Marsala Wishes

I'm loving Pantone's color of the year, Marsala, aren't you? Here are just a few of the things on my wishlist in this beautiful, rich color. I already own the loafers (and love them), and Essie Wicked has been a favorite of mine for years. I'm dying over the moto jacket and Kate Spade tote!

 

 

 

1.  Old Navy Tunic / 2. Kendra Scott Earrings / 3. Loreal Lipcolor in Spice / 4. Topshop Fedora / 5. Forever 21 Moto Jacket / 6. Essie Polish in Wicked / 7. Kate Spade Tote / 8. Chan Luu Tassell Necklace / 9. J.Crew Capri Pant / 10. Old Navy Felt Smoking Flat

 

 

xo,

Summer

 

 

 

 

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Bachelor Premiere: My Predictions

The new season of the Bachelor is upon us! I love this time of year! I did enjoy Andi's season of the Bachelorette, but I'm excited for this season of the Bachelor, partly because we all still need to stop talking about Juan Pablo, but also, Chris is adorable, so here's hoping for some entertaining Monday evenings to come! I'm not going to recap the entire episode, but I do have a few thoughts to share, and then I'll give you my predictions.

First off, I need to mention Chris Harrison's interview with Nikki during the red carpet portion of the premiere. Cringeworthy. It was actually quite painful to watch. I guess he had some time to fill and needed to stretch things out, but Oh. My. Gosh. How many times can you ask the same question, and how many different ways can she answer? Give the girl a break! I'm sure she's so over talking about Juan Pablo, and this was just so ridiculous. Stop it. Moving on though.....

The limo arrivals weren't actually as bad as I've seen in the past. The cruise ship singer was awful, and the fake heart in a cooler was gross, but I liked the note from students that Tracy read, and Britt was cute. The dresses this season y'all were atrocious! So so bad. Like really. Ew. I hope these girls step up their game on the fashion front in the coming episodes!

So, on to the girls. One of my favorites of the night was Tara, obviously. The drunk girl on night one is always the best, and she was hilarious. It's also hilarious that she still got a rose. Of course she wasn't the only crazy in the bunch. Amanda's eyes were freaking me out. But let's talk about the onion girl. I don't even remember her name, but holy cow. What was that? I don't know if she was drunk, or acting, or just totally weird, but she got a rose too! And I am totally looking forward to more cookoo from her this season!

I have a couple of front runners to mention, and I've got to throw in the hubs predictions as well, because y'all, he's never wrong! Yes, I make him watch with me, but he secretly likes it. :) Britt is an obvious choice. She's drop dead gorgeous, and she got the first impression rose. I don't think she's top four though. Chris and Jade seem to have chemistry too. The hubs thinks Megan is a sleeper and will make it to the end. I hope Kaityln sticks around for a long time, because she is too funny, and my number one favorite from last night. So here are our predictions for top four: 



Becca
My choice for Chris's final pick.

Kelsey
We both like her for the final four

Jade
We both thought it looked like she had chemistry with Chris.

Megan
Hubbies pick.
  

Jade, Kelsey, Megan, and Becca, with Britt and Kaitlyn close behind. Oh wait, I forgot about Tracy! Honorable mention to her as well!

Britt



Kaitlyn




Tracy

I'm not very good at picking the winner, but Eric is, so we'll see how we do this season! Hopefully Chris finds a good girl. He seems like a sweet, genuine guy. Can't wait to see what drama unfolds this season!

Tell me your favorite moments from last night's premiere and your picks for Chris's final four!

xo,
Summer




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Monday Munchies: BBQ Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

We have so many busy nights in our house with homework and dance classes, that it's hard to come up with quick dinner ideas that aren't take out. Grilled cheese sandwiches are a super fast and easy dinner that we sadly have probably too often, so I'm always trying to come up with new variations on the classic. This BBQ grilled cheese turned out pretty yummy! And it's so simple! When I cook stuff like this I don't measure or time things, I just kind of improvise, so apologies in advance. But the great thing about these kinds of recipes is that they don't have to be exact.

For this sandwich you'll need:

6 slices of bread
Butter
Sharp cheddar cheese (about 2 slices per sandwich)
1 small onion
BBQ sauce

Choose a sturdy bread for this sandwich, because it will be messy. I used sourdough. A sharp cheddar cheese works really well too, but you could use white cheddar, or gouda, whatever you like. First, sauté a small onion. When it's about halfway caramelized, add some BBQ sauce and finish cooking. Add as much sauce as you like. Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ is my personal fav.

 

 

While your onions are doing their thing, butter your bread. Then you're ready to assemble. Put two pieces of bread in the pan with a slice of cheese on both. Add some onions to one slice, and once the cheese melts a little, put your two sides together.

 

 

Once the bottom half browns, flip it over.

 

Brown until the cheese is sufficiently gooey and melted, and there ya go!

SO yummy! I will definitely be making this one again! It would also be great with some diced or shredded chicken, or bacon. (Oooh, bacon-I'm totally trying that next time!)

 

If you have some creative sandwich ideas, I'd love to hear them!

 

 

xo,

Summer

 

 

 

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Hello 2015!

I am so excited to ring in 2015! The new year is always a fresh start, a new chapter, and a great time to reevaluate your life and set new goals. I, like most of you, like to make resolutions. Mine aren't anything out of the ordinary. Just your standard resolutions, but it does feel good to have aspirations for the new year. I wish I had something more creative and insightful to share with you, but this year I'm sticking to the basics. Here are a few of my goals and resolutions for 2015:

1. Work out more. Obviously. Is anyone not putting this on their list? I make this one yearly. I usually am pretty consistent January through August, but for some reason when school starts back in September I just fizzle out. I'm not even the one in school, but something about that routine just makes it so hard to get my booty to the gym!

2. Eat better. This one goes along with number one, and again, I make this resolution yearly. This past year I actually did rather well. I've cut out fast food for the most part, and soda. My stomach can't even handle those things anymore. So this year I'm going to work on eating more regularly. I sometimes rush out the door in the mornings without eating breakfast, or some days I'm busy and forget to eat lunch. Does that ever happen to you? And let me tell you, if I don't eat, I am not fun to be around. So for my daughter's sake and my husband's sake, I resolve to eat three (healthy?) meals a day, plus snacks.

 

3. Save money! This may be the most important one! The last couple of years has been rough for the Smith family. The hubs lost his job and was out of work for several months before finding work again. Luckily he is back to work in a job he likes for now, but unfortunately it does not pay as well as his previous jobs. Like, half. Needless to say, that has been quite an adjustment for us, and we're still reeling a little bit. In the past I have kind of thought that if I wasn't saving a substantial amount of money that it wasn't worth it. This year I promise to save, even if it's just a tiny bit. I saw something (probably on pinterest) saying to start out the first week at $1, then add $1 each week after and at the end of the year you'd have $1378.00. So that's the goal!

4. Blog more. I have been MIA for a looong time, and now it's time to get back to it. I don't make a living from this, or really anything at all, but it is still fulfilling to me, and I hope to reach more people this year. It's so great to meet and interact with new people through the blog and my social media accounts. My goal is to blog at least three times a week. I'll do my best!

5. Watch less reality TV. Just kidding, that's not happening! :)

6. Lastly, I will not be so hard on myself for not sticking to these 100%. What has tripped me up in the past is that if I didn't work out 5 days a week, or if I are ice cream for dinner (don't judge), I deemed it a total failure and kind of gave up. This year I will try to have the outlook that any little bit is progress, and that is a success!

I would love to hear your resolutions for 2015, and how you plan to keep them!


xo,
Summer



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Christmas Cookie Mason Jars

So, it's been a SUPER long time since I last posted! Like, a crazy long time. I'll address our goings on another time.... And I plan to be back in full force (I hope)! Today I want to share with you a cute Christmas gift idea. If you're looking for teacher gifts, neighbors, etc., this is a perfect solution. It's no secret that the Smith family is on a major budget. We also have a ton of people to gift this year between the hubby's coworkers, school teacher, dance teachers, etc. I was totally freaked out trying to come up with something affordable for so many people. Baking always comes to mind, so I searched Pinterest (duh) for a yummy cookie recipe. But how to package them in a cute, creative way? Mason jars! They are too cute, and you can do just about anything with them. So here's what I ended up doing.

I chose a recipe that I found on Pinterest for soft and chewy dark chocolate sugar cookies as my main cookie. You can link to the pin here. I totally wish I could take credit for this deliciousness, but all the glory goes to The Baker Upstairs. Genius! As a backup I used a recipe for chewy brown sugar cookies, also from Pinterest (here), thanks to Sally's Baking Addiction. Both cookies turned out AMAZING! The chocolate cookies were the standout though. I did love the brown sugar cookies, but the chocolate got RAVE reviews from everyone my husband works with, so I'm making another giant batch this week. You could bake just about any cookie for this.

Besides the cookies, the only other things you need for this little project are Mason jars and ribbon. I always use grosgrain. Just a personal preference. Anything works. I didn't measure, but I would estimate I used about 2 feet of ribbon per jar. Also, make sure you buy wide mouth jars, otherwise you'll be making some tiny cookies. :) Once you're done baking and everything has cooled, put your ribbon inside the jar like this.

 This is for decoration, but it also helps to get the cookies out when you're ready to eat them. Load your cookies in one at a time. I did some jars with just chocolate, and some with alternating chocolate and brown sugar. Anything goes!

When you've filled your jars to the top, take a break and let them settle for a bit. I noticed that a little while after I filled and sealed the first batch, they settled so much I could have added 1 or 2 more cookies in some jars. You just want to give it a few minutes so you don't end up with a big empty space at the top of your jars. Then the tops can go on, and you can tie a pretty bow! Viola! I also added hand stamped Christmas ornaments that I made to the bow for an extra something. You can be creative!

 

I'd love to hear some of your creative gifts on a budget! And if you try this, let me know!

xoxo,

Summer

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