Little Susy Homemaker

So far...

2012-02-02T22:03:00.001-05:00

I haven't had any morning sickness or nausea at all. I'm so thankful because I wasn't sure what you do if you feel sick while you're on the subway. That wouldn't be pretty.
I've been more exhausted than I've ever been. Wow. It's like I'm back in design school and just stayed up 2 nights in a row and presented a project then went to the mall to walk around so I don't fall asleep at 11:00am and get my schedule off. But when that happened a good sleep made me feel better. Nothing makes this feel better...it starts all over again the next day. Although I am getting a little energy back now that I'm entering the second trimester.
I miss having a glass of wine. There, I admitted it. Especially when I'm hormonal and exhausted and crying and I know it would chill me out.
I'm sure my husband misses me having a glass of wine too.
Pregnancy is ok so far. I'm not amazed by anything yet, to be honest. I don't feel like I have another human in me yet, so maybe that why.
The ultrasounds are pretty cool...I enjoy seeing the little guy/gal.
I'm ready to start buying cute little clothes. So, YES, we will find out what we're having.
I don't like it when people ask me if this was a "surprise" or not. That seems pretty personal. I know they don't mean anything by it, but I'm not a fan of the question.
If anyone attempts to touch my stomach, they can prepare to get their hand slapped. I don't walk up to you and rest my hand on your stomach, so don't do it to mine. I'm pretty sure this is how I will react if a stranger tries to touch my baby, so it will be good practice.
I don't like telling people that I'm pregnant. It's awkward and strange. I prefer to hint around and let them say it. Weird? Probably. But that's just me.
As I sit here in a size 2 skirt and a bra that could serve as a baby swing someday, I think of all the dumb boys that made fun of my underdeveloped body in Jr. High. Haha, boys. Joke's on you.
Nothing makes you more aware of others hurting like getting a blessing like this. It makes me pray even harder for my friends that are so much more deserving than I am and would be the greatest parents. I hope they can have this excitement soon.
My NY parent friends have been insanely helpful with the product advice so far. It's a little different in an urban area than in other parts of the country. We won't have lots of baby stuff. There's just no room. And instead of an elaborate nursery, our baby will have a corner of our room and a really fancy stroller. It's just the way it is, and I'm glad we have such great friends that will share all their helpful info with us.
That's it so far. I don't plan on this becoming a "mommy blog" and I don't know if I'll post pictures of the baby on here once he/she arrives. We'll see. Hopefully I'll get back on here more now that I don't have this giant secret and since I have more energy!
Happy Friday!

A Very Special Birthday

2012-02-01T14:34:00.000-05:00

Last week I celebrated my 31st birthday! It was a great day (other than the fact work was crazy busy that day!)! Ryan took me to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants and he got a yummy cake!

He picked up some flowers... :)

And I got some very pretty flowers from my SIL & family!

My big gift from Ryan was some Ugg slippers!! I was so excited because my feet are pretty much always freezing! These are great and they actually keep my feet warm!

But...this year's birthday wasn't really about my birthday. It was about this little one's birthday...

Yep! We'll be celebrating a very happy birthday for a little girl or boy in August! Aaaahhhh! I bet you didn't see that coming! Ha! More to come!

Before February...

2012-01-15T12:01:00.001-05:00

Before another month goes by I wanted to post a quick sneak peek of Christmas dinner.
I made sweet and spicy pecans. The recipe is from 1001 Ways to Cook Southern from Southern Living. My MIL gave it to me for Christmas, and I can tell it will be a great resource.
I set the table with my blue Spode. I love it.
And the cake was from a neighborhood bakery. I even stood in line with a famous actor when I picked it up!
We had a nice day at home and had friends over for dinner. It was a great day!
Now...we just have to make it through these next few winter months! Thankfully it's been pretty mild so far (except its in the teens this morning!). I already can't wait until Spring!!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T10:57:00.000-05:00

From our family to yours! (A little late)

Christmas...

2011-12-22T20:06:00.000-05:00

I'm finally going to blog our Christmas decor this year! Better late than never, right?! At least it's before Christmas!

We have the largest tree we've ever had this year!

I wanted to add a little something else, since I don't really have enough ornaments for such a large tree, so I went out in search of white branches and I found them for $2 a bunch! I stuck them all throughout the tree, and I really love the look!

Our stockings...Ryan, Susy, & Darby

I used greenery from the tree to decorate the chandelier in the kitchen.

The nativity from my parents. It was made by a man that does pottery in Arkansas.

I have garland over the doors in the kitchen.

I got these great pinecone ornaments from our favorite store in Brooklyn for just $1 a piece!! They were a great on sale find! I bought a ton of them.

I have my grandmother's old tree and my Christmas card wreath in the Butler's pantry.

I even put decorations in the bedroom this year! This is hanging from our mediocre light fixture (it's better than what was there!).

And I added a little touch to the bedside lamps.

That's it for this year! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! So far our's has been great! I can't wait for Christmas this weekend!!!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

Ok...so I'm a little late posting about Thanksgiving, but that's ok.

I went down to Arkansas for Thanksgiving this year. This is the first time in 6 (or 7?) years that we haven't been in NYC for Thanksgiving. We always have a great time spending it here, and since we usually go somewhere for Christmas, it just makes sense for us. But this year, we decided since it had been such a long time since I had been home, we would go for Thanksgiving. We plan on spending Christmas here, just the two of us, and I honestly can't wait. Sometimes it's nice to have a quiet holiday with just us. I think we have to remember sometimes that we are our own little family, and we can start establishing traditions and have just as much fun.

We left on Wednesday, landed in Little Rock, and immediately met my aunt and cousins at Big Orange (very yummy!) for lunch. My mom, aunt, cousins, and I were going to watch Breaking Dawn together after lunch, so Ryan met up with our friend to catch up so he didn't have to suffer through it. :) Also, during this time we were trying to locate our luggage. They forced us to gate check our bags in Newark because they said they were out of overhead space, and when we got on the plane the overheads were empty. We had a very short layover, and our flight was slightly delayed, so we knew our bags might not make it. Anyway, long story short, my bag ended up in Virginia, Ryan's came to Little Rock, and I got my back the night before we left. US Airways is not on my good side right now.

So....we saw the movie, picked up Ryan's bag, got dinner, then headed home, 2.5hrs south. It was so great spending time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins that I don't see that often. My cousins kids, who don't see me that often, thankfully warmed up to me, and I loved playing with them, driving the oldest to Sonic (per his request...but of course I was happy to oblige), and snuggling. I'm pretty certain I got a bad cold from the youngest, who is 2. He was being adorable and gave me a kiss, then when I stood up, he grabbed my legs and gave me the biggest squeeze. I knew I probably just contracted the cold he had, but since my heart had just melted into a puddle on the floor I didn't really care!

We of course watched the big game on Friday (AR vs LSU). It didn't go our way, but we knew it would be hard. LSU is so good this year...I hope they win the National title. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it would be nice to see.

We all spent time together, then we drove back to Little Rock to have another meal with some other extended family. It was so great seeing all of them as well. I can't believe it's been years since I've seen some of my family. We enjoyed a very good meal there, then came home.

The next time I'm in Little Rock, I plan on meeting up with some of my friends and internet friends. I feel like I have to switch off seeing friends and family, and this was a family trip...but I miss my friends too!

We got to enjoy our Sunday back in NY, then it was back to the grindstone. Today I finished all of my Christmas decorations. I'm sure I'll take pictures and post those soon. We have the biggest tree we've ever had this year!

I hope your Christmas season is starting out great!

If I had a wedding...

2011-11-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

When we were at the very cool cookbook shop in New Orleans last weekend, I was looking for any cookbooks that I had any sort of familiarity with. They didn't have an Arkansas section, sadly, but I still looked around. Then I saw this:

I immediately recognized the little church on the cover. Why? Because I have this at home:

Growing up we would go to Gulf Shores, AL every year for vacation. Sometimes we took the scenic route and went through Fairhope and Point Clear. We always drove by this pretty little church. It's right along the bay, with beautiful, huge trees lining the road with Spanish moss hanging down. I always said if I had a wedding, it would be there! The summer that we were engaged, my mom stopped and took these pictures for me...probably trying to tempt me to get started on wedding plans (little did she know...it was already planned!).

I didn't buy the church cookbook, but I probably should have. They are always the best...the classic church lady recipes are tried and true!

I thought it was so funny that I immediately recognized that little church on the cover. Some things you just don't forget...now if I could only remember to pick up my dry cleaning or to buy milk at the grocery store!

Crazy Girl

2011-11-02T19:13:00.000-04:00

This is Darby in the hallway outside of our apartment. She gets like this after her walks, before she eats. She gets pretty excited about eating!

Nope...she's not done yet...

Can you believe she is 7?! We kept waiting for her to calm down...but obviously this is as calm as she is going to get! Love this girl!

New Orleans!

2011-10-31T22:38:00.000-04:00

Two years ago, our friends, Dino and Monica, went to New Orleans for Halloween. They invited us, and we didn't go. We have been regretting it ever since. So this year, we mentioned it to them, they were on board, and we booked our trips! Despite growing up just a few hours from NOLA, I had never been, so I was very excited about this trip! I grew up eating a lot of cajun food and seafood from the gulf, so I knew I would be right at home with the food!
I don't have many pics of our first day because I didn't carry around the camera, but I got this on of our first night on my phone...

Ryan at The Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel. This is where they invented the Sazerac drink, apparently. He was a happy man. It was a great bar. Very fancy.

The next morning at the famous Cafe Du Monde.

Before

After.

My first experience with beignets. Oh my word. I made sure we went back the next day!

I loved New Orleans. We stayed in the French Quarter, and it's so beautiful.

We ventured over to the Garden District and visited Lafayette Cemetery. It was a little eerie, but I thought it was kind of beautiful.

This tomb, with the fancy ironwork is known as LeStat's tomb...the character in the Anne Rice novels.

We had a fabulous lunch at the Columns Hotel.

I had a shrimp po' boy. Yum!

I LOVED the homes in the Garden District. Walking around here was really the only thing on my to do list....everything else was just extra!

This is the house from Benjamin Button.

Most visitors of this intersection are here to see this house (above). This is Anne Rice's former home. But...

I wanted to see THIS house right across the street! This is Julia Reed's House on First Street. I love Julia Reed, and I couldn't wait to see the house I had read a whole book about! I'm pretty sure I saw John (her husband) getting out of his car as we approached the house, but I was trying to play it cool. The New Yorker in me was calm...while the Southern girl in me wanted to jump up and down. :)

These are my dream homes. I love them.

On Saturday, it was snowing in NY...the ground was white where we were from the all of the powdered sugar on the beignets. And in October, that's how it should be!

We enjoyed our donuts and coffee on the river on Saturday.

We saw the Natchez river boat leave the dock.

And Ryan got a $10 shoe shine from a hustler. :)

The boys sitting on a fountain in the sun...looking at their phones, of course.

We went into an AMAZING bookstore. They had so many cookbooks. I wanted this one signed by Julia and Paul Child...but it was a little over my allotted vacation budget.

If you are ever in New Orleans...visit this shop. You will love it.

After shopping for cookbooks, we stopped for a snack. We LOVE raw oysters. These were wonderful. We made our own cocktail sauce, and the horseradish was SPICY! Just looking at this picture makes me want more! Sidenote: We had our oysters at Felix's. According to Julia Reed, you either eat your oysters at Felix's or Acme, but never both. We chose Felix's because Acme, which is across the street, is very touristy and was crowded.

I just love the architecture.

This was my Halloween costume of choice. Sookie from True Blood. The author of the books happens to live in my hometown, and since I was in Louisiana, I thought it was appropriate. It also required very few props and crazy attire. Please note the bite mark and blood on the neck. That was hard to accomplish with the very runny fake blood I got, but with a little help from the hair dryer, I got it to work.

We went on a vampire tour around the French Quarter, then we walked around a little.

Bourbon Street on Halloween was a little crazy. As we were walking around, we walked by a bar with a really great band playing, and the hostess said we could go up to the balcony. I thought you had to be someone special to be up on the balconies, but apparently not. Or maybe she just thought we were special?

We enjoyed the view from up here much more than down on the street! It was fun just people watching and seeing the sometimes very elaborate costumes. We really didn't really participate in the shenanigans going on that night, but it was still lots of fun just to observe!

It was such a WONDERFUL trip! It was just what we needed! It was so relaxing...we ate, had a cocktail, walked around, and repeated that about 4-5 times a day! We didn't really eat 3 meals a day...more like 4 or 5! the food was spectacular and the atmosphere of New Orleans was so great! I can't wait to go back!

Apple Pickin'

2011-10-16T20:29:00.000-04:00

We had a very full weekend. On Saturday our friends Luke & Molly invited us to go apple picking. The trip started out great with a quick stop at Chili's in New Jersey. We don't really have many chain restaurants near us, and we rarely frequent any in the city, so it's always funny to us when we go to them. The food is so cheap! Luke had never been to a Chili's before, so it made for a fun lunch as he looked at all of the menu items and choices. Then it was on to the orchard...

Here we are...off to find some apples...

It was muddy...

very muddy...

There were lots of apples like this...on the ground...but none in the trees!

At least the view was pretty...

We started seeing some apples...way up high!

Ryan (the tall one) got us some!

Finally...there are some more!

Action shot. (he's jumping, in case you can't tell)

Aww...someone got romantical in the orchard.

Pondering our bounty.

It was hard work to finally find some trees that were still in season, and weren't picked over, but we had lots of fun when we did! I love this time of year...it's the beginning of the holidays for me! We wanted to get a pumpkin too, but they didn't have a great selection. I'll just have to get one around here. Thanks, Luke & Molly for inviting us! We had a blast!!

Now I have to start cooking with those apples...stay tuned!

My Internet Friends

2011-10-12T22:11:00.000-04:00

I decided I need to spread a little bit of love on the internets. I'm sharing a few of my favorite blogs and why I love them! This is mostly about the people...not creative blogs or cooking blogs...these blogs might not be the most read in America...and I don't care. I enjoy reading them and I really like the ladies that write them! Enjoy!

First...I just added Jill from The Averitt Fam to my blog roll a couple of weeks ago, but I should have added her a looong time ago (I've been meaning to update, but I thought I would update when I changed my blog...which I haven't done yet). I've been reading her blog for awhile, and we've been friends on Twitter for awhile also. I'm starting with Jill, because she is hands down the most encouraging, sweetest person on the internet. She always leaves the nicest comments on my posts, and is always so encouraging on Twitter. Last Christmas when I was not really feeling the season, she sent me a Christmas card to help lift my spirits. It was a small gesture, but so sweet. I cannot say enough about her or her ADORABLE daughter Amelia...who seems to have inherited her mama's sweet spirit and sense of humor!

Melissa of Stafford Stories...She is so sweet. Always sweet. And encouraging. She has the cutest little boy, Grayson, and is happily expecting another little one. I met Melissa at my NWA blogger lunch last year, and she was so nice. She never says a bad thing about anyone, and have I mentioned that she is so nice?

Jennifer of The Francis Family always has such a positive attitude and is such an encourager. I've never seen her make a negative comment on Twitter or on her blog ever! She always takes the high road, and she never complains! She has two little ones, and is always on the go and makes it all look so easy! We all jokingly call her "The Baby Whisperer" because she is so good with the little ones. I know some day I will be asking her all kinds of questions! I also met Jennifer in NWA, and she is just so darling!

Julee of The Turner Channel is another blogger I met. I know we met before that because she was in a wedding that my husband was in! So funny! I grew up with someone that she was roommates with in college. Got that? Julee is adorable! So nice and so pretty and she's expecting her first miracle baby in December. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to see someone pregnant! Sometimes I wish I lived in NWA and I could have Julee cut my hair just so we could chat!

Jenna from Jenna's Journey. I have the strangest ties to some of these girls...Julee is friends with a friend...Kelly's hubs and I are from the same hometown and she and I have some mutual friends...and Jenna's oldest was very sick when he was born and one of my childhood friends was her favorite nurse! It's the craziest thing. But...back to Jenna...Jenna is the sweetest girl. She has the two cutest little guys that you can tell she is just crazy about, she shares great recipes, and her and her husband are so darn cute! Jenna has been a great Twitter friend...always encouraging!

Melissa of Superchikk. She has the greatest sense of humor. I also love her little boy Caedmon. He is hilarious. Melissa has such a great view on things. She doesn't take much too seriously, and her blog is great! She is a superchikk!!

Kelly of Kelly's Korner. Do I need to say anything about Kelly? I feel like she's a superstar of blogging! Ha! Seriously though, she is the most genuine person I know. She has the best heart and is so sincere. I think it's why people love her so much! Kelly makes me a better person.

Boo Mama & Big Mama. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...these two ladies taught me how to laugh again. After a few rough years in NY I think I lost my sense of humor completely. One day I realized that I never laughed anymore. Then I started reading their blogs...and I started to laugh...a lot. They taught me that it is ok to talk about shoes and not be shallow...to see the little things in life that are funny and silly and enjoy them. They are also wonderful Christian women and wonderful examples for us younger women. Big Mama is coming out with a book next year, and Boo Mama is coming out with an ebook soon...and I can't wait to read them. Oh, and their podcasts are HILARIOUS! I can't get enough of these ladies!

Maddie (and Keegan) from Miracle of the Heart. You know Keegan...or you should if you read my blog regularly. Maddie inspires me daily with her strength. Maddie and Gray were just a husband and wife expecting a baby...and that baby has changed the course of their lives. I can't imagine what they have to go through on a daily basis with Keegan's care, and if they don't inspire you, you haven't read enough of their story. Please continue to pray for them.

Katie from Katie's Keepers. I read Katie's blog because she was Shannon's sister-in-law and she is so darn cute. Then she was expecting her daughter, and it was fun to read about her impending arrival. Sadly, her daughter Reese passed away shortly after she was born. To see how Katie has handled such a horrible loss is inspirational. She has such strength and grace. And her two boys are so adorable and fun to read about!

Well, that's it for now. Of course there are other blogs I read and I love...and hopefully I'll get around to blogging about all of them! It's nice that the common thread in this list is that they are all positive, encouraging, sweet women. I'm glad I get to participate in this whole social networking, blogging, tweeting world with them!

A week away...

2011-10-11T21:58:00.000-04:00

I was away last week...I was away from home, traveling for work, and away from the computer. I did a little self-imposed Twitter break, and a blog break. I have over 70 new posts on my Google Reader and there is no way I will ever catch up on Twitter, but oh well. I will update all of you in my favorite way...list form!

I think I have a new favorite ice cream...hubs picked up some Snickers ice cream and it's yummy. It's kind of like a Blizzard from Dairy Queen. And since I can't get a Blizzard around here, that's a pretty exciting discovery.
We went shopping on Saturday afternoon. It was super fun! Ryan got a fancy new coat and I got some much needed cooler weather work clothes.
Darby went to the vet Saturday and Sunday. We were there Saturday when there was an emergency and a dog that had just been hit by a car was brought in. It was so heartbreaking. We rescheduled our appointment because it was going to be awhile. We went back Sunday, and learned the dog didn't make it. So sad. I can't imagine. Lucky for us, Darbster is in good health. It was just a check up and everything was fine.
We watched the season finale of Breaking Bad. It was so good. We like "bad" shows apparently. Drug dealers, serial killers, mobsters, philandering ad men...they make good shows.
I cleaned out my closet on Sunday. It's always great to do that. We have 4 large bags of stuff to give away.
How 'bout them HOGS?! Did you watch the game? I'm so proud of my Razorbacks this year! I'm really hoping we can hang on and not have a loss until our LSU faceoff over Thanksgiving. Of course, I'm hoping for a win that day as well, but it will make for a great game if we play really well up until that point! We have a good chance! How exciting!
I recently bought some bras from Target and I really, really like them so far. Someone told me about them a while back and I never got any, but I'm glad I did. I like them more than my expensive ones. Random thought, yes, but maybe you'll benefit from it?
I got the new iPhone 4S! Well, I pre-ordered it. My old iPhone is 3 years old and is barely hanging on. It won't connect to Wi-Fi, and it's so slow. I can't wait to get the cool apps my phone won't allow me to get and to be able to use Google maps again!
Apparently I'm a pretty good golfer. Who knew? We did a golf scramble at work last week, and I played 3 holes. Everyone said I had a natural swing, and we always played off of my ball because I could hit it straight and the farthest. I've never been good at any sport, so this was pretty exciting for me! Ryan got new clubs that were just delivered this week, so I think a trip to the driving range is in order soon!!! How exciting!

Well, that's it...I better run. I've bored you enough, and I have lots to catch up on around here!

Update in list form.

2011-09-22T20:37:00.001-04:00

I think that title is informative enough, so here goes:

I have been sick all week. Like stomach bug sick. Since Monday! It's been no fun. However, I have lost the 3-5 lbs I have been wishing away lately. I worked from home today, thank goodness, because I'm starting to really lose my energy from this bug and the fever that spikes every afternoon. (And no I'm not pg...don't go there)
I'm so in love with Pinterest. You can see my boards here.
I'm really excited about the premier of Whitney tonight...it looks like a funny show. I loved Modern Family last night, and am also excited about The Office tonight!
Everyone is so mad about Facebook. I'm rarely on there and don't mind the changes. I had to log in today to see what all the fuss was about, and it wasn't that bad.
I wish I was at the dotMOM conference this weekend. Even thought I'm not a mom. Big Mama and Boo Mama are the emcees, and you know it's just all kinds of fun!
Darby got a new bed. She has yet to lay or sit in it. It came out of a big box, and she's really scared of boxes, so it may take her awhile to warm up to it.

I've added a couple of blogs on my sidebar...so take a look at these wonderful ladies.
I'm finally ok with it being fall. The lovely temperatures are great, and of course college football doesn't hurt.
I got a manicure in a sassy new fall color on Saturday...Essie Hot CoCo.

Speaking of football...we play Alabama on Saturday and I'm already nervous. We are down two good players, and I hope we play well.
I feel like Twitter and the blogs have been a little on the ridiculous side lately, and THIS POST by my friend Abbie just made my day. It's nice to be reminded about the little things in life and what's important.
Speaking of what's important...I didn't know if I would admit this to the internets (so judge away)...but I am because I feel the need to share. We got a cleaning lady. Yes, we are two people with a dog in a very small space compared to most of you, and we got a cleaning lady. She will come every other week. She came last week and it was SIMPLY WONDERFUL. You see, when I'm overwhelmed or stressed, my crazy perfectionist ways seem to appear in a way that is rather unflattering. In other words, I become an unbearable crazy woman. I've always had this tendency, and I try very hard to keep it under control. We've been pretty busy lately, and I haven't been able to cook, clean, and do my normal routine as much as I'd like. I crave routine and a schedule more than anyone, so it was making me pretty out of sorts. Ryan strongly suggested we look into getting a cleaning lady, and it just so happens there is a lady that works for our landlords whom they trust and is very good. Problem solved. She does the deep cleaning, and I do the light cleaning. She even does laundry. Well...I don't have her do my laundry...because I'm a control freak...but she does the sheets, towels, and Ryan's laundry. It may be one of the greatest things we've ever done! I don't come home to a messy house and immediately feel overwhelmed, and I'm able to relax on the weekends when we have plans and I think I should be home cleaning! If I have to give up a little to have this, then it's totally worth it!
I need to go now...I am recanning some pizza sauce. It comes in a huge jar from the store and I only use a few tablespoons when I make pizza...so I'm saving it. I looked it up online, and as along as I follow proper canning rules it should be fine.
Have a great weekend!!!

EDITED: I have something to add. Please pray for Kelly. She always leaves me the sweetest, encouraging comments, and she is really suffering right now. I don't know if she has had surgery yet, but she is facing a rough road! Please keep her, her little boy, and her doctors in your prayers! http://iheartbrowneyes.blogspot.com/
Also, I hope you've been keeping up with Keegan, but he desperately needs your prayers too. He's in Boston again, and is fighting a very tough fight. Pray for him, his parents, Maddie and Gray, and his doctors, as well as his little sister, Audrey, she is back in Texas with her grandparents. http://keeganh.blogspot.com/

"New" Furniture

2011-09-05T15:05:00.000-04:00

While walking around on Saturday I spotted a cute little piece of furniture at a flea market that sets up at a school playground every week. It's the same place that we got our desk from (that I need to show you because I finally painted it), and the prices are unbelievably cheap. I called Ryan, who was leaving for work (yes, he had to work all weekend. Booo), and we hopped in the car, and picked it up before someone else had the chance to get it!

It's painted, and I love the color. I'm not changing a thing.

I've got to figure out how to get the paint off of the bottom knob.

I couldn't figure out how to fill it. I knew we would use it for wine storage. I took the wine glasses from our open cabinets, and added a decanter. I like the wine glasses in the open upper cabinets, but I like them here too...I'm not sure which I'll go with. And because we don't always have bottles of wine around, I wanted to get something else to fill it. I was going to get some bottles of Pellegrino, but I spotted these bottles of Moutain Valley Spring Water...straight from springs of Hot Springs National Park in ARKANSAS! So that's what I got instead. I love it.

I love new, old furniture! It looks like it's lived a life...it's not straight from the shelves of Ikea or from a catalog...and they come into your lives like friends...you often just happen upon them!

BooMama's Diptacular

2011-08-31T09:30:00.000-04:00

I am reposting this recipe from September 2009, when I particpated in BooMama's last Diptacular.

The recipe I am sharing today is for Onion Souffle Dip because it has 3 packages of cream cheese in it, and we all know BooMama's affinity for cream cheese. It is her DipTacular, after all. And it mixes cream cheese and mayo...it should be a big hit in the SEC. It is a recipe that I got from Ryan's sister, and it's still one of my favorites!

Onion Souffle Dip:

3 packages of cream cheese

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

1 package frozen, chopped onions

Mix together and bake in an 8x8 casserole at 350 until browned around the edges (approx. 45 mins). Serve warm with Ritz crackers or pita chips.

I can't wait to enjoy a dip or two and watch some college football this weekend!!!! GO HOGS!

Accent Vlog

2011-08-29T20:27:00.001-04:00

CONSIDERING THAT I HARDLY EVER POST PICTURES OF MYSELF ON MY BLOG, THIS IS SHOCKING! I made a video of myself and am posting it on the internets. Lord, help us all.
My internet friend (yes, I post videos of myself AND have "internet" friends...nerd alert!), Kodi, posted an accent vlog today, and I teased her a bit on Twitter earlier about it. She is from Missouri, where my husband and in-laws are from, so I'm allowed. ;)
I've enjoyed seeing other people's vlogs. I like to see their mannerisms and hear their voice...it makes me feel like I know them even more...even though I really don't know them at all. This is not making much sense anymore.
I could only upload the smallest version, so sorry it's so small. If you make it bigger it's a little fuzzy. Forgive me for the first few seconds...this is my first vlog...I didn't know what I was doing. Anyway...here ya go...

Here is the list of words: aunt, route, wash, oil, theatre, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, New Orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, Alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas and caught.
What do you call when you throw toilet paper on someone's house?
What is the bug called that rolls into a ball when you touch it?
What do you call carbonated beverages?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say when addressing a crowd?
What do you call the insect with eight long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the thing you put groceries in at the store?
What do you call it when the sun is shining and it rains?
What do you call the thing you use to change channels on the TV?

What do ya think? Will you post a vlog too so I don't feel stupid?

Irene

2011-08-28T18:49:00.000-04:00

Luckily for us, Hurricane Irene has passed. We weren't sure what to expect, and we prepared for it (got some bottled water, pulled the flashlights out of the closet, etc). It wasn't easy to fall asleep last night with the wind and rain, but we did, and we woke up to relatively calm skies. We took a walk around noon to see if there was any damage in our neighborhood (we probably weren't supposed to...but everyone else was doing it!)

This was just as the storm was rolling in yesterday...

And this was after, this morning...

Just some debris on the sidewalks...nothing too big.

The park is kind of a mess.

Some larger branches by the playground.

This doesn't normally look like a swamp...

And this isn't normally a pond!

You can see the utility trucks here...they were out in force immediately to clean up! So great!

These are benches and a lamp...the bench is almost covered in water!

Poor tree...and van.

I don't think the pigeons knew what to think!

That was about the extent of the damage in our neighborhood, thank goodness. Our friends a block over had a tree fall behind their apartment, and I'm sure a few other trees were down, but we didn't see them. We never lost power, and our satellite tv was in and out all night but it didn't blow off the roof...which really surprised us! The internet is in and out today, which makes me thinks the lines may be wet or something.

Anyway, we are so very thankful we did not get any major damage here in NY, and I'm so thankful that the city really stepped it up and prepared us all so well. I'm not sure if I'll be able to go into work tomorrow because the subways aren't working, but I can work from home if I need to.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers! We've survived a tornado, huge blizzard, earthquake, and now a hurricane in a year! I don't want to know what might be next!!!

Homemade Party Decor

2011-08-27T17:59:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting around the apartment, bored, because we are waiting out Irene. It's just raining right now...nothing big.
I was downloading some pics and found the July 4th pics I never showed you. So why not show you now? These were taken after we cleaned up, so I didn't get any pics of the food. There was tons of it, and it looked so pretty on the table.
Anyway, this is so random, but I've got nothing else to do at this point. Enjoy

I made all of the flags, banners, etc on the computer. My husband said they looked more like "Viva Puerto Rico" than "4th of July" but oh well!

What we've been up to...

2011-08-14T23:05:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile! I can't believe summer is almost over. I'm so sad! Usually by now I'm ready for fall, but not this year. I think last winter was so bad that I don't want it to be cold again!

I should break this post up into several posts...but that's just not going to happen. So here's what we've been up too...

We went to see the last Harry Potter at the IMAX in 3d. I tried to go see it again at our neighborhood theater again, but it was sold out. I still plan on seeing it again before it leaves theaters...I need another opportunity to soak it all in! I love it!

I got to go to Sonic! Ryan and I had to go down to Missouri because, sadly, his maternal grandmother passed away rather suddenly. We spent 5 days with family, and it was great to see everyone, despite the sad circumstances. We were so busy that I only got Sonic once...I'm not sure how I let that happen. I did, however, go to Wal-Mart 3 times!

It was also our anniversary weekend (our real anniversary was the Monday after) so we drove up to Kansas City and spent a night on the Plaza, went to a movie, and had a great dinner at the Capital Grill. Our waiter was a really nice guy that we enjoyed chatting with throughout our dinner...that made it so much more enjoyable! We had a great brunch at one of his family's favorite brunch places, then flew home. For our actual anniversary we had to work, then I cooked us dinner, we had a bottle of wine, and we watched True Blood...our idea of a pretty great, relaxing evening!!!

This is part of my container garden I did this year. This was also taken at night, so it's not the best picture, but it shows how well everything filled out this year. I grew the caladiums from tubers that I got in April and planted in late May...I love them!! Everything looks so nice out there! The only thing that died this year was my cilantro that just never seemed to take and an evergreen bush we put by the front door...everything else did great!!! I love standing at my kitchen sink and looking out this window and seeing my lush plants...it just makes my soul feel happy!

We spent a great evening on our patio. Ryan grilled steak, we played scrabble on the iPad, we had a bottle of wine that our landlord made in our laundry room...it was the perfect evening.

We went to a concert in the park one night after work and had a little picnic. Darby had such a good time! This is such a perfect picture of Darby...her tail wagging furiously! It never stops!

We are dog sitting our friend Matilda this weekend. She's such a funny little dog.

I got some Kirby cucumbers from the farmers' market this weekend and I made pickles!

I used THIS recipe. I hope they taste good! This is my second attempt at pickling. A few weeks ago I pickled some jalapenos for Ryan.

We haven't tried them yet, but they should be good this week. They need time to cure and become pickled before you can eat them.

I have to say that I am a big fan of canning so far! It's much easier than I thought and I love the idea of doing it myself. Doing things like this relax me so much (I don't know why?!) and I get so much satisfaction out of it!

I also organized my pantry! I found these great baskets from the Container Store (for $2.50 each!) and decided they would be great for the pantry. It makes it so much easier this way. Everything has a place and things don't get lost on the shelves.

I even made little labels to help certain people (ahem, person) in the house know where things go!

Tonight I'm making dinner for a friend that just had a baby. Pasta with pesto, chicken, salad, fresh heirloom tomatoes from the farmers' market with balsamic and basil from the backyard, fresh bread, and brownies! I'm a little sad that I have to take this meal to someone else...I want it!

Another fun thing that we did, that I didn't get a picture of, was go to an alumni dinner/reception for the University of Arkansas School of Architecture. I actually graduated from the Agricultural college (yes...I graduated in a barn...a very fancy horse barn...but it was a barn...go ahead and laugh) at UofA because at that time we were part of the Environmental Science group, but now the Interior Design department has been moved to the School of Architecture. It was at a rooftop garden overlooking the Central Park Zoo (thanks an alum here in NYC). I absolutely love going to things for the UofA here in NY. It's like my two favorite worlds colliding! I need to get more involved in it!

Well, that's how we've been spending our summer...what have you been up to?!

Gone Country...

2011-07-20T21:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I was explaining the latest in the Rupert Murdoch interview at Parliament to my boss. I said, "...he got hit with a shaving cream pie!"

But it sounded more like "...he got hit with a SHAVIN' CREAM PAI."

My boss said, "Whoa, where did that come from?"

"What? Did I say pai instead of pie?" (maybe it's not the first time)

I said it again..."shavin' cream pai." I couldn't get it out any other way.

I go from sophisticated New Yorker discussing the latest happenings in Parliament to bonafide country girl talkin' about sweet tea and pie in two seconds flat.

And that is the story of my life.

Instructions...

2011-07-18T21:47:00.000-04:00

I saw this on Pinterest and it made me laugh...this so could have been written about me. I think it describes me perfectly!

Source: imgfave.com via Sandy on Pinterest

What I am doing...

2011-07-14T22:01:00.000-04:00

I wrote a whole post about "What am I going to do without Oprah?!" Well...this is what I'm doing:

I started out trying to use my hour after I got home running. Then I broke my toe, and the Dr said, no running.
I do laundry.
I do the dishes.
I clean the apartment.
I watch other stuff.

So basically, my life didn't end. But tonight I'm finally watching a Season 25 episode on my DVR, and I miss Oprah! :( I miss the inspiration and stories. TV this summer hasn't been so great in my opinion, and I miss the one show I could usually rely on to be there when I needed a hour to just relax and veg out on the sofa.

So...that's what I'm doing. What are you doing?

Baking for the 4th and a birthday!

2011-06-29T22:59:00.000-04:00

I made some cupcakes tonight...

Red velvet with red, white, and blue star sprinkles. They are fabulous!

And a special thanks to my parents who hauled all my Spode dishes all the way from Arkansas so that I can finally use them!

Also...do you remember the other reason why we love the 4th around here? It's this sweet girl's birthday!

Darby will be 7!

4th of July

2011-06-28T22:38:00.000-04:00

I'm dying to have a party for the 4th this year, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I have so many fun ideas I want to try! I think summer is my most creative time of year...for some reason I'm just so energized to bake and cook and try different projects. Anyway, I created a little collage with some fun ideas...enjoy!

Sources: 1. Pinterest 2. Pinterest 3. Pinterest 4. I can't find it now... 5. & 6. Pinterest 7. Pioneer Woman
8. Pinterest 9. Pinterest

Update

2011-06-27T23:12:00.000-04:00

Not sure where this was taken...Prospect Park perhaps?

I'm thinking this little blog of mine is in need of an update...what do you think? I like the little animated girl up there, but I think it's time for a face lift and a more "mature" look. I am 30 after all... ;)

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Very unflattering, pale picture of me...just so you know I actually do exist. (I rarely post pics of me...I pretty much hate all pictures of myself! And after our weekend outings I got a little color.)

Things have been good around here. My parents where here for two weekends in a row, so we were busy. We did lots of fun things...Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, the High Line, drove out to Long Island and the Hamptons, went to Brooklyn Flea. I had to take an exam for work...I'm now LEED accredited! That about sums it up. I would LOVE to throw a big party for the 4th...thanks to Pinterest I have all of these ideas...but I don't think that's going to happen. We've been invited to go on a few trips, but I think we are just going to hang out around here. I would love to go away, but the lazy side of me needs some time at home. I also have several projects I want to get finished, and every weekend something comes up that prevents me getting them done. I would love 4 days (I get Friday AND Monday off! Woo-hoo!) at home to finish them (or actually start them!). What about you? Going away? Staying home?

The High Line

Home Tour

2011-06-14T21:26:00.000-04:00

I'm blogging! I'm blogging! (This is for you, Tiffany!) Seriously though...I probably won't be blogging as often anymore...unless I just get back into the groove...so I won't be acknowledging that yes, I'm actually blogging again in every post.

A brief catch up...we are working, working, and working. And when we aren't working we are playing! We went to the Poconos for Memorial Day weekend with a group of friends. It was so fun! We have grilled, eaten out lots, and have just been enjoying summer as much as we possibly can. Summer weekends in NY are very precious, and everyone always takes full advantage of the beautiful weather. I've been going to the Green Market and cooking lots too. I really enjoy cooking in the summer when I can get beautiful, fresh ingredients. Our Green Market is amazing, and it's easy to put together entire meals from what I pick up there. I. Love. It.

So, back to the original theme. I've shown you pics of our apartment on here before, but I could never get a good shot because of our lens. Well, one of hubs' co-workers let us borrow a lens to play around with, and it's a wide shot lens, so now I can get more than just one side of a room in the pic! I love it! So...welcome to our apartment...

This is what you see when you walk in the door...the kitchen and dining area. Please excuse the mess...I wasn't planning on having guests tonight...

We added all of the light fixtures in here. The chandelier is inexpensive, and from Ikea. I know it's not perfect...but it's MUCH better than what was there before!!! The three pendant lights are the recessed lighting adapters from Ballards. There is so much about this room that we cannot change that we DO NOT LIKE, so anywhere that we can add a special touch we are trying to.

Here you can see where we took the cabinet doors off. I think it looks so much nicer this way. (I was cooking dinner...excuse the bowls, etc on the counter.)

This is the famous butler's pantry. I think this would be the perfect space for a great pendant light. I'm trying to find just the right one. Our brownstone was built sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s (I forget) and the b.p. is original to the house. I know I've mentioned this before, but my dream house MUST have a butler's pantry. When I saw this apartment had one, I almost died. I've had my dream butler's pantry pictured in my head for years. I am a huge dork.

This is our living room. Our rooms are quite generous here. You can see the lovely AC unit in the right window. Yankees don't know so much about central air.

Yes, that's Bravo Andy on tv...or correctly called What Watch Happens Live...but I always call it Bravo Andy. The nesting tables in this pic are a very recent purchase. There is a great store not too far away called FIND (Brooklyn Limestone girl shops there, so you know it's good stuff), and they had a tent sale over the weekend. Hubs and I were driving by and decided to stop. We found these tables for a great deal, and are so excited about them. They don't really fit the decor right now, but we will be changing it over the next few months (hopefully!). It's getting a bit outdated, and the cheap Ikea coffee table serves function only, and the rug is getting old and is a little small in my opinion. I can't wait!

Another view. And a cute puppy dog too. You can tell that the cute puppy likes to curl up on our pillows while we are gone during the day.

This is our bathroom. It's SO glamourous. (and I left the medicine cabinet open...how embarrassing). This is kind of a sad little room. The shelves were perfect at our last apartment, but not so much here. I added the curtains, and new hardware. Our landlords are planning on doing a total renovation of the downstairs in a few years because as they age, they are planning on living on the first floor. They have several floors to themselves upstairs (4, I think), and they would like to have less space and no stairs. Because of that, we aren't getting much in the upkeep department for our place. Everything is fine...don't get me wrong...but a few things could afford to be replaced and won't be. So, we will live with this, and be very, very happy. We are changing what we can, and making it our home. I don't plan on leaving this apartment for awhile, so I don't mind sprucing it up just for us!

I will add pics of the bedroom sometime soon. I took these pics in the middle of making dinner and the bed needs to be made, so that will have to wait! I hope you enjoyed a better view of our place!

What will I do?

2011-05-09T22:03:00.000-04:00

What will I do without Oprah?

Well, not Oprah, but her hour long talk show that I DVR every. single. day. I don't always watch it, but when it's a good show it sure does fill the time between when I get home and when hubs gets home. You know...when I should be cooking and cleaning and doing laundry.

Just today I was watching and I saw a commercial for Wednesday's show with Fergie (the Duchess, not the singer...although the singer calls herself the Duchess sometimes, doesn't she?...but I mean the real Duchess) and I got so excited! I can't wait to hear what she has to say! What will I do when I can't come home from work and see riveting interviews of Princesses gone wrong? Or the transgender child of a Hollywood couple? Or the First Lady talking about how her children better know how to do their own laundry? (Did you see Michelle Obama last week? Love her. I always love our First Ladies...they are always so lovely.) Did you watch Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks on Friday? Please tell me you did...they where hil-ar-i-ous!!! Loved them!

I haven't really allowed myself to care too much about Oprah leaving, but now that they keep running commercials with inspirational music and taunting me with great interviews here at the end, I'm starting to realize what I'm losing. (And I'm sure some of you have very strong opinions on Oprah...and I honestly don't care. I enjoy her interviews and her silly shows, and I don't really care what her personal opinions are because I can form opinions of my own thankyouverymuch.)

I'm pretty sure on the last show I will sit on my couch and cry my eyes out. I will really miss her. I'm going to have to add OWN to my channel list and get acquainted with it...I just hope she shows up every once in a while with interviews and makeovers and giveaways!!!

Oh, Oprah...please don't go!!!!

House of Fifty

2011-04-26T22:05:00.000-04:00

Janell from Isabella and Max Rooms has created an e-zine that is so great! Lots of my favorite bloggers are contributors or are featured. Go check it out: House of Fifty

You wanted it and Easter

2011-04-22T10:57:00.000-04:00

I'm going to try to keep this quick. I'm posting some pics of a few improvements I've made around here. It's always hard for me to post pics of my apartment, because it's not a big, new fancy house...it's an old Brooklyn apartment that has not been updated and has about 20 coats of paint covering everything. But, it's big, has fairly good bones, and a patio. That makes it a palace around here. You have keep things in perspective. So, here is the kitchen:

These are the cabinets before. This set is actually still like this, because we had to leave some doors on. They are wood laminate, and not the most attractive. I wish people would just put in plain white cabinets...you can do so much more with those, but oh well.

I made some mistreatments for the kitchen as well. The floors are black/white checked in the kitchen area and wood in the dining area. The walls are an ugly cream color that I can't stand, but painting would be difficult because this room is large. I already have some blue and white transferware, and some yellow accents. I thought this fabric would be a great way to add a splash of color in the rather drab kitchen. There was a lot of cream/brown/black before...and it definitely needed a lift. (and yes, our windows have bars on them...all first floor apartments in NYC have bars...we live in a perfectly safe neighborhood, but you still need them. After awhile you don't even notice them.) I had to use a tension rod on this window. The top is weird and couldn't figure out how to put a regular curtain rod up without it looking funny. I'm not crazy about the tension rod, but works.

We also took the cabinet doors off. Since I have white dishes and simple glassware, I thought it would work. I was trying to brighten the kitchen up a little by removing the heavy looking cabinet doors. This is our coffee shelf. Notice many of the cups are missing...we enjoy our coffee around here. The containers holding the coffee and tea are from Ikea.

I painted the inside of the cabinets light blue. I tried to match a blue in the curtains. I didn't want it to be too bright, but thanks to poor lighting at Home Depot and me being afraid of too much color, it's a a little too subtle. Oh well. It looks slightly more blue in person than it does in the pics.

I love the way the sunlight sparkles on our glassware. The cabinets certainly don't look perfect, but I like the outcome. I would absolutely love to completely redo our apartment. It has tons of potential. Sadly, that's not going to happen, but a girl can dream, and I can do little non-permanent things like this (the doors are in my closet and can be put right back on).

I used extra fabric from the windows to make a little skirt for my buffet/shelf/table thing in the corner. This houses a printer, and baskets of misc. stuff (and just ignore the pile of mail, please). This was a cute little touch, I think. I plan on getting wooden trays for the open shelves to use as charging stations for all of our stuff. Since they have handles, it's the perfect place to run cords through on the back, and our devices can rest inside the trays. Hopefully I'll blog about that soon. Here you can also see the ugly cream color of our walls. I hate it. It's pinkish tint is terrible. I painted our hallway and our bedroom to get rid of it there.

And now for the bedroom. You may remember that I started doing the painted wallpaper treatment.

Well, it was sooo time consuming and things kept coming up, so I gave up. My husband was shocked, but I was sick of having it hang over my head. I painted over it. I also thought it looked too busy with our tin ceiling. This was our old bedding. A mishmash of stuff. It wasn't horrible, bit it was far from great.

I hate selecting bedding. I can never find anything I like. I don't know why...I just don't like anything that's out there. I found this fern print on Pottery Barn.com and liked it. It seems very Southern to me. Probably because I think of ferns and red geraniums when I think of summers in the South. Since our bedrooms looks out in the garden, I thought something green would be nice. I found the burlap pillow at Ballards. Love Ballards.

My nightstand is a table I found on the sidewalk. Free stuff is great. It was Barney purple, but I took the paint off and loved it. I was going to paint it, but I liked the shabby look better.

I want a rug for under the bed. Still fighting hubs on that one. He doesn't, I do. Let's see who wins. I took the pics that were hanging in our hallway and put them over the bed. They are mostly personal photographs, so they work better in the bedroom anyway.

This is a little nook off of the bedroom. It's perfect for this little desk I bought at a flea market. It was a very dark corner, so I added the pendant light. It's white now, but I think I want to cover it in linen. I also recently added the curtains. What a world of difference curtains make in a room. They make it feel finished like nothing else. The map on the wall is something I got Ryan years ago. Its a tackboard, and we have little tacks on all of the places we've been. I love it even more now that large maps seem to be really in. I plan on painting the desk green and distressing it a little. I think the green will brighten up the corner even more (the desk is so cute...and not as dark as it appears here). We'll also be getting a new chair. This is a chair from our dining table...it doesn't belong here...neither does the printer!

And on a completely different note, I had a fairly stressful week and went overboard with the Easter stuff last night. I made cupcakes (24 cupcakes for 2 people!), and dyed eggs by myself.

I started with 11 eggs, and ended with 6. Lame. I don't know why they all broke, but they did. I also used brown eggs, and they turned the prettiest colors! I love them!

Well, that's it! I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Easter weekend! I love Easter so much! It's one of my favorite holidays!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...
~ 1 Peter 1:3

Things I want/don't want

2011-04-14T01:30:00.000-04:00

I want some chickens. Black and white speckled ones.
I don't want the mouse that I saw in my apartment last night.
I want a cat so I never get mice again.
I don't want my husband to be allergic to cats.
I want a million dollars...or several million...I'm not choosy.
I want Cougartown to come back on tv.
I want The Real Housewives of OC and NY to be on at the same time all the time. That along with Bethenny is so much good tv that I don't know what to do with myself.
I want more Girl Scout cookies.
I want someone to cook for me during the week.
I want someone to clean for me during the week.
I don't want a dog walker. I feel like I should take care of my own dog.
I want a garden.
I don't want squirrels to dig up that garden and eat my flowers.
I don't want to fall on my face in the new shoes I got to wear to a wedding this weekend. They are a little tall, and I'm a little uncoordinated.
I want to work from home tomorrow. Good thing I am!
I don't want to go to bed, but I guess I should.

Have a happy Thursday!

Under pressure

2011-04-12T20:49:00.000-04:00

I was just having a bit of a Twitter conversation with someone (ok...two tweets...but it was enough to inspire a post).

You people are freaking me out. Yes, you.

When I know no one is watching (or reading...whatever), I can write away, and be clever, and witty, and smart (ok, maybe I'm pushing it).

But when I know you are expecting something from me...like a blog post...I freeze up. I have so many topics to write about, and pictures of bedding and window treatments to post, but I can't write a post or take a picture to save my life right now.

I've always been this way. I can be good at something if no one is looking, but if you look my way...I will fail. And I will fail on purpose.

I clearly have issues. I've never claimed to be normal. I don't believe in normal. And I'm sorry I'm just a little bit crazy.

Just stop reading for awhile. Or at least pretend to look the other way, and maybe, just maybe, I can get my groove back. I even thought about trying to go completely anonymous...but I should have done that from the beginning and this whole thing would have been avoided.

So there you have it.

Sorry.

Why doesn't he cook more often?

2011-04-03T11:00:00.001-04:00

Ryan tried a new Thai recipe awhile back, and I couldn't help but document it. He really is a much better cook than I am. He's very meticulous, but he's not afraid of flavor. I'm a much better baker than cook...I would be happy if he could cook dinner and I could cook dessert every night!

Welcome to Miami

2011-04-01T22:30:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I decided to take a little spring break trip of our own this week. He had a week off, and I was able to take a few days (even after I got the plague). We looked around at places to go, and since flights to Miami are so cheap from NY, we picked there!

We have never been to Miami, and didn't know too much about it except for what we've seen on tv (mainly Dexter). And yes, we did not pick our hotel until the day before we left, but that's normal for us and we think we picked a good one!

We stayed at The Raleigh. It was a bit overpriced (I think everything in Miami is) but we decided it was worth it. One thing we learned in Miami is that you probably have to be willing to drop some cash to really enjoy it. We saved on not renting a car, so it was ok. The pool at The Raleigh is said to be one of the best in the country, and it was so nice!!

The first night we were there there was a techno music festival going on. It was....interesting. We went out for a walk and were a little surprised by the people who were out. Just imagine a boardwalk and the streets full of characters straight from Jersey Shore. Luckily, by the next day, they were gone!

So...enough of the talk...let's see some pictures!!

Do you want to see me in a swimsuit? Well, this is as close as you're going to get.

My pedicure. My feet became quite famous this trip as I tweeted them and put them on Facebook everyday. Sorry about that, people with feet issues.

The Raleigh

Ryan chillin' by our car.

Ok...so that's not our car. But we ate lunch right by this Lamborghini and because of that we will be in approx 100 other people's vacation pics. I don't know why people like to take pictures of fancy cars, but everyone that walked or drove by took a pic of the car...and us. There were lots of fancy cars there too. Miami is rather flashy!

This is our preferred method of transportation. We rented bikes when we went to lunch. We rode down the boardwalk and Ocean Drive, and it was so fun!

This is me...I look strange riding a bike...and my hind end looks wide. Or maybe it's the horizontal stripes. This pic was taken before I almost ran into a table of jewelry on a sidewalk near our hotel. It's been awhile since I've been on a bike.

The view from our room. So lovely. You can kind of see the shape of the pool here. It was so fancy.

The pool area. The pool was made famous by Esther Williams. I know that she is famous (and Esther Williams, not Wilson) from Pretty Woman. I don't know what she is famous for, however.

Me lounging by the pool. I fell in love with all of the orchids they had nestled among the palm trees. I'm a little obsessed with orchids right now...but I'm scared to buy one because I will kill it. I'm a houseplant killer.

This is a pic of our celebrity sighting while we were there. If you look very closely...on the right...you will see 3 men standing and talking. And the one in the white shorts that you can barely see is Roger Federer. My family is so excited I saw him (I come from a tennis family...I don't play though...wish I did). He is in town for a tournament and had lunch at our hotel with friends. And last weekend I saw Billie Jean King while I was getting my hair done. Tennis champs must flock to me.

Those beautiful orchids.

Our last night...in front of the hotel.

We really had so much fun, and we needed it! We've been so busy with travel for work, long hours at work, and just life in general, and it was sooo nice to just sit and relax!!! It was a short trip, but it was a great one!!!

Spring Fever

2011-03-24T21:58:00.000-04:00

I have spring fever! In more ways than one!

The day before I left Canada I started running a high fever. It started on Wednesday, and lasted until Saturday night. It was awful. My brother-in-law and nephew were here for his spring break, and I couldn't do anything with them! I did get to play a little Wii with my nephew though! I was so sad that I missed doing fun stuff with them. I didn't go back into the office on Monday because I was still feeling a little yucky and very tired, and by Tuesday night my fever was back up. My doctor thinks I had a virus, and then got an infection. After a round of antibiotics, all is well, and I finally feel normal again. I haven't been sick like that since college, and I hope it's a long time before I have to experience it again. I had forgotten how horrible running fever is!

So, now I'm back to the grind. I'm still working on several projects around the apartment. Something about Spring always makes me want to do projects around the house. Why is that? It happens every year, and this year we are blessed to make a few projects happen. I finally ordered bedding. I hope I like it when it's all done. This has been a work in progress for years! Hopefully I can start taking pictures and updating all of you on what's happening around here. I also FINALLY got a new laptop, so blogging should be much easier!!! My old laptop was almost impossible to use...it would overheat, freeze up, and the battery only lasted for about 15 mins. We finally joined the world of Mac users with a new MacBook Pro!!! Yay!!! We now have iPhones, an iPad, and a Mac laptop...what else can we add to the mix? Maybe some Apple tv? We'll see.

We are also taking a little Spring Break trip for ourselves. Woo-hoo! I'm hoping I can blog while I'm away, but if not, I hope I can at least be a little more consistent. I hope all of you are having a great Spring! It's such a wonderful season!

I'm in Canada. Yes, Canada.

2011-03-08T23:54:00.001-05:00

I have SO many things to blog about. I'm so sorry it's been so long. I've been organizing and decorating like a mad woman lately, and I can't wait to share it with you. It always hits me this time of year, and this time I'm in an apartment where I feel like I can really flex my muscles and try a few things and make a difference. It's working, and I'm happy with it. Even if I painted something a color, and my husband walked by and said, "You're painting it white first?" No, honey, that's the color. In my attempt to pick something subtle, I may have gone a little too subtle...as in a shade of white. Oops. I blame the terrible lighting at Home Depot.

Anyway, I can't post all of those pictures because I'm in Canada. Calgary to be exact. I have no idea how I ended up here, but it has something to do with work. Last year I was barely working, and now I'm working in Western Canada. God has a sense of humor.

In the meantime, enjoy this post by Big Mama. Her words speak volumes about what I think to be so true for Christians.

Also, this post from BooMama. I know exactly what she's saying because I feel my blog is in a state of transition right now as well. My life is much different than it was when I started this blog. It's even very different from 6 months ago, and I'm trying to figure out how to translate those changes to my blog without sharing too much, talking about work, or boring you all to death. So, that's where I'm at. But be assured when we get that fancy new Mac next week, I'll be blogging A LOT more. Blogging on a Dell that overheats and craps out on you once an hour is no fun for blogging. No fun at all.

Oh...and I forgot to add HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!! I wish I was at Brough Commons enjoying the band and eating the best food they serve all year. Or anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line where Mardi Gras is actually observed. Or at my neighbors' back home...with the best cajun cooks I'll ever know. Or really anywhere you can find a good King Cake. King Cake...YUM!

Long time no read.

2011-02-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. Things have been crazy. I am a 30 year old now, so I have all sorts of adult responsibilities. Ok, not really, but I'm busy, and I have some serious writers block. These are some thoughts and happenings of the last couple of weeks.
1. I spent a week in Iowa for training for work. It was during the big blizzard and it was interesting to say the least. We were stuck in a hotel and all the restaurants in town closed. We lived off of cold cuts and cereal for over a day. It wasn't that bad, and it ended up being kind of fun.
2. The night I came back from Iowa I attended a birthday party at a hip hotel downtown. There were some shenanigans that some might not approve of (nothing illegal or inapprpropriate by my standards), and we were so loud that we got asked to take our party to a fancy room downstairs. Basically, we got kicked out of the fancy suite. As one friend said to the security dude..."this is so funny because we are a bunch of nerds.". It had to be the tamest party to ever be thrown out of a swanky downtown hotel suite. Can you imagine the kinds of parties that are held in fancy hotel suites in NY?
3. That weekend, we attended the birthday party, went to dinner with friends, went to a bar owned by a friend's girlfriend after dinner, went to same friend's baby's baptism, and went to a superbowl party. Having one weekend filled with so many friends and acquaintances really made Brooklyn feel like home, and I loved it.
4. It's been quite a few weeks since our trash has been picked up. I'm not happy with the dept of sanitation.
5. My hair is getting long. And it's looking long. My hair rarely gets past the mid-awkward-length. I actually like it too.
6. I'm watching the Duggars as I type this. I still love them. They are such a friendly family to watch on tv.
7. I will also watch Teen Mom tonight. Not so friendly.
8. I'm seriously considering some new bedding from Pottery Barn. It's got a pretty strong pattern, and it's causing me to hesitate. We have a beagle that sheds A LOT, and solid bedding is just not an option. I realize I could just not let the dog on the bed, but she's so sweet and cuddly that's just not an option.
9. The snow is finally melting, which means the Lord does answer prayers.
10. I'm still trying to find a balance with work, life, and blogging but I do intend to return with regular updates, so bear with me!

Random List.

2011-01-27T20:27:00.000-05:00

I can't make a cohesive post right now, so I'm doing this.

1. Today is the first full day in my 30's. It hasn't been that bad.
2. Ryan took me to Newport, RI last weekend for my birthday. It was fabulous. We had a cottage on the beach. We also did the mansion tours, and they were spectacular. These are not just large homes...they are like government buildings or something. You drive up and say, "Is that really a house?" They are huge.
3. On the way back from Newport we stopped and ate at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. It was the best meal I've ever had in my life.
4. Blue Hill sparked a great conversation about when we started appreciating wine and food. We're pretty certain going to Italy was a turning point for us in terms of food and wine. It was fun to talk about all of our great meals and how our tastes have evolved.
5. Sometimes it makes me feel so weird and isolated from my hometown when I think about some of the things I enjoy now. For instance, one comment I made at dinner the other night was, "I remember enjoying that caprese salad at that restaurant on the Grand Canal in Venice. The texture of the fresh mozzarella and the taste of the tomatoes were life changing." Back home that sounds pretentious and weird. Here it's completely normal. It makes me feel like I live in two different worlds sometimes.
6. We were supposed to get 3-5" of snow yesterday and last night. We got 17-19". I'm sooo tired of snow at this point, but I have a feeling we're going to be looking at it until March. Lord help me.
7. I'm ready to get a new computer. Ours is ready to bite the dust, but we all need dental work (including the dog), new glasses, etc. Not sure if a new computer is in our near future, but I'm going to hope for a big tax return and keep dreaming.
8. Next week I have to travel for work again. I'm already dreading it. I want life to return to normal, and I want to cook and do laundry and do normal things...not take horrible flights during horrible weather and deal with people I don't want to be around.
9. I had sweet breads for the first time at Blue Hill. We made a pact to try everything put in front of us at the meal (you don't order your food...you are served courses based on what's in season and what they grow on the farm or get locally), and I can safely say I'm not a fan of sweet breads. And please note that doesn't say sweet bread. I enjoy a good brioche. Look up sweet breads if you're wondering what I'm talking about, because I'm not getting into it on here!
10. We also had venison. It was so good, and I even asked the waiter where it came from. It was from a farm upstate that only raises 80 head a season, and they aren't white tail. They are a breed of red deer from France, and I'm pretty certain I saw those while driving through the mountains in Alsace because my dad was interested in the wildlife there.
11. Number 10 is another reason I'm weird. And on that note I'm saying bye! Have a good weekend!

Going to the big D...

2011-01-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

And I do mean Dallas.

Sorry for my absence. I've been busy busy busy and I've had a terrible cold that won't go away.

This week I'm going to Dallas for work. I'm excited to be in Texas where it will be warmer. (the people and the temperatures)

I get to see a dear friend that I haven't seen in way too long too.

So, have a great week and I'll be back soon. In the meantime check out the home makeover over at Cote de Texas (over on the right...I can't link to it right now)...it's amazing!

A story about me. Also known as the longest post ever.

2011-01-06T22:52:00.001-05:00

I have a lot of new readers, and I've always gotten questions about my past as a designer in New York, particularly who I've worked for. I thought I would take this opportunity to post this. I wrote it last fall, as a guest post for someone else. It was not the right time for it, and I got cold feet. It is my story of how I got to New York, and how I accomplished my dreams. It's not easy to expose yourself like this, and share personal bits of your life, but it's been burning a hole in my inbox since the new year, so here goes nothing...

I'm just a plain girl from a small town in rural Arkansas. I was born and raised in the same area that my ancestors have been for the last 160 years. I had horses, pigs, and cows behind my house, and played with snakes and went fishing in a nearby creek for fun on summer afternoons.

Now I live in New York. I spent 5 years in Manhattan and just recently relocated to Brooklyn.

How on earth did I get from there to here?

We usually took summer vacations to the mecca of the South, Gulf Shores, Alabama, but one year we took a trip up to the Northeast, where my paternal grandmother was raised (yes, she is a Yankee...but she did learn to make good Southern cornbread and shoot a gun, so it's ok). This was the first time I visited New York City. I remember driving around the city, visiting the Museum of Natural History and seeing the Statue of Liberty. I was amazed by this bustling place. Like many children from a small town in the middle of nowhere, I could have easily been overwhelmed...but I never was...I was in awe. The next summer we came to visit my mother's sister who was going to grad school at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. We rode the subway, walked, walked, and walked, and visited everything you could imagine. I was in love. That's when I made the decision I would live here someday. I was 8.

In addition to chasing snakes in creeks, I was always the little girl that wanted to rearrange my room and always get new bedding. My cousin had a doll house that I played with constantly. I never played with the dolls...I just rearranged the rooms, over and over and over. I set up the tiny china cabinet with the tiny dishes. I laid the rug just so in the living room and hung the pictures on the wall (secured with duct tape, of course). I started my own flower garden at an early age, and spent many evenings cutting flowers and arranging them for the dinner table. All I wanted to do was make things beautiful in my own way.

I can't remember how old I was when I discovered design and lifestyle shows on television. I was completely taken in by them. Instead of watching cartoons, I was watching Lynette Jennings, Christopher Lowell, and Martha Stewart. I remember watching Martha and falling in love with her. She was a genius in my eyes. If she said it, I believed it. If she made it, so did I. I remember a very unsuccessful attempt at making moss covered clay pots that involved smearing yogurt on them, with dirt and moss I dug up from around our big oak tree. I was probably 12 or 13. There was also my attempt at cream puffs. I think I went through 3 containers of whipping cream before I could get it right. My poor parents. They were mostly supportive of my little antics, thank goodness!

At some point during all this I also discovered that Martha's headquarters were in New York. That's when I knew my fate was set.

I spent the next 10 years telling my friends and family that I would live in NY and work for Martha when I grew up. I'm not sure if any of them ever believed me...it was kind of like "I want to be an astronaut when I grow up." How many people grow up to be real astronauts? How many little girls from the land of rednecks and pick-up trucks make it New York to work for the domestic goddess of our time? The odds weren't really in my favor.

I attended the University of Arkansas (Go Hogs!) and received a degree in Interior Design. After graduation the easy choice for me was to move to NY (Where else would I go?). My now husband was receiving his MBA in upstate NY, so I decided to move there so we could be together for a year, and then move on to NYC. We had a plan...mostly fueled by my dreams and his ambitions. Once he graduated we basically sold or gave away almost everything we owned (including our cars), packed up what we had left and our adorable little Beagle, Darby, and moved to the big city!

Two years into our life in NY, I found a job posting at MSLO (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia) in their Style Department. This was nothing new for me...I had been checking job postings there since college...but this time I realized I was actually qualified for the job! I sent in my resume and thought nothing of it.

Then they called for an interview. And I wet myself. Not really...but I probably could have.

After 2 interviews I got the job. My dreams came true.

It was an experience of a lifetime. Every day when I walked through those doors I had to fight back tears. I will admit that at times it was very overwhelming. I was meeting people I had read about, walking the halls with MSLO legends, and surrounded by the images and lifestyle I had been fascinated with since childhood. I got to play with Martha’s dogs when she brought them into the office, and sample new recipes straight from the kitchens.

My job there consisted of doing drawings for various projects (showrooms, events, sets for ad campaigns, etc.) and following the construction progress of the showrooms, as well as assisting the very talented stylist that was the head of our department. At one point I was able to work on a personal project for Martha. It required a meeting with her. Just her, another co-worker, and me. I had to buy a special outfit for it because when I get really nervous I get hives on my chest and neck, so I got a lovely turtleneck from Banana Republic just for the occasion. The meeting went well, and when it was over I went back and sat at my desk and cried. She even did a blog post about the project!

I’m sure at this point you’re thinking, well isn’t your life just perfect? I didn't accomplish all of this because I was better or because I tried harder than anyone else. I just believed that it was actually possible. I have no idea where this confidence came from (well...I do have an idea...and his name starts with G and ends with D and there's a big O in the middle)...I assure you I am far from a confident person. Even though it's not always easy...little girls from small towns make their dreams come true every day. I didn't go to an Ivy League school, and I come from a place where homemade deer jerky is served at parties way more often than Italian prosciutto or smoked salmon. I can't tell you that if you have a dream it will come true. I know that people work hard and sometimes fail. I've failed plenty of times! Of course there have been bumps along the way (And when there are I usually complain about it. A lot.). I believe that this was God's plan for my life and that it will be used for His glory. I don't quite understand it all yet...and that's ok. People have asked me to share my story before but I never have because I never thought there was much to tell. I knew what I wanted to do, and I did it. What's so interesting about that? (And I will admit that at times the attention it brought from family and friends was too much. I prefer to not be the center of attention, and becoming a topic of small town gossip was not something I enjoyed.)

I'm no longer at MSLO and am now a struggling designer in NY just like every other designer I know, but my time there will be something I will take with me forever. My experiences were once in a lifetime type opportunities. I know they will help me in all future endeavors (and always provide great stories at dinner parties). Just think...without it I wouldn't be writing this post! I hope you can take something away from my story. If you have a little girl with big dreams or if they are you own...don't let yourself believe that it's impossible. I'm proof that it can happen.

Realistic Expectations?

2011-01-03T16:54:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share this with you since everyone is making their resolutions...and getting fit and weight loss is no doubt a big one out there.

Yesterday hubs and I were in the car on our way back from Home Depot, where I finally purchased a new vacuum cleaner. I've been using one with a broken wheel and bad suction for way too long now, and I finally gave up. It wasn't too long before the dog hair won, and a new vacuum was necessary. Anyway...

We were listening to the radio when a guy mentioned that Julia Roberts was in Star Magazine and it said she did not have a good bikini body. It was tied together to music because he was playing that Florence and the Machine song from Eat Pray Love (and he said no one saw Eat Pray Love. I saw it. I liked it. I didn't know that no one else did. Did you?)

Anyway...my point...Julia Roberts is well into her 40s and has birthed 3 children, 2 at the same time. Who on earth expects her to have an awesome bikini body? I know I certainly don't. I don't expect anyone who has birthed any children at all to have a good bikini body. Or anyone in their 40s, children or no children. There are certain things that happen naturally to our bodies in life, and this crazy world's idea that we need to be a certain way or look a certain way is so off base right now. We cannot fight nature, as much as we want to. Yes, staying healthy is important, but health and beauty do not always come hand in hand (no matter that they are sometime paired that way in the drugstore aisle). Surgery will alter, and sometimes fix a naturally occurring problem, but it never fixes it entirely and you can always tell something's been done.

So....what I'm trying to say is: Enough with those crazy expectations. I will never have a good bikini body according to those magazines, and I'm still in my 20's (barely...yes...but I can still claim it). Give it up, Star Magazine, People magazine, and all you other magazines out there that criticize people like Julia Roberts and make us think we need to look like a supermodel in our swimsuits. A supermodel that you have no doubt airbrushed and slenderized in your ads anyway. (And I'm pretty sure most of us would kill to look like Julia Roberts...bikini body or not!)

Good Riddance

2010-12-31T13:00:00.000-05:00

2010.

I'm ready for a new year. I've already written once, in the fall, about what a difficult year 2010 was. It was a year of heartbreak for some, illness for others, and even death.

I didn't work much in 2010. After losing my job in 2009, then being re-hired less than 3 months later with no promise of anything permanent, I worked almost everyday until January of 2010. Then it stopped and I was once again sitting at home, scouring the Internet for jobs that simply did not exist. I started my own shop on Etsy out of boredom and a need to feel productive and contribute to my little family in some way. It worked out great, thanks to some really great support of my Internet friends. After some thought about where life was leading us (should we leave in NY? where should we go?) we decided to move to Brooklyn. We had plans to live in the same building as some friends, in an amazing apartment, and things were looking up. Then we decided not to live in that apartment because of the neighborhood, and found a place in the neighborhood of our choice in 3 days! We moved a week later, and I surprisingly loved living in Brooklyn. Around this time I put the Etsy shop on hold because things were getting very busy, and I haven't gotten back into it yet. I also got to take a trip back home in the summer. I met some amazing bloggers while I was there, and consider myself lucky to call them friends. We went to Puerto Rico in August for our anniversary, thanks to our generous landlords, and had a much needed break in our lives. When we returned I got a call from work and they needed me again. I started back, and worked non-stop until I started my new job in November. During the fall I started emailing with a really great design blogger that helped me more than she knows. She probably thinks I'm a flake, but she validated so many feelings I've been having for years, and it was so great to know that I'm normal and it's all okay! She continues to inspire me, and is helping me set goals for what I want this blog to be and for my professional career as well. The fall was a very busy time for us with lots of visitors and travel. Every weekend was full and I was stressed, but looking back it was really fun. I started a new job in November, after a quick surprise birthday trip to Ireland for my hubs. It was so fun, and just what we needed! I was terrified to start a new job. A year of uncertainty took it's toll on me, and I didn't know what to expect of myself or my new position. Things are going well, and I hope I can settle into work more in the new year. We spent Christmas in AR and MO with family, and I know I didn't let myself enjoy it as much as I should have. I let the year get me down...so hopefully tonight I can let it all go and look forward to 2011!!!

This post seems to sum up the year pretty well...a jumbled mess! I really do hope I can look back on 2011 with a new outlook and hope!

Buried

2010-12-29T12:22:00.001-05:00

Right now we are buried under snow and laundry.

We obviously have a lot to tackle.

I don't have much time to write, so I'll just give you some pics of what we've seen and experienced so far...

This was Ryan trying to get our luggage down our street. It had obviously not been plowed. And our sidewalks had not been shoveled because no one was home. We had to use our hands and a trash can lid to get to our door. There was 3 feet of snow blocking it.

This is our patio. That's our grill in the corner and our table.

Darby watching Ryan shovel. She loves the snow and is so happy!

We're just happy to be home with this little cuddlebug and are ready to get back to normal! I'll blog more later and share a little bit of our Christmas! For now I have to get to the grocery store and start tackling laundry! I hope everyone is doing well!

To you and yours,

2010-12-23T13:00:00.013-05:00

Yes, I put my dog on a Christmas card. You don't need kids to have a Christmas card. I also only ordered 20 because my husband wasn't crazy about the idea of sending them out...then he wanted to send them to everyone...but we only had 20...so I'm sharing this way. :)

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

Luke 2:11-14

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Tour of Homes

2010-12-13T00:25:00.000-05:00

I decided to link up to Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes and over at Kelly's Korner. I was going to share my decor, so why not?!

Welcome to Christmas in Brooklyn. A few weeks ago my husband guilted me into decorating in order to find my Christmas spirit. This is the result:

In my kitchen I went with gold and green. Normally, my Christmas decorations are red and silver, but I had a few green and gold ornaments that I got for free when I worked for a certain diva...so I decided to use them.

I also had a few little star ornaments packed away. I intended to use these as gifts years ago, but I forgot so now they are mine! I put them under candles on tall candle holders...I think they look nice!

Remember this little bird from my fall wreath? He found a home with my green and gold.

I put a few stars on the chandelier that's over the dining table. See more in the background? Those are the same candleholders and I put some on the lamp also. The felt dots on my lamp are all green/neutral on a ribbon. They came with some gifts from Anthropologie that my brother-in-law got last year. He had no idea what to do with them...but I knew I could come with something! I think they look cute with the rest of the Christmas decor!

I also used some gold ribbon on my cheap-o garland that's over the doors in the dining/kitchen area. I would have taken a pic of the whole door...but the background (aka my messy room) was not a very good view!

Now we are in the butler's pantry leading to the living room. My grandmother bought this tree in the 60's in Dallas. It still spins and plays Silent Night.

My fall wreath has been converted to a Christmas wreath!

I have ornaments hanging on lots of knobs and lamps...I like spreading the decorations around!

A bowl of ornaments in the living room. Who did this first? They are a genius!

Another ornament on a knob...and a little picture in the bookcase. A friend gave this to me when she visited NY around Christmas years ago...I love putting it out every year.

Some of my favorite ornaments I got in Savannah a couple of years ago. Too bad my husband hates "the word ornaments" because they are staying! Ha!

The mittens are actually Starbucks gift card holders. I think they look funny on the tree, so I use then every year! I think it looks like the tree is wearing mittens...which I guess it is...but for some reason it cracks me up! I guess I'm very easily amused! Ha!

I also love these sparkly doves. They really sparkle in the light and I think they are so pretty!

Now for the whole view of the tree. Take my word for it...it looks much prettier in person! This is the biggest tree we've ever had, so the back has no ornaments on it at all! (And please notice Mr. Hanky-Poo on the bottom right...that would be my husband's contribution. Yes, he doesn't like "the word ornaments" but he's a fan of the Christmas Poo. We are so sophisticated.)

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I found some spirit...

2010-12-10T18:00:00.001-05:00

I might have too much spirit for some of you...so bear with me. Be prepared to have your feathers ruffled.

I'm just going to jump right in because I can't think of a smooth opening for this.

What is up with the "Don't take Christ out of Christmas" and "Happy Holidays" brigade? Honestly, aren't there bigger things to worry about at Christmas? Especially for Christians? I don't find the meaning of Christmas in a department store holiday commercial. I don't care what way they wish me well this season. The language they choose to use to adorn their gift bags is of no concern to me. At my home and in my church (and in my heart, if you want to get cheesy) I celebrate Christmas. Not in a mall.

As for the whole Merry Christmas controversy, I never thought about it growing up...but then again I was surrounded by Christians. Things are different now. I have friends that are not Christians, I don't work with Christians, and I'm constanly surrounded by people of different faiths. I don't shove Merry Christmas or Jesus down their throats. Force feeding someone is usually not very productive. I am a Christian. I believe Jesus is the reason for the season. I have no problem telling people about it. I never hide it or shy away from telling someone that I celebrate Christmas because it's all about the birth of our Savior and Lord. But I'm very aware it's my holiday...not theirs.

If Christians are so concerned about someone taking away the meaning of Christmas, then start showing it in a more productive way than proclaiming it on your Christmas card that you send to your Christian family and friends. Say Merry Christmas to the homeless man on the corner when you give him the leftovers you snuck out of your Christmas party. Sponser a family that can't afford to celebrate like you do...and share why you celebrate that way. I can think of a million different ways to keep Christ in Christmas than getting upset over commericals and slogans and 30 second news soundbites.

And besides...I always thought "Happy Holidays" meant Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! What's so wrong with that?

**And as a disclaimer this is directed to no one in particular...just a general annoyance I've had building up over the last few years. Thank you and goodnight.

Excused absence?

2010-12-07T22:06:00.000-05:00

I'm so sorry I've been MIA. I am so far from being in the Christmas spirit this year, and it has me a little (ok, a lot) stressed out. I have not bought a single present...and I don't even have any ideas! I'm just completely checked out! Ryan guilted me into putting up the Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving (I think he was hoping it would help my mood), and we got a beautiful tree and decorated it. I love our tree...every year our trees are more beautiful than the year before. What concerns me is I have no desire to dance around my house while listening to Christmas music...which is what I usually want to do! I want to watch Christmas Vacation...but I can't find our DVD and I'm not trying all that hard to find it or buy another one. I'm making no plans for our holidays other than hitching a ride with my in-laws to my sister-in-laws house. That's it. That's why I'm not blogging. I'm just in a funk. A holiday funk, I guess.

In good news...Eclipse came out on DVD last weekend and it has brought me much joy. Much joy. Not Christmas joy and good tidings...just vampire love joy. Can I just buy everyone an Eclipse DVD for Christmas?
.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T18:58:00.000-05:00

Well, this year Thanksgiving started out just like recent ones...we stayed in the city and cooked for friends...and we had no gas, heat, or hot water.

I was out shopping after work on Wednesday because I have a black-tie event at the Waldorf-Astoria this week and I have nothing to wear (more on this later). Ryan called and informed me that he got a call from our sweet landlords that there was a small leak in a pipe in the basement, and they had to turn the gas off. Of course, I said. It's Thanksgiving, and it's the coldest it's been so far this fall...of course we wouldn't have the ability to cook, shower, wash dishes or clothes, or have heat. Of course...what else is new? I called my mom once I got home and said, guess what's going on here? Her first guess was...you don't have heat or hot water, do you?! If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that we've had this problem several times in the past. It's also happened over Thanksgiving and Christmas before! And it's been in 3 different apartments!

Ryan also texted me almost immediately after calling to inform me about the gas to ask if we could have 3 more people over...because of course if we have no way to cook we want to have more guests...right? But really, I was more than happy to have them over...we had plenty of food, and the more the merrier! I knew that once the gas was turned back on, we would be fine!

Our landlords made sure we were on a list to get our gas turned back on Thursday in the a.m. They also offered their electric ovens and even their formal dining room for our dinner. They are so nice, and we are very lucky to have them. I was hoping to avoid cooking in another kitchen, so I waited it out and the gas was back on around noon. I immediately put the cornbread in the oven for the dressing and got to work! Sadly, I didn't get a shower...and I was lucky to get dressed and slap on some makeup before our guests arrived! But somehow, I managed to keep it all together and not completely wear myself out! The cooking went really smoothly, and the turkey was beautiful! It was my first time cooking a whole turkey, but it was fine. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of it! This was the best I can do:

There was some teamwork involved in carving the turkey! Thanks for the help, Kelly and Ted!

The rest of the food looked great too!

The table setting looked nice...if I do say so myself. Thank goodness for wedding gifts...

And last but not least...dessert!

We had pumpkin pie (me), pumpkin truffles, and pumpkin biscotti (both by Molly)!

Our friends Kelly and Kyle brought over a great card game, Crowns. It was sooo much fun! We talked, ate, played the game, and had a great time! I don't think it could have turned out better!!! I was very thankful to get my gas turned back on in time to have everyone over! I love hosting our friends, and when a party turns out to be a success and you know people have a good time, it's such a great feeling!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Please go visit Maddie's blog and say a prayer for Keegan. Keegan is having kidney issues, and he and his family need our thoughts and prayers. Having Keegan and his family in my thoughts reminds me of all that I have to be thankful for...especially this time of year.

There's a brand new dance but I don't know it's name

2010-11-21T21:57:00.000-05:00

image from Style.com

While growing up in the South a girl generally grows up with a certain sensibility about fashion and grooming.

Although there was that little bleep on my radar when I was 7 or 8 and one of my Sunday School teachers told us if we were too vain God may take our beauty...and I immediately thought of being in a horrible, disfiguring accident...I think I still struggle with that one.

But back to topic...Southern girls are generally into their looks. It just goes with the territory. You're a Southern Belle...what choice do you have?

Since being in NY I have struggled with my looks/fashion sense.(this is not a new topic to the blog...I've discussed this before, so sorry for beating a dead horse) I think in the South I wouldn't have a problem with it, but in NY people just dress differently. People are very fashion forward here...and well, I'm just not that confident (it's totally that Sunday School teacher's fault, right?).

I swear this post has a point...and that's my new job and my work attire.

People at my new work dress very well. I think you definitely dress according to your surroundings at work. At my previous job I never went to client meetings, and I mostly just sat at my computer...so my wardrobe got a little too relaxed. It was professional...but a very relaxed professional. Now I'm going to meetings, presentations, and need to be well dressed and presentable at all times. I'm the designer, and I (along with many others) think a designer should be aware of their looks and how they present themselves. Designers are visual people, so this makes perfect sense. My current wardrobe does not reflect such visually appealing outfits though. That's my problem. I have purchased a few things to freshen things up, but I will need more over the next several months and especially into Spring and Summer. I got a new work bag that is great and will last for a long time (I've never had a problem with visually appealing purses/bags...they have always been my weakness). I guess my question for anyone out there reading this is what is your staple fashion item that you recommend and/or how do you put together outfits for work? What should my criteria be for building a good work wardrobe? I don't want to spend a ton of money, but I also don't want to buy lots of crap that I will hate after a month. I finally got new black pants (I was maybe still wearing the same ones from college), and I had to get a new coat for reasons I will not be discussing on the blog (let's just say buttons were not buttoning correctly anymore...it's totally the buttons fault...not mine). I can still spot a Southern girl in NY from a mile away...we just look different...and I'm not trying to completely blend in...I just want to look confident and presentable...is that too much to ask?

Also...props to anyone that can tell me where the title to this post is from!

A few things...

2010-11-18T20:37:00.000-05:00

Surprise! It's a list!

I'm not ready for Thanksgiving. Or Christmas. This is the first time in the history of me that that's happened. I'm trying to listen to Christmas music to get in the mood, but it's not working. Christmas music gets me in the mood for Christmas in July, so I'm not sure why it can't now!
I totally knew that Eva Longoria and Tony Parker were over last weekend while we were in Ireland. She hosted the European MTV Awards in Spain, and I saw part of it. She was introduced as "Eva Longoria" and I said to myself....hhmmm...that sounds mighty suspicious...and lo...it was a sign. I'm so good at predicting Hollywood divorces and pregnancies...People.com needs to clue in to it so I can make some money.
Speaking of People...Ryan and I ate at the restaurant that Jake Gyllenhaal and Taylor Swift ate at a few weeks ago in Brooklyn. Now, Jake, why do you have to go robbing the cradle when I'm just a few blocks away? I know that I'm married and all, but I'm sure we can make an arrangement. It works for the guy on Sister Wives. I can see it now...Brother Husbands...starring Jake Gyllenhaal and my hubby.
Seriously though...Taylor Swift? Is it a rebound from Prince of Persia?
I'm sooo obsessed with this whole royal wedding business. I loved Diana. The night she died I stayed up all night long watching tv. I recorded her funeral because I had to go to colorguard practice. I was actually shocked that they didn't cancel my colorguard practice for her funeral! Where else could you be except glued to your tv? Anyway...I think lots of girls my age dreamed of what it would be like to marry William...the heir to the throne...and be a princess just like his mom. I think Kate is beautiful, and I hope they are very happy! And I hope they decide to share a lot of their wedding with us nosey commoners!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers and thoughts this week as I began my new job. It's been a crazy week around here, but I've enjoyed it. I think this job is going to be a great experience for me, and I look forward to growing into it over the next few weeks and months.

Well...my Mexican food just arrived (I love delivery in NY!) so I better run! I hope everyone has a great Friday and a great weekend!

my day job

2010-11-14T14:00:00.002-05:00

Well, after almost 17 months without a full time job, I will start a new job on Monday. My official title: Workplace Designer. What does that mean? I'm not sure yet. :) I have been abundantly blessed during this time, but I won't say that it's been easy. I now understand the hardships people go through so much more, and my judgement of them has changed forever. I'm looking forward to my new position, but I'm also terrified. Being laid off, and then strung along by a company for so long can really affect someone's emotional state, especially when it comes to your work and your value as an employee. I know that this will be a different experience for me, and I just hope that I am ready for the challenge. I'm happy that I will now know what to expect each day, and am ready to settle into a new normal. It will be back to work 5 days a week, and I hope I can keep up with my home duties, my blog duties, and everything else in between. I would appreciate your prayers on Monday morning...especially because I have to be there earlier than any other job I've ever had...and that will be the biggest challenge of them all!

O Danny Boy...

2010-11-12T17:00:00.001-05:00

Well, hubs big birthday surprise was revealed to him at the check-in kiosk at the airport. I handed him a note with our confirmation number on it, and our destination popped up on the screen. It was great! I had very strict criteria when deciding on this trip: 1) it had to be within the budget I set (aka cheap) 2) it had to be a place that we could visit in a few days 3) it had to be a direct flight from NY so we didn't waste time with layovers, etc. I looked around, found a great deal to Dublin, and booked it. I knew that if I hesitated and did too much research I would talk myself out of the trip, so I just booked it the minute I found this package. Everything seemed to fall into place perfectly, so I didn't question it.

We flew overnight, and got to Ireland very early Sunday morning. We rented a car (I was so proud of my husband for driving a stick shift on the opposite side of the road after only an hour or two of sleep...that takes guts.) We were greeted by a gorgeous sunrise over the Irish Sea.

We drove around a little and explored, and then headed to our first stop of the day...some ancient ruins/tombs at Bru na Boinne. It was pretty interesting...these were built before the pyramids in Egypt!

The view from the top of this hill was amazing!

If you're wondering if Ireland looks just like you always imagined it...it does!

Can you see the hidden castle? I wondered if it would be green with old castles spotting the countryside...and it was!

We also drove to Trim Castle. Trim Castle is the largest Norman castle in Ireland...but most importantly lots of Braveheart was filmed here. One of the most famous scenes of Mel getting tortured and executed took place here. I think this was the biggest hit for my hubs. What man doesn't love Braveheart? FREEEEDOM.

After our day in the country we went into Dublin.

We visited Trinity College on graduation day...that was fun. And saw the Book of Kells...known as the greatest piece of artwork to come out of the Dark Ages.

And then we went to the Guinness Storehouse...which is where they have been brewing Guinness for 250 years. They have a bar on top where they serve you a complimentary pint of Guinness and you can enjoy the view of Dubin. We were fortunate to make it to the top right at sunset, so we could see the city light up.

We also ate some great food, had a celebratory birthday drink at the schwankiest hotel in town, and did lots more sightseeing. It was a great trip! I know my husband wishes that we could have traveled more in our twenties, so to give him this for his birthday was so special for me! We had a great time and are already talking about where we want to visit next!

Happy Birthday, Baby.

2010-11-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

(I don't know where I got this...somewhere on a Google search)

Today my hubs is 30 years old! We have known each other since we were 13 and if you had told me then that we would be celebrating his 30th together, in another country, while his mom was staying in our apartment in NY keeping our dog, I would have thought you were crazy. Or telling me the best story ever told. :) But that's just what we are doing. I planned his birthday present in July...and kept it a secret from him the whole time. (I can barely keep lame Christmas presents a secret...I have no idea how I was able to do this.) He knew I planned a trip for this 30th (he had to ask off work), and he eventually knew I needed to renew my passport for it, but that's it! We are loving our time away, and when I'm back I'll tell you all about it! For now I'm going to enjoy our final moments together in our twenties...but I'm sure our third decade together will hold a lot of love and many more happy memories together.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Organization...how I keep my nest less messy and my head in order.

2010-11-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

I was totally going to blog about this and link it up on the Nester's site...but I just never got around to it. So, I'll just share with you instead. Mmm, kay?

I recently changed out all of my summer clothes for my fall/winter clothes and my closet looks all nice and neat, so I thought I would document and blog about how I keep it that way. Keeping my closet neat, and more importantly, having a place for everything really keeps me sane these days.

This is main portion of my closet. I don't have tons of space to hang things, so it's pretty tight. I've gotten used to this in NY, and I purge my clothes often. In the summer I coordinate my clothes according to color, but in the winter I coordinate them according to sleeve length and weight. This might sound crazy, but when I want to look at all of my cardigans together, I can. (and the box under my hanging clothes is a box full of clothes to donate...I always have one out so when I decide I'm done with something I can throw it in...when the box if full it gets taken in)

This hook on my door is where I hang my jewelry organizer. This has been a lifesaver for me. When I get home from work the first thing I do is take off my jewelry. Everything used to go on the kitchen counter or the top of the dresser. I also used to have an overflowing jewelry box that nothing fit in. Now, every piece has a place, and I can put whatever I'm wearing back in when I'm changing out of my work clothes.

Another thing I love are these 3M hooks. I hang all of my bigger necklaces on these. I can easily grab one in the morning because I can see them clearly, they don't get tangled up, and they are easy to hang back up at the end of the day. If you have room for these in your closet, I highly recommend them. Also, on the right you can see a scarf hanging from a ring...if you have an Ikea they have these scarf hangers. If you wear them a lot this is great. You just stick them through and holds tons of them (it's long but you can't really tell here)!

I also put my belts on a hook. Again, I can see them easily and put them away easily.

To the right you can see that I have some deep shelves in my closet. I have big bags/small luggage on the top, purses on the second (I like purses, and I have several so they take up the whole shelf), pants folded on the next, then I have my unmetionables and socks in baskets on the next one (this keeps them separated...not all thrown in one drawer that I have to dig around in), and on the bottom I have a basket of shoes like sneakers, etc. I have my nicer shoes on a shoe rack along the wall. You can see it in the first picture.

Since it's getting cooler I put this basket on the floor so I can throw my hats and gloves in it. Aren't you jealous of my awesome flooring in my closet? It's in all of our closets.

Another thing that's helpful is this little bowl I put in our bathroom. Our glasses go in it. Now instead of glasses all over the place they have somewhere to go. I love it.

Another good little thing...my jewelry boxes and that cute little silver bowl I bought at the flea market for $2. The boxes hold my more precious jewelry, and the silver bowl is where I put my wedding ring and watch. It's easy to grab them when I'm running out and they go right back in there when I'm home. Just those two things go in, so again...I'm not digging or searching for them.

I really is so helpful if everything has a place and a home in your home. It cuts down on searching for things and makes things look neater without you having to actually put forth the effort to pick up. Once you make it easy to stay organized, it's not so hard to keep it going and life seems so much easier!!

Emotional, I am not.

2010-11-01T22:22:00.000-04:00

I was a rather emotional child. Strong-willed. Stubborn. And yes, definitely emotional. As an adult, I have learned to control my emotions to some degree. I credit this mostly to my husband...who is the most even-keeled person on the planet. He shows excitement by barely cracking a smile. While being an unemotional person has it's advantages, it also has it's disadvantages. Like when I was re-reading some recent posts and I saw where I mentioned my grandfather passed away. I was surprised that I mentioned painting my bedroom, then my grandfather passed away...then blah,blah, blah. It's not like me to get all emotional on my blog. It's not for that. But to me it seemed a little cold. No, I was not an emotional wreck at his funeral...I held it together the entire time. But I'm mostly grateful that I was able to grow up in the same town with him my whole life, and got to spend lots of time with him. I didn't want to see him at the funeral home because I wanted to remember him the way I always have...sitting at our kitchen table or standing outside next to one of his behemoth old cars. The smell of Newport cigarettes remind me of him...even though he stopped smoking them years ago. He will always be the best fisherman I've ever known (although my uncle certainly gave him a run for his money), and I will remember him as always calling us with the latest news...even if it was that bologna is on sale at the Save-A-Lot. He forced his DVDs of his band playing music on us...and sent 20 forwards a day when he learned all about e-mail. He was not a saint, but neither am I. I don't need to cry and carry on to prove that I miss him or that I'm sad that he's gone and I won't get to hear his jokes anymore. I'll be forever grateful that he passed quickly, with little suffering. Anyway...all this to say that I thought he needed a little nod on the blog. He probably would have figured out how to create a blog of his own if he'd had more time.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels 101

2010-11-01T14:00:00.001-04:00

I got a few questions about how to make chocolate covered pretzels, and since I took pictures while I was making them, I thought I would blog about it! How convenient!

This time I used Trader Joe's Whole Grain Pretzel Sticks. I think the sticks are easier to use because you can hold on to one end, and dip the pretzel instead of the dipping the whole thing in. It makes for much less time and mess on your end.

Melt some chocolate of your choice. I used the holiday appropriate choice of orange this time. I also already had it in my pantry.

I used some cute sprinkles I found at the bake shop.

Put some wax paper into a baking pan(I used a roasting pan/jelly roll pan) and sprinkle with the sprinkles you are going to use. This gets sprinkles on the side of the pretzel you rest on the paper.

Then dip the pretzel into the chocolate, shake off excess, and lay on wax paper. Do this a few times, then sprinkle the pretzels with more sprinkles, on the top and on the sides before the chocolate dries too much.

Once the pan is full, put it in the freezer for just a few minutes to set the chocolate.

Remove pretzels from the pan, and put them in a bowl or plastic bag until ready to eat.

You can roll up the wax paper and pour the excess sprinkles back in the container they came in so you don't waste any.

The final result. Yummy.

People are always so impressed by these, but they are so easy and perfect for the holidays! I think they are easier than baking cookies!

Halloween 'stache Bash 2010

2010-10-31T18:08:00.000-04:00

We had a sort-of Halloween party on Saturday night. Ryan and I like Halloween, but we're not big into dressing up and such. We had a mustache themed Halloween party this year because this way you could just slap on a fake mustache, eat some food, and call it Halloween. Or something like that. Really, I think it was just an excuse for my husband to wear a fake mustache and smoke lots of meat. Either way, we had a good time!

I did some decorating around the house...mostly with cheap spider webbing and plastic spiders!

I made them look like they were coming in from the windows...very creepy! My husband, who hates spiders, was not so happy about this.

The mustache web.

We had pounds and pounds of meat to smoke. Or I should say, my husband had pounds and pounds of meat to smoke. My contribution is to make the dry rub for it...which is a large contribution since that's what makes it taste so darn good!

I made mini cupcakes...topped with mustaches and chocolate body parts (that I made from a mold...I'm pretty sure this was not the intention of the mold). Weird, maybe, but definitely fitting of a Halloween Mustache party, right? Nevermind.

A few people came in costume. This was Strawberry Shortcake, Huckleberry Pie, and a Strawberry. Also known as the cutest thing ever.

Sportin' some serious 'stache.

The aftermath of the meat. I found Sister Schubert's rolls to make sandwiches with the meat. But everyone kept just grabbing meat off the tray with their hands. I can't blame them. It was really, really good. My husband can grill, y'all.

It looks like everyone is listening to a scary ghost story....

Nope...just playing a game in the living room.

Caped crusaders.

Showing off their capes.

We are very sophisticated people...as you can tell.

Darby even got a little nibble on the giant pork bone at the end of the night! She looved it!

I kind of hope there will be a Halloween 'stache Bash of 2011! We had a great time!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Halloween Cookies (repost)

2010-10-25T23:25:00.000-04:00

I thought I would repost the Halloween cookies I made last year. I don't think I'm going to make them this year, because I have other things in mind, but you should try them!

Start with this book:

And this recipe:

To make these:

Then I used some of this:

And all this:

To do this:

And ended with this:

To get the design, flood your cookies like you normally would, then take some black icing and make circles within the white area. You need to do this while the icing is still wet or it won't work. My icing was a little runny, but it still worked ok. Once you pipe your circles, take a toothpick or skewer and drag it across the icing from the middle going out. This creates the web effect. If you are going to add an extra decoration, you can wait until most of the icing is dry, then just add a little more to the back of the decoration.

It's really not that hard, and it's sooo cute!

Happy Halloween!

I have some thoughts (with no pictures)

2010-10-18T22:54:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry I'm going so long between postings. Things have been hectic around here, and I haven't had much I've wanted to blog about. Things don't seem to be slowing down either, so I can't promise that I'll be a very good blogger in the coming weeks.

Anyway...who watched the Mad Men season finale last night?! It was soooo good! I've really enjoyed this season. Last season was just ok, but this one was amazing in my opinion. There were some really good episodes. I've read several reviews and blogs about the finale last night, and I can't get over one thing: everyone's opinion of Megan. Everyone seems to think Don went with her because she was the easy choice. The pretty face, the secretary, etc. But I keep thinking he picked her because he's looking for one thing: the family he never had. The life he wishes he had as a kid, and the life he dreamed of. The life he's been trying to create (but keeps destroying). Am I right? Anyone agree? It doesn't have to do with her looks, how young she is, etc. It's about how she connected with his kids, connected with him, didn't need him like Betty did, her confidence and her grace. It was pretty clear that Don was trying to re-establish his relationship with his kids this season, and after Faye could not connect with Sally I knew he would never end up with her. So, Megan is just what he's always wanted. I think he thought he could create that perfect life with Betty, but that clearly was never going to happen (and, yes, he had a lot to do with that too). He keeps sabotaging his relationships, but that's just the Dick Whitman in him that has no confidence (in my humble opinion). Anywhoo...that's what I think. Make sense? I don't know if it will last...next season will be interesting to say the least...but I actually like the match.

Now for design related news...I have made zero progress on my bedroom. I was going to start on the next wall over the weekend, but I couldn't get to it. We also found out that Home Depot (and maybe other stores?) sells re-conditioned power tools on their website. We're going to get a sander to help refinish the new desk. I'll probably end up refinishing some other things too...but don't tell Ryan!

I think I'm giving up on the Real Housewives franchise. I'll keep watching Orange County (if they keep Vicki), New York (although it won't be the same without Bethenny), and New Jersey (the only reason I will return to it is because they got rid of Danielle), but I won't watch the others. I've never gotten into Atlanta, D.C. was just plain bad, and the new Beverly Hills crew is beyond ridiculous.

I thought I would never say this: we are getting tired of Jersey Shore! Ryan and I love to be lazy on Saturdays and watch a few shows together from the previous week, and we always love watching Jersey Shore, but lately it's been the same stuff over and over and over! How many times can you get really drunk and start a fight at a club?! Or go tanning and workout? Apparently every. single. day.

I almost forgot to add something...has anyone been to Old Navy lately? Loving their fall stuff! I got a few things on sale last week, and I'm just itching to go back for some more! Cute, cute, cute, and they even had some wide leg jeans that I must have! I'll wear skinny jeans, but I have to admit that I prefer a wide leg. It's more flattering, in my opinion, and not to mention more comfy!

I'm gearing up for on of my favorite people to come visit this week, so I better get back to cleaning and doing laundry!!!

Have a great week!

Deal of the day

2010-10-12T08:00:00.003-04:00

I know I blogged about the great desk I got for a deal on Sunday, but I left out the real deal of the day! While I was waiting on Ryan at the flea market I spotted some silver at one of the vendors. I never ask about silver or purchase silver because I always assume it's going to be too expensive. Well, I was quickly proved wrong when I got the guts to ask how much a cute little silver bowl was.

$2 for this little beauty!

I also loved these little matching tongs and two little spoons. They all have a delicate beading detail. How much for all 3? $1! Woo-hoo!

They polished up well, and I can't wait to use them. We love to serve appetizers and little bites when we have friends over, and I think these will be perfect. I can't believe they only cost $3!

Bedroom 1.0

2010-10-10T18:50:00.000-04:00

I started painting the "painted wallpaper" look that I stole from Emily in our bedroom. We painted the background color last Saturday, and I started on the pattern on Sunday. I've probably committed about 7 hours to the pattern so far...as you can see it's going to take awhile! The background color looks sooo much better than the previous color. I took "before" pictures that I'll post once I'm done with everything. The previous color was just a cream that was too light and leaned more peachy than I wanted. And please ignore the quilt on the bed...that's going as soon as I can find something else!

I planned on adding a few new pieces of furniture to the room also. Our bedroom has several nooks, and I wanted to make good use of the space. I wanted a desk for one area so I will have a place for my new sewing machine (that I will hopefully be getting for Christmas) and also my several craft projects. It would also be nice to have a space to blog and do other projects on the computer...instead of crouching over the computer while I'm sitting on the couch. So...while I was walking to the grocery store earlier today I spotted a cute little desk for only $45 at an outdoor flea market!! I immediately called Ryan and asked him to meet me when I was finished at the grocery store so he could take a look too.

Surprisingly, Ryan liked the desk too! It's got great storage, and once it gets a coat of paint it will look great! It is small, which is essential for apartment living, and I thought it was just so cute. The folding chair is just there because I wanted to sit for a minute...I can't wait to find a great chair to go with the desk. And please excuse the mess that has already accumulated on top! That's what happens when you're are re-doing...things get out of place for a bit. I promised Ryan I would hold off on anything that required a project for awhile...I have several I need to finish first!

I'm baaack...

2010-10-09T11:01:00.000-04:00

Well, it's only been, what, about two weeks? I was all geared up to blog about my bedroom last weekend and then I got a phone call that my grandfather passed away. So, instead of blogging, I had to find plane tickets, take care of car rentals, etc. We are back in NYC, the bedroom painting is continuing, and I'm trying to remember where I left off with laundry, grocery shopping, and just living my normal life (it's been the most hectic few weeks for many reasons and I've never been so ready for some normalcy!). I've got pictures of where I am with the bedroom so far, but I'll get those up later today or tomorrow. Right now I'm watching Martha on Oprah. It's great, and I can't turn away long enough to do a real post!

A little more fall...

2010-09-28T19:11:00.000-04:00

I can't remember where I saw this idea...using spanish moss with Halloween/Fall decorations, but I decided to do it today! I don't normally get very gimmicky with my decor...but I thought it would be fun to add a touch! (Plus it raises the pumpkins off of the wood shelf just a bit so if they get yucky on me it won't mess up the wood.) (And yes...that is the fabulous John Derian platter from Target...I'm in love with it.)

So cute, right?

I got this cute wreath at TJ Maxx the other day. Sorry the pic is a little blurry...this is a dark corner and I couldn't get the pics to turn out very well.

I have everything on two shelves because I was playing around...but I'll probably spread some of it out in the apartment...and of course I'll buy more pumpkins and squash over time!

I've found that cheap seasonal decor has been a great way for me to change things up for not much money. Since we moved from a small apartment to a large apartment with a lot more storage (like built in bookcases), I've been left with some bare spaces and this has been a great way to fill it up a little!

A bit of Autumn decor

2010-09-22T19:54:00.000-04:00

Everyone seems to be sharing their fall decor on their blogs, and I didn't have any so I had to fix that! I could easily go to Michael's (or TJ Maxx...they've had awesome Halloween stuff this year) and pick up every glittered pumpkin and cheesy scarecrow...but I refrained. I'm trying very hard to keep it simple. I have a hard time with seasonal decor because I want to either go all the way with all kinds of stuff everywhere...or just a few touches. I try to keep it classy...and avoid painted signs that say stuff like "What do you call a goblin on crutches?....A hobblin' goblin." I'll pick a few pumpkins soon...there were little white ones at Whole Foods that were just adorable and would look perfect tucked into bookcases and on end tables.

I had an appt up in my old neighborhood today, so of course I had to go to Michael's! I picked up a couple of things on sale...and perused the seasonal aisles...and then went back to them about 3 more times because I couldn't decide what to get.

I ended up with a basket full of non-seasonal items. But I made what I think is a pretty awesome wreath that is perfect for fall!

I found this oval grapevine wreath. It was the last one and I snatched it up! I found this little bird that I thought was perfect in nice fall colors.

I already had the ribbon at home, so that means I got this look for the bargain price of $5.48!

The area that I put it in is my famous butler's pantry.

It's basically the hallway from the kitchen/dining area to the living room. It's all original...the mirror is so pretty and antique looking (actually...I guess it is antique...it's 100 years old!). The marble area is actually a sink, but because of of lead pipes it's not usable. I put the silver tray over it and put some of our barware there and you can't even tell.

I love my simple little wreath, and I think it would be great to change out the bird and ribbon according to the seasons! Just think...a red bird and red ribbon for Christmas...blue for Spring...I might have to go to Michael's again and get them now so I'll be ready!

Do you decorate for the seasons? What do you do?

Weekend review (with pictures).

2010-09-21T23:51:00.000-04:00

We survived a tornado, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, I baked some fall goodies (pumpkin bread and muffins), and did some boating on the Hudson and East Rivers(via water taxi). It was a great weekend with old friends!!!

Weekend in review.

2010-09-21T22:04:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to upload my pics to blogger for 2 days, but it's just not working. I'll have to edit them and try again tomorrow. Sorry for my absence! We had a great weekend, but I'm still playing catch-up around here, and work is very, very busy. When things get really crazy around here, blogging is definitely something that suffers, but I hope you all understand. Well, I have about a million other things to do around here so I better go! I'll keep working on my post...it's just not the same without the pictures!!!

List. Again.

2010-09-15T07:00:00.003-04:00

1. An update on my night/wrinkle cream: I got Oil of Olay's Night Recovery Cream. It's working great, and I really like it. Is it possible that it really is getting rid of my wrinkles?
2. I had to get some new make-up and it's made a huge difference in my skin also. I was using L'Oreal's True Match Naturale Mineral make-up, and it was just not working for me. It's great for coverage, but it's too heavy for my skin. I've used other mineral powders before (bare minerals), and again, they are just too heavy. So, I got Sephora's tinted moisturizer and Sephora's loose translucent powder (which says it's "mineral" too, but it's very light). It looks so much better on my skin, and so much more natural. At the end of the day I don't have make-up sitting on my face and in my wrinkles...I just look like me with more even skin. I don't know what happened to my skin, but it's changed over the last year or so and really threw me for a loop.
3. I also got Make Up For Ever's cream blush. It's been life changing. Like I said before, heavier powders just sit on my skin and looks bad. That's what was happening with my blush. The cream blush looks like you have lovely rosy cheeks. It's great. And you only use a tiny bit, so I expect this little bottle to last for a very long time.
4. You probably don't care about my make-up, but I just thought I would share. :)
5. I've been listening to the Dixie Chicks and The Wailin' Jennys on Pandora a lot and they make me want to move to Austin. I can picture myself sitting outside listening to good music, sippin' a good drink, and enjoying beautiful weather in the Texas hills.
6. I hope to start the great bedroom renovation soon. Everything will be inexpensive (I mean really inexpensive) and hopefully beautiful. Our bedroom has been on the back burner in every apartment, mostly because they have either been non-existent (i.e. studio apartment) or so small that there just wasn't much to do. I hate our bedroom right now, and painting the walls, getting a new comforter, pillows, and hanging some artwork will make a big diffference, I know.
7. I really, really, really want a sewing machine. I imagine myself making all kinds of fun stuff. Like pillows, drapes, and clothes. It is the number one thing on my Christmas list. I'm hoping I can find one on Craigslist that is slightly used, easy to work, and cheap. Any suggestions for good sewing machines for beginners?
8. I also want to learn embroidery. I think I'm going to teach myself. Wish me luck.
9. I miss Michael's. It's up in my old neighborhood, and I haven't been since I moved. I'm going through withdrawls.
10. I have made a new blogging friend recently, and I have to say that I'm so thankful. She is a joy and such an encouragement for me. Blogging and reading blogs has actually made a real difference in my life. I try to keep a balace with my "real" life, but I cannot deny the influence that bloggers have in my life. And I'm thankful that it's all been very, very positive.
11. I realized recently that I really have no clue who actually reads my blog. I don't get many comments, and I'm terrible at responding to them (I'm sorry) but I appreciate all of you that take a few minutes to read my thoughts and ramblings and look at pictures of my wet dog (but isn't she cute?).
12. We're having friends from California come stay with us Thurs.-Mon. so I might be away from the computer. I have a ton of things to do before they get here (like make pumpkin bread!), and I need to get busy!

Wet dog

2010-09-14T22:11:00.000-04:00

Here comes the bride...all dressed in...pink?

2010-09-13T07:00:00.001-04:00

On Saturday we met friends at a pier in Brooklyn that is directly across from downtown Manhattan. They walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to honor Sept. 11, and the pier/park area was a great place to sit and reflect in the shadow of downtown. It's not something we dwelled on...but it our little way of remembering.

While we were sitting there we noticed several wedding parties with photographers. They were taking advantage of the beautiful day and the great view.

Then we saw this wedding party.

There are no words.

Except that her pink bouquet was sparkly. And shiny. Very, very shiny.

It's the details...

2010-09-11T11:34:00.000-04:00

Sometimes when you rent, and more specifically when your bathroom hasn't been renovated since 1989, it's the details that you can add that will give it charm.

Exhibit A:

This is what I would consider a bad detail. I think most would agree. Plastic handles that have been worn. I have no idea why they are yellow and orange under the silver.

I bought the new handles from Anthropologie. I'll admit...they don't look all that great on my gray laminate cabinet (I orginally wanted the more simple design, not the scalloped ceramic, but they only came with gold metal parts and silver is a much better choice for this room). I was hoping for a look that was more ecclectic than anything...there isn't much that will look great with a gray laminate bathroom cabinet.

You can see my Amy Butler mistreaments in the background here. The bathroom is gray and white, and fabric makes it all look slightly more intentional.

It's cute, and I like them. It's not necessarily "great design" but I'm hoping to add a few touches to the bathroom to help it out. I'm having a very hard time finding something for the walls, but I'll get there eventually!

HARDware

2010-09-08T13:00:00.001-04:00

I was in Anthropologie Tuesday after work. I gave myself a budget of $0, so it was ok. :)

I was looking at their adorable knobs, handles, and hooks when a couple walked over. He was more on the masculine side, so I thought it was funny that he was even in Anthropologie. The girl kept holding up knobs and asking his opinion. At first, he was appeasing her...saying things were nice...he may have thrown out a "cute."

Then it started.

"Why do you want these?"

"Because I want something unique."

"But we can get plain silver knobs at Home Depot."

"But I want something different...and this is the only place that has anything like this."

"But we could get all of our knobs at Home Depot for the price of one of these."

The poor, poor girl. She left with no knobs.

I almost leaned over and told her to please notice that I was there alone.

There is no way I'm going to be able to talk Ryan into ceramic turquoise handles for our bathroom in the middle of Anthropologie. But...once they are on the doors...and they match the cute Amy Butler mistreatments I made...he just might go for them. (our bathroom is pretty horrible...it needs all the help it can get.)

I emailed someone in regards to our apartment and decorating...I said my biggest challenges have been my husband, our budget, and the fact that we rent. But most of all it's my husband. :(

He proclaimed this year that he doesn't like pattern or color. Or monograms or anything with letters, numbers, or words.

Help. This is hard. I am a designer. I want free reign to do what I want in our home. (within reason, of course)

I'm going to convince him to go for those turquoise ceramic knobs.

And I'm going to paint our bedroom to look like THIS.

And we'll still love each other when it's over. :)

How do you do it? Do you get to do your own decorating without interference or do you have a husband/partner/roommate that has strong opinions (even if we all know it is the wrong opinion)?

And I should note that I'm not complaining about my hubs...I love him dearly and am thankful to have him to argue about throw pillows.

A summer meal...

2010-09-06T14:41:00.002-04:00

I'm finally bringing you the meal I prepared last weekend (with the fresh pasta). Funny enough, I don't have a picture of the actual main course. I was too wrapped up in trying to make it right and I never photographed it. Don't worry...you're not missing much!

Ryan and I started the tradition of nice Sunday suppers several years ago right after we moved to NY. He traveled with his work Monday-Thursday or Friday, so Sunday was sort of his big send off every week. We also watched The Sopranos every Sunday night, so we made a big night of it and often ate Italian.

So, last Sunday, Ryan was out playing golf, and I decided I was going to try to make pasta. As I said before, it's something I've always wanted to try, so I did.

Since we were going with pasta, we needed a salad. Not a green salad, but a caprese salad with farmers' market tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil from my own plant!

Some ciabatta, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar for dipping.

Picholine olives. These are from a neighborhood market and were mushy. Yuck. I'm not a huge fan of olives so I'm very picky about what they are like.

And my favorite part of the appetizers, prosciutto, parmigiano reggiano, (just pretend I'm Giada and say that with a crazy Italian accent) and proscuitto wrapped asaparagus.

Proscuitto and real parmesan are from the same region in Italy, and when eaten together the flavors are perfection.

For dessert we had berries over ice cream. I just threw some berries in a small pot with a little bit of sugar and let them heat and make syrup. Remember the party pack I told you about? This is part of that:

Yum. Ryan started getting this vanilla ice cream made upstate at a neighborhood market, and I love it. It's expensive, but we only eat small amounts of it, and not regularly. I don't really care for vanilla ice cream, but this stuff is sooo good!

So, that's our fancy Sunday supper from last week. We certainly don't eat like this every night, but sometimes I wish we did! (and a meal like this if we ate out would be horribly expensive...but made at home it's not so bad!) It was fabulous! (except for the pasta that tasted like an omelet...but it's ok...at least I tried!)

Mid-week list...

2010-09-01T19:50:00.000-04:00

I don't think I need to explain the lists anymore...

1. I saw a woman this morning wearing a full burqa while I was walking to work. I tried not to stare, but it certainly makes you do a double take when you see someone wearing black, from head to toe, with not one centimeter of skin showing, walking down the sidewalk. The high today was supposed to be 96. I hope she was able to get everything done in the morning hours so she could get out of the heat! And it made me wonder...how does someone order something in a loud restaurant or do their banking (assuming that they can do their own banking or ordering in a restaurant...probably not) while wearing such restricting clothing? I usually have to do a good bit of lip reading when in these situations, and that's not possible when you can't even see the other person's eyes, much less their mouth.

2. A girl sitting next to me on the subway ate an entire green leafy salad with no dressing and nothing to drink. It was dry lettuce (not mixed greens...green, romaine leaves), tomatoes, onion, and red peppers. Not a drop of dressing. It made me want to gag. I try to eat a salad a couple of times a week, and I have to admit that my favorite thing about it is the garlic croutons and the dressing.

3. Tonight we are eating an entirely organic dinner. Except for the teaspoon of dried oregano, everything is organic, local, and/or from my own plants. I'm very proud of that fact! (We are eating spaghetti with meat sauce, if you must know...this is my experimental sauce I made with tomatoes from the farmers market...if it's good I want to make more and freeze it).

4. I tried to make my own pasta on Sunday night.

It's just something I've always wanted to try. It's hard as heck to roll out pasta dough and cut it. My noodles were a little too thick (not too wide...too thick). They tasted ok, but I want the pasta maker attachment that goes to my KitchenAid mixer or a crank by hand pasta maker before I attempt to make it again. It was A LOT of effort, and it would be SO EASY if I had a pasta maker. The only hard part was rolling it out. Pasta consists of flour, eggs, and salt. Seriously. It's not like you have to follow a complicated recipe.

5. I'm sure many of you think I'm crazy for making my own pasta. I know. I'm not a fabulous cook that makes my own pasta. You should know that I made Carbonara to go with the pasta, and the end result tasted like an omelet with noodles. Thick noodles. I will never master adding the eggs without them scrambling at least a little bit. How do you do it? What am I missing? (and I should have used pancetta instead of bacon)

6. I'll blog about the meal at some point. I took some pics of the appetizers and they were definitely the best part of the meal.

7. My landlords have been gone for a month. They returned for a few days, and then left again (They have 3 homes...so don't worry that they are getting homesick). I love having our place all to ourselves. It's like living in a real house! I can go down and do the laundry in my pj's without having to worry about anyone seeing me!

8. When I have a couple of days off again I'm going to try to make my own bread. I know I've been saying this for a very long time, but this time I mean it. I want a bread maker for Christmas, and before I get a big piece of machinery I want to make sure it's not just as easy to make it in the oven the old-fashioned way.

9. Yes, I want a pasta maker and a bread maker. I LIKE CARBS.

10. I'm really looking forward to the long weekend. So far we have no firm plans, but I feel like we've had such a busy summer (doing what, I don't know) and I'm looking forward to a long relaxing Labor Day weekend!

The proof's still in the fridge...

2010-08-29T10:32:00.000-04:00

We are fortunate that our new neighborhood has an awesome farmers' market every Saturday. In our old neighborhood they were just starting one on Columbus Ave. right by the Museum of Natural History, but it was still taking off, and there just wasn't much there. I rarely shopped it. But now...I have no excuse. My new farmers' market is too good to pass up, and my convictions just won't allow me to skip it.

I have purchased lots of different things since we've been here. I've gotten fruit, veggies, meats, jams (seriously...the jam...sooo good), and milk. Just yesterday I got two pounds of grass fed beef for $10. Ground beef at my old grocery store in Manhattan was $6.99 a pound. And it was not grass fed, high quality beef.

I get what they call a "Party Pack" of berries which is 5 containers of raspberries and blackberries for $10...another bargain considering the cheapest berries I've found at the grocery store start at $3.49 a container for conventional berries. The flavor of these berries cannot even be compared to the berries I've purchased at the grocery store. Grocery store berries have sometimes traveled from as far as Chile (can you imagine?) and they have been sour and somewhat tasteless. They sit in the refrigerator, uneaten and spoil. The farmers' market berries are sweet and perfect. You can eat them by the handful, but they are excellent in your yogurt or baked. We always devour them and none go to waste. Remember the strawberries and rubarb I made a pie with?

This pie was so unbelievably good, and it's all because the strawberries were pure perfection. They were small, sweet, and just what strawberries should be. I've made several peach tarts this summer with fresh peaches too. They are just too good to pass up. You walk by them and the fresh smell almost knocks you over!

The tomatoes this year have been great too. Most stands will put out samples for you to taste, and the taste alone forces you to buy tomatoes here...not the tasteless, grainy tomatoes at the grocery store. You bring them home, and you want to eat them. Usually when I buy produce at the store it's either because they are included in a recipe or because I know we need to eat our fruits and veggies. The farmers' market produce is so good you can't pass it up. Isn't this the way it should be?

We had a big party a couple of weeks ago, and I bought 10 ears of corn for Ryan to grill. How much do you think 10 ears of corn would cost at a fancy farmers' market in Brooklyn? How about $4! I got an entire side dish for our party for just $4. And it was local and had been picked the day before. How awesome is that?

I have grand plans to buy tomatoes and make spaghetti sauce to freeze...the same with carrots, peaches, and berries. I would also LOVE to learn how to can. If you grow your own fruits and veggies, freezing and canning is an extremely economical thing to do. I'm trying to figure out if doing it with my farmers' market produce is wise choice financially. I made note of the prices yesterday and I'm going to do a trial run with the tomatoes I purchased yesterday. (How awful would it be to make and freeze tons of spaghetti sauce that tasted terrible?)

Anyway...this whole post is to just encourage you to find your own local farmers' market and give it a chance. I've been so pleasantly surprised by mine. The prices and quality are unbeatable. Sure, some of the items are slightly more expensive, but aren't you usually willing to pay a little bit more for quality and taste? I know I am. I don't buy the cheapest coffee, cereal, or snack foods...I buy what I like and what I think tastes better. Go to your farmers' market and do the same thing...and support local growers and farms while you're at it!

Yes...another one.

2010-08-27T19:06:00.000-04:00

Another list, that is. It's just the way I normally organize my thoughts, so I guess it makes sense that I like to blog with lists lately. I should write the list down, and then focus on each item and make it a whole post...but that would take time and effort...both of which I'm short on right now.

So here goes.

1. I'm making these tonight. I hope they are good.
2. I have a new love. His name is Joe (no...that Joe, Michelle. ;) ) Trader Joe. He provides me with awesome organic frozen items and snacks for the best prices around. Now I can feed my husband when I don't feel like cooking. I can just pop a burrito in the oven, and I don't feel like a horrible wife. Thank you, Joe.
3. I don't have a single thing planned for the weekend other than a vet appointment for the dog. She is going to meet her new vet in our new neighborhood, and I'm hoping he doesn't find anything wrong with her or want to change anything, like her current meds or food. Everything seems to working, and I'm not one to change something if it seems to be fine the way it is.
4. I'm watching the Real Housewives of DC as I type this, and I must say that I'm still not impressed with these ladies.
5. I want all new bedding that doesn't cost a fortune and is pretty without being feminine and can handle my dog hair and dirt. I'm pretty sure this is impossible, but I'm going to keep looking.
6. I learned this week that if I change my plan with my cell phone provider...or if I decide I want the new iPhone...my current unlimited data plan will end and I'll have a limited plan that I have to pay extra for. I'm so glad I learned this while I was not in the middle of the store trying to buy a new phone. You would have seen this grown woman throw a big hissy fit over it. I use data more than anything else...I don't talk on the phone much or text all that much. I'm going to take extra good care of my phone now so I don't have to change anything against my will. That just seems wrong. Any one else with me?
7. I'm about to start my weekend of nothing. Good night.

"Time marches on...

2010-08-20T20:59:00.000-04:00

and before you know it, it's marching across your face." -Truvy from Steel Magnolias

I realize I should be blogging more. I have been busy...but just busy working and doing normal life things...so I'm no busier than anybody else. My excuse is just pure laziness. I admit it. Sorry.

Now for the topic at hand... (by the way...I'm blogging from my hubs' Mac that he has for work right now...I'm LOVING it!)...ok...back to the topic at hand...again.

It's time for me to retire my current skin regimen and change to something a little more heavy duty. My lightweight moisturizer that I've been using since college just isn't cutting it anymore. It's time for some cream. Some wrinkle cream.

Now this is where you all come in. I need some help finding something that will work for me, and rather than trying 20 different kinds, I thought I would ask the internets.

You see...I have SUPER SENSITIVE SKIN. Don't recommend the yellow Clinique moisturizer. It burns my skin. Oh the burning. I've tried a sample of Philosophy I got at Sephora. Burned. I've tried a Burt's Bee sample. Burned. You see what I'm getting at? SUPER SENSITIVE SKIN. I'm tempted to try only department store brands because those are usually easily returned, but the cost of those is an issue. I would prefer not to spend $50 on a small jar of cream. I'm considering using my regular moisturizer in the mornings before I put on my makeup (for the record, I use Purpose moisturizer and Cetaphil facewash...my skin does wonderful with this combination, I just need something better to combat the wrinkles). Purpose does great under my makeup, it has SPF, and never leaves me oily. It's a nighttime cream I'm looking for here...and considering the wrinkles forming around my eyes and on my forehead...I need something pretty good.

So...suggestions anyone?

Anyone?

Summer Wrap Up.

2010-08-16T20:52:00.000-04:00

This isn't really a summer wrap up...but it's probably the closest thing I'll have to one. Here ya go.

I'm in love with Mad Men this season. Single Don. Sterling Cooper Draper Price. Peggy and Pete's continuing tension. Love it all. Love it. And I don't miss Betty one little bit.
We had a big ole BBQ over the weekend. And when I say BBQ I mean BBQ. Ryan smoked ribs for hours, sausage, steaks, chicken...it was the whole nine yards. He went to 3 different places all over Brooklyn to get the meat. I went to the farmers' market to get the veggies. It was soo good. I think we have perfected our rib recipe. I make the rub, then Ryan does the cooking, and we use our favorite BBQ sauce. We put the camera out so we would remember to take pictures and I only took two! This is one:

Ryan, tending to one of the many racks of ribs. (He'll probably kill me if he sees this pic.)

I've already lost most of the tan I got in Puerto Rico. I'm pretty bummed about being pasty again.
I just heard on tv that Madonna celebrated her 52nd birthday with her 23 year old boyfriend. Holy cow.
I'm officially ready for fall. I'm ready for beautiful leaves, football, brisk walks in the park, and shoes with socks (there comes a point when I'm tired of flip flops and sandals...I'm ready for comfy socks). I think fall in Brooklyn will be beautiful.
I'm also sooo ready for fall TV. I don't watch these competition reality shows that have been on all summer, and I want my sitcoms back. I've loved Bravo's summer lineup, but other than that, I haven't watched much TV at all lately.
Speaking of Bravo...have you watched The Real Housewives of D.C.? The Real Housewives franchise is starting to remind me of The Real World. When it first started it was somewhat genuine and believable. Now it's just a bunch of crazy people thrown together for the most drama they can get. I'm not impressed.
Go over to Kelly's Korner and say CONGRATS!
Everyone is having a baby. Everyone but me. And I'm not even close to freaking out over it. Even though I will be 30 in January. It doesn't bother me even a little bit.
You might remember some earlier posts of mine asking you to pray for Keegan. Keegan is currently thriving at home (although there have been a few scares), and this little video is so precious. Please keep this little guy in your prayers. He will always be fighting, and because of that we need to always be praying for him.
My brother and grandmother will be coming up here for the weekend. She is coming because her sister (who I am named after) passed away. She is from Pennslyvania (yep, I'm 1/4 Yankee), so it will be like coming home for her. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it will be to have my Grandmommy visit me in NY, see my home, where I live, etc. It will be a very busy weekend traveling to neighboring states to see family, but it will still be great.
And on a final note...have you seen that the Hogs are already ranked 19! I won't let myself get too excited about it because usually when we are ranked early we do our best to screw it up royally and make those ranking systems ashamed of themselves, but WOO PIG SOOIE I'm hoping we live up to it!

The lone tomato.

2010-08-11T20:45:00.017-04:00

This is the bounty of my garden so far this summer.

And that is a cherry tomato. Lame. So lame.

The rest of my garden looks like this:

Just kidding. That is my landlord's garden. But luckily, we get to use it some. Sorry for the bad picture.

This is actually our's:

I usually have a prettier table cloth on for guests and pretty green cushions on the chairs. And we have awesome lights on the trellis that you can't see. It doesn't look like much (and it does look better in person) but in NY any outdoor space, especially private outdoor space, is coveted! And my flowers are not blooming because I thought I was too good for Miracle-Gro this year. I learned my lesson. Next year that blue water is being dumped on my plants by the gallons! And Darby wants to eat the fancy organic fertilizer and because it's made with cocoa bean shells she can't eat it or it will make her sick.

This is the rest of my bounty:

Some dried up basil and a jalapeno plant that finally has one little bloom on it that I'm praying will turn into a pepper!

After this summer of container gardening, I'm convinced that it's easier to grow things in a yard. I've had the hardest time keeping them watered. I'm also convinced that no one that has a plot of land, no matter how small, has an excuse for not growing something! (Yes, I'm talking to you!) Get out in your yard and get your hands dirty! It's so great...even if you don't get the results you wanted...there's always next year!

Sunny Puerto Rico

2010-08-09T14:37:00.000-04:00

There is much to do today and either blogger or my computer is having issues, so I will leave you mostly with pictures.

The house...perched on a cliff over the ocean.

The view below.

Another view of the beach.


The house had steps that led down to a beach that was almost completely private.

Ryan on the beach with the waves.


We spent our last night in Puerto Rico in Old San Juan. Our hotel was amazing.


Somehow we got upgraded to the nicest suite in the hotel. We have no idea why...we only reserved a mid-range Queen room, but we didn't complain! The suite was very nice, huge, and cost about 6 times more than the room we reserved. Needless to say, it was a once in a lifetime thing.

Ryan at El Morro.

The view of El Morro and the ocean.

Old San Juan is so quaint. The streets are all brick/cobblestone and narrow. Everything is painted in bright tropical colors, and it's just lovely.

That's about it! Not really...but it's all I have to time to share right now! It was great to be away and enjoy the beach, but it's nice to be home too!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-08-01T06:00:00.003-04:00

I know my last post was a little harsh...but my husband really is great! Today we are celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary and I couldn't be happier!!

I'm so lucky to have a loving, caring, hard-working husband! Sometimes I think that no one in the world can possibly love another person as much as I love him. I feel like I've know him forever (since we were 13), and I can't imagine my life without him. I look forward to him coming home everyday, and I want to spend as much time as possible with him. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, and I love him more everyday.

Simply put...he is wonderful...even when he can't plan a vacation. :)

The week in review.

2010-07-28T14:02:00.000-04:00

So it's only mid-week...but it's been a crazy week so far. Here goes:

ME: "Ryan, did you find a place for us to go on vacation yet?"
RYAN: "No, not yet."
ME: *panic attack*

ME: "Ryan, it's Tuesday...we want to leave on Saturday or Sunday and I still need a passport if we leave the country...find anything good yet?"
RYAN: "I found something in Mexico...oh, wait...it says it's good for families...I don't want a bunch of screaming kids around...no."
ME: "What about Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands...I don't need a passport for those."
RYAN: "Hhhmmm...let me look some more."
ME: *panic attack*

ME: "Found anything?"
RYAN: "Nope...still looking."
ME: "I'm leaving to go see Eclipse again...I can't deal with this."
RYAN: *frown*

ME: *spent 5 hours looking for marriage license to get last name changed on passport in case hubs decided to book his dream trip to Costa Rica...finally found it in box with wedding stuff.* *panic attack*

ME (to the landlord): "I think we have water damage in our dining room."
LANDLORD: "Oh dear...let me take a look."
ME: "We will be out of town next week so you can fix it then if you need to."
LANDLORD: "Oh, great! Where are you goin?"
ME: "I have no idea."

LANDLORD: "I need to replace the original plaster with drywall while you are away, so it will be a bit messy. You'll want to seal off the other rooms. And by the way...we won't be using our house in Puerto Rico next week if you'd like to use it."
ME: *glaring at Ryan and in shock that things seem to be turning in our favor*
RYAN: "That might work for us...we'll look into it."
-landlord leaves.
ME: "We are using their house. Period. End of story."
RYAN: "That sounds great!"

RYAN: "JetBlue won't let me book any flights to Puerto Rico...they were here then they all disappeared."
ME: "Let me do it...you don't know what you are doing obviously."

JETBLUE CUSTOMER SERVICE AGENT: "Hhhmm...it looks like all of our flights to Puerto Rico just disappeared out of the system. There's nothing I can do right now...check back in a few hours."
ME: *panic attack*

RYAN: "Is God telling us not to go anywhere?"
ME: "If we go down in flames, who will get Darby?"

ME (to friend): "I will bring Darby's things by on Sat."
FRIEND: "I won't be able to keep Darby at our house...can we leave at her at your place and just feed her and take her for walks?"
ME: "Our landlord is tearing our dining room apart...nope...that won't work."

ME: "Nicole....HELP!"
Nicole: "Of course I'll keep Darby." (because I'm a nice, generous person that will save the day!)

And that's where we're at so far. We got our flight details ironed out finally. And all panic attacks are on hold until the next thing goes wrong...which should be any moment now. ;)

More of the random...

2010-07-22T23:00:00.000-04:00

1) It's been the longest week in history. It's all because I'm working 4 days this week. 4 day work weeks are always the longest.

2) Today is my Grandmommy's birthday. Almost 2 years ago my Grandmommy told me that my wedding gift from them was her dining room table and chairs. It belonged to her mother, and someday when they don't need it and I have a house, I will have it. I've had so many meals at that table with my family. It's so special...just like her. :)

3) Tonight was one of those nights that I love, love, love living in NY. It was a great night.

4) I'm almost done with the Bree Tanner book. It's getting much better...even without Edward.

5) I've been complaining a lot lately, but at least I don't have bed bugs like our friends. I think that would be the worst. I think it's one of every New Yorker's greatest fears.

6) Today I booked a surprise trip for my hubs' 30th birthday. He knows we are going somewhere (I had to tell him)...but he doesn't know where. I'm horrible with keeping secrets from him...I'm wondering how long I'll last!

That's all for today...have a happy Friday!

A list...

2010-07-20T21:08:00.000-04:00

I can't come up with a cohesive post so I'm making a list. It's the cop-out of posts, but I don't care.

1) I'm watching Twilight for the 100th time. It's on one of the movie channels, nothing else is on, and my husband is working late. It's not my fault.

2) My mother is now into Twilight. I went to see Eclipse for the second time in Little Rock with my mom, my aunt, and my two cousins. It was so much fun, except for the fact that my mom is Team Jacob.

3) How can anyone be Team Jacob? I can't get enough of Edward.

4) I'm trying to read the Bree Tanner book...but I can't get into it...it's all because there's no Edward.

5) Have you read Midnight Sun on Stephenie Meyer's website? Again with the Edward...

6) I promise at some point I'll stop talking about Twilight. I'm even starting to annoy myself.

7) After work I went to the gym all by myself. I'm really liking the gym. I'm so proud.

8) Ryan and I are going on vacation in 2 weeks and we still have no idea where we are going. As much as this frustrates me, I knew when I married him this was part of the deal. Planning is not in his genes.

9) We still have no clue what we are doing with our car or our dog while we are away, and I'm pretty sure the 3 tomatoes I'm going to get off of my 2 plants will be ripe while we are gone. This is stressing me more than not knowing where we are going.

10) I learned something about myself while in Arkansas: if you hurt one of my friends, there is a good chance I will want to go postal on you. Beware. I never knew I had such violent tendencies until I heard more about one of my best friends issues with an ex. Let's just say if I knew someone in the mob this person might not have knee caps anymore. I realize it's not very Christian-like to feel this way, and I'm working on it. So you might not want to go breaking anyone's heart until I get this under control.

11)

My nephew was on his mom's shoulders the other night...and this was the view from behind. Baby butt crack. Precious.

Meeting my Internet Friends

2010-07-14T23:29:00.000-04:00

My husband always makes fun of me because I have a group of friends that I often refer to as my "internet friends". These are people that I consider my friends...even thought we've never met in real life and only talk online mostly via Twitter. If you had told me years ago that I would have friends like that, I would have thought you were crazy. I know it sounds a little strange...or nerdy...or stalkerish...but it's true. I have internet friends.

But now I can call some of my internet friends real friends!!

I'm in Arkansas this week, and on Monday I was able to get together with 5 of the sweetest girls and their sweet babies! When I walked into the restaurant and told the hostess I was meeting some girls, she asked if they were the ones with all the babies, which was pretty funny and very true.

I was able to meet Jenna, Melissa, Julee, Jennifer, and Kelly. They were all the sweetest girls. They were just as genuine as they are on their blogs, not mention that they were all even more beautiful in person than in the pictures you see! (and I was caught in the rain, and was so self-conscience about my hair because these girls have great hair!)

I am holding Brayden in the pic because he decided he wanted to come to me when I was saying bye. He was so precious and funny, and I was shocked...I'm not one babies usually flock to!

After lunch, Kelly took to me to her favorite Sonic (I likened this to going to church with Jesus...Sonic is like our second place of worship and she gets some serious respect at this Sonic! Ha!) It was so fun to be able to chat. Her husband is from my hometown, so it was easy to find common ground and chat easily (I actually have several personal connections with most of the girls...which just proves how small of a world we live in...or at least how small Arkansas is). Harper was in the backseat being a little ham the whole time...she was SO funny and adorable!

I was so nervous, but it was fun to make my internet friends my real life friends! Maybe my husband won't think I'm such a nerd now that I can refer to them as just "friends" from now on?

Sneaking up on me...

2010-07-08T20:38:00.000-04:00

So...I got a little wrapped up in Twilight over the last week (I read all the books Thurs-Wed)...and suddenly I realized I am leaving for AR this Saturday! Our apartment is a mess, the laundry is out of control, and refrigerator is empty. Oops.

We a great holiday weekend with friends. It was also Darby's birthday on the 4th...our little girl is 6 years old! She still acts like a puppy though...we keep waiting for her to calm down and act like a grown dog, but it hasn't happened yet!

I probably won't be blogging much next week...simply because I'm going to be very busy...but I'm sure I'll get back to it when I get back!

I'm going to be traveling all over the state and seeing lots of friends...and I'm so excited about it! I get to see old friends and meet new ones, and see lots of family! I hope to take lots of pictures...which is something I never do...to share with all of you! I hope you had a Happy 4th and are having a great summer so far!