Monday, February 28, 2011

Happy Birthday to one of my "Babies"

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope you've had an awesome weekend.  I had a very nice one - I even managed to sleep until 10:00 both days - THAT is unheard of in my house for me! LOL   I guess after my tough week last week my body finally said enough was enough and started making up for the lack of sleep I got.  Either way it felt good to sleep in!  After getting up, I had a very productive weekend and can't wait to show you the "befores" and "afters".  I only got 2 things accomplished due to them both taking me hours to get done each - but.... they are 2 more things off my list - WOO HOO!  So be sure to check back tomorrow so you can see the amazing transformations -  I think you will like it! :)

On another note - today is my "baby" boy's birthday.  He is 17 years old - ACK!  The time has flown by soooo fast like you wouldn't believe.  I can't believe he and my daughter will be grown and out of the house soon - she turns 18 this year! *sigh*  Anyway... here is a picture of my sweet baby - he had a birthday party this past Friday night and had people over for a bon-fire and a couple of the boys stayed the night.  Due to my work schedule I wasn't able to get any pictures of him with his friends, or anything else.  They turned 1/2 of my garage into a "band" room.  It was great listening to them all play music as that's the kind of house I grew up in - my dad and uncles and even my mom would play music and sing every weekend at my house and I loved it! So... this was just a nice reminder! :)

Sorry... I got off track a little bit - here is a picture of him and his card that we got him for his birthday: 

My future lawyer:

And this is his birthday card - when you open it up it plays:
 "I wanna rock and roll all night"

I totally forgot (cause I'm such a bad mom) - to get a picture of his birthday gift we gave him last weekend (he got it early).  It is a very nice Docker's brown leather jacket - which he L.O.V.E.D.   I will get a better picture of him and the jacket together and upload that another time. 

Well... off to get ready for work - it is pouring down rain here today so I better get moving.    P.S.  I need to get a "PR Friendly" button for my blog - does anyone know a place that I can get that done by chance?  I am also going to be revamping my blog completely very soon as well - so if you know of any great designers - please let me know!

Have a wonderful (and dry, sunny, warm) day and thanks for stopping by.  :o)

Lots of Love and Hugs,
 

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Under My Um-brella - ella - ella

Happy Saturday my peeps! How are you? How was your day yesterday? Great, I hope! Mine was good but yet, another looooooooooonnnng day at the office.  It was wet and soggy here and thanks to all of the snow we've gotten lately along with the rain from yesterday our ground is SO saturated now and the water/melting has nowhere to go except.....our basement - UGH!!! So my poor husband spent most of the day yesterday vacuuming out our garage/basement - what a PIA!

Anywho, since it was such a nasty day yesterday, I took a couple of pictures of some rainy day stuff. It never ceases to amaze me - but the people here in the Northeast (or at least in my office) are NOT superstitious at all! LOL I can't tell you how many times I have walked by a lot of offices only to see this:

I, personally, would rather have a wet umbrella because I AM superstitious! HA! Also, just because I think they are TOO CUTE and I LOVE the color of them and they make me smile - here is a picture of my new rainboots that I bought with my gift card my boss gave me to Saks Fifth Avenue for Christmas.  I also bought a nice coat as well - but these boots are my favs:
Please excuse the poor quality of this picture however, as it was taken with my cell phone but then emailed which made the picture not turn out too clear.  I think you get the gist of it though, right?! :)

And, my favorite "Rainy Day" thing of all times:

I don't know about any of you - but I never really cared much for Gwenyth Paltrow until seeing her perform twice now in Glee and now I LOVE her - I never knew she was so talented! HA!

Well, I guess that will do it for now - I slept in until 10:15 this morning when I had to drag myself out of bed, so I better get up and get my day started instead of playing on this computer. 

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by to say hello! 

Lots of love and hugs,

Under My Um-brella - ella - ella

Happy Saturday my peeps! How are you? How was your day yesterday? Great, I hope! Mine was good but yet, another looooooooooonnnng day at the office.  It was wet and soggy here and thanks to all of the snow we've gotten lately along with the rain from yesterday our ground is SO saturated now and the water/melting has nowhere to go except.....our basement - UGH!!! So my poor husband spent most of the day yesterday vacuuming out our garage/basement - what a PIA!

Anywho, since it was such a nasty day yesterday, I took a couple of pictures of some rainy day stuff. It never ceases to amaze me - but the people here in the Northeast (or at least in my office) are NOT superstitious at all! LOL I can't tell you how many times I have walked by a lot of offices only to see this:

I, personally, would rather have a wet umbrella because I AM superstitious! HA! Also, just because I think they are TOO CUTE and I LOVE the color of them and they make me smile - here is a picture of my new rainboots that I bought with my gift card my boss gave me to Saks Fifth Avenue for Christmas.  I also bought a nice coat as well - but these boots are my favs:
Please excuse the poor quality of this picture however, as it was taken with my cell phone but then emailed which made the picture not turn out too clear.  I think you get the gist of it though, right?! :)

And, my favorite "Rainy Day" thing of all times:

I don't know about any of you - but I never really cared much for Gwenyth Paltrow until seeing her perform twice now in Glee and now I LOVE her - I never knew she was so talented! HA!

Well, I guess that will do it for now - I slept in until 10:15 this morning when I had to drag myself out of bed, so I better get up and get my day started instead of playing on this computer. 

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by to say hello! 

Lots of love and hugs,

Friday, February 25, 2011

Friday Recipe

Happy Friday my friends!  How are you?  Great, I hope!  It is a WET and SOGGY mess here today and so yucky.  It's one of those days that I wish I could stay home in bed and under my covers and read a good book or snuggle with my husband. :o)  But, alas, I must trek out in this mess and fight the crowds and traffic to get to the City - blah. 

However, since it is a yucky and cold day I have the PERFECT Soup/Chili and it is even Weight Watcher friendly for my friends who are following the PointsPlus program like myself.  Trust me when I say - this recipe is DA BOMB like you would NOT believe!  I couldn't get over how GREAT it tastes but I will tell you this - it is also very SPICY due to the Rotel in it.

This recipe is one I took off a fabulous blog I read on a daily basis - it is Whitney over at  The Glamorous Life of a Housewife".  Be sure to check out her blog - she is so cute and has an adorable little family! :)

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI - 1 Cup = 2 Points.
1 large onion, minced
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
20 oz. chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
2 - 15 oz. cans navy beans, drained
3 C. fat free chicken broth
12 oz. can tomatoes with green chilis (same as Rotel)
1/2 tsp. oregeno
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. white pepper (I used black)
8 oz. fat free sour cream
1/2 C. fat free half and half

Saute' onion in cooking spray and then add garlic powder, oregano, cumin & pepper.  Add all the other ingredients except the sour cream and half and half.  Bring to boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and half and half.

So there you go my friends! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have so far.  I am going to try it in the crockpot this weekend - I think it will be even better.  It is also a very easy, peasy recipe too.

Have a great day and and an even better weekend guys and dolls and thanks for stopping by to say hi!

Lots of love and hugs,

Friday Recipe

Happy Friday my friends!  How are you?  Great, I hope!  It is a WET and SOGGY mess here today and so yucky.  It's one of those days that I wish I could stay home in bed and under my covers and read a good book or snuggle with my husband. :o)  But, alas, I must trek out in this mess and fight the crowds and traffic to get to the City - blah. 

However, since it is a yucky and cold day I have the PERFECT Soup/Chili and it is even Weight Watcher friendly for my friends who are following the PointsPlus program like myself.  Trust me when I say - this recipe is DA BOMB like you would NOT believe!  I couldn't get over how GREAT it tastes but I will tell you this - it is also very SPICY due to the Rotel in it.

This recipe is one I took off a fabulous blog I read on a daily basis - it is Whitney over at  The Glamorous Life of a Housewife".  Be sure to check out her blog - she is so cute and has an adorable little family! :)

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI - 1 Cup = 2 Points.
1 large onion, minced
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
20 oz. chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
2 - 15 oz. cans navy beans, drained
3 C. fat free chicken broth
12 oz. can tomatoes with green chilis (same as Rotel)
1/2 tsp. oregeno
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. white pepper (I used black)
8 oz. fat free sour cream
1/2 C. fat free half and half

Saute' onion in cooking spray and then add garlic powder, oregano, cumin & pepper.  Add all the other ingredients except the sour cream and half and half.  Bring to boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and half and half.

So there you go my friends! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have so far.  I am going to try it in the crockpot this weekend - I think it will be even better.  It is also a very easy, peasy recipe too.

Have a great day and and an even better weekend guys and dolls and thanks for stopping by to say hi!

Lots of love and hugs,

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Wednesday Words - Random Stuff

Well....this was supposed to have been a WORDLESS Wednesday post with a picture of a beautiful flower arrangement from my dining table - BUT for some reason Google has my thing all screwed up so I can't even upload the darn thing - *sigh*

However, in other news, I have officially lost 6.7 lbs on Weight Watchers so far - WOO HOO!!  I haven't even checked the inches I've lost yet but I can tell that I've lost some due to my pants about to fall off me at work yesterday - HA! 

And speaking of work - I didn't leave the office last night until 9:20 p.m.- after putting in a very looooonnnggg 12 1/2 hour day then having an hour drive home - which means I didn't finally get home and in the bed until 11:00 p.m. and then had to get back up at 5:00 a.m. this morning to start all over again - YUCK!

See....I told you.....Random stuff! HA!  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to say hello!

Lots of love and hugs,

Wednesday Words - Random Stuff

Well....this was supposed to have been a WORDLESS Wednesday post with a picture of a beautiful flower arrangement from my dining table - BUT for some reason Google has my thing all screwed up so I can't even upload the darn thing - *sigh*

However, in other news, I have officially lost 6.7 lbs on Weight Watchers so far - WOO HOO!!  I haven't even checked the inches I've lost yet but I can tell that I've lost some due to my pants about to fall off me at work yesterday - HA! 

And speaking of work - I didn't leave the office last night until 9:20 p.m.- after putting in a very looooonnnggg 12 1/2 hour day then having an hour drive home - which means I didn't finally get home and in the bed until 11:00 p.m. and then had to get back up at 5:00 a.m. this morning to start all over again - YUCK!

See....I told you.....Random stuff! HA!  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to say hello!

Lots of love and hugs,

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Bargain Finds

Happy Tuesday everyone! How are you?  How was your three day weekend?  Great, I hope!  Mine was good but busy after I got over being sick finally, so it ended on a good note thankfully. :)

As promised, I wanted to show you all of my bargain finds from the Christmas Tree Shops and you just will NOT believe the deal I got! (Oh and they are all Valentine stuff for next year)

Three Floral Wreaths and 3 Pillows:
 2 Sparkly red frames and 2 floral pots:
 Floral Pots:
 Cute Jewelry box and Heart picks:
Cute napkins, table runner and valance:
 large cards:
 Tissue Paper (10 packages):
Here's the breakdown (before discount):

Pillows - each $5.99
Wreaths - each $9.99
Cards - each $4.00
Floral Pots - each $4.99
Tissue paper - each $1.00
Cute Cloth Napkins/towels - each $1.50
Heart hooks - each $1.69
Valance - $2.98
Glitter frames - each $2.00
Runner - $1.99

Total before discount:  $96.77 (not including tax)
AFTER discount at .28 EACH ITEM -$9.78 (including tax)

WOO HOO!!! See... I told you - GREAT bargain, huh?! :)  I couldn't believe it when I walked in and they had all Valentine stuff for .28 each item - AMAZING right?  After Christmas though they had all of their Christmas stuff for a PENNY each - can you believe that?!   If you have a Christmas Tree Shops near you - run, don't walk and keep an eye out for those after season bargains - they just can't be beat! :)

Well, there's my bargain I told you about so I better run.  It's back to work day for me and time to get my butt in gear! LOL

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to say hello!


Lots of love and hugs,
 

Monday, February 21, 2011

Stylish Blogger Award

Happy Monday my friends! How are you?  How has your long weekend been?  Are you lucky to be home today like me, or did you have to schlep into work today?  I hope you're getting to relax at home instead of the work trek.  We woke up to 5 inches of snow here today - sheesh! I am so tired of this snow that I am about to lose it! HA!  After my meds started kicking in to knock out this throat and ear infection that I had on Friday, then I finally made it out on Sunday and did a little shopping at the Christmas Tree Store and can't wait to show you my GREAT deals that I got!  I got some KILLER BARGAINS for sure and you will just not believe it!  Stay tuned for that post tomorrow - I promise you won't be disappointed! :)

Anyway, last week (before I got sick) These Are Lean Times but I'm still Hungry gave me a wonderful award of "The Stylish Blogger Award" and I couldn't be more excited! (Thank you! :))  However, receiving the award comes with a few rules:


1. You must link back to the person who gave you the award to let them know you accept;

2. You must share 7 things about yourself; and

3. Pass the award on to 15 recently discovered bloggers and let them know about the award.

So... without further adieu - here are the 7 things about myself:

1.  I have come to totally loathe and hate snow completely now after living here in the Northeast the last 3 years.

2.  I totally and completely LOVE my children but am truly looking forward to mine and hubby's "empty nest alone time" once they are graduated and move out!  Ha!

3.  I am a HUGE college football (Arkansas Razorbacks) and baseball (Chicago Cubs) fan - even more so than my husband.  I am the one you see (and hear) yelling at the tv during the games - not him - HA!

4.  I miss "home" (Arkansas) and my friends and family more every single day and can't wait to get back there.  Hopefully, sooner rather than later.

5. I absolutely love love love restoring things and finding new bargains by thrift shopping.

6.  I want to learn all of the ins and outs of real "couponing" so I can spend $5 total on a pile of things that would have cost me $100 instead.  Tips anyone? :)

7.  I absolutely love my job and bosses (and few friends who work with me daily - Hi Ellen) but wish I had a job that kept me home full-time that I could get paid for.  Meaning, I wish my legal job was a work from home job instead.  Oh well - I can dream, can't I?! LOL

So... now onto the last part of the award - pass it on to 15 recently discovered bloggers.  In no particular order:

1.       Sam at The Junk House
2.       Masshole Mommy
3.       Me, Myself and Aphrodite
4.       Heard it from the Hills
5.       Tanya at Froufroubritches
6.       Tammigirl at Auntie Kitten's Antics
7.       Three Boys and an Old Lady
8.       Callie at Love My Mr. Mason
9.       Danielle at Life with Two Boys
10.     Jackie at Jackie's Junction on the Highway
11.     Aledia at Plum Perfect
12.     Busy Mom's Tips
13.     In My Opinion
14.     Hanna at Bouffe e Bambini
15.     Staci at The Crafty Military Wife

So... run, don't walk and check out these fantastic new blogs that I've recently had the pleasure of discovering - you won't be disappointed - pinky promise! :)   Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!  Now, I am off to find more projects to tweak and play with. 

Lots of love and hugs,

Friday, February 18, 2011

Home Sick - AGAIN!

This is me today:

I'm home today doing a lot of this:


Did I mention I don't do sick well?  My husband says I am a terrible patient but in reality the only thing I want when I am sick is to be left alone - girls - you understand... right?!  The really bad thing is that today it is a GORGEOUS SUNNY and 60 degrees outside and I am home stuck in bed with a dumb infection in my throat and ears - blah....

Hope you have a wonderfully long 3 day weekend.  Thanks for stopping by to say hello!

Lots of love and hugs,

Home Sick - AGAIN!

This is me today:

I'm home today doing a lot of this:


Did I mention I don't do sick well?  My husband says I am a terrible patient but in reality the only thing I want when I am sick is to be left alone - girls - you understand... right?!  The really bad thing is that today it is a GORGEOUS SUNNY and 60 degrees outside and I am home stuck in bed with a dumb infection in my throat and ears - blah....

Hope you have a wonderfully long 3 day weekend.  Thanks for stopping by to say hello!

Lots of love and hugs,

Thursday, February 17, 2011

New Blogger Award

Happy Thursday my friends - this is going to be short and sweet this morning, but I wanted to say thank you and give a big shout out to a new bloggy friend who has blessed me with a new award.  It is from These are Lean Times but I'm Still Hungry and she gave me the Stylish Blogger Award:


(Be sure and check her blog out when you get a chance)  This award comes with a few rules which I will follow soon and pass along to some other deserving bloggy friends. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day! :)  Only one more day until it's Friday and a 3-day weekend - woo hoo!!!

Lots of love and hugs,

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wordful Wednesday - Mudroom Edition

Happy Hump Day my peeps and welcome to my newest followers! These two pictures are sort of the things I have in mind for my "mudroom" but on a much smaller scale.  I'm not quite sure how to work it since the space behind my door is so narrow with not much room.  But here are a couple of ideas that I do like: 


Thanks for stopping by to say hi and have a wonderful day! :)

Lots of love and hugs,

Wordful Wednesday - Mudroom Edition

Happy Hump Day my peeps and welcome to my newest followers! These two pictures are sort of the things I have in mind for my "mudroom" but on a much smaller scale.  I'm not quite sure how to work it since the space behind my door is so narrow with not much room.  But here are a couple of ideas that I do like: 


Thanks for stopping by to say hi and have a wonderful day! :)

Lots of love and hugs,

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Follow Me Back Tuesday - Feb. 15th

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  I did.  My husband surprised me and my daughter with a heart shaped box of Lindt Chocolates when we got home last night.  Again, not good for my diet - BUT they are my favorite chocolates (though he didn't have a clue about that because I'm truly not a chocolate eater).  Anyway, the funnier thing was that he had never even had Lindt chocolates so he wasn't aware of how YUMMY they were until I gave him one to try.  Needless to say, he's thinking of going back today and getting him a box for half-off - HA!



Anywho....I decided to play along with Survey Junkie, Little Yaya's & Boobies, Babies And A Blog today in order to gain more followers.  It's been a really long time since I've had any new followers and I am always up for meeting new bloggers and checking out new blogs.  So.... here's how to play along, so come join me, will you?! :)

THE RULES:

Follow all 3 Hosts & Guest Host's - Spots 1-5 leave a comment w/ a link to your blog so we can follow you back (only leave a comment that you follow if you actually follow )

Snag the button & make a F.M.B.T. post.

After you post use that link to add your blog to the hop along with your blog name

( NO BLOG HOPs & GIVEAWAYS PLEASE ) These entries will be deleted.

Follow the blogs you like & Follow Back who follows you ( Remember to leave a comment so you can be followed back )

And most importantly - Have Fun and Come back and see us every Tuesday !!

So... there you have it - come play along okay?!  I must "hop" and get ready - I'm running a little late this morning as I don't feel well at all.  I think I am getting strept throat and an earache in my right ear - yuck!  Anyone else ready for Spring besides me?! *sigh*

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to say hello! :) 

Lots of love and hugs, 

Monday, February 14, 2011

Before and In Progress

Happy Valentine's Day guys and dolls!  How are you? How was your weekend?  Do anything special with your significant other to celebrate early for today's big day?  We didn't do a lot except went to dinner and lunch last weekend and then exchanged cards and enjoyed some nice chocolate chip cookies that my husband surprised me with on Saturday night.  I know, good for my diet, right? LOL

Anyway, we also did a LOT of work throughout the weekend around our humble abode.  Remember I told you on Friday that I hoped to tackle our hallway that leads to our garage/basement downstairs this weekend?  Well... we did and actually got a lot accomplished.  However, it was more work than I had planned and I'm still not through. 
Before: (this leads downstairs to garage)
Handy work of previous owners - and this was after we torn down all of the 3 different wallpapers that was up there on top of this ugly red paint: 


Behind door:
 
Horrible ceiling that still needs stripped and painted along with a new light fixture:
 
Behind door:
This is also the previous owner's handywork - nice, huh?!  (We bought a new door to
hang and hope to get it done by next weekend as well)
After my husband had painted and not been able to do a good job due to the horribly old walls in this house, we decided to put up beadboard (my idea) which turned into a big fat FAIL.  So... after our 2nd trip to Home Depot, we decided we were going to have to bite the bullet and wallpaper the area instead to hide all of the wall's imperfections.  Sooo... here it is as of now after working on it all weekend:
That is textured wallpaper that we decided to go with.  And it's also paintable - SCORE!!! The hardest part has been wallpapering this all by myself - husband had other chores on his "honey do" list.  Talk about a CHALLENGE.  *sigh*  So next weekend I will be painting the wallpaper and then I will tackle the ceiling as well.  The other thing you can't really tell about this is that due to the stairs being the way they are and the angle of the "hallway" it makes it very difficult to reach every place that we need to - so we are still trying to figure that part out.  That is another reason that this "tiny" room didn't get completed.  After I have it finished I am turning it into a small mudroom since this is the room we use to get in and out of the house each day/night.  It's just easier to go in and out of our garage. 

Anyway, that is the before and in progress pictures I promised to share.  Any help and advice for tight, small, tall and angled spaces would be welcome.  I can't wait to get this room finished and completed and show you the "after" pictures.  Hopefully, that will be something I can get done next weekend once and for all. 

Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for stopping by to say hello! :) 

Lots of love and hugs,

Before and In Progress

Happy Valentine's Day guys and dolls!  How are you? How was your weekend?  Do anything special with your significant other to celebrate early for today's big day?  We didn't do a lot except went to dinner and lunch last weekend and then exchanged cards and enjoyed some nice chocolate chip cookies that my husband surprised me with on Saturday night.  I know, good for my diet, right? LOL

Anyway, we also did a LOT of work throughout the weekend around our humble abode.  Remember I told you on Friday that I hoped to tackle our hallway that leads to our garage/basement downstairs this weekend?  Well... we did and actually got a lot accomplished.  However, it was more work than I had planned and I'm still not through. 
Before: (this leads downstairs to garage)
Handy work of previous owners - and this was after we torn down all of the 3 different wallpapers that was up there on top of this ugly red paint: 


Behind door:
 
Horrible ceiling that still needs stripped and painted along with a new light fixture:
 
Behind door:
This is also the previous owner's handywork - nice, huh?!  (We bought a new door to
hang and hope to get it done by next weekend as well)
After my husband had painted and not been able to do a good job due to the horribly old walls in this house, we decided to put up beadboard (my idea) which turned into a big fat FAIL.  So... after our 2nd trip to Home Depot, we decided we were going to have to bite the bullet and wallpaper the area instead to hide all of the wall's imperfections.  Sooo... here it is as of now after working on it all weekend:
That is textured wallpaper that we decided to go with.  And it's also paintable - SCORE!!! The hardest part has been wallpapering this all by myself - husband had other chores on his "honey do" list.  Talk about a CHALLENGE.  *sigh*  So next weekend I will be painting the wallpaper and then I will tackle the ceiling as well.  The other thing you can't really tell about this is that due to the stairs being the way they are and the angle of the "hallway" it makes it very difficult to reach every place that we need to - so we are still trying to figure that part out.  That is another reason that this "tiny" room didn't get completed.  After I have it finished I am turning it into a small mudroom since this is the room we use to get in and out of the house each day/night.  It's just easier to go in and out of our garage. 

Anyway, that is the before and in progress pictures I promised to share.  Any help and advice for tight, small, tall and angled spaces would be welcome.  I can't wait to get this room finished and completed and show you the "after" pictures.  Hopefully, that will be something I can get done next weekend once and for all. 

Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for stopping by to say hello! :) 

Lots of love and hugs,