Life Lately {vol. 61}

Hey gang! It's a big of a long post today because I've been so behind on posting. I'm doing contracting work right now, which means I'm essentially a freelance attorney while I look for a position. Parts of contracting work, I love; I love the flexibility, that I can work from where and when I want. It's kind of fun to work from home, and I've been learning a lot about myself and my work habits now that I'm essentially managing myself! 

The big downsides to contracting work are that I don't get a lot of human interaction beyond when J comes home, I miss the teamwork of working in an office, and (my biggest complaint so far) I constantly feel guilty for not working. I don't really have weekends anymore, and I honestly need the work - so it's hard to know when to let myself relax and when to push through and keep working. I'm taking a small break to work on the blog today and give you guys an update on my life!

I used the last of my LUSH bath bombs the other night when I was having a bad day. I combined my "sex bomb" bath bomb with rose and "The Great British Bake-Off," and lemme tell ya, it was a perfect combination!

Life Lately {vol. 59}

I've been getting really good at roasting chicken! // Sometimes our runs rock and sometimes they don't - but at least I'm running! // I loved my birthday outfit at work! // Birthday drinks for the birthday girl - I got to spend my birthday with J and friends

I love meeting my friend, Rachel, for morning coffee to catch up! // I've been trying to document my outfits when I feel cute (and partially for my "homework" for The Curated Closet). // Inauguration Day // My friends and I marched in the Women's March on Denver! Best day ever. 💗

Trader Joe's Shopping List

I go to Trader Joe's pretty regularly to get groceries and lunches - I think J would prefer going to a "normal" grocery store, but TJ's items are a little smaller, usually a lot cheaper, and as someone who eats mostly vegetarian/pescatarian, they are sooo many options that appeal to me compared to a regular grocery store.

Someone on Facebook the other day suggested I post what I buy at Trader Joe's, and I'm happy to oblige. 😊 I do want to point out that this is not a "normal" list for me - we usually have at least 1/3 of the items at home already, so my list is usually a lot shorter depending on how many "basics" (like olive oil) I need to restock.

Easy Pickled Jalapeños

When J and I lived in New Hampshire, we got take-out nachos all the time from this local Mexican restaurant called Hermanos. We were completely obsessed with those nachos. We got the same kind every time (Betty and Shirl's - which had chicken, pickled jalepeños, this kind of garlic oil, avocados, and tons of cheese)! We always asked for baby portobellos on the nachos, while I took off chicken and J asked for blue corn chips. 

They are the most perfect nachos in the world - but one of the reasons they're so good is because of the pickled jalepeños. You can also get jalepeño salsa to go with it, which is the perfect blend of spicy and sweet. After dating/being married to a guy from Arizona for the past 6 years, I learned to love spicy food, so is it really any wonder I learned to love jalepeños?

This summer, J was having an off day and I decided to cheer him up by recreating these nachos. So first, I had to learn to pickle jalepeños. It sounded super daunting. I don't pickle things. This is not my scene. My family doesn't do any pickling as far as I know. I started by googling, naturally, and realized that it wasn't really hard after all! I don't follow recipes well (I'm always changing things), so this is a mix of a couple of the first recipes that came up.