Plaid Shoe La La

Happy Saturday!!  It's raining cats and dogs here so I have the Kardashians on tv and I'm shoe shopping online.  I came across these beauts on the J.Crew website...


You can click through the picture to get to the J.Crew website.  This is an affiliate link.

These are the Falsetto Plaid Pumps and they're listed for $199.99 but are Final Sale and it just so happens that J.Crew is offering 40% off of Final Sale in stores and online with the code TREAT. 

I love plaid and with all of the colors in the fabric, you're bound to find something that matches them in your closet!  I would pair them with a solid color dress or a solid color top with dark jeans for a more relaxed look.

Oh, man, Khloe and Kim are getting into it.  I'd better go!  Have a great rest of the day!

A Delicious Mishap

Well, Frank Underwood, we've seen how you handled the peach "situation"......check out what food related mishap Frank is going to have to deal with in the land of The Peachoid (that's Gaffney, SC) now.  It's delicious, I promise...LINK  

Pic from Kevin Spacey's Twitter account: @kevinspacey

Kate Spade Surprise Sale

It's one of the most wonderful times of the year!!! *sing the sentence aloud for full effect*  It's Kate Spade Surprise Sale time! Kate Spade is offering up to 75% off and we all know I enjoy a good sale...like, a lot. So head on over HERE and let me know what goodies you snatch up!

Derby Day

Happy Tuesday!  I hope you're having a great week so far.  The weather has been great and I think the heat is here to stay!

I thought I'd share my Derby Day outfit from last Saturday.  Fiance' and I had a Derby Party and it was so much fun!  As I've said before, I love any excuse to dress up, eat good food, and spend time with friends and this party was the best!

My dress was by Mud Pie and was blue and white chevron with a red, tunic style neckline and hem and a red sash at the waist. (Link to Dress)  

My hat is from J.Crew and I've had it for about 8 years.  I've worn it just about everywhere: Derby Parties, Carolina Cup, golf tournaments...it's $34.50 right now and I think it's worth every penny. (You can click the hat to go to the website! Fancy, right?)

I've mentioned my necklace before. It's by C.Wonder and it is my go-to gold necklace.  I love it!

You can't see my shoes in the picture, but I wore Lilly Pulitzer McKim Wedge Sandals in navy.  These add just enough height without making you feel like you're going to topple over!  I thought I'd branch out from my faithful, gold Jack Rogers wedges.  (Click on the shoes to go to the Lilly Pulitzer website.)

My outfit was comfortable and not too fussy, which is important when hosting a party.  You want to be able to enjoy the party and spending time with your guests, rather than tugging at your dress or tripping over your shoes.

I'm going to leave you with a picture of the cutest Scottie Dog in the world, Beauregard, in his Derby Day attire.  Have a great night!

Earring Obsession

I've become obsessed with earrings lately.  There are just so many cute earrings out there this season and I'm particularly loving Kate Spade's.  So, I've rounded up a few pretties for you to check out.  You can click on the picture to get to the item's website!

Kate Spade New York Small Square Stud. I love the bright pink color!

Kate Spade New York Secret Garden Stud.

Kate Spade New York All Wrapped Up Drop. Bows and Pearls, perfection!

Kate Spade New York Knot Stud.  A classic knot earring!

Kate Spade New York Boardwalk Stroll Chandelier Earrings.  I love the different shades of pink!

Kate Spade New York Giverny Floral Linear Earrings. So colorful and I love the flowers!

Have a great day!

Cheese Straws

I'm a member of the Junior League and am part of the Products Committee, which works to promote and sell one of our biggest fundraisers, our cookbooks.  From time to time, we make recipes from the cookbooks and last night I made Cheese Straws from "Charleston Receipts."  They were really easy to make, so I thought I'd share the fun, since I don't think you can go to a Baby or Bridal Shower without seeing these tasty treats!

I started by preheating the oven to 350 Degrees and then put 1/4 pound of butter (1 stick) into a large mixing bowl.

Then, I creamed the butter, which is basically stirring it with a spoon until it reaches a soft consistency.

I added 1 pound of grated, sharp cheese.  I bought the pre-shredded cheese in a bag, which saves oh so much time!  I also Googled and learned that 1 pound of shredded cheese is equal to 4 cups. I'm a lifelong learner.

Next, I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt, which looks like this. (I think visuals are helpful.)

The recipe calls for red pepper and I didn't have any, so substituted a "Heavy pinch of cayenne pepper" from the Ice Box Cheese Wafers recipe that is listed below the Cheese Straws recipe in the book.  Rather than sticking my fingers in a container of cayenne pepper (there are just too many things that can go wrong with that), I gave the container 2 good shakes from the sifter side of the lid.  This is what a container of cayenne pepper looks like.

I stirred the butter, cheese, salt, and cayenne mixture and it started out looking like this...

...and ended up looking like this.  It was the consistency of dry pimiento cheese.

Next, I added 1 3/4 cups of plain flour.

I stirred the mixture with a large spoon, trying to incorporate all of the flour into the butter and cheese.

This became hard to do with a spoon, so I put the spoon down and started kneading the mixture with my hands, which worked much better.  Eventually, the mixture looked like this and was the consistency of firm dough or Play-Doh.

Here is where your Play-Doh skills from Pre-School and Elementary School come into play.  The next step in the recipe calls for putting the dough into a cookie press (which is at my parents house) or rolling the dough thin and cutting it into narrow strips, four inches long.  I opted for rolling the dough into thin strips, so I started with a handful of dough...

...and rolled it into a long strip, which Play-Doh aficionados may refer to as "making a snake with the Doh."

Next, I cut the strip into 4 inch sections and then pressed each section with a fork.  The recipe doesn't say to press the fork into each section, but I just don't think a cheese straw is really a cheese straw without the fork marks. 

I repeated the rolling, cutting, and fork pressing and then placed each straw on a non-stick, ungreased baking sheet.  I know, I know, the ungreased baking sheet is alarming, but with a non-stick pan, there was no way these babies were going to stick with all of the butter and cheese in them.  I made sure to leave about an inch or two between each cheese straw.

I baked the cheese straws for 25 minutes and made sure they were golden brown. Yes, I have a Masters pot-holder, as well as a Masters apron and Masters oven mitt.  I think they add a little excellence to the cooking experience.

I let them cool on paper towels (I didn't take a picture of these. I know, shocking.).  Once they're cool, they're ready to serve!

Here's a picture of Charleston Receipts.  It's America's oldest Junior League Cookbook in print!  I've had my copy since I was in college.

So, pick up your copy of Charleston Receipts HERE, make some Cheese Straws, and live the good life!

Happy Good Friday!

Happy Good Friday to you all!  Fiance' and I have a fun Easter weekend planned; yummy food, drinks, maybe a Riverdogs baseball game, and the Easter church service on Sunday morning!  AND Cadbury Eggs, lots and lots of Cadbury Eggs.  Those things are pure, chocolate magic.  Beau is ready for the Easter Bunny to get here as you can see from his Easter picture below! Unfortunately, there isn't an Easter Basket or Bunny Rabbit with him because let's be honest, he would eat them.  

Enjoy the weekend!

P.S.  Look at these pretties: Kate Spade Seaport Pearl Studs.  *cough*get.in.my.Easter.Basket.*cough*