It is almost fall...

Rememeber when I introduced you to my sister Abby?

I finally made the trip to Maryville to see her room all put together! 

She worked hard all summer to re-purpose used furniture to make her room extra special this year and it totally paid off! Abby lives with 5 other girls in a old house and she did an awesome job making her maybe 12x12 foot room extra special. 

Abby re-purposed the loft from her dorm room by giving it a fresh coat of white paint and cutting the legs shorter to accommodate the lower ceilings. Under her bed is the armoire that she painted this summer and fabric attached to a curtain rod hides her hanging clothes (she does not have a closet). The rolling chair originally belonged to our other sister Emily and Ab just recovered the cushion to match her room! 

Of course the best part...the embroidery hoops with the coordinating fabrics...so cute!

I am so impressed!  Way to go Sassy!

A Few Snips Shy of a Pixie

Please allow me to take a moment to tell you all a sad tale...

Over the weekend, I was getting ready to go to a tailgate party with my hubs and some of his friends. I took a shower and blow dried my hair as usual and then went to straighten my hair like I do everyday. I picked up my first section of hair, placed the Chi right up to my scalp, and as I clamped down, my hair started smoking. 

I pulled my Chi away and a section of my hair came with it. 

I freaked...almost broke down in tears...then panicked.

What hairs didn't get singed off were burnt to a crisp on the left side of my head.

It was fried, crispy, frizzy, and totally untamable.

Luckily I had an appointment with my bff in the hair stylist world, Clover, scheduled for today. I had texted Clover to give her an advanced warning but she was a little overwhelmed when I showed up. She consulted another stylist and together they went after my hair.  Apparently if you burn your hair all you can do is cut it becasue no amount of conditioning or hot oil treatments (which we tried) can reverse the damage. 

In the end, I ended up with what I think is my shortest haircut ever. 

It is going to take some getting used to but sweet Clover gave it her best shot. 

It is just a few snips shy of being a pixie cut.

Labor Day Weekend - 2012

For Labor Day my family went to the Lake of the Ozarks for the weekend. 

It also happened to be my oldest brother, Shawn's, 30th birthday!

The weekend was filled with lots of food, games, swimming,

 jet skiing, and general togetherness.

For the love of greenbeans...

Last weekend the hubs and I went to my grandparents to do some picking and canning! My grandparents have a massive sized garden. They grow corn, green beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, peanuts, and okra. They eat some fresh, give some away, and then they can the rest for winter.

I always try to make a point to go help over the summer because my grandparents are always so generous and give us lots of their produce. 

Not to mention, when we go, I get meals like this...

Why yes, that is chicken-fried-chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh corn, and fried okra. When I go to grandma's house, calories go out the window!

Ok, back to the canning. 
We spent Saturday morning picking...we got up super early to beat the heat and I am not a morning person hence the lack of pics of me.  I promise I did help!

Once it was all picked, it was time for some shucking, cutting the corn off the cob, and snapping the tips off the greenbeans. 

We left the corn with my aunt who was going to freeze it all and we got to work on the greenbeans. And by "we" I mean my grandparents and I...the hubs decided he needed to take a 3 hour nap in the middle of canning!

So fun! In total we canned 28 quarts of green beans and cut enough corn off the cob to make 16 bags full. My grandma's record for one day is 90 quarts of greenbeans! 
Seriously, my grandparents are amazing and so are those greenbeans!

Sidenote:

My hubs has said a few times that he thinks he could be a farmer. I am not so sure...case-in-point...here he is doing an impression of the donkey. Quite the little farmer!

Laney Goes to College

My baby of babiest sisters left for college yesterday. It seems pretty impossible that she is even old enough to drive let alone be heading to her freshman year of college! She chose to go to MU and yesterday was the big move in day! She was totally ready and I am so excited for her! Little Laney is so smart and grounded. She has the most passionate attitude and she is honestly a joy to be around. 

I am so excited to see what the next few years bring for her 

and I look forward to many trips to Columbia to visit! 

P.S...my parents have experienced this day 7 times! 

Can you even imagine? Erica was just 7 when our oldest brother left for college!

Natalie's Nursery

Meet my friend Liz and her precious daughter Natalie...

Liz and her hubby recently moved and baby Natalie needed her room decorated!

Liz was in love with this Pottery Barn nursery. 

She loved the tissue paper flowers and lanterns in the corner.

It didn't seem to hard so we gave it a shot!

We originally planned to make our own flowers out of tissue paper but when we went to Party City, we found lanterns,  flowers, and fans. It actually turned out to be cheaper just to buy them over making them...cheaper and less time consuming...sold!

Liz spent around $25 for all the supplies and this is what we came up with...

Some of the fans didn't make it through the first night so Liz had to do a little rearranging. This is her updated masterpiece...

So fun! So cute! So bright!

Happy Crafting! 

I love fried okra...like really love it! 

I don't eat it very often because I am sure that it is not good for me. 

I recently saw this pic on Pinterest...

It was like angels were singing when I saw the pic...totally delish!

I clicked on the link and was intrigued when I saw that it was baked and not fried!

I followed the recipe (except I left out the Cajun seasoning) and gave baked okra a try!

 

Toss the okra in a zip-lock baggie and pour the corn meal over the top.

Give yourself a little arm workout when you shake it up and coat the okra.

 

Dump it into a strainer so that the extra corn meal is removed. 

Place on a baking sheet, spray with canola, and bake! 

 

Ta-da! 

I was pretty crispy and yummy! 

I don't know that I'd say it was as good as fried okra but I totally felt better about eating it! 

Enjoy!

Our 4th Anniversary...

The hubs planned our anniversary celebration this year and it was perfect!

We had dinner and peach cobbler at PotPie in Westport.  PotPie is without a doubt one of my favorite restaurants in KC. We have gone twice now and each time both of us ordered something different and we have yet to be disappointed. You should definitely check it out...but make reservations first, it is intimate and it fills up fast!

After dinner and dessert, we went to Starlight to see Peter Pan then to the Westin at Crown Center to stay the night. 

I have been to Starlight many times for concerts but I don't think that I have ever been to see one of their summer productions. I was very impressed with the entire show!

What a great evening! 

I am like a little kid on Christmas morning when I find out my hubs is planning a surprise. I love the anticipation and the excitement! 

Thanks so much to my hubs! 

Happy 4th Anniversary, I love you.

And I leave you with a pic of the flowers that he sent me!

 

Meet Abby...

I am one of 7 kids...my two brothers are older and I have 4 little sisters.

 It was crazy, fun growing up!  We are very close.

Here we all are before our youngest sister, Erica's high school graduation...

The arrow in the pic is pointing to my very crafty sister, Abby! 

 We call her Sassy. She is hilarious, passionate about serving, and really precious!

Abby is in college and she is about to move into her first apartment...meaning she is going to have her own room for the first time! To make her new space extra awesome, she has been spending her summer redoing some furniture. It is really impressive!

Check out Abby's mad skills...

She forgot to take a before picture of this one but nonetheless you can see how great it turned out...

Awesome job Sassy. 

I can't wait to see how your room looks!