Lipstick Jungle!

How many of you have watched Lipstick Jungle? I've watched this from the beginning and I actually like it. At first it was a bit odd to follow, but then I figured out that friends are the basis of this show! Girlfriends! They stand together and are there for you, no matter what. Then I got to thinking about my college friends in my sorority! To this day we are all still friends, here for each other at a moment's notice. Our 'theme' song was by James Taylor, 'You've Got A Friend'.

When youre down and troubled

And you need a helping hand

And nothing, whoa nothing is going right.

Close your eyes and think of me

And soon I will be there

To brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name,

And you know whereever I am

Ill come running,

oh yeah babyTo see you again.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall,

All you have to do is call

And Ill be there,

yeah, yeah, yeah.

Youve got a friend.

If the sky above you

Should turn dark and full of clouds

And that old north wind should begin to blow

Keep your head together and call my name out loud

And soon I will be knocking upon your door.

You just call out my name and you know where ever I am

I'll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer or fall

All you got to do is call

And Ill be there,

yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, aint it good to know that youve got a friend?

People can be so cold.

Theyll hurt you and desert you.

Well theyll take your soul if you let them.

Oh yeah, but dont you let them.

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am

Ill come running to see you again.

Oh babe, dont you know that,

Winter spring summer or fall,

Hey now, all youve got to do is call.

Lord, Ill be there, yes I will.

Youve got a friend.Youve got a friend.

Aint it good to know youve got a friend.

Aint it good to know youve got a friend.

Youve got a friend.

I also think it's really neat in this 'blog world' that even though we don't 'KNOW' each other, we are there to help support each other! Sometimes it is just the kind word that we need.

In the mood for BBQ

I don't know what's happening here in the ole' house, but I think my hubby and kids like it! ROFL I usually do not like cooking but do it because I have to because we have to eat. I'm sure you know the drill. But lately I've been hooked on Rachael Ray and have grown to really enjoy making easy recipes that are tasty!

Our local grocery store has a little testing kitchen and they have awesome meals that are prepared. I picked up three cards today when I went grocery shopping.

Here is one of the recipes that was easy and the kids loved it.

BBQ Baskets

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) can buttermilk biscuits

1 1/2 cups cooked shredded pork with barbecue sauce

1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Place each biscuit in one muffin cup. Press biscuit down into bottom of each cup until about 1/4-inch thick, then press biscuit up side of muffin cups to form crust.

3. Divide pork evenly into biscuits (about 2 1/2 tablespoons each); sprinkle with cheese.

4. Bake 20–25 minutes until biscuit edges are golden and barbecue pork is thoroughly heated. Serve.

Cowboy Beans

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) can pork and beans (undrained)

1 (15-ounce) can black beans (drained)

1/4 cup hickory-smoked barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons cooked bacon pieces

1 teaspoon mustard

Steps
1. Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan.

2. Cook on medium 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until thoroughly heated. Reduce heat to warm until ready to serve.

The World's Biggest Tea Party!

I had to share that my daughter was so excited because she got to see the 'ponies live'. :o) Imagine life size colorful ponies dancing on a stage at a venue near you and that's what she experienced!

She was invited to the 'party' with her 'sister best friend'. They are the cutest because they call themselves 'sisters best friends' all the time. And if they ever fuss, which they do to, they become 'cousins'! It's a hoot!

Here is the little Princess at the tea party.

The stage was all aglow with the lighting of the ponies.

The ponies dancing and trying to help PinkyPie because she was sad that there would be no tea party!

More ponies dancing~

What's for dinner tonight?

I was watching Racheal Ray this morning while checking emails and postal mail and got inspired to do some cooking! If you know me, easy peasy is what I like when it comes to cooking and baking. So I made a full meal that to my surprise took less than an hour to make!

First I made a chicken in the microwave! Yep, the microwave! I went to a Pampered Chef show a few months back and the consultant made a yummo chicken in the microwave. I was shocked and surprised because usually cooking chicken in the microwave would scare me. I am all about making sure no one gets sick from undercooked chicken and pork! I'm very OCD about cleaning my counters, cookware, and hands when preparing it too. So I made this chicken right after the show and it was pretty decent. So I made it again for dinner. Here's the recipe:

30 minute chicken
1 whole chicken (3-4 pounds)
1 tables spoon EVOO (extra virigin olive oil)
Seasoning mixture-
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground flax meal (I add this to everything b/c of it's dietary goodness)

Combine seasoning mixture. Set aside.

Lightly spray deep covered baker with EVOO. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken cavity. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Trim excess fat off. Baste the chicken with EVOO. Completely coat the chicken with the seasoning mixture. Place chicken, breast side up, in baker. Microwave, uncovered, for 30 minutes (pocket thermometer needs to register 165F in thickest part of breast and juices run clear). Remove from microwave and cover with lid. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Then I also served some baked mac-n-cheese! Craig has always asked about making this but I have never found a recipe that fit my tastes (ie. easy recipe!). I found one online and decided to try it. It was super easy to make but did use up a couple of pots/pans which I'm not a fan of doing. But it was yummy, which is all that matters!

Baked Mac-n-cheese
1 16-oz box of elbow macaroni
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry ground mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt (can use regular salt too)
5 cups milk
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (easier to use 2 bags of 2 cups each for recipe)
1/4 teaspoon flax meal (see above note)

Cook pasta according to box directions. Preheat oven to 375F. In large saucepan, over medium heat, melt margarine. Stir in flour, mustard, and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Coak and stir until mixture thickens slightly and bubbles. Remove from heat and add 2 cups of cheese, stir until melted. In large bowl, combine sauce with pasta. Spoon mixture into a greased 13x9 baking dish. Top with remaining 2 cups of cheese. Bake for 4o minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes. (makes 8-10 servings so you'll have leftovers!)

Then I steamed some fresh green beans and added butter, EVOO, and a hint of bacon pieces.

For dessert, I saw a recipe over at Kelly's blog that I wanted to try. These cupcakes were yummy! It was also super easy to make and would be a great treat for any event!

My husband and kids were so excited about the dinner fare. The kids loved the chocolate cupcakes with the surprise treats inside. And Craig loved the mac-n-cheese and the cupcakes too. Usually I make white or yellow cupcakes because I'm not a fan of chocolate cake. So this was all for them!

So that's what's for dinner tonight. What's for dinner at your place?

What a wonderful Wii-k

What a week we have had and it's only Tuesday! If you recall, I received a Blackberry Curve 2 for V-Day. So yesterday I was going to run some errands to the mall, but it started raining so hard that I decided to stay in town. I went to Walmart to pick up a few items, then I headed over to the AT&T store to get a cover for the phone. Next door to phone store is a Game Stop so I thought I'd pop in and see if they happen to have a Wii in stock. You see my boys call the store at least 4 times a week, since the beginning of January to see if they have any. Well, yesterday must have been the day because the truck had just dropped off 4 Wii's! I had to laugh because as I was paying someone else walked in and asked for one. Less then 10 minutes and two gone! It was even better because we had a gift card there and I ended up paying half of how much it cost! Yeah! Then we went back to the store after gymnastics and the kids traded out some games and their PS2 system. So we were able to get 2 games and a docking station! Double yeah!

The boys came home and after homework, set up the system and played a couple of games of bowling. They had a great time! I'll post some pictures of them playing later!

Valentine's Day Surprise and the Rodeo!

Happy Valentine's Day a day late! I've been swamped lately with helping Craig with stuff for the company and getting all the Valentine goodies for the kid's classes, that the days are just flying by lately.



Valentine's Day was awesome! I've been wanting a new phone for about a year and on Valentine's Day I got my new phone............a Blackberry Curve 2, in red! I was laughing because I just found out today that my friend, Mandy, also got one. So I guess we have a new toy to play with, don't we! I'm new to all of this techno stuff, but it sure does look like fun. I think it will help with Craig's work as I can have his emails sent to my phone if we are going away or something. So I'm totally excited about it!




I spent all day Wednesday baking cupcakes and cookies, so although I love both, I don't have much use for either right now. ROFL We spent the afternoon signing cards and packing their little goodie bags for their respective Valentine's parties.

On Friday, the kids had the day off from school because the Rodeo is in town! Yippee! We do not get President's Day off, no sir. We get Rodeo Day off and the kids get into the county fair for free. So guess where the kids and I spent the day, yep, the county fair! It was actually pretty calm and nice all day, so they had fun. We ended up staying later then I had wanted. Craig got finished with work and met us out there and brought us jackets. So we walked around and let the little one ride some rides. Then it got too crowded for me as I do not like crowds. So we left and went home. I did take a picture with our youngest on the little horse ride, so if I can figure out how to get it from my phone to the computer, I'll post it! LOL



Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and is having a great weekend!

I made something today!

I saw this over at Box of Chocolates blog and thought it looked interesting. :o) Actually it's pretty cute. What do you think?

Do you want to create your own? Click here.

The Final Reveal..........

I am so excited to reveal our 'new' master bedroom. For many years, I have watched all sorts of HGTV shows about how a master bedroom is supposed to be a retreat, a place of serenity and peace, if you will. Well, I think that is what we accomplished with our bedroom.

In mid December, Craig surprised me and said that he wanted to get a new bedroom set after I showed him one that I did like. You see it's been a bit of a game between us. He sees one and shows me, I don't care for it. Then I show him one, and he doesn't like it. In December, we finally agreed on one that we BOTH liked! Amazing!

So we went to the furniture store and ordered our new furniture. They were set to deliver the furniture in early January. When the delivery arrived, we were shocked to see that both night stands were virtually destroyed on the top and side? So the delivery guys left us with our two dressers and armoire. In hindsight, it wasn't as bad as I had originally thought because we were able to slowly go thru all of our other items to do a major early spring cleaning. Then by early February our bed and nightstands arrived. Yeah!

One of my bloggy friends, Jessica, told me about an awesome store called TJ Maxx. So after several trips there, we found all of our bedding. I love the colors of brown and blue so much! I think one day I'll have to redo our master bath to 'match'. Shhhh, don't tell Craig! LOL

Here is our bed. In 'real life' it is a grand piece that makes the room. The detail in the head and foot boards are so beautiful. I picked up the side lights from Lowe's. And the prints above the bed are from Home Interiors.

The gentleman's dresser and curio are to the right of our door. I have a few of my favorite things in the curio, including handprints of the kids, some special Longaberger baskets, and a few Boyd's Bears. On top of the gentleman's dresser is a salt lamp, a man's jewelry chest, and a beautiful letter 'G' that my friend, Jessica, made for me! I love it. I was going to put that G in the entry way of our house but I like it much better in my room.


Here is my dresser. Forgive the light in the mirror. I couldn't figure out how to take this without that light. It has a ton of room and houses some of Craig's clothes as well as some of my scrapbooking items. LOL I also picked up that jewelry chest at Walmart! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. I had been looking and looking for one and never saw one that I really liked, till I saw this one in Walmart. There is also a picture of our family sitting on a Harley in York, PA. I love that picture. It was actually one we used last year for our Christmas cards!

This is our armoire! It holds our television on our bedroom. On top of the armoire is a cute little olive jar and plant from Southern Living at Home. Also some cute candle holders from the same company. Then another one of my favorite pieces is our handcrafted tile from my friend, Jessica. Isn't that beautiful! Check out her site for some of her creations! She is very talented!

Upclose on the top of the armoire.........


I hope that enjoyed the little tour of our 'new room'.

Dance War!

Ok, so is anyone else into the dancing reality shows? I love Dancing with the Stars and have watched faithfully since it began. So when ABC announced that they were doing the Dance Wars between Carrie Ann and Bruno, I was a bit worried.

Well, I've been watching each week and I have to say I really like it. I guess the dancing shows to me are like American Idol to others. I like several things about this show.........first it is based on 'real people' from across the nation. Second it includes singing and dancing. And third, the audience decides which group stays and goes. I like that.

Team Carrie Ann has won two weeks in a row. They seem to have a great chemistry and also seem to enjoy what they are doing. Elizabeth is a stand out right now because when she came on board she wasn't the best dancer but has proved to grow each week. Another stand out would be Chris. He seems to have a lot of 'malfunction' on things like his mic not working or the sound not being on, but he continues like a pro.

Team Bruno unfortunately isn't picking the best songs. Zach is by far the best singer and dancer on the team. But Kelsey is gaining on him. She had a fantastic run last night with her performance. Last night they lost one more member of this group so they are down to four. I think it will be interesting how they fare next week with the four of them.

Weekend update and a search plea~

Ok, bloggers. I am at a loss. I am on the search for a couple of things and can't find them anywhere here locally. So I thought I'd appeal to my online friends to see if you happen to know of a store that has any of these items.

1. Director chairs- the tall one's

2. Something for my hubby's clothes at night. Somewhat like a man's valet stand, but not for suits? Is there anything or am I dreaming! LOL

This weekend has been spent doing some work on the new part of the business. We had a little BBQ on Saturday afternoon and showcased the products locally. It was a great day. Then we went out to Game Stop with the kids on a search for a Wii. Of course we didn't find one. But the search will continue. :o)

Today I've been putting the finishing touches on our master bedroom. I have to put up the curtains when Craig gets home and then it'll be done. I'll snap some pics and post this week. I couldn't be happier with the way everything has turned out!

What are you up to this weekend?

Super Bowl Sunday??

Yeah! The Super Bowl is on Sunday and we have no plans to speak of, yet! :o) Usually because Brandon's birthday is the end of January, we have to arrange schedules for birthday parties, etc. This year we went to Chuck E Cheese with a friend of his and had a great time. I also made cupcakes for his class. He received some new motorcross riding gear from Monster Energy this year. I'll take some pictures later and post.

Did you know that they design a new look for the winning team each year? I thought that was very cool!

Not that I don't enjoy a party or an event, but for some reason I am ready to stay home this weekend and enjoy the game. I have planned to make some wings and fried cheese sticks. But after that I am at a loss.

We are Steelers fans here but we are hoping that NY wins this! I'm not entirely pleased that the Patriots have been allowed to play in the bowl with the whole 'playbook incident'. So I'd love to see NY win for us all!

What are you having for the big game? And who are you hoping wins?

We have a winner..........

Wow, how exciting! I've never participated in a 'bloggy carnival' before and this was quite fun! I loved checking out everyone's blogs out in blogworld. I can't believe that there were over 840 giveaways going on this week! Awesome!

My son helped me out with choosing, and I am very pleased to announce that a winner has been chosen! The winner is...........................

Jessica McCash

Congrats!

I hope that those who visited my blog will continue to stop by often. I'm new at the blog thing but I am having fun! I'd love to get to know you all better!

Have a great weekend!