Happy Hump Day!

So, is the weather as crazy where you are as it is here? It was t-shirt weather here yesterday! (When you live in a cold place and then it's 55 degrees, you feel like it's appropriate for summer clothes). Anyway, supposedly the big freeze is coming tonight, so I hope I can make it into work tomorrow morning.

I'm super glad the week is more than half over, and I'm enjoying a night to myself while Andrew is at class. First I played with Stevie, then I did some dishes, and now I am updating the blog while drinking a Blue Moon. Exciting, huh?! Since I don't have much to say, here's a couple instas!

It's black coffee, if you were curious. Verona, if you're a Starbucks connoisseur!

Portrait of my main man

While we were listening to the story on the Nightly News regarding cats killing birds. "Who, me?!"

Enjoy your evening! P.S. - if you like the Strokes, visit this link to get a free download of their new song "One Way Trigger"! It's suuuuuper catchy! Let me know what you think: )

Easy and Delicious Tabbouleh!

I'm not all that amazing in the kitchen, but I would love to share one of my favorite recipes with you. It's easy and healthy and only takes a few ingredients. (I get very discouraged when someone posts a great recipe but I am short about seven ingredients, grr)! So here it is, tabbouleh!

What you need:
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
Juice of 1 lemon (appx 6 tbsp)
1 cucumber
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
1 bunch of parsley (I prefer curly leaf)
3 tbsp olive oil (the recipe I go off of uses a 1/2 cup! way too much!)

So you first juice your lemon and use 4 tbsp of that to mix with the bulgur wheat in a small bowl to help it soften. It's supposed to sit for 20-40 minutes.

Next, set that aside and chop up your parsley, tomatoes, and cucumber into pretty small pieces.

Put all of your veggies in a large bowl, and add to it the remaining lemon juice and your olive oil. The tabbouleh is best with some fresh chopped mint as well, but I usually don't spend the money because it's kind of expensive and you don't use much of it.

Finally, add your bulgur wheat/lemon juice mixture to the salad and mix it up. Tabbouleh is actually better if you let it sit overnight so that the flavors mix and the bulgur wheat is soft. Once it has sat for long enough, enjoy! It's great with falafel (I normally use a boxed mix) and pita bread and hummus, mmm. 

Bonus cat picture^.^ I let him watch: )

Let me know if you try it out! I could eat tabbouleh every day, it's so delicious!

Weekly Wrap Up

I'm sharing the love this Sunday with the blog posts from the past week I enjoyed the most. I hope you discover something you like as well!

This stuff sounds intriguing - has anyone tried it?

I loved this photo backgrounds blogging tip from Chantilly! (I did a couple practice shots above).
This post from MAIEDAE on living well is so inspiring!
The gals over at Cakies weren't feeling too well and made this delectable looking chocolate loaf. Mmmmm.
You know I'm a sucker for film photos. Thanks to Anna-Rosa at myLifebox for sharing a few: )
Tea Tree Vintage shared her Wednesday Want List, and I'm loving her list.
This decorated plate tutorial from Urban Nester is so neat!
And finally, I won a giveaway, so I love the post announcing it! I will definitely be posting when my prizes arrive!

Happy Sunday!

How Do You Beat the Winter Blues?

Instantly when writing this title, I realized that many of you probably live someplace warm, not caring for an instant about us northerners barely keeping it together up here. So if you are that person, please remind me that summer will be here...eventually. For the rest of you suffering through this horrid cold front, I want to know - how do you beat the winter blues? This is one of the blog prompts from the Better Blogger Network, and it's a great one. I definitely relate to feeling a little down during the cold months! I'll share my cures and please share yours in return!

Admitting that it's kind of gorgeous outside
It has snowed almost everyday since Sunday this week, and it's just so darn pretty outside! If you live outside of Michigan you probably haven't seen this astounding photo:

Coffee
I'm a barista so I know my coffee and I love my coffee. Whether I'm pretending the closest Tim Hortons isn't that out of the way or grinding up my own beans here at home to make an extra strong cup of coffee with my favorite Coffee-Mate flavors, I love a good cup of joe! It warms my soul.

Cats
As you may know, we recently adopted a cat named Stevie. He is a super sweet boy and luckily will sit with us and relieve our stress as he purrs and purrs. I'm assuming this is part of the reason I haven't felt as blue this winter as I have in winters past!

Friends
My friends always make me forget that it's dreary weather. We go to trivia at a local Mexican restaurant every week, have classic movie nights, play silly games, and we recently celebrated the inaugural cottage fest! What more could I ask for?

Films
Andrew and I have been watching all the movies up for Academy Awards - our favorite so far is Django and the only one up for best picture that we haven't seen yet is Amore. Has anyone seen that, by the way?

Naps
I used to hate naps, but you know what? They are pretty nice. Sometimes I get home and my extremities are so frozen that I can only get warm doing one of two things - taking a shower or taking a nap. Either way I feel refreshed and most importantly, warm!

And lastly, celebrating the fact that Justin Timberlake has FINALLY RELEASED A NEW SONG!!!!!

Thank the Lord and joy to the world. (Do you like it?)


Also, many of these aforementioned cures go nicely together: cats and naps, films and coffee, coffee after a nap? Get creative; )

So, what helps you get through the bitterly cold and decreasingly shorter days?

Liebster Award; Take 2 (and 3!)

I recently was nominated for the Liebster Award, and even more recently I found out I was nominated two more times! Yay! I won't do the whole shindig again, but I thought it would be fun to answer all the questions directed at me!

My questions from Octavia at Octavia and the Ocean are:

1. What would your sleep schedule be like if you had nothing to do?
I feel like I wouldn't be so tired if I didn't have anything to do! But right now I normally go to bed by 10, and I think I'd stay up a little later than that and probably aim for 8-9 hours of sleep. I cherish my sleep, even though it'd be great to have that "I'll sleep when I'm dead" attitude.

2. If some magical stranger paid your airfare to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
So many choices! I guess someplace that is way out of my current price range, like Australia or New Zealand!

3. Would you take the chance to live off of the land if you could?
Umm, probably not. I cringe at the thought of even camping in a tent.

4. Does your favorite color have any special meaning to you?
I like lots of colors, so my favorite color is rainbow! So not really, but a good question!

5. What do you do for a living, and what would you like to be doing to make a living?
I'm a barista/server at a corporation. I'm trying to get a job within the corporation doing social media! We'll see...

6. Do you have a celebrity idol?
No idols, per se, but I really love Claire Danes and she would play me in the movie of my life.

7. Do you play any instruments/consider yourself to have any musical prowess?
I took violin lessons for several years, but I rarely practice. I do think I have a knack for music, however. My major was Music Industry Management after all!

8. What was the last book you read, what was your opinion of it?
Ughh, I do not read enough. I think the last book I read was the second Game of Thrones book. I was disappointed that it really was just a bridge between books 1 and 3 and nothing was really accomplished.

9. What was your childhood dream job?
A ballerina or a magician! Cool, huh?

10. What is the most influential piece of music in your life?
Ooh, I've really loved music all my life, so that's difficult. I went to a Christian school for a long time, so there are a lot of songs we sang in chapel that I still love, like "Pass It On" and "The Butterfly Song." In high school I listened to "Konstantine" by Something Corporate and "The Tide" by the Spill Canvas and so many other great songs. I'll have to do a high school soundtrack post sometime.

11. Are there any word or phrases that you say as a bad habit and wish you could stop?
Not that I can think of!

And my questions from Jenn at Hello Gutentag:

1. Do you like to do your nails, if so what colours do you mainly use?

I don't do my nails much because I work in food service, but I usually wear Green with Envy by Maybelline on my toes!

2. Are you studying anything at the moment?

I'm all done with school, but if I don't get a real job soon, I'm considering it! I'd also really like to brush up on French.

3. Do you play any sports?

Not really, I used to! I'm kind of lazy these days, but I like to stay active by walking, 'playing' tennis, kayaking, or playing Just Dance 4 on our Wii!

4. On a lazy day what is your favourite thing to do?

I just said I'm lazy, but I also have trouble just laying around all day doing nothing. Every once in a while though I just lay in bed all day and watch a season of some TV show or lots of movies. It's especially nice with a cat to cuddle!

5. What is your favorite smell?
That's a hard one. I sure like my "Twirl" by Kate Spade though: )

6. What kind of cell phone do you have, would you change it?

I recently broke down and bought an iPhone. It's so expensive! But it's so necessary...

7. Night or day person?
I like both morning and night, they both have great qualities. It just depends on the day! Sometimes I love to get up early and enjoy the morning and get a ton of stuff done and see that it's still before noon. Other times I love to sleep way in and then stay up real late!

8. Coke or Pepsi?

I rarely drink pop but definitely (Diet) Coke!

9. If you could change one thing about your self what would it be?

I wish I could sell myself a little better. I lack confidence sometimes and I feel like that causes me to miss out on some opportunities!

10. Dogs or cats?
Cats!!! ^.^

11. Are you a hockey fan? If so what are your thoughts on the NHL lock out?
Not particularly, but it's good for Michigan. And that it's over, good riddance, I was sick of everyone complaining!

Tomorrow's Friday! Goodnight: )

Cottage Fest

Hello - It's been a few days! As I mentioned, I was in Canada over the weekend and then yesterday was an incredibly busy day of work. First of all, I won this giveaway from Hey Miss Pickle so that is super exciting! Next order of business, here are a few pictures from the weekend, eh! The cottage is right on Lake Huron in Sarnia, Ontario. There were just nine of us, which was a great number for sharing food and beverages, playing games like Catch Phrase and Wii Just Dance 4, telling stories, and cozying up to the fire. We are all getting excited for the summer version of Cottage Fest!

Andrew and I

Nicole feeling like the Queen of the World

The "guy" photo session.

Doug, Scott, Ryan, and Andrew!

Feeling tough

Nicole, Amalia, Gaby, Erika, and me!

Wonder woman pose, or something.

It was a very nice weekend. Do any of you have access to a fun weekend getaway location? I'd love to hear about yours: )

Happy Weekend!

I am spending this weekend with some friends at my boyfriend's parents' cottage in Canada, which doesn't have wifi, so I'll announce the giveaway winner when I get back (you can still enter through tomorrow night). Anyway, we are planning on playing lots of Wii and board games, drinking lots of Tim Hortons coffee and also many adult beverages, and relaxing by the fireplace. Maybe even taking a walk on the beach, but I'm basically allergic to cold, so that's stretching it. What does your weekend hold?

And speaking of Tim Hortons, who has seen this episode of How I Met Your Mother? So funny!

100 Followers!

Wow! I am positively ecstatic because today I hit 100 followers on Lovely Llorys! Thank you guys so much, I know most of my recent followers are from the current giveaway, but I hope you decide to stick around! Also, please let me know what you'd like to see on my blog. I'm not great at DIY, but I love photography, music, food, travel, media, shopping, showcasing Etsy artists and other amazing and talented people, and more! I'd love to hear from you.

It's been a busy week, so I just wanted to share a few pictures from the giveaway prize that I was so lucky to win from Lazy Explorers. I won a Danny Brito Chubby Book from Pink Ghost. I love it! Haven't been able to do much doodling and writing yet, but I want to use this to help plan the blog and write down some inspiration. Yay!

& Thanks again to my 100 (and counting) followers: ) 

Goodnight! 

Giveaway with Katie from The Little Things

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who entered! The winner was Alessandra Lalla. Enjoy your prize! : )

Today's giveaway is with Katie from The Little Things. I instantly fell in love with her shop, as she makes jewelry and trinkets featuring some of my favorite things - cameras, foxes, owls, mushrooms, gnomes, and more!

Here's a little about Katie!

"My name is Katie, and I am a 23 year old student currently living in the Washington, D.C. area.
Two years ago, I made the spontaneous decision to move to Portland, Oregon with a group of my closest my friends. While I was there I discovered this huge world of amazing artists and handmade crafts that I had never known about. At the time, my work space was constantly covered with cute little things I had made that had just been accumulating with nowhere to go. That's when I discovered that I could share all these things with everyone!"

That's extra amazing, Katie, because I just started watching Portlandia. It is way goofier than I thought it was going to be! Anyway, the winner of the giveaway gets to pick their favorite item in Katie's shop! It's a difficult decision - I guess I would go with the fox earrings since I'm trying to start a fox collection, but everything is super adorable!

On to the giveaway! I had a rafflecoptor widget up, but I'm not totally sure it's working, so let's just do this (leave a separate comment for each entry, please):

1. Mandatory entry - Like The Little Things on Facebook

2. Visit The Little Things on Etsy and tell me what you would pick if you won!

3. While you're on Katie's Etsy page, favorite it!

3. Like Lovely Llorys on Facebook

4. Follow Lovely Llorys on Twitter

5. Follow Lovely Llorys on GFC (right side of this page)

Good luck! (Open worldwide, ends 1/19 at 11:59pm, I will contact winner)

What I Wore // Pink & Business

I wore this to work the other day and received a lot of compliments. I guess because I was so bright! I hate that all the fun colors go away during the winter, so I just keep wearing them. Andrew and I took a walk to the park to take these since it's 55 degrees outside today! In Michigan, in January! What a treat. 

Andrew gave me the Longchamp bag for Christmas. I think I'm trendy now! Everyone in Croatia had these, and I had no idea what they were, but they seemed awfully useful.

Do you ever wear something and then get a ton of unexpected compliments? I love that so much. Every time I wear these leopard print wedges, everyone comments. And they are simply from Payless! 

Hoot!

What I Wore:

Earrings - Kate Spade

Owl Necklace - Birthday gift

Bracelet - Christmas gift ( fromTarget)

Bag - Longchamp

Shirt - So... (Kohl's)

Skirt - J. Crew Factory

Tights - Apt. 9 (Kohl's)

Shoes - Payless

Sharing the Love

Found this card while looking for one for my mom that How I Met Your Mother fans will appreciate: )

Happy Saturday! In an effort to show some love to the blogs I follow and hopefully find a new blog for you to follow, I'm going to start sharing my favorite posts from the week. I know I'm not the first person to come up with this, so thank you to other blogs for the inspiration!

This week's, in no particular order:

• Hey Miss Pickle shared some gorgeous photos from Versailles, France.
• I also loved MAIDAE's photos from her weekend cabin excursion in Georgia.
• Kitty and Buck appropriately sported cats on her dress!
• A Cup of Jo shared a great interview with the costume designer from the raunchy HBO show, Girls. 
• I also loved Gentri Lee's "instant life" post. So pretty!
• Lazy Explorers shared some planners for 2013 that should inspire you to stay organized.
• And my buddy Sofia shared some really neat Mexico photos from over the holidays. I didn't think I wanted to go there, but she has convinced me otherwise!

I'm also happy to be involved in two really great blog hops right now - they are the first I've ever been a part of. I've already discovered a lot of great new blogs and gained many new followers. Welcome to everyone, I'm so glad you're here! If you want in on the action, check them out: The Totally Awesome Blog Hop and New Year, New Friends.

Friday Feline // Meet Stevie!

It's pretty crazy I haven't done a proper post about our little bundle of love sooner, but I want to formally introduce you all to our new cat, Stevie. We got him at the beginning of December from a shelter called Crash's Landing in Grand Rapids. He wasn't our original pick, but every time I went to the shelter, Steve Purry would just be lounging around somewhere, calm, cool, and collected. Andrew and I just loved how mellow and handsome he was, so we took him home. He is such a good boy, and suuuuuper soft, and very friendly. Here are some photos!

Don't you just love his little white paws? ^.^

He loves to do the Kate Winslet "paint me, Jack" Titanic pose; )

: ) I just love him so much! And you can look forward to lots more adorable photos in the future!

Happy Hump Day!

I don't have time to do a proper update before work, so good morning from Stevie and my owl slippers! More on Stevie this Friday, stay tuned! ^.^

Tuesday Treasures #11

Just a jumble of neat things I am loving this week! Enjoy: )

This is somewhere in Istanbul, Turkey, where we are seriously considering visiting in late summer. Does anyone know what this gorgeous place is? (via Tumblr)

And if we go, I could use this sleeping mask from Flight 001. I also like this Sleeping with Strangers one!

Omg! Catalope leggings via barkdecor on Etsy.

This Bear Claw recipe from Sprinkle Bakes looks divine. Her directions are so great, I might actually be able to make them!

I really like this colorblock shirt from J. Crew!

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Danny Brito Chubby Book that I won from Lazy Explorers! 

Happy Tuesday!