Bonfire and the wizard......

and guess who forgot the s'mores?

Yes, everyone can blame me......but I think I was most upset

what could be better that a toasty mellow

smuched between cinnamon grahams and a hunk of chocolate, or 2...

So before you judge me......we did have the bonfire in our driveway

but let me explain...............

the grass in the backyard was damp and whatnot

and to be honest, the backyard is just not my style.

I feel free in the front...........

that is all :)

So it is here that the story begins..................................

One chilly evening, a long time ago (last saturday)a few friends came together for a bonfire. It was to be a night of friends, s'mores, fire, and bon. (bon?.... yes bon)

[minus the s'mores]

As we were all getting ready to sit aside the fire, a bum came near and started dancing around our fire. He called himself Moth Man.

While some of our friends debated on stopping the moth man, the rest of us watched in amusement.

He danced and chanted to himself until some of our friends decided to join him.

Together they sang and danced with the fire.

After their dancing grew scarce, I noticed that the Moth man had

a wand in his hand [a pretzel rod]

The next thing I new he was in the air hovering over the fire with the wand [pretzel rod] in his hand

and next thing you know, all of my friends could fly.......

Then the moth man left and we went on with our fire........

(thats it?) Yea thats all

(wow, this girl is a terrible story maker-upper)

I completely agree

we kids in Thornton are pretty classy, we burn leftover dressers that have remained on the side of our house for a few months.

My beautiful sister.....

And our fire safety for the night.... :)

OOOooo poor moth man...

Who doesn't love bonfires? or am I just a pyro.....

T-shirt Quilt

So I forgot to post about the quilt I finished for the fundraiser I had last weekend. I had 2 days to make it but it came out great. Although, I realized as I was making it that every time I make a t-shirt quilt I get very frustrated. I am a perfectionist most of the time and if I've learned anything its that a quilt can never be 'perfect'. [at least with me] So anything that it the tiniest bit "off" frustrates me. However, the end result is always rewarding and makes you feel good. :) This one was for a dear friend that lost her son 1 year ago. They have had a fundraiser for him since he was 1 and every year after. This year was the 20th anniversary and they wanted to do something for the special man that makes the fundraiser possible every year. So this quilt had every T-shirt from the 'Tourney for Tommy' on it from the past 20 years, including this year.

I made the quilt into a wall hanging so he can hang it in his office, and since I was told he does not have that much room, I left out the sashing in the middle so it wouldn't be so big. I think it turned out pretty good.

The woman and girl holding the quilt, that is Tommys mom, my great friend Kathy, and her daughter Mora. This fundraiser is amazing, and whats great about it is that after Tommy passed, they decided to keep going on with it and each year they give all the money to a family that needs it. It truely is a blessing. As well as a good time!

Me and Kathy

Everyone having a good time :)

dang....................my husband is hot, just sayin...haha

p.s I am a bargain junkie. That means I like to save money and refuse to pay more than I should for anything! [what I just said was a partial lie] but anyway for the most part. This whole outfit coast me $40 including the shoes! what!!? yes.

I looked for a pair of brown boots for 3 months and refused to buy them until they cost what I wanted them to cost! ha-ha. and then one day, I found them in a corner at forever 21, just hanging out all alone, looking fabulous with the $7.99 price tag.

I quickly ripped them out of the corner, said "sweet" fairly loud and ran to the register.

Now I know they are not the most quality made boots but its not like i run marathons in them. so I was pretty excited and even the cashier was jealous that she didn't see them.

Anyway, I have to cut this short. I begged my Hubbs for a treadmill for the past 5 months, so now every day that I skip using it he give me the, "did I just waste $500 look?" So i should probably get on that.

Have a good night Lovelies!

Steph

Simply amazing...

Please watch this ...

This would Look amazing......

In my living room.........................................

Oh geez... I need this.

Cupcake Day :0

Wooaah there kids, I appologize for my absence!....

I've been busy cleaning my house, keeping up on the laundry, cooking dinner for my husband, eating fresh healthy foods, running 3 miles every day, baking casseroles and cookies for the neighbors, and tending my garden.

Thats a lie

I have done nothing of the sort

But I did have cupcake day at work yesterday ;)

It was amazing as always, and you know how I know it was successful?

I walked in the side door to my office at 8am and walked out the same door at 5pm

2 pounds heavier.

Sweet

Anywho I thought I would share with you some of the lovely cupcakes that did this to me..

Monday night I went home to have a bake night with my mommy :)

[she is amazing]

This is what we made

I came across this picture on flickr and thought they were oh so cute! So we decided to something a bit similar.

We baked yellow cupcakes

Colored a can of vanilla icing with blue food coloring and spread it on

Then we put shredded coconut into a zip lock bag

added some blue food color

[shake shake shake]

Plop that on top of the blue icing

Next we took a large knife and made a slit in the cupcake and shoved in (nicely)

a Famous Amos, lil cutie, Cookie

Next we added a dollop of white icing for the eyes and topped off with a chocolate chip!

And then you are left with the cutest little cupcake in the world. Ahhh I love them!

Next we tried this S'mores recipe my mom got from someone at work. If you think you love this recipe let me know and I will scan it and send it to you. Otherwise It is too long to type and I am just that lazy :)

You start out with gram cracker crumbs at the bottom of your cupcake tin.

Add a layer of chocolate chips

Then add a layer of cake batter

[Bake]

The topping is a meringue so once it is hard enough we globbed it on top of the cupcake until it looked cute.

If you are a pyro like me you will love the next part.

Find a blow torch

The top is supposed to act as the marshmallow so they need to be toasted right?

mmmmm hmmmmmm

Brown those suckers......

So if you think they look beautiful, you should taste them, omg.

Dont tell anyone but I ate two of these yesterday. or three. whatever same thing.

And here are some of my co-workers lovelies.

Who would have thunk that a cupcake could

make an Infectious Disease office look so beautiful. lol

Red Velvet

Angel Food cake, Raspberry, and german chocalate, and yellow cupcakes.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

My lovelies

I made some pretty cupcake garland so it would feel like cupcake heaven.

It still felt like work

But it was pretty anyway

I look like a 12 year old who needs a nap

[I was up late baking, leave me alone]

Happy Cupcakes Lovelies!!!!!!!!!!

-Steph

Wind Chimes....

I don’t like em.

In fact, I am afraid of them

Ok. I do think they are beautiful and all but

they make me think of murderers and tornadoes......

This morning I woke up to what I thought was a parade of wind chimes gallivanting around my window…

and now its snowing in Chicago :(

I am afraid of

Mayonnaise

Elevators

Lotion in dot form

Uni-Brows

Shrimp

people living in my attic

Audio on the history channel

my chandelier that moves at night

What are you afraid of?

sunshine bonfires and road trips... :)

My husband has an overnight shift at the Firehouse tonight so

there is no one here to make me go to bed :)

So Im just browsing the internet world until my eyes close

[and tomorrow i will fall asleep at my desk]

Im getting super excited because the Hubbs and I have finally decided on 4 mini

vacation/road trips for this year. Yay!!

I just got my time off approved at work today

and if there is still an open Tee-pee for us when I call tomorrow...

well then Kentucky....I will see you in May.

Wigwam Village

Oooooo i can not wait to sleep in a tee pee.

How I have dreamed of this for so long...

So....."Sunshine Bonfires and Road Trips"

Oh Geeezzzz

Im getting goosebumps

Those three words just make my eyes water

Warm summers with the Sun Beaming all day

Dim nights around the Bonfire with friends and Guitars

Road Trips filled with spontaneity and magical treasures of an unfamiliar place you could see calling home.

[all images found via weheartit]

mmmmmmm I can't wait.

Are you going on any fun adventures or road trips this summer/fall?

Happy St. Patties!!!!

Ahh what a great Holiday............

Green, cabbage & potatoes, and Beer.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

We had a little get together last weekend with the fam

My Dad trying to eat my tortillas

This is my Gram, Isn't she adorable?

We have so much fun at our little family get-togethers.

I've realized since we have all grown up,

Its so amazing how relationships with your relatives change.

We are all so much closer now

We can relate to so many more things now that we are all mature.

I think It is awesome.

Family is awesome. :)

I have been realizing this with my parents and siblings lately now too.

We have always been a close family

But as we get older, We get stronger together.

I absolutely love it.

I have 3 siblings.

An older brother and two younger sister.

We are each 2 years apart.

19 21 23 25

I love them.

And as for my parents.

I could not have been more blessed.

[Thank You God for the amazing parents you have given me.]

words can't even do them justice,

Ill leave it at that. :)

---------------------------------

So every few months I like to spice things up in my place of employment.

Two years ago I held a national cupcake day and thought I would bring it back this year because Cupcakes are just

Oh So Magical!

I Love doing things like this because It puts a little excitement into the

boring work atmosphere and gives everyone a little cheer!

So yesterday I made these flyers and handed them out.

Some people were mad because of all the weight they still haven't shed from

the previous cupcake day

But most were happy.

It was fun to see everyone discussing what kind they were going to make

Or something new they were going to try.

[CAUTION]

Never host a "JUNK FOOD DAY" at work

Sounds like a great idea right?

wrong

By the end of the day we were all moving around like seals

When you just stuffed your face with

8 cucumber sandwiches

blt dip

5 servings of chili con queso

2 double chocolate brownies [with powdered sugar]

a slice of rainbow cake

3 lemon bars

and nachos?

yes nachos..

Its hard to move.

We were dragging all day, and Im pretty sure we all gained like 2 lbs.

[however, it was so worth it]

Happy Cupcakes Kids!

Can't wait to post pics of our cupcake extravaganza next week!!!!

-Steph

beautiful..

I am currently have this song on replay

in my head

in my car

on my phone

on the computer

Sorry im a bit obsessed

So here, you can become obsessed too!

Enjoy!

-Steph

Say what...

An amazing Giveaway!!

Where!!!?

Chelsea from Triumphs and Blunders of A Kooky Gal

Dont Miss out... It is amazing!!

-Steph

A few things I accidentally fell in love with..

Dear beautiful dress, I love you

Dear equally beautiful dress, I love you as well

But why must you be so expensive? :)

[www.modcloth.com]

I will own you soon because you are adorable

source

This song never gets old.

This is kind of funny but Cute, and yes its real

I need this is my houes

5,000 hand-strung acrylic gummi bears

source

I think I need this too.

and lastly. I am in love with this dress.

[www.modcloth.com]

a quilty day

I called off work today.....oops.

But I have a good explanation...

I have an order for a T-shirt quilt {it was given to me yesterday}

And its due next Sunday!!!!!

I am all booked up this weekend, and during the week is no good because of work.

So there is my excuse, I plan to knock out the quilt top today,

[if I can get motivated!]

I actually really enjoy making them.

This is one I made previously. The mother saved all her daughters T-shirts from her childhood and before she left for college, she had me make this for her. Soo cute.

I wish I would have saved more of mine.

Well I must be getting a move on, I have a coffee date with the Hubbs. Its nice we both have a day off together. But then its back to quilting all night!

P.S I am thinking of doing a giveaway soon. I don't have many followers yet, but I appreciate the few that I do have. So I want to give you something wonderful! I think you will all love what I have in mind. But I will let you know about that later!

Have a beautiful day!!!!!! It is gorgeous here in Chicago! Yay!

source

I am so in love with this picture....

-Steph

Give a what?

Soooooo......

This lovely is having a giveaway!!!!!

Danielle from The greatest show on Earth!!!

Her blog is so cute and she started a Book Club!

which I can not wait to start...

So excited!

So head over there and enter the sweet giveaway and send her some love!

pretty things

So here are just a few lovely pieces of inspiration. So pretty.....

source

source

source

source

Thats all for tonight...Long day

Loves

-Steph