New York, New York

Yesterday, two colleagues and I booked our trip to New York City for a week in September! It's the national annual conference for the Council for Opportunity in Education.  Our hotel is in Times Square, and there will be some free evenings for us to go to a Broadway show, go shopping, and see the city! I've been to NYC one time before (church trip called UN/DC), so I've seen the major sites (Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Broadway Show, 5th Ave.,), but I'm so excited to go back!

Pie time

I'm not sure why I've been in a baking mood since it's about a million degrees outside. But, for some odd reason, I am really enjoying it.  So far, this week I've made:

Banana cream pies with meringue

 Individual chicken pot pies

I guess the temperature outside is reminding me of the temperature in the oven?! I'm not sure, but I haven't had any complaints about the extra baking!

I love my job

I have been at Butler for about 4 months now, and I LOVE IT! Monday's just don't feel so Monday anymore...

Redecorating, part 1

Tonight I spent awhile in Target looking around while Kevin was at home studying. I'm taking a week off the first week in July to work on home projects (organizing the basement, reorganizing the office, adding a few extra house decorative objects), so I thought going to Target would be a fun way to start visualizing some of the changes I want to make.

Here are a few of the items I liked (I only bought one thing just because I'm only starting to figure out exactly what I'm wanting and will likely get items from other stores, too):

OFFICE:

The first thing I found that I liked!  This fits the color theme I really like for the office - and I liked the size and that it is canvas

This was a no-brainer - I wasn't planning on purchasing anything tonight, but obviously this was something I had to snag!

Love this bulletin board 

Great curtains - color and pattern - for the office

Fun organization in good colors and patterns - sorry about the sideways orientation - tried to flip a couple times and gave up

Pack of 4 picture frames in various shades of teal

Not sure if I would need a throw in the office, but I liked this one

Throw pillow - I like the gray with teal - again, not sure if I would need in the office, but I like the color scheme and may incorporate gray with the teal

Cute, and cheap, clock

So, obviously I really honed in on the teal element of the office. I will definitely want to incorporate another color (probably gray or yellow), but I thought this was a good start!

LIVING ROOM:

Another sideways shot - I like the gray and yellow chair a lot! I don't think I would buy furniture from Target, but it's so cheap it might not matter if it didn't last that long.

This looked a lot more gray and yellow in the store - I think I would like this if I went with a neutral chair instead of a pattern

LOVE THIS for the living room!!!

And, just a random shower curtain I liked for the master bath:

Summer Fiesta

For a few months in the summer, there is nothing better than breaking out the Fiesta!

Homemade Limeade

My mom always made homemade limeade every summer, so now it just doesn't feel like summer without it! I always wait until limes are on sale to make this really easy recipe.

2/3 cups granulated sugar
6 limes, squeezed (I use an electric citrus juicer)
2 quarts chilled water

Slice limes and measure out sugar into pitcher

Squeeze juice of six limes

Add lime juice to dissolve sugar

Add water (and limes for decoration) and Voila! Kevin loves it, too! He's not a fan of carbonated drinks, so this is one of the few limeades he likes!

Kevin's Birthday Party

Kevin's birthday was on Tuesday, and I put together a party for him on Thursday! It was so fun to see everyone, including a little girl who just had her birthday six days earlier (Welcome to the world, Corra!).  We had barbeque for dinner from Hog Wild, then we all enjoyed carrot cake!

I made Kevin's favorite carrot cake!

Britt holding Corra, Becca and Shawn's brand new baby girl!

How many guys does it take to light 27 candles? 

Still working on it! I'm guessing they just enjoyed playing with the fire.

Making a wish! If I had to guess, I would think it had something to do with travel!

Happy Birthday Kevin!