Favorite Ornaments Round Up.

For those people who, even after the 45843568 gift guides you've seen, you STILL can't decide what to get them...

2013 Ornament Round Up by megan-l-smith featuring beaded ornaments

Friendsgiving + Budweiser Project 12.

“I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Millennial Central for Budweiser. I received a product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, our supper club threw our first Friendsgiving! It was such a hit, that I'm pretty sure it will turn into an annual thing. A turkey was fried, plenty of sides were made, and even though there probably wasn't any room left in our bellies, dessert was gobbled up. 

Don't you love the cute plate settings Emily made??

 

While everyone was arriving, I set up a little beer tasting that I received from Budweiser in exchange to review their new set of special edition Project 12 beers! Millenial Central provided me with a 12-pack of the beers, tasting glasses, burlap coasters, and a chalk serving board! The perfect set up!

 

The second edition of Project 12 all started in early spring last year. Twelve brewmasters crafted their own special recipes of a beer they thought would be worthy of the Budweiser name. From there, six of the beers were chosen to move on to a summer-long national sampling by 25,000 people.The three beers that received the highest ratings were named after their zip codes that they were originally brewed in. 

They were:

Budweiser Batch No. 43229 (Columbus, Ohio) - Beechwood Bock:
"A deep amber lager brewed with chocolate and caramel malts and finished on beechwood chips."

Budweiser Batch No. 94534 (Fairfield, California) - North Pacific Lager:  
"A bold lager brewed with a unique blend of north pacific hop varieties."

Budweiser Batch No. 23185 (Williamsburg, Virginia) Vanilla Bourbon Cask: 
 "A light-amber all-malt bourbon cask lager aged on bourbon staves and vanilla beans and with an ABV of 5.5 percent."

I asked everyone what their favorite beer out of the sampler was and kept track with tally marks. My favorite was the vanilla bourbon cask, which I had a feeling it would be. I love a flavored beer. My least favorite was the north pacific lager - never been a fan of the hoppy beers, but as predicted, it was my dad's favorite! Beechwood bock was definitely the crowd favorite, and a close runner up for me. The darker beers that don't exactly taste dark and heavy to me, are always winners in my book.

 These three beers can now be found in a 12-pack sampler!

Have you seen this sampler pack in your stores?
Which one is your favorite??

High FIVE!

Ahh what a glorious weekend it was. Coming off of a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family, I traveled to Columbia Saturday for the annual Carolina / Clemson game! 

This was the first Carolina / Clemson game that Cameron and I did not watch together since we've been together. Since Carolina won the past 4 years, he thought that I was bad luck. Well, I proved him wrong. :)

Through his job, my uncle Jay was hooked up with a limo for the ride to and from the game. Can we do this for every game?? It was so much fun! 

 

 Not really sure why Jenny is wearing orange...

Me and my Daddy. Clearly having a good time.

Love my Uncle Jay and Aunt Cindy

 I swore this guy looked like Clowney..

 Me and my buddy, Tim! (Jenny's, from above, hubby)

Thanks for letting me sit with you!

Carolina beat Clemson for the 5th time in a row (31-17) and that made our 18th straight win at home!

Obviously a great time that I definitely paid for on Sunday..

Crockpot Mac + Cheese.

When the idea of Friendsgiving first came up, I knew immediately I wanted to make something that was going to be super easy and that would please both the guys and the gals. I came across a crockpot mac + cheese recipe on fellow southerner Stephanie's blog, Newlyweds:North, and a light bulb went off. This is the one! Can you believe in all of my 29.90 years on Earth this would be my first attempt at mac + cheese, other than the little blue box?? Me either.

Anyway, if you're looking for an easy side dish to throw together in the crockpot, try this one! Super yummy and super cheesy, just like mac + cheese should be.

Stephanie's picture

Crockpot Mac + Cheese

Recipe found here. 

16oz (1 box) large shells - I used penne

3 cups grated sharp cheddar - I only used 2 because that's all that was in a bag

Block of Cabot Razzor Sharp White, shredded or cubed

Block Cabot Monterey Jack, shredded or cubed

1 large can evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups regular milk

1 stick of butter, melted - I only used half

2 eggs

Salt and pepper

Paprika

Spray crockpot with pam.

Cook noodles according to package and drain.

Add cheese and noodles to crock pot and stir together.

Add melted butter and stir again.

In separate bowl, beat eggs and milks together. Add to crockpot.

Add salt, pepper and paprika, and mix well.

Cook on low. After 1 hour, stir again. Cook for 2 more hours, or until milk at bottom is gone.

Enjoy, and soak in all of the compliments you will be receiving!

Weekend.

 

 Whew, what a fun, jam-packed weekend! I have a feeling every weekend until the end of the year is going to be just as busy.

Friday night, Cameron and I went to the Palmetto Society's oyster roast. I felt like an old maid when we got there just a few minutes after the event started so we could beat the lines at the oyster tables, seeing girls wearing next to nothing and high heels, and yawning multiple times before the clock even struck 9pm. Get it together, Megan. We did have a great time though, seeing a lot of friends we don't get to see very often, enjoying the yummy oysters, and listening to the awesome band!

Saturday, Emily and I woke up bright and early to make the drive to Columbia for the USC / Coastal 1pm game! Having your best friend in the car sure does make the drive go by a lot faster! It was her first game of the season and her last one before she becomes a mom! We had great seats and a lot of fun!

We had our 1st annual Friendsgiving last night and it was amazing! More to come on that later this week! 

 

Oh, and I paid off a credit card this weekend! Is that not the best feeling?? I have to give major credit to my money-smart husband for lighting a fire under my ass to get these things paid off. I am so motivated to get the rest paid off ASAP! My goal is to be credit card debt free by the middle of 2014!

 

Also, best of luck to Natalie today as she gives birth to her sweet baby girl!

Friday Five.

I took a brief hiatus from 5 on Friday, mainly just because I didn't think I had anything interesting enough going on in my life to talk about, but I am back today! Linking up with April, Christina, Natasha, and Darci!

{one}

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I got to snuggle not one, but two precious babies yesterday! Ashton, who I can't believe is already 2 months old and Cate, who wasn't even 24 hours old yet! To answer the thought in your head, yes, I am definitely getting the fever, but no, it will not be happening for a while.

 

{two}

As you may (or may not) have noticed, my hair is a smidge darker. I also got it taken up in the back just above my shoulders so that the angle is more dramatic. LOVING it!

 

{three}

I hit 700 followers yesterday! Woohoo! Thank you all for reading my random shenanigans. I'm thinking a giveaway is going to happen soon!

 

{four}

Yesterday morning, I found myself looking at the Grateful Goldens Rescue website. Obviously, having a golden mix right now and two growing up, I have a soft spot in my heart for these special dogs. When I came across this beautiful white golden named Mickey, I was touched by his story and just had to make a donation towards his care. He has had seizures since he was 2 years old (not sure how old he is now) and they are trying to regulate them with medicine. There hasn't been an update on him since June so I've contacted the rescue for one. Hoping he's doing well and will find a forever home soon!

 

{five}

Rent the Runway has a new service called RTR Pro. For $29.95 a year, you receive free shipping, free insurance (shipping + insurance runs $14.95 a rental), and a free rental for your birthday (valued up to $50). Perfect for someone who frequently attends weddings/events!

 

{five and a half}

I love these guys.

Doesn't Brady just look thrilled?

 

Have a great weekend!!

Three Years on Tiffany - Living Room.

Back again this week with another installment of Three Years on Tiffany! Today I'll be showing you around the living room. It's obviously the room where we spend the most time, so I am constantly tweaking things in there to try get it just the way I like it. Yet, I still have more I want to do!

Here it is the day Cameron closed on the house.

A lovely shade of salmon.

The hardwood floors were in great condition, and we loved the brick fireplace!

Painted the walls a neutral tan.

Hung a sheet over the window until we bought curtain rods and curtains. Keepin' it classy!

Pay attention to this framed map. You will see it again.

Making some progress..

Couldn't decide on a large rug for the longest time, so the floors went bare for a while.

Hi Brady.

And pictures of how it looks today!

The map was re-framed and matted for our wedding guest book!

What I'd still like to do:

-Paint walls again, this time a lighter color.

-Buy a larger console table to go on wall under map.

-Couch pillows! I am so bad about pulling the trigger and buying some!

-Convince Cameron to put the owl in his office.

Previous posts:
Office
Dining Room

Small update thanks to a wonderful suggestion of a reader -