I didn’t make any official New Year’s resolutions this year, either for myself nor for the blog but one thing I would like to do is share more lifestyle posts since I consider this a “lifestyle blog.” My first lifestyle post for this year is food-related. I am terrible at coming up with my own recipes but I’m great at following instructions and putting my personal spin on existing recipes – much like I do with my fashion. For example, I often make this Charred Chile Relleno recipe by Rachael Ray but I add chorizo and skip the green rice.

I’m a big fan of Gina at Skinnytaste.com so I try her recipes regularly. I can honestly say that I’ve never been disappointed by anything I’ve tried from her site, and she’s really good with cooking directions. The other night, Nick and I decided to try her Bangin’ Good Chicken Salad recipe. It definitely lives up to the name. It’s extremely easy and simple and I’ll definitely be making it again. But, of course, I put my own spin on it. More on that below.

It starts with romaine lettuce and red cabbage. Look at those beautiful colors: green and purple, my wedding colors! 😉

For the chicken, simply cut up a chicken breast (or some chicken tenders, which is what we used) into bite-sized pieces, coat them in a little olive oil, cover them in breadcrumbs, and bake for 8-12 minutes. Baking the chicken doesn’t give it quite the crunch that frying would, but it still turned out really yummy.

My personal spin is that I decided not to make the skinny bang bang sauce as specified in the recipe. Instead, I found a bang bang sauce that has become my go-to so I used it instead. The recipe I use is fromThat’s So Michelle and can be found on her blog here. (I haven’t tried that actual recipe yet but I have used that recipe with shrimp instead of cauliflower and it actually turned out to be amazing)

So, with the greens, chicken, and bang bang sauce, this recipe was a hit. The ONLY thing I would change for next time would be to add more vegetables to the salad since we ate it as our main course without any sides, so maybe some red bell peppers, carrots, snap peas, cauliflower, and/or edamame.

I hope you enjoyed this post and  don’t mind seeing more like them. What do you think, would you try this recipe? Do you come up with your own meals or put your own spin on other recipes?

There was a slight chill in the air earlier this week, which lets me know that Fall is not too far away. Fall is my favorite season, but this year I’m a little sad that it’s arriving so quickly because I barely had a summer due to my internship. But, that’s what I signed up for when I decided to go to grad school!

Thursday morning was beautiful so I made a breakfast of baked eggs in tomato parmesan sauce and ate it on the back porch.  I followed a Martha Stewart recipe so of course it calls for you to make your own tomato sauce, but being the lazy resourceful person that I am, I just used some tomato sauce we already had in the pantry. It was the easiest breakfast ever: throw some tomato sauce in a ramekin, break an egg in it, top with a little more sauce and parmasan cheese and bake at 350 degrees for about 25-24 minutes. And Voila!

When we purchased this little patio table, I had day dreams of us sitting there in the mornings, drinking coffee and relaxing before work, or eating our meals in the shade of the umbrella, or even sitting there with coffee in one hand and a book in the other. The reality is that Nick hates being outside (allergies and insects) and I don’t wake up early enough to leisurely enjoy a cup of coffee before rushing to get ready for work/school/life so we’ve actually only eaten at the table maybe three times in the two years that we’ve had it. So I was determined to have my eggs and coffee out there!

The chill made it perfect; it wasn’t too hot, it wasn’t too cold. I ate my eggs and drank my coffee and had a very pleasant morning!

We’re visiting my family this weekend and celebrating my nephew’s 4th birthday so I’m planning some fun posts for you this coming week. I hope you all are having a great weekend and get to enjoy your coffee in a beautiful, cozy space of your own.

Independence Day at our house was fairly low key. On Friday, we attended the USA vs. Chinese Taipei baseball game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. A friend from my program drove up with her boyfriend and the four of us went together, and had a great time. We ate dinner before, then got beers and hotdogs at the game, watched fireworks in the stadium, and finished the night off with my favorite ice cream at The Parlour. I didn’t get many pictures that night. I’m not a very good blogger because I forgot to get pictures and when I do remember, they don’t always turn out that great. But whatever, we had fun!

On Saturday, we fired up the grill.  After all, what is Indpendence Day weekend without endless burgers, hotdogs, and, in our case, chicken wings? Yum! We made our own sauce to toss the wings, and we might share it with you one of these days.

What I loved about our picnic was that we kept it easy. Usually when we entertain, we put a lot into the presentation and recreate all of the Pinterest ideas we can find. But for this, it was just us, and later our neighbors, so we put condiments in plastic tuperware (so we just had to throw the lid on it once we were done) and we rocked the paper plates. It truly was a real-life picnic!

Burgers and beers – it doesn’t get much better than that!

As the sun set and night rolled in, we turned on our lights, which are probably one of my favorite things about our back yard. They’re just so pretty against the navy sky and the green leaves in the trees. I would sit under these lights every night if I could!

And, of course, the furbabies were included in the action. Look at that Mia face!

And that Chico face!

They wanted hotdogs! They stared at the hotdogs the entire time we ate, just waiting for someone to drop something for them. And you know they got some hotdogs eventually because, I mean, who can resist those adorable faces?

After dinner, Mia was happy playing with her ball. I thought I got a really good one of her lying in the grass but she must have moved at the last minute because it turned out really blurry. This is an action shot – she was probably looking for the ball even though it was right there in front of her. She’s so funny sometimes.

While Mia played with her ball, Chico was content snuggling up with our neighbor. He’s always been a cuddler, which makes him even more of a sweetheart. He’s my baby heart, for sure!

We had such a great weekend, just relaxing at home. We like doing it up big, but sometimes keeping it low-key is the best.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July / Independence Day! I’ll be sharing my red, white, and blue outfit within the next few days, so stay tuned!

On Sunday, we went for brunch at one of our favorite spots, Parker and Otis, a little restaurant and giftshop in the historic downtown area of Durham. We love that they use fresh, local ingredients. That’s very common in Durham, though; it’s very much a wonderful foodie town. Parker and Otis have so much wonderful stuff that it’s almost overwhelming. But you can go in and order a yummy breakfast or lunch (or in our case, brunch) and then browse through all of the candies, knick-knacks, cards, wine, and cooking paraphernalia while you wait.

They have lovely seating inside and out. Sunday was a bit gloomy as far as the clouds go, but it wasn’t too hot or humid so we were able to comfortably sit outside and enjoy our meal.

I got a grilled pimento cheese with bacon on sourdough bread. Their homemade cole slaw is the default side, and it’s delicious. If you’re not familiar with pimento cheese then you are missing out. It’s an indulgent spread made of various cheeses, mayonnaise, and pimentos. Everyone has their own recipe and most are very delicious. Parker and Otis’ pimento cheese is also very good!

Nick got a grilled banana, peanut butter, and bacon panini with a side of fresh fruit.

We had a visitor while we ate: this cute little guy!

Lots of scrumptious candies and food stuffs. And a coffee bar

I told Nick that I want to make a chandelier just like this. I mean, really, how amazing is this? I think it’s just beautiful!

Cook books galore! And plenty of pots and pans and other cooking utensils.

The area around Parker & Otis is very industrial because the majority of the buildings in the area were warehouses used for tobacco processing.

This is what I wore for our little outing. Can you think of anything more comfortable than these drapey pants? They looked great when I wore them out and were super comfortable when I got home and kicked off the wedges to sit at my computer and get some school work done.

That’s it for our little outing. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the cool things Durham has to offer!

Shirt: Gap (old)
Cardigan: Old Navy
Pants:Old Navy
Wedges: American Eagle by Payless
Necklace: Hawthorne Collection (online)
Handbag: Franco Sarto via Ross

If there’s anything we enjoy more than air conditioning in the summer, it’s a yummy Food Truck Rodeo! Durham has delicious food trucks and, being the somewhat novice foodies that we are, we love most of them. This food truck rodeo was in Raleigh but many of the same trucks we know and love were there so it was completely worth it. It was a beautiful day for standing in line for greasy, melty food! Unfortunately, I let myself get too hungry so the only thing I could think of when we arrived was getting some food. And I ate it so fast that I didn’t get any photos. But I did get some photos of some of the best trucks.

Food truck rodeo crowd.

This is Only Burger (below) and it is AMAZING! It is one of the many restaurants that started out as a truck but was so good and so popular that they were able to -open a brick-and-mortar restaurant (that is conveniently located near our house!) which is also very popular. It’s my favorite burger, and the only one I request when we’re in the mood for burgers!

Only Burger… when only the best will do.

American Meltdown has yummy grilled cheese of all varieties.

American Meltdown Gourmet Melts

The Parlour Ice Cream (truck below) is the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my entire life. I’ve written about ice cream dates before because it’s my favorite place. It’s another one of the amazing establishments that started out as a truck and became so popular that they were able to open a brick-and-mortar. You can probably tell from the photo below that there’s a long line for their ice cream and their store is actually no different. There’s always a line outside the door each time we go there. If you’re ever in Durham, NC and find yourself in the mood for some ice cream, Th Parlour is the place to go.

The Parlour Ice Cream

This food truck (below) is Chirba Chirba and they have yummy dumplings. Any time they’re around, you can count on a line that stretches a mile long for their dumplings. The really disappointing the about them is that the line is super long and you have to wait forever. Even though they’re good, we don’t usually have the patience to wait.

Chirba Chirba

Chirba Chirba menu

How do you feel about food trucks? Do you or would you eat from them?