BIG Easy!!

Joe and I are headed to New Orleans this weekend for a surprise weekend trip....he never reads this blog, so I think I'm safe :) He has NO idea that we are going. My plan is to come home from work on Thursday and tell him to pack his bags because we are leaving in an hour. We have both been to New Orleans before...but never together. I would LOVE to hear of the places your love down there...places to eat, things to do, etc.

Thanks!!

Poor People Shoes

I got my burlap TOMS shoes for Christmas...but it has been way to COLD to wear them. The past few days have been wonderful here....almost 70 degrees!! I have not taken these babies off! They are soooo comfortable! My BFF Kristy calls them "poor people shoes"...because that's what they kinda look like. Well sister...go get some! They ROCK!

L-O-V-E This House!!

Five Q Friday :)

I am linking up with Five Crooked Halos today for Five Question Friday.

1. If you had $1,000 to donate to a charity, which would you choose?

This one is SUPER easy for me....an animal rescue group of course!!

2. Snow days: Do you welcome them happily or are they a pain in your butt?

I welcome them....but I may be changing my tune come June when I am STILL in school...fingers crossed we will not have to make ours up!

3. What talent did you wish you had and why?

I wish that I was good at running.

4. Are you a news, politics or celebrity gossip junkie?

Umm....celebrity all.the.way. I love to hear who is pregnant, who is getting divorced, and who is headed to rehab :) It's like a train wreck...I can't stop looking!! Love him or hate him....Perez Hilton knows the DIRT!

5. What is your favorite "cocktail"? (Are you a beer person, a kiddie cocktail junkie, or perhaps your more the "Cosmo" kind?! Anything flies...doesn't hafta be alcoholic!)

There is NOTHING better than:

* an amaretto sour

*a Malibu with pineapple juice :)

Fill In The Blank Friday!

1. If my house was on fire and I could only grab 3 things I would grab ok...obviously I would save Joe and Hank, but if we are talking about objects, I would grab my laptop (all my pictures are on it!), my scrapbooks, and all the cards that Joe has made for me .

2. A smell I really like is cookies in the oven, clean laundry, grass in the springtime, permanent markers (hehe...), and hot pizza...Mmmmmmm .

3. Something you might not know about me is that I have had a few "famous people" encounters. I was an extra on "Full House" when I was little, I used to "date/talk on the phone/what you do in middle school" to Justin Timberlake, my aunt used to do the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, and I have met John Mayer .

4. Some of my favorite websites to putter about on are Pottery Barn, Etsy, The Superficial, Myrecipes, VRBO, Tripadvisor .

5. This weekend I will be baking, going to dinner with my hubby, cooking, shopping, having dinner with new friends, and planning Joe's birthday .

6. Nothing makes me happier than than traveling and exploring a new place with Joe.

7. A bad habit I have is taking on too much at once....it's hard for me to say "No".

I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

{one}

I am loving that my cousin/friend, Meredith, had her sweet baby girl today. Welcome to the world Carol Hannah! I can't wait to go to the hospital tomorrow and meet her!

{two}

After helping to save 7 puppies last week...I am excited to report that we saved 2 so far this week.

{three}

I am loving these earrings from F21...under $4 too!!

{four}

I am loving this book that I am currently reading.

{five}

Would you look at how cute this bedorom is?! Seriously...loving it!

{six}

I love this idea using vintage suitcases in an entryway.

{seven}

I LOVE this quote!

What are YOU loving this week?

A Wee Bit of Me Wednesday!

{one} how tall are you?i'm 5’3”.
{two} besides bills, what do you spend most of your money on?Wel...I go to Target too much...and we travel a lot.
{three} what are your three favorite websites?It's so hard to pick just three....probably etsy, myrecipes.com, and perezhilton.
{four} what brand of tennis shoes do you prefer?nike
{five} what food can you absolutely not stand to eat?cheese...ewww!!
{six} How many pairs of jeans do you own?i think it’s about 4 or 5.
{seven} if you could have any job, what would it be?a person who travels around the world and checks out new hotels, restaurants, things to do, etc.
{eight} have you ever ridden in an ambulance?no, never. thank god.
{nine} how many pillows do you sleep with?just one.
{ten} on a scale of 1-5, how organized are you?5!!
okay, your turn!

It was a CRAZY weekend!!

I am still recovering from a SUPER busy weekend! On Friday, my brother and his wife came up from

Jackson, MS for a visit and stayed with us. That means that I was trying to clean like a crazy lady!

I finally erased the Christmas message that Joe had drawn on our kitchen chalk board...so sad to see it go :(

My sweet hubby also decided to start retiling the guest bathroom...which meant we were all sharing one bathroom and there was dust EVERYWHERE!!

I made dinner for everyone on Friday night.:shrimp scampi with linguine, salad, and bread. I also made molten chocolate cakes for dessert and served them with vanilla bean ice cream, raspberry sauce and strawberries. They were sooooo good!!

On Saturday morning, Lindsey and I drove an hour to Bolivar, TN to rescue 7 puppies from being euthanized at a high-kill shelter. This is the little guy that I ended up with. I named him "George". I fostered him all weekend until someone else could take him. He was sooo cute!! After we gave him a bath, worm treatment, picked off fleas and ticks and cleaned their ears, we snuggled them for hours. He was so soft and sweet...but still a puppy! He was not potty trained so I had to take him to potty pretty much every hour. He whined all night and made it hard to sleep (good practice for having a baby).

He ended up staying his here a lot....

Hank tolerated him...

but was so glad when he went to a different house :)

Top Two Tuesday!!

Todays Top Two Tuesday's topic is "favorite healthy snacks". Here are my picks ;)

1. I LOVE hummus with carrots...soooo yummy!

2. I LOVE Honeycrisp apples. Maybe it's because they are super healthy. Maybe it's because they were invented in Minnesota (where Joe is from ). Maybe it's because they remind me of fall. Maybe it's because they are crisp, sweet and juicy.

14 Day-Valentine Challenge

I enjoyed the Christmas Challenge so much I thought it would be fun to do a Valentine's Day Challenge. I know we have several days before starting, but I wanted to go ahead and let you know so that you can get some ideas in your head. I hope you will all join me!!

Here is a list of topics so you can get your ideas ready.

Day 1: Favorite movies (chick-flicks, love stories, etc.)
Day 2: Favorite Valentine's candy
Day 3: How did you meet your sweetie and where did you go on your first date?
Day 4: Favorite romantic restaurant
Day 5: How do you keep it romantic with your partner?
Day 6: Gift ideas (what do you want and what are you giving your sweetie)
Day 7: Valentine's craft (one you have made, plan to make, or wish you could make)
Day 8: Least favorite thing about Valentine's Day
Day 9: A romantic trip that you would like to take
Day 10: Most meaningful gift/best gift you've received
Day 11: Plan a romantic dinner and post the recipes (or links to recipes)
Day 12: Tell us about your most memorable Valentine's Day
Day 13: If it were up to you...plan out your perfect Valentine's Day
Day 14:Tell us what you did for Valentine's Day!

Days 1-13 will be on February 1-13th.

No posts on Valentine's Day...go spend time with your sweetie!!

Day 14 will be on Feb. 15

What I'm Watching...

{Monday}

The Bachelor

{Tuesday}

The Biggest Loser

{Wednesday}

I Used ToBe FAT

{Thursday}

Jersey Shore

{Friday}

Supernatural

{Saturday}

Barefoot Contessa

{Sunday}

Desperate Housewives

Scheduling Sunday/Menu Monday!!

Sunday: Cleaning the house of all this DUST from Joe retiling the bathroom.

Monday: Going to the gym at 5. Lindsey coming over to watch "The Bachelor". Fried Chicken Salads

Tuesday: Kickboxing at 5:45. Watching "The Biggest Loser". Baked Pork Tenderloin, Broccoli, Roasted Potatoes.

Wednesday: Kickboxing at 5:30. ??

Thursday: Hitting the gym after school, scrapbook class at 5:30 and running a few errands. Leftovers!!

Friday:Date Night!!

Saturday: "All in One" class at 11 am. Double Dinner Date with Friends :)

Free Cards!!

I participated in the free holiday cards promotion from Shutterfly during Christmas. I LOVED the way that they turned out. Imagine my excitement when they sent me a code for 10 free cards to use by the end of Janurary. I decided to order 10 Valentine cards. Here's how they turned out.

Love Is Sweet Valentine's Day Card

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Five Question Friday

I'm playing along with Five Question Friday.

1. Where did you meet your spouse and did you instantly know it was love?

Joe and I met on Match.com..crazy? YES!

After emailing and talking on the phone for a few months, we finally met and yes, we knew it was something wonderful the first night. We went to dinner, to The Blue Monkey and then dancing at Backstreet (a local gay club...haha!!). I didn't come home until 4 am and my mom was freaking out. After that we were pretty much together all the time and got engaged 6 months later.

2. What is your favorite room in your house?

I LOVE my den. It's got a lot of DIY projects and our new factory cart table that I LOVE!!

3. Can you wiggle your ears?

Negative!!

4. What is your evening ritual?

Work out at the gym, come home and make dinner, eat, watch my shows, take a shower, brush my teeth, put on my lotion, read a few chapters in my book or a magazine, lights out :)

5. How many hours of sleep do you need to function?

In order to function, I feel like I need at least 7-8 hours. Otherwise, I am NOT a happy girl :)

Surprise...We're Going to DISNEY!!

No not me and Joe (I WISH!!). After seeing some of these new commercials that Disney has out, I did a youtube search and found some wonderful Disney surprises caught on tape. Some of them literally brought tears to my eyes. I can;t wait to do this with my own children. I already have so many ideas!! The last video is a big FAT fail..haha...kinda funny though after watching the other ones. ENJOY!!

Fill In The Blank Friday!

1. My favorite quote is It's so hard to choose just one....but I REALLY like "You have brains in your head. Yo have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go." -Dr. Seuss

2. A bad habit I have is picking my cuticles....it's gross and makes my hands look terrible. Pretty much the only way to keep me from doing it is to get my nails done every week. When they look pretty, I don't wanna mess them up!

3. The first time I felt like a "grown up" was when I went on a plane for the first time by myself. I drove myself to the Nashville airport, parked in long term parking, took the shuttle to the airport and got on the plane. I was flying to California and had to switch planes in Chicago. I was scared, but I figured it out.

4. Weekends are necessary!! As a teacher, by the time the weekends get here, I am READY! Joe and I usually do work around the house, go to dinner, and get together with friends. Lots of weekends we go out of town which is the BEST!

5. When I was a child I wished my name was Hilary Whitney. I think I watched "Beaches" too many times :)

6. I wish I was smart enough to figure out a way to travel the world with Joe and have someone pay for it all!

7. A secret I have is that I REALLY would like to travel somewhere far away by myself.

What are you up to this weekend?

xo

{Sarah}

Alphabet Wall

I am loving this alphabet wall over at Girl In Air.

She has a wonderful tutorial as well as pictures collected from all over the web.