Pinterest Challenge Update

I'm happy to report that I will complete all six of my Pinterest Challenge projects by April. I've been working away on each of them. Here's my progress so far.

1. Grilled Malibu Chicken. We made it and LOVED it. Everything I hoped for and more. This recipe will definitely be added to our menu board rotation.

The only modification we made was pureeing pineapple for the sauce instead of using pineapple juice. Yum, yum, yum. We also used fancy Stubb's hickory smoked BBQ sauce. That certainly didn't hurt.

2. Tab-Top Curtain. I think I'll do an individual post about this project, but here's a sneak peek.

I'm so happy with the way they turned out.

3. One Year Old Busy Box. This one is still a work in progress, and it'll get it's own post too (especially since my baby just woke up from her nap...), but here's what I've made so far:

Pinterest Challenge

I don't know about you, but I love me some Pinterest. I think it's one of the greatest inventions of our time* and only wish it were around in my wedding planning days. That's okay though. Now I get to use it to visualize fun things like baby birthday parties and dream home decor. And I use it all of the time for cooking and baking. All of the time.

Sometimes I get on Pinterest though and pin things that look appealing to make or do "someday" and that day never rolls around because I forget about the idea. That's part of the reason I've decided to participate in the Sisters Share It All Pinterest Challenge.

If you want to participate, it's simple: choose six things on Pinterest that you want to try between now and April, create a blog post, and link up by clicking the button above.

Here's what I plan to work on:
1. A one year old's busy box. Keeping my baby occupied for three hours at church is kind of rough these days. I'm hoping this will give her little hands something to do. She'll also be going on her first out of state road trip soon, so I need things we can play with in the car for twelve freakin' hours.
2. Nutty Cinnamon Chocolate Truffle Squares. I've tried several main dishes from Perry's Plate that I've loved, but never a dessert. This one sounds yummy.
3. DIY headbands. I've been wanting a scarf-like head wrap for awhile, and I just recently came across this. Looks very simple, and it doesn't require sewing, which is perfect for me.
4. Add a "Pin It" button to blog pictures.
5. Tab-Top Curtain Tutorial. We really need a better curtain for our master bath, and this looks like the perfect tutorial to walk me through how to make my own.
6. Grilled Malibu Chicken. It seems like this might be a BYU thing? I don't know since I didn't go to college there; I do know that I love chicken and pineapple.

*The only thing better than Pinterest is a collection of Pinterest Fails. And by better I mean funnier.

Snow Day 2011

There was a lot of hype this week about the possibility of snow in central Texas. It was supposed to arrive late Thursday night. One to two inches, the weatherman said. I know that is nothing to people in other parts of the country, and we realize that's not a lot of snow here too, BUT Texas is totally unprepared for any snowy/icy weather. It's okay if you make fun of us; we like to poke fun at ourselves too. 

Sure enough, around 10 PM a little snow began to dust the ground. Henry and I went outside to check things out and witnessed our funny maintenance man doing donuts in the parking lot in his golf cart. We had a good chuckle about that.

We went to bed Thursday night hopeful for a late start for work the next morning, but I didn't think we'd realistically get one. May I mention that many of the area school districts announced that they'd have delayed starts early Thursday evening while mine did not make a decision until 5 am Friday. Boo...but yay because at 5:30 the next morning, Henry woke me up to tell me that we both got a snow day! An entire day off from work. A three-day weekend. So greatly appreciated.

5:30 AM

Early that morning, when the sun was still hidden, we went out for a walk. We were outside for about 45 minutes, and I really couldn't feel my fingers by the end of our adventure (I really hope you clicked that link above).

Henry throwing a snowball at me

It was perfect. The snow was fluffy and blanketed the ground throughout our neighborhood, but it started melting away early in the afternoon. By one o'clock, we were heading out for lunch at Mighty Fine Burgers and running some wedding related shopping errands. Fun. Then yesterday it was 60 degrees and sunny. Today it was 70 degrees and sunny. Can life get better? I submit that it cannot!

The Barbie Tree

Growing up, I was a bit of a girly girl. I tried to like sports, but my coordination was pretty awful until I reached the age of 14ish (and even then it wasn't that great). P.E. in elementary school was okay--except for that whole Punt, Pass, and Kick thing--but P.E. in junior high was a nightmare. It was the only class I made a B in from grades 6-8. But I digress.

Girly. I loved makeup and jumped at the chance to give anyone a makeover who would let me. I also really, really loved Barbies, and I owned a lot of them. I played with them a lot a lot too. Somewhere between the ages of 10 and 25 I lost the desire to actually play with them though, so now my beloved Barbies are boxed, safely under the guardianship of my parents' shed.

But evidently my love of Barbie has not completely waned, because each year when I go home, I find myself drawn to The Barbie Tree.

Behold, The Barbie Tree!

It's white, and it doesn't have a gazillion mismatched ornaments like my parents' other tree...and all of those Barbie ornaments have been given to me as Christmas gifts over the years. I dare you to guess how many Barbie ornaments I received for Christmas this year. 

Did you guess? 

The answer is four. I received a fifth ornament, but it wasn't Barbie; it was Crayola, the other type of Hallmark ornament I collect (all thanks to my mom). Normally I don't get so many in one year, but Mom said it was too hard to choose which one to buy this year. They make too many cute ones.

 I'm not complaining; this is one of the cuties I received. A Barbie shoe tree!

While I was at home, I practiced using the manual setting on my camera and got up-close and personal with some of the Barbies.

I know it'd look ridiculous on me, but I'd kind of like to try on her outfit.

Jackie O., is that you?

50th anniversary Barbie. My mom has an original like this. Very cool.

Polished and professional Barbie.

Trophy Wife Barbie? She seems a little uppity to me with one hand on her hip and the other clutching her gold necklace.

If a Barbie ornament were to be made in my likeness, I think it'd look a lot like this. Blue outfit, pencil skirt, camera in hand. She just needs to be a brunette.

See?

Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

So I don't bake much, and I blog about what I bake even less because most of the time, let's face it, the results aren't blog-worthy.

(You know where this is going.)

Last Friday, Henry and I made some seriously tasty cupcakes that the world needs to know about: Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. That's a delicious mouthful, no?

The recipe came from the site Ming Makes Cupcakes, which is now named "Cupcake HEAVEN" in my bookmarks list. You really have to follow that link to see what I'm talking about. Henry's already asking which one we're going to make next, and he's not even the cupcake fan in this household.

I was mostly impressed with the cake portion of this cupcake. Cream cheese frosting, though yummy, is not that exciting to me, but this vanilla almond cake was perfection. Worth every penny for that expensive almond meal.

So go, check out Ming's cupcakes, and let me know if you make any. It will be hard to choose which one to try next!

Halloween Costumes 2010

We actually had not one, but two Halloween costumes this year. We weren't being overzealous in our celebration of Halloween; it's just that our *real* costume only worked with three people, and we were missing our darling third wheel for the first costume-required party.

Costumes one and two were both really simple though.

Costume 1 was recycled: Price is Right contestants. This was my costume my freshman year of college (can't believe that was seven years ago!), so I already had the shirt. I just bought some new iron-on letters to cross out Bob and add Drew. I bought a sticky-backed foam sheet for our name tags, and done. Easy, and it cost about $4. Not bad at all.

Costume 2: rock, paper, scissors!

Also very easy and inexpensive. We did have the advantage of getting large pieces of cardboard and a grommet from FedEx (Henry's former employer---so excited to be able to say former by the way).

After that, we took it home to spray paint the handles red and to cover the blades with aluminum foil.

Henry went "3-hole punch Jim" style for his paper costume. We just cut out three circles from a sheet of black foam. Now might be a good time to mention that some people were confused about Henry's costume. The Office fans recognized him as 3-hole punch Jim, but others thought he might be a domino. Not paper. If we were to do this again, I think we'd add blue horizontal lines to his white shirt.

Deciding how to make April a rock was the toughest part. We thought about stuffing a black garbage bag or painting/chalking up a black shirt, but luckily Henry had the brilliant idea of wrapping her up in a scarf I already owned. She really didn't want to wear it at first, but somehow we got her to concede.

The cost of all three of our costumes was approximately $10. Sure beats the hundredsomething dollars we spent last year to be Mary Poppins and Bert!

You're looking at the "Most Original" costume winners, Rutherford Ln. Trunk-or-Treat 2010.

H, a, double l, o, w, double e, n...

spells Halloween! 

I am so excited for all of the Halloween festivities this year. Love my new wreath {seen below}, love the return of all things pumpkin and spice, and it's finally starting to feel like fall! 

Last night we carved a few pumpkins with some friends. Haunted Tree was completed by Team Henry, Allison, and Tyler. Mummy Pumpkin was completed by Team Henry and Donna plus a little mascot. It was a fun night. I'm so thankful for all of the awesome friends we've made in our ward...even if a lot of them have moved/will be moving away soon.

Up next:  trunk-or-treating. Can't wait to take my niece tomorrow night! She will be the cutest rock ever...

Personal Style

I know it's been a while since I've updated. I haven't been digiscrappin lately, but I think I might work on my February 12 of 12 tomorrow. Just got a little burnt out after doing the 20 pages promotion in January on two peas. I still have to pick out my free digital stuff!

In the meantime, this morning I learned more about my personal style.

According to Sproost, I'm 45% Cottage Chic, 45% Modern Elegance, and 10% Contemporary. How exciting.


Cottage Chic

Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you!

You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background?



Modern Elegance

Variety is the spice of life! And nowhere is this truer than in the design of your home. You may love contemporary, but wish it wasn't quite so cold and austere, or perhaps you're drawn to traditional rooms but you'd like to create a less cluttered and busy space. Transitional Style is here to marry those apparent contradicting designs.

And guess what? It's the contradictions that make the mix of contemporary and traditional so successful. The result is an elegant room that appeals to young and old alike. A sofa with modern lines blends seamlessly with a pair of traditional chairs. New fabrics work so well on antique pieces. It turns out that modern art looks even more exciting above a collection of traditional pieces. The room feels simple and sophisticated, elegant and hip.



Contemporary

So fresh and clean! Antiques? No thanks! Vintage collections and clutter of any type? Not for you! You like your space new and sleek. Each piece is chosen carefully as though it were a piece of art, and your love of minimalism is expressed throughout each room. Furniture has clean lines and geometric shapes are preferred.

You're not afraid of color — in fact, bold color options only highlight the minimal items you choose for your home. But the key is clean. To master the minimalist interior you not only have to be selective in the few furniture items you bring into the space, you must also find a way to hide all of the real-life items as well.

Find your style here.