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