just me, mixing in mayonnaise

Every time the weather shifts ever so slightly to spring, I start craving the same thing: my favorite old-fashioned, grandma approved, cold tuna pasta salad.

Onions. Celery. Sweet little spring peas. Tuna. And yes, the dreaded mayonnaise base.

Old Fashioned like grandma made cold pasta salad with tuna and peas
Old Fashioned, like grandma made, cold pasta salad with tuna and peas

I love it.

My daughter? She takes one look and says, “Nope. It has mayo in it.”

Apparently, this is a whole thing.

Gen Z, as a collective, has serious beef with mayonnaise. They say it looks like body fluids. They call it creamy and claggy. (Okay, gross when you put it that way.)

I understand that we eat with our eyes, but why deny our mouths in this dramatic process?

Mayonnaise and yes Miracle Whip, when used properly, is delicious.

Swapping it out for cottage cheese or Greek yogurt is what is gross. It’s a completely different flavor base. You didn’t improve the dish with the substitution, you made a new one, and frankly, it’s subpar.

So today, I’ll be over here trying to bring mayo back from the dead.

Making a cold pasta salad unapologetically loaded with it.

Spring has not arrived, but the mayonnaise has. And I’m going to eat this whole bowl.

The correct ingredients for Tuna Pasta Salad
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I’m Kristin

aka Kiki, a dreamer, doer, and daydream decorator living in Louisville, Kentucky. I share my home with my husband, our college-age daughter, and two high maintenance landlords named Magnolia and Briar.

By day, I juggle multiple part-time jobs, including working for a home staging and design company and by night, I scroll through dreamy real estate listings and Hampton private chefs Instagram and imagine the life I’d live if I lived there.

Welcome to just me, living here a space where I pretend to be the homeowner and designer of beautiful homes that are (sadly) not mine. I create mood boards, and design ideas, all while living my very real, very ordinary life in my own home.

Some days I might be me showcasing a multi-million dollar riverfront stunner, and the next it’s just me… sharing my favorite products, throwing together dinner, ordering mocktails, eating bread or planting radishes (that nobody eats).

This blog is my love letter to the life I dream about and the real one I live. It’s part inspiration, part pretend, and part practical. A little home design, a little gardening, a little cooking, a little drinking, and a whole lot of honest living.

Thanks for being here, it means a lot to a girl with big dreams, a lot of love to share and a messy little house. 🌿✨

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