Random Friday Night Thoughts

Okay so nobody is probably going to read this because by the time you sign on to your blog account it will probably be Monday morning (or Tuesday since it's a holiday weekend) and everyone else you follow will be updating you on how awesome of a weekend they had, well I'm bored right now so I'm going to write this post whether anyone sees it or not! It's Friday night and the hubby is still at work...The Princess is sleeping... and I'm having a glass of wine and looking for a cheesy Lifetime movie to watch that I haven't already seen, but unfortunately I think I've seen them all...So this is just going to be a very random post on whatever pops into my head while I am typing.... Speaking of Lifetime movies, I was watching one last night with my Nana (who was staying with me for a few days while her home renovations were being finished). So it's Me, Nana, and the hubby sitting on the couch watching Lifetime.....the only problem was the movie I chose was more of a soft core porn that had more sex scenes than any other movie I know! All I heard from Nana's end of the couch was, "Oh my!" and "Wow, isn't he fresh?!", and my favorite, "They are going to do it again?"... My hubby had tears coming down his face from trying to hold in his laughter ... Bad call on my part... Note to self: next time check the parent's rating guide before watching a movie with Nana!

Moving on to other things:

So you wanna see some REALLY random things? Well I hacked into my old photobucket account from 10 years ago and there are 49 pages of crap! I have no idea what I was doing with some of these pics but since I am so bored I think I will share some of them with you:



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh DJ Don, how I miss the nights we would laugh at you while you gave us really cool t-shirts to wear !

After a couple drinks we were convinced we were posing with Andre 3000... He tried to tell us he was a Prince from some foreign country, but we weren't buying it!

Ohhhh Hoff you crack me up !

This is just so wrong in so many ways !

 

 

 

 

I hope you are all having as much fun as this girl tonight:


 

 

 

 

 

 

Well thank you all for reading my extremely random post.... and since it's a long weekend remember ladies................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:) goodnight xoxo

My Skinnier Chicken Divan Recipe

I know there are many variations to this classic dish and everyone has their own style of making it, but this is the way I like to make it and there is never any leftovers!

 

The traditional style is usually full of many calories, but I like to call this my skinnier recipe :)

 

 

 

Chicken Divan... my way!

 

 

Ingredients:

 

2 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken

1 can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup mayo ( I use Smart Balance mayo - see below for info)

1 bag of frozen broccoli

pinch of salt & pepper

1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

1 splash of lemon juice

3 tablespoons melted butter

2 cups crushed cornflakes

 

I like to use the Smart Balance mayo because it is so much better for you!

 

 

BENEFITS

 



Light, delicious taste

Half the fat and 44% less calories compared to regular mayonnaise

Excellent source of ALA Omega from canola and flax oils (500mg per serving, 30% of the 1,600mg daily value)

No hydrogenated oils

No partially hydrogenated oils

0g trans fat

100mg of natural plant sterols per serving

Gluten-free

 

Now onto the recipe..............

 

First grease a 9x13 baking dish & layer the broccoli on the bottom

 

 

 

Next, layer the chicken on top of the broccoli

 

 

 

Mix the cream of chicken soup, mayo, salt & pepper, lemon juice, and cheese in a bowl

 

 

 

 

Spread the mixture over the chicken

 

 

 

 

Next is where you can be creative and top it off with whatever you want! Some ideas are breadcrumbs, croutons, french fried onions, or nothing at all...

 

I like to top mine with cornflakes to give it that extra crunch!

 

 

 

After crushing up the cornflakes, add the melted butter and sprinkle the mixture on top !

 

 

Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes...

 

I served mine on top of some brown rice and a side of butternut squash!

 

This is one of my favorites :)

 

 

 

 

Time With Nana

 

So my grandmother is downsizing into an in-law apartment and while they are completing some of the renovations this week she has been staying with me, one of the reasons I haven't had much time to update my blog....you would think I would have less time taking care of an 8 month old than taking care of an 84 year old - but she's a lot of work! I am not complaining at all - if you remember in my bucket list I had mentioned that I wanted to spend more time with my grandmother so I can cross that off my list now! She is a wonderful person and I have been close with her since I was a little girl.

 

 

 Last night I made one of her favorite meals (recipe to follow later) and we had a great night re-watching the first season of Revenge with my hubby.

 

Since she doesn't have much room in her new apartment she has been giving away many of her treasured possessions. One of her favorite things that she cannot take with her is the piano that has been in her livingroom for as long as I can remember. That's where I spent countless hours practicing with Nana for my piano recitals. I played the piano until middle school where it "wasn't cool" anymore to play an instrument. Looking back now I wish I had continued to practice - it was stupid of me to stop....but now that it will be sitting in my livingroom I am going to attempt to teach myself how to play again and hopefully someday I can teach my little princess how to play and convince her that no matter how "uncool" it may seem at the time, it is definitely very cool when you grow up. So hopefully by Christmas time I will be playing while the family gathers around the piano to sing carols, sipping egg nog.... okay that won't happen, but it always looks good in the movies.

 

 

 

 

New Home Remodel...Room #2 - The Family Room

This is my favorite room in the house because it has french doors that lead to the wrap around deck over looking our yard & pool. When we moved in there was SO MUCH BLUE - it didn't feel warm & welcoming to me and I knew this is where my family would be spending most of our time.

 

 

 

This is what the room looked like when we moved in.

 

 

 

Apparently carpet in the middle and ceramic tile on the outside of the room was a popular style back in the 80's when this room was built. Well it's not 1980 anymore and this look had to go!

 

Back to Lowes we went for a new color to take over the walls. I fell in love with this color immediately and thought it was exactly what I was looking for to warm this room up!

 

It's called Pink Chocolate:

 

 

 

So we ripped up the carpet, smashed all the tiles and painted the walls.

 

 

Apparently the room used to be bright purple as you can see behind the fireplace - what were these people thinking?!!!!

 

Next it was time for a new floor. I really love the look of hardwood floors but knew this room would need to be able to survive not only toys and kitty claws, but it would also need to be able to withstand the occasional wine spillage :) We chose a laminate floor in the color "Red Rock Cherry".

 

 

Next add in some furniture and fresh flowers and we have the perfect family gathering room!

 

 

Home...Sweet...Home

 

 



 



New Home Remodel....Room #1 - Nursery

When I found out that we were having a girl I knew right away that a pink room was inevitable. We recently moved into a new home and one of the first rooms we decorated was the nursery. We headed to Lowes for the first of many trips and picked out the perfect shade, "Baby Blush".

 

When we first moved into our new house this is what Madyson's room looked like:

 

 

My husband is a HUGE hockey fan and absolutely LOVES the Bruins, so obviously he wanted to keep this room, but I convinced him that little girls don't want a room decorated with hockey pucks, they want a room that makes them feel like a princess and that's exactly what she got!

 

 

I got this amazing decal on etsy ( One Hip Sticker Chic ) - it came with some "bling" gems that were supposed to be stuck onto the top of the crown but I was so afraid she would choke on one if it fell into her crib, so I went to a local craft store and bought some glitter stickers instead - it has the same effect and now I don't have to worry!

 

 

 

Recently my little sister, Shannon, got married and Madyson was her flower girl... This was her gift for being in the wedding - so cute !! The Chair is from Pottery Barn Kids and has her name embroided on it. She looks so cute reading her books in this chair :)

 

 

I got this cute shelf on etsy ( I just love that site!) This store had lots of cute nursery decor:

Nelson Gifts

 

 

My creative sis made this tree for my baby shower. Every guest added their fingerprint & name to the tree and now it's hanging in Maddy's room - such a cute idea!

 

 

 

 

 

The nursery came out perfect and I hope Madyson feels like a princess everytime she's in her room :)!

 

 

Eight Months & Revenge...

Happy 8 months to my little princess.... Only 4 more months till her first birthday and I am already browsing the internet for fun party themes :) 

I had no idea I was so funny, but she seemed to enjoy the crazy faces I was making at her!


Now onto something else.... Who else is watching "Revenge"?? I am obsessed with this show and am so excited for new episodes next month! When the previews came out last year I set my DVR and a month or two went by before I watched it.... I was bored when my hubby was working late one night and started watching the first one....then the second...then before I knew it I was done and couldn't wait for the next episode! Unfortunately I watched the whole season without my hubby so I just ordered the first season on DVD so I can have everyone I know catch up before next month! This may be a bold statement, but in my opinion this may be the best show on television E-V-E-R! Each episode leaves me wanting more and I am so excited to re-watch the first season this weekend... Don't worry Shann, I promise you can borrow the first disc as soon as we are done! And for everyone who isn't watching it, I suggest you rent the first season on Netflix or get your butt to the store today to get a copy - you won't regret it :)

Love This Lil' Face!

So on Wednesday Madyson will be 8 months old. It's crazy to think about life before her....I'm not even sure if I remember what it was like not to wake up to the sound of  "maaaaa" being called from the next room every morning when she's ready to start her day . I am so fortunate that I get to spend every second of every day with her and each day she does something new that makes me smile.

I love how she now makes this crazy face whenever I give her a new jar of pureed crap to try (and that's exactly what it looks like, but she seems to enjoy every bite!)

She just learned to sit up and looks so cute doing it :)

This is the serious face she makes every time I'm eating anything crunchy - today it was some pita chips....she watches so closely and observes every bite...

She thoroughly enjoys trying to steal people's jewelry and loves sparkly objects just like her mother.... over the weekend she tried to steal a gold necklace off this woman's neck...

There is a carpet commercial that comes on every day that has an annoying jingle that always gets stuck in my head for days...... and no matter what is going on she must stop and focus her attention on the tv. I wonder if this means she is going to be a carpet cleaner when she grows up?!

This is how we end each day....

It might not seem that exciting to most people, but every day when she does something new for the first time it makes me smile and isn't that really what it's all about?

 Good night...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz