Posted on: March 28th, 2011 by MagsMac
Event season has officially kicked off in my world which usually means my personal writing falls by the wayside. This year I’m going to do my best to not let that happen because writing is something I really enjoy AND it relaxes me… the easiest way to make sure I am writing even the tiniest thing is to recap my week every Monday. So here we go!
- Usually yellow is my favorite color, but I’m loving the bright green paint we bought for the front room
- The super artsy event I’m planning with PODS Houston right now (announcement soon!)
- Jodi Picoult’s Sing Them Home
- This new mango smoothie recipe I made up
- DIVISI STRINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- The way your eyelashes look when you pop open a fresh tub of mascara
- The new bike trails the guy and I found behind the Cypress Creek YMCA
- And last but not least… The fact that the Shell Houston Open is FINALLY here!!
And yes. I realize I’ve skipped the past two weeks… but I really like to think that I’m getting better at this whole “blogging with regularity” thing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/magsmcdonald/5570365224/
Posted on: March 19th, 2011 by MagsMac
You know those nights you will remember forever? Last night was one of them.
My little sister and I threw a surprise birthday party for MommyMac and it was AMAZING. So many close friends of my mom came over for the surprise and when she walked in the door, her expression was priceless. Being able to give a night like that to the woman who has given me so much was probably one of the absolute best moments of my life.
That being said, we did learn a few very important lessons in the planning of said party… the biggest lesson being that you don’t send a pair of hungry McDonald girls to H.E.B. to buy party groceries.
We walked into the store with a list and $222.37 cents later, we walked out of the store with the contents of our list + enough random food to feed an army. But we had a blast shopping, so I wanted to share our oh-so-random list.
Recipe for a surprise party:
1 case of Coke
1 case of Diet Coke (aka elixir of the gods)
2 giant things of ketchup
1 case of Diet 7-Up
20 sweet potatoes (27.72 pounds, to be exact)
4 sticks of butter
1 roll of parchment paper
1 bottle of carrot juice (because it looked good)
1 16 ounce jug of egg beaters
1 bag of pre-cut green beans
1 box of classic yellow cake
1 bok of chocolate fudge cake
2 16 ounce jugs of frosting
1 thingy of lemon juice
2 cans of Rotel (1 hot, 1 regular)
26 ounces of salt
1 roll of parchment paper
Roughly 100 asparagus spears
4 packages of football-shaped plates
1 bag of Baked pita chips
2 bags of “Hint of Lime” Tostitos
2 things of 2% milk Velveeta cheese
SPRINKLES!!!! FOUR DIFFERENT KINDS!!!!
1 bag of pre-cut broccoli
1 bag of baby carrots
1 bag of Spicy Nancho Doritos
1 bag of BAKED Sea Salt Kettle Cooked potato chips (because Alice was hungry)
2 bags of “alle olive” Larzaroni Bruschettes (because I was hungry)
1 jug of garlic marinated olives from the HEB olive bar (because why not?)
2 bags of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 bags of Nestle semi-sweet white chocolate morsels
7 boxes of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice (sans any chicken product)
1 bag of pecan pieces
50 Solo Cups (because I was concerned we might run out… for a 20 person party)
150 Napkins
1 Dry Roasted Peanuts
1 22 ounce thing of garlic powder
1 22 ounce thing of black pepper
and… 1 bottle of Vintage Ink cabernet (to drink while unloading aforementioned groceries)
The good news is that we saved $5.67 by shopping at H.E.B. The bad news is that we were having SO MUCH FUN last night we took ZERO pictures.
Happy birthday Mom!
Posted on: March 10th, 2011 by MagsMac
In an increasingly digital world, one of my favorite things to do is write (and receive) handwritten love notes to my guy. And nothing is sacred… we will tag anything and everything with a quick note. We write them on the back of old grocery lists, on used envelopes, on notebook paper and even on paid bills.
Yes… we live together.
Yes… we see each other all the time.
Yes… we frequently (x 50) say the word’s “I love you” out loud.
But finding these little slips of paper often makes my day.
While one of my favorite things about our tradition is the simplicity, I visited Papyrus in Rice Village to purchase a birthday card recently and found some more unusual ways to say “I love you” that I absolutely adore.
Hello?! Adorable!!
So now I think I’m going to up the “love note” ante a bit and I would love your help. What are your favorite places to buy cards? Etsy? A shop down the street? Because I’m on the hunt for the cheesiest card in the west.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503155065@N01/378983470/
Posted on: March 7th, 2011 by MagsMac
Holy Monday. Today was crazy and I almost forgot to do this.
Last Monday I instituted a plan to turn my intense dislike for Mondays around. Every Monday, my plan is to think back on the last 7 days and highlight a few of my favorite things. These things are on no way related to anything important… except the fact that they make me smile. So here is this Monday’s list!
- Clay Walker at RodeoHouston with my best girlfriends
- Evening spin class at the Tellepsen Family YMCA
- The view from my office
- The fun Houston Arts Alliance I’m working on with MMI client, PODS Houston
- Researching all things raw: Lesson one… peel before freezing
- Pre-SXSW and Girl+Guy Party excitement
Now… to get back to snacking on raspberries.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01/2744223720/
Posted on: February 28th, 2011 by MagsMac
That’s a lie. No I don’t. Along with the rest of the free (sane) world, I hate Mondays.
Bills are always due on Mondays. I’m supposed to remember to enter my time at work on Mondays. I always run out of cream at the house on Mondays. Traffic is always terrible… and to top it all off? I can never find that shirt I wanted to wear that looked really great with those pants on Mondays. In a nutshell, Mondays are my arch nemesis.
So I am going to start channeling that hate into a blog post.
If you know me, you know I fall into love with random things (books, people, this cool new bowl from IKEA) hard and fast. So, every Monday, I’m going to compile a list of the random and wacky things I’ve discovered, or rediscovered, in the past week. That way… I’ll start the day off dreaming instead of cursing the alarm.
So without further ado…
- My Mom’s vegetable beef soup.
- “Shine the Light” by Sugarland
- TINY BLACK CARS!
- Zicam, I love you. You are my hero.
- This blog post.
- Speaking of things I cannot stop eating… Strawberries.
- Anne Hathaway. Always.
- Living with my best friend.
So that’s all. And let’s be honest… I probably won’t remember to post every Monday, but a girl can try.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42789343@N00/3791628422/