Drank, Dranky Drank Drank...

So I've been chatting with a few bloggy friends lately about dranking and what not, and I know I ditched out on Thirsty Thursday this week, so....I figured I'd post this guest post I wrote about a year ago. It seemed to make people laugh so...enjoy...

You might have a drinking problem if...

- Every member of the family who owns the liquor store you go to knows you by name. And it’s not cuz you live in a small town.

- The owner yells "See you Friday" as you walk out the door on Wednesday...because he knows it only takes you 2 week days to finish that fifth you just bought.

- Your Facebook feed is full of "Just Tapped" updates from taphouses hundreds of miles away from you just for the suggestions. P.S. You get some pretty awesome ideas from these places. :)

- You smuggle 2 half gallons of vodka on a cruise, and still rack up $400 in alcohol charges.

- You stay 2 hours away from your cruise port just because Fort Lauderdale has more taphouses and breweries that you like. Helllerrr Tap 42!!

- Your husband does personal training on the side in exchange for kegs and 6-packs. Like beer 6-packs. I can see how that might be confusing. lol.

- Your post workout snack looks like this...

- You were nominated for the Ivrester Award on the first day it was given. lol. However, it is (even still) one of my biggest honors. :)

- You budget alcohol into your paycheck...and it's usually more than your budget for groceries.

- You're idea to kill time before a movie is sitting in the car with a 6-pack instead of walking around the mall.

(and a new edition) - The liquor store you frequent has now turned into the Craft Beer Lovers Paradise because, after you move, your first order of business is, "Make friends with the liquor store owner." That's makes liquor store #2 (see #1)!! We should go into business!!

And finally...you have a plethora of pictures like these that you can't remember taking or being taken...

CHEERS!!

Recipe: Garlic Rosemary Potato Wedges

I have to admit, I stole this recipe from Ina, whom I never watch, really, but it's so good and we do it all the time now. Not to mention it's super easy, which you know is my middle name lately. Haha, I just reread this and it made me giggle. Maybe I should have said "lazy" is my middle name, not "easy". 

For this recipe we used yukon gold potatoes, but I'm sure it would work just as well with redskins. Truthfully, we never get anything but redskins, but these were on sale this week so we picked up the 5 lb. bag.

I don't know if it's healthy or not. I mean it's a potato so....but we bake the fries rather than fry them, so it could be considered the healthy version.

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in thick wedges

1 tbsp-ish olive oil, maybe more...

1 tbsp-ish minced garlic

1/2 tbsp-ish rosemary

2 fingertip sprinkles of coarse salt

a few turns ground pepper

non-stick spray

DIRECTIONS:

Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 400º. Cut potatoes into wedges and throw them in a bowl.

Sprinkle the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper onto the wedges. Stir it all around to coat everything evenly. 

Spread wedges out in a single layer on the baking pan and put in the oven. Bake for 30ish minutes and then turn them over. Bake another 10-15 minutes or until starting to brown. 

Pull out of the oven and serve!

I need your input!! Read this!!

Ok, so this is going to be short and sweet. I know it's supposed to be Thirsty Thursday this week, but I'm swamped. I scheduled a few posts to get me through the week, but I don't think I could have put the effort in for Thirsty Thursday on Thursday. I'm sorry!!

I hate doing this only once a month. I wish I could go back to once a week. I think what happened is that it kind of turned blogging into a chore. I blog because I love it. I like to tell people what's going on in my life and I like to make people laugh. But...when it became kind of a nuisance to have to post every week, it got hard.

I've thought of ways to get it going again. Post early and then have it scheduled to go. And I've been working on getting into the swing of that. I will say, however, that it's hard when you put a ton of effort into something and then don't get much of an outcome. 

So, I think I'll say this. If you really are interested in doing the weekly Thirsty Thursday linkup again, let me know. Don't worry, I won't expect you to hold true to your word every week, but it's nice to know if people are really interested. And it will be more like we have been doing, but no themes. Well, maybe some themes. haha.

Snow Day Number 11, and a weekend recap

Why is it every single snow day I have had, Mike worked the night before so he sleeps all day?!?! I can't even make the most out of my snow days! Like I so want to go out and play a little and all that, but what fun is doing that alone?

So as of right now we have had 11 snow days. Our school system puts in 4 just in case, so we owe 7 more this year. Who knows when we are going to make that up. I hope they take some of our Spring Break away even though our Spring Break is only 3 days long. And...they can't take away that Good Friday so at most they can only take Thursday and Monday.

Looks like we might be in school until July. Boo..

This weekend was a success, though!! Mike actually worked for a friend on Friday so it was the first time he has done both day work and manual labor in about 5 years. haha. That coupled with my stomach issues on Friday equaled early bedtime for us. And that was AWESOME!!

Saturday we went to the gym and then came home and cleaned the house up a little. We also did laundry. Not sure I've mentioned this on the blog before, but laundry is my nemesis. Mike and I split up our laundry and he does his own. Mine usually doesn't get done but every 3 weeks or so. Truth is I don't wash things until they need to be washed, so a lot of times they get worn a few times before they go in the laundry basket. On Saturday Mike and I did laundry together. It took allllll day. haha. Actually, truth is we still have one load in the dryer.

Saturday night some of Mike's friends were supposed to come over for his birthday and to watch the fights. That didn't really happen, but luckily we have such awesome neighbors and they treated us to a night filled with fun!! OMG! I know I have said it before and I will again. I couldn't be happier with where we live. Our neighbors are the best and this summer is going to be insane.

With that being said, Mike and I bought a half gallon of vodka to get ready for the weekend. It's gone. No freakin clue how that happened, but....that probably has something to do with the fact that I can only remember bits and pieces of late Saturday night, anyway. Apparently it must have been a ton of fun because Mike and I didn't go to bed until 5am. So....

And then unfortunately, I had to get up early the next morning. I swear I tried to watch myself on Saturday night knowing I had a whole day ahead of me Sunday, but I guess I wasn't watching that close. My Aunt's 74th birthday was on Sunday and so we went to the new retirement community she lives in and took her to lunch. I felt like such an ass all day and really tried to make the best of it, but it showed that I felt like crap. Oh, well. I guess there will be other days when I can come visit again.

Anywhoooooo....hope we're back to school tomorrow and don't have any more snow days!!!

St. Patrick's Day Party!!

Let me just explain....I LOVE St. Patrick's Day!! And half the time I don't even celebrate. haha. I mean that's what happens when you're a school teacher and you have to actually be able to function around children the next day. I mean, honestly...why can't it be like Thanksgiving and you just choose a Friday or Saturday in March for this holiday. Bars would appreciate it, I promise!

And, although I'll probably just have a private little celebration with my husband, I still want to hear the ideas from you guys!! Who knows, maybe we'll party hardy together. haha.

So, because it's a holiday, I can eat all the sweets I want. And I found this gem on Pinterest the other day. It's an Irish Car Bomb Cake!! Who doesn't love an Irish Car Bomb?? And in a cake??? Yes, please!!

Doesn't it look phenomenal?? Ugh...I want that in my mouth right now.

And thanks to Alli at Cupcake Diaries, she came up with a whole list of foods you can make for a St. Patrick's Day party! Um, check out the Thin Mint Brownies. *sigh* I think I'm in love.

And as for decorations...you're welcome. I found some awesome ones!!! And they are all free or super simple.

How cute are these candles?? And you want to know what those green things are??? Split peas!!! How cheap and simple!! I might even do something like this for decor all year!! haha.

And another super simple decor option is this totally awesome canvas!! How easy is this?!?! I mean maybe 15 minutes worth of work?

And a few more....for these all you have to do is print. You can find them here, here, and here!!

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for!! 

THE DRANKS!! 

Shamrock Shooter!!

Tell me this doesn't look amazing! The recipe is super simple, too!! Most likely not everything you have in your cupboard, but it's St. Patrick's Day! Splurge!!

I knew for this I had to find a drank that uses Midori because it's the most beautiful shade of green there is. And Pinterest did not fail!

Midori Cosmo!!

The recipe for this, again, is really easy, but Midori isn't something a lot of people keep on hand. However, a Midori pineapple used to be my drank and if it's Halloween, you can always make one of my famous Dragon's Lair dranks!!

OK it's your turn!! Come link up your favorite St. Partick's Day party ideas!!

1. Follow Hopelessly Ever After via GFC or Bloglovin'.
2. Grab a button from below or my sidebar and put it in your post.
3. Write about your favorite alcoholic beverage.
4. Come back here and link up!!!
5. Get some new recipes or drink ideas for the weekend and make a new friend!!

Anyone interested in co-hosting email Kristin at: hopelessly_ever_after@yahoo.com

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.hopelesslyeverafter.blogspot.com" title="Hopelessly Ever After"><img src="http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l54/leggs532/linkupbuttonreal_zpsee8b2e2c.jpg" alt="Hopelessly Ever After" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Weekend Recap....on Wednesday

Don't forget tomorrow is St. Patty's Day here at Hopelessly Ever After!!

Click here for the details and come back tomorrow to link up your St. Patty's Day party ideas!!

Mike and I had an awesome weekend! It was gorgeous out and we did it up the right way!! Friday night Mike had to work so when he got home on Saturday he slept. It's always kind of a bummer on a nice day when Mike is sleeping because I get bored. But luckily he woke up pretty early and we meal planned, went grocery shopping, and then had a car wash!!! Well, only for our own cars, of course. haha. But it was a good time.

After all that exertion we went inside and he took a quick nap. The we grilled some burgers and watched some Chopped episodes before he had to go back into work.

Sunday, however, was awesome!! After he got up we got ourselves dressed and ready for a date day! We haven't had an official date day in so long and we were so pumped. We headed to the IMAX theater, got ourselves some tickets, and then walked to a nearby brewery for lunch. Since it had been so long we decided to do it up a little and got ourselves a flight of beer samples and then chose one for a pitcher. Then we ordered our food and gorged!

After that we headed back to the theater....maybe a little tipsy...and watched 300 Rise of an Empire in IMAX 3D. Can I just say I love IMAX 3D. haha. Especially when there are chiseled abs and plump booties in your face for 2 hours. LOVE!! It was an awesome time and we had a blast.

I can't wait until this weekend. It's not supposed to be as nice but it's still supposed to be great and he's off all weekend so PARTY TIME!!

Muffin Tops eat Muffins

Don't forget our St. Patrick's Day Party is this Thursday!! Come join us!

So last week while Mike was at his conference I got the urge to bake. I don't really know what got into me. I mean I always have the desire to bake or pretend like I'm a famous chef on The Food Network, but it doesn't usually come to fruition. Blankets and trashy reality tv usually takes the cake.

But, last Tuesday, on my 10th snow day of the school year, I got up off this lard ass and baked!!

I had been looking for a good blueberry muffin recipe. You see, before we moved we had 3 blueberry bushes in our backyard. And, if you know the right time to head out there, they yield a ton of blueberries. When we moved, we still had 3 tupperware containers full of blueberries in the freezer. As a matter of fact, I'm super bummed about not having blueberry bushes here. When we run out I'm going to have to actually buy blueberries. And we all know they don't taste anywhere near as good as fresh organic picked from the bush. That's right...organic. That bush was planted a long, long time ago. And for the last 17 years, I'm pretty sure no one even knew it was in the backyard. (The house Mike and I just moved out of was the house I grew up in.) So when I remembered our first summer there, I never imagined it would be still blooming. But when I walked back there those big beautiful blueberries were staring right back at me!!

We only have one more tupperware container left, but I was tired of blueberry pancakes. Don't get me wrong, they are delish, but I wanted a change in my life. So, I found an awesome Blueberry Muffin recipe and got cookin!!

These muffins were delicious!! I'm so happy I went with the recipe I did. I was a little nervous because there weren't as many ingredients as the other ones, but that's kind of why I tried it. I had everything it called for, which always makes my husband happy. haha.

Really Unhealthy Blueberry Muffins 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 egg, slightly beaten

3/4 cup whole milk 

(I didn't have whole milk so I used a little half and half with skin milk)

1-1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

For topping: brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350º and grease a 12-cup muffin tin. 

In one bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients but make sure you pour some of the milk into the butter to cool it before mixing it all in with the eggs. Then, mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients together. Do not over-mix, it's ok if the batter is lumpy. 

Drop batter by spoonfuls into the muffin cups. Make sure you evenly distribute. Place in oven for 10 minutes. 

While you're waiting, mix together the brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Just enough for the top of the muffins. After ten minutes bring the muffins out and sprinkle with cinnamon sugars. 

Continue baking for another 10-15 minutes. Use a toothpick to make sure they are cooked all the way through. Let sit for about a minute. Then use a toothpick to separate the muffins from the sides of the muffin cups. Allow to cool on a baking rack.

Oh! And if one breaks, just eat that betch!!

ENJOY!!

Come link up next Thursday!

It's a surprise Thirsty Thursday linkup!!! So March 17th is St. Patty's Day!! And it's one of my favorite holidays, so....we're going to do another linkup!

This Thirsty Thursday theme is of course St. Patrick's Day! Um, only one of the biggest drankin days of the year!! And remember, you don't have to link up a drink. It can be a decoration, food, outfit, hair, nails, etc. Anything you would include in a St. Patrick's Day PARTAY!!

Linkup will go live on Thursday, March 13th!! Mark your calendars. Can't wait to see what you have!!

Ruffles with Love Giveaway!!

The other blog, Fittin It In, is having a Ruffles with Love tank giveaway today!! Head on over and enter!!

All that and a bag of poop....

We had an interesting weekend. Luckily Mike was off this weekend, however he did leave me about an hour ago for a conference in Annapolis. He won't be back until Wednesday night. As much as I cherish my time alone when he is at work, I hate being away from him for things like conferences. It's not something we have to do often, and it sucks when it happens. The worst part is we have another huge storm coming between last night and today and I'm sure I'll be off work for at least one day. It wouldn't be so bad if I worked all day but I'm literally going to be home by myself for 4 days. :(

But, anyway, back to the weekend....

Friday night was our besties gender reveal party. We are so excited they are preggers. It was a total shock when we found out and we are elated to get to be a part of this with them. Everything was so cute. They had you vote when you came in the door and then you got to take a picture with either lips for a girl or a moustache for a boy. Then they had Baby T's cousin do the actual reveal. Taylor came downstairs and let everyone know Olivia had something to say and her shirt would do the talking. IT'S A BOY!!!! I am super excited and can't wait to meet our new little Baby T!!

Saturday, Mike and I headed to Kohls. Apparently Mike's donkey butt got even bigger and he can't fit in any of the dress pants he has. Unfortunately, they have to wear a button up and dress pants to the conference, so we had to suck it up and buy some. Oh well, I got a ham, egg, and cheese on a honey whole wheat bagel in exchange. haha.

Then we came home and picked up dog poop. Haha. With all this snow we haven't had the chance to go out and pick up dog poop all winter. Our back yard was like a minefield and I had started taking Rosco out front just to avoid having to take the chance of stepping in shit. We ended up with an entire bag full of crap. 

Saturday night we had our neighbors over for some drinks. Unfortunately, we ran out of alcohol pretty quickly and desperate times called for desperate measures. Mike had to crack open the Mike's Hard Lemonade my mom left in our fridge the last time she was there. Don't worry, I snapped a quick pic before he figured out what I was doing. And for your viewing pleasure...Goober with a Mike's Hard Lemonade...

We are so lucky to live where we do. It is honestly the perfect place for us. I can't wait for this summer and all the fun we have in store. They have a 2 year old daughter so when bedtime came they went back to put her to bed. After she was asleep we snuck in and chilled for a while longer. That's what I love the most about this place. Just the comradery between everyone. It's almost like living in a dorm with your friends, but you all have your own houses.

Sunday was a bust. We slept until about 10 and then got up and made breakfast. Then we made a bed on the couch and laid around all day. I'm really gonna miss my Goober and I just wanted to hang out with him all day. But he did tell me it was hard to leave because I looked so cute. lol. He's an ass.

Now lets hope we don't get too much snow so I can go to school and not be stuck there until July.