A Fancy Christmas Miracle

Sunday, my pastor, Roger Nix, delivered a great message. One aspect of the miracle of Christmas is the whole "Immanuel" idea, which means "God with us". One of the most comforting things in life is when a friend can say, "me too!". When God came to earth at Christmas, he experienced the full range of the human experience, which means our God can say "me too!" He understands the complexities, trials, temptations, and heartaches of life as well as the great joys, miracle of family, siblings, and relationship. I serve a God that can say "me too".

When Micah and I went to Uganda this past summer, I found a nativity set made out of corn husks and miscellaneous items gathered from a field. I purchased it at a cafe that would go to support widows, orphans and missionaries in the area. This is my fancy reminder of Christ's humble entrance to our world. I love looking at this set and remembering God's grace in my life, his goodness and abundance to me, and that there is much more to life than just my existence in America- there are widows, orphans, missionaries, and people that fill this planet and Christ came for all of us.



The other part of Roger's message, and the message I see in my simple nativity set, is that it is us who are now responsible to be the living embodiment of Christ in the world. Not in the everyone is a deity way, but in that we can all say, "me too, I understand", and then we can help. When we pray, "Lord help my neighbor find a friend," God may say, "that is what you are there for." We are the physical hands and feet of Christ, and what better time to remember that God came to give and provide for everyone than at Christmas time.

I hope you all have a wonderful and Merry Christmas! I promise my next posts will be much more fun and fancy- full of pictures of treasure hunts, mermaid dress-up parties, and Cinderella puzzles.

Christmas Cookie Baking

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

In celebration, Micah and I baked about 12 dozen cookies last night to make yummy cookie trays for our co-workers and neighbors.



While it was Christmas Baking, it was also most definitely a night of Martha Stewart. I was wearing a Martha Stewart apron, baking all Martha recipes, and I even purchased Martha Stewart gift boxes to deliver the sweet treats in. It wasn't planned to be a night of Martha, but well, she makes the rest of us look prepared and fancy for the holidays. My favorite part was the gift boxes, and while I hope those are noticed by the recipients, I hope they most enjoy the festive cookies.

We made Mexican Wedding Cookies (on the right), Molasses Spice Cookies (middle), and a new one for me- Buttered Rum Meltaways (left). Those were particularly spicy with the addition of the dark rum and also fresh ground cloves. You will have to ask my co-workers what their favorite was. Unfortunately, Martha Stewart no longer has the recipe online that I used for the Mexican Wedding Cookies as I pulled it off a few years ago, but click here to view one that is similar.

So, here are a few more pictures of the final product.




All in all, I think it was a fancy success and I hope our co-workers are more merry as a result.

Jessica Simpson Loves this Blog!

In honor of my blog, Jessica Simpson has released a new fragrance, "Fancy". I am truly touched by this latest notion of friendship from her and in reciprocation, I wanted to share the details of this new perfume with you.

Fancy is described as, "This fresh, youthful fragrance opens with an energizing burst of pear, apricot nectar and red fruit, leading to a delicate bouquet of gardenia and jasmine intermingling with distinctive notes of almond, caramel and vanilla creme."

Now, even if what you are wearing one day isn't so fancy, you can always smell fancy. And with a description like the above, how could it be anything less than fancy!?

DogHouse

A girlfriend forwarded this video to me and I thought it was hysterical! Partly because my husband said I ruined his surprise by suggesting after the baby we join the really expensive cross-fit personal training gym in town, to which I replied, "isn't that like getting me a vacuum!?" So, to all the well-meaning husbands, and to women that want a good laugh, enjoy the video. Click here to view.
(I couldn't figure out how to embed it)

Fancy Vocabulary

So, I have taken a brief hiatus from cooking, and crafting, mainly because, well I have morning sickness all day long- also known as pregnancy! Since I only have a few readers so far, I don't feel too exposed to announce this, even though I am only a little over 7 weeks pregnant. I have known for about 3 weeks, and wow has my life changed already! My body, my diet, my schedule - everything! Even though it is largely all I want to eat right now, it is hard to find Taco Bueno party burritos fancy, so that is the reason for the hiatus in posts - my dear fragile state of pregnancy. I find it has limited my brain power, as well as my energy level to actually create and enjoy some of the fancies I usually find all around me. But, in an attempt to keep looking, I am writing a promised post from a while ago - fancy vocabulary words. I hope to be able to use these more and more. Let me know if you have any fancy words you like to throw in now and then too!

lothario • \loh-THAIR-ee-oh\ • noun
: a man whose chief interest is seducing women
Example Sentence:
Marie denounced her ex-boyfriend as a conniving lothario who liked to play the field but who had no interest in making a real commitment.

Croquembouche \cro- cam-bu-sch\ noun
:A croquembouche or croquenbouche is a French dessert, a kind of pièce montée often served at weddings. It is a high cone of profiteroles (choux filled with pastry cream) bound with caramel, and usually decorated with threads of caramel, sugared almonds, chocolate, flowers, or ribbons.
Doesn't that just sound delicious!? Here is a picture for you to enjoy too of this decadent dessert.

loquacious \ loh-kwey-shuhs \ adjective

talking or tending to talk much or freely; talkative; chattering; babbling; garrulous: a loquacious dinner guest.

Example: "My, wasn't Cheryl just ridiculously loquacious at the fancy party!?"

Exquisite \ ek-skwi-zit \ adjective
of special beauty or charm, or rare and appealing excellence, as a face, a flower, coloring, music, or poetry.
Example: "Liz was exquisite in her new outfit from Anthropologie."

What are your favorite fancy words?

I dream of crafts

Not really, I don't actually dream of crafts. I am in this in-between place where I would love to spend more time crafting and making things, but I also have a full time job, and another one on the way (announcement coming soon). So, my spare time is picking up my often cluttered house or spent with friends instead of crafting. But, I did just see these in Ida Red's Boutique on Brookside and I thought it was a marvelous idea, and also one I could potentially easily make!

These are little hair bobby-pins to decorate your darling face and hair. I thought even a simple button could look cute glued to the end of a well-positioned bobby-pin.

(please excuse the poor image, my camera is not working so this is a lovely phone picture)

A Fancy Christmas Idea

Sorry for the long delay in posts - out of town family staying with us, holiday weekend, and then I got sick! : ( But, to bring all the cheeriness back, I am posting one of my favorite holiday gift items for your enjoyment today. I found these last year on a really fun web-site that sells rediculous but often funny gift shop type items - www.spoonsisters.com I would highly suggesting looking at that web-site for gifts (or go to uncommongoods.com for more ideas).

Being a woman, that often means dish duty after the holiday feast, unless you happen to be married to a man like my husband who voluntarily does most of the dishes (I am a BLESSED woman!). So, to protect those delicate hands and hopefully bring a little more cheer to doing the dishes, try wearing these.



One warning- husbands, do NOT buy this for your wife for Christmas. She probably won't find it endearing that you want her to do more dishes.

Butternut Squash Soup

The baby shower was a great success. The room looked beautiful, the mom-to-be was gifted with many presents evoking "oohs" and "ahhs". But, I will wait to write more until I have the pictures to accompany such a great occasion. (we did not play any baby momma baby shower games either). So, in the meantime, I will share about last night's recipe, and please excuse the ladel dribbles on the side of the bowl- not fancy, I know, but we were in a hurry to watch 24!

One of my husbands favorite recipes is this Butternut Squash Soup recipe I found in Wal-Mart once upon a grocery shopping trip. It has coconut milk, jalapenos, onions, and ginger- some of my very favorite things. So, I made a double batch last night, brought it over to a friends house and we watched the torturous show 24 with Keifer Sutherland. This time I also cleaned and toasted the butternut squash seeds to add as a garnish in the soup, and it was a delicious addition. So, here is the recipe (I lost the actual card, so this is from memory and therefore could be different if you happen to have this recipe):
1 butternut squash- peeled, pitted and cubed
1 medium onion chopped
1 jalapeno minced
1 inch piece of ginger cut into matchsticks
2 cans of chicken stock
1 can coconut milk

Saute the onion, jalapeno, and ginger with some salt and olive oil in a large pot, once softened and flavors released, add chicken stock, and squash, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the squash is soft. Then pour mixture into blender in batches and blend until smooth, adding a portion of the coconut milk at the end of each batch you blend. (it usually takes about 2 batches to blend all of the soup, so pour in half the coconut milk can with each batch). You can top with the toasted seeds, a drizzle of coconut oil, or fresh chopped cilantro. Adjust the jalapeno to taste too! I wish I had more in mine last night, the coconut oil cools it down. Enjoy this yummy winter soup! Now, I just need to come up with a raw version of it!

For the toasted seeds, I just cleaned, tossed in olive oil and a little salt and baked at 350 until crispy.

Not Just a One Trick Fancy Pony

In case anyone was confused by the amount of times we dress up in this family, I thought I would post a picture from this weekend to help clear that up and let you know it is often. I opted out of the costume this time about 10 minutes before departing for the event for various reasons (none of which were embarrassment). So, enjoy the latest picture of my oldest brother and his girlfriend, Heather, dressed up for the square dance on Saturday night.

On Sunday, we went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (don't ask me what I ordered, it was the most un-fancy entree on the menu). I heard my mom tell the same girlfriend that we all wear Pilgrim and Indian outfits on Thanksgiving day. I wish I could say Heather was that gullible because it would be another great fancy picture!

New Fancified Magnet Tutorial

I was looking at my fridge a while ago, and while we have already moved our magnets to the side of the fridge versus the front in an effort to de-clutter, it wasn't helping enough. Our magnets are a complete mixture of radio stations, hospitals, The office quotes...So, I decided I would try to make them a little more uniform. I still had fabric scraps left over from creating this wall piece in my living room that I decided I would use for this project to help tie the two rooms together.


So, I used a craft glue to adhere all my magnets to a different piece of the fabric. I put the glue on, let it harden slightly, and then pressed it to the fabric and let it dry even further on the fabric.


Then using a fabric blade that I borrowed from crafty Kristena, I cut out all the magnets and finally had uniform magnets for my fridge!



The fridge still looks a little cluttered, but that is more because of my refusal to take down pictures and pretty invitations than having anything to do with the now uniform and graphic assortment of magnets!

My friend Kristena, was working on her magnets with me. I love Kristena's sense of style, it is so old-fashioned, eclectic and charming. Here is a picture of what she created the same day.

You can see her tutorial on how she created these magnet on her blog here.

Fancy Baby Shower Ideas

I thought I would share some of my recent baby shower decoration items with you. One of my favorite baby shower ideas is the use of bottles for cups for all the guests. I do this quite often at baby showers, unless it is a couple's shower. The men don't seem quite as game to drink from them! Bottles can be quite expensive, but for showers, you just need the cheap kind- plain and clear. You can get them at resale shops, dollar stores, wal-mart and Targets. I cut a hole in the nipple so guests can use a straw to drink out of, and depending on the color theme for the shower, I also tie ribbons around the neck of the bottle.
For another baby boy shower, we had a ribbon theme throughout. We used a ribbon to tie on the ceiling and with clothes pins we attached all kinds of baby boy onesies, then we used the ribbon to help add decoration to the tables, they were on the metal flower buckets, on the tiered cake...It all looked lovely.

Baby Shower Baby Mommas

So, I have helped to throw a good amount of baby showers in my short 26 years of life already, and I have one coming up this Saturday. I was meeting last night with the other girls who are doing significantly more than me on this particular shower, but I did tell them my secret baby shower game I have been trying to develop for a while. I have not been brave enough to pull it off yet though, maybe because it is not quite fancy enough. But, I will share the loose pieces of my idea here and feel free to weigh in.
Well, I always thought it would be fun, if EVERYONE at the shower looked pregnant, not just the real mom to be! I don't intend it to go quite like this video as it would be obviously fake; I am hoping it will be a really silly game and more importantly some great lasting photos with black mail potential. Basically, each woman is given a balloon or a pillow to stuff under her shirt to look pregnant (if her shirt is too small she will be given an apron to fit it under, of course she is then required to be barefoot and in the kitchen if she is wearing an apron.)
The game, can then be one of many options I have thought about:
1. who can pop the other woman's balloons and be the last one standing with a fake pregnant belly (potential hazards: poking the pregnant woman's belly with a sharp object, balloons popping on non-pregnant bellies could still be painful)
2. who can blow their balloon or position the pillow to be closest in size to the circumference of the pregnant woman's protruding belly. (potential hazard: larger women may be quite embarrassed by the smallness of their balloons in an effort to be accurate)
3. We have a waddling contest to see who has the best pregnant waddle.
4. A speed shoe tying contest.

I told my friends those ideas last night when we were talking about games knowing it was really far fetched that I could actually get a group of women to ever participate in something so silly, but I was pleasantly surprised when Kelly said she would do that for me at my baby shower whenever that is. And she was pretty sure she could get Joan to participate as well. So, thanks Kelly and Joan for being real friends who will one day, don fake pregnant bellies.

Soon, I will post some more legitimate and actual fancy baby shower ideas.

Recipe for Cake Balls

So a few days ago, or maybe longer, I posted about Mallorie's Mud Pies Cake Balls. Well, a lovely friend and reader has a recipe for these little treats that she shared with me and I thought I would share it with you too. So, if you want to make these delicious treats, here you go:
Cake Balls
1 chocolate cake mix
1 container of pre-made chocolate icing
1 package (16 oz) chocolate bark, melted )or 16 oz choc chips, thinned with paraffin)

Bake cake in 9x13 pan according to package directions. Cool completely, then crumble into small pieces. Add container of icing to crumbled cake and mix well. Place bowl in freezer for approx. 30-45 minutes or until the cake mixture holds its shape. While freezing, melt almond bark in double boiler. Remove cake from freezer and roll into balls. Using a toothpick or dipping fork, dip balls into melted bark. Set on wax paper to dry.

*Any flavor of cake and icing can be used. Other examples:lemon cake and icing dipped in white chocolate. Red velvet cake and vanilla icing, dipped in green tinted white chocolate for Christmas.

A Chandelier Necklace

Since I just posted about one of my favorite things, Chandeliers, I thought I would add a "p.s." to that once I found this necklace that is reminiscent of a chandelier. This particular jewel of a necklace is from Anthropologie; I get the catalogue not because I purchase much of anything as it is crazy expensive, but because stylistically it is beautiful and sometimes odd to look at. Well, I found this exquisite necklace in the catalogue today and I thought it was just like a colorful chandelier for the decolletage! It is still "crazy expensive" and I could probably buy a light fixture chandelier, well at least the one from Ikea, for less than the cost of the necklace, but, it is just beautiful. Don't you agree?

Lunch of Randomness

So, Micah and I have the luxury of going home for lunch most days a week because our commute is relatively short. However, this does often mean I need a spark of creativity food-wise because I don't like typical lunch food- sandwiches. I think I was burnt out on them through high school, and then after touring where the options were either McDonalds (for the crew guys), or Subway (for the dancers). So, I just don't like sandwiches very much at all anymore and my dear husband could eat one everyday, so therefore lunch is up to me if it is not sandwiches.
Well, yesterday's turned out pretty good, even though it was relatively close to a sandwhich, so I thought I would share it. Micah and I have been making fresh cranberry, apple, celery juice in the mornings some lately, so I have a huge bag of cranberries from Sam's. So, in the Thanksgiving appropriate festive season, I chopped about
3/4 cup of cranberries,
1 green onion, and
1/4 cup cilantro, and used that mix as a topping for
tortillas, turkey, and cheese,
and then put another tortilla on top for an impromptu quesadilla. I baked in the oven for about 20 min on 400. Mmmm good!

The Lingerie Shower

Well, the lingerie shower that I was helping to host this weekend was a great success! We had so much fun together, the food, champagne, company, and gifts were all fantastic. So, here is a picture of some of the food we had- Mocha Bon-Bons are the mini cup-cake looking things (thanks Merle), cheese tray with brie, gorgonzola (my personal favorite), and a colby and sharp cheddar, with apples and crackers, chocolate covered strawberries, and mini skewers with a banana pepper, pepper jack cheese, sausage, and a grape tomatoe. I never said any of it would be healthy! One of these days I will throw a party with all raw food, but most people just don't know to appreciate the work, the genius, or the health benefits of it, so it makes it not as fun to do unless you know your guests will appreciate it.
My new favorite activity for lingerie showers is to name the bride's different outfits and then the groom gets to pick from the list of names we created for each one to pick that evening's lingerie. This should be pretty funny for the couple after they get married, especially with names like: "Hello, Mr. Darcy", "All that Glitters is Gold," and "Santa Baby."

Ode to my favorite Fancy

Chandeliers are one of my most favorite things - so glamorous and sparkly! I don't actually own one as a light fixture yet as they are typically above my allowance amount, so I instead purchased a Christmas ornament in the shape of a chandelier to hold me over. So, in honor of my new Christmas ornament, and my great affection for these sparkling fixtures, I put together a collage of some chandelier items- from jewelry and books to actual light fixtures and well, my Christmas ornament. Below is a description or link for each item from top row, left to right.
1. These books I found on another blog- www.designsponge.blospot.com. I love not only the books, but one of them chose to decorate the spine with a chandelier.
2. wow- this is a fo'-real light fixture. More info here
3. I love these invitations! They are so classy.
4. These earings are a mix between disco balls and chandeliers.
5. This is a painting done by my friend's mother. Judy is a fantastic artist, and Shelly is lucky enough to have this beautiful piece in her foyer. I obviously would love to commission her for one for my home, but then it wouldn't be so one-of-a-kind.
6. So, I could instead purchase this print, but it just isn't quite the same as the hand-painted one. But, still a great option.
7. I love Ikea. This is actually one I could afford, just not sure where I am going to put it yet. But, Ikea, here I come!
8. This is another one of my friend's treasures, but a different friend, the great Angelene! She found this as Dwelling Spaces in town, and I love it. It is so modern and also so fancy.
9. This is my Christmas Ornament Chandelier. It makes me very merry.

My Brother, The Conquistador

I was at my parents house last night when my brother found an old costume upstairs (my mom used to create costumes for stage shows and film). all of us kids have a penchant for dressing up, and fortunately, most of us still enjoy it and will still play dress-up from time to time. And now, you too can enjoy his impromptu dressing! This is my brother as a Fancy Conquistador! If I could speak Spanish, I would say something fitting.

Not to be outdone, and so he doesn't feel so bad, I am also including some other pictures of me and my family playing dress-up in the past while. Please note, only one of these photos comes from Halloween, the one day a year adults are supposed to play dress up.

I have a fancy family.

Raw Chili for a Cold Night

Our heater is not working in our house all the sudden, but fortunately I had some raw chili in our freezer to warm us right up (along with the fire my husband built). So, I thought I would share my favorite raw chili recipe. The pictures show it in a pan because I did not put it in the dehydrator for a few hours before dinner to warm it, so I warm it on the stove while stirring until about warm to the touch but not too hot to cook out the enzymes from the wonderful vegetable medley. I found this recipe online last winter so I can't credit the source any longer, but I have made my own modifications to the original recipe too as I found I like chili pretty spicy. I also discovered this does freeze well so you can make a double batch and then have dinner ready in the freezer in a flash when you want some healthy goodness.
Prep- pre soak walnuts for at least 4 hours, and pre-soak sun-dried tomatoes for at least 1 hour
Blend these ingredients (or to make it chunkier you can put in a food processor):
2 tomatoes
1/4 sweet red onion
4 cloves garlic
20 sun dried tomatoes, halved (about 1 pack)
1/4 c. raisins
3-4 tablespoons chili powder (or to taste if you don't like it that spicy)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground red pepper (also depends on taste and spice level)
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt

Add these ingredients to the blended ones:
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 zucchini, finely diced
2 ears of corn, cut kernels
1/2 red pepper, finely diced
1 cup of chopped walnuts (acts like a ground beef in texture and filling)
1 grated carrot (optional)
1 chopped tomato (optional)

Allow ingredients to set together at least 6 hours or overnight so that the spices can fully mingle. To warm (the suggested way), put in the dehydrator at 100 degrees for several hours before serving. Enjoy!

PS- i did deliver a large sample of this to a friend who somewhat made fun of me for making "raw chili", and her response was "I am eating humble pie". She loved it!

Raw Black Tar Desert Tart

As promised (if you received my e-mail), I made the Raw Black Tar Tart. Personally, I think that is a pretty horrible name for a raw food dish as it is about as appetizing as, well, tar. However, the dish itself is quite chocolately and wonderful. Normally, I am in the bizarre category of people who do not like plain chocolate very much. If you give me Godiva, it may sit in my pantry for a few months before I toss it out, unless it has caramel or nuts in it. Hot chocolate has little interest and I only eat an occasional brownie, but I have eaten a piece of my Black Tar Tart every day since I made it! (2 days) You can get the recipe here. I have been making more and more raw desserts lately for two reasons: 1. I LOVE desserts (just not plain chocolate ones), and 2. I don't feel quite so guilty about eating a raw dessert as I do a full-on sugar fest in a conventional dessert.
I will say the recipe makes a very large quantity, so I would recommend doing half of this, and using it as a chocolate sauce instead of trying to make it into a chocolate pie. I can't seem to get the crust cold enough in the freezer to truly solidify the filling of the tar sauce, where as it did solidify more in the tupperware where the coldness of the freezer was able to make it thicker. (at least that is my logic on the difference) Overall, the taste of this black tar sauce is hard to beat! I love having a fancy sweet, albeit healthy too, treat to eat. Enjoy!

Fancy Golf Shirts

My husband and I, along with some of our dear friends helped to throw and host a golf tournament to support an organization that does a lot of benevolence, relief, and Christian work in places like Uganda, Costa Rica, Mozambique, South Africa and Spain. We had about 75 golfers total, and many other companies donated great items like gift certificates, food and wine pairing at fancy restaurants, champagne, car detailing, etc. all to be auctioned off at the tournament to help raise funds.. The event raised over $10,000 which was a huge success in our opinion.

My husband and my friends, Curtis and Jessica, were also very excited about some special golf shirts to be included in the silent auction. These shirts were purportedly 100% Italian silk, Bobby Jones, really fancy golf shirts that normally retail for around $175 per. However, my husband and I decided we would only bid on the wine and food pairing or maybe the night at the luxury hotel offering. That conversation was quickly forgotten though when Micah did manage to bid on the super fancy 100% Italian silk golf shirt and a New Balance shoes gift certificate. Well, no one else even bid on the shirts but Micah and our friend Curtis and they were both lucky winners. I was somewhat happy Micah won a 100% silk shirt (my husband is not a silk or fancy kind of guy on normal occassions) so when we got home I opened his new prize only to find it felt like pretty normal cotton and nothing like silk! Sure enough it is 100% pure, American cotton! The money went to a great place, but I was a bit merciless in teasing him about his new cotton shirt. He agreed to model it for you, dear readers, and when he put it on we did find that the inside of the buttons do seem to have a little bit of silk, and not to be completely un-fancy, there are some golfers in that one inch piece of silk!

Wine and Cheese Parties Part 2

I just recently ordered this book and I am really excited about it! And, since I just posted some ideas on wine and cheese parties, this book is a perfect accompaniment! In The Wine Trials, the last third of the book is all specific wines, a description of each, and their approximate price (it varies from region to region of course). The wines they list are all wines that they did blind taste testings on, and they are wines are $15 or less and in the taste testing, they beat out wines that are $50 and over! So, this book will give great suggestions on pairing with foods, tanins, notes, pricing, and therefore will make a great wine and cheese party planning companion! (I actually ordered some for Christmas gifts this year too for some friends who enjoy wine and want to get good buys too). Enjoy!

Wine and Cheese Parties

I love hosting wine and cheese parties at Christmas time. My now husband, but then boyfriend, Micah and I threw one for friends about three years ago. We had every intention of making it an annual affair, but haven't quite made it one (obviously). So, in honor of my great intentions to have a wine and cheese party again, I am including a great place-card or title description idea. My friend, Kendra just got married in October, and at her reception she used three empty wine bottles per table, each filled with a different flower to be the centerpieces. Then she creatively used the wine corks as the bottom of for the place cards. She added the guest name and table number and glued the cards to the wine bottle corks. It gave some dimension to the place cards as well as kept the theme going of the wine bottles, not to mention the color of the wedding being a wine and bronze theme.

Polyvore

I found the link to Polyvore on another friends blog and i thought it was really fun! Basically, it lets you find images all over the web- and piece together outfits, interior design, etc. So, If I were to chose an outfit for my date this evening with my husband from the ones created, this is what I would pick:

Cake Balls

I know, the name sounds a bit wonky, but I promise, they are one of the most delicious things you can try! (I never said healthy though for you raw foodists who are reading) Mallory's Mud Pies, the cutest boutique cake shop in Tulsa makes incredibly rich tasting cake balls; it seems they are usually slightly under-cooked to make them taste closer to truffles than to a piece of cake. So, if you are throwing any parties this holiday season, or wedding, baby season (I have two in one week's time), need gifts or favors, then I would highly suggest ordering some of these. They can be so festive, personalized, and I think I already mentioned delicious.

Before and After Bathroom

When Micah and I moved in to our current home, the hall bath had not been updated since probably the early 80's. We had to do a seriously low cost renovation. So, my grandpa created some drawers for what was a vanity chair space (the door would hit you if you were sitting there though so it wasn't usable), and re-faced the rest of the cabinets. We also tore down the awkward corner cabinet that was almost on top of the sink (made it really difficult to wash your face). We ordered a white marble slab, new light fixture, and then I textured over the really horrible paint job to give us a new surface to start over with on paint! We still have some work to do in the bathroom; I plan to replace the mirror soon too and as of yet we haven't touched the tile. But my favorite part to the start of the updates in the bathroom- 1. I textured the walls myself and 2. my new fancy soap dish.

Authentic Mexican Tacos

Micah was chewing ice the other night to which I naturally took to mean he was low on iron; no, I am not a hypochondriac. So, I decided I would make something with red meat again soon and I found this recipe online. They were so simple, really dinner only took about 15 minutes and it was spicy but SO delicious. It is definitely a recipe I will be making again. This does only really feed 2 people, and I think I may do a little less oil next time too.
My next food treat- I am going back to raw and attempting to make a black tar tart. I hope it tastes better than the name sounds! I will let you know how it goes.

DIY Flower Balls

For my wedding, I envisioned huge balls of flowers hanging over-head as my husband and I exchanged vows. It was however a little bit out of our budget to have our florist create those out of fresh flowers, so I had to get a little inventive and I decided to make them myself. They turned out beautifully and I thought I would share the project with you. Since it was around wedding time I don't have a ton of pictures of the steps, but I do have pics of the finished products and the steps are pretty easy. These are now sitting on top of a dresser in one of our guest rooms, and I hope to one-day use them in a nursery. I have also since rented these out for many other weddings in the last 1.5 years and actually made some money! These can be used for so many functions, parties, events, holidays, or just for decoration. So, here is how you make them:
Tools:
stirofoam balls of any size, scissors, spray paint (in a somewhat matching color to the flowers), fishing string (for hanging), nail anchor (only necessary if you do a really large one), and optional- hot glue gun.
1. Spray paint the ball to match the color of the flowers (for peek-aboo holes)
2.. wrap fishing string around the dry ball a few times and at a few angles so that you know it will hold.
3. cut the stems of the flowers until they are only about 1 in. long
4. place a dot of hot glue, and stick the stem of the flower into the stirofoam.
5. repeat step #4 going in a circle around the flower you put in place, keep widening the circle until the ball is full.
6. Hang your new beautiful floral arrangements!

Fancy in a Google Image Search

I wanted to see what kinds of images would pop up if I did a google image search with the word "fancy", and well, here are my favorites from what I found. (from top left to right)
1. How could any deny that flowers are fancy?
2. sweet picture of a girl in a field
3. paper clips in clever shapes will make any boring paper fancy. (this specific one is especially appropriate for the commenserate apple image for teachers)
4. I wasn't quite sure what this was, but I appreciated the effort he took in getting dressed.
5. Martha Stewart is a favorite of mine, and these are some of her recent creations. You can get them in a few different colors and the make great party decorations.
6. tu-tus. Oh, how I love tutus.
7. Thrift store fabric = unlimited possibilities
8. masks
9. Apparently, alot of people agree that little girls in tutus are fancy.

Fancy Politics

If you click on the title of this post you will be directed to a link commenting on the most fancy thing I have seen this political season- the addition of holograms. My brother said it best, "Just this morning I was saying to myself, 'If there was one thing this election needs besides a MILF, an old guy, a black man, and several people named Joe, it's holograms. Good old fashioned holograms.'" The picture accompanying this post is the most famous hologram I can think of.