Saturday, July 31, 2010

Preperations for the Golf Outing

Happy Saturday!

I feel like i have been a little MIA the past few days but I have been busy doing things for a golf outing that is today! [clearly you can tell that i'm not too overly stressed about it since I am sitting here updating my blog when I should be getting ready - priorities - right!?]


So over the past few days I have been making these:

And putting the finishing touches on this


I am so excited for today's golf outing - it should be a lot of fun!

Here are the recipes that we used for the pudding shots...

**a little hint when making jello shots/pudding shots - spray all of the cups with PAM/cooking spray first - that way the shots come right out**

Buckeye Shots

**I only made 1/2 of this recipe**


2 packages of instant chocolate pudding (small box)
1 qt whipping cream
16 oz of baileys
12 oz butterscotch schnapps

Combine pudding and whipping cream
Pour in Bailey's and Butterscotch Schnapps
Ladel into jello shot cups
Freeze
Serve with mini plastic spoon
you can find the spoons at GFS along with the cups and lids


Mudslide Shots

1 small box of instant chocolate pudding
1 3/4 cup of cold milk
2 oz Kahula
2 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
2 oz Creme de Cacao
Add liquors to cold milk, pour this into pudding mix, blend thoroughly, pour into cups and chill


Drunk Gummies


3 shots of Absolut Citron
1 bag of Haribou Gummies


Refrigerate Gummies! Let the Gummies sit in the Citron for 2-3 days and soak up all the liquid [aka alcohol] and then enjoy! even Justin [the kid who doesn't like anything gummy enjoyed them!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

**random thoughts for a wednesday**

i have recently discovered that keebler has created a year round samoa - coconut dreams
this is bad news!
when Justin nods his head and says
"I wish you wouldn't have bought these again"
its kinda hard to resist
we will be lucky if this package of 15 cookies make it through the weekend


i wish it can be the 5 weeks between thanksgiving and xmas all year round - it is undoubtedly my favorite time of the year
and this is why:

christmas carols
snow
family
friends
holiday parties
christmas cookies
decorating for the holidays
holiday shopping
wrapping presents

only 148 days left until christmas

i'm ready for a smart phone again... although i don't mind rocking out the flip phone... the inability to get picture mail is about to make me break down and buy the black iphone.. i have missed friends texts and they think i'm mad at them...and then i have to tell them the pathetic story about how i ruined my smart phone and i'm back to the old school flip phone

i'm thinking about finally starting an etsy site to sell the headbands that i make
and i'm really excited about it!
as soon as i get it up and running i'm thinking about celebrating in true blogging fashion
by having my FIRST give-a-way!!

i'm starting to have a love/hate relationship with big brother... 3 days a week is a bit excessive, but its still addictive - i have it scheduled to tape on the dvr - so it means i HAVE to watch it.... however the suspense of wondering who the 2 cast mates who know one another is killing me... who do you think it is?

Monday, July 26, 2010

a quick roadtrip is all you need

Yesterday Justin and I took a trip to Cleveland to visit some of our favorite people....


we miss these two like crazy

Stace and Ry
the food spread Kath put out for the party

the adorable cake they had made for the celebrations
Kelly and her adorable daughter, samantha
[we missed you jeff]
sammers ready for the pool
all of the big kids in the pool


the boys playing in the pool
[please notice that justin is wearing goggles as ryan sprays him]
sam ready for bed in her footed pj's
time for a campfire

Justin and IStace and Ry
I can't believe you two have already been married for a year
CONGRATS!

the 4 of us :)

the best picture of the night...
someone asked
"who wants a water"
clearly some needed it more than others
and then i was just interested in making my s'more
very focused!



although we were only together for a few hours it was totally worth it
we had so much fun [like always!] and can't wait until we can do it again!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

RIP Berry

on Sunday JM and I went for a run at the clubhouse
and on our way home we were caught in a small monsoon
resulting in berry getting drenched
**along with the iTouch-which thankfully was not damaged **
so i did what i have always heard - put your phone in a bag of rice
i didn't have a bag of rice but i did have a box of rice
so i put the rice in a bag, and placed my phone into it
not thinking that the box of rice is old and rice crumbles
well....
see all the crevices in berry... well there is also rice crumbles in there as well
causing my phone to no longer work


so RIP berry - its been real!

and i'm back to the good ole sprint fusion

back to t9 texting
back to not having a smart phone
no emails, no facebook, no BBM
but hopefully it will only be for a short time since
i'm waiting patiently for the white i phone

so until then - i will rock out my flip phone and love it!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

all in a days work.....

a wedding and reception
date night with JM
a little carpentry work
AND
a LOT of pictures

what an eventful friday!

my good friend from school kristin was married on friday afternoon at the franklin park conservatory. the ceremony was in the brides garden and it was beautiful. mike and kristin have a little boy named kaden, and to see a little 2 month old in a 3 piece suit was absolutely precious!

their reception was at the melting pot where we all enjoyed desserts - hello deliciousness!

kristin and mike cutting into the cake.. it was priceless, apparently mike's family member had made the cake, and kristin had mentioned previously that she wouldn't mind if it was funfetti - well funfetti is what she got - her reaction after cutting into the cake was priceless




all of the girls who attended the ceremony and reception

i came home from the wedding [the wedding was at 2:30] and met up with Justin and we had planned a date night [which we rarely do - and i felt like i was going on a first date again... i was so excited]

we had a groupon [if your not familiar with them - you need to sign up for the notifications for your local area - they are wonderful!] for the candle lab that needed to be use before it expired [a good excuse for a date - right?]

you choose your scents that you would like to mix for your candle [they have everything from burnt sugar to basil to rain]

and then you create your candle's name

and you mix the oil with the wax and then they have to sit for at least an hour before you can pick them up

I made a dark chocolate and coconut candle along with a blackberry and vanilla scented candle, and justin made 2 mandels (a man candle) with leather, dad's den, and coffee....

after the candle lab we went to participate in Colmbus's restaurant week. We have gone a few times, you can read about one visit here and how we decided where to go here [no one said i was good at making decisions]. Its a nice way to see high end restaurants in Columbus for a fairly reasonable price - and all the benefits go to the Mid Ohio Food Bank. Last night we went to the Columbus Fish Market - yum!

By the time our salad came - I was so hungry that I devoured it without remembering to take a picture - sorry! it was just a green salad .... i have faith in you that you can use your imagination!

Justin and I ordered the same thing for dinner and for dessert
Summer Shrimp and Scallops with succotash and roasted red skinned potatoes

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

When we got home trying to overcome our food coma - we had to put together my new tv stand. for the last 3 years I have had two end tables pushed together holding my tv - and although it didn't look awful - it has always bothered me that it wasn't really a tv stand. so i finally found one at world market in their flier on sale a few weeks back - so i went ahead and ordered it - and i'm glad that i did! you can see the previous stand here

Justin assembling the stand

the finished product [let me tell you that this thing was not easy to put together... 2 hours and a threat of a relationship was put on the line - but it was totally worth it! i LOVE it!]

however what i don't love is this is what we still have left over... why does this always happen?

alright sorry for such a long post - but it was a busy day!
I hope you all have a wonderful saturday - i'm off to golf course to work a wedding!
Enjoy your day!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Top 2 Tuesdays - Favorite Summer Recipes

Today's topic for T2T is your favorite summer recipes...

Guacamole!
image
I absolutely love it! i could honestly eat it as a meal!

2 avocados
1 fresh squeezed lime
1 small red onion
3 tablespoons of fresh chopped cilantro
1 clove of garlic
1 shot of tequila [my not so secret ingredient anymore]
salt and pepper to taste



My other favorite summer dish is a
Mediterranean Pasta Salad

1 box of whole wheat pasta
1 small zucchini
1 cup of feta
1 cup of kalmalta olives
1 cup of roasted pine nuts
balsamic vingerette (start with a tablespoon and you can always add more)
salt and pepper to taste

remember to watch your pine nuts when you are toasting them - they will burn quickly!

and serve

And just because some days I can't just stick to 2 of my favorites
i decided to bend the rules a little bit again..
so with that being said...

i also love my white sangria recipe

1 box of dry white wine (i know - keeping it classy! but trust me a few ingredients and its delish!)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 cup of sprite
2 shots of captain morgan
any fruit (for the summer I use berries)

mix the one cup of water and one cup of sugar to make a simple sugar
and then add the cinnamon

pour the simple syrup into the container with the wine and let marinate

right before serving, add sprite, berries and captain morgan
(trial by error made me realize that if you add the berries too soon they loose their color
and don't look as pretty)


and then I make berry ice cubes so when the ice melts
you have berries in your glass
**please use your imagination - I totally forgot to take a picture of the canister of sangria and a glass of the wine - its so pretty and festive!**

I can't wait to link up to Taylor's blog and see what other bloggers have as their favorite summer dishes!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

I'm a list maker.... are you?

Do you ever have a day when you have so much to do that you just need a list to keep you on track? Well that was today for me.... I have accomplished most of my list.. but for what didn't get done today - will be pushed until tomorrows list...

i went to home depot today with Jaci and bought a few flowers for my new hanging baskets

JM and I rarely eat a full loaf of bread before it becomes a science project.. so I decided to dry out the remaining loaf of bread and create whole wheat bread crumbs for recipes that I use throughout the year since it is so difficult to find whole wheat bread crumbs at the grocery store.
(and yes step#1 is to remind myself that I have bread crumbs in the oven - otherwise I would
pre-heat the oven and forget the bread was in there!)


sorry for not having an exciting weekend recap... we had a pretty uneventful weekend, but sometimes its nice to just get caught up on things that are around the house!

I hope you had a great weekend!