We are moving to... Go Vote

You all have throughout the weekend to vote.

I cannot wait to share with you all where we will be moving.

Where are we moving to?
Florida New York Indiana Alabama Michigan
	Results

Look for the announcement on Monday!!

Then I had a cup of coffee...

I was having a block when it came to today's post. 

That is when I normally turn to alcohol. Give me that glass of wine, martini or delicious beer.

Or I could just join Santa there in that bar.

Then it started raining outside and I started imagining snow. 

I don't want to think about snow.

This is when I went to other blogs for ideas. 

Idea number one, make a gift guide.

Or idea number two, write a post sharing holiday decorating tips.

In the end, I came up with no great ideas but I hope you all got a chuckle.

Then I had a cup of coffee and called it a day.

--

Ready for some fun? Can you guess where we are moving?

Here are your clues from Tuesday:

This place is 35 hours and roughly 2,200 miles away from where we are now.

If you were to drive, you would pass through 9 states.

This state has two time zones.

Yesterday's clues - fun facts:
The Pan American Games were played here on my birth year.
12 different stagecoach lines ran through this state at one particular time.
From 1900 - 1920, 200 different makes of cars were produced here.
The rapid fire machine gun was invented here.

Today is your day to guess. 

Where are we moving to?
Florida New York Indiana Alabama Michigan
	Results

*Don't forget, I am looking for bloggers to guest post while I am busy moving.

Let me know if you are interested via email, twitter or leave a comment below.

Repurchase or Not

I originally thought I would review each item I received in my Beauty VoxBox but then decided that could get a bit boring. So I am going to share with you whether I would repurchase the item or not.

Sometimes a review can be biased or impartial for many different reasons. However, if someone myself  is willing to go out and repurchase an item then it must be worthy.

Catching my drift?!

 Not Your Mother's Kinky Moves Curl Defining Hair Cream

I would not repurchase. I like the texture and volume it gives my hair before I curl it but I do not naturally have curly hair. Also, I cannot stand the scent of grape seed. 

EBOOST - orange

I would not repurchase as well. The price is ridiculous and I did not like the taste. 

I had Hubby try it and he thought it was pretty good but I did not like it.

 NYC IndividualEyes Custom Compact

I still have yet to use the entire palette so I am not sure if I would repurchase or not. The colors looked pretty in the swatches but a little chalky.

Bath & Body Works Mini Candle - Mahogany Teakwood

This may be a surprise to some of you but I already repurchased this item, along with many other scents. This is one of my favorite flavors because it just smells like sexy man.

Doesn't get better than a sexy many!

Vitabath Fragrance Mist - Scrumptious Vanilla Sugar

This spray is pretty typical for a body spray. The scent is a little too sweet for my liking 

but I would repurchase if I came across it in the store somewhere. 

I still prefer Victoria's Secret body mists over this one.

 
Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit

I have not yet tried these either. I probably would not repurchase these only for the fact that I have no reason to wear false lashes. I didn't even wear false lashes on my wedding day. They will be fun to play around with one day though.

Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin

I would not repurchase this item. Maybe my hair is too short, too thin, or too clean 

whenever I try these. They do not hold my hair at all.

Did you receive a Beauty VoxBox many moons ago? What did you think?

Ready for some fun? Can you guess where we are moving?

Here are your clues from yesterday:

This place is 35 hours and roughly 2,200 miles away from where we are now.

If you were to drive, you would pass through 9 states.

This state has two time zones.

Today's clues - fun facts:
The Pan American Games were played here on my birth year.
12 different stagecoach lines ran through this state at one particular time.
From 1900 - 1920, 200 different makes of cars were produced here.
The rapid fire machine gun was invented here.

Where are we moving?

The above items were free from Influenster.

*Linking up with Shanna @ Because Shanna Said So for Random Wednesdays .

Let's Get Hungry - November Week Four Meals

It's Tuesday and that means let's all get hungry. 

Time for another round of weekly meals.

Side note - before you stop following me, let me know what you don't like about my blog or why you might be leaving. It's not always a delightful sight when I log into my page and see less followers than the day before!

Chicken Kabobs

via google images

 Steak with Fried Red Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

via google images

 Baked Chicken

Source: bestlife4moms.weebly.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Grilled Pizza

via google images

 *I want to apologize for the lack of my own personal photos. After changing over my phone, I lost most of my pictures.

What are you making this week?

Second side note - I am looking for some guest bloggers while I am away looking for a new home and moving.If you have moving tips you want to share, or packing tips while moving, or house hunting tips for moving, or anything to do with moving or searching for an apartment, condo or house let me know. I would love to share your information on my blog!

Ready for some fun? Can you guess where we are moving?

This place is 35 hours and roughly 2,200 miles away from where we are now.

If you were to drive, you would pass through 9 states.

This state has two time zones.

Do you know yet?

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving to you, my friends!!

May your day be filled with family, friends, happiness, and full bellies.

Yesterday I shared with you my meals for this week and that included our Thanksgiving meal.

I have several requests for the recipe I use for Garlic Parmesan Crunchy Green Beans.

So I am here today with the recipe for you, just in case you are in need of another side dish!

Garlic Parmesan Crunchy Green Beans

Adapted from In Good Taste's Recipe

(Serves 10)

Ingredients:

• 1 Garlic Clove
• 5 ounces cubed French Baguette
• 5 Tbs Unsalted Butter
• 2 Tbs grated Parmesan Cheese
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 2 1/2 lbs Fresh Trimmed Green Beans
• 1/2 tsp Ground Pepper

Directions:

• Steam green beans for about 5 min or until crisp-tender over medium-high heat in a large saucepan filled with water.
• Drain green beans and add 2 1/2 Tbs butter, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper then set aside.
• Add garlic and bread cubes into food processor and pulse until coarse.
• In large skillet melt 2 1/2 Tbs butter and add breadcrumb mixture. 
• Cook 12-14 minutes or until crisp golden brown then remove from skillet and let cool for 5 min
• Add Parmesan cheese and 1/4 tsp salt.
• Add breadcrumb mixture to green bean mixture, toss then serve

I hope everyone has a great day!!

November Week Three Meals

Yay for the week of Thanksgiving! I love being able to eat any and everything this week just because I can. There are no rules this week except to enjoy oneself. 

I wanted to still share with you all our meal plans for this week as well as what we will be eating come the big day - Turkey Day!

recipe found here

Leftover Turkey Shephard's Pie Casserole

recipe found here

Tomato-Basil Stuffed Chicken Rollups

recipe found here

And now for Thanksgiving Day!

Turkey

my recipe - image via google images

Sweet Potato Casserole

image via google images

 Garlic Parmesan Crunchy Green Beans

image via google images

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe found here

What do you eat on Thanksgiving?

Embarrassed Arse Escapes

Last week while my Mom was in town, we did a little wine tasting.

Okay, maybe a lot of wine tasting!

We both enjoy a glass of wine or two or three and my Mom has never been to California wine country. So, immediately after she got off of the plane I took her to one of our favorite tasting rooms.

It just so happens that I had my bimonthly wine club to pickup as well. 

What more of a reason to stop in there.

After our sixth tasting plus a few extras in there, I informed our sommelier  that I needed to pick up my wine club as well. He asked my name and looked it up in the system to pull the correct wines from the shelf. 

Let me remind you that my Mom was in town for a week and wanted to purchase some wines to enjoy at home. It made the most sense to ship a half case rather than her trying to fly with them. 

I started filling out the mailing sheet with first Purchaser - Me and then Receiver - my Mom.

I handed the form back to the sommelier to complete the order. 

He looks at me with a questionable look and I look back at him. 

He says, "I thought you said your last name was Anderson but you wrote Kroll?".

Oh Ehm Gee as I start to blush.

My maiden name is Kroll while my married name is Anderson - I have been married for over a year.

It could have either been the wine or that I was writing my Mom's name and mistakenly wrote my maiden name as well. Either way I was mortified by so thankful that the Hubs was not there.

We got that whole story straight with my new friend that probably thought I was trying to pull a fast one on him. Thankfully he completed the transaction quickly so I could get my embarrassed arse out of there.

Always Be Overly Prepared

If you knew me well you would know that I like to be overly prepared for everything.

I over pack whenever going anywhere.

I always plan out my weekly meals before going grocery shopping so I have all ingredients.

I always have backup toilet paper in the closet as well as two extra rolls in each bathroom.

I have a backup bag of dog food for the puppy.

I also have backup poop bags for the puppy's leash.

I like to plan out itineraries before traveling anywhere.

I plan out my blogging posts in a calendar to keep on track with about a month worth of posts.

Lastly, I order my Christmas cards earlier than necessary.

Okay - this post is starting to head in a different direction than I anticipated.

What I was trying to get at is that I have already ordered my Christmas cards and addressed them.

Seriously, all they need are stamps!

 I thought it would be fun to give you all a little sneak peek before anyone else sees my lovely holiday cards. 

But first, let me show you what we did last year.

Hubby and I got married Sept. 2011 and thought it would be fun to include one of our wedding photos since not all of our families were able to attend our big day.

I also moved out to Cali after the wedding and thought it would be nice to let 

family know that they are not forgotten, even on the holidays.

We like to stick with postcards because VistaPrint offers great deals on them and they are 

cheaper to mail out. Call me a cheap-ass, because I might just be!

 Are you ready for a sneak peek for this year's holiday card?

But wait, that's not it!

What do you think? Ha - I am so, so cruel!

You will all have to wait until December sometime if you want to see the full thing.

When do you start ordering and addressing your holiday cards?

Creatures of Habit

This week I may have no surprises for you when it comes to our meal plans. 

Can we eat Cajun Chicken Pasta enough? We are just creatures of habit.

It has been extremely cold here and I have just been snuggling up on the couch with my puppy. That means, our meals are nothing spectacular.  Nothing is better than making a delicious, one skillet meal.

recipe via

recipe via

Do you have any meals that are a must try? You should definitely share that with me!

Whine or Wine?

Happy Monday everyone!

Last week I was away from my little blog-land while my Mom was in town visiting.

She had so much fun dining out, wine tasting, visiting the Pacific Ocean, going to San Fran and Alcatraz. We did so much and I want to share it with you all but I do not want to bore you.  

Plus all the pictures are not on my camera so I have no actual proof. Major fail!

I do want to share some of the photos from Alcatraz. Remember when we went a few weeks ago?

Well, we were only able to visit the cell house due to time constraints. 

So Hubby and I were delighted to go back while my Mom was in town.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in San Fran. The temperature was in the upper 70's and we were greeted with a clear blue sky. As clear as you can get in San Fran.

My Mom and I

Some of the buildings just look amazing - all weathered and worn.

I cannot believe that we missed all of this on our first trip to Alcatraz.

I always love looking at new plants and Alcatraz is a home to many exotic plants for the US. 

After walking and walking in the beautiful sun, we found this.

I want this bad. I don't know what I would do with it but it would look gorgeous somewhere.

It was outside what is left of the Warden's house. I don't know if it was from the imprisonment times or the army times or from someone else - but I want it.

Of course, what would be a post full of photos without a picture of the Hubby and I?

I still cannot get over how nice the weather was for the beginning of November.

California really knows how to treat out of state visitors.

How was your weekend?