this is not a cooking blog... right?

I realized that my blog has been all food lately! What the heck! I'm not a cook! I'm more into fashion then I am into cooking. Why is this looking more like a cooking blog than a fashion blog (even though it's neither)? So in order to switch things up every once and a while (since Spencer and I never take pictures) I thought I would throw in a mirror-picture outfit post:

Pants and shirt: Forever21. Necklace: Ebay. Shoes Urbanog.com.

I have to say, I'm a sucker for the top not hair these days. Spencer is so befuddled by the bun craze that's going around and thinks it's just females being lazy, but I can't wait to throw my hair up in a bun the minute I get off work.

So back to clothes. Since I've been married, there are a few pieces of clothing I've had to alter to make them modest. Here is a dress I got at Pac Sun for $10. Loves it, but there really was no way to wear it with my special Mormon underwear haha. So, I made it into a skirt! And by made I mean cut! :) I think I'm going to save the top as a swimsuit top cover-up.

And now for the food. Pinterest hits only this week (yessss): 

Cripsy Parmesan Garlic Edamame

This was a MEGA hit for me. I've always loved edamame but this took it to a new level. I didn't use finally shredded parmesan like the recipe called for, but it was just as good! It's a good popcorn alternative. I almost wish it was more crunchy, but I'm sure you could just stick it under the broiler for a bit. Recipe here.

I also made some Chocolate Chip Cookies. Not super exciting, but I had all the necessary ingredients so I thought, why not. This is one of my favorite recipes. When they came out of the oven I had two! You heard me... two! For those of you who know me, this is a big deal. I've never been much of a sweets person. The key is you under cook them, and then let them cook the rest of the way on the hot baking sheet on top of your oven. This way they stay soft... even days later. Recipe here. 

However I've been curious to try this recipe here. I've heard it's the best but there are several ingredients in it that I don't own. One day. 

ODDS & ENDS

Meanwhile... still at the Hansen house:

Week and 1/2 later and he still hasn't moved. 

Well folks... I said you'd never get me back in there again! But I'm back at plasma. I decided that I needed to pay for my hair extensions on my own because $300 was just a lot to take out of our budget all at once. Only 4 more weeks to go!

Spencer was telling me a story about an annoying, nerdy, fat Asian that was in line with him at the Halo midnight game thingy. This was his impersonation. Pretty spot on I think.

For those of you who don't know, I have a cat. Her name is Kitty Magoo and she is my baby! Sadly she now lives with my parents because I can't have her at my apartment but...

I'm now obsessed with Persian cats! Haha they are so ugly that they are cute! They are straight out of a cartoon! My dream is to one day own one (after I get my bulldog of course). 

And some more Spencer embarrassment... Spencer would not stop listening to the Halo 4 soundtrack and so I put a basket on his head... but obviously it didn't faze him.  

And lastly, tonight we are going to a friends wedding, ice skating, and then to the Bijou Market!! I'm so excited. This is Provo's legendary homemade and vintage fair/boutique! Spence is going to have to keep his wallet close. Everyone go!

i was cold this week... a lot

This last week I've done a couple fun things (or at least things I thought were fun): 

I ordered fabric for throw-pillows for Spence and I's bed. This is the fabric... not the actual pillows. 

Well it was 70 degrees one day, and then the next day It was 38 and snowing. The good news is it's beautiful, the bad news is that it's FREEZING! I didn't get any good pictures of the snow but here are some I got off Instagram from friends. It seriously is a winter wonderland here.  

Spencer had a football game and I came armed with a vanilla-caramel latte from a new place in Provo called Mawka Moka. It has all coffee free drinks which is great because I get sick of hot chocolate and I hate the taste and smell of coffee. Go Purple Cobras! 

Sadly this week my boss retired. I love her to death but luckily we have a new boss that is just as amazing. For her farewell party we all brought treats and I was so excited to try another Pinterest find. They are called Turtle Cookies, except I decided since a lot of people don't like nuts, I would use toffee bits. I love toffee and my decision paid off. For anyone who decides to substitute the nuts with toffee, just keep in mind toffee melts (unlike nuts) so take the cookies out periodically and take a spoon and press the melting toffee back up onto the cookie. Or you could just put the toffee on after you bake it but I'm not sure how you would get it to stick. Maybe sprinkle it on the caramel? Anyway they were a big hit at work and I came home with only 2 left. Granted mine don't look as pretty as the ones in the recipe (found here). 

Amazingly enough after last posts Pinterest misses, I had yet another hit. Tonight I made vegetarian lasagna roll-ups. For some reason when I took them out of the oven they were still a little cold so I would suggest cooking them longer than the recipe says. Spence and I couldn't wait any longer so we just zapped it in the microwave for a sec. I also put more cheese and sauce than it called for but I add extra cheese and sauce to any pasta! You can never have enough! Anyway it was really good and I can't wait to have left overs tomorrow. Recipe found here. 

This week we also got tickets to the last BYU home game of the season. Spence has had to work almost every Saturday this fall so we haven't been able to go to any of the games. On the way to pick up the tickets we stopped at Chubby's in Pleasant Grove. I had heard such good things about it and I wasn't disappointed. I love little dives like this! It was sooooo good.

However the BYU game was not so good... well we were totally dominating them, but it was also 20 degrees and we couldn't feel our toes. Needless to say we only stayed until the 3rd quarter. There was no snow to be seen on the fields... but it was all over the stands.

The good news however (and yes I took this picture on Friday)....

It should be melting shortly! :) 

Happy Sunday! 

iphone picture dump and pinterest hits and misses

So Halo 4 comes out tonight. How do I know this? Because my husband is absolutely obsessed with it. I think he is more excited for this than he was for our wedding. When a new Halo comes out he gets it at midnight, and then plays all through the night until he has beat the campaign. Some of us have to get our beauty sleep so tonight he will be spending it at his friends house and playing with him (although he is very upset about that because he wont be playing on our giant TV). I however am far more excited for... THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS season premiere!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously it's like my favorite show ever! I can't wait. Well here are some pictures to fill you in on the rest of my life: 

Me and Spence went to the temple with our friends Laura and Chase and ate at this great little dive called State Street Grill in American Fork. 

I started the first steps of my chair reupholstering! 

The fabric I am going to use. I should be done after one more day at it!

And my cute little Kitty Magoo just wanted to come outside while I worked on the chair, but sadly I couldn't spare my eyes to watch her, and she has a tendency to hide from you when she gets outside.


We had our first snow of the season... followed by an immediate melting. Now we are in the midst of a weird heat wave. 65 in November!! Unheard of! But it will end this weekend when it abruptly drops down to 43. Oh well. Thanks for postponing winter a little Utah.


Siri is a big dumb idiot. We are no longer on speaking terms.


It was my BFF Jessica's birthday and I ate until I thought I was going to puke (that's pretty usual for Tucanos).


And for her birthday I rented her a puppy for 2 hours. Haha and yes I found a company that rents puppies! It was a perfect gift for someone who can't have animals in her apartment, and loves puppies. Who doesn't want a puppy to play with!!?

Finally got something hung in our room. Much more to be done!

Got something to organize our office supplies.



And now for a new segment I like to call:

Pinterest Hits and Misses

Miss

Dr. Pepper cake. This of course I was pumped for since I'm a recovering addict, however it was not that good. I'd give it a 4 out of 10. The cake wasn't that bad, but the glaze had a sharp taste from the carbonation that I didn't quite like. One thing I hate about Pinterest is when the picture doesn't match the website. The pin for this cake showed a chocolate cake, and this cakes was made from yellow cake. I found another recipe that actually has chocolate so I think I'll give it another try sometime soon and hopefully it meets my expectations. Here is the NEW recipe I'm going to try here or I might try this DP cupcake recipe here.

Hit

This was probably the best recipe I've gotten from Pinterest. Spencer and I LOVED it. This is a twice baked sweet potato with feta cheese and thyme. Seriously to die for and really easy. My sweet potato doesn't look as fancy as theirs on the website cause when they scooped out the insides they put it into a piping bag and I just scooped it back in. I don't need my food to be that pretty. I also don't know why their sweet potato looks bright orange and mine don't but make it! You wont regret it! Recipe here.

Huge miss: Buffalo Battered Cauliflower

I love Buffalo wings, so I thought I would indulge my inner vegetarian and try this recipe. Word to the wise... if you DON'T like cauliflower, you will not like this. I took one bite and gagged. Of course I had never tried cauliflower before (because I hate broccoli and they are pretty much the same right?). So if you LOVE cauliflower (God help you) then go ahead and try this recipe here.

Miss (yes another): Cookie dough, cheesecake bars

Look at this recipe. How could this not be good right? WRONG! First off, the cookie dough is not full blown cookie dough. I almost just bought pre-packaged cookie dough (which I now regret) because the recipe used a dry mixture that was slightly different. 2nd the cheesecake recipe for the cheesecake layer was AWFUL. I don't really like cheesecake so my recipes have to be really good quality. I love the cheesecake recipe for these cupcakes so I think if I tried this again I would use pre-packaged cookie dough and a form if that cheesecake recipe.

Well looks like I've had more misses this week than hits. There is always next week though. Everyone watch the election and pray for Mitt!!!

i want to whip my hair back and forth

(maybe my posts wouldn't be so long if I posted more often)

I know this is a day late but

But seriously how hot is my man?

(Taking the money to the safe at work)

I Love Halloween!!! I don't think I've told you guys that enough! Over a month ago I was gung-ho on this costume below:



But after my mom said it would take a lot of time and money, and frankly me and Spencer weren't doing much for the holiday, I decided we could just use stuff we already had in our closet. Maybe another year Lego man, but one day...

 Yesterday after work I rushed to the store to get candy. We live in an apartment and our neighborhood is mostly made up of BYU student but I had hopes we would get a few Treaters. While I was at the store Spencer text me and said some kids came by and I was so sad! :( I rushed home and luckily they hadn't gotten too far so I chased them down like a crazy lady and begged them to take my candy. After that more kids came and I only had 3 pieces left, so I ran back to the store. And of course after that no one was really coming... so I did what any crazy Halloween obsessed housewife would do and went out on the balcony and yelled at kids walking by to come to our place. Haha I think Spencer thought I was a psycho! 

Spencer had 2 tests to study for so I spent the night by myself drinking caffeine, eating sugar, and watching the Halloween marathon. I was hyped up and was yelling at the TV things like "Don't go in there!" "Why are you hiding? Get out of the house idiot!" and "Why don't you just shoot him?" Tonight however we are REALLY celebrating Halloween and pretending it's the 31st by eating candy and popcorn, watching Cabin in the Woods, and carving pumpkins. Halloween all year baby!!!!!



Now lets talk hair...

I have hair issues. It's very traumatizing  My hair has either stopped growing, or is just growing at an alarmingly slow rate. I haven't cut it since I was a senior in high school! 5 years people. Going on 6. And my hair has only grown about 3-4 inches. And that growth was all in the beginning. I'm pretty sure if you look at my hair evolution (below) you will see almost ZERO progress between '09 and '12! So sad. All I want is Miley Cyrus' old hair? Could she have not made me a wig before she buzzed it all off? Rude!
 I've wanted extensions for YEARS but couldn't justify spending the money, but I've been in talks with a friends who's mom owns a hair school and she knows a girl that is really good at extensions. The good news... hair schools are a fraction of the cost duh! I've been getting my "hair done and nails did" at schools for years. Yes I've had some hit and miss appointments, but the only thing I've ever really done with my hair in the last five years is a trim, or a deep conditioning treatment. And how wrong can those really go? So... I have my consultation on Monday and I am so excited! I am finally on the road to the Miley Cyrus hair I've always dreamed of! 

My Hair Evolution:

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Seriously what's going on hair!!!?? There is almost no difference between '09 and '12!

I've always wanted long luscious locks like these ladies below:  

Well wish my luck with my endeavor. Hopefully soon I will be whipping my hair back and forth with the best of them! And for any of you who read my status about extensions just hours ago, I was talked out of doing the Racoon bonded ones and I am very happy that I talked to Kristen about them. They don't last very long and they shed easily. Thanks girl for keeping me informed!