Apricot Lane Boutique in San Antonio

I was recently introduced to the cutest little boutique, Apricot Lane San Antonio. OMG yall it was fashion heaven! The atmosphere was as friendly as the staff. The boutique is owned by a mother daughter team; Cathy, Allison and Lauren. How awesome is that!  

The trio travels to California about every six weeks for a buying trip. These trips insure the store inventory stays fresh and right on trend. 

When I walked into Apricot Lane I was immediately amazed by the jewelry tables. They have fun bracelets, necklaces and earrings in every color and style.

  

Allison and Lauren mentioned scarfs and leggings have been flying out the door! No wonder, at the time their leggings were only $8! 

Apricot Lane has a wide section of colorful, solid and patterned winter clothing. This cardigan, I dubbed the Candy Cane Cardi, caught my eye.

When I saw the Candy Cane Cardi I remembered a pin I saw on Pinterest earlier that day. Talk about 'get the look'. No surprise, since everything Apricot Lane fit into this years winter trends, love! 
 

I can't wait to wear it with dark skinny's and brown tall boots on cool San Antonio days.

You can find Apricot Lane San Antonio on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter! They are having HUGE Black Friday sales going on today. The earlier you shop, the more you save!

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All About Food

One thing we like to do in the Frye house is eat! Here are somethings Ive whipped up recently thanks to Pinterest!


Chocolate Covered Strawberry Marshmallows: I clearly like dipping things in chocolate. I picked up some strawberry marshmallows from the store for this yummy treat. Melt chocolate using my technique here. Dip marshmallow about half way down into the chocolate and then take out, keep over the bowl because it will drip! Lay down on a pan lined with parchment paper then dust with sprinkles and refrigerate.  

Chicken Enchilada Dip Rolls-Ups: Feeding a small army or planning a party? These enchilada rolls are for you! Serves about 3 dozen.

You will need:

• 2- 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
• 1½ cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 10 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained with juices reserved
• 1 package burrito sized tortillas

 To make: 

1. Mix cream cheese and shredded cheese together until well blended
2. Add chicken breasts and green onion
3. Use Rotel juice as needed to thin mixture, and mix well
4. Add taco seasoning, start with 1/2 of package and add the rest to taste 
5. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour
6. Place one heaping spoonful onto tortilla
7. Spread to edges using a metal spatula
8. Roll and cut into slices
9. Enjoy! 

Peanut Butter Bananas: These little gems are AMAZING! Good for dessert or just a little sweet snack.

Step 1: Cut bananas into 3 pieces (2 if the banana is small)
Step 2: Use a straw to hallow out insides of the banana, don't go all the way down
Step 3: Melt chocolate using my technique here
Step 4: Dip ends of of banana in chocolate, (Optional-Then dip chocolate in nuts or sprinkles) place on wax paper and refrigerate
Step 5: Once the chocolate has set pipe peanut butter into the hallowed out banana, refrigerate
Step 6: Enjoy!

Butter: When cooking I ALWAYS forget to set out the butter to soften. I've tried putting it in the microwave but that always turns out to be a BIG mess. Here is the perfect pin-solution! When you need softened butter, grate it while still hard then mix it with other ingredients. The butter will soften quickly and perfectly throughout the other ingredients. What a lifesaver!

Halloween at the Frye House

Since we don't have kids to dress up and take trick or treating, Derek and I aren't huge Halloween people. We don't normally dress up, decorate the house or go to parties, but we aren't complete Halloween scrooges either.

Here are a few Halloween activities we do participate in:

Dressing up my dog, Texan. Last year he was superman which was carefully planned out and happens to be his dads favorite. This year his mom (me) didn't go shopping until Halloween at about 5:30pm so he got a cute little nightmare before Christmas sweater.

PS: He hates it. Look at that face of shame. 

In September, I was invited to a candle party. I ended up buying this glass candle holder with tons of possibilities. For Halloween I filled the holder with candy corn and lit an orange candle. See we can be festive! I plan to change out the decoration to fit the current holiday. 

Derek and I carved pumpkins a week ago. It was nice to spend time together. I got my inspiration for a mummy pumpkin off Pinterest. This is what it should have looked like:

And here is what mine ended up looking like:

Mummy Pumpkin

 
A happy mummy? Kinda? Whatever, the eyes are cool and it was time well spent together.

While we were waiting for trick or treaters to come to the door I made myself a little drink with what we already had in the fridge. I saw a pin earlier in the week about a girls night Mike-A-Rita and thanks to a recent college reunion at our house I had all the ingredients. Mix tequila (I used two shots), strawberry margarita mix and ice in a blender, blend well. Pour mixture into a glass, margarita or regular and quickly dunk a Mikes Hard Pink Lemonade into your glass. Careful not to spill! Enjoy!

Mike-A-Rita

I might not wear a Halloween costume but I will go for some cute Halloween themed nails. Not being a nail pro I was pretty happy with the results. That is until I glanced at my Halloween candle posted above and noticed my mistake. I totally mixed up the orange and white color order. Blame it on dyslexia. By the time I was done I was way too tired to go back and fix them so I rocked the dyslexic candy corn look. I got my inspiration from a pin posted by Pretty Gossip, if you don't read her blog you totally should. She used a make up sponge to apply the color, I used strips of cut up band aides to separate the different sections of my nail. Here's how they turned out vs the Pretty Gossip version:

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Im ready to Paaaartey!

Cue one of the funniest movies of all time...Bridesmaids. If you haven't seen it yet...go now!

Recently, I went to a baby shower, housewarming and a bird themed get together. Due to southern hospitality I know to never show up empty handed. Here is what I brought:

Read all about the baby shower here.

Housewarming: My friends Grant and Amanda recently bought a house and had a BBQ. I wasn't sure what they needed and I had never been to their house before so I opted for something general. I bought a glass measuring bowl, slapped on a bow and filled it with cupcake liners, sprinkles, measuring spoons, icing flavoring, and two spoon spatulas. Here is how it turned out:

Bird Themed Party: While exploring/spending all of my money at World Market one day I had the idea to not only wear something bird related but also bring something to the party. But what? Luckily, World Market was doing a big owl themed sale during this time so I figured, why not owl cupcakes?

You will need: 

• Yellow Cake Mix:  If you're Betty Crocker you can make them from scratch but i am not
• Chocolate Icing 
• White Vanilla Icing 
• Candy Corn 
• Edible Eyes 
• 2 Icing Piping Bags 

Directions: 

• Bake cupcakes following directions on mix
• When cooled, pipe an upside down "V" on the bottom of the cupcake. This will be used to separate the chocolate icing and the vanilla icing 
• Pipe in the rest of the chocolate icing, I then smoothed the icing with a knife
• Pipe the vanilla icing to fill in the upside down "V"
• Cut the yellow section off of the candy corn, set aside 
• Place the rest of the candy corn upside down in the middle to create the nose of the owl 
• Cut the yellow section of the candy corn, you set aside, in half. Make feet from the two pieces at the bottom of the cupcake
• Add two edible eyes to the chocolate section
• Pipe chocolate ears at the top of the cupcake
• Enjoy!      

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Pretty In Pink

This past weekend I had the pleasure of co-hosting a baby shower for a good friend. Ashlei is having a little girl, due November 25th.

Baby Shower Hosts

We had the shower Sandy's gorgeous house beautifully decorated by her daughter Jordan.

This table displayed the super cute invitation picked and mailed out by Ashley 

Sandy made the food for brunch and it was delicious! I loved the pink hydrangeas in the middle of the brunch table and the framed K that Jordan made out of buttons on the dessert table.

Brunch Table

Dessert Table 

For games I turned to Pinterest. I did not want to play the crushed up candy bars in a baby diaper game or make anyone taste baby food. Ashlei also wanted to open gifts during the shower so we wanted to leave time for her to do that. As guests walked in they came to a table. At that table they first signed a photo matte with well wishes for the mom to be. This matte will be put in a frame and will go around a photo of the baby once she is born. Next, guests grabbed a pink close pin to wear on their top as we played the classic 'don't say baby' game.

Sign in photo matte and pink close pins 

On the other side of the table was a large vase filled with baby items. As guests were visiting and eating they were asked to guess how many items were in the vase. One person guessed exactly right and won a prize. The last game was the Tummy Measure Game. Each player cuts the length from the paper strip with decorative "inch" lines. The person that cuts the length closest to the actual mom to be's tummy circumference wins!

Guess how many baby items are in the vase game

We all had a wonderful time showering Ashlei and baby with gifts and love! Cant with until November 25th!

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All Bad Things Must Come To An End...

D and I are huge Breaking Bad fans! BB is one of the few shows that both D and I like and can watch together. If you haven't watched it please jump on the bandwagon via Netflix ASAP. Sadly Breaking Bad aired its last episode on Sunday. I hopped on Pinterest to find some blue "meth" treats for a little watch party we had at our house.

The Drink: 

I mixed 1 part Blue Curacao, 1 part Squirt Soda and a splash of pineapple juice to taste. If I had time I was going to dye sugar blue for the rim but that didn't happen. My drink was delicious! ...until our dog Princess knocked it off the table with her tail. Oh our crazy beautiful life! 

The Cupcakes: 

These cupcakes are vanilla on the outside but oh so bad on the inside. HA!

Step 1) Start with vanilla cupcakes, either homemade or your favorite box mix. 

Step 2) When cupcakes have cooled cut a cone out of the top of the cupcake. Drop in crushed up blue jolly ranchers. 

Step 3) Pipe vanilla icing onto cupcakes with an icing bag. Use a homemade recipe or your favorite pre-made icing. 

Step 4) Drop Wilton Sugar Gems on top for the "blue meth" look. I saw that people were making their own sheets of rock candy to crush and drop on top. I'm not THAT creative. 

Step 5) Enjoy! 

WARNING: These are made to be enjoyed right away. If placed in the fridge the Jolly Ranchers will stick together and you will have one Jolly Rancher blob in the middle that isn't so jolly as some of my guests found out. An alternative would be to use Wilton Colorburst Batter Bits instead. 

As I try to figure out what I am going to do on Sunday nights with out Breaking Bad, keep pinning and...

Muffin Tin Madness...

Let's get crazy people. Muffin tins have been my go to dish lately. They provide perfect portions and easy clean up so hey why not?

Pepperoni Pizza Balls: You will need 1 can of Grands Jr Biscuits, 1 package of pepperoni (I used turkey pepperoni), shredded mozzarella, and pizza sauce for dipping.

Step 1) Spray muffin tin with cooking spray
Step 2) Use kitchen scissors to cut the biscuits into four pieces
Step 3) Cut pepperoni into small pieces
Step 4) Put 3 biscuit pieces your hand. Flatten them out a little bit.
Step 5) Put pepperoni then cheese on top of the 3 biscuits in your hand
Step 6) Place the forth biscuit pieces on top and roll all ingredients into a ball
Step 7) Place into muffin tin. I sprinkled Mrs. Dash: Garlic and Herb on top of the pizza balls

Step 8) Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes
Step 9) Dip in warm pizza sauce

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes: You will need-Butter, Eggs, Vanilla Wafers, Cream Cheese, Sugar, Vanilla, Cherry Pie Filling, and Cupcake Liners.

Crust-I took half a box of crushed vanilla wafers and mixed them with melted butter. I started with one tablespoon of butter and added a little bit more until the crumbs would stick together. Scoop this mixture into regular sized cupcake liners and mash it down with your fingers to create the crust of the cheesecake.

Cheesecake-MAKE SURE CREAM CHEESE IS AT ROOM TEMP or it will clump. Mix 2 packages of 8 ounce cream cheese with 3/4 cup of sugar, 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, a dash of lemon zest and 1 Tbsp lemon juice (I just squeezed the lemon i used for the zest) in a large mixing bowl.

Scoop the mixture on top of the crust in the lined muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Once cool spoon cherry pie filling on top and cool in the fridge. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pies: I fell in love with these little beauties.

You will need:

• 2 cans of Grands Jr. Biscuits
• 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup 
• 2 cups of cooked diced chicken 
• 1 cup frozen mixed veggies 
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 1/2 Tablespoon of dried thyme
• 1/2 Tablespoon of dried basil 
• 1 teaspoon onion powder 
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt 

Step 1) Place the Grands Jr. Biscuits into each muffin cup and mush the dough down so moves up the sides.
Step 2) In a large bowl, mix the chicken, cream of chicken soup, veggies, cheese and spices
Step 3) Evenly spoon out the mixture into each cup
Step 4) Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes

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This has a Moreish Taste...

To quote my grandfather when eating something amazing my grandma cooked (who am I kidding everything she cooked was amazing) "this kinda has a moreish taste, makes me want some more." I couldn't help but remember this little gem when making this treat.

Dipped S'mores: Who doesn't love S'mores by the camp fire? Here is a less messy version of this classic treat. Spread marshmallow fluff on a gram cracker and put another one on top to make a sandwich. Place in the freezer to minimize the marshmallow fluff coming out the sides. While the sandwiches are cooling, pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a bowl with 1 cup of chocolate chips. Microwave in 10-20 second intervals stirring each time. Once chocolate is melted, dip the sandwiches in the chocolate a little more than half way, shake sprinkles on top and place in the fridge to harden.

Princess's Collar: I have 3 dogs so I need to minimize the amount of collar tags jingling as much as possible. I found these cute tag-less collars and got them for both Princess and Texan from Flying Dog Collars.

Leg Scrub: I know summer is almost over but I live in Texas so it will still be hot for at least another two months. Hints my need for a leg scrub. This one is made of only 3 ingredients that you prob already have in your house. Mix the following in a small bowl and stir well: 1/2 cup of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 1/4 cups of sugar. I shave before I use it then shave again after and wash off the extra oil for super silky legs.

Quesadilla Casserole: This meal has been a go-to for awhile now. I used to buy the McCormick Recipe Inspirations kit but now that I have the recipe I use the spices from my spice rack. The recipe comes with the kit and you add corn, beans, green chilies, tortillas, meat, tomato sauce and cheese. Great for when you need a quick yummy meal! Serves 8.

Microwave: I had some free time on my hands this Labor Day weekend so I thought Id tackle some projects around the house like cleaning the microwave. Please don't judge me by the BEFORE photo. I lived with 3 boys for awhile. Mix 1 cup of hot water and 1 cup of vinegar in a microwave safe bowl and heat it for 6 minutes. The pin I saw said the food would just wipe off. These stains did not wipe off but my microwave was a lot worse then the pinners was. I scrubbed the dirtiest parts and then heated up the water and vinegar mixture again. The rest of the stains did wipe off so I am pretty sure if you clean your microwave as often as a normal person it wont be any trouble at all.

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Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny...Pies

Pies: How cute are these itsy, bitsy, little pies? These are easy to make and I love any opportunity to whip out the icing bag. I made these to take to a Memorial Day party and I def didn't have any left overs. Red, white and blue fit the theme perfectly plus you can make these ahead of time and store in the fridge. Find the full recipe here.

Corn Dogs: Four ingredients and dinner is done? Count me in! Open a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix and follow the directions for adding milk and eggs. Cooking temp and time are also on the box. Pour mixture in a muffin pan with liners and stick 1/3 of a hot dog down in the middle. I substituted hot dogs for turkey franks. Best served with ketchup or mustard. (My mom pointed out that they look like boobs, thanks mom!)

Strawberries: In our house, these strawberries are a Valentines Day tradition. They are much easier to make then they look, i promise! See my a 4th of July edition of chocolate covered strawberries here.

Step 1) Wash strawberries. They must be completely dry before they can be dipped
Step 2) In a microwave safe bowl add 1 cup of while chocolate chips
Step 3) Pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over the chips
Step 4) Microwave in 20 or 30 second intervals, stirring each time
Step 5) Stop heating when most, but not all, of the chips are melted. Stir until chocolate is smooth and chips are completely melted. BE CAREFUL not to overcook.
Step 6) Hold a strawberry by the green stem and dip in chocolate, let extra chocolate run off
Step 7) Hold the strawberry until no chocolate runs off
Step 8) Place on parchment paper or a waxed paper lined pan
Step 9) Once the strawberries have dried I melt white chocolate chips using the same technique and pour into a bottle. Squeeze the chocolate over the strawberries. This is optional but I think it makes the strawberries taste and look even more delicious.
Step 10) Cool in the fridge then enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup: I am a big fan of crock pot recipes. Mix a bunch of stuff in a bowl and leave it until its done? I'm sold. I couldn't wait until fall to try this out but now I cant wait until it cools down outside and we can enjoy a bowl by our fire pit. Find the full recipe here.

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Ice Ice Baby...

Vanilla Ice: I have mentioned before that I love iced coffee in the morning. I tried using coffee iced cubes so my coffee wouldn't get all watered down. I decided I wanted to step it up a bit and make vanilla ice. These cubes are only 3 ingredients and I was able to use left over beans from making homemade vanilla extract. See the full recipe here.

Meatless Egg rolls: Talk about a cheap dinner! In our last Bountiful Basket we got cabbage, carrots, celery and mushrooms. I don't cook with cabbage or mushrooms often so I didn't really know what to do with them until I came across a pin for meatless egg rolls! This recipe made a pan and a half of egg rolls that I ate on for days! The best part was I already had the produce, soy sauce and garlic so all I needed to buy was egg roll wrappers, ginger and water chestnuts. The recipe did not call for celery or water chestnuts but I like them so I tossed them in. Find out how to make them here.

Grandmothers Pin: When my grandmother passed away my mom gave me one of her pins. I don't wear pins but I thought this one was beautiful. I have kept it safe in my jewelry box until I found a way to display it. I bought a cheap frame from Target, cut up and old T-shirt, wrapped the fabric around the glass and stuck the pin to the fabric. The frame now sits on top of my jewelry box in our bedroom.

Cake Batter Cookies: Looking for quick, moist cookies? Look no further! Cake batter cookies were a big hit in my house last night. I whipped up these strawberry cookies combining the best of two different recipes I found. I plan on making chocolate cake batter cookies next.  

Strawberry Cake Batter Cookies: 
1 Box of Strawberry Cake Mix
2 Eggs (Even if the box says 3)
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of coconut (optional)

Mix all in a large bowl. Spoon out one tablespoon for each cookie on a greased cookie sheet. Cook for 9 minutes at 350.

Icing: 
2 cups powered sugar
5 teaspoons of milk

Mix milk and sugar together in a small bowl. I used a squeeze bottle to apply to cookies. Can spoon icing into cookies instead.

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Yesterday...

My last post was about pins I tried in the past. This post is about pins I did yesterday. Yes, all of these in one day. Call me a pin-a-oholic.

Dinner: I went shopping on my lunch break so I had limited time and storage space at the office. Quickly searching Pinterest in the grocery store parking lot, I found mini tacos! To me they are more like loaded nachos but whatever. Use scooped chips and fill with browned meat (I used turkey mixed with taco seasoning) and cheese. Bake at 325 until cheese is melted. Top with salsa or sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes. So good!

Dessert: D and I both LOVE strawberries! You can make these treats the hard way or the easy way. I picked the easy way because who am I, Betty Crocker?? I took ready made cheese cake filling and piped it into strawberries with an X cut into them. I also, cut the tops off so they would stand up on the plate. If your feeling like Martha Stewart you can make the filling from scratch.

I use vanilla extract in almost all of my baking. I normally buy it at the store but not for long! I made my own extract with vanilla beans and vodka. I purchased the beans here and they smell amazing! It needs to sit for awhile before I can use it. Ill post an update when it is done. Here is what it looks like now:

 

Derek bought me a dark brown vanity for Christmas and I love it. I bought a jar for under $5 at Walmart and put all of my pretty nail polishes in it for the top of my vanity. Guest appearance by my dog Princess.

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