My solution? Confetti Cupcakes.

Add some confetti to your dull winter days. I used a box of funfetti cake mix, but I made my own fluffy flour frosting, adding a few splashes of blue and green food coloring.

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I have had this laptop bag for about 4 years. When I got it the obnoxious, bright, neon circle suited me. Now, they do not. So I got rid of them.

I painted the bottom portion of my bag with grey paint. Normal grey paint. It took 2 heavy coats all over. But now I have classy, color blocked laptop bag.

Have an old bag lying around? Try painting it to give it a new face lift. You could add a bold pattern or your initials. A little bit experimenting can result in a surprising new treasure.

When hubby asks for a a night away with the guys I’m more likely to offer steak for dinner for a week than say yes. I don’t like to sleep without him. (interpret like as I will cry for hours and hours and not eat and live off lattes if I have to go a night without him.)

Well… Thursday I told him he could go have a little man’s retreat for a night this weekend. Tough choice. I’m working on the whole self-less thing. I decided it was time to grow up. Put my big girl panties on and let him go. He left this morning.

I knew in order to survive his night away I would need a plan. A really good plan. One that would keep my mind and body occupied for 36 hours.

The plan was to go to Target, Barnes & Noble, and JoAnn’s to shop and browse to my hearts content, all the while holding a steaming vanilla latte in my hand.

What actually happened? Well… I did a little homework. Then tried to put myself together to go to the store, tried to bribe my mom with Cheesecake Factory leftovers to come see me, text my man, try to drown myself in Pinterest. All around fail.

Plan two. I think this one will do the trick.

Survival Guide Staples:

Thin Mints. The little Girl Scout dropped them off earlier today. They may or may not make it through the weekend.

Leftovers from the Cheesecake Factory. Cheesecake, pasta, and fried mac & cheese balls. All are necessary.

Starbucks. Lots and lots of Starbucks. The festive cup helps too.

Magazines. Helpful for aiding your mind in wandering away from the lack of husband at home. I just pretend I can decorate my home how ever I want and lose myself in that.

Favorite chick-flicks. Highly necessary. Even if they only serve as background noise to some crying.

The last staple- my mom. I guess my bribing worked. My wonderful mommy is coming to stay with me for the night because a night alone just sounds unbearable. Mom’s know how to fix things. I think she also gets out of working too… that may or may not have been part of her plan.

With my staples in hand, I think I can make it through the night. Wish me luck.

Macaroni & Cheese.

Friends & Family.

Chocolate & Roses.

Summer & Sunshine.

Hugs & Kisses.

All great things.

Tonight I experienced another good thing in twos- Dinner & Dessert.

Italian Roast Sandwiches & Roasted Carrots

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream & Brownie Chunks

Happy Wednesday.

Amen.

Happy Tuesday.

As always, we squeezed a little of everything in.

We made cupcakes.

We did a little shopping.

We dressed up for dinner at Buca.

We did a little crafting.

And of course we did a lot of cuddling and chatting.

It was so great to spend some together and have a good reason to eat without control.

Broccoli Chicken & Rice Divan. I don’t know what “divan” is, and I’m not entirely sure I care, because it was wonderful.

I divided the dish into four individual ramekins rather than one baking dish. It was so lovely to sit down to dinner with an individual little dish of loveliness just for me.

I divided the meal into four very full ramekins. This could have easily stretched to six I think.

Here is the recipe with my modifications.

Broccoli Chicken & Rice Divan
2 cups of cooked brown rice
2 chicken breasts, chopped
1 1/2 cups broccoli, chopped
1 (10.75 oz) can Cream of Broccoli Soup
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp dried bread crumbs

- preheat oven to 450 degrees
- cook rice
- cook chicken
- cook broccoli, let boil for about 5 min. then drain
- spray ramekins with non-stick spray
- mix soup and milk
- mix chicken, broccoli, rice, sauce, and cheese
- pile into ramekins
- mix melted butter and bread crumbs
- sprinkle bread crumbs on top
- bake 15-20 minutes

** I know my pictures indicate that I did not follow my own directions. Its because I didn’t. After eating the dish I realized that some of the rice on the bottom did not get touched by the sauce, meaning I had several bites of plain rice. Rice is great and all… but I totally love a bit of cheesy goodness with every bite.

Everyone brought a little something to share.

We enjoyed sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, crackers & herb dip, cranberry scones, and brushetta.

our spread

Brushetta
3 large tomatoes, seeded & chopped
1 tbsp chopped mint (I used mint instead of basil because the store was out)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 loaf of crusty bread

stir together the tomatoes, mint, olive oil, & garlic powder
serve on crusty bread

This was a really simple appetizer to throw together for a small get together. The tomatoes make it super light and flavorful.

And who doesn’t love to add a bowl of color to a spread?

I have been wanting to make these little paper pinwheels for awhile now. My living room wall just looked like it was missing something. I think I found the missing link.

These little friends are adorable and super quick to make.

Supplies:
- paper (patterned, plain, craft paper, whatever you want)
- scissors (if you’re super talented you might not even need those!)
- glue
- string

First: Fold a piece of paper back and forth. The fold should be between 1/2”-1”. Fold entire sheet of paper. Do this to three sheets of paper. If the last fold is not quite long enough, trim it off. You will want your folds as even as possible for the smoothest look.

Second: Fold your long strips in half. Then glue in the middle.

Three: Glue edges of mini fans together to make a giant fan.

Four: Glue the last side together carefully. Your three sheets will expand a little to bridge the gap.

Five: Glue a string to the back to hang it on a wall. Hang it.

Done. These are so simple. I made all three in about 10 minutes. This little project can be added to any room in the house to add a little homemade touch.

In August I bought a mirror that I really wanted to paint to match our bedroom. I didn’t find the time to do that project until now. I also found a yellow, outdated lamp base to go with my chevron lamp shade that I fell in love with at Target, and a little gold elephant that I couldn’t pass up.

Here are my results:

Before
photo taken with phone (sorry it’s so blurry)

After
I love the color and how well the teal pairs with the gold and white chevron.

Before
How adorable is this little guy? Unfortunately, his white eye creeped me out. So, he got painted too.

After

Before: umm… oops? Sorry. It was bronze and no where near as playful.

After
Eventually the mirror will get hung above the dresser 

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 A nice layer of paint can make an outdated piece look brand new. Another bonus of painting– you don’t have to dig through department store after department store searching for that perfect color to match your bed spread in that lamp you love the shape of. Hello spray paint. My name is Holly. Lets be friends for life.

Give it a shot. What do you want to spruce up with a coat of paint?