my eyes have been on the lookout for a new wreath

Even though I woke up to 41 degrees this morning, I am hopeful warmer temps are on the way.  The spring bug has been itching me a while, and my eyes have been on the lookout for a new wreath.  Here are a few of my favorites that I have seen out and about.



Spring Berry Wreath $35.00 and Pier 1

Mixed Floral Wreath $19.99 at Kirklands

Artichoke and Fig Wreath $79.00 at Walmart.com

I also have entertained the thought of making my own.  I love this DIY one at HGTV.  It's perfect for Easter, but I could also replace the eggs with silk flowers for a more all-year-round-look.  To get the full tutorial, click here. 

“summer-is almost-here-and-i-have-dimples-on-my-but”

Hey everyone, I’m back!!  I had a fabulous time in my home town this past week.  I miss my mom and dad so much.  I did cheerleading for approximately 3 straight days and couldn’t move Wednesday morning.  I hadn’t kicked/ jumped/ tumbled in almost 7 years! Lord, you should have seen me. 

Unfortunately, my niece did not make the squad, but she learned a very valuable life lesson.  There will be many “cheerleading squads” in life; some she will make, some she will not.   The important thing is for her to let this situation propel her to do even greater things in cheerleading or some other sport/ activity.  I think she’s going to work really hard and try out next year!!

On to a lighter subject matter (and I mean light).  So I always post about the fabulous recipes that I find and make, but I tried one last week that was not so fab; and in all fairness I should tell you the good with the bad.

NWH and I love dessert.  That is defiantly our weakness.  So I’ve been on a “summer-is almost-here-and-i-have-dimples-on-my-but” kick for the past few weeks and decided that I would try to start making low-cal desserts. 

I ran across this website that listed a recipe for Chocolate Banana Soufflé’.

·         2 ripe medium bananas, mashed

·         2 tsp cornstarch

·         1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         2 large egg whites

·         3 tbsp sugar

·         butter flavored cooking spray

Preheat over to 400F. Coat 4, 6 oz ramekins with butter flavored cooking spray. Place on a baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, mash bananas and vanilla together. Sift cornstarch and cocoa powder over bananas and stir well.

In another medium bowl, beat egg whites with sugar until they form soft peaks. Fold 1/3 of egg whites into banana mixture. When incorporated, fold in the rest of the egg whites. Spoon mixture into ramekins.

Wipe the top 1/4 inch “collar” of the ramekin to remove any excess batter so that the soufflé will rise straight and place ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sound good, eh’?  And for ONLY 130 calories… do not be deceived.  I believe the words out of NWH’s mouth were, “I’m going to puke if I eat this,” and I couldn't agree more.  We threw all four “soufflé’s” away and picked up a box of the 90 calorie snicker bars the next day!!

wintry white rear-end by the pool

Hey everyone!  Sorry I’ve been MIA, but NWH had the weekend off, and we jammed packed it with as much stuff (fun stuff of course) as we could.  The weather was just gorgeous here!  It got up to 80 on Friday, and it was all she wrote for this girl… I had my wintry white rear-end by the pool soaking up some sun.

The Hockey game was Friday night.

We spent all day at our outdoor mall Saturday, walking around shopping, sipping cold beverages, and listening to live music. 

Then Saturday evening we ate P.F. Changs and watched a movie.

Sunday was a day of rest, phew, but we did manage to run a few errands, pop in Bed Bath, grocery shop, and grill out for dinner.  OOOO look what we got Saturday, its NWH’s new toy.  This is so the fire alarm doesn’t go off every time we try to cook something in the apt! ha!

This week, I’m headed to South Mississippi to help my niece (the one who visited for Spring Break) try out of cheerleader.  Oh lordy does this bring back memories.  Say a prayer for her (and me)!!

Hope everyone has a fab week!

Wedding Word Wednesday: The Nest

This definitely is not what I was planning on posting today, but I can’t help it!  So I thought for Wedding Word Wednesday I would head back to TheKnot.com for some inspiration.  Well… when I clicked into the sight it redirected me {here}.  Apparently they know I am married now and have no business scouring their site for wedding pictures anymore, ha!

So this new site, TheNest, is insanely entertaining!  I suppose it’s geared toward NewlyWeds, but I promise there is something for everyone.  There are recipes and work out plans, home decorating and budgeting tools.  I even found a BMI calculator!  OOOoo and my favorite article “6 Places to Go Before You Have Kids” ( I love vacay ideas with or without little ones).  Ya’ll know what I’m going to be doing the rest of the day (besides working)!

He couldn’t stand it!

The other day on the treadmill, I watched Rachel Ray make this amazing fish sandwich!  Since then I had been dying to try it.  Well, NWH kind of gets set in his ways when it comes to food, so yesterday I told him dinner was going to be a surprise. 

He couldn’t stand it!  He must have asked me a million times throughout the day what we were having; and as soon as he walked through the door, he headed straight for the refrigerator to see what I had bought.

The fish was absolutely fabulous, and it was definitely a change in what we normally eat!  My grocery store didn’t have halibut so I used Mahi Mahi.  NWH and I don’t care for tartar sauce so I didn’t make it, but you don’t even need it with the lemon butter sauce! YUM, ya’ll have GOT to try this!

Ingredients

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds fresh halibut, cut into 4 servings, 4 to 6 ounces each, 1-inch thick

Vegetable or olive oil, for drizzling

2 teaspoons crab boil seasoning (recommended: Old Bay)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions

Preheat nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron grill pan over medium high heat. Drizzle halibut pieces with oil, then season with crab boil seasoning, salt and pepper. Grill on a hot pan 4 or 5 minutes on each side.

Place melted butter in a small dish and add juice of 1/2 lemon.

To assemble, brush bun bottoms and fish with lemon butter. Top fish with tomato and lettuce and serve.

it was only 5 Bucks!

Last Sunday NWH, my niece, and I were headed to Atlanta Bread for lunch after church and saw a huge sign outside Big Lots that said something about everything being 30% off.  Now, NWH and I are not Big Lot Shoppers… normally… but with a sign like that how could I resist?

We ended up getting a lot of staple stuff like tooth paste, soap, and laundry detergent but I also found this little canvas.  I thought it would go perfect in my entry foyer, and it was only 5 Bucks!  How cute is this, and I love what it says!

The other side of my entry.

Happy Monday!  Hope everyone had a fab-u-lous weekend!!

I’m a sucker for a good show!

I’ve seen a lot of movies lately.  Most of which have been pretty good; so let’s do a little recap! 

Two weeks NWH and I met another couple at the theater and saw "Unknown." While it was definitely a good show, it wasn’t as good as “Taken” which we were hoping it would top! But if you like “Taken,” you’ll like this one!

A few nights ago we rented “Unstoppable” with our favorite man, Denzel.  It’s another thriller-type-movie, and NWH and I REALLY enjoyed it.  The story line is great, and it’s high energy the entire two hours.

Last night we were trying to appease the niece (“Unstoppable” didn’t seem like her kind of movie) so we saw “Beastly.”  And while, it was definitely “teenager-ish” it was really good and had  a great plot that ALL tiny-boppers should see and live by!

Have ya’ll seen any good one’s lately?  I’m a sucker for a good show!

Wedding Word Wednesday: Invitations

Invitations are actually one of the more costly parts of a wedding.  There are so many components.  You have the invitation, the outer and inner envelopes, the enclosures like directions and/or reception information along with the RSVP card, the RSVP envelope, stamps for the invitation and stamps for the RSVP cards, Whew!  Oh, and one more thing... the calligraphy. 

So instead of ordering invitations from a high-end boutique or even from online resources, I found invitations like these at William Arthur from Vera Wang’s collection and used them to inspire my own design.  That’s right, I designed my OWN invitations.  I took them to a local commercial print shop and instead of spending over $5 an invitation, I only spent 63 cents!  Did you hear me… 63 cents per invite that included all the envelopes, enclosures, etc!



Here's mine (minus some names and places I took out for protection, but you get the idea!)

I’m WHOOPED!

So the niece and I are having a ball (well at least I am!).  Saturday evening when she got here, NWH and I took her to Outback (she was amazed that it’s literally less than a mile from our home, her family has to drive an hour to the nearest one).  Next up, a little round of glow-in-the-dark bowling! 

Sunday morning we were off to church, then lunch at Atlanta Bread, then SHOPPING!  She got her first VS bra and the cutest pair of jean shorts from Hollister (who fits into that stuff).  Sunday night, we did a crab boil and rented “Unstoppable” with my man, Denzel.

Yesterday, I had to work, but she was a good sport.  We worked out during lunch, and after 5 we headed to the salon for some mani’s, ordered pizza for dinner and watched… you know it… The Bachelor!  Then she raded my closest and is going home with WAY more than she came with!

Tomorrow it’s dinner at Connor's and a movie at the Monico, her mom picks her up Thursday.  Two more days but can I just say…. I’m WHOOPED! 

P.S. Hope everyone is having a fabulous week.  Back to some regular posts when my duty of “Super-Aunt” is over! Ha!

Here’s a little welcome basket

My 15- year old niece is coming this week to spend her spring break with NWH and me.  We love having guests and have an entire week of fun stuff planned.  We’ll both be working during the day but are going to try to do things in the evenings that she’ll enjoy.  Here’s a little welcome basket I put together for her yesterday. 

How cute is this!!  It has a candle, bath stuff, manicure set, finger nail polish, note pad, note cards, picture frames, a photo album, and a a luggage tag!  There is also a cute wooden “J” hook she can hang in her bedroom at home. I got everything from Michael’s, and it only cost $25!! I sure hope she likes it.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

they taste as good as they look!!

Remember when I showed ya’ll the picture of my wedding cake (here) and told you how unbelievably talented Mrs. H is!  Well, she’s been at it again.  Just look how beautiful all of these are!!  And I PROMISE they taste as good as they look!!

Can I just say... I wish I had these cakes when I was a kid.  I think NWH and I will have a baby just so we can start ordering these cute things!! hahahaha (j/k).

Wedding Word Wednesday: Anniversary

So I thought I would get back to my Wedding Word Wednesdays, I mean who doesn’t like weddings, right??  Today’s word:  Anniversary.  Yes, read it and weep, look where NWH is taking me for our 1 year!!!  We're going to one of the top destinations in the world, the Dominican Republic!!!

 

 

Can I interrupt this by saying, NWH and I have known each other since the 7^th grade, we started exchanging emails and instant messages (AOL, baby)  in the 8^th, saved each other lunch seats in the 10^th and have been dating since the 11^th and well… the sound of “Our One Year Anniversary” just doesn’t give us enough credit!