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!