A Bit Of This, A Dash Of That

Fight to the Finish!

2012-01-26T13:14:00.000-08:00

I just finished another fabulous book by Mary Kay Andrews called Deep Dish! And of course Ms. Andrews does not disappoint!

Source

This book was true Mary Kay Andrews style and took place in, of course, the South!! It focuses on two local tv chefs, Gina and Tate, who end up in a tough competition against each other for their own big network show.

Of course theirs romance because its Mary Kay Andrews, but it's also filled with foooooooddddd!! Good ol' southern food!! Which now that I think about it, her books always have food as a focus and of course she includes recipes in the back.

This book was super cute, very typical of her style of writing, and of course predictable! But it's fun and cute and totally worth reading. It really would be a great beach or pool book to read as it takes place in the middle of summer in the south!!

Overall grade B+, not my favorite book and I couldn't connect with the characters at all but I still really really enjoyed it!!

22 Britannia Road

2012-01-17T10:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. January always slows down for me, well at least when it comes to blogging, because I don't have too much time for crafting or cooking or reading. And since home improvements are still on hold, I am absolutely dying to do some, I don't have much to share!

However I finished up this months book club book last night! We are reading 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson this month!

Source

I was so excited to read this book as I've heard so many good things. In fact I have not heard one bad thing....I guess I'll have to break that. No I'm not looking for anything negative but at the same point I do have one gripe about this novel...okay maybe two...

It is a wonderful historical novel. If you like history and you like reading fictional novels (based on facts - I'm sure) then you will love this book. The writing is wonderful. I really enjoyed the details the author included and I never felt overwhelmed by it. I was thoroughly involved in the story of Silvana, Janusz, and Aurek.

But........there was no big climatic moment. You keep waiting and waiting for something big to happen. Yes there is a huge secret in the book but let me tell you it's pretty damn obvious what it is. Maybe not from the very beginning but definitely about 100 pages in you a light bulb that pops up and you know how it's going to go. The story does not disappoint in that aspect.

I just was hoping for some more excitement from it. Like I said if you really enjoy reading historical fictional novels this would be right up your alley. I guess they just aren't my cup of tea (yup it takes place in Britain) so for me I need a little more excitement and a little less sadness. Yeah yeah, I know what the book description says it's about so how I can say a little less sadness...I don't know exactly what I mean by it either, but the book overall, once I got to the end, was a let down.

Overall grade - B. I got very into it and ended up reading 125 pages last night, stayed up late to finish it, but at the end of the book I felt a little let down.

In A Pinch

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

So far it's been a good start to my 2012 reading list! I just finished reading The Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer and it was a super cute and light read.

Source

The main character Kat discovers her husband might be having an affair with plans to leave her. When she finally consults an attorney it turns out she needs $15,000 just for a retainer. Be a self proclaimed shopper and living in place where shopping is easily accessible she doesn't have a dime. She discovers her husband and her are in an enormous amount of debt thanks to her constant shopping and vows to change her habits. She joins a Penny Pinchers Club and the hilarity ensues!

I couldn't help but love her. She's funny, she's honest, and she completely takes the penny pinching by storm which causes her to end up sitting in the police department. Yup it's funny just trust me and read the book!

Overall Grade - A! I enjoyed this book so much and ended up staying up late two nights then was thanking my lucky stars I was able to finish on my lunch break cause I had spent all morning long thinking about how I couldn't wait to read it LOL!

My First 5K - On the Road to My Next 5K!

2012-01-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well Ladies and Gents I have some very exciting news to share with you!

In the middle of November I gave the Couch to 5K Program a try using the fabulous KissMyBlackAss.org Podcasts (thanks Seester for reminding me)! I knew that walking was no longer doing it for me and I wanted to up my excercise! However I was terrified of running! I haven't run since high school (aside from on an elliptical) and being overweight I was so embarassed to run and have my fat jiggling all over the damn place.

So how did I overcome that fear? I got up early and started to do the program in the wee hours before work where I knew NO ONE would see me give it a shot! I started the 9 week program on November 13th and knew it was the right choice!

I LOVED the first week. I LOVED the music and I LOVED that I could even run at all! It may seem strange to some people but the high I got from running soley came from the fact that I was ABLE TO RUN! I'm serious. In my mind I never had that confidence that I could ever run even a mile on my own.

After week 5 of the program I stopped. Not because I gave up but because I was running 3 miles without stopping, I no longer needed the interval running to keep me going. I couldn't even fathom that I was able to quit after Week 5 and essentially jump to Week 9 where you run for 30 minutes straight.

Not only that but I decided to challenge myself and I signed up to do a 5K Resolution Run. I kept it a secret from almost everyone because I didn't want to fail. I wanted to succeed but again I was so terrified that I'd fail. Yes I may have been running the 3.10 miles on my own but for some reason it never computed to me that I'd be able to do those same miles in a race.

On January 1, 2012 I woke up and donned my trusty workout clothes and shoes. I'll admit I had nerves and unfortunately being my first race I didn't realize that you really don't need to be there right when they say. We showed up at 9AM and there was no one there but those who were setting up the booths. Needless to say we took a little drive and went to get Chuckles some breakfast.

At 9:20 we parked the car and I walked up the Registration Booth to pick up my Bib Number!

And of course I am going to scrapbook this event that I have NEVER thought would happen in my life!

Because they had such a huge turnout they did 2 "heats". The first "heat" A.K.A Race, was for those who could finish in 20 minutes or less. Nope NOT ME! I ran the second "heat", where we started 10 minutes later. There were quite a few others in the second heat so I felt a little bit better. Still nervous standing there all alone while Chuckles snapped pictures!

At first I got passed up by so many people but I didn't dare look behind me. It didn't matter. I had a goal and I wanted to meet it. I wanted my best time yet which would have been anything less than 36 minutes. I was shooting for 34 minutes.

Here I am in the final stretches of the race.

And here I am crossing the finish line. I'm not even going to lie, once I saw that finish line I sped up. I was ready to be done. I had met my goal!!!!!!! I did the race in 34 minutes and 3 seconds (according to the official time on the website). I wanted to cry because it was such an overwhelming feeling to not only participate but then to meet my goal. I can't even describe how proud I am of myself. And yes I'll toot my own horn on this one.

To know that I worked hard to get to this point only made me more motivated. I have already signed up for two more 5ks this year and I am determined to do a 10k. My next 5k is in May and I want to complete it in less than 30 minutes.

The weight loss journey I experienced last year didn't hit me emotionally until the end of the year. Its a journey I never thought I would lose 53lbs. I never ever imagined I'd go from a size 20 to size 16 (and still shrinking YAY). I never in my life imagined I'd run 3.1 miles because I want to not because I had to.

I never thought I'd run in a 5k race.

Now I can't wait to get off work and go for a run! Yes, I'm running in daylight and damn proud of it.

Now I can't wait for my next two 5ks and I wish they were here already.

Now I can't wait to run in a 10k race.

To all of you who think you can't lose the weight or you can't become athletic.

YOU CAN!!

When I was talking to a friend of mine about being nervous about the race, she asked me why. I said cause I'm not a runner.

Her response - "You go running right? Then You ARE a Runner"!

2011 was an amazing year for me and even as I'm writing this post I'm brought to tears because never in my life did I think I was capable of changing my weight and my health but I did it damnnit and I am so proud of myself!

Thank you to my family and friends who reassured me and supported me throughout the last year and who I know will continue to support and be on my side throughout the rest of this journey!

A huge thank you to my Chuckles. He has been the most supportive and reassured me constantly that I can do this and has reminded me constantly of how much I've already done!

To my readers I hope you've made it through this long post. I know it's different from a lot of my other posts and it's a lot longer but I appreciate your time and your support as well!

Happy 2012!! May it be the best year for everyone!!

2012 Book List Edits!

2012-01-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

I know, I know - I just posted my 2012 Book List and I'm already making edits! But good edits! I completely forgot to add 4 books I had sitting on my shelf that I bought during the summer last year. I've been patiently waiting for 2012 to roll around so I can read them! AND I totally forgot about the rest of the years Book Club Books!!

So the grand total for my 2012 book list is actually 40 books and it's stopping there! I don't want to stress myself out and I like a nice even number!!

So here are the 6 additions (plus 6 more after our Book Club picks the remainder of years novels)

Running in Heels by Anna Maxted
Clearing the Aisle by Karen Schwartz
The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe
Morning Glory by Diana Peterfreund
The Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy

And that's it folks! No more additions and hopefully no subtractions this year! I feel very confident that I'll enjoy all of these books!

Nothing Like A Nicholas Sparks Novel to Start the Year Off

2012-01-05T20:38:00.000-08:00

Even though I just posted my 2012 Book List don't think I hadn't already started reading from day one :)

I just finished reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks and if you are a fan of Nicholas Sparks or even familiar with his many heart wrenching novels then you already know how this review is going to go :)

Source

In case you never saw the movie trailer or read the book this story is about young love. Who woulda thunk it right? Mr Sparks is notoriously known for his tear jerker novels turned blockbuster sensations!

This novel revolves around a young man named....you guessed it....John. He's on leave from the army and of course like all good summer romances he meets girl, rescues her (well her bag) and they fall in love during the few weeks he's home. When he heads back off to Germany where he is stationed the young woman, Savannah, promises to write him letters and they count down the days til his next leave. A year later they are reunited but as you can imagine time changes everything.

I won't say much more because I truly believe you should read this book. Yes I caught myself wiping away a few tears but you'll be suprised to know it wasn't because of love lost, it was because of the enormous amount of love that comes in so many different forms in this novel. It pulls at your heart strings because you truly feel like you know these characters.

This has to be my favorite Nicholas Sparks novels yet, even beating out The Notebook, because it's so much more than just a love story between a man and woman. It's about unconditional love for a Father that is misunderstood, loving someone so much you only care about their happiness, and of course about first loves, cause who doesn't like reading about those :)

I fully intend on renting this movie tomorrow and at some point locking myself in the bedroom with a box of kleenex and my dog Roxy to bawl my eyes out (without Chuckles seeing of course) but I know I won't be left feeling sad, I will be left feeling the enormous amount of Love people can feel and can give.

Read the book before the movie. Without having seen the movie yet I already know it can't possibly touch how heartfelt the novel is.

2012 Reading List Is Here!

2012-01-05T08:05:00.000-08:00

Here it is folks my 2012 Reading List!

22 Brittania Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosney
Little Chapel on the River by Gwendolyn Bounds
Life is So Good by George Dawson
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West
The Imperfectionist by Tom Rachman
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
Georgia's Kitchen by Jenny Nelson
Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel
Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Malachi by Jacob Emery
There's a Spouse in my House by Peter Scott
Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler
Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
Wench: A Novel by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
The Girl With No Shadow by JoAnne Harris
There are Things I Want You to Know About Stiegg Larsson by Eva Gabriellson
I Remember You by Harriet Evans
Deep Dish: A Novel by Mary Kay Andrews
A Mile in My Flip Flops by Melody Carlson
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

As you can see a few of them are carried over from last year cause I'm still excited to read them! Speaking of last year I read a total of 49 books and 16879 pages!! The page number is so cool to track so you better believe I'll be tracking for 2012!!

Who else has a 2012 book list?

2012 Goals

2012-01-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

This year is going to be absolutely crazy, nuts, busy, and a whole lot of fun! To start this year off with a bang here are my 2012 Goals!

1. Read my 2012 book list! After my 2011 list I'm scaling back so it's less stressful! Stay tuned...it's coming soon!
2. Lose an additional 40lbs and meet my healthy weight range!
3. Run 4 days out of the week.
4. Complete my 5K race in May in under 30 minutes.
5. Participate in a 10K race.
6. Create and stay on track with a weekly chore list!
7. Scrapbook two layouts a month.
8. Celebrate our Anniversary - This is very important to us!
9. Complete my Hawaii, 2008 and 2009 Scrapbook Albums.
10. Leave more spare time to relax! Meaning scheduling in free time and weekends on my calendar!

There you have it folks! I think this year I'll print these out and tape them to my bathroom wall to keep me motivated! I am so excited to get started on my goals!

Who else has 2012 Goals or Resolutions!

2011 Wrap Up

2012-01-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

Boy oh boy did the last couple weeks of December fly by! I couldn't even make time to post but I'm back and ready to start 2012 off with a bang! First things first - lets do a recap of my 2011 Goals.

1. Dress up for work 4 days out of the week. (We have a pretty lax dress code but I want to start dressing more business casual instead of jeans everyday) - FAILED! I tried but then I shrunk out of my pants and have been waiting to buy new work slacks. When you don't need them for work it's hard to justify spending the money on new work pants. Plus I realized I'm very lucky to get to go comfy to work so I am taking advantage. Point in fact - today I'm in sneakers, jeans, and a sweatshirt!

2. Work 40 hour workweeks!! I am sick of working extra hours so this year it's 40 hour work weeks (Overtime ONLY when absolutely NEEDED and NEVER on a Friday) - ACCOMPLISHED! This year I only worked a few hours of overtime when it was absolutely needed! I wish I could say I never did on a Friday but it turns out Fridays are the best times for me to work overtime. I accomplish way more and then I get to go home and veg with the honey!

3. Lose 2 dress sizes by Summer (3 by Christmas) - Somewhat Accomplish/Somewhat Failed - I lost 2 dress sizes but not until October. I am almost down one more but alas, I did not meet the goal by the end of the year. However - I lost 53 lbs this year and started excercising 3-4 days out of the week! That to me makes up for the dress size.

4. Read 2011 Book List - ACCOMPLISHED! Yes the side tracker says I didn't but if you notice my original 2011 Book List was 46 books and I read 49 this year!!

5. Clean the house top to bottom every week! - HAHAHAHA FAIL!! This was definitely a wishful thinking goal. We just got so darn busy that it didn't happen. I will say though we have a new cleaning goal for 2012 that is totally attainable! Stay tuned...

6. Take Buster to Camp Bow Wow twice a month - Half Fail/Half Accomplished! This one is half and half because we did take him twice a month and then I started excercising and started taking Buster 3 days outo f the week. The Camp Bow Wow was to give him some excercise but once I started walking him we stopped taking him twice a month. He still goes but since it's expensive we cut back!

7. Finish my bookkeeping certificate - ACCOMPLISHED!!

8. Finish up the Home Improvements (List coming soon) - With the wedding planning (and saving) we did very minimal work on the house, which I knew would happen. In case you forget I made my goals before our engagement, which definitely put a damper on some goals, but hey there's always this year right....or next year :)

9. Scrapbook 2 layouts a month - ACCOMPLISHED! I successfully scrapbooked at least 2 layouts a month!

10. Finish my Hawaii album - FAILED!! I completely forgot this was a goal until yesterday. Where I spent all afternoon working on it, with only one layout left to do I am positive it will be finished before the end of January.

11. Spend more time with friends - ACCOMPLISHED! In fact I overbooked myself too much in 2011 and started hating making plans. While I love spending time with friends I found myself overly stressed over life and committments so this year my friends - Yes we will spend oodles of time together but I'm going to say No a lot more to give myself some downtime!!

12. Date night EVERY week! - FAILED!! We were extremely good at this until Chuckle's got his new job, now it's like date night every single night and weekend!! Plus when the weather got cold we wanted to stay home! But we always make sure to do something on date night, whether its playing games at home or at least going out to eat.

13. Take a FUN vacation - like Hawaii, Vegas, Disneyland, or a Cruise - This got put on the back burner due to our engagement. But we PLANNED our Honeymoon for this year so I think it counts!!

14. Go camping at least 4 times - Again with the engagement we decided to cut back costs and we lost quite a few weekends, BUT we went 2 TIMES!! So I deem this an accomplishment! Once just us two for our big vacation and then once for the Annual Campfest! Both times were so much fun!

15. Celebrate our Anniversay (we never do cause I am so not into those things) - ACCOMPLISHED! We went to the Melting Pot and had a great experience! So great we are going again this year! WOOHOO!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 2011, a Safe New Years, and most of all that you completed your goals you set out to complete!

For this year I am going a little more specific and probably a few less with the weddings (yup my Seester is getting married this year too) taking up all our time :)

Happy New Years Everyone!

Thank God For American Humor

2011-12-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

Another book down on my 2011 list, which is so exciting since we are nearing the end of the year rapidly. I know I won't complete my current list but guess what folks? I've still read a crap load of books this year!! so YAY!!

Now on to the most recent one "Always the Bridesmaid" by Sarah Webb.

Source

I would love to blame my non -Irish sense of humor on why I didn't like this book but lets' be real here. The main character Amy is one of the most miserable and moody people I've ever read in my life. There is absolutely nothing to like about her, even when you finally make it to the end of this 337 page book you still can't, or at least I couldn't. I wanted to smack this chick every single page of the book and I don't feel she got what she deserved.

Aside from the main character sucking, I did like her sister who I can only relate to as Amy Adam's character in The Wedding Date (minus the cheating part). You absolutely will fall in love with her Sister Suzi and her fiancee Matt. But since this book is about Amy and not Suzi you don't get to enjoy every single page.

My advice to anyone who isn't Irish, because I really think a lot of the humor would be funny to those who like Irish humor, similar to how only some people (Americans I guess) get British humor and others don't understand. But back to the point, if you aren't a fan of Irish humor STAY AWAY!! I'm definitely wishin' I had gotten the right "Always the Bridesmaid" from the beginning!!

Overall grade = F. Sorry Ms Webb - if you write a book with a better main character I'll give you another try.

Nifty Gifty!

2011-12-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

Remember those cake in a mugs I teased you with...? Of course you do! Well here they are when given away as gifts!

I used festive ribbon to tie off the little baggies of cake mix and glaze.

And I just used some festive paper to make the tags.

Then printed out the "Directions" to make your cake and used the same paper I used for the tags! Plus added the AWESOME tree rub on! Don't you just love rub ons?

Got out the basket...

And the fun filler!

The super cute mugs!

Then just started putting it all together. Added the green filler first.

Filled those mugs up with filler too!! And I added some of the red and white filler to fill out any corners of the basket that needed more.

Place the baggies into each mug!

Add in your recipe card!

To hide the recipe card I just place a card in front of it! You don't want to spoil the gift before they open up the basket.

Then added in some hot chocolate mixes and the smore pops! How cute are they all wrapped up?

And voila you have a nifty (and easy) gift for your friends. We gave one to our amazing neighbors and this one went to Danielle and Jeff :-). I loved making these and the cake in a mug is so NEAT and delish!! I had to make one just to be sure :-)

Anyone else do any homemade holiday gifts?

Tis the Season for Giving!

2011-12-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

One thing I love about the Holiday Season (out of the millions of good things) is homemade gifts! Since we don't usually get that many (however we have gotten some delish baked goods from Chuck's Aunt & Uncle) I decided this year to put together two gift basket gifts for our wonderful neighbors and another wonderful couple that is very much part of our family.

I had found a great idea for Cake in a Mug gift and knew it'd be a great gift. Originally we were going to do these for Aunts and Uncles (on Chucks side) but we found out we won't be seeing them so I was very excited to still have awesome people to give these to.

For the cake part you just need - Cake mix and instant pudding, and for the glaze you need powdered sugar and vanilla coffee creamer.

Mix the pudding and cake mix together.

Mix the powdered sugar and powdered creamer together (I'll get the exact measurements for these)

Then you divide those up into little baggies (which you will see in my next post)

In addition to the cake in a mug I saw this cute idea on Skinnytaste.com.

They are called Smore Pops and all you need is - Chocolate Grahamn Crackers, Marshmallows (I had the mini's but the bigger ones will work better), Sprinkles, Chocolate, and Popsicle Sticks.

First things first I laid out my crackers and sticks. You need two crackers per stick, one for the actual stick and the other to help the stick stay on the cracker when drying. (Don't worry it makes sense)

Next up melt your chocolate using the microwave - nuke for 30 seconds, then stir the chocolate until melted. You should not have to microwave your chocolate longer than the 30 seconds.

Next up start spreading the chocolate on each grahamn cracker (the one for the pops not the other ones, a.k.a the ones on the bottom).

Then sprinkle with sprinkles! :) This is optional but who doesn't love sprinkles?

Put some chocolate on the popsicle stick and then place on top of your chocolate covered cracker.

Top with your marshmallow. If you use the big ones (I recommend) then cut each marshmallow in half and stick it on top of the stick (Thats on top of the cracker). For the mini's I just used four and made a little cluster.

Notice the bottom cracker is just there to help the stick dry to the cracker.

See a little cluster of marshmallows YUM!

Once you've got them all ready to go, transfer to your fridge to let the chocolate set. I left them in there 20 minutes and they were good to go :)

These are so much fun and so cute! A perfect addition to a smaller food gift! Stay tuned to see how I used both of these food gifts in the gift baskets............

A Blue Christmas!

2011-12-19T08:05:00.000-08:00

Calling all Mary Kay Andrews Fans!! This is one of her book to NOT miss!! It'll get you in the Holiday Spirit and of course you will fall in love with Weezie and Bebe all over again!

Source

Of course Ms Andrews brought back her two characters Weezie and Bebe for some awesome Holiday Cheer!! It starts off with a Christmas Decorating contest, an inspirational Blue Christmas Idea, yummy food, a mystery woman (although not hard to figure out who she is), of course some Antique auctions, as well as a wine auction (a shoutout to Sonoma County where I live WOO HOO - Yes that was pretty dang cool) and two extremely lovable pups!

It's another short Christmas story so I won't give you more details than that, but if you love her books then make sure to read this one before Christmas, or save it for next year!!

Overall grade - an A+!!

A Time for Giving

2011-12-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

For our December Book Club book we decided to go with a Christmas Themed and we chose Christmas Jars by Jason Wright!

Source

This book is more a short story than a book. Only 122 pages long but filled with a storyline that might inspire YOU!

The story focuses around a young woman named Hope who was "gifted" a Christmas Jar by an anonymous person. Being a newspaper writer she of course had to dig deeper and find out where it all started from. Since it's a short story I won't give you more than that but I highly recommend you read this book. It's inspirational, touching, sweet, and a great Christmas read!

Overall Grade - A!

Life of a Lady's Maid

2011-12-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading The House at Riverton by Kate Morton and I am so happy I included this book on my list. I will be the first to admit it was a little random for my list and I can't even remember where I heard about this book!

Source

The story takes place in London during WW1 and after. The narrator is Grace who is 98 years but takes you back in time to her days when she started as a house servant when she was just 14 years old. Throughout the entire novel you hear of the lives of the "rich" and highly honored people of that time. But just like in our modern times now all that you may think of those people is not always correct.

All throughout the story Grace keeps referring to a secret she has kept her entire life that has to do with the family and I'll be honest - I was getting a little frustrated because it took so long to get to it but it was worth it. The author writes so you are completely wrapped up in the time period and does a wonderful job of keeping you interested!

I don't want to give too much away but for those of you who love historical books you must read this one!

Overall grade - an A+. Not only did I love the writing style but the author managed to keep me intrigued and I was dying to read every time :)

Sausage and Sourdough Dressing!

2011-12-11T08:05:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to make a new dressing recipe. Despite my very successful dressing from last year this one calculated out to less weight watcher points.

The first thing I did was cut up the loaf of sourdough and baked off the pieces!

Nice and Crispy!

Then I gathered the millions of ingredients needed: Chicken Broth, Celery, Onion, Butter, Pepper, Italian Sausage, Cooking Spray, Water, Bread, Egg, Thyme, and Parsley!

Melt your butter in the pan and then toss the celery and onions in and cook until soft.

While that's cooking combine your chicken broth, water and egg in a bowl.

Once the onion and celery are soft set them aside in a bowl.

Brown your italian sausage.

Once your sausage is all cooked toss into the bowl with your celery and onion.

Then toss in your bread crumbs (or cubes) and the seasonings.

Mix well.

Then pour the egg/water/broth mixture on top of the bread mixture.

Again mix really well. You will want to coat every bit that you can!

Dump into a 13 x 9 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Cover and put in your oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Uncover and bake for an additional 20 - 30 minutes.

Nice and browned and ready to go!

Just like last year I made this first thing in the morning and set aside for the rest of the day. When dinner time was ready I simply popped this back in the over for about 15-20 minutes.

Unfortunately this recipe lacked the amazingness of my other dressing. It was good but it was not anywhere near as good as my other one, which is very similar but so different in taste.

So it's decided. From here on out the Sausage Brioche dressing will be the regular in our household!

And on a side note the recipe is available here...but I must point out they have incorrectly called it stuffing. It is indeed a dressing my friends at Cooking Light!

Brussel Sprouts = My New Go To Veggie!

2011-12-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

Another great veggie recipe for you all!! This is actually from my friend Laura so I call it Laura's Brussel Sprouts! Kind of funny is that a recipe (pretty much identical to this, minus 2 ingredients) was in Cooking Light!

Super simple - bacon, olive oil, chicken broth, salt and pepper, brussel sprouts, 1 shallot, and balsamic vinagrette (which I did not have and kicked myself for).

First things first - cut up your bacon and then cook it off to the crispyness you like. And then set aside, but leave the grease in the pan.

Throw in your shallots and cook for about 4-5 minutes.

Toss in the brussel sprouts and about 3/4 can of chicken broth. Be careful this will sizzle and pop!

Cook those brussel sprouts until they are to your liking (i like mine soft soft soft) and then toss them into a bowl, add the bacon and if you have it the vinagrette.

Even without the vinagrette these were delish! I was stoked because I have recently discovered I like brussel sprouts so to have a go to, super easy peasy recipe for them! Another veggie that will continue to make an appearance, even if Chuckles doesn't like them!

Anyone else discover veggies they never had as a kid but discovered as an adult?

Baking Day 2011

2011-12-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

Excuse the interuption but I have to share a few pics from our 2011 Annual Baking Day!!

This past saturday I headed on down to my Mom's for a whole day of baking and hanging out with my awesome family!!

Here we are at the end of the day, all cookied out, but still smiling!

This year I brought lunch (since I'm trying to stay healthy) so I brought in the amazing new recipe I discovered for Grilled Chicken Sandwiches.

And since I don't want to bore you with a bunch of shots of us just baking away I will share with you our final product picture! We filled Mom's entire table (like usual)!!

Our grand total was more than last year - we made a total of 460 cookies which calculates to 38.33 dozen!! WOOHOO!!!

And out of all those cookies all day long I ate ZERO! I didn't have one single cookie until I got home that nihgt! YAY me! Normally I'd stuff my face ALL DAY LONG!! Cause when you are surrounded by cookies what else is there to do but eat away! Nope I kept myself in check and I couldn't be more happy or proud about it!

However the minute I bit into the Salted Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Truffle Cookies my Mom made it was all over from there. They are soooo amazing!

How is everyone else's Holiday Baking going?

Roasted Cauliflower!

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Apologies for posting up our Black Friday dinner and not following with the new recipes! Life got crazy and all that jazz but I finally have a moment to share the news!

Starting with the Roasted Cauliflower!!!!!! This recipe is so easy and so delish! It's a great way to add veggies to your meal with some flava!

You need - Olice oil, Parmesan cheese, cauliflower, salt and pepper, garlic powder, lemon juice, tarragon, thyme, and parsley!

Put your cauliflower (cut up first) on the baking sheet and then cover with olive oil. If you are me then you forget this until you've had them baking for 5 minutes. But the olive oil should prevent any burning!

Heat the oven up to 450 then put in your pan of cauliflower. Every 5 minutes (total of 20 minutes) stir the cauliflower around so that it does not burn. I did my best but they got a little brown.

Sprinkle with parsley, thyme, tarragon, and garlic and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

While thats baking for 5 minutes put together your cheese mixture. In a bowl combine the cheese and remaining ingredients.

Take the cauliflower from the oven dump into the bowl with the cheese mixture and get to stirring. You want to make sure to coat all the cauliflower with the cheese mixture. Then put in a pretty bowl and enjoy!

I LOVED this recipe! It's easy and since I'm now a lover of Cauliflower this will be a regular in our house!

For the full recipe go here.

Up next - Miss Laura's Brussel Sprouts! Stay tuned........

Black Friday Dinner 2011

2011-12-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

Here it is folks our Black Friday Dinner for 2011!!

This is how I keep myself organized on that day! I just set the table and then lay out all the dishes needed with little post it notes for what goes with what! It makes like SO EASY!! That and PREP PREP PREP!!

Oh YUM!!! Doesn't that look so delish! It was!!

As you can see we had - Jello Salad, Dressing, Turkey, Brussel Sprouts, Roasted Cauliflower.....

Crescent Rolls, Miracle Mashies, Gravy and of course Sparkling Cider!

Oh yes this dinner was DELISH!!

Get ready for all my new black friday recipes, which include the brussel sprouts, roasted cauliflower, and a new dressing recipe!

As Simple As 1-2-3!

2011-12-01T08:05:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for this extremely complicated, full of ingredients recipe? Nope neither am I, which is exactly why it's the opposite!

For lunch on Black Friday I knew I needed something super simple but also energizing and delish! Again I browsed www.skinnytaste.com and was reminded of this recipe that I had pulled out awhile back! It's a Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Avocado and Tomato!

All you need is salt and papper, grilled chicken, 1 avocado, 1 tomato, and a small ciabatta roll!

Mash up your avocado. I only used 1/2 of an avocado and I kept mine on the chunky side since I could eat avocados whole!

I recommend toasting your ciabatta roll!! They are just so much better when they are toasted!

Then get to building you sandwich!

How freakin good does that look?????

I mean seriously other than the tomato I was dying to get in my first bite!

I waited no longer and dove into this sandwich!! And O.M.G.!! Even with the tomato I was lovin' it! It was seriously so good, so filling, and so fresh!!

I highly highly highly recommend this sandwich! It's easy and it's pleasy!! (Yes that's my new word for pleasurable)! And it's only 6 weight watchers points! Officially a new recipe to keep and you better believe I'll be making these for lunch more often!!

Next up....The official Black Friday Dinner!!! Stay tuned...

Nests for Breakfast? Why Not?

2011-11-30T08:05:00.000-08:00

Most of you know and remember that I celebrate Black Friday by spending the day cooking up a storm for Chuckles and I! I love love love cooking and since the parents cook on the official holidays I figured I'd get in my cooking fun while other people are out shopping like crazies!! Actually this is the first year I did ZERO shopping on Black Friday, but to be honest - I did NOT miss it!!

I digress - for this black friday I of course chose to try out some new recipes and this is the first new recipe from that day!! Since Chuckles had to work I figured I'd make myself a "healthy" breakfast and lunch! After browsing www.skinnytaste.com I found a great breakfast recipe called Hash Brown Egg White Nests!

Gathered my ingredients - (ok so I improvised my own ingredients just a little bit) Turkey, Cheddar Cheese, Olive Oil, Spray, Garlic Powder, Hash Browns, Onion, Bell Pepper, Egg Whites, and Salt & Pepper.

First things first - do the prep work! Seriously prep work is what saved my sanity this day!

Combine your hash browns, salt and pepper, onion, and garlic powder!

Spray your muffin tin with the olive oil spray and then build your little nests from the above mixture! Then pop in the oven.

While your nests are in the oven combine your bell pepper, turkey, onion, and cheese!

YUCK! I'll be the first to admit after looking at this I was ready to toss the whole thing! It just didn't look appetizing! But I pressed forward....

Once your hash brown nests are browned pull those suckers out of the oven and start filling each next with the egg mixture!! About 3 tablespoons per nest.

Once those are filled go ahead and pop them back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

Let them bake and get nice and cooked! No raw egg whites here.

At this moment I take back my YUCK reaction. After these starting baking in the oven and the smell wafted into my nostrils I was stoked!! They looked much better baked and smelled so good!!

And you get a decent size nest (in my opinion)! This little guy was enough to hold me over until lunch time, which had been fast approaching since I was not on top of my time frame this year!

YUMMY!!! I was suprised at how much I really did enjoy these little guys! I am usually put off by bell peppers in anything that I can't pick them out. Love the taste, but something about the texture makes me cringe!

I can happily say I devoured my little nest and had my lunch not been a new recipe I probably would have eaten two more of these and called it good....but my next new recipe (also from Skinnytaste) was one NOT to be missed!! Stay tuned for my black friday lunch break...........

Pop Tart Scones?

2011-11-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

I happened to run across a new recipe called Strawberry Pop Tart Scones on the adorable blog - Macaroni & Cheesecake. Me - being a lover of Pop Tarts - was extremely skeptical and I had really low expectations for this recipe! But I absolutely HAD to try this recipe!

I gathered a WHOLE BUNCH of ingredients: whole wheat pastry flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, butter, fat free half & half, milk, vanilla extract, fresh strawberries!

The first thing I did was cut up my strawberries! Then you add the vanilla extract and milk! Set aside.

Combine your flours, sugar, baking powder & salt.

Mix them all together really good! Then cut in your butter. Your batter will look and feel similar to sand.

Add in your strawberry mixture

Then add in your half and half and get to mixing!

You will more than likely need to add some flour (god knows I did) in order to get your "Wet" dough to get to a workable point.

Once you have your dough lay it out on a cookie sheet and form a circle. From that circle cut out 8 triangle scones and separate them! GOOD LUCK!! My dough was such a pain in the booty to work with and I just couldn't add any more flour!

Bake in your oven for about 20 minutes. Then wrestle with the wax paper (use parchment if you got it) and place the scones on a cooling rack!

Don't they look so purdy?

Once the scones have cooled whip up a nice glaze using confectioners sugar, water, and vanilla.

Then get to spreading! She says to dip I used a pastry brush and just brushed the glaze over all of them, letting all the excess drip right onto the wax paper.

They look so delish don't they?

No offense to the blogger because her recipes look AMAZING! But this one didn't do anything for me! I was let down by my low expectations and really felt like I wasted time! Now if you all remember correctly I have only found ONE scone recipe that I don't screw up so this could defintely have been a chef error and not a recipe one.

Maybe had I not had to add so much flour they would be better. They were really dense and could have used a bunch more strawberries! However I will not be making them again! I feel like it was too much work, too many ingredients wasted and not even the slightest bit of fireworks in my mouth!

Happily Ever After Fluff!!

2011-11-22T20:24:00.000-08:00

Looks like I found my reading groove again - I just finished up Nearlyweds by Beth Kendrick and it was super cute!

Source

After reading the summary it sounded kind of cute but I was concerned it might be a little depressing at the same time. Regardless, I took my chances and I am happy that I did! This book is typical chick lit fluff but what's so great about those books? They are fun and fast reads!!

At first I was getting a little confused because the author switches between 3 different women who are all friends. But after awhile I got them all straight and started to really enjoy each of their unique personalities!

Without giving too much away all three women end up not being legally wed to their new husbands and it turns out that may not be a bad thing! It's cute, not at all depressing since it's such fluff, and you will end up loving the end - I promise!!

Overall grade - A. It was exactly what I wanted from this book!!

Spice Up Your Life!

2011-11-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

The other day (which happened to be a Sunday) I was itching to get my baking on! Luckily the week before I had stumbled across a Spiced Kiss Cookies recipe out the amazing Weight Watchers magazine and I had picked up the one ingredient I needed. I had everything else, including the Hershey Kisses!

Sunday afternoon while my Chuckles was watching his Football game I popped my iPod into the under cabinet stereo and for those of you who know me I bet you don't even have to guess at the playlist I put on! Yes I will admit it (cause there ain't nothin' wrong with it) - I put on my massive Christmas playlist and started enjoying two of my favorite things - Christmas and Baking!!

You only need a few items for this recipe: Sugar, Flour, 1 Tube Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough, KISSES!, Pumpkin Pie Spice, and Unsweetened Cocoa.

First things first - unwrap all the kisses and set aside in a bowl. Preferably in a place where you honey won't steal kisses!!

Next up combine your cocoa, sugar cookie dough, flour and Pumpkin spice!

You can either knead by hand or cheat like me and use a KitchenAid Attachment! Granted I still hand kneaded a little bit since I wanted to make sure the spices sunk into every crevice of the dough!

Next up roll your dough into 1-inch balls. Okay so mine might be a little bit bigger than that but this recipe makes 56 cookies and we do not need that many!

After you have formed the 1-inch ball roll it in some sugar and start lining your cookie sheets!

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees, let the delish fall spice smell fill up your home! And immediatly after pulling from the oven place a Kiss in the center of each cookie!

I just LOVE when the kisses start to melt a little from the heat of the cookie, but to prevent the Kiss from completely melting make sure to remove the cookies and place on cooling racks!

Next step - Enjoy!!

These cookies were delish! Of course Chuckles like them too but he did want me to make him some more "simple" cookies A.K.A plain ol' chocolate chip cookies! Did I? heck no! I got my baking fix in and it was time to get my reading on while snuggled on the couch with the pups!

But I satsified my need to bake that day and have discovered an AMAZING fall cookie! I even took in a whole plateful to work where they were enjoyed!

*I am so sorry to report that I have lost the recipe :-( I am still on the hunt and if I find it I will make sure to post. I even tried searching online and it's like the damn thing doesn't exist on the web!! I am just hoping my honey didn't accidently throw it away while he was cleaning the kitchen!! Fingers crossed I can find it!!

It's Kendra!

2011-11-20T08:05:00.001-08:00

Calling all fans of the television show "Girls Next Door" and "Kendra"!!! Get your butt to the store, library, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, wherever you get your books and get this one!

Source

It literally took me 2 1/2 days to read this book and not cause it's so easy to read (it is) but because you can't help but want to know the whole story. This woman has lived a far more interesting life than you would ever realize from her time on the tv screen!

I'll admit when I first watched The Girls Next Door, Kendra was not my favorite! Honestly I LOVED absolutely everything about Bridget! As seasons went on of course I started to really like her, how could you not? She's so down to earth and SUPER hilarious!! This book is no exception but you also see where she started and how far she has come. While I'm sure there are many people out there who will never accept her or the life she's lived I don't care. She's proven she's a real person not just the persona created for her on TV. She's been through hard times, made poor choices, but she has also come out of all that and I truly do feel she's always been herself!

Props to Mrs Baskett for sharing her story with everyone and I really hope there is more to come from her! In addition to her stories she includes some photos of her time as a child, in the Playboy Mansion, her and her HUNKY Hubs, as well as her child! And who wouldn't love to see more pictures of this beautiful family? I definitely would!!

Overall grade - an A! I thoroughly enjoyed this autobiography :-)

Time to Get the Chex Party Started!

2011-11-18T08:05:00.001-08:00

I recently jumped on the Chex party mix wagon and I highly doubt I will ever go back. In fact after this one I'm already dreaming of making the holiday party mix Hot Buttered Yum for Christmas events!

For now though let's dive into the Pumpkin Spice Mix cause it's definitely a must have! In fact I might even whip it together and bring it on Turkey Day as a pre-dinner yummy!!

You need to get Wheat Chex mix, Honey Nut Chex Mix, Cinnamon Chex mix, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and Pumpkin Pie Spice!

Combine your brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice together and set aside.

Then pop your butter into the microwave for about 30 seconds (you want to melt it completely).

Add in your vanilla and stir well.

Next up combine your different chex mixes all together.

I was a horrible blogger and forgot to take more pictures of these next steps so my apologies.

But after you combine your cereals you dump your butter/vanilla mixture over the cereal and stir like crazy. You want to coat the crap out of the cereal with your butter mixture. Then dump your brown sugar/pumpkin spice mixture over that and again stir, stir, stir!

Next pop your entire mixture in the microwave for 5 minutes, stirring every minute! I sort of missed that step on the recipe until there was one minute left on the microwave, so while it may be better if I had stirred constantly it didn't ruin the mix.

After it's microwaved and piping hot, lay the mix out on a baking sheet and let it cool. It will get nice and crispy if you let it sit for an hour or so.

Then get to munchin' my friends! If you aren't a pumpkin or a spice fan then don't even both cause you won't like it. It's quite spicy and I gotta say I'm not a HUGE fan of the after taste BUT - I still love it! The after taste goes away almost instantly and it's really not horrible, just different!

I highly recommend anyone make this for a party or even just for football sunday! But if there aren't many of you I suggest cutting it in half. If there is two of I suggest cutting it in 4ths! I ended up taking over half of it to work the next day since Chuck wasn't a big fan and I really couldn't eat much of it (trying to watch the waist line).

You can get this recipe (and so many more) at Chex.

Down at the Dairy Queen!

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading the cutest book that we have read for Book Club! Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore was such a cute little story about a Southern Preacher's Daughter!

Source

Catherine Grace Cline is one of the most likable characters you might ever read about. Even through her hard times or her selfish times you still can't help but love her!

The story takes place in a very small town in the south and Miss Catherine Grace is the local Preacher's daughter! As you can imagine this young lady has been dreaming about leaving the small town and heading to Atlanta - the big city!!

You will find a soft spot in your heart for her right from the beginning when you find out her Mama died and it's just her and her sister and their Daddy. You get to grow up with Catherine Grace and experience her leaving the nest!

But before you know it her world has been rocked and she finds herself right back in her small hometown with a few more suprises to be unveiled!

This is a great read for any age but I will say I wish I had read it when I was a teenager because it's something that I'm sure any young girl can relate to, at least in some ways :-)

I highly recommend this book to any and all readers! Great Job Ms Gilmore!

Overall grade = A+!

Excuse the Mess

2011-11-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hello Readers,

Please excuse the nasty mess my blog is going to be for a few days. I've pretty much had it up to there with blogger and have spent the last hour trying to fix my layout.

My baby should be back up and running like normal soon.

Lesson Learned: If it aint broke don't fix it!

XOX
Kendall

Birthday Bash

2011-11-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday Dear Princess Kendall Who's so Amazing!!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to Me!

Nope not really my birthday but back in May it was! I just finished up this page and it's a Storyteller's Layout and it is SO AMAZING!! This page is so fun and so springy that not only did it work for a birthday but it worked for the time of year too!!

Even though it was my birthday I actually had brought a gift for my sister who had recently gotten engaged! I got her a wedding organizer and she loved it and I LOVED the cute picture we got of the two of us!

Aren't these colors super fun!!

So happy to have my birthday scrapped, but I have to admit with all my 2011 pages I've been scrappin lately I'm feelin like a bum! I definitely need to wrap up my 2008 album since I have 3 layouts left! Stay tuned for the completion of my 2008 album! Who knows maybe this week :)

Strawberry Bars Anyone?

2011-11-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

Calling all lovers of Strawberries!! Calling all lovers of low fat healthy desserts!!!

I decided to bake another recipe by the ever fabulous SkinnyTaste blog!

I am a huge lover of dessert bars and this one seemed easy, well easy as long as I could hunt down the Strawberry Pie filling. I never knew it'd be so hard to fine, but finally I did so one Sunday I got in the baking mood (remember the Low Fat Brownie Bites?)

Gather up your ingredients: Baking spray, eggs, flour, butter, sugar, vanilla, confectioners sugar, and of course Strawberry Filling!

Mix your sugar and butter together. Then gradually add in your eggs and vanilla.

Then add in your flour. Mix it up well.

Pour the batter into your 13 x 9 pan that you have sprayed with baking spray! Then you will want to divide your dough into 24 bars.

Take a dollop of this yummy goodness....

And plop into the center of each bar. I chose to do two squares with an actual strawberry and the rest just the filling part. (FYI - The filling part is way better than having a strawberry in there)

Bake for the allotted time (you can get the recipe here.) Then make sure to let them cool!

Cut them into your 24 bars, sprinkle with confectioners sugar, and be prepared to ENJOY!

These were DELISH!! They were light. They were fluffy, They were sssssooooooo YUMMY!! They were even a hit at work! I didn't get to take a single one home! I highly recommend these and I know I will be bringing these to any BBQs we attend next year!

Our Amazing Book Club - Year 1

2011-11-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

I knew that when my Sister first started our book club back in 2010 that I knew I wanted to scrapbook it! Now how might one scrapbook a book club?

Simple, one our 1 year anniversary I made sure to get a group photo, kept the list of our books for our 2010-2011 year, and kept a magazine advertisement for one (of the many) books we read that were turned into movies!

Then I got to scrappin'

I was so happy to have a picture of our group, since one of our members decided to drop out this year. But we forever have her in our first year of book club! Since I didn't have enough room to post our entire schedule I simply folded it up, created a pocket and voila!

The Help was one of my favorite books from this year, too hard to pick just one, and since 3 of us went to see it in theaters I thought it was only fitting to include the movie advertisement!

I am in love with how this page turned out and I am so excited to have captured our first year (of many years I hope) of Book Club!

Summer Time Blues!

2011-11-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

The other night I had one of my best friends come over to hang out and what did we do you might ask??

We scrapbooked!!! Of course we also went shopping before dinner, then ate yummy tacos, and rushed upstairs to get our Scrap On!!

I was able to get two layouts done! Well technically I "finished" this layout and then did a second one!

But for now here's my layout for the local fair we have around here where my Paps and I both entered some photos into the Photography Contests!

So proud of my Paps who earned a first place ribbon!!

And of course we had to include the Funnel Cakes and then Hog Races!

It was so much fun to spend a "date night" with Mom and Paps! And it was so cool to see the ribbons we earned from our photos!

Fabulous Fall is in the Air.....and Our Home!

2011-11-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

Well folks the Halloween decorations are down and Fabulous Fall has arrived!!

Yesterday morning, due to the time change, I ended up getting out of bed at 6:30, so what better to do then start packing up Halloween decorations! Then my wonderful honey got out my Fall tub of decorations and you know I got my decorating on!

A few pictures to share!

Our guest bathroom downstairs!

Mr and Mrs Scarecrow!

Our entryway table! I absolutely love my little leaf bowl that I got at Pier 1 last year! I think I may need to go back this year and see if I can get a few more in a different colors! (Excuse the can of soda, we use it to scare the dogs so they allow people to enter the house before they jump all over them)

Our bookcase! Hopefully the leaves will still be there every night when we get home but we have mischievous kitties and dogs who eat anything on the floor! HAHA! Oh and those pretty flowers are straight from San Francisco! I swear the flowers smell stronger than any we can buy here in town!

And my favorite piece to decorate is ALWAYS our mantel! I cannot even tell you how long I wanted a mantel and still to this day I am so excited to decorate it! It's perfect for garland!

And last but not least our entertainment stand! I went hog crazy with the fall garland this year but it's just so damn pretty :) And our colors for the living room go perfect with fall decorations!

So I'm pretty sure I have a missing box floating around somewhere but it was too cold to be out in the garage digging around! Besides we are almost out of places to decorate in the downstairs so any decorations I come across will get hauled to work!

Anyone else decorate for fall yet??

Did You Get Your Invite?

2011-11-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

I just finished up a great summer read! Problem is it's November!! I definitely should have read this book over the summer but regardless I just finished "By Invitation Only" by Jodi Della Femina!

Source

This book is exactly what you would expect. A fun, light and easy chick lit story.

The story focuses around Toni and her best friend Layla! Toni had my heart just for the sole reason that she's a chef/baker and she loves it! Layla was your typically beautiful best friend but the girl has a real heart and she doesn't have any bitchy moments. I loved them both! Enter in men, of course, Chris who tries to win Toni's heart and Layla's fiancee Hudson! Oh yes it's got the wedding tie in with the soon to be snooty, holier than though Mother in Law!

Overall I give this book a B. I wasn't super sucked in but had I been propped up in a beach chair, waves rolling in, sun shining bright I am sure I would not have been able to put it down!

Going Fishing

2011-10-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

This month for our book club we read a cute story written by Vern Hobbs called Flying Fish!

Source

Even though I've lacked motivation and have read only 2 books this month (Oh no, there goes my 2011 reading goal) I am happy to report that this book was much more enjoyable than the last one!

The story revolves around a man named Smiley (you can't go wrong with a name like that) who lives in a tiny Florida coast town called Juniper Key. When the lively hood of the fishing town is put in jeapordy by greedy jerks who want to build a Casino on a Sacred Indian Burial Ground Smiley and the other townspeople feel helpless. It's a very charming story and while I enjoyed the book I think I would absolutely die if they turned this into a Hallmark or Lifetime Channel movie!

Overall Grade = B+. It took me awhile to get into it but once I did I was a happy reader. However it's a very light read and it doesn't really make you think, just a fun little read about an adorable town!!

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

With Halloween right around the corner we knew we had to get our cards out soon! After spending a few hours crafting up some home made cards I am sad to say that half received home made and half recieved store bought! Granted last year all that I sent were bought so definitely a step up from last year! Who knows maybe in 2012 I can hand make ALL the cards!

For now I want to leave you with the cards I crafted up this year! Hopefully everyone has now recieved their cards!!

So Spook-Tacular!

I couldn't resist, both Frankie and Jack look like they just saw a ghost :)

One of my faves because of all the glittery goodness!

Hope your Halloween is very Bewitching!

This is the very first card I made! I love it!

Casper even made an appearance!

I hope everyone has a very very Happy and Safe Halloween!!

Scrumptious Brownie Bites

2011-10-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Who's ready for some brownie bites??? We were this past Sunday so I whipped some up! And not just any regular brownie bites but Low Fat, Weight Watcher Approved Brownie Bites!

Have I ever told you about Gina's Skinny Recipes, (A.K.A Skinnytaste) the amazing blog filled with delish pictures of amazingly good and WW Approved recipes? I am sure I have since she's awesome!

This recipe for these delish Low Fat Brownie Bites is definitely a winner!!

And so simple to make, you just need: Baking Spray, Flour, Powdered Sugar, Sugar, Butter, Unsweetened Baking Cocoa, Vanilla, and Baking Powder.

First things first I measured out all my ingredients because it just makes life easier!

Then you melt your butter on the stove top.

Remove from heat and add in your sugar and vanilla. Stir well.

Add in your flour, baking powder, and cocoa.

Again stir well enough that your batter looks like this! Don't you just want to dip a spoon in there and dig in? Well I did! It looked so creamy!

Pour into a loaf pan that was sprayed with your baking spray!

Pop in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and then let cool completely!

Then slice up into 8 bars! And I have to point out that those are pretty decent size bars, especially for being a weight watchers dessert.

Lightly dust with powdered sugar!

Plate it, or use a napkin, and enjoy!

These little brownie bites were delish! Have I said that enough yet?

Even Chuckles really enjoyed them, in fact he even had some for breakfast! If you haven't already then race over to Skinnytaste and get this recipe! It's so easy and each bar only 3 points! 3 POINTS!! That's it!

For all my WW peeps out there you know that's a great deal on points for a dessert! You could even add a dollop of fat free whipped topping!

Be prepared to enjoy!

Falling Leaves - Crafty Time

2011-10-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to sit down in my Scrapbook Room awhile ago to work on Crafts that I completely forgot to post this lovely work of art!

I found the idea from this very cool blog - Happy Clippings!

I just had to make a quick stop at Michael's for the felt leaves, then JoAnn's for the buttons (which I fell in love with).

I got home and laid out my supplies and got to work!

First I cut out the tree using my Cricut and the My World Cricut Cartridge.

Then I cut out little squares (I think I made them 1 x 1) for the letters. Now the original crafter used Scrabble tiles but I couldn't even imagine "stealing" tiles from our game so I just made a little change!

I actually just used from plain black Alphabet stickers for the letters!

Than I laid it all out, made sure everything lined up right and then began gluing everything into place!

I was so happy with how this turned out and I honestly cannot remember what got me to the blogger who first created this but I am ecstatic I did!!

After much consideration on where to place this we decided the front door would be ideal! Added in a few Halloween touches and voila - entryway table decorated!

Unfortunately this post has a sad ending...One morning Chuck walked past the table and must have knocked it just right because the frame came crashing down and knocked off the little ghost in the middle and the Jack o Lantern to the left. Smashing the Jack O Latern and Ghost to pieces but the frame stayed in tack....for now...

About two days later I closed our door and it was enough to knock the frame down another time :-( Luckly just the frame shattered and not my other pumpkin but now I'm on the hunt for a heavy frame which I'm going to get before November 1st so that this little baby can be put up for our Autumn/Fall Decorations!

Anyone else been crafting any Holiday crafts?

Stealing!

2011-10-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

So I am 100% stealing this fun post from my Mom's blog! She filled it out and it looked like fun! Plus it reminded me of back in the day when it was SUPER COOL to fill out random surveys about yourself on Myspace. Yes MYSPACE!

So here goes - some ABC's all about ME!

A. Age: 25

B. Bed size: CA King (and will never go smaller)

C. Chore that you hate: That's a tie between cleaning the litter box and cleaning the toilet! YUCK!

D. Dogs: Buster-Roo and Foxy Roxy!

E. Essential start to your day: COFFEE!! And of course a kiss from my Honey!!

F. Favorite color: Green! (and Yellow)

G. Gold or Silver: I used to be strictly gold but now I like them both!

H. Height: 5'9''

I. Instruments you play: This should say playED! I used to play clarinet, bass clarinet, piano, and flute! I do
miss those days!

J. Job title: Product Lead (should be Product Manager)

K. Kids: 4 furbabies, no human kids yet!

L. Live: Cali Baby!

M. Mother’s name: oh you mean my #1 Beezy - Christy - or if you can say it in the most obnoxious way possible she will respond to MOM, but you must say it at the top of your lungs and be super annoying....right Mom?

N. Nicknames: Poochie, Minigangster, Bella, Babycakes

O. Overnight hospital stays: Just when I was born
P. Pet peeves: BAD DRIVERS!! If you can't drive the speed limit take a bus or a taxi but get the hell off the road. And if you can't park it then don't own it!

Q. Quote from a movie: "I'm a Peacock Captain You Gotta Let Me Fly" - well that's the most current one I've been quoting!

R. Right or left handed: Righty

S.Siblings: my Mandy Jo - best sister ever!

T. Time you wake up: I normally try and get up at 5:40 but I'll be honest lately its been snuggle time with the dogs until 6:30...

U. Underwear: that's slightly personal isn't it??? :-)

V. Vegetable you hate: CORN!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate it with a passion!

W. What makes you run late: hmmm I'm hardly ever late! But if I am it's usually cause of dumb asses on the road who can't drive - see pet peeve above!

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth, wrist, and I'm sure something else but can't remember.

Y. Yummy food that you make: Are you kidding? all my food is yummy!! But I've been told my Caramel Swirl Cream Puffs are the BOMB! And my Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Z. Zoo animal: oh wow that's a toughie cause I love almost ALL animals!! Well if you change the question to which Zoo animal would you want to cuddle - that'd a be a lion cub hands down! They are so stinkin cute!

Now won't you pretty please with a cherry on top copy this and fill it out for you? I'd love to read the ABC's of you!

Oh Henry!

2011-10-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

Finally another post. I promise to get back in the swing of things but to be perfectly honest (since I consider all my readers and fellow bloggers to be friends) I have been in the weirdest funk for the past few weeks.

I've neglected my blog, I've neglected my reading (according to Good Reads I am 7 books behind schedule YIKES), and I have even been neglecting my new recipes to try! I have not been neglecting my scrapbooking room but I cannot post my latest crafts until people get them in the mail!

So I've been stuck in a funk and I am determined to take this week to get myself out of it.

First on the agenda - FINISH A BOOK!

I finally finished reading the second book written about Henry Hill's life (Goodfellas).

Source

What can I say about this book?

Of course I never really liked Henry Hill as a person but I never really felt a dislike for him until I read this book. I mean sure he's a loser (sorry dude but you are), but I really never truly felt those feelings of dislike until this book.

This book picks up from about the time the first one ended, and it goes into Henry's life after Witness Protection. Essentially the guy is an extreme addict, more than I had thought from the previous book and movie, and a cheating jerk! I would use different profanity but this is a blog.

He is such a sleaze bag and I kind of wish I had just left it at the last one. Don't get me wrong I'm still intrigued by all the workings of the crimes he was "involved" in and the way Witness Protection works was absolutely AMAZING to read. On the other hand I sometimes wonder the truth of his "Stories". I mean seriously when you are all drugged up how the hell can you remember what your time was like in Protection.

It just seems more unbelievable to me when someone who pretty used drugs and drank the entire time in Protection would have an accurate memory of what happened.

Overall wish I had stopped at the first book, I give this a D. I just can't figure out what I believe in this book and what I don't. It was slightly slow and I seriously hated the man by the end of the book, not for his gangster days, but for the way he treated his wife, children, and multiple woman, as well as his good friends, or so he claims are good friends.

I guess when someone bails you out and gives you money you'd start considering them a good friend, but I ask what on Earth did you ever do for them? Oh that's right - you made them a crap load of money. Guess that's what friends are made of in the life of Henry Hill.

Lack of Motivation?

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers and Fellow Bloggers - I have been kindly reminded by my Mom to update my blog :-) Thanks Mom!

Truth is we've been so damn busy that we finally had some slow down time and I didn't feel like doin ANYTHING! So yep the blog got neglected.

But I logged in today, cleaned away the spiderwebs that were growing and dusted off my dashboard! So we are back and in working order after a much needed to break!

So what will I share with you today? Well a recipe of course! I can't leave you for a whole week with a damn book review and not come back with something delish to share!

For this recipe - a Raspberry Breakfast Bar - you only need: Lemon Juice, Egg, Butter, Sugar, Brown Sugar, Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt, Vanilla, and Raspberry Jam (I use seedless).

Combine your two sugars and butter together.

Toss in your vanilla and egg.

Meanwhile combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Then gradually add into your sugar/butter mixture to make the crust.

Get to mixin' and mix it well my friends!

After you've got your flour/sugar/most of the ingredients mixed together go ahead and set it aside. Or you can do this step while it's mixing.

Combine your raspberry jelly and lemon juice in a small bowl.

Get out your 13 x 9 pan, spray with baking spray, then take half your crust mixture and spread it evenly throughout the pan.

Top with your jelly/lemon juice mixture.

Then drop the second half of your crust dough in little balls throughout the entire pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes in a 325 degree oven! Then get ready for a big ol' whiff of sweetness when you open your oven door! This really does smell so delish from the get go!

So technically you are supposed to make a glaze with this but I chose not to! I didn't need the extra fat and calories and really it's not needed at all!

This was so good and bonus - it came from Taste of Home's Guilt Free Cookbook so I could enjoy a slice (or two) and not completely screw my weight watchers points SCORE! And the following Sunday I got the newspaper, make myself a Skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte, and enjoyed two slices of this heavenly breakfast dish!

I highly recommend for breakfast lovers who are trying to keep it on the light side and who love their pastries! I was stoked! Now to just cut this recipe in half cause goodness it makes A LOT of bars!

For those wanting the recipe here you go: Enjoy!

Confessions of a Bored California Girl!

2011-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was able to wrap up this book on my lunch breaks this week and let me tell you how happy I was this book ended. I wanted to shout from the rooftops that I was finally finished!

No, it's not a horrible book. No, it's not a super long book.

Yes, it took me less than a week to read....but still.....

Source

This book is....boring. I just didn't find it interesting at all. Maybe it's because I grew up with a Paps who worked on dairies and we grew up with Grandparents who lived out in the country area of town. I'm not sure but the entire time I was reading this book I felt like I was slamming my head repeatedly into a brick wall.

I understand, this woman is from Jersey and had never stepped foot on farmland, but seriously her constant bitching about a situation she didn't necessarily have to be in wasn't going to make the experience any better.

Don't get me wrong I do my fair share of bitching....yes I'll admit I complain like no one else's business at times. But the majority of the other time I'm trying to make the situation as enjoyable as possible. This woman apparently does not believe in it. She likes to point out everything gross and weird and wrong with country life and with 368 pages of this it gets old............real fast!

Other than her constant whining I did enjoy some of the humorous sections where I formed a clear movie reel in my head, picture - cows chasing an extremely freaked out blonde in designer duds!

Other than the few humorous moments I was not at all into this book. I finished it, thank the stars in the skies, but I wish I had read a sample of this book before:

A. Putting it on my book list

B. Subjecting my book club to reading it as well.

The author's only saving grace with me was the sympathy card. No she didn't ask for it, in fact if I hadn't done research (to get a picture of this chick) I would have probably never stumbled upon this fact.

Her husband died this year in April from cancer. And if there is one thing you can walk away feeling good about from this book, it is the love she has for her husband. After I found that out I softened a little for her.

Regardless of the fact that a big part of me softened, I still can't give her book higher than a C on the grading scale.

For those who are going to check it out just beware - there's a lot of whiny, bitching, and overall oddness.

Sunday Bloody Sunday!

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday in our house used to mean football all day, until Chuck started working Sundays. Well now that he's got himself Sundays off again (starting this weekend YAY) I know our house will be back to football bloody sunday!

You'd think I'd run and hide and turn my last solo sunday into an extreme princess day...but no. Instead I embraced my new life of Football Sundays!

I did make my way up into my scrapbook room and lit up this beauty! Thanks Bath and Body Works for providing a plethora of new scents that seriously make me swoon. The particular one I chose to burn this day was Cinnamon Sugared Donut!

After getting my room smelling like the local donut shop I gathered the materials I'd need for my Football Sunday Project!

Since my Honey is a San Francisco 49ers Fan, (I hear they are developing a vaccine for this horrible disease) I slipped on my face mask, plastic gloves, and disinfected my sewing table....

I kid I kid :-)

While I may not favor the Niners I do still love Chuck and I had promised him I'd make him a new valence to go in his Mancave, you know to "complete" the look!

Thanks to my awesome Mom for teaching me how to make a valence I just jumped right in and got started.

After spending what felt like a 1/2 hour ironing out the fabric, cutting it, pinning it and then ironing again I got to put in my first stitch! Of course a picture is 100% appropriate for such a task :-)

Suprisingly I whipped this sucker up in an hour and 20 minutes! So proud!

Check out the before!

And AFTER!!!

I've considered making another set so they "scrunch" up but alas the Man of the Mancave likes them just the way they are!

Chuckles loved them and he was quite impressed that I survived, despite having to touch 49er paraphernalia (shudder).

I should explain I'm not even a huge fan of football. I'm a huge fan of the cutie pie players! (I'm looking at you Miles Austin and Jason Witten) Yep I'm that chick!

And technically I'm banned from watching Niner games anyways - apparently last season I was the one who made the Niners lose! It couldn't be because the team sucked - no it was my fault. Essentially any time I'd come down to hang out with honey the Niners would lose. The Brett Favre incident = my fault!

Not that I'm sad to be banned at all...just means more time in my scrapbook room surrounded by pink walls, cute trinkets, and the glorious scents of girl-ville!!

BTW - I should add, I'm a hater on the Niners cause I grew up with a DIE HARD RAIDER FAN for a Paps and a Sister who turned out to be just as intense :-) It was just in my blood!

That's Just Peachy!

2011-09-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I developed a craving....a craving for Baking!!! I hadn't baked in a long time cause I've been trying really hard to stay on track with my weight loss. But I had to cave.

Soooooo...I caved in one of the best possible ways. I opened up my Taste of Home Guilt Free Cookbook and picked out a Peach Cobbler to make! I was in luck too cause I had everything on hand! Go Me!

This recipe is very easy and you just need a few items, in fact I bet you can even switch the Peaches out for other fruits. I might try a Berry Mix that I've had in our freezer saving it to make a smoothie, but lets get real I'm just not a smoothie person!

I digress - grab these ingredients: 1 egg, butter, baking powder, suger, flower, milk, peaches, and salt.

Open up your peaches and toss them into a pan with 1/4 cup sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes.

While your peaches are "standing" in the pot! Combine egg, butter, and remaining sugar.

Next stir in your milk, flour, baking powder, and salt.

Pour into an 8x8 pan sprayed with baking spray!

Then go back to your peaches. Turn on your stove top, bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and let simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Should take a minute, maybe two max.

Gently plop your peaches over the mixture in your 8x8 pan.

Then pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Wait for your house be filled with the wonderful peach scent then get ready to enjoy!!

This cobbler is indeed dreamy and if you add a little fat free whipped topping (straight from the freezer) it's like HEAVEN!

This cobbler as so amazingly delish and light! I literally felt like I satsified my baking craving as well as my sweet craving! I had one slice with my frozen whipped topping and didn't feel bogged down by sugar. Nope I felt satsified and NOT GUILTY!!

Not feeling guilty is huge for me! I almost always feel guilty when I indulge in my sweet side but this one is on the healthier side and only 4 Weight Watcher Points per slice! Can it get any better? Probably not!

For the full recipe check it out here and then get in your kitchen ASAP to whip up your own! Better make it soon too cause it's more of a summer recipe than a fall one and yes Fall Is Almost Here!!

P.S. You'll notice the recipe called for egg substitute. I honestly can't stand egg substitute so I used real egg....it's your choice!

Ahhh the Life of Book Characters!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-09-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

Well well well - Look who's kicking butt on her reading list lately? Oh yes that'd be yours truly!! I guess I've been bitten by the reading bug again cause I feel like I'm devouring books like a fat kid devours cake! (Yes I'm a fat kid so Yes I can say that)!

This past week I was able to finish up my book Savannah Breeze by the wonderful Mary Kay Andrews!

Source

Now before I get into this review let me tell you that I LOVE MARY KAY ANDREWS! Seriously if this woman could live at my house and read me her stories every night I'd love it! Not because the stories are that well written (no offense Ms Andrews - Remember I LOVE YOU) but because I just absolutely love the characters! And being lulled to sleep with southern accents sounds so nice to me!

Ms Andrews chose to bring into the mix a character from her book Savannah Blues and give this woman her own story! Ms. Bebe Loudermilk (pronounced Bay Bay) is beautiful, charming, and wealthy! And that wealth causes an attraction by a sweet talking good lookin' hunk of a Con Artist who steals every last dime from her. Well almost every last dime. She ends up with a run down "Inn" down by the beach and has to deal with the grumpy Harry who happens to be the manager of this "Inn". I bet you can all guess how that storyline goes...if not then you seriously have not read enough Chick Lit novels!

A few other characters are involved and one happens to be Ms Weezie - the main character from Savannah Blues! And if you read Savannah Blues you will of course fall in love with Weezie :)

Aside from the fact that it is a Chick Lit novel I was a little saddened by the manner that Ms. Andrews wrapped this book up. It was fast and rushed and honestly totally unbelievable. I know I know - you are shaking your head saying "Duh Kendall it's a damn chick lit book" but I swear it could've been better!

Regardless - I still enjoyed this book a lot and cannot wait to dig into my next Mary Kay Andrews book on my 2011 List. . Until then....I give this book a B+!

Fa-La-La-La-La-La

2011-09-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (the one before this last one) I got to sit down in my beautiful scrapbook room and do a layout. In fact my Sunday was damn near perfect (I know you are all waiting in suspense for my Peach Cobbler recipe) and I have to say this layout is damn near perfect as well! I mean it's Christmas and you just can't go wrong there!

This was our Christmas Eve from 2010! And it's so awesome to have my first of many layouts with all 6 of us!

I had gotten some cute Christmas rub ons awhile back and haven't used a single one! Nope not a one! Until now! My Paps always plays Santa Claus when it comes to handing out gifts... and it just seemed fitting to add a little rub on! Can you find it?

Also the title I have probably had for 5 or 6 years and have been "saving" it! Saving it for what? Well I guess for this layout! It worked perfectly!

I got to use up some more embellishments like the gift stickers below that I have had for at least 4 years if not more! It was so nice to use up some random stickers that I have been "Saving".

And of course it's 2 2-page layouts cause I can't cut out too many pictures!

Aren't we all so happy??? Happy and Super Spoiled!!!

This year My Sister and I finally got my Paps the one thing on his list that keeps repeating each year. 2 million dollars. Redeemable at the North Pole only! We actually found some cute 1 million dollar bucks with Santa's face on it and as you can tell from the Picture below my Paps LOVED them!

And I was happy to have one picture of my Mom for the page. Seriously ONE PICTURE!! I'm calling you out Mom - this year I need at least a few more so get ready to Smile Pretty :-)

This layout turned out just like Christmas - Perfect and Full of Love and Laughter! I could not be happier with these pages and I look forward to many more years of Scrapping Christmas Eve with our Family!!!

Gripping!

2011-09-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

I never would have thought that I would have finished this book within in a few days, especially when my schedule has been insane and preparing for our Annual Family CampFest! But I did and I am so excited to review John Grisham's novel The Confession!

Source

This book has been the most gut wrenching and "real life" book I've read this year. It's about a young black man who has been wrongly accused of the murder of a classmate. Then 9 years later while Donte (the young man) has been rotting away on death row and has just a couple days to live the real murderer comes out and confessions to a priest hours away from Texas. Yes the book takes place in Texas and if you know anything about Texas they firmly believe in the Death Penalty. Now I'm not saying every single person in Texas does but the people in this book do.

Mr. Grisham provides a large collection of interesting characters and seriously keeps you hooked and involved in this case. I was so immersed in the book that it brought me to tears a few times. It also left me wondering if I even want to research the death penalty issue. I don't want to say much more about this book because it truly is a must read. If you read any books off my list from this year please make it this one.

Mr. Grisham has the ability to open up his readers eyes to a real issue that I may not have otherwise thought twice about. If I could I'd give this book higher than A+ because it was truly thoughtful, gripping, moving and above all an eye opener for how things are run in certain parts of this country despite any evidence.

For those who are interested in crime (true or false), the judicial system, crooked cops, innocent men, guilty men, murderers, lawyers, the church, Texas, and so many other topics that are covered in this book. I'm serious - read this book!

Happy Belated Labor Day!

2011-09-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone and Happy Belated Labor Day!! I hope you all enjoyed the wonderful 3 day weekend! It was a fabulous over here! I got to hang out with my 2 future sister in laws, scrapbook, bake, and read an entire book! Could it be any better?

Yesterday after spending a few hours in the scrapbook room (layout coming soon) and baking up a healthier peach cobbler (recipe is definitely coming soon) I got comfortable on the couch and plowed through this book. A super easy read and it only took me a few hours to get through it!

Source

This book is about a woman in her 40s, Deidre who is a baker of cookies! The only reason I chose this book is because I thought it would focus more on her baking rather than all the other drama in her life. Now if I had known that the main characters in this book are in their 40s and 50s I would not have picked it up. Not that there is anythng wrong with it but I can't relate to people in those age groups so for me, it was extremely difficult to keep in mind that these people are older.

Deidre has all sorts of problems creeping up in her life such as; her cookie line just not pleasing the focus groups and having to revamp multiple times, a friend has a heart attack and Deidre feels the need to run the womans restaurant until this chick snaps out of her depression, a boyfriend who is considered Seattles Most Eligible Bachelor and his ex fiancee who enters the picture to steal him away, and of course the Sister of her honey who hates her.

It's all been done before but regardless you can't help but really like Deidre as a character. Overall grade a C. It was an average book and I could never really connect with any characters.

Next up - The Confession by John Grisham!

Last One :-(

2011-09-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well here is the last of the Christmas cards I have been working on. I am sure I'll make some more but this is it for Christmas for now! Sad Day - but I'll be sharing Halloween cards soon!!!

This just happens to be Chuck's favorite card I've made!! This one was a lot of fun to make as I got to use a crap load of GLITTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I could say I'm off to make more cards or even I'm off to scrapbook but nope not today. Even though I'm sad I won't be working in the craft room I will be going shopping with the Future Sister in Law, so it will still be a fun day. And with Monday being a holiday I can get in my scrapbook room and get my craft on!!!!!!!

Juicy Hollywood Gossip!!!

2011-08-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

All those who love celebrity dirt and gossip raise your hand!!!

Now go and read You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again by Suzanne Hansen. That is if you know your celebs from the late 80s to the early 90s.

Source

Over halfway through this book, a tale of being a Hollywood Nanny, I had to do some fact checking. Not know at the time this book is indeed a true story. I thought perhaps they put the subtitle on this book to make it more appealing, but no apparently this book is true. It details Suzy's "nightmare" of being a Nanny to Michael and Judy Ovitz young children and drops random facts about multiple big name celebs. Having read over half the book and not realizing that yes it is a true story I was stunned! How on earth could someone get away with this?

Simple - her employers never made her sign any sort of Non-Disclosure Agreenment! She drops some big names too - Robin Williams, Tom Cruise, Rhea Pearlman & Danny Devito, Debra Winger & Timothy Hutton, and during the time period this was about Michael Ovitz was on top of the world! This book is for all you celebrity gossip lovers! I even wanted to go back through and re-read so I could actually indulge in the gossip without thinking it was false.

This book, because it's true, gets an A+. If it hadn't been true....well I'm not really sure how I would have felt. I was intrigued but because I thought it was all fictional I wasn't totally absorbed. The minute I fact checked (in case you are curious - I fact checked about Robin Williams marrying one of his children's Nannys = TRUE!) I got hooked on it. I wanted more and more and more! Sadly all good juicy gossip must come to an end at some point.

Now I'm switching gears and will be reading John Grisham "the Confession"....I think.... :-)

The Holidays Are Coming! The Holidays Are Coming!

2011-08-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

My goodness has life gotten in the way of my blogging, but I promise I haven't gone anywhere! I've just been unmotivated to be on the computer when I'm not at work! Between a few bad weeks at work and our insanely busy schedule I haven't spent much time being crafty or becoming the next Julia Child but I did promise you some more holiday cards so here they are :-)

These two cards were actually super easy to make. I had some beautiful patterned paper that had squares of Christmas images so I simply cut out the squares and smacked those babies on a card :-)

For this one I wanted to add some embellishment so I dug into my ribbon stash and grabbed two that matched the color scheme. Pretty awesome match right? Just layered one on top of the other and glued it in place. Then added my beautiful reindeer over some simply background paper. This may come as a shock but I used ZERO glitter on this card! Yes a decision I'm rethinking as we speak, couldn't those snowflakes use some sparkles?

This card is one of my faves and it was really easy and fun to make. I just grabbed a couple different holiday patterned papers, another one of those squares I mentioned above, this one obviously being a tree instead of a Reindeer, and my red stickle. Super easy and fun to make!

I still have one or two more Christmas cards coming your way (hoping to craft more and have a bunch more coming your way) but I also have a couple ADORABLE Halloween cards I was able to work on.

As much as I don't make cards and feel that I'm horrible at making cards I've really enjoyed these ones I've made. In fact I hope tonight I can get into my scrapbook room and get my card making on.

Does anyone ever feel like everyone else makes these beautiful cards and yours seem to lack that pizzaz??

Peace on Earth

2011-08-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

Did I promise a holiday card? Yes I did and now I am delivering. I actually have a few of these that I finished but lets keep you in suspense and show them to you one at a time :-)

This is one of my favorite cards I made, thus why it's first! It's pretty and simple. I used the Joys of the Season Cricut Cartridge to cut out the candle and the word "Peace". Then just added some glitter and as a final touch added the beautiful embellishment on the candle!

It may seem early to almost anyone that I'm working on Holiday cards but it's just not. I need the time to make them and even though we already bought the generic ones I just felt like I wanted to make some cards! Since I love holidays what better type of cards to make? :-)

Anyone else starting their holiday card making?

Cookie Monsters!!!

2011-08-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to scrapbook my great friend Alycia and I's baking day from last year - 1. Because it was Christmas themed and 2. I had super cute paper to use :-)

We had a blast making cookies that day and I think these pages show my love for baking!!

Okay so I went a little sticker crazy.....not a bad thing right?

See that cookie in the top right corner?? Yeah while those look amazingly delish they were DISGUSTING!! But because the picture is so pretty I had to put it in there :-)

Get ready to see some holiday cards in my upcoming posts as I've been in the Christmas Spirit ("when are you not?" you may ask, yes it's true I am ALWAYS in the Christmas Spirit!) and I've been busying crafting up some cutesy cards!!

Musical Magic

2011-08-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Remember back when we spent A Night in Berlin in the 1920s? Chuck and I spent a wonderful evening enjoying very fun music from Max Raab and the Palast Orchestra!

Well Storytellers just happened to release a beautiful layout that could not have been more perfect!! Here it is ladies and gents:

The title seems to get lost when looking at it here but it is titled: For the Love of Music.

I am just loving pockets haha!! I almost alwasy keep ticket stubs, it's rare for me not to. Luckily I kept the ones from that night to have as a souveniar forever, just like the program as well.

This layout was really fun to work on, suprisingly I thought I wouldn't get so into it because of the dark colors but I had a blast!! Super fun night and I think my layout is very well fitted for the event!!

English Love Story - Grab Your Tea & Crumpets!

2011-08-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

Another good old British book read, another British book loved!

This month our book club read "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" by Helen Simonson!

Source

This is a good read! It was cute, it was charming, it had characters you loved and you hated (yes Roger I'm talking about you) and it had L-O-V-E! Who doesn't love a book with a cute little love story? Being someone who is totally into the British and their dry humor I was looking forward to this book from the minute I read the summary. It just so happened the book club was also interested!

If you like British books and you love a good read make sure to check out this book. It is a love story with a lot of family issues as well. It's not an AMAZING book but I can tell we have great things coming from Ms. Simonson. This being her first novel I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. I won't even try and describe the details of this book as the storyline is simple - love! Love between two people and love within families! And just a tip if you picture Major Pettigrew as the old man from the movie UP! I promise you will be entertained!

Vacation Magic!

2011-08-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Remember awhile back I posted about our vacation? Yes of course you do, well my impatient got the best of me and I have now already scrapbooked the entire vacation! And it was so much fun doing these pages! This post is very picture heavy but it is all worth it I promise!!

I did use some Storyteller's stuff but I also incorporated a lot of extra misc embellishments since you can never have to many. Lets just jump right in shall we?

Layout #1

Of course I kept our little car hanging sign! I love being able to incorporate actual items from our trip rather than just pictures and stickers.

I had to do a layout of our "home away from home"!

The map is the actual one they gave us and then I even kept the little tag from the complimentary wine they give you! Yup I make sure to save everything!

Working on these pages made me excited for our next camping trip wherever that may be!

Day 1 of Relaxation!!

Dog Park!!!

Fun Games and Good Food!!

Our last full day and our drive home along the beautiful HWY 1 coastline!

Of course I had to include Roxy while she's sunbathing!!

Sad to be leaving, but Happy to go home!!

Can you see why I was impatient and wanted to scrap them right away? Those pictures were just too damn cute!!!

Reading Removal

2011-08-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Well folks it turns out that some of my interests in books has changed and I have chosen to remove four books from my 2011 Reading List :-(. Sad I know but I just refuse to force myself to read books I no longer have an interest in. Who knows, I may end up adding them back for my 2012 list but for now I will be removing:

Moneyball - I couldn't get into it the first time around so I might as well ditch it. Plus my Seester's Fiancee is struggling with it as well.
Last Dog on the Hill - my Mom loves books about dogs and I think her excitement rubbed off on me too quickly. Unfortunately I do not enjoy books about animals as much as she does so I've decided to take this one off. I even asked her which one of the three I had left to read I should keep and she said this one was not it.
Oogy - same story as above, and my Mom didn't even really enjoy this one that much anyways.
Shutter Island - I've been debating heavily about this one. As much as I'd love to read it after seeing the movie I am not sure I'll even like the book. The movie's ending is such a shocker (or it was to me) that I'm not sure I'd enjoy this book while the whole time I'd already know how it ends!

So I am slightly saddened to be removing books off my list, I hate to do it, but I have been contemplating for a few weeks on removing them. I am happy with my decision and am still looking forward to my remaining 2011 books to be read :-)

And on another side note. Originally I had put the book Always the Bridesmaid on my list. Well guess what? There are two books titled that and I bought the "wrong" one so instead of reading Always the Bridesmaid by Whitney Lyles, I'll be reading "Always the Bridesmaid" by Sarah Webb!!

As for now I am knee deep in Major Pettigrew and lovin it! Then after that I'll probably finish up my designated "Summer Reads" like Savannah Breeze or Dear John!! Happy Reading Everyone!!

Birthday Bash-Tastic!!

2011-08-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Another layout done for the 2008 Album! The closer I am getting the more exciting it is! I can't believe I will have finished an entire years album! It's C-R-A-Z-Y!!!!

This layout is for Chuck and Jenny's birthday bash at one of our local downtown Mexican restaurants (Sadly no longer open). Since their birthdays are only a few days apart we decided to do a joint celebration and we had a blast!

I've been holding on to this paper ever since I got it from my Mom to do something that was fun and sort of "boyish". It is just some fun swirlies in "manly" colors LOL!

Of course we did pre-party pictures before we headed out to meet everyone! These pictures were actually taken at our old apartment, which is crazy to think we haven't lived there in three years!!

Just a bunch of different shots! We all had a blast!!

I'll be honest this page was super easy to scrapbook cause I wanted it to be simple and easy. I mean how many pages can I scrapbook of us going out right? Well you'd be suprised haha, we used to go out quite a bit but no longer so I gotta scrap all that I can!!

All About Chuck!

2011-08-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly getting my 2008 album finished and I can now add one more page to the done list! I actually was able to finish up two 1-page layouts all about my honey Chuck!

This one is when his nephew Chris came up to spend the night. The boys played Guitar Hero all night long but it was one of those moments that I wanted Chuck to have pictures of cause Chris is growing like a weed!!

This is actually a 2009 layout but I had these adorable stickers and I wanted to make sure I had pictures to use. Chuck is our BBQ King (well until recently when I learned how to BBQ) but I just thought it'd be fun to scrapbook him!

I am finding that I'm having some difficulty scrapbooking guy pages cause I'm so used to all my girlie pretty papers and stickers. I'm hoping with time I get better but I will say that I do love the Guitar Hero page, it was actually a lot of fun to do!!

Movie Night!!!

2011-08-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Another item to be checked off my 2009 album!! This one was super fun and super easy to do, in fact I think it only took me 30 minutes to do this entire layout! Can you say AWESOME?

One saturday night back in October 2009 we decided to move our sunday night movie night to a saturday night and Chuck's sister Jenny joined us! We had dinner then settled in with a roaring fire (which Roxy loved) and the movie Coraline in 3-D. Needless to say the movie was terrible but we still had fun hanging out!

I've had stickers for so long for this page that I even bought more last time I was at Michaels with Mom. But I used all of those stickers on this layout cause really what else am I going to use them on?

Of course the 3-D glasses did not work that well with the fire going so we ended up watching in regular but I don't think the 3D would have made the movie any better!!

Anyone else scrapbook random nights like this? A little FF (Fun Fact) for two years in a row I'll have pictures to scrapbook from October 10th cause in 2010 we went to my friend Alycia's wedding. I am seriously considering taking pictures of us every October 10th and scrapbooking because it's such a random date to have two layouts two years in a row!

Well I think it's kind of weird and cool, I think other people think it's just strange haha!

Wedding Madness

2011-08-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

I've knocked another book off my 2011 Reading List and this one was adorable!

I just finished reading I Do (But I Don't) by Cara Lockwood.

Source

This book was so cute! It follows wedding planner Lauren's bridal adventures when she runs into Hunky Fireman Nick! Yup it's that type of book, full of fluff, but missing all that steamy sex scene crap! Essentially Lauren thinks that Nick is the groom of the worst Bride ever, who happens to be a client of Lauren's. This book is filled with plenty of things going wrong, lots of typical "miscommunications" and just plain fluffy fun!

Turns out this book was also turned into a movie, that I'm sure I've seen on lifetime at some point. The movie stars Denise Richards as Lauren, so happy I didn't realize this book was also a movie until after I finished the book cause I definitley was not picturing Denise Richards. In fact I wouldn't pick her for the movie either but, that's why I'm no director, among other reasons!

Anywho - I give this book an A. I'm not sure if I was craving a fluff book or if this book was really so darn cute and not at all annoying that makes me want to give it an A. But I think it's a great book for anyone who is getting hitched or for those Wedding Planners out there! Super easy read, super cute, and you will love the characters!

Here We Come A Wassailing

2011-08-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

This layout is of when all of us got together (Mandy Jo, Mom, Paps and I) to help my Sister decorate her apartment. Now my Sister isn't an Ebenezer Scrooge but she's not really proactive when it comes to decorating. She likes Christmas and participates in everything we do, including when we all wanted to help her decorate her place! She had already planned on doing it but we all wanted to do it too!!

It was such a fun day and her place looked awesome! Never one to miss a photo opportunity I of course had my camera and I have to scrapbook these pictures cause it's cute!

I kept this layout pretty simple cause that's how my Sister likes things. I love glitter and tons of stickers when it comes to my Christmas layouts but since this is all about her :-) I decided to do it Mandy style!

Isn't she so cute posing with her tree?? I just loved how everything turned out at her house and I'm not going to lie, now that she's got her honey I'm sad that I won't be helping her decorate again! But trust me I've got plenty to decorate at home :-)

Red, White & Blue!

2011-08-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

I have been a scrapping fool lately. Well I should say I spent 3 days being a scrapping fool!!

The past two months Mom and I went to two crops and then I spent a Sunday afternoon and evening in my scrapbooking room! It was joyous! The next few posts will be a BUNCH of scrapbooking layouts!

This one features our 2011 4th of July!

Since 4th of July landed on a Monday we didn't do much except hang out and of course BBQ!

This layout was pretty simple but fun! I didn't have too many pictures and I used all of them LOL!!

My Top 10

2011-07-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been asked by multiple people for reading suggestions! Perhaps this means I talk WAY too much about the books I'm reading or maybe I've given out enough good recommendations that people agree with me :-) Either way I thought I would share my Top 10 Books that I've read within the past few years! Maybe later I will work on a Top 10 Overall but for now lets stick with the recent shall we?

Top 10 Books to Read!

Non-Fiction
1. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
         - Hands down this is by far one of my favorite non-fiction books. I fell in love with the Julie Powell in both her books (Cleaving is her second) and not with the movie character. She's a real person who isn't afraid to put her mistakes and failures out there, which for me meant that when she excelled at something or accomplished a goal I felt genuine joy for her. I was just as heartbroke for her when she recieved a call that Julia Child didn't respect her and I was over-ecstatic when she was able to "bone a duck" :)

2. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
         - I know I just finished this book but it doesn't matter. It most definitely deserves a spot on this list. This book will inspire you to become a happier person (no matter how happy you are) and it is very thought-provoking. This book will make you stop and think about how you act and how you can change it. It will make you want to get out and try something new. Besides who doesn't want to be as happy as they can be? It's worth the read for everyone, young, old, man and woman! When you have the time or if you are just wanting to start any process of changing things in your life then you should read this book first!

4. The Frugalista Files by Natalie McNeal
       - Another inspiring book. I swear if you read this book and you DON'T want to tighten your budget I'll be shocked and I will insist you re-read. Can't we all "trim the fat" in our lives? While Natalie really need to harness her spending and you may not it's still a very helpful book. Plus she can definitely guide you on how to score free stuff and who doesn't love free stuff? Not only is Natalie now a Frugal guru but she's so damn sweet and fun that you might wish she was your personal friend. I know that if I ever meet this chick we'd click immediatly! She's real, she's sweet, and you get a little insight into the struggling times that newspapers have gone through and are still going through.

Fiction

5. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
      - I'm not one for history, in fact the only times that interest me directly relate to the musical aspect and the criminal history. Other than that I don't really care too much about the previous wars we've been or the Presidents who have shaped this country. I don't particular care about how or why certain things happen. So sue me! I'm sure all my History Buffs out there (Yes Mandy and Alycia I'm calling your names) are having heart attacks but it's just not for me and I am A-Okay with that! But despite my dislike for history this book is amazing. It's an extremely sweet story of a young chinese/american boy who has to deal with losing his closest friend when the Japanese were put into camps. I had absolute no interest but since the book club wanted to read it I was going to comply. I am so happy I did. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone because the story is well written, easy to read, not filled with historical facts where you feel like you're falling asleep in school again. Nope this book was by far was the sweetest stories we've read in our Book Club and I am so happy I've read it. Make sure to read this at some point in your life just for a good read.

6. Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
       - Technically this is a 3 book series but I'm lumping it in one because you cannot read one and not the other two! I promise that you won't be disappointed and that once you've read the first one you won't be able to start the second fast enough. You are definitely left with wanting more and more and more! I honestly don't even want to say what this is about because no matter how you phrase the series sounds horrid! It sounds morbid and dark and while it's pretty intense it's an amazing book. I'm not sure if it's the way it's written or if its the actual story but it's amazing. I'll let you read the summaries for yourself but please do not shy away cause it's something you think you'd hate. I was definitely turned off by the plot summaries I read and my sister insisted I read it. Now I am constantly checking for updates on the movie and I cannot wait for March 23rd 2012 to get here for it's release. I am a Hunger Game Fan for sure!! Please just give them a shot, it's well worth all the "badness" of the story line.

7. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
         - Is there even a word to describe how much I loved this book? I highly doubt it. This book was addicting (read it in 3 days) and one of the best stories I've read in a long time. It's an easy read, no question about that, but it's so well written and the flip flopping of narrative is absolutely fabulous. The story is about Southern Maids and one white woman's goal to expose the mistreatment of them in a book. I gurantee you will fall in love with Skeeter, Minny, and Aibileen and you will HATE little Miss Hilly. This book takes place in Jackson in the early 1960's which I've gotta be honest it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that this crap was still happening then. It's gotta be one of the best books I've ever read!

8. Confessions of a Beauty Addict by Nadine Haobsh
        - This book is probably one of my favorite "fluff" style books. It's just a super cute chick lit novel that involves absolutely everything I loved when I was younger, when I wanted so badly to work in the magazine industry and live the fun life! Naturally those dreams died and I realized I just don't give a crap about fashion or make up enough to enter that cutthroat world but I still love being reminded of my love for the magazine industry. Now Miss Nadine lets you into her world of an editor who gets gobs and gobs of free stuff. The main character is a beauty editor and gets the boot only to get a job at a, lets say less glamorous, magazine and she has to change her entire focus. Her audience has shifted, her selection of products cut to practically nothing. But it's sweet and it's a great summer read! Plus if you really love the book then you will absolutely love her "real life" blog.

9. Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
       - Just from reading this book I've fallen in love with a new author! Joanne Harris is a fantastic writer and has quite a collection of novels, including Chocolat, yes the novel was turned into a movie starring the hunky Johnny Depp. This book revolves around an old style school and a murder mystery! You meet a lot of characters and you're constantly guessing the "Who Dun It?" I promise you will get wrapped up in all the school politics and the student's lives! I could not put this book down because you have to find out what the heck is going on. Not only does it provide murder mystery but there are a lot of instances of things gone missing that you feel like Sherlock Holmes trying to crack the big case! This is a must read and I know that I'll be reading it again and again despite knowing the "murderer".

10. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
        - This was our very first book club book and I think we really started off with a good one! I had first seen this book listed on our local libraries website for their book club and I was intrigued! And when I found out a couple of our book club members wanted to read it as well I was stoked! This book does not disappoint. It centers around a very old recluse author who has never given a true story about her life. She reaches out a bookly woman to finally tell the truth before she passes away. It's quite an adventure the author (character in the book) takes you on and I think everyone is suprised by the real story of her life. I highly recommend reading this book while curled up in blankets, a hot cup of hot chocolate (or coffee or tea) and a good storm going on outside. If you have a fireplace get it roaring, if you have a cat get them settled on your lap and enjoy a good book!

There you have it folks! I'm sure how all of regular readers are like okay duh we've read all your reviews on these but I think it's kind of nice to go back in time and revisit them. In fact I'm totally itching to reread a couple of these, meaning I need to get going on the rest of my book list for this year, which I'm starting to worry I may not finish. I'm already contemplating taking two off that I've started and have not been able to get into it. And why should I waste time reading something that I am learning have no interest to me. It will be a sad day to remove any books from my list but I refuse to waste precious reading time by forcing myself to plug through a book. Stay tuned for my final decision on that...

For now really consider reading some of the books listed above, they are all wonderful in their own way!

To Be Happy You Just Need to "Be You"

2011-07-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

Awesome Book Alert! Awesome Book Alert!

Just finished reading our book club book for the month of July and let me tell you how amazing this book is.

Source

First off the biggest thing I loved about this book was how "real" Gretchen Rubin is! She tells it how it really is without shame. She is who she is and I love it!

This book is her journey of trying out different resolutions to see if these things would make her happier. To be honest this book took me awhile to read it but not because it was dull and not because I couldn't connect. Quite the opposite actually. I spent a lot of time reflecting on the book and applying certain resolutions to my own life. It was very thought provoking and I 100% intend to do my own Happiness Project.

Now the thought of doing this actually somewhat overwhelms but that's because I don't have a plan. I am going to use her blog site as a guide and work at setting up my own happiness project for 2012. I might be crazy for trying to do that and plan a wedding but if it will help keep me sane during those moments of time I'll feel like it's a success. I think I also might do another one in 2013 to see how a different year of no wedding planning will make a difference.

One of the biggest theme throughout the book was to "Be Gretchen" A.K.A Be yourself. Just cause you feel like you should like something doesn't mean you have to. If you don't like it you just don't like it. I cannot wait to apply the "Be Kendall" aspect to my life cause I defnitely feel there are a lot of things I really wish I liked or really wanted to do but lets be honest I don't really like them and I need to just be okay with it. No matter how many times I tell myself that I should like this and I can convince myself to like I really can't and this book has brought that idea to the front of my brain. It's quite interesting how many people are this way and I loved that Gretchen encourages you to just "Be You"!

Everyone needs to read this book and everyone should check out Gretchen's blog.

oH mY

2011-07-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Do you ever come across pictures that make you LOL or that completely capture a moment! Yes I'm sure you have, who doesn't? And that is the reason we take pictures right? to capture a moment?

Well how about catching a personality?

Recently I went and got some pictures from my parents that I've been needing and in those I came across these two super funny pictures and I have to share!

I love this picture cause my Paps and I love to goof around and horseplay! This picture to me shows how we have been for as long as I can remember. I even have a picture from when I was in junior high (or possibly freshman year of high school) that I've kept cause it captures this same thing.

Personally I love photos that are not posed and that really capture more than just a "snapshot"

Now my Seester will kill me for posting this but I laughed my ass off over this one.

Of course my Paps took it and it captures the "WTF" look on my face showing off my attitude as well as my Sister's more relaxed attitude. She may look goofy but it shows her laid backness in comparison with my more "showing" attitude!

While I know that there was nothing going on in this picture warranting a WTF moment, but how can it not look that way right? No we were simply hanging out at an event for Father's Day and my Paps just snapped at a great moment!

I of course have many other pictures with these moments but it's been awhile since I've come across new ones.

In fact one of my favorites is one of my Mom and I on one of our annual baking day! It is a very clear Mother/Daughter role picture because even though I was 19 (or possibly 20) my Mom is scolding me for goofing off in the kitchen. Was she seriously "disciplining" me? No, but our body language and my facial expression remind of a little kid getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar! It is seriously one of the best pictures cause I know it's just my Mom and I's playful way :-)

So I'm risking some backlash from my lovely Seester about posting that picture but I have to share cause these are two awesome pictures that I intend to get developed just for me. Who knows maybe one day I'll combine all my favorite "moment" pictures and do a mini scrapbook!

Who else has some funny pictures to share?

Calling All Campers - CAUTION PICTURE HEAVY

2011-07-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhh - Vacation! Is there a better word?

Chuck and I were so excited to take our vacation this July as we were trying out a "new" KOA. New for us, not new for them! We took a few days and headed up to the Manchester Beach KOA in Mendocino!

We rented one of these :-)

Which was FABULOUS!! I've done tent camping and RV camping as a child but Chuckles had only ever tent camped and had only spent a brief amount of time in my parents RV. But after this trip he was hooked. Since the weather was very cold at night he was extremely excited to get into a nice warm trailer with a real bed!

This KOA had this amazing sign right across from our camping spot!

So of course we took the dogs! This was more than just a dog walk my friends it was a massive dog park.

Normally we stay away cause Roxy does not normally do well with random dogs but since there were not a lot of campers we got to take the dogs twice a day each day we were there!

Buster was in heaven as soon as he was released and we threw the ball! Yes he is that dog from Eddie Murphy's Doctor Dolittle!

And to our suprise little Miss Roxy took off like a bat out of hell and barely stopped to breathe! She seriously ran all over this place, no ball needed!

After putting in some quality time at the dog park we still wanted to go on a walk around the KOA and they had this pretty view! Unfortunately the beach directly connected to the KOA is a "No Dogs" beach so we never got to step foot on sand but we felt the coastal breeze, heard the waves, and still got pretty pictures!

After our long walk we took our pooped puppies back to camp where the temperature did not improve. So Roxy got herself all wrapped up and took a nap

While we got out the Yahtzee, the beer, and our food to BBQ!! Despite the cold on the first day we still had a blast and the next day it was sunny to the point where we both got a little sunburnt!

Because of the chilly weather we decided to start our campfires at 6 and ended up each night in the trailer in between 9 and 10. What really blew our mind was that even at 9 when we'd head inside it was still bright out. I'm not talking super bright but enough light out that we didn't need a flashlight!

Of course we had smores!

The next day was much better! We spent the morning at the dog park along with a nice walk, then settled back at camp in the brilliant SUN!!

Look at how happy Buster-Roo is! He was exhausted but he just loved the dog park and he loved spending the whole day outside!

I of course spent some quality time reading my book!

While Roxy sunbathed!

Chuck bbq'ed us some Bacon Chicken Sandwiches for lunch - SUPER YUM!

Then after another campfire we retired our sunburnt faces to get a good nights sleep before heading out the next day!

The ride up we took one road but had the pleasure of traveling down HWY 1 for the ride home and took in the beach scene the whole way home!

Don't worry we were at a complete stop! While we were both sad to be leaving camp, we were also happy to be heading home!

Roxy was ecstatic! She doesn't seem to be a big fan of camping!

And Buster seemed to be in the same boat as us, sad to be leaving the beautiful outdoors, but he was happy to get home and slept all afternoon!

I would highly recommend the Manchester Beach KOA! The location is gorgeous, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful, and if you go you might as well rent the RV cause it was awesome! I did miss our cabin camping but at the same point we would have frozen our butts off at night!

All in all a great vacation that was too short (aren't they all) but we cannot wait to go back and spend an entire week here!!

I hope everyone has been able to take a vacation and get away this summer or that you will be able to before the summer leaves us!

S'More-Licious!

2011-07-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

Edited to add recipe link - Here Ya Go

This post is EXTREMELY LATE!! I made this delish baked good back around 4th of July!! YIKES Super over due but I've been a busy bee! Right after 4th of July I spent many hours at work cause we were leaving for vacation the next week!!

Oh yes vacation was AMAZING! I'll make sure to post pictures and get you all updated on that asap!!

Until then let's explore the AMAZING Smore Pie recipe I made!

Gather up the necessities: Baking Powder, Flour, Sugar, Butter, Egg, Marshmallow Creme, Brown Sugar, Hershey Chocolates (2 King Size), Vanilla, Salta, and Graham Crackers!

Right from the get go you get to have some fun by smashing the crap out of some crackers!

Before the beating

And after they have been pulverized!

Toss them into a bowl with your flour and baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl combine your butter, sugar, and brown sugar.

Whip those sugars and butters, then add in your egg! And continue to whisk away!

Then gradually add in your cracker/flour mixture!

Once that's done, spray a pie pan with nonstick spray!

Then press 1/2 of your above mixture into the bottom of the pan. Add your Hershey's, you will need to break them up and make them fit around the pie pan. I even ended up getting an extra square of chocolate to eat as a teaser :-)

Next carefully spread your marshmallow creme over the chocolate bars. Do NOT just melt marshmallows, you need to use a creme or fluff for this! After you've spread the creme then spread the remainder of your cracker crust over the top. And pop your pie in the oven!

Umm delish looking right?

This was PHENOMENAL!! I am a huge lover of Smore's and this little pie is an absolutely amazing alternate! It was so easy and it really is worth every single fat and calorie in it!! It's best right after it's been baked when it's still warm, but even the next day when you go in for your 2nd (or 3rd) slice you can just pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds and you've got warmed up goodness!!

Technically this is a recipe for Smore Bars and you put them in an 8x8 pan but I just threw out our 8x8 pan and haven't had time to replace it. But hey the pie pan worked just as well and who cares what it's baked in as long as I get to consume the final result :)

As soon as I can find the recipe online again I'll make sure to link it because this is a MUST TRY for anyone who has ever enjoyed a Smore. I promise to get the exact recipe up here for you all!

The Nanny is BACK!!

2011-07-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

I am a little disappointed because over vacation I only finished ONE book!! Yup only one :-( I had planned on reading two but we spent a lot of time on vacation walking the dogs or taking them to the dog park, or playing Yahtzee and we had super early campfires cause it was cold so I ended up just reading one!

But I had a blast on vacation and I can read books any time :-)

I finished up Nanny Returns (the sequal to the Nanny Diaries) by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Source

This book was alright. I kind of wish I had not put it on my list but it is what it is. This book was A LOT of FLUFF!! The storyline was somewhat interesting but not delivered very well. If you've read the Nanny Diaries I wouldn't even bother reading this one. It's hard to like the main character again and it's just slightly strange. Maybe I need to live in the Upper "Rich" Area of New York City in order to understand but I was not impressed.

Overall grade - C.

Anyone else read the Nanny books?

For the Love of Music!

2011-07-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Remember when Chuck and I got free tickets from my work?? I got to scrapbook those pictures at the crop as well and it turned out FABULOUS!! I am super happy with this layout considering when Storyteller's sent it to me I thought I'd be sending it right back cause I had nothing to use it for!! WRONG-O this paper and embellies were perfect for these pictures!

I had a heck of a time trying to figure out a title, turns out simple is better :)

Check out my pocket :-)

Other than journaling these pictures are now scrapped! I am getting ahead on my 2011 album WOO HOO!!!

So Ya Think Your a WiseGuy Huh?

2011-07-13T07:00:00.001-07:00

My book list is finally shrinking to a level where I feel comfortable. I am really hoping to finish all my books but again I'm feeling like I may have over extended my book list for this year! But regardless of my feelings I am still plugging away and I finished up Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi!!

Source

Have you seen Goodfellas (With Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, and Joe Pesci)?? If you have then you already know the book! I'm not saying that you shouldn't read the book but it really follows the movie pretty damn closely!! And I love love love the movie so I was pretty excited to delve into this book!!

And it was all that I hoped it would be! I loved this book and I am very excited to read the next "wiseguy" book on my list! I'm not sure why crime interests me so much but I really enjoy reading true stories of these "mafia" guys! For example I love Johnny Depps movie Public Enemies and have even done research on the characters from it. I just think it was such an interesting (and corrupt) time.

And to think it wasn't that long ago that Paul Vario, Henry Hill, and Jimmy Burke were causing havoc! Heck I was alive for part of it, I was a child and wouldn't know anything about it but I was still alive during some of their shenanigans!

A huge A+ for Nicholas Pileggi and I defnitely intend to look into more books published by him on other crimes! If you love Goodfellas go check out this book, it's a quick easy read, and it's pretty interesting to read about all the horrible things these guys did. What's even more interesting is how they don't see anything wrong with it!! Somewhat mindblowing actually!! Enjoy

Birthday Bash-TASTIC

2011-07-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Another layout I finished at the Crop was a 2008 layout (yay only a few more left until my 2008 album is FINISHED!). This layout was for the combined birthday celebrations of Chuck and Jenny! A small group of us spent some time downtown just hanging out and having a few drinks!

So much fun!

I LOVE the background paper I used and I think it may have come from my Mom :-) It's so fun and sparkly though, perfect for a birthday!

I am so happy I have these pictures to scrapbook! Getting all of us together is impossible these days so it's fun to look back at these nights of family and friends :)

I cannot believe I am so close to being finished with 2008!! I am so excited to scrapbook our Housewarming Party pages! I've got a bunch of pictures so I want to make sure to do it right and include as many as possible but after I finish that big layout I think I will only have a small handful (think counting your fingers on one hand) to finish up!

New goal - Finish 2008 Album before the Holidays!

Teeny Tiny Little Bitty Lies

2011-07-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

It's official this book is completed mis-titled. It should read - HUGE BIG LIFE CHANGING LIES!!! And then I could say it describes the contents of this cute book by Mary Kay Andrews!!

Source

I am definitely falling in love with Mary Kay Andrew's books and unfortunately by the end of this year I'll be at least 80% through her books!! Another one of her books to love is Little Bitty Lies!

The main character Mary Bliss (yes very southern) decides when her husband just ups and leaves her while royally screwing her financially to stage his death to cash in on the only life insurance policy left. I first of all could not believe that this was the plot of a story and then imagine my shock when I got myself all wrapped up in the "Why the hell is her jerk husband doing this?", "Where is he?", "What the eff is going with her bitch of a daughter?", "When will Katherine and her husband get back together?"

Oh yes, it's safe to say I got myself completely hooked on this book! This morning I had planned on dropping my car off for its oil change and then getting our house cleaned up, but what did I do? Got right back in bed with Chuck and finished reading this book :-)

It was worth the late start to my day and I am so happy I read this one! Super cute and I recommend it for a really good light summer read, complete with all your Southern drippings!

Happy Reading and Thank You Ms Andrews!!

Happy Anniversary

2011-07-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

It is OFFICIAL!! Our book club has been together for one year and we are still going strong!!

Last month we gathered at Mom's house and read our last book that we picked from last year!! And we are officially starting a new list this month!

I just had to share because I am so excited and I look forward to book club every month! We have a wonderful group of ladies!!

Anyone else belong to a book club? How long have you guys been reading "together"?