I made sopapillas!

Greg and I had a low-key anniversary, as it landed on a Monday. We be celebratin' tonight! He's taking me to the place where we had our wedding reception (an amazing Italian restaurant, in case you were wondering).

So, even though the actual anniversary was low-key, he grilled fajitas and I wanted to be in charge of dessert (being preggo with lil Baby O gives me even more of a sweet tooth). I wanted to make cheesecake, but he jokingly suggested sopapillas and started walking down the grocery aisle saying "SO-pa-PEE-yas!" in a high-pitched weird voice.

Then I thought about it... and it sounded delish. It could be my crazy craving, but I wanted to make it.

Have you non-Texans (I say that like it's a curse... ha) ever heard of this or had them before? I know it's a Tex-Mex thing.

I will admit, I wasn't super hardcore about the sopapillas, as I didn't make the dough myself. I know the sopapilla purists are probably cringing as they read this. Well, my way was actually really easy, and paired with a bowl of vanilla ice cream, it was heaven.

Here's what I did:
- Quartered some flour tortillas
- Heated some vegetable oil in a skillet
- Fried those babies up
- Rolled them around in a cinnamon/sugar mixture
- Ate them with vanilla ice cream

Here's what I regret:
- Not smothering it in honey. I even have some in the pantry. Silly Meg.

The "Asian" Photo

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but it seems like every group of Asian tourists we see while vacationing don't smile in their photos. They just stand in front of, say, Caesar's Palace or the Eiffel Tower, with an expressionless look on their faces. Or Japanese girls like to give the "peace" sign.

This is the closest example I could find. There's a little too much smiling going on here, but you get my drift.

This is, by no means, racist in any way. Let me be very clear on that! Don't get me started on the fish-face that white girls in their early twenties do.

'Nuff said. (except I'm not in my early twenties)

Anywho, let's get back to the "Asian" expressionless photo. Greg and I enjoy partaking in these photos every now and then, and sometimes our friends join in with us. By the way, always taking an "Asian Christmas Picture" is ideal.

This has almost too much expression.

I look a little too sassy but Greg has it perfect.

This is a perfect Christmas picture.

Gosh, this one is amazing, too.

Everyone looks great but Greg is ruining the seriousness.

Again, Greg is doing it wrong (distracted by football) but Dexter and I have it perfect.

Three steps for an awesome "Asian" picture:
1. Stand up really straight, almost soldier-like. You are a mountain of stiffness and you must look strong and mighty.
2. Hands are clasped in front of you or down by your side motionless. This is how emotionless people hold their hands.
3. Blankly stare into the camera, thinking about nothing. After all, the camera means nothing and you should not suggest that you care to take this photo in the first place.


Well, there you have it. I hope you try it some time. It does make for a good addition to your photo albums. And a good laugh.

Are there any specific weird pictures you're obsessed with taking?

Two Years Ago...

I married my best friend.

A lot has changed these past two years. Things that I couldn't even imagine doing when we first got married. Our family is growing. We are home owners. We're getting older, and maybe (Greg, at least) a little wiser. We've had our ups, our downs, the funnies, the not-so-funnies, and the moments we had no idea what to do. But we did it all together. And God has a plan for us. All I know that by marrying this man, I was given the best plan ever.



Dear Greg,

I hope you read this blog post today. If not, I'll read it to you later. I'm sitting here crying as I'm writing this because I am so happy I have you in my life (or my hormones are crazy). I can't believe how things have changed in the last two years, let alone the last 3 months. I have no idea what I'd do without you. I'd probably be doing something selfish and unfulfilling. You seriously make me a better person. Thank you for always supporting me and being my rock. I am so proud to be the mother of your beautiful daughter. I can't imagine a better daddy for her.

Happy Anniversary. I love you.

Makeup Drawer Staples - Tools

I own a lot of makeup brushes and tools. Being high maintenance requires a lot of work, people! Honestly, though, I think tools are really important to one's makeup collection. They truly enhance the application of the products you've spent your cold hard cash on.

While I do own many makeup tools, there are ones I reach for almost on a daily basis. I'd like to think of these as my staples. I thought I'd share them with you and get your input on some of your favorite tools. It appears that, not only am I high-maintenance, but a tool snob. 5 out of the 6 tools are high-end. In my defense, they last for years (granted that you clean and treat them properly).

 

Japonesque Power Eyelash Curler

I love this eyelash curler. It's comparable to Shu Uemura, with more availability. I found this at Ulta. This curler really gives my eyes a nice pop. It doesn't pull or tug at my lashes.

MAC 168 Contour Brush

I love using this brush for blush. It seems to work perfectly on the apples of my cheeks. It is also good to use with a contour powder/bronzer in specific areas of your face. 

Bobbi Brown Liner Brush

I like the flat head to this brush. It allows me to get the liner as close to the lash line as possible. This is great for tightlining.

Ecotools Bronzer Brush

Seriously, one of the best bronzer brushes I've ever used, and I got it at the drug store. The brush itself is fairly large, and the bristles are incredibly soft. I find that this gives an even all-over application of bronzer.

MAC 224 Blending Brush

This is definitely a multi-use brush. You can blend just about anything with it - from concealer underneath your eyes, to highlighters around your face, to blending in crease colors with eyeshadow. I tend to use this the most for eyeshadow, but I'm thinking about going and getting another one for face uses (highlighters and concealers). 

MAC 187 Duo Fibre Brush

This is a lovely brush if you use a liquid foundation. You "stipple" your foundation on - that is, you dip the brush in your foundation and then dab the brush all over your face. It applies in little dots (this is good because it is even all around your face). Then you swirl the brush even more around your face and it blends the foundation on even more effortlessly. This provides a flawless, airbrushed application.

What are your go-to makeup tools? Anything you simply cannot live without? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations!

Dexter's New Talent

You've seen me go on before about how awesome Dexter is. I mean, he can play fetch AND hide-and-seek. He also has a strange obsession with Greek yogurt. Who doesn't love a cat named after a fictional bad guy killer? I sometimes think he's got the personality of a dog more than a cat.

He's reached another level of cuteness. See, he has this fascination with the clothes hampers. Every time we're in the closet, he jumps in one of them and wants to play. When we do laundry, he is all over the hampers in the clothes. I usually drag the hamper from the closet to the washing machine and he'll jump right in for the ride. Putting the laundry in the washing machine can be a difficult task because he wants to "help" you, when really he's just in the way. You gotta love him for trying.

Dexter doesn't have any kitty cube toys or anything of the sort because he just loves those darn hampers. Yesterday, he discovered a new game he could play in them. I'd say he's pretty good at it. Watch for yourselves.




One more thing.

Remember how I said he likes to "help" you accomplish tasks? He definitely helped himself to the top of a ladder we had out to install a ceiling fan. You might have seen me tweeting this, but by golly, it's funny.

I guess this could be considered another talent. He couldn't get down, so he finally gave up and jumped. He was fine. He previously has effortlessly jumped from the second story landing. Strange creature, this cat.

Any funny talents your pets have?

It's a....

GIRL!!

Yep, I'm showing you a picture from underneath her legs straight at her lady parts. I'm sure my daughter is going to love me someday for displaying that on the internet.

 Here's another picture (in 3D!) to make up for you having to look at an X-Rated ultrasound picture.

I don't know if you can tell, but she's got her arms up over her face on this one. Kind of looks like a gremlin, but she's a cute gremlin nonetheless.

On Friday's poll, 19 (46%) of you guessed boy and 22 (53%) guessed girl! So, the majority of you had some good witch doctor vibes going on!

I can tell you we're so thrilled. Greg has even said, "So can we go register now?" He is adorable. Baby Girl O is going to have parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and adopted aunts/uncles that will love her to pieces. She is also going to have fabulous clothes and learn all of momma's beauty secrets, too.

Thank you so much for all of your supportive comments and tweets. Y'all are amazing.

Crumbs Giveaway Winner

143 entries, yet there can only be one winner. I wish it were me.

Congratulations to...

Savanah!

I think this is funny because she tweeted me earlier about this! And she's an H-town blogger, so that makes her awesome. And I know she loves cupcakes, so she will definitely enjoy Crumbs. And I designed her blog, btw.

E-mail me your address, Savanah, so I can get these babies to you when you get back from Jamaica!


Thank you to all who entered and to those that are new to following my blog! Y'all are awesome.

Baby O. - Boy or Girl?

Today I am 18 weeks pregnant!

I go in for my 18-week ultrasound on Monday! Yay! The great thing about this one is that we'll find out whether Baby O. is a boy or a girl!

I honestly couldn't tell you what I am feeling. We would definitely be happy, either way! I know nothing about these old wives' tales on predicting the sex of your baby. I did the needle trick thingie a few weeks ago and it said I was having a hermaphrodite (one time it came out boy, another time it came out girl), so I'm not sure if that's reliable. Ha!

Half of my friends/family are convinced I'm having a boy, while the other half is convinced I'm having a girl. I think it's funny because I'm really not convinced either way. Maybe it is a hermaphrodite... hmm....

While we're at it, here's some photos from my 13-week ultrasound. I know some people are irritated by ultrasound pictures (I used to be one of those people until I figured out how to look at it), but y'all can suck it up for a second. Kthanks.

Yoga baby! It's crossing its arms and legs.

I actually think you can see a little baby here! It's facing us, and has its chin resting on its arm.

I take that back about the hermaphrodite. Maybe I am having an alien.

So.... here's where you come in. I wanna poll y'all (just for fun!)l and see what you think. Maybe some of you have witch doctor vibes you can feel through the computer screen. Let's see who's right!

Is Baby O. a boy or a girl?

p.s. Today is the last day to enter my cupcake giveaway! Go enter now if you haven't already!

Nursery Inspiration

Now that one of the empty two bedrooms in our house has some lovely light green paint on the walls, I probably ought to start thinking of nursery ideas.

Here's what the walls look like as of yesterday!

Pardon the quality. I will definitely take better pics as it progresses.

While we don't find out the gender of Baby O. until Monday, I like more of the gender neutral nurseries to begin with. Thanks to Pinterest and their toolbar, I've been pinning a lot of inspiration photos to my "Baby" board.

It seems like I like a mix of eclectic, modern, and soft looking nurseries. I want to pair light and dark furniture with the room. Also, since Greg is a Baylor Bear, I had a fun idea of making the nursery the "baby version" of green and gold - light green and light yellow with little bears here and there! Tasteful, mind you. I don't want it to look like bears/Baylor threw up everywhere. If Baby O. is a girl, pops of pink would be fun, and if it's a boy, pops of blue.

Here are some pins I really like that can incorporate those wants.

Source: google.com via Meg on Pinterest

This photo incorporates all green walls (which we will have) along with mixing the dark and light with pops of color. I really like the wall art.

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Meg on Pinterest

I've kind of been obsessed with chandeliers lately. After all, we just put one up in our master bathroom. Could Baby O. use one? I also love the lightness of this nursery.

Source: somewheresplendid.com via Meg on Pinterest

This is just a really cute, eclectic space. Inspires me to mix patterns and shapes.

Source: groupon.seussprints.com via Meg on Pinterest

I like the wall very much, but not sure if I want to take the time to do something like this. Look how it's green and yellow, too. I also enjoy those Dr. Seuss pictures.

Source: google.com via Meg on Pinterest

This is a good mix of dark and light, and the rug is super cute.

Source: hgtv.com via Meg on Pinterest

I just love that wall mural and the lamp. Great colors to add into the mix.

Source: camilleroskelley.typepad.com via Meg on Pinterest

Simplistic, yet clean! I really like this. Also incorporates dark and light furniture.

Has Pinterest inspired your interior spaces lately?

Also, I added a little Pinterest button up top on my link bar if you would like to follow me there!

I Heart Key Lime Pie

Yesterday, I was walking down the freezer aisle at the grocery store and spotted some key lime pie in the cases. I thought to myself.... "Hmm, I want that." But I didn't want frozen, pre-packaged key lime pie. I wanted home made key lime pie. With fresh key limes. Furthermore, I wanted to make it. When I got home. Pregnant brain makes you do crazy things like that.

So, I immediately pulled out my iPhone and got on my Epicurious app and found a recipe that had 95% positive reviews. It was so simple looking - it was too good to be true.

And it came out amazing, if I don't say so myself.

Here's my pie. And the recipe.

O. My Gosh This is Great Key Lime Pie

recipe via Epicurious

Ingredients:

For crust1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs from 9 (2 1/4-inch by 4 3/4-inch) crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh or bottled Key lime juice

For topping
3/4 cup chilled heavy cream


Preparation Instructions: 

Make crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch (4-cup) glass pie plate. Bake crust in middle of oven 10 minutes and cool in pie plate on a rack. Leave oven on. 

Make filling and bake pie:

Whisk together condensed milk and yolks in a bowl until combined well. Add juice and whisk until combined well (mixture will thicken slightly). Pour filling into crust and bake in middle of oven 15 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack (filling will set as it cools), then chill, covered, at least 8 hours. 

Make topping:

Just before serving, beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Serve pie topped with cream.

More of My Photos:

(sorry, these were taken on my iPhone, hence the quality)

These are all the key limes I squeezed. I wanted key lime pie from key limes, not a bottle of juice. I'm hardcore and squeezed them all. It was so worth it.

Right after the pie came out of the oven. I may or may not have stuck my finger in it.

O.'s Notes:
- I  didn't make whipped cream, just because I had a can of the spray whipped cream in the fridge. Otherwise, I would have (and probably would have added vanilla and a pinch of sugar to the heavy cream). I did, however, zest some of the limes over the top of the whipped cream for presentation and a little extra zing.
- A lot of the reviews on this recipe say to increase the filling ingredients by half, but I didn't. I felt like the filling was enough to fill my 9-inch pie dish.
- The homemade crust literally fell apart on me in places. But it was sooooo good to pick at the crumbs and eat them. I'm not sure what to do to make a more solid crust, but I don't want to alter it too much. Suggestions welcome.
- My mom and sister kept saying, "Oh my gosh... mmmm!!!" while eating this, so I think it was a hit. And that's why I'm calling it "O. My Gosh This is Great Key Lime Pie."


Did you make anything over the weekend that was "oh my gosh" worthy?

Today you can find me....

...guest posting for Blonde Episodes!

Follow this link to read more on my Top 5 Summer Beauty Must-Haves!

Giveaway: Crumbs Cupcakes!

Remember how I ranted and raved on how much I love Crumbs Cupcakes? I love them so much, I'm going to send them to one of my readers! Yeah, that's right! I'm a nice person!

One lucky winner will have Crumbs Bake Shop's Best Seller Collection Taste Pack shipped straight to his/her door!

 That's a TWELVE PACK of Crumbs' best selling cupcakes! Crumbs bakes these fresh, freezes them, and delivers them by UPS. They are sent in dry ice and will defrost perfectly for you by the time they arrive. I want the squiggly one right now as we speak. Darn these pregnancy cravings. I think I will be shipping one to myself, in the meantime...

How to Enter:

Please leave a separate comment per entry!

- Be a Google Friend Connect Follower, leave a comment telling me you are

- Follow me on Twitter, and leave a comment telling me you are

- Tweet about the giveaway (be sure to mention me in the tweet and leave a comment here telling me you did)! You can use the following: "Follow @mo_meg and visit http://bit.ly/oHE88W for a chance to have cupcakes delivered straight to your door!"

- "Like" my Facebook Fan Page, and leave a comment telling me you did

Terms & Restrictions:

- Anyone in Continental United States may win (this excludes Hawaii and Alaska - not sure if I have readers in either but it's worth mentioning)
- Big sorry to my lovely international readers... y'all will have to just have to hold off until the next giveaway! I wish Crumbs shipped internationally.
- Winner will be announced on Saturday, July 16! That gives you eight days to enter and spread the word!

What better way to start out a Friday than cupcakes? That's right - NO OTHER WAY.

Good luck!

*Please Note: This giveaway is not sponsored by anyone but yours truly. I'm just that nice.

Southwest Rollups Recipe

Because I'm such a fantastic wife, I've started making my husband's favorite childhood recipes. In fact, I contacted his mother for them so I could get them printed for our recipe book. By the way, if you've never heard of Tastebook, you need to go check it out. It's a great way to start a book of your special recipes and you can have them print and ship you pages as you build the book. Neat stuff! I gave Greg the book for Christmas, and then I gave him some additional pages of recipes for his birthday (his favorite childhood recipes).

One particular recipe he always talks about is Southwest Rollups. He loved it when his mom would make these and I definitely wanted to try my hand at it. It's a very simple recipe and can be modified to be low cal/fat by using whole wheat tortillas, low fat sour cream, cheese, and fat free refried beans.

It's a pretty great summer recipe, as it's not super heavy. They're kind of like enchiladas, but not as smothered... and they're almost like little burritos, but not. Haha! I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we did! I wish I had gotten some photos of my batch, but I think they all got devoured before I had a chance to!

Mama O.'s Southwest Rollups

via

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons salsa
- 1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion 
- 1 can (16 ounces) refried beans 
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, optional 
- 1 cup cubed cooked chicken 
- 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided 
- 10 to 12 flour tortillas (6 inches) 
- Sour cream and additional salsa, optional

Directions:
In a food processor; combine the first eight ingredients and 1/2 cup cheese; cover and process until smooth. Spread evenly over tortillas. Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; let stand until cheese melts. Serve with sour cream and salsa if desired. Yield: 10-12 servings.



Yum!

Us & Our Pals in New York

I know I have been quite a terrible blogger lately, and I promised another NY recap. So, here it is, as belated as it is!! Today, I wanted to focus on friends that we saw while in New York and share some fun photos.

We spent two nights in NYC and then another two nights on Long Island, visiting some dear mutual friends. The decision to go to NYC had a lot to do with the fact we would be able to see our dear friends in Long Island! Here are some photos of us and our pals.

My sister's long time friend and his girlfriend moved to NYC just a few short weeks ago. We met them for lunch. We enjoyed nice sandwiches and salads in Bryant Park. It was great to catch up and hear about New York from transplanted Texans' points of view.

Greg and I in Times Square

Caitlin and her husband Kevin drove into the city and we played around in the city before heading back to their home in Long Island.  This is us before the performance of The Normal Heart.

While on Long Island, we explored the beach just down the street from Caitlin and Kevin's house. While walking around, I was taking tons of pictures (as always). I told them all to pose and they did this. This is their 'Christian Rock Album Cover' photo.

Kevin and Greg (who are childhood friends, by the way) had some time to do boy-ish stuff like throw a football around. This was a scenic spot, overlooking the Long Island Sound with an old lighthouse (pictured in the background of this photo).

Yay! These are our friends! We enjoyed a lovely lunch with them in a cute town called Port Jefferson.

Us at lunch. Did I mention before that Greg likes to photobomb almost every photo?

I introduced Caitlin to the lovely world of self-serve frozen yogurt (something I crave regularly, btw), as we found a shop down the street from our lunch spot. Who doesn't love froyo?!

I don't know why Greg is 'praying' in the photos where he poses, but this definitely makes for a funny photo. Fro yo is heavenly, I must say.

Lastly, we can't forget Caitlin and Kevin's cute pets - Henry (the cat) and Dezi (the dog)!

Have your dear friends' whereabouts influenced your travel decisions? Luckily, NYC is a pretty cool excuse to see our friends!

Happy 4th!

Happy Independence Day!

May you all have a super fabulous holiday filled with all the people you love! Eat lots of food and dessert. Just so you know, calories don't count on holiday weekends.

My holiday weekend has been pretty awesome so far! Lots of fun stuff going on in the O. Household.

I've come to the conclusion that holiday weekends are bound to be successful if they include:

Sno Cones

A new cupcakery discovered down the street from where you live (even better that it's next to the sno cone place)

Two Red Sox / Astros Games in two days

Wearing a Sox shirt to one game

Scoring a cheap Astros' shirt at the other game and wearing it mid-game

Enjoying both games with my favorite Sox fan (who likes to photobomb all the time, btw)

And enjoying one game with my favorite Astros' fan - who, by the way, participated in the funniest banter with the most annoying Red Sox fan (even the Sox fans found him irritating). The best part was when she asked him, "What part of Massachusetts are you from?" The dude said he was from Georgia. Katie looked over to Greg and said, "Hey, Greg, you're from Massachusetts - have you heard of a town named Georgia?" HILARIOUS.

Tonight, we're headed to my mom's 23rd floor condo overlooking the lake/bay. We're bound to see at least 3 different firework shows. Yay for no burn bans over the water! Texas' drought has really impacted fireworks displays this year, so we're lucky to live in an area that will be continuing their displays over the water.

How have your holiday weekends gone? What are the big plans for tonight? Whatever they are, enjoy them to the fullest!