Less Hair Than Before

I don't know what's going on with me. I'm like a haircutaholic these days. I once was the girl who got a trim every 6 months.

But I decided I needed bangs.

So I'm Sitting In My Cubicle...

... and I get an email from Chris. With this photo attached.

And "You're right. I should enjoy my time off."

I want time off!

Love: Travel

From Chris - "I love travel days". A Corona, relaxing all day, watching movies, being paid. I'd love travel days too.

And he finally comes home today! His travel schedule seems to be getting tougher and tougher. We connect so perfectly when we're together, that being so far apart throws us off kilter. I'm on one plane and he's on another. We don't fit together as well and that's tough. Throw 18 hour work days, 3 hour time differences and exhaustion into the mix and we're a disaster area.

But I think we remember to cherish each other and never take one another for granted. To love the time that we do have together. To work even harder to make us work.

Baking: Hamantaschen

I adore Smitten Kitchen! The food. The photos. All of it is delish! I saw these a few days ago and knew I needed to have them in my life.

So, I broke out the KitchenAid and went to town. I love this mixer so much... definitely my most favorite wedding present.


I was surprised at how simple the mixing and the rolling and the cutting was. I didn't have a circular cookie cutter, so I used a wine glass!

Note: do not use this much jelly. It's too much jelly.

I used Fresh Cherry Jelly from TJ's. The cherries are so big and yummy! Makes excellent PB&J.

Pinch and turn the corners. They look really adorable before baking.

Then you bake them and they look like poo.


But they are pretty damn tasty. I am definitely going to attempt this one again. I think a thicker dough, less jelly, harder pinching. Should do the trick!

Cooking: Brick Turkey

My former (well, current, until tomorrow) boss taught me about Brick Chicken. I thought she was crazy. She wanted me to put a chicken breast in a pan, then put a brick on top of it. It was supposed to seal in the juiciness.

But, she's a smart lady. And wouldn't steer me astray. So I went to Lowe's and bought one brick last year. Bricks are only like 30 cents and the sales person will believe you to be a crazy fool for only needing one. Then they will think you are seriously crazy for using it to cook. Might be best to keep that little tidbit to yourself.

So, you heat a pan with some oil. Throw the chicken in. Wrap a brick in tin foil. Throw it on top of the chicken. And let it cook. Then you flip it. Repeat.

Best. Chicken.Ever.

It's crisp on the outside, moist on the inside. Fabulous. And EASY.

It's become one of my favorites. Especially when it's just me at home. So incredibly fast and easy. Tonight I made it with Turkey Breast. Mostly just because it was less expensive at TJ's. A little asparagus/roasted almond ditty and a glass of red rounded out the yuminess.

I should remember that I like this a lot more than PB&J.

Investment: Apple

I want to start investing in stocks. My grandfather was a stock broker. My aunt plays the market. I want to be stock savvy.

So, right after the wedding we made our first investment. APPLE! Chris loves his Mac, so we decided to try it out. Research said it was a good choice.

So we invested!

Then we watched it plummet. Well, plummet may be a strong word. It began to decline, sometimes rapidly.


So, we invested more. In the form of product :-)


I never thought I would love a phone as much as I adore my iPhone. Best piece of technology that ever happened. Chris surprised me with it after a trip to Detroit/Milwaukee/Portland/Kansas City. He lead with a Detroit Beer Mug, then handed over the iPhone. What a kidder that kid is ;-)

Then, I relented to Chris' incessant need for the iMac. It would cut his import time down from quarter time to real time. Can't really argue with that.


And after I figured out how to work the damn thing I've become quite the fan. A few things I miss from PC, but all in all, it's been a good time.

And then, finally, today was a good Apple day!


Up 6.26! 'Twas a good day :-)

Happy Birthday Husband!

It's the big 2-7 for Christopher!

Happy Birthday baby. I wish you everything that you ever could dream for yourself, for us and for our future.

Love, Kisses, Can't wait to see you! :-)

Photography: The Park

This Sunday was perfection. A little "Lost" in the morning, mimosas and chit chat in the afternoon and a walk through the park as the sun was preparing to rest. Sometimes these days make me feel unproductive. As if I was a lazy bum. What I need to remember is that these are the days to recharge. To relax. To slow down.

MP had inspired me to talk a walk when I got home. I so rarely just got walking through the neighborhood anymore. I decided to grab my camera before sunset and stroll through the park. It's nice to remember nature on such a beautiful day.

Happy Easter!

Cooking: Skirt Steak Romesco

When Chris is out of town, I eat a lot of grapefruits. Grapefruit and PB&J. Quick, easy, yummy. When Chris is in town, I eat whatever he decides to make for me.

Cooking has kind of been on the back burner for a while. So, when the opportunity came up to have two amazing women over to embark on some wedding craftiness I jumped! I could cook, and cut paper, clue rhinestones, stuff stuff.

Wendy, Anne and I had an awesome time. These are the two of the first women I met online and then in real life. My real life friends make fun of me for The Knot, but I've made some freakin' amazing connections that I really hope will continue beyond the last dance.

For dinner, I headed to Real Simple and snapped up a Skirt Steak recipe. I love skirt steak. So thin and yummy juicy. The potatoes and sauce were part of the recipe and I added in the asparagus. Simple sauteed in garlic, olive oil and almonds.



I always run into recipes that call for a food processor, and I always remember that I don't have one. My mom has the gigantor processor from 1970ish. It was a wedding present and it's still going strong. Then I remembered that we had a magic bullet and it works PERFECTLY. And doesn't take up that much space.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with myself

Photography: It's here!

The flash is here! 2 days early! Chris has extended his work trip for some pleasure, so I'm super excited to have a fabulous new toy to play with until he heads back to the west coast!

Here, the flash still in the box. Using the built in flash...


And now with my beloved on the camera...


Holy. Freakin. Crap.

I knew there would be a difference. But, Holy.Freakin.Crap. Worth every single penny!

And then, a little photo shoot with the boys. These were all taken after midnight, with most of the lights out in the living room.



And then one last shot to play with details.

Fashion: Purple & Turquoise

Well, honestly, deep purple and everything.

Nico wore this dress for most of Lipstick Jungle last night. The purple and the turqouise... delish! Makes both of the colors pop and I'm loving it.

I wasn't going to watch another stupid show. Then Ani told me I just HAD to watch it. Until 3:00 am on Saturday. I watched them back to back online. (Maybe my bestie WTF has a not so bad idea with the getting rid of cable/watching shows online deal. I don't know if I can do it though.) It's no Sex & The City (and honestly will anything ever be.) But it's good. I can't jump on the Brooke Shields bandwagon. She bugs me. But the other characters are great. There seems to be a great balance of love/life/work/sex. Perhaps it's time to replace Cashmere Mafia in the TiVo lineup.

Hobby: Frank Horvat

I came across Frank Horvat's work on Fashion Is Spinach.

LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Fashion: Cocktail Rings

Everywhere I'm looking... Giant Huge Cocktail Rings. And I love them. Perusing through Something Old, Something New today and found this website, which lead to this ring. How beautifully fantastic is that!

Words to Live By

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing."

- George Bernard Shaw

There's Something So Comfortable in the Norm

No matter what the norm is... there's something comfortable about it. I sat in my regularly schedule traffic today, all the way to the gym. And I liked it. (As I have developed an affinity for traffic, I'm guessing I can no longer say "oh, I just moved to California." It's been three years... give it up girl.)

Today was a tough day. So many hard things to deal with. Life.Love.The Pursuit of Happiness. It's not my norm and it makes me uncomfortable. But in the uncomfortable moments, I hope to grow. To find my new comfort zone. Only to outgrow it and move on again.

And that's what the Jordana Project is all about, right? Growing. Shedding layers to reveal new shiny ones. The ones that I want to present to the world.

But in my deep thoughts, as I crept down the 101 to the 405, at 10 miles an hour. I saw this.



And it made me giggle.

It's Bad Day Wednesday

Yesterday was Bad Day Tuesday. Tomorrow will be Bad Day Thursday.

What's going on with me?!

Hobby: Photoshop

Before:
After:

Hobby: Daffodils

My new obsession is yellow. I adore it. So bright and light and happy.

Trader Joes has these puppies for $1.49/8ish stems. Oprah told me to buy them through her maagzine. So I've been stalking the store until they came in. I bought them on Sunday and they were all closed. Monday morning they were open, all bright new and shiny. They actually smell good, which was news to me... I didn't think daffodils had a smell.


When I came home from work the light coming in the window was so perfect. I snapped no less than 86 photos of these beauties. We're going to have to buy more storage hard drives.

Weird.

Yesterday was the weirdest traffic day there ever was.

Got to work in record time. Nothing. Thought it was odd.

But what was really strange, was the way to the gym .

The 101. At 5:30 pm.

This drive takes at least 40 minutes if I leave my office at 5:10. If I leave at 4:55 I can do it in 15 minutes.

Weird traffic days always freaks me out. Like I'm not supposed to be there. Like I accidently got up, got dressed and drove to work on Christmas Day. Is St. Patricks Day a much larger holiday than it was last year? Is it a new tradition to play hooky for St. Patty's?

Sounds damn good to me.

Hobby: Speedlight Flash

Every year for birthdays/holidays/celebrations/etc. my Aunt Jill sends me an American Express gift card from my Poppa. As soon as it arrives in it's pale yellowy beige envelope with the blue stripes I drop everything, head to Saks and purchase a ridiculous pair of shoes. That's just how I roll.

But this year was different. I ran to Ritz Camera to check out flashes. What!? This shoe loving lady is choosing technology over fashion. Hell has frozen over and pigs are currently flying through Los Angeles.

My husband is going to be so proud! Not only that I researched/purchased a little piece of technology, but that I didn't jump on the overpriced one at Ritz Camera, but I came home, did some homework and saved $65 on Amazon.com.

Now, I just have to wait. Wait for this new fabulousness to enter my life. Yummy.


In other news, I played with the D300 while there. My wish list just got a little longer.

Words to Live By

"Not everything you do is going to be a master-piece, but you get out there and you try and sometimes it really happens. The other times you're just stretching the soul."

--Maya Angelou

Hobby: White Balance

Wow! With the hit of a single button. Ice Dome or Sunny Home. Where do you want to live?

Cooking: Basil Beer Bread

So it's St. Patty's Day! My condo association had a little shin dig and I wanted to go somewhere I'd never gone before. To the land of bread. Irish bread.

May I introduce you to Irish Basil Beer Bread.


Unfortunately, I was less than impressed. Very thick and heavy. Perhaps too much yeast? or too much flour? I did substitute whole wheat for all purpose. Does that make a difference? Who knows. I chucked most of it after the party.

However, the pistachio covered goat cheese balls were BIG hits.



SOOOO simple, and I always look like a rock star. Goat cheese, rolled in crushed pistachios and served over spinach leaves. Something with the creamy coat cheese and the salty crunchiness of the pistachio. I dream about them.

I leave you with Green Beer in the making. Have a fabulous St. Patty's day. Enjoy your pint!

Hobby: Light

On Saturday, I played with light.

At about 5:00 pm it filters in through the sliding glass door so beautifully.



My model, Jack.


And when Jack got antsy, I brought in Cartoon Elephant. One of my most favorite purchases in Thailand. There's just something so happy about Cartoon Elephant.


I adore flowers. Chris always has a conniption when I buy flowers. Something about how they die quickly. But they're so happy and bright. I currently have tulips in the living room and daffodils in the bedroom.


I wanted to play with the apeture and sunlight. I was impressed that with a high f-stop my model, Ugly Fat Lady (my grandmothers' knick knack), was still well lit.


And with a low F-Stop, you just get Ugly Fat Lady.

Natural light really does produce amazingness. Need to get outside more during the day to take advantage.