Vacationing at the Beach

HI! 

Life just keeps moving moving MOVING and all of a sudden it is 153 days until Christmas!!!!  EEEKK!!!  did you panic JUST a little?! 

I'm excited - I love Christmas and the season and the music and the decorations! I can't wait!!

The weekend after my dad's surprise party, The Husband and I made our way to Longboat Key on the gulf side of Florida.  His parents vacation there every year and we TRY (and sometimes fail) to make it to their vacation destination.  You can read about past trips here and here.

This year we planned to be there when Larry and Anngela would be there so we could vacation as one big happy family! =) It was so awesome...sans the rain on Saturday and Sunday night. We missed the sunsets those nights but Monday's sunset was GORGEOUS!!!!

We spent a lot of time Saturday and Sunday on the beach - lounging in and near the water.  The boys fished in the surf - targeting pin fish for our fishing trip we planned for Monday. 

   

Sunday night, we went driving around looking for somewhere to eat dinner. The restaurant we WANTED to go to was pretty much under water from the 'monsoon' we were having...so we drove in the other direction.  Us girls know our way to some yummy food because we helped lead the men to Old Salty Dog...DELICIOUS!!!

 

and of course - we didn't let the rain OR THE DARK ruin our opportunity to take some pictures =) 

 

On Monday, The Husband, Larry, and I all went offshore fishing.  I caught my first red grouper! =) 

 

He wasn't a keeper but it was my first and I was proud =)

Finally on Monday we were ACTUALLY able to get some sunset pictures and group shots...to be honest we went picture CRAZY on Monday night....there were three cameras being used! It was so much fun!

    

It was a MUCH NEEDED four day weekend...one where we just went and had a good time. We didn't have to worry about anything....oh and did I mention that The Husband and I got WASTED?! hehe!!! not chocolate wasted either ;) We are definitely light-weights who don't drink a WHOLE lot too often...we were living it up on vacation =)  

Here is what happens to US when we drink though....

NOTE: this is not staged at all - we for real, laid down in our normal clothes and just passed. out! AFTER our round of giggles =) 

Vacation is amazing and needs to be taken more often by us...seriously I think this was our first vacation since 2010 when we went to Longboat and to The Keys.  We need to do this more often =) 

Where was the last place you went on vacation??

If We Lived in the 1800's, We Would Have Amazing Furniture

I am fortunate enough to be married to a very VERY handy guy. 

Some guys are handy; some are not.

It didn't really matter to me one way or the other but I will tell you that I definitely reap so many benefits of him being SUPER handy.  Like the flooring we installed in the new house - check out the 'Our Home' posts from December =) 

OOORRRR the Shoe Shelf he made me here. 

Seriously it is amazing. But the thing we had NOT attempted was going all out and 100% building a piece of furniture.  To be honest - I have these grand ideas for different pieces that I want in the house. Some are definitely attainable; others.....well they will probably be trial and error pieces! 

Before we moved into our new house, I found this AMAZING DIY blog...

this isn't any NORMAL DIY stuff - this is like build your own furniture and never pay for brand new/full price at a retail store kind of thing. It is intense.

Some of you may have heard of the Ana White Blog. 

So amazing - first of all.

It is a blog FULL of furniture plans. seriously awesome.

While perusing it last week, I decided I wanted a nightstand. 

There HAD to be instructions on it that we could handle. 

THERE WAS!!! I was so excited! 

SO naturally - I email the link to The Husband

"Can we do this pretty please?!" 

no response...

immediately text: "CHECK YOUR EMAIL PLEASE"

nothing...

Call: "Babe what are you doing?!"

TH: "Working. what's up"

ME: "did you get my text or email?"

TH: "you mean the ones that I got at the same time? yeah, got it"

OK so I'm REALLY REALLY impatient...like annoyingly impatient. 

So what - he knows that =) 

Anyhow he agreed! I was so so excited! 

We went out on Saturday morning and bought everything we would need...

or so I thought...

We got home and immediately started building.

That is when we discovered that I forgot to add the legs to my list of materials...yes...the legs. 

So we made all our cuts and put it together as best as we could before dinner on Saturday.  Sunday morning we made our trip to the hardware store and picked up the rest of the materials.

Here it is; pre-stain and pre fancy legs!!!

 

I was SO stinkin' excited about it!!!! 

Next to stain.we picked up a really dark brown that we figured would look black.

well...after two coats, it definitely looked black! 

We are so so thrilled with the outcome! 

We have already started planning the next piece of furniture we will build.

I want a buffet or sideboard style piece in the living room on our bare wall...

CAN'T WAIT!!!

Here's one more pic =) 

EEEP!!! SO awesome! I LOVE having a nightstand AND this one cost like $70 versus the $250 it would have cost to purchase the matching brand new night stand...this one is way more perfect for me =) love it!

Is your significant other handy?
have you tried your hand at furniture?

Cheese Steaks and Great Balls of Fire

This past Saturday, The Husband took me to some yummy places to eat. 

Places I have never been before. Adventures in food?! YES PLEASE!

They were delicious!

The Husband has been talking about this cheese-steak place that is about 5 miles from the house for really long time. He went with one of his friends when they were working together and he has raved about it since. Well I wanted Bojangles for breakfast/lunch but i know he always does what I want so I suggested going to the cheese-steak place. I'm not even lying when I tell you The Husband LIT. UP! 

So we finished running our errands for a project I will be sharing later - SUPER EXCITED ABOUT IT! - and on the way home stopped in this little joint. There is a sign as you walk up that reads: "no health food served here". I about died! That was hilarious! I took a picture of it but on The Husband's phone and he deleted it before I could get to it =( 

The sub sizes are 9" and 12" - well I know I "eat like a bird" so I ordered the 9"...yeah. that was the SMALLEST I could get!  The Husband got an original Philly and I got the jalapeno cheddar. YUM! We also ordered a basket of homemade potato chips to share. 

I was not super impressed with the chips but the sandwich was oh so tasty! I'm talking SUPER delicious! This little place didn't take atm/debit/credit/checks/plastic of ANY kind - they were strictly cash only. I thought that was super interesting but luckily The Husband had some cash =) 

I was SO full and felt a little guilty knowing that we were going out to dinner for a friend's birthday that night...but then I remembered how delicious my sandwich was and stopped feeling guilty =) 

For dinner, we went to Joe's Crab Shack. 

Because I was still so incredibly full from lunch, I convinced ol' Hubster to split a couple small appetizers with me. We split 18 steamed shrimp and an order of Great Balls of Fire. They were a combination of jalapeno, crab, and shrimp in a cheese, rolled in a ball and breaded in panko bread crumbs and deep fried! Holy awesome! Seriously so delicious.  I don't know that I will ever order anything else if we go back! 

pic of The Husband and I from dinner at Joe's

oh and of course a sweet pic of me and my seester - for real, how CA-UTE is she?!

 

Do you often try new dishes or restaurants?

{Recipe} Champagne Cupcakes

I saw these on Pinterest - shocking I know! 

BUT the for real shocker is that they are from Betty Crocker! 

I can honestly say I had no idea all the wonderful recipes and concoctions I found existed on BETTY CROCKER! Some of them are SO innovative!! 

Last night I had a hankering for some cupcakes! 

We didn't have many eggs and ZERO oil AND I wanted something fun and NOT boring. 

ENTER: CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES

(should be PINK but this girl doesn't have food coloring)

Champagne Cupcakes

1

box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix (I used Vanilla cake)

1 1/4

cups champagne

1/3

cup vegetable oil

3

egg whites

Buttercream Frosting

1/2

cup butter or margarine, softened

4

cups powdered sugar

1/4

cup milk

1

teaspoon vanilla

• 1
  Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• 2
  In large bowl, mix dry cake mix and champagne. Add oil and egg whites. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
• 3
  Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• 4
  In medium bowl, beat frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle with garnishes. Store loosely covered.

OK NOW I followed the frosting directions. It was THICK! 

so I decided I needed to add some milk...this was my frosting outcome:

When you are finished laughing, NOTE that this frosting was administered VIA A PIPING BAG! 

No, no, I'm not joking.
Seriously - SADDEST attempt EVER. 

I went back and added some more powdered sugar to thicken up the frosting.

VIOLA! Sheer perfection y'all!!! 

AHHHH! Much better! 

I LOVED these! The champagne gave the cake a fresh/crisp flavor.
These would seriously be perfect to take to the beach.

Because I had so many, I took pretty much ALL of them to work today.  

I plan on making a pretty good amount for Saturday night, with some variety so we'll have leftovers this weekend. 

SO what did I learn from this?? Use frosting from the tub - it is PERFECT for decorating...

Seriously people, they perfected cake in a box and frosting in a jar. Take ADVANTAGE.

Just sayin!

Happy almost Friday!!

After a Relaxing Weekend, Let the Stress Begin

Good Monday to y'all! 

I spent Saturday on the lake. It was amazing! The Husband and one of his friends fished the entire time while I lounged around, catchin' some sun and reading Catching Fire. I LOVED it! I was so excited to start Mockingjay that as soon as we got home, I downloaded it to my Nook and started reading! 

I watched the sunrise - and believe it or not, I was in jeans and a sweatshirt.  It was CHILLY out there that morning and a bit breezy. AND I had gotten soaked from the ride out there.  The Husband thought it would be fun to race/outrun the bass boats. yeah - that's how he flexes his muscle sometimes lol. Nevertheless - it was still beautiful

During one of our stops, we saw two very small gators swimming together. Apparently, when they are young, they are insanely curious. Drew kept flipping his plastic bait towards them and they would swim to it. He got one of them to bite down on the bait and he lifted the gator out of the water. The Husband grabbed a hold and let me touch him!!!

I was a bit intimidated but it was SO cool to touch it!! We saw some other much larger gators but we didn't mess with them....one was REALLY big - so I tucked my toes into the boat, instead of hanging over the edge like I started lol! 

Yesterday we went to a Mexican restaurant and it was delicious!! So so good =) The people working there weren't great =/ We went to check out and they kept telling me my card wasn't going through because their system wasn't working...apparently they ran my card FOUR. TIMES. I paid cash and we left...yeah ALL. FOUR. CHARGES. showed up on our bank account by the time I got home. I called and spoke with a manager and today I am going to the bank to talk with them about canceling the charges. Ugh! So frustrating! 

We had a REALLY busy weekend - I was able to watch the Final Four games on Saturday night! So so fun! I found a beautiful Royal Blue nail polish on pinterest by Revlon so guess what THIS girl did after work on Friday - yep, I found the nail polish! I didn't take a picture of what I was wearing on Saturday but it was white and royal blue! I was cheering for KY and KS! 

I had so much fun watching the final four this weekend and tonight it will be a battle of the blues! can't wait to watch!! .... that is if I can stay awake haha! 

My week is already off to a rough start. We are supposed to be kicking off this new program that I have been up to my eyes in since the beginning of December. Today is Day 1 of implementing. At 7:30 when I got in this morning, it was already NOT working. Something about the update they ran this weekend...ugh! I don't know. I just know that I am stressed ALREADY and I can't do anything to help with the problem, I have to wait for SOMEONE ELSE to get up and fix it because I am not the I.T. specialist. 

I was also supposed to be sending out invitations to my birthday party BUT on Saturday I realized that I had my AGE wrong - yeah, that was awkward ESPECIALLY because I didn't notice, my sister did. Ugh so I have to remake them which is whatever but it is just one. more. thing. and they'll get out and most people know by word of mouth anyway but what GIRL doesn't LOVE getting happies in the mail?! I know I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting mail...well HAPPY mail - bills are lame =)

Needless to say I will be getting in a couple miles after work.

How was your weekend??

This Means War

You will be delighted to know that this post title has nothing to do with my life or potential drama in it! Woo HOO!!! I am talking about the movie.

After the chili cook off on Saturday, we headed to the movies. First of all, I just want to say that AMC ticket prices are INSANE! Thankfully we had gift cards and I always ALWAYS smuggle snacks in my purse.



 I absolutely 100% LOVE Reese Witherspoon. I think she is so talented oh and how about she is gorgeous! Do I hear girl crush?! I watched Legally Blonde and Sweet Home Alabama on Sunday because I think she is amazing. ESPECIALLY in Legally Blonde- the role she almost turned down! (I know these aren't her very best movies - but they are the ones I own lol)

The men in this movie were super fun to look at and they acted well. Don't roll your eyes - sometimes people are cast in a movie for their look but they can't act a lick! There are a handful of movies that I feel are like this but I won't hate on them =) Maybe I just don't get it =)

Overall - I would most certainly give this movie an A! It was funny, romantic, had some action, had some crazy...it ran the gamut! Seriously - something in this film for everyone =) ....except maybe the kiddies! =)
The story line was fun, albeit a tiny predictable, but come on! It was a rom-com with some action built in...there is USUALLY a little element of predictability. That just goes with the territory.

I recommend this movie hands down - it was a great date night film! Yes - The Husband also found it extremely entertaining.

In other news - I received my Favorite Things Swap package! I'll be posting about it tonight when I get home =)

Have you seen any movies lately?
Do you warn people about bad movies?

{Recipe} Strawberry Cupcake-Brownies

Many of you have probably seen this amazing looking treat floating around on Pinterest. I saw them and wanted to make these for Valentine's Day. Well we ended up being super busy last weekend and then all week last week that these yummies had to be put on hold. I found time last night while The Husband made dinner! YAY!

The ORIGINAL recipe can be found at Allrecipes.com. Jen at I heart 2 stamp made the strawberry cake modification.

{Ingredients}

1 box brownies

1/2 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

1 box Strawberry cake mix

3 egg whites

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/3 cup water

frosting!!

{Directions}

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners - or in my case, wipe butter on the inside of all the cups...seriously though - if you remember cup liners, those would be the better option =)

Whisk together the brownie mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, and 1/4 cup water in a bowl. stir just until fully incorporated; set aside.

Mix the cake mix, 2 tablespoons canola oil, 1 1/3 cup water, and 3 egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Spoon the brownie batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 1/3 full (or in my case - it is a half and half mix! oops haha!)

Spoon the cake batter over the brownie batter, until muffin cups are 2/3 full each (or completely full if you are me haha)

Bake in preheated over until 'golden' -- about 20 minutes.

We opted for cream cheese frosting - which was definitely the optimal choice =)

they were so so delicious. I am so happy that I decided to make these cupcake-brownie things. Seriously - they are so good. The house smelled wonderful; we couldn't decide if we smelled the strawberry cake or the brownies! For real - go make these, like NOW! =)

Do you like cake or cupcakes better?
Do you like trying new cupcakes?

All Address Changes are Final

Well it is official! After nearly three months, everyone has made the address change. I know I know EVERYONE?! Ok so that definitely makes it sound like a lot of people but in reality it is two people and the pup =)

The Hubs and I made the change a couple weeks ago when we played hookie from work and saw Sherlock Holmes 2 - which I totally recommend that y'all go see it! ESPECIALLY if you really enjoyed the first one! I just huge pink puffy heart Robert Downey Jr. I love this side of his story/career =)

The pup still 'resided' at the old house! That would simply NOT do! So yesterday while taking my lunch break, I popped into PetSmart and had a new one made =) That laser engraving machine is pretty amazing! OK so when I got home, I put the new tag on him and tried to get a good shot of him wearing it.  Yeah - he thought I had a treat and got really really excited...it was very entertaining...

 

 

 

Yeah - he was tired of being my model lol so I sat on the floor with him =)

ALMOST:

and we FINALLY got a good shot of him AND the tag =)

 

Yay for a new tag! Obviously I can't show you the back - I love you all BUT I don't need to get random creepers calling me or knocking on my door! =) So you get a front view =)

So after almost three months of owning a home, all the address changes have FINALLY been made...That is really impressive considering after nearly two years of wedded bliss I think I still have some stuff that is addressed to my maiden name! WHOOPSIE!!! =)

Happy Halfway Through The Week!!

How long does it take you to make all your address changes?
If you are married, did it take FOREVER to make all the name changes?

{Recipe} Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

Alright y'all - so my girl at work made these UH-MAZING cupcakes and brought them in to share. They were so delicious that I am pretty sure I ate most of them. She didn't have frosting for them, so I ate them with my coffee. DELISH!  I bothered her for the entire day asked her for the recipe and she got it from her mother. 

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

 

{Ingredients}

1 pkg yellow cake mix

1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

3 eggs

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

{Directions}

Preheat oven to 350*.

Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed, just until moistened.  Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.  Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full. 

**Note** I did not have ground cloves, so I went without....the recipe is STILL PHENOMENAL!!

Bake for 20 minutes.

To frost, I used store bought cream cheese frosting - DIVINE! Oh my goodness, so yummy! I may have to make more!! I'm craving them now!!

PLEASE let me know what you think should you try the recipe!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!