So last nights dinner was so freakin’ good. Just looking at these pictures Kev took is making me excited that there were left overs for lunch today!!! So since I don’t eat meat I am constantly looking for good veggie/black bean burgers in the summer. I have yet to find a good frozen substitute. I mean they are all ok but nothing I crave because they were so delicious. I finally decided that it has to be super easy to make your own black bean burgers, so last night was my first attempt and they were AMAZING!! Even Kev the “burger guy” had one and loved them!! I topped each one with sliced avacado, tomatoes and some homemade salsa. We had some corn on the cob too that we sprinkled with some chili powder. It was an excellent summer meal.

Black Bean Burgers:
* 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
* 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
* 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
* 3 cloves garlic, peeled
* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 tablespoon cumin
* 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
* 1/2 cup bread crumbs

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. You could just finely chop these your self if you don’t have a food processor. Then stir into mashed beans.
4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

Salsa:
* 1 can Whole Roma Tomatoes, juice drained*
* 1/2 small Red Onion, halved (add more onion if you like a lot of onion)
* 1 green Turkish Chili or any kind of chili pepper, roughly chopped
* 1 Cup fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped (including stems)
* 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* juice of 2 Limes
* 3/4 teaspoon Salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Pepper
* I also add from fresh cut up tomatoes if I have some.

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until all pieces are very small. Serve with tortilla chips.
MMmmmmmmmmm

So it’s offically the first day of summer vacation. I guess the next 2 months will be more like “Teacher Vacation Style Files”…

T-shirt: Walmart $5
Shorts: Old Gap Jeans cut into shorts
Ribbon: My craft room

So the rest of our weekend other than the opening was spent at a going away party for a dear friends Charlie and Gina and then in CT at the half marathon I ran on sunday. It was a busy but great weekend. (click on the read more button below to see all the over the weekend pictures!)

Here is my new dress that I got from Modcloth last week!!! Isn’t it just so fun and summery and beautiful. I love it!!! I felt like a princess all night long!! It was the perfect thing to wear to the art opening…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3673227956/

So Friday night was our art opening and it went awesome! There were lots of people out and about Troy that night so we got lots of traffic. Best of all of our good friends were out to support us. I truly felt blessed to have everyone there!! There was an awesome singer there all night playing guitar and singing, she was super talented. I ended up buying one of her cd’s because she was so good. Here are a bunch of pictures from the show as well as pictures of each of my pieces up there except 1 (one photographed terribly). The pictures aren’t the best but they will have to do until I take the show down and can scan and take better pictures of each one. They are a series of 11 pieces based on a story that Kev wrote me for our 1st wedding anniversary. Enjoy! (click the read more button below to see more pictures that aren’t shown)


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3672440455/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3672440005/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3672439539/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3673246044/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3672447989/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3673254634/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3673254152/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3672497029/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3672442569/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3673249226/

eric was even there with us! (ones of my favorites of kevs)


this is what happens when grown-ups get the toys restaurants give to kids when then come. hehe

I will be the first to admit that I am not the biggest Harry Potter fan. I have never read the books, I do enjoy the movies but I am not crazy over it ( I am a Lord of the Rings kinda girl!) But when I saw Emma Watson’s pictures for the new August issue of Teen Vogue I was blown away. 1. she is not a little kid any more and 2. how beautiful!!! The outfits, the background, the mini ponies (have i ever talked about my obsession with mini ponies?) What a dream to be on a photoshoot like this and get to wear all these amazing clothes. I can’t stop looking at them…

p.s. the art show went amazing last night and I am finally done school!!! I will write all about it and have lots of pictures on Monday!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all the words of encouragement thru the week everyone!! It was a really hard week but its the LAST DAY!! and our art show opening is tonight!! and I am done school today!!! YEAH!!! My house looks like a tornado went thru it though… hehe.

Anyways, for the around the house today I actually want to share some around the house photos of our place. We had to take some home photos for something last week and I just wanted to share with all of you. We live in a 100 year old house with lots of old charm but that has been updated where it needs to be. I love all the old hardwood floors and the wide baseboards and molding around the windows.

Our kitchen is lime green with hints of orange and black. We wanted something really bright and refreshing to walk down to in the morning. Something that makes you ready for the day. Don’t you love the bobble head owl in the corner of the counter? haha I love it- Kev hates it! The 4 plates on the wall I made for our kitchen when we moved in last year. I will be making some more soon and adding them into my etsy store.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3649300990/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3648494915/

One of the things we loved so much about the house when we bought it was the really open floor plan. Each room just flows into the next. We love it! The dining room we painted a nice dark charcoal and brought in some of the green and orange from the kitchen. Kev totally picked out our big square dining room table and he is so proud of that! Most of the art around our house is something that I made from years past. The living room we just painted a light gray (same color as our bedroom actually). The painting above our TV I made especially for that spot though. I wanted something not to distracting because it was above the TV.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3648493783/




http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3648492449/

Kev’s office is off of the living room but connects also by a little up and over stairway into the kitchen. It is painted the same gray as in the dining room. The sunporch is off the office as well. We have a little couch in there because I usually sit on my laptop on that couch when he is doing work just so I can be near him. The art on the walls are actually t-shirts that kev has designed and have had printed for various things. Some we printed our selves on our screen printing press and some that were professionally printed. Then the other pictures are of my office (hehe well art room) I love bright colors so I love the purple. I also love the odd egg shaped window in that room. Its one of the bedrooms that we just made into my studio space. We have 3 bedrooms upstairs total.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3648494145/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3608872386/

and that’s our house!

I am totally loving hats this summer (and especially this one!)

Hat: Forever 21 $12
Shirt: Forever 21 $15
Skirt: American Eagle
Sandals: Steve Madden $24

Have you guys seen these images from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland movie?
I’m speechless! So Amazing!!

For the 4th of July we go up to New Hampshire to Kev’s familys cottage. This year our friends Erin, Mike, Carrie and Jon are coming with us. I am super excited. Plus 2 weeks later Erin, Mike, Me, Kev and our other 2 friends are going to the Outer Banks, NC for a week. We rented a house right on the beach. Whoo Hoooo. Anyways, swimwear has been on my mind a lot lately. I feel like my taste are sort of changing- I feel more comfortable being a little more modest. It’s a little hard for me to be in a swimsuit all day and not feel a little self conscience. I have been looking a lot at one pieces lately- I love all the retro styles out there that are super flattering and super cute. This would be my ideal beach wear, now the swimsuits are super expensive but a girl can dream can’t she? I have found much more reasonable ones at Macys, Modcloth, TJ Max- you just need to look.

Swimwear: Norma Kamalico $350
Hat: Urban Outfitters $28
Sunglasses: Fred Flare $11
Studded Flip Flops: Target $12.99
Sunscreen: Anywhere- So Important!!! I am a huge advocate for sunscreen!!!

So I am going to apologize now for the posts this week. I probably won’t get to every regular scheduled post this week but I will try my best. This week I am over whelmed with work that needs to get done. We hang our art show on Thursday night and I have so much more work that still needs to get done. I am freaking out a little because I can’t find the right clips I need to frame my work and am afraid of a long trip out to Worcester to find them.

School ends this week and that means finals for all classes, getting grades done by friday, passing in all curriculmn maps for my 5 classes, cleaning and organizing class room and tying up all loose ends before I leave for the summer on friday.

I also am trying to stay rested and run the last few runs I have before my half marathon on Sunday. haha which I know I am not going to do good at because of how busy this week is. oh well!

Don’t get me wrong. When I really think about what all this work is for its a super great week but I just need to get the work done first to appreciate it. I mean Friday is our First art show together ever- that’s awesome to me!! Friday is also the last day of school for the whole summer!! and on Sunday at my race my Mom, Dad, 2 Aunts and Uncle will be there to cheer me on. I never get to see them!!! So it’s all good and I will stop complaining. Just bear with me this week as far as posts go! hehe

I will show my new dress!! I ordered it from Modcloth and I just got it in the mail yesterday!! Its so freaking cute!! I had to make a small adjustment to the length because it was so short but its good now and I can’t wait to wear it on Friday to the opening!!!

Over the past few weeks I have been asked if I would be willing to share my birch tree drawing I made for the mural in our bedroom… So you can now buy the birch tree drawing for $5 in my etsy shop. When you purchase it, I will email you a high res. jpeg of the drawing that you can use to print out and project on the wall however you chose. If you buy it I would love love love to see any pictures of you rooms when they are done. I would be so excited!!! It would look great in a living room, in an office, a kitchen, there are so many places I think this mural could work and in different colors!! I love my room with the birch trees and I hope that you will too! If you would like to purchase the birch trees you can find it HERE.

Thanks to everyone who participated! The winners will receive a confirmation email shortly…

So it was sort of a low key weekend. We had dinner with friends, a date night and I ran 12 miles which totally knocked me out for all of sunday. I am still hobbling around today.

I do want to say a little something about my Dad since yesterday was Fathers Day. My Mom and Dad are in Germany right now so I didn’t get to talk to my Dad yesterday but he is the best and smartest dad there is! I am totally convinced that he is the smartest person alive. My dad has always made the coolest things for us whether is was our awesome playground with the super fast slide, double sled tracks down our hill thru the trees and up to the railroad tracks, the rope swing or homemade ice skating rinks. I love you dad and am so proud of you and all your accomplishments!
My Dad and Me:

Did you know my Dad has 2 observatories that he build and not only that but built the Telescopes that are inside as well. One is in the backyard of my parents house and one is in New Mexico. He takes pictures with the telescopes and has won lots of awards, been in magazines and NASA photo of the day several times. He is one amazing Dad!!! You can look at his website here: Heavens Glory Observatory

So because I had so much fun with the last giveaway- LET’S DO IT AGAIN!!!! This time it will be for a journal I made a little while ago. It is seriously one of my favorite journals ever. It’s just so sweet and cute and adorable. The girl is cut out from a vintage sewing textbook I have and the buttons are a collection of new and vintage ones I have collected over the years. Its filled with a heavier weight drawing paper- perfect for sketches or writing. Your choice!

I always keep a journal in my purse because I never know when I am going to need to sketch something out or jot something down. Lately I have been filling it with lists of things I want to do this summer. A few things on there are… 1. go to the zoo 2. bike the entire railtrail 3. go to a bunch of art museums in NYC 4. Rollerblade along charles river 5. makes lots of stuff for etsy store etc…

What is on your summer list? To enter this giveraway leave a comment (with an email address) and let me know somethings you plan on doing this summer!!

The giveaway will go until Monday afternoon. Random.org will pick a number based on the number of comments left and will be annouced Monday evening. There will be 2 winners for this giveaway!!! The first number picked will win the journal AND A JENLOVESKEV T-SHIRT!!! and second t-shirt will be given to the second number picked!!! (t-shirt sizes available are womens small or medium). Have you seen the shirts?- I posted a picture in a previous post!!!

So go leave a comment and then go tell all your friends!!

Have a great weekend everyone. Maybe you can even cross off something on your summerlist!

So there are lots of projects I want to do around the house. They range from repainting the upstairs bathroom to retiling the kitchen floor and many inbetween. One of the projects inbetween there is doing something with our sunporch. Its a super cute little space and I would love for it to be a little more functional.

Right now its an ugly yellow color, it has one wicker chair that is from my mom’s house and is the home to our bikes. I can’t decide if I want it to be more of a sit down and relax area or more of a lets eat our summer dinner here spot? It is complete windows all around from the ceiling to about 3 feet from the floor. Its not a 4 season room- there is no heat there in the winter so it wouldnt be used in the winter. I am leaning more towards a relaxing area because lately I have enjoyed sitting on the one chair out there with my laptop reading thru my google reader. What are your thoughts? Would I got more outdoor funriture or would a couch be ok? I really like this picture from CB2. I like the clear tables- I feel like that would work well. It wouldn’t be to distracting or heavy feeling and keep a light airy feel with all the windows. Let me know your thoughts or ideas about what I should do with my sunporch…

So I don’t have a teacher style file for you this afternoon because honestly- its cold and rainy and I wore jeans, vans and a grey sweatshirt today to work. Where is our summer??

I do have some random pictures I want to share. So, have any of you been wondering what I got as a present in those CB2 boxes last week? I totally forgot to post a picture but, Laura sent me those 2 gray vases that I had talked about in a previous post!!!! She’s so sneeky!! I love them. They seriously could go anywhere in my house- I couldn’t decide where to put them I had so many choices. For now they are beside the TV…

So on Tuesday night we ended up going to eat at Firefly’s in Lenox, Mmmm I love that place. I ordered the Vegetable bean, corn stew with green chili cornbread. It was delicious…

and some GREAT NEWS… Kev designed and got printed Jenloveskev T-shirts for me as a surprise gift for our anniversary!!! Aren’t they cute???!?!?!? You can expect lots of good stuff coming your way with these shirts so stay tuned…

well I hope you are all enjoying your evenings and that its not pouring buckets where you are like it is here. I also just want to say thank you to everyone that reads this blog. You all have been super supportive and I really appreciate every comment you write. So, Thanks!!

So if I lose steam on anything I start making there is a good chance I wont ever finish it. That’s why I always put pressure on myself by doing things last minute when they have to, have to get done. That’s the only way I get things done. Anyways, this project is sort of along those lines. I started making this book for Kev for our anniversary last year but didn’t get it done in time and I have not touched it since last year (ooops). I figure I better finish this stupid book for this anniversary because I worked so hard on it. Our wedding song that we walked around the Viking Lounge to was, The Proclaimers “500 Miles.” We both love that song, its just so fun and its also fun to turn it up real loud and dance around to it.

So since I love making books and printmaking, most of the things I make him consist of books and this one was no different. I decided to illustrate all the words to 500 Miles and turn it into an accordion style book. Each of the prints were carved into linoleum and then printed with white ink onto black paper. The covers were made out of black book cloth. I think over all I am really happy with it. The drawings are really different for me. I usually stick to more of a simple realistic person and objects but these turned into very stylized and cartoony people. It works though I guess. Its hard to continue to remember that what you carve gets printed backwards. You try carving all the lyrics to a song and not carve some words the wrong way. Haha. I have always had trouble with that- thats’s what I was know for in college. I have an entire etching I did about having your wisdom teeth out and every word I etched on that thing is backwards. DOH! Oh well. I’ll just say it adds charm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3637958243/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3637913559/

Hat: Forever 21 $12
Plaid Shirt: Charlotte Russe $4.99
Skirt: Gap
Shoes: Chinese Laundry $25

Can you tell I love these shoes- I wear them everyday!

So today I am posting about an outfit I would love to wear this weekend as we bike around and hang out on Martha’s Vineyard. Have you ever been? I have been twice before but not for many years and I am quite excited to go with Kev and spend some much needed time away together. So if you have any tips on where to go let me know!!

I am totally loving these shorts from Modcloth. I love the idea of wearing them with this stripped tank that I would tucked in and then pair with my chucks. I think I must make this purchase from Modcloth! Plus, do any of you have some of the different Lomo cameras? They are so fun!! I have a holga, the fisheye (below) and then 2 others that take 4 pictures at a time. They are just so fun- the next one I want is the Diana!!

Shorts: Modcloth $105.99
Tank: Forever 21 $9.80
Converse: Piperlime $42
Fisheye Camera: Lomography $50
Sunglasses: Fred Flare $11
Necklace: Forever 21 $6.80

TOTAL: $225.59 (of course you could always use camera and sneakers you already have…)

So I have had the last 2 days off from school. So this is not what I wore to work today, but it is what I am wearing on our anniversary dinner tonight! We our going to our favorite restaurant in Great Barrington! Then the rest of the night will be spend making homemade hot chocolate changing in to jean shorts, sweatshirts and sneakers and taking late night bike rides around our neighborhood.

Dress: From goodwill (but its from target?) $4
Belt: JCrew $12
Sandals: Chinese Laundry $25

So today will be a dessert instead of dinner. I haven’t made this one yet but tonight is the night!!
Here is a delicious recipe for a Cherry Rhubarb Crisp (Mmmm 2 summer fruits I adore!!!) which I found on My Kitchen Addiction.

Ingredients:
3 cups rhubarb, thinly sliced
2 cups cherries, pitted
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
3/4 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ginger
Pinch salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Coat a baking dish with baking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the rhubarb, cherries, granulated sugar, and corn starch, tossing to evenly coat.

In a separate bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, ginger, and salt. Add the butter, and combine until the mixture is crumbly.

Transfer the rhubarb mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top the rhubarb mixture with the oatmeal mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp.

3 years ago today in the Viking Lounge on a cruise ship in Key West FL, Kev and me got married. I can not believe 3 years have gone by! Its just crazy to me. In 3 years we have been to Hawaii and back, we have driven cross country twice, we have moved out to the Berkshires, we bought a house and well, lots of others things in between. I can’t imagine a better 3 years!! To those of you that aren’t married or even those that are engaged let me be the positive voice for being married. I know this world can be very negative about marriage, but I enjoy every minute of it. It truly is a blessing that I am thankful for everyday. Kev is my best friend and being able to share everyday and every part of my life with him is beyond words. I love every part of who he is (even the asking lots of detail question part-hehe) and I know that he will be there to support me in whatever endeavor or obstacle I come too and I hope he knows that I am so proud of the man that he is and how hard he works at everything he does- It is an honor to call him my husband!!

Here are a few pictures from our wedding. You can check out the full gallery Here

Its funny, sometimes I think about the person I am (one who likes to decorate and plan) and think how funny it is that we had our wedding the way we did. I think it’s just the other half of who I am- I’m also the adventurous, up for anything/ spur of the moment type of girl and I guess that side won for the wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I WOULD NOT have change anything about our wedding. I just think its funny that I did not pick out one thing that had to do with our wedding other then- it being on a cruise, my dress, my ring and the song I walked down to and the song we left with. Hehe I didnt pick the flowers, the cake, who married us, we didn’t have invitations or any decorations. haha looking at those white flower arrangements and the cake the cruise gave us-they are just terrible but I totally love them. Our JP was hilarious and it just added to the fact that we were getting married in the Viking Lounge. Maybe not perfect for some but for me it was everything I imagined it would be!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3632034981/







http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3632041297/

Here are some pictures from the wedding on Saturday. We didn’t know anyone at the wedding except the bride and groom so it just turned into a little date night for the 2 of us with free drinks and food and some great dancing!!! Congrats to Matt and Kath!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3631044074/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3631041612/

Headband: Jenloveskev Creatiion
Dress: Plato’s Closet (albany) $6
Belt: Ny&Co.
Shoes: Target

We had a really nice weekend. Friday night we went out for a little date night and ate at a new restaurant in Lenox. I had maple glazed tofu with wild rice and roasted sweet potatoes. It was delicious. After we finished our dinner we actually moved from the restaurant into the bar because they had the Stanley Cup Finals on. We ordered dessert and watched the game at the bar.

Saturday was Matt and Kath’s wedding. We drove down to Fairfield University in CT for the ceremony and recpetion. We had a great time at the wedding. It was my first wedding with a real band at the reception and they were awesome!! Everyone was dancing- it was great.

Sunday we went to Wright’s Chicken Farm (It was my first experience) to meet Veau and Emily!!! They are our great friends who live in Sunny CA and we haven’t seen then in 3 years. It was so awesome to see them and hang out. A bunch of our friends were there (Jeff, Matt, Jared, Jacki, Veau and Emily)- we really had the best time hanging out with everyone. To bad Eric and Erin couldn’t have been there too!! After dinner we went to the VFW in Uxbridge for drinks and to hang out- it was super super ghetto and hilarious there. I mean it was Sunday afternoon practically. Emily and me are now going to make Leather vests with patches on them so we can fit in next time!!

Here are some pictures from the VFW…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3631041106/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/3631045152/

So I will be doing my Over the Weekend post this afternoon but I have to run out first and go visit my friend in the hospital and see her new beautiful baby girl! Anyways, I do just want to tell you about my wonderful friends Jess + Rory and the amazing journey they are on right now. They left about a month ago on a cross the country road trip to document and experience the organic and sustainable farming/lifestyle movement. I totally admire what they are doing and their livejournal is a constant source of inspiration as they post breathtaking pictures from across our great country.

Jess wrote on her blog…
“We’re taking off on a mass migration out west beginning May 11th to document the organic, sustainable and alternative lifestyle movement going on in the states. We plan to work on a bunch of organic farms and participate in some awesome workshops on sustainable living, eco houses and even blacksmithing! Mostly, we’re excited to meet and connect with people who are passionate, motivated and have refreshing ideas about alternative living. It’s definitely going to be a very personal journey but at the same time it can be used to inform others.”

Here are 2 super adorable pictures of Jess that I took from their livejournal. Please go and read their journal and send them some encouraging words!!! Like Jess’s headband? Its totally a jenloveskev creation!!! Jess was one of my first supporters and she has been spreading the jenloveskev word across the country!! Thanks Jess!!

p.s. I am totally in love with her Orange Hunter Rubber Boots. *swoon

Well its finally the weekend!! Its been a long week! I am going to make this sort of fast because I am off to meet my love for a date at this new amazing restaurant in Lenox. Mmmmmm
Anyways, I got a package delivered to the house today- it was in a big CB2 box!!!! I opened it up to find out that is was an anniversary present from my dear dear best friend Laura. I love her!! Anyways its amazing and I love it and it totally brightened my day!
I leave you this weekend with some pictures and alittle guessing game of what was in the box…. Ill post what it was and where I put them on Monday. Any guesses?
oooo p.s it is something for “Around the house”…

I am thinking I like the leafy background now that it is summer!

Blazer: Forever 21 $24
White Tee: Walmart $5
Necklace: Forever 21 $4
Skirt: Old Navy
Sandals: Steve Madden $20

So there are 12 days until Kev and me have to hang our art show! Yikes!! Here are some sneak peaks at what I have been working on all week. It is going to be a series of 10 paintings based around this little novel kev wrote me for our first wedding anniversary. I am really happy with how they are coming out. I feel like it really represents me and what I like in art right at this moment in my life. I will show all 10 of them as full images the week we hang the show but until then you just get little snip its…

Blouse: Target $15
Denim Vest: Silver Jeans $0 amy-hand-me down
Black Skirt: Forever 21
Sandals: Chinese Laundry $25 (TJ Max)

So I submitted some of the pictures of our new bedroom to some of my favorite design blogs because I wanted to share something that I had worked so hard on and thought came out so great. Anyways, one of my favorite blogs Design Sponge blogged about our bedroom today on their blog. I am so greatful to them and for all their inspiring blog posts each day!!!

Read the whole blog post on Design Sponge Here!!!! eeeek!!!! yippie!!!!
Thank you Design Sponge!!

Today’s post is inspired by the fact that I have to go to our school’s Graduation on Saturday. The graduation is held at Tanglewood in Lenox, it’s a very nice ceremony and the I am always so proud of all the students.

Dress: Modcloth Quadrophenia Dress $69.99
Earrings: Forever 21 $3.80
Shoes: Opening Ceremony Lace-up Oxfords $158
Purse: Urban Outfitters Mini Quilted Bag $48

So our dinner last night was so good!!! We have burritos a lot but never like this, well and I guess because I baked them they were actually more like enchiladas. They had yellow rice, black beans, mashed sweet potatoes and kale in them. Baked with some cheese on top and covered with homemade salsa before serving. Mmm even writing this is making me wish I could have another one.

Ingredients:
can of black beans
Goya spanish yellow rice
2 sweet potatoes
bunch of kale
can of whole peeled tomatoes
little package of grape tomatoes
1 jalapeno
onion chopped
cumin
chili powder
salt/pepper
Lime
Cilantro
OJ

Preheat oven to 350
In a pot boil cubed sweet potatoes.
In another pot cook rice according to package. In the last few mins. of cooking rice add the beans to the pot.
In a steamer pot. Place Kale greens. Cook the kale in the last 5 mins of rice and sweet potatoes.
When the sweet potatoes are ready. Drain water and mash adding oj, cumin, lime juice, chili powder and some salt.
In a tortillas add rice and beans, mashed sweet potatoes and kale. Roll up. Create as many as you can and lay them seam side down a baking dish to place into oven. Top with cheese. Cover with tin foil and bake in oven 30 mins.

When they are baking make salsa. In a food processor place chopped jalapenos, cilantro, whole package of grape tomatoes, can of drained whole peeled tomatoes, and chopped onions. Blend all together. Add the juice of one lime and some salt and pepper to taste. Blend again.

When enchiladas are done take out of oven and place on a plate and cover top with some salsa. Serve.
Enjoy!

Gold Headband: Claires $5
Red Stripped Shirt: Old Navy $4.99
Jeans: Old Navy $30
Flats: Target
Owl Necklace: Forever 21

So here are the pictures of our new bedroom. I am totally in love with it. On Sunday after my run I had just taken a shower and I put on some comfy clothes and I crawled into our bed and I turned on our new ihome and I just laid there and listened to music. It felt so good the shades were down just alittle but the windows were open and this super nice breeze was coming thru. My legs were so tired and it was just so calming being in that room lying down. Our bed is awesome and the color of the walls are awesome and I just really love every part of it (I would maybe just want the room to be bigger but thats the only thing I would change.) If you want to read more about the details of the room click the “Read More” buttom below.

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Hat: Target $4.98 (on sale)
White Top: Old Navy $20
Jeans: Forever 21 $15
Yellow Sandals: Old Navy $4.99 (on sale)

I just have to say we had an awesome weekend. Although we never made it to the Renegade Craft Fair the weather was just perfect and we got BRAND NEW BIKES!!! YAY!!!! hehe we decided to splurge and get some new bikes and call them an anniversary present!!! We rode bikes all weekend- to get ice cream, to go to sunday morning breakfast and even some late night bike rides. I felt like a teen again. I love my new bike! I even put my Canadian flag sticker on it that I have been saving for forever!!

I also started working hard on my art show pieces. I totally changed my mind last minute and started something completely different. I know I am pressed for time but that’s how I work best. I sat down Friday night because Kev was staying in Albany and got to work, but not with out some nerves and a major spill. I totally spilled an entire new bottle of india ink all over the wood floor. Whoops.

We also had some awesome BBQ food!! We made teriyaki grilled tofu, peppers, zucchini and potatoes that were so delicious!! (Kev had steak of course)

This is me before I had to run 10 miles. I was sort of dreading it- plus the time has come that the belt must come along too- although I feel so stupid wearing it. Its like my jet pack. haha

The winner was chosen thru random.org. The number of comments was entered and the website generated the number 7. I just want to say a BIG thank you to all that left a comment. I truly appreciate all the kind things people said. I think I need to have giveaways more often. I love giving stuff to you guys!! Next giveaway will be for a handmade journal! Thanks for reading jenloveskev!!!

Amanda I will be sending you a confirmation email asking for your address. Congrats!

So I want to do a little giveaway to say thank you to all my readers. I am very appreicative that people would take the time to read and check out what I post everyday. I would like to giveaway the Brown Feathered Headband that I sell in my etsy shop. It’s super cute!! I love wearing the one that I made for myself.

All you need to do is leave a comment with a valid email address. It will start right now and will go until Monday at 3pm(EST). A winner will be randomly picked and notified Monday evening. So leave a comment, go tell your friends and spread the word about jenloveskev!!

Keep checking back to the shop- lots of new stuff to go in there. I just need to get thru the Art Show first…

Black Shirt: Target $15
Skirt: American Eagle like a million years ago I don’t rememberr
Tights: Target $5
Flats: Steve Madden $40

I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but June 26th is the opening reception of our (Kev and me are doing an art show together for the first time) art show in Troy, NY. Its part of Troy Night Out and we will be showing at the Terra Nova Gallery at 409 River St. So if you are in the area or even not in the area and want to come check it out (we will gladly let you sleep at our house that night!)- we would love the support and company that night. We will probably end the night by going over to Browns Brewery for some crazy awesome beer so come on out and join us!! Here are our two snipits for our promotion postcard for the show. Kev will be showing some of his photographs and I will be showing some collage/watercolor comic-esque type paintings. It’s going to be great! I am really excited to be doing this together!!!

MINE:

HIS:

I had to include the second one because Gully is just so cute! She wanted me to pet her so bad she was standing on her hind legs just to reach my hand. hehe

Blazer: Forever 21 $22
Tee: Walmart $5
Jeans: TJ Max $15
Sandals: Target 15
Owl Necklace: Forever 21 $5
Cream Chain Necklace: Target $5

I am totally in love with this outfit. I usually make up my own outfit for my I’d Wear That…” but as I was searching around for stuff today, I found and started drooling over this picture on Urban Outfitters. The outfit is pure perfection to me- the super casualness of the shorts with the contrast of this more dressed up blouse, a simple silver braclet, these amazing sandals and then top it off with a messy bun. You can’t get any better!

Jean Shorts: Urban Outfitters $48
Ruffle Tank: Urban Outfitters $88
Sandals: DSW $44.65

P.S. If you need help putting together an outfit for an event or something let me make into an “I’d Wear That…”!!!! Send me an email at jenloveskev@gmail.com

Today will also be a double style file because after school I came home, changed and headed out again for some dinner and drinks with friends at The Standard in Albany. Mmmm delicious homemade Veggie burger!!

Pink Lace Shirt: Forever 21 $15
Brown Pencil Skirt: Amy Hand-me-down
Brown Flats: Amy Hand-me-down (I guess I owe amy for this outfit)

Headband: A Jenloveskev Creation
Tee: Walmart $5
Vest: TJ Max (Express) $5
Shorts: Banana Republic $25
Tights: TJ Max (Betsey Johnson) $6
Flats: Dollhouse $20
Purse: Volcom $? It was a gift from Kev from Maui. He did a great job huh? He’s so sweet!

So I never really posted any pictures from my trip to Paris in April. I had a wonderful time and do truely think I was meant to live in Paris- hehe. We walked about 50 miles in 5 days and saw a whole heck of a lot of the city. I was super excited we got to go to the catacombs- it’s very crazy down there!! I am just going to post a few photos here but you can go into my gallery section and see the entire France Gallery there. When you click on one you can click thru them if you move your mouse along the right side of the picture a “next” tab pops up. It looks nicer if you do that then if you do a slideshow thru flickr. Enjoy and let me know what you think…

So this is an easy verison of any thai dish but I think its one of my favorite meals. Its so good.

1/2 Cup of Italian Dressing
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce (use heaping of everything)
2 Tbsp of Honey
2 Tbsp of Crunchy Peanut Butter
1/4 tsp of Red pepper Flakes
add peanuts, snow peas, celery, bell pepper
1lbs Whole wheat pasta

Cook Pasta accordingly to box. While that is cooking in another pot add all the ingredients except veggies and heat so it mixes all together. With about 5 mins left on pasta add veggies to sauce pot and cover, simmering to cook veggies (you could add them sooner but I like my veggies undercooked rather than soft). When pasta is done drain and mix all together. I cook some chicken on the side for Kev and maybe tofu for myself if I am feeling like it. Viola! its done and delicious. Simple. Simple. Simple!

Can you believe its June already- crazy!

Cardigan: NYC&CO $10
Tee: Walmart $5
Necklace: Forever 21 $5
Jeans: Gap $50
Gold Sandals: Target $15

I just have to say we had such a great weekend! It was so wonderful to have Kev back!!! I chaperoned prom on friday night and the decorations came out great. We had an “Evening in Central Park” them going on. I made all the table cards and the party crackers and I think it all tied into the theme quite nicely. I love that we found little park benches for the name cards. The buildings looked awesome with the lights in them!!

Saturday Kev and me enjoyed the beautiful weather and the beauty of the berkshires and went roller blading along the rail trail (haha yes roller blading is nerdy but its also fun!). When we were driving into the parking lot Kev goes “well arent those ducks patriotic” there were 2 ducks on someone’s lawn that were super red white and blue dressed. I thought it was so funny the way he said it I couldnt stop laughing. We then saw some other non patriotic ducks while we were roller blading that Kev yelled at to get out of the country if they didnt like living here. (haha sorry maybe only funny to me) That night we went over to see Erin and Mikes new kitchen and new bathroom- they looked awesome!!! We had a good night of food, drinks, outside fires, and friends. We are all looking forward to our vacation together in July to the Outbanks in NC.

Sunday was a lazyish day- Church, Lunch, nap and then he went to the gym and I ran 9 miles and then I’ll admit it I watched the Hills season Finale. How setup is that show? Geez. Like that girl really just showed up and happened to sit right next to Justin at the wedding. Oh well I’ll continue to watch and I don’t know why? hehe