Weekend movie: Top o' the Morning (1949)

I just got home from Karissa's wedding in Tulsa after a whirlwind weekend of bridesmaid dresses, hairspray, and cake cutting. It was beautiful and perfect in every way. I'll have pictures on the blog later, but while I am editing them, I decided to kick back and celebrate St. Patrick's Day with an old movie. Because, really, what could be better?

This 1949 B&W movie stars Bing Crosby as an American insurance investigator that travels to Ireland in order to investigate the theft of the Blarney Stone. When he arrives, posing as an artist, various mishaps cause him to fulfill an ancient prophesy regarding the daughter of the local police captain. 

The light storyline has all of my favorite elements--music, romance, mystery, folklore and, of course, Ireland. Can I please go back there and sing folk songs for a living? Please and thank you. 

Even though I figured out the "villain" before the main characters did, how the story comes together still kept me in suspense. And overall, it just increased my wanderlust to travel back to Ireland. This was the perfect way for my exhausted self to celebrate one of my favorite holidays.

This is why I love OKC

Well, it's one of the (MANY) reasons. They definitely know how to treat the employees around here! 

Thanks for the lunch, Downtown OKC! 

Boyfriend cooking school, part 1

One of Daniel's New Year's Resolutions was to learn to cook more. And since home boy doesn't even know how to fry bacon, I figured that even someone with my level of culinary experience could give him a few pointers. I may not be Julia Child, but I love cooking. Food just tastes better when I've cooked it myself, and cooking with someone else just makes it twice as fun for me.

The first recipe we tackled was the salsa chicken casserole created by Budget Bytes. I accidentally messed Daniel up by giving him brown rice to use instead of white rice (did you know it takes WAY longer to cook in the oven?), and the spice measuring process was a little confusing, but the recipe tasting amazing and now Daniel can add one more dish to his recipe repertoire. I highly recommend this recipe, since it is easy and cheap--a winning combo! And it can easily be adapted to paleo by using riced cauliflower and omitting the beans. There are lots of ways you can make this dish your own!

weekend reads

this weekend I am hosting the first of two bachelorette nights/showers for Karissa. i'm super excited, and also a little nervous about hosting my first on-my-own shower. but now that it is wedding time, I am sure the days will fly by! (fun story: I was cooking for the shower last night and I set off my smoke alarm not once, but twice. and in usual Kaylee fashion, I ran about my apartment frantically until I thought to open a door and fan the smoke away from the alarm.)

I can't wait to break out my camera and document the next few weekends, but until then, here's what I am reading on the internet this fine Friday:

• Wartime kisses via A Cup of Jo
• Facebook fatigue: Are you a victim? via Social Media Today (and I would say yes, I am a victim :)
• How I lost more than 150 pounds via Lifehacker
• For a moment of awe at the human spirit via Explore
• Would you spend 10 days in total silence? via No More Dirty Looks (and no, no I would not :)
• H. P. Lovecraft’s Advice to Aspiring Writers, 1920 via Brain Pickings 
• Exploring the (seemingly) ordinary via Darling Magazine

Happy weekend!