Till Then Smile Often

Let’s Rock This Playlist

**Just a quick note that the Giveaway is still going on for $175 J.Crew and $75 Target Gift card for more info go here.

When Helene from Helene in Between tells you she is doing a one time links up of music you link up!!! She knows her music and she is always attending musical festivals and introducing me to new music. So the purpose of the link up is just to share music, whether it is music that inspired a decade or event. Music that you listen to repeatedly or just music that you love it is all fair game.

I love music and I listen to it all day long! I like music that evokes a feeling or mood. I like hard rock and Rap when I am working out. I listen to music to help me through a breakup, and music when I fall in love. My tastes are so varied but it all makes me feeling something. So hope you like some of my selections, and maybe you find a few new favorites! Enjoy!

Breakup Songs


Jana Kramer – Why Ya Wanna


Christina Perri – Jar of Hearts

Stressed Out at Work – Calming Songs


Little Black Submarines – The Black Keys


Healing Hands – Citizen Cope

Workout Songs


Feel Good Drag – Anberlin


Hero – Skillet


Bad Girlfriend – Theory of a Deadman

Love Songs


Falling in Love At A Coffee Shop – Landon Pigg


Never Stop – Safety Suit

Overall About Me Song


Ray LaMontagne – Trouble


Christina Aguilera – Stronger

What songs mean something to you?

Do you have songs that mark events in your life?

Helene in Between

{Giveaway} Shopping Spree

If you have been reading any of my posts this past week or two you know I am all about Fall. I feel like I just had 5 Red Bulls with all the energy that this season is bringing me, so what better way to celebrate by winning a new Fall Wardrobe with not one but two gift certificates!! Go ahead and enter to win below!!

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Happy Thursday!
School is back in full swing and fall is coming upon us quickly – so why not have a Shopping Giveaway so that one lucky winner can stock up on some Fall Fashion. Marquis from Simply Clarke and friends have teamed up to Giveaway a $175 Gift Card to J.Crew and a $75 Gift Card to Target.
Enter below to Win and make sure to give all the sponsors some love and thank them for the giveaway!

Time to Eat

Is it really Wednesday? I am kinda excited this week is almost over. I don’t think I have any plans for this weekend. Though I am sure that will change once the week goes on because lezbehonest I am not sure I know how to do nothing. There are pies to bake, projects to complete, shopping to do! Oh well at least I can still dream of a weekend of just plopping on the couch and doing nothing. On to this weeks What I Ate Wednesday.

Breakfast – Nothing spells weekend like a slowly prepared breakfast. This was 3/4 cup of egg whites and 1 whole egg, 1 slice of low carb toast, and a 1/4 of a cantaloupe. No morning is complete without some iced coffee.

Breakfast

Snack – I had another 1/4 cantaloupe and 3-4 ounces of sliced cheese.

snack

Lunch – I will be switching up my lunch next week but for now you have my staple salad. Romaince lettuce, red onion, tomato, chicken, and Feta.

salad

Dinner –  Our Hostess with the Mostess provided me with the recipe for this Broccoli and Cheddar Soup. It really hit the spot and filled me up for game time.

Soup

Work has been a little crazy so I have been trying to fall back on what I know to stay on track. Check back in tomorrow for a big giveaway to help with a new Fall Wardrobe. Who could resist?

 

 

Homemade Herb Beer Bread

The Fall bug has officially bit me. I have so much energy for Fall fun it is a little crazy. I was so excited to start baking this weekend and I decided the Honey Beer Bread from Gimme Some Oven was going to be my first project from my Fall Bucket List. I love the smell of baking bread and since I was making a bunch of other things I thought this bread was perfect to try since there was no “yeast” and rise times. This was a mix, pour, bake type of bread. Please note that different beers will end in different results so if you have issues try a different beer.

Bread-4

Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour ~ 2 Tbsp. sugar ~ 1 Tbsp. baking powder ~1 tsp. salt ~ 2 Tbsp. honey ~ 1 _12oz) bottle beer (I used Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy) ~ 1 Stick of Butter, melted ~ Herb Mix: 1 Tsp Basil ~ 1 Tsp Rosemary ~ 1 Tsp Dill ~ 1 Tsp Sage

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan with Pam cooking spray or butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and herbs.

bread-7

bread-2

Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. (Warm the honey in the microwave for about 20 seconds so its easier to stir in!)

bread-5

bread-6

Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter.

Bread-8

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve immediately.

bread-1

Bread-4

 I originally tried a piece with butter but it wasn’t as good as with a little EVOO and some onion powder mixed together. I also made a version of this bread with 2-1/2 TBSP of Cinnamon and replaced the 2 TBSP Sugar with 1/2 cup of sugar. All other ingredients were the same.

Bread-9

I will be making all sorts of homemade bread this fall but this one was a different one than others I have tried and is worth a try!

Linking up with Jessica and Ashley.

Football | Shopping | Baking

This weekend feels like it went by in a blur! I was baking up a storm, shopping, and crafting! I don’t know what it is about Fall but it seriously lights a fire under my bum to get moving.

Friday was really relaxing after a long day at work. I clipped Seamus’ nails since they were getting a little long while I was catching up on some of my DVR programs.

Seamus-1

On Saturday, thanks to Seamus I woke up at 5:45 am to let him do his business, but he did let me fall back asleep on the couch until 9:45 am. THAT. NEVER. HAPPENS!! I must have really needed the sleep. No alcohol was involved in this sleep fest, thank you very much! Needless to say that stressed me out to complete the crazy list of things I wanted to get done, so I made ate breakfast then headed out for some shopping.

I went to Home Depot for some finally pieces to upgrade my Magnetic Makeup Board project I did awhile back. Revamping it for the upgraded bathroom.Full project details to come!

project

Then I headed to Target and Home Goods. Can I just say how much I love Home Goods!! I always go in with one thing in mind and find a million things I want. Okay maybe that is a bad thing, but it also provides inspiration. Like this:

Halloween

I need to DIY this pumpkin, $12.99 my buttkiss. I also saw this “wine glass”? Hark the herald angels sing! haha. Just kidding but it was Epic!!

Glass

These were the items I actually bought! Some were for my fall centerpiece DIY I am working on. Hoping to have it completed next weekend!

shopping

I also found this cute Halloween collar for Seamus! Doesn’t he look amused?!

Seamus

After grocery shopping I headed home just in time to make some Broccoli Cheese Soup before the Ohio State Football game started! Go Bucks!!

broccoli - soup

Soup

I used Jenn’s recipe, she blogs over at Peas and Crayons. She hosts the What I Ate Wednesday linkup and her recipes are always spot on!! I did the stock part of the recipe in the crockpot then finished it off per the recipe once half time hit! It was so good and really hit the spot.

Once the game was over I took Seamus for a walk/roll. Since there is a park right by my house he tends to spend most of the time rolling in the grass than actually walking. He is so adorable I tend to just end up smiling or laughing. The joy on his face is too precious!

Seamus-2

Sunday morning I woke up a little earlier and enjoyed an iced coffee while reading some magazines for inspiration.

reading

Seamus decided to sleep in.

Seamus-3I got to experimenting on some Honey Beer Bread. I will post the recipe tomorrow after my co-workers vote on their favorite.

bread

Then I spent the rest of the night watching the Patriots game, relaxing, working on the new Kitchen table centerpiece, the magnetic makeup project. I put on a hair mask, face mask, and painted my nails. You may want to close your eyes if you can’t handle to total sexiness that is the beauty treatment!! Bwaahhhhaaa! Just kidding.

beauty

Well that was the craziness of my weekend! I am completely zonked, but I am looking forward to this week! I have some great recipes to share, and a HUGE giveaway coming up!

What have you lovelies been up to this weekend?

 

Linking up with Sami at Sami’s Shenanigans and Leann at Join the Gossip.