Wednesday, November 23, 2011

So Blessed and Thankful

I am so blessed and thankful for the most wonderful, funny, positive, uplifting friends on the planet.  This Saturday is my birthday and my sweet friends celebrated with me by taking me to dinner tonight.  You all enrich my life more than you know and I am thankful for you!  Thank you for making me feel so special everyday!


The most amazing friends on the planet!   



Yummy Birthday cake from sweet Caitlin!!


Excited and ready to dig in!  


The amazing hostesses!  Love you so much, Jenna and Caitlin! 


Marykate's Fall Wreath!  Soooo Pretty!    

 Checking out the goods!  Love my new earrings!

   
Love my new "Rubie" slippers from Catriona! 

Thank you all for everything, not just for tonight, but for everything you all do for me everyday!  I am beyond blessed and I love you all soooo much!!  

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  Hope it is full of warmth and love and yummy food!  





Monday, November 14, 2011

Forbes Thought of Day


 Youth is the opportunity to do something and to become somebody. ”

— Theodore T. Munger


Working on it. :) 


Creative & Cost Savvy Holiday Decor

My friend Martha, I mean, Marykate, is incredibly talented and has the most precious holiday decorations. I put a few baby pumpkins in a decorative bowl on my "dining room table" (no dining room yet, but it could be one day) and I thought I was being so festive.  I visited Marykate in Fort Worth and I was immediately shamed into the harsh reality that I am just not very creative in that department.

From a homemade Fall wreath outside her door, to every little detail inside her apartment (and even in her bathroom), she was fully decorated for the season and it immediately put me in the holiday spirit!

She shared some of her homemade holiday creations with me and I wanted to pass them along.  I even get a Fall one for my Birthday and a Christmas one for Christmas!  I am so excited!

If you have any questions on how to create these masterpieces, email me at aintnothingbuttherealthing@gmail.com and I will forward all questions to the master herself.



Fall (above); Christmas (below) 


How fabulous are these?! Let me know if you would look me to put you in touch with your very own Martha!  Love you Mare! 





Friday, November 4, 2011

Foot in the Mouth Friday

Happy Friday Everyone! It's pretty chilly in Dallas today and I am loving it!

So...I have a story.  I am an idiot.  Don't you hate it when you say something and immediately want to put your foot in your mouth?

Well, your girl Alex definitely had one of those moments the other night.

"Where/How is (insert your ex that I think you are still dating)?"

I was with a group of people for dinner that I know, but that I do not know very well.  I knew that a girl had been dating the same guy for awhile and as far as I knew, they were still together.  Yes...you know where this goes.  I asked if he was coming to dinner as well and her response "I don't know."  She was so sweet about it, but I turned bright red and just wanted to hide under the table.

Some other recent good foot on the mouth stories and lessons for us all to learn (so that hopefully you don't learn it the painful and humiliating way that I did):

"When are you due?" 

1)  To the woman who is not pregnant:  I keep hearing stories about people asking non-pregnant women when they are due.  Talk about ruining someone's day and causing permanent damage to both the person who asked and the person who is asked!  Moral: Don't ask, ever.  Even if they look 9 months pregnant, refrain, unless you know for sure from a legit source that they are indeed with child.

2) To the woman who recently gave birth:  This poor tale happened to a friend of mine who asked a girl that had already had her baby when she was due.  My poor friend was just mortified when the response was that she had the baby two months prior.  I start breaking out in hives thinking about being in this situation.  Moral:  Just never ask.  Ever.

The problem is that we really are just trying to be nice and interested in these people's lives, but these personal questions are ones that we have to learn the hard way to steer completely clear of.

The bottom line, and as my friend Ben told me yesterday, you can never assume anything. This much I have learned, be it the very painful, mortifying, humanly degrading way.  :)

Happy Weekend!




Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Worry Woes

"I'm in a hurry to get things done, I rush and rush until life's no fun."  (Thank you country radio circa 1995 for those lovely lyrics.)  Sadly, don't we all identify with this?

We all have a million things going on in our lives.  Whether it is related to school, work, family, or extracurriculars, the bottom line is we are all very busy, most of the time, too busy for our own good.

While worry revolves around various daily pressures, 99.9% revolves around the future.  But why do we worry about tomorrow when all we have in our control is today?

The best way to minimize anxiety is to pinpoint its source and determine a plan to manage it.  For me,  finding a job when I graduate law school is my biggest source of stress.  Not only do I want to find a job, I want to find the right job.  I want to find a job that I enjoy, with people that enrich my life, and that I am excited to go to everyday.  It's out there, I know it is!  But finding it is about to make me lose my hair!

To try to manage the impact the job hunt was having on me, I decided 1) to calm down, breathe, and tell myself (usually multiple times a day) that it is going to be okay and that I WILL get a job; 2) I devote a certain amount of time each day to the hunt and when the time is up, it is up until tomorrow; 3)  I pray and remind myself that God has big plans.

I was especially struggling last week and the negativity was really impacting me.  The following verses lifted my spirits and helped remind me that everyone has substantial stress in their life and that God has all of our backs.

Joshua 1:7:  Be strong and very courageous...that you may be successful wherever you go.


Joshua 1:9:  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.


Matthew 6: 34:  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.


John 14:1 Jesus said "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me."


1 Peter 5:7:  Cast all our anxiety on Him because he cares for you.

I hope these help lessen your worry this week, too! Remember, we are strong, we are capable, we are intelligent, we are loved, we have so much to be thankful for.

Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen.  Keep in the sunlight.   - Benjamin Franklin 
Bottom Line:  Have Faith & 


Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!


Thank you to everyone who voted on my costume.  I love it and I feel so chic! 

Love, Rubie  

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Happy Hump Day!

I promise that more substantive posts are to come!  In the meantime....enjoy this sweet family.  Pun intended.


Monday, October 24, 2011

Wind down with the Wailin' Jennys


I discovered the Wailin' Jennys on my Pandora station this summer and I have fallen in love.  They are perfect to listen to on long road trips or while ending your day in a relaxing bath.  Hope you like them, too!  Download "Long Time Traveller".  

Sunday, October 23, 2011

And the winner is.....


The Little Mermaid!

We ordered it tonight! More pics to come!

I can't believe it is already Halloween week! I need to get some candy corn, stat!

Speaking of candy corn and yummy Halloween candy, I have fallen in love with the Food Network's Spooky Cake and Candy Cook-Off Challenge. It is incredible what these people create with teams of professional pumpkin carvers and candy and cake specialists. Check it out!

While we may not be able to create the masterpieces of the Food Network Challenge, here are some other really cute Halloween treats for us mere mortals:

Halloween Butterfinger Eyes Recipe:

* Recipes Makes 40.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 1/8 ounces Butterfinger bar, finely chopped
  • 12 ounces white chocolate or 12 ounces vanilla candy coating
  • 40 M&M's plain chocolate candy
  • red food coloring or decorating gel
  • black food coloring or decorating gel

Directions:

  1. 1
    In a mixing bowl stir together peanut butter and butter until creamy.
  2. 2
    Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until combined.
  3. 3
    Stir in Butterfinger candy.
  4. 4
    Shape into 1-inch balls; place on waxed paper.
  5. 5
    Freeze about 45 minutes.
  6. 6
    Melt white chocolate in a double boiler or get a med sauce pan filled 1/4 of the way with water and heat until simmering and place a large glass or stainless steel bowl over top and turn heat off -if water is boiling it will scorch chocolate.
  7. 7
    Add chocolate to bowl, stir constantly until melted and smooth, if you want the coating thinner add a Tbs shortening until desired thickness is reached.
  8. 8
    Dip balls, one at a time, into coating. Let excess coating drip off
  9. 9
    Place on waxed paper, immediately press an M&M onto center of each peanut butter ball (you can also wait to put M&M's on until after set and just use a dot of your piped colored chocolate to adhere)
  10. 10
    Refrigerate until coating is firm.
  11. 11
    Using leftover white chocolate add red food coloring until desired color is reached (you may have to reheat) and place in a ziploc or pastry bag,cut a corner very small, pipe squiggly lines on eyes to make them look blood shot or use red decorating gel.
  12. 12
    Add a dot of black gel or black food colored coating to the center of M&M pieces for pupils.
Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/halloween-butterfinger-eyes-403566#ixzz1bfFhNh8X

  • Tombstone Cookies
*16 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cups mini marshmallows
  • 6 1/2-7 cups Rice Krispies
  • 1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 32 wooden toothpicks
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 4 drops green food coloring
  • 1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
  • black decorating gel
  • vanilla frosting
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 16 decorative candies, pumpkins
  • Directions:

    1. 1
      In large saucepan over low heat, melt butter.
    2. 2
      Stir in marshmallows until completely melted. Remove from heat.
    3. 3
      Stir in cereal til well-coated. (*Iused 6 1/2 cups because I think they come out less dry.And they hold up better if they have to sit out for awhile). The original recipe called for 7 1/2, but what i used worked out really well!).
    4. 4
      Press into a greased 13x9x2 pan with a buttered spatula. Cool.
    5. 5
      In large mixing bowl, beat cookie dough and flour til well mixed.(*You do have to add the flour, otherwise that store-bought dough is really awful -- very sticky!).
    6. 6
      On a lightly-floured surface, roll dough into a 6" x 16" rectangle.
    7. 7
      Cut into 16 small rectangles. 2 rows of 8. Each one being 3" x 2".
    8. 8
      You can trim tops (2" side)with a paring knife to resemble the top of a tombstone cutting an arch if desired.
    9. 9
      Place each tombstone onto ugreased baking sheets 2" apart.
    10. 10
      *Optional, along bottom edge (bottom 2" side)of each cookie, insert 2 toothpicks halfway into the dough. **If these will be for small children, I recommend not doing this. (My owm alternative directions to follow.).
    11. 11
      Bake cookies at 350ยบ for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown.(*Mine took 13-14 minutes.)But mine were probably a little thicker than the original recipe. It had said to roll out and hand-cut each cookie with a paring knife around a waxed paper pattern -- (Cutting them into rectangles from a large rectangle was MUCH easier! And made more sense to me.)Then just simply trim the tops to whatever shape/style you want.
    12. 12
      Remove to wire racks to cool.
    13. 13
      In large plastic ziploc bag, combine water and green food coloring.
    14. 14
      Add coconut, seal bag shut, and shake to coat.
    15. 15
      Toast coconut, set aside. (Optional.)I didn't, it was fine.
    16. 16
      Using black gel, tint frosting gray. (*I used one whole small tube and it was barely gray, but ok.).
    17. 17
      Frost cookies, decorate tombstones with more black gel. (*The black gel for writing didn't work for me! I had to scrape it off, refrost the ones I wrecked, and just used chocolate frosting instead for the writing part. That worked perfectly for me.).
    18. 18
      Cut cereal bars into 3"x2" rectangles.
    19. 19
      Spread with melted chocolate chips. (*I didn't do this, I used frosting instead.)BUT! See further instructions!
    20. 20
      Insert cookies into rice crispy treats sticking the toothpicks down in to hold up the cookie.
    21. 21
      Do this on the edge of one long side.
    22. 22
      *If you aren't using toothpicks, pipe a thick bead of melted chocolate chips on wide edge and hold in place til set. Or do on waxed paper, which is how i ended up doing this, and lay them down with the cookie pressed against it so you don't have to hold it. Refrigerate til set.(30 minutes was all it took.) Remove from waxed paper carefully.
    23. 23
      (*I then opted to use the rest of the chocolate frosting to frost the tops of the exposed rice crispy treats part. Pressed the pumpkin into the frosting, then sprinkled with coconut.).
    24. 24
      Decorate with coconut for "grass", and candy pumpkins.



      In honor of the week, please enjoy my sister's favorite Halloween picture of all time:

      Happy little hula dancer!