The Little Black Rain Cloud

Breaking Dawn Infatuation

2012-02-12T18:34:00.000-05:00

Aww....the weekend is almost over! Man, they always go by way to quickly. I had a pretty uneventful weekend, as I've been totally infatuated with the Breaking Dawn movie that came out at midnight Saturday morning. My Target, closest to me didn't have the midnight event, so I didn't get it then...although plans were in the works until I realized I would have to drive to a crazy Target several miles away. Oh well...I was on the phone around midnight with my fiance who was running into Walmart to pick up some random things and he walked into the Twilight mob there, which I found amusing. He said it was nuts...people were standing in line for Twilight cupcakes and not even grabbing the movie and going. As for me, as soon as I woke up on Saturday, I headed to Target to snag my copy and promptly came home to watch it, but it took me all day to watch the darn movie, as I think I got about 4 phone calls over the course of the movie. So bizarre because it was people I hadn't heard from for awhile, so I loved all the phone calls. I have to admit though....I've watched the movie three times already this weekend and have just had the intro screen of the dvd on the rest of the time just because I love the instrumental music....guess I better download the instrumental soundtrack.

I'm a little jealous of my parents this week, as they left on Saturday for San Diego, CA until Thursday. I loved San Diego when I got to go back in 2000 for a graduation present. It was just me & my mom, which was nice. The plants & flowers out there are insanely gorgeous, but they are all imported from the pacific islands. San Diego has to have one of the best zoos I've ever been too as well! I remember a baby panda had just been born and we got to see it on the trip, which was pretty cool. My sister just messaged me a few minutes ago that mom called and said she was sitting in Sea Port Village admiring the view & to make sure and rub it in....lol. Oh well....hope they have a good time, as it's much deserved. Anyways, that's about all I had to ramble about today. Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Eight Days Designs

2012-02-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

What's up everybody??? Getting ready for game day? I probably won't watch it myself, as my 49ners didn't make it...darn it! I'm sure I'll get the play by play of the game on Facebook if I really want to know the score.

Speaking of Facebook...I got super lucky the other day. One of those right time, right place things. One of the Facebook Fan Pages I "Like" on there called Eight Days Designs (Soon to be Rebranded) posted that she was looking for some people to practice a new style of illustration on for her portfolio. I volunteered & she did up a cute little illustration of me.

What do you think? She tied in my rain cloud from my blog name and she captured me in my typical weekend winter months attire....jeans, an orange Longhorns hoodie and sandals. I'm not sure how I'll use the illustration yet, but I love it! If you're looking for someone to do an illustration for you or a blog design...Go check out Laura's site over at Eight Days Designs!

Favorite Things at the Moment & Keurig K-Cup Giveaway

2012-01-29T18:58:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I did a favorite things post, so I thought it was about time that I did one.

I'm loving my new mini Keurig that my parents bought me for Christmas. For one, I love that it is a nice & cheery red that adds a little pop of color to my kitchen counter. I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I love flavored coffee type drinks, hot tea, hot cocoa & things of that nature. This little sucker is awesome in the morning, even if you're in a hurry to get out the door, but want that cup of joe to go. You can put the water in the Keurig, pop in the k-cup of your choice and hit the brew button and you've got your fresh, piping hot drink ready within literally a couple of minutes. My favorite flavor so far is Cafe Mocha. What flavors do you recommend?? I seen a french vanilla cappuccino on Amazon that I may have to order & try. Yum!

Next on my list is also a Keurig related item. The Ekobrew is a reusable filter that you can use in your Keurig in place of a k-cup. It makes using the Keurig super affordable! You can put just buy your favorite tin of coffee like Folgers, Maxwell House or what have you and just put the desired amount right in this little guy and boom....coffee in a flash! You can even use it with loose teas as well! How awesome is that?? Another added bonus is you don't have to remove any parts from your Keurig to use this like you do with some filters. Just pop it right in like you would with a regular k-cup! Suh-weet!

Number 3 on my list is this awesome little idea I seen on Pinterest. I'm a very visual person, so I figured this may be that extra boost of encouragement to stick with a diet, if I'm seeing the results in this way. I ran out to Michael's today and picked up a couple of small Mason Jars, along with a couple of bags of decorative gems. They are clear and then they also had heart gems mixed in with them...so cute. So I'll put in the clear gems for each pound and for every 5lb mark, I'll put a heart gem into the jar...love this idea! Wish I would have thought about it myself or seen it sooner! Really affordable though...it cost less than $10 for the supplies! :)

Fourth item on my list today is the Olay Professional Pro-X Advanced Cleaning System. I have to admit, I've had this little sucker on my wish list for some time now & I finally broke down and bought it yesterday while I was at Target, as it came with a full size exfoliating renewal cleaners as well as a travel size for only $29.99...I actually think I see this in there weekly ad this morning. I tried this little puppy out last night for the first time & it is awesome! Seriously, you wouldn't believe how much crap is left on your face AFTER you've washed your face. Go ahead...go out and get this & go home and wash your face, then use this...all of the makeup you thought you had removed shows up on the brush...it's crazy. You won't believe how incredibly soft & smooth your face will feel after using the Pro-X. I'm so glad I finally broke down & bought it!

If you're kind of clumsy like me & have a tendency to drop your phone sometimes or accidentally knock it off the table, than this is the iPhone case for you! I finally upgraded to the iPhone 4 in November & carried it around in nothing but a little zippered fabric pouch. I researched & tried to figure out the kind of case I wanted to protect my precious phone & heard several people at work comment that they loved there cases like this, so I found the color I liked and purchased the Otterbox Defender Case. It's actually a hard plastic case, that has a hard plastic cover to protect the face & the touchscreen works just as if nothing was covering it at all! Then you put the rubber cover over the plastic case & BAM! You have one super protective case!

The last thing I have on my list of favorite things at the moment post is Boots No.7 Mineral Perfection Foundation with SPF15. I've tried several of the more known mineral foundations out there and this one is by far my favorite. I first came across it at Target, when they were handing out coupons when they first started carrying it. It's a lot more affordable than most of your mineral makeup. I believe it's only around $13.99 at Target. I love to use this in the summer when it's horribly hot and normal foundation just feels so heavy and then makes you feel like your face is going to melt off. This gives you the perfect coverage, plus it has sun protection in it as well. Plus it comes with a great make-up brush everytime you buy a new box!

Well, that about wraps up my favorite things at the moment post, but I also thought it was about time I did a giveaway of some sort. So, that being said, I wanted to go ahead and do a small giveaway of a 12 pack variety of Keurig K-Cups.

~~Keurig 12 count K-Cup Giveaway!~~

How to Enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me of your favorite tea, coffee, k-cup flavor, etc.

Optional Entries:

* 1. Like me on Facebook & leave a separate comment that you've done so.

* 2. Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter & mention me in the tweet @littleraincloud & leave a separate comment that you've done so.

* 3. Follow me on Twitter.

Giveaway closes at 11:59pm on Saturday, February 4th & I'll announce the winner on Sunday.

Congrats to the Giveaway winner Ginger. I e-mailed you.

What is the Deal with the Hello Friend Commercials?

2012-01-28T00:00:00.004-05:00

Hello friend! Are all of these vague "HelloFriend" commercials driving anyone else nuts?? I see different commercials all of the time and they are all so random! It's like this mini commercial for nothing and ends with a blue screen with the phrase "hellofriend" in yellow letters. Bizarre! I know I was out driving last weekend and even came across a huge billboard stating "hellofriend"!

I was just watching the news tonight & they stated that the commercials are actually created by the cable company, Brighthouse. Someone in there marketing department is pretty smart, because I'm sure everyone else out there is just as curious as I am. I have a feeling we'll be finding out the reason for these commercials during the Super Bowl! Sometimes I think people turn in to the Super Bowl just to see the new & crazy commercials that always air during the game every year & could care less about the game. If the reasoning behind these bizarro commercials isn't revealed during the Super Bowl, then I don't know what Brighthouse's intentions are behind these commercials. Come On Brighthouse....inquiring minds want to know!

Game Day Appetizers

2012-01-27T18:28:00.001-05:00

Well, with the big game day quickly approaching, I thought I'd pop in & leave you with a few yummy appetizers that everyone will love! Enjoy!

This first appetizer, I stumbled upon while perusing on Pinterest. It looked like a super cute and easy idea for a quick little meal in a jar. Chili in a mason jar, topped with cornbread....how easy is that?? Super portable, individual servings & super cute to boot!! Check out the how to over at the giverslog blog.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 (10 oz) box of frozen, chopped spinach (thawed)
1 (14oz) can of artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1 cup Shredded parmesan/romano cheese blend
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
10 oz prepared alfredo sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
4 oz (1/2 pkg) of softened cream cheese

*Combine ingredients throughly in a bowl and spread mixture into a small baking dish. Bake in the oven, preheated to 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheeses are bubbling and melted. Serve warm with tortilla chips. YUMMO!!

BBQ Cups

3/4 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup of BBQ sauce
1 tbsp dried minced onion
1 (12oz) pkg refrigerated biscuit dough
1/3 cup shredded chedder cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the cups of a muffin pan.

In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, cook beef until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir in barbeque sauce and dried onion. Simmer for a few minutes over low heat.
Flatten each biscuit, and press into cups of the prepared muffin pan. Make sure the dough comes to the top of the pan. Spoon a portion of the meat mixture into each dough cup.
Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 3 more minutes.

This one is always a big hit! You can also fill the cups with pulled pork, taco meat, etc...

Yummy Taco Dip

Equal parts sour cream and cream cheese. I used 16 oz. Of each. 1 1/12 packets of Taco seasoning. You mix that all together and spread in the bottom of a 9x13 dish. Then chill overnight. The following day, top with chopped lettuce, cheddar cheese, tomatoes and olives. Get yourself a bag of tortilla chips & you're set....so good!!

Anyways, those are just a few of my favorite apps that are super easy and will win over the hungry crowd every time!

A Sunday Stroll with the Manatees

2012-01-24T20:40:00.000-05:00

Long time, no see! I've really got to start scheduling posts or something or else I just never seem to get around to posting more than once a week these days. Anyways, just wanted to pop in and say "Hey"! I had a pretty lazy day on Saturday & didn't do much of anything other then some housecleaning and watching some t.v. shows on hulu. Then on Sunday, my friend, Stephanie and I went to Blue Springs State Park so we could see the manatees, which are my favorite animal ever....I just think they are adorable! If we would have gotten there around 8am (too early for a weekend) we could have seen about 80 of them in the springs, but by the time we rolled into the park around 11am, there were probably only about 20 or so, which was plenty for me. We also seen a gator, a turtle & tons of fish & birds. It was an awesome opportunity for Stephanie to try out her new fancy schmancy camera she got for Christmas....now I want one! I'm not going to do an in depth post about the park right now, as I'll be posting about it when I post for a local tourism website in April on things to do in the area. If you want to find out a little more about the park now, head on over to Simply Stephanie to check out her post. I will leave you with some awesome pics by noted nature photographer, Stephanie K. :)

Manatee's Galore....HEAVEN!

Coming Up for Air

A Curious Squirrel

Mama & Baby

Me & a mosaic manatee

The Partner in Crime & I

Inspiration Workshop - Bedrooms

2012-01-19T00:00:00.001-05:00

Hello my peeps! Guess what? The Inspiration Workshop Link Up Party hosted by Gussy Sews is back! I think everyone has recuperated from the holidays & are getting back to posting a little more regularly. I need to get on the ball a little more in that aspect, but at least the link up party keeps me posting every Thursday. The prompt that was sent out for this weeks Inspiration Workshop was: Bedroom

I'm not sure about all of you, but my bedroom is pretty dull. I love my bed, which is a dark brown leather with dark brown furniture, but not much else going on in there. I do have a couple of pics on the walls, but I have yet to find that perfect picture to hang above the bed & that would make a big difference right there. Well, the pictures I found below are of some very dreamy bedrooms that I would love to have. I found all on pinterest & provided the links below the pictures. It was hard to narrow it down to just a few! :) Enjoy!

{Photo Credit}

{My Favorite}

{Swoon....doesn't it look so cozy!}

{So warm & inviting!}

{Love the open feel of this room}

{This would be a cute guest bedroom}

Adorable Puppies!

2012-01-10T19:25:00.002-05:00

Not much to write tonight because I must get back to reading "The Hunger Games". I had a hard time putting it down last night, but if I wouldn't have put it down I would have been up till the wee hours of the night trying to finish and then you wouldn't have had a very happy camper at work this morning. This is such an awesome book...I can't wait till I finish and get on to the next book in the series! I love it when I find great books like this to read...I know...I'm a nerd! Anyways, I promised I'd post some puppy pics as soon as my sister sent me some. I can't wait to see pictures of them as they get older, as it's hard to tell how they are going to look right now since they are so tiny. The mama is full bred long haired miniature dachshund and papa is half chihuahua, half pug...I'll post pics of them again below! Enjoy! Now off to read!

Here are the parents....Emmy & Scooter

Emmy Being A Good Mama to her 6 Pups

Here is Scooter (the dad) when he was a puppy...as well as their first encounter & photo togeter...Emmy wasn't amused!

Another Lazy Weekend

2012-01-08T17:54:00.000-05:00

Hello, my peeps! Can you believe another weekend has flown by once again?! They just go way too fast! What have you all been up to this week? Nothing to exciting here...just getting into the groove of working after the holidays. This week will actually be my first full work week since the holidays, but never fear...we get a 3 day weekend after those 5 days! Yay! The only bummer is that the next holiday we get off isn't until the end of May. **insert sad face here**

This week I watched the dvd I got for Christmas, "Crazy, Stupid, Love". It was a really good movie! It wasn't as good as I hoped it was going to be, but I set pretty high expectations sometimes for movies and they just don't meet them. Loved all the actors in the movie, so I just had to watch it. Man, Ryan Gosling alone is worth watching the movie! Hubba, Hubba! It's the second feature from co-directors Glenn Ficarra & John Requa. There first directing debut was the zany, crazy, wacky, TRUE story, called, "I Love You Phillip Morris". Now if you haven't watched that movie...I'd have to say watch it. I found if very entertaining & very hysterical, especially the fact that it was based on true events. It's so quirky, it's good. I stumbled upon it on streaming Netflix one weekend when I was bored.
It's kind of got that "Catch Me If You Can" movie feel to it. You'll know what I mean after you watch it!

I did get a chance to watch the movie "The Help" over Christmas, which if you haven't read the book...go out and get it now and read it for crying out loud! Awesome book! Once again, high expectations were set for the movie & they were met! Excellent, excellent movie! Probably one of the only movies that actually followed the book pretty perfectly! The same parts you crack up laughing at in the movie and the same things your were laughing out loud about when you were reading the book. So, I highly recommend watching this movie....but as I always say...read the book first!

In anticipation for "The Hunger Games" movie that is coming out this March....I went out and got "The Hunger Games", "Catching Fire" & "Mockingjay" for my Nook with a giftcard I had gotten for Christmas. I'm determined to get through the trilogy of books before March, which shouldn't be a problem. I started reading the first book the other night when I couldn't get to sleep and got about 4 chapters read & then I had to put it down or I would have been up all night. I have yet to pick it back up this weekend, but hopefully I'll get a chance by the end of the night. So far, it's a pretty good book...can't wait to get further in! I just happened to catch the trailer for the movie when I went and watched the last Twilight movie. The trailer looked like my type of movie and then when it said it was "The Hunger Games" I was surprised. I had heard of the books, but never read the back of the book to find out what they were about. I was bad...I judged a book by it's cover....seriously though...the cover could have been better! As for the title of the book...it sounded like a movie that Harrison Ford would be in, like "The Patriot Games" & that just isn't my type of book, but I was totally wrong on that one! Shame on me!

Oooo...look at what was on my doorstep yesterday afternoon, when I poked my head out the door to check for mail! A final Christmas present from my parents! Aren't they the best!! I LOVE the red! I'm not a huge coffee drinker. I just haven't found a good one that I really like. I went ahead and brewed me a cup anyways with one of the coffee's that came in the sampler pack with the Keurig. Added in a little milk & sugar & it wasn't half bad. I did grab my old Bed, Bath & Beyond flyers that I had saved in a stack and cut out one of the $5 off coupons and then headed to the store this morning when they opened to check out there selection of K-cups. I walked out with a pack of Apple Cider and a pack of Cafe Mocha. Let me know if you have any suggestions of flavors to try!! I'm always looking for good suggestions to try out! Let me know! Well, I've rambled on long enough. Oh, one more thing...my sister text messaged me a little while ago that the puppies were being born...she had 5 so far...Yikes! Hopefully, I'll have some cute pics to share with you later in the week! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a good week!

Influenster Holiday VoxBox Review

2012-01-02T19:40:00.000-05:00

Back in November I was on Twitter and noticed I had a couple of more followers, so I always like to take a look and see how many of them are robots. Then I clicked on the website associated with a follower called "Influenster". I browsed the site real quick and it is free to sign up, so I did. You basically just fill out different survey's and you earn badges. Then the site evaluates the survey's and decides if you sound like an eligible candidate for one of the themed "VoxBoxes". For instance, they have a green badge with all green and organic products & if they think you sound like a good fit, then they'll send you a box of products to review, blog, twitter and facebook about to get the word out about the products. Lucky for me, shortly after I signed up I was selected for a special "Holiday VoxBox"! It's pretty exciting to get a box of products you haven't tried before for completely free in the mail. If you're interested in becoming an Influenster, go to the website and sign up at www.influenster.com! Well, I took the Christmas & New Year's holiday to take my time to review the products & let you know my thoughts and opinions on the products. Now, on with my review!

Look at all the goodies that I got in my Holiday VoxBox from Influenster.com!

The first thing I tried right after snapping this picture was the Larabar, as I had just gotten home from work and was really hungry. I had seen the Larabar advertised by Jillian Michaels on The Biggest Loser during one of the seasons and I had been curious to give them a try. The flavor that came in my VoxBox was the Apple Pie flavor, which was absolutely delicious! I love apple everything, so it was an easy sell for me! The great thing about Larabar is that no matter the flavor, they are made from whole foods and don't containe more than 9 ingredients! I will definitely be picking up more of these in the future! They come in super handy to throw in your purse if you're going on a plane! I know I've seen these available at Target stores, but I'm sure they are available at many retailers and grocery stores. If you have a hard time finding them you can go right online to the larabarstore.com and purchase them online!

The next thing I tried was the Mentos Pure Fresh Gum. If you like a peppermint flavored gum, you're really going to love the Mentos Pure Fresh Gum! It has a strong peppermint flavor that will definitely clear your sinuses...lol! I had a few people at work try it...one spit it out, as they hate peppermint. Another thought it was pretty good. The only downside about this product is the packaging! Worst packaging ever....I broke a nail and an ink pen trying to get the darn pack of gum open! It had a little plastic pull tab that you're suppose to pull up on and peel the plastic from around the top, to allow the flip top to open. I've never had to fight so hard to get a pack of gum open. If they changed the packaging, I'd buy it again, but until they do, it won't be on my shopping list.

The next product I grabbed and tested out & was the NYC New York Color Liquid Lip Shine in the color Nude York City. You can't go wrong with a good nude color in your makeup bag! I'm a lip gloss girl, as lipstick never lasts and always seems to get all gross. This liquid lip shine was awesome! For starters....it smells amazing when you open it up and pull out the wand. It goes on with ease and it lasts for a really long time...until you eat & then of course you have to re-apply! I loved that this never had that sticky feeling to it and the color was just gorgeous and very simple. Another awesome fact...this stuff only sells for about $2.50 anywhere that sells make-up. I'd definitely recommend purchasing this product, as it won't disappoint and you can't beat the price!

While I was at my parents house over Christmas break, I decide to try out the imPress Press-On Manicure Nails. Unfortunately, I got a print design vs. a solid color called "Lil Drumr Girl". It was a hot pink with black zebra stripes...not my style. The packaging is super cute, as the nails come in a unique plastic case that looks like a nail polish bottle. The packaging states that they will last 7 days if applied right, so I followed the directions and got the nail all applied and put them to the test. One thing I do like about these nails is that they aren't long. Some of my nails were actually longer than the press-on nails, so I had to do a little trimming. Once on, they felt very secure and looked as realistic as an animal print nail can look. I did a few dishes...rough housed with the dogs, slept in them , washed my hair & they were still good to go. One day two I really put them to the test by helping my dad clean up the very dirty and cluttered basement and by the time we were all done, I was missing a nail. So of course I took them all off at that point. If you're not a get down and dirty type of person or are just looking for something for an evening out...these would probably be a good choice for you! They have many prints, as well as solid colors available. If you on on the website http://impressmanicure.com/ you can print off a $1.00 coupon if you'd like to give them a whirl! Definitely cheaper than getting your nails done!

Another product that came in the VoxBox to try out was Coconut Scrub bar soap by SoftSoft. I'm sure this is a brand that you have all heard of and used in your homes over the years. I know it was always very prominent in our household growing up in the form of a pump liquid handsoap. The soap has a nice, light, coconut scent. It also has crushed coconut throughout the bar as an exfoliant. I tried out the soap and the first thing I noticed was once the bar was wet and lathered, there wasn't much scent to the bar at all. It didn't leaving your skin dry or with any soapy residue, like some bar soaps, so that was a plus. My sister tried it out and she really liked the exfoliating aspect of the bar. It is another inexpensive product that can fit any budget. This won't replace the current bar soap I use, as I'm an Oil of Olay girl and you can't get a better moisturizing soap than that, but if I ever had to choose something to use besides Oil of Olay, I could see myself buying this again.

Last, but not least was the Montagne Jeunesse Peel Off Face Masque. I absolutely love face masks! They always make your skin feel so nice and refreshed. I had never tried this brand before, but I couldn't wait to give it a try. I got the cucumber "flavored" mask...I'm not sure how else to put it, but I can guarantee you I didn't taste it...lol! It was a cool green liquid gel that spread out very easily on the face. It was a single use sample and there was more than enough to cover my whole face. I sat and surfed the internet for about 20 minutes, as I waited for it to dry, so I could peel it off, which is always the best part! After I got the mask all taken off, my skin felt so silky smooth! I will definitely put this in my line up of products to use in the future! I love the cucumber one, as it give you a very fresh feeling, but I'd be willing to check out any of there masks, as they come in a variety of different kinds! You can click on this link to see all the different types.

Well that wraps up my evaluation of my Influenster Holiday Vox Box, so I hope you'll go out and try some of these great products & spread the word if you like them! If you like to do product reviews, make sure to visit Influenster.com and sign up, so you can get a Vox Box sent to you!

Happy New Year's!

2012-01-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year's everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve and Christmas holiday! I loved being able to go home for Christmas this year for 11 whole days, which was wonderful! I didn't do much of anything while I was back home, other than bum around the house and enjoy spending time with the family and pets. I miss those darn pups almost as much as the family, but they are family, so that takes care of that silly statement...lol! I'm curious to see what the puppies will look like that are due in about 10 days or so! I can't picture what a mini dachshund mixed with a part pug/part chihuahua will look like!

Did you get anything good for Christmas?? My favorite present was that my fiance` was able to drive in from Ohio and spend the Christmas weekend with me and my family! I think everyone has a pretty good Christmas. The weather was even oddly warm back home for that time of year....I think it was in the 40's most of the time. I must have taken some Florida warmth with me on my plane ride. Unfortunately, I brought some Illinois cold back with me to Florida! The day I arrived back in Orlando it was only 60 degrees! Crazy! Oh well...I love it when I get the chance to where my hoodies.

Anyone do anything fun or exciting for New Year's Eve? I was a typical bum, as I never go out for New Year's...it's just way to dangerous with all the crazies that choose to drink & drive! So, I went out a little earlier in the day & got me some campaign to chill, as I couldn't find my Cupcake Moscato D'Asti that I like to buy, so I settled for Barefoot Moscato Spumante, which I have to say I wasn't a big fan of unfortunately. It was okay, but I won't be buying it again. Besides having a glass of bubbly for the occasion, I got out my iPhone & used FaceTime to call home since my brother brought over his iPod and left it with my sister while he went out for the evening, so I spent 4 hours last night chatting it up with the family & making faces at my sister and just being goofy! So, when it hit midnight here on the East Coast we yelled Happy New Year. I tried to make it till Central Time New Year's, but after 4 hours, this chickie was pooped! So, at 12:30 I got off the phone with them and turned in for the night! Gotta love technology! Couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my New Year's, other than actually physically being there with the family or with my fiance! Well, I hope everyone had a great year and I here's to another great year! Cheers!

Howdy - from the Midwest!

2011-12-22T13:27:00.000-05:00

Howdy, from the Midwest! As much as I was dreading the cold weather, since I've become so acclimated to Florida weather, it's been surprisingly warm for this time of year. It's been in the mid 40's the whole time, which isn't bad! So glad that we haven't had any snow and there is none in the forecast....yay!! I don't mind a dusting on Christmas Eve and Christmas, but it doesn't seem to be in the forecast this year. Oh well...doesn't bother me! It was even nice and sunshiny yesterday, which was nice to see, instead of the gloomy grey skies of winter.

Christmas is just around the corner....do you have all your shopping done yet? The last of my packages came in the mail yesterday. I managed to do all my shopping this year via amazon.com. I hate shopping, so if I can find what I want online and have it delivered within 2 days with free shipping...I'm all over it! The stuff I didn't get myself, my fiance`, Dan picked it up and is bringing it with him. Speaking of Dan....YAY...he's driving in from Ohio tomorrow for the holiday! I can't wait to see my other half! Hopefully, he'll finally be moving down to Florida this summer....keep your fingers crossed! This living apart stuff is for the birds! It's kind of weird this year, that we don't have any presents under the tree yet. We're afraid Mr. Scooter will shred them if we dare place them under the tree. It should make for an interesting Christmas Eve, when the presents finally get put under the tree. And if Scooter did get into the gifts...it's impossible to be mad at the little guy! Look at this mug....could you be mad at this cutie??

Haha...didn't think so! He's sitting on the back of my chair now, as I type, like a little gargoyle. I'm usually more partial to Emmy the mini doxie, but since she's preggers and due within the next couple of weeks & she's kind of snippy right now. She sleeps most of the time and when she's not sleeping, she's tormenting Scooter by playing with his stuffed bunny, which makes him very upset! As much as I love dogs, I'm not looking forward to Ike the lab puppy that is coming over with my brother on X-mas Eve and spending the night. He's huge & hyper....not a good combo when the house is already full of people! Eye-yi-yi! He may look sweet and innocent, but looks can be deceiving! He reminds me of the clumsy reindeer on that movie "The Santa Clause" with Tim Allen....I can picture him talking in that goofy kiddy voice too...lol!

Well, not really much going on. Just enjoying spending time with the family. It's probably pretty obvious that I haven't been up to much, since my last two posts have mostly been about the pups. They kind of rule the roost here, so they can't be ignored. Plus, they're just so darn cute. I wish I could have a puppy, but I don't think it's fair that I would be at work all day and they'd have to stay home alone for so long by themselves, so I think of dogs, more like grandkids. Love them to death, but so glad they go home with someone else at the end of the day.

So Good To Be Home!

2011-12-18T22:55:00.002-05:00

Awww....it's so good to be home for the holidays! Sure, there may not be much to do in my tiny little town of 500, if that many people still live here, but it's home! I got up this morning, after sleeping like a rock from being so worn out from getting up so early to fly here yesterday & my dad fixed himself and I some good 'ol french toast. Then as we were sitting down to eat, I just happened to look out the french doors and started counting all the deer running through our yard...I counted 10 & I think I see a couple more a little later in the day. I think it's bow hunting season right now, so they must have been on the move. Silly deer...if they'd just stay in our 3 or 4 acre pasture, they'd be safe.

Pretty Tree!

This house seems small when you've got the whole family here now, plus one & one more on the way next weekend, plus THREE dogs! My brother has a new puppy, Ike....& he's a big one at that! He's about 4 months old & hyper as all get out and he can't keep his footing on the hard wood floors at my parents very well, so he's like Bambi on ice....kind of amusing! Ike is a silver lab with baby blue eyes...he's a cutie, but so curious and likes to rough house with my parents dogs. They have the cutest little miniature dachshund, Emmy. And then they have acquired another dog, since I was home in February...he's half pug, half chihuahua. He's a like a little mob boss with quite the mug and barks his head off if he doesn't know you, so I got barked at for about 2 hours yesterday, and then for about 30 minutes when I came downstairs this morning. Sometimes I call him Elvis because his lip gets stuck on his tooth and he just has that Elvis look...lol! I also found out Scooter's been busy and got poor little Emmy knocked up...they think she's due around January 10th or so. I can't imagine what these poor little pups are going to look like...haha. Poor Emmy...she just waddles around the house and wants someone to hold her & she evidently is craving dog bones. She dumped over the bag and thru herself on about 5 of them when my sister was trying to pick them up and then gobbled them up when she knew she was in the clear. Well, I'm sure you're sick of reading about the pups, so I'll talk to y'all later in the week! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday...at least what's left of it!

{Emmy, Emmy & Scooter, Scooter}

Finally On Vacation!

2011-12-16T22:27:00.001-05:00

{photo credit}

YAY! I'm finally on vacation for the next 12 days! OMG....you have no idea how happy I am for this break! I've been so scatter-brained this week, you could tell by today that I definitely need a vacation. I tell ya, I must have been sleep walking this morning when I was getting ready because I got all my work clothes on and then left the house as usual. Then when I get to work and get out of my car and start walking up to the building I notice a "clicking" noise & I look down and stupid me...I just slipped on my good 'ol Nike soccer sandals when I left and didn't even realize it! DOH! Luckily the boss wasn't in, so I got away with that little boo-boo. Then as I'm leaving the office today, I made sure everything was in order and then I shut my office door and start to walk out and realized I didn't have my work badge and office key around my neck or in my purse, so I called security and waited around for them for about 10 minutes to come unlock my office door. So I get back in my office and scan my desk and no badge....then I reach down and realize it was in my pocket the whole time....DOH! Well, now my bags are packed and I'm ready to go.....go on...finish singing the line....you know you want to! Called and scheduled a cab for 4:45am....whew, that's going to be early. I was going to park my car near the airport, but for the amount of time I'm going to be gone it's going to cost about the same, if not a little cheaper, to just take a taxi. Plus, I'll feel better with my car at home, so it doesn't look like I'm gone. Now, as long as I get up in the morning & am more coherent than I was this morning....at least enough, so I manage to get on the right plane...then I'm good to go! I'm going to try to blog a bit while I'm away, but just in case I get wrapped up with friends and family and don't get around to it....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The Most Awesome Christmas Present!

2011-12-13T22:08:00.000-05:00

Oh how I love Christmas! I got my 3rd card of the season and my first Christmas present! I just had to share a few pics because I love it so much! I've always been a big Disney fan & one of my favorite movies is "Alice in Wonderland" & my favorite Disney character has always been the Cheshire Cat. I'm not even a big fan of cats, but I just love him! Anyways, the most awesome person ever brought me my Christmas present today and it was the most adorable tea press I had seen on a recent trip to Downtown Disney. It has the characters from "Alice in Wonderland" silhouette's cut out of the metal that surrounds the glass pitcher. Then inside it has some delicious smelling Mad Tea Party Blend loose leaf tea. Then to top it off, she got me another tin of loose leaf tea in an adorable tin with none other than the Cheshire Cat on the top! And the smell of the Topsy Turvy Blend tea in that tin smells amazing! Very orange-y! I can't wait to try some! I've had the Mad Tea Party blend and it rocks!

I really have to hand it to the Disney crew that designs packaging for their products. The creativity and comical humor that went into this packaging would make anyone smile! I couldn't help but to laugh out loud when I read the instructions on the side of the tin on how to make tea! It's couldn't get much better than that, unless I was actually at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Which one of these days before I'm dead, I will have a Mad Hatter Tea Party with a Topsy Turvy Cake and all! How cool would that be! Hella cool is right! Well, I'll leave you with a few more pics....hope they make you laugh as much as I did! Enjoy & may you have a very merry unbirthday!

If you want one of these for your very own you can get one here.

Counting Down the Days!

2011-12-12T22:05:00.000-05:00

Whew...made it through Monday. Now I only have 4 more days to make it through and then this chickie will be on a plane heading for the midwest! Destination....middle of the corn fields....HOME!! I can't wait to see my friends and family. I practically tear up with excitement just thinking about it. It also makes me tear up thinking how cold it's going to be after I've acclimated to Florida weather & find myself in a hoodie when the weather hits a chilly 70 degrees! Yes, you heard me right....the girl that used to wear shorts when there was three feet of snow on the ground and not give it a second thought. I tell ya, living in Florida spoils you!

Hope y'all had a great weekend! Mine went by way to fast! As long as this week jets by just as fast, I'm okay with that! Then when I come back from my week and a half vacation I'll be back at work for two days and then off for another three! Too bad I don't have anyone lined up to come visit for that long weekend! Oh well, it'll be a nice long weekend to just kick back and relax.

I finally broke down and joined Weight Watchers online last week. I had been doing Jenny Craig prior in the year, but it just started getting expensive and I was so burnt out on the same foods. The WW plan has changed a little bit since I tried it way back in the day, but for the better because fruits & veggies are free! Had my first weigh in this morning after being on plan for a week & I was down 6.4lbs! It probably would have been more if I would have ate more veggies, but I'll get there. I've got to wean myself back to the point where I'm eating veggies for half of my meal. So, I guess I'll have to break out the wok this week and make some fresh stir fry....I make a damn good stir fry!

Has anyone been watching all of the fabulous Christmas movies? They are my favorite type of movies! I've been sucked into the ION television channel's original Christmas movies that they have been running on Sundays. I think I've watched them all. I wish I got ABC Family...I always loved all of those movies as well, but I've noticed some on Netflix, so I'll have to catch some on there when I get a chance. I haven't even watched my typical string of X-mas movies this year. What are some of your absolute favorite movies? I'll list some of my favorites below. Be warned....it may be a long list as they are all my favorite! :)

Random Things About Me

2011-12-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

When catching up on my list of regular blogs I read, this weekend, I fell victim to another another one of Caitlin's memes. I have a hard time resisting filling out little surveys like this when I come across them, so here it is....don't judge! :)

1. What's a nickname only your family calls you?
Probably the most unoriginal nickname ever....Sis. When I was younger, it was Sissy, which I'm pretty sure I may have thought that was my name for a while because when I look back at pictures of murals I did when I was younger, I signed them "Sissy". Sissy, of course started because that's what my little brother called me. Now that we're older if it's not Sis...it's Hey Sister...which sounds so Hulk Hogan...lol!

2. What's a weird habit of yours?
If I'm talking to someone with an accent or I'm visiting some place where there is a definite accent...I tend to start talking with the same accent.

3. What's a song you secretly LOVE to blast & belt out when you're alone?
At the moment it's "Love You Like A Love Song" by Selena Gomez. I secretly like to belt out all songs, but only when I'm by myself or I'll get the neighborhood dogs howling in agony. I suck!

4. What's one of your biggest pet peeves?
People that are phony and will tell you one thing to your face and then turn around and throw you under the bus...Assholes!

5. What's one of your nervous habits?
I bite my lip or laugh hysterically.

6. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
Well, if I'm lying in the bed...I'm on the left side or center. I just can't sleep on the right side of the bed, unless I make it the right side of the bed by sleeping with my head at the foot of the bed on my side. Confused yet?

7. What was your first stuffed animal & it's name?
I think it was my red and white stuffed dog, which I just name Red Dog.

8. What's the drink you ALWAYS order at Starbucks?
I rotate between about three drinks...Caramel Apple Cider is the most frequent drink order, followed by a Mocha or Caramel Frappucino & last, but not least, a Chai Tea Latte.

9. What's the beauty rule you preach.. but never ACTUALLY practice?
Wear Sunscreen....I do most of the time, but not always.

10. Which way do you face in the shower?
On the rare occasion that I take a shower (I'm a bubble bath girl), away from the water.

11. Do you have any 'weird' body 'skills'?
Not that I'm aware of, although I can roll my tongue, which I guess not everyone can do.

12. What's your favorite 'comfort food'/food thats 'bad' but you love to eat it anyways?
Toast...that's why I don't buy bread and I threw away the toaster when I moved a year ago.

13. What's a phrase or exclamation you always say?
Dammit or OMG....I don't really know...I don't even pay attention to what I say...lol

14. Time to sleep - what are you wearing?
I only sleep in my undies!

Knock, Knock....

2011-12-03T18:07:00.000-05:00

Knock, knock....anyone still out there? I took a brief break from posting during the Thanksgiving day holiday & I've just been too tuckered out to post anything any of the evenings this week when I've gotten home from work. Hope everyones turkey day went well....mine was nice and relaxing. We did nothing but eat, watch t.v. and play Wii golf all weekend. My fiance and I attempted to check out Wal-mart when they opened up at 10pm on Thanksgiving Day and it was INSANE! We grabbed a couple of things and went straight home and I refused to go back out for the midnight sales, so I went to bed and let my fiance venture out on his own since he likes to shop. He was out all night, but I'm pretty sure he came home empty handed...lol. Those crowds are crazy!

I'm getting so excited....only two more weeks until I'm a plane again, heading to my parents house for a week and a half! Can't wait to see everyone! My last time home was in February. Hopefully, it won't be another year before I see everyone again after this visit....that's the sucky thing about living so far away. Luckily, I get three weeks of vacation a year, but even that doesn't seem to stretch as far as I'd like, when you try to plan an actual vacation, but then want to fit in trips home to see family as well.

Anyways, just wanted to drop in and say "Hi"! I'll try to be better at posting this week! Have a great weekend!

Whew....Busy weekend!

2011-11-20T18:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend! I jam packed my weekend with a ton of stuff to do and kept very busy. On Saturday, I decided to sleep in just a little, but I was still up fairly early...8:30 or so. I got up and puttered around the house a bit and then left around 10:45 or so, to head to my hair appointment at the Aveda Institute in Orlando. I had never been before, but I had a good friend recommend the place to me, so I figured I'd give it a shot. It was super close to where I live, so I'll probably continue to go there. I haven't had any luck in the past year finding a good stylist since I moved here & the stylists at the Aveda Institute are students & have the instructors come over and inspect there work, so it was all good. I even found out that they do manicures for like $10....you pick the O.P.I. polish of your choice and take it back with you to get your nails done and then you keep the whole bottle of polish! Is that a deal or what!! Will definitely be taking advantage of that offer in the near future.

After my two hour haircut...I headed out and did some running around at Hobby Lobby & Target. I wasn't in Target long, but I must of had the shopping bug that day, as I walked out with a new grey sweater, a gorgeous magenta scarf (that was on clearance!), a new pair of black flats, that were just ridiculously comfy & a winter hat...then of course the last Harry Potter dvd to finish up my collection. I never buy anything for myself, so I didn't feel to bad spending the money. After Target, I was hungry, so I ran home and ate some leftover pizza, because there was no way I was going grocery shopping hungry. So after I ate, I headed to Wal-mart to pick up food for a couple different events I volunteered to take food for this week. While I was there, I wandered down the candle aisle and picked up a couple new wax tarts for my wax warmer at home. I picked up blueberry muffin & spiced pumpkin pie. Both smell divine in the containers. I decided to warm up the blueberry muffin scent today & OMG does it smell good! I had it going this morning & then I shut it off when I went out for about 4 hours and when I came home the house smelled so freaking good!

Well, after all that running around Saturday I was still wound up at 9:30 that night and I knew there was no way I was going to be ready for bed anytime in the near future, so I broke down and went to see the movie "Breaking Dawn" like everyone else did this weekend! I won't bother reviewing the movie since it's so popular and I don't want to slip up and spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it yet. I've always been Team Edward, but let me tell you...Jacob was mighty fine in this one! Hot, Hot, Hot...I tell you...Hot! It was really an awesome movie & Kristen Stewart's acting was a whole lot better in this film than any of the others! I will give you one pointer though....make sure you stay through the credits....there is an additional scene, once the credits finish rolling! So resist the urge to jet & just sit back and relax. The credits aren't super long, like they are on a Pirates movie or anything. Now I'm just bummed I have to wait an entire year to see part 2! I thought they would have at least released it within 6 months...or brought it out for a big movie weekend like over the 4th of July. An entire year is just torturous!

Sunday morning, I woke up about the same time as Saturday & for some reason I had the urge to clean. So the entire house got totally cleaned, straightened up, dusted, etc... I don't get the urge to do the entire house very often, but it was much needed and now it'll be nice to be able to come home after my Turkey Day vacation to a clean house. After my 3 hours cleaning frenzy, I got all cleaned up and made a platter full of sandwiches to take to a going away party for one of the best darn instructors at my workplace. It's sad to see him go, but he got an offer to work for Disney Imagineering. I was so happy to hear that he got such a dream job...what an amazing opportunity! I wish him the best of luck! So we spent the afternoon at their club house with several people, grazing on yummy food, drinking rum & coke...as the party was pirate themed! Then we had some delicious chocolate cake that was decorated like a deck on a pirate ship with a little Johnny Depp...it was so cute. It was a really nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. And it was right on Lake Maitland, which was simply gorgeous!

Well...that was my weekend. What did you do?

Inspiration Workshop - Thanksgiving

2011-11-17T00:00:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! Well, it's Thursday again, so that means I'm linking up with the Inspiration Workshop over at Gussy Sews! The prompt that was sent out for this week was: Thanksgiving, which is fitting, since it's only a week away! I'm so excited for Thanksgiving this year, as I'll be hopping on a plane next, Wednesday headed to Columbus, Ohio to spend the super long weekend with my sweet fiance` and the future in-laws. I can't wait! Last year, I had just moved to Orlando in October & I didn't have the vacation time or the moola to fly home for the holidays, so I spent them by myself last year. It sucked tremendously & I hope to not have to do that ever again! I tried to find a picture of the fiance`, his parents and myself and sadly, I only have one photo of all of us from like five years ago. It appears that we're all a bit camera shy or just really bad about taking photos. :)

The Future In-laws (Joe & Cyn), My fiance`(Dan) & Me

I'm not sure of any definite plans for the holiday, other than my fiance` wanting to hit up the Black Friday sales. I'm sure we'll watch some movies, new and old. What are your favorite Thanksgiving Day movies? My two favorites are "Dutch" & "Planes, Trains & Automobiles". Can't go wrong with those two babies for a good laugh!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Muppets....The Swedish Chef on cooking a Turkey! Too Funny!

Christmas Is Quickly Approaching!

2011-11-15T21:59:00.003-05:00

Well, it's that time of year, where the Christmas decorations come out, all the stores are playing Christmas music & people are starting to plan there Black Friday shopping plan of attack. As much as it irks the hell out of me when people have there trees up before Thanksgiving, you can't help to get a little bit excited of the fast approaching Christmas season. When I visited Caitlin's blog today I seen she had posted a X-mas meme & I find them hard to resist, so I thought I'd follow suit. Below is a pic of the X-mas tree at my parents house a couple X-mas's ago, as I spent last X-mas all by myself for the first time...It sucked & I hope I never have to do that ever again!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, for sure! Especially the homemade stuff cooked on the stovetop! Forget that powdered junk!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa doesn't wrap presents...that's what the elves are for...duh!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White lights are classic & look pretty, but I love colored lights! We usually change it up. We'll put white lights on the tree and colored lights on the house. I even like to change up the style of lights we put on the tree. Instead of those little blink lights...I love the look of the old fashioned big colored bulbs...so pretty!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after Thankgiving or the weekend after.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? My mama's homemade stuffing & rolls! OMG...this stuff is to die for and you'd think it had crack in it, it disappears so fast! I was so blessed to grow up with a southern mom that cooks everything from scratch and could put Paula Deen to shame any day of the week!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Oh, they are all good! My most memorable would have been the X-mas when I was in first grade, so I was probably 6 and my little brother was 3. We walked downstairs and it was like a dream at that age. There was a little table and chairs just the perfect height for my brother and I. I got a crayola art desk that year...my favorite present ever! I also got metal roller skates that you slipped on over your tennis shoes & I loved rolling around the house in them because they made me taller. I also got a baton that year, which I was super excited about until my little brother got a hold of it and knocked my two front teeth out! It made for some toothless school pics!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't know what you're talking about...HE'S REAL!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, we used to exchange gifts with my cousins when we were super young, but then we didn't get together when we got older. We did usually talk mom into letting us open up our X-mas presents from my aunt in Colorado on X-mas Eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Growing up my siblings and I would get a new ornament every year from where ever we vacationed that year & I've continued that tradition of getting a new ornament where ever we vacation! My parents tree holds most of those ornaments from growing up, along with several ornaments we made in grade school.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it on X-mas morning & that is it! It's one thing to love it when you are a kid, when your only worry is which hill you're going to sled down first. But when you're older and have to drive and go to work in the stuff...BLAH! Hate it! That's why I moved to Florida. If I want to experience snow I'll go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas event where they make it snow at Magic Kingdom.

12. Can you ice skate? No way....me and ice don't get along! I'm like Bambi on ice...just can't do it!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Crayola Art Desk - it sparked my creativity and love for art to this day! I also had a Christmas engagement...so is my ring considered a present?? If so...it's a close 2nd! :)

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with my fiance and my family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Mom's homemade sugar cookies with pink icing.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Jumping up and down on everyone's bed at 6:00am....they're lucky it's not earlier! I also have to watch "The Christmas Story"!

17. What tops your tree? An old St. Nick, but he looks more like Gandolf from Lord of the Rings...LOL!

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I love giving gifts...I think I get more excited seeing them open it, than opening anything for myself. I get pretty excited both ways though! I'm like a little kid on Christmas!

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Eh...they are okay. Not a huge peppermint fan, but I don't dislike them.

20. Favorite Christmas show? Show or movie? Christmas movies are my favorite type of movies! My absolute favorites are Love Actually, The Holiday, The Christmas Story, Elf, Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas Vacation....I could keep going, but I'll stop. Now if it's a show that's on every year, I'd have to go with Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer or A Charlie Brown Christmas...I love his sad little tree.

21. Saddest Christmas Song? The Christmas Shoes hands down! I can't listen to it...X-mas songs are suppose to be happy...not sad!

22. What is your favorite Christmas song? "All I want for Christmas is You" & not the Mariah Carey version...I like the version sung by Olivia Olson, which is from the movie, "Love Actually". Then I love, "Baby it's Cold Outside".

The Festival of the Masters At Downtown Disney

2011-11-13T17:46:00.002-05:00

Happy Sunday, everyone! It was an absolutely beautiful day here in sunshiny Orlando, FL! I think it only got in the mid seventies, which was perfect weather for walking around the Downtown Disney Marketplace. This weekend was The Festival of the Masters at Downtown Disney, so me and my bestie decided to make an afternoon of it! As described on the Disney website, the 36th Festival of the Masters presented by Michaels® is a vibrant, open-air art festival in the Downtown Disney area.
Featuring more than 150 award-winning artists, this world-renowned show is a highly anticipated annual event for Guests, artists, collectors and art lovers.

Showcasing one-of-a-kind and limited-edition painting, photography, sculpture, jewelry and more, this prestigious show is ranked among the country's finest outdoor art festivals. And there's a lot more to enjoy, like amazing chalk art, live music, specialty foods and family-friendly activities.

When we first walked in, it was all Disney art, which was absolutely freaking amazing! I was in absolute heaven and I was so glad payday wasn't until Tuesday, or this chica would have been broke as hell by the time she left! I've been a huge fan of all things Disney since I was very young and I really love Disney inspired art work. It's just phenomenal! I didn't think to bring my camera with me, but I was able to snap a few good shots on my handy dandy iPhone.

This painting of the seven dwarfs was one of the first paintings I came across and instantly fell in love with all of the vibrant colors and brilliant amount of texture. It's pretty impossible to see the texture in the photo, but it was really well done the way they did it and it gave the painting a very rustic look. I loved it, but I didn't love the price tag attached to this baby!

Next up were some of these little beauties. I love any kind of a painting with Walt Disney & Mickey Mouse! Walt has always been someone I look up to and is such an awesome icon. Without Walt...there wouldn't have been a mouse. And with no mouse...I just don't know if I can even fathom the thought!

We walked through all of the art work on display, but kind of lost interest once the art work was no longer Disney themed. They started you off with Disney & from that point my expectations were set & when you're in a Disney mood...no other artwork compares! Granted there were a few neat paintings that caught our eye. There was a booth where a lady would take a whole bunch of photos of your dog and she would form them into this awesome collage, so the big picture looked like a photo of your pet, but when you looked up close, it was composed of all sorts of little pictures of the pet...very cool!

I wish I would have gotten the chance to see a whole lot more sidewalk chalk art. I was expecting to see a few artists doing that crazy 3-D sidewalk chalk drawings that I'm sure you've seen. I didn't come across any of those, but we did come across this work in progress of The Muppets. Isn't it cool! The artist was working on it when we walked up, but her phone rang, so I snapped this shot while she was out of the picture. Pretty cool, huh? I can't wait for the new Muppet movie to come out in theaters! I grew up on The Muppets & I still love them to this day! I love Beeker, Swedish Chef, Fozzie, Rolf, oh shoot...I love them all! Who is your favorite Muppet?? Inquiring minds want to know!

After walking around for a couple of hours, our tummies were talking to us and telling us to go get some food, pronto! So, we ran through our options and decided to head to The Rainforest Cafe. There wasn't much of a wait & they have an awesome outside dining area right along the water. Don't you just love outdoor dining areas when the weather is gorgeous, like it was today? It's my favorite! Well, the first thing on my list to order was a beverage, as I was quite parched. I scanned through the list and seen that they have a mango mojito. Well, after last weekend and experiencing my very first FROZEN mojito, I asked the waiter if it was possible to get the drink frozen, so he ran it by the bartender and they gave it a whirl & it was DELICIOUS!! Then it came time to order food & I decided on the Macadamia Nut Crusted Tilapia & Coconut Shrimp. OMG...the tilapia was out of this world!! I highly recommend this dish if you are heading to The Rainforest Cafe anytime soon! I would give it my highest rating possible...yes, it was that good!

All in all, it was a pretty damn good time! After we ate, we did a little browsing in all of the different shops and started making our lists of things we wanted and would either be back for or they would be promptly going on our Christmas lists! Anyways, hope your Sunday was as good as mine! What did you do this weekend? Later gators!

Inspiration Workshop - Dining Rooms

2011-11-10T00:00:00.001-05:00

It's link up time again with Gussy Sews for her Inspirational Workshop. This weeks prompt was: Dining Rooms. I've never really had a dream dining room of sorts. Growing up, we always ate together at the dining room table, which I loved. I really grew to appreciate those meals together over the years, especially when I've met so many people who just eat on t.v. trays in the living room watching t.v. & have no conversation except during commercials. So, it was weird to spend the night at a friends house and eat in front of the t.v. A lot of times, I would insist on staying at the table to eat, while they went ahead and sat in front of the t.v. & then I'd join them when I was done. That's just what I was used to, plus I'm a klutz and didn't want to spill anything. So a dining room to me is just a place for the family & friends to gather together for meals...no t.v.! Sometimes, we'd just set up a make shift dining room table via card tables and lawn chairs out in the garden and sit by a bonfire and cook up hotdogs & smores. That's one of my favorite things to do, growing up in the country. Since I love the outdoors...when the bugs aren't in full force...that's where I enjoy eating the most. Outside...enjoying the view and taking in the fresh air and enjoying good conversation. So I picked out a few of my favorite outdoor dining room areas below. Hope you enjoy!

{photo credit}

Movie Review: A Dolphin's Tale

2011-11-06T17:10:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope everyone took advantage of that extra hour we gained today! I got up & did some cleaning and then went to a movie around 11am. After that, I headed for the Altamonte Mall to check out a sale. What a nice mall, wish I would have checked it out sooner!

Anyways, I decided to go see "A Dolphin's Tale", as I've been wanting to see it, since I seen the first previews. After watching it, I kick myself for not going into marine biology, like I wanted to when I was growing up. Put me in a tank with some dolphins, manatees, turtles, etc...you'd have one happy girl! I may just have to settle, by finding a volunteer position somewhere, but wouldn't it be great to get paid doing something that you absolutely love?!

A Dolphin's Tale" has my favorite Harry Connick Jr., along with Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd & Kris Kristofferson, just to name a few names you may know right off the bat. The youngsters of the movie, Nathan Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff really did a magnificent job in the movie & I'm sure this won't be the last time we see the young stars! This movie is all about a dolphin who was injured by getting tangled up in a crab trap. The dolphin was taken in by a vet, played by Harry Connick Jr., who ran a marine animal hospital. The dolphin was named Winter by the vets daughter. The young boy that found the dolphin goes to the animal hospital to check on Winter and ultimately befriends him and helps in Winter's rehabilitation. Unfortunately, due to the extent of the damage to Winter's tail, they had to amputate. The boy then motivates everyone around him in helping save Winter by having a prosthetic tail made for the dolphin & won over the hearts of everyone!

There is a lot more to the story, but you'll have to go see it for yourself! You won't be disappointed! You get that feeling, when you're watching the movie that I would have to describe as when the Grinch's heart grew three sizes...it just warms your heart to the very core and makes you smile from ear to ear. It's really a magnificent story, which is true by the way! At the end, I found out the actual home of Winter is only two hours from Orlando, down in Clearwater, FL, so I think I'll be making a trip down to visit this awesome creature in the near future. I wish it was closer, so I could do some volunteer work at the aquarium, but I'll have to look and see if there are any marine animal rescues a little closer to Orlando. For those of you that don't live in the sunshine state & would like to see Winter the dolphin, just go visit the website: http://www.seewinter.com and they have a web cam so you can see the dolphins playing in the pool. Very cool!

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2011

2011-11-05T22:55:00.001-04:00

Today I got up nice and early & headed to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival! I was super excited to get to go to Epcot since I hadn't been since 2003, so I new they had added a few things since then. Lucky for me, since I haven't bit the bullet and bought an annual pass since moving to Orlando, that I know lots of people that work there and was able to get a discounted ticket. I was a bit bummed to find out some of the people I thought who were going as well, decided not to come, so I hoofed it alone today through the park. I managed to last from 9:00am - 3:00pm, after that I couldn't entertain myself any longer. If I would have had someone to pal around with, I would have tried to stay until 10:00pm in order to see the fireworks. Fireworks aren't really my thing, but Disney does them best!

The first ride I headed for, after I arrived, was "Soarin". It was a pretty darn cool ride! You basically seat belt yourself into your seat on this long bench & then it takes off and gives you the feeling that you are hang gliding in all of these different places around the world...over the Golden Gate Bridge, thru mountains, over the ocean, over the orange orchards, etc... It was cool that you could smell the oranges, when you were going over the orange orchard. Not sure if there were supposed to be scents with any of the other areas, if there were, I didn't notice.

After that, I headed over to "The Seas" to visit my favorite manatees. As you are walking up to "The Seas" building...you see the "The Finding Nemo" characters in the flower bed areas, but then it completely cracked me up when I walked by the actual sign and the sea gulls from Finding Nemo start yelling, "Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine". It totally took me off guard and startled me a bit because I wasn't expecting it, but it made my day...so funny. Unfortunately, my manatees weren't in there tank/viewing area...they decided to swim out of the area and didn't come back in where I could see them. Oh well, there are viewing areas throughout central Florida, so I'll just have to go check them out in their actual habitat one of these days.

Click here for the recipe & others from the festival

By the time I got out of "The Seas" area, I was a little hungry, so I headed over to the Food & Wine Festival for some good eats. My main goal was Germany & my mission was accomplished! First thing I had was Nurnberger Sausage in a Pretzel Roll with mustard, which was delicious as expected! I knew I'd be coming back to the Germany booth a little later in the day. Next goal was to hit up the Caribbean booth for a Frozen Rock Coconut Mojito....I had no idea there was a such thing as a frozen mojito, as regular mojitos are one of my favorite drinks! OMG....this sucker was yummy and it was gone in no time flat. It definitely had some kick, which I didn't realize until I got up after drinking it...woo-hoo! While I was at the Caribbean booth...the line was kinda of long, so I decided to go ahead and try the Ropa Vieja (Braised Beef) with white rice & it was pretty tasty, as I don't typically eat beef. Well, after I ate that, the crowds had really picked up....like New York City street busy, so I just hopped on the ferry which takes you straight to Germany...Perfect! So I got in line again, but this time around it was time for dessert, so I got the Apple Studel with carmel and vanilla sauces...YUMMO! Guess what? The recipe was on the Epcot website, so I'll put it below along with a link back to the page because they had several yummy recipes from the festival that you may like to try.

Inspiration Workshop - Flowers

2011-11-03T00:00:00.002-04:00

Wow...can you believe it's November already!! Boy has this year flown by fast! Well, don't forget you can slow down time a bit by setting your clocks back an hour. Well, it's Thursday, so that means I'm linking up to the Inspiration Workshop over at Gussy Sews & this week the prompt that was sent out was: Flowers. I love fall and all the gorgeous colors, so I headed over to Pinterest for some awesome inspiration. Hope you like what I found to share!

Gorgeous Fall Decor

Lovely Fall Colors Inspired Bouquet

Gorgeous Fall Colored Flowers in a Pumpkin for an Awesome Centerpiece

Another Fabulous Wedding Bouquet...Love the Colors!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:52:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!! Here are some awesome pumpkins I'd like to try for future Halloween's. Enjoy!

Glittery Pumpkins by Martha Stewart

Pretty Lacy Pumpkin by BHG

Pumpkins with Bling

Favorite Halloween Costume Ideas

2011-10-30T18:41:00.000-04:00

After spending a ton of time browsing the site Pinterest, I thought I'd share with you some of the cutest and most creative costume ideas I've come across this year. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. The great thing is, a lot of these could be made at home if you're craft! Enjoy the cuteness!

Minions from "Despicable Me"

Russell & Carl from "Up"

Inspiration Workshop - Favorite Recipes

2011-10-27T00:21:00.007-04:00

It's been far too many weeks since I've linked up with Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop, so I thought I'd jump back on board for this weeks prompt, which is Favorite Recipe. It's hard to pick just one, so I'll list a couple of my favorites for you. The first recipe list is my very favorite & is always a hit with anyone who tries it. Serve it up with some mashed potatoes and veggies....oh, so good! Enjoy!

Ham Balls

* 1 lb ham

* 1 lb hamburger

* 1 Cup dry bread crumbs

* 1/2 Cup Milk

* 1 Egg

Sauce

* 1/2 Cup water

* 1/2 Cup vinegar

* 3/4 Cup brown sugar

* 3/4 tsp yellow mustard

Directions

Mix together ham, hamburger, bread crumbs, milk, & eggs. Form into balls. Pour sauce over ham balls. Cover & bake 60 to 70 minutes @ 325°.*Can also be formed as a loaf*

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

*2 cups cooked chicken

*2 cups cooked rice

*1 pkg broccoli cooked

*1 T minced onion

*2 cans mushroom soup

*1 soup can of milk

*½ lb Velvetta cheese (grated)

Directions

Mix all together & bake @ 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly. **Note: The rice & chicken are approximate. I usually boil a whole chicken & use the meat from that…you may need more milk as well.

CORN CASSEROLE

*1 egg

*1 stick of butter (melted)

*1 can corn

*1 can cream corn

*1 box jiffy mix

*1 cup sour cream

Mix all together, pour into an 8x8 & bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes

R.I.P Ezra

2011-10-15T23:11:00.001-04:00

Rest in peace, my darling dog, Ezra! You'll be missed! I was hoping you'd be around to greet me at X-mas when I come home this year, but as least you don't have to suffer through another winter! Enjoy doggie heaven!

R.I.P.

EZRA: 1996-2011

ScentSationals

2011-10-13T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all! Sorry I've been M.I.A. lately...I really need to get back in the habit of doing regular posts. Anyways, just thought I'd check in & say "Hi"! I haven't been up to much lately...just counting down the days until the holidays! I've already got a ticket booked to Columbus, OH for Thanksgiving with my fiance` and his parents. I can't wait to see them all! Then I was able to take off about a week in a half to go home for Christmas...now I just need to get a ticket booked! Either the fares are too high or I don't have the moola when a good deal comes along...never fails. Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to get one booked within the next month.

While I'm posting, I thought I share with you a couple of my favorite finds of the week! I was out at Hobby Lobby browsing for a Parisian style poster for my office because the walls were a little bare and needed a little decor. Anyways, I found a nice huge poster that I loved, so I toted it around the store while browsing at other crafty stuff. Then I stumbled upon a display of ScentSational Ceramic Fragrance Wax Warmers & they were on sale for 50%, so they were only a whopping $10 each....SCORE! I had been wanting one for awhile now for my home & at that price I had to pick one up for my office as well! I got a blackish-grey one for home and then a red one for the office.

If you don't have one of these yet, I'd highly recommend going out and buying one straight away! I've had one going in my office all week and people are loving it! I had one teacher come in and just sit for awhile because he loved the scent of spice cake that I had going in the warmer...lol. I picked up about 4 packs of the ScentSational Fragrance Wax Cubes. At $3.99 a pack, it was kind of expensive for my taste, but cheaper than that Scentsy brand I used to always hear about. I bought 2 packs of the Spice Cake scent, 1 called Coconut Sun & 1 called Cinnamon & Brown Sugar...all smell totally delicous! Then after I left the store broker than I'd have liked to have been, I ran to Wal-mart real quick to pick up a few things and they had Better Homes & Garden brand Wax Cubes and they are only $2 a pack....SUH-WEET! So, I picked up a Baked Apple Strudel & Wild Berry Cheesecake....YUMMO!! Anyways, I'd would rate these above and beyond and candle....they are just so fragrant and the smell fills the whole room! Plus, they a lot safer than having a open flame....it's just a light bulb that heats up the wax. Well, I'll stop rambling for now! Have a lovely weekend everyone!

I'm Loving Audible Books!

2011-09-21T21:55:00.000-04:00

I've never thought I'd like books on "tape", since I've always enjoyed reading so much, but I tried it out & I like it! I seen an advertisement a couple weeks ago for audible.com and decided to click on the link and check it out. If you signed up, you got two free books to download, so I took full advantage of getting two books for free, even if it was just an audio version. Well, I decided on "Bossy Pants" by Tina Fey, which I listened to that the first weekend. It was pretty amusing and I loved the fact that Tina Fey was the one that was reading the book. The second book I chose was "The Help". I'm about half way through, as it's an 18 hour long listen, but it's so good. Makes you just want to listen straight through, but I listen to a chapter or two everyday. It's so nice to be able to hit play on the iPhone and listen to the book while relaxing in a bubble bath vs. actually holding and reading a book trying not to get the pages wet. I hope the movie is as good as the book, but I doubt it, as most movies are never better than the book. Anyways, I'd highly recommend going over to audible.com and get your two free downloads!

I'm A Sucker for Hottie!

2011-09-18T17:06:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody that still may read my blog here & there! Sorry, I've been M.I.A. for a while...just haven't had much going on to write about & got a little lazy in the process. Well, I finally decided last weekend to finally break down and sign up for the gym...do you think I went at all during the week...Nope! Well, today I had to go in for that typical fitness assessment that they have you do when you sign up at the gym. My appointment was actually yesterday, but I had to cancel due to the fact my bathroom decided to go haywire in the middle of the night & the toilet had water coming out of it...the tub was full of gunk & grime & was filling itself up via the emergency drain....Blah! Not fun, especially in the middle of the night when you just want to pee and go back to bed. Needless to say I was up very late washing towels and keeping an eye on things & then had to wait around for the landlord the next morning to come out and check on everything. Okay....that was totally off topic....any who...I rescheduled for 12:00 today. So I get up this morning and eat my typical Greek yogurt hoping that will hold me over while I go in for my appointment, which was only suppose to be an hour. Well, I get there right on time and the guy I have my appointment is running behind because someone came in late, so they just told me to warm up doing some cardio...so I stroll along on the treadmill for about 15 minutes while I'm waiting & then he came & apologized for running behind and introduced himself. Holy hotness! My knees about buckled getting off the treadmill when I went to follow him to his desk. He's a 33 year old, hotter version of "The Rock" (Dwayne Johnson). I could have sat at talked to him all damn day, so gorgeous! So we sit and go over the questionnaire and go over eating habits, goals, etc....typical assessment questions. We did that for at least a half hour....then the receptionist walked over a phone message that his 1:30 cancelled, so he got all excited that he was going to be able to work with me longer...I wasn't apposed to it either! That is...until it came to the workout. He went through about 4 different exercises for the legs & then he had me do them all after he demonstrated. First was where you put one of those big fitness balls behind your back and you lean on it against the wall and then squat down until your butt is even with your knees....easy enough, so I did about 10-12 & then on to the next exercise, lunges. I despise lunges but he wanted me to hold on to his arms while I did them, so it wasn't too bad. Then we did the same thing for squats & last was the wall sit. By the end of that I was tuckered out! Then he said we're going to do it all over again....BLAH! So, we need the one with the ball again....then the lunges...and then I must have not been looking so good because he decided we better take a water break and chill for a minute. When I started feeling nauseous and looked like I was about ready to pass out...he said, that will go ahead and be it for the workout for the day. Thank God! So I'm following him back across the gym to his desk and still feeling nauseous and light headed, not to mention I had rubber band legs from exercises we did. We get back to his desk and sit down & he said this is why you need to make sure and eat carbs & protein in the morning. Since I was still not feeling well after sitting down he brought out his rice cakes and told me to eat one....what do you know...after a few bites I felt 100% better! Note to self....eat more than yogurt before going and working out! Anyways....we sat there and talked for a while and then came out the personal training sales pitch, which I was expecting from being part of the gym before back when I lived in the Chicago suburbs. As bad as I hate working out....you put a hot guy in a tight shirt and beautiful muscular arms in front of me...it's practically impossible to say no....*sigh*. So....you know what that means...I'm signed up for 12 months of personal training. The first three sessions are with him & then I think you're passed off to the other trainers at the gym....darn it. He was just the bait that reels you in. Oh well....at least it will hold me accountable & the money I'm spending is basically what I'm not going to be spending on fast food dinners, which I've gotten into a horrible habit of doing in the past month. So, no more fast food....maybe I'll try to prepare a few nights worth of dinners tonight for the week, so it will be easier. Anyways, that was my day....now to finish up laundry and try to plan out meals for the week...although I've always sucked at doing that...anyone have any good tips? Let me know if you do....always looking for good tips and tricks! Well, enjoy the rest of your Sunday & I'll talk to y'all later!

The A to Z's of Me

2011-09-18T01:15:00.003-04:00

The A-Z of yours truly....can you tell how bored I am?? :)

A. Age: 33
B. Bed size: King....need plenty of room for my nest of pillows that I surround myself with.
C. Chore that you hate: Folding & Putting Away Laundry...Blah!
D. Dogs: Can't live without them. My parents have the best little wiener dog ever! Love that little Emmy!
E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast, but I forget to eat it a lot of times.
F. Favorite color: Green, all shades.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver.
H. Height: 5’6"
I. Instruments you play: Clarinet..although I'm not sure I could play like I used to!
J. Job title: Associate Registrar
K. Kids: Hopefully one of these days before I'm to old and decrepit.
L. Live: Orlando, FL...home of the mouse!
M. Mother’s name: Sandra
N. Nicknames: My family calls me Sis, but most call me Jenn. If I run into people from high school...I'll still occasionally be called Chang.
O. Overnight hospital stays: Been lucky enough I've never had to be in the hospital!
P. Pet peeves: Slow drivers, people who take themselves too seriously, & when people are late.
Q. Quote from a movie: "The older you get, the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You just gotta keep on livin', man. L-I-V-I-N." Dazed and Confused.
R. Right or left handed: Righty.
S. Siblings: One younger brother & one younger sister.
U. Underwear: I am all about comfort. The underwear absolutely cannot ride up my buttcrack.
V. Vegetable you hate: Tomatoes.
W. What makes you run late: Hanging around on the computer too long.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Chest, back, ankle, wrist, teeth
Y. Yummy food that you make: Corn Casserole
Z. Zoo animal: Gorillas...love them!

Inspiration Workshop - The Beach

2011-07-28T00:00:00.003-04:00

Welcome to week 9 of the Inspiration Workshop! Linking up with Maggie over at Gussy Sews once again! This week the prompt was: The Beach! My favorite...I could ramble on the topic of beaches all day long. I even got sucked into watching a series on Netflix a couple weeks ago featuring a favorite beach in each episode...boy I was wishing I was in those places! Luckily, since I moved to Orlando a few months back, I'm about an hours drive to the beach on the Atlantic side....Cocoa Beach! And about an hour and a half to the Gulf side...which I've heard is a lot nicer because the water isn't as rough and the sand is softer. Haven't been to the Gulf beaches since moving here, but I'll venture out one of these days.

My absolute favorite beach ever is Coki Beach in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It's the most gorgeous, relaxing place in the world...I could set up a tent on the beach and live there and be one happy camper. I just love it. Here are some of the pictures I have from our last trip. The first one is my favorite...it's my fiance' playing around in the sand laying in the waves....LOVE IT! So cute!

That last picture wasn't at Coki Beach...it was on the shoreline of the island of Tortuga. So if you're looking for an awesome vacation spot with TONS of beaches....go to the Virgin Islands for sure. You can take a ferry between the islands too if you choose to island hop. But Coki Beach is by far my favorite. What's your favorite beach?? I'm always looking for good suggestions, so I know where to plan my next trip!

The Time Is Dragging!

2011-07-26T20:08:00.000-04:00

Hello bloggy peeps! Can you believe it's only Tuesday...Ugg! Is anyone else's week going painstakingly slow? The week seems to be dragging, but I think it's going to seem that way until August 5th, when my fiance' is flying in for a visit. Can't wait!! Haven't seen him since I moved down here for work last October! Such a long time not to see each other, so I'm hoping he'll be able to find a job down here in Florida by years end. So in the meantime, I just have to kill off time by cleaning the house & trying to make some plans of things to do when he's here. I know he wants to go to Kennedy Space Center, so that should be fun...I hope! Then of course, he wants to go out on an airboat, but that's super fun, so I won't mind going & doing that again. Then the beach is a must & then we'll probably hit up a park on another day...still trying to decide which one to go to. Universal or Disney....tough choice! I like them both! I think we're both leaning towards universal....I love the E.T. ride! Give me some feedback! What park would you go to if you just had a day & why?

Inspiration Workshop - Inspiration

2011-07-21T00:00:00.003-04:00

Linking up again with Maggie over at GussySews for week #8 of her Inspiration Workshop. The prompt for this week was "Inspiration". Basically, this week everyone who is linking up is to blog about what inspires them, so this should be a fun one to read on everyones blogs!

I draw inspiration from many different sources daily. I'm inspired by all of you bloggers out there who write for the sheer fun of it & let everyone get a glipse of your life through that little bloggie window you create. I've seen wonderful craft projects, paintings, recipes, ect...the list goes on and on. All of that inspires me! It makes me want to find more time to write, take more pictures, learn to cook, pick up my paint brushes that have laid dormant since high school. I love all you guys! And bravo to all of you out there that have succeeded in making things handmade & opening successful shops...I hope to be able to do that myself one day!

My number one inspiration is probably the ocean. My taste is art work, choices in colors when decorating, favorite vacation destinations, favorite movies...are all revolved around the ocean. I love the colors of the ocean, blues, greens, browns & then if you go to the Caribbean or even Southern Florida....the colors of all the houses are magnificent with all there bright colors. I love painting palm trees. My favorite vacation destination is the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Every view is an ocean view on an island...love it! I was so meant to be an island girl....I'm getting closer since I moved to Florida in October. At least I get to see palm trees daily!

(Painting & Photo by Me!)

Inspiration Workshop - Sunshine

2011-07-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Linking up again for week 7 of the Inspiration Workshop, hosted by Maggie over at GussySews. Make sure to head over and check out her awesome shop! So many cute things to choose from! This weeks prompt for the Inspiration Workshop was "Sunshine". You want to know the first thing that pops into my head when I hear that word? It's "Sunshine, Daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow". That was Ron Weasley's first attempt at a spell in the first Harry Potter movie. I must just have Harry Potter on the brain since the last movie comes out this week...so sad!

Besides that silly little quote, sunshine is just a happy word! You hear the word sunshine and it just makes you smile. It brings back memories of playing outdoors in the summertime with my brother and all our friends. We used to like to wash the car, just to give us an excuse to get out the hose and play in the water. We also spent many summers playing in woods behind the house climbing trees, petting the cows in the adjoining pasture. Just being silly and enjoying the outdoors. So many kids now days stay cooped up inside all the time, playing video games, surfing the internet, watching t.v....sad really! I'm so glad my parents made us play outside. We didn't have a/c growing up, so it's not like it was any cooler in the house, so we'd spend out days outside until the sun went down & even then we'd stay outside to chase and catch fireflies. We'd get a nice little collection going in a mason jar and then we'd let them all go at the end of the night. Sometimes it would be nice to go back to those good 'ol days when we didn't have a care in the world!

New Favorite Wine!

2011-07-13T21:00:00.000-04:00

Oh man....it's only Wednesday! It's been crazy busy at work! Audits going on a work tend to make everyone a little crazy...me included. I finally reached my breaking point and cracked open a new bottle of wine I had picked up this weekend. It's Cupcake Moscato D'Asti...no it's not cupcake flavored silly, it's the brand, but I wouldn't be opposed to anything flavored like a cupcake! Anyways, this is by far the best wine I've tried out of all the others I have tasted. So good in fact, I somehow managed to polish off the whole bottle within an hour of walking in the door from work! It was so yummy, I just couldn't help myself! It's definitely going at the top of my grocery list! Hope everyone else's week is going good! This week may be hectic, but next week will probably be even crazier....maybe I better buy two bottles this weekend! Cheers!

Heck with Vampires, Bring on the Werewolf!

2011-07-10T22:57:00.001-04:00

How was everyone's weekend? Pretty uneventful here. For starters I ran to grocery to pick up some paper towels and sweet pickles. I must have subconsciously thought it was going to be a stressful week at work because I also made it out of the store with a slice of cake and two bottles of wine. I ended up getting a bottle of red, which was Cavit Pinot Noir, which is the only red wine I've liked out of all that I have tasted so far, plus it was on sale. Then I bought a bottle of white wine that I have had on my list to try for some time now, Cupcake Moscato D'Asti. Can't wait to try that one, as I've heard it a good one. Then I just got some cleaning done, made calls to friends and family & finally got to watch True Blood season 3! Best show ever! I've always loved vampire anything, but after watching season 3....forget the vampires Bill & Eric....I want to see more of the werewolf, Alcide! Holy hotness!! Now that is one gorgeous man! I think I've found my new crush! Now tell me you don't think he's hot! Now I wish I had HBO, so I could watch season 4. Oh well, as bad as I want to watch it, I prefer to watch the full season all at once, instead of having to wait to see a new episode every week. Can't wait until it's out on dvd. Anyways, just thought I'd stop in and post this gorgeous pic so you could all drool over it as well!

Inspiration Workshop - Pamper Yourself

2011-07-07T00:00:00.003-04:00

Well, it's week 6 of the Inspiration Workshop over at GussySews! Time flies when you're having fun, eh?! This weeks prompt was "Pamper Yourself". When I hear that phrase, the first thing that pops into my head is a nice, hot bubbly bubble bath! I take one daily, as it's the ultimate way to relax...just call me a bubble bath freak! I love 'em! I try to keep myself away from stores like Bath & Body Works, as I tend to get a little carried away, as they have so many scents that I love and they are always coming out with new ones, so of course I have to buy them and test them out. I love apple, vanilla and coconut scents the best. What's your favorite??

If I had to choose a runner up to my bubble baths, it would be to indulge in a vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting. I usually will try to find a place that I can buy them individually because if I buy a carton of 6...they will be devoured in 1 to 2 days. I don't buy them too often, but sometimes you just have to pamper yourself and indulge your sweet tooth! Great...now I want a damn cupcake!

Nom, Nom, Nom, Nom, Nom!!!

Inspiration Workshop - Perfect Bathroom

2011-06-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

Week 5 of the Inspiration Workshop...holy cow! This weeks prompt was: Perfect Bathroom. Well, I don't know about all you out there, but the perfect bathroom for me is all about the tub. I remember apartment and house hunting & in a couple of those places...I seen how fabulous the tub was & took the place purely based on that. Bubble baths are my little peace of heaven and the only time I feel like I get to totally unwind and relax! Put me in a bubble bath & you've got one happy girl! Anyways, the two baths I found below look pretty perfect to me! Gotta love an ocean view!! What do you think?? **SWOON**

Inspiration Workshop - Spend the Day Playing

2011-06-23T00:00:00.003-04:00

Linking up again to the 4th week of the Inspiration Workshop over at GussySews. I've really got to get on the ball and start posting other than once a week for the workshop. I could say it's summertime and I'm busy like a lot of people, but I'm not. Currently, I live in Orlando, FL while my fiance lives in Columbus, OH...sad panda! So, needless to say...I'm a pretty boring 'ol 33 yr old when I'm stuck in a city all by myself. So when it comes to spending the day playing for me...that usually means playing in paint and trying to come up with new ideas to throw on the canvas. Usually, by the time I'm done I'll have paint covered hands, possible a bit on the face & I've even been known to find paint on my feet! Below is a collage of 4 random paintings I've done over the past few months. I have several more, so I need to just open up an Etsy shop to try to get rid of them, as I just paint for the fun of it. Would you be interested if I opened up a shop??

Now the last time I spent the day playing with another person, would have been back in February when my little brother came down to visit his lonely, homesick sister. His first day down here, his agenda was GATORS. So we went on an awesome airboat tour of the Everglades at Wild Willy's Airboat Tours, which was a blast! Afterwards, we hit up Gatorland where we fed gators hotdogs, while trying not to get attacked by all the birds on the prowl for the food. I'm not talking little birds either...I'm talking birds that stand up to you waste with huge beaks and will sneak up behind you and give you a peck when you're trying to feed the gators. We also watched a few shows & even tried our hand at a little gator wrestling. It was a fun filled day & I can't wait for the chance to do it again one of these days when someone else decides to come down for a visit.

Inspiration Workshop - Green

2011-06-16T00:00:00.001-04:00

Wow...week 3 for the Inspiration Workshop! I was so excited to see the prompt for this weeks workshop to blog about was: GREEN! Squeel! Green is my absolute favorite color of all, so I was thrill to get to show you some of my favorite green items! First and foremost, on my must have list, is a rosette necklace from allorahandmade.com. See the picture below for the moss green beauty on my list! It was my birthday this past Tuesday, so I think I'm just going to be forced to buy this for myself as a b-day present. :)

One of my favorite animals ever is the sea turtle. They are just so darn cute. So, if I were ever to permanently brand myself with a tattoo, it would have to be like the green goodness below! I just love the green, turquoise & fuchsia colors together.

Now you're probably wondering what in the heck is green in the picture below...well, my eyes for starters...lol. No, I included the picture below for one of mine and my fiance's favorite drinks which are mojitos & in the picture below we are at a little bar in St. Thomas in the U.S.V.I. called Mojitos. Great little place if you ever get the chance to visit the island! Plus I wanted to include the pic because I miss my fiance so much right now, since we are living in different states at the moment due to work. Hopefully, he'll be down here in a few months...keeping my fingers crossed!

Now I found this dreamy green bathroom on pinterest.com. It's my new addiction! Click on the picture and it'll take you to where I found it on the website. Love this huge tub & to have it surrounded by windows is awesome, as long as you don't have any nearby neighbors...lol. I love the sage green color of the walls! Gorgeous!

Well, that's my green inspiration for now! Hope you enjoyed my finds! Have a good rest of the week!

Inspiration Workshop - Kitchens

2011-06-09T06:00:00.001-04:00

Greetings bloggers! Hard to believe a week has past already since the last "Inspiration Workshop"! I loved seeing all the blog posts for all that participated! This week I'm linking up to Maggie at Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop once again. The prompt that was sent out to post about this week was: Kitchens

If you click on the picture, it's linked to the website I found this picture by Richard Leo Johnson. This looks like a dream kitchen to me! I love, love, love the turquoise and white together. And I absolutely love that the tile is tumbled sea glass! What a wonderful idea! I totally adore the retro style fridge and stove. I'm a big Rachael Ray fan and always loved her kitchen on "30 Minute Meals", especially the retro styled appliances. I also loved her pull out pantry, so I'd have to add one of those to this kitchen! I'm also in love with all the counter space! I love having a kitchen bar that you can sit at, but notice there's also a lot of counter space on the side you don't sit at, perfect for preparing yummy treats! I think kitchens are where most families spend the most time, so why not make it a magnificent space that you just adore! Swoon! It's so dreamy!

Inspiration Workshop - Handmade

2011-06-02T21:04:00.002-04:00

I was so excited when Maggie over at Gussy Sews (cutest shop ever!) announced that she was going to start her Inspiration Workshop for everyone to link up to every Thursday. Every week she is going to e-mail out a prompt & this week the prompt was: Handmade

So many things inspire me in regards to handmade items. My new addiction is Pinterest...oh my, I could spend hours and hours on that site finding new craftiness I want to try on my own. I also frequent Etsy for inspiration as well as many blogs. The last crafty post that inspired me the most had to have been over at Under the Table and Dreaming By Stephanie Lynn. Just click on the name of the blog and it will take you to the most awesome tutorial ever. It's for the lovely wreath pictured above from the blog I just mentioned. The little rosettes are made from book pages!! Don't you just love it! What better way to use a book that you didn't care for & aren't ever going to read again?! I started making my own wreath a couple weeks ago...I'm only about 1/3 of the way done, as it is a very time consuming project, but it will be totally worth it to have such a gorgeous finished project to hang on my door!

Easy Peasy Chicken Pot Pie

2011-05-31T19:43:00.000-04:00

Well, since I boiled and shredded a whole bag of chicken tenders this weekend when I made chicken enchiladas to take over to my uncles house for a little Memorial Day lunch, I had a ton of chicken left over! So lucky me...I thought ahead & bought all the stuff I needed to whip up an easy peasy chicken pot pie! It's the easiest thing in the world to throw together & it tastes so much better then those rinky dink ones you can find in the freezer section at your nearest grocery. I wish you could smell how wonderful this tasty dinner smells! I can't wait to dig in, but I'll have to wait awhile for it to cool down. So, while I'm waiting for it to cool down, I thought I'd be nice and share how easy this dinner is to throw together! Plus, it'll help me take my mind off of my growling stomach.

Anyways, literally...all you need is some handy dandy premade crust, which you can always find in the refrigerated section by the biscuits. You'll get two rolled up pie crusts in a box. So, grab your pie dish from the cabinet and unroll one of the rolls of dough and place it in the bottom of the pie plate. Next, you'll want to grab a bowl & pour in 2 cans of mixed veggies, a couple cans/jars of chicken gravy & some of your leftover shredded chicken. By the way...this is also great made with leftover turkey! Just substitute the chicken gravy with turkey gravy! Mix everything up together in the bowl and then dump it all into that pie crust. Next, unroll the second pie crust and place it on top and pinch the two crusts together & pop it in the oven at 450 for about 45 minutes. See....easy peasy!! Ohh..and make sure to put some foil around the edges so the crust doesn't burn! Hope this helped anyone looking for an easy dinner to throw together! Enjoy!!

Lazy Weekend & Yummy Dessert!

2011-05-30T20:20:00.000-04:00

Ahhh...it was so nice to have a three day weekend! Thank you servicemen...past & present! Time is flying so fast this year...I can't believe it will be June in a couple of days. I had started out on Friday thinking I would clean up the house this weekend, so I got up early on Saturday & moved from the bed to the couch. That was the first mistake...second mistake was turning on the t.v. & continued to watch episodes of Ghost Whisperer on Netflix & that's where my weekend pretty much ends...lol. I have less than 20 episodes left, so I'll have that series knocked out this week. When I'm done...I've got to start making myself workout before I start in on another series or I'll be couch bound all summer...not cool! I got a couple of workout games via Gamefly.com to try out, so I'm curious how those are going to turn out, but I wanted to try them first before buying any, since Xbox games are so gosh darn expensive. I'm most eager to try out the Biggest Loser game, but I might be taking back that eagerness after I try it out and have Bob & Jillian yelling at me...lol.

The weekend wasn't entirely spent on the couch...I did manage to get the bathroom all cleaned up and wiped down. And the kitchen. Even ran out and grabbed a few groceries. Then on the way home, I noticed that none of my neighbors that I share the pool with were home, so I put away the groceries real quick and then jumped in the pool. I'm not very comfortable in a bathing suit around other people, so I took advantage of the pool while nobody was around. It was great! A lot warmer then when I was in there last back in October! Then I called up my uncle & made plans to bring him over lunch today, so this weekend wasn't a total loss...I still got to see family! :) I ended up making Chicken Enchiladas (my specialty), corn casserole & Lazy Peach Pie. The food was a big hit with my uncle & then when his roomates got home from their weekend at the beach...they attacked the food & loved it too! It always makes me happy when people like what I cook, since I'm not the greatest. I was too full to eat any Lazy Peach Pie, but sure enough...as soon as I got home I was hungry for some, so I through together the batter & when I went to grab a can of peaches I was out, so I just made do with a can of pears....tasted just as good. Would you like the recipe?? Okay, you twisted my arm!

Lazy Peach Pie

1 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 c. milk

1 stick of butter

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

Lg. Can of Peaches

Cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together, except the butter & fruit. Melt the stick of butter in an 8x8 or 9x13 pan. Pour the batter on top of the melted butter. Drop in sliced peaches randomly throughout. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Wah-la! Instant Yumminess!

Since I dabble in the art of cooking I didn't do any new paintings this weekend. I have one almost done, but haven't been able to get the design/outline I'm going for laid out to where it looks the way I want it to just yet, so maybe next weekend. I will leave you with a quick painting I did last weekend for a friend at work who wanted a dandelion painting for her bedroom after she seen my drawing of one on my message board on my door at work. She wanted it to be a bright pink to match her bedroom decor...I thought it turned out pretty good. She loved it, so that's what counts! Anyways, hope y'all had a fabulous long weekend! Talk to you later!

A Birthday Surprise & The Movies

2011-05-22T21:52:00.001-04:00

Another weeks gone by already....man this year is flying by! It was another pretty uneventful week for me. Last Saturday I popped a birthday surprise in the mail for one of my besties since before kindergarden. I made her a custom painting with a quote she says all the time on her blog, My Eclectic Bookshelf...you should go check it out! It's my favorite painting I've done recently by far! What do you think?

It's been pretty stink'in warm here in Orlando...it's been in the 90's. So, this morning, to beat the heat, I went to movies for the first time since Thanksgiving. I went to watch the new Pirates movie in 3D. They'll never make one as good as the first movie, but you can't go wrong with Johnny Depp. Make sure if you go and watch it you sit thru the credits for a snip-it more of movie as they usually do. Luckily I got my ticket for free, but it cost me over $5.00 for a large bottle of water! When you pay that much for water you'd think they'd give a large cup of ice if you ask for it, but noooo....they will only give you a little tiny cup of ice...not even a size small cup. The concession stand dude said if I wanted a bigger cup I'd have to pay for that size drink...WTF?? Are you freakin' kiddin me? I'll smuggle my own cup of ice and bottle of water in next time.

There were some pretty good movie previews before the movie started. "Zookeeper" with Kevin James is one I'll want to be seeing...it looks super funny, but I'm a big fan of Kevin James...he cracks me up! They have a Smurfs movie coming out, but I didn't think it looked that great. I prefer the cartoon! They do have "The Muppets" movie coming out, which rocks, as I LOVE THE MUPPETS!!! My favorite ever movie, being "Muppets Take Manhattan". I think I can sing you all the songs in the movie, but I'll spare you, as I can't sing worth a darn! "Cowboys & Aliens" is the only other preview I remember & it looked pretty darn good too. I think the previews are my favorite part of going to the movies! I feel cheated if I'm late and miss them...almost to the point I don't want to stay for the movie I initially came to see. Call me crazy! Anyways, that's all for now folks! Yak at ya later!!

Paintings, Frappuccinos & Cake Pops....Oh My!

2011-05-15T21:27:00.003-04:00

Hey everybody! Well....what do you think of my painting for the week? Doesn't it rock?! I just love how this painting turned out. I had painted the background mid-week out of boredom & I have been wanting to paint something with a combo of my favorite cool colors. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to paint on this gorgeous background, as I would have been satisfied just hanging the canvas on the wall prior to painting the palm trees. Anyways, I racked my brain all week.....ocean scene, scene looking at earth from space, etc... Then this morning I woke up and headed out the door to do my weekly grocery run & cool shadow of a palm tree caught my eye and I knew that's what was meant to go on my beautifully colored canvas. I think it turned out to be a pretty darn good choice! Don't you? Next time, I think I'll try this design out on a bigger canvas since I love it so much. I think I might have to do one with sunset colors too...pinks, oranges & yellows. :)

It's been a pretty uneventful week for me! Finally found a chiropractor that could get me in this week before work which was exciting! Dr. Moroff has magic fingers & after my very first adjustment I was feeling 95% better, after being in pain for a month. It was such a relief. Definitely the best chiropractor I've ever found! If anyone lives in the Orlando, FL area and is looking for an awesome chiropractor, check out Exum Chiropractic.

I was craving some Starbucks goodness earlier this week, so I stopped in on my way to work. To my surprise, they had a new frappuccino flavor.....Mocha Coconut! It is sooooo good! I'd highly recommend trying it, especially if you love coconut & chocolate. They if sprinkle it with toasted coconut & drizzle it with chocolate syrup. Something else on the Starbucks menu I've heard a lot about and have been wanting to try are cake pops. I didn't try those until today after coming across a cake pops recipe book in Target. I picked it up and thumbed through it for a bit & was surprised at how freaking easy these are to make!

You basically back a cake...let it cool & then you break it up in a bowl. Then you stir in 3/4 of a container of frosting into the cake crumbs, so it's nice and moist. Then you roll 1 or 1.5 inch balls and place them on a cookie sheet and pop them in the fridge to firm up before you dip them in chocolate! I'm definitely going to have to try and make them myself. These would definitely be fun to make for a bake sale and would probably be a pretty popular seller, as they are pretty tasty! And they are pretty too! Starbucks has a Rocky Road Flavor that is chocolate cake on the inside covered in chocolate, marshmallows and nuts. It's pretty tasty. The pink one is the Birthday Cake flavor. It's yellow cake on the inside. It's pretty tasty too! My absolute favorite is the Tiramisu flavor! It's a combo of vanilla cake with a coffee flavor on the inside with a mocha coating and a chocolate shaped coffee bean on top! It's sooo good! I'll have to stay away though, as they are about 170 calories for just one of these delightful little things...Yikes! Not good when it's swimsuit season year round here in Florida...lol!

Well, that's about all I got for you this week. I'll spare you by not talking about the great coupons and deals Target has on there website this week...who knew they even has coupons for clothes!? I got $5 off a swimsuit that was already on sale for $12.50....SCORE!! Okay...I'll stop now or I'll keep going. Talk to you all later! I'll have a new painting to reveal to you in the next couple of days....SQUEEEL! :)

Another Weekend Gone!

2011-05-08T18:40:00.000-04:00

Man, do the weekends fly by quick! I'm ready for Memorial Day weekend! Not that I have any plans what so ever, but at least it's a 3 day weekend, which are far and few where I work! So what have you all been up to this week? Nada here...still dealing with some pretty persistent back pain that refuses to subside for good & can't seem to find the time to take off work to get it taken care of....grrr!

The only things I've managed to accomplish this weekend are to get a couple paintings done, a little more of another crafty project done & I found a new kick ass flavor of Ben & Jerry's!! It's so good....it's called "Late Night Snack". I do declare "Chubby Hubby" is still my favorite, but this is a very close second! It's vanilla bean ice cream with swirls of salty caramel and fudge covered potato chip clusters....hey...don't knock it, till you try it! It's that perfect combo of sweet & salty. Kinda like dipping a french fry in a Wendy's Frosty. Come on...you know you've tried it! Anyways, it's definitely worth picking up if you see it on your next grocery run!

The other crafty project I've been working on is a decorative wreath, but I don't want to show you any pictures until I'm completely done, which may be a while, as I didn't realize the project was so tedious and time consuming until after I got it started. I will give you a hint as so what the wreath consists of....well, for starters one of those wreaths you find made of hay that is wrapped in plastic, superglue & rosettes made out of book pages. It's going to be gorgeous when it is all done. I'm about 1/3 of the way done and I so love how it looks. I can't wait until I get it all done.

On the painting front...I completed two this weekend. One is called "Wish" that has a whimsical little dandelion design on it. The other....I cannot reveal at this time until the recipient I made it for receives it. It is by far my most favorite painting I've done & I LOVE IT!! Hope the person I made it for loves it as much as I do & I have a good feeling they will! I will show you how the "Wish" painting turned out though.

Well, that's all for now. Back to working my way through episodes of "Ghost Whisperer" on Netflix. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! :)

Oh, My Aching Back!

2011-05-01T22:50:00.000-04:00

Holy cow...I didn't realize it has been a week since I posted already! Work has been exhausting lately, especially since my bad back has been acting up for the past month, so after sitting at work all day I just come home in pain and sit with ice on my back until I'm numb. Back pain is no fun, unfortunately since I'm a klutz I've had to deal with it most of my life. Growing up in the midwest, I always managed to fall on a icy patch at least once ever winter, no matter how careful I was to avoid them! I remember one winter when I was in college and I waited to walk up to the school until the snow plow went through. Well, no sooner than I start walking up to the doors, one leg goes flying in the air, followed by the other...arms and book bag fly through the air and I land flat on my back and just laid there in the snow for a while and the snow plow drives up to see if I'm okay and I just laid there and gave him a thumbs up and then got up and went to class covered in snow. I looked like Goofy in one of those old Disney short cartoons & probably made the whole "Yaaaahoooohooooeeeee" sound in the process. Then I was rear ended over New Years one year on our way from Chicago to Ohio to visit family. Some crazy lady was flying down the interstate and supposedly fell asleep and when she hit the traffic jam....guess whose car stopped her! Yep....back hasn't been the same ever since.

Anyways, by Friday evening I was in desperate need of relief and over the counter pain relievers and ice just weren't cutting it anymore. So, as I was cringing as I got out of my car I seen a Bed, Bath & Beyond ad sticking out of my mailbox...they always make my day for some reason?! As I'm sitting on the couch with an ice pack, flipping through the pages, I come to the last page and there it was...a product that peaked my interest on a late night infomercial....the Back2Life. There it was with the big fat price tag that made me cringe, but I had a 20% off coupon & have been unsuccessful at finding any chiropractors in the area that are open when my schedule would allow me to go, so after much research I broke down and went out and bought it Friday night. I was a bit skeptical, so I made sure to ask about the return policy and they said it you don't like it...bring it back...no time limit! So that worked for me, plus I got a $20 mail in rebate to boot! Well, I came home straight away and put it together and tried it out straight away & have used it a few times each day over the weekend and I can actually move without being in pain!! The real test will be to see how I feel tomorrow after I come home from work. Hopefully, it continues to do its magic and keeps on working for me. So, I'm going to keep this up along with a yoga dvd I found on Netflix & hopefully that'll help limber me up a bit so I can add a little more activity into my routine. I threw my back out in the first place trying to add some exercise into my week, but that X-box Kinect game had way to much jumping and totally jarred the heck out of my back, so I won't be playing that game anytime soon. Anyways...that about sums up my week....PAINFUL! But if you have lower back pain & don't want to spend all that time and money at the chiropractors office...this little gadget practically works like one of the contraptions they usually have you lay on & helps get those vertebrae in the lower back moving. It's worked wonders for me this weekend & will totally be worth the money if it continues to do the trick! So don't knock it, until you try it! :)

Favorite Things of the Moment

2011-04-24T18:36:00.000-04:00

Some of my favorite things at the moment are....

I'm really loving my Xbox 360. I've never been a gamer by any means & I mainly use it as a DVD player or to stream Netflix shows & movies. I do occassionally get in the mood to play a game. I also have the Kinect, which basically lets your body be the controller & it reads all of your moves & motions. So today, I finally opened up the game I bought when I got the system a few weeks ago, "Dance Central" & it totally kicked my butt & worked up a sweat! It burns more calories than sitting on the couch though! :)

Glee: Season One - LOVE IT! Found out the first season was available on demand on Netflix, so I've been watching all of the episodes over the weekends. I started watching the show initially when it first came out, but then I didn't watch it for a while. I'm glad it was on Netflix...I forgot how good the show was. Gotta love Sue Sylvester...she cracks me up with some of her off the wall sayings. Makes me wish I could sing!

"Something Borrowed" is the latest book I downloaded to read on my Nook & I'm loving it so far! I'm not even half way done yet, but I would highly encourage you to pick up this book! Can't wait for the movie!

I love the wine cork cage my brother bought me when he was here back in February. Evidently, I'm not the only one that liked keeping the decorative corks when I was done with a bottle of wine. Plus, it's a great decorative piece in my kitchen. Don't you just love it! Just type in "Cork Cage" in google to find a whole bunch of them in different styles and designs, like, a house, a purse, a pineapple & many more.

My sister had sent me some of this Caress Evenly Gorgeous for X-mas & it's nothing I would normally buy. I guess I'm more of a Bath & Body Works gal, but this stuff is the bomb digity! Smell like brown sugar...yum!

My favorite song of the moment is Cee Lo Green's "Forget You". I would have posted his video, but I love this version that was done on "Glee" by Gwyneth Paltrow. She has an amazing voice!

Happy Saturday!

2011-04-23T20:43:00.000-04:00

   Hey there blog land! It was another lazy Saturday at my house this weekend! Needed a new book to download for my Nook last night, so I downloaded "Something Borrowed" by Emily Giffin & had a hard time putting it down last night. Then when I woke up this morning around 8:00, I grabbed the Nook & had to read at least another two chapters before getting up for the day. So far, it's a really good book! It's another one of those books that been made into a movie. I believe it's going to be released in theaters shortly and has Kate Hudson & Ginnifer Goodwin as the main characters, so that should be good.
   Then after I got up, I sat on the couch in front of the t.v. with the laptop on my lap trying to figure out what I was going to do for the day. Other than doing some cleaning around the house, not much else got accomplished today. I kept thinking I was going to go to a movie, but I think I might go to one tomorrow instead since I don't have any plans for Easter. I wasn't going to go see "Water for Elephants" right away, but I keep hearing such good things about it, I just might have to. I also really want to see "Soul Surfer", as I'm a surfing movie freak...love them!
   I wanted to get some of the project done that I started last weekend, but I didn't have the energy, as it's a tedious project and will probably take me a few weekends and many hours on the couch to complete. It will be so cool looking when I'm done though, but I'm not telling you what it is...you'll have to wait for that blog post when it's all finished! :)

The only thing I did manage to get done today was the above painting. I've had the canvas all ready for a couple weeks, but I was trying to think of the right word or design I wanted to put on it. Then when I was watching "Lilo & Stitch" today, it got to the part where Stitch says, "Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten". And I thought, perfect...."OHANA"! Then I added in the little hibiscus flower design for that little bit of Hawaiian flair & Whaaaala...painting complete! Hope you like it...I do! :)

Water For Elephants...Loved it!

2011-04-21T21:06:00.000-04:00

After many weeks of reading "Water for Elephants" little by little, trying to make the book last me a little while instead of reading it all in a matter of a weekend, I finally finished it up last night. I'm a little sad that the story had to come to an end, but boy what an ending it had...absolutely LOVED the ending! I am a little hesitant to watch the movie, just because I loved the book so much, but it's going to be hard not to eventually watch the movie, as it has a couple of my favorite actors in it, but I'll probably wait until it comes out on dvd.

This book made me laugh many times throughout, as well as cringe during a few parts. Personally, I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a great story of the depression-era, with a whole boat load of interesting characters! To briefly summarize, the book is narrated by the main character, Jacob Jankowski, who alternates back and forth between his current life, as a spunky old man in a nursing home and that of a much younger self, whom once hopped a train & ended up joining a traveling circus & becoming the resident vet. Along the way, he falls in love with Marlena & Rosie, one, is the lovely & stunning equestrian star and the other is the shows elephant. The book literally takes you on a train ride of an adventure & along the way you meet stage hands, circus freaks & clowns, the sideshow acts that are only known through word of mouth & many more. This was a wonderful story with an ending that made me literally lie in bed laughing.

I tried to keep this review short & sweet, especially since the movie is coming out tomorrow. But, I'd highly recommend reading the book first, as I do with most books that become movies. The books are always better in my mind, even as much as I love movies! If you get a chance though, pick up this book and read it...you won't be disappointed!

Yippee for New Books!!

2011-04-20T21:03:00.000-04:00

After a very busy & loooooong day at work, it was so nice to come home to see a box in front of my door & I knew exactly what was inside! Seven brand spanking new books for the bookshelf! YEAH! So, sue me...I'm a big nerd that gets excited when she gets new books!

I've already ready "Vision in White" that a friend lent me & it was so good I just had to get it, in addition to the three other books in the bride quartett series! Can't wait to read these, especially after the first book was so good! Then, a co-worker suggested that I read "Duma Key" by Stephen King. I've never been a big reader of his books, but she swears that it's the best one out of all of the ones he's written, so I hope it's as good as she says! Then "The Pioneer Woman" is just a city girl meets cowboy true love story, so had to get that one! And last, but not least, "Sh*t My Dad Says".....hey, everyone needs a good laugh every now and then!
Now, I've already written up a book review on "Vision in White" on my prior blog, but I will go ahead and post it hear too, just so you can get a snip-it of the book! It was never a book I would have picked up myself, but a friend read it & kept hounding me to read it when she brought it for me to borrow. But I was totally in love with the book once I made myself sit down and get into the book. Okay, so on with the review!
To make it short & sweet, I loved "Vision in White" by Nora Roberts. The book, the first one in the series of the bride quartet set, is full of love and friendship, which makes me laugh and smile and is just an enjoyable read.

"Vision in White" introduces Mackensie, Parker, Laurel and Emmaline. The four woman have been best friends since they were little girls and they spent many days in their childhood playing getting married. From just playing "Wedding Day" as kids they went on to planning weddings and now run a successful wedding planning business, which they named, Vows. Isn't that the cutest! Mackensie, a photographer, loves her job and especially making someone else's wedding day and the pictures of it just perfect. But she doesn't believe in a happily ever after for herself because of an absent father and a selfish and unstable mother, which made her wary of marriage and longterm relationships. When she meets nerdy, cute (with a capital C), intelligent and charming Carter Maguire she is shocked that she starts thinking of a future that includes him. Carter is a great hero, he is smart but also easily flustered and still sure of what he wants in life. Their meeting scene is just hilarious and even though Mackensie is afraid to enter a serious relationship she cannot stop getting more and more involved with Carter. But Mac's doubts and her ongoing struggle to handle her selfish mother are making her afraid to trust in her love for Carter. But thank god Carter is also strong-willed and not ready to let go of the one woman that completes his life and for whom he had a teenage crush 13 years ago (so sweet when he tells her about it). "Vision in White" is a beautiful book. I love the wedding theme, heroine and hero are adorable and their relationship is sweet and sexy at the same time. The friendship of the four woman just warms my heart and their scenes together are so touching. Parker's brother Del and his buddy Jack are also great guys and all in all this book wants me to believe that somewhere out there my own Carter is waiting for me (if he would only came out of hiding!!!). I can't wait to read book two in the series "A Bed of Roses", to see how Emma finds the one man she wants to share her life with (an excerpt is included in "Vision in White").

All fans of romances and strong characters will love this book. I'd highly recommend it, as it just puts a smile on your face the whole time you're reading it!

"Burlesque" Movie Review

2011-04-17T21:37:00.000-04:00

OMG! Are you in for a real treat if you go out and rent the movie, “Burlesque”. I had seen the previews for this movie a while back and thought that it looked pretty good, so I added it to my Netflix queue & forgot about it. Then when I checked my mailbox on Saturday, to my surprise, “Burlesque” was my movie for the weekend!

The only reason I was a bit hesitant to watch it was because it’s Christina Aguilera’s first movie & as much as I love her as a performer, sometimes singers totally sink when they try their hand on the big screen. I made that mistake once before by watching Britney Spears first movie, “Crossroads”. Two big thumbs down on that stinker! But don’t worry, Christina did not disappoint & pulled off her first roll rather well. But I’m sure she had some good acting tips from the all-star cast: Cher, Stanley Tucci (LOVE HIM), Eric Dane, Cam Gigandet, Alan Cumming, Peter Gallagher & Kristen Bell.

If you’re not sure what this movie is all about, it’s basically one of those stories we’ve seen many times over in movies—small town girl leaves to go to the big city to make herself a star. The big city in this case was L.A. When she arrives, you see her do the typical, hide your life savings in cash in your toilet tank….Ewww! Then she goes out on the town & spots a Burlesque dancer outside on a break, which catches her attention, so she walks into the Burlesque club to see what it’s all about & is floored and determined from that moment on that she will be on that stage.

Ultimately, she is shot down by the owner, Tess (Cher) when she asks for a job, so instead she picks up a tray and starts working the bar area and proves herself, so the cute bartender (Cam Gigandet---better known as “James” from “Twilight”) ends up hiring her. So she is mesmerized by the stage dancers & memorizes all the dance routines as she works waitressing. Then one of the dancers ends up pregnant, so they must find a replacement. So Ali (Christina Aguilera) walks into work as they are having auditions & hops on stage to shake her stuff for Tess & ends up landing the gig.

Then one day in the middle of a performance, a jealous dancer goes and pulls the plug on the music & at that moment I bet you can guess what happens! Yep, Ali belts out some amazing vocals that make you want to laugh & cry at the same time because it was her moment to shine & it just excites you, along with her audience & she rocks the stage. From that point on, the show is revamped around Ali.

Even though Ali brings in more business, Tess is struggling with making her 2 mortgage payments & is about to lose the club. Tess was made an offer by a millionaire wanting to buy her out, but she refuses. When it seems hopeless & Tess thinks she’s going to lose everything, Ali comes up with a brilliant plan & saves the club.

There is more to the story than I just summed up…of course there is a little love story mixed in there as well between Ali & Jack (Cam Gigandet). Shoot, you’ll want to rent this movie just to check out Cam Gigandet…he is much hotter in this movie, then when he played James in Twilight! You’ll also get to hear Cher belt out a few songs of course & play her typical role as a hard ass bitch, but ya gotta love her. And Stanley Tucci as her trusty gay sidekick is great, but Stanley Tucci is just an awesome actor & can make any role fabulous!

All in all, I give this movie a big two thumbs up! So get it added to your Netflix queue pronto, if not for anything else, but to check out smokin’ hot Cam Gigandet!

A Clean Slate

2011-04-17T15:14:00.000-04:00

Ahh...A clean slate to start, yet another blog! I've blogged on and off for years, but typically get bored after a while....this time instead of not blogging for a while I just decided to start a new one! After a while there is only so much you can do to redesign your blog, especially if you gave your blog a title/blog address that is hard to design around.

Anyways, I thought "The Little Black Rain Cloud" was a cute title, as I've always said that I was born with a little black rain cloud over my head, as I get hit with the worst luck in the world, frequently. I won't bore you with the thousands of stories I've accumulated over the years of my back luck run-in's, but I'm sure new incidents will pop up here and there over the span of this blog. My most recent bout with bad luck was last weekend, when my car was making a horrid noise that scared the crap out of me so bad I quickly signed up for a AAA membership, so I had towing in case I needed it. Well, the mechanic initially said it was the water pump coming apart and would run around $500, so I thought okay...thank god I put away my tax moola in case of an emergency, then later in the day after the mechanic had it tore apart he called with the news that it wasn't the water pump....instead, it was the a/c compressor, so $800 later....my car is fixed & my a/c works now too, which is probably good since I'm living in sunny Florida, but I hate having to spend that much on a car repair. Now my savings account is very sad and pathetic looking, so I'll having to start putting what I can aside in case of an emergency because I feel a whole lot more comfortable being in an area by myself with a little cushion in the bank to fall back on if needed.

Well, enough of that for now! There is still a lot of little things I want to add to my blog when the time allows, but weekends fly by & when I get home from work the last thing I want to do is look at my computer after staring at one for 9 hours. So, additions, such as, tabs/links to different pages will eventually get added, but it may be a slow process. I love to do reviews on movies & books, so I'd like a tab for those & I love to post my latest craftiness, whether it be a new painting or a DIY project that I found. This weekend I found an awesome project to work on, but it's time consuming and tedious, so I'll save that sucker for another post!

I hope to have giveaways at certain milestones along my blog journey as well, just for fun & because it makes people happy! Plus, it's an incentive for those of you that choose to follow my blog. The more that follow via google on my sidebar...the faster the giveaways will come up, so spread the word! My first goal is a giveaway at 50 followers, so send people my way! Well, I've rambled on long enough for my first post, so I'll blog at y'all later!