Life Lately {vol. 32}

I got this fabulous fringed cardigan at H&M last week and I'm SO glad I did! It makes me feel dressed up even wearing jeans and a tank. :)

James is by far the sweetest and the naughtiest cat I've ever met. Maybe it's cause he's a manx? They're supposed to be especially rambuncious cats...

Since joining The Knot, I've had four different venues in New Hampshire send me mail, congratulating me and asking me to consider them. I did not realize this was a thing, but maybe it's just because New Hampshire's small?

Two Thursdays ago, I had quite the evening with friends... and Friday, I got up early for a meeting with an attorney at this cute breakfast place in Concord!

There was a mix-up and we never got to have our meeting, but that breakfast was exactly the carb-fest that I needed after the night before, haha.

This little guy though. :)

I'm reviewing Mary Kay's Clear Proof Acne system!

Mary Kay Clear Proof Acne System Review

Even with a super busy week last week, everything's better in a bunny sweater!

Erica knew I was having a stressful week, so she got me flowers! She is such an amazing friend, and I'm so grateful to have her here at law school with me. 

Also, shapes Mac 'N Cheese makes everything too, right?

Leif is just such a sweetheart. He sleeps on the pillow above my head every single night. I love going to sleep listening to him purr/snore. :)

Sometimes the simplest makeup the the best makeup. :)

I finally went on a walk in White Park across from school with my friend Stephanie. I live in a beautiful place. :)

Both my cats are OBSESSED with my roommate's bed! We can't figure out why, but it's super cute regardless. :)

I had a Tax midterm on Monday night, so I spent Sunday morning at Starbucks. Is studying Tax at Starbucks the most or the least hipster thing ever? My mom says it's the least, but maybe it's so uncool that it's cool?

Erica's flowers really bloomed this week and they're SO beautiful! I'm really bad at keeping plants alive, but they really brighten up the whole kitchen!

I feel like I haven't taken any pictures this week because nothing "new" has gone on... I've mostly spend the past two weeks studying and preparing for depositions in my class simulation for the Daniel Webster Scholar program. I actually went through my depo for "real" yesterday and it went really well! It was such a relief to get out of class yesterday and have both the Tax midterm and my depo done.

I still have normal amounts of law school homework, but at least I don't have anything big to do for the rest of the week! :)

I hope you had a good week too - although I really hope you didn't have to take a Tax midterm.

Outfit Post: Hire Me

Outfit

T-Shirt: J Crew (gift)

Blazer: Brooks Brothers

Skirt: Gap

Tights: Walgreens

Shoes: Ann Taylor

Necklace: White House Black Market

I had my first interview of the year last week! I'm really hoping to get a job in the Concord area this summer since J will be moving up once he graduates. I think the interview went really well, and I'm really passionate about helping clients - real people who need help - not corporations or businesses. 

Going into the interview, I wanted to look and feel feminine and powerful. Wearing heels always makes me feel like I'm in-control. I don't know if it's because of years of show choir... I figure if I can dance in heels, I can walk in them, right? 

There's nothing like walking down the hall, and walking with this sexy confidence that I find when I wear heels! I feel like I could fight someone in heels, haha. COME AT ME, BRO.

What's your power outfit look like? How do you like to feel when you interview? Have any good interviewing tips?

My Favorite Recipes

Vegetarian Tortellini Soup

This is one of my very favorite recipes ever, and I make it at least once a month (for several meals). It's healthy, absolutely delicious, and full of veggies and nutrients... but you'd never know it because it's just that good! Plus, it's easy to change out which vegetables you use - which means you can adjust this really easily to whoever you're cooking for.

Plus it's one of my favorite kind of meals - one where you can put all the ingredients in, and just let it cook on its own!

Kale Chips

Kale chips are my favorite (and let's be honest, one of my ONLY) way of eating Kale. On it's own, I feel like Kale can be really bitter and totally not my thing. Add in some olive oil, salt, and cayenne pepper, we're in business! Holy cow are these good. The only real trick with these is figuring out when you need to take them out of the oven, because they burn like THAT. But when they're great, there's nothing that compares!

I assume they keep pretty well, but I've never tried... because they're all gone within twenty minutes of making them.

Coconut Oil Chocolate

I hate female stereotypes, but god do I love chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the better. Homemade coconut oil chocolate? Even better! This is smooth, rich, creamy, bitter, and just the right amount of sweet, because you can make it exactly as sweet as you'd like! I've never made a batch that wasn't absolutely perfect.

Moreso, it's not the kind of chocolate that you need to eat an entire bar of to feel satisfied - it's so rich from the cocoa and the coconut oil that you don't really want to eat tons of it at one time. You feel like you got your chocolate craving taken care of after a piece or two at the most!

Tom Yum Seafood Soup

This is by far my favorite of my favorite recipes! I make this about once a week... maybe once every two weeks if I've been really busy or haven't been able to go to the grocery store. Like the tortellini soup, it's absolutely full of delicious nutrients and some of my favorite foods and flavors. Seafood? Spinach? Broccoli? Muchrooms? Asian flavors? Spice? ALL OF THE ABOVE. Yummmm! It's a seriously guilt-free way to have your favorite seafood and Asian flavors, all in one warm soup.

I actually made it this week when I was feeling really sick, and it made me feel a ton better. The spicy flavors cleared out my sinuses, and the warm soup and coconut milk felt really good on my throat! It's basically perfect in every way.

What are some of your favorite go-to recipes? Have you tried any of mine? Which look the best to you?

The Reality of Being a Cat Owner

I'm writing this blog at 5:45 in the morning, because I am a cat mama... and James decided to scratch at his litter box at 5AM like a lunatic, and then peed in my clothes hamper. Because of course. So I've been up for almost an hour doing laundry and cleaning the litter box.

I love my cats... but being a cat mama is hard sometimes.

• I think I've had one full night's sleep without one of the cats waking me up within the past two weeks of being home.
• James has really annoying and noisy habits, like scratching at the walls of the litter box instead of scratching the litter itself.
• Leif cries and whines like a baby when he wants something.
• When James feels like his litter box is too dirty (ahem), he pees on things around my room.
• They eat way more food than you'd think 10-lb animals possible could, and their litter box gets full faster than seems biologically necessary.
• Cats are why I can't have nice things, because they knock everything over... especially full glasses of water.

Having cats, like almost any pet, is not a walk in the park. This morning at 5AM, I was so mad at James I thought I was going to explode. This is going to be a really, really long week, and I need my sleep. I needed to sleep in today, and instead, I was up way before my alarm, washing a pee-soaked sweater and dealing with a cat who feels the need to let everyone in the neighborhood know he's using the litter box.

As I'm looking around in bed, Leif is on the long pillow next to my head. He's spread out, with the kind of smile that only cats can have. He looks exhausted, and he's snoring (which is as hilarious as it sounds). James is next to me on the bed, purring softly and just finished nuzzling up against me. They really are sweet boys... most of the time.

I don't love them just when they're sleepy and quiet, but I'm gonna be honest: I love them a lot more now than I did at 5AM.

Cats are difficult creatures to live with, but I honestly can't imagine life without my two little lions. I love my cats desperately. It's not always easy to live with them, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. Part of my problem is that I tend to wish the cats would change their annoying habits without me having to do anything... and that's not the world we live in.

If I want the cats to sleep through the night, I need to wear them out playing every evening. If I don't want James (the picky bastard) to pee on my clothes when he thinks the litter box has gotten too dirty, I need to clean the litter box more. 

It's more work for me, but ultimately, it's for me.

How do you stop your cats from scratching at things? Would you change anything about your pets? How do you get them to sleep through the night?