So, it was about three years ago this month that I made the decision to move from NYC to come back to my hometown, Louisville. I have had no regrets whatsoever about this decision-- I love, love Louisville and I feel so at home in the midwest-- but there are times when I go through really strong NYC withdrawals. I mean, what's not to love about this? Ahhh, Central Park on an amazing, spring day something like 5 or 6 years ago (crazy!!)
This week I've been missing New York a lot, in particular, our adorable pink house in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and the sweet little neighborhood it is housed in. There was nothing I loved more than stepping out that front door and taking a stroll through the park and up and down the towhouse-lined streets for hours at a time.
Not to mention the fact that I kind of miss these girls, too.
My roomies Stephania,
and Caitlin. (This was our Derby party-- leave it to the Kentucky girl to make her northern friends partake in hourse racing).
So maybe I'll get to the city sometime soon for a nice visit, but until then, I'm revelling in memories and photos and oh, so many songs that remind me of my time there. Here's one of our ultimate go-to recipes that we made very often at New York Thursday Night Dinners. This one is great for those Lazy Thursdays (which seem to happen more and more often these days :)
Enjoy!
xoxo,
colleen
Personal Pita Pizzas
by Stephania Stanley and Colleen Reilly
What you need:
- 4 flat, whole grain pitas
- 8 oz package mozzarella cheese
- 1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
- 8 oz spinach
- ½ large red onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- ½ green pepper, diced
- ½ red pepper, diced
- ½ yellow pepper, diced
- ½ zucchini, sliced and quartered
- ½ head of broccoli
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Olive oil spray
- 1 Tablespoon dried basil
- 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
- Pepper
- Cayenne pepper
What to do:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Dice the onion and garlic while the oil is heating. Sautee onion and garlic and begin dicing peppers. Add the peppers after the onion and garlic have sautéed about three minutes. While the peppers are sautéing, begin dicing the zucchini and chopping the broccoli into small florets. After about two minutes add the zucchini, broccoli and spinach. The spinach will cook down quickly, so don’t be intimidated by how much there is. Add basil, oregano, pepper and cayenne. If you use fresh herbs, remember that a little goes a long way! While the veggies are working in the skillet, place the pitas on olive oil-sprayed cookie sheets. Spoon out tomato sauce onto each pita and spread it around until the pita is covered with saucy goodness. After the veggies have sautéed about five more minutes, turn off the burner and scoop an even amount of veggie mixture onto each pita. Sprinkle each with the desired amount of cheese, and place in the oven. After fifteen minutes or when the cheese has begun to brown, take the pizzas out of the oven, slice each into four pieces with a large knife or a pizza cutter and devour!
Happy Thursday! A few weeks ago my darling Jewish boyfriend, Dave, and I had a combined Greek Easter/Belated Passover holiday dinner.
We've been having many conversations lately about what it means to have a reformed interfaith relationship and this was our first attempt at really coming together and combining our two family traditions. We both dug out our family recipes, I got on the phone with my Uncle Greg for grilling instructions, and we spent two full days preparing for our giant feast. Our friends arrived one by one, I put on Shovels & Rope (because obviously that is the perfect Greek Easter/Passover music), we poured wine, and it began.
After some of the more complex discussions we've had about what our possible, future family would look like we took all that we had learned thus far and came together and shared our favorite traditions with our nearest and dearest. We spoke Hebrew and Greek and ended the night with our favorite American dessert, s'mores.
By the end of the night, we were all making plans for the next one.
Enjoy!
stephania
Grilled Greek Lamb
by Stephania Stanley
What you need:
- lamb (1/2 lb per person)
- olive oil
- fresh oregano
- salt and pepper
What to do:
Coat the lamb with olive oil and generously salt and pepper both sides.
Assemble charcoal around the edges of the grill (so that the heat will be around the edges of the grill and not directly in the center). Place an disposable aluminum pan with 1" of water in the center. Heat up the grill. Grill lamb until the center of the meat reads 140°F. We grilled a butterflied 7Lb lamb and it took a little over an hour.
Once the lamb is ready, let it rest for about 20 minutes and slice diagonally in 1/4" thick slices. Pour the liquid from the aluminum pan into a serving bowl (now au jus) and add a spoonful or so over the lamb when serving.
Happy Thursday! If it's been a little quiet around here, one of the reasons is I just started a new job. I think that I am really going to like it, but the process of starting a new routine and learning a new gig is seriously wiping me out! I am sooo tired. But it's a good kind of tired.
Here's a craft that I am really liking right now. I made these frames for my girlfriends as 30th birthday presents and gave them to them when we were all together on vacation in Miami. I tried to pick colors that would go with their houses and personalities. The only problem is, I forgot to make one for me, so I still have to do that.
Enjoy!
Decoupage Frames
by colleen reilly
What you need:
- plain 4x6 frame (choose one that is flat and doesn't have ridges or decorations on it)
- craft paper
- scissors
- x-acto knife
- craft glue
- mod podge
- paint brush
What to do:
Choose a color of paper for the front of your frame. Choose a coordinating color of paper for the back of your frame. Lie the frame face down on the paper you choose for the front (place both on a piece of cardboard so you don't ruin your surface. Cut the piece of paper with the x-acto knife to the size of the frame by tracing along the outside of the frame with the knife and cutting out the inside. Do the same for the back and sides. Glue paper on to frame with craft glue. When dry, brush over entire surface with mod podge to make it shiny.
Triple Braid, Triple Fun!
By Megan Kramer
I've been showing you guys a bunch of braids lately; I'm still seeing them everywhere (and I'm not over them yet) so I'll keep showing you tutorials until we move onto the next trend! To keep myself from getting bored, I'm always trying to practice different twists on the standard braid. My good sported friend was patient with me while I tried about 8 things on her; some that were not so cute, until we tried one that was. Point being that you can always come up with a different way to style a braid. They are completely versatile and with a little creativity, can have people wondering, "how the heck did she do that?" So get creative, and I would love to see what you come up with!
What you need: 
- small rubber bands
What you do:
- Start by putting your hair in a pony tail where you want the braid to begin.
- Separate the pony tail into 3 equal sections.
- Braid each of the sections and secure with a small rubber band (I think it looks better when the braids aren't too tight). You will have 3 separate braids.
- Braid the 3 separate braids together to make one big braid.
- Secure with a rubber band.
- Use your hands to pull the braid a part just a bit and make it a little bigger.
- Take out the top rubber band and the 3 rubber bands that were holding the separate braids together, but leave the one holding the main braid together.
Xo,
Megan
Enjoy!
colleen
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Remedy Your Wardrobe for Spring
My closet is in major need of a deep Spring cleaning. I have articles of clothing that have not seen the light of day since the 90's. Why they even remain in my possession is beyond me; but Michelle Sackson and Missy Renkosik from Wardrobe Remedy, a Los Angeles-based personal styling and consulting business are here to help with that. (Check out their website to learn more about their services). Below, Michelle, reveals the ONE clothing item she will never, ever ever get rid of, and her absolute FAVORITE new Spring trend.
GIVEAWAY ALERT! Hello gorgeous! Wardrobe Remedy is giving a free spring tank dress out to one lucky Thursdays reader! Details follow the interview below.
Q: What is your favorite new trend for Spring?
And here's the Giveaway!!
Wine Cork Trivet
By Megan Kramer
I'm sure that plenty of you ladies, like me, love a glass of wine after a long day. Turns out those glasses add up, and we have a lot of corks! I always throw them in a bowl that sits on our wine shelf. When the bowl starts to overflow, it's time for a project. This weekend it was that time again, and I ran into a cute tutorial on Apartment Therapy. They made theirs into coasters, but I decided to make mine into a trivet-which is good because I recently realized that until now, I only owned one trivet. So I used up my corks and can now serve 2 hot dishes at once without the aid of a dish towel; win win!
What you need: 
- wine corks(I used 37)
- ribbon
- glue gun
What you do:
You can cut the corks to whatever size you like. I left mine full size. If you are going to cut them, you can use a mini hacksaw or even a knife(be careful). You can sand them a little if you need to. Then start gluing. I started with the center cork and then glued around it, and then did 2 more rows around. Once that part is all set, glue a ribbon around it. Now that your done, go get a glass of wine and start replenishing those corks for the next project!
Xo,
Megan
The Perfect Iced Coffee
by Stephania Stanley
What you need:
- coffee ice cubes (make a fresh cup of coffee the night before and use it to make coffee ice cubes throughout the week)
- 8 tbsp coffee
- 6 cups water
- milk and sugar to taste
What to do:
I used a french press to make my coffee, but a drip coffee machine will work just fine. Make your coffee with the extra scoops with your chosen hot drip method. Once the coffee has brewed, fill your heat safe coffee glass (or cup) half way with ice and pour the brewed coffee. Give it a couple of stirs and enjoy!
Fishtail Bangs
By Megan Kramer
You love them, I love them, who doesn't love braids? I'm so happy that the trend is still hot! Braids are fun to do, there is always something new you can create, and they are one of the best ways to easily get your hair out of your face, but still have it look cool. Not to mention, it's a great way to stretch a blow out one more day! The fishtail is one of my favorites, so my friend Anna let me try a few things on her last week. It was a rainy disgusting day that made good hair nearly impossible... unless you fishtail your bangs that is!
What you need:
- small rubber band
- bobby pins
What you do:
Section off the hair that you want to be in the braid and clip it away from the rest of the hair. It's cute to create a deep side part with this style. Now clip the rest of the hair out of the way and then take out the clip from the bang section. We are doing a french braid, but will be using 2 strands (a fishtail). Take two little sections of hair right next to the part. Cross one over the other. It doesn't matter which way you go, but for the sake of explaining, let's say right over left. Now take another little piece from the left side and cross it over the piece that you just brought over to the left side and join it with the hair on the right side. Now take a little piece from the right side and cross it over to the left side and join it with that hair. Continue this pattern until you reach the end. Secure with a rubber band. Next just see where you want you braid to be and pin it there. I usually use at least two bobby pins and criss-cross them so it stays in. You can take the rubber ban out now if it's showing. Cute hair in under 5 minutes!
Xo,
Megan
Bauble Necklace and Bracelet
photo from a beautiful mess
Necklace
Bracelet
photo by colleen
What you need:
- craft paint
- wood beads (in whatever size you choose)
- gloss (triple thick or gloss spray)
- paintbrushes
- leather cord or ribbon
What to do:
Choose the beads you want to use and a color scheme. To paint and gloss mine, I cut off the bottom of a Q-tip and placed the bead on the cotton end of the Q-tip and then painted the beads. I then stuck the Q-tips into a scrap piece of styrofoam to let the beads dry. Paint beads with a second coat of paint. When the beads are dry, spray or paint with gloss to make the beads shiny. When the gloss is dry, string beads on leather cord or ribbon and you're ready to wear!
Quinoa Salad with Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Mint
Written by megan kramerHappy hump day! Spring is finally showing her lovely face and I could not be happier about it.
As the weather gets warmer, Colleen and I both crave lighter, zestier meals. For me this usually means leaner meat and rosé instead of Pinot Noir, but this year I thought I would finally dive into the world of quinoa. This is a great salad for lunch and can be made to be a little bit heavier with mini turkey meatballs mixed in.
Enjoy!
Stephania
Quinoa Salad with Cucumbers, Tomato, and Mint
by Stephania Stanley (adapted from Bon Appetit)
What you need:
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 English cucumber, peeled, chopped into 1/4" pieces
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1/2 cup mint, roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 scallions, sliced thinly
- 1 garlic clove, minced
What you do:
Combine olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. Whisk together. Stir in quinoa. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix.
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