National Cheesecake Day

          



         Happy National Cheesecake Day!  Don't you love how there's a holiday for everything these days!  I discovered that today was National Cheesecake Day last night when the hubs and I were at Cheesecake Factory for our weekly date night.  LOVE Cheesecake Factory!  If you go today, July 30, you can get any slice of cheesecake half off!  You can go to their website for more details.  If we would have known about this awesome news in advance, we would have had our date night tonight instead of last night.  Oh well, my misfortune means good news for you, because I'm able pass the info on to you with plenty of time to spare.  Now you have the chance to enjoy a slice of delicious creamy goodness for half the price!
            I'm definitely a big fan of Cheesecake Factory.  The cheesecake is to die for and is usually my reason for wanting to go, but the menu selection is also excellent!  There's so much to choose from! It always takes my husband forever to order, because there are so many choices.  Surprisingly, the food is really good even though they have a lot of different kinds of cuisines on the menu.  A few years ago, I  ordered the orange chicken - one word, YUM - and now that's what I usually order when I eat there.  Last night, I decided to switch things up a bit and go a little crazy.  The hubs swore I was going to change my mind last minute and end up ordering the orange chicken, but I surprised him a little when I ordered the stuffed chicken tortillas.  While I love the orange chicken, I have no regrets about my decision.  My meal was really good!
            Not only is the selection of food good, but the portions are huge!  I was only able to eat one fourth of my meal.....well, I was only able to eat that if I was going to save room for cheesecake;)  That means that today I have yummy leftovers for lunch and quite possibly dinner:)  Even my husband, the human garbage disposal, brought home leftovers. 
            The best part about Cheesecake Factory is the cheesecake.  I have to tell you that ever since the restaurant introduced its 30th anniversary cheesecake, it’s the only kind of cheesecake I order.  I've never had cheesecake like it!  It's the best thing EVER.....but I must have been in some sort of weird mood last night, because I switched things up and ordered the red velvet cheesecake.  It was very good, but I still say the anniversary cake is the best thing EVER!!!
            So, how much is Cheesecake Factory one might ask?  Considering all you get, the price it isn't bad.  It's still a fairly casual place to dine, so I would describe it as a step up from Applebees and a step down from Ruth’s Chris.  We never spend less than $50 for the two of us.  That's with two largely portioned meals, drinks and desserts.  It's not some place we go all the time, but every few months I request that we have dinner at Cheesecake Factory. 
            It’s time to wrap this post up, because I still have half of my cheesecake from last night in the fridge.  That and a cup of coffee sounds like an irresistible breakfast.  Healthy huh?  Yep, this is why we only have Cheesecake Factory every few months.  Have a great Saturday everyone!   Now I have some cheesecake to go enjoy;)

Read More

The Dog Days of Summer

our sad, brown, crispy grass

  

While Webster defines Dog Days as follows....

1:  the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere

 2:   a period of stagnation or inactivity 

I prefer to define it with a little more clarity and creativity:
You know it's the dog days of summer when.........

....you can fry an egg on the sidewalk...

...you look out the window and the grass is crispy and brown, rather than lush and green....

...nearby pools are putting ice in the water to cool the pool temperature down....

...you start sweating from the short walk out the front door to your car door...

...the playground equipment at local parks is so hot it can give dangerous burns to visiting children...

...temperatures are in the nineties after the sun goes down, and it's too miserable to be outside for an evening summer cookout (or any outdoor activity for that matter)...

...you can leave cookie dough in a hot car, and return to find the dough baked...

...you just can't stand to be outside for more than five minutes at a time!

         Yep, it has certainly been crazy-hot around here the past couple of weeks!  Let's just say that I am thankful for air conditioning, and my sympathy goes out to anyone who is enduring this weather without it!  Like most of the country, Indiana has been going through the dog days of summer.  The heat has been intense, but the humidity has been the biggest problem!  We always have high humidity in July and August, but the past few weeks, we've endured the kind of humidity that completely takes your breath away when you walk out the door!  This kind of weather has been making me wish autumn would come quickly, because I'm definitely ready for cooler days!  Yes, cooler, fall-like weather sounds pretty good about now. 

         While I do love that Indiana has four distinctive seasons, there are two seasons that always seem to overstay their welcome ~ winter and summer!  Winter usually stays longer than it should, and just when you think it has said its goodbyes, it rudely shows up unannounced throughout the course of spring. And while I love summer, it too can be brutal with its extreme heat and humidity....and lately, most of the country has seen a little too much of summer's brutality.  With the temps around the 100 degree mark and heat indexes well over 100 degrees, I'd say I'm ready for summer to start packing up and moving out!  Well.....maybe I'm not ready for summer to go away completely.....after all, it is only July..... but I'm definitely ready for the dog days of summer to kindly exit the summer scene.

Read More

$10 Plate Hanging






While at Home Goods last week, I came across a few plates that would be the perfect completion to a collection of plates that I've been working on with the intention of hanging on this wall.

Now as far as hanging plates on a wall goes, I found a fantastic and inexpensive tip at Blessed Beyond Measure that involved epoxy glue and picture wire.  You can find the tutorial here. 

 

After several months of searching, the collection was complete, and all it took was $10 and a little bit of patience. 


4 Large Round Plates - $1 each at the Dollar Tree
4 Small Round Plates - $.25 each at Goodwill
4 Small Square Patterned Plates - $4.95 for a set of four at Home Goods


LOVE IT!










Read More

Fruit Pizza

As I said in yesterday's post, my family came over for a cookout this weekend, and I made A LOT of food.  One of the things I made for dessert was a super easy fruit pizza.  I've made this for several get-togethers, and it always goes over well.  I seriously can't stress how easy this dessert is to make.

INGREDIENTS:

sugar cookie dough - you can make your own, or you can use store bought dough (I bought mine)

cream cheese frosting  - I made my own, but you can use store bought too

 (one 8oz package of cream cheese, four tbs. of butter, one c. powdered sugar, one tbs. vanilla)

fruit glaze (I used strawberry)

fruit topping (I used strawberries, raspberries and black berries)

Bake the cookie dough in a cookie sheet and let cool.  Spread cream cheese frosting over dough, then spread the glaze over the frosting.  Top the sweet pizza with your choice of sliced fruit and enjoy:)

Read More

It's A Goodwill Good Deal ~ $4 Picture Turned Into Dry Erase Board

We had my family over for a cookout this weekend, and I am sooo bummed that I didn't think to take any pictures!!!  Even though I don't have any photos to show it, we had a great time, and it was great seeing everyone.   

I have a  big family, and I made a ton of food for our little shindig.  Before my family arrived, I wrote the menu down on a makeshift dry erase board hanging in my kitchen.  Some of my nieces and nephews thought that this project was pretty cool, and it ended up being somewhat of a conversation piece in my kitchen. 

I really wish I could take the credit for this idea, but I can't.  I saw a version of this in blog land several moths ago, and for the life of me, I can't remember which blog I saw it at.  Although this piece has been hanging on my kitchen wall for a few months now, I have yet to blog about it, so without further ado, here's another Goodwill Good Deal....

This is what it looks like hanging on my kitchen wall now.......

......but this it what it looked like when I purchased it from Goodwill for only $3.99.

This purposeful piece of kitchen wall art was really easy to make.  All I did was take out the old portrait, and then I used scrapbook paper and scrapbook stickers to create a new "portrait'.

Lastly, I attached a dry erase marker to the side of the frame using Velcro.  The dry erase marker works on glass the same way that it would on a regular dry erase board:)

And that was it!  One $4 Goodwill frame + scrapbooking supplies that I already had = one practical yet beautiful conversation piece in my kitchen:)

Read More

A One Day Getaway

This post is a few weeks late, but better late than never, right?  Anyway, June 26, is our "fakiversary".  If you read my love story posts, then you probably get the idea of a "fakiversary".  If you recall we had two weddings.  March 20, is our actual anniversary, but Matt and I ....or should I say I....like to have a small celebration on June 26.  Matt definitely got the bad end of the deal when it came to having two weddings, but that's beside the point.  So anyway, we decided to spend the day downtown.  Rather than coming home late at night, we booked a room at the Hyatt and came back home the next morning.  It may sound silly to get a hotel room thirty minutes away from our home, but getting a hotel room meant getting rid of the distractions of home.  That's enough reason for me to have a one day getaway ~ even if I'm only getting away thirty minutes. 

Matt's job was to book the hotel room, and he enjoyed himself a little too much trying to get us a good deal.  He really likes negotiating, and what better way to negotiate a hotel room than using Priceline Negotiater.  Matt ended up getting us a $200 room at the Hyatt for only $50.  He was pretty proud of himself.

We didn't do anything new and exciting for this one day getaway.  We were familiar with all of the places we went, but we still had  an enjoyable time.  There are a lot of things to do in Indianapolis.  It's small, so it's easy to navigate ~ both by car and by foot.  It's also a clean city, and there is always something to do. We started the afternoon by walking the arts and theatre district of Mass Ave.  We always enjoy browsing around the unique stores the area has to offer.



Then we went to nearby McNiven's for a casual but delicious lunch.  As usual, Matt ate all of his lunch and most of mine :)



Like many hotels in Indy, the Hyatt connects to Circle Center Mall, so after checking into the hotel, we did a little bit of shopping.  A casual getaway called for a casual dinner, so after shopping, we ate dinner at one of Matt's favorite places, P.F. Changs, which was conveniently located in the mall.  It might be one of Matt's favorite places to eat, but I didn't put up a fight.  I was kind of craving the lettuce wraps anyway ~ so yummy!

After eating, we burnt some calories by walking the canal...... 

.....and then we walked to the heart of the circle city, Monument Circle.

We ended our night in the city with dessert before heading back to our hotel.  Good thing we did a lot of walking, because we packed the calories back on when we grabbed dessert at South Bend Chocolate Company.  While we were on the circle, we decided to stop here for ice cream, but after looking at the cheesecake selection I changed my mind about the ice cream ;) 


I had a lot of fun with my hubby on this one day getaway....can't wait to spend another year of marriage with the best guy in the world.  Yep, I'm one lucky girl :)

Read More

DIY Wall Decor

It's been several weeks since we painted the living room, and I was in need of some inexpensive wall art to go above the couch.  For less than $30, I came up with something to fill the void on the living room wall.  Using three canvas boards and items from my craft closet, I was able to create these......   

Here's how I did it......

 

I bought three of these canvas boards at United Art and Education.  They were about $8 each after the coupon.

 

Then I used my staple gun, and stapled fabric to the back of the board.  I orginally bought this fabric for a different project, but ended up using something else in its place.  Rather than having it sit in my closet, I thought I'd use it as art. 

Once the fabric was secure, I used two pieces of scrapbook paper that I already had, and I cut both pieces into thirds.

Once the paper was cut, I hot glued each cut piece of paper to the top and bottom of the boards.

Using hot glue, I secured trim between the fabric and the paper....

.....and I also added trim to the edge of board along the sides of the paper.

This is the finished project.  I now have creative art hanging above the couch, and it cost me less than $30:)

Read More