Happy Halloween!

Sunday Recap

Still waiting for Sandy here in RVA. Yesterday, we spent most of the day indoors. Here are some quick pics from the day. 

Puppets inspired from this pin on Pinterest

Preview of my sewing project

Craft #2

Chocolate Peanut Butter Covered Bananas  always looking for ways to get fruits & veggies in Clyde. He wouldn't touch them. 

Another attempt...he liked these okay. I thought they were tasty. 

This is the cell phone I am using these day.  I feel like the last person on the planet with out an iPhone. And my more recent Blackberry broke so I resorted to this one which is so old school and awful! Been to Verizon twice and called twice trying to get them to upgrade me early no luck since I want an iPhone. 

Michael created a countdown for me because I said I felt like a kid at Christmas. Maybe I need to make one of those chains that you pull a link off every day. We went with this instead. 

 The kids are out of school and it is barely raining but maybe it is to come. What will we do today?

Sandy's Menu Planner

I am early on my menu planner since it appears that we are going to have monsoon rains the next couple days. Thankfully, we have a generator that is hard wired to our power box so I am hoping if we do loose power in the storm, I can do some crock pot cooking. Here's my plan....

Saturday - Chicken Cheese Steaks with French Fries (cook extra chicken to use later)

Sunday - Chili in the crock pot

Monday - Chicken Caesar Salad (use extra chicken from Saturday)

Tuesday - Whole Chicken cooked in crock pot with carrots, onions & potatoes

Wednesday - Ghost Individual Pizzas (found this recipe in the current issue of Richmond Family Magazine)

Thursday - Alyson out....kids & Michael on their own

I am off to brave Martins....yikes! It could be ugly.

Bird Love?

My mom and I attended Realtorfest on Tuesday of this week. It was great and I loved hearing the keynote from Mike London. After the morning session and trade show,  I have to admit  my mom and I skipped out and we hit one of my favorites, For the Love of Jesus Thrift.

Here is what I found....I think my total was around $10.

 

The owls were $1 for the pair of bookends.

One is missing an eye.  I can't decide whether to paint them or not? And to be honest, I am not even sure where to put them but I liked the look.

These birds were a little pricier at $4 each. And even though they are a little scary looking, I was still attracted to them. I think they are brass but I am not sure I will try to polish. That is so much work and honestly I don't have that kinda time these days....I may just paint. My mom liked them as is so maybe that is how they will stay.

And because I am also very attracted to glassware, this could not be left in the store for 50 cents.

I thought it would be good for silverware if having a buffet dinner or make up brushes or cotton balls. Who knows.

Happy weekend everyone! Sandy is a comin'! Yikes! Hope everyone stays safe. I have a few sewing projects on my list for the weekend. Got all my supplies today. Hopefully I will be back next week with details.

Menu Planner

Here goes....

Monday - Baked Salmon, Wild Rice, Green Beans

Tuesday - CrockPot Santa Fe Chicken

Wednesday - Baked Spaghetti with Ricotta

Thursday - Turkey Goulash from Time for Dinner cookbook, Salad

I am going to Realtorfest tomorrow at the Convention Center. Mike London is the keynote speaker...Wahoowa! I am excited.

Tartan!

My dad was a snappy dresser. He loved a pair of corduroys in pink or ones adorned with dogs. He dressed straight from the preppy handbook. At Christmas, he loved to wear tartan slacks.

When I saw these in the Next Direct catalog, I immediately thought of my dad, also named Clyde. My Clyde needed to have a pair. I am not too sure about the cuff, but for $20 I thought we would give them a whirl.

Happy weekend everyone! We got our first taste of the winter sicks! Camille has the stomach bug. Hoping the rest of the crew stays well. We've got trick or treating at Cedarfield tomorrow!

Menu Planner

Good but quick weekend. Friday night we went to Williamsburg and stayed with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. They dragged me to Hallowscream which was not really enjoyable at first but was definitely more manageable after a couple beers and a wine tasting! Our kids stayed home with my in-laws and had the best time playing with their cousins.

Here goes with this week's menu planner...
Monday - Oven Chicken Risotto

Tuesday - I am working. Michael and kids to fend for themselves.

Wednesday - Dinnertime Breakfast Burritos from Dinner: A Love Story served with Bacon

Thursday - Provencale Chicken Supper

Found at Payless

Click here for more details. 

Click here for more details.

I recently picked these up at Payless. I have worn them both and they are super comfortable...I paid $45 for total and that included tax and shipping. Don't forget to Google "Payless Coupon Codes"...I saved almost $10 that way.

Fall is here!

 It was a chilly day today in RVA...felt like fall. Two weekend ago, I decorated a bit for Halloween and updated some of my planting for fall.

Remember my problem keeping flowers alive on my front steps. I talked about it here. I gave up on flowers and went to Strange's last fall and purchased more ivy, a boxwood and some other evergreen plant (I wish I could remember the name). All can handle shade and are now thriving well except for the boxwood. I just picked up a new one  to replace the half dead one shown above.

Also picked up this cute banner at TJMaxx for $3. It is from Martha Stewart Crafts.

As I typed this post, I was multitasking and last minute bidding on some J BRAND Jeans on ebay. I won...woohoo! $26.35. My friend Lindley tipped me off on searching ebay for used designer jeans. I also picked up some Citizens today too.

Weekend Recap & Menu Planner

Michael and I spent Saturday night in Charlottesville with some of our friends doing a brewery tour. We purchased a Groupon for limo months ago. It was fun...we went to Wild Wolf Brewing Company for dinner then briefly hit Blue Mountain Brewery on our way back.

A beer tasting...the Howling Pumpkin Ale was my favorite. 

Here goes with this week's menu planner....

Sunday  - Spaghetti Carbonara (we ate this last night, M was in charge...not sure of the recipe)

Monday - White Bean Tortellini Soup with Grilled Cheese

Tuesday - Taco Casserole

Wednesday - I have to work...Pizza for M, C&C

Thursday - Dinner out

New Web Design

I am so excited about my new real estate website design by Kelly at Fabulous K. Click on over here and check it out.

Grocery List

I really had a "duh" moment a few months ago, when reading Barefoot Contessa At Home. She discussed how she made her grocery list...diving the page into sections...produce, meat, dairy, frozen, dry goods etc. For years, I had been making a list that went line by line something like this tomatoes, frozen spinach, eggos, butter, deli turkey, bread, strawberries. I didn't shop in order of the list but I was always forgetting something or having to go back to get strawberries that were on the bottom of the list because I didn't see them when shopping in the produce section.

How simple...just divide the page into sections and as I plan my menus I add the ingredients to the proper section. So easy! Then when I get to the store, I start in the produce section and get everything on that section list and so forth. No more scanning the list up and down for all the produce. Most of you probably already do this and are thinking how silly that she didn't figure this out sooner! For those of you who don't, hope this helps.

Weekend Recap & Menu Planner

We had a great weekend. So excited about getting our pumpkins this year. We were at the Ashland Berry Farm on opening day and we were on the first hayride! This was really just a fluke but I thought it made us seem so eager for pumpkins. And I think some on our hayride were! We got the first pick. Look at my brother-in-law with all your can carry for $20.

Here goes with this week's menu planner...

Sunday - Taco's with Turkey Meat (also Ortega now has whole wheat shells and tortillas which were pretty good.)

Monday - Fried Flounder w/Black Beans & Avocado Salad (from Dinner: A Love Story)

Tuesday - Tony's Steak (DALS), Loaded Baked Potatoes, Asparagus

Wednesday - Chicken Rollatini served with extra sauce and spaghetti

Thursday - Mustardy Pork Chops with Apples & Onions (DALS), Wild Rice

We decorated a little for Halloween. Hopefully I can get my act together and post some pictures of the decor this week! Stay tuned.