Catching Up

Oh hi!

I took a little break from blogging, because honestly I haven’t been doing much, and certainly not enough to make an interesting post daily!

Plus, a lot of what I’ve been doing may or may not involve Christmas presents, and I would hate for anyone to see their presents on the blog first!

But here is a little of what I have been doing.

A little of this.

A little more of this.

There was some of this.

                   [Thank you Krylon glitter burst spray paint!]

And since the wee hours of Monday morning, a whole lot of this.

So love him. So, so glad to have him home.

Also, the weather here in Eastern North Carolina has finally  graced me with the ability to wear my new jacket. <3

I do love Fall. Well, I’m off to be lazy with my sweetheart. I’ll see y’all later! <3

Three Miles of Catching Up

So annoyed right now.

Don’t worry, it’s nothing major. Haha. Just the weather not co-operating with me. How dare Mother Nature interfere with my plans!

But in all seriousness I did have some plans to do some crafts/photography for the blog that required sunshine, so I’m in the process of shifting gears right now!

On a brighter note, last night I met up with one of my oldest friends to walk and catch up. It was 3 of the best miles I’ve spent in a long time. <3

Plus the view wasn’t too shabby either!

Isabella is expecting her first child, so we chatted about that, and lots of other things. Then we had a diner date at Chipotle, and I sure do love my Chipotle!

Last night I also wrote a guest post, so go check it out. <3

I got my hair done today, nothing fancy, same thing as usual. I’ll spare the photos. [Who am I kidding. You know they’ll be up tomorrow or something!]

Well, I’m off to do this craft. I have some things I want to make my Momma, and I leave here Thursday morning.

Love you guys! <3

I {Heart} Zombies

And who doesn’t?

But I mean, I really love them.

They are fun to read about, fight in a video game, dress up as, watch on the big {or little} screen, and hopefully to run away from.

So, the fact that I spent six watching the first season of The Walking Dead yesterday, or decorating my best friend’s house for a zombie themed Halloween party until the wee hours of the morning makes perfect sense. Right?! Right.

But in all seriousness, The Walking Dead is a FANTASTIC show, and if you haven’t watched it yet, then you definitely should. The whole first season [all 6 episodes] are available on Netflix. Season Two started last night, and it’s looking to be just as wonderful. <3

Other than thinking/talking/watching zombies, I sold some stuff at a yard sale [hey, the more I sell here at my mom’s, the less I have to cart up to NC and find storage for!], and took BabyBro to the pumpkin patch.

Pretty great weekend. <3

Book Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children

First off, I was almost afraid to start reading this, because the photographs gave me the creeps.

And it’s easy to give me the creeps.

Here is the excerpt from the jacket:

“A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience.As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.”

In this fictional tale, author Ransom Riggs takes real and unrelated photographs and creates a unique and intriguing story, giving each photograph a character, or as a rare experience for a reader, each character a photograph.

A preview of some of the photographs:

I really enjoyed this book. So much so, that it only took me a day to read! The author painted such a vivid picture, it felt like I was in the moment with them, and I was enthralled by the children and each one’s “peculiarity”. But the best part of all, at least for this girl?

It was not scary.

I loved it, and would recommend this quick, easy, interesting read to anyone! <3

Ponies, Dancing, and A Little Bit of Food

So, my buddy [and fellow god-parent] Lance has decided on his Halloween costume for the year.

My Little Pony.

Apple Delight to be exact.

So, since my best friend is a super talented and famous [well she SHOULD be!] artist, he kindly asked her to paint his zentai suit with the little ‘tattoos’ on the pony. Oh yeah. I took pictures.

How awesome is that?! I can’t wait to see the final product.

Another thing that may or may not have happened was an impromptu dance party in the kitchen….

Kitchen Dance Party

Then, finally, there was the food.

Oh, the food. <3

Usually when I cook with Lance I tell him I want to help, and have him teach me. [Lance is an actual chef. Culinary school and all.] What I mean is, “You do all the work, while I blog and Facebook.”

Obviously.

But this time, I actually did have to help a little, since he was in a white spandex suit with wet paint.

I’m excellent at dicing potatoes, if I do say so myself. <3

I also learned some fun facts. Such as where the term “86 it” came from.

I’ll be guest blogging on Lance’s blog later with all the goods. So be sure to check it out. <3 Love y’all! And feel free to break out in a dance party at all times. I’ll never judge. <3

Halloween [Stormy] Horror Nights

Eeeeek!

Haunted houses!

Scare Zones!

Roller Coasters!

Oh my!

This past weekend I made it to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios for the first time. I’ve wanted to go for a very long time, but something [money, distance, time, etc] always got in the way. But not this year!

This is what I wanted to wear.

However, this is what I ended up wearing.

Because it rained. The Whole. Time.

They didn’t have any scare zones, and it did kind of make it miserable, since we were SOAKED.

But the haunted houses were fun [except the first one we went to, it was lameeeeee.] My favorite was an Edgar Allen Poe based house, and rocked. The winter cemetery was super awesome, also, especially since they made it super cold.

I really want to go again next year, since we missed out on the Scare Zones.

Plus, it was a great way to spend some time with my Mom. <3

Coolest Cats Around

Hi friends!

I just wanted to let everyone know what I’ve been up to in the past few days, seeing as how I haven’t written in a while. So here’s a brief update.

+Made cupcakes. Ate way too many cupcakes. Cursed myself for having no self control. Consoled myself with more cupcakes. Got over it and realized I’m not perfect. <3

+Tried to super glue myself to a certain Marine, yet was unsuccessful, as he left for training late last night. Three weeks of not sleeping well, here I come. Miss him so much already.

+Hung out with Jenn from PeasandCrayons [of the WIAW fame!] and had a flippin’ blast.

+Painted/mod-podged/glittered more Christmas ornaments. [Can’t wait until they are finished and I can do a post about them.]

+Realized I took no photos of any of it.

My bad, guys. I am on my way down to Florida tomorrow, and I will be going to Halloween Horror Nights [at Universal Studios] this weekend, so I will be sure to take lots of photos then.

Love you lots, and who knows. Maybe I’ll even do a WIAW post myself. I hear it’s what all the cool cats are doing. <3

Speaking of cool cats, here’s my favorite one.

                             [Go away Mom. I’m sleeping here. Jeeze.]

Pumpkin Latte Cupcakes

So you remember how I said I love the fall?!

Well someone else also loves the fall. The boy.

Though his reasons for loving it seems to be a little thing called a pumpkin. I tell him I want to make a cheesecake, and I get “A pumpkin pie?” I say I want to make him cookies, and I get “A pumpkin pie?” A cake?

“A pumpkin pie?"

The thing is, I dislike pumpkin pie. I know, call me un-American, but it’s true. I do, however, love Pumpkin Lattes, so when I found a recipe for Pumpkin Latte cupcakes, I was super pumped!

I set out to make these gems today, when I ran into a snag in the plan.

We don’t have cupcake/muffin baking pans.

What?! Who am I ? I’m like obsessed with cupcakes! Literally! I have bread pans, a Bundt pan, spring form pans, cookie sheets, round cake pans, rectangle cake pans, the list goes on, but not one cupcake pan?!

So guess who got the privilege of running to the store?

Thanks, honey. <3

So I set out to making them.

I found the recipe via Pinterest [where else?!] and you can read the original recipe [here]. It’s a super easy recipe, though I would probably be cursing all things baking if it weren’t for my Kitchenaid Mixer. Here is a photo montage of the process. <3

[Mixing away.]

[Cooling]

[Brushing with Coffee]

The result?

Shane told me I was allowed 1/2 of exactly one, since they are all his.

I deem that a success! <3 These will definitely be making more of an appearance in this household.

Falling for Fall

Hey everyone!

Is anyone else in love with Fall? I think you are, because everyone keeps talking about it. I haven’t had any season except summer for the past 6 years, so this is some kind of magical wonder for me!

Shane and I went fall shopping [I have NO fall clothes, only summer warm ones!] and I can’t wait to wear all my outfits! I wore one, with my new Navy boots! [In my opinion, the best part of fall is the ability to wear boots!]

In other news, of the football variety, this past Saturday my team suffered it’s first loss of the season. Florida lost to Alabama, which just so happens to be my daddy’s team of choice. [He’s from Birmingham] So, OF COURSE, he calls me on Sunday to rub it in my face, telling me all about how he wore the Bama shirt I bought him [for his birthday] all day. And got lots of compliments on it. [I doubt the compliments part, though, since our entire small town sports orange and blue… haha.]

I don’t know how we’re related, but I love him anyways.

Now I’m just cleaning this nasty house, planning on baking some fun cupcakes, and decorating Christmas ornaments. The plan is to have the tree decorated in all DIY ornaments! :)

I’m off for now! Have a WONDERFUL fall day everyone!

With A Little Help

Hey everyone!

After my Disney adventures, it was back to real life this week. I am so happy to have my love home, and I figured a little celebrating was in order.

That stuff is the bomb.com. We have the original, and the raspberry. I have the feeling this stuff will be making an appearance in out home often.

Shane and I took a trip to Michael’s yesterday, and so I’ve been in a crafty mood! I am in the process of making Christmas ornaments, upcycling those wine bottles, some tricks with canvas, and other crafts.

But this morning, I’m crocheting Shane a scarf, and somebody decided to help me out.

                      [What, Mom? I want to help make Daddy a scarf too!]

Anyways, I’m off to make some more stuff. Pictures to follow. <3

More Disney Joy

Hey guys! I’m having so much re-living my Disney adventures, and I seriously need to get to scrapbooking it ASAP. [Note to self, go get pictures developed today!]

I’ll start up where I left off. Saturday was the big day, when Akemi [my little angel of a goddaughter] was getting the Princess makeover at the Bippity-Boppity Boutique. Basically, you go, get your nails and makeup done, and you choose a hairstyle, and then you get turned into a Princess!

Akemi was going to be Princess Tiana [since she’s her mini-me!], though ironically enough, it seems her favorite Princess is Ariel. Smart girl. Ariel and Tiana are MY two favorite princesses! Haha.

Her appointment wasn’t until 1pm, so we hit up the Magic Kingdom for the morning, but actually split up, since we had minimal time to get the park done. Nana and Papa and Uncle Bobby took the wee ones on the little rides, and El, Shane, Ryan, Brandi, Mikey and myself all hit up the good ones. Starting with the Haunted Mansion of course.

Next we jostled over to Thunder Mountain, then Splash Mountain, ending the rides with Pirates of the Caribbean. That was all we had time for, but we were blessed in that we didn’t have any lines, and walked directly onto all the rides. We met back up with the rest of the crew for lunch.

Magic Kingdom

[In the stocks right before the Haunted Mansion]

[Waiting on Thunder Mountain]

[Right before the big drop on Splash Mountain]

                [Pirates of the Caribbean]

                                                   [On the Pirates ride]

Next went to eat lunch, then off to Downtown Disney to make Akemi’s Princess appointment. It was so awesome! She was a complete doll, and I can tell she is going to be a total diva. She ate the attention up, and I was starting to cry, honestly.

Akemi’s Transformation

After the wee one was transformed, we headed over to Epcot. I don’t know about y’all, but Epcot is my absolute favorite at Disney World, even though when I was a teenager I thought it was so boring. [“They, like, want me to, like, LEARN something? Like, where are the, like, RIDES?] I was slightly, um…. retarded? Epcot is the shiz, and it has something for EVERYONE. The countries alone are so cool. Plus, Mission Space, Test Trak, and Soarin’? Psssssssh. Anything but lame. It was so much fun, and at the end of the day we were DONE.

Epcot

                [Shots in Mexico. And Ryan being creepy, AGAIN!]

          [Channeling my inner panda in China.]

                      [Channeling my inner fat kid in Germany]

And thus completes my Disney recap. It was super wonderful, and I can’t wait to go back, and this time hit up Universal and Sea World [my FAVORITE]. I hope y’all enjoyed my recap. <3

Disney Shenanigans

Hey y’all!

As I [may have] mentioned previously we took a mini vacation down to DisneyWorld for my goddaughter’s birthday this weekend. She turns 3 on October 2nd, and she wanted to be turned into a princess.

I flew down on Thursday, and we immediately went out to dinner with the whole crew. My angel ran up to me shouting “Katy! Katy!” and made my heart melt with joy. Then she shouted “Go Gators!” and all was right in my world. Such a good girl. She also wanted to sit next to me. I love this little girl so much.

Dinner was super wonderful, with the exception of the service. It was awful, and we even had to complain to the manager. And I never complain about service. It was THAT bad. The server even came up to us to chew us out for speaking with the manager. I’ve never heard of that! I believe she was fired after that. It was a very dramatic dinner!

The next day the kids, Nana, Papa, and myself hit up the Animal Kingdom. The adults MY age slept in. I love my best friend more than 99.9% of the population, but that girl can SLEEP. But there was no way I was going to give up a chance at a free trip to a Disney park! [Ellie’s uncle works at DIsney and gets free tickets. They always join us when they aren’t working, and are a freaking BLAST to hang out with.] Animal Kingdom was pretty neat, but I wouldn’t pay full price for the admission, I’d definitely do the hopper. It was mostly a extravagant zoo, and we’re blessed in Jacksonville to have a WONDERFUL zoo that only costs $20. They are building an Avatar area to open in 2013, though, so I’m sure I’ll like it much more then.

[Me and Akemi. That hair lasted about 20 minutes before it was in a ponytail.]

[Twinsies]

We only spent the morning there, and then we went back to the condo to wake the others and eat lunch before heading out to Old Town, which is like a carnival, and where the Sky Coaster is.

[Akemi and Mommy on the carousel.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Akemi, the biker chick.]

Next was dinner time, and we had reservations at Capone’s. It’s a dinner theatre show, like Medieval Times, but with a Gangster Prohibition theme. We got there early, and went upstairs to have a few drinks [only Cream Soda for me, since I had to miss the show to pick Shane up from his flight.] and hang out. At which we found these neat stairs. They didn’t do anywhere, but weren’t roped off, so I wanted a photo shoot.

 
[Me and the bestie.]

                                [Ellie and Ryan]

                                  [Me, Brandi, Ellie, Ryan, Mikey]

                                             [Me and the kiddos.]

I had to go get Shane form the airport, and that’s when the storm started. So here I am, driving around a town I don’t know, in pouring rain, and lightening striking in the road in front of me. NBD, you know?

So I find this airport, and Shane is waiting, but so is the rest of the airport. They grounded all flights, and wouldn’t allow any baggage off of the plane thanks to to the storm. Luckily, the Orlando airport is huge, and had a Macaroni Grill there for me and my love to eat dinner. I had a delicious scallop spinach salad.

After dinner, we headed back to the condo, and [after getting super lost and having a sort of breakdown!] hung out for a while before bed. Saturday was going to be a long day! I’ll drop off then, and finish the weekend tomorrow.

Needless to say, it was a blast, and I loved it!