celebrate life {and a celebrity meeting}

While {finally} reading my Real Simple magazine last night, I came across the CUTEST article ... 

"5 Things You Can Learn From Your Pet" 

I won't try to rewrite the entire article but HIGHLY suggest everyone read it ... I do want to share my favorite though ... 

Celebrate EVERYTHING. 

I know that so often, I end up only celebrating the 'big' things (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc) but why shouldn't we celebrate ALL the little things too? A successful day at work, a Tuesday date night, or a sunny afternoon after several rainy ones? 

Julie Klam says, "each time I walk into my apartment - even if I've been gone for less than a minute - my three dogs leap on me, kiss me, lick me, wag and bark." I know that my puppy does this too ... Because he is excited EACH time I walk into the door {or room for that matter}. So why shouldn't we take their lead? Why shouldn't we shower our husbands, parents, friends with LOADS of LOVE each and every day? 

I know that starting now ... I'm going to make a much bigger effort to make EVERY day a celebration! 

Speaking of celebrations ... 

I'm STILL elated with how my Friday night turned out! As I said, we went to see Thompson Square and they were AWESOME! But even more awesome than the show? 

I GOT TO MEET THEM! :) 

Aside from the terrible iPhone pic, how cool am I?! :) 

They are THE nicest couple and their music is SO GREAT! I can't wait for their album to come out on iTunes ... This Tuesday {yes, I'm counting down}! 

Happy Super Bowl Sunday y'all! 

xo! 

Super Bowl Partay {& recipes}

I want to have THIS Super Bowl party! How much fun do all these recipes look? 

These margs look SO tasty! :) 

And how cutie-patootie are these mini-dogs?! Not to mention the yummy sounding ketchup & mustard! 

This girl LOVES some pulled chicken samis too! {remember the sliders I made last weekend?}

Oh and maybe these oh-so-cute deviled eggs... 

Popcorn would make the perfect mid-game snack ... Though if things get intense ... It could cause a BIT of a mess ... I can picture someone standing up with a bowl in their lap and it going FLYING! {messy, but funny!}

And what gal doesn't HEART chocolate ... And y'all know I love ANY sort of cupcake! :) 

So what do you think?! Doesn't this party look TOO much fun! 

We'll probably do something similar tomorrow ... But there may be some potluck action going on too! 

What are y'alls Super Bowl plans? 

Happy Saturday! 

xo! 

What I'm 'fancy-ing' this Friday!

So tonight a group of us are going to see Thompson Square at a local bar ... If y'all haven't heard of this CUTE husband and wife duo, you MUST look them up! They're a little bit country, a little bit rock-and-roll and a LOTTA fabulousness! 

I'm so excited to see them ... And in a perfect world, where money grew on trees THIS is what I'd be wearing! :) 

1. Lovin' this Rebecca Taylor shirt! So fun and could be worn in ANY season! 

2. Hello my pretty .. This leather jacket is to die for! 

3. Love me some skinny jeans ... And distressed too? Yes, thank you. 

4. Perfect statement accessory! 

5. Love this new take on the classic Cowboy boot! 

Ahhhh, for a mere $4,413 this outfit could be mine! I told y'all I had EXPENSIVE taste! :) 

Linking up with {av} at {long distance loving}! Come over & play! 

What are y'all up to this weekend? 

Oh and in case you too want to fall in love with Thompson Square ... Enjoy! 

fashion friday. {linkup party}

{whew} 

Can y'all believe it's Friday?! 

This week has FLOWN by for me ... Which is a good thing, but I still feel like I have 1201872018 things to do! And it's POURING rain here today which makes me want to do NOTHING! 

So until I have motivation to get my very many things done ... I'm browsing all of YOUR cute posts, inspirations, and funny words on blogland! :) 

I'm so excited about today's post ... It's Fashion Friday over at Michaela Noelle and she's having a linkup party! {woopwoop}

So y'all first, I'd like to apologize for my VERY goofy self-portrait photo shoot ... 

Here what I was wearing this week ... 

jacket: JCrew 

top: Anthro

belt: Jcrew

skinny cords: GAP

boots: Dolce Vita 

What fun! I'm linking up here ... If you have a cute outfit you want to show off ... {Or in my case, an awkward self photo shoot} ... Join in the fun! :) 

Happy Friday Y'all! 

I'm loving {linky party}

Oh, I'm so excited it's time for What I'm Loving again! :) Such a fun linky partay! 

So this VERY FIRST Wednesday in Feb I'm loving ... 

~ That my shop had a SUPER successful weekend last weekend! 

~ That hubs is FINALLY back among the living ... His bug FINALLY went away! Even though I was loving how sweet he & Tux looked snuggling on the couch! 

{blurry Iphone pic :(}

~ DDR on the Wii ... SO much fun and honestly a workout {does that mean I'm terribly out of shape?}

~ That I'm having lunch with my mama tomorrow! :) 

~ That the Superbowl is this weekend ... Not only do I love football but I LOVE any excuse to host a party! :) 

AND 

~ LOVING ALL MY NEW FOLLOWERS! So glad that y'all are here! :) 

Linking up to This Kind of Love! 

XO! 

{my VERY first} blog award

first of all, WOOOPWOOOP!!!

And now ... A HUGE THANK YOU to my new bloggy friend Jen for thinking of me! :)

She gave me the 7 Facts/Versatile Blogger Award! {woopwoop! ok, too much?}

So as a part of receiving this award, I have to tell you 7 things you don't already know about me AND give the award to some other lovely ladies!

So here goes nothing ...

1. I have gray hair. Really, I do. I'm 27 and MUST color my hair every 4 weeks to cover the grays. Hey, I said I have gray hair, not that I'm PROUD of my gray hair. :) That being said, I am a PROUD at-home colorist! 

2. I could eat dessert after every meal. EVERY.SINGLE.MEAL. of EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. I don't ACTUALLY do this, but put a sweet treat near me and I have NO willpower! Especially with cupcakes ... oh my, I heart those little mini-cakes! 

cupcakes from one of my bridal showers

3. I sincerely wish I could wear my wedding dress everyday. I absolutely loved it and have never felt more beautiful/happy/loved than I did on my wedding day. And if we're being REALLY honest, I almost didn't have it cleaned so that I could still put it on once a week in a while. {and I may or may not still put on the blue shoes I wore on our wedding day!}

4. I have a Masters Degree that I will probably never use ... Yep, I'm a licensed counselor who will probably never counsel anyone, but the occasional family & friends again! I am LOVING my new job though and feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity! 

Oh & I went to a military school to get my M.Ed.!! 

5. I am both a Daddy's girl & a Mama's girl ... And I REALLY don't think I've ever met anyone else who is also both! I was so blessed to have the parents that I have and I love them both so much! When I went to college, all my friends made fun of how often I went home to see them ... And mind you, they live in 2 DIFFERENT places! I just missed them SO much! ha! 

                                      father/daughter dance                         my sweet mama & me

6. I am the oldest of 3 girls and my sisters are ABSOLUTELY my best friends in the whole {well, and obviously my hubs!} The 3 of us have always been exceptionally close and since we all moved away from each other we have weekly conference calls! Yep, sometimes because we have things to talk about & most of the time just to laugh with each other ... But somehow, even though we're all far away {one of them is living in Mexico right now}, it seems like for that hour that we're conferencing, we're all together again! So in our eyes, we have a weekly Happy Hour date ... Even if nobody else thinks it's normal! :) 

sissies after a minor sledding 'incident'

7. I L-O-V-E to shop! And I have an uncanny ability to head straight for the most expensive thing in the store. And I mean even when I'm at TJMaxx or shopping the sale racks! EVERY time I touch something it is absolutely going to have the most expensive price-tag on it! I now find it extremely amusing ... And sometimes REALLY disheartening ... Like when I fall in love at first sight with something and then realize it's WAY out of my price range! 

Truth: Walked into TJMaxx the other day & immediately found this Cynthia Rowley bag. Almost cried when I had to leave her. 

So enough about me ... Now I get to pass this awesome award on! :)

{av} @ Long Distance Loving
MeganDVD @ Beauty in the Attempt
Gail @ My Repurposed Life
Kendra @ House of Ficek
Megan @ Mackey Madness
Natasha @ Schue Love
Michelle @ Ten June
Ashley @ The SHINE Project
Chassity @ Look Linger Love
Vanessa & Heather @ At The Picket Fence

I read EACH of these blogs everyday and LOVE what these ladies have to say! They're all funny, sweet, and have SPECTACULAR ideas! :)

Happy Humpday Y'all!

XO! 

inspiration books {& a recipe}

What a random post! Somehow in my mind they go together though! :) 

We took it pretty easy this weekend ... Spent most of it at home, which was SO nice! 

It also meant I FINALLY got around to getting rid of some of my magazines! 

Now I don't know about y'all but I get A LOT of mags and I just hate to get rid of them without first going through and pulling out the pages that inspire me! I am typically the OPPOSITE of a hoarder, in fact, I usually get rid of things and then later realize I still ACTUALLY needed them! {oops!}

But since we recently moved and I started my new business venture, I just hadn't found the time to go through my mags as often as I usually do! So this was my Saturday task! 

I sat here 

And turned this into 

THIS! 

Does anyone else do this? 

I use 3-ring binders that I have divided into sections for different things - organization, recipes, holidays, etc! It works so well and I find myself pulling them out when I want a new idea for crafting, cooking, decorating! 

Now for the recipe! {sorry I don't have pics!}

Veggie Soup

~1 lb. ground beef 

~ 1 15oz can of Veg-All mixed veggies

~ 1 15oz can crushed tomatos

~ 1/2 tsp. chili powder

~ 1/2 Tbs. sage

~ 1/2 Tbs. black pepper

~ 1 Tbs. onion powder

~ salt to taste

Cook the ground beef and then add all other ingredients together and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Then ENJOY! 

So easy & SOOOOOO good! Oh and it definitely sticks with that grocery budget of mine! :) 

**I use onion powder instead of an onion because the hubs doesn't like onion {but doesn't mind onion powder. weird, I know!} I would actually prefer to cook the onion then add the ground beef, but we have to compromise, right?! This soup is REALLY good with ground turkey too, but my doc says I need to start eating red meat again ... So beef it is! 

Hope y'all enjoy it as much as we did!