All About Hair - Updo's and Decorations

So today is the big day of Erica's wedding and Isabelle and Gia needed to get their hair all done up.  A big thank you to Becky for coming over and doing such a great job on their hair!  It's good to have awesome neighbors!

First, I gave myself a little project today of making a flower to go in Izzy's hair made from the leftover material from dress alterations.  I'm not a crafty person but thought I did a pretty damn good job.

Again, thanks Becky for doing the girls hair, here is the finished up do's!

Off to do wedding stuff!

Poker and Boobs

Yes, you read it right...poker and boobs.  Joe and I took a day trip to Lake Cumberland yesterday and spent the day on the lake with my sister Karen and her husband, Rick.  It was Poker Run...there was a lot of flashing of breasts (by others, not me!).  But Karen's were quite possibly the best....

I think she ended up with more beads than women who were showing the real thing!  Besides her beautiful breasts, she also made us all our own poker hats.

We had a great time, sun most of the day, plus a major thunderstorm but we had suits on so it didn't matter if we got wet!

I brought down some cookies from my recipe stack.  Consensus was everyone liked them but I had some issues, I either cooked them too long or not long enough, I couldn't get it just right.  I'm a pretty good baker but a terrible cookie maker.  I guess this recipe is a keeper:

Family Favorite Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 cup ap flour and 3/4 whole wheat)

1 tsp baking powder

1tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine (butter)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup crisp rice cereal

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup uncooked quick or old fashioned oats

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.  In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in eggs and vanilla, scraping sides occasionally.  Beat in flour mixture until blended.  Stir in chocolate, cereal, coconut and oats.  Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 in apart on ungreased baking sheets (I didn't grease the first time and had trouble getting them off the pan so I greased up after that!).  Bake 12 minutes until lightly golden brown and edges look crisp.  Let stand on wire rack for 2 minutes.  Remove and cool completely.

Enjoy.  Now I'm going to go rest up and do nothing else today.

Why do you always drink beer on Thursdays?

Because Mom comes over for dinner on Thursdays!  Just kidding Mom!  Anyway, that's what Isabelle asked me today as I sipped an ice cold Heineken!

So, I'm starting a project.  Over the course of many, many years, I have clipped and saved receipes from various places.  The stack is about an inch or 2 thick.  I'm going to make every one of them.  Cream of mushroom soup and cheez whiz be damned!  If I saved it, I'm making it.  Then I'll know if it gets pitched or saved in my recipe book.  What better way to try these recipes out than on Mom when she's over her for dinner on Thursdays.  Dad gets to try them too but in leftover form, he works at the golf course on Thursdays so he gets a doggy bag.

So tonight I made "Smoked Pork Chops" and I will say...it's a keeper.  Here's the recipe (its a strange combo but turned out excellent)

3/4 cup Italian salad dresing
2 tablespoons applesauce
2 tablespoons salsa
1 tablespoon sugar
salt/pepper
pork chops (6)

Mix ingredients, mariante pork overnight then smoke or grill.  I didn't pour all the marinade over the pork chops, I saved a little for brushing the chops occasionally while grilling.

I adore my little Weber kettle grill.  No gas for this girl!

I also made desert, an Oatmeal Pie.  Verdcit:  pitch it.  Didn't even deserve a picture.  But I'll include the recipe here because look how easy it is to make.  Just didn't wow me enough to be a keeper.

OK, hold on, I was typing the receipe and didn't make it exactly as written...I'm not even going to tell you what I did because it would be too embarassing to admit.

Tomorrow I will be making some cookies for the weekend, I'll let you know how it goes.

What a shitty day!

Well, not really but I did have a bird shit on me! I was sitting under the trees in the garden at work, I was on the last page of this month’s Fitness magazine (thanks for the subscription sis!) and all of the sudden…plop! Really? I was just about to get up and you shit on me now! The worst part: it was on my back, I was by myself, and I had no one to check to make sure I got it all off. So realistically I could have walked into work with bird shit on my back! Luckily I had a napkin with me and it was up high enough on my back that I could reach it!


There is good news! I went shopping at Kohl’s over the weekend and found some great clearance items: these cute shoes ($13.00) and belt ($4.00) that look like they came straight out of the September issue of Glamour (my bible, thanks again to sis for the subscription).

I pulled out this dress to wear them with today, I haven’t worn it in a really long time but it looks great with my new purchases, don’t you think? Thanks to Izzy for being my photographer, although she cut off my feet and we were laughing so hard because I couldn’t really balance that well and was wobbling why it took her forever to take the picture. She thinks I’m a dork for having a blog but I think she secretly thinks it’s cool…as long as I don’t tell anyone I shop at Goodwill.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

5 years old and already knows the power of the sleep mask...Gia takes after her mother, I don't slumber without one! Good thing I have two because she has stolen one!

She had an eventful night, this weekend is our church festival and she has been riding the rides with her weekend pass like nobodies business!

Goodwill meets fall fashion

My trip to Goodwill paid off.  I picked up this military inspired jacket. 

My inspiration came from this month's Glamour. I got mine for WAY under $100; $3.50 to be exact!

Prjoect One - Designing this blog

This is going to be interesting.  While I know my way around a computer, creating this blog is going to be a project within itself.  First I have thoughts like:  Is my life really interesting enough?  Can I make this thing cool enough for people to be interested?  Then, I think:  Who cares?  This is my attempt to preserve moments in time.  I hope anyone who joins me on the journey will enjoy this peek into my everyday life.

So now I'm off to Goodwill, one of my passions you'll hear a lot about.  Saturday is 50% off the store day!  Never know what you'll find...