NBD - 15 months later

It's only been 15 months ... ok, almost 16 months. But I have decided to work a little harder (not TOO hard) to keep up with my blog. I have been up to quite a lot ... but I don't seem to have many pictures at the ready. And everyone knows a blog with pictures is 100 times better than a blog without. For now, I will just tell you a few things I'm excited about.

1. I bought the new martha stewart living (b/c i let my subscription lapse for the first time in about 10 years) ... the horror!! And I am SO excited to read it. For some reason the summer issues are always my favorite. I just love the 4th of july ideas!

2. I'm a new subscriber to Entertainment Weekly. Apparently I should have started this subscription YEARS ago!! I guess I always thought if it was a weekly magazine it must cost gobs and gobs of money. But I found it on Amazon.com for $15!! that's 52 magazines for $15! And I had an amazon.com gift card. HELLO!! no-brainer :) Thanks, Santa Claus! And thanks JonMark for telling me to subscribe for umpteen years. I finally did it! I received the first issue of my subscription while I was away at Summer Camp and I spent my lunch break yesterday reading most of the magazine. Now I am already looking forward to all the books & movies and tv shows I read about! And I might just have to start watching True Blood. The magazine does these things to people! It makes you want to jump on every bandwagon out there! :)

3. Harry Potter 7 - part 2. I don't think I have ever been this excited about a movie before. Folks, I'm 32 years old and I can't wait for the final installment of HP to come out. I actually RSVP'd "yes" for a facebook "event" that invited all of creation to see HP at midnight on opening night. I think I might actually do it! (Full Disclosure: I have been to 3 or 4 HP midnight showings as it is. But I have never been the one with the idea to do so :) Now my HP-midnight-showing friend has a baby and I'm guessing she is not going to be the one with the plan this time ;). It is, however, a bittersweet feeling. I can't believe it's the end of the HP books/movies. It's really very sad. But at least we have Hunger Games to look forward to! Read the books, people. You won't regret it!

Other things I've been up to ...

I've catered quite a few parties since we were last in touch. I did a baby shower in May and another baby shower in June. They both turned out really well. But, I never got around to getting business cards printed. So, sadly it may be the end of the line for all those people i WOW'd with my awesomeness of party planning ;). Me = dumb.

I hope to get my hands on some pictures from the May shower because I forgot my camera for that one. I have gobs of pictures from the June Shower b/c it started at 4pm and I actually had time to think about grabbing my camera before running out the door. Maybe I'll make that my next post. I just have to download the photos! (sure, that won't take long at all) ;)

I was also a camp counselor at my church's youth camp last week. It was a really great week where we were challenged to take risks for God in our every day life. We focused on friends, family, online, church and school. It was a really inspiring week and my group was the best (Greek Fire!!). We have made a pact to continue our get-togethers throughout the summer. My co-leader, Aaron will be headed to Buffalo for grad school in the fall. So I see a Greek Fire themed farewell shindig in order. Any suggestions are welcome :)

Here's a picture of the best team ever ... Greek Fire:

Talk soon! At least, that's the goal :)

NBD

it's No Big Deal ... just 9 months later :-/
Well, don't I feel sheepish ...
I start this blog thing - and then I never keep up with it.
But now I have something to blog about ...
not only am I watching an episode of Criminal Minds, featuring Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea from 90210 for those of you that didn't have a TV in high school or lived in a cave) ... but I also recently planned and executed a baby shower! My good friend, Megan is going to have a baby in April! Baby's name is Emma Grace and Megan's mother in law, Debbie and I were so excited to plan the shower! So ... here are some pictures!

Here is the food table. i love to use these paper lanterns!T hey are such an easy way to decorate!

Another shot of the food table. We had chicken salad sandwiches on mini croissants and sirloin sandwiches with arugula and roasted garlic aioli. Good stuff. A shot of the clothesline - just a cute and fun decoration. The best part is that it doubles as a gift for mom!! she got to take these cute clothes home for little Emma!


I think my favorite part of this shower was the Cookie Buffet. Candy and sweets buffets are becoming so popular these days. So I wanted to change it up a bit and do something a little different. And who doesn't love cookies? So we offered several delicious cookies in a cute arrangement, and here we are - a cookie buffet! We also had oreo truffles ...

Another shot of the oreo truffles - and the bird cookies. Thanks to Janet (Debbie's friend) we had the most gorgeous bird cookies to fit the theme of the shower!

Megan and Debbie - such a nice sunny day. Thank goodness the weatherman was wrong. It was supposed to rain!

Megan with her awesome personalized gifts from her cousin, Cheryl. They were so beautiful! She sent several personalized burp cloths and a super-soft blanket embroidered with Emma's name. Such special gifts!

The shower was so fun - I'm sad it's over.
But i can't WAIT to meet little baby Emma!! :)

Inspiration!!

hello lovely friends!!

so ... i love it when i find inspiration in random places.
today it was TUESDAY MORNING!

so ... i'm looking forward to when my sister gets engaged someday.
so much so that i've already been dreaming about the special touches i will implement into the parties! yes ... i said partieS!

today i was inspired by a cute book at tuesday morning!

The Best Bake Sale ever Cookbook!



so it's something simple ... and it's probably not the most original idea.
but i've never heard of this idea! so it's new to me!!

i want to have a shower or party of some sort with a table set up like a BAKE SALE!!
i just thought it would be cute to have a handpainted sign that says "bake sale"
and the separate items will be either piled on trays, or individually wrapped with "price tags" or something cute like that. of course i won't really CHARGE the guests for the treats. it will just be for effect ;) a special little touch, if you will.

anywho ... i like the idea!
so i wanted to share it with the blog world!!

let me know if you have any more ideas for making the bake sale table at the future party! :)

good night, fair maidens :)

my new friend

so ... matt is away at camp this week.
and i'm so jealous that i wasn't able to go :(
and i'll be at home all week (well, when i'm not at work, that is!) ... booooooring!!
so i hope that i am able to make the most of this week and get some much-needed stuff done at home.

my aspirations are high - but i'm afraid to put it my week's goals in writing in case i get NOTHING done this week. that would be depressing!

but ... that's just a little background info to tell you about what this post is REALLY about!
so, my friend aleen bought a new little puppy recently.
his name is luigi and he's a bolognese.
matt is going to kill aleen for asking me to dog-sit this week.
because i don't want luigi to go home!
he is the cutest, most mild mannered little dog and we've been hanging out all day.
i don't think woody is too keen about him being around.

but ... he'll have to deal with it this week.
sorry matt! we're going to have to have a luigi around here someday!!
this isn't really luigi - because i'm too lazy to take a picture and download it right now.
and he's currently sprawled out in his little bed so it wouldn't be the best picture anyway.
but the funny thing is - not only does it look JUST like him - but he also has a little pink heart tag like this too!! too cute.




luigi says hi!!

its june ...

once again it's been far too long ...
this time i really DO have an excuse though!

my new work schedule has been crazy!
mondays alone are 12 hour days!

but ... and don't think i'm criminally insane ... i LOVE it!!
i get to talk to people all day every day and i get to HELP them at the same time!

the tradeoff?
i check my email about once a day - at 10pm or later usually.
and i NEVER blog anymore!!
even worse? i don't really even have time to cook/bake ...
thus, nothing to blog about :(

sad.

but, we took a trip to the cabin in flagstaff for memorial day weekend.
so i do have some pictures to share in the near future.
and we even had a supper club meeting while we were there!
so even MORE to blog about!

stay tuned ... for real!!

coffee

it's 2:38 am
i really shouldn't have had that coffee at 9:30pm ...
but it was SOO good.

yahoo grandma johnson! :)

so - i REALLLY should be studying right now.
tomorrow - bright and WAY-TOO-EARLY i have my 3rd and final (provided i pass) test!!

however, here i am.
blogging.
hmmmm ...
wonder if i have a procrastination problem.

so - i made the worlds best mac & cheese tonight.
matt's grandma johnson has THE easiest and THE most delicious mac & cheese recipe of all time!

and when i am feeling lazy or bogged down with studying, work, life, etc - i just add chicken for a little protein and it's the perfect quick dinner!!

here's a picture of said mac & cheese.
man, it's good.

here's the recipe.
i probably should have asked matt before i posted it for the world to see.
but i've always been a big believer in sharing recipes - why not share delicious food with the world?? yeah - i'm sure matt doesn't mind ;)


1 lb elbow macaroni (or any other smallish pasta), cooked al dente
1 lb shredded cheddar cheese (sharp, medium, whatever you like!)
2 cans evaporated milk (you will only use about 1 1/2 cans) - use the rest for tomorrow's coffee!
salt & pepa

boil water and cook macaroni until al dente
in a 9x13 glass casserole dish, place 1 layer of cooked macaroni (about 1/2 of the mac) in dish
sprinkle 1/2 of the cheddar cheese on top, sprinkle salt & pepper on 1st layer
pour about 3/4 of one of the cans of evap. milk over the first layer
layer the rest of of the mac as the 2nd layer
layer the rest of the cheese on the 2nd layer
salt & pepper the 2nd layer
pour the rest of the 1st can of evap milk, then pour about 1/2 of 2nd can of evap milk.
(you should have about 1/2 of the 2nd can of evap milk left.

bake in 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

and if you want to put chicken in it - mix the shredded cooked chicken with the cooked macaroni and follow the directions the same as above.

check out the finished product!

I mean, come on! are you so hungry now!?!?
trust me - it's great! :)