sharpie plates & bowls.

you guys!

look what i made the other night!

adam & i were taking a little napsies on the couch on Sunday afternoon when our doorbell rang. 

*sidestory*

adam: anything you want to do today? 

me: no, you? well, send a couple emails.

adam: i had something in mind, but go do your stuff & then come back.

i come back, he grabs me & wraps me up under a blanket, snuggles behind me & we proceed to a Sunday nap...sigh (good sigh)...

so, we're taking a nap & the doorbell rings. we get the dogs put away because they faaaareeeeak out. we answer the door & our little neighbor brooklyn & dad are there... apparently brooklyn is turning 4 & had extra cupcakes she just had to bring to mister adam & miss jacie... :)

so, since that was sunday & her birthday was today...i knew we had to do something... so, we ventured to Dollar Tree & picked up fairy wings, a princess wand, a tutu AND a plate & bowl... i decided i'd make her birthday plates (but get the tutu & wings things incase she didn't like these -- i mean, she's 4).

so, armed with the night ahead of me, some awesome neon sharpies & great ideas... i made these!

i had an absolute BLAST! i had so SO much fun...it took some time, but i got them done & baked that night & they're beautiful!

want to make your own? 

i used this tutorial...

get whatever dishware you want... 

get some sharpies...

draw away! 

then bake 425 for 30 minutes!

want to buy mine? plates HERE & dishes HERE

loves, 

j

pumpkin seeds.

so...we carved pumpkins. they are pretty cool...well, husband's was!

and, i really wanted to try my hand at pumpkin seeds! i mean, pumpkins are kind of expensive, so why not get the most out of them! PLUS, the seeds are healthy!

i went to wal-mart & found the pumpkins for $2.88 each, which was awesome because they're HUGE!

WASH the icky, slimy stuff off your seeds!

put whatever flavoring you want on & drizzle with olive oil... i found a couple recipes online... 

in one, i just dumped cinnamon & sugar to taste...

in the other, i dumped garlic salt, onion salt, regular salt...just a lot of salt...those were my fav...

stick 'em in the oven & let them bake...i think i had them like 350 for 45 minutes, but googling a recipe might be smarter... :)

all in all, pumpkin seeds are -ish...BUT, i should find some actual yummy recipes...then maybe i'd like them more!

loves, 

j

sydney's adventure.

adam sent this to me & my mom friday. then i sent it to a bajillion people at work to make their day a little brighter. hope it does the same for you!

--

So, Sydney has really taken a liking to Grandma’s gift, that little green stuffed toy thingy. She plays with it nearly every morning in the car. Sometimes for almost the entire duration of our drive. She’ll toss it around and eventually drop in on the front seat for me to throw back into the back seat for her to jump and catch and toss around some more.

Sometimes (today) it bounces off her face and lands above the seats in the back of the car, which proves to be very stressful.

But then we were lucky enough to come to a red light where I could put it in park and retrieve it for her. She was amazed.

The end.
--
xoxo, 
j

friday night date night!

friday night is date night in our house! it's a 'habit', 'tradition', 'whatever' you want to call it that we got started early. then, keep it going when we have mini-us running around...

friday was great. got home early & found THIS waiting in the mail for husband. he was so excited! seriously. he was!

we had originally planned to go out with our neighbors on a double date, but the neighbor husband had to work late, so we had to reschedule which meant that we were on our own (which is normally what we intend; we'll make special exceptions sometimes though!).

it was adam's turn to pick dinner, so he quickly found this online. the movie was my turn...my brother had sent me 3 packages in the mail...each one numbered & each one a specific Lord of the Rings movie...we had never seen them, so he sent them in a very cute & sweet way that made this little sister's heart full! it's the little things, people!

Waffled Pizza Dippers

1 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves

1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves

1 jar (14 oz.) pizza sauce

2 cans Pillsbury crescent dinner rolls (we bought garlic flavor)

32 small slices pepperoni

WE CUT THIS IN HALF!!! 

it made 2 of the pockets pictured & was plenty! i'm not sure this would be super good reheated, but who knows?!

you can find detailed instructions at the link in above, but basically roll the dough out, mix cheese & spices & heat pizza sauce. pizza sauce will be for dipping only. stick dough on waffle maker; top with cheese & pepperoni (or whatever you want, i suppose); stick other piece of dough on top & walahhh!

DELISH! they weren't amazing, but quick, easy & good enough! 

happy date nights! 

xo, 

j

p.s. yes, adam did put together his Legos during date night & they turned out SUPER cool! they even include stuff to make all THREE cars from each movie! :) 

breakfast pizza & wednesday night.

adam got breakfast pizza at work Tuesday morning for a coworker's birthday. it sounded SO good that i asked him if i could make it for dinner that night! :) it was not as good as from Casey's or Zip'N, but it did it's job...AND was leftovers the next day for me after church!

*i cheated & bought a pizza crust

*nacho (liquid) cheese for 'sauce'

*browned sausage (i forgot to do this & just put sausage chunks on the -za. needless to say, i was a bit irritated with myself when i had to take them off & brown them all...erk)

*scrambled eggs

pour liquid cheese on crust. sprinkle browned sausage & scrambled eggs on top. sprinkle shredded cheese on that. bake in oven for whatever is directed on crust (i think mine was like 450 for 12 minutes, but i'm not 100%?!?!?!?!?!

and this was me before church Wednesday. casual & comfy...one of those days... mr. husband was sick on the couch taking this picture! the first one laying down (there's always a SUPER weird angle when someone is below you taking the picture...he sat up for the second one...very thoughtful!).

p.s. we got husband a z-pac & he's feeling HEAPS better!

wednesday i went to class like normal & it turned out a friend was in need...so we ended up walking & talking during the entire class. that's okay though because sometimes you just need to be there for people. reach out & let them know you care & you want to help in any way you can. just let the Lord use you as a tool where needed. :)

hope your week was great! 

enjoy this weekend that's going by WAY...TOO...FAST.

xo, 

j

a lovely day.

what a happy day...nothing too exciting happened & that is just fine.

my mom makes SUPER YUMMY homemade apple juice, so i brought some to work. nobody drank any, but a girl was intrigued by it, so i told her to take it home! so, her & her husband are in for a real treat! plus, it was a nice gesture. 

i wore my hair like you see below today. so that was fun.

husband & i just watched Agents of SHIELD, the t.v. show. and we're getting ready to watch The Mindy Project because husband fixed the TV last night...or got better reception...or did something?

i made homemade breakfast pizza. it was -ish.

husband is getting sick, so that's a big boo. we both took shots of OJ & Emergen-C tonight. mmm.

he's taking a shower to help the drainage & i'm doing my etsy stuff & blogging on my little blog.

OOOOH, i sold a coat today that i've only worn like twice. made a profit, so that's sweet. $50 dollars richer over here (except i spent almost $60 in groceries, soooo...)

i got about 26 containers of yogurt tonight (chobani, yoplait light, greek yoplait -- and that's a bunch of lids to enter codes for the breast cancer cause thing)...i'm not joking...like 26. i'm set.

mmm, i can't think of anything else. it's getting cold over here. i should really break out the good ol' coatycoat. maybe tomorrow.

xs & os. 

j

our yesterday.

happy monday, loves! 

since i'm semi-trying to keep up with the daily...here's what our day looked like yesterday.

me & syds. she likes taking pictures with mommy.

my outfit consisted of my awesome NEON pink Steve Madden scarf (TJMaxx $14.99; i'm cheap...i was even a little -ish at that price, but had been looking for the right color for some time now). striped cami from LTD (when i worked there). vera wang cardi from kohl's (had giftcard, so i think FREE?). pants from LTD. new shoes from Old Navy (that i told you i was getting HERE (double side note -- all my heels but two are up on Craigslist now!).

yeah. and i wanted you to see my MAC snob lipstick i rocked... it's pinker than you can see. love it.

this was what mister adam looked like yesterday when i told him to smile! very handsome. :)

and this is what mister truman looked like... and miss sydney. excuse my craft room mess in the background. :)

and this is what i made for din din... told you i was crockpotting it, again. this recipe is okay. i haven't found one that really knocks our socks off, but it's fun to try new ones! and chicken with rice will always do!

and then this is what happened later. like i told you, i love this look on him. my handsome booger. 

OOOOH. and these are the new shoes i was telling you about from Old Navy. the flats, but look like heels because my feet almost died. apparently i can't wear them anymore because my feetsies aren't used to it...and i don't want to go through the pain to make them used to it! :)

i don't like how you can see my tooter sticking out, but whatever. they are comfy as ever & i'm going to buy more (probably the same color) because i know i'll wear it out. 

the end. 

loves! xoxo,

j

crock pot whole chicken recipe & last sunday.

last week, i decided this fall/winter was going to be a crockpot one. i hadn't really used our crockpot previously, but for chili, so this was going to be an adventure. a couple gals at work were talking about chicken in the crockpot -- DUH. i had NEVER even thought of that. i decided i had to try it. so, i searched online & found the perfect recipe...or so i thought. adam went & grabbed Iron Man 3 from Redbox, while i finished up prep for dinner. 

it looked yummy. it smelled yummy. but, who would've thought that something with cayenne pepper, white pepper, black pepper, etc would be spicy? 

ahhhh. incase i haven't told you, spicy does not do well with mr. husband. so, he politely ate his helping followed by a drink of water after each! ah, poor guy. "i don't think i'm going to have seconds," he said. aw, shucks. it would have been yummy if not for so spicy. and it smelled weird when reheating (but most stuff does).

regaurdless, i'm proud of myself for actually making something! YAY! i've been trying quite a few crock pot things. today i made my...3rd & later on this week, i'll be trying my 4th. a patient of ours even gave us a candy crockpot recipe! i'll be trying that soon! mmm.

below is also what our Sunday last week looked like. husband got a nap in (he's so sweet bundled up with his hood up & blanket cozied up). truman sat there. we had the candles burning. bliss. 

oh and... i know it's way too early, but i have most of Christmas shopping done...i shop all year. and so i wrapped a couple gifts! i'm going to get a head start this year & be done & relaxed, so i can sit back, sip my hot cocoa & snuggle with husband & two puppies & some candles & some blankets & some movies. perfect.

while wrapping Christmas gifts, i remembered something nice i was going to do for a neighbor i don't know. i had walked by her apartment & the outside of it was decorated with some butterfly stuff. i knew i had some butterfly stuff in my gift stash, so i wrapped it up (with a butterfly bag, of course) & it's sitting on my counter awaiting her doorstep. i think i'm just going to leave it there with a kind, anonymous note. maybe mention something about how i hope she's having a wonderful day & i'm praying for her this week (and actually do it!). what a great way to make someone's day & be a great witness, as well! pass it along! i challenge you to do the same!

and this dress. i'm getting so good at following up my new outfit posts & actually showing you what/when i wore them! score. so, no shoes because i stupidly wore heels. ugh. they hurt so bad & i could barely walk. adam was just like, 'why do you wear those things? your own fault!" he was laughing & so was i (through my tears of pain, kidding) because he's right. so, i'm selling all my heels (except kitty heels & maybe 1 other pair that doesn't kill me). i never wear them anyways because i feel weirdly tall anymore. so, i went & bought myself these almond pointed flats. i wore them for the first time today & they were great. i'm going back to buy more of the same color because when i find something i like, i stock up...

side note, in these pictures, i have weird faces because 1. i'm weird & awkward in front of the camera and 2. because i was looking at truman (our beagle) and 3. my husband makes me laugh. the end.

k, that's all. off to upload stuff i'm trying to sell to Craigslist. 

tootles!

j

judy garland's outfit!

i would TOTALLY wear Judy Garland OR her daughter's outfit. they're both so cute. at first, i thought these were mint capris, which actually might look cute, too! 

link

XOXO, 

j