Who wants to party?

With the Olympics fast approaching, it's the perfect excuse to throw a party... even if it is just Grdinas who attend! Here are some of my favorite part scenes from Pinterest and This is Glamorous!

*Attend/ host a party in a tent, preferably Moroccan themed, the party, not the tent. Although I'm not picky #bucketlist

It would be so simple to paint a tabletop with chalkboard paint - never ending party inspiration!

Summer instagrams

Here are a few snaphsots from the month so far - trips to Barnes and Noble, the Chicago Cultural Center, planting flowers, and plenty of eating desserts (note the cookie dough on top of the ice cream). Summer 2012, I can't believe you're almost gone!

More countdowns

Arrested Development is coming back in a year, followed by a movie. You'd love it if you think your own family couldn't be more dysfunctional. This show is proof that yes, yes it could be!

London 2012 Olympics

The countdown is 31 days. And I can hardly stand myself. 

And you can bet I'm not the only one... 

1. 100 Athletes to watch

2. Vogue does London

3. Trials from my favorite summer games sport

4. Follow London 2012 on Twitter

5. London 2012 infographic. Just guess the amount of meals that will be served.

P.s. If you know of a video that features the Men's 400m IM swimming trials between Lochte and Phelps, you know where to find me (and Dr. Grdina)! 

Currently reading: Blood, Bones, and Butter

It's about one woman's tale of how she came to be a chef. Just check out what Senor Bourdain himself had to say about it! 

Travel lust: Greece

This Spring, I am really hoping to travel abroad, so boy do I have traveling on the brain! There are so many places I want to see and authentic dishes to try. Today, I am dreaming over Greece. Get me to those blue waters stat!

1. Asos Sunseeker bikini - only $20!

2. White maxi dress - the dress underneath is a subtle transition from a maxi to a mullet dress (long in the back, short in the front)

3. Embellished sandals - perfect to transition from day to night

4. I never travel anywhere without my TOMS

5. I'm so close to finishing Season 7 of Grey's Anatomy 

6. A gold bracelet is the perfect accessory for any outfit

Happy weekend!

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday thus far! Reader-friends, I must apologize for my lack of posting. The absence of posts isn't due to a lack of inspiration, that much I can promise. I am interning this summer in downtown Chicago and I find myself with a much fuller plate these days.

But not too full to stop and bake some pies. Check that off the bucket list!

I apologize for the irregularities, but I do hope you will still check back every once in a while!

A few posts to start your weekend early...

Donut necklaces, anyone?

My bookmarks are always notecards or train passes, but these are so whimsical!

A lacy sundress. Ooh la la

His and hers beernotes. Makes me excited to turn 21 soon!

Keeping my eyes peeled for a versatile (cheap!) party dress

...but feeling like I should invest in some business casual pieces

This treat looks like little hazelnuts

Did you hear who has a TV show?

Only one week til this little gem comes out

Did you hear what's coming out next summer...?

I've been hooked on Grey's anatomy lately, and this Guide to Seattle is incredibly thorough! To do: visit Seattle.

To do: visit Molly's Cupcakes (named after her third-grade teacher!)

Happy weekend, friends!

Tunes Tuesday: Ingrid Michaelson and Zee Avi

Since I have already posted about Zee Avi, today's Tunes Tuesday is a 2 for 1 deal featuring another powerful female artist - Ingrid. (The Bob Dylan in the video is uncanny!)

And my current obsession, thanks to my friend Annie...

Happy week!

Welcome back, reader-friends! I took a nice long weekend out of town to Michigan. It involved little more than reading and sleeping, and I loved every minute of it. Here are some fun posts to kick off your week...

(the extent of what we caught)

Looking for a DIY Father's Day project?

What my Father's Day card should say

Virtual picnic 

Cookie dough oatmeal pancakes?! Heavens.

This invention will truly change your life

Quite the walk home

Patterned shorts

Instagram photostrips. Gasp! Must. Try.

Five colors you should be wearing this summer

Currently listening to

Happy week!

S'more blondies, just because

Treat yourself to something delicious in honor of June beginning! In fact, I demand it. 

Do you ever have weird dreams?

Last night, I woke up from three - count em - three weird dreams all in one evening.

(My cousins at the lake house last summer)

The first? My sister and I were traveling to a mansion in California, but first we had to walk through a quadrant of giant bugs. Think the sizes of softballs and basketballs. They were huge and gross, and my sister Genevieve and I were screaming.

Well, what do you know, one flew down my shirt. I distinctly remember crawling out of bed and shaking out my clothes in the middle of the night. Can you imagine the horror of a softball-sized bug in your clothes? Eww, makes me shudder.

According to this top ten facts about dreams, external stimuli often invade our dreams. Real Simple Magazine just featured a big article about how to treat bug bites which I was reading last evening. It was complete with larger than life photos of the bugs themselves. Huh. Sounds... influential. On the other hand, Glamour's dream dictionary stated that if you are unable to ward off the bug, it could mean unfortunate influences surround you. Eek!

The second... is bizarre and hilarious. I was living a real life Hunger Games, which sounds like it could be cool, minus the fact that I had to take lives. Weird, no? I thought I was being sly by trying to keep people off my trail. All of the competitors stayed in hotels, so my idea of deflecting the enemy was putting my name on someone else's hotel room (because we all stayed in hotel rooms at night - hahaha!). And yes, it worked. I won the Hunger Games, thank you very much.

And the third? I can't even remember!

Tunes Tuesday: Gato Barbieri

Just a short number for this Tunes Tuesday. I recently finished "Eat, Pray, Love" for more times than I'd like to admit. This song will make you feel like you're right there in Italy, and who wouldn't like that right about now?

Happy week, everybody!

Cupcakes posing... 

For the new Food Network Cupcake app!

Can't decide if this is all about the rooms or the dogs. Can't decide if that is even a problem.

Don't be afraid to wear white

My friend tried on this dress and looked amazing. I'm convinced that Anthro can do no wrong. Period.

Easy? Summer? Desserts? I'm in.

Are you ever too old for a bff charm? Answer: never

So versatile!

What a girly photo shoot!

6th grade graduation is huge, man

The future of kid's books? 

Just finished reading a juicy summer read

Double duty

Have a wonderful and relaxing week, reader-friends!

Tunes Tuesday: Dead Man's Bones

...err, Tunes Thursday. The bigger issue here, is I just found out that Ryan Gosling is part of a band. Heavens! I had no idea. The man acts, looks good, loves animals, is in a band, did I mention how attractive he is? Eva Mendes is one lucky lucky lady. 

p.s. a love letter to Ryan

Quinoa burgers

I'm always looking for new and healthy (non-cardboard) eats to try, but low fat recipes are hit or miss (if you know of a healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe that is good, you know where to find me). Today, I thought I would try quinoa burgers. Quinoa is like a smaller version of rice. It's super filling, and this recipe only took twenty minutes - tops! I'm definitely going to try this one again. 

2 rounded cups cooked quinoa 

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other variety, if you prefer)

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese

1 medium carrot, finely grated (OR 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed dry)

3 eggs

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 green onions, including white parts

1 /2 teaspoon Splenda or sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Olive oil for frying

.

To cook quinoa:

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan bring the 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat.  Add quinoa and reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed and the seeds are tender.  Allow to cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, Splenda, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder. Makes about 10 burgers. 

San Francisco 2012

Hey reader-friends! Remember last week how I said I was writing from California? I'd like to share some Instagram photos from my trip. I was in the sunny state for seven days with my good friend Annie. We met on our dorm floor last year and bonded over our love of eating dinner at 4:45 and many'a Say Yes to the Dress marathon. Her family recently moved outside the Bay Area, and I was so excited to tag along!

1.   2.

1. The first day, we went on a tour of the city and Alcatraz. It was such a spooky island. We took a 10-min cruise ship there, and it showed us some great views of the city. With waves splashing onto the rocks and flowers lining every path, it was hard to believe this beautiful place housed some of the worst criminals. We even saw a book about a girl who grew up on the island because her dad was one of the wardens. She took a boat to the mainland for class everyday - can you imagine? 2. The morning was so foggy, and the city was so chilly! Annie and I would get excited thinking we could see the Golden Gate, but more often than not, it was just power lines in the suburbs. It seemed at first, I was looking for it no matter where we went, so seeing it for the first time was such a thrill. 

3.    4.

3. We went to a Loews's garden center and helped Annie's mom choose some flowers. Everyday in the suburbs was dry and hot - perfect cactus weather! 4. My favorite spot of the whole bus tour - Twin Peaks. It overlooked the entire city and the bay. San Francisco felt like this cool island town - houses painted all sorts of colors, the bay almost always in sight, and houses stacked on top of houses! 

The city no longer has room to grow horizontally, so it really is developing vertically. If you looked down the street in one direction, it seemed to disappear down a hill. But if you looked in a different direction, you couldn't possibly fit all the homes in one photo as they jutted in all sorts of funny angles and on the sides of the mountains? Hills? Rolling terrain? However, I was surprised at the lack of space everyone had. Such tiny lawns (if at all), and garages typically took up the entire main levels of homes which makes for better, er... earthquake living conditions, for lack of a better term? The city was pretty squished, but it was crazy-bustling, in a good "where do I look now" kind of way. So much diversity! Maybe I couldn't "figure it out" at first, because you can't possibly put a label on it. 

5.  6. 

5. I couldn't get enough of all the houses. Looks like they belong in Florida, no? Or perhaps MGM Studios at Disney? As we were driving around town, I couldn't help but notice that none of the houses had screens on their windows. When we stepped outside one night, Annie and I quickly realized there were nearly no bugs. In addition to the lack of humidity, there also weren't any bugs! I'm convinced California is a little piece of heaven on earth.  6. Spotted in World Market: Happy Hippo chocolates! Have you ever had them? They're the best.

Home sweet home at O'Hare! What beautiful signage we have here in the Midwest, wouldn't you say? I was so bummed to leave behind Annie and her family. 

They made sure I saw the Redwoods, drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, and Annie and I even had a chance to visit the movie theater twice in one week. We took her dog on a couple walks, finished books, bought new books, (I) fell asleep outside, and we tried plenty of delicious California eats! It was the perfect vacation to start the summer!

Cupcake dispenser

Have you seen the Sprinkles 24-hour cupcake dispenser? It seems like stylish vending machines are having a comeback! I'm already a huge fan of Redbox, and just the other week I took a survey about buying make-up from a vending machine. Before we know it, we'll be buying our Thanksgiving dinners out of machines!

p.s. Sprinkles Ice Cream is soon to follow the creation of the cupcake dispenser. Yum! 

Happy Monday

(conceptual fashion via weandthecolor.com)

Stuck in a diet rut?

Liz Lemon's hair has an infographic

Keep your eyes peeled for scallops

Did you hear who got married?

I'm in love with everything about this wedding

A friend of mine tried this most amazing pizza in California, and I found the recipe here. Figs, pear, goat cheese - I'm dying to try it!

A whole board dedicated to peanut butter. Genius.

What a gutsy outfit - love!

Now this would be quite the dinner party.

A song to start your week off right

xoxo

An abundance of postcards

I have a bunch of photos and postcards from every city I have visited (plus a few sent from friends). I have been looking everywhere for creative ways to display them without slapping more schtuff on my walls. This 10 Creative Ways to Display Photos from Creature Comforts offered a few good ideas, although I plan to keep my eyes peeled for creative book ideas, so I can take the postcards with me! 

p.s. I also collect mugs from cities I have visited. My favorite? Pirate Flags from the Florida Keys. 

1950's pin-up girls

These pin-up girls before and after from the 1950's gave me a laugh! Did people really cook popcorn like that? God bless microwaves! 

Happy Monday!

Hello reader-friends! I am writing from the sunny state of California! My friend's family just moved out here, and she invited me along to spend the week just outside the Bay Area of San Francisco. Yesterday, we took a tour of the city and visited Alcatraz. It's been too much fun and today is only day three! 

I promise to share photos when the trip is done, but first a few links to start your week... 

Maybe I'll run into this couple. 

Just check out these camera straps!

Make your own 

Five ridiculous things I've said to boys

Maybe it was inspired by this

This baby belongs in a magazine

You know those Burger King ads about the cinnamon rolls? My mom pointed out that every time I see them, I mention how good they look. Every time. Maybe it's time to make these. 

Picnic in Paris

As close as I'll get to Paris anytime soon

One girl takes a stand, and gets 46,000+ supporters

The perfect snack for summer

Happy week, y'all!