One year ago today we got approved for our house in the afternoon and engaged in the evening. It was a big day, huge day actually! Not only did we finally find the place we wanted to live and on the path to purchasing it, but we were also getting married! Now, two months from yesterday, we will be at our wedding, it’s wild.
A lot has changed in the past year, but I wouldn’t change it. I still can’t believe the wedding is only 2 months away…ah so much to do!
xo – J
Over the last 10 days I was in NYC and NJ visiting friends, family, and work. It was such a great trip being able to not only see my friends before Christmas, but getting to my Mom’s concert, and enjoying the city at Christmas time (complete with snow!). I miss New York so much, but there is nothing like coming back home to Jay and Rondo.
To everyone I got to see last week, I love you all so much and miss you constantly. How lucky am I to have you all in my life?!
xo-j
Come Sunday…
Jay and I will be getting married in 6 months! I can’t believe it! We’ve also been together 4 years, which is crazy. In the past 4 years we went from living a block away, to moving into our own (tiny) apartment (again, so tiny), we got a puppy, we got engaged (!), we bought a house, and now we are just half a year from being married. So many things have changed, and with each step, everything has gotten better. I can’t wait to see where we are in 5 years, and 10, and 20…
(just a few weeks after we started dating – our first new years eve together ringing in 2010)
Next week I will be in NYC working, visiting friends and family, and enjoying the season in the busiest/scariest/wildest place on earth to be at Christmas time. I’m really looking forward to being there, though I will miss my boys :(. Poor Ron is so used to having me home all day!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
xo-j
We eat chicken sausage probably once a week. They are so delicious, and not SO horrible for you! How I have never combined my bizarre love of Brussel sprouts and sausages before I don’t know. The hardest part of this recipe is chopping the sprouts, seriously. Anyways, wanted to share another simple one that ends up really really tasty!
Chicken Sausage & Brussels
What You Need:
Chicken Sausage (I get Aidells garlic & gruyere)
Ziti
Brussel Sprouts (I use the frozen ones)Olive Oil
S&P
Directions:
Make your sprouts! Preheat oven to 425*.
1. Defrost the sprouts in mic with 2 tbsp of water and then cut them in half/quarter
2. Toss the chopped sprouts in olive oil and about 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt (change this to taste)
3. Spread them out on an aluminum foil lined pan and bake for about 30 minutes, but this depends on your oven and how brown you want them. Keep on checking and shaking and tasting and salting throughout the cooking process.
4. In the meantime boil your water, cook your pasta, and cook your sausages. I slice the sausages up while cooking into bite size pieces.
5. When it is all cooked, toss it all together with a little bit of olive oil and done!
Hope you guys make this one and enjoy it, it has become a staple over here!
xo- J
Our wedding website is up and running and I wanted to post it here for those of you who had the info on your magnets but probably went to jandjforever.com which, is hilariously not us… Please visit:
YAY! June 8th!
Yea, ok, I’m obsessed with Rondo…If I’m in a room Rondo is there, if I leave the house he is upset, he sits outside the shower and waits for me to finish, he sleeps curled up in my legs at night, and we spend everyday all day snuggling together. Anyways, I just want to share a few of my favorites from lately…he cracks me up…
The beckoning sexy man:
The iwanttosleepyouarereallyannoyingme:
Jay was away a couple weeks ago and I wanted to send him a picture of me kissing Rondo’s head…this is the result…
He was cold the other day in the car so I moved a towel up front for him. I looked over and this is what he had done…and yea, he is asleep.
This one is the norm: ears flipped back, paying attention to your food…
The den/my office downstairs gets so cold. We decided to share my sweater. Again, most pictures he ends up licking…
And for good measure, I was at my parents house last week while working out of NYC and I got to see Cali the weirdo. She is eating my hair tie here…
That’s all for now!
xo – j
I have said this time and time again, my Mom is the most amazing cook. She makes the simplest things beyond delicious. This is one of the easiest recipes to make on a weeknight and it is not only healthy but really tasty! Mom, I’m sorry to tell the world that you are the queen of easy cooking…but it’s all so good who cares!
BEANS & VEG RECIPE
WHAT YOU NEED:
2 cans of beans (sometimes I use kidney sometimes black, other times a combo, does not matter)
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion salt
A bunch of vegetables (different every time, but ALWAYS diced tomatoes):
Frozen broccoli
Frozen greenbeans
Can of corn
Water chestnuts (seriously anything you have)
Can of diced tomatoes
Cooked Rice (I use trader joes ready rice that you cook in the microwave)
1 cup or so of mozzarella cheese
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat up all those vegetables…that’s right, throw them in a pan together frozen or canned who cares and cook them. The only thing is make sure anything canned has been drained. This will take about 5 minutes.
2. Add the beans (make sure they are drained)
3. Stir it all up and add the garlic & onion salt (do this to taste, I use more like a tbsp of garlic salt, and I use a lot of red and black pepper)
4. Let that cook up for about 10 minutes or until you see some bubbles. And in the meantime cook up your rice. Trader Joe’s is seriously amazing for this, it’s 2 minutes in the microwave. Once you see bubbles, do a taste test to see if you have the right amount of seasonings. Then mix it all together…
5. Now top all that mixture with cheese (again, I use a ton)
6. That is it! It seems like it would be bland or boring but it is hearty and extremely delicious!
Enjoy this amazing weeknight meal!
xo- j
All these posts are so behind! Last week I was in NYC to train for my new job all week and before last week mania with visitors, wedding, and a really sad loss in our family.
As far as the new job goes, there is a lot to learn! It was so fantastic to spend some time with my family and see my friends while I was down in NYC. Luckily for this new position I will be back in NYC quite a bit so I won’t have to miss anyone too much!
(lunch with lunch bff, and dinner with my girls (and tom!))
(following my babes to dinner…and on the way we saw Taza’s husband! Adie and I are in love with them)
(drinks in bryant park)
See you in a few weeks NY!
xo – j
Last Thursday I went out with an old friend for lunch and had so much fun catching up. We talked about weddings, life in Mass, how our friends are doing, and had maybe a few too many brews for lunchtime. Anyway, we came back and were hanging at my house waiting for Jay to get home. Jay came in like everything was normal, taking off his shoes, talking about work, and then suddenly the doorbell rang. I went to answer and it was TOMMMM! I have been whining for him to visit since we moved and he told me he couldn’t come for months because of busy weekends, but there he was. I was so excited I cried (seriously cried). We ended up having such a great weekend together staying in our new town, enjoying the house, and even going to a cornhole tournament. Tom, I love you bud, thanks for making me so happy and being such an amazing friend to both of us.
(cornhole!)
(ron’s favorite is jumping on backs, and homemade picklebacks with tom!)
(our house ready for fall)
(our little turtle i finally let go, and nash helping me walk rondo)
(attempting to use the force to get my banana…he’s obsessed with them)
(our beautiful backyard!)
This weekend I have my best friend coming to visit! I couldn’t be more excited to see her!!
xo-J
So, I’ve been here a full week, and I’m loving it. It gets a little lonely during the day while Jay is at work, but the projects are never ending so I’m always busy. I really want to share pictures of our new house (we’re both in heaven, we live in 3x the space as our apartment!) but I want everything to be done first.
This past weekend my Mom & brother were up here for a family party, Jay and I went to a concert, and we hung out with family at the pool. We can’t wait until the place is all done and I am working again so that we can get in the full flow of life up here. In the meantime, I’m enjoying getting to be with Rondo all day and putting together furniture…I am the master of all tools now.
Here are just a few pictures from lately…
(new backyard)
(bob dylan, my morning jacket, & wilco)
(ice cream date with the boys)
(worst laundry assistant of all time…but we have a washer in our house…the things you appreciate after nyc)
xo-j
forEVR and always 