My sister and BIL are visiting this weekend! YAY! And, they are bringing their new pup, Troubador.  Let's see what Laila thinks about that...

They won't get in until late tonight, so I have a few plans for tomorrow that involve:

Downtown Historic Grapevine - maybe some live music?

A crafty thing or two...

And a wine tasting?

I'll post about the weekend on Monday. For all of my Rodeo-loving gals - - have a great weekend at Cookoff. And be safe!



Queso Blanco

I am super pale these days. Oober pale. Justin calls me Queso Blanco... THAT pale.

So, in an attempt not to frighten people next week in Costa Rica, I decided to use my favorite fake-sun product - Tan Towels, yesterday! See the whole line of Tan Towel products here.

Man. Instant glow! Well, not instant, but about 3 hours later I looked in the mirror and said, 'Whoa!' What an improvement. Ha.

If you've never used Tan Towels, I highly recommend them. They are quick & easy, and don't leave you all streaky if you do it right. I get them at Ulta, because its closer to my house than Sephora. But they have them there, too.

I bought the $24 box for Light to Medium skin. It comes with 5 full-body applications. They have half-body applications, and Tan Towels for tanner people, too.

Here's what I do. Shower; use a washcloth or loofah to kinda exfoliate your skin.
After you dry-off, use a Tan Towel in a circular motion from head to toe. It's like a big wet-wipe, and it smells like Citric Oranges. Not terrible. Make sure you get your outer arms (I've missed that part before ha!) I even use it on my face - they have special 'face towels,' but the regular ones are just fine.

Let it dry for about 10 minutes, but wash your hands really good. Then get dressed and go about your business. It takes a couple hours to show up, but when it does, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Any other tanning-products out there that you like??

Pizza Pizza!

Dinner last night was a Boboli Pizza - at least a monthly meal in our house.

This is what we use:
Boboli Crust - It gets nice and crispy, but not too crispy!
Boboli Brand Sauce (comes in a pack of 3)
A block of Mozzarella Cheese
Mushrooms
Pepperoni's
Oregano or similar seasoning
Half a white onion

We start by sauteing a couple big handfuls of mushrooms and half a chopped onion together in a skillet with a little olive oil. While that's cooking, we grate the mozzarella cheese block with a grater. (I guess you could cheat and buy a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese!) Spread the sauce pack on the crust leaving about an inch around all sides, sprinkle the sauce with a couple seasonings and layer on the cheese. Then dump on the mushroom/onion mix and throw on some pepperonis!

Easy, and it cooks in 9 minutes!

Perpetual Journaling

I grew up in a house with a craft room. Not a craft closet, but an entire room with ceiling to floor shelving full of crafty craziness. My mom and sister lived in that room, and I would visit on occasion.

My craft past would usually go something like this: Kayla would make something adorable... and I would copy it. Or.. I would pull out all of my pictures, paper, stickers and lay them all out on the floor, and smiling say, "Now what?"

It's not that I didn't like making things - that part I loved! It was just hard for me to come up with my own ideas. Luckily, thanks to Pinterest I still don't have to come up with my own ideas! Ha! But, I have been 'coming into my own' when it comes to creativity, so I thought I would share a recent project.

This is a Perpetual Journal.

One of my goals for 2012 was to start journaling. I read a book called 'A Fresh Brewed Life,' and it gave a lot of insight into the importance of keeping a daily journal. I was really bad at it though. So instead, I began a perpetual journal that just requires me to write down one thought per day!

It was really easy to make. I took a pack of the jumbo index cards and cut them in half with a paper cutter, until I had 365 half sheets. Then, I took an old-school date stamp and stamped the date on every.single.sheet. That took the longest, but I did it while watching the Bachelor, so I got into a rhythm.

Then, I took pieces of cute cardstock and cut them a bit taller than my index cards as the month dividers. Every day when I jot down a thought, I move it to the back of the box so the next day is ready. (I bought that little box at Hobby Lobby for $6 with my 40% off coupon). Just need to make the little tag for the front.

This has worked out well for me, and I am looking forward to skimming through my journal at the end of the year so I remember bits and pieces of daily life as I know it. I have written things down about what we made for dinner, bible verses from church, how cruddy I felt last week with the worst cold ever, yada yada.

Oh, and that is a new print I bought off Etsy, and framed in a vintage frame we got while garage sailing in ATX last summer. It makes me happy!