Jennifer Vitti

Time for another recipe update. I can’t believe I’m still going!!

Monday, February 4th- Salami and Cheese Panini: Pretty basic recipe here. Also pretty delicious. I love a good Panini. No need for a fancy Panini griller either–a simple countertop George Foreman grill will do!

Tuesday, February 5th- Sweet Potato Burritos: Sweet potatoes are something that I used to think were just for Thanksgiving time. Now I’m obsessed! Sweet potato fries, sweet potato burritos, sweet potatoes by themselves as a side. They’re so tasty and really pretty good for you!

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Wednesday, February 6th- Cedar Planked Salmon: I was so excited to do this recipe and then I completely FORGOT to take a picture. But I did make it. Sam helped me out as he is the grill master. I would say it was pretty successful. I’m still getting comfortable with cooking different fishies, but I get better each time. I almost cook a fish recipe a week now!

Thursday, February 7th-Chicken with Port Wine: I have made similar recipes of this in the past. I wasn’t fully impressed with this particular recipe however. Or the port that I bought…I’m not sure which. The flavor just wasn’t there.

Friday, February 8th-Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies: Apparently I couldn’t be bothered to take off the saran wrap (probably because I was afraid I would eat the rest–as you can see I already had eaten quite a few before I took a picture). Needless to say these were delicious! Anything with peanut butter, chocolate, and sugar is FANTASTIC in my book.

Saturday/Sunday, February 9th/10th-Almond Biscotti: Didn’t come out as hard as legit biscotti (I’m okay with that). Love the almond flavor in it though!

And there you have it! Another week of my recipe challenge (only a couple months behind, but that’s okay)!

Life is really great right now otherwise. Lots of fun wedding planning and I FINALLY GOT A JOB (be patient, friends! It will come!)! It’s an RN position at a pediatric primary care office and I love it already (I just started last week). Now when I get a chance to blog some more I can finally start talking about the job search process and what not. Just wanted to give you all that little update in the meantime though!

~love always~

Jen

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I have this weird fear of going places and trying new things alone. I always would rather go with Sam, or a friend, or my sister, or anyone. When I go somewhere with someone I am outgoing and fun. IF I even manage to go by myself I tend to be quieter and only make small talk if spoken to first. The “if” was key… a lot of times I just won’t even go, unless I put money on it, or if someone is counting on me. This is a weird and annoying quality of mine that I’m not proud of, but in the year 2013 dedicated to being the “best version of myself“ it is something that I’m working on.

Anyway you may or may not know that I danced for a long time: on and off since I was 5 years old through college. After college, I went to nursing school and only danced in the comforts of my own home and that has continued. I miss dancing as part of a class, but adult classes are few and far between and I’m not going to travel crazy distances for a dance class, no matter how much I miss it. But I finally found one in February just down the street! I was so excited. But I had no one to go with. Dancing is not really Sam’s thing (especially not “Cardio Hip Hop” haha), nor my sister’s thing, nor really very many of my friends’ things. So I was alone in that. I sort of went back and forth about it for a month. Then in March I finally emailed the dance studio to ask for more details (if I have to go somewhere by myself the next best option is being as prepared as I can be). I asked about what people wear, how much it costs, and how many people usually attend. The staff emailed me back, very friendly I might add, answering all my questions. I also looked at videos/pictures on their website, so I know what the class was like and what the studio looked like. Everything seemed good to me. It took me another month to gear myself up enough to go, but this week I finally did it. I put on my exercise clothes, my dance shoes, and headed to a 7PM dance class at this local studio. I was super nervous going by myself (Sam was on his way home from work and I talked to him on the phone beforehand to have him help calm me down haha), but I was committed. I found it. Went in. Told them I was interested in taking the class. I was feeling very brave at this point. And then they told me the class is no longer being offered. WHAAAATTTT!!! Then I asked if they were offering any adult classes. The answer: “Not at this time, but check again in the Fall”. I replied that I will definitely be keeping an eye out and then I drove home. Haha so anti-climatic and disappointing. *Sigh*. On the bright side–I went! And now I feel like if they really do offer classes in the fall that I will be ready and not hesitate the next time. I will also call first

~love always~

Jen

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Haven’t updated my positivity project in a while–felt like it was definitely necessary as we begin trying to heal…

~Picking a date~ Snow day~ My mom~ Wedding surprise~ Good service~ Celebrating birthdays~ Sunnier mornings~ Army wives~ Breakfast Smoothies~ Holding hands~ Getting stuff done~ Being on the same page~ Crocuses~ Laughing until I cry~ Him telling me he loves my cooking~ New haircut~ Good advice~ Speaking Italian with the hairdresser~ Making ourselves more efficient~ Pink toy mice~ High score~ Old friends~ Catching up~ An especially yummy salad~ Grammys~ Sharing~ All smiles~ Supporting family~ St. Patty’s Day~ Wearing green~ Inside jokes~ Continuing to learn~ Avocados and cottage cheese~ Still smiling at my ring finger~ Cranberry/pomegranate juice~ Signing~ Clean teeth~ Sweet phone calls~ Both cats in bed with me~ Coming home~ Best versions of us~ Leftovers~ Movie night~ Popcorn~ Texts from cousins~ New friends~ Putting myself out there~ Having each other~ Staying in bed a few extra minutes~ Still doing this positivity project–and loving that it works~ Lucky # 5~ Singing loudly in the car~ Yogurt with chocolate on the bottom~ Being proud of him~ Dancing my heart out~ Moving quotes~ Having energy all day~ Full moon~ Country music~ Spring time~ Wedding photography~ Clicking with someone immediately~ Taxes DONE!~ New leaves on the Bonsai~ Doing things together~ Sushi~ Easter with my family~ Homemade raviolis~ Mom still does Easter baskets~ Easter with his family~ Surprise Easter egg hunt~ Chocolate~ Panera~ Not being discouraged~ Healthy choices~ A good run~ Finding out all the April Fool’s jokes the day after~ Finishing previously unfinished projects~ Soccer buddies~ Pink yoga mat~ Sisterly support~ Qualifying~ Appreciating~ New shortcuts~ Long walks and chats with mom~ Being a woman~ Thinking about the future~ Trash to treasure~ Lucky # 12~ Great deals~ Finding a favorite pen~ Fresh produce~ Music playing throughout the house~ Progress~ Exciting interview~ Being dolled up~ Being called “skinny minny”~ Beating fitness scores from 12 weeks ago~ Understanding~ BLC 21~ Remembering to preorder warm chocolate cake~ Great references~ Getting wedding mail~ Pilates~ Goal is in reach~ Staying in~ 5 minute Fridays~ Being fascinated~ Extended family~ Retail therapy~ Making decisions together~ Working on the details~ Surprise text from work~ Dinner with the family~ Boston Strong~ Hugs when you need them~ Love from the world~ Job offer~ Moving forward~ Birds nesting~ Mints~ Being an adult~ Celebrating~ Walks after dinner~ Flowers in the garden~ Quick responses~ Boston Strong AGAIN!~ Renewed motivation~ New calendar~ First Smartphone~ FitBit finally~ Clothes and shoes~ Rocking chairs~ Warmth on my face~ Cats in the window~ Healing~ New roof~ No ants so far this spring~ Patience~ Bravery~ Trying something new~ Sunshine~ Pink case~ Open windows~

Lots of themes in there: my fiancé, my family, being healthy, spring time, lucky numbers, wedding stuff, getting a new job, and apparently I like to point out things that are pink!

~love always~

Jen

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I am so deeply saddened by the events that took place on Monday at the Boston Marathon. Boston is my city, always has been/always will be, and I love everything about it. Stay strong, Boston! The outpouring of love and support for each other in this city is amazing. Lots of thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by this tragedy.

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If you are looking to donate to the victims and their families please visit OneFundBoston .

~love always~

Jen

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It’s been awhile since I blogged on a Friday, so in turn it’s been a while since I posted a Five Minute Friday! Here it goes…

HERE

START

Since I finished school and while I’ve been searching for a job I’ve had a bit more time to focus on me. I’ve done A LOT of self improvements. I have focused on eating right and exercising (I’ve lost a total of 15 lbs so far with a few more to lose, but well on my way) by counting calories, eating more fruits and veggies, eating less junk, running, walking, dance videos, and Blogilates (my latest and greatest addition to my fitness routine and I’m so addicted). I’ve also worked on stress reduction (thank you Mequilibrium and my positivity project), decluttering and improving my home, and focusing on my relationships (HAPPILY ENGAGED GIRL RIGHT HERE!!!). And I’ve finally finally started to master my sleep schedule (currently I’m consistently going to bed at 11:15 PM and getting up at 8:15 AM [or earlier as needed] and next week I’m going to try to move it to 11:00 PM and 8:00 AM). From all this work I have become a happier, healthier, more energetic, and overall BETTER version of the same old Jen that people know and love As I get closer and closer toward my career goals (hopefully will have an update on that soon too!!!) I am hoping to transition smoothly continuing to incorporate these new positive habits. This new woman is HERE to stay!

STOP

~love always~

Jen

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Busy busy girl I am!! Been a while since I blogged. But here we are into Month #2 of  the Recipe Challenge still going strong (sort of–one cheat, which I explain below on February 1st)!

Monday, January 28th-Zucchini Bites: I’m a huge zucchini fan, so these were very good! Took a little bit longer to cook the egg than I expected though (watch out for that!)

Tuesday, January 29th-Soft Pretzels: I know you love my photography skills. I always almost forget to take a picture (and after months of doing this that has not changed haha), so then I put them away and take them out when I remember. Voila! Soft Pretzels in a green tupperware! Anyway these were interesting. I’m only just discovering recipes with yeast, so they came out pretty tasty in the end, but I had a really hard time working with the bread “dough” (I don’t feel confident to use that word without quotes). Hence the funny shapes. But they tasted like soft pretzel, so I guess that’s sort of a success!

Wednesday, January 30th-Quick Quinoa Granola: Burnt the dried cherries a little bit (sometimes I wonder if you guys ask yourselves why I even bother cooking because I seem to have so many mishaps! I’m actually not a bad cook-honest!! These recipes often are a little outside my comfort zone in terms of ingredients or technique, or the recipe in general, so I do have a lot of mishaps, but I think they’re making me better in the long run!). But it still ended up coming out fine. I like putting granola in my yogurt, so now I have plenty of my own!

Thursday, January 31st-Kitchen Tip-How to Brown Butter: The last day of each month in my calendar is a kitchen tip instead! Phew a day off! This month’s tip was how to brown butter! Seems pretty do-able. Haven’t had to use the tip yet, but I’ll come back and update if I do! When do you need brown butter vs. just butter?

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Friday, February 1st-Fried Dill Pickles: *Sigh* I didn’t make this one. I’m still going with my recipes though. This involved using either a deep fryer or at least an oil thermometer. Neither of which I have or care to buy at this point. Soooo I skipped this one. But this is the only one so far! Bummer because it sounds really good too. If I ever acquire the necessary items maybe I will return to this recipe!

Saturday/Sunday, February 2nd/3rd-Almond Falafel: I don’t cook with lamb that often (actually ever–which is surprising because my fiancé is part Syrian and I’m part Greek, so we have lamb meals a lot with our families–more his than mine). I don’t have anything against it, I just don’t tend to pick lamb recipes. But this came out REALLY great. Lamb is definitely a little more expensive than ground beef, but I won’t be afraid to try more lamb recipes in the future now!

~love always~

Jen

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Sam and I have booked our church and reception and therefore have picked a DATE for our wedding!! Sam and I will be married Saturday, June 7th, 2014! It also happens to be Sam’s birthday (yay Happy Birthday you’re getting a wife ) He’ll never forget our anniversary, right?! I’ve also chosen coral and grey as my wedding colors (Google it–it’s pretty! Fun and classic, just like me!).

I’m really enjoying wedding planning so far. Next step: book the photographer!

~love always~

Jen

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So I am WAYYY behind on posting my recipe challenge (mostly because I only post once a week, if that, and I don’t want my blog to be ALL food), but I have continued to participate in my self-administered challenge. So here is the next week’s worth from where I left off:

Monday, January 21st-Turkey Chorizo Soft Tacos: This had a ridiculous amount of spices (the recipe looks SO LONG with all the ingredients, but it’s super easy). When I told people I made it they kept asking “Does it really come out tasting like chorizo with all those spices?” But I have no idea what chorizo tastes like. It came out tasty, but no idea if it came out as intended. Someone will have to try it who has had chorizo and fill me in!

Tuesday, January 22nd-Vegetbale Chili: Delicious on a cold winter day in New England! This recipe had me put cheese on the bottom of the bowl AND on top. Maybe not so great for the calorie count, but I LOVED having the cheese throughout! Side note: I am a terrible and lazy photographer, so I apologize for poor lighting and my shadow!

Wednesday, January 23rd-Artichoke Casserole: This picture doesn’t do it justice because you can’t see the inside or anything, but this would be a great dish if you had to bring a side dish to a party or something. And I love spinach and artichoke!!

Thursday, January 24th-Canadian Coffee: Okay, confession time. I didn’t try this one. I don’t drink coffee. But I did still make it and gave it to Sam to try instead! He liked it as a “special coffee” (he’s more of a plain, black coffee kinda guy). It has whiskey and maple syrup in it.

Friday, January 25th-Mad Hatter Salad: This was so yummy. The recipe makes a lot, so we were eating this as our salad with our dinner for the whole week, but we didn’t mind (we just made sure to keep the dressing on the side). It has veggies, nuts, and noodles! This is sort of a bottom of the bowl picture because I almost forgot to take a pic, but it’s pretty colorful when first put together!

Saturday/Sunday, January 26th/27th-Chicago-Style Hot Dog: You have to look pretty close to see underneath all that to tell that this is a hot dog haha. I haven’t had a hot dog in YEARS. Honestly, can’t even really remember last time I had one. So this was a fun treat. And because it’s “Chicago-style” it’s loaded with veggies and toppings (pickle wedges on either side of the hot dog, onions, relish, tomatoes, etc etc).

That’s it for Week 4. All successful dishes! As always let me know if you want any of the recipes and I’ll be happy to pass them along!

~love always~

Jen

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Still nothing new with the job search. So… I turn my attention to DIY projects around the house! Woot woot!

My next to-do project is going to be reupholstering my dining room chairs. Background story time! When we first moved in to our house (now TWO years ago–crazy to think) we just had Daphne. And as that post I linked to suggests, she was obsessed with foam and when she would get bored she would chew through any piece of furniture that had foam inside it, no matter how deep. Our dining room chair cushions got DESTROYED

That’s the worst one, but they all have varying degrees of foam removal courtesy of Daphne. We didn’t want to replace them right away because we knew that she would just keep being destructive. However, when we got Priscilla, Daphne was no longer bored during the day, she was a little older, and in turn has not been destructive (EVEN WITH THE OPEN FOAM LIKE THAT!) in 6 months. So we’re tackling the reupholstery project. It doesn’t seem too bad if you have good instructions (and we all know I love to follow instructions!!) but my issue is going to be finding a chair pattern that matches our mint green dining room (not my color choice, but it’ll do for now). At some point I assume we’ll paint the dining room, but that is low priority right now because the paint is in good condition and we have LOTS of other stuff to do. So I need to find something that matches the color now, but that also will match a future color that will be more neutral probably. I don’t see us buying a new dining room set for this house ever, so I’m not even going down that road.

I’ll be sure to return with an update picture after we complete the project (don’t hold your breath–it takes Sam and I awhile to finish our DIY projects–we always do eventually, but it may take months).

~love always~

Jen

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More from the positivity project:

~13 days of love beginning~ Meet-up dates~ Sharing my sister~ Old friends~ Early Spring~ Clean house~ Catching kitties snuggling~ Brunch~ Blankets and a movie~ Shows off of hiatus~ Testing “less stressed” than when I started my positivity project~ Sugar cookies~ Massage~ Cute packages~ A love letter~ Singing country songs in the shower~ Daphne learning to like to be brushed~ Sam letting me turn up the heat~ Bubble baths~ Fringe on demand~ Fuzzy socks~ Scented candles~ Priscilla chirping~ Pinterest~ Free weekend~ Reruns of 90′s shows~ Violet Venuses~ Excel shortcuts~ Hugs~ Letting it out~ Sara’s last vet school interview~ Sounding like himself again~ Trust~ Everyone passing out my resume~ Staying in warm bed 5 minutes extra~ True love~ 8 year anniversary~ Bruno Mars “I think I wanna marry you”~ GETTING ENGAGED~ Can’t get the smile off of my face~ Shiny ring~ Dinner at our fave restaurant~ Dad’s 56th Birthday~ Valentine’s Day~ Good news~ Happy Phone Calls~ Red roses~ Wedding Planning Book~ Amazing Race~ Still getting congrats~ Sharing the news~ Sara getting into her dream vet school~ Maid of Honor staying close to home~ Under Review~ Coral~ Pinterest now more than ever!~ Picturing myself in a wedding dress vs. just looking at them~ No gains in weight in weeks~ Biscotti~ Laughing until we cry~ Board of Trustee~ Listening to loud purring~ P.S. I Love You on TV~ Courage~ Stepping it up~ Liking what I see in the mirror~ Seeing venues~ Better than imagination~ Pretty spreadsheets~ Agreeing on what’s important~ Missing puzzle piece~ Our love being described as “epic”~ Helping someone else believe~ Me time~ American Sign Language~ Engagement cards~ Hearing my mom say I made her day~ Christmas is coming~ Healthy weight~ Good report from the PCP~ Dancing in the living room~ Penicillin~ End of February~ Deep cleaning~ Snow melting~ Magic erasers~ Cannoli~ Dinner with both sets of parents~ Southwestern Stuffed Bell Peppers~ A job well done~ Long weekend~ Getting in my 5.5 cups of water goal~ Nothing to clean~ A day off with him~ Lots to pick from at the grocery store~ Ready to eat avocados~ Sushi~ Noticing as soon as I walked in~ Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy~ Remembering to preorder dessert, so it’s warm~ Even older friends~Matt’s 24th Birthday~ Cheese and crackers~ Being asked to do a legit review on my blog~

There seems to be a theme going now that I’m engaged (let’s face it that causes me to be VERY happy ), but I still try to throw in some other reasons why I’m happy too!

~love always~

Jen

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