Simple Joys

TGIF everyone!! It was a busy and fun week with St. Patrick's Day, and now its time to pull out the Easter decor! We have a birthday party & Easter Bunny to visit this weekend, & egg hunts next week but here are some small things this week that made me happy, and it's the small things that count right?!

If you have not tried Chick fil A's new Iced Coffee stop reading this blog now and drive to your nearest CFA and pick one up, its that good!! I could have downed 2 but I held myself back. Defiantly planning on picking up another this weekend for the hubby & me :-)

This is my kind of breakfast, Taylor had this cinnamon roll for breakfast and I ate most of it!

Have I mentioned I love sweets? Especially green sweets on St. Patrick's Day, I was feeling LUCKY!

For St. Patrick's Dinner I did my usual Shepard's Pie but this year, thanks to one of my favorite blogs, I added ketchup and brown gravy to the meat, boy did it add some yummy flavor!! And you can't beat potato's and cheese. We also enjoyed some brownie's and Andie's mint sprinkles. The bottom part of our oven broke so only the broiler works, so it left these brownies a little gooey...but we found this is not a bad thing...YUM!!!! Can you see that cute little leprechaun in my back seat?!

The time change doesn't bother me and this cutie, when you don't sleep an entire night its no big deal right?! I saw that as I am on my second energy drink for the day.

As a true southern girl I am trying to improve my cooking skills, especially friend chicken. One of my favorite blogs Southern Plate posted this yummy and easy recipe and I have to say, it came out really good, we dipped them in Kick Back Sauce AKA ketchup/mayo/black pepper and enjoyed, here is the recipe if you want to try it:

Ranch Fried Chicken Tenders

 

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Author: Christy Jordan

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 package (1 ounce) dry Ranch Dressing Mix
• 2 eggs
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast tenders
• vegetable oil, for frying

Instructions

1. Pour oil to a depth of about ¼ inch and place over medium - medium high heat while you prepare the chicken.
2. Stir together flour and ranch dressing mix in a shallow bowl.
3. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and beat well with a fork.
4. Dip each piece of chicken into eggs to coat, then dredge in flour mixture on both sides.
5. Check the oil to see if it is hot enough (see pro tips in post on how to do this) and reduce heat to medium.
6. Place breaded chicken pieces into the oil a few at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the skillet. Cook until browned on both sides and no longer pink in the center, turning as needed.

And last but not least, my baby girl turned 6 months old today. People ask me if it has gone by fast, and to be honest (with out sounding like a total downer) not really!! Let's be real, not sleeping for 6 months gets to a parent. But I know one day I will look back and think I wish I was holding my baby again. She is so sweet and kissable, she is my little angel XOXO

Happy St. Patrick's Day Celebration

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!! What a fun day full of green food and cloths its been so far! I love seeing everyone at work in their Irish best, hearing some U2 on the radio this morning, and seeing all the cute pics of kids on social media. Top of the morning to you!!

My little leprechauns enjoyed a green breakfast!

They're after me lucky charms!! Who doesn't love this cereal? Taylor just eats the marshmallows. I made some shamrock pancakes, green eggs and vanilla yogurt with some green dye. I also put it in the milk!

I found this cute little Wilson's cookie cutter on eBay for $5 bucks...SCORE! I hope I can use it for many more years!

My little Irish sweetie! This is just a shirt I got a Walmart, I usually get the girls a really nice Etsy dress, but with Easter so close to St. Patrick's day, the money went to Easter dresses, but this is still cute! The little headband is from Oriental Trading, we each got a pair.

Cute and lucky!

We had a great time celebrating all things Irish for breakfast, if traffic is not too bad, I hope to have a little Irish themed dinner too, we shall see! I wanted to do a little something special for the girls teachers to say how much we appreciate them. Day care teachers are the hardest and sweetest people I know, they put up with a lot and deserve a lot more then they get paid. I am SO thankful for the teachers at Discovery Point and how they love our girls.

Nothing too fancy, I just picked up some mint chocolate chip cookie dough on my lunch break and sprinkled some mints on top when they came out of the oven last night.

I won't say how many of these I ate, but I am sure glad I got 2 bags instead of 1!

I also picked up some little green bags, ribbon, and printed off little tags. I hope they all know how much we appreciate them!

What I wore, Irish style! I have been so excited to finally wear my adorable tassel bracelet from Etsy from one of my favorite bloggers. I love the Irish flag colors and I got this dress & earring from Walmart. I hope you all have a blessed and lucky St. Patrick's Day XOXO

What I Wore-Inspiration Style

Like so many others, I love Instagram and Pinterest. From the food to the pretty pictures, I check it for ideas and inspiration. I love cloths and dressing up, my body shape has gone through many changes before kids and after so I have all kinds of sizes in my closet. I love typing in an article like red skirt outfit to see what pops up. If I find an outfit I like I will save the pic and try to recreate it with items I already own. My goal is not to buy anything new and create something new from what I have. Here are some outfits I tried to recreate!

I got these super cute leopard flats last weekend at Walmart for $6 bucks...SCORE!! I started searching for leopard flats outfits and found a lot. I've had this red skirt, strip top and jean jacket all from Walmart for a few years. I wore this when we went to King of Pops, its perfect because my feet were not hurting at the end and when I got warm I just took my jacket off to enjoy the great weather!

I love purple and pink so when I saw this outfit I knew it would be great for work. I never thought of pairing purple and navy together but it went great. I already had some pearls and when it warmed up that afternoon, I just took the cardigan off.

This outfit is not exact, but it did give me the idea of pairing this fuchsia Target cardigan with something black and white. I got this dress for a wedding a few years ago and Ross and it still looks great!!

I had planned on wearing a pink scarf with this dress, but I thought this necklace looked a little better. I also paired it with some black leggings, the dress is a little short for work with out them. I love being able to use items I already have to create new ideas!!

Beauty products I love

I am no beauty expert at all, but I love reading about products pro beauty bloggers use and love. Especially when they are affordable!! Once I read about a product I'd like to try, I usually check Ebay & Walmart to see how much it cost. Or sometimes I will be doing my weekly grocery shopping and see something I want to try! We all deserve a treat now and then :-)

This is one of the products I purchased while getting some shampoo a few months ago and really love it. I just spray it on my wet hair before I blow dry and it gives me a little extra body, plus it smells really good!

I've seen a couple beauty bloggers talk about this texturing powder from Sexy Hair. I have never used a powder before, except in my girls diapers!! So I watched a few YouTube videos and have liked it more and more every time I use it and get more comfortable with it. It gives me a little extra height at my crown instead of being so flat, and stays all day! I sprinkle a little right before I tease my hair. This is a very small bottle I found on Ebay :-)

I wasn't looking for a gloss but this beautiful pink bottle caught my eye at Walmart one day. After my hair is styled just 2 sprays and you can see the extra shine. It brings new meaning to RISE & SHINE!!

I LOVE my Urban Decay nudes eye shadow, I mean who doesn't?! Everyone uses it and it stays and looks great all day! The only downside is the price, its not cheap! My sweet Mom gifted me with mine so when I saw the Cover Girl version for a lot cheaper I gave it s shot. I watched some tutorials on YouTube and found I really liked it. The shimmery shadows are my favorite, the only downside is the pigment is not as strong so I had to apply more of it to be able to see it, in the morning rush that can be a problem. But I would defiantly recommend it to my thrifty makeup lovers!

I can't stand the feeling of dry lips and this by far is THE BEST lip gloss ever! Prepare yourself and significant other, its sticky!! So sticky my hubby hates it, but when I am at work and I need some staying power through out the day drinking and eating this is IT!! I've used this Victoria's Secret gloss for years and purchase it from Ebay (a little cheaper then in store). My cubicle neighbor Donna even uses it  and is as crazy about it as me. They have all different colors, I hope to build up my collection!

"Happiness is the best make up"

Trying new things

This weekend we had a lot of fun, we tried 2 new restaurants I have had my eye on since following them on Instagram & both were really good! We first went to Callie's Hot Little Biscuit, if you live near Atlanta I really recommend this! Everything we tried was SO good! My favorite was the sausage biscuit balls, we also tried the cinnamon sugar biscuit's, and lemon poppy seed with gravy...YUM!!

Its located right in Virginia Highlands, its not super close to us, it takes about 40 minutes without traffic but worth the drive!

They make the biscuits fresh everyday at the front window, I could have eaten that entire pan!

Imagine a bite full of pure goodness, this was it! Look at all that cinnamon XOXO

Gravy Baby! This is the lemon poppy seed flavor.

And to wash it all down, mint sweet tea, so refreshing! Run don't walk now to try Callie's!!

Our next stop was the Ponce City Market for some Popsicle's at The King of Pops! I would almost compare it to an outlet mall...kind of. But with really unique food and upscale shops.

Defiantly come hungry!! A lot of if is outside and room for strollers, plus nice family restrooms :-)

They had a cute little candy story where Taylor got a chocolate egg, she loved it!

Salted Caramel was my favorite, but I also had chocolate sea salt, great way to cool down on a warm day!

Nicole had a little bite to, I think she liked it!

It was a great fun day with my loves, there are so many great things around our city, Atlanta is the best!!

Oh, Atlanta
I hear you calling
I'm coming back to you one fine day
No need to worry
There ain't no hurry cause I'm
On my way back to Georgia
On my way back to Georgia

What we wore-sister's that match style

When Nicole was first born I had a hard time finding matching sister cloths in size 0-3 that matched 3T, but since my big girl is now in 6 month cloths I have been finding a lot more matching dresses and I love it! Here are some cutie outfits the girls wore this week and some I wore to work after watching an Old Navy commercial!

You know I love anything yellow so when I found these yellow polka dot dresses at Walmart I scooped them up, Polka Dot Portmann's :-)

I also found these cute anchor dresses at Walmart, I don't really spend a lot of kids cloths unless it for something special like Santa pictures, but I have found Walmart has cute and really affordable items, plus I have sweet friends that give me their girl cloths, love it!!

Watching TV the other weekend and Old Navy ran a commercial for their new pants, I loved the entire outfit so I found it online! Cute white pants I can wear to work/home and a patriotic loose fitting shirt, love it! I paired it with these Target navy wedges and red necklace.

For my birthday, my sister in law Amy gave me this cute navy tassel necklace and earrings from Kohl's, love it!! Plus its not has heavy has it looks, I could wear it all day with out my neck hurting!

With spring like temps here in GA this week, I pulled out this cute pink maxi dress from Walmart and paired it with an Old Navy cardigan and my cowgirl boots. Someone at work said I looked like an Easter Egg...hmm...but I just smiled :-)

No tights weather and comfy dresses, my favorite. This stripped top and skirt came from Wal Mart with my favorite Target heels I have had forever. I like this top cause of the ruffle around my waist, a plus when you are still trying to loose the baby weight! I hope everyone has a great weekend XOXO

"Hi Friday, I've been look for you since Monday."

Every day joy

To me, sometimes the littlest things can make your day. Choosing to find something that makes you happy every day, especially working full time really lifts my spirits. Maybe a yummy lunch from home or your favorite sandwich store, or a new dress, or even celebrating at work can make a long work day a lot better. Here is some little things this week that made me smile :-)

I am a BIG lover of Chicken Salad Chick, if you like them I recommend getting their app. Every time you eat there you can scan your receipt and get reward points for a free drink, etc. They sent me a free birthday meal...SCORE!! I cashed it in yesterday and got my favorite Classic Carol, Pimento Cheese and pasta salad & of course, a sweet tea!

How cute is this onesie?! I sent it to my sweet sister in law Amy :-)

One of my sweet coworkers celebrated her 15 year service anniversary this week. We had some yummy cupcakes from Piece of Cake, I got this one topped with cream cheese...HEAVEN!

One of my favorite bloggers posted this recipe called Mississippi Pot Roast, it was really good! I got a chuck roast and we put it in the crock pot for about 6 hours with some gravy mix and ranch seasoning, very good and juicy! We also had a side of couscous with it, on of my favorites! I love putting tomato, feta cheese and olives in it. Olives, Olive You XOXO

While feeding my little Coco some sweet potatoes Taylor and her independent spirit went off to play in the den. 15 minutes later I walked into this. EVERY SINGLE TOY pulled out. And its still there today. Maybe this weekend she will clean it up...who am I kidding, it will be me!

I am really liking the updated Lean Cuisine meals, everyone I tried has been good, especially for a frozen meal! I heated up the sesame chicken today, boy was it good! The sauce and chicken were fantastic and its only $3.00...SCORE!

"Find joy in the journey!"