Happy Halloween 2013

Every year my office has a Halloween Costume and Pumpkin Contest. This is the third year that I've participated (the other years I was out of town). But first let's take a trip down memory lane of costumes past...

2008 - Gangster/Thug... Won 2nd overall 

2010 - Couple Costume: Deer and Hunter... Won 6th overall (this was before they split up group and individual costumes)

2013 - Panda

I don't have pictures of my departments previous pumpkins, but they were a piggy bank and a crawfish boil (the pumpkin was the pot). However, I do have a picture of our pumpkin this year! Can you guess what it is?!?!

I'm pretty proud of our helmet pumpkin and I just have to say that the logo is pretty legit! I will not reveal my secret on how I did that...I'm taking it to the grave...he he. Oh and we won 2nd in the carving contest!!!!! Woo Hoo!

 

Happy Halloween!!!

Weekend Recap: 10/25 - 10/27

I still need to share my weekend road trip from 2 weekends ago, but since those pictures are on 2 different devices I thought I'd go ahead and share pictures from this past weekend.

Thursday I woke up and couldn't look left or straighten my head fully, but after visiting the chiropractor (thanks Amber for the recommendation) I was feeling a little bit better. So both Thursday and Friday nights were spent nursing my injury...still don't know what caused it...like I've said before I'm a crazy sleeper so there is really no telling what I did.

Saturday, I was feeling much more mobile which was perfect timing because I had a ZTA Casino Night to attend that evening. I was offered two tickets to the event and luckily my Aunt, who is a ZTA alum, was able to go with me!

Remember the fall burlap wreath I shared a few weeks ago? That was actually for this event. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of it sitting on the silent auction table.

OOTN: Since the event was western themed I decided to go all out for it...Dress, Jacket and Belt: Target, Necklace: Charming Charlie, Boots: Cavendars. Oh and I even straightened my hair! That's a big deal people!!

 

I'm not a gambler and have only just recently gambled for the first time. So needless to say I've never played Blackjack before, but the dealer was really cool and helped us out a lot...ha ha.

21 Baby!! Winner winner, chicken dinner! I should also say I ended up losing everything...ha ha...told you I'm not very good at this, plus it wasn't real money and the only chips that were actually mine were the black ones...ha ha...the dealer said I needed more chips in my picture, but I really did get Blackjack...that part is for real.   

 

Sunday was spent running errands and working on my costume for this Thursday's costume contest at work. This costume better turn out cute, because right now it's just making me mad...ha ha.

October Meal: Zesty Ranch Pot Roast

You may or may not have noticed that I did not make a September meal. This roast was actually supposed to be my September meal, but time got away from me and I'm still not comfortable with leaving my crock pot on all day when I'm not home. One day hopefully I'll get over that.

All you need for this roast is...

2 to 3 pound roast
1 pkg Zesty Italian Seasoning
1 pkg Brown Gravy
1 pkg Ranch Seasoning
1 cup of water
1/2 package of baby carrots

Place the roast in your crock pot.
Mix all seasoning packets into a cup of water and pour over your pot roast.
Set your crock pot to low and cook 6 - 8 hours. (It is done in 6 hours, but I like my roast to just fall apart so I cooked it a little longer.)
2 hours before your roast is done place your carrots in the crock pot.

I enjoyed mine with a side of mashed potatoes. Talk about yummy! Next time I might sear the roast first to create a nice crust, but honestly this didn't need anything else.

Weekend Recap: 2 weeks worth

Since I didn't post a weekend recap anything last week, I thought I would share a pic from my friend's wedding 2 weekends ago. Luckily, it wasn't super hot outside for the ceremony. The reception that followed was inside where there was a really fun photo booth.

Both cakes were really pretty. The bride's cake had a really pretty crystal beaded letter on top but the collage cut it off...boo.

This past weekend I actually cooked twice and baked! Saturday night I made turkey chili. I've never had turkey chili before, but after making turkey tacos a few times and not really noticing a difference I decided to give it a try. Again I couldn't really taste a diffence. Oh and all that cheese you see in the pic is soy cheese and tastes much much better than the last "fake" cheese I bought.

Sunday morning I busted out my mixer and whipped up a batch of banana bread. It made my apartment smell soooooo good.

I actually over cooked this loaf to my liking...I like the center to still be nice and gooey...but it still tasted fantastic! The rest of the day was spent lounging around, going to the gym and patiently waiting for my first ever roast to be done! More about the roast later.

Present Birthday Card

My friend who moved to Seattle at the beginning of the summer just celebrated her 25th birthday, so of course I had to send her a card since I couldn't be with her. I love how simple and yet colorful this card turned out. As much as I love fancy cards, sometimes it's nice to go the simple route. I also love the rounded edges...who knew an edge could make such a difference.

Weekend Recap: Last Baseball Game of the Season

This past weekend had some pretty funny and exciting moments. I captured a few moments with my phone that I thought I would share with y'all.

Saturday started at the movies where we saw Hugh Jackman's new movie Prisoners. I thought it was a pretty good movie, but the ending definitely leaves you hanging. Then upon further discussion about the movie Monday morning with Elizabeth, I now have more questions...ha ha...go figure.

Saturday night we went to dinner with Mimi where she told us about her famous daiquiris she made for her bridge club back in the day. Of course when I found out how much rum she used, I had to share with my brother. In case you read the top part of that screen shot, I may or may not have dropped a 5 pound weight on my face at the gym last week...ha ha.

After another accidental head injury Sunday morning, that left me with a bump on my head and someone else with a bloody nose, it was time to attend the last baseball game of the season. We played the Yankees and got there just in time to see the last of a special ceremony thingy for #42 Mariano Rivera of the Yankees who retired after a great career.

During the 7th inning stretch my favorite spanish broadcasters invited me to the press box again!! Since the game went through 14 innings we actually got to sit up there for half the game! After the game, we were able to walk through the players tunnel again where we actually got to talk to one of the players briefly. :) Needless to say if was a great afternoon!