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Good morning loves,

So it's Friday - FINALLY!

Tonight I am going to be extremely busy and under tons of pressure because tomorrow is... My best friend's last (hopefully) baby shower that our friend Alisha and I are hosting for her. It's a BOY!
We waited to tell everyone when we sent out the invitations but now everyone should know! I bought all of the prizes and now I just have to get a couple of things today: Gift bags for the prizes, green bows, little sticks (I bought cute custom cupcake circles with sayings on them) to glue them on, a best buy gift card for the guys game, yarn for the belly game, some more party favors and jolly ranchers to go in the big bottle.

Hopefully we can get the food in the slow cookers and leave them til morning. I have to pick up the cupcakes at 11am and then head up there. I will post pictures for sure :) This week was pretty busy.

Michigan is yet again the four seasons in a day state. It was around 55 and rainy but so so warm like a cool spring day - lovely. Then it turned into intense fog into which you took blind turns onto streets not knowing if you were about to get t-boned. It then stormed and thundered pouring rain that turned into sleet and the temperatures went down freezing the roads and snowing white outs throughout Michigan. There was actually a 35-car pileup on the highway about 1/4 mile from my office window, crazy! Anyways, I have a picture to show how we, here in Michigan, feel as of the weather lately:

For sure! Except the first one ...it wasn't hot, just warm. I do love this state, just in-between seasons it gets a bit confusing and hard to find clothes to wear. Can't ever put my shorts away for the winter :)

I basically sat inside all week listening to the rain after a long day of work. It's not hidden that I ADORE thunder and rain...I sit on my porch during tornado warnings. I did once about two years ago when one came through two miles away. It was pretty scary, actually...but weather is just so amazingly natural, I can't get enough of the power of it :) so I watched Sex and the City (I have all of them) and drank some wine with my little old man sleeping next to me:


Other than working and watching reruns all week I haven't done much because I didn't have the cashflow until today (payday - love). So I have to run out to Michael's, Party City, and CVS to get my shop on. I have to get a couple of prizes and the rest of that junk. Then I have to pick up all of the food from my friends house and go home. From there I have to get the prize bags ready for the shower, get the food going, and I am hanging out with an old friend, Keith for some beers to soothe my frayed nerves. Because I know for damn sure that it's going to be a long night. Plus I have to find something to wear for tomorrow and get it all prepared for when I get up.

Oy vey do I have a busy day ahead of me. I'm at work now and I think I might ask to leave around 1:30 to get it all sorted out :)

Last night, I was doing my usual blog-reading and I often stumble to other people's blogs if the ones I follow aren't updated daily. Anyway, I ran into a woman that posted some gorgeous looking recipes and one was lasagna. I've never made homemade lasagna, and I am not very adept at cooking...I think it skips a generation in my family :) I try but ...I have no patience for it. At all.

So I asked my mom if she wanted to make lasagna together and my heart only fell once during this cooking process which is a success in my book. It happened when my mother picked up the ingredients at a little country store in town. Well...they didn't have the ONE ingredient I truly loveee in my lasagna and that is Ricotta cheese.

So anyway, here are the things I used:
One can of tomato paste
One can of tomato sauce
One can of diced tomatoes
Around 2 cups of raw mushrooms diced
A package of sweet italian sausage links (we just used breakfast sausage links cut into about half inch pieces)
Italian seasoning
Parmesan Cheese
1 bag Mozzarella Cheese
1 container Rictotta Cheese (I used two bags of Mozz. since I didn't have Ricotta)

I put my lasagna noodles in another pot to boil before starting the food.
I cut up pieces of italian sausage links into half-inch pieces, browned them, and then put them in a pot. I then added the tomato sauce, paste, diced tomatoes, seasoning, and mushrooms. I covered the pot stirring occasionally and simmered for around 20-25 minutes. I then got out my lasagna pan (9x13) and put a small layer of sauce at the bottom so the noodles wouldnt stick (try to not let the sausage get in it so you don't waste it). Then I layered my noodles at the bottom, covered them with the sausage/mush/sauce, sprinkled parmesan and mozz cheese on that, then put more noodles over it, then I put all of the sauce and cheeses on again (this is where you put dollops of ricotta if you have it), then I put another layer of noodles, then I put the sauce and cheeses on again and put the rest of the mozz on top. Then I covered in tin foil and baked at 350° for 45 minutes. I took the foil off and baked for an additional ten minutes to brown the cheese a little at the top.

When I took it out I let it sit 5 minutes, then I cut it into 8 pieces (they were BIG slices), then I let it sit another 5-10 minutes so that it wouldn't fall apart when I scooped it out. All three of us just about died eating it all. It was SO amazing, probably the best I've ever had. And I love my pasta dishes. It was so yummy. I only have a picture of me stirring the sauce, mushrooms, and sausage:


I also received my Harry Potter sweater that I ordered on Etsy from Soeffingcute. She makes nerdy things :) super adorable. Anyway, it was $51 with shipping but I just placed another order today for a custom sweater with my favorite book series characters on it: Sweep Series by Cate Tiernan. I'm SO excited to get it in two weeks :) She's so nice and the shirts are great.


Can you tell how much I hate it? Lol, I'm such a nerd but that's okay :) They are wonderful books... can't stop the love.

Also, I am extremely stingy with money if I know I can get something for much cheaper (amazon is my best friend, I have bought around 200-400 books/movies/phone accessories on here) and craigslist (where I bought my loveseat and chair for my bedroom for $100). So I go to ValueWorld every couple of months or so. I love looking through their household items. The one by my home is SUPER dodgy, full of odd things and kind of trashy items. But I still go, no worries here.

I found these LOVELY vases. This is of course the after picture of cleaning them up with some glass cleaner, but they were around 10 bucks for all of them:

The big one with the metal had a price tag that said $17 and they resold it for $4.95 :)
The smaller three were 95-1.95 each. One also has a slight green tinge to its glass which is so pretty. I can't wait to get my own place again and vase it up! I want to fill it full of treasures that I find on my poorstorescore trips.

Anyway, that's it for today. I have tons of stuff to do and plan.
I will post some pictures from the shower soon enough.

xoAmanda