Finalizing February

Sadly my birthday month has come to an end, but thank goodness we were blessed with an extra 24 hours with Leap Day! :-) Just a little recap of my birthday celebrations and what we've been up to for the remainder of this month.

We celebrated with a family birthday dinner at American Grocery and drinks with friends afterwards! I am truly blessed with such an amazing family and great friends! It has been a really fun month....

A month of concerts....

Bruce Hornsby with friends at the Greenville Peace Center

It was pretty good. I will admit that I'm not a HUGE Bruce fan, but he is quite the pianist and I do LOVE me some "Mandolin Rain".

Kelly Clarkson with my sister at Timmons Arena at Furman University.

AHHHMAZING! seriously...I was a HUGE Kelly Clarkson fan a few years ago and apparently I still am. First of all, she is just so real and seems like an awesome person. Second of all, she BELTS it out and I love that. You gotta love an artist that you can belt out to in the car or the shower (or belt out with at their concert like my sister and I did!) And although I haven't listened to some of her songs in years, the words came right back to me ;-)

Some of my favorites from the concert:

"Stronger"

Cover of Florence and the Machine's "Heavy in Your Arms"

"Mr. Know It All"

"Walk Away"

"Since U Been Gone"

"Because of You"

"Already Gone" (I simply love this song because it was the song played in SYTYCD for those sent home)

"Don't You Wanna Stay" with Jason Aldean

I know...that's a lot. But like I said it was a good concert!

Somehow, I didn't take a single pictures at either of these concerts. Well except for this one at Kelly Clarkson...

Yes that is an XL image of Jason Aldean with a life-sized Kelly Clarkson. :)

Obsessions of the month

Chan Luu bracelet

Rebecca Minkoff Studded Affair Bag

Beginning DIY Projects

Our living room coffee table

The plan was to simply paint it one coat and distress it, but I had too many different suggestions...

So here is the primer.....I'm either going to leave it this color or paint over it with off-white and then distress? thoughts?

I ended up loving this color and this look and now I can't decide what to do. Figures.

New Hair Style

So, I've grown my hair out for a WHILE now and it is long and I love it long. But it's getting a little "old" to me and I think I need something new and different! Of course the styles/cuts I fall in love with are on BEAUTIFUL people that have completely different hair than mine, but whatever. Thoughts, anyone? Keep it long or go for the "long bob"??

Clearly, it would just be easier if I could HAVE Gwyneth's hair or just look like her.

I also like these 2 shorter bobs, but can't decided if I'm ready to go that short again....but maybe?

And then there are the bangs. So, been there done that. But I am loving this haircut on Anna Faris, makes me want to think about doing bangs again. But I also just love the length.

Which style is your favorite???

Lastly, cannot wait for Revenge to return in APRIL!!!! :-) Thank goodness we don't have too long to wait!!

Heading to FL with friends for the weekend! Super excited! :-) This skin NEEDS some sun!

XOXO-

Shanana

Supa Bowl....belated

We laid low on Super Bowl Sunday this year, just watched it at home. I will be honest....I could care less about the actual game, but who doesn't love an excuse to eat some yummy dips for dinner, and possibly see a good commercial...and an entertaining half-time show performance?!?

I had been keeping my eye out for some good dips to make and wanted to do something different. I have a couple of great spinach dips recipes, but ran across this one on Sweet Tea and Stiletto's blog...and I must say it may be my new FAVE spinach dip. It was DELICIOUS!!!

Spinach Dip

10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained (press with paper towel)

8 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (I used Mozzarella)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. purple onion, finely chopped

1/4 Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 can Rotel tomatoes

cumin, to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Bake in 12x12 dish at 350* for 30 min. or until bubbly in center. Serve with Scoops, pita chips, or Wheat Thins.

I also did buffalo chicken dip.....it's basically like eating fat, but oh so good! ;-)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 large cans of Tyson chicken

2 (8 oz.) bars of cream cheese

1 c. Ranch

1 c. Texas Pete hot sauce

Mix thoroughly. Put in pan and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Bake on 350* for 30 mins.

And then of course we needed a dessert. So I attempted No Bake Oreo Truffles for the first time. And I AM ADDICTED!!! Oreo anything is by far my favorite and these did NOT disappoint. 3 ingredients. No bake. So easy. Just be willing to get your hands a little dirty.

This is NOT what mine looked like. I got a little lazy with the chocolate. So, just FYI, the Oreo balls are good with just a drop of melted chocolate dropped on them or completely dipped. They are the best!

1 package Double Stuffed Oreos

4-8 oz. cream cheese (depending on what kind of consistency you want)

Dipping chocolate (I just used white chocolate morsels)

Chop Oreos up finely in a food processor. Save some of the finely crushed Oreos for garnish later and set it aside.

With hands or a spoon (I think hands are faster), mash softened cream cheese and crushed Oreos until well combined.

Roll into 1" balls and place on a wax covered cookie sheet. Put in freezer for 15 mins.

While balls are in freezer, melt chocolate according to directions.

Pull Oreo truffles out of freezer, and dip into chocolate. Garnish with reserved Oreo crumbs before the chocolate sets.

Let chocolate set, refrigerate, and enjoy!!

Hope you all had fun eating, drinking, and watching the Super Bowl on Sunday! I know I did....well, at least until the 3rd quarter.

TGIF! :-) and a birthday weekend ahead!

XOXO-

Shanana