What I'm Loving- October Edition

The very first thing on my list that I'm loving right now is my new blog design! It was time to update since my old design centered around us living in Italy.  I wanted a new look and Fran from FreeBorboleta Designs captured exactly what I wanted. I can't say enough nice things about her. She was extremely patient with my indecision and really listened to what I wanted. If you're in need of a blog design, I highly recommend her!

Now, on to the rest of my list of what I'm loving in the month of October.

1.  This mustard yellow cardigan from Target

It's comfy, stylish and the color is popping! I think mustard yellow compliments a lot of different colors and I'm eager to see what combos I can come up with.  Plus last week at Target, they had all cardigans on sale for $15. I couldn't resist grabbing this cardigan, plus a gray one. In my opinion, you need cardigans in every. single. color.

2. OPI's French Quarter For Your Thoughts nail polish

It's the perfect color of gray and looks awesome on my nails. In all honesty, when I have my nails painted this color, I can't stop looking at them. They look so chic!

3.  This trench from Target

It's leopard print, which I love, because it's a step-up from just basic black or brown. Plus it's water repellent, so it's functional as well.  I have to purchase it, simply because I've been spending my money elsewhere, but I think it's a must-have for this winter and keeping the rain off me.

4. NPR's program, The Splendid Table

I don't know about you, but I love to eat, I love to hear about people talking about eating and I love hearing about new trends in cuisine or restaurants that I should try.  The Splendid Table covers all this and more. I think yesterday while I was listening to it, they covered cooking with lard and what all you can do with it, certain wines, vineyards and producers, as well as answering cooking questions that listeners called in to ask.  If you've never listened to this show, you should, because it is awesome!

5. J's Everyday Fashion blog

You may have seen a link to this blog floating around Pinterest.  You should visit it, especially if you need clothing inspiration.  At first I kind of doubted that my size 12 self would look as good in colored jeans as J makes them look, but I'm coming around to the idea.  Plus, I've added some "to-buy" basics onto my clothing list and ventured into buying some clothing I may not have thought about before.  Not only does J have a great blog, but she's also on Facebook, so you can keep up with her that way too.  Here is one of my fave outfits that she has in her large collection of outfit posts.

6.  Speaking of J's Everyday Fashion blog, I found these boots on there and I'm in love.  I really, really want them as they seem to be the perfect boot. Perfect color, heel isn't too tall and they look like they'd go with just about anything.  I can't save and post a photo of them, so here's the link to the boot here.

There you have it! My fave things right now in the month of October.  Anything you guys are loving right now and want to share?

Gangnam Style-West Point

So, browsing around on Facebook yesterday, I found a link to the Gangnam Style remake that the cadets at West Point did. It is AWESOME. Evidently Navy did one too and no offense, but it was nowhere as good as the one Army did.

If you haven't seen it, you must watch it!

Recipes and Reviews

In my last post I mentioned sharing some of the recipes that I've used lately that were vegetarian. I'll also throw in my review of them too.

1. Vegan Quinoa and Sweet Potato Chili from Milk Free Mom

Sean and I both enjoyed this chili. It was hearty, delicious and really tasted like chili, with a bit of a sweet kick.  I will say though that it makes a lot, so if it's just the two of you, you might want to half it to avoid having so much that you can't eat it all.

2. California Sandwich from EzraPound Cake

Photo via EzraPoundCake

 

This is by far, my favorite vegetarian recipe that I've made so far.  I eat this sandwich at least twice a week.  The only thing is, I haven't found alfalfa sprouts around here yet, but I promise it's just as delicious without them.  Give this sandwich a try, I promise you'll love it!

 

 

3. Coconut Curry Soup from Zen Family Habits

 

Photo via Zen Family Habits



Once you get over the chopping in this recipe, it's a fairly simple and quick fix for dinner.  The flavors are great, it's very filling and it's great for leftovers.  I love the mixture of the coconut milk and curry paste too.

4. Portobello and Summer Squash Lasagna from Eat Live Run

Photo via eatliverun

I think this was Sean's favorite vegetarian dish that we had.  In all honesty, it was the best lasagna I've ever made. The recipe says summer squash, but she subbed zucchini for it in the recipe. The zucchini prep and sauteing takes the longest time in the recipe, but once you get that done, it goes by quickly.  Plus you could always freeze half of it for dinner later down the road.

There you have it! Some of my fave veggie recipes we ate in the past couple of months. If you give them a try, let me know how you like them.

My Month- Instagram Style

I looked at the ol' blog the other day to check the last time I wrote a blog and it's been almost a month. How this is possible, I don't know.

This month has been somewhat hectic with us getting our household goods, our car, impromptu trips to Dallas and Wichita Falls to pick up our car and for doctor's appointments. As well as me hitting up Goodwill one a week to find bargains (oh how I've missed Goodwill) working on my Etsy shop, planning a blog redesign and just trying to keep in touch with people. Obviously keeping up with my blog has not happened, although I've had good intentions.

So..to catch you up in a fun way (with pictures!) I'm going to post some of my Instagram pics from the past month. 

Went to an Oklahoma State football game with my bestie. It's been six years since I've been to a football game at my Alma mater and I was beyond excited. Plus my friend's parents generously let me use one of their club level tickets which made me feel like a total VIP. We're talking free buffet and all the candy/pop/ice cream/chips you want. Ah-mazing!

 

 

I ate vegetarian for part of the month, so I got to try out a ton of new recipes. I'll have to share those with you guys in a future post, but here are a couple of my concoctions.

Speaking of food, Sean and I have been lucky enough to eat some delish food since we've been back in the States. Two of our favorites have been Avila's in Dallas and Opa's Schnitzel Haus in Wichita Falls.

 

We got our household goods. Our Italian packers SUCK. They didn't break anything per say, but they were very shady and packed stuff one way in front of us, then when our things got here, it was in completely different places. Like the DVD's that were packed in a box, somehow wound up in a suitcase. And some of my Barbie boxes were bent and smashed when I told them NOT to repack the box they were in. Instead they decided to put heavy kitchen stuff on top of it.

I bought a new (to me) camera. Finally upgraded to a full frame. It's a 5D, but the classic. Not the Mark II.

 

 

I've also got a new business card to go along with my Etsy shop. It's designed by Fran over at FreeBorboleta Designs. She did a complete redesign of my Etsy shop, my business card and I'm also having her redesign my blog and business Facebook page. She's great to work with and I highly recommend her. This is the back of my business card, the front obviously has some info I don't want to be shared with the whole world wide web.

That's the majority of what I've been up to. How about you guys? Anything noteworthy happened in your world this past month?

Fort Sill: Pros and Cons

We've been at Fort Sill for almost two months now (minus the time we went home on leave) and we are getting settled in.  We are still waiting on our household goods, our storage from Louisiana and our car to get here. Needless to say I'm ready to have all my stuff!  So, I wanted to give my two cents so far about what I think about Fort Sill

Pros:

The post has a lot to offer and is large. At least larger than the previous two posts we've been at.

The commissary is open 7 days a week (huge plus!) and has a good selection

I like our house. It's big for 2 people and the biggest house we've had while in the military. I even have bushes out front!

The library is good with lots of great choices and services. Libraries are always one of the first things I check out at each post.

People are friendly and generally very helpful. This was not the case of most people, at least in the customer service capacity at our last post, so the change is nice.

I love the old historic buildings and homes that are on post. Can we say photo time?

There is a decent mix of classes at the gym, athough I wish they offered more yoga classes. And all the classes are free, which is a huge perk.

Lawton is a decent sized town, with lots of antique stores, restaurants, two Goodwills (squee!) and pretty any other store you need. No Target yet, although that is rumored to be on the way, along with a TJ Maxx.

Lots of nice walking paths on post. I've been taking Boomer on walks in the evening and we've both been enjoying getting out and about.

Cons:

As with any post, I've noticed wives like to complain about being stationed here.  "Oh, we don't have fill in the blank in this town, I hate it here."  Listen here toots, you pretty much have all the basics, plus lots of extras. If you can't find it here, drive an hour and a half to Oklahoma City or trek three hours to Dallas. I'm sure you can find it there. Sometimes I want to tell these wives they'd never make it stationed in Europe when they can't even find the basics they are used to, or try Fort Polk where you had to drive 45 minutes to the nearest mall or chain sit down restaurants. Grow up!

We have roaches in our home. I haven't had to deal with roaches since college in some of the apartments I've lived in. I'm currently trying to get rid of them, even though I realize I'll probably never get rid of all of them.

The speed limits in the housing areas are kind of ridiculous. I understand why they are low, but at least set them to 20 and not 15mph. I pretty much have to ride the brake the entire time.

The PX customer service does need improvement. For starters the PX is split into two different stores. One has most of the main things and the food court, the other has furniture, garden tools, toys, etc.  When you're new, it's a pain if you're trying to find something and then realize you have to go to the other PX to get it.  Also, we tried to buy a couch and loveseat from the PX and it turned into a huge mess and we finally just said forget it.

There you have it! My take on Fort Sill so far. I really like it here told Sean I was kind of disappointed we weren't going to be here for more than a year, because I'd like being stationed here for longer.

Oh....and before I forget, to thank you all for being such great blog readers, I'm giving you a code for 15% off in my Etsy shop. Just use the code blogfriends when you check out.

Photography Opinions Needed!

I'm currently in the process of revamping my Etsy shop: Around the World in 80 Frames. If you haven't been there, there's a handy link on my left side panel to my shop.

For the last year I've been selling 8x12 prints because I like the way they look. There is no cropping done to the original image like there would be to fit the dimensions of an 8x10. The only problem is that you don't normally find 8x12 frames, which I think is why I haven't been selling more prints.

So, I'm going to change the default size I sell to either 8x10 or 9x12.  With those sizes I know you can easily find frames to fit them.  Less cropping occurs with 9x12 which is my obvious choice, but I'm not the consumer. You are.  So what's your opinion? Which would you be more likely to buy?

Keep in mind, I ALWAYS have the option of offering both sizes, but I normally put most of my listings in one specific size and then give the customer the option in the listing of different sizes and what the price would be.  For the record, I also have listings for larger sizes.

I welcome your feedback or suggestions and please vote in the poll below.  For all your help I'll be offering a discount code for my shop in the near future.

Thanks a bunch!

Instagram

Sorry for the sporadic posting folks! Sean and I are on leave and visiting my parents' and our hometown and I'd rather be out doing things then stuck on the computer.

So...if you want to keep up with our adventures, I've been posting a lot on Instagram. You can find me under (where else?) but Newgirlonpost.

Hopefully I'll be back to regular posting soon!