'Golden' Summer // Eleanor Grosch

Last summer, I was lucky to stumble upon the works of Charley Harper in Asheville, North Carolina. I absolutely love everything Charley Harper has created! Like anyone reading this blog after much Internet browsing I stumbled upon Eleanor Grosch. From her website I saw that people actually compare her to Charley Harper - how wonderful!! After a recent remodel to my living room walls I am in need of some new art and that is where Eleanor Grosch comes into play for me. I love love love my golden retriever, Dixie, so it was an easy choice for me to select her "Golden" print for my summer gift to myself. 

Happy Shopping! 

Lucky Enough.

I was lucky enough last weekend to be able to venture up to Oklahoma over Memorial Day Weekend. This past weekend my mother was telling me a story of when I was a child... during harvest one year I was out on a pickup with my grandfather and he was telling me that wheat was more than just wheat it was money. When my mom arrived, I was quick to inform her while waving the wheat in the air, "Money, Money, Money!" I have wonderful memories of being in Oklahoma as a child - eating watermelon on the back on the pickup truck, calling the cows in, driving for the first time - a 69' Mustang... I am lucky enough. I wanted to share a picture from this weekend of harvest - may you have time to relax and reflect on childhood memories as we get closer to SUMMER! 

Happy Harvest,

Nearing the End of the Month

Sorry for the delay - the Memorial Day Weekend threw me off, what day is it?! 

Well. It's been a month of spending $20 a day and if anything it's a wake up call! I need to continue to spend less and save more. The method of spending $20 a day that worked the best for me was having $140 of cash at the beginning of the week and not spending a penny more. I am going to try to carry on my method of cash spending, instead of spending on any cards. I never want to give away my cash - there is something to having cash that makes you save more and spend less! 

Happy Saving! 

Weekend Wear // Memorial Day Weekend

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 As we prepare to celebrate over this long weekend - I want to share with you an outfit suited for any American holiday. This outfit is classic and comfortable! Be sure you do not forget these fun items to celebrate our wonderful American holidays! 

Sparklers

Watermelon

Anything with Stripes or Stars

Red, White & Blue Anything

Flags

Festive Music

Sunscreen

What do you never want to forget when celebrating Memorial Day?! 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! 

Baking with my Brother

After receiving an email from my brother with the following subject:

"Subject: Bread receipt that I want to make "

I knew I was going to be in for a good time! 

My brother saw this recipe on the Saveur website and immediately wanted to make it. So with the weekend coming up we quickly made plans for this four-hour baguette - knowing it'd take us much longer! Here is the great recipe that I highly recommend and make sure you have plenty of things to do in-between all the rising!  

Here is the dough in the midst of rising. 

The dough is separated ready to rise on the pain. 

The dough has risen, the two to the left rose together, a little separation was needed. 

All Baked! 

All cooled - ready for eating!

The bread was amazing!! We ate one baguette that evening then we each took one for ourselves - mine did not last long. This was an incredibly easy recipe - but - very time consuming! Start time: 2:30 Ended: 9:30 Total: 6 Hours! 
If everything else was store bought for the evening - this bread is a must!!

Happy Baking!

Tuesday Update - Coupons!

Another Tuesday is here and I have one more to go with the spending $20 a day! This week I woke up on Sunday and realized - Coupons!! Duh?! What was I thinking!! I went online and found a few coupons for the items I was planning on purchasing - what a help!! 

When I looked around online I wanted to get some ideas of the all this "Extreme Couponing" I hear about so much on the television, radio and online. I found a few websites on couponing that I wanted to share. 

Penny Pinchin' Mom

Frugal Coupon Living

Katie's Krazy Savings

Happy Savings! 

Updated: Purple Cake

After the success of the pink multi-layered cake, I was excited to get the request to make another one for a birthday. The request was nice and simple - it must be purple! After purchasing the neon food coloring pack I knew I was good to go with the purple request! 

I wanted to share with everyone another example of the multi-layered cake, hopefully tomorrow I'll have a picture of the inside as well! 

I make the "roses" by creating "C's" with the icing. 

Here is the INSIDE of the cake - PURPLE!! 

Happy Baking! 

Weekend Watching // Being Elmo - A Puppeteer's Journey

During a demo of my new Roku (thank you J&J) for my family we stumbled upon, "Being Elmo - A Puppeteer's Journey". I had no clue what to expect and I ended up being beyond inspired. This documentary was made with heart and they have you from the opening note. I actually watched it twice because I enjoyed it so much. 

This documentary truly shows genuine, "Pay It Forward" concepts. When Kevin Clash was in high school Kermit Love invited him to his studio to show him how he made his puppets. Towards the end of the documentary we get to see Kevin Clash pay it forward with a young inspiring puppeteer. You could see the light in both Kevin Clash and the young man's eyes as they worked together - very inspirational! 

I highly recommend taking the time to watch this documentary with your friends, family, neighbors or whomever you would like! 

Happy Watching! 

Knowledge is Power - Pink

As a part of my "29 List" which seems never ending these days... I included keeping my nails painted at all times. 
While I have not mastered the skill of painting my nails - I have mastered the skill at relaxing and allowing someone else paint my nails for me. 

With inspiration from the best Floridian friend I have... I wanted to get a BRIGHT color. With a limited amount of bright colors on hand that day I went with HOT PINK - a.k.a. Knowledge of Power Pink. I got to enjoy a relaxing afternoon with my sister-in-law as my nails were painted every so bring PINK! 

A hidden task in keeping my nails painted is taking what I like to call "me time". Everyone needs some "me time" daily to sit, relax and focus on your inner self.  As hard as it is to take time for yourself - it is by far the most powerful thing you can do. 
Make sure to take time for yourself everyday.    

Happy Painting! 

May Flowers

With my "29 List", comes the monthly task of the floral arrangement. This month on my limited budget I picked up a floral arrangement from the local superstore. I wanted to keep it simple this month. On that note, the arrangement is Yellow Roses with another flower that I am unaware of what it is - sorry! 

I was excited to use my "new to me" Nambe Vase! 

Happy Arranging! 

Tuesday Update - A Little Late

Stretching the Green

This past week of $20 a day was a stretch - but my new method worked much better! 

I'll post at the end of the month the method that worked the best for me!

Happy Saving!

A Death in Hong Kong

The most questioned item on my "29 List" has been watching every Murder, She Wrote episode. As funny as it seems, I believe the show is a great mystery show and once the opening sequence ends you are wrapped up with where she is, who she is seeing and who is going to get murdered! Well the opening sequence changes from a typewriter to a computer at some point and I knew it was coming soon! 


This weekend, all of a sudden - hello circa 1993 computer!! The summary for the episode, A Death in Hong Kong, "A trader working on a merger dies at a Chinese banquet in Hong Kong."

Here is my progress so far:

Season 1 22/22

Season 2 22/22 

Season 3 22/22

Season 4 22/22

Season 5 22/22

Season 6 22/22

Season 7 22/22

Season 8 22/22

Season 9 22/22

Season 10 7/22

Season 11 0/22

Season 12 0/22

Bolded Seasons - Still in Progress

Happy Watching! 

Yellow There

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With summer fast approaching and the heat starting to rise from the concrete I wanted to reflect the sun a little. After my trip to the Fort Worth Natural Science and History Museum, I should be saying I wanted to reflect the Yellow Dwarf Star!

Straight from Nasa:

"YELLOW DWARF - Medium sized stars, like our Sun, that use up the hydrogen fuel in their core more rapidly than red dwarf." Source: Nasa

While I might be close to looking like a bumblebee in this outfit... I love the summer black dress with all the yellow accents!! Start to reflect the yellow dwarf star with yellow as we 

start to say goodbye to spring and hello to summer!!  

Happy Reflecting! 

Playlist - Dallas

Source: Joseph Clements

In Dallas, I am very lucky to have UnderCurrents on kxt (91.7). I find myself pulling over to use my Shazam Application on my iPhone in order to make sure I remember the artist and song. Here are three songs I've heard recently that have been relaxing and escaping. 

Tracey Thorn - You Are a Lover

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die

Mushaboom - Feist

Happy Listening! 

12. Take Pictures Daily with Instagram - Create Book - Update

I have been working on Instagram almost daily - sometimes it is almost midnight and I'm swiftly looking around to photograph something. I wanted to give all my readers an update on some of the pictures I have been taking on Instagram. 


12. Take Pictures Daily with Instagram - Create Book

Happy Instagraming! 

Thumbs Down

Week one of $20 a day was difficult.

I am ready for this week with a new plan of attack. 

Wish me luck! 

Happy Saving!