Challenge Accepted

Morning! Im at work now!
I woke up late to a dirty house this morning and only 45 minutes to get dressed, walk the dog, and make the house look spotless... sounded impossible...until I found this on pinterest..

(links back to: somewhatsimple.com)

Can I really clean my house in such a short amount of time?

As Barney Stinson would say...Challenge Accepted!

As you can see, Im at work now. I managed to clean the kitchen, straighten up the living room, make the bed. I think Husband will be pleased when he walks through the door. 

Putting the finishing touches on our bathrooms with BHG.

My husband and I moved into our townhome in April.
We've been finishing decorating our home room by room.
We finished the kitchen first, then we started on the bathrooms.


When it came to picking out our bathroom accessories, there was only one
place for us to look: WalMart. When it comes to this stuff, they really have the best
prices and thanks to their Better Homes and Gardens line, we can still have a beautiful
bathroom, AND save money.

We went with a brown and green striped decor for the downstairs guest bathroom.

And we did a bronzed look for the upstairs. 

Im so pleased with the items we bought, and I couldn't be happier about the money we saved by getting them from Walmart!

You can view the bath accessories line here: http://www.walmart.com/browse/home/bath/better-homes-and-gardens/4044_539095/YnJhbmQ6QmV0dGVyIEhvbWVzIGFuZCBHYXJkZW5z?_refineresult=true&browsein=true&catNavId=1011919&facet=category%3ABath+Accessories&fromPageCatId=1011919&ic=48_0&path=0%3A4044&ref_values=408836+4294295899+500580+500702&tab_value=348480_All

(Walmart nor BHG was affiliated with this post, this is all personal thoughts, and opinions.)

Friday's usually mean an empty fridge.

I do my grocery shopping on Saturdays and Sundays, so by Friday Im running out of food.
I don't mind though, sometimes it's fun to make a meal of whatever I have left.
For lunch today, here's what I found:

Barilla Penne Pasta
A can of mushrooms
A half a jar of Roasted Garlic pasta sauce.

So I made a type of pasta! I cooked the penne, then heated the sauce and muhrooms and
voila...

It was pretty good for a quick and easy meal.

Love my wins.

I've been entering giveaways for three years now, and I love win I win something!
My husband and I love trying out new products. My most recent win was this
Nellie's Natural Laundry Soda from Texas Kitchen Blog's giveaway.

I've had fun spending the morning doing laundry and trying it out, and my husband loves
the cool vintage packaging!

Pepperoni Pinwheels.

One of my favorite things to cook now, is a recipe I got off pinterest.

The recipe comes from bubblecrumb.com
http://www.bubblecrumb.com/2011/06/29/pepperoni-pizza-puffs/

And it's for something called Pepperoni Pinwheels!
I made them for my husband the other day, and he loved
them. I even had some left over for the next day, and he ate them for
lunch!

Since the recipe is not my own, I don't feel comfortable posting it.
You can find the original recipe at the above link.

I will tell you that it's was very easy and cheap to make, and it's a great snack for kids!

Heres how mine turned out:

Prometheus Review.

My hubby and I went to the movies Saturday night!
It was a nice treat, since we don't do that very often.
The last movie we saw was in November or December...








My hubby really wanted to see Prometheus, so that's what we saw!
I was a little apprehensive, since I thought maybe it would be scary
and I get terrified pretty easily. Just the theme music in some horror
movies is enough to make me shake like a little girl. 


Prometheus was directed by Ridley Scott, and stars several great actors, including Charlize
Theron. 

It takes place in the future, in 2089 for the first scene, and then the ones following it in 2093.
Its about an archaeological pair, Elizabeth and Charlie who discover
old cave carvings, and paintings that lead them to believe that we were created
by aliens on another planet. They then go on a mission with several other people
via spacecraft to prove that theory and hopefully meet their makers, and receive answers
to all the questions we ponder every day. 


While I obviously don't believe that we were created by aliens, (I believe in God, he is the only
maker, the only creator that exists). I can still enjoy movies for entertainment purposes.


I enjoyed this movie. I thought it was entertaining. It wasn't slow. It was
very fast paced. There are alot of suspenseful parts. They were done very well, because I jumped
quite a few times. It was not a horror movie, it is a sci fi film, so it's very intelligent and a great story line to
follow! The actors were wonderful in it... I really can't think of anything bad to say about it...


However I walked out feeling indifferent...I didn't love it, or hate it. I did enjoy watching it, but I wouldn't buy it or watch it again. 


I think it's because Im not a sci-fi fan. I think if you are a fan of sci-fi movies than you should see this. 

Hen House Linens review!

We just moved into our townhome in April, so we are still getting things together.

We don't have everything we need, but we get it bit by bit, and soon our home will

be done!

Our kitchen is pretty much done. We recently painted an accent wall, and got all matching appliances,

so now we just need the little accessories to finish it up! 

Recently, I had the joy of reviewing something from Hen House Linens. 

They have such beautiful items! 

From aprons to tablecloths, to potholders and oven mitts!

I picked out a potholder to review, I forgot to choose the color, and I was in panicked mode waiting for it to arrive hoping that it matched my kitchen! 

When it finally arrived I was please to see it was red, and would match my kitchen perfectly!

I was also pleased to see the material was thick and strong and could withstand lots of use!

I have some from dollar tree that Ive been using and they are made of thin, easy to tear material.

I can't wait to start using it!

(I received the mentioned product from Hen House Linens free of charge in exchange for my honest review)

I feel like this cat this morning.

Im off Mondays, so today is like my Monday.

 (found on flickr, by austinite)

Helpful tips!

Today I drew and "watercolored" a feather!

I have no watercolor paints however. I used an old eyeshadow palate!

If you have any old eyeshadows you don't use or want, this could be a great activity to do with kids!

Just wet the shadow, and it goes on just like watercolor paint.

MacVoil Review!

Recently, I was lucky enough to work with MacVoil hair products for a review.

MacVoil is a line of virgin essential oil products used for hair care. It can however also be used on the skin, scalp, nails and cuticles. It uses oils from the Argan tree, cypress, and macadamia nut for a triple infusion of repair and protection.

www.macvoil.com

I was sent the MacVoil Morrocan Argain Oil Re-conditioner.
It protects against uv damage, and pollution, and helps your hair look smooth and shiny!

I used it after washing and before styling, and I was very pleased.
It made my hair so shiny! And my hair smelled amazing too.
My sister went to hug me, and she commented that my perfume smelled
great. I said Im not wearing any that's my hair!
I went by the instructions on the bottle, and it seems as if it's
supposed to be used as a sort of leave in conditioner?
I tried it that way, and didn't love the results. My hair
was slightly oily after, I find it best when you very lightly
rinse it out, then style your hair.

All in all I think it's a great product!


(I was sent the products free of charge in exchange for my honest review. That is all I received.)

Walkin' in Memphis: Exploring our city.

My husband and I can't afford a vacation this year.
Maybe next year, but this year it just isn't in the cards for us.
We still want to enjoy our summer though!
We live in a wonderful city full of things that we haven't experienced
or discovered yet.

I had this past Friday off of work, so we decided to go out downtown
and explore a bit.

First we went to the Peabody Hotel.
The Peabody is "THE" hotel in Memphis. We have many
great hotels around here, but this is probably the
most famous. It's gorgeous! Its very glamourous,
and all I've ever seen is the lobby. One day I hope to
make it up to the rooftop, just haven't done it yet.
The Peabody is most famous for it's ducks.
Yes, I said ducks. The ducks are trained to
walk from their rooms every morning, into the
elevator and down into the lobby's fountain at precisely
11 a.m. where they stay until 5 p.m.

We got there early and saw the cute little ducks!
I couldn't get a picture because of the people, but here
is the gorgeous ceilings in the lobby.

 

After we left the Peabody, we were hungry so we stopped at a well known Memphis burger joint Huey's, and split an appetizer.

If you ever visit Memphis, you have to eat at Hueys! 

They have amazing burgers, and they are a big part of Memphis, it just wouldn't be right. 

I had such a good Friday with my husband, and there are many more places to see around here!

Yesterday my husband and I had a great day!
I'll post more about that later. When we got home we
were hungry and tired. I didn't really wanna spend a
long time cooking so I made some sloppy joes.

My husband helped and Im so glad he did, because
when I turned my back he added in a ingredient, that
made the sloppy joes sooo good!

Here's the sloppy joes..and yea, thats my dryer.
We have limited space in our townhome so my
washer and dryer are located in my kitchen.. they do
provide extra counter space from time to time.

Johnny and Melanie's Sloppy Joe recipe:


1lb groundbeef
1 can sloppy joe sauce
2 tbsp of Teriyaki marinade


We cooked the groundbeef on the skillet, added in the sauce and marinade
until the groundbeef was browned, we put them on buns, melted a slice of colbyjack
cheese on top and enjoyed!

Putting our home together piece by piece.

My husband and I moved into our townhome in April.
We are still putting touches on it to make it feel like our place.
We are currently working on our bedroom!

A month ago I won the chance to have our photo etched on granite.
My husband and I have zero framed pictures of us, so this was a way to
have a photo of the two of us displayed in our home.

It arrived a couple of days ago and I couldn't be happier.

The best words a wife could hear..

I came home from work and fixed dinner, all I did was use what I had
in my kitchen...porkchops, smothers with breadcrumbs, and teriyaki
marinade.
I cooked mashed potatoes to go with it.
My husband looked at me after he ate it, and said "Your a damn good cook Melanie, I would have paid money in a restaurant to eat that."

He's such an amazing husband.

Bucket List.

There are so many places in this world that I'd love to visit!
Im making a online blog bucket list of them all.
Here's the first one:

The house from the Notebook.
It's in Charleston, which is a reasonable trip to take
from our home in Tennessee.
The great part is my husband love's the Notebook, so
he's have fun touring this house too!

photo is from hollywoodjesus.com

CollageIt Review and Giveaway!

Hi yall!
I was recently sent the CollageIt Pro to review, and I was also sent
18 codes to give away so you guys can try it for yourself!
Isn't that exciting?!

This is what CollageIt had to say about their software.
" With CollageIt, collage creation is effortless and comfortable. Basically, you can just add photos and click the Generate Preview button. Click the button again to see another layout. If you add more images, CollageIt will conveniently form a new fitting layout pattern. After you pick the collage you liked the most, you can save it into a variety of popular image formats. Of course, you can also diversify the collage look yourself."


The CollageIt was so easy to use! Once I picked my template, all I  had to do was drag and drop my images to make my collage.

Im so pleased with how it turned out!

And Im please with how easy the whole process was!

Im not the best when it comes to html stuff...I know silly, because I have a blog, but Im not. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

This is the elephant I was sketching for my "twins" future nursery.
I was so proud of it.
I had my miscarriage a few days later and chunked it in the trash,
but my husband dug it out and made me keep it.
I look at it from time to time.

Sweet Dreams.

I want to take a nap right now.
If I only I were at home, and not at work,
and if only this were my bedroom.

couldn't find the credit for this image, if it's yours contact me so I can give you the proper credit.

Cook'n Recipe Organizer Review and Giveaway!

I was recently sent the Cook'n Recipe Organizer for review. Since Im a newlywed learning to cook, I rely on recipes for every meal! The Cook'n Recipe Organizer is a lifesaver. They organize my recipes so perfectly, and make them easy to find. I can put them all in one place rather than having a big stack of cookbooks or pages saved and cluttering up my computer memory. 


The Cook'n Recipe Organizer comes with a bunch of recipes already installed! And they aren't just generic "free" recipes. There are some goodies on there, for example a cream of avocado soup that sounds amazing!
My husband just got me his memaw's prized cookbook, and now thanks to the Cook'n, I can save the recipes on my computer and back it up in case anything ever happens to it. 


Here is some info from the Cook'n Site:

Cook'n is the The Easiest Way to:

Find the Best Recipes on the Internet

Capture and Save Internet Recipes

Enter Your Own Personal Recipes

Sync Recipes with iPhone, iPad, & Android

Print a Family Cookbook

Analyze Nutritional Values

Make Menus, Shopping Lists & More!

Get Free Cookbook with Purchase

I really loved the Cook'n AND I have the chance to give one away to one of my readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway






(the cook'n organizer was provided to me for this review. my opinions, are just that, my own. i received no compensation for this review)

My Monday Night Guilty Pleasure is..

The Bachelorette!


And I have no idea why. I know the relationships never last, I know the concept is silly, but there
is something so addictive about this show!

I love Emily Maynard too. She's sweet but man, she gets super protective when it comes to anyone
talking about her daughter. 


I personally hope she picks Sean!


Who do you want her to pick?

Im in love...

I found my new favorite ice cream while shopping at Kroger yesterday.

It's Turkey Hill's Lady Liberty Mint. Yummy light tasting mint chocolate chip with chocolate cookies pieces
all throughout. It's soooo good. And it was only $2.99. Thats how much the Kroger brand ice cream costs.


Oh, and I have a surprise for you. Somebody (hint hint, it's me!) is doing a review and giveaway later this week for a Cook n' software worth $80 bucks.. so you might wanna keep checking back for it!

Look what I made last night!? Giveaway.

Can anybody guess what they are?

It's one of my favorite foods!

Ill give you a hint: It's a vegetable or a fruit.

The first person who guesses it right will win three coupons.

One for 10 dollar off 50 dollars spent at Lowes.

One for 1.00 off one bag of Milo's Kitchen Chicken grillers dog treats.

One 1.00 off one bag of Pup-Perroni Mix Stix dog treats.

You have until tommorow 6/19/2012 noon central time.

A bonus entry if you promote this giveaway somehow.

Leave link in the comments.

June Birchbox Review!

I got my June Birchbox today!
For those of you who don't know its a monthly subscription where
you fill out a profile and each month you get a box with 5 or 6 specially chosen
beauty samples.








This is my third month and by far this is the best box Ive gotten.
My first was great! The second was terrible...I didn't use one thing out of it.


But this box? AWESOME. I plan on trying everything in it. and thats what I wanted from this subscription. New beauty products to try and love.


This month the theme was "Jetset"

and this is what was in it:


Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Purple - FULL SIZE!
Melvita Floral Water- Sample
theBalm cosmetic Staniac in Beauty Queen
Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream - Sample


LifeStyle Extra - Cynthia Rowley Designer inspired BandAids - FULL SIZE!
BirchBox Man Extra - John Varvotos  Star USA Cologne Sample

First I tried the Yu-be creme. It said it's for dry skin and chapped lips. I used it on my hands, knees and feet.
Those are the parts of my body that tend to be the dryest. The smell hint me has soon as I put it on.. It stinks. It stinks bad, and it was greasy when I first applied it. But as soon as I smoothed it in my hands were soft, and so were my knees and feet. I wouldn't buy it though personally because of the smell. But it does what its supposed to.


Next is the Melvita Floral Water. It's rose smelling water that's used as a light toner or a refreshing pick me up spray. I used it in the morning on my face. Now, I don't know much about toners, but as a pick me up spray it worked. I was tired and after spraying it, I more awake and refreshed, and it smells lovely! I'd buy it. I plan on using the sample until I run out!




Then I took a bath, got ready and decided to try the two makeup items.


thebalm Staniac is a cheek and lip tint, the beauty queen color is a cherry color and I was scared it would be too bright for my pale skin. I put it on my lips first, one swipe and bam! my lips were so beautiful. They looked natural. Just a shade or two darker than my natural color, which I love! Then I put a dab on each of my cheeks. Again it made my cheeks look so beautiful yet natural, they look dewey pink!


I then tried the Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Purple. It's like a marker, it goes on so easy and smooth. If you suck at putting on eyeliner like me, this is the eyeliner for you. It makes it impossible to do it wrong. Im not sure if the purple color is right for me however. I'd buy it, just in a different color!




Im not going to try the designer bandaids since I don't have any cuts to cover up, although I will use them when I do! They are so cute.


And the John Varvotos Star USA is for my husband, Ill give you an update on how he likes it!

Free Blogger Sign Up Opp.

1. Sign up here. 

   
   

   
   

   Free blogger sign up opp!

   At Jenns blog!

   The prize: Hello Diamonds piece worth 195...

   and the best part..bloggers can enter too!

Tommorow is Father's Day! Im going to take this moment to honor my wonderful
father. My dad is an amazing man. He busted his butt when my brother, sister, and I were kids to
provide for us. We never went without ANYTHING we needed. We may not have gotten everything
we wanted..but good for us, we were spoiled enough as it was. My dad has the best sense of humor,
he's so much fun to be around. I love him so much and Im so proud to call him my dad.

Im one of the few lucky ones in this day and age, who can say that I have a wonderful Mother and Father who have always been there for me. I can rely on them for anything and Ive been very blessed.


One day, maybe God doesn't think we are ready yet, but one day my husband and I will have kids and I can only hope and pray that we will be the kind of parents my parents are.

For those of you lucky enough to live near an IKEA (sadly, Im not one of the lucky ones.)

On Fathers Day you can treat the "dad" in your life to a free breakfast and a free coffee!

.... I mean if your going to IKEA on that day it's the least you can do for dragging him out shopping on Fathers Day, right?

For the latest deals and updates follow me on twitter @ohslowdown

Learning to cook for my husband....A journey.

Funny moment of the week:
Im new to this cooking thing so mistakes will happen pretty often as I go on this journey of learning
how to cook. The funny cooking moment that happened recently?

I was cooking ham & asparagus casserole for my hubby ( my first casserole ever!) & I was chopping asparagus. I had to chop quite a good bit of it. I also chopped shallots & some of the shallots had bad ends, I put those bad ends on a separate plate. I like to clean as I cook and in doing that I picked up the wrong plate and realized my mistake as I watched all my asparagus go down the trash..



oops!

Did anybody enter the sweepstakes for Nathans Hot Dogs?!

I just got this winning email! Im so excited, we love Nathans HotDogs!

Today is my day off! Woohoo.
Im spending it cleaning the house, and enjoying me time!
Me time pretty much means catching up on all my favorite shows!

Im cooking an Italian Casserole for Hubby and I tonight, so for lunch I just
made a salad for myself, cause he's at work.

nothing too special, but it was awesome.

1 cup Iceburg lettuce

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1 slice of ham cut up

1 tbsp of crispy fried onions (so unhealthy i know)

and 2 tbsp of Ranch dressing.

Hope everyone is having a happy Friday.

My devotional today was about how God can cut things from our life because he know they won't bring us any good..like a job, or a failed endeavor.

So if something didn't work out for you, maybe it's because God has better things in store.

Everything happens for a reason. - I say that to my husband everyday, he makes fun of me for saying it so much. :]

Thinking about a giveaway.

Im thinking about starting some giveaways...

what kinds of things would you be interested in?

:]




something I found on pinterest I thought was funny.

Not Quick Enough.

Did anyone snag the Hugo Boss for Men cologne sample?

I wasn't quick enough. :[

helpful hints and tips!...I need yours!

How do you get more energy during the day?

What snack, drinks, etc. help you?




detective dog wants to know

ugh, what was i thinking?

So I got off work tonight excited to spend a lazy Wednesday night lying on the couch with my hubby watching tv. I found this recipe for german pancakes on pinterest a few weeks ago and decided to try it.


6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter
In a blender, combine eggs, milk, flour and salt until smooth.
Melt butter and pour into 9×13 pan; then add batter.
Bake uncovered at 400 F for 20 minutes.

Ive never had them before and the picture showed crispy pancakes topped with
powdered sugar...so I thought, I don't have powdered sugar why don't I top with icecream?!

eggs and icecream?
so gross! what was I thinking?!

Wordless Wednesday: My "baby".

Eddie Bauer Event! Starts in July, bloggers sign up now!

The Eddie Bauer Baby Collection Giveaway Event hosted by the Iowa-Mom and Bay Area Mommy is now open to bloggers!

Cost is $2 or free with announcement post. See bloggers wanted details and signup form for more details.

early friday morning.

My hubby is off getting the brakes fixed today, and it's my day off! I thought I'd do some cleaning while he was gone. Im going grocery shopping tommorow and as you can see my fridge needs it.

Pathetic, huh? Well, it won't be bare for long...check out my grocery list:

I plan on stocking up on produce because we are trying to eat healthier. Ive heard produce drawers can easily get smelly and not mention gross when produce starts to ripen, I want to keep that from affecting the other items in my fridge, so while hubby is out I lined the drawer with newspaper to keep absorb the odors and help prevent messes.

Im doing better at this newlywed thing. until later, mel.