Grill + Wine = Best Weekend Ever

Our little family of three enjoyed a much needed lazy weekend!  We've been running around traveling and Matt's been gone for work...it was so wonderful to just spend some time with each other.

 

Since it was finally nice out and not raining for a change...Matt and I grilled out on Saturday night.  It was the most wonderful thing ever.  I am in love with the smell of 'grill.'  You know?  If they had a cologne called "Grill It" I would totally buy it for Matt.  There's something about a man who smells like meat...

Anyways, we had yummy chicken and corn on the cob...and I popped open the bottle of wine Matt lugged home for me from Hong Kong.  It was delicious.  I had my allotted 2 servings (which when actually measuring is really not the amount I thought it was for years...) and it was plenty to have me enjoying myself as this mama has not drunk anything for, well gosh, a year?  Oh dear.  That is just sad. 

Natalie has her 4 month appointment this afternoon and I cannot wait to see how much she has grown!  Perhaps I should do her 3 month post before her 4 month one?  Hm.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!!

XOXO

A Visit and Tons of Yummy Recipes!

Happy Monday friends!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!  I got to enjoy some much needed time with my parents in Cleveland this weekend (only their third visit to this fine city!) and it was just great!

They arrived Friday evening and we had some delicious jambalaya with bacon onion cheddar biscuits.  Oh my goodness were these good.  Click here for the recipe.  You will NOT be disappointed!  We finished off the meal with Oreo cheesecake bars.  Yum! 

Saturday I was up bright and early to head over to the lab for my glucose screening.  And guess what?  I didn't throw up!!  Woot, woot!  I was home before 9 and was able to enjoy some homemade cinnamon rolls from Pioneer Woman.  I thought I'd better wait to eat all that butter and sugar until after my glucose screening.  My mama didn't raise no dummy.

We spent the day watching football and doing a little shopping.  I introduced my mom and grandma to Costco and I think I created a monster!  You know those people who just stand there and wait for the samples to come out?  That was them.  I know.  I can't take them anywhere! 

We also enjoyed a few rousing games of bowling on the Wii and played a little Guitar Hero per my dad's request.  He enjoyed the tunes :) 

We ended up getting a late lunch of pizza (yum!) and were so full from that we didn't even have dinner :)  Ha!  I did make some of Shaina's delicious brownies which were so yummy warmed up it is hard to describe.  A must try!

Sunday I made cinnamon baked french toast for breakfast.  It was a hit! (I'm just realizing that when people visit...I always center around food.  Hm.  I think I have an issue.)  My family left around noon so Matt and I spent the rest of the day lounging around and catching up on some much needed sleep.  We also ordered most of the furniture for the nursery!!  I cannot wait to see it all set up :)

We don't get to rest too much though because my in-laws are coming this weekend!   Eek!

How was your weekend????

Morning friends!

Our weekend was just fabulous!  I feel like we got a million things accomplished in those short little two days and I could not be more excited! 

Saturday we spent most of the day down in Akron visiting Wayside Furniture.  Can I just tell you how in love with this place I am?  I found my dream couch, the dining room table I have been searching for, and a slew of other things I didn't even know I needed!  Ha!  We didn't make any purchases yet, but I see a new dining room table in our near future!

Sunday we ran a ton of errands (most importantly....got a pumpkin!) and did some unpacking.  We unpacked our china which has been sitting in a box for *cough* over three years.  It's so beautiful and I cannot wait until Christmas so I can finally use it!!

Also, I've been meaning to post about this for about a million years, but let's just pretend I wanted to get some really good use out of this product before doing a review for my readers, shall we?

I was "recently" sent this beautiful lunch bag via Simply Bags.  As a bonus for you....you get a sneak peak at my kitchen.  Well, approximately 1/12th of it. 

    
Honestly, I'm in love with it.  It's really well insulated, the embroidery is well done, and it fits anything and everything I take to work for lunch.  Which, let's face it, these days...is a lot.  I can fit tupperware, fruit, yogurt, silverware, and snacks all in this thing.  Plus, it's stinkin' cute.

Hope everyone has a lovely Tuesday!!


*Disclosure:  Simply Bags sent me a free lunch tote in order to review their product on my blog.  The opinions on this blog, however, are all mine.*

Are You Ready for Some Football?

We had a wonderful weekend that was fairly busy...but we were also able to squeeze in some much needed rest!  Thank goodness!

Saturday evening we were invited to an event with some of Matt's co-workers called Steamfest.  It was held a little south of the city on the Cuyahoga National Valley Scenic Railroad.  We were able to ride an actual steam engine about 30 minutes south to Akron, Oh, enjoy some yummy apps and drinks (well, I ogled them), and return to the station with delish desserts.

The only downside of the night, I had to dress up.  About a week before I picked out three potential dresses that I already owned that I figured would work.  STUPID.  STUPID.  STUPID.  I couldn't even begin to zip one up, the other one looked hideous, and this is the one I had to wear.   

People, I am massive.Wearing a dress instead of sweat and jeans definitely made me look 1,000,000 X more pregnant that before.  And my boobs.  Oh my boobs.  The cleavage could not be concealed.  I decided to wear a pashmina most of the night because I was just that embarrassed.

Note to self:  try on outfit more than 20 minutes before you have to leave. 

My back hurt insanely bad in this pic.  I did not anticipate the amount of standing I would have to do in heels.  Lesson #2 learned.

Sunday we were all hopped up on adrenaline for our first NFL weekend!  We're big college football fans, but we definitely enjoy the NFL as well.  I'm a Bears fan while Matt is a lover of the Colts.  We were meeting our friends for the 4 o'clock games though which included the Eagles.  One of our friends is from Philadelphia so I made these special treats for him.  Too bad it didn't help them win....

They were delicious :)  I seriously cannot get enough Oreo truffles.  Where my life was before I found these babies....I will never know.  And I don't even want to know again.

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

And don't forget to check out my giveaway going on RIGHT NOW! 

I feel like my blog is ultra boring these days.

The only material I can come up with is my weekly baby updates...and I didn't really invent those...so clearly I've got nothing.

How can a girl who is building a house and having a baby all at the same time have nothing to blog about?

Who knows.  But it's the truth.

So perhaps you would like to hear about my weekend? 

We spent Friday night out with dear friends and their 16 month old little boy.  He is so cute, he makes the thought of having a boy seem okay to me.  Even though my body aches for a girl.  This just shows how precious he truly is.  We were sitting on the floor together and he picked up a book, handed it to me, and then proceeded to plop himself down right on my lap.  I felt my heart melt and I almost started crying it was so cute.  

FYI:  I'm going to have one of those!!

And to my surprise, Matt actually PICKED HIM UP!  I have never in my life seen Matt touch a child.  He's just that guy.  He has no interest in babies or other people's kids.  It was so sweet to see him play with their little one, read to him, and let him sit on his lap.  Oh I just cannot wait until we get to hold our little baby in our arms!!

Anywho....Saturday I spent 9 hours at a Junior League meeting, earning one measly training credit, but had a fairly pleasant day with two of my friends.  Too bad it was whilst listening to a lecture.  Oh well.  Free food.

Sunday I spent some time packing up the house.  I have over 30 boxes packed so far...but I feel like there is no end in site.  Thank goodness I started early.  We also made a delicious toffee cheesecake!  You know what I hate about cheesecake?  You have to let it refrigerate overnight.  Who thought of that rule?  Someone I hate.  That's who.  Don't worry.  I made up for it yesterday by eating about a 1/4.of it when I got home from work. 

And then went to my first prenatal yoga class.

Not the smartest idea I've ever had. 

Cookies for Dinner?

Good afternoon my friends! 

I had such a delightful and productive weekend!  I hope you did too!

Well, besides Friday.  When Matt came home from work early (5 p.m. baby!) and we proceeded to fall asleep on the couch at 7 p.m., completely sleep through dinner, and wake up only to move into the bedroom.  That, my friends, is not how I saw my Friday evening going....

We did, however, pound out a major kitchen cleaning on Saturday...and when I say we, I mean mostly Matt.  I did, however, take all of the mail, receipts, and any other pieces of junk from the counter tops and promptly sit my butt down on the floor to organize it all.  So, you know, I helped.

We drove by our new house, which now has all of the foundation down...and our garage is up!  Yippee!!  And we stopped by Dick's to pick up some 3-Day supplies for this weekend.  Ah...and then had Chick-fil-a for dinner :)  Delicious!

Sunday I was finally able to get up and go to church.  It was the most wonderful service!  Honestly, there really wasn't anything super special about it....but I was just so glad to be there.  I was even able to fit in a whole grocery trip and lunch afterward without dying!  I did sleep for a few hours when we got home, but it was worth it :)

And then to top off our fantastic weekend, we made Oatmeal Scotchies for dessert!  Well, technically I had them for dinner because I had two and then got too full to eat dinner.  But who really cares about that, right?

My Kitchen is Clean!

So I'm leaving work early on Friday, gearing up to hear my sweet little baby's heart beat when BAM!  I pop a tire. 
No.  I am not joking.

Matt came to the rescue because I couldn't even figure out how to get my tire out of my car, let alone change it.  Turns out I was missing a piece anyway.  Who knew?  So we took off to the appointment and left the Taurus to fend for herself.  (Yes, the Taurus is a girl.  My Shadow was a boy....the Taurus is a girl.  Duh.)

Although late, we had the most wonderful appointment!  We got to hear our little one at 156!!  What a sweet, sweet sound :)

And then we stopped at Outback for a carryout Bloomin' Onion and salad.  I literally could not stop talking about how cool I thought the online ordering and carryout for Outback was the entire way home.  It was to the point I was annoying myself.  But seriously, it's genius.

My in laws were coming for a visit and they arrived Friday evening.  I warned them ahead of time as to the state of our home and of course they didn't mention a thing.  In fact, I woke up Saturday morning to breakfast and my entire kitchen was cleaned.  You have no idea how long it has been since I have seen an empty kitchen counter.  It was glorious.  In fact, I promptly asked them to move in with us. 

The rest of the weekend, Matt and his parents spent some time roaming around the city whilst baby and I rested at home.  We may or may not have gotten Donatos because we know how much Daddy hates it.  And if anyone's keeping track, baby's with me on this one.  Donatos = yum.

So by Monday morning when my in laws left...my kitchen was still spotless, my tire had been fixed, we had food in our fridge, and I didn't have to do a thing.  I seriously could not have been more grateful.  They took one look at me and knew I needed help....and that's exactly what they gave.  And they were ridiculously happy to do it.  I truly do not think I could've married into a better family.  Not possible.

A Very Happy Fourth!

Whoa!  Getting up today for work was H.A.R.D.  I'm seriously considering taking the rest of this pregnancy off.  And then going on an extended maternity leave...aka...never coming back.  Who's with me?

Anywho, our little family had such a lovely weekend!  I had the day off on Friday so I decided to hit up the theaters in the morning to see Eclipse.  Thought I'd save Matty from taking me to see that one :)  I spent the rest of the afternoon making cupcakes to take to a BBQ that evening hosted by some of my Junior League friends.  I heard they were delicious...but my sweet tooth is still hiding so I couldn't tell you.  I did have a small piece of cookie cake, because seriously, if there is ever a day I turn down cookie cake...just shoot me.  Life will no longer be worth living.

So the BBQ was delightful.  When I was there, I realized something fabulous.  We are now in the age group where our parties includes kids, bubbles, and catching up with friends all night long.  No longer do I have to endure keg stands or frat guys.  A girl could get used to this.

Saturday Matt and I made a yummy Strawberry Cheese Pie, which I find sounds disgusting....so just think of it as pretty much a cheesecake but not as firm, okay?  We took it to another party that evening and enjoyed some much needed time with our friends.  Bonus:  they had just set up the kiddie pool so we all gathered around and dipped out feet in the water.  Perhaps I should invest in one of these now?

Sunday we were supposed to go watch fireworks with friends, but oh did the baby have other plans.  He or she said very loudly, "SLOW DOWN MAMA!"  So I did.  And Monday was more of the same.  I did make an attempt to go to the grocery store, which resulted in an utter fail...but lesson learned.  I did get the Pop Tarts I have so been craving...so I guess it was worth it :)

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Blessed!

Morning girlies!

Thanks for all of the well wishes yesterday!  I am feeling slightly better today and was able to eat a decent dinner last night (hey...pizza rolls is decent in my book...) so things are looking up!

Forgive me for doing a weekend recap on a Wednesday...but I must share!

Friday Matt and I hit up Dairy Queen for their buy one blizzard, get the other for 25 cents deal.  It was PACKED!  I enjoyed the Turtle Pecan Blizzard and Matt had the Heath.  Delicious....however...I missed my Reese's something fierce.

Saturday I busted out my 8 miles in the morning in a light sprinkle and then headed to Chick-fil-a for breakfast.  Yum!  We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house in preparation for Matt's parents to arrive.  It was just fabulous seeing them and was so sweet of them to come up for a visit!

Sunday we trotted over to the model home to show off our new digs.  We also hit up Lowe's and a local gardening center in search of some veggies and herbs for our garden.  We now have little baby tomatoes, basil, onion, and garlic on the way :)

We went to the evening service at church on Sunday because we were getting baptized!  Oh what a fabulous experience that was!  My MIL snapped a few photos of the process and I am so glad she did!

Just before this...I missed the last step into the pool and almost fell.  According to my MIL she didn't even notice...so hopefully she wasn't fibbing :)  Oh how embarrassing that would've been....

Hubs is up next!

What an amazing day to share together as believers!  And it was glorious to have Matt's parents there with us to celebrate!  They even brought us brand new bibles :)  So sweet!

But the highlight our night, we got to shake our pastor's hand!  I know that sounds a little weird...but our church is HUGE.  Like, thousands of people, huge.  And our pastor is very well known in the Christian community as he is on the radio and travels all over the world spreading the good news..so he is constantly being pulling in a million directions and is very busy.  He's just fantastic and we are so blessed to be able to hear him preach.  But we were all nervous to meet him!  It was kind of like meeting a celebrity!  Ha!  But he was super cool and really encouraging of us on that night.  Definitely an experience I will remember forever!

Jam Packed Plans!

Morning ladies!

Thank goodness it's Friday, right!  I have a very full weekend planned but I'm really excited for it to get started!

Tonight I have a 5 miler on the schedule...so hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can get outside today.  I've seen rain in the forecast and my pretty pink shoes do not heart walking in the rain.

Saturday is 8 miles.  My plan in to walk three quarters of the way to Chick-fil-a and then have Matt pick me up for some lunch.  What do you think?  Sound like a plan you can get behind?  Me too.  What more of a motivating factor do I need than a chicken sandwich?  Answer: none.

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Hold the pickle please....


Then I shall be in crazy cleaning mode because Matt's parents are coming up for a visit!  Am I the only one who only cleans when people are coming over?  Besides the kitchen...I seriously don't think I really clean a thing unless I have to.  Wife = Fail.

His parents are dying to see the model home, so after a yummy breakfast I intend on making (i.e. blackberry coffee cake!)...that's what we'll do.  I also have to try to fit in 6 miles somewhere in that day.  Hm.

But the purpose of their visit is for Sunday night!  Matt and I are getting baptized at church!  This is something I have been wanting to do for quite a while and I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to finally have this opportunity.  And to share in it with my husband is a dream come true.

Now...to get through this work day!  Ha! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

XOXO

Just a Little Taste

Y'all know I'm doing the 3-Day, right??

Well, I went home to Indiana last weekend for a quick trip to investigate some spots for fundraising events.  Although it was just for a few days, I think I made a lot of progress on nailing down some leads!

And while I was there I got to spend some much needed time with my family.  I hardly ever come home without Matt so it was really nice to stay in my own house with my parents and spend all the time I wanted to with just them.  We visited my grandpa, grandma, and an aunt all in one day...which let me tell you...never happens!  I even got in some training walks with my BFF when I was there.  Simply put, it was just the weekend I needed.  (Besides the 5 hour drive of course...but that clearly goes without saying.)

On Saturday night, BFF Jill, her SIL Melissa, and I went to Tastings.  It's a really cool concept for a wine bar in downtown Indianapolis.  It has tasting stations of wine set up with a brief description of each wine listed.  When you find a wine you want to try, you insert your pre-paid Tasting's card (which is basically like a credit card you put any amount of money on you want) and out comes a taste!  The prices vary...but shockingly I stuck to the $2.50 wines instead of venturing over to the more expensive kind!

It was a super fun night...and we got cheese!

Overall, the weekend was a blast and I cannot wait to make another visit!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend (and since I'm so far behind...and it's already Wednesday...) hope everyone is having a great week!!

Getting Closer...

Happy Monday friends!

We had another busy weekend filled with not so fun things like 3 hours of Junior League training...and really fun things like house hunting! We've officially found three potential houses and are just working out the kinks with our Realtor to figure out which would suit us the best. So exciting!

In other, some would argue equally exciting news, I FIT INTO A SIZE LOWER JEANS this morning! After realizing that my current pair...with a hole on each side of the crotch that just keeps growing and growing...could no longer be worn in public, I searched my drawer to see if I had anything in the next size down. I found a pair, slipped those babies on, and they freaking fit! I could not be more thrilled!

In fact, I may've done a dance. And made up a song. It is entitled, "I Fit Into a Lower Size." Clever, right? And those may be the only words to the song...but I do repeat them over and over. And the dance adds an effect you are missing not being here in person. Trust me.

Who knew working out and eating well would help you lose weight? Shocking discovery I'd say!

Hope everyone has a fabulous week! Matt will be in and out of town the entire week so it's back to leftovers and Lean Pockets for dinner for this girl...which I must admit I love :) But I do miss him terribly when he's gone. Ah my love, how you complete me...

I know. Puke.



And how much do I miss this little face!?! He has been covered in a beard and mustache since Christmas!

Birthday Wishes!

Happy Tuesday my friends!! Did everyone have a lovely weekend!?!

Our weekend was overshadowed by an awful Sunday involving car trouble on the way to church...leaving us stranded for approximately 3 hours at a Marathon gas station which I later learned was the same exact gas station where my co-worker's son was killed a few months ago. Yeah. I know.

And after we had our car towed the 20 miles to the shop by our house, we left without getting our garage door opener...leaving us locked out of our house. Good thing we rent and have landlords that are willing to come to our rescue on a Sunday afternoon. They could not have been more generous about the whole incident. Oh what a day!

So after leaving the house at 8:45 a.m. we returned at 3 p.m. with absolutely nothing accomplished. And then the Colts lost which makes my heart sad. But we did enjoy watching the Super Bowl with good friends and yummy food...so there was a glimmer of fun on our Sunday!

On a much happier note, I would like to take this opportunity to wish one of my bestest friends a very, very happy birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAINA!!

Shaina's one of those girls you have no choice but to love. She is undoubtedly hilarious but also incredibly kind and supportive. I am beyond lucky to call her my friend. Now head on over and wish this fabulous lady a happy birthday!!

Good afternoon my friends!! How was your weekend!?! Ours was just lovely. Full of nothing but snuggling, date nights, and lounging around the house. It was heaven.

I even got to finish a book I have been working on Friday evening.

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It seems like I have read a review of this book on every single blog I read....so I'm not going to waste your time. I will just say, if you haven't read this, do it. You won't regret it. And a big thanks to those bloggers who recommended it. What an incredible story of Christ's love for us! It took me a little while to really get into the book, but once I did...I couldn't put it down. Seriously check it out people!

So my question....has anyone read any of Francine Rivers's other books?? Good/not good?? Let me hear it!

Saturday we went out for Mexican food and watched Julie & Julia. Super fun date night if I do say so myself! Sunday we went back to "our" church and it just felt right, you know? I'm pretty sure a decision has been made to just suck it up and drive the 45 minutes because we just love it so much! It's our perfect fit.

Sunday was also my sister's 1st wedding anniversary!! Happy Anniversary Jessi and Dave! I cannot believe it has already been a year since you became husband and wife! Congratulations to you both!


Oh...and go horse.

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Weekend in Pictures

Monday is here...my parents have left...and I had the most amazing weekend I have had in such a long time! I hated to see it end.

Unfortunately, I have not loaded my pictures yet...but here is a little taste of how we spent our weekend...

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Until tomorrow....

Weekend Roudup!

Good morning my friends!

I must admit...I am pooped.

My weekend was jam packed with cleaning. And not just the...oh I'm gonna vacuum and pick up the area cleaning. Oh no. More like I'm gonna scrub all of the cabinets, wash every floor in the house, dust all wooden services, and clean the windows outside kind of clean. Yeah.

Saturday I woke up early-ish and went to the gym. I reappeared at Zumba for the first time in months and it was hard! Fun...but hard! After that, I set out to clean. I got one room done and then passed out :) I know. Sad. But I woke up to watch the final minutes of the Purdue/Michigan game...which I had previously turned off because it was making me throw up. But in stunning fashion, my Boilermakers stepped it up and actually won a game :) Boiler up!

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After my nap, I hit the ground running with some serious cleaning. And I caught Dirty Dancing on TV which actually brought a few tears to my eyes seeing little ole Patrick in his prime. But can I just tell you one thing? Okay, I have been watching Dirty Dancing for a bazillion years. Yes. A bazillion. It is my favorite movie of all time...by far. But when I was watching it on ABC Family...there were parts in there that I had never. seen. before. I am more than upset about this. I think traumatized would be a better word. So is ABC Family showing some director's cut that I do not have? Why does my VHS and DVD not have these scenes?? And it wasn't just one scene. I would say at least 5 scenes in the movie I had never even seen before. My heart hurts at this development because I can no longer legitimately say I know every word to this movie. (insert sad face here)

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Anyways...I spent the remainder of my Saturday night sorting and organizing papers, shredding, and paying bills. Exciting...I know.

As a hilarious side note, I turned off Saturday night football when Matt fell asleep on the couch to the only other watchable program...The Prince & Me II: The Royal Wedding....of course. Matt woke up soon after and we headed to bed. Yes, we have a TV in our room, and yes, we love it. Sue us. So we had the movie on in the bedroom and my dear, sweet, lovable husband watched the entire rest of the movie. I, however, fell asleep in 5.2 seconds. And you want to know the cutest thing? He told me all about the movie in the morning. Ha! Sometimes my heart literally bursts with love for him.

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Sunday was spent doing more cleaning and attempting to assist Matt in crafting our own box spring (minus the springs) for our new mattress. And we'll just leave it at that because it did not go well.

So today I would love to spend lounging....but I am at work. And I have another freaking Junior League event tonight. And I have to squeeze a trip to the gym in there somewhere as well. Ah, my glamorous life. Good thing I wouldn't have it any other way :) I guess God really does give you all you need :)

And speaking of God...I finished the Old Testament today! I cannot wait to start reading about Jesus! Eek! I can't believe I made it through!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! What did you do????

Weekend Round Up with Recipes!

Friday:

Matt and I went to dinner with some of our friends at a Mexican restaurant. Now, this not your typical Mexican food....as it is actually called mod mex and the restaurant serves things like duck and boar taquitos, weird flavors of margaritas, and crazy types of guacamole. Excuse me for not being sophisticated enough to understand the coolness of "mod" but I really much prefer chicken soft tacos, chips and salsa, and a regular lime flavored frozen margarita...but whatever...no one asked me.

Dinner was followed by....wait for it...salsa dancing lessons. Ha! Obviously not our idea. It was...interesting...but overall pretty fun. We learned the basic moves of salsa and were given a chance to do a little dancing after the class. My dear husband, bless his heart, did such a great job. I was so proud of his effort. He was the cutest little salsa dancer I had ever seen.


Saturday:

This weekend was filled with all sorts of yumminess! Thanks to my wonderful friends Lucy and Shaina...I was introduced to the amazingness that is pumpkin. Matt and I headed out to buy some ingredients for my pumpkin baking extravaganza and also bought a few more decorations for the outside of the house which I will share later this week. They may or may not include hay stacks and pumpkins!

I whipped up some pumpkin chocolate chip bread as well as pumpkin cream cheese muffins in the afternoon. They were both delicious. I was partial to the bread...because of the chocolate of course...but Matt fell in love with the muffins and had three for breakfast the next morning :)

Sunday:

Still overflowing with apples from our apple picking adventure of '09, Matt and I made an apple pie in the morning. We also tried our hand at homemade pie crust which was oh so yummy!

Here's a before picture of the pie before it went into the oven:


And the after:


It smelled delicious. And this is coming from a girl who does not like apple pie. Matt loved it...and I loved the crumb topping...so success all the way around :)


With the leftover pie crust we made these fabulous pie crust cookies!


Baked up...they were freaking unbelievable and ruined my diet for sure.


Matt went to the Browns game with a friend Sunday afternoon...so I hit up DSW for a new pair of black boots and Old Navy where I snagged these gorgeous fall items:

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I had a coupon for $50 off! Who can beat that??

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I am looking forward to getting out of work and heading to the gym to try and work off all of those devilish pie crust cookies!

XOXO

Bake Off!

How was the weekend action ladies!?!

Ah, relaxing weekend I did not have...but it was super productive and I actually feel quite accomplished...so plus!

Friday:
I ran some errands after work and then came home to assemble my cake boards. I am making a wedding cake for one of my old co-workers from college. She is getting married this weekend!

My dear husband called to say that he was going to be working a little late. You know what time it was when he woke me up on the couch? 11 p.m. On a Friday. Poor guy. He had BBQ Fritos for dinner :(

Saturday:
I had an event for the Junior League at 9 a.m. We were required to take part in a trolley tour of Cleveland and it's surrounding areas. It sounds a little lame for someone that has lived in the city for 3 1/2 years, but it was actually really fun and super informative. The trolley car did hurt my butt sitting there for over 2 hours, but other than that...successful trip. Did you know Chef Boyardee started in Cleveland? Or that delivering mail door to door began here? Yeah. Neither did I.

I headed to the gym to finish off Week 2 of my running program and then went home to start the baking process. I had 10 cakes to bake over the weekend, and I was able to finish 7 of them on Saturday. It took me all freaking day...but I digress.

Sunday:
We headed to church, hit up Walmart for a few more baking supplies, and came home to finish the madness. I baked the final 3 cakes, made some cupcakes with the extra batter, and concocted probably 100 cake balls with the cake scraps I had leftover. I spent the rest of the evening cleaning the disaster zone.

But today...I have very little cake balls in my house because I sent them to work with my husband, my kitchen is sparkling, I have nothing more that needs to be baked, and I am happy.

Except that it's Monday and I'm at work.

Apple Picking

Good morning!

Weekend update...coming up!

Matt and I had such a lovely weekend!! I had wanted to go apple picking all week, but the weather was seemingly not in our favor. My hopes were low when I woke up on Saturday, but it wasn't raining so we took a shot. Oh my, I am so glad we did! It was a perfect fall day, no coat required, and simply beautiful outside. It was the first day I loved that it was fall.

Right as we got there I wanted to snap pictures of course! So I took this one!

As you can tell, NOT a picture. I was accidentally taking video...but it made me laugh so I thought I would share. Please do not judge my hideous laugh....

Please excuse the hair in my face...obviously I was struggling.

Matty...an action shot!






Peek-a-Boo!

I wanted to act like I was eating the apple right off the tree..but instead it looks like I am eating the branch. Funny photo FAIL.



Take Two...Success!






Matt in the tree getting the perfect apple! We later read a sign that said you weren't supposed to climb the trees. Oops. Sorry tree. Our bad.

We finished the day with a trip to the grocery and enjoyed homemade lasagna for dinner by yours truly! It was yum! Tomato and Basil Prosciutto! Yeah for leftovers!


We got our butts back to church on Sunday which felt incredible and hit up Sonic on the way home. Then I finally put up all of our fall/Halloween decorations! I am so excited to share those with you guys...perhaps tomorrow...

Then the very best thing happened! I went to the gym for about an hour, came home, and walked into a kitchen where ALL OF THE DISHES WERE DONE and I could hear the faint sound of the laundry running. My husband was busy, busy when I was gone. Talk about a love tank overflowing. My tank runneth over. I have to admit, I got a little teary. So sweet!


I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!! I cannot wait to hear about them all!!

XOXO