Pinterest Inspired OOTD and my big trip!

I am so excited to finally FINALLY say I have my Ireland tickets! I am going to visit my penpal, who I got assigned to on a school project, Lyndsey. She used to live in England but moved to Ireland a few years ago to be with her boyfriend. I have met her many times, once on my trip to England when I was 15 and then she has come to see me 3 times, and was even a bridesmaid in my wedding!

I also came across this outfit on Pinterest (I want her shoes!) and it inspired me to wear this scarf. I can only wear jeans on Friday so blue dress pants will have to do.

Scarf is Maurice's, tee is banana republic outlet, pants are loft, flats and earrings are target.

I love Pinterest :) I love your comments as well!

Shirley's Haul

So we all know I love shopping and I love horses. So when I can combine the 2 it makes me so happy.

I bought Shirley some goodies from Smartpak.com the other day, I love getting packages even when technically they aren't for me ;)

I got Shirley a new Happy mouth bit. She loves these. I had not heard or used them until I went to a riding clinic and the trainer recommended it. It's flavored like apple, and is so lightweight. Shirley uses a 5 inch. It retails for $54.95. The disadvantage to these is they wear down faster to other bits due to the fact that horses munch on them due to the flavor bit.


I also got her some bit wipes. These are awesome for cleaning bits (and safe!) I got a pack of 40 for $10.95.

The last thing I got was my Kensington green plaid tote bag. All of Shirley's gear is this pattern from Kensington, and the tote bag is a new item. Not all Kensington products come in the green, so when it's released I add it to my collection. This retails for $18.95. It's a high quality product (Kensington is a high quality brand) but for me it's a tad small. I do love the front pocket though.

As I have mentioned, Smartpak has wonderful customer service. All orders over $75 ship free.

I love spoiling my pony :)

Trailer Ride//Weekend Wrap-up

Being a horse owner isn't just about riding and taking care of your horse-but it's about taking care of your stuff as well.

The hubs and I realized that our horse trailer hasn't gone on a ride in about a year. Oops. We decided to take it for a drive and make sure all was working properly. We took it for a ride down the street and back and hubs also wanted to practice backing it up (harder then it seems!)

Turns out he is great at backing up the trailer and all is working fine. Ever since I stopped showing after the wedding, the trailer seemed to have gotten forgotten a bit. We have made the resolution to make sure we take better care of it so it will last for years to come.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I volunteered with Habitat again yesterday, and I learned how to measure and cut tile and learned how to operate a tile saw! This will come in handy when we tile our new laundry room (more on all that later). We also spent a lot of time cleaning of course I rode :)

I love reading your comments! :)

Pasta with Garlic and Cheese Sauce

I enjoy cooking. It's a way for me to relax after a long day (it's also in my blood with my very Italian family). When I found this recipe on My Life as a Mrs. I immediately wanted to try this. I did adjust a bit. I used penne and I used jarred garlic as I had it on hand and I used shredded mozzarella as my hubby doesn't like Parmesan.

Reading the recipe reviews many said they couldn't believe there was no cream. Wow were they right!

Adapted from My Life as a Mrs. http://www.mylifeasamrs.com/2012/01/gnocchi-in-parmesan-garlic-sauce.html


1 pound pasta (I used penne)
1/4 cup cooking liquid (the water you cooked the pasta in)
1/2 stick of butter
1 tsp jarred garlic or 1 clove
1 cup shredded mozzarella


Cook the pasta al dente. In another pan melt the butter then mix the garlic stirring constantly for 1 minute.

Drain the pasta saving 1/4 of the liquid. Mix the pasta with the butter/garlic and then top with the liquid and the cheese. Simmer and stir until mixed.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Sooooo yummy. I love it.

Speaking of kitchens...we are working with a designer on picking out cabinets and granite. I wish I had more of an exciting update but that's all for now.

Also we are adding an addition to our house (yay!) and getting a closet system for our master closet. Lots of plans!

I love reading your comments :)

Happy Color

I love my Vineyard Vines corduroys. They are so comfy and the color makes me so happy.

This was my last wear for these until I put them away until next winter. I decided to pair my yellow Old Navy scarf (it has white polka dots but its hard to see), my striped Jcrew Factory tee, target earrings, and hot pink Steve Madden shoes from Tjmaxx.

The color green makes me happy in general. It was one of my wedding colors (along with pink) and even as a kid I've always loved it.

Do you have a happy color?

Pinterest Workout

Exercise is key for maintaining health and gaining health benefits. Even though I ride 5 days a week and yes that is exercise, I need to find other methods as well to get exercise. I found this little workout routine on Pinterest thinking it would be easy. Boy I was wrong! It was a great workout and I definitely felt it. Have you ever tried a new workout routine from Pinterest?

Do Good.

We all know I volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and that I love it. Well today was another volunteer day! It makes me so happy.


Today we installed wire lath. What is that? Well it's a wire material instead before installing stucco to a house. Stucco is so common in Florida. Our house is stucco.

I had so much fun. It was the same crew as always and it's a blast. The best part? I got to use more power tools ;) we focused on the area on the screened in porch around the sliding glass door.

As a little girl I dreamed of being a princess (sigh....Kate) and I was always told that a princess has one duty-"do good." I try to apply this to my life whenever I can....and it feels great. I can't wait to volunteer again next week! I am thankful for the friendships I've gained and also for the mentors who have taught me useful (and free!) skills I can use as a homeowner.

Naturally...photos from today. I cut the wire piece (and learned how to measure it using a chalk line tool-so awesome) and then drilled screws.

Hope everyone had a great Saturday :)

Living Room Sneak Peak

Happy Friday! I am so glad it's the weekend.

I'm not considering this a double post day since blogger ate my proposal post and I had to do over :)

I feel like I gave such a tease on our grey living room and then stopped. Well, here is a sneak peak photo of the hallway and entry. We have such an open floor plan that I ended up painting that too and I am so happy I did. I love the color. Even H who was worried about the color loves it. We also hung the wall decor that was a gift from my mother in law.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Proposal Story!

(Blogger deleted my last post on this...sorry for the repost!)

So I figured I would share my propostal story. I actually almost mised my chance at getting engaged that day!

H proposed on February 25, 2010. I was 22 years old and a Senior in college.

I went to college close to home and commuted my Senior year, and I still rode in college with my barn and showed with them. Well, one after class H wanted to go to the barn. I wasn't sure why...it was hailing and raining. But he insisted. I was so hungry, I kept whining how I wanted food, but H kept saying that can wait. So we get to the barn, and for some reason it stops hailing and raining. It was a sign. So H goes to the pasture, gets Shirley, and hands her to me, and then gives some speech on how he loves us both and got down on one knee.

The first thing I say is "did you ask my dad?" Haha. What a typical Southern girl thing to say :) (Turns out he helped him pick the ring)

Of course I said yes! Then we went back to my parents house where a cake, champange and family members were waiting :)

I love how H included Shirley and proposed at the barn where I really learned how to ride and grew up. The next night we went to a horse show awards banquet where I got to show off my ring more :)

We were married on April 30, 2011.

Ahhh. I love sweet proposals. And weddings.

I realize how young H and I were and how much we have grown.

Last Minute Decisions!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday!

So this week I have realized I have made 2 last minute decisions, which both ended up turning out just fine. Sometimes that happens, that's life.


The first was Tuesday. I originally had this on.

Then I got outside and realize that it was COLD. 52 degrees is freezing here in FL!

So I went back inside and put on tights and boots instead.

I was much warmer :)

Here is a close up of my necklace.

The other last minute decision was yesterday. My mother in law was coming back for her 2nd weeknd stay with us. The original idea was she would get here around 5:30, then we would go out to dinner. Well, she ended up getting stuck behind an accident, causing her 2 hour trip to become a 4 1/2 hour trip, and H got stuck at work for an extra 2 hours. SO. I didn't have anything defrosted, nothing ready. So I went home, did a quick inventory of what I had, and ran to Publix for some groceries. I remembered I had pinned this mac and cheese recipe! and had been wanting to make it. I had everything on hand except for the 2 cheeses (and I couldn't find them shredded, only block) that it asked for.

Oh my word it was amazing! I am sorry I did not get progress photos. I also picked up a store bought chicken (my Lent practicing self had some fish H brought home from work) and I made homemade biscuits.

Here are some photos I did get....seriously, MAKE THIS! I did double the recipe, and I also put it in a casserole dish and in the oven on 425 for about 10 minutes to get it to thicken after I did the stovetop instructions. SERIOUSLY......it was so good.


I was able to get this photo though.

MMMMMMMMMMM COMFORT FOOD :)

Tonight's agenda is going to the Salty Dog for dinner, and then out for ice cream! I have enjoyed having my mother in law here. My living room is now grey, more on that later :)


I love reading your comments! :)

Perfection.

Happy Friday! I am so glad the weekend is here. I am ready for another visit from my mother in law and to finish painting our living room!


After work on Tuesday H and I went to go see Shirley together. He loves her and she loves him. I will share my barn proposal story later :) for now I captured this precious shot when he wasn't paying attention.


Perfection. I love my little family.

Leopard Love

I also probably wear more leopard then one person should ever wear. I love it. I love how it works as a neutral, yet it makes an outfit more special.

Last Tuesday, I wore my yellow LOFT skirt (it was an online only item, Similar) and my LOFT leopard cardigan, wedges from Zappos, and my Bauble Bar necklace (this was my first Bauble Bar purchase, and I was very pleased!).

 

 

 

I loved the mix of colors with leopard. I don't surprise my coworkers anymore with my outfits ;)

Last Thursday I repeated the leopard in a work week, and wore my Old Navy leopard infinity scarf (this was definitely a great purchase), with my mint J.Crew sweater, Express pants and Zappos heels.

Rule for leopard? Only wear one piece at a time :)

Comment below :)

Gravity

Why the title of this post you ask? Well, that is because I have officially FOUND my perfect grey living room paint!

I appreciate the sellers painting the house a neutral color (well, with the exception of the ugly wallpaper in the kitchen!), however, it was not our style. It was too much of an olive green/beige. So not us. After seeing many photos on Pinterest of grey living rooms, I was intrigued.

So you remember in my last living room post, I was dealing with these 2 grey colors (both from Valspar)....Wet Pavement on the left, and Granite Dust on the right. I was unhappy with the Wet Pavement, as I thought it was too dark. Granite Dust was too blue for my taste.

 

 

So. I decided to go back to Lowes, and find another grey...with my mother in law's help, I found the perfect grey!

 

MEET....GRAVITY!

 

 

 

 

H primed the area, and I applied the new color in between my other two. I love it. I am such a Valspar fan (for their high quality paint, and their support to Habitat for Humanity, an organization I volunteer with and enjoy being a part of). I was thrilled. I then went onto Pinterest to see how others used this color and I came across these (thus making me even more excited!). Not only are we doing our living room, we are doing this in our entrance and hallway as well!

 

Here is a photo I found on Pinterest with Gravity. (Love the headboard!)

 

 

 

 

 

Also, a housewarming gift from my mother in law....I wanted one of these so badly! We went to Home Goods (love that store), and she offered to buy it. I cannot wait to hang it when the wall is painted grey :)

 

 

 

 

 

Do you think I chose the right grey? I love how our house is coming together and turning into our home. I would love your comments!

Asparagus Baked with Cheese

So my mother in law is here visiting from the great state of New Jersey. She has a vacation home roughly 2 hours away, so she is down for 9 days and visiting us for a few days out of her trip. This is the first time she has seen our house, and has lot of ideas! We got a lot done around the house (more on that later).

My mother in law loves. to cook. Words cannot explain. Very rare is it that we go out when we see her. In addition, dinner prep starts around 10am. So this morning we went through my cookbooks (wedding gifts that ended up on a shelf) and found this recipe. It is from Super Suppers by Judie Byrd. Buy the book here! It was so good. Even my picky husband loved it..but probably because it was covered in cheese. :)

We ended up cutting the recipe in half and it was perfect. We made it as a side dish to this this Giada recipe from my Everyday Italian by Giada DeLaurentiis cookbook (total fellow Italian girl crush!)

So, the Asparagus Baked with Cheese....here is how you make it. Again, we cut it in half and it was more then enough.


Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh asparagus spears
1/2 cup melted butter
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Cut or tear the "woody" ends of the asparagus and rinse. Arrange asparagus in a baking dish, layer if ned. Combine the melted butter and onio soup mix. Drizzle over asparagus and then top with the cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes until tender and cheese is melted.

Step by step!

Here are your ingredients. It's hard to tell, but in the bowl is the melted butter.

Tear off the "woody" ends of the asparagus, and rinse. Then place in the baking dish.

Thank you to my mother in law for nicely showing us how to do this.

 

 

 

I love this baking dish. I love the stoneware and the handles. We got it as a wedding gift. I can't find it online, but it's from Macys.

 

 

 

Mix the soup mix and melted butter, then pour over the asparagus. Top with the cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake on 350 for about 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

 

 

 

 

 

Comment below :)