Five On Friday

Full Circle

Tai and I have been using Full Circle for several years now. It's not a traditional CSA where you get what's available. More like a tailored grocery store. We get the sprout box. Although in the winter I sometimes scale down to the seed. I love being able to add other items like fresh bread, meat, and dairy products. 

Naked Pizza

Another find due to our new home. This pizza place is close to where I get off the train. I love their pizza. We usually get the Omnivore (meat and veggies) and a pepperoni.

Converse
My boss thinks she got me into Converse sneakers but I've been a Converse fan way back. I remember when they were $10 at Chubby & Tubby. I have a hard time paying $40 for them now so my pile is small but I do love them.

Parchment Paper
In an effort to reduce the amount of aluminum we ingest, I've taken to lining my baking sheets with parchment. I use it under meat, cookies, roasted veggies. I rarely use aluminum anymore.

Burr Grinder
I'm pretty serious about my coffee. I'll talk more about my coffee obsession in later posts but first my grinder. I grind my own coffee before brewing. I bought a burr grinder a few years ago after reading that it was better than the blade grinders which I used to have. I've noticed a better, more rounded taste since we switched. This is the one we have which I've been happy with.

Friday Randomness

Sally at Already Pretty had a Specialty Size Bonanza this week. If you are petite, plus sized, tall, have wide feet, or narrow calves, go here for stores that specialize in your needs. Read the comments too. People chimed in about their favs too.

 I recently bought these boots from Target.

 A lot edgier than my usually choices. Incredibly comfortable though.

 I loved these too. But they didn't fit my calves. Boo!

I have been obsessed with mary janes.

Untitled by honeylin on Polyvore.com

SoftWalk Montclaire Black Pull Up Patent - Zappos.com Free Shipping...
$109 - zappos.com

Naot Footwear Kirei Peacock Leather/Purple Glitter Suede/Peacock...
$171 - zappos.com

Keen Golden MJ Black - Zappos.com Free Shipping BOTH Ways
$75 - zappos.com

Crocs Wrapped Mary Jane Black/Black - Zappos.com Free Shipping BOTH...
$60 - zappos.com

Hush Puppies Trope at Zappos.com
$83 - zappos.com

Munro American Journey Black Leather - Zappos.com Free Shipping BOTH...
$180 - zappos.com

Naot Footwear Sea Black Suede/Shiny Leather - Zappos.com Free Shipping...
$170 - zappos.com

Joie Sweet Pea Gunmetal - 6pm.com
$50 - 6pm.com

Rogue Lorio Mary Jane Shoes (For Women)
sierratradingpost.com

Keen Wear Around Mary Jane Shoes - Leather (For Women)
sierratradingpost.com

I seriously need more in my shoe closet.

Looky What I Bought

When I bought our shoe organizer, I did a shoe purge. Everyday I doing ok but I wanted a couple of pairs of cute shoes. I was just content with keeping an eye out. But starting this weekend, Tai and I are going to several nice dinners. Nice places where I want to wear a dress or skirt. My current black shoes weren't going to cut it.
I went to Nordstrom Rack, DSW, and Marshalls and found nothing. Desperate, I went to Payless. Kind of a last ditch effort. I assumed I would find something that would work. I had no idea I would leave with 3 pairs of shoes and a purse all for $32!

I love the little flower on the front. You really can't see it but there's a little gem in the center of the flower.

I love these with the ruffle. I think they'll be perfect with my new dresses.

These don't go with any dress. But they were so cute and $5!
Yeah for new shoes!

Organization Is Key

Have you ever packed up a box of clothes, shoes, etc with the intention that you'll look through it later? Have you moved and later found a box of clothes you forgot about? I "find" clothes all the time. Oh look I forgot that I had 6 teal tshirts and oops, I just bought 3 more! Oh I have a pair of silver sandals and I bought another pair. Forgetting what I own and buying more than I need is the biggest problem I have with my closet. One reason is that I can't always see what I have. And one place I was completely failing was with my shoes.
In our old place we had a tiny closet to put all our shoes. It was too small put a shoe rack or any other sort of shoe organizer in there. In fact it was the same closet we stored our luggage in. Finding stuff in there was a chore. So glad we don't live there anymore. But our new place has tons of space. Plenty of places to put shoe racks and get our shoes organized. I first experimented with these shoe racks.  Not a bad product but not made for lazy folks like myself. I would toss my shoes toward the rack and everything would fall. If I tried to make them fit shoes fell. It was a mess, so after a lot of searching I decided on these:

Four of them held all of Tai's and my shoes. His are the top right section. I swear I thought he had more shoes than that.
I love it cause I can see what I have. No more searching for the right shoes in the dark. No more stumbling over a pile of shoes by the door. Ah, I'm so happy that I can see all our shoes at once!

Pretty Shoes

I haven't been out shopping that much lately. First I haven't had a lot of time to head to the stores and second I haven't had a ton of money spend on things I don't need. But lately I've been looking at shoes. I've got a craving for cute shoes:

Untitled by honeylin featuring Juicy Couture shoes

Items in this set:
Juicy Couture 'Raquel' Loafer, $97
Mossimo Cranberry Valda Ruffpoint Flt - 9 : Target, $25
Women's Mossimo Supply Co. Ozella Flats - Purple : Target, $20
Womens - American Eagle - Eliza Flower Flat - Payless Shoes, $18
Stuart Weitzman 'Pellets' Jelly Flat - View All - Nordstrom, $140

I think I can justify a little splurge but which one?

Shoe Racks

At our old place I kept our shoes in an over the door show holder like this one:

But we only have 2 doors in our new place besides the front door. And neither seem to be best door to use.

We received these as wedding presents. I was very excited to put them together but they don't seem to hold anything and our shoes quickly became a mess.

I bought these a few years ago from Ikea, but I couldn't get my big shoes into them without quashing them.

 I think this might be the next thing I'll try. We won't need the space under the bed for anything else. Anyone try an under the bed shoe storage?

Cute Booties!

I'm a huge fan of the ankle bootie.

Untitled by honeylin featuring Naughty Monkey shoes

But I'm not happy that all the really cute ones have heels, too high for me heels! Where are the cute flat ones?

Currently....

using
As an early holiday gift Tai bought me this heated mattress pad. I tend to get cold and I like to have the heat on but Tai likes it to be a little cold at night. This mattress pad has dual controls so I can be warm and Tai can stay chilly.

buying
I'm not a fan of white wine. I prefer red so I never white on hand when I'm making a dish. So I found these as a perfect solution. I don't have to waste an entire bottle on a 1/4 of cup.

watching

We watched this last night. One of the best graphic novel movies I've ever seen. It felt like a comic book. We were able to rent in blu-ray since we now have a PS3. Such a gorgeous picture! I want to be Angelia Jolie. She's superbad ass in this movie.

wantingI saw these in the LL Bean catalog. I definitely think they'd come in handy during the icy season. Might help me not fall. Anyone have these?

Currently....

needing

Muffin Tin by honeylin
My last muffin pan died last weekend. I thought silicone would be pretty durable. Sadly no. Perhaps I bought cheap silcone and might have more luck with another brand. Or is time to move back to metal?

eating
Tai loves mac & cheese despite his lactose intolerance. We gave this one a try and I really like it. It's whole wheat pasta so I feel a little better about it. But it's very creamy. My only complaint is that it doesn't seem to make a whole lot. It probably makes enough for 2 reasonable people!

wearing
I've been wanting to buy cute rain boots forever! I could never find a pair in my size until this week. I bought these adorable rain boots at Nordstrom Rack! $25! What a deal.

Currently....

drinkingMy coworker was drinking these and I became intrigued. I like that they boost immunity. I have one every morning. I like the pomegranate one the best. Strawberry isn't bad.

wearingI bought these Keens a few weeks ago. And I love them. I had long wanted a pair of Keens. Now I can't wait to buy my next pair.

usingI bought my new camera. It's pretty sweet. I wish I had gotten a different color since I got silver-so boring.

Good Habits I Wish I Could Do Everyday

1. Drink enough water. I feel better when I do. On weekends I don't drink enough water. I wish I could find someway to make it easier for me.
2. Empty my change purse once a week at least. I usually wait til it gets full and overflows. We have change jars to save change but I can't seem to get off my arse to do it.
3. Do WiiFit daily. Again during the week is easier to do than on the weekend.
4. Clean a little everyday rather than try to clean everything on the weekend. By Saturday the house is a mess and it's too overwhelming. I usually just do enough to keep the health department away.
5. Put my shoes away everyday. I have a shoe rack but my shoes seem to like to stay by the bed or the front door. I think Tai's shoes are a bad example.
See? I'm so far from perfect!

Currently....

wearing
I wore really uncomfortable shoes to work one day. They hurt my feet so bad I knew I wouldn't last all day in them. At lunch I ran out to Macy's to buy flip flops. I had planned on buying some cheap ones but I found these. I had heard about FitFlops when they first came out. These are so comfy. i don't know if I'm really getting a workout but I love them!


using
I bought these huge recyclable bags from Costco months ago. I love them. They were really useful during the wedding. I used them to lug gifts home, carry supplies to the site, and of course buy more things at Costco.


watching

I have to say I've been excited about this show since I first heard about it. Hello? JJ Abrams and Joshua Jackson? There's something that I'll watch. The first episode didn't excite me but the shows have gotten better since. We a little disappointed that they are taking a 2 week break especially since the season just started.


reading
I haven't been a fan of Barbara Kingsolver's other books but this a fantastic book. I hate getting off the bus because I have to stop reading it. I'm learning so much and I can't wait to go shopping and start buying more local produce and less processed food. I don't know if I'll be able to eat seasonally all the time but I'll try.