Long {Cali} Weekend

The time has come to head on down to Santa Barbara to celebrate one of my most favorite people in the entire world - Maddie!  I can't wait to spend the weekend with {most of} the people in this photo {taken at her shower} drinking, laughing, and cheers-ing this bride to be.  I'm extra excited because I get to go down a day early to hang out with the lovely Susannah, and even though it's a quick trip, it's guaranteed to be wonderful.

So cheers to a long weekend filled with sunshine and love!

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Not Quite Katniss

Sunday evening as I was warming up the car and getting ready to head back to the city, my brother got out his archery equipment and was going to shoot some arrows with my dad.  I watched as they set up towards the target and fired a few off, and thinking that I can do anything they can, I quickly turned off the car and ran over for my turn.  First let me say that it is NOT as easy as Katniss makes it look in The Hunger Games and just extending the bow is insanely difficult.  But once I got in place and took aim at the target, I figured I had it down.  Wrong.  I shot the arrow but let the string smack my arm on the way out so that I practically dropped the bow in pain {while watching my arrow skim off the target and sail into the field}.  Within seconds it became red and swollen, so I headed home with an ice pack on my arm hoping to ward off a huge bruise.  Too late.  All day yesterday the bruise kept getting darker and darker while my arm stayed swollen and tender.  But my brother had a good point - guys dig bruises - so I think I'll chalk this one up to a learning experience and a cool story.  I can't wait to try again :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Easter Weekend

How was your Easter weekend?  After doing a bit of yardwork on Friday night, I headed up north so I could spend the rest of the weekend with the fam.  We had a lazy day in the sun on Saturday that made me super excited for warmer weather to come, and then Sunday we spent time together going to church, eating way too much, and watching my bracket officially get busted.  It was a pretty great weekend with the peeps I love most :)

 these cats love sleeping on shoes

 the closest i got to the tulips this year - but i think they're the prettiest

 getting the growing moss off my car

 saturday night spaghetti

 wine by the fire

 doesn't this make you excited for summer?!?!?

 easter tabletop

easter dinner

 watching cat vs. cucumber videos

easter naps

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Happy {Easter} Weekend

Happy Easter weekend from this chunk chick and her furry friends! {yes, that's me} :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Spanish Beef & Rice Bowls with Avocado

It has been brought to my attention that I have a lot of magazines lying around the house.  What can I say?  I love reading magazines.  There's just something about it......but let's be honest - I'm not gonna go back and read the old ones anytime soon, so I decided this past weekend it was time to purge.  I flipped through a few to rip out some good looking recipes and in January's Real Simple found these Spanish Beef & Rice Bowls with Avocado that I had to immediately try.  They were super simple to put together and can be customized based on what you have {I squeezed some lime juice over my leftovers when they were feeling a bit dry and it was delish}, and I loved the flavors of the roasted red peppers and green olives - they really gave the dish it's yummy factor.  See?  Good things come from hoarding magazines :)

Spanish Beef & Rice Bowls with Avocado

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice
3/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted red peppers
1/4 cup pitted green olives, sliced
1 Tblsp drained capers
1 Tblsp red wine vinegar
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 tsp cumin
Salt & Pepper
4 cups shredded green leaf or romaine lettuce
1 avocado, quartered

Instructions
1. Cook rice according to directions.
2. Combine peppers, olives, capers, and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add ground beef {add some oil if you have very lean meat} and cook until browned.  Reduce heat to low.  Add cumin and 2 Tblsp of pepper and olive mixture.  Stir and cook 2 minutes more.  Season with salt & pepper.
4. Divide rice evenly among bowls.  Top evenly with beef, lettuce, remaining peppers & olives, and avocado.

Serves 4

adapted from Real Simple

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Zoo Day

Sunday morning I got to hang out with two of my faves, Stefanie and Ryley, as Ryley toured us around his favorite spot in Seattle - the Woodland Park Zoo.  I haven't been to the zoo in forever, and it was so much fun to see it with a little one.  He knows all the animals {including the tang-tangs and the lillas;)} and gets so excited to see each and every one.  I swear he could stare at the monkeys for hours :)  It was a good excuse for Stef and I to catch up, and I can't wait to spend more sunny days wandering around the zoo with these two.

 xoxo,

stephanie marie

Mamnoon

It's been awhile since I've gone out and tried somewhere new {one of my fave activities},  so Maddie and I decided to head out on the hill last week to Mamnoon, a Middle Eastern restaurant I've been dying to try - plus it was a great excuse to catch up with this soon to be bride :)  My boss was right - the place had a sexy vibe, and every dish they brought out was better than the last.  The concept is our fave - lots of dishes to share, so we went all out and got the bateresh {to die}, sambusek, kefta, falafel, and some rice that was basically soaked in butter {does it get any better?!?!}.  It was so much fun catching up with this lady over a few glasses of wine and stuffing myself with delicious food that I know I need to get out there more and try new places - I'm rarely disappointed.

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Spring Weekend

How was your weekend??  It really felt like spring here in Seattle.  Even though it was slightly overcast and a little rainy at times, it was so warm on Saturday - warm enough to head out to Madrona for Seattle Seed's Spring Open House to spend the afternoon with Merith, Sander, and crew.  We spent some time out on the playground where the cherry blossoms were epic and the warm air felt soooo good.  It made me super excited for the upcoming months!

 camouflage shoes

xoxo,
stephanie marie