Ma Famille, la mia famiglia, mi familia, min familie...

No matter how you say it, they will always be your family. (The last one is Danish by the way) You may fight, argue, yell, cry - but ten minutes later it's all blown over and no one can remember what the fight was even about. The holiday season always seems to make families go crazy. My sister is indecisive and can't tell me what she wants for Christmas and my mom just wants "happy children" - the same thing every year. Mom makes the secret Boehm family chex mix and Margaux bakes a different pie each day. I'm always frantically searching for the perfect stocking stuffers. We send tons of emails back and forth about plane reservations, airport pickups and trips up to UMASS to take Margaux to and from school. Then the house fills up kids and friends and there is always arguing over who gets to take the car out. But at the end of the day, we'll always be family. I don't think I always appreciate this simple fact.

Style Status

Shopping for 'office appropriate' (read stuffy, manly, wrinkly) attire on a budget can be especially challenging when the clothes you prefer are way out of your budget. Yes, I could just go to Express (gross!) and get a black suit, some work pants and a few button downs and be set. However, the material is cheap, the fit is generic, and the clothes will only last me one season. Take it a step up to Banana Republic, JCrew (my personal favorite) or Ann Taylor - these suites/work clothes will last a little longer and come in a wider variety of fits and styles. Pieces are easy to mix and match and there are choice for non-iron tops (a MUST!). And then there is the ultimate status symbol - The Theory Suit. My mom and I joked after I landed my first 'big girl job' that "someday, when I saved up enough of my paychecks, I could indulge in my first Theory suit and it would be something I would pass down to my children someday..." Naturally, I want that day to come sooner, rather than later - so I scour  Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off 5th, and Neimans Last Call, hoping to find a bargain.

My mom was in town this weekend and we made our ritual visit to the NorthPark Mall. While perusing the racks in Nordstrom, I stumbled upon the most perfect Theory blazer and pencil skirt....that was of course way out of my budget at $550 for the jacket and skirt. Somedayyyyy....

Theory - 'Kiersten K - Strategy' Jacket and Skirt

BUT! This is not where the story ends. We headed over to the sale racks at Neiman Marcus and I proceeded to try on a few Theory dresses...just for fun. My mom and I found this great shift dress on sale for $177 from $295 with an extra 30% off. Even with all those discounts, the dress just wasn't an investment I could make. However, (and this is the perk to shopping with your sweet, sweet mother) my mom decided that it was a worthwhile purchase that I just couldn't live without in my work wardrobe. So TaDa --

Ohhhh sweet Theory heaven...

Have I now officially reached this new status symbol? Does it only apply when I officially own my first Theory suit? Who knows...but I am going to feel pretty dang special the first day I wear this slice of heaven to work.

Favorite Fall Food: Butternut Squash!

After many weeks of craving this dish, I finally caved and made my mom's Apple & Butternut Squash Soup. It's been unreasonably warm in Dallas but I've still been craving hot apple cider, cute brown riding boots, chunky sweaters, and all things pumpkin flavored. I decided I couldn't wait any longer, so I headed to Central Market after work yesterday to pick up the ingredients.

Here is my version of the recipe (a combination of my mom's recipe and ones I've seen online here and here):
1 large butternut sqaush - peeled, seeded, diced
3-5 Granny Smith apples (depending on how big they are) - peeled, cored, diced
2 cloves garlic - minced
2-3 shallots (depending on size) - chopped
2-3 cups chicken/vegetable stock
1-2 cups water (basically to cover the veggies)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil and saute shallots and garlic in olive oil until tender and fragrant. Add chopped squash, apples, stock and water. (My mom sautes her apples in butter and a touch of cinnamon instead of boiling them with the squash but I was too lazy to dirty another pan.) Cook squash and apples until fork tender (about 25 minutes). Puree soup by using a blender, food processor or immersion blender until very smooth. Return to pot. Add cream, nutmeg, salt/pepper to taste. Garnish with shredded aged cheddar, dollop of sour cream or paprika. Enjoy fall in a bowl!

Ingredients waiting for the pot

Word of advice - chopping and peeling the squash is a FEAT! If only my roommates has been home to witness me hacking away at this poor squash.

9 hours later...everything is chopped!

Smells AMAZING when garlic and shallots hit the oil

All the kids in the bath!

Finished product!

Fresh bread from the bakery at Central Market!

To hold you over...

This is just a short & sweet post to tie you over (this one's for you, Mary!)...

Yesterday was FULL of baking - it was just that kind of Sunday. I made a birthday cake for my friend Stephen who is a freshman at SMU and second string on the football team (so cool!).

I also made a cake for my roommates for Halloween. I made chocolate pumpkin cake (basically  just add a can of pumpkin to boxed cake mix with 2 eggs, couple tablespoons of oil and 1/3 cup of water).

 

More of an update to come!

Well, hello October and hello fall!

I posted a record of 2 times in September. Ouch, not so good. It's not that I've been particularly busy, just not particularly inspired. Things have been sorta "ho-hum" lately and I haven't really felt very excited about anything. Let's get you all up to speed. The second half of September consisted of my cousin's wedding in Chicago and the infamous SMU vs. TCU rivalry game. The wedding was a BLAST and I had a great time catching up with my family.

The Boehm Family (Mom in white and her sisters and brothers)

Mom has perfected the pose!

Cousins!

I hadn't seen my cousin Tyler and his wife Erica since their wedding 5 years ago and now Erica is pregnant!

Me and my cousin Tyler probably when I was about 8

The SMU vs. TCU game was on a friday and it was also family weekend. I was able to sneak out of work at 4:30 and make it over to the boulevard just in time. The stadium was packed full with 34,000 fans in red, with a sprinkling of purple TCU fans. SMU was the first to score and was beating TCU at two points in the game but in the end TCU won out. I still feel pretty good about my Mustangs for holding our own against a #4 ranked team. So far SMU has a winning record in our conference!

I also finally was able to buy my bike! Action pictures to come!

Ok now on to the real point of this post. So far, I have the feeling that October is going to be a great month. I started the first day of October by attending the Citizen Cope concert at the House of Blues with some of my friends. We had such a good time! (pic) Then I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing on the couch and reading outside. The weather has been just perfect!
This morning I met with my small group for the second time. I've joined this 'bible study' through HPUMC for young adults. I was skeptical at first because it can be a scary thing, pouring your heart out to 'strangers' and discussing our spirituality. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually loved the group! I look forward to it every week and the 8 of us really get along so well! Last Tuesday when I got to work, I felt just a little bit different, had a bit of a spring in my step. We meet at 7am so I had to wake up earlier than usual so I expected to be a little more tired at work but it had quite the opposite affect on me. I'm really looking forward to more Tuesday mornings with this group and maybe I'll be inspired to wake up a little bit earlier each morning and have a little quiet time before the craziness of the day.

"Let your light so shine before the world so that he may see your good works and give glory to our Father in Heaven"
~ Matthew 5:16

Wait what...?

Not only was this my "favorite" phrase in high school (it donned the back of my SENIOR GIRLS shirt) but this phrase also accurately describes this time in my life. There are days when I wake up and say to myself "Wait what...?" I wonder how the heck I got to this place...it's the middle of September, I have officially been a member of the work force for about 4 months, I have to start investing in my 401K, I have a car payment, my friends are getting married....the list goes on.
I'm on an alumni committee for SMU called SeRVe which helps recruit prospective students. We called students from our hometown and help answer questions about SMU and the experience. A lot of times when I called, I reached the parents and it's amazing how they change the way they talk to you when you say that you're an alum. They totally change their tone of voice from the "I'm addressing a college student" tone to the "you are my equal/peer" tone. It really started to hit me that while I may still feel like a unprepared student of the "work force",  people around me don't necessarily see it that way.
I know that my world will keep changing every day....but sometimes I just wish it would slow down and let me be a kid again. Good thing I'm going to my cousin's wedding this weekend where I'll be the oldest, unmarried cousin in the family...I think it's the perfect excuse to act like a kid.

The Rainy Day Blues

1. Blessed - Brett Dennen
2. Slow Mo - Steve Moakler
3. When a Heart Breaks - Ben Rector 
4. Yellow - Coldplay
5. Heaven - Brett Dennen
6. Better Together - Jack Johnson
7. So Damn Lucky - Dave Matthews
8. Run - Steve Moakler 
9. In Your Eyes - Ben Harper
10. The One Who Loves You The Most - Brett Dennen 
11. Something Beautiful - Needtobreathe
12. Skinny Love - Bon Iver 
13. I'm On Fire - John Mayer
14. Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson

An American Icon

“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”

 

Audrey Hepburn

 

I would like to go to these 2 places. If only I knew where they were....

Today's Inspiration

Oh sweet sunrise

I welcome the sun,

the clouds and rain,

the wind that sweeps the sky clean

and lets the sun shine again.

this is the most magnificent life has ever been.

here is heaven and earth

and the brilliant sky in between.

blessed is this life

and I'm gonna celebrate being alive.

blessed is this life

and I'm gonna celebrate being alive

I dwell in the darkness

I live in the light

I sleep in the afternoon

and become the noise in the night

I trespass in temptation

suffered in sacrifice

but I awake each day with a new sunrise

Blessed - Brett Dennen

For the first time, no first day!

As SMU classes begin today and wide-eyed freshman pour into classrooms eager to start their 4 years, I am reminded of the simplicity of college. When I started school, everyone always said to me "Oh, these are going to be the best 4 years of your life!" Now I know that statement is pretty bold because I'm sure I will have some great years to come, but looking back those days really were the best so far. I know I shouldn't complain because I have only just entered the workforce but I do miss stocking up on fresh pens and blank notebooks. I loved getting my syllabuses and filling out my planner with all my tests, project, and 'no class' days. I had a highlighter color for every class and color tabs to mark pages in my notebooks and textbooks. I'm a school supply nerd and I'll be the first to admit it. The closest I get to "school shopping" these days is a short trip down the hall to the supply closet to restock my black and blue pens.

In the spirit of starting a new school year, I have started a few 'new' things as well.

1. I have decided to start studying for the CAIA: Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. This entails taking a pre-test to judge my preparedness for Level I. The program suggests taking this test under normal testing condition, ie allotting yourself 2 uninterrupted hours and no outside materials. If you score a 70% or higher, then you are considered ready for Level I. If you do not reach that mark, you can use the suggested textbooks to do some studying and then take another practice test. I've reviewed some of the materials and I think I have the knowledge to take a stab at the pre-test. Since it's pretty slow at work, I might even be able to do it while I'm at work. The next round of testing is March 2011 so I have plenty of time to brush up on the materials before I would take Level I. Then, assuming I pass, I would need to take Level II. After completing both tests and a year of professional work experience, I would hold the designation.

2. I am becoming a Sunday School teacher at HPUMC! I'm going to be working with 9th and 10th grade girls from the Highland Park area. I'm SO excited to get to know these girls - I have a funny feeling I'm going to learn more from them than they will from me! When I was younger, I really wanted to be a 2nd grade teacher, mainly because I idolized my own 2nd grade teacher. I now have a few friends who are doing Teach for America and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit jealous of their current career paths. Don't get me wrong, I am fully aware that education is blessing and a curse but I think it would be fun! So instead, I am teaching sunday school so that I can get my weekly fill of high school gossip and hopefully have a small impact.


3. Lastly, I'm going to get a bike...soon. I have been thinking/saving for it for a little while now, but it has just been too dang hot to even think about outdoor activities. As fall approaches, I think I'm ready to get my exercise on and bike the Katy Trail a few times a week! Here is the bike I want...badly.

Trek 7.1 FX

Surplus of jobs + lacking a talented workforce = high unemployment (duh?)

Since work has been so slow these past few months, I've had lots of time to pour over the Wall Street Journal and I've stumbled upon some interesting articles. We all know that the state of the economy is rough and unemployment is at a striking 9.6%!!! INSANE! However, there is a SURPLUS of jobs. That's right, I said it - there are MORE jobs in the economy than are being filled. "Well that's stupid", you're thinking. Why won't all these unemployed people go out and get one of these available jobs? This WSJ article would argue it's because they are not skilled enough to meet the requirements or don't possess the right attributes. So now you're thinking, that's ridiculous because the United States has one of the most educated populations! And yet this NYT article states just the opposite! America - get it together!!! The WSJ article says that if all the vacant jobs were filled we would be at 6% unemployment! That is a HUGE difference and 6% unemployment is considered great!

My point is that we need to invest in education so that we can supply our workforce with skilled people. The 6-year-old I babysit for could be an administrative assistant and yet we can't find people between the ages of 20-50 to fill those positions. Seems like a very strange predicament to me...

More bedroom decorating ideas

The problem with a 2200 sq. foot townhouse is that there are LOTS of white walls. The bedroom white walls are starting to bother me so I've been trying to think of ways to spruce them up without buying really expensive, specific artwork that you can't change out.

First of all, I don't have a bed frame or headboard so I really need to do something above my bed. I'm thinking of getting a picture ledge from Ikea and then getting lots of frames from West Elm and Crate and Barrel (they have some really cute one that come with mats). Then I want to print lots of pictures of friends, Copenhagen and all kinds of things to make it colorful. The best thing is that I can change out the pictures all the time and I don't have to commit to nailing frames to the wall! When this project is completed (maybe this weekend) I'll post a pic!

I was recently watching Color Splash on HGTV and I would just die if David Bromstad wanted to come and paint something for our terribly white walls. He makes the coolest, custom art for all the houses he does and I would love for him to paint something orange for me to hang over my bed! It could totally act as a headboard and add lots of color to my room!

Bedding Bewilderment

Apparently, finding the proper bedding that's both cute and interesting...and all matches is very difficult. I finally have a real "big girl" bed and I want it to be really cute with tons of pillows and textures. Finding all of these things has been very hard. I've made some progress though and I think my bed is almost complete!

I found my duvet first at Crate and Barrel.

Then I got some orange (of course) throw pillows from Crate and Barrel as well. I'm thinking about ordering these shams from West Elm to match the throw blanket I got from West Elm.

I settled for white sheets from Target and a beige bedskirt from Ikea. As soon as I get all the pieces together I'll be sure to take a picture and post it!

Bookshelf Bliss

Along the lines of bedroom decorating comes the daunting task of finding an adorable bookshelf to house my growing collection of hardcovers and paperbacks. While I love the newest electronic gadgets as much as the next person, I am resisting the urge to get myself a Nook (Kindle, eReader...ect). I just can't give up my wonderful, worn in, bent pages and all...paperbacks. I love having shelves of books on display around my room/house. I like looking back at all the books I've already read and then I have to shelf dedicated to the books I still have to read. I guess it has to do with a sense of accomplishment. That being said, I've had a very hard time finding the proper bookshelf to house my treasures! In the end I settled for a white Ikea BILLY bookcase for $35 with the intention of "sprucing" it up with fabric or paper or knickknacks. Shout out to Kelly for sending me this awesome website with a whole page of adorable bookcases - all the inspiration I could ever need! So here's to hoping I can liven up my bookcase and of course, post a pic!

 Someday I will have a huge library with a floor to ceiling bookshelves and a ladder that slides along the walls.

And the sunglasses make a cameo!

Here's a few pictures of the infamous orange sunglasses...

Me and Alex at the FIJI Olympics - rocking the shades!

Waiting for the Needtobreathe Concert to start at the House of Blues, Dallas

TX v. OU with Whitney - orange for UT!

Re-Introduction...

Those of you who know me well, know that I own a pair of orange (fake) Ray Bans. While I coveted the ones pictured above for a long time, I finally caved a bought a pair on the streets of New York for $10. (In order to make this blog more official, I'm still hoping to get my hands on a real pair some day!! - Hint: My birthday is in February and Christmas is even sooner!)

The point is, my orange sunglasses don't define me but identify me. And in the spirit of identifying with things - that is just the direction I want to take this blog. I have no intention of being inspirational, educational, or ground breaking. This is simply a chronicle of a twenty-something - forging my way through the corporate world, creating a new post-college life, and hopefully doing it with some great friends by my side.

Under construction...

Dear readers, if you're even out there...


I've had a slight change of heart. I don't like having too many rules. I like to read whatever book I want, shop at whatever stores I want, and eat as many calories as I want. Therefore, limiting my blog to only certain kinds of posts has been making me feel anxious. I have refrained from posting lots of things because they didn't "fit my theme". So I'm letting you all know that the tone around here will be changing. Check back soon for some new topics and a new title!

Family Dinner Friday

Our apartment complex is so great in that so many of our friends live in the area. Because of this, we're having a little family dinner night. Everyone brings/cooks something and we have the meal at someone's house. I'm responsible for roasted asparagus which just happens to be one of my favorite things! Roasting any kind of vegetable is great way to eat healthy but with lots of flavor. 

Here's what I do: 

1. Preheat over to 425 degrees.
2. Trim off asparagus ends and place on a baking sheet. 
3. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper. 
4. Roast for about 15-20 minutes depending on how fat your asparagus are. 
5. Eat!
6. Even better, you don't have to worry about keeping them piping hot because they are great at room temp!

I'll be making this tonight after work - I'll post pics of the dinner party tomorrow!