WHAT I'D WEAR & WUW

I pondered and pondered this prompt which is something you’d never wear, but truth is, I’ll try about any clothing piece or trend at hand. About the only thing I won’t try anymore are body-con dresses and there isn’t anybody who wants to see this forty something lady in one of those, at least, not without a full body Spanx! Nope, just can’t pull off those figure-hugging skin-tight suckers anymore so there was no way I was even trying one for this post. So instead I’ll showcase a fun new outfit that anyone could wear and dress it up or down.

So what I’m going to say “Never, will I ever” is.....stop wearing hot pink, lol. Yep, Never will I ever stop wearing Hot Pink.

I guess you could call this Hot Pink Post 2 because Last Week I brought you my favorite hot pink sweater.

Now, I do want to make note of the weather for a minute. Yes, I am in short sleeves and will occasionally wear them in the Winter and maybe a little mental Spring channeling but this photo was taken a few weeks ago on an unseasonably 50-degree day! TODAY, the air feel is a full 100 degrees difference! Yes, I said it! Kids, it is -50 wind chill with an actual temp high of minus -11! In our neck of the woods, things are shut down! People are warned not to go outside. 

Yes, I’m focusing on this Cute Bow Top and What’s up Wednesday but the only freezing thing on our brains is the record cold so I will be under extra blankets and probably very unmotivated the next couple days. But hey, I can still blog. So, let’s think warm and toasty thoughts and get to the rest of this post of goodness. And how about this Cute top as possible Valentine's idea! I mean it's under $14!! Lots of cute colors AND I LOVE IT!!

TOP HERE // BLACK JEANS HERE //
PUMPS HERE // EARRINGS HERE

Get your fashion link-up on over with Shaunacey at The Blended Blog  today!

Cute new WUW graphic from the girls!

WUW Now, time for some What's Up in the Nine neck of the woods

1. WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK: Soups, Light and Healthy Meals...I'll be sharing some healthier meals in the week's to come.

 New to Me Bean and Bacon soup so good...Find recipe HERE

 Cauliflower soup..first heard about from Lisa, Recipe HERE

My Chunky White Chicken Chili Recipe HERE

2. WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT: Neither of our Teams Being in the Super Bowl this weekend and those poor Saints...just Wrong! Thinking about our 2 teams and the robbed New Orleans Saints!

Read the story of how my purse was confiscated HERE

3. WHAT I’M LOVING: Our sweet girl, Daisy Mae had a birthday yesterday and turned 14!

We have carpet runners for her since she cannot walk on hard surfaces, I turned around the other day and somehow she got her lil paws under a runner, so cute!

4. WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO: Well, with -50 windchills, staying IN! And running the fireplace non-stop!

5. WHAT I’M DREADING: This

6. WHAT I’M WORKING ON: Well, with the staying in, cooking, reading, binge watching...actually kind of nice...

7. WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT: Our youngest was awarded, along with 4 other Seniors, the IFCA Academic All-State Honors for Football.

8. WHAT I’M WATCHING/READING: In Season 5 of Ray Donovan, I go from loving him to hating him to loving him again. Next up: You and Dirty John.

This will be finished during this Polar Vortex, Then, Monday I'll tell you what is next on the reading list.

BUY IT HERE

9. WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: Old school Rock, Old School and Current Country and a lot of weather.

10. WHAT I’M WEARING: Lots of flannels...and all the cozy clothes!

11. WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND: Super Bowl Snacking of course, thankfully, no big plans.

12. WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH: Oddly, we have no big February happenings, my mom is going to Florida for most of the month and we just want to make it through the Cold spells. Hopefully it will warm up a bit to go snowshoeing! 

13. WHAT ELSE IS NEW: The Blended Blog February Fashion Prompts are out. Join us!

BONUS: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FAMILY VALENTINE'S TRADITION: Feeding my family heart shaped foods of course. Like my heart shaped Turkey Meatloaves with pink mashed potatoes and heart shaped Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins for dessert!

RECIPE HERE

RECIPE HERE

For those of you affected my the bitter cold, stay warm and toasty and praying you encounter no problems! 

WARM HUGS!

Linking Up With Oh Hey Girl  // Visible Monday // Style Me Wednesday // THT  //Fashion Moda// Thoughts for Thursday  // Fashion Friday // Lizzie in Lace // Shoe and Tell // Trend Spin // Fab Favorites //A Labour of Life // Confident Twosday //I will wear what I like // Jersey Girl Texan Heart// Fancy Friday  // Fashion Frenzy // Straight A Style // Metamorphosis Monday // Shay

xoxo

CHEDDAR CRACKER HACKS...YUMMY BACON APPETIZER

Whether your team or teams are in the Super Bowl or not, (still reeling about the Saints call), I think we can all agree on one thing: the snacks!! 

I like making appetizers, especially for football games and the holidays and they are always better when made with bacon! Last week, I brought you the Bacon Wrapped Date & Goat Cheese and now for the delicious, warm from the oven, Cheddar Cracker Hacks! You talk about easy! And only 4 ingredients. These cook at a low temp for a long time, blending in those flavors and making the yummiest aroma in the house. These get gobbled up quickly and will probably be one of the first appetizers to go! BEST WARM & CHEESY from the oven! Just a little Sweet and oh so savory! YUM! 

Cheddar Cracker Hacks take Cheese and Crackers to a whole different Level.

What you'll Need

CRACKER HACKS

INGREDIENTS 

48 townhouse original crackers

1 8oz Block of mild cheddar cheese

24 slices of bacon

1/3 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Cut cheese into 24 slices. Cut all the pieces of bacon in half. Place a piece of cheese between two cracker and wrap in a pice of bacon. Place seam side down on your cookie sheet. After all 24 are done, sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Bake for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until bacon is crisp. (I Baked mine for 1 hr. and 45 min)
Low and slow makes this flavors blend so well!

Into the oven they go...

I'll be making a batch of these on Sunday for sure! HAPPY TASTY TUESDAY!

Linking up with Tasty Tuesdays // Wonderful Wednesday's Blog Hop // Full Plate Thursday // Tickle My Tastebuds Tuesday // Creative Muster Party // Wow Us Wednesdays // Thursday Favorite things Blog Hop //Best Of The Weekend// Handmade Hangout // Grace At Home // Cup // The SITS Girls // Create, Make, Take // Dishing It & Digging It // Feathered Nest Friday  // Pretty Pintastic Party // Metamorphosis Monday // The Scoop  // Best Friday Features //  Meal Plan Monday  // Delicious Dishes Recipe Party  // Clever Chicks Blog Hop // Cooking & Crafting with J&J // Sweet Inspiration Link-Party

xoxo

THE TIERED TRAY & VALENTINE'S DAY

OK, OK I admit, I wasn’t even going to decorate my Tray for Valentine’s Day. I had it all decked out in a neutral palette to match our main living area accent color of slate blue with greenery and whites. However, when I saw what my soul sisters were doing with theirs and some cute things they found at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, I knew I had to add some extra “love” to it! I guess you’d say its kind of a mix of how I’ll decorate it every day with the addition of the cute red heartsie stuff. 

I couldn’t decide between pink or red accents or both, but ultimately went with the red. My dear friend Lisa From Coast To Coast got these adorable love wood beads at Hobby Lobby and I text her while in the store just to locate them. It was my foundation for expanding into a Valentine type look. All the little puffy felt hearts were found at Michael’s and that “I love us”

sign and little red glass hearts are from Hobby Lobby. 

I also got some red battery-operated heart lights from Michael’s and was going to put it on the tray but it seemed like too much so I’ll find another spot for them.

Sweet little reminders of family and friends help add to the sweetness of the tray. The tobacco basket and blessed sign are from the dear mentioned Lisa and reminds me of a Nashville trip with the ladies. I love you to the moon and back is one of mine and Mr. Nine‘s sayings. There’s a little white pitcher that was my sweet grandmothers. The pineapple plant is from my mama.

I could not be happier that I decided to go ahead and show this tray some Valentines love. I’ll be back in a few weeks to show you how I have it decorated for every day. See My FALL Tray Decorations HERE and My CHRISTMAS Tray HERE!

BUY TRAY HERE // Succulent  HERE // Red LOVE Blocks HERE // Felt Hearts HERE, HERE // Red Glass Hearts HERE // You are LOVED wood sign HERE // Similar Mini Tobacco Basket HERE & HERE // Wood Bead Options HERE & HERE

and THIS is for the wall but I LOVE IT!!

Trust me when I say this Tray was probably one of my favorite purchases from last year. I never really thought much about it before but it is the most fun to decorate! These are still available on Amazon and I hands-down gave it a five-star review!

Wishing you all a "LOVE"LY WEEK!

LINKING-UP with Biana // Totally Terrific Tuesday // Inspire Me Monday // Inspire Me Tuesday // Lou Lou Girls Fabulous Party // Creative Monday's // Creative Muster Party // Wow Us Wednesdays // Wonderful Wednesday's Blog Hop // Feathered Nest Friday // Metamorphosis Monday // The Scoop // Cooking & Crafting with J&J // Friday Favorites Link Party // Clever Chicks Blog Hop // Share Your Style Link Party // Sweet Inspiration Link Party

xoxo

FRIDAY FAVORITES.....HASTA LA VISTA JANUARY

Happy Friday. I am not sad at all to be heading into the last week of January. You know I love the snow and unfortunately, we did not get quite as much as I had hoped, but unfortunately the bitter bitter cold came with it. AND an ice storm. We couldn’t even get out of our steep driveway. So, even this cold and snow loving girl is kind a ready for January to be done. And on Wednesday, I fell down the inside stairs and am one sore pup this week. Lesson learned..hold onto rail! January is just such a sad month isn’t it. Your posts on goals, word of the year and positive outlook ‘s have been so inspiring and helps this positive girl stay afloat! But I’m definitely ready for fresh February because that gets us closer to pool season. And I have this to look forward to:

1. Grand Cayman

Ever since we took the whole family to Seven-mile Beach in Grand Cayman four years ago, Mr. Nine and I have been itching to get back there. Of course, the boys have too, but they’ve got their own spring breaks to look forward to this spring. Mr. Nine recently booked us a week stay in April kind of celebrating my birthday which is the first part of April and our anniversary which is in May at a brand-new resort they had just started building when we were there. It’s called the Kimpton Seafire Resort & Spa if you want to check it out and I am overjoyed to go there and be pampered because of how amazing all the reviews are. I told Mr. Nine I was perfectly fine with staying in a little condo on the beach but he insists that we be taken care of and no grocery shopping or cooking necessary, LOL! Here are a few shots from our last trip there, which literally was the best vacation we’ve ever taken in our lives. Cheers to this one being just as wonderful.

Couldn't beat our view

2. This Sweatshirt & a whole 
Bevy of Great Graphics!!
Let’s talk about a boss babe! Colette from Canada, started her own graphic apparel company 2 years ago called Brand Squawk and not only does she work outside of the home, she slays this business right from her residence all by herself. She is giving all my lovely followers 20% off any of her items with the code cloudnine20. Go check out her cuteness including the super soft sweatshirt for lounge around the house, my favorite place to be!

Sweatshirt HERE // Headband HERE // Silver Pumps HERE // Similar Jeans HERE & HERE // Earrings HERE

3. Week's Attire

American Eagle flannel HERE, Ugg Boots HERE

Leggings by Kyodan, Old Navy sweatshirt HERE, Adidas shoes HERE

Target cardigan, Target jeans and Hunter Boots HERE

4. Leopard Vest again..Tunic Style

A few weeks ago, I showed you this soft, amazing pockets on the side, Leopard Vest that I wore with a hunter green swing dress. I love show him more than one way to wear a piece so here I styled it with leggings and a cream tunic top.

VEST HERE // TUNIC HERE // LEGGINGS HERE 
// BOOTS HERE

More Inspo

5. Misc. Fun
Posts of the Week

This week I had some very special posts! Monday, I shared a post that took me a year to decide to publish. It was called Grieving The Living in case you missed it. Tuesday, for all you bacon appetizer lovers, I shared my Bacon Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese.. Wednesday was extra fun because some of my bloggy friends joined together in showcasing the fabulous color HOT PINK!

New Nickel & Suede Earrings
The minute I saw the new arrivals by Nickel and Suede from the Lovely Lisa, I knew these babies would be mine and I love them so much! 
BEST EARRINGS!!
BUY HERE

Target Feature

I was so excited when I found myself on Target’s webpage for the Instagram post about my cute JoyLab Jacket. This is the second time I’ve been on there but there’s just something so exciting about seeing yourself on a major webpage. See it HERE

Upcoming Recipes

With the bitter cold all around us, I have been trying some yummy and warming new recipes. This week I tried Zuppa Toscana for the first time but made it a healthy version (soooo delicious) and also concocted up a turkey and sweet potato skillet. Today I’m going to make a healthy treat for the weekend. Can’t wait to share all these on some upcoming tasty Tuesdays.

Hope your weekend keeps you Warm and Happy!

Linking up with  Amanda // Friday Favorites  // High 5 For Friday  // Fashion Friday

xoxo