Key West Part Three

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Casey

More Key West! I promise, this is my final installment of the Key West saga. I am back home now, but I just had to share with your guys the rest so you would be able to have as much fun as I did if you ever get the opportunity to get down here.

We went to the iconic Sloppy Joe’s, which is also known as Hemingway‘s bar. Yes, it is where Hemingway used to hang out “back in the day”. My mom and I just went there for an appetizer at around lunch time one day (I think Wednesday) and ordered an appetizer that came with a few onion rings, a few conch fritters, some mozzarella sticks, and wings.

Inside Sloppy Joe’s

Nothing in the appetizer really did much for me. Fried food doesn’t usually lift my skirt, unless it’s something like fish and chips, but it was decent and we were mostly there for the historical reasons.

Hemingway’s skis!

It was still a cool experience and I really enjoyed the key limeade I had there!

One last thing I would like to share with you guys is Kermit’s Key West Lime Shoppe.

It’s this cute little bakery/candy/key lime-everything shop on the corner by where our shuttle from the hotel would pick us up and drop us off. We went in DAILY! One of my favorite parts of this little shop is that the guy who owns it (Kermit) is there basically everyday!!

I love it when owners of small businesses take pride and put in that kind of effort into their business. His shop sells every key lime thing you could possibly think of. His products have been featured on TV, like on Food Network, and in many other notable media outlets. He sure has made quite a name for himself.

His pie is sold all around Key West in many restaurants, and his products are sold in many Key West shops. He REALLY has it figured out! He has samples all over his store where you can basically sample everything from lotion to barbecue sauce to truffles.

You can also buy his products on-line. I bought a shirt, his key lime juice, key lime jelly beans, and key lime hard candies.

I was absolutely shocked at how much I loved the key lime candies. I think I may be addicted!

There certainly are a bunch of interesting things to see and experience on Key West. If you can ever make it down here, I totally recommend it with my whole heart. I love it here, and seriously, I have never eaten a bad meal here. Ever. How often can you say that?!?

Example of interesting things around Key West

Random Fact of the Day: In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II was named an ‘Honorary Harlem Globetrotter.’”

Key Lime Pie? (iwilltellu.wordpress.com)
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean coming out in February/March, Key Lime Pie to follow (smartphoneweave.blogspot.com)
Spring has Sprung! Key Lime Cupcakes (cupcakesandcheese.com)

Key West Part Two

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Casey

Welcome to part two my Key West adventure!

I forgot to share with you all my little neighbor I had on the flight here.

She was a bit of a yelper, but not too much of a bother. Overall, I would take her over a spider any day!!

Oh and those sunsets at Mallory Square that I was talking about before? Snapped a few photos for you all to experience a little bit for yourself.

On Wednesday my mom and I went out to Blue Heaven.

It’s a very well-known restaurant around here, and is super cute! The food here is phenomenal, and I’m sure you could order anything on the menu and be happy. My mom ordered the Snapper with angel hair pasta and cornbread, and I ordered the special: Wahoo fish with coconut rice, topped with asian slaw and cornbread.

My mom’s dish at Blue Heaven-Snapper with Angel Hair Pasta and cornbread

My dish I ordered at Blue Heaven-Wahoo fish with coconut rice and Asian slaw and cornbread

Roosters and chickens are common to see just running around everywhere here on Key West…I had a few little pals run across my feet unexpectedly! My yelp definitely entertained the surrounding diners, but eventually I got used to the little buddies running around my feet.

Baby chick scurrying around my purse

For dessert at Blue Heaven we ordered their famous key lime pie that is topped with a huge, impressive mountain of meringue. It was delicious! I love meringue, but even for me it was a little much. I would kind of prefer whipped cream, but it was still a yummy pie.

After feeling like we needed to be rolled out of Blue Heaven, we rolled ourselves on over to the southernmost point in the USA! Pretty cool to know you’re even more southern than Hawaii!!

After visiting the southernmost point, we walked along Duval street. Picture Bourbon St. in New Orleans and this is like a mini, scaled-down version of that.

We decided to pop into a cute little bakery/candy shop, Mattheessen’s. Such a cute little place!! Everything looked amazing, and they’re cookies are bigger than your face (They’re a 1/2 lb. each)! You can even order their goodies on-line..kind of dangerous that I just found this out

Mattheessen’s giant cookies

We knew we had to take a raincheck, so we went back and my mom and I both got stuff from there on Thursday. I ordered the key lime sorbet, and my mom got the peanut butter peanut butter cup ice cream. Both were ah-mazing.

The peanut butter, peanut butter cup ice cream my mom ordered

The key lime sorbet I ordered

My mom also ordered one of the ginormous chocolate chip cookies that we intended on eating today for the airport and plane ride back… yeah, that didn’t work out. We ended up silently destroying that bad boy in the hotel room when we got back.

On Thursday my mom and I decided to try renting and riding scooters.

Whew! I was preeettty scared at first, but once you get the hang of it, they are so darn fun. It really makes you want to own one of your own!! I can definitely picture myself owning own of these babies some day, especially if I live somewhere warm.

For dinner on Thursday, we went to Seven Fishes. It’s a cute little restaurant in the middle of a neighborhood that would be super easy to pass without knowing it’s there, but trust me, you do NOT want to miss this one! Lots of people around here know what Seven Fishes is and would rave about it to you just like I am about to. It’s a tiny little place that you really should call for a reservation for because it will fill up. They don’t open their doors till 6 PM, so you should be sure to get there on time or else you could lose your table (there are not many tables they can squeeze in there).

The grouper, angel hair pasta, veggies, and focaccia my mom ordered

My mom ordered the grilled grouper with angel hair pasta and I ordered the grilled yellowtail snapper with rice. Both came with yummy sautéed veggies and their homemade mashed potato focaccia. Everything was delicious…clearly, by the way we cleaned our plates.

The yellowtail snapper, rice, veggies, and focaccia I ordered

I think I could live the rest of my life eating that homemade mashed potato focaccia. Oh my gosh..yum. I need to figure out how to make that amazing bread. I’ll probably be dreaming about that entire meal for months!

Some entertainment outside of Mallory Square

The final installment of the Key West saga will be comin’ at ya on Monday, stay tuned!!

Random Fact of the Day: Pepsi-Cola was originally called ‘Brad’s drink’.

Discover Five of the Best Romantic Getaways (epicatravel.com)
Key West Grilled Chicken (Great for all phases) (thetalkingscale.typepad.com)
Spring Break in Key West (trinemarie.com)

Key West- Part One

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Casey

Hello, hello, hello everyone! Reporting here from sunny[ish] Key West, Florida!!

My mom and I flew in here from blustery Chicago on Monday and are staying here till Friday. This is actually my third time in Key West, and I have to admit, I absolutely adore this quirky place.

It is full of a lot of crazy, usually drunk, strange people, but they make great entertainment for people-watching. Also, if you ever intend on going to Key West, you absolutely MUST go to Mallory Square one night. For one, Mallory Square has one the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. Be sure you get there earlyish (like 10-15 minutes early) so you can get a nice viewing spot. Another fun thing with Mallory Square is that there is some quite unique entertainment there in the evenings. Street performers come and do their little stunts. They are a lot of talk trying to guilt you into giving them money and what not, but they’re certainly entertaining. My personal favorite one is the two guys in red pants who do a bunch of stunts, with juggling and gymnastics and end with a pretty cool finale on a ladder. Lastly, there is some fun art that vendors and local artists sell, like different types of jewelry, paintings, sculptures, and little tchotchkes. You really can’t go wrong with any of the food down here.

Bo’s Fish Wagon Conch Fritters

Being from Chicago, where seafood is pretty darn expensive and good seafood is hard to come by, my mom and I certainly take advantage of all the seafood we can get our hands on.

Bo’s Fish Wagon Grilled Mahi with Coleslaw

On Monday night, we went to Bo’s Fish Fish Wagon. My mom ordered what they’re famous for, a fried grouper sandwich. I ordered grilled mahi with coleslaw and key limeade (yum!!), and then we split they’re famous conch fritters. We loved everything! It was super casual, delicious, and a great welcome meal to Key West.

Bo’s Fish Wagon Fried Grouper Sandwich

Tuesday night we went to Alonzo’s Oyster Bar. I ordered the blackened grouper, which came with red potatoes and veggies. Dee-lish!! I love grouper, and it is what is local and known around here, so it was perfect for me. You can tell my mom and I are related…she ordered the grilled grouper, same sides. Hers was delicious, as well! Sorry, didn’t get a chance to snap pictures, but I can assure you, it was fabulous!

More to come later

Random Fact of the Day: Watermelons can cost up to $100 in Japan!

Key West In A Day…..Or Possibly Two (keywestgirl6811.wordpress.com)
Florida Keys (alyssaacree.wordpress.com)
Key West – More Than Perfect (beachchairandabook.wordpress.com)

Homemade Mocha Light Frappuccino & In Need of Some Time Wasting?

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Casey

I really hope procrastination is something that I will grow out of…but I am having a pretty bad feeling that it will just be a forever ~~charming~~ trait of mine. The other day as I was being productive on Pinterest (as everyone ALWAYS is), I stumbled across another great website that truly will increase my knowledge and broaden my horizons. Yes. Iwastesomuchtime.com. Very appropriately named.

One of my favorite pictures I saw was this one.

Wait for it…

(Source)

So if you are ever in a crunch and need to waste some time, I have the hook-up for you! Iwastesomuchtime.com, trust me, you’ll regret clicking, but then you’ll be happy you clicked it, but angry, but happy. It’s a vicious, emotional circle of feelings.

On a side note, I have more to share with you than a leaping sheep (that appears to be on the same road that Forrest Gump ran on).

I happen to be a pretty big Starbucks fan. Starbucks, also known as that place where all your money magically disappears. I am here today to help that little disappearing money dilemma. Also, you don’t have to put a real bra on, turn your car on, brush your hair and do all those laborious tasks that are necessary to go to Starbucks, instead you can make these babies in the comfort of your own little kitchen!

We got this little individual serving blender from some family friends for Christmas and let me tell you, this baby is a gem! I love it!! So perfect for me (the only coffee drinker in the house) when I want to whip up my own little frap. You can, of course, also make your frap in a regular blender if that is what you have in your house, either way it will taste the same.

One last thing, to make this frap extra wonderful, you are going to want to pick up some of your own chocolate syrup. Not the Hershey’s kind of syrup, it’s like the kind of syrup Starbucks uses when they make their fraps, so be sure it is the syrup that is thinner and more of a liquidey consistency. You can find these syrups on-line, or in World Market, or Walmart. I believe other places sell them, but those are the ones I know for sure. In addition to the chocolate syrup, we have bought the vanilla and peppermint. Vanilla is great because it is actually cheaper than vanilla extract, so it rounds out the recipe, and the peppermint is awesome to get you in the wintery spirit. Plus, I am a total peppermint junkie, so I can see myself enjoying it all year long.

Mocha Light Frappuccino [at home!]

(Makes 1 serving)

1 cup ice

1/3 cup brewed coffee, cooled down

1/4 cup milk (I used skim)

2 shots of mocha syrup (I used the sugar free)

1/2 shot vanilla syrup (I used the sugar free)

In a blender combine all ingredients and blend until you don’t hear the noisy ice being crushed, and the frappuccino is a smooth consistency. That’s it! Enjoy

Random Fact of the Day: An iceberg contains more heat than a lit match. That doesn’t make sense.. hm, I trust the internet. That’s where I met my french model boyfriend.

Woman To Eat Only Starbucks Food For One Year (huffingtonpost.com)
10 irregular Starbucks drinks you should try (guangyic.wordpress.com)
Happy Summer! (havadenglish.com)

A Super Easy Infinity Scarf and a Dilemma

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Casey

I have come to the horrible realization that next year, I will not be having the same type of access to a kitchen and ingredients that I have been enjoying all my life. For those of you who have been frequent, long time readers, you probably already know that I am a senior in high school and will be heading off to college next year.

I am super excited to move onto college life, but cooking will definitely be a new challenge and keeping up with the blog will for sure be difficult. I have not made my final decision on where I will be going next year, as I have not heard back from all the schools I have applied to, yet , so it is hard to say right now what kind of access I will be having to a kitchen. Even if I do have optimum kitchen time, it will still be difficult to buy and pay for all of the ingredients.

Now I know this whole introduction may not be the most exciting thing for you to read, but it really would help me if some readers would participate in my poll that I have in this post.

Because cooking and baking will most likely be a challenge next year, I need your help in figuring out what else should be shared on Beautiful Disasters. Now, I have been doing a TON of sewing and actually started crocheting over the past couple weeks, so sharing projects and tutorials could become an option. In addition to sewing, some more pinterest-esque DIY projects could be shared on here with tutorials. I could also share some of what is going on in my ~~weird, boring~~ life. I could share funny pictures that I find as I am ~~wasting time~~ being super productive, more on that later this week! Or maybe you just like my cooking or baking recipes and are like “BAKE OR DO NOTHING CASEY!”. Or..I..could…stop….blogging *tear* :`(

So please, cast your votes. Participate, because contrary to popular voting belief, Your vote DOES matter!!!

P.S. You can select more than one option in the poll AND I know I spelled the second tutorials wrong in the poll..

AAaanndd here is the infinity scarf tutorial! Please cut me a little slack because this is my first time doing one of these sewing, craft tutorials, so I may have forgotten to mention some helpful details. Feel free to ask plenty of questions!

Here is the original post that I based mine off of from Sweet Verbena

Here are some things you should know before you start, size of materials and what the dotted lines mean on my little diagram that comes next.

whatyoushouldknowforinfinityscardtutorial_zps4b757c6a

infinityscarfmeasurementsandsewingguide_zps17d10c36

And now here are the steps to making your infinity scarf!

StepstoSuccesspage1_zps4c6501d5

page2_zps4f5b42cf

This is what the final product should look like when you have turned it right side out. Sorry for the low quality pictures, not too easy trying to take a picture of yourself at 6 in the morning!

Random Fact of the Day: In Singapore, it is illegal to sell or own chewing gum. They are extremely clean there!!

unique and personalized gifts (redenvelope.com)
Crochet Granny Infinity Scarf and Cowl (mymerrymessylife.com)
More Scarf Jewelry Tutorials and Inspirations (beadinggem.com)

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Beautiful Disasters

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Key West Part Three

Key West Part Two

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Key West- Part One

Homemade Mocha Light Frappuccino & In Need of Some Time Wasting?

Mocha Light Frappuccino [at home!]

A Super Easy Infinity Scarf and a Dilemma

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