Smile Friday: NKOTBSB

Hello my lovely blogger's.  Sorry for being so absent this week.  Nothing all too important going on.... the week just got away from me. 

It's SMILE FRIDAY again I am linking up with girl Ashley over at Smile Steady.  

Guess where I'm going to be on July 17th, 2011....... You guessed it!  The Backstreet Boys & New Kids On The Block concert in Tulsa.  Whoooop Whoooop!  I am going with 2 very good IRL and bloggy friends Kate over at Pinch of Zest and none other than Ashley at Smile Steady.  We are thrilled to be rocking out to some 90's music with a whole slew of twenty somethings ladies.  I am very excited for this girls weekend.... even if it is over 5 months away.  We're going to head up early on Sunday... eat, shop, rock out at the concert, stay the night at a hotel in T-town, and enjoy a nice vacation Monday off from work.  Sounds blissful doesn't it.  Just thinking about this puts a big ole smile over my face. 

Happy Friday loves! 

6,437

SIX THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY SEVEN

That number my friend is the amount of pictures I had in my iphoto. Granted that is from 2006-2010.  That's kind of disgusting and embarrassing.  Maybe not maybe this is normal but going through all of them makes you sit back and realize hmm maybe I didn't need to take 400 pictures at my 24th birthday party.  I finally had to delete some and store the remaining pictures on my external hard-drive because my computer was literally running out of memory.  I couldn't upload, download, write in word NOT A SINGLE THING.  After hearing Mr. Sophisticate rant and rave about how I should go through and delete pictures I don't want anymore and save the one's I do want I finally. broke. down. and. did. it.  Blah he won!  And boy was he right.  I had some old, worthless, terrible, no-good pictures from back in the day.  I think I was picture hoarding for some reason? Anyways it's a good idea for all you picture lovin fools out there like me to back up your pics on an external hard-drive.  That way if your computer crashes you won't be devastated.  It's really easy. Buy an external hard-drive.  Plug it in.  Drag & drop your pics.  So now I have a pretty little clean iphoto with only wedding pictures on it and my old pics tucked safely away on the external hard-drive. 

My computer is all better now.  Nice & healthy again. 

Now I just have my google email account with 1,655 old emails to sift through :) Hey at least I'm workin on it.  It's mainly Jcrew, old navy, bare minerals, groupon, living social.  No biggie.

Happy Monday mi amigos!

Diana

breakin it down with my girl Erin :)

Smile Friday: wedding receptions

I am a sucker for weddings. LOVE THEM.  I also love fun wedding receptions. Seeing as how I just got married in December I have some fun and funny pictures from our reception that I  received this week. 

What a perfect day that was.


These pictures make smile :) 


Happy Friday fellow bloggers!

house guest

We have an adorable house guest for the week.... Sebastian hasn't gotten too jealous and is enjoying having a partner in crime.

meet Beau 

he would make a great older brother

Today was a fantastic day!  Made it to work by 7:15 going 30 mph on the highway (because of the bad weather and icey roads)... only took 35 minutes so really it wasn't bad.  We moved patients around so we could work through lunch and were outta there by 1:00.  I work 4 1/2 days a week and I'm normally spent by 5:00 pm..... working with kids is awesome but exhausting at times.  So today I was able to come home do some laundry, clean the house, play with dogs!  It was GREAT.

Hope you guys are enjoying your Thursday :)

I will be linking up tomorrow for Smile Friday with Smile Steady.

Diana

How To Make: A DIAPER CAKE :)

My friend Julie and I really wanted to make our friend Krystalyn a diaper cake for her baby shower.  Neither of us knew how to do this so obviously  I you tubed how to make one.  It was about a 4 minute video and consisted of an easy step by step instruction.  Side note: I LOVE you tube.... if ever I don't know how to do something I either a. google it or b. you tube it and vuyala problem solved! 

Materials 

1. 60 diapers (all white preferably) 

2. 2 bottles

3. 1 package of clear rubber bands

4. 1 package of large regular rubber bands

5. ribbon of your choice

6. cake topper... we chose a wooden letter and glitterized it!

7. double sided tape

Method

1.  First roll each diaper from bottom to top and wrap a clear rubber band around it.

we ran out of clear bands for this one :)

2.  Place 1 bottle in the center with a large rubber band and create ring of rolled diapers.  For the base you will need 3 rings of diapers, center 2 rings, and top 1 ring.  For the center and top ring you will need your second bottle in the center.

3.  Next add your fun ribbon and use the double sided tape on the back side to secure the ribbon.

4. Decorate your cake topper.  In this case we glitterized a wooden C for Clara.  And you have yourself a DIAPER CAKE!! 

Sorry for the crappy iphone pictures.  I really need to invest in a nice camera.

HAPPY MONDAY FRIENDS!!

Diana

Smile Friday: DEXTER!

My good friend Ashley at Smile Steady is having a link party on Friday's called Smile Friday!

It's meant for you to post something that makes YOU smile :) Soooo I am participating & linking up!

Dexter really makes me smile.  Especially having a season marathon with Mr. Sophisticate & Sebastian over the weekend :)  We are in the middle of season 5 right now and it is GOOD!  I'm talking watch 1 DVD right after the other and stay up till midnight (I realize this is not late for some of you) GOOD.  It's on Hulu if you don't have Showtime.  Happy Friday everyone :) 

It's been a GREAT first week in the blogging world! 

Diana

brown herringbone sebastian bed

Sebastian's current bed is a raulph lauren blanket (very soft & comfortable) but we have to haul it upstairs and downstairs every morning/evening for bed and for the day.  It's annoying.  Not to mention the bed is getting kinda gross.  Yes, I have washed it.   The goal is to leave his blanket either up/downstairs and have his bed in the other place.  We thought it was about time he had his own big boy bed.  Of course with his name on it.  So we found THIS dog bed on sale at Orvis and ordered it in the herringbone pattern.  

Do you see how poofy it is?  I mean I really like the look,  pattern, and color but it's kinda on the poofy side. 

Sebastian thinks so too as he is not even going near the thing.  

Mr. Sophisticate says we are going to get him acclimated with the bed this week.

Um yah this entails hauling his blanket, new bed, and crate (he likes sleeping in it every now and then) upstairs/downstairs every morning/night.  Barf.

How do I get him comfortable with his new bed.  That has his name on it.  That I will force him to get comfortable with.  Lure him on it with treats? 

sleeping on my belly :)

no-fuss pumpkin cake

I was able to break in my Christmas present to myself over the weekend :) 

she was wonderful

I'm fairly certain I have a second stomach intended only for sweets :) 

No-Fuss Pumpkin cake

Ingredients

1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix

1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

3 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 TBL pumpkin pie spice

1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting

1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened

Method

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin pie spice; beat on low for 30 seconds.  Best on medium for 2 minutes.  Pour into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 

1-in. baking pan.

ignore the vanilla in the picture i got over zealous

Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

no wire rack here but it cooled just fine :)

In a small bowl, beat frosting and cream cheese until smooth;  spread over cake.  Store in the refrigerator.

YIELD: 20-24 servings 

I love all things pumpkin so of course I knew I would love this.  And I did.  This is ALWAYS a great dessert to go with.  Never fails ya. 

Diana

i eat to live

You know how some people eat to live and some people live to eat.  Well I am the first one, which seems to be the less crowd pleasing option.  Don't get me wrong I have my favorite foods & I can throw down some food like you wouldn't believe but I don't LOVE food like some people.  I'm also very picky and get grossed out by certain textures and don't even get me started on tuna..... YUCK I don't know how you people eat that.  

So in turn cooking isn't one of my favorite things to do.  I can eat frozen pizza and mac & cheese (only the character ones cause they hold more cheese) for a week straight and be totally satisfied.  But I have a husband now & will have children in the future (and by future I mean not anytime soon) and I feel it's only the right thing to do to cook for him... I mean at least once a week.  My favorite day to cook is on Sunday so that's going to be my day to try a new meal!  This past Sunday I cooked "Easy French Onion Soup" found from my new Wolfgang Puck slow cooker recipe book!  Thank's Aunt Steph & Uncle Shane for the new slow cooker :)

The Ingredients

6 large onions sliced thin

3 TBL of olive oil

2 C. chicken broth

2 C. beef broth

1/3 C. Port

1 spring of thyme

1 bay leaf

8 slice of french bread

2 slices gruyer cheese

The Method

1. Toss the thinly sliced onion's and olive oil in the slow cooker.  Cover and cook on high for 9 hours.  At this time the onion will be beautifully caramelized. 

2. Add broths, port, thyme, and bay leaf.  Stir, cover, and cook on high for 15-30 minutes. 

3. Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

4. On a baking sheet toast french bread in the oven till golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Remove and set aside.

5. Ladle soup into individual soup crocks.  Top each soup with 1 piece of toasted bread and 1 slice of cheese.

6. Place crocks onto baking sheet and bake at 400F for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

TA-DA!

So I mostly followed the recipe except I didn't have any port.  I only cooked the onions for 8 hours not 9 because I was getting hungry.  I toasted the bread while the cheese was melting on the soup!  Over all the soup was pretty good.  Big shocker-- it was REALLY oniony.  I felt like my whole body reeked of onion.  But it was very tasty! Whooo Hoooo recipe 1 for the year DOWN.

I'll share my pumpkin cake recipe tomorrow ;) oh was it delish!

Diana

snow day

Snow days aren't NEARLY as much fun as they used to be.  Now-a-days you still have to get your booty out of bed and go to work..... unless the highways are closed and that's about your only get of jail free card.  It is still super beautiful to see those snow flurry's fall down.  I was out running a few office errands this morning.... which actually rarely happens........and literally picked the worst weather day to run all over the OKC metroplex...... however the roads weren't bad at all...... ok back to my story which really isn't a story at all BUT I want to show you this picture I snapped at the Oklahoma Dental Association's office.

You can barely see them but the snow flurries are comin down!  It's supposed to be brrrrrrrrrrrrr cold this week... in the teens YIKES!  I plan on hibernating after work this week and doing my new favorite thing..... BLOGGING! 

Thank's for being so welcoming you guys :) Stay tuned for my "easy french onion soup" recipe coming tomorrow!

Diana

let me introduce myself

Hello blogging community!  My dear friend Ashley over at Smile Steady has been kind enough to help me set up my blog and learn about the blogging world.  I am by NO MEANS a pro or anywhere near it for that matter but I am learning..... so be patient.... mk ;)


Let me give you a little background info about myself:
1. I am in my twenty something's (i know i know you can see this on my about me)  

2. I just recently married my love Mr. Sophisticate in December 2010 in our most favorite place Crested Butte, Colorado (and from what I hear entering the blogging world is the next step in life)

3. We have a seriously handsome son Sebastian who is the prime definition of Sophistication.... did I mention he has four legs, is white & hairy, and HANDSOME!

4. Mr. Sophisticate & I have a relationship with our lord and we are ready to grow together in our relationship with HIM.


5. I am a Registered Dental Hygienist & clinical supervisor working at an INCREDIBLE pediatric dental office.

6. We bought our first home in June 2010, it was built in 1940 and is beaming with character (can't WAIT to show you guys pictures).  We have many many projects we want to conquer with this house.  We live in one of OKC's historic neighborhoods so we are surrounded by much bigger & nicer  gorgeous, timeless, incredible homes. 


My goal for this blog is to record Mr. Sophisticate, Sebastian, & I's journey through life and all the adventures 2011 will bring!  We have some BIG plans for our little life.  I plan on blogging about: learning how to cook (also the next step in life after getting married), fashion, home decorating, home projects, randomness, our travels, and wedding planning.  I promised Smile Steady I would blog AT LEAST 1 time per week.  So here's to 2011..... the year I for real entered the blogging world!