Spaghetti squash pasta!

We've seen it a million times- in health books, on Pinterest, on a friends we page etc...using spaghetti squash as pasta, I've always stuck my nose up to it because it sounds disgusting (I hate squash). BUT the more I read about it the more I see people saying how delicious it is and how you can't tell the difference between the squash and real pasta. Now I'm 100% Italian and my blood is actually just spaghetti sauce and my body is built on carbs, so I'm a seriously tough judge...but here goes nothing. I bought mine at walmart, but seems like they're everywhere. The HARDEST part is getting the squash cut in half. I needed Drew's help. ( I read later that out it in the microwave for like 10 seconds to soften the skin). 

Scape out the seeds like a pumpkin and put EVOO on it. I used kosher salt and I made sure to hit it hard. With the oven set to 350 I placed the squash in for 45 minutes. 

Use a fork and scrape the sides- it is SO COOL. it looks just like spaghetti!! I wasn't sold yet because I hadn't tasted it though. While it was cooking I took a can of Classico four cheese sauce and added it to cooked brown beef and...

Viola!! AMAZING!! You'll never go back I swear it. Drew and I liked our plates clean! 

Finally got a camera uploader📷

So a lot has happened since my last post. Sadly because I didn't have a camera uploaded I haven't been able to share anything😒. However, thank god for ebay because I was able to get a new one and post away! These start at April 21 2013 and go up until October 19th! 

Starting with my 26th birthday! Still living in North Carolina and I'm happy as can be because Drew is taking me out to a delicious French dinner (where I got steak Frits)! 

Another birthday treat was going on my favorite ghost walk in Wilmington! It's seriously so fun and actually pretty scary!! I even bought the book and I kind of freak myself out! 

Then I graduated with my masters in school psychology! What an absolutely proud moment for me. It was such hard work and there were definetly times I wanted to give up, but thank god for my wonderful cohort family and friends! And there I am with my biggest fan, my daddy!

When we moved to ohio I was looking for someways for us to bound and not spend any money! Hiking seemed to do the trick perfectly! We had so much fun, not sure why Drew is being such a ham! 

At the beginning of October we rented a condo in Ellicottville, NY for fall festival/October fest. We didn't realize it was only intended for 6 people and managed to have 12. It was a touch crowded. But seriously a blast. I don't really know the last time I laughed so hard. I felt like we were in college again! 

Lastly, we have our costumes for Halloween. We went as Up. I was Kevin (the bird). I think we did a pretty damn good job! And everyone loved it. Halloween is seriously my all time favorite! I think it's the actress in me who likes to dress up and pretend. I doubt I'll ever out grown it!

Rock and Roll baby!

Jenny took the 170 plus mile trip to visit me! Being that she loves everything rock n roll, we decided to take the trip to the Rock n Roll museum...it was so fun! Here's the memory's we made! 

Starting our day off at one cool building! 

Walking the red carpet

Love love her!!!!!!! What a fun day we had with so many memories :) I'm so blessed to have my Jenny girl! 

West side market

First of all let me just say I wish I wasn't so broke so I could have enjoyed way more of the fresh produce, meats, cheeses, and bakery items I observed at the West-Side market in Cleveland! I was a kid in a candy shop! There was tons to look at but here is some of the things I was loving! 

Drew and I needed our fuel for a big day! He went coffee, I went hibiscus tea! We have Starbucks behind our house now, it's a dream!

He was ready to shop! 

Everything looked so good and was so cheap! Look at those fresh vegetables!

Here is where I weakened! I had to get m&m, salted Caramel, and wedding cake. Probably the best cupcakes I've ever had!

 Thanks grandma Campbell!

Surf City, NC to Aurora, OH

Well the time finally came for the big move. Honestly I was not as emotional as I had predicted, but as my new location sinks in, I get sad. I miss the beach, I miss the sweet southerners, and I miss my beautiful and inexpensive 1300 square foot apartment. However, I don't miss being so far from my friends/family, the extreme humidity, and the yucky sweet tea. Being up north is part of who I am and it feels like home, but Drew and I are already in talks of buying a place (closer to Wilmington) sooner then later.
Moving was awful, thank god we have the most supportive families and friends to help us (either physically or emotionally).

 Dana and Alex showed up first with TONS of boxes! Buying those dang totes is super expensive and we appreciated all the free packing supplies we could get up. After doing ABSOLUTELY NO Packing and sitting on the beach all day, we decided we should reward our hard work (??) with a fancy french dinner.

 Honestly, ANY excuse to put make up on and do my hair at this point is much appreciated! Sitting at home and cleaning/crafting all day isn't exactly glamourous.

I also was able to throw on my new etsy necklace, which I am completely obsessed with. I wore it with a black romper and it POPPED! I got so many compliments on this piece, get 25 dollar investment.

After Alex and Dana left, Mr. Breier, Amy, and Cory arrived to help us pack it all up! It was 95 degrees and the Penske we rented acted like a sauna! The boys worked SO hard-from 9 to 6 to get everything i've hoarded over the past year into this truck. Poor Amy slipped on one of the steps and sprained her ankle...she felt horrible and I felt worse. She was SUCH a trooper though, I would have been miserable...but she was apologizing?!?!

After all the packing we rewarded ourselves with a night out in Wilmington...our last ;-(. It was sad, but I am glad Cory was able to see it. Amy wasn't able to join us, thanks to her injury. We had our favorite Copper Penny and then we had a drink! 

 
An 11 hour drive turned into a two day ordeal starting at 8pm Thursday and ending 11pm Friday. My parents were already here and they cleaned it and had the place all ready for us. I was EXHAUSTED, but "the crew" want to unpack, so we were up until 2 am bringing things in...I'm sure our new neighbors LOVED that.

 More pictures to come of our new house, once I get everything together...but for now, here is our door (LOVE my hello sign) and my garage station! It's different and an adjustment, but as long as I have Drew everything will be great.

Puppy painting!

Well over the course of one weekend Emily and I managed to get so drunk that I ate 14 chicken nuggets, a hamburger, and two orders of fries from Wendy's, do puppy painting, and have a rather unsuccessful garage sale. First night I went to Emily's and I pleaded to go out. Without a job or money I just sit at home. I needed a reason to do my hair, and Emily (and her man) provided that for me! 

We're a little goofy, but man I needed this night! Thank god joe was there to keep us a little in check!

Just adore her! She takes such good care of me!!

After this night we woke up completely normal (much to our surprise) so we decided a craft project was in order! We went to Michael's and decided we wanted to puppy painting with "the kids"

Nontoxic, washable paint was the best bet...you just never know with Wyatt and maya what crazy stuff they'll do! We also bought foam poster board for the canvas.

Maya was eager to begin her first project! 

Some assistance was needed with the paint application...for dogs that roll in mud constantly, they were very reluctant to get dirty lol..go figure!

The final product Is adorable and a mainstay in Emmys office! For about ten dollars its a priceless piece of art!

Lastly we had our garage sale... I made thirteen dollars and then bought a ten dollar lunch. This doesn't include the 15 dollars in gas to get to Emily's, but to be honest it was soooo worth it! 

Wedding gift DIY

Being that I work for the school system, summers are particularly hard for me financially! Consequently, all the weddings, showers, moving etc are a tight squeeze. Because I have several weddings this summer I wanted to come up with creative and inexpensive way to thank the bride and groom for inviting me without re-moraging a house.   Because my creativity was at an alllll time low I went to the handy-dandy Pinterest. Because my friend is marrying into an Italian family I thought I'd do an "Italian starter kit." 

These are the two templates I used to create my kit. Thank god my momma was with me! She's very good at this stuff! We started at Bed Bath and Beyond but we were at 33 dollars with just a bowl and salt shakers! I didn't like where the was heading... So we went to Walmart! 

I bought this huge container for ten dollars! 

The inside stuff included-

Slotted spoon

Cheese grater

Pasta

Sauce

Shaker set

Red wine

I used the dollar store brown filling to give this a rustic look and I used their basket bags to bring it all together. 

Unfortunately the top wouldn't fit over the pasta and wine! I used the basket bag to hold the top on, leaning forward. 

Finished!