In's and Out's

Here are my In's and Out's of the moment:

In's:
-Prairie Berry Pumpkin Bog Wine: This is my all time favorite wine of any wine I've ever tried! It's made at a winery in Hill City, South Dakota and this particular kind is limited edition and only available in the fall season.  I discovered this wine last year and I stocked up on several bottles.  Well, just tonight, I finished off my last bottle from last year--just in time for this year's batch to come out! Sadly, I just went to my local liquor store, and they did not have any in stock:(  I'm hoping it's still coming and it's not sold out already!
-Pumpkin Spice Lattes: YUM.  Nothing better on a cool fall day.  MMMMmmmmmm!!!
-Dark hair: In honor of the fall season, I just dyed my hair a dark brown.  I'm loving it!
-New seasons of TV shows: I'm loving Modern Family, Two and a Half Men, Real Housewives of OC and NJ, Glee, Real World and of course Jersey Shore.
-Fall: Is this obvious at all? I mean, all the previous items mentioned were directly related to the fall time!


Out's:
-Working: I would just like to be a stay-at-home mom to my puppy, please and thank you.
-Calories: I wish eating comfort foods did not directly effect your waistline.
-Netflix: They increased their prices, so we recently switched to Blockbuster's mail service.  Cheaper and handier because you can always swap out movies at the actually Blockbuster store versus just through the mail.
-Mailboxes: My husband accidentally backed my vehicle into a mailbox last weekend.  Now my vehicle needs to visit the fix-it shop.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a.......hot air balloon!

Last weekend, it was beauuuuutiful out.  We had our windows open to let in the breeze, and Ellie was chillin on the back porch in the nice weather.  My husband, a friend, and I were just relaxing on the couches.  All was calm.  Then, out of the blue, Ellie started going nutz-o on back porch.  Nutty like I'd never seen her act before.  She was legit frantically jumping up again the door trying to get in the house.  So we went to see what the heck she was going crazy for, and we saw these hot air balloons literally in our back yard!  It was crazy to see them so close.  And equally as crazy to see how Ellie knew something was not normal, and she did not like it! 

We've actually seen one way earlier in the summer land in the school playground that is right across from our house.  So this is not our first up-close-and-personal experience with the hot air balloons!

We've been seeing a lot of these all summer long.  I guess it's the new cool thing to do?!  Apparently, when you make an appointment, you have to be super open all day because they can call at anytime to say it's time to go, based on the weather, wind, and what-not.

Going in for a landing.....



Cake Balls

Cake Balls have kind of become the *new* cupcake.  Starbucks now sells them and "cake ball" cookbooks are popping up in the stores.  They are easy to make, but can be time consuming.  I made red velvet with cream cheese frosting, since it's my favorite.  Here's how it's done:

1. Bake a cake like normal.  This can be a box mix or one from scratch.  (Check out my red-velvet-from-scratch recipe a few posts back if you're feeling really domestic.)  I typically just use a box mix.
2.  Once baked and cooled, crumble the cake into tiny crumbles.  I just tear into it with my hands and put the crumbled pieces into a bowl.  I leave out the corners and even the edges of the cake if they are too browned. 
3.  Add 3/4 of a jar of frosting to the crumbly-ness and mix together.  (Sorry I don't have pictures of these steps.)
4. Then you just form the mixture into balls using your hands.  Place them on cookie sheets.  Place them in the freezer for about 2 hours to firm.

5. Melt chocolate chips or almond bark and roll the balls until fully covered.

6. Place coated balls on a cookie sheet to allow the coating to set up.  And I like to add a sprinkle of color on top, too!

I usually keep them stored in an air tight container in the fridge.  Yum Yum!

September Birchbox

Ok, so um, this is kinda embarrassing.  I'm just now blogging about the September Birchbox I received last month, when I should be receiving my October box within the week.  I suck at blogging.....Perez Hilton I am not. (Perez is the self-titled "Queen of Blogging".  I'm a huge fan and check his website more often than my e-mail.)  Anyweezy, if you don't know what Birchbox is, it's a monthly subscription where you receive a box of *high-end* beauty booty at your doorstep! (Think Nars, Stila, Keihl's, Philosophy, Zoya, etc.)  It cost $10/month and you can unsubscribe at anytime.  Visit birchbox.com for more info!
The box is always super cute with fun packaging.

I mean, really, what girl wouldn't love to open a box like this up every month?!

Here's a run-down of my September box:
*Incoco Nail Polish Appliques--Same thing as the Sally Hansen ones that have been so popular recently.  These came in a black snakeskin type of pattern....not so much my style.  In fact, I despise animal prints.  I figured I might try to use them around Halloween time.
*Jurlique Moisturizing Hand Sanitizer--Since I work at a hospital, I sanitize my hands all the time and they typically get dry because of all the alcohol.  So I liked the idea of this one being "moisturizing".  Does it really make a difference?  Not so much that I can tell.  But, like I said, I'm re-sanitizing or washing roughly every half hour.
*Jouer Enhancing Lip Treatment--I was excited to have a Jouer product because I had heard a lot about their products from missglamorazzi on YouTube.  I wish it would have been a product with some color versus just a lip balmy product.  But it does the job, nothing super special though.
*Some face oil that I'm not sure how or when to use.  My face has been breaking out bad lately, so I haven't tried this because I don't want to make my breakouts worse.
*Last but least (notice I left out the "not")....a Birchbox bracelet.  This went straight into the garbage.  I would never wear this.

Time for some honesty:
I LOVE the idea of Birchbox.  Before I signed up for it, I would watch YouTube videos of girls opening their boxes and they would have amazing stuff.  I'm talking Nars Multiples, full sized Stila eyeshadows, and other products that really make the $10 worth it.  I've been a member for 3 months, I believe, and honestly, I have not been overly in love with any of the boxes I've gotten.  I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and will stick with it for a few more months, but if I'm still not super lovin' my boxes, I'll probs discontinue.  BUT, I just know that the month I quit, the box would be a-m-a-z-i-n-g and I'd be kicking myself.  So for now, my hubby doesn't know what "Birchbox" is on the credit card bill each month, so I'll roll with it.... :)

Front Porch Cozy

As I was uploading new pictures today, I came across some old pictures of these chairs I stained in the summer.  I meant to upload these shortly after I finished the project, but obviously I forgot....until now! 
We have a little porch/deck on the front of our house and I have always felt like we needed some sort of seating/decorated area.  Of course everything I wanted was vetoed by Hubby either due to price (he's a cheap scape) or practicality.  (For example: I wanted to get a swinging bench and attach it to the roof covering the porch.  What a cute idea, I thought!  It would fit there perfectly!  Well, Hub questioned what would happen to the window if the wind started blowing the chair back and forth?  Good point. 
Swinging bench=Broken window.)

Soooooo, I bought these Adirondack chairs for about $30 a piece....

....some stain.......

.....and got to work!

Brush on....

....wipe off. 

Repeat.

Over and over until......

VIOLA!

I bought some cute outdoor butt pillows to put on the chairs to add some color and comfort.  (I'm pretty sure "butt pillows" is the technical name.)    The hubby and I enjoyed spending a good amount of time sitting out on the porch during summer nights with a cocktail in hand.

Here are some pictures of the finished product.

Now we have our comfy, cozy spot!

Like Owner, Like Pup

Ellie and I spent the weekend doing the exact same thing: lounge on the couch with an US Weekly

Bath and Body Works Fall Scents

I love the Fall scented candles at Bath and Body Works and often wish I could wear the scents.  Enter these yummy smelling products.  There are four Fall body scents: Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, Sparkling Berry Bliss, Cozy Autumn Vanilla, and Ward Harvest Apple.  My favorite is Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin.  I like this one because it's a candle scent, too.  Cozy Autumn Vanilla is similar to the Christmas scent Vanilla Bean Noel and Warm Harvest Apple is similar to Winter Candy Apple.    Each scent comes in the typical options: body cream, lotion, body wash, body spray, etc.  I'm sure they are only available for a limited time, so snatch them up while you can!