Fabulous February

I love that February is only 28 days. It's like whoever invented this calendar knew we were going to so over the winter months, so they made February shorter so we could get to spring quicker.

Or it could be because Rome had some narcissistic rulers. Whichever. Let's check out the fabulous events of this shortened month.

1. Epic Amounts of Snow

I don't know if this was fabulous per say, but I think we need to mention the ass- whoopin' snow that the Philadelphia region got this year. We got 70+ inches! That is craziness! I'm pretty sure South Philly is STILL digging their cars out ;)

2. Olympics

I love the Olympics, especially the figure skating. It's so beautiful and graceful. I really dropped the ball on watching the Olympics this year, but everyone kept me updated through their massive Facebook status updates. Although I'm sure we all wanted a gold for the U.S. Hockey team, our dear country still rocked it out with 37 medals for the year!

3. Kris Allen's Live Like We're Dying. I cannot get enough of this song.

4.Valentine's Day

Yeah, it's a Hallmark holiday, but I still love it. It makes me want to buy a pack of children's valentine's cards and let all my friends and family know that I cho-cho-choose them.


5. Breaking Bad

If you haven't seen this show you need to stop what you are doing, find the DVDs and start watching. NOW. This is show is so intensely good- the writing and acting are phenominal. The show is about a high school chemistry teacher who turns to cooking meth to provide for his family after he learns he has terminal cancer. Normally when I am trying to catch up on a complete series I can blow through the episodes- I once watched 7 straight hours of Entourage. This show I can only watch about two episodes because I am so emotionally invested in these characters. I get so upset and concerned, it wears me out! I am telling you, check this show out. Oh, and PS... the actor who plays the main character, Walter White, is the dad from Malcolm in the Middle. I still can't believe it's the same guy.

Alright February- pack up your snow infested clouds and take a hike! March is here and that means spring is right around the corner!

Always & Forever,

ME

SN-O-M-G!

So... word on the street is it's gonna snow again. I'm sorry, it's a "snowicane".

Well, I've got the day off due to weather, so I've stocked up on supplies for an organizational project. Look for that post next week.

Be safe out there. Don't drive if you don't have to!

And if you are reading this from a southern state with warm weather- I kinda hate you. But just a little.

Always & Forever,

ME

photo from 6abc

DIY Hair Flower

For the big day, there is no doubt about it- I'm wearing my hair back and up off my neck. It's an outdoor ceremony in July and I am not dealing with that mess.

After looking around at pictures for inspiration, I finally decided I wanted three things: messy and textured, low in the back, and a flower in my hair.

Now, I've seen some of these momba-ba-jombas sell for $60. I don't have that kind of dough.

My fellow JulyX Knotties were showing their amazing DIY flowers they had done, and it looked pretty easy. So yesterday I meandered to Michael's to assess their floral situation.

First off, I really wanted to use a tiger lily, since that is a huge part of not only our flowers, but also the deciding factor for our color scheme. After searching around, I seriously could not find anything that wasn't the size of a Volvo. These things were gargantuan!

I began looking at anything that was orange and stumbled upon some orchids. They had a the same coloring I was looking for, and the size was pretty much spot on. However, it was $4.99 for a bunch of them, and I honestly was only going to use one bud. What was I going to do with the other $4.98 worth of product?

An employee saw me, and asked if I needed any assistance. I told her my idea, and the predicament of wasting $5 for one little bud. Before I could say anything else, she pulls off a bud from the stem I was holding and handed it to me. "Is this enough?" she said, "Go ahead, just take it."

Um.. SCORE!

I thanked her profusely and left the store without even looking at anything else I would need for the project. When I got home, I pulled the bud apart and started to reassemble the petals. I wanted to add a little shazam in the middle, so I found an old faux pearl earring that had lost it's mate years ago. I pulled it off the setting and with a hot glue gun I affixed it all together.

I'm still debating if I want to attach it to an alligator clip, or a comb.

Here is the (almost) final product:

pardon the blob of glue on the small petal... it's gone now

It's not a tiger lily, but I really really love it. It's exactly the right size, and it did. not. cost. me. a. dime.

What do you think??

Always&Forever,

ME

PS.. here is a step-by-step instructions on how to achieve the look with white flowers .

The Ol' Switcharoo

I get bored easily.

You can't leave me to my own devices before I start moving things around. So it's only natural that after being cooped up in this apartment due to three HUGE snowstorms, that I needed to move things around.

Money is a little tight, so I'm holding off on my headboard project for a couple of months. I don't have anything super exciting happening in the world of Falconhead decor. In the meanwhile, I attacked our lighting situation.

In the boudior we had picked up two oil rubbed lamps from Target and added a blue damask shade to it. I loved both the shade and the lamp, but after a while I realized I was not loving them together or in the bedroom. So I swapped the lampshades for the plain white ones in the great room.

After:

I loooove the blue shade with the pewter lamp. Sometime in the summer I would like to switch out the pillows for a dresser look.

I also had a major issue with our exessive blue tones in the bedroom. The wall color, comforter and shade were all three different colors.

Before:

It's kinda of hard to tell by the picture, but the comforter has more of a greenish-blue to it, and the shade is definatly a greyish-blue. It was driving me bonkers. Plus, when I finally did do the headboard, I wanted to have taller lamps to match the height of the headboard. We have super tall ceilings, and everything in the bedroom is super squat. I'm trying to elongate eveything and really play up the architecture we've been given.

After:

Yes, I have a Zhu Zhu pet on my nightstand. It was a gift from my neice.

JEGs isn't feeling it, but I think he'll come around one the headboard is up. It's like I always tell him... "I have a vision".

In the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal, but I'm sleeping better at night. Besides, JEGs is lucky he isn't coming home to the bedroom completely switched around (trust me, I've contemplated it).

On a side note: I used to giggle everytime I went to visit JEGs at his parents house because his mother and grandmother were always rearranging the furniture. It was never the same look twice when I would go to visit. Now I am realizing that I am much more like his mother then I ever thought. That's not a bad thing- she's kinda a cool chick.


Always & Forever,

ME

Giving Up

This year for Lent, I'm really going to test myself.

For the next 40 days, I will not consume alcohol of any kind.

Image courtesy of All Things G + D because my camera is still busted

Why am I torturing myself? I like participating in Lent. I was raised Methodist, which means we can still eat meat during Lent, except on Good Friday (on a side note, we always got flounder for Good Friday, which I detest. It wasn't until I was practically graduated high school that my parents realized cheese pizza was an acceptable dinner!).

I don't consider myself a super religious person, but I like Lent because it has a lot to do with self-control. I always feel such an awesome sense of accomplishment if I can refrain from whatever I've given up for the whole time. Plus, if pregnant chicks can lay off the sauce for 9 months, 40 days should be a walk in the park.

I am making two exceptions, however:

1. JEGs and I are throwing a small dinner party in March and I am making killer Sangria. I would be insane not to drink the liquid awesomeness that I am preparing.

2. If another one of our friends gets engaged, I'm having a glass of wine to celebrate. Even though we are running out of un-engaged amigos, I'm leaving the option open.

One day down... 39 more to go...

Soberly Yours,

ME

Simply, Be Mine.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know I'm a couple days late, but, um.. deal with it ;-)

I hope everyone had a good holiday. JEGs and I don't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day. No ridiculous presents or extravagant dinner plans- that's not our style. We just like to spend the day together.

This year I started the day out by making blueberry pancakes. I tried to spell out L-O-V-E with some cookie cutters, but as you can see, the E looks more like an I. Oops.

After enjoying our Sunday morning coffee, JEGs let me drag him around to a few open houses. No, we are quite ready to turn in the keys to Falconhead yet, but we have started to casually browse the local real estate. Since neither of us is from to the Norristown area, we figured we would start now to get to know which neighborhoods we liked and what we didn't like. We've still got plenty of time though.

JEGs made us a delish dinner of spaghetti and turkey meatballs, and after that we participated in our favorite activity- cuddling on the couch with the TV on. Whew.. can you handle all this wildness? When I said I wanted to grow old with him, I didn't realize it was going to be at the ripe old age of 28.

I am really excited to announce that my friend Meg got engaged on Sunday though! We were just talking a few weeks ago about a pending engagement for her, and she totally blew it off as if it might not happen for a while. If you've been following along, this now brings the engagement count to 7.

Sooo, how did you all spend Valentine's Day? A sleepy Sunday with your lover, or all the roses and frills of the holiday?

Always & Forever,
ME

Heads Up!

Dear JEGs,

I think I want to start a new project. What do you think?

Love,

the future Mrs.


images found here, here, and here

Better then the Oscars...

Excuse me while I put on my fancy dress to accept my awards....

That's right ladies and gents, your girl LB here was blessed with these lovely awards by Kasey over at Thrifty Little Blog.

I am supposed to:
A. List 10 things about me that make me happy
B. List 5 Random facts about myself
C. Link you to other blogs.

Good lord. This is starting to sound like a homework assignment. Anyway, here goes.

10 Things That Make LizzieBeth Happy

1. Can I say JEGs? I know that's kind of a gimmie, but he really does bring a smile to my face :)
2. Text messages. I friggin love them, and the tone I have set for them is soooo very pretty.
3. Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream
4. Cute shoes
5. Painting my nails
6. Only having to apply my eyeliner once.
7. Anything on sale
8. Long talks with my Mommacita
9. My bestie, Connie. She's pretty good for a laugh.
10. Waking up in a warm bed on Saturday.

Now, 5 Random Things About LizzieBeth

1. When I was a freshman in college my major was PsychoBiology. WHOA, I know. Does that kinda make your brain hurt? I wanted to study humans and how they interacted with each other. I was going to study abroad and do an internship my Junior year at the London Zoo. I was going to meet my future husband, Christopher Bennent Smith, the heir to an old banking fortune. My life was planned. But then I had Biology 102 with Dr. Archie Vomachka, and all that changed. I realized that I in fact hated biology, and eventually realized that my love of studying people was actually a love for all things television and theater- hence my degree in Video Communications.

2. I am the youngest of 4 kids- and the only girl. I think my need to prove that I'm not spoiled makes me overly independant.

3. My brothers are much older then I am. They are 13, 10 and 8 years older then me, however this is not uncommon in my family. My mother is actually 14 years older then her youngest sister, who is only 8 years older then my oldest brother. So if you are doing your math correctly, you'll see that two of my brothers are closer in age to my aunt then they are to me.

4. I love eating dinner around 4:00. Early bird special? Sign me up. I have such a hard time waiting until 5:00 or 6:00 to eat. All my friends love to eat at like 9:00, so I usually have to have a small snack before I head out to a dinner party.

5. My most favorite book of all time is Tuck Everlasting. Yeah, I know, it's a kids book- so what? I love me some Jesse Tuck. I would have drank the potion Jesse. PS.. the movie SUCKED.

Alright, now that the essay portion of my homework is done, I can move on to the linkage. Here are some of my daily- must read blogs:

The (never home)makers - Not only do they have awesome recipies, but their home is stylish to boot!
That's What We Do in Maine - first-time homeowners fixing up a place. Does it get any better?
3 O'Clock Coffee - a little shot of caffiene from my favorite barista, and former work mistress.
Shannanigans - she's havin' his baby. What a wonderful way to say I love you.
Rinse. Repeat - Bethany's magical ramblings. Check her out. Trust me, you'll be enchanted.

But, don't stop there! Check out my new and (finally) improved blog roll on the left!

Always & Forever,
ME!

Jewelry Board

While we were getting nailed with snow over the weekend, I decided to kill some time by organizing the baubles in my closet.

I saw this great idea featured at Young House Love and thought, that is so easy! I could do that!

So I decided to attack this mess:

When we first moved in this was the best place to keep my necklaces from a jumbled mess, but it was kind of a pain to get to the purses behind it and I had to keep clipping the necklaces back together everytime I took them off. I know, I know... I lead a rough life.
After about an hours worth of work, I ended up with this:

All I did was grab a corkboard and cover it with fabric bought at Walmart. I then added some screw cup hooks to hang the necklaces from and strung the ribbon above it for my dangy earrings.

It had made my life so much easier when I am getting dressed. I don't have to rummage through my jewelry box looking for my earrings anymore!

Cost breakdown:

Corkboard: Free (already had it)

Fabric: $3.17 for a yard and a half (I didn't use all of it. I plan on using the rest of another project)

Ribbon: Free. (I was a cheer coach, I am trained to have white ribbon in reach at all times.)

Hooks: $.99 for 8

Total: $4.16

BAM. How you like me now?

I'm still debating if I want to paint the frame of the corkboard. I'm kinda digging the original wood. What are your thoughts? Paint or not to paint- that is the question.

Always & Forever,

ME

Are you there Summer? It's Me, Lizzie...

Normally, I love me a good snowfall.
The proof- here is me during our first snowfall of the year.

I'm like an 8 year-old. Weeeee!

But after 26 inches in late December, and another 24 inches this past weekend, I'm kinda over that white fluffy stuff...



But wait...there's more!!

Take a look at this big 'ole bitch on it's way!

(are you hearing the Jaws soundtrack in your head? Cause I totally am...)

Another 12"- 18" 18"- 24"??** Are you kidding me??

Snow is great around Christmas, when the lights are up and everything seems magical. After the middle of January, it just gets kinda old to me.

I am ready for flip flops and tank tops.

Shivering & Freezing,

ME

** from the time I started this post till the time I finished it, the snowfall amount went up. Awesome.

All photos from 6abc.com

Snip Snip!

I got my hair cut on Wednesday.

After trying to save a couple bucks by going to the Hair Cuttery and Supercut [and pretty much hating the outcome] I returned to my former hair stylist, Tara. She's been cutting my hair for nearly 8 years, and when it comes down to it, she's worth the price.

She cut swingy layers into my hair and cut my bangs. They are supposed to swoosh to the side, but after playing around with them a little, I found I kinda liked them going across.

I'm still trying to grow out my hair for the wedding, but I've got a looong way to go!

So what do you think of the new look? Sassy, or no?

Always & Forever,

ME!

Blueberry Poppy Seed Brunch Cake

Here is a fun life lesson:
If a recipe calls for a springform pan, a cheap tinfoil pie pan does not make a good substitute.

JEGs and I went to a dinner party on Saturday night, and we were in charge of bringing a dessert. We found this great recipe for a Blueberry-Poppy Seed Brunch Cake in a magazine called Simple&Delicious, so we decided to try it.

Here is the picture from the magazine:

...and here is our interpretation of it.

One big ass blueberry muffin type thing. We stopped at Giant to score some last minute ingredients, and they did not have a springform pan. We decided that we didn't have enough time to pop into Target (even though I loathe thee) so we grabbed some 9 inch baking tins.

They are not the same thing. At all.

Within minutes we had a bubbling, blueberry, cakey mess in our oven.

The good news is it still tasted awesome! It was a huge hit at the party, and was completely gone by the end of the night!

In case you are interested, here is the recipe:

Blueberry- Poppy Seed Brunch Cake

Prep: 15 minutes. Bake: 50 minutes + cooling

------------------------------------------------

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sour cream

TOPPING:

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries

GLAZE:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon milk

In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Stir in lemon peel.

Combine the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Beat just until combined. Spread into a greased 9 inch springform pan (again... baking tin won't cut it.)

For topping, in a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour and nutmeg; stir gently in blueberries until coated.

 Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove sides of pan.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk confectioners' sugar an milk until smooth; drizzle over cake. Refrigerate leftovers.

Bon apetite!

Always & Forever,

ME

The Second of February

First D.J.: Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today.
Second D.J.: It's coooold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
First D.J.: Not hardly. And you know, you can expect hazardous travel later today with that, you know, that, uh, that blizzard thing.
Second D.J.: [mockingly] That blizzard - thing. That blizzard - thing. Oh, well, here's the report! The National Weather Service is calling for a "big blizzard thing!"
First D.J.: Yessss, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting.
Second D.J.: Especially cold!
First D.J.: Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's lips...
Second D.J.: - On their chapped lips...
First D.J.: - On their chapped lips, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?
Second D.J.: Punxsutawney Phil!
First D.J.: Thats right, woodchuck-chuckers - it's

...GROUNDHOG DAY!!

Happy Groundhog day everyone! Let's hope that Phil does not see his shadow!!

Always & Forever,

ME