Instant Adventures #11 + Hospital Fun!

I was trying to write a post about my Mom's knee surgery but I just couldn't get my words right so here's a photo post instead!

1. Rowers gonna row on the Chattachoochee
2. A cute face found outside of Pressed Panini Bar in the Marietta Square
3. Delicious Mint Chocolate Chip gelato from Sarah Jean's Ice Cream in the Marietta Square
4 - 6. Instax Minis of the traffic I sat through during the busiest Friday ever: Music Midtown, the BET Awards,  1 of 7 Garth Brooks concerts, and a Braves game all going on at the same time!
7. Channeling my inner Fly Girl with Lauren 
8. My Mom's knee after surgery
9. Fancy hospital breakfast
10. Second breakfast, of course!
11. My Mom and me right before she was able to go home :)

Hope you all had a great week!
Happy Friday!

Weekend Adventures

For my Gratitude Journaling, I'm trying something new. I got insanely inspired by Michelle's Get Messy posts so I decided to try and illustrate items that represent some the things I was grateful for that day - starting with Friday.  I didn't want to make them too text-heavy but I did fill out Saturday and Sunday with some text after I took the photos to explain, you know, things like why I illustrated a 1.75 liter bottle of Grand Marnier* and why there's a random Ron del Barrilito bottle** just kinda hanging out on Saturday's page...
I'm having fun with the illustrations but I don't think I'll be able to keep it up much longer.  Things are about to get pretty hectic around here!

How was your weekend?

*The Grand Marnier was a Thank You present from Lauren's parents.  As one of my Maid of Honor duties, I did the envelope calligraphy for the invitations.  It was so much fun! :)

**My aunt is in town from Puerto Rico and we sipped on some Barrilito Saturday night.  Yay bonding! :)

Fake Animal Facts: Dinosaur Edition

If you don't read Carly's blog, Zauerbear, you're seriously missing out!  Her blog is full of magic and wonder in the best possible way!  About a month ago, she posted a wonderful game: Plastic Animals Scavenger Hunt, which prompted me to host my own - with a twist.
My friend works ridiculous hours at his job and while I was waiting for him to get off work one night, I decided I'd make the last few hours of his shift fun by hosting my own scavenger hunt only with dinosaurs and fake facts instead!



Armed with little dinos and tags, I quickly scribbled a few fake animal facts and attempted to hide them around his workplace.  It didn't work exactly the way I wanted it to but he appreciated the sentiment!
I'm going to try again at my job and see if it goes off a little better...

Happy Thursday!

Weekend Adventures

While I don't mind moving, packing stresses me out. I mean, like, A LOT.  I always get hyper-aware of all the stuff that I have and it makes me feel really bad.  But I don't think I'm the only one, right?  At least with that awareness comes the hidden treasures of what you have, exactly, and it's like finding new stuff all over again!

1. My "found treasure" Mockba messenger bag
2. My "found treasure" random collection of flags
3. Kiki, the cutest kitten in the Universe
4. Exploring Atlanta's Westside Provisions 
5. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams - my most favorite combo ever: Salty Caramel + Vanilla
6. The most delicious smoked chicken

How was your weekend?

Adventures in Baking: Enjoy Apple Pie

                  

It has been awhile and if you have been following along on Instagram, you've seen that I'm back in the kitchen!

I was invited to a Labor Day weekend BBQ and I thought to myself, "There's no way I can show up empty-handed! But WTF do I make?!"  Luckily, Craftgawker had me covered.  I saw this cute little #pie pie on my feed a few weeks ago and it just popped into my head: Put a word on it! (lol I'm so funny...)

Anyways - I found this recipe from the Food Network Kitchen and got to work.  My vegetable peeler went missing, so I peeled the apples "Cowboy style", as I called it, with my paring knife and made a pretty little sugary lemon-apple-spice mix.  My kitchen smelled so good!

For the crust, I used the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts - which came in handy because I didn't want to make the crust by hand (I will eventually) - and cut off enough excess dough to put a word on it.  But WHAT word could I put on it?  I thought about it so much that I almost did the #pie design but I decided that that wouldn't have been as funny for the party I was going to.  "Enjoy" seemed to be the cutest word for dessert, so I went with that and it was a huge hit!  Everyone loved it!  There were NO leftovers.  None!  I felt really proud of myself and I think that I'm now the "Pie Queen" around there, which kinda rules.

My next attempt will probably be Key Lime, maybe?  We'll see!  Maybe I'll make it back up to Ellijay for the Apple Festival and get some really pretty apples for another pie...

Hope you're having a great week!

Incoming Mail: Lucky Dip Club + Gem Party!

The lovely Leona of Lucky Dip Club has done it again - this time, with the Think Happy Ice Cream Parlour box!  I squealed like a maniac when I saw the parcel in my mailbox and squealed even more when I opened it to reveal all the wonderful goodies inside!  What always gets me is the customization. I freaked out when I saw the ice cream cone necklace with my name on it!  It was absolutely perfect!  everything about this box was wonderful and cute and it puts the biggest smile on my face every time I use the items - especially the wonderful Sundae Girl bag!  The Think Happy notebook fits right in and I have been carrying it around with me ever since it arrived!
If you have missed out on any boxes, check out the shop and either order past boxes or put in your order for the next surprise box!  You will NOT be disappointed!
*PS - sign up for the mailing list!  September's Magic Forest box sold out in 4 hours!




After watching all of Contessa Miller's awesome videos about crystals, I took it upon myself to load up on some.  I ordered the lot above from Etsy seller Isva Stones about a month ago so I had completely forgotten what I had filled my cart with!  It felt like Christmas morning when I opened my little parcel!  I had forgotten I ordered so many things - like two Chakra pendants, a Rose Quartz pendant, Chakra stones, tumbled stones, a Quartz pendulum, an Amethyst energy booster and a Quartz pyramid.  In my defense, a bulk of it was a Treasure Lot so it wasn't like I went totally nuts, right...?  I've been wearing my gorgeous Chakra bracelet every day since.  I even followed a lot of different advice for cleansing and energizing my stones - I let them sit in salt that W and B gave me that was direct from Hawaii and I saged them right before I put them on (the bracelet and the Chakra pendant on the left side of the photo above).  I love them all!  I even have them energizing on my windowsill so that they get enough sun and moonlight to charge their energies!  All I need now is a chain for the gorgeous Rose Quartz pendant because it is just begging to be worn :)

Happy Monday!