Boyfriend Brownies

Happy Monday, ladies! This blondie is oh so happy for a two day work week! And then it's on to food, family, friends, and shopping!

So, I've been on a bit of a Pinterest pinning spree. It's become an addiction really. I should probably seek professional help. But while pin-binging, I came across this delightful picture...

Ladies, feast your eyes on the Boyfriend Brownie (also known as the Brookster, I personally like Boyfriend Brownie better). I knew right away that this amazing concoction of a chocolate chip cookie nestled in a brownie would be heaven on my taste buds, so I clicked the link looking for the recipe. You could imagine my disappointment when the link took me to the Williams-Sonoma website. Buy an almost $20 mix to make these gems.... yeah, no thanks! So I took to the kitchen and brought out my Martha Stewart side.

And when I say my Martha Stewart side, I really mean I grabbed a box of brownie mix out of a cupboard and some Nestle Toll-house cookie dough out of the fridge.

I'm not lying when I say this is the EASIEST recipe everrrrr! Put in a greased cupcake tin one scoop of brownie batter and one scoop of cookie dough. Bake for 11-12 minutes at 350 degrees, and viola! You have yourself some delicious Boyfriend Brownies!

So, mine didn't turn out as perfect as the picture on Pinterest, but I can promise they were unbelievably delicious!

These would be the perfect dessert to bring to a holiday party, cookie exchange, or let's be honest...the perfect snack while watching a cheese-tastic Hallmark Christmas movie. I'll be making these to bring to Justin's family Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite non-traditional holiday dessert?

When I Grow Up....

I've always had three passions in life. Social work, children..... and esthiology. I know, I know. Weird combination. Social work doesn't exactly go with skin care and makeup artistry, but what can I say...

I've mentioned before that my first three jobs were in salons as a receptionist. I'll be honest, my main pull towards working in salons was the fact that you get salon services done for free, and for a hair color junkie like myself, that's like heaven on earth. But I also really enjoyed learning about cosmotology and esthiology. I probably would have gone to school to be a hair stylist after high school if I wasn't afraid of butchering someone's locks.

All of this to say, after a lot of thinking and talking to Justin and my fabulous hair stylist/cousin Cara, I'm seriously thinking about going to esthetician school. It's not something that I would be able to jump into right now. With our wedding less than a year away, I need to be saving all of the money I can! But it's definitely something I will be looking into after we get married.

I absolutely love social work, but if I'm looking way into my future, it's not something I want to do once Justin and I start having children. Social work careers take up a lot of your time and energy, and if at all possible, I want to be a stay-at-home mom when my children are young. But let's be honest, this day and age, being a stay-at-home mom, for most families, is financially impossible, and I'm more than willing to help out if needed. Being an esthetician would allow me more flexibility than a social work job would.

So you never know ladies, in a couple years I could be giving you facials or doing your makeup and working my social work magic on you at the same time!

Pinning is Winning

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It's be WAY too long since I last linked up with Michelle for Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday.

Barf! That brings me back to my horrid Catholic School days. The most troubling 3 years of my life. (My apologies to any of you who are Catholic...)


But let's get serious, it really has been waaaayyyyy too long since I last took part in my absolute favorite link-up. So without further adeiu....

I could lay on this couch all day

 

Gold-dipped vase

 

Glitterized booties? Okay!

 

My dream nugget...sigh!

 

Pretty pretty

 

More pretty pretty

 

This would go perfectly with my first pin!

 

Love this peterpan collar! I could do without the fuzzy sweater part...

 

I need metallic nails

 

Just in time for the holidays!

Don't forget! All Yours Truly ad space is FREE with the promo code i'mback. Reserve your spot while you still have time!

Trouble In Paradise

You guys, something serious happened this weekend. A serious ripple in the smooth ocean that is mine and Justin's relationship. You would think that after almost three years together, we would know a lot about each other, but apparently, that's not the case. Let me set up the scene for you all...

Friday night, Justin and I went to listen to a concert that his brother was playing at. On the way home, I started flipping through some radio stations when I remembered something that makes me oh so happy. I'm sure we all have those local radio stations that start playing Christmas music the day after Halloween. For some people, that's like Hell on earth. Well, I happen to absolutely love Christmas music. I could listen to it all year round!

So, of course, I flip to the Christmas radio station and am just overcome with happiness. You have to be heartless to not feel that immense joy when you hear a great Christmas tune....

Unfortunately, my fiance is a heartless grinch!

I can tell he's staring at me out of the corner of my eye, and when I turn to look at him, expecting to see hearts and unicorns in his eyes, all I see is disbelief and annoyance. These words came out of his mouth:

"You're one of those people?"

Umm excuse me? Those people? Yes, actually, I am one of those people, and proud of it! And why does he not know this about me? We've spent two Christmases together already!

After explaining my love of Christmas music and the holiday season and why I think it should be celebrated year round, he has the nerve to say this:

"I just don't think I can get past this. I'm not sure how we're going to move forward. We need to seek professional help."

Professional help? Maybe he should just grow a heart!

But ladies, I have good news. They always say there's a rainbow after the storm, and whoever "they" is was right. Since Justin is the best fiance and always gives me what I want, he let me listen to Christmas music several times over the weekend. I think he's finally coming around on the joyousness that is the holidays! I guess he does have a heart after all...

{via}

Engagement Pictures Are In!

It's Monday morning and I'm still in bed. Ahh, the perks of working for the county! While laying here, soaking up the down time, I've been giving myself a little bloggie peptalk. I've been slacking on blogging for quite some time, but my time away has been great for inspiration. With that being said, Yours Truly is officially back full-force. And in order to celebrate properly, all Yours Truly ad spaces are FREE with the promo code i'mback. Yes, you read that right allllllll ad spaces. So get your free ad while the promo code is available!

Moving on to, in my opinion, better things...

Our engagement pictures came in late last week! Justin and I have had time to look them over several times, and the consensus.... I hate most of them! It wasn't that our photographer didn't do a good job, because she's great. It's the fact that a) I'm not very photogenic and b) It was windier than windy that day which meant that my hair was everywhere, which also means that my HUGE forehead, aka my fivehead, was gleaming for the world to see. But I shouldn't be too dramatic. We did get over 40 pictures that I like. And Justin said we can get more pictures done in the Spring, which I was secretly already planning anyways!

Here are some of our favorites. And when I say ours, I mean mine...

Justin is really embarrassed by this one and refused to let me put it up on my personal Facebook. Sooo, I put it up on my blog instead! None of his friends read this anyways...

This picture just captures our relationship. Definitely one of my faves.

In other news, I'm going back to my blondie self on Wednesday. Buh-bye dark ombre. You were a fun change, but I'm a blonde at heart.

Happy Monday, ladies! And don't forget to snag your free ad space!!

Christmas Wish List

News Flash! It's November which means it's almost my favorite time of the year... CHRISTMAS! So naturally, I've already been making my Christmas wish list. You better believe I've been sending JB some ideas, like this gorgeous Michael Kors watch that I posted about yesterday.

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Some other items on my Christmas wish list:

Tiffany & Co Smart Wallet {here}

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Just some items, to name a few :)

What is on your Christmas wish list?

Weekend Highs and Lows

Happy Monday, ladies! Here's to hoping that week three at the new job has a little more in store for me so I'm not staring out the window for 8.5 hours a day.

Highs

*Justin and I spent some quality time with friends Friday night celebrating my lovely friend, Paige's, birthday. You could say we had some fun...

* Justin and I got a little preview of our engagement pictures. We should be getting the entire disk later this week. Obviously I'm super critical of myself and didn't like a couple of the one's we were sent, but here are two of my favorite preview pictures.

Low

* I sent Justin a link to this gorgeous Michael Kors watch that I found for a steal on eBay as a suggestion for my Christmas present, and he deleted it immediately! How dare he!

What are your weekend highs and lows?