WEDNEStheweekendgonnagethereDAY

It's Wednesday, if your an optimist you celebrate that you are halfway through the week. If you are a

pessimist you may be thinking "it's only Wednesday, when is the weekend gonna get here?!?" Either way, I hope this post can help you get through the day.  I'm making a list of my current favorite things and to help you past the time you can make your own list!  

Favorite thing #1:  Surprises.  Like this Off Duty Sweatshirt by Boden .   I wanted this sweatshirt as soon as I opened my Boden catalog, but it was receiving mixed reviews. I was nervous about making the purchase, but when it went on sale I snatched one up.  I was surprised at how adorable it is on, how long it is (perfect for wearing with leggings), how comfy it is and the best surprise of all - the inside pockets are the same orange as the little trim on the inside neck!  It's super cute and selling out fast. Snatch yours up before it's too late!      

Favorite thing #2: All things monogrammed/personalized. What is it about monograms that makes you feel a little fancy?  I always associate monograms with people who have money, which is silly because it costs a mere $7 at pottery barn to monogram something and some places offer it free!  I love this free monogram print from Forchicksake.com.  I printed one for my craft room and for Hattie to put in her room someday.

 

Favorite thing #3: Guilty Pleasures.  Come on we all have 'em, those little things we secrectly love to love, but feel a little guilty when we let ourselves indulge.  Mine are watching teenie bopper shows and eating Doritos with french onion dip (watch out hubby, no kissing tonight!) and washing it all down with a dr. pepper. 

Favorite thing #4: Journaling. I bought my first diary when I was 8 yrs old.  My first journal entry started with "Dear Diary, Today we went shopping and I bought you." Ever since then I have loved the idea of jotting down my life for my future kids/grandkids or some random stranger to read long after I'm gone.  Of course my life isn't that exciting, so I don't know who this random stranger might be, maybe a homeless guy that finds my journal in a pile of trash somewhere, but hey at least I will live on! Of course here is the one thing that prohibits this scenario from happening.  I'm terrible at maintaining a journal.  I start one and then stop for months or even years.  But I found a recent fix to this little problem.  The Q and A a Day: 5-Year Journal. Each day has a new question to answer.  You fill it in for each day of the year and then do it all over again for the next 5 years!  So cool to see how your thoughts/feelings can change in the course of a year. 

image from:designcrushblog.com

Favorite thing #5: Family.  No description needed.

   

I hope I was able to help you get through part of your Wednesday and one day closer to the weekend! Whoop Whoop! So now, what are your favorite things?  Send us your list!

Lots of love,

Try It Out Tuesday - Two Timin' Pasta

I found this yummy pasta dish via Pinterest (original post from a cute little blog Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour). I've actually tried it out a couple times now and it has quickly become one of my favorite go-to pasta dishes. I altered the recipe just a little this time by using only 3/4 a jar of Alfredo sauce (instead of the whole jar) and a Garden Variety Marinara (instead of regular Marinara) and adding in some yummy turkey sausage. Oh and I forgot to pick up the parmesan cheese so I skipped that step. It still turned out delicious! I'm telling you try this pasta dish....you won't be disappointed!  

Two Timin' Pasta 
(slightly altered from original recipe) 
1 24 oz. jar of Marinara sauce
1 15 oz. jar of Alfredo sauce 
1 box of penne pasta
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Turkey kielbasa

1. Cook penne pasta per instructions
2. Mix Marinara sauce with 3/4 jar Alfredo sauce in a large bowl
3. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 package turkey kielbasa
4. Mix in cooked pasta and pour into baking dish
5. Bake at 350 for 25 mins
6. Enjoy! 

Ps. Little Miss worked on building this while I was cooking dinner tonight. 

Love her!!

Happy Tuesday! 

-Jessica

Beep, Beep, Choo-Choo Hattie and Harper are 2!

I'm a little delayed in getting this post up, but my little nuggets turned two on the 13th and we all got together to celebrate with a Planes, Trains, and Automobile birthday party.  Here are some hightlights of what turned out to be a 4 day present opening extravaganza due to some presents arriving a bit late.

Day 1: February 13 - Happy Happy Birthday to you!

Day 2: February 14 - They got one of the best presents this day -  Mimi and Poppel arrived

Day 3: February 15 - Another great present Aunt Jess and Wrenn arrived!

Day 4: February 16 - Party time!

Watching my sweet little babies grow up to be adorable little toddlers is a little bittersweet.  I'm so excited to watch them learn new things each day, but also sad that they are becoming so independent.  Maybe that means it's time for baby number 3....to be continued.

With lots of love,

Try It Out Tuesday - Gallery Wall

I've been wanting to create a gallery wall for years.  My sweet husband gave me the push I needed when he bought me frames for Christmas. After a lot of help from my dad and the hubby because I can't hang a photo straight to save my life, I now have my completed gallery wall!  It's one of my favorite things in my house and I'm so excited to share it with you.

Can you believe the hubby made that B on our console table!?

The Brehl picture came to me on a whim and actually was meant to be black and white.  However, our printer was running out of ink and this is what it shot out...I kind of dig the gradient look!

All written prints on the wall are from Jones Design Company.

What project have you been wanting to do, but need a little extra push?

Memories

I love going back through old photos and reliving the captured memories. As everyone knows, with the move to digital photos its easy to take the pictures, but also sort of just as easy to forget about them. The other day I pulled out my old Canon and realized there were photos on it I hadn't even downloaded yet. I had completely forgotten all about them. Finding them was such a fun little surprise! Of course once I downloaded them, I had to click through all my photos on iPhoto to relive the memories. It really is cool how you can remember certain details about the day or how you were feeling all from looking at a picture. Here are some of my favorite photos and memories from the last year. Enjoy!

Wrenn's 1st flight (She feel asleep before we even took off and sleep the entire flight!)

At C2E2 (Pam from True Blood was in line right behind us at the Starbucks!)

1st Father's Day (I took this right before Dan had to head to work. One of my all time favorites!)

 

Family photo at "The Bean" (Dan and Wrenn unexpectedly met me after work this day.)

Holstein Park 100 Year Celebration (It was incredibly hot this day!) 

Bath time (This was one of Wrenn's first baths in the "big girl tub".)

 1st Summer Vacation at Isle of Palms (Wrenn LOVED the swimming pool!) 

Playtime (Once she figured out how to push the buttons, this quickly became one of her go-to toys.) 

Laundry helper (Baby Girl loves to help with the laundry!) 

Sunday at the Aquarium (Another super hot day!)

Aquarium outing (Dan snapped this one right after we left the aquarium.)

1st Birthday Party at Isle of Palms (We had a great time with all of our family!)

Game day face (This was the beginning of "the stinker face".)

Monica and Mike's rehearsal dinner (Little Miss was all smiles even though she was starting to get sick.)

Monica and Mike's reception (Poor Buggie was a trooper at the wedding and reception even though she didn't sleep the entire day.)

 Halloween (Little Red Riding Hood was so excited she could hardly sit still!) 

Gray's birthday party (Gray was too cute and the cake was super yummy!)

Sleepy time (Tuckered after Gray's birthday party.)

Christmas morning (Wrenn when she saw all the presents from Santa on Christmas morning!)

-Jessica