Whoohooo!

Something amazing has just happened!! My maid of honor and long-time friend, the girl who has been with me through it all, has gotten ENGAGED!!!

He went to so much effort to make this proposal perfect and included all of her friends in the surprise.  This one is definitely a keeper and I could not have picked a better match for her.  Seriously, this couple is so darn cute.

This is the picture she sent right after it happened.  Little did she know we were all waiting at the rendezvous point with champagne ready to celebrate with them :)

Congratulations Shannon & Kevin!!!  I'm so excited for you.

Let the planning begin...

Cupcakes & Cashmere

I got my free book signed by everyone's favorite blogger today :)

Emily Schuman of Cupcakes & Cashmere was doing a book signing at South Coast Plaza today so my friend Amy and I stopped by just to check her out in person.  They were giving the book away with an Estee Lauder purchase and I was in the market for a new moisturizer anyway.  (I decided to try the serum they recommended btw)

She was absolutely flawless in person and the book is very pretty too, just like her blog.  Her pictures are amazing.  I hope my photography skills will get that good one day. 

P.S.  This is the serum I bought.

Crock Pot Chicken Chili

I got this recipe from Pinterest which lead me here.  It turned out really good!

• 1 can black beans ( rinsed)
• 1 can corn, undrained
• 1 can Rotel, undrained
• 1 package ranch dressing mix
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 8 oz package light cream cheese
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 cup of diced onion
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves minced

In a large skillet – heat oil and cook onions for 8 minutes than add garlic and cook for one minute.

Set your crock pot to low and add chicken, “cooked” onions and garlic, black beans, corn, rotel, all the seasonings, ranch mix.

Stir

Add cream cheese on top and cover and cook for 6 – 8 hours.

Before serving shred chicken using two forks.

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

My babe could have been a movie star.  I should take him to Disney and talk them into a new remake of the Benji movies.

Cleaning with Baking Soda

Well my mom took back her good camera so I'm stuck with my old point-and-shoot for a while.  My picture quality will be less than stellar but oh well...

I might have to ask Santa for a fancy camera.

Anyway I got stainless steel pots and pans as a wedding gift and although I love them, keeping them clean is a little bit harder than when I had cheap non-stick pans.  I have been getting black stains on them that won't come off no matter how hard I scrub.  I can get them clean enough to cook with but I want them looking new again.  I tried several methods but here's what, in the end, worked the best.

Step 1:
Soak pan in warm soapy water.

Step 2:
Boil the soapy water for 10 minutes.

Step 3:
Let cool to the touch and then scrub with non-abrasive (I use plastic) scrubber pad.

Step 4:
To get that brand new look back in your pans, sprinkle the wet pan with baking soda and scrub with the scrubber side of a sponge.  Rinse with water and the pan should look like new again :)

While we are on the subject of baking soda...
I recently had a incident with the dog secretly marking some areas of our carpet over in front of the TV.  I have no idea why he decided to do this but apparently we missed it and as the weather started heating up the smell started coming out.  Let me tell you it was dis-gusting!!  I tried everything to get the smell out.  Eventually I ended up thinking we could never have people over again because our house will reek of urine forever!

My mom suggested baking soda so it was my last effort before having to call in professional carpet cleaners.  I waited for the carpet to dry completely (from all of my other cleaning efforts) and sprinkled it with baking soda.  I used a lot actually because I was desperate.  I rubbed it in also.  I waited about an hour and then vacuumed it up.  It was a MIRACLE!!  No more smell :)

Opinions

After seeing Erin @ Living In Yellow link up with this post.  I decided to do the same.
Thank you Rachel @ La La Lists for hosting this fun post.

Reading other people's opinions is absolutely hilarious.  I agree with some and disagree with others but all and all I got a good laugh.

Some of my opinions, in no particular order...


1. Talking to your pets out loud and pretending that they actually understand you is totally normal.
2. U2 is the most overrated band ever.
3. Working out and eating right can solve about 50% of your problems.
4. Looking at too many Blogs/Pinterest/Facebook can make you feel inadequate.
5. It's not ok to let your child run free in a restaurant.  Not only is it annoying to others, it's dangerous.
6. Everything in moderation.
7. 90210 is and always will be the best show on TV ever.

8. Happiness comes from within.
9. People need to be a little more tolerant and just plain nicer to each other.
10. When eating in a restaurant you need to treat the person serving you with some respect.  Would you go into your doctor's office and treat them that way?
11. If you are not going to put in the work, don't get a dog.  Putting an animal down is not an acceptable fix for a training problem.
12. Prejudice/sexism/racism (basically all the ism's) is WRONG.  Stop it now!
13. There is no age cut off for long hair anymore.

14. Champagne is for celebrations.  Drinking it with every meal ruins it's appeal.
15.  Steve Jobs must have invented some kind of brainwashing technique and put it in his products.
16. 50 Shades of Grey is more emotional porn for women than it is sexual.
17. Flip Flops are acceptable with any outfit.
18. Toms are the ugliest shoes ever made.  The white ones look like bandages on your feet.

19. MTV needs to get back to music.
20. Taylor Swift needs to stop whining about boys.  It's all part of dating and growing up sweetie, now cheer up because you're probably not gonna meet "the one" for a while.

Crock Pot Ribs

• Rub some seasoning on the ribs.   I used Emeril's rib rub and added some pepper and garlic powder
• Cut the rack up so it fits into your crock pot
• Add one can of beer
• Cook on low for 4ish hours
• Baste with your favorite BBQ sauce.  Ours is Sweet Baby Rays.
• Throw onto BBQ and brown.  Takes about 10 minutes.

Voila! 

It's Owl Good

Oops made an impulse purchase today.  Damn you Ralphs and your cute displays!  These were just too cute to pass up.  I know everyone might be "over" the whole owl craze but I still think they are cute and great for fall.  And coffee mugs are the absolute last thing we need, sorry Kyle, I will find room for them ;)

 My other impulse purchase.  I LOVE fresh flowers around the house.

Seven Things About Me

I have been nominated for the "7 Things About Me" award by Sarah over at Our Next Great Adventure.  If you don't know her blog, get over there and check it out.  The pictures of her pup Penelope alone are reason enough to spend and hour (or two) browsing her blog.   

Thanks so much for including me in your nominees Sarah.  This is my first time for something like this so I'm super excited!!

I will try not to bore you too much with my 7 things.  Ok, here we go...

1.  I have ADHD and am currently off my meds.  Scary, I know, but it's going ok actually.

2.  I obsess over whatever my current "thing" is.  My husband Kyle hates this about me. 

 

3.  I am totally unconventional and married someone 9 years younger than me. OMG it's just so shocking isn't it ;) 

4.  I have been waitressing at the same sushi bar for 16 years and I seriously hate serving.  I am just not cut out for this type of job but for some reason I do it anyway.

5. I am going to school to get my Masters in Communication Disorders so I can be a Speech Pathologist (Speech Therapist).  I already have a Business degree that I did absolutely nothing with- sorry mom and dad :) 

6.  I overuse the :) symbol.  Probably because I'm very sarcastic and I want people to know that I'm joking and not just mean.

7.  I love my fur baby a little too much and worry that I have spoiled him rotten and will have to deal with the repercussions when we have babies.  For those who don't know him, here's a picture so you can understand why I want to spoil him so much.

P.S. He's big not little, well he's medium.  It's impossible to tell in pictures and whenever people see us in person the first thing they always say is "OMG he's so big".  

Enough about us.  On to my nominations.  These ladies give me tons of insight and inspiration daily :)

I LOVE their blogs and you should check them out too!!

Schue Love

The Coffee House

The Girl in the Red Shoes

You and Me, Plus Three

The Busy Budgeting Mama

Spontaneous Clapping

Carolina Charm

And finally, the rules.  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you. 2. Tell everyone seven things about yourself. 3. Choose 7 other blogs that you think deserve the award, and post on their blog to let them know they’ve been nominated.

Good to Know