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Eight Fears

Eight Fears
1. Our house burning down while we are away on vacation. Always breath a sigh of relief when we turn the corner and everything looks fine. lol.
2. Flying. Part a control issue, part a fear of heights/falling.
3. Losing my husband to a sickness/accident.
4. Taylor/Dallas running away, or getting hit by a car.
5. Burglar hiding in my shower. lol, I always check behind the shower curtain when I go in our bathroom.
6. Having a child with a major illness such as cancer.
7. Dutch or I losing our jobs and going back into the  "Morgan Recession"
8. Snakes. Enough said.

NYC Part I

Whew.....

What a whirlwind trip to NYC this past weekend.

I flew out Friday afternoon landing in NYC at 3pm. Alicia's aunt picked me up and dropped Alicia and I at the subway stop in Queens. We then were able to ride all the way into the city and to Alicia's stop. I knew having a suitcase on the subway would not be that much fun but failed to realize that subways are underground.... duh and sometimes 3-4 flights of stairs until you reach the train platform...  yikes... and you don't really want to touch the railings ...haha.

We got into Alicias apt (a 4th floor walk up) and were able to relax. Her apt. is awesome. She even has a skylight in her room and a spiral stair case. We went out to dinner that night just a few blocks away at Il Bagatto. We drank champagne over candlelight, enjoyed fresh pasta and chocolate mousse cake... yummo. Definitely hit the spot after a long day of traveling.

That night we grabbed some bottles of wine from a market down the street and stayed up to late catching up and laughing. Basically #1 requirement for this trip.... lol.... and it was just like the good times we've had at the "Best Bar in Town" east cobb location.....

Check back for Part II - Saturday

Ten Secrets

I've seen a lot of bloggers doing this lately, so I thought I would join in on the fun!

Day 1: 10 Secrets

10. I hate working out but like to pretend Im in better shape. When i get winded while running I tell Dutch its because Im really a "sprinter" or a "short distance runner".

9. I have never or will never go to Taco Bell.

8. I love shopping (clothing/groceries/etc) ALONE. : ) No offense. I dont like people hovering over me if its in a store (at the mall) they arent interested in. Or giving the stink face when I pull out a top to look out. lol. Alicia is the only exception to this. We like the same stores and the same way of shopping. Maybe Ive just had bad experiences.

7. It makes me crazy when people ask me "decorator questions" or ask how long I have been a "decorator". Or did I really have to go to school to become a "decorator". IM A DESIGNER PEOPLE! lol : )

6. I am on the 4th paint color in our office. (over the past 5 years) I think its my never ending design mind that always sees a better way to do things in there. And its such a random space It could be so many things. Guest room/office/tv room/gym/playroom/craft area/etc. I cant commit. Currently LOVING my black and white stripes and white chair rail but trying to make sure Im 100% on the peacock blue. (i think its because I havent painted the opposite wall with the blue yet so options are still open! ugh)

5. I wish my life was exactly how it is. (great family/husband/job/house/yard/safe area to live/weather) but located in Austin Texas.

4. Sometimes I think I like to plan things more than I actually enjoy the event.

3. Im a RSVP stalker.

2. I have road rage. If you stop for a school bus at a divided highway, or I need to turn right and you wont scoot up the 1" necessary for me to get by , and make a right. Or you go 10 mph below the speed limit.... I will give you the stink face.

1. I hate our yard. With a passion. and hate that people have to see it all overgrown. I feel like were "that house". Last weekend I pulled up all the ivy/crap by our kitchen window. I found a bakers rack under the ivy that I cleaned up and spray painted glossy black (duh. lol) and am going to put it in our kitchen to store cook books/etc. Found info online about clearing an area, putting down newspapers, then mulch over it. Will help weeds/crazy crap from coming up. I hope to get it to a point soon where the front is clear and mulched and a clean starting point.

Weekend wrap up

Dutch and I had a great weekend as always.

Friday my Dad/Cheryl/Pman went to the Braves game to see Bobby Cox's jersey be retired. It was awesome. The crowd was so pumped up. It was great to see lots of past braves players come out to support Bobby. I got to see David Justice and Javy Lopez (who I definitely thought were hot when I was probably in middle school.. lol)  Dan Uggla beat the Braves record for a 32 game hitting streak. There were at least 5 home runs hit that night, a pitcher was thrown out of the game, and the braves cleared the benches at one point. Pretty awesome game.

Saturday Dutch and I had free Moe's burritos (if a certain braves player hits a home run in a certain inning everyone gets a free burrito with their ticket stub) Dutch picked up a brisket from our favorite butcher and we went to our favorite hang out, Wild Wings. They were having a coney island festival (they have a different festival each month all summer) They had a freak show which I could only watch for about 3 minutes. It was making me nauseous. The guy was hammering long steaks in his nose.... gross.... not entertaining. Still have the heebie-gebbies on that one. We hung out the rest of the night listing to music, eating buffalo chips, and people watching. Always a great place to kick back.

Sunday was the traditional WAHO, and brisket smoking. This one was the best one yet. Super juicy and yummy..... cant wait to take some for lunch tomorrow.

 Wild Wings Bufflo Chips...yumm

Getting ready for the freak show

About to unveil Bobbys retired number

Braves win!

Post game fireworks!

Now time to finish laundry and get ready for bed. Back to the grind!

Office makeover

Well I was busy making over our office.....

Decided I needed a black and white striped wall. Its one of my favorite places in our house now.... loving it....

Painted side long walls peacock blue with a white chair rail below. Created a gallery wall with white frames and white mats to offset the deep peacock blue color. I love seeing my favorite people and some of my photography framed.

Also, repurposed an old dresser into a bar space. For glassware display/bar storage etc. I need to update the hardware for a quick fix I repurposed an old framed print that was UGLY by painting the frame white and the mat white. Then I got a new print (on clearance) from Michales and replaced the old print. I had a new framed piece of art for less than 5.00!

Still finishing a few projects in the space. Then Ill share some larger photos of the room.

Enjoy!

Murphys laying down the law

Even a chocolate chip M&M cookie cant make me feel better today....

I am thankful that the dicks sporting goods kayak gods denied Dutch and I our kayaks a few weeks ago (we walked out after they wouldn't match their own advertised price from their website) I was grumpy but tried to see the positive. Ends up we would need that money for more important things. However, I am still playing catch up from being out of the workforce/paycheck for 2 weeks while I was transitioning jobs. So why, when you finally think you are going to "get ahead" (aka catch up to normal financial life after lay-offs)  there is always something to hold you back. Home taxes due, vacations, car repairs, health insurance, etc.


Boo. Being an adult is no fun......

Miscellany Monday

My SIL posts her miscellaneous thoughts on Mondays. You can check it out here. I thought I would give it a try....


1. How can any family afford health insurance. We had a company wide meeting to discuss our new plans. We can choose from 3 (basically 500,1000, or 3000 deduct.) If you had yourself, your spouse and your children on the best plan (500 deduct.) it would cost 780.00 per month! Wowza . Looks like were never having kids.... or Dutch will work at UPS forever. I instantly became 1000x more thankful for our free benefits through UPS and our ultra low deductible.

2. Aren't chocolate chip M&M cookies the best. Found a small container of them in the publix bakery yesterday. Winning....

3. Marlows Tavern (regardless of their AWFUL front entry design, even Dutch could "feel" the bad space planning when we were there) has an amazing patio. Friday nights they have live music, i.e. guy with a guitar singing covers, they had fans/misters to keep everyone cool. Dutch had their famous fish tacos and proclaimed "there is like a whole piece of real fish in here" so that was a good sign. They also keep bottles of woodchuck pear in stock so they get brownie points from me.

4. East cobb is getting a new restaurant! (gotta love the expansion of merchants walk. New whole foods, ulta, carters, etc) Its called Cheeky's. They have a pour your own draft beer wall/tables? Once Dutch hears about that I am sure we will make an appearance. It is going in the east cobb avenue. http://www.eatatcheeky.com/

5. Biggest and best news.... I purchased a ticket to NYC the end of September. Ill be going to see my BFF for the weekend. Most of you know she has been living there for almost a year now getting her masters in museum studies at NYC (I'm a proud friend!) Cant wait to explore the city with her. Any ideas what I should make sure to see? I was there in 2003 with my mom for xmas/snow and we saw the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Time Square, Little Italy, and the Empire State Building. It was snowing and cold so I would mind seeing a few of those things again in the nice fall weather.

I hope everyone has a nice week! Happy Monday! (Good Monday mood attributed to #2... its lunchtime)

Architect Barbie

Finally, a barbie I can relate to... lol... now only if she was a brunette... : (

read more here

Whats black and white......

Ive had something on my mind lately......

Dont worry, its only a small dose : ) Pics to come

Chick/Broc Crescent Braid

Yummmmm

So I found this recipe on pintrest and was inspired to give it a shot tonight. I adjusted it to be a little more WW friendly. If you divide braid into 4 servings it comes to 8 pts+. However , I could eat 1/3 easy so keep that in mind.

1 package reduced fat crescent rolls
1 cup shredded reduced fat cheese (sharp Cheddar etc) I didn't have enough so I used what I had and added some reduced fat Velveeta on the fly. Made it nice and creamy.
1 cup steamed broccoli
1/4 cup reduced fat mayo (although I used 1/4 cup fat free cream of chicken soup)
1 cup shredded chicken (I bought a can of chunked chicken breast to be super easy)

Mix chicken, soup (or mayo) , broccoli, and cheese in a bowl.

On cookie sheet lay out crescent rolls. They should make a long horizontal rectangle. Press all the seams together. Put filling down center of dough. Cut 1" diagonal sections on either side of filling. Fold them over filling to make a sort of braid. Cook @ 375' for 28 mins. (Mine was done closer to 22mins and I used a pampered check stone)

Enjoy!!!

* not that pretty but it was my first time lol

This could be made 1000s of ways. A pizza braid with pasta sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni? A Mexican version with fajita meat and grilled onions? Let me know if you try it!!!

Sparkler Art

Creative photography, art, people just playing with sparklers/fireworks..... however you look at it, I hope you enjoy! (no one was harmed in the creation of this images)

4th of July Baking!

This weekend I made 2 patriotic recipes for our cookout. They turned out pretty yummy and were both hits so I had to share!

Firecracker Cake

I start by using Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix. I mix it according to the directions on the box and then remove one cup of batter to which I add red food coloring and another cup of batter to which I add blue food coloring.

I first pour the red batter into a greased fluted tube pan and top it with the white batter and then the blue batter. I tried to make the blue batter more concentrated toward the center of the cake.

 Bake according to directions for a bundt pan on the cake box.

 Once it has cooled some, flip onto cooling rack.

Once the cake is completely cool, equally divide the frosting (I used buttercream frosting since I like that better but it has a slight yellow tint. The true recipe says to use white icing, take your pick) into three bowls. Microwave the white frosting for a few seconds on high until it is smooth enough to drizzle over the cake. Then mix blue frosting and red frosting and repeat. I kept some of the white to drizzle at the end incase my blue/red frosting covered up all the white. Then I added lots of sprinkles!!!

Then , one of the best parts, when you cut into the cake you see the red, white and blue colors of the cake!



Red Velvet Brownies
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons red food coloring
2/3 cups chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter and flour an 8 x 8 cake pan.

In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to create a paste.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then add remaining teaspoon of vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, add in cocoa powder mixture. Beat until batter is completely red. (If at this time your batter is NOT red, you can add a little more food coloring if desired. Color will depend on brand.) Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

I scooped the batter (with a cookie dough scoop) into my mini muffin pan to make bite size brownies. I reduced the temp to 325 and cooked for 11 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting. (I used cream cheese icing of course!) Top with sprinkles.

*most people complemented me on my cupcakes, muffins, treats, etc. People had a hard time realizing what they were since they were small and round and had icing on top. Oh and since they were red lol. It was fun to tell people they were red velvet cake brownies.... yumm

Happy 4 years!

June is a great month for love....

Happy 4 year anniversary to my BRO and SIL. I cant believe its already been 4 years! So happy to have gained an amazing SIL in the process.

Stencil Love

Our guestroom got a little makeover this past month thanks to a stencil! Stencils are back in new fresh , modern, crisp patterns. I created an accent wall with white glossy paint. I'm really happy with the end result.

Here's what you need.
- Stencil (I got mine at Hobby Lobby for cheap)
- Pencil
- Painters Tape
- Paint

- Stencil roller

You start in the upper corner and tape up the stencil. There are small dots on the outside corners of the design. Use your pencil to fill in these dots. When you move the stencil you line up the dots with the dots from the previous stencil placement. This helps the pattern stay in line. You have to stagger the design while you are waiting for the paint to dry from the last stencil. (make sense?) You don't want part of the stencil to overlap the wet paint. After you have staggered for a while the paint from the beginning is dry and you can go back and fill in the blank spots.

This one accent wall took me about 3 days to do. I worked part of the mornings and early evenings. Our AC went out in the middle of the project so that didn't help. You could probably do it in two days. One day if you have a second stencil and a great helper : )

End results looks like wallpaper (without the mess and commitment of wallpaper) Its a fun, easy, and inexpensive way to add interest to your home. Check out some more stencil pics I found .....

HHI

Dutch and I spent the weekend (2 weekends ago) in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with my Bro & SIL. We were celbrating our 2 year wedding anniversary. We had such a great time. I love when we have time together to just experience new things and places together.

We stayed at Harbortown Yacht club. Our condo had an amazing view of the marina with all the fancy yachts. We went for a boat ride the first night...

We ate at the Crazy Crab for some fresh seafood.

Then we were able to enjoy an amazing sunset. How romantic!

The next night we all went kayaking. It was AWESOME. We saw wild life, a beautiful sunset, and best of all, got to KAYAK!!! Loving it.

Group shot

R.E.I. Ad

Looking forward to our upcoming vacays this year. Toledo for my cousins wedding over labor day, and Boston in October!