August Rush of Flowers

Monday Morning Flowers always does an amazing job with the arrangements they give the Trenton Thunder to put in the women's bathrooms. Check my blog to see past months. Based on the way this latest series falls, the first flowers of August are also the last of July. I went ahead and just decided to start a new blog for August with them.

July 31-August 2:

Before being brought up to the bathrooms, these arrangements were sitting on my desk for a few minutes. Multiple people walked by and commented on how beautiful they were! The bamboo gave them a very tall, slender look and the pretty colors of the flowers and fruits worked together beautifully to give them a feel of a tantalizing orchard. We have four more series in August and then potential playoffs in September so I can't wait to see what else Monday Morning Flowers has in store for us this season.

August 7-9:

Beautiful, sunny colors and flowers this series. I love the mixture of yellow and white with the hint of purple. The arch just tops the whole arrangement off perfectly. These have been sitting on my desk all morning making me smile and everyone has walked by and talked about how pretty they are. I'll be sad when they make their way up to the bathrooms but I know they will make women smile this week during games!

August 17-19:

The flower arrangements for the Trenton Thunder's series against Bowie this weekend are filled with breathtaking colors and textures. I love the peacock feathers, Monday Morning Flowers just knows how to give their arrangements that little something extra. 

August 20-22:

The new flower arrangements are once again filled with bring bold colors and I love it. The bright red and yellow flowers blend perfectly with the bright greenery in the arrangements. The bamboo shoots along with the unique red fuzzy flowers give it that unique touch that Monday Morning is known for.

August 27-30:

When the flowers are super tall, I feel like I need to take multiple angles to get every little detail photographed. These arrangements are a great way to say goodbye to the regular season. There is a great chance of the Thunder making the playoffs so hopefully we will have some playoff flowers as well. These final regular season arrangements are packed with bright colors and unique touches including bamboo shoots, colorful leaves, and sparkly wired swirls. 

Top Ten Female Responses to Country Music Lines

Whenever I'm listening to country music, I feel like I have responses to the things that the artists are saying. It's been a while since I've done a "Top Ten" list so I decided to compile the best responses to country music lines. Since I'm a female, I decided to specify that these would be the "Top Ten Female Responses" since most guys might not have the same reaction. You'll see what I mean. As usual, my top ten is in no particular order.



Yes Brad Paisley, you can check me for ticks anytime.



Yes Luke Bryan, I will shake it for you.
-I've also seen, "No Luke Bryan, you shake it for me", but who are you kidding ladies, if Luke Bryan asks you to shake it for him, you're going to do it.



Yes Jason Aldean, I would love to go for a ride on your big green tractor.



Shut up Lee Brice. Maybe if you would stop wining about being hard to love, someone might actually give it a shot. Man up.



Yes you should have kissed me guy from Gloriana.



Thank you for the invite Kenny Chesney, I think I will come over.



Thomas Rhett, I'll give you something to do with your hands.



Thank you Hunter Hayes, I do feel wanted.





Eric Church, please quit creepin' and tell me more about how a melody sounds like a memory.



Kip Moore, I agree.

There are probably some others but these are just the songs I thought of.

Texts from Darrell: I Like Big Butts

"Only trust people who like big butts, they cannot lie"

See other Texts from Darrell:

Got Milk?
Mona Lisa
Business with Penguins
Marilyn Monroe in Paris

And what started it all...

Make it Rain Marshmallows 

I hope to illustrate these one day.

Sampleicious: Birchbox Edition: July

I have been excited about the July Birchbox ever since I saw a preview of the box on Birchbox's Twitter feed. This month is a special Glamour edition but beyond that, Glamour chose senses as the theme. The box includes products that you can see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, and smell it. Even just the colorful box sleeve is fun!

List of products:

Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint

Tea Forté® minteas - 3 pack

beautyblender® double

stila It’s Go Time Lip Glaze Trio

Harvey Prince Hello - 50 ml

Birchbox Exclusive Earbuds

I haven't had time to try any of the products yet so I will update when I do.

If you've followed my blog in the past, you know I'm forever searching for the perfect moisturizer. The Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint intrigues me. First of all, I love any product that uses the word "luminizing" because I love to sparkle and it sounds magical. The sun-kissed look is always fun as well, especially in the summer, so a tinted moisturizer is great as long as it doesn't make me look like an oompa loompa! The moisturizer comes in 5 different shades, I'm not sure which sample I received. Hopefully it matches my skin tone. It has an SPF of 20 which is perfect for summer. The full size runs for $38 which is a little pricey but if it's a good moisturizer, it might be worth it. I would give this product a touch it and a see it?

Next is Tea Forte minteas. They are sold in 3 packs on the website but the sample was still a full size tin which is cool. I love tea flavored things and these mints are supposedly packed with energy. I'm excited to try them. These definitely fill the taste it quota.

I guess the original beauty blender would fall under touch it. I love the feel of these things. They're so soft! I'm pretty sure I own a blue one, might be a different brand but same concept. These things are great for blending make-up or removing smudges!

The box did not include stila It's Go Time Lip Glaze Trio but it did include one of the three glosses. This looks like a fun sparkly gloss that's perfect to go over any lipstick or to wear alone. Lip gloss could be taste it and see it?

I think this is the second Harvey Prince sample I've had since starting Birchbox. Unfortunately neither have been the one I really want, their pumpkin/lavender scent, but still they're both great. This one is called Hello and is a fun, summery scent. This, of course, is smell it.

Finally, Birchbox included a fun pair of colorful ear buds to cover the hear it sense. I love the look of them, hopefully they are comfy in my ears!

*Birchbox's website decided to go down during this post so I'll update later!

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer: Music Edition

There are so many songs that are perfect for summer, especially in the country realm. Here are a few of my favorites that I'm rocking out to this summer.

Little Big Town "Pontoon"



Simple Plan featuring Sean Paul "Summer Paradise"



Luke Bryan "Drunk on You"



Eric Church "Springsteen"



Jason Aldean "Dirt Road Anthem"



Kid Rock "All Summer Long"



Jake Owen "Barefoot Blue Jean Night"



Zac Brown Band "Toes"



This is what I can think of for now, there are so many more though I may add. Stay tuned...

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer: Blue Curacao Drinks

My first post for these lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are some refreshing drink choices. Blue drinks are always so pretty and the main ingredient is usually Blue Curacao.

First up is the Blue Ocean. I found it on a Floridian Weddings website. They are featuring it as the perfect Florida Keys Wedding Signature Cocktail. They topped theirs with an orange slice and a pretty flower which made it look extra summery. Unfortunately I didn't have either of those things so mine is garnish free but still that pretty ocean color.

Blue Ocean

1 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. Blue Curacao
1/3 oz. grapefruit juice
1-2 splashes simple syrup

Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake over ice. Then pour into a martini glass or over ice. Add the garnishes if desired.

Next up is the Deep Blue Sea Martini. This one isn't quite as deep of a blue color, even though it is called "deep blue sea." This recipe didn't include any garnishes but I think a pineapple wedge would work well if you have it. While both were good, I did prefer the taste of the Blue Ocean.

Deep Blue Sea Martini

2 oz. vodka

3/4 oz. sour mix

1/2 oz. Blue Curacao

1/2 oz. pineapple juice

Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake over ice. Then pour into a martini glass.

Stay tuned for more posts on how to get through those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer!

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

Now that the 4th of July is past, there really isn't another holiday for a while. To keep my blog pace going with fun crafts and recipes, I'm going to introduce a new series called "Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer." It won't be a specific number of days like my holiday ones, I am just going to post fun summer themed stuff over the next couple months. Stay tuned...

30 Day Photography Challenge Summary

So back on September 27, I decided to attempt a 30 Day Photography Challenge. Nothing in the rules necessarily said that you had to do it in 30 days, you just had to take 30 different pictures. If I do another challenge like this, I'd like to officially keep up with it each day. But alas this one took me much longer. Here is a summary of all 30 days since they were so spread out before.

Day 1: Self-potrait
Day 2: What you wore today
Day 3: Clouds
Day 4: Something green
Day 5: From a high angle
Day 6: From a low angle
Day 7: Fruit
Day 8: A bad habit 
Day 9: Someone you love
Day 10: Childhood memory
Day 11: Something blue
Day 12: Sunset
Day 13: Yourself with 13 things
Day 14: Eyes
Day 15: Silhouette 
Day 16: Long exposure
Day 17: Technology 
Day 18: Your shoes
Day 19: Something orange
Day 20: Bokeh
Day 21: Faceless self-portrait 
Day 22: Hands
Day 23: Sunflare
Day 24: Animal
Day 25: Something pink
Day 26: Close-up
Day 27: From a distance
Day 28: Flowers
Day 29: Black and white
Day 30: Self-portrait

The cool thing about this challenge is that, if I ever wanted to do it again, I could and it would be something completely different.

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 30

Day 30: Self-portrait

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4 Days of Red, White & Blue Summary

Day 1: Patriotic Margaritas
Day 2: Red, White & Blue Strawberries
Day 3: Star Spangled Dip
Day 4: Patriotic & American Flag Cupcakes
BONUS!!!

4 Days of Red, White & Blue BONUS!

Check out my amazing Julep 4th of July nail polish. It's so fun with red glitter, blue sequins and silver stars. I didn't put it on my toes because I still have my cute flowers from my pedicure last week but I am currently wearing my red, white and blue sequins flip flops to compensate!

Also, maybe I'll try this drink when I get home tonight to celebrate America's birthday!

Here is my attempt at making the RED, WHITE & SOJU AND THE SOJUICY PINEAPPLE. In the picture above they must have used white cranberry juice but normal red makes more sense for the title. It looks like they made a big drink out of the SOJUICY PINEAPPLE and a RED, WHITE & SOJU shooter but I actually did the opposite. Both drinks were tasty, if you aren't familiar with SOJU, I recommend trying it. It's similar to Saki in taste but where Saki is a rice wine, SOJU is actually a vodka substitute with half the calories. TY-KU always posts cool drink recipes like the one above but don't include portions. For the RED, WHITE & SOJU, I did 1 oz cranberry juice, 1 oz SOJU and then topped with seltzer water (I did not have club soda.) I didn't garnish with a lime due to not having any limes. For the SOJUICY PINEAPPLE, I filled a shooter glass 2/3 of the way with SOJU and then topped it with pineapple juice. 

Our dinner at work tonight was burgers and dogs. Very fitting for the occasion.

Since we have to wear closed toed shoes for games, I had to come up with a creative way to stay themed with my footwear. 

Style Status: Bold solids & grey stripes

Fashion head to toe:
Fossil white rhinestone sunglasses
Express grey striped ruffle tank
Express blue shorts
Cate slingback in light grey

4 Days of Red, White & Blue: Day 4

Happy 4th of July! For the final day of my 4 Days of Red, White & Blue, I wanted to make some patriotic cupcakes. There are a lot of different things you can do to make red, white and blue cupcakes, but one of my favorite ideas was to make a flag using blueberries, raspberries and coconut as the toppings. I just used a basic white cake mix and whipped frosting and then topped four with blueberries, made two red lines with raspberries, and one white line with coconut topping. Ideally I would have made a bigger "flag" but it made the most sense to just use 12 cupcakes that fit in a carrying case.

For the remaining cupcakes, I just decorated them with red and blue sprinkles. 

Photo Diary: New York, New York & some other stuff

While the team has been on the road, I've had a very busy week. I figured it was a good time to do another photo diary of what I've been up to this past week.

On Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to get two tickets to see Spiderman on Broadway. I haven't seen a Broadway show since Spamelot so I was very excited. The show did not disappoint. It was a lot of fun with the different stunts and the lead guy, Reeve Carney, did a fantastic job as Peter Parker.

So after not having gone to New York City for about two years, I ended up going two days in a row. On Wednesday, I went with some girls from work to see the Brooklyn Cyclones play at MCU Park. But first, we made sure to stop by the Original Nathan's for some hot dogs and Orangeaid.

Then on Thursday, we had our annual Thunder Front Office vs. Interns softball game. Since this year is the year of the extra innings, it was only fitting that the rubber match game went into extras.

Later that night I enjoyed French Toast shots and karaoke at Sparky's. French Toast shots are quite tasty and they even light them on fire which is totally cool!

On Friday morning I had a much needed mani-pedi date. I love getting designs on my toes. So fun!

Then on Saturday myself and my cousins wonderful bridesmaids pulled together a beautiful bridal shower brunch that we've been planning for many months!

On Sunday, I met my mother at Houlihans for lunch and tried some new delicious fish tacos.

Finally on Monday, I was doing some grocery shopping at Target and came across these awesome limited edition straws from Diet Pepsi. They were free with the purchase of two packs of Diet Pepsi soda.

Games start again tomorrow. No rest for the weary. :)

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 29

With only 2 days left, I never finished my 30 Day Photography Challenge. I'm finally going to complete it today and tomorrow then refresh everyone's memory with a summary.

Day 29: Black and White

July Sparklers

Our Monday Morning flowers for the next series came a day early. I guess that's what happens when you start a new series on July 4. I'm sure they're closed for the holiday. This is the perfect chance for me to get ahead on my blog though. Game days are always so hectic.

July 4-6:

While I was hoping for some red, white and blue flowers to celebrate the fourth, I still love these new arrangements. The past few times they have used unique containers to display the flowers instead of just the plastic dishes and I love the look of the rustic wood on this one. The peacock feathers and twigs are also a fun touch!

July 7-9:

The days are a little off due to the holiday. We got the first arrangements a day early because I assume they were closed on the 4th which is when our homestand actually started which I guess lead to getting these a day early. No problem because these totally made my day. I love the bright yellow flowers combined with the deep purple ones. Such pretty colors! Then the teal butterflies and bamboo shoots just pull it all together. Loves it!

July 19-22

Sunflowers are the perfect summer bloom! I love the way that these arrangements look like they are straight out of Tuscany! The deep summery orange and yellow colors mixed with the fun grape accents is perfect to picture yourself at a beautiful winery. 

July 26-29:

If I had to give these flowers a name, I would call them "Indian Summer." Just like the last one reminded me of a Tuscan Vineyard, Indian Summer was the first thought that popped into my mind when I saw these. While I know an Indian Summer technically takes place in the fall, these flowers perfectly illustrate one in my mind. The colors have an autumn feel to them and the sunflowers remind me of a hot summer sun. My favorite part of these is the cool sea urchin looking flower at the bottom. I wish I had taken a closer picture of it, super unique!

4 Days of Red, White & Blue: Day 3

For day three of my 4 Days of Red, White & Blue, I wanted to try something different. Since I already did drinks and sweets, I thought a nice dip would hit the spot. I found this Cheddar Bacon Dip aka Crack Dip a while ago and have been dying to try it. I had to find a way to make it themed though. Luckily that wasn't hard. First let's start with the dip.

Ingredients:16 oz sour cream
1 packet ranch dressing mix
3 oz bacon bits (bag not jar)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix together and refrigerate for 24 hours. Serve with crackers, chips or veggies.

Now the fun part. In order to make it patriotic, I needed some crackers, food coloring and a star shaped cookie cutter.

First take 8 crackers and two zip lock bags. Put 4 crackers in each bag and crush them up. Then add drops of red food coloring to one bag and drops of blue to the other and mesh the coloring into the crackers. Keep adding drops and meshing until you get a desired color. Next place the star cookie cutter on top of the dip and sprinkle the crackers into the cookie cutter. First I did blue, then red, then I made one star combined of what I had left of each color.

The final result is a star spangled dip, perfect for any patriotic themed party whether it be Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, etc. You can add this red, white & blue star topping to any favorite dip for a patriotic twist.

4 Days of Red, White & Blue: Day 2

For day two of my 4 Days of Red, White & Blue, I wanted to try something that I fell in love with shortly after I joined Pinterest. I had to wait a long time until these made sense to make. I could have done them for Memorial Day but I didn't get a chance to make anything for that. These are red, white and blue white chocolate dipped strawberries. Except I used vanilla candy melts instead of white chocolate because I had some.

Ingredients:
Strawberries
White chocolate (or white candy melts)
Blue sugar (or edible blue glitter or sprinkles)

These are super simple and turn out quite pretty. All you do is wash the strawberries, melt the chocolate or candy melts, and dip the strawberries in the melted candy. Make sure to leave some red from the strawberries on top. Then dip in blue sugar or spoon the sugar over the melted candy. I found the best method to dump the sugar between two bowls over the dipped strawberries. Finally lay on wax paper to cool. The result are tasty red, white and blue strawberries!