i'm becoming obsessed.

So... I think I'm officially becoming obsessed... with cupcakes! I love to make them... not even eat them! After my huge fail yesterday, I thought I needed to pick myself up and TRY AGAIN! Okay... it really wasn't THAT dramatic. Today I decided to make Mint Chocolate Oreo cupcakes. I cheated today though... used a box... They were still very good (I had a bite of Tony's). I think my favorite part was the frosting, it was the perfect consistency. 

Those are Mint Oreos on top. Yesterday when I made the French Toast cupcakes I cooked them a little bit too long. The edges got a little too crispy... Today's cupcakes were much better. Got the baking time down right!

They were pretty huge too! I probably filled them up ALMOST too far but they look great! I didn't have green food coloring and I WAS NOT going to go to the store again so I took some of the frosting out from the Mint Oreos and just put it in with the frosting when I was mixing it up. It didn't get very green at all, but it was definitely tinted though!

And the final product...

I thought they turned out pretty cute!

Today, I went to the Dollar Store (to replace my cupcake pans from yesterday... ugh...) and found some nice baskets. I decided to give my refrigerator a little make-over. 

Before...

After...

Makes it just a little easier to see what I all have. I always have food that gets shoved way in the back. I also noticed that I really have NO food and need to go grocery shopping. YIKES! I saw this on Pinterest and figured I could start with some easy organization (and cheap!). They would also be really easy to clean as well, just throw them in the dishwasher! 

What are some organization tips you have?!

cupcakes. fail.

What a busy baking day... I was all set to go into my classroom and quickly changed my mind when I went to Target. I had to go there and get stuff for my cupcakes and I needed milk and eggs. Don't think those would do too well in a hot car while I was in my room. So I scratched the classroom stop from my list pretty darn fast.

So, I had quite the mission today. 2 types of cupcakes. Blueberries. Bacon. 

I started off making my wonderful bacon cupcake I was talking about. Well... it turned out great! It was a french toast cupcake with a maple, cream cheese frosting, and bacon on top :). Got the recipe from Pinterest... obvi! 

Here's the before.... I had to buy myself a hand mixer. I REALLY want a Kitchen Aid Mixer... but that's something maybe I'll get in the future... 


 I got a greeeeeeeat deal at Target.

$5.99!!!

I kind of laughed as I bought it. I imagine it won't last me long... but let's get real six bucks!

I let those puppies cool and got my next batch ready. Blueberry cupcakes! Again... found on Pinterest. 

They look so good!

HOWEVER...

Let's just say this one DID NOT work out at all. Got them all ready to go and put them in the oven. I checked on them about 5 minutes later... and they looked like this....

Ugh... what a mess. Thank goodness I got these cake pans at the Dollar Store so I just threw them away... not worth the trouble. I was very sad to throw away those blueberry cupcakes though!

After that huge disappointment... I made my frosting and decorated the cupcakes. They look amazing!

And YES that is bacon on top. Tony and I shared one and they were seriously so good. It was like a french toast! 

Even though I had a complete disaster... I still managed to get some excellent cupcakes! 

my best friend's baby shower.

I am so excited for one of my best friends to finally be a mama! She is due in a few weeks and I cannot believe how fast this time has gone. Also, she is the CUTEST pregnant lady ever! 

Two of her friends through her a beautiful baby shower at Louise's Trattoria. It was perfect.

All of the decorations were so cute and everything looked great! 

And the food was delicious! 

Especially those chocolate covered strawberries! They reminded me of going to The Melting Pot with Tony. I had to go back for seconds for those strawberries :).

It was also so good to catch up with friends from high school. I haven't seen some of those girls in at least 6 months!

Table-mates :)

We were only missing a few of our other closest friends! Look at how cute Amy looks! You can hardly even tell which one if pregnant! 

Look at all these pretty little aunties he's going to have! I can't wait to meet the peanut :).

Overall, it was a beautiful shower and put together just perfectly! I am so excited for Amy and know she is going to be a great mom. I can't wait to meet him and I have a wedding in the same town she lives in right after she is due! I'm hoping she has him before the wedding so I can come and see him when I'm down there.

I've been friends with Amy since 4th grade (maybe 3rd??) but I am so excited for her next chapter in her life. I can't wait to be apart of it.

‎♥‎♥‎♥‎♥‎♥‎♥

weekend fun. part 1.

What a weekend! It was such a great weekend and so good to see my high school friends. 

Saturday night, a few of us were back in our hometown to meet up for my friend Sammy's birthday. We went to my friend Kendra's house for some dinner and drinks. I brought my cupcakes (woo hoo!) and I brought Strawberry Rhubarb Sangria. 

Both, I will say, were very good! I got a lot of great feedback from my cupcakes. I have another few recipes that I will hopefully be trying sometime soon :). Tony was all about my cupcake business idea! Who knows how that will turn out!?

We ended up getting out our yearbooks from high school. SO FUNNY! It was crazy how much we have all changed and it was so fun to go through. So many memories :). We talked and laughed so much!

We went out for a little bit to help Sammy celebrate her birthday! 

We had a great time and ended up staying out ALL night! I won't lie, I'm not used to seeing that time on the clock anymore! It was a really good night though and hopefully Sammy had a nice birthday.

We had to get up Sunday morning and head down to our friend Amy's baby shower (that post will come later today!)

I had a great breakfast this morning! I had my favorite... waffles (Nutra Grain Low Fat) turkey bacon, and coffee. When I was home yesterday, my mom gave me fresh blueberries. I ended up putting those in a pot this morning and just heating them up a little bit so they became a sauce (sort of). They are so good and they were great on the waffles this morning!

Awesome breakfast! Not too much going on today, just babysitting tonight. 

Don't forget to watch for my post on Amy's baby shower later on today :)

my addiction could be worse.

First things first, I would like to send my thoughts and prayers to the victims and families in Aurora. What happened that night is horrible and breaks my heart...

Yesterday,  I had a busy day! I am going to my hometown tonight for my friend Sammy's birthday! I decided to make some cupcakes. I have been all over Pinterest looking up recipes. I found this fun one, Sparkling Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes. I have been trying to cook a little healthier lately, but I had to splurge on these! I haven't tried them yet, but Tony said they are amazing :).

Check out that Andre! Used to be my drink of choice back in college ;) I went the easy way (shhhhhhh) and used boxed cupcake mix!

Out of the oven! 

And frosted and decorated! I LOVE them. I gave myself a pat on the back for sure :). Maybe a career in cupcake making?! I have a few other ones I want to try. I was planning on buying some cupcakes from the place my friend Andrea got for the 50 Shades of Grey party. I decided (being the house{girlfriend} I am) I would make them on my own!

I didn't get to make it to Zumba yesterday because I was clearly busy! While the cupcakes were baking I made a new necklace as well! Okay... I didn't really make it, but more or less just put it together. 

I took a chain, a key charm, and pendant charm, and paper. I cut the paper to the size of the pendant and put them all on a chain... yes that's all I did!

And a close up...

Pretty cute for being so cheap and easy!

After I got the cupcakes all ready to go I got myself ready for my addiction... sushi. I am honestly obsessed with it. I went with Molly and Kayla and ate myself sick!

I decided that I need to only stick to one roll... I was WAY too full after this meal. But it was still so, so good.

After dinner, we went across to the street to a restaurant that has an AMAZING patio deck right on the river. It was PACKED, but I managed to swoop in and grab a great seat by one of the fires!

It was a good girls night out! I think I need to try and ween myself off of sushi... Nah! That's too hard! Like Molly told me... my addiction could be worse!

Headed home tonight for Sammy's birthday and then tomorrow we are all headed to one of my best friend's baby shower! I can't believe how fast these months have gone.

What is the ONE food you cannot live without!?!?

house{girlfriend}

What a rainy, rainy day. I actually kind of liked it.  Some days it's just nice to have rainy day. 

I went to Zumba again and just like kickboxing, I'm starting to get the hang of it. I got some more done in my classroom today. I took advantage or the cool day to get some work done. I'm hoping to get back there tomorrow, but we'll see how I feel :)

I made my boy a good meal tonight! I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and looked on my Pinterest boards to get an idea of what to make. 

I've been looking at these bacon wrapped asparagus for awhile now. So, I decided to give the a go. I changed it up a bit. I used turkey bacon and instead of brown sugar I just used about a tablespoon of Sugar Free Maple Syrup.

Here's the before. I forgot to add sesame seeds, so I added them about mid-way through.

And the after....

YUMMMM! It was so good.

I also made a Shrimp Scampi. It was super easy and from what the recipe said, healthy! I microwaved some brown rice and served that as well. 

Everything was so good. I had another helping of the asparagus. I think that was my favorite part. 

What is your favorite vegetable?!

i could get used to this.

Another busy day. However, I could really get used to this not working thing... it's pretty nice! I made a nice breakfast... I'm sure Tony doesn't mind having me around with all this food I've been making :) I made an egg recipe that I got from Pinterest... OF COURSE! It did NOT look like the picture, but was still pretty tasty and health for that matter. The website said each egg muffin was about 100 calories. I used turkey bacon and some egg whites so it may even be a little bit less. OH... wait... I did add a little bit of Sugar Free Maple Syrup!

They were still good... not too pretty... but good!

Tony and I went into my classroom (finally) and got some work done. It was so hot. It was cooler outside then in my room. I got some of my stuff put away and got my bulletin boards covered and borders up. I'm going back tomorrow to keep working. I still have a LOOOOOOOOONG way to go.

Tony working hard... or hardly working. Not sure ;)

Here are some of my wonderful Target purchases!

AHHHH I love the owl thing right now. I got this in the "dollar" section (even though it was $2.50 haha) to use for my pens on my desk. I LOVE it!

I also got this light. I got the idea from Pinterest (weird... I know) but you have it out during your small group time. When the light is on, the kiddos know not to come back there and interrupt. I loved the idea and then found this pretty cute little light to go with it :)

A little creepy... but I like it!

Annnnnnnnd one of my favorite purchases from Amazon... Mr. Sketch markers!! These are for ME ONLY. No little kiddos will be allowed to use these! They are the perfect chart writing markers- so pumped!

I went to Cardio Kickboxing again. I can say, it was definitely easier! And not easier like I didn't get a good workout, but easier in that I knew what I was doing a little bit. I went to the Farmer's Market with Molly and her mom. It was a beautiful night to go. The perfect temperature. I got some more jam from Jams, Jellies, and More! I got the Raspberry Rhubarb again. It's one of my favorite summertime jams. My dinner for the night was corn in a cup! The guy shucked the corn right there and put it in a cup. You got a TON of corn. I put just a little (yeah... right) butter, salt, and cayenne pepper on it. DEEEELISH! I also had a raspberry tea and lemonade.

It was a nice little summer dinner.

I bought some Kale for the first time as well... I'm going to be making Kale Chips that I see all around the blog world. They look so good and I've heard they were even better. More to follow on how that goes!

I stopped at a little DIY store on my way to my car from the market and saw this necklace...

"Keep calm and Blog"

I loved it! However... for this little guy it was $22 and I just wasn't ready to spend that much on it :)

I'm going to do some investigating to see if I can find something similar!

Anyone find any cute looking jewelry around the internet world?

grapes or chips?

What a crazy day of weather... woke up and it was like 100... and then some crazy storms rolled in. As I was leaving for babysitting, it dropped down to 70 degrees. It felt so good. I am so sick of this hot weather. I think I've officially come to the conclusion that I do not LOVE summer weather. I'm definitely more of a Fall girl :)

I woke up this morning and went to Zumba. Wow... I have lost all my moooooooves. I am so uncoordinated when it comes to this Zumba stuff. So much for being on the dance team in high school... does NOT carry over to my adult life. YIKES! I will admit though, it was a great work out. I was trying to channel the amazing instructor, instead... I almost took a huge digger. 

I went to lunch with one of my greatest friends EVER! We have been friends since about 3rd grade and we always seem to find ourselves in the same places.. and NOT even trying. It just seems to happen that way. We went to the same college and now work in the same school district and live in the same city! She is living in our hometown right now and was just visiting for the night :)

So, we ended up going to a little bistro.

Krista had a Tuscany sandwich. It had chicken breast, applewood bacon, grilled tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil with spring greens. It also had Gorgonzola vinaigrette on Focaccia bread. She said it was sooooo good. We had the choice of grapes or chips... yeah guess what we chose... GET REAL... grapes?!

I had Chicago Beef Sandwich. It had marinated beef and mushrooms with provolone cheese melted on top with garlic butter aioli. It was delicious. Tony was very excited to eat my other half of the sandwich for a late night snack :) I seriously considered soup and a salad... but just couldn't commit. 

That is some of my favorite bread :) and the chips almost tasted like they had parmesan or something on them!

I ran to Target and got some great purchases! More to come on that tomorrow when I SWEAR I'm going to my classroom. It was 90 again today... just couldn't do it! 

Tomorrow, Tony and I are going to try and get a bunch of stuff done in my classroom! Then, going to Cardio Kickboxing, which I can say is my LEAST favorite class... I hope it gets better. And then going to the Farmer's Market woo hoo! 

Okay... your favorite summertime meal... GO and comment!

much ado about... who?!

FINALLY... finally... finally...

I have been WAITING.. no DYING for this little number to come in the mail. And FINALLY it came today! I was soooooo excited when I saw my package by our mailbox :)

This is how it was wrapped! So cute. Anyways... what's in that tissue paper is... MY NEW PLANNER!!!  I have a slight obsession with getting the perfect planner for the upcoming school year, because YES... my year runs from September-June.

So, this planner is from Much Ado About You. It was a little bit pricey... but I really like how it is set up and how CUTE it is.

These pictures don't even do it justice... especially because I'm sitting on my couch wrapped up in a blanket. It's almost past my bedtime, so these will have to do :)

I'm just so happy to finally have it and start planning out my year! It doesn't start until August 1st... so I need to get through these two weeks before I can "officially" use it.

If you are looking to get a new planner for the year, you should really check them out. They have all different ones. Some that include just the months and smaller ones. I got the Large Day Planner in Lou.

Once I really start using my planner I will show you how I am becoming "organized" too with it! I saw a great idea on Pinterest!

Tomorrow, I'm going to Zumba in the morning... then grabbing some lunch with a friend... headed to my classroom... and then babysitting... busy day! We'll see what all gets accomplished!

Are you a planner person and always say "Oh, let me check my planner"? Do you have a specific planner you use? 

Good night to those who are reading now, and good morning to those who read it in the morning!