Thursday, April 30, 2015

Five Things to Have in Your Apartment

To me an inviting and comfortable home is filled with an awesome library of books, fun decorative plates, lots of art, accent floor lamps and pretty blankets all over the place. What are your five must haves when decorating your home? 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Pool Hunnies



 With summer fast approaching all I think about is getting in the water, whether for a late night dip or getting in laps early in the morning.When I look back at my childhood summers, many of my memories revolve around blistering hot days, stinging my bare feet on the fiery cement and taking the plunge at Sun Gold Pool (the equivalent to the neighborhood pool in the film, Sandlot.) Living in a small farming community, there was nothing glamorous about Sun Gold, but in it's small and intimate corner on Bernard Street, I wouldn't give anything for my precious memories.  Going to the pool and swimming for what seemed like the entire day, racing and competing against each other, diving down to collect thrown toys or seeing who could hold their breath the longest and eating as many popsicles as we could, those were the days. Where did you hit the pool growing up, at a friend's house, the neighborhood pool?

(1,2,3)

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Asian Ramen Chicken Chopped Salad

Lately my grocery list has been really short and since I'm always in a hurry with school, I head straight for the prepackaged Asian chopped salad and throw some egg in for protein. When I came across this recipe, I loved the idea of adding toasted ramen into the mix. Easy, quick and ready in five minutes, try out this yummy salad.
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or chopped
2 (3 oz) packages dry ramen
3/4 cup sliced almonds
5 cups shredded green cabbage (12 oz, chop into thin shreds)*
2 cups shredded purple cabbage (5 oz, chop into thin shreds)
1 large carrot peeled and chopped into matchsticks (3/4 cups)
4 green onions, sliced (about 1/2 cup)
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds. 

Dressings
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 onion poweder
1/4 dried ginger 
Salt to taste

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Crumble ramen into small pieces and place on baking sheet along with almonds, spread into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven until golden, tossing once halfway through baking, about 6-8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients until will blended while seasoning with salt to taste, set aside. 

To a large bowl add green cabbage, purple cabbage, carrots, green onion, chicken, toasted ramen and almonds and sesame seeds. Drizzle dressing over top and toss to evenly coat. 

(image and text via cooking classy)

    Saturday, April 25, 2015

    Saturday Happy





    Check out the Rock Reach House on airbnb, if you are planning a trip out to the California Desert. I'll leave you with a short tour of the serene oasis in the high desert just outside the Coachella Valley in Yucca Valley. You feel like your in the middle of Bed Rock from the Flintstones but this home is equipped with the all the latest technology and a hot tub built into the side of a massive rock. What is making you happy this week?

    (images via airbnb)

    Friday, April 24, 2015

    this week's favorites...





    Because spring is practically over here in the desert, I'm trying to get outside and tan before it hits triple digits, finish the last of my spring cleaning projects, wear the heck out of navy and catch up with a few new and very appropriate spring recipes.   


    (1,2,3,4,5)

    Thursday, April 23, 2015

    Leading Ladies


    I met Nikki over a year ago by simply signing up for yoga classes she was teaching around the desert. After college and moving back to Southern California, I immediately started graduate school and got a full time job, so my social life was close to nil. I eventually met my boyfriend at work and I would travel to the coast to visit my close friends. Getting out and meeting young people is not exactly easy living in Palm Springs. After a few classes and coffee dates later, Nikki not only became a friend but great support when I needed help or a little wisdom to make things better. Now that she's back in her home turf in Winnipeg, she's still teaching yoga but happily starting her business at helping women feel more confident and empowered through self love. Take my advice and sign up for her newsletter, it's uplifting, inspirational and full of love. 

    (images via teri)

    Wednesday, April 22, 2015

    Girl Talk

    Over the Easter Holiday, I had a nice but long chat with my mom (and sister) about lifestyle bloggers, their very glossy websites and their Instagram feed. My mom was more than irritated and definitely needed to blow off steam. So I let her tell me exactly how she felt about some of the blogs I have introduced to her over the years. She even felt the need to tell me that my blog needed more love but thankfully excused my lagging and reminded me of what my priorities should be--work and school first, blog second!
    But here is the deal, my blog is important to me, I may start researching and writing posts the week before (or even at eleven the night before) but I love being here and establishing  connections and relationships with fellow bloggers and my audience. I consider myself a blogaholic, work breaks are for donning over outfit posts, monthly beauty hauls and home renovations, I can’t help but think about rearranging my living room. While the blog is a part of me, the job and school come first, they have too. I often feel I don’t have the time, energy or funds to curate this space into the polished and perfect website you see with other blogs. Then again, I am more about the content and listening to what my followers want to read. I love promoting my favorite lipsticks (from Maybelline to Tom Ford), the perfect white tank top and marketing brands that I actually wear and like. Above all else I especially love indulging in girl talk, I try to portray the real and flawed person that I am. When my mom felt the need to explode and go off on women I really like, she told me she was tired of the inauthentic posts, the fact that these bloggers think they can relate with their audience and the assumed entitlement. Honestly, I am too! I often have feelings of inadequacy for not having an apartment in a big city with high end furniture, traveling every other month, housing the most impressive library you have ever seen or sporting around in head to toe Lululemon sportswear and maintaining a wardrobe that includes two or three pairs of Valentino shoes and Chanel purses galore. I am not tiny, I can barely cook and my home space is far from picture perfect.  
    Aspirations and expectations have become exhausting, why in the world do I hold myself to other people’s expectations and not my own? When and why did I set my rule book aside and turn to others? The bloggers, who have remained true from the beginning, continue to inspire and motivate me but at the end of the day I am who I am, and they are who they are. Their blogs are surely pretty (and successful) but that’s all you get, what about the flaws, the truth, the hard work, the reality behind those pictures. I want to see and learn about the real you and the mess you hide behind the camera! I definitely appreciate all these things (the fashion, the homes and the overpriced nail polish as any other girl) and still look up to those who have certainly earned their success. I am done with those who complain for no reason (hello you live in Manhattan, travel the world, have created your own job and seem healthy. I would certainly like to go to yoga and meet with friends for lunch everyday), feel entitled just because of who you are and those who lie about being self-made.  
    Here at Sit and Stay Awhile, I believe in honesty and being real with my readers. I define flawless as being ok with who I am and where I am at in my life right now. And at this moment, I’m a twenty seven years old, not married and live with a roommate. I finally landed a full time job that I love, creativity in the kitchen is a fail more often than not so a salad or soup is dinner most nights and two weeks ago I went home and kind of broke down to my parents because I am exhausted from being a grad student and working full time. If you have made it this far, I applaud you for reading the novel this post has turned into, thank you for listening and sticking around. What are your feeling with lifestyle bloggers ? Who are you favorites and why? Who do you despise and why?    
       
    (image via style)

    Tuesday, April 21, 2015

    The Daily Escape

    So my plan when school ends is to treat myself in a big way. As a last hurrah with my family and congratulatory gift to myself I'm wanting to take a mini trip abroad. I've been working on my french late at night after school and have been dreaming about getting back to France. I follow a few travel magazines and tourism groups on Instagram and the French countryside seems like a perfect choice.  
    Are you saving up for a big trip this year? Where are you going or at least dreaming about?

    (image via cv) 

    Monday, April 20, 2015

    Weekend Wrap Up...

     oldies but goodies...
     a quiet night in includes a glass or two of rose, 
    british rom-coms and some sketching.
     lazy afternoons and listening to good music.
     the new books I ordered for work have come in!
    Eloise takes over...

    (images via instagram)

    Wednesday, April 15, 2015

    Spring List: Good Morning Yoga

    Lately, I have been waking up with stiff neck and an achy back. Make sure to start your morning with at least twenty minutes of stretching and giving your body some love. If you can, get outside and do your yoga routine. I have been working on doing yoga early in the morning rather than just doing it at night and it really helps. Try this yoga sequence at home outside in the fresh air: 

    Malasana Squat for 5 breaths
    Plank Position for 30 seconds
    Triangle pose for 5 breaths
    Low Lunge Variation for 5 breaths
    Easy Lunch Twist for at least 5 breaths
    Downward Facing Dog, Open Hip for 3 breaths each leg
    Sundial Salutation 3 times each side
    Chest to Thighs with interlaced hands for 5 breaths 

    (image via yoganonymous, routine via mind body green)

    Tuesday, April 14, 2015

    The Librarian Suggests


    What I'm reading at the moment: I have never read The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I know, you are probably thinking how did she not read this in middle school?! Well to introduce some classics (and not necessarily award winning books) into the tween book club at the library, I wanted to read and talk about  this wonderful book with my kiddos. What is your favorite children's novel? I also just started reading Cooking Light, I'm thinking I just need to start subscribing since I've been making their recipes on the regular. What I'm listening too at the moment:   Diane Birch and Sylvan Esso!  Speak A Little Louder came out a few years ago and is still just as awesome now as it was the first time I heard the album. I recently came across Sylvan Esso, her self titled album that was released last year has been on shuffle on my drive to work. And lastly, I cannot get enough of the show, Bates Motel. Freddie Highmore makes the perfect Norman Bates, don't you think?

    (image via design sponge) 

    Monday, April 13, 2015

    Weekend Wrap Up...

     getting off work early means enjoying tanning 
    weather, light reading for some new recipes
    and hitting the pool. 
     updating a few things in the bedroom, loving my 
    new white comforter :)
     enjoying sunday with some jade and echeveria.
     wanting to sleep in and not go to work. 
    in the kitchen...

    (images via instagram)

    Sunday, April 12, 2015

    DIY Colorful Mason Jars





    When my sister first started posting these colorful mason jars around her apartment (you can also check them out at her Instagram Page), I immediately headed down to the closest World Market and bought myself several mason jars. A super easy project to do over the weekend, all you need is acrylic paint and sandpaper. Just paint a few coats of your favorite color, let it dry and gently sand the paint :) Voila, pretty vases and or decorations to display around the house! 

    (images via tatum obrien)

    Saturday, April 11, 2015

    Saturday Happy





    About 200,000 years ago this vast area of what is now sand dunes used to be a wet and fertile region in south-western Libya. Due to climate change between 3,000-5,000 years ago the lake evaporated and now there are roughly 20 smaller lakes that make up the Ubari Sand Sea. While these photographs show the reality of global warming, these photos are breathtaking. What is making you happy this week?
       

    Friday, April 10, 2015

    Friday Morning

    Happy Friday readers I'm quite the busy bee this weekend, so I'll make this Friday morning post short and sweet and let you be on your way. Enjoy your weekend and see you all Monday morning. Here a few links that are making me happy :)


    2. Check out this rare supertide

    3. Looking forward to this cute movie

    4. I wouldn't mind if this way my Math Teacher


    (image via hemingway and hepburn)

    Thursday, April 9, 2015

    Five Things to Love About Spring

    Five Things To Love About Spring: 

    1. Growing up I could care less about learning about flowers in my grandmothers garden. But now I love a fresh bouquet of sweet peas, lavender and roses. Adding the color and life into my home completely brightens my day. 

    2. Although I consider myself someone who prefers the fall to any other season, one thing I love about the spring is the warm weather and spending more time outdoors. Whether reading a book, enjoying dinner on the porch or going for a swim, there is something so lovely about basking in the sun, listening to the buzzing of the bees and being a little lazy. 

    3. When it comes to color, I'm boring I prefer black, white, grey and navy in my wardrobe. But spring always presents the prettiest blush and pastel pinks and yellows. With my fair and Irish skin, pink just naturally looks the best whether I'm wearing it in my makeup or pairing it with an outfit. 

    4. If there is one book I remember my mom reading to my sister and I growing up, it was Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. The iconic and award winning story about a new family of Mallard Ducks making their way to a new home across the pond is one my favorites. At the library we have had at least two new families of ducks roaming around the library and trying to make their way back to park. Watching the new born ducks waddle around is definitely a sign that spring has arrived. 

    5. Living in the Midwest for five years, I certainly enjoyed spring showers. I didn't mind walking to class in the rain, it was an excuse to bust out my Burberry rain boots and haul out my trench coat. 

    (image via pretty stuff)

    Wednesday, April 8, 2015

    Williamsburg Tour





    When I joined the blogosphere five years ago, I was first introduced to Cup of Jo. Joanna Goddard is a magazine writer turned blogger and I have been a dedicated follower ever since. If you are a nerd for her blog like me, then you will surely love when her editor, Caroline is featured. After last week's post on her kitchen, I was like when is her home tour coming?! It is now here, it is a simple loft with the perfect size library, the perfect inspiration for a little spring cleaning and renovating ideas. 

    (images via cup of jo)

    Tuesday, April 7, 2015

    Spring List: Pitch A Tent

    Remember the days of setting up a tent in the backyard filled with pillows, large bowls of popcorn, books to read by flashlight and telling ghost stories with friends. If you have little ones, get out of the house this weekend and throw a slumber party for you and your kids, read bedtime stories in sleeping bags, make a few coke floats, order in a pizza and have fun in the backyard. Enjoy the fresh air and the sounds of the evening. 

    (image via idha lindhag)

    Leading Ladies

    Five Things to Know About Bernadette Marie: 1. Trained and completed two degrees, an AAS in Communication Design and BFA in Textile S...