Saturday Afternoon Date: Bird Feeding.

So since we've moved to Gainesville, we've found ourselves to be a little tighter financially than we have been in the past. Thus, we have been trying harder to find cheap (or free!) ways for us to have some fun and spend time together. We both very much enjoy nature and the outdoors, and Florida has a lot of that! We spent a couple of hours at a small pond with a few stale pieces of bread and had a great time. Jared was a great spot and let me take some (adorable) pictures of him, and he even took the camera for a bit to snap a few of me. These are just a few of the ones we took of each other. I'll post the ones I took of the birds in the Wildlife blog. 

Reusable Bulk Bags

The bulk section at our local co-op (Common Ground Food Co-op in Urbana IL) has a fantastic bulk foods section. They provide plastic bags in 3 sizes to use if you don't bring your own containers. My husband and I have been shopping there for months and just realized we've been wasting plastic bags every time we go- not okay. Tonight I dug around in my fabric stash and found several XXL men's dress shirts I've been saving for a rainy day. 1 hour later 1 blue gingham dress shirt became 5 reusable bulk bags. 


At the moment, the only picture I've got is an Instagram picture- this will have to do for now.
The bag here has the breast pocket on it. :-)

Rave Gloves

So, my brother came and waved these trippy rave gloves in my face one day, and of course, I went and grabbed my camera. Each finger has 3 lights in it, and the thumb is a solid bight blue light. It's pretty fantastic to watch. Most of these were photos were taken at 2s and f1.8. Just having a bit of fun :-) Enjoy!

Chana Masala and Naan

Tonight's dinner. This was my first time making chana masala. It was fantastic, and this recipe is definitely a keeper. We used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen but added a little milk at the end to give it a creamier texture. We also made short grain brown rice and this recipe from Cheeky Kitchen for whole wheat naan. We passed on the maple syrup in the recipe and it was fantastic!

Brian and Ashley

Brian and Ashley are very dear friends of mine. I took what pictures I could sneak in while I was running around helping do other things- hence, the pictures I managed to take were few and far between. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but I was honored to be a part of their wedding and to be able to help. L 

The Rehearsal:

Girls Getting Ready:

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The Ceremony:

to be continued. . .  :-)

Tortilla Making!

In a quest to eat less processed foods and to try to have a diet composed of whole foods, my husband and I made our own tortillas for dinner tonight. Turns out, they are very easy to make and also extremely delicious. We used a recipe found on a blog called Handle the Heat. Give it a try!

Ashley's Bachelorette Party!

On Saturday, April 29th, 6 fabulous girls took a trip to downtown Chicago to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Ashley (3rd from the left) to Brian:

This is the best picture we had of all of us that wasn't on an iPhone. Thanks to the random  tourist who offered to take this for us!

We took a boat cruise down the Chicago River:

These images have been photoshopped into dramatic skies and bright colors because the day was rather drab indeed. For more realistic images of Chicago whilst overcast, see Google.

After our day downtown, we came back to a lovely party spread complete with mini blueberry cheesecakes, mini quiche, balsamic and tomato pizza, and fresh fruit. We spent the evening together talking and eating wonderful food.