Call it a Reunion

 

Look who fell off the bandwagon, seriously!? My last post was March 28th!  Well I am alive and well and have kissed my first year of nursing school goodbye. Eeek, I turned 21 somewhere in between too!

Summer. Here’s what's been going on, sleeping ( a lot of it, I tell ya’). Reading, the 50 Shades series, oh my love Christian Grey. Beaching. Catching up on missed boyfriend time and catering to my Pinterest addiction.

Oh yea, I made a massive wedding cake, graduation cake, and a racy boob birthday cake too. In short, I never want to look at another cake ever again.

Here’s a quick look.

Lucy was totally and completely over me studying for finals. Studying=Lucy not getting the attention that she DEMANDS!

Finally!

Making up for lost time.

Beach trip with the best friend.

Proclaiming my love for my backpack beach chair (Target).

Lucy’s first boat ride on Memorial Day weekend.

A 2 ton wedding cake. Almost the nail in my coffin.

  

        I’m not going to try to explain.

Destin waves!

Happy Monday, ya’ll.

-s

Double Dip

 

Back for round 2 today.

I had a pretty exciting weekend, it wasn’t planned, it just happened. I like weekends like that that.

The weekend started out horrible, I missed my lab on Friday because I wrote on my calendar that lab started at 9:30, no mam, it started at 9:00, fantastic. So now I have to make that up, the weekend before finals. PERFECT!

But it got better. We to the beach with my Mamacita on Saturday and finally got that tan that I was supposed to get on the cruise. Allen and I decided that we wanted to go to the Brantley Gilbert and Eric Church concert….we decided on going at about 5:30 and the concert started at 7:30. I got online and tickets that had been everywhere on Stubhub that morning were gone. I was sad/slightly devastated for a second, but then called the box office and got FLOOR SEATS FOR $43.00. It was so much fun.

Sunday I went to celebrate my BFF’s 21st birthday at her family get together. I made her those Key Lime cupcakes that I was talking about. You know the ones that I got from my favorite cupcake shop and I bit into them and was like oh em gee I have this recipe.

They were delish and everyone loved them. I also tried out a vanilla bean buttercream that I iced the cupcakes with. 1) those little seeds inside the vanilla bean that you have to scrape out are microscopic and sticky 2) the recipe wasn’t what I expected, it was good but it was pretty basic and I want to find a recipe that I can eat like it is vanilla bean ice cream. So the search continues.

Oh yea, on more thing happened on Sunday at Anna’s….ummm she asked me to be her Maid of Honor, Her MOH, the girl that walks down the aisle right before her and holds her bouqet, and cries while she chokes her way through a toast….I almost peed in my pants of little and I had to blink really quick because I could feel the tears. I am so freaking excited for all of the showers and wedding festivities.

Anna and I have been the best of friends forever! And this girl as be through it. More than any 21 year old should have ever been through…more than a lot of 50 year old have been through. And I just feel so honored that she would ask me to be her Maid of Honor on her big day.

Enough of the sappy happy. Here’s that Key Lime Cupcake Recipe!

Key Lime pound Cake Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened 
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1/4 cup fresh Key lime juice
• Key Lime Glaze:
• 1/4 cup key lime juice
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Mix ingredients in a small bowl
• Spoon glaze over cake or cupcakes after cool

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Beat butter and shortening at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (12-cup) tube pan.
3. Bake at 325° Cake: 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes Cupcakes: 25-30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean . Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack.
4. Prepare Key Lime Glaze, and immediately brush over top and sides of cake. Cool completely (about 1 hour).

My Notes:

I have made this recipe as a pound cake and cupcakes. It’s a win-win, the cupcakes are dense but they are tasty.

My oven is wacked so if you are baking cupcakes you might want to set the timer for 20 mins and check them every few minutes after that.

If you’re making cupcakes I suggest using jumbo muffin liners instead of cupcake cups. The cupcake cups work but the tops get very muffin toppy.

Cupcakes or pound cake….serve it up with some whipped cream. Heaven in your mouth.

Recipe from : Kathleen Blackman, Ponce Inlet, Florida, Southern Living
MARCH 2011

 

Enjoy. Let me know what ya’ think.

xoxo,

s

Tuesday Trivia on Wednesday

 

So, I have been studying for a Mental Health test on week, and reading about antipsychotics and such, nothing that I feel that would serve as helpful info for the general population.

I stumbled upon my Tuesday trivia tidbit on accident. I was grocery shopping yester day when these cute little fellas caught my eye.

Special Edition Lilly Pulitzer for Barnum’s Animal crackers. I’m a Lilly fan and couldn’t pass these up, I like those crackers too. I think that the animal cracker box should permanently stay like this. It looks like those Jungle creatures are having more fun.

Anyway, I got home and read the back of the box to find out that Lilly Pulitzer and Nabisco Barnum’s Animal Crackers are teaming up to raise funds for Operation Smile.

Operation Smile in an international children’s medical charity that has funded over 200,000 surgeries for children with cleft lips, cleft palates, and other deformities.

It just so happens that we went over cleft lips and palates in class last week, and it can happen to anyone, and sometimes there is no warning that a child is going to have a cleft lip or palate until birth. The new 4D ultrasounds make it easier to identify but it’s still not 100%.

These kids have to go through a series of surgeries, the earliest usually at six months. The lip and palate repairs have a good outcome, but it is devastating at birth and requires some extra adjustment and an already overwhelming milestone.

Anyway, the surgeries are expensive and Operation Smile is a good thing. Go buy some Lilly animal Cracker’s and give yourself something to smile about, and help give a smile to someone else while your at it.

xoxo,

-s

Just Rambling

 

I’m feeling emotional, sappy, negative today. Nice combo. I love it. NOT! I have so much to look forward to over the next few months, heck even the next year which should be one of the biggest years of my life. But, I’m just kind of stuck.

Allen and I spent about 80% of our free time together before last summer when he went to work with his Dad in soflo (South Florida). Then I started nursing school and he started a new job and our schedules collide, I study all the time, he gets home late and goes to the gym for freakin’ ever. So basically we see each other on the weekends and maybe one day during the week, if we are lucky. We don’t live together yet but we only live about 10 minutes apart….still we just haven’t been us since nursing school. But I guess that’s life, I don’t really feel like me since nursing school because I stay stressed the freak out about 89% of the time and all I think about is failing and higher education after nursing school and when am I going to have time to get married and have kids and get a doctorates degree.

I know I need to take it one day at a time and things will fall into place as they should with some direction from the man upstairs. Which I am heavily counting on these days, direction. Because I feel like I have none.

I saw on Dr. Oz today that omega 3’s (which I do not get enough of in my diet) make you feel happier and of course they make you healthier, duh. I’m considering hopping in the car now and driving to wal mart.

On a happier note. I am obsessed beyond obsessed with cupcakes and baking and pretty much anything sweet. Today, I went to my favorite cupcakery in town and grabbed two cupcakes, I got a cookies and cream cupcake (a staple) and a key lime pound cake cupcake. Well guess what?! I KNOW I HAVE THE EXACT RECIPE FOR THE KEY LIME POUND CAKE!!!!  It was in Southern Living last spring/summer and I have made it 3 times and love it.

The second I bit into that little cup of heavenly cake, I knew. So I immediately texted my BFF, Anna another cupcake obsessor and connoisseur. It just gets me giddy that I know I have a recipe that’s being used in a cupcake shop…and these cupcakers are no joke. They were on cupcake wars, came in 2nd. I have a cupcake recipe they use. Who’s all that and bag of chips? Me!

I’ll share that very recipe here soon. As soon as I dig it out of the recipe box. Which will; be before this weekend. I am going to make them for Anna’s birthday gathering on Sunday.

I’m also going to try out a vanilla bean cake recipe along with vanilla bean buttercream. I shall be back to share if it’s worth sharing that is.

 

This my friends, is a picture from the good ole days. Footloose and fancy free. Growing up really does suck.

love,

-s

Tuesday Trivia: the debut

 

Okay, so maybe this should be named Tuesday night trivia because I realize that it is almost 11pm and I'm just getting on this thaang. I am currently studying pediatrics and maternity in school. So, this sets the stage for the first Tuesday trivia bit.

Vomiting: it’s gross but it’s the topic. never said this was going to be glamorous.

- Ginger helps relieve vomiting, this is why people suggest ginger ale to help alleviate nausea/vommiting. However, most ginger-ale today is not made with real ginger. so check that out. Candied ginger could possibly help or hey if you can eat a piece of fresh ginger there ya go!

-Morning sickness in pregnancy: there’s really no cure but a couple tricks that will help with the queasy feelings. Eat small and frequent meals, but do not drink with meals, drink in between meals.Lay down after meals if you are able.and avoid strong odors(duh!) Maybe even try some ginger. I bet whole foods a real GINGER-ale!

Just a few things I have learned this week that I thought could help the general population. Don’t hold me accountable. I am not a genius or a doctor. These quick tips may or may not help you out. If they do, glad I could help!

love,

-s

Surprise!

 

So, I was reading my pediatrics textbook today and this fabulous beyond fabulous idea popped into my head! One of my jobs as a student nurse is to educate. Educate every time you have the opportunity, that’s what we are taught. Well I learn (short-term) copious amounts of trivial information each week while reading my text for class. No, I don’t learn everything on a short term basis but there are lots of “weeds” in the garden that is my textbook, aka lots of info that I will not use.Yes, I promise to be a viable nurse one day. However, in those lovely 11 lb. textbooks of mine there is also some pretty cool info, I’ll be reading along and stumble upon something that grabs my attention and I’m like “ooh that’s pretty cool, I think everyone should know this! “ So here goes…..

Yep, Tuesday Trivia. Every Tuesday (my fingers, toes, and eyes are crossed just in case I forget it’s Tuesday) I will be sharing a pretty cool tidbit that I learned during the week. Don’t get me wrong, I learn a lot of cool, good to know stuff everyday in nursing school, but I ‘m weird and I get stars in my eyes when I get to give a shot, I’ll camp out like it’s black Friday to see a wound dressing change…..things that I foresee you not enjoying to read about over a cup of joe.

I’ll be sharing everyday, good to know, you can use it in real life kinda’ stuff. All more or less medically related. So be sure to stop in tomorrow for the debut of TUESDAY TRIVIA yall’!

love,

-s

Bermuda, Bahamas, Come on Pretty Mama……

 

Guess, where I was at last week..2 guesses? Allen and I set sail to the Bahamas! We went on a 4-night cruise and it was spectacular! I want to be back there right now!!!!

I dream of going back to swim in that blue water. You can literally see straight down to the bottom. It is beautiful!

It was a very relaxing week for us. We celebrated our 5th anniversary of dating, 5th dating anniversary, 5th anniversary, however you wanna’ say it. I just say HAPPY 5 YEARS TO US, then we said Bon Voyage to real life for a few days. It was great! Relaxing, not having to be anywhere at a certain time, well kinda I mean you had to be at breakfast by 10:30am, and dinner was at 8:30 (but if not there was 24 hour room service…fo’ free), and of course we had to be back on the boat by 11:30m on our last night in the Bahamas or that boat was leavin’ without us. Some college kids (what am I saying? I am a college kid!) got left…for real, the boat sailed right on outta the port without them….I believe they were still at Senor Frogs partying it up.

It was just a nice change from the everyday grind.

We loved every minute of it, even the day we spent all day sailing back. Which is when the above picture was snapped. (I put this on FB and Allen told be to take it of because of the nip slip….umm don’t nipples show when guys have their shirts off? I mean it’s only natural…modest millie he is)

 

So…..this is my future yacht, Isn’t it beautiful!? This was one of many big rigs docked at the Atlantis marina, it just makes you wonder-what do all of these people do to have all of this money. One yacht was complete with a helicopter and landing pad. Yea, I think I ‘ll just cruise to Hawaii on my yacht and then hop in the chopper for a little whale watching. Or maybe a guy with a paranoid wife wanted a yacht and the only way she would let him buy it is if he also bought a heli incase he ever gets stranded in the middle of the ocean. She probably watched Titanic one too many times and was like “heck with the life boats those don’t work!” Oh yea, this boat also had its own rug….yes a rug right on the dock at the marina…Mary Jean II.

A trip to le Bahamas is not complete without visiting Atlantis. See that thing that looks like a bridge connecting the two towers? Well that’s a room. A 10 bedroom suite to be exact. Michael Jackson owned it at one time. Oprah has stayed there, Bill Clinton, many many other big names. Oh yea, it was $25,000/night, four night minimum. Get on the waiting list, its booked for the next 5 years. No joke. That is $ 45,625,000 that the Atlantis will be depositing into their bank account from 1 room….a room that happens to be bigger than my entire house. That’s depressing.

There’s a bit of a better view.

Moving on….

Here is yours truly (looking a hot mess) navigating the ferry boat right on over to paradise island…yes there were other passengers on this boat. I’m sure there were all getting ready to bail, including Allen.

The window on the ferry was a heart…Allen sweetly pointed that out and told me to take a picture. He’s sweet. The Love Boat, wasn’t that an old t.v. show?

This just so happens to be on Paradise island…how fitting.

Prince Harry left the Bahamas on his Caribbean tour the day before we arrived. The  Bahamas is a British Commonwealth, and they were celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. I want to participate in a jubilee.

Nicholas Cage has a house in the Bahamas, and we spied via Ferry. Tourists.

You can kind of see it through the trees.

We enjoyed Bahama Mama's, great weather, Senor Frogs, Sharkees Tiki Bar, The Straw Market, the ferry boat rides, Atlantis, and just being in The Bahamas.

And some more beautiful scenery….

I couldn’t help myself.

love,

-S

We should really catch up sometime!

 

Yep. I have been MIA for a little over two weeks so I’m back with some pictures for a mid-February recap! Today is my first day off from school in 8 days! Holy cow, I’ve been at school/the hospital for 8 days straight. I had clinicals on the pediatric floor on Saturday and Sunday then I had a lab Monday and a test Tuesday and another one Wednesday…fabulous week huh? Enough complaining here are some pichhhaass

 

Valentines treated us pretty swell this year, this is mine and my brothers Valentines treats from my mom, those Twilight dvds….totally his.

I did find time to watch Breaking Dawn on Valentines night with Allen, he was excited….no really he was. He likes it (he just refuses to go to the theater to watch it).

One of my Valentines day treats! Nope, they aren’t from the boyfrann, they are actually from the two black labs that I dog sit, Rebel and Rowdy, they are quite the gentlemen if I do say so myself. They really know how to spoil a girl!

Aren’t these little fellas handsome?! I made them for Allen for V-day! Tuxedo strawberries. They are actually a cinch to make, they just don’t look like it.

Here’s a link from Cake Boss that shows you the general concept…..everybody loves Buddy and that strong accent!

 

While we are on the topic of sweets, here’s the cake I made for my moms best friend, her 50th was on Valentines day!

Her Mom used to make her a white heart shaped cake every year for her birthday, so inspired by her Mom, I jazzed up a white heart shaped cake for her big five-oh!

My mom’s birthday was on the 13th. Here she is opening her gift from my brother and I.

Just chekin’ it out, with a Charlie blur at the bottom

We, when “we” say we I mean Tanner hung her mirrored window frames (bee tee dubs, I found them at Kirklands) while I supervised and made sure everything was lining up. Not bad! She loves her spruced up wall. Her bedroom is a work in progress, we are finally making some headway.

I’m the green, Allen’s the white. We weren’t watching the Super Bowl together so this was our conversation that almost made me pee in my pants. I put it on Facebook and he got embarrassed. Hehe!

 

My very relaxing morning,a nice cup o’ Joe in bed watching Live with Kelly! I’m obsessed with that coffee cup by the way.

Lucy-goose, just because she is precious and no post is complete without a Lucy shot!

Happy Thursday!

xoxo,

s.

Lately…

 

Its been a while since my last post so I have a month in instagram photos to share. Oh boy do I love instagram.

We went hunting. Our first hunting trip together actually. We saw 4 red birds.

This is Lucy perched in her favorite spot on the couch. The girl is so sassy.

How I spend much of my time these days. Curled up on the couch with a textbook and a highlighter.

 

Death by chocolate. So freakin’ good! One of many recipes I will soon share.

My Anna Banana (we’ve been BFF’s since Kindergarten, and we both love baking and WILL open up a cupcakery one day)  whipping up some chocolate cake. She had a big cake order and I went to help her. She bails me out when I’m elbow deep in icing. I was happy to return the favor.

Cold season is upon us and I happened to be a victim. I heard my doorbell ring on Tuesday night and when I opened the door this is what I found. A warm brownie sundae and “Get well soon” crown from by sweet boyfriend who was hiding around the corner.  I think I’ll keep him.

My beloved KitchenAid mixing a batch of chocolate icing for some chocolate cupcakes I made. Another recipe I have  to share. Seriously the best chocolate cupcakes, especially when they were warm out of the oven with a glass of milk. To. Die. For.

 

There were a few undocumented events of January:

My Grandmommy turned 69 on the 21st. We went to the new river house to celebrate with family, food and the ugliest Italian cream cake ever. I made it, it was good, but it was ugly.

Allen’s Mimi had a birthday on the 22nd. I missed her birthday lunch because I was studying for a test (surprise surprise) but I bought her a tulip plant.

I had my 1st test of the semester. Shoot me. I passed but wasn’t pleased with my score.

I had my first night clinicals, and they were on the Mother/Baby floor. So I saw newborns galore (and happy new Mamas and Daddies) and swaddled them and held them and loved them. I want to work there when I graduate, end of story.

A Fresh Coat of Paint

 

Remember those frames and the wicker hamper I was telling you about? Well I am here with the after's! My frame wall is well underway and my hamper had been put to work.

Here is a look at the frame wall I finished a few days ago (and a first time peek at my office).

I keep walking into the office to look at it, and I make sure that the door is always open so I can peek at it when I walk by. I’m rather smitten.

Here’s a shot of the right side of the frame wall. Sorry I flashed you up there (hehe).

On the top row (left to right) I framed some coffee cup art that I am kind of obsessed with, I found it on Pinterest (I’ll be back soon with credits). The second picture is another print from Pinterest, a few inspirational words to surround my study station, the bottom line which you cant see because of my flash reads “I knew I could”. Next is a feather that I found in our front yard, it’s not all black as it appears; the bottom of the feather is a deep charcoal color and a little more than halfway up is a black “v” shape and the tip of the feather is a lighter grey.

On the second row, is another print that I found on Pinterest, it reads “everything will be alright”. In the middle frame is an “S” made from black buttons that I scored at Michaels for $1.50 I just hot glued them onto a piece of burlap I had laying around and voila, cheap art at its best. The last one is special, it was a gift from one of my best friends, Anna. She framed a piece of scrapbook paper and attached a dry erase marker to the frame with velcro for my very own dry erase” to do list”. Being the very listy person I am, I love it.

Moving on over to the right part of the frame wall, is a picture of Allen and I taken by his sweet Mom at our friends wedding this past June. He was the Best Man all dressed up in his penguin suit and we were standing in front of a rather large house, we were all up in their front yard posing like the owned the place (we wish). I have a crush on the next one, it’s a sea horse print I found on none other than Pinterest, I think he looks rather handsome. On the bottom row I framed the movie ticket from our very first date, Allen took me to see Happy Feet on December 16, 2006, it’s a sweet reminder of how “we” started. The last picture just makes me smile and I love it, it’s a rib cage hugging a set of lungs which are hugging a little red heart, and beneath them his a liver hugging a stomach, oh yea and all of the ribs have little hands, the bottom of the picture reads "Hugs Keep Us Alive” isn’t it sweet? Found it on Pinterest.

Now you know all the details on my frame wall, I’m proud and mesmerized.

And last but not least, my black beauty is revealed.

Isn’t she glamorous?! Please kindly ignore my hanging jumble of necklaces. I love the way she turned out, and it keeps things looking tidy, much better than the topless hampers than get a little busty and overflow with clothes (pun intended).

 

Have given anything a makeover with spray paint as of late, or even started a frame wall? Have you traipsed into someone else's front yard to naturally pose in front of their mansion? I wanna’ know (and see the pictures).

Back to it

 

Today’s the day that I have been seriously dreading since first semester ended. I start my second semester of nursing school today. I just have to keep thinking, Shelby this time next year you will be going into your fourth semester which means you’re practically a nurse. I have talked to a few of my classmates over the break and they are bored and excited to go back. What?! Is there something wrong with me? I have been busy and there is so much more that I want to do, but that’s okay those things will just have to take the back burner until the summer.

Buh-bye worry free, de-stressed, non-caffeine dependent me!

This semester I am taking Family Nursing, and Mental Health. This should be interesting.

To everyone starting Spring semester, I feel ya’, and I wish you the best. 2 1/2 months until Spring Break. I’m thinking a cruise maybe?