Lounging.

Ok major confession.  I don't own any lounge wear.  The last time I bought loungewear was when the Juicy Couture Track Suits were in full effect. Sadly,  I still own three pairs of the velour pants and rock them around the house.  This is where I need help.  I want some cute casual clothes I can wear around the house.  I have good workout clothes, and I have cute day clothes and at night for the most part I sleep in nightgowns but I want something for that in between time after running errands and before bed I can throw on and be comfy but still look cute.   Something that would be acceptable to wear out in public if I had to run to the store but equally comfy. I want to look like this around the house.  Chic but comfortable.

I am clueless about lounge wear.  I mean I really am.  Everyday I fix my hair and put on make-up and get dressed up no matter what.  The day after Sterling was born I got up showered, proceeded to blow dry and straighten my hair, put on make-up and get dressed in cute clothes.  The nurses made so much fun of me and said where do you think you are?  Competing to be on Americas' Next Top Model?   Matt claims he can tell when I am truly really sick because that is the only time I don't put on make-up or get dressed up.  It is sickness I don't know how to be casual, so help a sister out.   I need recommendations for cute casual loungewear.

Here a few items I am eyeing.   Strongly leaning towards the JCrew Weekend Pants.

And this is number one on my Christmas Wish List.  My mom has these slippers and they are the comfiest thing I have ever slipped my feet into.  They feel like pure heaven on your feet.  If you don't have a pair you need a pair.  The perfect around the house shoes.

{UGG SCUFFETTE SLIPPERS}

And how cute are these pajamas?  Adorable, I want the short set and the nightshirt.  I love chic sleepwear that is equally cute to wear around the house.

{Eberjey Gisele Short Pajamas, Gisele Sleepshirt}

So dish it to me where I can I get some cute casual lounge clothes?

Truffled Mac and Cheese

I am addicted to Truffle Oil.  There I said it.  I like it on everything- grilled cheese, popcorn, eggs, pasta,  you name it and it tastes better with truffle oil drizzled over it.   I do prefer white truffle oil to black truffle oil.  Don't know why but I do.

Mac and Cheese is the perfect vehicle for Truffle Oil.  This dish will knock your socks off.  Freaking Amazing.  Matt said and I quote "This is the best mac and cheese you have ever made."  The original mac and cheese is a family favorite that my mom always made and we grew up eating.  I made a few changes to it, mainly added a few different cheeses and truffle oil.  Think old school mac and cheese.  But cheesier, gooier, and with more flavor.   You could easily use any cheeses you like but these 3 work really well together.   We served ours with boiled Lobster Tails.  The kind of meal dreams are made of.  Truffke Oil + Mac and Cheese + Lobster, you can't find a better combo.

{TRUFFLED MAC AND CHEESE}

-1 8oz box elbow macaroni cooked

-2 cups cream style cottage cheese

-1 8oz carton sour cream

-1 egg slightly beaten

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/4 teaspoon pepper

-1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

- 1/2 cup shredded Gouda

- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

- Truffle oil

Drain and Rinse Macaroni.  Immediately after draining toss the noodles with a generous amount of truffle oil (approx 3-4 tablespoons) and set aside.  Blend cottage cheese, sour cream. egg, salt, and 3 cheeses.  Stir in macaroni.  Spoon into lightly greased baking dish.  Drizzle top with more Truffle oil.  Bake at 350 degrees 30-40 minutes or until bubbly.

**side note- sometimes I add even more cheese than it calls for.  I love lots of cheese**

Obsessions

{JCREW FLORAL BLOUSE}

I am obsessed with the colors of this blouse.   And JCrew is having an extra 25% off right now, like I need a reason to shop there.  If I don't buy this before it is definitely going on my Christmas Wish List.

{Ina Garden FoolProof and Smitten Kitchen Cookbooks}

Two of the best new cookbooks just arrived at my house last week and I am obsessed with both of them.  I have devoured them front to back ear marking all the recipes I cant wait to try.  I highly recommend both!

{Serena and Lily Nova Napkins}

I first spied these napkins in my most recent issue of House Beautiful and could not stop thinking about them.  I love the geometric patterns and bright blue colors.  When entertaining I always like to mix and match napkins, makes it more fun.   I can't decide if I love the cocktail napkins or regular napkins more.  These would make a great hostess gift:)

{Madewell Silk Dress}

I love love love this dress.  The colors are just gorgeous. 

{Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey}

Let me start by saying I am so not a whiskey drinker.  I prefer clear liquor, but this stuff is so tasty.   Matt and I had a little taste of it last weekend and I forgot how darn good it was. The perfect cold weather sipping liquor.

{Hedgehog Measuring Cups}

How adorable are these Hedgehog measuring cups?  I want them for my kitchen.  They would be the cutest Holiday gift too!

Tease + Randoms

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Mine was spend caring for a sick baby.  I swear my little man has been sick for almost a month now.  Just when I think he is on the mend he gets sick again.  Poor guy only good thing was he wanted lots of cuddle time and that never gets old!

Friday I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek into Tease, Charleston's new Dry Bar.  Ladies, this place is awesome.  You must make an appointment and check it out STAT.  We are so lucky to be getting one of these here in Charleston.  I am already planning a girls night where we hit up this place and get our hair done while we sip some wine!

There are so many options for how to get your hair styled from straight and sleek,  to beachy waves.  And it all starts at $35,  a real steal in my opinion.  I decided to go for wavy hair because my hair is always straight and I can never get it to hold a curl.  Well my hairdresser worked her magic and check out my end result.  Perfect wavy curls that latest the rest of the day.  I actually thought it looked even better by the end of the day because the waves were looser.

For any locals,  Tease is located at 430 King Street and no appointment is necessary they take walk-ins but do recommend an appointment especially if you have several peeps coming with you!

Of course I had to invite my girl Caycee to join me.  What fun is it to get your hair done alone?   This is us post Dry Bar thrilled with our clean and purty hair!

Before Tease we had a fabulous brunch with two of our favorite girlfriends Eliza and Crystal.  We ate at Virginia's and it did not disappoint. Caycee and I split the fried green tomato BLT and it was delish! Check out the size of the mimosas!  Nothing is better for the soul than time with good girlfriends.

While we are still on the hair topic, I found a new shampoo and conditioner I love.  I am usually a cheapie girl when it comes to hair stuff.  I always just use drugstore brands like Pantene or Dove.   My mom gave me samples of this Peter Thomas Roth Shampoo and Conditioner and now I am obsessed.  I am thinking about splurging and treating myself to some nice hair products.  Has anyone ever used this before?  I felt like it made my hair really shiny and clean and not greasy at all.  Any other great shampoo/conditioners I should try?

This is totally random but if you aren't using EBATES you should.  It is so easy to sign up, takes like 1 minute and every time you shop you earn money and then Ebates will send you a check at the end of each month.  Easy as that, sign up Here, you can thank me later!  You basically get paid for shopping.  I promise this is worth doing especially with Christmas shopping starting you can earn some extra cash!

By Sunday my man felt a little better and we went on a short boat ride, thinking the fresh air might help him feel better since we had been cooped up all weekend.  Perfect weekend for a boat ride!

We ended our weekend with the most amazing Sunday Dinner.  Truffled Mac and Cheese and Lobster Tails.  Pure heaven I tell you and Sterling adored it.  He ate almost a whole lobster tail- love that my little man has good taste in food!  If you are lucky I may share this recipe Wednesday:)  Oh and for locals Lobster Tails are on sale at Harris Teeter right now for $3.97 a great deal, because trust me we don't normally eat Lobster:)

Happy Monday Dolls, I am off yo the doc with Sterling to get him some much needed medicine!
xoxo

Hide Your Credit Cards....

So let me start by saying I am already over Day Light Savings.  Sterling woke me up at 5:00am today.  He did not want to get in bed and cuddle he wanted me up and at em at the wee hour of 5:00.  I realized there was no going back to sleep with a whiny two year old yelling at me,  so I got up fixed some coffee and proceeded to online shop.  What everyone does in the wee hours of the morning, right?? 

Nordstrom is having their semi-annual sale right now and there are some amazing deals to be had.  Here are my favorites- I may have ordered a few of these and what better time to get a head start on your Christmas shopping!

Taco Night

At the Mason House we have a tradition. Every Wednesday we have taco night.  This is something Matt and I look forward to all week.  We both love Mexican food and Wednesday signifies that it is almost the weekend,  so it is our jam.  Plus we love the Wednesday night show line-up with Modern Family.  It is one night we can agree on the food and TV shows:)  I especially love it because I don't have to plan a meal I already know we are having tacos and that is easy!

We always start taco night off with Tequila.  We both like tequila, I love it, Matt tolerates it but it seems to go perfect with tacos.  When Matt gets home we each get a shot (small glass) of tequila that we sip while we talk about our days.   It is a nice way to unwind and catch up with each other.

 Hornitos is the Tequila we usually buy it is around $20, it is decent tequila but not awesome.  If you love tequila you should try Corzo or Partida both are about $70 a bottle but they are Amazing (trust me I have tried many a tequila).

We have taco night down to a fine science and now we make our own taco seasoning and Mexican Rice.   I can't stand the prepackaged kind it tastes so processed.    I am always in charge of the taco seasoning.  Excuse how tired I look, this is my standard look come 8:00 pm.

This is the recipe we use for our homemade taco seasoning.  Try it, I promise you will never buy the prepackaged kind again!  It tastes so much better with all fresh spices and no weird additives.  We make a big batch and keep it in an old jelly jar.

[TACO SEASONING]

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Matt is always in charge of the meat.  He insists on 80/20 ground beef,  and don't judge but it does make a difference.  Lean meat doesn't crumble properly for tacos it gets all clumpy.  If you drain the 80/20 meat well alot of the fat and grease gets soaked up.

This how 80/20 meat should look red and fresh (according to Matt).

My man being a freak about the beef, I am not allowed near it while it cooks.

Hard taco shells are a must.  I actually love a soft taco but for our taco night we always do hard shells. 

And you can't forget the toppings.  We always serve ours with fresh diced tomatoes, julienned spinach, guacamole, diced jalapenos, sour cream, and shredded sharp white cheddar (I always shred my own cheese from the block I think it tastes better).

 

The end result, Mexican Heaven!  (You might remember this picture from my post a few weeks ago.  This is true I eat one taco and Matt eats 5. I am jealous of men and their metabolism.)

So me tell me do you have any weekly meal traditions in your house?  This is one tradition I hope Sterling will grow to love as well!  Who doesn't love a good taco??  I know we sure do!

TGIF Friends.



Thoughts For Thursday

So I am thinking about jumping on the Gallery Wall bandwagon.  I know everybody is doing it and for a long time I shunned it, but my hallway needs some sprucing up.  I am thinking of doing a wall with all black and white photos of our family in the same frames.  A very uniform look and all lined up not scattered.  So dish where can I find 9 frames with white mats and a black thin frame.  This needs to be cheap, I am thinking Ikea is my best bet.  I want something similar to this.

Can we talk about Jessica Simpson's Dad??  Are the rumors true?  Did he turn to the gay side?  I know he and the Mrs are divorcing but from the looks of this picture there is more to the story.  Star reported he has a young boyfriend.  I don't know why this shocks me, but it does a little.  I mean he was priest for crying out loud!

Have ya'll heard of the Animal Print Shop?  To say I am obsessed is a major understatement!  Shannon does an amazing job catching these animals in perfect poses.  I am convinced I need one for our house, well really I want more than one!!  You can check out all her work at the Animal Printshop Here.  Below are a few of my favs but there are so many amazing ones on her site!  I think this is the perfect Christmas gift mom and dad if you are reading- hint hint!

I am so excited Sean was picked to be the next Bachelor.  I love him- and I bet Emily is probably regretting not choosing him.  He is so cute and sweet.  I am ready for the new season to begin.  Side note- why do they make them pose with single roses, so cheesy!

Today my mother in law is taking Sterling for a few hours and I am finally going to tackle organizing my closet, it has gotten way out of hand!!  I will try and take some before and after pics.  If only it looked like this!

I started my Christmas list yesterday, my grandfather likes to get them early to get a head start shopping.  I think I may do a post about my wish list but here is one item I really want!  Jennifer Zeuner jewelry is my favorite. I own several of her necklaces and they are daily staples.  I see myself wearing this everyday.

{Jennifer Zeuner Horizontal Cross Necklace}

We had the best Halloween.  I swear it just gets better each year.  Sterling was so darn excited this year, it melted my heart.  He was giddy all day long.  Here is my Spider man in full effect.

This is such a great quote.  Ignore Kermit on it, he makes it seem cheezy but it is something to think about!