Friday Fun

It's always great fun when blogging life and real life intersect.  This little piece of the Canadian East Coast has a fair number of bloggers and it's been a great way to meet some new people nearby.  I mentioned on Wednesday that Melissa of Sigh...Gush....Gasp and I met up last week.  Since Melissa had her trusty tripod on hand we did a few photos together.  We had to laugh when we saw each other and realized we had on the exact same shade of orange.  Obviously the hot colour for Summer 2012!

Slow Cooker Lasagna with Amanda

Happy Not-Friday once again.  Good luck to those Americans getting back to work after the Fourth of July yesterday.  To those who somehow managed to roll that into a crazily extended weekend... the rest of us hate you... I was going to say "not really" but we kind of do.  Excited today to have one of my lovely July Sponsors guest posting today Amanda from Tales from a FAR .  She's also talking about lasagna which is my favourite food. 

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Hey guys! I'm Amanda & I blog over @ tales from a FAR, where I mainly talk about myself

 

My hubby RB

and our little guy FAR. 

FAR= Fletcher Andrew Rodewig... He's our 1 year old who is already fixing his own meals...

Doing his own laundry...

 

& he's even DRIVING! 

Ok ok I kid. He's not doing any of that. But he is a walking talking crazy kiddo who we adore with our whole heart. 

I want to Thank Leigh Ellen for letting me have the opportunity to blog today about one of my favorite things to eat. When I know i'm going to be busy all day and I want something yummy to eat for dinner I throw together a Crock Pot Lasagna . It's super simple! 

(Source - I forgot to take a picture last time I made it!)

Here's the recipe: 
1lb Ground Turkey/Beef/Pork (Whichever you prefer)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning 

1 jar Spaghetti sauce 

1/3 cup water 

UNCOOKED lasagna noodles 

1 cartion ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese 

Brown meat and seasoning, drain

Mix spaghetti sauce and water. (Water cooks the noodles in crock pot) 

Layer like you would a regular lasagna in a GREASED crock pot ( I always put a little sauce on bottom and then do noodles sauce meat cheese) 

Cover, cook on high for 1 hour 

Reduce heat to low and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

I promise - you will love it! 

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Cross Country Tour with Paige

It`s another Not-Friday and I`m lucky enough to have another guest post.  Paige should be starting to look familiar to some of you. It`s not her first time posting here and she`s had a nice spot over in the sponsor area for awhile now.  Without futher ado... here`s Paige.

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Hello my friends north of the US Border?! My name is Paige, over at Artsy Anthropology, and I am from the Great (Not White) South? Is that what you call us up there in Canadia? Anywhoo... the theme between myself and Miss Leigh-Ellen tends to be that we share information on trips, or our countries...

As a student, I have spent several (15-20) days driving cross country from Undergrad to Grad to home... so I have lots of beautiful pictures of what I have seen!  Hope you enjoy them.

The Pacific Northwest! Isn't it absolutely beautiful! I think this is probably one of the prettiest places ever, Baker Mountain, Washington.

The Southwest... Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico (parts of Texas) all look like same... these states are home to: Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Painted Forest, Petrified Forest, Roswell, Santa Fe... etc.

This photo, totally not Photoshopped, the ground is really that many different colors of dirt and the sky is really that shade of blue. This is from the Painted Forest in Arizona.

The Grand Canyon

This is terrifying, it's a 1 mile fall... if you happen to slip

Somewhere in New Mexico... down south of Albuquerque and Roswell... there is the Carlsbad Caverns, which are slightly more terrifying than the Grand Canyon - because you are like 100 feet and a terrifying elevator ride down into the ground...

Then there is the South... for those of you who don't know, the Mississippi is really just the worlds largest muddy river - the water is brown... but the trees in Louisiana are giant and beautiful, and we have plantations...

In Baton Rouge, there is also a WWII ship, just chilling on the Mississippi - it's fun to go and hang out on, play with the big guns ;)

Hope you all enjoyed these snap-shots into my life and travels around the country!  

Guest Post by Jessica from Vintage Mauve

Happy Not-Friday Everyone.  For those of us coming off the Victoria Day weekend at least it's a short week. For those of you looking forward to the Memorial Day weekend I bet Friday can't get here soon enough.  Very excited to have a guest blogger today.  I'm guest blogging over at her site so read this then go say hi! 

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My name is Jessica, and I've had an obsession with cosmetics since I was in 5th grade, when my mom bought me my first Clinique compact. It’s been an intense love affair ever since. When Leigh-Ellen gave me the opportunity to guest post on her blog, I was so excited to share my love. My blog, VintageMauve.com, is generally more home related so I don't get the chance to blab about make up all too often! Hope you enjoy my list of favorite products, because it has taken years to find all of these wonderful products!

 

Urban Decay All Nighter: The only reason why I started using this product was because I got it as a free sample at Sephora, but it has quickly become one of my essentials. Normally, I get so busy at work that I don’t have the opportunity to touch up my face, so I need my morning makeup to last as long as possible. The All Nighter spray locks my make up into place, and also cuts down on my oil production during the day. That’s a win/win in my book!

Rosebud Salve: The perfect multi-use product is Rosebud Salve. Not only can you use it as a lip balm, but you can also use it to soften your cuticles, as well as rid yourself of rough elbows. The smell is beautiful, and the product seems to last forever. I often wear this under lipstick during the winter since my lips get so dry, and it definitely helps lipsticks wear better.

Cover Girl LashBlastFusion Mascara: For less than 10 dollars, this product is a great cost saver but with amazing results. I’ve given up buying DiorShow mascara, because this product works just as good and for a fraction of the cost. Not only that, I only got 2 months of everyday use with DiorShow. With Cover Girl, I get the 3 full months of recommended usage. That’s even more of a bargain!

Urban Decay Naked Palette: I waited months for this palette, and I have to say that it was definitely worth the wait. Now since I have it, I wonder how I ever lived without it. This palette is perfect when you’re trying to create a look for work, or for a night out. Urban Decay has great payoff with their color, and they wear very well. Combined that with the shadow primer that comes with it, and you are good to go for all day of beautiful eyes.

Bobbi Brown Corrector: I CANNOT live without this corrector. With it, it makes it look like I actually get a full night’s sleep. It comes in a variety of shades for people with yellow or pink undertones. I highly recommend this product if you suffer from dark circles under the eyes. It’s like magic.

Purity Made Simple Face Wash: I've tried so many different face washes in my day, and I always come back to Purity Made Simple by Philosophy. I can’t say enough about it. It cleanses my skin without stripping, or drying it out. I suffer from oily skin so I never want to use a face wash that will dry the skin out, because that’ll just cause more oil. I can also use it to remove eye makeup with no problem, and it does not irritate the eyes. It’s worth every penny!

NARS Lipstick: I don’t know what it is about NARS lipstick, but the moment you apply it, you automatically feel more vivacious and sexy. Maybe it’s the packaging, or the intriguing name of each color, but it adds an extra bounce to your step. I've recently fallen in love with their Pure Matte lipstick line, but I always come back to their satin lip colors. Right now, I’ve been favoring the color “Damage.”

NYX Blush: NYX never fails when it comes to creating high quality cosmetics, at a fraction of the cost. I can’t say enough about their blushes. Most of them are matte, which is nice, if you enjoy using a highlight powder. They are very pigmented, so less is more! My favorite colors right now are “Dusty Rose” and “Spice.”

And there ya have it! 8 products that I could simply not live without. What beauty products are you addicted to? Thanks again to Leigh-Ellen for letting me take over her site for the day. :-)