Monday, December 17, 2012

C is for Combining F through N

F is for First. This is the first thing I saw as I left the house this morning. Such a beautiful sunrise! It makes me so happy to start my day seeing this!






G is for Grey. I love the grey stripes on my gigantic cat, Frankenpuss Crockett Kerr.





H is for home. We bought our house in October and after only 2 months, we already feel like we've lived here forever. I love our house! I wish I could Hug it! 




I is for Incredible - how I feel after my new haircut! Love that my hubs photobombed my pic! Gotta love that guy! 




J is for Jolly good time! I had a wonderful dinner date last night with my dear friends Angela and Joe! Mom and Jules too! I can't wait until next time!!!!!  









K is for Kota. I love my family so much! I'm having a great day with the NC Kotas.





L is for love. I love my littlest nephew so much! 



M is for Martha's Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies that I made for our cookie exchange. They are so yummy! 









N is for New project! Super secret Santa-style project. I can't wait to get started! 


  

Thursday, December 6, 2012

The Best Christmas Craft Ever and Dawn's Early Light

E is for Emmet! Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, my favorite Christmas movie of all time inspired this creation. I made my own Emmet a couple years ago - a Build-A-Bear otter and I sewed his clothes and even crocheted his hat. I was so proud! Ain't no hole in the washtub.




F is for First. This is the first thing I saw as I left the house this morning. Such a beautiful sunrise! It makes me so happy to start my day seeing this!

The view from my driveway.
#amonthof

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

D is for Doug

Doug is our fabulous Christmas tree. The first one in our new house!!! He's our first Douglas Fir and has super-cool red and green stripes of lights. What do you think? Our kitty Frankie sure does like him. He sleeps under the tree all day long.

Doug, with a "D". He has a funny "droopy"-kind of voice. We LOVE him!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Cypress Hill, 41, and a new instagram addict

Catching up on a new little project A Month of A-Z from one of the blogs I read MeetMeAtMikes by Pip Lincolne. I think it sounds like a super-fun way to get in more blogging and try to figure out my junky phone. So, to catch myself up I need to take care of A and B.

A is for Andersons, Audience, and Apps. I went out to the Cypress Hill show with my girls on Friday (last name Anderson) and downloaded the instagram app to my phone so that I could take part in #amonthof.

Cypress Hill at Towne Ballroom 11.30.12

B is for Brother. My brother Jamie's birthday was yesterday! I left him a voicemail and posted on his fb wall, but I just wish we lived closer so I could've taken him out for Five Guys to celebrate "41". Happy Birthday Brother!!!!

Happy Birthday to my brother Jamie!

 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The fruits of my labor

...or vegetables, if you want to be technical.

It's been a pretty productive weekend so far. Mom and I started our water fitnessing. I have no idea what else to call it. I am taking a stance and putting myself first - I'm going to get healthy and get rid of this weight. I have to. Otherwise there will be no little mini-mes. As if the world really needs that!

Anyway, mom and I started working out at the community center. Tomorrow will be our third day and I'm still excited about it. My dear readers, please post comments and send encouragement! I need all the help I can get. And nose plugs. I'm like a little kid and still can't get myself to put my face in the water.

Most importantly, this weekend, I've found time to relax a bit and enjoy this crazy life. My squash plants died from the powdery mildew, but I've plucked my first pepper and made my very first batch of pesto FROM MY OWN GARDEN!

My first pepper!  

The first batch of pesto made from my garden

yeah, that's right - load it up that garlic bread with pesto.

I'm beyond thrilled - I'm ecstatic.

Then, to top it off, Steve tried my pesto...AND HE LIKED IT. This is the things dreams are made of. My hubs doesn't like anything unless it's meat, potatoes, or junk food...especially if it's green. He liked it, he really liked it!

I'm not much of a cook, but I do like baking and trying to make things that my grandmother used to make. One of my favorite treats at my Grandma Frannie's house was her candied orange peels. I've tried to make them time after time and it never works out. During one of my most memorable endeavors, I managed to ruin my roommates saucepan because I thought all the syrup had to boil into the orange peels. In retrospect, I have no idea what I was thinking or why I would try to make candy without a recipe. It was a complete disaster - the pan had to be thrown away. It was as if the saucepan had been taken over my a colony of rock candy monsters. I'm sorry Nicole, I really am...still.

I figured candied orange peels were destined to just be a memory.

Until today.

I tried again and it worked!

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and gave it another shot with the orange peels I had left over from lunch and the little strips of candied deliciousness turned out great! My mom hasn't been able to stop nibbling on them...and for the second time in one day, STEVE LIKES SOMETHING I MADE!

I remember them a bit differently and I'm thinking that my grandma must've let the sugar get hotter first - almost to hard crack stage - because hers weren't shiny or slippery when we'd eat them. When I asked mom, she didn't know the answer on how to get them that way, but remembered that they were dry almost instantly after cooking. Mine have been "drying" on the counter for most of the day.  Have you ever made candied orange peels?

When I got them at the Godiva store a few years ago, that's how they served them - slippery, sweet, and covered in chocolate.  How do you prefer them?

getting closer!

Tomorrow brings another day of fitnessing, relaxing, creative food-making (it's too hot to cook), and maybe even going to meet our dear friend's new chickens. bawk-ba-GAWK!

I hope you're having and equally great weekend. What have you been doing?


Saturday, August 4, 2012

What do elephants play when they are in a bus?

I finally got to pick my first yellow squash from my raised bed garden. There were 20+ sprouting when I first saw the babies, but a few have rotted, a few are too small...and there was just this one gorgeous specimen of a squash.


So, of course, I brought it in the house to eat it!

I waited for a special occasion - my Friday Night Fun Night with my mom. Tonight we went swimming at the community center and talked about how we should go swimming every other day for "exercise". Hopefully it works. My strong desire to learn to swim with my face in the water like Olympic Gold Medalist Missy Franklin - or just to play Ponyo - makes this the most attractive form of exercising available. Plus, it cools you off. Thank goodness...it's been so hot lately. I wish I lived in Alaska or the Northern reaches of Canada - in a remote igloo with ice furniture and a pet wooly mammoth!

Anyway, I steamed the squash with some delicious Italian garlic seasoning from Tastefully Simple and it turned out fantastic. Mom loved it!



I've got two more babies that still need some more time in the garden, but I'm looking forward to making a summer squash gratin with those. Anyone growing and zucchinis that you want to get rid of? LOL...everyone growing zucchinis needs to get rid of some! Send 'em my way!

So now, my dear readers - I need some gardening help. Do you know how to make it so the squash doesn't rot while it's growing? I don't understand it, the ones that I had to throw out today were just little  (maybe 6"-7") and they were just all smushy. Why is that? What did I do wrong to kill my little squashies? Any help would be appreciated. I'm so new to this whole gardening thing. Heck, I think my cucumbers are diseased. 


"I Saw it on Pinterest" Experiment #1: in the freezer

FROZEN YOGURT DROPS posted on onegoodthingbyjillee

Mine look nothing like her beautifully-swirled drops. The candy melting bottles didn't have a big enough hole in the tip, so I did end out using the sandwich bag trick...which takes some practice. The big globs of frozen yogurt will be a delicious treat when I bust them off the tray tomorrow morning. Cross your fingers! I'll let you know how they turn out.



And i'm outtie.

'hugs and chainsaws'
-p.

(is it 'p' for penny?....or is it Ponyo?!?!?!) 










Friday, July 27, 2012

Yep! I'm a foxglove who didn't proofread my post. :(

Sorry about the major snafu last night with my post. I guess that's what having three kids will do to you....




You're a Foxglove

You really want to be a good person, but you have this little mischievous streak that seems to get in the way. Deep down you mean well, but you are just so good at being just a little bit bad.


Oh silly little internet quiz - how do you know me so well?!?!?!




Thursday, July 26, 2012

Foxglove, eh?


...yeah, I guess this really about sums it up!


I am a
Foxglove


What Flower
Are You?


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Valentine's Day at The Kerr House

This is how we roll -

No overpriced dinner at some pseudo-fancy pretentious restaurant for us. At the Kerr's we had heart-shaped meatloaf made by my wonderful husband and baked potatoes with all the fixin's.


And these are the sweet little treats I made for my honey and coworkers - Oreo Cookie Truffles. It was my first shot at making truffles and they were far from perfect.  They taste fantastic, but looked a bit rough. I was actually calling them my pretty little disasters by the time I finished. I was having trouble because the truffles kept melting as I was covering them with chocolate. As I progressed they look more and more like "cookies and cream" truffles - lots of crumbs mixed in the chocolate coating.  I have since learned that you should freeze them so that doesn't happen. Thanks Aunt Kim! I can't wait to make them again and try the new technique.




Also, in true sister-as-my-valentine fashion, I got a super fabulous gift from my little Banani. She got me something we've both been wanting for YEARS. Yes, years. A swiss army knife!!! OMG. Yes, I got a weapon/sharp object as a Valentine's Day gift. She's a girl after my own heart! The only gift that could ever eclipse a swiss army knife is the new blood-splatter Goatwhore vinyl...or chocolate-covered cherries from the love of my life.





How did you celebrate? 

Monday, February 13, 2012

Slow Cook Your Way To Your Man's Heart

Or your woman's heart...or anyone's heart for that matter! As long as they like beef.

I'm not a cook. not even close. Every now and then, though, I like to try something new to switch up the taco, chinese chicken, pizza, mac and cheese, turkey sandwich monotony. My favorite way to do it is the slow cooker. It's the most magical thing in my life. You throw a bunch of food in, go to work (or back to sleep if it's Sunday) and at dinner time - you have dinner!

Last year I started following Stephanie O'Dea's blog - A Year of Slow Cooking and have found a veritable mountain of treasure! It's one of my favorite blogs. I made the Italian Beef Sandwiches as a Super Sunday treat for my hubby last week. Not because of the super bowl, but because we love our lazy Sundays together. It's the one day we get to just hang out together and relax.

Italian Beef Sandwiches
property of http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Anyway, I threw everything in the slow cooker and viola! At 7pm we had the most delicious beef sandwiches ever in the history of beef sandwiches! Seriously.

Due to my hubby having picky tastes and the fact that there's only two of us in the household, I made a few slight changes in the recipe. Here's what I did that deviated from Stephanie's recipe:


  • 2 lb. rump roast (it calls for 3-4 lb, but we could NEVER eat that much)
  • Didn’t put anise in
  • Only used 2 tablespoons of Italian Seasoning instead of the separate spices
  • Even though I used less meat, I used the same amount of everything else

If you want to wow your man or are in the courting phase of a relationship, make this. You will not be sorry! He will be yours FOREVER...as long as you promise to make it again.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

whew!

*large sign of relief* 

It's over. ahhhhhhh...... 

The baby shower is over. 

On to the next thing, right?

Nope. 
Wrong. 

It's been one thing after another these past few months - trip to NYC, getting ready to move, moving, unpacking,  Christmas, trip to NC, baby shower planning. Now I think I deserve a break and I'm going to take it. It's been pretty crazy around here and I'm looking forward to chillaxin' with my hubby, playing games, crafting, and reorganizing the kitchen so I can make better use of the space. 

But the past few days, since Sunday actually, 'baby shower' has been a bad word. Maybe I'll post a recap once I fully recover from the craziness. Hopefully I'll be able to bring myself to do it - eventually.



Love this girl, my bff Jess, like a sister. I'm so happy it's almost Baby Time!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

8 days.

That's 192 hours I have to get ready for the baby shower. SCARY!

I've been busy trying to get everything together and planned properly so that my BFF has the best baby shower in the whole world! I've been to a few really good ones - my friend Carla's was the best by far - so the bar is pretty high. I've got food and decorations, a preggo BFF, cute clothes for both of us to wear, a pretty handy and helpful little sis that's also bringing a cake and some pretty rad favors. What more does a baby shower need?

Oh yeah - delicious baby shower punch. My favorite part of all. I think I'm going to try a new recipe this time instead of just winging it. Fruity Sherbet Punch sounds just about right.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Inspirational Thoughts on a Sunday Morning

Paths clear for those who know where they’re going and are determined to get there.
― Anonymous

I want happiness and health. And have resolved to do it.

Where are you going?

New Year = New Penny...Not really


The obligatory new year blog post - although it's 8 days late. Funny, one of my "things" (as I prefer not to call them resolutions, but instead "things I need to work on") is to blog more. I love writing my little blog - sharing my life with the world. I just don't get to it very often. I'm a busy gal, what can I say?!?!?

Here are the things I'm going to work on in 2012:

  • Take Time
    • Normally, I rush through my day - from home to work, to lunch breaks, to errands, to home, to laundry, to couponing, to packing lunch, to bed.  I'm always rushing. This year, I'm going to try to enjoy life more by taking the time to smell the roses. 
    • This includes making time for: blogging, crafting, painting my nails, visiting my friends, playing with babies, and snuggling with my honey on the couch. You know, the things I do that make me smile and leave me with that warm and fuzzy feeling for days!
  • Finish 
    • My number one fault is that I have no follow-through. This year, I plan on finishing what I start. Pray for me. I need divine intervention to get on top of this one. I've spent a lifetime saying "I'll work on that later", "I don't feel like doing that anymore" or "I'm done with that".  Being a fickle Gemini, this is just my nature. It's hard to change an innate personality trait, I know, but I'm going to try.

And that's it. I don't get all crazy with the "eat better, exercise more" because it's unrealistic when you rush through your day and don't cook your own meals or get home before dark. That's not a resolution or a "thing to work on" it's an everyday struggle. I've come to terms with the fact that getting a new calendar isn't going to make me skinny or change me into a new person. A new outlook - that will help. 

Cheers to 2012! Wish me luck!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Closing out 2011 with my family

I always say I'm going to be able to blog more, and fully believe it when I think "I'll have lots of time to blog about my trip," but that's far from the case. Right now I have the time because I'm finally uploading my pics from the trip thus far and we have to be quiet and calm because my baby nephew is awake and needed him some pb sammich.

It's been a crazy beautiful week of chillaxin' with my family - got in on Wednesday night, breakfast date with almost the whole NC Kota crew Thursday, Wake Forest v. Yale basketball game, helping my moxie little nieces start their cupcake business, wario playing until the wee hours, grocery shopping, and tonight - the all out best part - a New Year's Eve party with sparkling grape juice, pizza rolls, cheese slices, new nail polish and 6 of the best people I could ever hope to be with to ring in the new year. The only thing missing is my awesome husband. Love you Steve!!

Here's a quick photo montage of the trip -



Go Deacs!
Jordan was cracking Paulie up like crazy!
Yummy, Aunt Penny! Thanks for the orange!
The birth of KD's Cupcakes of Lewisville, NC
This is what the boys did while we 'cupcaked'
By far some of the best frosting I ever ate - Raspberry Buttercream
Decorating!
Hershey's Chocolate cupcake with Raspberry Buttercream, KD's Cupcakes
My moxie gals - Payton and Lydia
Big brother Jordan loves the cupcake business!
The girls made me this. So. stinkin. cute.
dark purple with gold OPI crackle. Perfect nails to bring in the new year!
The littlest bartender with the biggest smile. LOL! (It's juice)
Silly girl Lydia
Jordan getting sick of waiting for the motorcycle guy to jump
They grow up so fast...

I hope you're having as much fun as I am! Happy 2012 to you and yours!
-p.