Helloooo ooo oo o!!!!!

I believe we have an echo going on here! 

I've been "missing" for a little over a month now. 

I have my excuses ready though! 

First excuse. We moved. 

And we had to clean, redo hardwood floors, clean some more, paint, clean, and stuff like that. 

It was very busy for a while.

See those floors. Best workout plan ever. 

Scrubbed them on my hands and knees, mopped, then waxed 4 times. 

Seriously you wanna sweat and trim down go redo some hardwood floors. 

It kicks butt.

I decided we have waaay too much stuff and I'm not moving in the summer again. 

Nope never. 

I refuse. 

Cause me and heat, we don't love each other. I love Air Conditioning.

That's the type of girl I am. 

This was probably 85% of my belongs. The rest being furniture and hanging clothes. 

Very interesting to live out of suitcases and try to remember where you put everything.

I said goodbye to my old room but it wasn't very sad.

My new room slowly took shape and I like it. 

Though a pallet did fall on my leg while I was setting up. I rocked a huge bruise on the back of my leg for 2 weeks. Great conversation piece, let me tell you.

My duvet looks great in my new room. I love it. 

My new room doesn't have an actual closet so we put in a system. I finally got it all put together. 

I want you to know I don't actually like shoes.

Or at least that's what I've been telling myself for the past couple years. 

I don't think I can claim that now.

So that's where I've been mostly and then I've been tired or trying to have a life. 

But I'm alive and going to be doing projects soon. Or I plan to try soon. 

Never know how they will really turn out...

Homemade Salsa

Who loves chips and salsa????

That would be me!! 

I also prefer it homemade. Nothing compares to homemade salsa. 

I don't have nearly as often as I want to. 

But after craving it all last weekend I decided to get the ingredients since I was doing the grocery shopping for one. (Ya know since my sister had a baby and all and I'm trying to be nice) 

I have some recipes but I just did my own thing this time. 

Salsa is a pretty basic recipe it just comes down to your taste.

So here is how I made it! 

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 large or 2 small onions

4 cloves of garlic

2-3 Serrano peppers (seeds out mean less heat)

2-3 jalapeno peppers (seeds out mean less heat) 

2-3 teaspoons salt

1 large tomato

1 large can of peeled whole or diced tomatoes 

and if you remember to buy it cilantro to taste! 

Throw everything in a blender and blend until it's the consistency you like. 

I don't like my salsa chunky so I blend mine pretty well. 

And then you eat and eat and eat.

And take some to work for lunch but please don't forget your chips like I did 2 days in a row. 

Do you know how sad it is to know you have salsa in the fridge but no chips to eat it with. 

It's sad people.

Very very sad. 

This is why you don't forget chips. 

Okay, go make some salsa!!! 

Quote of the Day

This quote made me smile and want to go buy a dress. 

A dress you would wear pearls with. 

But sadly I don't have the money to spend on a fancy smancy dress. 

So I'll just dream about it and try to look swell without it. 

Saving the Stained Dress

I have this dress. It's a fun summer dress. Simple and fun. But it was white.

So I was always a little paranoid when I wore it. Apparently not paranoid enough because when I pulled it out this spring I found a yellow stain on it. 

I was so sad! I tried bleaching it but it barely lightened at all. At first I thought it might not be that noticeable.

But it was and the dress was just too cute to throw away! So I came up with the brilliant idea to dye it. 

I had never dyed anything before so I asked some friends and did some research. I went to Michaels to find the dye. I figured they would have more color options. (Which they did.) After much debating I decided to go with the RIT brand in golden yellow. 

Now the instructions are on the inside of the box so don't destroy it when you open it. And something that's not on the outside of the box is that they recommend you using their color fader before dying your cloth. I didn't know that and decided since my dress was white it wouldn't matter. 

Because the fabric of my dress was pretty thin and there wasn't a lot of it the dye took pretty quickly. 

The instructions says to leave it in the dye for up to 30 minutes. I felt my color was done within 10 minutes.

I really like this yellow. Its a full and vibrant color but not so light you can see right through it.

Oh look its my closet without doors. 

It was really easy, with a light fabric, to get an even color in the dress. 

But my stained got dyed a darker color as well. 

You can see it turned orange here. The first assumption was that it wasn't that noticeable and I could get away with wearing it still. So I added a cardigan and fabric flower and wore it to work. I noticed the stain though and decided it wasn't going to work.

 I was still determined to keep the dress though. Thankfully my co-worker, Kathy, came up with a brilliant plan for me. She suggest putting a flower on the dress to cover the stain. 

Brilliant! 

I had a white cotton t-shirt that was pretty faded and I wasn't going to wear any more so I cut it into strips to make my flowers. I got the flower idea through dress tutorial from a blog I follow here.

P.S. I really want to make that dress too. Maybe when I have a friend who likes to sew. 

This is the flower before I sewed it down covering the stain. It changes some as you start to sew it down so don't get to set on how it looks. I uses a silverish colored thread and sewed the flowers down by hand.

Here it is after I sewed it down. 

I started off with 2 flowers and decided it wasn't enough.

Sewing down my last flower.

I didn't space them as well as I could have but I like them. I'm glad I chose white so I can add color other places with this dress.

I actually like the dress a lot better with the flowers. It's still simple but they just add that extra something. 

Before I wash the dress again I may go back and sew down the flowers a bit more. I don't want them coming loose in the wash or getting messed up. 

Wearing it at work, before I added the flowers even though you don't see that part in this photo. 

I wore a navy blue fabric flower and coral jewelry. I felt extremely colorful.

And this is Sunday at church. I didn't add the flower since I knew I would be carrying children that day. 

I love the flowers though and the way the dress turned out. 

A crafting win!!! 

Now you know how to think outside the box and save those stained items that still have some life in them. Or if you just really love it and can't let go. I may even re-stain some of my favorite black t-shirts so they look better. That was a different friends brilliant idea.

Dang, I have some brilliant friends don't I!! 

Look Who Arrived!

Remember the big news in December here. 

Well, Jordan Timothy arrived this past Friday!!! 

I'm one proud dauntie!!!! 

He is wonderfully healthy! None of the problems we were afraid are here.

He's pretty amazing. 

I love him. 

And that makes me dauntie times 3. 

Let the craziness continue! 

Insta Catch Up

I've been slacking online but I haven't been slacking with my picture taking! 

So here is the last few weeks in pictures. 

It's exciting people.

My inspired snack one night. Oreos and honeydew. 

It was seriously good. But now we're out.

Found a restaurant that makes Asian food! 

This is bulgogi. It made me happy.

I also had sushi. I was full.

This may be why I can't lose weight. 

Attic room + Summer = HOT HOT room

I put up the portable AC all by myself. This included moving furniture. 

And that says 83 degrees. Yuck! 

I ate out like every single day 2 weeks ago. 

Expensive. Except for this day. 

They gave me the Chili's chips and salsa for free. 

I love their chips and salsa. 

Hmm....I need chips and salsa now.

CVS had a new line of drinks. This one is supposed to help you focus.

It tasted yummy as for focusing me, I'll ask my coworkers later. 

Cheesecake and Strawberries for the long weekend. 

Umm...I may have had 2 helpings on Monday. 

Let's not talk about the other days.

Hard to see but I cut my finger trying a sewing project. 

I can't cut a straight line using a yard stick, measuring mat, and rotary cutter. 

I blame that on missing kindergarten. 

First popsicle of summer and the last pic of my lovely green shades. 

They sadly passed away that same night. But they were clearance so that's okay. 

This is part of a conversation I had with Siri (my phone) last week. My words are the ones in quotes. 

I love her responses at times.

Iphones rock people.

Did you know that at Michael's in their jewelry section they have charms, bracelets, etc ready to be worn or put on a chain. I recently learned this. I also learned you can get some good clearance. 

This lovely charm was $1.99. 

Score!!! Just threw it on a  chain I already had. 

Then a slightly matching bracelet for $2.99. Or maybe the prices are the other way around. 

Either way I love it.

I've been seeing stripes every where. Especially on Instagram and was very happy to find this wonderful top on clearance for $10. The stripes are navy blue and I will confess I forgot the necklace in my morning rush but tried it on to see if it would look as fab as I imagined. 

This weekend I'm on a kid duty due to very big exciting news which I shall share soon. 

Like tomorrow soon. 

But today once it finally hit 70 degrees I sat outside while the boys played. 

And dude, do I need a tan! 

That's my Insta-life!!! 

If you want to follow me on Instagram I'm maile808. 

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This is one of my all time favorite cakes. 

I got the recipe in high school from one of my close friends mother. It's the simplest recipe and was one of my favorite things to have whenever I went to their house. 

And you know I didn't take any pictures of the process. 

Oops. 

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake Recipe

1 package yellow or chocolate cake mix (any ole box cake mix)

1 small package vanilla or chocolate pudding mix (choose the opposite of your cake mix)

3/4 cup milk 

8 oz sour cream 

3 eggs 

8 oz chocolate chips 

Mix ingredients together adding chocolate chips last. Pour batter into greased and floured bunt pan. Bake at 350 degrees or 55 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar when cool.

I made the cake for a co-workers birthday. But I was nice and allowed my pregnant sister to have a piece the nigh before. :) It's even more amazing warm.

I was impatient, shocking I know, and put the powdered sugar on too soon so it did this weird melting thing. 

My breakfast at work the day after. 

It is all around delish.

 I can't make this cake too often because I will eat at least half of it on my own. 

But its an extremely easy recipe that doesn't take as long as a fully made by scratch cake. 

Enjoy!!