set those clocks back

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Don't forget to set your clocks back on Saturday! I'm so excited about an extra hour of sleep. I could definitely use it. I'm at home today trying to fight off something. Hopefully it's just a cold. I'm drinking a lot of russian tea today and I know that any extra sleep that I can get will help too! Have a good one.

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stillness

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7

I took this picture at my parent's house the other night and it reminded me of the verse above. Life just gets so crazy and noisy sometimes. It's refreshing to be reminded that we need to be still before the Lord.

PaperVeil

I was driving by a store the other day and on the window it read 'Christmas in 10 weeks'. I know it's less than that now. I love the Christmas season, don't get me wrong, but seeing that made my stress level go up a bit. Now is the time though to start thinking about gifts and I have a practical, unique, and beautiful idea for you.

My friend Alexa Adams, who designed my wedding invitations, has started her own custom design company called PaperVeil. She specializes in wedding and stationary design, but has branched out a bit too. Her latest design is a custom 2010 calendar. You can order a customcalendar which can include your own birthdays, anniversaries, etc... or you can order a standard calendar that includes just national holidays. There's a print-it-yourself option also.

These make great Christmas, birthday, shower, client/co-worker gifts. Who doesn't love a unique and personalized gift? I know I'm going to order some (family, close your eyes).

Custom: $28

Standard: $18

Print-it-yourself: $8

You can order a calendar today by going here or by emailing Alexa at paperveil@gmail.com.

PaperVeil website coming soon! Stay tuned.

chicken pastina bake

This is a great dish for any night of the week. One of my best friend's mom gave me this recipe. She is a fabulous cook and I hope I'm half as good of a cook as she is one day!

What you'll need:

1 cup any small pasta (I used penne - that's what we had at the house)

2 tabs. olive oil

1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1 in. cubes)

1/2 cup diced onion

1/8 teas. minced garlic

1 can diced tomatoes w/ juice

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1/4 teas. kosher salt

1/4 teas. pepper

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Bring pot of salted water to boil - cook pasta as directed, then drain

3. Put olive oil in saute pan over med. heat. Add chicken and cook 3 min.

4. Add onion and garlic and stir - cook until chicken is cooked through (5 min.)

5. Put the chicken mixture in with pasta. Add tomatoes, mozz. cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and stir.

6. Put mixture in a Pam sprayed baking dish (8x8x2)

7. In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over pasta mixture.

8. Bake at 400 for 30 min.

9. Wash all your dishes while it's cooking so you don't have to worry about it after dinner.

Enjoy!

no rings please

I'm quite the stickler at my house when it comes to using coasters. What a cute way to keep rings off of your tables!

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center of attention

Having a party or friends over for dinner sometime soon? These centerpieces are an easy way to dress up any table.

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Weekend recap

Why do weekends go by so quickly? Mine was great and I hope yours was too. We headed up to the NC mountains to see the fall leaves, spend some time with my family, and eat good food of course.

The weekend starting off very relaxing. My mom decided to treat my sister and I to hot stone massages for my b-day here. They were amazing. You need to treat yourself to one too.

I spent the remainder of the day hanging out with my super cute niece and my family. We drove around the mountains to check out the leaves and we even saw a little snow.

Saturday night, the whole clan headed to Artisanal in Banner Elk, NC. The food, wait service, and atmosphere were all incredible. I would definitely recommend this one!

After sipping on some apple cider and walking around Blowing Rock for a while, it was then time to head home. Ahhh! Welcome Fall.

happy weekend folks

We are heading up to the mountains this weekend to hopefully see some of the fall foliage and celebrate mi cumpleanos. They are calling for some snow in the Boone/Blowing Rock area. Craziness! Anyways, I hope your weekend is wonderful. I'll leave you with some photos of Cow Rock Cottage located in Cashiers, NC. It was voted as best new cottage here. It just screams autumn!

rock, PAPER, scissors

Wouldn't you love to give or receive a gift wrapped in any of these? Don't forget to top off the gift with just a little raffia.

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Leighton and the Great Pumpkins

This is my sweet niece Leighton. Grammy and Grandaddy (my parents) took her to a pumpkin patch near their house and she loved it. I can't believe how much she has grown. She'll be a year old in November. I could just squeeze those cheeks all day!

Bright-siding

Have you heard of this term? I first heard about bright-siding on Good Morning America (my morning news) a couple months ago. Bright-siding is purposely bringing a cheery atmosphere into your life. This may mean wearing cheerful colors and or painting a room with bright colors. The thought behind bright-siding is that you may not be able to control some of the negative things going on in your life, but you can change your outlook on it. I believe that in order to have a truly joy-filled life, our great God needs to be at the center of it. Also, surround yourself with positive, Godly friends.

These bright colors definitely help too. Go be a Brightsider!

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Don't have time to carve your pumpkin?

Then paint it.

All you need is:

Painter's tape

Metallic gold spray paint (I bought mine at Walmart)

And a pumpkin

Step 1: pick out your pumpkin (we got our pumpkin at the pumpkin patch pictured above)

Step 2: cut out polka dots on the painter's tape and place them on your pumpkin

Step 3: spray paint the entire pumpkin

Step 4: let it dry for about 10 to 15 minutes, then take off the painter's tape

Tada! I love this little shiny addition to our porch.

Slippers

Today seems like a perfect day to put these on along with some comfy jammies. Someone please tell my husband that Christmas is right around the corner:)

Russian Tea

There is a chill in the air now and this calls for something warm to drink. Russian tea is a must have for me throughout Fall and the Christmas season. It is my nightcap, but it goes well with breakfast, an afternoon treat, or dessert too. Not only is it tasty, it is also packed full of vitamin C. I'm hoping that drinking this will help keep the flu/H1N1 away from me. Be assured though, that if I do get the flu, I may skip out on the Russian tea and go straight to mixing hot whiskey and the leftover lemonade mix together :) Stay healthy this season and enjoy your tea!

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups of original Tang

2 cups of sugar

3/4 cup lemonade drink mix

1/4 cup instant tea

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

Put 3 tsp. of the mix and warm water in your favorite mug and enjoy!

Fill up mason jars with the Russian Tea mix.

They make great gifts.

October has arrived

It's time to get those mums out. Mums are not one of my favorite flowers, but for some reason when autumn rolls around, I like to have them on my front porch. They just brighten everything up. Don't forget to water them daily and pinch off the dried up blooms so they will last through the whole month.