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Thursday, August 23, 2012

It's The Little Things....

Well...as I predicted...all the things I had on my to-do list this past weekend, did not get accomplished. I was able to get a few things done but after a small, almost disastrous, mishap I was unable to focus. I'm not going to go into detail what happened...especially since it took me a few days to get it out of my head. But what I can say is " Thank the LORD for watching over us and our loved ones." Some things happen in life and it makes the rest seem insubstantial. So no, I didn't get my DIY projects done. No, I didn't get my hair done. And no, I didn't even make myself my own home cooked meal (unless you count the avocado egg salad found here. (I came across this blog on Pinterest)  It's awesome. I'm ADDICTED to avocado right now.). What I did do was purchase a few new items from our NEW T.J. Maxx  and gave our bedroom a new mini makeover, cleaned and tidied up a bookshelf display and then restlessly waited for Tony to get home. He always makes me feel better and I think I appreciated him more than ever, that day. In fact, while I was sitting on the loveseat and he (sprawled) on the couch, we linked hands. He knew I needed him that much. All I can say is what I experienced was SCARY! Now that is a man that loves you...when he'd rather be sleeping but holds your hand from a couch away. It didn't matter to me that I didn't get any major house projects tackled. Everything would be ok, God was watching over me, I had my best friend AND my DIY projects weren't going anywhere. Just so you aren't left wondering..."OMG what happened" because I totally know you are, I'll just tell you this. It actually wasn't disastrous. It COULD have been. Which is what kept playing over and over in my mind. The mind is a terrible thing sometimes and rather than thinking "everything turned out fine in the end" we think "OMG! I can't believe that happened. This ALMOST happened..." You get what I'm saying.

Now on a more positive note, let's think wedding thoughts. They make me happy. My MOH (maid of honor) found her dress! I'm so excited. It's perfect on her and perfect with my style plans. However, (I'll give this little bit away) I wanted all the dresses to be different, but coordinating shades of green. Of course the dress we found for my cousin didn't come in a similar shade of green. They didn't go at all. So we had to change the coloring options or continue looking endlessly for a dress for my cousin. I realize I have plenty of time for her to continue looking but I'm just going to say that she liked NOTHING we put on her. I do believe this is the only one she actually admits to liking. So right there...I'm going to say that I'm a pretty awesome bride. There are no bridezilla moments happening yet. Who would change color ideas to keep their pretty, little bridesmaids happy? Yup...I'm cool like that. ;) But I must say, even though it's not exactly what I originally wanted, I am pretty happy with the way it's coming together. I do believe this is the part when people tell you to roll with the punches and just enjoy the planning. Not everything is going to go exactly as imagined. And that's what I'm trying to do. I can be a complete control freak but I'm determined to stay STRESS FREE and just work with what I'm dealt. I also think I found Tony's and the groomsmen's suits! But Tony doesn't even want to see a picture. He wants to wait and see it in person. Crossing my fingers he loves it as much as I do. We'll see if all my years of dressing for horse shows pays off. I CAN tell you that the suit/tux girl was LOVING me.

Which leads me to my next DIY project: Men's boutonnieres. I made one last night but I'm not sure it's perfect yet.  I'm going to work on tweaking it a little bit. Once I get it to where I like it I will give you all a peak!

Um, excuse me? This is Rudy's version of helping.
Him AND his squirrel...are on my burlap.




 So with that, I'll leave you with a little recipe I came across on Pinterest. (Yes, I'm a Pinterest junkie. Hello...my name is Alicia and I'm an addict) It was easy schmeezy (I'm catching on that in the blog world, you can say things like this )and even though I was a little short on white chocolate chips it still turned out. It just wasn't as gooey as it should have been. But still... pretty darn good. Enjoy!

Avalanche Bars

Recipe courtesy of cookiesandcups.com

12 oz bag of White Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups Rice Krispies
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips + 2 Tbsp for garnish.
Lightly grease a 9x9 pan
How to Make
  1. In microwave-safe bowl pour in white chips and heat on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir and continue in 30 second increments until chips are melted.
  2. Combine the peanut butter with the melted chips and add the krispies. 

  1. Let cool approx 15 – 20 minutes stirring every 5 minutes or so to help cool.
  2. Add the marshmallows and the mini chocolate chips and stir to combine.
  3. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly, pressing lightly with the back of your spoon, but do not compact too much, otherwise they will get hard. 

  1. Press the remaining chocolate chips into the top for garnish.
  2. When the bars are completely cooled cut into squares and enjoy! 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Call Me The Wild Child....

I have a busy weekend ahead of me. At least in my mind I do. Tony is going out of town for most of the weekend. Insert little puffy pop ups here....



Girls gone wild weekend??? Drinking? Doing stupid things you would never tell another soul or remember in the morning???

(NOT me or anyone I know)

Ummmm....Nope. Not me.

Want to know what I plan on doing?

Highlight Hair....


Bake Betty Crocker style....or cook like Donna Reed...


Attempt a few (or one (or two)) DIY projects that
I keep wanting to try...(it's better to start small, right?)




Check out the NEW T.J. Maxx that opens THIS WEEKEND!
Yep...I'm a real wild child all right. I guess I'd rather play Susy Homemaker for the weekend. And this really does seem realistic in my head. But $10 says I don't get half of this done. I have really good intentions. Oh, yea...I forgot to mention, I'm meeting two of my bridesmaids to look at dresses Saturday morning. So basically, all these "plans" are going to happen between Saturday afternoon and Sunday. I'll let you know how that turns out for me. I'm determined to have a fun yet accomplished weekend, by myself. Just imagine Tony coming home to a "new" me, an updated house and some yummy cinnamon rolls just waiting for him. And in NO way does Tony ask or expect those things of me. I'm nippin' that in the bud right now. I LIKE surprising him with stuff like that. It makes me feel good. It's my way of showing him that I appreciate what He does for ME. So....yeah.....

I happened to stumble across a new blog today that I absolutely fell in love with. Not ONLY do we both have the same awesome name....she is my DIYer idol. I don't know her...but if I did, I think we would be the best of friends. Seriously. Quit laughing. She is WAYYYY more handy at making her own furniture than I am (at this point in my life). But to be fair, I've never actually tried. I'm not sure when in my hectic schedule I'm supposed to learn to do that, but I'm hoping that maybe her blog will inspire me to try in the near future (within the next 2 years). What? I like to give myself a big window so I don't feel disappointed with myself when in 4 months from now our house looks exactly the same. Hold up...maybe I do need to push myself more. I don't want the same decor 4 months from now. I've been living with it for 2 years now. Look at that....I just felt myself "grow" a little. I will now set goals FOR THE HOUSE. Bam. I just gave myself a new rule to live by.

Holy cow...that was a babble session.

Here is the site that I fell in love with.



Check it out. If you like to DIY you will find something that inspires you on this site. I am determined to try some of these. But I can tell you this....I found her site because I was looking up burlap curtains. So I'm hoping that MAYBE I will get around to trying that this weekend. And I have my Grandmother's old desk to refinish. Check back with me on Monday to see what I was all able to accomplish. I'm going to try super hard since I now have people to report to. :)

And with that my friends, have a lovely evening and a fantastic weekend!

What do you have planned to do around the house this weekend?

Monday, August 13, 2012

Goodbye Wonderful Weekend...

Hello Monday.....

After such a lovely, relaxing and enjoyable weekend, it makes Monday all the harder to face. Thankfully I got to have a couple of these babies (below) for breakfast and let me tell you, they are nothing to sneeze at, even when nuked for left overs. Banana Bread Pancakes...yummmmm.....Now, we like our pancakes a little crisp from the oil but check out the recipe here if you want to enjoy these glorious pancakes yourself (and see more delicious images). It's genius. True genius.



Now hopefully you're still reading. Normally I give the good stuff at the end of a post, thereby, making sure that everyone has read my jibber jabber, but I was feeling gracious this morning. You're welcome.

Those pancakes were actually the farewell to a great weekend. We ended our day with breakfast for dinner. Nothing could have topped those fluffy little cakes, drizzled in maple glaze and smearing Nueske's bacon in the remaining syrup. And if you've never had Nueske's bacon, well, you're missing out right there.

But anyways. Enough about pancakes...and bacon. I'm getting hungry.

I finally had a weekend somewhat to myself. I love Tony dearly, but sometimes you just need some time away and we both were finally able to enjoy a little time apart. Saturday I was actually able to go shopping, for the afternoon, with a girlfriend.  This NEVER happens. In fact, I can't quite remember the last time I had girl time. Or shopping time for that matter. We both have a wedding to go to in two weeks so we both wanted to find a smart new outfit to wear. After the typical shopping crash and feeling slightly defeated, we regrouped with a pit stop for a fresh pretzel and lemonade. Then it was full speed ahead, resulting in two fantastic outfits that will totally make us feel like "Dancing Queens" (after a couple cocktails) come the reception. After an exhausting shopping trip we met up with our men for a cookout and had an evening full of good food, cocktails and a few games of pool. It was a great way to end the day. Take that back. 10 hours of sleep was a great way to end the day. We were in bed by 9. Yep...we lead a rock star life.

Sunday, however, was MY day. I had a great ride on my horse, Dash, in the morning. I did a little bit of tidying up while being home ALONE. I tackled my first *DIY home edition project. And finished the afternoon off with an abundant supply of wedding movies while working on a wedding project. After cooking breakfast for dinner, Tony and I enjoyed the remainder of the evening together, watching a movie. All in all it was a great weekend. I didn't get any big things accomplished but I did check one thing off my list...RELAX. Really, you should try it. It's a wonderful thing.

Have a wonderful and fast work week!

My DIY bathroom project.
*(I printed off my own colored sign, used scrap paper for a border  and purchased frames from Hobby Lobby. I did another one with a singing quote above the hanging hand towel. This way I won't ruin any expensive prints with the moisture and I can change the images whenever I want.)
























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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Say Yes To The Dress....

I have ordered my wedding dress! It is THE dress! If any of you are currently planning a wedding, or have already gotten married, you have heard the saying "you'll know when it's the one." (Clearly there is a pattern here since I heard the same thing about love). And by golly, they are right!

I tried on dress after dress, some stunning, some ridiculously uncomfortable ( I mean, if you can't move your legs, how are you supposed to do your crazy dance moves???) and some that just were not meant for curvy women. And then I had on a dress that I thought was "the one". Until I looked at the price tag. Whoops. How did that get in there??? I must have been in wedding dress la la land. And that my friends, is why you NEVER, EVER, EVER try on a dress that you cannot afford. I was SO bummed out. I thought I had found my dream dress and I would have had to put 1/3 of my darn budget on the dress. That I will wear ONCE. For a few measly hours. And of course the dress that I had loved before that one, just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I put it back on and I just didn't feel it. Of course my mom and a couple of my bridesmaids (I would really like to have initials for the word bridesmaid but I just don't think "my bm's" would be a preferred reference) tried convincing me that is was just as gorgeous but sadly the damage was done.

At this point I was feeling a little desperate to find something that would make me forget the costly dress. I meekly told the dress assistant that I had seen something when I walked in. I found it and I even said "I don't know, this is pretty plain. I'm not sure I like it" but then said "what the heck, I'm here. Let's try it on." And BAM! Just like that I KNEW! I put it on (although I almost didn't get it over my dang hips) and I was all "Oh em gee" and when I walked out and heard 3 intakes of breath I knew I had found a keeper. AND it was in my price range. Praise Jesus! And you know it's THE dress when you don't want to take it off. Ever. And you parade around the pedestal and then gather the dress in your hands and start doing a little hill billy dance. Ok, I didn't actually do the dance but in my mind I was.

I even went back with my mom the other day to make sure it was still the one. It most definitely is. And I can't wait for Tony to see me in it. He may be a boots, jeans and tee kind of guy but there will be NOTHING to scoff at on this dress.

Now I have to find boots. That's right. I said boots. Would you expect anything less? I'll show you some of the ones I like but you'll have to wait to find out which ones I go with!!



Something neutral?


Something blue?


Something different?