Fly Me to the Moon....

(Via)

So did anyone get to see the Lunar Eclipse the other night/morning? Unfortunately (even though I stayed up) my view was completely covered by clouds so I didn't get to see anything. Stupid clouds....but I'm not bitter or anything. I guess I'll have to rely on this cool progression of the eclipse by Briana Fahey. Hope you all are having a fab week and getting ready for Christmasss!!

Loveable Quotes

 (Via)

"Every woman wants a man who knows what good sweet tea is, loves to shag to beach music, knows just how much bourbon to add to her coke at football games, goes fishing and drinking with the boys, but he still opens the door for her, says thank you, never walks out of the room without kissing her, and calls to say I love you. That's a real southern man."

"Unless it’s mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it’s a waste of your time. There are too many mediocre things in life. Love shouldn’t be one of them."

- Dream for an Insomniac

"A woman without curves, is like jeans without pockets, you don’t know where to put your hands."

- Italian proverb

 

"Being single used to mean that nobody wanted you. Now it means you’re pretty sexy, and you’re taking your time deciding how you want your life to be and who you want to spend it with."

- SATC

All (Via) 

 

(Via) 

"Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn that anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you."

- David Whyte

(Via)

Getting in the Spirit

So unless you live under a rock (or not in the South) you would have heard that USC lost the ship. And by "lost" I actually mean we brutally got our asses kicked and rubbed into the dome turf by Auburn. I've been a little depressed by it which is why I haven't written all week. Hah you know I'm lying, I've just been lazy per usual. But don't think I haven't noticed I'm not the only one. Most of the blogs I read, which are usually updated once or twice a day, have been a little lax on the posts.  Anyway, don't you worry because I promise I will not slip into oblivion again. Since it's the holidays and I am of course terrible with money broke, I am putting my baking skills to use and creating all kinds of goodies as gifts.

Every year when I was growing up my madre and I would bake our little hearts out and then she would gift them to co-workers, friends, the mail lady, pretty much whoever, considering we ended up baking so many she was practically tossing them at people to get them out of the house. And these days knowing how my curvaceous figure works I would've done the same. Regardless I plan on baking about 6 different types of cookies which I will be posting the recipes, and my great granny Hisle's banana bread, but unfortunately for you guys that one's staying locked up since it's a family secret I enjoy keeping. And allll of that is happening this weekend. I plan on cranking up the Christmas tunes and baking my little heart out. Wish me luck, because I'm def going to need it!

SEC Championship 2010

(Via)

I am so excited. This weekend is the SEC Championship game, in which my Gamecocks will be playing! Not only are they playing, but the game is right here in Atlanta. All I can say is this is about to be a ridiculous weekend. And naturally I'm starting to feel sickly. Joy.

So when I say this will be a ridic weekend, I mean it for about a billion reasons. Well really only a couple, but still. Starting tonight I have friends coming into town to stay with me. Seven people to be exact. Now lets lay this out. I live in an apartment with approximately 750 square feet of space. Ahem. Thank God my lovely friend Meghan has offered to house some of my biffs while they are in town. On top of that we have toonnss of events planned in addition to watching the game. Overall I'm super excited to be reunited with all of my friends from everywhere, in my town for once! I'm not sure who's going to win the game, even though according to ESPN, every state except for SC and Utah (or something) believes that Auburn is going to win, but I will definitely keep you guys posted. Not that I really need to, I mean unless you don't read a newspaper, or watch the news, or live. GO COCKS!  

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

- Still I Rise by Maya Angelou 

(via) 

I read this today and felt quite inspired. Then I felt like sharing my inspiration. 

Turkey Time

Right now I'm in Charlotte celebrating the second best holiday ever with my surrogate fam, the Sharps. My parents are in Oak Island for Thanksgiving, and since I am broke, I kind of have to choose between flying up there for Christmas or Thanksgiving, so I choose Christmas! Anyway, I'm so excited for the simple fact that I get to eat a ridiculous amount of food tomorrow, and not care. It's the simple things in life you know. But before I can do that, I have to submit myself to the neighborhood Turkey Trot 5K. I semi-fear for my life. I don't think I've run anywhere in at least 3 months. Now granted I have been doing ridiculous cardio workouts, so it's not like I've been sitting on my bum the entire time, but still. I'm scared.

I've been going through the blogs I read on a regular basis, and a lot of people are saying what they're thankful for. I decided to join in, but I feel I'll probably be unoriginal. I'm thankful for so many things and people in my life. My families, friends, the fact that I have a job and can  live on my own, etc. My fams (including the Sharps clan) and friends have been there for me more times than I can count, and never ask for anything in return. I'm so lucky to have the people I do in my life, and I hope never to take them for granted, cause they're the bomb. End of story. I'll leave you guys with some pictures of the people I'm thankful for, and I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!

Me and my parents at my high school graduation

Madre and Steve 

Me and Sharpie at WVU

Some of my fave Atl ladies

  My Cola girls at Nicole's graduation

My presh second cousin baby Cole (and padre in the background)

The surrogate fam in Mexico

Presh little Holden

Happy Birthday Holden!

My precious baby Holden is one year old. I cannot believe it. It was a year ago that my tiny little shih tzu was born, and a week from then that I got to meet him. When I went to pick out my new puppy, I'm not exactly sure what drew me to him out of the other five or six litter mates. I mean it's really a toss-up when you think about it. When puppies are that small you really have no idea how they're going to turn out. They don't even have personalities until weeks later. But Iiiii dunno, I knew he would be mine from the start.

After I picked him out I was sure I was going to name him Beau. And that was his name until about a week after he came home with me. I was watching the Today Show (per my morning ritual) the day after JD Salinger passed away, and they were talking about his most popular novel Catcher in the Rye. (If you know nothing about me, you should know I am a big reader.) The main character in the novel's name is Holden, and pretty much as soon as I heard it I knew that's what his name was going to change to. Opposite to the protagonist in the novel, my Holden is a lazy bum. I don't think people understand when I say that, because when he sees people he goes nutso and wants to be right on top of them. But when he's with me...couch potato for sure. For example, right now he's spread eagle on the kitchen floor.

Regardless, he is, for all intents and purposes, my little child and I love him as such. I could get really cheesy right now, but I'll refrain. Anywho, happy birthday to him! Too bad he's neutered and can't have any bday fun he's at the beach right now with madre, Steve, and their brood of dogs, haha justtt kidding because I'm sure he's running allll over the place (thanks mom)!

Product Review: Larabar

I was reading one of the many blogs I follow a couple of weeks ago, when I came across a post Brittney made about Larabar. I've been doing really intense workouts lately with Insanity and group classes, so I've been hungry allll the tiimmee. When I started Insanity I didn't really change the amount of food I was eating, so come 4:00 I would be starving in the office. Not to mention extremely fatigued and lacking the energy I needed to survive Shaun T. So when I saw Brittney mention these, and how they were great for a pre-workout boost, I thought they'd be the perfect solution! And boy was she right.

These bars are all natural, gluten free, and low in sugars. They also come in a multitude of flavors. I'm not gonna lie, not all of them are good, Cashew Cookie being one of them in my opinion. I have yet to try them all but some of my favorites are Pecan Pie, Banana Bread, and Lemon Bar. The majority of them are delish, but don't take my word for it, go try one yourself!

Cookie Goodness

So do you remember when I said I was making some no bake and M&M cookies for the Alabama game? Yea, I'm not surprised since I wrote that about a billion years ago. But hey, looky here...I estimated I would put this up around Christmas, and what do ya know I beat my goal! Ok, that's sad. I'm trying to do better so cut me some slack okay?

Anyway, I made both of these delicious recipes and took them to Columbia for my biffs to enjoy. And boy did they. But since I am suuuuch a terrible blogger, of course I forgot to take pictures and then by the time I thought about it, the baked good has already been devoured. What can you do? So for these two I'm going to send you here annnd here.

I got the No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookie recipe from Brown Eyed Baker, and they were everything I expected them to be. They were super easy to make and seewwww goooood. I may or may not have eaten about four of them as soon as they were firm enough to pick up. But that's beside the point. They may not make your house smell like one big cookie, but they'll impress whomever you give them to just the same.

As for the M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies, I got them from Picky Palate. Hoooweee these were yummy. You know when you go to a cafe (in my case Corner Bakery, yum) and they have those big, soft, oh-so-bad-for-you-but-fantastic cookies? Well these are them. So trust me when I say you def want to try these. The only thing i could say about making these is I'm not sure I had chocolate chips, so even if you don't these are great with just the M&Ms. Mmmm, I kind of want to make some now. I will restrain myself, I will restrain myself.....phew ok I'm good.  

Back In Action

Hello my dears. I know it has been quite some time since I've written, and for that I am sorry. But I'm back! Full of recent goodies and events to unveil to you, so get excited. A ton has been going on in my life since the last time I posted. Unexpected events, both happy and heartbreakingly sad, have occurred, and due to those I've taken a little vacay from blogging. But I've decided it's time to rejoin the blogging world and get this thing back on track. So stay tuned, there's lots more to come!

Still daydreaming...

both images via

This would be okay too....sigh....

Daydreams...

Can someone please break me out of my life and take me here? Until then, I'll just daydream about how relaxing this would be and prepare for my weekend trip to Cola. :)

Get ready for this one....

I realized today that I keep telling you lies. Saying I'm going to post these delish things I've been making, and then don't. I'm terrible. I know. But wait no longer because this is about to be one big post (or several little ones, I haven't decided)!

First things first! Recently I've been baking a ridiculous amount of cookies. Big ones, little ones, with or without chocolate. Good lord, so many. So here are the ones I can remember! Oh and since I'm terrible, I didn't take pictures of any of them. But I know you know what a cookie looks like! :)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker website. These were delicious and made a ton! You'll definitely want to make these. As a little side note, I added cinnamon and nutmeg to add some flavor, but I'm sure they would have been fine without it! Since I have now decided to make this one big post, head on over here to check out the recipe!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

 These cookies were spawned about two months ago when I had a severe choco craving. Since we allll know how that is, these are the perfect little solution when you want something sweet and a little chocolaty. I got them off of a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen. If y'all haven't been to her blog lately, you're missing out. I looove her recipes and this is definitely one of them. You can use this slice-and-bake cookie recipe with whatever ingredients you have on hand. It's a good one to get creative with, but she gives some good examples! I used the "swap 1/4 cup of flour for unsweetened cocoa" option. I found that it was a lot easier to slice these once you rolled them up into a log (toll house cookie style) in some parchment paper and froze them. Then just before you cook, sprinkle some sugar on them.

Ok don't kill me, but now that I'm looking at it, maaybe I used the below one. Or maybe both of them, I really don't remember. That'll teach me to save recipes for so long huh? Anywho, here's the other one from Smitten Kitchen.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Retro Desserts
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room- temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter [For oversized ones, I used a 1/8 cup scoop] and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

 Bourbon Peach Hand Pies

Ok, so this is the last one I'm going to post about. I thought I already did, but alas, I was wrong. These were interesting. I got this one from Smitten Kitchen too. I have to say, this was my first attempt at making pie anything by myself. It was an experience. And one that definitely could have turned out better. But I am not deterred! The pie dough turned out flaky and delish, but for some reason didn't stay very crispy once i stored them. I blame this on my shoddy storage methods, but whatevs. The filling was really good, but I suggest that you let it sit for at least an hour to soak up all the juices (also known as "maceration") before you load it into the pies. I also felt that it was difficult to do the "crescent moon" pie without tearing the dough. After two I pretty much moved on to making the bigger ones. This is not a quick recipe, but it is a pretty good one! So try it out if you're up for it. Below is my handy work. Don't judge lol.

Well there you go. I'm making some other treats this week for my friend Kyle's birthday and the USC/Bama tailgate, so hopefully I'll get those up before Christmas. Haha, jk (maybs)! I hope you guys enjoy these and feel free to let me know how they go for you and any suggestions you have! Have a great Monday night!

Quotable Monday: Success

 

"No matter how frightened and discouraged I may become about the future, I look forward to it. In spite of everything I see all around me every day, I have a shaky assurance that everything will turn out fine; and I don’t think I’m the only one. Why else would the phrase “Everything is alright” ease a troubled place in so many of us? We just don’t know, we never know, yet we have so much faith. We hold our hands over our hurts and lean forward. It is how we keep on, this kind of hope."

- Elizabeth Berg

"I believe that no matter how many mistakes we’ve made; how badly we’ve really, really screwed up; how old, worn out, or dejected we’ve become; as long as there is true, steadfast ambition, all of us have an opportunity for greatness." 

- Dave Pelzer - Moving Forward

"Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains two descriptions: might have, and should have." 

- Unknown

"Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

- Howard Thurman

"Promise me you’ll always remember: you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

- A.A. Milne, Winne the Pooh

"I’ve learned a lot this year.. I learned that things don’t always turn out the way you planned, or the way you think they should. And I’ve learned that there are things that go wrong that don’t always get fixed or get put back together the way they were before. I’ve learned that some broken things stay broken, and I’ve learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones, as long as you have people who love you."

- Jennifer Weiner

 *All quotes via
*All photos via 

So True

 (Source)

I dedicate this to my biff, Kristin Sharps. My life would be semi-meaningless and way less interesting without you!

Blog Giveaways!

I love a good blog giveaway. I see them all the time on the blogs I read and never really think to try and get in on the goods. But not this time! One of my favorite blogs to follow is Pink Preppy Lilly Lover by Trish. Her blog inspires a lot of what I do on here as far as fashion and quotes go.

This week shes doing an 'inspired by tortoise' giveaway, that I am definitely hoping to win! I love everything about this watch and just know that it would look devine on my wrist.

It's Michael Kors, and will basically go with everything I own so I'm hoping! But if not, there's alwaaaays Christmas! :)

Hop on over to Trish's blog to check it out....I know you won't be disappointed! I'll be back soon to post some yummies I've made recently. And though I'm pretty sure I say that almost every time I post, I promise it's true this time!

Quotable Tuesday: Coco Chanel

 

(Source)

"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."

 

(Source)

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."

 

(Source)

"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."

 

(Source)

"As long as you know men are like children, you know everything!"

 

(Source)

"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable." 

 

(Source)

"How many cares one looses when one decides not be something, but to be someone."

 

(Source)

"Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door."

College Football = Love

Ok so listen....I know I've been suuuper slack about posting, but I swear I'm back in action. I've had a really intense past couple of weeks, but I believe things are looking up now! Especially because it's college football seasonnnn!!! Ok ok let me quit hyperventilating for a second......

I'm good. So today I'm packing up the car and heading to Columbia with my girl Kennedy to watch my beloved Gamecocks play those disgusting Georgia Bulldogs. And good Lawd am I excited! Talgating and Gamecock football have to be two of my favorite pasttimes, but especially so with this game. I mean I have a lot of bragging rights riding on this game. Do you know how HARD it is to live in Georgia and be surrounded by UGA fans alllll the time and not talk a lot of smack? But I'll tell you what. If we win, all bets are off. Thankfully, I'm not a super obnoxious Gamecock fan, but I will be for a few people if all goes according to plan!

My friend Erin sent me this quote from ESPN about USC and I am so happy to share it with you all.

"There's something different in Columbia. Those guys can really play & they expect to win. Theres been a lot of tough years for South Carolina, but it's different now. You can feel it & see it when you enter Williams-Brice Stadium. That's a good football team down there. We will see on Saturday, but Georgia might not know what hit them on the way back to Athens.  I believe South Carolina has finally arrived." - ESPN

 Ahhh it feels good to be liked by ESPN again. Anywho, since it's a noon game, it is suuuure to be a ridiculous time. I can just feel the onslaught of headaches I'm going to experience on the Sunday afternoon drive back to ATL. For you entertainment I'm going to post a few of my favorite tailgating/ football season pictures. Enjoy and I'll be back on Monday to regail you with my fun adventures....hopefully. Have a great weekend and good luck to the teams you're cheering for (unless it's UGA of course!).  :)

  Some beautiful DZ's tailgating for USC/UGA last year in Athens

                                      Georgia fans are sooooo classy lol

                        Me, Mon, and Cagle obv hating on the Dawgs

Me and Kris tailgating for our last game of our college careers 

                           Christin and I clearly mid-tailgate

                                 Typical shenans at Sigma Chi

 {source}

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

- Unknown {source}

36 Things

I know I don't usually post twice in one day (or in the same two hours) but I just got this lovely email from my friend Erin and I HAD to share it with y'all! Attached to the email was this article called "36 Things Every Single Girl Must Do Before She Settles Down". It's written by Erin Meanley, a dating blogger at Glamour Magazine. Go here if you want to read the whole article, but below are some of my favorites!

1.  Go to a movie alone.

 

2.  Lift weights. When I bench-press 45 lbs., I feel like the bomb.

 

5.  Live alone, or at least move apartments in NYC without the help of family.

 

13.  Get drunk during the day, just because you can. Attend Santacon, the convention for Santas, or something similar.

 

17.  Be a good wingwoman. It's not always about you.

 

30.  Learn to cook well. I'm still working on this.

 

Although I'm not sure if I would be gutsy enough to try everything on the list, I can confidently say that I've done more than a few already, so it would be interesting to try the rest! Overall it seems to be a pretty good list. What do you guys think? Would you add anything else?

Back At It...

I know, I know I've been a massivly slack blogger lately. But I have an excuse! Last week had to of been one of THE most stressful weeks that I've experienced in a while. You know sometimes, you get to that point where everything that's been going wrong inevitably builds up until it can't anymore? Well that's kind of what happened to me. Between my car getting keyed thanks to the psychos downstairs by God only knows who, money issues, and life in general, I needed a little time-out. Thankfully this weekend was blessedly uneventful and relaxing. And now, on to a new week!

As far as this week is concerned I am excited for Labor Day, but sad at the same time because that means Summer is officially over and I am once again destined to become pale. But as I have previously discussed I love Fall, so I'm not too sad. USC's first football game is this Thursday and I am soooo excited to cheer on my Gamecocks. Me and some of my local alumni friends are going to watch the game at Carolyn's since it's apparently a Carolina bar. Ahh time to break out the garnet and black! Also in the mix for this week, my friend Monica is coming down tonight! She's coming for a Braves game since she got swindled into buying a ton of tickets and she has invited me along.

As for my weekend/holiday plans go, Kristin will by making her second appearance in ATL along with her boyfriend Brian. Hopefully I can find sooome way to entertain them. Since it's looking like a beautiful weekend I believe floating down the Hooch will be involved. Any who I saw this quote today and thought it went well with how I'm feeling this week, along with this cute picture of Audrey.

   "Sometimes, if not most of the time, 

you find out who you are by figuring out 

who and what you are not." 

- Kelly Cutrone

Pistachios, Cinnamon, and Weekend Recovery

Let me just start by saying this past weekend was a blast. And since it was a blast, I'm fairly certain that I have just now recovered. Hoo wee all the girls need to come back so we can do that again asap! Aside from that, I'm still too exhausted to come up with anything super clever, so I'm just going to post the two recipes I made last Thursday. One was delish. One...not so much. But here you go, failures and all.

First up are the pistachio cupcakes I made. For some reason these were a big womp womp in my opinion. I'm not quite sure what went wrong, but there was just something about them I didn't enjoy. One thing that did go wrong was the fact that I overbaked them. So the first batch was a little on the firm side. Also, even though I wasn't a huge fan of these, they were best within the first couple of days. I still have some hanging around and they're just not that great. I'm going to send you over to Annie's blog to get the recipe since she explains it so well. (annies-eats) I'll probably try these again another time to see if maybe I was having an off cupcake day. P.S. the ganache was really good.

Onnn to the next!

Now these were amaaazzinngg. Omg thank goodness I brought a pan of these to work or every one of these would have ended up in my belly and on my ass. I have never made home made cinnamon rolls before but I swear on my mixer that I will never buy refrigerator cinnamon rolls again. I'm not going to sit here and say these were the simplest things I've ever made, but the work is definitely worth it in the end. I did a half and half thing and incorporated two separate recipes, so we have a little mixture here.