Ooey Gooey
For as long as I could say the words, “more cheese, please” I have loved LOVED nachos. Just thinking about their ooey gooey goodness, spicy personality, and crunchy texture make my heart sing (and my mouth water)!

This weekend, I put a new spin on an old favorite and made a new favorite: Greek Nachos.

Greek Nachos?
“Wha?” you say. Yes, you read right: GREEK Nachos. I had the idea a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to come up with something different for an appetizer. At first, I thought I was a genius. I mean, who thinks of doing Greek-style nachos? Unfortunately, typing “Greek Nachos” into the Google search box, I quickly discovered  that there are a lot of geniuses out there. That being said, I added a few things to said genius. So, without further adieu, here are MY Greek Nachos.

Ingredients
1 Bag Pita Chips sprinkled with Sea Salt
Hummus (I prefer Trader Joes Triple-layered hummus)
10 Grape Tomatoes (the sweetness of the grape tomatoes play nicely with the tang of the other ingredients) Diced
1 Cucumber Diced
1/2 Red Onion Diced
12 Sliced Pitted Kalamata Olives
1 Container Crumbled Feta Cheese
5 Marinated Artichoke Hearts Diced
1/2 Jar Marinated Roasted Red Peppers Diced
Salt & Pepper
Tstaziki (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Preparation
In a medium pyrex or roasting pan, spread out the pita chips. Dollop the hummus in spoonfuls onto the chips. Dice the tomatoes, artichokes and red peppers and layer on top of the hummus. Sprinkle the container of crumbled feta over the entire dish. Add the diced red onion and sliced Kalamata olives. Dice the cucumber and set aside.

Put the pan on the center rack and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the feta starts to melt. Pull the pan from the oven and sprinkle the diced cucumber on top. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Now hurry and go get your mojito (mint, commonly used in Greek dishes, goes great with this app) or whatever it is you’ll be washing these down with quickly, because everyone and their brother will want to start this pita party as soon as you get back. Opa!

Pay it Forward

Good Things Come in Small Blogs
I love blogs that make me feel empowered by their words and inspiration. tiny buddha is one such blog. With “simple wisdom for complex lives” coming from various people and sources, they seem to have all that I’m looking for byway of spirituality and enlightenment.

Bite Sized Buddha
Like my Mojo Mondays, they break up your life into bite-size pieces and provide insight into those areas. I’ve just discovered tiny buddha and am looking forward to delving in a bit deeper. If you get a moment today, first take a breath, and then go check them out.

Happy Friday!

Hey There! Welcome to Owning Kristina!

Do What You Love
Things might look a little different around here since your last visit and that’s because THEY ARE! I decided to chart a new course and write about the things that I love to do. I’ve also decided to make this more of an open blog, which means having more guest posts. So if you’re a dreamer, foodie, artist, or knowledge seeker—share your story! I, and others out there, love to try new things, so please, don’t be shy.

Take It From The Top
Each week, I’ll post to one of my pages at the top. If you like the post, please comment. If you’d like to post, please shoot an email to owningkristina@gmail.com.

A Change Would Do You Good
According to Cheryl Crow, “A change would do [me] good.” So, after many months, here I go, Cheryl. I’m picking up what you’re putting down.

I changed my blog theme yesterday; I’m not sure if I like it. I’ve been wanting to change my blog for awhile now and have just not found the right theme (i.e., a look & feel that I actually like and can easily customize without having a computer science degree). Since I’m a visual chick and need to see before I buy, I’m gonna test drive a few (or more) this month and see what sticks. If you see one you like or, if you have one you could recommend, lemme know!

In the interim, here’s a Top Ten on how you know when it’s time to change up your blog:

10. You’d rather clean your oven than write a post

9. You pay people big money to leave comments

8. You make the “Worst Blogs of 2011″ list

7. You start to rant

6. You get a phone call from Tosh.O

5. You get paid to NOT be an affiliate

4. You suddenly realize that people would rather read a book

3. All your posts are pics of your pet

2. Grandma has stopped reading your posts

and the number one clue that it’s time to change up your blog…

1. You find yourself writing lists because you’ve run out of things to write about

Pay it Forward

It’s Back!
Hey, Pay it Forward Friday is back and so is a blog that’s near and dear to my heart (and bloodline): BeingMerry! For those of you who do not know, Merry is my little sister and friend. Being close in age and relation, we share a lot of the same interests, which include but are not limited to: photography, writing, and mojo-making (e.g., pushing ourselves to achieve great things—like the laundry for instance).

According to Merry, “[my blog has undergone] many iterations, with its specific focus changing over time. I now plan on using this blog as a way to share good news, the positive spin on life, and anything uplifting to add hope to our world… as Oprah would say, “Helping us live our best life.”

RAOK
If you’re in the mood for a little inspiration, check out Merry’s post on performing 45 random acts of kindness on her birthday this past week. (Did I mention she’s an overachiever?) If you feel inspired, and the urge to act-out yourself, shoot her a note and let her know what you did.

Happy Friday!

The Rainbow Connection
On the brink of exhaustion and feeling a little depressed, I was fortunate to spot a rainbow on the way in to work. The vibrant colors reminded me of a rainbow that I drove through a couple of years ago. As with all of the universe’s little signs such as this, it reminded me to slow down and enjoy life; no one is pressuring me to get tons of stuff done, only me.

Slow Down Signage
I’ve been seeing a lot of signs to SLOW DOWN lately, other than the usual ones like Stop or Yield. I’m appreciating these little reminders. Apparently, I need to be reminded a LOT.

Chipping and Dipping

Expiration Date: December 21, 2012
One day, while strolling down the streets of Mexico, I wandered into a few shops displaying Mayan calendars. Considering their end date for the world, you would think there’d be a fire sale but, apparently, there’s a lot to be said (and paid) for an end-of-the-world reminder.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Mayans, their Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar comes full circle and ends on December 21, 2012. Looking at the imprinted faces with their tongues sticking out, I wonder:

• Did they just run out of room and are taunting us?
• Did someone simply give up the count (trying to keep a blog going for 2+ years, I can totally understand this)?
  or
• Did they indeed know something we don’t? and
• Should we (ok, I) get a move on?

Whatever the case, some think the end of the calendar is an end-of-the-world prediction, while some (i.e., me) subscribe to the New Age interpretation of an awakening to life’s true meaning: connecting with others, overcoming our fears, and embracing love and one another

Awakening to the Possibility
Now, I don’t really know, but I would think that becoming an awakened individual takes time and I haven’t really been committed to the whole enlightenment thing lately. That being said, I figure that if  I start now, I could probably knock it out (along with my weight loss plan) in 11 months and be ready for whatever comes next.

The Best Day(s) of My Life
All kidding aside, whether we’re all here for 11 more months, years, or decades, I’m going to work on becoming the best version of me that I possibly can. My journey to enlightenment starts today; which makes today, and every day I’m given thereafter, the best day(s) of my life.

Welcome, 2012!
So how’s the New Year treating you so far? So far for me, I’d say she’s pretty decent. She started out with a serious overflow from last night (wine, champagne, chocolate) but quickly found her way to my heart, instead of my hips. Today, I set the intention that I would create more art this year and, I’m happy to say, am well on my way via my first vision board of the year.

Creating Your Vision
To me, vision boarding is not pasting a bunch of images onto a board; it’s about setting goals and intentions for what you want to manifest in your life and then finding the images that speak to those intentions. It’s extremely symbolic (at least it is for me) and really (REALLY) time-intensive. I was reminded today that a good session can easily take up to 8 hours (perhaps more) and that’s before you start to draw or paint your interpretation of what you’ve laid down.

Vision Boarding
I’ve written about vision boarding before, but if you’d like to know more about the process, it’s really quite simple:

1. Start with a large board or canvas
2. Cut out images or words from magazines or from your personal stash o’ pics (“O” Magazine is a great source, as is Sunset or any mag you’re interested in)
3. Paste up the images/words onto the board
4. Post somewhere where you’ll see it every day, for reaffirmation and inspiration throughout the year

An Interpretation
My personal vision for this year is to reinvent my creative life. My interpretation of the board is as follows:

There’s an athletic woman on the left, running towards some steps. Time is ticking away whether she does anything or not, so she best get a move on, if she wants to achieve her goals. The steps that she’s running towards are the steps she will need to take to fulfill her dreams. In starting her journey, the first big hurdle she’ll have to face is realizing that she is responsible for her life (i.e., writing her own story); she needs to do the work and be ready when opportunity knocks later down the road.

As the runner approaches the steps, she sees a woman at the top with a colorful parrot on her head. The woman is facing forward, but the parrot is not. The parrot is challenging the runner to come up and taste the fruits of her labor. “The future looks bright,” she tells the runner (in parrot voice, of course), “you just need to connect with others and own it (create it, experience it, discover it, and live it). If you take these steps, you will have the new creative life you are seeking.”

There’s a buddha to the right of the parrot, which has petal wings; symbolizing  the lightness of spirit and the growth that will take place when connecting with others and with oneself.

On the bottom right is the woman reaching for connection with spirit. I’ll probably edit this out (in addition to other “schtuff”) when I try to draw it, as I think the woman running towards the steps shows a person being proactive about it all, instead of someone reaching for something that’s just out of reach or going after something that might not be possible to achieve.

It’s a Wrap
At times, what I was doing seemed tedious, but I’m sure glad I did it. I hope to share a drawn or painted finished piece in the near future. In the interim, here’s to a New Year full of promise and creativity! 2012: She’s a keeper.