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Freebie Friday!!

Are you a fan of Chick-Fil-A's IceDream Treats?

I. Definitely. Am.

Did you know you can exchange your kid's unused toy from his or her Chick-Fil-A kid's meal for a FREE small serving of their vanilla IceDream? Anytime? At any Chick-Fil-A location?!

I found this out yesterday and just HAD to share. Especially since I know someone who knows someone who sometimes snag a 4-piece nugget kid's meal for themselves. So please note that this offer is not limited to kids. Woohoo! :)

 

Also... stop by Hallmark before March 14 to pick up one free card for a kid. That's right, I said FREE!!

Pick from nine different designs that range from encouraging to congratulatory.

Gotta love a good freebie!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

-h-

Five Flicks

 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

LOVED IT!

Excellent flick for fun-lovers and kids-at-heart. Punny jokes abound in this original story - some great voice talent by a variety of actors and creative animation and cinematography.

 

 

 

Law-Abiding Citizen

Liked it.

Not for the faint of heart. You'll find yourself rooting for Gerard Butler's character... so much so that the end may disappoint you. This movie featured fabulous momentum and talented actors... but ultimately, I expected more than what was delivered in its final moments.

Moon

LOVED IT.

This was a surprising love for me. While this is a sci-fi movie, it also plays out as a mystery. Your brain will be scrambling to try to figure out what is going on as you watch the plot unfold, and I doubt you'll be able to foresee a few twists!

 

 

 

Battle for Terra

Pass this one if you can.

Not as great as it could have been.

This Fern-Gully-type flick took FOREVER to get going and had some serious problems... the alien people seem to be able to float and fly when they want to, but they also experience near-fatal falls from mid-air. Too many other additional issues to get anywhere close to a thumbs up.

 

 

 

Zombieland

FABULOUS!

With a witty Fight Club-style narrative and accompanying graphics that give you insight into the main character's head, this zombie movie does not fail to please. I'm not a huge fan of scary movies, but this came movie came with a hefty serving of humor. It was more suspenseful than scary! A new classic in my books. :)

We've rented a few more that we'll probably watch at some point this week.

 

xxoo!

-h-

Threads to carry Winter into Spring

We've had a flash of warmer weather here in Columbia this week. And while I can't completely banish my sweaters, gloves and scarves yet, I am starting to look through my closet and strappy shoes and lighter-weight fabrics and I'm getting excited for spring to come!

I window-shopped online this morning, and I'm sharing some of my favorite upcoming springy looks with you...

 

Casual & Weekend Looks...

 

 

Black & White Business Looks...

 

 

My Favorite Date Night Look...

 

I love all the layers, the versatile pieces, and the monochromatic textures. I still have a few gift cards in my purse that I haven't spent yet. Maybe now is a good time to use 'em!

All my best to each of you this Tuesday morning! xxoo!

-h-

How sweet!

I had a bit of a cooking marathon this weekend... and when I made creme brulee for the first time (pics of those to come later), the recipe left me with six egg whites...

So what does a girl do? Make meringues of course!

I added sugar and a bit of vanilla... whipped it up and made some meringue buttons and meringue hearts... 

Button...

Hearts...

 

They were delicious!

Tipsy Tuesday - Beignets Made Easy

So... you like New Orleans' style beignets... and you'd love to make them at home, but you don't want to go to the trouble of making the dough from scratch. Well, I'm right there with you. I LOVE cooking, but I don't always have the patience required for baking.

 So... I have a solution for you... Pick up some flaky-layers biscuits made by Pillsbury or any other brand you like. Split each biscuit into three or four separate layers(or even more than that if you're super talented).

Warm your vegetable oil in a deep frying pan to frying temp (around 375). Deep fry each layer separately until both sides are golden brown. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain... then cover generously with powdered/confectioner's sugar.

And... voila! That's all you need!

It is a messy process... so just be prepared to clean up afterwards. And be sure to have plenty of hungry mouths to gobble them up as even a short can makes a LOT of these bad boys. 

 

 

YUM!!

Video Clip of Riley

I'm trying out a new video app on my iPhone... it's ok, but not great. Here's a choppy (and short) video I took of Riley this Saturday when we were out in the snow...

Hopefully embedding the video worked so you all can see it!

Snow Day!!!

Guess who got 7 inches of snow yesterday?

Weeeeeee diiiiid!!!

Snow ball fight!!!

Our very first snowman!!

 

 View from our front window before we went to bed...

 

 Riley enjoying the edible white stuff...

 

 Untouched... and breathtaking!

 

 My snow angel!

 

 Dr. Riley tends to the now faceless, leaning and frostbitten snowman...

 

Woohoo! :)

Wedding Update!

So... we are definitely making progress on our wedding plans!

First of all... I picked a dress. I'm not going to post it here... but I'm uber excited about it!!

We are having a very very small wedding... and have decided to have it at The Grove in Houston... I really fell in love with this place... it is simple and beautiful.

Yay!

If you want to check out The Grove for yourself, please check out their website...

Crazy busy

So I returned home last night, with a very dirty puppy in tow, after a crazy busy trip to Houston. While I was there, I spent time with family, worked, drove ALL OVAH the place, and did a ton of wedding planning.

Some wedding decisions were made, some weren't. Overall a productive trip though.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to see many of my dear friends who live in Houston during my visit this time. If it's any consolation - I probably wouldn't have been great company! My mind has been swimming with save-the-dates, photographers, venues, food, dresses, and pretty much everything else wedding-related!

 

{ by the way }

I returned to see that my amaryllis, which I had left before my trip, decided to have a growth spurt in my absence.

Here it was the day before I left:

 

and here it was when I got back last night...

 

The blooms that were there when I left were wilted... and the other stalk just shot up (it's around 2 to 3 feet tall) and has blooms too! Pretty amazing considering it got little sunlight and no water while I was gone!

Anyhoo... just wanted to share.

Happy Hump-Day!

xxoo!

Dear Houston II

Things I do NOT miss about you:
Your neverending traffic // Your inattentive drivers // Wafts of rotten odors throughout the city // Losing my paycheck in a week to downtown parking fees // Busy, high-strung city life and business peeps // Humidity ruining the work of my flat iron in less than a minute...