Goodbye, Blog

So long, dear blogging friends.

I’ve decided to close down this blog and part ways with the HLB community. While this blog is a big part of who I was, it doesn’t reflect where I am or where I’m going. There are big and small changes happening in my life, and I want to dedicate my time and attention to them and to finding my place in the outside world.

Blogging has  meant (and still means) so much to me, and I can’t believe how many of you wonderful women I have gotten to know thanks to it. I may returning to blogging in some other form, fashion and location in the future, but until then if you’d like to be e-mail pals, feel free to drop me a message at allieelyse@gmail.com.

I love y’all and am wishing you the best with your personal journeys. Have fun, laugh lots, and don’t take life too seriously.

Beast-fully yours,

Allie

 

 

Uncategorized

July 28, 2013

16 Comments

Ol’ Red, White and Blue

You say I missed the fourth of July? I say it’s never too late!

Red.

Cooked or fresh–It doesn’t matter what you do with tomatoes (such as eat them whole like an apple while standing in your garden…), their summer sweetness can’t be beat. Or duplicated by any grocery store version.

White.

Scallops on the grill, caprese salad and sauteed (garden-fresh) yellow squash.

Blue.

While most blueberries go straight from bush-to-mouth, a few made their way into a batch of homemade blueberry syrup. Which then made it’s way into blueberry pie cocktails and a blueberry latte.

What’s your favorite “patriotic” food?

Eats and Treats, Garden, Link Ups, What I Ate Wednesday

July 24, 2013

18 Comments

Listing Lists, in Review

I love Meghan, I love lists, I love showing up three days early for a party (and twice in one week). So let me get all meta here and give you a list…of lists! In review!

A Peek at My Week

(via “to-do”s and “done”s)

So there you have it! Somehow Monday and Tuesday have become my new weekend. Wednesday and Thursday are for freelance work, and weekends are for actual “work.” And what else is on the list for today? Oh, a little fitness, a little food, and a little fun–date part two, double woo woo.

—

Do you “to-do”?

Link Ups, Me and Myself, Week in Review

July 19, 2013

16 Comments

Local Love

I love living local, so with that, I’m using this Week in Review to review…one day. Of living eating in the lap of local luxury. I’d apologize to Meghan for skewing her link-up into a What-I-Ate-Saturday, but I know she shares my passion for fresh ingredients–so maybe I’ll get a pass on this one?

One of my favorite things to do on Saturdays is drive to the Franklin Farmer’s Market. This bustling hub of high-end farm-snobbery isn’t where I get much produce, but it is where I get the world’s most amazing biscuit sandwiches (from the Biscuit Love Truck) that are chock-full of local eggs and cheese on perfect, tangy scratch-made biscuits. This week the market also featured two rather cute dudes from local roasters Eighth and Roast serving up what they promised would be the best cup of coffee I ever had. Now, I will vote for it as pretty damn good and, perhaps, the most caffeinated cup of caffeine, but best? Well, I’ll just have to do some more research about that one. As soon as I work through these caffeine-withdrawal shakes…

And true to my current lame-blogger form, I forgot my camera. There was no way I was waiting and not chomping and slurping down on the drive home. You can just imagine how spectacular the biscuit was.

The local love wasn’t over after that brunch (meaning, I also ate breakfast and lunch, but wedged a giant biscuit meal in between), since I had big party plans for the evening. I went all out, by getting all my food in (from my garden).

From top to bottom:

• Quinoa-Caprese salad featuring homegrown cherry tomatoes and basil.
• Fruit salad contributed by the lovely Heather and man-friend.
• I’ll have you know that, “London” tag aside, Burnett’s is straight out of Kentucky. Practically homemade!
• Roast veggies featuring my own rosemary, zucchini and eggplants and my parents’ yellow squash.
• Mediterranean Chevre from my favorite Noble Springs Dairy, served with homegrown tomatoes and cukes and homemade oat flatbread.

I also roasted up two chickens from my Hidden Springs Farm CSA. Local, loved and fresh food just tastes better!

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Do you like to eat local? Best local goods you’ve found lately?

Eats and Treats, Link Ups, Week in Review

July 15, 2013

23 Comments

The Best of Times, the Could-Be-Worse of Times

The Good: I finally finished a two-week project to clean up the landscaping in my front yard.

The Bad: My garden has reverted to being a wild jungle due to monsoon rains and lack of attention.

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The Good: I’ve been eating some really tasty, fresh foods.

The Bad: That business is expensive!

Chili with garden-fresh zucchini and cilantro.

—

The Good: I now have two part-time jobs!

The Bad: I broke my toilet to the tune of $325-worth of repairs. By accidentally springing the toilet-paper holder down the drain just as the toilet was flushing. Don’t even ask how that happened. I still don’t understand my life.

—

The Good: I’m getting to know my new room-man, and he’s a pretty cool (and incredibly quiet and tidy) dude.

The Bad: Pretty sure I creeped him out when he walked into a room just as I was calmly but angrily stating, “I will kill you when you least expect it.” It may have been directed toward a housefly I’d been chasing around all day…but out of context?

—

The Good: I’m doing a lot of writing for work and for fun.

The Bad: I took a bit of an unintentional break from blogging to do so. I miss you guys!

I love notebooks.

—

What’s balancing the good and bad in your life?

Arts and Crafts, House and Home, Me and Myself

July 12, 2013

17 Comments

Facts for Friday

As my first full week of joblessness wraps up, a few facts are becoming clear.

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Fact: I have free time! I read three books in one week.

Fact: I don’t particularly care about the 4th of July. It got rained out. I wasn’t really that bummed.

Fact: I’m more hipster than I’d like to admit. I bought typewriter ribbon.

Fact: I’m going to write a novel. Or at least bang away on my computer, clack away on my typewriter, scratch away on my notebook, and have fun wasting a lot of paper.

Fact: I’m still hooked on fruit. A salad of melon plus jalapeno-stuffed olives? Sweet, salty, spicy and #strangebutgood.

Fact: I need a (part-time) job. Money aside, I’m going stir-crazy.

Fact: I love my family and friends. That free time business? I’ve been rediscovering just how fabulous the people in my life are.

—

What would you do with a jobless week?

Future, Link Ups, Me and Myself, Strange but Good

July 5, 2013

28 Comments

What (Fruit) I Ate

Have I ever mentioned I’m a bit fruity? No? Well, let’s go back in time and take a trip down memory lane. To last weekend.

I mentioned my budget lockdown on Monday–So what’s this week’s money-saving advice? Eat other people’s fruit! Fruit is expensive. Not-your-food is free! So when I visited my parents last weekend, I made sure to raid their fridge for fresh, juicy goodness.

Like freshly picked berries.

Perfect plain or on big bowls of cereal.

Like entire cantaloupes.

Eaten in one sitting (or, rather, one standing-next-to-the-fridge). I wish I was exaggerating. No I don’t. I’m still not entirely sure how I fit it all in me, but, oh, it was delicious.

Like fresh watermelon.

Fresh watermelon with cracked pepper and mint. Yes, totally stole this idea after going to Heather and the Man-Friend’s BBQ last week.

Like leftover watermelon.

Blended with plenty of lime, tequila and triple sec. People are much more willing to share their fruit if you ply them with liquor.

Like bargain bananas.

If you simply must buy your own fruit, go bananas!

Closeout organic bananas for $0.38/lb! That equals 8 bananas for $0.85, or $0.11 each! Perfect for bowls of crunchy and peanut-buttery goodness.

Have any frugal fruit tips?

Budget, Link Ups, What I Ate Wednesday

July 3, 2013

34 Comments

New-in-Review

I love a good list, I love a good fresh start and I love a good Meghan. 

You know what that means–It’s time for a Week in Review. This week? Focusing on NEW!

New: Employment situation.

I revealed on Friday that I quit my job. I couldn’t be happier. Or more broke. Okay, I could be more broke. I have a few freelance writing gigs and good savings, but life is going to be pretty bare-bones money-wise for a bit. Thank goodness laying in the sun with a good book is free.

New: Roommate.

A room-man moved in on Tuesday to help foot the bills for my summer of not-exactly-working. Nothing like inviting a strange dude you met on Craigslist to move into your house!

New: Technology.

Wednesday found me with a more-snazzy computer and a less-snazzy phone. Turns out work owned both of those items, and they were forfeited on Friday. While I love my new laptop, I won’t hesitate to say that the cheapest Windows phone on the market is just a few steps down from my prior iPhone ownership. However it is also $500 steps down–which turned out to be the most important factor.

Yes, I will probably leave the stickers on both items for the next month. That’s just how I roll.

New: Budget.

Related to all of the above, of course, comes a fresh new budget for a fresh new month. Expect lots of posts on stingy living and frugal finds. I’m not too classy to talk about the nitty-gritty dollar details.

New: Definitions.

I plan on spending the summer discovering what I like and who I am. Okay, that sounds like a cheesy self-help book, but I have been out of touch and out of whack for a long, long time. I’m going to start listening to my self and my body–while I figure out what I like to do, what I want to do, what makes me happy and what makes me feel good.

What’s new for you?

Budget, Confession, Future, Goals, Link Ups, Me and Myself, Week in Review

July 1, 2013

35 Comments

(Fresh) Clean Slate

As of today, I am officially unemployed.

And it feels so good.

This wasn’t what I meant when I made this month’s goal to make things fresh and new.

But I am more than okay with it.

What am I doing after this? I have no idea.

But I’ll figure it out.

There’s a job out there that matches my passions and personality.

And until I find it? I get a summer break.

Hello sun, goodbye desk-bound unhappiness.

Confession, Future, Goals, Me and Myself

June 28, 2013

12 Comments

Fridge-in-Review

Although I spent a weekend (and the greater portion of last week) taking no pictures, I couldn’t miss my girl Meg’s linkup two weeks in a row.

And since my fridge does tell the story of my life, here’s my week in review, via my fridge in review.

A. Tuesday. What would my life be if I didn’t stock up on cheap old groceries? And then go out for Thai food despite just having gone grocery shopping.

B. Wednesday. I made almond milk (and by-product almond meal)! With nothing more than a Magic Bullet and old t-shirt. (Well, and almonds.) This is actually round 2, since my first attempt disappeared into err, just a few iced coffees, while the meal went into last week’s baking adventures.

C. Thursday. Leftover limes from having Heather and the man-friend over for tacos. A get-together they reciprocated by inviting me to a BBQ party to end all BBQ parties on Saturday (details of the marvelousness on Heather’s blog today).

D. Friday. Picked up my chicken CSA. Slow-cooked that sucker to perfection with onions and fresh thyme and rosemary from my herb garden. What do you do with your Friday nights?

A1, 2 and 3: Saturday. Jetted off to the farmer’s market before watching my dad and his softball team play in the Senior Olympics. Despite the fact that I bought eggs earlier in the week, I couldn’t resist farm-fresh (A1). And despite my best intentions to not not not buy vegetables (since my garden is producing out of control), I still ended up with beets (A2) which I roasted up in foil. I did get the one item I actually meant to buy–more local pimiento goat cheese (A3).

B: Sunday. I emptied the garden. Cucumbers went into a big bowl with vinegar and onion for fresh pickles. Zucchinis were eaten. Okra was eaten. And I spent all day harvesting, cleaning, steaming and freezing mustard greens after finally admitting I can’t keep up with eating them fresh.

So there you have it! My somewhat empty fridge. There is also a shelf of condiments, but all that says about me is: I really like ketchup. And y’all already knew that one…

What does your fridge say about you? What did you get into this weekend?

Garden, Link Ups, Week in Review

June 24, 2013

33 Comments