Thursday, December 29, 2011

Another December celebration..

I turn 28 today!
And we've got 50+ people coming over tomorrow night for an oyster roast! Yay and yikes at the same time.


I'm also lucky enough to share my birthday with my Grandma Charlotte!



Wednesday, December 28, 2011

What I Got Them..

We've all seen (and shown) lists of what WE wanted but now that you've given your loved ones the gifts you spent hours shopping for and wrapping, I want to know what YOU bought for THEM!

Mom - Clear glass pitcher (requested) and a pink chevron scarf

Dad - Gamecock grilling set (He's remodeling the back deck and grill area.)

Sister - Wine rack (requested), a Paris tea towel and a bottle of wine

Emily - JCrew bubble necklace and a cocktail ring

Caroline - Can't say because I haven't given her her present yet. :)

Katie - Pink chevron scarf and an ornament with her new last name
Jenny - Ornament with her new last name

Brady - New bed

Cameron - Clemson cornhole boards and a Clemson polo
(I mainly wanted the cornhole boards for myself so I figured the best way to get them was to give them to Cameron as a present. Even if that meant getting them Clemsonized.) :)

 
What was your favorite gift that you gave??

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Tasty Tuesday - Sesame Soy Cucumber Salad


Sesame Soy Cucumber Salad
Recipe and photo found here.


1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
4 cups thinly sliced seeded cucumber

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add cucumber; toss to coat. Recipe tastes better if you let it marinate for a few hours.


Saturday, December 24, 2011

Best Christmas present EVER!


Details to come. :)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Katie & Henry on The Wedding Row!

I am an avid follower of The Wedding Row so I don't know how I found out two days later that Katie and Henry had been featured! Big thanks to Savannah for sending me the link!

Looking at the pictures brought back such fun memories of one of my best friends getting married. I may have gotten teary eyed, too. I'm a huge sap, y'all.

Go here to take a look!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Starboard Clothing Co.

A few weeks ago I won a giveaway from Nicole at Puttin' on the GRITS! I won a bowtie of my choice from Starboard Clothing Co., which was founded in late 2010. I was really impressed that not only did I receive a super cute bowtie, but I also received a really nice personalized letter from the owner of the company.


Unfortunately, they were sold out of my first choice, but I liked my second choice just as much! Here are a few of my favorites, but I can't tell you which one I went with because *someone* hasn't opened his presents yet. :)
Severn Tattersall Beau
Pollitt Plaid Beau
Orange Seersucker Beau
Winter Madras Beau


Go check them out!


Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Tasty Tuesday - Blue Cheese Biscuits with Pinot Noir Butter.

I know your mouth is watering just reading the title because mine sure is. We're celebrating mine and my Grandma's birthday at our house this year and this recipe is definitely on the menu.

Blue Cheese Biscuits with Pinot Noir Butter
Recipe and photos found here.


Blue Cheese Biscuits
Makes about 20 round biscuits

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups milk (whole or 2%)
6 ounces gorgonzola cheese (or your favorite blue), crumbled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, and whisk until combined. Using a fork, pastry blender or your hands, add butter pieces to the flour and mix until coarse little crumbles remain. Add in crumbled gorgonzola. Pour in milk and stir with a spoon until just combined, not overmixing. Use your hands if needed to bring the dough together.

Use a 1/4 cup measure to drop batter onto a nonstick baking sheet, or press dough on a sheet of parchment paper or cutting board, then using a biscuit cutter to shape the dough into rounds. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown.



Pinot Noir Butter

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups pinot noir
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
pinch of black pepper

Bring the wine to a boil in a saucepan (be careful so it does not boil over!) and cook until reduced to just under 1/4 cup – this took me about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.

Once wine is cool, combine with softened butter, salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly to combine. I had some issues with the butter absorbing all of the wine, so what I did was place the entire bowl in the fridge, and pop it out every 15 minutes or so, mixing really well with a spoon until all of the wine mixed in. Once mixed completely, chill in the fridge for about 5 minutes, then form into a square or log with your hands and wrap in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate until ready to use – best if used after 2-3 days so the flavors can mesh!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Weekend.

.This weekend was pretty low key, which was nice since the next two weekends are going to be non-stop with Christmas, my birthday and New Years Eve.

Friday evening, like I mentioned on my previous post, I went to a cookie exchange at Stephanie's house. I wound up making the peanut butter pretzel balls and they were OH SO GOOD! Definitely plan on making those again. And soon. 

Some double chocolate chip cookies and gingersnaps..


Saturday was super exciting - I hung curtains in the master bedroom, got 2 new tires, had lunch with Cameron, went to a surprise 30th birthday party and went downtown for a few drinks (ok the last few were exciting).

Sunday's highlights included wrapping Christmas presents (still have a few last minute gifts to buy), taking pics of Brady enjoying his early Christmas present - a new bed, and taking pictures with my sister and cousin Amanda to give as a present to our Grandma for Christmas.


Friday, December 16, 2011

Cookie Swap Time!

I'm headed to my first cookie swap of the season tonight at Stephanie's house and I am super pumped about tasting everyone's baked goodies. I still have not decided what I'm going to be baking (#1 procrastinator) so I decided to post my top picks to see which ones get your mouths watering the most.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Recipe and photo found here.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Recipe and photo found here.

My Go-To Super Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe and photo found here.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls
Recipe and photo found here.
(Not technically cookies, but by house awesome they sound, I'm sure no one would mind.)

Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Recipe and photo found here.

Which ones call to you the most?


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Loving.


In love with this dress!
BCBG Colorblock Dress

Loving these throwback pics that have been recently discovered.
My dad. What a football stud.
My maternal great grandparents on their wedding day. Glad I didn't get those ears. :)
My mom putting lipstick on me before my Uncle Jay & Aunt Cindy's wedding. I want to frame this pic.
An award I received at work, which enabled me to pay off a significant chunk of my credit card. And two new (much needed) tires for my car. THANK YOU BABY JESUS!

FINALLY watched The Help last night. I LOVED it. I just wanted to smile the whole time, but I didn't because I thought Cameron might find that creepy. But then at the end, all I wanted to do was cry. What is up with my emotions??
Cameron asked, "Is that Oprah??"
Hope you all have a great day! 10 days till Christmas Eve!


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Tasty Tuesday - Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti
Recipe and photo found here.



12 oz spaghetti
1 (28 ounce) jars prepared spaghetti sauce
1 lb lean ground beef (I used venison)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350* F degrees.

In a skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked through; drain fat and stir in spaghetti sauce. Set aside.

Cook spaghetti according to directions on packet. Drain and place cooked spaghetti in bowl. Add cream cheese, Italian Seasoning and minced garlic. Stir until cream cheese is melted and the spaghetti is thoroughly coated.

Lightly grease a 9x13" pan. Spread a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of the dish. Put spaghetti on top of sauce and top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.


Monday, December 12, 2011

Weekending. (And finished Pinterest project!)

This weekend was full of friends and Christmas spirit!

First of all, I arrived home from work Friday evening to 4 packages! Two were presents to give, two were presents to receive.
Frankie sent me a beautiful pickle ornament. :)
Later that night we had a relaxing night at home. We invited two couples and their pups over to grill out and sit by the fire (getting good use out of that fire pit!). It was a fun, low key night.
Smore's supplies.
 

Birdie enjoyed sitting by the fire.
Brady enjoyed digging a hole and laying in the dirt. (Ugh.)
And Benny stayed warm snuggling in the chair.
 Saturday, all I really wanted to do was be lazy on the couch. Cameron wasn't a fan of my plan, so we went downtown to find him a jacket and grab some lunch. Operation find a jacket was a success (FINALLY!).  Ate lunch at a Greek restaurant called Taziki's. Sat a few tables down from Mayor Joe Riley, which was pretty neat. I would definitely recommend Taziki's, but Olympik Deli is still #1 for my taste buds.

Later that day I had to go pick up Cameron's super secret Christmas present. Can't wait to share with yall! On the way home, I took this pic - while driving. I love our bridge and our sunsets.

Christmas party #1 of the season followed that evening. But there are no pics to prove it.

Sunday I had to be up bright and early to start setting up for my company Christmas party. Here is the reveal of the Pinterest inspired centerpiece! They turned out awesome and we got a lot of compliments on them!

And a couple of pics from the evening..


Raffle time! I won a $100 gift card to Kohl's! And promptly spent it when I got home. Ha. What? They were having a 20% off sale that ended that night so I HAD to use it! :)

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, too!


Friday, December 9, 2011

What I'm doing at work today..


You can't tell, the outside those doors is the ocean, which was relaxing to listen to while I was spraypainting.

Anyway, we're making these for our company Christmas party this weekend:
source

Can't wait to see how our's turn out! 

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Because I have nothing else to do...

Don't have a lot going on a work today, my boss just left for the rest of the day and I can't think of anything else to talk about. So I borrowed this little "get to know me" from Megan at Style Me Swanky. Hope you get a little bit of entertainment out of it, or atleast passes 3-5 minutes of your work day!

This is also a good time to welcome all of my new followers! I seriously cannot believe I'm up to 357! Thank you for thinking I'm interesting enough to keep coming back to read my blog. :)

Also, I like to reply to my comments via email but a lot of times I can't because some of you haven't saved your email address to your account! To do this, go to your Dashboard, under your picture on the left hand side click "Edit Profile." Then under "Identity," type in your email address and hit "Save Profile" at the bottom of the page! Thanks!! 

1. What time did you get up this morning? First alarm went off at 5:45am, rolled out of bed at 6:15 am
2. How do you like your steak? Medium Rare - Medium. Super pink and juicy. When my sister and I wanted steak when we were younger, we'd ask for "pink steak."
 
3. What was the last movie you saw at the theater? I had to ask Cameron this question because I couldn't remember..apparently it was Our Idiot Brother. Cool.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Modern Family cracks me up.  
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I never want to leave Charleston, seriously! 99% of my family is here and I love being on the water.
 
6. What did you have for breakfast? Does coffee count? I try to be good and eat a little something for breakfast, but I forgot to this morning.
7. Do you wear glasses or contacts? I wear glasses to work, while I'm driving and while watching tv at night. Now that I've been keeping my nails short (vs. the talons I used to have - they grow really fast!), I'm thinking I want to get a pair of contacts for when I don't want to look like a nerd.
8. What food do you despise? Raw onions and lima beans. Blech.
 
9. Favorite Place to Eat? This is a TOUGH one because homegirl likes to eat. I'd say I crave Olympik deli the most often. It's a small, simple restaurant in West Ashley, but their Greek salads are TDF! And that is coming from a Greek salad connoisseur.
10. Favorite dressing? Greek! Refer to the question above.
 
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Nissan Altima. Buy one HERE! (Shameless plug for bf's family) And if you want a gently used luxury car, buy one HERE! (Shameless plug for bff's family) They just so happen to be right across the street from each other. :)
12. What are your favorite clothes? Ones that are loose, but still flattering. Super tight clothes freak me out. Dresses and white jeans all summer. Skinny jeans and comfy blouses all winter. I despise sweaters.
 
13. Where would you visit, this weekend, if you had the chance? Somewhere tropical and very warm. Such as Turks & Caicos, Belize, Figi, Tahiti..you get the picture.
 
14. How many tattoos do you have? None - not my style.
 
15. Where would you want to retire? Living on the river, for sure.
 
16. What is your desktop photo? My sweet Brady Boy.
 
17. Where were you born? Charleston, SC!
 
18. What is your favorite sport to watch? (Gamecock) Football
19. How many siblings? One sister, 3.5 years younger than me. (She's not really taller than me though.)
20. Favorite pastime/hobby? Being on the boat!
 
21. Coffee Drinker? Yes! I wish I could stop though. My teeth aren't as pearly white as they used to be.  
 
23. Are you a morning person or a night person? If you asked me in college, I would have said night person in a heart  beat. I did win the "night owl" award from my sorority my senior year. The 'rents were super proud. But now, I start getting tired at 9pm! What has happened to me?!? And since I have to be at work between 7-8 during the week, even on my days off I find myself waking up super early. Not cool.  
 
24. Do you have any pets? A sweet little 6 year old Golden Retriever/Lab nugget, named Brady.  I'm trying hard to convince Cameron that Brady needs a Golden Retriever sister/brother. He's convinced on the Golden part since we both grew up with them, he's just not convinced that we need two dogs at the same time. :(
 
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Most exciting news I've got right now is that I turn 28 in 21 days.  Yay.
26. What did you want to be when you were little? In Kindergarten, I wanted to work at Burger King. Oh yeah, settin' those goals HIGH people! When I started college, I wanted to be a high school teacher and now I kind of wish I would have stuck with it.
27. What is your favorite color? For clothes, black and blue. For decorative stuff / accessories, coral and turquoise.
28. Are you a cat or dog person? Dog. No question about it.
29. Are you married? No, but I'm with the guy who I will be married to one day! :)
 
30. Always wear your seat belt? 95% of the time.
31. Been in a car accident? Yes, unfortunately. But nothing too serious. It wasn't my fault though!
 
32. Any pet peeves? I have a lot and I wish I didn't. I sound like an ol' bitty when I sit here and list out my 3405843584 pet peeves. But smacking food/gum and slow drivers in the fast lane top the list.
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? feta, tomatoes, olive oil, fresh mozzarella, garlic
34. Favorite Flower? Peonies! Yes mom, it's changed.
 
35. Favorite ice cream? Coffee!
36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Chick-Fil-A!!
37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None.
38. From whom did you get your last email? My friend, Stephanie, about her cookie party next week! Woohoo!
39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I have to pick just one? Let's go with Saks.  
40. Like your job? I love my job! I get to help people plan their rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions and other private events at a venue on the beach! Doesn't get much better than that!