Playing Catch

It has been so hot here lately. I was beginning to think I would never see below the 80 degree mark on the temperature gauge in my car. I've seen some of my friends on Facebook talking about the fall-ish weather where they live, and some of my favorite blogs are already posting about their new favorite Fall clothes.

Today, though.... today it was 64 degrees at 8 am. That is so huge for me! I think it's been colder than that in the morning in recent days, but I don't step outside until 8 am or later on any given day, so 64 degrees was awesome.

This afternoon I went outside with some coworkers and just reveled in the beautiful weather. I lost ALL motivation to work for the rest of the day, naturally, but it was just such a nice break in the day to be able to go outside without sweating to death. I made my coworker come with me so that she would make sure that I came back inside. There was a joke about a retractable leash made. Probably a good idea, though a little weird. ;)

Tonight Joey and I played catch outside for about 30 minutes. We started getting attacked by mosquitoes and it got dark fast, so next time we will plan better and start playing earlier in the night. And wear bug spray. It was fun though... I've always had a special place in my heart for playing catch. I played softball from age 5 to age 11 and ended my 'career' as a catcher. I may not be good at softball, or even just playing catch, and I am definitely terrified of the ball coming straight for my face... but I was never the athlete so I don't feel too bad about it!

I have a lot of fond memories playing catch with my dad when I was very young, going to practice every week, playing huge games of wiffle ball with the neighbor kids and playing t-ball with my younger sister. Softball definitely means a lot to me.

I mean, honestly. I was adorable!

Lately...

6 am last Friday. Way too early, but the sky was super pretty. I love wispy clouds!

My super friend Mary bought me a coffee on said Friday. Did I mention she was a super friend?

Coconut Milk mint chocolate chip ice cream. Sounds crazy, tastes delicious. I was lactose intolerant for 8 years.... thinking about going back.

Shower invites I made for my cousin's Bridal Shower.

Keep on the lookout for a DIY soon! ;)

Comfy awesome slippers, even in the heat of August.

I made a new wreath and I'm in love! Check out the DIY here if you want to make your own.

I have a couple more DIY's up my sleeve, including the doily wedding dress above. Keep an eye out! :)

Wedding Season 2012 - Angie & Nick

Last Saturday was my lovely cousin Angie's wedding, to a wonderful guy. Her and Nick will be happy forever and the wedding was absolute proof of that.

Joey was super honored to be an usher, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly all day long.

It was indeed a long day, but one filled with family, love and lots and lots of dancing!

 

 

2 weddings down..... 3 more to go!

Wedding Season 2012 is in full blast. :)

Happy Fourth of July!

Joey and I scored really great Cardinals tickets for tonight's game.... and BONUS! They were free!! My awesome cousin decided that 110 degree weather wasn't for him and decided to give away his tickets.

While the weather was a complete beast, and believe me I sweated more than I care to mention, I loved every hot, sweaty minute of it. Our cousin Lisa and her fiance Chris (to anyone that knows me, that opening was awkward) came along, and we had so much fun.... especially once the sun went down and the wind picked up a little. Not to mention the very drunk girl in front of us with her spray bottle fan... she was nice enough to spray our faces and cool us down, even if it was just for a minute.

Before we left... when we still smelled nice and my hair wasn't a frizzy mess.

Great seats :)

Lisa with her Jumbo cotton candy... she was so excited.

I love this guy... even if he wore all Mets stuff to a Cardinals game where the Mets weren't even playing.

I LOVE SUGAR AND ARTIFICIAL COLORS!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!

Festive for the Fourth!

In preparation for the Fourth of July, I grabbed my inner child and some nail polishes and got to work.

This seriously took me longer than it should have, but I am pleased with just how....defective..... it looks. Ha!

Fourth of July, here I am! I am ready for your plentiful BBQ, your booze and your yummy desserts.

And uh, celebrating my independence, of course. Duh.

I am debating on a couple recipes to try... I have a food day at work, a BBQ next weekend and probably something on the actual 4th itself with the in-laws.

Pinterest once again proved its worthiness when I stumbled across this brownie fruit pizza.

It's not totally 4th of July in its creation, but completely inspired. I think I will keep the banana on, just because I love banana, but it would totally work with just the combination of berries. I also was thinking of adding some kiwi, but maybe that's for another time.

I also will toot my own horn here, but last year I made these Red, White and Blue strawberries for my big family BBQ. They were a huge hit with every age group and took about 5 minutes to make.

 

 Please ignore this awful picture. Please. 

I also have been eyeballin' these pretties.

I would obviously need to buy a popsicle mold in order to emmulate the whimsy of these Firecracker Ice Pops, but I think it would be a great investment because my Pinterest food board is brimming with different homemade popsicles, and some even include booze. Heeeellllo, summer! 

But all this recipe entails is sugar, strawberries, blue berries and plain yogurt. Easy enough!

I'll letcha know what I come up with. ;) I love summer!

Lawn Mower Cupcakes

So aren't these just the cutest cupcakes you ever did see? I mean, I guess I am biased since I made them, but I think they turned out quite adorable. If I do say so myself.

You can find the original recipe here, but I'm also gonna lay it out for you below. I just want to give credit where credit is due.

Ingredients:

- Frosted cupcakes (keep extra frosting on hand)
- Flaked Coconut
- Green food coloring
- Hershey's Nuggets
- M&Ms (4 brown and 1 red per cupcake)
- Licorice

Ice the cupcakes (I used a yellow box mix) with chocolate frosting. You probably could also use vanilla frosting dyed green to make the coconut blend more.

Put your flaked coconut in a ziploc bag. The bigger bag the better. Take 1 tbsp of water and add a couple drops of green food coloring, then pour over the coconut. Seal the bag, leaving air inside, and shake until the coconut is completely covered. Keep adding small amounts of water/coloring mixture until you get the color you want.

Dip your cupcake in your green coconut and patch up any missing spots.

Frost the bottom of your Hershey's bar and press it into the cupcake. Dab frosting on each M&M, 4 brown for the wheels and one red for the engine and press into place.

The handle was the hardest part to get the way I wanted. The original recipe calls for black licorice but personally, that's gross. So I went with the Pull & Peel to get a smaller handle, but it mostly was just limp. But I 'glued' them on with frosting as much as possible and used a kebab skewer to push them inside the cupcake.

So fun!! And cute. And summer-y!

Summer!

SUMMER IS HERE!!

Well, technically, it isn't summer yet and this is actually kind of a sore subject with me. (which is weird, because I brought it up...) You see, my birthday is the first day of summer, and I refuse to acknowledge the solstice until I have a tiara on my head, cake in my belly and presents in my hands.

Or you know, until I'm surrounded by my friends and family who all love me for me. Blah, bored. Whatever! ;)

This year has just been so warm right off the bat. I mean, I was wearing flip flops and my light cardigans in February. I had hot pink on my toes and the windows down in my car in March. We had the occasional cold day, sure, but really I've been feeling the summer itch for about 4 months now. So what is 4 more days, really??!

Besides I've already had like 4 snocones already. There is nothing more officially summer than that.

On a gorgeous night here recently, we played catch in my in-laws backyard. The pictures of me were waaaaaaayyy less than flattering, thankyouverymuch, but the ones of my husband and his father warm my heart. He is very fortunate to have a relationship with his father on this Father's Day weekend.

Here's to many more fun summer posts!! 

Wedding Season 2012 - Alex & Greg

This year for us is chock full of weddings. I am so happy for all of my friends that are tying the knot... welcome to the club! :)

Yesterday was our friend's Alex and Greg's wedding. It was a beautiful day filled with love, happiness and laughter. She looked radiant in her dress and the pops of red were stunning. I was so happy to be a part of their day, especially surrounded by our friends! 

Weddings are honestly so much fun to me now that I've gotten married and know just how much intensive labor goes into the process. Seeing Alex shine on her day makes me just that much happier for her.

I cannot even express how excited I am for the rest of this year!