BOOM!

BOOM!

You guys, I don't know if I've ever been as proud of myself as I am that I created my very own new blog header!! I'm extremely computer/tech challenged. I mean, I can roll with the best of them on Facebook, uploading pictures, and downloading things, but this was a whole new ball game. 

It was literally driving me crazy. Seriously, I think I've been "under construction" for like a week now. The slow process and my inability to work any sort of photo editing software had me almost giving up. 

But then I looked at prices for custom headers.

$45

Oh hell to the no.  

So I put on my big girl pants and got to researching. 

And then, something big happened.

I won a giveaway over at Life & Times!!

She's the best, and you should really go check her out if you haven't already! 

It was the My Memories Suite Software that literally saved my life.

I know it's still a little rough, but I can't wait to practice more! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I had a new header fairly often just because it's so easy!

And to link up with my girl, Sarah, for Inspiration Friday,

I may just be inspired to create a little header business for my blog friends! 

After a lot more practice of course:)

What's your inspiration on this fine Friday?!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

Truth

I'm not going to lie. I'm getting frustrated trying to design my own new blog header. 

Why am I so computer illiterate?! 

Please excuse my absence and know that I'm working on updating the look of my lil ole blog. 

Does anybody have any suggestions/ tips on how to make a header?? 

I miss picnik:(

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

Blah.

Blah.

I feel very blah today.

I totally forgot that I had class this morning when I was all excited about being off from my internship for the day. Who just forgets that?! 

Apparently, this girl. 

Oh well. Nothing to do but move on and do better next time.

In other news, this is what my Spring Break looked like!

Matt and I went to dinner on Tuesday at Texas Roadhouse. I had steak and cheese fries:) ::nomnomnom::

There was a little working mixed in,

That's definitely my legs under a batman blanket. Our office air conditioner broke while it was set on 60 so it was abso-freaking-lutely freezing. ::Insert frantic search for blanket here:: 

Only in my life would this happen.

On Friday,

we almost died in a storm all in the name of chinese food. Totally worth it. 

We watched the footloose remake while eating the almost-killer chinese food. 

You guys. I am in LOVE!

They made the characters so loveable and we had a great time at our "girls night viewing party".

And on Saturday, Matt went with me to babysit.

Somebody's tryin' to steal my man!

 When we first got there, Sadie would turn about periodically give him evil looks and then turn around to her show again. About a half hour after we were there, Matt and I were talking on the couch and Sadie snuck up to Matt's side and reached out to his arm and said "tickle tickle!" while "tickling" his arm. 

::dies:: 

It was seriously the cutest thing ever. After that it was a game for an hour and Sadie had no fear climbing up into his lap and chilling to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse;)

And on Sunday I came back down to school. It was an awesome week and I can't to be back home for good in just 7 more weeks!

 _____________________________________________________

As for my TFA interview,

I think it went pretty well!

It was my first "big kid" interview and all in all, it wasn't too bad. Definitely a lot less stressful than I was thinking.

Thank you so so much for all of the good luck wishes! You guys are the bomb dot com. 

I should hear back by April 13th so I'll definitely update you fabulous ladies then:)

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

 

Wish me Luck!

Today is a very important date.

Teach For America interview time! 

Today I'll be participating in a group interview with a 5 minute sample teaching lesson, and a group activity.

Later I will go on a one on one interview and I should hear if I was accepted within the next month. 

It's a lot to plan for. It's a lot to hope for. 

I'm so ready.

Here is a picture of my "teaching materials"

We're going to learn about inequalities! Hopefully it goes well:)

And here's what I'm wearing today

Thanks to the g-parents for the lovely blazer I'm wearing. It was an early Easter Bunny present:)

 I'll definitely be back tomorrow to tell you guys about how it went and about my spring break!

Happy Tuesday!

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

Are you a librarian?

Because if you are, you should Check Me Out! 

Ok, Ok, so it was a cheesy joke. 

But seriously. Avert your eyes over to the right hand side of the page

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I'm the proud owner of Social Connect Buttons!!

Now you can easily follow me on Pinterest

or Twitter.

Ooooooorrrrrrrrrr

You can go to my BRAND NEW FACEBOOK PAGE!

bare with me as I develop and add to it, but feel free to like it at any time;)

I'd also like to take a minute to direct you to the tabs that are at the top of the page

^

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I've made it easier to get in contact with me, read about my story, and read some of my most popular posts. 

I hope you guys like it! 

Under Construction

Pardon me ladies while I do a little re-vamping to this ole blog of mine:)

Its time for my baby blog to become a grown up blog!

I hope to be back soon with an updated look but I'll leave you with this:)

Happy Thursday Chickies!!

Happy St. Patty's Day! (A little late)

Hi there! Long time no talk.

Bad blogger, I know.

But, I'm totally ready to blow you away with awesome stories of my St. Patty's Day!

I spent most of the evening looking like this:

Rockin' my moustache straw!

The moustache straws were one of the favors for the bridal shower the next day and we had extra, so I took one to the party to differentiate my cup from everyone elses.

Yes, I'm a smart cookie like that.

The moustache spent a lot of time being passed around. everyone wanted a picture with it!

It was unfortunately lost (but eventually returned!) sometime during the evening.

The fun hasn't started until the moustache shows up.

Aside from the moustache, I spent time with my besties:

Pardon the weird angle, we have guy friends who think they're funny...



Heather (my roomie!) and Sam(in the middle) are sisters and the three of us have been friends for 8 years.

I'm often referred to as the third daughter of their family because funnily enough, for 6 months of the year, we are all right in a row for ages.

Right now, Heather is 22, I'm 21, and Sam is 20. I fit right in!

Mama Tammy in a pic with "all her girls" ;)

And!

Matt and I finally have a good picture together! Woooo!

Ok, so it got photobombed, but it only makes me love it more:)

There's one without people in the background but it's not as fun:P

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend like I did!

Up next: Bridal shower deets!

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

Whirl-winded

Herrrro!

This weekend was busy but fantastic. It was jampacked to say the least. 

Friday I traveled back home for the start of my (very boring) Spring Break. 

I helped out with Grandparents day at the Catholic grade school all of my nuggets attend. I haven't had to stand on my feet for that long since my days as a waitress at Texas Roadhouse!

But in all it was fun:)

Satuday aka St. Patrick's Day, I was busy getting a pedicure, preparing for the wedding shower we hosted on Sunday, and getting ready/going to a party in the evening.

It looked a little something like this:

Is it weird I'm posting a photo of my feet for the internet to see? Probably. But check out how good they look;)

That's right y'all, we arranged our own center pieces. I'm a Floral designer now;)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sunday was the shower and I was nursing the hangover from hell. But I didn't puke. Score.

I have to say that all of our hard prep work on Saturday paid off and everything went extremely well.

A sneak peek:

A titanic tea party! Check out our awesome teapot cake!

Can't wait to come back this week and give you better details and pictures:)

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

Say Whaaa?

Tuesday I came home to this jenky note sitting on our kitchen table:

Woo for hardwood floors! Boo for having to move ALL OF THE FURNITURE. 

I'm sustained 3, count 'em, one, two, THREE stubbed toes in the process. I gave up. I had to go to bed to save my poor tootsies!

And do they not realize it's midterm week?! Apparently not. 

Also, why do they feel the need to come at 8 AM the only day I get to sleep in this week?

grrrr.

But I suppose I don't have anything to complain about because look what I got in an email yesterday afternoon:

Why yes, yes that does say that I have a final interview for Teach for America!! :):) 

I'm beyond thrilled and I can't tell you how satisfying it is to see a dream come true right before my eyes!

Here's hoping I kick ass at the final interview!

Pink Kisses & Wishes,
Mallory

Don't go breakin' my heart

Howdy ho, ranger Joes! 

A little TFA update for you fabulous ladies:

I made it past the first round and got a phone interview!

The sad news is that if I get this job with TFA, I will have to miss our annual family vacation to Minnesota to go to the mandatory 5 week summer training course.
This vacation is literally what makes our year.

No tv.
No internet.
No air conditioning.

You're probably thinking this sounds like hell.

Doesn't this look like a postcard?!

Well I'm tellin' you, it's heaven! Seriously check out that picture up there. It was taken last year on our last night in paradise.

The "kids" waiting our turns to go tubing!

There's about 30 of us that go together and we spend all day on the lake. Tubing, skiing, knee boarding, etc. You name it, we do it:)

You ladies can see that this place is near and dear to my heart, we've been going every year since I was 3! This year would/will be my 18th year going and I'm honestly a little devastated that I might have to miss it :(

I know, I know, I should just be happy that I have a possible job, but it still kinda stinks.

I hear tonight if I made it to the final interview.
Ha, I suppose if I didn't make it, this post is a moot point!

Do you girls have any annual family vacations? Tell me all about them!

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

Recipe for "I love you"

Due to some technical problems yesterday, here's my guest post in all it's glory. As in, I didn't change a single word ;)  Hope you guys enjoy it!
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Hey Chicas!

I'm Mallory,

That's me in the middle!

and I blog over at Pink Kisses & Wishes.

Click on it and you can come over and visit me!

In the spirit of love...

Remember that little holiday called Valentine's Day that just passed? And that large rock currently residing on our girl Katie's left ring finger? Right.

Well I thought I'd give you guys an awesome recipe to make for your sweetie.  It got mine to tell me he loved me ;)

A little background:

I met my boyfriend at a wedding last summer. So cliche, I know! But he knew the groom, I knew the bride, and it was history after that:)

Here's a pic of us at the wedding where we met with my bestie Heather!

So back to that recipe you're dying to know...

It's a recipe for Chicken Alfredo.  But it's seriously the best alfredo sauce you've ever had. Seriously. 

I made it for Matt one time when he came to visit me at school and he could not stop raving about it. I think he ate 3 plates of it! And that also happened to be the night when he first said 

I love you. ::swoon::

How's that for an awesome recipe?! 

Want to try it yourself? Follow these easy steps and you'll be havin' men fallin' all over your feet;)

I Love You Chicken Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 16oz brick of cream cheese

1 stick of butter

1 bag of shredded Parmesan cheese

1 pint heavy whipping cream

salt & pepper

garlic powder

3-4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

 So far so good, right? 

Chicken

1.Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste
2. Cook through until no longer pink in the middle
Set aside

Alfredo Sauce

 1. Melt the stick of butter in a medium saucepan.

2. Slowly add in chunks of cream cheese until everything is melted and mixed together. (There will be a lot of stirring in this step! just workin' on your tri's right? : P)

*Don't let the ingredients reach a boil!*

3. Slowly stir in the pint of heavy Whipping cream.

(It should thicken up the mixture a little bit)

4. Add the bag of shredded Parmesan cheese to your mixture in 3 separate parts. 

5. Stir occasionally until all the cheese is melted.

 **Still do not let the mixture reach a boil!**

6. Add in Salt/Pepper/and Garlic Powder to taste

Now just throw everything together with some noodles (I prefer farfalle (bowtie) noodles:) They just seem more fun!) and serve with garlic bread.

I hope you ladies enjoy this recipe!

Pink Kisses & Wishes,
Mallory

Hide n Seek

Yooooo hoo! 

We're going to play hide and seek today.

So come "seek" me over here today! 

I'm guest posting while Katie's liver recovers from her awesomesauce Spring Break:)

You'll get a fabulous recipe and hear about the night Matt first told me he loved me. 

So what are you waiting for? Go show her some love!

And as for my plans tonight,

Story of my life! 

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

That is all.

I have a headache the size of :

Antarctica, the forgotten continent.

Which means that I definitely needed a Diet Coke the size of my head. 

Proof:

Thank goodness it's the weekend.

That is all.

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

On My Mind

Hello, All!

I'm feeling very scatterbrained this morning with all of the things I have to do, so that's what you're getting. A scatterbrained post. 

:)

Numero Uno:

I want to make this bracelet SO BADLY. 

TELL ME THIS ISN'T ADORABLE. 

It looks so easy on pinterest. (Don't they always?) I'm mayyyybe going to have to try it this weekend:)

2. 

I bit the bullet and fell for a "trendy" spring color;

Mint! 

I wanted a thin Light Pink line on top of the mint, but they didn't have the color I had in mind:( But to "make up for it" the cute new girl gave me a little diamond on my ring fingers.

Hey, I'll take whatever diamond I can get there until I have some serious bling to actually sport;)

Speaking of....

Number three:

Found this little beauty on Pinterest this morning. 

I'm obsessed. 

:D

Four:

I went from lookin' like this:

HELLLLOOOO roots!

to this:

Ok, so I know it's not a close up, but my camera wasn't lovin' me this morning and I ran out of time before I had to go to work.

And lord knows I couldn't show up looking like this two days in one week....

Worst picture in the world, but you know I like to keep it real here;)

And to explain the above picture, I woke up late because I was up the night before working on an outline for my speech class.  I didn't shower, (but my hair was brushed!), I had on minimal makeup (aka-last nights makeup with a little more thrown on), and was wearing a BEDAZZLED shirt because it was given to me as a gift by the ladies I work with (they thought the shirts were "snazzy").  

I obviously had to snap a pic and send a text to my best friend about how fabulously awful I was looking that day!;)

Yay for almost Friday! 

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

Things My Mama Taught Me

My mom taught me 3 things in order to be successful in life.

Here she is:) Isn't she a doll?

 She was a young mom and my parents divorced when I was 3. We've definitely always had a close bond :)

Anyway, all throughout my teen years, she used to joke that I only needed to know 3 things to be successful. They fit into the acronym MMT.

You guys are going to love me for this advice;) 

Ready? 

M #1 stands for 

MEN

Umm, this one's just hot and would definitely make me happy. I can just tell;)

Mama always said that you don't need a man to be happy or be considered successful, but that they sure were nice to have around sometimes;)  Her advice was to find one who could put up with my bossy ways and sassy attitude, as well as someone who wasn't afraid of a little hard work. (Relationship "work" or actual work!)

Which leads me to the next "M".....

MONEY

Wish my savings account looked like this!

 And no she didn't mean, find a man with money! (That would be a nice bonus though!) She meant for me to be smart with my money.  She could never stress it me enough how easy it is to mess up your credit. She happened to have made some mistakes when she was young and I saw how it affected everything she did. 

Because of her, I have no credit cards, and the only debt to my name is my school loans, which came from my grandparents. Score! I can't tell you how many kids I know who are struggling to pay of credit card debt...not a road I want to find myself on just because I wanted to  buy everything I've ever pinned here;)

So ya, be careful with your money! 

And finally, "T' is forrrrrr.....

TEETH

Not my teeth, creepers! :)

Ha, yes this one is a little odd, but she likes to joke that good teeth are important.  She's had multiple tooth issues that have been a big pain for her so she always cautioned me to take care of my teeth. After all, we don't want to be walkin' around looking like this girl! ;)

Ha, sorry to scare ya!

So brush 'em, brush 'em, brush 'em! Thanks to her I can say I'm a 21 year old with ZERO cavities. Hell yeah!

So to recap: 

Men

Money

Teeth

Well there you have it ladies, MMT. And  don't you forget it!

What did your mama teach you??

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

Unofficially Confused

Unofficial was a success!

You better believe that we were up in time to see a little.....

Mr. Feeny!!!!

Yes, we were up at 6, just in time to catch a little Boy Meets World while we were getting ready! You know I love me some Corey and Topanga;)

(Notice it's still really dark!)

After that, we successfully made mimosas and greed pancakes to start off our morning...don't judge it was super crazy with like 10 people in our tiny apartment so I mayyybe only caught a pic of the last of the pancakes. Whoops:)

Pancakes, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, and french toast! We did it up the right way:)

There was a lot of booze consumed including jello & pudding shots (recipe here). I don't personally have a picture of our fridge, but I'll definitely try and steal one from the roomie once she puts pics up:)

 Everyone raved about the pudding shots so I totally suggest making them for your next party! I made vanilla ones with green food coloring, big hit!   

The roomies before we started our day:) 

It was a long day and I may have left my camera at the apt for most of it. But let's be serious, it was probably better that way so I didn't lose it!

I am kind of sad though because the ONLY pic I got of Matt & I, I'm at an awkward angle and his eyes are 1/2 closed. We look reaaaaal cute, let me tell ya;)

We did have a run in with one of these guys:

Officer Friendly

No worries, it wasn't me personally, but a friend of ours did have a little run in with them. No harm done. But that's a story for tomorrow;)

Pink Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Yeaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr (Sung just like that;))

Drunken Debauchery Part II

This seems to be a post theme for me these last few weeks but I think it's just because I've been gearing up for (refer back to post title) THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEARRRRRRRR!

Any guesses?? And it's not St. Patrick's Day.  No??

CLEARLY YOU ARE NOT AND WERE NOT A UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDENT.

Maybe you should ask yourself what you like better: Christmas or Unofficial Season?

The answer would be, um, UNOFFICIAL SEASON, bishes! 

Never heard of it? Let me fill you in. 

Bar owners on campus realized St. Patty's Day (Read: Huge money making holiday) always fell during Spring Break. Epic Fail.

 In 2005 one of those owners decided to found "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day". Hereby and heron referred to as "Unofficial". It's always on a Friday a few weeks before Spring Break where every bar opens at 8 AM, students skip class, wear green shirts with funny sayings, and drink green beer. All. Day. Long. 

EPIC WIN. (Except for the beer thing. You girls know I don't get down like that!)

It's Unoffical Eve today and I can hardly contain my excitement. It really is better than Christmas;)

Let's take a little trip down memory lane shall we? 

2009 We started our day off at the LXA house for a 6AM power hour!

Some of my main girls:) Friends from HS and my roomie/pledge mama!

It's a HS reunion! Check out the matching shirts;)

And here's a crappy pic of our shirts this year. They say "I'm wasted and I know it" with "I black out" on the back. Pretty clever if you ask me!

I'll be going to sleep tonight with visions of Shamrocks dancing in my head. 

Happy Unofficial to all, and to all, a good day!

Green Kisses & Wishes,

Mallory