Heading out to San Antone and Austin for the weekend to spend some time with the most awesome parents!

Tomorrow is Momma Bear‘s 50th birthday! She is the cutest and sweetest woman ever. I adore her.

Brother Bear (yes I know how cheesy that is) will also be in town on Spring Break from JHU. Future doctor ladies, and a hottie to boot.

Can’t wait to play with my camera and Papa Bear‘s lenses. Only wish we could take the furbabies because the Grand Bears love them so.

Then it’s off to my hometown, aka the greatest place in the world, AUSTIN. A religious ceremony in the morning at home (yes even though I haven’t lived with my parents for 3 years, it’s always home) and shopping for some jeans in the afternoon at Hem because I lost another pound! Loving these cropped skinnies:

…then it’s BFF time!! WHOO! (I keep linking your blog woman – write sumtin.)

But for now, all I can think about is the feast I’m having tonight:

Hell yeah. Three of each. OINK OINK!

Have a great weekend y’all!

P.S. Here’s some random things I’ve spotted that made me smile, a la Hope Chella style:

< etsy shop >

< fun! >

< baby otter takes momma for a ride >

< ooma bowl, so many uses >

< via weheartit; I WANT! >

Yeehaw! Time for another giveaway…

We bought the FroliCat online at Amazon a few weeks ago because someone – ahem, Shere Khan – is a bit of a tubbers and needed some extra exercise (seriously, girl likes to SLEEP and EAT).

We love it because:

1) Push a button and off it goes for 15 minutes! Just moves the laser around like you would, except you don’t have to. (NO idea where she gets her lazy genes from yo). Can even move the reflector up or down to adjust it so it’s not on the wall….or the TV.

2) You can turn off the automatic mode and use it like a regular laser. Ya know, when you’re not being lazy and want to actually play WITH your cat not just distract her. This is perfect because we can play with both Shere Khan and Bond at the same time. He’s a gentleman and would never dream of intruding on her toy while she’s playing alone. And unlike tiny laser pens, it’s so much more comfortable to use and you don’t have to hold down a button.

3) When she wakes us up at 5 am with nose kissies and toe pounces, we stumble into the living room, push the aforementioned button and she is immediately engaged. And we get to go back to sleep. (Don’t look at me like that, you don’t get up at 5 either).

When I wrote the the nice folks at the PR department to express our love, they generously offered a FREE FroliCat Bolt Laser Toy for one lucky reader!

It’s great item for both cats and dogs (who knew? I thought only kitties were into the laser pointers but I’ve been corrected a lot recently). You and your furbabies will love it. You can thank me later.

How to enter:

1) Become a follower on the right with Google Friend Connect (leave a comment)

2) Re-blog or tweet about the giveaway (leave a comment for each instance)

3) Tell me what crazy thing your furbaby does in a comment below (can have multiple entries for multiple furbabies!)

4) Join the ‘Volunteer – Blog It On’ campaign for 2 entries (join, leave a comment and I’ll make sure to count it 2x – no need to comment twice)! Yes, I know it’s a shameless plug, but it’s for volunteering so it’s allowed. And because it’s for volunteering you are bound by pinky swears to participate. Plus, you wouldn’t want to deny the community of your service would you?

Giveaway ends: April 3rd at 5 pm CST

First off, I just want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Thanks for entering and giving Margaret and her shop all the much-deserved attention.

Thanks for all the fantastic recipes I received….I can not WAIT to try them all out.

Thanks for following and all the sweet comments. I hope it’s not the last I hear from y’all.

And of course thank you to Margaret for being so generous. I can’t wait to bake up a storm in this adorable apron:

Now, the winner is…..

*If you know Toby Keith you know. And if you don’t, well you don’t.

A. I have begun to blog in my dreams. I have begun to dream that I am blogging and reading and commenting and reading comments. Oy.

2. It seems nearly every other blogger is a Pisces with a birthday this month. Maybe it’s in our sign? Whatever it is, we rock. True story.

III. Don’t forget to enter my first giveaway for the most adorable apron ever. Competition is gettin fierce!

d. It’s FRIDAY! Whoo! Which means I get to party like it’s my birthday. Oh wait, it is. Teehee. My goal this year: just make it to 2 am. No more of these hot messes:

Yes I was “dressed” as a pirate last year for my bday – had the whole pirate theme going. I had just had eye surgery and decided to let the patch work for me.

5) ….speaking of crazy eye patches, I had another visit with one of my surgeons as a follow-up to what will hopefully be my very. last. surgery. ever. Got GREAT news about the health of my retinas…hell yeah! Even more reason to celebrate. And in case y’all haven’t heard it enough – Bear is the sweetest and most caring BF ever. He has been there every moment from the beginning and took many days off to take care of me after all three surgeries and has been my dedicated chauffeur (I spent one WHOLE year not driving at night, 8 weeks not driving at all - think about it). Thanks to everyone for all the rides and prayers and support. Light at the end of the tunnel, here I am!

Hope you all have a marvelous weekend (and I shall most certainly post pics once I make my last minute decision on the shoes).

Here goes my first giveaway….

Margaret from Hearts & Home, an adorable shop full of handmade goodies, has graciously offered a beautiful apron for one lucky reader! It’s so ruffly and girly and sweet…much like all the rest of the items in her shop and comes in white and cream. I can’t wait to prance around the kitchen in one:

For a chance to win:
Visit her shop here and let us know about your favorite item(s) in the shop.

For additional entries, please use separate comments:
1) Follow this blog or Margaret’s blog and leave a comment letting us know.

2) Re-blog or twitter or post about the giveaway and leave a comment below with the link.

3) Leave a comment with your favorite recipe…just because I’m looking to build up my collection!

Deadline for entry is Wednesday, March 10th at 5 pm CST and of course a winner will be chosen at random.

You know you want to be all matchy-matchy with me (I’m lookin at you BFF)…enter now!!

Good luck!

One of the sweet ladies whose apron I posted about has generously offered to give send me one AND one for a giveaway!

Please stand by while I learn how to have one…