shelf help?

Happy summer! May was busy with graduations and warm weather activities and now here we are, half way through June. Can y'all believe it?? Anyway, Spencer and I inherited some shelves from Sarah and Doug earlier this week. We moved them into the condo last night and they are terribly bare. Of course we have some books to put on them, but I don't want them to look too library-ish (sorry, Dad). I'm no shelf styling expert, but spent some time today perusing the interweb for some interesting objects to add to the mix once we get books on the shelves. I tried to pick some less feminine objects but have since learned that birds are apparently "girlie".. haha.

 

 Paper Mache Birds from West Elm.

 

 Birdcage from West Elm. Maybe the birds IN the cage? eh??

 

 Ceramic turtle from West Elm that apparently has sold out in the last 6 hours.. bummer.

 

 Antique Brass Call Bell from World Market.

 

 Pendant Clock from Pottery Barn

 

 Birdcage trays from PB. If not for the shelves, they could hang on the wall in my room!

 

 This set of 7 vintage keys is also from PB. I think they could be part of a cool DIY wall art project. I'm thinking vintage frame with keys arranged on burlap.

 What do y'all think? Any tips for shelf styling??

missing mountains.

I found this print on Etsy yesterday and it really made me miss the mountains. I want to order it once I figure out a place for it to go.


I've been craving them recently for several reasons:

1. I love the mountains. They are particularly pretty in the spring, especially since some Atlanta days have already gotten too hot to eat outside. Soon it will be ALL days.
2. Last time I was there was New Years. During college, I made a pilgrimage to the NC mountains (or at least the East Tennessee valley) about every 3 months, if not more often. I'm overdue!
3. April was when I always KNEW summer was coming.. for the three years I worked on Montreat summer staff, I would get super excited around this time because it was SO CLOSE!
4. It feels like everyone in Atlanta is on spring break this week except me. My spring break has consisted of sleeping in 5-10 extra minutes because traffic is much lighter than usual and last night I even went to bed at 8 pm. Heyyyo real world.
5. Alex and Sarah have moved/are moving to Asheville and we will miss them dearly but I am glad to have an excuse to get some more mountain time in when we visit :)

Fortunately, I think Spencer and I are planning to go to WNC for Memorial Day weekend to see those old hills, visit Sarah and Alex in their new place, and celebrate Meghan's birthday. Much to look forward to!

life update: job

Just looking at where I left off on the blog front and seems like a lot has happened... I'm planning to do a few posts to get everyone up to speed on what I've been up to over the past few months.

As some of you know, I AM EMPLOYED!! I have begun working for Piedmont Medical Care Corporation in Atlanta. I started right after Thanksgiving in their Occupational Health Services office (i.e. Piedmont's employee health clinic) in an administrative role. [I'm going to use this as an excuse for my extended lapse in blogging.] Anyway, I like my job! Piedmont is a large health care system in the Atlanta area, comprised primarily of five hospitals and 100+ outpatient physician's groups (dr's offices). My office is located on the main Piedmont Hospital campus in Buckhead. Our office sees every Piedmont employee for an annual health screen, completes pre-employment physicals/drug screens for new hires, treats injuries and illnesses, handles worker's compensation claims, consults on workplace ergonomics, administers vaccinations, ensures that Piedmont complies with a lot of CDC/OSHA regulations, and many other things. I greet and triage patients, pull charts and prep charts for new hires, run reports for compliance reasons, compile quarterly reports on our activities, track daily stats on the clinic visits, answer the phone, send medical records, deal with the mail, order supplies/paperwork, etc. etc. etc. I've learned A LOT working in a clinical setting. We work pretty closely with HR (where I eventually hope to be), so this has been a great way to gain some related experience and get to know the ins and outs of a large healthcare system. I would love to move within Piedmont but the rule is that I have to be in this role for 6 months before applying for another, which means that I will start looking around June! Fingers crossed something HR related is open at that point. Stay tuned..

white chicken chili + cheesy biscuits

With the turning of the season, there are more and more soup days upon us. Yes, you know what I'm referencing. Those chilly, blustery, gray days that can only be conquered with a cup of piping hot soup, possibly coupled with the all-American grilled cheese sandwich. A couple of weeks ago I was inspired to try a white chicken chili recipe and it turned out pretty tasty, so thought I'd share! It's adapted from the Pioneer Woman and does not contain ANY butter, believe it or not. Also, this time around I opted to accompany the chili with a recipe I found on Pinterest for a relative of the grilled cheese: the cheesy biscuit. It was super easy and they are supposed to taste like the ones you get at Jim and Nick's BBQ (which are so delicious) so I couldn't resist. So much so that I invested in 2 mini-muffin pans to make them. Worth it.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients
1 whole fryer chicken, cut up (or 3 c. cooked chicken) [I used a tray of frozen drumsticks we had hanging out in the freezer. According to PW, the dark meat is the good stuff.]
1 whole medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 whole cans of green chilies, chopped
1 pound dried great Northern beans, rinsed [If I did this again, I would soak them!]
8 c. chicken broth
1 whole Jalapeno, sliced [I used from the jar.]
Juice of 1/2 a lime [added this]
1 1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt to taste
white pepper to taste [Mine was black.]
1 c. whole milk [Half and half..]
2 Tablespoons of corn flour or cornmeal
grated Monterey Jack cheese to taste
Sour cream for garnish
Cilantro for garnish

Directions
1. Cover chicken and cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until done. Remove meat from bones. Set aside.
2. In a dutch oven over medium-high heat, saute onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add chopped green chilies, then rinsed beans. Pour chicken broth into the pan. Add sliced jalapenos and lime juice. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Place lid on pot and reduce heat to low.
3. Cook for 2 hours or until beans are done. Halfway through the cooking process, add 3 cups of cooked chicken.
4. When beans are tender, mix milk with masa (or cornmeal) and pour into the chili. Cook for an additional ten minutes to thicken. Check seasoning and adjust, adding cayenne pepper and paprika if desired.
5. Add some Monterey Jack cheese to the pot and stir to melt. Serve with garnish.

Source: The Pioneer Woman (with very pretty step-by-step photos)

Cheesy Biscuits

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. Bisquick
3/4 c. buttermilk
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 (originally said 425 but mine got a little toasty on the bottom real fast!) Stir together all ingredients until just combined. Scoop into a mini muffin pan coated with cooking spray. Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden.

Source: Plain Chicken via Pinterest

I'm alive

Hey friends. Sorry I dropped the ball on the blogging effort.. Shortly after starting my blog, I discovered the magic of Pinterest (more on that later) and am just now trying to settle on how to use both mediums to share fun things. Pinterest is very visual and is a great way to capture ideas in the form of photographs, but words are few and far between on there. That makes it more difficult to tell a story, even if it is a random conglomeration of chapters like my life seems to be! Anyway, I'm going to try and post a bunch of things that have been on my mind or occupying my time since July. In a nutshell, the big things that have happened are: moved to Atlanta (loving it), almost got one job (but didn't), got a cat (he's a mess), had a couple of in-between jobs (to pass the time), turned down another job (wasn't for me), still hunting for gainful employment (but satisfied with where I am and where I'm going.) Glad y'all are still reading!

90s Nickelodeon: Not Just Nostalgia Anymore!

Please enjoy:
THE BEST NEWS EVER

HOORAY! Yes, you read correctly. Old school Nickelodeon is back in action. Even though they are broadcasting these gems between the hours of 12 and 4 am on a cable channel I don't get, I am beyond excited to see All That, Keenan and Kel (my father's personal favorite - he dubbed them "the funny boys"), and DOUG on their way back to the primetime spots they deserve. I am confident they will get back there. One day.

My one complaint about this article is that it implies if you are between the ages of 18 and 34, you are too young to be nostalgic. Say what? Who put an age limit on reminiscing about the "good ole days?" I'm pretty sure I had occasional nostalgia even before I was 18.. I mean, who doesn't want to go back to the days of mandatory naps and recess?

Anyway, nice to see that getting older doesn't mean growing up. Thanks, Nickelodeon, for continuing to enhance my livelihood even more than you already have.

dog daze.

Meet Boudreaux and Roscoe, my two canine companions for the week. Even though it looks like they may be dead, they are not. In fact, I am quite jealous that they are privileged enough to bask in the sun all the day long. Ah, to be a dog.