pour me a drink please

in honor of thirsty thursday i'm linking up with kristin!  go say hey, it's her birthday :)

so anyway since this week has been pretty crazy, i decided this link up would be perfect considering a cold martini would be absolutely wonderful right about now.

y'all there's nothing i love more than watermelon, so why not make it into a drink?

check out this watermelon martini recipe.

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
5 cups watermelon, seeds removed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/4 cups vodka
2 ounces melon liqueur, optional
8 lemon twists, for garnish
Directions
Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let cool.
In a food processor, puree the watermelon flesh. Add a little of the sugar syrup to sweeten, to taste. Pour the pureed watermelon into 2 empty ice cube trays and freeze for at least 4 hours.
In a blender combine the frozen watermelon cubes, more simple syrup, to taste, lemon juice and vodka, melon liqueur and blend until smooth. Pour into 8 frozen martini glasses and garnish with a lemon twist.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/watermelon-martinis-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

 

cheers!

mia for a few days

hey guys! sorry for the lack of blog posts this week.  i'm trying to get everything organized and ready for the first of the month.  i'll be back tomorrow :)

friendships- the negative and the positive

i had this big vma post all ready to go today, and then i changed my mind.  i could sit here and write about how slutty ridiculous miley cyrus looked last night, or how i screamed like a little girl when nsync came onstage.  or even when taylor swift called out harry styles.  but i'm not going to do any of that (oh wait i just did).

anyway, moving on...

today i'm going to talk to you about friendships.  the good, the bad and the ugly.

 

i had a moment today.  one of those, oh crap i'm feeling anxious moments.  i hate those!  let me tell you why.  i have an issue.  i feel like the friendships i had a few years ago aren't there anymore.  and i don't mean to sit here and whine like a little girl, but sometimes i feel like i'm in middle school all over again.  

i have certain friendships where i'm constantly feeling the need to fit in, or feeling like i'm not "cool" enough or "perfect" enough for them.  i don't drive a super fancy car, or live in a gigantic mansion, and i'm definitely not rich.  and sometimes i feel like i need to be to keep certain friendships going.

other times i feel like i'm the "hellion" in certain situations.  i don't listen to Christian music 24/7.  i don't go to church every wednesday and sunday.  i enjoy my alcoholic beverages every once in a while, and yes i say a cuss word when i'm frustrated sometimes.  there are times where i feel out of place because of the lifestyle i live.

and then there are the friends i have who like me for who i am.  they don't judge me for having a glass of wine, or saying the word "shit" once in a while.  and if i lived in a shack they wouldn't care any less.  they accept me for the way i am.

and then it hit me.  i'm at that age that my mother warned me about when i was younger.  the "if you can count your close friends on one hand consider yourself lucky" age.  yup i'm there.  it's happened, i've hit it.

so where am i getting at with this post you ask?  i promise it has a point. 

 if something makes you unhappy or feel anxious, then you probably need to get rid of it.  get rid of the negativity in your life.  and no i'm not telling you to pull the "we aren't friends anymore" card.  but if there is a certain group of friends who you feel out of place with, then they probably aren't real friends.

it's time for me to focus on the positive things in my life.  the people who love me for me, and not someone they think i am.  the ones who don't care if i go to lunch without my makeup on.  those are the friends to hang onto.

i have so much to be thankful for.  i have a loving husband, loving family, sweet little fur babies, a great job, and wonderful friends who i can be myself around.  i'm tired of trying to fit in.  i mean come on i'm 27, if i don't fit in with certain people now, i'm never going to.

so my message to you is cherish the true friendships you have.  stop trying to be friends with someone who you probably shouldn't be friends with.  listen to your heart, and if  you can count your true friends on one hand, consider yourself lucky.

thanks mom ;-)

sponsorships... HELP

so it's no secret anymore that passionfruit is going to start charging come september.  i'm not the happiest about that either.  i love the convenience of it, and the fact that it basically takes care of everything for you.  and honestly when i signed up a few months ago, i should have known that it was almost too good to be true.

i sell a few ads a month, but not enough to pay $9!!  i've researched and researched, and i can't seem to find another option out there.  so my question to all my blogger ladies out there is, what are you going to do come september?

meet karly

every now and then in blog land you come across another blogger who you automatically click with.  i got an email from an adorable blogger named karly a few weeks ago, and let me just tell you, this girl is one of my new faves :)

 

When I first read Jennifer's blog, I fell in love instantly. Not in a creepy way. Okay, yeah- it was a little. 

I'm not nearly as fun as her, but if you're looking for fun, entertaining and mostly pointless stories, then I recommend stopping by my blog. 

You're likely to see too many pictures of my dogs and random rants about youth. 

I live in New York City, and sometimes I go out, so you can also consider me the slightest of travel guides. I don't think I'm weird, I think I'm really normal.

 I've also read that mentally insane people think they're stable. So, there's that. I look like every other Asian you've ever met. Don't worry, I can't tell us apart either. 

I used to be a mathlete, but it really was social suicide. Also, I suck at math. I think they just wanted a token Asian on the team.

 I like people who think I'm funny and small animals because they can't get away from me. I wish Ellen DeGeneres was my friend, and I really think she would be if she met me. With that restraining order, I guess we'll never know. What? 

 I also wish I could pull off bangs. 

The highlight of my life was buying a pair of Christian Louboutin heels. Some people may think that's a sad life, but rest assured, these heels are like, really pretty. 

I love sleeping and candy. I still wear a retainer on my teeth at night. I like people who chew and breathe with their mouths closed (think Kristen Stewart, then do the opposite). 

 I get a lot of paper cuts. If online shopping is an addiction or disease, I have it for sure. 

Stop by, say hello and read on for weirdness!

on having faith

this is a tough subject for me.  i struggle sometimes with having faith, and trusting that God truly does have a unique plan for each and every one of us.  it's not an easy thing to do.  all of us go through tough times in our lives where we struggle or lose loved ones, but all of these tough situations are all part of God's plan.  we must trust that he has something bigger and better in store for us.  today i want to share a story with you all, that has really touched my heart. 

you may remember a post a couple of weeks ago about a baby girl named finley who was fighting for her life.  finley was born with little to no heartbeat and very little brain activity.

via

finley was such a fighter, and she touched the hearts of thousands of people.  on friday august 16th, finley went to be with the lord.  after a 21 day fight for her life.  i never met this precious baby girl, but for some reason her story touched my heart in so many ways.  i truly felt like God called me to spread the word for baby finley, and to get as many prayer warriors as i could find, and that's just what i did.

finley's parents, noelle and tim, have inspired me so much!  the amount of faith that they have is beyond amazing.  they knew that their daughter would be a world changer, and she definitely was.  even though they were hurting for their daughter, they still had faith that this was all part of a plan.

this story of finley and her amazing parents has really inspired me to have more faith in God.  to understand that his plans are far better than i could ever imagine for myself.

i ask each and every one of you to pray for noelle and tim oblander.  pray for peace and comfort.

thank you to all of you who prayed with me and helped to spread the word for baby finley.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

1 corinthians 16: 13

how to make your own chevron pattern in photoshop

you have no idea how happy i was to finally find out how to do this.  i found this amazing tutorial from brittany makes and it's actually pretty simple.  so i decided to give it a try!  i was a little embarrassed that i didn't figure it out sooner.

*all pictures are my own.  i created this pattern in my own photoshop software.  but all credit goes to brittany makes*

follow this step by step tutorial below to find out how to create your own :)

how to make your own chevron

*in order to do this you will need to have photoshop installed.  you can click here to download a free trial of the software.*

 step 1: open up adobe photoshop (i use adobe photoshop elements 10)

go to file > new > blank file

when the create file box comes up name it chevron pattern (or whatever you want)  and set your dimensions (i set mine to 1000 x 1000 pixels to give me a big enough file to work with).  make sure the background is set to transparent and click ok. 

step 2:  go up to view and make sure there is a check mark beside grid.

so now you have your grid showing which will make it easier to place your pattern.

now you're ready to create your pattern.

step 3: in your side tool bar click on the custom shape tool (the blue heart)

at the top of your screen you will see the shape menu.  click on the drop down arrow and select arrow number 2.

step 4: once you've selected your shape, start at the top of your grid and draw your arrow so that it covers a 4 x 4 area.  (you can do it larger if you like)

step 5: now that you have your pattern started, go to image > rotate > 90* left

once you do this your shape will be rotated, but near the bottom.  you can move it by clicking on the move tool (top tool in your sidebar) and moving it back to the top.

so now your shape should look like this:

 step 6: go to layer > duplicate layer and then click on the move tool to move the duplicate over.  once you have a full row of your shape go to layer > merge visible to make your patten once single layer.

step 7: now to duplicate your new layer, go to layer > duplicate layer to duplicate the pattern.  do this over and over until you fill up the page.

 so now you should have a document that looks like this:

step 8: go to layers > merge visible.  now you have one full layer of your pattern.

if you want to change the colors just use the paint bucket to fill in the pattern.

once you have the desired colors you choose, go to view and un-check grid.

and ta da!  you've got your new chevron pattern!

enjoy :)

all about me

i was tagged by the fabulous karly today in her 5 things about me post.  i always enjoy getting to tell my readers more about me.  no i'm not saying i like talking about myself... come on i'm not that conceded, i just want my readers to now more about the girl behind the blog.  so here you go... a little bit about me :)

Five things I have a passion for 1.  sleeping 2.  anything pink 3.  blogging 4.  my husband 5.  happiness
Five things I'd like to do before I die 1.  visit all 50 states (i've been to 43) 2.  tour italy and greece 3.  travel the country by motor home 4.  see mount everest 5.  stick my toes in the pacific ocean
Five reads I love 1.  the bible 2.  the something borrowed series 3.  fifty shades of grey 4.  cosmopolitan  5.  any juicy gossip magazine :)

Five favorite movies
1.  armageddon
2.  dirty dancing
3.  pretty woman
4.  life as we know it
5.  the hangover (never gets old)

Fives places I'd want to travel to
1.  italy
2.  bali
3.  greece
4.  alaska
5.  california

Five blog friends I tag

julia @ a blonde walked into a blog

pamela @ pamela's place

alex @ let life be like music

hannah @ words as palindromes

liz @ southern in the city

 

 

 

have fun ladies ;-)

looking for a new blog design? i can help :)

you heard me right... i've jumped on the blog design train.

if you're looking for a new custom blog design hop on over to my site to get started.

wednesdays with zoe

what day is it?!?  hey what day is it?!?  HUMP DAYYYY!  whoop whoooooop!

and it's also time for another edition of wednesdays with zoe!

_____________________________________

hey guys zoe here.  so first of all, let me just tell you a little bit about my brother tucker.  i don't think i've talked about him on here yet.  well he's a little bit of an air head.  last night he tried to be sneaky by playing with mom's panties, and got them stuck on his collar.  BUSTED!

so he was walking around all night with panties stuck to him and didn't even know it.  sheesh!

so now that you got a good laugh out of that, let's move on to some celeb gossip.

first on our list this week...

source

can't you just hear it now?  the sound of squealing teenage girls everywhere.

it's true, tmz got a hold of some photos of the young super star with nothing on but a guitar back in november of 2012 at his grandmother's house in toronto.  i have two questions... 1: why does he look so unbelievably comfortable standing in front of his grandmother with his ass showing and 2: who the hell-o is taking those pictures?

moving on...

because she wasn't already scary enough with her bright orange face?

do yourselves a favor and watch the music video.

really?!? i just can't!  i have no words.

let's move on

source

i saw it and couldn't believe my eyes.  i mean don't get me wrong.  i've seen pics of my mom wearing purple lipstick back in her middle school days, but really? green and red hair?  she posted this to twitter the other day, and seemed to be shocked herself.  she was 9...

and last but not least...

the first season of teen mom 3 hasn't even started yet, and mackenzie douthit is already pregnant again... and married.

slow down there sister.  you're only 18!

so anyway there you have it.  another juicy edition of wednesdays with zoe.

stay classy my friends

woof!

sponsor love // meet hannah

today you get to meet one of my newest sponsors!  i always love these posts, because i love getting to know the girls behind the blogs.

so meet this sweet girl!

hannah blogs over at words as palindromes.

she is a colege student from minnesota studying speech-language pathology.

she's obsessed with grey's anatomy and shopping (especially at target, a girl after my own heart).

so hop on over to hannah's blog and say hi!

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If I could eat a bagel, frozen yogurt, and drink coffee and margaritas all day every day, then I would be a very happy person.  Because seriously, they are absolutely wonderful!  Nothing can get better than a hot cup of coffee and a warm toasted garlic bagel with sun dried tomato basil cream cheese for breakfast, an afternoon snack of pomegrante & sweet tart FROYO with strawberries, kiwi, and bobas, and then ending the day with after 9PM $2.99 Mega margaritas!  

I love bagels so much that there was even a time where I made my own bagels from scratch! I was very proud of myself especially because...

   1. I am a college student, somedays we don't even have time to sleep let alone eat!

   2. I have never made anything legitly from scratch, maybe something here or there, but nothing this big!

   3. No one that I know of had made bagels before I did.  That felt like an accomplishment.

But that is kind of besides the point...I don't really even know why I am talking about food...well, probably because I am starving, but it is quite a long ways downstairs to the fridge, so I will just wait until I actually have a reason to move from my bed under my cozy Ecuador blanket watching Gossip Girl on Netflix.  

Today I am going to tell you a story.  It's kind of comical and strange and one of my favorite memories at the same time.  Last summer I studied abroad in Ecuador for 6 weeks and only spoke Spanish (that's right, no English!) while I was there.  I visited places such as the Equator (yes, I stood in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere's at the same time and you really can balance an egg on a nail on the Equator) horseback riding in the Andes Mountains, huge churches, the beach, museums, hikes around volcanoes, and more. 

I also spent a week in the Amazon Rainforest.  That was an experience in itself.  One of the places I stayed there was no electricity.  And the chickens walking around the place were butchered for our dinner...  Our bunks had mosquito nets around them and there were snakes, tarantulas, and sometimes even monkeys just chilling out.  The second place I stayed at had a limited use of water, especially because I went with a group of 17 people.  

I had 4 hours of spanish class in the morning and then in the afternoon excursions out and about in the Amazon Rainforest.  After one particular excursion we had been climbing up waterfalls, through caves, and in and out of mud pits.  Needless to say all I wanted to do after was shower.  I get back to my cabin  get ready to jump in the shower and there was no water.  There was no water anywhere on the grounds.  The whole group was very irritated.  We just wanted to be clean.  But then God must have heard our prayers as it started raining!  The whole group put on their swimming suits, brought their shampoo, conditioner, razors, and body wash outside and we showered in the rain and rinsed off in a tributary to the Amazon River.

 It was one of the most random things that happened on the trip, but one of my favorite memories.  We didn't end up super clean, but clean enough for living in the rainforest.  Later that afternoon, the water turned back on and we were able to shower normally. :)  Ahh, the life of traveling to beautiful places, isn't always as glamourous as it seems, but boy is it worth it!

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i actually did something this weekend

yes it's true, i actually had a weekend worthy of talking about.

it was pretty busy, and i'm paying for it this morning.  i think my hangover is just now hitting me...
between bbq festivals, baby showers and a girl's night in atlanta, to say that i'm exhausted would be an under statement.

so let's link up with sami so i can tell you allllll about it :)

friday night i attended our town's bbq festival and then headed to the bar with the hubs and a few friends.  saturday we celebrated baby jude crawford and the beautiful mommy to be at my friend sam's baby shower.

1. me and my girl cesily hanging out at the only bar in town after the bbq festival friday night.

2. me and my beautiful friend sam.

3. sam and the daddy to be.  baby jude is going to be a handsome little guy!

saturday night we had our 2nd annual girl's night in atlanta.  we get together about twice a year to let loose.  it keeps me sane.  this is all of us before heading out to the club.

1. first drinks of the night.

2. me and kellie!  love her :)

3. me and katie... 2nd drinks of the night lol

4. blondies!!

5. dancing... 4th or 5th drink of the night.

6. the girls.

7. kara, tania and your truly.

8. hangover pizza.

9. poor tania had the worst hangover of her life.  she will probably kill me if she knew i took this.

so as you can see it was a pretty eventful weekend.  and now i'm counting down the days until the next girl's night.

now i'm off to grab my second cup of coffee while i try to stay awake :-/

happy monday!

should i be sorry for my beliefs? nah...

*if you don't feel like being offended today, don't read my post*

i'm going to be real today.  i'm tired of being scared that i'm going to offend others.  i've come to realize that somebody is always going to disagree with you.  that's just the world we live in.

i always like reading the "about me" blog posts, so consider this an "about me" kind of post.

i am a Christian

does that offend anybody?  if it does, i don't care!  here's the deal.  we are all free to believe whatever we want to believe.  but you wanna know what grinds my gears?  the fact that atheists are always pointing fingers at Christians saying that they are offended by our beliefs.  let me tell you something atheists, Christians have been around for years and years and years... why all the fuss now?  why do i keep seeing more and more stories in the news about atheists being offended by a cross, or a Jesus statue or other Christian symbols?  i saw a story a couple years back where a group of atheists in florida got their panties in a wad because a church in their area blessed a nearby road with holy water.  the atheists took it upon themselves to "unbless" that road with what they called "unholy" water.  um are you for real?  so you're going to make fun of Christians?  yeah that's a good way to get respected.  so to all you atheists out there, I BELIEVE IN GOD!!!  and if that offends you... GET OVER IT!

i am a conservative republican

i am not a democrat, i did not vote for obama, and i do not believe in obamacare.  i don't care if you are a democrat, but i choose not to be.  end of discussion. 

i am pro life

i understand that this is a touchy subject, but if pro choice advocates out there can have a voice about their beliefs, so can i.  i believe that life begins at conception.  i do not believe in abortion, and honestly i think it's selfish.  there are so many couples out there who can't have children.  if you don't want to raise that child, give it to somebody who will. 

i do not believe in gay marriage

first of all let me say this.  i am not a gay hater, biggot or a Christian snob.  if you wanna be gay, be gay.  i really don't care!  i love the gays.  i have gay friends.  but let me tell you my stance on gay marriage.  i don't care one bit if you make it a legal "partnership", but please don't involve the bible.  i believe that marriage is a union between a man and a woman under God.  call it something else besides marriage.

i believe what the Bible says

i get so tired of hearing "God changes with the times".  guys the bible is the bible.  what's written in it has been there for many years and it hasn't changed.  i believe 100% what is written in the bible.  quit altering what it says!!

i drink wine and i don't see anything wrong with it

i drink wine.  i love my wine.  do i sometimes drink a little too much?  yes i do.  i do not think that drinking makes you a non Christian or a bad person.  do i think that people sometimes take it too far? of course they do.  you can over indulge in anything.  even food.  so don't tell me that i am a hypocrite for being a Christian and enjoying my alcoholic beverages.

i am non denominational

i am not a baptist, methodist, catholic, church of God or any other denomination.  i am a Christian plain and simple.

_____________________________________

if you don't agree with my beliefs, GET OVER IT!  i'm tired of not being able to express my views and opinions in fear of offending others.

so with that said.  i hope you all have a fabulous weekend :)

the pass list

lindsey from life on countryside emailed me the other day with this amazing link up idea.  top five celeb crushes?  um yes!  Can I list 20 of them?? lol.  so anyway i thought it was a GREAT idea so of course i had to join in on the fun.

#5: mark wahlberg

oh hey hot stuff!  this guy is an all around hottie.  from his days as an underwear model to his days of playing with his teddy bear in ted, he's still HOT!

#4: leonardo dicaprio

i fell in love with him back in 1997 when i saw his flowing hair on the big screen in titanic as jack dawson.  from that moment on i made it a point to see every movie he was in.  i even went to see the man in the iron mask, only because leo was in it.

#3: david duchovny

he's a badass with a kick ass personality, flowing hair and a scruffy 5 o'clock shadow.  yum!

#2: ryan reynolds

i'm sweating over here...

oh he is hot!  look at those abs!!!  he seems like such a sweetheart too :)

#1: channing tatum

he's so hot he gets 3 pictures lol.  i think every woman on the planet can agree with me on this one.  i saw step up and knew i wanted to be mrs. channing tatum one day ;-)  and to top it off he has an adorable family!  what more could you want?

so there you have it.  my top 5 celeb crushes.

tell us your!  link up below!

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i'm proud to be a delta zee

linking up with some amazing ladies for the greek is greek link up.

 when i found out about this link up i was so excited.  i love talking about my old college days ;)

let me start from the beginning.

i started college in the fall of 2004 and joining a sorority was the last thing on my mind.  i didn't wanna be a part of the "they buy their friends" clique.

well all of that changed in 2005 when i met a few girls who were alpha chis.  and since that's all i knew, alpha chi became my new obsession.  honestly i think it was the idea of a sisterhood that i was obsessed with, and at the time i had no clue what other sororities were on campus.  well one day during the spring semester of my freshman year, i got a call from my mom.  a girl who used to work for her named jennifer, was now the ccd for a sorority called delta zeta on campus.  mom said that she could see me loving the sorority life and that i should give her a call and go meet the girls.  so that's just what i did.

i loved it! i loved the girls, and it felt so comfortable.  i felt like i was home.  i instantly fell in love with delta zeta.
i got my bid 3 weeks later, and 2 months after that i was officially a delta zeta baby turtle.

the very first pic of my pledge sisters and i

there were 5 of us fall '05 newbies, one of the smallest that had ever come through, but we were ready to show those ladies what we were made of.
as the semester went on, and we learned more and more about becoming a woman of delta zeta, we didn't know it but our lives were changing right before our eyes.  we were not only becoming a part of a sorority, but a sisterhood.

the night we actually became sisters was a night that i'll never forget.  i had never been more proud.  i remember i didn't take my letters off for an entire day.  i think i even slept in them.

fall '05 with our pledge mom.  right after we officially became women of delta zeta.

 from that moment on, delta zeta had my heart.  we were a true sisterhood.  we kept each others secrets, and offered shoulders to cry on.
these girls were so very special to me.  and the years to come brought tears, laughter and random spring break trips to panama city :)

my little and i

my dz fam

even though some of us have drifted apart throughout the years, we always come together when we need each other.  we lost a special sister a few years ago, one that i was very close to.

 it's like losing a piece of yourself.  it's something that tears you apart, yet having the support of all the sisters helped tremendously.  we were all hurting, and all made it a point to be there for one another.  even if it meant traveling for hours just to be there for the funeral.

so with all of that said, these ladies will forever hold a special place in my heart.
and delta zeta will always be a part of me.

ltfef
:)