This Last Week

Its Monday again!! And I must admit that I am thrilled that this past weekend is over. It was definitely one of the busiest, most hectic weeks of my life. Why, you might ask? Well let’s just say that I ate my way through the weekend!

Last week was my honey and mine’s one year. On Wednesday we cooked a fabulous dinner together, King Crab, filet, and Caesar salad. We both agreed that after a whole year of cooking together we have definitely improved our skills in the kitchen and we work very well together. It was wonderful, and he even topped it off by buying me a beautiful full dozen red roses.

Thursday was his dinner work party and we went to Shoguns for the evening. That night we had lobster, shrimp AND filet. In case you haven’t been there, Shoguns is a restaurant where they cook the food right in front of you, so its like dinner and a show all in one! His co-workers are so amazing and so friendly. Every time we get together with them, I like them more and more.

Friday night was one of my very best friends, Ian’s graduation party. He also went to SDSU with me, and he was the first of us to walk. I can’t believe that we are both done with College now and that we have our degrees! I will always remember that Ian and I took geo-science together. We’d go to class, stay for 5 minutes and then go to get lunch together. He was definitely a bad influence and that class ended up being the only D I ever got in the history of my education. Luckily, it was a general-ed course and a D is passing!!

Saturday was David’s 29th birthday. Wait, did you say 29!?! Yes, 29 he is. David is 6 years older than me and I absolutely love our age difference. I wouldn’t want it any other way. We got together with one other couple, and we took the bus out to Barona. It sounds lame, but we had a fabulous time! We had drinks before hand, and got dropped off at the bus stop and went and played Blackjack pretty much the whole night long. It was 3 in the morning when we go home. And the birthday boy won big! Over $350 dollars! I was so thrilled for him. He definitely deserved it on his special day. Happy Birthday baby!!

Sunday was MY special day! I graduated with a BA in History from San Diego State University yesterday, and it was unreal. When they started playing the graduation song, and I walked through the doors, I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I almost started to cry! I completely surprised myself. I think I was overcome with the realization that I finished college. When I looked up in the stands, I saw all my friends, family and loved ones standing in the crowed yelling and cheering for me. The feelings were incredible.

My parents had a post-grad party and David surprised me with ANOTHER dozen roses. All of my family was there to support me, along with friends and we had a wonderful time. I couldn’t be any happier of where I am in my life right now. I feel so blessed and so fortunate to be where I am today.

To conclude, and top it ALL off, I have one more incredible thing ahead of me. Exactly one week from today, David and I will be on our cruise ship to paradise, Oops! I mean the Bahamas, for a one year, birthday, graduation Vacation!! I absolutely cannot wait. This week I will be shopping, packing and anxiously awaiting my dream destination vacation.

Have a wonderful week!

Cheers!

xoxo

Mandy

(My second set of dozen roses from the week, Such a spoiled girl!! I deserve only the best) :D



Turn Something Old into something New

One thing my mom taught me very early on is to always accept gift graciously! And say, “Thank you for my present, I love presents!!” :) When I was 16 years old, I went on one of my very first dates. We went to Sea World, and he opened up an oyster for me. He had my pearl set on a chain and everything. When you’re 16 years old this seems like a very extravagant gift, and I felt so bad to take it. Well, it was also my birthday in 2 weeks, so I told him, “give me my necklace for my birthday”!! Seemed like a pretty good idea at the time… right!? Well, it was a hard lesson because sadly my romantic love interest didn’t last till my birthday, and I never got my pearl. So sad. Everyone in my family can still ask, “Where is the Pearl?” and we know exactly what we are talking about. Lesson learned: Always accept gifts willingly and graciously.

So it was just Valentine’s day, and I LOVE getting flowers. But so often I hear women saying they hate flowers because they just die. The answer is, NO People!! Always accept the flowers (in addition to any other little goodies he might have hiding up his sleeve) ;)

Enjoy them for the week and I’ll show you a GREAT way to recycle dead flowers and turn them into something new again. I see people all the time drying out their roses. They turn them upside down on a string and hang them in a garage until they're crusty and dusty. I don’t know about you, but crust and dust is something I like to avoid in my house. Then those crusty and dusty rose petals proceed to drop like flies for the rest of their sad lives.

I have a better solution...all it takes is wilted flowers, a thick hard cover book, and a little shelf time.

When your roses are still soft, pluck the petals off of them; as many as you want to save. I find the large ones work better for future projects.

Then arrange them on the page so they are not touching each other. Flip to another section in the book and fill the book with as many petals as you’d like to save.

Then… Slam the book shut!! And let them cook on a shelf for a week or two… or until you get around to creating your project.

My favorite way to use flat and dried rose petals are to make matting’s. For example, if you have a 4x6 photo, buy a 5x7 frame and you’ll be left with a 1 inch matting to be filled. Glue and arrange your rose petals on a piece of card stock, glue your photo on top of that and put it in a frame. The roses are clean, sentimental, and will NEVER get dusty!!

The possibilities of rose petals are endless. You’re only limited to your imagination. Feel free to share any other ideas that we can do with our rose petals.

And remember... Always accept the Pearl!
Have a great week!!