make this now

i hate doing dishes. 

i'll seriously clean bathrooms before i do dishes. least favorite household chore.

that's why one-pan meals are so awesome.

this delicious, satisfying healthy meal is perfect for chilly fall evenings. and it's foolproof.

first things first: mise en place aka get your shit together. chop up one onion, peel and dice one sweet potato and prepare the kale. that means rinsing, removing the tough middle rib piece and chopping. 

next, cook about a pound of ground meat. i love turkey thigh because it's flavorful without being fatty. but this recipe is so versatile, so forgiving, that you could use anything: beef, chicken, even seitan or another meat-free alternative.

back to the recipe. when i cook ground meat, i turn the heat up to medium-high/high for about two minutes to get the pan nice and hot. then i add just a dribble of olive oil, and dump the meat in the non-stick pan. THEN DON'T TOUCH IT. 

just let it cook for a few minutes WITHOUT MOVING IT and it'll caramelize nicely and get some of that delicious golden brown color on it. at this stage, you should add about a teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of pepper. 

once the meat is cooked, drain off the fat if you need to and set aside in a bowl.

now it's time to cook the prepared veggies. 

add a bit more olive oil to the pan, let it heat up for a second and then add ONLY the onion and sweet potato. season with another teaspoon of salt and half teaspoon of pepper. cook until the onions are translucent and the potato softens, about five minutes.

once they're cooked, add the meat back and season the entire dish with two teaspoons of curry powder. any curry powder works. if the curry you're using is mild, you may want to add a few small dashes of cayenne.

once everything is back in the pan, toss in the kale. i used one large bunch here. it will look like a lot, but it wilt.

and that's it! give it a taste for seasoning and you're done! dinner is served. you could even throw a poached egg on top, but that's another dish to wash. your call.

this is one of those feel-good dinners. it's filling, inexpensive, warm and super good for you. make this and you can check dinner off the list for tonight. 

practically perfect

when you find a cut, style or fit that's flattering on you, you take it.

of all the sleeve lengths, this one that hits slightly above the elbow (too long to be called short sleeve, not long enough for 3/4 sleeve) is a winner for me. i love the boxy shape of these shirts too. it works well with skinny pants and pencil skirts.

here are a few i have my eye on.

top images: left | right
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since a lot of these tops are made with thicker fabric, they're great for fall weather. just throw a jacket on top and you'll be comfortable as the temperature swings from 50 to 70 during the day.

i'm having a hard time resisting that grey quilted one. oh boy.

fall in dc

lunch at arcuri | delish btw

k street, friday evening

sunday afternoon walk

lucy loves it

on the way home from target

it's hard to believe there's only a few days left in october. 

we get a ton of trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood and since this will be the third halloween in this house, we stocked up on candy last weekend since we've run out of it in the past. 

can't have our house getting toilet papered.

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this mild weather we've been having has been pretty great, but i hear that tomorrow will bring some cooler temps. 

i'm ready for it though. i even have my winter coat ready to go (the cobalt one), just in case.

here's to a good week! 

potw: haunted

i can pretty much take or leave halloween. 

it's never been my thing. well, besides the candy part. 

but i know a lot of people who really love it. and if you're one of those people, maybe you'd like one of these halloween cards. in letterpress format of course.

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and if there's anything that could turn me into being a halloween lover, it's gotta be a frenchie with batwings. 

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looking for more letterpress goods? check out my press of the week series here. a new potw is posted (almost) every monday. but you can always find the latest by following me on twitter.

going rogue

i'm a recipe follower. 

i like to know that i'm making something exactly right. usually when i decide i want to try a new dish, i google or search pinterest to find a recipe that works for me. but last weekend, i went out on a limb and i winged it with this soup.

i had some stuff in the fridge i wanted to use before it expired and a butternut squash we hadn't cooked yet. i've watched enough food network over the years to know that soup isn't all that difficult to make. it also helped that butternut squash is in season. we got ours from the columbia heights market and it was such a pretty shade of orange.

i didn't make my own stock or anything like that, but this turned out to be delicious. so i wanted to share. in recipe format. just in case there's any faithful recipe followers out there like me.

p.s. if you wanna know how to peel and break down a squash, i did a step-by-step post with photos on that last year.

we ate this with some gruyere grilled cheese sandwiches and it felt like fall exploded.

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if you're looking for other seasonal dishes, check out the archives here.

five for fall

these rainy days we've been having are making me want to just crawl back into bed and take a nap.

but there are definitely some reasons to get out of the house in the fall. i make one of these lists every season (here's winter, spring and summer), so here's my list for right now. 

photo credits: one | two | three | four | five

1. segway tour. i've done this four times now. i totally snobbed out the first time my out-of-town friend suggested we do this (i live here. why would i do that?), but i ate my words quickly after this was one of the most fun things i've done here. the segways are a blast to ride around on,  and since that first time, i've done it with a few other couples. it's seriously awesome. even if you're local.

2. rose's luxury. this recently opened place on barracks row looks interesting. it's built in a rowhouse, serves family-style meals and small plates and from the looks of it, seems super charming. 

3. dc reynolds. this place isn't new, but it's really close to where we live, they have killer bogo drink specials SIX DAYS A WEEK, a roofdeck and some awesome-sounding food. plus, i hear it's a caps bar.

4. petworth citizen. this is also really close to our house, and i'm excited to check this place out. the copper bar and somewhat more reasonably priced cocktails don't hurt either.

5. parts & labor. this place hasn't opened yet, but i can't wait to eat some delicious charcuterie from the guys behind red apron butchery. it'll be in penn quarter.

sale time

shopbop added a bunch of things to their sale today.

if you can ignore the hundred pairs of underwear on there, you can find some pretty good deals on pieces that you can wear right through fall. everything here is less than $50.

jacket | cotton dress | bracelet | sunglasses | long-sleeved tee | faux leather dress | wallet

the faux leather cutout dress is probably the most expensive-looking of the bunch. i also love a striped long sleeved tee for the fall.

get it while it's still in stock. seems to be going pretty quickly.

potw: equinox

fall's officially here. i've mentioned a few times on here that fall is not my favorite season. i love summer and always have. but there's something nice about feeling a slight chill in the air when you step outside in the morning. it's the same sensation you get some time in march or april when you finally start to feel that maybe warmer weather and blue skies are actually on their way.

since sunday was the first fall day, i thought some autumn-themed letterpress goods would be a good fit for this week's potw.

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here's to cooler temps, changing leaves and finally being able to wear that jacket i bought.

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looking for more letterpress goods? check out my press of the week series here. a new potw is posted (almost) every monday. but you can always find the latest by following me on twitter.

faux show

there's a lot of cute, affordable faux leather things out right now.

can you believe that tan dress is from dress barn?

also, sizes seem to be limited, but that white leather cutout number from zara is super chic and marked down to twenty bucks. 

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i've never really been a leather kinda girl, but these subtle touches of faux leather have me considering buying a few things for fall.

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sidenote: i couldn't get this out of my head when i made the title for this post. 

fall footwear

these are some of my favorite looks for the upcoming season. 

i've had my air conditioning off (!) for the past two days which is the perfect excuse to use that money for shopping. money in my pocket = more shoes to buy.

those riding boots are some of the best pair i've seen in a while. around this time every year, i go on the hunt for The Perfect Riding Boot (low heel, sturdy not slouchy, no obnoxious hardware, rounded toe, interesting detail, not $500). i didn't think it existed until i saw this pair. the price is right, too. 

row 1: nine west

row 2: zara | h&m | forever 21

row 3: zara | zara

row 4: zara | nine west

row 5: zara | h&m

row 6: target

i also did something i (almost) never do. i rounded some of these prices up. so $35 may really be $34.99, but you get the picture, right?

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leaf image from this post.

month 12

pretty peonies at the house

stuck on 11th on the way to work

pastels + rowhouses

i already miss the leaves

lucy loves the weekend too

how was your weekend?

i forgot it was december until about mid-day on saturday. that one really snuck up on me.

i did a lot of photo editing this weekend for a project i'm working on with this fine studio. i didn't always use lightroom to edit images, but i have been using it for a little over a year now and it's still awesome.

i've got some gifts to shop for this week, and i bet you do too. 

here's hoping you find something for everyone.

stuffed

a few yellow leaves hanging on

the watchdog

getting in one last standard burger for the year

tick tock...

metal straws for fancy cocktail time | from here

lucydog outside of the big bad woof

on a walk

back to reality

oh man. thanksgiving break happened i guess. i feel like it went by in a flash.

were you tasked with bringing something? or did you prepare the whole meal yourself?

i made this.

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little by little

when the leaves start to change, as much as i admire their brillant shades of red, orange and yellow, it's almost like you blink and they're gone. here in dc, the leaves stick around a little longer than cities farther up north, but it still happens pretty quickly.

every year, i tell myself that i'm going to pick a tree and document its progression to a fully leaf-less state. and usually, that doesn't happen. but i finally did it this year, and i'm excited to show you guys the results.

these pictures were taken from october 15 until november 5, with a few days missing for the time i was in florida for my brother's wedding (and subsequently got stuck there until halloween because of the superstorm). 

p.s. can you spot when sandy came through dc?

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there's still a good amount of trees with some awesome color these days too, making my daily drive into work a bit more bearable.

boston weekend

walking around harvard 

the most mind-blowing exhibit at the ICA | a cube made from thousands of pins with no magnets or glue holding it together.

tolls, tolls and more tolls

the sun goes down

back to the work week

the boy and i had a blast visiting my high school bff and her husband in boston this weekend. the weather was gorgeous: sunny, warm, a nice breeze.

we stuffed our faces, laughed a lot, and saw a ton of the city. what a great weekend trip. they have tickets to a few red sox games next year, and i can't wait to go back for a game next spring.

here's to another week!

sunny october

i love driving around town this time of year. i happen to think dc's always beautiful, but with these stunning blue skies and leaves in every shade fall has to offer, it's almost not fair.

you're just showing off now, dc.

but seriously, the weather this weekend was incredible. and i was happy to be outside enjoying it.

big yellow tree by my office, friday afternoon 

k street, colorful trees

park sign + mirrored building downtown

early saturday morning 

sunday afternoon on pennsylvania ave. looking pretty perfect

waiting to get our segway on

hey canada

safety first!

lincoln columns 

two monuments in one

a statue behind the sun always looks dramatic 

just enjoying the day

if you've never been on a segway tour, i can't tell you how much fun it is. my first experience with a segway was a few years ago. i had a friend coming to town who wanted to try it, and i, somewhat begrudgingly, agreed to go ("that is SUPER tourist," i thought). but i had the best time. those things go fast! 

so when she came back to visit a second time, we brought our dudes along with us and it was just as fun as we remembered. 

there was a groupon for bike & roll a few months back, making yesterday's outing  with some other good friends of ours much more affordable.

seriously, it's a blast. if you're looking to do something fun with out-of-town guests (can you imagine how long it would actually take to WALK from the library of congress to the lincoln memorial?)or maybe you just wanna take a day to remember how gorgeous our city is, do the segway thing. 

and happy monday!