Spicy Sausage Cheese Dip

Armed with a Superbowl food hangover, I'm here today to report on my absolute favorite treat from last night. And by the way, I'm totally that girl who sits in front of the TV for the entire football game, only looking up from her plate of junk food when the commercials or half-time show comes on. So don't get any crazy ideas that I can chat scores or plays with you... but food? Oh yes.

This little gem of a recipe was shared with me by my friend Shanna. It's so easy. And fat free. I swear. Here's what you need to make it happen.

Much to your chagrin, I didn't make this dip for a Superbowl party. Nope, last night it was just me and David. Wait, you don't make entire crock pots full of cheese dip just for you and your hubs? Hm. Yeah, yeah, we didn't either... I promise, this was just the appetizer for our super healthy dinner we had later.... Ok fine. You caught me. I ate an entire bowl of this for my dinner. Judge away. It was goooood.

If you actually are making this for a party (ie. more than two), I'd double the recipe. 

Step One. Brown the sausage.

Step Two. Mix the sausage + cream cheese + (drained) tomato mix together in a crock pot.

Step Three. Simma. 

Step Four. Serve with tortilla chips. Oh and then proceed to eat enough for you, your hubs, your neighbor... heck, your whole neighborhood. Why not.

 It doesn't look like much, but I promise it's amazing. Like, so amazing that we ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture.

So there you have it, my favorite Superbowl treat. What did you cook up last night?

Sharing with: The Girl Creative

Weekend Wrap Up

Hotdogs? Check. American flag? Check. Pink lemonade? Check. I think it was a successful Memorial Day over at our house!

David and I had a crew of people over to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family in our lives, and so we felt lucky to be able to share the holiday with them! The party was held in our backyard, under our screened in porch and out by the pool. It was a wonderful day!

For the record, pool pics with no makeup and bad hair are never really a good idea....

Here are a few shots of the backyard, before the party got started.

It would have made sense to take a picture of the amazing food spread we had, but I'm not that brilliant and didn't think about that, so you get to see an empty table : ) But don't fret, because I snapped lots of food pics throughout the day.

Heres D grilling up fresh corn on the cob (we grill it with the husks on, after soaking in water), chicken skewers and hot dogs.

Strawberry cupcakes (compliments of Cassie, recipe found here)

Corona ice pops (modeled by my little sister, Callie!)... not gonna lie, these were not that good! Beer is better in the bottle, not frozen....

The party was a blast. But the best part? Summer has officially arrived!!

Memorial Day Par-tay

Hi friends! Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!! Believe it or not, Memorial Day is just around the corner. That means summer is almost here! And I'm so excited because David and I are throwing a Memorial Day pool party for a bunch of our friends. I've been doing a little searching online for some cute party ideas and I just had to share some of the adorable things I've found.

This adorable Memorial Day themed party from Hostess With the Mostess just blew me away. I'm in love. 

This website is incredible- they give a Memorial Day themed menu, decor, drink ideas and even free printables. Love, love, love!

Here are a few other ideas that I bookmarked as inspiration for the party.

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Are any of you throwing a Memorial Day party? If so, share any good patriotic or summer inspired party ideas that you might have!

Also, you can find me today over here at Carmel's blog, Our Fifth House, dishing on some things I've learned from blogging! Stop by and say hi!

It's A Girl!

No, no, not for me! For my sweet friend, Beth. A couple of weeks ago, some of my favorite ladies and I hosted a baby shower at my place to welcome our lovely Beth's bun in the oven (who, by the way, she has named the adorable name of Ella Kate!).  

Party planning is really so much fun, but it can definitely be stressful. Especially when your kitchen is halfway painted and there are drop cloths, paint cans and painters tape all over the place the day before the party (seriously? who starts a kitchen makeover right before hosting a party?!). Luckily my husband ROCKS so we got it all done and the party was a hit.

Here I am with the glowing mommy-to-be!

The fun thing about parties for babies (and especially little girl ones!) are all of the cutesie decorations you can throw together. We opted for lots and lots of pink, of course!

Here are some of Ella Kate's little pink gifts (how tiny are those onesies?!) displayed on the mantle.

We scattered lots of pretty pink flowers around the house.

I made Ella Kate a little welcome banner with some adorable scrapbook paper.

And yes, those are plastic folding chairs at my new dining room table. Classy, right?!! Ha... as I've said before, the chairs are a work in progress.... 

But my favorite part were these adorable tissue paper pom poms we put up in the kitchen.

How cute are these?! Lets be honest... they are still hanging in my kitchen. You call it lazy, I call it my first chance to decorate with pink since I've been married! I promise they'll come down before the Christmas decorations go up :)

And here are all of the lovely hostesses with the mommy-to-be! I love my girls!

With the holiday season just around the corner, I am sure many of you will be hosting a party soon. What's your best party planning or hosting tip?!

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