Betcha Didn’t Know…

Hey Kids,

In an attempt to reach out more to all of you in the blog world I have been thinking of ways to tell y’all more about me.  So this post is a few fun facts about me that I betcha didn’t know.

1.) I wear glasses

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Yep, you heard right.  I wear glasses but you will never see a picture of me in them because I only wear them for reading and using the computer.

 

2.) I have a fear of water

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The picture above pretty much sums up my fear of water.  My fear is not limited to just the ocean it’s pretty much any body of water.  Lake, river, pool, water towers (not that I have been in one)…you name it I don’t like it.  In a weird way I have thought about this fear for a while and I have come to the conclusion that my fear of water is a combination of almost drowning when I was five and watching too many movies involving scary things getting you in a body of water.

Now to clarify I do still swim in water.  Swimming pools are better than bodies of water where the water isn’t clear, like lakes and rivers.  But when I do swim, someone has to be in the water too and I will swim in the lake or ocean but I don’t like it, like at all.  I would prefer to see my prey coming before it eats me whole.  As you can image I haven’t seen Jaws 1, 2, 3, or 4. 

 

3. My nickname in college was squirrel

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They might look cute and cuddly but these things are vicious and nasty. 

Ok let me back up and tell y’all the story.  Freshman year in college I was on a nice run through a neighborhood near my school.  Just minding my own business when a squirrel comes out to cross the road in front of me right as a car is passing me as well.  The squirrel is now between me and the car and the squirrel freaks out jumps in my direction and on to my leg.  He then proceeded to dig it’s claws into my knee and then just run away.  It’s ridiculous I know.  Why didn’t I just move, I have no clue but the fact is that the squirrel ran up my leg and scratched up me knee.  So I ended up going to the emergency room because I was uncertain if squirrels carry rabies.  Come to find out that they don’t and I left the hospital with a few band aids and the E. R. nurses laughing at me.  So once I got back to campus everyone pretty much knew I got attacked by a squirrel.  It was a small school so it wasn’t hard to find out.  So the name just kind of stuck from then on out.

 

4.) I hate horseradish

Your probably thinking this isn’t a huge deal but there is a story behind it.  The first date I ever went on in high school was to Outback Steakhouse.  We sat down ordered our food, everything was going good.  We get our meal’s and my date asks if I have ever had horseradish before.  I tell him no and he asks if I want to try any.  I say no im good but he keeps at it and insists that I try this horseradish stuff.  So I give in and try some.  Did not expect for it to pretty much take out my sinus’ and burn every taste bud off my tongue.  I run to the bathroom as my date and half the wait staff are laughing at me. 

I am all about a good practical joke and was a good sport about it at the time but I can’t really remember ever going on another date with him after that, hmmm I wonder why.  So since that day I won’t touch the stuff.

 

So there are few facts about me that I betcha didn’t know.  When I think of other fun facts about myself I will post them up.

All for now.

xoxo,

C 

 

L.O.V.E.

Hey Friends,

Happy Belated Valentines Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday.  I sure did.  I came home last night from work to find this…

waiting for me in my room. 

It was the greatest surprise by far!  Well scratch that, the best surprise would have been seeing T’s smiling face but since that’s not possible this lovely Lily Pulitzer dress is a great reminder of T on this special day.

I hope you all got lots of sweet stuff from your valentines and I hope you all have a great weekend.

xoxo,

C

Christmas Card Book

Happy Tuesday Y’all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Martin Luther King day!  I unfortunately had to come into work yesterday but that’s ok, just thankful to have a job!

Like most of you this month I too have had to pack away all the Christmas decorations and say good-bye to another great holiday season.  Every year I try to find new ways to make the process easier on myself and this year I have found a great use for all of those Christmas Cards. 

“The Cards”

I do love to purge myself of all things clutter but I also have a sentimental side and I love to hold on to holiday cards.  So when I saw this great way to save your past Christmas cards and display them for years to come I knew I had to get on that.

I found the idea for the Christmas card book here.

The best part about this whole project is the free printables.  I get pretty pumped about free printables.

So I printed out the book covers and had them laminated at Kinkos.

Here is a picture of the supplies I used to complete this project.

Nothing fancy or expensive.  I already had everything on hand.

The not so fun step of this project is punching the holes in all of the Christmas Cards.  Not only do you have to punch the holes but you also have to make sure that all the holes in the cards line up so you can put them on the rings.

Once all the holes are punched you can now start adding your cards to both rings.

And there you have it! 

A fun way to save and display your old Christmas cards.

I can’t wait until next Christmas when I can whip out my Christmas card book and look at all the cards I received from this past year. 

Yaaa for organizing clutter!

xoxo,

C

Spirited Art

 Last night I went to my first Spirited Art class with one of my roommates, Emily.  I had a blast despite it being a three-hour long process.  If you have never heard of Spirited Art here’s the scoop.  You go basically go to this art studio and drink wine and paint, that’s it.  There’s a calendar on their website that tells you which picture will be painted that night.  It’ s a nice outlet for your creative side.

I took a few “in progress” pictures to show you how my painting came along.

Doesn’t look like much yet.

Now it’s looking more like row houses.

Then Ta-Da, the final product! 

Before you start thinking that I can’t paint for anything, which I really can’t, the picture is supposed to be a whimsical representation of “the Fan” in Richmond, VA.  So it looks well…whimsical.   It’s fun and light and like it!

I can’t wait to go back and paint all the pictures related to RVA! 

I definitely recommend you check out Spirited Art  if you haven’t already.  It’s a great place for a girls night out, a birthday party, or just get away from the daily grind. 

All for now.

xoxo,

C

Repurposed Wine Crate

Hey Friends,

I don’t know about y’all but I am digging the wine crate motif that is exploding on Pinterest.  There’s something classy and raw looking about the crates that really catch my eye.  

Here are a few of my favorites:

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So with those ideas in mind I picked up my own wine crate when I was in Asheville, NC over the holidays. 

That week I had also gone to T.J. Maxx and bought some cute drawer liners that I couldn’t pass up.

 

I wanted to keep the wooden feel but I also wanted to glam it up a bit.   So I put some drawer liner paper in it to soften it up a bit.

 

Putting in the drawer liner paper in is very easy .  Their are lines on the back of the paper that have inch measurements that make it easier to cut.

 

15 minuets later, I have my finished project.

 

A beautiful crate on the outside and inside. 

I am not positive what I am going to use this for yet but for now I have tucked it next to the fireplace in my bedroom to hold my throw blankets.

Cheers,

C

Happy Happy Birthday T!!!

This guy turns 24 today!

I just can’t believe it. Especially since when I met him he was only 20!

Here’s to you turning 24 sweetheart! You are the goofiest, kind-hearted, and most laid back person I have ever known.

I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating your b-day and I can’t wait to celebrate with you this weekend!

Love you bunches!

xoxo, C

White Chocolate, Cranberry, and Pecan Cookies

Hey There,

I wanted to share with y’all a yummy recipe I made over the Thanksgiving Holidays.  It’s suppose to have Macadamia Nuts instead of pecan’s but those little guys are so expensive.  So I just used pecans instead because I had them on hand.

What you will need:

3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar ( I just used light brown sugar)

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (about 6 ounces)

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips (about 8 1/2 ounces)

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Mix together first three ingredients into medium bowl.  Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy.  Add both sugars and beat until blended.  Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and beat just until blended.  Using a spatula, stir in cranberries, white chocolate chips, and nuts. 

Bake cookies about 18 minutes for large cookies and about 15 minutes for small cookies. 

These are yummo and I highly recommend them.  I ate an absurd amount.

I am going to be honest and say that having my Mom’s Kitchen Aid stand mixer made making these cookies a whole lot easier.  I don’t recommend making this recipe if you don’t have a mixer of any kind.  That being a stand mixer or a hand mixer.  Getting that butter fluffy was a lot of work but it was worth it! 

For the original recipe on the bon appetit website go here.

Hope you have a great Thursday!

xoxo,

C