Summer Loves

As summer approaches, I am getting really excited about a few items that I think would make summer both colorful and happy!

I love this bronze beverage bucket and stand. Great price at $39! I love hammered bronze.



I just purchased this purse for my birthday. I love the yellow and the cute bow on front!



These rainboots from Target are TOO cute. In Florida, we all know the severity of not having appropriate footwear in a rain storm. I hate wet feet, but with these I can keep them dry! These will be a purchase in my very near future with the summer rain upon us.



What are your favorite things for the summer?

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Sinfully delicious

I went a little crazy after school today and decided to try Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake. First you make the cake, and then the icing. You pour the icing over the warm cake...YUM! Haven't tried it (baked) yet, but I can assure you it is going to be incredible.

Every time I walked by the icing I had a little bite...woops. What can I say...I have no self-control.





I love her cookbook. She shows pictures at each step. I tend to question myself when cooking and this helps tremendously!



I couldn't find the recipe online, but these cowboy calzones are SO good and easy!

Here is the gyst-

Filling:
-browned and cooked spicy sausage
-rotel
-chopped onion
-ricotta cheese
-cheddar cheese

Step 1: brown sausage with onion, add rotel
Step 2: combine cheeses
Step 3: combine mixtures
Step 4: instead of making pizza dough (far too time consuming), use crescent rolls! Just pinch 2 triangles together and plop the mixture in it, wrap up the dough like a purse and bake as directed.

The hubs thought these were incredible...so much so that with some mixture left over, we are having them again tonight :) Talk about an easy dinner!

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Come Monday...

We had a really fun Saturday at the Jimmy Buffett concert. If you have never seen him, it is definitely a "must see" concert! I wasn't familiar with half the songs, but he is still such a great entertainer.

Had to take a picture with the parrot!






Love these girls!



Hope you all had a great weekend as well.

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WIWAW-Friday/Best Darn Yard on the Block

Fridays at school are the best day of the week! Everyone is in a good mood, and really, nothing can take that away from you!

I wore these capri pants from Jcrew outlet and the top is from Banana Republic.



Ok, on to the extraordinary amount of pictures...we finished the yard (almost!). All new sod is down and the front is 75% planted, while the back only has sod, no plants yet.

I am not going to dictate them, just enjoy!

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What I Wore All Week-Thursday

So not much else for you today other than the outfit--I am just plan exhausted come Thursdays!! Plus, we have all new sod going in tomorrow, so we have been working really hard getting the yard prepped. I'm pooped!

Today I wore this Jcrew dress I have had in my closet for about 2 years now. It didn't fit when I got it on final sale for $10, but I knew I would get it tailored at some point. I just got around to that about a week ago! Ha. Well, they did a great job and I love it! The color is so bright and rich. I got lots of compliments on it today.



Can't wait to show you all the yard tomorrow...we haven't had real grass since we moved in in August.

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What I Wore All Week-Wednesday/Cleaning Tips!

Today was a Chapel day, so I had to dress up. I wore this dress with some fun black and gold jewelry. I was a Theta after all... :)

Dress: Ann Taylor Loft (surprise!) It's a wrap dress, but the underneath part is fixed in place. Thank goodness, right!? Honestly, one little gust of wind and WOOOOAAA!



With some cute comfy shoes...



I discovered an incredible trick from my most recent Real Simple magazine.

This little guy is a LIFE saver! The following pictures are very embarrassing...enjoy.



I am really good at keeping surface level objects clean. But, I am the first to admit that I rarely clean my microwave and toaster oven. It's gross and I can't believe I am about to show ya'll these pictures. Thank goodness you weren't there to see what I got out!



I took some Dawn and rubbed it all over the inside of the microwave. Then, I got a paper towel wet and rung it out and threw it in. I set the microwave to 2 minutes. Once it was done (and cooled off), I just wiped the cloth over the insides of the oven. Ya'll, seriously, everything just slid right off! It was a miracle, no scrubbing required!



So, since that was so easy, I tackled the toaster oven. Most of you know, our 1960s oven broke about a month after we moved in and we didn't feel like paying to fix it with a kitchen renovation on the way. Really, for two people, we do just fine with this little guy!

The crumbs are overwhelming...and disguesting. There were stains all over the window. Honestly...gross!





I did the same thing here, almost. I rubbed some Dawn on the inside of the window, not on the insides of the oven though. Before I took out the crumb tray and the baking rack, I put in a oven-safe container with some water in it and turned the oven on 200 degrees. I let it do its' thing for about 10 minutes. Then, I let it cool off, but not completely.

Finally, I wiped off the window and soaked the crumb tray and baking rack with the dawn in the sink. I also wiped a wet paper towel over the insides and outsides of the oven.


Everything came sparkling clean!






The next thing on my list is the inside trash cans. I have never cleaned them...please don't think I'm gross!

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What I Wore All Week-Tuesday

We went on a field trip today to the St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts. So, knowing that I am always cold in museums, I wore something thin, but long sleeved and jeans.



Jeans: Rock & Republic
Top: Michael Stars

I loved my shoes today, but my toenails are almost unsightly, so I just couldn't do it!

A mother of a child I teach is closing her shop and has everything 40-50% off! I went in and brought home this pretty pot and threw in an indoor plant. I love the color-red is my thing!




I also picked up this pretty painted cloche. I threw a faux (word of the week) artichoke underneath it. I loved the painted nest and birdie...very spring/summer.

Isn't it weird how the mirror looks crooked in this picture? It isn't...promise!






Hope ya'll are having a great week!

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What I Wore All Week...Monday

I enjoyed watching Beth show us what she wore all last week, so I thought I would give it a try! I am going to post other news as well.

I am a teacher at a Christian school and today was Chapel day. We have to wear conservative skirts/dresses on Chapel days.

I kept it real, ya'll...the bed isn't made, those are our toothbrushes on the lower left corner of the mirror, my toes are not all painted because I don't want to pay someone else again this month and I am too lazy to do it myself, and no, I am not amazon woman. I had to stand on my tootsies to show the whole outfit. No long mirrors in my house...can you believe it!?





Skirt was given to me by a friend (Loft)
Sweater and underneath cami are both Loft...do you see a trend here?
Shoes are Bernardos.
Necklace is faux, (sounds so much better than fake, don't you think?) pearls that wrap around.

Now, I told you yesterday that I had one picture yet to place. We went back and visited the newest addition to our family, Clyde, on Sunday and took some more pictures. For now, one of these will grace the wall's presence, until he is ours and I can take adorable photo shoots all summer long in the green green grass! Can you tell I'm excited?!





He was so sweet. Shy around his brothers and sisters, but really shy isn't the best word. Easy-going is a better word. When he played with us he kept climbing into our laps and licking us all over! He would walk away for a minute and then come bounding back toward us. I think he is going to be the most perfect addition!

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Photo Collage

This weekend I finally tackled our photo wall. Since our house is small, we can't have too much furniture all over it which means fewer areas to show off family pictures. So, when we had the door walled up, we had ample room to do a little photo collage.

I really like how it turned out! This is the wall between our kitchen and living area/dining area.





I did this whole project for just under $100! I think it makes a big difference.

PS--You will notice there is one frame not filled (flower), I will show the picture that will fill that space tomorrow :)

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Gma's Treasures

While I was at my grandma's house in Atlanta, she let me scour her house for treasures...and we did a like junk shopping too. Here are some of my finds!

First, I got these cute artichokes to mix in with my wooden ball collection underneath our glass coffee table. You can see through the top...very fun and springy.



They fit inside this neat tray I got at Pier1 for next to nothing...literally I think it may have cost me $6.



I found this milk glass bowl that has the neatest raised dotting on it. I love these fun balls because they are 1) the colors in our home and 2) have the same dotting texture.

There is still an empty apothecary jar behind it...any good ideas of what to fill those with? I'm at a loss!



She gave me these pretty candlesticks that look like eyelet to me. I love them and grabbed some cheap Michaels candles for color. I think they look great on top of the bookcase. She gave me a pretty cake plate to match as well.






Finally, she had all kinds of wreaths laying around and I took some from here and there and we put together this beauty! I think it is very fun. I have never been much on purple, but lately it is all I wear! So, I think it is fitting for my house to "wear" it too.

The wreath holder has little birdies on it...so sweet.



She gave me so many other fun things that I just haven't found the right spot for yet, so when I do...I'll let you know!

Hope you all are having a great week :)

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Wordless Wednesday...Almost

We love scrabble around here-on the iphone, or gameboard. I was playing with the hubs and another guy friend and they came up with the two that intersect and relate to each other...hysterical.

I mean, how many guys do you think would be "man" enough to play those words!?

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Bathroom Makeover Part 3

My beauties from PB came in the mail today! This shower curtain is absolutely perfect, and makes the tile look good (which is not an easy task!). I love it...see what you think.




This is the only matching accessory I got since this bathroom is a work in progress.



Part 4 is picking out a new toilet and vanity this summer!

Have a great week--I go back to school tomorrow so it should be a nice slap in the face wake-up-call!

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