4th of July Weekend

I have now been welcomed back to reality by "Monday" after a wonderful and much needed 4 day 4th of July holiday weekend! We definitely kept ourselves busy but we got to catch up with some of good friends and enjoy a couple days off. Now can I please have a day to recover from the weekend?

Wednesday night we went and saw the movie "The Heat" - I love Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock usually, so I was really excited to see them team up. They did NOT disappoint! While the plot line may have been a little predictable the comedy was definitely entertaining and kept me laughing, even Chris said "yeah it was pretty good" which means it was awesome (kinda). 

On the morning of the 4th of July I was gifted with a delicious surprise, CINNAMON BUNS! My friend Allison had made this recipe but failed to realize that it made about 75 rolls - lucky for me, I was a benefactor of this oversight. If you are looking for a homemade cinnamon roll recipe (and who DOESN'T love a good bun), give this one a try, I think she even had enough to freeze and save for later. Thanks Al for the yummy treat! 

We spent the rest of the afternoon poolside, and then headed to a cookout at my friend Amanda's parents house. Their neighbors smuggle the big fireworks across the border and put on a show for the neighborhood. All of us (minus Parker - the bigger they are the harder they fall) really enjoyed it, we even managed to dodge the rain. I brought my "go to" recipe - Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

Tri Color Rotini

Mini Pepperoni

String Cheese (or other block mozzarella)

Cherry tomatoes (optional)

Green peppers

creamy caesar salad dressing

zesty italian salad dressing

Directions:

Cook rotini noodles to al dente, drain and rinse with cold water

cube string cheese and dice green peppers

combine all ingredients and add a 2:1 ratio of italian dressing and creamy caesar -  stir until noodles are well coated

cover and refrigerate for several hours, add a splash of italian dressing before serving

On Saturday we made a little day trip to Durham to help our good friends Chris and Lauren pack and prepare for their upcoming move.  Lucky for us we only had to work a little bit and then got to spend the rest of the day hanging out. We hit the pool until the boys got bored, 15 minutes in, went to a local brewery Lonerider and ended the evening with a boatload (literally) of sushi. We always love spending time with these two and wish we lived closer so we could see them more often.

Sunday we packed up the pup and went to see our friend Shannon at her house on Lake Tillery. We spent the afternoon catching up and watching the dogs swim. Parker is a little fish and its just so much fun to watch him in his element.

We had a great weekend hopping around NC, spending time with great friends and celebrating the 4th. I can't believe how fast this year is flying by!

Beauty Buy: Wet Brush

As "they" say, the grass is always greener on the other side. If you have blonde hair you want brunette hair, if you have curly hair you want straight, well i'm here to tell you I have the worst of all hair worlds. I have fine hair, but a lot of it, I have waves but not enough to look cute when it air dries, and worst of all my hair tangles like the dickens (yes I just said dickens), especially when its wet. 

Now ever since I worked at the hair salon 5 years ago - don't want to talk about it - I've had the same hair brush and never really thought about exploring new options, my theory "if it aint broke dont fix it." But this past weekend during my routine once a year hair appointment (what can I say, I'm cheap), I was introduced to a product that has changed my world (its only been 4 days but so far so good). 

The Wet Brush

Yes, it may look like an ordinary paddle brush, but my friends, it is NOT. This little guy can comb through the tangliest of wet locks and glide right through as if I had left the conditioner in my hair. I do not know its secret, all I know is that I am no longer losing chunks of hair as I try to rip through the knots. If you're like me and your hair is a hot mess after a shower, give this product a try. You will NOT regret it.

Dip it

This weekend I tried out yet another Pinterest recipe and boy was it a hit! Seriously, I don't think I've ever made something that got such rave reviews, and it was super easy too! I served it with fresh cucumber slices and warm flatbread and they were the perfect pairing for this delicious summer appetizer

I wish I had taken a picture of my own dip but trust me, it looked the same

Lemon and feta dip

8oz feta cheese, crumbled

Zest + Juice of (1) large lemon
1 clove minced garlic
6 tablespoons olive oil+ extra for serving
cracked pepper for topping

Place feta, lemon zest and juice, garlic and olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. 

(personally I think a food processor will work best, but work with what ya got)
Spoon into a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper

Dig in! 

(original recipe and photo credit linked to image)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

So I think its pretty clear that I'm not the world's best blogger. While I do consider myself pretty social media savvy thanks to my position at work, I'm still new to the blogging game. I kept hearing things about how google reader was going to be no more and that I would need to find a new way to keep up with all my blogs. Personally I never really used google reader, I followed my blogs in the worst way possible, typing the URL in and hoping my cookies would remember the exact address - lame I know, I mean am I 50 yrs old and don't know how to use word processor?

Enter Bloglovin I can put any and all blogs that I follow on this one site and even be notified on my toolbar when the blogs I follow have new posts. Even better I can now clear my browsing history so my boss can't see what I look at during my lunch break (HA more like all day). So if you're slow on the uptake like I am, check it out, and be sure to follow my blog - you can click on the headline "follow my blog with bloglovin" to go straight there! 

TGIF

After a long week puppy-sitting and Chris being on call for work this picture (that reminds me WAY too much of Parker) couldn't be anymore accurate.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

House "Before" Pictures

I think I've mentioned before that when Chris and I purchased our house it was a foreclosure. The previous owners used it as a litter box. As in, they allowed their cats to use the carpets as their toilet. Lovely really. 

I've promised some "before and after" pictures of the house so today I'll start with "before". Some of the pictures don't look THAT bad. But remember you cant smell over the internet. 

I think the stairs were the cats favorite spot

As you can see there are a lot of stellar paint colors/techniques as well as awesome brass light fixtures. 

Don't get me wrong, we did luck out with some pretty great kitchen applicances, but the majority of the house definitely needed some cleaning up and updating. When we first got the keys Chris and his dad got to work ripping the carpets and baseboards out, scrubbing the walls, and bleaching the subfloor before sealing it with Killz (I totally would have helped but I was on my bachelorette party - bad timing or good timing? you be the judge). We then had new carpets installed and all the walls, doors, ceilings and trim painted.. Stay tuned for some "after" pics. Maybe it would be more accurate to say "in progress" pics as I don't think I'll ever feel like a room is finished!

A few house updates

Well, looks like I've done it again. Completely neglected my blog, for all of you who have been checking for updates I apologize, and for those who haven't, you've obviously not missed anything. During my little blogging hiatus I have made a few updates to the house, or at least made purchases for the updates. 

As you may remember from my Home To Do List a few items that I've been meaning to get to are:

Making a wreath for my front door - I love the look of the fluffy burlap wreaths that people have been making, but being the cheap-o that I am, I just couldn't stomach the steep price tag. Enter Hobby Lobby and the 50% off sales. All of my supplies (minus the $2.99 metal base which I used a 40% off coupon for) were 50% off making the total price of this wreath project $18.

Definitely not an exact replica of my inspiration wreaths but not a far cry, and MUCH MUCH easier on my wallet.

Another project scratched off my to-do list; picking a fabric for curtains. I took the pillows I currently have in my living room to the fabric store to make sure everything would coordinate. I decided on the Khanjali Glacier and was pleasantly surprised with how everything came together. I ordered enough fabric for (2) 96" curtain panels and (2) 18x18 pillows, about 6.5 yards. I cant wait for the fabric to come in - thanks in advance to my mother in law for helping me with the sewing portion of this project

I've also been working on sprucing up our back patio. 

I've added a few plants as well as a little herb garden/lattice thingy

I also decided it was time to replace our current outdoor light

Isn't she a beaut? Just image more rust and way more bugs in the jar

with a more substantial updated light

Fingers crossed it looks good! I just happen to think its the little upgrades that make a world of difference!

While I haven't gotten to everything on my list I am definitely making progress! I will post pictures of the finished curtains (once my MIL makes them) and installed light fixture (once Chris installs it) - hey, I have the ideas not necessarily the skill :)