Queen Helene's Mint Julep Masque

November 29, 2010

This is what Zach calls my copper face.
I've been using this facial mask regularly (about once a week) for three or four years. I'm not really sure where I got it, except I got it from my mama's house.
(Yes, I'm on the same tube. There isn't an expiration date on it.)
It's pretty much amazing.
I love it.
Even if it makes me crazy-looking. :)

Newfy Golf

November 28, 2010

I won Newfy Golf!
Woo! I'm getting pretty good at winning games. Part of this win had to do with the fact Zach passed his luck onto me. Thank you, baby!

Now to find some people to play cards with...

Good-bye to Hobie...for now

November 27, 2010

When I went to pack up my toiletry bag in the bathroom, Hobie was seated on the towels on top of our laundry basket cart--one of his favorite places. He likes to lie there when we are using the area and listen to The Smiths on the iPod dock. But this time he nervously eyed me as I placed lotion, toothpaste, facial wash into the bag, and he sat up as slid my toothbrush into it's plastic traveling canister. He was upset. We were leaving him again, and he was upset, rightfully so.

I took him to Zach and explained the dire situation. He immediately retrieved not one, but two treats. (Yes, we bribe our kitty with food.). Instead of letting him eat it out of his hand or on the floor, Zach placed it on this chair.

Now Hobie is REALLY smart. But he would not get up on that chair. Instead he paced around and around it, mewing his annoyance. Then he would place his front legs atop it and reach on his tippy toes to retrieve it. Of course his licking of the treats only pushed them farther out of reach, so he had to go from side to side until he finally got one in his mouth.

Zach took pity on him and his momentary display of stupidity or stubbornness or laziness--Hobie can play us WELL--and put the other treat on the floor. AND then he wouldn't take it until we moved the chair!

Beverly insists Hobie must have gotten squashed in one of those fold-up chairs before and remembers it--that's why he wouldn't get up there.

After the treats, Hobie followed us downstairs and up to the glass door we walked out of, leaving him behind again, and clawlessly pawed at us.

I miss my ritty rat so much. And he misses us, too. :(

Happy Thanksgiving!!

November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
*gobble gobble*

(Zach bought this for me; we used it as the centerpiece today. Erin named it Gus the Gobble Turkey. :)

I just discovered ModCloth!

[photo courtesy http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Dresses/Kennebunkport+Dress+in+Latitude]

November 8, 2010
It's Amazon's fault.
I wanted to enter their Wish and Win Sweepstakes, so I just went to one of the sites that already has an Amazon Wish List button. How convenient.

I am in love. With this dress. And many, many, MANY more. Zach even told me I should get my dresses from there. I asked him if he was willing to pay so much...


...still waiting for that answer...


I am still attracted to black dresses first, but I think green is becoming the new black for me. Lately more and more green pieces are finding their way into my wardrobe. This dress, Kennebunkport in Latitude, just screams Ireland to me. And it has a emerald-jade feel. And earthy tones and jewel tones look nice on me. I even know the shoes I would wear with it!

From the listing:
"One day, I will own a yacht. And when that day comes, I will throw a party on the yacht so that I can rub my success in all my friends' faces. And to that party, I will wear this dotingly adorable dress. It will be the greatest party of everyone's lives. T-Pain will make a guest appearance, and we'll dine on a lavishly prepared buffet piled high with lobster rolls (caught fresh that morning, of course) and blueberry pie (homemade, obviously). Under the warm summer sun, we'll drift leisurely along the Maine coastline, and my A-line skirt will dance ever so slightly in the breeze. I love the details of this rich pine cotton frock, which include a full lining, flattering front pleats, a hidden back zipper, folded straps, and a willow waistband to give definition to my midsection. Until my yachting days arrive, however, I'll wear this dress on the rare occasions I make it back home to New England, or more often when I try out new brunch places on the weekends. Paired with woven wedges and a nautical-inspired pendant, I'll have a high fashion style that's inching me closer to the high seas (at least, I like to think so). -Sarah, Fashion Writer"

*swoons*

Face to Face to Face(Time) to face(book)

October 21, 2010

This is what we do on a Thursday night: Husby FaceTimes me on the Mac. :)

Ham and Beans with Cornbread

[photo courtesy http://eattolivelivetorun.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/a-little-overboard/]

September 12, 2010
Zach is schooling me in the art of bean-loving.
Ah, the things you do when in love...
*tehe*

In my defense, I already like chili, certain bean soups, bean salsa, and bean dip including hummus!

I could SWIM in a vat of caramel... ; )

August 29, 2010

Hands down, these are the BEST caramels I've ever tasted!
The chefs agree with me.
I could eat the whole bag. ;)

(Just don't tell Zach...*shhh*)

journaling, old school style

August 23, 2010

I started journaling again today! :)
I haven't done it since Zach was in China May 2009.
That's just crazy. I used to write every (other) day and have a nice collection of filled and empty journals and diaries from when I was about 9 or 10.
Five or so years ago, I purchased a divided notebook and decorated it with a collage in a specific color. I've done blue, purple, and red over the years, I believe.
This is a picture I took of my green journal when I was making it: May 16, 2008. I love how the snake coils out of the teapot.

But I've been so bad about writing! ;)

Snuggle Time

August 10, 2010
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban + the only licorice I'll eat = good times with my husby!

I'm now a Southern Cake Lady

May 30, 2010

LOOK AT WHAT I MADE!!

Josh planned a surprise birthday party for Erin and his friend Nathan, and Beverly asked me to help her make the cakes for them. I jumped at the opportunity to learn a bit more, especially since she's taken all the Hobby Lobby courses and surpassed them!

This is Erin and Nathan blowing out their "unity candle." (We didn't use candles on the cake because it would ruin them!)

She began by showing me how make the daisies and leaves out of gum paste, so on Friday and Saturday I made little daisies and medium daisies and all the leaves.

Then Saturday after Beverly baked the cakes, she showed me how to make the buttercream icing and color it and thin it and cover the cakes with a "crumb coat" and then ice them, all the while smoothing it out. (It is a PAIN to ice a daisy-shaped cake! :)

Sunday morning I got up before church and edged the cake with alternating daisies and make the bunch of flowers in the middle as the flower center and wrote "Happy Birthday Erin!" and piped the star edging.
I can't believe I wrote her name so prettily and neatly in cursive! AND I LOVED adding the little daisy and leaf on her name. It just makes me so happy.

I had no idea that I was going to end up being the sole decorator of Erin's cake! It wasn't perfect by any means, but I am very proud of my first "professional" cake. :)

Happy (early) birthday, Erin! I hope you liked your daisy cake. :)

For Nathan's cake, I iced the chocolate cake in white icing, and Beverly piped on a black mesh cage on the sides and placed a fondant fight glove on top. (Nathan is really into the UFC game. I learned sooo much designing this cake!) Finally, I added the words. I think he was impressed, too.

Zach is sooo impressed with my mad cake-making skills. He thought my daisies were purchased at the grocery store and said it was beautiful. Many people at the party said it was too pretty to eat!!

It's so much fun to make silly faces with my husby. This was my favorite of the night!

One Year Ago Today...

A year ago Zach came home from his two-week study abroad trip to China. That was the LONGEST day, and it did NOT help that his plane was late AND I got a parking ticket. We were so excited to see one another that he swept me off my feet and spun me around. It's still one of my favorite memories. :)

(This was actually taken the morning he let, but I think it helps recreate the scene...)

We only got to talk to each other once when he was away, and it was awkward (as are most of our phone conversations *lol*), and his trip was so jam-packed, he didn't get to email regularly. But I lived for those emails. When I got one, I would read it over and over. I would check my email first thing in the morning to see if he had sent me one, and I would stay up late in case he could only get to a computer then. It made me feel like an incredibly old-fashioned lover pouring over love letters from half-way 'round the world. Every now and then I pull them out, and it makes me so incredibly happy to know he was planning for our future all that spring and into summer, including while on his trip.

I was so happy to see him, but I was also nervous. We only had a week until I was leaving for a three-week study abroad trip in England, and he was starting his internship that Monday after his return. I just wanted to spend all of our time together, and I wanted it to be stress-free. Time and distance changes relationships (not always negatively), but I was afraid we were going to have to readjust despite having only been apart for a total of five weeks. A LOT can change in a few days...

At the time of my birthday, I really thought he was going to propose. A week before my birthday, he had presented me with a "magic box," explaining that each day I would have to say the magic words and the box would open to reveal a gift. I thought that each present would increase in value (I don't mean in monetary value either, thankyouverymuch)--I mean I thought that, on my birthday, I would get an engagement ring. At this point, we had talked about our future, and he was WAY TOO CALM regarding the fact that we would graduate in a year and perhaps be separated--as if he knew we wouldn't.

(I don't think he gave the gifts in any set order; they were presented rather randomly.)

When he came home from China, I didn't want to let him go! When I was in England the following week, I loved being there, but I wished he had been with me and I thought constantly of our future--including getting married. (And I was certain he would propose upon my return. ;)