What I Love Wednesday

Roasted red potatoes..

We had a simple dinner tonight, Baked chicken with our favorite Zoe's seasoning blend and the juice of one lemon sprinkled on top, peas, and my beloved potatoes. Hubs is back hard core on his diet, and I'm obliging. We had an off weekend with a dinner out and a few quick fixes here at the house. Anyways, the potatoes... they are nothing more than red potatoes cut into chunks, spread out on a baking sheet, brushed with some oil and again sprinkled with the seasoning mix and baked at 350 for about an hour. We cook ours good and long to get the outsides a little crisp, but the inside stays soft. Really, the easiest most perfect side dish. I also love they they are real potatoes, and not from a can.

So that's what I'm loving today..

What are you loving??

gettin crafty.

I think I've decided that I want to become crafty.


The thought is.. I see so many cute home decor items, and dresses and skirts that if I just learned to sew and craft a little they can be mine for a fraction of the cost. Not to mention, my wardrobe would nearly quadruple.

My sister sews, somewhat. So I'm thinking there isn't much to it. Of course, I do need a sewing machine, patterns, fabric, and all the stuff that come with it.

I'm googling around and finding some simple dresses (or so I think) that might be right up my alley.




..ok, so google searches for easy to sew dresses and easy to make dresses proved insufficient for photos. Maybe for now we'll just stick with crafting.


I'm dying to make a ribbon wreath.

It was def. much easier to look up online, but I would love to do one in garnet and black for the Fall, or just a fun fall colored one. Speaking of wreaths, Christmas will be here fast...119 days.. to be exact. For our front door I know we will be putting a wreath on it, do we go live and just add simple touches, or fake and get one that is done all up to save for years to come??

I'm also starting to gather ideas for table and mantle decor.








Then comes the china, we have Fiestware that I love, but I am searching for something to bring it into the holiday season as well. Maybe some place mats and napkin rings!??? Or do I start early and pick out yet another pattern. It's not like we'll be hosting any large family meals for a good 10 years. Am I crazy for already thinking about the holidays.

We determined about a week back we will be going with a LIVE tree!! YAYY!! I hope that I can talk Mr. P into a day trip to the mountains to pick one out.

Ok so back to crafting..

I've considered doing a canvas for our kitchen with a bible verse on it or something to make it feel more homey. I'm not one for self done art on the walls (don't tell the hubby) but I would love it if I could rework a few things to at least give our visitors the impression that adults live here.

What other fun crafts are there that I can do for cheap!?!

Finally Friday

Woo hoo!!


To get things started, let's have a little Rebecca Black. 

It's not the real video, and I didn't make that one, but you get the point!! 




This week I've been addicted to The Sims Social app on Facebook. If you're a fan of the classic Sims game you might just want to check this out. LOVE IT!! It's honestly Farmville taken to a whole new level. I've hacked Mr. P's FB and set him up a sim as well, and now we're "Totally Inseparable" hehehe. I'm wonderful I know. 


And..  last night I got into Words With Friends on FB as well. It was a little hard to get the hang of, but I think I have it now. 


I'm also ever grateful for Sudoku on my hubs Android2, it's great for killing time while we're riding around town. Hence, last night's hour drive to figure out what we were eating. At one point I said I felt like we were dating.. we had no place to go, not a whole lotta money, and were very hungry. However, we settled on Texas Roadhouse, and were very very pleased. The service was great, lots of young people who were well groomed, extremely polite and the food was good too. LOVE those rolls and cinnamon butter!! 




Now that I've officially convinced you all that I'm a nerd I'm headed back to caring for my sick hubby today.

Gameday Gear

Ok, so USC football is RIGHT around the corner. With some moderate progress last season there is A LOT of talk about how far these guys will go. Our baseball team recently brought in the 2011 NCAA CWS National Title again, so there is LOTS of hype in the air here.

Football games for me have always been a fashion show. My typical game day outfit is a simple black dress with a few garnet accessories.

Of course I have several black dresses, seriously.. once I counted them because a friend borrowed one and I think I had at least 10. Anyways, this is a favorite of mine from Ann Taylor LOFT. It's a short wrap dress and it was on clearance. I've worn it soo many times!! Including our rehearsal for the wedding.

That's the closest I could find to my actual dress online. I do, however draw the line at the heels. Heels are NOT game appropriate.  The up and down, the crowds, stairs, and 10 mile hike to the stadium most certainly do not comply.

So this year I'm hoping to add these to the mix..

My standard footwear. <3 I die.


I also have a long cotton black dress to try out as well, but believe I will save that for cooler weather.

When cooler weather does get here, I like to be prepared with a good wool coat. I think something like this is on the shopping list. This way, I can put it over jeans and a black turtleneck and just hit the tailgate.

and then of course my throngs ( I think that's a word) of scarves.

With the baby bro inlaw off at Clemson, I am also cautiously looking for appropriate purple/orange attire  in the event Mr. P and I make it up there for a game.

My next big debate is on the gamefaces, those little tattoos you buy and put on your cheek!? Are they a do or a don't? Definitely can be cute, but I ain't 8 and am I'm not a sorority girl.. So I'm not sure I fit the bill. As much as I LOVE this time of year I am proud to be a Koala at heart.

Happy Hump Day!!

It's a quiet week at Casa de Perry this week. Nothing wild going on although I did go  eat Chipotle and see One Day with my pal Megan. Props to her for getting me out of the house and out socializing on a weeknight. It was an overall good movie, but not my absolute favorite. Chipotle however did not disappoint! I had a rice bowl with chicken.  I'm still holding out to see Glee, and the new Sarah Jessica Parker flick How Does She Do It? After seeing the Help last week, and then this week One Day, I realized I should make more of an effort to actually go out and see movies. I really do like seeing them in the theater.

I need to either a.) find a generous friend or b.) try my hand at graphic design and get a banner for this little blog. Something to spruce it up a bit.


I just made broccoli casserole for dinner tonight in hopes of winning Mr. P's taste for that lovely green veggie. It's been in our freezer for a few weeks and we're trying to use up as much of what we have in our pantry right now (its loaded) before we go buy more food. I realized Monday at  dinner, that outside of my lovely breakfast dates that I don't even remember the last time I have been out for dinner. It's crazy how life before marriage was dictated by dining out and now it's a super special thing.

A commercial for Garnet and Black traditions just inspired me to do a post on gameday wear for those ever so important USC games. We're at just over a week a way from kickoff in Charlotte, and then two weeks from our home opener here in town. Get excited folks!!

Emily talked me into playing The Sims Social on Facebook. Not gonna lie, kind of addicting. It takes me back to the regular Sims game for sure. Good times there, good times.

Okay, so I think that's it for this post. Off to work on my super gameday one!!!

Fall is HAIR

Hahha, don't I make you laugh.

Anyways, so just before the Summer got started I went in for a major chop. I mean, we're talking like close to 12 inches folks. I have loved it and never looked back. At least not totally. Well, cooler temps will so be here and I'm in need of a trim. I am also thinking I will have the highlights redone as well.  Hello wife hair?!!? I've been so proud of myself lately and made sure I've had plenty of time before leaving the house to fix my hair properly (and makeup for that matter). So here's a few products I hope to snag before it cools down to continue keeping this mop of mine perfectly coiffed for Fall.


Exhibit A, texturizing powder such as..

This retails for somewhere around five bucks, so I'm hoping it works. My hair seems to be a frying vat of grease minutes after I wash it, leaving most any style flat and lifeless. Some volume for the winter would just be great.

Exhibit B, Bumble and Bumble stuff..

Hair (un)dressing creme.  It's a little more expensive, but it won't break the bank. I saw it in an add in this month's Cosmo, and the model looked fabulous. I LOVE to rock the messy look with my locks but the never seem to stay messy past the first 15 minutes. There's a miracle product for us all and this one might just be it.


Exhibit C, a new straightener.


I'm not posting a picture because I think we all know what they look like. I'm not leaning towards a specific brand at this point, but def. a higher end one. My ole trusty Revlon from highschool has just about bit the dust.


Exhibit D, curls curls curls.


This Fall I am going to master the art of curls in my hair and nothing is stopping me. I got a great new set of hot rollers last year for Christmas and have yet to really play with them myself. So this season I'm pulling out all the stops to achieve this look, and have it stay..

See look how cute that would be??

It seem's as lately we've gone crazy kitchen experiementing. Here's a little post to catch you up! I am sorry no pictures here, I'm not that dedicated to blogging yet. I only have one follower!!

Ok, so last week we attempted the stuffed chicken breasts with pimento cheese. Tasted great, but I still have a lot to learn about stuffing anything. It kinda looked like a pimento cheese explosion. The sad part is, I hate that I wasted that much pimento cheese!! That stuff isn't cheap to make. However, I can brag that I have converted Mr. P to homemade pimento cheese now. I hate that fake store bought stuff!!

Last night, we splurged and made Shrimp and Grits. Turned out wonderfully, except for my heavy handed hubby with the white wine during deglazing. So watch that when you're making it on your own. I was suprisingly pleased at the simplicity of this recipie. We jumped the gun and got proscuitto in the deli at Publix, before we made it to the back of the store and saw they had the Andouille (sp?) sausage. If you can, use the Tasso ham, or Andouille sausage, those meats have all the seasoning in them. We also used thick yellow grits, which make this recipie truly Southern I believe, and here's a tip, add some heavy cream to them and they will be nice and smooth.

Anyways, this weekend we were blessed with a nearly seven pound pork loin.  Our plan is for three 2ish pound roasts. Tonight we simply roasted it in the oven for a little over an hr with the usual Old Bay and garlic seasoning. For sides we made green beans, and Paula Deen's Corn Casserole. I only learned this week you can really kick up those canned green beans by cooking them in a little chicken broth (or add a buillion cube) on medium for close to an hr. Thanks MIL!! This was also my first attempt at the corn casserole. It turned out WONDERFULLY! Definitely one for the regular menu I believe. Our only adjustment was we had no sour cream, so we whipped up some heavy whipping cream. I made it in the suggested 9 x 13 pan, but believe next time I will be using a smaller deeper pan.  The best part of that recipie is that I've been begging Mr. P to let me try it, and he always said no, but the fact we had all necessary ingredients to make it won out tonight. I always enjoy when he likes something he swore he wouldn't.


For at least one of the other roasts we're slow cooking it. I was messing around on pinterest today and found this little puppy.  Brown sugar and Balsamic glazed pork loin. Here's the stock photo from the site.

Now doesn't that look delicious?!  Along with that I found these..

Sweedish Hasselback Potatoes. Just google the name and you can find several recipies. I'm sure neither of these are diet friendly, but I'm DYING to make something creative in the kitchen. Since baking is strictly forbidden, I think I'll be able to get away with some hearty dishes. Results to be posted!!