Chocolate Chips...

...and I'm not talking about Toll house here, people!

I can't remember where I saw these, but I think a co-worker had told me that her mom makes them for Christmas. Ever since then, they have been in the back of my mind...taunting me.

Ladies and gentleman...Chocolate covered potato chips. In this case, Pringles, because that's the brand that was recommended to me to stand up the best in the dipping process!

Let me start by telling you that there was a traumatic melted chocolate experience on Christmas Eve that involved all three of us Briner girls gathered around a small, homemade double broiler full of chocolate chips (yes, the Toll house kind) trying to get the damn things to melt evenly.We ended up making a horrendous mess, and only having enough chocolate to dip about 24 orange slices, for our family Christmas Day gathering of 18. Epic fail. But they WERE delicious!

I have made melty chocolate goodies before, and used a small crocpot, or an electric fondue pot, and it works like a charm. I told Erin and Hannah that I would try and find one at an after Christmas sale for us!

The next day was Christmas and we were all at our Daddad's house. I went down into the basement to put my corn pudding into the extra oven down there, and low and behold, a tiny crocpot, still wrapped in plastic, never used! I took it back upstairs and asked Daddad if he ever used it, and he said "No, why? Do you want it?" Of course I said YES!! To which he enthusiastically told me to get it outta the house before he threw it out. I think my Ma was looking out for me :)

ANYWAY...another option to the fondue/little crocpot is a pre-packaged little cup of chocolate melts that you can buy at most grocery stores. That's what I used for the first time I made the Pringles! You just peel the lid off, pop it in the microwave, and you are good to go. This is not the brand I used, Wal Mart had a different one, but you get the idea. It is found in the baking aisle, near the chocolate chips and things like that

I had intended to do this for NYE but never got around to it. I was watching Jax and had a few friends over and between his feedings, and watching Amish Mafia, it just didn't happen ;)

One day last week, Gioia called me at work in a panic because she was with Matt's dad at UVA, his surgery had gone on longer than expected, and Matt was in Arlington at work. For those of you non-Virginians...those are both locations FAR apart from each other, and over an hour from where we live. 

The time when the bus comes to drop the boys off from school was quickly approaching and she was afraid that neither one of them was going to make it! No worries, that's what Em-Way is for ;) I finished up my day about an hour-and-a-half early and drove over to their house to meet the bus.

I had the boys finish their homework and told them we would make a special snack when they were done. Jason is a chip FANATIC! He loves ANY kind of chips! Potato, tortilla, Doritos, Cheetos, you name it...so I knew this would be a hit!

Jason was screwing around with his reading homework, so Aron and I did most of the dipping, and then threw them in the fridge to cool and harden while we waited for Jason. we dipped about half of each chip into the chocolate, and left the other half plain. 

You could just as easily dip the whole thing in, if that's what you want :) 

Also, the boys came up with the idea of adding sprinkles! How cute would red and pink sprinkled chips be for Valentines Day??

Haunted Hallow

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been working a second job the entire month of October.  Haunted Hallow is a 25 minute haunted walk through an old farm, including four terrifying barns and lots of scary creatures lurking in between barns as you walk through.

My sister, Erin, has been doing makeup at Haunted Hallow for a few years and loves it. When I moved back home, she casually mentioned something about coming to work there this year, and I was all "sure, whatever."

When September rolled around, it was time to actually go to the meeting and sign up for this place. Hannah and I were still in "whatever," mode...I could certainly manage 11 nights of work for the extra cash.

 Hannah and I both absolutely refused to put costumes on, wear makeup, or do any scaring though...we signed up to sell tickets or concessions, help with makeup and costumes...anything but scaring. No way Jose.

Well...by the second night, I was totally hyped. I LOVE Halloween anyway, and the owners of this place obviously do too. The farm has something special about it that just made me smile and have a good time, and I couldn't ask for better co workers! From the 18 year old kids to the guy that works with my dad at the funeral home, we all just LOVE Halloween and wanted to have a good time scaring the crap out of people. Hearing people scream made me laugh, because that meant we were doing a damn good job! This place is mad scary...I KNOW where all the actors are, and I still got scared, 4 weeks into it!

Night two...I was in full zombie makeup =)

 

Night four, I had a permanent position on the trail. A full time ghoul, with a new costume. Say hello to your new nurse...

  

I couldn't have picked a more perfect job for myself...I got to scare people a bit, but also help and comfort those who were a little TOO scared. I would turn on my flash light and show them that I was just a regular person that likes Halloween, give them a pep talk, and send them on down the trail...to the zombies.

This job was exactly what I needed in the midst of my divorce, financial issues and general craziness in life. I had been feeling pretty low about a lot of things...but having a "fun" job to go to and not have to think was amazing.  Plus, did I mention that I LOVE Halloween??

I feel blessed to have met some amazing people while working at Haunted Hallow, people from all walks of life whom I would otherwise never have spoken with.

If my "real" job made me stay up until 1am, stand outside in my scrubs and freeze, yell until I lost my voice, run up and down hills and fields until my back and legs were screaming or put blood all over my face...I'd be looking for a new job ASAP, but I LOVE me some Haunted Hallow!!! I've never been more exhausted, but it was SO worth it!

Our season has come to an end now, one day early thanks to Hurricane Sandy....but check out the website and come see us in 2013. I will definitely be there again!

www.HauntedHallowVA.com

Oh, and PS...The money that I made at Haunted Hallow is exactly what I need for my divorce! Come on February!!!

Scentsy Party!!

I know that I mentioned in my hot scented wax...really? post how skeptical of Scentsy I was, and how much I now liked it...well now my sister Hannah is having an online/book party...so please, take a chance on some hot scented wax and try a warmer or a plug in! Believe me, you will not be disappointed!
Just hit the link below, and on the left side you will see "buy from" and you click on Hannah Briner :)
https://christiescandles.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Home

Here are some of my favorites!


These are all my own opinions, Scentsy has not given me anything to act or say anything in their behalf. All of these photos are from the Scentsy website, and I do not claim to have taken them.

OMG meet me at Michael's...

AND BRING THE COUPONS!!!

I got an excited and somewhat frantic phone call from my little sister, Hannah, one Friday while she was on her lunch break because she had found this...

Plaster white goodness, and ready to paint or decoupage!! I can't wait!

He is definitely going to become a sugar skull of sorts...perhaps turquoise as a base color, with black and red?

Hannah bought one too. She is going to have her friend paint it. He is a tattoo artist.

Ooooo I looove Halloween! (but this guy will most likely stay out year round!)

Guilty as charged...

Do you guys have guilty pleasures? I sure as heck do. And lately, I've been feeling like CRAP and just indulging away.

 Not only emotionally, since my Ma died and the divorce coming up on being final and work being kinda crappy...but physically my migraines are back and my back/hip hurt like HELL-o!
So here is what I'm guilty of, ladies and gentleman:

Mt. Dew:
If you know me, you already knew I had a Coke drinking problem, well you probably didn't know that it also included Mt. Dew. Well lately I've been just doin' the Dew, less Coke...more caffeine, because I haven't been sleeping I guess. And it's just so gooood!

Freecycle:
I used to freecycle when I lived in Manassas a good bit, but it was for things I needed. I've been just picking up things like horse head bookends, kitchen chairs (I got those because I wanted to paint them hot pink...why??) etc, just because they were free and I wanted them.

Online yard sale:
Pretty much the same as Freecycle. I have been actually SELLING some things on there though, so I'm trying to balance my spending with my earning.

Not doing chores:
Holy Moses, I haven't done laundry at ALL in over 2 weeks, Hannah had to literally scream at me to clean the bathroom (it was my turn,) my car is a disaster, my room looks like a bomb when off. I need to get it together. I don't think I have any clean underwear, literally.

Pop tarts:
Guilty, guilty, guilty. They are so Delicious! When I have a migraine, that's been pretty much all I eat. I'm a mess! Ugh.

I have a doctors appointment this morning, to hopefully help with the back/hip issues, and I see my neurologist on Tuesday to talk more about the migraines. In between now and then I have 4 days off and I'm going to clean, clean, clean...do laundry...put some things up for sale on the online yard sale to make some money, and hopefully get a little rest!

What are your guilty pleasures? Indulging any this Labor Day weekend?

Hannah's grad party!!

Here is another post that I am (way) late on:
My little sister's graduation party. (Picture heavy post)

As I had mentioned in this post, my "baby" sister graduated from VCU in May. We couldn't be more proud of here. Here is my whole fam, showin' off our baby girl!

The next day we had a little par-tay here at the house for her. I would have gone ALL OUT, but she specifically requested that I didn't, because she KNOWS how I can be! She wanted low key, some BBQ, live music, and family....so that's what she got!

Well, kinda...You know I had to decorate a *little* because that's how I roll, right?

First I framed one of her Graduation announcements (that I made, so much cheaper, prettier, and easier to personalize to YOUR grad ex: you can put their minors, that they graduated cum laude, etc) and put it on the table and used it as a cheap and easy decoration!

Next I made a garland of black and gold circles with my 3 inch circle punch and strung them all together and put it up in our sun room, since most of the party was outside, and the sun room was kind of a "transition" room and could be seen from inside and out:

Hannah had mentioned really wanting this ceramic ram from Z gallerie, and since VCU's mascot is the Ram, Erin and I got it for her as her graduation present. I knew all about this ram from one of my FAVORITE blogs, younghouselove.com and Sherry's mishap with the very same ram!
So anyway, since we had rammy, we used him, with her graduation hat as decor!

(Rammy has since been spray painted a shiny gold and looks fantastic!)

So that was pretty much it, since she made me keep it low key...I also had some black and gold balloons scattered about, and on the mailbox, that I didn't photograph.

Here is the grad, and her other half, Joshua, and their pups:

Oh, and live music, we DID have that! My dad, uncle, and aunt provided some fantastic music the whole night, while we ate BBQ and drank pomegranate margaritas!

That's my dad, hes pretty awesome :)

Congratulations and Catching up!

So here we are again, another month and a half has come and gone without a blog post. This is becoming a theme around here,and not one that I am proud of, but I think I MAY have solved it today!

Most of the problem has been the lack of a computer to post from...when I left Chicago, I took our laptop but there was some insanity and I couldn't take it anymore...so I was the bigger person and sent it back. Well folks, computers, like money, do not grow on trees...and I have not been able to afford one. I still can't. What I DID find today was a kickASS deal on an Android netbook...so here we are :)

In the last 45 days:
I have moved from a temporary room, back into a more permanent and comfortable situation in my old  childhood room...its not half bad. Oscar likes it too.

 I have gotten my 5th paycheck at work, which means I have been there fora little over ten weeks. I've re-certified all of my necessary courses, and I'm still digging it!

I turned 28 on May 4th....and the verdict is still out on how I feel about it. I have started sleeping less than 4 hours per night :(

My best good friend, Matt and his wife, Gioia gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Jackson!!! While they were at the hospital I surprised myself by caring for their 8 and 6 year olds for 3 days, alone...and doing a damn good job! And last night cared for, baby Jax from 9pm to 4am to give his poor Momma break!

 Went on a real date

Watched my BABY sister graduate from college, and helped my parents throw her a pretty sweet par-tay! (more on that later)

Probably more sweet stuff I cant remember right now :)

And so my friends...now that I have my computer problem fixed, I'm going to TRY not to go another 45 days without blogging and FINALLY try and get around to blogging all of the kick ass projects that I have been working on, including all of the decorations and awesomeness that was Hannah's grad party!