A Few Things: Crocs

A Few Things: Crocs

Monday, August 26, 2013

I have switched things up a bit and made A Few Things an every other weekend deal. With school in full swing, this makes my life just a little bit easier. My calendar is so full that it won't even show every event without opening up a specific day and scanning hour by hour tasks. That's craziness.

I was texting a friend and had the realization that I have a dry, playfully sarcastic sense of humor, and I'm not sure it always translates via text message. Do you ever have that problem? You send a message, and you know that it would have been funny in person, but, on the screen it lacks a certain pizazz.

I discovered how to property execute The Pompadour. It is so stinking simple, yet, I could never do it correctly before. That is embarrassing. Thank you for helping me Emily, I was so lost without you!

As I have mentioned one or two or ten times, I am going to Hawaii. I'm only mildly excited about this..

Hawaii is on my bucket list, and now I can cross it off. Since life will be all beachy for ten days, I decided that I needed special shoes. More than a flip flop, less than a sneaker. Somehow I ended up at a Crocs store. I became besties with the employees ( You were no help, Josh! I blame all of this on you), and walked out of the store with a bright green bag housing my very own pair of Crocs.  If that's not pure sacrilege, I don't know what is. 

Kelly Slater, the gem behind Walkin' On Sunshine, is adorable and bubbly.  I had the pleasure of swapping buttons with her in the recent past. Every time I login and see her button, it brightens up my day! Her blog is bright and happy and oh so worth a visit!

 I finally took the plunge and put together a media kit! Media kits are basically resumes and they need to be compact and highlight the most relevant and timely information.  I probably spent four hours agonizing over it, but, I finished it. I don't know about you, but, I always get nervous taking new steps in the blog world. You're already putting yourself out there to potentially be rejected. Each new step is exciting and a little terrifying. It is one hundred percent worth it though!

Those are my few things for this weekend. What about you? Did you discover something new about yourself, find a little piece of blog heaven, or take the plunge and put yourself out there?

                                                                    

                                                                 What are your few things? 

P.S. Linking up with Bre for The Collective and Carly for Funday Monday.

Never Alone

Never Alone

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Life is so busy with classes and preparation for our Hawaii trip (excitement!!), but I wanted to take a minute and share something that was on my heart. Some time ago my best friend told me to read Psalm 121. I shared a trial that I was going through, and she told me "..read Psalm 121, it's great. It speaks of how God has not, nor ever will leave us." And, that is so true. Though it hurt at the time, I could see that my trial was trivial compared to what others have to deal with.

I wanted to share this with you, to encourage you if you are going through a trial. Your help does come from the Lord! No matter what you are going through, He has not, nor ever will leave you.

 I encourage you to go to the Lord, your Creator. He knows your thoughts, He knows your trials, and He will walk you though them every step of the way. 

Psalm 139:1-4 says " O LORD, You have searched me and known me.You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all."

The Lord knit you together, He will not leave you floundering. You are precious to Him, and He is there when you call out to Him. I encourage you to read Psalm 121. Read it slowly, and really think about it. Be uplifted, and comforted by it.

                                                          Have a beautiful Saturday, friends!

i'm loving...

i'm loving...

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Today I am linking up with Katie from Katie Did What, and sharing some things that I am loving right now. I love Katie's link up, it's a blast and a half seeing what other bloggers are loving right now.

So, let's get this cart rolling.

Fashion.
I get excited and love many things. It is just my nature - I'm happy and bubbly and excitable. I am like a toddler when I find cute clothes.

Can me haves it!?

So it is safe to say that there is some article of clothing that is always on my Love List.
For the past, maybe, two years I have been in love with rompers and have been fervently searching for one. I searched and searched and failed miserably to find one that would actually fit the bill. Happily, I finally have acquired the cutest, flouncy romper and I'm loving it!



 P.S. It comes in polka dots!





Music. Spotify is my best friend. I have exaclty four hundred and ninety songs in my library. That number grows on a daily basis. I have playlists for working out, and for every mood you could possibly be in. If I have not expressed it before, let me express it now - I loathe country music. More specifically, twangy country music. It grates on my soul. Needless to say, country music is not in my library...

Except for Hunter Hayes, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and one Jason Aldean song. But you see, I do not ackowledge them as country artists. So, It’s all good. And let’s face it, Swift hasn’t qualified as a country artist since there were still teardrops on her guitar.

Now that we've got that all sorted.. enjoy this catchy pop tune, from Hayes, that I am loving.



Photo App. I really enjoy taking pictures, and I just happen to Instagram them. The photo app, Over,  is such a little gem! It allows you to add graphics and text to any photo and then share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, via email, or turn it into a postcard. Personally I use it to put my stamp on my Instagram uploads. I am one hundred percent loving this app.

There you have it, a few of the things that I am loving right now. What are you loving?

Head over here to linkup with Katie and share your current loves.

Or you can click the cute button!

Happy weekend friends!

Red Pepper and Tomato Minestrone

Red Pepper and Tomato Minestrone

Thursday, August 15, 2013

I got back in the kitchen at the start of this week and cooked up something decidedly tasty. I'm pretty adventurous in the kitchen, well, as adventurous as I can be. This should help explain that a tiny bit.

I have to be careful what I put in my body, but, I love food and I love trying new recipes and even creating a few of my own. That's exactly what I have to share today, a recipe of my own.

On monday, my mom headed to the grocery store and asked me to make dinner. The cabinets and refrigerator were more than a little bare. I rummaged through said cabinets and refrigerator and came out with four random ingredients to make a dinner meal with. Challenge accepted. 

Red Pepper and Tomato Minestrone 

You will need

1 container of Red Pepper and Tomato soup

1 box of pasta (your choice)

1 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese ( finely grated)

1 package of mild Italian Chicken Sausage

Add-ins

1tsp. Salt & Pepper (each)

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Onion Powder

1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

Dried Parsely

Grate one to one and a half cups of the Pecorino Romano cheese and set aside.

Slice the sausages lengthwise and pop the meat out of the casings. Break the meat up into bite size pieces. In a large pot, brown the Chicken Sausage with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper flakes. 

Add a fourth of a cup (1/4 c.) of the red pepper and tomato soup (shake it well first). 

Let reduce into the meat.

Add the rest of the soup and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for ten to fifteen minutes.

If the flavor is too strong or you want to thin out the soup a bit, add a little chicken stock.

While the soup simmers, cook the pasta according to box. Quinoa pasta has a slightly shorter cook time  than your regular pastas. Drain and season to taste with butter/margarine, salt, and pepper.

And that's it!

Serve the pasta in a pretty little bowl, topped with your red pepper and tomato soup + sausage. Add a hearty sprinkling of the grated Pecorino Romano cheese, and a dash of the dried Parsely.

This is so easy to make and it really is packed with flavor.

A few things..

If you like things spicy go ahead and add a healthy dash of chili powder to kick it up a little more. 

If you're sensitive to heat, add a good drizzle of agave nectar to take the edge off.

You can also add some veggies to this to give it more texture and add even more depth of flavor.

I would also like to put it out there that the definition of a Minestrone is - A thick soup containing vegetables and pasta. This recipe definitely does not fit that description. Honestly, I do not know what else to call it though. So..  Minestrone it is! 

Have fun cooking and happy eating, friends!

                                          P.S. Linking up this post on the Weekend Potluck linkup!

Hop till you drop #3

Hop till you drop #3

Monday, August 12, 2013

Hey Y'all! This week I have the extreme pleasure of co-hosting Hop till you Drop, hosted by My Crazy Beautiful Life. I am so excited to be co-hosting this hop! I love linkups, they are such a great way to find new blogs and connect with other bloggers. So go linkup and make some new friends.

Get hopping people! 

Welcome to week #3 of Hop till you Drop :)

Hope that you had a fabulous weekend and that you're ready to meet some new friends!

Let's get hoppin!

++

Meet your lovely co-hosts :)

If you'd like to co-host in the future please email me!

Coco & Cocoa | Boone & Owl

Instant Delight | Sweet Reverie | Realities of Brandi

//RULES//

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+Please follow your host and co-hosts and comment letting us know you did so we can follow you too!

+This is a hop so please take some time to visit at least 2 or 3 other links and follow them :)

I want you guys to connect and make some friends that you might not have found otherwise.

+If you feel like it please share the button below on your page so others can join in too! 

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GRAB A BUTTON & SHARE THIS HOP WITH YOUR FRIENDS :) Hope you have a great time hopping!

a few things: the roundup

a few things: the roundup

Sunday, August 11, 2013

I skipped the weekend roundup last weekend, but I am back and I'm going to keep this short and sweet!

All right, let's roundup the week. I'm pretty sure that I used the reflection of a window of a car that was occupied, at the beach. That poor person. It was hysterical, but, decidedly uncomfortable for the vehicles occupant.

This might make me a tiny bit nerdy, but I have a small affection for oldie video games. I pulled out the old Play Station and Nintendo this week.  Super Mario Bros is gold. Of course, I play with the game genie on so I can't die. Sometimes cheating is acceptable..

Fun fact, I love carnations. I get flack for this, but I'm not sure why. I acquired a lovely bunch of carnations this week. They look like tissue paper, for presents, all bunched up. I find that charming. Feel free to leave carnations on my doorstep.

Throwback music is a guilty pleasure. Aside from the fact that it is far superior to Ke$ha and Pitbull, it just speaks to me. When I was younger my parents would pull out the old cd's and we would have a dance party. Earth Wind and Fire, Phil Collins, Billy Ocean, Michael Jackson. At a young age I grew to appreciate, ahem, real music. I brought back the dance party, in our kitchen. I know that you dance around when no one is looking too, because I do and I consider myself pretty normal. Cupid Shuffle in the kitchen was more than reasonable and totally worth the sweat I worked up. I know that isn't a throwback song, but it's stinking fun.

 

                                                               ... You're welcome.

If you haven't already started following The Freckled Fox, well… here, this too, and that! I need not say anymore. Emily is stinking adorable! Her blog makes me all kinds of happy.

                                                     
                                                               What did you do this week?

                       
                                 

On A Whim

On A Whim

Friday, August 9, 2013

I rarely take to writing late at night with no general plan. I'm the girl that needs to have a plan and know exactly what's happening next. On-a-whim posts just aren't how I roll. Here I am though. I don't think that I have written a post that touched on something a little deeper, something about me or something that I really wanted to share with you, in a while. I truly see my readers as friends and I care for and appreciate each and every one of you. I thought that I would share what was on my heart tonight, and since we're friends I'm just going to write like we're having a heart to heart. I was talking with a friend this evening and in the course of our conversation he shared a scripture with me that encouraged my heart tremendously.

Sometimes life is just disheartening. We are not promised an easy life, but we absolutely can find peace, joy, and strength in the Lord. He truly is our strength and our shield, in every situation. It is easy to lose sight of that as we walk through the mundane, the difficult, and the painful things of life. Rest assured, though, the Lord is there and He cares for you more deeply than you can comprehend. 

He does hear your pleas. So I encourage you, fall back into the Lord, who is your strength and your shield, and let your heart exult. 

Have a beautiful Friday, friends!

three wishes

three wishes

Friday, August 2, 2013

About a week into my blogging endeavors I discovered the Blog Every Day In May blog challenge. It was a life saver. I had no idea what to write about and it gave me a good kickstart. I discovered so many blogs through the challenge linkup and my blog was discovered in return. It was a great experience!

I came across the August Blogging Challenge a day ago, and I just couldn't resist participating. Though, I don't have the time to blog every single day this month. 

Today you get three wishes from little ole me. Three things that I would ask Genie for. A magic carpet would be fantastic, but, that seems impractical..

If you had three wishes what would they be and why?

If I could live a day in my life five years from now, I would. I really want to know what will be going on in my life when I'm twenty-six. Will I be married? Where will I live? What new friends will I have made? There are just so many things that I would love to get a glimpse of.

This wish is vain, but, I think that you can relate.. 

I wish food did not have calories. Can you imagine how fun it would be to eat!? Pizza, pasta, brownie edges. All of that food you pinned, yeah, just imagine. 

Thirdly, I wish that I could meet the bloggers behind so many of my lovely reads! I think that we come to view our favorite bloggers as friends, we feel like we know them, how wonderful would it be to actually spend face time with them. If I really had three wishes, this would definitely be one of them. 

                     That's it for me! If you caught the Aladdin reference in this post, you get brownie points. 

                                                    

                                                            What would your three wishes be? 

                                                                         Happy Friday!

Linking up on The Good Life + North East Bloggers today!

          

the lighten up project: ombré

the lighten up project: ombré

Thursday, August 1, 2013

So remember way back when, I started The Lighten Up Project. Well, a month later, I have finally gotten to the second post. Now, I actually have a good reason for taking so long. I waited till I saw a significant change in the color of my hair. My hair is actually a little ombré at this point, which makes me unduly excited! 

I stuck with the Chamomile Tea, Honey, and Lemon Juice and it worked really well! 

If you're still thinking about lightening your hair naturally, this is definitely worth trying. It takes about a week to see results, but it looks very natural and it is good for your hair too. It will make your hair softer and shinier. Who doesn't love that!

I normally post on Wednesday and linkup with Shanna and Marquis. I got just a touch behind. As you already know, better late than never is one of my mottos. So, I am linking today! You know the drill, click a pink link or the button below to join the linkup.

   

I am off to make some memories with a new friend. Hot chocolate and sugar cookies are awaiting me! 

Have a beautiful Thursday, friends.