Matthew was being so sweet this afternoon, loud but sweet. I had to make this one black and white so that I could hide, a smidgen, of how dark my under eyes are. SERIOUSLY what is up. I really truly need a great nights rest. Calgon take me away!

Regardless of how tired I am this smile always will brighten my day.

Matthew got a rockin hair cut! If I had thought about it Mike would have taken the camera to the salon but alas I didn't have that forethought AND I was at the gym for two hours trying to work on my fitness, I had no witness.

I got my hairs did too! I cut about 4 inches off and dyed it a deep auburn. I am so far in love with it but haven't had to do it myself yet. She did a small asymmetrical cut, not severe but just enough.

We went to Dunkin Donuts this morning, after fooling around with his donut, it ended up icing down on the floor and tears were had.

Matthew got a hold of my point and shoot camera

This is his point of view

And just a random shot of ALL of his Cowboy Woody dolls, I mean action figures. I don't think he needs anymore.  He has the same amount of Buzz Lightyears. I am not saying he is spoiled but...

And this caught my eye and I had to have it because I have been feeling the need for something all American. It is supposed to be a tray but I think I might add out last name on it and hang it by the front door. Not sure yet, just know that I like it a lot. 

I also am dying for some Chevron stripe. LOVE the lettered cottage too.... go check them out!

I bought a grey chevron lumbar pillow cover on Etsy and plan to add a little floral design to copy this. I plan to add it to my guest room since I can't work it in anywhere else.

SO that was my weekend. Hate that it is over but I am stoked that in one week from today my Mom and Grammy will be here, officially South Carolinians!

Have a great week!!!!

Struggles

So since during the winter blast of 2011, which was last week mind you and lasted for oh 4 days, I have struggled to start my diet and other resolutions. In the last day I have conquered these struggles and started:

• To eat right and exercise a.k.a my resolution to Get Shake Weight Arms. I was a regular in the gym in Florida but my schedule was a wee bit different there  and I have gained a little extra jiggle since moving. I now have NO excuses to not workout since I made a brash purchase and bought an elliptical and I have the weights and knowledge to do the rest. I just pray for the willpower to stay away from the sweets. Which is extremely hard when your toddler son is sick and you bribe him with candy to get him to take his medicine and there are leftover Skittles, Peanut butter bars and Teddy Grahams.

Why do they taste so damn good

• Yesterday I also started another term to obtain my MBA. To be honest I have zero desire to go back to school but since my company is paying for it and it can't hurt me - I decided to hit the books. Its taking me a long time to graduate since I refuse to pay any money out of pocket but when I do graduate I can say I'm smarter than my husband! We all know this NOT to be true as he knows just enough about everything to argue any point and will at any given point in time.
• I also started this blog which is something I have been wanting to do for a long time now but just never got around to it. I have to say reading Natalie's blog (which is deeper than this one and helping a lot of people out there) made me push myself to get on the ball. Speaking of balls,  Cakeballer Emmie turning out the cake balls like nobodies business also made me want to jump into this world of blogging.
• Another resolution of mine is to Enjoy Cooking more. I love to bake but that is because I love to eat sweets. I want to enjoy making meals, that my husband will eat and not scoff at. He is particularly picky about his meals, although last night I came home from work and he was eating an english muffin with melted peanut butter on it and washed it down with a glass of wine with ice in it. Perhaps I am rubbing off on him more than I thought. 

To that end here is the recipe for the Browned Butter Frosting noted in my first post:
1 Cup Butter
1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar
1/4 Cup milk
1 Tsp. Vanilla
Cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium head, stirring constantly, about 6-8 minutes or until butter is golden brown. Remove from heat immediately and pour butter into a small bowl, cover and chill one hour and begins to solidify.
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beginning and ending with the powdered sugar. Beat at low speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. I chilled my frosting, taking it out when the cupcakes were out of the oven. Giving the cupcakes time to cool was just enough time for the icing to be spreadable.

Lightning Fairy

Just a little tidbit about living north of Orlando... there is such a thing called static cling. I just got shocked while pulling the laundry out of the dryer, not just a little one either, a full on shock. My sister in law coined the term 'lightning fairies' when she told me she saw sparks of light as she and my brother in law (my husbands twin- more on that another time) were getting into the covers on their first visit. (I'll keep it it PG)  It wasn't till the second evening did we all realize it was the static cling. Thanks V for making me smile. So long story short, its cold, my hands are cracked and dry and I just got shocked doing the laundry. Gotta love winter time.

Not a lightning fairy but cute nonetheless

Its about time

Happy New Year and welcome to Discovering Grits, my little space to vent, learn and display all my concerns about actually having to be a big girl. Having recently moved from Florida to South Carolina- I just witnessed my first snow storm of my adult life. It was a beautiful blanket of snow which quickly turned to ice which I have never had the pleasure of driving in. At the same time my son had his first bout with pneumonia, my husband was recovering from arthroscopic foot surgery and I was trying to start a diet which failed miserably when we were 'snowed' in and I found a recipe for browned butter icing and just happened to have a box of chocolate cake laying around.   
So here is to new beginnings. Check back soon for recipes, photographs and life lessons I've learned and continue to learn as a mother, wife, and newbie blogger.