May 2013
1 post
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home decor: rustic chic
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I have LOVED (read: become slightly obsessed) decorating my new little apartment! For the most part, I sold everything I owned when I left NYC. I’m now discovering that doing so was a bit of a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I get to start over completely. A curse, because I HAVE TO START OVER COMPLETELY! The expense + amount of time it’s taking to find pieces I...
April 2013
4 posts
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Steak & Cilantro Breakfast Hash
[[MORE]]Lately, I’ve been experimenting a TON with new recipe ideas. New fish recipes, new pasta ideas, easy and healthy snacks, etc. While most of the new recipes I’ve been testing are not yet blog worthy, I must say I love having a refrigerator packed full of new & different ingredients! Said fridge really does help make breakfast, one of my favorite meals of the weekend, a fun place to...
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diary: march round up
Hello and happy Wednesday! I wish I could say Chicago is having beautiful weather, but we’re currently getting one fine beat down from a nasty thunderstorm. With rain comes gloomy thoughts (or maybe only if you’re me? Especially when it’s crazy-raining on a work day?), so I thought now was a great time to do a round-up from last month. There have been so many changes and I don’t want to forget...
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Spicy Oven-Roasted Chickpeas
[[MORE]]For last week’s inspiration post, I rambled on (and ON) about wanting to carefully change my eating habits. Outside of how I choose ingredients for the big meals I make, I’ve also been laser-focused on how I snack.
A few years back, I attempted to cut out snacking all together. I’ve somewhat stuck to the mantra of three meals a day, but sometimes I have one of those...
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March 2013
7 posts
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diary: sunshine
The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude. - Oprah Winfrey
Today, I am thankful because the sun is shining.
I am thankful for my family & my friends.
I am thankful for E. For his support. His determination to love me despite my shortcomings.
I am thankful for my job. My career that I am building.
I am even thankful for...
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test kitchen: roasted eggplant dip
Excuse me while I sit here in Heaven for a minute. THIS DIP IS DA’BOMB. Absolutely delicious. Amazing. Love it!
Do you want to try it yet? If not, you should.
I love finding recipe gems involving really simple ingredients/steps. Looking to share the recipe soon!
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diary: an oldie, but a goodie
Today is a wear-my-old-ratty-leopard-shoes-because-i-love-them kind of work day.
oh and that white cord? that would be connected to my HEATING PAD. yes, I am 80 years old and hurting.
Any magical back remedies I should know about? Help!
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photography: city winery
City Winery, West Loop, Chicago
Last night, Eric and I had a BLAST tasting Oregon’s best Pinots @ City Winery. We used to go to attend tastings all the time in NYC, so I must admit I was excited to do something that brought back old memories while also helping me fall in love with Chicago a bit more.
Happy Friday! I hope you all enjoy this upcoming weekend. I know I will…the...
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photography: rainy city
I took this picture a few weeks back, when I was sleepy and not really paying attention. It has quickly become one of my favorite Chicago pictures to date. Love!
I’ll try to get a fun picture of the snow in the city today. Fingers crossed that the snow storms gives me enough snow to build a snowman with!
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diary: new apartment!
Loving that I now officially have a new apartment all to myself! And by all-to-myself, I mean no roommate(s). Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved living with roommates…I guess I’m just beyond thrilled to have a space that is all my own!
The space that you see above is currently filled with boxes, bags, and a bit of wishful thinking for what type of little home I can make for...
February 2013
6 posts
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Captain Wentworth, Persuasion by Jane Austen
Five years later, this quote still gives me butterflies. Favorite Jane Austen book. Best quote in a book. The most honest, gut-wrenching love story I have ever read. Just plain, stupid, I’m-crazy-about-you love.
Happy Valentine’s Day. Here’s to constant, encompassing, never-ending love!
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diary: woohoo! apartment fun!
hi there. I probably shouldn’t be sharing JUST yet, but I simply cannot help myself!
here’s the thing: I may have just landed a super sweet/awesome/first big girl apartment ever! And as much as I should be holding back dreaming up big plans for this space, I simply can’t help myself.
Let’s see…other thoughts: Pinterest is the best thing ever. Especially when...
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recipe: Pulled Pork Sliders w/Spicy Cabbage &...
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To build on yesterday’s post, I’m just going to go ahead and start posting some pictures of recipes I’ve made, LOVED, made again, LOVED even more, photographed, and hated the pictures. Today’s recipe is a diamond in the rough I tell ya…so I can’t let a few not-so-great-pictures keep me from posting!
new mantras are always about BELIEVING, right???...
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diary: welcome to your new box
Last Friday marked two special occasions for me.
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First, it was my birthday. Don’t laugh, but I had a little bit of what might be called the birthday blues. I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I had a wonderful day: flowers + dinner + fun out with friends + thankfulness for another year. BUT, in my world, this birthday meant something different: I was officially moving to what I like to...
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travels: blue skies {Phoenix}
Ahhh, warm, sunny skies. Blue. Cloudless. So awesome.
Soooooo last week.
Last week, I jumped more like begged at the opportunity to attend a conference in Phoenix, AZ. I had never visited Arizona before, so I was filled with anticipation. Cacti + mountains + warm weather…such a warm (literally) welcome for my southern bones.
The weather was incredible. The conference was a success. But...
January 2013
8 posts
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diary: snow!
I don’t know what I was expecting for my morning when I woke up, but my lack of accurate weather forecast reading gave me one fun surprise: Snow!
I must say, while Chicago is already such a pretty city, there’s just something about everything being covered in white that makes me smile.
Now that I’m fully up-to-speed on the weather details, I’m a little bummed this is...
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recipe: pork and turkey ragu + fried eggs...
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Ok guys. Sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade, and today is one of those days. I went all Chopped chef this past weekend and created a ragu that you would literally DIE over. And then, I up and decided to have it for breakfast (ok, more like brunch). To make what I’m sure is going to be a long story short, it was literally DA BOMB. k?
To back up a little, I woke up very...
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photography: hot off the press.
Chicago Tribune, Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL
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diary: feeling good!
It’s a very rare thing that I actually wake up in a good mood. But this morning, can you actually believe it?, I woke up not only feeling rested but also motivated! These moments are so rare, I figured the only thing I could do was capture it here on the blog. I’m excited to make a grocery store run and then start baking/cooking. Shop a little. And maybe even score a table at...
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diary: NYE 2012 {hello 2013!}
New job = no vacation = I wasn’t able to make one of my high school best friend’s NYE wedding. Bummed out and sad that we had no plans, a great NYC friend invited Eric and I up to Traverse City, MI for what ended up being a fantastic weekend full of board games, couch time, champagne (aka, sparkling wine for you vinos out there), and theme night NYE fun. I took my camera, but somehow...
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recipe: potluck pasta salad
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When I said I was experiencing bloggers block, I really wasn’t kidding. I’ve been wanting to make and post this recipe FOREVER. Alas, here I am, just now posting. I seriously need a jump start or some pep in my step or SOMETHING! I digress…
Potluck pasta salad. You name it, you can put it in there. I just happened to like this little concoction so much that I snapped...
December 2012
1 post
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diary: Weekend Snapshots {December 2012}
Happy Monday!
I sincerely hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Mine was filled with many things. Being lazy. Cooking. Tree decorating. Christmas shopping. Battling “fun” Chicago weather. Hence, more laziness…
I have to say, it feels good to sit down and write a blog post again. If I’m being honest, I’ve had zero motivation to blog since I started my new job. I...
November 2012
1 post
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October 2012
14 posts
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photography: steps
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recipe: skinny pumpkin granola
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Phew! These past few days have been very, VERY busy and stressful! I can share more very soon (hopefully!), but the stress and craziness was most welcome. More importantly, I’ve been wanting to finalize this post and share ALL WEEK. So today, I’m doing just that!
I found this recipe after searching for a healthy granola to make & take to my very first food swap....
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diary: "gramming" episode 1
Ever since I made the switch to the iPhone (I’m going on 2 weeks baby!), I’ve become obsessed with Instagram. Since it’s the weekend, I thought I’d share a sample of what I’ve captured over the last two weeks.
Are you on the Gram? Are you a crazy-grammer? Have you been bitten by the bug like me?
and you can find me here: @girlbythelake!
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recipe: manchego, mozzarella & bacon grilled...
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There are just some things that get better with age. Wine. Cast-Iron skillets. Jane Austen. Hardwood floors. Maturity. My grammar skills. Cheese.
GRILLED CHEESE…
You might be wondering how a grilled cheese can get better with age??? Let me first begin by saying this: I am NOT suggesting you make your sandwich and let it age for a year. Honestly, I’m not quite sure...
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recipe: roasted tomato soup
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With Fall in full swing, all I have wanted for the past few weeks is comforting food. And when I think comfort, I think hearty, warm soups…served with incredible sandwiches.
I know tomatoes season is essentially over, so I wanted to take a stab at making a soup with them before the quality of grocery store tomatoes diminished substantially. With this in mind, I set out on a...
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photography: park view
View from Millenium Park
I’ve decided to bring back my “city photos” series!
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recipe: chorizo & potato breakfast scramble
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For whatever reason, I have lost the ability to sleep.
And despite counting sheep, reading over 250 pages of “A Song of Ice and Fire” (Game of Thrones book #3), and forcing myself to keep my eyes shut for several minutes at a time, I still can’t sleep!
So, instead of trying to sleep, I’ve decided to write this post for you. Why? Because the only thing that...
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recipe: cilantro & lime turkey chili
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Hi.
My name is Megan, and I am ADDICTED to Cooking Light recipes. Completely addicted!
Especially the multitude of Mexican recipes one can find on their site. Fewer calories, lower total fat, AND the food still tastes amazing? Sure. Let’s role with this!
Since moving to Chicago, I’ve been challenged to really ensure my daily diet is balanced with healthy, yet filling, food. Job...
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A little Friday inspiration! Enjoy your weekend!
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wine tours: bierzo
Overview of Bierzo
Continuing on our Spanish theme from my previous post, I would like to introduce you to Bierzo, a small wine-producing region in the northwest part of Spain. This is an “up-and-coming” region in every sense of the word – ten years ago, Bierzo wines were virtually unheard of in the international marketplace. Today, however, Bierzo wines have swelled in popularity due to a...
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recipe: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
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I haven’t baked cookies in months! With all the moving, traveling, job searching, and being sick, I honestly just haven’t made the time for baking sweet things. But all that ended when Rachel suggested I research some pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipes…
So, I’m going to make this really short and sweet (ha!). If you are looking for a seasonally relevant...
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September 2012
9 posts
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recipe: tomato & sausage risotto
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I’ve been sick. That’s why I haven’t been posting, and I’m sorry. But let me tell you, the flu sucks. Especially when you have a trip to NYC planned and a job interview in the same week. There isn’t enough rallying in the world to help with that.
Except when you actually do rally. And then you are awesome like me.
Backstory: I thought I had a cold....
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recipe: his & her mini flatbread pizzas
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Two days ago, I was DYING to eat a flatbread pizza. Alas, I was stranded on my sofa with no energy due to being attacked by a cold. Instead, I just stared at pictures of this guy for an indeterminate period of time.
While I know that might seem a bit dramatic, please, PLEASE tell me when a better time to be dramatic would be??? Let’s see: jobless, hungry, can’t breathe,...
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recipe: white bean & arugula salad
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I recognize I pretty much obsessed about tomatoes and sandwiches all last week. But sometimes, I’m not a sandwich girl. Especially not around lunchtime. What I am is a salad girl. In fact, I freaking love salads. Pasta salads. Greek salads. Jicama salads. And, today, this white bean and arugula salad.
I also love pizza, but we can leave that for another day.
I was...
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recipe: pulled chicken sandwich with spicy...
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If you’re looking for a really great way to utilize the tomatoes I posted earlier this week, then today’s post is perfect for you. The idea of this sandwich is quite simple, but the flavor is packed to the brim in every single bite!
Essentially, I made these guys on Labor Day, and I wanted to eat them right away. The communal grills had very long lines, so I knew the...
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recipe: oven roasted garlic tomatoes
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I spent my first NYC summer working long hours, meeting new people, and discovering new places. The most memorable person I met during this time is Jessica, who became one of my best friends in NYC (and she still is today!). Jessica opened my eyes to several things: socks with sandals, layering four shirts during the summer and the world of gluten free eating. Jess has to eat a gluten...
alifewellmade asked: Your pictures are gorgeous. How long have you been into photography?
