catching up

This post is causing me major anxiety to write because there is just so much that has happened since I last posted. I don't know where to begin! There is no good excuse for my absence besides life. A lot has been going on around here the past 3 months. We moved back to Charlotte and things were pretty hectic for a while there. Who am I kidding, things are still hectic! We have new schedules to get used to, a new house with yard work included (new to us) and lots of friends and catching up to be done...oh and also, we are kind of having a baby. You heard me correctly! We are expecting our first bundle of joy this December and could not be more excited. I don't plan on turning this into a "pregnancy blog" but it is a blog about my life and being pregnant is what is going on in my life so I apologize if its not what you want to hear about but its probably going to be what I blog about for the next 6-7 months. Holy run on sentence. I blame it on the prego brain.

So lets see...details. I am 12 weeks this Friday and we are due December 7th which I know is just an estimate and I can pretty much plan on it being no where near that date since this is my first pregnancy. We decided to just stay in our rental house until at least next spring so we don't have to deal with house hunting and moving while I am pregnant. I have to say I am perfectly fine with that. I always thought I would want to own a house by the time I had kids but it is what it is and we are going to make the best of it. We plan to convert my current office in to the nursery so I will definitely post ideas and pictures of the final thing once its all done. I am already in nesting mode. As far as pregnancy symptoms go I have most of them(in all their loveliness) minus the morning sickness. I have what I like to call "afternoon sickness." I start getting nauseous around 4:30 and stay that way till about 7. But honestly I can not complain, because it has not been bad at all and it has not once sent me running to the toilet. Mostly I am just exhausted so taking lots of naps and watching lots of Law and Order SVU on the couch.

Besides that things are pretty normal around here. We are finally in a nice routine, which is good for my type A personality. We are both loving being back in Charlotte and enjoying all of our favorite old spots and trying out some new ones. Again, sorry for the extended absence. I promise it will not happen again. Well maybe not. Thanks for anyone who is still following!

neon coral

Currently in love with colored denim. also currently in love with neons. Just ordered these and can not wait to wear them this spring.

asos neon coral skinnies

big news

We Are Moving!!

I can finally share this great news! My husband was recently offered a job and so we are packing up and moving BACK to Charlotte. Yep, you heard me. Raleigh has been great to us. We got engaged here. Our relationship grew so much here. We spent our first 5 months of married life here. Now we are heading back to Charlotte (in less than 2 weeks!) and we could not be happier.

We can't wait to be closer to friends and family and back in the city we love.

I have a slight dilemma. I need a new blog title. any ideas?

ikat

I am sorry for my lack of blogging lately. There are big things going on in the Nixon house (come back tomorrow to hear more). Until then here are some cute ikat bowls I found online.

orzo salad with roasted veggies & feta

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a nice weekend and MLK day. We had a very nice weekend of nothing at all. Just cleaning and relaxing. Oh and I finished the first book in the Hunger Games series. I LOVED it and can't wait to start the second book tonight!

I saw this recipe on a blog I was reading a while back (can't remember which one) and decided to look up the recipe and try it. This is an Ina Garten recipe and I just altered a few things. A lot of her recipes are a bit complex but this one was quite simple and delicious! Also, I doubled the recipe so I would have enough to take for a few lunches this week. You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound orzo pasta

For the dressing:
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Topping:
Feta Cheese, 1/2-inch diced (as much or as little as you want)
fresh basil leaves, cut into julienne

*I kept these toppings chopped and in containers in the fridge to add to the pasta each time we ate some so they would not get soggy from the dressing.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Toss the bell peppers, onion, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, and pepper on a large sheet pan. Roast for 40 minutes, until browned, turning once with a spatula.

Meanwhile, cook the orzo in boiling salted water for 7 to 9 minutes, until tender. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the roasted vegetables to the pasta, scraping all the liquid and seasonings from the roasting pan into the pasta bowl.

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pour on the pasta and vegetables (I reserved a little dressing to add later to freshen it up). Let cool to room temperature, then add the feta and basil. Serve at room temperature or serve cold the next day.

I forgot to take a picture of the pasta after it was finished so I found one online...


                                       source


Enjoy!

{ 19.99 }

you're welcome

2012

I have been putting off writing a resolutions post because I know how I am with resolutions. I don’t really stick to them. At least not all of them. I was reading Liz's (she is great, if you don'f follow her, you should!) blog this morning and got inspired by her monthly “goals” for 2012 and thought this was a great alternative to traditional resolutions. So here’s my plan:


January: might as well get this one out of the way. Work out 3-4 days a week. I have been doing this anyway for approx. the last 6 months, give or take a few weeks. I just want to maintain and also be realistic. There are just some weeks where we have other stuff going on. Life happens. Exercise is not just about having a great body. It’s good for the mind. In fact, that’s really the main reason I do it. It helps me to stay sane. The other benefits are just an added bonus!

February: Start a real savings plan. Because of student loans and not so smart financial decisions while in my early 20’s I have not been able to do much saving but now I am in a place where I can and I plan on 2012 being the year I got my finances in order! One thing I want to save for is my first DSLR (see November).

March: This one is about being healthy and saving money. Cook a fresh and healthy dinner at least 5 nights a week (enough for us both to take leftovers for lunch the next day). I have been good about cooking dinner at home vs. eating out since I moved to Raleigh last year but I want to be better about what I cook.

April: Step away from my phone/computer and get outside. It starts to warm up towards the end of March in North Carolina and it’s the perfect time to get outside. Sayer bought me a bike last year for my birthday and I am ashamed to say I have only ridden it a handful of times. In March I want to change that!

May: Drink more water. Simple.

June: Volunteer for a non-profit organization. This one is going to take some research but it’s something I have wanted to do for a while. Any suggestions?

July: Get organized! In every area of my life possible.

August: Plan a trip. Sayer pretty much plans most of our travels but I would like to plan something for us and fund it completely on my own.

September: Celebrate our first year of marriage.

October: Plan and host a fall themed get together with friends. Pumpkins, beer, good friends and food. Sounds fun, right?

November: Purchase my first “real” camera. I have been doing lots of research on cameras for the last few months and I have it narrowed down to a few but I am open for any suggestions on what a good starter DSLR is. This is something I have wanted for quite some time now and I think it’s time I reward myself. Plus a camera is a gift that keeps on giving.

December: Start a new holiday tradition (stole this one from Liz because it’s a great idea!)

Happy New Year!! (just a few weeks late)

a few randoms

• I have had my radio tuned to the classical station for three weeks now. After Christmas music went off I just could not go back to regular music. Is that weird? whatever.
• I plan to start a regular "wedding Wednesday's" post soon so I can share some of our beautiful wedding images from Whitney Photography. I cant believe it has almost been 4 months since our wedding. Time flies!
• Sayer and I bought a new couch for our future home this weekend from Crate and Barrel. It is hanging out by the front door of our apartment right now, wrapped in shrink wrap and packing foam. I like to stare at it a lot, even though I can't see anything but plastic.
• speaking of our new couch. I am on the hunt for some pretty new pillows for it. Here a few of my favs. Not all together, of course.

1. 2. 3. 4.(unknown) 5. 6.

We have some exciting things going on at the Nixon household right now that I can't share just yet but stay tuned. Lots of exciting changes coming!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far. Looking forward to a three day weekend coming up!

restaurant review: Camos Brothers Pizza

Saturday night Sayer and I were really craving pizza but did not want our usual go-to place (Lynnwood Grill, which has very yummy pizza as well). After a little research on Urban Spoon we decided to try Camos Brothers Pizza as it was rated super high with tons of votes. We are avid Urban Spoon users. If you have not tried it, you should. I have tried a LOT of pizza in my 27 years of life and I have to say this ranks up there in the top 3 list.

When you first walk in to Camos Brothers you immediately feel like you are in NYC from the authentic subway doors and signs hanging on the walls to the exposed brick that lines the walls of so many restaurants/bars in New York. The owners, Gus and Richard Camos, were born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. When they moved to the south they wanted to open a place where you could get a New York worthy slice of pizza. They have definitely accomplished that.

We decided to try a Caesar salad which comes in a pizza bread bowl (SOOO good!) and we ordered da Bronx (we added "roni" and hot cherry peppers) pizza. I have never had a salad in a hot pizza dough bowl so that was really unique and delicious. The pizza came out piping hot and the smell made you want to immediately dig in. The sauce was just how I like it, nice and tomato-ey! We loved the hot cherry peppers and will be looking for those at the grocery store to try on our own home made pizzas. The pizza was the perfect amount of spice mixed with the perfect amount of gooey ricotta cheese.



yummy. Sayer couldnt wait before I took a picture.

















I give Camos Brothers an A+ and can't wait to try it again soon!

2012 Life Planner

I just ordered my first Erin Condren Life Planner and I can hardly wait for it to get here! I have seen tons of reviews on her stuff all over the blog world and after hearing over and over how great her planners are I had to have one. I was lucky enough to snag a $25 for $50 from Plum District a while back to use towards anything on the Erin Condren website. I went with the zig-zag pattern in pool (hot pink shown below). It took me FOREVER to decide which pattern to go with because there are so many cute ones and so many color options. I love chevron anything though so I decided to go with the zig-zag.

Be on the lookout for a review of this product once it arrives in the mail!

Happy Monday everyone :)