notebooks and conversation

for the next few weeks, I feel like I'm going to need about a BA-zillion of these little beauties. well, okay fine. at least one! I stumbled upon these sweet little darlings just a moment ago and just had to share. these hand made covered note books are so pretty! and can be found & purchased here. as a firm 1000% list/note book/paper fanatic, this is right up my style. anywho, things are going to get a little stressful for me in the next few weeks. i realized today that the relief society activity is next week. did you hear that?!? NEXT. WEEK. and then to add to my plate of planning, my nephew was in this week from myrtle beach for a short visit and we discussed his upcoming/fast approaching 8th birthday. i was hoping to steer clear of having to plan a party and worrying about entertaining 20 something kids. notice i said "hoping". the conversation went like this.

me: hey you not-so-little-anymore-stinkeroo, don't you want to have just a nice, fun, just family, party and day at the water park for your birthday? i'll even make Darth Vader cupcakes?
(praying that sealed the deal)

nephew/stud: no. {said very firmly}

me: but what if we spent the entire day riding all your favorite water rides and topped off the night with mini putt put and fireworks on the boardwalk?
{I don't know about you all but that was a pretty killer deal}

nephew/stud/being a stubborn stinker: but it's MY birthday. my 8TH birthday! what about my friends? {said while rolling on the floor like it's the end of the world}

me: { rolling eyes...walking away}

dear myrtle beach. can we make some killer deals on birthday party attractions? like asap? wait. what was that? you want to charge me $30 dollars per child at the water park?
ARE YOU INSANE?! well guess what, i'm not! no, thank you.

dear tierra. guess you better get cracken on that planning!
................................................................
ps. just incase you might be wondering.
no, were not taking him to the beach for his birthday.
he lives there.
and yes, i am jealous of it every single second.minute.day of my life that my brother of all places, got lucky enough to find a job {he's a WAY boring PGA golfer} at the beach. we are going down for a week for my nephews birthday. we are not crazy people taking a child to the beach just for his birthday. just FYI.

Halloween ParrrrTay

In the words of my 7 yr. old nephew..."You gave a wicked party Tierra"
Yes. My nephew says words like "wicked party" CRACKS ME UP I tell ya!
Friday night, I gave a little Halloween party for Angelus and friends.
Poor little Saylor was the only little girl and all I got to say is "boys will be boys" *sighs*
Throw in some food, friends & cousins and one big candy filled pinata and you got yourself...."One Wicked Parrrrtayyy"



I made my own goody bags this year! Courtesy of good old Martha.com



Not to mention but I've been DIEING to find a reason to make these
Martha Stewart Tissue Pom Poms! SO Easy.



If you need food suggestions for a Halloween/Fall get together...
I suggest just keeping it simple and doing just a few things but yet RICH in taste!



Chicken salad croissants but give it a fall twist
and add glazed pecans and deep plum seedless grapes.



Apple Slices and Carmel Sauce can do NO wrong but be every so rich and sinful!
Hint: If you soak your apple slices in Sprite or Sierra Mist, they wont brown!

I found my mothers recipe for easy apple cider and course I'm all about a party drink let me tell ya! Just fill a crock pot with apple Cider set on HIGH {I prefer Target brand} Add 7 small cinnamon sticks, 1 tbs. All Spice, 1/2 cup of Sugar, and 3 tbs. cinnamon sugar and slice one orange for an every so delightful Brew!

Jackson with his BIG BLUE eyes, hanging out with Mr. Ghost before the boys rip him to shreds!

You gotta love decorating sugar cookies!

Jenny's cracking up, Jackson got a death grip on her hair, and Justin's got this look like he has NO idea how Jenny got green icing on her face!

"I'm gonna take you dowwwnnn"
Remind me next year how MESSY pinatas can get!

See what i mean? Boys will be boys!!!

Not only did the boys bust it, they made sure Mr. Ghost was LONG GONE!

The Gang except missing the two Jackson's.

A BIG thank you for sweet friends and family! It had been a stressful day but turned into a great night! After the party, we "older" cousins went back to the pumpkin patch and did the night time Haunted tour that took 40 minutes and spanned over the haunted house, haunted dairy farm, haunted barn, and haunted corn maze.
All I got to say on that is it's SO NOT COOL to be chased by a chainsaw through a corn maze at night with screaming girls! And mud. Not cool at all!

Alexa's Bridal Shower & Recipe

Alexa, my other fabulous cousin is getting married at the end of August. Can we say "kill them now" to Carrie & Alexa for pretty much having their weddings back to back?!?!? I mean srsly. What's a girl to do but TWO showers, TWO dresses, TWO new pairs of shoes? I'm tellin ya, it's such the tizzy. LOL Okay. I hope you here the sarcasm crap in that speech but I LOVE them both and my whole childhood/growing up/seen every crap stage/lowest cry moments are all wrapped up with these two. Therefore, i was happy to do it! LOVE YA!

Anywho, today was Alexa's bridal shower and the color theme was complete opposite of Carries.
You can see her shower by clicking here. For Alexa's shower it was all about black & white with a POP of red. Scarlet red. Oh how i LOVED this color scheme.



The invite. My FAVORITE invite I've made yet!



The bride to be. Well sorta--haha Alexa!



Notice the candle holders? They might look familiar LOL because I used them at Carries only they were hot pink! But, we all agreed we LOVE like ADORE them in the red. Yep, I'm vain enough to admire my own creation. I can do that you know.




Reminds me of Twilight. Red/Black theme though Alexa hasn't a clue what Twilight is about.



Carrie & me were talking today and we decided that I'm a punch aholic. Only without the alcohol part. I'm always expanding my punch recipes so with Alexa's I found this OUT OF THIS WORLD Strawberry Daiquiri Punch recipe. Not to mention but uh...it color coordinated perfectly!

Strawberry Daiquiri Punch
1 bag of frozen strawberries
2 cans of frozen limeade mix {though I say only use 1}
3 cans of frozen strawberry daiquiri mix
2 2liter sprites chilled
3/4 cup of pineapple juice

In punch bowel combine limeade mix/ daiquiri mix/ pineapple juice and pour your first 2liter of chilled sprite. Add frozen bag of strawberries on top to add decor and as a supplement for ice.



I had so many cups of this. I had to go the bathroom SOMETHING FIERCE after the shower!

And of course I ALWAYS do favors...I came up with this WAY cute idea of giving out a little bag of Oreo cookies. It color schemed SO WELL. There was so many people there that I ran out!

And Hailey...out of all the food we had She went right for her bag of Oreos.

I think though for awhile...I'm CLOSED for all Bridal shower business. But wait...you wanna hear a really funny joke that's not really a joke? My Other...other cousin Melanie SHE'S GETTING MARRIED IN OCTOBER! I'm tellin ya people, it's apparently wedding season in my family in my DEAR FUTURE LATE HUBBY didn't get the memo!

Lingeire Shower {No "P" Pictures}

First, I just want to say Thank you to everyone who commented for your honest answer on previous post. To Suzanne...I especially want to say thank you for your honesty and heartfelt comment. You pointed out something that i didn't even think about and I appreciate it beyond words for the enlighten meant. {{{Net Hug}}}

So, after what Suzanne pointed out in the comments...I did NOT want to attract any sicko creepers.

Therefore NO P pictures.

I just want to post that first to know me is to know that I would NEVER place myself or surround myself with people who would lower my standards. Last night was great fun and despite the penis cookies {I fill SO 13 writing that word in a whisper} it was the only thing "risque" and I found it HILAROUS. They were totally UGLY and funny at the same time.

Carrie received some cute things for their honeymoon and I am so happy and excited for her!

21 days everyone! BTW the top picture of the bag with the zebra print bow was mine. What was it it you ask? .....Wouldn'T you ladies like to know {Wink}

Bridal Shower & Recipes

Carrie's shower took place this past Saturday and PHEW!!!!!!! is all I got to say.

Okay, well also that it turned out VERY lover-ly.

One shower down and one more to go.

We had such the crowd at Carrie's house and I want to send a major shout out/thank you to Jenny B. for staying over with me and Carrie and working just as hard to help us out.

The only bummers is that

A} I WISH I took more pictures of family shots with Carrie but everything was just going by so quickly and making sure enough food was out etc...that your mind wonders and photos get pushed to the "no-go"

B} Somebody needs to give my computer a spanking & "talksie" because AGAIN it wont let me upload the video I did of Carrie growing up that I showed at the shower.

And C} The florist we went through was SO tacky and lousy that that's all I'm gonna say cause I'm getting mad all over again. POO on them!

The invitation sent out {address/number whited out for creeper control} and the picture of Carrie below was inserted with it.

We or should I say Carrie {I'm too short to reach LOL} worked so hard on hanging the white lanterns I picked up at Dollar tree months ago for 50 cents.

I at least handed the tape and gave advice :)

I wanted to showcase some of the many engagement photos of the lovely couple, So on small marble side tables around the room I displayed this every so cute setup.

The limes, limes, limes part. We loved it and SO easy to do.

Oh the food... the food! And also...one small advantage of not having your mother dearest around is that you don't have to ask for permission to spray paint her huge gold candle stick things hot pink!

Spinach Dip. This was mine and Carries first time making it and it's SO easy. At the bottom after pictures is the recipe requested from face book.

Our family FAVORITE that made us think it's Christmas. Mini Cheesecakes. Ummmm so good. And then our summer favorite mini fruit pizzas.

Southern comfort Punch. Okay "funny" haha- ditsy story that my cousins shall never let me live down is that last year when I was searching a good punch recipe on good old Martha.com

I came across this FABULOUS punch called "Southern Comfort" punch.

Now, me...being the doesn't drink person just thinks "How cute is that name!" "This IS the south so it must be an old southern recipe that I've never heard of."

Alright, so HOW was I to know that this is called that because "southern comfort" is an alcoholic drink?

So by request again at the bottom of pictures is the recipe to the "clean non-alcoholic" newly named "southern punch" recipe.

Suckas!

Yes. I ENVY this apron. Hey Alexa! Ya wanna order this for me too at Christmas? Birthday?

The table after everyone was gone and it's all cleaned up. Too cute I tell ya!

Carrie advertising the favors. Wal-Mart had strawberry and strawberry kiwi smackers chap stick on sale. And you know me, I just couldn't resist giving these out as favors.

How adorable is this picture? Girlie happiness in a bowl is what I say.

Spinach Dip
1 package of Frozen spinach
1 16 oz. sour cream
1 cup mayo
1 dry package of vegetable mix
Cook frozen spinach till boiling. Then cover & simmer for 8 minutes. Drain well.
Mix all ingredients and spinach and let chill 4-to 8 hours. Serve w/ wheat or Italian bread.

Southern Punch AKA Southern Comfort without the real "Southern Comfort"
2 frozen lemonade drink mix
1 frozen orange juice mix
1 1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 liter of sprite
1 navel orange.
1 Lemon
1 cup of coconut to sprinkle on top
Put the frozen drink mixes in first. Add pineapple juice. Then Sprite on top till the top of the bowl --you may not use all of it. Cut navel orange/lemon into slices. Place as floating top. Sprinkle coconut on top to finish if off. Repeat to refill.

As I said at the top. One shower down. One more to Go! Yay for Alexa!

PS. Have you voted on my poll yet?
It's coming up soon as a post and I will be allowing comments...So VOTE!

Twilight Par-TAY!

Twilight Twilight Twilight! ! !

Hot Dang it is in Da-HOUSE! Yeah, Baby! ! ! Okay...Tierra doing her...{{{breathe}}} calm down voice LOL SO...Hi-dee Bloggers...As you know I had a Twilight Party! This week, I have worked my butt off for this party and I am SO HAPPY it was a success! The "Thank You's" are ENDLESS! First...Kristy, thank you for opening up your home and letting me have the party there. Amber F. for bringing those "oh so sinful" cookies...Do you have any left??? Stephanie thank you for doing the punch! I was so happy you came and I LOVED your T-shirt! And then THANK YOU to you all for coming. Christy & Allison, Jamie Burlette, Stephanie, Amber F. Kristy, Amber L. --Did you know Amber L. has a VAMPTASTIC twilight blog? Scroll down to my Stalking Avenue and hit Eyes of Amber. I swear, everyday...its all Twilight/New Moon news galore...LOVE it! ! ! Now, silly talkative me talked WAY to much at the beginning and didnt even think about getting pictures with everyone and the ones who wore their FABULOUS twilight shirts. BUT here is the whole set up. Enjoy!

The Invite. I wanted these to be eye catching the moment you pulled it out of its matching dark navy blue envelope. So this is the front side. What you cant tell, is that its really shiny! I wanted it to be a mini movie poster so I had them laminated to be really shiny!

Backside. Also laminated for shiny effect.

The Set Up. I went all out and found these damask plates/napkins. With my gorgeous pictures frames and twilight official photos for the center. I chose the one with Edward at the piano and my favorite prom scene with blue silk underneath.

{click to enlarge both pics and see the table better}

For food, it was movie night so pizza. Duh! Then for desert, I knew I wanted these extra sinful chocolate dipped strawberries prepared by me :)

Cherie...I did it! ! ! My bloggy friend Cherie had posted on her craft blog how to make these pin wheels. SO easy! With Double sided paper I made my self with twilight written all over on one side and my color scheme dark navy blue on the other.

{click to enlarge for better view} {I was so proud of myself}

Also, I cant forget Kristy's Husband Aaron who set up all of Kristy's twilight stuff just for the party! Aaron, that was so nice and it made the night for everyone to see! Thanks! ! ! Not to mention but Aaron graciously left and gave up his home for the evening!

I am a FIRM believer that all parties done by me, is a MUST to receive a treat bag for coming.

all the ladies went home with these cute little bags.

Inside I gave everyone a full Hershey chocolate bar with a new twilight wrapper! The second pic below the first shows the back of the candy bar. I thought Chocolate vs. twilight..."Can you resist temptation?"

Also, I am a big chap stick freak at work and I got to thinking that, I for one would LOVE to be rockin some twilight chap stick! So in the bag was a tube a chap stick with a twilight label made by yours truly saying "a taste of forbidden fruit"

After the movie was over and everyone was starting to leave, I realised I had NO photos with anyone! What the heck?!?! So I pulled Kristy-- my co-host and at least took a quick pic with her. I LOVE her! She is truly a Best friend. Not to mention but a Twilight-Edward Lovin- fanatic-Buddy!
{lookie there Edward is in all his stern hotness in the back! then stupid dead James at the bottom..that's right sucka your at the bottom HAHA!}

Thank You again everyone for coming! You made my "little" party VAMPTASTIC!