Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Style Tuesday

I love this weather! I would be so happy if we could have this weather all the way up to summer! To celebrate the sun and warm weather's return, Scotty and I took a lovely walk after work =] So nice to get fresh air and a bit of exercise.

As for Style Tuesday...Here's what I wore today:


         {No one was really in the office today, so I didn't mind having a little bit of a short skirt!}
Shirt: old f21, skirt: old delia's belt: old AE, shoes: Aldo

Thanks for reading!
Mrs. E =] 

Sunday, February 26, 2012

double

(us from last night before we braved the wind!)

Last night hubby and I went on a real, actual double date! ha! We went out to a BYOB italian restaurant with Scotty's cousin and his girlfriend. We were seriously the LAST table there. The entire restaurant was clean before we noticed that we were holding the staff up! I felt pretty bad, but it turns out we were only there 10 minutes after closing. It was just a really fun time over all with them. I like going out with couples, especially ones who are a bit older so usually more in our stage of life.


Saturday, February 25, 2012

L*U*C*K

I wanted some St. Patty's day lovin in my house, so I figured I would make my own rendition of 'word blocks.' I've seen a lot of cute things in stores and on pinterest (for all the holidays), but I wanted to try my hand at making my own version.
The finished product:
Here's how I got there!

Materials:
knife or scissors (I used both)
Fun paper
Marker
boxes or blocks
glue (hot glue works best, but I don't have any yet)

Step 1:
Cut your boxes (or blocks) to the size and shape you want.
All of my boxes looked like this:
When I cut them they looked like this:

I then glued them to eachother. (you could wait to glue them to eachother at the end once they are decorated, but I liked being able to visualize it better if they were glued first)
Next, I put pretty green paper on them. front, top, and the two sides on the end.



Lastly, I just wrote on the letters to spell Luck. I wanted it to look 'hand made' and a bit *crafty* so I just used markers to scribble them on, but if you want a more pro look, you can stencil the letters on with paint or free hand it nicely.

I hope you guys liked my cutesy little Saturday craft!

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E =]

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Style Thursday!

I am trying something new out- Style Tuesday and Style Thursday! I work on Tuesdays and usually don't work Thursday so we'll see how it goes!

Today, we took the baby (Cocoa Bean haha) to the vet. The vet says that she's only FOUR weeks! wowzers. That means we got her when she was THREE weeks. Wayyy too young to be away from mommy, but she is doing sooo well. She is eating a mixture of soft/wet food and kibble, which is incredible. She got de-wormed, thank goodness, so the swelling in her belly should go down. Banana was so happy when we all got home from the vet--she must miss her little sister!

On tap today is just doing some cleaning (what's new), sending out some work emails, and hopefully doing my nails!

So here's the first installment of Style Thursday!:




 Blazer: Love Culture, Tshirt: Pacsun, Scarf: old Gap, Leggings: f21, Shoes:Aldo spring '11
Although it was warm today, the wind was crazy! haha Sorry I look so awkward and surprised! hahaha

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

sad and happy day

Hi guys.
So I know I'm behind on that dress-to-skirt post. I was going to do it today, but unfortunately I couldn't due to some bad news. Scotty's Papa (grandpa) is back in the hospital. He is looking better, but it's still rattling us. We went to see him today, and it was quite the roller coaster. We got there and he seemed asleep so we just left a card. Scotty's family is probably 50 people on that side, so it's not like it's appropriate to wake him up everytime a family member visits. He needs his rest, so we left. Ten minutes later, the nurse called us and said he was asking for us. We turned around and got to sit with him for about 15 minutes. It was tough seeing him so weak. I'm glad we got to see him, though (even though hospitals skeez me out to the extreme).

Anyway, my normal post is delayed. Prayers and thoughts are appreciated.

The happy part of my day was just getting to be with my hubby, seeing an old friend, the beautiful weather, and just knowing all the blessings the Lord has given me and my family.

Have a blessed day!
Mrs. E

Monday, February 20, 2012

a Few of my Favorite Things

So I have this designer dress that I got a couple of years ago, and it fits funny. Hopefully I can do a post tomorrow about turning it from a dress into a skirt!

For today, I just want to do a picture heavy post about some of my favorite things!

Today my hubby got us one of my favorite things to enjoy....
Yes! Peanut butter patties are my absolute favorite. I could seriously go through a whole box on my own in one to two sittings!

Anyone who has been reading my blog probably already knows how much I LOVE and appreciate this:

These are all BCBG dresses. I adore BCBG. I feel like everything fits perfectly, and I just have never had an issue with any of my dresses from them. These are only a couple of examples of my BCBG dresses-I have probably 10. I wore one to my bridal shower, father's day bbq, senior prom, and almost any other occasion! The top one is from last Easter with my Sister in law. We got engaged around the same time. The middle one is my rehearsal dinner dress--please excuse my horrible mid-sentence face. The last one is obviously my wedding dress. It fit perfectly, was the perfect material for our late August outdoor affair, and I just didn't see the point in spending a small fortune on a dress I would only wear once! (and I didn't feel bad ruining it at the end of the night when I jumped in the pool-below-)

These are no-brainers. I didn't put them at the top of the list because it's soooo obvious...




Along with my cute little growing family, I also love my parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, etc! I'm kicking myself in the booty right now because I had a picture of me and Banana from when she was almost as small as Cocoa Bean, but I can't find it right now =[

Another thing I'm absolutely OBSESSED with
It's pretty obvious...I mean, who ISN'T obsessed with these right now?!

Even though my list could go on and on (Check my list at the bottom of the page of things I'm obsessed with) this is my last thing I want to mention
YES! It's Khloe and Lamar. I love them, I love their show, and I thought the premier last night was phenomenal!

Anyway, you guys should drop me a comment below and tell me what YOU are obsessed with right now? What are some of your favorite treats, people, gadgets, or shows?!

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E =]

Saturday, February 18, 2012

clean

That is the goal for my house: clean. Yesterday Scotty and I cleaned for two hours. vacuuming, doing dishes, laundry-you name it we did it. The kitten, whom we now aren't sure the sex of, has been very high maintenance. We basically have to hold her all day, let her play for two hours total spread throughout the day, feed her in increments, and take her to the litter box periodically so she doesn't poop on the floor. That being said, we just haven't been cleaning. Yesterday I put an end to it, and I'm so glad. Although she pooped on the floor 3 or 4 times yesterday, the house still got clean, and even though there's already litter that's gotten on the carpet (from Cocoa Bean pushing the litter everywhere) I'm still glad we vacuumed.
Anyway I can barely keep my eyes open from being so tired (and this post probably makes no sense), so I have to go to bed now.
Longer, more interesting, better quality post tomorrow!
Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E =]

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Totally Slacking

Here are some of my valentines. Still undelivered. Still no goodie-bags made...probably won't happen this year since it's all over. I only gave one--to my dad (so no picture). I still have Dana's and Emily's...and Scott's even though I sort of gave it to him.

All of them-hastily shot:
Dana's:
Emily's:
Couldn't even contain my fury of the blurriness and horrible lighting in my house, so I don't have my mom's.

Scotty and I started the day (yesterday-our Valentine's day) with a yummy pastry breakie. I put white chocolate chips in cresent rolls to make small chocolate croissants. We enjoyed eating them in bed until Cocoa Bean peed in our bed...She's still learning about her litter box. We continued the morning with some wash haha. We spent most of the day trying to get Banana and Cocoa acclimated to eachother. Each day they get a little better together.
Anyway, my dad came over to see the kittens and fawn over them. He just loved that Banana licks and cleans her.
In the evening we had my friend Dana come over with her friend to cat-sit while we went out. We went to dinner at Red Lobster and ate until we popped! Full on appetizers and then split a surf and turf dish.
We went to three stores to get discount Valentine candy but they were closed! And the grocery store didn't have any. We came home and exchanged valentines. Scotty customized this corny picture:
 It says, "I've fallen in love many times, always with you"
I gave him this home-made Valentine:
 We both wrote out long letters for eachother. I took 2.14.12 (February 14 2012) and made a list. TWO (2) things about my life with Scotty that I couldn't live without, FOURTEEN (14) Little things about Scotty that make him special, and TWELVE (12) firsts I've had with Scotty. He wrote me 101 reasons why he loves me. It was fun reading them together and just being lovey and gushy. It was an awesome Valentine's!

My bro-in-law, Jay, came over on Tuesday night to do a little photo-shoot with Nanners and Cocoa. I'm so excited for him to send the pictures to me so I can post them and show you all! We put Cocoa next to an apple and I swear it's bigger than her. Times like Tuesday I'm reminded how awesome it is to have family literally living next door! I love my new siblings, and I feel so blessed to be close in distance to at least one of them.

On a completely different note, today, February 16, 2012 marks 5 years exactly to the day since Scotty had his stroke. We always call it the accident, but really there was no accident. He didn't fall or get into any wreck. He had a stroke. I think we just call it the accident because it skirts around it. Anyway, today I am so thankful that my hubby is alive. He could have lost so much more that day, and it's a miracle he is alive.

Well, I hope everyone had a loving and full week so far!
Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E =]

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

procrastination

I had finished most of my Valentine's by Sunday. I was psyched and ready to make the treats and hand them out today...and then Cocoa happened. She has consumed every moment today and yesterday. I don't have pictures of my valentines nor have I made any of the treats or handed them out!
I promise since I have all day off tomorrow that I will post my pictures! I'll also tell you how Scotty and I celebrate! (We celebrate the day after every year because dinner and chocolates are cheaper!!!!)

This is how the day started:
 Banana and Cocoa shared a sniff/kiss!
They've been playing/fighting/loving each other all day. We aren't letting them be together without being highly supervised. Banana gave Cocoa a bath but then she starts biting her and trying to carry her around--we're nervous! We know that it's a motherly thing, but she's gotten super rough with her toys in the past so I'm trying to prevent too much biting etc.
 Here's my little furball!
 She always tries to nuzzle her way into my shirt and sit right under my chin.
Excuse my pained face! She has super tiny claws that she uses to keep from sliding off my chest!

Here's a picture of Banana from when we first got her:
She was a little bit bigger but just as cute!

I love loving two little kittens!
Thanks for reading
Mrs. E =]

Monday, February 13, 2012

Cocoa Bean

So here's the story of how Banana got a little sister.
One of the sales reps at my job was given a kitten at one of his appointments to bring to the office. The giver told him to use her as an office cat. No one was in the office the whole weekend, and he isn't a cat person apparently...Well he didn't feed her for three days. She is under a pound and not even six weeks old. Dana called me today and told me the story. Scotty and I couldn't imagine anyone ever treating a defenseless animal that way so we told her to bring the kitty over. We bought kitten milk and had a tray of it waiting for her. She was the absolute cutest fur ball. We couldn't possibly let her go, so now Banana has a sister!
As I've said in the past, our camera is really crappy so here are some horrible shots of the amazing fur ball!


She's seriously the size of my hand. We love her already!
Better pictures tomorrow!

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E =]

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Great Music

This weekend thus far has been so lazy and relaxing. I've caught up with house work, spent quality time with my hubby, and listened to some great tunes. I have two great links for you guys--both lead to FREE things =]

1. Music. My brother is in a new band called Market East, and they are seriously phenomenal!! They played at my wedding back in August as their first show as a group (each musician has been in multiple music groups in the past and have played together often). People kept telling me how awesome they were and how their vibe just fit in with our whole wedding. I was so lucky to have them play. Now they are giving us all a great opportunity. They are giving away their 6-song Ep for free here. It is truly amazing. Other blogs have said amazing things like: "The Philly-based band has captured our hearts and our ears with their self-titled release now available on their Bandcamp"-The Miscreant. Market East has also played on the radio 104.5! They are taking the music world by storm and captivating our hearts. You should all befriend them on Facebook.


2. I have another awesome family Facebook friend for you all to check out! The page is ChromaGen Vision, and they are completely changing the ball game when it comes to Dyslexia and Colorblindness. I am so proud that my father-in law and brother-in law are changing lives in such a positive way. If you LIKE their facebook page you can win a free iPad 2! Like the page, then click the button "Win an iPad 2" in the box under the profile picture.


I hope you all check out both Market East and ChromaGen. Leave a comment below if you check them out! Also let me know how you like the Ep and if you win an iPad!

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E =]

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

summer goals and housewife duties of my dreams

So I can't get too much into depth about my excitement for my possible outside of work project yet because it is totally not for sure happening as of right now, but I seriously can't stop thinking about it. Today I had a brief conversation with my boss about a possible fund raiser that I could be heading up this summer.
As a "housewife" I hope to be able to work with a bunch of different charities to raise money. My ultimate goal is to start a charity of my own, but I want to be fully prepared by doing as much fundraising for other foundations first. I did a lot of event fundraising throughout high school with my philanthropy club and loved every minute of it.
This summer, if I get the opportunity to put on the amazing event I'm dreaming of I will be such a happy girl!
Can anyone say bball and bands?

Do you guys have any favorite charities or causes that you support every year? I know Penn State has THON and tons of people do Relay for Life. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think and any favorite fund raisers!

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E =]

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

sensational chicken soup

So today I had a rockin' day at work and was inspired to finally tackle a homemade soup for dinner. I had lots of help from Scotty since I was so exhausted. He's such a good cook, too, so he really took the recipe from normal to awesome.

Here's what we did!
In a pot, we boiled some chicken (just a whole breast and some leftover dark meat) in chicken broth.
While it was heating up, we cut up a handful of onions (red and white), celery, and some peppers would be nice (some bell peppers would be delish but we didn't have any in our fridge!) Saute them in a pan with olive oil and spice--Oregano and generic Italian seasoning.

Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, take it out of the broth, and rip it into small-ish bite sized pieces. 

Simultaneously, put a pot of water on the stove to boil so you can cook the noodles. 
If you don't have a ton of chicken broth, you can supplement with cream of chicken soup (campbells) like we did. (after we took out the chicken we popped a can of the soup plus a can of water into the pot with the broth.
Once the veggies are done--starting to become golden-- you can plop them into the broth with the chicken and simmer.
Now the the chicken and veggies are in the broth, you can add in a can of tomatoes (we had them skinlesss and whole in a can, which we cut up into pieces, but fresh would probably be ok too!)
Let them all be friends and cook together while you finish cooking the pasta so it's al dente (or a little bit hard). When the pasta's done, you can drain it and put it in with the soup!
Let them all swim around together for a bit and serve up with some grated cheese on top!


Next time I'll put up my awesome dessert that we made tonight! I wouldn't want to overwhelm you guys with too many recipes, even though I promise they're all easy!

PS sorry my pictures are so horrible! I told you guys my camera stinks!

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E =]

Monday, February 6, 2012

Green

Army Green.
I am overly excited to wear my army green military style jacket. I've had it for awhile, but I always forget about it and end up not wearing it. I can only wear it with 55 degree weather because it's thin but holds in heat. Since the winter is pretty mild I could even start wearing it now! I say, this jacket is a staple item that everyone should have, and I should utilize! It goes with cute little spring or fall outfits, skirts, leggings, jeans--everything!
Do any of you have an item that you absolutely love? Anything you always under-value but always comes through?

I can't write much tonight. I was driving for work for four hours today and my brain and body is absolutely fried.

Thanks for reading =]
Mrs. E

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Happy Birthday!

Today is my mom's birthday! The superbowl takes backseat to celebrating the most amazing mom on the entire planet! She is patient, loving, wise, funny, and my best friend. I could never ask for a better mom.
We celebrated by going out yesterday with the fam-Hubby, Max, dad, mom and me. We went to a cool (hipster) diner called Morning Glory in the city and enjoyed the 'quaint' and specialty food. Today, on her actual birthday, we went to a superbowl party together and she won the trivia contest!
I loved spending this weekend with her and the rest of my amazing family.

This is me and my beautiful mom right before prom one year:


I LOVE YOU, MOM!

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. E

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Valentine Excitement

I'm so super excited about Valentine's day. I'm working on my homemade valentines and getting excited! Hubby and I decided to celebrate a day later because everything is always on sale (can you say twice the chocolates for the price of one?!), but I wish we could celebrate the WHOLE month--we kind of do. I've already decided the special breakfast treats I"m going to make hubby, I'm halfway finished my valentines for my friends, and I purchased the cutest little bags to put my v-day treats in for the people we love. I'm doing a pink and red theme for the treats (I know, so creative), but I still have one trial run to do =]
Well, I'll share all my yummy treats, the cute vday cards, and how Scotty and I celebrate (we aren't doing big gift or anything) after the fact, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, here's a little video of Scotty and Banana! Aren't they cute? =] (Sorry for the bad quality, it was taken from my phone)




Thursday, February 2, 2012

Posters and Cravings

Today I finally took out the glue, scissors, and papers to make some posters for work! My office isn't drab, but it could definitely use some TLC. I'm hoping I can make some posters to spruce up the office with fun colors, more organized information (right now everything is posted all together which makes it hard to find what you're looking for), and just a cheery scenery. I'm also hoping to earn some Cutco bucks...=]
Can I digress for a second and just say how much I adore working with my bff, Dana?! We have been best friends since we were five! Anyone would be lucky to call her a friend. She's my best friend and an awesome co-worker.

Tonight I want a donut so badly that I just bribed Scotty with a 20 minute massage to go and get one. I know we are trying to cut down on our sugar intake, but I [am PMSing] really want to indulge.

                                             Here's a look at my awesome work posters:

                                   Haha, we had some fun playing with a giant sword at work...
                                                         This is the famous Dana!
                           Dana and I before senior prom =] Both in BCBG Max Azria dresses
  
My maid of honor giving a spectacular speech at my wedding!