Green Thumb in ATL.

How amazing does all of this look?!  And fresh, right from the garden.  Le sighhh.. one day I will also have enough space for tomatoes and herbs.  And it was ridiculously delicious.

Birthday in NOLA

It's a New Orleans tradition, where if it's your birthday, locals pin dollar bills to your dress.  And I can't say I didn't hate it.  The turnout was amazing (too many new classmates to count) and we took over every bar we hopped to.  I am so thankful for all the wonderful bday wishes and love from my friends and family.

Sidebar -- my classmates are absolutely bananas.  In the best way possible.  I've only met 60 or so of the 200, and they are so normal (haha) and incredibly fun.  It's going to be a whirlwind next 4 years.

Hope everyone is doing well!  I feel like since I'm still not on any kind of real schedule, I'm completely out of the blogging world.. but am looking forward to getting back on the grind of life and school!

Farewell from Durham Cookout

 

 

I'm so backlogged on my posts -- I still have no wifi in my house yet.  You know how they say, "everything is bigger in Texas"?  Well everything is slower in Louisiana.  The driving, the streetcars, the service anywhere.  And setting up my cable/internet.  And don't try to rush them.. because then they get aggravated.  What I've learned so far, take a deep breath, grab a beer, and chill the eff out.  Patience is a virtue, or something.

But this was my farewell cookout in Durham at JP's house -- all of our mutual friends (well, his grad school friends that I came to love) were there.. and Coops!  Cookouts became quite a regular thing over there.. and I'm really going to miss them, and all the wonderful Durham people I've met!  Here are some highlights from the cookout.

New Shoes!

These pretty things just showed up on my doorstep. (Pink Studio -- via Beyond the Rack)
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Download this. NOW.

Whether you have or haven't heard of Janelle Monae, now is the time to get on board with how amazing of an artist she is.  Talented, gorgeous, dope style... and this remix to her song Tightrope with B.O.B. and Lupe is amazing.  Check it.

[Rap-Up.com]

PostSecret.

Not much explanation needed.

I'm not jaded.

I promise.  And I'm also not looking for love right now.  And I still have a lot of love for JP (and will always have some for him I'm sure).. but even as a single gal, I can still love these images.  I'm a romantic at heart, and wear my heart on my sleeve.

[Le Love]

 [La Dolce Vita]

[frolic!]

One Piece Swimsuit.

Recently I have been obsessed with one piece swimsuits.  And this one from Zimmerman is absolutely gorgeous.  Don't you love it?!

[via the Cut]

Moving to NOLA

Well this past week has been a really busy one.  I've moved into my new apartment in NOLA and I'm absolutely in love with my neighborhood, and the city.  I've still got lots to do before I officially start school.. but here's how it's all coming together so far!

Living room!

Study (work in progress)

Bathroom (still lots to do!)

My new cruiser bike!

And look at this amazing meal.  It was grilled on the sidewalk 2 blocks from my apartment outside the local bodega.  BBQ chicken and ribs..?  Yes please.  Every Saturday, and for cheap.  This city is after my own heart.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!  Once I have time to settle in, I can't wait to read what all of y'all have been up to!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Banana + Chocolate Bread

This was so easy, that I think I may start buying a few more bananas each time I go to the grocery store just so I can keep making these!

Materials:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 TBSP milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1 egg

2-3 mashed ripe bananas
2 cup sifted flour -- all purpose
1/2 tsp baking soda




Method:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

-Mix sugar, egg and butter together in a large mixer bowl. Beat until fluffy; set aside.

-Combine bananas and milk in a small bowl; set aside.

-Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a small bowl. Stir into sugar/egg/butter mixture, and then add the bananas/milk to the flour.  Mix until it is well moistened.

-Stir in chocolate chips.

-Grease one loaf pan and pour batter into pan. 

-Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. 

-Enjoy!

I baked these in mini-loaf pans -- they were the perfect size to take to work to eat for breakfast.  And the little bit of chocolate chips was just amazing!  If you've got a few ripe bananas that you want to use, instead of composting them.. this is a super easy way to use them!

Grilling Out.

Now that spring is in full spring down here, I LOVE to grill out and be outside.  The weather is gorgeous and the sun sets late these days.  It's just perfect here in the south.

Typically, I would walk Coop over to JP's house where he has a quality Weber grill and it's a BYOMeat kinda evening (a la Scotty) with beer and hamburgers, hot dogs, kabobs, steak, fish and/or veggie burgers (for the hippies).  However, I think now that I've cooked all the typical grilled foods, it might be nice to try a few new things... and these look absolutely delicious.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa -- Serious Eats.

Grilled Pizza -- The Kitchn

Grilled Stuffed Peppers -- Homesick Texan

..and for even more ideas.  101 Fast Grilling Recipes from Mark Bittman.

Vintage Shades.

I stumbled upon this Etsy shop, and I'm completely obsessed with her finds!  WhatTheFunk has a ton of amazing vintage shades and some great jewelry as well.  Check it.

Happy 4th Loves!

I hope everyone has amazing 4th of July weekends this year!  I'm spending mine with Dad and Bex in ATL -- which is my last stop before my official move!  It's nice to be home where I can relax and lay around.. and also work out a lot since my first official meeting of my new classmates will be on a tubing adventure in bikinis.. so you know, my body's gotta be on point haha.  I'm finally able to catch up on my google reader and absolutely love reading what everyone is up to lately!  Hope your weekends are as relaxing as mine is!  

And onto the lovely red, white, and blue images I love in honor of one of my favorite holidays!

Vintage Clutch [Pudding]

[For Me, For You]

[Jezebel]

[La Tartine Gourmande]

[Indie Fixx]

[coco+kelley]

Looks of the Moment I Love.

[The Sartorialist]

[Urban Weeds]

[Sacramento Street]

 [Olivet]

 [Karla's Closet]

First Stop on the East Coast Farewell Tour

So I've been bouncing around a lot since I quit my job -- NYC to Charlotte to Asheville.. and a few more places in between.  Soon I'll be heading to ATL then to NOLA eventually, but on my first stop to see S$ for her 24th bday we had a redic amount of fun.  Recap in pics.

Bros Icing Bros.

bottle service, obv.

top. weekend.