For The Bookies – Pin Challenge – Day #11

Great little find on Pinterest for those of you who are big readers! I’m limited to whatever the German book stores place in their tiny minimal “International Books” section but when I get back to America, I will be purchasing as many books as possible! I want to be like Belle in Beauty and The Beast with her 2 story library in her house. Know what I mean??

 

This cool new website allows you to put in a book you like and it will suggest something you may like as well! I searched by Author and picked a specific book I enjoyed. It then listed for me similar books to read of the same genre and like authors. SO, take a peak! I think you’ll like it!

Pinterest find is here and the link is www.whatshouldIreadnext.com

Here are the results for
Mr. Maybe
by Jane Green:

Title	Info/Buy
Laura Wolf – The Diary of a Mad Bride
Gemma Townley – Learning Curves: A Novel of Sex, Suits, and Business Affairs
Laura Wolf – Diary of a Mad Mom-to-Be
Kim Izzo – The Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Decorum
Carmen Reid – Three in a Bed
Adele Parks – Game Over
Anna Maxted – Being Committed
Gervase Phinn – Head Over Heels in the Dales
Anna Maxted – Running in Heels
Lynda Curnyn – Engaging Men (Red Dress Ink S.)
Mike Gayle – His ‘n’ Hers
Marian Keyes – Angels: A Novel
Megan Crane – Names My Sisters Call Me
Rebecca Shaw – A Village Dilemma
Cara Lockwood – I Do (But I Don’t)
Mia King – Sweet Life
Kirsten Lobe – Paris Hangover
Erica James – Act of Faith
Adele Parks – Larger Than Life
Meg et al Cabot – Girl’s Night Out
Laurie Notaro – We Thought You Would Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive
Libby Schmais – The Perfect Elizabeth: A Tale of Two Sisters
Liane Moriarty – Three Wishes
Jen Weiner, Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella – Girls Night in (Red Dress Ink Novels)
Carole Matthews – For Better, for Worse
Mike Gayle – Dinner for Two
Louise Bagshawe – The Movie
Suzanne Enoch – Flirting with Danger
Laurie Notaro – I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl
Mia King – Good Things
Cara Lockwood – I Did (But I Wouldn’t Now)
Cara Lockwood – Dixieland Sushi
Melissa Senate – See Jane Date
Erica James – Time for a Change
Anna Maxted – Getting Over It
Erica James – A Breath of Fresh Air
Naomi Ragen – The Saturday Wife
Marian Keyes – Cracks in My Foundation: Bags, Trips, Make-Up Tips, Charity, Glory, and the Darker Side of the Story, Essays and Stories
Erica James – A Sense of Belonging
Tia Williams – The Accidental Diva
Liz Ireland – The Pink Ghetto
Carole Matthews – The Sweetest Taboo
Melissa Senate – The Breakup Club (Red Dress Ink)
Beth Harbison – Shoe Addicts Anonymous
Liza Palmer – Seeing Me Naked
Beth Harbison – Secrets of a Shoe Addict

Until next time, Readers!!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Creamy Mushroom Soup – Pin Challenge – Day #10

I have a REALLY good Pinterest find for you today, folks! It was a rainy day here in Germany plus I have a bit of a nasty cold. Put those two things together and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a soup kind of day!

(Check out my adorable pumpkin shaped bowls! LOVE LOVE LOVE!)

I’ve been eyeing this gem for a while now and just so happened to have everything I needed at the house so off I went! Got a HUGE thumbs up from Toblerone on this one. I made it with the Avocado grilled cheese (posted yesterday). Perfect pairing believe it or not!

CREAMY MUSHROOM SOUP!

The pin on Pinterest is here and the recipe from the original site is here.

Here’s what I did a little differently:

1. Since the recipe is for 2 people, I increased the milk and cream by 1/2 cup each.

2. I didn’t have nutmeg on hand so I used a very tiny pinch of cinnamon.

3. Instead of making tiny slices of mushrooms I left them somewhat larger – bigger slices.

Strawberry Summer Salad – Pin Challenge – Day 9

This is my ABSOLUTE favorite thing I’ve made off of Pinterest thus far. It’s like the Goddess of all salads. In fact, I pray that my grocery store is stocked with Strawberries regularly just so I can have this awesomeness in my mouth from time to time. It’s so easy to make and ohmygod so good!!

Found on Pinterest here and actual website is here.

There’s a few things I changed around.

1. I made candied walnuts with this recipe

2. I used a cow’s milk feta rather than the normal goat cheese feta (regular feta is sheep and goats milk combined)

3. After I washed and chopped the strawberries I put them in a bowl with some balsamic vinegar for about 10-15 minutes prior to using in the dish. Still leaves them sweet but mixes better with the whole salad.

4. Spinach is boring all by itself so I used rucola (yummy nutty flavor to it) and a field salad which is really popular here in Germany.

5. I didn’t have time to make the raspberry poppyseed dressing ( I think it takes 2 weeks or so). I do as the Germans do – vinegar, vinegar, and more vinegar. My dressing was balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, and a dried herbs mixture special for salads.

So far, everyone I’ve made this for is RAVING about it. And I literally crave this baby several times a week.  Make it! Enjoy! And let me know if you like it as much as I do!

Until next time, Readers!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Bow Hair – Pin Challenge – Day 8

I think by now you all know I’m not really doing this thing daily because I do have a life however, I’m trying to keep up with this Pinterest Challenge! Give me credit, I’m doing pretty good all things considered!

So today I tried the Bow Hair….you may have seen it somewhere on the internet. Now I pinned it here but the link is just a dud. It goes to some chick’s blog so I found the video on Youtube (just searched “bow hair”) and followed a tutorial or two.

So I gave it a whirl and of COURSE I ran out of hairspray and forgot to get some so this is the best I could do without the stiffening agent! Oh and you don’t get to see my face because I did it first thing this morning and that’s usually a rough time for me.

I think this looks ridiculous. I probably could have done it a little tighter but I have serious layers happening so it’s a bit difficult, especially, as I said, without the hairspray. Honestly, it looks like Minnie Mouse and Hello Kitty smashed into each other. Not my cup of tea. Maybe on a smaller scale? I have no idea but it looks strange and I felt like I was 5 years old again. Not ok for an almost 28 year old.

Have any of you tried this?

Until next time, readers!! xoxoxoxo

Candied Walnuts – Pin Challenge – Day 7

I made these for Christmas and then again recently for a strawberry balsamic salad and they are DIVINE, not to mention they went like wild fire for the Americans and the Germans. Perfect for anything really. Icecream toppers, gift bags, parties, etc. Just awesome awesome awesome. This particular recipe is SO incredibly simple and each time, these little buggers come out perfect. EVERY TIME.

I wanted to share this with you to convince you that you MUST make these. Every day, all day. The pinterest link is here and the actual link to the site is here.

The recipe obviously states for candied pecans but I did mine with walnuts as I can’t find any pecans in this country. Either way, it tastes awesome! Follow the recipe and be sure to use a really large egg. For some reason this works the best if I use enough egg to coat the nuts completely.

Don’t those look awesome? Come on now….get up and go back them! Super easy!!!

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxoxo

DIY Monograms – Pin Challenge – Day 6

I’ve been dreaming up my wedding for years. Much too long actually and now that I’m helping out my best friend plan her wedding I have started to realize how many  little details there truly are. Since I don’t have a dime to put towards my already budgeted $150,000 wedding I’m going to need to do as much as I can without spending!

When I saw this fancy feature on Pinterest I got all sorts of excited and did a little dance. Easy to make, Looks professional, and FREE! Granted, the colors aren’t exactly what I’m looking for as far as my wedding goes but it’s a handy tool for those of you looking to cut back on expenses! This can be done for table numbers or monograms. You can put names, initials, numbers, etc. Play with it and you’ll see what I mean!

Pinterest link is here, and actual link to the site is here.  Here is what I came up with:

Until next time, Readers!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Lock-in Tabs – Pin Challenge – Day 5

Today’s pin challenge is one of those “Duh” things followed by, “Oh! Sweet!” I’ve been testing the theory on all brands, not just Reynolds wrap for their “lock-in tabs” and these exist on every single plastic wrap or aluminum foil box you find. First of all, it’s kind of ridiculous that my entire life I never knew about this. As for the boxes I have, there are NO directions or talk about lock-in tabs. Granted, the box speaks German to me so I have no idea what it’s saying but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t tell me about this tip! Yes, it talks to me.

Anywho, this is a quick post! I’m in the middle of my 6th load of laundry today (YIKES!) so I have to get back to it!

The greatest thing about it is that it really does make it a lot easier to utilize! I hate these things anyways. The roll usually falls out of the box and then I have to figure out how to roll up a bunch of crinkled plastic. Not ok. So this gives it that little extra security! I so should host infomercials.

The link to pinterest is here and the link to the actual site with lots of DIY or clever ideas to make your life easier is here.

If you want to play along, be sure to check out the Pinterest Challenge rules and leave your link in the comments. I will update the page with your information! Let’s link up!!!

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries – Pin Challenge – Day 4

If you know me, you know that cream cheese filled anything is my weakness. Every year for my birthday I have a chocolate chip cheesecake. It’s become a tradition and I can’t survive without it. (Even though I’ve had to make my own cake myself a couple times!)

I made these for Easter, thanks to Pinterest. So easy, and not too sweet. (Germans aren’t into the sweet stuff…aka..cupcakes.) So since it was 5 Germans vs 1 American I decided to keep it simple!

These cream cheese filled strawberries were INCREDIBLE!! I didn’t cut the bottoms off, only the tops and laid them on their side. Dessert is good no matter how you slice it! (ha..awesome pun.) You MUST make these for a party – without a doubt, such a hit! Granted, you’ll need a million strawberries for a large party but we managed to have 3 each which was perfect for a little treat after a very full-belly dinner! The greatest part about it, takes but a few minutes to do!

Here is the pinterest link and the actual link to the recipe here.  

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxo

Cake Stand Soap Holder – Pin Challenge – Day 3

I know what you’re thinking…I missed the last 2 days!!! Don’t you worry, I’m going to fill your email boxes with annoying posts of mine today and tomorrow to make up for the loss! I was having problems with WordPress and wasn’t able to post my blogs. Now I see that’s fixed and off we go!

In other news, I’ve decided not to go forward with my surgery (tomorrow!eek!) because it just wasn’t the right time. It’s not necessary right now and the window I have to work with is very small considering my visa is expiring in less than 2 months! Back to the great old US of A I go! The land of never-ending dreams and opportunities, best martinis in the world, and WAY more fun people!!!! GET ME BACK THERE RIGHT NOW!!!! First thing I’m going to do is bathe in Peanut Butter, then Pumpkin, then dirty martini in that order.

So with that being said, here we have Day #3 of the pin challenge.

Who doesn’t love a place to put all those soaps and hand creams! This is brilliant and since I don’t bake a lot of cakes, I was able to use the one cake stand I own for this! So simple, so easy! You can easily change the towel colors based on the holidays or time of year. It just makes everything look so nice and organized I think!

You can find the pin here and the actual site here. Now I didn’t go as far as to get cute little soap bottles and all that but I think it works just as it is!

Here’s my shot at it:

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Homemade Stereo – Pin Challenge – Day 2

I’m clearly blind when it comes to figuring out stereos and all those in and out options behind the thing, omg…it’s freaking me out just thinking about it. I have this problem where I always think I’m going to get electrocuted. Knowing me…I would.

Whenever we have parties I’m always trying to figure out how to hook my iPhone up to the stereo so I can just set my playlist on shuffle and go back to doing whatever. The radio stations in Germany suck beyond repair as most of you know from reading my previous blogs about it. So, I tried out this new thing I found on Pinterest today. It’s linked back to this blog however, I couldn’t find it on their site so I’m not sure what the deal is.

Put my iPhone in a glass…HELLO…people…this is brilliant!! It looks a bit odd but you can seriously hear the difference it makes. Super loud…at times annoying depending on the song, but it really works! The music is more rounded out and really fills the room perfectly!  And now I don’t have to worry about all those stupid electrical cords! Spice – 1, Stereo – 0.

Tried it in different size cups as well but this seemed to be the best without muffling the sound too much.

If you want to play along in the Pinterest daily challenge go here for rules! Doesn’t have to be anything fancy! (see: today’s project!)

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxox