Soft Foods and Short Hair

Joseph had two of his wisdom teeth removed last week, so he spent a few days on Jell-o, pudding, and macaroni and cheese. I had a bit of fun making him pudding cups!

This one has crumbled Nilla Wafers on the bottom, a layer of chopped bananas, pudding, and cool whip. I stirred the cookies into the pudding and let it sit for a few minutes to soften before he ate it.

In other news, I cut my hair! I donated 10.5 inches to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which gives wigs to women suffering from cancer.

Before:

After:

Naturally curly:

I am very glad to have hair off my neck for the summer! I had been wanting to cut my hair for months, and donating it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths gave me the incentive to actually do it. I like it this length and think it will stay this way for a while!

Tonight I’m looking forward to throwing a small Twilight Zone marathon. Joseph has never seen seen episode! I loved when weekend marathons would come on television–I spent hours on end watching episodes with my dad. My all-time favorite Twilight Zone episode is It’s a Good Life, about a young boy named Anthony who makes people disappear if they don’t pretend to be happy all the time.

So creepy!

Picnic at Lake Barcis

I am a horrible, horrible blogger! I primarily blog elsewhere, so In the Wabe is always second to me, and I let the posts I need to make add up for far too long before I actually type them out.

A few weeks ago Joseph and I took a trip out to Lake Barcis for a picnic. I’m not sure why no one around us was screaming of excitement–the lake is turquoise! I’ve never seen such bright water. It reminds me of the “lakes” and “ponds” at amusement parks, where the dirty water is died to look blue.

Barcis is in Northern Italy, at the foot of the Alps.

Joseph with our picnic. The basket is Martha Stewart; I bought it at Macy’s last summer.

Our delicious picnic! I really go all out when it comes to picnics–caramelized baked chicken drumettes, cheesey green beans, potato salad, and strawberry pastries.

Caramelized Baked Chicken, from Allrecipes.com
These were very, very simple and delicious. Perfect for picnics, but don’t forget something to clean your hands with–these are sticky!

3 lbs chicken wings
2 Tbs olive oil
½ cup soy sauce
2 Tbs ketchup
1 cup honey
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs corn starch
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Place chicken in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Mix together the oil, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Boil on stovetop with 2 Tbs corn start a few minutes, or until thick. Pour over the chicken.

Bake in preheated oven for one hour, or until sauce is caramelized. I used drumettes instead of wings and baked at the temperature and time suggested on the bag

Cheesey Green Beans–one of the greatest parts of my childhood. I looked forward to these every time I went to my grandmother’s, and they still don’t stick around in my house for long.

Two or three cans of green beans
One small onion
Velveeta

Drain green beans. Chop one onion in rings and place on top of green beans in a casserole dish. Bake in microwave for 10 minutes on high; stir in the green beans and bake for another 10 minutes. VERY IMPORTANT: drain the juices from the green beans. Even if it looks like there aren’t any juices, press some out or the cheese will be too runny! Slice Velveeta in 1/4 slices; place on top of green beans, cover, let melt, and stir in.

Potato Salad, another family recipe. If you don’t normally like potato salad, this is the kind for you! This is the recipe my grandmother sent me–in my family there are no exact measurements in any recipe. You just add things until it looks right

4-6 potatoes
4-6 boiled eggs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbs dill relish
2 Tbs sweet relish
mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Boil potatoes with skins on about 30 minutes or until tender when pricked with fork. Peel skins off and cut into small pieces. Add eggs, onion, and relishes. Add mayonnaise to taste. Use both hands to mix all together (I sometimes just use a fork) and partially mashing potatoes–just keep squeezing mixture until the consistency you like. You may then need to add more mayonnaise.

After our picnic we walked around the lake for a while, and I found this flower with I liked because the petals looked like they were made of little strips of paper.

I always tell him he’s very handsome, but for some reason he won’t believe me

I never spend a day in the sun without my big floppy hat and SPF 85

Congratulations, Joseph!

Congratulations, Joseph! This week my husband graduated from college! He know has a B.S. in computer science and information technology. To celebrate, I threw him a small party–only the two of us were invited.

I picked up this gelato cake at a local gelateria. It wasn’t much of a cake, though–a lot of chocolate gelato on top of a layer of vanilla. On the bottom and a very thin sponge cake that served as a sort of a crust. Around the outside was a hazelnut spread.

The living room was decorated in confetti, streamers, balloons, and a “Congratulations!” banner.

Say hello to my new purse–the Coach Small Leather Sabrina Satchel.

I don’t know what’s come over me or why I’ve suddenly become such a fan of Coach leather (I’ll pass on their fabric bags, thank you!), but I am really in love with this purse. I can’t wait to get some photos of me actually holding it, as that’s when it looks its best.

This is one of those “What’s in your bag?” memes bloggers often do. I carry around my keys, a cardigan, John Frieda Frizz-Ease, Trident Citrus Twist gum, a “calculator” pouch that holds Neosporin, band-aids, and chapstick, my blue iPod Nano, Hand sanitizer, a pen, a book (my new purse is small, so this has been my go-to since most of my reads are too big to comfortably fit), and my Coach wallet. Not pictured is my camera, which is obviously taking this photo.

Toy Cameras and Dresses

I remember seeing some old Kodak Brownies that belonged to my grandfather, and I always wanted to play with them. I’ve been interested in working with film recently, but since I’m only 20 years old I have absolutely no experience with film! Really, I’m completely lost. The only film cameras I’ve ever used myself were disposable ones when I was in middle school–after that it was all digital. All I know about film is that the canisters hold quarters well. I’ve been so dependent on my Digital SLR and I’d really like to be more hands-on. I put off buying a fancy film camera because I’m actually a bit intimidated and decided to get a little Kodak Brownie toy camera so that I could learn about developing first.

I bought this little Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash off Ebay. There are so many for sale, and they’re much cheaper than I would have imagined! I payed a bit extra for mine sine it came in the original case and had been tested out (most that I saw for sale had been picked up at a thrift store, and the seller was unsure if they were in working condition).

With the flash attached

A view of my cat through the viewfinder.

There are a few more Brownies I’d like to buy (right now I’m craving a Starmite), if not to use than at least for decoration. Hopefully soon I’ll work myself up to more serious cameras, but for now I just like this little toy, which was made in November 1956 and originally sold for just $7.

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Here are a couple things I’ve been wearing lately.

The rickrack goes around the waist as well. The Swarovski necklace was a gift from Joseph.

This is one of my favorite dresses, by Isaac Mizrahi for Target. His Target line was so inexpensive and well-made! I’m sad he’s no longer working for Target, but about 20% of my wardrobe is from this line and I think it will last me for a few more years.

This is definitely one of the best purchases I have ever made! I bought this Ali Ro dress on sale through Gilt.com. I also wore it in Paris with riding boots, black stockings, and a yellow scarf.

Some of you might have noticed In the Wabe has a new color scheme! I am still not completely satisfied with the layout, but I decided to change the colors from brown to a light pink to coincide with spring.

Springtime

I have gotten so lazy when it comes to this blog! I have much more to post than recipes (and a queue of about 20 recipe posts that still need to be made) but can never find the energy to do it.

These are colza flowers, used to make oil. They are all over the roadside here; it’s even hard to concentrate on driving when I pass them! Very expansive fields of bright flowers–who could look away? I assumed they were weeds since they grew seemingly overnight and are very tall, but a friend that lives in France corrected me. I think they will get quite a bit taller before they’re harvested, so hopefully I will get to enjoy them for a bit longer.

Gold Dior earrings. Joseph bought these for me a few weeks ago, completely unexpected! I’m glad I married someone with good taste in jewelry  The gold is perfectly gilded, but the lettering caught the reflection of my camera in the middle photo.

I’m so glad it is getting warm out finally. The winters aren’t too bad here, but they are definitely longer than what I’m used to in Texas.

I bought these soaps in Paris last month. They are all different flavors, but they somehow work wonderfully together. Now my bathroom smells amazing!
The brown is vanilla; green is green tea; red is strawberry; yellow is magnolia; purple in the back is labelled “mure” and I’m not quite sure what that means just yet.

A post I made about my December trip to Germany was recently featured on the new travel website, Ruba.

Authentic Travel

My Little Town in Northern Italy

The weather has been perfect around here lately. I love walking around this little town, especially now that I can leave my coat at home and just wear a cardigan!

This is the view from my bedroom window. I love the mountains–living at the foot of the Alps has its perks!

This is one of the main roads in my town. Look at how small the “sidewalk” is! By Italy’s standards, this road is actually pretty big.

Every Italian town is built around a cathedral–if you’re ever in Italy, just follow the signs reading “centro” to find the center of the town. Ours is very simple! There is a line of benches right next to the church where I always see the locals eating gelato.

The clouds were perfect that day!

Grandmother’s Rings

Over the last few years my mathernal grandmother has been giving me some of her most meaningful jewelry and it’s very special to me. When I started high school she gave me her high school ring, when I started college she gave me her college bracelet, and when I got married last year she gave me her wedding ring.

Luckily I am the only one in my family with limbs small enough for her jewelry to fit, but we also have similar tastes! I’ve heard that I’m a lot like she was at my age, and I don’t at all find that hard to believe.

My grandmother went to the same high school I did, graduating 59 years before me. Most of my family has gone to the same school. I wore this ring all throughout high school. The school colors are blue and white, but the ring is adorned with her (and my) birthstone–Ruby.  I wasn’t interested in any of the class rings that were for sale when I was in high school, but I think my grandmother’s is beautiful and of my taste, so it worked perfectly as a third-generation class ring.

Her ring on the left, mine on the right
When I got married my husband was deployed and we hadn’t even thought of rings. My grandmother lent me hers and I loved it so much that when we got around to buying our own I wanted mine to be similar. After a couple months with the ring she assured me she would like to keep it. My grandfather is no longer alive, and I feel so honored that she gave me something of so much sentimental value.

I am a very sentimental person also and can definitely be trusted to care after these things! I don’t wear much jewelry unless it has a special meaning to me, and family heirlooms are used often when given to me.

I bought these pearls in Okinawa, Japan when I was 16. They are two separate necklaces that can be twisted together–one pink strand, and one white strand.

In the Wabe Revamping

Some of you may have noticed there’s been a bit of a lull at In the Wabe over the last few weeks. Honestly, I have been a bit upset over the way it’s panning out–it’s turning out a lot different than my original idea. So I am going to be revamping!

There will be a few changes here, and In the Wabe is going to become a bit more of a personal blog. I’m keeping all the recipes, but I will be posting some personal entries in between the food posts. I’m hoping this will make my blog more interesting and more enjoyable for all of you!

Do you want to see how excited I am about this?

These are my very first jumping photos! I realize the second photo looks a bit like I’m sitting on the back of the couch, but I swear I was mid-jump!

This is what my living room looks like without a maniac jumping on the furniture:

17 Dec

I wore a similar outfit a few months ago: the same dress with the brooch attacked with red tights. It was a good transition to spring, but this one is perfect for early winter.

I love mustard yellow and this scarf was such a great purchase! I bought it in Salzburg, Austria.

I think I looked like a 1920s detective that day! This hat is proving to be a staple of my wardrobe this year–I’ve worn it nearly every day for two weeks! And I like how touch I look in these photos, haha.

Dress: Old Navy
Cardigan: Gap
Tights: Gap
Oxfords: Payless? I don’t remember.
Coat: Gap
Scarf: H&M
Brooch: Given to me by my grandmother
Cloche: Urban Outfitters

My first anniversary

Joseph and I got married December 17, 2007; that means we recently celebrated our first anniversary!
We were married while he was in the midst of a deployment in Iraq, so he wasn’t present at the ceremony. I was excited we were getting married but at the same time a bit sad that he could be with me for another few months, so I tried to find a dress with similarities to a classic wedding dress that could still function as a normal dress. A friend pointed me in the direct of a dress Anthropologie was selling and it was perfect!

Joseph’s father and step-mother, me, my father, mother, and sister on my wedding day

For our first anniversary I decided wearing the dress again would be perfect. I will never not think of it as my “wedding dress,” but I’d love an opportunity to wear it again. This was the first time he was able to see me in the dress, and it made our day very special.

I love the subtle reminiscence to a wedding dress. I wore it with a strand of pearls I bought while I was in high school in Okinawa, Japan and shoes from Target that catch the light well and match perfectly.

Joseph dressed up as well!

Joseph made me a delicious six-course meal! He is a much better cook than I am, and everything from the presentation to the taste was beyond amazing. I took no pictures since it was night-time and flash would ruin the photos.

First course: Herbed Crepes with Smoked Salmon and Radishes, with a Light Lemon-Kissed Cream Cheese Filling with Dill and Chives.
Second course: Lobster Tail, Avocado, and Grapefruit Salad with a Lemon-Shallot Dressing and Fresh Spinach Leaves Kissed With Sea Salt
Third course: Cast-Iron Seared Filet Mignon with Charred Onion Rings and Cucumbers, with a Slowly Reduced Balsamic-Burgundy Wine Sauce with Whole Shallots
Fourth course: Slow-Roasted and Caramelized Whole Plum Tomatoes With Coarse Sugar and Fresh Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Fifth course: Carrot-Garlic Puree and Celery Root-Garlic Puree
Sixth course: Tiramisu Affogato: A Deconstructed Tiramisu – Equal Parts of Coffee Ice Cream and Vanilla Ice Cream, with Italian Walnut-Almond Ladyfingers Coarsely Crumbled Over, Hot Espresso Poured On Top, and a Dollop of Homemade Whipped Cream, and Grazed with Freshly Grated Bittersweet Chocolate