Untitled

Many of you that personally know me - you know that I have an obsession (addiction - whatever you want to call it) with Instagram. So, this post goes out to you. The ones that I cut off mid-sentence and say, "Hold on, I need to Instagram this." To those that I stick the camera in their face. To those that I tell them, "Don't eat your food yet, I need to Instagram this first." To those that see me with my phone up while driving - it's okay, I'm not taking a picture of you, I'm just really trying to get the last sliver of sunset. To those that watch me while I photograph a lawn gnome on my front porch-no, I'm not crazy. And finally, to the babies in my life, for being the best, most cutest subjects that I have to Instagram.

Without further ado, welcome to the last month and a half of my whereabouts.

Emma Lou. The gal with the prettiest eyes & smile I've ever set eyes on.

My best friend, Brooke and her precious boy, J.P. What I love most about this picture is her smile. That's a new, proud, a little tired, happy mother smile. And she's a damn good one, at that.

My Christmas tree. It may not be the biggest, baddest or even have a tree skirt. But, I sure to love watching tv with that purty thing lit up beside me.

If they made pj's like this in adult size. I would own them.

Sushi. On a tree.

About 5 hours into the Baking & Boozing Extravaganza with some pretty rad ladies. 

I love decorating Christmas cookies. I don't love decorating about 10 dozen.

Don't look at the cookies. They're naked.

Many people thought I really liked Dorothy. But, I just really liked that they added a bit of red to my outfit. #christmasspirit

Emma Lou. Being a beauty. See, I told you she had a pretty smile.

My sister-in-law and I the day after Thanksgiving. At a bar. In matching ECI fleeces. Having a blast.

What you gnome about that? Hands down, my favorite ornament on my whole tree.

Gran schooling us in (insert name of game that I forgot).

My little friend on my desk at work. Too much works makes for a shy gnome.

Arrington Vineyards. Mom. Granny. Grandpa. Me. And a bottle of really great wine (that has a name I cannot pronounce).

Granny and Grandpa before the show at Chaffin Dinner theatre. One of the greatest couples I know!

Not gonna lie - those snowflakes on the right had vanilla frosting AND cream in the middle. #winning. Hence why they were the first to go. Thank you, Dunkin Donuts!

J.P. shows me all of his faces. How can you not like all of them!?

Rainy day lunch break. Guess where at?

My highschool best friend took me to see Straight No Chaser at the Ryman. The only thing I actually like about IU.

Friendsgiving. And the choices. Not to mention a pretty big ham in the upper left corner.

When your oven doesn't work. Make no-bake cookies.

Someone had a rough night.

See that guy in the middle. He belted it out so great - he gave me goosebumps.

Me and my favorite lady cousins on Thanksgiving. Man, do I love them. Well, all but Nicole. I just like her a lot.

I sure do have a lot to be Thankful for. It's obvious. 

Thank you Instagram. You give me beautiful memories.

I Love The South

My most recent trip was to Savannah, GA to run in the Rock n Roll half marathon. And, to say that I adore Savannah is a complete understatement! All the history, cute shops, fun bars, adorable houses, coffee shops, art/artists, river street, friendly people, spanish moss trees (my personal favorite), gorgeous weather, beautiful parks and constantly having something to see/do - I honestly did not want to leave!

To actually write about my entire weekend, that would be impossible. So, I'm just going to leave you with a few things I've learned from this weekend::
1. There is actually marshmallow and gummy bear flavored vodka. And...it's amazing.
2. Road trips are better with friends.
3. You can never (ever) take too many instagrams. I got three new people to join this weekend. My addiction is now theirs.
4. I'll always cry at the national anthem and finish line. What a rush - I'll be an athlete for life.
5. Half marathons might become one of my new hobbies. WTF? Did I just say that?
6. 'Call-a-cab' is one of the strongest frozen drinks at Wet Willies. The names are usually a good indications.
7. Don't wear a half zip that does not have fabric between your chest and the Zipper. Running long distances with metal rubbing on skin only ends badly.
8. Savannah Georgia is my new favorite place. Sorry Austin.
9. It's possible to go into 20 different restaurants in a three day span. Restaurants are bars...and just because your order drinks you probably better order appetizers.
10. Dank tank - try it.
11. I love pajamas with the saying, 'lion around.' OR 'I like your belt.' I'd like to actually own either. My search continues...
12. Did I mention that I actually enjoy running? And with 27,000 other people running - its hard not to get into the hype!
13. I will never do a full marathon.
14. I'm jealous of the students that get to go to SCAD.
15. You can never drink enough water.
16. When in doubt, Chick Fil A.
17. Pack more comfy clothes.
18. People love green scarfs!
19. Pizza places are good places for confrontations, err, I mean bad. Sort of.
20. I cannot afford Ruth Chris.

So, not to disappoint - here are the new instagrams from the weekend!

I'm obsessed with ketchup - so, naturally, I love not having to cut my thumbs just to get enough for one fry! Thank you Chick Fil A!

This spanish moss on the trees had me baffled - I felt like I had entered the movie "Forest Gump" and totally didn't want to leave!

We didn't actually go to the 'Lady & Sons' - the line was long and we heard that were some better local spots.

This was the cutest little lunch spot called, 'Cafe Coco' - it was so eclectic!

Another picture of, 'Cafe Coco!'

The morning of the race! It was dark and freezing when we were walking at 7 a.m. waiting for the race to start - but it didn't take long for our adrenaline to get going! 

This is what 27,000 people look like before the race! A never-ending street of people!

The medal! My first ever half marathon I ran it in 2 hours and 53 minutes. This (my second half marathon) I ran it in 2 hours and 34 minutes. Almost exactly a year after I ran the first!

Cheese grits!!

Me sipping wine at "Rocks on the Roof!'

Green scarf stealer!! :)

The most gorgeous view from Rocks on the Roof!

The drive back to Tennessee from Savannah - as much as I missed Savannah - I'm thankful to live in such a pretty state! 

Be nice or go gnome!

Happy halloweenie from me and my coworkers! My team dressed up as garden gnomes, not to be mistaken for dwarfs. Which, we already have been.

Chillin' wit my gnomies!

Joining Society

So, last week I made a very important decision, AND let me tell you that this was MAJOR decison: I got the new iPhone4S. No more just only texting and calling - I can now browse the internet, buy Groupon's, play angry birds (or just watch my little cousin, Gabe, dominate), talk with Siri,check the Boilermakers scores, Pinterest, AND play words with friends on my phone! Me? Yes. I know - totally weird. I can't believe I just joined society. But, my real question is why in the heck did it take me so long to open up this incredible world??

Out of the gazillions of apps on the iPhone - my favorite has got to be Instagram. I now find myself thinking, "man, I gotta Instagram something." No kidding, I said it outloud to my coworker, Kelli, last week. It's an addiction. But, I admitted it - so it makes it not so bad, right?

I thought I'd attach some of my favorite Instagrams so far. I cannot wait to share more!

Smoked Turkey on Focaccia on my trip back home to The Farmer's Daughter. It's hard to believe that Princeton, Indiana actually has a hidden gem like this place!

Mister Logan turned 1!!

While standing in line to buy tickets to Paranormal Activity 3 Last night
- I snapped a picture of this gals boots. Leopard - of course! I can't really tell you much about the movie though, my eyes were shut 1/3 of the time! Whoops :)

My dear, dear friend, Clay and I right after watching Kristen & Ryan get hitched. He makes me laugh all . the . time.

I snapped this on my drive home. I adore Nashville.

This was literally right after I told Kelli, "Man, I gotta instagram something."

Logan's first birthday cupcakes!

SShhhhh. Don't wake my best friend Brooke's little baby, JP! I stole this shot just as the little hunk of a man was snoozin' on my lap. Can't wait to get back home to squeeze on him more!

Happy Feet

So, yesterday I got pedi's with my great friend, Jess. We talked. We drank (free) wine.  {Wine is like beer; there are only three kinds - hot, cold and free. Naturally, free is the best. It's true, my dad told me - and he doesn't lie.} We talked some more. We read trashy magazines (and found out Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynold's got married...WTF?). And visited and caught up like old friends do. (Even though we're not really that old.)

Anyways - moral of the story (I promise it's coming) - Jess and I always get our toes "did" together. Really. It's weird - I don't really go and get pedicures with anyone else. I can't say I know why? That's just the way it happens, I guess. Well, that and we're really good at sitting and gossiping in those vibrating chairs. Even though I always get so mad at myself because I ALWAYS forget to turn mine on for like ten minutes - and get mad at myself because I feel like I've missed out on a really good back massage. Ha, even though we know that those things just 'cheeto-chop' at your back.

Okay, moral of the story: I got zebra painted toes; light pink with black zebra stripes (or tiger...whichever you want to call it) Wait for it....wait for it. And I got five compliments in the restroom today for my nicely painted toenails....from complete strangers!

Moral of the story: Women in bathroom stalls totally check out other women's feet. I have proof.

#1 -Excuse the 1/22/08 date on the photo - clearly we're not in '08 anymore. (duh, people in '08 didn't get zebra painted toenails - or I'm gonna tell myself that)
#2 - Excuse my sausage of toes stuffed in my shoes. I promise they didn't look that bad when I left this morning.

Happy Tuesday, friends. Go getcha some zebra toes! You won't regret it!

Head vs. Stomach?

So, I'll admit it - I'm a pinterest addict. Sometimes I feel like I've won the lottery when I find something so cute/delicious/amazing and I can barely get my hands to move quick enough to re-pin it! But, here's the kicker...I have all of these wonderful boards, i.e.:: DIY, Baking Adventures & Yum In My Tum....and I have YET to actually make anything off of the boards. So, here is my delima. Where do I even start!!? Which do I do first? Do I follow my stomach and bake this incredible pumpkin bread from NancyCreative??

Or do I decide to follow my head and realize that it's time to make a few DIY changes to my bedroom and do this incredible headboard with lights from diy ideas?? 

So - what do I do?

Don't forget to follow me & my growing pin boards on Pinterest!

Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats - who knew!?

Well, hellooooooooo again blog world! I've been inspired to get back to posting via my best friend, Lauren, hopping on the blog train - so, guess that's my little nudge in the booty to get back into the blog world. Choo-Choo. So, I'm just going to blog. If one day I feel like writing a whole post about the color periwinkle or Steve Martin or gnomes, then guess what - I'm gonna do it.

Anyways...what I'm really here for is to share with you a recipe that I just discovered yesterday from Macaroni and Cheesecake (my all time favorite blog to find great recipes!) The recipe is for cake batter rice krispie treats. *Cough* Cough* I love all things cake batter. Seriously, cake batter is not something that I like to joke about or take lightly. And it just so happens that my sister from another mister, Emily, birthday is TODAY (sidenote, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAV!) and what a great excuse to make a little something.

Now, for many of you that know me - I usually don't do things "little" or "small" so...when I bake...I bake. And typically, I can be in the kitchen for hours. For one, I'm a perfectionist and for two, baking takes TLC. So, if you're going to make one batch of Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats...might as well make two! My other batch went to a pretty rad lady that I work with - whose name I won't mention. :)

This is where I'm kicking myself. After every last bite is gone (because they turned out so good!)...I have NO pictures. Yes, mom - I have that nice Nikon d3000, which was in my purse the whole time, and didn't take a single one! I literally just texted "anonymous" to have her send me a picture message of them because I wanted to post the recipe to my blog. So, without further pictures (literally)...here is the recipe!

Adapted from Macaroni and Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
1 and a half bag of big marshmallows (you could use one - but I like mine more marshmallow-y)
1/2 box of yellow cake mix (I'm guessing it measures out to be about 2 cups of yellow cake mix)
8 cups Rice Krispies cereal...or 3/4 of the box (Give or take) *I used an off-brand but I think they came out a little soggy - next time I'm totally using the name brand - sometimes, you just gotta.
1 (1.75 oz) container of sprinkles

Directions:
Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray, set aside.
In microwave (or saucepan), melt butter & marshmallows and stir until they are mostly melted. I put them in the microwave for 2 and a half minutes - in 30 second intervals. Add dry cake mix to marshmallow mix a little at a time, until all is incorporated and marshmallows are completely melted. Add in Rice Krispies. Spray your spatula with cooking spray and stir mixture until cereal is completely coated. Stir in half of the sprinkles until they are evenly distributed. Press into your prepared baking pan and top with the rest of the sprinkles. Let set on the counter uncovered for approximately 30 minutes prior to cutting. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Frosting: (which I added to the recipe)
Powered sugar
Milk
Butter
Vanilla

Honestly, that's about all I can tell you because since I was a little girl...my mom taught me how to make this icing and we pretty much just adapt it based on the taste! She uses shortening in hers...but I didn't have any on hand. Anyways - I did use Wilton Gel coloring to color. I think it does the best job and doesn't make the icing runny or taste funny. I'm a rhymer - all the timer. BUT, if you need a recipe that is a little more extact - I'd try this one.

Happy Baking! (or Microwaving!)