A Quick Holiday Treat

Apparently, the snack and Rolo God's have been talking to me because I have seen this on so many blogs and then when I went to the store yesterday, there was a recipe (well, not really a recipe it's 3 ingredients!!) card in the end cap. I was tasked with making a dessert for 2 holiday parties tomorrow and 1 salad.  So, I said I'd make a whole batch and split it between both parties and make 2 extra desserts. Easy enough.

We start off with 3 ingredients, pretzels (any kind), Rolos, and Pecans

Turn the oven onto 350 

On a sheet of parchment (totally optional) place 56 pretzels on the tray. 

That's how many Rolos were in the bag

Then, sit and watch the Today Show and unpeel the Rolos

Then pop them in the oven for 3-5 minutes. I'd watch them pretty closely. I went for 4 minutes. 

Take them out of the oven and mush a pecan onto the top. I did half pecans half pretzels. 

I popped the tray into the fridge for the chocolate to firm up a little quicker. Then I'm going to put them in a cute holiday tin and take them for Christmas Eve dinner today! Easy enough. I think unpeeling the Rolos took the longest amount of time.

Hubs had requested I make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I added a little extra brown sugar to the top so it's extra gooey. YUM. I created my own recipe with the base from Betty Crocker. 

Next up I have to make a St. Louis favorite - Gooey Butter Cake! 

Santa, Southwest and Jen

On Monday, Jeff dropped me off at the Southwest Airlines terminal and I was ready to head to Florida. I make it through security and as I'm putting on my shoes, I look up and see a HUGE photo booth with a real Santa! A nice guy from Microsoft stopped me and asked if I wanted my photo taken with Santa. I said, it's my birthday, so sure why not! They snapped 3 quick photos and  whisked me off to the side to show me the results. 2 of the 3 were bad of me and 1 of 3 were bad of Santa. They showed me this new technology that pulled my best look and Santa's best look and made 1 completely different photo. How cool is that?

Never mind that he's touching my butt. ha, he was one creepy dude. But, in the end, I sat on Santa's lap. He gave me 2 candy canes since it was my birthday. What a sweet guy. 

So, thanks for making my season a little brighter Creepy Santa, Southwest and Microsoft!

Today is Wednesday

But I am blogging on Monday! Why? Well, because I'm in Florida by now! I'll be home Thursday night.

Unfortunately, per my Dr's orders, no swimming for me! No pools, no oceans...no nothing. When I went to the ENT today, they determined that I needed to have a tube put in my ear. I did a little bit of freaking out, because they put a hole in my ear drum!  It took about 10 minutes, the worst part was the numbing meds, they super stung! The doctor told me, it is the same procedure they do to little kids, but they knock the kids out because they squirm.

Squirm, I did not.

But, I'm back in action. I still can't hear yet, but it's getting better. I can't get my ear wet and I packed a bag of cotton balls. I brought a bottle of ibuprofen on the plane just in case.

Be back on Thursday!

Birthday Dinner - Family Style

Since it was the big 30, hubs wanted to have the family get together to celebrate my birthday. I said it wasn't necessary to have 2 parties, but he insisted. So, we picked to go to Yia Yia's in Chesterfield. 1 because it was centrally located and 2, because it's yummy!

As I've told some, I've been having a hard time dealing with the fact that I'm turning 30. I had a life plan, and now, my plan is about a year off, so it's frazzling. But, here we are. So knowing that, we didn't invite the whole fam. Just my mom and step dad, my brother and his girlfriend and then my in-laws. Dinner was really good. I had this free range chicken with a red chili pan sauce. Yum!

The cake that we ordered from Sarah's Cake Shop was fantastic. The box that the cake came in was too small, so it got a little smushed. But, the nice people at Yia Yia's came out and celebrated our birthdays. Mom's in the 18 and mine is the 19th. The cake was a 4 layers with raspberry filling. Fantastic!

Then, after dinner Mom and Steve came back to the house because like a dodo bird, I left her birthday present at home. I got her a super cute over sized wristlet from Coach that is fantastic. I kinda want one too.  Before they left, I had mom snap a photo of us by the tree. Apparently, we're covering the tree. Totally loving my new Lilly Pulitzer Connie Sweater Dress!  

And there you have it, celebrating 2 birthday's in 1!

Gin & Juice for Jen & Jesus

Saturday night, we hosted our annual Holiday/Birthday party bash at our house. Let's just say, this year was quite fun. We had about 15 of our friends over for a fun evening of dance parties, watching every SNL digital short known to man. I went through all the photos from last night, and apparently I was a dancing fool! So, here are a few of my favorites from the night!

My favorite chardonnay, Clos Du Bois sent me a limited edition apron. They had teamed up with Banana Republic limited edition wine bottles. While, I didn't have enough time to order the limited edition bottles, I picked up a few industrial sized bottles at Costco! Fun for all! Love the apron! Thanks, Clos Du Bois!

Julie, Marcy, Merri, Mckenna and Jenn 

We had opted to get a Chick-Fil-A nugget tray. If you need to feed a large group of people, this is a great option. We had one a few years ago, and it was such a hit, we did it again. By the end of the night, we had devoured 120 nuggets. 

All the guys and Melissa watching SNL digital shorts. After yesterday, I do have to say my favorite is Jack Sparrow. Hubs and I watched it a few times yesterday when we were putting our Spotify playlist together.

Me, Jenn, Melissa and Elena

And we can't forget Riley Sue! She went to the Yuppy Puppy Pet Spa on Friday for a haircut for the party!

Melissa, Ryan and Chelsea

Aww, Besties!

Let's not forget hubs. Isn't he adorable?

The whole gang!

Apparently, I was a dancing machine last night. Here is one of my favorite shots. And I don't think I spilt my wine! Jeff decided to add a lot of '90's gangsta rap to the playlist, so basically it was a high school house party all over again. 

via

Marcy & Joey brought me a present - Gin & Titonic Ice cube tray.  Oddly enough, I have been wanting these for years, but never bought them! So, we made ice cubes, and I'll be enjoying a lovely Gin & Tonic very soon!

Marcy & Merri

Notice the tree? Well, it became a hat. 

This has to be my favorite photo of the evening. That, and about 50 photos of me dancing. There is also some videos going around. And I believe I revived my pickles, pickles pickles video. I'll see if I can flag that one down. Based on the fun that we had, I'm a little surprised I was up at 7:30. Based on the recycling I took out this morning, I think a good time was had by all. Thanks to everyone for coming! We'll do it again next year!

Best Husband Ever

Because this year is a milestone birthday, I asked my dear husband for something a little out of the ordinary. I wasn't really expecting him to do it, but I'm such a lucky girl because I got this box.

Wednesday night, we went out to dinner and I casually asked if he went and saw Garrett Ray at Louis. He said he had. A month ago, I had went to go look at bags to for sizing. I thought I would be a nice wife and get a card with the name of the bag on the card. I brought that card home and it sat on the coffee table for over a month. So, I assumed that he wasn't going to do anything with it. When I went the bag I wanted was sold out company wide, but I was told they would be getting more in before Christmas. So, Jeff tells me that he went and all the bags were still sold out, but he had placed one on hold for my for pickup in January. Then he started talking about a similar bag. We got home, and I started researching this other bag, since I hadn't really thought to look at anything else. Then I decided to take a shower and when I got out of the shower, the box was sitting on the bed. I brought it in to the office and asked what it was. I think Jeff was pretty pleased with himself about making up the story. So, I in the box was my bag. The catch was, I wasn't allowed to talk about it, tweet about or carry it until Sunday. And if anyone knows me, that was tough to do!

So, I'm excited because I get to take it to Florida with me tomorrow! Yay! Now, for those who say that's an awful lot to spend on a bag. I will tell you I have one other Louis, and it was probably one of the best investments I've ever made. It has a lifetime warranty. It doesn't go out of style, and it's classic. I've had my Speedy 30 for 6 years and it's in perfect shape! I'm a believer investment pieces and it will be a great bag to pass down to a kiddo one day.