Summer Bucket List Review 2014

As of yesterday evening it is officially fall! Ironically enough the weather is going to be in the 80's all week... 

Since it is the first full day of fall... here you have my summer bucket list review! (and a lot of photos from my summer. :) ) 

I did pretty well! Many of them were too ($) lofty for a summer with a month between jobs and budgeting for a fall trip.. .but it's good to be ambitious. :) And either way we had a very nice summer!

Here you go!

1) Try Russian Food (part of a 2014 goal)

2) Travel (even if that just means in Kansas City)

3) Do lots of Yoga, Dancing etc. 

4) Organize Photos on My Computer (it's a mess...) - Started!

5) Watch Roman Holiday

6) Get some hot curlers

7) Get some plants for inside & on balcony

8) Try Tortas Jaliscos 

9) Organize Pinterest boards into sub groups -   started!
10) Try Caribbean food

11) Open & Put Items in my Etsy store

12) Read! Participate in summer reading program? - missed it.

13) Paint tiny canvasses (Also a 2014 goal) - painted a relatively small mat board... sketched a small canvas that's ready to be painted... 

14) Major organization and cleaning of bedroom & closet - halfway

15) Get furniture onto our balcony, make it a place we want to spend time!

16) Go to the Basil Leaf Cafe

17) Find a red lip color that I like - bought a few, haven't played with them much yet

18) Go to the original Arthur Bryant's in KC

19) Try Alchemy Coffee

20) Shampoo carpets (practically a party animal you guys..)

21) Watch the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

22) Go to Juice Stop

23) Go bowling

24) Go to free/cheap Buzz concerts - just the one before I made this list

25) Eat at Terrebonne

26) Watch Space Jam with Kyle

27) Get sno cones at Tad's Tropical Sno -Twice!

28) Try Limestone Pizza

29) Enjoy my birthday

30) Try out our complex's pool

31) Go thrifting (a lot) 

32) Try a new board game

33) Make two new pies - got ingredients to make one... 

34) Do something unexpected  -Guardians of the Galaxy

35) Plan trip for the fall - tickets are booked!

36) Make lots of Pimm's Cups! (already making good headway on this... ;) ) 

37) Use that darn sewing machine! (Finally!?) 

38) Go to one bigger flea market in Kansas (KC, Lawrence, Troy...) 

39) Work on Travel Scrapbook

40) Go to the drive in

41) Make & drink Sangria

42) Host a super-fab bachelorette party for my sister

43) Make & Eat S'mores! (as much as possible!)

44) Go to a Sporting KC game, or at least buy tickets for a fall game

45) Go to Westport Food Truck Festival - Missed it. :(

46) Finish Veronica Mars series & movie

47) Upcycle some of my thrifted finds that I have good intentions for.. :) 

48) write at least 15 blog posts! - yep!

49) Have people over (more than 3 people), at least twice (I)

50) Have fun.

Other Accomplishments/Things of Note:

Cooked at home more
Tried several new-to-us restaurants not on the list
Successfully got my sister married & on her honeymoon (and back)!
Went to the Renaissance Festival with my family
Attended three weddings
Had many successful thrifting hauls
Saw a few more classic/cult classic movies from my 2014 Goal list
Drank lots of homemade cold press (YUM)
Learned a lot of family stories from my dad
Borrowed a DSLR from my dad (need to start using it!!)
Caught up on and started watching some new shows on Netflix... :) 
Went to see a crazy (for us) amount of movies out. Could now definitively rank and give all necessary information on every theatre in the KC area.... 

Did you guys set summer goals? How did you do?

Are you making goals for fall? What is on yours?

Fall Bucket List coming soon!

XO,

Alexandra

Oh yeah... did you happen to check out my 101 in 1,001 post? Long term goals are fun! :) 

12 Sweet Pie Recipes for Summertime!

I love pie. Don't you guys love pie?

Our city recently got a diner (a real one!), and they serve... you guessed it!... pie! :) We had dinner there, and the pie (which we got to go) was divine!

Which reminded me, that my Summer Bucket List mentioned making two new pies... I need to get on that! While looking for ideas, I made this list of 12 pie recipes that I found on Pinterest! While great at any time of year, they would be especially fantastic for summer!

1) Apricot Raspberry Galette - Gluten free!
2) Patriotic Pie - While a bit late this year, this pie would be lovely for the 4th!
3) Peach Pie - Peach is my favorite!
4) Strawberry Peach Tart - I have yet to eat or make a strawberry pie! Maybe it's time?
5) Cherry Hand Pies - Cherry is KC's favorite!
6) Blueberry Peach -  or try this one from Becca @ Ladyface - It's gluten free & vegan too!
7) Old Fashioned Banana Cream Pie - This is legit, no pudding involved!
8) Scarlett O'Hara Raspberry Pie - adorable name, may just make me try it!
9) Four Berry Pie -Mmmm...
10) Blackberry Crumb Pie - Crumble topping is hard to resist.... and super low maintenance!
11) Berry Apple Rhubarb Pie - Rhubarb is also a pie flavor I have never eaten or made!
12) Meyer Lemon Chess Pie - I have never had a chess pie.. but this looks delicious!

Is your mouth watering?

Perhaps you are feeling like pie is more effort than you have time for... try this no-fail fruit crisp recipe. My favorite combination so far is raspberry peach! I love how easy it is: put fruit in pan, top fruit with crumble, bake, eat... Top it with ice cream if you are feeling really crazy. And then eat the leftovers for breakfast... ;)

What is your favorite summer pie or dessert?

Pretty darn soon it's going to be time to start thinking about fall!

Exciting!!

XO,

Alexandra

*all images from the original source*

Simply Summer Mix

There are still nineteen days left of summer.

Throughout the summer I've been crafting this little mix on Spotify, and I wanted to share it with you all. Listen to it here.

It's a mix of indie, alternative, pop and folksy songs that I've really been loving this season. Some older ones, some new ones, a bunch that I can't stop listening to... :)

For once I'm really wanting to savor the bit of summer that's left and these songs keep me feeling happy and content, especially during days at the office.

What are your favorite tracks this summer?

Let me know what you think of these songs. :) 

How gorgeous is the video for Hothouse?!?!

XO,

Alexandra

Hey There, July

How are you all doing?

Time flies when you are having fun. (and sometimes you're having too much fun to blog about it).

KC and I had June off in between our old jobs ending and our new ones starting, so we spent the month organizing our apartment, working on projects, cooking together, playing board games and watching lots of television from the '90's. It has been really nice to have so much time to de-stress and spend time together!

Now we have both started our new jobs, and are getting into the swing of a new schedule, which means I'll have a time to catch up on summer blogging!

So, happy July everyone!

Coming up soon: 

Dinner on the Murder Mystery Train

4th of July / Birthday Post

Summer Recipes

Summer Outfits 

A few DIYs

Woohoo! 

XOXO,

Alexandra