Tightwad Tuesday

We haven't been canning tomatoes like crazy lately in order to save money per se, but rather because we have SO many tomatoes that it's ridiculous. We'd never be able to eat them all fresh. But, the saving money part is not a bad side effect. 

Here's a few glamour shots of just some of the tomatoes we canned this weekend, pre-canning of course:

Yes, I styled this photo by adding a few mason jars and a watering can. Don't judge me.

Here's a shot of the canning setup:

And the finished product:

Oh, we also made homemade salsa and pasta sauce. Eat your heart out Martha Stewart.

Bachelorette Bar Golf Follow Up

My previous post about bachelorette bar golf has been quite popular. Every week I have several visitors to my blog who get here through Google keywords related in some way to “bar golf.” If you look at the Google image results for "bachelorette golf," three of the images on the first page are of us from that fateful night (we're famous!). I’ve also received several questions regarding our bar golf details. Not one to leave the people hanging, I give you: 10 Steps to Fabulous Bar Golf.

Step 1: Plan your route.

Plan out the bars (or "holes") you'll be visiting ahead of time. We planned a 9 hole game, but actually only managed to make it to 8 holes. If you want to be ambitious and play 18 holes, go ahead. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Obviously, consider geography in your planning. Each bar should be a short walk apart, and you don't want to go zig zagging and backtracking all over town. Plan your holes in a logical order. Another important point to consider is cover charges. Don't plan holes at bars where you know there is a cover charge. No one wants to pay 9 or 18 different cover charges to go in and drink one drink and leave. That being said, with a big group of bar golfers, you can usually talk your way out of paying a cover. As Amy said to one bouncer, "There are 11 of us. We're playing bar golf. We're coming into your bar and all buying a drink and leaving and we're not paying a cover." Boom boom pow we were in, sans cover.

Bonus points for: planning food holes into your route. It'll make your golfers last longer and make everyone happy to boot.

Step 2: Determine your scoring.

Our scoring went something like this for each hole:

• Eagle, -2 pts = signature drink from that bar or a classic cocktail or shot
• Birdie, -1 pts = well drink
• Par, 0 pts = beer
• Bogey, +1 pt = water or nothing

Step 3: Make awesome scorecards.

You need a scorecard, like ours below:

We typed this bad boy up in Word and printed on regular computer paper. It includes each hole, the eagle, birdie, par and bogey drinks for each hole, and a column to keep score. Then we backed the scorecards with cardstock and laminated them to protect from spills (this comes in handy!). If you don't have access to a laminating machine, you can use something like these self-laminating pouches that you can get from any office supply store. We attached a ribbon long enough to hang the scorecards around our necks and tied on a mini Sharpie marker. Voila!

Bonus points for: matching the cardstock, ribbon AND mini Sharpie for each golfer.

Step 4: Dress the part.

Remember what we looked like? You MUST dress up, or your bar golf outing will be lame. Here are some ideas: Polo shirts, white or khaki shorts, skirts or capris, sweater draped over the shoulders, pearls, anything argyle, Sperry's or Ked's (but more importantly, whatever shoes are comfortable).

Bonus points for: popped collar, visor, golf glove.

The next 4 steps are dedicated to Bachelorette bar golf, in particular:

Step 5: Send out a cute invitation.

Sara did a great job on ours:

You can find this one here.

Step 6: Assign a designated golfer to each hole.

This was probably the smartest decision we made. Each hole was assigned a Lead Golfer, who was responsible for 1.) picking out the signature drink for that hole 2.) buying the bride's drink at that hole (or finding someone at the bar to buy her drink) and 3.) coming up with the dare for that hole.

This made it super easy to divide the duties between everyone attending and make sure the bride was never left lacking a drink and always had a fun dare to complete. Which brings me to...

Step 7: Come up with fun dares for the bride to complete.

Each hole should include a dare. Have your golfers come up with these beforehand, so people have some time to think up good ones. We typed ours out and backed them with paper with grass printed on it. Some of the dares were golf related and some weren't. Some of our favorites? Find a cute guy at the bar and have him stand behind you and teach you a proper golf swing. Find an older couple at the bar and ask them for their best piece of sex advice.

Step 8: Outfit your bride in a sweet visor veil.

This isn't rocket science. Find a solid white visor (or whatever color) and attach a cheap dress-up veil or piece of tulle from Wal-Mart or Michael's and maybe some ribbon.

Step 9: Let the night take you where it will.

Your plans will change. Your holes will change. You won't make it to all of the holes. You'll be having so much fun dancing on tables at hole 5 that you won't even bother to keep playing. This is ok. If you play out all 9 or 18 holes as you planned them, something is probably wrong. Someone is probably not having enough fun.

Step 10: And the most important: Be safe.

Designate a driver or secure a cab ride home for everyone. This should actually be done at Step 1, before you even start planning your route.

Thanks and happy bar golfing!

Weekend Update

We had a pretty low-key weekend. Sometimes those are the best.

This morning, we decided to go hiking at Harris Lake. We did the 5 mile loop around Peninsula Trail. The trail usually takes about 2 hours, but between stopping to let the dog swim and stopping to eat lunch it took us about 3 hours.

Harris Lake is located at Shearon Harris, which is a nuclear power plant. See the cooling tower in the background of this picture? All throughout the park were warning signs of what to do if the plant blows up and you have to evacuate. Scary huh? But other than that the park  and lake were beautiful!

Although it was REALLY hot (and we went at the hottest part of the day -- not smart) it was fun, good exercise, good quality time with Sugar, and best of all, FREE.

Now, brace yourself for this next picture. This was my kitchen at about 7:00 tonight, after not being cleaned after this morning's pancake breakfast, today's packed lunch, and tonight's pasta dinner. Not a single surface was left uncluttered. It was so atrocious I just had to take a picture and share. If you don't ever look at me in the same way again, I understand.

In my defense though, I spent what seemed like 2 hours just yesterday cleaning this kitchen! Don't worry, after another two hours of cleaning tonight, our kitchen is back in order once again.

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Show Us Your Life: Wedding Dress

So, Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is hosting a Show Us Your Life series and this week is 'show us your wedding dress' week. I absolutely LOVED my wedding dress, so I'm all too happy to oblige. (Next week is wedding party and flowers, so I'll be happy to play along then, too!)

After being vehemently opposed to David's Bridal, guess what? I found my dream dress there. It was an ivory all-over beaded lace trumpet-style gown with an illusion halter neckline, matching sash and chapel train (yes, I got that description off of the DB website). 

I always knew that I wanted a halter neckline, but I had pictured a more full A-line skirt. But after trying many dresses of this style on, I realized this wasn't the most flattering style for me. So when I came across my dress I fell in love with the slimmer trumpet style.

Here's a shot of my dress monogram, with my new initials and wedding date. I loved this little detail. You can get these from a variety of places now, but my mom got mine through the J. Crew wedding site. It was my "something blue" and such a sweet little extra:

 Here's a picture of my sis putting on my garter:

And one of my dad walking me down the "aisle":

One of the things I loved most about the dress was the lace work. The pictures really do not do it justice. I never considered my self a lace girl, but this dress had me at hello. It reminded me of some of the much more expensive Monique Lhuillier-style dresses.

 

Another thing I loved about my dress was the way it bustled. Because the beaded lace was SO heavy, the alterations lady recommended a double bustle - an over bustle AND an under bustle. I loved the way it turned out, even though we did have to re-tie it a few times throughout the night (I don't think even the strongest bustle had a chance with all of the moves I was busting). Here's a good shot of the dress bustled:

And finally, here's a shot of my bridal portrait:

But where is my dress now? Hanging in a closet at my mom's house. On a regular 'ole hanger. Still dirty from too much dancing and biodegradable rice. Exposed to all types of dust and damaging materials. I need to get it cleaned and preserved. Just one more thing on my post-wedding To Do list (9 months later). 

I've thought about selling it. I'm under no illusions that a daughter might wear it 25 years from now. And I could possibly get some decent money for it (not to mention saving the $150 it costs to have it cleaned and preserved). But, I'm just not sure I can part with it.

What do you guys think? Preserve it and stick it in a closet forever? Or sell it and possibly regret it later?

**All images taken by the lovely Leslie of Leslie Ann Mills Photography.

Friday Link Love

Here's a quick recap of some of the web finds I'm loving this week:

- Have you seen photos yet of Wednesday's solar eclipse in Asia? This is a great collection of images. Wondering if you'll ever be able to experience a solar eclipse? Well, we'll be able to see one here in the U.S. on August 21, 2017. Mark your calendars!

- Here's a quick glimpse into one of the Martha Stewart craft storage rooms. A room full of every craft product imaginable? Ummmm, HEAVEN!

- There's something eerie yet beautiful about these images of 100 abandoned houses.

- This is a fun little time waster. Read the instructions, then click "click me to get trippy."

- This video has been blowing up on blogs and Twitter today. It IS pretty amazing. Can you just imagine how fun of a couple this bride and groom must be?! And what good sports their bridesmaids and groomsmen are.

Have a good weekend!

Holly Springs Breaking News

So, last weekend on our date night to Walmart (yes, that's what happens when you get old), we passed by this new building on Hwy 55. 

I said, hmmm wonder what that's going to be? (The last time I got excited about a newly built building near our house it turned out to be a fire station. Now, I'm all for fire safety but it's not exactly somewhere I'm going to be frequenting regularly).

Lee says, "It looks like an Autobell." (if you don't know, Autobell is a car wash) I immediately start singing "People can tell when you Autobell!" Lee rolls his eyes.

Then, IT HAPPENS.

We turn the corner onto the little side street between Walmart and this new little building, AND SEE THIS:

The hallelujah chorus commences.

I was speechless. Then I started screaming.

Lee was pretty excited too.

Holly Springs is a growing community, but other than Sonic and Wendy's, the restaurant choices are scarily similar to La Grange (Andy's, Bojangles, chinese restaurant, pizza joint). 

But now, my all time favorite fast food is here to save the day, and just 4 minutes away! 

This could be scary. I could eat Chick-fil-A every day of the week. ESPECIALLY on Sundays. And Lee and I are suckers for their milkshakes. Mmmmm.

No word on when it's opening, but they're already hiring!

Looks Good Enough to Eat

When we make dinner and it comes out super yummy looking I like to take pictures. 

Because I'm a dork like that. 

So I thought I'd share a few of our recent masterpieces.

Mmmm baked ziti. The trick here is to turn the broiler on for just a bit to get the cheese all bubbly and browned.

Bruschetta made with fresh basil from our garden. Here's the recipe. (Sorry these next two pics are crappy, I'm usually so ready to dig in I can't be bothered to run and get the camera, so these are camera phone pics.)

Meet the 8 to 5 sandwich. I read about it on Design Mom's blog. It sounded right up my alley. So we made it that same week. Ummm, can you say DELICIOUS?! Here's the recipe. Avocado AND cream cheese? Yes please!