You Won't Believe This

BUT....

I think bubble baths are overrated. 

I know, what kind of girl am I? Better yet, what kind of blogger am I? To be a good blogger and a normal girl, I should be Instagramming {is that a word?} pictures of my feet at the end of a bubble filled tub, with a candle burning in a dim room. 

You know, something like this but replace the toys with candles and dim the lights a little:

 

Not me.

Garrett takes more bubble baths than I do. What, was I not supposed to tell y'all that? 

Oh well.

It's not like I don't try. Two bubble baths ago I was about 8 minutes in and I reached up to turn off the faucet and I broke it. It wouldn't turn off and it was filling the tub with cold water. Fail.

Two nights ago I tried again. I threw in some Epsom Salt, bubbles, and a little fizzy thing I had from Lush. I lasted about 10 minutes and I drained the tub and turned on the shower.

My question is: 

What do y'all do in there? I get so bored just sitting there. I can't do it.

Also, I get too hot. 

Do you like bubble baths? Or are you like me and think they are overrated?

Summer Swap Partners!

SUMMER 

SWAP PARTNERS!

Hey everyone!  We are SO excited to announce the swap partners!  Just a reminder of the rules.

The Rules: 

1.  GO SHOPPING!  We want you to buy your swap partner a bright, fun beach towel.  Along with the towel, buy your partner lots of goodies that they can use at the pool, the beach or just out in the sun! 

2.  DON'T GO NUTS!  Try to keep a spending limit around $20.  If you want to spend more, feel free!  But you don't have to go crazy spending tons of money on the goodies.  Wal-Mart and Target have so many  miniature goodies in the travel section that would make great box fillers!  please remember:  the $20 limit does NOT include your shipping cost.

Ok, ready?  Set?  SWAP!

CLICK FOR YOUR PARTNER'S BLOG!

Allie & Sarah

Meighan & Kalyn

Whitney & Megan
Mary Britni & Jessi
Lori V. & Elyse
Jenn & Kelley
Meagan & Carly
Kelsey & Libby
Britney & Catherine
Chels & Erica
Britni & Jen
Katelyn & Lori W.
Casey & Brianne
Miranda & Maddie
Krista & Morgan
Abby & Megan H.
Meagan S. & Jessyka

Be SURE to contact your partner ASAP, read their blog, get to know them and get to shopping!
You can find the spreadsheet of information HERE.

Boss Nation

MIA- that's what I have been lately.

I just started my very first full time job! 

Yep, you read that right, my very first. I've worked since I was 16 years old, but only in part time jobs. I'm not a big fan of the American belief that everyone should spend their lives working their asses off and not enjoying their short lives, but that's neither here nor there. I am now one of those Americans. 

Right now I am excited about it! I am one of 3 people who are opening up a new cottage for the girls who live in the residential treatment center I work at. I have worked there for almost two years, so the environment isn't new, just my position. We are starting completely from scratch with everything, meaning that we have the power to choose the rules, the cottage name, our program, everything. It's a ton of responsibility but it's also exciting! We will be one of the first cottages in the state to house short term/community based kids and if it goes well they may open up other facilities like ours! 

So, like I said, we have the opportunity to choose the name of our cottage.  We decided that we would let the girls that will be living there help us choose. Their first suggestion? Boss Nation. Figures, right? Needless to say, we are still trying to think of something so if you have any suggestions I would love them! Some of the other cottage names are: Sequoia, Monarch, Centennial. If that helps you at all. : )

Last weekend, to celebrate my new job, Garrett and I ate at some of our favorite restaurants and went to the Castle Rock Outlets. We recently discovered this place called Dozens and it has the best menu. I can't leave without getting a Pumpkin Walnut muffin. It is the best muffin I have ever had.

At the outlets I got my first pair of Ray-Bans, and my first shirt and a new necklace from J. Crew. I'd say it was a successful shopping trip!

 

 I'll be working most weekends, and I'm not too excited about that, but hopefully it'll be alright. It's going to be hard when Garrett is home and I have to go to work. Oh, the life of being an adult. Everyone else does it so I guess I can too! 

I hope you guys are having a great week so far! 

Ps. If you signed up for our Summer Splash Swap, go here to see your partners! 

Perfect for Summer: Lemon Brownies

Well hello friends!

I haven't shared a recipe in awhile, and this one is really good and perfect for summer, so it had to be shared. I don't know about y'all, but Garrett and I LOVE lemon flavored desserts. They are the perfect amount of sweetness paired with a tangy citrus flavor, and they scream summer. 

Despite the fact that these are called Lemon "Brownies", there is no chocolate in them, brownie just refers to the texture. Which is incredible.

What you need:

(for the brownies)

3/4 Cup Flour

3/4 Sugar

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick), softened

2 Eggs

2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

(for the lemon glaze)

1 Cup Powdered Sugar (or to taste)

4 tablespoons Lemon Juice, fresh

8 Teaspoons Lemon Zest

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 pan, set aside.

2. Zest and juice 3 lemons, set aside.

3. Beat together the flour, sugar, salt, and butter until well mixed.

4. Add in the eggs, lemon juice and zest (2 Tablespoons each). Beat for several minutes until you have a creamy, smooth texture.

5. Pour into baking dish and bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle is dry. Do not over bake, these will get dry. 

6. Allow brownies to cool completely before adding the glaze. 

To make the glaze:

Mix powdered sugar, lemon zest, and juice. Spread half over the brownies, let set. Pour the remaining glaze on the brownies, cut into bars, and enjoy!

Taylor Swift VIP Experience: Denver

Hey y'all!

If you have been hanging around here the last couple of posts, then you already know that I have had some amazing Taylor Swift experiences lately. I even got to meet her! You might also remember me telling you that my husband surprised me with VIP tickets to Taylor's Denver show! Well, that's what this post is going to be about, and then after this post I promise there won't be any mention of Taylor Swift for a little while. 

So, Sunday night, Garrett and I got ready and headed to the Pepsi Center to watch Taylor. I was beyond excited. Since we were VIP, we got to enter the venue early, buy merchandise before anyone else, and go to the Red Ultimate Experience VIP room. They had dinner, drinks, and a candy bar along with a photobooth. Oh! And we got two boxes full of Taylor Swift things: lanyards, glowsticks, bracelets, blankets, tour books. You know, cool stuff. We also met some really nice people and had fun visiting before the concert. 

I promise I did not make Garrett do this! The night before the concert, we were at Walmart and he found this cape and decided he was going to paint his face and wear this. He's such a trooper!

I was so excited that I got the chance to see Taylor's mom Andrea again. I had written her a thank you card for choosing us to meet Taylor in Austin, as well as printed off two pictures for her. She is so sweet and genuine.

 

Taylor's "Mean" dress from her Speak Now tour.

Photobooth fun!

Hahahahahahahhahahaha hahahahahahahahaha

After dinner we headed to our seats which were amazing! I have never been up front for a concert of someone I loved, it was the best experience! Our tickets said we were in the 4th row but when we got down there we were actually in the 3rd row. Being able to see everything from there was crazy. Plus, Taylor looked at me once : ).

Get ready for picture overload...

Here's a video that Garrett took of I Knew You Were Trouble! I still can't believe we were so close.

 And there ya have it, I am finally done with all things Taylor Swift related. For now atleast. She was amazing and I am so glad I got to have this whole experience. Thank you to my perfect husband for getting the tickets, dressing up and going with me, and singing along, and yelling. 

I had the time of my life with you.