Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Guess what..?

My mamma gave me a waffle maker for my wedding shower!

We've been on a breakfast for dinner kick at the Brandon/Annie household for the last three nights. On Monday night, Brandon made an amazing breakfast potato skillet and then last night he made biscuits and gravy. So to keep in the breakfast for dinner tradition, I decided to make cinnamon roll waffles that I found on Pinterest (where else?). 

These. Are. Money.

And soooo easy to make!!

And now.. Cinnamon Roll Waffles (recipe from Pillsbury) 

Anngredients:

• 1 can refrigerated cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing 
• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 3 tablespoons milk 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

1. Heat waffle maker; spray with cooking spray. Remove cinnamon rolls from can; set icing aside.
2. For each waffle, place 1 cinnamon roll in center of waffle maker; close. Bake 3 to 4 minutes or until waffle is thoroughly cooked and golden brown.
3. Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together reserved icing, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until glaze is smooth.
4. Serve glaze over hot waffles. 

Wouldn't this be perfect to make on Christmas morning?

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My New Favorite Jewelry Combo

I love winning contests.

I hadn't won a single contest in my life until last month when I won a wonderful gift package from Jerri at Simply Sweet Home.

One of my winnings was a beautiful mama bird silver necklace with two Swarovski birthstone beads from Mama Marchand's Nest. This would make a wonderful Christmas gift for a mom or grandma! Since I don't have kids (and wanted to wear the necklace myself... sorry mom..), I had Brandon's and my birthstones added. I. Love. It.

Photo from Tricia's shop.

Another of my winnings were a pair of encircled bird earrings from Jerri at Simply Sweet Home. They are so pretty and compliment any outfit. They would be a perfect Christmas gift for your best friend or sister (or you could do it the Annie way and keep it for yourself.. sorry to my girlfriends..).

Photo from Jerri's shop.

I have received so many compliments on the necklace/earring combo. I will definitely be doing some Christmas shopping at their shops and suggest you do too!

Rocking the necklace and earrings!

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5 Celebrities Sexier Than Channing Tatum

Was anyone else upset over Channing Tatum receiving the "Sexiest Man Alive" title this year?

Dress up a bit, Tatum.

 I was.

And still am.

I'm not sure what it is about Channing Tatum, but I have never been a fan. I don't know if its because he's super overrated or if its because he always looks like he just came out of a fight.. and lost (his face always looks swollen to me..)--I'm just not a fan.

So, Annie.. who do you think should have been named "Sexiest Man Alive" for 2012?

I'm glad you asked!

I now present to you the 5 men who should have won the title over Channing Tatum (in no particular order):

Patrick Wilson

He sings. He dances. He's a college grad. Did you see his smile? Come on, People mag--he's waaayyyyy better than Channing Tatum. 

James McAvoy

Nobody ever seems to agree with my on this one but come. on. He's got the accent. The messy bed head hair. And have you seen the movie "Wanted" (if you have, you know what I'm talking about--if not, watch it)..? 

Bradley Cooper

He was last years 'Sexiest Man Alive,' but he deserves at least two terms in a row. I shouldn't even have to give a reason why he deserves the spot more than Tatum. In my mind, he remains king.

Bradley Cooper > Channing Tatum

Even though he no longer pitches for my beloved Colorado Rockies, he still holds a special place in my heart. I was at game 4 of the NLDS (Rockies v. Phillies) and I still cheered for him (while everyone else was booing) after he completely blew the game and our chance to advance in the series. Oooh, Huston.. that's okay. Your smile makes up for it.

Aaron Paul

I know I said this list was in no particular order but Aaron Paul definitely takes the number one spot. When he isn't toked out of his mind or tweaking out on "Breaking Bad," he's reeaallly cute. It's the eyes. And the ridiculously perfect smile and teeth (which make his character of drug addict Jesse Pinkman somewhat unbelievable.. but I'll continue pretending to look past it). And the fact that he's a hopeless romantic in real life makes him that much more attractive. 

I lied again.

I have one more to add to my list..

The sexiest man of them all is...

My fiancé, Brandon!

He's a war vet, computer genius, excellent cook AND he surprises me with flowers and gummi bears when I'm having a bad day! Sorry ladies, he's taken..

Do you think that Channing deserves the title of "Sexiest Man Alive"? If not, who does?

Don't forget to sign up for Operation: Christmas and to enter my giveaway for a beautiful cashmere scarf!

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Give Thanks #5 (and my first giveaway!)

Wow, what an amazing week this has been. I don't even know where to start!

But I have an awesome, awesome gift to giveaway, so I'll go ahead and get this rolling.

5.)

Yes, this is another 'thankful for Brandon' post--I have a lot of reasons to thank him! Last weekend was Brandon's bachelor party and we didn't get to see each other or really talk for a few days. When we got back home, I discovered my Gatorade was gone and teased him for taking it. So the next day, he comes home from work with two bottles of Gatorade and flowers. And then he took me out for dinner and a movie ('Wreck it Ralph' in 3D--so cute, check it out!). So, yeah.. I'm pretty blessed. And spoiled. 

4.) 

Last week was Dad's 49th birthday (you seriously wouldn't guess it--he still looks like he's in his late 30s)--I am so blessed to have such an amazing man for a father. He is the most honest and hardworking person I know (and he's one of the few people I know who doesn't have an enemy in the world). I'm a pro at cards, so this was his B-Day card for this year.

3.) 

We got to spend Thanksgiving with Brandon's family--it was such a wonderful day! We arrived Wednesday and got to babysit his little 3-year-old nephew (which was a hoot) and then had a wonderful day of food, family and fellowship at his sisters house Thanksgiving day. I seriously couldn't have asked for better in-laws! 

2.) 

My mom and I had such a wonderful girls day in Denver last weekend. We went thrifting with the wonderful DeeAnna Soicher and found several beautiful wedding rehearsal dresses, as well as ideas for our wedding reception. 

1.)

Last weekend was my beautiful tea party bridal shower--It was everything I could have dreamed of for my shower and so much more. I am so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful women in my life.. it truly was the perfect day!

Now, my list is only supposed to be the top 5 things I'm thankful for each week, but I'm going to make an exception because I feel so overwhelmed by the response for "Operation: Christmas." 

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect as many wonderful and generous people to sign up to send letters and care packages to our troops overseas. These letters and care packages are such a small way of saying 'thank you,' but the impact it makes on the soldiers receiving them is huge.

I wanted to do something for everyone who signed up as my way of saying 'thank you'--and I figured there's no better way of saying thank you than with a gift.

A warm gift.

A fashionable gift.

A cashmere gift...

I'm giving away a new and stunning light purple cashmere scarf to keep for yourself or to give as a gift this holiday season (but, you'll probably want to keep it for yourself.. just sayin'..)!

I have two cashmere scarfs of my own that I LOVE. I'm terrible at accessorizing, but scarfs make it easy and simple to add a little extra something to your outfit.

I have worn my blue cashmere scarf on the news to liven up a black top.

The dark purple scarf makes my holiday ensemble a little more classy! 

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting Operation: Christmas. If you haven't signed up yet, you can still do so until November 30th!

I'd like to give a huge thank you to Amy at One Artsy Mama for partnering up with me on this project. If you haven't visited her page yet, you should do it. Now. She is fabulous and has the cutest craft ideas EVER (and the most adorable crafting sidekick I have ever seen)!

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter--it will walk you through the steps. (P.S. This is my first time using Rafflecopter, so please bear with me!) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thrifting with a Pro

What do you get when you cross an elephant and a wiener dog?

This thing! And it also serves tea and comes with it's own tea cups!

Seem familiar? That's Goodwill for you! I've always been a pro at finding novelty Goodwill items--if you're a regular on the blog, you may remember a few of the treasures I've found including:

The one stump mannequin with the stylish sombrero.

This high school photo and face mug (which now lives in my cupboard).

These pimpin' coats.

I'm starting to thrift more for clothes and home decor--Goodwill seriously has the best stuff! I've bought kitchen and wall decor, clothes and so much more at a fraction of their original price. This college student/thrifty bride sure can't beat that! 

On Sunday, my mom and I had the pleasure of shopping with the fabulous blogger and professional shopper DeeAnna Soicher--she was wonderful! She helped me shop for my wedding rehearsal dress as well as glass jars and canisters for the candy bar at our reception! 

Here are some highlights from the trip as well as some thrifting tips that Dee gave me. 

We started our day off at Deja Blu, the fabulous new Goodwill boutique in Cherry Creek (Denver). Oh. My. Goodness. The store is beautiful and the brand name clothes are gorgeous (and inexpensive which I LOVE)!

Front of the store--so cute!!

Folks, it was not easy deciding on which dress to buy--so I ended up buying three.

Our wedding colors are red and black so I was automatically drawn to this dress--this is the winner for my wedding rehearsal dress.

I didn't like this dress at first.. because I wasn't wearing it right. Luckily, DeeAnna was there to the rescue to show me how to wear it. It is gorgeous and really hugs my curves in all the right places. I've designated this dress as my Los Angeles dress (side note: we're going to Anaheim for our honeymoon and are heading to L.A. on one of the days--I'm so excited!! I have always been a huge movie and pop culture buff and I defy anyone to ever beat me at Scene It but I'm very modest about my vast knowledge of all things Hollywood so you wouldn't think it...

The classic LBD--I play to wear this do dinner on one of our Cali nights.

Cute, right?

We then continued our thrifting adventures at the Goodwill on Broadway--I had no idea that Goodwill stores could be so big and dazzling (I'm used to shopping in tiny, small town Kansas Goodwill stores)! Dee told us that the store is actually an old historic building, complete with brick walls and pillars.

View from the front of the store.

The book corner--I LOVED this!

DeeAnna and I made our rounds looking for candy canisters and she offered several thrifting tips that I will keep in mind. Her biggest tip (which an amateur like me needs to remember) is when in doubt, throw it in your cart. You never know when somebody might grab something you were looking at seconds earlier and you can always change your mind if you don't want it and put it back. I have had an experience where I couldn't decide if I wanted something, left it, decided I had to have it and returned to find it gone. Ugh. Don't let this happen to you!

DeeAnna and me--my mom and I both LOVED her outfit!

I'd like to thank DeeAnna for taking the time to shop with us--if you haven't already, check out the Thrifting Denver page for more tips and tons of thrifting/decorating/dressing/DIY tips!

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Tea Party Wedding Shower

Wow, what an eventful and fun weekend this has been!

Yesterday was my beautiful tea party bridal shower.

If you know me, you know that I love tea and drink it all the time. I also love getting dressed up. And tea parties.

So, I asked my mom if I could have a tea party bridal shower--and oh my goodness, did she and the hostesses go above and beyond! I could not have imagined a more gorgeous or perfect bridal shower.

The party started off with a first course of mini chicken salad sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, scones, chocolate covered strawberries and tea. After the first course, we played a game, followed by gifts. We got so many wonderful presents! I was extremely overwhelmed by the generosity of kindness of all these women in my life. After gifts, we indulged in a second course of bite-sized cupcakes, chocolate macaroons, mini cinnamon rolls, Russian tea cookies and more tea.

I'd like to share a few of the photos with you now!

(Note: my friend Amber took several of the pictures--she is an amazing photographer/person and I recommend every check out her Facebook page.)

The beautiful tables!

Yummy!

The beautiful winter centerpieces our friend Vivian made.

We used tea pots for centerpieces.

Aunts and cousins.

Momma and Aunt Brigette greeting the ladies.

Tea time!

Aunt Nancy, Alicia, Auntie Sharon and Mom

Aunts and Mom

I'm so blessed to have such wonderful women in my life!

Barbara, Vivian and Dorothy gabbing

The most decadent and delicious cupcakes I have tasted from Gigi's Cupcakes.

My dads cousin Julie and Aunt Millie.

Aunt Brigette and Amber.

Dorothy (good friend of the family) and my Aunt Brigette--the wonderful hostesses!

Getting ready to play games!

Two of my closest friends; Bridesmaid, Abby (left) and Maid of Honor, Jen (center)

Dad and Me

Aunt Nancy (left), Me, and Mamma

My dear friend, Amber (she's the one who took the beautiful photos--you can definitely tell which ones I took--the amateur iPhone pics--and which were the hers)!

Hostess Dorothy and Me

Oh, so many memories with this girl. We've been best friends for ten years now, grew up together, lived together and are now maid-of-honors in each others weddings.

This is the girl who introduced Brandon and me--she's pretty much the best.

Tea time with my girls.

I'm so mad I didn't get a picture with the pretty Erin (far left) and me! I had terrible scrambled egg brain and thought I had.. she is one of the sweetest girls I know!

Oh my gosh, I am so incredibly blessed! Brandon and I received so many beautiful gifts at the shower.

I would like to give a huge thank you to my mom, Aunt Brigette and Dorothy for hosting this wonderful day. It was everything I've ever dreamed of and more! Also, a huge thank you to all of my friends and family who attended--you have no idea how much that means to me and how much I love all of you!

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