Book-Club Blue Cheese Dip

Super-easy recipe for entertaining that we adapted from an allrecipes.com mailer. We look for inspiration EVERYWHERE.

I'm not big on parsley unless it's in chimichurri so we skipped it and added twice the amount of chives that the recipe called for.

This could be served with veggies or crackers or you could totally rub it on some bread and make a fancy-ass sandwich. Allrecipes said it could also be spooned into endive for a fancy-looking and fancy-tasting snack.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs walnuts
4 Tbs chives
1/2 c crumbled blue cheese
8oz cold cream cheese (we used Tofutti)

Blend walnuts and chives in a food processor.

Put in another bowl, stir in blue cheese and set aside.

Then blend the cream cheese and the other stuff in the food processor.

It is good for up to 3 days if covered and put in the fridge (but it won't last that long).

You Too Can Make a Personalized Card!

Seriously. This is not hard. You can do this. It's some stickers, a stamp, and some writing. YOU CAN DO THIS.

And honestly, people get SO excited about homemade cards.

This particular card was for Todd's mom's birthday. Todd's name means fox so there's a little inside joke there. I used Thickers letters and a $1 bin bow from Michael's. The cards were two colors from Paper Source.

When people ask for card advice, I usually tell them to use 3-4 elements. Use a card with texture + a scrap of paper + a stamp + an envelope in a contrasting color and you've got a neat card. Stickers expedite the process but can look cheap: buy fancy shit and your shit will look fancier. Seriously. This is easy.

Julep Maven Nail Art

I used to paint my nails every day in high school. Just ask my mom who endured carpet stain after carpet stain. I was nail obsessed. And then college came and it was a lot to just brush my hair and wear pants. Less and less caring during grad school. But now that all that learnin' is over, I can finally become vain again!

I think I've told you before about how magical the Julep Maven program thing is. I enjoy it every. single. month. And as I've been trying to focus on things that make me happy while work is a bear-and-a-half. Over the past few months, this little treat has become even more enjoyable.

This month Julep introduced this tool called the plie wand and I opted for the nail kit which comes with tools that make perfect polka dots ("Jess, you rock a lot of polka dots") and a striping tool. The super mod go go dancer inside of me begged for black-and-white and polka dots. This stuff dries super quickly when you use their "Ta-Da" drops and it looks awesome even through yard work.

Mason Jar Salads: Asian Edition

Another quick salad for the freakin' week.

Simple, simple, simple:
- edamame
- quinoa
- red peppers
- mango
- whatever dressing you desire (we used Newman's Own Sesame Ginger)

These puppies took only the amount of time to cook the quinoa (stovetop) and edamame (microwave).
We just dump parts into jars and seal. Seriously. A whole week of lunches made in like 15 minutes.

Sometimes I bring lettuce to pour it over if it's a week where I'm particularly hungry.