cringe

it's that time again. yep, exams. two down, three to go. wish me luck (but you know i need it!)

tree

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas around here!

i've been cleaning out my closet and have a few party dresses that i was going to list on ebay, but thought i'd see if any of you wanted to purchase any of them first!

if you are interested please email me at justlovelykatherine@yahoo.com

silver, above the knee w/ bow dress. worn once. size small. bought at boutique on King in Charleston. $35

black, long-sleeve above the knee dress. from express, size small. worn once. $25

another black dress from express. sweetheart neck, above the knee. size 4. worn twice. $20.

{shipping will be $5}

Ornament Swap Partners

Hey ladies! here are the partners for the ornament swap. please contact your partner to get their mailing info and please have your ornaments out in the mail by the 5th!

be sure to post pics once you get your ornaments!! thanks for playing along :)

Hokie Honey & Patience

nfrost@vt.edu

pkrueger262003@yahoo.co

Brit & Jamie

daveandbritplusone@gmail.com

jamie.feisal@gmail.com

Sara Lang & Rachel

Saralang [at] gmail [dot] com

rguzman0320@gmail.com

Melissa G & KR

missylovsjesus@yahoo.com

kaitlyn.e.rose@gmail.com

BLC & Kayce

thecompanyshekeeps@blogspot.com

kayceree@hotmail.com

Legally Fabulous & Tiffany

legallyfabulous1@gmail.com

scottysgirl4life@gmail.com

Miss Type-A & Flip Flop Bride

jillian.crowe@gmail.com

a_evans07@yahoo.com

Michelle & Pammycakes

shell (at) stutteringshell (dot) com

pamela(dot)ziegler(at)gmail(dot)com

theluckiestmrs & Bella

theluckiestmrs@gmail.com

bellaserenityblog@gmail.com

Lilly & Katherine

lillyfrog@yahoo.com

justlovelykatherine@yahoo.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have wonderful Thanksgivings! Ben and I are off to his grandparents' farm for the night!

help me decide!

I made several different christmas cards that I need to chose from so I can get them printed out and in the mail! I know we aren't married, but i've sent out picture christmas cards from the two of us for three years now. I figure it is ok, since we have been together for 4.5+ years!

Here is where you all come in. Which of these three do you prefer? I got inspiration from etsy and fabrics and these are what i've come up with:

option #1

option #2

option #3

I saw this picture over at Simply Seleta's blog and I am now obsessed with that zigzag runner.

I have no clue where it comes from, but don't you think it would be simple to make a "painted canvas" runner? I've seen them do it on HGTV. Might have to give it a try! And I want to do it in a rose color, if Ben will let me! May just have to surprise him :)

I hope you all had great weekends and don't forget to sign up for my ornament swap!

Ornament Swap!!

Hey ladies! I'm going to host an ornament swap! If you want to play along, leave a comment on this post. {please leave your email with the comment}

Deadline to enter is WEDNESDAY the 25th, and then ornaments should be mailed to your partner by December 5th!

The more the merrier!!

I will match everyone up on the 25th and post the pairs that day!

Please spend between $10 and $15 & get creative!

{the ornament above is from here}

i love lamp

i absolutely LOVE this lamp...any idea where i can find it or one like it? i need two :)

test run

** edit -- so i just whipped a batch of these up and they are AMAZING! seriously, very very good! you all must make them! but, be warned, the recipe below makes WAY more than 24 cookies, idk where they got that!!**

I'm making these to take to the two thanksgiving celebrations i'm going to. one lunch and one dinner. i'm going to do a test run tonight or tomorrow because last year i tried to make a pumpkin ice cream pie with maple whipped cream. it didn't turn out too hot. so, this year i'm playing it safe and testing the recipe first! there are a ton of different versions of this recipe online, just google.

Pumpkin Cookies with

Cream Cheese Icing

{makes 24 cookies}

Ingredients
1 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup unsalted butter; softened
2 cups white sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin (solid; not pie mix)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
1. Cream shortening, butter, white sugar and pumpkin. Add eggs and mix well.
2. Sift together the baking soda, ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
3. Drop from spoon to cookie sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (extract will also work)
2 tablespoons milk

Method
Mix the cream cheese with the butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and milk in a bowl. Heat in a microwave for 15 seconds. Drizzle spoonfuls over the cooled cookies and smooth with the back of a spoon or a spatula.

{recipe and pic from here}

silhouettes

i love this wall of silhouettes i found over at IDiY.

i think i will pop a few into a couple of the frames on my gallery wall!

also, i seriously love these ornaments! i may just have to try to make one! how great would a tree look decorated with all silhouette ornaments!

{from etsy}

and i think these would make a wonderful gift for a mom or grandmother!

{found here}

Happy Monday lovelies! Hope you all had wonderful weekends! I did nothing, at it was amazing! The weather here has been unseasonably warm and gorgeous. It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT week! crazy!

Need a good laugh this monday morning? well, while doing nothing this weekend, Ben and I had some fun playing with google. How random and hilarious are the search suggestion that show up on google?!

google is watching you!!

why don't women like me? hahaha. that is kind of sad!

even more sad... how come when i talk to girls on facebook they don't answer back? :( poor kid!

Did you know that if you google "where is chuck norris" and then the "i'm feeling lucky" button that this is what comes up? :

haha what?!

I also highly suggest googling "funny google street views." very funny!! ...

anywho... have a great monday!

are you watching?

are you all watching the CMA's??

What the hell was up with taylor's performance?! haha. i really like her, but that was just...uncomfortable.

can't wait to see all of carrie's wardrobe changes!

ohhh my, kellie pickler does NOT look good as a brunette!!

life sucks right now

so i have:

yea, shingles, and not the kind pictured above. what am I? A 75 year old man? ugh!! apparently these can be caused by stress. the doctor asked if i was under a lot of stress and i simply replied "i'm in law school," he laughed knowingly.

plus I have a 25 page paper (not including footnotes), upper level writing requirement due tomorrow. so yea, life pretty much sucks right now!

hung by the chimney with care...

how stinking cute are these mary jane stockings!! I found them at

Sew Lola's etsy shop.

this one is my favorite!

and for all you crafty ladies out there, you can also purchase the pattern to make your own.

tailgate treat

There is another home game this Saturday, and after a few weeks off from the tailgate scene we will back at Commonwealth! It's an early afternoon game so we are taking lunch food...chili. I wanted to make some cornbread muffins to take.

Have you all eaten at Jim 'N Nick's? When I lived in Charleston, Ben and I would often walk downtown to shop and eat lunch there on Saturdays. We don't have one here, or anywhere in KY, which is sad because their food is soo amazing! And lets not forget their signature cheese muffins! I could seriously eat like five (and have). But unfortunately for us the recipe is kept secret. However, I was thinking that these would be really good to take to the tailgate to have with the chili so I got to searching the Internet and found a few recipes that claim to be just like the real deal. This one sounds promising and I'm going to try it out for Saturday.

Jim 'N Nick's Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• beaten well4 tablespoon butter
• melted1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

** note -- the comments on the website suggest swapping the regular milk for buttermilk, using less sugar, and using equal amounts self-rising flour and self-rising cornmeal -- so I'll be modifying the recipe with these changes **

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan.
2. Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl and set aside. Whisk egg, milk, butter, and vanilla together in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend.
3. Incorporate shredded cheese into batter. Do not over mix.
4. Divide batter evenly among greased muffin tins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the biscuits will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the biscuits will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each biscuit from its mold.

Makes 10 to 12 biscuits.

Recipe and pictures from here.

well, well, well

looky what i found...

found here.

look familiar?

yea dude, thats the exact same fabric that is on the ottoman from target that i blogged about yesterday. and it is just over 20 bucks a yard. yes please!

(to make a 36" square ottoman i will need less than a yard and a half!)

ottomans

I've been looking for a coffee table for our living room and found a few contenders. But after talking to Ben, I have decided that an ottoman that can serve double duty as a coffee table and as extra seating would be the best choice. I definitely didn't want any of those fake leather storage ottomans and the upholstered ottomans I found that I like were rather expensive. Then, I found this cute, bright ottoman at Target.com and thought it would be perfect. But, it was still $300 and I know I can make it myself for way less. So, I'm off to the fabric story to search for a heavy weight decor fabric to use.

I'm thinking that if I don't find anything I like I may order one of these~

by amy butler

Halloween Recap

Happy Monday my loves! I hope you all had an amazing weekend!

Halloween was a good time here!

I went as a black widow, which apparently wasn't all that original. There was another black widow at the bar! Ben went as a pilot.

these guys MADE these Bert and Ernie costumes themselves. AMAZING.

my friend Derek went as Billy Mays! too funny! I drew on his beard with eyeshadow and eyeliner!

I took this little pirate trick-or-treating!

Now...on to Thanksgiving!!

also wanted to send a big THANK YOU to Caroline over at Through Rose Colored Glasses. She hosted a giveaway last week and I won!! So excited!! Thanks again Caroline!