1 Month Blog Anniversary!

Today marks 1 month since I have started Luckey's Goods!  YAY!  How exciting!  I have really enjoyed every minute of it!  (A quick note, I apologize for being away so long...  The holidays have totally kicked my butt.  I have been frantically running around trying to finish all my holiday prep.  And this past weekend was my friend's wedding which kept me busy almost all weekend as Matt was in the wedding.  I know...  Excuses, excuses...)

To commemorate my first month, I am doing a double post - An outfit of the day and a recipe!  First, lets start with the recipe.  Tomorrow is my company's holiday party.  I am bringing in a new recipe that a friend just gave me - Buffalo Chicken Cheese Ball.  With minimal ingredients and minimal time you can make this for one of your holiday parties too!

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Ball

Ingredients

2 blocks of cream cheese

1 large chicken breast (I used 1-1/2 because I only had small ones)

1/4 cup plus some extra squirts of Franks Red Hot

2 cups pepper jack cheese

 

 

Pictures Taken by Luckey

I softened the cream cheese in the microwave for about 1 minute.  Then I combined the cream cheese, hot sauce, and half of the pepper jack cheese.  It's not pictured, but after I combined it all, I felt it didn't pack enough heat for my taste, so I added in a few shakes of dried cayenne pepper.

At the same time I was also cooking up the chicken breasts.  The picture shows three because I made a second cheese ball for Matt to take to his work holiday party too!

When the chicken is finished I shredded it and added it to the cream cheese mix.

Finally after everything is mixed well, I form the mixture into a ball and roll it over the other cup of the pepper jack cheese. 

There you have it!  Easy-peasy!  And quite tasty too!  I'm excited to see if everyone likes it as much as I do tomorrow at the party! 

And now...  The clothes...

 Pictures by Matt M.

When: Wednesday, December 21, 2011

What: Dress - Sonsi.com; Cardigan - Lane Bryant; Boots - Trusol; Tights - Fashion Bug; Belt - Lane Bryant; Necklace - Target

Where: Work, and a marathon of stores to finish my Christmas shopping, and then home to make the cheese balls and catch my brother-in-law up on Showtime's "Shameless" so he can watch the new season with us in January.

Heh.  I had Matt take a picture of me with some of my shopping bags.  As you can see in these pictures I am surrounded by gifts that still need to be wrapped!  Ugh, something else to do...  Any-who...  I wanted to look festive today.  What is more festive than red and green I thought?  This is actually the dress I wore to my own rehearsal dinner.  If I wasn't wearing the cardigan, you could see it was sleeveless (we were married in July).  I love this dress, it's so light and airy.  Adding a cardigan and tights is a great way to winterize it!

Wore my calf boots again.  Love these things.  The necklace is also what I wore at my rehearsal dinner.  It was an absolute awesome find as I love it and I always get compliments on it!  I originally put on my black skinny belt this morning, but I started thinking that the animal print one might be more fun!  I'm glad I switched!

Is anyone else as excited about the season premier of "Shameless" as I am?!?!  Oh my!  It became one of my favorite shows when it first came on early this year.  It's about a family of misfits in Chicago.  If you have Showtime, it's on demand right now so you have time to catch up!  (Note - this is NOT a family friendly show.  No kiddies around, okay?) 

Others ways I have rocked my animal print belt:

I'm A Nurse!!!!!!!

Photos Taken by Matt M.

When: Tuesday, December 6, 2011

What: Faux Wrap Dress - Lane Bryant; Pumps - Lane Bryant; Fishnet Tights - Torrid; Necklace and Bracelet Set - Gift from Mom

Where:  Dinner to Boi Na Braza with Matt to celebrate my PASSING THE RN NCLEX!!!!!  The above picture is me holding my degree in it's fancy cover they gave us...  Figured it was a good enough replacement till my license comes in! 



I passed my test!  I past my test!  I passed my test!  THANK GOODNESS I passed my test!  I am officially an RN!!!  After 4 years of extremely hard work - I am finally at the end!  I cannot believe it!  I took my test yesterday and left the facility a wreck!  I cried most of the way home and drank quite a few rum and cokes last night...  But it was all worth it because I passed my test!

The necklace and bracelet was a Christmas gift my mom gave to me a couple of years ago (it also came with earrings that I totally forgot to put on).  I love this set.  The colors of turquoise, green and brown are a great combo.  I thought it would add a nice touch of color to this outfit.  The shoes I purchased in the early fall of this year.  I love these nude shoes and they are super comfortable too!  (Gotta love shoes from the big chick's store - they are wide enough for my big 'ole dogs!)  I purchased this dress at the same time.  It had a very high rating on the website and there is a totally legitimate reason why.  The faux wrap does my curves wonders!  Plus - the animal print is super cute!

I had been stressing all last night and this morning/early afternoon about my NCLEX results.  Every hour, starting at 7:00 am, I would check the Ohio State Nursing State Board website, waiting to see if my status would change from "pending" to "approved".  It finally happened around 2:30 this afternoon.  It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulder!  I've been hard work.  Studying almost everyday, for the past 4 years.  Living and breathing nursing school!  I don't know what I'm going to do with all my free time now!  (Maybe vacuum my living room floor since it's covered in pine needles from the Christmas tree we put up yesterday!!  LOL!)

When I texted Matt to tell him I had passed, I sent him "So...  I'm a nurse.."  to which he replied with "Well that was a very understated way of saying THE MOST AWESOME NEWS EVER!"  HAHA!  He then proceeded to tell me that I needed to go home and get dressed up because he had a babysitter and reservations!  (Nice!)  Unfortunately, I looked like a hot mess at work today...  Didn't wash my hair this morning (haven't washed it since Saturday evening), didn't put on any makeup (I seriously was just in the most down mood EVER this morning).  So I came home, helped my son finish up his homework and got in the shower to clean up and look hot! 

Matt took me to a Brazilian steakhouse, Boi Na Braza.  We have never been there, but had a Cincy Saver coupon for a $25 credit.  It was amazing!  If you are not familiar with the Brazilian steakhouse deal...  There is no menu.  There is a huge salad bar with cold and hot side offerings.  They give you a card, one side is red, the other is green.  If you have your card on the green side up, many different servers come to your table with various cuts of meat to give you.  Tonight they were offering 11 different cuts!  Fillet, pork ribs, garlic steak, bacon wrapped chicken breast, chicken legs, lamb....  Oh man - I can't remember them all, and my stomach definitely could not handle them all, but it was delicious and it was quite the experience!

Matt has done so much for me while I have been in school.  He's been pretty much a single parent - cooking most meals, doing all the cleaning and laundry, doing all of Ronnie's homework till this past spring when I finally graduated and could be home in the late afternoon/early evening (I worked full time and then went to night school.)  If anything, I am just so thankful I have passed my test so I can be more involved in my son's life and be a better, more productive partner to my husband.

Ketchup & Mustard? Kind of...

Phtotos Taken by My Tripod

When:  Tuesday, November 30, 2011

What:  Cardigan - Carolyn Taylor; Ruffled Blouse - Lane Bryant; Trouser Jeans - Lane Bryant; Skinny Belt - Lane Bryant; Flats - Studio 1940; Cuff - Fashion Bug; Necklace - Premier Designs

Where:  Work and home to be Miss Suzie Home-Maker

I love this outfit.  I don't know why?  Maybe it's the red and the ruffled detail of the shirt?  Maybe it's the shoes (another old pair I am having a hard time letting go) or maybe it's my new(ish) animal print belt?  Either way, I just feel great and put together when I wear it!

This silver cuff is another go-to of mine.  The only problem is that it makes my wrist slightly green after wearing it all day.  If I keep it in the same spot, you can't notice.  Anyone have any suggestions for that?  I was thinking of trying clear nail polish?  The second picture makes me smile a bit...  HELLO?  BOOBS!  HAHA!  I actually bought this shirt last fall and wore it to a casual NYE party.  Good times!  Again, the shoes...  LOVE THEM.  Can't stop wearing them.  They are so old...  I really should be in the market for a new pair of yellow shoes...  I have a lot of Premier Design jewelry (necklace) because I hosted a party a few years ago and I got a ton for free! 

I say I played Miss Suzie Home-Maker when I came home because I had a ton to get done!  Came home, helped my second grader with his homework, cooked and iced sugar cookies (with his help) for the Cub Scout den meeting, cleaned up the kitchen, made dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and then started my studies.  Phew - and I started my studies at 6:30!  Sometimes you just gotta go-Go-GO!

Here are all the ways I have worn my animal print belt!

The Sun Comes Out

My first few posts are going to be mini posts. I will be sharing what the Internet already knows, my pics from Chictopia. In the future, I will be giving a much more detailed look at the clothes I am wearing for the day.

Photo Taken by My Tripod

When: Wednesday, November 16, 2011

What: Turquoise beaded tunic; Brown cardigan; Navy jeggings; Animal print belt; Bronze heels; Bronze bag.

Where: Work and more homework... (My life is FULL of fun at the moment...)

I. Love. Jeggings. There I said it. I was so nervous about buying them and actually wearing them! I have found with the right top (just long enough to cover the bum) I feel really comfortable and stylish. This is another easy-breezy outfit! And I also like my added touch of the oh-so-trendy animal print!