Happy Mardi Gras, Y'all!

So in the spirit of Mardi Gras, I thought it would be fun to share with y'all my favorite recipe for jambalaya. This recipe had been given to me a few years back by my friend's mother who was born and raised in Louisiana - and let me tell you it is nothing short of a little piece of Cajun heaven!

Gabby's Jambalaya

Ingredients

2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (breasts work too)

2 lbs. smoked sausage, sliced

2 lbs. (about 4 cups) onions

1/4 bunch celery

1/2 yellow bell pepper

8 cups water from boiled chicken

1/2 bunch fresh parsley

2 tablespoons Kitchen Bouquet

1 can Rotel

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoon red cayenne pepper (might want to start with a little less if you do not like spicy)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 cups (dry) Uncle Ben's Rice

Directions

1. Boil chicken till cooked through. Set aside, keeping the water.
2. Brown sliced sausage
3. Add onions, celery and bell pepper, saute about 30 minutes.
4. Add water from the boiled chicken (if you do not have 8 cups left can use chicken both or regular water), bring to a boil.
5. Add parsley, Kitchen Bouquet, Rotel, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, red and black pepper and boil 10 more minutes. 
6. Cube up chicken and add to the pot. Bring to a boil again.
7. Add rice, boil 5 minutes.
8. Cover and lower heat to a simmer. 
9. Leave simmer for 30 minutes, only stirring every 10 minutes or so. 
10. Turn heat off and let rest for 10 minute before serving. 
11. Enjoy!

 

"Laisse bon temp roullez--let the good times roll." 

 

Adventure Shopping

So I am so excited to share a new found addiction of mine with y'all...THRIFT SHOPPING! If some of you are turning up your noses to even the mere idea of thrift shopping, I totally understand--I used to be one of you. But then I became a broke-ass college student and had to resort to Goodwill for interview clothes. Funny thing is now that I am no-longer a college student and could afford to give up my thrift shopping, I do not want to. I absolutely love the treasures I can find while thrift shopping, plus who does not love a bargain?! I like to think of it as a mini adventure to see what awesome deals I can find.

The mind blowing new fact that I have recently discovered is that even thrift stores have SALES! Yes, that is right. Crazy to think stuff could get even cheaper, isn't it.

I found out about thrift store sales last week, when I went to my local Goodwill to kill some time on my lunch break and look for some new work clothes. I was shocked when I got to the register and the lady said, "Your total today is $5." I had just purchased, one dress, 2 blouses, and a really cute scarf for $5--no way! Actually, feeling a little guilty, I had to ask the cashier if she rang everything up correctly. The cashier just laughed and told me that they were running a 50% off all blue tags sale that day, causing my total to be shocking low. With that being said I happily gathered up my purchases and headed out the door.

When I got back to work I was curious about the 50% off sale and decided to Google Goodwill and see how often sales like that run. Again, I was shocked to discover that almost every week Goodwill has a 50% off sale of some sort or another.


So today, I could not help stopping down to Goodwill again, since they were having another 50% off all green tags sale. But today, I was on a mission--I was trying to find blankets and stuffies for our new puppy that will are getting in the next few weeks. As luck would have it, I found exactly what I was looking for. I got two fleece blankets for in the puppy's kennel, both for under $2. I also found some cute little stuffies that would be great puppy toys (if you buy stuffed animals from Goodwill for pet toys, be sure they do not have any little beans in them as they are a choking hazard for pets), all of them were $.99 and 50% off. What a steal, especially if any of you have ever experienced puppy training. The blankets are bound to get piddled on and the stuffies, just might get ripped apart. However, I spent a whole $6 on all of it so they are the perfect items to get ruined by a growing puppy.

So, if you are going to try your hand at thrift shopping or if you have been at it for awhile, I highly recommend taking advantage of the Goodwill sales. Here is a link to their homepage where you can find your local store and checkout what sales they have coming up: Goodwill Deals. 

Happy thrifting y'all!


"One man's junk is another man's treasure." -Proverb

Design Persuasion

For work this morning I had the opportunity to attend a Brand and Marketing Seminar where the speaker was a fellow by the name of Wayne Wolf. I highly encourage you all to checkout his company's website at Blue Cup Design, this man and his team are amazing!

Wolf has worked with companies as prestigious as Target (my all time fav!), Martha Stewart Living Magazine, and Aspen Magazine- just to name a few. His designs can be found all around us, he is the genius behind the Target bullseye campaign. He is also the one who brought to life the cookbooks of Food Network stars: Bobby Flay and Giada de Laurentiis. In short, the man has an impressive resume.

However, the part that I found most appealing about Wolf--besides his plethora of branding and marketing knowledge--was that he was just an average small town Minnesota kid who decided to pursue his dream of being a designer. It was his perseverance, paired with his raw talent and passion, that has landed him success as a top New York design artist.

Another great thing about this seminar was Wolf challenged us to look at companies we judged, both positive and negative, and discover why we judge these places this way. For example:

I LOVE Target and would choose to shop there over Walmart, Shopko, and pretty much any other store. But why do I feel that loyalty towards them? Nobody ever told me I have to shop at Target. I was drawn to them for my own reasons, such as: great prices,trendy products,one-stop shopping, helpful employees,end-cap sales...and the list could go on. Wolf explained to us in detail today that these positive vibes that I get when I think of companies, like Target, are all because of one simple thing- COMPANY BRANDING!

Yep, that is right we have all been brain washed into having these fuzzy, happy feelings by design experts like Wolf. It is company's huge attention to their brand mission that make them so well liked and ultimately, successful.

On the flip-side of that are companies we think negatively about. These negative reactions may also be a result of branding, or lack there of. For example:

I strongly dislike Comcast (an internet and cable provider) and would not recommend their services to anyone. But why is that? Well for starters, I have experienced very crummy services from them in the past. My "high-speed" internet was constantly slow, my cable would always cut out, and the service people would never show up on time. As a customer it was so irritating! But why did Comcast allow these things to happen and, more importantly, what does my cable cutting out have to do with company branding?

Well here is the answer, Comcast has poor branding. Their day-to-day activities do not aline with their mission statement. Their mission statement by the way is: "We will deliver a superior experience to our customers every day. Our products will be the best and we will offer the most customer-friendly and reliable service in the market."  Kind of ironic isn't it.

Somewhere along the line the company lost sight of  the true mission of its brand, causing conflicts with its customers and ultimately landing it on the list of 'Top Ten Most Hated Companies in America.' Proving two things: 1. I am not an overreacting loony-tune for not liking them and 2. Branding really does make all the difference in a consumer driven world.

Now, I do not know about you but it will really cause me to think about branding next time I praise or disgruntle a company. Not, that thinking about branding will in any way, shape, or form sway my opinion of a company...but it definitely will aid me in not making the same mistakes in my professional life and if any of you are in a career somewhat like mine, I encourage you to take the same look at the companies around you.

In closing, I apologize if this whole branding idea is causing y'all to fall asleep or your head to spin, it is just a little food for thought and a way to help us all be aware of the unseen ways that we are being persuaded every single day.


"Design is about demonstrating how beautiful something can be. It has a very profound quality. Design is a way of changing lives and influencing the future." -Sir Ernest Hall

I'm Back!

Crazy to think it has almost been a year since I have updated my blog. Eeeks very terrible on my part. However, I have to report that much has changed, both good and bad, since I last blogged.

Let's start with the good things....last December I graduated from college! Which was very exciting, yet a little bittersweet. I am so excited to be done with my schooling but I do miss the freedom of having a part-time job and being able to interact with my peers daily. However, I definitely do NOT miss the homework or going to classes.

To go along with graduating, I took the 'next step'- if you will - and accepted my first BIG GIRL job as a Sales and Marketing Coordinator. I absolutely love the marketing aspect of my job. Sales on the other hand is not my favorite. Yet, I am discovering that I have a hidden talent for it and am actually a very good sales person. However, I am still learning and growing in my position, as well as, my profession. And I hope to keep you cats updated on the progression and the set-backs that I encounter along the way.

Now on to the not so good things...actually it was just one thing- my beloved baby dog, Pbers, got hit on the road. :( It was by far one of the most traumatic things that I dealt with last year. But I'm just glad I had him as my little buddy for as long as I did. And I like to think that he is running around in puppy-dog heaven chasing tennis-balls and as happy as can be.

Now that y'all are up to speed, let me share some exciting things that I am going to be blogging about:

Pintrest- I am sure you are all are familiar with the craze, and if you are at all like myself, you too are obsessed with the awesome DYI projects and recipes that it has offers. I plan on sharing some of my Pintrest successes and epic fails (trust me they do happen) with you.

Books- I love, love, love to read. So I will be sharing some of my new favorite reads on here.

Food and drink- Yum, who doesn't love food. I am going to be sharing some of my attempts at cooking, baking, and cocktailing (is that a word?) as well.

Health- Now that I am getting older and putting the college days behind me, I am trying to make a conscious effort be more aware my health and things that I can do to be more healthy.  For example, I baked my first applesauce and egg white cake yesterday. Yes, I actually used applesauce in place of sugar and egg whites in place of whole eggs! Crazy thing is, not only was it much more healthy (or as healthy as cake could be), it actually TASTED better because the applesauce made it more moist. Awesome, right?! These will be the sort of fun health focused items I will be sharing with you.

As well as whatever else I find interesting along the way! So strap back in and hold on tight because we're all in for a crazy-fun-ride!


"Always believe that something wonderful is going to happen." - Sibyl Chavis

Crafty, Crafty

This project has been a few weeks in the making. The last time I was visiting my parents I was feeling a little bit crafty and decided to put my obsession to Pinterst.com to the test by making one of the craft projects I found on there. Seeing how all of my jewelry is currently tangled up in a bowl on my dresser I decided to make a 'jewelry board' in hopes of organizing my tangled mess. With a little help from my Daddy, this was our finished project that I just had to share. It was actually pretty simple with the correct tools (and a helpful dad). All it really took was an old piece of wood, some paint, a few door handles and a some power tools! Enjoy. 

Finished Project! Kind of sparse, but it was all the jewelry I had at my parents.

"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future" -Oscar Wilde

Book Worm

As nerdy as it may sound, one of my favorite things to do is curl up with a good book. As crazy as it sounds, I normally read at least one book a week (besides my text books for classes). People's common response to this is "How do you find the time?" For me it is just a necessity, it's my daily 'me' time that I normally get by just crawling into pjs a half-hour early to read before bed. Anyways, I wanted to share the two books that I just finished up and recommend them to my fellow book worms out there. 

The first one I read was a memoir, The Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard. For many of you, the name Jaycee Dugard probably rings a bell. In 1991, at the age of 13 she was kidnapped and spent the next 18+ years a prisoner to her kidnappers. She was subjected to unbelievable abuse, which included not being able to speak her own name and being locked in a backyard prison. She was forced to become a mother at 14 and later bore a second child to her abuser. Her story made world new is 2009 but it took her until 2011 to publish her version of what happened during those 18 years, in that backyard prison. Dugard's memoir is one of unbelievable survival. I will not lie there were passages that were stomach wrenching and hard to get through. Yet, I found it inspiring how someone who suffered so much, at such a young age, can come out of the situation so positive and filled with life. Highly recommend it to anyone who likes biographies, autobiographies, and/or memoirs. Or just if you want to discover the real story of Jaycee Dugard. 

Next up, is The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. I picked up this novel because they are turning it into a movie. due out this spring and after seeing the trailer for the movie it is definitely a chick-flick I do not want to miss. I have found reading the books before watching the movie gives me a much greater understanding of what is taking place on the big screen, it's like I have the inside story of the characters that others do not. The author, Sparks, has also written other books that have become Hollywood hits such as, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Last Song, Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, among others. So my point is, the man knows how to write a good romance novel. This book in particular was no exception. It is about a young Marine, Logan Thibault, who finds a photo of a women buried in the dirt during his tour in Iraq. This photo seems to be Thibault's lucky charm and he begins to carry it with him everywhere. When he returns to the US he sets out on a search to find the women in the photo and thank her. He is caught off guard by the strong attraction he has to the women he encounters in North Carolina--Elizabeth, a divorced mother of a little boy named Ben. Thibault keeps his 'luck charm' a secret and it soon comes back to haunt him and threatens to tear him and Elizabeth apart. The ending has a remarkable twist...But I'll stop there as to not ruin the book or the movie. It took a little bit for this book to get going but once it did, I found it was hard to put down. It was a great story about the surprising paths our lives often take. Great for anyone who wants a heart touching, easy read. 

"Your feet will lead you to where your heart is" -Unknown

Ahh-hhaa Moments

Happy Sunday everybody! So this past weekend Pbers and I made the 3 hour trip back to my home town to see my family. Saturday was one of my nephew's 3rd birthday parties. As I was sitting at the bowling alley, where his party was taking place, I could not help but feel a little old. I was struggling to get over the fact that he was turning 3! I felt like he was born yesterday (I'm sure his parents had this feeling much more then I did) I could remember going to see him as a tiny little newborn baby in the hospital. And now here is my big, blonde haired, blue-eyed, happy, rambunctious, little man of a nephew blowing out the 3 candles on his Cars birthday cake. Insane! I now can say I understand my mom's old saying, "Thank gosh I do not age as fast as my kids!" haha


After the big birthday celebration, my parents and I were off to attend a benefit for a family friend suffering from cancer. Again, I had another "Ahh-haa" moment. As I stood among the sea of hundreds of people I could not help but feel the compassion in the room. Yes, there we were at a bar that had very loud band, dancing and adult beverages being enjoyed by the vast amount of people. Yet, the amazing thing I found was that all these people were there for one simple common cause: to show their love and support for a great man suffering from a horrible disease. I know, I know, you are all probably thinking "Well, duhh Gabby. You were at a benefit what do you expect." But I cannot tell you how it warmed my heart and honestly brought tears to my eyes to see all the support and watch all these people rally around one man, down on his luck. Made me proud to be able to say I come from such a caring community and know that I have grown up knowing a network of amazing people. 


The video I attached this week is one showing the passion of people coming together, much like I got to watch a community come together for my friend on Saturday. Enjoy!

"It's about love. It's about compassion. It's about kindness and faith. It has nothing to do with luck. You get what you give. So give good." -Unknown