Mr. Brightside

The #1 concert on the top of my list to go to and...I'M GOING! Tomorrow night in Indianapolis with my bestie, Sara!

A last minute development but just as exciting as if I'd planned for months. I'll be reporting the fun in real time from my techie G1 phone.

I think we have pretty good seats on the floor near the stage so maybe we'll be able to "smell the sweat".

I am ever so grateful to my wonderful Hubby for holding down the fort with the tots, making it possible for me to roadtrip it. Joe, I'm bringing you home the concert Tee!

Monday Night Cowboy Grub

I came across a new recipe and thought I'd give it a try. I switched up the recipe just a bit to fit our tastes but I was pleasantly surprised on how easy it was and how very tasty. Joe said it made him feel like he was a cowboy in front of a campfire on the trail. Mission Accomplished:)

Cowboy Chow

1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lg clove garlic minced
1 (1.25 ounce) package chili seasoning mix
1 (14.5 ounce) can canned peeled and diced tomatoes
2 (15 ounce) can baked beans
2 scallions chopped for garnish
1/2 cup shredded cheese for garnish

DIRECTIONS

• In a large skillet over medium heat, fry bacon pieces until browned. Crumble the ground beef into the skillet with the bacon, and stir in the green pepper, onion and garlic. Continue to cook until the beef is no longer pink. Drain off any excess grease. Stir in the chili seasoning mix until the meat is coated.


• Add the tomatoes and beans to the skillet, mix well, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve up garnished with scallions and shredded cheese

serve up with these bad boys:

Happy Trails!

Pink Sheets & Figure Eights

Cue background music [Fuel-Bad Day Again]. Ever had a day where you were counting down the minutes to your kids bedtime? From the moment my eyes opened at 7am with Caleb a literal half inch from my face and Quinn screaming similtaneously I couldn't wait until 8pm. Now don't get me wrong most everyday is joyous and beautiful and I'm crazy grateful for even the most hectic of days. Today, not so much.

Quinn's mantra today was to continuously scream unless held every waking and even napping moment. So out of character for him. He even decided to limit his naps today. I guess I can understand. If you're gonna stick it to the parents you might as well go full circle with it.

Caleb was the child of NO! today. Caleb, wash your hands please. No! Caleb, take a nap please. No!. Caleb throw that away please. No! Of course Joe was having absolutely none of this. Time out on the naughty step escalated into "go to your room". Which he did, however he came down wearing different clothes than he went up there with. Seems he had what he called a "potty accident". A look into his room revealed a figure eight pattern on his carpet. Hmmm. Accident?

I'm sure our neighbors are wondering if we're playing a record of wailing on repeat. Caleb's crying and whining can sound 911 worthy and when you throw in a toddler crying you can almost hear the sirens coming.

Frazzled, stressed-out parents forget what they are doing, so our crisp white sheets are now a soft shade of pink. I almost don't care as long as I get to sleep on them in complete silence drooling on myself farway in dreamland.


Many times today Joe and I looked at one another mouthing to eachother word combinations similar of that of Tony Soprano or Pauly Walnuts. Days like today beg for wine and tobacco products.

Wait....did someone say Margarita? Joe decided to make us some mean frozen Margaritas.

We toasted to bedtime of course.

Cupcake Cuties

I loooove love love etsy! Handmade is amazing and I scan etsy for amazing finds often. Something else I love just about equally are cupcakes. I like making them, decorating them, eating them and wearing them. I found the cutest cupcake liners here over at etsy that celebrate spring. $4 for 60 is quite a deal!

Swimsuit Models=Ohhh What a Night!

So me and my lady friends(you know who you are!) have been indulging in quite a few "Ladies Nights" lately. With the weather getting so nice and feeling like hibernating bears all winter, we have been letting loose..frequently. It's so hard not to when there's a great band to see and the cocktails are flowin'.

The Swimsuit Models are a great coverband who have an extensive repertoire of songs they cover from Pink to The Beatles to The Killers, which is my personal favorite. It always gets me and Sara up and grooving like the college years all over again. Before you know it we've closed the bar down and have been known to catch a cab(or even sometimes a gypsy cab) home due to all the goodtimes. Rumor has it one of us let the music inspire us to dance on the stage recently. Wonder who that was:)

Nothing wrong with feeling young and fancy free! Besides lovin' hanging with my girls, I do really dig the music. My pal Donny(lead singer) has an incredible voice and the band as a whole knows how to put on a great show and pump up the crowd. They play a pretty regular schedule in the area including spots like Jefferon Hall on the Levee and the Strauss Haus in Covington. See their full schedule here.

June 13th is my 29th Birthday and me and the girls have solid plans to be celebrating with the Swimsuit Models. Maybe by then they'll have a few new Killers songs to serenade us with!

The Swimsuit Models via my camera phone at Party in the Park

Sara, Fish, Myself, Kelli & Kylee

Ladies Night....and Fish too

So having a very fun night at Party in the Park with my girlfriends having a few beers and listening to the band Swimsuit Models! Good friend Fish(yes this is his name) decided to try on Kelli's not so PETA friendly yet very chic vest. Good times!

Yummy Crockpot Recipe

On the days I work(m,w,th) I try to have dinner organized before I even go to work so that the evenings aren't a nightmare and I can just enjoy time with my family. That's why the crockpot is my good friend! Lately we've been spending a lot of time together. One of the recipes I've made a couple of times now in the last month is a semi-homemade version of chicken 'n dumplings. Puts a smile on my hubby's face! The recipe is as follows:

3-4 chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 bag frozen peas & carrots
1 can chicken broth
2 cloves chopped garlic (opt)
1 can biscuits chopped in fourths
Salt & pepper to taste

Toss everything except the biscuits into the crockpot to cook for about 6 hours. An hour before serving drop chopped biscuits in crockpot over top, cover and cook for hour before serving. So easy. So yummy!

Caleb's 4th Birthday Party

My first-born son is turning four! So hard to believe. The time goes so fast and as he gets older it just seems to go faster. Next year he'll be in Kindergarten and I'll be the mother of a school-age child. It's funny, I still feel like a school-age child myself some days and here I am a mother of two. You never feel as old as you are I suppose.

This year for Caleb's birthday party I wanted to do something low maintenance but still fun. One day we went to the park in Alexandria and walked around the lake. Caleb was enthralled with all the people fishing and it dawned on me what a great place to invite a few friends to picnic and fish to celebrate his birthday.

So I made some cute fish invitations on the cheap. For the favors I found some plain canvas bags for almost nothing. I personalized each bag with the child's initial and included a bagged lunch of PBJ, snacks, fruit kabob and capri sun. Each bag also included a personal picnic blanket that I made using scrap fabric and table cloths from Big Lots. I wanted to be able to hand each child a bag and everyone could enjoy lunch, fishing and the park as they wanted to.

The party was super fun although the wind made it nearly frigid since we were on the lake but the kids didn't seem to mind too much. A couple of the kids caught several fish and all in all the Birthday Boy had a blast and to me that made it all worth it!

Bridal Fashion Week April 09

Every 6 months in April and October I travel to New York City for Bridal Fashion Week with the PARIS crew. We convert a hotel suite into a gorgeous showroom full of Debra's designs so that Bridal salons across the country can come shop and pick up pieces from our line to carry in their salons. The days leading up to leaving are insane, setup is even more insane and the five days we are there go soo fast. Once we have the showroom set up it's easier sailing from there. I am always in awe of how beautifully the showroom comes together.




This year Jill my partner in crime at PARIS and I got some time to ourselves and visited Little Italy for some authentic Italian and a yummy bottle of wine(yes a whole bottle!) and we also hit Chinatown for a bit of Pashmina shopping. No one can resist them at 5 bucks a pop. We also caught up with some of our favorite peeps from The Bride Room in Nashville, Charlotte & Stephanie after hours at the W hotel. If you need a great place to relax and meet friends for a drink, the W hotel's lobby is super chic and comfortable all at the same time. Low couches, chairs and chaises all in brown suede, tree stump coffee tables, large tree branches hung from the ceiling and candle light create a tranquil space I never wanted to leave! We may have stayed longer if it wasn't for the middle-aged "couple" who decided to make out feverishly on the chaise in our direct line of sight. Awww New York!