five dollar footlong

I just went to my office bathroom, and a woman was carrying her half unwrapped sub into the stall with her while talking on her cell phone.

Seriously trying to not picture the logistics in there...

love and multitasking (I regret writing that),
AB

smart shopper

Maybe this post's title is a little misleading...because if you read this post, I really shouldn't be shopping at all.  But part of the paring-it-down process is learning to be a smarter shopper when I do spend my money.  No more buying a cheap dress for every event.  I need to buy things purposefully, things that I really love and can wear to work and to play, for as many seasons as possible.  I need to invest in really good basics that I can wear well, so I can avoid my current situation:  a closet overflowing with things I never wear.

If you skipped that paragraph, it was basically just me desperately trying to justify the clothes I just bought.

But I am really proud of myself!  I bought a few really nice basics that I can wear to work and on weekends.  More importantly, I have been coveting (read: creating an online shopping bag, staring at it longingly all day, reluctantly closing the tab) them for weeks so I know this love is real. 

I'm definitely most excited about this colorblocked beauty:

Should we name her? 

love and anthropomorphism,
AB

end of summer to-do list

This morning was on the chilly side for August, and the glimmer of 60s weather got me so excited for Fall!  But rather than get caught up in looking forward to Fall, I'm going to try to embrace the end of my would-be favorite season (read about my love/hate relationship with summer in my last post).  There are a few things I really hope I get the chance to do before Summer is gone:

1.  Kayaking!  Any of my friends can tell you how frequently obnoxiously I've brought this up lately
2.  Visit a DC tourist spot that I've never been to, like the Botanical Gardens
3.  Go to at least one more Nationals game
4.  Enjoy an outdoor/rooftop marg before it's too chilly
5.  Watch planes at Gravelly Point


I don't want to be too ambitious here with only a few good weekends left!  But I want to get the most out of my beloved warm weather so I can embrace the Fall guilt free.  Trying not to let my mind wander to colorful tights and pumpkin flavored everything just yet...

love and frozen bevs,
AB

great escape

Being technically considered an adult (out of school, real job, blah blah) has major perks.  Paychecks, no homework, and trading parents for the freedom of distant landlords.  There are also some pitfalls.  Like knocking on wood as I blindly choose my company's cheapest health benefits every year.  Or when that seemingly awesome paycheck disappears every first of the month (and I'm rethinking the whole parents vs distant landlords thing). 

But worse than all the copays and car inspections, is the fact that there is no summer break.  NO SUMMER BREAK!  PTO does not count.  If anything, accruing those few measly hours of PTO is just salt in the grown-up wound.  Summer used to be my favorite season, but now that I work in DC, summer just means that I'm drenched in sweat by the time I get to my windowless office (be thankful that I didn't take this imagery any further). 

Before we all think too hard about my pit stains or the summer-vacation-less lives that lie ahead of us and sink into a deep depression, let's talk about the bright side.  Trust me, there is a big one.

I do not subscribe to the "too much of a good thing is a bad thing" philosophy.  If there's a good thing out there I want as much as I can have.  But honestly, when I had three months off every year, I rarely did anything that great with it.  I slept.  I ate a lot of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  I got a few good sunburns that mostly turned into tans. But now that vacations are so few and far between, I really savor them.  A beautiful three day weekend at the beach with my best friends is a gold nugget in this monotonous muggy DC summer.  And that's exactly where I'm headed....

love and SPF (hey, maybe I am kind of an adult),
AB

practice what you pin: baked chicken fajitas

Paring It Down update: closet cleaning is (very) slowly but surely coming along.  Not even close to blog-worthy after pictures, but still stepping in the right direction, without stepping over as many piles of my clothes. 

One thing I'm really excited to do with this blog is actually DO things that I pin on Pinterest, and then blog about them here.  I'm especially excited to do this with recipes, because I am not the best cook can barely make frozen pizza, so this is the perfect opportunity for me to make really easy recipes but feel like a fancy accomplished Chopped champion when I share them.  Seriously, if you are a good cook, save yourself the most painful few paragraphs of your life and stop reading now.  Seriously.  You're embarrassing me.

So last night I made Baked Chicken Fajitas from Six Sisters' Stuff.  If I could only pick three words to describe this meal they would be:  easy, delicious, and guilt-free.  We really only made a few modifications, like serving it over lettuce, corn, and black beans instead of tortillas. Here's the basic idea of what we did:

for the baked fajita mix:

• about 1 pound of chicken cut into strips (I would use more chicken next time)
• 2 green peppers cut into strips
• 2 red peppers cut into strips
• 1 diced jalapeno

So mix all that together in a bowl with a little bit of olive oil and whatever spices you like.  I used cayenne, a little cumin powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder.  I think using half a pack of premade taco seasoning would be good too.  Put everything into a greased 13x9 baking dish and bake it for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.

While that is baking, make your corn and black beans.  We normally just microwave our canned corn, but my boyfriend always makes our black beans so delicious by adding his not-so-secret-anymore spices (garlic, cumin, salt, and cayenne) to regular canned beans.

Once everything was done we piled it (pretty high) onto lettuce, and put salsa and hot sauce on top.  SO GOOD!  It would also be good on rice or in tortillas (like the Six Sisters suggest).  It was super easy and we'll definitely be making it again.  Let me know if you try this out and what you like or changed!

love and red pepper flakes,
AB

paring it down

Listen. I have a lot of shit.  Honestly.  I'm two Chipotle receipts and one neglected pet away from being the first google image result for the word "Hoarder."  (Do yourself a favor and do NOT google image the word hoarder)

I hope that gives you an idea of what we're dealing with here.  My biggest problem is clothing.  I know there are definitely people out there who have far more extensive wardrobes than I do...but they at least probably wear most of their clothes.  I have racks of neatly hung (okay fine, piles on the floor) of clothes that I never wear.

The reason I'm giving you all these pack-ratty details that you didn't ask for is because of a few blogs that have inspired me.  First is Chez Larsson, where everything is fresh, crisp, white, clean, and organized.  Speaking of organization, I also love the organized closets on IHeart Organization. These have really given me hope that a clutter-free life is possible for me.  And I'm thinking that maybe if I post about it, there will be some level of accountability.  I know all six of you readers will be nagging me constantly for updates on the state of my messy closet.

I'm not giving you a before picture because my boyfriend would keel over dead, or break up with me, which are both horrible and you're sick for still wanting a before picture when I have clearly explained the potential repercussions.  But maybe if I have a beautiful closet someday I'll post a picture to satisfy you.

My mission starts TONIGHT as I begin the long and hopefully-not-too-painful process of paring down my insane closet (that spills into the rest of the apartment).

love and why-do-i-still-have-these-field-hockey-socks-from-high-school?
AB

welcoming myself to the blogosphere

I've wanted to create a blog for what feels like forever, but I have been stuck on two aspects.

My first hurdle: Awesome blog name.  I love blog names that are cute plays on words with the blogger's name...but my name is Alex.  The only thing that rhymes with Alex is hallux, the scientific word for the big toe.  And seriously if someone out there is reading this and is like "What?! Is she serious? I just thought of the cutest blog name using 'Alex'" PLEASE don't even tell me because a) it will embarrass me after my weepy months spent on rhymezone.com and b) I already love ab(kinda)fab so back off.  So now that I have this awesome name and url reserved, there's only one more problem, which brings me to...

My second hurdle: Content.  I'm still working on this one.  We'll get through it together.

love and writers block,
AB