Chipotle Rehearsal Dinner.

My cousin Brad and my dear roommate Kathryn got married this past weekend. It was a wonderful weekend and a beautiful wedding. With my cousin being the groom, that meant that he (aka his parents) were in charge of the rehearsal dinner. My aunt knows that I love to help with things like that so she enlisted my help in the planning and carrying out of the rehearsal dinner.

They served Chipotle for the meal. Yes - I know you wish you were friends/family with people cool enough to have Chipotle cater their rehearsal dinner. It was quite the hit! We went with the Mexican theme for our decorations. I took some inspiration from none other than Pinterest and had the intent to keep the spending to the minimum. We came up with some ideas on how to make the space fun and Mexican-y while still keeping it minimalist and simple.

I asked my aunt how much she spent on the decorations (including plates, napkins, etc.) and she thinks it was somewhere around $75. Not bad, eh? Here is my inspiration and here is how we carried it out…

Lime name cards. Here is the inspiration and here is how ours turned out…

Tissue paper tassels have kind of been my thing lately. Here's how we used ours…

 Continuing with the tissue paper theme we made some tissue paper flowers for centerpieces.

And my aunt had the best idea ever of creating a cookie bar for dessert so we went with that idea and it turned out wonderfully!

The food and decorations were a hit. And more importantly it was a special night celebrating Brad and Kathryn… Ole! (Ok, that's cheesy, I just didn't know how else to end it. Adios?)

Man-It's-Been-A-Long-Time Monday!

Man, it's been a long time since I've cooked a meal at home… I honestly don't remember the last time. Today I went to the grocery store and actually bought fruits and vegetables and things to make a legit meal. I don't remember the last time I did that... I don't know where all the time went over these last couple of months… But goodness am I glad to get some of it back!

Tonight I made Gimme Some Oven's Skinny Orange Chicken. I don't really know how she can call it skinny, because it has a 1/2 cup of honey in it… But I suppose it is skinnier than most orange chicken recipes. But… Oh. my. gosh. y'all… This was one of my favorite recipes I have ever made. The ingredient list isn't too out there. Don't be scared away by things like rice wine vinegar (I'm talking to you, Katie) - it's only 2 or 3 dollars are the grocery store and you will use it again if you do any kind of Asian cooking. And I whipped this up pretty quickly! And did I mention it was delicious?

A few alterations that I made:
-I didn't include sesame seeds because they aren't really necessary
-I didn't include green onions because I forgot them (although I think they'd be a nice addition)
-I didn't serve it over quinoa because I think quinoa is nasty (I opted for some jasmine rice)

Make this recipe. I'm telling you. You'll thank me. And you can invite your friends over and they will be way impressed with this delicious, Asian meal that you made them. You'll look awesome. I'm telling you…

So, I may have gone a little overboard and also made myself a little dessert. A Peanut Butter Banana Quesadilla! I tried to use the peanut butter and chocolate chips sparingly so that it was semi-healthy. (I said semi…) It was delicious as well. It would be good as breakfast, snack, dessert… You name it.

Happy cooking!

2013 In Review.

The last couple of years I have done a retrospective post on the year. Where I've been, what I've done, how I've grown. It's healthy for me to look back and see everything that God's done in the last year. So here is my year… via Instagram.

The truth about Instagram is that you only show the stuff you want people to see. Most people see this picture and see a beautiful place where I went on a K-Life retreat…. What you don't see is that I cried almost the whole weekend because I broke up with my boyfriend the week before. This impacted my year more than I'd like to admit. But it's done… and I learned a lot.

Speaking of K-Life… I spent a lot of time with these lovely ladies. Now they are all off to college. Craziness...

In March, I went and visited my brother Joel in Austin. I love Joel and I love Austin. I need to plan another one of these trips soon.

This is my friend Dee Dee. I spent a lot of time with her in 2013. God used her in my life and mine in hers. It was a good year with Deeds.

In June, I went to Seattle with my family. It was one of the most beautiful places I've been...

Both of my beautiful roommates Kathryn and Paige got engaged over the summer which meant our time together had to end. I moved out of the K-Life house in September...

…and in to a house with two other girls, Audra and Maggie. I moved to good ol' Independence, Missouri. Never thought I would move there, but it was one of the best moves I've ever made.

 In October, I went with my parents to visit my brother Kyle in New York City. It was an incredible trip.

The rest of my fall was pretty consumed with church stuff, namely, Affordable Christmas which you have heard me talk about a lot. It was a pretty cool experience to be so involved in so many cool things. It really is an honor to serve such a special church.

Those are the big things of my year. Here are some little things...

I crafted a lot.

I baked a lot.

I sang a lot.

I family-ed a lot. (It's now a verb. This is my cousin Cole. He's a stud.)

I friend-ed a lot.

I had a good year.

Last week my family went to dinner and my dad asked questions like he's so prone to asking (and I love that he does) that make us think about the year. He asked, "What was the highlight of 2013?" or something like that. I mentioned some of the trips that I had been on and said, "The truth is, I feel like this year has been full of waiting... and nothing actually happening." I've been waiting to hear on a promotion from work that I applied for back in May. (They still haven't told me yes or no.) I am waiting to find a good guy that I can call my husband someday. I am waiting for something big to happen in my life.

But looking back on this year a lot of big things did happen. I saw a lot. I did a lot. I learned a lot. I don't want to look back over 2014 and feel like it's another year of waiting for things to happen. I want to be doing, going, being, experiencing it all. And I want to be aware of it... Here's to a new year and a new beginning...

Pinterest Finds (but be careful…)

Confession: I spend too much time on Pinterest. I think it's because it's an easy way to satisfy the creative side of my brain. I don't spend a lot of time on Facebook, or any other site for that matter, but if  I am on the internet, it's probably going to be on Pinterest.

Now, Pinterest can be dangerous. It can make you want things that you don't need. It can make you feel inadequate. It can make you discontent with real life because it isn't Pinteresty enough. That's dangerous. Go on Pinterest with caution. I'm being serious. You are great - whether you planned the perfect first birthday for your daughter or not, whether you tied your scarf the fancy new way or not, whether you decorated your mantle for the holiday or not, whether you bought the new, trendy vest or not,  whether you travel to a place that looks like Narnia or not, whether you bake the Paleo diet cookies or not… You are great. Don't let Pinterest put unnecessary pressure on yourself or take you to a place you don't need to be. It's dangerous. Be careful.

(Stepping off soapbox… now.) With that said, I still really like it. So I decided to look through some of the things that I have pinned this year and give you my top 10 favorites - in no particular order. (View them with caution… I'm serious.)

Oxford inspiration.  I have two pairs of shoes like these, but sometimes get scared to wear them. Pictures like these give me inspiration.

Pom poms. This pom pom tutorial changed my crafting life. It's easy and cheap and cute.

One Pot Wonder - Thai Style Peanut Pasta. I blogged about this a while ago but I loved it. I need to make it again soon.

Kite Cake Toppers. I haven't decorated a cake like this yet, but I'm really looking forward to the day that I have a reason to.

Garlands. This year was a year of garlands for me. I made one like this for the mantle at my old place and I kind of loved it.

This quilt. I still need to finish this… but I love the design and just need to make it happen.

Almond Poppyseed Bread. Some of the best stuff ever.

Outfit inspiration. Sometimes I don't know what to wear… so I look to Pinterest to give me new ideas.

Porch Rules. This is on my list of things to do. I really want to make these… it was perfect for my old screened in porch.

Spicy Hawaii Chicken Burgers. One of my favorite recipes of the year.

Ugly Sweater - for real.

I was talking with some of my family last night about how I really like to blog but I don't have a lot to blog about. Life is kind of standard lately - which is ok, but nothing exciting and interesting going on for me to tell you about.

So I decided to tell you about a little story that happened at work the other. It was last Friday, and the following Monday we were going to have an ugly sweater contest at work. I wore this new cardigan I got from Forever 21 that has a more graphic design. (I've come a long way from the girl who used to only wear solid colored t-shirts, I must say.) So I was rocking this cardigan when this guy on my team at work comes up to me and says, "Hey, I like your ugly sweater. You getting ready for Monday?" Uh… "Well, no, this is like my for real sweater." "Right! Like a for real ugly sweater." "No… Like I'm wearing this because I like the way it - whatever. What do you want?"

I thought it was funny so I told a few people - one of them being a manager who is two levels above me. She ran in to the guy later and told him that she saw me crying in the bathroom because he said my sweater was ugly (this was false - but she wanted to make him feel guilty.) He came up to me later and said, "Hey Abby… you know I was joking about your sweater. I know it's for real. You know I think you're a hipster and like your style…" "Mmmhmm, thanks." "Really… you're like a trendsetter. Like Madonna. Or Prince." "They have horrible style!" "You know what I mean! Like Lady Gaga!" "Just stop."

Oh well… I like the cardigan. :) And it made for a good story with lots of laughs...

Loving Lately.

(Part of the Affordable Christmas set up…)

Well, Affordable Christmas was a success yesterday. What this means…? Today I officially got a big chunk of my time back. What that means? I can blog again!

Things That I've Been Loving Over The Last Few Weeks That I Have Been Wanting To Tell You About But Just Now I Am Having The Time:

Divergent. Another trilogy book series about a young girl who has to overcome drama and fight people? Don't mind if I do! This series is the next Hunger Games… And thanks to my brother Cory, I'm a little earlier on the bandwagon than with previous trendy books. Gotta admit, I love me some fiction.

(My pine cone garland with cheap lights and ornaments. Cost: $6.)

DIY Christmas Decorations. Few things give me as much satisfaction as crafting beautiful things on a dime. I got to do it for Affordable Christmas and have done a little for my house.

My family. They never get old. It's amazing how much I can love and enjoy the company of one group of people.

This apple crisp recipe. I've blogged about it before - but I've made it a few times since then, and so have my roommates, and we're still loving it. (We even made a gluten free batch and it was STILL good.)

(I bought this dress… I kind of love it.)

Mod Cloth. I saw adds for this silly website on Facebook all the time until one day I decided to click on it. Turns out I love their clothes… It's a bit pricey for normal, every day clothes… but you can get a cute dress for a reasonable price. And they have plus sizes which is great for those of you who are working with a little bit more… like me. :)

Wrapping gifts. I like the shopping and giving, too. I just really love the creative side of wrapping gifts.

Diet Coke. Still love that stuff. This was my celebratory Route 44 from Sonic yesterday on my way home from Affordable Christmas.

That's all for now… Hopefully I'll be more present in the coming weeks.

DIY Christmas Decorations

My church is doing this really cool event next weekend called Affordable Christmas. We have invited about 35 families to come and have breakfast with us and shop at our Christmas store where we sell gifts at a reduced price that our church members purchased and donated. Some people aren’t comfortable with accepting “hand outs” from organizations that give gifts away, so this is a way for them to provide Christmas gifts for their families with “dignity” and a way for us to love on them while doing it.

I was given the job of decorating the space for the event. The space? A big dining hall, and 4 or 5 other smaller rooms… My budget? $100. What that means? We had to get crafty! We are doing a lot of do it yourself decorations to keep the cost low and I thought I’d share them with you… Just in case you are trying to decorate for Christmas on a dime as well.

We are doing a garland theme – because it’s impactful and you can hang them from the ceiling or on trees.

Pom Pom Garland

Tissue Paper Tassel Garland

Pine Cone Garland

Snowflake Garland (we are doing ours as a garland and not as a mobile, but I like this better)

We are also using recycled jars all around.

Mason Jar Christmas Trees (there's no link for this one, but you get the idea)

Jars Filled with Pine Cones, Ornaments, and Candles

A few other projects...

Cone Mobile (in Christmas colors, as a backdrop for our pictures with Santa)

Pallet Signs

A few runner up projects that we had talked about doing but just didn’t have the time…

 Branch Star

Scrapwood Christmas Tree

I hope you have a wonderfully crafty Christmas season!