Happy Halloween!

It's not everyday you get the opportunity to dress as Troy Polamalu at work (I happen to look related to the guy). Our department had a costume + cube decoration contest for Halloween. I won neither but it was still fun to celebrate the day! I had to take advantage in dressing up :)

Costume Contest

Welcome to my cube. Muahahahaaaaaaaa

Bat-O-Lanterns! I made these myself!

Mummy!

Included with our contests was an office-wide snack day. I decided to make some scrumptious Pumpkin Dip that sounds as good as it tastes. It reminds me of the delicious Pumpkin Torte my mom makes during the holidays. It's the perfect dessert for this time of year.  The dip is very light and tastes great with apples, ginger snaps, or Vanilla Wafers. Nom nom nom! It only took 10 minutes to whip up so if you're in a time crunch, it's the perfect dish to make! Below is the recipe:

Pumpkin Dip

One 15 oz can of pumpkin pie mix

One 5 oz box of instant vanilla pudding

One 16 oz container of cool whip

1/2 tbl Pumpkin Pie Spice 

1/2 tbl Cinnamon

• Mix pumpkin, pudding mix, cool whip, and pumpkin pie spice together (by hand) in a large bowl.

• Chill for several hours before serving.

• Sprinkle with cinnamon, and serve with fresh apples slices, vanilla wafers or ginger snaps.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween! It will be our first Halloween in our own home and we are super excited. There are plenty of kids in the neighborhood, so we're hoping to see some great costumes and give out lots of candy! Hopefully Apollo won't scare them off when they come to the door :)

16¢ DIY Coasters

Coasters for 16¢?! Sign me up!

Jeremy and I put all of our wedding money that we received from our awesome friends and family towards a living room set. That living room set happened to come with a coffee table...a pretty nice one at that. We would rather not ruin this table with left-over residue from drink glasses. Needless to say, we were in desperate need of some coasters!

My inner Martha Stewart turned to the beloved Pinterest for help. I found that you could make your own coasters for 16¢ just by using 4x4 tiles, Mod Podge, Clear Spray Paint, Felt Pads, and Scrapbook Paper.

We had a gift card for Lowes, so we headed there for the tiles and spray paint. Sure enough, they had single tiles for 16¢ each! AWESOME!!!! I grabbed some clear spray paint and we headed to Michaels for Mod Podge and Felt. I already had some scrapbook paper waiting for me at home, so no need to buy that small expense.

Once I had all my supplies, I cut my scrapbook paper down to 4x4 inch squares. I then used the Mod Podge, painting the back of the paper and gluing it to the tiles. Once secure, I added another coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper to add that extra shine and to protect the edges from curling.

After the Mod Podge was dry, I took my tiles outside to add a coat of clear spray paint for the final surface. Just make sure to spray an even coat because I made the mistake of not doing that. I started this project at night and didn't wait to spray paint in the daylight like I should have. (I get a little excited and anxious) This made a few coasters look a little blotchy....but only if you REALLY look at the detail. I let it slide. Just don't mention it when you come over ;)

Next, I used my handy dandy hot glue gun to paste the felt to the bottom of the coaster. This was to make sure the coasters weren't all clanky on the glass and wood surface of our coffee table. You could buy felt pads but I just bought a sheet of felt and cut it down to 4x4 inches just like the scrap book paper. It worked out perfectly and the felt sheets were only 20¢ a piece.

There we have it! You can make your own coasters for a great deal!  I plan to make some Appalachian coasters for the Man Loft :)

Go Panthers!

P.S. Do you like the new look to the blog?!

I actually made something I saw on Pinterest

Pinterest. What an awesome, addictive site to store and browse photos of all things that you find interesting. It has become another one of my staple websites to explore, along with Twitter and Facebook.  Pinterest is mainly a collage of photos that people find online. They simply "pin" a picture referencing the site and then that picture goes to the main site. Genius.


Now that I have my own home to design and decorate (it's coming together slowly but surely), Pinterest comes in handy. Through Pinterest, I am able to see all sorts of ideas that I can use to enhance our home. It's not only great for DIY projects, but recipes, photography, design, and styling as well! 


I am SUPER excited to decorate for the holidays! I was scanning the  DIY section and noticed a fairly easy project of yarn wreaths. I decided to give it a try. 


I headed to A.C. Moore and loaded my basket with yarn, a foam wreath, and fake flowers. All that was needed was a glue gun, which I already had at home. 


These DIY projects are nice to do on the weekend because Jeremy takes over our only TV with football. I love me some football but Jeremy LOVES him some football. There's a big difference. These little projects give me something to do and we are able to be in the same room at peace :)


This wreath was pretty easy to make! All I had to do was glue one piece and then go around the wreath making sure each piece touched each other securely. Simple. Once I was done with that, I glued the flowers, and  VOILA! A beautiful wreath to hang on the door. I plan on making one for Christmas, as well. Super, super easy!

I do have a downside to my little project. I went out to buy one of those over-the-door hangers so I could hang my wreath. Once I got home, the door wouldn't shut with it on. BUMMER. Now I need to go out and find a thinner one. For now our door is bare, but soon we'll have some decorations to bring a little bit of Fall into our home.


Oh yeah, the grand total for this project was only $12.95. Woohoo! I'm not gonna lie, that foam thing cost more than I thought it would. Oh well. It all turned out the way I wanted, so I'm happy!


Happy Pinning, everyone :)

Charlotte STYLE Magazine Fall 2011

Alright folks, I can finally talk about one of my freelance projects that I've been working on for the month of September. Before I begin, let's back track a little bit. In Fall of 2008, I interned with Charlotte STYLE Magazine, an online publication just getting it's start in the Queen City. I stayed with them until Fall of 2009, eventually taking over as Art Director, overseeing all artwork put into the magazine. In 2009, I managed to juggle three jobs and it got to be a little much. I loved working with Charlotte STYLE, but it was time to leave. About two months ago, the publisher contacted me to see if I would like to join the team again for the Fall 2011 issue. Feeling a little bored at work, and wanting a challenge for myself, I gladly accepted.

I wanted a challenge, and I got it. This issue took a lot of time and effort but it was SO worth it. I had so much fun and it really made me love the world of graphic design all over again. It brought excitement and joy to my day. Something I have been missing in my work for the past year. I actually felt like I had a purpose as a designer again!

I am so proud of this magazine and how it has improved over the past 2 years. The magazine itself got an entire makeover and I can't express enough how glad I am to be a part of this amazing team.

Last Friday night, we revealed the DOUBLE cover to the public and the magazine went live. It can be found online at http://charlottestylemag.com (be sure to take a look!) and you can also order it for print (go ahead, buy a copy!). Below are some memories from the issue release party. I was glad that my husband and good friend, Elyse were there for support. Thanks guys!!

Double Cover! Charlotte STYLE Magazine Fall 2011

Elyse and I at the Charlotte STYLE Release Party

Revealing the Covers.

Taaadaaaaa!

Yay!

Yay!

Click HERE to order the issue or have a look below. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Open publication - Free publishing - More charlotte

Weekend Getaway

The month of September has been a busy one for me. Busy in a good way. I have been working on a HUGE freelance project that has been consuming my life for the past few weeks. All the stress and hard work will pay off and I can't wait to share my work with you all on the next post. This post, however, is all about my fun weekend amongst my stressful weeks at work.

The past weekend started out with a Dave Barnes and Nathan Angelo concert with mi amigas, Elyse and Rachel. I am a fan of both and was looking forward to seeing them perform all month. While on my way to the show, I got a text from my friend, Sarah, asking if I could help out with Dave's merch table. Long story short, the original merch girl dropped out at the last minute and they needed someone pronto. Sarah used to work for Dave and she also used to live in Charlotte. His staff put two and two together, asked her if she knew anyone that would help, and voila! You get Asha :) I have to be honest, I was a little nervous but it turned out to be fun! I got to mingle with fans and use a handy dandy credit card iPod swiper. That thing was cool. Might have been the best part, haha.

Merch Rep!

Although I was at the front working, I did get the chance to sneak away and see some of the show which was great as always. You'll always end up laughing at a Dave Barnes show. All the more reason to love him.

Dave Barnes!

I was hoping to meet him after since I helped out but instead I got a free CD. Score! I did want to ask him why he had a t-shirt for sale with The Mount Zion Gospel Choir on it. I kind of wish I bought it just because there was only one left. So Dave, if you happen to read this, explain please! Below is a picture with Nathan Angelo :)

Nathan Angelo!

Next on the weekend agenda was a trip to Boone for some good ol' App football! For the past week, Charlotte has become Seattle because it ALWAYS seems to be raining. It was the same that Saturday morning. It rained on our way up the mountain and it rained on our way down the mountain. The sun came out at the right time and decided to show for the football game! All until the last minutes of the 4th quarter. We walked away with a W and a happy heart since our Mountaineers won!  We ended the day with some good eats alongside Reuben (brother-in-law) and Shannon (friend/girlfriend of Reuben), despite the restaurant running out of their homemade ketchup. I was devastated but managed to finish my meal :)

Photo by Jess Norman

The Rock!

 There you have it folks. A weekend full of great music, friends, and football. Fall is here!

Zuuuuuuuuuuuma!

For the entire month of August, I got to participate in the very popular group exercise class, Zumba!!! Food Lion was offering a weekly class to it's employees to help raise money for The Children's Miracle Network. It seemed like a great idea and ever since I stopped working at The Y, I've missed group exercise classes like crrrrazy. I had never done Zumba before, so I was super excited to see what all the hype was about.

Our instructor, Jennie, was a former temp that used to work at Food Lion. She volunteered to drive to Salisbury and teach classes every Tuesday for the month of August. Jennie was a ball of energy and taught great classes! We did the same routine for the first three weeks but changed it up during the last two. Being a part of these classes made me miss my Group Fitness Instructor Days at App.

It was nice to change up the routine and exercise right after work. I went home energized and feeling great. Plus I got to dance to some of my favorite songs that I run to: "Church" by T Pain, "I Can Transform Ya" by Chris Brown, and "Waka Waka (this time for Africa)" by Shakira. There were some new songs that I came to love too!  I felt silly doing the dance moves at first but I quickly got over it and just had fun with it :)

One afternoon, I had a Zumba song stuck in my head. Whenever this happens, I try to listen to it on iTunes or YouTube so I can get my fix of the song so it will go away. I decided to YouTube the song stuck in my head, "Pause" by Pitbull,  and it turns out there's a specific Zumba video to it! This is the exact routine that we learned! It gave me the giggles and I laughed in my cube the entire length of the video. 

Another good thing that came out of this weekly class was that our team of employees from the Marketing Department won a free lunch to one our of favorite restaurants in Salisbury, LA Murph's. Score!

Happy Zumbaing :)

Are You a Warrior?

Warrior Dash 2011 has come and gone in the Carolinas. Hurricane Irene was a threat earlier in the week but Charlotte didn't even get a drop of rain and we ended up having GREAT weather to conquer the obstacles waiting for us.

P.S. Jeremy likes to pop in with comments on my blogs so be prepared to see what he has to say in the  blue text. I am in purple :D

For those of you who don't know what Warrior Dash is, let me explain. It's what they call "the craziest frickin' day of your life". A 5K filled with 12 challenging obstacles with turkey legs and beer waiting for you at the finish line. Anyone watch The Challenge on MTV? It's one of my favorite shows and I've always dreamed about being a cast member. Warrior Dash is the closest I'll ever get to the reality so I look forward to it every year.

Anywho....let's get to the awesomeness. This year we decided to plan out our costumes. Jeremy had the bright idea that we should become the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We are children of the 90's so we grew up watching the cartoon and movies. It was awesome coming into character. I must say we did it well. Everyone loved our look and at one point we actually felt like celebrities posing for pictures and having our names shouted out by everyone. (We didn't feel like celebrities... we WERE celebrities! We literally posed for 2-3 minutes while groups of people came and took pictures of and with us. Who needs the red carpet when you've got an awesome 5K course?!) We definitely had the best costumes there. Unfortunately we missed the costume contest which we TOTALLY would have won! We got shafted.

TURTLE POWER!!

Once we got checked in, it was time to race! We had no idea what to expect since the course was completely different than last year. I will say that the obstacles were MUCH more challenging this year. If you thought about them too much, they would psych you out. A lot of them towered above the ground with nothing underneath to comfort your fall. Luckily we had Turtle Power and each other to get us through :D Last year it took us 31 minutes to complete the course. This year it took us an hour. Either we're getting old or the course was MUCH harder. (both)

The obstacles are what make this race so much fun. The ones that stick out in my mind the most were the Great Warrior Wall, Blackout, Chaotic Crossover, Horizontal Hike, and the Muddy Mayhem.

The Great Warrior Wall was a tough one. It was definitely the most intimidating. We were faced with a giant wall that had a rope (no knots!) attached. We had to climb up and over using our strength. I was just worried how we would get down once we reached the top. Luckily we all made it.

Great Warrior Wall

Blackout was a surprisingly difficult and rugged obstacle. From the outside all you saw was a very low shelter covered in black tarp that you had to crawl under. The shelter was divided by many sections that seemed to get darker and darker as you passed through each one. I was literally blind, starting out in the middle and ending up all the way over to the right side. This little contraption was also so low to the ground that you were forced to crawl on your hands and knees. A big ol' turtle shell on your back didn't help either, haha. I have some cuts on my knees from this one. The picture below wasn't taken at our course. We didn't snap a picture of this but I think a visual is always nice. Thank goodness for google.

Blackout

Chaotic Crossover was an obstacle where you had to maneuver across tangled nets high above the ground. I found a way to scurry across pretty quickly but Sairy aka Donatello (purrple TMNT) pretty much ate it, falling right into the net and rolling onto her back. It was pretty comical. We all got a pretty good laugh at it :) Again, the picture below isn't from us. We were too busy falling on this obstacle to take a picture.

Chaotic Crossover

Horizontal Hike was Warrior Dash's newest obstacle. They decided to break it in at the Carolina's site. This one was the most daunting for me as far as heights go. It was basically made up of narrow planks of wood but the scary part was that it was up so high! Without question, I took my sweet time to make sure I didn't fall.

Horizontal Hike

Muddy Mayhem. The last and filthiest obstacle of them all. Trying to move fast in mud is just so stinkin' hard. Especially after you've run 3 miles. That mud was THICK. And you had to stay low because you had barbwire above your head. Once again, a littler trickier with a shell on your back. I think I managed to get the most mud on me out of our group.

Playing in the mud has never been this much fun!

Oh yeah. I made a Rookie mistake during this Warrior Dash. This may be TMI (too much information) but I shall share anyway because it's funny. I made the mistake of wearing white underwear. Baaaaad decision. They are now permanently brown from the mud. I insist on keeping them because they are super comfortable! That's why I wore them for the race, duh!

Warrior Dash, we look forward to seeing you in 2012. I wonder what our costumes will be next year... :D

I leave you with some of my favorite pictures from the day.

Conquering the Fire Warrior Roast

Warrior Dash 2011 COMPLETE!

Muddy Hug

Muddy Turtles

That's one way to eat a turkey leg

I'm not sure how Jeremy's shoes managed to stay this white

I'll go for some turkey too :)