Yesterday was the most beautiful day here yet, so we enjoyed some family time on my dads boat, at the beach, and with some delicious mexican food. Sorry I did not get to posting and right now its 7:10am and we are about to leave for the airport. We have a long day a head of us as we head back to the northeast!

Since we are starting a new year tomorrow I have been doing a lot of thinking about my goals and things for 2010. It is going to be a very exciting and great year!! I will be doing a recap post of 2009 and letting you know my goals for 2010 tomorrow, but for today I would like us all to get to know each other a little bit better!! I love you guys- you make everyday on this blog worth it! So I thought why not get to know you a little bit better and you can get to know me a little better!!

What I would like us todo is…
1. Leave a comment letting me know who you are what your blog is or even something you’d like me to know about you!

Or
2. Ask me something you would like to know about me! It can be anything, about the blog, about my life, being from Canada, living in Hawaii, being married, about kev, being an art teacher, etc… You name it I’ll answer!!!

Or
3. BOTH!!!

I’d love to hear from you!!
Happy New Year Everyone!!

So it was another chillier day yesterday, it’s def. not new england cold but not beach weather either. It was very nice in the sun though. We went on the best boat ride yesterday on my dad’s boat. We chased Dolphins into the sunset!! There were so many all around us!!

I finally wore my double ring I got made in NYC. I always put it on but then it never stays on long enough to capture a picture of it. Its a pretty fun ring.

Well I am sort of in a hurray this morning, we are all getting ready to go to Disneyland!!! I can’t wait! I am such a kid at heart and one that especially loves anything Disney!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4224698897/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4225467150/
Turtle Neck: Target
Green Shorts: Thrifted from Goodwill
Belt: Forever 21
Bracelets: Charlotte Russe
Sandals: Sears
Ring: NYC Street vendor

Hi Everyone I am back. Well I guess not really. I should say back to the blogging world. We are still in Florida till Thursday. I hope you all had a wonderful and Merry Christmas. We are having a great time in Florida!! I have lots of pictures to share but that will come later today or tomorrow.

Did you get all the things you wanted for Christmas? My loving hubby got me this beautiful Rodarte Dress for target- Its so so pretty I am in love with it and its the perfect size as well!! Is he good or what? Its been a little chilly in here Florida so I had to wear it with a jacket. Ahh I love being on vacation!!

Enjoy your day everyone!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4222430349/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4222429703/
Dress: Rodarte for Target (gift)
Faux Leather Jacket: Forever 21 $40
Gladiator Wedges: Forever 21 $36

Jenloveskev is now accepting sponsors for the month of January. I have very reasonable monthly rates for small business’ with lots of ways to maximize exposure. If you have an etsy shop or other business and would like to sponsor jenloveskev please email me for rates and other information.

Thank you!

So I am leaving you for a few days. I am taking tomorrow and Friday off from blogging and will return on Monday with a week full of style files from Florida. We fly out tomorrow at 10:30am! My bags are packed and I am ready to go (of course with too much stuff!).

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Here is our Christmas card to you!!

Remember when I showed you our old ones, well this is what we came up with for this year! We LOVE them- they totally crack us up! I made the dolls out of Fimo and then painted them. The cats make me laugh especially, pirate in the twisty position she is always in. Kev took their pictures and created the background and added the text. Team Effort! I think this is my favorite one thus far! Behind the scenes photos of the photoshoot with them next week.

What are you all up to for Christmas?

There are lots of exciting things happening for the new year with jenloveskev!! I am really excited for 2010!

A little glitz for this christmas week.
I found this sequin blazer at the goodwill and was pretty darn excited. I love sequins all the time but especially around such a festive holiday!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4205503200/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4205503036/
Sequin Blazer: Goodwill $7
White T: Walmart $5
Shorts: Forever 21 $20
Boots: Chinese Laundry $70
Neckalce: My grandmas
Bow Hair Clip: Forever 21 $3

This will be the last Style File until Monday. I am taking tomorrow and Friday off!!
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Anyone listen to the John Denver Muppets Christmas Cd? Well I also love that cd- it makes me think of being a kid. I couldn’t help myself from singing over and over last night while we were taking these pictures “Christmas is coming, the geese is getting fast, please to put a penny in the old man’s hat.”

Only today and tomorrow left of school! Yippie. I wanted to dress a little christmasy yesterday so I wore this green skirt I found at the goodwill a little while ago. I kept it just to green and not red and green because I didn’t want to get too crazy christmasy. I really like how the outfit came together. I wore a bow belt around my waist and loaded up on some jewelry. 2 of the gold chains I got at the goodwill as well but one is my new christmas present from one of my good friends.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4205501334/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4205501040/

Polka Dot Cardigan: Delias $15
Green Skirt: Goodwill $2.99
Bow Belt: Forever 21 $6
Necklaces: Gift and goodwill
Bracelets: Forever 21 $10
Fishnets: Target $6
Flats: Steve Madden $40

Green Apple and Gorgonzola Pizza
MMm I have totally been in love with pizza lately. I crave it all the time. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Anyways, I wanted to be a little more adventurous with my pizza making so I tried a different kind of recipe than your traditional sauce and cheese. It was very good. I don’t think I could eat a ton of it at once but a piece with some white wine was very delicious.

whoops- my onions got a little crispy. I cooked it a little to long as I had to wait for my thicker crust to cook. Lesson learned.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 red onion (sliced)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 pizza dough (bought already made dough at store)
3/4 cup gorgonzola cheese (crumbled)
1/2 cup of italian shredded cheeses (pre packed at grocery store)
1 granny smith apple (cored and thinly sliced)
1/4 cup Pecans (chopped)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and pecans and saute until onions are tender and caramelized, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Mix in the balsamic vinegar and cook until it has evaporated.
4. Spread the onions, gorgonzola, apple and pecans out on the spread out pizza dough.
5. Bake in a preheated 500F oven until golden brown, about 5-10 minutes.

haha so we are listening to Grandma got run over by a Reindeer right now in class. I love this song. I also love school days before a big break. Everyone is in a good mood and everything is so relaxed!! Only 2 more days!!! I can not even begin to explain how excited we are to go away!! I can’t wait to be blasting the Hanson Christmas cd and dancing around the kitchen with my sister embarrassing Kev that we actually own and love a Hanson cd!! I talked to my sister last night and her and my mom had just gotten to my parents house in FL. Lucky!! We were worried they wouldn’t make it because of all the snow. My sister was coming from Baltimore they got hit pretty bad, but they made it and all is well.

Ok on to outfit post! Here is what I wore yesterday to go to church, lunch with friends, hang out with kev, and some last min. shopping. I love sundays. I also love the color of this jacket. I got it to wear in France last April and have not really wore it a ton since. I don’t know why either- I like it a lot. I think I am going to bring it back in the mix. I do like this outfit a lot but I don’t think I would wear it to school, well I would just wear a different skirt. The skirt is a little too short for school.

This is also a little sneak peak at a room in our new place. As you can see its our bedroom. Someday when we feel settled I will share some pictures. There is still stuff to hang and unpack. I will be posting a few christmasy home shots in the next couple days.

Have a wonderful day everyone!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4202521680/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4201764141/

Blue Jacket: Banana Republic Outlet $40
White Blouse: H&M $8
Tights: Taget $6
Necklace: Charlotte Russe $8
Flats: Steve Madden $40

So every year for the past 4 years Kev and me have had a themed Christmas party. The first one (I have no pictures) was called “Kev and Jen’s Rocking Thrift store extravaganza” everyone came dressed it the most ridiculous red and green outfits they could put together from the thrift store. It was awesome!!

The next year (2006) we thought it would be awesome to have a murder mystery party. So when we fell home for the holidays from Hawaii we had our “Murder at the Four Deuces” party. It was a game pack we had bought- with characters and storylines and clues and all kinds of stuff. It was set in the flapper era so we had a lot of great costumes at that one. It was so fun. Kev was the one that got killed. haha.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4202766451/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4203523468/

The next year (2007) we had a Zombie Christmas Party. You were to come as some sort of zombie- we were planning on filming a zombie movie that night but we ended up just having a major photoshoot with everyone. We had a homemaker zombie, an artist zombie, a Christmas tree zombie (me), a pregnant (fake) zombie, and then just some everyday zombies. Everyone’s makeup was awesome.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4202765931/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4202766199/

Last year because Christmas just got to busy before hand we ended up having a New Years party. We decided to have it themed as well. Everyone was to come dressed as a decade or time period. We had the 20’s, the 50’s, the 60’s the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, some newsies, and me and Kev were way back in history and were Caesar and Cleopatra.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4202766555/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4203523806/

This year we are having another New Years party- but because we are flying home from FL that day and will probably be getting in to the apt. the moment everyone shows up, its going to be a little more laid back. But the thought of not having a themed party is a little sad. Anyone have any ideas?? Let me hear them if you do!!! What was your favorite themed party you went too?

So I thought I would try something new today. I read thru lots of blogs in my google reader every week and I usually end up starring a lot of posts that I just totally love!! I thought maybe I would share some of my favorites from this past week and you can let me know what you think of them or if you saw them this week too. It will be a fun way to share- like show and tell. Feel free to leave links of your favorite posts from around the internet this week as well.

Top 10 List for week

1. I saw this post and just have to say clothes as food YES PLEASE!!

2. This camera fun had me seeing hearts!! Kev we should try this!

3. Writing on the bathroom stall has never been so cool!!

4. I don’t know how someone would make something so intricate. I do agree its def. magic!!

5. Some more detailed goodness- this time with crocheting. Oooh the patience!!

6. A hand drawn Wedding proposal. Now this is creative and oooh so romantic.

7. I love this girl and I am totally going to be layering my polka dot tights now!!

8. I want to live in an underground house!! Its like a hobbit house for real people!

9. I NEEEED TO EAT THIS NOW!!!! I am so hungry!!

10. Oh I love this guy– he can come and help my style outfits anyday!!

and thats it folks!
What were your favorites this week?

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!!

So it’s a pretty simple outfit post today. I really like the mint green belt that I found at the goodwill. I think its pretty against the pale pink of the skirt. I dont really have anything else to say about the outfit. Its pretty cute I think.

So I seriously can’t not wait for my to do list to get down to zero. I will be so happy. I got a large chunck of it crossed off last night by finishing the last 2 paintings of church (see below) but now I am working on our christmas card. After showing everyone our last 2, I wanted to really change things up for this year. So now it involves me making stuff, so getting that done is my goal for tonight. I am cutting it aweful close here, I don’t think I will be able to get it mailed to friends by christmas. whoops! I will be posting it on here on Christmas eve day!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4191209271/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4191209447/
Turtleneck: Forever 21 $8
Skirt: Target
Tights: H&M $6
Flats: Target $20
Belt: Goodwill $1.99

So I actually have some new artwork to show you guys! I have been really really busy the last couple weeks and this is def. a big part of it. Kev and me go to a non-denominational church in Troy called Terra Nova (Kev designed the site!). We really love it there. They have a huge focus on the community around the church as well as the arts. The church owns a gallery that they open to local artists and participate in troy night out and open studio nights. Kev and me had an exhibit there together last June.

Anyways, they asked me if I would want to create a series of paintings for the advent christmas season. Each sunday starting with the last week in November was a special sermon gearing up to Christmas eve. Focusing one week each on Love, Hope, Peace, Joy and then christmas eve itself. Even if you don’t share the same faith I think we can all agree that we all want love, hope, joy and peace in our lives. I was really happy to help out and create these paintings. Each one was used in the service as Ed (our pastor) gave the sermon.

Here is a picture of it up on the screen as the band played. We meet at Revolution Hall an old music hall in Troy. Its pretty cool. (Picture from one of our pastors)

Here is my artwork…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4192023929/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4192024045/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4192784788/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4192784876/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4192024317/

So I guess with this also comes my apologizes for being way behind on emailing back people and coming to visit everyones blogs. I have not forgotten I just have not had time as you can sort of see. I am counting down the days until we leave for FL and I can wake up each morning take my laptop outside and sit on the lani and reply back and leave comments to everyone. I love doing that stuff!!

So if you leave comments- leave a URL if you have one and I most def. will be visiting very very soon as well as email back a lot of people!!

Have you ever seen that Snow Leopard documentary on discovery channel? Its awesome- they are awesome. I think I was channeling my inner snow leopard yesterday with this outfit. I like this white skirt with its bold and graphic animal print. I guess I was also feeling a little pattern mixing with a mustard yellow polka dot shirt as well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4188871087/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4188870907/
Mustard Button Up: Target $4.98
Leopard Skirt: Target $4.98
Belt: Forever 21 $5.80
Tights: H&M $6
Flats: Steve Madden $40
Bracelets: Thrift store $4
Mustard Yellow Bow Gloves: Target $20

Its getting to be those months were taking pictures gets hard. I get tired of doing them inside but its so cold outside. We have it down to a good system though. We find a spot, Kev goes and figures out settings for camera- he gives me a wave, I run out with my coat, get ready, throw my coat off, take a few pictures, throw my coat back on and run inside. haha. I hope I don’t get a lot of colds this winters!! We really enjoy taking the pictures together though!

This week is hopefully less stressful week than last, but I doubt it. Oh well I just keep saying “only 7 more days till we leave for vacation!!!” We leave for FL next Thursday!! So excited!!

Here is what I wore yesterday to school. Pretty easy going. My sister gave me the plaid shirt because she didn’t like how it fit her. My necklace is something my grandma gave me from her jewelry collection. I have had it for a couple years but I never quite know how to wear it. They are really big pearls. I kinda feel like Wilma Flintstone in it. I think it worked pretty well with my outfit yesterday though- what do you think?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4186839888/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4186076707/
Plaid Button Up: My sister but from Banana Republic
Necklace: My Grandma
Skirt: Express $12.99
Tights: H&M $6
Flats: Target $20
Belt: Thrifted $1.99

HAVE A GREAY DAY EVERYONE!!!

First off, I just have to say I am daily blown away by the kindness of the readers of this blog. You guys are amazing!! I could not believe that so many people entered this giveaway. I wish I could send a care package to everyone- if only I didnt work full time and had a little workshop of christmas elves!! I really do wish I could send something to everyone. You are all wonderful and all deserve to win. Please don’t ever think a day goes by that I don’t appreciate each and everyone of you that read jenloveskev!!! Just know that there will be lots more giveaways like this in the future to show my gratitude!!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday season. I hope you all have time to relax and spend time with loved ones and really reflect on all the good that has happened to you this year. I am sure we have all gone thru trials and ups and downs but at the end of a whole year I hope we can all think back and see how we have grown and that we do all have so much to be thankful for!! I know I do and it starts with my family and friends. I am so excited for a break from school to spend quality time with each and everyone of them. So I wish you the same!!

Ok, Here are the 6 winners. I will email each of you asking for your addresses. I will be mailing out the care packages on or before Friday. I have a few more things to make for them!!
1. KD:

2. Cassie:

3. Gina:

4.: Tieka

5.Caroline:

6. Lauren D.

CHILI MAC

Hi friends! Have you heard of a website called Fat Free Vegan Kitchen? Well it’s def. one of my favorites!! The women who runs the website makes the most delicious recipes and since I try to lean more towards vegan recipes than just vegetarian it is a great resource.

When Kev and me first got married I did not know how to cook. My mom is an amazing cook and she always cooked all our meals for me and my sisters. There really was not a need to learn until I left home. So in the begining months of moving to hawaii, being a a tight budget, newly married and not knowing how to cook we ate our fair share of hamburger helper. Yuck. The thought kinda grosses me out now but when I saw this recipe it reminded me of a delicious, grown up and healthier verison of it.

Kev and me both loved it- it was so delicious and look forward to the left overs for lunch today. I mean I really can’t hate anything with kale in it. Mmmmm!! I did brown some ground beef for kev to put in his. I realized I hadn’t cook meat for him in weeks. Whoops. He’s a good sport.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat macaroni
1 onion, chopped
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
4 teaspoons chili powder*
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
10 ounces frozen corn kernels
1 16-ounce can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
5 cups thinly-sliced kale (thick stems removed before slicing)
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water until tender. Drain. Sauté onion in a large non-stick pot until translucent. Add remaining ingredients, as well as cooked pasta. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve hot.

You can adjust the about of chili powder, salt and pepper you add. I know I added more chili powder to fit my tastes.

*Recipe originally from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
* Picture by Kev of course!

So this is the outfit I ended up wearing to our Blogger Meet Up. I tried on tons of outfits- I was just so nervous to meet everyone but overall I felt super good in what I ended up choosing. I thought it was fun and festive and overall pretty comfy to wear all day.

I got these shorts at forever 21. I usually just get a medium in everything I wear there, but I think these shorts were suppose to fit a little tighter and shorter than I like. I wasn’t really feeling that style but I did really like the shorts, so I just got a bigger size and belted them at the waist. I then loved how they fit a little bigger and longer but still high waisted.

I paired the shorts with this awesome bright pink blouse I found at a goodwill a couple months ago. I love this color- its so fun! It has small shoulder pads in it which give the shoulders a little bit of structure. I did try one patterned tights but I ended up going with solid black and just piled on the metal bracelets and a very thick necklace.

What do you guys think? Do the shorts work in the larger size? should I have worn pattern tights? To many bracelets? Or did it work all together?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4183268495/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4184030424/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4183269365/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4183270183/

Pink Blouse: Goodwill $4
Black Shorts: Forever 21 $24
Bow Belt: Forever 21 $6
Tights: H&M $6
Booties: Anne Michelle $20
Necklace: Charlotte Russe $8
Bracelets: Combo of Forever 21 & Charlotte Russe $6

REMEMBER: You can still enter the giveaway for a Christmas care package from jenloveskev until midnight tonight!!!

BOSTON FASHION BLOGGER MIXER!!

What a great day we had! I will say I was a nervous wreck the night before. I get so nervous to meet so many new people but I was so so excited!! We stopped at the mall on our way out to worcester on Friday night because that was the only time I had had all week to do that- lets just say I was running around the mall trying to figure out what outfit I would be wearing on Saturday. Haha it was really funny. I was there until they kicked me out of DSW at 10pm.

Saturday morning Punky, Liana and me got our makeup done at Fresh on Newbury. It was so awesome! I have never had my makeup done before but it came out so beautiful. Very natural, not over done- I loved it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4183954456/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4183191443/
Shoe change. Flats to Heels.

Next we headed off to Luna Boston to set up for the day. We made awesome name tags and maps for everyone of all the blogger discounts down newbury. Luna was an awesome host. They were the perfect spot of our get together. They had out a bunch of spring 2010 bags that we were able to drool over and pre-order for their release. I feel in love with a heavily studded one- it was so pretty!! At 12pm the girls started showing up and the rest of the day seems like a blur. I can’t express how amazing it was to meet everyone and get to know everyone a little better. Everyone was so sweet and I just loved talking to everyone.

Hypnotiq was kind enough to be our drink sponsor for the day-serving up delicious mixed drinks. I tried all 3 (whoops) and they were all very very good. One even had a piece of rock candy in it! We also had so many great giveaways for all the bloggers. I hope everyone that won something will blog about it and let us know how you used it! A huge huge THANK YOU to all our sponsors for making it such a wonderful and special day! I can’t wait for the next one!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4184016080/






http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4183274343/

and look who was there as well as one of our photographers! Boy o boy do I love this guy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4184842338/
P.S. Thanks to adam as well- he was also a fantastic photographer and was nice having you boys around all day!!

You can check out all of the photos from the day at our FLICKR SET

The week has been incredibly busy- we have our Boston Blogger Meet up tomorrow and there has been lots of stuff to get ready! I am so so excited for it! I hope to see a lot of you there! But the weekend is finally here so…

Its time for another giveaway!! I love christmas time because I love buying presents for people and giving people gifts. It’s just so fun, so I figure why not giveaway a bunch of stuff from jenloveskev for christmas!!

All you need to do is leave a comment below and I will draw 6- thats right 6 lucky winners at random on Tuesday morning! These 6 lucky winners will recieve a care package from jenloveskev full of handmade christmas goodies. What exactly will be in there is a surprise. Each package wil def. include a jenloveskev brooch! So let’s spread the christmas cheer and tell all your friends to come on over and enter.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Giveaway ends Monday night at midnight. Winners annouced on Tuesday morning!
Just leave a comment below to enter.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4154284213/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4154283495/

So a few weeks ago I got an email from Marina asking about what she should wear to her boyfriends college graduation that was happening this winter. Her question was about wearing something causal compared to something dressy. I am all for dressing up so I suggested dressed up nice to show that person that you really think it is a special occasion. I have been eyeing these shoes on need supply and am absolutely in love with them. I want them so bad!! I am saving up for them because it is more than I usually can afford on a pair of shoes but boy do I love them!!!

I love this mix of sort of soft and girly with more of an edge look with the studded shoes and necklace! This outfit has a few more expensive pieces but you could find similar ones in your budget.

What do you think? Would you wear this to a winter graduation?

Dress: Need Supply $52
Cardigan: JCrew $178
Necklace: Forever 21 $9.80
Tights: Urban Outfitters $14
Shoes: Need Supply $153

So let me just say I am so excited that we had a snow day today!!! Yippie! Its like being a little kid again waiting for your school name to scroll across the TV, except now of course I get a phone call to let me know. We got about 5 inches or so here. Did you get a lot of snow where you are? I’ve spent my morning blasting Michael Buble Christmas, having a delicious breakfast, drinking mint tea and working on my blog. Boy, what a dream to do this everyday!!

This is the outfit I wore to school yesterday. It is seriously like the most comfortable outfit ever. I have said before that I prefer wearing tights to pants. I am just more comfortable that way and this skirt is awesome because it has an elastic waist. I got this skirt at a ZARA in Paris when I was there last April. The sweater is one of the softest that I have and its so warm and snuggly. Don’t you just love the ruffle shoulder detail?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4170978554/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4170978734/

Sweater: H&M $14
Skirt: ZARA 40 Euros
Tights: H&M $6
Necklace: Forever 21 $7
Flats: Steve Madden $40

Come back later for a double I’d Wear That: A Graduation edition as well as a Boston Blogger Mixer outfit

So there was NOTHING in our fridge last night- we were suppose to go grocery shopping together after going to the gym but we were both not feeling it so instead it was a lets see what I can make with all the scraps around. I ended up making a Fried Rice with lots of veggies in it. It ended up being really good and I got rid of all the veggies that were about to go bad. Its hard using up everything before it goes bad when there is only 2 people.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp. Peanut Oil
Peanuts
1 Clove Garlic
2 eggs
3 cups of cooked Brown rice
Carrots
green onions- chopped
Peas
Snow peas (pods)
Cauliflower- chopped
6 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Sugar

Directions:
HEAT 1 Tbsp. of the oil in large skillet or wok. Add eggs; stir-fry 1 to 2 min. or until set. Remove egg from skillet; cover to keep warm.

ADD 1 Tbsp. of the remaining oil to same skillet; heat 30 sec. Add peanuts, green onions and garlic; stir-fry 2 to 3 min. Add Carrots, Cauliflower, peas, pea pods, Stir-fry till heated thru or at softness you like your veggies. Remove from skillet. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in same skillet. Add rice; stir-fry 3 min.

RETURN egg and peanut/veggie mixture to skillet. Add soy sauce and sugar; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring constantly.

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn’t get this up yesterday, there just were not enough hours in the day it seemed like. Anyways on Friday I drove out to Beverly to meet up with the ever so lovely Julie from Orchid Grey. We got all dolled up and headed over to the PEM to see the Iris Apfel exhibit and hear her talk. She is such an amazing lady and her Jewelry is unbelievable!! We meet up with Cassie and Lauren and spend the night chatting, sipping wine and wondering around picking out our favorite outfits. We even got our picture taken with Mrs. Apfel. Amazing! We were so excited!!!

Here is what I wore to the exhibit. I wanted to step up my jewelry wearing with a few more accessories than I would normal put on. Iris Apfel is such an inspiration with accessories!! I really love how this whole outfit came together. Its one of my new favorites! This blouse I got at a thrift store in Hawaii and it has been a staple in my closet ever since. I love the puffed shoulders and simple detail, perfect for layering with accessories. This skirt I got at forever 21 and love the gold brocade detail. I kind feel like a glammed up pirate in this outfit, which is totally ok by me!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4168241248/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4168241962/

Blouse: Thrifted $4
Skirt: Forever 21 $20ish
Tights: H&M $6
Booties: Anne Michelle $20
Accessories: A combo of thrifted and Forever 21

Here is the picture of all of us…

We had a very busy but awesome weekend, we got to see a lot of friends and spend some time around our new area doing some fun stuff. On Friday though I did drive all the way to Salem to hang out with Julie and then go to the Peabody Essex Museum to see the lovely Iris Apfel (more to come on that later today!). Saturday we decorated our Christmas tree while it was snowing outside- it was beautiful! Saturday night our friends Mike and Erin came to visit and spend the night. Mike had a show in Albany, so we all went to see his band the Peace Creeps play. It was nice having our very first sleep over guest in our new place.

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Sunday we got up for church and then we meet our friend Tony and his girlfriend Annie for the afternoon. It was the Victorian Stroll in downtown Troy yesterday so we hung around there for the day. There was a tour thru all the churches to check out the Tiffany Stained Glass windows. They were all so beautiful and loving art history (it was my minor in college) it was great to learn all the history of Tiffany Glass and what made it so unique. We also got to climb up into one of the bell towers with the Chimer for a tour of the Bells. Amazing!! There were lots of people dressed up Victorian and Charles Dickens like. It was all very christmasy- it was a fun but FREEEZING day!

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I wore this little jacket a couple weekends ago but I hadn’t yet worn it to school so I dressed it down alittle for school with some skinny jeans and a long silk tunic. My bangs were doing something funky yesterday morning so I pinned them to the side with a little polka dot bow. I also have on a bunch of necklaces that didnt get captured in these pictures.

Haha the last photo kev took as he told me to “shake it off” because I wasnt liking how I looked in any of the pictures. It came out so funny!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4156571215/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4156571209/

Jacket: Forever 21 $4.99 (clearance)
Silk Tunic: Marshals $9
Jeans: TJ Maxxs $16
Pointy Flats: Dollhouse $20
Bow: My craftroom

There are a few more Brooches left in my etsy shop. Including my favorite one of this batch. I just love the rich red fuzzy one!! Go check them out!

Also are we friends on Facebook?
what about on Twitter?

Come on over and check out my new goodies in my etsy shop (perfect gifts for christmas!)…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4155047870/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4154284213/

Check it out!

Can you believe its December 3rd? That just seems crazy to me. We leave in 20 days to go to Florida and I couldn’t be more excited. We are spending Christmas this year in Florida with our families at my parents new vacation home (I was there in the summer remember?) This time Kev is coming and I can’t wait to spend an entire week together on vacation in a warm and beautiful place. Its not very often we get to spend that much time together when we both work full time.

OK, on to my outfit. I got this skirt at forever 21 a little while ago and its just so darn cute. I like it because it reminds me of a watercolor painting and because it was $12- you really can’t beat that price. Its a little short for school but I tried anyways- I paired it with some opaque black tights to make up for it. I loved the outfit but I get a little self-conscience when I see other teachers looking me up and down in the hallway, but hey I am 27 not 50 and I think I look nice.

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I get a lot of questions about what teachers and students think of how I dress. There is no dress code so I can really wear whatever I feel like. I do wear jeans a lot but I am the art teacher and sometimes it just works out better for me that way. I ruin a lot of clothes at school. I try to mix it up a lot though- jeans one day, skirts or dresses the next.

Most teachers I think can appreciate that I am younger, that I am the art teacher and that I have a very strong creative side. Most of the time I get a lot of compliments from them and they are all so sweet. I am the youngest teacher here by a lot. Its really not a large group of young teachers here. There are def. some teachers who give me funny looks but I just try to look past it. The kids for the most part don’t care. They are in High School and well all they wear are AE, Hollister and Uggs. There are a few select girls this year that have really started to comment on my outfits though. They are very cute. They always want to know where I shop and what I like and stuff like that. I even got interviewed for the school newspaper on my style. hehe

I will say one time and one time only have I worn the same sweater as a girl in school. It was funny and a little embarrassing but hey- it was a cute sweater

Hat: H&M $14 (approx.)
Leather Bomber: Forever 21 $30
Skirt: Forever 21 $12
White Tank: Old Navy $8
Tights: H&M $6
Flats: Steve Madden $40
Neckalce: Simple Vera for Kohls $4

Luna Boston will be our Mixer headquarters for the day. There will be mingling, refreshments, shopping and photo booths. You will also be given a map of other great Newbury Street locations that will be offering a little something special for you bloggers. As well as giveaways through out the day at Luna.

Some of our fabulous sponsors:
Poor Little Rich Girl
The Closet Boston
Fresh
Oak
Haberdash Vintage
Karmaloop
Necklush
Salon Sassoon
and more to come!

RSVP Here!

So the Christmas season has begun and that means gift buying!! I love buying gifts for people- its so fun!! I just love giving presents. I will be making a lot of gifts this year for friends and family. I think its nice to give something a little more personal. I have also been making a ton of stuff to update my etsy shop with!!

Winter always makes me want to crochet, so I have been crocheting like a mad women. Tomorrow I will have tunnel scarfs in lots of beautiful colors, more brooches and some headbands to sell. I have included crocheting into lots of the brooches and headbands this time around. All are in rich winter colors, they are all so pretty!

Here is a little sneak peak…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4152386213/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4153148276/

CHECK BACK TOMORROW at NOON!!

So I think when winter comes I have a love/hate relationship with coats. I one love them because its an easy way to make an outfit, but on the other hand you always have to wear a coat you can’t get away from that. I am always freezing, so I feel like I always have to plan a coat into my outfit even if I don’t want to.

On Saturday Carrie, me and Kev went into Boston for the day. We would be walking around a lot so it was one of those days a coat as your outfit is a must. I wore one of our newly made tunnel scarfs (which I am obsessed with!! and made so many over thanksgiving that I will be putting in my etsy shop tomorrow!!) my trench, jeans, and my dexter shoes and I really felt effortlessly cool all day. Very city like I guess. I think trench coats just have that vibe to them to me.

Carrie wore a thrifted ski jacket with a sweet Canada patch on it. It had a cinched waist that was super cute on her. She also wore her new moccasins that she got at American Eagle for a super amazing deal.

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We decided to take pictures in my moms craft room. I love it in there. She had so much fun stuff to play with growing up. We got to make the coolest stuff all the time!

Jen:
Coat: Old Navy $30
Jeans: Urban Outfitters $40
Shoes: Dexter (thrifted) $12
Tunnel Scarf: Handmade by Carrie (check my etsy store tomorrow for some!!)

Carrie:
Coat: Thrifted
Jeans: Forever 21 $12
Moccasins: AE $17

Brie Fondue!!

Mmmmmmm! So lets just say one of my favorite things is Fondue. I tend to lean towards fondue more for dessert (nutella fondue) but tonight I really wanted to have a fun and relaxing night with some christmas music, some wine and something fun for dinner. So I decided on a cheese fondue. I really wanted to use brie so I found a recipe and went with it! It was super easy. Cutting the apples, bread, then veggies and steaming them and cooking the potatoes took the most time. All of it was delicious dipped in brie! But out favorites were the apples, cauliflower and potatoes.

I love these pictures kev took!! Isnt the wine label cool? I can’t bring myself to buy a label that I dont think is cool. I know I know thats a bad way to buy wine. What can I say I am an art teacher.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4148374939/

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Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/8 cup sherry
1 pound Brie cheese, rind removed and cubed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 pinch of nutmeg
salt and white pepper to taste

Stuff: Apple slices, Pear slices, Bread cubes, Roasted Potatoes, Radishes, Carrots, cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts.

Directions:
1. Add garlic to fondue pot, then add wine and sherry. Cook on medium-low heat.
2.Toss the cheese cubes in cornstarch to coat. When the wine is hot, add the cheese. Stir slowly. Stir constantly to keep it from scorching on the bottom of the pot. When the cheese has melted, remove it from the heat and in a little nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The fondue should be smooth. If it seems to runny, add more cheese. If it is too thick, add a splash more wine -but be careful not to add to much. It gets liquidy real fast.

Dip Away!

My sister Carrie is my littlest sister, she is 22, lives in Canada and is married to our awesome brother-in-law Joel. She usually is blonde (naturally) but when she showed up she had darker hair this time. It looked very beautiful on her and I guess made us look more like sisters- someone at the mall asked if we were twins! But that also could have been because we were buying this matching shirt at the time. hehe. We live 7 hours apart so we figured why not have a matching shirt!

Everyone and their mother is wearing plaid lately but that didn’t stop us from wanting this buffalo plaid shirt. Plaid is cool- especially red and black! I love it! There are lots of ways to style up this tunic- as you can see Carrie tucked it into a skirt with some cute boots. I wore it more causal with jean leggings and some chucks.
We tried to be extra modely in some of them but that just resulted in laughter…

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Jen:
Plaid Shirt: Aerie $20
Jeans: TJ Maxx
Chucks: $40
Necklaces: Simply Vera $4

Carrie:
Plaid Shirt: Aerie $20
Skirt: Thrifted
Boots: TJ Maxx $20 (I cant remember I am guessing)
Necklace: Forever 21

So I got a little too overwhelmed with being back to work and being back from our little vaca to our parents that I didn’t have a chance to post yesterday. Now I have like 4 posts to put up and you guessed it they are all coming today! haha better clear your day. Anyways, did you have a good holiday? I had a fabulous one. I got to spend time with my sister and it was awesome. We had the best time.

My family decided that we would have thanksgiving brunch this year instead of your traditional meal because well we are all Canadians and my sister (down from Canada), my mom and dad had already had thanksgiving in Oct., I don’t eat turkey and well Kev hates it so we had what we all enjoyed BREAKFAST!! Mmm it was delicious. It’s totally our new tradition. It was so good!!

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We later went over to Kev’s Family and had an amazing Holiday meal over there. So much good food all in one day!!! All in all it was an excellent day- it was so nice to see so many of our family members.

Carrie even brought Holly down for thanksgiving. I love this dog!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4148377145/
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What did you do for thanksgiving?