Perfect Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day and this one was definitely the best.  I think that this one day a year is an excellent reminder of the importance of expressing your love everyday and showing your significant others... whether they be friends, partners, or co-workers.... how much you care.  

Okay.  To some of you this first picture may not look like much. Especially taken on my piece of crap point and shoot... But if you live in the Mid West I think you will agree that this is the best picture in this whole post.  SUNSHINE!!!!  

Thats me and Caleb!

Plantain Sundae at our Sunday Valentine Dinner

I always cut off the top of Caleb's head... oops!

Caleb surprised me with flowers!  They were waiting for me at the front desk after my 9:00 appointment!  They smell wonderful and I love being able to brag to my co-workers that yes, my husband is amazing.... 

Doesn't my desk look great with fresh flowers!

I wanted to do something special so since Caleb had work and then go to class I prepared a candle lit dinner apartment style.  Apartment style meaning we have no table and chairs and had to eat on the couch!  I think the candles and wine really fancied things up... what do you think?

Good Music+Candles+Yummy Food+Wine=A Hot Date!

Once again... crappy point and shoot camera picture...

Mixed greens salad with strawberries and balsamic vinegarette,
Turkey tetrazini, and crusty bread. 

Yum!

Caleb hates dressing up so we had Valentine dinner in our PJ's!

I hope all of your Valentine's Days were as wonderful as mine!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today has been a good day.  I've stayed busy preparing Valentine's Day treats.  I made some Homemade Chocolate Ganache for Caleb to take to work.

This sauce is delicious and sooo easy to make!!

I also made Cake Balls to share with my co-workers.  I love these simple treats and they take no time at all to put together.  All you need is a cake mix, eggs, oil, water, cream cheese frosting, and candy melts!

1. Prepare a cake mix according to the box directions.

I cannot figure out how to flip the pictures right way up...

Don't worry... I didn't reuse this beater!

2. After the cake comes out of the oven, dump it in a big bowl and crumble the cake up finely.  

3. Now add a can of cream cheese frosting to the cake mix (one can per box mix).  Stir the cake and frosting together.

4. Now, form the mixture into balls and place in the refrigerator to set up.  This will take about an hour.  After the balls are firm, melt the candy melts in the microwave and roll each ball into the chocolate.

5. Drizzle with chocolate and thats it!  Done!!

Delicious!!  Have a Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Relaxing Saturday

What a Saturday!  You know it has been a good day when you wake up at ten, have cheese eggs for breakfast, and fit in a three hour nap before cruising Target and Joann's Fabrics.  I am finishing off my evening by making these neat pins with the fabric I bought today.

I made this:

A cute flower pin to wear on Valentine's Day!  I'll teach you how in my next post!

I have a movie calling my name.  So I will finish my post by asking: Does this really happen in real life???

Apparently so....

Ring Worm Tutorial.

Alright people.  This has been a day full of ups and downs.  My day started out right by having a wonderful (but definitely not healthy!!) breakfast at Tim Horton's with my friend Allison.  Have you ever had their Boston Cream Donut?  Heavenly!

The donut was nowhere near as good as the company though.... Allison is great to be around because she is always saying things like, "I decided to have joy today!"  And then she actually does! 

So.  I thought I would give it a try and have joy today.  Why not?  Doesn't hurt to give a try.  Well. Let. Me. Tell. You.  It was somewhat short lived.  Because you will never guess what the nurse at work told me about the little itchy patch on my arm (okay... you probably can guess given the name of this post...)  I have flipping RING WORM!!!

Okay.  So it isn't near as bad as it looks... The actual ring worm is in the center.  The other is just redness from ripping off the enormous band aide that Nurse Diane put on today.  Still.  I was totally.freaking.out.  With a little reassurance from co-workers I realized that it wasn't so bad.  It isn't really a worm in there so thats good news and actually it seems like it will easy to remedy.

So... I know that blog tutorials are usually about how to make a sewing project or some really awesome cake for your kid's birthday, but I thought I would outline the simple process of ridding oneself of a ring worm... you know... for all those other poor souls who have a ring worm and make the mistake of looking on Google images at examples of other people's ring worms.... it isn't pretty folks..

Anyway... I think I am rambling now so lets get to it.

Step 1: Don't freak out!  Nurse Diane says that it is similar to athlete's foot... not too serious right??

Step 2: Find out that you for sure have ringworm and then high-tail it to the drug store and get some of this stuff.

Step 3: Apply the cream.  I think I probably put too much on...  Apparently I have to do this once a day for a week.

Thats it!  I put a Band Aid on mine because nurse Diane said it is contagious and I don't want to spread the love.  I am by no means a medical professional so you probably should consult a doctor or nurse like I did.  Thats the only way that I knew it was truly a ring worm.  I just wanted to pass along the good word that it isn't so bad.

The worst part is the culprit.  Thats right.  Splinter.

So my joy was interrupted by a silly ring worm, but actually it was a good lesson.  There were a lot of great things that happened today that wouldn't have been appreciated near as much if I hadn't decided to have joy this morning.  I followed through with my decision to have joy, resulting in putting my dear little friend the ring worm in the back of my mind.  So maybe having joy is as simple as Allison says... you just have to decide to have it.

PARTY!!!!

Anyone who has been around me for any substantial period of time knows that I live to plan a good get-together.  I love planning the menu, planning the decorations, developing a theme, making hand-made invitations... you name it!  Big or small, I love the distraction from my job and the opportunity that planning gives me to put my creativity to good use (Lets face it... sometimes making play-doh animals with the kids I see at work just doesn't cut it people!).   

My husband tends to think that I go a bit overboard... I just can't help myself.  What?  A friend is having a baby?  My first thought is BABY SHOWER!  Who is getting married??  Oh!  My best friend?  And I get to be the Matron of Honor... even better... I'm thinking engagement get-together, bridal shower, and bachelorette party!  I find myself daydreaming on my evening commute from work about color schemes, a venue, favors, and a menu.  (Plus there is that age old and most obvious question that any planner must ask when planning a bachelorette party... stripper or no stripper??)  These are only a few of the things that run through my mind... It's the best feeling planning an event and then watching as others enjoy all the hard work and thought.

So naturally when Super Bowl rolls around and my husband mentions having a few friends from work over it isn't even a question.  However, since my husband does tend to think that I get a little out of control, and we are on a budget, I felt like I needed to restrain myself from my usual party-planning splendor.  

Although it was difficult not to go overboard (I limited myself to only decorating the food area even though I would have liked to make a festive banner and had a coordinating Super Bowl Cocktail to serve...) I think that I was pretty successful.  The guys really seemed to enjoy it anyway.... :)

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty...

I love my cat.

He has a rough and tough life...

So.... I decided to make him a homemade treat!

Slinter received a homemade cat treat recipe book from Santa this year so I decided to give it a try on my snow day from work!

So I gathered the ingredients...

Mixed them together...

And cut them into perfect hearts before putting them into the oven!

Only 30 minutes in the oven!

He even seemed to be getting pretty excited!

((Sorry for the sideways pic))

They came out all golden brown and even smelled pretty tasty!  He sniffed and sniffed and sniffed....

And THEN.... turned up his nose and pranced away... arrogant and snobby.... like only a cat can do...