Garden Tour

Since October I've been working on converting our dead sod lawn into a little garden retreat. After spending way too much time on Pinterest, I decided I wanted my own little country vegetable patch, so I set out to try and create just that. It's still a work in progress, but here is a look at my outdoor efforts over the last few months...

Christmas Mimosa Bar

Here's a little glimpse at our mimosa bar from our Christmas morning. I decided to use the SOMA water carafe as a converted OJ pitcher, and it worked out pretty great.

Christmas Eve is usually spent with Robert's family, so we had my parents over the next day to open presents and drink mimosas; even though apparently, I'm the only alcoholic in the family nowadays.

Christmas at the Casita

Christmas is in full swing over here and I couldn't be more excited. Every year is a bit of mixed emotions as the holiday season comes around, but this year I've been trying to channel my energy towards the good.

We went out to Lowe's Friday to pick out a tree, and spent the rest of the afternoon setting it up and getting things decorated.

I asked the lot attendant to save us some of the branch trimmings, and I've been crafting "peace wreaths" and garlands for all over the house all weekend. I have the worst sense of smell, but I'd like to imagine our place smells festive.

Have any of you started decorating for the holidays?

Link up - I'd love to take a peek!! 

Life Lately

We started the long process of installing the wood laminate last weekend and PHEW!! What a task!! I really give my hat to contractors and manual laborers, because after two whole days of being on my toes busting my tush - I was ready for a foot massage to last a lifetime. The downer is we only got through the living room, so unfortunately we'll be back at it again the weekend before Christmas to get the kitchen ready for the holidays with family. My parents' house is also balls deep in construction so we'll most likely be putting together a little shin dig with Robert and my parents again this year at our place.

What have you guys been up to lately??

Beyond Beef: Italian Meatballs

I've been vegetarian now for about 2 months and have started branching out in the arena of plant-based protein alternatives. Last night we decided on a last minute trip to the store to make spaghetti, and I remembered seeing these Beyond Meat meatballs last time we were there so I thought why not and grabbed a bag.



The Italian Meatballs are made of non-GMO peas, and recommended prepared over hot olive oil. In comparison with other meat alternatives, this was actually not too shabby.

Next time I think it would be much better prepared in some sort of sauce or seasoning (maybe a pesto marinade) but overall I'd recommend trying over any pasta dish.

XMAS WISH LIST

1 - NOFX Patch

2 - Skull Middle Finger Patch 

3 - Danzig Patch

4 - The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook

5 - HONY Stories

6 - Leopard Fuzzy Slippers!

7 - Heart Whisk

8 - Black Wedged Booties

9 - Shearling Style Boots

10 - SOMA Carafe

11 - Dyson V6 Cordless Animal

12 - Faux Fur Cushion Cover

13 - Sporty Knit Leggings

14 - Cowl Tunic Hoodie

Thankful

For the first time in what feels like forever I'm wide aware of the many blessings in my life, and that feels really fucking awesome. The last couple of years have been dark. I struggled with a seemingly endless tunnel of depression, and as a result clouded my own views and perceptions of my life. This year it's really hit me how incredibly thankful I am.

I have an awesome dude.
I have an awesome job.
I live in an awesome town (in the off seasons lol).
I'm healthy.
I'm not hungry.
I have three fluffy butts that love me.

Life is pretty damn good.

What are you thankful for this year?

Living Room Inspiration

Yesterday we made our second big ticket purchase together and splurged (not really thanks to Black Friday Deals) on a new stove. Ours hasn't latched in over three years, and we just sort of ghetto-rig it together whenever we need to bake anything, so this is a total dorky adult moment.

We've been planning a lot of renovations around here and I'm excited to finally get the house looking like my version of magazine living. I've been playing around on Polyvore and put together a little inspiration board for what I'm planning for our living room.




Words cannot begin to explain how excited I am to have laminate wood floors going in!! I'm finishing up the black accent wall this week after many months of procrastination. We originally painted it an eggshell/satiny finish, and unfortunately, old walls = lots of blemishes and imperfections, so hopefully flat paint will make a much cleaner presentation.

Are you planning any fun holiday renovations or remodels? 

Link up if you'd like to share your home decor or ideas ;)

Sunday Morning Dog Walks

Every now and then we take advantage of where we live and stroll down to the bay when we go on Liver's walk. There were a few divers out taking advantage of the clear water, but from these photos you would think we had the whole beach to ourselves.

Halloween Party

This year my boss threw a Halloween Party and asked me to help with the spread. I went a little white girl overboard on Pinterest with the menu, but it's a good thing because we had our share of Pinterest Fails.. *cough* anything with a face *cough*..

I wasn't able to capture the best pics due to the fact that I left my DSLR at home, but I snapped some photos on my iPhone before everything was demolished.

Not So Balanced Breakfast

30 Days Vegetarian

Lately my boss and I have been getting into some deep discussions on a wide variety of topics mostly stemming around punk ideologies. Long story short after I started telling him the other day in a sort of excusal manner that I had already gone the morning meat free, he called me on my shit and challenged me to go 30 days minimum.

So far it's been 4 days, and holy shit is my system cleaning out. Read between the italicized lines and take pity on my toilet.

I'm quickly realizing that my normal starch and fatty foods rich diet isn't going to cut it without the normal excessive amount of protein I usually eat to compensate; so in an effort to balance out I've been researching vegetarian diet plans and planning on trying some high protein recipes that are low on murder and torture (infographic).

Stay tuned for some recipe ideas!

Leather-Look Jackets

Leather Jackets by ashleyriah featuring a black jacket

Re-Finding My Voice

I can't even remember the last time I sat down in front of the Blogger Dashboard with something inside that I actually wanted to write.

A lot of us got into the blogging world for a variety of different reasons. Some of us were coming into adulthood, some of us traveling half way around the world, and some even documenting our transitions into married life, or parenthood (for the millions of mommy blogs out there).

At first I was doing all three, and starting to plan for #4.
Then life kind of threw me for a loop.

I went from wife, to roommate, to back in my parents' guest room, to a new relationship while mending from a preconceived concept of what I thought I wanted my life to become. In a lot of ways I felt like I lost my voice, and to continue propagating posts aligned with an identity or persona I no longer felt was me, seemed like a lie. 

For most of my adulthood I have been trying to conform to the gelatin mold of what I thought a "girlfriend/wife/woman/etc." should be, instead of simply being true to Ashley. It is my intention to sort of re-find myself through this blogging process, cultivate what inspires me (in a non-cliché white girl fashion), share what I find interesting, and ultimately connect with others out there that kinda feel what I'm talking about. 

So here goes nothing! 

Waterproof Booties for Rain Season

Boots for Rainy Days by ashleyriah featuring black boots

Chilly Day

Chilly Day by ashleyriah featuring ankle strap sandals

Garden Pinspiration

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5