Weekend

February 29, 2012
 I know I am a little late on my weekend recap but I think it was worth the wait.  What a hectic week and weekend it has been for me the past two weeks.  I have worked over 60 hours a week for the past two weeks and going nonstop the entire weekend.  I was able to slip away to the mall for a long overdue shoe buying trip and found a few that I had to bring home with me!  



My weekend consisted of enjoying the festivities of a birthday party, did grocery shopping for the week (see this post), brought home fresh flowers for my entry, and shoe shopping!  I have been cooking, and so far we have not  missed the eating out!  7 days down, 33 more to go!

I tried on what seems to be tons of shoes, but in the end I narrowed it down to four.  I love the shoes I picked out. 



I love having fresh flowers for the house.


 So here is a little recap on my meals, with the exception of the bottom pic which was from the birthday party...... just in case someone wanted to call me out on the slice of pizza!!!


Some of the shoes I tried on.  And yes that is my flip flop in the right corner.  There is no snow on the ground!!




And these Uggs? I love them.  Check out the lacing up the back.  They are light, thin and the sole is not as thick and heavy as a winter Ugg.  They are definitely a spring boot (if there is such thing).  I don't think I could justify them.  But I can wish.





These beauties could very well make it to my closet!



So I ended up with two flats, one pair being the TOMS, and two sandals with a little bit of a wedge heel.  I love all my new shoes. Now I need to break them all in! 





Heels vs. Flats

February 27, 2012
Happy Monday!!  Hope you had a relaxing weekend.  Mine was jam packed.  I will share the highlights a little later. 

I love all of these..... the unfortunate thing is that heels don't love me as much any more.  My ankles tend to hurt after a few hours in heels.  I use to be able to wear heels for hours on end, and even dance the night away in them.  (That would be in my younger years)  I miss the days of a sassy pair of heels.  I have become a flats girl! And of course to know me is to know that there are only two rules to not wearing a pair of flip flops on any given day ....... snow, actually coming down not already on the ground and ice on the ground.  Rubber soles and ice don't mix (don't ask how I know this fact)  So I can dream of these lovelies in my closet but I will have to settle on flats! 



There are so many cute styles to choose from!  I plan on shoe shopping this week.  I will let you know what I find. I hope I can score a pair of these Toms.  I hear they sell out fast!


Scent of a woman

February 23, 2012
Fruity or woodsy?  Citrus or spice?  There are so many good choices of fragrances its hard to pick just one.  I wore the same scent for many years until recently.  I was on vacation in Naples on a girls trip and while shopping in Saks I asked for a sample of the most popular fragrance at the Jo Malone counter.  What attracted me to the counter was their display of scents.  SO many!  I went home with 6 samples.  I was in love with a new fragrance.  The next day after the beach the girls and I went shopping again (I know, I know shopping again?)  I had narrowed down the samples to two favorites.  I wanted to wear the scent for a few days and have my guy smell it on me before making the purchase.  Little did I know that you could not buy the perfume in my city, or for that matter the whole state. 


I flew home and he loved them as much as I did.  I decided that if I was going to order the fragrance from out of state I would order from a address with some status!!  Madison Avenue store in NYC.  I have been ordering from them now for several years and they are always so sweet and fast in getting my shipment to me.  They wrap your bottles in pale yellow boxes tied with black grosgrain ribbon. It is always a treat to open the box.   My original two favorites have grown to 6.  They discontinued one of my original favorites as it was limited edition.  If you have the chance to stop by a Jo Malone counter ask for a sample.  I promise you won't be disappointed. I know this sounds like a promotion for Jo Malone But it is strickly my personal opinion.













These are wonderful fragrances as well.  I have worn all of these but the Prada. The Gucci is a great winter fragrance as it is a tad heavy on me.   I really like the Trish Mc Evoy for the summer.  What are some of your favorite fragrances?  Do you wear the same all year round or do you change with the seasons?  I would love to hear your favorites.




1//2//3//4//5//

40 Days.....

February 22, 2012
Today marks the beginning of lent.  I read someone’s twitter this morning that I thought was very fitting for the day.
“Now remember, if you say you’re giving something up for lent but you’re actually doing it to lose weight, baby Jesus will do crying”.    Not too sure about the crying part, but you get the point I hope. 
In the past I have given up something that was challenging.  (Cookies generally are my downfall and those darling little girl scouts are out selling the heck out of the cookies in my neighborhood).  Last year was cursing.  That lasted all of about a day!  So I started thinking about what would truly be a sacrifice.  We recently have been eating out. A LOT!  I complained last week to the bf that I was tired of not having a meal plan anymore and we have gotten away from cooking meals. I enjoy cooking as long as I have appreciative eaters!  He is a great prep in the kitchen and we enjoy the time together.   EUREKA!!  I found it!  We will give up eating out for lent……
Now mind you this came with a little resistance.  (He told me I wasn’t the boss of him) Right, but he pondered for just a bit and realized this had many benefits.  1.  Healthy eating    2.  Savings, and     3.  Meal plans!
So starting today and for the next 40 days we will not eat out.  I wasn’t completely prepared for the new plan so I will be grocery shopping tonight on my way home.  I set out pork for dinner and my plan is to lightly bread them in panko crumbs and bake them.  Maybe even some steamed vegies!  I’ll let you know how this goes!!  Oh, and by the way, if I do lose some weight along the way it couldn’t hurt!

Via


Mad for Mint

February 22, 2012
After seeing this shade in so many chic options, I'm re thinking all my pre-conceived notions of gender neutral nurseries, and ice cream.  And, while I don't think I could pull off this hue in a full blown outfit, a hint of mint in my accessories just suddenly seems so very inviting to me.  Maybe even a late night snack of mint chocolate chip ice cream in these adorable bowls.   

Queen of Spades

February 21, 2012
I am ready for spring.  Are you?

The Kate Spade store here has this display in here windows.  SO fun!
      Kate Spade style is fun!  Colorful! I like the playfulness of everything she designs!   

Images courtesy Kate Spade



Homegoods

February 16, 2012
Look at what I found while browsing thru Homegoods.....  I do believe this was on my wish list.  I'm not pleased with the workmanship, namely the drawers seem flimsy. So for now this will have to stay on my wishing list!








Photos by Lisa

Cupids Arrow

February 14, 2012
Look at what cupid brought me for this Valentines. My BF is the sweetest. I first fell in love with this necklace on the Real Housewives of Orange County (don't judge the drama I watch) when Alexis received one from her husband. My poor guy, every time she would have hers on I would point it out.  Hers was encrusted with about two carats of diamonds.  I opted for the less $$$ and more versatile one.  I love it.  I have lusted over this every time I see someone write about it on their blog or post a pic of them wearing theirs. It has a delicate chain and hangs just perfect.  I can't wait to wear it!  Happy Valentines Day.  What did your cupid bring you?







Labor of Love

February 13, 2012




I am no Martha Stewart, or Pioneer Woman.  I do however like to bake.  I recently came across a cute idea on pinterest to make mini pies with your cupcake muffin pan.  Cute idea!  They had made apple pies, but my BF and youngest prefer cherry so I decided for valentines I would make them.  



Cast


Cupcake muffin pan, one can of pie filling of your choice, and one box of refrigerator pie dough.  (Or if your really suzy homemaker you can make it from scratch.)




Preparation

I used a coffee mug to make the circles big enough to fit the muffin tin.  All those little divots you see in the dough is where my nails got in the way of pressing the dough.




Divide the pie filling evenly into the cups.



Okay so here is where it gets tricky!!!  I was feeling good until I got to this part. I could have used more dough to cut the strips so I had to be creative with the left over dough scraps to fill all the tops.  Not the prettiest, but I was hoping they would look better after baked.






Baked Pies


Well they were a hugh hit. The cherry filling bubbled out of the edges making them look a bit messy still.  They may not be county fair blue ribbon pies by the looks of them, but they all disappeared in under 24 hours.





I told my daughter in law that she should make the apple pies for my son for valentines!  I hope she has better basket weave tops than mine!!

Union Jack

February 08, 2012

This is my youngest son's room.  This is the after picture, AND the before picture.  You see my youngest is 15, soon to be 16. If you have never experienced a teenage boy in your house (this is my third) you haven't experienced the carnage they can do to a wall.  There were so many holes from posters and pictures and then moving of said posters, then moving again that I thought we would have to replace the sheet rock.

 He went to summer camp in Minnesota for a month this past summer and I thought it was a perfect time to redecorate.  He helped before he left by taking everything down and moving everything out for me.  I proposed the idea of the Union Jack flag for the focal wall.  (He is a big Beatles fan.) I didn't want to go to all that work for him to hate it.  He agreed that it was cool!  So I began my trasformation from a latte colored room (sorry I dont have those pics, and trust me you wouldn't want to see them) to this color.  It is Behr Parchment Paper.  We searched for the Union Jack and the proper way to paint the design.  After taping and more taping, I began painting.  It took me about a week from start to finish. He Loved it!











working away





Admiring my finished project.  Look at that pile of tape on the floor!





I think this would look great on his bed!  What do you think?



Get it here






Photos by Lisa

Orlando

February 07, 2012


Friends...
I recently traveled to Orlando on business for a week.  While there I met two wonderful gals that I gladly can call my friends now.  They were there on the same business.  We ended up spending every moment outside of the class together.  Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner, then sightseeing and shopping.  We were less than a mile from Disney World so we hopped over to Downtown Disney two nights.  Carol is from Boston, and Cheryl is from a Dallas suburb. We shared receipes, storys of our kids, and grandkids, our husbands (BF for me) and  funny stories about ourselves.  It was as if we were meant to be friends.  We vowed to stay connected after the class and I can successfully say that we have.  Have you ever met someone and just connected?  Does this happen to you?

This was made out of Legos in the lagoon
The Night Sky







 



Pirates of the Caribbean Store


We spent time in the Toy Story shop with Mister Potato Head.  We had fun shopping for the grandkids!  We hurried back to our rooms to put together several variations of Mister potato Head..... (A little quality control ya know) hehe.  The had every imaginable part to make endless potato heads.  It was so much fun!


Tourist At Disney World Potato Head

 Carol


Me




Cheryl


Darth Vader Potato Head

Aren't we all just big kids at heart? Thanks Carol and Cheryl for making the class so fun!





All images by Lisa and Cheryl

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