DIY: Desperately Seeking A Gold Jacket!

Two really random things happened to me this week:

1. A friend called me "Madonna" on a picture I posted to Instagram.
2. I found a gold/glitter shirt circa the 1980's at the thrift store.

It doesn't sound exactly like fate or destiny, but I had Madonna on the brain when I saw the shirt in a bin at the thrift store. It instantly reminded me of the movie, "Desperately Seeking Susan."

In the movie, Madonna plays "Susan," who has this awesome sense of style and I want every outfit she wears. She starts out the movie wearing this iconic jacket. That is, until she needs this equally amazing pair of boots and trades the jacket for them. Rosanna Arquette swoops in and buys the jacket, leaving Madonna jacketless, in NYC, in what appears to be somewhat cool weather. For the rest of the movie, Madonna wears this very sleek jacket. It's a totally awesome movie with lots of great outfits and surprisingly good plot line.

Anyway, so, I saw this shirt:

All the pictures on this post are awful. Just letting you know in advance.

It was a cool mix between the two jackets Madonna wears in the movie, but it needed a little tweaking.

A close up of the very '80's fabric.

I'd have to take off the buttons and also that black fake shirt thingy.

And they're off.

The jacket also had a slit on the sides that I closed up by sewing the slit together by hand. I really didn't feel like rethreading my sewing machine with black thread to sew a total of 4 inches of fabric together.

There's the slit before I close it up.

And that's it. I grabbed a dress that I'll probably never wear because it's too short and the straps are really loose. I also grabbed a pair of boots that I'll never wear, that my niece gave me a couple months ago because the heel was too high for her. Well, the heel is too high for me, too.

I'm glad I put this outfit together because now I know I can get rid of these two items to free up some closet space.

Desperately seeking awesome!

I don't think the jacket/blouse is enough of a match to make for a good Halloween costume. I'd consider it more "inspired by" the movie. Although, styled this way really makes me feel like Susan.

Quinn kept snapping pictures and not very many came out nicely. 

That was kind of a lackluster refashion, but I did have fun getting to play dress up for a few minutes. It also gave me an excuse to blow off doing the laundry for a couple hours, too. That's a good enough reason for me to do anything.

Bonus Post: Quinn, The Fashionista!

I'm sure it's common knowledge that I have no friends. Because of this travesty, I'm stuck hanging out with my mother (Hi, Mom!!!) during the week..

Aww.. That's not true. I do hang out with my mom several times a week (and most of the time tons of other family members because we're all extremely loving of one another!). I love hanging out with my mom. I would like to have friends, but let's be honest, I'd probably still choose to hang out with my mom, even if I had a crap ton of people to choose from.

Unless Ryan Reynolds was my friend. Then I'd totally blow my mom off (Sorry, Mom!! You know he's good looking. Don't hate me!).

Anyway, lots of digression here. This entire intro has absolutely NOTHING to do with anything!! Let me get back on track:

I go out with my mom several times per week. Most days, it takes all my capabilities to get the kids fed and out the door, nevermind in any kind of fashionable ensemble. Because of my laziness, I've been letting Quinn pick her own outfits out in the morning. Not because she fights me on outfits I've picked out, but because it takes me 5,000 years to get Mitchell to put his shoes and coat on.

My mother, most of the time, questions my parenting in this area. Mostly because Quinn's outfits are.. Hmm  how to say it nicely?... Imaginative.. Yeah, her outfits are imaginative. I've taken to photographing some of her concoctions, both tame and ridiculous.

Here are some from the past few months.

It was a somewhat cold day this particular day. Quinn chose to wear a jean skirt, but didn't want her legs to freeze. How to combat that? Sweatpants underneath. She also picked her teal/green headband to match all her other teal/green clothing choices.

This outfit is all over the map as far as colors and patterns. And yes, I did allow myself to be seen in public with her looking like this. Again, another cool day that needed (this time leggings instead of sweatpants) pants underneath the skirt. My brother had just given her the patriotic headband and I think that's why she chose to wear it that morning.

Besides the boots, which were a Christmas present from Joe's mother, the rest of her ensemble is from the thrift store. So, she's probably wearing about $1.00 worth of clothing. Not bad, Quinn!

We didn't actually leave the house this day, hence the footwear. Sometimes, Quinn stays in her jammies all day when we're home. Some days, she puts together a little outfit.

This particular day, she's wearing a lavender, lace t-shirt with a glittery shirt and (again!!!!) leggings underneath. When asked why she is wearing mismatched slippers, her response, "I can't find the other Mickey one and my other foot was cold." We've since located the other Mickey slipper. thank goodness!

I'm noticing a trend with skirts over leggings. Lol. I guess we were having a white day. White from head to toe. This sweater was an absolute fave or hers over the winter. She mostly wore it with this lace skirt. Usually, though, there were pops of color, but not this day. This day was a white wash!

This was a random evening that I'd been catching up on my binge watching of "Project Runway." Her outfits get a little craizer when I watch that show. I love it. I love the gloves with the open sweater with no shirt underneath. I love the jewelry. I love it all.

And last but not least....

We had a leopard print day, I guess. I bought this dress on sale one day. I didn't realize she had pants and shoes to "match." When I pulled out the dress and told her to grab pants and shoes to match is when I realized that.

Her sense of style really lights up my life. Her imagination and creativity are so awe-inspiring. She has her own idea of what goes together, of what is comfortable to her, and I'm sure some of it is her wanting to emulate stuff she sees. It's a melting pot of awesomeness. And shes so proud of her creations! I hope she keeps that enthusiasm. It will only benefit her in the long term, and carry over into more than just fashion (although, a passion for fashion is not necessarily a bad thing either! Unless it's expensive. Then we'll need to reel it in a little!).

Jill Can Cook: Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Shells

This year marks the second year in a row that my parents put on a Valentine's Day party (granted, a week after the fact, to ensure more people could make it). I love having an excuse to see everyone between the other major holidays this time of year: New Years and Easter. Any excuse to hang out with family, catch up on our busy lives, and eat a ridiculous amount of yummy food is worthwhile in my book. It's also fun to have an excuse to dress up and take pictures with everyone (more on that later!)

Where was I? Oh yeah, second year. Blah blah blah.. Last year, the party theme was "Italian Food" and I brought stuffed shells. I even wrote about it here: Parmesan Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells.

This year, the party theme was also "Italian Food." I was again on the hook to make stuffed shells. I couldn't make the same shells though. That would've been throwing away the opportunity to make stuffed shells for the second time of my life.

I checked out some recipes and unfortunately, most of them require red sauce of some sort. That would be fine in any other situation, but my mom was already planning to serve spaghetti/meatballs and lasagna. I didn't want everyone to be in red sauce overload. I also didn't want to make anything that veered away from the Italian element, like making Taco Stuffed shells, of which there are a lot of recipes! After much searching, I came across Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Shells. Let me show you how that panned out!

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Shells

Adapted from: Like Mother Like Daughter

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• ⅓ cup diced yellow onion
• ⅓ cup diced green bell pepper
• ⅓ cup diced mushrooms
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 12oz jumbo pasta shells
• 2 cups alfredo sauce
• 1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil.
3. Boil your pasta shells for about 10 minutes, or until cooked al dente. Rinse shells when they're done cooking.
4. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan cook up your ground beef, onion, pepper and mushroom until the beef is cooked thoroughly. Drain the excess grease from the pan.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine your beef mixture and your cream cheese until its mixed thoroughly.
6. Pour about ⅓ of your alfredo sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 in pan and spread around.
7. Fill each of your shells with a heaping tablespoon of your meat mixture and place into your pan.
8. Repeat until all shells, or the meat mixture is gone.
9. Pour the remaining alfredo sauce over the top of your shells.
10. Wrap pan in foil and bake for 30 minutes.
11. Remove foil and top with cheese.
12. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I had a lot going on in order to get ready for the party, so Joe was kind enough to help with a few of the steps. 

I gathered all the ingredients, boiled the water and started cooking the noodles. Then I cut up the onions and peppers:

I probably could've chopped the green peppers a little smaller, but oh well.

I kept going back and forth between putting the onions/green peppers in or leaving them out. On the one hand, the flavors go together like Jenny and Forest (... you know ,because they were like "peas and carrots" ?? Weird reference? I don't know. Ending this parenthetical thought now.. Sorry). On the other hand, not everyone, including ME enjoys those flavors. Joe talked me to into putting them in. He was of the mindset that most people would prefer them in and since he was helping me (and I really wanted his help!!) I put them in.

Look at that handsome man, cooking up the steak for me!! That's love right there, my friends!

The noodles boiling. I finally took a ton of pictures and they're boring as boring can be!

Oh look! The noodles are done.

Joe frying up the veg. Are you guys asleep yet? I'm even boring myself.

Ok, everything is cooked. I love these kinds of recipes for parties. I love that pretty much everything is cooked, so when I get to the party all I have to do is heat it up. Easy. Plus, no one dies of food poisoning or anything, which is good because I only cook for people I want to live.

The mix of steak, cheese, and veggies for the stuffing.

The sauce layer on the bottom of the pan.

Two things.. 

1. I effin' love this pan. Joe's grandmother got it for me a few years ago for Christmas and if you haven't noticed, I use it all the time especially for parties. It's the perfect pan because it has a hard cover that is great for transporting and stacking.
2. I'd never tried this sauce that I'm using before so I'm going really easy on it in case it's terrible.

Anyway, now that the sauce is lightly coating the bottom of the pan, it's time to fill the shells and place them nicely in the pan to be reheated.

Pre-stuffing the shells..

Post stuffing the shells.

After I poured a very small amount of sauce over the top.

Extreme close up!!!

So, as with most of the recipes that I make for parties, I forgot to snap a pic of the finished product. This last picture is what they looked like before I threw them in the oven for half the cooking time. Later, I put them back in my parents oven to reheat, considering everything was precooked anyway. They looked pretty much the same way when they were ready to eat.

There was a lot of food to eat at this party (like every party at my parents house!), but I still managed to find room on my slightly overfilled plate in order to try them. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it! I mean, I pretty much hate onions and green peppers (love 'em raw, hate 'em cooked). Am I finally an adult now?! Do I no longer hate these food items? Am I no longer, as I like to refer to myself: "Picky as crap!?" Did I somehow manage to grow some tastebuds?! I'm not really sure, but whatever happened to me, I hope it keeps happening. I like not needing a detailed list of ingredients in my food before I'll try it.

Another picture to break up all these paragraphs. This makes my lazy blog look more professional.

I enjoyed my shells and I think a couple of other partygoers enjoyed it as well, but at the end of the meal, it looked like there was a lot of shell leftovers. Was it because they sucked? Was it because there was a lot of other food to fill up on? I'm not quite sure and I didn't think it would be considered good manners to go around asking people if they liked my food.

I still feel like this was a win and I'd make it again. I guess my only complaint (or "PSA" or whatever) would be that these did end up being pretty rich. I think they were delicious along with a ton of other items, but I don't think I'd serve these for a dinner at home, where they're the only food option. Well, I guess if you only served 2-3 per person, plus a ton of salad and some garlic bread. I guess that could work.

I take it back. I guess I would serve it at home for dinner, just Joe/the kids/myself.

Also, here are some more pics from the party as promised...

Father and son love moments on Valentine's Day.

My parents and I. And yes, my 3 inch heels make me taller than my father, who is normally only 1 inch taller than me.

Getting our dancing on!! We also made like 2 dozen "Musical.ly" videos that night. We are total dorks.

And now you know a few things about me:

1. I wear black shorts underneath my dresses for modesty. I try to be ladylike, but I like the insurance.
2. I love heels, but after standing around for several hours for the party, I changed into some sparkly flats at the end of the evening.
3.  All who see me are jealous of my awesome dancing abilities. I think Channing Tatum should play me if there's ever a movie made about my life.
4. My family can't really be all that embarassed considering they're in the throes of dancing alongside me.

And that's it for my Valentine's recipes. I'm glad I was able to post this before Valentine's day 2017 (-;