Fish Tacos

**sad yesterday's post didn't publish.

I have been on the quest to find the perfect fish tacos. They are my weakness and I still haven't found any comparable to the best ones I've had.

A little over 2 years ago I had the best fish tacos of my life. I can't remember where it was, B and I went out for supper around Cedar Rapids maybe New Liberty...some little Mexican restaurant. The kind of good that I remember exactly what I was wearing, (wedge sandals, dark khaki shorts, navy ruffle racerback tank) that I had a mini margarita while B had some Mexican bottled beer that tasted awful, and it was like 5:00 so we were the only ones there.

I found a recipe online that I have to try that sounds very similar to these amazing things.

Madison could not compete. I had fish tacos at about 3 different places and none were great.

I had these guys about a month ago at Doc Fords Rum Bar. They were good, but got soggy way too fast. They did have all the right toppings though, they need a good slaw on the inside, and cilantro.

                                           

These. Were the lunch special today. Usually the fish is tilapia, or mahi mahi. These were salmon. And although there wasn't as much slaw as I like, they were amazing, and for only 4.99 with tax, can't really beat that.

                                           

Until next time, or maybe I'll get ambitious and actually make them....

xo A

Snappy

I've been feeling extra snappy (good) lately. 

Extra bounce in my step

Overall feeling pretty good, not sure why

Round 2 at the gun range. A 45 this time. Enormous bullets. And a decent recoil.

But its probably the extra sweet tea I've been drinking that's got me in such a good mood.

The BEST news was that today Allegiant announced nonstop flights from Cedar Rapids to Punta Gorda and Tampa (40 minutes & 2 hours away). Non stop flights!!

So naturally I booked my ticket home for Christmas. Would have originally cost me $780 from Fort Myers connecting in Atlanta not including my baggage. And now for the low price of $400, window seats, checked bag both ways and 10am flight on Saturday and a 7pm return flight the following Saturday. Cloud 9

THEN

My 2 of my best friends bought their tickets to spend Thanksgiving on the beach with me!! 

                       

So excited for end of November/December! All my weekends are booked :)

xo A

No name Monday

Today I did a lot of stupid things (maybe not stupid, but noteworthy).

-wore white. It always rains when I wear white. Guaranteed. Light colors, yup then too

-ate a cupcake and exclaimed "this is the best cupcake ever" but sounded like " thiff ith the bethht cuthcafe effer" so now everyone at work knows how much I like sugar, and that I have bad table manners.

-it was raining when i got home from work so I took my shoes off and ran up two flights of stairs, with my umbrella. closed. In my hand.

-licked an envelope with the billing information in it before I even wrote the check

-wore rain boots to the store. Completely forgetting I'm not in college anymore and they might not be welcomed here, especially when I got to the store and it had stopped raining.

                                              

-swerved on the road for some fallen palm, NOT a gigantic dead deer that I thought it was and because I was jammin' to this song...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGnV2dYOW7E (One of my favorite summer songs)(also, this particular version is an ode to Joe Dirt, so that's pretty neat)
That fallen palm is a bitch and gets you every time. When you're used to swerving for dead animals all the time and now you don't actually have to, it's weird. (This actually happens anytime I'm driving at night, keeps you on your toes)

Meh. I've been in a really good mood today to even care, surprising since its Monday...

xo A

Geckos

I've become accustomed to geckos. They aren't scary and I don't think they would ever bite you, but when they hear me thundering down the sidewalk they run/jump off into the grass.

Again, not scary, just surprising so I tend to jump, a lot.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I found this.... Look closely

It's a baby gecko lizard thing. I squealed out of sheer what-the-hell-am-I-going-to-do. I was making breakfast and had the water running so I filled a pitcher and quick flipped the faucet to the drainer side and poured the pitcher of water down. If you must know I also ran the garbage disposal ONLY because I had cucumber ends I had just thrown down the other night. (And because I was a little scared it was going to jump out of the sink and latch onto my face).

So the remainder of the morning I kept checking to see if it was back (it's not) or any other creatures for that matter.

Aaaaand I just realized I put away clean dishes from the drainer this morning...hopefully there are no other creatures lurking about.

Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family!! #nerdalert

xo A

Tea & Handguns

It's almost the last 1/2 day Friday and a few of the girls I worked with invited me to tea. Don't laugh, it was really cute! There are lots of different tea options, instead of unlimited water, they have unlimited tea!

We tried Pomegranate, peach, caramel, and vanilla chai! The food was really good too.

                       

I didn't want to start getting soft so I drove to the gun range, Shoot Straight. I drive past it everyday on my way home from work, and noticed today was Smith & Wesson Demo Days, and decided, why not?

I walked in and immediately regretted not doing some research first, but I'm pretty good at playing dumb on subjects I have little knowledge in. I spoke with a sales clerk (a Minnesota native!) and he brought me to a S&W rep who shows me a few different guns and we settle on a full size 9mm and a 40 (he also showed me the smaller ones and said they'd have more recoil, and also that I should only shoot the 9mm and none of the 40. Me being stubborn, did not like that) so after I signed my life away I put on my safety glasses and ear protection (I can only think of earmuffs and I know that's not what they're called) and hit the range. 

I was actually pretty nervous, and the dude loaded the magazine showed me how to hold it, and just gave it to me. He literally just handed me a loaded gun. I could have been a crazy! But I appreciated that they trusted me. I handed it back (safety on) and shook my head, so he then actually showed me how to hold it and where to put my hands. My first shot with the 40 was absolutely terrifying. I literally thought my ears were going to blow out and my hands would possibly blow up. I shot again just because I had 5 free ones. One look at my face and he knew I was done, we switched to the 9mm pretty quick. That one was a lot smoother, and once back inside, I told the guy he was right, a 9 is about all I can handle.

I went back to my original sales guy, Cameron and we discussed becoming a member. I told him I wanted to actually learn what to do and he said he would teach me basic gun safety if I wanted. He was really sweet and got me set up with a Glock and ammo, and some targets.

My first 4 shots were in the 10! But then I got cocky because he was still there and hit the 8.

       

                                    

And he told me he'd help me out next time I'm in if I had questions. Plus! Monday is Ladies Night which means I shoot free and only pay for ammo :) 

       

(This member number is SUPER top secret) (aka the date and the number in line that signed up today)

xo A

Metal studs.

Armed with a shiny new (magnetic!) level and a stud finder, I began the quest to hang my floating shelf.

I tested out all the stud finders and came to conclusion they were all the same (or so I thought) so naturally I bought the cheapest one because I don't plan on using it often. This is the current state of my stud finder.

Yup. A cotton ball holding the battery in. POS 

It still worked, not ideal, but I found my studs 24" apart, marked the wall and started to drill my pilot holes. I hit, what I assumed to be wood, and could not get through.

Assuming like any normal person, I can't push any harder, must be metal. Metal studs. Thanks a lot Florida. Now what.

Apparently my drill bit sucked so I switched to a new one, and hit metal (and also completely ruined the drill bit, so much for "these work on metal too") and Eureka it worked!

I was able to secure the support beam/rack stupid thing and slide the shelf over it. But I will probably never buy one of these again...or buy a better stud finder...or a better drill bit...or have someone else do it for me.

Not sure what else to put on it, and need to actually print out a family picture...but a completed project that actually turned out ok

$15 from IKEA and a huge headache...not sure it was worth it.

xo A

Thanks to anyone who helped or listened to me complain about this stupid shelf all week :)

Wednesday learnings

1. How to NOT cut a mango (still not sure about the correct way, but I've heard there are good YouTube videos).

2. The level on my phone blows

3. It is next to impossible to find a wall stud by "knocking". (And the 16-24" apart only works if you find one first!) Whoever invented that is probably having  a heart attack watching down on me with my face pressed against the wall and bloody knuckles

4. It may be possible Florida does not actually use wall studs

5. How to tell what size drill bit to use with a screw. A real simple technique I use is to hold up the drill bit and the screw. Hold the shaft of the drill bit up in front of the screw. You should only be able to see the threads of the screw (and maybe a bit of the screw). If you can't see the threads the drill bit is too big. If you can see too much of the screw, the bit is too small.

I'll be back tomorrow with a stud finder and a proper level, although I've been hanging things for the past 7 years without one...damn you vaulted ceilings!

Ps. My knuckles really aren't bloody, I'm not that dumb....

xo A

Aww nuts

I felt this was to good to not share:

Today after taking a bite of granola bar, the worst thing happened.

I felt the urge to sneeze. I tried chewing really fast but ended up sneezing nuts all over my hand. We just moved desks and obviously I had no paper towels or napkins at my desk. And I couldn't just walk around the office with a hand of chewed up nuts/granola.

Jeans are now in the washing machine :)

Not before I made another trip to Home Depot. I needed a smaller drill bit to attach the wall mounts for the jewelry hanger and should have went more prepared as there are a thousand different sizes and brands. Some guy helped me our conversation as follows:

Hi what can you tell me about drill bits

   Errr what do you want to know

Well I'm drilling into red oak and its really hard and I've already broke a screw so I want to make sure this will work to pre drill a hole for the wall mount (I then proceed to draw a picture of it to make sure he knows what I'm talking about).

   This is made for steel, you shouldn't have a problem. (He then gives me the 2 pack "just in case so I don't have to come back")

      

xo A

the Motley Crue returns

Friday afternoon, Mötley Crüe (it keeps auto correcting to that so I'm just going to go with it, although it looks way to fancy...) was listened to on repeat 3 times so we could better learn the songs. And we were in for a real treat. Immediately walking onto the grounds, we realized our bright outfits were not going to fit in. Tesla opened and during set change was a great time to people watch. After that...things got real intense, real fast.  Of course I did not get a picture of Emily Kendra Blake and I, but lots of good pictures/videos during the show.

                                            

We ended up leaving the show somewhere between "I'm the motherfucker of the year" and "Home Sweet Home" but stayed for Shout at the Devil (I used to pretty good at Guitar Hero)(ok and the part that they were good, didn't mean quality wise).

Saturday night however, was country night, I still had yet to buy a ticket or find anyone that didn't have a ticket at 7:00 and the show started at 7:30. Lets be real, I was saving my money for beer tickets. My parents have box seats for 4 and Nick and Joni were already sitting with them. So obviously we squeezed 5 in. I actually hopped around chatting with other people during the opening acts so it really wasn't until Keith, that we were squeezed in.

Dustin Lynch. Hot. Single.

I didn't get a picture of him (yes I'm sad about it too) but he was a really good opening act. I expect great things from him.

Little Big Town was up next and they were really good.

        

        

And then. Keith Urban. He put on an amazing show (and I would hope so with 13 semi's full of set/equipment). The crowd loved him, and him and his band were great at getting everyone involved. I got no good pictures because the lights went nuts on my camera but the confetti was sweet.

        

Family photo out takes

This past weekend I was at home and it was decided that we needed to re take family photos for the Christmas card because Brody has gotten so big since October and it will be Christmas the next time I'm home.  So everyone planned their outfits based off some family I creeped from Pintrest and these little gems were born.

Nick and Joni have a nice camera so we set up a tripod and Emily Enterprises with assistants Kendra and Blake, snapped pictures. This first one cracks my shit up. I cannot get over how perfect of a Christmas card this would be. If I received this in a card, I would pee my pants laughing and probably frame it. 

                         

None of us remember what was so funny. It could have been Kendra trying to work the bubble machine, or maybe Blake with the pinwheel or Emily standing in the trees taking pictures. Either way it's a classic. We're all laughing and Brody is finally looking at the camera. The rest of the shots are pretty much candids and in no way staged as Em was snapping pictures the whole time.

The candid shots are seriously the best and as I was flipping through them on the plane, I seriously was about to pee my pants (that also could have been the excess of coffee I had)(no one thought it was funny that Nick looks like an absolute loon in half of these or in a better half, Brody is looking at the camera and the rest of us are not paying attention or have our eyes closed)(actually the lady sitting next to me is absolutely pissed at the world)

                      

                      

                      

                      

I mean you just cannot make this up. I'm guaranteed printing all these off and plastering my desk with them like a wallpaper.

It may be the classiest family photo of us because it shows who we really are. I've laughed so hard over the past 3 days reminiscing - we drink bloody Mary's at 3 in the afternoon in the baby pool set up on the deck with 6 inches of water, open Dill Pickle chips for the guests, and pay for professional photos to be taken with a case of Fastco brand soda. 

It's family and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

xo A

It's not the attendant's fault. Stop being a B.

Right this moment. 

I'm that shoeless girl with headphones, bouncing (chair dancing as ma would say) because I'm listening to "drop-a-beat workout" and taking up 3 seats at the airport who's already spent her $18 vouchers on rum and cokes (bc I'm a sweet girl and went to the nice man NOT at my flight gate)(I actually tried to offer him some gum and realized it was in my other purse and I only had Chapstick to offer when he added the other 2, 6$ ones on), when everyone else got $6 and a bag of peanuts. Suckers.

This is a week of learnings. Today:

Sour gummy bears > regular gummy bears

Crying only smears your mascara

Airline people are great, so don't be a bitch

Take the free soda and pretzels when they offer

When you bring chicken and waffles to work, people get real jealous

Is 84 degrees in FL, and I am flying home to 93. Maybe this delay is God's way of saving my hair from humidity, I mean flying carry on only, I can only bring so many liquids, and hair products did not cut it. ( hmm that sounds weird, I try to fly with zero liquids because I hate taking things out of my neatly packed bag)

There are only 20 people waiting for this flight now. I hope I get a whole row to myself.

Well Diane my bartender is looking lonely, so I'm going to go join her. Here's some Captiva beach pictures.

                                               

       

xo A

Possibly the last DIY project

Things I've learned this time around:

1. Red oak is really hard. Never buy again even though its pretty

2. Swearing doesn't help

3. Neither do tears

4. Neither do people on the phone that have no idea what you're doing.

I needed storage in the bathroom and saw this cute wall thing with mason jars. I couldn't find mason jars that worked with my hose clamps, and that was my first mistake.

I started with Elmer's glue and food coloring, I made way to much. I mixed yellow and only one drop of red, attempting to make a gold. It turned out lightish yellow. Using a foam brush I painted the outside and let dry. Streak free! I read online about glue/food coloring recipes and applications and a ton of people had problems, this was literally the easiest part.

                        

Two weeks ago I stained a 2 foot red oak board.

And now the fun begins.

The hose clamps and the nails I bought did not fit into each other so I had to drill new holes into them. And the wood was too hard to hammer into, so I had to drill start holes. And that didn't really work and I started to get angry so some of the nails might be a little bent.

                         

Either way. This is how it ended. I'm not extremely happy with it. But at least I didn't completely screw it up.

      

                                       

I recommend you not trying this at home. Ever. Or anything like this. Buy it in a store.

xo A

  

      

chicken && waffles

Instead of showing you beach photos from the weekend (I'll hold those for another time) it's time for Fort Myers southern food at its finest.

Fancy's. not a chain, family owned (we actually met the owner) and seriously amazing. The menu was so hard to choose from, but we got appetizers, a meal and dessert (and I never get dessert, but this place is worth the dessert).

   

  

We started with Fried Cheese Grits and Fried Green Tomatoes. 

And for the meal, Jenny and I went with chicken and waffles, Alisha got chicken with Mac n cheese and black eyed peas (all delicious)

This picture really does is no justice...4 homemade waffles and 2 chicken breasts with sweet potato haystack on top covered in homemade syrup.

Since I got there before the other two, I stalked the table next to us and eaves dropped on what they were getting. When we were halfway thru our meals, one of the ladies said something about how huge the meal was and how small we were. Then I proceeded to recite back what each of them had and ask how their meals were. Not creepy at all. It is confirmed that shrimp n grits, pot roast, meatloaf, fried okra and the pork special are all dishes they'd get again (yup I'm a creep) and "those waffles have so much syrup they should come with a side of angioplasty" 

I would have liked to tell her I'm taking my side of angioplasty to lunch tomorrow so everyone can ogle my meal. However I just smiled and laughed. She's the one that had the Mac n cheese...hello butter cream and cheese.

Anyhow, I have enough left for two meals, and was really quite full until the waiter told us about dessert. The Aunt's secret family Banana Pudding recipe it is. Literally best banana pudding I've ever had (sorry ma) it was more of a custard it was so thick.

Then it was decided to call the owner back over to coax the recipe out of him. I have no recipe for you but I guarantee its a custard not a pudding. You could hold the spoon upside down and it didn't move.

I will tell you how good this food is. My car smelled so good driving home I contemplated eating the leftovers on the way home. A waffle! Drenched in syrup....come to think of it, I could eat some right now...

IKEA

This weekend Jacs, Justin and I went to IKEA in Tampa. It was Jaclyn's first time and we were all pretty excited. It was still very overwhelming, I always forget how much stuff there is and how many people are there.

                                             

I've never eaten at IKEA, but the food was amazing! And pretty cheap. Had to get the Swedish meatballs (obviously) with mashed potatoes and *gasp* cranberries! Amazing. Very filling though, I couldn't eat it all or wouldn't have been able to continue shopping.

        

I immediately put most of my stuff together when I got home. It amazes me how everything comes so flat and is packed so neat that it fits in such a small box. Now I have some nice storage and extra DVD shelves.

                           

So now I sit on the floor with cardboard and plastic bags everywhere...more decorations to come!

xo A

The pros & cons of home hair dye

If you know me, you know I love pros/cons lists and make them for many decisions in my life. Some small on post it's, others on large pieces of "weekly rip-off calendar" pages.

I recently dyed my hair (and previously cut it) and showing up at work is always fun and usually lasts for a week until the last people see your head. I always get antsy and nervous whenever I dye it and tend to go a shade lighter than I want because one time, had to be junior year of high school, I picked out dark dark brown and I turned into Morticia Addams from the Addams family because it was so black, almost purple. Horrifying.

Pros.

Lots of compliments, even if your clothes look subpar, your hair is still glowing from just being dyed. Actually even if it sucks people will lie and say it looks normal.

People literally come out of the woodwork to talk to you therefore minimizing actual work time. The office is very open so when someone exclaims "you colored your hair?!" Most people assume hot pink streaks and flock over.

You hear things like "that color really brings out your eyes" (great just what I need).

Someone in the office was actually startled. "Ohmygosh you dyed your hair?! I thought you were a whole new person! I love it!"

Cons.

I ruin on average one towel, t shirt, and washcloth every time (I used to keep them to use every time I colored my hair, but I always dye brown, and no one wants to go into the linen closet and see a streaky brown towel. Just sayin')

This time I also ruined two hair ties. I mean they weren't really a big loss, they're those new "bracelet" ones, and they don't hold my hair very well

I always manage to cover my entire forehead in dye, and my ears, and my neck, so that's always really fun to scrub off.

Also. If you touch anything it doesn't show at first, but guaranteed 10 minutes later, fingerprints.

Anyhow, I feel like I can do it just as good for $7 at home than sit for 3 hours and spend well over $60. Pros will always win for home hair dye when it's a normal color. 

Plus I hear guys at Home Depot really like a good brunette ;)

xo A

Sugar rush

I've begun to realize sugar makes me more productive than coffee. That being said, today I had a coffee with sugar, a half hot chocolate/half coffee (only because there was no more coffee left, but I'd already poured the sugar) a large sweet tea THEN on Thursdays in the summer the ice cream truck comes around campus and we get treats. For free!

Since I was so productive, after work I figured I'd finally finish my jewelry wall hanger thing. 

What I learned:

A. Take the drill off reverse if you do not want to reverse

B. screws get real hot. Real hot.

C. Do not unscrew a screw if something is attached to the other end. It will break and you will never be able to get the screw out

D. Screws for drawer pulls suck. The top will turn from an X to an O and you will have to hand, unscrew it.

E. always buy extra. Of everything.

F. The picture hanging kit states you can push in with your thumbs. This is not true for red oak

Maybe I should stick to buying things...

At least I had on cute pants while I was attempting it.

                                        

xo A

Hump daaaay

I watch this video every Wednesday.

I made everyone watch it on the way to Key West. I send it to random people on Wednesdays. I sent it around the office so everyone would know why I was giggling so much. I snap chat it.

(It also took me forever to figure out how to actually post a link via iPad so I watched it approximately 5 more times today)(and even then I had to flip over to my laptop). Lame I know, but it brings joy to my day.

What I'm super psyched to share is the contents of the box from yesterday.....

                                 

Guest! Bed!

                                   

It is memory foam, and pretty amazing. When I have no guests it may be used as my nap bed

                                   

          

The picture looks crooked. I swear its not. I think it's the angle. 

Oh did I mention I have a loft? It's big enough for a twin air mattress and really close to the kitchen for midnight snacks. $5 to whomever comes up with an idea of what I can actually put up there.

                                     

       

xo A