Lakehouse Weekend Wrap-up

Hi friends... It is Tuesday night and I am finally starting to get back in the swing of things...

This past weekend, my sweet husband and good friend Stephanie planned a weekend getaway for several of our friends to our family lake house in Kentucky. We left Thursday morning and didn't get back until dinner time Sunday night. It was a BLAST!... We didn't do anything but spend all day on the lake Friday and Saturday, ate a TON of food, and laughed A LOT. It was a great time!... It was the last of my 30th Birthday celebrations! LOL :-)

I really wish I had some great pictures to share with you, but my camera BLOWS!!!! It drives me crazy EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I use it! I could literally throw it against the wall some days because I feel like I miss out on capturing SO MANY wonderful memories because it doesn't take pictures worth a crap... so I have basically nothing to show for my wonderful weekend except a bunch of blurry photos with red eyes... :-( {tear}

The FEW pics that DID manage to turn out, I'll post so I can share SOME of the highlights... :)

Yes... it was a friendship bracelet making extravaganza! LOL ;-)

My husband & Stephanie's husband tried to escape by float at one point... LOL ;-)

Since my husband had been drinking on the boat all day Saturday & refused to build me the bonfire I wanted... I had to take matters into my own hands and ended up making Smores Nachos in the oven!... (You can find the recipe here ... I used regular marshmallows & omitted the caramel sauce)... It was DIVINE!

It took 7 adults and 30 minutes researching on the Internet to find out how to play beer pong! LOL ... Yes most of us went to college, but I guess we slipped through the beer pong cracks because I don't think any of us had played before!... I opted for water instead of beer, but still had a BLAST playing! I put my bottled water in my "My tiara is giving me a headache" koozie ;-) ... My sweet husband on the other hand, took one for the team & played with beer... needless to say, he is still recovering!

On a different note, did y'all watch the VMAs Sunday night?... So I think I was a bit old to still be watching this show, by 5 years, but I was blown away when I saw this...

I LOVED the way Beyonce announced her pregnancy!! She sang her song, rocked it like she normally does, then at the end, unbuttons her jacket & shows the world her baby bump! YOU GO GIRL! That was awesome! :-)

And finally, just want to send my prayers with everyone that was affected by Hurricane Irene this weekend! God Bless you all!

Check back tomorrow for this week's "What I'm Obsessed with (Wednesday)" :)

Nite, nite!

Happy Birhtday to me... :)

Well... it's official... I'M 30!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to say, it's not so bad up here! ;-)

My mom came in town the other day, so for once in a long, long, long time, I got to celebrate my birthday with my mommy, and that made me happy! :)

On my actual birthday, me, baby girl, and my mom drove to the mall after breakfast for a little Birthday retail therapy... Nothing too crazy... I was just looking for some bracelets to go with a dress I'm wearing on Saturday night for a MUCH-NEEDED child-free night out on the town with my hubby & favorite girls, but my bracelet hunt was a BIG FAT FAIL! :( Seriously, how hard is it to find a pretty sparkly thing that doesn't cost a fortune... well apparently, very hard... However, I did stumble upon these beauties at Macy's while on the way out...

Seriously!... I don't know what it is about me & this color, but I AM A LITTLE OBSESSED!... to say the least! I think it is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S & these bad boys HAD to come home with me! PERIOD! I was SUPER STOKED!... I had been wanting a pair of blue flats forever & I LOVE the studs on the back & patent leather toe! And to make it even sweeter, I had a Macy's gift card that has been living in my wallet for a year for about THE EXACT amount, so I know it was completely meant to be... PS. they were only $35!!! Really! (Sarah Jacobi- you need a pair of these too!)

Later that evening, my sweet hubby came home from work early & we had a nice, quite dinner at home. He grilled yummy steaks & I made roasted asparagus & white truffle mashed potatoes to go with it...

(PS. I LOVE asparagus! They have been on sale the last couple weeks at Publix so we have been making tons of it!... This is THE BEST way to roast them, in my humble opinion...)

Roasted Asparagus...
Preheat oven 350. Spread trimmed asparagus on baking sheet & drizzle with olive oil, coarse salt, cracked black pepper, lemon zest & lemon juice. Toss. Bake for about 10-15min depending on thickness...

For the white truffle mashed potatoes...
Peel and dice Yukon Gold potatoes. Put in pot, fill with water, add lots of coarse salt & big dollop of olive oil. Stir. Cook until tender. Drain. Add butter, sour cream, half & half, salt, & white pepper to taste. Whip with electric hand mixer. Then stir in white truffle oil to taste. Top with chopped, fresh chives and...

Viola! YUM-O!

This little one was ALL ABOUT some truffle mashed potatoes!... :)



And finally, yummy lemon bars for dessert... :)

Happy Birthday to me!... ;-)


It was the perfect night at home with my wonderful family! :)

Playing in the Rain & Friendship Bracelets...

Happy Sunday Eve Bloggie friends!...

Well the weekend has past and my predictions from this post were correct... By golly, we hadn't even gotten out of the bed on Saturday morning and ALREADY my wonderful, sweet, loving, (and particularly LOUD) husband & baby girl were already getting on my nerves!... And honestly, I'm sure I got on they're nerves this weekend just as much ;-)

but we had a great weekend overall...

Saturday morning, Hubs went to Lowe's after breakfast to get some of the "to-do's" marked off his list (that have been there for months, I'd like to add!)... I'm happy to report, my garbage disposal is no longer leaking & the guest bathroom toilet handle flushes like a dream... :) God Bless America!

While he was out, me & baby girl had craft day...

This girl LOVES to do "artworks" *as she likes to call it ;-) ... Our newest favorite thing is to cut pretty pictures out of magazines & glue them on paper... I think I had just as much fun doing "artworks" as she did! :)

When "da-da" got home from Lowe's, she was SUPER excited to show him her masterpieces! *too sweet ;-)

Then hubs took baby girl out side to play in the rain...

She HAD A BALL!!!... :-)

As for me, I stayed in the house and watched from the front door window... I was in ratty pajamas & didn't feel like getting dressed or putting a bra on... call me lazy... =) but glad these two crazies had fun!...

I did get a wild hair and decided to make these yummies I saw on Pinterest...

They are frozen chocolate & peanut butter bananas with coconut sprinkles!!! THEY ARE HEAVENLY!! You can find the recipe here... It calls for vegan chocolate chips, but I just used regular... I also put mine on lollipop sticks to make them a bit more easy to eat. =)

Then Saturday night while hubs and I were sitting on the couch cleaning out the DVR, I made a friendship bracelet!... Do you remember those...

Well they're making a comeback & I am over the moon about it!!!

I made a small chevron one in green, pink, navy & white... You can find directions on how to make it here...
I left it on the couch when I was done with it & this morning sweet baby girl snagged it and I have no clue where she put it... I'm sure it'll turn up in THE MOST random place in about 6 months, but no fear, Joann's Fabric Store had this thread on sale (buy 3 get 1 free) so I am FULLY stocked & ready to make a new one... I also plan on making several for my friends... they are friendship bracelets after all! I'm SUPER excited! :)

Well that's all I have for now folks... I'm throwing my bestie, Jana, a party this week so I've got to get busy on that... Stay tuned for pics on that later this week!... Her & her sweet hubby are having their first baby & we're doing a gender reveal party! I can't wait!!!

Hope you have a great week! :)

Food for Thoguht...

Happy Friday friends! Wow this week has flown by! Has it for y'all too?!

I am SUPER excited for this weekend because for once in a LOOOOONG while, hubs & I don't have to be anywhere or there aren't a million things going on or to-do's jam packed in there! I LOVE weekends like that!... I can't wait to just relax, cook for my family & hang out with my sweet baby girl & husband at home all weekend! (p.s. I am fully aware I will be somewhat irritated & sick of my family and ready to get out of the house by Sunday afternoon because that's usually how it always works for me... but for now, I'm looking forward to family time! ;-)

To kick off our weekend family extravaganza, when sweet baby girl woke up from her nap today I had a special surprise treat waiting for her...

That's right... me & my sweet little girl sat down & watched MY favorite Disney movie together...She has never seen any of the Disney Princess movies (never ANY movies for that matter) and I thought it was HIGH TIME!... Surprisingly, she already knows most of the Disney Princesses by name without watching any of their films but today when we were running errands, I put on a Disney Princess music CD in the car and she was in heaven! (I was too, I'm not gonna lie! :)

So at that moment this morning, when I saw the look on her sweet little face as we drove down the road (and I sang every word to the songs!), I knew the time had come!...

I tried to make it as special as possible & put pink Sixlets mixed in with the popcorn (P.S. why have I never combined these two before is beyond me because the salty/buttery goodness of the popcorn with the chocolaty morsels were BEYOND WORDS DELICIOUS! This is my new FAVORITE snack!!)

I think she enjoyed it too... :)

But as with anything in life... a good thing only lasts for so long (an hour in this case)... before my "sweet" little girl got antsy & dumped out her popcorn onto my freshly vacuumed & steam cleaned carpet to "pick out" all the pink Sixlets... *sigh* we were just about to my favorite part too when Sebastian sings "Kiss the Girl" while Ariel & Prince Eric sail into the blue lagoon... :-(

Oh well... it was good while it lasted...

In other food news...

Tonight, I made this for dinner... (that pretty yellow tomato is from my garden!! And it was delicious! I'm so proud!! :-)

It's "Grilled Fish with Gremolata"... I got the recipe from Publix a couple weeks back & had a little sample while I was grocery shopping & it is YUM-O!... I'm always looking for easy grilled fish recipes & this is a good one- especially since it mainly uses stuff I keep on hand! (I don't however suggest making this for a 1st date because you will have garlic seeping out of your pores when you're done!!)

Ingredients:

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2 bunch fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

5 gloves garlic, finely minced

4 fish fillets such as snapper, orange roughy or tilapia (1 1/2lb)... *I used salmon because that's what I had already*

1 cup Italian-style panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon chipotle hot pepper sauce (I used Frank's cause that's all I had)

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon Greek seasoning (I didn't have any of this either, so I just sprinkled a little salt, pepper & lemon juice on the fish before i cooked it & it was fine..)

Steps:

1. Combine lemon zest, parsley, garlic, bread crumbs, pepper sauce, & 2 TB olive oil. Mix well, using fingertips, until blended; set aside.

2. Brush both sides of fish evenly with 1 TB olive oil, then sprinkle with pepper & greek seasoning (or in my case- fresh lemon juice, salt & pepper). Place fish on heated grill & grill 2-3 minutes on each side until 145F (PS. I baked mine in the oven at 350 for about 20min)

3. Transfer fish to plate & top each fillet with a generous portion of herb-crumb mixture, Drizzle with remaining 2TB olive oil; serve. (I also squeezed a bit more fresh lemon juice over top of mine before I served...)

On a different food for thought note...

I read this on Pinterest the other day & it really struck home with me! I hate to admit it, but I get so wrapped up with the stresses of daily life that so often I forget to just STOP and thank the Lord for all his blessings!... For the ones I CAN see, as well as the ones that mask themselves in trials!... Thank you! :)

I also read this and I hope to do a little of this this weekend...

I hope you all find the time this weekend to do something just for you! I also hope you take the time to thank God for whatever that "something" is...

I also hope I "find the time" this weekend to get rid of this annoying rodent!

SERIOUSLY! This squirrel is a PAIN IN MY SIDE!!... Look what these little creatures are doing!...

It is DRIVING ME BANANAS!!! Several times a day I catch these pesky animals eating up all the bird food & leaving a HUGE mess on my deck! Too many times a day, I run out from the back door, BIG plastic soup ladle in hand, screaming at the squirrels! (oh, my poor neighbors have to get a kick out of watching me because it is quite comical!)...

I am probably more scared of these rabies-infested rodents than they are of me, but without fail, everyday I come barreling out of the door, banging my ladle & screaming at the squirrels on the deck! I've even got my child involved! Several times, I've turned around to come back in the house to see my sweet daughter with a flip flop in each hand & smacking them together saying "GET SQUIRREL! GET!" lol ;-) Precious! ... But as angry as I get, I just try to remind myself, God is probably putting them there to get happy full bellies so they stay away from my veggie garden... right?!

Anyhoo, that's all I have for now bloggie friends... Nite Nite!

Recipe: Granola Balls...

Hubs & I love these!!! During the week, he usually just has enough time to grab one of those pre-packaged granola bars on the way out the door... then I found this recipe on my Whole Foods app for my iPhone {where else- ha!} ... They are our new favorite!

They are super easy to make & so yummy!!... You can have a couple for breakfast on the go or I just like to have them as a snack :)

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut {I could only find sweetened & that works fine!}

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup of your favorite trail mix

Preheat oven to 350. Spread the oats & coconut on a baking sheet. Place in the oven & toast for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, combine the peanut butter, honey, and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved, stirring continually so as to prevent scorching.


Add the toasted oats and coconut to the peanut butter mixture along with the trail mix and stir to combine. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. {I actually let mine cool for 15-20 minutes cause after 10 it was still too hot to handle}

This is the kind of trail mix I like... it has dried cranberries, chocolate chips, & nuts...

Working with dampened hands, shape into 12 one-inch balls and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. {As you can see below, I shape mine into smaller balls :)... This is a great time to get the kiddies to help!}

ENJOY!!! :)