Wednesday, September 28

Fall smells like...

Harvest!
I know I work at BBW. I know I shouldn't even say the words "Yankee" and "candle" together, but, I can't resist. I love this candle so much! I bought it last year on clearance and brought it out this year when the weather starting getting cold up here in the mitt. Yankeecandle.com describes the candle as "A blend of cinnamon, cloves and musk with a hint of sweet apples and pumpkin" (This is one thing I like about BBW vs Yankee-BBW has the scent notes on the bottom of the candle).
This smells spicy, but not too spicy and it's a little fruity with the apple and a lot of festive fall with the pumpkin and clove. I love this.




*Disclaimer-I am an associate of limited brands, but all of my own thoughts are mine and do not represent the company in any way*

The Perfect Fall Day....and I got to sit in a BIG chair!

Today was the perfect fall day (perfect enough for Michigan weather, that is). 
Ry and I both had the day off so we slept in a little bit and started off the morning with some caramel apple coffee (local coffeehouse has the best flavored beans!).  
We followed the coffee with slowly taking our time getting ready (no rushing and throughly enjoying our day off). 

We then went to a local apple orchard where we picked 4 kinds of yummy apples, had lunch, walked around enjoying the crisp fall air and warm sunshine, ate cinnamon sugar doughnuts (fresh out of the oven and still warm!) and hot mulled cider. Ahhhhh.....
We then took a back way home and drove with the windows and sunroof open, while watching the leaves slowly fall and loving the slowly changing colors of the trees.
We then did a little bit of shopping/errands where we found....

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...the BIG chair! I guess it's the largest in our area? Pretty cool.
After the BIG chair, we went to a soccer game with my family at my old high school where my little brother did amazing (so proud!).
And...I have these in the oven right now. Except instead of chocolate chips, I added cream cheese frosting. AKANKSDHF;ESFNUER'AFG.
(No words).

Tuesday, September 27

BBW Candle Haul

So, this is just a candle haul...

When BBW has there 2 for $20 candle sale and a current 20% off coupon, I can't resist. You can layer the promotions and th candles that are originally $19.50 end up being about $8 for one. LOVE IT. These candles are also amazing...if you haven't tried them, I really encourage you to! And I just love burning candles in the fall/winter. This is several trips made over a few weeks...but, anyways, on to the reviews....

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Sleep-Lavender Vanilla
This first one is from the aromatherapy line. It's for sleep-lavender and vanilla soothe and calm. I love lighting it in the bedroom an hour or so before bedtime. It makes the entire room smell like soothing vanilla and lavender. Love it. 


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Stress Relief-Eucalyptus Spearmint
Another from the aromatherapy line-this one is for stress. This is Ryan's favorite candle of all the candles I own. It's eucalyptus spearmint. It's a light minty and a fresh eucalyptus smell. It is really nice and I don't know if it works, but it does for us because we have it in our heads to work (stress relief, that is). Crazy how powerful your mind is!


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Leaves
It is not fall until you have leaves. This is a classic BBW scent. LOVE LOVE LOVE. The bottom reads: Golden nectar, juicy mandarin and red delicious apple blend with toasted cinnamon, mulled cider and freshly harvested berries. It's fruity and spicy and everything fall. This is the ultimate fall scent.


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Autumn
Autumn is a really amazing fall scent too. I've heard that the names of 'leaves' and 'autumn' should be switched, and I agree. 'Autumn' is a crunchy leaf scent and 'Leaves' is a cozy autumn scent. Autumn is described as "A crisp fall fragrance that blends pomegranate and red delicious apple, with notes of fir balsam and rich cedarwood." It's woodsy and fruity-another classic fall scent.


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Autumn Apple
Autumn Apple is applish-ous. It's "Crisp and bright-the sparkling scent of autumn apples with pear blossoms and a hint of applewood." The scent description is dead on. This is the truest red apple scent. I've burned this one a bit and I really like it. It's crisp and fresh. 


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Pumpkin Patch
Pumpkin Patch reminds me of a pumpkin pie, but less sweet and more fruity. It's spicy and warm. It's "An invitingly warm blend of fresh pumpkin, spicy cinnamon, creamy nutmeg, whipped butter and brown sugar." I know I keep saying this, but I love this one! I started burning it, but then I thought that I would be better closer to thanksgiving, so I've put it away for now.... :)


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Spiced Apple Toddy
Spiced Apple Toddy reminds me of Leaves-except fruitier. I think that this candle is only out in certain stores. It's "A warming blend of apple brandy and spiced plum, infused with mulled cider and tart cranberry". Leaves and SAT both have bottom notes of mulled cider and berries. I love the photo on this candle, it's really unique. And I do like this candle in fall-it's fruity and spicy. Yum.


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Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut is a love it or hate it kinda candle. It smells exactly like cinnamon sugar doughnuts, which is like music to my nose. It's not an over-powering cinnamon, just a sweet, yummy scent. The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it's not strong enough for me. BBW candles normally fill up my joint living room/kitchen/dining room. This one doesn't. Which is fine, I'll use it in smaller locations (I love it that much!). And I always get some mulled cider with a cinnamon sugar doughnuts at the local orchard, so this one is definitely fall to me!


So there you go! My fall candle haul! If you have any additional questions or want more info on anything listed, please let me know in the comments below! :) Happy smelling!

*I am an associate of limited brands, however my opinions are my own and do not reflect the company in any way.*


Sunday, September 25

Using up Canned Chicken

I don't know what it is about canned food, but it kinda grosses me out. Especially canned meats. And we have a lot of canned chicken. I want to use it up before it goes bad, and it's good for the budget, ya know? This recipe is perfect for canned chicken-I've used it before and LOVE IT. It's also what's for dinner this weekend...(seriously, this is copied and pasted from here).


Creamy White Chili

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I use canned)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder (I use fresh garlic cloves)
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
  • 2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies (I use a little more-I like it spicier!)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (lil more of this too...)
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • **I also add in 2 or so cups of frozen corn.**

Directions

  • In a large saucepan, saute the chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add the beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Yield: 7 servings.



You can make it 'crockpot friendly' by sautéing the onions and the garlic cloves (not the chicken, it's already cooked if you're like me and using canned) and then add all the remaining ingredients minus the heavy cream and the sour cream. Put it in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours. Then it's ready when you get home!

Do you guys have any good ideas or recipes so that I can use up some canned chicken? :)

Friday, September 23

#Marriagefail

Great minds think alike, right? RIGHT?

We got to Target and found out....


...We were wearing the exact same thing! O dear.....

Thursday, September 22

Cute Cute Cute

I'm not really a walmart shopper, but this cardigan could change my mind!




Seriously? AND it comes in dark grey! This is the perfect fall cardigan, and I'm pretty sure I need it. :)

Tuesday, September 20

Yum, Yum.

At the farmer's market, I pick up flowers and well as some fresh veggies. I love farmer's markets, so much! Delicious, fresh wholesome food. And it's autumn weather, which makes me two times happy!

Anyways, I made some tasty bruschetta chicken with a side of fresh corn. I found the recipe at tasteofhome.com, but here it is here too!

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 egg substitute (I used two eggs)
4 boneless chicken breasts (I used 6-8 chicken tenders)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese-grated
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs (I used italian seasoned bread crumbs)
1 T butter, melted
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I bought cherry tomatoes-so I used those)
3 T fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T EVOO
S&P to taste

Place flour and eggs in separate bowls. Dip chicken in egg, then in flour and place into a 9 by 13 baking dish. Combine cheese, bread crumbs and butter-sprinkle over chicken.

Loosely cover with foil and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Uncover and finish baking for 5-10 minutes.

While chicken is baking, mix remaining ingredients (I also like to put 3 T or so of minced red onion and    1T of balsamic vinegar into my bruschetta).  Place on chicken when finished baking (or if you want it warm, put in oven when you remove the foil). SO good.

Sunday, September 18

One of my favorite fall things....

Farmer's Markets!

The coffee house I work for participates in the local farmers market. Last Saturday I had to run a few things down to the market, and I took my time coming back, making sure to stop and smell and buy the fresh flowers.





So Pretty! 

Saturday, August 20

Shifting...

My blog should grow with me. It's my blog, right? So it should be interested in my hobbies. Yes. So, therefore, I have decided that everything is going to shift. Lately, I've been into fragrance. Home fragrance, personal fragrance, car fragrance (it is such a thing!) so I'm going to start doing reviews.

First of all....a shout out to the wonderful women who have inspired me....

Ellie Pepper and Nicole at Life, Love and Fragrance. These women are amazing...make sure you check them out!

Ok, so here goes nothing! (I'm kinda nervous...hehe!)

Let me introduce you to my newest toy...This is owlie. He's pretty cute!



Owlie is part of a recent purchase from bath and body works. Check him out here. He's technically an "oil burner", but he likes tarts, too! They just have to be smaller, otherwise he will overflow!



These candles are also part of my haul. They are (top to bottom) Marshmallow Fireside, Pumpkin Caramel Latte and Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut. These are amazing and the packaging is so beautiful...but I'll do more of a review later...These are 1.6 oz each and on sale normally 3 for $5. But what I do is.... 



Put whichever I want to melt in the freezer for 30 minutes, it pops right out! I cut up the block into four, then if I'm using my electric warmer, I put half of the candle. If I'm using owlie, I only put a fourth into him.


Like so. Put a tealight in his back side and.....



Ta-Da! Melted wax goodness. 


So-the review. I melted "Fireside". This scent has been getting rave reviews, and the other two scents were to 'fallish' so hubs wouldn't let me melt them...haha. The label is beautiful and the wax is just plain white. While that's great, I thought it smelled like burning marshmallows. Not my favorite. The throw (how much of a room is scented and how strong a scent is) was very decent, and the notes (which are described by Bath and Body Works as "Toasted marshmallows and sweet vanilla cream wrapped in the aroma of rich smoldering woods") are very true to the smell, however, I thought that it would be sweeter, rather than smell burnt. So, it's just ok. I'm not too upset, I only spent $1.66 on the whole mini candle and I got to use my cute new owlie! :)


Let me know what you think about the new direction of the blog and make sure to share any good scents with me! The reviews in the future will obviously not be this long, since I won't have to explain my procedure every time....


* Disclosure: I work for limited brands, however these reviews are my opinion and do not represent Limited brands in any way!* 

Monday, August 1

Manicured {Lawn and Flower beds}

Here are the 'finished' pictures I promised of our lawn and flower beds. My last post before I went MIA-I told you about planting flowers and being excited for spring. And since today is AUGUST 1-we should post those, eh?


IMG_3070     Flowers waiting to be planted


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Toby's Froggy pool 


IMG_3110 Toby loves his froggy pool!





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$2 Clearance Lilies. We got two-one for each side of our shed

Sunday, July 31

Hello Friends

So....I am back. Kinda. I'm not going to plan on being here all the time, but I need to be. Blogging soothes my soul. And I miss all of my friends.

I decided I need to find something that I love...something I could talk about ALL THE TIME. I feel like the reason I haven't written in awhile is because I don't know what to write about.

This blog is going to be going through some changes, people! I'm shifting it from wedding planning and reminiscing to married life and my hobbies. I also maybe want to try to start vlogging more. That's pretty fun.

Buckle up friends....it's going to be a bumpy ride!!

Tuesday, May 24

Spring is finally here!

That means the outside needs a make-over!

We (I mean, Ry) mowed the lawn for the first time the other day....


Todie and I watched and cheered him on. :) I can't wait to start planting flowers, we're planning on buying some this week. I can't wait to show you before and after photos! We do have lots of perennials coming up now-like our hostas and violas...and they are popping up even in our driveway cracks!



They are pretty....though! :)


Love

Monday, May 23

It's not just me who has gotten a hair cut!

It's Toders too! :)

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(Before...)


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(Yes, Ryan is shaving his butt.)



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(So much hair!)


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He is so much cooler! And still super cute! :)
 If only my hair cut turned out so cute...




LOVE.

Sunday, May 22

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes!

So....Instead of telling this big ole story about what's been happening, I'll just show you pictures.














So, I won a free make-over. It was like "what not to wear"-I had to give them control of everything! They waxed by brows, did my make-up, and colored and cut my hair (that's why the first picture looks so scary, NO MAKEUP!). It happened like three weeks ago, and just recently, I have started to like it. I actually think it was because I was in shock-I had 14 inches cut off (and donated!) and it's grown about a half-inch. I can finally put it in a tiny baby pony. :) So, let me know what you think....! 


Love




Saturday, May 14

April....Where did you go?!?

March 26. That's the last time I said hi. I'm a terrible friend. So, we're going to start things off slow...

What I've been reading....


This book is super original. It's written from a 5 year old, Jack's, point of view. His mom was kidnapped and kept in a room when she was 19. Seven years go by and Jack has grown up thinking that the 11 by 11 foot room is all the world is.  
It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but it was surprisingly good. I really liked it, and it was really east to get into, which makes me like a book more. It was a quick read too, but still very entertaining. I love psychology, and this has a lot to do with Jack's development. 


There are a few more that I've been reading, and some other...shocking....happenings, but we're starting slow, remember?

I've missed you guys. :)

Love

Saturday, March 26

This time of year reminds me of....

Winter camping!

Yea, the hubs and I (before we were the hubs and I) went winter camping one year. It was cold (try -4 at night!), but actually really beautiful. I would do it again for sure. The best part about it is the fact that your water is always cold! :) Anyways, these are from November 2008...ENJOY!

(P.S. this post is a little photo heavy!)



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Driving to the middle of nowhere...



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Finally arrived...



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Getting ready to depart!



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All ready to go!



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Sunsets are so beautiful on the lake...But look at the snow! :(



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So, after walking all day, we make camp on a little hill were we eat canned food warmed by a fire.



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One bad thing about winter camping: the snow on the bottom of your pants melt from your body heat and then freeze from the cold leaving frozen pant bottoms. And you thought that wet ones were bad! Good thing-having a hubby that will defrost and warm your pants on the fire. Haha!



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Another good thing....



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And another....



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He still loves me. :)