the nail on the head. I was looking at the entire thing and focusing on the end result (a really awesome perfectly planned garden/flowerbeds/yard.) What I should really be doing is focusing on the smaller elements OF the larger picture since no matter how much I dream and wish, I do not have the time and energy and several grand to do it all as once.

Breaking it down into specific sections means I can check them off the main to-do list. I checked on section off that list today and it feels so good. A future plan is to eventually move a plant and maybe add one more but this isn’t something I have to do. Once the main list is all set, then I just need to figure out a follow-up routine so the weeds don’t take over.

While this is specifically for the yard, it’s pretty much an approach that works for anything and everything. It is so obvious but I too often forget this or focus on the too specific like cleaning out the junk drawer when the entire kitchen is a mess. Working out… start small.  Fancy cooking… start small. Knitting… start with a small stash of yarn.

Oh who am I kidding?!?!  Knitting stashes never starts small especially when you have a box of yarn in the unused bathtub.

The Kinda Sorta Return of Slow Cooker Sundays

Slow Cooker Sundays is usually something the CSYA household does during the winter. I say usually since there are many times I intend to set it up but then we decide on something else. However, if there is a Bears game there is a better chance that the crockpot is out. Since technically there is more to make than just chili and soup, I’m trying to start using it more. Plus when it gets really hot it will be a nice option for not turning on the oven.

Last weekend Darth Husband and I decided to try a new recipe.  I had looked at this one for Slow Cooker Chicken Paprikash several times before and had forgotten about it.  We ended up having soft shelled chicken tacos for dinner one night and the sour cream made me remember the recipe.

When I was a kid my mom used to roast chicken seasoned with paprika and so I had a feeling this would end up really good.  The recipe calls for Sweet Hungarian paprika but we had regular as in the label says paprika and it wasn’t expensive and smoked which came in a fancy glass bottle and was more than the regular. I figured it was best to opt for the smoked figuring the slow cooking would amp up the flavor.  (Plus the smell of  smoked paprika is amazing.)

In terms of the rest of the ingredients, everything was pretty close to the recipe. I ended up using the flat grater to shred the carrots so the pieces were a bit smaller than if I used the box grater but that is such a pain to clean. We had whole mushrooms which were cut but some pieces were a bit larger than the pre-packaged slices.  Truth be told, I could have easily put in the entire 16 oz package but decided it was best not to do that.

Since I slept in didn’t get everything in as fast as I initially planned, I risked the cooking process a bit and had it on high for a hour. I had no plan to keep it on high and so I did kick it back to low after giving it a few generous stirs. The higher temp cooked out some of the broth during that hour so I added the rest of the can that I had saved and didn’t make quinoa with it.  I left the crockpot to do its thang for about three hours.

I came home to this, which I had to immediately take an iPhone photo of before the bubbles disappeared.

I am so glad I didn’t leave it alone for any longer.  (Yes, there is no handle. The dishwasher ate the screw. I’m not joking. We need to fix it.)  When I checked on it the chicken was already starting to fall apart, which was good because it was getting close to our planned dinner time.  After kicking it back on high for almost another hour, it was time to add the sour cream. It worked perfectly over penne pasta.

Next time we are thinking to try adding corn and serving it over egg noodles.  I used the big crockpot this time (7 qt) so I think I’d scale down and use the mid-range one. I  can’t remember the specifics but I want to say around a 3 qt.  This would give us a decent amount for dinner but less leftovers.  While some got eaten, there was a lot of “sauce” left. I think that was prob a mix of the change in cooking time and the adding the approximately 1/4 cup of extra broth.

This one has been added to an actual recipe card, with both the source and my modifications included, and is now in the recipe box. We both liked it to the point where we had seconds which is always a good sign.

If you are interested in future Slow Cooker Sundays, I will most likely tweet something the day I actually make it and follow it up with a post here the following Sunday.  (Worse case sitch, it’ll be up in two weeks.)

Music for this post: my Mike & the Mechanics station on Pandora.