ain't no betty crocker!

It all started a month ago when I received an invitation to my co-worker's annual Christmas cookie exchange.  The calendar was clear for the day - so there I was RSVPing :)  

Fast forward to 9:00pm Friday before the Sunday event (I am a bit of a procrastinator).  With not a recipe found nor a thing bought...it suddenly dawned on me, "ask your friend Amy who brought those delish red velvet truffles to a tailgate that you nearly ate everyone."  PERFECT solution.  Within a couple minutes of facebooking Am - there I had it - the recipe! 

Now, I should have taken her advice to follow an easier recipe because she was afraid it would take me alllll day to make 9 DOZEN of these little red balls.  But, on the same post, my friend Krissy commented how simple it would be and that's all I needed to hear. ;)

Saturday, Travis and I were in DC all day leaving me Sunday morning to sleep in (never been much of a morning person), shop, bake, shower and get to the party by 1.  No problemo!

SUNDAY:

10:00am - I am off to the grocery store.   

10:40am - Let the games begin.  (For some reason, I never asked how many balls 1 cake made - hence the 6 dishes below....let's just say I still have two bowls full of batter sitting in our fridge)

 

Things continue to go pretty well and I specifically remember thinking, "I am on a roll here."

 Welllllllll, just as I am 'spatulaing' the last drop into the 6th pan, I realized that I never opened the vegetable oil sitting on the counter.  Oppsie ;)  Turns out you can use the beater in the pans and waahlaah - oil was mixed right in.  We are back on track! 

Now that all pans are in the oven (miracle and a definite squeeze), time to start melting the almond bark.  

YUMM!

Well, I leave the bark melting and check the fridge to make sure there is space for cooling.  Nope!

OH MY GOSH!  FLAMES!!! (and big ones too - full fledged flames).  This is about the time the smoke alarm starts going off and I turn to look at the stove - ahhhhh, my bark!  

Burnt Bark...yep, should be bright white.  What you see below is white with specks of black.  Kind of smelled (and tasted) like a marshmellow that was kept too long in the fire. :)

Once that was under control, it was time to pull the cakes out of the oven.  I feel like I am on a cooking show (only I am my only camera crew - unfortunately).  We are 40 minutes in at this point.... 

 Must crumble cakes (should have let them cool, but no time for that) and mix with cream cheese frosting and cool in fridge for an hour.  Oh, 15 min should do the trick and that will give me time for a quick shower.  

I definitely should have invested in that daggone melon baller, but thought one of these should do the trick.  Ummm - no!  Ending up forming the balls with my hands which became completely stained! haha

This next part was so messy that there were no photo opps available. :(  With Travis being gone, I figured it wasn't worth ruining our $500 camera with googy red gook over a blog post. lol 

Just trust me - it was an absolute nightmare.  The bark was burnt and the balls weren't forming well - that combination is not good.  It's now 12:40 and I am supposed to be walking at the door right this second and here I am standing in a bathrobe with soaking wet hair.  Ughhhhh!  NEVER AGAIN!

Somehow I managed through the ball rolling and dipping and even hardened them by sticking them in the freezer for a few.  When I pulled them out of the freezer - they were all completely stuck together because of the excess of melted burnt bark.  So I try and unstick them - yet another disaster as the balls start to crumble.  

Speaking of disasters.....this, my friends, is one of the MANY reasons I do NOT enjoy cooking/baking or anything of the sorts that involves me being in the kitchen.  

 

All said and done - I pulled into the party an hour late...just in time to eat (good thing)!  Best part - I got to exchange my truffle balls complete with awful memories for 108 new and improved Christmas cookies!! 

it's ok to laugh!

me and my sweet friend, Carolyn, the wonderful hostess!

yellow curry, wide rice noodles and then some.

For the record, the Loan family LOVES Thai food.  I mean absolutely loves it.  Last night without a lick of groceries in the house (very typical) we headed out to grab some dinner straight from Bri's cheer practice and my zumba class.  :)  Where to?  Well in our little small town there are 3 Thai restaurants and we had never been to the 3rd one.  OH MY GOSH - it was a huge success!  

Let's just say an appetizer of spring rolls drenched in peanut and sweet chili sauce, a bowl of lemongrass soup filled with seafood, an order of fried rice, an order of pad thai noodles with beef, an order of yellow curry pretttty much hit the spot.  Come to find out the owner is a guy who graduated from high school with babe, so that meant a complimentary dessert for us to try - delish.  I think it was something like coconut milk with sticky rice and mango.  And of course I had to finally try the thai iced tea that I had heard so much about. 

Let me just say that our daughter will pretty much eat anything (wonder where she gets that from).  She loved all the spicy sauces and eating with her chopsticks.  

Here are some pics captured from the good ole' blackberry: 

fresh garden spring roll - she is NOT a picky eater!

fried rice and chopsticks :)

curry, rice and chopsticks :)

delish dessert!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we finished up our tastey dinner, I thought it would be good for little punkins and me to run into Target really quickly and browse for some Thanksgiving decorations.  (I am hosting 'the sisters' Thanksgiving dinner and wanted to add a little fall decor to the kitchen beforehand - I mean the table does have to look good for blog posts ;)!  Well, lonnng story short, Briley and I arrive home a little after 10 (yep, on a school night) only to have her insist on setting the table up complete with all the new items.  So come one, come all - table is now completely ready for Thanksgiving feast to be served (now if only I can keep it that way for a week). LOL.   

yes, please and thank you.

It's all about etiquette ladies and gentlemen.  This past weekend I had the honor and privilege of attending a leadership conference in small town Kingsport, TN.  Resort...nice.  Town...quaint.  All in all an amazing time with wonderful friends.  

Favorite talk from the weekend to blog about.  ETIQUETTE!

 

etiquette [ˈɛtɪˌkɛt ˌɛtɪˈkɛt] n:   

the customs or rules governing behaviour regarded as correct or acceptable in social or official life.

being gracious, courteous, respectful, using manners. 

Let's brush up on a couple things, shall we?  (mostly talking to myself here, I never claimed to be perfect.  cute and funny - yes.  perfect - far from it.)

Top 10. (In no particular order)

*Don't look around when you are talking to someone.   

     (Please use some eye to eye contact)

*Be the first to speak to someone when you see them.  

     (Greet first with a smile)

*DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT interrupt someone. 

     (Most broken rule by others and yours truly) 

*Put the cell phone DOWN when talking with someone.   

     (This means no texts or checking fb) 

*Always edify.  

     (Make others feel valuable)

*Open the doors for ladies.  

     (Gentlemen)

*Write thank you notes often.  

     (Buy some fun cards you can't wait to use)

*Arrive on time.  

     (Allow plenty of time for hair, makeup and outfit changes)

*Tip well.  

     (At least 20%)

*It’s OK to take the last piece of pie, but ask everyone around first if they want it! 

     (love this)

Stumbled across this website which I just loved...looks a little dated, but quality information none-the-less: www.elegantwoman.org

So you want to be a timeless, elegant, clean, graceful, pleasant, dresses appropriate for the occasion kind of person?!?!?!  Live a life of etiquette.  

You cannot buy class.

oh thank heaven for 7-11.

Ohhh, I had such high hopes of recaping last weekend, uploading beautiful fall pictures or some other creative post since it has been a couple days, BUTTT, another typical day - and the time has slipped away.  After a unplanned couple hours in Old Navy tonight with the entire fam and a late night trip to 7-11 for food - I am exhauted and another busy one lies ahead tomorrow.  A couple highlights from the night:

The plan was for Travis to browse the 'mens' section, me to browse the 'womens' section and then we would meet back at the 'girls' section to look for more fall fashion for Briley girl (as if she needs one more thing).  Well, after a couple hours and plenty of time in the fitting room (me and Briley watching Travis, Travis and Briley watching me, me and Travis watching Briley), we left with several HUGE bags.  Absolutely love alllll the sparkles and embellishments out this season and was pleasantly surprised with what I found there (obviously).  Favorite part of Old Navy - having Briley approve everything I held up.  "Briley, what do you think about this?"  "Ohhh, that is adorable...very cute...you have to buy that."  Cutest 5-year old ever - LOVE her. 

At 7-11 we spent $17 on snacks - completely embarrassing.  Please don't judge.  I had the best hotdog ever (complete with ketchup, mustard, onions, relish and sauerkraut), a buffalo chicken taquito, ritz bitz cheese crackers and a dr. pepper.  Yep, completely overrode that hour of body pump at the gym.  The funniest thing about 7-11 is we went AFTER bringing our bags home and giving Briley a bath.  So that's right, she went with soaking wet hair (in 40 degree weather), a bathrobe (cute as it was) and bunny slips!  Oh, hahahaha, I used to so look 'down' on families 'like that' in the store and there we were!!  Unbelievable - I hope this post doesn't cause me to lose all of the classy credibility I had ;) 

Night ya'll.  <3

2 obsessions (among many)...

YES!! I had a FAB weekend this past one and can't wait to 'blog' about it, but my eyes are getting a wee bit heavy and I must post a little something on the shorter side tonight.  My obsessions change daily (whether I am currently into wheat-grass or eating at buffets, training for a 5k or on a hiatus from the gym, being blonde or being brown) however, these two things are a constant:  BRILEY and CHEER!  I am obsessed :) 

Soooo when you marry the two together = a little bit of heaven for this proud step-momma!  Tonight T and I took her door-to-door (before you judge....we thought it would be a great learning experience for her and build her self image.  plus the people who have something to sell always make the most money.  it's never too early to start instilling some of these skills!) to sell jewelry from our business as a fundraiser for Diamond Elite Competition Cheer Squad.  It was a success.  She practiced what she was going to say upon arriving at the doorstep, "Hello.  My name is Briley Loan.  I am a diamond elite cheerleader.  I am doing a fundraiser.  I have jewelry and I hope you love it."  Her exact words! She did wonderfully!  And it about an hours time had sold 4 pieces and made about $45 towards the squads next comp in Baltimore, MD.  Gooooo Briley! 

Could she have picked a SPORT more perfect for her?  I think not.  

Nails are chipped!

Hey ya'll.  Man, I have been on the RUNNNN for work (not literally running :)  I have neglected to post (I think I need an Ipad to take with me everywhere I go - hmmmmm - baaaabe!!)  That was me yelling for Travis to ask if santa would bring me one for Christmas.  After all I have been a nice girl.   :) 

I am about 20 min away for leaving for a women's retreat with some ladies from church and I don't have enough time to go get my manicure updated, so I thought I quick blog post would be fitting.  (If there is a one second break this weekend - I will be headed straight to the salon to get fixed up - nails are seriously chipped and on my nerves).

So I am in the process of downloading picasa - never used it before, but want to make a college of my sweet little nephew from last evenings pics.  (I will insert more pics later! - JUST DID 11.7.10 11:37pm)  Last night, I was fresh back from a couple days on the road with work and my sister was having a couple people over for a little hokie fun.  A party?  Sure I am going on a couple hours sleep, BUT, count me in!  

Briley and I wore our matching shirts and spent most of the evening playing with Hudson instead of watching the football game.  I never was much on watching the game, but outfits and game day food are a different story.

On the tailgating menu: 

*shrimp cocktail 

*cracked pepper triscuits with mozzerella and tomato 

*cashew and m&m trailmix

*chips with homemade salsa and guac 

*white chicken chili and cornbread 

*apple fritters 

*puppy chow 

Ok, I (well Travis) contributed the first 3 items (fresh from the grocery store) and my 14 week pregnant sister homemade all the remaining items...yes, she is MUCH better than me in the kitchen. 

While we are talking about the sis, take a look at this pic...can you tell she is pregnant?  NO!  Good thing I am not standing beside her - hahaha! 

Hudson's menu was a bit different: 

Alright ya'll....gotta get on the road!  Have a good weekend.  I am excited about mine! <3

A package in the mail...

OH MY GOSH!

Came home to a package in the mail. 

And in it was 2 of the most darling little gifts from my darling husband made by my most darling college friend, Tiffany.  The two gifts were of course for his darling girls:  corri and briley. 

Wait til you see these.  Handmade from HannahJane out of Gettysburg, PA.

complete with bow :)

 

obsessed with the tracks!

*must have personalized.

Are you squealing over cuteness yet?!?!  I told ya'll - most adorable new tees on the block.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my and Briley's new shirts...I foresee a photo shoot in the near future.  ;) 

Gooooooo HOKIES! gobble gobble <3

treating...(not so much into the trick)

Well, I am not so much on this holiday, BUT I most definitely am into themed costumes and candy.  Briley's cheerleading fundraiser scheduled for Halloween night was canceled last minute leaving the Loan's in a frenzy for back-up family themed costume ideas.  I immediately hit google and the searches were on!  Luckily, my friend Caroline, was headed over for some business and dinner and she mentioned a friend of hers had used this in the past.  (So, no, I can't take complete credit).  At 9pm two days before Halloween, we headed to the only 5 stores open in our small home town in search for a monkey costume to fit a five- year old. 

I know I have mentioned that Travis is wonderful, but seriously this next part deserves that line again.  We found a "eskimo girl" at Target and at 11:00pm on a Friday he was found turning eskimo herself into a tried and true monkey....belly, ears, tail and all....AMAZING. 

 

Briley started out helping, but after 5 snips of the scissors later, she ran off to the living room exclaiming, "you can do it, daddy, just surprise me."  ahahahah - a girl after my own heart. <3

Hmmmmm, what did I contribute?  Taking pictures for our blog of course.  And doing my part to make the family look fabulous. ;)  Enjoy our rendition of, The Five Little Monkeys. 

One little monkey jumping on the bed...

She fell off and bumped her head.

Momma called the doctor and the doctor said...

 

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!!!"

 

The End. 

  

Credits :)