Happy 4th, Er, 5th of July!

We've had two late nights in a row, trying to squeeze in as much Independence Day fun as possible! Fireworks were a big hit with Owen this year (he was terrified last year). Here are some pics of the little man enjoying a snow cone that was bigger than he was!
We are off to the beach this week, so posting may be non-existant. I am going to try to fall off the grid as much as possible, even going so far as to (temporarily) delete my Facebook and Twitter apps from my iphone (gasp!). Hopefully I can survive without my daily dose of social networking. Just kidding, I am beyond looking forward to relaxing on the beach, digging into a good book, playing with my kiddos and spending time with good friends. I'll be sure to update *with pictures* when I get back. As for now, I'm off to bake an apple pie for {yet another} celebration/cookout today. Have a great week friends!

Bonus Pic of our new kitten (well really she is JACK'S kitten) Eevee. I'm afraid the poor darling was named after a Pokemon.

I just got back from the Windy City...

Well, by "just" I really mean about 2 weeks ago (gosh, has it really already been 2 weeks?!). As I'm sure I mentioned in my previous posts about 100 times, I went to Chicago for a day of mentorship with Marianne Drenthe of Marmalade Photography. What an amazing day! It was all I hoped it would be and more. Mare filled my head with so my knowledge, I am still buzzing with ideas and information! I was also fortunate enough to have my BFF come along for the ride and we spent the rest of the time sight-seeing and eating (LOTS of eating). Can I just say that Chicago should be called (if it's not already) the beef capital of the world? I'm not even kidding you - we had beef at least once every day! I already miss Chicago and can't wait to go back!

Jaclyn's Famous Oprah popcorn...

My delicious cupcake from Sarah's Bakery

My Travel Buddy

Yours Truly

Best Pizza Ever.

Best Steak Ever. We were told Johhny Depp was there the same night as us (but also told that was a joke). When we got home, I read that he WAS there (though I'm not sure if it was the same night) and that he left a $4,000 tip!

On our way up 94 stories to the top of the Hancock Observatory

Doing the el cheeso "window washer" picture that we were told we just HAD to do!

Here was my take on it after Jaclyn told me to do something interesting. She died laughing at my "cheerleader" pose :)

That is my shadow! Clearly my camerea is as big (or bigger) than my head!

This is what happens when we got totally bored after coming in around 9 pm every night...

Clearly, I am not as flexible as Jaclyn, but I do look like I have some mad ninja kung-fu skills here.

Cheers to Chicago! We were sad to go :(

This is how Jaclyn felt about our 2.5 hour flight delay!

I'll be posting some of my pics from the mentorship later today on my photoblog. So be sure to check it out:
http://www.sarahbrayphoto.blogspot.com

One Lucky Lady

Will be sporting a Chic Camera Strap Slipcover :) And that lucky lady happens to be..............................

JESSICA!

Congrats my friend! Hop on over to Heather's Etsy Shop and pick out your fave Chic Camera Strap Slipcover!

Whoa Life, Slow Down!

Geez, I have had the craziest past couple of weeks (and it's still going!). I just got back from Chicago, where I had the MOST amazing time. More details to come (with pics, I promise), but it was definitely a weekend full of enlightenment (Marmalade Mentorship), Fun and EATING. This weekend is also a biggie for us. Tomorrow is our 5 year anniversary (can't believe it), Saturday is my 29th 25th birthday :) And then Sunday, my beautiful, precious neice is turning 3 years old. Lots of fun planned.....LOTS! Anywho, without further ado.....
The winner of the thriftbooks giveaway is (drumroll):
Mama Cobb, who said:
"Sooo am I aloud to enter? :) I'm just getting back into books and like you I'm terrible at returning them. Just paid a $20 fine to the library! Eek!"
LOL, yes Ms. Cobb, you are allowed to enter and Wi-hin! Congrats Mama - I'll email ya with the deets.
Now, for a super, duper fantashtic and fun giveaway!

This week, I am giving away a Chic Camera Strap Slipcover from one of my new fave Etsy Sellers, Heather!



These slipcovers are a total upgrade from the boring ole regular strap that comes with your camera. Not only are they totally stylish, but comfy as well. Each strap cover is padded and comes with a lens cap pocket - genius!
Check out her Etsy Shop by clicking here, as she has lots more designs to choose from. To enter to win this giveaway, leave a comment below. Winner will be annouced one week from today. Happy Early Weekend, hope it's a fun one!

Penny-Wise Weekender

And you thought I was only going to post once this week, didn't you? Hahaha, I'm on a roll! Actually - this next post could be considered kind of Part II to my last post (it would have been crazy long if it was all one post). Since I'm sure all you sweet bloggies love a good deal as much as I do, I decided to give you one! every other week. with really cool stuff :) Actually, it's better than a good deal - it's FREE STUFF :)

Penny-Wise Weekender

Every other Friday, I will blog a post about fun and creative ways to save money, do-it-yourself projects & tutorials and super cool cheap and chic deals (yay!) I will also be doing a GIVEAWAY with each penny-wise post! Please feel free to email me with ideas or if you want me to spotlight your company or product (great FREE exposure and an awesome way to help out other small businesses).

The Details

Winners will be picked at random using random.org and announced on the next penny-wise post (along with that week's giveaway). You may enter to win each giveaway up to 2 times by: 1.)leaving a comment on that post; 2.)becoming a follower of this blog (post a second comment letting me know you added yourself) and 3.) linking to the giveaway on your blog, facebook, etc. (leave a 3rd comment with a link to your site).

Now for the fun stuff..........

Penny-Wise Weekend 6-12-09

One of the things I love most about summer is diving into a really great book! The only problem is I get SO into them that I finish them in a few days. OK, well there's 2 other problems actually - the bookstore is dang expensive and I am TERRIBLE about returning books to the Library!

Enter THRIFTBOOKS - an online bookstore that sells books for mere pennies (literally). Example - I just finished reading Water for Elephants (great book by the way) - Thrift Books has it on sale for $1.98! And they have a whole section of $0.01 books!

So, this weekend, I am giving away a $10.00 gift card to Thrift Books. Imagine all the books you could get for $10.00! Yay! :)

To enter to win the giveaway up to 3 times, see the info. listed above.

Happy Weekend Friends

XOXO

When Life Gives You Rice ..... Make It Do :)

Several nights ago, as I was making dinner, I *accidentally* made waaaaay too much rice. I mean, we are talking like almost 8 cups here people (don't ask) :) So, after dinner I was stuck with the dilemma of what to do with ALL this starchy goodness! Since we are trying to be thrifty, I didn't feel like I could just throw it away, but it was a lot, I mean a LOT, of rice. I ended up finding an awesome rice pudding recipe that calls for already cooked rice and a few other ingredients I already had on hand- presto! Our family loves rice pudding, so it wasn't long till it was gone, gone, gone. Anyways, this little experiment got me thinking of all the ways we could be creative with what we've got and save money. While browsing my fave blogs, I came across this little gem: http://makeitdo.wordpress.com/ This blog asks the question "Can a downturn in the economy actually mean an upturn in our resourcefulness, our creativity, and our outlook on life? This blog explores how happiness can come from simple things, and how good old fashioned hard work and resourcefulness might just be making a welcome comeback….You never know what life will bring you, and lately it’s giving a lot of us lemons. “Make it Do” is about turning lemons into lemonade." So, my dears, I want to ask you: what are some ways that you find yourself being more resourceful/creative in this economy??? I would love to hear your input!!
Oh! And just in case life (or the Chinese Food delivery man) gives you more rice than you know what to do with, Here is the recipe I found for yummy rice pudding (minus the raisins)!

Cupcakes!

Don't have much time for a lengthy blog post today, but wanted to share these yummy pics I found while doing two of my favorite things: party planning and browsing Flickr ..... (I'm multi-talented like that!) You can thank me later when you're working out hehe! OK, now I'm off to pour a bag of sugar down my throat (i kid, i kid). Happy Saturday everyone!

gold covered twinkies, anyone?
these almost look too pretty to eat (though of course i still would!) i love the embossed fondant.

more delectible beauties...

how cute would these be at a little boy's birthday?

just for fun! i'm sure these are yummy, but i can only imagine what your teeth/lips/mouth would look like afterwards :)

1. cream cheese cupake

2. gold twinkies

3. butterfly cupcake

4. wedding cupcakes

5 & 6 car cupcakes

7. rainbow cupcake

Uh Oh! Gettin' Crafty....

So, I am by no means an expert crafter lol! But, sites like this definitely inspire me to do more. I really do enjoy it and though I don't have the time to do scrapbooking *though I sometimes wish I did*, I find doing little fun projects like this really rewarding! I got the basic idea from this article out of Better Homes and Gardens. I had some cute paper on-hand from an album I was going to make for my photography bizz, so I ended up making a slightly fancier version for my mom for Mother's Day (I think she loved it!) with pictures of all of her grandbabies and some of their artwork on the back. It was super easy (well, minus the clean-up part - I LOATHE paper scraps) and took about an hour! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy :)

Easter Pictures? Late Schmate ......

OK, so I know these are WAY late, but whatever. Here are some cute pics from Easter (you're welcome mom!) We went to brunch with my sis and her crew (my parents were moving my grandparents here from MS) after church and let the sprouts run around and get crazy (cause I'm sure the baskets full of refined sugar had nothing to do with that). Fun was had by all :)

These are the sweetest little kisses

How excited does my child look to be in a picture with me? Haha, he looks TERRIFIED!

Weee! Not pictured - my apparent allergic reaction to grass, ugh.

My sis and her presh. little fam:

"Aunt Buggie" and Hen - so adorable!

Ummmm, Baby Gap models anyone??

SO seeeerious :)

I just about died when I saw this picture - how much do they look like twins?

Then, they decided *to quote Hannah* to "get naked and go in the fountain" ha!

A rare display of affection between Jack and Hannah

How cute is that little ruffled tushy?!

And lastly, a Harris-grandchildren pile-on. Oh what fun! :)