Prosciutto, Gorgonzola, Date Pizza! (And it's under 400 calories!)

Time for my first food post!  I'm a (usually) healthy eater and strive for my meals to be between 300 and 400 calories when I'm eating at home - which is most of the time, because I really like being able to be in control of 100% of what is going into my food.  The pizza I am going to show you is one of my all-time favorite meals, it's delish!  I make it for just myself so it only feeds one, but you could easily substitute a handmade or pre-made pizza crust.

The ingredients you'll need are:
1 whole wheat pita,
Extra virgin olive oil,
Any kind of pasta/ pizza sauce,
Shredded  mozzarella cheese,
Either a block or crumbled gorgonzolla cheese,
Package of prosciutto,
Pitted dates,
Sea salt

Step One:

Preheat oven to 385 degrees



 Step Two:

Lightly brush the bottom of your pita with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

(140 calories for pita + 50ish calories for Olive Oil)

Step Three:

Spread pizza/pasta sauce on the pita

(10 calories for sauce)

 Step Four:

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over sauce

(50 calories for cheese)

 Step Five:

Sprinkle gorgonzola cheese over mozzarella cheese

(60 calories)

Step Six:

Tear 1/2 of a piece of prosciutto into small pieces and spread them over the cheese

(15 calories for 1/2 piece of prosciutto)

Step Seven:

Slice 2 dates into small pieces and place on top of the pizza

*Note- make sure you get pitted dates- it's a HUGE pain to peel and pit the dates yourself

(40 calories for dates)

Step Eight:

Sprinkle with sea salt

Step Nine:

Cook for 16 minutes

 Calorie count = 325

 Step 10: (my fave)

Enjoy a glass of red while your easy, gourmet, low calorie pizza cooks!

Bon Appetit!

House Tour

Interior design is one of my absolute favorite hobbies.  Over the past six years my house has been in a constant state of flux, going from a typical messy college house to something that I am so proud of.  I'm an Apartment Therapy junkie so I thought I'd give a little mini house tour here. 

It was really fun to take all of these pictures of my home because it reminded me of all of the ideas I've gotten from blogs!  I am going to try to find links to all of the blogs that gave me the design ideas or diy tutorials but some of them were years ago, so if I don't give credit where credit is due I apologize.

I'm going to start with my favorite part of the house - my enormous picture wall!  I started this wall 3 years ago with 4 pictures and it has grown and almost taken on a life of it's own.  Picture walls are huge in interior design right now.  If you want to start your own I suggest starting with mis-matched but simple frames, too many patterns on the frames themselves can be distracting.  Also, I love the combination of different sized pictures and different shaped frames. 

Here are a few more scenes from my bedroom.  I picked out the pumpkin orange color when I was 19 - I cannot wait to get some nice white walls that will match with everything!

I love putting unusual things on shelves, it's not very functional but it's great for decorating

I've seen these necklace displays all over the place, they're really good for keeping your jewelry organized and showing off your cute stuff.  To make this one I just bought 2 square cork sheets (you can find them in any office supply section, I got mine at Target) and hot glued white fabric to them (make sure you iron the fabric so it looks nice).  After making them I nailed them to the wall and used pins to hang my necklaces on.

I found this super cute book on clearance at Urban Outfitters and wasn't sure what to do with it, afterall, books usually just sit on my bookshelf collecting dust.  I know it's the greatest sin a booklover can commit but I cut out my favorite pages and framed them.

The only reason I am putting a picture of my bed here is because I'm in love with the new Michael Kors duvet I just got!

Moving on to the kitchen...

You already know from the color of my bedroom how into bright colors I was when we first painted the house, but I still love the bright yellow with the black and white floor.

Dining Room...

Living Room...

This little bookcase is one of the many pieces of furniture I have repainted and I love the way it turned out!  The embroidery hoop wall art is one of my favorite ideas that I have found online.

The rug seen in this picture used to be all black but I have become completely obsessed with black and white chevron stripes so I painted it.  It was a labor of love (that took about 7 hours total!) but it turned out really well.

Sorry about the glare! My sister and I found this gem in Las Vegas 5 years ago, and he remains one of our most prized posessions.

I made these plates myself and am planning to do a step-by-step tutorial on this blog soon!

Who doesn't love silhoutte portraits?

Bathroom...

These are actually greeting cards - I loved them so I framed them in hand painted, distressed frames.

The chandelier over the bathtub just makes bath time so much more glamorous.  And I know the the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' posters are a little over done but I am a huge history buff and love the story behind it

Hope you enjoyed the tour!



Welcome to the (Blogging) World, Baby Girl!

Although I've been quietly reading and enjoying blogs for years, it finally occurred to me that this is the perfect time for me to bust out my own voice and add it to this wonderful, unique world that I had only passively participated in before. 

I am 25 and live in a small college town in Northern Arizona.  I graduated from college in May of 2008 and have been working the same jobs that I have had throughout college and travelling ever since.  I have reached an interesting (although admittedly somewhat uncomfortable) time in my life, and rather than spend this time focussing solely on the future or yearning for the past, I want to document these months (or years!) and the whimsy, kitch, beauty and adventure that I am experiencing RIGHT NOW- on a daily basis, no less!  I love love love creating and interior design.  I am a workout junkie and pretty healthy eater.  I love all things old fashioned and kitschy (one of my favorite words, you'll soon find out).  And I love to travel.  These are things that I have a want and need to share- so here we are. 

I'm sure many of you out there can relate to the "quarter-life crisis" I'm going through now.  Afterall, your early- mid twenties are the first time (for many of us) that we don't know exactly what we're supposed to be doing.  I have known, with absolute certaintly, that when I turned 5 I would be starting Kindergarten, at 12- Middle School, my 14th year would bring High School and, for me, there was no doubt that after I graduated High School I would be moving on to a 4 year University.  To make matters even more predictable and comfortable, I have done all of this with the same group of wonderful friends (whom I still consider my best friends, almost 20 years later!). 

So now, I sit here at 25, and of course a career would be the logical next step to the progression - but when you aren't sure that you can pick any one thing to devote the rest of your life to doing, what's next?  For me it's been to stay put and not really rock the boat for the past 3 years.  My college friends have all since moved on, starting careers or are atleast starting to actively look for careers.  I am now to a point where I feel like my life is stalled.  I am a Preschool aide by day and a bartender by night, in some ways I still enjoy both of my jobs and there is absolutely nothing wrong with either of those professions!  But it's not what I had planned for myself.  I know that, in order to grow into the person I am going to be, I need to push myself and move on.  But as I'm doing this I'm going to need to pop my head up every once in a while and enjoy all of the wonderful things that surround me now- which is the exact purpose of this blog.  Who knows what will happen in the next few years?  I will probably (fingers crossed!) start a career, maybe get married and start a family - and looking back at this "uncomfortable transition period" I will be able to remember what an amazing adventure and endearing chapter of my life it really was.  

It's a great feeling to become part of the blogosphere!  World, here I come!