What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that this is my 201st post! 

I'm loving these pics from my phone..

my little baby 'maters have started to grow!

sneak peak of a drawer - only one coat

this is how i found Brady yesterday..the pants were originally laying on the bed. he must have missed his bubba.

I'm loving that I'm only working a half day today then I'm off for the rest of the weekend (well technically, I'll be back at work Sunday at 5pm for an event. That, I am not loving.)! But it's not going to be all fun and games. Today and tomorrow will be spent cleaning, organizing, finishing my dressers, and running around like a chicken with my head cut off to get the house ready for the party I won't even be attending. :)

I'm loving that this weekend I will be in Wrightsville Beach for Katie's bachelorette party!!!

apparently this is our "dance face" (ps - i miss that tan) (pps - i do not know that guy.)

I probably won't post again until Sunday so I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and weekend! The guest bedroom reveal should be next week! Woohoo!

Tasty Tuesday - Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

I had all intentions of making these to bring to Cameron's Aunt & Uncle's house for Easter dinner, but I worked 8am - 5:30pm on Saturday and completely crashed when I got home. Oops. Instead, we swung by Bi-Lo after church and picked up some cookies. :)

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Recipe and photo from Bakingbites.com

Ingredients: 

Brownies

1/2 cup butter
2-oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp red food coloring
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Cheesecake Mixture

8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir with a fork until very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add in the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Batter should be red. If a brighter red is desired, add an additional 1/2 tsp food coloring. Add flour and salt into the bowl and stir until everything is just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
Prepare cheesecake mixture. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Drop in dollops onto prepared brownie batter. Gently swirl two batters with a butter knife.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.
Cool in the pan completely before slicing and serving, either at room temperature or chilled.
Brownies can be refrigerated, covered, for several days.

Makes 16 large brownies or 24 smaller brownies

Happy Easter!

Two church services + two dinners = nap from 5pm - 8:30pm, watch Desperate Housewives, then back to sleep.

Ipad2, Dresser Paint Color & Knobs

The most important thing about this post is that I could possibly win an Ipad2! Let me explain. I opened up my work email this morning and see the subject "Nine Week Walking Challenge." Not too exciting, right? I didn't think so either. So I opened it up to skim through the email so I could delete it. Well I got to the bottom and it said that the winner will win an Ipad2! I emailed back immediately and requested to sign me up!!

The deets:

-Contest will run May 31st - July 29th

-I will purchase a pedometer from our insurance company (who is actually putting this contest on and who the prize is coming from) for $3.50 (and that money will be returned after completion because I was one of the first 15 people to sign up). The pedometer will stay attached to my hip or shoe morning, noon, night. When I get up to pee in the middle of the night, it will be attached. Brady will get longer and more frequent walks, I will walk in place at random moments, I will wear it under my fancy dresses to weddings I will be attending in the summer. I will do ANYTHING to win!

-I will report my steps every Friday by noon and then will reset my pedometer.

-The winner (me) will have the highest daily average of steps.

you will be mine.

I picked out & bought my paint color for my matching end tables yesterday! The first coat is on and I'm really happy with it! It's Valspar's Golden Moon. I found a pic online of someone who used it on her walls, but it looks darker in her pictures than it does on my furniture.

source

Here's where I need your help. Picking out knobs and pulls. I bought six of these yesterday from World Market but am not 100% sold on them. What are your thoughts?

I also found some on Ebay today, which are less expensive. It won't let me "borrow" the images so if you'd like, go here and here and let me know which of the 3 you like the best!

Here's a reminder of what the dresser and end tables look like (pre-paint).

This will be painted in Behr's Cotton Knit.

Two of these will be painted in Valspar's Golden Moon, shown above.

I appreciate your help!! I am so indecisive!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

 

I'm loving the super sweet gesture of Frankie sending Cameron and I a bamboo cutting board as a housewarming gift! We love it! 

It even matches the lovely parquet floor in the dining room! haha :)

I'm loving that the dining room table is FINALLY finished and actually in the dining room! Now I just have to make a table runner and put a centerpiece on it! 

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm loving that I finally got some motivation last night and primed my dressers! I'm off work tomorrow and after I lay out for a couple of hours, I'm going to paint the first coat of color on them! I WILL have the guest bedroom done before next weekend.

I'm loving this pic (borrowed from av) from a little meet up at the Charleston Farmer's Market a few weekends ago!

katie, ashton, frankie, me, av

Happy Wednesday!

Tasty Tuesday - Sauteed Tilapia with Lemon Caper Pan Sauce

Cameron and I must have said "this is so good" at least 10 times while devouring our dinner last night. I didn't even know I liked tilapia until I made this last night! And now I want to eat it every day. 

Sauteed Tilapia with Lemon Caper Pan Sauce

Recipe and picture from Tasty Kitchen / Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

¾ cups Low Sodium, Fat Free Chicken Broth
¼ cups Lemon Juice
2 teaspoons Capers
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Pepper
1 Tablespoon Butter, Divided
12 ounces, weight 2, 6 Ounce Tilapia Fillets
¼ cups Flour

Directions:

Combine the broth, lemon juice and capers and set aside.

Salt and pepper the tilapia and then dredge the fish in the flour.

Melt, over low heat, the tablespoon of butter in a large pan. Once the butter has melted, increase the heat to high, and put the fillets in the pan and let cook for 3 minutes on each side. Or until the fish flakes with a fork. Remove from pan and tent with tin foil.

Add the broth, lemon juice and caper mixture to the pan scrapping the bottom of the pan to release browned goodness. Bring to a boil and cook for three minutes or until reduced in half. 

Serve two tablespoons of the sauce over the tilapia.

I served with Natasha's garlic pasta and caprese salad!

Productive Weekend.

Warning - There will be more writing than pics in this post. I apologize in advance.

Friday night we went to Cameron's cousin's 40th birthday party on Johns Island. Left around 9:30pm to go get ready for my "moving sale" (classier name than yard sale) that my old roommate, my mom and I were having the next morning at the house that I haven't lived at, but have been paying for, for the past 5 months. 

Saturday - After only about 5 hours of sleep, it was time to get up and get ready for the sale! We were worried about the storms that were supposedly coming in, so we set up mostly everything inside the garage. All in all, it was a success! Made a good bit of money that will be used during Katie's bach weeked in two weeks! Woohoo! The rest of the stuff we didn't sell was either donated to Goodwill or given to our neighbors who are trying to raise money for their mission trip to Guatemala! 

Went home and took about a 3 hour nap, then (FINALLY) put the first coat of polyurethane on my kitchen table that I've been working on for oh....almost 3 months. Then that night, we met some friends at California Dreaming for dinner and drinks!

Sunday - Made a quick Publix and Walmart run to hit up their sales. Went to Fat Hen for Shelby's birthday brunch (I got the eggs benedict and Cameron got some chipotle pulled chicken sandwich with blue cheese coleslaw on it). Then we took the boat out to the sandbar to meet up with some friends. Brady even got to come! He had a great time chasing the boats back and forth as they'd drive past the sandbar and he is SUPER sore today.

On a sad note - USC's former President, President Sorenson, suddenly passed away at the age of 72 on Sunday. He was the President all 4.5 years that I attended USC and while I never got the chance to actually meet him, he seemed like a pretty cool guy and did a lot for our college. 

On a HAPPY note - USC's baseball team beat the #1 team,Vanderbilt, yesterday and we are now #1 in the SEC!! Go Gamecocks!!

Giveaway Winner!

A BIG thank you to everyone who entered my Joss & Main giveaway!

Since I am not very technically savvy, I don't know how to post a pic of the random number generator so I just wrote down everyone on a piece of paper and randomly asked my boss to pick a number 1 - 32.

She looked pretty confused....then picked number....

15!

And if you can't figure it out from the pick (I know, it's Friday, I've checked out, too) the winner is:

Lindsay from Life: live, laugh, love!

Congratulations!

Tasty Tuesday - Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

I made this last week and it was a big hit! I also posted about it on Facebook and lots of people were requesting the recipe, so here it is!

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

Recipe and Photo from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1 whole Large Onion
• 1 whole Pork Shoulder ("pork Butt") - 5 To 7 Pounds
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 can (11 Ounce) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
• 2 cans Dr. Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large dutch oven.

Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.

Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce.) Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in. 

Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it’s not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour. 

Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it’s cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stovetop and return the meat to the liquid to warm up. 

Serve on warm flour tortillas. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, avocado slices, salsa, and whatever else you’d like. 

OR

You can do the lazy version, like me, and just throw everything in the crock pot for 8 hours! :)

Joss & Main Giveaway!

As a token of my appreciation to all of my awesome & loyal readers, I've teamed up with Joss & Main for an amazing giveaway!

If you've visited the Joss & Main website today, you would have seen the super comfy and stylish throws from Bedford Cottage. The winner will receive a gorgeous cable knit throw (valued at $129)!

To enter:

Mandatory - You must be a follower of my blog AND you must let me know your favorite item from the Joss & Main site. If you are not already a member of their site, click here to sign up!

Extra entry: 

-Blog about my giveaway and leave link.

Giveaway will end on Thursday, April 11th at 12am. Winner will be announced Friday.

Preppy Plates & Lilly Pulitzer Accessories sale at Joss & Main!

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that Joss & Main is having two great sales coming up!

Preppy Plates - Monday, April 11th 

Items will range from $39.95 - $59.95

Lilly Pulitzer Accessories & Home - Monday, April 18th

Go ahead and sign up now by clicking this link to make sure you get what you want before it sells out..because it will! You can also go ahead and store your shipping & credit card information!

It's a Girl! (not mine though)

Leslie & Tyler are having a baby girl!

Leslie and I grew up in the same neighborhood and have been friends since we were in the 1st grade. We did it all together - karate, horseback riding, seeing who could ride our bikes around the neighborhood the fastest, etc. In 2008, I had the pleasure of being her maid of honor in her wedding. When I found out she was expecting, I was BEYOND excited! I know that her and Tyler will be amazing parents and I can't wait to spoil that little girl with lots of pink things!

And because a blog is no fun without pics, here are some I found of Leslie and I..

Engagement Party

Bachelorette Party in GVegas

Carrie Underwood / Keith Urban concert. Yes, I'm wearing a shirt.

Leslie's wedding day.  (Early on at the reception.)

Later in the evening at the reception, obvi. Look at that big ass cup of wine in my hand. Omg. I tackled my mom on the couch later that night if that tells you anything. Literally ran full speed through the house and tackled her.  :)

My 26th birthday.

Today...

...will consist of this...

...then this...

...then some of this...

...follow by this...

...with these peeps...