~Off to the races~

Today is my father-in-law's big 70th borthday!
WOW!

To celebrate, each year the boys (hubby included) love to go to Emerald Downs for the horse races.  Not just to bet (we bet small moolah) but to enjoy some fun company, food, drinks and good people.

This year Andy's dad was the big winner, winning on a tri-fecta (that's guessing which horses, and in what exact order they will win). Pretty rare especially out of 8-9 horses!

Birthday luck!

I won $24 and was a happy camper.

We enjoyed some roast beef sandwhiches with garlic fries, a latte . . .
Andy had a beer and I had a yummy raspberry margarita.

 Brought floppy along . . . hey it's the horse races!

Andy never buys coffee . . . but he sure does drink mine lol I guess things are better shared!

 Mmmmm birthday tradition: Cakes from Hoffman's bakery.

Black Forest Cake:

soooo goood!

Good times!

Happy Birthday Father-in-Law!

~Memorial Day Weekend!~

Hello all my lovelies out there! I hope you all had a lovely weekend,

and for my American readers out there this post is for you!

Memorial Weekend:

Most people think of this weekend as:

Source: munchkinmunchies.com via Kasi on Pinterest

*3 day weekend (wooo hoooo!)*

*BBQ's*

*Camping trips/road trips*

*Shopping Sales, sweeet!*

What people forget:

The true reason we observe Memorial Day

(full article and info from here)

To remember all of our fallen troops, from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, etc.

To celebrate the lives and sacrifice of the men who fought and died for our country, and for us.

Why this day hits home for me:

*My brother served 2 tours in Iraq right after September 11th, 2001. I remember watching the news and hearing about the number of troops being killed, and hoping and praying it wasn't my big bro.  He has served his time and is safe home, thank goodness! But some of his close friends didn't make it.

*My grandfather was in the Army during WWII.  He survived the war as well, but as we know so many men were not able to return home.

Not trying to get all serious and gloomy, but I just wanted to remind everyone what today is for.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the fun camping, bbq's, etc and forget.

Something I didn't even know about:

"To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence"

Let's be proud of the men who have fought for our rights and freedoms, and at 3:00 p.m. today stop for a few moments and pay our respects and think about this huge sacrifice.

Ok now that I got that out

enjoy your day off!!!

What did you do on your long weekend?

We:

Went to Emerald Downs (horse races) for my father in laws birthday

Breakfast with my girlies Annie and Melissa to talk flowers for Melissa's upcoming wedding!

Shopping shopping shopping getting some fun clothes with my birthday moolah for our trip, I will do a full post on this later, maybe tomorrow!

Watched movies and chillaxed with the hubby (which we haven't been able to do for a few busy weeks!)

Gym! Yup hit that hard a few days in a row . . . bikini body?!

Far from but that's my goal . . . soon!

Can't wait to hear about your weekend!

Also please remember what our Memorial Day means in America!

(and for all of you worldwide blog buddies have a great Monday!)

~Happy Friday and Happy Birthday weekend to me!~

Source: prepfection.tumblr.com via Tamara on Pinterest

The sun is shining . . .

My smile is out and not going anywhere . . .

Birthday dinner with friends tonight at Barrios (mmmm jalepeno margarita!)

Surprise birthday fun day with hubby tomorrow

Happy hour with the in laws Sunday

And finally my real birthday on MONDAY!

Life is good, wouldn't you all say?

I hope wherever you are the sun will be shining,

you'll be having some fun times with family and friends . . .

and just sit back and enjoy all that life has to offer this weekend!!!!

What are your plans lovies??

~Friday Fun Day!~

Happy Happy Friday my loves!

Soooo sorry I've been lame this week, super busy with too much going on.

I miss you guys!!!

What's on your weekend agenda?

Tonight:

Double Date Dinner!

Tomorrow:

Family birthdays celebration

softball practice

Meeting with potential bride

Out for a friend's birthday

Sunday:

Church

Chillin with the hubby

Monday:

MUCH needed massage! Thanks hubby for the sweet gift!

Will be better next week, promise!

For now: I am allll smiles

Source: weheartit.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Enjoy your weekend!!!

~Happy Friday!~

I totally need this in life right now . . .

I'm the kind of person that takes on way too much and never wants to give anything up

. . .

but life gets nuts.

It's time to say goodbye to the unnecessary tasks, thoughts, draining friendships, etc and open doors for new adventures!!!

Is this hard for any of you as well???

Or am I just a little loco in la cabeza? :-)

Happy Happy Friday!

Any fun plans out there?

Ours:

Meetings with brides

Mother's Day Dinner . . . Spanish Style with tapas and sangria and all kinds of goodies, will post afterwards!

Soccer date at our pub

Planting veggie garden

Chillin!

Ooooh and ONE month til Europe wooo hooo!

Enjoy your weekend and remember to be brave and just let go!!

~Tamara Nicole~

~Photo Weekend Recap~

What a fun weekend we had!

Busy busy but good

*Finishing the last remodeling touches on our bathroom (unveiling soon!)*

*Hanging with the inlaws and buying our veggie garden essentials*

*Weeding, gardening, and bbq*

 Awww my lil LuLu is wanting some steak . . .

since we've adopted her she's put on some weight! Lol no steak for you

*Wedding Dress Shopping with my good friend Melissa (whom I've known since 2nd grade!)*

*Drinks at BJ's with my girls*

*Date night for some Pho, yummmm!*

*Early Mother's Day celebration with my fam*

Nephew Henry is 7 months old . . . and almost as big as my 18 month niece! Ha ha

Keliani sporting my rockstar glasses!

Girl's got style. Just sayin.

She is so adorable! Kept coming over and sitting on her auntie's lap.

*Walking our dogs on a cool trail through the slough by our house*

Me: sans-makeup don't judge!

*Oh and can't forget church*

One of my new Nordstrom Rack dresses, and I want more!

That's pretty much our weekend in a nutshell . . . how was your past weekend?

Any fun plans for your week?!

Enjoy it loves!

~Tamara Nicole~

~Oh Happy Happy Weekend!~

It's finally here . . .

And what a week it has been!!!

Weekend I am so very happy to see you.

I do not know what my deal was this week, I was all kinds of emotional.

Oh well, life goes on and it is amazing!
A few good things this week:
I got to be social with lunches, dinners, etc and it was so good to catch up!

(love you Bethany! Thanks for enjoying some yum drinks with me)

I suceeded in my RAOWK

(Random Acts of Wifey Kindness)

and went above and beyond each day to show my hubby that I love him just as much, if not more than when we first fell.

I will continue to try to find new ways to make Andy feel important and loved and not get stuck in a routine. Nope!

I hope you all have a weekend full of crazy love:

Source: imgfave.com via Tamara on Pinterest

What are your plans?

Ours:

Wedding Dress shopping with my girl Melissa

Finishing crown moulding in my bathroom

Date night

Softball practice and drinks

Planting my veggie garden

Hanging out with my sister, mom and niece

etc.

Life is good, enjoy!

Psssst I am literally so obsessed with Pinterest right now

Do you Pin?! If so let me know I'd love to check out your loves.

Mine is right here

~Friday and Earth Day Love~

Happy Friday my dearies!

Today I am homebound re-couping from a surgery to remove another bad mole from my back (more on this in another post another day!)

All that matters is that I am happy, healthy,

 and more aware of taking care of my body than ever!

Everything happens for a reason.

So with my s.p.f. always on hand and a fun floppy hat for spring/summer I wanted to wish you all a

Happy Earth Day!

(source)

What I am doing to do my part on Earth Day:

~Not driving at all~

~Keeping the lights down and instead going outside~

~Recycling (ok I do this everyday)~

~Donating items not using instead of throwing anything out~

~Repurposing some old decor pieces into new ones~

What about you?

Also, what are your plans this EASTER weekend?

Just in case you missed anything:

*Headboard obsession (and RHOOC tidbit)

*My attempt at 4 layer professional-ish cake: sweet!

*Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Italy bound!

*Sweet Spring Swap Goodies

AND on the wedding blog:

*Mother's Day Brunch Inspirations

*Vintage Wedding Rentals

*Bridesmaid Dress Swoons

*Earth Day and Your Wedding

Oooh and one last thing . . .

WINNER of the Tasteful Tatter's lovely necklace

is . . .

#34 . . . Rebekah!

Congrats and I hope everyone has a fantabulous Earth Day AND Easter weekend!!!

~Tamara Nicole~

~Ruffle Strawberry Cake~

Happy Saturday my loves!

What are you up to this wonderful day?

Me:

Baking!!!

I am making my mom-in-law a pretty ruffle birthday cake.

(source)

(source)

Using this recipe for

 Strawberry Cream Cake and Filling

And I found this video for tips on ruffle frosting:



Cake has just baked and is in the freezer to set so I can continue . . .

more photos soon!

Don't miss out on:

Giveaway from Tasteful Tatters

 and over on my other blog

Simply by Tamara Nicole

Weddings and Events:

My Vintage Literature Photo Shoot in the Woods inspiration post

Gorgeous white and pink burlap wedding decor

and Mother's Day brunch plans

Have a fabulous weekend my dears!

~Monday Monday . . .~

How I love thee so!

Yup I am a lover of Mondays . . . and Sat and Sundays!

Ok any day I have off to live and enjoy my life:-)

How was your weekend?!

Ours was busy yet we got a lot done!

1) Friday the hubby and I both had work off so we took our
3 little fur balls (Capri, Toby and our adopted LuLu) to the dog park . . .

and McDonalds for some ice cream!

Then for the rest of the weekend we finished tiling my bathroom shower

Softball practice

Yard work

Hanging with 2 of my girls making wedding invitations

(Congrats Melissa!!!)

How was your weekend?!

Productive, relaxing, or social??

Things to look forward to on the blog this week:

*Sweet Spring Swap: what I sent, and what I get!*

*Another fabulously Free Giveaway*

*More of our Europe trip from last year*

*Cake Pop Tutorial!*

Stay tuned my loves and have a FABULOUS day!!!

~Weekend Relaxation . . . and a Winner!~

Happy weekend to you all!

I hope you will find some time this weekend to

 relax . . .

(I can't wait to take a bubble bath inour new tub!)

(via)

(so need one of these!)

Tub Caddy made of Reclaimed Oak from a Broken Down Hardware Store

on Etsy by Peg and Awl

KEEP CALM AND SOAK ON 8x10 Print (Oceanic Water Featured) Purchase 3 and get 1 FREE

on Etsy by Keep Calm Shop

So before I go relax some more . . .

I want to announce my Shop Odyssa winner;

via Random.org . . .

#14 . . . Ocean Dreams!!!

Congrats!

You win:

Her famous Francesca lingerie bag!

Enjoy your weekend lovies!

And if you missed Shop Odyssa check her fun bags out here

~The Adventures of Handy Andy and Designer Tammy~

Hee heee yup my husband is very handy, and I like to pretend I am a designer:-)

2 weeks ago I posted about our bathroom inspiration

(check it out here)

Since then:

We've:

 Had our deeper bath tub installed (yayyyy bubble baths)

New mirror

Lights installed

Built-in shelf in shower

Painted!

(Ha ha that's the pink that we messed up on, swoops!)

Plumbing set up

Tiled my floor (looks like a street in Rome!!)

Tiled the shower

The dogs chilling in the other bathroom out of the way:)

 Looove my bright poppy red!!!

Left to do:

Grout floor and shower

Find decor pieces

Make curtains

New towels and shower curtain.

Phew! It's so much fun, but a lot of work AND a lot of moolah

(And my thighs are sore from sqauting all weekend while tiling with the hubby)

Will keep you posted!

Psssst don't miss my giveaway hosted by Shop Odyssa!!

Enter HERE