Thursday Roses: 8.11.11

It's T-SHIRT TIIIIIME!

AOK and me totally dig The Jersey Shore. Remember the Situation bobble head from here? I know what you're thinking, but all you haters out there probably haven't even watched an episode. Because if you had, you would get sucked in with the amount of serious roll on the floor laughing that ensues each week. Last week, the Season 4 opener broke MTV records with some 6.5 million viewers. Well, here are two right here, and proud of it!

For my Thursday Roses this week, I thought about the laughing that goes on in this house & the tradition. Last Thursday we decided to eat out, since we were out & about, we tried out Vero's Italian Kitchen. Holy Cow, A-mazing! AOK had a brick oven pizza, I had pasta in bolognese sauce (my fave). Bolognese sauce truly makes me go weak in the knees. Just thinking about it right now makes my heart happy. Fitting though right? Vero's Italian Kitchen on the night our favorite Italians (besides my family of course) debuted their newest season.

I grabbed some last minute groceries today and came home to make dinner. As I'm stirring my sugo (sauce) it donned on me. Spaghetti tonight? Another Italian Thursday? Looks like we have a tradition on our hands.

Does your family have any quirky traditions like our newly started Jersey Italian Thursdays? This is just a little thing that makes our Thursdays a little more fun. Stopping and smelling those roses- laughing with one another.

We are t-minus 3 minutes away from our guidos/guidettes. I'll leave you with this adorable picture of AOK & Sam I took this week. AOK got a (much needed) haircut- LOVE!

Happy Thursday!

Thursday Roses: 8.4.11

Seriously, it's already August?

Where did the summer go? Well if you're around our parts you are about ready for it to go away. We've been under a severe heat advisory the last few days. I went with AOK to the dirtbike track on Wednesday and it was 111 degrees out there. Unfortunately, with the high temps and no rain, we've seen a few wildfires in our little town even though there is a strict burn ban. Here in Huntsvegas we are even supposed to be only using water for "necessary" things. I'm trying to be better about conserving. With all this said, my Thursday Roses could not be any more appropriate today. I came home a few days ago and found this growing in the flower bed, that we've paid no attention or really have been watering because we are chunking a lot of it come fall...

It definitely brightened my day- and reminded me I have a lot to be thankful for.

Happy Thursday!

Thursday Roses: 7.28.11

We've been recouping around these parts. Not only ourselves, but the house too. I forget about the clean up job that comes with partying at your own casa. We had about 35 friends and family over this past Saturday to celebrate AOK turning 25. Yes, we're babies compared to the blogger world, but we like it that way!

I totally got to splurge a little Saturday night to ensure I could enjoy the party. We decided to not go totally crazy with decor because it would "outshine" the house & a lot of people were seeing the house for the first time. Secondly, I had the food catered. I have an awesome relationship with ARAMARK, our on campus caterer, because of my job. They went above and beyond for me and the money spent was so worth it. I didn't have to worry about cooking a THING and *bonus* they set everything up for me! It's the (only) way to go people.

I'm thankful for AOK and his 25 years. The party was a success, here are just a few pictures from the night:



There was one thing I found on Pinterest that I just had to do for AOK. Here was my inspiration via Martha Stewart. I made AOK's '25' out of the things he loves. Once I put it on the wall, I realized most of those involved wheels. I think it turned out super cute (click on it to make it larger!) 

 Here is half of our lovely covered patio. It's a massive space, in fact, we have 3 tables, a bar, a grill, a treadmill, recycling bins, anddd a hot tub all underneath it. These are the chairs and table I redid last week. Can't wait to show you the before and afters next week!

 Here is the bar area that I did up. AOK does not like a lot of fuss, so I went with black, white, and green (Kawasaki colors) for the party. In the middle is my famous Sangria. Maybe sometime I'll share the recipe. It will blow your mind. Girls request it when I come to parties.

AOK's family enjoying the party. I love that our fireplace is also extra seating in the living room!

Here he is about to open my big ol' present. He's so cute- I love this picture!

Red Bull fridge! Is that not perfect gift for a dirtbike/bmx/minibike/RC car/zooma rider's man cave workshop? I found it on Craigslist for a STEAL! He loved it, there is a case of Red Bull already in it, thanks to my sister!

AOK teaching Meredith how to ride the mini- she only crashed into the fence & let it flipout, no biggie!

AOK's mama made birthday cupcakes, they were GO BEARKAT Orange! :)

This was at the end of the night- I was exhausted! Happy Birthday to my favorite person in the world. Can't wait to spend another 25 of your years with you! :) (There's a glimpse of our kitchen behind us, I'll be revealing that next week as well!!)

Sorry for the picture filled post! It was such a fun weekend and I wanted to share the roses!

Be back tomorrow!




PS: I'm Hookin' up again over at House of Hepworths who seriously is in my top 3 favorite blogs. AND she totally made me blush last week by commenting on my Valspar post. It made me feel OH so special and like I've interacted with a celebrity. Oh, how I love the blog world! :)

Thursday Roses: 7.21.11

Wow- this week has FLOWN by. My entire summer really has. We've been working in Superman (AOK likes Spiderman better) mode to get the house ready for AOK's birthday bash this weekend. Knowing I was going to write this post tonight made me really stop for a sec and reflect on the week. We are so blessed and I am so blessed to have an AOK. He fills my heart with lots of love and mows the grass in really good straight lines!

My Thursday Roses tonight is all about our impromptu "date night" this past Sunday. We have friends coming in and out of our house all the time, we go from place to place to place and sometimes it feels like we never stop moving. Sometimes we forget to stop and smell... well, each other? hahahah that sounds horrible, but it's so true. We had to run to the Depot on Sunday & decided to eat dinner out. Where we ate just so happened to be right next door to a gas station that my boss kept telling me had the neatest "dessert" at. AOK and me checked it out:

MAKE YOUR OWN MILK SHAKE!!! (sort of)

You pick out your milk shake, already in your milkshake cup from the freezer. AOK got Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, I got cookies & cream. Then you...

 put it under the machine & select the thickness you want your milkshake, how cool is that?? Then it takes it up to I'm not sure where to blend away!!!

Here is the cow jumping on a pogo stick making my milkshake super yummmmmmmy!!

They had all these cute sayings on the screen while it was blending, by the time it came out you wanted it so badly!

It was the perfect (sort of) date night. It wasn't fancy it was just him & I and lots of laughs. I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

Have any of you seen this neat milkshake machine? Any Thursday Roses from the week you'd like to share?

Happy Thursday!

Thursday Roses: 6.16.11

 Thursday Roses for the week:

• A/C: Holy Cow is it not stinking hot outside? My office becomes an igloo throughout the day- to the point I have to go sit outside to thaw out for a few minutes. Instead of complaining everyday, I should be thankful my work even has an A/C!
• My creativity: I've been stressing about putting the house together & helping to plan a Bachelorette party this weekend I forget how fun this is for me. My friend pointed out today that if I took away school this summer I would be having so much fun- she was right. When I'm working on my fun projects I need to stop and remember how much I enjoy it and not look at as a burden!
• Fleas: Sam (Boo Boo) loves the yard but he picked up some fleas outside. It's been so frustrating to deal with honestly, I blame myself, feel bad, makes me think I don't take care of Sam, but AOK reminded me that Sam has them because he is loving running around outside while AOK is working in his shop. Sam never really got to play outside unattended before. Sam is LIVING IT UP! So i'm not going to be so frustrated about it anymore!

Have a great weekend ya'll.



Thursday Roses: 6.09.11

Lots of buzz is stirring at our house (finally)! I've managed to start on some projects AND almost finish them! I cannot wait to share!

I've been reminded a couple of times this week how blessed/happy I am. When you work hard and you keep your heart open good things can happen. I've been trying to catch up with a friend of mine and she text me that she was sorry & not ignoring me but has been super busy lately going 90 MPH. I love Morgan for the fact that we can understand eachother in that sometimes life gets in the way and we get overwelmed, especially at work. She's going through a time like that right now. It made me remember something that was said at my aunt second mama's funeral a little over a year ago. We have to stop and smell the roses. No matter what pressure, stress, overwelmingness, whatever comes we have to remember we are only here for a short time and that life can and will EAT YOU UP if you let it! She attended the funeral last year and all I had to say was, "don't forget about the roses" and she instantly remembered.

In honor of this sentiment & my aunt Kathy, on Thursdays on this here blog I am going to share a few of my roses of the week. You can compare them to Andy Cohen's Mazel of the Week on his Bravo TV show. Does anyone else love this show as much as I do? I'm a Bravo nerd, what can I say?

Thursday Roses for this week:

• Dinnner at home: AOK and me have made a pact to not eat out during the week and to cook at home. We have a GORGEOUS kitchen & awesome grill outside so we really do not have a reason to go out during the week at all. We not only save money but make memories of cooking in our own home. On Tuesday night this week, we made fish sticks, mac and cheese, and veggies! So gourmet right? Usually, I try out new recipes or try to do something semi-fancy, but this meal totally made us both smile. It's the little things right?
• Meredith: My bff is coming to Huntsvegas this weekend so we can do a little shopping around H-Town for the house! Be prepared for a full post next week outlying our shenanigans! Can't wait to spend some long over due time with her!
• Sam aka Boo Boo: In my last post, I mentioned that Sam the dog was coming to live with us. It has been so fun to have a dog, that's already trained, around the house. He is turning into a man dog and would much rather be outside in the shop with AOK than cooking inside with me. He's so loveable and his favorite thing to do is crawl on AOK's pillow when he's not looking. I get excited to see him when I pull into the driveway!

Hope you all are having a great week, don't forget about those roses! Care to share what yours are this week?