Monday’s Mix ~ Bye, Bye November!

November 30, 2014

Drum roll…..The giveaway winner:

Congratulations, Rena McDaniel! Enjoy your prize and a BIG thank you to all who entered! Just a heads up but we may or may not be planning another giveaway in the (near) future. Stay tuned! Thanks to all who entered!

A year ago when I began to blog, I set out to define my style. I had a few go to outfits. In the winter they revolved around a black cardigan. My colored pants consisted of black {of course}. This means my wardrobe revolved around basics and lots of black. I’m happy to report that all of that has changed! I now actually own a few pairs of colored pants. The best part is that a some of them came from a thrift store and yet were brand new with tags attached. Score!

This is a simple outfit that I wore on Thanksgiving. It is my go to black cardigan, but honestly I haven’t worn it in forever. Not just this black cardigan but a black cardigan in general. I have fallen in love with color and patterns. This outfit was simple and easy to wear for Thanksgiving. Had I worn this black cardigan last year, I would have put a cami under it {probably purple} and worn jeans. My footwear would have been black too! So, this outfit now defines a new style for me which includes color and patterns. What a difference a year makes.

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving and now welcome December!

Linking up: Linking up: Watch Out for the Woestmans. Not Dead Yet Style. Fashionably Employed. Still Being Molly. More Pieces of Me. On the Daily Express. Fizz and Frosting. Induffinitely Me. I do DeClaire. Bless Her Heart Y’all. Style Elixir. Get Your Pretty On. The Pleated Poppy. Because Shanna Said So. Tucker Up. Perfectly Coutured. Penniless Socialite. Musings of a Housewife.

Egg Hash - My Five Ingredients

November 28, 2014

It’s Lifestyle Sistas Friday. I love that we are sharing a recipe because this is the time of year that I love to cook. The only catch is that the recipe has to have five ingredients. One of my favorite recipes is egg hash. I discovered it several years ago when I was watching The Food Network. I stumbled upon a chef making this dish. It sounded great to me so I found the recipe online and whipped it up. It was fantastic. It was love at first bite. Today I’m sharing it, but my own version using only five ingredients. I think you can flex and come up with own ideas to create a delicious egg hash of your own flavors.

Here’s my five ingredients: onion, bacon, potatoes, cilantro and eggs.

Peel the potatoes and dice them up {mine should have been smaller than in the picture}. Add them to a pot of boiling water and let them parboil until they still have a little hardness to them. Check them with a fork.

While those potatoes are cooking start chopping the onion {I used half of the onion} and getting it browning in the pan. I used a non-stick spray and a little olive oil {and no I didn’t include that in the ingredients}. I don’t know if that qualifies as cheating but I was thinking of food items as ingredients. Anyway, I typically use a cast iron pan, especially for this recipe because it will wind up in the oven. This pan is the one my grandma always used to cook in. It must be about 70 years old but it is my absolute favorite and best pan that I own.

Cut up the bacon and add it to the onion after it begins to brown up.

Looks good, right? While this is going on check the potatoes. If they are ready, drain them and set them aside.

Add the potatoes {and a little more olive oil} to the pan with the onion and bacon. Let the potatoes brown and add a little bit of herb. I prefer Italian parsley for this dish, but I only had cilantro on hand so cilantro went into the pan. Season with a little salt and pepper as well.

Once the potatoes have a little brown on them, it is time to add the eggs. For this egg hash I added four eggs. Push the potatoes back in four little areas where the eggs can be dropped in. Before dropping them into the spots in the pan, spray the area with a non-stick spray.

Now pop it into an 375 degrees oven for about 11 minutes. I check it prior to 11 minutes and see how the eggs are cooking. It might take longer than 11 minutes. Finished product looks like this.

Coffee is ready! Yep, we perk our coffee the old fashioned way. Time to eat! This was a dinner meal for us rather than a breakfast or brunch. I mean who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?

Hubby’s plate.

My plate.

There you go! Eat and enjoy…we totally enjoyed this meal.

Hope you check out the other bloggers and their fantastic recipes. Have a lovely weekend, friends!

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My Favorite Hats + A Giveaway!

November 21, 2014

I’m so excited to be posting with some of favorite friends from blog world. This is our second collaboration in posting as Style Me Bloggers. Today we are sharing about a few of our favorite hats. We also are hosting a giveaway, so be sure to enter at the end of this post.

Here’s a few of my favorite hats. Yep, it was a busy week + I’ve been feeling a little under the weather…so you might have seen some of these outfits earlier this week.

The Camo Beanie - from USA to Iraq and Back

Here’s the lovely ladies hosting the giveaway. Hope you enter the giveaway and stop by their blogs! Have a beautiful weekend!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Puppies and Pretties | She Thought She Could | Two Teens and Their Mama

Shoes to Shiraz | Once Upon a Time | Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy

The Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life | Daily Style Finds | A Lovely Little Wardrobe

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Linked up: Get Your Pretty On. Two-Thirty Five Designs. Musings of a Housewife. Style Elixir. Penniless Socialite. Watch Out for the Woestmans. Not Dead Yet Style. Fashionably Employed. Rhea Et Cetera. Still Being Molly. More Pieces of Me. On the Daily Express. DC in Style. Fizz and Frosting. Join the Gossip. Her Heart and Soul. Style Elixir. Induffinitely Me. I do DeClaire. Bless Her Heart Y’all. Get Your Pretty On. The Pleated Poppy.

Pattern Mixing

November 19, 2014

Hello, Wednesday! Middle of the week and for us the Thanksgiving eating is about to break wide open. Breakfast and lunches at work and a pot luck coming up on Sunday after church means it’s official - the holiday season has commenced upon us. It also means that there are lots of things to do and see in the coming weeks…blogging post might shrink in side. Which is what is happening with this one. Just a quick post to highlight some easy pattern mixing for the season. Who doesn’t love polka dots? Anyone? Polka dots are just one of my faves. When another pattern is added with polka dots the love increases for me.

Here I’m mixing polka dots with that popular red and black plaid {buffalo plaid} which I absolutely adore. I thought these patterns and colors would be a little festive for the upcoming holiday season. These are a few of my all time favorite colors - red, white and black are just a perfect little match.

What easy looks and pattern mixing are you putting together for the holiday? Any easy go to looks already hanging in your closet? Need some inspiration? You should sign up for the Winter/Holiday Style Me Pretty Challenge. Click on the graphic and it will take you over to Alison’s blog. Registration opens on Friday, November 21.

Keep scrolling….there’s more news!

Also on Friday I am posting with my Style Me Bloggers friends. We are blogging about hats. C’mon it’s time for hats! Hope you stop back and check it out because we will have a giveaway too!

Linking up: The Pleated Poppy. Get Your Pretty On. Tucker Up. Because Shanna Said So. Style Elixir. Perfectly Coutured. Shopping My Closet. That’s So Crystal. The Mummy Chronicles. God Life Happy Wife. Mix and Match Fashion. Musings of a Housewife. Style Honestly. Sincerely Jenna Marie. Living in Color. I’m Perfectly Human. Happiness at Mid Life.

First Cold Snap!

November 16, 2014

Last week the temps plummeted quite a bit, which meant it was time to pull out a coat, hat and gloves. Although I’m not a fan of cold weather I do like the change in the temperature. I also like winter clothing and of course a fire in the fireplace. When the weather turns cold, I can count on my hubby to get a beautiful fire roaring, which of course he did.

Since he leaves for work before me, he doesn’t see what I actually what I wear to work. Last week, we skipped the gym on Wednesday so when he saw me get out of the car in this outfit, he thought it was cute and we should snap some pictures.

What’s your favorite cold weather look? I actually like wearing skirts or dresses with boots and (with or without) tights.

By the way, the Winter Challenge registration at Get Your Pretty On will open up on Friday. Hope you join in because I think this one will be a real blast. Hope you’ll check it out!

Linking up: Linking up: Watch Out for the Woestmans. Fashionably Employed. Rhea Et Cetera. Still Being Molly. More Pieces of Me. On the Daily Express. DC in Style. Fizz and Frosting. Join the Gossip. Her Heart and Soul. Style Elixir. Induffinitely Me. I do DeClaire. Bless Her Heart Y’all.