Weekend Happenings + Winner

Did y'all miss me on Friday? Well on Thursday I had to have a colonoscopy. Don't know if y'all have had one before but its not fun. I didn't get to eat for 36 hours, yes that's right! I am still not sure how I managed that feat. I won't go into details about why I needed one but thankfully everything was fine. Friday I was wipped out and tired from the anesthesia so no post!

Plus side was I had the procedure done in Charlotte so I got to go out with my girlfriends the next night! Here is my outfit from that night.

Blouse: JCrew, Jeans: Seven "The Skinny", Boots: BCBG, Necklace: Stella and Dot
The blouse is from JCrew and I absolutely love it. It comes in green and taupe too. It is the perfect plain blouse to dress up or down. I have a hard time finding plain colored blouses that look cute and this one fits well and looks great on!


While I was in Charlotte we took Sterling for his first haircut. As much as I loved his curls it was turning into a mullet/rat tail in the back and that is just not cool. He did great, not one tear. I was a proud Momma.

The new "do"

I painted my nails Essie's Limited Addiction and love it!

I went in a Madewell store for the first time and loved it. I knew JCrew owned them but I had never stopped in the store before. It did not disappoint. and for those of you who don't have a store they offer free shipping online a definite plus in my book! I picked up this dress.
Madewell Dovetail Shirt Dress

I am kind of wishing I bought these dresses as well. Madewell had such fabulous colors and great prices!
Madewell East End Shift Dress

Madewell MelodyMaker Dress

I enjoyed some amazing red wine my parents had. I can always count on them to have the best wines. Don't be alarmed by the weird wolf on the bottle, this stuff is delicious! The wine is out of my price range at $28 a bottle on special at Harris Teeter but totally worth it for a special occasion!

And the Winner of the Novica Giftcard is: Chicago Mom Heather! I will email you the giftcard later today! Congrats! xoxo

Sweet Tea and Stiletos

So I forgot to mention earlier I am guest posting over at Sweet Tea and Stilettos today sharing my recipe for this amazing dip!

Please go check Hannah's adorable blog HERE! You have to love the name right? Hannah is so cute and is always sharing great recipes and fashions! Her blog is a must read! Oh and the dip is a must make for any football game party!

Novica Giveaway!

I am sure you all are familar with National Geographic, right? It makes me laugh becuase I subscribe to like 20 magazines and National Geographic is Matt's only magazine request! Well the magazine has started a site called NOVICA, where artisans from all over the world can sell their products. Novica has graciously offered me a gift certificate for 37.50 towards anything on their site for one of my readers! I think this website is so neat because you will get an orginal hand-crafted item from another country. And Each piece comes with an artisan card telling you about the designer- pretty cool right? They have everything from Jewelry, Scarfs, Artwork, Purses, you name it!

I could have browsed on this site for hours. There are so many amazing and unique products from all over the world! So go see for yourself at NOVICA.
Here are a few things I am loving from their amazing site!

ZIG ZAG SCARF FROM INDIA

ALPACA WOOL BLEND SHAWL FROM THE ANDES

WOOL SHAWL IN ENCHANTED SKY

SILK AND WOOL "PRISIM" SHAWL FROM INDIA

LEATHER BLACK SEA HANDBAG FROM BALI

GOLD VERMIL GARNET CHANDELIER EARRINGS FROM INDIA

TURQUOISE TAXCO MOON COCKTAIL RING FROM MEXICO

They also have some amazing artwork on here!
PINK LOTUS FROM THAILAND PAINTING

SUNSET PAINTING FROM THE ANDES

FELINE FROM THE ANDES

And for the man in your life they have some really cool gifts. You can get a head start on your Christmas shopping!
STAR LIT SUN CUFF LINKS FROM PERU

MENS LEATHER WALLET FROM BALI

MENS ALPACA WOOL SCARF FROM THE ANDRES

Here are some links to help you get started shopping:
http://accessories.novica.com/womens/
Keyword: womens accessories

http://accessories.novica.com/mens/
Keyword: mens accessories

http://accessories.novica.com/mens/cufflinks/
Keyword: cufflinks

http://accessories.novica.com/womens/scarves/
Keyword: womens scarves

http://accessories.novica.com/mens/scarves/alpaca-wool/
Keyword: wool scarves

http://www.novicalive.com/
Keyword: Novica Live


To enter to win you must be a follower of Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers. Leave a comment telling me what you would use your Gift Card towards. Winner will be announced Monday October 24. Good Luck!

Stuffed Japapenos + Halloween Cocktail

I mentioned Monday that I made the Pioneer Woman's Stuffed Jalapenos last weekend. They were a huge hit. Every last one was scarfed down. I recommend using center cut bacon since it is thinner and will crisp up better while cooking. Instead of plain cream cheese, I used onion and chive cream cheese and mixed in Monterrey Jack to give the peppers extra flavor. If you like a little heat leave a few seeds in the jalapenos. But be sure to wash your hands after cutting the peppers, I can't tell you how many times I have rubbed an eye or my nose while doing this and it burns forever! I found no need for toothpicks to hold these together. I just made sure the bacon seam was down on the rack when cooking. These would be perfect for a Holiday party. They serve well at room temperature as well as hot.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapenos
Ingredients
■20 whole Fresh Jalapenos, 2-3 Inches In Size
■2 cubes Cream Cheese, softened (I used 1 tub Onion and Chive Cream Cheese plus about 1 cup of Monterrey Jack Cheese).
■1 pound Thin(regular) Bacon, Sliced Into Thirds

Instructions
If you have them, slip on some latex gloves for the pepper prep... Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane (the source of the heat; leave a little if you like things HOT). Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half. Wrap jalapeno with bacon pieces (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle.

Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don’t want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to the squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.

Now on to the drinks. My brother in law found this recipe and they were so good. I am a very picky mixed drink person. My standard drink is vodka with fresh squeezed lemon and maybe a splash of water. I'm hard core when it come to liquor. Just kidding, but I do hate when drinks are too sugary or sweet and this was not at all. The lime juice and ginger ale paired perfect with the rum. Oh and the soaked gummies at the end of your drink are the best part. You might just want to soak a whole batch of these! We couldn't find black sugar, which the recipe calls for except for at Williams Sonoma and I assure you we weren't going to pay $15 for a bottle of black sugar when any other color would work just fine. We used red instead. We thought these would be adorable at Christmas with Christmas Tree Gummies and glasses rimmed in red and green sugar. Enjoy! You won't be able to drink just one of these!

Halloween Spooktacular Cocktail
-Rum
-Ginger Ale
-Limes
-Colored sugar
-Gummy Spiders

For our cocktails we did about 2 shots of Rum per drink, one lime squeezed per drink and a splash of ginger ale. Mix all in a shaker. Wet glasses with the limes and dip into colored sugar. Place 2-3 gummy spiders at the bottom. Pour mixture over top.

Obsessions + Things That Sparkle

It's that time of the week again! Are y'all ready for my latest Obsessions??
PARKER MULTI-SQUARES DRESS
As soon as I saw Blair from Atlantic Pacific (are y'all starting to think I stalk her?) wearing this I knew it had to be mine. I love how she styled it with the fur and layered necklaces but I also think it would be adorable on it's on!

They have it online right now at Piperlime and Tuesdays are their 10% off day, so I am thinking I should make it mine!

FAGE GREEK YOGURT NEW FLAVORS
I am a huge Greek Yogurt fan. I honestly can't even eat regular yogurt now that I have had the Greek kind. It is so much creamier and tastier. Fage came out with 4 new flavors that are delish: Cherry-Pomegranate, Blueberry-Acai, Mango-Guanabana, and Strawberry Goji. All of the new flavors are equally good but I especially love the Strawberry Goji. Costco is selling a 12 pack case of the new flavors now. I highly recommend!

PLENTY COOKBOOK
I just got my hands on this cookbook and love it! I am not lying when I say I took it to bed with me for my reading material for last night. It is a vegetarian cookbook filled to the brim with amazing recipes. It is divided into categories by vegetable which I think is pure genius. This week I am making the crusted butternut squash and if its as good as it looks I will share the recipe.

Next on my list of recipes to make out of this cookbook is the Green Bean Salad with Mustard Seeds and Tarragon that NPR raved about!

I am also over at Alex's Blog Things That Sparkle sharing the rest of my Obsessions this week.

If you have not read her blog, you must!! She is such a talented designer. How amazing is this bathroom she designed with chevron walls??

I adore Alex and her blog. She always provides amazing eye candy, style, and inspiration. She is engaged and busy planning a fabulous wedding and I love vicariously living through her! Please go check out my guest post HERE and her amazing blog!

Weekend Happenings

We had the most lovely weekend. Here's what went down.
We finally took Sterling to the Pumpkin Patch! He absolutely loved it and tried to lift all the big pumpkins. He was hilarious!

After the Pumpkin Patch my sister and I hit up a cute bar in West Ashley to grab a beer called the Oak Barrel Tavern. The owner was super nice and let us sample a few beers before we decided what we wanted. They had a great beer and wine selection with a laid back atmosphere. You must stop in this cute bar if you live in Charleston!

Sterling loved it at the Oak Barrel and the owner assured us we were not the first people to bring a baby to a bar in the afternoon!

We had friends over for dinner Saturday night and I made the Pioneer Woman's Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos. They were amaze to say the least.

We also enjoyed some festive Halloween Drinks my brother-in-law made that were delightful! Recipes for both to come Wednesday!

Sunday we took a family boat ride. We are trying to get in as many boat rides as we can before it gets too cold!

And our lemon tree sprouted a big lemon! I can't wait til we have tons of fresh lemons!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends! xoxo

Speaking My Language

Being a mom is one of the hardest and most rewarding things I have ever done. These quotes made me laugh and smile. They say it all!