New Orleans

We did it!  We took a vacation with just the two of us, like old times.  We had 4 1/2 days in New Orleans.

I must admit, any city that doesn't get all bent out of shape about carrying open intoxicants is my kind of city.

Mad dash to the airport Saturday morning.

First priority: food and beer.

We went to Mother's.
This sign killed me.

Our hotel:  The Renaissance Marriott

Words to live by, right there on the hotel lobby floor:

Favorite part of the hotel:  the hidden nook behind a chain wall.

The hubs: "hey, get a picture of me in here."  This is how he posed.

Bourbon street was walked many, many times.

The most delicious sushi ever created.

Beignets were eaten.

WWII museum that we walked to but did not tour but saw cool stuff outside of it.

The long journey to the Garden district via Magazine Street.

Stalking Archie Manning's house.

The hubs on the way back from our incredible journey after just walking under an underpass past 5 or 6 homeless men napping.

This post is becoming entirely too long a post.  To be continued...

Addiction...

I have two addictions right now.





1.  The muffin tin.

This is really weird, I know.  But I really cannot stop making foods in muffin form.  Granola, mini chicken pot pies and variations of, not to mention real actual muffins.  I can't get over how perfect the serving size is.  Mind-blowing.

2.  Black liquid eyeliner.

L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner 

This stuff is fantastic!  Thanks, Sarah, for introducing me to this amazing product!  The felt tip is perfect and is so user friendly.  I have actually attempted the entire eye lined with black eyeliner, something I would never have done before.  See my Sunday eyes below.

Go buy some.  And start wearing it on Sundays.

Pumpkin Hoarder

As I type this, my arms are shaking.  Sully has been in quite the mood today.  You know the mood where if your mother sets you down, you think the world might end?  Yeah, that one.  So I have been holding him all.day.long.  It is moods like this that I did not anticipate before I became a parent.  I so foolishly convinced myself I would be a master at the art of distraction and I would be able to get everything done that I want to do while my child plays quietly by himself.  Completely delusional.  Finally, I gave up and we are on the couch watching a Spongebob marathon.

But not before I managed to whip up some homemade granola bars (hence the shaking arms)!

I have been wanting to make some homemade granola for some time now.  So I searched Pinterest and Google and decided on this recipe which I found here.

This is what the recipe called for:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup raisins (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

When I was raiding my pantry for ingredients, I found these:

Apparently, I have been hoarding canned pumpkin.  No, none of them are expired.  So I was determined to use some in the granola bars, to make them extra fall-y.  I like to read the comments after recipes as they always have great ideas and one of the comments mentioned using canned pumpkin so I knew I could do it!

Here are the ingredients I did use:

• 1 cup each of Old fashioned oats and instant oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup raisins (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup canned pumpkin

Have you ever tried to get all the hard lumps out of your brown sugar then mix dry and wet ingredients with a toddler on your hip?  It's hard!  So I had to intermittently put him down which immediately resulted in this:

Somehow I was able to get to this point and threw it in the oven for 20-25 minutes (I thought the 30-35 minutes that they suggested would result in granola that was too hard).

Once they finish cooling, I will throw them in a big ziploc bag and we will have a delicious breakfast this week.  They are nice and soft, yummy and fall-y.

I also want to try this Pumpkin Frappe recipe and this Pumpkin muffin recipe from Pinterest.  That should use up all this canned pumpkin....then I can go buy more.

Are you there fall, its me Tara

Just like that, I woke up and it is fall.  The air is crisp and I can breathe again, there are leaves on the ground, weekends are filled with football and the promise of fallish (yes, you can add -ish and -y to any word and it works) activities and foods hang over our heads.

Last year, I kicked off the season with apples and plaid.  This year I just put Sully in his Saturday best and followed him around.

Here is the little stinker running away from me.  He chose a strategic path where he was able to travel through untouched but I had to hunch with my camera and coffee and still get slapped in the face with a stray branch.

After I chased him through 2 neighbors yards, he settled on this neighbors tree to show me what a little monkey he is. (yeah, I don't really care about possession and apostrophes today, deal)

Just like his dad, he thinks the Badgers are "the number 1."

All the while, he is telling me stories of trucks, cars and bikes.

Such a comedian.

"Ohhhh."

"Stuck."

Who needs a swing set when you have the neighbors tree.

Happy Fall!

Grown up

Well, it finally happened.  It happened last night.  It punched me square in the nose.  After the burning and stinging subsided, I recovered fairly quickly.  I mean, it was bound to happen sooner or later.  It is just strange that it is the first time that it happened to me and I am nearly 33 years old.

It didn't happen when I graduated college, nor when I got engaged or married, nor when the hubs and I bought our house or when we acquired Turbo, nor when I graduated grad school and got a day job as a health care professional.  Not even when I became pregnant and then a mother.

It happened because of a thunderstorm.

I caught myself worrying that the thunder was going to wake up my son and then wondering if we would get hail and if we did, how much damage would it cause.

And it was at that moment that I realized....I am a grown up.  There simply was no denying it anymore, no ignoring it.  Only grown ups think like that.

Do you remember when it happened to you?  Has it not yet happened?

Do I need to start acting like an adult?

Weekend Labor

My parents were at my house this weekend, primarily to watch Sully for us so we could attend our fantasy football draft on Sunday.  However, I am not a fool and don't let an opportunity go to waste.  So I put them to work helping me transform a corner in my kitchen that has been an eyesore since we moved in.

Here is the said corner.

I needed the corner to look prettier, function better, have some storage and still hold the kennel.  And I didn't want to spend hardly anything.  Tall order, right?

Originally, I had a small bookcase just sitting on top of the table for awhile to see what I might want shelf-wise and storage-wise.  It did function ok but it looked ridiculous and I still needed more from it.  Of course I had told my parents about it so when a friend offered them the top of a large desk that they were getting rid of anyway, they immediately accepted.  Oh yeah, it was free.

I forgot to get a good pic of it but I got a pic of my mom in front of it when we were painting it.

I wanted to cover up the countertop so we found some plywood in my garage and a bunch of chair rail molding and painted everything a unifying "botanical green."

Intermixed in with the corner project was this...

Oh yeah, my nephew Jack showed up with my parents.  He likes fans and vacuums.  We put him to work too.

Guess who drew these?

Ok, back to the project.  Here if the finished product.

Fantastic, isn't it?  And the only thing it cost was $25 for a can of paint.  I love it!  I am going to go look at it again.

Sharing this project at:  Thrify Decor Chick Before and After Party

Corner Creeper

Guess what is creeping up, right around the corner????


Give up???



FALL!!!  That's right, my favorite season, my favorite weather, my favorite sport and my favorite clothes and accessories.  I even wore a cardigan to work yesterday, anticipating the crisp air that is to come.  Sweater weather and football are almost here and I can't wait!

I am so excited, I put together a fall vignette (yup another vignette) on Monday.  I decided to go with lots of white, candles, lanterns and milk glass (my new obsession).  Here it is...

I am in love with it.  I was ready for the moss and eggs to be gone.  The change is so refreshing.

Have any of you started fall decorating yet??

<div align="center"><a href="http://theletteredcottage.net/fall-table-decorating-ideas-link-party/" title="The Lettered Cottage"><img src="http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/LaylaPalmer/Linky%20Buttons/Fall_Link_Party_Layla-1.jpg" alt="The Lettered Cottage" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

P.S.  Harper turned 1 today!!!