Gobble it up

So it's the day after Thanksgiving and you've got a crapton of leftovers. You are thinking 'Great, I will be eating turkey for a week'- or as my family calls it, Turkey: the Sequel, The Return of Turkey, and Turkey Rides Again (yes, we love showbiz a little too much).

Although it's fun to have Thanksgiving dinner 4 nights in a row, sometimes you want to mix it up with the leftovers. Enter stage left, my newest favorite: Black Friday Pie

I made this on Sunday night after we had leftovers from the previous nights' Thanksgiving with Friends. It was a huge hit with JEGs.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots (or leftovers from the day before work too)
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 3/4 cups turkey or chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 1/2 to 3 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken
2 cans of Pillbury cresent rolls (NOT the cheapy Giant brand. I learned that the hard way).

Preparation:
Drain peas and carrots; set aside. Heat butter in 2-quart saucepan over low heat until melted. Stir in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat then stir in broth and milk. Place back on heat; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in turkey and vegetables.
Prepare pastry. Fight with open first can and roll uncut on bottom layer of 9x11 greased baking pan. Add turkey/veggie goopiness. Open second can, unroll it and place ontop . Bake in 425° oven until golden brown, about 20 min. Serves 6.

Accept praises for baking the most delish dinner ever. Act confused when people think it is a pot pie. It is obviously much better then that.

Always & Forever,

ME

Way Out

I normally have a really good sense of direction- just ask JEGs. Once I drive someplace, I can usually get myself back there. That's right, no GPS for this chick. I will figure it out on my own.

Parking lots, however, are different. For some reason my inner compass does not point North when I am in a parking lot.

Case in point- last week I stopped at a David's Bridal before heading to work. This is the route I followed to get out of the shopping center

My original idea was that I could access the main road on the right side of that building. However, when I made the left I realized I was wrong. From there I was just lost. I just started going down lanes and making turns in hopes that one of them would lead me out. You have to imagine that each time I had to turn, I sat in the car, eyes as wides as saucers, looking both ways, wonder where on God's green Earth I was. I act like someone picked up my car and dropped me Wyoming or something and said "Now get yourself home". When I finally realized how far out of the way I went I felt a little foolish. Seriously, the cheeks got a little hot.

Needless to say, I do a lot of my holiday shopping on-line. Keeps me from hours of confusion in mall parking lots.

Always & Forevs,
ME

Thanksgiving Centerpieces

Sans Christmas, I don't really decorate for the holidays. I've only lived on my own once, and my roommate was practically a regular at Michael's and A.C. Moore, so I just sat back and let her take care of it all. Well, JD isn't going to decorate Falconhead for me, so I guess I'm on my own.

I had a bunch of gords leftover from my feeble attempt at Halloween decor so I decided to get as much longevity out of them as possible. For the centerpeice of our dining room table, I grabbed some cinnamon scented pinecones (on sale at Michael's for $2.99), a dishtowl that was a gift from JEGs' cousin, an old vase and a tea candle. Add in the wooden tray found at Ross for $6.99 and voila:

I carried the theme over to the buffet and used a pillar candle (again, on sale at Michael's for $1.99) in a hurricane vase I had with some acorns I found in my parents backyard. Two more tea lights add extra illumination (ooo, big word).

Finally, on our coffee table I have a glass bowl with an autumnal arrangement of silk flowers

I know it's not super amazing like Shannanigan's buffet, but hey, I'm a novice. Cut me some slack ;)

Always & Forever,

ME

Weekend Recap

Ok, first things first- let's discuss New Moon.

I have to admitt this wasn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece, but I don't think anyone ever expected it to be. Twilight is like a car wreck; you don't know why you look, but just.. have to.

Anyway, I had tickets to the 12:03 am showing but first I met up with Connie and some of her work friends at Ruby Tuesdays for some drinks. After a couple rounds of $5 Cosmos we headed over to the theater. By the time the movie started I was half in the bag and yelling thinking inappropriate thoughts about underage boys while sitting next to a gaggle of 13 year-olds.

Anyone want me to baby-sit their kids? I'm an awesome role model.

Moving on...

My Saturday afternoon falls under the category of "Epic Fail". We had been invitied to a "Thanksgiving with Friends" at 5, and beforehand I wanted to head over to Shannanigan's place around 3 to drop off a peice of furniture I had rehabbed for her. We had to stop at the beer place first, so we needed to leave Falconhead by 2. For the dinner party I wanted to make a carrot casserole my cousin Annette makes so around 12:30 I decided I should probably start working on it. So if you are following along I have about an hour and a half before I have to leave the house- and this doesn't include I still need to shower, dress, make up, hair, general beautify.

So as I peel the carrots, JEGs is cutting them and we start to boil the two pounds worth of carrots. I start to read the reciepe (I only skimmed it before) and realize that not only do we have to point these carrots, we have to let them gel in the fridge for 3-4 hours before baking them for 45 mintues.

Umm. We don't have enough time for this. We call our hostess quickly and she says, just bring the carrots- someone will eat them. So ladies and gents, I present to you two pounds of overcooked carrots.



Oh, and what time did we finally get out the door? 2:30. Awesome.

We run to the beer distributor, grab some beer and head to Shannons to drop off the furniture. I would love to show you a before and after but I did not take any pictures of the final product. Not one. single. picture. Again- fail for LB.

We stop at JEGs parents for a hot minute and head over to Mandy's for our feast. I have to say, I was quite impressed with Mandy's homemaking abilities- there was quite the spread of food! Not only did she cook a 14lb turkey for us, but she made appetizers, stuffing, some cheesey pit thing, and other goodies!

Andy carves the bird

breaking bread together

Mike is a leg man...

Evidently I was right on trend with black stockings as both Mandy and Bonnie were both wearing them as well!

the boys.

Included with our group were two adorable little kids, Sammy and Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn was carrying around a ladybug all day and she let me hold it. I felt really honored. What can I say? Kids like me.

And of course it's not a party until we cover Mike's head with someone else's hair.

All in all it was an awesome party, and we were S.T.U.F.F.E.D. All the food was delish and the company was pretty kick ass too.

Sunday was spent chillaxing in the apt all day and cleaning while JEGs ran to my parents to fix Daddy-O's Highlander.

Oh weekends, why must you only be two days? :(

So how about you guys? Any fun activites over the weekend??

Always & Forever,

ME

New Moon

Oh yes faithful readers... I am one of those...

Ok ok, before you unfollow me, and shut down your web browser never to return to Lizzie in Progress again, hear me out. I blew everyone off when they told me I should read them. I figured they were the next Harry Potter- great for some, but I just never got into.

But I was wrong. Really wrong. These books were so damn good. Like, consume-my-life-won't-take-a-shower-and-I-have-no-time-for-sleep-or-food good. There was a point [sometime around Eclipse, I believe] that I was praying for all the traffic lights to turn red so I could crack the book open for 28-45 seconds. By the end of the series I hated JEGs because he didn't love me as much as Edward loved Bella. It was bad. REAL bad.

I saw the first movie at my friend JDs place while I was only half way through the book and I HATED it. Seriously.. HATED IT. I was so dissapointed with the first movie that I almost didn't finish the book, let alone the series. After much prodding from my friends, I soldiered on and I am so glad I did. In New Moon, I fell in like with Jacob Black.

That's right. All you chicken heads can keep your Edward. I'll take my Jacob.

Anyway, I flew through the the rest of the books in under two weeks and then a great emptiness filled my life. Where were Bella and Edward? They had left me. When I heard about the unfinished manuscript on Stephanie Meyers' website, I was elated! However, that was only about half of the book, and in less then a week I was back to being empty and alone. I tried to fill the void with a few Jodi Picoult books, but it just wasn't the same. I just couldn't have the same connection to another set of characters. I was like... I was cheating on them. I felt so dirty.

I confess I still haven't finished a book since then. Sure, I've picked up a few- I've even read a couple chapters- but I haven't finished anything. I would have to wait until the next movie came out.

When I saw the first poster for the newest movie, that happy feeling returned to my chest. Bella! Edward! Jacob! You've come back to me! The countdown had begun... 256 days and counting. When it got down to less then a month I started making plans for a viewing party that Saturday. But my bestie had bigger plans.

Chungster snagged us some tickets for the midnight show tonight [tomorrow? I don't know]. So yes, this 28-year-old woman will be standing in line with a bunch of teenage girls while their moms wait in the mini vans parked outside.

I. can't. wait.


Always & Forever,
ME

Petals and Pearls

Last weekend I was sick so JEGs [being the amazing fiance he is] stopped and picked up some flowers for me. I snipped the length down and put them in a small vase next to my deathbed.

There was a strand of pearls leftover from this outfit and I liked the romantic feel of the flowers, lace and pearls.

These different shades of purple are quickly becomine a favorite color combo of mine. I love the Sangria, with the Lilac and Violet. Pop in some dark blue and I think it's so modern and classy.

I confess, I would have loved to do this color combo for the wedding. I just love the jewel tones together and I think they would look great for an evening wedding at anytime of the year. However, JEGs is not all about his friends rocking purple, and I really really REALLY wanted tiger lillies, soooo that kind of killed it.

Maybe next time around (totally kidding!)

A&F,

ME

I'm not buying it...

I have a confession to make that may or maynot make all my design blogging friends shudder...

I freakin' hate Pottery Barn. It's like the JCrew of interior design. Ridiculously overpriced.

My girl Stephanie over at You Paid More Than Me posted this chandelier the other day

The Chalet Chandelier from Pottery Barn Teen. Price? $199.

Granted, it is on sale for $49.99, but to me, that looks like those builder-grade lights with a coat or two of spray paint. You know, those "fancy" chandeliers you had in your first apartment:

Yeah- that one.

This is where my DIY maven-ness kicks in to high gear. I found one on Craigslist for $20. Add that with a $4.00 can of spray paint and say hello to my friend Half-The-Cost and his sister No-Shipping.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Pottery Barn.

If anyone in my local area is dying for this, let me know. I'll do the grunt work, you pay for the supplies.

Always & Forever,

ME

Bag Lady

I came in to work today carrying all of this:

I have become a bag lady, and it is out of control. Let's review what I was lugging around.

First, that beautiful brocade bag in the back on the left is my computer bag that houses the brand new Sophia

That is essential, as I don't have a computer in my office. MUST bring computer to work.

Next up is my super pink Country Bride and Gent bag that has all my wedding crap:

We have my shiney gold binder (nothing classier then gold lame, right?), two bridal magazines that has taken me 2+ months to read, extra Save-the-Dates and my teeny book of post-it notes. Plus there is more crap in the bag. I bring this with me every day incase I find extra time or am inspired by something.

That big black back? That's my cheer bag.

I keep my gym clothes in here so I can change in the last 10 minutes of work, that way I'm not wasting time at the gym changing. My schedule when I am on the day shift leaves me about 30-45 mintues of gym time before I have to head up to cheer practice, so I try to maximize every minute I have. I also have my cheer binder, and other neccessary manuals with me because I have been working on cheer-related stuff lately.

My purse is obviously a daily must-have:

Stuffed in my bag is a travel make-up case [I don't apply until after 9 am], nail file, a laminated picture of my JV cheer squad from last year, ID that for some reason was not returned to it's proper place, hand lotion, mail, my day planner [aka my "brain"], Tylenol Cold and Flu tablets, a fork [?], check book register, hair clip and wallet. And don't forget my eyelash curler, lip balm, assorted jewelry that I have worn in the past week and haven't put away yet, bobby pins, cell phone and camera that were not pictured.

Last but not least is my lunch bag:

On the menu today we have Cheerios and milk for breakfast, a salad for lunch , peanut butter crackers [that were being snacked on before the picture was taken] and a yogart for a snack- and yes, that is kind with the fruit on the bottom. Totally the best kind.

All essential stuff, right?

No wonder my back hurts ;)

Always & Forever,

ME

Reunited and it feels so good.

My computer crashed on Friday.

It was like, "that's it, I quit." I was left heart broken and with nothing to do at work on Monday and Tuesday except bother Monroe. Monroe isn't what you would call "a people-person", if you know what I mean.
I was deperate for my computer. I had emails to read, wedding porn to look at, blogs to read, blogs to write, message boards to post, and oh my god I can't get on FACEBOOK!!!! WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TO????

Enter stage left, the most amazing fiance. ever. He took on the daunting task of rigging the cd rom [ because it was broken... oops], then he got a SATA to USB adapter to pull the info off of my hard drive. After all my data was safe [ and by data I mean drunk pictures of me and my friends], he forgmatted the hard drive and did a clean install of windows followed by nit picking through the internet for the correct drivers to get the hardware working well together again then. After all that, he did all the Windows updates.

Didn't understand a word of that? Me either- that's why I copied and pasted it from what he said. But it worked, and that's all that matters. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I sooo won the boyfriend lottery.

So now my computer is working even better. Before I referred to my computer as "Algernon" from Flowers for Algernon and my old desktop was "Charlie. Now that's she's had work done, I feel like she needs a botox-lovin'-stilletto-wearing-diva-like name. So I came up with Sophia.

Glad to meet you/have you back, computer.

Always & Forever,

ME

Fashion: Girly with and Edge

I've been feeling this girly/edgy vibe lately, so while I was interviewing photograhers this week, I put this outfit together

Jacket: Nine West
Blouse: JC Penny's
Jeans: Old Navy
Shoes: Bare Feet Shoes

I love these shoes. Like sex on a stick heel.

Always & Forever,

ME

Dressed to Impress

Shannon wanted wedding porn. So I'm giving it to her. Oh yeahhh...

Now that I've ordered my dress, it's time to start picking out bridesmaids dresses.

Ok, be honest: who cringed a little? I know the BM dresses are usually the WORST part of the wedding, but I am trying to not make it so painful. Although part of me would love to deck my ladies out in this:

Mostly because I know if given the chance Connie would do it to me. But I wouldn't do that to my cousins (Tara and Aileen, you're welcome).

Allie happened to be off today so before I headed to work we made an appointment at Country Bride and Gent (where I got my dress) to checkout their bridesmaid selection. We found the following from Jasmine's B2 collection that we really liked:

They would all be in the Cayman Blue (basically navy) and the girls could pick whichever one they wanted. They could all be different or two could wear the same, whatever they wanted. Allie loves the top one, and I think the middle one would look smashing on my maid of honor, Connie. But of course I forgot to check out the style numbers. Dummy me.

Anyway, we had some time so we popped over to the local David's Bridal and tried on some more dresses. I am in loooove with the Marine color there. We started off with the F12899 for Tara and Allie

..and Allie modeling it:

I liked it because it had the nice flowy chiffon that I think is so great for a summer wedding, but it still had sparkle on the straps. We are having a 5:00 wedding, so a little sparkle is a good thing.
If Connie wanted to go a little different (since she is the MOH) the F13128 was a strapless version that complimented it well

I loooove the bling. Love it.

We also looked into David Bridal's newer collection and tried the strapless 83312

can you tell Allie wants nothing to do with a strapless dress?

And the complimenting F13277...

I loved this dress on Allie. It made her body look slammin'. Buuut the dress is a cotton sateen, and we didn't know if it has enough SHAZAM for an evening wedding. Granted, in the darker colors it might look nicer, but we still felt kind ... meh... about it.

Finally we tried on the standard bridesmaid dress. This happens to be the 8355 with an added sash.

The leopard print bra strap really adds a je ne sais pas to the dress, doesn't it? :::wink:::

We would do the Marine, with a blue pastel sash across it.

We didn't decided on anything definitly yet. We have to wait of Tara to come home in December to make a final decision. But looking is fun!

Next up, Alfred Angleo. Love him. Love love love him.

Always & Forever,

ME