Dinner Party(?)

My good friend from work, Parneet, is in town for two weeks. She lives several states away, but about every month and half she comes here for two weeks and works where I work. I met her last summer for the first time and we just clicked! So every time she's here we spend as much time together as possible. Last Thursday I had her and our good friend Matt over for dinner and here's the low-down on what I made.

There are no pictures (I'm so sad about that...), but I made Herb Cheese and Spinach Sauce Pasta which I got from this site. It was my first time making it, but it's so easy and there are only a few ingredients and I actually already had them all on hand anyway. That's always nice.

I also made a hashbrown casserole, but I altered it by adding in fresh zucchini and squash. Love those two veggies, yum.

And in the interest of making something that I had actually tried before, I made parmesan green beans as well.

I was surprised at how well the spinach pasta was received and I was also happy that it made a lot because I had lunch for the next few days. Always good. To finish off the meal, we had fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I would like to consider that a dinner party even though it was just the 4 of us, but either way it was fun and if you like spinach you should give the spinach pasta a try. =]

Spring Break!

Oh wait... I don't get one of those... But my BFFs do! Last week they were here and I took advantage of it. Kelly is in pharmacy school (3rd year) and Sharon is in physical therapy school (1st year). They are both super smart and I'm very proud of them.

On Tuesday, BFF Sharon and I got hot chocolate and shopped til we dropped.

On Wednesday, BFF Kelly and her fiance Bobby came over and we partied.

Then Sharon joined us for root beer floats and we watched Despicable Me (which is super cute if you haven't seen it yet).

We also danced (Just Dance 2 for the Wii = my new favorite game).

On Thursday Sharon and I got together again.

Yes, we are crazy.

We went to Sonic. Yay!

And it was St. Patrick's day so how appropriate is this next picture?

We had planned to use it as a St. Patty's day prank, but then we couldn't think of anyone to prank... Fail.

On Saturday Kelly and I got to have lunch with our friend who is expecting her second child very soon. =]

Then I got to play ultimate frisbee and that night Kelly and I threw a surprise party for our friend Matt!

We made oreo truffles and chocolate-covered pretzels.

 The finished product!

We also made a birthday banner for him. Any fans of The Office out there? We made this based on the banner that Dwight made for Kelly's birthday. =]

And of course we posed under it.

So sad spring break's over and my bestie's are gone! But now I'm looking forward to summer. =]

I Was Totally Amazed!

This is so random... but on Sunday after lunch, I was passing by the library and I stopped there so I could get some books. I LOVE reading, but unfortunately have not read much in a while. Growing up I read all the time and loved checking out my own books from the public library and from the school library.

We had Accelerated Reader at my school (did any of you have that?) which is a program that gives students points when they read books and then take a quiz on the computer about them. When you got to a certain point level, you would get a prize. I eventually won all the prizes in my school because I read so much. (dorky? yeah, probably).

So anyway, I was super excited to get to go in and grab some books. I headed immediately for the mystery section (my favorite...) and grabbed 4 books. I headed to checkout and as I was walking over to one of the librarians, but then I noticed these 4 little kiosks. I didn't know what the kiosk was for, but I stepped back with my books and checked it out. There was a touch screen above a glass table top and there was a scanner just under the touch screen. On the screen there was a button to checkout so I hit that and then it said to scan a library card. Done. Then the screen instructed me to place up to 4 books on the glass table top. I was incredulous (you like how I tossed that fancy word in there?), but set the books down anyway. Automatically, each book's title and information appeared on the screen one by one.... There was no scanning, no laser, nothing....

People, I was amazed by this. The screen then read that the books were checked out and I was done! I relayed this information to a group of friends last night and one in particular didn't seem too surprised and was explaining about some chip being in the books, blah blah blah. Still, I am in awe of this technology and thought you all should know.

Oh, and did I have enough parentheses in this entry? I think I could have used a few more...

For the Future Office

We all love a good deal, right? Well, here's one. At Target a few months ago, I stumbled across these frames on clearance.

Oh, you can't read that red sticker? Here's a close-up:

When I saw the price, I thought, "Boo-yah!" But then when I got to the register they were even more discounted. I ended up paying something like $0.53 for each of them? I'm pretty sure my face was something like this:

The only problem is that I wasn't so much into the wood color of the frames soooo I just took some trusty white spray paint and went to town. You know the drill.

Yes, that's a dry cleaners bag. I am so resourceful. =] I also threw in that other frame on the right while I was at it.

After a short drying time, those frames were looking quite fabulous.

I already one white 8 x 10 frame so I added that one to the collection too. Then it was time to add my papers! As we all know, my favorite colors are blue and green so I had to incorporate those. =]

And here is the finished collection! These will be added to the future office down the road, once it's painted and everything. Something to look forward to!

Thanks Walmart!

Sooo... Let's talk about these for a minute:

 I went to Walmart and got a delightful surprise. These beautiful, green (my favorite color) magazine holders were on clearance for $4.

That is right up my alley. Thanks Walmart! 

Woo-hoo!

Oh, and this week I'm painting the future office. =]

Guest Room

My sweet sister McKenna has been staying with me since Wednesday because Mom left for a business trip. We've enjoyed our time together, but the sad news is: McKenna has to sleep on the couch! T guest room has not been touched at all since I moved in. It's being used as storage for the keepsakes I've brought from my parent's house. Not exactly guest-ready....

Here's the empty room:

But the good news? I've got inspiration pics!

I could totally sleep in a guest room like that....

 Love those drapes and the cute writing desk.

I love pretty much everything about that room. The white drapes, silver lamps, the nightstands, the pillows.....

There goes my favorite color green!

Beautiful!

Can I get that headboard, ottoman and mirror? Oh, and the windows too? (haha...)

That doesn't look anything like our guest room.... but I love that balcony........

 

 

I love all the color in this room and the patterns. =]

Can't wait to get started on this room!

(Inspiration pictures from Google and Decor Pad)

I Feel So Honored!

What have I been up to? Well yesterday I was baking some breakfast treats for the breakfast club at work. I once again made muffins and since it's so close to Valentine's Day I made them "Valentine's themed" (if you count putting food coloring on some of them to make them red Valentine's themed).

It was fun and my Kitchenaid and I enjoyed spending time together. =]

Enough of the small news, in BIG news (seriously) I am truly honored as Rachel over at The Atwoods has nominated me for the Stylish Blogger Award! I feel so excited and happy!

The rules are:

Thank the person who nominated you:

Thanks so much Rachel! You are a sweetheart and I love reading your blog!! (I also love that you're a fellow Bama native. =])

Share 7 things about yourself -- this could get interesting...

1) I can't stand coffee (and sodas with the exception of root beer) so every day when my co-workers are drinking their morning coffee, I'm sipping the water in my canteen that I bring.

2) I got to meet Jon Heder my freshman year of college. You know, the guy who played Napoleon Dynamite. See, I loved loved loved (still do) that movie and I found out that he was coming to my University for a 'lecture series' and that there would be random contests around campus to get backstage passes to meet him after the lecture and I just HAD to win some passes.... I had a friend that worked in student affairs and I found out when and where one of them was going to be and of course I showed up. Turns out it was a contest to see who could stuff the most tater tots in their pants pocket in a certain time period (you know, like how Napoleon puts them in his pocket in the movie?). Yeah, I killed it. It was a landslide victory for me and I got to meet the man himself.

All I have as proof is this grainy, dark picture. But you can see him! And the guy who played Kip.

3) I was in band for 10 years. I started playing trumpet in 6th grade and in 9th grade joined marching band. I learned so much about music, self-discipline, time-management and I also had a ton of fun too! When I went to college, I joined the marching band there as well and didn't quit until my senior year (school had become too hard and I couldn't manage the time commitment any longer).

Here are some pictures. In case you couldn't figure out who I was, I gave you a hint:

4) For Christmas one year, my grandparents bought me one of those maps that held state quarters. Once I got that map it was my mission to track down every state quarter as soon as it came out and to complete my map. I'm proud to say that I completed my map and I still have it. I don't know what I'll do with it, but I have it. =]

5) I love to play pranks. Goofy pranks, not malicious pranks.

6) I love to dance. I don't mean to say that I can dance well... but I love to dance and do so often. What can I say? Music makes me come alive.

7) I used to live "in" Atlanta and I attended Central Gwinnett High School. Our concession stand was a giant castle.

So there you have it.

And now I'm supposed to nominate 15 bloggers for the Stylish Blogger Award!

1) Relatively Reagan - Pam is always baking up the cutest cupcakes and treats. She blogs about her life and baking. She also is an amazing photographer!

2) Welcome to Heardmont - Meredith and her husband have been tackling DIY project after DIY project on their blog and they've come quite far! They have a beautiful home and Meredith has done a great job of chronicling their progress.

3) Five Great Kiddos - Susan blogs about her job as a homemaker and mom of five. She also posts yummy meals and treats!

4) Fierce, Fit and Fabulous - Cait blogs from the heart. =] Almost every post of hers that I read brings back memories of something from earlier in my life or something that I loved/currently love. She recently posted about the show Friends which I watched all throughout college and now feel like I need to go watch all over again!

5) Inside BruCrew Life - Jocelyn posts amazing treats all the time! I'm basically drooling on the keyboard when I visit her blog.

6) Finding Joy in my Kitchen - Sno White posts delicious, healthy recipes on her website. I have found so many vegetarian main dishes on her site that I make often and they are so good!!

7) 1551 Transformed - Kelly posts about her home and design inspiration. There is some serious design eye candy on this girl's blog!

8) Redonkulous Runner - Ashley inspires me to run more! She runs like crazy and posts about her races, times and such. I run, but not nearly like this girl. Ashley want to move near me and be my personal trainer?

9) Evolution of Style - Jenny blogs about decorating her house and design. Her house is beautiful!

10) Russet Street Reno - Sara posts about her house and all the DIY projects that have come along with it. You've got to see the amazing transformations she and her husband have made (especially the bookshelves in their den!).

There are more I wanted to mention, but I'm about to run out the door to meet my family! Have a wonderful weekend everybody! =]