Birthday Pup!

My puppy girl is 8!!!

As silly as it may be, I'm sad! I remember when she was 5 weeks old!

Bottom line is, I love her, I am blessed she is my pup, and she will always be my baby girl.

Happy birthday, Roxy! I love you!!

 

 

30 days

30 days to 30!

Seven

Today my little pup is seven years old!  I can't believe it!  To think she's been sidekick and shadow for just about seven years (I got her when she was five weeks old) is unbelievable.  I know she's a puppy dog but I promise I love her like she's my child.  She is so sweet and polite and silly and gross and so much more all wrapped up in a 23 pound ball of fur. 

Can you spot the birthday girl?

Babies vs. Pumpkins

A few of my favorites from a great day at the pumpkin patch with Leedie, Angela, and Mallory to celebrate my birthday.

The girls trying to figure out what the deal with these pumpkins

Such a happy baby

Photographic proof of how hard it is to take a picture of this girl!

Old friends chatting it up

Happy girls!

With their pumpkins

Birthday Visit

Last month my brother and sister-in-law generously offered to meet me halfway so I could have Leedie for a weekend whenever I wanted and told me to just let them know when.  Well being that Mr. Woo is off this weekend for my birthday I suggested this weekend was the perfect time.  So Friday after work I'll drive (alone since John works a closing shift) two and half hours to meet them and pick up my niece! 

I am so very excited and nervous all at the same time! 

I'm most nervous about the two and half hour drive home by myself! 

I hope I can figure out what to do with a baby.  Or should I call her a toddler now that's she's thirteen months?  Either way, I can't wait to try! 

Roxy on the other hand will likely need lots of positive thoughts and good vibes for the weekend because knowing her she is not going to be so thrilled with all of this.  I'm pretty sure a baby (or toddler) walking around the house trying to get hold of her, stealing her [freshly cleaned] toys, squealing and babbling loudly is her idea of a plot for a horror movie.

My fingers are crossed and my camera is ready to capture it all!

The Return of College Football

Thursday marked the start of college football and the beginning of my favorite time of year. 

The start of college football doesn't just mean I get to cheer on my Seminoles and CATS while wearing my garnet and gold or blue and white.  The start of college football means Pumpkin Spice Lattes, fall, my birthday, and the holiday season are just around the corner. 

The fact that three of the four guys on College Game Day are picking FSU in the BCS title game doesn't hurt my excitement either.

Happy Birthday, Leedie!

My niece turned one year old today!  Here party was great.  She was perfect.  I love her.  That is all. 

I leave you with the best birthday picture ever.

Leedie Turns 1!

I am so happy it's Friday!  I always love the last day of the work week but today is extra exciting because it's the day before my niece's first birthday party!!!

That seems like the fastest year ever!

In preparation for this milestone here are some pictures of the soon-to-be birthday girl!

One Day Goal

Happy pseudo Friday!! 

I'm taking tomorrow off - much needed - and will be spending the day baking my Berry Natural Strawberry cake for Holly's birthday.  The day genuinely sounds like heaven right now and the thought of it will be helping me get through the next seven hours. 

Let me just stop and say work is not as bad as it's probably sounding; I just need a break.

Anyway I think I've decided to set a goal for myself today..

I'm going to try to go the whole day without spending any money. 

Just looking at the goal it seems pretty easy but truth be told for some reason I have been spending money like crazy lately!  Whether it be for Starbucks or lunch with my boss or groceries or bills, the list goes on and on.  So today I'm going to try and go without.  I went shopping for the ingredients for the cake yesterday and can pay my hospital bill tomorrow without incurring any additional fees.  (Side note: I will literally jump for joy when I am done paying off of my medical bills.  It still doesn't process for me that I have been paying medical bills every single month for the past two years and I'm only 28.  Oh and I still have my headache.  *sigh*  I'll step off my soapbox now.)

To position myself to be successful for this I have fat free half and half in the fridge downstairs for my coffee fix, I have a plan for all of my meals today, and can spend money if I realize I need to tomorrow. 

Hopefully I'll have good news to share on Friday.

Goal Setting On My Way to 30

I have very passively been thinking about doing a "things to do before I'm 30" list.  And now that I have thought of some things to put on that list I'm trying to decide if I want to share them on here.

Source

I had actually started writing this post including the list and then deleted it.  I'm not sure why.  It's not like there is anything great on the list just goals that are important for me and I want to strive for.  Maybe it's fear of putting goals and out there and not reaching them, or embarrassment of what I consider "important" goals and how boring they are, or not knowing who the heck actually reads this thing.  I don't know but I'll keep mulling it over. 

In the meantime, I have 430 days on the countdown.  Starting now.

Life's a Laugh

I'm back in less than a week with hair darker than a raven.
Saturday was my hair appointment with a new person at a new salon - a first after five years with the same person.  I liked the salon a lot which is good considering I had never seen it and I picked it pretty much solely based on the fact they could get me in Saturday morning.  I liked my stylist too.  She was cute and friendly which always makes me feel comforted when someone is working on my hair.  I sit down embarrassed by the state of my grays and ask for hair dye two shades above black.  This is pretty much what I always say, except for the one time my co-worker did my hair and I let him do whatever for my 21st birthday (hello blonde highlights), because I'm so horrible with coming in for maintenance.  We also talked about trimming off an inch to an inch and half and adding in long layers.  After small talk turns out she knows my SIL and that they were friends in elementary school.  When she asked about her and mentioned they were only acquaintances in high school because of the one year grade difference I was concerned she might have just been saying that and the friendship might have gone sour at some point and that I would end up with a shaved head as a result. (Paranoid much?)  Luckily my fears weren't realized and I was pretty happy with everything at the end of my appointment.  Not amazed but happy.  When I left two hours later I felt like I had found my new salon and stylist for the next five years thanks to its good location, good hours, nice stylist and great price.

Fast forward a few days and I've realized the color is a bit too dark.  It doesn't look bad or anything but it's definitely darker than I would prefer.  Oh and even though she shampooed my hair twice my dye is still coming out when I wash my hair.  I've damaged a towel or two and have had to sleep with a t-shirt over my pillow when I went to bed with wet hair. 

The gray coverage is the best I've had though so it's not all bad.  And I do still think I found my new place to go.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with Angela and Michele to celebrate Angela's 30th birthday.  It was mostly a good, chill, low-key, just hanging out kind of day so there isn't too much to share.  We went to Improv in the evening and saw Jay Pharoah from SNL.  The place was probably the nicest I've been to and the show was really good.  Most importantly I think the birthday girl had a good time too.



A Slacker in Photos

Pineapple cake

Peanut butter cake mise en plas

The aftermath

Her's and his hand-dipped Maker's bottles

Slacker

Ok so apparently I'm a slacker since it's been over a week since my last post.  It's not because I haven't thought about posting, I just haven't sat down and done it.  I have, however, done other things so let me catch you up. 

Thursday night I baked a pineapple cake from scratch for Mr. Woo's team builder/pot luck thing with his co-workers.  I made up the recipe for the cake and frosting and it got good reviews.  For those who may be counting that's cake from scratch #2 in 6 days.  I believe I have one picture which I will post later.

Friday night I baked a peanut butter cake from scratch for my FIL's birthday; cake #3 in 7 days.  Peanut butter may be his absolute favorite food ever so I decided to surprise him with this cake.  I may have to thank him for liking peanut butter so much because I am not sure my house has ever smelled so good.  The scent was like a cross between freshly baked peanut butter cookies and heaven.  Or something similar I suppose.  I think the only thing I really modified for this cake was the frosting and I put my own spin on it more out of need than because I couldn't find a good recipe.  The only picture I have of this guy is an empty cake plate but I may post that later too.  Overall this cake was definitely my favorite of the three.

[Totally random sentence to once again express how relieved, happy, and in disbelief I am that I am done with my SPHR certification!  I have so much more time now!]

Saturday we went to Holly's to celebrate my FIL's birthday.  We toured the Maker's Mark distillery, all of the original Woos dipped some bottles (and even one hat), we ate the aforementioned peanut butter cake, and played some Rook.  I think everyone had a pretty good time despite the three digit temperature and being outside for a couple of hours at the distillery.

Sunday through yesterday are kind of all a blur.  At one point I invited my MIL to dinner and some shopping -- for Katlin's birthday present -- while Mr. Woo was out of town for work.  I did some more shopping -- for Angela's birthday present -- and found a few things for me that I didn't need to spend money on.  Ooops!  I also made stuffed bell peppers and hubby finished them on the grill.  Stuffed bell peppers are always yum in my book but these were really good!  Yesterday I got a massage thanks to a Groupon gift from my love.  And I think that's about it or at least all that I can recall.

Tomorrow morning I have a hair appointment which is long over due.  I've been trying to save money by using at home box color two or three times between appointments to stretch out how often I have to go to a salon but at this point my grays are in desperate need of some professional attention.  The exciting and scary part is that I'm trying someone new after about five years with the same person.  Eeek!  I'm ready for a change and whatever that may mean.  (New hair style maybe?!)  After my appointment I drive over to Angela's to spend the day with the birthday girl and go to a comedy club at night.  Should be a fun and exciting day! 

On a side note, I can't believe this is the start of all my friends turning 30!!  It's making me wonder if I should make a "To Do Before I'm 30" list.  If so, I need to get on it.  I only have a little over a year left!

Happy Friday!!

Cake Making (continued)

After about seven hours, a thousand songs, five recipes, a cup of coffee, and a little less than a half of bottle of wine (and slightly tipsy me) later, I finished what Mr. Woo has named Leslie's Berry Natural Strawberry Cake! No boxed cake mix, jello, jelly/jam, or food coloring here!

I had a great time and probably milked my time in the kitchen a bit more than was truly needed but this was my way to unwind after a pretty heavy/draining week. Overall I think the cake came out pretty visually appealing and everyone said they really liked it -- though let's be honest, my family loves me and may have just been being nice. Either way, the cake got eatten and Mr. Woo's Granny had a great birthday which is all that matters.

You can see the rest of the of the progress pictures and the finished cake below.

Fresh whipped cream with strawberry puree'.

Strawberry whipped cream for in between the layers and to cover the cake.

It's starting to come together.

The finished product!

The last piece of cake.

Next up a peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting for Mr. Woo's dad's birthday.

Friday Fun - Cake Making

I am currently a cake making fool.  I've been working on this cake for five hours.  A cup of coffee and a glass of wine later I'm still working on it and loving every second.  I promise I would be a chef if it was a lucrative career and provided a work-life balance I find critical in jobs (specifically not having to work every weekend, holiday, and evening).  Either way this evening has been pretty much my ideal way to unwind after a hard week -- my loves are home keeping me company in the kitchen while I bake and listen to music.  Here's my progress on the as-from-scratch-as-possible (aka no box cake mix or jello) strawberry cake so far.  (BTW, I couldn't find a recipe for such a cake so I had to make it up.  I hope it comes out ok!  *fingers triple crossed*)

The star of this cake - 2 packages full to make sure only the best go in.

The start of the strawberry puree'

My mise en plas

Strawberry Puree'

The cake batter with the strawberry puree'

My current status