High Five for Friday

Hooray Friday!

1. Administrative Professionals Week

My work had a week-long celebration for administrative professionals week. Technically we call it Staff Appreciation Week, but you get the idea. We got a super cool logo cup on Monday, Famous Dave's catering on Wednesday and an ice cream social on Thursday. Plus prize drawings all week and  we could wear jeans. I'm not big on jeans, but I did talk myself into wearing them twice three times this week. 

2. Sally Hansen - Instant Iris

I bought this nail polish a few months ago and was nervous to try it out. I'm pretty loyal to OPI and Essie, but really liked this color and it was just under $5. Steal of a deal compared to the price of my other favorites! I put it on my toes last week and it held up PERFECTLY!! And it really does dry FAST! I loved the color, so I put it on my fingers this week. In fact, I was so impressed that I bought three more colors from the same line yesterday. I'm out of control. Usually I can contain myself to one per week. The line isn't as extensive as OPI or Essie, but it's definitely worth checking out.

3. Hubby comes home!

I realize that this ends up on my H54F posts a lot (my husband travels a lot for work).

Don't worry, it's getting old for me too...

But I really am excited that he's coming home. We miss him!

4. Vacation

I've convinced my hubby that we need another vacation this year. I'm pretty sure I have all the details worked out, but don't want to give anything away yet. Wouldn't want to jinx it! And Evan gets to come with us this time!  :)

5. Necklace Storage

I managed to whip this thing up last weekend and it's been getting quite the buzz. It's made life easier in the morning now that I don't have to struggle to untangle necklaces! Check out my post here.

Happy Friday!

xoxo

Momma B

DIY Necklace Storage

My poor necklaces were begging me to separate them! 

Pathetic. I know.

I wanted to do something like this:

Source

Using an 18 inch towel bar, 2 (12 count) packs of shower curtain hooks and a handy husband (who doesn't want me touching his tools), I created this lovely necklace rack! Tah-dah!!

I still have more necklaces than hooks, so they have to be doubled up still. 

Much better than 10-15 per hook though!

 I LOVE IT!!!!

How do you keep your necklaces organized?

xoxo

Momma B

Jumbo Stuffed Shells

I love making stuff like this and my hubby was pretty impressed with this one!

SHELLS

1 pkg. jumbo shells

MEAT

1.5 lb ground beef

3 eggs

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 tablespoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

SAUCE

1 jar (24oz) pasta sauce

*I used Ragu Onion and Garlic

3 cans (8oz each) tomato sauce

*I used Hunts Basil, Garlic and Oregano

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

TOP

2 bags (4cups) shredded cheese

*I used Kraft Three Cheese with Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Cook and drain your noodles according to box directions.

Heat your sauces in a pan on low while you mix your meat.

Mix everything from the "Meat" column above. Make sure it's evenly mixed!

Now add a layer of sauce to the bottom of your baking pan.

Fill your shells with the meat mixture. 

I didn't use an exact measurement on this.

Just let the noodles decide how much they can hold.

Lay the shell face down in your pan. Repeat with all shells.

Not all of my shells fit in one pan, so I had to put the extras in a smaller pan.

 Pour sauce over shells.

Top with one bag of cheese.

 Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. 

Remove foil. Add remainder of cheese and bake for another 15 minutes.

We had these with bread sticks and steamed green beans (with garlic salt).

AMAZING!!!

xoxo

Momma B 

Living Room Revamp

I was bored of our living room setup and sick of it looking like a play room. While it's practical to have most of Evan's toys in the living room so that we can watch him and be in the kitchen at the same time, it looked like a giant mess! 

Side note: We had a three year plan when we bought this house in June of 2009. It was a great starter home that didn't need anything done to it. All of the major items were brand new or only a couple years old. We planned to stay here for three years and build some equity before heading north for some land. We though we were smart buying our first house when the market was down, but now realize that the market hasn't really picked up. BUMMER. So we're stuck here for a little longer. That being said, I want to make the best of it and that means changing some stuff up!

Some of you have seen my LIST for 2012. New living room furniture was on it! I had my mind set on a bigger sofa with a chaise lounge attached. Last Tuesday we bought one! AND then I chickened out and had Nick call and cancel the order. Ahh! We got home after our shopping trip and I remembered that getting a new couch meant I would have to get rid of our old couch. We bought this couch in 2008 and I absolutely love the look of it. It's too big to fit down the stairs, so we wouldn't be able to keep it. :(  I did a little research and found that the same set was still being manufactured!! Hallelujah! I planned on buying the matching chair, but decided that it might me a little too much cream! So we stuck with our same chair. I'm still working on some new curtains and throw pillows, but you'll get the idea!

BEFORE

 AFTER

Much better!! 

And I have BIG plans for the picture behind the couch that includes an old window 

I got from a friend! Hopefully I can get to that next weekend! This one flew by!

xoxo

Momma B

M.I.A.

Momma B blog has been put on the back burner for nearly a week now. SORRY! I was so excited to have my husband home this past weekend that I've ignored my blog! Instead of trying new recipes (I have some and will share soon) this weekend I was doing yard/house work. Bah. We did paint the railings by our front and side door and they do look nice. I also planted some flowers around a tree in our front yard. YES, I realize that the weather here in Minnesota is completely WACK... but they're just pansies and they were outside at Home Depot anyways. I may as well get to enjoy them longer! Right? Right!

Before

After

They'll perk up (just like my dead grass) once we get some sun!

I also planted flowers on my deck (which I also realize needs a new paint job. I'm on it, people!!) to get some color back there. 

Until I get my act together, here are a few recent pictures of my Little Love!

We've also been scoping out new living room furniture, so I'll be back when I find some!

xoxo

Momma B

April Birchbox

These lovely little boxes keep getting better and better for me. I loved my box this month!

Zoya TRUE Spring Collection

I got Bevin, but would have been happy with any of the colors in this line. I just might have to use some of my Birchbox points and get more colors! I've gotten a ton of compliments on this color. I've had it on since Tuesday and played in the dirt most of today.... I would say this polish holds up well!

willa Lavender Facial Towelettes

I've used these every night before bed and really like them. Lavender has such a calming effect. Although they don't have much use after that since you can't use them on your eyes.

Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift

I am not a fan of Taylor Swift which might make me bias, but I don't like this perfume. 

The rest of my box was great, so I'm not bent about it though!

J.R. Watkins Hand & Cuticle Salve

Burts Bees makes a salve that I swear by. I like this better! The BB version is hard, but this is smooth and much easy to get on your cuticles. Too bad it's out of stock on Birchbox.com!

Dropps Laundry Detergent

I've seen these around and think they're such a great idea! I tried them on a load earlier this week and it made everything smell great! I always fill my washer to the top, so I had to use two packets. While this is a great idea, I don't think I could ever get over how costly laundry would become!

What was in your box this month??

Check Birchbox out!

xoxo

Momma B

High Five For Friday

Are you as happy that it's Friday as I am??

As usual, I'm linking up with Lauren for our weekly high-fives. 

I'm going to make this short and sweet.

ONE: Momma B celebrated ONE year of blogging this week. I can't believe how much has changed this past year and I can't wait to see where the next year takes me. In life and in the blogger world.

TWO: My hubby comes home today. I know I said a week ago that there weren't any trips in the near future. Clearly I jinxed it because he was only home for a week. I've seriously missed his handsome face!

THREE: My Birchbox came early this month! Normally it's mailed out on the 10th of every month, but I got it on the 10th!! I loved my box this month and can't wait to share it with you! More on that this weekend. P.S. - I got ANOTHER nail polish this month. I love getting nail polish!

FOUR: Speaking of nail polish. I finally found Chinchilly by Essie. Every time I go to Target it's sold out. I end up stomping my feet and pouting like a child and end up buying another color anyways. Right now I have my Birchbox color on, but Chinchilly is next!!

FIVE: I finally got Evan to spit out "I love you" this week. And now he says it all the time! I cannot even begin to tell you how good it feels when the little stinker says it!! We took a video and sent it to Daddy out in Maryland. I think it made his day!  :)

Happy Friday!

xoxo

Momma B

Ham and Cheese Croissants

I was looking for something easy to make for lunch last weekend and these things practically fell out of the fridge begging me to cook them! They're so easy and sometimes we just need a reminder about the easy stuff we can assemble that STILL doesn't come in a box!

You'll need:

1 pkg garlic butter croissants (8 count pkg)

4 pieces of deli ham (cut in half)

2 slices cheese -- I used cheddar (cut into 4 squares)

Parsley flakes

Open your croissants and lay out on a greased cookie sheet.

Place a piece of ham on the wide end.

And a piece of cheese on top of the ham.

Now roll (wide to skinny) the croissants up. Rearrange on cookie sheet as needed.

Sprinkle with parsley flakes.

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. 

Keep a close eye on them, you don't want them getting too brown!

Don't overfill the croissants or the inside won't bake and you'll end up with a doughy mess!

These are so quick and easy. AND they taste DELICIOUS!!

xoxo

Momma B

Oh, How Pinteresting!

It's Wednesday and you guessed it -- we're linking up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for our favorite pins of the week. Did you pin something exciting this week? Did you DO anything that you pinned this week?

I had good intentions when my very first pin this week was an easy [to remember] work-out.

ONE

But then fell back into my typical mess of FOOD!!!!

TWO:   BLT Pasta Salad

THREE: Brownie Batter Dip

And THEN I got side tracked by sentimental quotes.

FOUR 

FIVE: I love this idea

SIX: I have a jewelry obsession. True story.

SEVEN: This book is getting a lot of hype. Have you read it?

EIGHT: I love tulips!

Eight will have to do this week, friends!

xoxo

Momma B