Random Facts About Me

So I’ve gotten quite a few new followers over the past few weeks!  Welcome and thanks for following along!!!  I am working on a little surprise for when I reach 50 followers so tell your friends to come follow along too! 

So with all my new friends that have joined my crazy ride here in Blogland, I thought it would be a good idea to do a post with some random facts about me.  I know I love it when I feel like I know the person whose blog I’m reading, even though I’ve never met them!  So without further adieu, here’s me in a nutshell:

1. I am a mother to a beautiful baby girl (almost 5 months old) named Emily (aka: ‘Em, Emmy, Em-Dawg, Miss Em….you get the picture).
2. I am a wife to pretty much the coolest dude on the planet.  His name is Scott (aka: Scooter).  I heart him….a lot!
3. I am a first grade teacher (although I am on a small hiatus for now taking care of my little girl).
4. I live in Florida.
5. I went to Florida State University, although I am a die-hard Gator fan!
6. I can’t really stand Rachael Ray.  Something about her…..
7. I make some amazing white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies.  Mmmhhmmm (check my recipes tag for the recipe)
8. I’m still figuring out Twitter.  I just can’t keep up with it.
9. I have a Facebook fan page.  Do you “like” it??
10. I am like….little “tweeny” girl obsessed with New Kids On The Block!  It’s sick.
11. Donnie Wahlberg is my favorite New Kid.  I follow him on Twitter and try to get him to tweet back.  No luck so far.  I’ll keep you posted.
12. Before I die, I want to go to a filming of the Ellen DeGeneres show.  She is hysterical and I love that she dances all the time!!!
13. I am an only child.
14. I drive a Lincoln MKX.
15. My mom & dad are like my best friends.
16. Speaking of best friends, I use that term sparingly.  I can’t stand when people have 501 “best friends”. 
17. I miss our friends down in Miami.
18. I am an EXTREMELY insecure person.  Like, I would never drive a convertible because I’m so paranoid of people staring at me at a red light.
19. I don’t like fish.
20. I would marry the queso dip from Chili’s (ok, maybe not.  But, it is super yummy)!
21. I strive to “have it all together”, but never really seem to have it all together!
22. I just learned to make my own DIY mercury glass!  Tutorial coming soon!
23. I wish I had a bigger kitchen with an island.
24. I wish I knew a way to make some money while I stay at home with my baby girl.  Any suggestions?
25. I didn’t get any stretch marks during pregnancy!  Thank you, baby Jesus!
26. I went to a private, Christian high school.
27. I am still friends with majority of the people I was friends with in high school.
28. I was a cheerleader 6 years.
29. I also played softball (even as an adult).
30. I have naturally curly hair (that I hate).
31. Did I mention I’m obsessed with Donnie Wahlberg and NKOTB?
32. I am also a big fan of Bradley Cooper.
33. The Hangover is probably one of my all-time favorite movies.  I LOVE comedies like that.
34. In my opinion, anything with Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, & Owen Wilson is bound to be a classic!

Ok, that’s all I can think of for now!  I hope you feel a little bit closer to me (ooh-la-la)!  ;-)

I’ve got some fun things that I’ve been working on that I plan on sharing with you later this week!  Woo-hoo!!!

Be good to your mothers!

Amy

 

Red Velvet Yummy Goodness

Ok, so our friend Lindsey inspired my friend Brittany & I to get the Cake Pop book from Bakerella.  Yes, we each had to get our own! 

 

                                            {via}

We went over to Lindsey’s for an Orient Expressed trunk show and she had made these fabulous cake pops.  They were delish!  Cake pops are the new “in” thing, I guess.  If you do a Google Image search for cake pops, you will find so much inspiration.  I have been “pinning” some cake pops on Pinterest.  I need to pin some more!

Anywho, Brittany and I started off small.  Baby steps, people!  We started with some red velvet cake balls.  We didn’t even bother with the sticks, yet.  Hah!  Here’s how ya do it:

                                             {via}

What you’ll need:

• 1 box cake mix (we used red velvet)
• 1 container of store bought frosting (we used cream cheese frosting)
• large mixing bowl
• 9x13 cake pan
• wax paper
• a couple baking sheets
• deep, microwave safe bowl
• small ziploc bag
• light cocoa/milk chocolate candy melts
• white candy melts

How to make:

1. Bake your cake according to the directions on the box
2. Allow cake to cool completely after it is finished baking
3. When cake is cooled, crumble the entire cake finely into a bowl (you might want to run a fork through the cake after you’ve crumbled it just to make sure it’s extra crumble-y)  :-)
4. Add about 3/4 of the container of store bought cream cheese frosting to the crumbled cake (this is where it gets messy)
5. With your hands, work the frosting into the cake thoroughly.  The mixture should be moist enough to roll into balls & hold the round shape.
6. Once the frosting is worked in well, proceed to roll the mixture into small balls (about 1.5” balls) and place them on a cookie sheet that is covered with wax paper
7. Place the cookie sheet in your freezer.  You’ll need to freeze the balls for a little while so they can become firm.  They will become firm after about 15-30 minutes.  You want them firm, but not frozen.
8. Next, melt your light cocoa candy melts in a deep, microwave safe bowl
9. Use a large spoon to dip your red velvet balls into the melted chocolate
10. Place the balls back on cookie sheet with wax paper & allow them to dry
11. Once the chocolate is dry, melt some white candy melts.
12. Pour the melted white chocolate in a ziploc bag.  Snip a TINY hole in the corner of the ziploc bag.
13. Drizzle the white chocolate over the red velvet chocolate balls & allow the white chocolate to dry.
14. We put ours in the fridge to chill for a while and they were DELICIOUS!!! 

Um….they are so yummy.  Let me go ahead and give you fair warning…..once you pop you can’t stop!!!  They are seriously addicting. 

If you end up making some, let me know how they turned out.  Of course, you can always add the sticks before you dip them in the chocolate (just make sure you have some floral foam to stick them in so they can dry upright).

Enjoy!

Amy

The big brown truck of joy

I’m sorry to say it, but Santa’s sleigh ain’t got nothin’ on that big brown truck!  What big brown truck am I speaking of?  The UPS truck, of course!!!!  {Duh!}

A nice man {in said big brown truck of joy} delivered a nice little package to my doorstep a couple of weeks ago!

{Pardon the hot mess on my breakfast table}

What is in that beautiful cardboard contraption, you might ask??  Well let’s open her up!!!!

Oh yes ma’am! *squeal*

You know that saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words”?  {or is it a million?!?}  Well, that saying applies now.  No more words are needed. 

I’m off to cut sh…. up!

 

Amy

Bar stool schnazzy-up!

I don’t think “schnazzy-up” is actually a word.  I think I made that up.  But you get it, right?  Ok, good!  Moving on…..

So we have had these perfectly good bar stools for about 5 years now.  We bought them from T.J. Maxx for a steal when we lived in our old house.  They matched our old house perfectly!  They have been sitting in our new house for over a year now and they just aren’t jivin’ with our new home’s decor.  They especially don’t match since we painted the family room/kitchen/breakfast nook a light gray color.  Here they are in all their “before” glory (or lack thereof):

Plain.  Ugly.  Brown.  Yuck.

I found some really cute fabric the other day at Jo Ann’s and decided it would be perfect to cover these stools!  I was going to paint the stools white, but it really wasn’t necessary.  The fabric matched the frame of the stools great and the frame really didn’t bother me that much.  It was the brown microsuede cushions that bothered me.  So I whipped out my staple gun and got to work!  Here’s the finished product:

Much better!

Such a simple change for such big impact!  Love it!

Amy  

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

{I totally stole the idea for the shirt from here!  I used freezer paper and stenciled it!}
Hope you all have a wonderful St. Patty’s Day!

Amy

Pier One Summer/Outdoor Goodness

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pier 1. All opinions are 100% mine.

Ok, so I mentioned Pier One's new catalog in my last post.  As I continued looking around on their website I saw some more stuff that I just couldn't pass up sharing! 

Outdoor furniture has arrived at Pier 1!  And let me tell you, it is yummy!  I LOVE to entertain - especially during the Spring and Summer when the weather is to die for!  Here are some of my must haves for entertaining:

Um....these chairs look amazing!  Just like the description says, they are sturdy, stylish, and stackable!  Yes, please!!

This green beverage tub is perfect for an outdoor party!  It also comes in red, but the green just screams "Spring"!  This is definitely a stylish way to cool down those beverages on a hot day!

And how fun are these outdoor pillows:

   

Love!

One thing on my ever expanding to-do list is to really spruce up my front porch and back patio.  It would be easy to do with some of my favorite {and affordable} items from Pier 1.

 

I love this little side table.  It would be so perfect with a plant on top!

 

I also love this dining table.  Outdoor dining furniture can be so expensive!  This is cute & affordable!  Score!

 

 

 

These chairs are the same as the white ones above, but would be perfect with the dining table!  And they stack away during the cold winter months.  Win, win!

And did I mention that a ton of Pier 1's "outdoor" furniture is actually indoor/outdoor!?!  Hello!!! 

How awesome is this rug:

 

Yeah!  It's indoor/outdoor.  How great is that!?!

Look at this wall decor:

 

I would have a hard time deciding whether to put that inside my house or out on the wall by our patio!

Gah!  Can you tell I am so ready for Spring!?!  And can you tell that I love me some Pier 1?  All of these pieces would be perfect to bring a little Spring to our home!

Want to get in on the action?  Be sure to visit www.pier1.com/outdoor to sign up for a special in-store offer for the weekend of March 18-20.  Also, there are some Pier 1 "tweet-ups" coming up!  Tweet-ups will be held in Dallas on March 22, Atlanta on April 5, and NYC on April 20th.  Not sure what a tweet up is or need more info about dates and times?  Visit http://izea.com/a-pier-1-tweetup-coming-to-your-area/.  Or visit the links below!

So are you running to Pier 1 yet?  If not......get to it!

Pier 1

Pier 1 Outdoor newsletter

Pier 1 Tweetups

 

Amy

Summer yummy goodness

So I got am email from West Elm this morning for their Summer Preview!  Just look at all the yummy goodness I found:

Greek Key Duvet

 

 

Modern Bowls

{These are so fun!}

Striped Baskets

 

 

Recycled Glass Lanterns

I’ll take one of each, please & thank you!

And have you seen the Pier One catalog with all the teal?!?  Ah-mazing!

                         

 

Amy

 

Emily – 4 Months

Emily’s 4 month post is now up on our family blog!  Be sure to check it out!
I will probably be putting all our family related posts over there. 
Enjoy!

Amy

DIY Bow Holder

Up until today, I had been stuffing all of Emily’s bows in a drawer in her closet.  It was hard to see all the options because they were just piled on top of each other.  Her headbands were also thrown in the mix.  This made finding the perfect “topping” for her outfits tedious…..I had to dig through all the mess! 
I have seen a few bow holders floating around in Blogland and I decided to take a stab at one today!  The other day I bought the wooden square and the wooden “E” at Jo Anns.  I already had everything else I needed on hand!
I painted the wooden square white (sorry, I don’t have a picture of these steps.  I’m sooooo bad about that).  Then, I cut out some scrapbook paper I had to fit on the front of the square. 
Next, I painted the “E” hot pink.  I didn’t like it so “hot” so I painted a baby pink over the top of it.  I left the sides and the inside of the “E” hot pink to add some contrast. 

{sorry for the shotty iPhone pic}
I thought the “E” was kind of plain so I took some pink rhinestones I had on hand and added them to the edges of the “E”. 

Much better!
Then, I added some ribbon to the bottom and to the top to hang and voila!  A cute bow holder for Emily’s bows!


The only problem is…..I think she’s going to need a longer ribbon hanging from the bottom!  Yikes!

Amy

We’ve got a roller on our hands!

Well…..sorta! 
I was away on a bachelorette party weekend before last.  And, as my luck would have it, Emily rolled over for the first time!  I was so proud and so upset all at the same time.  Scott wasn’t able to get it on video so I missed the very first roll over.  *sigh*
But, she did it again when I got home!  I definitely had been video taping her and finally gave up so I put the camera down and as soon as I put the camera down and stopped recording, she rolled over!  Again, just my luck!  So a couple days later I tried to catch it on video again and I was successful!  Here’s the vid:

She has only rolled 3 or 4 times.  But, she’s pretty stinkin’ cute with her little bald spots!  I love it!  Needless to say, I am a proud mama!  She’s doing so great and is a happy, chunky little baby!  Praise!

Amy