DIY / Ampersand Bracelet

I love ampersands. Every time I see anything with an ampersand on it, I want it. Prints. YUP. Pillows- I have it. Jewelry- let me at it. 

I had some wire left over from the Knot Ring we made a while back, so when I saw the ampersand bracelet below my mind started working.

Looks easy enough. Some wire, a chain. BOOM. We can do this! 

So gather up your supplies and get making. This is super easy and super quick. You can do it!

GATHER THE SUPPLIES /  

Grab  that Copper 12 gauge wire  you have left over from the Knot Ring (I can't believe we got 3 yards for $5, can't beat it!) / Jewelry Pliers / Large Pliers / Chain of your choice (about enough to go around your wrist) / a Clasp / 4 jump rings

Bend your write into the ampersand shape. As you remember when you made the Knot Ring, this gauge wire is SUPER easy to bend and mold, so this will be easier than you may think! Shape it to the right shape and size and cut any excess wire off the end with your wire cutter.

Now, let me point out, the ampersand above is HUGE. Like, WAY too big, unless you want to look like Mr. T, don't do this. Did I realize this before I finished? No. Should you make sure to make your amp the correct size? YES. About 1 inch tall is the size I used at the end, which required about 2.5-3 inches of wire. 

Attached one jump ring to the end of the chain you selected.

Attach the jump ring to the ampersand and wrap the chain around your wrist to determine the length you will need.

With your wire cutter, trim the chain to the proper length. Attached another jump ring to the other end. 

Determine the center point of the chain...

... and cut the chain at that point.

Using the remainder of your jump rings, attached the other end of the chain to your ampersand and the clasps to the ends of the chain. 

(The ampersand above is the size I used in the end, much better, right?)

So there you have it, a cute Ampersand bracelet, and it was super easy! The holidays are coming up, I was thinking about giving this a try with another shape or maybe even a letter? This is a great gift for so many people, but I'm keeping this one for myself.

What letter are you going to try? What else can we do with the copper wire we have?!

I get it from my Mama.

My mother married her soul mate. 

Kevin & Karen - The Happy Couple

This wedding, 13 years in the making, was a DIY phenomenon. Four fun filled days of food and family, she really out did herself. 

They rented a compound on St. Simons Island, Georgia with 2 houses and a ton of land. From the decor to the food, she did it all. Yes, I am my mother.

Day 1 (Thursday) was Mexican Night with make your own taco stations and maracas.

Day 2 (Friday) was Italian NIght with a full antipasto hour, fresh baked bread with pesto and lasagna 8 ways.

Day 3 (Saturday) was the wedding!- SOUTHERN COOKING. From Mac and Cheese to Fried Chicken, she didn't miss a beat. The decor was beach and everything she imagined.

Day 4 (Sunday) = hangover brunch. Mimosa + eggs + potatoes = heaven. 

Who needs a caterer when you can do it yourself? Not my mama.  

Check out some of my favorite snaps form the weekend below. 

The ladies of the family. Grandma, Mama, Cousin, Auntie and myself.

My brothers really know how to rock the socks.

<3 My Aunt and Uncle having a moment. <3

Moms dress, bought at a thrift shop for $25. Score.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue- a gift to my mom, more on this next week!

The whole family together for the first time in about 10 years.

The weekend ended with some music and food (and bubbles) under the Spanish moss. 

I had not seen my mom or step pops smile that much in a very long time. I could not have asked for a better man to be a part of my family and I am so thrilled that they had the weekend they pictured in their dreams. 

Love you Mom & Kevin. 

Weeknight Dinner: Autumn Veggie Tart

This week I'm introducing a new post to the blog: WEEKNIGHT DINNERS. 

Recently, I have been ordering WAY too much takeout. Admit it, you've been there. You get home from work, you're tired. Maybe someone pissed you off in the office. Maybe the commute was a total drag. Maybe life is just exhausting sometimes.

But guys, there are SO MANY amazing things we can whip up real fast or that are super easy to make, so lets start!

This week I threw together a super simple tart. This dish is so versatile and so simple and SO YUMMY. 

Checkout the recipe and some suggestions of different types YOU can make below. YOU CAN DO IT. 

Let's talk ingredients.

Large Yam

Brussel sprouts (approx. a dozen were used)

Small Tomatoes

Small Potatoes 

Fresh Thyme

Salt & Pepper  

½ cup Ricotta Cheese

¼ cup Olive Oil + about 2 tablespoons

Puff Pastry (Purchased Frozen/ premade- we're keeping this easy- but make sure to thaw as the package instructs) 

For the tomatoes and potatoes, I picked up packages at Whole Foods which had varieties of each. I wanted to give this dish a beautiful palette, but any small potatoes or tomatoes will do! Cherry? Heirloom? Fingerlings? Baby Red? Go for it! I told you this baby was versatile!

 1 / Preheat oven to 400˚F. Cut the yam into cubes and the brussel sprouts in half. Cut the potatoes also if you feel like should be smaller pieces, you're the one eating this! Toss the veggies in a large bowl with the ¼ cup olive oil, leaves of thyme and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

2 / Spread the prepared veggies on a baking sheet in 1 layer and place in your preheated oven for 20 minutes. About halfway through, toss the veggies so they get evenly cooked. 

3 / After 20 minutes, turn your oven on the HIGH BROIL setting for an additional 10 minutes, again tossing them about halfway though.

4 / Meanwhile, while the vegetable finish up, lets prepare the pastry! As I mentioned above, thaw it as the package instructs you to do. Mine said to defrost by leaving at room temperature.  

Drizzle most of that extra olive oil in the ricotta and give it a good stir, leaving some oil to grease your pan. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste. Give a baking sheet a thin coat of olive oil and lay your defrosted puff pastry out. Don't worry if your dough is a little too big for your pan, we are going to fold the sides in! Spread the ricotta down the middle of your dough, staying about 1-2 inches from the edge.

5 / Place the cooked vegetables on the ricotta cheese on the pastry dough. Fold in those edges as pictured above.

You will likely have some extra veggies for snacking!  

6 / Bake as the puff pastry dough instructs. Typically 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown. I baked at 430˚F for 25 minutes and it was perfect!

Not only is it SUPER easy to work with, Puff Pastry Dough is buttery and flaky and QUICK because we don't have to make a damn dough ourselves!

This was a perfect dinner. My roommate and I split it and were WAY stuffed. I think it could certainly serve 3 or 4 people if someone else whipped up a side dish, what do you think? 

Like I said, SUPER VERSATILE! Try out some different veggies! Different cheese! Add some meat! The possibilities are ENDLESS I TELL YOU! 

Travel: Colorado

ok. ok. I know. It's been a while. I'm back.

You ever have those days (weeks, months...) that you feel completely uninspired and lazy. Yeah. Me too.  

Time to come out of the slump and get back to business. This blog is my fave, and I've neglected it, and I hate that. 

So here I am, telling you I'm human, and sometimes I get tired and lazy and sad and need some time.  

and that I'm back. 

Thanks Babs for being my biggest fan. I'm back, if only just for you.

Pikes Peak, Colorado

On we go, on with life and responsibility and remembering what you love and what you want and NEED to do to feel like yourself. 

I need this blog and you all...

and travel. 

 I have so much to share with you all, but let us start it slow, with a recent trip that helped jolt me back. Here are some of my favorite snaps rom my recent trip to Colorado.

Let me start by telling you that this was my first time to Colorado, and I was stoked about it. I mean, c'mon, fresh air, mountains, scenery for days.

A while back a few friends and I decided that we wanted to see a show at Red Rocks Amphitheater. We went with The National, with openers Local Natives and SURPRISE also (one of my faves!) Frightened Rabbits. 

Well, we arrived in Colorado only days after the massive flooding they had in Boulder and the surrounding areas. Total bummer. Boulder was a bust, the trails, roads and all of the attractions closed. I was saddened, not just for our trip of course, but for the people of Colorado. 

But for us, the show had to go on, we were on VACATION remember. 

We made the best of it. Peter is pictured above snapping pictures of mountains- well, the best he could given the fog, but MOUNTAINS none the less.

As I said, there was a bit of fog, but have no fear, my trusty travel-mates found Cave of the Winds, which was a clutch find because it was raining and it was obviously inside. Score. 

When we came out of the cave, we could literally see NO mountains, as if they disappeared. 

The rain wasn't going to keep us down! We had abandoned Boulder and moved onto Colorado Springs, which has been the next stop on our adventure anyway.

This trip was really wearing on us. Everything we tried to do was a bust. Waterfalls, nope. Hiking, not having it.   

We pulled up to Garden of the Gods, one of the spots we were really excited to get to, and it was of course, you guessed it, raining. But on we went.

FINALLY, things started to turn around for us.  

Yes, it was wet out. No, the sun wasn't out.

We walked around. Climbed a bit. Everyone was smiling. 

Then. THEN, the MUSIC! We heard some music coming form above, and followed it. WHAT WAS IT YOU ASK?  

A band recording in the rocks! Not JUST some band, but Opus Orange, who turned out to be amazing! So here we are, at Garden of the Gods, with some of the most incredible views I had ever seen, getting a private show. This was the turning point of the trip!

We had saved Pike's Peak, hoping for some sunshine, and we were rewarded for sure, with perfect weather.  

Darling Kathleen pictured above. What a champ. She had never been so happy to see a little sunshine. Up Pike's Peak we go.

Did I mention the views? 

Take me back! 

While on our trip Kathleen had an idea. We were to name something we were thankful for at that very moment (I told you she was a champ). Even though our trip was not turning out exactly as planned, we had an amazing time and took a minute everyday to remember the good.

Sometimes things don't go as planned. Sometimes it's hard to see the bright side of things. Sometimes you have to grin and bear it, but thats all part of life, so keep your head up, like we did on our trip. 

Screw you lemons, we made lemonade. 

Bread Making / Take One / Slow Cooker

I have a friend. He likes to make bread. His recipe is simple. I like to bake. All the facts were leading to one conclusion, I should make bread.

The problem I have with bread making, the waiting. You have to make the dough and then LEAVE IT for 18-24 hours. Thats a problem. I am an instant satisfaction type of person, so I asked him if he thought that there was a way to make it, without that whole waiting time. Slow cooker maybe? Well, we thought no, but a few days later, he came across this and sent it my way. 

So here we go, embarking on a new adventure. Can you make bread in a slow cooker? Yes. Will it take some trial and error, I believe so.  

Here's my first attempt at bread.  

INGREDIENTS / 

 ¼ tsp. yeast

3 cups flour 

1½ tsp. salt

1½ cups water

In a large bowl, mix together your dry ingredients.  Add the water, and mix. It will get super sicky and be pretty wet. 

After I gave it a good mix, I washed and dried my hands and floured them to form the shape. Place it in the center of a piece of floured wax paper that will cover the interior of your slow cooker. 

Place the loaf, on the wax paper, in your slow cooker on HIGH. I set the timer for 1 hour initially, but after checking, saw it was no where near done. Mine stayed in the cooker for about 3 hours. Every 30 minutes I checked it, and saw that the edges and bottom where cooking, but the center was staying quite mushy. 

After 3 hours, this is what she looked like. Not looking too hot to me either, but it didn't appear to be changing with more time, so I thought  remove it. 

The Kitchn gave some tip, that I should have followed, the man one being the temperature check, but I left the thermometer on my desk and work and really wanted to give this a try! 

I popped it in the broiler, on high, for about 5 minutes to get a crispy outside. Was looking pretty good after this!

Then the real test came, what the HELL does it look like on the inside?! Doesn't look too bad, but it is not great.   

The interior was spongy and very dough-like. It def. did not cook properly. Although the taste isn't bad, the texture is way off, and not what you would expect bread to feel like.  

I sent some pics to the friend who gave me his recipe, and he thinks (and I consider him my bread expert) that there was not enough gluten formed. When you bake bread, the normal way, the time the dough sits prior to going in the oven allows the gluten to form. In this case, we didn't allow that process to happen because we were slow cooking it. He recommends allow it to rise for a bit before slow cooking it. 

We are going to consider this a FAIL this time around... Although...

I stuck the slices in the toaster for a bit, and slathered some blackberry jam on them and they weren't bad! I refuse to toss this out, so I will just toast it and cover it with something delish... so maybe it wasn't a COMPLETE FAIL (but yes, it is a fail, and I'm ok with that).  

I am going to give this slow cooking process another try, but also try out some loafs in the oven, and yes, I will be patient and allow the dough to rise. Ugh. I hate waiting.

Have you ever tried baking bread? How about in the slow cooker Any luck?

NYC Eats! / Luke's Lobster Food Truck

Dude. Lobster Roll. I know, your mouth is watering just at the sight of the word. 

Last week Luke's Lobster food truck, Nauti Mobile, was blocks from my office, so I obvs had to grab myself a roll. 

"Served chilled on a buttered and toasted New England Style roll, with a swipe of mayo, a sprinkle of lemon butter and a dash of secret spices." - Luke's 

My friend Adam got himself the Lobster Grilled Cheese and was nice enough to give me a bite. WHOA. I mean, LOBSTER GRILLED CHEESE, it just can't be bad. 

I was a happy girl with a lunch like this. Check out there list of locations or follow them on Twitter to track down the truck and get yourself one next time your in town

Steve Simpson / El Mariachi Red Wine Series

I have a serious crush on the work of Steve Simpson. Everywhere I turn I see it again and again! We took a look at his 7UP Wonderland Illustrations and were blown away. We checked out the work he did for Mic's Chili and could hardly contain ourselves. This time around, TheDieline.com gives us an in-depth look at the process behind the El Mariachi Red Wine Series and I am speechless. Check out the all the deets here. 

Apple, Cinnamon & Walnut Baked Oatmeal

Here at 128 john st. everything gets eaten. EVERYTHING.  (Even most the mistakes.) On Sunday morning when I woke up, I was not so much in the mood to make cupcakes, which may be a first for me. I wanted to make something that I could eat every morning for breakfast, although, let's be honest, I promote eating cupcakes for breakfast (and eat them often < READ: eat them more often than not for breakfast). BUT this time, I wanted to switch it up.

Did I mention that I wanted to do this, without leaving the house?

It was hot. I mean HOT outside. I don't want to be "that-gal" that is always complaining about the weather, but give me a moment while I reflect. IT WAS FREAKIN' HOT OUT. SOOOO I didn't want to go to the store. I wanted to whip up something perfect and gorgeous and good enough to share with you WITHOUT BUYING ANYTHING. 

I should also mention we don't keep much in the house, and by much, I mean we usually have a few cans of beans, wine and butter. 

Moving on. 

I began ripping through the kitchen cabinet. Under all the stuff (note to self: clean out cabinet, why do we have so much crap in there?) I found A TON of Bob's Red Mill Oats.  I went with Old Fashioned Thick rolled oats. Well, thats a start, and something we can certainly work with.

Now you're wondering why I have so many damn slow cook oats I bet. Lucky lady I am, sometimes I get free food at work. I take it. Always.  

What else did we dig up? You won't even believe me. I got SO lucky.  

1 Green Apple. A Bag of Walnuts. YUP & YUP. 

We were getting somewhere. Baked Oatmeal here we come.  

FOR THE BAKED OATMEAL /  

2 cups oats

1 cup walnuts (chopped preferably, but you can shop 'em)

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

  1 tsp. baking powder

½ cup sugar

1 green apple

1 stick of unsalted butter

 2 eggs

½ tsp. almond extract (or vanilla extract)

1 / Preheat oven to 375˚F.  Cut the apple into small pieces. Leave a few large slices aside to place on top (it makes it super pretty). Chop the walnuts if they aren't chopped yet.

2 / In a large bowl, mix together the oats, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and sugar.

3 / In a small bowl melt the whole stick of butter.  Set aside.

4 / In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the almond extract.

5 / Stir the butter mixture and egg together.

6 / Fill your favorite casserole dish with the dry ingredients. It filled my 8-inch square perfectly!

7 / Pour the wet ingredients over the dry. 

8 / Place the sliced apple on top of the assembled oats. 

9 / Bake for 45-55 minutes or until bubbly and brown! 

I would say this makes around 6 full serving, but if you were serving it as part of a brunch with other items, you could full smaller cups (I used some sturdy cupcake cups) and it could make about 12!

I kid you not when I tell you I was impressed with this dish. I'm not a huge oats person, but nuts and apple really take it up a notch (not to mention the butter and cinnamon, I mean, c'mon, of course it's good!). 

So, whats the lesson here?

1- You sometimes have more in your house than you think, and can make something fabulous out of it.

2- Oats are yummy. 

3- Jamie needs to clean her cabinets out more often. 

4- Jamie should probably food shop once in a while. 

 Have you ever made baked oatmeal? This was a first for me, and I see many more in my future (I've got more oats, why not!). 

DIY Wire Knot Ring

I love to shop. There, I said it. You DO NOT want to go shopping with me. You know how you're in a store, with your best pal, and you ask, "Should I get this?"... well my friends, my answer will almost always be YES (unless of course its awful!). Tell me you don't have the money, I'll tell you to charge it.  

Lately, I have been trying to cut down the spending and take a real look at things to figure out if we can make them. 

A while back I saw this lovely piece on Uncovet.  Upon more research, I found the designers Etsy Store, which has some great stuff, but I got to thinking, we have to be able to make her, right? Instead of making six separate rings, lets make one that achieves the same look!

GATHER THE SUPPLIES /  

Copper 12 gauge wire  (3 yards for $5, can't beat it!) / Jewelry Pliers / Large Pliers (you may be able to do it without both, give it a try!) / a string & pen (to measure your finger) / a ruler (to measure the wire) / and that last wood item pictured above is actually my  potato smasher! You will need a handle of some sort that is the same circumference of your finger (we make it work here!)

Let's get started! 

Wrap the string around the finger you want to make the ring for, loosely- to finish the end of the ring you will need a litttttttle bit of extra space-  mark it with a pen.

Find something, anything, in your house that measures the same circumference as your finger!  Set it aside.

Measure out your wire and cut the piece. I needed about 18 inches of wire for my index finger. Better to measure it a bit too big, you can always snip off the end when you're done. 

This is the hardest part, so get your muscles warmed up! In the center of your wire, tie a knot. I know, seems easy, but you're really going to have to yank on each end to make the knot get good and small. PULL, PULL, PULL! Check the size of the knot by placing on your finger. Like the way it looks, move on. If not, keep yanking until you get it right! 

Place the knot on the front of the "tool" you chose with the same circumference as your finger.  

Wrap the ends of the wire around the back and back around. The wire is easier to work with than you would think, just take your time and make a smooth curve.  Don't make it super tight, like I said above, you need a bit of room to finish it off!

Wrap twice above the knot and twice below. 

Push the rings of wire in towards the knot.. It will fight with you, but fight back, you're the boss here! It will be secured shortly, don't you worry yourself here!

Before you secure the wire, lets make sure it fits, duh! 

Wrap the edges of the wire around the back of the ring like shown above. Make sure the very tip of the wire faces away from your finger so you don't get any ouchies.  

This is what will keep the loops secure, so make sure you make this  nice and tight! 

This is why I said you needed a bit of extra room, see, I wouldn't point you in the wrong direction! 

With your lage pliers, give the back knot a reallllllllly good squeeze. Then do it again. And maybe again. You want to apply tons of pressure here so that you flatten the wire a bit, which secures it, and makes it less clunky on your finger! 

Alright, yes, I beat mine up a little in the squeezing process, but it's the back, and it fits perfectly, so I'm ok with that. You may want to learn from my mistake and wrap it in fabric or something soft to avoid the wear. 

Simple and gorgeous and all by yourself! For $5 you get enough wire to make 6 rings if you are using 18 inches for each. CAN'T BEAT THAT! 

I wore it and already have so many people giving me compliments and asking me to make  them one! Yay! Success.

Who will you make one for? (I bet you'll you keep them all for yourself!) 

"Watermelon" Rice Krispie Treat!

I saw this ADORABLE Rice Krispie Treat Watermelon last week, and with summer here, I knew I would have to make it!

Welp, it was 4th of July, and as per usual, I decided last minutes (like I did with the shirts) that I wanted to bring something to the picnic my friends were having in the park. 

Lucky for me, I had marshmallows, Rice Krispies and butter in the house (I know, what are the chances?!). What I did not have were the drink mixes she calls for, but I DO have food coloring, so I thought we could give it a go!

This was actually my first time attempting any kind of Rice Krispie Treat, and boy did I fail the first time. We were trying to conserve the marshmallow at first, and then mixed it in with the cereal, and THEN realized it wasn't enough, so melted MORE marshmallow, but in the meantime, the mixture was getting solid, so when we added more marshmallow, ugh, it was all down hill. We COULD have brought this with us to the picnic, but we would have had to use it as a frisbee. FAIL.

My darling friend Amy ran out and got more marshmallow while I was dealing with making the shirts (we are such a great team!).

ok- so here are the ratios I used. If you have made Rice Krispie Treats before and have it down to a science, use your ratios and just dye it and construct it like I did, I think I'm still working out some kinks.

FOR THE GREEN LAYER /  

2 cups Rice Krispie Cereal  / ¼ of the bag of marshmallow / ½ a stick of unsalted butter / Green Food Coloring

FOR THE PINK LAYER /  

3 cups Rice Krispie Cereal / ¾ bag of marshmallow / ¾ a stick of unsalted butter / Red Food Coloring
 

ADDITIONAL NEEDS / 

Chocolate Chips OR Small round black candies OR black sprinkles to be the "seeds". 

Do the GREEN part first so you can press into the edges of the pan.

Before you start cooking, prepare a 8 or 9 inch cake pan by spraying with baking spray or rubbing with butter. 

In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, melt the butter completely. 

Add the marshmallows to the melted butter and stir constantly.

Add the food coloring, a TINY bit at a time until your desired color is reached! 

In a large bowl, measure out the cereal. 

Pour the marshmallow mixture over the cereal and stir, quickly while it is still warm, until all the ingredients are equally distributed. 

Push the green cereal around the edge of your prepared cake pan and set aside while you make  the pink! 

Follow the instructions above again for the pink section (make sure you use the right ratios because the pink area is larger).

Place the candies ( or chocolate chips) into the pink section so it looks like it has seeds and WA-LA, you're done! 

Nothing says 'MERICA like a cold beer, an American Flag purse (owned by Liz Ho.) and Rice Krispie treats! They were a hit! Slice 'em up and serve them to your pals.

I never realized how versatile these treats could be! I feel like you could make ANYTHING out of Rice Krispies now. Any ideas?!