Happy Birthday Hubby...

Lindsey over at Learning to Be a Wife tagged me to name 7 random or weird facts about myself. First off, let me say thank you Lindsey. Getting tagged makes me feel like the cool girl at school. Like I was picked first to be on your dodge ball team. Hugs...

And, then I thought... since I've already given some random facts twice previously, and I'm not all that interesting, maybe I can offer up some random facts about my amazing hubby in celebration of his birthday. Because today (well, actually yesterday - I didn't get my post up fast enough), ladies and gentlemen, celebrates the day that the love of my life came into this world. What better way to commemorate it than to share a little bit about him with you, my blog readers? So, here goes...


1.) Josh is the biggest "morning person" I've ever met. As in, he walks around the house singing at 7:00 am - either his current favorite radio tune or something he makes up as he goes along. As a notorious night owl and self-described nightmare in the morning, you can imagine the interesting dynamic there.

2.) Josh got into my heart almost immediately with what I refer to as, the best pick-up line ever. I was with my sister at Trailhead Brewing Co. (a favorite restaurant of ours and where we recently celebrated my brother's birthday) sitting at the bar. I saw Josh eyeing me up from afar, when a seat opened up next to us and he sat down. As Jessie and I were talking, I started laughing loudly at something and commented, "God, I must sound so obnoxious." Josh leans over and says, "I don't mean to be eavesdropping, but I think you have the most adorable laugh." Swoon...

3.) This first meeting occurred the day after Josh broke up with his previous girlfriend. Umm...yeah...the very next day. Thank God for the timing on that one. Or not...depending on how you look at it.

4.) Josh is number two, in a family of four kids. He and his older brother are 18 months apart, and strangely enough, my sister and I are 18 months apart. He has 2 younger sisters.

5.) At 6'7"... surprise, surprise... Josh played college basketball. He also happens to be exactly one foot taller than his wife. Yes, ladies, a man that tall is as sexy as it seems.

6.) My husband is the most charismatic, fun and caring man I have ever met. Everyone who meets him literally falls in love with him. He makes everyone around him feel comfortable and at ease. He is the life of the party and also the most genuine person you've ever met.

7.) No one has ever made me laugh more.

To my best friend on your birthday, thank you for being you and for loving me everday. I thank God for you always.

Today I'm Wearing...

The third installment from the newest OPI collection, Yes, I Can Can.

It is the most purple of those I've tried thus far - a deep eggplant shade. It has the slightest shimmer that is only noticeable from inches away. It has a rich, almost velvety quality to it.

I don't know how to go about picking a favorite from the France collection because they are all fabulous - not to mention so similar. The differences between each shade are nothing if not subtle.

Toffee Bits Cookies

Last Sunday (when we had a monsoon in St. Louis), I had no desire to go out in the rain and thought that I would make some chocolate chip cookies. However, upon looking in the pantry, I realized that I had no chocolate chips - only toffee bits. No problem...toffee cookies it is then.

I planned on using the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, but then found a specific toffee bits cookie recipe on Hershey's website. It is identical to the chocolate cookie recipe, except for 1 stick of butter instead of two.

In any case, they were delicious!! And, for someone like me who prefers toffee to chocolate, these were even better than the original. So incredibly chewy.



Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1-1/3 cups (8 oz. pkg.) HEATH BITS 'O BRICKLE Toffee Bits

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet.
2. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in toffee bits.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

A New Puppy!!!

Last night, my sister Jessie, picked up a brand new addition to the family. And, lucky for me, she was off work today and brought Gracie (cutest name ever, right?!?) to my office for a visit.

Tell me she is not the cutest thing you've ever seen!!

She is eight weeks old, and probably only weighs 2 or 3 pounds.




She is half Norwich terrier and half chahuahua, and they estimate she will grow to about 8 pounds or so.

She kept falling asleep on my chest (probably listening to my heartbeat) and I just wanted to hold her forever. It was hard to see them leave...

But as much as I want a little companion of my own, I know that Josh and I just aren't home enough to take care of a dog the way I would want to. Someday...

For now, I'll just look forward to my time with sweet little Gracie.

If You're Not Watching...

These two new fall shows, then you should be. Aside from old favorites (Project Runway, ANTM), there are a couple of new ones in the mix. And, strangely, one of them isn't reality television.

The first of my new addictions, is Fringe on Fox. It's some way out there sci-fi stuff, so if you aren't into abnormal occurences and crazy theories it may not be for you. I, however, love it!! I've heard some people refer to it as the new X-Files, but since I was never into that show...I have no idea. It's only the second episode of the season, but I am loving the actors and storylines. Trust me. Check it out.

We cannot discuss Fringe, however, without discussing the awesome eye candy that comes along with it. I give you, Joshua Jackson, ladies and gentlemen.

I have had a love for this man ever since his Dawson's Creek days, and let me tell you...the years have been kind to good ole Pacey Witter.

His good looks, great smile, and infectious sarcasm (that they always seem to capture for his roles) just do it for me. Sigh...

Next on the "must watch" list of fall television is The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo.

Can I be honest and say that I fully expected to hate this woman?!? I mean, she looks like she never eats (although she is never without a Starbucks in her hand), and the whole celebrity stylist thing lends itself to a plethora of "I am so full of myself" expectations.

Quite to the contrary, I find her enjoyable. She comes across as talented, fun and even nice. Don't get me wrong, she's probably still all kinds of screwed up, but I like her. Go on with you shoppping addicted bad self, Rach!

And, we cannot discuss Rachel Zoe, without mentioning her vocabulary.

"Ba-Nanas!!"

"Shut. It. Down."

"I Die!!"

Loving it!! Watch one episode, and you'll know what I mean.

However, for a full recap of episode one I must refer you to the ever-fabulous Scented Glossy Magazines. She owns it!

Unfortunately, her computer has recently crashed, so you may have to wait for the recap of last nights, episode 2. Until then...episode 1 should get you going.

Happy Birthday...

to my one and only brother, David. He turned 22 yesterday. God, I am getting so old!

We celebrated on Saturday at one of our favorite family restaurants Trailhead Brewing Company in St. Charles, which if you haven't been to, you really need to check out.

Their Riverboat Raspberry is a favorite standby, and pretty soon they will be releasing their Pumpkin beer. In case you have missed the phenomenon that is Trailhead's seasonal Pumpkin beer, put it on your list of places to visit this fall/winter. People come out in droves for this stuff. It's that good! But I digress...

My baby brother is 22 (I am the oldest of four) and I couldn't be prouder of him. I am blessed with a truly amazing family that is fully aware of how lucky we are to have one another. So how about some pictures of all of them...

The birthday boy and his fabulous girlfriend, Caroline.

David and Becky (the baby of the family).

My awesome parents. Can you tell we were rooting for Mizzou earlier that day? :)

Jessie (she's #2 - we're only 18 months apart) and her boyfriend, Mike.

Josh is actually taking this picture, but from left to right around the table: Me, Jessie, Mike; my Dad's best friend, Tom, my Dad, my Mom, Becky, David, and Caroline.

I very rarely have more fun than when I get to spend time with my family. Life is truly a blessing. Happy Birthday, Dave!!!

Today I'm Wearing...

We'll Always Have Paris from OPI's France collection.

It is so close to the Eiffel for this Color I sported last weekend. I would say it is a touch less black, and a bit more chocolate. Definitely not a brown shade, just a bit richer looking.

Yet another winner from the newest France collection.

I Bought a Duck Blind?!?!?!

On Saturday, I was invited to attend a dinner auction that benefits United Services. Josh had a bachelor party to go to, so I happily tagged along with a group of our friends to support this amazing organization.

United Services was started through a United Way grant between the United Cerebral Palsy Association and St. Louis Hearing and Speech in 1975 as a private, not-for-profit education and therapeutic organization catering to those with special needs. We were honored to hear some mothers (and even a blind young man) speak to us about everything that United Services has done for them. I was truly touched and honored to be a part of it.

There was a silent auction, followed by dinner, after which the larger items were presented in an oral auction. This is where it gets interesting folks...

First off, let's let it be known that Josh is 100 times more likely to spend an obscene amount of money at an event like this. Sure, I may make some somewhat frequent shopping trips, but Josh is the man behind 90% of our big purchases. So, I joked with him that I was going to come home with a puppy or something equally expensive, knowing full well that I actually probably wouldn't spend a dime. Fast forward to the oral auction...

I am happily (read: slightly buzzed) sitting in my seat with some friends as the oral auction begins. I peruse the list and see a few items of interest - a wine tasting, a ... hell, I can't even remember what else looked interesting. Then, I see that the 3rd item up for bid is a private hunt at a duck blind on a farm in St. Peters. I randomly think, my dad's a duck hunter...that would be fun...

About 10 minutes later, it's time for the duck hunt to be auctioned off. I'm chatting with friends, and here them announce it. I have no intention of bidding, but was interested to see how things would go. As it is announced there is, what now seems like, a nanosecond of no one bidding. My friend, Christy, is sitting next to me and says, "Lisa, throw your number up there. You're dad would love it." So what does my drunk ass do?? I throw my number up.

The auctioneer points to me while saying "$450". Oh, okay, that was easy. Surely, I'm not going to walk out with this thing, but it was fun to get involved. And, then has he continues to look at me and say "$500", I'm like, "what? huh.. okay" and randomly shaking my head. All of a sudden he looks at me again and says, "$500". Wait a second...did I just up my bid $50 for an item I already had? Now, I'm starting to freak out. Okay, someone get me out of this.

He looks out into the crowd, yells out a bunch of random numbers...my head is spinning at this point...turns back to me and says, "Sold to number 74 for $500". Oh. My. God. What. Did. I. Do??????????

Yes, ladies and gentleman... I bought a duck blind/day of duck hunting for $500. What the fuck was I thinking?!?!

God love my husband for being a good sport about it. He loves to tease me more than anything. When I proceeded to tell him that had he gone, we would have spent even more money, he said, "At least we would have got something for it." Ugh...he's right. Uh...Dad...I hope you'll enjoy spending the day hunting at some random dude's farm in St. Peters...shit!

However, the positives of the situation (to keep from losing sleep over spending a senseless $500) are:

• The gift was valued at $700 and the second duck hunt at the same farm went for over that, so I sort of got a deal. Maybe everyone was afraid to go up against the bad ass that upped her own bid.
• It's a tax write off and we can always use a few.
• It went to an absolutely amazing cause.
• I learned my lesson about auctions and just "throwing up your number" for participation sake.
• It makes for an interesting story.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share, because I didn't snap one all weekend, but I'll go ahead and chalk this experience up as a cautionary tale of what not to do at an oral auction.

Getting that credit card bill at the end of the month is going to be fun...

The Ultimate Fall Nail Polish

It's official. The newest fall/winter collection from OPI is do die for!!! If you love the dark color trend, (which I do) the France collection is phenomenal.

Because the hubby gave away his samples to a customer before offering them to his wife (shame on him), I finally picked up the newest shades this weekend, and here are some of my favorites.

From left to right: Bastille My Heart (a gorgeous deep red), Yes, I Can Can (a brighter shimmery purple), We'll Always Have Paris (just a touch of chocolate) and Eiffel this Color (the deepest shade of the collection).

With the slightly cooler weather this weekend (and the need to dress up for a dinner auction on Saturday night) I decided to try out the Eiffel this Color with my black cocktail dress.

Very reminiscent of Lincoln Park After Midnight, this almost black purple shade is sure to be a fall staple for me.


If you are loving the deep, dark nail polish shades for fall, run (don't walk) to check out the France collection. Simply yummy!

Easiest Chicken Noodle Soup

After the completely yucky day yesterday, my husband requested some homemade chicken soup for dinner. Only problem: I wasn't going to be done at the gym until 7:00 and I still had to run by the grocery store. Thankfully, Josh wasn't going to be home until close to 8:00 either.

So, I ran through the grocery store remembering to pick up a few things to help me throw together this soup in record time - i.e. a whole roasted chicken from the Schnucks deli.

Upon walking in the door, Josh already has the water set to boil for the wheat egg noodles (we always eat whole wheat pasta), per my request.

So I threw some chicken broth, carrots, chopped onion, parsley, garlic powder, pepper, mushrooms and a few water chestnuts (yes, these last two ingredients are totally random for chicken noodle soup but we had them on hand and Josh thought they sounded good) into the stock pot and let everything simmer. Then I shredded the whole chicken and threw it in (at the end I actually ended up throwing in a can of chicken as well, because I didn't think there was quite enough).

Once the pasta was done, I drained the water, added it to the mixture and wa-la.

It was SO yummy!!! Quite possibly the best chicken noodle soup I've ever had.

I can't give you measurements on a single ingredient, because I literally just threw everything together but I will most definitely be doing this one again.

Does anyone else find that sometimes the best food/recipes come from playing around in the kitchen and just throwing things together, rather than following an actual recipe?

And, while some of you top notch chefs might be rolling your eyes at the absolute simplicity of this dish (and even my desire to write about it), sometimes the easiest things to make are also the best. And, as a woman who is constantly on the go and needs quick dinner ideas for weeknights, I thought I'd share.

Next time, I think I'm going to try a version of "Thrown Together Vegetable Soup" with beef broth and whatever veggies we have on hand. Fall is a comin' and there is nothing better than warm soup after a cold day.

The Inner Turmoil...

Oh, how I want this dress... But, no, I do not need this dress.

And, this dress, that I've been eyeing FOREVER, but couldn't justify the money to purchase, is now on sale. But, no returns or exchanges?!?! What a pain in the ass.

We have a wedding in September, where I would love to sport some new digs. But certainly, I already have something that would work. I already have the silver shoes and purse that would go so well... What to do? What to do?

Stick with my practical side and wear what I already have, or bite the bullet and indulge the inner clothes horse? Hmm...

Catching Up...

Sorry folks...vacation hangover, followed by a jam-packed Labor Day weekend, has led to lack of updates. But I digress...

Friday, August 22nd through Monday, August 25th, Josh and I spent in Cancun. It was a work trip from him (although I don't know how much "work" was actually done). The fabulous Farouk Shami took approximately 5,000 people from all over the world to Cancun for the long weekend. His guests included distributors (Josh's end of things), educators, stylists, many of the Miss Universe contestants, and even some dignitaries (the Prime Minister of Jordan was Farouk's personal guest and spoke at the awards gala). And, Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child even performed at one of the daytime events (I actually missed that one).

Everything was top notch, as things always are if Farouk is involved. We stayed at the Moon Palace and had all possible amenities - free international calling, gorgeous accomodations, events every evening, all inclusive.

And, here is the only picture that I managed to get of Farouk. He is the small man in the middle of all of us, next to me. He is always telling Josh and his brother Nate (6'7" and 6'8" respectively), "You guys are tall. But, I'm taller when I stand on my wallet." Love that guy!

The Moon Palace rooms were gorgeous with a huge jacuzzi tub in the middle. I had my camera ready, here.

Pretty, right? However, Josh and I actually only slept in this room the first night. Why, you ask? Only my husband...

First off, the Moon Palace is huge. They constantly have shuttles and golf carts running all over the place because it is literally miles from one end of the resort to the other. Our original room (above pictures) was located above the second lobby (the third is currently under construction) and over-looking on of the MANY pools. At the end of the first day, Josh and I realize that the rest of our group has rooms a little further away in the newest section.

Upon going into Josh's mom and sister's room (which is newer, bigger, and has a small outdoor lounger/cabana thing) Josh decides that our room is no longer acceptable and we are moving the following morning. I, on the otherhand, proceed to tell Josh that he is being ridiculous, I've already unpacked, our room is fine, it isn't worth the hassle, etc. I leave for my spa appointment on Saturday morning and he tells me that he'll handle everything and see what he can do. Oh Lord...

That afternoon I return from my hot stone massage at the Moon Palace Spa, which by the way was seriously the most amazing experience of my life (my sister-in-law commented, and I quote, "that was the next best thing to an orgasm" - she was so right)... In any case, I return from my 80 minute trip to heaven, and Josh has us all situated and unpacked in our brand new room. Not that I'm surprised...so typical, God love him.

Unfortunately, I totally failed at getting pictures of our new digs. And, it really was that much nicer, bigger, etc. You'll have to settle for pictures of the infiniti pool where we spent our first full day.

Josh and his mom :).

And, here is yet another amazing pool (I swear, everywhere you turn there is another one) where we spent our second day of sun.Not only are the pools absolutely gorgeous with a swim-up bar and all, but there are waiters constantly serving food and cocktails. You are truly waited on hand and foot.

The last night of our trip, Farouk hosted an Awards Gala with yummy food and drink. It was a great finale to an already amazing trip.

We returned home tan and exhausted. I think I spent the rest of the work week recovering from liver damage only to do it all over again this past Labor Day weekend. It was the perfect little jaunt away from everyday life and God love Farouk for letting spouses tag along!