chicken soup for the soul.

 

yesterday afternoon i really started to feel like real food again.

consider my not very satisfying diet of vegetable broth, water and gatorade the previous 36 hours, not very satisfying...

so we made some chicken noodle soup,

to slap the rest of the sick right out of me.

husband and i use this recipe from real simple, found here, lots.

the only thing we do differently is we add half of an onion and a little thyme.

its easy and tasty, and gets the chicken noodle soup work done in no time.

the other day i pinned this:

if i wasn't so starving :)

maybe i would have taken the time to do that.

probably not.

but if you wanted some chicken noodle soup for valentine's day, or you wanted to make your husband or child feel better while they're sick with the dirty flu, you could most definitely make it with tender, loving, heart-shaped carrots.

the carrots hail from here.

and i think it's pretty cute.

(you could save those carrot peels for making broth... which i'm also too lazy to do myself. emeril makes a tasty organic veggie or chicken :)

negative side of being gone for 2 days unexpectedly, my desk and inbox look like a war zone...

bright side of being gone for 2 days unexpectedly, it's thursday and tomorrow's friday!

JILL

that. was. awful.

friends friends friends.

the sucky, disgusting flu hit me yesterday at 3am.

i woke up running to the bathroom.

and between 3am and 10am, i did that a number of times.

and then once more on my way to bed last night, you know, just for kicks.

the whole day i laid motionless on my couch watching horrible daytime tv.

trying not to move because it hurt, and honestly i didn't want to stir anything else up.

it was awful.

i wouldn't wish that junk on anyone.

i'm still not back at work today, but at least i'm feeling better to wear i can sit. and stand. and shower. and blog! and who knows... i might eat some real food today.

you should go get a flu shot if you haven't, which i didn't, and wished i did.

it's the most awful thing.

see you around these parts tomorrow.

JILL

where we eat.

 

 

 

not only what we eat, but where we eat it, is important.

i am drawn to kitchens/dining rooms with interest.

with details.

with stuff!! (shocker, i know)...

and not just new stuff. definitely the old stuff, too. 

the kind of things that bring a sense of history, and charm, and that lived-in quality that usually can only come with collecting pieces over time... and you know, actually living in the space.

old table cloths, antique china cabinets, chandeliers, upholstered pieces, and great art...

all great kitchens, do make.

or they at least help it out!

this is a little off the topic, but not really i guess, since we're talking kitchens...

but i foresee stainless steel appliances dating our era in the future.

will people in 20 years look back on our time and see the ss fridge like we do the old avocado ones? people on hgtv kill me while house hunting. they walk into a kitchen and bitch, excuse my french, because it doesn't have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. ugh.

but that's another post for another day.

fill your kitchens with the things you love, and use. old copper pots look better out of the cabinet than in :)

and art loves kitchens.

in case you didn't know that.

happy monday.

JILL

{all images via my pinterest board}

flowers for friday #128

 

sorry for the radio silence.

i have to admit it was kinda nice.

although awkward at first. i've only ever taken a day or two away from here at a time before. i had this feeling in the back of my scattered brain that i was missing something important. then... i became ok with it :)

i was still glued to my iphone, but a few days away from here was just what the doctor ordered...

alot of bloggers out there feel my pain.

i think pinterest, while THE largest reason why i'm glued to my phone, is sucking the life and creativity out of blogging. i used to use this place as somewhere to document and keep track of all the things i found beautiful, and to share the knowledge of some lesser known beautiful things with you...

now, that is what pinterest does.

and they do it over and over and over again. really well.

like, too well.

and again, while i love me some pinterest time before i even get out of bed every single morning (and through the whole day), i am finding it harder to find stuff to blog about... are we becoming desensitized to pretty? good, i didn't think so either.

so, i will be back here on monday all bright eyed and bushy tailed. raring to go.

with even more original content than ever before.

i'm going to share lots more of my photography.

and there's a TONNNNNNN to catch up on over the last 3 or 4 months. so i will do that. and i'm excited.

and i'm going to share what's happening at my house more often. because it's one giant work in progress, has been and always will be i think!

and because frankly, the blogs i love to read most are those with their own content! and i want you to love it here, too.

so that's what i'm going to do.

along with those same things i'm still finding beautiful and just can't keep to myself. 

so that you can pin them.

ha.

happy weekend, kids.

JILL

{image taken by emily steffen, via ruffled blog}

flowers for friday #127

just really really late.

 

 apparently i'm no longer able to upload photos onto blogger from my work laptop... which is where i do 90% of my blogging. whoops. i was able on thursday, and then friday i was not. so i thougt it was maybe a blogger issue and assumed it'd be fixed by monday where i could catch right back up....

but it wasn't a blogger problem.

it was an old computer problem.

i installed some updates thursday afternoon and one didn't fully go through and that prevents the upload button on blogger from appearing...apparently. IT's working on it :)

so i'm making do until its resolved.

show must go on.

i'll be back later this afternoon.

sorry for the silence around here these past few days.

didn't mean to!

JILL

{image via my pinterest}

nye #ootd

i just now got into instagram.

i've had it for awhile but never really did anything but take photos and use a cool filter.

now i'm following people, and interacting, and i love it!

my only promblem with it-- when i like something, i can never go back and look at them. but that's me and photos... i've always been that way. i like to hoard everything. they're like memories on screen/paper and i can't let go.

not going to lie though, i had to google what #ootd meant.

seriously. and for those of you about to do the same, it means outfit of the day.

i don't do twitter. never have, and don't think i ever will.

words, meh. but pictures, now there's a language i speak fluently.

so i'm into it.

but as promised,

here's my nye outfit.

i hadn't tried any of it on together, i kinda picked it out in my mind.

it was a white tee with a full black tulle skirt.

and i sorta loved it.

but it was snowing out and i felt i might be slightly overdressed.

even though it was so casual on top, it was a bit shmancy on bottom for where i was going.

so i chickened out.

husband said to "save it" and i'm not sure what for bc we don't do alot of things where that fits, but i'm saving it in the back of my mind for the perfect time.

so i switched it out for your standard gold sequins.

felt much better.

and that was new years eve 2012/2013.

what did you wear? any epic #ootd? ha.

JILL

do you ever?

 during our lazy day off yesterday, husband and i were watching movies while cleaning and taking down christmas around the house.

we landed on unknown.

it's an ok, entertaining movie full of twists.

but i was way more interested in the background scenery.

do you ever do that?

how could you not in this room, though?

the pale blue/aqua walls and wallpaper with bright red/orange/persimmon drapes.

i paused it, got my phone and took a picture.

then stored it away in my brain.

my husband and i have been together for almost 10 years now.

i think he used to think it was cute, when we'd watch a movie and i'd ask him if he just saw that lamp or asked if he liked that room... of course he didn't even notice but he'd smile and say something cute or witty.

now he just gives me a weird look, like "only you" and a polite smile.

i blame home alone.

i loved, still love, and always will love that house.

even to this day, i soak up that house.

sure it could use a little update, but i also think about that- what i'd do to spruce it up.

do you do that, or am i nuts?

we saw james bond over the weekend.

if you aren't a james bond fan, and you like pretty sets, you might love this movie.

if you are a total and serious you-own-the-entire-collection-set james bond nerd, like myself, you'd love it. i wasn't a fan of the last 2 with daniel craig (not bc of daniel craig, but the movie itself). this one, however, was awesome.

and the sets were amazing.

from shanghai to scotland.

beauty.

i can't be the only one who does this.

that's why they make sets so pretty...

for those of us that notice and appreciate.

right?

do you have any favorites?

JILL