Slacker Mom = Tasty Cookie {recipe link}

Huh?  Confusing title, I know, but it turned out to be true for me the night before my daughter’s Valentine class party.  You see, I totally slacked this year for Valentine’s Day.  No home décor, no crafts, no cute and fun treats for my kids to give to their friends or teachers.  Nada.  So when I realized on Thursday night (February 12^th) that I had not done a thing for my daughter to take to school I panicked at the disco, y’all.  And when I say it was Thursday night I mean it was like 9:35 p.m.  Slacker mom.  Especially since I made it a point to watch Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal (no slacking there!).  Side note: I get my kids ready for bed on Thursday evenings during commericals. #dontjudge #youdoittoo

So like I said, I was in a panic and quickly decided that I would make sugar cookies and put them in little sandwich baggies with curled red ribbon.  Easy enough BUT it was already late and although that is a simple recipe I did not want to take the time to soften the butter and I changed my mind about bagging them all nice and pretty.  It took a nano second to scratch that idea.  I then remembered that I had a box of devil’s food cake mix and that I had a seen a recipe for cookies on the back of the box.  Boom!  Here is what I had less than an hour later.

And as the title of this post says, they were tasty and I was pleasantly surprised.  ---> I may or may not be a cookie snob and prefer from-scratch recipes. J  I followed the recipe as stated on the Duncan Hines website except for two details.  It said to use ½ cup walnuts and ½ cup chocolate chips but since it was for Valentine party, I opted for mini red M&Ms. And of course I avoided the nuts just in case anyone in the class had a nut allergy.

The recipe was not on the box with the picture but it referred to their website.  I didn't understand why they wouldn't just slap it on the back of the box but it turns our there are a few cookie recipes to use for this cake mix.  Here is the one I used in case you too are having a slacker moment or whatever. J

Duncan Hines Fudge Cookie Recipe.

What about cookies for my son, you ask?  Um no.  He's in middle school now and they don't do that.  (Insert a middle schooler's voice and facial expression here).

Just a Little Cubicle Decor {Fall/Autumn}

Happy Hump Day!!  And depending what calendar you look at, it's the third day of Fall or the second day.  At least that is what confused me.  Anywho, I wanted to share a quick little autumn decor that I put up in my cubical at work.  Ain't it pretty??

The owl is from WalMart and the beautiful, golden leaves are from Hobby Lobby as well as the pumpkin pick (40% off).  And that's it for this post.  Just a short little showing of how I dressed up my little work area.  I plan to do more next week for Halloween but now I'm leaving it like this.  The owl is too pretty though so I'm going back to get one for my house.  And I'm off!

Beauty Talk: NYM Texturing Spray + Swisspers Blotting Paper

Happy Saturday!  And happy to be chatting with you all.  Finally.  Again.  

I wanted to talk about a couple of beauty items that I recently bought.  One at Ulta and the other at Walmart.  First off, Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturing Spray.  

OMG I love this stuff and I've had it less than a month.  And I only bought it because I had a Ulta coupon for $3.50 off $10.  I needed bobby pins and hair spray and then I saw the NYM products.  The packaging caught my shopping eye, I decided on two items and off I went.  The other NYM product I bought is the Beach Babe conditioner but I have yet to use it.  Okay so per the directions on the bottle, you spritz it in your dry or damp hair, style as you wish and you're done.  I only used my hands to style it. I worked it in and "crunched" my hair here and there and voila I had a little hotness on my head and I was digging it.  My hair naturally has a little oomph to it but this stuff really kicked it up a notch.  See?

Don't believe me?  Here's a pic of my hair with no product.  

So Not Your Mother's gets a big thumbs up from me on this one.  I most certainly plan to buy more products and give those a try.

Okay and now for the product that failed me and did not leave me with a shiny(less) happy feeling.  Let me just start off by saying that I have a very oily face.  In my teens I noticed that I had the common T-zone face but over the years and especially after my pregnancies, my face has gone full blown super oily.  I mean get the Ewings out here 'cause I'm sure they'll keep making their millions.  Ugh.  

For years I have been using Clean & Clear oil blotting sheets (they're blue) to wipe the oil off my face a couple of time of day.  I even use the store brands by CVS or HEB.  This past week I bought a completely new-to-me brand while at Walmart.  I went to grab the Clean & Clear per usual but they were all sold out and there was no store brand next to it.  So I look around and came across these Swisspers near the nail care section.  Out of desperation and short on time and I grabbed them and off I went.  I used them as soon as I got in the car and right away the blotting sheets began to tear and they tugged on my face.  What the what?  With the Clean & Clear (or store brands) I only needed to use 2-3 sheets at a time.  I've used about 5-6 sheets per use with Swisspers.  I even keep them layered to see if that will prevent them from tearing.  Nope.  

And they don't "soak" up the excess oil from my face like my little blue sheets.  Not.at.all.  I'm going back to the store to get my usual and I'll hold on to these for the occasional emergency.  Sorry, but I say save your money on this one if you've got oil rigs on yo face like me.  Anyone else not like these?

You Done Me Good, Mr. 13"x9"

So back in March of 2001 my co-workers had a lunchtime bridal shower for me. I remember it well.  Lots of (potluck) food, a crowded conference room and many gifts.  A lot of those gifts were Pampered Chef items.  Not only did the hubby and I have a store registry but I was able to put a wish list together from one of the ladies at my work that sold Pampered Chef.  Of course there were folks that chose to go that route because it was easy peasy shopping.  They just walked over to her desk, picked something from my wish list and wrote her a check.  Super easy bridal shower shopping for them and more PC goodies for me.  Oh yes I was happy to open all of those gifts that were from The Pampered Chef.  Before my bridal shower I had already attended three PC parties but I didn't buy very much because I was a bride-to-be on a budget so I only bought the knick knack stuff.  You know like that orange peeler that everyone hopes to win as a door prize?  Well at least that's how it was when I attended the parties. That little orange peeler sure was popular (and cheap) but everybody wanted to win it.  It really is the little things that thrill us.  :)

One of the many Pampered Chefs gifts I received was the 13"x9" stoneware baking pan.  I absolutely looooooved it and I used it hundreds of times over the past thirteen years.  I mean I really, really loved it so you can imagine how sad I was when I pulled it out recently to make my Baked Penne Pasta.

You should have seen me.  I was a little ridiculous for a few minutes.  And I do mean a few minutes.  I acted as if the world was over.  It's not but the use of this awesome stoneware is and lemme tell ya, it's not the same with those glass pans.  Even though the measurements are the same for this stoneware and my glass baking pans, this one definitely has more room.  I don't know why the measurements are the same because this one was always more reliable when it came to my "hefty" dishes like the oh so good Baked Mac n Cheese thanks to Mr. Alton Brown.

I guess I have to buy another one even though this one is guaranteed or has a warranty or something like that.  Although it is an obvious Pampered Chef product, it won't be replaced because I don't have the receipt. Yeah right because that's what people do when they gift this things. At the time there were no gift receipts for PC products and I don't know if they have them now.  Oh well.

My 2014 So Far

Hey there.  Long time no bloggy.  No excuses this time like how I've said before.  I just got lazy.  For the most part I was lazy but I had a couple of people tell me lately that they miss reading my blog.  That made me feel good and it was quite sweet of them so I told myself, "Self, got off your arse and just type something."  So here I am.  We are what 5, 6 weeks into 2014 so I thought I would tell you what I have been up to as of late.  

New Year's Eve-
First off, we kicked off the new year at the home of our BFF's out in Elgin, Texas.  As much as I would love to get dolled up and have my man take my out to fun NYE gala or a club well it has yet to happen.  I feel too guilty being away from my babies on that night so we're always together.  It was very low key with just our two families but we had a fun, intimate night filled with lots of talk, gossip, laughs and the kids popping fireworks.  

See our picture here?  Notice that my girl is way down front and the rest of us are in the back?  Well the plan was for the four of us to stand together and hold sparklers.  I thought that was a great photo op but nooooo my girl had to get scared and refused to stand by us with our sparklers lit because she was afraid that we were going to burn her down.  Oh my gawd child.  Burn her down?  Umkay.  For the record I made sure we were all holding the sparklers within a safe distance from one another but that was not good enough.  So down front she went and my friend, Claudia, snapped away.  This picture was the one that made the cut on my Facebook & Instagram pages and of course she turned out to be the star.  I guess it pays to be a drama queen.  :)

Remembering the Epiphany-
Many folks had their Christmas trees and decor down and put away the day after Christmas or New Year's Day.  Not me.  I like many other people had my tree up until the Epiphany.  I am of the Catholic faith and it is important to me that my children know Christmas does not end on December 25th.  Not trying to be snooty or goody two shoes but the Epiphany is very important and I strongly feel it should not be ignored because December is over and gone.  So as usual we kept watering our tree (we buy a fresh one) and kept lighting it until January 6th.  After that we took down the ornaments and took the tree to recycling for mulch.

My forever chores-
I posted this picture on my Instagram to vent a little and just let my followers know that I have no choice but to keep it real.  My wifely and mommy duties are forever constant and a daily thing.  I'm not complaining but I'll be honest and say that I am seriously considering hiring a cleaning lady to come at least once a month and help me with the nitty gritty stuff.  

A funeral-
We were getting ready to attend Mass one Sunday morning when my mom called to tell me that our good family friend, Bill, has passed away.  Bill was like an adoptive uncle for my sisters, cousins and me.  He was my uncle's best friend, co-worker and partner in crime.  His co-pilot as he put it.  What can I say, Bill was quite the character.  Bill could talk for hours and in the end he had nothing to say.  That was the running joke anyway.  He even talked my grandparents' ears off and they only speak Spanish.  It was hilarious to watch Bill talk to my grandfather and hear my grandfather say, "si, si, okay, si."  I always got a kick out of 'ol Bill.  Always laughing, joking, talking, helping out, beer in hand and a cig on the side of his mouth as he painted.  He and my uncle painted houses and such for a living.  Many of their clients became close friends.  An abundance of those clients turned friends were present at his service.  The funeral was absolutely beautiful, filled with so many people that loved Bill and had much love and respect for him.  The stories they all told were so Bill- funny, thoughtful, caring, and loving life. 

The year my friends and I turn 40-
My BFF, Claudia, celebrated the big 4-0 in early December but the rest of my friends and I will reach that milestone this year.  Cracking knees and all.  My girl, Sally, was the first one to cross the forty and she had a blast of a party to celebrate it; but first we had a small, intimate dinner celebration at our friends' house, Jorge & Elaine.  Getting together with my church friends is always the best and this night was no exception.  Like always we prayed, talked, laughed, joked, drank and indulged in some birthday treats.

The hubs and I were miserably sick-
Oh were we sick.  The hubs was sick while we celebrated Sally's birthday and stayed sick for well over a week.  I started feeling bad a few days after he did and it just went downhill from there.  I was quite sad because I thought I was better the day of Sally's big party but it was just my body playing tricks on me.  I didn't care and I went to that party determined to have a good time but it was a big struggle.  Blah!  We were absolutely miserable.  For reals.  The day this photo was taken (by our son) was the worst.  We fed the kids McDonald's and let them do what they pleased the rest of the day.  It was that bad but they were actually great.  Our kiddies took care of us.  Well in between playing, watching t.v. and being on the iPad.  :)

We are so Austin, We are so Green-
We have been a recycling family for some time and this year we started making weekly trips (mostly) to Ecology in Action in downtown Austin.  We used to go every month but the recycle over flow caused an eye sore.  Our trash company does not provide a recycling service so we do it ourselves.  Tisk, tisk on our trash company!  It's a little bit of a nag sometimes but it makes me feel better to do my part and teach my children how recycling helps Mother Earth.  Yeah, there are lots of smart-ass cynics out there about this but oh well.  Don't bother me none.  Word to your mother (earth).

Our Family Birthdays-
My honey turned 39.  Yeah, I'm rocking the cradle by a few months.  :)

The kids devoured his dessert.  :)

And baby girl turned 6.  Oh was she happy to be more of a big girl.  Not mommy.  Wah!!!!

and she's back at Ballet Austin after being on the wait list throughout the Fall semester. Yay!

And this past weekend we saw Frozen-
The kids and I saw Frozen the first day it was released and the three of us LOVED it.  Then we found out that it was going to be released as a sing-along and we were there again.  It was my husband's first time seeing the movie and he too enjoyed the movie.  Now I'm patiently waiting for the DVD release in March.  Yes, I secretly belt out "Let it go" whenever I can like in the shower or in the car.  All you Frozen fans do too.  :)

 

Oh so far we've had three "ice" days here in Austin with a couple of more work & school delays.  We're cold weather weenies and really we don't care.  And we like to make fun of ourselves. :)

Let's see how the rest of the year goes.  Stay warm, ya'll!  We're finally going to have 70 degree weather this week.  Yayuh!