Bastille Day OOTD

Hey guys,

Happy Bastille Day! My family has been going to a Bastille Day party hosted by friends of the family for over the past ten years. We get amazing French food, an ocean breeze, and the chance to talk to so many friends. I thought I would just do a quick post about what I wore there, as I really liked my outfit. This is pretty much my signature outfit. Jeans, black t-shirt, scarf. I'm a pretty boring dresser, so this is well within my comfort zone. Hope you guys like it.

Please excuse my floor. That's where I throw all of my shoes usually because of lack of room elsewhere.

Shirt: Marshalls

Scarf: Marshalls

Jeans: Delias (they are about 5 years old)

Belt: Aeropostale

Boots: A local western outfitter

Catching the Bloom

Hey everyone,

We have a bouquet of flowers in my house, and the lilies and roses are so beautiful. I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to play around with all the features on the camera. Up to this point, I really only used the automatic setting and just let it do what it wanted. This was both good and bad. It was a whole lot faster, but it did not do everything that I wanted it to. For example, I would not use the close up button to get details. For these photos I was experimenting with colors, the amount of light, and what the flash would to. I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed taking them.

This is one of my favorites, because it reminds me of Beauty and the Beast. To me it captures the flower just as it is going away.

I love this feature. It gives the flowers an antique appearance and makes me think of the old west.

This flower reminds me of old black and white movies I watch.

This is another one of my favorites. I really liked how the flash turned some of the flower yellow.

Easy Breakfast Frittata

Sorry for the photo being sideways. I tried uploading it 5 times to make it right, but it just would not cooperate. This tends to always happen to my photos and I just don't know why.

With summer comes many of my favorite fruits, herbs, and vegetables. I have always loved experimenting with different things to do with eggs for breakfast. They are just so versitile. I have been making this for the past few days because we have herbs in our garden. The tomatoes are just starting to get red, so I can start to use good tomatoes in a few days. There is no comparison between fresh off the vine tomatoes and the ones purchased in stores. The fresh tomatoes have amazing flavor. This is my spin on a frittata for breakfast. It's easy, fast, and delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp. Half & Half
• 1 small tomato
• Herbs (about 2 Tbsp.)
• You can use any herbs you want. I used basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and tarragon.
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil for pan

Slice the tomatoes into slices about 1/4 in. or 1 cm.

Crack the egg into a bowl and beat with a fork. Then add 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, the half & half, salt, and pepper. Beat with a fork until well combined.

Heat a little oil in the pan. I used a 6 inch frying pan. Then add the tomato slices.

While the tomatoes are cooking, chop the herbs an add them to the egg mixture. Beat to combine.

After the tomatoes have just started to brown and are cooked, flip them over.

Add the egg mixture and allow it to cook until the egg is set around the edges but wiggles in the middle.

Then flip the frittata. I find the best way to flip it is to slide it out of the pan and onto a plate.

Then put the pan over the plate and flip everything over. I suggest doing this over a sink in case anything bad happens. Put the pan back on the heat.

Sprinkle with cheese and allow the bottom to cook. Slide onto a plate and enjoy!

Easy Breakfast Frittata

Ingredients:

1 egg

3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. Half & Half

1 small tomato

Herbs (about 2 Tbsp.)

• You can use any herbs you want. I used basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and tarragon.

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil for pan

Instructions:

1. Slice the tomatoes into slices about 1/4 in. or 1 cm.
2.  Crack the egg into a bowl and beat with a fork. Then add 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, the half & half, salt, and pepper. Beat with a fork until well combined.
3. Heat a little oil in the pan. I used a 6 inch frying pan. Then add the tomato slices.
4. While the tomatoes are cooking, chop the herbs an add them to the egg mixture. Beat to combine.
5. After the tomatoes have just started to brown and are cooked, flip them over.
6. Add the egg mixture and allow it to cook until the egg is set around the edges but wiggles in the middle.
7. Then flip the frittata. I find the best way to flip it is to slide it out of the pan and onto a plate.
8. Then put the pan over the plate and flip everything over. I suggest doing this over a sink in case anything bad happens. Put the pan back on the heat.
9. Sprinkle with cheese and allow the bottom to cook. Slide onto a plate and enjoy!

Where I've Been

Sorry for being gone so long. I had wanted to to do a couple of posts this weekend, but Mother Nature just didn't have that in mind. Let me explain what happened. On Friday night into Saturday morning we got hit with a very bad storm. No warning, just waking up and 1:30 in the morning hearing wind tearing at the house from all directions. Little did we know, but this was no ordinary storm. We got hit with what is called a Derecho. I have never heard that term before, so I'll explain it a little. Derechos are extremely fast moving, dangerous storms. They consist of downburst which are 4-6 miles. There are downburst clusters which can take up 50-60 miles. Inside downbursts, there are microbursts which are about 2.5 miles. Inside these microbursts there are burst swaths. These burth swaths range from 50-150 yards, and mimic the effects of a tornado. FUN. My county got hit the hardest in our state, and my town got hit the hardest in my county. Trees down, lines down. No electricity. We lost our electricity for 5 days, but it was actually nice not having power. We had a generator to keep our food, but apart from that, it was nice and quiet. I spent Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at my grandparents picking up all the trees that had fallen. Sorry for no posts, but there will be more very soon.

This is what a derecho looks like. I don't know about you, but I saw this coming at me I'd be scared. I think it looks very The Wizard of Oz.

We had some trouble getting around, but for the most part it was fine.

Again one of the trees that made us go around Robin Hood's barn.

Poor fence, at least it is in segments so it can be fixed.

And this is why we are the only street in my neighborhood that got power on Wednesday. We are on a different grid from the other streets, so we didn't have to deal with this.

This tree was about a 150 feet tall and just blown over. They say that there were only wind gusts of 70 mph, but I don't believe that.

 Well, this storm was different to say the least. There was blue, green, and purple lightning along with the winds. They would hit one side of the house and then the other. My uncle lives in Flordia and in West Virginia. He was in V.A. when the storm hit him,  and he says that he has never heard anything like this before, and he has had hurricanes sit on top of his house. They tracked this storm, but didn't give a warning. Thanks. The storm started in Ohio, and they thought it was going to go South. Then it went north and they thought the Appalachians would stop it. Bad guess, after it hit the Appalachians, it got bigger. Then it continued up hit us and eventually stopped over the Atlantic Ocean. I do thank all of the electric workers who got out and worked their buts off all day and night in the heat.

I'll have more posts soon, I promise.

xx Mandy