Random Thoughts for a New Month

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

It was our first year having trick or treaters (we've lived in apartments before now and never really in kid friendly areas) and I was surprised at how much I loved having the cute little kiddos come to our house. We had some great kid costumes in our area including a homemade R2D2 (Star Wars character) that was made from an upside down garbage can and spray painted. The poor little guy didn't really have arms in his costume so his brother had to carry his candy for him. So cute!

The only one that got dressed up for Halloween in our house was our dog Wylie.



He is a turtle in case it isn't obvious :)

I'm always a little sad come November 1st because I love Halloween decorations and I hate to put them away.




I liked this black and white hounds tooth pattern for my Halloween nails. I think it turned out pretty good.


We were in Jacksonville this past weekend for the Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, otherwise known as the Florida- Georgia game.





The game was .....scary. Halloween came a little early for Gator fans. Ouch.

And if this post wasn't random enough already, in the past 2 days I've seen 2 Mary Kay Pink Cadillacs.

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Just seemed kind of random to see 2 in 2 days when I haven't seen one in a long time. Maybe Mary Kay just got a shipment in and a whole bunch of ladies are sporting some new pink wheels? I was a Mary Kay consultant for a very brief time. It's a good company, sales just aren't my thing. Mary Kay Ash (real person) was a very interesting lady and pretty inspirational.

Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.
Mary Kay Ash


Random Post over!

What was the highlight of your Halloween? Have you ever seen a pink Mary Kay caddy?

Pico De Gallo

I'm pretty sure that if my husband and I had to live off of one type of enthinc cuisine it would be Mexican. Our cheese drawer in our fridge almost always is full of tortillas and you can usually find a variety of Mexican type spices in our house. We keep it spicy around here. Well not so much for me, I keep it mild but I enjoy Mexican food also, even if I can't handle it hot.

One of our favorite things to make is soft shell tacos (tortillas) with a home made pico de gallo with rice and some type of protein inside, usually steak or fish. I love making home made pico de gallo. It's not hard to make pico de gallo and I feel like fresh salsa is the best and since pico de gallo is a lot like salsa (minus a few tomatoes) we take the time to make it with our Mexican dishes.

Our recipe is based off of Tyler Florence's Tacos Carne Asada recipe.


In our pico de gallo we use:

1 tomato
3 cloves of garlic
Some cilantro
1/2 red onion
Juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1 orange
A little bit of olive oil
A little sea salt

As you might be able to guess from my very exact list of ingredients measuring is not my strong suite. This is why I cook a whole lot more then I bake. I'm a round it off, eye ball it kind of cook.

Once you have all your ingredients together all you have to do is cut them up and put them together. I love cutting. My main job in our kitchen is always the one wielding the knife and cutting up the ingredients. I find that I cut a lot better when I have a good drink to sharpen my knife skills. Hence the sweet little seashell glass that has Skinnygirl Margarita in it.


Do you enjoy cutting onions because I don't. Those suckers hit my like a ton of bricks every time and I look like I'm trying out for a telenovela or something.



All my garlic cutting skills come from drooling over watching many hours of Food Network shows. We didn't really have garlic in my parents house growing up. Maybe we were all vampires? Maybe not. So thank goodness for the Food Network helping me create my garlic chopping skills.


Some people like cilantro. Some people think it tastes like soap. This household is pro cilantro.


All mixed up and ready to be dished into a tortilla. Fresh, fresh, fresh. Just the way I like it!


Do you love salsa? Do you create your own at home?

Magnolia Leaf Wreath

We recently got a great cook book from my husband's grandparents, Southern Living Christmas, and along with some really yummy recipes it has some great holiday decor ideas. I fell in love with the magnolia leaf wreath.

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I'm thinking about doing it like they did with the green leaves and the red ribbon for Christmas time but right now I have a bunch of fall leaves that need my attention.

So I got a little creative.

Originally I wanted to use a foam florist wreath but alas our little island Walmart didn't have any foam wreaths. So I got a little creative. They did have some grapevine wreaths and the ol' wheels in my head started spinning a bit.


I took my grapevine wreath, some magnolia leaves and some ribbon and twine.

South Carolina magnolia tree leaves

Then I added the leaves to the wreath. I think it was much easier hanging the wreath first and then adding the leaves so I had a good view of the wreath.




I'm pretty happy with how it all shook out. I'm planning on taking the fall leaves out and making it a more Christmas type wreath once we are out of the fall season.

I feel like I'm the only person that holds on to the fall season and isn't in a hurry to get to Christmas! Today at the grocery store I noticed that all my pumpkin favorite treats were gone and all the Christmas ones were coming out already. Boo.


Do you still celebrate fall once Halloween passes? Are you anxious to get on to Christmas?

Autumn in The South

When we lived in St. Louis we were in a really nice neighborhood that had lots of trees that all turned so many great colors. We really got a good sense of what a textbook example of fall weather looked like.

We have some trees changing color where we live now and I've added some fall color with these great mums just to get into the fall spirit.


One of the things that I told my husband that I would have at my dream house is a big beautiful magnolia tree. Well as things turned out I actually got a magnolia tree in our current home. Mind you I think I only saw it give me one big beautiful white bloom but I guess I just need to be a bit more specific next time I make a wish. I never said in my wish that it needed to bloom too :).

Even though the tree is holding out on me I still love it.

In the last couple of weeks it started doing this though.


Big waxy leaves in varying colors of gold. The leaves are so sturdy and there are so many of them that I felt like there had to be something I could do with those leaves.

They kinda look like big feathers, don't they?

I have a project in mind and if it turns out well then maybe it will appear on this site.

If it doesn't show up on here, well then I think you can take a guess how that all went over :)


Do you have any fall crafts planned?

Most Wonderful Time of The Year

I probably have used that title before.

Moving on... :)

It seems like when the calendar pages turn and it falls on to October and the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes come out and you hear about how fall is the best season. I have to admit that I am one of those people that love fall the most. I love the weather, I love the colors, I love the fact that Halloween is during this season and I love the "fall" food. I almost feel sorry for the other seasons since fall seems to get all the attention. I can't say that I know too many people that ever say how much they love winter. Anyone out there LOVE winter? Winter needs some love too.

I love the holidays that occur during the fall, Halloween (my favorite holiday) and Thanksgiving. A little bit of scary (in my world it is just a little but cause I'm just a big ol' chicken) and a holiday about food. Just right in my book.

One of my favorite things about fall is decorating.



I got my Peanuts decoration from Ebay. I think its the only thing I ever bought on Ebay but I really really love it!



Isn't he a cutie?


I have this "thing" about the movie Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. I call it a "thing" here but you could probably call it a slight obsession, love, etc. It's my favorite movie and is one of the biggest reasons that I love Halloween.

The bulk of my decorations have this theme and I just love it. A lot of my friends tend to refer to me as the "Nightmare girl" which you know sounds kinda bad but I know that its just based on my love for the movie. At least I'm hoping that is all it is :)

When people I know see something that has to do with the movie they tend to tell me, share with me, buy it for me. There are much worse things in life to be associated with then a eyeball less Disney skeleton, right? :)

I also love that I can do double duty with these decorations and leave them up for Christmas also. Efficient decorating? Yes, but in reality it probably is just more about my own laziness (and reluctance) to put them away.

I love how Halloween can have many themes. Scary. gory halloween, rustic country Halloween, crazy cartoon Halloween, etc. I tend to favor the PG to PG-13 rated Halloween :)

Do you have a favorite Halloween decoration? What is your favorite thing about the fall?

Wadmalaw Island

My parents came to visit recently and we went to the Charleston Tea Plantation. For those that are keeping track that is the second time that I have been there since I moved here. But I didn't mind at all.

Growing up in Florida I'm used to tourist attractions being swamped and the fact that this one usually has a good group of visitors but isn't exactly Disney World makes it really enjoyable even if it is your second trip and you know all the tour guides jokes already :)




We also visited Angel Tree which probably isn't technically on Wadmalaw Island but its close enough for me to include it.





The list of things that I love about Charleston is miles long at this point. But one of the things that I really love about it is how there are many areas where modern expansion hasn't taken over and you have some great natural beauty that is left to shine all on its own. Back in Florida real estate is always prime and buildings are always built one on top of the other. In St. Louis it seemed like at least 40% of the buildings you saw were desolate and abandoned. It's so nice to see people letting Mother Nature do what we all know she does so well.

Couch to 5K

Have you heard about the Couch to 5 K?

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The idea of the program is to start with small steps to help you increase your endurance (and not burn out your interest) to becoming a runner and ultimately be able to run in a race if you so desire.

Looks like I'm going to learn to be best friends with these guys.

When I was in college (many many moons ago) my roommate and I tried running together. That didn't last very long. We both decided that the only good reason to run was 1. If fire was involved 2. If bodily harm would come to you if you didn't run. I guess those two points kind of go together. I haven't had too many occasions arise where that criteria was met and so I just don't run.

My goal in doing this program is to be one of those people that actually likes to run. Which might actually be a much more difficult goal then being able to compete in a 5k.

Running has just never been my exercise of choice. I'm so envious of those people that just pop awake extra early in the morning, tie on their running shoes and can speed around and look like they really are enjoying themselves. I pretty much have nothing in common with those people right now since I usually wake up at a time most people would never consider to be really early and I spend a lot more time in these shoes in shoes with laces.

So now that I have put this plan out on the internet it means I have to stick to it.

So are there any runners or new runners out there with some tips to help me succeed at this?

A Southern Home: The Nook

It's no secret how much I love living in the South. I'm just tickled to be in a place that I love and feel so connected to. I also really love our new place and am going to share so bits and pieces of it that I feel have that Southern charm in a series of posts called A Southern Home.

First up, The Nook:


One of the elements in our new place that I LOVE is the built in nook in our living room. I love the fact that its white and the edge detail at the top. It just works so well to display some of our most treasured items like our picture frames, cook books and my tea collection.



What kind of Southern home would it be if we didn't have a Southern Living cook book?


Does your home have a nook or built in shelving system that you love?

Pintrest

I'm a very visual person. I can get inspired by seeing a unique photo or by flipping through a magazine. Normally I would take a screen shot and hoard the images away for inspiration on my desktop or maybe bookmark them. And then I found Pintrest.

Pintrest is now my favorite way to waste a little time. Even though I like to think that it isn't time wasted, its time spent looking for inspiration in one form or another.

Source: etsy.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: modishblog.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: flourishdesignandstyle.blogspot.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: iloveswmag.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.lg1x8z.simplecdn.net via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: chroniclebooks.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Are you on Pintrest? Do you collect inspirational photos?