The Patriotic Peacock: April 2011

Friday, April 29, 2011

Sponsors, Winners and Princesses

Thank you to all of my April Sponsors...be sure to take a peak!

And late but not least...the winner of the Vaalia Lelek Serum is #3- Jenn from pickles and cupcakes! Please email me with your mailing address :)

AND we can't forget the Royal Wedding that I, even though I said I wasn't going to, couldn't resist watching this morning and I'm sooo glad that I did! Duchess Catherine was a gem!

Sorry for the poor quality-I took them from TV! Hopefully some good wedding dress pictures will be posted online soon so you can see the whole thing...it was gorgeous!

Happy Friday everyone!

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

I'm still here...and I went to Ikea!

Hello friends! I missed you all. Definitely didn't mean to be gone so long but we have been traveling and I am just now sitting down to tell you all hello.

I have so many things to post about, but today I am going to narrow it down to my fun Ikea finds. We went to Virginia for Easter and on our way back, my hubby surprised me and stopped in at IKEA! Not only did he stop but he also let me pick out a few goodies ;-) Ladies, I picked a good man!

Here's what ended up in my shopping cart:

2 overstuffed black and white velvet pillows! I will be putting them in our bedroom as soon as I get unpacked...they were only $13 a piece!

A MASSIVE terra cotta pot for $6!!! I want to put a few different plants in there...any ideas?

2 very pretty metal "lace" hanging planters ($5 a piece)

Even Caleb got a little treat. Some very colorful juice cups and snack bowls...I LOVE these things, especially since they come in a pack of 6 for $1.99!

These were my Ikea treats...oh how much trouble I would be in if I lived closer than 1 1/2 hours from an Ikea!

I hope you all had a FABULOUS Easter!

I have a quick favor to ask (again)...would you all mind voting for me? There's only a few days left to vote and if each of my followers voted every day until the deadline of May 2nd, I could win the whole thing! This would mean amazing exposure for my shop and I would be forever grateful to each of you for helping me!

Just click HERE and then click the little orange thumbs up sign until the voting number goes up one. Thanks you all...I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart!!!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

When Daddy's away Mommy and Caleb do this...

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

My "Best" Picks from my Google Reader

My top blog post picks for the week!

Hospitality is.....lemonade from Simply This and That. A great article about the simplicity of serving.

My fellow army wife and friend telling her account of the tornado that tore through North Carolina...very eye opening.

This really fun tutorial for your babies first weeks or months from Young House Love

How about this ADORABLE shirred shirt tutorial from The Girl Creative???

This $180 gift card giveaway from my friend Danielle at Just Dandy...what isn't awesome about a chance to win free stuff???

Darling hairbows from Melanie Ham Designs who also joined up with my CREATE blog party :)

A fabulous before and after bedroom design from 6th Street Design School

Beautiful backyard romantic getaway from Jessi at Our Little Family (who also joined in on the CREATE party fun!)

Those are a few of my favorites from my backed up list on Google Reader of over 1000+ unread blog posts! Wow, I was behind but it was sure fun catching up :)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Cheaters Chicken and Rice Soup and Other Diddle's

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Last week my allergies exploded...as in I felt like my head was filled with sand. I'm constantly sneezing, coughing, my eyes are watery. I'm pretty sure I am in the midst of a sinus infection and after all of our house hunting this past weekend, I am worn smack. dab. out. The thing about being sick is that I always want chicken soup but I never feel like making it. Today I was determined to make it but instead of the hour long process that it takes me to make it all from scratch, I cheated and it is the best chicken soup I have ever had...fo ril yo. I won't be going back to the old recipe.

Here's the recipe for my Cheater's Chicken and Rice Soup:

1 package of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (Whole Grain Chicken Medley, pictured)

1 can of chicken broth

6 cups of water

1 rotisserie chicken

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 cup of diced carrots (frozen or fresh)

dash of pepper

Add your rice, broth, carrots, cumin, pepper and water in a large pot and bring to a boil while you tear the rotisserie chicken into small pieces. I added some of the skin to the pot also to give it some flavor and I used a breast, thigh and leg. You can add as much chicken as you want. I ended up using 1/3 of the chicken. I also added some of the good juice from the plastic rotisserie container that the chicken came in (fatty broth..how could I resist?)

I let it come to a boil and then I cut a couple of thick slices of french bread to dip in my soup.

I'm feeling better already!

***This is the last day to enter for the current giveaway! Click HERE to enter :)

****Will you vote for me? I know I am annoying to keep on asking but you know you love me! ;-)

Click HERE to vote! Just click the orange thumbs up symbol!

*****AND there's still time to enter the CREATE blog party! Join in on the fun with us!!!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Here we go again...

"Say what????"

We have been keeping it a secret for a couple of weeks until things were more "final" (or as final as army life will allow...we all know how that goes!).

We've been cleaning and scouting and traveling and cleaning and organizing and cleaning some more because....

WE'RE MOVING....AGAIN!!!!

I have bittersweet feelings about this move. We have made some great friendships here. We have a beautiful home and a a city that we finally know our way around in. Most importantly, we have an amazing church that we love to pieces and a pastor who takes the time to check on us. Caleb and I have had more time here than Seth and I will always remember our time together, just the two of us, while Seth was in Iraq.

However, this move will mean a lot for our family. Seth will have a much better job situation. He will be an instructor at Fort Rucker and he is really excited. This should mean that he will have more time to spend with us. We also took a roadtrip to scout out where our new home will be and the town is just beautiful. It's quaint and well kept and the people have the deepest accent you could imagine. I felt like I stepped right into "Sweet Home Alabama". Our real estated agent is the sweetest lady who calls me "darlin'" everytime she answers the phone. She took us to "Honey's Hotdogs" for lunch. It's a literal hole in the wall with the most amazing chili dogs and sweet tea you could hope to find. Caleb was in "dog dog" heaven because hot dogs

(or dog dog's as he says) are his FAVORITE.

God has been so good to us while we have been here at Fort Benning and we will be leaving behind some wonderful people but I know that He has other plans for us and we are so excited to see what's in store!

So, there's our little-big announcement. I will be tweeting live on Sunday as we try to find a perfect new home to "flip"...so if you tweet, you can find me here and help us out!

Flipping a house has been one of me and Seth's dreams since we got married. We used to come home from work and eat dinner on the couch while we watched "Flip This House". Now, if everything works out, we will be able to have a chance at flipping! The cost of buying a home near Fort Rucker is so much cheaper than renting that it would be almost stupid for us not to buy again. Now, we just have to find the right flipper :)

I hope you all are having a great Friday....what plans are in store for your Saturday and Sunday?

Don't forget to show off your creations here: CREATE Blog Party!

Linking up with:

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Create-ability and Creativity

There is no denying that I am a creative brained person. Some people are good at math and science and staying on task. Other's are great at organizing and budgeting. I, however am not good at any of those...but I do enjoy being creative, whether I am good at that is debatable but I at least enjoy it :)

So, what about all of you out there who don't consider yourselves "creative"? I have had so many people tell me, "I wish I could be more creative", "I don't have a creative bone in my body"...etc etc. What do I have to say to all of you who feel that way? Here it goes: You don't have to be creative to create. Simple as that. With so many amazing blogs in the blogosphere, you have just about any tutorial you can imagine available to you in a few seconds! All you have to do is follow directions. Someone else already did the hard part for you bu figuring out how to do it. I just wanted to encourage all of you out there who don't feel capable of being creative and let you know that you can DO IT!!! Don't be intimidated to try something out and if you fail at it, big deal, who cares? You have no idea how many failed projects I have laying in pieces all over my craft room...just sitting there wasting away because I failed at my project. I just push it aside and move onto the next thing.

With all that being said I want to put all of you creative and create-able people to the test. I am having a "CREATE" blog party link up! You can link ANYTHING that you create! A recipe, a craft, a scrapbook page, a piece of homemade jewelry, a pretty flower bed that you planted, a homemade house cleaner...and the list goes on and on and on. Sooo, get those wheels turning or get to blog searching for a fun tutorial to try out because I want to see your creations!!!!

For those of you who may not be familiar with blog parties:

1. They're great for blog exposure

2. They're fun and easy to link up to

3. You get to share with others that you wouldn't normally be able to

4. You get to meet new bloggers!

5. Did I mention they're GREAT for blog exposure???

I will leave the link up for a week so you have plenty of time to join in.

Be sweetie birds and link back :)

AND...

on a total selfish note...I have a little request from any and all of you who feel I'm worthy of a thumbs up click. Will you vote for me for Top 25 Mom-Shops? You can vote once a day until April 25th by clicking the thumbs up symbol beside the vote count....click here to help a mom out :) Thanks in advance! Love you all!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Mood Boards

Some dream interior design ideas...do you have a favorite?

Traditional Mood Board by retrogalusa on Polyvore.com

Have you entered this week's giveaway yet? Check it out here!

Modern Eclectic by retrogalusa on Polyvore.com

Shabby Chic by retrogalusa featuring gold plated jewelry

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

How to Make Your Own Bath Salts

I'm all about a hot bath. My husband doesn't understand it. In fact, in the almost 4 years that we've been married, I have never seen him take a bath...he hates them! I, on the other hand, take a bath every day...sometimes twice. A hot bath is to me at night what a hot cup of coffee is to me in the morning. It helps me relax and unwind and sleep better. So it's no wonder that I really love bubble bath and bath salts and bath bombs and fizzes and bath beads and all those other neat bath things. I decided to try my hand at making my own bath salts. I can't take all the credit though. Back in January when I miscarried, my friend ever since 5th grade sent a box in the mail. She had made some lavender bath salts for me and topped it off with a Starbucks gift card...the perfect package to help cheer me up...she knows me too well. These bath salts aren't only great for everyday baths but they are wonderful gift ideas too!

Sooo, here we go:

You will need a bag or box of epsom salt (you can find it in your pharmacy section at any grocery or drug store and it's inexpensive)

A glass jar with a lid

Some essential oil or fragrance oil (essential oil is great for aromatherapy and for those allergic to perfumes, otherwise, the fragrance oil is usually cheaper and smells just as good)

I found some rosemary mint oil...oooo la la (mint and I have a little thing for each other, especially in the spring time, but don't tell Seth)

Fill your jar up with epsom salt, add a few drops of oil (about 6-10), put the lid back on and SHAKE!!!

This was a gift for a friend, so I took some glass paint and labeled the front...VOILA!

They smell good PLUS epsom salt is supposed to help with achy joints and bones so it's a win win!

Random epsom salt facts:

Epsom salt can reduce swelling caused by sprains and bruises. It also helps reduce muscle cramps. The next time you experience these symptoms, try adding some to your bath water. According to the Epsom Salt Council, magnesium--one of the main components of Epsom salt lowers blood pressure, increases energy levels and helps digestion.

AND speaking of essential oils, don't forget to enter for your chance at winning some! Take a look at the website, there's an oil for you or your hubby...or your grandma! It's a great product and one lucky gal will win :) Click HERE to enter!

Linking up with:

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Giveaway at Shast'a Blog!

I found this giveaway on my friends blog! Check out Shasta's blog to enter!

Gas prices are just so ridiculous right now! Who doesn't want free fashion and a free tank of gas?

Here is how you enter:

1. Follow Shasta's blog. You must follow to win! Comment in the comment section for one entry.

2. Tweet about the giveaway and then post the link for two entries. Please leave the comment twice so that all of your entries get counted.

3. Blog about this giveaway for four entries. Please leave a link in the comment section four times so that all of your entries get counted.

The winner will be chosen on Friday, April 15th.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Classy Kate

I know that everyone and their mama is totally obsessed with "The Royal Wedding" right now and as much as I hate to admit it, I may not be obsessed but I am definitely intrigued. Especially because I think Kate Middleton is the classiest girl when it comes to appearances. She is always put together and fashionable without being tacky. I decided to take some of my favorite outfits of her's and put together some fashion boards mimicking her style.