I LOVE TARGET

Target is one of my favorite places to go.  I could seriously so there multiple times a week and find things to buy every single night.  Did you know you can print out coupons from the Target website to use there?  You can also use one Target coupon and one manufacturers coupon on the same item to save more money. I have been really good lately with only buying things we need at Target like household things.  Tonight we headed there and I just couldn't help myself...I filled my cart with these fabulous goodies...  I am pretty sure when we move into our new house that I am going to make the third bedroom my office and of course I want to do it in pink and lime green.  I found some goodies to stash away for it.

 The latest issue of US Weekly magazine

 These were from the $ section.  On the left are bakery boxes that hold 4 cupcakes each...how cute are they??  I picked up 4 packs of them.  Then these fun colored magnetic clips.

 The note cards are round and green...and they were on clearance for like $4.50.  The note cards on the right were from the $ section.

These little bins were from the $ section and I thought they would be cute to fill with paperclips and other little desktop items.  The big clips will be used to hold important papers.

Who else loves Target?

A Prayer for My Daughter - by Tina Fey ; Comments by ME

Tina Fey has a new book out.  You may recognize her from Saturday Night Live, Baby Mama (which I am currently watching on TV while writing this post), or 30 Rock.  As the mother of a pre-teen 11 year old I could definitely relate to some of this.  Be sure to let me know what you think of this -

A Prayer for My Daughter - from Tina Fey

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches. [I never want my sweet Maddie to get a tattoo]

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.

What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short - a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day - And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. [This one brings tears to my eyes... I cannot wait to see the day when my baby becomes a mama... hopefully in her thirties...when she is married...owns her own home...and is financially stable]

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

Tina Fey, Bossypants, 2011

3 HITS and a MISS

I thought I would share 3 HITS and a MISS from my day today.

The HITS

• My wedding photographer who I adore... had a post on Facebook looking for an assistant to help her with office related work...not actual photography.  SCORE! I would love to see how she operates her small business.  I emailed her about it.

• It is Wednesday.  That means the work week is almost over.  I didn't have to cook dinner tonight.  I scored a square brownie pan with a lid on sale for $4.99 at A.C. Moore tonight.

• Madison is going to a sleepover on Saturday night...which means a date night for us.  Yippee!!

The MISS

• I came home tonight and it was over 80 degrees in the house... H O T .  Hopefully someone will be over tomorrow to handle this issue.

Our New Home to Be w/ Photos

I tend to really freak out and stress out about things.  Things that my husband says I have no control over and shouldn't worry about.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't a nervous wreck that we wouldn't find a home in Rhode Island we could love as much as our current home in Virginia Beach.  Both homes are so different, but I am positive we will learn to love our new home as much as we love our current home.  It is far from perfect...but I think it will be great for our family.  We will make our home wherever the three of us are.

Here it is -



I didn't take a ton of photos...and this is all with the current people's things in it, so it is still hard for me to picture it with all of our things.  It is a ranch style home with a basement (unfinished...but not a dark and scary basement), three bedrooms, 1.5 baths (which is one of the negatives, but it will do), a garage, good sized bedrooms with good closets, a small deck off of the dining room, built in shelves in the hallway, and hardwood floors. 

Once we finally signed the papers for the house it was like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  I definitely have a sense of peace now about moving.  I am excited for the new professional opportunity for my husband.  I am excited for a fresh new start in a small town we will soon call our own.

Our House Hunting Trip/Vacation Part TWO

On our second day in Newport we had 2 appointments with one realtor.  Our first one was at 11 am.  We had driven by the house the night before so we knew from the outside and the neighborhood we were interested.  We also had 4 with another realtor...but we hadn't been able to preview those homes.

Upon entering the home we sort of knew almost immediately that this home could be

 the one.

Before house hunting we had set a budget for ourselves.  I am resigning from my job before we move.  At this point I have no idea what income if any I will be providing once we move.  It was important to us that we did not become "house poor". 

We knew we wanted a great school district, three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a large and fairly modern kitchen, and bedrooms big enough for our furniture - we have a King and Maddie has a Queen sized bed.  My husband wanted a yard, a real fireplace,  and a garage and I was hoping for hardwood floors.

This home had all of those things...well most of them.  The only downfall would be that the house only had 1 1/2 bathrooms.

We decided we could live with the 1 1/2 bathrooms because it was in a quiet area on a dead end.  It fed into a great middle school.  The lady currently living there had a daughter also in middle school and had nothing but great things to say about the school.  That made me feel great.  She raved about the home and let us know they were only leaving because they were also relocating for her husband's job.

I will spare you the details of the other ones - well most of them.  The 2nd house we hated the flooring.  The third one we loved, but it was out of our price range and we weren't thrilled with the neighborhood.  The 3rd one was gross.  The house we've chosen is by no means modern, but this one pretty much had all original fixtures...it just wasn't for us.  The 4th one...well lets just say they were filled at maximum capacity...there were at least 3 people living in each bedroom and it was really hard how to picture it as our home.

Next...the house reveal and a mini-tour.

Our House Hunting Trip/Vacation Part ONE

I have known pretty much since I met my husband we would eventually be relocating to Rhode Island with his company.

Well...the time has come.

We flew to Rhode Island this week to hunt for a house.  It was our # 1 mission of the week.

We arrived Monday after 2 flights and picked up our rental car.  Then we checked into our hotel - Ocean Cliff  in Newport.  It was gorgeous.  It was on the water.  To get there you had to drive through these hills that were lined with the most beautiful homes I have ever seen.  Pretty much most of what we saw of Newport was amazing.

The rest of the evening included driving all over the island looking at different ares as as well as 1 appointment to check out a house in an area called Island Park.  This house had one bathroom and it was upstairs.  No thank you.  Afterwards we got an email from a realtor that included two appointments for the next day.  She gave us the addresses so we quickly drove past both of them and decided from the outside we were interested.

After wards we stopped for dinner where I proceeded to LOSE it.  My husband ordered a sandwich.  He was on the phone with his mom when the waiter dropped it off.  I wasn't sure if it had mayonnaise on it or not.  So I asked the waiter for a side of mayonnaise for him.  My husband looked up and gave me a crazy/evil look.  I spent the next ten minutes sobbing.  I was a mess.  I guess all of my emotions dealing with the relocation, the fact that his company has made this process anything but easy for us, the entire day of traveling and then driving around in the rental car, etc... just caught up with me.   I hardly ever almost never cry in front of him.  I felt better once I was done.  After my cry fest I was able to eat my dinner.   Then we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep for another day of house hunting.

{We ended up finding a home...that will be shared in a future post}

Trying out a Newport Bakery ~ Testing Out the Competition

A trip to a new place (Newport, Rhode Island) would not be complete without checking out some of the local bakeries.  I am happy to report the actual town we are moving to doesn't have a SINGLE bakery... a big woohoo for me and some motivation to get my business finally off of the ground.  We actually only ended up checking out one-

Mad Hatter Bakery

I checked them out online before we left for our trip.  They are winners of the 2010 Knot award for best wedding cakes.  They list on their menu a spinach feta cheddar square (I never saw this in the display).  Not sure what it is...but it sounds tasty.  Or the Thanksgiving sandwich (didn't see this either...but we were too early for lunch)- turkey, stuffing, and cranberry.  Or I may have to try the coconut caramel chocolate chip cookie!

Our Reactions - We stopped in Wednesday morning.  Here is the display case -

We ended up getting one of every cookie.  Our favorite ended up being the frosted sugar cookies :)  The others ones were just okay and I think I make better ones ;)   My least favorite was probably the coconut caramel chocolate chip one.

We also tried a french toast breakfast muffin...it was okay.

We also had 2 cupcakes - one strawberry with a butter cream icing and one that was a chocolate cake with a cream filling and a chocolate ganache on top.  I liked the chocolate one the best.

All in all I wasn't impressed.  I didn't care for the design, the display, or many of the items.

Dr. Seuss Bathroom ~ Printables

My sister re-did her kids' bathroom using the Pottery Barn Kid's Dr. Seuss shower curtain.  She asked me to make some prints for her to hang in the bathroom.  This is the shower curtain -

I cannot wait to see them framed and hung up in Owen and Olivia's bathroom.  I made them as 8x10 prints. I used Dr. Seuss quotes and come fun coordinating clip art.  I made her about 10 to choose from. 

Here are a few I came up with -

I am Richer than 75% of the World

I saw this today on a blog I follow and it really helps to put things in perspective for me. 

 It makes the little things and the big things I often complain about seem not that bad.  Sure we are moving...and don't have a home yet...although we are hoping to fix that this week.   Nor do I have a job for when we move...not that I want one, but I think I need one. I could be skinnier.  I could laugh and smile more.  We could make more money.  Or my husband could so I could stay at home.  We long for another baby.... it hasn't been as easy we had thought to get #2.   Sometimes I hate getting up and going to work in the morning. 

All in all we have a great life.

I LOVE You to the Moon and Back

I created these I LOVE you to the Moon and Back printables today just for fun.  I am toying with the idea of an etsy shop...but I am still undecided {I ended up opening a shop}.  If you would like one please leave a comment with your name and the number of the printable you would like. The numbers are on top of the printable. These print BEST if you print them as 8x10's. I am working on some other ones so be on the lookout for those.

{1}

{2}

 {3)

 {4}

 {5}

 {6}

I linked up this post @ -

What I am Loving Wednesday

I am loving DIY/Knock-off art work for the house.  Look at this amazing piece from Two Girls...Being Crafty.  She got the idea from a piece she saw at World Market.  We were at World Market this weekend and I saw it.  It retails for about $129.  It is definitely on my TO DO list to make very soon.  I am thinking I may use pieces of scrapbook paper instead of the paint chips...because I have a bunch to use up. 

Isn't this the neatest?

SOURCE

I am loving this awesome peanut butter chocolate cake I made for my husband's birthday yesterday.  It was heavenly.

I am loving this new start up blog I am thrilled to be a part of - Create & Share.  You can link up similar ideas you have or submit ideas to be featured on the blog.

I am loving that last week I sold 3 of Madison's old Gap items on eBay.  Then I bid on and won a New York & Company dress I wanted.  I have it in several other patterns and it is a wardrobe staple...so when I found this one I was dead set on getting it.  I paid immediately after winning and cannot wait for it to arrive.

I am loving that next week is spring break.  An entire week off of school.

Share what you love at - This Kind of Love

Miscellany Monday

I am linking up with Carissa at lowercase letters for Miscellany Monday.

1. the weekend

Madison is finally feeling back to normal after about a week of sickness, a trip to the ER, and 2 different prescriptions.  We ended up having a fabulous weekend that included lunch at my favorite place,  a trip to Target, a trip to World Market (where I got hot pink and lime green cupcake liners...among other things), and fabulous weather.

2. new blog

Check out this new blog, Create & Share.  It is a fabulous new place to get and share ideas.

3. husband's birthday

My husband turns 34 on Tuesday.  I am planning a small surprise birthday dinner.  I am also baking his cake.  Due to a bunch of running around this weekend I need to go to the store tonight to get the ingredients to bake his cake.   I am pretty sure I will be making a double chocolate cake and a strawberry cake - recipes to follow.

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe - Italian Herb Style

I picked up a container of this new Philadelphia Cooking Creme (that I had several coupons for) and whipped up this chicken pot pie for dinner tonight.  I combined two different recipes from the Philadelphia website and this is what I came up with.  I based it off of this recipe -

ITALIAN STYLE CHEESY CHICKEN POT PIE

Ingredients -

-4 Tysons's Perfect Portions Chicken breasts - cut into bite size pieces

-1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

-1 cup frozen broccoli florets

-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-1 tub Philadelphia Italian Herb or Savory Garlic cooking creme (I meant to grab the garlic one as the original recipe called for it but ended up with the Italian Herb flavor).

-1 ready to use refrigerator pie crust - 1/2 of the package

Directions -

-Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

-Cook the chicken in a large nonstick skillet on medium heat until lightly browned. 

-Add the vegetables.  Cook 1 to 2 minutes. 

-Add the cooking creme and the shredded cheese until melted.  Spoon into a greased 9 in pie plate.

-Cover with the crust, seal and flute the edge.  Cut several slits in the crust.  Place the pie plate on a baking sheet (in case it bubbles over).  I had a slight issue with my pie crust...that is why it looks horrendous.

-Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Our Reactions -

My husband and I liked it.  It was quick and easy and I think it will make good leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.  It didn't have that gravy taste like a traditional pot pie.

I featured my recipe here -

Super Cute - Almost FREE - Easter Decorations

I love the way some of my fellow bloggers decorate their homes for the holidays.  I wish I had a mantle for our fireplace to decorate (hopefully in our next house).  I have a bookshelf in our office/dining room that I try to jazz up...

Yesterday when I saw that Walgreens was offering a free 8 x 10 print, I remembered I had this super cute sring subway print and quickly ordered it online.  I picked it up today, rummaged through the garage until I found an old white frame, had my husband spray paint it white, and then framed it.  I love it.  If you would your own print - you can get one {HERE}.  A big thanks to the girls at eighteen25 for another great download.

When my mom was visting a few weeks back we picked up this cute purple bunny for our front yard.  I think it was $5.99.

I stumbled across this apocotherapy jar a few months back.  So far it has had fake lemons in it, green and red Christmas balls, and now this.  I picked up this grass and these eggs at the Dollar Store this weekend.

What neat things have you done to decorate for spring/Easter?

FIRST ever Brownies from Scratch {Recipe}

I made Chocolate Buttercream Frosted Brownies. Who doesn't love a quick and easy boxed brownie mix? It is my go to dessert.  They are affordable and easy to doctor up.  Well, this afternoon I picked up some cocoa powder at the store and attemped to make brownies from scratch.  They were very rich...yet tasty.

Here is the recipe I used -

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted

2 tablespoons water

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350º F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

COMBINE granulated sugar, butter and water in large bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; stir into sugar mixture.  Spread into prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 18 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Top with chocolate buttercream frosting. Cut into bars.

Source : The Very Best Baking

Free Canvas + Free Art = A Great Deal

One of the great blogs I follow eighteen25 posted today about a FREE canvas deal.  It isn't totally FREE, you have to pay $14.95 shipping and handling for the 8 x 10 canvas but it still works out to be a pretty great deal. 

I do not need any more photo canvases, so I quickly designed this with the initial of our last name -

The black and green will match nicely with our living room decor.  I cannot wait to receive it.  Here are a few more I did just playing around -

Let me know if you would like me to send you an 8x10 file of one of the initial designs I did above to order a canvas print for your family.  Simply post your email in a comment as well as the initial you would like me to use.

Be sure to check out eighteen25 - they have a fabulous blog that I am sure you will want to follow.

Miscellany Monday

I am linking up with Carissa over at lowercase letters for Miscellany Monday.

I had a gift card for Bath and Body Works, plus a coupon for a free travel sized item, plus a 20% off coupon...so yesterday I ordered 5 mini lotions, 6 hand soaps, and this super cute Easter chickadee soap.  I didn't have to spend any money!  How cute is this little pink and green chickadee soap?

I baked a bunch this weekend.  I had three orders - 1/2 dozen jumbo chocolate chip cookies, chocolate butter cream frosted brownies, and magic bars for a Monday morning delivery.

I did my meal plan for the week and grocery shopping.  I planned most of our meals around things I already had in the pantry. 

Only two weeks left until Spring Break.  I am anxiously awaiting a week off of work.  Even though I have only worked 4 days a week for the past three weeks...I desperately need a week off.