Friday Five

Friday Five time again....

1. The perfect summer drink and my absolute favorite lemonade (well actually the only kind I will drink).

2.  Britt Nicole... I can not stop listening to her. Some of my favorites; Have Your Way, Walk on the Water, Set the World on Fire, Hanging on, and Safe.

3. Fun fact about me, I love paranormal romance.  This summer has been a little rough in the reading department, I've been pretty disappointed with some of my favorite authors' new books.  So I took a chance on this one since it was $.99 on kindle and I am so glad I did.  It is completely unique, I have not read anything like it and devoured it in a day. I can't wait until the sequel comes out.

4. I have loved going back and watching reruns of this show with my brother, absolutely hilarious. I can't wait until the new season starts.

5. This is Little Miss Momma and she has an absolutely amazing blog.  I have spent a lot of time this week going back through and reading some of her best of posts, she is truly inspiring.  She is my "blogger" idol.

Penne in Sausage Sauce

I had it all planned out that I was going to make a somewhat fancy shmancy recipe out of one of my bazillion cookbooks.  But today didn't quite go as planned.

Maybe it was that I woke up to find not 1, not 2, but 5 places my cat threw up this morning. (One of them being on the coffee table)

Maybe it was that there weren't any cold cokes and I had to settle for dr. pepper.

Maybe it was that after I warned my whole family that the basement door wasn't unlocking when you turn it so Do Not close it behind you, that I did that exact thing and then was locked out of the house.

Or maybe it was the fact that all the recipes I wanted to try required white wine which we didn't have in the house... and I can't really go pick some up...

 

So instead of fancy I went simple...

Penne in Sausage Sauce



Ingredients

Italian Sausage

Penne Pasta

Crushed Tomatoes

Tomato Sauce

Cream (sorry forgot to put it in the picture)

If like me you just grabbed the sausage links because it was closest, remove them from their casing.  (I used all 5 links that were in the pack because it was 1 pound but if yours is more just use enough to equal about a pound)

Cut them into little chunks (My apologies for such technical terms...)

Put a little oil in a large pan (or pot? which is this?)

Once you have cut up all the sausage add it to your pan

Cook until brown

Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce

I added a little brown sugar to cut the acidity

Add italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste

Add your cream... I think I added about 2 tablespoons but just depends on taste and how creamy you want your sauce

Add your penne

Mix all together

Toast up some crusty bread and you are done.  Quick and easy, just what I needed and YUMMY!

I'm linking up at

Tatertots & Jello

Flamingo Toes

Under the Table and Dreaming

Review: Kerri Ann Handmade Errand Runner

A while back while browsing around on etsy I came across Kerri Ann Handmade.  She makes the cutest little wallets that hold all the essentials; phone, cash, ID, and credit cards. 

Here's mine... too cute right?

Production time for the wallets takes about 3 weeks and shipping was super fast.  The wallets are $32 and shipping in the US is $3.50

Perfect spot to hold your phone.

Plenty of room to have a little extra cash, ID, and whatever other essentials you need.

I am a huge purse kinda girl and carry just about everything I could possibly need with me at all times but sometimes when I just have to run up the road really quick I don't want to lug all of that with me.  That is when this little guy comes in handy, I grab it out of my purse and it already has everything I need and I am ready to roll.

I am already thinking these would be the perfect Christmas gift for some of the people on my list that are a little harder to buy for.

I will also admit I am already eyeing a new one she put up on her shop.

Loving this yellow and grey

I give them two thumbs up! The quality is awesome and I can't wait to order some more as gifts!

Go check out Kerri Ann's Shop and let me know what your favorite is!

Giveaway Winner!

It has been one of those weeks... the kind where you just feel like you are treading water.  I constantly found myself staring out the window, losing things I had in my hand not even 2 seconds before, and all around just feeling dazed.  Everything was taking a bazillion times longer then it should.  When I was making cups I found myself spending 20 minutes just trying to get the letter just Right.  After I had carefully put all the letters on a cup I looked up to realize that it wasn't even the right name.  After a while I started to feel discouraged and a little lost.

Then that little red light would flash on my phone and I'd smile because I got another like on my facebook page, or someone had left a nice comment, or I'd received an order from a new customer.  Then it would all feel worth it again and I would get a little bit of my focus back.  Reading the comments on this giveaway has been another joy of my week, you guys not only took the time to enter but you worked in a compliment as well.  Sometimes it is amazing how a simple thing like a few kind words can change my whole demeanor.

I am super excited to announce the winner of this giveaway!!! I used random generator and here is the result (sorry I can't seem to figure out how to put the whole box in here like all the other blogs).

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 9 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 

Winner: Comment #9

Allison S.

She said:

I have already liked your page...The very first time I saw it simply because I know your creations no matter what they are are always priceless and amazing! Allison S.

Congratulations Allison!!!!

The Friday Five

 Introducing The Friday Five (have you noticed yet how much I like alliteration?).

The Friday five is five things that have made my week a little better or I've depended on.

So here goes...

1. The endless supply of fresh from the garden cucumbers and tomatoes that have showed up at our house.  I have lived off of cucumber, tomato, and mozzarella salads this week.

2. Cut offs and tank tops because it is just too hot to wear anything else.

3. Finding out that The Pioneer Woman is getting her own cooking show on the food network.  WARNING- if you want to actually get anything done do not click the link to her site.

4. Revlon Just Bitten in the color Passion, because when it is this hot the idea of wearing much else on my face just sounds disgusting.

Source: pearlsandfloral.tumblr.com via Tasha Toth on Pinterest

5. Finally being done with summer classes and having a month until the fall semester starts. 

Wait.... what? only a month????? That is all I have of freedom?

What are your Friday Five?

Simply Sammie Giveaway

Before I show you the giveaway I wanted to take the time to thank all of you.  I am so happy and grateful to be where I am today.  It means the world to me to know that people are willing to spend their hard earned money on something I've created.

A few special thanks...

 To my number one "consultant", without you there would be no Simply Sammie and for that I owe you everything.

Between diaper changes and the hokey pokey shake we find time to discuss all things crafts, thanks to you for always giving me your honest opinion, for your support, and your ideas.

To my nursery family, for listening to my endless babble Sunday mornings and for always giving me the feedback I need.

Your husband says I remind him of you and I have yet to decide if that's good or bad, but that is besides the point... thanks to you for (in your words) "shamelessly promoting me" and for spending way to much time with me in the wineglass aisle in Ikea to explain which one would be the best for me to use.

And last but certainly not least thanks to my Mom, without you I don't think I could be doing all this and juggling classes and work.  Thanks for spending hours putting polka dots on cups and just in general always for supporting me and picking up the slack were I can't.

Ready for me to stop blabbering so we can start the giveaway?????

Well here it is!!!!!!!!!!

This is the cup I will be giving away

Retail value- $15

This is a brand new design and I am super excited to be using it as my giveaway!

Here's How To Enter To Win:

{Please leave a separate comment for each entry you complete}

{{You do not have to complete all 4, just the ones you would like}}

1. Leave me a comment telling me what your go to summer drink is.

2. Head over to my facebook and like my page, come back here and leave a comment saying you did. (Already have? just leave me a comment saying you already have)

3. Become a follower of my blog, leave me a comment saying you did.

4.Facebook, Blog, and/or Tweet about this giveaway and leave the link in the comments.

Good luck!!!

Winner will be announced July 25th, 2011