First slow cooker meal

Paul and I bought our first crock-pot last weekend (on sale for $19.99 at Macy's - sweet deal!), and I finally tested it out tonight.

Having never owned a slow cooker before, I was a tad nervous... was I going to burn the house down?  I had a client meeting in the afternoon so I wouldn't be able to stay at home and supervise.  So, I selected an Italian Chicken with Vegetables recipe off of McCormick's website and crossed my fingers.  I wasn't able to find the packaged seasoning in the store so I made up my own with a little bit of fresh garlic, parsley and basil.

Eight hours later, here was the result:

Served with some green beans and freshly baked French bread with garlic butter. 

I will have to use the crock pot more often!  The food turned out quite nicely and I didn't have to spend too much time cooking.  Great for a busy gal :)

~Chef Melissa

Reusable Bags are getting cuter!

I just returned from a quick run to Target (had to get my beloved chocolate raspberry coffee creamer) and I got to use my flippin' amazing flip & tumble reusable bags - I love them more and more everytime I use them so I had to share.  I've been using reusable bags for a few years now, but these are my favorite thus far.

image from flipandtumble.com

I love how you can just roll them up into a handy little ball and then keep them in your purse/messenger bag and never have to go to the store and then realize that you forgot your bags again.  Or at least reduce the amount of times anyways :)

Don't these remind you of the Popples?  I was an 80s baby so of course I had a Popple, mine was the white one, Puffball.   Even more reason to love these little bags.

Searching for a Portrait Artist

Today is our one month anniversary in our new house!  Yay for us!

We're still working on renovations though - these popcorn ceilings just seem endless.  Paul's been diligently scraping the plaster off of the ceiling and repainting.  The ceilings do look much better so it'll all be worth it!

My office is 92% complete (just need to add curtains and some artwork on the walls).  So I thought I'd share a before and after view of one side of the room.

before - how the previous owners had this room set up

after - now, my room's a sunny happy yellow, with client products as temporary decor :)

Now, on to the topic of this post... we have a formal living/sitting room on the first floor of our house.  Right now, there's no real good use for it so we have decided to have that room be Roxie's (our dog) play room.  She's a big girl and needs some space to play when it's raining and when it gets colder in the winter.

I've been wanting a painted portrait of our dog for a while, and now we have the perfect spot for one - in Roxie's Room!  I'm looking for something that's not so much of a realistic feel.  Here are some examples that I've found online that I think are fabulous:

from artpaw.com

from apartment therapy

So, if you are or know of any (preferably local-Atlanta) artists who we can commission to do this sort of project for a reasonable price please let me know!!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Sometimes all you need is a night out on the town with the girls - at a comedy club!  With all of the stresses of the new house and being overworked lately, it seems like what I needed was a good laugh.  Laughing till I started crying.

Tonight, we went out on the town for the bachelorette party of one of my good friends.  These kinds of parties are usually exceptionally fun.  This is the one night that a bride-to-be can do, say, ask pretty much anything of any guy - and get it.  We started the night out at Eclipse di Luna, a fabulous tapas restaurant in north Atlanta.  If you haven't been there before, you must!  It's a great place for groups to go, just order a bunch of tapas and share them around the table.

The highlight of the evening for me was the comedy show at Punchline Comedy Club.  It had been a few years since my last visit to that club, and tonight's headliner was Kevin Pollak.  This was by far one of the best comedy shows I've been to.  Kevin Pollack - what an incredible entertainer.  During the show, it felt like I was laughing all my stress away.  What a great way to de-stress!

And the frosting on the cake: I won a $20 gift certificate to use at Punchline!  My business card got picked out of the fishbowl - another great reason to keep plenty of those around :)  Paul and I will be making a trip over to Punchline for date night soon!  Can't wait!!

Networking Effectively

It can be very intimidating to walk into an event or meeting if you don't know anyone.  It's even more intimidating to walk up to someone and introduce yourself.  However, networking is vital to growing a business, a non-profit organization or even promoting your career. With some networking basics and some practice, networking events can soon become fun!

Dress the part.  How you present yourself is how people are going to treat you.  I have been blessed with younger-than-my-age looks and it's amazing how differently people speak to me depending on how I'm dressed.  When I'm out running errands, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, people assume that I'm in high school - or college if I'm lucky.  When I'm dressed in my business attire, people call me "Mamn."

Smile!  A smile goes a long way in how people perceive and remember you.  Would you rather speak with someone who's smiling or who has a serious look on their face.  Plus, a smile will help relax your nerves when approaching a stranger.

Have a 30 second elevator pitch ready.  Know what you're going to say when someone asks, "So, what do you do?"

Have plenty of business cards ready.  But, don't pass them out to everyone.  Only hand someone a card if you have a rapport with them.  I can't count how many times I've gone to a networking event and come home with a handful of business cards from people that I didn't even speak to.  Guess where those cards ended up...

Don't work the room.  It's better to build a relationship with one or two people than to meet everyone in the entire room and not remember the name of the first person you spoke to.  You will more likely stay in touch with the one or two people that you build a relationship with.

Be ready to network anywhere at anytime.  Just because you're not at a business function doesn't mean that you won't meet the person who could be your next big break, your new best friend or just someone who might be able to help you out.

Networking has proven to be invaluable to growing my business.  What can it do for you? :)

25 Things To Do Before We Start A Family

As newlyweds who just moved into our new house in the suburbs of Atlanta, we can't help but think about the possibility of having children in the future.  Everywhere we go, the gym, supermarket, brunch... we are surrounded by families with children. Now, we aren't ready for kids - not even close - we enjoy the freedom of being a young married couple too much.

But with the prospect of starting a family on our distant horizon, we decided to come up with a sort of "bucket list" of things that we want to do before children arrive in our little family. We realize that a lot of these things are still possible after having kids, but it would just be easier to do before.  

1.  go back to Hawaii, specifically the island of Kauai 
2.  skydiving
3.  scuba dive to a large ship wreck
4.  own a house
5.  dog sledding in the Canadian Rockies
6.  go to Carnival in Rio de Janeiro
7.  swim with dolphins

8.  ride in a hot air balloon
9.  rent a sports car and drive the Autobahn
10.  go biking on the Great Wall of China
11.  go win tasting in Napa Valley
12.  volunteer abroad for a month
13.  kiss the Blarney Stone
14.  go on a safari in Africa
15.  go horseback riding on the beach

16.  hike the Grand Canyon
17.  go skiing in Colorado
18.  write a book - even if it's never published
19.  walk on a glacier
20.  compete in a Pro-Am ballroom competition
21.  learn to cook gourmet meals
22.  train and run in a marathon
23.  own a sports car
24.  go on a cross-country road trip
25.  grow the company to a point where neither one of us has to go to work

What's on your list?