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Guest posting over at More from Meg today! Pay her a visit, read my Fall Favorite must haves, and then follow Meg ASAP :) You'll love her! She's a mixture of sass and sweetness and I promise she'll be one of your new favorite friends!!!

XoXo,


P.S. I promise I will be back regularly, soon! I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit burnt out and feeling uncreative, not to mention I have a VERY BUSY 6 weeks coming up!!! I will try to post as regularly as I can and PROMISE that once my new blog design is unveiled I will go back to blogging 5 days a week! Miss ya'll bunches!!! Mwwwah!

Shrimp Carbonara Recipe!

As many of you already know, we've been meal planing in our home for almost two months now! It was an adjustment at first; sitting down to plan out the whole week, paying the grocery store once a week, and actually cooking every night, but I think we've finally gotten the hang of it and we are ENJOYING it! I utilize lots of websites and cooking magazines as well as blogs, my trip to the grocery store usually happens on Sunday AND I can make it in and out and back home in less than an hour {as long as I can find all that I am looking for}.

I've made this Shrimp Carbonara {found in Kraft Foods Magazine} once before and decided to add it to the meal list for this week! It is crazy easy and perfect for a weeknight meal!! After posting a photo of it on Instagram {follow me: LHHisfabulous61111} and receiving quite a few "yums" and likes, I knew I had to share it with y'all! 

What you'll need:

1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked

4 Slices of Bacon, chopped

1 lb. uncooked deveined peeled large shrimp {I used frozen, fully cooked, tail off shrimp}

1 cup frozen peas

1 tub {10 oz.} Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme

1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook spaghetti in large saucepan as directed on package, omitting salt. Meanwhile, cook bacon in large skillet until crisp {I actually cooked our bacon in the microwave to avoid a splattered grease mess and to speed up the cooking process}. Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon, reserving 1 tbsp. drippings in skillet {I just poured the drippings from the plate that the bacon was cooked on in the microwave, to the skillet}. Drain bacon on paper towels.

Add Shrimp to reserved drippings; cook and stir on medium heat 5 mins. or until shrimp turn pink. Stir in peas, cook 1 min. Add cooking creme; cook and stir 3 min. or until heated through.

Drain spaghetti; return to pan. Add shrimp mixture and bacon; mix lightly. Top with Parmesan. 

Note:

If a thinner sauce is desired, reserve 1/4 cup of the drained pasta cooking water. Add 1 tbsp. at a time, to finished recipe until desired consistency. Top with Parmesan. 

VOILA YOU'RE DONE!!! I am serious! It's that easy!

Finished! My photo skills are lacking... annoyed you can't see any bacon! 

If anyone cooks this PLEASE tell me what you thought! I always love hearing y'alls opinions!!! 

XoXo, 

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Hey Hey Wednesday! So good to see you!! Only means Friday is that much closer!!! Curious to know what I'm loving today? Welp, you've come to the right place!

1. My dad's birthday today! Yep, the old man is another year older! 51 to be exact! Last year we had a little surprise party for him and from what my brother said last night, Dad has decided to take it easy and not do anything this year! Lord knows he needs some relaxation! I mean being the Captain for the Fire Department and in charge of training a bunch of young bucks has got to be exhausting! Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!!

My Stepmom, Sister, Dad and Brother with me during our Wedding Reception! 

2. The fact that I know of two people who I've gotten hooked on White Collar! Yes my dear loves, Kelly and Brandi have become addicted to the show! Brandi even texted me last night informing me that she almost freaked on her hubby because he almost deleted the taping of the summer finale!! I will say this... if she hadn't figured it out already, Mrs. Brandi is in for a shocking surprise when she watches it!! I'm just bummed I've got to wait to January to have my Tuesday night dates with Mr. Bomer!

3. Seeing the first drafts and workings of my new blog design!! Oh how excited I am! The title looks freaking fabulous and I can't wait to see what my designer has in store for the rest! Ashlyn and I are hoping to kick it off on Novemeber 1st! So be on the look out! Gaaaaah! I seriously can't wait to reveal it to all of you!

4. Going dark for Fall! Yep Yep Yep... I'm officially going dark, dark hair that is for the Fall and hopefully for eternity! I've decided the blonde/dirty blonde just isn't my thing anymore and I definitely prefer my brunette locks over bleached ones! It's easier to maintain, looks richer and healthier, and is honestly, my true natural hair color! I'm all about excepting myself, natural color and all!

5. Fall Candles! I've been burning them like crazy in the house and I love how our home smells! So very cozy and full of scents like, pumpkin, apple cider, cinnamon and spice, vanilla, and pecan pralines! I actually plan on stocking up on more scents tonight when I head to good ole Wally World to pick up a few items! Their large jar candles {think Yankee size} are actually fabulous smelling AND way cheaper than Yankee! I'm still trying to figure out why I only burn candles in the Fall and Winter though!! Not a huge candle burner in the warm months!

Hope y'all are having an awesome week so far and that if you were in the wake of those crazy storms on the East coast yesterday that you all are safe and sound! Happy Wednesday my loves!

Lastly, if you follow me on Instagram and happened to like my dinner last night, come back tomorrow as I'll be posting the easy peasy recipe!

XoXo,

Vogue!

Remember when I shared with y'all here, that the hubby and I were featured in a local magazine publication in the Spring? Well, the fabulous photographer, Rebecca Keeling, gave me all of the photos from the shoot back at the beginning of Summer AND I just realized I never shared them with y'all!!!

Sooo prepare for another photo dump today, featuring the hubby and I and all our modeling awkwardness! Seriously though, it's not easy!!! They make you sit in uncomfortable positions that cause leg cramps, we had to swat our way out of swarms of gnats and I'm pretty sure I snorted some up my nose at one point,  they tease you with delicious looking food, that you can't eat because said gnats have had a field day on it AND no, we could not drink the wine! None-the-less it was a fabulous time! I love Rebecca dearly and have nothing but love for the publication as I used to work for them many moons ago!

Enjoy!

I have so much work to do as far as printing photos go! I still have yet to print any of our wedding photos, I have last year's Christmas that needs printing, our Annimoon photos and this photo shoot here! I better get to printing!!!!

Hope y'all are having a fabulous Tuesday!!!! Sending lots of love and hugs out today!!!

XoXo,

Weekend Recap!

Howdy Hoooo! So yes I realize I did not post but only two days last week! Forgive me as I did not plan out my blog week, as I should have, and couldn't find the time or motivation to write! Ooops! I'll try to do better this week!

Be prepared for photo overload! We had a pretty productive and full weekend! Well kinda sorta. More like a full Saturday and a productive Sunday! Friday evening, I made the hubby's favorite meal {meatloaf, in case you didn't know or wanted to know}, we relaxed a bit and then headed to bed at a decent hour in preparation for Saturday!

My step-sister-in-law, her hubby, and my nephew and niece live in Northern VA. They actually live a stones throw from George Mason {which I find pretty cool since I went there for two years of my college career}. Anywho, my niece's 4th Birthday party was Saturday and considering we've never been able to make it to one of her birthdays, the hubby and I decided to go! To drive this in a day is possible but spending 6 hours in the car {if not more because you NEVER know how traffic will be} is not my cup of tea, nor the hubby's, and nor my in-laws... so we flew!

I may have also failed to tell y'all that my step-father-in-law {we will call him B} is a pilot. He pilots a personal jet for a doctor who travels constantly, between here, NOVA, NYC, and any other place he wants to go! "B" also has his own personal Comanche plane that used to belong to his father, it holds some serious sentimental value, and it comes in handy when "B" and "A" {my mother-in-law} take day, overnight, or weekend trips. Considering Saturday was a day trip and the plane sits 4, we were in luck!

The Birthday Party was at the Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon! What a unique place! It's home to the last working farm in Fairfax county AND has a public equestrian facility. There are animals everywhere, from sheep to pigs, to goats, to roosters, to peacocks, to cows and so on and so on! They also have an on site carousal for the kids to ride! My favorite part was the equestrian facility. As many of you know I used to ride horses and I miss it, a lot! Being in the barn and smelling the familiar smells of hay, leather, horses, and yes... poo... all brought back some amazing memories of my younger years! What I would give to get back in the saddle again. Why I ever stopped riding, I will never understand, I guess I just got "too cool" for it and thought boys and cheerleading were more important.

I'm pretty sure my niece had the best birthday ever, not to mention she got some pretty awesome gifts! Annnnnnd the one we gave her seemed to be one of her favorites! It was a Puppy Spa, a little furry stuffed dog {that she named, Maria} that came with brushes and combs, bows and jewels, a necklace and crown and a few other little things! She carried it around with her the majority of the day and I'm quite ticked I didn't get a picture of her with it!

After flying back home Saturday evening we literally spent a few hours cuddling with Baby Reef and then hit the sack! I'm pretty sure I turned out the light before 10:30! I mean we did get up at 6 a.m.... we were beat!

Yesterday, the hubs got up and went surfing while I slept in a few extra hours. Once I woke up though I was ready to roll! One of the most productive Sunday's I have had in some time! I did a TON of laundry, ironed, started AND completed a Pinterest craft, meal planned for this week, went to the grocery store, folded all of the laundry, picked up around the house, decorated a bit more for Fall, watched my Skins lose {Thanks Morgan... you need an attitude adjustment!} and finally worked on the blog! Listing it all out, doesn't seem to be that much, but I was on the move ALL day! SN: The hubby did vacuum for me... I wasn't doing ALL the work!

None the less, here is my photo dump of the weekend! Enjoy!!!! 

Our ride for the day! 

 Private Jets at Dulles! This wasn't even half of them! 

Kinda scary! 

The Birthday Princess!!!

Frying Pan Farm! 

Goats! 

Wilbur's Cousins! 

Our new little friend! 

If only I could have opened that stall! 

Nostalgic! A barn used to be my home away from home! 

My Pinterest Craft! A Book of all of our Wedding Day Cards! 

I'm kind of in love with it! 

Love my baby boy! 

Hope y'all had fabulous weekends as well!!! Wishing you lots of love for a great week ahead!!!

XoXo,

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy HUMP DAY {Nikki B. that's all for you}, actually it's for everyone but Nikki appreciates my capital letters and we enjoy inappropriate innuendos! I hope you all are having fabulous weeks so far! My week has been pretty darn stellar and I'm very much looking forward to our weekend coming up!!! What are y'all loving this week?! Well, here is what I'm loving!

1. The fall temperatures we have been experiencing this week in ole Hampton Roads! Today is supposed to be in the lower 80's but yesterday and Monday the temps were in the 70's and it was AMAZEBALLS! The mornings have actually been chilly and I had to use my seat warmers today in the ride!

It doesnt look like this yet.... but I cant wait till it does!

2. My blate last night with Ashlyn from Let it Be Beautiful! Love this girl to pieces! We enjoyed Starbucks, chatted about life, talked about design options for my new blog, and grabbed Chipotle for dinner! We may or may not have had to divert ourselves away from a drunken wacko too! Perfect little gals date night if I do say so myself minus that wack job though!

3. Reflecting on 9/11. I failed to write a post yesterday, because I just didn't know what to say. I wanted it to be a tribute to 9/11 but every time I went to write, I just couldn't form the words. So instead I spent the day reading everyone else's reflections, watching recaps of that tragic event that changed our history books, and reading news article after article. I still cry reading, watching and hearing about it. I still remember where I was when it happened. I still pray for all of those who were effected by this horrible insane event. I am an emotional person as it is and this literally can send me over the edge to the point that I had to turn off the Today show and take a break from reading every one's personal reflections. Every one's words for amazing and beautiful and beyond reflective and honoring to such a history changing event!

4. My current read, Amazing Gracie. I'm pretty sure this book will send me into tears at some point, as it kind of already has. It's another inspiring doggy story and I can't wait to read more! The first night I started I couldn't put it down! Gracie is a deaf, albino, Great Dane, and this is a story about how she inspired those around her! How could you not enjoy a read like that?

5. Baby Reef's first day of school! Yes, we enrolled Reef in doggie daycare last week and his first day was today! We only have him scheduled for once a week which I think will be good to start with. We are not sure if we will increase it or not... maybe later on in the coming months. Who knows?! He seemed really excited when we got there and they took him to the back so fast, I hardly had time to say goodbye! Probably a good thing as I got teary eyed {once again} when I got in the car! I hope he is having a blast and making new friends! I can't wait to pick him up after work and hear all about how he did!


On his way to his first day of school!



XoXo,

Weekend Recap!

Whew, what a weekend! It was a good one to say the least but as always, it went by too fast! It had a mix of fun and relaxation, which is much needed considering the rest of the month and basically the entire month of October are booked solid!

Friday night the hubby took me out for a random sushi date! I'm pretty sure he was treating me to dinner out since we actually cooked dinner every night last week AND to say "sorry" for the fact that Fall Ball has started and now my Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings are spent at home without him! Lucky for me, I added my other gym class on Thursdays AND I have a blate tomorrow night, so that leaves only Wednesday of being home a lone this week! The hubby knows not to apologize for his love of ball! It's his thing... believe it or not... I like a few hours to myself. Allows me to work on my bloggy here and just catch a breather or two... ALONE!

Finally after almost 3 weeks of being without it, I got my wedding sparkle all soldered and cleaned, back! I feel whole again! Or at least not naked! 

Anywho, after our scrumptious sushi date, we Redboxed... duhn duhn duhhhhhn... The Hunger Games! I actually really enjoyed it! It wasn't completely how I had envisioned in my imagination but it actually clarified a few things for me! The hubby ended up enjoying it too... once the "killings" started to occur! How morbid!? I definitely think I'll be buying it on DVD!

Saturday morning we went to watch my 9 year old Brother -in-laws... {yes I said it right.... I have a 9 year old Brother-in-law} first football game! Like Todd, he has been drilled with Baseball all 9 years of his life, and we can already tell he is going to like Football a heck of a lot better! They are beyond cute in all of their gear and resembles bobble heads while trying to hold up those helmets on their skinny little bodies! His team ended up winning which made it that much more worthy, considering it was hot as the dickens Saturday! I'm pretty sure I lost 15 pounds just standing their watching!

My Brother-in-laws football team! The MoHawks... and that ole man on the field happens to be my Father -in-law! He says he's the coach but Im pretty sure all I saw was him being the Water Boy! ha! 

After the game, we came home and cleaned out my little old Civic and then I drove it up to the car wash to have it cleaned inside and out as we were taking it to get appraised! It was probably the cleanest it has ever been since I bought it over seven years ago! We took it to Car Max first, where they appraised it in about 30 minutes! They gave us a decent deal considering the damage to my front and back bumpers {damn those trees that pop up out of nowhere!}. Once we received that offer we headed to a Volvo dealership where we had found the XC60 that we have been searching for for the last 3 months! They appraised my car, matched Car Max's offer, and before I knew it we were owners of a new car! Holy Crap right?! I still can't believe it and I've been driving it for two days! I'm really glad we took our time on finding what we wanted because in the end we got the best deal possible! Patience is a virtue, right? I'd like to think so! Non-the-less the vehicle is everything I hoped it would be and more and now that we've upgraded to a crossover SUV, the baby questions are coming! Well guess what folks.... the baby plans have not changed and we are not planning for one anytime soon! Plus, Baby Reef isn't ready to share his momma and daddy with someone else anyway. He told me that the other night!

Saying Peace Out to the Civic. Truth be told, I got teary eyed as I walked away. That car has been through A LOT with me! Lots of memories I'd like to remember and forget! 

Our new set of wheels!!! Technically my new set of wheels, but the hubby is allowed to drive it every now and again!

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. The hubby had to work a few hours that morning and I was just starting to enjoy my morning cup of coffee when he got home! While out working, he noticed that Kroger was having a special on 6 packs of beer so he grabbed my Kroger card, my new car, and headed out to get some beverages, all before 11 am! I'm not a huge beer drinker but I am a huge pumpkin fan so he picked up Blue Moon's Pumpkin Beer and Wood Chuck's Pumpkin Cider for me and then two other "flavors" for him! I have had the Blue Moon Pumpkin before and it really does taste like a pumpkin pie, minus the sugar. The Wood Chuck on the other hand, I was kind of disappointed in! I was expecting pumpkin pie but instead got... well I don't really know... it tasted like wildflowers to me! ha! It's not bad, just not pumpkin! After our beer tasting, we watched my Redskins win, took the traditional Sunday afternoon naps and then grilled burgers for dinner after our weekly trip to the grocery store to pick up food for dinner this week! 

We are not raging alky's I promise!!! 

Baby Reef enjoying the perfect weather!!! 

Did y'all have stellar weekends?! I'm hoping to work on a few house things this upcoming Sunday, but I'm not holding my breath! I may just cruise around in my new set of wheels if the weather permits!

XoXo,