Super Bowl Food

Hope everyone survived Monday!!  Can y'all believe that the super bowl is this weekend?  We are about to embark on a long 7 months with no football, do y'all think y'all can handle it?  We can get through it together!  Anyways, I have a goal to post easy and yummy recipes everyday this week that would be perfect for a super bowl Sunday.  I have personally taste-tested each and every one of these treats and they're all winners (no pun intended, ha).  I thought I would start off easy since its Monday and my brain is gone for the day.   Today's recipe is Spicy Pretzels.  Megan introduced me to these while we were living in Birmingham and they have pretty much been a staple at the Grove and at our get togethers ever since.  There's no cooking whatsoever and you probably have almost all the ingredients sitting in your pantry.  

Spicy Pretzels

courtesy of AllRecipes.com

1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper

1 tsp. lemon pepper

1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt (I just use garlic powder)

1 pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 15 oz. pkg of pretzels (I like pretzel sticks)

In a small bowl, mix together cayenne pepper, lemon pepper, garlic powder, ranch dressing mix, and oil.  Place pretzels in a large, sealable plastic bag.  Pour in mixture from bowl and shake well.  Allow pretzels to marinate for at least 2 hours before serving giving the bag a good shake every once now and then.  

The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup of vegetable oil but I think they are much better with less oil and are far less sticky.  Also, this is a great recipe to throw together early in the week because the longer they sit the better all the flavors will be meshed together.  When I'd make these for the Grove, I'd always throw them together on Wednesday or Thursday so they'd be super marinated by Saturday and it's one less thing to do the day of.  

Until tomorrow!

Weekend and Pictures!

Happy Sunday Y'all!


We are just lounging around with the SAG awards playing in the background as we enjoy this lazy night.  We had a fun and productive weekend with lots of rest too.  Friday, we headed to watch our friends basketball team win another nail biter game.  This game was much much more exciting and fun compared to last week because the student sections were brutal and quite creative shouting things to one another.  Saturday, we both had appointments at our favorite salon, Bloom in Southaven.  I was due for cut and color and decided to go a little wild and get Megan to cut some side bangs.  Talk about being edgy, hah.  After Ben had his haircut, he got to be pampered for an hour with a massage.  I was a little jealous until I got to the shampoo and style. Gosh, it really is the small things in life.  I have super super fine and thin hair and it's always so dull and blah and I always loved how volumous my hair would look and feel after leaving the salon so one day I decided to purchase the shampoo and conditioner that Megan always used on my hair and I haven't looked back since. The brand is LiQwid and not only does it work wonders for my hair but it smells so delicious.  I usually have to purchase new bottles every other visit so Megan offered to buy me liters from their dealer since I love it so much and they'd had been delivered that week.  Score! I was like a kid leaving an ice cream shop when we finished up.  After the salon, we ran a few errands around town.  We picked up some planters for our front porch.  They are really giant urns but Ben said since we aren't using them to store any dead relatives they needed a different name so planters it is. We purchased a pair that were an aged ivory but took them back today to swap them out for the darker color because we thought the darker ones would show up better against our house.  We also picked up a bedside table for our bedroom at a local antique store that we had never shopped before.  We are still searching for one more because the one that we have been using since we moved in is being borrowed from another room, whoops.  I have big plans to paint the table we bought to give our room a pop of color it needs although the piece is in remarkable shape.  We had plans to hang out with our good friends Jene and Hannah but while we were watching the Ole Miss basketball game, I developed a terrible headache that took forever to shake so we just decided to stay in and watch terrible television.


Today was like most other Sundays.  We went to church, grabbed lunch, and picked up our weekly groceries.  We also did some laundry and cleaned the house.  I also tried a couple of pins from Pinterest.  We had everything to make the Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes so I decided to throw those together when my mom called to say that they were going to stop by.  Well, I must I was definitely disappointed.  Mine were not as pretty as the ones on the blog nor did they rise like the ones in the picture.  I thought ok ok, I can get past the look as long as it tastes delicious.  Another disappointment.  They were super dry and that I have no explanation for that because I followed the recipe exactly.  After the cupcake fail, I decided to take a stab at another pin.  I have been meaning to make a wreath for our door that leads to the backyard since I took the Christmas wreath down and had found several I loved on Pinterest.  I decided to go with the Bubble Burlap wreath since I have a slight obsession with burlap right now and I had plenty of it lying around.  After getting the squares cut, the rest of the assembly was a breeze.  I plan on making another for our mud room door once I'm ready to cut 90 + squares.  


Another successful weekend in the books. 


I'll conclude this post with pictures from some of the stuff I've mentioned in this post and my Birmingham post.  Yes, I finally took pictures of some of the treasures I found there.

Ignore the feathers, they're gone now.  Our awesome antique store find.

Lighter planters

Darker.  Now we just need to fill them with pretty plants.

We bought Layla a stuffing-less raccoon and she LOVED it.  She was apparently worn out from her "busy" weekend.  I'm loving not having to pick up stuffing from around the house.

Those awesome pillar candles we found in Birmingham.  Found the perfect spot for them, beside our dresser in our room.

Both Birmingham purchases.  These tall candlesticks are the perfect centerpiece for our DR table.  The very top mirror on the wall was the perfect addition to this mirror gallery.  

Burlap Bubble Wreath!!  Isn't it precious??  All I had was tulle laying around so the bow kind of blends in but I think I like it that way.

Here's to a wonderful week!!

Cheese Enchiladas with Green Sauce

Hola!!  Tomorrow is finally Friday and I know I'm super pumped about it.  I mentioned in a post earlier this week about this super yummy recipe we tried over the weekend and I promised I'd share.  I'm hosting Bunco in February and we have a few vegetarians in the group and I believe this will be the main dish I serve that night.  and y'all, it was even better heated up the next day! Well I thought I had y'all waiting long enough so here it goes.


Cheese Enchiladas with Green Sauce
courtesy of Taste of Home


Sauce
1 pk. (6 oz). fresh baby spinach
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 c. half and half
1 c. 2% milk (I used fat free and it was fine)
1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles, drained
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 c. fresh chopped cilantro
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander (I left this out)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 c. reduced fat sour cream


Enchiladas
2 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 finely (and I mean finely) chopped onion
1 Tbsp. fresh minced cilantro
12 corn tortillas, warmed (I microwaved 3 at a time for about 35 seconds)


In a large nonstick skillet, cook and stir spinach until wilted.  Drain and remove.  In the same pan, melt butter.  Stir in flour until smooth, gradually add cream and milk.  Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.


Stir in the chiles, green onions, cilantro, garlic, spices, and spinach.  Remove from the heat, cool slightly.  Transfer to a food processor, cover, and process until pureed. Stir in sour cream, set aside.


In a large bowl, combine cheeses, set aside 1 cup for topping.  Add cilantro and onion to remaining cheese mixture, toss to combine.  Place about 1/4 cup cheese-onion mixture in each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.


Pour sauce over top.  Sprinkle with reserved cheese mixture.  Bake, uncovered at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.


OLE!!

WILW

I'm loving that the week is halfway over.  It's been super busy at work and I have been worn out at the end of every day.  

I'm loving that Ben and I have a date at the salon this weekend.  I'm due for cut and color as well as an eyebrow waxing and Ben is due for his triweekly (is this even a real word) cut and he's getting a massage.  Santa brought him a  gift certificate for an hour long massage and he's ready to cash it in.  I can't wait to be pampered, especially the shampoo...AGGGHH.

I'm loving that Ole Miss basketball is on a 2-win win streak, watch out!  And that we're playing #13 Florida tomorrow in Oxford at the Tad Pad.  I'm not going to love if ESPN blacks the game out in our area since we're so close.

I'm loving that when I got home from work tonight Ben had finished painting our guest bath.  And I love it!  Now that it's complete I can start shopping for a shower curtain and accessories. Who doesn't love spending money?

Happy Wednesday Y'all!!

Weekend Recap.

Yes, it's Tuesday but I struggle to even eat dinner on Monday nights when I get home from work so mustering up the energy and brain power to write a post is something I can't even begin to wrap my finger around.  I'm working on it though..slowly.


Friday night we went to watch one of the local high school's basketball team play my alma mater.  One of our good friends is a coach on the team and this team happens to be #1 in the state.  Since the schools are in the same town they are rivals I suppose and the gym was packed when we arrived but luckily since we are VIP we had seats behind the team.  It was a pretty good game until the end when DeSoto Central ran away with it and solidified their #1 ranking.  After the game, a group of us went to dinner and grabbed drinks.  


Saturday was a day for chores.  We started the day off at Lowe's buying an assortment of items we needed for around the house.  We then headed back home and my mom and niece joined us so we could get started on our big project.  Hanging our bedroom curtains which was an all day affair.  We have a bay window in our bedroom and I had bought a rod made for bay windows that I had found at Lowe's a few weeks ago but the durn thing was too short so back it went.  I don't know if y'all have priced bay window rods but they are not cheap by any stretch so I wasn't sure what to do when the Lowe's rod didn't work.  That was until my mom came up with an brilliant idea.  She suggested we use PVC pipes and elbow joints to make our own.  And thats exactly what we did.  We simply cut the pipes to length, spray painted them and the joints, and attached all the pieces together.  The whole project including the paints and brackets was under $50.  The only part I have left to do is add the finials to the ends of the rods. Saturday night, I had bunco and Ben went to our friend's house to play pool.


Sunday was a pretty lazy day.  We got all of our laundry and grocery shopping done and decided it was time to tackle the downstairs guest bath.  We bought 3 paint samples on Saturday and didn't like any of the colors because they looked so dark on certain points of the wall.  We decided to just wing it and choose a color that was in the same family of all the colors we had tried.  We decided on one of the lightest shade and as soon as we had the first stroke painted we knew that was the perfect color.  That night we tried a new recipe, Cheese Enchiladas with Green Sauce. Ohmgeeee.  They were absolutely delicious.  I will definitely be sharing the recipe with y'all shortly.  We also watched the NFC Championship and what a game it was!!  Ben was pulling for the Giants and I was indifferent since I like both teams and was a little disappointed in the way it ended but I got over that pretty fast because I was still so happy that Eli Manning and the Giants were headed back to the Super Bowl.  After the game we headed to our room so we could start watching Bridesmaids.  It wasn't long after we started when my phone started ringing and it was my mom.  She was calling to ask if we were in our "safe place."  I replied telling her no we were in bed watching a movie to which she said can y'all not tell there is a tornado heading our way. Y'all need to get in your safe place which of course we hadn't even thought about where that was in this house.  We gathered up my cell phone and a blanket with Layla following and walked across the house to a hallway we deemed as safe.  We sat there for about 10 minutes until we grew bored and decided it was safe to go back to bed.  It was a fast moving storm and the dangerous stuff moved out of here quickly.  We didn't finish the movie since I fell asleep shortly after we made it back to bed.  And we're still working on finishing the movie.  I'm a terrible movie watcher.


Here's a couple of pictures of house projects progress!

Don't you just LOVE the cheeto orange the previous owners had in this bathroom??  You seriously needed some shades on to even go in there.  Those are the colors we were considering.  The lightest shade is the color we chose.

Making progress.  Love this color.

Memo board I made from an old cabinet door that was sitting beside the dumpster at the apartment.  Our fridge is stainless steel so we have no where to hang save the dates, invites, etc. so I used magnetic primer and chalkboard paint to make this board for our mudroom.  I'm making another piece to put below it with old knobs to hang jackets and bags when we come in.

Please excuse all the junk in the picture.  Aren't they gorgeous?? I love them and the feel they bring to our room.  We have another window that also has a pair of these adorning them.  This room is almost finished now!  I'll post updated pics when the room is done.

Hooray for a semi-productive weekend!!

WILW

Happy Wednesday Y'all!!

I'm loving that the Yukon is back in action.  If you read my previous post  then you know we had some car issues on our way home from Birmingham on Sunday.  Of course Ben was right and it was our alternator all along.  Yes, it totally sucked paying that man for something he should have fixed the first go around but I was so happy to take myself to work and not depend on chauffeurs to get me there :)

I'm loving that Ben and I have big plans this weekend.  What are they you ask?  They're big plans to get some projects done around the house.  Our guest bath downstairs is the lovely shade of cheetos right now and I have been ready to paint that since we moved in but haven't been able to choose a color.  I still haven't chosen a color but I think we have narrowed it a hue in the aqua family, but soothing aqua.  I think once we get the room primed we will be able to pick a color easier.  I also have plans to clean out one of the guest rooms that have been the catch all for all the stuff we haven't unpacked or found a place.  We have 6 panels that my mom made with that awesome chevron print I shared in an earlier post that need to be hung.  We have a bay window and we are having trouble finding the proper hardware.  I plan to fix that this weekend.  And maybe since we live in the lovely state of Mississippi and the temperatures will be in the 60's this weekend we might can get some outside work completed!

I'm loving that Ben purchased season tickets for Ole Miss baseball this week.  We've never been season ticket holders in baseball since we've lived too far to justify the cost but now that we are so close we can't wait to spend our spring weekends in Oxford.  The Ole Miss marketing department released this baseball promotional video today and I am loving it!

Speaking of Ole Miss, I'm loving that the each of the four teams left in the NFL playoffs has a former Ole Miss Rebel on the roster.  Not only are they on the roster, they're all starters!  Eli Manning of the NY Giants, Patrick Willis of the San Fransisco 49'ers, Michael Oher of the Baltimore Ravens, and Ben Jarvis Green Ellis of the New England Patriots are the fine athletes representing my alma mater.  That means 2 Rebels will be playing in the Super Bowl on February 5th.  This picture has been floating around the world wide web and I love it. 

I'm loving this chandelier from Ballard Designs  that I am pondering purchasing for our breakfast nook.  I am not too fond of the one that is currently hanging there and love the simplicity of the fixture from Ballard Designs.

taken from the couch. I was being lazy.

clearly BD.com has a professional photographer.

I'm also loving this rug for our kitchen.  As you can see in the picture above, our kitchen/hearth room is painted an off-white.  It was painted a terrible red and it looked as though Dan Mullen had threw up in this kitchen and we were not having it.  So having neutral walls gives us the opportunity to put pops of color elsewhere and I think this rug does just that!  My only reservation with it is that the base color is ivory and not sure if that is a wise choice for a kitchen.  It's priced ridiculously low right now so if I did decide to purchase it and it only stayed fresh for a couple of years, I'd be totally ok with that.  Any thoughts?

That's all my loves this week! Hope y'all have a great one!

Birmingham Recap

This recap is a little late but things didn't exactly go as planned on our return back to Hernando and last night I decided to be productive around the house. My apologies.  I'm also going to apologize for the lack of pictures in this post.  Posts are no fun without pictures, I'll get better, I promise!

We got to Birmingham pretty late Friday night, just long enough to enjoy a couple of drinks.  We stopped in Tupelo on the way for dinner at Chicfila since it's about the only place worth eating in that town.  However, it was quite disappointing given the high standards we've come to know from Chicfila.  Needless to say, we probably won't be stopping there anymore.  Saturday morning, Megan made us blueberry yum yum for breakfast.  We have it so rarely (which is a good thing considering it's main ingredients are biscuits, butter, and sugar haha), that I forget how delicious it is!  Megan and I got ready and headed out to start our day of shopping.  I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned on here how awesome the shopping is in Birmingham but it really is quite wonderful.  We were both on the hunt for things for our homes and I was also looking for Bunco prizes since February is my host month.  After a couple of stops without purchasing anything, the boys called and asked if we wanted to meet them for lunch at Salem's Diner in downtown Homewood.  We were heading that way to hit the shops on 18th St. so we took them up on their offer.  Salem's Diner is known for their Philly cheeseteaks, random right?  Craig Ferguson of the Late Late Show claims it to be the best Philly cheesesteak he's ever had including Philadelphia.  Well I might not be a Philly cheesesteak connosseiur but I think Mr. Ferguson might be on to something.  Megan and I had eaten there once ramdomly while we were still living there and I swear I don't remember it being that delicious but gosh it was so good.  By far the best Philly cheesesteak I had ever had!  After lunch, we hit up all our favorite shops along 18th St.  Megan picked up some items for her dining room and I found a mirror for our mirror gallery wall in our dining room, candlesticks for our DR table, a driftwood cross, and these awesome pillar-ish candles that I can't really describe.  I'll post pictures later.  I also picked up 2 of the bunco gifts but I can't share those since I know a couple of the bunco ladies read my blog occasionally.  After 18th St., a classmate of mine who took a job in Birmingham decided to join us for a few stops.  We stopped first at Pastry Art to get baby bites.  I know I have blogged about this place before since they have the most delicious cake bites in the world.  If I were a famous chef or foodtv personality and they asked me to be on that show "Best Thing I Ever Ate: Bakery Goods"  I would so totally pick baby bites as my feature.  We each got half a dozen.  Megan's 6 we snacked on throughout the day and my 6 we wrapped up so I could bring them home with me. We finished our day stopping at a few more places not really finding anything that caught our eye.  We got home in time to watch the 49'ers finish off the Saints to make it to the AFC championship game.  That night we ate dinner at a place that was new to Ben and I, The Boot and then came back home to see the Patriots destroy the Broncos and then of course we watched Miss America.  The boys acted like they were bored to tears but we all know better than that!

Sunday we were pretty lazy all morning and finally decided to pull ourselves together to get lunch. We drove all over town and decided on a pizza place in Cahaba Heights and as we noticed there were very few cars in the parking lot.  Of course it wasn't open!  The we decided we would try Chuy's at the Summit since we were close.  Megan and I hopped out to get a table while the boys found a parking spot only to learn that there was a 30 minute wait. No thanks.  We then  headed to Homewood to eat at Dave's Pizza.  Shortly after lunch, we decided to hit the road.  We stopped at a gas station to fill up in north Birmingham when I realized I had left my baby bites in the fridge at Patrick and Megan's. BIG BUMMER.  Ben offered to turn around so I could get them but we twenty minutes into the trip so I said let's just go on.  Your welcome, guys :)  I should have known this was a bad sign. We were just trucking along listening to the Giants and Packers game nearing the MS/AL stateline when Ben said that the battery light was flashing.  He also thought that the headlights were looking dim so we decided to turn off the satelite radio to see if that helped anything.  It seemed to help a bit and we just kept on moving.  We were about 10 miles from the Hernando exit when we lost it.  All the lights just died and the car started a slow slow death.  Fortunately, we were able to cruise down an off ramp and off the interstate.  We called AAA and also my parents since we'd need a lift home.  While we were waiting, a car stopped to ask if he could help out.  I, of course texted a friend giving the mam's description and vehicle information in case we wound up dead.  Next the police showed up since clearly there's nothing going on in Coldwater, MS, ever.  My parents showed up followed by the tow truck.  The tow truck man recommended a repair shop in Hernando that was not far from our house so that is where we had him take the car.  We finally made it home after 9:30 just in time to see the conclusion of the Golden Globes :(

Ben got a call yesterday from the mechanic stating that our troubles were not the altenator or the battery, like we had thought but simply loose battery cables.  Hallelujah!  However, this story does not end here since the Yukon died while I was driving to work this morning....

To be continued...

WILW

I'm loving that the week is halfway over. I know, I know, I know I'm not supposed to wish my life away but this has been my first full week in four weeks and it's been rough.  I definitely could get used to making 4-day work weeks permanent, I've got to get working on that.

I'm loving that we are going to Birmingham this weekend to spend it with Patrick and Megan.  I know Megan and I will spend Saturday shopping and we will get to eat at some of our favorite places there.  I'm mostly excited about getting to spend time with our favorites.

I'm loving my new Swivel Sweeper.  I know, crazy right? Who loves such a thing??  My friend had one and I watched her use it while we were visiting for NYE and I just had to have one.  Minus the two guest bedrooms, our entire downstairs is either hardwood or tile and sweeping is one of my least favorite things to do and the swivel sweeper is marvelous.  It's cordless and uses a rechargeable battery and it's perfect for picking up the dirt that gets tracked in daily.  I went searching all over for this thing looking only in the cleaning supply section, only to find out that it's with in the "As Seen on TV" section of stores.  I found ours at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and used one of those 20% off coupons.

I"m loving this rug from Anthropologie.  I want it so badly for our kitchen but I'm not sure I can justify what Anthropologie wants me to pay, hah.  I just love the bold colors.

I'm loving these ads that have been popping up on the digital billboards around Memphis.  The Ole Miss marketing department has really stepped it up lately with their videos and now their digital ads. This one features Patrick Willis, Eli Manning, and Mike Wallace, all former Rebels now headed to the Pro Bowl.

Happy Wednesday y'all!!

Weekend Recap.

Could I have another three day weekend, please?  Two days just isn't enough.  I think Obama needs to make that a federal law, if he did that and made gas under $2 a gallon he'd get my vote in November but unfortunately for the both of us those things will probably not happen. 

Friday night my parents decided to come down to Hernando. Oh yeah, Hernando, Mississippi is where we live now.  Hopefully one day I'll get around to sharing our house buying process.  Anywho, my parents decided to come down to bring us a mirror that I had ordered online and accidentally chose my parent's address when I picked the shipping address on Paypal.  We decided to make a dinner date while they were here (although it's only a 15 minute drive between our houses).  We decided to go to Windy City Grille on the square. It was super delicious and we enjoyed spending time with my folks.  After dinner, my parents dropped us off at our house and as we got out of the car it appeared that the children in our cove were still outside playing.  As we walked towards the end of our driveway we discovered that two of the moms were enjoying some adult beverages while letting their kids enjoy after dark outside time on a Friday evening.  We decided to grab a couple of adult libations and let Layla out to play with the other dogs of the cove and kids and spent the rest of our Friday night hanging out with the residents of our little cove.

We spent the majority of Saturday running errands.  We still had a few returns to make from Christmas and finally got all of those taken care of.  We stopped and picked up the chevron fabric I purchased last weekend that had to be ordered since I needed so much.  We grabbed lunch at Schlotzsky's.  As far as I know, there is only one Schlotzsky's left in the metro Memphis area and that makes me sad.  Ben and I happen to love their food and I hope the business we give them whenever we can keeps them open.  A day of errands wouldn't be complete without a trip to Lowe's.  Santa brought us a pool table for our bonus room and Ben hadn't been successful in getting it level so we had to pick up some shims.  Once we got home, Ben headed upstairs to work on his man cave while I hung up a few things around the house.  That night, we had plans with our good friends, Anna and Nathan.  They came to Hernando and we had dinner at a Japanese steakhouse.  The boys got hibachi and we got sushi.  After dinner, we headed back to our house and headed upstairs to play pool and throw darts.  Before we started playing, Ben wanted to move the pool table to the center of the room and after getting the table moved it was perfectly level. No need for those $4 shims, ha.  We played pool and darts for hours with various Pandora stations playing for our good times tunes.  I must say that Anna and I beat the boys in the first game of pool.   

We topped off the weekend with a  wonderful Sunday.  After church, we grabbed Mexican for lunch and picked up our groceries.  We took care of a few chores and watched Eli and the Giants beat the Falcons in the first round of the playoffs.  This morning I started a crock pot French onion soup recipe that I had pinned on Pinterest.  It definitely wasn't the best French onion soup I've ever had but considering how involved traditional French onion soup is, I would say it was pretty delicious when you consider the amount of time and effort we put into it.  And, it's definitely something we will make again. 

We are having some friends over for the NC championship game tomorrow, go SEC!!  While I can't stand either team, I'll definitely be cheering for Alabama since I spent a year in that state it holds a special place in my heart and yuck Louisiana.  

I'll leave with a few pictures of the house projects I got done this weekend.  Sorry the pictures were taken with my phone.

I got started on my mirror gallery wall in our dining room.  I started collecting mirrors a few weeks ago and grew impatient so I decided to hang what I already have which is actually helpful since now I know what shapes I need to finish it off.  

So this is the mirror my parents delivered Friday night. I purchased it with the intent to put in our half bath since I took the mirror that was in there down the day we closed because it was U-G-L-Y.  However, I didn't think to measure the space and this mirror is way too big for the space. No bueno BUT I needed something for the entry and this is perfect.  The furniture and accessories that are there now are temporary and this mirror is the perfect inspiration piece.

Do these look familiar??  I totally got the idea for these jewelry hangers on Pinterest.  I made the earring hangers about a month ago and finally got around to making the necklace holder this weekend.  There are several pins floating around for the earring holder. The ones I saw pinned the most used chicken wire or metal grating but I decided to use window screen since it is dirt cheap and I could cut it with scissors.  I attached it to the frames with a staple gun.  The only negative to the earring hanger/display is that you can't put studs or dangly earrings that have an attached back.  And I had to put the little rubber backs for the earrings in a little box in my vanity.  I am super pleased with how they both turned out and they are perfect in our closet.

Hope y'all have a wonderful Monday!

2011: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-CHANGES!!!

This post is a wee bit late but it's better late than never right??  This is my year review for 2011 and since I was MIA for half the year maybe some of it will be sort of exciting?!?! Maybe???  We had a super exciting year with so many changes and full of blessings and I'm happy to finally share the high points with y'all. 

January

We got snow several days of unexpected snow in Birmingham.  That meant days off from work and lots of hang out and cuddly time.

We threw a baby shower for Anna and Lucy Kate!

February

Lucy Kate Rucker made her grand debut into the world on February 17.

All of my best friends from home (minus new mommy Anna) made a weekend trip to Birmingham and what a wild and fun weekend it was.

Megan, Emily, and I went to our favorite cupcake bakery in Birmingham and did Cakes and Cocktails.  We got to drink wine and learn different decorating tips for cakes.  The best part about the night was getting to take our yummy creations home!

March

Jessica, one of my lifelong friends got engaged!!

April

I finished up my year long externship and made it official by getting a JOB.

I traveled to Chicago for a massive Audiology convention and spent one last hoorah with the girls in my class.

May

Ben and I took a awesome vacation to Key West.

I graduated from Southern MIss and officially became Lindsey Piper, AuD.  

We moved to Memphis.  As happy and excited as we were for our what God had waiting for us in Memphis, we were so sad to leave Birmingham and our great friends, Patrick and Megan.

Ben did a complete 180 and changed careers.  He left the newspaper world and began a career at a Budweiser distributorship in north Mississippi.

June

I started my job!  The first week or so was a total blur and super overwhelming but after learning the reins of the practice, I feel right at home and love all the opportunities and challenges it brings my way. 

We traveled to Pickwick to witness the marriage of Jonathan and Amy.

July

We celebrated Ben's 27th birthday

Celebrated the 4th of July at the home of Ben's boss.  It is never a disappointment and this year myself and another wife were runners-up in the Washers tournament.  Pretty legit.

I joined a bunco group. We meet the third weekend of the month. We have dinner, talk, maybe play some bunco, and talk.  Oh, and there are always awesome prizes.  My host month is February, it's coming soon, no pressure to find ridiculously awesome prizes.

Took a trip to Birmingham. We bought a new kitchen table and had a tire blow out on the way home.  It's usually a 3 hour drive from Birmingham to Memphis but I believe this trip took us 7+ hours thanks to there only being on AAA employee in the whole state of Alabama.  Never a dull road trip with us. 

August

We had a bridal shower to honor Jessica.  

We got our season tickets for Ole Miss football!

September

The most wonderful time of the year, Ole Miss football started!! HOTTY TODDY!! While it was definitely a super disappointing season, it was still worth all the hard work and time spent planning our tent.  We absolutely love and cherish our Saturdays spent in the Grove with our Ole Miss family.  

We made an offer on our first house. 

our 2011 Grove tables cape

Grove name. 

signing our counter offer in the Grove. How appropriate.



October

Jessica got married!!  It was a beautiful and sweet weekend and I am so honored that I got to be a part of such a special day.

Ben and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.  I can't believe how fast three years have flown by and they have been the best three years of my life.

On Halloween, we closed on our house!!!!!  We did it!  We became homeowners!!  Goodness, it was and is such an exciting thing.  I am so proud of this little place we now call home. 

after we closed. In our hearth room.

November

We moved into our house in mid-November.  3 moves in 2 years.  I am so over moving and so happy to be home.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my Nana's and also at Ben's sister who lives in Germantown. Ben's parents, grandmother, Mama Jean, and Ben's middle sister Allison and her four children came to town to celebrate the holiday.  We got to meet the newest addition to Ryan and Allison's family, Graham.

I celebrated my 27th birthday on the 27th! Pretty neat!!  We spent the day putting up our Christmas trees.  That night we went to dinner with my family and then Ben and I went to the Orpheum to see White Christmas.  It was a great show and when we walked out that night it was snowing.  

We experienced our first snow in our new home!

we used a Budweiser truck to move. We made friends with the neighbors pretty quickly. :)

our house after our first snow.

December

We had our first annual Griswold Family Christmas with the Pipers.  We asked our guests to dress up like their favorite Christmas Vacation character and boy oh boy our friends did not disappoint.  It was a real nice (in my best cousin Eddie voice) time, Clark.

We hosted Christmas Eve with my family at our house.  Everyone had a wonderful time and we didn't know that Santa had visited our house early and left a Christmas gift, a pool table in our bonus room!!

Kinsley turned 3!!  Can't believe that butterball is now a little chatterbox that loves to paint.

So grateful and humbled by such an amazing year.  Super excited for what 2012 has in store!!

Happy New Year!!