SPD: Pineapple Angel Food Cake

Its Thursday, so that means its time for this weeks Saw it. Pinned it. Did it!!

My SPD this week was actually done over the weekend :)

Alex was gone for a guys camping weekend & I was trolling pinterest 

{Shocking! I know}

Anyways I came across this pin:

 

This looked soo good, and I had a sweet tooth going on...

So I jumped into the car and went the the store

{luckily for me the grocery store is just around the corner}

Heres what you need

~ Angel Food Cake Mix

~ 20oz can Crushed Pineapple (in the juice)

~ 9x13 baking pan

~ preheat the oven to 350

Thats it! Seriously!!

All you do is mix the cake mix and entire can of pineapple together

When you do this it makes this bubbly fluffy mixture (make sure to use a bigger mixing bowl)

Then pour the batter into a 9x13 baking pan

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

And voila you have cake!

It was really good too!

The only thing is that it makes alot of cake 

and I found out the next day that Alex doesn't like pineapple

{How did I not know that? I mean we have been together for almost 6 years}

Well I hope you like it!!

XOXO   

Ashley

Being a Grown Up! WTH?!?

Two posts in one day! 

Who woulda thunk it?!?

This is gonna get serious!

With the new year, and my upcoming 30th birthday in a mere 18 months,

I have set myself some goals.

ONE: I would like to get my financial self in check!

Yes, I know at 28 this should have already happened... 

But it didn't so dont get crazy on me!

TWO: I would like to get rid of some of this weight that I seem to carry around year after year. I've seen the results from Stephanie & Kristen's blogs & I am seriously considering this whole yeast free diet. I dunno know ~ I really love carbs and sugar, but hey who doesn't?

THREE: I would like to be a better friend (to my girls) and girlfriend (to Alex).

I personally think Im a GREAT girlfriend, but there is always room for improvement.

FOUR: I would like to accomplish some of the things on my 30 before 30 list ~ more on this at a later time!

I think four is a good number of goals to have for the next 18 months!

I have already started on number one...

I sat my self down and had a serious conversation about my spending habits.

When I realized how much I spend on non essential things and how little I spend on the important things its no wonder that my savings account doesnt have very many digits in it.

So I made my self a budget for each month for the entire year on 2013! 

Now obviously this is just a rough estimate for the year, but I am the type of person that has to have everything planned out (money wise) or I will spend the money because its there.

I know, not a good thing!

 Also, as a way to help me stay on track I started using Mint.com

This website also has an app on iPhone so I can take it with me anywhere.

With this handy little helper you can link your bank & credit card accounts so that it will tell you you balance & transactions, it will also tell you when payments are due.

Plus you can set up budgets for all the different categories you need and it tracks your spending in these categories.

Also you can set up goals, like pay off debt or create an emergency fund, and it will calculate how much you need to pay & to which cards or how much you need to save per month for you emergency fund.

Ive never been so excited about budgeting before! 

Now looking over my finances I know that the next 6-8 weeks are gonna be kinda hairy, but after that it looks like blue skies and clear sailing

(I know, lame puns but I needed something cheery to end this with)

Until next time, its just one day at a time!!

XOXO ~ Ashley

Random Wednesday!!

It is Wednesday & that means that the week is half over already!!

Woo-hoo!!

Anyways, is it just me or do the rest of you have the most random thoughts while in the shower??

I mean I can remember all the things that I wanted to do while in the shower, and make all my to do lists for the next day, just to forget them again until the next shower.

Well, while in the shower last night I was trying to think of a blog post for today,

this is still new to me & sometimes I don't know what to write about.

(I guess part of this is because I don't know if anybody is ACTUALLY reading these or not)

Anywoo, back to my random thought...

While I was in the shower last night I thought

"Lets just do a random day!"

And then I thought, I wonder what everybody else's routine is?

I mean I usually take a shower in the morning, but Ive started to do this in the evenings.

I think it helps me sleep a little better, and I feel like I have more time in the mornings 

(especially since I am the person that sets TWO alarms & still cant seem to get outta bed!)

The only down side to this whole showering at night is my hair

You see my hair is super fine ~ translation: DOES NOTHING I WANT

So that whole bed head thing just doesn't work for me...

Anyway, what are your routines??

And just to leave you with a random picture

Here's Leia!!

(She looks like she has a beard because its the stuffing from a toy she killed)

Weekend Wrap up!!

One: Alex's shower soap collection

Two: Dinner & wine for me!

Three: Perfect evening, dinner, wine, pinterest & Pitch Perfect!

Four & Five: A pinterest inspired dessert (it was amazing)

Well, its Monday, AGAIN!!

Why is it that the work week take FOREVER to get through

but the weekend goes by so fast?

Any-who... This past weekend Alex was gone for a guys

camping trip... 

Which means that I get the whole weekend to myself!

Now most people would be excited to have the house to themselves

so they can watch whatever they want, or do nothing.

But me? I get excited for these reasons & the fact that I can

clean the house, I mean REALLY clean!

Does anybody else feel like they cant clean as well when their other half 

is home? Yes? No?

Well, thats how I feel about cleaning when Alex is home...

I mean I feel like once I get a room clean & the way I want, 

in he comes to make a mess behind me!

While Im on the topic of Alex making messes, 

lets talk about his shower soap collection...

Why is it necessary to keep these itty bitty pieces of soap

on the shower shelf?? Why not throw them away?

This I will never understand!

Besides cleaning & doing laundry ALL weekend

I did get out of my house for a little bit.

Friday night I went with a couple of girlfriends to a 

Pampered Chef party, and I told myself I wasn't going to buy anything

BUT who goes to a Pampered Chef party & doesn't buy anything?

Let me tell you I cant wait for my stuff to get here in a couple of weeks!!

Saturday morning I used a Christmas gift certificate 

and got a facial.

If any of you girls out there live in the Sacramento,

Folsom, Placerville area you have to go see

Ashley at La Mae Salon and Spa.

She is wonderful!!

I have known her & her family (her mom is my hair stylist)

for years, and them opening their own salon is GREAT!

The rest of my weekend was spent relaxing,

I may or may not have watched Pitch Perfect 3 or 4 times!

LOVE that movie!

And I already got this weeks SPD done!

Happy girl!

Well thats all for now...

Favorite Things Friday

Guess what?? 

Its FINALLY Friday!!

So I have decided to post some of my favorite things on Fridays...

This week will be beauty products,

I mean we all have those go to products that get us out the door in a hurry, 

plus some that we like to use for special occasions

So here are some of mine           

I have recently been trying to get my skin under control,

and that means that I have been trying to wear the least amount of makeup

#1 is my absolute fav! Its so lite and has just a bit of tint to it to cover up any redness.

Also its got SPF in it!

#2 & #3 are my favorite skin care line right now.

I have tried many, many different products but I feel like my skin 

responds the best to this line...

**side note ~ #2 is the refined cleanser, I don't use this every day since it has the microbeads in it that make my skin feel really clean. On the other days I use Benefits Foaming Cleanser**

 On most days I don't wear eyeshadow...

 Just some eyeliner and mascara

However, times when we are going out, 

or on days I just want to dress it up a bit,

any Urban Decay eyeshadow is my go to...

#4 & #5 are my most favorite palettes right now

#6 is the Benefit They're Real mascara, and let me tell you it works!!

I use this as my everyday mascara & get so many compliments on the length of my lashes.

And let me just tell you that is something since Im a natural blonde.

(meaning, without any mascara it looks like I don't even have lashes!)

Well thats all for today....

SAW IT. PINNED IT. DID IT!

Good morning loves! Today I am linking up with Katie and Steph for my first ever saw it, pinned it, did it! I am super excited about this one because I am going to use it as gifts in the near future (plus it was really easy to make)!

Here is the pin that inspired it all!

Isn't it cute!

So heres what you need:

~ Cute pictures frames (I got these at Michaels for $3.99)

~ Pins with a decorative end (again Michaels)

~ Fabric

~ Cardboard

~ Scissors

~ Tape

~ Pen

I started out by taking the glass out of the frames and used that to trace the size on the cardboard. Once the cardboard is cut to the correct size take a pin and poke it through the cardboard where you want it to be:

Take out pin & cover cardboard with the fabric selected ( I taped mine to the back, but it would also work to hot glue it)

Next I poked the pin though the back to get a hole in the fabric, turned it around the right way, and bent the pin to the length I wanted (Don't know why I don't have pictures of this part, probably too much wine, haha) then taped the pin to the back of the cardboard.

Next I put my fabric covered cardboard back in the frame & put the back! And voila, DONE

I did make another one with the round frame you can see in the background there.

I plan to give one of these little gems to a friend that recently got engaged and seems to have a problem remembering where she put her ring when she washes her hands or puts on lotion!

All in all this cost me less that $10 and took only about 20 minutes!

Not too shabby for my first #spdlinkup!!

One of Those Days

You know its not going to be a good day when you are still laying in bed 20 minutes after your SECOND alarm goes off. (Yes I set 2 alarms in the morning, I'm just NOT a morning person) Anywoo a day that starts like that usually ends up with someone who looks like this when they get to work at 6:45am!!

     

You should also know that a morning that starts like that is not going to get any better! 

Exhibit A: 

I currently work in Antarctica (not really but thats what it feels like) 

They have since fixed this problem and my temp is at a nice 64!

Then the day gets worse! 

Exhibit B:

This is my Xray table which decided to make a very bad and loud sound and send white dust/powder shooting out of it! 

Heres to hoping that the day gets better considering that its not even lunch time yet! :)

~ Ashley

Well This Is New

Well hello there! First I would like to say welcome, my name is Ashley. I am a 20 something that lives in Sacramento. I decided to give this blog thing a try after following some lovely ladies out there in the blog world. I guess I should tell you all a little bit about myself. Like I said I am a 20 something that lives in Sacramento, California. I live with my boyfriend of almost 6 years and our 3 little furbabbies (Yoda, Leia and Roulette). I dont have any extraordinary events going on in my life.................... but who knows what the future holds. Its just one day at a time!