Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig!

Last weekend was Homecoming Weekend for all of my fellow Furman Paladins out there!!  This, I must say, was a particularly special Homecoming for me, as I had not been to a Furman Homecoming since 2004 (when I was a senior).  So, last weekend I was pretty excited to have one of my best FU buddies, Regina, come to town for the weekend to run a muck like we used to!.... or so we thought...it didn't take too long for us to realize that we are OLD!   Friday night after a delicious (and FREE!!) dinner at Thaicoon [only the BEST Thai place EVER!], we were too tired to go to the carnival on campus, so we did a drive by waving at our sorors and then we took the "party" home only to fall asleep while attempting to watch TV on the couch!

Saturday was super fun and VERY VERY cold!  Regina and I did a little shopping (definitely not like we used to shop! whew!!!) and headed to campus for a tailgate where we received free snacks and Furman goodies!!

 

YAY for free stuff!!!  I also got to see Christina--future President of the United States of America!!  (I actually have footage where Bill Clinton came up to her and told her she's going to be President one day!)  She's always doing something important on the Hill where she works for the Senate.

After seeing a lot of familiar (and many unfamiliar) faces, we headed to the game where we met up with Troy!  On our way to the game, we were, yet again, given more freebies!! A FU Homecoming T-shirt.  [Note: I just said a few weeks ago that I have WAY too many T-shirts from undergrad, but I couldn't let this shirt go, so....]

My favorite part is the back which reads:  SORRY SAMFORD!!

 

And YES we did beat them in football!! GO FU!!! I almost forgot how dedicated the Furman fans are, here's a girl who really went all out--decked out in homemade Furman overalls!

 Anywho, going to the football game really brought back memories!  My favorite cheer: FU 1 time, FU 2 times, FU 3 times, FU ALL the time!!! (FU being Furman University), the fight song, the knight riding in on a white horse at the beginning of the game, jingling our keys and yelling "FU!!" when our team kicks the ball to the other team (don't know fancy/official name for this!), and so much more!

 

 

The cold weather didn't permit us oldies to stay after half-time so we left after the crowning of the Homecoming queen.  But it was a good time had by all!  Can't beat seeing old familiar faces, meeting new FU students, and FREEBIES!! ::smile!::

Next year will be the FIVE year reunion for my class and I'm pretty excited.  Lord willing and the balloon don't burst we'll be there!!

Go Paladins,

SG

Sugar Pie Honey Bun!

I just have to give a sincere "shout out" to my sweetie pie honey bun husband!!  We both had to go out of town on Friday and when I returned home there were the sweetest (and funniest!) sticky notes around the house left for me!  I tell you those little handwritten notes placed the biggest smile on my face and in my heart.  Truly, I am an abundantly blessed woman!

Loving my sweetie,
SG

How to Lose 50 pounds in 1 Day!!

The past few days I challenged myself to cut down at least 30% of my clothes, shoes, purses, etc... by cleaning out our closets.  The road was long and it required the cutting of many sentimental ties (i.e. finally getting rid of my prom dress from my senior year of high school), but I am SO pleased with the results--cleaner closets, TONS of bags filled ready to give away, and a better sense of how little I need.

So, what sparked this challenge?  This article!   An article entitled  "How to Stop Buying Clothes You Never Wear" came into my Google Reader last week and it really hit me--I shop so much sometimes I forget what I actually own!  So, before I bought anything else I wanted to take inventory of what I already have!

During the cleansing process, I found five items (one shirt, one coat, a shirt/suit jacket set, and a dress) with tags still on them that either didn't fit or I didn't like anymore!  And, why, WHY do we have SO many bookbags?!! We're not in school anymore!! So, what did I do?

First I pulled every single item out of our closets: skirts, shirts, shoes, hats, suits, purses, etc...  And I took inventory: Do I still like it? Is it my style/taste? Is it age appropriate? Does it still fit (most things that didn't fit were too big so they will go to alteration)? Have I worn this in the past 3-6 months (if no, give away!)  Will I wear this in fall/winter 2009/2010? (if no, give away!)  I then separated the clothes, purses, etc... into piles: keep, throw away, give away (nothing really went into the throw away pile except for one white t-shirt).

Second I took what was left to stay (clothing/shoes that I ranked with 3-5 stars, 5 being the highest) and organized by color, size, length, etc... and placed back in the closet.  All summer/spring items that survived the cut were stored away and I switched our closets into fall/winter mode!  If there was not enough room in the closet, something had to go until there was room!  I really had to put my "big girl" skirt on for this challenge!!

Sidebar: Let's talk about SHOES!!  The shoes in our main closet alone created two tall pillars that towered over my head!  That's not counting fall/winter shoes/boots that were stored other places around the house!  Lesson learned: there just may be such a thing as TOO MANY (or at least enough) shoes!!  Cutting down on my shoes was a tough pill to swallow! Cutting down my purses by 50%, however, was pretty easy!

Anywho, it's all over now and I feel SO good about the entire process.  It was very cleansing and enlightening at the same time.  I recommend a good closet clean to any and everyone!

And what do you do with all of the great things you no longer need--while I am typically a fan of Goodwill, may I make a better suggestion?  GIVE them to a local shelter!!  Shelters won't sell the clothing/items, rather they will go to a child/adult in need.  If you're in Greenville, check out Pendleton Place a shelter for children who have to be removed from their homes for whatever reason.   And for those of us out there that are still hanging on to book bags, extra lap top bags, etc... give them away!! We're out of school!!   Pendleton Place welcomes all donations!  Here's just one pile of our donations:

Lastly,  I'd like to share two FABULOUS finds: First-- Try these ultra slim hangers!! I thoroughly enjoy them!!  Not only do they give your closet a cohesive look, they are thinner (i.e. giving you more closet space) and the material of the hanger clings to your clothing so that the clothes don't fall off!  They also come in a number of colors (blue, pink, camel, black, to name a few!)!

And second, this website!! Myfashionplate.com is a fantastic online website that allows you to create an online copy of your closet!! It helps you to determine what you have and what you need!  It also allows you to do cool things like: create outfits, create a wish list, upload outfits to a calendar each day to keep track of your outfits, create suitcases for traveling detailing which items to pack, and so much more!!  Definitely couldn't keep this find to myself!! If you join, please let me know!

So are you ready to cleanse & cut down your closet belongings? Go on...you know you wanna!!

At least 50 pounds lighter,

SG

Snickerdoodle Went to Town Riding on A Pony!...

Guess whose getting into baking homemade cupcakes for fun?!  I'll give you one guess.... ::insert drum roll::

ME!!

I'm starting a new hobby and I'm hoping that (1) this hobby is cheaper than shopping [my current #1 hobby] and (2) the fruits of my labor are yummy!!  For my first attempt at "from scratch" baking I decided to keep it simple with Martha Stewart's Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

That's Martha's picture (above).  Here's my final product:

I started off with purchasing a number of items that I did not have:

This is a cool cupcake/cake holder that allows you to carry 24 cupcakes or a really tall cake!  It collapses also for easy storage and/or if you just want to carry 12 cupcakes!  Here's the inside:

I also bought these pastry tips but had to return them because they were too small.  I found some larger tips but plan on ordering some even larger ones from a cookware website! 

After purchasing all of my food & baking items, it was time to get to work!

 

 

Homemade buttercream icing! (Thanks Brittany for the recipe!)

 

 

 

I definitely plan to buy more pastry tips.  I think I like the star icing design better than the big circle.  I'm pretty pleased with the results from my first attempt, but looking forward to perfecting my technique and making the cupcakes fluffier/bouncier.  :-)

Since the recipe resulted in over two dozen cupcakes, Troy and I took twelve to church as treats to the first twelve adults in Sunday School this morning!  They were a hit!!  Anywho, stay tuned for more adventures of cupcake baking with SG!

Snickerdoodling,

SG

Where's Waldo...Well, LeBron?

Take a good hard look at this picture and PLEASE answer me this: do you see LeBron James in this picture? 

Really wondering who the tall dude is in the gray suit,
SG

P.S. This picture is from the Mrs. O Blog!