Doing it Asheville style!

For one of my good friend's 25th birthday, we took a trip to one of her favorite places... Asheville, NC. First night we hit up the Belle Chere festival. Asheville was quite the hippy hot spot and was sooo dang hot but none the less we had a blast!!!!

On Saturday, us girls headed to the Biltmore Estate. It was the second time for me to visit this more than ginormous home but it was still just as interesting. It really made me wonder how in the world people used to live with no air conditioners! The 250+ home or more like castle, was beautiful with amazing scenery, but dang I never got more excited on that tour then when I saw a fan every few rooms! haha Ended the tour with a lovely wine tasting of the Biltmore Wines and some good food.

Nothing is more fun than a road trip with the girls!!

My terrorist

In my recent summer escapades I wandered through some tree's while at KY lake to jump off a cliff at an old rock quarry. In my thrill of jumping off this 35 foot drop I must have touched some of the most wretched plants on earth! POISON IVY!!!! Now I have had my fair share of poison ivy incidents (for example my sister and I sliding down the mountains of Cumberland Gap when we were young and getting poison ivy from head to toe) but you never truly remember how bad it is until you are experiencing again right then, right there. It is horrible! I got poison ivy on both ankles, my thighs, a few places on my back and arms. Not only do I look like I have leprosy, but also a crazy freak with my pink calamine lotion spotted all over my body. Poison ivy is terrorising me. The constant thought of itching has consumed my thoughts, my life!!! I took pictures but I will spare you. But I will leave you with this warning. STAY OUT OF THE WOODS, STAY AWAY FROM POISON IVY.
YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!!

The Hills are alive.... actually over :(

I never watched Laguna Beach but I have been a pretty avid follower of the Hills since it came on air on MTV. Last night was the final episode leaving me a little emotional. It marked the end of a era. These women are growing up, which in turns means I am too. Even though The Hills is a bit drama filled, it has always been a show I felt I could relate too on some degree. They were my age-young adults trying to get started in the real world. A good group of girl friends that had what seemed like real life friend, boy, and sibling/family drama. They loved to get all dressed up, go out on the town, be social….. They had parties, fights, bonding, trips… the same things my friends and I went through on a daily basis. It was just refreshing seeing these Hollywood high maintenance rich women going through all the same things the normal women of the world were experiencing. Hence why this show was so popular… because alot of people felt that way. It really was my generation’s version of Sex and the City.

I am not a huge reality TV but to me this show had always seemed different….. BUT the last 15 seconds of the show reminded me why I don’t like reality TV. (If you haven’t seen the last episode, stop now because here comes spoilers.) Everyone knows that to some degree that The Hills is scripted but I had always thought it was just a glammed up version of reality. When they exposed that the last scene between Kristin and Brody was actually at a set it made me question the whole concept. Which I guess was actually the point. I assume they just wanted the audience to realize that it was actually a tv show..... But it did get me thinking. Was any of it the truth? Were Spencer and Heidi actually married? Were Stephanie/Spencer or Heidi/Holly actually not on good terms or did they fake that to add drama to the show? Is Spencer actually crazy? Did Kristen and Brody actually have feelings for each other? You get the point. What is real and what isn’t… Who knows! Clearly Heidi really got plastic surgery but at this point that is all I am for sure of. Anyways, tear that the show is over. I just hope the tabloids keep up with them, I will most certainly be curious as I have withdrawals for their reality tv world.

Yea.. I got a green thumb!

In my goal of becoming the ultimate domestic goddess I figured now that I had a house I needed to have a garden too. I started small…. Two squash plants, 5 bell pepper plants, and 1 tomato plant. I was beginning to doubt my green thumb until I spotted my first baby vegetables!!!! I’m so excited and it is amazing even though my garden is miniature I am glad I started so small. I have already learned so much about how much more space plants need, fertilizer, pesticides, how much water and sunlight, ect.- Something that would have been much more of an undertaking with a bigger garden. Already planning for next year… my garden will be awesome!


Can you spot my baby vegetables? :o)

Recipe of the Week!

Recipe of the week… This is an oldy but goody. My mom has been making this for years but this is the first time I have made it as an adult. It's super easy and tons of variations. I like to bulk up the veggie content and it makes one serving go a LONG way! Anyways, hope you like it!

Stuffed Peppers:
4-5 large bell peppers
1 lb lean ground beef
1 – 2 onion
½ rice
1 can diced tomatoes
FF shredded Cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degree. Cut tops off of all but 1 bell peppers. Take the pepper tops and one whole bell pepper and one or two onions and chop. Brown the ground beef with the onion and pepper. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a can of diced tomatoes and ½ rice (already cooked. I used white instant, but brown would probably cut the calories even more) Let simmer. While simmering, take the topless bell peppers and blanch for 3 minutes. Place blanched bell peppers in a baking dish, stuff with the beef mixture and top with shredded cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted. Wah-lah!

It's making me hungry just thinking about it! :oP

Rafting

We came....

We fought....

WE CONQUERED!!!!

I didn't raft with any of my friends, but here is a picture of them.... PRICELESS!

One room at a time!

With a new house comes expanded expenses. Hence why I am tackling one room at a time.... My most current of projects has been my dining room and living room which are adjoined. Here is the latest update after my furniture and print purchases after the past few weeks.

My prints are some of the fabulous Spirit of Nashville prints done by the Anderson Design group. I love all of their prints... It was hard to pick just 3. I also got some fun purchases from the Nashville flea market but you can't see most of them in the picture. More photos to come as my house comes together. Enjoy!

Boys with Girlfriends

Lesson I learned this week:
I should know better than to be friends with boys with girlfriends.

Yes, guys and girls can be friends with the opposite sex but I don’t believe they can be best friends or very close friends. If a friendship is headed for that direction it may be headed for some troubled waters…. esp if one of them is attached (to someone else). Through the last couple of months and my interactions with single men, taken men, and learning through other peoples’ experiences, I have come to the conclusion that a man can only have 1 leading lady and vis versa.

Why guys and girls can’t be best friends (unless dating each other or if both single)

A) One person always tends get’s crazy thoughts about the other (may be stated or go ignored but it is still true). But with close friendship there is a lot of emotions involved, a bond formed, and clearly there is some sort of compatibility…. Even if you are just exploring the friendship side. A relationship is over 50% friendship.
B) The sex part always gets in the way. No, not let sexual intercourse but if one or both of you finds the other attractive you are playing with fire, feelings and crushes begin to form. Revert to point A. (if you disagree with this statement because you have tons of friends of the opposite sex, that just means you are in denial that all of them are actually into you…..)
C) Even if both people are in relationships you would think the pressure of possible involvement is lifted, that there will be no issue with being just friends but nope…. Because the person you are involved with will never understand why you are close friends with someone of the opposite sex. They will accuse you of being attracted to them, which you probably are, and question if there is something missing from your relationship since you are reaching out to other people of the opposite sex…..
D) What if only one of you is in a relationship…. Again you would think it would relieve that pressure of involvement. But still nope. Innocent flirting, crossing the line here or there can lead to emotional cheating, feelings, and then who knows what else. Then the single person becomes the bad guy and the person in a relationship becomes the victim…

Now I am sure there are exceptions to this rule but just putting one of my crazy theories into text. What do you think?