hi there!

hello blends

(blog friends) 

happy funday sunday.

i cant believe the week is starting AGAIN.

where does the time go? 

no. seriously. 

where the heck

does

it go?

i had a sad weekend. 

one of my very close friends, lost her dear, 'sassy' sweet beautiful 

mother to cancer.

ugh.

yes. 

another cancer victim

it broke my heart to see my friend and her family so sad 

and see such a gorgeous lady

give her life to 

this horrible illness. 

yeesh.

she was only 57 years young.

which brings me to another topic. 

i read a super uber dee duber blog 

called 

lil blue boo

the sweet creator of this blog is a sweet gal named ashley, who most recently was 

diagnosed with a form of cancer.

anyway, in addition to being diagnosed with cancer, ashley also 

lost her father very unexpectedly this past year as well.

heartbreaking.

ashley has an amazing blog and has been sharing her 

trials and tribulations  with the cancer. 

she even shares the video of her shaving her head. 

(do not watch if you are pms'ing or extremely hormonal, or unless you have buckets of kleenex near by)

if you get a second, please pop over and just read this girls journey. 

when you are having a bad day it really puts your life 

in perspective.

anywhosies, ashley made some 

choose joy 

bracelets that she sells on her site. 

if you head over

here

you can read all about why she chooses joy 

and if you want you can help her cause. 

i just ordered my set of 20! 

10 adult size and 

10 lil nugget size!

i just wanted to help ashleys cause and be reminded when i am 

wearing my lil purple bracelet:

k, thats all i have for you tonight....i am off to do what you ask????

why, write another paper! 

dont forget to choose joy!

xo

smiley sunday!

a wee while back i used to post more regularly.

then this crazy thing called life, took a dive for the ground

and i stopped.

but i missed blogging.

its not that i dont want to.

i just dont have a lot of free time.

between going to school, and working two jobs, one being full time, i honestly

just do not have much ME time.

happy me time.

my weekends are often filled with running errands, working and just doing all the

usual things that everyone does. you know, like,

laundry,

dishes,

floors,

organizing,

paying bills,

grocery shopping....(i actually love this one)....

but before you know it, my weekend is over

and it's back to

the dreaded work environment.

but anywho,

a while back, i started smiley sunday. it was

just simple things that make me smile

and with that, i try to embrace what little time is left of the weekend.

a girl in the work kitchen the other day, said, something like, oh, it's almost friday....

i was like, uhhh yayyy! hooorayy. yippeee skippeee!

and then she said 'isnt it awful how we just wish our life away'....'instead of just embracing today'....

hmmm. well there's a thought.

embrace.

today.

so my little bloggies, i want you to stop what you are doing...

well, dont stop reading this....

but when you are done....

think about it....

be HApPy for TOday.

EMBRACE what is going on in your life right now.......

the sad thing is that we never know if this is our last day here.....so why live it wishing for

tomorrow, or the weekend, or whatever....

and just be happy at the present!

so to make you smile, here's a few lovelies that made me smile today....

(while i am supposed to be working.....i was doing a little web surfing...hehe)....

hahahahaha. sorry for such a small pic.....

croc waterproof boots. my beating heart.

and the best part: 20 bones. out the door...free shipping too! happy dance!

i bought a pair of wellies, (black ones with different color polka dots...and i {{{LOVE}}} them.

living in cleveland....you need them....

and then taking the white nugget outside to go potty....well, need i say more....?? lol...

ok, on to our next contestant:

credit: closet cooking

um, seriously....does this not look fabulous?

reuben dip....

ohh emm gee.

i am running to the store to get the ingreds for this dip. not even kidding.

(it doesnt matter i have already been to 3 grocery stores in 2 days) :O)

credit: very jane!

if you do not know what very jane is, let me explain....they send daily emails with amazing deals

for handmade cuteness.

i have bought hand stamped necklaces, pins, pillow covers, the list is long...

i bought 3 sets of these to go with the 3 princess' valentine pressies!

and my last little lovely, is another v-day gift for the crazy princess' of mine:

credit: west elm

arent these mugs oh so cute?! i am imagining the girls guzzling down their hot bevvies drinking

from this heart mug!

and the best ?

6 dollar hollar AND

FREE FLIPPING SHIPPING!

k, thats it my dear blends....i am off to enjoy some mediterranean fare with

princess # 2.

embrace the moment and

enjoy the rest of your sweet arse weekend!

love and hugs,

t

fabulous brownies

hi y'all.....

(yep. i still wish i had that sweet southern belle accent!)

i am FUUUHHHRRREEEZING. not even kidding.

i am sitting in my office at work right now...and my fingers literally feel like they are

going to fall off.

i am queen of procrastination. i guess i should have added this to my list of resolutions!

i have a paper i have to write for school and i just do not want to do it.

and yes.

it

is

due

in about 8 hrs. 11:59 EMT. which would be one AM. here.

ahhhh...why do i do this to myself....hmmm. i guess because i am literally so busy

working two jobs and have no time to do anything.

fully legitimate. doesnt make me feel any better about not having it done.

i do not want to do it.

anywho,

i am going to share this recipe for these delightfully delicious diet sabotaging (spellling?)

BROWNIES....

you need to run to the store and get the goods to make these.

they are gooey. chocolatey.

melt in your mouth maddening.

do i have your attention YET?!

i found them over

here~@ my baking addiction!

i had a work pot luck luncheon, which i should admit right now, the truth.

i {{{LOVE}}} pot lucks.

it's cuz i am seriously food obsessed.

i had this conversation with princess # 2. she said the same thing. i think this was her

direct quote

"like, i just love food....it makes me so happy".

god i love that kid.

and the fact that yes, she is young a size two and can still eat like a pig says nothing.

like, i love food too. yet, i am no longer a size two and probably will not be. ever.

so what were we talking about?

oh yeah....

heavenly brownies.

i doubled the recipe.

i will also show you where i did a couple different things.

and honestly. they were easy peasy. you will never want to eat store box brownies again.

ever.

pinky. promise.

and the best part........

i had ALL of the ingredients in my pantry. :o)

bonus points for that fo sho.

so here ya go homies....and let me know if you try. the only complaint i had

from someone at the evil potluck, was that,

they were too rich.....wahhhhhh???

too rich? are you freaking kidding me?

they ARE BROWNIES PEEPS.

arent they supposed to be?

best brownies ever

preheat oven to 325'
prepare a 9x13 pan. i lined with stick free foil......so you can just lift and cut them at the end!

2 sticks plus 4 tablespoons butter. ( i used 1/2 butter, 1/2 margarine)

1 cup chocolate chips. I used 1/2 dark and 1/2 semi sweet.
1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 and 1/2 cups pure white sugar. yep. thats right.

1 1/3 cups flour

4 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
3 large eggs

mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. set aside.
melt over low heat the butter. add in the chocolate chips stirring to melt. my baking addiction recommends double boiler but i am lazy and just heated on low and worked perfecto.
when chips and butter have melted stir in sugar and vanilla. add eggs one at a time. stirring between each one.
pour chocolate mixture into bowl of dry ingredients and mix until blended.
pour into prepared pan and bake. i think i ended up baking mine for about 32 minutes. my baking addiction states DO NOT OVERBAKE. you want your toothpick to be moist and wet crumbs! so true.

i love gooey madness. seriously. i was in heaven. will you think poorly of me, if i devulge that yes, i brought the leftovers home from the pot luck and by sunday had consumed about 6 brownies? not kidding. i feel the butter stuck to my glutes as i type this. help. i have issues!

source: my baking addiction

bake up kiddos. i promise you wont regret.

xo



snowy saturday!

yes, it's saturday.

and

yes. it's snowing.

poo.

no, it's not snowing poo. it's just snowing!

i feel that we have been really blessed this winter because up until this point,

we really havent had a lot of the white stuff.

everytime i have to dust my car off, i pout. i mutter under my breath that i am moving

someplace warm and sunny. year round. period.

and yet, another year literally FLIES by and lo and behold, here i am AGAIN,

pouting when i have to pull out the boots, gloves, hats and or scarves. usually all of the above.

on a good note, i have a lot of new coats to dress warm.

i bought a pair of wellies that have been a savior when taking out the

white fur ball.

i received a beautiful pair of UGGS from the sweet princesses.

so i guess bottom line, if you have to put up with the icky, yucky, messy snow.

dress like a fashionista at least!

sooo a little late, but

happy new year!

care to share any of your new year resolutions?

i dont make a lot. i just feel that typically they are gone by the wayside in about 2.7 days anyway, so

why bother???

however, this year was just a tad different. i did make a few.

they are not really different then everyone elses, but i have resolved to keeping them.

save more money.

pay off some type of bill, or attempt to each paycheck.

maintain my healthy living standards, which means working out, eating healthy, enjoying my

treats here and there, (because after all my motto still stands: everything is good in moderation)....

and be thankful for WHAT i have in my LIFE at this very second.

i think  that is the key to obtaining more in life.

that about sums the extent of those resolutions!

everything else in my life is great right now. (remember, thankful..... :O)

princess # 3 made the deans list her first semester at school. sooo proud of that peanut.

princess # 2 just started a wonderful new job as a sales/marketing assistant. way to go pretty girl!

and princess # 1 continues to bust her arse working as a medical ICU RN....keep it up lil cupcake!

i honestly could not be more proud of them! xo

and of course my empty nester puppy, kolbydoodlebug......

he continues to MELT my stinkin heart. that boy is a handful.

he is a never ending supply of kisses and smiles to brighten me up even on the worst days.

he is now being called the monster of destruction, because he has graduated from

his crate at night to sleeping in my room. however, he starts out on the floor next to me, and i swear, once he

knows i am sleeping (cuz he is smart like that)....

he gets up and starts his path of destruction. it is typically his stuffed animals that he rips the guts (aka:stuffing)

and the squeakers out of EVERY single one....

and then he will 'sneak' back up to bed, this time, in my bed without me hearing a thing.

it's so freaking funny. i swear he's like a serial killer who sneaks out at night and then sneaks

back home after he has done his damage. oye vay.

however, he could probably destroy anything......(within reason....) and he would still melt me with those

big big big brown eyes. hes a heart breaker indeedy!

k, i am off to visit princess # 3 at college. woooo hooooo. no, i will not get all

wild and crazy. i know how to behave....yeesh...

xoxo

stay warm if you are anywear near winter and if not then, well you stink! :O)

t