Thanks-given

Holidays and traditions. I'm allll about 'em. Especially if it involves large amounts of food. This year, Sean and I had the privelage of hosting Thanksgiving at our home. I was beyond excited when this was decided and look forward to new traditions that take place at our humble abode. Sean and I are so in love with our little house and enjoy having people over. I'm blessed to have a husband that is capable of building/fixing/making nearly anything and I am beyond extatic at what he's turned our house into and how we're able to make memories in it. I'm also thankful that we have family and friends so close that we are able to share these memories with. But enough of all the mushy gushy stuff. Let's get to the grub!

Every year, Sean deep fries turkeys. Usually about two or three of them, depending on who wants one, how many people we're feeding and how long after Thanksgiving we want to eat turkey. This year we kept it at two twelve pound birds. The perfect amount to feed our family and friends that came to supper and enough to have left-overs for a while. While he was slaving away watching the birds fry, chilling outside with a cool beverage, watching football, smoking a cigar and playing with the dogs (tough job), I was running around like a mad woman trying to get all of the sides ready and the table prepared for our guests. With the help of my sister-in-law and mom, we had all of the sides done right in time.

I wanted to go all out on the table decor, but due to the fact that we had seven people squished at a 6' folding table, I had to limit myself (womp womp). Anyhoo, this is what I came up with:

I borrowed a green table cloth from work, put down my burlap[ish] table runner, borrowed some gold chargers from my mother-in-law, threw out some foam gourds and used mason jars as our water glasses. The weather was absolutely beautiful that day, so I set everything up on our back porch. Although our back porch looks like it belongs in a bachelor pad, the views of our landscaping out back along with the brisk breeze was enough to remind us that we're mature adults that live in a lovely community among other established adults. Ha! Who am I kidding... The burps at the dinner table were louder than the football game blaring in the background. It's all good though, I take burps as a compliment to the delicious food. Unfortunately, this was the only picture that I got of anything (major blogger fail). But, much of our time was spent getting everything ready, stuffing our bellies and relaxing with the company of good friends and close family. This is how relaxed Sean was:

The dude was exhausted. His sweet face makes me want to pinch his cheeks. Or plug his nose. Depends on the day... Anyway, the reason why my boy was so tired was because we started our day at 6am. Every year we hop in the boat and go out to a little island not too far from my grandmother's house and meet up with friends. My parent's friends, their kids who are my friends, our friends, their friends, their friend's friends. You get the idea. We all go out there to reconnect, talk about the past year, drink bloody marys, mimosas, eat donuts and sit by a big bon fire that the guys blow way out of proportion. Something about alcohol and fire and they just get going...

We also managed to grab an awkward family picture. This is probably the 15th picture that we took because our dogs have ADHD. Notice how Sean and I are both sitting on them to hold them there. I do love how Tatum is looking up at Sean, though. It's like he's admiring his dad. Or he saw a bug. Either way, this is the best we got:



It was a great day and a great way to kick off the holiday season. I'm so excited for all of the gatherings that are to come, as well as all of the time spent with family and friends that have become family. It really is the most wonderful time of the year :)

-C Doc

It's Fall[ish] Y'all!

Of course I say that the day after we turned our air conditioner back on…. Florida heat wins again. It was nice for about a day though, and you better believe that I lived it up! Windows open, Caramel Apple Spice in hand and a drive in the Wrangler with the roof and doors taken off. I was a happy camper :)

I went to Michaels the other day to scope out some deals, because we all know how seasons work in the retail world. Fall rolls out in June, Halloween rolls out in August and as soon as November 1^st comes, bam! They shove Christmas down your throat. Some stores even jump the gun and start Christmas in October. What about Thanksgiving and fall, people?! I love the pretty leaves, the pumpkins, the scarecrows and the colorful flowers. My house will be decked out in fall décor until the day after Thanksgiving, because we need to slow this holiday train down. Let’s enjoy each holiday as it comes, right?

Back to Michaels… I went a couple days after Halloween to search out what they had on clearance. This is what I got!

It may not look like much, but I got all of it for $5.00! Can’t beat that. I especially love my goofy looking fowl:

Here’s everything all set up:

There is barely enough room to eat on our table. And I’m totally okay with it.

But the main reason why I wanted to scope out some little fall chachkies (or dust collectors as Sean likes to call them) is because I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year! I’m so excited to host a holiday in our house! As soon as it was decided that I was hosting this face-stuffing-glutinous-holiday, I immediately started thinking of décor and how to set up our house to fit everyone. Living in a house the size of a shoe box has its advantages, especially when it comes to cleaning, but when it comes to shoving everyone inside for a holiday where our waste bands are going to be expanding, space becomes an issue. So while you guys are enjoying your weekend, I’ll be in yet another wedding and planning out how to arrange my house.  Wish me luck!

-C Doc

Halloweenie

Hallow ghouls and boys! I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween! I made a little set up in our front yard for our pumpkins and put out a bench that we could sit on to hand out candy. The thought of listening to my dogs bark each time a kid knocked on the door makes me cringe. Luckily, it was really nice outside which made it that much better.

 

Like last year, my dad got all dressed up in his super cool Frankenstein costume and scared little kids. Here he is with my mom:

They’re so funny. Whenever he’s in costume, she becomes his little sidekick. Because of the face mask, it makes it hard for him to see where he’s going, so she guides him. When he becomes hot, she helps him take off his mask. When a swarm of kids come up, she helps him put it back on and tuck the neck part into his shirt. And, without fail, if the man wants a sip of beer, she’s right there at his side with a cold brewski in hand. They make a good pair, those two.

Hearing the comments from the kids make my Halloween each year. Here are some:

“Is that a real person in there?”

“Is he really that tall?” (He stands almost 8’ tall in costume)

“I just want some candy…”

“Trick or AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (and then they run)

“…..hi.”

As for the hubby and I, we just threw on some silly hats that we had around the house: 

I got that Jamaican hat with the dreads at a folk fair wayyyy back in middle school. It’s Sean’s go-to hat whenever we have a party and he gets a little tipsy. Thankfully he does not start talking like them, the hat is enough… I had on my moose hat. No explanation there. And Derek was a drunk looking hobo with candy on his head that kept saying “Jamaican me crazy, mon!” and “I’m not giving you any candy unless you say Trick or Treat”. Never a dull moment. 

Last weekend my friend had her annual Halloween party, which is always a good time! And I just have to brag, my costume only cost me $5.00! Can’t beat that! 

Cat Woman, out. Happy November!

-C Doc

Boo-tiful

Alas! I am back with yet another easy craft that is sure to get you in the holiday spirit. When decorating for Halloween, I try not to go the spooky route. There are some houses in my neighborhood that has zombies running through their yard, tomb stones, skeletons and some even go as far as having fog machines. That's just not my jam. I, quite frankly, am not a fan of getting the dickens scared out of me. Sign me up for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Thanks.

I didn't go all out for Halloween. But I did make a super cute door hang that I love. Here are the materials:

I bought some letters from Michaels that are about 5-6" tall. I also bought some orange craft paint and a spool of black and white polka-dot ribbon. You'll also need a staple gun, paint brush and some scissors.

Step one:

Paint the letters. I used foil to paint on top of because it doesn't stick and it makes for easy clean up.

Step two:

Let dry.......

........


........


OK! Step three:

Cut some ribbon to make a loop on the top letter, B. Attach it using the staple gun.

Step Four:

Cut more ribbon to separate the rest of the letters. I cut a piece about 6" long. Although, looking at the finished product, I may go back and cut them shorter. Anyhoo, here it is:

Do it for the remaining O, and once that's all done, hang it up! Please excuse the crappy phone picture...

Ta-Da! The only thing left to do is plug in that jack-o-lantern and lay down some orange lights that I have to go in the bushes. I tried to hook them up last week but something is wrong with the plug outside... womp womp. Put that on the hubby's list of things-to-do! 

Speaking of the hubby, check out the pumpkin that we he carved!

It's a VW Bus! He's always wanted one (the actual car), but it seems as though this pumpkin is as close as he's going to get for now. Which is pretty unfortunate since it got moldy and the roof collapsed within a mere three days. It's since been thrown out. Oh well. It was cute while it lasted!

Just one more thing left to do before Halloween: watch Hocus Pocus!

-C Doc

Pinterest Party - Fall Edition

A couple of weeks ago I got all my girls together for a Pinterest Party! It's a night that we can all get together to drink wine, eat some scrumptious food and do a craft! I had one last year and it was a hit, so I decided to have one again. I send out the invite a few weeks in advance and ask that every girl bring a dish that they've been wanting to try (via Pinterest) and I buy all of the materials for the craft that I choose. Something that's been popping up (pinning up?) on Pinterest lately are the wreaths that you can make out of pool noodles! Now you all know I'm a big fan of festive wreaths, so I was all over this idea. Being that it's fall and there aren't too many summer items found in stores any more, I had to come up with something to use other than a noodle. Luckily, I work for a construction supply company and there are plenty of materials around work that can be used for different uses, so I used something called backer-rod. It's a foam material that is used to shove in between a concrete joint, or in this case, make festive wreaths :)

All I did was cut the foam into three foot sections and duct tape the ends together to make a hoop!

The cool part about this material is if it looks a little wonky, you can form it to make a better looking circle. After that was done, all we did was wrap strips of burlap around it a bunch of times and secure the ends with hot glue. Whenever Michaels had a sale, I would go stock up on flowers and ribbon to decorate them. Here is my completed wreath!

I kept it simple with one sunflower and some leaves. I got to the ribbon a little too late and all that was left was a little sliver, so I snuck in a little piece behind the flower for a small pop of color. I also made a little banner out of felt and twine. I cut the triangles and hot glued the twine to the back and wrote on it with a Sharpie. Ya know, just in case I forget what season it is.

I hung mine on my old window in the living room. Normally I have a twig wreath up there that has some flowers that match our house colors, but I like the little bit of seasonal decor up there. It works out perfectly too because there is a hook up there that was used to latch the window closed, but now it works perfectly as a wreath holder!

It was a great time and everyone made an adorable piece of fall decor for their homes. I am already planning the next Pinterest Party, it'll have a Christmas theme since the holidays are upon us! Where has this year gone?!

-C Doc

Supposedly it's Fall....

According to the time of year, it's fall. According to the weather outside, it's still summer. But, I live in Florida and it comes with the territory. That doesn't mean that my house isn't all set for the impending weather change, though! I've set out all of my fall decor. I think some is missing, I'm just not sure where it is in the house... Oh well. The stuff I have out now will suffice.

One of my favorite things to do is decorate the entryway of our house. I love the front door we chose and if I have the chance to draw your eyes to it, I'm going to do my best to do just that.

As you can tell, I'm still using my wreath that I've used in the past. It's the best way to save money, just switch out the flowers depending on the holiday or time of year. I also hung the scarecrow from our mailbox; I made a hook out of a metal clothes hanger so it really stays on there in case we get any crazy winds. I also planted cute little orange flowers in with my topiary! I love the vibrant color that they add :)

As you enter the house, there are sunflowers throughout. I put "das boot" on the little table as you walk through the door, as well as some other flowers scattered on the table.

Behind our couch we have this.... Now you all know that I'm a firm believer in "using what you have", and one thing is for certain, there are plenty of beer bottles at my house. Sean made his own brew at home and had a bottling kit so, I used four of the left over bottles. All I did was hot glue some craft letters to it, shoved some orange twig branches in there and wham, bam, thank you ma'am, we've got ourselves some fall decor! I wrapped some fall themed garland around it and stuck some sunflowers in between the bottles. All in all, it cost me about $3 to accomplish that little bit. Not too shabby!

Last, but not least, the tablescape. I had some bandanna scrapbook paper left over from a Bridal Shower that I threw for a friend last weekend, so I used that as my base. Then I just wrapped some jute twine around somethings, threw some flowers and some candles around and added a little sign and a scarecrow (both bought at Target for a dollar) and that was done!

I'll be back with another fall craft that I did with my girls at a Pinterest Party that I had during my hiatus! They're so much fun.... I have everyone bring a dish that they've been meaning to try on their Pinterest Board and I supply all of the materials for the craft that I've also found on Pinterest. What did we do in the days before virtual pin boards?! Happy fall y'all! sorta...

-C Doc

Boo!

Ahh!!!

Don't be alarmed, it's just me :)

I know, I know.... I've been gone for a while. Life happens. And let me tell you, life was dishin' it.

At work, we went through a system conversion. We went from a DOS based program (suuuuper old school) to a Windows based program. I like it.... but there are so many glitches and problems with it that it makes me want to throw my computer on the ground and stomp on it like a three year old would crush a Cheerio during a tantrum. Needless to say, it's freaking aggrevating.

So, I've been working nine to ten hour days ensuring that everything goes accordingly because they only sent a trainer to our branch for a total of nine days. You may think that sounds like a long time, but when everything changes and you have to teach four people how to literally know every aspect of day-to-day activities that happen within the branch, it is, in fact, not a long time at all. Especially when other branches got a total of two months of training to learn just two or three responsibilities. But, the guys and I are getting the hang of it and, so far, we've managed to stay off the radar of branches with "problems". And for that, I am proud. And a little less stressed out. Sorta.

Anyhoo, on top of that, we've been having some troubles with the house... I shall start by saying that before Sean and I moved in, we replaced and updated most of the house, and after we moved in, we continued the updates. The floors, the paint, the bathroom, we finished the kitchen, a new air conditioning unit, landscaping, outdoor lighting, a new hot water heater and many other things that I can't even think of. But it seemed like everything came to a screeching hault. The landscape lighting wouldn't turn on for some reason, the water coming out of the faucet was cold and the air coming out of the vents was hot. I don't know about you, but we don't celebrate opposite day in our house! Let alone, opposite weeks! During this time, our electric panel broke and became a serious fire hazard. fantastic. add that to the list.

We thought that some of the problems were stemming from the broken electric panel. I mean, it made sense... but in fact, none of them had to do with that. which meant we had to find the problem with each appliance. cool.

Hundreds of dollars later and a bunch of trial and error fixes and everything is a-okay. We now have a new electric panel, we slapped the crap out of the air conditioning unit out of frustration and miraculously the damn thing turned on and we have new heating elements in the hot water heater. We drained the tank three times and replaced the elements three times and it finally works. Thank goodness. I guess that saying "the third time is the charm" is actually true because I now take scolding hot showers to make up for lost time. I took a cold shower everyday for about three weeks. I was not pleasant to be around after stepping out of the tub. Our house is a much happier place now :)

In other news, today is the first day of October. Holy cats this year is going by fast!!! This is mine and Sean's favorite time of year, and I'm pretty sure it's everyone else's favorite time of year, too. Consider us bandwagoners. He loves it for the delicious Pumpkin beer (typical) and I love it for all of the decor (also typical). But, our most favorite thing about this time of year is the fact that we can open up our house! While it's way too hot for that now, we love having all of the windows and doors open. One of our favorite features of the house is that the whole back side of it opens up, thanks to the sliding glass doors that open up and slide into the wall. It reminds us of a house in the islands how everything flows into the great outdoors. We get to view our beautiful backyard, the dogs enjoy the brisk air and it puts us in a better mood. I love it. I'm ready for it. bring. it. on.

That's all for now, though. Big thanks to my five relentless fans for checking in to make sure I was alive. I am, thankfully. I am also taking hot showers, relaxing in cool air and no longer live in a house that could catch on fire at any given moment. Life is good. I'll be back later on this week to show you how much fall has invaded our house. I'm loving all of the colors and flowers. I'm also loving the Caramel Apple Spice drinks from Starbucks (my new addiction), I just wish I didn't sweat my rear end off while drinking it. C'mon mother nature, bring on the cooler temps!!! I'm ready for boots and scarves :)

-C Doc

What's right with the world...

Lately, when you turn on the TV there is usually some trashy show on that either features girls clawing each other’s weave out, or guys fighting over skanky girls with morals so low they don’t even know what morals actually are. You know what I’m talkin’ about? And I’m not going to lie, I watch some crappy TV from time to time. Its mind numbing. And some days, I need something that’s going to melt my brain and take me away from the stresses of day to day life.  But there is one show that makes me appreciate the small things in this crazy world. And that, my friends, is Duck Dynasty.

The show started back up this past Wednesday for its fourth season and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s a show that you can watch with kids and adults, alike. It’s wholesome family television; and while they do kill the occasional duck, frog, squirrel or beaver, it shows that life doesn’t have to be so “yuppie” all of the time(in the words of Phil Robertson, the creator of the famous duck call). Material things don’t really matter in the long run because all you’re going to have left at the end of the day is the people you surround yourself with.

This family lives the simple life, aside from running a multimillion dollar company. They work together, hunt together, eat together, have fun together and most importantly, pray together. In my eyes, Duck Dynasty showcases a rare union; godly men that are madly in love with their wives and would do anything for their children. It’s hard to find that now-a-days. While watching the show, I can’t help but feel happy and hopeful that this show will somehow change people’s outlooks on things. The world would be a better place if we went at it with a cup of sweet tea in hand like my favorite guy, Si. He’s got the funniest personality and has some goofy stories that always seem to get you laughing. I could go on and on talking this show up, so I’ll put a halt to it before it gets out of control. With that, I’ll leave you some fun activities that can go along with my favorite show:

A fun workout that will have you as tired as their bird dogs at the end of a hunt:

And for my boozers, a drinking game to go along with their infamous one-liners!

Quack, quack, Jack!

-C Doc

Oh, hey!

Haven't checked in for about a week so I thought I'd throw some randomness at you guys. Ready? Good, let's begin.

Sean and I have a new hobby. It involves our backyard, globe lights, drinks, music, our pups and a tennis ball. It's quite possibly the best and easiest hobby ever. We also have bananas growing from our tree, which I'm totally stoked about! I can't wait to eat these little guys; they're soooo sweet and scrumptious :)


Notice the puppy dog eyes glowing in the back?

The cute little itty-bitty flowers that we planted months ago are out. of. control! and I love it.

We spent Friday evening/night scooting around on the boat. We watched the sunset and stopped at a restaurant for dinner and drinks. It was so beautiful and it was a fabulous time spent with friends. I live for those kind of nights.

I found an article in a local newspaper for a vintage market that is held monthly in our area. I went on Saturday to check it out and it was pretty cool! They had a lot of old collectables, along with some cute restored furniture.  If you live in the area, stop in there! It's worth it just to see some of the ways they used odds and ends to create different things. I love creative things :)

I also went to a place that I had driven past about 654,843,716 times since I've existed on this planet. Nobody really knew anything about it and nobody I know has ever gone there... So, I decided to go. Have you ever heard of the Florida Orange Grove Winery? It's the nifty place in South Pasadena that has the brightly colored marquee that showcases all of their tropical tasting wines and it is truly a hidden gem. I went there with some girlfriends out of curiosity. We were greeted by a friendly worker that asked us if we were interested in doing a tour/tasting. I asked how much it cost and when she said it was free, she got a collective "yes!!!" from all three of us girls. They produce all of the wine they sell right in that building. It looks pretty small from the road, but it's actually quite large! The wines are very fruity because it is actually fermented fruit juice. Most "fruity" wines that people drink are fruit infused, these were literrally fruit-wine. The tour was neat and the tasting was even better. We got to try their four most popular wines, choose three extras that we would like to taste and we also got to try the amazing wine smoothies that they make. Yes, you heard me correctly. wine. smoothie. Can it get any better?!?!? If you haven't popped in there yet, I highly recommend you do. You'll enjoy it. Promise.

And then, this happened...

We went to John's Pass to walk around and hang out. Sometimes we forget to take advantage of where we live and the activities that are available to us. So, we went and enjoyed a few hours on the boardwalk, had some beverages, sweat our butts off, bought some sandals, got jealous of the people at the sandbar (our normal hangout on the weekends), and watched the boats go in and out of the pass. It was awesome! Plus, some of the cool little bars sell craft beers that are locally made, which is pretty neat if you ask me :)

One last thing! Monday night I made a calzone that was the size of Texas!

Well, it's not actually the size of Texas, but it was pretty darn big! There was a pound of hamburger, a whole container of ricotta cheese, a bag of mozzarella cheese, a package of pepperonis and a whole small onion in it. The crust was big enough to make a thick large pizza. And while it doesn't look all that big, it is sitting on a 13"x18" cookie sheet. Yeah. That sucker was huge. And it was so good! You can find the directions and everything you need to know about it on my cousin-in-law's blog! It's quite adorable; she's got some great recipes and some cute crafts that anyone could do! Be sure to check it out: http://lazydaysandsundays.blogspot.com/.

That sums up all of the random happenings that are currently going on in my life. Hope you all are doing well!

-C Doc

Rug a dug dug

You guys.... Something incredible happened this weekend. Sean (you know, my husband) and I were on the same page about something. Like, totally on the same wavelength. We liked the same thing. At the same time. It involved a decent amount of cash, but we both went for it. Together. Yeah, Sean and I. I'm still in shock... I shall reminisce the strange occurrence while sitting on our glorious NEW RUG!!!!!!!!!!!

It's so yummy. The pile on this thing is crazy; I would guess around 2" deep? When you step on it, your toes disappear. It's amazing. And while we spent a decent amount on it ($300), it's so worth it. The best part is that we're able to justify the purchase because the rug is huuuuuge. And fluffy. It's safe to say we're obsessed. We ate dinner at the coffee table, while sitting on the rug. We watched a movie, while sitting on the rug. We played with the dogs, while sitting on the rug. I then picked up a bunch of dog hair, off the rug. And then Sean spilled a drink, on the rug. And then I threatened to strangle him.

That pretty much sums up our weekend, though. I did a workout that totally kicked my @$$ and then went out on the boat and got a splotchy, horrible looking sunburn. Now my body is all like "WTF Cali?!?" So, if you're looking for me, I'll be drinking gallons of water and soaking in gobs of lotion, ON MY NEW RUG!

-C Doc

Caching up with the times

Alas! I am back... and once again I'm procrastinating and holding out on the geo caching adventure (see, my title wasn't a typo. ha.). While I'm at it, I'll be honest. I probably won't write too much about it, because if I haven't done it yet, I probably wont do it. Why? Because I'm lazy. Just know that we had fun, it was hot, there were bugs and we found the five cashes that we set out to find. Here are some pictures :)

^^^^^

This was the creepy house in the woods. The roof had caved in, most of the walls had fallen down and there were trees growing throughout the structure. The geo cache, which was a tupper-ware full of trinkets and small items, was shoved back in the chimney. Once we found it, we signed the sheet and ran for the car as fast as we could!

Anyhoo, back to why I originally started writing. I have a delish dish that you all need to try! Provided that you like Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches, you will love these! They're Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers, yum! Here are the ingredients:

 

The glass of wine is totally optional, but definitely recommended. You don't put it in the food or anything, it just tastes good and makes your day better :) What you really need is roast beef (I ordered a pound thinly sliced but only used about 1/2-3/4 of the pound for this meal), 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, a small onion (I used about half), a heaping handful of mushrooms, and the peppers to stuff! The amounts of ingredients I used yielded enough of the meat mixture for three peppers. Perfect for me and the hubs.

I started by roughly chopping the onion and mushrooms up. I then sauteed them on a medium/high heat with some olive oil and spices. While that was going, I prepared my peppers and meat. I chopped the tops of the peppers and removed the veins and seeds. For the meat, I rolled up the big slices and ran my knife through it several times.

***Side note: check out that knife! Sean and I bought it while in Georgia at a knife store. It's made from porcelain and get this, it never (ever!) has to be sharpened! Perfect for my lazy self (as noted above).

When the veggies were done, I threw in the meat to brown it up a bit. While that was going, I put about one cup of cheese in the bottoms up my peppers:

Then I filled them with my meat mixture and topped them with the remaining cheese!

I baked them in the oven (that's pretty obvious I guess) at 400* for about 15-20 minutes. It cooks the pepper perfectly! Tender and roasted with a hint of crunch. Just how I like it. For all you health nuts, this is a no-carb meal! But, that won't fly in our house... No sir. So I made some spicy yellow rice :)

There's that pesky wine glass again...

The meal was great and very easy to make! It was a cool spin on stuffed peppers and it's definitely something you can play with when it comes to flavors. I think I may do some fajita stuffed peppers in the future. Or maybe some with pork and wild rice... The possibilities are endless! Enjoy :)

-C Doc