CustomInk Happenings

The past few weeks at work have been super fun. A new "Leader Board" was started, where they scroll the top 3 people in different categories for the department to see. They announced it by giving out personalized M&M's (awesome!) and a countdown on our computers to when it went live. It was exciting, and I was so happy to see that I made the top 2 in two different categories. 

Last weekend we also had our annual party (well after the holidays so everyone is available). It was so nice/different seeing everyone dressed up, since we are such a casual office. Plus, any opportunity for free sushi and desserts? I'm in. It was in the Ronald Reagan building in DC, which was also nice because I don't really go into DC for anything fancy like that usually.

I look terrible in that picture (WIDE LOAD), but I actually really loved my dress. In real life it had a ton of rushing and it was tight enough that you could see that I'm not actually a wide load, but not so tight that I felt uncomfortable. Wonderful. 

This week has been filled with baking for me. Yesterday was my old desk buddy's birthday, and she is obsessed with bacon. I made her french toast and bacon cupcakes, which was actually kind of challenging. I think it was mainly challenging because I was exhausted when I was making them (at midnight and then 7am the next morning). Then, at 4:00 this morning (apparently I don't sleep anymore) I made Keith more red velvet cookies! He moves to Reno next week and I am going to miss him SO much. The weekend after I started working at CI was the company bbq, so I didn't know anybody. He hung out with Zach and me a large portion of the time, and has been incredibly nice to me every day at work. And it isn't because I'm special, he is just an amazing person. He will be missed. Here are some red velvet cookies I made for him previously (I didn't take pics when they were done at about 5:30AM):

Baltimore and DC!

This past week and weekend was a busy one for us. Zach started working at CI last Monday and had a whirlwind of a week He is absolutely loving it, just like I knew he would. That first week is pretty exhausting, but we had a packed weekend anyways. Saturday afternoon we ventured into Baltimore to have lunch with longtime friends of my parents, Brook and Carlotta. Brook and Carlotta are actually family now, because their daughter is now my aunt Jill, after marrying my mom's brother. They are super fun people, who always seem to know the best places to go. We went to Woodberry Kitchen which is in this fun part of town surrounded by iron workers, glass blowers and other artists. Their food is local, seasonal, organic and delicious. It was so different, but you could just taste how fresh it was.

This was my yogurt with homemade granola (most of it was below the yogurt) with super yummy apples and honey. Best thing ever. I got this and an apple fritter.

Zach's fried Chesapeake oyster sandwich. 

I should have taken more pictures of the other food, or the environment, but then I wouldn't have been cool. Because this place was filled with the COOLEST people I have ever been around. All very hip and modern, all individuals. No one caring about other people, just having a good time. And get this, their employee dress code? Plaid. Just plaid. I love plaid! Even the napkins were plaid:

Yes, that is my lap. Anyways, on the way to Baltimore I jokingly told my parents that we should go to open houses all day. We went to open houses most of the fall, because I like to know all of my options, so we're already house hunting (even though we will probably buy in Reno, not Nova). Anyways, towards the end of our meal Carlotta mentioned these incredible townhome/home type things in the area that were super modern and brand new. She loved them, so we decided to go over for a quick tour! See, these people are meant for me. The places were gorgeous, soooo much glass, awesome wood beam ceilings; they really went with the area they were in with that authentic and unique feel. 

After that we had an appointment with a jeweler that Brook and Carlotta know. This jeweler made the earrings I got for my birthday last year, which were made out of some of my great grandmother's amethysts. I am obsessed with those earrings, and get SO many compliments on them. So, we now have some aquamarines that my mom and I want jewelry out of, so we had an appointment for that. Plus, Zach and I still have the diamond we planned on trading in when we got my engagement ring (but didn't), so I'm hoping to make something out of that.

I'll get a better pic of the earrings some day, they look amazing on!

Anyways, this was one of the WEIRDEST experiences of my life. Carlotta had warned us on the way over not to be scared of the guy, and I couldn't figure out why. Well, I was scared anyways. His apartment is essentially a jewelry making studio/rock shop. He lives and works there, yet it doesn't seem like anyone should be there for  more than 5 minutes at a time. We also woke him up when we rang the bell (at 2:00) that turned on the video camera for him to allow us in. Just strange. Then, he sat there and discussed what we were interested in and our options, and smoked hand rolled cigarettes the.entire.time. Everyone kept offering me to sit down with my mom and Zach in the chairs and I refused because I would have gotten so sick from the smoke. I was obviously uncomfortable. Anyways, it was a very new experience for me, and he is really a great, honest, friendly guy. I am sure he will make gorgeous necklaces and rings for us, because I absolutely love my earrings. I love people who live life exactly how they want to, without concern for anyone else's opinion, and he certainly does just that.

New Bedding!

Okay so just to start with the most obvious statement, I am terrible at blogging. Or, to say it more generally, I am incredibly lazy. Like, its terrifying. But I am going to start backtracking and catch up on our past few weeks. About a month ago I was browsing the wonderful wide web during my lunch at work, and ran across a duvet cover I really liked. Redoing our bed has been on my list for a while (next up, head board), so I was pumped! I was getting off work early that day because Mitch and Donna were flying in for New Years, so I wasn't planning on shipping. That is, until I found this little gem on Z Gallerie's website:

If you think that pic looks weird, you're right. Zach loves blue, I love pattern and chevron, I was excited. I took a pic of the screen and sent it to Zach. I knew I didn't have a lot of time because it was on clearance, and Tysons mall is crazy busy after xmas. Zach loved it, so I ventured over to the mall at RUSH HOUR on my way from work to the airport. The parking lot itself took over 30 minutes just to park. I got into the store and they didn't even have the blue duvet! Gah! But wait... what was this, a stone/grey version of it instead. Well, to be honest, I was kind of scared of the blue cover.. too much color. Too crazy, but I knew it was right up Zach's alley. What is up my alley? Grays. I'm seriously digging gray lately. Nail polish, uggs, pants, leggings... why not add a duvet cover to the mix? I snatched it up and have loved it ever since!

Oh, and I think Bielski has loved it too! Shortly after we bought some wonderfully soft sheets from Macys (also on sale!). Our bed restoration is well on it's way!

Not So Thin Mints

So, back to the "Thin Mints" Kristen and I made over the weekend. I found a recipe for cookies that were supposed to taste exactly like Thin Mints on Pinterest. I was pretty pumped. GS cookies aren't expensive at $4 each, but when you end up getting 10 boxes worth, it can add up. So Kristen and I decided to bake those and smores cookies this weekend to break in my mixer. Well, the Thin Mints ended up being much more difficult to make than we expected; it isn't that easy to coat the cookie pieces in a thin layer of chocolate, but it is definitely necessary to make them taste right. I would also recommend cooking them longer than expected, so they aren't soft at all (recipe calls for hard edges, I call for hard all over). Lastly, we think we would add more peppermint extract to the dough next time, or maybe to the chocolate that you coat it in. When we first tried them, we weren't impressed. However, the next day I tried them again (after they had sat out over night) and they were MUCH better. I think them becoming stale, and therefore more crisp, really helped.

The Wonderful Weekend That Was

Last week felt like one of the longest work weeks of my  life. It may be the random snow storm that happened on Monday, or the three seasons worth of weather that happened after that, but it felt like forever. As I was wishing for it to be Saturday, Zach was ready for Monday because.... it's his first day at CustomInk tomorrow! Good luck Mr. Boyd!

This weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in a longggg time. Saturday was spent  solely focused on food. Wegmans trip in the morning with my family (always fun for some reason) and then Kristen and I baked for hours. More information on that to come in my next post. Today we went to the Leesburg Outlets, for nothing in particular, and came home with more than ever. The sales were so awesome, and we got things we actually planned on buying eventually. Here are some of our collection:

I also don't usually care for sports, but the rest of today was spent on my throne (that I build of pillows) next to the fire watching the games. I wanted the Ravens to win yesterday, got my way. I also wanted the Giants to win today and knew they would even though everyone told me I was wrong. And of course, the lovely Caps got the W as well. And now that that is over, I am cracking up listening to Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes (and mostly suffering through the rest of it).

All in all it has been a very relaxing, yet exciting, weekend! Which was necessary, because next weekend will be busy.

Special Delivery!

My KitchenAid mixer is here!! I have been counting down the days. Let me bring you back to the very beginning, because I know you care about this as much as I do! About 6 months before Zach and I got engaged, a friend of mine posted this mixer on her Facebook. I had never even though about mixers before, but as soon as I saw this... I wanted it. Once we got engaged, it was probably the first thing on our registry. Every time I would see it go on sale I would check it out, but knew I would never spend that much money on myself. Then this Christmas came. The most interesting man in the world/at my work (or so they say), Keith, asked me to make Red Velvet cookies for him. Zach had been searching for a present for me, so as I made the cookies I joked he could get me the mixer. I didn't want him to spend a lot of money on anything, so it was truly a joke. Then I came over and sat next to him and saw him looking them up online! I told him he wasn't allowed to get it for me, and I was glad I had seen him looking so he couldn't. I thought it was over after that (while secretly hoping it wasn't...). Christmas eve came, and we opened our presents early. Guess what I got!!! Woohoo.

So, why am I just now getting it in the mail? Well, Zach was able to find a beautiful apple green shade, even though stores usually only have white, silver, and maybe pink. He had heard it would be 6-8 weeks before I could get my coveted aqua blue color. Devastating. Then, Bed, Bath and Beyond didn't even sell my exact color that I wanted! Since that is where he got my mixer, and the Aqua Blue is a Martha Stewart shade, that should have been the end of the story. But have no fear! Someone had returned that apple green mixer to BBBY from Macys! They even had the required return sticker for Macy's on the box still. So we ran to Macy's, who took it back and said the mixer would be at my house within 5 days! I've been counting down the days ever since and...

Ta da!

Now... what to make first???

CustomInk's Newest Employee

Today we received the fantastic news that CustomInk has hired Zach! We are so incredibly happy because it is really an incredible company to work for, plus Zach and I love working together. It seems like things only keep getting better for us, it is really hard to believe how fortunate we have been lately. Especially when you consider that about a month ago we thought Zach would have to wait until summer to apply, and then an opening became available last minute. 

I know Zach is going to do an awesome job there, and I expect that we will both be there for a long time. One of the great opportunities this has opened up to us is the possibility of moving to a more affordable area. We love the DC area and could definitely live a nice life here, but we could live an even nicer life somewhere less expensive. CI is opening an office in Reno, NV, which is a very exciting prospect. We both love spending time outdoors, which would be a huge perk of living there. Plus, we would be close to Lake Tahoe and a lot of beautiful national parks. Lastly, it'll be a place my parents can move to with us as they retire. We have seen some ridiculously nice houses there for the price of a decent town home here, so it's definitely on our minds for the next year or two.

We plan on grabbing dinner with a few friends this weekend to celebrate. Zach and I, along with a few of our best friends have all been fortunate enough to get new, great jobs in the past year. I think that is totally worth a celebration. Plus, I have a headboard project coming up now that I've bought new bedding! Exciting times :)

Here Goes Nothing

I have been considering starting a blog a lot recently, and decided that would be one of my "resolutions" for 2012. I enjoy having a cyber diary and a place to share my life. I have come across a lot of wonderful blogs through my obsession with Pinterest. I know I won't be able to compare to those, but I hope to use them as inspiration to really follow through with this. 

Over the past few months I have started crafting and cooking more, and I definitely plan on focusing on those adventures in here. And I don't use the word adventures lightly. Zach got a KitchenAid mixer for me for Xmas, so I see a lot more of that coming in the future! I also have big goals for decorating, and with my cheap frugal nature, a lot of that will probably be DIY. Beyond that, we will also have some wedding planning, and maybe even baby planning, coming up this year, so I will share all my different thoughts on that as they come. Plus, I'm sure there will be plenty of completely random ramblings thrown in here.

Since this is one of my resolutions, I thought it would be appropriate to share my highlights of 2011, as well as my other goals and expectations for 2012.

So, 2011 was incredible because:

+ We moved back from California so I get to see my parents more

+ We got engaged!

+ I started working at CustomInk, which I couldn't love more

And I hope 2012 will be similar, if I follow these goals:

+ Keep up with this blog!

+ Watch less TV

+ Go on a walk every. single. day.

+ Pay off my student loan debt (thanks CI!)

+ Continue saving money towards a down payment on a house

+ Travel